News / National

by Staff reporter

Senior Zanu-PF officials involved in corruption are "destroying the party from within", and this issue will be tackled at the 16th Annual National People's Conference in Masvingo this December, a top official has said.In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Dr Ignatius Chombo said bad apples should be dealt with decisively to clearly establish the party's position against graft.Dr Chombo, who is also Home Affairs Minister, said inaction would create the wrong impression that Zanu-PF and its leader President Mugabe condoned corruption and general criminality."It's a public secret that as a party, we do not tolerate corruption. Again, the President has, at every opportunity, condemned such acts. Those who are corrupt are undermining the party and destroying it from within."The party will not stand idle while it is being tarnished by corrupt, selfish individuals. If the party does not act against dishonest members, this will send the wrong message to supporters."Zanu-PF heads to Conference as authorities are investigating allegations that Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo siphoned hundreds of thousands of United States dollars from the Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund.It is alleged that Prof Moyo did this in cahoots with his deputy, Dr Godfrey Gandawa. Prof Moyo has claims the allegations are motivated by tribalism and has sued the public media for reporting the investigation.Dr Chombo also said Zanu-PF was working on clearing outstanding disciplinary cases ahead of Conference, adding that the ruling party would continue prioritising the people's welfare.He said the indaba, themed "Moving with Zim-Asset in peace and unity", would review Zimbabwe's economic performance, among other key issues."We are a grassroots political party. As I speak, we had seven political meetings per day for the last two weeks, while all opposition parties held only one meeting. We are having between 36 and 48 meetings in one week, with an average of 500 people per meeting. MDC-T is having three or so, with an average of 180 per meeting. Mai Mujuru's party is having five, and 150 people attend each meeting on average."And when we win elections, they move around saying Zanu-PF rigs elections. No. We work with the people and know what they want. There is need to interact with the people, and that's what we do as a party."Dr Chombo continued: "We interact with the people in the language they understand and on issues they are concerned about. Critically, we have always focused on what people say and issues they are concerned about; their aspirations, dreams and interests. That's where we stand as a party."We have never taken an agenda from outside; we have never tried in our history to push a foreign agenda. We push and work for a Zimbabwean agenda."That agenda comes from our villagers and the generality of our people. What they want is what concerns Zanu-PF. It is difficult for any political party to separate us from the people because their interests are our utmost concern; from the days of the liberation struggle."
The Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Debrah, has said the massive infrastructure development that has been put in place by President John Mahama will provide the anchor for job opportunities.



He has, therefore, given an assurance that the next National Democratic Congress (NDC) government will focus on creating more job opportunities through deliberate policies to transform the lives of all citizens.



At an interactive session with the clergy in Accra last Wednesday, he stated, The infrastructure ranging from good roads, energy resources, healthcare facilities, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), to water resources have been laid already during the first four years. This will provide an opportunity for small-scale and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to thrive and create job opportunities.



The interactive session



The interaction with the clergy drew participants from the National Catholic Secretariat (NCS), Council of Independent Churches of Ghana (CICG), Aglow Women Ministry (AWM), Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA) secretariat, the International Clergy Association (ICA) and other religious groups.



The team, led by the Chief of Staff, was made up of key figures in the NDC, including the Greater Accra Regional Minister, Nii Laryea Afotey Agbo; Greater Accra Campaign Coordinator, Mr Sylvester Mensah; and a Minister of State at the Presidency, Mr Elvis Afriyie Ankrah.



Mr Debrah explained that the import of the meeting with the clergy was to officially inform them about President Mahamas second term presidential ambition and to seek their support and prayers for an overwhelming victory.



He underscored the important role the clergy had played in fostering national peace and cohesion and called on them to pray for a peaceful and violence-free election.



I want to also reiterate that the NDC and President Mahama will remain committed to the decision to accept the outcome of the December polls no matter the situation, he stated.



No violence



Reacting to the pockets of violent clashes between supporters of the NDC and the New Patriotic (NPP) in some parts of the country, Mr Debrah observed that such violent acts did not promote democratic governance.



To avert a recurrence of such violence, he urged supporters of the NDC to stay away from attacking and insulting political opponents, adding, Ghanaians want to know how they will get a place to sleep and how they will get money in their pockets; so let us campaign on issues.



Better Ghana



A leading member of the NDC and former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD), Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi, said the party was committed to working for the development of the country as exemplified by the bold measures President Mahama took in difficult moments.



He said this years election was about a choice between a tried and tested President and others who were promising to do what had already been initiated.



In the early post-independence days, every African wanted to be called a Ghanaian because the country was on its feet and a good place to be. The NDC wants to return Ghana to those glory moments again, he added.



Peaceful elections



Taking turns to make submissions, the members of the clergy lauded the initiative by the NDC to interact with them, saying God had answers to all human needs, including choosing a worthy leader.



The President of CICG, Apostle Samuel Teye Doku, while condemning the recent violent clashes between the supporters of the NDC and those of the NPP, urged the parties to be wary of the fact that it was God who chose leaders.



As for the clergy, we will continue to pray and ask for Gods intervention in the election. But whoever God chooses should be seen as the destined leader of the country, he added.



The clergymen called on the security agencies to step up their efforts to protect lives and property as the election campaign enters its final stages.

Source: Daily Graphic









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Featured Video
Credit: University of Bristol

New technology has been developed that uses nuclear waste to generate electricity in a nuclear-powered battery. A team of physicists and chemists from the University of Bristol have grown a man-made diamond that, when placed in a radioactive field, is able to generate a small electrical current.

New technology has been developed that uses nuclear waste to generate electricity in a nuclear-powered battery. A team of physicists and chemists from the University of Bristol have grown a man-made diamond that, when placed in a radioactive field, is able to generate a small electrical current. The development could solve some of the problems of nuclear waste, clean electricity generation and battery life.

This innovative method for radioactive energy was presented at the Cabot Institute's sold-out annual lecture - 'Ideas to change the world'- on Friday, 25 November.

Unlike the majority of electricity-generation technologies, which use energy to move a magnet through a coil of wire to generate a current, the man-made diamond is able to produce a charge simply by being placed in close proximity to a radioactive source.

Tom Scott, Professor in Materials in the University's Interface Analysis Centre and a member of the Cabot Institute, said: "There are no moving parts involved, no emissions generated and no maintenance required, just direct electricity generation. By encapsulating radioactive material inside diamonds, we turn a long-term problem of nuclear waste into a nuclear-powered battery and a long-term supply of clean energy."

The team have demonstrated a prototype 'diamond battery' using Nickel-63 as the radiation source. However, they are now working to significantly improve efficiency by utilising carbon-14, a radioactive version of carbon, which is generated in graphite blocks used to moderate the reaction in nuclear power plants. Research by academics at Bristol has shown that the radioactive carbon-14 is concentrated at the surface of these blocks, making it possible to process it to remove the majority of the radioactive material. The extracted carbon-14 is then incorporated into a diamond to produce a nuclear-powered battery.

The UK currently holds almost 95,000 tonnes of graphite blocks and by extracting carbon-14 from them, their radioactivity decreases, reducing the cost and challenge of safely storing this nuclear waste.

Dr Neil Fox from the School of Chemistry explained: "Carbon-14 was chosen as a source material because it emits a short-range radiation, which is quickly absorbed by any solid material. This would make it dangerous to ingest or touch with your naked skin, but safely held within diamond, no short-range radiation can escape. In fact, diamond is the hardest substance known to man, there is literally nothing we could use that could offer more protection."

Despite their low-power, relative to current battery technologies, the life-time of these diamond batteries could revolutionise the powering of devices over long timescales. Using carbon-14 the battery would take 5,730 years to reach 50 per cent power, which is about as long as human civilization has existed.

Professor Scott added: "We envision these batteries to be used in situations where it is not feasible to charge or replace conventional batteries. Obvious applications would be in low-power electrical devices where long life of the energy source is needed, such as pacemakers, satellites, high-altitude drones or even spacecraft.

"There are so many possible uses that we're asking the public to come up with suggestions of how they would utilise this technology by using #diamondbattery."
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News / National

by Staff reporter

ETHIOPIAN Airlines has released a summer schedule for the new direct route between Addis Ababa and Victoria Falls to be launched in March next year.Ethiopian Airlines Southern Africa regional manager Mr Abel Alemu confirmed that the airline is preparing to commence flights to the new Victoria Falls International Airport with the first flight expected to depart Addis Ababa on 26 March to Victoria Falls.Mr Alemu said they had been planning on operating the Victoria Falls route for a while and are now at an advanced stage of preparation."It is true that Ethiopian Airlines is preparing to commence a flight to Victoria Falls on the summer 2017 schedule. Our flights will depart from Addis Ababa to Victoria Falls and from Victoria Falls to Gaborone, Botswana to Addis," said Mr Alemu.According to Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe chief executive officer Mr David Chawota, Ethiopian Airlines will introduce its maiden flights to Victoria Falls International Airport using a wide bodied aircraft and not the small regional planes.Mr Chawota expressed joy at having a big player in the aviation sector like Ethiopian Airlines being the first to make use of the new facility."We are excited at having them as the first movers in using this refurbished and new facility. Generally, they (Ethiopian Airlines) said the frequencies will not be less than three per week as they begin," said Mr Chawota.He said a number of new players were also coming into the country with regional players like Kenya and RwandAir already in the process of negotiating.RwandAir chief executive officer Mr John Mirenge said the airline was also looking at expanding to Victoria Falls after taking a tour of the new airport and seeing the developments there, describing it as a state-of-the-art facility.RwandAir which will be commencing flights into Harare International Airport in January is reportedly working closely with the Zimbabwean authorities."We are going back to work with our travel partners to package Harare, Victoria Falls and other destinations. With a direct product, tourism and business will start flourishing between the two countries. The tourism board has already shown its commitment on this issue," said Mr Mirenge.Mr Mirenge said RwandAir will be flying about four times a week to Harare until they grow progressively to a daily frequency.He said the airline would make use of its CRJ 76 seater modern aircraft."This is a two-class configured aircraft that has a business as well as economy side but as we grow and depending on the demand we will later use the 737," he said.Mr Mirenge said developing direct routes between destinations was important as it is less costly and saves on time as tourists and business travellers abhor the many stop overs.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Zanu-PF Mashonaland Central acting provincial chair Dickson Mafios could soon appear before a disciplinary committee for trying to manipulate party structures to challenge the national leadership, our Harare Bureau has established.Party members who continue to attack their superiors on social media will also be brought to account for defying Zanu-PF President and First Secretary Mugabe's directive against such action.A probe into Mafios' conduct is already underway, with the provincial executive meeting in Bindura today to review its recent inter-district conference and other key issues.At a conference held on November 19, 2016, Zanu-PF Mashonaland Central district and provincial executive members met to formulate positions around various matters ahead of the party's 16th Annual National People's Conference in Masvingo this December.After the interface, Mafios announced that his executive had resolved that the party's two Vice-Presidents must be elected, not appointed by the President.He said the provincial conference also wanted one of the VPs to be female. It, however, later emerged that the resolutions had not come from conference, but were Mafios' own thinking.The acting provincial chair has however, stuck to this position, even as members of his executive continue to distance themselves from his flagrant attempt to challenge President Mugabe's status as Zanu-PF's centre of power.On Thursday, Zanu-PF Politburo member and Higher Education Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo defended Mafios via social media, saying the two VPs should not be appointed.In an interview with our Harare Bureau, Zanu-PF Secretary for Administration Dr Ignatius Chombo said disciplinary action was likely to visit Mafios and social media abusers."We have received the resolution and are looking at it. Indiscipline within the party will be dealt with. It's totally unacceptable and we have structures within the party (to deal with it). We have the National Disciplinary Committee to deal with such issues and it will certainly deal with the matter. If anyone is not happy with the committee's decision, the Appeals Committee chaired by Vice-President Phelekezela Mphoko is there. We want unity in the party under one centre of power, which is led by President Mugabe."Zanu-PF Mashonaland Central secretary for administration Wonder Mashange confirmed that the province will be meeting."We will be meeting as a province to review last week's provincial inter-district conference, among other issues which will be raised by members," he said.Asked if Mafios' case is on the agenda, he said, "The meeting is on tomorrow (today) and those issues will be dealt with.We will definitely discuss everything."Dr Chombo said party members who trade attacks on social media platforms are defying thePresident and disciplinary action will be taken."The President has, on several occasions, emphasised that party members should not take to social media to discuss internal matters or to denigrate each other. All those who continue to do that will be dealt with in line with the party's rules and regulations. If party members continue to do that, they are defying the President."In 2014, Zanu-PF amended its constitution, giving President Mugabe powers to appoint his deputies and Politburo members as part of measures to stem factionalism. Divisions spurred by former Vice-President Dr Joice Mujuru and her cabal along factional lines had seen some characters emerge as "centres of power".As such, the party's structural realignment that involved the cabal's expulsion brought the imperative of vesting appointing authority in the President and First Secretary.Zanu-PF's Women League deputy secretary Eunice Sandi Moyo said it is important for the women's wing to set the record straight as people were distorting their resolutions."Our resolution on more representation has been misinterpreted. We want the party constitution to be ammended eventually so that in 2019, we can be able to have one female VP in place through a quota system," she said.
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.
December begins at the end of the week. I am not sure where it came from, but it is here whether we are ready or not. Being one of the busiest and most expensive months of the year, I am sure everyone would appreciate some tips on how to save money during this month. Not only will I show you how to save money, but I will give you exact dates to shop and save! It all comes down to seven simple days of the month.

December 10  This is a day that gyms begin advertising new memberships for the new year. You can save a lot of money by waiting for their special in January, and some gyms may honor that upcoming special price in December.

December 11-13  Retailers are hoping that you missed out on a great price on a TV on Black Friday. Between the dates of December 11 to 13, many stores will put big ticket items on sale to encourage you to buy before the holiday.

December 15  This is the day to begin shopping for a laptop or computer. Again, they want you to shop before the holiday, and they are also pushing this years models to make room for the new ones coming out in 2017.

December 16  Toys and Tools begin to be the front runners for sale items. A lot of people will be looking to purchase tools for the men in their lives, and toys for the kids. This is a great date to start!

December 18  This is a free shipping day for many stores and businesses. A lot of them will guarantee delivery before Christmas Eve if done by this date. Free shipping is a great way to stretch your buck. If you had planned a $500 order, with $50 in shipping, and then you find a deal with free shipping, you can use that $50 toward an actual item you can enjoy!

Of course your best bet is to always compare prices and use coupons whenever you can. Wait for sales, and buy during the right time of the year.

In my monthly class at The Post-Star, I go into detail about using coupons, saving money, finding monthly deals and how it will benefit your family and your pocket book! Free giveaways during the class as well. Please join me for my next class on Thursday, January 5 at 6:00 pm. Feel free to call 518-742-3309, or go to poststar.com/couponclass.

Head over to my blog at Making Cent$ About Extreme Couponing to find some great deals around the region this week. Post your questions, comments and deals in the comments section.
Church hosts holiday festival

QUEENSBURY  The Queensbury United Methodist Church will host its 26th annual Holiday Festival from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the church, 460 Aviation Road. Highlights include 35 craft vendors, a breakfast and lunch cafe, silent auction, bake sale, remote broadcast by radio station Froggy 100.3 and a visit from Santa. Admission is free and 10 percent of the proceeds will be donated to House of Grace in Glens Falls. For more information, call 793-9728.

Mean Max to

host Gift Back

GLENS FALLS  The third annual Glens Falls Gift Back will be held from 5-9 p.m. Friday and from 3-9 p.m. Saturday at Mean Max Brew Works, Glen Street. The Gift Back is an alternative gift fair that allows shoppers to buy gifts that benefit a nonprofit group and can in turn be given to a friend or a loved one.

Shoppers can choose from 30 gift items ranging from snacks and drinks for a family at the CARE Center for $10 to a pair of new school shoes for a child for $30 from the Family Service Association. Shoppers will receive a beautifully designed card with an insert describing the gift that was purchased.

Auxiliary holds holiday tea party

FORT EDWARD  The Fort Hudson Auxiliary Holiday Tea will be at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at the Fort Hudson Nursing Center. Limited tickets are $6 and are available from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily at the front desk of the center, 319 Broadway.

Church to host holiday bazaar

WHITEHALL  The Whitehall Methodist Church Bazaar, 56 Greenmount Cemetery Lane, will be from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday and Dec. 10. The lunch, served from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., will feature homemade soup, sandwich and drink for $5. The bazaar will offer Christmas decorations, home decor, crafts, baked goods, flea market items, regifted items and RADA Cutlery. Call 499-0851 for more information.

End of Life Issues Series to wrap up

QUEENSBURY  The Unitarian Universalist Congregation will hold its final program in its End of Life Issues Series from 1-3 p.m. Dec. 5 at 21 Weeks Road. Join Aging in Place Glens Falls President Harvey Noordsy to examine when and how to organize and implement Caring Circles to help people in their declining years. Donations are appreciated. For a ride or for information, call 761-6125.

Boat company

helps Snuggery

GLENS FALLS  Jon and Andrew Brodie of Yankee Boating Center presented a check for $10,000 to Glens Falls Hospital President Dianne Shugrue following their Boating for Babies fundraiser for the Glens Falls Hospital Snuggery Birthing Center on Sept. 24 and 25. The event offered boaters 50 percent off their rental with all revenue going straight to the Snuggery. In addition to the weekends revenue, Yankee contributed an additional $2,800 to reach its $10,000 goal. The Snuggery will undergo renovations starting in late 2016 to provide new technology and make the birthing unit more comfortable for families.

Four volunteers are celebrated

GLENS FALLS  Big Brothers Big Sisters recognized four volunteers and honorees at its 10th annual, Big Night of Thanks, Nov. 10 at the Tower Event Center in Glens Falls. Warren Cutler of Wilton was named Big Brother of the Year; Sherry Giacobbe of Queensbury was named Big Sister of the Year; Jennifer Piccirillo, general manager of the GAP Outlet in Lake George, was named Honorary Big Sister of the Year; and Elizabeth Miller, president and CEO of Miller Mechanical Services, Inc. in Glens Falls and chairman of Doty Machine Works in Fort Edward, was the recipient of the David J. Capron Humanitarian of the Year Award.

Grannies Attic Bizarre planned

SCHROON LAKE  The Schroon Lake Community Church will hold Grannies Attic Bizarre from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Dec. 10 in the churchs Community Room during the Schroon Lake Old Thyme Christmas celebration. There will be items to purchase at very low prices, including baked goods and other foods, plus a delicious soup and sandwich with dessert lunch available for a fee. All proceeds benefit the church.

Interactive play

slated at church

QUEENSBURY  The Drama Ministry of the Queensbury United Methodist Church will present two performances of Dinner at the Bethlehem Inn, an interactive dinner theater at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 10 and at 6 p.m. Dec. 11 at the church, 460 Aviation Road. Audience members become guests at Bethlehem Inn and will be interrupted by the telling of the Christmas story. Be prepared for visits from Mary and Joseph, shepherds and the Three Wise Men. Guests will enjoy a supper of beef stew and bread, a typical meal that would have been served during a stay-over 2,000 years ago. Everyone will go outside for a brief time before coming back in for dessert. Reservations must be made by Dec. 4 by calling 792-8385. A free will offering will be taken, and guests are asked to bring an unwrapped gift for Toys for Tots.

Health Champs are recognized

GLENS FALLS  Adirondack Health Institute announced five 2016 Rural Health Champions in recognition of National Rural Health Day on Nov. 17. The annual recognition is a collaborative effort of the North Countrys seven Rural Health Networks, including the Adirondack Rural Health Network, supported with funds from the state Department of Health Charles D. Cook Office of Rural Health.

This years Rural Health Champions were: Vicky Campbell, Salem Rescue Squad captain; Jessica Darney Buehler, senior health educator, Essex County Public Health; Margaret Maggie Luck, Nathan Littauer Hospital & Nursing Home Lifeline Services; Stephens Mundy, president and CEO, The University of Vermont Health Network  Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital; and Robert Ross, CEO, St. Josephs Addiction Treatment and Recovery Centers.
SEATTLE  At 1 in the afternoon of Nov. 9, the day after the election, the Wallingford mom started a Facebook page with a special theme.

There was no publicity other than the link that Molly Spence Sahebjami forwarded to friends.

It is called, Dear President Trump: Letters from Kids About Kindness.

It features images of letters like this, sometimes written in that chicken-scratch lettering and only occasional use of correct grammar that young kids use: 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 

Sahebjami decided on the Facebook page after her son, Calvin, 5, told her about how the election turned out, Oh, the mean man won.

With her advertising and marketing background, Sahebjami thought the Facebook page could get social media traction.

But not quite like this.

Hi, folks! Pretty cool that we broke the 1,000 member mark in less than 3 hours  , Sahebjami posted later that day.

By Thursday, 5,000 people had joined up. As of Thursday night the group stood at more than 10,000 members. Its a closed group but any member can approve you.

So the interviews are lining up and parents are sending in photos of letters their kids wrote, and sometimes videos of the kids reading the letters.

The site is bona fide viral.

Angela Taylor Hyland, a Seattle writer and editor, sent a video of her 6-year-old daughter with a letter the girl wrote, Dear Mr. President, be nice to things. Dont say mean things. This helps me calm down: Meditation, reading, and resting. Good luck with your new job! Let me know if I can help. Szaba.

The letter included a drawing of the daughter fighting with her younger brother over a toy, and then hugging. If they can do it, why not politicians?

Hyland says the family has a lot of relatives in the Midwest who are Trump supporters. She hopes a posting such as the one from Szaba creates something positive between us.

So far, says Hyland, some of the relatives have clicked on the thumbs-up sign on the Facebook posting. Thats progress.

Sahebjami says she knows the page has been drawing a largely liberal audience.

It started in Seattle, after all.

She says she and her husband, Dara Sahebjami, an attorney for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, dont shield our child from political conversation. He sits around with a lot of adults.

Sahebjami told her son, If you have a problem with somebody, talk to them.

She asked what hed write to Trump. A kindergartner, Calvin dictated this letter: 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.

Sahebjami grew up in Vancouver, Wash., the daughter of Republican parents. Her family came to the U.S. from Iran in the 1960s. We have people in our family who are Muslims, she says.

On Facebook, Sahebjami asks those sending in kids letters to have the letters be positive, kind and nonpartisan.

Some are turning out that way, others not:

Dear president-elect trump, please be kind and let the love shine through. Love Avery age 6.

How to be nice! From Kela age 7.

1. Say kind things like well done.

2. dont blame other people when it is you doing the bad thing.

3. dont lie.

4. Dont scream at people.

5. behave

The list went on to No. 12, the last one: Being different is COOL!!!!

From Hadley, age 13.

I hope, since many people dislike you, you can prove us wrong. I hope you can help everyone of every race, not just white men with the same beliefs  The country is counting on you, respectfully  

Among the videos posted on the site was one featuring Annie Rose, 9, a Chicago fourth-grader.

She says, We have to stay strong. We have to control our anger  And remember not to speak with hate  

Annie Roses mom, who preferred the family name not be used, says her daughter is an Abraham Lincoln fan. That happened when the family was on a vacation road trip and visited the Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.

The daughter now has the Gettysburg Address posted above her bed.

On the Facebook page, Sahebjami has listed the street address in Manhattan for the Trump Tower.

She hopes those posting on Facebook also send the letters by regular mail to Trump and his wife, Melania.

Sahebjami also suggests that the high-school kids she saw demonstrating on TV this week with their f-word Trump signs try writing him a more tempered letter. The signs wording is not a very productive discourse, she says.

So far, there has been no response from the president-elect, says Sahebjami.

But she says she also knows that Trump is a big social media user. Wed like to catch his attention, says Sahebjami.

And, who knows, maybe some morning soon at 4 a.m., there will be that tweet from @realDonaldTrump.
(((HOLD ON THIS. GRETTA has it in her column).bc

CAMBRIDGE  The holidays are quickly approaching and the Cambridge Valley Chamber of Commerce is preparing for a busy season.

Beginning with Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, the annual Holiday Retail Business Raffle begins. Every receipt can be placed in a raffle bag, with the customer's name and address on it. The drawing will be Dec. 23.

Mt. Nebo Gallery in Eagle Bridge will be offering coffee, cookies and a free gift for the whole month of December.

Christmas in Cambridge Weekend will be Friday through Sunday.

Santa arrives 6 p.m. Friday night with the annual lighting of the Christmas tree in Memorial Park. There will be caroling, extended shopping hours and sales in many locations. Eggnog, cookies and treats will be provided in shops and at the fire pits.

On Saturday, Cambridge Valley Fine Artists will be having a tour and sale beginning at 10 a.m. The Cambridge Assisted Living Residence will have an open house from 2 to 4 p.m.,with hot chocolate and cookies, plus tours of the home every 15 minutes. There will be the Christmas Goodies Holiday Bazaar at the Cambridge United Presbyterian Church, and holiday sales and specials throughout the village.

Many shops will be offering special sales, such as discounted holiday gift certificates from Country Gals Cafe and hot cider tasting at Black Dog Wines & Spirits. Valley Artisans Market will be providing arts and crafts demonstrations throughout the weekend.

Sunday will start with breakfast at the American Legion. The Cambridge Valley Farmers Market will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Lovejoy Building on the Hubbard Hall Campus.

Valley Artisans will be open and hosting artist demonstrations, and artist Matt Chinian will be holding an Open Studio on West Main Street. Dusk brings the annual lighting of the Eternal Illumination Memorial trees at 5:30 p.m. in Memorial Park in front of the library.

The group is always looking for volunteers and feedback. Contact the chamber by e-mail cambridgechamber@gmail.com to volunteer or add an event.
LAKE GEORGE  The village of Lake George is considering dropping health insurance coverage for new elected officials.

Mayor Robert Blais said he is proposing to change the law to discontinue that benefit for new elected officials, but instead increase the stipend they receive for village service that they could use to help pay for health insurance.

Health insurance costs are a large part of the budget, according to Blais. They went up 12 percent this year to $134,000 for the trustees and mayor.

Thats a lot of money for the village, he said.

Health insurance has been an enticement in recent years for people who inquire about running for the Village Board.

The first question they asked is: Is health insurance included?, Blais said.

Employees currently receive stipends if they do not take the health insurance. The amount is $500 for a single plan, $1,000 for a two-person plan and $1,500 for a family plan. Blais would like to raise that amount to maybe $2,000 to $2,500 for elected officials in lieu of offering insurance.

Blais said he wanted to give people fair notice about the change ahead of the village elections in March.

The board is going to discuss this issue further at its next regular meeting in December.

In other business, the board is considering an offer to purchase property at 177 Ottawa St. next to the existing firehouse.

Blais said one idea is to use the property for an addition to the firehouse so it can house the Lake George Emergency Squad.

Adding two bays onto the existing firehouse, rather than going out and purchasing land and building a new facility for the rescue squad, might be economically attractive to the taxpayers, he said.

Property owner Tanya White is interested in selling the property, which is between Ottawa and Iroquois streets, and has offered the village the right of first refusal, according to Blais.

He said the village hired an appraiser to review the property and the conclusion was it was worth about $220,000 for both parcels. This is quite a bit different than the roughly $311,000 appraisal the owner received.

White is eager to sell the property, according to Blais, so he wants the village to act quickly on the matter. He said he would reach out to gauge the interest of the rescue squad.

Blais added that the squad was offered space in the current firehouse when it was constructed, but members were not interested in locating there at that time. If the squad considered it, the cost would be levied across the entire town.

Public Works Superintendent Dave Harrington said it would likely cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars to demolish the buildings and clear the land.

Trustee Ray Perry said among the squads concerns are how quickly it can get to a call from its Gage Road site.

Fire Chief Jason Berry said it could be nice to have all the emergency services under one roof.

Also at the meeting, the trustees expressed concern about domestic animals at the Gage Brook Recreation Center and Park. Animals are not allowed, but people are bringing dogs and not cleaning up after them, according to Deputy Treasurer Debra McKinney.

Perry said he worried about the villages liability if someone were to get bitten by a dog.

Blais said he is going to send a letter to the Lake George Youth Commission telling them that they have to start enforcing the ordinance.

On the subject of dogs, village officials are having discussions with the state Department of Environmental Conservation on making some improvements to Dog Beach.

The village is also considering establishing a Facebook page to promote its events. The trustees need to adopt a policy before they can start having someone create it.
They stand in prayer at the Oceti Sakowin Camp in North Dakota against a burgeoning force of militarized police units; they stand against threats, water cannons and heavily armed round-the-clock guards ringing the perimeter of their sacred lands.

They are the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, armed only with the belief that they must protect ancient burial grounds and drinking water from what they call the deadly Black Snake, known to others as the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The proposed oil pipeline, slated to cut a 1,200-mile swath of pipes and rigs through the middle of America, runs from these tribal lands south toward the Gulf of Mexico. According to maps and proposals, the pipeline not only digs up Sioux burial grounds, it crosses under a section of the Missouri River, which is the tribes water source.

Now joined by thousands in their urgent prayer to save Mother Earth, including some from the Glens Falls area, these water protectors are determined to stand against the pipeline they say threatens to destroy the nations water supply.

No matter what people feel about the pipeline, we are all in agreement that this disproportionate reaction by law enforcement is not permissible, said Amy Hachem of Queensbury. Having grown up in the Adirondacks, water resources are extremely important. We owe it to everybody and the native people to get this right.

Hachem said she is keenly aware of the situation at Standing Rock and she, along with a growing number of area residents, is involved in taking action locally to bring awareness to the plight of the native people living in North Dakota.

Last week, about 100 area residents gathered with Hachem at the intersection of Glen and Aviation with signs.

No DAPL

People over pipelines

You cant drink oil

Quite a few people in the area are interested in the cause. Some are from the Union Church in Saratoga, some locally are from the Green Party. There were senior citizens who had been involved in the civil rights movement and millennials, Hachem said. I think it is really fantastic.

Despite increasing odds, the water protectors stand strong at Oceti Sakowin Camp.

Despite warnings of the rapidly approaching North Dakota winter, they live on the open North Dakota prairie in tepees, vowing to stay on the land.

Despite a tear gas hosing while standing in the water in prayer, despite water cannons blasting their bodies for nearly nine hours in below-freezing temperatures and despite bruising rubber bullet shots to faces and groins, the protectors remain. And for those injured by police, others step up to take their place.

Feather Sherman, who has been at the Standing Rock camp since September, said she first saw the Nov. 20 water cannon attack by law enforcement on a live feed while she was about eight miles from the camp. I flew down to the rec center where we had just been set-up in a tiny room off the gym that had wifi, Sherman said. "I told everyone we had to prepare the gym for the many folks who were attacked and freezing. We were all horrified."

Sherman continued.

"I headed to our Medic and Healer Center in Camp to help with the victims and transport to the Rec Center. "

Sherman is from Montana, but spent much of the summer just 40 miles east while here for the "2016 Rainbow Gathering of Love and Light" at Mount Tabor, Vermont.

On Thanksgiving Day, The Lemon Tree Yoga studio at The Shirt Factory in Glens Falls held a yoga fundraiser at Glens Falls High School for the people at Standing Rock.

About a month and a half ago my friend and yoga sister, Saraswati Om, took a drive out there, said Tobey Gifford (Durga Om), who co-owns the studio with her daughter, Missy Higley. I was concerned about the jeopardy of these people  it is a teaching for all of us, protecting Mother Earth. I wanted to get involved and do what I could.

In a letter to Gifford, Saraswati Om wrote about what she witnessed at Standing Rock. When I arrived in the valley I saw hundreds of tepees and camps set up across the landscape. Over 300 indigenous nations joined together for the first time in history; tribes that have never gotten along have come together to help make peace, she wrote. At the front line where the water protectors go in prayer, which may include singing prayers, burning sage and planting sacred plants where the earth has been desecrated by DAPL, they are met with tear gas, rubber bullets, mace, water hoses and other forms of violence. These people are unarmed, (they) are watching treaties being broken and family graves being torn up.

Gifford said that yoga is peaceful and the fundraiser on Thanksgiving was important because we are all connected. We talked about how important it is to help each other  while people were preparing for a feast, other people are basically fighting for their water, she said. We cant let this happen.

More than 130 people attended the hour-long fundraiser and Gifford said they raised more than $2,000.

This Thursday, as part of an International Day of Action to help Standing Rock, Hachem and others will meet at 4 p.m. at the Civil War Monument in Crandall Park for a rally to participate in the day of action. The focus will be on the banks that fund the pipeline.

Locally, the group is focusing on TD Bank downtown because TD securities has helped fund the pipeline, Hachem said.

We are urging people to stand up and say this is not right. We will be standing in solidarity and encouraging local people to take their money out of these banks, Hachem said. We are asking the banks to divest from the project.

Hachem continued.

There was a Norwegian bank that decided to divest because people were closing their accounts.

The bank Hachem is referring to is the largest bank in Norway, DNB. Last week, DNB sold its assets in the Dakota Access pipeline following the delivery of 120,000 signatures urging the bank and other financial institutions to pull finances from the project.

According to Lauren Regan, founder and executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center in Eugene, Oregon, where she serves as staff attorney, there will be a federal lawsuit against police filed in federal court on Monday morning regarding the Nov. 20 incident at Standing Rock.

I am unable to talk about the details before the filing, Regan said. This is a full federal lawsuit and it relates to the police siege and atrocities that occurred on Nov. 20.

To participate in any upcoming local events in support of Standing Rock, Hachem suggested joining the closed Facebook group Greater Glens Falls Area Friends of Standing Rock.
We have had regular citizens sitting on our editorial board for close to a decade now.

Its one of the best things weve ever done.

The idea was to demystify the process on how we decide what stands we take, and who we endorse on our editorial pages.

We wanted regular citizens to see that we discussed the issues, sometimes argued, and even changed each others minds. We hoped that regular citizens saw that our news coverage came first, and then our editorial stands; that they were not related.

We wanted them to sit in on our meetings with government leaders and candidates and see our line of questioning, and to participate in questioning as well.

We also wanted the citizen representative to act as our liaison to the community, to tell us what we were missing.

Each year, three citizen representatives are selected to serve four-month terms. So, even though weve done this for about 10 years, only about 30 of our readers have had the opportunity.

What has been most satisfying is almost all the citizen representatives have reported to us that they found the experience rewarding and enjoyable. But even more importantly, they came away feeling better about the newspaper and how we take editorial positions on community issues.

Most are sorry to see their terms end, and many have stayed in touch, sometimes telling us they are willing to serve again.

With that in mind, weve decided to explore expanding the editorial board by two more citizen positions. We hope to reach out to some of our veterans from the past and see if they would be interested in serving another term on the editorial board  this time for a full year.

We believe it would make our editorial board even more diverse to have three citizen representatives and four members from our staff. And it would allow more community members to have the experience.

If you have served on the editorial board in the past and are ready to serve again, I urge you to contact me.

New board member

The citizen representative position changed hands again this week as we said goodbye to Stuart Ginsburg  one of our most active questioners when interviewing political candidates  while welcoming Tim Robinson of Greenwich.

Tim is employed as a construction estimator and designer in Manchester Center, Vermont. He is married and has two boys, ages 19 and 18.

Tims tenure may be perfectly timed, considering some of the criticism of the media.

He graduated with a BA in communications studies from SUNY Oswego and spent some time in the early 1980s as a reporter and photographer at a small newspaper. He said the experience left him somewhat disillusioned with the journalism industry, so he is especially interested in seeing our process and if the business has changed.

Community column

I hope you had a chance to read Gretta Hochsprungs new community news column this past Monday.

Gretta last worked for us about 15 years ago when she covered Washington County. We hired her as a part-time reporter to help improve some of the community news that is submitted to us with the hope she can enhance and improve that coverage by finding some of the stories we are missing.

Her next column will be on the front of Mondays local section. And if you have a great community news story, contact Gretta.

Ken Tingley is the editor of The Post-Star and may be reached via email at tingley@poststar.com. You can read his blog, The Front Page, daily at www.poststar.com or his updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kentingley.
We forgive you, dear readers, if you have been too distracted by presidential politics this past month to keep up with the latest foibles involving our flawed state government.

Two former advisers to Gov. Andrew Cuomo  one a top aide and close friend and one who helped oversee the governors economic development programs in upstate and western New York  were indicted Tuesday in a years-long bribery and bid-rigging scheme. State contracts were steered to favored developers as part of the scheme.

Some of those developers  Gasp!  had also donated to Gov. Cuomos re-election campaign in 2014. Six of those executives whose companies did business with the state were also indicted Tuesday.

A week earlier, the state inspector general released a report declaring that officials in New Yorks two public university systems  CUNY and SUNY  had created a system that was ripe for abuse.

The day after the inspector generals report and a week before the indictments of his former aides, Gov. Cuomo released a lengthy statement in which he promised to again deal with government malfeasance.

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.

And in a nod to how close the corruption has touched his own inner circle, he wrote:

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.

Gov. Cuomos statement is a gallant gesture that challenges the Legislature to act, to not take any outside income, while also calling on his own party not to accept campaign donations from developers who do business with the state.

Excuse us if we are unmoved.

With 198 of 199 state legislators fresh off re-election victories, we dont expect they are ready to change their ways. Several of our own local representatives insisted in recent editorial board meetings before the election that ethics reform had indeed taken place, that things were getting better.

And frankly, the tone of Gov. Cuomos statement could be interpreted  and many have  as the first volley of the 2020 presidential campaign.

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, Gov. Cuomo wrote. 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.

Gov. Cuomo promised action here in New York.

And while we and others have been demanding action ever since Gov. Cuomo was elected, his commitment to cleaning up Albany remains suspect ever since his premature disbanding of the Moreland Commission.

Gov Cuomo has again proposed sweeping reforms:

A cap on outside income for legislators of 15 percent of their annual salary.

Authorization of a state ethics board to investigate conflicts of interest in local governments.

Requirements that all elected officials disclose all sources of income.

In addition, Gov. Cuomo said he would order his 2018 campaign and the state Democratic Party to refuse contributions from companies bidding on state-funded projects. But even that would only apply for six months after the winning bid.

Frankly, weve heard this all this before.

Listening in on an interview on WAMC radio, you could hear the exasperation in Blair Horners voice, as if he had done this interview many times before. As the executive director of the good-government group, New York Public Interest Research Group, Horner said more than once, Its time for action, not words.

Those are the exact words Gov. Cuomo used in his written statement.

Gov. Cuomo also said he would appoint a chief procurement officer for the executive branch to review all state contracts. But isnt that what the state comptroller does now?

In concluding his message, the governor tempered expectations.

I cannot tell the people of our state that we can end all fraud or corruption, he wrote. I have seen too much unseemly behavior to be naive about the power of temptation. It wont be fast, and it wont be easy. But we can, and must, make this happen.

Its hard to disagree with any of that.

But its hard to see a way forward with the same players in the Legislature, and with the real concern over what the governors motives are and how close the corruption has now come to him personally.

We wish the governor luck in accomplishing his goals  again  but this sounded more like a campaign speech than a call to action.

Local editorials represent the opinion of The Post-Star editorial board, which consists of Publisher Terry Coomes, Controller/Operations Director Brian Corcoran, Editor Ken Tingley, Projects Editor Will Doolittle and citizen representative Tim Robinson.
When Gov. Scott Walker and Republican lawmakers passed Act 10 in 2011, it dramatically reduced the power and influence of unions representing teachers and most other public employees in the state. Later, they passed similar limits against private-sector unions. This six-part series examines a critical period in Walkers career with an eye toward better understanding what led him to seek curbs on unions. How did Walker, one of Americas most conservative state lawmakers, break through and thrive as leader of Democrat-friendly Milwaukee County from 2002 to 2010? What made him, in 2011, so eager to take on the states public employee unions and so certain of his path in the face of intense opposition and massive protests? Was the citizen anger that propelled Walker to Milwaukee Countys top job a precursor of the tea-party movement and the success of Donald Trump in the 2016 election? The story begins with Walkers entry into the Milwaukee County executives race amid a searing pension scandal that opened the door for a fresh face.

A scandal and an opportunity

A scandal and an opportunity

In 2001, his 10th year as Milwaukee Countys elected executive, Tom Ament looked like a lifetime lock.

A gray-faced Courthouse insider educated in accounting, Ament had little stage presence considering the drama hed soon create.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament, followed by his wife, Darla Hium, turns to leave a news conference after announcing his resignation Feb. 26, 2002.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament, followed by his wife, Darla Hium, turns to leave a news conference after announcing his resignation Feb. 26, 2002.

His mumbled interviews, even when transcribed, were hieroglyphic imponderables.

It mattered little; county was a sprawling but sleepy government that attracted little public notice.

Left to its own devices, Aments left-leaning administration got greedy, bestowing a raft of pension and pay goodies on themselves and their employees in a manner that busted the county budget.

Hundreds stood to get six-figure retirement payouts atop generous monthly pensions. For a few higher-paid public servants the lump sum topped a cool million.

No one seemed sorry.

Aments trifling response when the scheme was unmasked  I deeply regret the furor  stirred a thunderous outcry typified by a brief typewritten letter: Down With The King!

That missive was among hundreds that flooded Aments office as reporters discovered outrage (automatic pay raises every term for elected officials) after outrage (retirees cashing in unused sick days for $25,000, $50,000, even $185,000).

But the anger would dim, right?

It always did in Milwaukee, where incumbent pols often went unchallenged for generations and stayed well past their expiration dates.

But highly taxed Milwaukee County was rich soil for a citizens revolt, even a moral crusade. And, it turned out, was receptive like never before to an ambitious outsider.

'Recall capital of the world'

For decades, in the citys working-class south suburbs, a band of good-government gadflies honed the art of taking down elected officials.

Weapon of choice: recalls.

Gather enough signatures and force an election for any reason. Recalls begat recalls of the recallers in a bitter cycle.

We used to joke that Franklin was the recall capital of the world, said activist Orville Seymer.

Seymer and other recall warriors spilled forth in January 2002 after the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel began reporting on the extravagant Ament pension deal.

They offered their arcane skills to a suburban Brown Deer social club talking about a recall.

Thus was born a true grass-roots powerhouse, Citizens for Responsible Government, or CRG.

Seymer was an early member, as was Chris Kliesmet, a slightly built, mustachioed software consultant whose father Ament had helped unseat as sheriff.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Scott Walker, then a Republican state representative from Wauwatosa, turns in his nominating petitions to get on the ballot for the April 2, 2002 primary for Milwaukee County executive. Photos: Scott Walker uses recall as springboard to governorship

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Scott Walker, then a Republican state representative from Wauwatosa, turns in his nominating petitions to get on the ballot for the April 2, 2002 primary for Milwaukee County executive.

Kliesmets taste for the jugular was underlined by his spiel to groups planning recalls:

Were about to give you a high-powered rifle. If you have any reservations about putting the cross hairs on the forehead of your target and squeezing the trigger, leave the room now, because you dont want to shoot to wound.

In the dead of a Wisconsin winter, the CRG team marshaled battalions of volunteers against Ament. Defying all predictions, they collected an astonishing 180,000 signatures in a mere 28 days.

Once certified, the petitions meant Ament would stand in a recall election.

A restless politician

Scott Walker was pining to move beyond the state Assembly after eight years in a safe GOP seat in Wauwatosa, one of Milwaukees near west suburbs.

In years past, Walker had resisted friends suggestions to take on Ament, a Democrat in the technically nonpartisan county executive post. At one point he even endorsed Ament.

This time, surprising even those closest to him, he said he might get in.

Late in the recall drive, Walker signed a petition and took to conservative talk radio shows to join the county bashing.

The time seemed right for a man who saw Gods hand in his political career, an Eagle Scout who pledged morally straight living.

From the time he was a boy in his fathers Baptist church, Walker had searched for a mission, mindful of Llew Walkers words from the pulpit: I was ordained, but all are called to be ministers.

His leadership stood out in scouting, and at the American Legions Badger Boys State in high school, winning him a trip to Boys Nation in Washington, D.C. during Republican President Ronald Reagans presidency.

It showed him the path to service could be through politics.

I really think theres a reason why God put all these political thoughts in my head, Walker said in his early 20s.

The county pension scandal gave Walker a chance to do good  and step forward at a time when Milwaukees secular and Catholic leadership was in full moral meltdown.

In 2002, there was Ament, of course. Milwaukees longtime Democratic mayor, John O. Norquist, admitted an affair with a staff member that led to a sexual harassment settlement that ended his political career. Archbishop Rembert Weakland soon would retire after $450,000 was paid to silence claims he had sexually assaulted a former theology student.

It gave him this moral place, Kliesmet said. Why should we have this super class of people for whom we are paying for something we would never get?

Investing in Walker

At the county Courthouse, Ament resisted entreaties from local Dems to quit.

Republican elements, meanwhile, saw Scott as an investment in where they were going, said Vi Hammelman, a Republican strategist.

Walker jumped in first.

When Ament finally resigned, the seven-week sprint to the primary was on.

Walker was 34, and looked younger. He had little management experience as he sought to run a $1 billion enterprise.

He was best known outside Wauwatosa, if at all, as a tough-on-crime lawmaker and TV pundit on conservative Charlie Sykes Sunday talk show.

He would face, among others: Tom Nardelli, an alderman from Milwaukee, who also had no administrative experience: Jim Ryan, who directed a social service agency helping children; and Tyrone Dumas, a former county public works director.

I thought Tom Nardelli had the better chance at the time because he was closer to the city, said Kliesmet. And Jim Ryan had a strong liberal following.

Local unions immediately opposed Walker as extreme and anti-Milwaukee.

In the Legislature, hed fought a higher minimum wage, opposed more public transit and backed ending parole. Walker had supported a bill to give management better odds when labor disputes were arbitrated.

In the crowded primary field, Walker downplayed party and forcefully positioned himself as a change agent.

His volunteers covered the county with a simple 3 things in 30-days plan, spelled out on a magnet: slash my pay; force department heads to reapply; try to make the County Board of Supervisors part time.

Put it up on your frigerator, Walker said in a folksy campaign TV ad.

Walker committed to take a $60,000 pay cut, from $132,000 to $72,000, to gain the moral authority to ask other county workers to sacrifice. He opposed easier access to concealed weapons permits, contrary to his past stance, as he tried to broaden his countywide appeal.

Many political insiders still figured on Nardelli, the crusty alderman backed by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees council, a union representing thousands of county and city employees.

Scott vs. Gentleman Jim

On primary election day, April 2, Walker finished with 37%, ahead of Ryan at 27%. AFSCME had whiffed: Nardelli drew just 18% and then quickly endorsed Walker.

Now it would be Walkers aggressive reform message vs. the gentlemanly Ryan, 58.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County executive candidates (from left) Victor Huyke, Jim Ryan, Scott Walker and Thomas Nardelli listen as Tyrone Dumas speaks at a March 9, 2002 forum organized by the Black Citizens for Responsible Government.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County executive candidates (from left) Victor Huyke, Jim Ryan, Scott Walker and Thomas Nardelli listen as Tyrone Dumas speaks at a March 9, 2002 forum organized by the Black Citizens for Responsible Government.

Ryan hailed from the south-suburban heart of the Ament recall campaign.

But Walker had a fundraising head start and hundreds of $10, $15, $20 givers (Mom was one listed occupation; retiree described many).

Other money came from deep pockets. Walkers vocal support of tax payments for private schools won him max-out donations from Wal-Mart heir John Walton, one of the richest men in the world and a strong supporter of voucher schools.

Though Walker initially backed Elizabeth Dole for president in 2000, he later chaired George W. Bushs 2000 campaign in Milwaukee County. That and White House ties through his campaign treasurer John Hiller attracted donations from Texas CEOs from companies such as Circuit City.

Prominent Wisconsin givers included Michael Grebe, a national GOP player and new head of the conservative Bradley Foundation in Milwaukee.

Anti-abortion advocates pitched in big; Walkers support of their cause dated to his Marquette University years in the late 1980s.

Walker audaciously pushed an insider-outsider narrative.

He highlighted Ryans service as a part-time village president and former Milwaukee County Board member.

Walker portrayed himself as a regular citizen with only a passing interest in politics. Wont serve past 2008, he said.

I dont have an interest in running beyond that, he said in 2002. I certainly didnt grow up wanting to be county executive.

In fact, Walker said in high school hed run for Congress someday and had volunteered on Republican Gov. Tommy Thompsons 1986 campaign as a freshman in college.

Walker said he was obsessed with politics while at Marquette, quit school for a job, then jumped into a long-shot Assembly race at only 22.

He had worked only briefly outside government and had already run a state Republican Party convention by his 30th birthday.

Walker was sharper, battle-tested, better with sound bites, and knew how to focus voter anger, Ryans campaign manager Patrick LeSage said.

A springboard to governor

After stating for months it would not endorse, Citizens for Responsible Government rocked the race late.

During the debates it became clear to us Walker could win, and it would be a big deal nationally, and could be a springboard to governor, CRG spokesman Bryan Olen said in an interview.

Some around Walker were so impressed with his campaign they started to see him as presidential timber.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Alex Walker, 6, photographs his father, Scott Walker, being sworn in May 9, 2002 as Milwaukee County executive. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Michael Skwierawski administers the oath. Walker's wife, Tonette, holds the Bible.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Alex Walker, 6, photographs his father, Scott Walker, being sworn in May 9, 2002 as Milwaukee County executive. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Chief Judge Michael Skwierawski administers the oath. Walker's wife, Tonette, holds the Bible.

We talked about it, recalled campaign worker Vicky Ostry. We believed it.

Walker had allies inside CRG, including Stan Zurawski and Seymer, a former Ament Democrat and ironworker who now owned rental properties. Seymers intensity and passion for citizen-led government turned off some, but Walker always heard him out, and Seymer never forgot it.

CRG asked each candidate to support 10 moves that would save taxpayers money. Walker didnt hesitate; Ryan haggled with CRG leaders before losing it.

Im running for county executive not county king! Ryan bellowed to the group before storming out, LeSage recalled.

A new political force

AFSCME interviewed both men. Walker promised he wouldnt be a big privatizer of county services.

But they were oil and water. Local labor groups charged that recall fever was a plot to destroy all public services. As a state lawmaker, Walker had tried to clamp down on unions ability to funnel members dues into political campaigns.

So AFSCME backed Ryan.

Labors earlier choice of Nardelli, a pick AFSCME leader Rich Abelson later admitted had been terrible, hadnt worked.

Neither would its backing of Ryan.

Walker took 55% of the vote in a county where two years earlier George W. Bush hadnt managed to get 40%.

Walker nearly swept the suburbs, beat Ryan in his home base, and even managed 48% in the City of Milwaukee, a Democratic stronghold.

Walk-er! Walk-er! Walk-er! his backers chanted at his party before a band swung into Roll Out the Barrel.

Ryan drew comfort from campaign adviser Dennis Conta before conceding.

It could have been worse, Jim, Conta suggested. You could have won.

A new boss, a new era

A new boss, a new era

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (right) and Jim Villa, Chief of Staff, work out strategy during a meeting in the County Executive's offices at the Milwaukee County Courthouse December 31, 2002.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (right) and Jim Villa, Chief of Staff, work out strategy during a meeting in the County Executive's offices at the Milwaukee County Courthouse December 31, 2002.

The County Courthouse staff didnt exactly hail the chief when Scott Walker took charge in May 2002, the first outsider and first Republican to lead Milwaukee County.

Skippy, as the rank and file soon christened him, inspired a brew of suspicion, snickers and scorn.

A good newscaster, one union chief said.

Walker will get a spanking if he fights the legislative branch, promised longtime County Board member Lee Holloway, who soon became chairman.

Their swagger didnt last long. County Board members were stunned as voters upset over their support of a budget-busting pension scheme recalled seven from their ranks of 25, in some cases with backdoor Walker help.

Many longtime county employees expected the unproven but ambitious 34-year-old to overreach or soon extricate himself from the county government quagmire by running for higher office.

He promised hed only run once for re-election.

But soon after the recall results, hundreds of county workers retired early, with their pensions and buyouts, fearing Walker would wipe out their jobs or  even worse  rescind their lucrative lifelong benefit packages.

The notorious deal that drove longtime County Executive Tom Ament from office didnt just massively boost pensions and invent a cash payout for those working past their early retirement eligibility.

It also boosted wages 12% over four years, tacked on huge cash credits for banked sick leave days and added a sixth week of vacation after 20 years.

People were walking away with outstanding monthly pensions plus lump sums of $50,000, $100,000, $500,000 and even $1 million.

A highway maintenance worker, for example, got a $307,000 lump sum plus a $27,900 annual pension. An administrator at the county Mental Health Complex got $684,000 plus a $43,839 pension. A deputy district attorneys lump sum was $976,499 plus nearly $73,000 a year for life.

The payments epitomized the courthouses entitlement culture.

County beaches were polluted and largely left untended; county buildings were falling apart.

The public safety net protecting people in one of the nations most impoverished areas was fraying despite big property tax hikes and a new sales tax.

But Ament and his clique found enough cash to hand managers two pension-enhancing raises a year, including a supposedly merit-based 5%  just for breathing the air, as one exasperated county official said.

Many got free lifetime health care. Nepotism ran wild. Some had taken lavish junkets.

The ride was over.

A man of 'strong faith'

Walker didnt rush to drain the swamp. First he tested the temperature.

He dumped only one department head, a shirttail relative of Aments, after learning that most top managers had expensive severance deals. He kept Aments tricked-out county van, dubbed Van Force One by Walkers staffers.

He ended the practice of shaking down county managers for campaign cash.

He surprised courthouse veterans with his management savvy. In cabinet meetings, Walker took copious notes and solicited opinions.

With reporters, the new exec  he preferred plain old Scott  made himself available daily and answered questions, in microscopic policy detail, until they ran out of things to ask.

With aides, Walker was guarded outside the circle he brought in from Madison. He was all business and totally dialed-in to calculating the political costs of his actions, county officials said.

He doesnt lift the veil, said Donald Natzke, who directed the county Office for Persons with Disabilities under Walker.

As Walker settled in, visitors to his office  lobbyists, county contractors, business and civic leaders  discovered he had an unapologetic certainty and a gift for diplomacy even in disagreement.

At the time, one of his 2002 campaign rivals, African-American leader Tyrone Dumas, lauded Walkers strong faith and principles that involve the human spirit and a love for all people.

'A show of good faith'

The new boss even enjoyed a honeymoon phase with the old bosses  organized labor.

His office lobbied the County Board alongside the unions on some mutual interests. Walker kibitzed at AFSCMEs offices, the unions leader, Rich Abelson, recalled.

Everybody thought I was going to come in here and blow up the place, Walker teased as he built a rapport ahead of 2004 labor talks.

Then came a stunner.

AFSCME had filed a grievance against the county under Ament, saying he had put union-level jobs in management to get around hiring rules. In August, Walker dropped the countys defense against their grievance.

The move greatly swelled the union ranks and made hundreds of workers eligible for parts of the retirement deal that had been stripped from non-union workers after the scandal.

Perhaps Walker was just cutting his losses ahead of an arbitrators ruling, but Abelson saw more.

It was a show of good faith, Abelson said. He said it was sneaky, what Ament had done.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker greets President George W. Bush (center) as Gregory Gracz, president of the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters hugs Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson at the airport. The visit was on Oct. 3, 2003. Photos: A new era begins as Scott Walker becomes county executive

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker greets President George W. Bush (center) as Gregory Gracz, president of the Milwaukee Professional Firefighters hugs Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson at the airport. The visit was on Oct. 3, 2003.

Some saw in Walker a surprising naivete.

Its like Father Flanagan, recall leader Chris Kliesmet said. Walker believed there are no bad boys.

Walker was no political innocent though.

Capitalizing on his Bush White House connections, Walker held two Chicago fundraisers, one featuring Bush strategist Karl Rove.

An official at investment banking firm Bear Stearns with ties to Walker helped with the fundraising, which came just a month after the firm won work on a $100 million county bond refinancing. (The firm was a huge player in the public sector across Wisconsin on similar deals.)

When Walker administration officials told a Journal Sentinel reporter they had lost or destroyed all notes from the Bear Stearns deal, local prosecutors began criminal investigations.

The records were quickly found after a story appeared in the newspaper about them being missing.

At the time, Walker was considering hiring a new firm to advise the county pension fund on financial matters. Donors at the Chicago events included those looking for the business.

Walker met during the fundraising trip with officials from a firm Bear Stearns was pushing for the job, then collected a $2,500 campaign gift from the spouse of an executive at the firm.

It came out later, in emails, that a Bear Stearns official was in discussions with top Walker staff members about his picks for the countys Pension Board, which oversaw the investments.

A county audit found that Bear Stearns bid should have been tossed for vagueness, but found no improprieties. Prosecutors backed off.

Needed concessions

Walkers outreach to labor was no accident.

He couldnt balance county budgets, freeze taxes and trim labor costs, as he had promised, without getting concessions from unions representing 80% of the countys 7,000-strong workforce.

The massively generous benefits were an inside job masterminded by management, which benefited personally from them, and later handed to the unions, unsolicited. Why would they voluntarily give them up?

Another reality was labors vise grip on county government.

Former union leaders held key leadership spots on the County Board or, under Ament, had top jobs in the administration, even running labor negotiations. In some respects, labor had been on both sides of the bargaining table.

Still, management was considered the enemy of the unions, per rank and file sentiment.

Even rumors of sharing a golf game with a manager could get a union leader sideways with workers, one local leader said.

Incumbent County Board members feared getting a union-sponsored challenger in the next election and facing labors get-out-the-vote machine. Their most vocal constituents were union members.

Rob McDonald was one of the conservatives ushered onto the County Board in the wave of recall elections.

He quickly noticed that employees active in union leadership had exalted status around the County Board offices.

It felt like they worked there, like they were (board) staff, said McDonald, whose car had a vanity license plate that read: TAX H8R.

Supervisors first loyalty was to the County Board, then to employees, then to taxpayers, then to the public at large, said former Supervisor Roger Quindel, a liberal Democrat.

'Youre gone, youre history!'

Abelson, like Walker, had success early.

Both men believed their side was morally superior. Both were inspired by labor strikes.

There the similarities ended.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker begins the first of 10 public hearings on the county budget at the Northwest Senior Center. This one was held in August 2003.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker begins the first of 10 public hearings on the county budget at the Northwest Senior Center. This one was held in August 2003.

Abelson rose from Chicagos south side, the son of a tinsmith who died young. That left Abelsons mother to raise the family.

Steeped in the womens movement and civil rights principles, Abelson told the story in a union newsletter of how he helped AFSCME organize a union at a private dormitory where he worked as an undergraduate on the University of Illinois campus.

After a quick strike, the workers got a contract. Abelson was an organizer and member of the unions negotiating team.

He later earned a masters degree in industrial relations at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, then staffed AFSCME offices in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Abelson was used to getting his way. His insults and threats sometimes stung even allies in labor and on the County Board.

Youre dead! Youre gone! Youre history! County Supervisor Lynne DeBruin recalls Abelson telling her in one dispute, as he threatened to use union clout to unseat her in the next election.

Walkers backstory differed in key respects.

He was reared in small Midwestern towns. His mother, Pat, did bookkeeping and wrote a newspaper column. His father, Llew, a Baptist minister, drew inspiration from the 1960s civil rights movement and met the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. But Scott was a Cold War kid, taken with Ronald Reagans patriotism and his firing of striking air traffic controllers when they launched an illegal strike.

In Walker, Abelson had a quiet but determined adversary.

Ive watched him when huge men would pound their fists on the table and threaten, and he wouldnt even break a sweat, Abelson said.

Union critics castigated Walker as coldhearted  accusations that his allies said hardened his anti-union views.

Walker typically refrained from responding in kind.

He was virtually immovable once he made a decision, though his habit of head-nodding often left the misimpression he agreed.

'What a lousy deal'

The image of easygoing Scott lingered for several months.

He compromised with Holloway, the County Board chairman, on shrinking the board from 25 members to 19, rather than reducing pay and responsibilities for all supervisors to part-time levels.

Walker had campaigned on a 70% pay slice for board members. That was one of the three promises on the campaign magnet.

In his first budget, Walker cut just 35 jobs and avoided most privatization. He was still able to get his promised zero-tax increase.

Walker reduced funding for drug and alcohol treatment for the poor, breaking a campaign vow to ministers to hold funding steady.

He lied! activists with the Milwaukee Innercity Congregations Allied for Hope chanted during a protest in his outer office. He lied!

Walker went after the Sheriffs Office, a courthouse sacred cow that had been recently taken over by fellow conservative David A. Clarke Jr., who labeled Walkers budget dangerous.

No money, Walker said, for an AIDS prevention program that gave clean needles to drug users.

Some cuts were mainly symbolic: He nixed tax dollars for the water coolers and reduced jail inmates allotments for aspirin and newspapers.

Then, Walker put once-comfortable County Board supervisors in the bulls-eye on the budget.

He incited protests to board members by encouraging blistering criticism on conservative talk radio. A mysterious front group, later tied to the GOP and big business, aired misleading radio ads warning voters about a massive tax hike that no one was proposing.

Board members carped about the killer instincts beneath Walkers nice-guy image.

This is like the McCarthy era! Holloway complained.

Walker budget gimmicks would mean red ink early in 2003, supervisors predicted.

But the board came close to enacting the executives tax freeze.

Walker declared victory.

Who will blink first?

Who will blink first?

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Joe Hooper ( left) and Harold Beckham, both Milwaukee County Parks maintenance employees, react to the honks of passing cars during a rally Sept. 9, 2003, outside the Milwaukee County Courthouse to protest Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's lay off of county workers and plans to privatize park services. Walker announced 280 layoffs effective in mid-September to help close a 2003 budget deficit.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Joe Hooper ( left) and Harold Beckham, both Milwaukee County Parks maintenance employees, react to the honks of passing cars during a rally Sept. 9, 2003, outside the Milwaukee County Courthouse to protest Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's lay off of county workers and plans to privatize park services. Walker announced 280 layoffs effective in mid-September to help close a 2003 budget deficit.

The summer of 2003 was the beginning of the end of Scott Walkers surprising honeymoon with big labor at Milwaukee County.

As critics foresaw, the execs first county budget hit tilt just a few months into the year.

Walker declared a crisis and sought a new round of cuts, mindful of his campaign promise to shrink the county workforce.

At a meeting called to gather ideas for emergency reductions, union leaders felt Walker ignored their suggestion of rolling, voluntary layoffs.

Voluntary givebacks werent going to be nearly enough, Walker said.

His idea was to temporarily trim workweeks to 35 hours. Under that plan, employees might suffer a 12% pay cut for five weeks one year. For the next year, he was considering pay cuts for up to 20 weeks.

When the meeting got a little tense, he became more defiant, recalled Patty Yunk, an AFSCME leader.

Walker recalled that union leaders dug in their heels. They were not giving up any of the lavish benefits they enjoyed in order to save someone elses job.

Walker knew that under collective bargaining rules that had been agreed to by his predecessor, he needed union approval for a shortened workweek.

So he made clear the alternative would be hundreds of layoffs  and he promised to tell workers any job losses were their unions fault.

That teed off AFSCMEs Rich Abelson, who saw Walkers layoff threat as blackmail.

Why not ask private companies under contract with the county to sacrifice instead of county workers? Or promise no layoffs if labor agreed to shorter workweeks?

In his 2013 biography Unintimidated: A Governors Story and a Nations Challenge, Walker recalled sitting across from Abelson in the county executives office and walking through the layoff scenario.

He looked me in the eye and said, Go ahead and do it! Walker wrote. Abelson denies it.

The two men failed to reach a deal.

A throng of union workers and their allies on the County Board rallied at the Courthouse, denouncing Walkers lies about cutting fat. It was the kind of tactic that had worked time and again in the past.

Even Citizens for Responsible Government, the recall group that had helped put Walker in office, complained that he was sparing management from the cuts.

Walker didnt hesitate to make the layoffs.

In all, he pink-slipped 280, including workers in parks, social services, corrections, custodial, security and support staff.

In his book, Walker would write that public-sector unions were an absolutely ridiculous notion. He called them unelected dictators feeding off taxpayer-funded salaries to get dues payments they used to pressure government for higher salaries and spending.

To trusted aides, emails showed, Walker once passed around a list he found of the Top ten ways to tell if you might be a member of a public-sector union.

Number 3: You spend more time at protest marches than at church.

Number 8: You get paid twice as much as a private sector person doing the same job but make up the difference by doing half as much work.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files County workers and others gather outside the Milwaukee County Courthouse on Sept. 9, 2003 to protest Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's plan to layoff of county workers and privatize some park services. Photos: Scott Walker has a showdown with county leaders

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files County workers and others gather outside the Milwaukee County Courthouse on Sept. 9, 2003 to protest Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's plan to layoff of county workers and privatize some park services.

Abelson began to portray Walkers motives as sinister.

Walkers real agenda was eliminating family-sustaining jobs through sweetheart deals with private companies, Abelson told workers at the Courthouse protest.

After the layoffs, mowing of the grass in county parks slowed to a three-week rotation. With half the custodial staff gone, tumbleweeds of trash swirled in Courthouse hallways.

Judges scrubbed toilets in their jury rooms.

Partly in reaction to criticism over targeting front-liners, and protecting managers, Walker engineered a made-for-TV head-rolling. He abruptly fired his management crew at the Parks Department when a heat wave left kids without pools after emergency funding cuts  reductions Walker himself had approved.

In Walkers view, Abelson was willing to sacrifice jobs and services to the citizens in order to preserve lucrative benefits for workers with seniority.

Walker said he found himself laying off crying young workers who begged him to try furloughs.

Its not for me to reconsider  go talk to your union steward, go talk to union leadership, he told them.

Abelson and Walker barely spoke for the next seven years.

Taxpayers over faceless bureaucrats

Since he was finishing Tom Aments term, Walker would stand for re-election in early 2004, just a year after the layoffs and service cuts.

And before election day, he would unveil more grim budget moves, including the highest bus fares in America.

Walker repeatedly blamed the sorry state of county finances on Aments malfeasance.

He called for sacrifice and noted his own self-imposed salary cut.

And in a page from Ronald Reagan, he put forth flesh-and-blood winners from the tax freeze.

The choice is paying for more faceless government bureaucracy or siding with overburdened property-tax payers like Bob Bitters, Walker said in the fall of 2003, when rolling out the budget for the next year.

Bitters, who had handed Walker his tax bill during the 2002 campaign, was laid off from a steel plant at one point in his life.

As a common man, I thought it was unusual to see a politician who says I can get by with less salary, Bitters said of his support for Walker.

Employees were livid over Walkers faceless bureaucrats line.

One wrote to Walker after the exec praised a manager for erasing needless bureaucratic work by leaving a position unfilled.

The retiring childrens court worker who held that job, Maurice Miller, wrote that the agency was already understaffed, putting in doubt the proper supervision of juvenile offenders released in the community.

I see your view of life as being, If something costs less it has to be a better thing, he wrote.

Walker  always most animated when talk turned to frugality  was tapping into Milwaukees vaunted thrift.

When people here complain there isnt parking, its not because theres no open spot, said business leader Tim Sheehy, a strong Walker supporter. It means theres no spot with time left on the meter.

With the election approaching, the County Board was agreeable to austerity.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (left) shares a light moment with challenger David Riemer during a during a March 27, 2004 forum at St. Matthews C.M.E. Church in Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (left) shares a light moment with challenger David Riemer during a during a March 27, 2004 forum at St. Matthews C.M.E. Church in Milwaukee.

Rather than boost taxes, the board tapped surpluses and raised fees to restore Walkers cuts to homeless shelters, courts, disability aid, university extension and witness protection.

Bus riders werent thrilled. The two-year tally under Walker was 12 bus routes lost, 10 more trimmed.

But property tax collections would actually fall a bit, a huge win for Walker.

In the end, he signed the budget without issuing any vetoes.

In the spring election, he faced well-connected David Riemer, a top budget aide to Gov. Jim Doyle and Milwaukee Mayor John Norquist, both Democrats.

Riemer, a Harvard-educated Democrat, had won national acclaim on welfare reform and anti-poverty tax policies.

His negatives as a campaigner: He was a policy wonk, not a baby-kisser. He also entered the race late, only after others showed little interest in taking on Walker.

And who should come along to deny Riemer support?

Abelson, the union chief.

Despite its loathing of Walker, AFSCMEs leaders remembered past battles with Norquist and Riemer at City Hall.

So the pivotal union refused to endorse in the 2004 county executives race.

Riemer emptied his playbook, knocking Walker as a friend of the rich, a flip-flopper, a failed reformer.

His campaign revealed that Walker had neglected a promise that his office aides waive eligibility for pieces of the Ament pension deal.

Walker didnt rattle.

He ripped Riemer as a liberal spendthrift.

He made a special effort to reach out to African-American voters, aligning with black county supervisors and Marvin Pratt, an alderman vying to be Milwaukees first elected black mayor.

By the numbers, Walkers April 2004 triumph was impressive.

In notching a 14-point win, he lost but one suburb and even eked out a win in the City of Milwaukee, where seven months later the Bush-Cheney ticket would get a measly 28%. In the citys African-American wards, he drew 42% of the vote.

The lesson: Belt-tightening was a ballot-box hit.

With the momentum came confidence, as Walker began planning a bid for governor  and more.

The rest of the state  and indeed, the nation  are watching to see the direction we take over the next few months and years, Walker said at his May 3, 2004 inaugural.

Laying down a marker for Abelson, Walker said any deal starting in 2005 would have to repeal the Ament benefits as much as legally possible.

The unions, he predicted, would agree to revolutionary changes.

Eyes on a bigger prize

Eyes on a bigger prize

Beyond an occasional God bless you or a pledge to read more of his Bible, Scott Walker was generally circumspect about displaying his steadfast Christian faith on the job at Milwaukee County.

But he sought divine guidance on things political when in private.

By late 2004, not long after winning a full term, he said his prayers convinced him it was Gods will that he run for governor.

An unwanted sign from above poured forth in mid-January 2005.

For the second time, water fell from the Courthouses leaky and neglected roof onto the floor of his executive office.

In truth Walker didnt need a push to plot his exit from a local government that couldnt afford basic repairs.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (left) talks with Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and Irish Ambassador Noel Fahey at a reception held for Thompson at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington, DC January 18, 2005.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker (left) talks with Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and Irish Ambassador Noel Fahey at a reception held for Thompson at the Embassy of Ireland in Washington, DC January 18, 2005.

He already was tending to state and national ambitions.

The previous summer, he had crisscrossed the state in a self-promotional motorcycle tour with fellow Harley-Davidson riders, a technique first used by Gov. Tommy Thompson.

At the same time, he served as a statewide co-chair for President George W. Bushs 2004 re-election campaign. His duties included stoking fears of voter fraud.

His focus on county matters began to blur, leaving key department head posts unfilled and two straight budgets in deficit. Contract talks with some unions halted at one point for lack of a negotiator.

So dysfunctional was the three-ring circus of Walker, the unions and County Board that Courthouse denizens made up a moniker for the grand workplace with polished-stone floors:

The Marble Big Top.

Strongmen! Watch County Board Chairman Lee Holloway knock colleague Roger Quindel over his desk.

Sideshows! See County Supervisor Toni Clark divert campaign cash for a gambling stash, then sit in jail.

Reformers splinter

Meanwhile, the reform engine was sputtering.

Recallers thought Walker had blown a chance to help elect a reform-friendly County Board majority.

In the 2004 elections there was no cooperation. They were only worried about Scott, said Vi Hammelman, who ran the campaign that had ousted County Board Chair Karen Ordinans after the 2002 pension scandal.

One of those elected in the board recall, Walker ally Tim Johnson, walked away from politics entirely, calling Walkers tax freeze emphasis a sophomoric campaign gimmick.

I thought we were going to do something big, decide what we can do really well and cut some services entirely, Johnson told a reporter at the time. Were just dying a slower death.

Even some business leaders called out the constant cutting as a losing development strategy.

As the pension deals impact on county finances grew, the County Board rejected most of Walkers moves to privatize various services. It largely restored money for parks, the arts, drug treatment, courts and social programs.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files More than 60 MICAH (Milwaukee Innercity Congregations allied for Hope), and Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee members crowded and prayed in Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's office Thursday, September 4, 2002. They were demanding Scott Walker restore $1 million of Potawatomi funds to the AODA voucher program. Photos: Scott Walker eyes the governorship

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files More than 60 MICAH (Milwaukee Innercity Congregations allied for Hope), and Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee members crowded and prayed in Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's office Thursday, September 4, 2002. They were demanding Scott Walker restore $1 million of Potawatomi funds to the AODA voucher program.

That slowed the shrinking of the government. Property taxes were rising again.

Like Walkers first budget, the second one bled red at years end, with revenues failing to cover expenses.

The reform movement failed Walker, said Chris Kliesmet, a leader of the Citizens for Responsible Government group.

When that common enemy was gone, he said, people said Lets go back to what we are.

As Walkers gaze widened, he saw a handful of Republican governors clobbering unions.

One was Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, the former Bush budget chief.

In a move Walker would years later call a beautiful thing, Daniels was able to unilaterally wipe out collective bargaining by state employees with a 2005 executive order.

Daniels had hesitated at first, envisioning mass protests, Walker later wrote. The mass protests didnt come to pass, but Indianas unions took a heavy hit: Within five years, union ranks fell by 90%.

Later Daniels said the move allowed hundreds of millions in savings from quick, wide-scale privatization, reorganization, pay freezes and higher health care contributions from workers  things private-sector unions were already familiar with.

In Wisconsin, a county executive such as Walker had no authority to rescind contracts.

But he could send a warning message to the unions.

On Jan. 10, 2005, he asked the Legislature and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle to let local officials strictly limit contractual pay and benefit increases for public workers.

Walkers request went nowhere, of course.

Two weeks later, he formally announced his run for Doyles job.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker shows the url of his web site as he kicks off his first campaign for governor January 24, 2004 in front of his home in Wauwatosa.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker shows the url of his web site as he kicks off his first campaign for governor January 24, 2004 in front of his home in Wauwatosa.

A new platform

Walkers time at the Courthouse had been marked by a no-drama style, understated rhetoric and technocratic tendencies.

Now, running for governor, Walker used a campaign blog to criticize union power and what he saw as the undue fringe benefits it promoted.

Liberals in Madison, he complained, wanted medical leave to go nearly as far as giving an employee the right to take a couple of days off to recover from a hangover.

School employee benefits: Out of touch with the rest of society.

Higher education administrators: Overpaid.

In a speech, Walker derided the Milwaukee 7, a new, business-led drive to boost global exports and attract industry, as putting lipstick on a pig. High labor costs in union-heavy Milwaukee, he said, had to be fixed first.

Walker wasnt targeting unions just on policy grounds.

He knew the public sector unions were a driving force statewide for Democratic candidates.

He knew they would attack him using money collected from members government paychecks.

And they did  through a labor-funded ad buy in the 2006 cycle that tallied $4.6 million, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

A nonstop promotional thing

There were warning signs for Walker that the Republican establishment preferred Mark Green, a Green Bay congressman also seeking the partys gubernatorial nod.

Walker resisted when some party officials urged him to defer to the slightly older Green.

Its kind of condescending, he told a reporter. Its exactly what got us Bob Dole in 96.

Walker couldnt even rely on his talk-radio megaphone in Milwaukee, Charlie Sykes.

For three years it was like a nonstop promotional thing for me, Walker told a reporter. Charlie now is being very cautious to play it even.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Congressman Mark Green (right) listens to Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker endorse him as the Republican candidate for governor during a news conference March 27, 2006 in West Allis.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Congressman Mark Green (right) listens to Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker endorse him as the Republican candidate for governor during a news conference March 27, 2006 in West Allis.

By necessity, Walker positioned himself as the underdog against Green.

Again he moved to reinvent himself, this time as a Madison outsider despite his own state legislative background.

He crammed campaign trips into his schedule, exhibiting a live the job drive.

Its like a good salesperson, remarked Kliesmet. All his friends are his clients. His hobbies are playing golf so he can play golf with his clients. He buys a boat so he can take his friends who are his clients out.

The Marble Big Top, of course, didnt close down while Walker campaigned. The trapeze-like highs and lows at the Courthouse provided campaign fodder for both Walker and his foes.

The Journal Sentinel found that county caseworkers regularly sent mentally ill clients to dangerous housing. Walker later approved new housing units, working with Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett despite their poor relationship.

A move with County Board Chair Lee Holloway blocked what Walkers administration called rampant fraud in a medical care program for uninsured poor. Walker squeezed millions from hospitals to spare the program from cuts.

Thou Shalt Not Speak Ill

Walker the candidate was confronting Ronald Reagans Eleventh Commandment:

Thou shalt not speak ill of any Republican.

His heros example influenced most of who he is, Walker has said. He even married Tonette Schleker on Reagans birthday.

The Walkers serve Reagans favorite macaroni and cheese and patriotic colored jelly beans every year on that date.

A cab driver could tell you his ideas, Walker said admiringly in February 2015, praising the simplicity of Reagans message based upon the most profound of ideas.

Would Walker, child of the party, stray from Ronnies rule?

By early 2006, Walker had traveled the state for 14 months and raised $1 million.

He began painting Green, a fellow Republican who shared most of his policy views, as a captive of Washington.

Then Walker pulled off a rarity in politics  a surprise ending.

In late March 2006, in a speech at a Republican event at a Waukesha hotel, he pulled the plug.

After a great deal of prayer during the past week, it is clear that it is Gods will for me to step out of the race, he said, ending a 14-month run. He blamed lagging fundraising and a desire to avoid an intraparty fight.

After his brief speech, Scott and Tonette melted away to a restaurant with volunteers.

It was a time to grieve. We didnt understand why this happened, recalled Vicky Ostry, a campaign worker.

Therell be another time, a pensive Walker said. Now we have to help Mark Green.

Maybe Walker knew something Green didnt.

Even with lots of help from Walker, the congressman fell to Doyle. Democrats rode a national wave as voters expressed anger about where the country was going with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and disastrous federal rescue efforts in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Democrats won both houses of the state Legislature, too. They controlled state government in Wisconsin.

But that wouldnt last long.

A battle over bargaining

A battle over bargaining

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files A large VETO sign rests against a wall of the Italian Community Center during a "CRG" Citizens for Responsible Government, "Veto Super Rally", November 13, 2009. The rally was intended to send a message to the County Board to uphold Walker's anticipated veto of tax increases proposed by the board.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files A large VETO sign rests against a wall of the Italian Community Center during a "CRG" Citizens for Responsible Government, "Veto Super Rally", November 13, 2009. The rally was intended to send a message to the County Board to uphold Walker's anticipated veto of tax increases proposed by the board.

Labor leaders watched in wonder as some of their own members began to flock around Scott Walker at county employee picnics.

One high-ranking labor boss even ponied up for Walkers campaign.

Most of the union brass couldnt stomach that Walker might be winning voters on the substance of his actions. That left style as their only explanation.

Even Walker allies agreed he had a winning persona as county executive.

Hispanic business leader Maria Monreal Cameron was among those who praised him despite occasional differences.

Scott has always been a caballero, a gentleman, said Monreal-Cameron, who led the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin. He made you feel like you were the most important person in the world with the most important issue.

Shes still a fan today despite her deep disappointment in Walker backtracking from his support for a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants. She is a first-generation American, born of Mexican parents who met in a Texas cotton field.

Recall leader Chris Kliesmet saw shades of motivational speaker Tony Robbins in Walker.

You get people to follow you and do things not so much by the facts, but the way you make them feel, Kliesmet said.

But the labor heads saw a darker side.

One American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees official, David Eisner, said Walker used his choir-boy charm and aura of Eagle Scout innocence to hide his blind ambition.

Kurt Zunker, who led an AFSCME local, thought Walker was attractive to union members who had a white privilege mentality.

Many younger white workers, Zunker said, resented union-backed seniority rules and legal decrees that gave promotion and hiring advantages to racial minorities.

Rich Abelson, Walkers chief antagonist and leader of AFSCMEs Milwaukee council, insisted his rivals certainty reflected ignorance.

Its a gift, Abelson would say.

In Abelsons eyes, Walker was an empty suit doing the bidding of billionaire businessmen, CEOs and conservative ideologues.

Scott Walker had felt underestimated, even demonized, before.

Staying with the playbook

In one sense, nothing had changed at the county while Walker concentrated on his 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

There was still no deal with AFSCME, which had been without a contract for two years.

It was a costly delay because the spigot of the giant pension payouts remained open.

While AFSCME and Walker argued, 500 new workers had been hired and became eligible to take part of their pension as a big lump sum if they retired from county and met other rules down the road.

By the end of 2006, eight other county unions had given up the lump-sums for new workers.

AFSCME wanted protections against layoffs and privatization of county jobs in return for new employees not getting the lump-sum option.

Walker wanted much more: a 20% pension cut for existing employees future years of service. He also sought from AFSCME something else other unions had agreed to: employees paying a greater share of their health costs.

Leaders of smaller unions found Walker fair to work with in negotiations.

We had great contracts, nothing was eroded, Wisconsin Federation of Nurses & Health Professionals president Candice Owley recalls. They never even proposed big changes in benefits.

Abelson drew some criticism, even among liberals, for not finding a way to save union jobs.

The union attitude always has been, More and more for fewer and fewer, Supervisor Roger Quindel said of AFSCME.

But union critic Kliesmet understood Abelsons stance.

You cant fault him for staying with the playbook, he said. You dont change until you have to.

Walker wanted a whole new playbook, even a 401(k)-style system instead of guaranteed pensions, but county supervisors called that an unrealistic ask.

In Madison, Republicans were cool to ideas Walker floated during the 2006 race, including altering state law to allow union contracts to be voided.

The Legislature cant just wave a magic wand to undo contracts, state Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills) said at the time.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files James Macon with Local 998 Transit Workers Union protests outside a "CRG" Citizens for Responsible Government, "Veto Super Rally", in front of the Italian Community Center November 14, 2009. Photos: Scott Walker runs for re-election and battles labor

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files James Macon with Local 998 Transit Workers Union protests outside a "CRG" Citizens for Responsible Government, "Veto Super Rally", in front of the Italian Community Center November 14, 2009.

Gloom and doom

Determined to find a leverage point, Walker began to lay out what he viewed as the countys desperate financial picture.

Through attrition, layoffs and mass retirements, the employee base was down more than 1,000, or 15%. Even law enforcement ranks were down 10%.

But retirement and health care obligations were still rising, threatening to force deeper service cutbacks.

Walker saw government through a business lens.

He did not want to pass on huge legacy costs to his customers  the taxpayers.

Yet Milwaukees business establishment was at odds with some of Walkers proposals.

The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce had no problem with reining in pay and benefits. But it wanted better public transit to bring workers to jobs, and more county funding to sustain cultural institutions.

You cant cut your way to prosperity, MMAC head Tim Sheehy said at the time.

Business leaders thought Walker should consider a new tax. But Walker blocked an advisory referendum sought by the County Board on a new sales tax for parks, transit and law enforcement.

The county could do more with less, he insisted.

Hed point to parks director Sue Black, whod won national praise for restoring life to many attractions with help from private donations and sheer force of will.

On Blacks watch, Bradford Beach was rejuvenated, the county built new swimming attractions, the Washington Park bandshell reopened and the Hoyt Park pool was restored.

Walker went ahead with his plan to highlight the countys deep problems. It was risky, because it undermined his narrative of making progress.

Abelson called it a Gloom and Doom Tour. Walker acknowledged using a worst-case scenario.

In late 2006, after the County Board rejected a privatization plan, Walker moved to hire private contractors anyway, and released a videotape of a custodian sleeping during a shift. AFSCME sued.

The strategy restarted negotiations.

Three days after Christmas 2006, union and county negotiators agreed on a deal covering 2005-08.

The deal included limits on pension payouts for newly hired workers, but not existing ones.

That partially fulfilled Walkers campaign promise.

The concession came with a price. The county acquiesced to protections against layoffs and privatization, and awarded raises.

Walker didnt think the deal went nearly far enough, but he swallowed it.

Abelson called it a successful contract. AFSCME members backed it 80% to 20%.

Re-election bid

In winning the county executive job in 2002, Walker had promised that he would serve only one full term, after finishing the last two years of Tom Aments term. Given that promise, he shouldnt have even been on the ballot in 2008.

Asked about his future after exiting the governors race, Walker told reporters hed consider running anywhere there was a leadership gap.

How about GOP Congressman Jim Sensenbrenners seat?

Sensenbrenner, joshed Walker, has looked like hes needed to retire physically for the last 20 years.

Walker tried backtracking but got in deeper, saying, the only way (Sensenbrenner) is leaving the House is in a wooden box.

This was an out-of-character episode.

Walker rarely jested in public and never gossiped with reporters. He was cordial and put people at ease, but wasnt the backslapping or storytelling type.

Such discipline required an amazing level of calculation and evaluation, said one of Walkers department heads, Don Natzke.

And it worked.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Lena Taylor (right) states that the results would have been different for the election, if she'd had a little more time and a little more money, as she speaks at her post-campaign party. Taylor ran for Milwaukee County e Executive against Scott Walker.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Lena Taylor (right) states that the results would have been different for the election, if she'd had a little more time and a little more money, as she speaks at her post-campaign party. Taylor ran for Milwaukee County e Executive against Scott Walker.

Walker said he still had work to do cleaning up the county, so he was seeking another term.

But with his sights set on higher office, he wanted a convincing re-election win to keep up his momentum.

His foe this time: firebrand state Sen. Lena Taylor (D-Milwaukee), a liberal African-American lawyer.

Walker was vulnerable on several issues.

Security lapses, bad management, poor employee morale and crowded conditions marked the county House of Correction in Franklin and a downtown work-release center. In another episode, a raft of pension overpayments was discovered.

At the time, researchers at Milwaukees Public Policy Forum were preparing a damning report card that said long-term county solvency was questionable at best.

All the Band-Aid budgeting had staved off a crisis, but services cuts were indiscriminate, reserves depleted, the Forum reported. Long-term debt had jumped as pension and health costs soared.

Taylor received AFSCME backing but couldnt persuade the state teachers union to go after Walker.

In 24 face-to-face forums with Taylor, Walker stuck to the Ronald Reagan blueprint  keep it simple, repeat it often  and asked voters for more time to fix the county.

In the end, Walker gained ground in the suburbs, pulling 7 in 10 votes. He lost his edge in the city of Milwaukee, but still managed 47%.

Countywide, it was his most dominating win yet, with 59%.

All set up for another run at Madison.

Friday: The candidate readies a bomb aimed at labor. Can they stop him this time?

A power shift in Madison

A power shift in Madison

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Scott Walker and family take the stage in victory November 12, 2010 after he won the gubernatorial race. at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Scott Walker and family take the stage in victory November 12, 2010 after he won the gubernatorial race. at the Country Springs Hotel in Pewaukee.

Eighty miles from Madison, Scott Walker had watched Democrats bolstered by union cash sweep to one-party control of the Capitol in November 2008.

He watched them open 20,000 new state jobs on university campuses to union representation, a huge new source of dues money for labor.

He watched them ram through a budget repair bill in 24 hours that boosted taxes and fees on business by $1.2 billion over three years.

Now aiming for the 2010 governors contest, Walker offered a different path.

State employees should give toward their pensions and pay more of health care costs or face layoffs, like private-sector workers had done. Federal stimulus funds should be shunned because they also increased the burden on taxpayers.

Republicans, he insisted, were not losing because of their views.

Weak messengers delivering a watered-down platform  that was the problem.

Too many politicians attempt to please everyone and end up disappointing almost everyone, Walker emailed an aide.

This time his campaign got help from high places.

Heading the effort was Michael Grebe, the Republican guru whose Wisconsin-based Bradley Foundation was pouring grants into a national network of groups combating union power.

At the grassroots, the budding tea party movement offered an army of citizens like CRG upset over taxes and President Barack Obamas expensive new federal health care law.

At one tea party rally, Walker told the crowd the new movement looked to him a lot like the Tom Ament recall that put him in office.

He was massaging the history of the recall, placing himself more at the center of it than as beneficiary of a citizen revolt. When Walker said things like, I was the original tea party in Wisconsin, it rankled one Ament recall leader, Chris Kliesmet.

The Walker record

Walker touted tax relief and smaller government.

He had made headway on holding down taxes in Milwaukee County: The increases under Walker averaged half the Ament-era increases, about 2.4%, lower than inflation.

He claimed a true freeze annually, but in truth that only happened in the first two years of his nine county budgets. And only twice did Walker even propose a levy freeze compared with his own proposal the year before. Walkers claim of freezing taxes was based on him using, as a starting point, the budget the County Board settled on after overriding his vetoes to add more money.

The county workforce under Walker dropped 25%, or 1,700 employees, through attrition, layoffs, privatization and spinoffs.

He touted it as necessary to lower long-term costs, while opponents claimed hed frayed the social safety net.

One county official who worked in both the Walker and Ament eras said that Ament wouldve had to do 95% of what Scott Walker did to balance the budget.

In one case, longstanding lapses at the understaffed county welfare office meant long delays in getting food stamps, health care or even return phone calls.

Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle swooped in, with state takeovers of several county-run welfare programs with poor records.

The only real losers were the people receiving services, County Auditor Jerome Heer said.

Walker scored management points, though, with a strategy to recoup some of the money from the pension deal that had opened the door for him to become county executive.

After years of making a living blaming predecessor Ament and his cronies for the pension scandal, he eagerly went after a new villain to help the countys bottom line.

He sued the countys actuarial consultant, saying it gave bad advice about the pension deal to Ament and others in 2001. The lawsuit netted a $45 million settlement from Mercer.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Scott Walker dances with his wife, Tonette, at the Inaugural Ball at Monona Terrace in Madison January 3, 2011. Photos: Scott Walker is elected governor and enacts Act 10

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Scott Walker dances with his wife, Tonette, at the Inaugural Ball at Monona Terrace in Madison January 3, 2011.

A war with our largest union

Walker wasnt going to wimp out with labor as he built his resume for the next gubernatorial run. He was frustrated at having to manage around them.

We easily could have avoided layoffs, balanced our budget, kept taxes low and delivered better services, Walker would write years later.

Thus began a series of end runs around the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union, now working with an expired contract.

A string of union lawsuits ensued, followed by a new union label for Walker: King Scott.

Budget shortfalls, furlough threats, layoffs, stalled talks, court fights, rallies, marches  the cycle accelerated in 2009 and 2010.

Walker distanced himself from the whole idea of negotiating. At times hed contradict what county negotiators were offering.

He understood how bargaining works but didnt care, said AFSCMEs David Eisner.

Walkers top aide, Cindy Archer, posted anti-union comments and pro-Walker chatter on news websites under the handle Capt1 during the 2010 governors race.

There is no hope for improvement under the current structure and the current cast of players, Capt1 wrote in October 2010.

A few months later she wrote that unions only cared about maximum overtime; keeping slackers, thieves and no-shows on the payroll; and arguing over snow-day pay rates.

Walker went so far as to veto a tentative labor deal between AFSCME and his own county negotiators that traded a wage freeze for guarantees of no layoffs or privatization. He balanced a budget on paper by counting wage and pension concessions that did not exist.

We are creating a war with our largest union, said Supervisor Lynne DeBruin.

No contract agreement would be reached before the November election for governor.

We are never going to get (AFSCMEs support), so I would furlough the hell out of them, Walker chief of staff Thomas Nardelli wrote in an email.

Negotiate, dont dictate!

Walker argued fairness in tough economic times: County employees should accept concessions seen in the private-sector.

He wanted to cut jobs through attrition and reorganization, not random pink slips.

But labor warned against making lower-paid workers a scapegoat for managements schemes.

Negotiate, dont dictate! union members cried at one rally.

Some union leaders argued Walkers delays simply aimed to push off negative effects from his actions beyond the governors race.

Thats just what happened.

The furloughs imposed in the budget later were ruled illegal, resulting in back pay and interest of $6 million to $9 million going to 1,800 employees  about double the original cost.

The race took a twist in late 2009 when Doyle declined to seek a third term.

Unlike in his first bid, Walker was the frontrunner now.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Republican Party candidates for Governor Scott Walker (left) and Mark Neumann, spar during a debate in the WTMJ 620 studio at State Fair Park at noon August 6, 2010.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel files Republican Party candidates for Governor Scott Walker (left) and Mark Neumann, spar during a debate in the WTMJ 620 studio at State Fair Park at noon August 6, 2010.

He amassed $8 million in campaign cash and dispatched former GOP congressman Mark Neumann in the Republican primary.

Money flowed from tens of thousands of small givers, and from heavyweight business backers including the wealthy Koch brothers, David and Charles of Wichita, Kan., who had fought unions all their lives and whose father had launched right-to-work laws in the 1950s.

But Walkers Democratic opponent, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, had no strong primary opponent and by August had more than twice as much on hand as Walker.

Walkers campaign apparatus was humming, buttressed by his office staff in Milwaukee, which came under criminal investigation during a John Doe probe for mixing political and county work. Staffers used a secret email system that shielded campaign and work emails from the public.

I just am afraid of going to jail  ha! ha! office staffer Darlene Wink wrote on the secret server in August 2009.

A top Walker aide, Tim Russell replied, You wouldnt, not for that.

After the election, Wink received probation for fundraising on county time. Russell got a two-year prison term for stealing $21,000 from an annual county-staffed picnic that saluted veterans and boosted Walkers political profile.

As his campaign for governor gained strength, it looked more and more as if there would be a new union man in Walkers life.

Marty Beil, a big man with a Santa Claus beard, at times made Rich Abelson seem mild-mannered.

His Madison-based AFSCME council included the state employees union.

Beil, a former seminarian and probation officer, had been around forever and had deeply influenced governors of both parties.

Characters like Walker didnt understand that employees had traded lower wages for solid pensions, he said.

Later, Beil would threaten that state workers might just strike  illegally.

Does he want our firstborn? he asked.

The next governor would face a $3.6 billion budget shortfall, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Walker also wanted tax cuts.

But he was vague during the campaign about how he would persuade unions to go along with his major budget proposal: pension and health care cost-sharing from employees.

By his own mouth, Walker spoke mainly about getting concessions through tough bargaining. State unions would want to avoid layoffs  or the furloughs Doyle had used, he said.

Less than a week before general election day, Walker faced a direct question at an Oshkosh Northwestern editorial board meeting:

Would he negotiate with state unions over the pension contribution he wanted from employees? Yep, he said.

You still have to negotiate it. I did at the county as well.  Wed approach a similar strategy for the state.

Walkers labor stance sounded tough, not transformative. Labor leaders didnt sense a kill shot was coming.

Or they didnt think that Walker could pull it off if he tried. For the previous two years, Democrats had control of the administration and both chambers of the Legislature.

The elections on Nov. 2, 2010, Scott Walkers 43rd birthday, gave him all he needed.

He easily knocked off Tom Barrett.

Republicans took both chambers of the Legislature in a national wave for the GOP. Walker would take over state government without an opposition party to blunt his agenda, as the County Board had done in Milwaukee.

State unions rushed to finish a contract with the departing Doyle, but a union bricklayer, a Democrat, cast the deciding vote in the Legislature to defeat it.

Walker was free, as he would later say, to drop the bomb on labor, igniting the standoff with unions that made him a national figure.

A decade of jousting with labor seemed only to fuel his rise.

The unions made Scott Walker, County Supervisor Rob McDonald said. He should slap a union label sticker on his car.

In the aftermath

In the years following the Act 10 fight, Walkers national profile grew as he fended off a recall attempt, won re-election and ran unsuccessfully for the GOP nomination for president ultimately seized by Donald Trump.

In his old stomping grounds, Milwaukee County, the fiscal picture improved dramatically.

County Executive Chris Abeles fiscal conservatism, earlier actions by Walker and the County Board, the national economic recovery  all contributed.

But through Act 10, Walker had given his successor, Abele, the powers that he himself lacked while in Milwaukee Countys top job.

The countys overall financial condition  which five years ago was in intensive care  has progressed beyond critical and is heading toward stable, the Public Policy Forum said when it revisited county finances in late 2013.

County government was making new investments in mental health, fixing roads and building up other neglected programs  without raising property taxes or increasing debt.

Gone were the bargaining battles with AFSCME. County employees felt the change in their take-home pay; Abele required workers to pay a much bigger chunk of health care costs.

Gone, too, is Abelson, who moved on to the unions international office in Washington, D.C. On his old turf, the Milwaukee-based AFSCME council lost 70% of its members shortly after Act 10.

As Walker surged to an early lead in the 2016 race for the GOP presidential nomination, an embittered Abelson called Walker a fraud who says hes for workers but cuts family-supporting government jobs.

He destroyed Milwaukee County, Abelson said.

A few months later, AFSCME leaders delighted in Walkers sudden exit from the race.

They saw his fall as a clear repudiation of the federal union limits Walker rolled out in summer 2015 while trying to re-energize his presidential campaign.

Walker disagrees. He said Trump adviser Newt Gingrich emailed him just this week expressing interest in that plan.

They should tackle that, Walker said  and consider term limits on Congress and federal judges, as well as fulfilling promises to secure the border and overturn Obamacare.

They should go big and bold and not hold back, he said, echoing his description of Act 10.

Walker might have had a chance to join Trump in D.C. No doubt, some union leaders in Wisconsin would have helped gas up his old Van Force One  anything to get him out of the state.

But Walker, still only 49 and trying to navigate his complicated relationship with Trump and with Wisconsin voters, says he strongly prefers being governor and leading the Republican Governors Association.

As for seeking a third term, he said, Im not 100% sure, but Im definitely headed in that direction.
Rick Wood / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Kim Schroeder, president of Milwaukee teachers union, addresses parents, educators, students, and community leaders outside Neeskara Elementary School in Milwaukee -- part of a national effort to call attention to funding for public schools.

Firing or disciplining public school teachers is a simpler, speedier and far more management-friendly process after Act 10.

In the collective bargaining days, teachers often had the right through union-negotiated contracts to help select an independent arbitrator to decide disputes.

Now, school administrators alone typically pick  and pay  the referees, known as impartial hearing officers. Its common for districts to turn to current or retired personnel managers from other districts.

Teachers say the new system means fewer safeguards against punishment for political leanings or opposition to school policies.

Administrators say they can more quickly weed out problem teachers without getting tripped up on technicalities or getting outlasted by appeals.

Decisions often come in a few months, or even weeks; in the past, cases typically took more than a school year to resolve, a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel analysis of Wisconsin Employment Relations Commission files found.

The old process, administrators said, discouraged districts from getting rid of teachers except in the most egregious cases. Instead, they often paid problem teachers to walk away.

In the five years before Act 10, state arbitrators sided with teachers in 40% of appeals where a job was on the line, the Journal Sentinel analysis found.

School districts won 52% of the time; split decisions accounted for the rest.

Officials on both sides say the process is now clearly tipped in favor of the districts  most of which have lowered the bar for proving their own case, a Journal Sentinel review of policies in 100 randomly selected districts found.

Few workers even take the first step of filing a grievance, according to officials in both union and management.

In non-firing cases, the unions diminished appeal options mean teachers now face harsher penalties, said Barbara Zack Quindel, an attorney on the union side.

Theres more fear now, she said. Teachers feel they are not protected.

Attorney Mark L. Olson of Waukesha has represented school districts and municipalities for many years.

The schools would almost universally say this is better, said Olson.

But in some cases, public pressure has worked in teachers favor under the new system. School boards are now the final arbiter in grievances.

In West Bend, a union activist was put on paid administrative leave for three weeks after the teacher tangled with an administrator over a teacher petition objecting to the use of a testing system known as Galileo.

Arbitration case study: In December 2005, a teacher in the Iowa-Grant School District protested an assignment to help shepherd students before and after a holiday music program. An elementary school principal had reminded faculty that the collective bargaining agreement called for them to assist at the event as part of their extra duties outside the regular work day. The teacher told the principal she was not comfortable with a Christmas program in a public school and doing so without extra pay. The principal warned that she could face discipline if she didnt show. The teacher attended the program, but filed a grievance in January 2006. In June 2007, an arbitrator ruled for the southwest Wisconsin district, saying it had not violated the union contract. A teacher cannot refuse to attend without first obtaining permission, whatever the basis for that refusal may be, the arbitrator wrote. Read more cases

The School Board agreed to return the teacher, Tanya Lohr, to her classroom amid an outpouring of support from the community.

It was a big win, Lohr said. It showed that teachers and the community would push back. The districts new superintendent, Erik Olson, declined to comment on the decision, which came before he was hired.

In the case of an Oconto teacher who grabbed a disruptive students arm, an administrator called for firing, but the school board reinstated the teacher with back pay and reprimanded her for inappropriate behavior.

One officers views

The hearing officer process was intended to give the employer control over the workforce, and it does, said longtime arbitrator William Houlihan.

He said school administrators can pick hearing officers with whom they are very comfortable.

In turn, those selected can make the union side uneasy.

That is the case with one prominent hearing officer, Mark Kapocius, who has tangled with unions, in court and out, while working in Milwaukee-area districts.

Kapocius, human resources director and general counsel for the Greenfield school district, is openly critical of WEAC, the statewide teachers union, calling it a desperate organization.

His public comments followed a Whitefish Bay teachers union lawsuit that named him personally. He was personnel director when the district reined in retirement health benefit costs. A 2013 union lawsuit challenging the benefits changes was dismissed. In a 2016 interview, Kapocius said teachers should consider quitting the union and pocketing their dues payments as a way to get a raise.

Kapocius, a municipal judge in Greendale, said he follows Supreme Court rules requiring impartiality.

WEAC disagrees.

One district dropped him from hearing a case after the union claimed in court that Kapocius was biased. He called it a baseless intimidation tactic.

Its part of doing business, Kapocius said. I just know what labor leaders are capable of, and I know what I think their objectives are.

Lowering the bar

Unions went on strike and negotiated over decades to secure a just cause firing standard from school districts.

Now, from the review of 100 districts policies, its clear that most have jettisoned that standard.

The old standard set a high bar for districts trying to justify non-renewal of contracts or discipline for misconduct.

In one high-profile case, an arbitrator overturned the 2006 firing of a Cedarburg teacher and union leader accused of viewing pornography on a school computer. The arbitrators decision, which ordered a reprimand, was later overturned by state and federal courts.

The old standards required proof of adequate notice to employees of the rules, objective investigations and evenhanded discipline, among other things.

Now, instead of that just cause standard, many districts just outlaw arbitrary or capricious decisions, the review of handbooks found.

One district, De Soto in southwest Wisconsin, said its reasons for punishment must be not wholly frivolous and inconsequential. Others use a best interest of the district benchmark.

Administrators have new leverage but it may not last if they overreach, said arbitrator Houlihan. The system is prone to abuse because its so one-sided, he said.

Well see if it survives as a long-term institutional feature of the employment relationship, Houlihan said, but I suspect it will not.

Brittany Carloni was a research assistant as part of the OBrien Fellowship in Public Service Journalism program at Marquette University.
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The video campaign dubbed "vote right, vote peace," features some selected students of the university delivering peace messages in rap and presentation form.

Daniel Peprah said he did the video to raise awareness about the upcoming election and also ensure people cast their vote right.

I think our democracy is growing and violence and misunderstanding still goes on. And People also go to vote and sometimes end up spoiling their ballot.

So I think education must be more and I am not seeing that from the National Commission for Civic Education.

I did this campaign to create the awareness that election is coming and that we must vote right. Vote right in the sense that they must make sure their vote is counted.

Peprah says his main target is the youth, who are mostly used to foment trouble on Election Day.

The School's SRC External Affairs Officer, Eugene Amoah Ampadu, in the video said "it will be unfair to humanity to use intolerance as a tool to drawn the voice of a fellow brother."

READ MORE: WASSCE students to write Arabic

Another student featured in the video said "nobody wants to live in a war torn country," urging Ghanaians to vote right, and vote peace.
The warning follows speculation that December 7 has been declared a public holiday to enable students who are 18 years and have registered to vote.

A statement signed by Director of Public Relations of GES, Rev Jonathan Bettey, directed all educational workers, teachers and students to work on Election Day.

"It is to be noted that Wednesday, 7th December, 2016 is not a holiday, therefore all teachers, students and educational workers are supposed to be at post after voting.
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!
One of Ghana showbiz biggest and most dedicated fan army is Getemites  the official fan army of rapper Edem. The fan army is growing fast and wide, and the latest addition is a Tamale branch.

Edem, who wasnt aware of this had the opportunity to meet with the Tamale branch head and one of his very first staunch fans while in the capital town of the Northern Region preparing for Operation Suhudoo concert.

Upon meeting them, he gave them the chance to listen to three of his unreleased songs and choose which one would hit nationwide. He further promised that, if they predict right, he would deposit an amount of $100 dollars (equivalent to 400 cedis) each into their bank accounts.

I have three songs that I am about to release. I want you to be the first fans to listen and tell me which one would hit nationwide. If your predictions come true, I will give each of you $100 dollars, Edem promised.

The three songs feature three top Nigerian artistes. The first one he played features Murda hitmaker Seyi Shay, the second features Girlie 'O' hitmaker Patoranking and the last song features Shake Body hitmaker Skales.

After listening to the songs twice, both of them went for the one featuring Seyi Shay. This is the type of songs our people here (in Tamale) like to listen. It will hit,Getemites Tamale branch head who is known as Mayor said.

Edem revealed that their predicted hit will be out in a month or by January next year.
Cuba under Fidel Castro established diplomatic relations with Ghana under former president Dr Kwame Nkrumah 55 years ago.

Ghana has assisted the Island nation in the area of materials and solidarity. Cuban in turn has offered scholarships to over 1,179 Ghanaians training in various fields including Medicine and Pharmacy.

Under the Cuban Medical Brigade, Cuba has deployed over hundreds of doctors offering tremendous medical assistance to save the lives of Ghanaians.

The deal to send the medical brigade as first signed under the PNDC regime and was renewed in 2013.

Every year, Cuba sends about 300 doctors to Ghana to assist patients in the rural communities were many Ghanaian doctors are unwilling to serve.

READ MORE:Cubans surprised at the death of Fidel Castro
Mr Baako "said unless this is like a rescue operation" to enable Mr Woyome to get some money to be able to pay his debt, the new contract is "indigestible" and an insult to our intelligence.

"It's an insult to our intelligence as a people. It ought not to happen. Its an assault on our sensibilities and sensitivities, he said on Joy FM's Newsfile Saturday.

"Its a wrong policy decision; it ought not to be taken at all in the first place. Some discretion, some caution, some vigilance will tell you dont touch this one at this time," he added.

Mr Baako's outburst came after OccupyGhana released documents showing the GHC35 million agreement between Anator holdings, a company Mr Woyome is the executive chairman, and the Government of Ghana.

He described Anator holdings as one of the stumbling blocks for the state's inability to recover the GHC 51 million paid to Mr Woyome.

"Is that the only company that can do this business, come on, some level of discretion is important, you avoid this company and this gentleman for now. There are thousands of other companies," he lamented.

OccupyGhana has also the government to blacklist Mr Woyome from winning government contract.
In my manifesto for the 2016 election, I have made a definite commitment to end open defecation by year 2021. Over the next four years we are going to implement an aggressive programme to provide all Ghanaians with decent toilet facilities, he said.

We also are commissioning the Adjen Kotoko plant which is built near the Accra Compost plant and that also receives between 60 and hundred trucks every day," president Mahama said.

"So with the capacity of this plant the Kotoku plant and the rehabilitation of the Mudol, we have enough capacity to take all the faecal waste produced in the Greater Accra Metropolitan area, treat it and make it safe for the environment, he added.

The new plant has the capacity to treat 2000 cubic meters of liquid waste from 200 cesspit emptiers, daily.

Ghana in 2015 was ranked second after Sudan in Africa for open defecation, with five million Ghanaians not having access to any toilet facility.

And According to UNICEF, One in five Ghanaians have no access to a toilet and defecate in the open, with open defecation rates over 70% in Northern Ghana, reflecting significant national inequalities.

READ MORE: Landlords with no household toilets to be prosecuted

Poor sanitation issues have cost the country $79million a year and also posed the greatest danger to human health, particularly for the most vulnerable, including young children, David Duncan, Chief Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Officer at UNICEF said.
Mr Alhassan Yakubu, the Ashanti Regional Director of NCCE, said it could spark violence at the polling stations.

He said: "The CI 94 which is regulating the presidential and parliamentary election says that nobody on Election Day should do anything that will identify him or her with any political party such as wearing party paraphernalia, T-shirt, cup or doing anything that will portray your political colour.

"I am coming from that background that for this year 2016, You and I know that Kalyppo, it is Nana Addo who has been using Kalyppo to propagate his party.

"And the law says that do not do anything that will identify you on the polling day. So why carry Kalyppo that will identify you?

The fruit juice became associated with the NPP after the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) sought to mock the NPP's flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, by posting a picture of him sipping the fruit juice on Facebook.

The NPP, however, capitalised on it in solidarity with their party leader.

The Kalyppo crazy took social media by storm to the surprise of NDC members who monitored it in horror.

Supporters pictured themselves drinking the fruit juice, cooking it, pretending to bath with it, doing a surgical operation and making bold tie. One man also pinned Kalyppo to a selfie-stick.
"Ketu South again. Seals to ballot bags broke, thumb printed ballots found in the bag. Amidu, the EC official allegedly not cooperating with parties on this," Mr Otchere-Darko wrote.

But in a swift response, the commission said it was not true that the ballots have been thumb printed, urging Ghanaians to disregard the allegation.
"For the 6 empty ballot boxes that fell off the pickup truck to the Western Region, a report has been made to the police. They will be replaced by the Commission before election day," the commission said in a Facebook post Saturday evening.

The party's Secretary in the Western Region, Charles Cromwell Bissue, said the EC is bent on compromising the integrity of the December vote.

In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Bissue said: "As a political party we are not happy. As a result, we have called for a regional executive committee meeting to look into the matter.

"The reason is that; as a political party, we are trying to restore democratic integrity into our electoral processes.

However, there are so [many] suspicions transpiring now, in view of the fact that people do not trust the EC now.

"We were helping the EC to restore integrity but it appears the EC does not want it.

READ MORE:Innolink burns printing plates for presidential ballots

Mr Bissue also called for a full audit of all the ballot boxes distributed to the various constituencies in the Western Region.
Exercise caution during the election process, particularly around polling locations in the weeks before and after the elections. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations," it said in a statement titled Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Safety Considerations and the Upcoming Election.

READ MORE: UK threatens to deny visas over violent clashes

"Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security and follow instructions of local authorities," it said.

It further warned citizens to stay away from areas in Accra where people gather to hold spontaneous rallies such as the State House, the Ministries, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Independence Square, Mantse Agbona (James Town), Kawokudi Park, Nima Police Station Park.

Embassy personnel are not permitted to travel at night outside of major cities and are encouraged to avoid the following areas outside of Accra: Upper West: Lawra, Wa Central, Upper East: Bawku, Northern: Tolon, Sagnarigu, Yendi, Volta: Nkwanta South, Hohoe, Ho Central, Adaklu, Ketu South, Western: Jomoro, Bia West, Brong Ahafo: Techiman South, Tain, Berekum West, Berekum East, and Ashanti: Bantama, Asokwa, Nhyiaeso, Manhyia North, Manhyia South, Suame, Oforikrom, and Asawase," it said.

READ MORE:US threatens to deny visas over election violence

We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens travelling to or residing in Ghana enrol in the Department of State's Smart Traveller Enrolment Program (STEP). STEP enrolment gives you the latest security updates and makes it easier for the U.S. Embassy to contact you in an emergency. If you do not have internet access, enrol directly with the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana...
In the panel aired after Donald Trump had defeated Hillary Clinton in the US Presidential elections, Adichie told R. Emmett Tyrrel (who according to reports endorses KKK) that "If you are a white man you don't get to define what racism is."

A couple of weeks after the interview, Chimamanda Adichie has revealed the behind-the-scenes activities that led to her statements on TV.

"Two weeks ago, BBC Newsnight contacted my manager to ask for an interview with me. I would be interviewed by the presenter, they said, and would broadly be asked about the election. I said yes" she wrote on her Facebook page.

"When I arrived at their studio in Washington DC, the shows producer casually said, Youll be on a panel with a Trump Supporter. A magazine editor who has supported Donald Trump from the beginning.

What? I said. At no time had I been told that there would be anyone else in the interview, never mind being pitted against a Trump Supporter.

"I felt upset and ambushed.

"I wanted to walk away but decided not to. I was already there. And I did want to talk about the election, which I had experienced in a deeply personal way. I was still stunned and angry and sad. I still woke up feeling heavy. Not only because I am an enthusiastic supporter of Hillary Clinton, but also because, with Donald Trumps win, America just didnt feel like America anymore. The country that grew from an idea of freedom was now to be governed by an authoritarian demagogue.

Im sorry you didnt know it was a panel, The producer said. There must have been some mistake somewhere when your manager spoke to the people in London.

"Some mistake somewhere. My manager had simply not been told.

We want to have balance, he said.

"But sneakily pitting me against a Trump Supporter was not about balance  we could have easily been interviewed separately.

"It is a deliberately adversarial strategy that news organisations use in the pursuit of what is often called good television.

"It is about entertainment.

"I told the producer that my condition was that I not be asked to respond directly to anything the Trump Supporter had to say.

"We could both air our opinions without being egged on to fight it out.

"The Trump Supporter arrived. A well dressed, well groomed elderly man. The producer greeted him, gushed a little. He introduced me to the Trump Supporter. She will be on the panel with you, he said.

"The Trump Supporter barely glanced at me.

"The producer wanted us to shake hands, and he gestured to complete the introduction. We shook hands.

How are you? I said. Something about the tilt of the Trump Supporters head made me think that perhaps he had hearing problems  and suddenly his standoffishness was forgivable.

"I felt a kind of compassion, while also thinking: why would this man, editor of a conservative magazine, be willing to put America in the hands of a stubbornly uninformed demagogue who does not even believe in classic conservative principles?

"We got on air. We were seated uncomfortably close. The studio itself was strange, a flimsy tent on top of a building that overlooks the White House. A strong wind rattled the awning.

"The interview began. I was determined to speak honestly, and not be distracted by the Trump Supporter, and be done with it and go home and never again allow myself to be ambushed in a television interview.

"Until the Trump Supporter said that word emotionally.

I do not respond emotionally like this lady, he said.

"I thought: o ginidi na-eme nwoke a?

"He didnt say my name. Perhaps he didnt know it because he had not paid attention when we were introduced. Mine is not an easy name for languid American tongues anyway. But that word emotional. No. Just no.

"Normally I would not think of emotional as belittling. Emotion is a luminous, human quality. I am often emotional  gratefully so. But in this context, it was coded language with a long history.

"To say that I responded emotionally to the election was to say that I had not engaged my intellect. Emotional is a word that has been used to dismiss many necessary conversations especially about gender or race. Emotional is a way of discounting what you have said without engaging with it.

"No way was I going to ignore that. Which, predictably, led to an interview in which I found myself, rather than talking about misogyny and populism, responding to a man who claimed that an anti-NAFTA, China-bashing, America-First Donald Trump would be an internationalist rather than an isolationist.

"Who presumed that he, a white man, could decide what was racist and what was not. And who insisted that Donald Trump is not a racist, even though the evidence is glaring, even though the House Majority Leader of Donald Trumps own Republican party condemned Donald Trumps racism.

"So much for responding emotionally to the election.

"I left that interview still feeling upset. But it made me better see why America no longer feels like America."

The BBC later issued an apology to her on Facebook.

"Dear Chimamanda,

We hugely appreciated you coming on BBC Newsnight for our Trump special and are terribly sorry you felt ambushed by the encounter.

"We plainly should have done a better job of making it clear that we wanted to put you on with a Trump supporter but it was an honest mistake: somewhere between London, where the producer who booked your interview was based, and the Washington team running the show, we dropped the ball.

"We sincerely apologise for that. Its simply not the case, though, that the casting was part of an adversarial strategy as you suggest. It would have been bizarre not to reflect the views of the half of America which had just voted for Donald Trump in the live segments of the programme.

"And as a general rule, we think it seems odd to viewers when live guests do not engage with each others arguments. Wed always rather have light than heat, but we think a lot of people will have found your encounter with R Emmett Tyrell Jr quite revealing. More than anything, were sad and sorry you had a bad experience with us. We hope youll come back for a one to one interview some time."

In November, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wrote a beautiful essay to support Hilary Clinton's presidential candidacy.
According to a report by Vanguard Newspaper, the suspected militants blew up the pipeline operated by the NPDC in Delta State.

It was also reported that the Ughelli South council chairman, Mr Paul Etaga confirmed the incident saying the pipeline popularly known as Abura line, was attacked at about 7:30am on Sunday morning.

Etaga also said the inferno from the blast has been curtailed by fire fighters drafted from the Otor-ogun Gas plant in Ughelli South.

The attacked pipeline site was visited by Etaga in company of the Commanding Officer 222 battalion, Agbaraha-Otor, Lt. Col U. S Abdulsalam, the Ughelli South Division Police Officer, Oghenedoro Samuel and heads of other security agencies.

Though no arrest has been made, the security agencies are currently investigating the incident and are on the heels of the perpetrators so as to bring them to book, he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that each of the freed inmates of Sokoto Central Prison also received N2,000 as transport money from the state government.

Gov Aminu Tambuwal said that the gesture was part of his administrations efforts to alleviate the sufferings of the beneficiaries.

Tambuwal, who was represented by the Commissioner of Rural Development, Alhaji Abdullahi Maigwandu, warned the freed inmates against involvement in any acts capable of taking them back to prison.

Tambuwal said: You should go back to school or get involved in meaningful ventures, to be useful to ourselves and the society.

Speaking at the occasion, Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Mani Maishinko, said that the gesture was part of the of the state governments responsibilities to its citizens.
In a congratulatory message to Akeredolu on his success at the polls, Ibrahim urged the ex-NBA chief to audit all public accounts and recovering stolen funds which would be used in developing the state.

"Ondo State account requires clear audit and this urgent for the immediate recovery of our money to assist in major programme infrastructural development," he said.

Furthermore, Ibrahim said: "I saw poverty in those villages I visited during campaign, please kindly assist the traditional rulers as much as you can."
In a recent statement, Ayeni's media aide, Ademola Adedoyin denied the arrest of Ayeni over an alleged N1bn bribe to a former Minister of Federal Capital Territory over a land deal.

Adedoyin, the Special Adviser, Corporate Communications to the billionaire businessman disputed the story saying: "Dr Ayeni was invited by the officials of EFCC in his capacity as the Chairman of Aso Loans and Savings Limited, an Abuja based financial/Mortgage company. The company is just one of the several that has Mr Ayeni as chairman".

Speaking further Ayeni's aide said: "Immediately after the session, Mr Ayeni left the EFCC office. Contrary to the report, it was not a Tunde Ayeni thing. It was an institutional transaction. And i can assure you that whatever the issues are have been trashed out between EFCC and Aso Savings.

"Dr Ayeni is a responsible citizen of Nigeria who has contributed, and will continue to contribute to the development of Nigeria in his chosen areas of business- finance, real estate, oil and gas, and security. He has not less than 20,000 Nigerians working and earning decent living through his companies. It is therefore not fair for a medium to carry such untrue story that can jeopardize the fortune of several companies, and cause unemployment for the workers.

"While Mr Ayeni is working hard in the system to help government solve challenges that the economy of the country is facing, some people still find it convenient to engage in their pull me down syndrome. Contrary to the false report, no former First Lady has any shares or stakes, directly or through proxy, in Dr Ayeni's business concerns.

I will like to tell Nigerians that these times call for all hands to be at work to move Nigeria forward, not that we should be pulling people down," Adedoyin said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the movie, which is a romantic comedy and a drama film, premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival version held in Lagos.

The Kemi Adetiba-directed movie had some of Africas biggest stars led by Richard Mofe-Damijo, Sola Sobowale, Alibaba, Iretiola Doyle, Banky W and Adesua Etomi, with the stars attending the premiere.

In his remark, Mohammed said the important thing was to see how the creative industry was moving from the margins to become one of the pillars of the economy.

He added that people are beginning to take the arts more seriously, a lot of things are happening. You can see the major shift that is beginning to happen.

You can imagine the amount of investment that will go into this film, you can imagine the number of jobs it will create, thats a challenge to us in government.

It shows that this industry is sustainable when we provide the right environment in terms of regulatory framework, in terms of laws, in terms of protecting intellectual property.

What is clear is that the kind of framework the government today is providing the film industry, tourism, arts and the likes, will definitely play to become a better role in the economy, the minister added.

On his part, Cameron Bailey, the Artistic Director of the Toronto International Film Festival,said we are pleased to welcome The Wedding Party by award-winning filmmaker Kemi Adetiba to the Festival.

We are proud to present it to a global audience. Adetiba has delivered an exciting character-driven film on a grand scale, while putting her own unique spin on a familiar genre.

Also, the Executive Producer of Ebony Life TV, Mo Abudu, said the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF)s selection of The Wedding Party was a true honour.
From a gathering of 11,731 graduating students, 2,697 were awarded Masters degree, while 289 were received their PhD degree.

Nigeria's president, Muhammadu Buhari was represented by the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abdulrasheed Abubakar.

Buhari, in his speech, spoke of his plan to set up visitation panel aimed at ridding all universities of corruption.

The visitation panel would look into the financial management of the institutions, including statutory allocations and the internally generated funds for the period under review.

"The visitation panel would also determine whether all application of funds were in compliance with procurement regulations.

I wish to therefore appeal to the management of all Nigerian universities to ensure best practices in the conduct of the affairs of the institutions.

"I wish to also commend the Ahmadu Bello University for being outstanding in the maintenance of federal character in the composition of its staff and students."

ALSO READ: Varsity to award 61 First Class degrees
US officialdom and their media megaphones have systematically concocted narratives having less to do with political reality and more with their hallucinogenic world view. Pre-election and post-election reportage weaves a tapestry of fiction and fantasy.

They cited his campaign attacks of globalization and trade agreements, as well as his reckless swipes at speculators. In reality, Trump was criticizing a specific kind of capitalism. The pundits overlooked the variety of capitalisms that constitute the US economy. With their snouts deep in the trough, their own vision was limited; their curly tails blindly twirled meaningless formulae on blackboards; their ample backsides flapping away in place of their mouths. Thus occupied, they easily ignored Trumps glorification of national capitalism.

It is much easier to denounce Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump than to analyze the consequences of Madame Candidate Clintons policies. The mass media, subservient to Clinton, wave the flag of worker struggles and highlight capitalist exploitation when they describe China, Russia and the businesses of US President-Elect Trump. But their perspective is that of the Uni-Polar Empire. They cite non-unionized worker protests in Chinese factories and peasants fighting the rapacious developers.

These financial scribes are very selective in their critique of economic exploitation: They denounce political adversaries while churning out vapid cultural stories and reports on the eclectic tastes of the elite. Their weekend cultural pages may occasionally contain a critique of some predatory financiers next to a special feature on an unusual sculptor or successful upwardly mobile immigrant writer. Day after day, the same financial media publishes predictable bootlickeries masquerading as reports on vulture capitalists, warmongers and imperial warlords. They court and offer advice to Wall Street, the City of London and Gulf State sheikdoms. They write in blubbering awe at the bold multi-billion dollar mergers and acquisitions, which eliminate competitive prices and establish effective monopolies. Then they deftly turn to rant against President-Elect Donald Trumps pronouncements on workers rights  he is the demagogue threatening free-market  capitalism.

The fear and loathing of the Wildman Trump, so evident in the four most prestigious English language newspapers, is nowhere to be found in reference to Secretary Clintons pathological glee over the gruesome torture-murder of the injured President Gadhafi by her allied jihadi tribesmen. The global and domestic implications of the US Secretary of State expressing glee and high pitched squeals on viewing the filmed torture and final coup de grace on the wounded head of the Libyan President was never analyzed in the respectable press. Instead, the press superficially covers the plight of millions of immigrants and refugees who would never have left their jobs and homes were it not for the US destruction of the Middle East and North Africa. The respectable media defend the US officials directly responsible for the plight of these migrants flooding and threatening to destabilize Europe.

The media and the Clinton-elite denounced the Trump voters as deplorables and totally mischaracterized them. They were not overwhelmingly unemployed, bitter former industrial workers or minimum wage, uneducated racists from the gutted heartland. Angry white male workers constituted only a fraction of the Trump electorate. Trump received the vote of large sections of suburban middle class professionals, managers and local businesspeople; joined by downwardly mobile Main Street shopkeepers, garage owners and construction contractors. A majority of white women voted for Trump. City household residents, still trying to recover from the Obama-Clinton era mortgage foreclosures, formed an important segment of the Trump majority, as did underpaid university and community college graduates  despairing of ever finding long-term stable employment. In short, low-paid, exploited and precarious business owners and service sector employees formed a larger section of the Trump majority than the stereotyped deplorable angry white racists embedded in the media and Clinton-Sanders propaganda.

Post-election media has magnified the political significance and size of the anti-Trump demonstrations. Altogether the demonstrators barely surpassed a hundred thousand in a country of 100 million voters. Most have been white students, Democratic Party activists and Soros-financed NGOs. Their demonstrations have been far smaller than the huge pro-Trump public rallies during the campaign. The pro-Clinton media, which consistently ignored the size of Trumps rallies, doesnt bother to make any comparison. They have focused exclusively on the post-election protest, completely papering over the outrageous manipulation by which the Democratic National Committee under Debbie Wasserman Schultz cheated Clintons wildly popular left-wing rival, Bernie Sanders, during the primaries.

The FBIs release of confidential documents, likely including epistles from Chappaqua to and from Tel Aviv, linked tangentially to the pedophilic crimes of the disgraced Congressman (and former Clinton ally) Anthony Weiner was a heavy blow. The Netanyahu Cabinet put distance between themselves and their favorites, probably telling AIPAC leaders to muzzle Al Franken and pretend his threats to purge the FBI had never been launched. They were clearly worried that their lunatic attack dogs could set the entire US Security State on a hostile track against Israel.

The Franken-ADL trial balloon fizzled and disappeared. The intelligence establishment pounded the final nail into the coffin of Hillary Clintons Presidential aspirations. She even briefly accused the FBI of ruining her candidacy  hinting at some partial but oversimplified truth. A Zionist darling to the end, Hillary would never dare to identify and castigate the crazy and incompetent Zionist provocateurs that had helped to turn the Deep State against Madame Secretary.

A last note:

We will discuss the most pernicious of these remarkable foibles and fables and their predictable failures.Capitalism comes in various forms and is promoted by different protagonists at different times in our history. Some leaders have championed such economic sectors as domestic energy production, manufacturing, mining and agriculture and depended largely on the local labor markets. Nevertheless, the pundits dream of a final collapse of capitalism with the rise of Trump turned into a real stock market bonanza, the DOW boomed to record levels, and monopolists rubbed their hands in anticipation of larger and more lucrative merger and acquisitions.The worlds largest billionaire bankers had bankrolled Secretary Hillary Clinton, the million-dollar-a-speech War Goddess. They had bet heavily against the populist-nationalist Donald Trump and they lost. Their pre-paid political manifestos, addressed to the readers of the NY Times, flopped and sputtered: Most readers and investors in domestic markets had placed their bets on The Donald. Their domestic celebrations pumped up the market after the election. The unimaginable had happened: George Soros had bet and lost! The deplorable electorate preferred the obnoxious nationalist to the obnoxious speculator. Whod a thunk it?From electoral losers to street putschists, the speculators and their whiny media mouthpieces strive to overthrow the election process.Against the tens of millions of free voters, the speculators bankrolled a few thousands demonstrators, drunk with their own delusions of starting ato overthrow the elected President.Decked out in black anarchist chic, the window vandals and historically illiterate students were energized by the promise to replicate the putsches in Kiev and Tbilisi. They took to the streets, cracked a few some windows and signed thousands of on-line petitions (while denouncing Trump as the Second Coming of Kristalnacht). The media magnified the theatrics as a sort of uprising to restore their loser-emancipator to the throne  the bleery-eyed Jean DArc of the Hedge Funds. The losers lost and Hillary will hopefully retire to count her millions. The stock market soared to record heights.Long-gone was the rotting vassal-state of Russia under Boris Yeltsin 1991  2000, source of so much Western pillage. Their bile turned to venom, directed at the new Nemesis: Putin. The election of Vladimir Putin led to a remarkable economic and social recovery for Russia. From a Western controlled gangster-capitalist thug-ocracy, Russia has become a modern global power asserting its own sovereignty and national interests.Gone are the days when Harvard economists could sack Russia of millions through their various democracy foundations and Wall Street bankers could launder billions from the criminal oligarchs. Pentagon planners had dismantled Russian bases throughout its previous Warsaw Pact neighbors and set up NATO bases on Russias borders.State Department functionaries had overthrown elected pro-Russian regimes in the Ukraine, Georgia and as far afield as Libya. These were the unfettered joys of the US unipolar rulers and their stable of prestigious press pimps and academics, until Putin arrived to spoil the party. And in the run-up to the US election, the Clintonites and their Democratic entourage in the media launched the most frenzied demonic attack accusing Vladimir Putin of financing Trumps campaign, of hacking Clintons messy, unsecured e-mail messages to undermine elections, of bombing Syrian hospitals full of children, of preparing to invade Latvia and Poland etc., etc. If there is one sliver of truth in the vassal press, it is that the demonic changes made against Putin reflected the gory reality of Hillary Clintons well-documented policies.bankrolled by thugs as they gorged themselves on the corpse of the USSR. But Vladimir Putin was elected repeatedly by huge majorities and his governance has been far more representative of the Russian electorate than those of the recidivist loser, Hillary Clinton. Russia didnt invade the Ukraine or Crimea. It was the potty-mouthed Victoria Nuland, US Undersecretary of State for European Affairs, who boasted of having tossed a mere 5 billion dollars into neo-fascistkleptocratic putsch that took over Ukraine and who famously dismissed the concerns of the European Unionwith her secretly recorded F the EE comment to the US Ambassador!At some point, reality has to bubble up through the slime: Putin never financed Trump  the billionaire financed his own campaign. On the other hand, Clinton was bankrolled by Saudi despots, Zionist billionaires and Wall Street bankers. The mass media, the WSJ, FT, NYT and the WP, dutifully served the same stale, old sexist gossip about Trump in support of the sweet and sour, wide-eyed Madam Strangelove, who never hesitated to rip the lives out of thousands of Muslim women in their own countries. The media celebrated Madame Clintons nuclear option for Syria (the No-Fly Zone) while it ridiculed Trumps proposal to negotiate a settlement with Putin.The media accused Trump of being a sexist, racist, anti-immigrant villain, all the while ignoring Secretary of State Clintons blood-soaked history of bombs and destruction, of killing of tens of thousands women in the Middle East and Africa and driving hundreds of thousands among the two million sub-Sahara Africans formerly employed in Libya under Gadhafis rule onto rotting ships in the Mediterranean Sea.Who in Madames media count the millions of people dispossessed or the 300,000 killed by the US-promoted mercenary invasion of Syria? Where were the feminists, who now dredge up Trumps crude crotch talk, when millions of women and children of color were killed, injured, raped and dispossessed by Madame Clintons seven wars? Given the choice, most women would prefer to defend themselves from the stupid words of a vulgar misogynist over the threat of a Clinton-Obama predator drone ripping their families to shreds. Nasty, juvenile words do not compare with a history of bloody war crimes. They cite corrupt oil sales in Russia. They find cheap immigrant labor employed on Trumps building projects. The media describe and defend Hong Kong separatists. They heap praise on the Uighar, Chechen and Tibetan terrorists as freedom fighters and liberators. They fail to acknowledge that, as bad as worker exploitation is in these examples, it is far less horrific than the suffering experienced by millions of local and immigrant peasants and workers who have been injured, killed and rendered jobless and homeless by US bombing campaigns in Libya and US invasion-destruction of Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. The imperial medias phony anti-capitalist-exploiter stories against Trump, Putin and the Chinese are mere propaganda rhetoric designed to entice leftists, influence liberals and reinforce conservatives by playing on workers plight inflicted by national adversaries instead of imperial conquests and egregious crimes against humanity.The same newspapers defend the human rights of Chinese workers in local and US-owned factories who out-competed domestic American factories, but ignore the plight of millions of unemployed and destitute workers trying to survive in the US war zones and Israeli-occupied territories.The Presidential elections made millions of American voters starkly aware of the mendacity of the mass media and the corruption of the Clinton political elite.Instead, the media has been featuring Clintonesque feminist professionals and identity political activists, ignoring the fact that a majority of working women voted for Trump for economic reason. Many politically conscious African-American and Latino women knew that. For millions of female and male workers, as well as immigrants  there was a lesser evil  Trump. For them, the Donalds nasty remarks about women and Mexicans were less disturbing than the real history of Hillary Clintons brutal wars destroying women of color in Africa and the Middle East and her savage policies against immigrants.The more bizarre (but transient) aspect of the anti-Trump smear campaign came from a hysterical section of the pro-Hillary Zionist Power Configuration (ZPC) and Israel-First crackpots who accused him and some of his appointees of anti-Semitism. These venomous propagandists slapped the Manhattan real-estate mogul Trump with an odd assortment of labels: fascist, misogynist, anti-Israel, Ku Klux Klan apologist and White Nationalist. The Minnesota Senator and former comedian Al Franken described Trumps critique against Wall Street Bankers and finance capital as dog whistles for anti-Semites, labeling the candidate as a 21century disseminator of the Protocols of Zion. Senator Franken darkly hinted that rogue (anti-Semitic) agents had infiltrated the FBI and were working to undermine Israels favorite, Clinton. He even promised to initiate a post-election purge of the FBIupon Clintons victory Needless to say, the Senators own rant, published (and quickly buried) two days before the election in the Guardian, did not help Madame Hillary with the security apparatus in the United States. History has never been a strong point with the Comedian Senator Al Franken, who should have know better than to threaten the deep security state: his Mid-West predecessor Senator Joseph McCarthy quickly deflated after he threatened the generals.especially among smaller businesspeople supporting greater protectionism. Secondly, Trump condemned anti-Semitic acts and language and did not appeal to any of the extremist groups.Thirdly (and predictably) the Zionist Anti-Defamation League (ADL) slapped an anti-Semitic guilt by association label on Donald Trump because of his consistent criticism of US wars and occupations in the Middle East, which Trump had correctly pointed out cost the US over two trillion dollars  money that would have totally rebuilt the failing US infrastructure and created millions of domestic jobs. For the loony ADL, the US wars in the Middle East have enhanced Israels security and thus any opposition to these wars is anti-Semitic or guilt by association.The ADL directors, who have raked in over $3 million dollar salaries over the past 5 years protecting US Jews, objected to Trump because Hillary Clinton was the darling of the pro-war Israel-First lobbies and Obama-Clinton appointees. Trumps daughter Ivanka (a convert to Judaism) is married into a prominent Orthodox Jewish family with strong ties to Israel; the Trump clan is close to elements among the Israeli elite, including the uber-racist Netanyahu. These hysterical slanders against Trump the Anti-Semite reflect the fact that the most prominent domestic Jewish power bloc, the 52 Presidents of American Jewish Organization had invested heavily in Hillary Clinton. No matter what the cost, no matter what the land grab, no matter how many Palestinians were killed or maimed by Jewish settler-vigilantes; the State of Israel could always count on Clintons unconditional support. The Lobby would not need to petition their First Woman President; Madame Hillary would have anticipated Israels every desire and even embellished their rhetoric.In the end, Senator Al Frankens rabid anti- Trump rant went too far  vanishing from the Guardian website in less than one day. Influential Zionist organizations turned their backs on the Senator Comedian; the Zionist Organization of America reprimanded the ADL for its intemperate slanders  sensing that Clinton could lose.The Franken-Zionist power structures last-ditch efforts to attack Trump must have provoked a very negative response within the US deep state. There can be no doubt that the entire intelligence, military and security elites struck back and put their organizational thumb on the scale. The FBIs release of damaging documents related to Secretary Clinton undermined the ADLs candidate in the run-up to the election and hinted at an interesting power struggle behind the curtains.Once Clinton lost and Trump took the prize, the Zionist Power Structure deftly switched sides: the former Anti-Semite candidate Trump became Israels Best Friend in the White House. None of the 52 leading Zionist organizations would join the street protests.The foibles, fables and failure of the financial press and their keepers lost the elections but are back, hard at work, remaking President-Elect Trump into a global free marketer.
The pair were slow to recognise that they were sweet hearts during their childhood days though there have been clues.

Pounders' mother helped end the mystery when she found a class picture of the couple eight months after the suspicion began.

The groom in particular had been telling his bride about a particular he got after falling off monkey bars at pre-school.

"He pointed out a scar above his eye. He proceeded to tell me how he [had] gotten it from falling off monkey bars at preschool. He then said, '... Sunshine Preschool'."

ALSO READ: Couple exchange pythons during wedding ceremony

She also recalled her husband saying, "Don't you remember me telling you my first crush was a girl named Amy?"

"That's when I lost it. I knew right then, I was this Amy," she said.

The couple, both 34 years of age got married in their hometown in front of 200 guests.
Norah's mother, Tara Wood was emotional when she mentioned that Peterson might have been alone for thanksgiving if he didn't meet her little girl.

They all met each other at a grocery store in Augusta, Georgia.

If they had never met, I dont know if he wouldve had anyone to spend Thanksgiving with and that makes me sad,

"I'm grateful that I followed Norah's lead on her speaking with him at the grocery store that day. He will always be part of our family now."

Tara, who is a mother of seven children, took the initiative to invite Peterson to her residence for thanksgiving.
Troops used 105 mm artillery to blast the positions of the Maute group in the nearly deserted town of Butig in the second day of fighting since the gunmen -- who claim allegiance to the Islamic State group -- occupied Butig's abandoned town hall.

Most of the 17,000 residents of the largely Muslim town on Mindanao island fled to evacuation centres in neighbouring towns or to relatives elsewhere after the Maute incursion on Saturday, said Mayor Dimnatang Pansar.

"We can't fight the Maute with only 20 policemen," he said, appealing for more soldiers to be assigned there.

Only a few residents stayed in their homes as armoured vehicles and military snipers fanned out through the town streets, slowly advancing on the Maute group's position.

Armed forces spokesman Brigadier General Restituto Padilla, citing what he called "intelligence sources", said 11 of the militants had been killed and five wounded.

Padilla said their bodies had not yet been recovered. Two soldiers were wounded in the battle, he added.

Reporters in Butig said the military had obtained photographs showing the Maute group flying the black IS flag over the old town hall.

However they themselves were not allowed to get close enough to verify this.

Another military spokesman, Colonel Edgard Arevalo, said this symbolic action was expected.

"They have long been professing allegiance to the foreign terror group. This is still part of the Maute group's agenda in courting support and encouraging similar-minded individuals to support ISIS," he said in a statement, using another acronym for IS.

The Maute group is one of several armed Islamist organisations in Mindanao which have pledged allegiance to Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria.

In past clashes with troops, its members were seen carrying black IS flags and bandannas bearing the jihadists' insignia were found in their base, the military said.

Three members of the Maute group were arrested last month, accused of the September bombing that left 15 people dead in Davao, Duterte's home town and Mindanao's largest city.

Government forces captured a Maute training camp in the town in June after a 10-day gunbattle that left four soldiers and dozens of militants dead, according to an army account.

The Maute group, once described by the military as a small-time extortion gang, attacked a remote army outpost in Butig in February, triggering a week of fighting that the military said left six soldiers and 12 militants dead.
Clinton police are looking for occupants of a boat that was found floating empty by barge crews Saturday.

Clinton Police Sgt. Ron Heeren said that at 11:53 a.m., officers were sent to the barge docking area in the 1500 block of South 2nd Street regarding an unattended boat recovered by a barge crew.

Firefighters from Clinton, Camanche and Fulton fire departments, as well as the Clinton County Emergency Management Agency, the Iowa Department of Natural Resouces, MedForce Air Ambulance and Emergency K-9 OperationSearch and Rescue aided in Saturdays search.

Possible occupants of the boat remained unaccounted for Saturday night, Heeren said.

The search was suspended Saturday due to darkness and will resume today after sunrise, he added.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Clinton Police Department at 563-243-1458 or Clinton County Crime Stoppers at 888-883-8015.

 Thomas Geyer
Addresses around a new housing development in northeast Bettendorf don't exist, according to Google Maps, but that doesn't mean the homes aren't there.

Last week, representatives from Cedar Rapids-based Vanguard Appraisals and the Scott County Assessor's Office checked out a recently constructed $500,000-plus home in Knutsen Builder's Spencer Hollow subdivision, which connects to Forest Grove Park.

Since Jan. 1, 133 new homes have been built in Bettendorf, which remains one of the strongest housing markets in Iowa, said Allen Beck, a Quad-City-based reviewer for Vanguard, which has conducted mass appraisals in almost every county in Iowa.

Although thousands of property owners refused to let vetted Vanguard inspectors into their homes, the firm hired by Scott County last year to re-evaluate all residential real estate in Bettendorf is wrapping up its work.

Vanguard appraisers last canvassed the entire city in 2001-2002, and were asked to return because several homes in Bettendorf were selling for more than their assessed values.

The goal of the project, which began on Aug. 1, 2015, is to help correct any inequities between the county's assessments and the actual market value of homes.

"If we're within 5 percent of what it's sold for, that's a bullseye for us," said Beck, who assessed that home north of Forest Grove Road at $513,000  $16,000, or 3 percent, less than the listed price.

Increasing property values

As of this past week, 625 homes had been sold so far this year in Bettendorf.

While sale prices of comparable homes on the same block might fluctuate, depending on demand and time of year, Scott County hopes this work will set fair property values in every neighborhood across the community.

"We're never going to out-guess buyers and sellers," said Ed Vieth, Scott County's chief deputy assessor. "We'd have to increase values in 2017 even if Vanguard wasn't doing this door-to-door thing."

He said million-dollar homes are now a "dime-a-dozen" in Bettendorf.

The county expected Vanguard to inspect the interior of at least 70 percent of the residential properties in Bettendorf, and determine new assessments within 18 months.

Vanguard appraisers made it inside 7,675 homes of the 13,130 residential dwellings in Bettendorf. They needed to estimate the values of 3,146 of those homes because owners never answered the door.

Meanwhile, 2,226 property owners  about 17 percent  refused to allow appraisers into their homes.

So, not including the refusals, Vanguard gained entry into a little more than 70 percent of the 10,821 remaining homes in the city.

Bob Ehler, president of Vanguard, said representatives stopped at every house at least three times to give the property owner a chance to respond: Once in the morning, once during afternoon hours and once in off hours, either in the early evening on a weekday or a Saturday morning.

If someone was not home or refused to let data collectors in, appraisers looked for signs of remodeling from the outside, including the quality of windows, doors or roofs.

Radio host blamed for slow start

The refusal rate in Bettendorf was higher than most of Vanguard's projects, company officials said.

Ehler and Vieth of Scott County partly blamed the high number of refusals on Jim Fisher, talk radio host for WOC-1420 AM, who addressed the issue on his show.

They said Fisher urged his listeners to ignore Vanguard's door-knocking employees soon after their project kicked off.

"This guy was telling everybody not to let us in, and some people were listening to him," Ehler said. "These things can be considered controversial by some people."

In response, Fisher said, he received a couple calls last year regarding the work, and recalled telling listeners they weren't required to open the door for appraisers.

"These people shouldn't be able to come in from out of town and make up a number," Fisher said. "It's irrational."

Ehler noted the refusals eventually curtailed over time.

Beck thinks the election cycle also hurt their efforts.

"I think everybody's on edge this year," he said.

New values expected in February

Vanguard plans to finish reviewing newly constructed homes and additions by early 2017, before handing over the results of the reevaluation work to Scott County.

While some naysayers argued the county should have been able to accurately assess homes by looking at public records, the veteran assessor of 30-plus years said he doesnt have the resources to do so.

"We can barely keep up with new construction and permits," Vieth said.

As of last week, Scott County had issued 914 permits this year for home-improvement work, such as basement finishes and bathroom or kitchen remodels.

Ehler stressed the importance of gathering current information on properties and documenting the improvements that did not get appraised in the past.

Those who did work to their homes without pulling the necessary permits will not be penalized.

At the completion of the project, Vanguard will receive close to $1.2 million for the project. Vieth said the county will pay Vanguard with money it has set aside every year since the company's last assessment of Bettendorf's residential properties more than a decade ago.

In February, the assessors office will mail notices containing new assessment values to every property owner in Bettendorf.

If residents have questions or complaints, Vanguard representatives will meet with them.
Until last week, a thick coat of smog blackened legislation to salvage Exelon's nuclear plants in Cordova and Clinton, Illinois. But no more.

For the good of the environment and Quad-City economy, Illinois General Assembly must, this week, ram through the Exelon bailout.

The initial draft that, earlier this month, went before the House Energy Committee, was a poster-child for everything wrong with Illinois politics. It became a catch-all for far-flung legislators hoping to bring some pork home to their districts. The wish list piled and with it the price tag. In one instance, downstate lawmakers wanted bailouts for failing coal-fired plants operated by Dynegy. Political necessity gutted any semblance of environmental stewardship that, for many, made the Exelon bailout palatable. Otherwise supportive green groups bristled and the very coalition that would carry the bill through completion began to fracture.

But, finally, Gov. Bruce Rauner stepped up and weighed in. He correctly questioned the new rate structure Exelon hoped to impose on businesses throughout Illinois. Finally, the pro-coal lobby backed off with its carbon-pumping demands that, in a very real sense, robbed the bill of the "clean energy" label it so desperately needs for broad support. Finally, Exelon reworked its draconian billing proposal that would have further hindered economic development throughout northern Illinois. Finally, the Exelon bailout is what it always should have been: A zero-emissions bill that would save jobs and millions in tax revenue for local governments.

Finally, they got it right.

In August, New York state regulators approved something similar to what Exelon's pitching in Illinois. State subsidies were traded for assurances of continued operation and even nuclear expansion. New York officials recognized the importance of nuclear in the clean energy portfolio. They saw the inconsistency of wind and solar, which only work during ideal conditions. They watched as, in 2014, radical environmentalists in Vermont forced the closure of Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, causing an instant spike in that state's carbon emissions as coal filled in the vacated space in the market. They reacted to growing energy demands and the need for substantial new investment in half-century old nuclear plants.

New York struck a deal that will increase the statewide nuclear footprint. It will offset the imbalanced market forces that subsidize less consistent sources, such as wind and solar. It realized the environmental pitfalls of cheap natural gas that's undermining nuclear.

Illinois should follow suit. Axing Dynegy, in a very real way, makes it a clean energy bill. At least on the emissions side.

Rock Island County can't afford the loss of 800 high-paying jobs. Its school districts can't bleed millions in property tax revenue. Illinois can't turn its back on a massive source of zero-emission energy. The state can't endorse what would be an expansion of coal in the name of political optics.

There's something particularly distasteful about bailing out profitable companies. But, in the long-term, failing to do so would set the Quad-Cities and Illinois as a whole back decades. The already submitted pre-decommissioning filings to federal regulatory agencies prove that Exelon isn't bluffing.

Gov. Bruce Rauner has staked his reputation on job creation. General Assembly Democrats cling to unions and environmental issues.

The Exelon bailout furthers all of those goals. It protects jobs and local governments. It prevents yet another exodus of workers. It assures that water vapor is pumped into the atmosphere instead of greenhouse gases. It positions Exelon to expand its footprint in the market, while granting nuclear the benefits offered to other "green" energy sources.

This week is make or break for the Quad-City nuclear plant. Illinois General Assembly has three days to review the amended draft and force it through both houses.

Get it done.
NATION

Corps wont remove pipeline protesters

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it has "no plans for forcible removal" of protesters who have been camping in North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

The Corps says in a statement Sunday that it "is seeking a peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location."

The Corps notified tribal leaders Friday that all federal lands north of the Cannonball River will be closed to public access Dec. 5 for "safety concerns." The agency says those who choose to stay do so at their own risk. They say anyone on the property north of the Cannonball River after that date will be trespassing and subject to prosecution.

Delta sorry for not booting rude passenger from plane

Delta Air Lines is apologizing for not removing a passenger from a flight to Pennsylvania who rudely professed his support for President-elect Donald Trump and insulted those who didn't.

The (Allentown) Morning Call first reported on a video posted on Facebook by a fellow passenger on the Tuesday flight from Atlanta to Allentown, Pa. The video shows the man standing in the aisle, yelling and insulting Hillary Clinton supporters.

In the video, the man asks loudly: "We got some Hillary b------ on here?"

Referring to Trump's victory, he says: "If you don't like it, too bad."

Delta said on its website Saturday that it is "sorry this disruption happened" and says the airline is responsible for "ensuring all customers feel safe and comfortable."

WORLD

Pilots to strike again Tuesday, Wednesday

The pilots' union at German airline Lufthansa says it is calling additional strikes for Tuesday and Wednesday, following a two-day break in its campaign of walkouts.

The Cockpit union said Sunday that its members scheduled to fly short-haul flights would strike on Tuesday. The union plans to add long-haul routes to the walkout on Wednesday.

Cockpit staged four days of strikes last week in a pay dispute that's festered for over two years. The union says a hastily convened meeting with Lufthansa on Sunday failed to produce a resolution.

Protesters in Brazil want president removed

Protesters massed in Brazil's largest city Sunday to call for the president to be removed from office and express outrage at a host of his policies, while the embattled leader tried to head off some of their criticism.

President Michel Temer has suffered a continual drip of scandal and high-level resignations since he took office six months ago. But on Friday a scandal touched him directly for the first time amid allegations he abused his power to do a personal favor for one of his Cabinet ministers. He denied the allegation.

The scandal could scuttle Temer's ability to pass a series of austerity policies that he says are necessary to pull Latin America's largest economy out of a deep recession  and they are a threat to his presidency. Opposition politicians have promised to introduce measures in Congress calling for his impeachment.

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered on a main avenue in Sao Paulo to call for just that. Representatives from political parties and social movements also protested against the government's proposal to cap spending to rein in the deficit, which many fear will result in deep cuts to education and health care.

Others were protesting rampant corruption in politics, criticizing not just the current administration, while some complained about the lack of suitable housing. One group held up a banner with a drawing of Fidel Castro, paying homage to the Cuban revolutionary leader who died Friday night.

Many criticized the way Temer came to power. He was the vice president to President Dilma Rousseff, who was impeached and removed from office earlier this year, and protesters said that meant he had no mandate to pass widespread changes in government programs.

"I am here to fight against the root of all the current problems in Brazil: the impeachment without cause, the impeachment without merit," said Edva Aguilar, a retired nurse who said she wanted to see Rousseff's removal annulled and the Worker's Party politician returned to office.

But many protesters expressed disgust at all politicians. "So much money has been stolen," said Carlos Alberto, a butcher. "I'm against everyone who is involved in corruption."
It might have been while Claire Hilton was applying salve to a wound on the skin of an elephant that the 16-year-old realized she found her lifes calling.

When I was little, I wanted to be a veterinarian, Hilton said. This brought my mind back to that.

Hilton spent two weeks in Thailand this summer, learning the work of a veterinarian through hands-on training. The trip, led by Boston-based Loop Abroad, included travel with a small team of high school and college students who volunteered at a dog shelter and then spent a week working with rescued elephants at an elephant sanctuary.

Loop's Veterinary Service Program brings students to Thailand for two weeks to volunteer alongside a staff veterinarian. For one week, students volunteer at the Animal Rescue Kingdom dog shelter in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The shelter is home to more than 100 dogs that have been rescued after being abandoned, beaten, or abused.

The students provided checkups, diagnosed and treated ear and eye problems, took blood, administered vaccines, cleaned wounds and assisted during surgeries.

But the most eye-opening experience of the trip, Hilton said, was the work with the elephants at the Elephant Nature Park in northern Thailand. The park is home to more than 40 elephants that have been rescued from trekking, logging, or forced breeding programs. Many of them have been abused and suffer from chronic injuries.

The students fed, bathed, and cared for the animals, and worked alongside an elephant vet to learn more. The park is also home to more than 400 dogs and 100 cats, as well as rabbits and water buffalo.

Hilton said not all elephants that are seen in live animal shows or circuses are abused, but it made her more aware that many are.

Its definitely not something elephants do naturally, she said of the circus acts and riding. This raises awareness for animal rights and things we dont think about. I had no idea.

Some of the wounds the students cleaned on the elephants were caused by chains, ropes or beatings. It was pretty intense, she said. They had all been through trauma.

Working with locals informed her of the cultural and traditional reasons for using elephants in ceremonies or for riding. It made me more open-minded to the different cultures and the way they view animals, she said. Its hard to tell them its wrong when its part of their ceremony.

The students stayed in lodging in the jungle and walked to work in the morning, oftentimes to the sounds of elephants trumpeting. Its one of Hilton's favorite memories.

It seemed so surreal at the time, she said.

Claire is a junior at Sturgis Brown High School and she is the daughter of Steve and Lisa Hilton. She applied for the trip after seeing it advertised on Facebook. I didnt think Id get in, she said. She was able to raise funds for part of the expenses, which exceeded $7,000.

Its not the end of travel for Hilton, who has dreams of going abroad after she graduates from college. I want to go to different countries and work with different wildlife, she said.

Her first stop? Africa.

Ive been planning that since eighth grade, she said.
After nearly a decade of living under bridges and in shelters, Chuck Thompson is grateful to have a lock on his door, a warm bed to sleep in and a television set to keep him company on lonely days.

The 54-year-old Navy veteran credits the kind people he's met along the way, as well as a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development program that helps veterans pay their rent for getting him into a one-bedroom efficiency apartment this summer.

Thompson is one of many veterans in South Dakota who are getting the kind of help that is contributing to a nearly one-third drop this year in the number of homeless veterans, according to HUDs 2016 Homeless Assessment Report to Congress.

The report provides both hope, and some despair, when it comes to trends in homelessness. For instance, the data shows that the overall rate of homelessness, and the number of families who are homeless in South Dakota, are both up. But the number of people trapped in chronic homelessness in South Dakota and the number of homeless people nationally are both down.

The precipitous drop in the number of homeless veterans is one notable bright spot in the report.

Path to stability

Thompson, for one, has laid out a new plan for his life that he hopes will never again involve sleeping on the streets. He gained support that has lasted for several years since passing through the Living Skills Program at the Fort Meade Veterans Affairs hospital in Sturgis in 2010.

Before that, he lived in Colorado Springs, Colo., where a run of bad luck left him without a job and suffering from a back injury.

Thompson had worked several jobs in the restaurant industry before he found himself staying under bridges, carrying everything he owned in a backpack and drinking to numb the pain.

"There were different places I could sleep," the former F-14 jet mechanic said. "I had this one that I liked real well, but the only problem with that one was the freaking mice. Id bring some food home and it didnt matter if you had it in a sealed container. Theyd get in there."

Living that way for more than six years, Thompson said he found a way to weather the Colorado winters and he got used to the road noise.

"It was right under the roadway so youd hear thump thump, pshhhhh and the trains. It was right by the train tracks and the trains go through, but you get used to that," he said. "And for the most part, the wind would come from just enough of an angle where it really wouldnt get me. As long as the wind wasnt blowing I was all right. Twenty-two below zero and Id sleep just fine; no problems whatsoever."

He described daily life as a mix of wandering and socializing with friends.

"Usually I'd get up somewhere between 10 and 11 and throw on my backpack and Id wander the three and a half miles to downtown," he said. "Hang out for a little while, then go to the soup kitchen and eat and socialize. Then get food to go, and hang out with friends, you know."

He said he would sit on the street corner and use some tools he had to earn a little money.

"Id sit on the corner and for a couple bucks here and a couple bucks there, Id sharpen peoples knives and that would buy my tobacco and the little bit of booze I needed."

Reaching out for help

Years of that lifestyle left him worn out and bordering on alcoholism, he said. So when he noticed that some of his symptoms mirrored those of people who were much worse off, Thompson decided to get some help.

"I started waking up in the morning and I couldnt roll a cigarette because Id be shaking and I couldnt put food in my belly until after I had a drink," he said.

So he went to his VA counselor and asked for help.

"I had full alcoholic friends down there and, no, I didnt want to end up like that," he said. "So I went to my therapist and I said, 'Look, this is whats going on and I need help now. I dont want to end up like that.'"

So in July of 2009, Thompson was sent to the closest place that could help him, a living skills program at the VA hospital at Fort Meade.

"And by golly that changed my world," Thompson said. "They got me cleaned up before I became a full-fledged alcoholic."

But when he got out in February of 2010, he spent his savings staying in a motel before he ended up at the Cornerstone Rescue Mission in downtown Rapid City.

He began working there and was promoted to supervisor and lived on-site for a while. He moved out with a friend for a short time before having to return to the shelter when his friend got sick.

Federal program helps

Due to limits on the amount of time a person can stay at the mission, Thompson said he was six months away from being out on the streets in Rapid City before the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program came to his rescue.

"And I dont know anything about Rapid City or where to camp or anything like that. And there is just so much more violence and murders for the size of the city," the Colorado Springs native said. "Around here I'm scared half to death. When I was younger it wasnt so bad; at least I could respectably defend myself, I was a scrapper."

Last week, as Thompson sat in his small yet sufficient apartment, he relished the chance to chat and show off his talent for making incredible coffee.

The former seaman expressed his gratitude for something that most people take for granted.

"At least Ive got a locked door so I dont have to worry about somebody coming up and beating me in the head for some reason and taking everything Ive got," he said.

While still missing his home and all of his friends he left behind in Colorado, Thompson pondered his situation and resigned himself to one of his favorite sayings that, "God works in mysterious ways."

"What can you do?" he asked. "Were all just travelers along the highway and you end up where you end up. Sometimes it's your fault. Sometimes it's somebody else's fault. Wherever you are, you know. Like the saying goes, they give you lemons, make lemonade."
BISMARCK, N.S. | Hundreds of North Dakota residents turned out Saturday morning to rally on Memorial Bridge in Bismarck with a spirited message to support law enforcement officers who are policing the ongoing protest over the Dakota Access Pipeline.

They showed their support for the men and women in blue near the grounds of the Bank of North Dakota.

"We are here to support the police, first responders, all military," said Jerry Hintz, a participant. "The turnout was better than I expected."

Organizers of Saturday's pro-law enforcement rally said they didn't want anyone at the pipeline protests to get hurt and that the situation needs to be resolved peacefully.

"We back the blue," said participant Jolene Thiel, who also said she hoped the pipeline protests that have gone on since May would end soon.

In an orderly march with signs of "Stand Up," shouts of "We back the blue" and American flags, they ascended Memorial Bridge, most heeding signal lights.

Elicia Jacobson, who has strong family ties to law enforcement, said she liked the rally's atmosphere.

"It's heartwarming and supportive. It's positive and peaceful," she said.

The briskness of a mild November morning didn't deter the growing enthusiasm of the crowd, whose members eventually spanned from the Bismarck side of Memorial Bridge to Mandan. They voiced their support in message, gathering with friends and family, and encouraging motorists passing by to blare their vehicles' horns in support.

Residents quietly and personally thanked veterans in attendance for their service. Law enforcement officers kept their presence low key but occasionally would flash their lights briefly to acknowledge appreciation for the crowd's support.

Late into the hour, organizers dedicated a wreath to honor officers. Before it was tossed into the Missouri River below, supporters were urged to hold hands in solidarity for the challenges the police officers face during the DAPL protest activity.

Kelly Haman, a participant, said she wanted to show support for the officers, particularly for what they have been put through in the past four months.

Later into the assembly, Bismarck Police Chief Dan Donlin mingled with participants and shook hands as people left the rally, expressing his appreciation.

"This was awesome. I can't say enough. For all these people to take their Saturday off just to show their support for law enforcement," he said.
Yamaha wants musicians to share their gifts this year.

A release from Yamaha Corp. said it is hosting a Share the Gift campaign to support music education in schools throughout the United States.

Until Dec. 31, musicians of all levels can create a short video of themselves playing one of 15 classic holiday songs on either a Yamaha piano or keyboard from their home or at a participating dealer, and post it to Twitter or Instagram.

For the first 300 videos posted with the hashtag #YamahaShareTheGift, Yamaha will donate a keyboard to the Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation, which will provide the musical instruments to underfunded music programs nationwide.

We are encouraging music makers everywhere to join Yamaha in keeping music education alive in our schools across the nation, and around the world, Mark Anderson, of Yamaha, said in the release. We are very fortunate to be working in partnership with such a committed organization as the Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation, which will ensure that our donation of keyboards gets into the hands of those students who need them the most.

According to the release, the campaign fits with the centerpiece of the company's mission, which is "the preservation and excellence of musical tradition, while creating innovative new products, technologies and education programs."

To find the complete rules for the Share the Gift campaign, as well as the list of qualifying holiday songs, visit 4wrd.it/ShareTheGift

Participants can also follow @YamahaMusicUSA on Instagram or Twitter for the latest updates.

Local restaurant supports CASA through fundraiser

Rapid City Culvers Restaurants chose 7th Circuit Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) as their ministry of the month to support to help abused and neglected children within the court system.

Interim executive director Shirley Sutherland said the restaurants raised $569.11 for CASA. Sutherland said the advocates are the voice of the children in an "overcrowded and mainly adult courtroom." CASA volunteers speak up for the best interests of these vulnerable children and help monitor them so that they are not forgotten.

For more information about the local CASA program or to become a volunteer advocate, visit casaofrapidcity.org or phone 394-2203.

Local business owner helps New Alternatives

Local business owner Gene Wittkowske of Collins Siding, Rapid City, helped New Alternatives complete the needed exterior building improvements on its building at 120 Philadelphia St. in Rapid City.

A project of this magnitude can be daunting, Sheila Johnson, New Alternatives program director, said in a release. We are so grateful for this generous gift. The young adults who live here have been through so much. The new siding will give our clients a sense of pride in their home.

Wittkowske is donating the material and labor for the entire siding project. Knowing the difficulties that nonprofits have to fund these projects makes it easy to want to help, he said.

Kieffer Sanitation and Summit Signs & Supply, both of Rapid City, also gave in-kind donations in support of the project.

New Alternatives helps young adults ages 18-21 learn to manage their severe mental illness by providing housing, case management, counseling, nursing care and medication management. New Alternatives is part of LSS Independent Living Services, which served nearly 600 young adults last year.

Spread the Warmth coat drive for kids

Black Hills Community Bank is hosting a coat drive for children in the Rapid City community.

A news release from the bank says the new coats will be donated to children at Horace Mann, General Beadle and Black Hawk elementary schools.

Until Dec. 1, you may bring your donation of new childrens coats (K-5) to Black Hills Community Bank at 840 Mount Rushmore Road in Rapid City.

Skantze named 2016 Champion of Independent Living Services

KEYSTONE | Ted Skantze has been recognized by the South Dakota Statewide Independent Living Council as a 2016 Champion of Independent Living Services.

A release from the state Department of Human Services says Skantze, director of the Re-Member program, was nominated by the Native American Advocacy Program staff.

The nomination read in part, Ted is a vital partner in increasing accessibility for people with significant disabilities living on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation of South Dakota.

The award was presented during the Native Non-Profit Conference at the K Bar S Lodge. This is the second year SILC has recognized a Champion of Independent Living Services.
The Rapid City Police Department is disavowing any connection to a local man who claims to one day want to be a police officer, but whose hateful and racist posts to others on social media have drawn attention to the increasing trend of online bullying.

The most recent online incident, one serious enough to be addressed directly by Rapid City police, represents a microcosm of a systemic and expanding culture of hatred online in which some individuals, often buoyed by anonymity or distance, post comments so vitriolic and malicious they would rarely be said in a face-to-face encounter.

In this case, a Black Hills area resident with Nazi references on his Facebook page berated and wished death upon a stranger from California who posted a message of support for those protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline construction in North Dakota. The man also listed himself as a "future Rapid City police officer," which led local police to say they had no connection to the man and that they had urged him to show better character if he ever wished to become an officer.

The concerns over the local mans online posts came to light this week amid growing evidence of the sometimes harsh and destructive nature of the online world.

On Friday, the Washington Post reported on a new study suggesting that a "sophisticated" Russian propaganda campaign helped flood social media with fake news stories leading up to the recent presidential election.

The Post story, citing a yet-to-be published report from independent researchers, said the goal was to punish Hillary Clinton, help Donald Trump, and undermine faith in American democracy.

The group says its findings show just how effective the bogus reports were. On Facebook, PropOrNot estimates that stories planted or promoted by the disinformation campaign were viewed 213 million times.

Online harassment up

In addition, the Associated Press this week cited a new report from Data & Society Research that showed nearly half of all internet users have personally experienced online harassment or abuse, including, everything from being called offensive names to being physically threatened, monitored, tracked, or cyberstalked. The report also concluded that 72 percent have witnessed online harassment or abuse.

The report, based on a survey of 3,002 Americans ages 15 and older, found the most common targets of online harassment are women, young people under 30, and sexual minorities (those who identify as lesbian, gay, or bisexual). The survey also revealed that black, sexual minority, and young Americans are more likely than others to say that people are "mostly unkind" to each other online and self-censor themselves by not posting something to avoid harassment.

Men, overall, are "substantially less likely than women" to describe what they have experienced as harassment. Fifty-three percent of women who have experienced the behaviors Data & Society asked about said what happened constituted "harassment or abuse," compared with 40 percent of men. Women are also more likely to report being angry, worried or scared following the experience, the study showed.

Local harassment

The local case of online bullying began when a California house-cleaner posted an online message last weekend supporting protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline on North Dakotas Standing Rock Indian Reservation. The poster said she expected some response, but not the spiteful message from a man who said in his online profile that he one day hopes to wear the uniform of a Rapid City police officer.

Stephanie Kemmerer said this week she has a friend among the protesters at Standing Rock who last weekend were sprayed with water in sub-freezing temperatures. So she posted a message of support on Twitter and Facebook.

Im not Native American, but I have some sympathy for them, Kemmerer said Wednesday between house-cleaning jobs near her home in Santa Cruz. You wouldnt put a pipeline through a church, so why would you put it through their sacred ground?

So Kemmerer made her public post, fully expecting to get some feedback.

I was trying to provoke a response from someone and I got a response, although its not the one I expected, she said.

Last Sunday, a young man who identified himself as a future Rapid City police officer wrote to her in incomprehensibly harsh language. I hope you die of cancer you inbred meth whore, he wrote.

Kemmerer said the viciousness of the response left her bewildered and, although she wanted to make a clever retort, the only thing she could do was give the comment a sarcastic  thumbs-up online, knowing it would infuriate the sender. But she later checked out the mans Facebook account and discovered Nazi symbols, a comment on white power, pro-police posts, and a mention that he wanted to one day be employed by the Rapid City Police Department.

Although the Journal is not identifying the man, review of his social media accounts confirmed a mix of innumerable pro-police posts, articles in tribute to slain officers, as well Nazi symbols, a Confederate flag, and photos of bass fishing, deer hunting, and wanted felons. The man has nearly 500 friends on Facebook.

Concerned, Kemmerer said she sent the negative comment she had received to the Rapid City Police Department with the message, Just thought youd like to see a message one of your future employees sent me.

Kemmerer received a prompt reply from the police department saying, Thank you for bringing this to our attention. Weve reached out to this individual and addressed their behavior. We have been assured it wont happen again.

Quick response

Contacted Wednesday, Rapid City police spokesman Brendyn Medina confirmed his agency had been alerted to the message, had reached out to the individual who wrote it, and had responded to Kemmerers concerns.

He is not a member of our agency, but his Facebook page is littered with stuff from our agency, Medina said. I told him apparently he has aspirations to serve this agency, but we encouraged him to use discretion with his online activities. This isnt the kind of character that anyone would associate with a police officer.

Medina noted that every aspiring police officer for the department undergoes an extensive background check that includes monitoring of social media accounts. He also said he was unaware if the individual had actually applied to the department.

This is behavior we would see as inconsistent with someone wishing to be an officer, and he has not conducted himself in a manner reflective of a police officer, Media said. There are three core values that we seek in any officer: community, service and integrity. Would I characterize this persons behavior online as having integrity? Probably not.

Medina said he had received no response to his message to the man. Similarly, messages from the Journal seeking comment from the man were not immediately returned Friday.

Meanwhile, Kemmerer said she was satisfied with the Rapid City police prompt response.

I understand they want to look better in the public eye, she said. But I just thought they should know about this guy who wants to be a police officer. If thats the way someone would talk before they have a gun, I just wondered how they would behave when they actually do have a gun and a badge.
We've all heard the phrase "South Dakota Nice" to describe the demeanor of state residents.

But now, perhaps, a new term should be created: "Rushmore State Samaritans."

That would seem to apply now that South Dakota has risen to the rank of fourth in the country in the rate of volunteerism, according to a new study. In a previous version of the same study, South Dakota ranked ninth in the willingness of residents to help others.

The Volunteering and Civic Life in America report was released by the Corporation for National and Community Service, the federal agency that engages millions of Americans in volunteer service every year.

According to the report, 35.3 percent of South Dakota residents volunteered this year, providing 23.3 million hours of service valued at an estimated $630 million in benefits to others.

In addition, 72.2 percent of residents participated in "informal volunteering," such as helping sick neighbors shop or watching one another's children, and 57.2 percent donated $25 or more to charity.

"I'm not entirely surprised; we're a pretty giving state, and our communities have an attitude of giving back and helping one another," said Lynn Taylor Rick, volunteer connections coordinator at the Helpline Center in Rapid City.

According to Rick, 46,051 contacts with volunteers were made in 2016 through weekly emails, press releases, fairs, phone calls and community use of their online database. That is a jump from the 28,708 contacts the group made in 2015.

"We're in a place to connect volunteers and agencies for steady growth," Rick said.

The uptick in volunteerism hasn't been missed by Deanna Darr, director of Kids Against Hunger. The organization sees local volunteers packaging nutritious meals for the hungry.

"I saw that figure and it wasn't surprising at all," Darr said. "I think it has been up: We have groups and individuals signing up. It's also one of the few things children can do to help, because we have kids as young as 4 helping package meals."

Volunteerism has also been healthy at Humane Society of the Black Hills, which cares for lost, homeless and abandoned animals in Rapid City.

"We have 300 active volunteers in our system, which is great," said Kaitlyn Janak, resource development director. "They help walk dogs, socialize the cats, help with basic cleaning stuff, laundry and some office work."

Janak said that the healthy number of volunteers made a difference to the animals, who have an easier time with adoption because of them.

"A number of the dogs have never or rarely been on a leash, and if their only interaction with humans is through a kennel, they don't know what to do when they're face to face with someone," Janak said. "So the volunteers are absolute lifesavers, because we don't have the staff power to make sure each animal gets enough exercise and socialization without them."

South Dakota also ranks second for volunteering by millennials, college students, and parents volunteering, and ranks third for volunteer service among veterans and baby boomers.

"What's really interesting about millennial volunteers is that they really want to understand the cause and be involved in more than just stuffing envelopes," Rick said. "It's exciting to have engaged volunteers."

Darr and Janak, too, have seen a large flow of millennial volunteers.

"That has been great," Darr said. "They're very enthusiastic, and they're trying to find ways to help in the community."

"We have a lot of volunteers who are in high school and college, which is encouraging," Janak said.

The Volunteering and Civic Life in America report found that 62.6 million adults (24.9 percent) volunteered through an organization in 2015. Altogether, Americans volunteered nearly 7.8 billion hours last year, worth an estimated $184 billion. The volunteer rate consistently remains stable and strong. Over the past 14 years, Americans volunteered 113 billion hours, worth an estimated $2.3 trillion.

Darr said she hopes that in the future, more people would be proactive in finding volunteer opportunities.

"Sometimes people wait to be asked, and we're happy to have them, but the needs are out there," Darr said. "If they're always active in seeking opportunity, they'll find the good causes that need them."

Rick said that she looked forward to seeing engagement in volunteering grow further.

"We have an active volunteer community, and research shows volunteers become donors and strengthen the community all around," Rick said. "I'm really excited, and we're going to continue doing what we're doing."

In a way, it's in the South Dakota character, according to Darr.

"We just like to help each other out," Darr said. "We're kind to our neighbor by nature."

The full report and customized data sets can be found at VolunteeringInAmerica.gov. Those interested in finding local volunteer opportunities can visit serve.gov or the Helpline Center at helplinecenter.org.
A Missoula man is facing felony criminal endangerment charges after he allegedly eluded deputies on a crotch rocket style motorcycle at speeds exceeding 130 mph last summer.

Winchester Glen Wiseman, 36, appeared before Ravalli County Justice Jennifer Ray Friday on the felony charge and misdemeanor charges of eluding a peace officer, reckless driving and speeding.

Wiseman was recently arrested on a warrant issued in August.

According to the charging affidavit, a sheriffs deputy had attempted to pull Wiseman over on June 30 after the deputys radar clocked him at 53 mph in a 35 mph near Stevensville.

Wiseman was driving a motorcycle and had a passenger at the time.

When the deputy turned on his emergency lights, the affidavit said Wiseman accelerated to speeds over 130 mph as he headed north on the highway.

In Lolo, Wiseman pulled into the Farmers State Bank parking lot and appeared to be ready to stop. When the deputy pulled in behind him, Wiseman hit the gas and headed toward Missoula.

The deputy and others assisting in the chase abandoned the pursuit due to safety concerns.

The deputy returned to the Super 1 Store in Stevensville, where employees said they recognized the driver and reported that he often bragged about driving over 100 mph on his motorcycle.

A surveillance video showed the motorcycle was a blue crotch rocket type motorcycle.

An investigation eventually led the officers to man named Winchester who lived in Missoula. The man had bragged to others about driving a motorcycle at excessive speeds.

The Missoula County Sheriffs Office confirmed that Wiseman had several outstanding warrants for his arrest and was on probation.

The investigation also led officers to a Missoula woman who was co-registered on a blue motorcycle. She told the officers that she had been trying to get the motorcycle back from Wiseman for several months.

A warrant for Wisemans arrest with bail set at $10,000 was issued in August.

In other justice court news:

*Linda Marie Bye, 50, appeared on a felony county of assault with a weapon and misdemeanor partner or family member assault.

Bye was arrested on Thanksgiving Day after her husband called to report that she had argued with him while carrying a .357 magnum pistol.

An affidavit said the two were going through a divorce and Bye had become upset after she learned that her husband had given away the family dog.

An argument ensued and the man said his wife yelled at him while carrying the pistol. He said he didnt feel safe and therefore had called 911.

Bye allegedly told a deputy that she had a right to carry a gun and felt like she needed it.

The deputy found the revolver on a table, with its chamber opened and all six bullets lying next to it.

Ray set bail at $10,000.
Hamilton Middle School seventh grade students in Chad Williams Montana History class touched the past recently.

Albert Grobe, an experiential archeologist who researches American history, brought authentic, or authentically recreated, hunting and medicinal tools, from a bygone era to allow the students a hands-on experience.

During hunting season each year, Williams presents a unit to his students about the early fur trade boom.

We talk about the early fur trade in Montana and how important it was to Montana history, Williams said. It was the first economic boom before gold, silver or copper.

Williams said the lore surrounding Montanas earliest pioneers left students with fictitious ideas. He had his students research and write about the American fur trade, prominent individuals during that time and five items or tools of that period.

Then Grobe brings in his materials and we show them the truth, William said. Were experiential archeologists and we use primary source evidence like journals, diaries and sketches. We take a look at pictures and recreate outfits and recreate the items that they used right down to hand sewing everything.

After creating the needed tools Grobe goes into the wilderness and lives the same way early hunters lived.

Then we can teach from the point of view of yeah, this is how they did it, yeah, it was cold and when it rains you get wet, Williams said. Everything is authentic or an authentic recreation that was handmade or traded. He has all the hunting stuff, surgical tools and all the things in the jars are actual medicines right down to the bowl of leeches. There is tea and jerky so the students can see, touch, taste and smell and learn hands-on instead of learning out of a book.

Student Austin Gray said he was very impressed with items brought to class.

This is pretty cool because this is what I did my research paper on, Gray said. It is really cool because I didnt know what half this stuff was and its great to see it in real life instead of just looking at a picture in a text book.

Gray said the health items from the past were odd.

I think toothpaste powder is weird, it might not taste good, he said.

While most students examined the pelts and hunting tools, Natalie Hoerner, Kayla Fisher and Kaylee Pearson took careful note of the medicines from the past.

Some of these look weird. Its not what were used to today, Hoerner said.

Fisher agreed.

I cant believe they used some of these things every day, she said.

Pearson said she is glad medicine has advanced.

I dont think Id trust this medicine to make me well today, she said.

Principal Marlin Lewis said the students look forward to the opportunity every year.

The material is authentic so they get to see what 17th and 18th century tools, medicine and those kinds of things looked like, Lewis said. The kids love it because it is not learning out of a book, and they have an opportunity to actually use their senses to gain an appreciation and knowledge of the past.
Darby High School senior Sandra Paul was selected to sing in the 2017 High School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall in February.

Paul said she was invited to audition after the district music festival, where she received a superior rating, and after she competed at the state music festival.

To apply for the Carnegie Hall choir, Paul had to sing a preselected song, in Italian, and complete a performance resume stating her choir history, including how long she has been in choir and what songs she has sung.

Paul said music is an essential part of her life.

Ive always been singing and my parents called me Doo because I would walk around singing, Paul said. Ive been in choir as long as I can remember. Ive been in church choirs and when I was in elementary school I was invited to sing with the middle school choir.

Paul was accepted for the Carnegie Hall High School Honors Performance Series and place in a womans choir to sing an alto part.

I got accepted and everything just started happening at once, Paul said.

She will receive the music ahead of the trip to New York and work with Darby music teacher Alex Petrusaitis. Paul said she is good at reading music but is eager to practice with her teacher.

Mr. P helps me build it up and read everything together because there is a lot to reading music and singing it exactly as it is supposed to be, Paul said. Mr. P has taught me a lot especially how to sight-sing, how to read music and know where the pitches are. That has really helped me be able to learn songs easier.

Petrusaitis said performing in Carnegie Hall would be an exciting opportunity for Paul.

She is always striving to musically challenge herself and being able to go to New York to sing will be a great experience for her, Petrusaitis said.

The National Association for Music Education and American Choral Directors Association hosts the High School Honors Performance Series at Carnegie Hall. The choir students will work with other finalists from around the world and renowned conductors will oversee the rehearsals and performance. Representatives from collegiate and professional music programs will be there.

The trip, Feb. 2-6, also has some leisure time.

We have free time in New York with our chaperones to explore and look around and then we also get to see a Broadway play, Paul said. We get to go on a yacht to celebrate with a dinner and dance.

Paul moved to Darby from Colorado in her sophomore year and experienced a big change.

I lived in a big city where the freshman class alone was 1,200 kids, Paul said. I came here and our graduating class is 26, I think. There is defiantly the same amount of drama, but everyone knows everybody so its not as big of a deal. Here I get to know everyone; the grades dont really separate people. Everyone talks to everyone and gets along.

Paul is hoping to go to college to study veterinary medicine and is planning to keep on singing.

Im an anxious person so when I sing I can express myself and I can show my emotions through my singing, she said. Honestly nothing seems real anymore, it seems like a daze of everything that is going on. Getting to go to Carnegie Hall doesnt seem real.
It wasnt but a couple of days after the general election that Rep. Nancy Ballance noticed a huge bump in the number of emails she was receiving daily.

The Hamilton legislator is one of three selected to cast one of Montanas three electoral votes.

The emails that were flooding into her mailbox asked, some even demanded, that Ballance cast her vote for someone other than President-elect Donald Trump.

Thats something that Ballance said Montana law doesnt allow.

Ive been getting between 50 to 200 emails a daythat range in form of please, you have to do the right thing to ones with more threatening tones, Ballance said. They werent threatening violence. They are more like you must do this. This is your duty.

The emails started three or four days after the election. Due to the fact that most had a similar subject line and often include hundreds of attached email addresses, Ballance believes the effort is orchestrated.

Trump supporters have also sent their own emails.

Those seem to be more individualized, Ballance said. Each one is different. They are more focused on stick to your convictions.

Ballance has also received 30 or phone calls.

Most of those have come from an out-of-state area code, she said. I see San Bernardino, California or Dearborn, Michigan pop up on my phone. They always leave a message. They say they are from Montana on the voice mail. It goes something like Hi. This is Sherry from Bozeman. My kids and my family

Ballance was selected to serve as elector at the Montana Republican Convention.

Someone asked if I was willing to do that, she said. I thought it would be a good opportunity, an honor and a good learning experience for my 8-year-old grandson, who already kind of understands the Electoral College. He called me at a quarter to 11 on election night to tell me the results.

Im hoping he can go so he can better understand how it works and why, Ballance said. There is a lot of talk on doing away with the Electoral College right now. I think it depends on who is on the winning and losing side, especially in a year when the popular vote differs from the Electoral College vote.

Ballance said the system works especially well for rural states like Montana. In a pure democracy, Montana wouldnt be represented well since its citizens would cast only about a million of the total of 300 million votes in a national election.

The Electoral College does give the state more of a voice, she said.

While there is quite a lot of talk about the potential of electors around the country voting for someone other than Trump, Ballance said her reading of Montana law indicates thats not possible in this state.

She believes most electors around the country wont sway.

I think for the most part, electors will feel a strong duty to represent the peoples will, Ballance said.

Ballance has also heard about the controversy swirling around Miles City Elector Dennis Scranton.

The man, who is in his 90s, has come under scrutiny for a 2010 Facebook conversation where he suggested gay people should be hung.

Scranton had replied to Big Sky Tea Party Association leader Tim Ravndals post that stated marriage is between a man and a woman period.

Scrantons response: I think fruits are decorative. Hang up when they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions. The mention of Wyoming apparently referred to Matthew Shepard, a gay university student who was beaten, bound to a fence post and left for dead outside of Laramie in 1998. Shepard died six days later.

In a conversation with the Billings Gazette last week, Scranton appeared unclear about the Facebook conversation, his age or how he came to be appointed an elector.

Ballance said she has never met Scranton.

He apparently made some comments as a younger man, she said. The world has changed a lot in the period of time. He comes from a different era, no question about that. I dont know exactly what he said  I saw the quote  but who amongst us hasnt said something that we wished we wouldnt have said.

We live in an era now where everything everyone says is captured and written down, Ballance said. I dont know if thats representative of him or not. I do know that he was elected by a group of people who seemed to think that he was the right guy.

Ballance will meet with Montanas other two electors in Helena on Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. to cast their votes.
Indonesian police over the weekend arrested two more members of a militant group that had planned to bomb government buildings and the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, having arrested the bombmaker earlier in the week, a police spokesman said on Sunday.

All the suspects belong to Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, a militant group that backs Islamic state, police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said.

Earlier this week, police arrested 23-year-old Rio Priatna Wibawa at his home in Majalengka, West Java, with a large amount of bomb-making material that he planned to use in attacks next month.

On Saturday and Sunday, police arrested two accomplices, who were alleged to have donated money to buy explosive material and helped to set up a home bomb-making laboratory, Amar said.

Indonesia has suffered a string of Islamic State-linked attacks this year, the biggest of which was a gun and bomb assault in Jakarta that killed four people in January.
Kathmandu, Nepal: The government has failed to reach on conclusion to register the constitution amendment proposal in the parliament on Sunday.

A meeting of the Council of Ministers was called on Sunday afternoon at Office of the Prime Minister and Council of ministers to discuss about the constitution amendment proposal, but ended without any conclusion.

It was believed that constitution amendment proposal would be registered in the parliament by today. It is said that the meeting didnt discuss the amendment proposal.
Chitwan, Nepal: The hearing on the murder case of Krishna Prasad Adhikari of Fujel, Gorkha has been postponed again by the Chitwan District Court on Sunday.

The Chitwan District court has rescheduled the hearing of the case on January 9 stating that District Judge took a leave.

This is the second time that the verdict was postponed even though all the necessary procedures related to the hearing have already completed.

Adhikari was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by the then Maoist cadres in 2004.
BIRGUNJ, Nov 27: Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has said the Madhesi Front should also support the constitution amendment proposal to be registered in the parliament today.

Addressing a press conference organized by Nepal Press Union, Parsa branch in Birgunj today, Deuba expressed the confidence that the main opposition party, the CPN (UML), too will vote in favor of the proposal.

In response to a question, he said they have kept the Province Number 2 in priority in the constitution amendment proposal. He said he believed that the proposal would be registered today as talks with the CPN (UML) chairman KP Oli regarding constitution amendment had been positive.

The NC president and former Prime Minister said his party was of the view that the demand of the Nepali people regarding forming provinces only comprising the Tarai districts in some region and only hilly districts at other region should be accepted. He also said the Nepali Congress was also positive regarding the citizenship issue. RSS
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Its something of an understatement when Wai Li (pronounced Why Lee) says he was a very non-traditional student at Iowa Lakes.

The 2013 nursing program graduate was born in Hong Kong, emigrated to the United States with his family and attended all four years of high school in Riverside, California.

Now 39, Li admits that when he graduated from Riverside High School, he not only couldnt have found Estherville on a map, I couldnt even have found Iowa! But when his wifes family moved to nearby Emmetsburg, the young couple came to visit. They were hooked, and decided to move east.

Speaking about what he did since he graduated from high school, Li explained the right ques-tion would be, What didnt I do. He had a series of jobs, and attended college, but really didnt get a degree.

Li did take enough classes to become an EMT and later a paramedic. So he had some medical background before enrolling in Iowa Lakes two-year associate degree program in nursing.

He also served in the Army Reserves along with his wife Nicole. Following their deployment during the second Gulf War, they were both able to use their G.I. benefits to get their degrees -- his de-gree in nursing, hers a bachelors degree in business at Buena Vista University.

His two years at Iowa Lakes gave Li and four other students the opportunity to be a part of a medical mission to Haiti with Spencer surgeon Rick Wilkerson.

With his Iowa Lakes degree in hand, Li passed the national exam to become a registered nurse and returned to California where he was hired in the emergency department at Riverside County Re-gional Medical Center. He said they enjoyed small town life in Iowa. It was unique to be in a commu-nity where everybody knows everybody. And when we first moved to Iowa we enjoyed the four sea-sons. Everything was great. But after seven years, these two kids from California saw too much snow!

While his ER job in a department with 50 beds and some 20 other ER nurses in Riverside is full-time, Thats only three, 12-hour days each week. So I spend some of my off time in two very in-teresting and unusual situations, he added.

In addition to doing critical care transport for American Medical Response -- AMR, the biggest ambulance company in the world, he says -- Li is also a flight nurse for the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department, where he helps with search and rescue operations like people being stranded in the mountains.

Thinking of his 9-year-old son Chase, Li said each of these experiences was something he hadnt thought about when he was his sons age. Echoing the like father, like son, idiom, young Chase gleefully shouted, I have no idea what I will be doing when I graduate from high school.

But his father is still thinking of furthering his nursing education, noting, The profession has been very rewarding both financially and mentally.
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HAWARDEN, Iowa  Steve Rehder stands on his Northwest Iowa farm, surrounded by harvested fields and livestock in every direction. Blue skies and a few clouds dot the horizon.

But there are more than fields and feedlots on the horizon. For Rehder and many other livestock producers, opportunity is also out there in the distance.

There are people overseas who want the beef and pork we raise, he says.

Rehder feeds cattle and hogs near here in Sioux County. He also serves as vice chairman of the Iowa Beef Industry Council (IBIC), and has traveled to Japan, Mexico, Honduras and El Salvador to promote Iowa and U.S. beef and pork.

Japan buys what it wants to buy, without worrying a lot about price, he says. But newer markets like Honduras and El Salvador are looking for value and want to buy the best they can as cheaply as they can.

With lower cattle prices, Id expect to see more beef and pork sold into those areas.

New markets for U.S. beef and pork are emerging every year, says Dan Halstrom, senior vice president of marketing with the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF).

He says while big players like China and Japan are on everyones radar, developing markets like Vietnam and Central America are also adding value to cattle and hogs.

Halstrom says pork exports to the Central and South American regions have nearly doubled during the last five years.

We exported $180 million in pork in 2011, and this year we expect that figure to be $300 million, he says. Beef exports to that region are also gaining.

Halstrom says different countries want different cuts. For example, Chile looks for sub-primal beef cuts, while Peru is focused more on variety meats.

Another emerging market is Africa. Halstrom say most of the continent has been open to U.S. exports, with South Africa recently coming on board.

We have sent some offal into South Africa, but it really hasnt hit the radar yet, he says. There are close to a billion people living in Africa. Analysts expect that to be 3 billion in 2060.

Will it be a big market for us tomorrow? Is tomorrow three to five years down the road? No one really knows.

Southeast Asia is also drawing a lot of attention from USMEF and commodity groups. Halstrom says nations like Vietnam are seeing a rapidly growing middle class, and those people are demanding quality products.

The level of potential varies among nations, but the opportunity to grow is there, he says.

He adds other nations are experiencing similar growth to Vietnam.

With emerging markets, we are seeing generic population growth, an increase in people who can afford high-quality products and declining self-sufficiency, Halstrom says. They are not able to keep up with demand. Those are the opportunities we are looking for.

Opportunities to promote Midwest products are also there for producers, says Pat McGonegle, CEO of the Iowa Pork Producers Association.

He says trade agreements with emerging markets help build those opportunities.

Our government develops those trade agreements, and once they are in place, that is when the pork and beef producers and other groups can work together to market Iowa and domestic products, McGonegle says.

Being able to visit these markets helps give us a great deal of credibility.

He says Iowa pork has a good reputation overseas.

Iowa pork carries a brand with it, and were proud of it, McGonegle says.

That reputation extends to beef, says Chris Freland, IBIC executive director.

When we go on trips, we are proud to show our customers the faces of our Iowa farmers, she says. Those opportunities exist because they know U.S. beef is safe and that its a high-quality protein source.

Rehder credits USMEF for laying the groundwork to access new markets. He says having that access allows U.S. producers to have a one-on-one conversation with overseas customers.

They raise Wagyu beef in Japan, and they know everything about each of those animals, Rehder says. They put a picture of the farmer on the meat package. Its important for our customers to be able to identify with the producer who raised that animal.

Rehder says a burgeoning meat supply in the U.S. should present foreign customers with a buying opportunity.

We have to pay attention to every potential customer, he says. If you put a lot of smaller countries together, you are going to put together a very strong market.

With meat production where it is at the moment, its very important that we continue to develop these new markets for the meat we produce.
Mom, not everything you read on Facebook is real, I said to her in Spanish.

She was insistent that a remake of Forrest Gump was going to be filmed in our small town of Beaumont. She even knew that Channel 18 reported it.

I quickly reminded her theres no local news outlet called Channel 18 News in southeast Texas. But I was still curious, so I logged on to Facebook and found that many of my hometown friends, too, were sharing the article.

It was entirely false.

Yet the article still lives online and may make yet another round on the internet.

The false news epidemic is getting a lot of attention, especially after an election where many false or misleading articles led Facebooks trending list. Its worrisome in an age where 6 out of 10 Americans use social media platforms to consume news, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.

On Monday, Google and Facebook announced plans to combat the problem through restrictions on advertising, Reuters reported.

But some are taking the matter of media literacy into their own hands. Melissa Zimdars, assistant professor of media studies at Merrimack College in Massachusetts, has created a list called False, Misleading, Clickbait-y and Satirical News Sources."

I love my mother dearly, but she could use some tips on verifying news sources. Zimdars list helps break down the red flags. Here are her tips, reprinted in full:

 Avoid websites that end in lo (example: Newslo). These sites specialize in taking a piece of accurate information and then packaging that information with other false or misleading facts.

 Watch out for websites that end in .com.co  they are often fake versions of real news sources.

 Watch out if known/reputable news sites are not also reporting on the story. Sometimes, lack of coverage is the result of corporate media bias and other factors, but there should typically be more than one source reporting on a topic or event.

 Odd domain names generally equal odd and rarely truthful news.

 Lack of author attribution may, but not always, signify that the news story is suspect and requires verification.

 Some news organizations are also letting bloggers post under the banner of particular news brands; however, many of these posts do not go through the same editing process (example: BuzzFeed Community Posts, Kinja blogs, Forbes blogs).

 Check the About Us tab on websites or look up the website on Snopes or Wikipedia for more information about the source.

 Bad web design and use of ALL CAPS can also be a sign that the source youre looking at should be verified and/or read in conjunction with other sources.

 If the story makes you REALLY ANGRY, its probably a good idea to keep reading about the topic via other sources to make sure the story you read wasnt purposefully trying to make you angry (with potentially misleading or false information) in order to generate shares and ad revenue.

 Its always best to read multiple sources of information to get a variety of viewpoints and media frames. Some sources not yet included in this list (although their practices at times may qualify them for addition), such as The Daily Kos, The Huffington Post and Fox News, vacillate between providing important, legitimate, problematic and/or hyperbolic news coverage, requiring readers and viewers to verify and contextualize information with other sources.
SIOUX CITY | Small Business Saturday did not garner the traffic Black Friday or Cyber Monday do, but it did provide a reminder of the importance of small businesses in Siouxland.

Small Business Saturday started in 2010 by American Express to encourage holiday shoppers to patronize the local brick and mortar shops across the country. It is set between Black Friday and Cyber Monday where big-box retailers and online stores reap tremendously.

To promote the day in Le Mars, Iowa, the Chamber of Commerce held an event where people lined up and picked a ping-pong ball with a number that corresponded to an envelope with coupons for discounts or free items at local businesses.

In Sioux City, Downtown Partners encouraged the public to support the businesses downtown.

"It does take some time for it to wrap around the fact that we need to support local businesses," Executive Director Ragen Cote said. "But not just on this day-- but honestly-- every day."

Thorpe and Company Jewellers co-owner, Karen Clark, said there were a few people that did come into her store at 501 Fourth St. just because of the movement.

I think Small Business Saturday does bring some people in that just want to shop at small businesses, Clark said. "I had a mother and daughter in here earlier that told me, We are shopping everywhere that is a small business and nowhere else.

Rosewood and Brass owner Brandon Smith said his antique and collectible shop saw a slight bump in people, but it is hard to say.

Saturdays have not been great as of late, but today has been good, but not extraordinary, Smith said of his business at 420 Pierce St. I would really like to see (Small Business Saturday) promoted more. If you want to keep downtown growing and get new businesses down here, you got to do something.

The day did mark the first use of a "pop-up shop" in downtown Sioux City. A pop-up shop is a temporary retail space that sells merchandise of any kind to "test the market," Cote said.

At 416 Pierce St., two small businesses popped up in the vacant retail space to promote their services.

"We were really surprised with the amount of people that stumbled in here today, Humble Landings Stationery and Gifts owner Britney Book said. The coffee subscription business, Heartland Coffee Co., of Correctionville, Iowa, was the other pop-up shop.

Book said her "pop-up shop and online" business offers stationery products and gifts made in studios across the United States. This is her fifth time she has set up her business in a pop-up location.

"From what we noticed, is that people like online shopping but people like seeing the quality of what they are purchasing," she said. "This gives us the ability to have them come in, check out what our products offer and have them kind of feel what it feels like and looks like. Its a completely different level of shopping experience. 
SIOUX CITY | The two hospital systems based in Sioux City contributed a total of $41.6 million in community benefits in 2015, according to a new report.

UnityPoint Health  St. Lukes provided nearly $15.6 million in benefits and Mercy Medical CenterSioux City provided another $26 million in benefits in Siouxland, according to a recently completed assessment of those programs and services by the Iowa Hospital Association.

Mercy provided $6.2 million in uncompensated care, $15 million in at cost (losses) for Medicare and Medicaid patients and $4.7 million in free or discounted benefits. St. Lukes provided $4.5 million in uncompensated care, $8.6 million in at cost (losses) for Medicare and Medicaid patients and $2 million in free or discounted community benefits.

Additionally, St. Lukes reported $400,000 in health professions education, and Mercy Medical Center had $179,000 in health professions education.

Along with uncompensated care, which includes both charity care and bad debt, community benefits include such services and programs as health screenings, support groups, counseling, immunizations, nutritional services and transportation programs.

The results for the Sioux City hospitals are included in a statewide Iowa Hospital Association (IHA) report that shows the state's 118 community hospitals provided community benefits valued at more than $1 billion in 2015, including more than $246 million in charity care.

"Through our Community Benefit ministry we operate or contribute to over a dozen community programs aimed at improving the lives of our citizens through the focus on social issues that negatively impact their health, like improving housing, making sure food is available for all, and programs aimed at helping children," Jim FitzPatrick, president and CEO of Mercy Medical Center, said in a statement. "For 27 years, our Child Advocacy Center has helped children suffering from sexual, physical and emotional abuse, all while never charging families for the services. Taking care of those in need has been the focus of the Sisters of Mercy since the 1840's."

UnityPoint Health  St. Lukes is a health care delivery organization built on over 132 years of history in Siouxland and for the past 50 years we have proudly been wearing the St. Luke's name, Lynn Wold, president and CEO of UnityPoint Health  St. Lukes, said in a statement. Throughout our history and into the future, we remain dedicated to the overall health of Siouxland residents through provision of services at our hospital, clinics, surgery center, home care and St. Lukes College.

Uncompensated care (which is made up of both charity care and bad debt) also plays a role in overall community benefit for services provided by hospitals. Total uncompensated care in 2015 was valued at nearly $520 million. The survey also showed total Medicare and Medicaid losses (at cost) of nearly $370 million.

In the last several years, the amount of charity care and bad debt provided to patients at St. Lukes has remained consistent, Wold said.

We continue to fill the needs of underinsured and non-insured," he said. "To improve our patients experience and in an effort to be transparent on the cost of care, St. Lukes is providing more resources to patients before they receive their bill. Whether patients qualify for financial assistance or if they need a payment plan or a loan, our financial counselors work proactively to ensure patients receive the care and treatment they need.

Charity care and bad debt levels remain high at Mercy, FitzPatrick said. "But at the heart of our mission is to take care of people in need and provide the highest quality health care regardless their ability to pay," he said. "Mercy will not waver from our responsibilities going forward and will continue to assist patients in enrolling in Medicaid and other programs to help address their needs."

Iowa hospitals, which employ more than 71,000 people, continue implement strategies that increase value to their patients and communities by offering high-quality care to individuals, addressing the health needs of identified populations and implementing process improvements that bend the cost curve. By seeking out ways to raise quality, reduce waste and increase safety, Iowa hospitals have become value leaders, as shown in multiple studies by the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, the Commonwealth Fund and others.
SIOUX CITY | While the first seven years of the Interstate 29 widening and reconstruction project focused mainly on expanding the highway to the north and south of Sioux City, it was hard to visualize the changes in store for the downtown area.

Now that construction is taking place exclusively through downtown, the Iowa Department of Transportation's plans for exits, entrances and how they tie in to realigned city streets are beginning to come into focus.

"It's fun to watch. They're doing something different every day. It's pretty interesting seeing everything take shape," said Mark Shook, co-owner of House of Kitchens at 308 S. Floyd Blvd.

For much of the summer, Shook's business was hard to access while the street past the business was torn up and rebuilt. With the Floyd Boulevard realignment finished, Shook and his customers now are adjusting to new traffic patterns.

That realignment is one of the completed pieces helping motorists see how the I-29 reconstruction puzzle fits together.

With four bridges through downtown under construction, Sioux Cityans also are getting an appreciation for how much higher the new I-29 alignment will be.

"One of the things I hear most is, 'I didn't think things were going up that much,'" said Dakin Schultz, IDOT District 3 traffic planner.

Work began on four downtown bridges this spring, the eighth year of work on the $400 million project to widen I-29 to three lanes in each direction from Sergeant Bluff, through Sioux City, to the South Dakota border.

Construction of the bridges over Floyd and Hamilton boulevards and over Virginia and Pierce streets will continue through the winter, Schultz said.

"Bridge construction, except for deck pours, they can do a lot of that over the winter," he said.

The bridges are part of the current two-year phase in which the northbound lanes and bridges through downtown will be rebuilt. The southbound lanes and bridges will be rebuilt the following two years.

Observers should have noted the many developments during the first year of reconstruction of those northbound lanes: the completion of the bridge over the Floyd River and paving of new lanes south of that bridge, the near-completion of the bridge over Bacon Creek and the reopening of the exit ramp onto Floyd Boulevard.

Also completed in this phase was the permanent closure of the exit ramp from southbound I-29 onto Nebraska Street, an interchange that is being eliminated under the new configuration.

Other milestones will be passed soon. On Monday, the entrance ramp from Wesley Parkway onto northbound I-29 will be reopened.

Half of the northbound bridge over Hamilton Boulevard is completed and soon will be open to traffic, Schultz said. Demolition of the existing bridge and construction of the other half of the new bridge will begin yet this winter.

A wet spring and summer hampered construction at times, Schultz said, but a warm, dry fall helped construction crews catch up and keep the project on schedule.

Schultz said major construction of the I-29 project should be done in 2019, with some finishing work wrapping up in 2020.
After a week managing the transition, vice president-elect Mike Pence took his family out to the Broadway musical "Hamilton."

As Pence entered the theater, a wave of boos swept over the audience. And at the play's end, the Aaron Burr character, speaking for the cast and the producers, read a statement directed at Pence:

"(W)e are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we truly hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values."

In March, the casting call that went out for actors for roles in this musical celebration of "American values" read:

"Seeking NON-WHITE men and women."

The arrogance, the assumed posture of moral superiority, the conceit of our cultural elite, on exhibit on that stage is what Americans regurgitated when they voted for Donald Trump.

Yet the conduct of the "Hamilton" cast puts us on notice. The left neither accepts its defeat nor the legitimacy of Trump's triumph.

His presidency promises to be embattled from Day One.

Already, two anti-Trump demonstrations are being ginned up in D.C., the first on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20, by ANSWER, Act Now to Stop War and End Racism. A second, scheduled for Jan. 21, is a pro-Hillary "Million Woman March."

While the pope deplored a "virus of polarization," even inside the church, on issues of nationality, race and religious beliefs, that, unfortunately, is America's reality. In a new Gallup poll, 77 percent of Americans perceived their country as "Greatly Divided on the Most Important Values," with 7 in 8 Democrats concurring.

On the campuses, anti-Trump protests have not ceased and the "crying rooms" remain open. Since Nov. 8, mobs have blocked streets and highways across America in a way that, had the Tea Party people done it, would have brought calls for the 82nd Airborne.

In liberal Portland, rioters trashed downtown and battled cops.

Mayors Rahm Emanuel of Chicago and Bill de Blasio of New York have declared their cities to be "sanctuary cities," pledging noncooperation with U.S. authorities seeking to deport those who broke into our country and remain here illegally.

Says D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, "I have asserted firmly that we are a sanctuary city." According to The Washington Post, after the meeting where this declaration had been extracted from Bowser, an activist blurted, "We're facing a fascist maniac."

Such declarations of defiance of law have a venerable history in America. In 1956, 19 Democratic Senators from the 11 states of the Old Confederacy, in a "Southern Manifesto," rejected the Supreme Court's Brown decision ordering desegregation of the public schools.

Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus, Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett and Alabama Gov. George Wallace all resisted court orders to integrate. U.S. marshals and troops, ordered in by Ike and JFK, insured the court orders were carried out.

To see Rahm and de Blasio in effect invoking John C. Calhoun's doctrine of interposition and nullification is a beautiful thing to behold.

Among the reasons the hysteria over the Trump election has not abated is that the media continue to stoke it, to seek out and quote the reactions they produce, and then to demand the president-elect give assurances to pacify what the Post says are "the millions of ... blacks and Latinos, gays and Lesbians, Muslims and Jews -- fearful of what might become of their country."

Sunday, The New York Times ran a long op-ed by Daniel Duane who said of his fellow Californians, "(N)early everyone I know would vote yes tomorrow if we could secede" from the United States.

The major op-ed in Monday's Post, by editorial editor Fred Hiatt, was titled, "The Fight to Defend Democracy," implying American democracy is imperiled by a Trump presidency.

The Post's lead editorial, "An un-American Registry," compares a suggestion of Trump aides to build a registry of Muslim immigrants to "Nazi Germany's ... singling out Jews" and FDR's wartime internment of 110,000 Japanese, most of them U.S. citizens.

The Post did not mention that the Japanese internment was a project of the beatified FDR, pushed by that California fascist, Gov. Earl Warren, and upheld in the Supreme Court's Korematsu decision, written by Roosevelt appointee and loyal Klansman, Justice Hugo Black.

A time for truth. Despite the post-election, bring-us-together talk of unity, this country is hopelessly divided on cultural, moral and political issues, and increasingly along racial and ethnic lines.

Many Trump voters believe Hillary Clinton belongs in a minimum-security facility, while Hillary Clinton told her LGBT supporters half of Trump's voters were racists, sexists, homophobes, xenophobes and bigots.

Donald Trump's presidency will be a besieged presidency, and he would do well to enlist, politically speaking, a war cabinet and White House staff that relishes a fight and does not run.

The battle of 2016 is over.

The long war of the Trump presidency has only just begun.
WASHINGTON -- I'm afraid I missed the conference of white supremacists in Washington last weekend.

I was hosting my daughter's bat mitzvah.

But I have a pretty good picture of what happened, because luckily -- for me, if not for them -- several other journalists attended the Nov. 19 gathering of alt-right leader Richard Spencer's National Policy Institute at the Ronald Reagan federal building.

Attendees shouting "heil" and "Lugenpresse," a Nazi term that means "lying press." Some of the few hundred attendees applauded mention of the Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website. Reality TV personality Tila Tequila tweeted an image of herself and others giving a Nazi salute and the misspelled words "Seig heil!"

White nationalists and counter-demonstrators clashed violently in the street outside the gathering in downtown Washington, and, as The Washington Post's John Woodrow Cox reported, inside and outside a family restaurant, Maggiano's, in northwest Washington.

The scenes seemed as if from another time and another place, but in Donald Trump's America, they are here and now. And if Trump doesn't do something more forceful to disown his neo-Nazi hangers on, they will continue their brazen march into the mainstream.

The New York Times quoted Spencer at the conference saying that "we have a psychic connection, or you can say a deeper connection, with Donald Trump in a way that we simply do not have with most Republicans."

"We've crossed the Rubicon in terms of recognition," Spencer said, arguing that "America was, until this last generation, a white country designed for ourselves and our posterity. It is our creation, it is our inheritance, and it belongs to us."

Politico quoted Spencer saying the alt-right was "a head without a body" and "the Trump movement was a body without a head." Now, "I think, moving forward, the alt-right can, as an intellectual vanguard, complete Trump."

The Los Angeles Times quoted Spencer saying Trump's election was an "awakening" and that "we're not quite the establishment now, but I think we should start acting like it."

The white nationalists are emboldened by Trump's selection of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Stephen K. Bannon to top jobs in his administration.

Bannon, who boasted that the Breitbart News outlet he ran was "the platform for the alt-right," was praised lavishly by Spencer. And The Post's David Weigel quoted Spencer saying Sessions -- tapped to be attorney general -- is "eye-to-eye with us" on immigration. (Sessions has tried to restrict legal immigration.)

Shortly after the election, Trump said his supporters who were harassing Muslims and Latinos should "stop it."

But they aren't stopping. Recently, a city park in Brooklyn was defaced with swastikas and the message "Go Trump!" while an Arab American Uber driver in Queens filmed another driver shouting at him: "Trump is president so you can kiss your [expletive] visa goodbye, scumbag. They'll deport you soon."

While the white nationalists were meeting in Washington and clashing with protesters, Trump was engaged in a Twitter fight with the cast of the Broadway musical "Hamilton." Trump demanded the actors apologize for urging Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who attended the show, "to uphold our American values and to work on behalf of all of us."

Rather than quarrel with that unobjectionable message, perhaps Trump could listen to the George Washington character in "Hamilton" sing "One Last Time":

"Like the scripture says:

Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

And no one shall make them afraid."

This passage, from Micah 4:4, is in Washington's letter to the Jews of Newport, Rhode Island, in 1790. The rabbi recalled these words during my daughter's bat mitzvah.

"Happily," Washington wrote, "the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens, in giving it on all occasions their effectual support."

Continued the first president: "May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other inhabitants -- while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree and there shall be none to make him afraid."

Please read Washington's words, Mr. President-elect, and repeat them to Richard Spencer and his ilk as you brush off the white nationalists riding on your coattails.

There is room for cooperation on much of Trump's agenda. But cooperation is difficult, if not impossible, when a president gives sanction to bigotry.
We live in interesting times. Certainly a cliche, but it does seem to fit us as a country. We are about to enter into a rather dramatic change in leadership; one political party will be dominant in at least two branches of our government, and possibly all three after a Supreme Court nominating process unfolds in 2017. In the spirit of full disclosure I admit, and I think this will come as no surprise to most of you, that my side did not win.

However, I always marvel at the strength and enduring value of our democracy. And because I do appreciate the brilliant manner in which our Constitution was created and survived and also because I know we are a compassionate and caring people, I remain optimistic as we embark on a new era.

That being said, let me offer observations on three important issues that I am hopeful our new leaders and we as citizens can find common ground to support.

- First, it is certain that the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will be radically changed. However, some of the popular parts of the system likely to be preserved are the extended family coverage for young adults up to age 26 covered by their parents' health insurance and the requirement that insurance companies cannot reject someone with an existing serious medical diagnosis. I believe both of those will be sustained.

But most important, it is necessary to maintain the expansion of Medicaid (Title 19) that is a huge part of the Affordable Care Act. Eleven million individuals have been newly enrolled in the 32 states that have accepted that expansion, including Iowa. The access to health care and medications for all those people has been remarkable and, in many cases, lifesaving. People working in very low paying jobs can receive quality health care, allowing them to stay well and continue to support themselves and their families. In addition, the providers of that care from doctors to hospitals to pharmacies can be reimbursed for it. This, in turn, allows those providers to hire more staff and thereby raise the quality of care for everybody. At the Siouxland Mental Health Center we have been able to do just that. Medicaid coverage for medications allows our patients who could not afford their medicine to overcome their suffering and move toward wellness. And finally, from a taxpayer perspective, much of the covered care prevents more costly medical procedures that would result from a lack of early intervention and treatment.

- Secondly, we need to work together to rebuild the infrastructure of our country. To his credit, President Obama did begin this process early in his first term. Much more needs to be done. Our highways and bridges need to be rebuilt along with our airports and all manner of public buildings and services from VA hospitals to national parks. Why do we not have high-speed rail systems connecting our great cities and reducing our dependence on autos? On a state and local level, we need to rebuild ancient water and sewer systems and assure that there is never another Flint, Mich., catastrophe. We must assure clean, drinkable water for our children and grandchildren.

Yes, I agree we can make America great again. So lets do it.

- Finally, I am hopeful that we see progress toward trade agreements more favorable to the United States. There needs to be bipartisan agreement to a path that works best. I am a proud Iowan and international trade is absolutely important to our farmers and agricultural manufacturers. Fair trade agreements are an admirable goal, but high tariffs and trade wars will hurt our farmers and result in higher consumer prices on thousands of products. Do any of us want to shop and suddenly experience 50 to 100 percent increases on everyday products or electronics? Sure, we all want these products made in America, but that is not going to happen. So lets support reasonable trade agreements with the rest of the world. Without a doubt that can be done and we need to do it in bipartisan fashion.

These are some of the areas where I believe common ground can be found. We need to make it clear to our new leaders that we support them so that meaningful dialogue and good-faith compromises produce results. I wish there more such areas, especially about immigration reform, global warming and campaign spending. But these three outlined here are a good beginning.

Next week: Jim Wharton

A Sioux City resident, Jim Rixner is executive director of the Siouxland Mental Health Center and a former member of the City Council. He and his wife, Bernadette, are the parents of three adult sons and the grandparents of seven.
When Gov. Terry Branstad announced plans to modernize the states Medicaid system, he and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds made it clear their primary concern was improved patient health. After years of state administration, the $5 billion Medicaid program was turned over to three managed-care organizations in May. In return, the MCOs have provided better care and greater access to services.

A major component of the modernization plan is health risk assessments for new patients. In the first three months under the new plan, more than 155,000 patient health risk assessments were conducted. These have provided invaluable feedback to patients regarding risk factors and corrections to help them live longer.

The governors new Medicaid model has also influenced the way doctors and insurers work together to provide for patients. Des Moines CareMore Clinic is owned by Amerigroup, one of the three MCOs chosen to administer the Medicaid program. It is located in one of the citys poorest neighborhoods and its doctors work diligently to establish relationships with patients before major medical issues threaten long-term health.

I understand a change of this magnitude elicits some skepticism. However, early data suggests Medicaid modernization has been extremely beneficial for Iowas poor and disabled citizens. - Lisa Wagner, Spirit Lake, Iowa
SIOUX CITY | Violent crime in Sioux City reached some of its highest marks of the decade last year, according to a recently released report.

Sioux City experienced 346 violent crimes in 2015, its highest total since 2007, the FBI's Crime in the United States report showed.

The FBI classifies violent crime as murder, rape, aggravated assault and robbery. Much of the violent crime increase last year resulted from a rise in robberies from 41 in 2014 to 54, and a spike in aggravated assaults from 202 to 250, the latter being the city's highest total since 2009. Two murders and 40 rapes occurred during the year, according to the report.

The crime snapshot comes as Sioux City has had at least five shootings during the current calendar year, including two in public places downtown.

"It just seems to appear that the types of crimes that we see being committed now -- I know there's a slight increase -- are becoming more violent," Sioux City Police Chief Doug Young said.

Young specifically cited national rises in ambush shootings of police officers and a pair of local murders that occurred last year as fitting into an upward trend in crime.

But while the numbers do show a recent rise, Young pointed out that the numbers are well below the peak levels of two decades ago.

"Every time we do our stats, we always revert back to the way it was 10 years ago and compare now with then," he said. "It's still lower than the peak levels of the '90s."

The 1995 Crime in the U.S. report tallied more than 1,400 violent crimes in Sioux City, of which over 1,200 were aggravated assaults -- nearly five times as many as 2015. The number of violent crimes has shown an overall decrease since then and has not risen above 400 since 2005.

Young said it's difficult to pinpoint reasons for upticks in crime. Some people attribute spikes to the economy, he said, or the number of people in a city in their late teens and early 20s, age groups that are reportedly more likely to commit crimes.

Sam Hargadine, executive director of the Iowa Association of Police Chiefs, said violent crime is also generally increasing statewide and specifically noticed spikes in cities like Waterloo, Cedar Rapids, Dubuque and Davenport.

"Drug problems are certainly one of the factors," he said. "There's all kind of other socioeconomic (factors). Most of the time there's a common denominator."

Hargadine said police chiefs have been focusing more and more on tracking shots fired calls and monitoring who is causing violent crimes, as well as other issues involved. He said rather than simply talking about rising crime and gun violence, it's important to talk about who the people are who are causing them to find underlying factors.

"The only thing we're talking about shouldn't be the disproportionality," he said. "Let's talk about the issues. There are some legitimate crime problems out there."

Nationwide, the FBI report showed 1,197,704 violent crimes committed around the nation, up from the 2014 figures. The 2015 number was 0.7 percent lower than the 2011 level and 16.5 percent below the 2006 level, according to the FBI.

FBI totals are always a year behind, but Young said this year has continued to have some shocking instances of gun violence. In the past three months, two shootings have occurred outside downtown Sioux City businesses.

Oct. 5, 25-year-old Jaret Schnee, of Sioux City, was arrested after police say he shot a Hard Rock Hotel & Casino security guard in the leg after threatening his fiancee, a Hard Rock employee, with a firearm.

The incident came just over a month after the Aug. 28 attempted murder-suicide in the parking lot of the Chili's Grill & Bar on Gordon Drive. Michael Hasson, 46, of North Sioux City, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after shooting 54-year-old Christine Fuentes, of Sioux City, in the upper torso while they were in a parked vehicle. Fuentes was treated at a local hospital.

Young said both incidents showed striking similarities as both involved private disputes between people believed to have been romantically involved.

"It's a personal thing," Young said. "It's passion that drives them."

A week prior to the shooting at Chili's, 19-year-old Lasharbe Hardy was charged with two counts of attempted murder, after police said he shot a man and woman in the 2000 block of Wall Street.

Three days later, 25-year-old Tevin Cunningham, of Fort Myers, Florida, was arrested in connection to an Aug. 12 shooting at the intersection of Pierce and 11th streets.

In February, a handcuffed Isaiah Mothershed shot police officer Ryan Moritz in the left leg with a .40 caliber pistol he grabbed from between the cushions of a couch.

FBI reports do not track the number of shootings, Young said, and neither does the Sioux City Police Department's crime reporting software. Instead, incidents are filed under other crime names and would have to be extrapolated by manually reading each report, which means police don't currently have an official number of how many shootings have occurred this year.

"If our reports say 'homicide,' then you'd have to go through the report to see how it was committed," he said. "We usually label it as an assault of some type if they live. ... The (Hard Rock shooter) was charged with going armed with intent and willful injury."

Statistics compiled by the police department in October showed that the city was on pace to respond to 154 shots fired calls this year, the highest total in three years. But many of those calls for service are fireworks or cars backfiring, Young said.

One barometer of gun violence that is increasing are local shootings of police, he said.

"We've had three officers shot with guns in the last three years," he said. "It took 30 years (without an incident) to get to that point."

The 2015 FBI report also shows property crimes, which include burglary, larceny/theft, motor vehicle theft and arson, totaled near 3,500 last year. That number falls in line with recent totals over the last five years, although those numbers have gradually risen since the late 2000s.
BEIJING -- Chinese muslims should resolutely oppose religious extremism, said Wang Zuo'an, chief of the State Administration for Religious Affairs.

Wang made the remarks while attending the 10th National Congress of Chinese Muslims, which opened on Saturday.

Wang said the development of Islam in China should stick to socialism with Chinese characteristics.

While respecting muslims' beliefs and customs, religious interference in the fields of politics, justice and education is intolerable, Wang said.

It is strongly advocated that new mosques should demonstrate Chinese characteristics and national features, instead of deliberate copying foreign architectural styles, Wang said.

The chief also said he appreciated the work of the Islamic Association of China (IAC) during the past five years. The IAC should foster islamic clergy and actively carry out friendly exchange with foreign countries, Wang said.
Stockholm, Nov. 27, 2016 (SPS) Sahrawi Coordinator with MINURSO, M'hamed Khaded, began Friday a working visit for a few days in Sweden, accompanied by Representative of the Polisario Front in Sweden, Alien Habib Kentawi.

Mr. Khaded held several meetings with Swedish movement of solidarity with the Saharawi people, actors of civil society, parliamentarians and the Socialist Democratic Party (the ruling party).

The Sahrawi Coordinator also met with the Swedish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Socialist Democratic Party's External Relations Officer, Aneka Sodor.

The meetings addressed the dangers of the current situation in the region, in particular following the expulsion by Morocco of the political and civilian component of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) and the tension in the region of El Guergarat (Western Sahara), as well as the obstacles placed by Morocco against any solution that would enable the Saharawi people to freely exercise their right to self-determination. (SPS)

062/090/TRA
We cant vouch for the bright, but theres no disputing the early, with Yonkers Raceway returning from its Thanksgiving break Sunday morning at 10 minutes past 11.

The 11-race program features the first seven races as French trots, all with overflow fields at the mile-and-a-quarter distance.

The $56,000 Open Handicap Trots goes as the opener, with Not Afraid (Dan Dube), off last weeks 18-1 upset, starting from post position No. 9 in the second tier.

Sundays earlier-than-usual start does amend the New York, New York Double a bit, using Yonkers sixth race (post time 1:40 p.m.) as the back end instead the fifth race. The gimmick begins with Aqueducts third race (post time 1:18 p.m.).

This past Sundays two-track, two-breed double was scrapped due to Aqueducts high-wind cancellation, though its scheduled to be in play three more times (this Sunday, Dec. 4, Dec. 18) this season (this weeks program pages accompany).

Speaking of Dec. 4, Yonkers first post that day is 11:30 a.m.

(Yonkers)
Wisdom of the Crowd: 55 % of respondents said that the Trust Bak set up by Fairprice will not be profitable as there are already too many d...
Hey Democrats, want help to rally the country around Donald Trump? Heres a great idea: Have a crowd of wealthy, out-of-touch Manhattan liberals (who can afford $849 tickets to Hamilton) boo Vice President-elect Mike Pence while the cast of the Broadway show lectures him on diversity.

The Democratic Partys alienation from the rest of America was on full display at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Friday night. And the left seems completely oblivious to how ridiculous it looks to the rest of the United States. Professors at Yale and Columbia universities and other elite schools postpone exams and cancel classes for students who could not deal with the election results. Kids in Washington schools cut class with tacit approval from administrators to march in protest of the results of a free and fair election. School officials in Montgomery County offer grief counselors to help students process any concerns or feelings they have about the election. (Funny, I dont recall anyone canceling exams or offering my kids grief counselors when Barack Obama was elected).

People in the American heartland see all this, and they shake their heads in disgust. Todays Democrats have become a party of coastal elites completely disconnected from the rest of America. Doubt it? Take a look at a county-by-county map of the 2016 presidential election. You can drive some 3,000 miles across the entire continental United States  from sea to shining sea  without driving through a single county that voted for Hillary Clinton.

At the national level, the Democratic Party has been wiped out. Trump won five states that voted for Obama twice  Iowa, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida  pushing Democrats even further toward the coastal peripheries. As a result, Republicans now control the House, the Senate, the White House, and (after President Trump picks a new justice to replace Antonin Scalia) there will be a restored conservative majority on the Supreme Court.

But that is nothing compared with the utter devastation Democrats have suffered in the states. On President Obamas watch, Democrats have lost a net grand total of 939 state legislative seats, 30 state legislative chambers and a dozen governorships. When Obama first took office, Republicans held just 3,223 state legislative seats. After Tuesdays vote, the number stands at 4,162. There are now more Republican state legislators than at any time since 1920. And if Gov. Pat McCrory holds on in North Carolina, Republicans will match their all-time high of 34 GOP governors last seen in the 1920s.

Or consider this: Today, Democrats control both the governors office and the legislature in just five states  Oregon, California, Hawaii, Connecticut and Rhode Island. By contrast, Republicans have total control of state government in 25 states  half the country.

One Democrat who understands the need to for his party to reconnect with working-class voters in middle America is Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), who has challenged Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) for the post of House minority leader. What we are doing right now is not working, he wrote in a letter to his colleagues. Under our current leadership, Democrats have been reduced to our smallest congressional minority since 1929. . . . We have the fewest Democrats in state and federal offices since Reconstruction.

If Democrats are smart, they will listen to Ryan. His district includes hurting industrial areas such as Youngstown and Akron  so he understands how to win the very voters Democrats lost in 2016 and need to win back. Do they have a better chance of winning back those voters by electing him or an aging, coastal San Francisco liberal such as Pelosi? Ryan is young and dynamic  just 43 years old. The House Democratic leadership, by contrast, is old.

The long-term problem for Democrats is that much of that new generation has been wiped out at the polls. We saw the impact of the Democratic collapse in the states during this years presidential primaries. The Republican field was brimming with candidates, while on the Democratic side Clinton struggled to defeat a disheveled 75-year-old socialist from Vermont, and the rest of the field  Martin OMalley, Jim Webb and Lincoln Chafee  could not crack the low single digits.

Democrats may believe that the way back from the periphery is to follow the advice Aaron Burr offers Hamilton: Talk less. Smile more. Dont let them know what youre against and what youre for. That didnt work out so well for Clinton. If Democrats cant find new leaders who can connect with the working-class voters they lost to Donald Trump, they may find themselves even more isolated from the American heartland than they are today.
Japan, being the worlds top country in technology, has now planned to invest in making first-known fastest supercomputer. The country is targeting to enhance the driverless cars, robotics and medical diagnostics and for the same it has revealed an investment of 19.5 billion yen (approx. 173 million USD).

Reuters reported that Japan believes that the project will take the country to a super computing heap as it will be capable of making 130 quadrillion calculations per second  or 130 petaflops in scientific parlance. As of now, Chinas Sunway Taihulight is the fastest super computer that is capable of 93 petaflops.

Director general at Japans National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, where the computer will be built, Satoshi Sekiguchi said, As far as we know, there is nothing out there that is as fast.

The push to return to the vanguard comes at a time of growing nostalgia for the heyday of Japans technological prowess, which has dwindled since China overtook it as the worlds second-biggest economy.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for companies, bureaucrats and the political class to work more closely together so Japan can win in robotics, batteries, renewable energy and other new and growing markets, Reuters.
The US space agency NASA is developing food bars for astronauts selected to travel beyond moon in Orion spacecraft in order reduce the weight of the food while still maintaining the nutritional value. Food bars have high nutritional value and they weigh less which makes them feasible to be carried in the spacecraft where resupply is not possible.

Food bars will be carried in the Orion spacecraft which is destined for Journey to Mars. In addition, the spacecraft will also explore regions beyond the moon. NASA resupplies food and other stuffs for astronauts aboard International Space Station (ISS). However, transporting food to Orion spacecraft will be difficult. Also, it is practically impossible to carry years of food for astronauts as it will increase the weight of Orion spacecraft.

Therefore, scientists at NASA came up with an alternative  food bars, which are light weight and have very high nutritional value to keep astronauts healthy. In the United States, its common for people to substitute an energy bar or shake for breakfast, or to skip the meal all together. Food scientists determined that developing a single calorically dense breakfast substitution can help meet mass reduction requirements.

When you have 700 to 900 calories of something, its going to have some mass regardless of what shape its in, so weve taken a look at how to get some mass savings by reducing how were packaging and stowing what the crew would eat for breakfast for early Orion flights with crew, said Jessica Vos, deputy health and medical technical authority for Orion. When you think about multi-week missions in Orion, having just one package for breakfast items for crew will help us limit the space we need to store them.

On the space station, crew members often pull their desired breakfast from a range of options available, and may eat items from multiple thermostabilized or rehydratable packages. Thermostabilized foods are heat processed to destroy harmful microorganisms and enzymes, while rehydratable foods have their water content removed before flight to save weight and then added back in before they are consumed. On Orion, the goal is to have a number of food bars to select from in a variety of flavors like orange cranberry or barbeque nut for their first meal of the day, reducing the amount of space and storage the breakfasts require. For lunch and dinner, Orion astronauts will be able to select from similar items space station crew members eat and have a food warmer to help them prepare their meals.

But designing a food bar to a specific nutritional balance for astronauts while also increasing caloric density and passing the taste test is no small task.

Theres no commercially-available bar right now that meets our needs, so weve had to go design something that will work for the crew, while trying to achieve a multi-year shelf-life, said Takiyah Sirmons, a food scientist with the Advanced Food Technology team at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Scientists also have to consider how the bars will affect crew morale, since food choice, variety and taste are important aspects of ensuring they consume enough, especially as mission lengths increase.

The food bars, which are being developing in coordination with NASAs Human Research Program have been tested by crew members inside HERA, the agencys three-story habitat at Johnson Space Center designed to serve as an analog for the isolation and remote conditions in exploration scenarios. The ground-based missions have provided helpful feedback on the flavor, texture and long-term acceptability of the bars that food scientists are using to hone the range of options available. The missions will ultimately help NASA determine the right meal replacement schedule to prevent food fatigue and aversion on long-duration missions.

While scientists continue to hone the food bars and expand the variety of options available, NASA also is working to develop regenerative ways to feed the crew on longer missions, including on the journey to Mars. The space station vegetable production system is helping to determine how to regularly grow fresh vegetables in space  astronaut Shane Kimbrough recently started the third such investigation aboard the orbital laboratory. Scientists are also looking at packaging food items to keep them edible and nutritious in conditions where there are temperature fluctuations, such as the surface of Mars.

Orions first mission with crew will launch as early as 2021 atop the powerful Space Launch System rocket currently in development. The flight will help set the stage for future missions in the proving ground around and beyond the moon, where NASA will refine the technologies and operations needed to send astronauts to Mars.
tech2 News Staff

According to a telecom operator, Google could be looking to release Android 7.1.1 in early December. Vodafone Australia has put out a page on its website to help Nexus 6P owners prepare their smartphones for the upcoming update. The same webpage also mentions a date for the Android 7.1.1's arrival and so far, it has been set for 6 December.

Yes, owners of the Nexus 6P can rejoice considering that this is indeed concrete information coming from a worldwide telecom operator. It specifically mentions the Android version and the exact date along with details as to how Nexus 6P owners can prepare their smartphones, download and install the update. But there are some more details about how the update will be rolled out.

Like with all things Google, the update will be rolled out progressively. From days 1-3 only 10,000 phones are selected at random to be eligible for the update and their owners will be alerted via FOTA Push Message or will need to manually check for the same from the Settings menu.

From day 4-13, an additional 10 percent of owners will qualify for the update and this would depend upon users as they would need to manually check to receive the same.

From day 14 all devices will become eligible to receive the update. So for those who cannot wait, it is wise to keep checking so that your handset qualifies for the limited selection.

The update packs in Android security patch level for 5 December 2016. The build number as per the website is NMF26F. The update is said to be approximately 650MB in size.

Back in October, Google had made official in its developer blog that its Android 7.1.1 update for Nexus devices will be rolled out in the month of December.
Ivy's income two times more than Sakhawat



Staff Reporter

The ruling Awami League nominated Mayor candidate in the Narayanganj City Corporation polls Selina Hayat Ivy's income is two times more than her main rival BNP candidate Sakhawat Hossain Khan, according to the affidavits they submitted to the presiding officer.

According to the affidavits, the former mayor Ivy now earns Tk 10.10 lakh annually, while Sakhawat's income is Tk 5.20 lakh.

Sakhawat Hossain has shown him in the affidavit as a practicing lawyer of Narayanganj District Judge's Court.

The elections will be held on December 22.

In total, Ivy has a little over Tk 40.20 lakh in cash, bank deposits, gold ornaments, electronics, furniture and family loans.

Besides these, she also owns one-eighth of a jointly owned 112-decimal non-arable land.

When she fought the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) polls five years ago, her total annual income was around Tk 10.65 lakh. She had Tk 10 lakh in bank and gold ornaments worth Tk 30,000 at that time.

Sakhawat has said in the affidavit that her wife and he have movable and immovable assets worth over Tk 90.70 lakh. He receives bank interests of Tk 3,801 as an annual income on Tk 5.20 lakh. His assets, including cash, vehicles, gold ornaments, electronics, furniture and business capital are worth around Tk 60.30 lakh. His wife has assets of over Tk 10.70 lakh.

The couple owns land worth around Tk 10.70 lakh in Narayanganj. Ivy, a vice-president of Narayanganj District Awami League, has no case against her. Sakhawat, who has come to the limelight for representing a plaintiff in court in the sensational seven-murder case, was accused in four cases.

He was acquitted in two of these cases. The trial of another one is underway while the investigation in other has not been completed yet. Fifty years old Ivy has two children. She holds MBBS and MD degrees and is a profession in the affidavit.

Her computer programmer husband Kazi Ahsan Hayat is working in New Zealand.

Ivy is the daughter of former Narayanganj municipality chairman Ali Ahmed Chunka.

She became the first female mayor of Bangladesh by defeating the BNP-Jamaat-backed candidate in Narayanganj municipality polls.

She won the election again in 2011 after Narayanganj was upgraded to a city corporation. She defeated AKM Shamim Osman, a local Awami League heavyweight who enjoyed support from local and central leaders.

According to Sakhawat's affidavit, 46-year-old Sakhawat has BA and LLB degrees and a Vice-President of the BNP's Narayanganj district unit, He is a former President of Narayanganj District Bar Council.
Afghan, Pakistani leaders discuss tense bilateral ties

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani (left) talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Islamabad, Pakistan.

VOA News :

Pakistani and Afghan leaders met Saturday on the sidelines of an international conference in Turkmenistan to discuss issues straining ties between their two countries.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, Pakistani officials said without giving further details.

Sharif and Ghani are attending the first Global Sustainable Transport Conference the United Nations has convened in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat.

The two-day international gathering is aimed at highlighting the fundamental role of sustainable transport in fighting climate change and achieving a sustainable future.

Sharif, while addressing the conference, reiterated that Pakistan is committed to a policy of a peaceful neighborhood.

"Peace and development are interlinked. Without regional peace and stability, we will not be able to reap the benefits of connectivity and integration," he said.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials say Pakistan's outgoing military chief, General Raheel Sharif, in a farewell telephone call to Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah Friday night, discussed strengthening of bilateral relations.

The contacts between Afghan and Pakistani leaders come as traditionally mistrust-marred relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent months over mutual allegations of sponsored terrorist attacks on each other's soils.

Ghani alleges Pakistani intelligence agencies are covertly supporting the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan and allowing them to use sanctuaries on the other side of the border.

Islamabad rejects the charges and instead blames Afghan authorities for harboring anti-Pakistan militants.

Pakistan's recent push to send millions of documented and undocumented Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan has also fueled the tensions.

Pakistani officials insist the refugee localities serve as hiding places for insurgents involved in terrorist attacks in both countries.
Arid Saudi need $50b in water investment

AFP, Riyadh :

Arid Saudi Arabia could need more than $53 billion in water sector investment supported by private funds as demand grows, officials said on Sunday.

The world's largest oil exporter, whose petroleum revenues fell 51 percent last year on declining crude prices, is pushing to diversify its economy through greater private sector investment and development of new industries.

Among government agencies targeted for privatisation is the Saline Water Conversion Corporation (SWCC), which desalinates water from the Gulf and Red Sea coasts.

"Future plants will be tendered to the private sector," Ali al-Hazmi, SWCC governor, told the government-organised Water Investment Forum.

"We have everything ready for privatisation."

The desert kingdom, which has no rivers, obtains most of its water from desalination and the rest from ground sources.

"This requires a lot of money and a lot of capital investment," Mansour al-Mushaiti, a deputy minister with the ministry of environment, water and agriculture, told the forum.
Death anniv of Mohammad Hanif today



The 10th death anniversary of Mohammad Hanif, the first elected Mayor of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and former President of Dhaka City Awami League (AL), will be observed today.

Hanif, who suffered critical splinter injuries in the August 21, 2004 grenade attack, died on November 28 in 2006.

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), Dhaka City AL, Mayor Mohammad Hanif Memorial Foundation, front and associate bodies of the ruling AL and different socio-cultural organisations have chalked out elaborate programmes in observance of his death anniversary.

A floral wreath will be placed at his grave at Azimpur Graveyard in the city around 10 am today.

Besides, DSCC will hold a discussion on the life sketch of Hanif, also a close associate of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at

Nagar Bhaban at 3pm today. Central leaders of the AL including its General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister, Obaidul Quader is expected to be present at the discussion.

Incumbent Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sayeed Khokon, son of Mohammad Hanif, has sought doa from all for his father's departed soul.
Husband gets life for killing wife

BSS, Chittagong :

A special court here yesterday awarded life term imprisonment to a man for murdering his wife over a family feud in 2010.

The senior special Judge-1 Mohammad Shahenur delivered the judgment today convicting Shamsuddin Bahadur, hailed from North Khulshi Housing society under Khulshi thana in the city.

The court also fined him Taka 10,000 in default to suffer more one year imprisonment.

The prosecution story, in short is that the convicted Bahadur strangulated to death his wife Nurnahar Begum, in an altercation over family feud at his residence on February 5 in 2010. Police recovered the body from his residence in the same area on February 6.

Victim's father Amir Sofa filed a murder case with Khulshi thana against Shamsuddin Bahadur, while police submitted charge-sheet on 30 June 2011.

The court framed charges against Bahadur on January 12 in 2012. The court examined the 15 witnesses out of 25 in the trial process and declared the verdict. The court sent Bahadur to jail after declaring verdict.
Journalist murders : The ultimate form of censorship

Lindah Mogeni :

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has condemned the killing of more than 800 journalists globally since 2006. A measly seven percent of these murders have been solved.

The protection of journalists and fighting against impunity is part of the UN's 16th Sustainable Development Goal - to ensure public access to information and to protect fundamental freedoms.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has released their annual impunity index which ranks countries based on the number of journalist murders over the past decade.

CPJ's 2016 global impunity index, published ahead of the third International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2nd, ranks Somalia, Iraq, Syria, Philippines and South Sudan as the top five of thirteen countries with the highest number of journalist murders between September 2006 and August 2016. "These top five countries account for 40 percent of unsolved journalist murders in the world," said CPJ's Advocacy Director Courtney Radsch.

"Journalist murders are rarely isolated, they are ordered, paid for and orchestrated40 percent of journalists get threats beforehand," said Radsch. Asked whether unconfirmed journalist murders in conflict areas where the journalists 'disappeared' are investigated, Radsch told IPS that "a large number of resources goes into investigating such cases but it is incredibly difficult to find information on missing journalistswe have a missing page on our website but any unconfirmed deaths of journalists are not included in the impunity index."

"More mobilization is required to implement the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity, which was spearheaded by UNESCO," said Irina Bokova, UNESCO's Director-General.

Bokova further called on member states to increase their efforts towards bringing perpetrators to justice by "developing and strengthening laws and mechanisms in accordance with the international humanitarian law and existing UN resolutions."

There are currently eight UN resolutions on the subject, including UN Resolution 29, entitled Condemnation of Violence against Journalists, adopted by UNESCO member states in 1997.

A permanent group of friends of UN Ambassadors on the promotion of the safety of journalists was established earlier this year. The group is co-chaired by Lithuania, France and Greece. "Impunity breeds impunity, this is injustice for us all," said Bokova.

In a panel discussion on the safety of journalists and ending impunity in conflict situations, organised by UNESCO and the Embassy of Greece and held at the UN, Ambassador Catherine Boura said that local journalists, women journalists, bloggers and freelancers are the most vulnerable targets.

"Only one in 10 cases involving the killing of journalists is resolved- which equals almost complete impunity for perpetrators," said Boura.

Echoing Boura's remarks on impunity, UNESCO's Assistant Director General for Communication, Frank La Rue, said that "in the world today, there is a feeling that if there is no investigation, there is an acceptance of violence as something natural to a journalist because journalism is a dangerous professionwe should break this false perception."

"There have been 76 cases of journalist executions this year which makes 2016 one of the most violent years of the past decade," said La Rue.

La Rue listed four key elements of an effective plan to promote safety. These include - analysing the legal framework of freedom of protection, analysing the policies of prevention of violence against journalists and media, establishing an emergency mechanism such as a hot-line, and progressive steps towards the eradication of impunity.

"Every single country that is a member of the UN should have a mechanism to guarantee the safety of journalistsdespite the scale of the problem in their country," said La Rue.

Addressing and preventing arbitrary detention of journalists and sexual harassment of women journalists in particular are also factored into the safety plan.

Though journalists are also being targeted in countries that are not in armed conflict, the panel was mainly oriented towards journalist safety in Syria. Nine journalists have been killed in Syria this year alone. Mazen Darwish and Abdalaziz Alhamza, both Syrian journalists and recent recipients of prestigious press freedom awards, discussed the dire situation faced by journalists on the ground in Syria.

"All parties of the conflict in Syria feel free to attack journalists because they know there is no accountability," said Darwish. Both Darwish and Alhamza were surprised that the UN recently honored Syrian Ambassador Bashar Jafaari, whom Darwish referred to as "the Joseph Goebbels of Syria" and a war criminal.

"I encourage everyone to stand with UNESCO in condemning every fatal attack against a journalist, in calling for full investigation of such crimes, in demanding appropriate punishment for those committing these violations," said Bokova.

-IPS
Introducing `double shift` at public universities will do no magic

UNIVERSITY Grants Commission of Bangladesh (UGC), as reported in the press, recommended to introduce double shift in the public universities to widen the scope of higher education for more students. To ensure optimum use of academic and infrastructural resources and to help the universities becoming financially independent the UGC proposes for introducing double shift while the academic standard and teachers' quality are largely in a fiasco. What are the most imperatives are: recruiting best talented teachers, producing more quality research, and addressing the future needs. But our public universities lagged far behind the standard universally recognized in those areas.



Definitely how many students enrolled in the universities is not the only criterion of development rather the quality of education and research matters most. The UGC's logic is -- as most academic activities in most public universities end after 2:00pm, the infrastructure and academic resources remain largely unused, so introducing double shift would allow more number of students to study at the public universities. If that happens, the little opportunity for even a small number of teachers to become scholars would be sealed off permanently and the nation will be deprived of quality research and innovation. Because the teachers then would be fully engaged in routine class teaching only. The UGC opined that currently the education quality in National University and most private universities are not up to the mark, so the public universities should open double shift to bridge the gap.



There are no specific rules as to how many hours a teacher should spend on research, in running administration and for giving time outside the classrooms. Absence of clear cut regulations hampers the academic atmosphere.



It is true the top public universities cannot accommodate all the aspirants, but here lies the importance of quality and competency. While the graduate unemployment rate in the country increasingly is higher and new employment generation is seemingly unmoving, enrolment of a large number of students in varsities will only increase the number of frustrated youths.



The UGC should heighten the universities for ensuring quality education by recruiting quality teachers, not on the basis of political loyalty. Facilitating library, laboratory, and other opportunities, obligating teachers to engage in research works will ultimately produce quality graduates. In the last two and a half decades, a large number of private universities have emerged and are contributing in higher education while a good number of seats in National Universities usually remain vacant, thus introducing double shift in public varsities would do no magic to impart quality education. And for mobilizing the economic growth, the government should popularize the technical education in the backdrop of the employment sluggishness.






Antibiotics fed poultry exposes human health hazards

AN English daily quoting microbiologists, reported that excessive use of antibiotics for preventing diseases as well as fattening livestock and poultry poses a serious threat to public health. Antibiotics usually prescribed for treating infectious human diseases are also being indiscriminately used in raising livestock and chicken that ultimately enter human body through consumption. Such passive consumption of antibiotics eventually changes bodily balance, immune system and causes obesity. Besides, feeding the poultry birds tannery waste containing high-level chromium also exposes serious health hazard. Because, chicken and eggs are still considered the prime but affordable sources of protein and vitamin for the common consumers.



The report disclosed that a research team of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University found antibiotic residues in at least 26 percent of chicken samples collected from 73 poultry farms in and around the capital city. Earlier, a Dhaka University study also found chromium ranging from 249 micrograms (mg) to 4561mg per kg in chicken that consumed feed manufactured with tannery waste. The Livestock Department has no labs of its own to test antibiotic residue in food. It is not possible for them to determine the actual extent of toxic residue in food consumed by the poultry birds as well as in human bodies who eat those birds or eggs. As the heat needed for normal cooking cannot destroy antibiotic residues, physicians warned of antibiotic residues that expose the consumers, particularly children and the elderly, to health risks -- mainly vulnerable to liver and kidney diseases. Use of tannery waste makes poultry feed cheap while antibiotics help prevent and reduce deaths of chicks. Antibiotics are sold freely at the sales points which help the poultry farmers to get easy supply of those and also to use them at random to protect chicks from diseases and death. To avoid risks, traders use antibiotics several times from farm level to the sale of chickens.



Experts said if one consumes chicken and eggs having antibiotics beyond permissible level for five to six years, he/she will develop antibiotic resistance syndrom. This means if similar antibiotics are prescribed for any disease, it will not work, and it will pose a major health risk.



It is high time for authorities concerned to take decisive steps to bring this criminal syndicate to book in the interests of protecting public health. Against the run of unaccountability at all levels of the public services delivery points, the government should be proactive to contain free or random use of antibiotics in raising poultry and thus to keep human health safe.
Myanmar`s Rohingya crisis stirs regional protests

Nikkei Asian Review, Jakarta :

The spiraling humanitarian crisis in Myanmar's western Rakhine State is prompting anger among Muslims across Asia. Last week, thousands of protestors in several regional capitals slammed Myanmar's treatment of its Muslim Rohingya minority-even going as far as labelling the country's de facto leader, a former political prisoner and now State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, as a "butcher" over the military's brutal crackdown in Muslim-dominated borderlands close to Bangladesh. In Indonesia, home to more Muslims than any other country, around 400 demonstrators, including members of some Islamic political parties, gathered in front of the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta on Nov. 25, shouting demands that Aung San Suu Kyi hand back the Nobel peace prize she was awarded while under house arrest by the Myanmar military in 1991. "I'm sorry Ms. Suu Kyi, we know you accept the Nobel peace prize, but where is the peace in Myanmar? There is no peace in your country for Muslims," said rally co-ordinator Julkifli Ali.

Myanmar's roughly 1.1 million Rohingya are concentrated in Rakhine State in western Myanmar, where for decades they have been denied many basic rights-including Myanmar citizenship in most cases. Despite the country's widely watched transition to democracy and the November 2015 election triumph of Aung San Suu Kyi's once-oppressed National League for Democracy, the plight of the Rohingya has not improved. Rather it has taken a turn for the worse since Oct. 9, when more than 250 Rohingya militants killed nine Myanmar policemen in raids on border posts along Myanmar's frontier with Bangladesh.

That incident, in which the attackers made off with weapons from the border posts, has prompted scorched earth reprisals from the army around the far northern border town of Maungdaw, an area heavily populated by Rohingya.

More than 100 people have been killed since then, mainly "suspected attackers," according to military estimates, although human rights groups say the real death toll is much higher. Villages have been destroyed and more than 30,000 people have been driven from their homes during the latest turmoil.

Verifying the extent and nature of the crisis is impossible, however, as the government has curbed humanitarian assistance and blocked most media access to the conflict zone.

A United Nations official, John McKissick, told the BBC on Nov. 24 that Myanmar seemed set on ethnic cleansing in Rakhine State. "It's very difficult for the Bangladeshi government to say the border is open because this would further encourage the government of Myanmar to continue the atrocities and push them out until they have achieved their ultimate goal of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar, " he said.

The comments sparked a furious reaction from the Myanmar government. Zaw Htay, spokesman for the Myanmar presidential office, said McKissick "should maintain his professionalism and his ethics as a United Nations officer because his comments are just allegations."

Myanmar's government has vehemently denied any wrongdoing by the army, dismissing reports of abuse as "fabrication" and saying soldiers are simply defending the country from an armed insurgency.

But multiple claims from eye witnesses and human rights groups of soldiers executing male civilians and raping women have emerged, as well as satellite images showing more than 1,000 homes burnt to the ground.
Copyright  2021 New Nation. All Rights Reserved by thedailynewnation.com
SCBA for unity against HR violation in Myanmar

Staff Reporter :

The Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) President Advocate Yousuf Hussain Humayun on Sunday urged the nation to be united to fight crimes against humanity. The SCBA President gave the call from a human chain program organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association in front of the Bar Bhaban on the day in protest against the mass killing, rape and violation of human rights in the Rakhine State of Myanmar. The organization on last Wednesday performed similar program.

The Bar President said, 'The Bangladesh government had already condemned massacre of Rohingya. The government summoned Myanmar's diplomat. It also expressed deep concern to the UN about Rohingya issue.' He urged the nation to be united to fight crimes against humanity. He also said that Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counsellor of Myanmar, have to prove that she was eligible to receive the Nobel Peace Prize award.

He said, 'Supreme Court Bar is always in favour of Democracy and Humanity. So, we are calling to stop atrocities against Rohingya people. We are urging United Nations and Western countries, who always claim to defend humanity.' But why are they silent today? He questioned. The Bar President said that their next program would be announced later.

Bar Secretary Barrister A M Mahbub Uddin Khokan said, 'We have advocates from various political parties and from various religions in the Supreme Court Bar. But we are always united if there is any question of Humanity. Rohingya people are facing humanitarian problem. They are subjected to the state brutality. People from various corners of the world are protesting this suppression. As human being we have also a responsibility.'

He urged the UN to take initiatives to stop massacre of Rohingya people. He also urged the government of Bangladesh to condemn the killing.

Advocate Zainul Abedin, former President of the bar, urged the Supreme Court Bar Association leaders to write a letter to the noble peace prize committee to withdraw Aung San Suu Kyi's award. 'We got shelter in India at the time of 1971 liberation war. So we should give shelter to Rohingya people in their crisis time', he added.

Advocate P C Ghuha, former Vice-President of the Bar, said, "We only say to Myanmar's government to 'stop genocide." He also said, 'Where are those people who often say about humanity and peace?'

Advocate Taimur Alam Khandaker urged the Bangladesh government to give Rohingya people shelter untill an international solution to the problem. He also proposed to the Supreme Court Bar to stay on strike before National Press Club protesting same issue.

Advocate Sheikh Akhtarul Alam, Barrister Badruddoza Badal, Advocate Sharif U Ahmed and Advocate Abed Raza were also present at the human chain program.
A fish trader was killed in barbaric attack by the police when they staged demonstration for nationalisation of Phulbaria Degree College in Mymensingh on Sunday.
Khadiza gets release today

Staff Reporter :

Sylhet college girl Khadiza Akter Nargis, who was brutally hacked by Shahjalal University of Science and Technology unit of Bangladesh Chhattra League assistant secretary Badrul Alam, is getting release from the capital's Square Hospital today (Monday).

"After the release, she will be taken to Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Savar," Khadiza's Masuk Mia told The New Nation on Sunday night, Khadiza was admitted to the Square Hospital unconscious on October 4, a day after she was hacked in the head and hands by Badrul.

"My daughter was supposed to get release from the hospital today (Sunday). But it was deferred due to delay in completion of some formalities," said Masuk Mia.

Dr Mirza Nazim Uddin, Director of Medical Services of the Hospital, told journalists on Saturday that Khadiza is now well as she can take her meals herself and also read. Now she needs to physiotherapy for full recovery and rehabilitation.

He also said doctors found her wounds healed and recommended her release.

Khadiza on Saturday urged everyone to keep her in prayers and seek blessings for her early recovery.

"I am well. Please pray for my early and full recovery," she said at a press conference at Square Hospital.

Khadiza, a second year Degree student of Sylhet Govt Women's College, was stabbed on October 3 by Badrul on her way home in Sylhet city after appearing at an examination, for refusing to have a relationship with him.

As she fell to the ground the attacker mercilessly hacked her in then head leaving her unconscious for several days.

MC College students, Khadiza's fellows and locals caught the Chhatra League leader Badrul on the spot and handed him over to police after a good beating.

Khadiza was first taken to Sylhet Osmani Medical College Hospital from where she was taken to Square Hospital for better treatment.

Khadiza was treated at Intensive care unit of Square Hospital until October 19 before she was shifted to the hospital's high dependency unit from where she was taken to a cabin on November 8.

The computed tomography scan showed that her scull bones were smashed and scattered, other parts of the brain were severely affected and deviated from midline.

Nearly two months of treatment, her improvement appeared to all as a miracle.

Her parents thanked the Hospital management and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for their support and care to ensure the treatment at the hospital.


Saudi terms for taking workers

Embassy wants 25 pc women

Staff Reporter :

As the manpower recruitment agencies are failing to fulfil the 25 percent quota for Bangladeshi female workers, the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka are not accepting their passports.

Though the manpower recruitment agencies got permission from the Expatriate Welfare Ministry to send domestic aids to Saudi Arabia by depositing Tk 15 lakh each as security money but they are failing to send the female workers there. According to sources, a large number of passports from recruiting agencies are waiting to be submitted to the Saudi Embassy, but the Embassy officials are declining to accept those for not fulfilling the 25 percent female quota.

An official of of Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), however, said the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia does not contain any specific condition for female quota.

The MoU rather mentioned that each female worker may take one male worker with her who may be her brother, husband or any close relative.

However, Saudi Arabia would also start soon taking more home workers from Bangladesh as the cabinet of the Kingdom on Monday approved recruitment to this effect.

"The Cabinet approved an arrangement on recruiting home workers between the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the People's Republic of Bangladesh," Saudi Press Agency reported on Monday.

The Cabinet also approved establishment of labour attach, offices at Saudi embassies in Dhaka based on a recommendation by the Standing Committee of the Council of Economic Affairs and Development, the news agency reported.

Saudi Arabia in August lifted ban on the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers after seven years, following efforts of the government to this end. Currently, there are some 60,000 female domestic helps among 1.3 million Bangladeshi workers in the Kingdom.

According to Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), the Saudi Embassy's refusal to accept passports of workers has created an uncertainty, which may cause huge financial losses for the recruiters.

The recruiting agencies have already sent 54,000 female workers in recent months against only 20,000 male workers.

BAIRA Secretary General Md Ruhul Amin said after the visa ban in early 2008, only 14,666 workers migrated to Saudi Arabia in 2009. The process to send domestic aids to Saudi Arabia began after the Saudi authorities lifted the ban on 8 February 2015.
PM`s plane makes emergency landing in Turkmenistan

Takes off for Budapest after repairing

Staff Reporter :

A VVIP flight of Bangladesh Biman [Boeing-777] carrying Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made an emergency landing in Ashgabat, the capital of central Asian country Turkmenistan on Sunday.

The flight named 'Ranga Provat' after repairing again started for Budapest making a delay for four hours and 22 minutes. It started for Hungary at 6.37pm. It was expected to reach the destination at 11:00pm, officials said.

According to information received in Dhaka in the afternoon, the Prime Minister, members her entourage and the passengers of the plane were safe. Sheikh Hasina was going to Budapest to attend Water Summit 2016 at the invitation of Hungarian President Dr Janos Ader.

Apart from the PM, the high-level delegation comprises LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain and Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud.

General Manager [Public Relations] of Bangladesh Biman Shakil Meraj said on Sunday evening: "Four engineers of the flight repaired the faulty engine of the plane. After repairing, the plane flew for some time in the sky on test basis. Then it again started for Budapest."

"The plane BBC -1011 made emergency landing in Ashgabat for technical fault at about 2:30 pm BST. The crews and engineers started working immediately to repair the damage," he said.

Earlier at about 9:00am, the plane carrying the premier took off from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. It was scheduled to reach Ferenc Liszt International Airport at 13.45 hours [Budapest time].

Official sources said, there were 99 passengers along with the entourage of Prime Minister. The flight officials included a four-member cockpit crew, 20 civilian crew, four engineers and one operations manager.

"We're thinking for alternative carrier to send PM to Budapest. We're trying to arrange a London-bound plane to take PM to Budapest," Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon had said earlier.

The Minister, however, could not tell exactly when the London-bound plane would be arranged and take PM to her destination till the time of filing of this report at 6:50pm.

But officials concerned said that the London-bound flight, which left Dhaka on Sunday morning, will be taken to Turkmenistan as an alternative arrangement for the PM.

"There was a technical fault. Fuel pressure was decreasing in one of the engines and there was no alternative except emergency landing in any nearby airport. And so, the plane made the emergency landing in the nearest airport of Ashgabat," Menon said.

Foreign Ministry officials said the PM and her Hungarian counterpart Victor Orban during the visit will jointly inaugurate Bangladesh-Hungarian Business and Economic Forum.

As per plan, the PM will address the inaugural session of the two-day Budapest Water Summit [BWS-2916] on Monday.

Besides, Sheikh Hasina will join a high level panel on water with President of Hungary and a working lunch to be hosted by the President.

The Prime Minister along with the Hungarian President and other dignitaries are expected to visit a Sustainable Water Solution Expo.

Her bilateral meeting with her Hungarian counterpart Victor Orban will be held on Tuesday morning at Kossuth Square. She will be given a formal guard of honour at Kossuth Square.

The meeting will be followed by a signing ceremony of a number of agreements. The two Prime Ministers will address a joint press conference after the bilateral talks, according to Foreign Ministry officials.


10,000 more Rohingyas ready to sneak in

More than 10,000 Rohingya people are reportedly gathering at the porous borders between Bangladesh and Myanmar after fleeing violence in Rakhine State of Myanmar.

Bangladesh shares a 271-kilometer border with Myanmar out of which a stretch of at least 150 kilometer is porous due to the hilly and densely forested terrain.

"Thousands of Rohingya have landed in the main front-line of borders along with Myanmar. They are trying to sneak across the frontier seeking safety and shelter despite Bangladesh Border Guards' sincere effort to prevent the influx," reports our correspondent stationed in Cox's Bazar quoting locals. The Rohingyas are now hiding in deep forest lands at Mongdu and maintaining contact with their relatives now staying in Kutupalong and Nayapara refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, according to locals.

"The Rohingya refugees fleeing torture and rape in Myanmar are trying to enter into Bangladesh via the Naf River by trawlers through the Jimongkhali border," a refugee leader at Kutupalong told The New Nation requesting not to be named.

"They would trespass anytime evading vigilance of border security forces", he added.

According to him, more than 5000 Rohingyas have already reached refugee camp at Kutupalong to escape from violence in Rakhine.

Rakhine State is in close proximity to the border shared with Bangladesh and the home to Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims.

Members of the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and Coast Guard have stepped up border patrols and vigilance and sent many Rohingya back.

Many of distressed Myanmar citizens including women, children and elderly people continue to cross the border into Bangladesh despite their sincere effort to prevent the illegal cross over. "We will not accept more new arrivals. Border restrictions are in place considering national security as well as avert the burden of the refuges," Home Minister Asaduzzaman Kamal told The New Nation yesterday.

He said, the government in particular has taken a hard line over the illegal migration asking the Myanmar authorities to "ensure the integrity of its border" and to stop the influx of people from Rakhine State.

Bangladesh authorities earlier refused to ease the border restrictions despite call from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

It stated that Bangladesh should open its border for refugees fleeing the western Rakhine state in Myanmar in wake of army crackdown on minority Rohingya Muslims that called ethnic cleansing.

More than hundred Rohingya people have since died and thousands have been displaced. Many of those affected are innocent women and children.

Some refugees who entered into Bangladesh told media that they suffered rape, torture and saw their homes burned down and family members executed.

"If (the military) finds any boys aged above 10 years old, they kill them. Men are also being picked up by the military," said Lalu Begum.

"When the military came, we fled from our home. I don't know if my husband is dead or alive."

Begum, currently staying at the Kutupalong camp in Southern Bangladesh, told CNN several women in her village were raped by regime soldiers.

"When they see pretty ladies, they ask for water, then they get inside the house and rape them," she said.
Marking the 26th Martyrdom Anniversary of Dr Shamsul Alam Khan Milan family members placing wreaths at his memorial at Dhaka Medical College Hospital premises on Sunday.
College teacher, fish trader killed

A teacher of Phulbaria Degree College was brutally beaten by the police reportedly following a violent clashes between students-teachers and police when they staged demonstration (inset) demanding nationalization of the college on Sunday.

Staff Reporter :

A teacher of Phulbaria Degree College and a fish trader were killed and around 100 others injured when a violent clash broke out between students-teachers and police in Phulbaria Upazila of Mymensingh district on Sunday afternoon.



The deceased were identified as Abul Kalam Azad, an associate professor of Botany Department of the college and Safar Ali, 70, a fish trader. Safar Ali died on the spot while Abul Kalam Azad succumbed to his injuries at Mymensingh Community Based Medical College Hospital.



According to witnesses, teachers and students of the college and locals have been continuing their agitation demanding nationalisation of the college for the last few months as it has all the facilities similar to that of the government colleges.



On Sunday afternoon when the teachers and students staged demonstration and took out procession protesting a case filed against them, police swooped on them and started resorting to baton-charge and lobbing off tear gas shells.



Police also fired several rounds of blank shots to bring the situation under control.



Talking to journalists Professor SM Abul Hashem, a teacher of the college and convenor of Phulbaria Degree College Movement Committee, said as soon as they brought out the procession police clubbed them indiscriminately leaving Safar Ali dead on the spot while Abul Kalam succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.



"It was a brutal action on us. It was also a barbaric one. Police beat up our teachers, students, guardians as well as pedestrians. We want justice of our teacher and pedestrian murder," he said.



He said at least 100 people, including 25 teachers of the college, were injured in the clash.



Imam Hossain, an associate professor of the college, told The New Nation that of the injured teachers, condition of Helal Uddin, Upendra Chandra Das, Mujibul Haque and Mujibur Rahman and many students are stated to be critical as they were beaten up brutally by the cops during the incident.



"When we were staging demonstration in a peaceful manner, a heavy contingent of police stormed the college campus and started beating us," he said When contacted Syed Nurul Islam, Superintendent of Police of Mymensingh district told The New Nation yesterday evening that teacher Abul Kalam Azad and fisherman Safar Ali died of heart attack.



"It is not correct. The teachers, students and locals who were also present during the violent incident, witnessed how and in what way the teacher Abul Kalam Azad and Safar Ali died," replying to a query the Police Super said.



He added Safar Ali who was passing by the area died of heart attack some 300 yard away of the trouble-torn area.



"These kinds of unruly protests generate violence. There was no link between the deaths and the clash," he claimed.



Rifat Khan Rajib, Officer-in-Charge of Phulbaria Police Station, said the protesters gathered on the college campus and started hurling stones at police who in turn fired teargas shells to disperse them.



"The agitators also tried to block the road and threw brick-chips at police during the clash and police charged baton to disperse them," he said, adding the violence erupted as police moved in to dislodge protesters blocking the road



It was the worst incident in a spate of protests over the past several months demanding nationalization of the college. In the last few months, the teachers and students of the college also blocked the main road in realization of their demand.



Established in 1971, the institution runs honours in seven subjects.



Additional police have been deployed in and around the area. A tense situation is prevailing the area and panic also is gripping among the locals.


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.
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Saturday, November 26, 2016 at 6:33PM

by Eric Blume

The lovely opening image of Robert Zemeckis new film Allied has Brad Pitt falling slowly and soundlessly into the North African desert via parachute. As he walks across the spine of an endlessly long sand dune, the film evokes the luxurious opening of The English Patient and of course the granddaddy of desert films, Lawrence of Arabia. And Pitts arrival into Casablanca, Morocco tees up memories of the Bogart-Bergman classic. Zemeckis positions us exactly where he wants us to be: open to the possibility of the pleasures of those highly-romantic, old-school pictures that we truly dont see anymore...

Allied is the story of two spies (Canadian Pitt and French Marion Cotillard) who are assigned to be man and wife, only to become man and wife upon completion of their mission, only then for husband Brad to be told that wife Marion may be an undercover spy for the Germans.

Its an ideal movie-movie premise for a big-budget star-pair vehicle. Zemeckis not only knows the kind of movie hes making, but he doesnt shy away from it or apologize for it, either. He keeps his two stars, immaculately-coiffed and beautifully-lit, front and center to accentuate their impossible perfection. The movie is made with intelligence and care, and hes unafraid to push for a nostalgic emotionalism, without going soggy.





The Pitt-Cotillard pairing is inspired. Surely two of the most physically stunning creatures to ever stand in front of a lens, these two are also first and foremost character actors who tend to underplay. Pitt fares less well, but partly because in his now 20+ year career, he hasnt quite been able to fully harness these sorts of roles that require both his star power and his now-estimable acting technique. Generally Pitts best work comes when he gets to riff on his own charisma (Fight Club, Moneyball) or play against type with out-there enthusiasm (12 Monkeys, Inglorious Basterds). His Allied role falls in the same world as his turn in Troy or Furyhe brings the movie-star dynamism but forgets to create a wholly original character. Still, he has a well-modulated slow-burn sequence at the top of the second hour that feels lived-in and adds some weight to the denouement.

Cotillard, who has clocked in two of the best performances this decade (Rust and Bone and Two Days, One Night), keeps surprising with her versatility. Shes never been asked to summon the kind of Hollywood starriness she has here, and it seems to come effortlessly. Zemeckis taps into both her kittenish sexuality and her ethereal mystery in equal dose, and her sheer casting lends authenticity to the proceedings. She slinks through the first half of the film as a glorious clotheshorse, and you believe her in all elements of her character (as a resistance fighter, a crafty spy, a doting mother). Its easy to underestimate her accomplishment here: shes fully assured and keeps Pitt on his toes.





Dont get me wrong: Allied is complete hogwash. Theres not a lot of there there, and what is there is ornamental folly. The story could have been an interesting metaphor for infidelity of a larger scale, and what a man will do when hes driven to despair by it. But thats not what Zemeckis is up to. Instead, he wants us to go back to the joys that old Hollywood films could bring us: being swept up in international intrigue and being bewitched by the magnetism of two beautiful stars made for the cinema. On this level, Zemeckis casts his spell.
President Joe Biden has decided to ban Russian oil imports, toughening the toll on Russia's economy in retaliation for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States generally imports about 100,000 barrels a day from Russia, only about 5% of Russia's crude oil exports, according to Rystad Energy. Last year, roughly 8% of U.S. imports of oil and petroleum products came from Russia. Gas prices have been rising for weeks due to the conflict and in anticipation of potential sanctions on the Russian energy sector. The U.S. national average for a gallon of gasoline soared 45 cents a gallon in the past week and topped $4.06 on Monday, according to auto club AAA. Should the US ban Russian oil imports over Ukraine war?

You voted:
The sextoy market is growing quite rapidly in India right now.

Although it is not a big trend, it is a hot topic on the internet as it is secretly expanding its market.

In this article, we will focus on sextoy and introduce recommended sextoy for Indian beginners of sextoy by gender.

India, the birthplace of the Kama Sutra, is very strict about sex.

Also, premarital sex is basically not allowed. Therefore, there are many people who are sexually restricted.

But what happens when you continue to be sexually restricted?

Frustration may build up and you may end up taking your sexual stress out on your partner.

If you are able to adopt sextoy in a timely manner, you can get rid of those problems.

I want to have more exciting sex than Im having now.

I want more variation in masturbation

I want to get even stronger pleasure than I do on my own.

If you have any of these problems, please stay with me until the end.

What is sex toys for Indian?

Sextoy, as the name implies, is a toy used during sex and masturbation.

It is a generic term for vibrators, Egg-vibrators, Electric massagers, dildo, handcuffs and condoms.

They are used to make regular sex more exciting or to make masturbation more pleasurable.

Because sextoy is very stimulating, it can help you to get rid of the problems and frustrations of being in a rut of sex with your partner for a long time, or if you are unhappy with the lack of pleasure in sex with your partner.

The ability to satisfy your desires with movement, texture, and size, which cannot be done by a normal human being, can help you to be satisfied with sex and, as a result, improve your relationship with your partner.

It is also said to help improve sexual dysfunction (inability to get an erection or ejaculate) and difficulty in feeling during sex (insensitivity), which is attracting more attention than in the past.

In recent years, the demand for sextoy has increased due to the spread of smartphones and the Internet and the increasing number of people using online shopping.

Even those who are concerned about the appearance of sextoy (and find it difficult to purchase) can now easily obtain it by using mail order.

In the case of online shopping, most of the stores have taken steps to ensure that the contents of the products delivered to you are not revealed, so you can purchase them without your family members knowing.

Until a while ago, you had to go to the store where the adult goods were sold to buy them, so it was quite a hurdle to overcome.

Also, many people may have an image that sextoy is somehow embarrassing to own.

But nowadays, some of them are so stylish and cute that you cant believe they are sextoy at a glance.

More and more people are using them for travel and outdoor use because they are not too bulky and are suitable for carrying around.

Sextoy situation in India

Before introducing the recommended sextoy for Indians, lets talk about one of the sextoy situations in India in recent years.

In India, due to the high concentration of population, the following six cities have particularly high sales of sextoy in India.

Mumbai

Kolkata

Bangalore

Delhi

Chennai

Hyderabad

These cities account for roughly 70 percent of sextoy sales in India.

In the future, the percentage of sextoy use will gradually increase in other cities in India as well.

If you never talk about sextoy publicly, that girl in your neighborhood might be a sextoy user too.

If you are interested in sextoy, you dont have to suppress your desire for it.

What are Sextoys for beginner?

Among all sextoys, sextoy for beginners are vibrators, dildo, masturbators, Sex Lubricants, and condoms.

Sex Lubricants and condoms, which are familiar to people who have had sex, are also a great beginners sextoy.

I will explain the details of each toy later, but there are many sextoy products that are painful to use and can only be used after some anal expansion.

I assume that the Indian readers of this article are people who have not had much experience with sextoy.

If such people use professional sextoy suddenly, they are at risk of injury or trauma.

Therefore, to introduce sextoy, you need to start with a beginners version and gradually become familiar with it.

Advantages of using sextoy for Indians

There are three advantages of using sextoy for Indians

You can masturbate in a wide variety of ways.

Can have stimulating sex

Can develop new sexual zones

If you try to masturbate with your own fingers or hands, it tends to be a pattern.

However, with sextoy, you can easily masturbate in a variety of ways.

You will definitely be fascinated by the attraction of new stimulation.

Also, your daily sex life will be more exciting than ever.

There are many things in sextoy that are visually stimulating and give you a strong and intense feeling of pleasure.

This allows you to see your partners promiscuity in a way that you wouldnt normally see it.

When you are in a relationship, sex with your partner may become a pattern, but it can also eliminate these problems.

It can also lead to the development of new sexual zones (which is the training of sexual stimulation to allow you to feel orgasms).

For more information on the development of new sexual zones, see the following articles

[Women's Erogenous Zone]How to find and develop, 7 hidden sexual zones !![In India] In this issue, we will dissect the female erogenous zone! ..." Many of you may be like that. Men, in particular, shou...

Thus, the use of sextoy can only be a good thing for the men and women of India.

Sextoy for beginner men in India

So, lets continue with the recommended goods for Indian sextoy beginners.

For ease of understanding, we will introduce them by gender. Lets start with the men!

The following five goods are recommended for novice Indian sextoy men

Masturbator

Cock rings

Love Doll

Sex Lubricants

Toys for the prostate

Lets check each one in detail.

Masturbator

The masturbator is a sextoy for men that elaborately reproduces a womans vagina, mouth, and anus, and is one of the most popular sextoy products.

It is used by men to masturbate, and it is popular because it provides stronger stimulation and pleasure more easily than using hands.

Most are made of good quality silicone, and their softness is something that cannot be achieved with ones own hands.

They can provide stronger pleasure than a real womans vagina, so be careful not to overuse them. (You wont be able to have an orgasm in a womans vagina anymore.)

Again Male masturbators are a wonderful toy. I do not need any favourite timing, bothersome bargaining. You do not have to worry too much.

Revolutionize your masturbation time! ! !

Made in Japan is a wonderful kinky toy.#sextoysindia #SexToyIndia #Japanhttps://t.co/4k70QGzoTP pic.twitter.com/tRVdxTKPpa   SEXToys India PR  (@SextoysIndia) November 12, 2018

Some of them are disposable, while others can be washed and used over and over again, so its fun to buy a few to use depending on your mood.

If you want to know more about masturbator, please click here

Really pleasant male masturbation and how to do it Are you in a rut with your daily masturbation routine? I'm going to show you five ways men masturbate that you might ...

[For Beginners] How to choose and use a male masturbator without fail Gentlemen.Have you ever used a masturbator? The person who sees this article is probably the one who has not experien...

Cock Ring

A cock ring is literally a ring-shaped sextoy that is worn on a mans penis.

It maintains an erection by binding the penis with a ring of rubber and blocking blood flow.

It is sometimes used as an accessory to be worn on the penis, and may be made of metal or plastic as well as rubber.

In some cases, cock rings have parts or vibrators attached to them that stimulate the vagina, so they kill two birds with one stone, giving a woman pleasure while maintaining an erection.

Cock rings are also sometimes used to treat erectile dysfunction.

It can help with erectile dysfunction, where the penis doesnt get hard when you get an erection or doesnt last long when you try to insert it.

Men who are prone to breakage or who are unsure of the hardness and size of their erections can use a cock ring to increase the size of their penis and maintain an erection for a longer period of time.

Cock rings vary in price from around RS700 to over RS2000 with a vibrator function.

Some of them do not fit your penis, so you should check the size of the cock ring before you buy.

You should know the size of your partners or your own penis when it is erect.

[Penis enlargement] What is a cock ring? Types and usage Cock rings can make your penis bigger and harder. It also makes sex with women more fulfilling and increases your sat...

Love Doll

Love dolls, also known as Dutchwives, are dolls with the appearance of a woman who can experience simulated sex.

There are dolls that look like a woman, but they have no face and only have their breasts and lower torso cut off, and some dolls are so realistic that they can actually be mistaken for real women.

Some expensive dolls can cost more than 1 million yen, and the quality of the doll is easily influenced by the price.

The higher the price, the higher the quality of the doll will be, the closer it will be to the real woman, and the cheaper the doll will be, the less elaborate it will be, making it look like a real doll! Something is wrong! That is also true.

You cant go wrong if you choose a balance between price and taste.

There are stores that allow you to make custom-made love dolls, so you can create a girl of your choice.

You can make a girl of your choice. You can start with inexpensive love dolls at first, and once you get used to it, you can try custom-made love dolls.

If you want to know more about Love doll, please click here

Thorough explanation of the charm of sex dolls! Have you ever heard of sex dolls that are used primarily for pseudo-sex purposes? It is a doll that is quite close to...

Sex lubricants

Sex lubricants are used as a substitute for lubricating fluid during sex or as a lubricant for men to use masturbator rules.

It is not uncommon for women to have difficulty getting wet, depending on their physical condition, or to have difficulty getting wet due to their constitution.

Forcing the penis into the vagina at such times can cause painful intercourse.

There are various types of Sex Lubricants, some with a warming effect, some with a cooling effect, and some with a scent.

Changing the Sex Lubricant used during play is recommended as a good sex accent.

If you want to learn more about Sex Lubricants, click here.

What is sex lubricant?Explain the difference and usage of each ingredient The word "sex toy" may seem like a hurdle to overcome, but lotion is actually one of the most familiar sex toys. Many...

Toys for the Prostate

Another sextoy for men is prostate toys.

The most famous prostate toys include Enemagra, which was originally a prostate massager developed by an American urologist to treat an enlarged prostate line.

Modern prostate toys are imitations of Enemagra that have spread as sextoy for men.

Many people think of prostate toys as being used by gay men, but in fact they are often used by straight men.

What is the prostate?

The prostate is an organ found only in men. It is a walnut-sized organ located deep in the pelvis, just below the bladder, and its primary role is to protect and nourish sperm.

You cannot touch the prostate gland from outside the body, but you can touch it by inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus.

By inserting a finger or sextoy through the anus and touching the prostate and developing it, you can feel intense orgasms.

Orgasms felt in the prostate are mainly dry orgasms, which are orgasms that do not involve ejaculation. (You can also feel orgasms with ejaculation through prostate stimulation.)

The prostate is called the male G-spot, and dry orgasms can be much more intense than ejaculation.

Therefore, men who are able to develop a prostate can become addicted to the pleasure.

sextoy for beinner women in India

The following are the recommended goods for Indian women who are new to sextoy.

The following three are recommended for use by women who are new to sextoy.

Vibrator.

Dildo

Electric Masserger

Lets check out what each one is in detail.

If you want to check out womens toys, click here.

[BEST25]Sex Toys for Women in IndiaThat Can Help You Have an Orgasm There are many women who pretend to feel orgasm during sex. But don't worry, you don't have to pretend to feel orgasm...

Vibrators

A vibrator is a sextoy that vibrates with an Egg-Vibrator to provide stimulation and is often referred to simply as a vibrator.

Some vibrate as well as rotate, and there are many variations of sextoy.

It is quite a popular sextoy, and is well recognized by people who do not know much about sextoy.

Its usage is similar to that of a massager, but it is more compact and easier to carry than a massager, and many of them look as cute as a lipstick or a macaroon, so they are popular among women.

For a while, a famous influencer on twitter said, This is good! You may have heard of the topic of this article by introducing the recommended vibrators.

Vibrators are great for women to use on their own, but they are also recommended for men who have difficulty satisfying women with sex.

Since it is powered by electricity, it is far less tiring than moving your hands by yourself.

This makes it easier to satisfy a woman with sex because you can caress her for longer than usual.

Vibrators are mainly used on the female side, but they can also be used on men.

When used on men, they are used to attack the nipples and glans, and in both cases it is recommended to wear a condom for hygiene reasons.

Introducing how to use the vibrator, its purpose, and how to choose it! Vibrator uses the vibrations caused by the rotation of the motor to provide stimulation. It is one or two of the most...

Dildo

A dildo is a model sextoy made to mimic a male penis.

It can be made of silicone, elastomer (think of it as a material similar to PVC), metal or glass.

A dildo can be used by a man for his female partner during sex, or by a woman for masturbation to get pleasure from it.

They are mainly inserted into women, but some can be used in the male anus as well.

It is sometimes used synonymously with vibrators, but the vibrator is not the same thing as a vibrating device.

A model of a penis that does not vibrate is a dildo.

Some of them have suction cups that can be attached to the floor or wall so that you can enjoy realistic masturbation without using your hands.

For fun, there is a dildo made in the shape of your partners penis.

This one is also popular as a gift, and if youve been together for a long time and are having trouble finding a gift for your partner, you might want to pick one.

To learn more about dildo, please click here.

What is Dildo: Orgasms with Dildos for Men and Women A dildo is a model of a male organ that is used by women for masturbation and by men to stimulate the prostate gland. Th...

Electric Masserger

A Electric Masserger is a hand-held electric massager, also known as a handheld massager, and can usually be purchased at electronics stores.

It was originally designed to relieve stiff shoulders and back pain, so the hurdle of buying one in a physical store is quite low.

Many people may have seen or used it in some form or another, as it is often installed in leisure hotels.

Such a massager is highly recommended for beginners because it is easy for women to get pleasure from it when they use it during masturbation.

It is larger than Egg-Vibrator and vibrations are stronger than those of Egg-Vibrators and vibrators, so even just hitting the clitoris can give you a great deal of pleasure.

For those women who have never had an orgasm during sex with their man, the massager may be a good way to get a feel for what it feels like to have an orgasm.

It looks and feels like an electric massager, so you wont have to feel awkward if your roommate finds out.

If you are in a rut of having sex with your partner, if you want to feel an orgasm through masturbation, or if you are thinking of using a sextoy, why dont you try it from a simple massager?

To learn more about Electric Masserger, click here.

What is a massager? Introducing types, selection methods, and usage Originally, the Magic-wand vibrator and the massage machine were sold as a home massage machine used for the back and th...

How to choose a sextoy for Indian

Now that weve covered the different types of sextoy, heres how to choose one.

Especially if you are trying sextoy for the first time, pay attention to the following three points:  Does the size fit you (the partner)?

Does the size fit you (your partner)?

Is the environment able to produce sound without problems?

Price range

First of all, the choice of size is quite important.

Most sextoy are used against or inserted into the genitals, but the genitals are very delicate organs for both men and women.

For this reason, using an inappropriate size may cause damage.

Secondly, the environment should be able to produce sound without problems.

Some sextoys not only wear, but also rotate and vibrate. Its easier to get pleasure from something that moves than something that doesnt, but the fact that it moves means that the internal rotors make some noise.

If you live in a house with thin walls or if you have roommates, you may not be able to concentrate because of the noise, so it is best to choose one that is silent or has a low noise level.

Especially in India, where many people live with their families, it is very important that you dont have to worry about sound when you use it.

Finally, there is the price range.

The price range of sextoy ranges widely, from around RS500 at the cheapest to RS10,000 or more at the highest.

Its good to consider how much money you can afford and how much you want to buy.

Do you want your family to not find out about sextoy?

I live with my family and want to use sextoy without them finding out! If you are a man, you should buy a camouflage sextoy that does not look like a sextoy at first glance.

For men, there are many masturbators that do not look like a sextoy, and for women, there are vibrators that only look like cosmetics.

If you choose such a type, youll be safe in case your family members find out.

How to buy sextoys in India

The best way to purchase sextoy is through online shopping.

For more information on how to purchase sextoy, please see the article below.

Sextoy is one of them.

Therefore, you can easily get sextoy in India by using online shopping.

SexToysINDIA is a long established and stable sextoy store and you can have sextoy delivered to any place in India.

They also offer cash on delivery, so those who are worried about shopping with a credit card do not have to worry.

Of course, the latest security is in place, so your information will not be taken out when you use your credit card.

To begin with, many people may be concerned about whether they are legally allowed to purchase sextoy.

ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

Right now, it is not open to the public because the Indian adult market is still in the development stage, but it will gradually spread from now on.

Take advantage of sextoy and open the door to new pleasures and culture.

Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

Watch out for electrical leakage

Beware of the heat generated by the body while using a sex toy

As I mentioned earlier, many sextoy products are used for the delicate zone.

Therefore, it is most important to keep the sextoy itself clean. It is very important to keep the sextoy itself clean, because if a slight scratch is created by friction, bacteria can enter and breed there.

It is safe to wear a condom when using the masturbator, just in case.

In addition, many sextoy devices are powered by a power source, so if they are not waterproof, there is a possibility of electric shock or malfunction due to wetness.

Some may even develop heat during continuous use. If the fever becomes too much, you may get burned, so be careful.

If you get a fever during use, stop driving the sextoy immediately and refrain from using it.

You will enjoy sex more if you keep it safe and use it correctly.

Summary

What did you think?

In this article, we have introduced the recommended sextoy for the beginners of sextoy in India.

The sextoy market is growing rapidly in India and it will continue to grow steadily in the future.

As India is a rather closed-minded country, it can be difficult to be open about ones sexual habits and values.

However, being faithful to ones desires by properly dissolving ones sexual desire is very effective for ones physical and mental health.

If this is your first time to learn about sextoy, or if you are interested in using sextoy, why not give it a try?

Indian Sextoys for ur best! will introduce you to sextoy and other trivia about sextoy, sexuality, and sexuality for men and women.

I want to read more! If you think its a great idea, please bookmark it.
CARMI  Doug Winter, a Southern Illinois farmer, has seen low commodity prices every decade during his nearly 40-year career so far. He said following his fathers conservative financial approach is something that has served him well over the years.

He has experienced many ups and downs in the farm economy since he started farming with his father in 1977, a fresh Southern Illinois University graduate.

Winter and his brother, Richard, farmed together for many years as Winter Brothers Farms until his brother retired earlier this year.

We have been fortunate, Winter said, noting that his operation weathered hard times in the late 1970s, the farm crisis in the 1980s, a lesser downturn in the 1990s and is managing its way through the lower prices now.

Winter runs a 3,200-acre farm growing corn, soybeans and wheat near Carmi in White County.

He has three full-time employees and two part-time, as well as support from his wife, Nancy, a professional accountant. He jokes that his requests of her are really taxing  calling on her expertise with finances and taxes.

There are some basic ideas he follows based on lessons he has learned over the years that might help young farmers now experiencing their first market downturn.

Look at cost of production, Winter said.

Its important to carefully manage input costs. He said farmers shouldnt be afraid to shop around.

Dont be afraid to ask for a deal, he said.

Even when times are good, its important to consider if you really need to buy a new combine, for example, or if $5,000 in repairs and improvements might be a better investment than adding $8,000 to $10,000 in payments annually. That is true for other equipment.

Another key factor is keeping your financial lender up to date on how things are going, especially in challenging times.

Always keep an open line of communication with your banker. Let him know whats going on, Winter said.

Sometimes those conversations happen three or four times a year, but when commodity prices are low and margins are especially tight, it might make sense to be in touch every 30 days, he noted.

While farm lenders know the general situation in agriculture, they dont know the specifics of your individual operation. Sharing important details may help you make adjustments in the tough times and be more successful in the good ones, he said.

Keep a close eye on the markets and know what price per bushel you require to break even and when to lock in a profit for that crop.

Dont be greedy, he advised.

Some people may be waiting for the markets to give a 20 percent profit, but that isnt likely to happen these days. He recommends knowing your cost of production and selling a portion when you make about 5 percent profit. Then you have room to sell more if the prices rise.

You can then scale up, he said of the disciplined strategy for marketing he follows.

Winter is also active with his commodity associations, always learning more to help him make good decisions on his own farm and to contribute to the farming community.

The fifth-generation farmer traces his roots to his great-great-grandfather, who in 1865 started farming some of the land Winter still farms.
Numerous residents told HUD they didnt want to move. Dont do this. Its wrong, man, one resident told them. You dont know what were going through because you're not from here, said another, noting he has lived in Cairo since the 1950s and doesnt intend to live elsewhere. Stop moving our people out of town. Build something new here.
CAIRO  Landus Jackson feels at home cutting hair behind the bright red chair in the booth he rents at Shear Perfect salon in Cairo.

After eight and a half years behind bars, hes home at last. He walked out of the Vienna Correctional Center on Oct. 4 and started his new career less than two weeks later. A picture of Jackson hugging his teenage daughter as he stepped through the prison doors is displayed on a shelf next to hair products.

A little further south on Sycamore Street, his brother, Correy Wilson, has opened a detailing shop called On the Spot.

Wilson returned home from his two-year prison sentence about four months before Jackson's release. Wilson served his short sentence at Menard Correctional Center. He opened the detailing shop about a month ago. It's a business he had before, but now he owns his garage.

With some good old-fashioned elbow grease, Wilson is cleaning cars and cleaning up his act.

The two brothers  Jackson, age 40, and Wilson, age 42  are leaning on each other as they seek a new path forward as returning citizens determined not to go back  to prison, or to the ways that landed them there.

My brother's keeper

Jackson and Wilson both said they have set up a winning equation that includes God, gainful employment and the support of family and friends.

Many days, the brothers have lunch together. They attend church together. Thanksgiving this year was spent together at Wilson's home.

The two have made a promise to one another to offer up some tough love if either sees the other slipping.

They are two brothers who will not let the other brother get out of hand, said their father, Wesley Wilson, of nearby Mound City.

They are not naive about the challenges ahead. Jackson and Wilson both said they understand the odds for returning citizens to land back in prison, anecdotally and statistically. This was not the first prison tour for either brother, and behind bars, both said they met people who considered a prison sentence little more than an inconvenient interruption to their criminal pursuits.

For some, that may be by choice, but for most people, it's more complicated than that, Jackson said.

Some people, Jackson said, cant see another way, or are afraid of failing at an honest career.

I met a lot of guys in there that were like that, Jackson said. They didnt see a way out. Or didnt think they could make it. They didnt want to try something new  and fail at it. So they did what was more comfortable.

There are others who, at one time, were determined to stay out of prison, but fell back into crime when they were turned away by employers because of their felon label. Or perhaps they lost a job and were faced with the uncertainty of how to provide for themselves and their families, Correy Wilson said.

Theres always the temptation, Wilson said. Around here, theres not much, so its easy to fall into the hole.

Wilson, who has six children ranging in age from 11 to 23, said the not much he refers to is economic opportunities in Cairo and surrounding communities in Southern Illinois.

The revolving door

Though not condoning bad decisions, Wilson said it can be hard for people to resist the temptation to turn to selling drugs or other criminal activity to make quick money. That's particularly true for people with felony records who can't find employment or lose a job and find themselves in a crisis trying to figure out how to provide for themselves or their family.

Wilson said he sold marijuana in the past for that reason. He said he knows how easy it is to find oneself sucked back into the lifestyle, particularly when the job outlook is bleak.

Indeed, a large number of offenders who live in communities that stretch from Cairo to Chicago are caught in the prison systems revolving door. That also means the vast majority of crimes in Illinois in any given year are committed by people with criminal records, according to a summer 2015 report from the Illinois Sentencing Policy Advisory Council.

According to that report, 48 percent of people released from prison every year recidivate within three years, and 19 percent recidivate within one year.

How to slow that vicious and repetitive cycle is one of the most vexing challenges facing the Illinois Department of Corrections, Illinois taxpayers and people with felony records seeking a second chance at success in mainstream society.

The average taxpayer cost associated with one incident of recidivism is about $40,500. Some of those who cycle in and out do so because of technical violations of parole. When the crime involves a victim, the average cost per incident jumps to $119,000, a figure that considers the cost to taxpayers, victims and other indirect costs, according to the report.

But the numbers aren't the entire story. People can change, the brothers said.

Wilson said he has served four relatively short prison sentences since the mid-1990s, for felony convictions and violations of parole or probation related to those convictions.

His criminal record includes convictions of possession of a weapon by a felon, and driving on a license suspended because of a DUI offense.

Jackson has been to prison twice. He most recently was sentenced for a conviction of aggravated battery with a firearm.

He served his first stint in prison at the age of 20, but his sentence was much shorter at two years. In 1996, he was convicted of felony mob action. He was on probation at the time for a 1994 conviction of obstructing justice.

Breaking the cycle

Back in their hometown of Cairo, Jackson and Wilson said they are determined to prove that the cycle can be broken.

It helps to have support, Wilson said. But it is an individual decision when it comes down to it.

To me, its on the person, Wilson said Friday as he detailed a vehicle at his shop, stopping only occasionally to give directions to an employee. If you want to stay focused and get out and go straight and do what you need to do to get back to society, you can do it. If you have a weak mind, its a little bit harder for you.

Their father, Wesley Wilson, said moving forward requires both taking responsibility for and making peace with prior mistakes. In order to get to the future you have to let your past go, he said.

Wilson lives in Cairo. Jackson is living with his father and stepmother in Mound City while completing six months of house arrest, which began upon his release in October. Jackson said he's saving money from his job and intends to secure his own place after completing this restrictive community sentence that requires him to be home when he's not at work or church or tending to other approved activities. He will serve three years mandatory supervised release after that.

Seeing to it that both sons have a successful reintegration and promising future is a family affair, he said.

We lean on each other, Wesley Wilson said. We make sure each one of us is doing whats right. In order for them to be successful, I have to be successful. In order for them to see happiness and success, I have to show it to them.

Wilson, who is a deacon at the First Missionary Baptist Church, said he also believes his sons have something to give back to the community in mentoring youth on the consequence of illegal activities. They can do that in their interactions with teens, but also by living the example of a reformed life, he said. Jackson has already given a formal talk to youth at the church, and Wilson said he expects his son will do more of that.

Jackson said that a lot of the mentoring he offers is while cutting the hair of teens, and he prefers to do it in the form of a conversation than a lecture.

Jackson said he tells the young men, "'Im not trying to tell you what to do. Im just trying to tell you where youre going if you do this, or where youre going if you do that. What direction youre headed in.'"

A day of reckoning

Jackson said the first time he went to prison as a young man, it didnt sink in that he was on a path to long-term incarceration.

But Jackson said he will never forgot his day of reckoning, as the Alexander County judge he stood before announced how he would pay for his misdeeds.

When he sentenced me to 10 years, it was like, Oh man. OK. My heart dropped, Jackson said.

The sentence range for felony aggravated battery with a firearm is between six and 30 years, so Jackson said it was a blessing that it wasnt even more time. Held at the Tri-County Detention Center in Ullin as his case progressed through Alexander County Circuit Court, Jackson said he had a lot of time to think about how he would manage serving years in prison, and what kind of life he would make for himself on the other side.

When I was in county going back and forth to court, I made up my mind what I was going to do before I even got sentenced. I set three goals: get a GED, get my barbers license and to go home a better man, Jackson said.

Jackson said he grew up in church but started seeking God personally in jail, attending Sunday services that a volunteer officiated. It went from there, he said. I knew I had to make a change.  I made my mind up that I had to come home with a different mindset than I had when I went in.

A cut above

Jackson began his sentence at Menard Correctional Center. A few years into his incarceration, he earned his high school equivalency diploma, he said. A prison worker told him he had potential as a barber, and encouraged him to apply to the cosmetology program at Vienna Correctional Center. Jackson was transferred there and enrolled in the program.

He took easily to the program and found a career calling. After completing his coursework, he was put to work in the prison cutting the hair of staff and other inmates.

I love cutting hair, he said. Im eager to get up every morning to go in and cut hair. I was like that in there (prison)."

When Jackson walked out of Vienna Correctional Center this past month, he had his cosmetology license in hand.

Corrections officials invited two Southern Illinois media outlets, including The Southern Illinoisan, to a news conference that day on the prison grounds where state officials awarded him that certificate. They celebrated that day because it was the first time in recent memory where an inmate was able to walk out the prison doors with certificate in hand. That was made possible by regulatory changes made by the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation (IDFPR).

People with felony convictions seeking a cosmetology license are generally required to appear before the Barber, Cosmetology, Esthetics, Hair Braiding and Nail Technology Board before their license is issued.

Before, inmates had to wait until they had returned to society, and then schedule an appointment with the board. The delays often led to frustrations, and some inmates didn't follow through. The new rules allow the board to meet with the inmates via teleconference while they are still in prison.

Jackson was the first to benefit from this new rule change. At least another 11 inmates have completed their coursework and examinations and are in the pipeline to meet with the board closer to their exit date, said Terry Horstmann, IDFPR spokesman.

Correy Wilson said he thinks the department's new policy is a great step, and would like to see IDOC put more emphasis on career training for inmates and job placement assistance as they return to society.

Wanted: Jobs for ex-prisoners

People need to have a way to make a living, he said. Assistance with finding work is particularly important for people returning to communities where options are scarce, he said. Wilson said he believes improving career training programs is the No. 1 thing that the state can do to improve recidivism rates.

Wilson said it seemed to him as though the prison system offered more counseling and job training skills 20 years ago as compared to today. During his most recent incarceration at Menard, Wilson said it seemed as though a lot of people were just sitting in their cells rather than taking part in rehabilitative activities.

Upon release, he said, "Theyre just sticking you out there, and saying, 'Stay out of trouble.' Its easier said than done."

For Jackson, a smooth transition

Jackson agreed that having his cosmetology license handed to him on the way out the door has made the transition back to society much smoother. He started work 13 days after his release. He works six full-time days a week at the salon, starting every morning at 9 a.m.

Its been fast, but its been good, though, he added. I didnt think it was going to go as smooth as it has been  for the most part, anyway.

He said his goal, after working for several years, is to apply for his cosmetology instructors license. In the meantime, he's looking forward to the day when he can travel again. He's longing to hit the open roads, and has his sights on a trip to the ocean.

Im not a bad guy at heart. Its just the bad decisions I made. I made a lot of bad decisions, Jackson said. But Ive made a turnaround ... Im still working, but I have made a big turn.
CARBONDALE  Drake Hazel didnt respond to his name, even though multiple tests revealed nothing was amiss with his hearing. He didnt appear to be interested in talking, either, and often seemed to be in his own little world, according to his mother, Sara. At 20 months, the family learned the child from Marion is autistic.

They discovered Southern Illinois University Carbondales Language and Cognitive Development Clinic last January, and these days, Sara is excited to say they are seeing a different Drake. During a recent therapy session, Sara watched through a one-way mirror in an adjacent room as her son, now 3 , interacted with Leah Verkuylen, a masters student in behavior analysis and therapy from Appleton, Wisconsin. Drake and Verkuylen played with bubbles and toys and connected in other ways.

The changes are very noticeable since he started here, his mom said. His eye contact is extremely better. When you open the door and come into the room, he looks up to see who it is. He plays with toys more and hes much more aware of whats going on around him. Its like hes learning there is a world out there.

Drake is still largely nonverbal, but communicates with his mom via motions. Sara is hopeful that as he continues to come out of his shell, he will become more communicative with the family and friends who try so hard to connect with him. She is seeing progress.

Its the small things sometimes, she said. Before, if you looked at him, he turned away. If my 9-year-old stepson, Kainen, tried to play with him, he paid no attention. Now, Drake follows Kainen around and will walk up to him and hold his hand. The first time that happened, I cried. Drakes making a lot of progress in the right direction. If you could see my son a year ago compared to now, youd be amazed. He does have a voice and this program is helping him find it.

For some clients like Drake, the changes are gradual and progressive. For others, the breakthroughs can seem dramatic.

Ayla Schmicks first client at the clinic was a 4-year-old girl with autism whose language primarily consisted of repeating things others said. The goal for Schmick, a second-year masters student in behavior analysis and therapy from Sunnyside, Washington, was to reduce the childs echoic responses and elicit real conversation.

After a few months of working together, Schmick coughed and sneezed repeatedly in the middle of one of their therapy sessions. At the time, the little girl was occupied with toys but as Schmicks coughs and sneezes continued unabated, the child approached, touched her on the arm and asked, Ayla, are you okay?

My mind was blown! Schmick said. Here was this child who for the past six months was heavily echoic and now she was not only able to recognize that I was in distress, but she stopped playing and asked if I was okay! I was so excited about her asking me that question that I told her I was fine, gave her a big hug and then ran out to talk to her parents about what she just did. Since then, she has grown dramatically in her language and now she talks a lot.

Helping children find their voices is what LCDC is all about, according to Mark Dixon, professor and coordinator of the behavior analysis and therapy program at SIU. The clinic, within the College of Education and Human Services Rehabilitation Institute, is staffed by Dixon and behavior analysis and therapy students. It provides one-on-one, individualized therapy and intervention services to help children from toddlers to age 18 develop basic and advanced verbal skills and cognition.

Clients include children with autism, genetic disorders, ADHD, Down syndrome, social/emotional challenges or other similar disabilities; neurotypical children; those with intellectual disreactive delay anxiety; and children with no formal diagnosis who are experiencing language delays or issues.

Modern, evidence-based applied behavior analysis approaches are utilized during sessions that last 90-120 minutes.

We work one-on-one, directly with the child, implementing learning opportunities that help draw out language and cognitive abilities where they didnt exist using techniques that are proven to help them form and grow, Dixon said. The clinicians offer the children small clusters of opportunities and work to get responses. Then they provide praise and reinforcement for appropriate responses to encourage repetition of the preferred responses. We use gradual training measures and interventions to reinforce appropriate choices and behaviors.

Dixons methods are peer reviewed and bring about scientifically proven results, he said.

The main difference is our underlying goal is to teach them how to learn, not what to learn, Dixon said. We want to help them see whats going on in the world around them. And our deeper agenda is figuring out how we turn on the deduction and inference abilities these kids have. How do we foster that awareness of the world? Here, they are learning how to learn, not what to learn because there is no way kids can be taught to memorize the whole world. We want them to take the knowledge and training and skills they learn here and transfer it to other things in their lives. We are helping them forge new paths of inference and deduction rather than just teaching them skills. We want them to acquire more novel skills and minimize the challenges they face.

Typically, it would cost $150 an hour or more for services like those available at LCDC, if you could find a place to get them, Dixon said.

These kids really need this type of intervention right here, he said. Insurance often doesnt cover services like this, even if you can find them. There is also a wide disparity in the quality of programs available and typically, top-notch programs like ours are found only in large metropolitan areas or places where big studies are taking place. At SIU, all children who can benefit from the program are welcome and there is absolutely no cost. And they can continue coming as long as they are benefiting.

The clinic is open 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and recently, Saturday hours of 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. were added to meet needs. The program has tripled in size in the last nine months and currently serves 40 families. Saturday hours may expand if needed.

Graduate students work with the children, assisted by undergraduates. SIU just launched its undergraduate behavior analysis and therapy program in 2015, and Dixon said the clinic is a great on-campus training incubator. About 20 students are now involved. Dana Paliliunas, a doctoral student in behavior analysis and therapy from Arlington Heights, is the clinic manager; she said the successes are remarkable.

The biggest changes we are seeing are a reduction in challenging behaviors and an increase in spontaneous and creative language, she said.

Its not just about the kids, either, Dixon added. Its the parents, too. When you see their reactions to the positive changes in their kids, its great. When they see the differences in their kids and thank us, its better than any grant or public awards.

After the sessions, students debrief parents, explaining what occurred during the therapy and offering feedback about how parents can continue working with their children at home. Being able to observe is one of the things Sara Hazel likes best about the clinic.

She said her sweet little man who loves to give hugs and kisses is now working on making and maintaining eye contact, modeled play, taking turns, motor imitation and matching.

I love how they get down on the floor, on his level, and play with him. He learns a lot more through the applied behavior analysis therapies than with the other things weve tried. I have nothing but praise for this clinic. Its wonderful and these people are amazing. Weve learned so much, too. They help me know what to do to help him learn his way. And theyve taught me to continue with him even if he screams or cries or gets mad. He used to think if he did that, he could get out of doing something. Not anymore. We continue with the task. It makes a difference.

Conversations with parents and work with the children are valuable to the students as well, helping them learn and giving them data they can use in research to enhance their work.

Beginning in January, additional research will begin and Dixon anticipates it will be groundbreaking. Through neurological evaluations and MRI scans, they will determine how the sessions at the clinic enhance the childrens brain pathways. Dixon previously used similar testing to prove that the brains of chronic gamblers displayed a dopamine effect when they were gambling, but after eight weeks of therapy, the effect wasnt present.

For more information about the Language and Cognition Development Clinic, or to inquire about enrolling a child, call 618-536-7704 and ask for Char, or email LCDClinic@siu.edu.
WEST FRANKFORT  The Christmas season in the city of West Frankfort is under way. This year, events are planned through Dec. 18.

The first of four craft and vendor fairs began at 10 a.m. Friday and continue tomorrow at 10 a.m. at West Frankfort Mall. The fair featured a wide variety of items for sale.

Vendors had a lot of handmade Christmas decorations and ornaments, jewelry, baked goods, soaps, makeup and toys.

One popular stop for the younger set was to see Professor Play, also known as Scott Palmer, and Kellkell, Kelly Nichols. Professor Play was making balloon creations by request.

Six-year-old Ava Seavers was visiting the mall with her grandma, Sandra Evans of West Frankfort. Ava requested a balloon likeness of that jolly old elf, Santa. Ava and her grandma planned to return to the mall to watch a drive-in style movie in the parking lot. The movie is shown on the building and those attending listen over their car radios.

Trenton Cook, 7, requested a different balloon creature. He wanted a Creeper from Minecraft.

For about the past year, Minecraft has been the most requested character, Professor Play said.

When you see the kids faces and hand them their balloons, they have a permanent smile on their faces, Nichols said.

West Frankfort Chamber of Commerce was taking donations for new Christmas decorations for light poles downtown.

We are replacing 90 decorations. We have money for 52, so we need to raise money for 38, Kathy Sikora said.

Wed like eventually to expand them to the mall area, Judy Tanner said.

The decorations are $500 each.

The chamber also had an area where children could write letters to Santa. Chamber members will deliver the letters.

Tenyear-old Holden Popham had set up his Holdens Helpers stand to sell homemade baked goods.

I want to help cure cancer, Holden said.

Holden has had a mother, uncle and aunt who have suffered through cancer. Holden said the proceeds will go to Relay for Life.

We have raised about $2,000 plus what we get today, Holden said.

Jared Gravatt of Marion was introducing new people to Crown Brew Coffee Co. The new company offers free-trade coffee online and at a few area coffee shops. Coffee subscriptions will be available in January.

Janice Poteete of Benton was selling her handmade jewelry.

I had a brain tumor removed five years ago, and picked this up as something to do while I recovered, she said.

Cub Scout Pack 48 was selling popcorn to raise money for summer camp, which costs $240 for each camper. To make a donation to the pack, send checks to Pack 48, 108 N. Cherry St., West Frankfort, IL 62896.

Craft and vendor fairs are scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 18. Candy Cane Lane, the popular drive through lighted Christmas display featuring characters, opened Saturday evening and will continue from dusk to around midnight through the end of December.

Other Christmas events in West Frankfort, include:

Mr. and Mrs. Claus and Professor Play from 9 a.m. to 2 pm. Dec. 10 at West Frankfort Mall; Carriage Rides down Candy Cane Lane from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 11 and 12; and Santa will read The Night Before Christmas at 5 p.m. Dec. 22 at West Frankfort Public Library.

For more information, visit westfrankfort-il.com.
Senate Bill 250 received overwhelming bipartisan support and would make voter registration more accessible to all Illinoisans. I would say that Rauners veto of SB250 shows a monumental lack of foresight, but that it not whats going on here. It actually shows an intentional and highly manipulative brand of foresight, as Rauner knows very well that SB250 would make voting more accessible to everyone, including groups he fears would tend to vote more Democratic than Republican.
Xi praises Fidel Castro, a much loved figure for Chinese people

President Xi Jinping greets Castro in Havana, capital of Cuba, on July 22, 2014. XINHUA

Few foreign leaders have been more endearing to Chinese people than Fidel Castro, the charismatic Cuban revolutionary whose death at age 90 late Friday has prompted condolences and commendations from the blogosphere and Beijing leadership.

Calling him "a great figure of our times", President Xi Jinping said Castro's death meant the Chinese people had lost a close comrade and sincere friend.

"His glorious image and great achievements will go down in history," said Xi, who visited with the man known to most Cubans as "El Comandante"  the commander  in 2011 and 2014.

"The great comrade Fidel Castro will be forever remembered," Xi said on Saturday.

Premier Li Keqiang, who had talked with Castro in Havana on Sept 25, also lavished him with praise.

In his message of condolence to Cuban leader Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's brother, Li hailed the elder Castro as "the founder, defender and propeller of China-Cuba ties".

Fidel Castro led Cuba for nearly half a century before stepping down for health reasons in 2006, when he passed the baton to his brother.

Li said China stands ready to inherit and carry forward the traditional friendship between the two countries.

State broadcaster China Central Television aired a documentary hours after Castro died, showing an impassioned figure asking a huge gathering at Havana's Revolution Square on Sept 2, 1960, if the Cuban people would like to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China.

The crowd's positive response was overwhelming.

In 26 days, Cuba became the first nation in the Western Hemisphere to forge diplomatic relationship with New China.

"Many of the older generation of Chinese live with a nostalgic, sweet memory of singing the lyrics to Beautiful Havana and tasting Cuban sugar," according to the documentary.

Zhang Tuo, Chinese ambassador to Cuba, said, "Both the Chinese and Cuban sides expect to translate their good political relations into fruitful pragmatic cooperation, and usher in a mutually beneficial partnership at a new stage."
So far so good, Warren Harley said after his first few days as the new interim manager of the Orangeburg Department of Public Utilities.

Harley began in the new position on Thursday, Nov. 17.

The former Orangeburg assistant city administrator is filling the position previously held by Tommy Miller, who was fired Nov. 7 by Orangeburg City Council after serving as manager since 2011.

Millers employment with DPU was terminated after council expressed concerns with the working conditions of the city-owned utility's employees.

Council said Miller failed to read a report recommending that DPU implement additional safety procedures after a lineman was injured in June when he came into contact with a 14,400-volt power line, leading to the amputation of both arms.

Im taking some time to get to know and familiarize myself with the organization, Harley said.

Harley said he will be listening to the employees at all levels and any partners or stakeholders with whom they are working.

My focus is to help council in terms of the direction they want to see things go, he said.

Harley plans on working to strengthen communication between the department, its employees and City Council.

At this point, my top concern would be addressing any of the unresolved issues that might be lingering, Harley said. Ill be looking for opportunities for us to improve.

Harley worked for the City of Orangeburg for eight years. He began as director of special projects and annexation and two years later was promoted to assistant city administrator.

He worked as assistant administrator until 2006, when accepted the position of government affairs liaison with the Municipal Association of South Carolina. There he worked with legislative issues and provided technical assistance to the municipalities across the state.

In 2013, Harley left to work for Richland County as assistant administrator.

He left Richland County voluntarily in October, saying he felt good about his time there.

Three years at Richland County were great, he said. We worked with and met a lot of people.

Harleys work experience and resume impressed council.

The mayor reached out to me, he said.

After meeting with council members, Harley said they came to an understanding of what they wanted to see with DPU.

A unanimous vote by City Council gave Harley the job indefinitely.

We dont have a definite time because we have to put everything in process, Mayor Michael Butler said.

Council member Liz Keitt said Harley may hold the interim manager position for six months to a year as council searches for a permanent replacement.

We want to make sure that we will get a person in there that will carry us to eternity, Keitt said.

Were going to get a search committee, Butler said.

The mayor said council will hire a firm to screen all applications and provide the council with feedback.

Butler said council will be looking for someone who can network in the community and will be fair in hiring and firing practices.

Were going to have to look at the previous job search ... the stuff that was sent out last time, Councilman Bernard Haire said.

Councilman Charles Jernigan said appointing Miller in 2011 took at least three to four months, but the process now could take longer, depending upon the response received once the position is advertised publicly.

In the meantime, Jernigan is confident in Harley.

Im really excited about him being there, Jernigan said. We really need a person thats going to step in that job and pull the people together and get everybody on the same page.

Jernigan said when council looked at Harleys past experience with management and his time as assistant city administrator, the city's leaders thought that he would be a good fit for the interim job.

Altogether Warren is an excellent choice for DPU, he said.

Though Harley does not have much experience in utilities, Jernigan believes he will be able to learn from other DPU directors.

Hes got plenty of backup in all of his directors down there at DPU, he said. Theyve got all of the technical expertise.

When searching for a permanent manager, Jernigan said council would like to have someone with more utility knowledge, but thats not a total necessity.

If they are intelligent enough to get in there and manage the people and do the job, theyll gain the rest of the knowledge through the directors, he said.

Council will be watching how Harley does while in the position.

Harley lives in Columbia with his wife, who works with the Municipal Association. She previously worked with Orangeburg County.

Harley said both of his sons are now high school graduates.

As to whether he plans to pursue the manager position permanently, Harley said, Thats not the focus at this point.

Clear communication and an improved workplace are where his attention is placed, he said.
SPRINGFIELD  The Orangeburg County Military Museum has installed a new sign recognizing all branches of the military.

The sign was installed Thursday, Nov. 10. It shows not only the POW-MIA symbol, but has symbols that represent the following branches of U.S. military service: Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps and Navy.

The sign was picked up from sign-building business Image 360 of Columbia by Springfield School Restoration and Use Board Chair Sylvia Hiers and Springfield School Restoration and Use volunteer Rita Brown.

The military museum has added a mannequin in newly purchased vintage Navy whites, which is stationed at the staircase leading up to the second floor of the Springfield School where the Orangeburg County Military Museum is located. A mannequin in Navy blues was already stationed there.

The museum will also add artifacts, including a ships log from the U.S.S. Arkansas that transported soldiers to the beach in Normandy, France during D-Day.

Hiers said, These artifacts were initially sought out by a museum in London, England and Louisiana. The donor wanted them placed here.

The members of the Springfield School Restoration and Use Board along with Orangeburg County Council encourage citizens to place military artifacts in this museum, which belongs to them.

The Orangeburg County Military Museum is the entire countys and contributions of artifacts from throughout the county are needed to keep it changing. We also have military and other artifacts from throughout the entire country including Maine, California and Georgia, Hiers added.

Organizers are planning a Sunday afternoon to be announced specifically for people to drop off items for the military museum and the Springfield Museum in general and have questions answered about their items or request that items be picked up.

Hiers stated, The best way to identify what would be appropriate to place in this military museum or general museum is come see what is here. I refer to everything in both museums as nest eggs. If more would only come and look, they would say that they have some items like those in my house or barn.

The Orangeburg County Military Museum and Springfield Museum at the Springfield School on 210 Brodie St. in Springfield are open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. It is open by appointment at other times.

Hiers said, If you see the museum one week, it will have expanded the next week. Like Walt Disney said of Disneyland, the Orangeburg County Military Museum (and even the other museum within the Springfield School) will always be changing.  We kindly request that Orangeburg County take ownership of this museum.

For more information, call 803-258-3764 or the Springfield Town Hall at 803-258-3152.
Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning.

Those words from the Psalmist, King David, rang especially true for many Americans on Nov. 9 when they awoke to the news that the nation had rejected the continuation of the anti-family, anti-faith policies of Barack Obama by electing Donald Trump in perhaps the most stunning political upset of the modern age.

In a year of surprises, the ultimate outsider delivered the biggest, tapping into the frustration that pollsters didnt detect and liberal elites never took seriously.

The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer, vowed the president-elect, who not only overcame the opposition of the Democratic Party, but his own  soaring to victory in spite of a biased media, his own personal baggage, lopsided polls, and a bevy of Hollywood stars.

In disbelief, pundits watched as the electoral map turned a sea of red, colored by almost a decade of disillusionment with the presidents extremist agenda. Fueled by massive turnout, the highest in U.S. history, voters delivered a stinging repudiation  not just of Hillary Clinton  but her partys ultra-liberal agenda and arguably the entire Obama era.

But the night wasnt just a vindication of Donald Trump. It was also a validation once again of the evangelical movement, which once again overcame the medias narrative of division to deliver one of the most significant political messages this country has ever seen. In nearly every election cycle for the last 40 years, the Left has tried to bury a movement they wish had never been born. And on the night of Nov. 8, they learned just how impossible that prospect will be.

Evangelicals, many of whom (myself included) backed other candidates during the primary, quietly assessed the perilous state of the nation and unified behind Trump in greater number than they had behind the last three GOP nominees. To the astonishment of everyone, Trump outperformed John McCain, Mitt Romney and even George W. Bush  winning an overwhelming 81 percent of the evangelical vote.

If the media had questions about the influence of the religious right, they were answered by the greatest coalescence around a Republican nominee in two decades. It turns out the press had about as much success writing the obituary of the evangelical movement as it had predicting this election. Anyone who traveled the country these last few months saw how values voters were drawn to Donald Trump, not because of shared values, but because of shared concerns over the damage a Clinton Supreme Court would do to our freedoms.

Recognizing that national security hung in the balance, they saw this as an opportunity, after eight years of President Obamas repressive policies, to make freedom mean something again.

They also had the opportunity to hear, along with the rest of America, one of the best arguments against partial-birth abortion the country has ever heard in a presidential debate, in which Trump described  in detail  the barbaric procedure that rips a child out of the womb moments before birth. It may have been the most significant moment  not just of Trumps campaign, but in the history of modern presidential politics.

In four short sentences, the GOP nominee closed the deal with millions of pro-life voters, solidifying their support as the best chance to end Americas nearly 44 years of court-imposed abortion on demand. According to pollster George Barna, politically engaged evangelicals rank abortion as their top issue (30 percent) and Supreme Court nominations a close second (28 percent), the final debate delivered exactly the clarity they were hoping for.

In the end, though, what we witnessed wasnt just the revenge of the deplorables, but the collapse of the Obama legacy. After the spectacular failures of Obamacare, the demoralization of our military, the explosion of lawlessness, tolerance of corruption and obsession with social engineering, Americans finally have the opportunity to rebuild the country they once knew.

But the election is just the starting line. Trump may open the door to Americas solutions, but he was never meant to be the solution. The true transformation of a society starts in the hearts and minds of men. And under an administration with no interest in continuing the eight-year war on the First Amendment, we may finally see what the church is capable of.

In the meantime, one thing about this historic uprising is clear: Americans are looking for leaders of conviction. And as the results of the race for president show, they will accept no substitutes.

---

 Tony Perkins is president of the Family Research Council Action in Washington. He wrote this for InsideSources.com




We're happy to host Malia Zaldi's A DARKER SHORE Virtual Book Tour today! Please leave a comment to let her know you stopped by!

Title: A Darker Shore

Author: Malia Zaldi

Publisher: Bookbaby

Pages: 400

Genre: Historical Mystery





1926: A year has passed since the events of "A Poisonous Journey" and Lady Evelyn has made a home for herself in Greece, living with her cousin, Briony, her husband, Jeffrey and Daniel Harper. Disturbing this island idyll is a letter, which arrives from France with troubling information about the Daniels long-believed-dead brother, Henry. A new journey awaits! With the shadows of the Great War reaching out, Lady Evelyn and Daniel voyage to Amiens in Northern France with the aim of discovering the truth behind the ominous letter. Upon their arrival, they are met not with clarity but rather with crime. Murder, to be precise. Is it linked to their presence in France, or even worse, to Henry himself? Evelyn and Daniel must confront their history as they try to make sense of the present before the killer can strike again, and the secrets of the past are lost forever.





PURCHASE AT:





Book Excerpt:

Prologue

Near Pozieres, France 1917





We came here to die.

My heart beats the rhythm of the shell blast. Boom. Boom. Boom. Ready to burst, ready to break. Boom. Boom. Boom.

"Get down!"

An explosion of earth, light, and fire twenty feet beyond our trench.

"Close one that?" McCragh bellows into my ear.

I only manage a nod. Too many sounds echoing through my body, the steady pulsing of my heart, the tinny ringing in my ears. But silence can be just as bad I have learned. Silence can be death. My discovery weighs heavy on my mind. What will I do? Do I have a choice?

"What are the orders?" asks a young man, whose name I cannot remember, standing at my other side, leaning heavily against the dirt wall of our trench, his feet squelching thickly in the mud underfoot.

"Awaiting orders," says McCragh with a sneer. "Won't do us much good, waiting 'ere much longer, better get out, better to be moving."

The nameless young man shies away from us, from the bitter words of the burly Scot

Before I can respond, another man, the Runner, comes catapulting into the ditch. I help him right himself. His face is smeared with dirt and dust, but this mask cannot conceal his tender age. I shudder. We will all die here today.

"Orders are to stay. Enemy  " he gasps for air, "enemy is showing signs of retreat."

"Retreat?" McCragh frowns. "Bleedin' cowards!"

"Are you certain?" I ask, feeling the quiver in my voice.

"Yessir, orders from above. Told us to wait it out."

"Right, well done, son," I say, though the boy could be my brother. "Go on, then. Best make the rounds." I try to sound calm, reassuring, to keep my voice steady, while I know I fail and only hope my fear is disguised by the screams and blasts from above.

"Yessir." He takes a breath and sets off at a brisk trot, as fast as the bodies crowded into this tight space will allow.

"Another day to live in hell, then. Lovely." Lewis, a Cornish fellow with a missing left ear comments wryly as he materializes at our side.

"Sounds about right." McCragh rolls his eyes, but makes an involuntary sign of the cross nonetheless.

"Four months they told us," Rawlins, another man with a raspy voice adds, sticking a cigarette between his thin, flaking lips. "'Four months, lads, serve King and Country', eh? Bleedin' liars."

"Watch what you're saying, or I'll 'ave you for treason!" McCragh winks and rubs his beard.

Time passes slowly. The sky goes from gray to purple to black tinged orange, and still the thrumming of the guns, the intermittent blasts, grow only slightly fainter, move only slightly farther away. We crouch together in the black, damp, misery of our trench, our only light is the flicker of orange at the end of a cigarette.

"What will you do when this is all over?" comes the whispered voice of a young nameless soldier, who has drifted to my side.

"If I'm not" I start.

"If yer not dead," chimes in McCragh. "If we get out of this pile o' shite in one bit, you mean, laddie?"

"Stop pissing about, McCragh," Rawlins says sharply. It is an unspoken rule not to mention the very real likelihood of us never seeing the end of this war.

"Oh, right," comes McCragh's chastised reply. "I fer one will be gettin' back me ol' missus. Seein' the kids."

"How many have you got, then?" Lewis asks, keen for any distraction from the agony of numb legs, and the even worse terror raging above us.

"Two. Two little girls. Bessie and Mary. And I thank the Lord fer that. I'll never be sendin' them off to be blown to bits. I won't let them out of my sight again. Future husbands beware."

We chuckle, though I do not doubt the sincerity of his statement. Future husbands beware indeed!

"And you? How about you, son?" Lewis asks.

"Just go home," I say. "See my mother, father. See my brothers."

"How many?"

"Two. One  " I swallow, a sudden tightness in my throat, "one is here, somewhere . . ." I let the word float into the night, knowing the others understand. Silence descends upon our group, and soon I hear the faint sound of snoring. Can it be? Is one of them actually sleeping while the sky is falling down on us?





After some moments, I sense a sudden motion to my right. I turn my head, though I cannot see my hand before my eyes.

"Hello?" I whisper, but before I can hear an answer, a sharp stab of pain swells in my chest. I gasp, my hand flying up, meeting . . . meeting wetness. Wetness? Sticky . . .

I can't breathe; I grapple around, touching the soft, earthen wall, the rough fabric of a uniform.

"I-I . . ." I swallow hard, pain explodes inside me, louder, more forceful than the shells above. My mouth feels dry, I try retching, but nothing comes. I am on the ground. "Help." I croak.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. Hear voices, raised in concern. All I see is blackness and stars.

We came here to die.









About the Author





Malia Zaidi is the author of A POISONOUS JOURNEY. She attended the University of Pittsburgh, and studied at English at Oxford University. Having grown up in Germany, she currently lives in Washington DC, though through her love of reading, she resides, vicariously in countries throughout the world. A POISONOUS JOURNEY is her first book in the Lady Evelyn mysteries series. The sequel, A DARKER SHORE , is her latest novel.




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Latvias Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics is expected to visit Azerbaijan in early 2017, Latvian Ambassador Juris Maklakovs told Trend.

During his upcoming visit, the foreign minister will work on organization of a higher level visit, the diplomat said.

He noted that high-level visits between Azerbaijan and Latvia take place regularly.

Speaker of Latvias parliament Inara Murniece visited Azerbaijan few months ago, Maklakovs said, adding that he and Murniece invited Ogtay Asadov, speaker of the parliament of Azerbaijan, to visit Latvia the next summer.

The ambassador, praising the political relations between the two countries, expressed concern over the decline in the trade between Azerbaijan and Latvia.

Total trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Latvia amounted to $6.78 million in January-October 2016, which is 8.3 percent less than in the same period last year, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Despite that, in the reporting period the export of Azerbaijani goods increased by 19.98 percent, however, the import decreased by 9.98 percent.

Over the recent years, the bilateral trade turnover fell by three times, the Latvian ambassador said. He added that the ways to develop Azerbaijani-Latvian trade turnover are being discussed.

Maklakovs noted that the relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia in the sphere of tourism and culture develop quite successfully, but it is necessary to work on the development of economic ties.

Latvia has already proposed Azerbaijan to consider the possibility of cooperation in the spheres of environmentally friendly technologies, food industry, pharmaceuticals and health tourism during the 6th meeting of Azerbaijan-Latvia intergovernmental commission on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation in Riga.

Priority areas of cooperation between the two countries include joint investment projects, increasing the volume of trade turnover, effective use of international transportation corridors, education, agriculture, construction, tourism and health.

Latvia's Minister for Transport Uldis Augulis said earlier that Latvia is an important transportation artery and an integral part of the new Silk Road and the North-South transportation corridor.

Ambassador Maklakovs added that a new strategic agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan will certainly become beneficial for both sides. The first agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan was signed in 1996, and a lot has changed in the world since then, he said.

It is necessary to develop new cooperation opportunities and the new agreement will make that possible, he noted.

Latvia has always supported the Eastern Partnership program, and the country will provide the same support for the new agreement, which will be beneficial for both Azerbaijan and Latvia, as a member of the EU, Maklakovs added.

The European Council adopted 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 Azerbaijan on Nov. 14. The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today.

The agreement will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

The agreement also envisages the compliance of Azerbaijans legislation and procedures with the EUs most important international trade norms and standards, which should lead to the improvement of Azerbaijani goods access to the EU markets.

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.
ussian President Vladimir Putin had a phone talk with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, focusing on Syria, the Kremlin press service said, TASS reported.

"Today, President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Turkish Republic Recep Tayyip Erdogan, continuing to exchange opinions on the situation in Syria," the statement said.

The conversation was the second between the two leaders in the past two days. On Friday, Putin and Erdogan had a phone conversation about the Syria crisis and the joint efforts in the fight against terrorism. The Kremlin said that they had exchanged opinions in an encouraging tonality.
US President Barack Obama offered condolences on Saturday to the family of Cubas deceased former leader Fidel Castro, and urged the nation to regard the United States as a friend, Sputnik International reported.

"Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people," Obamas statement circulated by the White House read.

"In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America," the message concluded.
Some 40 unknown people set on fire a building in the German city of Hamburg that will host the upcoming summit of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Sputnik reported.

The 23rd OSCE Ministerial Council will take place on December 8-9 in Hamburg, Germany.

According to the Bild newspaper, the incident occurred on Saturday evening, and eyewitnesses said that several dozen disguised people set fire to one of the entrances to the building, as well as garbage cans and fences nearby. No one was injured as a result of the incident.

"The hooded men came running over, with ski caps, they had torches in their hands and stormed the building. They simply took barriers from the sidewalk and lit them on the street. Then the perpetrators disappeared so quickly between the blocks of the Karo [and Schanze] district," one of the witnesses, Maxim Werner, was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

The damage was not reported in detail, though, windowpanes were broken. According to other media reports, the damage from the fire is estimated as significant, and an investigation into the incident was started.

The OSCE Ministerial Council is an annual conference, which provides the foreign ministers of the OSCE participating states with an opportunity to assess the organization's activities during the past year and to work out stances on global security issues.
Bahrain has awarded a total of seven tenders worth BD642,272 ($1.69 million) in October besides inviting bids for 13 tenders worth BD7.72 million ($20.2 million) for projects related to roads, sanitation and construction sectors.



These projects underline the governments determination to invest in infrastructure projects to provide a better life to the people of Bahrain, support economy and attract more investments, remarked Ahmed Abdul Aziz Al Khayyat, the works affairs undersecretary at the Ministry of Works, Municipality Affairs and Urban Planning.



The awarded tenders included re-winding the static parts for various types of submersible pump motors in sub-pumping stations, maintaining the National Charter Edifice, constructing an additional floor at Jidhafs Social Center belonging to the Ministry of Social Developments and the Open Theatre Project at the Bahrain International Circuit, which comprises the pre and post-contract quantity survey services, the traffic impact studies and the design consulting services, he stated.



Al Khayyat said the 13 tenders for which bids were invited included one for the roads sector, which is the revamp of roads in Block 1056 in Zallaq, while the sanitary sector covered the calibration and maintenance of the laboratory equipment belonging to the treated water quality group for 2017-2018, the maintenance and fixing of cooling units at the ozone generating section, the central conditioning system and the industrial air-conditioning system in various locations at Tubli Sewage Treatment Plant.



In the construction sector, bids were invited for five tenders, stated the official.



These included the time contract for the building maintenance civil, mechanical and electrical works for 2017-2018, the renovation and maintenance works at the Red Crescent Society  Phase Two, the consulting services for the design and supervision works at the Bahrain International Circuit Open Theatre and the expansion and renovation works for the Ambassador Residence in Brussels, said Al Khayyat.



The cost engineering directorate of the Ministry, represented by the procurement department, approved 108 purchase requests in October at the cost of BD224,558 ($591,440), covering various sectors at the ministry, he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Bahrain and Saudi Arabia on Saturday (November 26) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the opening of the King Fahad Causeway, the only causeway linking two Arab countries.



The 25-km causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia was officially opened in 1986 by the late Emir Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa and the late King Fahad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, reported the state news agency BNA.



According to an account of the background to the causeway by the King Fahad Causeway Authority (KFCA), the idea of establishing a terrestrial link between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia was supported by the two countries as an expression of their wish to facilitate contacts and to increase the links and bonds between them.



In 1965, the idea began to crystallize officially, particularly during a courtesy visit by Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the Prime Minister, to the late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz. This led to the formation of a joint committee in 1968 to look into a feasibility study.



In July 1981, Mohammed Aba Al Khail, the then minister for Finance and National Economy in Saudi Arabia and Yousuf Ahmed Al Shirawi, the then minister of Industrial Development in Bahrain signed the agreement for the construction of the causeway.



On November 11, 1982, the then Amir Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa and the then Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahad bin Abdul Aziz unveiled the memorial plaque announcing the start of the construction work.



Four years later, the causeway was officially opened and it has since been a crucial factor in the increase in the number of travellers and in the volume of commerce carried out by Bahrain and other countries, according to BNA.



As per official figures, a whopping 281.8 million people had used the causeway since its opening in 1986 until the end of 2014. The figure represents an average of 26,618 people using the terrestrial link every day, it stated.



The figures make the causeway one of the busiest traffic areas in the vast Arab world.



Meanwhile, to ease the traffic bottlenecks, a significant expansion of the King Fahd Causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia is on the cards.



The project will increase capacity by up to 132 per cent, according to state news agency BNA, and there will be two lanes for each entrance to the causeway leading to eight checkpoints to reduce waiting times and traffic congestion.



The number of checkpoints could be increased further in the coming years to further improve the flow of traffic onto the causeway, it stated.



Several Saudi Arabia-based nationals and foreigners who work or study in Bahrain commute daily while a large number of Bahrain-based expatriates and Bahrainis use the causeway daily to go to their work or universities.



Authorities have been in discussions for many years over potential solutions for increasing capacity to serve the millions of Saudi and Bahraini commuters and holidaymakers, said the report.



Among the suggestions are a second causeway comprising a new road and rail link between the two countries that will potentially connect to the proposed GCC rail network and increase of the number of lanes from 17 to 45, it added.
More than BD800 million ($2.1 billion) has been spent since 2006 on funding training programmes for thousands of Bahrainis and supporting start-ups aimed at empowering citizens, reported the Gulf Daily News, our sister publication.



To read further, please visit GDNonline.




Arcadis, a leading global design and consultancy firm for natural and built assets, successfully hosted its annual young talent programme, Global Shapers, in collaboration with Qatar's public works authority (Ashghal) in Doha.



Global Shapers is an annual programme that Arcadis set up in 2012, and which offers 100 young professionals from around the world the chance to develop international connections and share knowledge.



The event saw over 100 young professionals spend a week working together and learning from each other. This years group included 15 colleagues from the Middle East, five of whom were from Qatar, as well as future leaders from Asia, Latin America, Europe, North America and Australia.



The week working together in Doha was the end of a six-month project, and saw the group create a series of practical tools to help build a more successful Arcadis and Ashghal.



The core theme for this years event was Client focus and Arcadis said it was very pleased to welcome several young professionals from Ashghal as part of this years cohort.



As well as bringing local knowledge and professional skills, the future leaders from Ashghal also offered a clients perspective on all of the solutions developed. These included a mentorship program, the implementation of social media success stories for both Arcadis and Ashghal, as well as a tool to better engage with clients.



The culmination of the week was a presentation to the Ashghal president Nasser bin Ali Al awlawi, and Mostafa Azzam, the learning and development advisor, Ashghal, as well as members of the Arcadis executive board including Renier Vree, Stephan Ritter, Stephanie Hottenhuis and Mary Ann Hopkins.



Jack Overkamp, the managing director of Arcadis Qatar said: "Qatars National Vision 2030 includes a number of major programs that should inspire the next generation of young talent within Arcadis."



"We were delighted to host this years Global Shapers in Doha where some of our brightest engineers, project managers and consultants could see, at first-hand, the range of opportunities on offer to work on some of the worlds most exciting programs, and to improve quality of life in Qatar," he noted.



Graham Reid, thw chief executive of Arcadis Middle East said: "Delivering great work and exceeding clients expectations is at the heart of our business. We were privileged and very fortunate to have Ashghal take part in this years Global Shapers event."



"The insight that their leaders and young professionals shared throughout the week will be of huge benefit to all of the young talent in Arcadis as they continue to develop their own understanding of what clients value most from their advisors," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
ArabiaWeather, a leading provider of weather products and solutions in the Middle East, has signed an agreement with the UKs national weather service, the Met Office, to promote its training products across the region.



Under the five-year agreement, ArabiaWeather will present the Met Office's extensive training products to prospective customers and third parties, thereby offering meteorological institutions in the Middle East and Africa the chance to benefit from the Met Office's expertise.



According to the terms of the agreement, ArabiaWeather will endeavour to promote Met Office products and training materials across the region. The agreement covers nations across the Middle East and Africa.



Mohammed Al-Shaker, CEO of ArabiaWeather said: "This is yet another partnership that is aligned with ArabiaWeather's strategy to bring world class meteorological services to the region. We strive to bring the best weather products into the Mena region, which is suffering from adverse weather effects, costing the economy considerable losses."



Sally Wolkowski, head of the Met Office College, said: "The Met Office is delighted to be working with ArabiaWeather on this venture and has been at the forefront of global weather and climate science for 160 years.



We combine the latest science with ground-breaking advances in technology and local understanding to deliver operational advantage to our customers. Our knowledge, experience and flexibility allow us to apply our science across business and government, managing the risks and opportunities presented by our weather as they arise."  TradeArabia News Service
Tawazun, an investment firm focused on the long-term development of UAE's industrial manufacturing capabilities, has signed a strategic partnership with the upcoming Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS), a global gathering for manufacturing minds and a voice and a venue for global manufacturing transformation.



The Abu Dhabi organisation has established itself as an active industrial investor both locally and internationally by selectively partnering with world-class market leaders to build skills, expertise, products and systems in the UAE, said a report by Wam news agency.



The strategic partnership with the GMIS is aligned with the recent announcement by Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansouri, UAE Minister of Economy, of the UAEs plan to attract over $70 billion in industrial investments by 2025. This will help boost the manufacturing sectors GDP contribution from its current 16 per cent to 25 per cent by 2025  establishing it as a core driving force behind the UAEs continued economic growth.



Established in 2007 by the Tawazun Economic Council, Tawazun is tasked with developing ventures through industrial partnerships and strategic investments, focusing on a number of areas including defence and aerospace, automotive, munitions, metals, and technology; and driving innovation through investment in research and development, and ensuring technology transfer through strategic alliances.



The partnership with the GMIS will enable Tawazun to explore opportunities to develop new manufacturing opportunities in these areas, and promote its current portfolio of businesses to reach new markets in an increasingly globalised and digitised economy.



Speaking on todays announcement, Saif Al Hajeri, chief executive officer of Tawazun, said: "At Tawazun, we have set out with a clear mission to develop manufacturing capabilities that contribute to the transformation of the UAE into a globally recognised centre of manufacturing excellence.



''We aim to achieve this through global partnerships and constructive relationships, and by partnering with the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit, we believe we can help drive this manufacturing ambition to its next phase of development  what is known worldwide as Industry 4.0," he added.



Organised by the UAE Ministry of Economy and co-hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the GMIS is the worlds first global gathering for the manufacturing community, bringing together leaders in business, government and civil society in Abu Dhabi in March 2017.



The GMIS will be held at the Paris-Sorbonne - Abu Dhabi from March 27-30, 2017 and will bring together leaders from the manufacturing industry across business, government and civil society to shape the future of manufacturing, focusing on the transformational role of technology in global enterprise and the public sector.



More than 1,200 delegates will attend, including world leaders, industry CEOs, policy-makers, specialist researchers and academics. GMIS will deliver (i) a voice for transformational ideas, (ii) a venue for the generation of new networks and cross-industry partnerships, (iii) a showcase for pilot projects arising from cross-industry research, and (iv) a post-event report with recommendations for action to be submitted to global stakeholders.
Willemen Groep, a Belgian conglomerate said it has won a major contract to build the Africa region's first automated container terminal over a 530,000-sq-m area at Tangier MedPort in Morocco.



The Dutch company APM Terminals awarded the contract to the Willemen Groep comprising Aswebo, Aannemingen Van Wellen, Franki Construct and Cosimco.



APM Terminals has been active in the port of Tangier since 2007 and has decided to expand the container terminal to better serve future trade volumes and larger container ships. The facility is strategically located on the Strait of Gibraltar which serves as a shipping hub for many trade lanes.



"To win this enormous project, a team of 35 people, spread across multiple companies within the group worked together on this project for four months," remarked Johan Willemen, the president of Willemen Groep.



"The complementarity of the different companies of the Willemen Groep and the experience we have accumulated in port works, were crucial factors for the Employer APM Terminals to entrust the entire project to our group," said thetop official.



According to Willemen, the project will be implemented in four packages and is due to be competed by 2018.



Package A will comprise all road and sewerage works, the construction of the pipes for utilities and the pavement and fence works besides the installation of the ARMG rails to move the containers automatically to and from the terminal.



Package B includes the construction of the 1.2 meters long crane beam, on which the hoisting cranes will be placed. The crane beam is built on 403 poles with a diameter of 1.35 m and a length of no less than 24 m. The poles are drilled in the rock face to a depth of 9 m. This package also contains all concrete works and formworks.



Package C includes the development of all utilities for the entire site. The construction of all buildings (Office building and maintenance workshops) of the terminal and the equipment of the gas station and canopies are in package D. All buildings will be delivered completely finished and ready for use, said the company in a statement.



All works will be carried out in a partnership between Aswebo, Aannemingen Van Wellen, Franki Construct, Cosimco and some local partners, it added.-TradeArabia News Service
Bahrain-based telecom group Batelco will host the 6th EY Annual Internal Audit Roundtable in the Telecoms, Technology and Media Industry on November 30 and December 1 in the kingdom.



This will be the first time the key event is taking place outside of Europe, a statement said.



The event will take place at Batelcos Hamala Headquarters has attracted a number of local and international chief audit executives from the telecoms industry. Batelco Board of Directors Audit Committee chairman, Dr Ahmed Al Balooshi will be participating by presenting on the Effective Role of the Audit Committee at the event, while Batelco Group CEO Ihab Hinnawi will give the welcome address on the opening day.



Batelco Group chief internal auditor Ali Sharif, who will be participating in the event for the fourth time, said: Batelco is very pleased to have the opportunity to host the Roundtable which has grown in stature since its first event 6 years ago. EY deserves much praise for its efforts and dedication to the telecoms industry. Their efforts have led to a number of developments which have added tremendous value for Chief Audit Executives to support them in their crucial roles.



Dr Al Balooshi said that he very much looked forward to participating in the upcoming event and noted the importance of having strong Internal Audit functions which are necessary for the successful operation of any organisation.



Batelco has advanced Audit functions in place and could not achieve its strategy without such effective audit, governance processes and controls. These are the essential elements which enable us to accomplish our goals, noted Dr Al Balooshi. - TradeArabia News Service
The UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has commended the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, for supporting sustainability and global green economy and launching the World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO) with its permanent headquarters in Dubai.



He also praised the UAE for joining the WGEO as its first member.



During a meeting with Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, chairman of World Green Economy Organisation (WGEO), Ban Ki-Moon was briefed on the key achievements and joint cooperation development between the United Nations and WGEO.



Al Tayer stated that WGEO, which was launched by Sheikh Mohammed the 3rd World Green Economy Summit 2016 in Dubai, will support the UAE Vision 2021 to be among the best countries in the world by 2021; the UAE Green Economy Strategy that was launched under the theme A Green Economy for Sustainable Development to enhance Dubais position as a global capital for green economy as well as the objectives of Dubai Plan 2021 to achieve further happiness in the society.



Joined by the UAE as its first member country, WGEO will support the implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate, and increase global awareness on climate change to enhance the shift towards a green economy. WGEO will also have a leading and new role to promote the levels of green economy through dialogue, partnership and exchange of expertise among countries, public and private sectors, corporates, UN organisations, banking institutions and civil society institutions to achieve the objectives of green economy and act as a mechanism to introduce new solutions for climate change, sustainable energy and other challenges facing water and environment worldwide, he added.



Launching WGEO at this time reflects the relentless efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals outlined in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. WGEO will also play an instrumental role in mitigating climate change, as it serves as a mechanism for generating new solutions for sustainable energy, water and other environmental challenges, thereby lowering the risk of green economy investments, and supporting international cooperation in innovation, technology and finance. It will provide technical assistance to countries which can benefit from the UAEs and the other countries' green economy model, as well as cooperating with other countries whose economies require development and diverse green strategies for the future, he explained.



Al Tayer has highlighted key achievements, initiatives and projects of Dubai. He added that Dubai has launched Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 to provide 7 per cent of Dubais energy by 2020, 25 per cent by 2030, and 75 per cent by 2050. - TradeArabia News Service


Oman's Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZ) has awarded a pair of contracts worth RO76 million ($197 million) for the construction of a comprehensive flood protection system designed to secure the zones multibillion-dollar investments at the key port development.



The project, tendered out in separate contracts, entails the construction of an elaborate network of flood channels that will drain run-off from the Jurf and Saay wadis currently crisscrossing the SEZ, safely into the Arabian Sea, according to Oman Observer.



Among the biggest beneficiaries of the massive flood protection system being developed by Sezad is the $6-billion Duqm Refinery project, contracts for the execution of which will be awarded next year, said the report.



Parts of a 2,224-aacre site earmarked for the project have been developed in preparation for the start of construction work, it stated.



Sezad said additionally, flood protection dams will be built upstream of the Jurf and Saay wadis to stave off potential flood events that could imperil industrial schemes to be located downstream of these wadis.



The authority has already roped in Turkish construction firm Serka Taahhut for the construction of channels along the downstream courses of the Jurf and Saay wadis, thereby ensuring that potential floodwaters are suitably diverted away from industrial developments.



Under the RO49-million ($127 million) contract, a major outlet channel will be built to collect the outflow from both Jurf and Saay for eventual drainage into the sea.



Both water courses will be suitably excavated, trained and streamlined to facilitate the smooth flow of floodwater into the sea, it added.
Leading holiday company Travel Counsellors was recently awarded the 'Admirals' certificate - the highest accolade given by Royal Caribbean Cruises.



Over 20 Dubai-based travel specialists from the company became Admirals this month, positioning them as experts in the Royal Caribbean Cruises suite of products including Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Azamara.



During the recent mini-conference held at the five-star St. Regis in Dubai on October 12, Travel Counsellors were presented with the prestigious certificate following completion of all modules in this comprehensive training programme.



Mohamed H Saeed, general manager, Royal Caribbean International & Azamara Club Cruises  Middle East said: On behalf of all of us at Royal Caribbean International & Azamara Club Cruises  Middle East, I would like to congratulate all the Travel Counsellors in the UAE who have successfully completed all essential trainings as well as bonus trainings for our brands and have now achieved Admiral level on our Online Training Programme  Cruising for Excellence. Travel Counsellors have always been a key business partner for us in the region and we are all extremely proud of this achievement. This certainly shows the teams commitment towards the brands and passion to increase knowledge base in order to serve their clients better. We wish them best of luck and assure our full support at all times.



Dubai-based Travel Counsellor Petra Weidl said: I am so proud to have reached Admiral level  its a fantastic development programme that has provided me with an in-depth first-hand knowledge of the products available, and gives my customers real confidence that they are dealing with a specialist in all the Royal Caribbean Cruises, ultimately increasing my sales. - TradeArabia News Service
Oman Air, the national carrier of Oman, has unveiled plans to start operating flights from its hub in Muscat to Guangzhou, China, from December 9, making it the airline's first destination in China.



The launch of the new route, which is in response to significant customer demand, also demonstrates Oman Airs commitment to continuing it ambitious network expansion programme, first unveiled in 2014. The new destination opens up easy access to Oman Airs outstanding range of choices for customers from China, in addition, the flights will further help to strengthen political, economic and social links between Oman and China.



Commenting on the new service Paul Gregorowitsch, chief executive officer of Oman Air, said: It is always exciting to open a new destination and Guangzhou is a perfect choice to Oman Airs network. Guangzhou, the 54th destination on the WY network will be an added value meeting the demand of the traders and businessmen of the two countries, as well as to tradesmen from different neighboring countries. Passengers on the new route can now enjoy their entire journey on our luxurious A330, configured with 196 Economy Class seats and 30 Business Class seats. The operation will initially offer four flights per week, and we are confident that this service will be a great success. We look forward to a long and prosperous presence within the Chinese market.



Oman Air is undertaking an ambitious growth programme to expand its network and ensure international connectivity. The airline network expansion programme runs in parallel to a major fleet expansion programme that has seen the addition of Airbus A330, Boeing 737 and Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to the airlines fleet strength, and will witness Oman Air operate 70 aircraft by 2020.



Oman Air will run flights to Guangzhou from Muscat on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays using its wide-body A330. The planes take off from Muscat International Airport, Oman, at 1015hrs and reach Guangzhou at 2100hrs. Oman Air flights depart Guangzhou to Muscat on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at 0625hrs and land in Muscat at 1100hrs. - TradeArabia News Service
Dubai Cruise Tourism (DCT) is poised to process 575,000 passengers from 154 ship calls in the 2016-17 season, up 6.28 per cent from 541,000 passengers and 133 ship calls last season.



The jump in cruise passenger numbers is bolstered by the arrival of Thomson Cruises as the sixth line to homeport at Mina Rashid, joining Costa Cruises, AIDA Cruises, Royal Caribbean, TUI Cruises and MSC Cruises.



Over 23 cruise lines have Dubai in their itineraries, which is indicative of Dubais continued popularity as a tourist destination, said Dubai Cruise Tourism director Jamal Humaid Al Falasi.



Thomson Cruises will bring additional British passengers to Dubai where the top five source markets in 2015 were Germany, Italy, the UK, the US and Spain.



Along with key cruise line partners MSC, Costa and Royal Caribbean, DCT has just completed a three-city road show in China to Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing. It follows a promotional push in India earlier in July with Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata added to an itinerary that has included Delhi, Ahmedabad and Mumbai for the past two years.



With almost 1 million Chinese taking a cruise last year, China is already a cruise savvy market. The trick for DCT has been to expose the previously unconsidered Dubai as a destination.



India, meanwhile, offers untapped riches, evidenced by the 1,200 travel agents and media that attended the six-city roadshow and the perhaps more tangible decision of Norwegian Cruise Lines to send a ship to India for the first time. Departing from Dubai in November, Norwegian Star will call at Goa, Mangalore and Kochi, then on to Sri Lanka. She will return in March 2017 after a series of South East Asian cruises.



Port Rashids third terminal, the 27,000-sq-m Hamdan bin Mohammed Cruise Terminal, came on stream in 2014 and enables DCT the capacity to handle passenger turnaround of five vessels simultaneously.



Operator DP World is building a fourth terminal and will eventually connect them all with a mini tube system. It is part of a wider Port Rashid Marina project announced by the global terminal operator which will have the fabled QE2 as its permanently moored centrepiece, reportedly offering museum style luxury accommodation, around a superyacht hub incorporating mixed-use residential and retail space.



In the meantime, DCT will continue its headline role in the Cruise Arabia, a synergy of six regional tourism authorities including founding members Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Oman plus Sharjah, Qatar and Bahrain.



DCT has confirmed it is in on-going dialogue with Emirates Airlines to provide dedicated airport check-in services to match the offering at Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal which has integrated bonded baggage technology linking to the emirates national airline Etihad Airways.



However, with as many as 25,000 passengers and their luggage to deal with on an average weekend, the logistics and customs implications for Dubai are rather more challenging.



Abu Dhabi's Sir Bani Yas Island has 40 confirmed vessel calls and an estimated 65,000 passengers set to explore Sir Bani Yas throughout the October-June season.



Industry insiders are set to experience the eagerly-anticipated eco-tourism stopover on a fam trip post the Seatrade Middle East Cruise Forum, taking place in Abu Dhabi on December 13-14.



The 2015-16 cruise season will be a defining moment in the development of Abu Dhabi as one of the worlds most exciting emerging cruise destinations, said Sultan Al Dhaheri, acting executive director of tourism at the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority.



All guests to Sir Bani Yas will also be able to experience a traditional dhow cruise, horseback riding, mountain biking, mangrove kayaking, snorkelling, beach sports, spa treatments, multiple dining options and the ruins of an early Christian monastery site from 6th century AD.



In total, Moreover, Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal expects 139 vessel calls (including nine maiden calls) and 270,000 passengers in 2016-17, up from the record 113 ships and 231,660 passengers that called at the ultra-modern Zayed Port terminal last season. - TradeArabia News Service
Scholarship notice

The Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration  Central Wyoming Section offers up to four $2,500 scholarships, the Coates, Wolff, Russell, & Swank Memorial Scholarship. Applicant must have graduated from a Wyoming high school, must be enrolled full-time for the 2016-2017 academic year, upperclassmen  current college sophomore, junior, senior or graduate student, enrolled in mining/mineral extraction-related discipline, and have a 3.0 GPA minimum. Application forms are available by email request to smecasper@gmail.com

Groups meet together for dinner

The Natrona County Historical Society and the Oregon-California Trail Association will hold their joint Christmas dinner on Dec. 8 at the Ramkota. The speaker will be the award-winning former newspaper owner, publisher and editor of several Wyoming and Montana newspapers, Bill Sniffin, who retired to travel, photograph and write books about his beloved adopted state of Wyoming. He will share stories and photographs, especially connected with his most current historical book, Wyoming at 125. For more information, call Robin at 259-4174.

HOG chapter

meets monthly

Calling all Harley riders, come join us at Oil City Harley-Davidson the first Tuesday (Dec. 7) of every month at 6 p.m. or check out Wyohog.com for more information.

Foundation meets

in Saratoga

The Wyoming Wild Sheep Foundation (WY-WSF) will be holding its annual winter membership/project funding/field trip meeting December 2-3, 2016 in Saratoga. The WY-WSF has funded over $1M in projects for wild sheep and has leveraged for several million dollars more. A Wyoming Game and Fish Department biologist will update attendees on sheep management statewide. Field trips will be conducted on three local ranches. Please sign up at https://www.wyomingwildsheep.org/events.asp

NARFE meets

Nov. 29

Casper Chapter #358 of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE) will have a business meeting at noon on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2016. Please note the date has been changed from November 22 to 29. The program will be given by a representative from Blue Cross Blue Shield. Following the BC/BS presentation, we will have our business meeting at which time election of officers will be held. All members are urged to attend.

PFLAG meets Dec. 4

Members and Friends of PFLAG Casper:

This is a crazy time of year, so we are combining our November and December meetings into one meeting. We will meet on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016 at 5:30 p.m. for a potluck and our annual holiday party. This is a white elephant party, which means bring something you have around the house that needs to be re-gifted. Or go to the UCC Bargain Basement and buy something tacky for a dollar or two. And just for fun, feel free to wear an ugly holiday sweater. Invite your LGBTQ+ friends, allies and family to this fun event.

NEW Format: Business meeting from 5 to 5:29 p.m. If you have an item for the business agenda, please reply to the email sent by Nov. 28 and come to the business meeting to discuss your ideas. All are welcome to this, too.

PFLAG Casper meets in the social hall of the United Church of Christ, 15th and Melrose, an open and affirming congregation.

Gold prospectors hold party

The Casper Chapter of the Gold Prospectors Association of America will host its Holiday Party on Wednesday, Dec. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission Building, 2211 King Blvd. Members and guests are cordially invited. Bring a side dish to share. We will have a gift exchange. If you wish to participate, bring a gift to exchange ($10 maximum limit). We would like to have an accurate head count so we can have enough food. Please call either Tina Raines at 234-6714 or Eric Weaner at 513-259-7902 and let us know you are planning to attend. Enter through the east door. The club is holding a raffle for a Thompson Drywasher. Raffle tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the meeting or by calling Eric Weaner at 513-259-7902. Drawing to be held, pending reserve. For more information about GPAA or the Casper Chapter, or about prospecting in general, call Eric Weaner at 513-259-7902.

Stammtisch Christmas Dec. 11

Casper Stammtisch German Weihnachtsfeier (Christmas Party) will be held at 4:30 p.m., on Sunday, Dec. 11, at the Isaac Walton Clubhouse west of Fort Caspar.

Does your family have favorite Christmas recipes and traditions that have German roots? Many Americans do since Christmas traditions such as the Christmas tree, St Nicklaus (Santa Claus), and gingerbread houses, to name a few, originated in German-speaking countries.

You are invited to join us for this potluck celebration which will include conversation, dinner, and singing German Christmas carols. The event is free but we do hold a raffle to help cover some of the costs.

After Dec. 11, Stammtisch will be on Winterpause (Winter Break) until we meet again on Jan. 5, 2017.

We wish you Frohe Weihnachten and Prosit Neu Jahr!

For more information contact Margo Perry, 265-3696, or stammtisch@bresnan.net

OCAC awards scholarships

The Oil Capitol Auto Club would like to introduce the recipients of the veterans scholarship awards for 2016. These scholarships are awarded each year to deserving Casper College students from the proceeds of the Memorial Day Car Show. Everyone who attends the show and all of the sponsors generously contribute to the educational advancement of our service men and women here in Wyoming. All of these recipients have served our country honorably and are pursuing their educational goals and life after their service. The OCAC is proud to help them along the trail toward their educational goals and wish them all of the best. The 2016 scholarships to Casper College were awarded to Adam Stamp, Brian Hiser, Ariel Wagner, and Colton Sasser. To all of our men and women in uniform, and to these students, thank you for your service, and good luck.

Civil Air Patrol meets

Civil Air Patrol meets from 7 to 9 p.m. the first Tuesday of the month at Casper National Guard Armory, 5905 CY Ave. For more information, call 259-0855.

Stammtisch at Applebees

The Casper German Stammtisch is meeting weekly on Thursdays at Applebees from 6:30 to 8 p.m. New this year  on the second Thursday of each month we will focus on speaking German! All ability levels are welcome, as long as they are eager to hear German.
Mondays support meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous: 6:30 a.m., 917 N. Beech; 8:30 a.m., 500 S. Wolcott; 10 a.m., 328 E. A St.; noon, 500 S. Wolcott; 2 p.m, 917 N. Beech; 5:30 p.m., 1124 Elma, Imitate the Image Church; 6 p.m., 500 S. Wolcott, Ste. 200; 7 p.m., 917 N. Beech; 8 p.m., 328 E. A. Douglas: 7:30 p.m., 628 E. Richards (upstairs in back). Unless otherwise noted, all meetings are open. Casper info: 266-9578; Douglas info: (307) 351-1688.

Al-Anon: Noon, 701 S. Wolcott, St. Marks Church.

Narcotics Anonymous: Noon, 500 S. Wolcott, 12-24 Club; 7 p.m., 302 E. 2nd, Methodist Church; 8 p.m., 4700 S. Poplar (church basement). Web site: http://www.urmrna.org.

NAMI: 7 p.m., 133 W. Sixth St. Info: 234-0440.

Teen Addiction Anonymous: 3:30-4:30 p.m., Boys & Girls Club Teen Center. Info: 258-7439.

Adult Children of Alcoholics: 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., 12-24 Club, 500 S. Wolcott St., Suite 200.

TOPS Weight Loss: 5:30 p.m., Weight Loss Support Group TOPS #246, Wyoming Oil & Gas Building, 2211 King Blvd. Use NE door entry. Info: 265-1486.

Flu vaccination clinic

The Casper-Natrona County Health Department has added a flu vaccination clinic from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 5 p.m. We are accepting walk-ins on first come, first serve basis. $25 per person. We can bill insurance.

Tween Book Club

The Natrona County Librarys Tween Book Club will meet at 4 p.m. Students in grades 4-6 will discuss Treasure Hunters by Chris Grabenstein, James Patterson, and Mark Shulman. Please register in advance by calling 577-READ ext. 5 or sign up when you stop by the Childrens Department to pick up a copy of Treasure Hunters.
After Alyssa Morris shot her first bull elk this year, she cried.

She wasnt upset  the 12-year-old Newcastle girl had already shot a deer a few weeks earlier  it was just a much more nerve-wracking experience than shed anticipated.

I didnt think I would get one, she said. We hadnt been having very much luck lately.

But she had her dad by her side and her mom and sister waiting in the truck.

It was early morning Nov. 5 when Alyssa and her dad posted up in a meadow north of Newcastle to shoot a cow elk. Alyssa drew two tags this year, and she could shoot a bull and cow.

I was going to shoot a cow, and they were all running and then a bull ran in front of me, she said. My dad said, Thats your bull.  And I shot him.

Alyssa is the classic Wyoming hunter. She grew up watching both her parents hunt, and started chasing turkeys in the Black Hills before moving to big game this year.

As hunter and angler numbers around the country falter, participants in Wyoming are increasing. Resident hunting licenses inched up from 76,612 in 2010 to 78,859 in 2015. Of those 2015 hunters, about 13 percent were new to the sport, at least in Wyoming, and about 74 percent were returning. The final 13 percent were what the Wyoming Game and Fish Department calls relicensed hunters which means they purchased a license two years before, but not the previous year, said Renny MacKay, spokesperson for the department.

The numbers show the department the importance of new hunters, and also the value of retaining hunters, or bringing hunters and anglers back to the sport after taking time off.

Were looking at the future of our customer base, but were also looking at people to carry on the tradition, MacKay said. I think weve found over the years the people who get out and hunt and fish and recreate also make sure we invest in our wildlife and habitat and are stewards, too.

The numbers come at a time when the department is working even harder to reach out to the public. Game and Fish commissioners plan to bring back the annual Hunting and Fishing Heritage Expo in Casper, which had been canceled in 2013 in part due to budget cuts.

The department also runs a program called Forever Wild Families, aimed at teaching hunting, fishing and shooting sports. Becoming an Outdoors Woman, a similar program for women, will also return.

Were also trying to recruit wildlife enthusiasts, too, MacKay said. As people understand more about wildlife and what wildlife has to offer they will want to get outside and it might be hunting and fishing and trapping and it might be bird watching.

Many of Wyomings hunters are either like Alyssa, who learned from her parents, or Casper hunter Zeke Winter, who started going again with friends.

Winter shot his first elk in October on Muddy Mountain. Hed hunted before  white-tailed deer in Tennessee  but hadnt been hunting in Wyoming since he moved here in 2009.

In Wyoming everyone hunts, and someone talked me into it, he said of his recent elk hunt.

He applied for licenses with a friend and the friends two sons. They didnt shoot anything opening weekend, and he spent the first week heading into the mountains after he finished work at a refinery near Casper.

As the sun began to set Oct. 7, a 6-by-5 bull came out of the trees and he shot.

Winter and Alyssa both plan to apply for more licenses next year. Alyssa has been talking to her friends about her experiences, working on recruiting more hunters to the sport.

Winter plans to expand his experiences next year to include pronghorn and deer, too.

I had a blast, and will definitely hunt again, he said.
A state-of-the-art engineering facility under construction at the University of Wyoming was designed to support a change in teaching style, develop partnerships and inspire entrepreneurial endeavors.

Michael Pishko, the universitys engineering dean, said the goal was to create a space that did not duplicate what they already had and was modeled after some of the best engineering facilities in the world.

An exploration team including Gov. Matt Mead visited other university research facilities, like those at Stanford, Texas A&M and Georgia Tech, to see what others were doing to support both education and research. The final UW design is based on what the team saw that both did and did not work at the other facilities, Pishko said.

Pishko said the new engineering building will feature flexible spaces that can all be repurposed easily, without renovation, and support the universitys new hands-on learning approach.

Were switching as a college from a lecture-based teaching model to whats called active learning, he said. And so everything within those rooms can be easily moved around or reconfigured so that in the event the room is needed for something like a student workshop or some sort of student symposium, everything in there can be moved and restructured to fulfill that purpose.

The flexible space will also provide a variety of learning environments to foster student interaction and support collaborative research teams.

To that end, the facility will be a place where students can design and prototype. And so it has facilities there for 3-D printing, machining, robotics, electronics, anything that a student would need in order to develop a prototype of an idea that theyve come up with to solve a problem, Pishko said.

The four-story structure will offer a drilling and completions simulation laboratory, advanced manufacturing lab, informal collaborative spaces and meeting rooms, and student innovation and entrepreneurship centers.

It will also have reconfigurable research laboratories to support groups of people that work together on common themes, like hydro-carbons research or artificial intelligence.

The cost of the 100,000-square-foot building will total about $105 million.

The department wants students to be educated in a way thats more valuable to employers, as most graduates go to work in the industry sector.

So were going to be working on programs that are more at the interface between engineering and business, Pishko said.

The entrepreneurship center will provide the link. The College of Engineering will be working with the Wyoming Technology Business Center to help students develop the skills necessary to create a business and understand how start-ups are financed.

In regard to the engineering department as a whole, Pishko said, one area of focus is artificial intelligence, or machine learning, and the development of algorithms which could be used for drone technology or self-driving vehicles.

Just recently, the first self-driving semi made a cross-country trip. Just think of what could happen in the next five to 10 years,Pishko said.

Its really going to revolutionize the way we deliver goods across the nation, and how we transport people, he said. And its going to change our workforce, significantly. Our workforce is going to have to adapt, and have to adapt pretty quickly. So we dont end up with that technology shock in terms of the number of people who are unemployed because of technologies like artificial intelligence.
LARAMIE  Wrestling with more than $40 million in budget cuts, University of Wyoming administrators want more leeway in spending tuition funds that are now dedicated to paying for faculty and staff pay raises and other college operations.

Under current university policy, tuition increases automatically by 4 percent each academic year. Half of the money raised funds salary increases for faculty and staff, 25 percent goes to academic unit support budgets and 25 percent is spent on libraries and information technology.

Last week, Vice President for Administration Bill Mai presented to the UW Board of Trustees a proposal to change the allocation so that 25 percent of the 2017 tuition increase would be dedicated for salary increases. The remaining 75 percent would go into the universitys general fund for administrators to decide how to spend it.

The states only public, four-year university faces steep budget cuts mainly because of a drop in state funding brought on by a downturn in Wyomings energy economy. To make up for the cuts, the university is considering the elimination of some degree programs, cuts of faculty and staff positions and higher student fees.

Trustee Dave True said he was not opposed to possibly modifying the distributions from the scheduled tuition increase, but he said student comment is needed.

I hate to use the term, but its almost a bait-and-switch, True said. Two years ago, we said, OK, well take your input, put that into the policy and thats how well use the 4 percent. And everybody was willing  I wouldnt say happy  but willing to go along with a tuition increase policy leading us into the future. We run into some very challenging waters.

He added: But I almost feel like were considering backtracking on that discussion.

Associated Students of the University of Wyoming President Michael Rotellini said most students opposed annual increases to tuition but ended up supporting the policy because they knew how the extra revenue was spent.

That transparency aspect is something we cant support until we properly vet that. As it stands now, it does in my perspective  and this is me speaking personally  it does seem like a bait-and-switch, Rotellini said.

Mai said he did not agree with Rotellinis and Trues characterization of the proposed policy change and said it was being proposed because UW faces a financial crisis.

The trustees did not act on the proposal after True recommended the board give time for others to comment on the idea.

The board has until March to take action on tuition issue for the fall of 2017.
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The launching ceremony of Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange center is held in Shanghai on Nov. 26, 2016. [Photo: Xinhua]

China's first national-level energy trading center has officially opened for business in Shanghai.

The center, named Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange, is expected to better connect suppliers and buyers so as to establish a fair energy pricing mechanism in the country.

China's top economic planning body, the National Development and Reform Commission, says the platform marks a step further toward the country's market-oriented reform in the energy sector.

The center, established in 2015, has ten shareholders, including the three major Chinese state-owned oil companies.

Its official opening follows more than one year of trial operations.

It is estimated gas transactions at the center will exceed 15 billion cubic meters this year, accounting for some 8 percent of China's total natural gas consumption.

Energy businesses in China were traditionally monopolized by the state-run sector, with prices for oil and natural gas largely decided by the government.

However, authorities have been encouraging private investors to participate in the industry in recent years in a move to improve the industry's overall competitiveness.

Chinese authorities are looking to let the market play a decisive role in the allocation of economic resources amid calls for a reduction of administrative powers over business activities.
CHEYENNE  Like most communities of its size, Cheyenne has plenty of payday loan, check cashing and other places to get money fast  for a fee, of course.

I always thought it unfortunate that people had to do business with these outfits because they could get into a financial death spiral, what the government calls a debt trap, where they have to borrow more and more money.

Many of these people have no credit and cannot get bank loans, so they turn to the little storefront downtown or in a strip mall to get emergency dollars to pay their rent and utility bills.

The crunch comes when the loan is due in a few weeks. If the borrowers pay if off from their paychecks, they wont have enough left to pay their other bills.

If they only pay back part of the loan or none, they are liable for substantial fees.

And around it goes.

Last year the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced it was writing the first federal rule on payday and other short-term loans.

The major thrust is to require the lender to be sure the person seeking the loan has the means to repay it.

The bureau received more than 1 million comments on the rules.

Most were form letters, Nick Bourke of the Pew Charitable Trusts Research Center in Washington, D.C., said in an interview last week.

The bureau is not that old. Supported by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, It was created after the 2008 financial crisis to protect consumers.

Payday lending, or deferred presentment, features single-payment, short-term loans based on personal checks held for future deposit or on electronic access to personal checking accounts, and loan products designed to be an alternative to payday lending.

Bourke, director of the Pew Charities Trust safe small-dollar loans project, said the bureau was expected to act on the rule in a few months or up to one year.

Now, however, with the expected policies of the new Trump administration, the rule approval is likely to be delayed or watered down, Bourke said.

There definitely is a problem with the small loan market, he said, which the bureau is well-suited to handle.

But the states also have a role to play with the loans because they license the lenders while the borrowers are faced with unaffordable payments and costs.

In Wyoming, the state banking division of the Department of Audit handles the small loan vendors.

Joe Mulberry, deputy baking commissioner, said the agency receives few complaints from payday loan borrowers.

The ones that come in are usually about the lenders on the internet which charge a higher rate than Wyoming law allows.

The internet lenders are not under Wyoming law but would be covered by the new federal rule.

In the 2016 legislative session, 25 states addressed legislation regarding payday lending and payday lending alternatives, according to the National Council on State Legislatures. Florida, Louisiana, Michigan and Utah enacted payday lending legislation. New Mexico adopted a resolution. Wyoming, as you can see, is not the on the list, although there had been murmurs in recent years about a proposal for some reforms.

Many states set a cap on a loan at $500.

Wyoming has no cap on the amount of loan but does require a 30-day loan, according to the NCSL. The state also restricts the charge for post-dated checks to the greater of $30 or 20 percent of the balance of the post-dated check.

Bourke said the state of Colorado in 2010 adopted a reform law governing small loan lending practices that could be a good model for other states.

The law, he said, resulted in loan costs four times lower than those of other states.

Maybe Wyoming legislators should take a look considering the uncertainty of the future of the bureaus rule.

Given the states wobbly economy, consumers could use a break.
Workplace accidents lead to situations that are already too difficult.

Grieving family members crave answers and mourn the sudden loss or injury of a loved one, all while employers and regulators sort through what happened, who was at fault and how a similar accident could be prevented in the future.

Those are competing goals, and each is important. But there must be a better way to balance them than the system thats in place right now.

Danielle Cooper, for example, is still waiting  two years after her husband suffered severe brain damage at his workplace, a tire shop in Rawlins  to learn whether his employer was at fault. She and their daughters dont know why his employer was fined. They also dont know the results of a Wyoming Occupational Health and Safety Administration investigation into the incident or whose fault it was that the tire blew up.

That will remain true as long as the case stays open. Sometimes that means the case is waiting for a resolution. Sometimes it means parties in the case have asked for more time to provide more information. Other times it means waiting for someone to make a payment.

For the Cooper family, it means there is no end in sight.

Thats unacceptable. When Wyoming workers are injured, their families need answers. The state often has one of the highest rates of workplace deaths because of the number of risky jobs in the energy industry, but thats no excuse. Whether it happens on a rig or on the relatively safer turf of a tire shop, these cases must be closed in a timely manner.

Wyoming OSHA must impose deadlines. Its not held to timelines now, so it must choose to put internal time limits in place soon, then ensure they are met and that families have recourse in the event that they are not.

To their credit, state OSHA investigators agree that families shouldnt have to wait any longer than necessary, and they say they plan to address the problem.

This is absolutely in motion in our current efforts, John Ysebaert, Wyomings workforce standards and compliance administrator, told the Star-Tribune last month.

Its encouraging to know that the division is developing a deadline schedule, working with its federal counterpart to become more efficient and working with a collections agency to speed payments so cases can be closed faster.

The division has also demonstrated its capable of delivering answers in a reasonable time limit: When a rig worker was killed in a fall in mid-July, the report on that incident was ready by late September. The agency also says it has been contending with significant turnover and record-keeping changes that have slowed investigations.

OSHAs sympathy and desire for change is laudable, but this is a problem, and it must be fixed now. Grieving family members deserve better than to be left in the dark. They have been through too much already. To ask them to wait years for answers on something that changed their lives forever is just too much. They need closure, and they need it as soon as possible.
Editor:

The Casper Star-Tribune reported a story by the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that the Wyoming Joint Revenue Interim Committee voted to advance a bill to the full legislature to that would require online business outlets to collect sales taxes. There are small exceptions supposedly.

Sen. Ray Peterson, R-Cowley, co-chairman, appeared to be the spokesperson for the committee and was quoted as saying this would level the playing field for local business, diversify Wyoming's revenue streams, and a good decision." He mentioned fairness.

Sen. Peterson, I have always felt that all politicians are either uninformed, misinformed, corrupt, or stupid or a combination of the above. Which one or ones are you? If you want to level the playing field, then take the sales tax off of the local businesses. I know what you're going to say now, but you're wrong. Deal with it.

The sales tax is not just about collecting. It is also about spending, which I'm guessing he hadn't considered all that much. Here is Casper I can show him examples of sales tax spending that yells out corruption." I bet I can show him examples of legal fraud in every town and city in this state regarding the spending of sales taxes.

The spending of sales taxes is often a process of taking many, many nickles and dimes from thousands of Wyoming citizens and essentially then giving millions of dollars to a few lucky recipients. That's fair?

I suggest Mr. Peterson needs a serious overhaul of his thinking before he can use the word fairness.

I don't want to just pick on Peterson. The whole Wyoming Joint Revenue Committee is clueless or worse. I have facts. They don't.
Editor:

Having family in Casper, Laramie, Cheyenne and various other places in Wyoming, I read the Star-Tribune article: "Vietnam vet with no known family to be buried in Casper; coroner hopes people will attend his funeral."

Although I didn't know the veteran in question, 63-year-old Stephen Carl Reiman, a homeless Navy veteran who died at Wyoming Medical Center last Thursday, I, too, hope that as many people as possible will attend his funeral. When I pass a living veteran wearing a ball cap or vest, I tend to always say: "Thank you for your service to our nation". Generally, they are pleased.

I know first-hand the experience of losing a loved one who was an Army veteran with a whole host of mental illnesses. He was my late brother Wayne LeRoy Marples, who was born in July 1937 and died in January 1998 inside his stalled car.

Although my brother Wayne died many years ago, age 60, I only found confirmation of his death this year when a kind group of Salvation Army volunteers (called a "Missing Persons Unit") began their search. Their search took much time. About every four months or so, I'd receive a phone call or a letter just letting me know they had by then found no trace of my brother Wayne's whereabouts.

Since Wayne was a veteran, I felt the search would be relatively easy. However, I am not certain as to "what kind of discharge" he received from the U.S. Army. As a young kid, he was a "wild child" and my late father couldn't handle him; neither could my late grandmother. He was a loner and an extreme isolationist. The word "reclusive" doesn't do it justice in describing his persona. He simply lived a transient life and virtually disappeared.

I thank the Salvation Army for their diligence and for mailing a confirmation letter citing Wayne's death years ago. I was told his remains were cremated. I miss Wayne, but at least I have closure.
The building that for decades was home to American Meat Co. on Tucsons south side will soon have new life as an indoor food court and neighborhood market.

The Common Group, developer of several south-side restaurant and retail rehab projects, plans to hold a soft opening for American Eat Co. & Market in February.

The 8,000-square-foot project at 1439 S. Fourth Ave. will house six restaurants, each with their own fully equipped kitchens; a bar and a coffee shop; and a neighborhood market and meat counter.

A common dining room will be big enough for nearly 250 diners, and restaurant operators will range from newcomers on Tucsons food scene, to food trucks looking to expand to brick and mortar, to longtime restaurateurs wanting to try out a new concept or menu without incurring the startup cost of opening a new restaurant.

Tenants, selected through an application process that closes on Dec. 1, will have their own kitchen and counter space. Rents will be set depending on the size of the space, and utility costs will be split between the owners and tenants. Operators will sign one-year leases so that they are not tied into anything long-term.

In some ways, American Eat Co. will serve as a restaurant incubator, where ideas are tested and rejiggered until they work. Tenants will be responsible for the back of house  kitchen and cooking  while The Common Group will run the front, including hiring and paying servers and other staff to bus tables and take care of customers.

If they have a new concept or a new menu, they can test it out here, said Guillermo Gallegos, who founded The Common Group in 2014 with fellow south-side native Jesus Bonillas Jr. And if they like it, they can stay.

The Common Group held an open house last week for prospective tenants, giving a dozen or more tours of the space that will undergo $1.2 million in renovations. Plans call for creating an industrial urban feel with polished concrete floors, small tables made with repurposed dump-truck tire rims, rebar railing accents and bare Edison-like lights hanging from open ceilings.

One end of the building will have a private dining room in a space designed to look like a New York City alley. Repurposed metal and wood will be used throughout to lend a gritty urban feel.

Counters will use refurbished wood that resembles butcher blocks the Islas family used for decades at its popular neighborhood butcher shop and market.

American Meat Co. had stood on the corner of South Fourth Avenue and East 25th Street for 62 years. The Islas brothers, Reuben Francisco Sr., Alejandro, Joaquin, Filiberto and Oscar, opened the shop in 1953 and ran it until the 1990s, when they turned it over to their children.

The shop was popular in the Barrio Santa Rita Park, a place where families would get pork and beef needed to make Christmas tamales and beef tripe used in Christmas and New Years menudo.

The Islases had been there ever since we moved into the neighborhood and that goes back to 1960, said Angie Quiroz, president of the Barrio Santa Rita Park-West Ochoa Neighborhood Association, who said neighbors didnt want to see the space remain vacant.

But they also didnt want someone from the outside coming in to do something that didnt benefit the community, she said.

This group is homegrown. They grew up in the area. Theres a connection with that, Quiroz said. Its exciting because they are very young, they have a lot of spirit and they know the community.

Bonillas said they bought the building two months ago for $250,000 with no clear plans about what to do with it.

Over a months span, the idea evolved from commercial kitchen for food trucks to the food court.

Its an idea that Susan Fulton, president of the Tucson Originals association of restaurants, praised in part because it defies food court wisdom.

Oftentimes when its a food court, like in a mall, its just a bunch of chains, said Fulton, who owns Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery/Bistro, 5845 N. Oracle Road. The concept of having different local restaurants where people can browse around at different kinds of food is wonderful. Its a great idea; I love it.
When Ariana Ramirez and Andrian Alvarez tried to cross the border from Nogales into Mexico, customs officers discovered their car was loaded down with firearms and ammunition bound for a drug cartel.

Officers found two assault rifles and six high-capacity magazines under the seat where Ramirezs two infants sat, court records show. In the center console were more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition and a $930 receipt from the United Nations Ammo Company in Glendale. Another 1,500 rounds were tucked under the Ford Explorer and a dismantled .50-caliber machine gun tripod mount was stashed in the back seat.

Ammunition-smuggling busts at Arizona ports of entry  like this one  jumped 600 percent over the past two years, U.S. Customs and Border Protection statistics show. A total of 54,000 rounds and 25 firearms were seized at the states ports in fiscal year 2016, statistics obtained by the Arizona Daily Star through a public records request show.

But thats a small fraction of whats actually getting across the border.

Its just scratching the surface, said Jose Wall, a retired Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent who worked on arms trafficking into Mexico from 2000 to 2013.

Few smuggled weapons are seized

Thousands of cars cross the border every day, and its impossible for agents to tell which ones have guns and ammo, Wall said.

CBP seized 297 firearms and 282,000 rounds at Arizona ports of entry since 2005, while 1,135 guns and 764,000 rounds of ammunition were seized borderwide.

Many more guns than that slipped through the border during that time.

Police at crime scenes in Mexico recovered 120,000 firearms that originated in the United States, annual reports from the ATFs International Firearms Tracing System show. Firearms from the United States accounted for 70 percent of the 173,000 illegal guns recovered by the Mexican federal police at crime scenes and sent to the ATF for tracing since 2007.

Authorities also found receipts showing that Alvarez purchased more than $11,000 worth of ammunition between March 1 and his March 27 arrest. He told investigators that he smuggled guns and ammunition during four previous trips across the border that month. Each load was bound for a drug cartel and typically consisted of two assault rifles and several thousand rounds of ammunition, he said.

Based off of those receipts, federal prosecutors estimated that Alvarez alone smuggled more than 36,000 rounds of ammunition and at least 10 assault rifles into Mexico that month, which is equivalent to two-thirds of the total seizures at Arizona ports in fiscal year 2016.

Alvarez claimed he was smuggling to save his brother, who was being held hostage by the cartel for stealing $1 million. Every time Alvarez crossed the border, the cartel would deduct $1,000 from his debt, he told authorities.

Alvarez was sentenced to nearly four years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a charge of smuggling goods from the United States. Ramirez pleaded guilty to the same charge but has not been sentenced yet.

Needle in haystack

Mark Hammond made it through U.S. customs southbound inspections on June 20, 2015, but apparently panicked when Mexican customs officials tried to inspect his backpack.

Rather than hand it over, Hammond dropped the pack and ran to the front of the inbound U.S. inspections line, court documents show. All the while, Mexican customs officials were yelling that Hammond had a gun.

Inside the backpack, CBP officers discovered five mini AK-47 pistols, five high-capacity magazines and a receipt showing he paid $2,600 for the guns and ammunition from J&G Sales in Prescott.

Hammond claimed he had no intention of smuggling guns into Mexico. Court records show police found a mini AK-47 in Mexico that Hammond had purchased a week before, indicating an earlier successful smuggling attempt.

He pleaded guilty to one count of exportation of firearms in connection with the backpack incident and was sentenced to more than two years in federal prison.

With thousands of people crossing the border every day, finding smuggled firearms and ammunition is almost impossible, said CBP spokeswoman Teresa Small.

Authorities are  having to look for that needle in the haystack, Small said.

Officers are trained to look for signs of nervousness or something amiss inside a vehicle. But from smuggling guns to smuggling fruit, nothing really distinguishes which crime is in progress, she said.

Just south of the border in Sonora, Mexican federal police recovered more than 6,700 firearms from January 2006 to March 2016, the newspaper El Imparcial reported.

In one case from February 2015, police reported finding 10,000 rounds of ammunition, nine magazines and seven assault rifles in compartments built into a trucks side paneling on Highway 15, the federal route that leads south from Nogales.

In another case, a man was arrested in August on the highway between Sonoyta and San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora, with 10 assault rifles and eight high-capacity magazines inside a hidden compartment in his vehicle, according to Mexican newspaper El Universal.

Most of the guns and ammunition smuggled across the border are headed to organized crime operations in Mexico like drug cartels, retired ATF agent Wall said.

Wall was a whistleblower in the ATF gun-walking scandal Operation Fast and Furious, when the agencys Phoenix field office allowed weapons purchased in the U.S. across the border so agents could trace them to drug cartels. However, the guns disappeared and were found at crime scenes on both sides of the border  including the 2010 shooting death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.

The types of weapons seized at the border and the caliber and quantity of ammunition are characteristic of the weapons used by criminal networks, Wall said.

Unless youre doing some serious dove hunting, youre not going to need more than 100 shotgun shells or, if youre going deer hunting, you might take 20 rounds, he said.

Your large purchases of AK-47s and AR-15s are going to organized crime, Wall said. Any type of weapon or ammunition that has a similarity to the military, any trafficking of those are going to organized crime.

Cross-border solutions

As was the case with Hammonds and Alvarezs smuggling attempts, most of the weapons recovered by Mexican police were legally purchased at gun shops and gun shows in Southwestern border states, a U.S. Government Office of Accountability report released in January found.

The high volume of weapons in Mexico is the result of gun policies in the United States, said Sarah Kinosian, an arms-trafficking policy analyst for the Washington Office on Latin America, a research and human rights advocacy organization.

Its, without a doubt, the lax U.S. gun laws that contribute to the high levels of gun violence down in Mexico, Kinosian said. Its so easy to get a gun in the United States and move it across the border.

However, retired ATF agent Wall said the gun laws in Mexico created the conditions for the thriving cross-border gun trafficking industry.

Mexico has strict firearm regulations. Citizens are constitutionally entitled to possess a small-caliber firearm that must be registered with the government. Most types of guns are exclusively restricted for use by the military.

Guns can kept only in a residence, and a special permit must be obtained to take it outside for activities like hunting.

The only place to legally obtain a gun in Mexico is a government-operated store in Mexico City, tucked away on a military base.

Theres always going to be gun traffic to Mexico, always, because of just the necessity, Wall said. If its not narcos, its criminals who want a gun, or its the guy who tells his buddy, Hey, can you bring me a gun because I want to go shoot rabbits, or I want a gun for protection.

Kinosian said a policy change in Mexico is needed, but such a change could be far off.

I dont get the sense that there is a really big push to do anything about the problem of trans-border trafficking, she said.

One way to discourage smuggling is for Mexico to increase its border security, Wall said.

Its not going to be popular, he said. We all love to go to Mexico and not have to stop at the border and just get waved on through.

Kinosian advocated for the Mexican government to crack down on gun-trafficking networks, as well as more proactive policing and detection by U.S. customs officers looking for smugglers.

As it stands right now, if they dont break any laws, then they wont be pulled over, she said.

Wall said the best way to combat the cross-border smuggling is a see something, say something approach.

If youre a guy in a gun store and youre buying a gun, and you see someone buying 10 AK-47s, report it, the same way you report suspicious narco activity, Wall said. Because ultimately, if we can reduce the flow of guns, it helps the American gun owner because theres less crime and less pressure on the politicians to do stuff.
There should be less reliance on state standardized testing scores and more focus on individual student growth in how Arizona schools success is measured, local teachers say.

The Arizona Board of Education formed a statewide committee of educators to re-establish the formula that decides the letter grades used to label Arizonas schools. The committees goal is to make a recommendation to the state board in December.

If all goes according to schedule, schools would receive their new letter grades by the end of the current school year.

The Star spoke with about a dozen local teachers from the Tucson Unified and Sunnyside districts to get their take on what should be factored into measuring school success.

They want a system that rewards and encourages academic excellence but weighs progress more heavily and does not stigmatize or punish struggling schools.

The existing formula used the old state standardized testing system, AIMS, to determine the growth and proficiency, which were accounted for in equal portions, of schools. At the high school level, college and career readiness was also a factor.

Generally in the field, school leaders and teachers wanted to include more than just testing data, said Charles Tack, a spokesman for state Education Department. The state board wants to include other measures, including dropout rates, attendance and also take into account changes required under a new federal law, the Every Student Succeeds Act.

The A-F accountability committees goal is to find a formula that would better represent whats going on in the states schools, said Pearl Chang Esau, president and CEO of Expect More Arizona and a member of the state committee.

Its considering a weighted model, where schools can earn more or less points based on the level of proficiency, that takes growth and proficiency into account equally and other measures, including English language learners progress.

Letter grades should not be a reflection of student demographic but the impact of educators in that school, she said. From a parent perspective, Esau said she would like to see more resources being invested in low rated schools and strong leadership being put in place to ensure improvement.

ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL

When people see an A, B, or a C label on a school, What is it that were truly looking at? asks Clarinda Rubio, an English-language arts teacher at Mansfeld Middle School.

Technically speaking, its a reflection of how the schools students perform on the state standardized test, which teachers say dont show school climate or the quality of the teaching staff.

We dont use just one thing to grade a student, said Mary Ann Jester, fifth-grade teacher at Sierra 2-8 School.

A lot goes into determining a students success in the classroom, so her question to those crafting a new formula is: Why should schools be judged on just standardized testing scores?

Considering the socioeconomic, demographic and resource-level differences at each school, there couldnt be a one-size-fits-all approach to measuring school success, said Christy Sainz, an honors English teacher at Tucson High Magnet School.

There are nearly 2,000 schools statewide with more than 1 million students, who come from a vast range of backgrounds. Those schools and students are governed by more than 200 school districts and 400 charter holders.

Everything about the school has to be taken into account, she said, including extracurricular activities, intervention programs and project-based learning.

Most teachers interviewed recognized the necessity of standardized testing as a way to measure where students are academically, but also said test scores are just part of the academic reality for most students. Therefore, relying on those scores to label schools, they say, can be problematic.

I get that there are so many variables, but we have multiple assessments said Beth Brenner, an eighth-grade English teacher at Sierra 2-8 who has been teaching for two years. It doesnt have to be just that one test.

Putting a letter grade on a school also indirectly punishes the schools that receive bad ratings, some of the teachers said.

It labels the kids just like it labels the schools, said Mary Martinez, a second-grade teacher at Sierra 2-8 and the president of the Sunnyside Education Association. It labels the community.

A low school rating perpetuates a bad cycle where parents dont want to send their children to a badly rated school, teachers dont want to work there, which worsens the teacher shortage problem, and the students feel like failures, she and Jester said.

To them, the ratings are more a reflection of each schools socioeconomic status, rather than the quality of teachers or programs. The ratings do not effectively consider the numerous challenges schools in low income areas are faced with, they said.

It needs to be made more real, and not just a number or a letter, Jester said.

GROWTH OVER PROFICIENCY

The teachers the Star spoke to generally preferred to weigh growth more heavily than proficiency.

Growth, for us, is tremendous, Jester of Sierra 2-8 said. Proficiency, were getting there little bit by little bit.

But the teachers also recognized that putting a greater emphasis on growth could seem unfair for already A-rated schools with high rates of proficiency that dont really have much room to grow.

Some of the teachers suggested scaling growth so that already highly proficient schools can still gain those points but also reward low rated schools that are showing improvements.

If you focus on growth, youre going to increase your proficiency rate, said Tori Schroeder, a ninth-grade English teacher at Desert View High School. I dont think its wrong to have some emphasis on proficiency. At the same time, we have to then figure out a way for the ratings not to feel like rewards and punishment.

Schroeder added that for the high school report card formula, access to college and career programs, including career and technical education programs and Advanced Placement classes, should be considered.

She also liked the idea of having narratives added to each schools report card so that parents would know why the schools got the grades they got from the state.

There has to be some acknowledgement that different schools have very different needs, she said. Two schools can be making different choices about how they prioritize their time and money and they could both be right choices.
Three months ago, your humble columnist had the misfortune of reporting the nearly unthinkable: Due to the fallout from a bitter fight over traffic bollards in Tucsons Winterhaven neighborhood, some residents were contemplating a holiday light strike, in which their homes would be conspicuously dark while the rest of the neighborhood pulsed with its famous blinding Christmas lights.

The Road Runner can now happily report that a good old-fashioned neighborhood election, which roughly coincided with the far more divisive presidential election, has calmed tensions and given the neighborhood a path back to harmony.

I think it will be fine, said James Kaucher, a resident and attorney for the Winterhaven board.

There is a sense that people are putting out their lights, getting their houses together for lights, said Jill Hawkins, a critic of the bollards and member of a safety committee tasked with resolving the controversy. The sort of tension does seem to have gone away.

Before we go into the results of the election, lets recap the controversy: In October 2015, many residents were surprised to learn that traffic bollards had gone up on East Kleindale Road at its intersection with North Christmas Avenue.

That $3,000 modification came after enough nearby residents signed a petition requesting a change, which was intended to address speeding motorists on Kleindale. However, some original signers said they had been deceived about what they had signed, and subsequently signed a counter-petition to have the bollards removed.

After months of bitter back and forth, the safety committee polled residents and came up with a handful of proposals that would eventually be put to all residents.

Those proposals were as follows:

Remove the bollards and generally return the intersection to its original state with some additional signage and other minor modifications.

Turn the intersection into a roundabout.

Turn the blocked off section into a park.

With a razor-thin three-vote margin, the first option cleared the 90-vote majority threshold and avoided a runoff, according to a copy of the Nov. 14 results. The roundabout got 19 votes, and the third option got 56.

There are a few remaining steps, including clearing plans with the Tucson Department of Transportation, but the bollards are certainly coming down.

Hawkins described the results as delightful.

Though Kaucher previously said the bollards were a way to address speeding along Kleindale and other safety issues, and that taking them down could present legal problems for Winterhaven, he said that with the vote the neighborhood has spoken.

If people still have issues, Im sorry, he said.

Perhaps more important than the vote or the bollards are the lessons to be drawn from the episode, which saw shouting matches at meetings, 911 calls and threats of leaving Winterhaven.

The work of the committee and the effort to develop proposals based on neighborhood input showed the importance of people with different viewpoints coming together, Kaucher said.

Its a really good lesson of what happens when people dont talk to each other and make assumptions, he added of the controversy. When people talk to each other, it really does help clear the air.

Kaucher and Hawkins agreed that Winterhaven, with its decades-long history and strong neighborhood identity, might require a little more care than other neighborhoods when making changes. Per city rules, neighborhood-led road-safety improvements need to be signed off on by 60 percent of nearby residents. However, the strong reaction to the bollards suggest that wider involvement may have been appropriate.

Everyone has an interest in that part of the neighborhood, Kaucher said.

Anything like that that radically affects Winterhaven should have to be put before all of Winterhaven, Hawkins echoed.

Not just something like this where a small group of people can upend Winterhaven as a beautiful neighborhood.

The neighborhoods holiday lights officially turn on Dec. 10.

DOWN THE ROAD

Overnight bridge work at Interstate 10s Craycroft Road crossing will shut both left lanes starting Tuesday evening.

Between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 5 a.m. Wednesday, crews will build shoring for a temporary construction bridge. The Arizona Department of Transportation advises drivers to slow down and exercise caution.
Donald Trump and Sen. Bernie Sanders have found common ground, with both campaigns refusing to pay for police protection the candidates received at the Tucson Convention Center during stops here earlier this year.

An attorney for the Trump campaign rejected at a letter from the city demanding it pay an $81,837 bill for police services. They argued the contract with the TCC never mentioned additional costs related to security.

That summary lists a rental fee of just over $7,000 and says nothing about a potential police fee that is over 11 times as much as the listed rental price, wrote Donald F. McGahn, an attorney for the Trump campaign.

Additionally, McGahn said the Secret Service independently contracted with the Tucson Police Department to assist in its security detail, and the city should discuss the bill with the Secret Service.

Roughly 180 Tucson police officers worked security at the Trump rally in March, which was marked by several protests and disruptions. It attracted about 5,000 people.

A lawyer representing Sanders rebuffed a similar demand for $44,013, saying the campaign never asked for police protection and suggested the city should bill the Secret Service.

The U.S. Secret Service typically made arrangements for all security matters with regard to Senator Sanders during his presidential campaign, wrote Brad Deutsch, a lawyer for Bernie 2016.

Tucson police assigned 76 officers to a rally for Sanders at the TCC. Crowd estimates suggest about 7,000 people were at the event.

While the city has the legal authority to sue to get reimbursed, City Attorney Mike Rankin has said previously that is up to the City Council to decide.
Vekol was a premier silver mine in the southwestern corner of Pinal County on the western side of the Vekol Mountains.

Surrounded by the Papago Indian Reservation, it is located 30 miles southwest of Casa Grande in the Casa Grande Mining District. The ore was concentrated along a north-south trending fault in shaly limestone dipping 10 to 30 degrees to the southwest.

The mine itself was discovered by the Papago Indians and christened Vekol after the tribes term for grandmother.

Judge John D. Walker was the original mine owner having been informed about the mines whereabouts by Juan Jose Gradello, a Papago Indian in 1879.

Originally from Illinois, Walker settled in Arizona Territory in the 1860s becoming both a rancher and a miner. He fought against the Apache Indians in 1864, having led several contingents of Papago Indians.

Among the Papago he was respected.

Walker in turn learned the Papago language and took concern for their well being.

Ore samples from the mine were sent to John Walkers ranch on the Gila River. The samples were assayed showing a high value of silver.

Walker formed a partnership with his brother Lucien and P.R. Brady in 1880. In 1884, Brady would relinquish his one-third interest of the mine to the Walker Brothers for $65,000 over a disagreement of the mines operation.

By 1881, development of the mine hastened with the main shaft sunk to a depth of 118 feet. It was a profitable venture with 10 tons of ore shipped monthly to the Selby smelter in San Francisco, and smelters in El Paso and Denver averaging a value of $300 per ton.

Enterprising individuals, the brothers stockpiled 150 tons of second grade ore valued up to $90 per ton.

The mining camp of Vekol, at an elevation of around 1700 feet, lasted 12 years. It consisted of over 200 inhabitants, including 100 miners.

The camp was unique in that it lacked both churches and saloons. It did have a boardinghouse, post office active from 1888 to 1909, school, and public library.

The camp was also a destination along the Casa Grande & Quijotoa Stage Line, which left Casa Grande daily to the Quijotoa mining camp. It stopped along the way at the mining operations at Copperosity, Christmas Gift, Reward and Vekol.

Walker openly refused to allow alcohol into the camp. He also refused multiple offers for his mine from interested parties totaling $100,000.

Walker was revered among the town for his leadership, justice and sobriety.

A 10-stamp mill was built at the camp to process the mines low grade ores. It turned out a bar of silver bullion a day averaging 100 pounds in weight, according to press reports.

Water for the mill and for the 400 local Indians and cattle came from a drilled well at the mine 350 feet deep.

The mill ran between 1885 through 1889 averaging a rate of 470 tons of ore (valued at $16,000) per month, closing due to a decline profits in low grade ore.

Pan amalgamation was also used to acquire silver from crushed ore using a mixture of mercury, sodium chloride and copper sulfate in large vats.

The brothers followed a strike covering a distance of 1400 feet from the discovery point. Challenges occurred as they uncovered ore-bodies containing lead and zinc as they had an inadequate milling operation to treat the sulfide ores.

A dispute among the Walker brothers led to Luciens multiple attempts to have his brother John committed to an insane asylum. Fierce litigation between the brothers eventually led to the death of John Walker in 1891.

The litigation would continue between John Walkers widow and brothers as to who would own the mine. They were finally resolved when the mine was bonded to a New Orleans and Texas Company who operated it in 1908.

During the Walker brothers operation it is reported that between $1 million and $3 million dollars worth of silver ore was mined.

The Vekol Mine would continue to hold an interest to mining companies through much of the twentieth century.
Construction of a $22 million Marana Police Department station, complete with an indoor shooting range, is set to start next summer.

The state-of-the-art facility will be built on the existing Marana Municipal Complex at 11555 W. Civic Center Drive, said Jennifer Christelman, the towns deputy director of engineering.

All of our officers are real excited to have a true police facility that will meet all our needs and provide and facilitate training in a centralized building, said Police Chief Terry Rozema.

Because of limited space at the existing station officers must use other facilities for classroom activities and training, including Northwest Fire Districts training academy and a privately owned shooting range near the Marana Regional Airport, said Sgt. Chris Warren.

Once the new station is built, the department will be able to host more regional trainings and work with other law enforcement agencies, Warren said.

In addition to an indoor shooting range, the new facility will include separate holding cells for adults and juveniles, and a section for officers to draw a suspects blood for DUI investigations.

There also will be an area to offer care and amenities to the police dogs, including kennels and an indoor and outdoor area. The new station will have a room for virtual shooting exercises and an area for defensive tactical training.

The facility will include classrooms and community rooms that will be available for public use.

Officers will have a physical fitness facility, showers and locker rooms. Police headquarters will include evidence storage rooms, and an armory for weapons storage. There will be spacious parking areas for the public, and a secured parking lot for police vehicles.

New station years

in the making

Research, planning and development for the 54,000-square-foot facility began years ago, including public hearings and informational forums.

Rozema and his command staff, along with Christelman, researched and toured more than 15 stations in Arizona and in other states to give the architects input on the new buildings design. Officers and staff workers also had their say.

The Town Council passed a community-supported half-cent sales tax to generate $18 million dedicated to the new facility, said Christelman. The remaining cost will be covered by $3 million from the general fund and $1 million from RICO funds. The funds will pay for design, construction, furnishings and police equipment.

RICO funds are monies seized during criminal investigations under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. The forfeited monies are distributed to law enforcement agencies for police work.

A project management firm, architect and construction contractor were selected in the spring through a bid process. Abacus, Architekton and CORE Construction received contracts for the work.

Town officials said the new police station will accommodate Maranas growth over the next 20 years. According to the July 2015 Census Bureau, Marana has a population of 41,315, and the towns staff projects that in 20 years it will have about 64,000, Christelman said.

Currently, the Marana Police Department has 89 sworn officers and 28 civilian employees. The departments annual budget is $12.1 million.
A Tucson police bomb-squad officer has filed a lawsuit against the city, saying he was the subject of six years of workplace harassment by his supervisor after making comments to which the man took offense.

Charles Pickard, a 15-year veteran and hazardous-devices technician with the Tucson Police Department bomb squad, also says the department discriminated against him for a hand-tremor condition, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The lawsuit says when Pickard was promoted to the bomb squad in 2008, his supervisor, Sgt. Ardan Devine, didnt allow him the same opportunities for overtime that were afforded other squad members. When Pickard addressed the issues, Devine became hostile and continued to bar him from opportunities, the lawsuit states.

The situation intensified when Devine told another officer he was upset about an email Pickard sent about explosive training consistencies. Because the email is considered protected speech under the First Amendment, Devines retaliatory actions, including calling Pickard a traitor, violated his rights, the lawsuit says.

Over the next several years, Devine openly made negative statements about the Pima County Regional Bomb Squad and its commander, resulting in members of TPDs bomb squad refusing to attend joint training exercises. As part of his job as regional FBI bomb squad coordinator, Pickard was still required to attend the training, but was met with hostility from Devine when requesting permission to attend.

The situation finally came to a head during an internal-affairs interview about anonymous threatening texts sent to the Pima County bomb-squad commander, about whom Devine had been making the negative statements, the lawsuit says.

Pickard was told that a fellow TPD bomb squad officer, Scott Lonergan, admitted responsibility and told investigators that Devines negative comments about the commander had created a clear culture within the unit of hatred for the Pima Regional Team.

After the investigation was completed, a lieutenant told Pickard that Devine read the internal affairs investigative report into the incident and became absolutely enraged, the lawsuit says. As a result, the retaliatory actions and harassment continued to escalate.

Pickards schedule was changed without warning and he was denied leave for a teaching assignment for which Devine previously gave permission. On another occasion, Devine launched an investigation into Pickard after he declined to respond to an after-hours call because hed been drinking beer off-duty.

In December 2012, Pickard met with then-Assistant Chief of Police Kathy Robinson after someone complained his slight hand tremor jeopardized his job performance. She told him she was aware of the hostility directed at him by Devine and urged him not to leave the department, adding Devine would soon retire .

Following the meeting, Pickard filed a complaint against Devine with the City Equal Employment Opportunity office, prompting a second meeting between Pickard, Devine and Robinson to diffuse the situation, the lawsuit says.

Devine balked at mediation and became enraging, stating that Officer Pickard was a horrible employee and a liar and wanted him removed from the bomb squad, according to the lawsuit.

At the end of the meeting, Robinson told Pickard the issue with his hand tremor had been examined by the police chiefs and the citys legal department, and wouldnt be brought up again.

A week later, Pickard was transferred to the Homeland Security Section of the bomb squad, located at the Tucson Fire Departments central headquarters.

During the 11 months that followed, he received no overtime opportunities and his name was removed from TPDs bomb squad directory, even though he was told he was still on the team.

The situation came to a head in September 2013, when Pickard was assisting the FBI in teaching a course about explosives. Two students, who were also Tucson police bomb-squad members, saw Pickard spill a small amount of racing fuel while measuring it into a container. Pickard wasnt questioned at the time, but when he returned to work, he was placed on medical restriction from handling explosives and chemicals until he was medically cleared by the city, the lawsuit says.

He was cleared by the citys physician, but the work restriction wasnt lifted until he saw a neurologist, which he was forced to pay for on his own. He returned to work in January 2014 to Fire Central, and when Devine retired in March of that year, Pickard was transferred back to his regular position with the bomb squad.

The lawsuit, which doesnt specify a dollar amount for damages, also says Pickard was wrongfully denied $13,200 in wages by not being allowed equal access to overtime opportunities.

Pickards attorney, Todd Hale, did not respond to the Stars request comment.

Because the city of Tucson oversees the Police Department, it is named as the defendant in the lawsuit. City Attorney Mike Rankin has previously said hes unable to comment on pending litigation.
Help India!

By Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net

Hyderabad: Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation Mayor Banda Karthika Reddys tenure seems to come to an end shortly. The All India Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) MLA from the city and the floor leader in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, Akbaruddin Owaisi met the chief minister Kiran Kumar Reddy and Pradesh Congress Committee president Botsa Satyanarayana in this regard and asked them to honour their seat-sharing agreement with the MIM. As per the pact, the mayor post would be held by the Congress for the first two years and the MIM for the next two.

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It can be expected that the city may have a new Mayor on December 4th this year. The question about who will be the mayor for the fifth year is still not clear as the Congress and MIM have not come to a conclusion in this regard. The race for the mayors seat has heat up with corporators from the Majlis indulging in hectic lobbying for the coveted post. The competition is equally keen for the deputy mayors post as Congress corporators flock to the offices of senior leaders to lobby for a seat.

The labour minister, Mr Danam Nagender, said the Congress will abide by its mayoral seat agreement with the MIM. However, he stirred a hornets nest when he said that the Congress will shortly take a decision on sharing the mayors seat for the contentious third year. The minister also said that the Congress may give the post of deputy mayor for one year each to two candidates so as to allow two candidates to serve in the post, and not confine it to one candidate as has been the case with MIM. Though the pact between the MIM and Congress was to share the mayors seat for two years each, with the candidate for the fifth and final year to be decided later, the letters submitted by the MIM to the Congress indicate that MIM expects to retain the post for the fifth year as well.

The GHMC polls were held on 23rd November, 2009. In the 150 seats municipal corporation congress won 53 seats, TDP 45, MIM 43, BJP 5, and Others 4.

Among the MIM front runners are former mayor and present corporator, Mr Mir Zulfeqar Ali; deputy mayor Jaffar Hussain; former standing committee chairperson Yasmeena Sultana and Mohsin Balala, brother of MIM MLA Ahmed Balala. The GHMC secretary Mr M.S.S. Somaraju said a change of mayors can be effected only when the mayor resigns or through a no-confidence motion. But, under the GHMC Act, a no-trust cannot be moved against the mayor until the candidate completes four years in office.

Link:

http://www.ghmc.gov.in/


Help India!

By IANS,

Hyderabad : Serial bomb blasts rocked Hyderabad Thursday evening, killing at least 11 people and injuring around 50 others. However eyewitnesses placed the toll at 18.

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The two near-simultaneous explosions occurred in Dilsukhnagar area in the city when it was crowded with people returning home. According to some eyewitness accounts, three explosions were heard.

Dilsukhnagar is a busy commercial area to the south of Musi River in the southern part of city, about 15 km from the heart of the city.

Eyewitnesses said they heard two loud explosions within a couple of minutes. Police confirmed the bomb explosions but there was no official word on the number of explosions.

The first blast occurred around 7 p.m. near a tiffin centre opposite Venkatadri theatre and the second near Konark theatre. Both the theatres are about 500 meters from each other.

According to preliminary reports, the bombs were planted on bicycles.

Ambulances and police vehicles rushed to the area. The injured were shifted to Yashoda Hospital at Malakpet and to the government-run Osmania Hospital. Gory pictures of the victims without limbs were seen. Others with bleeding injuries were shifted to ambulances.

The area was cordoned off as senior police officials and sleuths from National Investigation Agency (NIA) and Intelligence Bureau rushed to the scene.

Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, Home Minister Sabita Indra Reddy, Director General of Police V. Dinesh Reddy and others visited the scene. The blasts sent panic in the area, close to Hyderabad-Vijayawada highway. Police sounded high alert across the city and launched search in many public places.

In Delhi, Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde put the toll at 11  eight in the first blast and three in the second. He admitted the government had received intelligence warning of blasts taking place in the country but no specific target was mentioned.

We were receiving information for the last two days that such a blast may take place there was no input about which city would be targeted, Shinde told reporters adding that the information was passed onto all the states.

We cannot speculate about the perpetrators at this point of time, he said further.

NIA and the National Security Guard (NSG) teams have been sent to Hyderabad, union Home Secretary R.K. Singh said.

We have news of two blasts. We have spoken to state chief secretary, DGP (director general of police) and governor (E.S.L. Narasimhan), he told reporters in Delhi.

Our NIA team is also reaching as it has a hub there. The NIA officials are there at the site. Our IG NIA is also going from here. The post blast investigating team of NSG is also going, he said.

Strongly condemning the twin blasts, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Thursday described it as a dastardly attack and said the guilty should not go unpunished.

This is a dastardly attack, the guilty will not go unpunished, a tweet from the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) quoted Manmohan Singh as saying.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi also expressed her sorrow and anguish over the attack.
Help India!

By TwoCircles.net Staffer,

Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Wednesday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi at New Delhi and sought his assistance in solving several problems of the state  including the issue of fundamental activities  at the present hour.

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Taking up the problem of militancy and threat from fundamentalist organizations, Gogoi made a plea to Modi to take up the matter with neighboring countries at appropriate levels for sharing of intelligence and coordinated action, a state government release said.





Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi greets Prime Minister Narendra Modi at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday.



There should be similar mechanism at interstate level for West Bengal and North Eastern States so that issues of jurisdiction do not come in the way of dealing with insurgency and militancy, Gogoi said, adding, Of late, Assam appears to have been targeted by fundamentalist organizations such as Al Qaeda. Some operatives having links with Jamaiatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) were recently arrested in Assam.

Gogoi, while apprising the Prime Minister about the slew of steps initiated by the state government for updation of National Register of Citizens (NRC) 1951, asked for adequate funds for completion of the NRC exercise within a stipulated time.

He also took up the incidents of violence that occurred along the Assam-Nagaland boundary on August 12 that resulted in the death of 11 persons and displacement of nearly 10,000 people. Appraising Modi that about 8000 persons have already returned while 1750 persons are still residing at the relief camps, the Chief Minister requested the Prime Minister to impress upon the Government of Nagaland to enable a congenial and conducive environment along the Assam-Nagaland border.

The Chief Minister sought the Prime Ministers kind intervention in the matter of payment of crude oil royalty on pre-discounted price in the light of the verdict by the Gujarat High Court, on a petition filed by the Government of Gujarat, and the interim order passed by the Supreme Court that crude oil royalty to Gujarat be paid on pre-discounted crude price beginning from February 1, 2014. On the issue of under payment of royalty and VAT on crude oil, the cause of Assam is very similar to that put forward by the State of Gujarat, Gogoi added.

The Chief Minister sought the Prime Ministers help in the sanctioning of Assam Flood Erosion and River Management Modernization Project with an estimated cost of Rs.1500 crore for tackling floods and erosion more effectively, besides ensuring optimal and productive use of the vast water resources.

Gogoi sought Modis intervention for early sanctioning of World Bank fund worth Rs.3874.86 crore for development of the Inland Water Transport sector in Assam, a matter pending with the Ministry of Shipping, the release added.
Released a month after the recently reviewed "Murder at Sorrow's Crown"', Scottish author Stuart Douglas returns to Titan's "Holmes" adventures, following his sublime 2015 debut, "The Albino's Treasure", a tale of lost paintings, royal conspiracies and Fu Manchu.

This time around, we find that Sherlock Holmes is burnt out by government missions, courtesy of Mycroft. However, he finds himself reinvigorated when he hears reports of another Holmes, seemingly battling crime in the growing heart of America, New York. With Watson in tow, Holmes ships over to the States only to find his doppelganger vanished, and the cream of Manhattan society strangely unwelcoming to him...

Douglas starts off well

Like "Sorrow's Crown," we have a Holmesian tale that feels a lot more like a proper investigation over an adventure ride. This gives "Counterfeit Detective" the proper Conan Doyle flavour as our leads scour clues and build the case. One trait Douglas firmly carries over from "Albino" is the level of historical detail concerning New York of the era. He very much succeeds at putting you in the environment, going from the polish of brownstone Manhattan, the dockyards of New York, to the slums of the Five Points that evoke Scorsese's epic.

The novel is low-key on the action front, being more squarely focused on the mystery of the socialites' odd behaviour and the false Holmes.

However, there's plenty of murder and deception to keep the stakes trundling along, and Douglas writes a supremely engaging and often amusing Holmes-Watson pairing. They really feel like old friends, often trading jabs and communicating just with an expression or gesture.

Douglas' book has shortcomings

"Counterfeit" ends up feeling a good deal less ambitious than the sprawling, franchise crossover that was 'Albino'.

If you were sold on the notion of a high octane game of wits between Holmes and his mentally-equal double, you will be very disappointed: the copycat is barely a character in the novel, being out of reach most of the time. Ultimately, whom the villain ends up being, and what this other Holmes is up to, is nothing special, and their scheme just feels terribly ordinary for a Holmes tale (doubly so, given this is the same range that has seen Holmes battle Martians and team up with Houdini).

A premise like this feels like it should be bolder and more daring than it ultimately is.

A smaller annoyance is that, while often engaging to read about, Douglas Holmes seems a lot harsher to Watson than normal, which can be a little grating as you just want to smack him for being condescending. There's a fine line between arrogant but cunning, and then terribly smug and pompous, especially in the second half as the pieces come together.

So, what to make of it?

While Blasting News doesn't do ratings, this is the letter-perfect definition of a 3 and a half star novel: well composed and structured, but lacking that special something to truly elevate it above its peers. It's a premise that demands something greater, and yet, the book was engrossing enough to merit the purchase. Douglas' descriptive prowess, his superb pacing, and continuous posing of bigger questions make it fly by.
One of the greatest criticisms of EU membership by Brexit campaigners was centred on the principle that it compromised British sovereignty. Post-referendum and the 'Leave' vote, the question of sovereignty is once again at the forefront, as people begin to realize their simple yes/no vote never determined the terms of separation from the EU. The question that the British people must now face is again one of democracy: is Parliament entitled to vote on Brexit, or can the Government use their Royal Prerogative power to bypass Parliament - the democratic element in our constitutional system - based on the referendum result, which was simply advisory and without legal effect?

Is it democratic to prevent Parliament from voting on terms before initiating Article 50? Parliament is constitutionally the supreme lawmaker, not the government of the day, so is it even legal for the government to usurp the position of Parliament, which represents the British people?

The courts rule for Parliamentary scrutiny

The question of Parliament's level of involvement is to be decided in the courts. The High Court has already ruled against the government in favour of a parliamentary vote and scrutiny of Brexit. The case was brought by top legal firms on behalf of two claimants: investment manager and philanthropist Gina Miller and hairdresser Deir Dos Santos. Ms Miller argues that only Parliament could make a decision leading to the loss of her rights under EU law.

She stated: "What we're saying is, simply, you can't have it both ways. You can't talk about getting back a sovereign Parliament and being in control at the same time then bypass it... We cannot have a democracy like that." Mr Dos Santos explained: " I voted for Brexit in the referendum for the sole reason that I wanted power to be returned from Europe to the British Parliament...But I did not think it was right for the government to then just bypass Parliament and try to take away my legal rights without consulting Parliament first.

I am grateful to the court for the result...this is a victory for parliamentary democracy."

A 'post-truth' climate

The idea of a referendum may have seemed straightforward, but with an issue as complex as EU membership, many failed to see the ramifications. Myths and incorrect rhetoric were promoted by both sides, and facts became secondary in what is increasingly a 'post-truth' climate.

The democratic deficit of EU membership is, in reality, much less than was suggested by the 'Leave' camp. The impression that was promoted played on the public's lack of detailed knowledge of the system, exaggerating Britain's loss of sovereignty. It is now British democracy and the UK constitution which are being put to the test.

The government versus the constitution

The government has won the right to appeal the High Court's decision to the Supreme Court. The case against them, however, is gaining momentum as both the Scottish and the Welsh governments will argue against the legality of the executive using its power to pull all countries of the UK out of the EU without parliamentary consent.

The relationship with devolved legislatures is governed by constitutional conventions which must also be respected. It remains to be seen whether the constitutional necessity of democracy, as represented in Parliament, will be given its due role.
President-Elect Donald Trump has some harsh words for Green Party candidate Jill Steins proposed election recount, saying it was ridiculous and a scam, making a special point of the fact that Hillary Clinton conceded the election to him, which would mean a recount is a waste of time because his rival already, in effect, gave the victory to him.

Trump says recount is just fundraising scheme by Stein

Trump referred to the recount as just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasnt even on the ballot in many states, pointing out the insignificance of Stein as a candidate in comparison to himself and Clinton (mainly himself), to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount.

Trump is suggesting that Stein will pocket most of the money, which is the largest amount raised for a recount by a third-party candidate in history, as she has so far raised $5.25 million, and Michael Haas, Administrator for the Wisconsin Election Commission, has estimated the cost of the recounts to be only $520,000, so it stands to reason Stein will be taking the other $4.5 million for her own party.

However, Stein went on CNN to respond to Trumps statement, saying that all of the funds she has raised for the recount will be going into a dedicated and segregated account so that it can only be spent on the recount. She said that Trump has been creating his own facts here with his statements, as hes been known to do sometimes in the past. She also commented that Trump himself believed it would be a rigged election unless he won it.

The people have spoken and the election is over

Trump believes Steins recount is a waste of time. He says, The people have spoken and the election is over, then quoting Hillary Clinton on election night when she conceded, We must accept this result, and then look to the future.

Trump says that in the states where Stein is calling for a recount, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, he beat out Hillary by large numbers. He called the recount a scam by the Green Party since the election was already conceded by his close Democratic rival Hillary.

He said that the election results should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, but if he had lost, he wouldnt be respecting the results, he would be challenging them and abusing them to the max.

Even if Trump isn't, the Clinton campaign is cooperating with Stein's recounts, though both they and the White House agree that there is no evidence that voting machines in Wisconsin were hacked, which is the basis of the recount.
James Alefantis, owner of a Washington pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong, began receiving more and more followers on Instagram just before the Presidential election, and was soon being sent threatening messages along the lines of Were on to you. Soon, he had been sent hundreds of I will kill you-type death threats on Facebook, Twitter, as text messages, everywhere. Every one of these slanderers accused Alefantis of harbouring a paedophilic child abuse ring in his restaurant headed by Hillary Clinton and John D. Podesta (chief of her campaign).

Clinton pizzeria paedophilia ring scandal branded Pizzagate

Alefantis staff members were receiving similar messages, and he took to the web to figure out what was going on, and uncovered a long list of articles reporting completely fabricated news of Comet Ping Pong being a base where Clinton had taken kidnapped children to molest and sell them, labelling the incident Pizzagate.

This was all false. Alefantis was outraged to discover this was being spread around the internet. Hes a Democrat and a Hillary supporter, but he has never met her, and he certainly doesnt abuse children. No law enforcement agency is looking into Alefantis or his establishment. But the death threats are very real.

Photos of employees children being used in fake news

Alefantis says he and his employees are being terrorised and under constant assault, as photos of their own children were being used as evidence of the supposed paedophilia ring. Alefantis believes that his relationships with prominent Democrats such as Clinton advocate David Brock have contributed to his being targeted.

The Alefantis story is the latest in a long string of false news stories that have spread across the web recently, sparking a debate that some fake news could have influenced voters and led to the wrong candidate being elected when perhaps Hillary Clinton should have been. Obama calls this fake news active misinformation, and Mark Zuckerberg has promised to develop technology to keep it out of Facebook feeds.

Its endless.

Alefantis has gotten in touch with the FBI and the Washington police, who are on his side, and he has asked social media sites to take down all such articles about Clinton with regards to Pizzagate from their sites, and describes the onslaught of hate as endless.
Three NEO (Near Earth Object) impacts with earth are familiar to all scientifically literate people. The dinosaur killing Chichulub (Mexico) Asteroid (which only sped up their extinction) which hit 66 million years ago; the 1908 Tunguska (Siberia) blast event which was most probably an airburst devastated 2,000 sq. km (770 sq. miles) of forest but probably killed no one because of the remote location; and the February 2013 Chelyabinsk asteroid which caused mostly broken windows from its 19 km/sec sonic blast.

But how do experts determine how likely such impacts are and predict how much damage each might cause?

Obviously those three events so well-known to the general public range from devastating to merely scary.

NEO collisions in history

It is important to realize just how recently no one, even scientists, believed there was such a thing as a meteorite (an NEO is a meteor in the air and a meteorite if it hits the surface) and there was vast prejudice against accepting the idea right into the 20th century. This is a very young Science - no one believed peasants who reported meteorite impacts and Ernst Florens Chladni (German physicist) first wrote about meteorites being rocks from space in 1794.

It wasnt until 1960 that geologist Eugene Shoemaker conclusively proved meteor crater in Arizona (U.S.A.) was caused by an asteroid impact - he is the same Shoemaker credited as co-discoverer of the Shoemaker-Levy-9 comet which collided so spectacularly with Jupiter in 1994.

And the question of whether Lunar craters were due to volcanic action or meteor impact wasnt finally settled until the Apollo missions. Shoemakers ashes are buried on the moon, the only such burial.

NEO collision danger

Today it is accepted (except among some religious sects which dont even believe the earth is millions of years old) that meteors hit the earth and can cause great damage.

The Torino and Palermo scales are the way NEO threats are classified with the Palermo being a more detailed analysis less useful to non experts.

The Torino scale (first proposed in 1995) is easy to understand, it simply rates NEOs on a scale of 0 to 10 based on a combination of likelihood of impact with Earth and their potential energy (danger) with zero being both very unlikely and very small or slow and ten being very likely and extremely dangerous.

One important thing to remember about the Torino scale is that it only rates NEOs which might possibly hit the earth in the next hundred years. A cat. 8 NEO (Tunguska and Meteor Crater events) would occur between once in 50 and once in 2,000 years and cause major but localized destruction. Chichulub would have been rated a 10 and those occur on average less than once in 100,000 years - unfortunately the last such event was probably 66 million years ago. There are currently no NEOs rated higher than zero danger (Chelyabinsk).

The Palermo scale is logarithmic and also combines both danger and probability and is more like the base-10 Richter earthquake scale but the specifics are meaningless to anyone without advanced scientific and mathematical training.

The far less well-known Rio scale is very similar to Torino but is promoted mostly by SETI (alien search organization).

There are some estimates including one by Shoemaker that a 10 megaton asteroid impact occurs almost every year. The theory is that since many would land in water or sparsely inhabited areas they go unnoticed.

NEO impact most likely and most scary scenario

Although large impact events are rare consider that even a relatively small asteroid impacting one of the worlds several ancient super volcano giant calderas. Some of these are at relatively high risk or eruption and even a relatively small meteor impact could trigger a catastrophic event.

The Yellowstone super volcano crater was approximately 1500 sq. mi. in area, it erupts about every 500,000-900,000 years - the last was 630,000 years ago.
American democrats have their hopes renewed after claims emerged in favour of Hillary Clinton. A group of computer scientists, have supposedly "uncover hacking evidence on voting machines". Activists have approached Hillary Clinton's team to advise Hillary to contest the election because they found strange patterns showing that electronic voting machines in three states, received 7% fewer votes for Hillary, while paper votes showed a higher percentage.

Skeptics say is impossible to manipulate votes

The three states they refer to as targets of manipulation are: Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

However David Becker, the executive director of the nonprofit center for election innovation and research, said: to manipulate election results on a state or national scale, would require a conspiracy of literally hundreds of thousands, and for that massive conspiracy to go undetected is impossible.

Russian and WikiLeaks conspiracy claims

A day after a bitter meeting between CNN president and the president-elect, CNN reports evidence of hacking, citing Obama's suspicions throughout the elections. Obama believed Russia and wikileaks were trying to manipulate the election results. If Clinton were to challenge the election results, she would need to do it soon, as the deadline for vote recount closes Friday on Wisconsin, Monday in Pennsylvania and Michigan.

The white house might not support a recount, they said earlier last week that they were focused on a smooth transfer of power. The activists made their case via phone, they called Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta and her campaign general counsel, Marc Elias, to explain their findings. However, Donald trump still leads the electoral college vote with 290 counts, as compared to Hillary Clintons 232 votes.

George Soros pledges to fight Trump's rhetoric

Meanwhile, George Soros has joined the fight against the president-elect, and has pledged U$10 million to battle hate crimes, the billionaire who is a top supporter of the democratic party, says discrimination and hate crimes are on the rise as a result of the elections. His non-profit foundation "open society" is planning to spend as much as U$5 million in the coming days to provide support to community groups and civil rights organizations fighting hate crimes.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday that history and people will remember Fidel Castro, calling the Cuban revolutionary leader "a great figure of our times."

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in a message of condolences to Raul Castro, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba, after Fidel Castro died late Friday at the age of 90.

"In the name of the CPC, the Chinese government and people, and in my own name, I express my deepest condolences on the death of Comrade Fidel Castro and sincerest sympathy to his family," Xi said.

Fidel Castro, founder of the Communist Party of Cuba and Cuba's socialist cause, was a great leader of the Cuban people, Xi said, adding that he has made immortal historic contributions and devoted all his life to the Cuban people's great cause of struggling for national liberation, safeguarding state sovereignty and building socialism.

The late Cuban leader has also made immortal historic contributions to the world socialist development, Xi added.

Fidel Castro also dedicated his life to the friendship between China and Cuba, Xi said.

Xi added that the China-Cuba relationship has enjoyed great development since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 56 years ago thanks to Fidel Castro's solicitude and painstaking efforts.

"The death of Fidel Castro has made the Chinese people lose a close comrade and sincere friend. His glorious image and great achievements will go down in history," Xi said.

"The great Comrade Fidel Castro will be forever remembered," said the Chinese president.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday night to thank him for sending firefighting teams and trucks to help Israel put out fires.

A statement released by the PM's Office said that Netanyahu "appreciates the fact that Jews and Arabs have opened their homes for victims of the blazes."

The rare talk between Israeli and Palestinian leaders came as a string of massive fires have been raging for five days in Israel and its neighbors including the West Bank, Egypt and Lebanon.

On Friday, Netanyahu and other right-wing leaders pointed the finger at Israeli Arabs, suggesting they committed "arson-terrorism."

In response, Palestinian leaders accused Netanyahu of "inciting" against Israel's Arab minority.

On Thursday, the Palestinian National Authority sent eight firefighting trucks through the Gilboa Mountains to help Israel fight the massive fire in Haifa, which has consumed about 9,880 acres of land and prompted the evacuation of a quarter of the city's population.

Overnight between Friday and Saturday, the Palestinians sent another two firefighting trucks from Ramallah to help put out a fire in the Jewish West Bank settlement of Halamish, officials with the Israeli Fire and Rescue Service said.

The fire has damaged at least 40 settlement homes and lightly injured four.

Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Croatia, Turkey and Italy have also sent crews and planes to assist Israel in its efforts to fight fires. On Saturday afternoon, a Boeing-747 Supertanker, the world's largest firefighting plane, was put to work in an area near the main highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Experts said an unusually dry and windy weather condition has helped stoke the fires that broke out on Tuesday and spread across half of the country.
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Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared on Saturday eight days of national mourning for the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

"President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on Saturday has declared eight days of national mourning as from Sunday, following the death of Cuba's former Head of State, Fidel Castro Ruz, the leader of the Cuban Revolution," APS news agency quoted the President Office as saying in a statement.

Bouteflika has also sent a message of condolence to Raul Castro Ruz, the current president of Cuba, in which he affirmed that the death of Fidel Castro is a "great loss" for the Algerian people.

He stressed that Castro played a key role in the Algerian Liberation War (1954-1962) against the French occupation and provided "solidarity and support to the reconstruction of our country ruined by a devastating colonial war" after Algeria gained independence.

"I salute him as an authentic defender of the values of peace, respect and national sovereignty, and of his uncompromising struggle for the rights of people to self-determination," concludes the message.

Fidel Castro died aged 90 on Friday. He governed Cuba as prime minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as president from 1976 to 2008.
Green Party candidate Jill Stein ran what many pundits called the most intelligent and well spoken campaign in the harsh 2016 election cycle. It was Jill Stein who took the time to notice that Hilary Clinton was a much greater threat for (world?) war with her more neocon approach to Russia than Donald Trump was who wanted to at least talk to Putin before threatening Russia. While Gary Johnson was forgetting Aleppo and attacking journalists who used the word illegal to describe those who have broken immigration laws illegally, Jill Stein was addressing facts.

While she was far too left leaning for most moderates or conservatives to actually vote for having shared the views of the self proclaimed Democratic Socialist Bernie Sanders, she did have their respect. Sadly, that may no longer be the case.

This is because Jill Stein in contesting the outcome of the 2016 victory achieved by Donald J. Trump due to facts that are questionable at best. As reporter and analyst Paul Joseph Watson has pointed out, Stein is contesting the results in Michigan, which while sounding totally in line with her famous no nonsense approach, is anything but considering the fact that Michigan can not be hacked by Russia (a common accusation) or anyone else since Michigan does not use machines to tally or accept electronic votes.

That means that unless Putin has some way of hacking the equivalent of a typewriter, there is no way for this to have happened.

Jill Stein and the three million question

There are other states that Jill Stein and those that have donated to her fund raising campaign to achieve such a recount wish to look at, but even in these instances, there are glaring questions that arise.

One issue that Jill Stein nor her supporters of such a recount address is how to handle the fact that over three million illegal voters managed to cast a ballot, most often via states that allow for a drivers license to both be issued to undocumented workers as well as allowing illegal's to have drivers licenses. In these states, illegals need only have a state issued drivers license, which they are encouraged to do for legal driving reasons, to vote!

Three million is really a significant number to scale, and while the world illegal angers fellow third party loyalist Gary Johnson, it is still a fact that if one is not a legal resident of America, then one may not vote in the United States of America legally. (that needed said?) Those votes

There also exists the issue of the voting dead. As Trump has pointed out many times in the past, those that are dead (even if they were life long Republicans) always magically vote Democrat once they are called to glory. That means that there are now even more votes that need to be negated if we are to have a fair recount. This matters, because it is not just the paying for the recount states that must be paid for, but also in the budget is factoring in the cost of canceling out the illegal vote and the many voting dead.

Trump will likely mention this is Stein succeeds in her efforts.

There is also the fact that Trump won Michigan by a total of over ten thousand votes. The actual count is close to 10,400. There is simply no way that even the magic all knowing, all infiltrating Vladimir Putin -who we all know is all seeing, all powerful, and the employer of the best hackers in the known universe all at the same time  could even mange to hack a vote count by ten thousand...even if he was kept away from Kryptonite and given a new red cape.

At the end of the day, it is Jill Stein either trying to get a bit more press in order to garner a higher rate for future speeches (Clinton route) or just secure her name in the history books (Clinton route), one thing is for sure; Trump secured the vote legally with the Electoral College, and he likely won the popular vote after illegal and dead votes are factored out. Sorry, Jill.
Al Jazeera reports that Bulgaria is going to deport 1000 refugees. This move comes after a high number of them have begun to violently protest and clash with the police. The reason for the protest was the movement restriction imposed by authorities, due to health-related fears.

The refugees were very violent

The clash erupted on Thursday in a reception center near the town of Harmanli, which is close to the Turkish border. The refugees (many of which come from Afghanistan) had begun to riot after hearing that they were to be held temporarily in the area due to health concerns, as the media reported that some of them may be carrying contagious skin diseases.

The protest was violent enough that police forces were required to calm the spirits. Protesters threw rocks at law enforcement, and some of them even did minor damage to several buildings. Some of them also set fire to broken furniture and mattresses. In order to put an end to the protest, police used rubber bullets and water cannons. 20 refugees and 29 police officers were injured during the confrontation. More that 400 refugees were arrested.

The Bulgarian authorities reacted quickly and harshly to these violent protests. The Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Boyko Borisov, has said he will take drastic measures against those that were involved in the riots, many of which were young men. Borisov had to cancel a visit to Hungary because of the unexpected riots.

One thousand refugees will be temporarily moved to empty army barracks, and afterward, they will be sent to their country of origin, some time in December. Families from Syria, however, will continue to remain at the reception center.

The violence provoked unrest in the country

The Prime Minister has also urged the Bulgarian citizens in the town of Harmanli to remain calm, and to not provoke the refugees any further, which will help the authorities in their efforts to control the situation.

Meanwhile, nationalist parties used social media to present these events as a failure of the current government to successfully control the migrant influx. Despite the fact that Bulgaria has built a fence and is taking in fewer refugees compared to last year, there have been several protests staged by nationalists, who want all refugee centers in the country closed.
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Thu Hang

HCM CITY  The HCM City metropolitan area, which lies downstream of the ong Nai-Sai Gon river system, is surrounded and traversed by nearly 1,000 kilometres of rivers and canals, which offer enormous potential for waterway tourism.

In recognition of this potential, the city in 2013 began a programme for waterway activities, but a lack of sufficient investment in infrastructure as well as the effects of pollution have led to disappointing results, according to experts who spoke at a seminar held on November 22 in HCM City.

From 2013 to the third quarter of this year, the number of tourists buying river tours rose 11.5 per cent to 257,700. But in the first nine months of the year, the number remained unchanged at 68,000 compared to the same period last year, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the citys Tourism Department, said.

Phan Xuan Anh, a researcher in culture and tourism, who is also chair of the board for Saigon Boat Co, said that exploring the Sai Gon River and its waterways as well as canals surrounded by lush tropical foliage are popular activities for foreign tourists.

The citys main source of fresh water is ong Nai River, which has a large basin of 45,000 sq.km, while the 200-km long Sai Gon River flows though 80 km of the citys area.

Apart from these main rivers, the city has a dense network of canals, including Ben Cat, Tham Luong, Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe, Ben Nghe, Tan Hoa- Lo Gom and Tau Hu.

Since 2013, the city has allocated funds for 13 berths and wharfs for tourist boats to dock, while 21 others have been funded by private investors.

The number of river tourism operators rose to 37 firms, with more than 130 boats in 2014, compared to five firms with 37 waterway transport in 2011.

Last year, however, the number of operators fell to 19 with around 100 boats, due to the closure of Bach ang Wharf, a busy docking place for tourism boats and floating restaurants on Sai Gon River, according to Vu.

Challenges

In late 2012, the Saigontourist Holding Company was assigned by the city government to explore river tourism, Pham Huy Binh of Saigontourist said. By mid-2013, the company had launched seven river tours to lure domestic and foreign tourists but the results were short of expectations.

Speaking at the seminar on river tourism in HCM City, Binh said the services were unattractive for a number of reasons, including poorly developed docking berths and tourist services along the banks of rivers and boat stop stations, as well as pollution and high tour fares.

To attract tourists, Saigontourist invested in a new 800-seat boat, which included a restaurant, for sightseeing tours. However, after the Bach ang Wharf closed, tourist boats had to dock at Tan Cang Port in Binh Thanh District, far from the city centre, making it difficult to attract visitors for river tours, Binh said.

He said a city master plan on river tourism should be developed in a timely manner so that businesses can then create their own plans.

Phan Xuan Anh, board chairman of Saigon Boat Co. Ltd, said that rowboat tours along the Nhieu Loc-Thi Nghe Canal had to be suspended because of pollution and massive fish deaths. "The canal is still polluted as waste is discharged into the canal by local residents," he added.

The boat tour, which was launched last year, received positive feedback from foreign tourists, but waste must be removed from the canals, Anh said.

Duong Thanh Thuy, chairwoman of the Trung Thuy Group, has invested in a new river tourism product called Goc Sai Gon (Sai Gon Corner).

The project on the Ben Nghe-Tau Hu canal in District 1 will be designed with different sections from Mong Bridge to Khanh Hoi Bridge, including a community space in old Sai Gon as well as corners for street food and coffee, according to Thuy.

Solutions

Nguyen Thanh Phong, chairman of the citys Peoples Committee, said the development of river tourism would play a vital role in the tourism industry, a spearhead economic sector for the city, and that solutions were being proposed to revamp the waterway programme.

Phong has asked the tourism department to quickly finalise the river tourism development plan.

He has also asked departments and local authorities to conduct inspections of the banks of Sai Gon River to find places to build docking berths for tourist boats.

Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the citys Department of Transport, said the department had proposed setting aside an area of 1,800 metres at Nha Rong-Khanh Hoi Port for tourist boats.

He said that Binh Loi Bridge had been upgraded to allow tourist boats to enter the citys centre.

Enterprises cannot make business plans to develop river tours as the city has failed to present a master plan as well as provide concrete information on river tourism development, Bui Ta Hoang Vu, director of the citys Tourism Department, said.

Next year, when the tourism department implement its tourism waterway plan, companies will then be able to develop their own tourism business plans, according to Vu.  VNS
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar  Viet Nam is ready to intensify economic co-operation with Francophone countries and share with them experience in socio-economic development, especially with African nations, President Tran ai Quang said.

He spoke at the opening session of the 16th Francophonie Summit in Madagascars capital city of Antananarivo on Saturday.

He said members of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) had worked closely with other international and regional organisations, especially the United Nations and the African Alliance, to step up the prevention and resolution of conflicts, crises, political unrest and terrorism in member nations, thereby actively contributing to maintaining peace, security and stability in the Francophone community and around the world.

They also achieved important outcomes in realising the Millennium Development Goals, especially in poverty eradication, educational and healthcare service quality improvement, environmental protection, gender equality promotion, and child care and protection.

President Quang said Viet Nam welcomed the Francophone communitys efforts to enhance language and culture diversification, the protection of each countrys cultural identities amid globalisation, and the increase of economic partnerships between OIF members and other countries. It was pleased with the OIF countries contributions to global efforts to reach important agreements, particularly the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development.

As an active and responsible member of the Francophone community, Viet Nam had implemented the communitys strategies and cooperation programmes, helping to solidify the solidarity, unity and cooperation among its members, he noted.

President Quang asked the Francophone community to continue serving as an objective voice on the East Sea issue and to urge relevant parties to abstain from using force or threatening to use force, to settle disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, to respect diplomatic and legal processes, adhere to the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea, and work to finalise a Code of Conduct in the East Sea.

He stressed that no countries, whether big or small, rich or poor, could deal alone with traditional and non-traditional security challenges. OIF countries and the entire international community must unite and closely cooperate, he noted.

"Viet Nam is ready to be a bridge linking the OIF to ASEAN and the Asia-Pacific region," the leader added.

Leaders meetings

President Quang also held meetings with officials of several OIF member nations.

Meeting with French President Francois Hollande, the two leaders agreed to work closely to promote the implementation of the Francophone communitys priorities.

President of Senegal Macky Sall and President Quang highlighted the great potential for the two countries to push links in trade, agriculture, and aquaculture. Macky Sall said his country wanted to learn from Viet Nams experience in rice cultivation and agricultural production, towards ensuring food security in Senegal.

Meeting with President of Cote dIvoire Alassane Ouattara, President Quang noted that Cote dIvoire was Viet Nams second largest trade partner in Africa.

The President of Cote dIvoire praised Vietnamese firms operating in his country, saying that the West African state hoped to expand co-operation with Viet Nam in agriculture, especially in cacao production.

In his meeting with the Vietnamese leader, Swiss President Johan Schneider Ammann affirmed that negotiations of the Europe-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) were proceeding smoothly.

President Quang also met with the President of Chad Idriss Deby Itno and the Minister of External Relations of Cameroon, Lejeune Mbella Mbella.  VNS




A NANG  Nearly 2,500 people, including representatives from ministries, departments, international organizations, and local residents, attended a meeting in the central city of a Nang today to call for non-discrimination against those living with HIV/AIDS.

The event aims to respond to the national action month for HIV/AIDS prevention and control, and marks World AIDS Day (December 1).

Speaking at the event, Deputy Health Minister Nguyen Thanh Long highlighted the significant achievements Viet Nam has made in HIV/AIDS prevention and control over the past 26 years.

The year 2016 marked the ninth consecutive year Viet Nam has witnessed a reduction in the number of new HIV infections, cases of HIV developing into full-blown AIDS, and AIDS-related fatalities, Long said.

Viet Nam has carried out comprehensive and effective measures to combat HIV/AIDS while focusing on caring for, supporting, and curing people living with HIV/AIDS, he reiterated.

Viet Nam has actively responded to the 90-90-90 goals set by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UN AIDS), that ensures at least 90 per cent of all people with HIV will know their status, and that 90 per cent of people diagnosed with HIV will receive sustained antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, and 90 percent of all people receiving ARV therapy will be diagnosed with viral suppression.

The Deputy Minister called for a drastic and joint effort to combat HIV/AIDS, with focus on early HIV/AIDS screening and testing.

Localities should also push forward with efforts to realise the Three-Zero target of no new HIV infections, no death from AIDS, and no discrimination against HIV/AIDS carriers.

Ali Safarnejad from UN AIDS said this year marked the second year in a row Viet Nam observed World AIDS Day with a determination to realise the UNs goals of 90-90-90 and looks forward to ending the epidemic by 2030.

He also underlined remarkable achievements Viet Nam has made in HIV/AIDS prevention and control work, saying that around 80 per cent of HIV-infected cases in Viet Nam had been tested, diagnosed, and are aware of their situation, and over half of them are receiving ARV therapy, staying below viral suppression.

In Viet Nam, about 10,000 HIV cases were detected in 2015, down from 18,000 in 2010. HIV-linked deaths also declined from 3,200 to 2,000 over the past five years.  VNS
Internationally acclaimed French-Belgian author Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt recently came to Ha Noi where he met and discussed his passion for writing with his fans.

In the past twenty years, Schmitt has become one of the most widely read and performed French-language authors in the world. Acclaimed by audiences and critics alike, his plays have won several Molieres and French Academys Grand Prix du Theatre awards. Additionally, his books have been translated into 44 languages, and more than 50 countries regularly perform his plays. According to recent statistics, he is now the most studied author in French schools and colleges.

The Goncourt-winning writer shares with Vuong Bach Lien his thoughts about his career and life.

Inner Sanctum: Welcome to Ha Noi. Could you share with me your impressions about Viet Nam?

It is the first time I am in Viet Nam. But before coming here, I had the feeling that I already knew a little about the country through many of my friends living in France and Belgium who have Vietnamese origins.

My teacher of piano for 20 years is a Vietnamese-French woman. She is married to a Vietnamese man who is a teacher at the University of Lyon, France, and wrote a Vietnamese-French dictionary. I used to go to their house to meet them twice a week when I was living in the southern French city.

I also have a couple of Vietnamese friends who have a restaurant in Brussels who left Viet Nam and came to Belgium in tragic conditions. But they are brilliant, energetic and optimistic and often come back to their homeland.

I am very happy to be in Viet Nam. I remember since my first night in Ha Noi, I had bursts of laughter and I was awakened by the acute and incessant noise of this city. It is like the joyful sounds of birdsThe streets of Ha Noi tell me a lot of things.

I found the country both exotic and familiar. I met energetic, respectful, calm and smiling people in Ha Noi. I am touched to see that I have lots of readers here.

Inner Sanctum: Its true that your books are widely read in Viet Nam. But you are not only a famed novelist, but also a talented dramatist, film director and actor. How could you manage your time to do so many different things?

I dont knowWhen I began my career, everyone said I was a gifted person because I was brilliant in studies in class and did different things. Now I am not at an age that people consider me a gifted person

In fact, I have the feeling that I have always done the same thing  its telling stories. Its the work that I love. The most beautiful gift that life offered to me, is to allow me to devote myself to writing stories. I tell stories in my books. I tell stories on the stage by writing theatre plays. Also, I sometimes tell stories when I play on the stage.

For me, a writer has to entertain, but he also has to touch readers and make them reflect.

I write stories, but people also say that I write fables that are stories, have a meaning and make people reflect.

Inner Sanctum: You are internationally known through your book Oscar and the Lady in Pink. During a survey in 2004, the French people said that book changed their lives. This is an exception for a book by a living author  the book was mentioned in the survey, along with other masterpieces such as Little Prince and The Three Musketeers. Where did you get the idea to write a book about a sick childs final days?

As you know, Oscar and the Lady in Pink is a book about a sick child. He suffers from leukemia and cancer. And his days are numbered; he has only a few days to live. And the book features his 12 final days which are illuminated by a woman, the Pink Lady, who teaches him to live to the end and accept death.

When I wrote the book, I wrote for personal reasons. I didnt lose a child, I reassure you right away. But I have accompanied my friends and relatives in sickness and the death. So as an adult, I often went to hospitals.

But, when I was a child, I used to spend a lot of time in hospitals. I was not sick but my father cared for patients. He was a doctor. And my father gave me a strange education. He took me to hospitals with him, every Thursday and Saturday, so that I was with him and I discovered life.

I can say that this strange education gave me lot of things. Because when I saw a lot of sick people, I thought that to be sick is normal, and to be in good health is not normal. And that was very good. Because when we know that we are weak, vulnerable, and mortal, we can be less violent, less aggressive, and we are better. I think that to have a higher morality, one must be aware of the fragility of the other, and the fragility of oneself.

I am not aggressive at all I believe that this come from this childhood time spent in hospitals. I cannot beat someone, it is impossible for me.

When I brought the book to the publishing house, I told myself that this book could not please anyone. Because it focuses on two taboos: A sick child and a child who dies. I was convinced that my book would not have any success. To my big surprise, it achieved worldwide success. It is studied in schools in many countries. They called it another Little prince.

I believe I had to write this book because a lot of people needed to read it.

The book is a way to talk about serious things in a dedicated, poetic and funny way.

Its a philosophical novel, like many of my other books. Now that I am a jury member of the Goncourt [the most prestigious literary award of France], I am aware that I am the only person who writes such works.

Inner Sanctum: As I know, you also wrote autobiographies?

Yes, two.

Several years ago, I wrote a book which had lots of success in Europe and in Japan: My Life with Mozart. I told about my life with Mozart and explained how Mozart saved my life.

When I was 15 years old, I was depressed (typical for an adolescence) and I wanted to die. I had planned everything. And one day a teacher took me to the opera in Lyon, where I was taking part in a repetition of Les Noces de Figaro (an opera of Mozart). And at the moment, when a woman began to sing, I was healed A healing thanks to the beauty of singing. At that moment I told myself, if there were such beautiful things on the stage, I would stay on earth.

And in the book, I tell readers about how Mozart sent me messages in my life, consoled me, gave me energy and joy when I didnt have them. Sometimes we are so sad that we cannot cry. But we should begin to cry. And Mozart helped me to cry.

The book is composed of letters that I sent to Mozart, and the CDs which are answers from Mozart. So readers have to read the book, listen to the music and then come back and read the book.

And then last year I wrote an autobiographic book which had a huge success in France, which is entitled La Nuit de Feu (Night of Fire). I told about my trip in the Sahara desert. I arrived in the desert as an atheist, and I came out a believer.

I became lost in the middle of the desert. I spent 34 hours in the mountainous and rocky desert. I did not have anything to eat or drink. I was worried because I know that one can die if he does not drink for 3 days. However, I spent a night under the stars and it was the most beautiful night of my life. I had a true mystic experience. And after that night, I was ready to die and to live A night which changed my existence and allowed me to become the writer that I want to be. I wrote before, but I was not satisfied with my books.

Inner Sanctum: As a writer, how do you define a good book?

A good book is a book that you want to read again just after you finished it. I mean that it is a book which leaves a trace, an imprint, and which helps you live better, and better understand things.

A good book makes you want to say thanks to the author, rather than say "Bravo!"

Before becoming a writer, I was a professor of philosophy. And now I remain a philosophical writer. For me, a good book has to make life better, make men better, and more tolerant. No book can change the world, but a book can totally change a person. VNS
By Le Hung Vong

For 10 years, the Club of Retired Teachers in Sa ec City in the Mekong province of ong Thap has looked after their own. Determined to prevent fellow teachers from falling into poverty, in 2007 the club members began offering no-interest loans.

Starting with initial capital of over VN81 million, the club has since increased their loans to more than a total of VN200 million, providing support to more than 200 members.

Under the clubs regulations, members are provided no-interest loans of VN5 million to VN10 million each, with loan terms lasting up to 12 months. The club has also provided members with advice, helping them identify businesses they can pursue.

Nguyen Van Mot, chairman of the club and manager of the fund, says that most of the retired teachers pay back the loans within three to six months.

Huynh Thi Ngon, 57, a retired teacher from Hoa Khanh Primary School in Sa ec, says she was one of the first to receive financial support from the charity bank.

In mid-2007, her family faced financial problems and could not pay tuition for her son who had passed the admission exam for Vinh Long Finance  Economics College. She then received a VN4 million no-interest loan from the club to help her son attend school.

Ngon has received a total of VN16 million in loans from the club on four separate occasions. The money helped her set up a fruit stand at Sa ec Market.

Now that my family has escaped from difficult economic conditions, Id like to contribute something to the fund to help other retired teachers who are facing challenges, she says.VNS
by Mai Tien Nghi

It was twilight. In the sky, there were only some thin light-yellow wisps of cloud. It was the end of autumn, with chilly breezes coming in fits and starts. The sound of waves breaking on the shore conjured up old memories of holidaymakers sunbathing on the beach.

The sun sank below the horizon. The seaside became deserted and the estuary was pitch-black. On the dyke, a single soul could be seen walking silently and quickly. It was fisherman Vop on the way home after a long night with his crab net. How miserable I am! he wailed. Upon completing his military service, he returned home with the lowest rank: private first class.

Year after year, throughout their happy family life, his wife had borne him five pretty little daughters, one after another: Ha, Ngao, Gion, So and Vang. As an industrious young man, in the daytime, he worked the fields and in the late evening he caught tiny crabs at the seaside. Although he did his best, he could barely make ends meet, with seven hungry mouths to feed. Time and again, he thought of death. If I left this world now, my wife and children would soon die of starvation, Vop lamented.

He looked at the wide river and found the water had darkened. He imagined that the waterway was an unsolved mystery full of deathtraps. Glancing further ahead near the estuary, he saw something afloat. Whats that? he asked himself. He ran towards the river bank. It turned out that what he had caught a glimpse of was only a small boat that seemed out of control. It must be badly moored, he thought. It will soon flow away to sea. He rushed along the dyke as fast as possible. When he drew abreast of the old boat, he hurriedly undressed and plunged into the dark water. He was trembling with the cold. He swam quickly towards the boat. As a skilled fisherman, he managed to cling to its stern easily.

As soon as he looked inside he let his hand go because it was occupied. Goodness gracious, Ill be thought a thief! Vop whispered to himself. He stayed still in the water for a few seconds. Again, he clasped the boat edge and looked inside. To his surprise, he saw a naked couple in each others embrace, moaning and moving rhythmically. Whats more, he realised that the woman lived in his village, a sexy and lusty woman whose name was well known to him; whereas the man was a total stranger. Suddenly, Vop started coughing. In the twinkling of an eye, the strange guy rose up, rushed towards the boat stern and grabbed the oar. When Vop was swimming away, the oar struck him in his groin. He was dazed by the blow. He struggled to reach the river bank. It was there he fainted.

Early the next morning he awoke and found himself in an awful situation.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, the sky was dark. I was aching all over. Luckily, thanks to the dim outline of the dyke that I saw which way to go. Unable to stand up, I had to crawl inch by inch.

Reaching the surface of the dyke, I was weary. My body was soaked in sweat. My teeth were chattering with cold. Shamefully, I was naked. Suddenly, I collapsed.

In the quiet morning, I was vaguely aware of church bells. It seemed as though I was encircled by a lot of people. They might be early church-goers. Soon, half dreamy half conscious, I heard weird sounds of surgical instruments and the voices of white-clothed staff, Smashed to smithereens! Itll need to be surgically removed.

Paradoxically, while facing death, I struggled to stay alive, yet when my life was saved, I wished to kill myself because of the mocking smiles of my neighbours and the frosty looks of my wife and children.

Unable to bear it, I made up my mind to tell the truth. How can I accept a bad reputation not only for me but also for my daughters? How will our clan be looked at? How can I explain everything to our relatives? I asked myself again and again.

I remembered another painful memory of mine during wartime.

* * *

Those were the days when the war was still raging horribly. Our battalion was besieged by enemy forces for a whole month. Our provisions, especially rice and salt, soon ran out. What was left for us was a small amount of chilli powder. When things got dire, we had to resort to eating banana roots. Sadly, without salt, the roots were too tasteless and pungent to eat.

After the third day, I could not stand it any longer. When I picked up a slice of banana root to eat, I was violently ill. Soon, I became thin like a drug addict. I felt sickly and horrid. Our cook let me have chilli powder instead. That worked only for a few days. Before long, many of us were constipated. In the forest, we would squat for hours in vain. One early morning I ran to the forest to empty my bowels. Sitting down behind a thick bush for about half an hour, I heard footsteps coming closer and closer to me. It turned out to be our company head. He stopped in front of the bush, looked around for a few seconds then took a small plastic pouch out of his breast pocket. Salt! I whispered to myself. He pinched one piece as tiny as a grain of sand. He put it into his mouth and savoured it.

A few days later, one of my comrades fell seriously ill. Before breathing his last, he begged for a few grains of salt to enjoy. All of us, including our company chief, couldnt fulfill his humble dieing wish. We wept and wept.

The next morning, I told my platoon head about our superiors greedy and selfish behaviour I had witnessed several days before. That evening, I was summoned to the company headquarters. In front of the whole unit, I related what I had witnessed. Everybody listened to my report in silence. At last, our company chief broke the silence by questioning me in a threatening voice, Whats your evidence? I was tongue-tied. Unexpectedly, I was condemned for distorting the truth, lowering the leaders prestige and depriving the unit of its combative strength. After that grave event, my hopes to join the Party after the war were shattered.

If only I had been a Party member, back in my native village at least, I would have become a public servant with a retirement pension and my life would turned for the better.

Similarly, if I disclosed the truth about that female villagers love affair in the boat, who would believe me? The couple had been leading a happy life side by side, how could I damage their honour and ruin their childrens future?

However, I could not help laying bare her unfaithfulness. I had to defend my good reputation. Nevertheless, not mentioning her name would make everybody suspicious. Who would believe me? Some even said that while in hospital I had spun yarns to cover my wicked conduct. They laughed at me, even despised me for having been so stupid.

In the meantime, the icy attitude of my wife and the great worries of my children whom I loved so dearly made me all the more indignant. After my abrupt injury and homecoming, my wife had shunned me in all respects: no talking, no sleeping together, no sharing meals and so forth. When I complained, she just said, Let me alone! Eat to your hearts content, thats all. As a result, at dinner time the kids stared at me and glanced at their mother suspiciously. After nearly a fortnight, when I could bear it no more, taking advantage of the kids being at school, I told my wife about what I had witnessed in the boat that night and the womans name.

Half an hour later, the womans husband arrived at our house with a length of rope. Without saying anything, he put the string round my neck and pulled it hard. When I fell onto the floor, he punched me in the face. My nose was bleeding profusely.

It turned out that my better half had gone to their house and related what I had told her. Listening to the story, his face turned green while his wife burst into tears. She claimed that I had slandered her brazenly. To prove her chastity, she rushed into the kitchen to look for a length of rope to kill herself with. Thinking that his wifes name had been besmirched groundlessly, he snatched the rope from his wife then went straight to our house to avenge her honour.

* * *

Worse still, my wifes ways of punishment, like contempt, hate, ill-treatment and so on, went beyond my imagination: she committed adultery in our house. Although I was unable to stand her shameless actions, I could hardly do complain because I was now totally sexually impotent. Sometimes, I felt so ashamed that I only wished to commit suicide.

Come what may, I must stay alive because of my childrens future, I said to myself.

After that I had to live in a hut at the foot of the dyke to tend ducks. I gave the kids all my income, except for a small amount for me to live on, of course. In that secluded place, I could turn ignore everybodys curses.

* * *

Every morning his youngest daughter Vang went to the wharf where he, together with some other fishermen, sold the tiny crabs caught during the previous night to dealers coming from Hai Phong and Quang Ninh.

Because she did not go to school in the morning, she usually came to see him at his cabin then took his earnings home to her mother. One day, while waiting for his turn to sell his produce he embraced her tightly and smelt her hair again and again.

Why dont you stay at home with us as like before? she asked him.

Because I want to live here to catch crabs as many as possible to get money for your school fees.

Why do other fishermen stay home during the day then catch crabs in the evening?

Because their situation is different from mine, my beloved little girl.

He thought that thanks to his money earned during the crab season, he could afford his childrens schooling fees, but as to their expenses in the future, he didnt know what would happen.

* * *

The next evening, Vang saw a young woman come to her house. She talked to her mother for hours. She did not know what happened, yet when that woman had, her mother hugged her tightly.

Tomorrow, youd better see your father and ask him to come back home as soon as possible. Do you miss him? she said to her little daughter.

Of course, I miss and love him very much. What about you, do you feel the same? Vang asked. Her mother did not answer, although her eyes were brimming with tears.

The next morning, as usual, Vang went to the wharf early. It was there she waited and waited for her father in vain. When all the other fishermen had left, she remained alone by the sea.

Perhaps, Dads ill, she whispered to herself. Whats the matter with him? She ran to his hut. To her amazement, it was quite empty. In addition to a few pieces of uniform and a thin blanket of an ex-serviceman placed pleasantly tidy on his bamboo bed, there was nothing else.

Wheres Dad? she asked herself, sobbing loudly. She darted towards the river bank. She looked around for what felt like an eternity. A short distance ahead, she saw a lock of black hair going up and down on the waves. A drowning man, a drowning man! she screamed for help.

* * *

Vops body was taken ashore. He had died of an unexpected accident. He had been trapped by his own crab net that tied round his body when he was dragged into a whirlpool.

Standing in front of his dead body, which remained tied tightly around his net, was a group of veterans who came to pay homage to their ex-comrade-in-arms for the last time.

Oh dear, the body of an ex-serviceman must be covered with a red piece of cloth before it is put into the coffin according to military rites! exclaimed one of them.

This is a special case, my dear friend. He didnt belong to our association owing to his alleged incident during that night. Poor him, since then he hadnt been allowed to attend any activities of our organisation. So he cant have the ceremony! explained another.

At dusk, in the soft glow of the flickering candlelight, his coffin slowly moved up and down on the dyke ahead of the funeral procession amid the mournful music and the gentle sound of waves lapping the sand. Everyone seemed to weep and wail for the unfortunate destiny of a hard-working young man who had totally devoted his life to his family.

Translated by Van Minh
Allen receives

No. 1 ranking

WATERLOO  Allen College has been ranked No. 1 in Best Online Nursing Degrees for 2016 by Affordable Colleges Online. The list was generated by ranking and analyzing cost and quality metrics across thousands of U.S. colleges with online nursing degree options.

Only public, not-for-profit institutions were eligible for the ranking.

Bank donates

office furniture

WATERLOO  In the spirit of Investing in the Valley, Community Bank & Trust is donating office furniture to local nonprofits as part of the banks extensive remodeling.

The banks main branch, at 422 Commercial St. in downtown Waterloo, is currently undergoing a $4 million renovation that began in June with an anticipated completion date of April 2017. During this renovation, Community Bank & Trust has extended an invitation to local nonprofits to select designated office furniture, including desks, tables, chairs and office tables for their organization.

The office will be redesigned to incorporate many modern and sustainable elements. The renovated office will combine traditional teller services with state-of-the-art technology. The construction will be completed in several phases, with phase two already in swing.

Last month during phase one of the renovations, Community Bank & Trust donated more than 100 pieces of furniture to community nonprofits, including The Job Foundation, Main Street Waterloo, Waterloo Convention & Visitors Bureau, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Iowa, Junior Achievement, YWCA of Black Hawk County, NAMI NE Iowa, Cedar Bend Humane Society, Exceptional Persons Inc. and The Salvation Army Waterloo Cedar Falls Iowa.

Nonprofits in need of office furniture and supplies are asked to contact Sheena Rosol-Koenigsfeld at 433-6142 or srosol-koenigsfeld@communitybt.com.

UNI will host a

Startup Weekend

CEDAR FALLS  Startup Weekend Cedar Falls, an annual collaborative entrepreneurship event sponsored by the UNI Center for Business Growth and Innovation, UNIs John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center, UNIs Entrepreneurs Club student organization and local entrepreneurs, is set for Friday through Dec. 4 at Mill Race Co-working and Collaboration in downtown Cedar Falls.

College students and community members interested in starting a business are encouraged to attend. The weekend is designed to help entrepreneur enthusiasts turn an idea into a thriving business through collaboration, guest speakers and mentor meetings.

Tickets for the event are $40 and must be purchased in advance at http://www.up.co/communities/usa/cedarfalls/startup-weekend/10091.
WATERLOO  Most children could not contain their excitement at Winter WonderLoo in downtown Waterloo on Saturday night.

But Chloie McDonald, 9, and her brother, Jackson, 5, were content to calmly sit in the back of the Blacks Building and draw on a Christmas-themed activity page.

It wasnt that they were unimpressed with the multitude of offerings at the Christmas kick-off and Small Business Saturday extravaganza. No, the Waterloo siblings had simply beaten their peers in getting through all the activities.

They werent anxiously waiting to talk to Santa, or squeezing in at a table to make Christmas crafts, or seeking presents for family and friends. Theyd already done it all.

My favorite part was seeing Santa, said Chloie. I got to tell him what I wanted for Christmas.

She giggled as she recalled how Santa Claus misheard her request, believing at first she wanted a dog rather than a doll. But she managed to convey her point.

Jackson agreed with his sisters observations, but he was committed to his drawing.

Chloie said she also liked the opportunity to go to the North Pole shopping area, where kids could get items for $1 and shop with a volunteer for secret gifts to give family members on Christmas Day. Half the proceeds from the sales will go to the Waterloo West High chorus for its spring trip.

Randi McDonald brought her children to Winter WonderLoo because of the unique opportunity for children to shop for family members. It was their first time at the holiday event.

Though the McDonalds considered staying for the tree lighting, Chloie said they were awaiting the chance to spend the night with grandma.

The tree lighting was added to this years Winter WonderLoo, along with a date change so it coincided with Small Business Saturday, a chance for people to shop locally and downtown. In Waterloo, shoppers could sample fudge at participating locations.

Harry Carson, owner of Tri-City Clothing, said this was the first year he participated in the fudge walk. Carson said he saw more foot traffic, if not necessarily sales, thanks to the downtown event.

We had quite a few people come by, Carson said, adding things only just calmed down as the other festivities downtown began to pick up.

Outside the shop  and throughout downtown  West High School students sang carols starting at 4 p.m. before gathering by the tree for a choral Christmas concert after the tree lighting.

Both Mayor Quentin Hart and Main Street Waterloo Executive Director Tavis Hall offered brief comments about why Waterloo is a great place. But they spent little time on the remarks so they could join the community in counting down from 10 to light the tree in Newtons Park.

West High choir director James Healy summed up the sentiments: Its a real community event, hesaid, before asking the audience to sing along as the choir kicked off its concert with Silent Night.

Meanwhile, Santa quietly went back to work, taking present requests from children, offering candy canes and smiling for parents and relatives to snap photos.

Hall had anticipated about 750 people, but thought the number was larger thanks to the grander offerings of activities and great weather.

All in all, I think its been a good night. Its been great, he said.
Market to hold basket event

WATERLOO -- The Kimball Ridge Family Market will host the Christmas Basket Market Event at the Kimball Ridge Center on Saturday.

The center is located at the corner of Kimball and Ridgeway Avenue. The market event will open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be holiday baked items as well as jams and jellies, jewelry, holiday decorations, mini houseplants, gluten-free baked goods and candies. The Quota Club will be selling nuts.

Election sex bias subject of speech

CEDAR FALLS -- Kelly Winfrey will speak on sex bias in the recent election Tuesday from 4 to 5 p.m. at the University of Northern Iowa's State College Room in Maucker Union.

Winfrey is a faculty member in the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication, and coordinator of research and outreach for the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics at Iowa State University

The event is free and open to the public, and sponsored by the UNI American Democracy Project.

Christmas event set in Clarksville

CLARKSVILLE -- The Images of Christmas event is set for Dec. 4 in downtown Clarksville.

Theme for this year is Christmas Season Memories, and it will feature close to 40 live Christmas scenes in business windows and outdoors from 4 to 6 p.m.

Visitors also will enjoy carolers, a live Nativity scene, musical performers, Christmas characters strolling the sidewalks and warm refreshments.

It's sponsored by the Clarksville Commercial Club.

Wreath-making workshop slated

WAVERLY -- There will be wreath-making workshops Dec. 6 at at Ingawanis Woodland.

Naturalist Sarah Beckman will lead the classes at 5:30 and 7 p.m. Cost is $20, and people will take home their own wreaths that evening. Call Bremer County Conservation at 882-4742 to register.
WATERLOO  Two Waterloo teens will remain in custody in the wake of gun violence that has plagued the city in recent months.

On Tuesday, Chief Magistrate Jon Stuart Scoles ordered Jamonse Jaquan Moore and Zavyon Brian Nix, both 18, remain in jail pending their trials on unrelated federal firearms charges. The two were arrested Nov. 18.

The move came after a Waterloo police officer assigned to the FBIs Safe Streets Task Force testified about recent back-and-forth shootings, some of which have led to injury and death.

Officer Edward Savage testified Tuesday gunfire incidents in Waterloo went up after the July 17 shooting that killed a 21-year-old man and injured two others in the 800 block of Logan Avenue.

Among those injured were people affiliated with L-Block, a neighborhood gang, and those arrested in the slaying include people associated with Del Mob, a gang based in the Cherry Street area that also goes by the name 400, Savage said.

Police said in court records the two groups have been feuding for years. Savage also testified about a group called OTB, which has Chicago roots and its own dispute with Del Mob.

There seems to be a lot of rivalries, Savage said.

On Aug. 31, a man affiliated with Del Mob was shot in the leg and drove himself to the hospital, court records state. The same man was allegedly chased by L-Block members Oct. 1, and they shot at his vehicle, court records state.

Then on Nov. 1, a 22-year-old man, Darrell Deshay Lanier, was shot in the area of Rhey Street and died days later at the hospital. Savage said the victim had ties to Del Mob.

We kind of know what rival gang did it, Savage testified. No arrests have been made in the Rhey Street slaying.

Savage said police are also investigating possible gang involvement in a Nov. 11 shooting that took the life of a 19-year-old girl, Talasa Wright. She was a passenger in a car on Gable Street that was shot from behind. No arrests have been made in her death.

Moore and Nix arent charged in any of the fatal shootings. Moores thumbprint was allegedly found on an empty 22-round magazine found with a Glock pistol during the investigation into a Sept. 15, 2015, shooting that damaged garages and a shed in the 1000 block of Ackermant Street. No injuries were reported. The gun itself was linked through ballistics tests to a second Waterloo shooting and two Chicago shootings, Savage said. He said there is no evidence to indicate Moore was involved in the other Waterloo shooting or the Chicago incidents.

Nix is accused of handling a .22-caliber revolver found during the investigation into gunshots in the 400 block of Reed Street on July 24, 2016.

Both are charged with possession of firearms as a drug user because drug tests allegedly indicate they had used marijuana, court records state.

During Tuesdays hearing, Savage told the court he believed Moore was associated with Del Mob, and evidence included social media photos showing Moore and others making hand gestures. Some people in the pictures were holding five fingers pointed down, which Savage said was a showing of disrespect for L-Block, which also goes by the name 500.

During cross examination, defense attorney Christopher Nathan said the five fingers down sign doesnt indicate gang affiliation so much as it shows the person making the gesture just isnt a fan of L-Block, and he said the hand signs were simply sort of thing an immature teenager would do.
CEDAR FALLS  A planned new elementary school may receive its name Monday.

The Board of Education is expected to choose the name after receiving a list of four recommendations from an eight-member committee earlier this month. The board meets at 7 p.m. in the council chambers of City Hall, 220 Clay St.

Potential names, in order of the committees preference, include Westview Elementary School, Bess Streeter Aldrich Elementary School, Arbor Elementary School and William Sturgis Elementary School.

Site preparations are currently underway and plans are being designed for the school. It will be constructed on land near Erik Road, west of Hudson Road, in southwestern Cedar Falls. Cedar Falls Community Schools voters approved the new elementary in April as part of a $32 million bond issue. The total estimated price tag to build the school is $19.4 million.

The board also will hear an update on the new school from Dan Channer of Struxture Architects in Waterloo.

In other business, the board will consider approving:

A permanent easement with the city of Cedar Falls at Peet Junior High School in the area of the former Ray Edwards pool site. The 7,040-square-foot easement would allow the city to make improvements to the Dry Run Creek sanitary sewer. In return, the city would grade an area near the schools practice fields that would expand the space available, removing some trees, planting new ones and adding or replacing fencing. The project would be done next summer.

An asbestos removal bid for North Cedar Elementary School. Four bids were received, including the low bid of $59,300 from Advanced Environmental of Waterloo.

An application to the states School Budget Review Committee requesting the use of $12,498 in special education funding for the districts share of administrative costs at Bremwoods Lied Education Center in Waverly. That accounts for the six Cedar Falls students attending the behavioral disability school, which has a total enrollment of 36.
WATERLOO  Firefighters are still investigating what caused a fire that destroyed a detached garage Friday.

Waterloo Fire Rescue responded to a building fire call at 326 Archer Ave. in Waterloo around 7:45 p.m. Friday.

Four fire trucks, a shift commander and an ambulance responded to the fire, which was put out just after 9:30 p.m.

No injuries were reported.

Fire officials say the cause of the fire has yet to be determined.
MASON CITY  A 22-year-old Hampton woman was killed Friday night and two people were injured in a crash involving three vehicles on Partridge Avenue between Mason City and Rockwell.

Griselda Castaneda Tello was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office, Tello was southbound on Partridge Avenue/U.S. Highway 65 about 7:35 p.m. in a 2001 Chevrolet Impala, when a 2005 Chevrolet K3500 pickup driven by Paul Edward Wood, 59, of Manly, northbound on Partridge, crossed the center line and struck Tellos vehicle.

A third vehicle, a 2001 Daewoo Lanos driven by Jacqueline Sickels, 58, of Sheffield, was headed south on Partridge Avenue when it struck debris in the roadway, causing her vehicle to spin out of control.

Wood was transported to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa with what were described as minor injuries. Sickels was taken to the hospital by private vehicle. Both were reported by a Mercy spokesperson as being treated and released.

The accident remains under investigation by the Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office.
WATERLOO  The Black Hawk County judicial magistrate appointing commission will meet at 9 a.m. Dec. 9 at the county courthouse to appoint a magistrate.

The appointment is for a term from Jan. 2 to July 31. Applicants should be present for interviews.

The magistrate must be a resident of Black Hawk County or of a county contiguous to Black Hawk County, under age 72 and an attorney licensed to practice law in Iowa.

Application forms are available from the office of the Clerk of District Court from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The completed application form, with letter of interest and resume of qualifications, should be returned to the Clerk of District by 4:30 p.m. Dec. 5.

Current salary is $39,438 per year.

The magistrate will work in other counties of the district when necessary as assigned by the chief judge. He or she may be required to handle mental commitment hearings.

The person appointed will attend the annual school of instruction for magistrates.
WATERLOO  A prominent religious leader in the Cedar Valley has died.

Rabbi Emeritus Stanley Martin Rosenbaum, 74, was found dead at his Vermont Street home on Saturday by members of the Sons of Jacob Synagogue.

The cause of death was not immediately known.

For nearly a decade, Rosenbaum presided over the small but historic Sons of Jacob, one of the Cedar Valleys oldest religious groups, as well as one of the only Jewish congregations in the area.

But Rosenbaum also was known for reaching beyond his temples walls to the larger community, teaching Hebrew or Judaism classes and inviting non-Jews to join him in celebrating Hannukah or Rosh Hashana.

He also was known for joining with the Cedar Valley Interfaith Council in condemning vandalism or other acts of hate against religious people, as well as speaking out for immigration reform, Muslims and the people of Israel.

One of the roots and problems among groups of people is we dont really know each other, Rosenbaum said in a 2007 Courier article.

He saw no reason to sow division between religions, believing they could unite for political change, he told The Courier in a 2009 article on immigration.

The issue of fairness is biblical and prophetic  equality and basic human compassion demands we do something, he said. We are one human family.

Rosenbaum stepped down from the Sons of Jacob pulpit in 2014 to become a Rabbi Emeritus, according to Courier archives.

Rosenbaum grew up in Detroit, according to the Lincoln Journal-Star, and originally wanted to become a clinical psychologist, getting his masters degree in psychology. But his strong faith and desire to learn about his own Jewish heritage led him to enter the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and spend a year in Israel, according to a Journal-Star article from 2005.

His first congregation was in his hometown of Detroit for 13 years, followed by a stint at a downtown Chicago synagogue, according to the paper.

He came to Sons of Jacob, a Waterloo mainstay for more than 110 years, after spending 11 years at the helm of Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Lincoln, Neb.

Funeral arrangements are pending.
I recently asked a group of students who had spent three to five years in college what percentage of the nation was African-American. Eighty-six percent did not know. On average they thought there were twice as many African-Americans than there actually are.

Why would they have such a distorted view of reality? These students are smart.

Perhaps the question should be: Why shouldnt they have such a distorted view of reality?

The University of Northern Iowa, like many institutions, has an Office of Compliance and Equity Management to ensure diversity objectives are met and equal opportunity guidelines are adhered to. Apparently, every powerful special interest group on the planet has added to these guidelines.

The office, works to ensure campus-wide compliance with various federal and state laws, executive orders, rules, and regulations, including, but not limited to a collection of laws, executive orders, and thousands of regulations issued in a never-ending stream from numerous organizations interested in social engineering.

The office summed it up by saying it exists to maintain a culture which embraces diversity as a core value.

The feds require UNI to have affirmative action plans to prevent discrimination based on age, color, creed, disability, ethnicity, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, national origin, political affiliation, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran or military status or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, or local law, including protections for those opposing discrimination or participating in any complaint process on campus or with other human rights agencies.

Therefore, equal employment means all individuals shall be treated equally in all employment processes. However, affirmative action goes further, and seeks to remove barriers that limit those in protected classes historically discriminated against. In other words, the university seeks to overcome past discrimination.

We are told in order to treat individuals equally, we must not treat people equally. And the violation of equality must be based on the very traits we are told must not be violated.

Qualifications for a job must go beyond mere job qualification. The job could be improved if the applicant is from a nonrepresented group, so that membership is a value-added qualification.

The problems with this argument are extensive. If group membership can be seen as a qualification, why can some groups who might have suffered historical discrimination be qualified and others not? If diversity increases qualifications, why shouldnt a male Nazi be more qualified to teach feminine queer theory than a member of another group? He would certainly be from a an underrepresented class.

Fundamentally, why should the core value of a university be diversity? Why shouldnt it be something like learning?

So we end up with very bright and worthy students who have not been taught the reality of their own society. But evidently our heart is in the right place.
Dwayne Orville Andreas, the pocket-sized hurricane built a sleepy soybean processor, Archer Daniels Midland Co., into a global giant, died Nov. 16 in a Decatur, Ill., hospital. He was 98.

Andreass career was as long and profitable as it was remarkable and jaded. Just last week someone again asked me if it was true the ADM corporate jet was the only unescorted American aircraft permitted in Soviet airspace during the Cold War because it carried Andreas and his grocery sack of needed American farm goods.

True or not, the story captures the legend of the worlds soybean king. On his way to the throne, however, the federal government twice caught ADM breaking the law.

The first time, in 1978, according to the New York Times, was for fixing prices on grain sold to the Food for Peace Program. The second, in 1996, led to ADM pleading guilty to criminal charges of price fixing.

Both scandals stopped short of charging Andreas directly, but the second delivered his son, Michael, to federal prison while dear old dad accepted an offer of immunity.

Thats the ADM-Andreas history most farmers know: ADM copping to criminal price-fixing charges based on secret recordings made by a company insider, later identified as Mark Whitacre, an ADM division vice president. Heres some history many may not know.

Not long after the June 1995 Federal Bureau of Investigation raid on ADMs headquarters, the Department of Justice began to see its star witness, Whitacre, dim.

The problem was Whitacre, now an accused embezzler, had been talking  to everyone. He talked to Scott Kilman of the Wall Street Journal, Nancy Millman of the Chicago Tribune, Sharon Walsh of the Washington Post, Ron Henkoff of Fortune magazine, John Stebbins of Bloomberg News, Kurt Eichenwald of the New York Times, and, beginning in July 1996, me.

He wasnt the only one talking. In mid-1996, my fax machine began spitting out unedited FBI interview notes, yet-to-be published news stories and something called The Watch Letter, a multi-page effort filled with insider information, gossip and tips on the ADM case.

The Letter was written by David and Carol Hoech, owners of Global Consultants, a small Florida-based firm with deep ties to international ag markets. David, too, talked endlessly, mostly off-the-record, to journalists about ADM and Dwayne Andreas. He openly despised both.

Still, journalists talked to Hoech because he seemed to have friends, sources and tipsters everywhere. If you wanted the number of Dwayne Andreas bedside telephone, Hoech had it. Raw transcripts of FBI interviews conducted yesterday? Hoech was your guy. Need to talk to Whitacre? Call Hoech and Mark would be on the line a minute later.

Who was this rainmaker?

After two decades of talking to Hoech, its still hard to say. He did know Whitacre, ADM, and global ag products like no one else. ADM, he preached, embodied everything wrong with American business  rigged prices, dishonest dealings, phony front groups and contempt for customers.

Dealing with Hoech, however, was not easy. He was loud, pushy and fearless. Shortly after we met I began to receive anonymous, threatening telephone calls.

Relax, man, Hoech would advise, thats just ADM.

A second later hed ask, Hey, man, you own a gun? He wasnt joking.

Then, on Labor Day 1996, no matter who I dialed on any of my three office lines, I always got the same person at the same place: ADM Security, this is Betty. Hoechs phones had the same problem.

Was I scared? Top to bottom. I used a neighbors telephone to call the FBI, the same FBI that had raided ADM a year earlier. No one ever called back.

Hoech, however, did. And he kept calling  for 20 years. Often Id pick up the phone to hear, Hey, brother, you OK?

David Hoech died Aug. 8, 2015, not quite two months after my family and I saw him in his comfortable home west of St. Louis. We had a lengthy, laugh-filled visit before his ailment, pulmonary disease, drained him of all color and energy. It was time to say that goodbye.

Dont worry about me, Hoech growled in my ear as he leaned heavily on me to steady himself; Im gonna outlive that little (expletive) in Decatur.

It was one of the rare times he got it wrong.
The Cedar Valley has been blessed with many kindhearted philanthropists whose generosity has brought great rewards for our community. From historical museums and centers for the arts to top-notch educational facilities and award-winning health-care services, Cedar Valley residents have much to be thankful for during this season of Thanksgiving and holiday cheer.

Many of these wonderful community assets could never have been built without the financial support of so many benevolent donors  including one of the Cedar Valleys most benevolent donors  Pauline Barrett.

As I reviewed all of the projects Mrs. Barrett supported over the years, it became clear nearly everyone in the Cedar Valley has benefited from her kindness. Pauline has given major gifts to the University of Northern Iowa, Hawkeye Community College and the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa and has transformed the Allen Hospital and Allen College campuses through multiple major gifts over many years.

In fact, Barretts gift to the UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital emergency department and the Allen Heart and Vascular Center was one of the largest private donations in Cedar Valley history.

But her community support goes beyond monetary donations; she has been a leader in our community as well:

Past trustee of the Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa.

Past secretary of First Presbyterian Church of Waterloo Foundation

Trustee for the YWCA.

Instrumental supporter of the Community Foundations Womens Fund.

2012 Recipient of The Couriers Eight Over 80 Award.

Pauline was recently recognized by the Northeast Iowa Association of Fundraising Professionals as the Legacy Award winner for her devotion to the Cedar Valleys health care and education.

The award was announced at the local AFPs National Philanthropy Day Gift of the Heart luncheon. Each year, the AFP honors individuals who enhance their communities through philanthropy. Although many of Paulines gifts have been publicly recognized, she has donated many other gifts anonymously. I cannot think of anyone more deserving of this award.

Raised on a farm outside of Fort Dodge, Pauline was driven as a young woman to enter the business world. After her family moved to Waterloo, she worked hard to earn her degree from Gates Business College and followed Bruce Gates advice to take a career position at Rath Packing, where she worked for 17 years.

After marrying Dr. Sterling Barrett in 1954, she focused her energy on enhancing educational and health-care offerings in the Cedar Valley  with a great passion for assisting girls and women and empowering them to improve their lives.

Thanks to Paulines $1.5 million gift to the For Allen For You campaign, we will be naming the neonatal intensive care unit at Allen Hospital after her. More mothers can rest easy knowing Allen Hospital can deliver more multiple births and keep our premature babies closer to home. Thanks to Paulines gift we are that much closer to creating six more private rooms for our youngest intensive-care patients. These are wonderful benefits for which we all can be grateful.

During this holiday season, it seems fitting to say thank you to one who has given so much to so many. I would personally like to thank Pauline for her continued and compassionate support of Allen Hospital and the improved care we have been able to provide for our patients because of it. I also thank her for her support of Allen College and the health care professionals who go on to care for Cedar Valley residents.

One of the wonderful things about giving back to your community is it often inspires others to give as well; another reason to be grateful for people like Pauline. I hope her example encourages more people to support our communitys projects, such as our For Allen For You campaign to improve the care we provide for you, your family and your Cedar Valley neighbors.

On behalf of UnityPoint Health-Waterloo, we wish you and your loved ones a safe, healthy and happy holiday season.
Many of those who voted for President-elect Donald Trump asserted they were impressed by his blunt expression of views, even if some of those views sounded crass and created divisions. In his acceptance speech, Trump said he is intent on being president for all Americans, and there are deep wounds that need to be healed.

The office of the president will provide a sobering atmosphere. The job will no longer be to merely keep the base of the Republican Party happy, but also to ensure all Americans are protected and have opportunity to prosper. Many continue to believe Republicans won this election because independent voters leaned their way.

Countless other countries also were surprised by the results of this election. Partially because the president-elects campaign rhetoric was in such contrast to the current president when dealing with other nations. On one side we have a president who has used weighted words and a measured approach when dealing with other countries, be they friend or foe. On the other hand we have a president-elect who has shown a complete in-your-face approach to anybody or any entity. Be it the pope  who criticized Trumps plan to build a wall  or members of NATO for not paying their share, or indicating the Assad regime could stay even as allied countries like Saudi Arabia and Turkey are fighting to remove him.

President Obama has been careful in his choice of words so the conflict in the Middle East does not devolve into a religious battle between the West and the Muslim world. The Middle East is in the midst of painful religious strife, with majority Sunnis on one side led by Saudi Arabia, and on the other side the minority Shiites lead mostly by Iran. The Russians, by trying to preserve Syria (whose population is mainly Alawite), have sided with Iran. The U.S. has sided with the Saudis and in effect with Turkey.

The Middle East could benefit from some blunt and unfiltered counsel. Leaders in some Middle Eastern countries know no other way to stay in power than relying on sectarian division or blaming all their ills on infidels in the West. President-elect Trump has a chance to use his bluntness to ensure those who want to continue sectarian strife as a means of remaining in power will be on their own.

There are those in the Middle East who want change and want to leave the dark ages of sectarian conflicts behind. Trump could let those citizens in the Middle East who want reform know their leaders will not get our support. At times we have heard some in Iraq admit to missing Saddam Husain because they think the country was more stable under his regime  albeit any out-of-line comments against Saddam were often fatal. In fact, for people who are currently living under a dictatorship, a bit of directness could be more palatable.

In his campaign speeches, Trump stated he wanted to be unpredictable, a statement that was oft-repeated in attack ads. Combined with a lack of policy history, the world is faced with a truly unpredictable upcoming American administration. The fact Trumps party is conservative in policy, but also carries Trumps campaign rhetoric hostile to other countries, makes for an unpredictable time.

Now, there will be a unique window of opportunity for the new administration to set the tone knowing people in other countries are listening intently. If worded carefully, but bluntly, perhaps the old views of relying on religious and sectarian division to lead could be replaced by a policy of relying on enlightenment.
Pointless protests

CLIFF ISRAEL

WATERLOO  An age-old supposition: If a tree fell in the forest and there was no one to hear it, would it make a noise?

If the media were not at all of the concerted protest demonstrations that seem to be in vogue, would the lack of free publicity make the effort futile and cause them also to be a mystery because no one would hear them?

If all of the effort and time spent on the demonstrations and protesting were spent on more rewarding endeavors  looking for a job, staying in school, volunteering, mentoring, cleaning their surroundings or any other positive efforts  much of the negative circumstances would no longer affect the well being of our community and nation.

Enough violence

NATHAN LINDEMAN

WAVERLY When will we, as a community, say enough is enough of this senseless violence? Of our police force spending time on looking for locals instead of watching out for criminals coming from elsewhere? In the past I have reached out to leaders in the community, but never received anything back.

I propose we the people make the change happen ourselves. If anyone is interested in helping me and others organize a neighborhood watch program to combat the violence in our community, feel free to contact me on the Facebook group WCF Neighborhood Watch Group or on my personal email nathan.lindeman@gmail.com.

Good old days

ROBERT HENDERSON

WATERLOO  An electoral majority of Americans who exercised their right to vote Nov. 8 nationally and in the state of Iowa supported a return to the good old days President-elect Donald Trump has yearned for. The days when woman were sex objects to be seen and not heard with the role of being barefoot, pregnant and silent. The days when those who exercised the legal right to protest injustices by the government could be carried off on a stretcher, the days when the nuclear arms buildup was a mad race toward world destruction.

Reports nationally and locally reflect a disturbing trend in bullying, insensitivity, hatred and a disregard for the middle and working class. Iowans and all Americans rather than allowing ourselves to plunge into the abyss of decisions dictated by reckless intimidation tactics, divisiveness and violent rhetoric must push back with all of the legal and political means at our disposal.

We must vote in the midterm elections and bring the House and Senate back to sanity by supporting Democratic candidates. America is better than this. The people of this great nation need to take this nation back.

Being fearful

STEVE KAPLER

WATERLOO  Liberals recently lost a presidential election. Their faces  and reactions  look as confused as the proverbial nursing baby in a topless bar.

Their heads are doing full spins. Their new buzzword? Fearful.

The Hollywood elite and Broadways Hamilton performing cast are fearful.

The children are fearful. Michael Moore, Harry Reid, Planned Parenthood, global warmers, the always dependable liberal media  all fearful about Donald Trumps presidential victory.

College students walk therapy dogs in order to emotionally cope.

Thankfully, dairy cows are still giving milk.

Consider this. During eight years while Obama mocked Americans who cling to their guns and Bibles, Al Sharpton enjoyed unfettered White House access, Secretary of State Clinton exposed classified information to foreign enemies, sanctuary cities shielded violent illegal immigrants, Planned Parenthood negotiated prices for the remains of aborted babies, anarchists openly called for police killings, Uncle Sam sued Catholic nuns.

Why werent liberals fearful back then? Fear this. Our enemies are coming. The death watch of our nation has begun, stemming from our deep cultural divisions.

Benjamin Franklins admonition still applies: We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.
Trump: Recount push is a scam

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP)  President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday condemned a growing push to force recounts in three states pivotal to his Nov. 8 victory, confronting the Green Party-backed effort for the first time even as he worked to address key Cabinet vacancies.

The New York billionaire, who charged the election was rigged on a daily basis before his victory, called the developing recount effort a scam.

Trump had been ignoring Green Party nominee Jill Steins fight to revisit vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Wisconsin officials announced late Friday they are moving forward with the first presidential recount in state history.

Hillary Clintons presidential campaign will participate in the recount, a campaign lawyer said Saturday.

Black Friday online sales hit new high

NEW YORK (AP)  Holiday shoppers eager to snag big discounts turned to the internet in record fashion last week, one tracking company said, driving online sales on Black Friday to a new high.

Consumers spent $3.34 billion shopping online Friday, a 21.6 percent increase from the same day last year, according to Adobe, which tracks online retail transactions.

More than ever before, shoppers used their mobile devices to dial up deals online as mobile purchases surged 33 percent on Black Friday to $1.2 billion.

Retailers also racked up online sales on Thanksgiving Day and the day before, the latest evidence consumers are increasingly turning to online shopping as an alternative to wading into malls packed with holiday season bargain-hunters.

Florida boy calls 911 with dinner invite

DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla. (AP)  While his mother was preparing food in the kitchen, a 5-year-old Florida boy called 911 to invite law enforcement officers over for Thanksgiving dinner.

But young Billy Nolins family had no idea hed invited guests to dinner.

Mom Landi McCormick said she was cooking when Billys grandfather noticed him talking to someone on an old cellphone. McCormick reprimanded Billy when he admitted calling 911. He was crying when Deputy Dannon Byrd drove up.

She said the deputy thanked Billy for his kind invitation, then reminded him he should only use 911 for emergencies. The deputies gave Billy a sheriffs badge.

4 found dead

in Alaska hotel

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP)  Authorities in Alaska are investigating the deaths of four people in a hotel room as a murder-suicide. The dead include a 2-month-old girl.

Fairbanks police were called to a Hampton Inn on Friday by hotel staff. Arriving officers found a man crying as he sat in a second-floor hallway. Police said he directed officers to a nearby room where they found the bodies.

The victims ranged in age from 54 years old to 8 weeks old. All had gunshot wounds.

Fishing boat sinks, kills 7 in New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP)  Seven people were killed and another person was missing after a chartered fishing boat disappeared from view in large waves at the entrance to a harbor near Auckland, New Zealand.

Police Inspector Duncan Hall said the boat Francie was carrying 11 people when it got into trouble Saturday afternoon in Kaipara Harbour. He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a local hospital. A search for the missing person was continuing today.
By The Associated Press Nov. 26, 2016 | 10:27 AM | HAVANA, CUBA

The death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro is prompting cheers from the country's exiles in Miami. But the 90-year-old revolutionary leader's passing is producing expressions of respect in other parts of the world and measured responses from governments that saw the devoted socialist as a threat.

President Barack Obama noted that while "discord and profound political disagreements" marked the relationship between the United States and Cuba for nearly six decades, Americans are extending "a hand of friendship to the Cuban people" during their time of grief.

Obama added that "History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him."

President-elect Donald Trump tweeted: "Fidel Castro is dead!"

Elsewhere, Castro was honored and mourned by many present and former national leaders.

In a telegram to Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel's 85-year-old brother, Pope Francis offers "my sense of grief to your excellency and family."

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls Castro "a sincere and reliable friend of Russia" who'd built "an inspiring example for many countries and nations."
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Well good thing I made that last trip to the Big Village yesterday. Looks like a week of snow and right now it is a literal blizzard. Boza and I are safe, warm and cozy in our Tiny Russian Village home and we walked this morning at 2 a.m., to find the world had become a foot deep and very white. It took Boza a few minutes to assimilate to the new surroundings and he stayed closer than normal to me, but soon he got his sightless bearings and off he ran to trip the snow drifts fantastic

I will try to get images later, but it may just snow for days at this point and it is all I can do to fight the white and drifting snow. Much less try to stop and take pictures of the world. I think in a few days, I will be able to get some images

Boza is smart, he did his doggy business at 2 a.m. and home we came. Then he settled at my spot on the bed and fell sound asleep. Therefore, I am writing a post. I tried to shovel snow, but as fast as I shoveled, the wind blew it back. Some times you have to just wait and let the world stop being wild and when it calms, you dig your way out

It is not cold! Just -1, but a 20 to 30 kph wind is making things interesting. So it is cold regardless as the wind cuts through everything you wear. The wind is coming straight from the south, 91% humidity outside and max gust of wind was 48.2 kph. Old Man Winter has woke up and he is playing today

* * * * *

I do have to say something; The propaganda about certain so called dictators in the world by the Western Empire has reached a whole different level of sadness. Castro has just died and we have people celebrating in the streets over his death, I saw this over Bin Laden and have seen it over several things like this in my many years. The comments on websites are atrocious and we as a race should be ashamed of what is happening. To celebrate any death is sick and a sign of the moral structure of a country

I lived in Florida for years and knew many Cubans from that association. Florida is a crime heavy state. Mostly gated communities, emergency call boxes every mile and on and on. Security measures are number one in Florida. The Cubans in general were not all of the socially moral type who came from Cuba. We acted like they were and the good Cubans who are out numbered by far, do not lay the same groundwork of terror that the hate filled ones do about Cuba and its past. When you get a societies dredges because they were kicked out of their country. You get what you take in and praise as wonderful. Once again, we made our bed and we sleep in it nightly. We accept the propaganda about Cuba as verbatim and do not stop to look at the sources of these propaganda

RIP Castro he is a serious part of our history and will go down much higher on the list of importance than almost all of our presidents of the US! If we can not separate the chaff from the grain in such instances, then we are lost to propaganda and that is what is wanted. We blindly follow the narrative and worse of all; We blindly murder for the narrative

He was no angel of mercy, but seriously, we in the USA are actually far from an angel of mercy! That self proclaimed illusion that we like to associate ourselves with. We are not but a reflection of what and who we condemn. We are our own worst adversary for peace in the world

It was the US that tried to assassinate Castro numerous times. It was the US that spread lies about Castro and his doings. I know, Cuba is one place I have been in the military. All is not what it seems when we as a country (USA) talks about Cuba. The narrative has been and still is a narrative of hate and digression about Cuba

Do you ever want to know the real truth?

* * * * *

Boza and I are going to wait for daylight to have our long walk. That is something we do, snow, rain, sleet or shine. We walk and see the world of the Tiny Russian Village. I am going to check my vitals, such as sugar levels and blood pressure. I woke at 4.4 mmol/l and 89/55 blood pressure. I want to see how they are doing after breakfast and some coffee

Therefore, gotta go and get ready for life 

WtR
Few people were watching official television at that hour. The news of Fidel Castros death began to spread through the night on Friday by phone, as information that was vague and imprecise. Again? my mother asked when I called her. Born in 1957, this Havanan of nearly six decades does not remember life before the Commander in Chief took power in Cuba.

Three generations, we Cubans have put the final period on an era this Friday. Each person will define it in their own way. There are those who claim that with the departure of the leader a piece of the nation has also left and that now the island seems incomplete. They will be those who will shape the creed of Fidelism that, as a replacement of imported Marxism-Leninism, will fill the manuals, the slogans and the burning commitments to continuity.

The propagandists of the myth will put his five-letter name in the pantheon of national history. They will dedicate a revolutionary prayer every time reality seems to belie the teachings he left in his hours of interminable speeches. For his followers, everything bad that happens from now on will be because he is no longer here.

In Miami, the exile so vilified in his harangues celebrates that the dictator has embarked on his last journey. On the island, within the privacy of many homes, some uncorked a bottle of rum. I kept it so long I thought I would never be able to taste it, an early rising neighbor told me. There are those who have woken up this Saturday with one less weight on their shoulders, a sensation of lightness they are not yet accustomed to.

These are also the days to remember those who didnt make it this far.

These are also the days to remember those who didnt make it this far. Those who were killed during the Castro regime, shipwrecked at sea, victims of the censorship that the Maximum Leader imposed, or who lost their sanity as a consequence of the delusions he promoted. An immense chorus of victims is expressed today in the sighs of the survivors, the euphoria in the streets of Florida, or in a simple Amen.

Most, however, after learning the details of the great funeral, turn down the TV and express their disgust with a simple shrug. This indifference contrasts with the messages of condolence from international leaders, both the ideologically aligned as well as the others. On the wall of Havanas Malecon, a couple of hours after Raul Castro announced the death of his brother, some groups continued to behave as on any other late night: sweat, sensuality, boredom and nothingness surrounding them.

Cubans who were under 15 in July of 2006 when the then-presidents illness was announced, barely remember the timbre of his voice. They only know him from the photos in which he would appear lately when some foreign guest visited, of through his increasingly absurd Reflections, published in the national press. It is the generation that never vibrated to his oratory and never seconded the dreaded cry of Paredon!  To the Wall!  that he bellowed from the Plaza of the Revolution, calling for the execution of his opponents.

These young people have now been charged with reducing his historical dimension, in inverse proportion to the hubris he exhibited in governing this nation. They wont stop listening to a single lyric of their preferred reggaeton songs to intone the slogan Viva Fidel. They will not give birth to a wave of infants who will carry the name of the deceased, nor will they beat their breasts and tear their clothes during the funeral.

Never have we heard less about the Commander in Chief than at the moment of his death. Never has oblivion fallen like a more threatening shadow than when his end was announced. The man who filled every minute of Cuba for more than 50 years receded, faded, was lost to spectators sight in this extremely long film, like the character who walks off down a path until he is barely a blip on our retina.

He leaves behind the great lesson of contemporary Cuban History: tying the national destiny to the will of one man ends up passing on to a country the imperfect traits of his personality and inflates one human being with the arrogance of speaking for everyone. His olive green cap and his Greek profile, for decades, have encouraged the nightmares of some and the poetic residues of others, along with the populists promises of many leaders on the planet.

His anti-imperialism, as he stubbornly called it, was his most constant attitude, the only slogan that he managed to take to the ultimate consequences. No wonder the United States was the second great protagonist of the documentaries national television began to broadcast as soon as the news was announced. Castros obsession with our neighbor to the north ran through every moment of his political life.

These young people have now been charged with reducing his historical dimension, in inverse proportion to the hubris he exhibited in governing this nation

The eternal question that so many foreign journalists asked, now has an answer. What will happen when Fidel Castro dies? Today we know that he will be cremated, his ashes will be carried across the island and placed in the Santa Ifigenia Cemeterey, a few yards from the tomb of Jose Marti. There will be tears and nostalgia, but his legacy will fade.

The Council of State has decreed nine days of national mourning, but the official elegy will last for months, time enough to cover with so much hullabaloo the flat reality of post-Fidelism. A system that the current president is trying to keep afloat, adding patches of market economy and calls for the foreign capital that his brother abominated.

A representation of the good cop, bad cop that both brothers unfurled before our eyes, is now missing one of its parts. It will be difficult for the defenders of Raul Castros regime to argue that the reforms are not faster or deeper because, in a mansion at Point Zero on the outskirts of Havana, a nonagenarian has applied the brakes.

Raul Castro has been orphaned. He knows no life without his brother, no political action without asking what his brother will think about his decisions. He has never taken a step without this gaze over his shoulder, judging him, pushing him and underestimating him.

Fidel Castro has died. He is survived by a nation that has lived through too much mourning to dress in the color of widowhood.



Editor s note: This text was published on Sunday 27 November, 2016 in the newspaper El Pais.




As expected, the news of the death of Fidel Castro was announced by his brother Raul, in a brief official statement to the people of Cuba and friends around the world.

While his biographers are careful to detail that he survived hundreds of alleged attacks, no one can keep count of the innumerable times that his death circulated as a rumor or even as a headline, starting with those left him for dead after the attack on the Moncada barracks, or after landing of the yacht Granma on the coast of eastern Cuba.

Sixty years to the day after the morning of 25 November 1956, when the historic yacht sailed from Tuxpan, Mexico, events have changed the significance of that anniversary to inscribe the date, as of today, as the moment when the hisotiral leader undertook his ultimate journey.

The question so often formulated, of what would happen after the physical disappearance of Fidel Castro, will soon have its inexorable answer. Obviously, it will not have the dramatic effect it would have had, had it happened when he was in command of the rudders of the country, as was on the point of happening in June of 2006 when he had to provisionally delegate all his responsibilities to his brother Raul.

Although the impact has been ameliorated by a decade of relative absence, in one way or another his real death marks a before and after. Especially for the decisions that his heir must take in his last year in office. From this point, the argument that this or that cannot be done because the boss would not agree, ceases to have any meaning. No one will now have any doubt about who rules Cuba

Now begins the prolonged stage of competing panegyrics and diatribes. Adulators and detractors will bring to light their long sharp conclusions, will once again relate the anecdotes that earned him glory and blame; they will recall the legends and jokes, epithets and nicknames.

Cuban television will have already prepared a selection of his historic moments, the best pens of the national Parnassus will publish poems and compose songs, and then will come the anniversaries, and sooner or later the generation of those who never knew him will exceed that who saw him triumphantly enter Havana, deliver his interminable speeches, make his unappealable decisions.

The contemporaries of Elian Gonzalez will perhaps remember that 17 years ago, a day like this 25 November, that child rafter was rescued almost miraculously in the Straits of Florida. This coincidence obliges us to think of Charon, the mythical boatman who leads souls to their final destination. This ship will not sink. Fidel Castro is dead. Sadly for some and joyfully for others, this time its true.
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 ...
Laurie Sheck in billmoyers.com:

A Few Facts

1. He wore 5-pound shackles on his ankles every day for four years.

2. This was in the prison camp in Omsk where he was serving out a sentence of hard labor after being convicted of sedition for being part of a revolutionary cell dedicated to the liberation of the serfs and freedom of the press.

3. For the seven months following his arrest, hed been kept in solitary confinement in the Peter and Paul Fortress on the Neva, his cell window smeared with an oily paste to prevent any daylight from seeping through.

4. One morning he was suddenly taken to Semyonov Square, where he was given a white death-shirt to put on and allowed to kiss the cross. He was sixth in line for execution, with only minutes left to live, when the announcement came that the Czar had decided to spare the prisoners lives. Apparently this had been planned all along.

5. On the way to the prison camp, they stopped for the night in Tobolsk where a town bell had been sent into exile, convicted of ringing for seditious purposes. Its sentence was eternal silence.

6. In Tobolsk, he met a man who was chained to the wall. He had been chained there for eight years. The chain was 7 feet long and extended from his sleeping pallet to the opposite wall. The man spent every day walking from the pallet to the wall and back. He said he didnt mind. He showed where the chain attached to his underclothes, and the most comfortable way to lie down on the sleeping pallet. When he spoke, his voice was mild with a slight lisp. He said he had once been a government official.

7. It was in Omsk that the epileptic seizures began. They came mostly once or twice a month. Sometimes, though rarely, twice a day. They could lie dormant for as long as four months. After each seizure something in him grieved. Words blackened or grew muffled for days, sometimes a week, their distant contours alien and heavy. He tried but couldnt lift them.

8. He wasnt allowed a single book for almost four years. Except the Bible.

9. Awkward, immobile, silent  his pale, thin, earthen-colored face covered in dark red spots,a young prison guard described him years later.

10. I look at their pale faces, at their poor beds, at all of this impassable nakedness and poverty  I peer in  and it is as if I want to make sure that it is not the continuation of a disfigured dream, but actual truth. But it is truth: I hear someones groan, someone throws out his hands heavily and clangs his chains, he would remember in The House of the Dead.

Dostoyevsky experienced more than one hundred major seizures, walked in chains and prison garb, wasnt permitted to hold a pen or pencil for nearly four years or read any book but one. He watched two children die and wrote several times of a mans inner life in the minutes and seconds before execution. He had Myshkin think about a donkeys goodness and importance, and led him to the room where he would stroke and soothe Rogozhin. His books offer the words to feel into pursued to their radical end, embodied. To feel into  which doesnt mean to understand, or analyze, or interpret, or heal. Doesnt mean to solve, define, make steady, claim knowledge of, but has something to do with drawing close, with how theres a radiance more mysterious, more unspeakable than horror; more private in its wounds, more lasting.

More here.
Beaufort Memorial orthopedic surgeon to host free Talk with the Doc in Varnville


United Greeneries Receives Cannabis Seed Import Permit

Perth, Nov 28, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - MMJ PhytoTech Limited ( ASX:MMJ ) ("MMJ" or "the Company") is pleased to advise that its Canadian subsidiary, United Greeneries Ltd ("UG"), has received an Import Permit from Health Canada ("HC") and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency ("CFIA"), allowing for the importation of 1kg of cannabis seeds. Importantly, this will enable UG to commence cultivation activities at the Duncan Facility in December.



- Import Permit enables United Greeneries to commence cultivation in December



- MMJ to provide Canadian consumers with access to one of the largest cannabis catalogues available via simultaneous cultivation of multiple strains



- MMJ focused on major expansion opportunity in Canadian medical and future recreational markets, estimated to grow to C$8b p.a. by 2024



The securing of an Import Permit is a significant milestone, as it positions UG as one of a select number of companies operating in the Canadian cannabis market with the capacity to import critical starter material required to grow commercial quantities of cannabis.



Due to international prohibitions on the transport and importation of Cannabis, the availability of legal starter materials has been extremely limited. MMJ's highly experience team has been able to identify a solution to solve this industry bottle neck, and as a result the Company will be able to provide Canadian consumers with a broad range of cannabis varieties that have not previously legally been available on the Canadian market.



UG will undertake the staged expansion of the Duncan Facility, with initial earmarked production of circa 7,500kg of cannabis by the end of 2018, following the facility's first full year of production. UG plans to then rapidly scale up the production capacity of the Duncan Facility to circa 60,000kg by 2022.



MMJ PhytoTech's Managing Director, Andreas Gedeon, commented:



"This is a significant achievement for the Company, as it is one of very few importation licenses to have ever been issued, paving the way for United Greeneries to import an unprecedented range of cannabis genetics into the Canadian market.



This permit ensures the Company is no longer dependent on purchasing limited genetics from other Licensed Producers, and limits the risk of introducing foreign pests and diseases, which can significantly disrupt operational performance.



Importantly, United Greeneries will be able to supply the Canadian market with a variety of cannabis strains that cover the entire spectrum of cannabinoid profiles, including most tastes and flavours the plant has to offer. We believe this will give us a significant marketing advantage when it comes to catering to specific client demands, as we look to position as a first mover in the Canadian recreational market.



United Greeneries is expected to have the material in its possession within the next two weeks and commence growing operations at the Duncan facility in December, with a view to increasing production in Q1 2017.



The Board looks forward to providing shareholders with further updates on the commencement of cultivation at Duncan, and on the Company's TSX-V listing in due course."





About MMJ Group Holdings Ltd





MMJ Group Holdings Ltd (ASX:MMJ) is a global cannabis investment company. MMJ owns a portfolio of minority investments and aims to invest across the full range of emerging cannabis-related sectors including healthcare, technology, infrastructure, logistics, processing, cultivation, equipment and retail. For MMJ's latest investor presentation and news, please visit: https://www.mmjphytotech.com.au/investors/
Practitioners preparing for the 2017 tax season and the year ahead have a disparate set of issues to be cognizant of that go beyond their traditional routine of office set up, training staff, sending out organizers, offering planning tips, and scheduling appointments.

All of these are still necessary, naturally, but there are new issues that preparers need to be aware of both for their clients and themselves. These include later refunds from the Internal Revenue Service for the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit returns and security measures necessitated by the increasing fraudster targeting of tax professionals, and expanded due diligence requirements for preparers on certain credits.

And, while not in the Tax Code, the new overtime rules promulgated by the Department of Labor should be communicated to small-business owners, and may affect the preparers own tax office.

The environment has changed, according to Annie Schwab, tax manager at Padgett Business Services. In the past, the focus was on attending webinars or conferences and learning about new legislation and tax strategies to pursue, she observed. But now its more than just the Internal Revenue Code that impacts the preparation business. Preparers must now be familiar with requirements from Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor, and must know the ins and outs of shielding their business from scammers and protecting taxpayers from identity theft.

Beginning in 2017, the IRS will hold refunds on EITC and ACTC returns until Feb. 15, Schwab noted. The delay results from the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015, which intended to help prevent revenue lost due to identity theft and refund fraud.

Under the law, the IRS cannot release the part of the refund that is not associated with EITC or ACTC, she noted.

It is the preparers legal responsibility to protect clients business and personal records from unauthorized access, she reminded practitioners. Schwab recommends that tax business owners check their errors & omissions malpractice insurance policy to see if it covers data breaches. If it doesnt, consider adding to it, she advised.

The new overtime rules, which went into effect on Dec. 1, 2016, will cause headaches for many business owners, she predicted. Its a good time to remind clients about the new rules, since some of them might have missed the starting date.

The effect of the rules is to raise the salary level limit for overtime from the current $23,660 annually to $47,476. These limits affect not just clients, but the firm itself.

Vince Mattina, a managing partner of Mattina, Kent & Gibbons PC, a Mich.-based CPA firm, noted that it is necessary for his firm not only to work on the DOL rules for clients, but for the firms own staff as well. Our starting salary for business school graduates who join the firm prior to receiving their CPA license is near, but still under, the new salary threshold, he said. With a combination of experience and successful passage of the CPA Exam, the rate surpasses it. During tax season, the firm will need to convert those staff members from salaried to hourly employees, monitoring their overtime hours to the extent possible.

For practitioners advising an owner-employee of a startup, there is an exemption from the rules for those who own a 20 percent or greater interest, Schwab observed. However, there is a disparity between potential violation of the Tax Code and the DOL rules.

For example, if six individuals want to form a corporation, each will actively participate and own an equal share of the business, she said.

As a startup, the corporation will not have money in the first year to pay wages to any of the shareholders, so no distributions will be made. Under the IRS rules for reasonable compensation, the corporation has no risk of audit since no distributions were made to the shareholders. But according to the DOL, the corporation is in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act. Since each shareholders ownership was less than 20 percent, the corporation should have paid them at least the minimum wage, including overtime pay, for the services they provided, she said.

END-OF-YEAR PLANNING

For those that anticipate lower taxes next year as a result of the presidential election, the usual blocking and tackling of accelerating deductions and deferring income should be considered, according to Mike Campbell, tax partner at Top 10 firm BDO USA. It depends on clients net worth and where they fall in the tax bracket, he said.

The best tax advice in the wake of the election is to accelerate deductions into this year because of the high tax rates, and defer income to those years when the income tax will be lower, agreed Jonathan Swartz, a tax partner at Top 100 Firm Bennett Thrasher. Tax legislation typically gets delayed and then gets rammed through at the end of the year, but any new administration will want to make its mark.

For clients who might benefit from the valuation discount in family limited partnerships or family limited liability companies, the time to take action is now, according to Campbell. The discounts will no longer be viable once proposed regulations under Code Section 2704 are finalized at years end. Theres still time to do planning with FLPs and FLLCs, but the discounts for lack of marketability may be going the way of the dodo, he said.

Long-term capital gains can currently be taxed at either 15 percent or 20 percent depending on income, so certain clients are in danger of paying an extra 5 percent if they make too much money, Swartz observed. They need to be mindful of what their income is and have their CPA run projections to quantify potential tax savings, he said.

Captive insurance companies and conservation easements can create potential tax savings for certain wealthier clients, noted Tom Wheelwright, founder and chief executive of accounting firm ProVision.

Captive insurance companies were made permanent in the extenders bill last year, he said. Business owners and doctors use them a lot  its really getting a tax deduction for self-insurance. Usually, it involves things you would not normally insure because it would be cost-prohibitive, but now you can get the deduction upfront instead of waiting until its paid out in claims. Theres up to a $1.2 million deduction, so for certain wealthy clients its a great tool.

Owners of undeveloped land who dont know what to do with it can get a charitable deduction for putting a conservation easement on the property, Wheelwright suggested. The IRS will always scrutinize it, but if its done right its a great opportunity for wealthy clients that dont know what else to do with the land.

BEEFING UP SECURITY

An overarching theme for the upcoming tax season is fraud and how preparers can help safeguard their clients as well as their own practice, said Mark Jaeger, director of tax development for TaxAct. While this isnt a new theme, there are changes that preparers need to communicate to their clients  and key points they need to keep in mind for the security of their own businesses.

Tax-related identity theft will continue to be of concern this tax season, Jaeger cautioned. Unfortunately, tax professionals are increasingly becoming victims of fraud, with criminals remotely accessing their computers to steal taxpayer information, file phony returns, and collect refunds. Criminals are also stealing preparer PTINs, EFINs and e-Service passwords to engage in fraudulent activity, he said. As a result, tax preparers need to be diligent about security measures throughout tax season and beyond.

Jaeger offered the following tips from the IRS:

Review tax preparation software settings and immediately implement security measures.

Update usernames and passwords and change them frequently.

Remember best practices such as never clicking a link from an unknown source, and remind staff to be alert to phishing scams involving e-mail, text messages and phone calls.

Routinely monitor PTIN accounts, checking that the number of returns filed matches IRS records.



INCREASED COMPLIANCE

In an effort to reduce improper claims for the refundable Child Tax Credit, ACTC and the American Opportunity Tax Credit, tax professionals will now need to comply with expanded EITC due diligence requirements, Jaeger indicated. Much like theyve had to do for returns including EITC claims, preparers will be required to complete Form 8867, Paid Preparers Due Diligence Checklist. This form certifies the preparer has confirmed the clients eligibility for the EITC, CTC/ACTC and AOTC.

The due diligence requirement is part of a program integrity provision of the PATH Act, Jaeger said. A failure to comply with the due diligence requirement results in a penalty of $510 per violation for tax year 2016 returns.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is the letter sent to Politico on November 23rd, which NCRI-US releases publically, since Politico has refused to publish.

Dear Editor, Daniel Benjamin's 3,326-word tirade (Giuliani Took Money From a Group That Killed Americans, Does Trump Care?, Politico Magazine, Nov. 23), is a litany of threadbare, oft-repeated, and long-debunked allegations, originally concocted by the murderous mullahs of Iran, against the main Iranian opposition movement, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (PMOI/MEK).

It amounts to nothing more than a pitiful attempt to overshadow the failure of policy of appeasing the Iranian regime, which is universally condemned as the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism and the leading per capita executioner of its own citizens and for the slaughter of over 100,000 dissidents, including 15-year-old girls and pregnant women.

One is reminded of the infamous saying, "Tell a lie that's big enough and repeat it often enough, and the whole world will believe it."

In the best-case scenario, Mr. Benjamin's hyperbolic regurgitation of a defamatory MEK narrative from his time in office suggests that, unlike policy experts in Washington, he is unaware that these allegations and characterizations have since been refuted in detail by independent research, and formally discredited by successive high judicial investigations. His boss, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, demonstrated her lack of confidence in Mr. Benjamin's position in 2012 by removing the terrorist designation of the MEK to make US counter-terrorism policy consistent with those of the EU, UK, France, a large bi-partisan group of U.S. Congress members, and many bipartisan senior former leaders whose integrity Mr. Benjamin has impugned. We are left only with the awkward specter of one former official, now in academia promoting his byline, who would profit from studying issues before attempting to write about them.

Indeed, several independent studies make it palpably clear that the MEK had no role in the assassination of US military officers and Pentagon contractors in Iran more than 40 years ago. Neither was it involved in any form or shape in the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran, nor did it take part in the crackdown on Iraqi Kurds or Shiites, and nor did it ever pay any politician. The targets of the MEK's military operations, which the group unilaterally ceased in June 2001, were, according to international law, legitimate military targets, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) whose crimes are only surpassed by the Third Reich, and which is responsible for the death of hundreds of foreign nationals, including Americans.

There was nothing "inexplicable" about Secretary Rumsfeld declaring the MEK members in Camp Ashraf as protected persons in 2004. "A 16-month review by the United States has found no basis to charge members of an Iranian opposition group in Iraq with violations of American law, according to senior American officials," wrote the New York Times.

Contrary to Mr. Benjamin's assertions, the delisting of the MEK was no act of charity. America's second highest court forced Mr. Benjamin's hands. Nor did the MEK's challenge to the designation begin in 2012. Ever since it was blacklisted in 1997, as "a goodwill gesture" to the murderous mullahs of Iran, as acknowledged by Benjamin's colleagues at the time, the MEK challenged its designation.

At the time of MEK's 2008 challenge, Mr. Benjamin's predecessor, Ambassador Dell Dailey urged the Secretary to revoke the designation because it had no basis in fact or law. The call fell on deaf ears as the State Department was contemplating opening a consular office in Tehran at the time, according to the New York Times.

The Court of Appeals finally heard the case and in 2010 unanimously rejected the designation, saying that the Secretary had provided no evidence to justify the decision. But the State Department refused to heed the court's ruling, prompting the MEK to file a writ of mandamus. In their briefs to the court and during the oral hearing, Benjamin and his cohorts vehemently argued against the delisting. The court, of course, felt otherwise, and granted the writ of mandamus, the first since 1803, delivering a sharp rebuke to the State Department, calling its delay "egregious" and ordering it to take action or it would delist.

Ironically, in his many appearances before Congressional hearings, Mr. Benjamin never uttered any of these allegations when grilled by members from both sides of the aisle, because he knew that despite several classified briefings provided to the members on the MEK, Congress strongly rejected MEK's FTO designation, which it viewed as a goodwill gesture to Tehran, as 99 members (52 D and 47 R, including seven committee chairs) called for the group's delisting.

As for the situation at Camp Ashraf, Mr. Benjamin is being disingenuous. In violation of repeated and written commitments to protect the residents of Ashraf, the State Department handed over the control of the Camp to the government of Nuri al-Maliki, a puppet of Tehran. The FTO designation and Mr. Benjamin's unjustifiable foot dragging in complying with the Court of Appeals ruling, set the stage for the Iraqi security forces to launch three deadly assaults on the residents, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 residents and the wounding of over 1,000 more.

Oddly enough, Mr. Benjamin's piece repeats the talking points contained in a letter sent in the same week by an Iranian regime's senior official, Javad Larijani, to Federica Mogherini, the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. One wonders about the coincidence!

Mr. Benjamin's remarks are in sharp contrast to Secretary of State John Kerry's views, who lauded the resettlement of all members of "exiled Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin e-Khalq, or MEK," from Iraq to Europe in September 2016, emphasizing that "their departure concludes a significant American diplomatic initiative that has assured the safety of more than 3,000 MEK members whose lives have been under threatI first became involved in this effort when I was in the Senate  I'm very proud that the United States was able to play a pivotal role in helping to get this job done."

Benjamin fails to refer to what the MEK has done to expose the Iranian regime's terrorism and reveal the Iranian regime's major nuclear sites, which triggered the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) inspections of the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz and Heavy Water Facility in Arak in 2002 for the first time. Since then, the majority of the visits by the IAEA inspection teams have been to the sites first uncovered by the MEK.

Relying on a vast network inside Iran, MEK revelations of the nuclear weapons program significantly contributed to the world peace. If it were not for the MEK nuclear revelations, Tehran would have had the Bomb by now. Congressman Brad Sherman (D-CA) told a House Foreign Affairs Committee Hearing "We all owe a debt of gratitude to the MEK for bringing this information to the world, and causing the United States and the world to focus on the problem."

What Mr. Benjamin has tried to overshadow by attacking possible nominees of Mr. Trump and parroting stale and discredited slanders against the MEK, is the stark reality that the American people soundly rejected the policy of giving concessions to the turbaned tyrants of Iran. This policy must change and the Iranian regime must be held to account for the many crimes it has committed against the Iranian people and the international community. This is what Mr. Benjamin and the pro-Tehran lobby are finding very difficult to digest.

Soona Samsami

U.S. Representative,

National Council of Resistance of Iran

CONTACT: Ali Safavi, 202-747-7847, www.ncrius.org

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ncri-us-iran-apologists-grasp-at-straws-regarding-mek-in-politico-300368741.html

SOURCE National Council of Resistance of Iran-U.S. Representative Office
Firefighters have extinguished blazes that ravaged Israel and the occupied West Bank for five days and forced tens of thousands to flee, authorities said Sunday, blaming arsonists for some outbreaks.

There were no deaths but some 122 people were treated for injuries, mainly due to smoke inhalation, medical officials said.

Around 700 homes were damaged or destroyed as the blazes fed by high winds and dry conditions ripped through thousands of hectares.

In recent days, firefighting planes from a list of countries could be seen sloping low over the hills of the occupied West Bank and Israel dropping tonnes of water and retardants.

At one point last week, flames towered over an area near Jerusalem, and residents on Sunday were left surveying their charred homes and businesses.

There are no active sites left, fire and rescue service spokesman Yoram Levy said. Since last night its pretty calm. We have no new activity.

According to Levy, firefighters dealt with about 2,000 fires in Israel and the West Bank, 20 of them major.

The Israeli authorities suspect that some of the fires were set alight on purpose and linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that 17 of 110 fires in the West Bank were so far determined to be arson, without providing further details.

Speaking at the Israeli settlement of Halamish in the West Bank, where dozens of homes were damaged at the weekend, he said Israel should respond to any arson by building more settlement homes.

Police have arrested 23 people suspected of lighting fires and interrogated another seven.

However, Palestinian authorities also joined in the massive international effort to douse the fast-spreading fires and have pointed to damage to their crops and land.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare phone call to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday to thank him for those efforts.
Will citizens come forward to support the protest held by Congress against demonetisation campaign of the Modi government or will it turn out to be damp squib?

Congress will hold a Jan Aakrosh Morcha in the city on 28th November to protest against the demonetisation drive organised by the Modi government. The protest will be held under the leadership of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee (MRCC) president Sanjay Nirupam. It will commence from Santacruz (E) and will conclude at Kherwadi junction in Bandra (E). The demonetisation drive has divided citizens as some of them are supporting it while some others are criticising it. On one hand, Congress leaders say that people are supporting the Jan Aakrosh Morcha organised by them as they have been affected due to demonetisation on the other hand BJP says that people are backing notes ban as it will reduce corruption.

Around one lakh people are expected to join the protests. The opposition will hold dharna to protest against the faulty demonetisation campaign of the Modi government. Already the common man is facing inconvenience due to currency notes ban as he has to stand in queues outside banks to deposit his hard earned money, said Sanjay Nirupam.

The NCP too has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis programme Mann Ki Baat should be stopped as he has failed to deliver the promises made by him.

NCP spokesperson Nawab Maliks said, Modi is communicating his thoughts through his radio show Mann Ki Baat, but unfortunately, he has repeatedly failed to adhere to his own words, and has lost his repute among the countrymen, and therefore we demand him to stop this radio show. While addressing the nation on demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000, Modi had assured people that they would be able to exchange their money (with a cap of Rs. 4,000 per day) through banks and post offices till December 30, but it was stopped in only 15 days and those who thought they had long time to exchange notes, are feeling cheated, he added.

The government has taken a right step to ban currency notes of high denomination. Through this initiative the nation will move towards digitisation. Already people have been evading taxes and concealing their income. The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has issued a stern message to those people who stash unaccounted money and indulging money laundering activities, said Sunil Kumar a BPO employee from Kandivali said.

People are facing severe hardships due to monetisation. Many people are unable to obtain change for high denomination note of Rs 2,000. If the government was serious about eliminating corruption then why did it introduce Rs 2,000 currency note?, asked Vishal Rokade a financial executive working with a brokerage firm from Andheri.

On the other hand, BJP claims that people are supporting demonetisation even though they are facing inconvenience. The decision has been taken in the interest of the country and economy said the party.

We had taken this step to eliminate black money and corruption from the country. Our party has a zero tolerance policy against corruption. It is necessary to weed out black money from the country for attaining economic development. People are already welcoming note ban as it will pave way for cashless economy, said a BJP leader Madhav Bhandari.
Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday voiced apprehension that Pakistan could be behind the sensational Nabha jailbreak, saying the neighbouring country was desperate to revive terrorism after the Army conducted the surgical strike across the LoC. However, the Punjab Government has announced a reward of Rs. 25 lakhs to any person providing information leading to the arrest of six escaped under-trial prisoners.

Pakistan desperate to revive terror post surgical strike. Could be behind jail break, Sukhbir said, after he spoke to the national security advisor Ajit Doval.

Informing the media, he said that the Director General of Police (Jail) has been suspended, while the Superintendent and the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the jail have been dismissed.

Badal said that a separate Additional Director General of Police-led team has been tasked to assess the incident that led to the jail break.

The state home Secretary will give me a report on wherever lapses have taken place and strict action will be taken on the responsible one, said Badal.

However, the Deputy CM said that there was no need to worry. They (prisoners) will not be allowed to run away. Police is after them. We will catch them soon, he said.

Additional Director General of Police, Internal Vigilance Cell, Prabodh Kumar would head the SIT comprising IGP, Patiala Zone, Paramraj Singh; IGP Ishwar Singh; IGP, Counter Intelligence, Nilabh Kishore; DIG, Patiala Range, Amar Singh Chahal; and Patiala SSP Gurmeet Chouhan.

A woman was killed in police firing on Sunday as the vehicle she was travelling in allegedly tried to speed through a check post set up near the Haryana border in Patiala district in the wake of a jailbreak in Nabha.

A bike-borne man was also injured in the shooting. After the escape of dreaded militant and Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo from the Nabha high-security jail, the Punjab police sounded an alert and a check post was set up near Dharamheri village, 25 km from Patiala.

According to the police, they signalled the Swift Dzire car (HR-60B-2657) to stop for checking but the driver tried to speed past the officers. It was then that a constable opened fire on the vehicle.

Amarinder Singh said the incident has exposed a complete breakdown of law and order in the state, while triggering fears of revival of terrorism ahead of the Assembly elections. The shocking manner in which the gangsters walked into the high-security jail and freed a dreaded Khalistani terrorist along with other convicts clearly shows complicity at the highest levels, he told reporters during the second day of the his road show in Sangrur.

Amarinder said the law and order situation in the state had deteriorated to unprecedented levels under the Badal regime, especially in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari pointed out the lack of law and order in the state.
[dropcap]A[/dropcap] group of armed men, disguised as cops broke into Nabha jail on Sunday morning and helped as many as six inmates, including Khalistan Liberation Force militant Harminder Singh Mintoo, escape. Its really ridiculous to hear about the jail break incident where the security officers of the prison have proven to be incompetent. Mintoo is the dreaded Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief  who was the member of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). In 2009, he left Wadhawa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International and revived Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF). He used to operate from Thailand before he was arrested by Punjab Police from Delhis IGI Airport in 2014. He was arrested while he was on his way back from Thailand. Mintoo was a frequent visitor to Pakistan and there are reports that he had a backing of Pakistans ISI. He was involved in 10 terror-related cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station near Ludhiana. Those who escaped include gangster Vicky Gondar, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol and Vikramjeet.

Why these jail breaks are happening ahead of elections and what BJP government is exactly trying to prove? Even earlier, the Pakistan based terrorist walked into the top Air base in Pathankot and attacked  despite Pakistan government sharing information about that terror attack plan. The accused in various anti-national activities just escaped from Madhya Pradesh jail  and they were all murdered without a judicial trail. Eye witnesses say they were totally unarmed. Now, we have a very core terrorist escaping from jail. BJP government runs the security with a theatre like attitude  which is not good for India.

Finally, when all theories flopped, the Punjab government announced Rs. 25 lakh reward to any person providing information leading to arrest of escaped prisoners. What is the reason behind these people being freed by security personnel and politicians? Is this something to do with the upcoming elections? Will Badals political survival without pleasing Khalistan militants not be possible? Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal desperate and was spamming the Tweets to react against the incident. He said the government would uncover the conspiracy behind the jailbreak at all costs. He also stated that DGP Suresh Arora has been asked to investigate the incident. I am ready to buy his assurance only if he dares to speak the truth as same aggression was shown when Pathankot attacks took place, but so far nothing is established or none is jailed, prosecuted or punished. I agree, people have very short memory, but one has to believe there are some people who will be reminding the misdeeds of government time and again.

Every time Badal government blamed Pakistan for their security laps and failure, earlier too after losing five Defence Security Corps personnel, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar admitted to some gaps that led to the terror attack on the Air Force base in Pathankot in which all the six infiltrators, who used some Pakistan-made equipment, have been killed. We are losing one after another army men but government is yet to understand the importance of lives. Now the dreaded terrorists, imprisoned in highly secured jails are roaming scot free. During Pathankot attack, the terrorists were carrying 40-50 kg of bullets, mortars, which were fired from modified Under-Barrel Grenade Launcher besides some magazines. No one knows how the terrorist reached such a sensitive area but still Parrikar felt there was no compromise on security.

Anyway, once the investigations are over, things will become clear provided government is honest enough to state the fact. People of this country are worried as to how the terrorists have managed to come inside the base which has a perimeter of 24 km and located in an area of about 2,000 acres. And now how they entered inside jail?

Modi is the same politician when in opposition, used to be aggressive on Pakistan to teach them a lesson and now gazing on their dinners and dawats and silent over the terror attacks. Enemy is not outside India. It is within India. Drugs, corruption, material pleasures, alcohol, raping, money laundering, betting, political ambition, greed of power etc gives way to terror in the country. The security forces must remain on high alert on all important days. Multi-layer security cordon is vital for all installations. High-tech gadgets must be used. Under emergency, a signal must alert all concerned. All vital areas must be inspected by experts from IIT/IIMs/IISc/TIFR for their suggestions. I would say we lack technology and patriotism to overcome such attacks. As there was intelligence report stating possible terror attack, I wonder how terrorist could sneak in. Inspite of having all intimations and reports on attack what must have prevented our security personals and government to prepare for such attacks?

The Army and its units having been deployed locally are familiar with the terrain, its advantages and its problems. Pushing in an NSG contingent that was totally unfamiliar with the situation and the terrain is an incomprehensible step which cannot be explained, now coming back to jail break, I have the same question. Unless and until people those entered inside the jail were not familiar with the location cannot be so successful in making others to escape. Sukhbir Badal blames Pakistan, who is in alliance with BJP in Punjab. Why the Modi government is always indulging into blame games and washing their hands from terror attacks without taking any responsibility of such crucial national security incidences and how long do we Indians tolerate it?

(Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com)








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Today, 27 November 2016 marks the 530th day that Horace Carby-Samuels has held his Dezrin, his wife, hostage in Kanata.



Kanata is a suburb of Ottawa.



Raymond, his son, got a court Order to try to spare Dezrin, his Mom from further abuse and neglect by Horace.



Raymond had got that Court Order on 11 February 2016 that was issued by Justice Patrick Smith. However, Horace (briefly shown in the above video opening the door) rebuffed Ottawa Police Services who arrived at his house on 30 Jarlan Terrance in Kanata where Dezrin has been abused and neglected by him.



Horace, once referred to 'integrity' as the most important human characteristic.



It is therefore somewhat ironic that Horace has prevented Dezrin, his wife, seeing her own son through the use of lies.



Among Horace's lies has been that Raymond, his son, "suffers from mental illness".



He then got John Summers, a rather sleazy lawyer from Bell Baker to embellish Horace's lies by preparing a fraudulent affidavit.



Thanks to Horace, and his similarly lying and opportunistic daughter, Marcella, who collaborated to perpetuate spousal abuse, Dezrin can no longer wall, talk or write.



You can join 500 signatories here against Horace abuse that has been supported by Marcella Carby-Samuels who conspired against her own Mother in an apparent effort to extract favours from her father who has maintained control of family resources that Marcella appears to have sought to claim.



Marcella pursued macabre activities against her Mom and sought to get Raymond, her bother, out of the way of her claim for family resources by seeking to get Raymond, her own, brother, arrested under fraudulent allegations linked to Horace's lies that Raymond "suffered from mental illness."



Support an online petition against her abusive husband.



http://www.thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/takeaction/865/478/452/



Or, make a donation here -



https://www.generosity.com/emergencies-fundraising/liberate-dezrin-from-spousal-abuse-legal-fund



Look at the above video to see Raymond being blocked from seeing his Mom having received a court Order on 11 February 2016.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2016  An annual U.S.-China trade conference ended today with little headway in getting China to reform the way it approves new agricultural biotechnology traits, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said.

In the area of agricultural biotechnology we were disappointed with our inability to make more progress. Froman told reporters at the conclusion of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade (JCCT) meeting.

Chinas acceptance of new varieties of genetically modified corn, soybeans and other commodities is vitally important to the U.S. agriculture sector that depends on exports to the Asian giant, Froman said.

The U.S. has been pressing China for years to ditch its asynchronous approach to approving new genetically modified traits, but has had little success. China is the only major importing country that still refuses to begin its biotech approval process until after the U.S. or another country first completes the approval process. The U.S., Japan, and many other nations have all agreed to conduct approvals at the same time.

Furthermore, China has become less reliable and more secretive about its approval process. The countrys National Biosafety Committee used to meet three times a year to announce new approvals, but it is common now for the agency to meet just once or not at all in a given year.

Froman and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack had expressed hopes that there would be progress, leading up to this years JCCT.

In a statement Tuesday, Froman stressed that the U.S. has long sought that China have a transparent, timely and science-based regulatory system for the review and approval of products derived from agricultural biotechnology. We have had many discussions on these topics, but we still have unnecessary trade disruptions, because of the asynchronous approval process. This not only hurts U.S. farmers, but it hurts Chinas livestock industry and Chinas own innovation industry.

Matthew OMara, managing director for the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), said the U.S. and China have been meeting more regularly on their differences over the approval process, but the situation has not improved.

Learn about the benefits of subscribing to Agri-Pulse. Sign up for your four-week free trial Agri-Pulse subscription.





Changes in regulations over there have left it very unclear as to how to actually work through the process and what timelines are for approval, OMara said on Tuesday at an event held by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

There will be plenty of lawmakers on Capitol Hill who will also be disappointed in the lack of progress to get China to reform its biotech approval process. Some 37 senators sent President Barack Obama a letter earlier this month, asking him to make the issue a priority at the JCCT meeting.

When the Chinese government fails to remain transparent, science-based, and timely in its regulatory process, it impacts not only our farmers and ranchers abilities to access critical markets in China, but also their abilities to utilize the best and most innovative agricultural technologies in our fields at home in the U.S, the senators said in the letter.

Many seed companies will not release their products in the U.S. before getting Chinese approval out of fear that some of the commodities could inadvertently wind up in China.

#30

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Shmuel and Yaffa Shecter, Holocaust survivors who moved to Israel, opened their home to anyone in need.

Ori Shecter, the youngest of 10 children, never knew who hed find sleeping in his bed when he returned home. It could be a lone soldier, a child who came from an abusive home, a child whose widowed mother was not coping or any of the myriad children that needed a safe haven. His late parents, Shmuel and Yaffa, sheltered and cared for 187 such children in their modest home in Kiryat Shmuel near Haifa.

The Shecters never planned on fostering children; they certainly had their hands full in raising their ten biological children. One day they were approached by a young Ethiopian Jewish man who told them that his wife had fallen into depression following the birth of their third child. She wasnt functioning well and the children were being neglected. Her husband felt at a total loss of what to do.

My parents, without hesitation, took the children and infant into their home, Ori says. They lovingly cared for them for a long time, until their mother had recovered and began functioning.

The Haifa Municipalitys Social Welfare Department understood that Shmuel and Yaffa were the preferred address for children in need who required an immediate safe haven.

Over the years, their home, which was originally 60 square meters (646 square feet), tripled in size in order to accommodate their expanding family. The Shecters didnt have the necessary legal papers to build, but the municipality looked the other way.

One of their children was Avi Galinsky, who had been in their home from the age of 13. The court had instructed that Avi be immediately put into a foster home until a permanent arrangement could be made. Due to the urgency of the case, Avi was hastily brought to the Shecter home.

Unlike other foster families, children could be brought to their home without prior warning and at any of the hour of the day and night. My parents were always ready to take in babies, children and teens that needed a safe and loving place, explains Ori.

I came to their home filled with fears, but they immediately made me feel wanted and loved.

Avi related, My father died and my mother could not function at all in the house. I was told that I would be going to live in the home of the Shecter Family until a permanent place could be found. I came to their home filled with fears, but they immediately made me feel wanted and loved. Exactly that week their home was undergoing renovations and so the parents gave me their bedroom and moved their beds to the storeroom. I didnt want them to do that, but they insisted. I ended up staying in their home for many years. They treated me like part of their family.

My parents were simple people, but their simplicity was filled with loving-kindness, Ori recounts. They saw everyone on an equal level  it didnt matter who was in front of them. It could be an infant, a young child, a poor man, teenager, or elderly person  they were sensitive, empathic and worried about each one of them.

My parents underwent harsh suffering  they were Holocaust survivors  and then when they finally came on Aliya to Palestine they were banished to a refugee camp in Cyprus. Immediately after they returned to Palestine my father went to fight in the War for Independence. Despite all of this, they were happy and optimistic people. Their nature was to be full of faith and happiness.

The Shecters and their 10 children

Ori tells the story of how his father worked in a company that made floor tiles. The management gave his father a list of workers who he needed to fire. Shmuel Shecter looked at the list and was shocked to see that the list contained the name of a childless Holocaust survivor. Without hesitation, Shmuel erased the name of this worker and wrote his own name on the list, even though he had young children and a wife to support.

He told his wife not to worry; he believed with a full faith that God would provide them with sustenance. Three months later he received a job at the Ata Textile Factory with even better conditions than the previous job.

When Ori was a young child he didnt understand why his parents were so busy with other peoples children. There was a time, when in addition to his siblings, there were eight foster children in the Shecter household. As he matured, Ori understood what an important mitzvah his parents were doing.

Shmuel and Yaffa had met in Romania. They were married in Cyprus, following their non-successful attempt to come by ship to Palestine. She was 15 and he was 18. They began fostering children when they were in their 50s. They continued fostering children in their late 70s until health issues prevented them. Shmuel passed away from cancer at the age of 83, and Yaffa passed away from cancer two years later.

The ripple effects of loving-kindness which Yaffa and Shmuel Shecter showered upon all of their children continue to impact many in positive ways. Ori and his wife Kana continue the family tradition of helping people through a wide range of fundraising activities for people in need and helping lone soldiers and hospital patients.
Moshe Boldors harrowing odyssey from hunted renegade in Communist Romania to freedom in the U.S. as an observant Jew.

Jean Boldor was an auto mechanic and driver for the Director of Mines in Romania, in 1983. He wanted to escape the Communist country where he was born and freely study the Bible. In a Communist country, you cannot do anything you want, he says.

The Romanian government forced citizens to celebrate Communist holidays. Boldor thirsted for more. For whatever reason I was attached to the Old Testament, he recalls, and read about the people of Israel and the prophets. It fascinated me how God took the people of Israel from the land of Egypt.

Jean Boldor, age 18

Always drawn to Biblical learning, Boldor didnt know until much later that he had Jewish roots. His great-great-great-grandmother was Jewish. From there, the trail grows cold. The Jewish community in his native Lupeni was decimated during World War II, when Romania became a satellite of Nazi Germany and Jews lost their shops and citizenship. At the end of the war thousands of Jews fled Romania. It is estimated that by the end of the 1960s, the Romanian Jewish community numbered no more than 100,000.

Wanting to share the joy he found, Boldor began to teach the Bible to young people. The Communists did not look kindly upon my involvement, so I was taken to the police station many times to be interrogated, handcuffed and beaten  and given time to reflect on my activity.

I was followed everywhere because I was considered a threat to Communism.

Lay people like Boldor were arrested for asserting their religious beliefs; they werent allowed to have Bibles. At age 20, he applied to emigrate to the United States where he could pursue Bible studies.

From that moment on, I was followed everywhere because I was considered a threat to Communism, he remembers. When you applied to leave, they thought you were a danger.

For five years Boldor lingered in Romania with no end in sight. Life was growing more difficult, so he decided to run away but was caught on a train headed toward the Yugoslavian border.

Military police put him under 24-hour arrest in a room full of screaming people with broken arms and broken feet who received no medical attention. They told him of being beaten with AK-47 assault rifles. After paying a monetary penalty, he was freed and went home.

Then in August 1988, Boldor and a friend, Ion, tried to flee again, going by train and on foot to the border. I prayed to God to save me. I read Psalms when I had a few minutes. We went three days without drinking any water, he says.

Villagers saw the two men and alerted the military who surrounded them. The soldiers began to beat them.

Usually beatings were so bad that very few survived the next week, Boldor says, But one sergeant saw that I had a book of Psalms and ordered the soldiers not to touch me. Once again I saw the Hand of God and I thanked Him.

He was put in military prison for two weeks. Then a friend in Austria sent Boldor $100 through his bank, which was used to bribe an Army captain to let Boldor and Ion go free.

They began plotting their third escape.

I read in the Book of Esther that Mordechai and Esther fasted three days and three nights to save the Jewish nation from Haman, so I did the same. I fasted three days and nights and cried to God to help us this time succeed.

I fasted three days and nights and cried to God to help us succeed.

Boldors prayers were answered. In September 1988 he and Ion took a train to the Yugoslavian border. They jumped out at a station close to the border and hid in a stand of hay. They slept by day and walked or crawled by night.

When they reached Yugoslavia they walked to Belgrade, about 500 km, 310 miles. In Belgrade they climbed atop a train to Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, to avoid detection by the police.

From Ljubljana they hopped a train to Germany and Austria and at last arrived at a refugee camp near Vienna, their clothes full of dust and oil. Their treacherous two-week journey was over.

Its hard to describe what it means to be free and alive after such a long and dangerous trip. When we got there we found out that 180 people had been killed by the Romanian border. So God once again saved my life, says Boldor.

He kept a promise to God to study the Bible if he survived. As a refugee from a Communist country, he obtained a visa from Canada, where he learned Biblical Hebrew and earned a bachelors degree in religious education at a Christian college. He also became an ordained Baptist minister.

Moshe Boldor with his four children Sara, Amos, Ruth and Isaac

Eventually Boldor married, had four children and moved to Seattle, Washington, where he started a small business taking care of seniors. It was during his first trip to Israel in 2004 and visiting the Cave of Machpelach in Hevron where the patriarchs and matriarchs are buried that the Baptist minister had a spiritual crisis. He had always believed Abraham was buried in Shechem, as the Christian Bible stated. Now he found otherwise. He started to compare the Hebrew and Christian Bibles and saw other discrepancies. Torah won him over.

When I went to Israel I saw the beauty of Judaism and Shabbat. It was life-changing for me. The Torah passages came alive, he says. He followed the murmurings of his heart as a child and decided to convert to Judaism.

Back home in Seattle he resigned his pulpit, began going to synagogue and learn Torah intensely, and started keeping the laws of Torah. The conversion process took 10 years. The former Baptist minister, who changed his name to Moshe, now keeps a kosher home and prays with a minyan three times a day.

Today Boldor makes Torah the center of his life.

His marriage didnt withstand the changes. His wife didnt want to convert to Judaism and the couple divorced. Three of their children converted, with one of the daughters making aliyah.

Boldor, 56, studies through an online yeshiva and makes Torah the center of his life. It is really great to be part of the Jewish nation and follow in Avrahams footsteps. Today he owns and manages a nursing home in Seattle.

Moshe today, in Seattle

He transforms the hardships he endured to help others. I am thankful to God because I was able to come home to Torah and Israel and I am trying to help other Jews. The time is not too late to come home and join the Jewish nation of Israel through following the Torah.

Sometimes I cry living here in America. In Romania they handcuffed me, tortured me, put me in prison for reading and learning the Torah. Here we have freedom but sometimes it is wasted. My prayer is for God to use me to help other Jews appreciate the beauty of Torah.
November 25, 2016

ERBIL, Iraq  Thousands of Mosul residents flee the city every day as the Iraqi army pushes farther into the city from the east. But despite suicide car bombs, airstrikes and the whizzing sound of bullets around them, when they emerge, one of the first things they ask for from the soldiers are cigarettes. For almost 2 years, the Islamic State (IS) in Mosul projected an image that it was against the consumption of narcotics; in reality, however, it has reaped enormous funds from the trade.

Ala Munir was at home one blistering day in July last year when four IS militants turned up at his house in Mosul and began searching his property. There was nothing he could do to stop them, but the militants failed to check beneath the dropped ceiling where he had concealed what they were looking for: cigarettes. They took him in for questioning anyway, and an IS informer who had bought two packets of cigarettes from Munir testified against him in an IS court, landing him a 40,000 dinar fine ($34) on top of 22 lashes.

"The lashes under my feet were very painful. I had to squat with my hands tied behind my back, and I was blindfolded so I would not recognize the Daesh [IS] who hit me as they were all from Mosul," Munir said. "I screamed that I had not sold cigarettes, but the Daesh guy would say, 'Ask for forgiveness from Allah.'"

When Munir paid his fine, IS asked for another 4,000 dinars  and when he asked why, he was told he had to refund what their agents had paid for his cigarettes.

Like hundreds of people in city of Mosul, Munir turned to selling cigarettes on the black market after IS took over in June 2014, established its rule and applied its strict interpretation of Sunni Islam forbidding many things, including smoking.

Despite the ban, many Mosul residents did not give up, creating an underground economy in cigarettes on which IS would eventually capitalize to fund the affairs of its so-called caliphate.

As efforts to cut off the groups finances yielded fruit, the militants resorted to fining and taxing its increasingly impoverished subjects, including cigarette smugglers. According to three smugglers who fled Mosul and are now living in camps in the Kurdish region, IS turned a blind eye to the smuggling and waited patiently for them to accumulate funds before busting them to maximize their haul.

"Burning cigarettes was for show," Munir said. "The reality is that Daesh was turning a blind eye and fined the smugglers lots of money."

IS earned thousands of dollars each month in fines for those who sold cigarettes illegally in Mosul alone. The petty smugglers were fined  anywhere between $30 to $50  depending on how many times they were arrested; the fine for wholesalers was far heftier.

The US-led coalition has targeted the revenue stream of IS both in Syria and Iraq, such as the revenue in oil and smuggling in antiques, but stopping cigarette smuggling is far more difficult. IS "is overwhelmingly financed internally, mainly from sales of oil and gas, and taxation and extortion," said Adam J. Szubin, the acting undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the US Department of the Treasury. "Those types of internal revenue streams are, of course, very difficult to target in the same way you could with, for example, foreign donations or Islamic charities that are being corrupted by a terror group like al-Qaeda."

"Daesh knew the main traders and would allow them to bring cigarettes, and once they sold them, Daesh would swoop in and arrest the traders, said Ibrahim Akram, a trader who sold cigarettes for four months in east Mosul this year and was detained four times. IS relied on spies in Mosul to inform them about who sold cigarettes; at the same time, theyre publishing photos of them burning cigarettes in which they claim to have cracked down on smuggling.

Safwan, a wholesaler who sold his cigarettes in four neighborhoods in east Mosul, said the demand was not only from locals but also surprisingly from IS fighters themselves. There were many Daesh armed men who smoked cigarettes secretly," Safwan  who also resides in a camp in the Kurdish region with his family  said, preferring not to disclose his full name. "One particular Daesh whom I remember was Abu Salih Muslawi. [He] could not give up smoking, and I would give him one or two packs per day. In return he said, Don't worry, I'll come to your rescue whenever they arrest you.

On a good day, Safwan says he earned around 300,000 dinars, a huge sum in Mosul at the time when there were no jobs and a taxi driver barely earned 15,000 dinars per day.

"The cigarettes came from Syria, and Daesh sanctioned it unofficially," said Safwan, estimating the number of wholesalers at 500 in the city, plus many more petty traders. "Daesh made an agreement with oil truck drivers and allowed them to smuggle 50 cartons in a compartment inside the truck in return for intelligence about the petty and main sellers."

Safwan said there were two routes for cigarette smuggling: One came from Shadadi in Syria, but as the Kurdish forces took the town, the smugglers turned to Bedouins in Anbar province and brought in their cargos.

Meanwhile, IS continues publishing scenes of burning piles of cigarettes both in Syria and Iraq that were seized from smugglers. Three bearded men stood by a pile of cigarette cartons burning in the town of Tabqa in Syria. "General Organization of Tobacco, Syria," read the boxes, as the flames billow from the pile.

"There was no work in Mosul, so many people like me had to sell cigarettes to make a living," said Munir, the petty smuggler. "The trade was good for everyone, including Daesh."
November 25, 2016

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority (PA) president and head of the Fatah movement, probably never suspected that the Egyptian regime and Hamas would warm up to each other, especially in light of Hamas relationship with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. Hamas had also objected to what it called "horrific massacres" by Egyptian security forces during the breakup of the sit-ins in Rabia al-Awadiya and al-Nahda squares supporting Brotherhood-affiliated President Mohammed Morsi in August 2013. Morsi had been ousted by the Egyptian armed forces after a popular revolution in June 2013.

However, relations began warming gradually in March 2015 when the Egyptian government asked its court system to overturn a previous ruling designating Hamas as a terrorist movement. The court reversed that ruling in June 2015.

Relations improved further when Egyptian intelligence hosted a Hamas delegation in March 2016 to discuss the latest updates on the Palestinian cause and end the tension between the Egyptian government and Hamas. Moreover, Egyptian authorities are planning to host a Hamas delegation soon to continue the coordination process concerning the Palestinian cause, after Egyptian intelligence hosted a delegation from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement on Nov. 16 for the same reason.

The reduction in the estrangement between the Egyptian regime and Hamas is due to Hamas' being a key player in the Palestinian cause," Tarek Fahmy, head of Israeli studies at the National Center for Middle East Studies, told Al-Monitor. "Moreover, Egypt is especially invested in the Palestinian dossier, given its commitment toward the Palestinian brothers and toward Arab causes in general. This is especially true since stability in the Gaza Strip is considered part of Egypts national security, given the borders shared by Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula, and the probability that some terrorist fighters might infiltrate Egypt. Therefore, it is difficult for Egypt to ignore the role Hamas plays in the Palestinian cause.

Regarding Hamas, Fahmy added, It is also difficult for Hamas to ignore Egypts role, given the Egyptian oversight of Rafahs border crossing between Sinai and Gaza, which represents a lifeline for the Strip amid the Israeli siege." He said Egyptian surveillance increased, especially after the Egyptian armed forces took major efforts to destroy tunnels between Gaza and Sinai in the second half of 2013; Egypt had turned a blind eye to the tunnels under Morsi. "This left the border crossing as the only entrance to Gaza, Fahmy said.

Fahmy further explained, The Egyptian regime and Hamas may be trying to agree on common interests. This is despite the Egyptian securitys difficulties in pursuing Hamas members suspected of being involved in the assassination of former prosecutor general Hisham Barakat, for example, and despite repeated attempts by Hamas to dig new [people and goods smuggling] tunnels between Sinai and Gaza.

It should be noted that in a Nov. 22 official statement, Hamas welcomed the ruling issued by the Egyptian Court of Cassation canceling a life prison sentence against Morsi on charges of spying for Hamas. Hamas said the ruling shows that the Palestinian issue is real for Egypt, which treats Palestinian parties equally.

The talks between Egyptian authorities and the Hamas delegation come at a time when Abbas relations with Egypt are witnessing some tension, despite the friendship he enjoys with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

Moreover, on Sept. 21, Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah leader who was dismissed in 2011 following a dispute with Abbas, called for a national conference for all national and Islamic factions to reach a platform and a unified political vision. He no longer considered the talks between Hamas and Fatah a successful way to end the division. The Safa press agency quoted Fatah leaders who support Dahlan as saying they would prefer holding that conference in Cairo.

On Oct. 25, the Mekameleen channel, which supports the Brotherhood and broadcasts from Turkey, leaked what it claimed to be a phone call between Wael el-Safty, an officer in Egypt's General Intelligence Directorate in charge of Palestinian affairs, and Dahlan. In that call, Safty supposedly criticized Abbas and described him as lacking wit and being subject to foreign pressure.

Cairos improved relations with Dahlans camp seem to be putting Abbas in an uneasy position, especially after the aforementioned leak, as the media is speculating that Egypt will support Dahlan as PA president in the upcoming elections, which have yet to be set. Abbas official constitutional term in office expired in 2009. The support for Dahlan may have been the reason behind Abbas visits to Turkey and Qatar in October.

Perhaps Abu Mazen [Abbas] is looking for new allies in the region in light of the steps he regards as a rapprochement between Egypt and Hamas, out of fear that his camp might fall outside the scope of power as they lose it to Dahlan or Hamas. He might also try to convince Hamas, through their biggest allies Turkey or Qatar, to reconcile or ally with him," Hani al-Gamal, the manager of al-Kenanah Studies Center, told Al-Monitor.

There is currently competition between Dahlan and Abu Mazen to reconcile with Hamas. I do not think that Egypt supports anyone for the Palestinian presidency. However, I still believe the repeated failure of reconciliation attempts between Abu Mazen and Hamas will push the movement to completely reject him [Abbas] and his camp, which is against the Egyptian attempts to reach a Palestinian consensus, Gamal added.

It seems Egypt is turning its back on Abbas, and it will most likely open its arms to Dahlan, as he has a better chance of winning Hamas' approval. The understanding among Dahlan, Cairo and Hamas at Abbas expense became clear when Egyptian authorities agreed to release seven detainees from Gaza on Oct. 19  despite investigations into their possible involvement in terrorist activities  in return for Hamas release Oct. 19 of Zaki al-Sakani after negotiations with Dahlan over the matter. Sakani was a leader of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, Fatahs dissolved military wing.

Egypts expected preference for Dahlan and its rapprochement with Hamas is related to Abbas inability to agree with Egypt's policy on the Palestinian cause, which mainly stipulates the establishment of a powerful PA that is able to protect the borders between Egypt and Gaza. Dahlan might succeed in doing so through his efforts to procure investments for the reconstruction of Gaza, and his potential support  especially after the Sakani deal  for some Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades generals who refuse to hand over their weapons as per Abbas decision in 2007. Such a step might create balance in Gaza with an armed Hamas under Dahlans banner.

Neither Abbas nor any members of his camp succeeded in reaching a true rapprochement with Hamas. After Cairo brokered an agreement in May 2011 in which Hamas and Fatah consented to establishing a government of national accord, Abbas showed intransigence toward Hamas in his formation of Salam Fayyads governments and Rami Hamdallahs first government.

Abbas also ignored Hamas rejection of the appointment of Riyad Malki foreign minister in the national consensus government in 2015. Hamas had also suggested establishing a Ministry of Prisoners in the new government, which Abbas overlooked. Abbas seems to have taken advantage of the economic siege imposed on Hamas following Morsis ouster in Cairo and the Egyptian armys takeover of Palestinian tunnels to form the government according to his choices. The economic pressure may have been behind Hamas eventual acceptance of Malki, as it was unable to keep the economy functioning after the tunnels between Sinai and Gaza were taken over, without financial support from the PA under Abbas.
November 23, 2016

For years, the Israel Defense Forces have been dominated by the national-religious sector, which demonstrates a high motivation to serve, especially in combat units. However, in that same demographic there is institutionalized opposition to the military recruitment of women, mainly due to modesty issues. Instead, national-religious women may perform national service as volunteers in hospitals, educational institutions and social-welfare organizations.

This issue has been quietly debated for years. However, it has recently come to public attention through a petition by dozens of national-religious rabbis calling on the head of the national-religious HaBayit HaYehudi party, Education Minister Naftali Bennett, not to fund nongovernmental organizations that encourage religious women to enlist in the IDF. The Education Ministry recently floated an initiative to create and fund such associations.

The petition, signed by prominent rabbis of the national-religious stream, is called National Service is Preferable. In its introduction, the petition reads, The position of the religious Zionist rabbis regarding the issue of the enlistment of women into the [IDF] has always been consistent with the position of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel  that religious girls should not serve in the military. Simultaneously, 12th-grade girls from religious, gender-segregated high schools signed their own petition and submitted it to Bennett. In the document, they called on the minister to retract his decision to underwrite programs that would encourage women to enlist, which they feel conflicts with the values of religious Zionism and the Torah.

When the State of Israel was first founded and the draft law was passed, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion agreed to exempt certain groups from military service. The law exempts pregnant and married women as well as unmarried women who practice a religious way of life from mandatory service. This position became the official stance of the Chief Rabbinate. It is also the official position of the national-religious public school system.

Recent years have seen consistent attempts to encourage girls to serve in the IDF, despite the opposition of all the important rabbis in the national-religious movement. This trend was born within the Religious Kibbutz Movement, Rabbi Amital Bareli, the founder and CEO of the Chotam organization, told Al-Monitor. Chotam, whose purpose is to restore Judaism to the top of the public agenda, is the organization behind the rabbis' petition. In our view, the military framework is not appropriate for women in general and for religious women in particular. We are talking about an aggressive, combative system with numerous modesty-related problems that run counter to the lifestyle of the religious woman. There are all kinds of organizations that are using the army to promote their egalitarian viewpoints. They are even trying to advance women to [more] combat positions. These are outrageous notions that are trying to change us into an egalitarian army instead of a winning army.

There is a relatively small group within the national-religious sector (currently about 10,000 people) that holds the opposite viewpoint. The Religious Kibbutz Movement encompassing 23 kibbutzim across the country educates around meaningful institutional service for women, meaning military service. They oppose the National Service alternative.

Rabbi Ohad Taharlev, the head of the Lindenbaum Seminary, is one of the prominent activists encouraging the recruitment of religious women. I dont think there are sweeping educational, religious or ideological problems regarding girls serving in the IDF, he told Al-Monitor. I am definitely opposed to recruiting girls to combat positions, but I enthusiastically support the recruitment of girls to the Intelligence, Education and Air Force corps. It is not true that there are unique modesty problems in those places. The army is like the labor market. Feminine assertiveness does not scare me. If women today can be CEOs, there is no reason that they cannot assume important positions in the army too.

In contrast, Bareli said that the vast majority of rabbis opposes the drafting of women. We dont change our positions to conform to changing trends regarding gender, he explained. We base ourselves on Jewish law and the spirit of Jewish law. This group encouraging army service is a small group, found at the very fringes of the margins of the national-religious sector. This group tries to portray us, the majority, as outdated. True, there is now a rise in enlistment rates [of religious women], but we are looking at the movement of a pendulum. Todays data is identical to what existed 15 years ago, and soon the numbers will probably go down.

Taharlev is irritated by being called marginal. We are not a marginal group, he said emphatically. There has been a jump in the number of [religious] girls enlisting in the army. Today, the proportion is 30 to 40%.  If that is marginal, where, then, is the center? According to Taharlev, these women come from the strongest national-religious educational institutions." He said, "I think that the opposing rabbis are making a very big mistake. They dont understand that the change is already here. They are trying to rein in changes that are already happening on the ground, instead of providing solutions. In contrast, we understand the spirit of the era and offer help while going with the flow instead of trying to stop it.

Both sides agree that this controversy represents a much bigger war over the image of the national-religious stream: a dispute between the ultra-Orthodox Zionists and the modern Orthodox groups. In the middle is the silent majority, pulled by both sides.

We are talking about a group that has been trying for years to change the very character of the national-religious public, Bareli said candidly. They are also fighting the Chief Rabbinate and other old conventions. Taharlev also admits that the struggle is broader than the issue of religious women in the army: It is over the hearts and minds of the religious mainstream. This struggle has very interesting ramifications because it examines which group has the stronger influence over the national-religious public: us or the ultra-Orthodox Zionists. The data in our hands shows that our influence is widening all the time, he concluded.
November 23, 2016

Shock and dismay prevailed among the leadership of the Palestinian Authority (PA) following Donald Trumps election. During the US election campaign, most of the Palestinian official spokespeople claimed that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were equally bad news for Palestinian interests. Yet beyond these claims there was a clear preference for Secretary Clinton, out of belief that she could engage with the international community on a two-state solution process. Trumps election victory shuttered any hope of such prospects.

A senior PLO official told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that Trumps victory is a historic turning point for the Palestinian leadership. He said, Donald Trump and his entourage have expressed views that endorse [Prime Minister] Benjamin Netanyahu and [Education Minister] Naftali Bennetts annexation ideology. The only state a President Trump would be willing to approve would be a binational one. We will not engage in a diplomatic process with the Trump administration unless it recognizes Palestinian statehood on the 1967 lines.

The senior official told Al-Monitor that the leadership is convening on an ongoing basis to explore a Palestinian national strategy adapted to this new situation. The premises for developing this strategy are numerous. The Palestinians believe that the United States under Trump will not lead a realistic international effort on a two-state solution. It may instead give a tacit green light to Israel to continue much of its settlement policies and the de facto annexation of Area C. The source explained that they foresee Russia becoming a more relevant player in the region, given the prospects of a good Trump-Vladimir Putin relationship. Also, with Brussels, Paris and Berlin increasingly concerned about a tacit agreement by Washington for Netanyahu to continue his settlement expansion policy, the role of the European Union in that respect may be enhanced. The source noted that initial positive rapport between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Trump could signal a significant role for Sisi on the Palestinian issue.

The senior Palestinian official believes that, in this situation, the Palestinian political equation may tilt more in favor of hard-line Hamas and that West Bank public opinion will grow more desperate and angry. A violent uprising cannot be ruled out in such a situation.

And so the Palestinian leadership will focus its statehood battle in three arenas: the Arab League, the UN Security Council and on the ground (vis-a-vis Israeli annexation policies).

Concerning the Arab League, the Palestinian leadership will, in coordination with Egypt, propose an all-Arab alliance (diplomatic and otherwise) for making the year 2017 the year that ends 50 years of occupation. Egypt will relay this message of Arab unity to the international community, including the new Trump administration. In Palestinian eyes, Egypt will again play its traditional role as the main backer of the Palestinian cause on the international scene, especially after the change of administration in Washington.

Egypt, most probably together with France, will advance a Security Council resolution defining all Israeli settlements east of the Green Line as illegal and demanding that Israel freeze all settlement building. In parallel, there will be a call to the parties to renew permanent status negotiations on the basis of the 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. The Palestinians are sure that the Americans will veto such a proposal, but they also feel that such a resolution proposal could isolate the United States and Israel in the international arena.

On the ground, the PA will closely monitor all Israeli settlement construction, economic annexation measures and human rights violations in order to report them to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In parallel, Palestinian security forces stand ready in case a popular uprising (intifada) erupts.

In general, the new strategy, as described to Al-Monitor by the senior PLO official, is to isolate Israel and the United States in the international community and to allow greater civil (nonviolent) protest in the West Bank during this 50th year of the occupation.

A senior Israeli Foreign Ministry official told Al-Monitor that this time the ministry is taking the Palestinian warning of an intifada more seriously than before. Their assessment is that growing Palestinian frustration is currently directed against President Mahmoud Abbas, and that a possible intifada in 2017 will be directed more against the Palestinian leadership than against Israel.

Israel, said the source, will counter the Palestinian diplomatic offensive by closely coordinating its moves vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue with the new Trump administration before and during the planned meeting between Netanyahu and Trump. Much as the Palestinians believe, the Netanyahu government is hoping to get a US green light for settlement expansion according to the natural growth of the population there and mainly within the settlement blocs. In opposition to the Palestinian diplomatic offensive, Israel will ask for a US commitment to veto any anti-Israel resolution at the Security Council and for the United States to block any Quartet (EU, United Nations, United States and Russia) initiative determining permanent status frameworks.

And so, both on the Palestinian and the Israeli sides, the lines have been redrawn for a new diplomatic battle in the aftermath of a Trump election.
November 27, 2016

Putin wastes no time in Syria

Although US President-elect Donald Trump has signaled his willingness to work with Russia to end the war in Syria, Russian President Vladimir Putin is taking nothing for granted.

Trump said in an interview with The New York Times on Nov. 22, We have to end that craziness thats going on in Syria.

Maxim Suchkov writes that while there is cautious optimism about Trumps position on Syria, Putin is also aware that the US Congress may seek to box in Trump, as Julian Pecquet has reported, so Russia will not be squandering the remaining weeks of the Obama administration.

Moscow believes it now has the opportunity and time to make critical gains in Syria, Suchkov writes. Russian airstrikes in Idlib and Homs provinces as well as the Syrian army offensive in Aleppo seem to be building in this line of reasoning. At the same time, this shouldnt contradict other Russian moves described previously  with an overall decrease in anti-American rhetoric, more attacks on the Islamic State and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham, and prospects for the deterrent built by the Russians in Syria to be a potential bargaining chip with the new administration.

At the same time, Suchkov adds, the military offensives are set to bring more rebel groups to direct talks with the Russian military. According to the Bulletin of the Russian Centre for Reconciliation of Opposing Sides in the Syrian Arab Republic on Nov. 19, within the previous 24 hours 'truce agreements were signed with representatives of three inhabited areas of Hama province and two in Latakia province.' Thus, the total number of inhabited areas whose leaders had signed the so-called reconciliation agreements now amounts to 956, while the number of cease-fire application forms signed with leaders of armed groups has reached 69. Finally, another track Moscow is pursuing is consultations with Iran and Turkey on strategic aspects of Syrian statehood, such as the countrys integrity. Both Tehran and Ankara favor the idea of a united Syria  though each for their own interests and with specific visions for it. Nevertheless, it is important for Russia to find itself on the same page with the regional stakeholders on the critical issues before the situation in Syria is transformed into a postwar diplomatic mode.

Saudi Arabia encouraged by Trump on Iran

Bruce Riedel writes that Saudi Arabia is pleased with the strong talk from Trump and his appointees on Iran. Articles by key future decision-makers such as retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn and Kansas congressman Mike Pompeo's articulating the need for tougher American responses to Iran subversion and terrorism have been well-received in Riyadh.

The United Nations-endorsed nuclear deal with Iran is not Riyadh's priority, Riedel explains, instead, the Saudis want international attention and sanctions focused on Iranian subversion. They will welcome calls for regime change in Tehran and efforts to de-legitimize the Islamic Republic."

While encouraged by Trumps comments so far on Iran, Saudis are nonetheless concerned about Trumps apparent willingness to work more closely with Russia in Syria, and by the potential rise of Islamophobia in the United States.

The kingdoms top priority, however, even before Trump takes office, will be to roll back the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), which allows lawsuits against Saudi Arabia, and possibly other countries, by victims of terrorism. Riedel recommends that between his election and the inauguration Jan. 20, Trump and his team should quietly encourage the lame-duck Congress to amend JASTA to give the new president a waiver to exclude from such lawsuits countries deemed by the president to be major partners in fighting terrorism. Obama could take the political heat and sign an amendment with waiver authority. This will not be an easy sell, but it is far better to change JASTA now than to have to live with it come January 2017. Failure to act responsibly on JASTA, and acknowledging that the issue of a Saudi role in 9/11 has been thoroughly investigated and debunked by two congressionally mandated commissions, will set back the next president's efforts to stabilize a very dangerous region before he even gets started.

Liberman as gatekeeper

Trump said Nov. 22 that he would love to be the one to solve the Israel-Palestine conflict, but he did not indicate how much of a priority that would be for his administration. Trump suggested that [Jared] Kushner, the president-elect's 35-year-old son-in-law who played a key role advising Trump on his campaign, would probably not take a formal post in his administration, but could help make peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, Laura Rozen reports.

If there is a Trump initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the action in Israel will fall to Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman, Ben Caspit writes. Liberman is the sentry patrolling the wall around the future relationship between the Trump administration and the Netanyahu government. Liberman is passionate about his new position right in the nerve center of Israels defense establishment. He shocked everyone while briefing political journalists in Jerusalem on Nov. 16 by saying that he will strive to reach an agreement with the Trump administration in which Israel will freeze construction outside the major settlement blocs while building within them. The defense minister explained that what he meant was official reconfirmation of the 'Bush Letter' of 2004.

Liberman's dealings with the incoming Trump administration would be of a piece with his bid for leadership in Israeli domestic politics. Liberman, according to Caspit, is targeting the political center instead by rebuilding his image as a security hawk and political and diplomatic pragmatist. At the same time, Liberman is also trying to establish an intimate channel of communication with the Trump administration and to become the new administrations main address in Israel. He knows that it is the key to building up his image as the responsible adult in the government and to legitimize himself as a potential candidate for leadership.

A US initiative, on terms favorable to Israel, is no done deal, Caspit reports. In the series of contacts between Liberman and his people and Trumps inner circle, the Americans sent Israel a clear message: Dont celebrate prematurely and dont be rash. Most importantly, a political source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Dont establish facts on the ground.
November 25, 2016

There was a time when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was a frequent traveler to Western capitals, where he was welcomed as the leader of a rising and democratizing Turkey. Those days are long gone.

In the list of the Turkish presidents foreign visits in the past year, there were no Western destinations, with the exceptions of NATO or United Nations summits. Rather, the list includes countries like Qatar, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Peru, Uganda, Azerbaijan, Guinea, Nigeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ecuador, Kenya and Somalia. Since the attempted coup in July, five countries have been added to this list, which are also unmistakably non-Western: Russia, China, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.

Could this mere map of Erdogans travels indicate that Turkeys 2-century-old Western orientation is now being reoriented? Perhaps. But it is even more helpful to listen to Erdogan himself, who is often rightly proud of not mincing any words and making his views quite clear. It is helpful, for example, to look at the messages he gave after paying an official visit to Belarus on Nov 11.

For starters, Belarus, a republic of the former Soviet Union, is the only country fully placed in the European continent that is not often recognized as a democracy. Belarus itself, of course, defines itself as a democracy, but a democracy significantly different from the Western concept. The political system, according to an expert, is a Soviet model of vertical public administration headed by the president. There are no significant NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], media, political parties, trade unions, social organizations, and the ones that exist are the states ideological pillars. According to Freedom House, Belarus ranks as not free, as its political and civil liberties are on the level of China. It has been defined as the last Soviet Republic, and its leader, Alexander Lukashenko, has been banned from entering the United States and many European countries.

Erdogan traveled to Belarus to increase mutual trade volume up to $1 billion and also to attend the opening ceremony of a new mosque in Minsk, which was a step forward for religious freedom. Besides such pragmatic gains, however, the Turkish president also admired the political and legal system of Belarus, which he later defended in a press conference in Ankara. This European nation has the two important things he wants to bring to Turkey  the presidential system and the death penalty  Erdogan emphasized, and they both work nicely. He said:

I went to Belarus most recently, a European country. The president of Belarus, which is governed by the presidential system, said, My country works very well, crime rates are low, and the nation is happy with this situation. But Europe attacks Belarus a lot, asking why you have this [the death penalty].  Europe also attacks the Belarus president as dictator. Why? Because if there is tranquility somewhere, if there is peace, if its economy works well, then the West immediately begins attacking it.

So Belarus not only had a good political and legal system, but also its president was unjustly attacked by the West as a dictator. Erdogan continued this line in another speech a week later in Istanbul, where he declared: If they [Westerners] call somebody a dictator, that person is good in my eyes.

This indicates that now the president of Turkey feels solidarity with the leaders of the world who are criticized by Western states, institutions and the media as dictators. That is probably also why he is now interested in joining the Shanghai Pact, a club of Asian dictatorships led by Russia and China, while preparing to abandon the European Union.

How did Erdogan  and, by extension, Turkey  come to this point? A part of the answer is Erdogans political vision. He is a great champion of democracy, but just like that of Belarus, this is a self-styled system quite unlike the liberal democracy common in the West. As Erdogan has reiterated perhaps a thousand times, democracy simply means elections, and the winner of the elections has the right to rule without any tutelage, which includes what Americans would call checks and balances. In Erdogans model, concepts such as free media, free speech, the right to peaceful assembly, limited government, decentralization of power, an independent judiciary or civil society either do not exist or, at best, are only given lip service. A conflict between this hierarchical democracy and Western liberal norms was inevitable.

Another part of the answer, however, is Western failures and double standards. Throughout their political journey, but especially in the past three years, Erdogan and his supporters have seen Western behaviors that genuinely convinced them about a major Western hypocrisy, adding to their embedded cultural biases. These include the resistance to welcome Turkey into the European Union even when Turkey was at its best and the leniency shown to Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the dictator of Egypt, when he toppled and brutally oppressed a democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood government. The meek Western reaction to the coup attempt in July, rightly criticized by a few Western politicians such as former Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, was an additional blow. It seemed to confirm all of the Turkish conspiracy theories about a grand Western plot to overthrow Erdogan.

That is why, right in the aftermath of the failed coup, I was up in arms insisting, The West must reach out to Turkey. Otherwise, I wrote, The result could be a major fallout between Turkey and the West. A few months later, we seem closer to such a major fallout. Turkey seems, in other words, a bit closer to the Belarusian model.
November 24, 2016

As Turkey continues with its stance in claiming the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and actors in Rojava (the term Kurds use to refer to western Kurdistan in Syria) are one in the same, Co-chairman of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) Salih Muslim was accused of involvement in the Feb. 17 bomb attack in Ankara. Along with key PKK names, including Cemil Bayik, Murat Karayilan, Fehman Huseyin, Zubeyir Aydar and Remzi Kartal, now there is also an arrest warrant for Muslim.

Muslim is a Syrian citizen who was born in Kobani. Somebody in Ankara must be hoping that an Interpol red bulletin will enable Turkey to nab him in Prague, Berlin or Paris, and that he will no longer be addressing the European Parliament. Muslim is a Syrian Kurd who knows Turkey and speaks the Turkish language very well.

During the Syrian crisis, we encountered each other many times. We spoke at length and I interviewed him often.

On Feb. 22, 2015, when  because of the Islamic State (IS) threat  the issue of the Turkish army relocating the Tomb of Suleiman Shah, Turkeys sovereign piece of land in northern Syria, to Eshme village near the Turkish border came up, Muslim was one of the unsung heroes of that operation. He had welcomed the unusual partnership that developed between imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and the People's Protection Units (YPG) as the Spirit of Eshme. The TSK was terribly annoyed by that label.

Surprisingly, the strange cooperation actually worked. YPG fighters accompanied the Turkish military unit as far as the tomb under the coordination of Muslim and a few officials of the Rojava administration. The co-chair of the Kobani canton, Enver Muslim, and a YPG commander were hosted in Ankara for a few days to plan this operation. But the follow-up policies of Ankara after that operation squandered the opportunity for good neighborliness, and relations reverted to enmity.

Turkish officials consider Salih Muslim a PKK official and treat him accordingly. He has never concealed his affinity for Ocalan, but given his past activities and current leadership of the PYD, his profile is widely recognized. I interviewed him recently when I was working on my book, Rojava: Time for Kurds.

Perhaps a few excerpts will help explain why he has such wide recognition:

Al-Monitor: We are told at one point you were associated with the Kurdistan Democratic Party [the KDP, party of President of Iraqi Kurdistan Massoud Barzani]. How come you changed tacks?

Muslim: I am a villager born in 1961 at Seyran village 7 kilometers [4 miles] from Kobani. I did my secondary education in Syria, and in 1970 I began studying at the chemical engineering faculty of Istanbul Technical University. I graduated in 1977. First I went to London, and between 1978 and 1990 I worked in Saudi Arabia. I opened an engineering office in Aleppo in 1993. Politically until the 1970s, there was an uprising led by Mustafa Barzani [father of Massoud Barzani], and we sympathized with that.

Al-Monitor: Were you politically active in the KDP?

Muslim: No. We sympathized with their uprising, but we were not part of their organization. Then I got married. From Saudi Arabia I was following developments in Turkey in the 1980s. Because I knew Turkish, I could follow the news about the PKK.

Al-Monitor: Did you have organic ties with the PKK?

Muslim: No, I kept track of them as a patriotic Kurd. The PKK was the leading organization. When I was in Syria I met Abdullah Ocalan a couple of times in Damascus. My sympathies with the movement grew but did not go beyond that. I was active in social affairs, and we were discussing that it was time for us to set up our own organizations. The Syria Democratic Assembly that also included Arabs was a result of those debates. That organization was annulled in 2002, and we started to work on setting up the PYD. We had a popular base, and as long as Ocalan was in Syria that base grew.  We established the PYD on Sept. 20, 2003, as the party of Syrian Kurds.

Al-Monitor: Ocalans expulsion from Syria led the way to the purge of Syrian Kurds with the Adana Accord signed between Syria and Turkey. PKK cadres were detained and handed over to Turkey. The PYD was set up to fill the vacuum. Doesnt this mean the PYD was a continuation of the PKK?

Muslim: We were not an extension of the PKK. Conditions in Syria are different in terms of the regime, the society and our relations with Arabs. Sure, we sympathized with other Kurdish organizations such as the PKK, but our goal was confined to Syria.

When asked about the role of the PYD and the YPG in the Turkish armys evacuation of the Tomb of Suleiman Shah, Muslim added, Ask Mr. Sinirlioglu [the then-undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs]. He has all the answers. They had a crisis room in Ankara. I was in Istanbul; I had their phone numbers. I was to call Kobani and intervene if needed, but that wasnt necessary at all. Everything went smoothly. After the operation they called me and said, We did it successfully. Thank you. Then I left Istanbul."

Muslim came to Turkey several times for unofficial contacts. He had a positive approach in all of our conversations, always emphasizing they wanted good relations with Turkey and would never be a threat despite the proxy wars waged by IS and Jabhat al-Nusra (which has since changed its name to Jabhat Fatah al-Sham). Dont forget he is a father who lost a son in clashes with jihadi organizations that were being supplied from the Turkish border.

These warm messages were conducive to normalizing relations with related Kurdish communities and enabling Turkey to pursue a constructive line. But the government adopted a hostile stance and did not make use of the opportunity to make a clean start with the Kurdish communities.

While Turkey abandoned the peace process with the Kurds in Turkey and opted for a combative approach against them, it also introduced a multidimensional strategy for Rojava. On Aug. 24, the Turkish army entered the picture via Jarablus to fight IS. YPG-led forces were prevented from ousting IS from Jarablus after clearing them from Manbij. Ankara thus felt the Kurdish corridor was foiled. Turkeys calculation for al-Bab and Raqqa are actually designed to paralyze the autonomy movement in Rojava.

Military interdiction and encirclement are accompanied by political and diplomatic offensives. Ankara has not been able to stop the PYD or the YPG from gaining international legitimacy. The Rojava autonomy movement has become a trusted partner of the United States against IS, and Muslim is frequently hosted by many EU bodies with which Turkey has relations.

He is warmly welcomed by political parties and civil societies in European capitals. Therefore, Turkeys efforts to sideline the PYD haven't made headway. Actually, Ankaras efforts are seen as efforts to eliminate a force that is fighting IS. As such, it is impossible for Turkey to make progress in its anti-PYD stance with the same strategy it applies against the PKK.

The table that will be set up to discuss a solution to the crisis in Syria will surely have a seat for Muslim. Will Turkey again issue its ultimatum that if the PYD is there, "we wont be," as it did with the last Geneva conference? Will such an ultimatum yield anything for Turkey?
A crash in Marshall County on Saturday left a teenager dead.

A 16-year-old female, who has not been publicly identified, was driving a Chevrolet Cobalt when the vehicle left the road, hit a fence, and overturned.

The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene. According to Trooper Curtis Summerville, she was not wearing a seat belt.

The crash happened on Hulaco Road, two miles south of Arab, at 11:12 a.m.

Summerville said the Alabama State Troopers are still investigating, but the preliminary report indicates speed was a factor in the crash.
Jeff Sessions.jpg

Jeff Sessions

(Paul Gattis)

In 1986, then-U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions was struggling during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sessions, who was nominated for a federal judgeship by President Ronald Reagan a year before, was failing to remember conversations with other witnesses who claimed he was a racist. Some claimed he made remarks about the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union and the National Conference of Churches being "un-American," according to the Birmingham News' coverage of Sessions' confirmation hearings.

The contentious hearings have been revisited in the national media after President-elect Donald Trump tapped Sessions, now a U.S. senator from Alabama, to lead the Justice Department as attorney general. In a strange twist of fate, Sessions will have to go before the Judiciary Committee, likely sometime in January, as Trump's nominee.

In a defeat for both Reagan and Sessions, the nomination was torpedoed by the Judiciary Committee in a 10-8 vote, leading the president to withdraw the nomination.

Not only did the 1986 vote temporarily derail Sessions' ambitions, the 38-year-old prosecutor became the poster boy for unpreparedness; footage of Sessions' hearing was included in a Justice Department video to help future judicial nominees wade through the choppy waters of a confirmation hearing.

"We want to reduce the shock value" for future nominees, then-Justice Department spokesman Mark Sheehan told the News at the time. "If the examination of a judge nominee's qualifications takes an adversarial turn, it's better to have the nominee psychologically prepared for when they start asking about what happened three years ago and who said whom to what in what tone."

One of the key votes against Sessions was then-Sen. Howell Heflin, a Democrat who at first supported Sessions but "reluctantly" made an about-face during the hearings. Alabama's other senator at the time, Jeremiah Denton, was Sessions' biggest supporter and recommended Reagan nominate the prosecutor for the Mobile judgeship.

Besides Heflin, other Alabamians played a key role in persuading the committee to reject Sessions, including Thomas Figures, a black attorney in Sessions' office who claimed Sessions called him "boy" and lectured him on how he talked to white people after reprimanding a white secretary. Sessions denied the allegations.

There were also accusations that Sessions' office in Mobile targeted blacks for voting fraud allegations while ignoring cases of fraud perpetrated by whites.

Albert Turner, a civil rights activist and adviser to Martin Luther King, was among three black Perry County residents prosecuted by Sessions' office. He and the other defendants were acquitted of the charges.

"My own opinion is that the case was political," Turner told NBC News in 1986, accusing Sessions of harassing him and the other defendants. "I actually don't think Jeff Sessions came in with an ounce of evidence."

During the hearings, Sessions vehemently denied the accusations against him, including a charge from Figures that he thought the Ku Klux Klan was "OK" until he learned that members smoked marijuana.

"This assertion is ludicrous. I detest the Klan," he told the committee. "I state categorically that I have never called Mr. Figures 'boy.'"

Nearly 660 miles away from the hearings in Washington, the editorial board of the Birmingham News concurred with the majority of Judiciary Committee members. Although the board wrote that it lamented that the racism allegations appeared to follow partisan lines, and it wrote that only Sessions himself could know for sure if he is racist, it said that Sessions did not have the "judicial temperament" of a federal judge.

"By his injudicious remarks - he admits to having a loose tongue - Sessions has shown that he does not," the editors for the state's largest newspaper wrote in a March 1986 editorial headlined "Judicial Temperament."

"Whatever his true feelings are, Sessions' unfortunate remarks could make it difficult for all parties to believe that they would be treated fairly and equally in his courtroom, regardless of their race or political views," the board went on to say. "For that reason, Sessions' sponsors should withdraw his nomination."

But closer to home, in Sessions' base of Mobile, the Mobile Press-Register supported Sessions. Sandra Baxley Taylor, the newspaper's state editor at the time, harshly criticized Sen. Ted Kennedy, who was among Sessions' staunchest opponents on the Judiciary Committee. Kennedy had said Sessions would be "a disgrace to the Justice Department" if he had been confirmed.

"Kennedy took the truth and warped it. He lied. 'Mr. Sessions is a throwback to a shameful era ... He is, I believe, a disgrace to the Justice Department." The hateful words will hang shamefully in the air in South Alabama," wrote Baxley Taylor in March 1986. "Their hypocrisy will not be forgiven. It is, I realize, difficult to walk in the shoes of heroes. Perhaps it is time for Sen. Kennedy to admit he is a stand-in for a man who died in Dallas 22 years ago. That man was a hero. Ted Kennedy, it seems, is just another politician. And not a terribly good one, at that."

Just a few months later, the News reversed course and also sided with Sessions, writing that it had "regret" that the Judiciary Committee stalled the nomination. The change of heart came after the editorial board interviewed Sessions and studied the testimony.

"[I]t seemed clear that to a certain extent he was the victim of misunderstanding and could have been an effective addition to the federal bench," the board wrote in June 1986 after Sessions was rejected by the committee. "Nevertheless, we can understand how some senators' decisions on Sessions may have been made more difficult by such comments. And we understand how, in good conscience and in regard for the critical importance of fair judgment in reviewing those offered for lifetime appointments to the federal bench they may, however reluctantly (as was true in Heflin's case), have decided to vote 'no.'"

Although rejected by Washington, Sessions took solace in the support from his home state.

"Though I did not obtain the full confidence of the Judiciary Committee, I take consolation in the fact that all 10 of the circuit judges of Mobile, the district attorneys in my district, the Mobile Bar Association Executive Committee, and the major newspapers in my district have supported my confirmation," he wrote to Reagan shortly after his bid for the judgeship was over. "I am confident that a strong majority of the citizens of my district favored my confirmation also."

Soon after, Sessions reflected on his nomination in an interview with the Press-Register.

"This should bring to a close a bizarre chapter of my life," he said.

It's a bizarre chapter that Sessions is sure to be quizzed on in January.

John Sharp contributed reporting to this story.
A 12-year-old boy was killed Saturday morning when the ATV he was operating overturned in Monroe County.

The boy, whose name hasn't been released, is from Stapleton, a community in Baldwin County, according to Alabama state troopers.

A 10-year-old, who was also riding on the Polaris Ranger ATV, was injured and transported to an unspecified hospital for treatment, troopers said.

The ATV crash occurred at around 10:15 a.m. on Tunnel Hill Road approximately 12 miles north of Monroeville.

No other details were immediately available for release.
When the Senate's "liberal lion" Ted Kennedy called then-U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions a "throw-back to a shameful era" and a "disgrace" to the Justice Department, Alabama's conservatives roared back.

The voters in this deep red state have rallied around the diminutive lawyer and he's rewarded them with a record of backing ultraconservative causes from abortion to gun control and religious liberty. His latest cause, illegal immigration, emerged as a major talking point for Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Sessions became a close advisor.

Now, 30 years since the Judiciary Committee shot down Sessions' confirmation as a federal judge, the Wilcox County native has ascended as Trump's choice as the most powerful law enforcement agent in the country: U.S. Attorney General.

"The way Sessions had been treated by the Senate ... definitely did impact his meteoric rise from federal judicial functionary to the lofty positions of State Attorney General, a U.S. Senator, and now, apparently, to be the next U.S. Attorney General," said William Stewart, professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama.

He added, "Given the fact that Alabama has had very few presidential cabinet members over the years, I would say that Sessions story represents a big episode in the state's political history, even if not the absolute biggest."

Growing popularity

While Sessions has faced his share of policy setbacks over the years, his political support in Alabama remains spotless: He won the Alabama Attorney General's seat in 1994, followed up with four consecutive wins as U.S. Senator from 1997 to today.

That success, according to Alabama political insiders, can be traced back to the grilling Sessions received from liberal senators like Kennedy and Joe Biden during a confirmation hearing in which he was accused of making racist comments.

The disastrous hearing battered Sessions reputation after his judicial nomination was rejected amid allegations that he once called a black staffer "a boy," that he considered the NAACP as "un-American" and used criminal prosecutions to thwart voting rights for blacks.

The Judiciary hearing, while initially devastating to Sessions, became a rallying cry for his supporters.

"The fact that liberals were against him told the story that he was a conservative," said Steve Flowers, a political columnist and commentator. "Having Ted Kennedy is like having (Barack) Obama against you at that time. It's probably why he won the Attorney General's race. Plus, he's qualified."

Said Stewart: "Anything Kennedy said about one of Alabama's own could only add to his popularity here in the state."

With that political assist, Sessions journey began from the courtrooms of Mobile into the halls of power in Montgomery and to Capitol Hill.

After his U.S. Senate election in 1996, Sessions joined the Senate Judiciary Committee alongside Kennedy and Biden and became a bane to liberals on their judicial nominations.

Along the way, Sessions developed a record of conservatism on issues such as abortion, religious liberty, gun control, education and juvenile justice. He has a reputation for being a budget hawk.

And these days, he's being compared to ultraconservative lawmakers of the past, among them the late Republican Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.

Thurmond, who was on the Judiciary Committee in 1986, became Sessions' mentor in 1997. Thurmond was 94 years old at the time; Sessions was 50. The two traveled together on a trip to China that same year. Thurmond once told the Mobile Press Register that the two "think alike, act alike and vote alike."

Thurmond, himself, was ideologically conservative and popular in his home state, even if he has been vilified over the years for his views on race and civil rights.

Thurmond is famous for his staunch segregationist stances and for opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

"I think it was good that Thurmond took Sessions under his wing, so to speak, and helped him learn upper house ways more quickly than he otherwise would have been able to," Stewart said.

Democratic politicians, though, have been and remain skeptical of Sessions. He pushed back repeatedly on judicial nominations from President Bill Clinton in the late 1990s, and on Obama's nominations during recent years while chastising Democrats during President George W. Bush's administration for criticizing the GOP's nominations.

Sessions always denied that his 1986 rebuke from that same committee led to his aggressive posturing against Democrat appointees.

"My experiences up here, that does not bother me," Sessions told the Press Register in 1997. "I feel like things worked out the way they were supposed to."

Alabama Attorney General

The political emergence of Sessions began in 1994, while he was practicing law in Mobile. In April of that year, he announced his intentions to run against incumbent Alabama Attorney General Jimmy Evans during the November election.

Sessions won, handily, over Evans and immediately was thrust into the headlines when he chose to lay off 63 of Evans' 196 employees within the office effective on Inauguration Day in 1995.

Sessions was also critical of Evans' handling of the office, noting that it was only generating about $2 million from lawsuits - a considerably lower amount than Evans' claims. Evans suggested that the Attorney General could bring in $5 million.

While Sessions' tenure in the office was brief, it was notable. As detailed in The New York Times by New York University professor Thomas Sugrue, Sessions led the state's battle against the ruling that led to the current funding system for Alabama public schools. Judge Eugene W. Reese found the state's education funding unconstitutional and ordered lawmakers to come up with a system to remedy inequities between rich and poor schools.

Surgue wrote that Sessions' decision to layoff lawyers within his office forced him to find outside counsel to handle the case.

Also during that two-year stint, Sessions teamed with U.S. Attorney Redding Pitt to conduct joint probes that led to the indictments several aides under former Democratic Gov. Jim Folsom.

Among those charged was former Alabama Department of Environmental Management Director John Smith, who was accused of stealing $325,505 by deception for allegedly failing to do work that his company had contracted with state agencies and community colleges.

Also on

Jeff Sessions' confirmation hearing before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee in 1986 will likely be revisited in the coming months. A federal judge hopeful,

In 1996, a judge dismissed the theft indictment against Smith because one of Sessions' prosecutors wrongly exposed the indictment to news reporters before Smith was notified. Sessions, according to newspaper accounts at that time, promised to continue pursuing charges.

Smith's attorney, Tommy Gallion, said of the Attorney General's Office at the time: "I've never seen conduct like this in my 27 years as an attorney."

But Gallion told AL.com this week that he blames former Gov. Fob James, a Republican, for spurring on the corruption probe that ultimately led to Smith's exoneration.

Sessions, who was running for the Senate at the time, "had a hands off approach," said Gallion.

"I think the governor was running the show," said Gallion, who now praises Sessions' legal career for prosecuting Ku Klux Klan members in the 1980s and that recent national media accounts of Sessions as a racist are "laughable."

"Jeff was Attorney General and I think Fob James put the pressure on him to prosecute it," said Gallion. "John Smith was a fine person and it destroyed his career. The person behind that was Fob James."

Sessions did face ethics charges against him while he was Attorney General. In 1996, he defended a complaint against a company that was indicted for defrauding customers and suppliers. The charges against Sessions were that he violated state ethics law by releasing the corporate secrets of Birmingham-based Tieco Inc. to USX Corp., which then used the records against Tieco.

Sessions, according to an Associated Press account at the time, hired nine private lawyers and charged the state $160 an hour for each to defend him and three of his investigators against the charges. At the time, state agencies were limited to an $85-an-hour standard rate to pay private lawyers unless the governor's office said otherwise.

On the eve of the hearing, Sessions held a news conference in which he said an unfavorable ruling by the commission would mean that any law officer who showed evidence to a crime victim during an investigation would be subject to ethics charges.

Said then Ethics Commission Director Mac McArthur, who described the news conference as "bizarre": "I never have known of that to happen. Criminal defense attorneys will sometimes try to try their cases in the press, much like (what) happened in the O.J. Simpson case."

Following the longest Ethics Commission meeting on record at that time -- at 12 hours -- the group voted 5-0 to dismiss the complaint against Sessions.

Early days: U.S. Senate

Sessions was elected to the Senate to replace retiring Howell Heflin, a former adversary of his during the 1986 Judiciary Committee hearings. The transition between the two reportedly went smoothly.

Sessions was almost immediately appointed to the Judiciary Committee, the same group that torpedoed his nomination to the federal bench.

Sessions, though, said he had no ill-feelings and wasn't going into the position to settle scores but to push for tort reform and a balanced budget amendment.

Sessions, though, joined a cadre of GOP lawmakers who pushed back on Clinton's nominees. In 1997, Sessions opposed the appointment of Merrick Garland - who would eventually become Obama's stalled choice for the U.S. Supreme Court - for a judgeship on the U.S. Court of Appeals. At the time, Sessions argued that the court's caseload didn't warrant filling the spot with Garland.

Sessions' opposition to Garland was subject to a three-part NPR series and highlighted a spat between the Alabama senator and Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch over Sessions' aggressive pushback against the nominees. Sessions said Garland's appointment would be a "rip off" of taxpayers, since leaving the bench open saved around $1 million. Garland was eventually confirmed.

Even conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist weighed in, by chastising the Senate for its slow pace in considering Clinton's judicial nominees.

Early on, Sessions continued to craft a national reputation for fiscal conservatism. He joined with Sen. Tim Hutchinson, an Arkansas Republican, on a push to shutter the National Endowment for the Arts building in Washington, D.C. A year later, Sessions blasted the Clinton Administration for developing a $53 million "boondoggle" in New York City to house the United Nations.

But his biggest issue - juvenile justice reform - earned him some initial national attention. Sessions pushed for legislation that would divert $500 million to the states to help build prisons, boot camps and alternative schools. The bill also would ease federal restrictions that prohibit placing juveniles in the same lockups as adults. Though juveniles couldn't be in the same cells, they could share similar common areas populated by adult inmates.

Sessions was chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Youth Violence at that time. His legislation was ultimately defeated by the full Senate.

Stewart said he thinks Sessions could utilize his early interest in juvenile justice as Attorney General "to teach these youth that their criminal behavior won't be tolerated but also help the juveniles to find avenues in which their behaviors can be channeled in more positive directions."

Evolving senator

Quin Hillyer, a conservative columnist from Mobile and a critic of Trump's presidential campaign, said that Sessions' work on crime-related matters did lead to significant reforms in crack cocaine sentencing.

Specifically, he cited the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which was approved by Congress and signed into law by Obama. In essence, the law reduced sentencing disparities between people sentence in crack cocaine cases and those sentenced in cases involving powdered cocaine.

While crack and powder cocaine are two forms of the same drug, crack is statistically used more often by minorities and carried much harsher punishments.

"It started with Jeff Sessions in 2001," said Hillyer. "He went to work for nine years to fix it and he was the guy who pushed it. It was tough to get others on board because who wants to be seen as lenient on crack cocaine? He said that 'we're not being lenient, but we're going to equalize it.'"

Hillyer said that Sessions' role in pushing forward that law illustrates his penchant for not "carrying the party line." He also said that it rebukes any charges that Sessions is closet racist stemming from the 1986 Judiciary Committee hearings.

"No closet racist or bigot or latent racist or bigot would spend nine years with no political benefit to himself pushing to fix a disparity that hurts black people," said Hillyer. "But Jeff Sessions did because it was the right thing to do."

Sessions, though, is already facing pushback from religious watchdog groups for past statements the senator has made. In 1999, Sessions joined conservative lawmakers to ask for a Justice Department probe into the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, saying he wanted to know if the group intimidated religious voters.

Then-Attorney General Janet Reno rejected the investigation requests.

The group's executive director Barry Lynn told AL.com this week that Sessions is among the "top of the iceberg of disrespect for the principles of the First Amendment" on issues of separation between church and state.

"He takes a great deal of interest in legal matters while some of the very conservative senators have not been focused on these issues, and he certainly has in his life and tenure in the Senate," said Lynn, who has overseen the church watchdog group for 26 years. "He certainly digs into issues he believes in."

The organization recently issued a statement opposing Sessions' appointment as Attorney General. In it, the group noted that Sessions once launched a crusade against Democrats when he wanted to include the phrase "So help me God" at the end of oaths given by nominees testifying before Senate committees.

"I have serious reservations about whether Senator Sessions knows anything about the Bill of Rights or the history of the Constitution," said Lynn. "He has never seemed to demonstrate such an interest or awareness. He clearly applies religious tests for Supreme Court nominees."

Those issues aside, it's Sessions' hardline stance against illegal immigration that drew him to Trump. The Alabama senator famously brought Trump to Mobile in August 2015 for a rousing rally at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, among the first events to draw large crowds for the real estate developer. He then appeared with Trump during a February rally in Madison and endorsed him.

Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., left, looks on as Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a national security meeting with advisors at Trump Tower, Friday, Oct. 7, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/ Evan Vucci)

Sessions, meanwhile, served as an adviser to Trump's campaign on illegal immigration and has championed the prospects of a wall built along the U.S.-Mexican border.

Sessions and other GOP lawmakers have been forceful in opposing the Obama administration's policy of not deporting immigrants who were brought to the United States as children.

Sessions, as attorney general, could provide legal guidance to defend any action taken by Trump's White House to rescind the Obama policy and deport more than 700,000 people.

"If you want the conservative platform on immigration, he's the scholar," said Jonathan Gray, a Mobile-based political strategist in a 2015 AL.com piece about Sessions' soaring popularity on the campaign trail. "He knows the ins and outs and the loopholes."

Confirmation likely

Stewart said that despite concerns from liberals about Sessions' record, he anticipates the Senate confirming him as the new Attorney General. Republicans currently hold a majority in the Senate.

According to Politico, Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, a potential swing vote on the Judiciary Committee and a moderate on immigration and social issues, will support Sessions.

Also, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican and judiciary panel member who opposed Trump's presidential bid, has nothing but praise for Sessions.

Democrats are expected to mount some sort of opposition, but Flowers said it will be fleeting.

"There is no scandal in his personal and public life ... there is nothing said about Sessions regarding his integrity," Flowers said. "He's a good guy. He's clean. He won't have trouble being confirmed and will be a real conservative Attorney General. I really believe that and I think all he has to have is the Republicans to vote for him."

Left-leaning Democrats, though, won't be pleased, Flowers said.

"Sessions ... he really lights up the liberals. They know he's a conservative. He's not going to deviate."
Fannie Flagg Author photo

Author Fannie Flagg will debut her new book "The Whole Town's Talking" Tuesday, and kick off her book tour in Fairhope and Birmingham. (Andrew Southam)

((Andrew Southam))

There may be no one more proud to be from Alabama than Fannie Flagg.

She's a best-selling author, accomplished actress, comedienne and television/writer producer. Those of us old enough remember her in the '70s as Allen Funt's co-host on "Candid Camera" and a hilarious panelist on Gene Rayburn's "Match Game."

She's starred in TV, movies and on Broadway, but may be most well-known for the book 1987 book "Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe." She adapted that book into a screenplay that became the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes," still a classic 25 years after its release.

She could have left Alabama and never looked back decades ago and we'd still be proud to claim her as our own.

But not only does Flagg, a Birmingham native, still keep a home on the coast in Fairhope, she keeps Alabama and its people near to her heart and as the main inspiration for her work.

Many of her books are set in Alabama, like her 2013 novel, "The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion," which takes place in Point Clear.

That's why it was a bit surprising to find that her newest book, which will be released on Tuesday, was set in a small Midwestern town called Elmwood Springs, Mo.

Fannie Flagg's newest book is called "The Whole Town's Talking." It debuts Nov. 29. (Random House)

"The Whole Town's Talking," tells the story of Elmwood Springs from its founding in 1892 by Swedish immigrant Lordor Nordstrom, to modern day.

But guess what? No matter where the book is set, it's infused with Alabama.

"Although I call it Elmwood Springs, Mo., I'm actually imagining a place I grew up called Woodlawn, Ala.," Flagg said of the northeast Birmingham community where she was born Patricia Neal before adopting her acting and writing pseudonym.

One of the book's central characters, the lovable, down-to-earth, wise-but-eccentric Elner Shimfissle, is based on Flagg's grandmother.

And there are at least two characters that are living, breathing Alabamians. The characters Macky and Norma Warren, Flagg said, are her best friends in Birmingham.

"When I told them I was going to use them in my book I asked them what they wanted their names to be," Flagg said. "Norma said, 'Everyone's going to know it's us, so you might as well use our real names!"

In fact, many folks who are lucky enough to be friends with Fannie Flagg might recognize themselves in her books.

"Everybody, basically, is sort of like a composite of people I've known over the years," she said.

The title, "The Whole Town's Talking" works in so many ways. If you grew up in a small town, you know how fast word travels. It could also refer to town busybody Ida Jenkins' gossip/society column, titled, of course, "The Whole Town's Talking."

There's another reason that the title works so well, but it's such a fun surprise that we won't spoil it for you here.

Just know that Fannie Flagg has a creative and brilliant literary device up her sleeve that makes this book a special and new experience for her fans.

And know that Fannie is as proud of us as we are of her.

"I am just proud of how incredibly sweet and kind and mannerly Alabama people are and remain. It's just always a pleasure to come home," she said. "It's always just a pleasure to me when I'm somewhere in an airport or something and I hear that accent. I always go up and introduce myself and find out where they're from, and I have a friend immediately."

If you want to be Fannie's friend, she, as always, will kick off her book signing tour in Alabama.

She'll start at 6 p.m. Dec. 6 for a reading and signing at the Fairhope Civic Center sponsored by the Page & Palette, the bookstore where she held her very first book signing. The owner, incidentally, is Flagg's childhood friend, Karen Wilson, who is the granddaughter of the store's original owner, and Fairhope's new mayor.

"I remember her as an 11-year-old skinny girl and now she's Madame Mayor," Flagg said, the pride evident in her voice.

Then she'll appear at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at the Lyric Theatre in Birmingham for a conversation with Janice Rogers of "Good Day Alabama," in an event sponsored by Books-a-Million.

Try not to miss her or this book because she's said it will be her last. Writing full-length novels is hard work, and she plans to focus on short stories from now on. Don't be surprised if those short stories, no matter where they're set, remind you of someone or some place you know.

"No matter what, it's always Alabama I'm writing about," Flagg said.

Haskins takes a weekly look at points of pride statewide. Email your suggestions to shaskins@al.com, or tweet them to @Shelly_Haskins using #AlabamaProud
Vilified or adored, the longtime Cuban leader was undoubtedly one of a kind, especially in Latin America.

For nearly a decade, I lived and worked in Cuba as a television foreign correspondent, leaving just as Fidel Castro was suddenly forced by illness to step aside in July 2007.

During that time Fidel Castro, or just Fidel, as we all knew him, was ever present.

Yet for nearly 10 years I was obliged to chase down interminable rumours that Fidel had died or was dying.

Sometimes he would disappear for weeks on end, just to finally reappear to taunt his Cuban-American foes with his presence.

Sorry to disappoint you, he once said, clearly relishing the moment.





The day I really do die, no one will believe it.

Fidel was not wrong. Although his health had been steadily waning since his intestinal surgeries in 2006, when his life finally was extinguished, it came as a shock to millions of people in and out of Cuba, including me.

Like 70 percent of Cubans born with Fidel Castro as their leader, I can barely remember a time when he did not exist.

I was very young when my father, a journalist for the New York Herald Tribune, went to Cuba to interview Castro after the triumph of his revolution.

He brought me back a doll and a record of a catchy popular tune called Cuba Si! Yanqui No!

I was furious. Our family doctor was a Cuban exile, from whom I heard only terrible things about Castro.

But my Chilean mothers closest cousin admired Castro so much that he had moved to Havana to assist him as an economic adviser.

READ MORE: Cuban leader Fidel Castros mixed legacy

The family was split. Then came the Cuban missile crisis, which found me living in New York, practising nuclear air raid drills at school. Castro was always somehow a force.

Then I grew up, became a journalist myself and finally met the bearded leader in the flesh in 1986.

As a war correspondent in Central America, I was invited, along with other colleagues based in Nicaragua, to visit Cuba, and at a reception in the Palace of the Revolution I was introduced to him.

Castros tall physique and larger-than-life reputation was impressive, but not as much as the adulation he received from our minders. I had never seen anything like it.





Countless mass protests

Ten years later, I was transferred to Cuba with my family and regularly ran into El Comandante.

There were news conferences, inspections of preparations for hurricanes, chance encounters at embassy receptions, and a few exclusive interviews.

In every crisis and important event  from Pope John Paul IIs historic visit, to countless mass protests in front of the US diplomatic mission, to the jailing of scores of dissidents  Fidel was in charge.

No detail was too small. He once spent three consecutive days on television explaining the best way to cook a good pot of beans as he announced that pressure cookers and electric stoves would be distributed to each family.

He was a firecely proud man with a temper, and did not take kindly to unflattering reporting. He could not be challenged.

There were times when he would not speak to me for months, and as long as he did not, neither did anyone else in the government.

That was called being put in the freezer.

Put in the freezer

Eventually Castro would come around, because I am convinced that he enjoyed being questioned by foreign correspondents, perhaps because we asked the difficult questions that the state-controlled media dared not.

Castros memory and his encyclopedic knowledge of an incredible range of subjects were legendary.

But as the years passed, and the hardships of ordinary Cubans continued to spur tens of thousands to leave the island, he seemed to be increasingly disconnected with the day-to-day problems and the wishes of his people.

His younger brother, Raul, by contrast, knew the price of beans.

Vilified or adored, Castro was undoubtedly one of a kind, especially in Latin America.

READ MORE: Castro  The making of a legend

He embodied dignity and defiance in a region scarred by decades of US political and economic interference and military interventions.

When I moved to Cuba, my youngest daughter was just turning three. Castro was the first real-life president and all-powerful person she had ever seen or heard of.

By the time we left, she still did not understand much about politics, but when she heard the news of Fidels death, she was shocked.

I knew it would happen one day, but it means the end of an era, she told me.

Even for her, it is difficult to believe that this man who was a presence in our lives, who determined the destinies of millions of Cubans and influenced revolutionary movements around the globe, is now no more.
London, United Kingdom  Arzo Kazmi has been looking for a husband for some time. But eight years of matchmakers, mutual friends, and dating websites have been futile in finding that special someone.

It feels like for ever, says the 33-year-old financial adviser from Birmingham who is of Pakistani-Kashmiri heritage.

As most of her friends are secular and white, she says she rarely meets single Muslim men.

For the past four weeks, she has been using Muzmatch, a smartphone app for Muslims to meet potential marriage partners. But unlike well-established dating apps, such as Tinder and Hinge, Muzmatch specifically caters to Muslims searching for a spouse  giving young Muslims greater influence in finding the right mate.



For me to meet a Muslim man, I need to do something different, so thats what Im doing, she says of her aim to find someone who matches her professional achievements, as well as her Western  and Islamic  values.

Dating is often prohibited in Muslim families. Traditionally, family members are often directly involved in seeking and vetting possible partners  and the couples respective families often meet to approve the marriage.

READ MORE: We found love in cyberspace

Second, third, and even fourth-generation Muslims in the diaspora have grown up feeling very much part of the society they are in ... They are asserting their faith more strongly, but in a way that will connect to the wider world around them. by Shelina Janmohamed, author

Nilima Thakur*, a 25-year-old teacher living in southeast England, says she has grown frustrated with this set-up. She has been looking for a husband for about a year, on and off. Finding little success, she recently began using the matchmaking app and, like Kazmi, says its a way of taking more control.

Ive gone through family and that was just a disaster, says Thakur, who was born in the UK and is of Bangladeshi descent. I think its a very peculiar way to get to know someone.



Although my family have my best interests at heart, only I know what Im really after, Thakur adds, noting that shes interested in a combination of Islamic principles and an engaging personality in her future partner.

Shifting principles

Many young Muslims around the British Isles are brought up in traditional households, but without a wider community with a shared cultural heritage.

Sana Ikram, 24, was searching for two years for a husband in her southwestern hometown of Swindon.

Networks only extend so far and that doesnt always provide a result, she says.

After attending marriage events, asking religious leaders and rishta aunties  prominent women in Pakistani communities who help find partners  Ikram started using the app and found a pool of people who were more relatable than those shed been introduced to, she says. This means someone who is compatible with her Islamic faith and her complex mix of British and Pakistani cultures  and someone she would want to spend the rest of her life with.

This union of modern local values and Islamic principles is a shift by young Muslims in countries as disparate as the UK and the United Arab Emirates, the United States and Indonesia, according to the author of the books Generation M: Young Muslims Changing the World and Love in a Headscarf, Shelina Janmohamed.

Janmohamed argues that internet access allows young Muslims to find like-minded individuals and those with shared identities, within or even across national borders, beyond the reach of more traditional methods of meeting a partner.

Second, third, and even fourth-generation Muslims in the diaspora have grown up feeling very much part of the society they are in, says Janmohamed. If anything, they are asserting their faith more strongly, but in a way that will connect to the wider world around them.

And while being religiously faithful, they want to drive their personal lives, not be a recipient of them, she explains.

While Ikram, who studied Egyptology and is looking for work in museums, wanted to fulfil her desires as a practising Muslim, she hoped the app would not provide singularly religious types.

Last January, she met 23-year-old business owner Hakim  of Pakistani and West Indian origin  using the app. They chatted on WhatsApp and met in person a month later. Iram told Hakim that if he was serious, then he would have to meet her mother. After several family meetings, Hakim formally proposed.

The couple were married four months after their first meeting.



The app markets itself solely to Muslims seeking marriage. It claims to have more than 120,000 users across 123 countries, about two-and-a-half years after launching. About two thirds of users are men. The UK, its home country, is its biggest market, followed by the US, Canada, Pakistan and Australia, but it also caters to singles in Indonesia, India, Morocco, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia, among others.

Muzmatchs founder and CEO, Shahzad Younas, told Al Jazeera that he wanted to create a serious, safe community of quality individuals and hopes the app will break down barriers between Muslims of different cultural backgrounds.

I think the new generation are more open to saying if youre Muslim and Im Muslim, then whats the problem? We make life difficult for ourselves by putting barriers up between ethnicities.



The 32-year-old British Pakistani says its working, with a couple of hundred now-married couples meeting on the charge-free network.

Muzmatchs religious parameters, which members can check off, include the sect of Islam and things such as how often they pray. A wali, or guardian, can be nominated as a third-party moderator to monitor chats within the app, and photos can be made private.

Education levels are also delineated, and the app is conscientiously aspirational. Mocked-up promotional material presents two Yale graduates using its messaging service  Muzmatch says about 71 percent of its users are university-educated.



OPINION: Tinder isnt perfect  but why would it be?

Online relationships

Globally, one in five relationships now start online, and the industry presents large economic potential. In the UK, for instance, between 2001 and 2011, Muslims were the fastest growing religious group  from three percent to 4.8 percent of Brits identifying as Muslim  to a total of 2.7 of the population.

The Muslim demographic in Britain is young, with with 48 percent under the age of 24, compared to 31 percent for the overall population.

Muzmatch is not the only one trying to get a share of that target market, with competitors such as Canadian-based Salaam Swipe and Minder from the US. Meanwhile, there are dating apps Jfiix and JSwipe for Jews, and Christians have Crosspaths, for example.

Ikram says, regarding Muslim-focused apps, that imams have given their support to these websites and apps, saying they are inclusive of all of our [religious] requirements, and many families and religious leaders are behind the idea of meeting a partner online, when its paired with Islamic conditions, such as the presence of a third party.

Ajmal Masroor  a 45-year-old imam born in Bangladesh but brought up in the UK, a broadcaster and a founder of the Barefoot Institute in London 15 years ago, which provides marriage advice and support for couples  says these young Muslims are the ABC1  those with disposable income, an education, and an outward-looking view of the Islamic world.

Their aspirations are bigger and wider. They are more inclusive in their approach; they are more British, perhaps more international, as opposed to their parents who may have grown up in villages and towns in South Asia, for instance.

For Sana, her parents generation broke ground in a Western country, fighting for a space for their identity, while she has been permitted a greater understanding of various ways to live, identities to assume and cultures to be a part of.

Because of these achievements, she explains, the younger generation of Muslims know their options and are more demanding.

Masroor adds, Of course, culturally [the younger generation is] different, and our aspirations are different, and our viewpoints are different [from our parents], and therefore, our approach to different parts of our lives, including finding a suitable life partner, would be different for sure.

*Name has been changed for privacy.
A previous version of this article used an incorrect photo for the profile of Aziza Paula Di Bello. The correct image can be seen below.

Women from around the world share their thoughts and feelings about wearing  or not wearing  the hijab.

For more, watch the documentary The Veil.

Hijab makes me feel free

Ifat Gazia is from Kashmir and recently graduated from the University of London.

After the Paris attacks of November 2015, I faced an assault-like situation on Oxford Street in London when a group of boys and girls pushed me to the ground and started abusing me. I didnt understand what they were saying because I was startled and they didnt speak English.

I was new to the city and the only obvious way of identifying that I was Muslim was by my hijab. There was a strong wave of Islamophobia in European countries in those days, and I was one of many who faced the brunt, but it cannot change a place entirely and there is no doubt that the UK is a very tolerant country; London even has a Muslim mayor now.

One year down the line, and I have never felt uncomfortable wearing my hijab in any part of the UK. In fact, I have never felt this happy and confident in a hijab anywhere else except for Kashmir, my homeland.

I wear hijab not because it represents my morality, intellect, backwardness or modernity, but because it makes me feel complete. I choose to wear a hijab and it represents my pride in being a Muslim and somehow makes me fulfil my duties to my religion, but it doesnt give me the liberty to judge those who dont wear it.

Wearing a hijab in no way makes me a better Muslim than those who dont wear it. It is a part of my personality and my existence, and it is definitely challenging in these times, when looks matter as much as qualifications when searching for a job.

But I have chosen this piece of cloth, not as an obligation or as a sign of oppression, but as my own choice of freedom, for the hijab makes me feel free.

As told to Showkat Shafi.

It took a while before I realised I can be both Muslim and queer

Azeenarh Mohammed is from Abuja in Nigeria.

I started wearing hijab when I was around three years old. It was both cultural and religious, so I never questioned it and wore it on and off until I was in my 20s.

I attended Hajj with my siblings around that time  about 10 years ago. During Hajj, I became fascinated with the niqab  that is the full veil that covers everything except your eyes. I started wearing the niqab in Saudi Arabia and continued after I returned to Nigeria.

I really liked the sense of freedom I felt from wearing the niqab  freedom from peoples gaze, comments and judgment. And wearing it also came with respect. In northern Nigeria, when people see a woman in niqab, they assume youre a very pious person.

But after a while, peoples reactions made wearing the niqab more of a political statement than I intended for it to be, and my parents wondered if I was becoming radicalised or a fundamentalist.

I just became exhausted, and after about seven months, I stopped wearing the niqab and went back to just the hijab. But then I phased out the hijab entirely and went to just wearing scarves. Then, I stopped wearing scarves.

Now, Im well into my 30s and I pretty much have my head uncovered.

My evolution from niqab to uncovered happened in around 2008 when I was dealing with my sexuality and was exploring my feelings about Islam. I felt I couldnt be both Muslim and queer at the same time, so I prioritised being queer and rebelled against everything else.

First, I chopped off my hair and went for a stereotypical lesbian haircut. I stopped going to religious spaces and even stopped participating in cultural activities that had religious leanings, stuff like weddings. I didnt go to any place that required me to wear a scarf, a veil or any covering.

I had a hard time with my family during this period. They didnt take it well. Neither did my friends or my community. It was a great shock to everyone.

It took a while before I realised I can be both Muslim and queer.

These days, I miss wearing the hijab for various reasons  familiarity, fitting in and a veil from aggressive eyes and attention. In Nigeria, theres a certain harassment that comes to people who do not wear stereotypical female clothes. Because I sometimes wear masculine clothes, people will say really mean things.

They ask me if I have a mans private parts. They ask why am I trying to be a man. So to avoid this, every now and then I throw on a hijab and just get on with my day. And as weird as it sounds, in the right moment, the hijab can be a source of protection for me.

As told to Chika Oduah.

My hijab gives me an identity as a Muslim woman

Aziza Paula Di Bello, a Uruguayan psychologist, converted to Islam five years ago.

I was 23 years old when I first saw a woman wearing hijab. My heart felt paralysed. I immediately understood the essence of it. This woman was a queen, who was able to defy it all. She was free from the influences of fashion, not caring to follow the masses. That image stayed with me for years.

Ten years later, I embraced Islam.

I started wearing the hijab, and from the first moment started to feel the benefits of it. Wearing the hijab is not just about covering the hair  It also includes an attitude of modesty.

Only after experiencing it did I realise that my hijab gives me an identity as a Muslim woman, devout and respectable. It protects me  not only from the eyes of men, but from anyone who can value me and evaluate me based on anything other than my ability, my intellect, my heart.

It elevates me in status by choosing to submit to my creator and not to his creation. And Im not submissive, on the contrary. My hijab is for me a rebellion against the consumerism of the flesh; it frees me from submission to others to satisfy their needs.

It is an act of mercy between men and women because it forces the other not to distract themselves in superficialities, and things that can affect a marriage, a family, and therefore society. Therefore, its benefits reach the social sphere. My hijab makes me feel that my interlocutor is focused on who I really am.

As told to Giulia Iacolutti.

I show my blackness proudly to the world

Jacinda Townsend is an African-American author.

I converted to Islam as a 20-year-old law student searching for peace, and I went about finding it not only in the religion itself but in Islamic custom: the five prayers a day that solidified my faith, the wudu [ablution] that so cleansed me of anxiety, the hijab, which became a public proclamation of my modesty.

Initially, when I zipped up my abaya and wrapped my hair in a scarf, I felt disconnected from my sexuality, freed of the male gaze that had so plagued me as a young woman.

There came a day, however, that a fellow Muslim  a complete stranger  approached me in the supermarket and asked for my telephone number.

Everyone can tell whats really under that hijab, joked a friend, and it occurred to me for the first time that Id actually traded one form of male gaze for another, one form of presumed subjugation for a different, yet altogether similar one.

But what finally drove me to uncover? My hair. My gorgeous, nappy, African-American hair, which Id just stopped straightening before I converted.

So much of African-American culture was being drowned out of me by the voices of older women at the mosque, from those who said it was haram to celebrate Kwanzaa (although Kwanzaa isnt a religious holiday) to those who told me I needed to pray in a language I didnt even understand.

Every time I wrapped the hijab around my burgeoning curls, I felt that I was covering the gorgeous black self I had just discovered, and letting the ethnocentrism I had run up against so many times in the mosque win the upper hand.

Eventually, I stopped wearing the hijab. I put my hair in dreadlocks and have never taken them out, and I show my blackness proudly to the world. Ultimately, uncovering led me to a deeper love of blackness than Id previously known.

My hair is an essential part of me

Riham Alkousaa is a Syrian-Palestinian journalist covering Syria and refugees in Europe.

Its been more than two years since I made the decision to take off my hijab. I was on the plane to Berlin, leaving Syria for the first time. I was sitting next to an old Asian couple. They were falling asleep. I took it off as we arrived at Frankfurt International Airport. They didnt even notice.

Why did I wait until I was in Europe? I didnt have the courage to upset my father and take it off in Syria. When I told him that I wanted to, he said do that when you can distance yourself from the gossip of others, when you leave the country.

My father is not as religious as my mother, but peoples opinions matter a lot to him.

What I recall the most from this experience was the massive fear I felt about taking such a big step. I thought that this would be one of the most challenging decisions of my life  but it wasnt.

I wanted to take it off because I wanted to look more natural. I didnt like the idea that the me who wakes up and looks in the mirror while brushing my teeth, is totally different from the me who leaves for college covering my head and trying to substitute my hair with extra make-up on my face. I wanted to be as close as possible to the Riham I know.

The first few days were a bit tricky. I was so worried about the way I looked. I didnt really know how to take care of my hair after 10 years of covering it. It suddenly looked huge and untamed. It took me some months until I had finally figured it out.

Now, my hair is an essential part of me. It reflects my character, how messy and strong I can be. I dont regret it at all. Will I wear hijab again one day? Maybe, but I dont see that now.

Islam isnt the headscarf

Anna Stamou, a Greek PR consultant, converted to Islam 15 years ago.

To tell you the truth, before I wore the headscarf, I felt a certain sadness for women wearing it. I thought: Oh, poor women, theyre obliged to wear it.

Today, many people ask me why I wear it since I live in Greece where Im not obliged to. I get tired of the questions, but its my duty to answer. People havent understood that everyone should have the right to express themselves the way they want.

Comments on what women wear disturb me in general. A woman is wearing a pair of shorts and people draw conclusions. But were not meat.

There are many non-Muslim feminists who say that if they were in our position, theyd do everything in their power to get rid of the headscarf. They say that because they dont know what it symbolises. Why dont they talk about womens education instead or the fight against authoritarian regimes? Why is everything about the way we dress?

I personally support those women who choose not to wear a headscarf. I tell Iranian women that dont want to wear it to take it off. Islam isnt the headscarf. Can you imagine a big religion like Islam depending on a piece of cloth?

When I was studying Islam, I decided to adopt it in its wholeness, so I decided to wear a veil. Of course, I was lucky enough to be self-employed and to be a dynamic person. But there are many Greek Muslims who dont wear the headscarf because they know they wont find a job. At the end of the day, though, its not the headscarf that defines how religious we are.

This is a discussion the so-called Western world talks about. The Muslim worlds problems are much more important. People are dying, and were talking about headscarves.

As told to Nikolia Apostolou.

As a western woman, for me, the hijab is a war Ive won

Maria Martinez* is a Mexican who converted to Islam two years ago.

I learned about Islam because I was interested in learning about different religions. I began to read the Quran and chose the theme of the role of women in Islam for my undergraduate thesis.

My curiosity was so great that I decided to fast during Ramadan and to start praying. It was at that moment that I decided to make my shahada [profession of faith]. I wore the hijab only when Id go to the mosque. I would remove it because I felt embarrassed of showing it to my family, believing they would not understand.

The biggest challenge was my mother; she refused to see her only daughter covering her hair. My husband, who is Saudi, never pushed me to wear it. On the contrary, he believes the hijabs function is to protect women, so if wearing it would cause me problems, that was contrary to its purpose.

But, one day, I decided to wear it. I knew that I would face the rejection of society and my family  and that maybe I would even lose professional opportunities. But I didnt care because, just as we westerners have the right to dress or undress as we please, wearing the hijab for me is the claim of the right we have as Muslims. At first, I was afraid that people would offend me, but overall, the response was positive.

People respect me, and the hijab gives me the opportunity to show them that I am a happy woman, to show that one can be Muslim and professional  a student, a mother, and comply with the codes and the way of life in Islam. It is a great responsibility  all eyes are on you, and you should not give a bad image of Islam.

As a western woman, to me the hijab is a war Ive won, and what I had seen as a disadvantage has become my fortress. I am currently doing my social service in the Ministry of Economy, finishing my major in communication sciences at the university and starting a business.

As told to Giulia Iacolutti.

*Name has been changed








Although many have voiced fears that a Trump scenario can happen in France, a Marine Le Pen victory is highly unlikely.

Ali Saad is a French sociologist and media critic, focusing on the influence of mass media on society.

Donald Trumps victory in the US presidential election has unleashed a media barrage suggesting that France was next in line for a possible shake-up of the political system.

Voices across the political spectrum posed the same question: What if the American scenario were to repeat itself in France, with Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right party National Front, elected president of the republic in the May 2017 presidential elections?

French President Francois Hollande went so far as to speak of a period of uncertainty, while right-wing candidate Alain Juppe warned the French people of the risks of demagoguery and extremism. The left-wing newspaper, Liberations headline screamed Trumpocalypse While Johan Hufnagel, a Liberation columnist wrote that xenophobia and the far-right are on the rise in Europe thanks to ultraliberalism without limits.





Even the right-wing daily Le Figaro spoke of an Electroshocked Europe after Trumps election while Jerome Fenoglio, Le Monde newspapers director, commented that Trumps election is an earthquake, a game changer for Western democracy.

It is quite understandable to see comparisons between the ideological aspirations and political programmes of Trumps camp and French far-right party National Fronts candidate Marine Le Pen.

However, similar ideologies do not necessarily guarantee the same political accomplishments, given that the political, social and economic contexts are quite different in the US and France. In fact, these key differences make a Trump-like victory for Le Pen almost impossible.

Different political systems

At a first glance, the parallels between Frances Le Pen and Americas Trump may seem overwhelming, but the two operate in completely different political and electoral systems.

The US political system, based essentially on the bipartisan principle, is much more predictable than the French multiparty political system. The latter allows all types of political alliances to form, which could generate a multitude of configurations rendering a Marine Le Pen victory very much avoidable.

It is also the nature of the electoral system applied in both countries that preclude a Le Pen victory a la Trump. While the US presidential election takes place in a single round, in France, the process is accomplished in two rounds allowing the two candidates who come first and second to make political deals and attract the votes of any of the disqualified candidates for the second round.

Partnering with a far-right party remains the ultimate taboo in French politics that no major party has ever broken, or is ready to break. by

In that sense, several key political figures from both the left and the right, such as Francois Fillon, Francois Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy (who is no longer in the race), have already announced their intention to ally with the candidate who will stand against Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election, in case the latter managed to reach the final round.

If the past was anything to go by, the overwhelming majority of left-leaning voters would vote for any centre-right or right-wing candidate in order to block the far-right candidate in the second round, as was the case in the 2002 presidential election when Jean Marie Le Pen (Marine Le Pens father) made it to the final round.

A republican front, incorporating conservatives backing the right-wing candidate and socialists whose candidate, Lionel Jospin, failed to reach the final round, was initiated and unanimously voted against Le Pen in favour of Jacques Chirac, who won the election by 82 percent of the vote.



OPINION: Can the Muslim American family survive Trump?

By contrast, in the US, an intense competition in the primaries before the actual vote in the bi-partisan system can weaken a candidate. This is what happened with Hillary Clinton, who did not manage to attract all supporters of her Democrat rival, Bernie Sanders.

Furthermore, the failure of pollsters to predict Trumps victory is unlikely to take place in France. This is because the winner in the French elections is simply the candidate that manages to collect the highest number of votes, unlike in the US where the president gets elected by the Electoral College, which does not necessarily reflect the popular vote.

Different political contexts

The social, racial and historical factors that dominate the US political landscape do not really match those in France, although the French far-right candidate may embrace many of Trumps electoral campaign slogans.

Trumps electoral campaign was very successful in stirring racial fears and flirting with white supremacist sentiments. Although Le Pen has used xenophobia and Islamophobia profusely in her political repertoire, she has not gone as far as conjuring the Nazi ghost of the 1930s.





In fact, in France, the weight of history, particularly the legacy of the World War II and the German occupation of a large swath of French territory where a pro-Nazi authority was established (the so-called Vichy Regime), still has a traumatic effect on the French collective psyche.

It is due to this historical trauma, that partnering with a far-right party remains the ultimate taboo in French politics that no major party has ever broken, or is ready to break.

While indeed the far-right is on the rise across Europe, feeding on economic instability and the refugee crisis, Frances society and political system still hold the necessary mechanisms to keep this resurgence in the political fringe.

Ali Saad is a French sociologist and media critic, focusing on the influence of mass media on society.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
If Trump moves away from US cautious policy towards North Korea, it might trigger a conflict on the Korean peninsula.

Andrei Lankov is professor of Korean Studies at Kookmin University, Seoul. He is the author of "The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia".

While on the campaign trail, Donald Trump, once a real estate tycoon and TV celebrity, made a number of controversial statements and promises. Most likely, much of what he once said will be safely forgotten after the inauguration ceremony, but it still seems that the general mood of the US presidency is bound to change dramatically.

This might not be good news for the Korean peninsula which, under Donald Trumps watch, could face a significant increase in likelihood of an armed confrontation.





Trump once said that he would be willing to talk to Kim Jong-un, the North Korean hereditary ruler and strongman. This might be the case indeed: In recent times, US administrations have tended to start off with yet another attempt to reach some agreement on the North Korean nuclear programme.

However, all their attempts soon run into an unsurmountable obstacle: North Koreans cannot accept any compromise Americans are willing to propose, and vice versa.

For the North Korean leaders, the nuclear status of their country is non-negotiable. They believe that their nuclear weapons are the only guarantee that they would not suffer the fate of Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, of being overthrown either by a foreign attack or internal rebellion, supported from outside.

On the other hand, the US cannot accept any compromise which involves a nuclear-armed North Korea. From the US point of view, any deal which explicitly admits North Koreas nuclear standing is no different from paying a blackmailer, thus creating temptation for other blackmailers, that is, other nuclear proliferators.

Many red lines crossed

Unfortunately, both sides positions are as justified as irreconcilable, and this means that all talks are bound to end in failure. Trumps much trumpeted art of the deal is not going to make a difference.

So, negotiations will fail, and then what? Kim Jong-un is determined to create a nuclear force capable of hitting the continental US. During the five years of his reign, North Korean engineers have conducted a number of successful tests of the intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and submarine-based ballistic missiles (SLBM), and there are reasons to believe that, at some point during Trumps term, North Korea will start deploying these weapons.

Often the North Koreans were warned about the 'red line' they were not supposed to cross. These 'red lines', however, have kept moving: from the nuclear test to uranium enrichment to an ICBM test. Nonetheless, all these supposed 'red lines' have been crossed by the North Koreans with impunity. Every time this happened, the US government relied either on even more sanctions or even more talks, but neither option produced a noticeable effect. by

This will make it the worlds third country, after Russia and China, theoretically capable of wiping out a number of US cities from the face of the earth (well, French and British can do this, too, but it would be insane to consider a French nuclear attack on New York or San Francisco possible).

This is not going to be a good news, and the question is how the Trump administration will react to it. No doubt, there will be talks of even harder sanctions, but the experience of the last decades has demonstrated that sanctions produce little, if any, impact on North Korean economy, let alone policy.

The major reason is, of course, Chinas unwillingness to fully embrace sanctions, but Trump, who won elections on the militantly anti-Chinese slogans, will have even less chance to get Chinese cooperation on the North Korean issues than Barrack Obama did.

OPINION: How Trumps victory was received in Asia

Donald Trump will not be the first US president to find himself in such conundrum, of course. So far, past US administrations, having tried both negotiations and pressure, have tended to give up.

Often the North Koreans were warned about the red line they were not supposed to cross. These red lines, however, have kept moving: from the nuclear test to uranium enrichment to an ICBM test.

Nonetheless, all these supposed red lines have been crossed by the North Koreans with impunity. Every time this happened, the US government relied either on even more sanctions or even more talks, but neither option produced a noticeable effect.

A pre-emptive strike

Military action, a pre-emptive precision strike, seems to be another possible option. Indeed, the US is technically capable of damaging the North Korean nuclear and missile research and production facilities. Perhaps, many facilities, unknown to the US intelligence or well protected, will survive, but the strike is still likely to delay the nuclear programme for years, if not decades.

There is a reason, though, why such action has seldom been seriously considered in Washington. Such a strike is too likely to trigger a retaliation, targeting not the US (still beyond reach), but Seoul, which lays within the shooting range of North Koreas heavy artillery.





Such a counter-strike might or might not lead to a full-scale war, but it will inflict massive damage on the South Korean capital, and will drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington. Needless to say, a pre-emptive strike against North Korea would not be welcomed in Beijing, either.

So far, these considerations, as well as fears of undermining the international order, have been strong enough to discourage a military solution.

However, Trump has emphasised that he does not care about the US alliance system too much, and he even explicitly accused South Korea of being a free rider of the US-led and US-paid structure.

He is also, probably, inclined to worry less about what the Chinese will think. So, under his watch, such an event seems likely, especially given the traditional mood dominant in more extreme circles of the Republican party.

Time will show whether experience and advice of experts in Washington will mitigate the new threats, but it seems that the Korean peninsula is entering a dangerous period of its history.

Andrei Lankov is a professor of Korean Studies at Kookmin University in Seoul. He is the author of The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
KLFs Harminder Singh Mintoo freed along with four other inmates from a high security prison in the Punjab state.

At least 10 armed men disguised as policemen have attacked a high-security prison in Indias Punjab state, injuring jail guards and freeing a top commander of a Sikh armed group and four others, officials said.

The attackers travelled in cars and stormed Nabha Jail on Sunday, stabbing a guard at the main gate and firing rounds of live ammunition before fleeing with the inmates, who included the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh.

KLF is an armed group fighting for a separate Sikh homeland in Punjab.

Singh, who is also known as Mintoo, was arrested in 2014 and is on trial for terror attacks and funding.

READ MORE: 1984 anti-Sikh riots  Calls for justice in India

The four others who were freed are part of a local criminal gang and were on trial for murder.

Unconfirmed local media reports said the attackers numbered around 20.

We have sounded an alert in the state and formed special teams to nab them, HS Dhillon, Punjab director general of police for law and order, told AFP news agency.

A senior police officer said the assault took guards by surprise as the attackers moved quickly through the complex, indicating they knew the jail layout.

Punjabs deputy chief minister said state police were investigating conspiracy between terrorists and gangsters to disturb peace in Punjab before elections.

Prison officials sacked

Four officials, including the Punjab prison chief and jail superintendent, have either been suspended or sacked following the jailbreak, authorities said.

A reward of $36,000 has been offered for information on the escaped prisoners.

Punjab was in the grip of an armed conflict for almost three decades since the 1970s after several Sikh groups launched an armed campaign for an independent Sikh country.

The violence peaked following the 1984 storming of Amritsars Golden Temple  holiest shrine in Sikhism  by the Indian army to flush out armed fighters.

The military operation angered Sikhs, resulting in the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh guards and thousands of Sikhs taking up arms to avenge the sacrilege.

More than 20,000 people, mostly civilians, died during the unrest of late 1990s in Punjab.

But several Sikh groups remain committed to the Khalistan movement and dozens of alleged fighters remain imprisoned.

Last month, eight men awaiting trial escaped a prison in Madhya Pradesh state before shot dead hours later in a shoot-out, which many allege was staged by police.
Ugandan tribal king distances himself from unrest as his royal guards are accused of participating in attacks on police.

At least 55 people have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia linked to a tribal king, according to police.

Andrew Felix Kaweesi, police spokesman, said on Sunday that 14 police officers and 41 rebels had died in the clashes in the town of Kasese on Saturday, when fighters linked to the royal guard of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces.

Yesterday a joint Uganda police and UPDF [army] operation, patrolling in Kasese town  came under attack by royal guards of the kingdom. The attackers threw an improvised grenade which exploded and injured one soldier. Security forces reacted and shot in self-defence, killing four attackers, said Kaweesi.

That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties.

Fighting continued all day and was still under way on Sunday, with the King Charles Wesley Mumbere confined to his palace as heavy gunfire sounded outside, according to his spokesman.

Kaweesi said the attackers  not all of whom were royal guards  had guns, spears and improvised explosive devices.

READ MORE: Uganda  Living In Fear

Mumbere has distanced himself from the cause. However, the authorities accuse his royal guards of training in the mountains alongside separatist militia forces to attack government installations.

The situation is volatile. Several of our guards have been killed after the government gave an order to disband the royal guards immediately which is not easy, Clarence Bwambale, Rwenzururu kingdom spokesman, told the AFP news agency from the palace where he and the king were, as heavy shooting echoed in the background.

The king spoke to the president [Museveni] this morning and he gave him two hours to disband the royal guards, which is impossible. Now the army and police have raided the palace and attacked the royal guards he said, with a large explosion heard in the background.

We have told the government the kingdom is not involved in the creation of Yiira republic, which wants to break away [from Uganda], and that the royal guards are not involved, he said.

Earlier this year Museveni ruled out any form of secession in the Rwenzori region.

He told the Daily Monitor newspaper: I want to state categorically that Uganda will not lose even a piece of her land to the creation of the so-called Yiira republic.

Yiira Republic

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its members are mainly the Bakonzo people  also found in both countries.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo declared their own kingdom in 1962.

The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009.

However, unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict, as many in the region still feel marginalised by authorities in distant Kampala.

Some in Uganda, with the support of their fellow Bakonzo in the DRC, have taken up arms and are agitating for the creation of the Yiira Republic which would cover territory in Uganda and part of North Kivu in the DRC.
Aleppo, Syria  The last hospital in east Aleppo is a grim site. The building is crowded and the injured lay all over its corridors. Blood lines the floors, and its smell  along with the sound of screams and cries  fill the air. Much of the surrounding area has been destroyed.

Its a small hospital, but its accepting lots of victims and the wounded daily, because its the only hospital left in the city. This is putting a lot of pressure on it, Dr Hamza al-Khatib told Al Jazeera.

Al-Khatib is one of a handful of doctors remaining in the rebel-controlled eastern part of Aleppo. He says that his hospital, whose name Al Jazeera is not releasing for security reasons, is the only one left standing after a massive bombing campaign by government and Russian jets, that began on November 15, knocked at least five other hospitals out of service.

The building has been targeted; shelling from planes hit two sections and demolished one. But, thank God, not much has happened to the patients. Two died and a few others were injured, said al-Khatib, referring to the recent bombings.

With the governments advance still in full force, the hospital is struggling to provide care to the hundreds of victims of the daily bombing.

The hospitals challenges are numerous, as medical staff struggles with damaged equipment, lack of space for the wounded and an insufficient amount of supplies  not to mention the risk that hospitals too will be bombed. Planes bomb the area surrounding the hospital pretty much every day, and we dont know when the hospital itself will be hit, al-Khatib told Al Jazeera.

Most of the patients are on the ground. There's no space to walk. It's the first time I've seen it like this. by Hudhaifa Dahman, a medical assistant

Hudhaifa Dahman is a medical assistant, and he likewise sees the grave situation at the hospital.

Most of the patients are on the ground. Theres no space to walk. Its the first time Ive seen it like this, said Dahman, who has worked at the hospital since the start of the popular uprising against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in 2011.

There have been conflicting reports on the number of hospitals operating in east Aleppo. Last week, opposition activists said that all hospitals in east Aleppo were out of commission. Al-Khatib and Dahmans hospital, however, is still up and running, despite being hit by airstrikes in November.

In total, there are nine hospitals in east Aleppo, in addition to smaller medical points throughout the area. In terms of seeking healthcare elsewhere in Syria, the government and opposition sources disagree on whether exiting east Aleppo is possible for the wounded and others at present.





The wider situation of healthcare in east Aleppo is similarly desperate after several hospitals closed. They are trying to rebuild, but I doubt they can be rebuilt quickly. The machines that were destroyed will not be replaced because nothing is coming in due to the siege, Teresa Sancristoval, an emergency programme coordinator for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), told Al Jazeera.

With only one functioning hospital, east Aleppos medical points will be more important in the days to come. But according to Sancristoval, the medical points do not provide the level of care a hospital does.

People rehabilitate in houses. But as you can imagine, its not the same as a hospital. Its a minimum level of care, said Sancristoval. Victims of the bombing need intensive care units (ICUs) and machines that cant be provided in a small space.

And the problems are nothing new. East Aleppos hospitals have suffered from airstrikes, staff shortages and insufficient supplies regularly in the past year.

The bombing of east Aleppo is part of a major offensive by the Syrian government  aided by Russia and other allies  to establish control over the entirety of Aleppo, which was Syrias largest city before the harrowing war began in 2011.

On Saturday, the government announced it took the northern Hanano district, and rebels in the area admitted their front line collapsed. The advance comes as aid groups warn east Aleppo is days away from running out of food. Fuel supplies are low as well, and winter is setting in upon the war-torn city.

For now, the hospitals staff is determined to provide around-the-clock care to an east Aleppo that is literally crumbling around them. Work is 24 hours, said Dahman. If we get a break, its just to sleep or eat a small meal.
General Raheel Sharif is due to step down next week as Pakistans COAS, or chief of army staff, when his three-year term expires on November 29.

In his place, Lieutenant-General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been appointed in a relatively uneventful transition in accordance with the constitution.

The change of guard at the top has been unusually smooth considering that the military has played a prominent role in Pakistans politics since its independence in 1947, staging three coups.

Bajwas appointment comes at a time when relations between India and Pakistan are under stress amid prolonged cross-border shelling along their international border.

In Pakistan, under the constitution, the prime minister is the head of the countrys executive, but the army controls domestic-security issues, the spy agency [the Directorate-General for Inter-Services Intelligence, better known as ISI] and the nations defence and foreign policies.

READ MORE: US must challenge Pakistans duplicity on Afghanistan

Saturdays announcement by Nawaz Sharif, Pakistans prime minister, is being described by some analysts as amounting to placing Pakistans civil-military relations finally on an even keel.





General Bajwa, whom I have met a few times, is someone who will not interfere a lot in the civilian governments matters, Lieutenant-General (retd) Talat Masood, a defence analyst, told Al Jazeera.

He will no doubt give his advice on certain things but will not dominate the political scene, which will prove to be very helpful in terms of [the militarys] relationship with the [civilian] government.

Bajwa was chosen over at least three contenders: Lieutenant-General Zubair Hayat, the armys chief of general staff, who was previously responsible for the security of the countrys nuclear programme; Lieutenant-General Ishfaq Nadeem, commander of the II Corps, Multan, who was viewed by many as the favourite for the job; and Lieutenant-General Javed Iqbal Ramday, commander of the Bahawalpur Corps.

Bajwas current designation is Inspector General (training and evaluation) at the general headquarters of the Pakistan army, a position Raheel also held before he became the COAS.

Extensive experience

As a former general officer in command of the X Corps, Rawalpindi, the armys largest, which is responsible for the area along the Line of Control (LoC), the de facto border dividing Indian and Pakistani-administered Kashmir, Bajwa is believed to have extensive experience in handling matters relating to the region and the northern areas.

With cross-border shelling along the LoC that began in September showing no sign of ebbing, Bajwas former military colleagues tell Al Jazeera, it is possible that he will try to arrange a ceasefire between the two sides.

Lieutenant-Colonel (retd) Muhammad Irfan, who served with Bajwa in 1984 in the Northern Light Infantry unit, which has the primary ground-operations responsibility for the northern areas, says Bajwa will fight back with full force if the attacks from the other side of the border do not stop.

READ MORE: Pakistan information minister removed over news report

India is the one attacking our soldiers, killing civilians too, at the LoC. It is the [Indians] who are taking the heat, not us. So if India does not agree to the conditions of a ceasefire, or a ceasefire at all, I think Bajwa is someone who will take rapid action against it, he told Al Jazeera.

On the other hand, Bajwa also served, in 2007, with a UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo as a brigade commander alongside Bikram Singh, an Indian general who was a UN forces division commander there before going on to become his countrys army chief.

Speaking to the New Indian Express daily, Ranjeet Rai, an Indian defence expert, said: [Bajwa] takes over when a mortar war is going on between India and Pakistan along the international border and along the LoC.

Now, he has two options: He can either stop terrorism or control the mortar firing from Pakistan or will he continue the old army chiefs policies.

He will definitely carry General Sharifs legacy forward and the decisions [Sharif] has taken to fight terrorism in the country. He is indeed a firm opponent of extremism and terrorism.

Pakistans Dawn newspaper says Bajwa may prove even more forceful in the fight against domestic armed groups than Raheel Sharif, who is credited with launching Operation Zarb-e-Azb in an effort to wipe out the fighters and their bases in North Waziristan.

Cleary, in his new post Bajwa will have his plate full, from the border tension with India and the escalating violence in Afghanistan to the increasing networking among homegrown armed groups and the implications of a Donald Trump-led US administration.

There will be some minor differences here and there between what Bajwa has done so far and what he will do as the COAS, Masood, the defence analyst, told Al Jazeera.

However, we all know he has a very brilliant record of service.
The graves containing bones and identity cards discovered near Shababit junction in northwestern Iraq.

Two mass graves with bodies of at least 18 members of Iraqs Yazidi minority, thousands of whom have been killed and kidnapped by ISIL fighters, have been discovered in the northwestern part of the country.

Kurdish Peshmerga forces found the grave near the Shababit junction in northwestern Iraq while scouting the area as security forces fight to dislodge the rebels from Mosul, a local official said.

The graves contained bones and identity cards that appeared to have been covered with sandy earth by a bulldozer.

Al Jazeeras Charles Stratford, reporting from Makhmour, southeast of Mosul, said: We understand that a medical team of Peshmerga are on their way to the area to try and establish how many bodies there are in those graves.

Mahma Xelil, mayor of Sinjar, said the latest discovery brought the number of Yazidi mass graves found so far to 29, estimating the total would rise to more than 40 as the ISIL fighters are driven back further.

READ MORE  UN: ISIL committing genocide against Yazidis

ISIL (also known as ISIS) systematically killed, captured and enslaved thousands of Yazidis in the summer of 2014 as they overran the Sinjar area, where many of them lived. UN investigators have said that constitutes genocide.

The Office of Kidnapped Affairs in Duhok, a department backed by the Kurdistan regional government, says about 3,500 Yazidis  many of them women and children  are believed to still live in areas controlled by ISIL.

Last Wednesday, 18 escaped from the town of Tal Afar in northern Iraq as Shia paramilitaries cut it off from the south and west.
Government takes two key neighbourhoods as bombing raids on rebel areas intensify in and around the major city.

The Syrian army has said that it captured two districts of the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo city in two days, as government air raids continued to target opposition-held parts of the country.

The army said it and its allies had taken full control of the Jabal Badro and Baadeen districts on Sunday, a day after capturing Hanano, a neighbouring residential district.

The fighting has now moved to neighbouring districts, including Haidariya and Sakhur.

Aleppo, which was Syrias biggest city before the start of a civil war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people, is divided between the government-held west and rebel-held east, where UN officials say at least 250,000 people remain under siege.

The capture of Jabal Badro came as opposition activists reported tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian bombing raid on a village outside Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network reported that 15 civilians were killed and tens more wounded in a Russian air raid on the rebel-held village of Anjara on Sunday.

READ MORE: Inside east Aleppos last hospital  No space to walk

The opposition usually identifies planes by their silhouettes and home base.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of informants in Syria to monitor the war, said the attack was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside.

Al Jazeeras Osama bin Javaid, reporting from Gaziantep on the Turkey-Syria border on Sunday, said a Syrian government strategy of using brute force seems to be working.

He added that the fall of Jabal Badro and Hanano could have a domino effect on other parts of the besieged city.

As the government offensive continued in opposition neighbourhoods of the city, around 400 people have fled to areas under government control, the monitoring group said on Sunday.

An additional 30 families fled to Sheikh Maqsoud, which is under Kurdish control, it added.

Syrian state media also reported that hundreds of families had vacated areas under rebel control.

Al Jazeeras bin Javaid said civilians continued to pour out of the besieged part of the city.

Thousands have fled the Hanano neighbourhood and other areas near the frontlines towards the central parts, he said. But the air strikes in the last 13 days have relentlessly targeted anything that moves, be it ambulances or rescue workers. Hospitals have been destroyed and people have very little food and medicine.

Too many are dying

Capturing all of Aleppo would be a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after five and a half years of fighting.





The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from Aleppo on Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of the street.

Al-Manar is a media outlet affiliated with Hezbollah, a Lebanese armed group aligned with the Syrian government.

The UNs childrens agency, UNICEF, warned on Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control.

That figure has doubled in less than a year, UNICEF said, and many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine, Anthony Lake, UNICEFs executive director, said.

This is no way to live  and too many are dying.
On November 3, a Jordanian soldier opened fire on three CIA vehicles carrying over a dozen US soldiers, many of whom helped train Jordanian soldiers. In the senseless attack, three Americans were killed, and to this day, no one knows why.

Jim Moriarty, the father of one of murdered Americans, asks the King of Jordan and the President of the United States: "Who was it that murdered my son and why?"

As leader of Jordans Opposition Coalition, I feel obligated to answer to Mr. Moriarity directly, because none of the families of the fallen soldiers have received acceptable answers.

To do so, I think we need to start at the beginning by examining the facts. When the attack took place, on November 4, the Hashemite regime that rules Jordan claimed it was an accident. In fact, the Jordanian Monarchs official media first blamed the victims, claiming that they failed to stop at the checkpoint at one of the most fortified air bases in the Middle East. But thats not probable, as the victims were Special Forces troops who knew the rules better than anyone else.

Nonetheless, at the time, the regime was determined to stick to its story in the hopes that the incident would blow over, so It launched a media campaign promoting the story. They specifically used social media outlets to promote the following disturbing messages:

The soldier who killed the Americans was executing the law.

The arrogant American soldiers refused to stop at the gate and got what they deserved.

The shooter shows the Americans that nothing is above Jordans sovereignty.

Even worse, the killer, Muarek Abu Tayeh, was portrayed as a hero by the regimes media. But who is Abu Tayeh? Tayeh is not a hero  he is a Jordanian soldier from a Bedouin tribe that has been loyal to Jordans kings since the early 1900s when they took part in the so-called Arab revolt.

Shortly after the attack early this month, Luay Rahahleh, a shady Jordanian with rumored close ties to the regimes intelligence, posted an image of the attacker describing him as the leader of the battle for Jordans dignity.

Overlooking these facts, US investigators have officially and publicly concluded that the incident was a deliberate terrorist attack, dismissing the regimes claims.

This is not the first incident of its kind. Less than a year ago a Jordanian counter-terrorism officer opened fire in a training facility, killing two American trainers, as well as one from South Africa. At the time, the Kings regime portrayed the killer as a man with mental problems. Nonetheless, the killers family protested that in fact he was a senior officer who has been loyal to the King  which is a must for any Jordanian soldier to be promoted.

But why did Jordanian soldiers kill American counterparts who are there to train them to fight terrorism?

The answers might be shocking to many.

First, despite the moderate image King Abdallah portrays for himself, he has been deliberately promoting fundamentalism in Jordan at all levels, including within the parliament, army and intelligence services. A quick look at the Kings state media confirms this.

Second, its known that the King controls Jordans media with an iron fist, and that Jordan is one of the least free countries in the world, making him as much a modern dictator as a king. This has been confirmed by reports from international organizations like Reporters Without Borders.

Third, despite generous US financial aid and security provisions, the Kings media keeps inciting hatred and violence against the US, its Western allies, and of course, Israel.

Fourth, the Kings support for terrorism does not stop with words, but translates to doing business with groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies such as ISIS. In fact, CNN Arabic has confirmed that Jordan was one of the main buyers of ISIS oil, supplying the terror group with billions of cash used to kill Syrians and Iraqis as well as ethnically cleansing Yazidis and butchering Christians.

Fifth, the Kings regime has been caught stealing US weapons and then selling them on the black market. This was reported by the New York Times. In fact, one of those stolen guns was used to kill the American military trainers last year.

Sixth, as recently as July 2016 it was confirmed that British ammunitions were stolen right from a Jordanian military base and sold to ISIS itself. In fact, some 87,000 bullets  enough to solidly equip an infantry regiment - were stolen from a base near Aqaba and then smuggled over 400 miles across the country right into the hands of ISIS. Because of the police state grip the King has on the country, there is no doubt or question that this could have never have happened without the cooperation of the King himself. In fact, even if the King didnt know (and thats very unlikely), then he is incompetent and cannot handle the job of being a dictator.

Seventh, the Kings ISIS connections are not limited to selling weapons. The kings support for radical Islamist terrorists extends beyond supplying them with weapons. Specifically, on 15 October 2015, Arab media confirmed reports that 4,500 trucks sold by Toyota to the Jordanian government have ended up in the hands of ISIS. The Kings spokesperson has never commented on the matter, and we as an organization have asked how this could happen.

In 2014, a famous Egyptian politician named Mohamed Hassanein Heikal, announced he had an intelligence report confirming, A senior Jordanian statesman has received $40 million from ISIS in exchange of supplying it with weapons, fighters and trucks. No person in Jordan could pull such a move without the Kings full approval, that is of course unless Heikal was talking about Jordans king himself.

Eighth, in December 2015, Syrian Foreign Minister, AlMualem, blamed Jordan and Turkey for the flow of terrorists into Syria, and clearly said that anti-ISIS efforts must focus on stopping those coming from those two countries in particular.

The numbers support the Syrian governments claims. It is well known that in 2015, Jordan supplied the most ISIS fighters per capita, crossing a border to join the terror group. At best, Jordans king is either unable to control the countrys borders, or at worst he is choosing to allow those terrorists to cross Jordans borders to join ISIS. Either way, its trouble for the country, its neighbors and Jordans allies.

Ninth, as for the killer, Muarek Abu Tayeh, his salary, uniform, guns and the very bullets by which Mr. Moriaritys son was killed, have all come from the USA. Even so, very little of Americas generosity has filtered down to the Jordanian soldiers, who are paid a mere $400-500 per month simply because Jordans king and his 88 family members live lifestyles of the rich and famous, leaving practically nothing for ordinary Jordanians. The young men and women in uniform are left with no hope and failing to secure even the most basics of their needs.

Tenth, the King tries to distract his angry citizens, and soldiers from hating him to hating America and Israel, telling them that everything that happens against them is a result of America or Jews, leading the likes of Abu Tayeh to blame and hate America for their miserable conditions.

Mr. Moriarity, I want you to personally know that the young man who killed your son was miserable and poor and told by the King that Americans are the devil and the reason for his misery. They fed him this line until the very morning he decided to end the innocent lives of your son and his colleagues.

Therefore, its no wonder that many Jordanian ISIS fighters have come from the Kings army and security agencies. For example Ahmad AlMajali, a Jordanian air force captain who joined ISIS in 2012 and died later fighting in its ranks. In another case, the son of a loyal senior Jordanian member of parliament joined ISIS despite his father pleading on the media for three months that his son was about to join ISIS through Ukraine. The Jordanian government didnt do anything to stop the young man from joining ISIS and taking part in a major suicide bombing. Surprisingly, that young man was related to the Jordanian pilot burned alive by ISIS last year and came from the same Southern village known for its loyalty to the King.

This shows ISIS ideology has been embedded in the Jordanian regimes establishment itself. So it should be no surprise to anyone that a senior counter-terrorism police officer opened fire on American trainers on 11 September 2016 killing 5 people.

Eleventh, Abu Tayeh was following the Kings lead. For example: in November 2015, the King went on state TV, wearing his military uniform, and said: Israel kills our kids every five minutes in Jerusalem and Gaza, and that there is Zionist terrorism. Muark Abu Tayeh was following the example the King has set up for him with his shiny uniform, which was paid for by US taxpayers.

In conclusion, the tragic and horrifying death of three US servicemen in Jordan must serve as a wakeup call to Americans in general and to President-elect Trump that Jordans king is a terror-supporter who bites the very generous American hands that supports him.

We, Jordans Opposition Coalition, have been warning for years that the more the King is kept in power by the US, the more he will promote terrorism, unrest, and anti-American feelings.

Yes, the king leads a Westernized life style, but he is doing the oldest trick in the book: working both ends against the middle, scaring the Americans about Jordanians and scaring Jordanians about Americans, all while he steals US aid money for his own enrichment. And the outcome has become clear: As Israeli-American analyst Caroline Glick commented on the death of the three soldiers: Dead American servicemen is the price of doing business with Jordan.

It is time for an accounting. The US must get the King to account for the $20 billion which it has given him over the last 15 years.

Of course, no one will be satisfied with the answers. Perhaps President Trump should tell Jordans king, Youre fired!

Jordans secular opposition are ready to rule.
As my late father often said, it was really tough to run into so many people who did not understand the truth of Cuba and Castro.

Over the years, Fidel Castro always found someone to pull him out of the hole:

1) Batista pardoned him in 1955 after he was found guilty of the Moncada attack in 1953. Most of the young men who participated in that attack were killed or turned against Castro when he sold his soul to the USSR.

2) He had the good fortune of running into Herbert Matthews of The New York Times. He was in the mountains with fewer than 20 men and desperately looking for someone to write an article about him. Matthews was able to make contact with Castro and put him on the front pages. He got the kind of international attention he desperately wanted.

3) He survived several military engagements.

4) He survived CIA assassination attempts.

5) He was left in power after President Kennedy botched the Bay of Pigs.

6) He survived the Missile Crisis, even though the USSR would have been delighted to take him out of the island with the missiles. The USSR hated him even more than President Kennedy, especially after he shot down a U.S. spy plane.

7) He benefited from international leftists who hated the U.S. so much that they were willing to believe every lie coming out of Cuba, from health care to education. Not one of these lefties took the time to do a little research and learn that pre-Castro had an excellent private and public health care system. And Cuba's literacy rates were among the highest in the Third World.

This was Cuba before Castro's policies destroyed it:

In the 1950's Cuba was, socially and economically, a relatively advanced country, certainly by Latin American standards and, in some areas, by world standards. Cuba's infant mortality rate was the best in Latin America -- and the 13th lowest in the world. Cuba also had an excellent educational system and impressive literacy rates in the 1950's. Pre-Castro Cuba ranked third in Latin America in per capita food consumption. Cuba ranked first in Latin America and fifth in the world in television sets per capita. Pre-Castro Cuba had 58 daily newspapers of differing political hues and ranked eighth in the world in number of radio stations. Cuba's infant mortality rate of 32 per 1,000 live births in 1957 was the lowest in Latin America and the 13th lowest in the world, according to UN data. Cuba ranked ahead of France, Belgium, West Germany, Japan, Austria, Italy, and Spain. In 1955, life expectancy in Cuba was among the highest at 63 years of age; compared to 52 in other Latin American countries, 43 in Asia, and 37 in Africa. In terms of physicians and dentists per capita, Cuba in 1957 ranked third in Latin America, behind only Uruguay and Argentina -- both of which were more advanced than the United States in this measure. Cuba's 128 physicians and dentists per 100,000 people in 1957 was the same as the Netherlands, and ahead of the United Kingdom (122 per 100,000 people) and Finland. Cuba has been among the most literate countries in Latin America since well before the Castro revolution, when it ranked fourth.

To be fair, Cuba had problems, and it was people like my parents who turned against Batista. However, poverty, misery, and people leaving in rafts were not among them.

Well, it's over for Fidel Castro. Maybe we can finally tell the truth about this man and what he did to Cuba and its people.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.
The Hill just ran a long article headlined "Trump team ducks and weaves on Romney-Giuliani feud." In broad terms, the article reflects the choice the left sees the Trump transition team facing: select Giuliani for State and reward loyalty, or select Romney to unite the party and reward excellence.

In reality, this is a simpleminded false dichotomy. The real challenge facing the transition team isn't whom to pick for one job, but how to match talents and ambitions to roles in ways that let each of many great candidates contribute to the best of his abilities.

In this context, Mr. Romney's Bain-derived skills as an organizational surgeon (aka mergers, acquisitions, and re-organizations specialist) are what matters. He's the perfect candidate to head a special presidential commission to work with Congress on the Obamacare shutdown, the Medicaid revision, and the VA privatization effort.

It is said of internal auditors that it is their job to shoot the wounded. This, while not generally true of auditors, is generally true of capital management and business brokerage firms  they're the wolves keeping the capitalist herds in good health by weeding out the weak.

(Note that there's a probable personal bias here: in mid-1995, I interviewed for a role at Bain & Company but antagonized the panel by insisting that large corporate or government I.T. outsourcing never makes financial sense unless it's the only means of firing an entire I.T. department prior to rebuilding it  and have not forgiven them for being so wrong.)

Bain is what U.S. health care needs. The VA has turned into Canadian health care; Obamacare abuses have forced disproportionate growth in Medicaid cost, paperwork, and federal control; and even those who think Obamacare has worked out for them have been turned into losers by it. Threading the political needle to unscramble the mess is exactly the job Romney has spent his life preparing for.

And Rudy? My guess is that he can be anything he wants to  and if that's secretary of state, then more power to him.
In what has to be considered an historic about face, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that 100,000 migrants who recently arrived in Germany would be deported.

For more than a year following the massive tide of humanity that flooded into Germany from Africa and the Middle East, Merkel stoutly defended her open border policy as being consistent with western values. A million migrants later, and a huge voter backlash due to overburdened local governments and a sky rocketing crime rate, Merkel has changed her tune.

Sunday Express:

The beleaguered Chancellor said authorities would significantly step up the rate of forced returns as she battles to arrest an alarming slump in her popularity which has fuelled a surge in support for the far-right. Mrs Merkel, whose decision to roll out the red carpet to migrants from across Africa and the Middle East spectacularly backfired, has taken an increasingly tough tone on immigration in recent months. And in her toughest rhetoric yet the German leader told MPs from her party this week: The most important thing in the coming months is repatriation, repatriation and once more, repatriation. The stance marks an astonishing U-turn from the once pro-refugee Chancellor, who has been widely pilloried by critics at home and abroad for her decision to throw open Germanys borders to millions of migrants. Her extraordinary change of heart has been prompted largely by a series of catastrophic local election results for her ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, which was trounced by the populist Alternative fur Deutschland in both her home state and the capital Berlin. The partys slumping poll ratings have sparked alarm amongst her allies in both the CDU and its coalition partner, the Christian Social Union (CSU), with talk that senior officials would try to oust her. But instead Mrs Merkel last week announced her intention to stand for a fourth term as leader of Germany, and now she is striking an increasingly anti-immigrant tone as she attempts to restore her battered reputation ahead of next autumns election. Speaking at a conference of conservative MPs in Neumunster yesterday evening the Chancellor revealed that she expects 100,000 migrants to leave Germany this year, of which a third will be forcibly removed. And employing a tough new form of rhetoric, she warned local regions to deport all migrants whose asylum applications are rejected, using force if necessary. She warned them: "If state governments refuse to forcibly deport migrants, then of course everyone will say, 'I will not do this voluntarily, because they will not do anything anyway. And in a stunning U-turn on her open borders policy, she added: It can not be that all the young people from Afghanistan come to Germany.

Ordinarily, a politician who tried to pull this off would be toast. But Merkel finds herself in a strong position because the alternatives to her are even worse.

Recent polls show her coalition of the CDU/CSU comfortably ahead by 11 points over the Social Democratic Party - the leading left wing party in Germany - by 33-22%. The next strongest party are the Greens who poll at 12% and then the nationalist party AfD at almost 9%. Put simply, the German voter has nowhere else to go now that Merkel has flip flopped on immigration.

There is a chance that the left wing parties will poll enough votes to fashion a majority, but given that the Social Democrats are determined to continue with a liberal immigration policy, it isn't likely.

The bottom line for German elites in all parties is that no one bothered to ask the German taxpayer if they were willing to shoulder the extra burden, endure a higher crime rate, and put up with the draining of local resources. About the only thing preventing a Trump-like surge for the nationalists is that any party to the right of the CDU is portrayed in the press as neo-Nazis - a death sentence for any politician in hyper-sensitive Germany.

Merkel will probably pull off her switcheroo on open borders and win re-election. But she has already accelerated the timetable for a takeover of her country by people with no interest in promoting German or western values and ideas.
Beth Reinhard wrote a short piece in The Wall Street Journal entitled "Abortion Battle Set to Rage Anew." Reading it, one can get the impression that there could be a shift in the culture war. And no, it's not that funding for Planned Parenthood is now in jeopardy with the election results  which, fortunately, is the case. Rather, it's the wording in the story that might be a harbinger of things to come.

Ms. Reinhard writes, "The mood in the pro-abortion rights community is grim." Do you see it? It has been a dog's age since the so-called pro-choice community has been properly labeled as being "pro-abortion" in a major publication. To refer to a candidate or some organization as "pro-abortion" would invoke howls of protest from the likes of Planned Parenthood, the Democratic establishment, and the mainstream media, causing a retraction.

So why the change? Maybe it was something that simply slipped past the paper's editors.

Or maybe it was the full-throat endorsement of abortion on demand, including the gruesome partial-birth procedure, by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party that precipitated the wording change. And then again, it might have been how Donald Trump exposed the hollowness of political correctness during his presidential campaign.

Whatever the reason, the change is refreshing...and healthy.

But more language corrections are needed. Too often, liberals have distorted language as a subtle means to advance their agenda. Who knows? Maybe soon the word "gay" will be dropped from describing homosexuals, and the accurate term "homosexual" will be used again. A "marriage" between two men is not a "gay marriage." It's a homosexual union. Of course, homosexuals object to this. They say the term "homosexual" sounds too "clinical," too harsh  that it has a bad connotation.

But by co-opting the word "gay" for their movement, homosexuals send a clear message that their behavior is happy and carefree. And although this is the opposite of reality, it still affects young and impressionable minds, making some venture into that lifestyle who otherwise wouldn't.

Here's another example. It is galling to have Democrat states referred to as blue and Republican ones as red. This is nothing less than a subtle form of propaganda. Although such labeling is ubiquitous today, it reversed a longstanding convention whereby red symbolized left-wing politics (rebellion, the Red Star, Red China, etc.), with conservative movements often blue in contrast. This strategic flip-flop was initiated by the late Tim Russert during his televised coverage of the 2000 election.

Please note that prior to entering the newsroom, Tim Russert was chief of staff to Senator Daniel Moynihan (D-N.Y.) and counsel to liberal Democrat Gov. Mario Cuomo. It was from this liberal political world that Russert was hired by NBC. Clearly, Tim Russert was one of many Democrat operatives posing as journalists. Another noticeable one is the delicate George Stephanopoulos, a senior adviser in the Clinton administration now embedded in ABC as a top "journalist."

Russert and those in the liberal media knew exactly what they were doing when they mislabeled the coloring of states. But the conservative intellectual class didn't seem to. They swallowed this distortion with nary a complaint. Conservative publications, one after another, complied with the red state-blue state model as if a law had been passed on the matter. Why? Is their excuse that they didn't want to confuse their readers? Somewhat more plausible, but still not excusable, is that in 2000, the conservative media, what with the internet and talk radio, might not have been as strong as it is today.

The liberal media is currently trying to delete "illegal alien" from our lexicon and replace it with "undocumented immigrant." Sorry, but no matter how much Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton may protest, such people are here illegally, and they are alien.

Because liberals have had control of the media for some time now, the public dialogue is polluted with their distorted, self-serving language. Readers of the American Thinker no doubt have their favorite examples. The point is that conservatives should never accept liberal-speak. It is past time that accuracy and honesty be restored to our language. And for heaven's sake, it is way past time that conservative media stop taking direction from the liberal media.
An angry Donald Trump blasted Democrats for not accepting the results of the election, calling the Green Party inspired recount and voting machine audit in Wisconsin a "scam."

The Clinton campaign announced that they would participate in the recount despite the fact that they found no evidence the vote had been tampered with.

The Hill:

"This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing," Trump said in a statement. Citing concerns that voting systems have been compromised, Stein filed for a recount in Wisconsin on Friday afternoon, and has been fundraising off her vow to do the same in Pennsylvania and Michigan  all states in which Trump won or is leading. On Saturday, Hillary Clintons general counsel Marc Elias said that the campaign would be participating in the Wisconsin recount, though they had discovered no evidence that the voting process had been interfered with. He said the campaign would join the effort in the other states if Stein continued pushing for a recount there. Elias wrote in a post on Medium that while no evidence of manipulation had emerged, "now that a recount is underway, we believe we have an obligation to the more than 64 million Americans who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton to participate in ongoing proceedings to ensure that an accurate vote count will be reported." But regardless of the potential to change the outcome in any of the states, we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself, he added. Trump's statement on Saturday did not mention Clinton by name, though her campaign had joined the recount effort. She conceded to Trump shortly after he crossed the electoral threshold earlier this month to win the White House. "This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasnt even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount, Trump said.

Trump is correct. Stein raised more money for the recount in a week than she did during the entire campaign. She even admitted that most of the money would not be spent on the recount.

But it hardly matters. This is not an effort to discover tens of thousands of votes for Hillary Clinton or Jill Stein in order to overturn the results of the election. It's a way for liberals to delegitimize the presidency of Donald Trump. The reasoning for the recount rests on the extremely dubious claims of a couple of election law lawyers and computer scientists who say there was a significant discrepancy in Hillary Clinton's support between areas where electronic voting machines were used and where paper ballots were used. The fact that there are other, more mundane reasons for that discrepancy doesn't matter. The purpose of the study and the recount are similar; torpedo the Trump presidency.

The democratic process has handed the Democratic Party a devastating defeat that they are unable and unwilling to come to grips with. Their desperation isn't surprising given that the alternative is to recognize how thoroughly their ideas and personalities were rejected on election day.
Hillary has dropped the pretense of being a gracious loser and joined Jill Stein to challenge the election results in Wisconsin. Maybe she talked to Al Gore, another sore loser, about how to "unite the country" and accept the results of the elections.

Chris Wallace kept pestering Trump and other Republicans on whether Trump would accept the results, but Wallace and others never asked Hillary. Wallace and the rest of the media just assumed that Hillary would win.

Mark Erick Elias, counsel to Hillary Clinton, wrote on November 26, 2016:

Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides. If Jill Stein follows through as she has promised and pursues recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, we will take the same approach in those states as well. We do so fully aware that the number of votes separating Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the closest of these states  Michigan  well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount. But regardless of the potential to change the outcome in any of the states, we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself.

Even though there is no evidence or claim of vote fraud, Stein and Hillary challenge the results in Wisconsin, and probably Pennsylvania and Michigan. But the facts do not matter, because Hillary cannot believe she lost those states. The media told her they were her states.

Trump has 290 E.C. votes, not counting Michigan. If you remove Wisconsin's 10 votes, Trump still wins, which means that Hillary has to knock out Pennsylvania's 20 votes. Hillary has to reverse the votes in the Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin to win. This will not happen, so why is Hillary challenging the Wisconsin results with Stein?

Stein filed a petition, under oath, with Wisconsin to demand a hand recount. The basis for the petition is an affidavit by J. Alex Halderman, a computer professor at the University of Michigan. The petition is 64 pages. One half is the resume of Halderman, and the balance is newspaper clippings and press releases by Homeland Security that the 2016 election was subject to foreign hacking.

The affidavit can be summarized as: follows: 1) somebody hacked the emails of the DNC and John Podesta; 2) somebody hacked voter rolls of Arizona and Illinois to obtain information about voters; 3) ABC reported that somebody tried to hack the voter registration of 20 states; without naming the states; and 4) Homeland Security said senior Russian officials commissioned some of these attacks. Therefore, somebody hacked the voting machines to cause Hillary to lose.

There is no evidence to the Russians or anyone else tampered with the elections in Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, or any other state.

If Hillary expects to win the presidential election, then Stein, backed by Hillary, will have to file the same unfounded petition in Pennsylvania and Michigan. This is the same strategy Algore used: demand a hand recount in the counties where he thought he might pick up votes. The Supreme Court ruled that it was a violation of the equal protection clause to have hand recounts in only a few counties and not the entire state. By analogy, should we have a hand recount in all fifty states and not just Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, even when there is no evidence that the voting machines were hacked?

We can assume that Hillary and her team of attorneys have been busy the past weeks looking for any evidence of hacking or other attempts that affected the vote. But Hillary's attorney said they had no "actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology." So she can pretend to remain on the high road and let Stein do the dirty work of speculation and unfounded accusations. This is the Hillary we know.

If this petition were an appeal in a court trial, the court would dismiss it summarily. It is all speculation and conjecture.

The election boards in these states should dismiss these unfounded petitions.

As an aside, this should teach Trump to not be so quick to suggest that he may not appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary's email and foundation scandals. Trump said he does not want to hurt Hillary. But Hillary sure wants to hurt Trump to overturn the election results.

The real Hillary has resurfaced after a brief two-week hiatus.
The death of Fidel Castro offers a lesson in how the US is going to change once Donald Trump takes office.

Compare and contrast the statements by President Obama and Donald Trump on Castro's death. Obama's weasel words and worthless pablum versus Trump's truth telling.

The difference is shocking.

Obama's statement in full:

At this time of Fidel Castros passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans - in Cuba and in the United States - 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. For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends - bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba. Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.

Among the "countless ways" Castro "altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation" were the trail of dead bodies he leaves behind, lives shattered by his secret police, a ruined economy, and a million refugees who couldn't stomach his "workers' paradise."

Trump acknowledges all of that in his statement:

"Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights," Trump said in a statement. "While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, 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," he added.

Trump also thinks it's a good thing to highlight our differences:

"I join the many Cuban Americans who supported me so greatly in the presidential campaign, including the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association that endorsed me, with the hope of one day soon seeing a free Cuba," he concluded.

President Obama has coddled, excused, and enabled the enemies of America from Iran to Cuba, to Venezuela. He has been weak and vacillating in the face of Russian aggression and Chinese assertiveness. His foreign policy "legacy" will not be defined by the Iran nuclear deal, which almost certainly is going to be either drastically changed or abandoned by both parties. The president's legacy - such as it is - will be defined by American weakness and incompetent management.

Trump has yet to prove that his foreign policy ideas will be any better. But it's easy to see from these two statements that there will be a new, more confident, more realistic tone to statements by President Trump than there has been for the last eight years.
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 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.
When Bob Stumm and Mary Bauer of Chippewa Falls get off work, theyre usually headed skyward. Both are accomplished pilots and world-class skydivers. If you live near Lake Wissota, four days a week, you can spot one of their Cessna 182 planes dropping skydivers  some new, some experienced  above the Indianhead Sport Parachute Club drop zone on County K.

By day, Stumm works as president of SFR Industries, the plastics company he started in Chippewa Falls in 1978 before moving it to Cadott in 1994. He sounds as enthused about plastics as he is about skydiving.

Its never boring, he said of his work, shortly after gliding his canopy in for a smooth landing on a warm Friday evening in mid-June. Thats what gets me up in the morning, because of the inherent challenges of making plastic every day.

Stumm arrives at work each morning at 6:30 so he can check in with both the night shift and the day shift of his 24-hour operation. He then works on sales and whatever big project is hot at the moment, then wraps up his day around 5:30 p.m., after the evening shift is well underway. The company extrudes plastic profiles for the furniture and window industry.

The company has come a long way since those early days, when the entire operation consisted of Stumm and one machine. Today, SFR has close to 50 employees running 32 production lines around the clock.

Young at heart

He declines to divulge his age or the year he graduated from Chippewa Falls Senior High School before starting work at another plastics plant.

I have no age, Stumm said, to agreement from other members of the club.

Stumms significant other and skydiving partner, Mary Bauer, has spent her working days making sure other workers stay safe. After spending 20 years doing inspections and enforcement for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Bauer has spent the last 11 years doing outreach for the agency as a compliance assistance specialist.

I do outreach, education, training, coordinate with groups and associations for worker safety and health projects, she said. We look at the workers safety, whether its in manufacturing, construction, retail. We try to target where they are the highest risk.

This wasnt Bauers initial career plan. She earned a bachelors degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and was working on a second degree in environmental public health when she decided she had better go to work.

I needed a job really bad, Bauer said. When one of her instructors told her about an internship with OSHA, she had to think about what the letters stood for. She took the job and never looked back.

The skydiving bug

Bauer and Stumms high-flying hobby has taken them all over the world. Bauer first gave skydiving a try as a college student in 1981. In the days before Google, it took a while to track down a place to try it out.

A couple of friends just said, Well, lets go do this, Bauer said. It took us a year or so to track it down and find a phone number. She describes her first jump as surreal.

You really dont know what youre going to do, youre just going to go along with the program, she said. But once you get out under canopy  and this goes back to the round parachute days  it is quiet. There is nothing else up there, nothing else around you.

Bauer caught the bug. She has now made more than 19,740 jumps. Shes only the 13th person to have that milestone verified by the U.S. Parachute Association.

Stumm got started in the sport after being drafted into the Army. While serving in the Army airborne, he joined a sport club on the base at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. Since then, he has logged more than 17,000 jumps all over the world.

Its always the people that are in the sport itself that keep you going, Stumm said. Its always a lot of fun. Mary and I have been lucky enough to go many places.

Spanning the globe

One of those places was Thailand. Stumm and Bauer were part of the World Team, which staged world-record jumps in Thailand 2004 and 2006. The king of Thailand invited the group to stage the record-breaking jumps as a demo for the country. Using five C-130 cargo planes provided by Thailands Air Force, the team created formations with 357 skydivers in 2004 and 400 in 2006. The skydivers came from all over the world to create the huge formations, known as Big Ways in the skydiving world.

Linking up that many jumpers at one time requires not just a large number of big planes, but an exceptionally high starting altitude  22,000 feet for the Thailand maneuver. Jumpers starting any higher than 12,000 feet must carry oxygen tanks. Local jumpers typically start from around 10,000 feet for free-fall jumps at the Skydive Wissota site.

Those complications make such huge attempts rare. World record jumps are more often performed in sequential events, where a smaller number of jumpers take part in multiple maneuvers. Bauer took part in world-record womens sequential jumps in California to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation Jump 4 for the Cure campaign against breast cancer. That event was featured on Good Morning America.

Experienced jumpers make up an international community, according to Bauer and Stumm, who have also made jumps in such far-flung places as Italy, Finland and Russia.

The thing with skydiving is theres always a drop zone somewhere and youre always welcome, Bauer said. Its a very open thing. Some of their most exciting jumps, though, have been closer to home. Bauer and Stumm both name a 100-member jump in Oshkosh at the 2015 EAA Airventure fly-in convention as a highlight.

Spreading the word

Bauer estimates she has taught between 3,000 and 4,000 people to skydive over the past 30 years. Many of those are only looking to try it once and take a tandem jump, strapped to an experienced instructor. Stumm says recently, most first-time jumpers have come out to Skydive Wissota seeking to cross the experience off their bucket list.

Weve had a large group of older citizens who showed up to do tandems, he said. People 80 to 90 years old come out and make skydives.

According to Bauer, it is rare for a jumper to back out after getting up in the plane, though it has happened four or five times over the past three decades.

Bauer says her career in worker safety goes hand-in-hand with her role as a skydiver and instructor.

Im a certified safety professional, she said. You take those skills and apply them to system safety: good equipment, aircraft, watching conditions, radars, working with the people, making sure they understand.

The Indianhead Sport Parachute Club owns the clubhouse at the couples airport. The clubs 30 members volunteer their time to perform duties from giving skydiving lessons to mowing the lawn. The group offers lessons from April through November, but club members jump year-round.

The members have varying levels of experience. Bauer says few jumpers turn the sport into a lifelong passion, as she and Stumm have.

It takes a lot of commitment to put it into your lifestyle to become a skydiver, Bauer said. In order to do it safely, you have to spend time, learn it, invest in the right gear and equipment, and stay current in it. She plans to continue in the sport as long as she can.

Its kind of my second home, being in the air, she said.

Staying on the move

Stumm has picked up another hobby over the years: collecting cars.

Oh, you know how it goes, he said. You get one and then you get something else. I had a 77 vette and then it went from there. Restoring old cars gives him something to do when its too cold and windy to skydive. One particular head-turning car in his collection is an ETV, or Extra Terrestrial Vehicle. Stumm says the car, which reminds many of the time-traveling Delorean from the movie, Back to the Future, is one of just three made and has been borrowed for major car shows.

Not all of the hobbies Stumm and Bauer share involve dizzying heights and cool cars. The two also enjoy heading out in their boat from their home on Lake Wissota for an evening of fishing now and then.

Whether they are running a plastics plant, making sure workers are safe on the job, jumping out of an airplane tens of thousands of feet above the ground, restoring an old hot rod or wetting a line in the lake, you can count on one thing: life with Mary Bauer and Bob Stumm is never boring.
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS  Fidel Castros place in the history of Cuba, the region, and the world is clear.

So says former St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister (July 3rd 1995 to February 15th 2015), the Right Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas.

In a message Saturday on the death of the former Cuban President, Dr. Douglas, now Leader of the Parliamentary Opposition in St. Kitts and Nevis said the twin-island Federations Government and People have benefited greatly from the generosity of the Cuban Government and people over the years.

In his message of sympathy on behalf of the St. Kitts-Nevis Labour Party, and on behalf of the members of the Parliamentary Opposition in the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis to the Cuban President, His Excellency Raoul Castro, Dr. Douglas extended sincere condolences on the passing of President Fidel Castro.

The Government and People of St. Kitts and Nevis have benefited greatly from the generosity of the Cuban Government and People over the years, in areas as varied as education, health, and culture among others, and the social and economic advancement of our nation has been dramatically hastened as a result of our friendship with your country. The era of bilateral cooperation between St. Kitts and Nevis and Cuba, which began under the leadership of President Fidel Castro, continues to this day, and for this, again, St. Kitts and Nevis shall be eternally grateful, said Dr. Douglas.

He continued: The governments and peoples of the Caribbean region  along with most of the nations of the world  had long worked to hasten the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba and we, like so many other nations, welcomed the progress that had been made in US/Cuba relations over the past year.
BARABOO  This months election and its fallout had a surprising effect on a divided America. At last, we found something we can agree on: America has embarrassed itself.

This is hardly the first time America caught itself blushing. Remember: We are the nation that produced The Anna Nicole Show.

A lot of people felt the nation embarrassed itself in electing Donald Trump president. A lot of those same people embarrassed the nation  and themselves  by how they reacted to the news.

Protesters gathered in city streets and on the information superhighway, not to revolt against a rigged election but to complain things didnt go their way. If only Hillary Clintons supporters had displayed such passion before the election  and, you know, actually bothered to vote  Democrats might not have ended up red-faced.

This isnt how Americans deal with disappointment: When confronting a monumental defeat, what Americans do is get trashed, destroy a gas station bathroom and make up a story about how they were robbed at gunpoint. Somewhere, Ryan Lochte is grateful the nations sore losers are taking the spotlight off him.

When college students started freaking out over the prospect of a Trump presidency, professors canceled exams on campuses across the country. Administrators directed distraught students to counseling services and offered them pizza. You know, just like they did during the Vietnam War. Wait no, back then, grown-ups in authority mobilized the National Guard, not Dominos drivers.

Its trite to criticize millennials for being coddled, or their parents for babying them. But its no accident that the students organizing a post-election cry-in at Cornell are part of a generation thats been handed orange slices, participation trophies and anything else theyve wanted since birth. Hence their feeling of entitlement to the president of their choosing.

Protesting is a perfectly American response to outrage. After all, millennials grandparents marched for equal rights for women and minorities. But they sought basic human rights, not the promise of always getting what they wanted. The Declaration of Independence doesnt promise life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, the president you want and free pizza.

The election and its aftereffects revealed a deeply torn America and attracted attention overseas. How could the U.S. elect a man with no political or military experience, one with a penchant for offending just about everyone? Abroad, this made about as much sense as Americans taste for peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches.

This same sense of shock enveloped our campuses and cities as election returns poured in. Shock turned to panic among immigrants, homosexuals, the disabled, and everyone else Trump targeted during his campaign. So people took to the streets or, in the case of college students, assumed the fetal position and wept. I used to do that same thing the night before biology quizzes.

These concerned citizens forget that voters on the other side of the political aisle were just as dismayed eight years ago over fears Obama would take their guns, establish death panels and declare Sharia law. None of those things happened, of course.

Our system of checks and balances is designed to divide powers and prevent the president from single-handedly dismantling federal programs, walling off the country or filling his cabinet of advisers with swimsuit models.

Democrats will learn, as Republicans did eight years ago, that one mans power is limited, even if that man happens to (heaven help us) possess the nuclear launch codes. Heres to hoping they also learned its more effective to hit the streets before an election than after. And that sometimes in life, many things, such as the Electoral College, just dont make sense.

Whether the Trump presidency becomes a zit on the face of American history wont be known for years. But unrest over the outcome of a properly conducted election has become an immediate pockmark. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps, citizens, and learn from this experience. You never know when national events will make America grate again.

Somewhere, Ryan Lochte is grateful the nations sore losers are taking the spotlight off him.
Media Balls: Mourinho does a Wenger, Pogba does a Van Gaal and Manchester United wait for Fergie

Media Balls: Was it right that Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was red carded as his side fought back to secure a 1-1 draw with West Ham United? Can we know whats what from reading the experts?

The BBC: Off to the stands! He aims an almighty kick at a drinks bottle down on the touchline in anger at a booking for Paul Pogba  who looked to be jumping to avoiding getting clattered  and is directed from the touchline by Jonathan Moss.

Pogba was avoiding a clattering and jumped. It was self-preservation. The referee got it wrong. Jose just reacted to the poor decision.

Manchester United assistant manager Rui Faria: I think there was frustration from Jose after the yellow card for Pogba. It should be a foul for us but the referee understood it in another way.

United were robbed.

Saj Choudry (BBC): The Portuguese boss kicked a water bottle in reaction to referee Jon Moss showing Paul Pogba a yellow card for diving. Replays showed West Hams Mark Noble did not make contact with the France midfielder.

Pogba dived. The referee was correct  he did fool for the players cheating. Jose Mourinho did make contact with the water bottle.

The West Ham website: The Frenchman, falling after going past Mark Noble, was correctly booked for diving, prompting the explosive bottle-kicking moment from his boss.

Dive!

The Manchester United website: Mourinho was then sent to the stands after he reacted furiously to referee Jonathon Moss decision to book Pogba for an apparent dive.

An apparent dive?

Manchester Evening News: He [Pogba] appeared to dive over Mark Nobles challenge and was booked by Jonathan Moss. Mourinho kicked a water bottle in frustration and was sent to the stands.

He appeared to dive. Jose was not poorly behaved and wrong. He was frustrated.

The paper does find lots of room for the thoughts of journalist Duncan Castles:

Picking that apart. The slight on Louis Van Gaal is odd given that the hammer-headed Dutchman was pretty animated:



And as for any other manager not being sent off for kicking a water bottle, well, the Arsenal manager was:

For Jose Mourinho, well, it wouldnt be so bad were it not for the fact that his old club Chelsea  the one he left spent and in mid-table  are top of the league under their new manager.

PS: Manchester United have failed to win four league games in a row at Old Trafford for the first time since February 1990. And they have drawn four consecutive league games at their place for the first time since December 1980. Yeah. its time for Fergie all over again. Oh for a manager who intimidates referees, fails to talk to the BBC and fosters a siege mentality. On second thoughts, as you were Jose

Mike Kritharis

Posted: 27th, November 2016 | In: Back pages, Key Posts, manchester united, Sports Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
The holidays are upon us, so it must be time to visit relatives. Unfortunately, a holiday trip is often not as easy as going across the river and through the wood to grandmothers house. Grandpa and grandma may have retired to Florida.

That is when life becomes difficult. A family visit often requires a plane trip.

So it is across the parking lot to the shuttle bus, then through the long lines at the security checkpoint, then across all the gates hiking with luggage to the farthest point of the terminal, then more lines to board the plane, then through the cabin while waiting for other passengers to stick baby grand pianos in the overhead bins because they are too cheap to pay for their bags to be checked, then seat belts and tempers buckled until the pilot comes on the intercom to say weather has delayed all flights.

As this time of year is a busy period to fly, this is an appropriate moment to examine the state of commercial aviation from the passengers point of view. In short, it is time to let loose with a primal scream. Arrrrrrrrrrrgghhhhhhh! Why, that feels better already.

None of what I have to tell you today will be news to seasoned fliers. I write as one of you. Having a grown-up child in Brooklyn, N.Y., and another in Sydney, Australia, I spend many hours in the air on trips to visit their little families. I could stow my frustrations under the seat in front of me but I know many readers share these feelings. Of course, a few airlines are honorable exceptions to the dismal situation but let us not spoil a good rant by acknowledging them.

The trouble with my perceptions is that I am of a certain age  every morning brings new aches that make me more certain of it  and we of a certain age can remember the golden age of flying. Younger people who know no better may think it is cool to be (pick your metaphor) crammed into a flying sardine can or mooing like so many cattle.

Ah, the lost pleasures of flying. I recall flying by myself as a kid to visit my grandmother who lived in another city. No security lines, relaxed and gracious service, no paying for checked bags and real peanuts for snacks.

The only crinkle in this lap of luxury was my parents fear that I would be lost in transit. So they combed my hair, dressed me in short pants, coat and tie and attached a label to me with my name on it. I looked like Paddington Bear. The most humiliating part was that I was about 14 at the time.

We can blame deregulation for the loss of our innocence and our free baggage privileges. Deregulation brought many new passengers onto flights as tickets prices fell. But this was both good and bad.

It was good that the skies became more democratic and people on tight budgets didnt have to take a Greyhound bus. It was bad that planes became so crowded that now planes resemble the bus. Glamour is left at the gate and the airlines nickel and dime the passengers at every turn for little amenities formerly free.

To be sure, the food was always horrible on the longer flights. Remember how we used to make jokes? Now the food is equally disgusting but passengers must pay for it. So the fun has gone out of complaining, because its your fault for being hungry and not knowing better.

As more butts have been placed in seats, the seats have become smaller  this at the time when the American butt has grown to record proportions. Worse yet, some of the airlines have taken out lavatories and replaced them with regular seats with no flushing mechanism.

I have taken a couple of flights with only two lavatories for more than 100 people in economy. In one of these planes, a woman got locked in and a flight attendant had to dismantle the door, rendering that lavatory inoperable and leaving the other 99 people inconvenienced, so to speak.

It is different in first class or business class. People there go to the lavatory not because they need to but just to show off to the poor souls doomed to peer through the curtain.

To borrow a seasonal phrase for the alleged friendly skies: Bah! Humbug!
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In a move that could lead to a change in the course of action of United States relations with Cuba, President-Elect Donald Trump named Mauricio Claver-Carone to his Transition Team for the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Claver-Carone currently serves as Executive Director of Cuba Democracy Advocates, a lobbying group in favor of keeping the U.S. Embargo against Cuba intact. He is also a member of the board of directors for the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC (Political Action Committee).

Claver-Carone has been an outspoken critic of current U.S. President Barack Obamas policies toward restoring diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba. Just before his appointment, Claver-Carone penned an Op-Ed piece in the Miami Herald called Obamas Cuba policy makes bad situation worse. Claver-Carone is also the editor of Capital Hill Cubans, a media entity dedicated to covering the U.S. policy toward Cuba. On that website, he has also been outspoken in terms of the current Administrations policies toward Cuba.

As Trump transitions into the Presidency, two questions around Cuba remain: 1) Will the current actions taken by the Obama Administration to restore diplomatic relations remain?; 2) What does the future hold for Ending the Cuban Embargo? Claver-Carones appointment makes it clear  the new President will be serious about re-evaluating the current roadmap of relations with Cuba.

In addition Claver-Carones appointment to the Treasury Department Transition Team is significant  namely because the enforcement the U.S. Embargo against Cuba falls under the Treasury departments jurisdiction.

Over the past two years, through series of Executive Actions, President Obama has taken steps to restore diplomatic relations. This includes a recent action that eased restrictions on bringing back Cuban cigars for personal consumption. As we noted shortly after the presidential election, President-Elect Trump has been on the record stating he would rollback many of President Obamas executive actions. The steps taken to ease relations between the U.S. and Cuba fall under this category. While Trump is open to re-establishing diplomatic relations, he has stated he is not happy with the agreement has been put in place with Cuba.

While Trump can rollback some of President Obamas executive actions in terms of Cuba, a lifting of the Cuban Embargo still requires As for lifting the Cuban Embargo, that will take an act of Congress. While there is both a House of Representatives Bill and Senate Bill that was authored to lift the embargo, with a new Congress coming in, a new bill will need to be authored. That bill would also need to be signed off by Trump.

While Claver-Carone is now a part of the Transition Team, there is no word on whether this signals he will have a role in the new Administration once Trump assumes office in January.

This past weekend, the questions of the future of diplomatic relations and ending the embargo have once again surfaced followed by the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro. While Fidels brother Raul Castro remains Cuban President, but he has stated he would step down after 2018.

Photo Credit: Cigar Coop
Many cigar enthusiasts are quite familiar with La Palina Cigars. Today, the company has an impressive portfolio of offerings from four countries (United States, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Dominican Republic). The story of La Palina is also quite well know, namely how businessman / philanthropist William C. Bill Paley resurrected the brand started by his grandfather, Samuel Paley. It has been six years since Paley brought back the La Palina brand. Today we look back at the re-launch of La Palina. It was a re-launch that took an unorthodox approach and successfully brought back the century-old brand into the marketplace.

The story of La Palina Cigars traces back to Samuel Paley, an immigrant who came to the United States from the Ukraine in the late 1800s. Settling in Chicago, Illinois, Samuel found work as a cigar factory lector  the person who reads newspapers and stories to the cigar rollers in the factory. He eventually worked his way up to roller and then a blender.

In 1896, Samuel opened up his own store called Congress Cigar Company. He would also produce a brand for his new company called La Palina, a product named for his wife Goldie Drell Paley. In 1910, the company moved to Philadelphia and later Samuels son William S. Paley came on board as Vice President. The younger Paley would sponsor a small radio show in Philadelphia called The La Palina Hour. The sponsorship led to growth with the La Palina brand, and at the same time the younger Paley also realized the value and potential of radio. He would go forward with the purchase of five radio stations in Philadelphia which eventually would become the beginning of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS). In 1926, Samuel Paley would go on to retire. With his son now entrenched in the broadcasting field, Samuel would also retire the La Palina cigar line.

The next chapter of La Palina would fall on William S. Paleys son (and Samuel Paleys grandson), William C. Bill Paley. While Bills father didnt remain in the cigar business, the tobacco industry ran through the blood of the Paley family. Bill Paley would go on to become a cigar enthusiast. Fast forward to the 21st century and Bill turned his attention to re-establishing his familys legacy.

The Bahamas

The relaunch of La Palina takes us to the Bahamas. The Paley family has had an estate located at Lyford Cay on New Providence Island known as Lightbourne House. While spending summers at Lightbourne, cigar enthusiast Bill Paley would enjoy many cigars. He eventually wanted to create the best cigar he could for his guests who would come to the estate. This project provided Bill with the opportunity to re-establish La Palina.

While the Bahamas might seem a very unlikely place to resurrect La Palina brand, there is some rationale behind it. Being an avid cigar enthusiast, Paley struck up a friendship with Enrico and Paolo Garzaroli. The Garzarolis are the owners of the world-famous Graycliff Hotel in the Bahamas. They also happen to be the owners of the Graycliff Cigar Factory. In his quest to make the perfect cigar, it led Bill to working with Graycliff. Paley started collaborating with the legendary Cuban Master Blender, Avelino Lara. Before leaving Cuba, Lara was best known for making the Cohiba line. Working with Lara made a lot of sense in terms of the connection back to the roots of La Palina. The original La Palina lines used Cuban tobacco, there for it made sense for Paley to work with someone who makes cigars in the Cuban tradition.

Around the time Paley started working with Graycliff, the brand was one of the hotter brands. It also was one of the most premium brands out there. Many Graycliff offerings were in the $20.00 range. This was due to not only the fact that the Graycliff brand was synonymous with the luxury resort in the Bahamas, but also because the Bahamas has a high import tax for the raw materials needed to make the cigars.

La Palina 1896

On May 17, 2010 Bill Paley formally announced the return of La Palina Cigars. The first cigar would be a small batch limited edition cigar that Paley developed with Lara and the Graycliff factory known as the La Palina 1896 Limited Edition. The cigar derives its name from the year that Samuel Paley launched his cigar operation.

Paley had told me once that the 1896 Limited Edition was originally the result of a factory production error, but he decided to release it anyway. The cigar itself consisted on an Ecuadorian wrapper, Costa Rican binder, and filler from Honduras and Nicaragua. The cigar itself was a short robusto measuring 4 7/8 x 52. It was packaged in ten count boxes. Priced at $19.00, it was an unusual move for a cigar maker to take  namely introducing a relatively unknown ultra premium limited edition cigar into the marketplace.

La Palina Family Series

A few months later, Paley released his first regular production line  the La Palina Family Series. This collaboration with Lara and Grayliff introduced two blends, and four vitolas. Each of the vitolas paid homage to a member of the Paley family.

The La Palina Family Series Pasha and Babe paid homage to Bill Paleys parents, William S. Paley and Barbara Babe Cushing Paley. The Pasha and Babe were intended to be milder offerings utilizing a Costa Rican wrapper, Costa Rican binder, and a combination of Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers. Pasha was a 7 1/4 x 50 Churchill with a brushed footer. Babe was a 5 1/4 x 50 Robusto offering. Given they were coming from Graycliff out of the Bahamas, these were not inexpensive offerings. The Pasha priced at $23.00 per cigar and the Babe priced at $18.00. Bill Paley has mentioned on several occasions the Pasha was his favorite offering.

The La Palina Family Series Little Bill and Alison pay homage to Bill Paley and his wife Alison Van Metre Paley. These cigars have a different blend than Pasha and Babe and consisted of an Ecuadorian wrapper, Costa Rican binder and fillers from Honduras and Nicaragua. Alison was a 6 1/2 x 52 torpedo and Little Bill was a 4 1/2 x 52 perfecto. These blends were intended to be a little stronger than the milder Pasha and Babe offerings. These cigars had a secondary band denoted with LIGERO to indicate a stronger blend. Like Pasha and Babe, these were also ultra-premium offerings out of Graycliff in the Bahamas. The Alison priced at $22.00 and the Little Bill was priced at $19.00.

Postscript to Family Series

Launching a brand at around the $20.00 price point is something that is not often done. Back in 2010, many would consider that to be early suicide for a new company. This also came at the time when we were still coming out of a major economic downturn in the U.S. economy and many brands were now trying to focus on the value-priced $6.00 to $8.00 market. Going to market with a superior product was something that Bill Paley set out to do from the start. Paley told me at the 2012 IPCPR that by taking this approach, sales would follow and he would grow his brand. Bill felt working with Graycliff and Lora afforded him the best opportunity to accomplish this.

Besides the deep pockets of the Paley fortune, Bill Paley had one other thing going for him  the story of his familys company. The brand was marketed as an ultra-premium brand and it was targeted to retailers who focused attention in that space. As a result, the La Palina Family Series would slowly begin to build a cult following in the cigar community. The cigars were highly acclaimed by many media outlets including Cigar Coop which gave the La Palina Family Series Babe and La Palina Family Series Alison the #5 and #7 Cigar of the Year respectively in 2010.

Bill began expanding his portfolio in 2011 and 2012. In 2011, he introduced the La Palina El Diario. This was meant to be a premium everyday cigar. It paid homage to Samuel Paleys days as the cigar factory lector. Paley partnered with Raices Cubanas to make El Diario, and he was able to deliver a cigar about half the price of the Family Series. Like the Family Series, it garnered high acclaim and captured our 2011 Cigar of the Year on Cigar Coop. Bill would follow this up in 2012 with the La Palina Maduro, a maduro offering out of Raices Cubanas and priced similar to El Diario. He also would release La Palina Classic, a more affordable cigar in the $7.50 to $8.50 range that came out of the PDR Cigars factory in the Dominican Republic.

2012 would also see the release of the La Palina Goldie Laguito No. 2. The Goldie takes its name from Bill Paleys grandmother (and Samuel Paleys wife) Goldie Drell Paley. Incorporating medio tiempo in the filler, this cigar would mark the first project Bill Paley would do with El Titan de Bronze in Little Havana. This would become possibly La Palinas most acclaimed work to date  and it gave the company a second consecutive Cigar of the Year award on Cigar Coop. Since then it has become an annual release in a different vitola each year and has remained enormously popular.

Unfortunately Avelino Lara did not live to see the launch of La Palina Cigars or the original Family Series. Back in October, 2009 Lara would pass away. Paley would then move on to work with Avelinos son Abel Lara, a roller at the Graycliff Factory.

Retiring and Relaunching the Family Series

With a growing portfolio, it became a challenge to keep the La Palina Family Series going from the Graycliff Factory in the Bahamas. During the 2013 IPCPR Trade Show, Paley said that he was sunsetting the La Palina Family Series (and La Palina 1896 Limited Edition).

In 2015, Bill explained some of the reasons for ending the run with Graycliff : In the long run, the cost of importing these fine Tabaccos into the Bahamas, which charges 100% duty on importation, priced the product out of commercial practicality for a new cigar company with very little penetration in the market. La Palina went on to produce more affordable cigars and develop the extensive penetration and popularity that we enjoy today. Interestingly enough as the inventory of these super premium cigars dwindled, the demand for them grew. The source Tabaccos which I made the cigar from are however no longer available.

But that would not be the end of the line with the Family Series.

Bills relationship with El Titan de Bronze was blossoming. The annual Goldie release had become one of the most anticipated annual limited edition cigars in the industry. He had worked with El Titan de Bronze to create another limited edition called Mr. Sam (a cigar named for the nickname Samuel Paleys employees gave him), which was so successful that Bill turned it into a regular production offering. He soon decided that El Titan de Bronze would be the perfect place to handle the production of the La Palina Family Series going forward.

The new La Palina Family Series would be dubbed the La Palina Family Series Miami. Three of the four vitolas were retained: Pasha, Alison, and Babe. The Little Bill perfecto size was not carried over. The line would be consolidated from two blends down to an all-new single blend consisting of an Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper, Ecuadorian Habano binder, and Nicaraguan fillers. While it still retains the title as La Palinas most premium regular production limited edition line, the Family Series Miami is priced more competitively between $16.50 and $20.00 per cigar. The Pasha also offers a coffin packaged option.

While the Bahamian made La Palina Family Series is no more, Paley has said he has taken any remaining inventory remain and is putting it away for long-term aging. The plan will be to release these cigars as a vintage cigar release at some future date.

Epilogue

With the releases at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show, La Palina Cigars is now a company that offers eleven regular production blends plus the limited edition Goldie line. While it doesnt make cigars in the Bahamas any more, it still utilizes factories in the U.S., Honduras, the Dominican Republic, and most recently Nicaragua. This is a company that is no doubt gearing up to do future for many years to come. Over the past year, the company has brought in industry veterans Clay Roberts (CEO and co-President) and Sam Phillips (co-President) to join Bill Paley on the executive team. When I visited Paley at the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show, he informed me he has been preparing La Palina to do business in the new era of regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Over the past six years, Ive followed La Palinas journey to where they are today and have enjoyed it immensely. This is a company thats come a long way from the days of the original La Palina Family Series. As stated earlier, Bill took a highly unorthodox route to where it is today  namely coming to market with a $20.00 cigar. However, Bill did a masterful job at telling his familys rich history in the cigar business through delivering that ultra-premium release.

The day will come when the remaining vintage La Palina Family Series cigars will be released  and my gut tells me when those cigars are re-introduced to market, they are going to be wildly successful. It will have many of us remembering the 2010 days when that cigar was the best secret in the business.

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
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The university asked them to reapply for their current positions at a pay cut of 25-45 percent. The laid-off UCSD employeessome of whom have worked at UCSD and the Playhouse for up to 30 yearsare concerned for their futures. They say the nine-month arrangement, as well as a demotion in pay grade, will reduce their annual incomes severely, as well as their pension and retirement benefits.
Argentina allows you a mini trek and a five-hour trek on the glacier with cleats.

Theres a beauty so stunningly stark and soulfully pristine that it fills ones senses and hushes words into silence. Raw, untouched, beguiling, Patagonia is a captivating landscape that unfolds seamlessly from vast stretches of steppes in shades of ochre and burnt sienna to the mighty, rugged Andes that look like sentinels cradling vast swathes of glaciers. At the foothills of the mountains, alpine trees and pretty wildflowers sway to the breeze. High up in the craggy reaches are nimble-footed guanacos (llama origin), while the occasional white swans with black necks and rheas (ostrich family) waddle past. What remain elusive are the pumas and the condor. Stay in camps and trek the Torres de Paine national park in Chile side of Patagonia to spot them.

Nothing you have seen or read prepares you for the sheer scale of beauty of the region that stretches from Argentina to Chile. The aim and shoot camera captured some beautiful shots as you just cant go wrong with such magnificence. Interestingly, the wind keeps blowing the clouds and the lighting changes every minute rendering the same ice grey, white and blue and the water blue, green and grey! According to the guide, the lakes are green when they are oxygen rich and fed directly by the glaciers and some white coloured stones in water are alive and undergoing photosynthesis. That is science trying to explain some of the magic that is Patagonia.

One advice: do not shut your eye even for a moment as you soak in the spectacular vistas of incredible blue and green lakes and snow-capped mountains around you.

For those searching for the creator in temples and churches and mosques, one can only ask them to visit Patagonia. Patagonia can only be a calling. Many consider Perito Moreno, one of the few growing glaciers, the 8th wonder of the world! Frankly, it makes the other seven wonders pale into insignificance. The glacier at the world heritage Los Glaciers Nacional Parque in Argentina is 5 kms wide, covers 250 sq kms and is 240 feet above Lake Argentina and 558 feet below it! Yes, it is enormous!

Argentina allows you a mini trek and a five-hour trek on the glacier with cleats. The mini trek ended with a glass of whisky chilled on glacier ice! For those not keen on a trek, there is the cruise or the balcony built to view the massive glacier. As you stand in the balcony, the sounds remind you of Diwali back home as the ice crackles and breaks. Nature has a way of balancing itself. This glacier grows at 7 feet a day but loses just as much every day.

Perito Moreno is only one of the 48 glaciers that are the remnants of the ice age that once covered the whole of Argentina and Chile. Patagonia is just 600 odd miles away from Antarctica.

Almost all of Patagonia once belonged to Chile but Argentina in an effort to establish its dominance over Patagonia entered into a conquest of the desert when Chile was fighting the war of the Pacific with Peru and Bolivia. Chile had little choice but to sign a treaty with Argentina that allowed it to retain the Megallan channel named after the explorer who discovered it. It was Ferdinand Megallan who described the Tehulche tribe who inhabited this region as Patagones. The meaning could be large feet as this tribe was known to be large built, or the more mean reference to patagone  a mythical monster-faced dog in a Spanish romantic novel!

This desert war opened up the pampas to the first Scot and English settlers from Falklands in search of more agricultural land. Then came the rest of Europe! The ranches that breed the best sheep in the world that produce merino wool are built in a style that tell you which part of Europe they came from. Some of these ranches offer you a stay, horseback rides through Patagonia or just a lunch of their select cattle with some of the best wines from the region.

Patagonia is called the end of the world as it is the southern end of the world. But is more apt as it was the end of the world for the original indigenous tribes  dead in combat or due to diseases brought in by Europeans.

Thinly inhabited Patagonia is also one of the few places in the world which reminds us how beautiful this world was  and how we are surely hurtling towards the end.
New Delhi: Industry body Assocham has urged the government to uncap cash withdrawal for logistics and transport fleet owners, arguing that their operational expenses are higher.

Assocham observed that "the note ban has come as a bottleneck to the transport business". "The chamber has urged the government to review the cash withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000 from the current account per week and raise it to minimum Rs 4-5 lakh (for transport fleet owners) which is bare minimum," Assocham said.

The government de-legalised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes on November 8, in a sudden crackdown on black money and terror financing. Drawing inputs from various sources, the Assocham study on Transport and Logistics noted that close to 10 per cent of the expenses of trucks on trunk routes are accounted for by drivers and other support crew who are part of the journeys which take 7-8 days on a single trip.

"The entire expenses of the drivers and other crew are to be met by cash. In the wake of the demonetisation of high value notes, the fleet owners are facing problems in operations," said the chamber.

While fuel accounts for 52-66 per cent of the total trip expenses, another 25-40 per cent outgo is towards sub heads like tolls, octroi, speedy clearance at check posts etc.

Besides, the study also suggested that to promote seamless inter-state freight flows, a green channel should be adopted for transit of secure/sealed containerized cargo. Presently, there are 177 inter-state check posts and 268 toll barriers on national highways.
Reiterating that piracy happens during post-production, Pahlaj Nihalani suggests that the best way to tackle the menace is in the studios.

The arrest of a technician at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad, for stealing and pirating footage from Baahubali 2 has thrown open the looming threat of piracy once again.

The chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Pahlaj Nihalani has weighed in on the matter, saying, Ive repeatedly been saying that the threat to our industry is not from Hollywood or recession. People are blaming demonetisation for the low turn out in the theatres, when in fact the culprit has always been piracy.

Pahlaj recommends stronger checks and curbs at post-production outlets to circumvent the problem. There are dozens of computers in every post-production outlet, each manned by an individual. How much effort would it take for one of them to download footage from a film on his phone or his pen drive? he asks.

The chief also believes that the problem of piracy does not occur at the CBFC office. Sometime ago, the CBFC office was seen as the place where piracy occurred. Producers need to pinpoint the real culprits to curb piracy.
Meanwhile, Punjab govt has suspended DG Jails, dismissed the Nabha Jail superintendent and deputy jail superintendent.

Police officials investigate after six inmates of Nabha Jail including dreaded Khalistan ultra and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Mintoo escaped near Patiala on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Concerned over the jailbreak in Punjab, the Centre on Sunday sought a report from the state government asking it provide details of the incident.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to the Punjab DGP and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in the state.

Armed men in police uniform on Sunday stormed the high-security Nabha Jail in Patiala district, opening indiscriminate fire and fleeing with five prisoners including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Singh Mintoo.

The Home Ministry asked the Punjab government to send the report about the jailbreak as early as possible and the steps taken to ensure security in the jails.

The incident came two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces to guard against attempts to disturb peace through "vicious" political campaign or by external extremist forces during the election process in Punjab and four other states.

"We have to keep strict vigil against external extremist elements who may try to create disturbance in Punjab. There have been increased activities of Sikh terrorists in recent months.

"Similarly in Manipur, we have to ensure peace keeping in mind the ethnic divide. In Uttar Pradesh too, there may be attempts to disturb law and order through vicious political campaigning. We have to keep strict vigil and take proper steps to ensure peace during election," the Home Minister said at the conference of Director Generals of Police (DGPs) in Hyderabad on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government has suspended the Director General (Jails) and dismissed the Nabha Jail superintendent and deputy jail superintendent and set up a special taskforce to look into the Nabha jailbreak incident.

"DG Jails has been suspended and Jail Superintendent and Deputy Jail Superintendent have been dismissed," Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, told reporters.

A manhunt has been launched to trace the prisoners who escaped, the Deputy CM said and added that a special task force has been formed to track them.

Sukhbir said a special investigation team under the ADGP rank officer has also been constituted which shall look into lapses as well as any conspiracy theories surrounding the jail break incident.

"Special Investigation team has been asked to submit report within three days in this regard," he said. The Home Secretary has also been asked to submit a report on the incident.

"Home Secretary will give me a report on wherever any lapse has taken place. Whosoever will be found responsible in this incident, strict action will be taken against him," he said.

However, the Deputy CM said that there was no need to worry.

"They (prisoners) will not be allowed to run away. Police is after them. We will catch them soon," he said.
Tug of war over judges appointments escalates.

New Delhi: The countrys top court and the government sparred openly  and bitterly  on Saturday, and cautioned each other against crossing the lakshman rekha, a sharp escalation in a tug of war between the judiciary and the Centre triggered by differences over judges appointments.

First, Chief Justice of India (CJI) T.S. Thakur said at a function in the morning that 500 judges posts are vacant in high courts and courtrooms are lying vacant without judges A large number of proposals are still pending and we hope the government will intervene to end this crisis, said the CJI while addressing a conference of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT).

Law minister Ravishankar Prasad at the same event retorted back and said, We respectfully disagree with him (CJI). This year we have made 120 appointments, which is the second highest since 1990. The highest number of appointments of 121 was made in 2013, Mr Prasad said.

At a later event at the Supreme Court, Mr Prasad said that during Emergency, all high courts had showed great courage and determination but the Supreme Court failed the nation.

The CJI there cautioned that no organs of the government should cross the lakshman rekha and stressed the judiciary has been given the duty to watch that all remain within their limits.

The CJI was responding to Attorney General (AG) Mukul Rohatgi, who in an apparent reference to Emergency, had said that the delicate balance of Constitution was disturbed in 1970s, and that balance must be restored.

Hours later, Mr Rohatgi said at another Law Day function in the presence of the CJI and his likely successor Justice J.S. Khehar that all including judiciary must recognise there is a lakshman rekha, and be ready for introspection.

While the CJI did not respond to it, Justice Khehar said, Judiciary has always kept to lakshman rekha by upholding the Constitution.

Emergency brought out strengths and weaknesses of Constitution, he said responding to the AGs remarks.

However, the law minister was more vocal in attacking the judiciary by saying that the Supreme Court failed us during the Emergency and all high courts showed great courage.

Courts may quash the order of the government. Courts may set aside a legislation but the governance must remain with those who are elected to govern, he said.

A virtual war broke out when the Supreme Court struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act in Oct., 2015. The Act was to end a long and unique practice of judges appointing judges under a Collegium system. Through the Act, the Centre wanted some say and transparency in the appointment of judges.
The Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh governments had already issued advisories warning locals not to deposit cash on behalf of others.

New Delhi: Acting on reports of huge cash movement from other parts of India to the Northeastern states, the income-tax department asked banks to report before January 31, all cash deposits made between November 8 and December 30 in excess of Rs 2.5 lakh in savings accounts, and Rs 12.5 lakh in current accounts.

A lot of cash is flowing into Northeastern states from other parts of the country and being deposited in banks, a senior I-T official told this newspaper.

The submission of such reports, called statement of financial transactions by banks to I-T departments is a usual annual affair, with the normal deadline being May 31 every year. But this year, it has been advanced to January 31 in the backdrop of the governments demonetisation move, the official added.

On November 22, a private chartered flight from an unscheduled airstrip in Haryanas Hissar to Nagalands Dimapur, and carrying a relative of a leading Naga politician, was seized by the authorities along with cash worth Rs 3.5 crore in demonetised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes. Reports said the same plane had made at least three such trips earlier without being detected.

Special laws meant for tribal populations in the Northeast region exempt them from paying income tax, and as such, they need not explain their sources of income for tax calculation purposes. Moreover, with large parts still outside the purview of the formal banking system, a cash economy is predominant.

This loophole is being used by unscrupulous individuals and other entities to transport black money into the region, after which the money is ploughed back into the banking system through RTGS and other modes by willing locals in exchange for cuts.

The Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh governments had already issued advisories warning locals not to deposit cash on behalf of others.

A Nagaland government advisory dated November 18 said: All tribals who are exempt from paying income tax are hereby cautioned not to allow non-tribals to park their money in their accounts of tribals as this is illegal and amounts to conversion of black money into white.

An Arunachal Pradesh advisory dated November 19 said: Citizens of Arunachal Pradesh who are exempted from paying income tax under relevant laws are hereby cautioned not to allow non-tribals to park their money in their accounts. Such practice will be deemed as illegal and is liable for prosecution.

There is also a predominant security aspect to the issue as the Northeastern states are home to at least 50 militant organisations, which may have parked their funds elsewhere, but are now seeking to get it converted into new currency notes.

Interestingly, what is happening in the Northeast in the aftermath of the demonetisation move is a repeat of 1978 when the Morarji Desai government had denotified Rs 1,000, Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 notes, after which there was a massive flight of cash from across the country to many places in the Northeast region.

In a related development, security sources told this newspaper that the Cessna aircraft that flew in from Hissar to Dimapur is being looked into as a case of security breach, besides one of money laundering.

This particular aircraft flew from a non-scheduled flying club airstrip in Haryanas Hissar to a scheduled airstrip in Nagalands Dimapur. What if the aircraft was carrying weapons instead of cash? This is a case of serious security breach and a regulatory loophole that we will have to plug. We have held several meetings on the issue, a security official privy to the development told this newspaper.

There are about 166 airstrips across India, of which only about 56 are scheduled ones or airstrips which have scheduled flights. The rest are non-scheduled and unregulated.

As of now, the income-tax authorities are investigating the case from the point of view of money laundering, but the case will be referred to the home ministry and the civil aviation departments too, the official said.
Modi said that while the government wanted to stop corruption, the Opposition wanted to stop the country from functioning.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking at a rally in Kushinagar of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. (Photo: ANI Twitter)

Kushinagar (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked previous governments at the Centre, saying that if agricultural reforms had been implemented earlier, the farmers and poor of the country would not have had to suffer for so long.

Speaking at a rally in Kushinagar of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, the PM said that his government is dedicated to the poor, the farmers, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

When my Govt took charge, cane farmers were owed Rs 12,000 crore. We made efforts to ensure they got paid in time. Dues were cleared to an extent, Modi said.

Strong farmers and villages add strength to India. We did not let sugarcane farmers suffer. We waived loans of Rs 20,000 crore owed by them, Modi said.

The PM said that farmers earlier had to stand in queues even in biting cold to procure urea, but the Central government had brought an end to this.

Now, urea reaches the farmers field. Thefts have stopped because neem coating has been put over the urea, he said.

Taking a shot at the UP government, Modi said that if they care about the farmers, they should implement the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana.

But in a cynical vein, the Prime Minister asserted that the Samajwadi Party government would not work for the farmers because it was not in their political interest.

Pitching for a cashless economy, the Prime Minister stated that people can use mobile banking with the ease that they send messages on Whatsapp.

On demonetization, Modi said he had requested the people of the country to suffer inconvenience for just 50 days. Wealthy people will have to bear more inconvenience, the poor less, Modi said.

Slamming the Opposition for calling a Bharat Bandh on Monday, Modi said that while the government wanted to stop corruption, the Opposition wanted to stop the country from functioning.

Your money is always yours. You can spend it even without cash transactions. It is the black money hoarders who need cash and who are most affected by demonetization, Modi claimed.

While the whole world was moving towards a cashless future, India had been left behind so far, the PM claimed.
Nitish Kumar on Friday had said that he had a talk with Mamata Banerjee only before her visit to meet President Pranab Mukherjee.

Patna: In pursuance of party chief Nitish Kumar support to demonetisation, JD (U) has decided to keep off from the nationwide protest by Opposition on Monday against the scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes as well the dharna to be held by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee here on November 30.

"We have supported and welcomed the Centre's demonetisation move. Then how can we oppose or be the part of activity like bandh which is meant to protest the issue which our party has strongly supported," Bihar unit JD (U) President Bashishtha Narayan Singh told PTI on Sunday.

Singh attended a high level party meeting held by party chief President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar last evening to take a decision on Monday's stir called by Opposition parties to corner the Narendra Modi government over the ban on denomination currencies to fight blackmoney.

The meeting chaired by Kumar was attended by senior party functionaries K C Tyagi, R C P Singh, Harivansh, Bashishtha Narayan Singh, Pawan Verma, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and others.

In addition to keeping away from the November 28 agitation, JD(U) would not participate in Banerjee's dharna in Patna on Wednesday to demand roll back of demonetisation.

"JD(U) will not be part of any agitation against demonetisation including the dharna of Mamata Banerjee on November 30 in Patna," party Secretary General K C Tyagi said.

"We have taken an ideological position in favour of demonetisation so how can we be part of any agitation seeking its roll back," Tyagi said while stating his party's stand on the proposed agitation as well as the sit-in by TMC chief, who is on the forefront of agitation against demonetisation.

Kumar on Friday had said that he had a talk with Mamata Banerjee only before her visit to Rashtrapati Bhawan to meet President Pranab Mukherjee against the demonetisation.

"She had spoken to me before going to Rashtrapati Bhawan and I had pointed to her that even the President has supported demonetisation," Kumar had said about parleys with Banerjee.
The incident happened early in the morning, when the armed men wearing police uniforms fired over 100 rounds at the jail authorities.

Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief and noted terrorist Harminder Singh Mintoo and four other prisoners escaped from Punjab's Nabha Jail on Sunday. (Photo: PTI/Representational)

Nabha: Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief and noted terrorist Harminder Singh Mintoo and four other prisoners escaped from Punjab's Nabha Jail on Sunday after 10 armed men broke into the jail and helped the prisoners top escape.

The four prisoners who escaped along Mintoo are Gurpreet Singh, Vicky Gondra, Nitin Deol and Vikramjeet Singh.

The incident happened early in the morning, when the armed men wearing police uniforms fired over 100 rounds at the jail authorities.

The Punjab Police are now at spot to assess the situation, even as the probe has been initiated.

The dreaded militant Mintoo, was arrested by Punjab police from Delhi's IGI airport on November 2014 when he was on his way back from Thailand.

The 47-year-old is wanted in 10 terror-related cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station.

Mintoo took over the KLF in 2009 after he had defected from Wadhawa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

He is wanted for plotting killings of three Punjab Shiv Sena leaders. He also planted Improvised Explosive Devices at Halwara Air Force station near Ludhiana in 2010.
The controversial Islamic preacher is suspected to be in Malaysia now.

Mumbai: The controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, who is facing charges under the anti-terror law, has a Malaysian citizenship too.

According to a report in Hindustan Times, Naik is suspected to be in Malaysia now. The televangelist received Malaysian citizenship in 2013 along with the countrys highest civilian award  Tokoh Maal Hijrah, Naiks representatives in Mumbai said.

It is the state policy of Malaysia to offer citizenship to the awardees of the highest civilian honour of their land. Naik is now a Malaysian citizen too, said a representative.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has charged Naik and banned his organisation Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) under section 153-A of IPC (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), besides various sections of anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

All the bank accounts of Naik and IRF have also been blocked. The move to block his bank accounts was taken after the NIA claimed to have seized documents which showed ISIS recruit Abu Anas had received Rs 80,000 from the IRF as scholarship in October 2015, PTI had quoted its sources as saying in an earlier report.

Anas, an engineer and a resident of Tonk in Rajasthan, had quit job in a Hyderabad-based company when he was arrested by the NIA in January for allegedly planning to carry out a terror strike ahead of Republic Day.

The NIA claimed the probe into the IRF's funding and distribution of money showed that Anas, who was among 16 people arrested for ISIS links at that time, had received Rs 80,000 from IRF as scholarship.

Naik, in an open letter, called the ban on IRF an attack on "Muslims, peace, democracy and justice". He said he will pursue all legal options to get the ban repealed and that the judiciary will fail the Modi government in its 'plans'.
Aide held from UP; top official suspended, 2 others sacked.

Punjabs Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal interacts with senior police officers after Nabha jailbreak near Patiala in Punjab. (Photo: PTI)

Chandigarh/Lucknow: Ten gunmen disguised as policemen stormed a high-security prison in poll-bound Punjab on Sunday morning, rained bullets at security guards before freeing top Sikh militant commander Harminder Singh Mintoo and five other gangsters. Last month eight Islamists awaiting trial escaped a prison in Madhya Pradesh before being gunned down hours later.

Soon after the jailbreak, a 24-year old woman was killed in Punjabs Samrala when the police, in a state of high alert, opened fire at a vehicle, which jumped a security barricade.

Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Mintoo had been deported from Thailand and arrested in Delhi in 2014 on a string of terror charges, and his escape is a setback to anti-terror operations in the state, the police said.

Following the incident at Nabha city in the states Patiala district, the Punjab government sounded an alert, ordered a probe and sent special teams to nab the raiders and inmates who fled in cars.

The attackers moved quickly through the complex, indicating they knew about the jail layout, said a source. Others who escaped include: Kashmir Singh, Vicky Gounder, Gurpreet Sekhon, Amandeep Dhotian and Kulpreet Neetu aka Neeta Deol.

The SAD-BJP government suspended a top prison official and sacked two others amid mounting criticism from the Congress and the AAP in Punjab where assembly elections will be held early next year.

The Uttar Pradesh police swiftly arrested one Parminder, who had allegedly helped in Mintoos escape, from Kairana in the states Shamli district. The police recovered arms and ammunition from him.

The Punjab government announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for information helpful in nabbing the raiders and escapees. Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal spoke of a Pakistan hand in the jailbreak.

Punjab battled Pakistan-backed Sikh militancy for a separate homeland for more than two decades till early 1990s. Mr Badal briefed National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval about the incident.

Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and sought a detailed report on the incident.

Punjab Congress chief Amarinder said the state government was involved in the incident, while AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal demanded the resignation of the Deputy CM who is also the states home minister.

The police said that Parminder, who was arrested from UP, had been taken to an undisclosed destination for questioning. He is a resident of Punjabs Jalandhar district and had allegedly killed a policeman earlier. He had escaped from jail in March this year, the police said.
Cash-surge in bookings was seen after the govt had initially allowed the use of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for air-travel bookings.

There are preliminary indications that so far there may have been a 10 per cent dip in air-travel bookings. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Centres demonetisation decision has led to a slight dip in the sale of air tickets, a top functionary of a private airline has said, but agreed with the governments assertion that it is too early to relate the two.

Government sources, meanwhile, said there had been a surge in cash bookings after the demonetisation move but said they would wait and watch before commenting on the financial impact of the move on air-travel.

There are preliminary indications that so far there may have been a 10 per cent dip in air-travel bookings, but airlines are watching the situation closely before arriving at a conclusion. It is too early to say. There is a slight dip in demand but it is not alarming as of now. We will have to see what the impact will be in the coming days, a top executive of a private airline said.

The cash-surge in bookings was seen after the government had initially allowed the use of the old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for air-travel bookings, following which the government put out a rider that the tickets sold through this would be non-refundable.

This was to prevent any move by unscrupulous persons to book tickets with the old notes, and cancel them later there by seeking refund from the airlines through payment in new currency.

The first official indications through government data on the effects of demonetisation for air travel will be seen only by the middle of December when aviation regulator DGCA will release the official statistics on air travel for the month of November.
Lets shut out graft, not shut down nation, says Modi

Lucknow/New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Opposition for protesting his demonetisation drive, warned those trying to save their black money through various means, while asking people to embrace digital payment channels to tide over a persisting cash crunch.

Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradeshs Kushinagar on Sunday, the PM said, We want to shut out corruption and they (Opposition) want to shut down the nation. You tell me whether it should be bhrasthachar bandh or Bharat bandh.

The Opposition has called for a nationwide protest on Monday against the PMs shock move to replace all high-value currencies that sucked out about 86% of the currency in circulation. But Mr Modi called demonetisation a cure to the 70-year-old disease of corruption.

The PM also used Mann Ki Baat  his monthly address on national radio  to warn those using poor peoples Jan Dhan bank accounts to park their illegal money. He said a very strict benami law would be put in place against such transactions.

The PM urged technology-savvy young people to spare some time teaching others how to use digital payment platforms.

I want to tell my small merchant brothers and sisters, this is the chance for you to enter the digital world, Mr Modi said, urging them to use mobile banking applications and credit card swipe machines.

Mr Modi said demonetisation was an essential step in national interest for the benefit of the poor, farmers and labourers.

At the rally, the PM responded to criticism that his move has caused hardship, and said when the ailment is chronic, the treatment does entail some pain.

I had already told the people that they would face some inconvenience for 50 days. The government is trying to reduce the inconvenience. Bade logon ko badi taqleef ho rahi hai aur chhote login ko chhoti taqleef ho rahi hai magar isse desh ko nai disha milegi, he said.

The PMs move has people scrambling for notes in a country where cash drives most transactions. The chaos has allowed the Opposition to attack the BJP-led government at the Centre ahead of key state elections.

Opposition parties across states have escalated their campaign against the currency swap announced on November 8, saying it has hit consumption, hurt agriculture and real estate, and scores of people have died in queues.

The government has said the move would hit at corruption and counterfeit currency, besides brining billions of dollars worth of unaccounted wealth into the mainstream economy.

Commenting on PM Modis promotion of digital banking, the Congress said ground reality is completely different from the statements he was making.

In a country of 1,350 million people if only 315 million have access to a bank account. The bulk of the transactions, especially in rural India, is taking place in cash, said Congress leader Manish Tewari.
The Prime Ministers presence in eastern UP holds special significance since the BJP had won all 18 Lok Sabha seats in the region in 2014.

Lucknow: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday mounted a scathing attack on the SP government in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and accused the Akhilesh Yadav regime of being unconcerned to the hardships of the people.

Addressing a rally in Kushinagar during the BJPs ongoing Parivartan Yatras, the PM slammed the state government for showing laxity in implementing the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme, while reiterating the Centres commitment to farmers and said that his government had cleared a large part of the Rs 12,000 crores worth of dues to cane growers.

Instead of giving a package to the sugar lobby, we gave the money directly to the cane growers. We also asked sugar mills to make ethanol and we have already produced 100 crore litres of ethanol to prevent sugar mills form closing down, he said.

If they (the SP) have settled their dispute, they should implement this scheme which insurance a farmers crop against any damage to their crops. But I dont think this UP government will be able to do any work because they are not even interested in this, he said.

He was apparently referring to the crisis within the Yadav family that pitted Akhilesh against his father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal months ahead of the elections.

The Prime Minister also listed the work that his government has done for eastern UP, including setting up AIIMS and reopening a fertilizer unit in the region.

The Prime Ministers presence in eastern UP holds special significance since the BJP had won all 18 Lok Sabha seats in the region in 2014 and the party is hoping to repeat the feat in the upcoming assembly elections.
Congress, at the national level, is virtually leading the charge against demonetisation.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and other opposition leaders during a protest rally against demonetization of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: Even before the much-hyped protest against the Modi governments demonetisation move could take off, cracks have surfaced within the Opposition with the Left going all out to prevent Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee from emerging as a key stretegist and the face unifying anti-BJP forces.

While the Opposition is gearing up for the protest march across the nation on November 28, the Left parties have called for a 12-hour Bengal bandh on the same day  a move that is being vehemently opposed by Ms Banerjee.

Cracks have also surfaced within the Grand Alliance. Bihar chief minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar described demonetisation as a brave move.

However, Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress, which are part of the Grand Alliance in Bihar, have been strongly opposing the move right from the onset.

Congress, at the national level, is virtually leading the charge against demonetisation.

The Samajwadi Party has also been a striking discordant note with regard to their position on demonetisation. On one hand Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Agarwal launched a scathing attack against the move on the floor of the House, on the other hand party general secretary Amar Singh not only called it a bold move but also claimed that he as a countryman was proud to have such Prime Minister who was so dedicated and adamant to root out corruption. Further, only on Friday UP chief minister and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav cautioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he would have to pay for troubling the poor of the country. Mr Singhs sudden praise for the PMs move is being viewed as a move to mend fences with the BJP since he is presently being hounded by a majority of the top leaders in the party including Akhilesh Yadav. When asked whether he was considering joining another party, Mr Singh told the media that he was very disturbed. I will take a final decision after talking to Mr Mulayam Singh, he said.

The Biju Janata Dal has adopted an ekla chalo (go alone) approach and did not join the Opposition parties march to meet President Pranab Mukherjee on November 14. Congress leaders in Bhubaneswar have alleged that BJD was trying to strike a deal with the BJP. Odisha state Congress president Prasad Harichandan on Saturday went to the extent of saying, BJP president Amit Shahs soft stance on the state chief minister Naveen Patnaik comes after the recent meeting between Mr Patanaik and Mr Modi that followed his unconditional support to the Centres demonetisation move. BJP and BJD are brothers in arms.

Reacting to the 12-hour bandh called by the Left, a furious Ms Banerjee tweeted: In Delhi at the meeting of Opposition parties, a bandh was never discussed or agreed to. We do not support any bandh called. People are suffering so I appeal to all to help citizens and stand by them at this hour of crisis.
Amit Shah heaped praises on Pradhan, describing him as a successful minister in the Narendra Modi government.

Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Janata Partys Mahasamavesh public rally in Odisha seems to have solved many queries with regard to partys stand vis-a-vis the ruling BJD and projection of partys chief ministerial candidate in the 2019 elections.

The rally, which was addressed by BJP president Amit Shah, marked the party for first time putting the BJD on the top of its list of political opponents, and all the state leaders, directly or indirectly, accepting in their speeches the rising of Union petroleum and natural gas (PNG) minister Dharmendra Pradhan as numero uno in the state organisation.

Before BJP president Amit Shah heaped praises on Mr Pradhan, describing him as a successful minister in the Narendra Modi government, Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram told the audience that the public rally became a huge success because of the efforts of the PNG minister.

Our president Amitji had some pressing engagements today in Gujarat. Because of the insistence of my younger brother Dharmendra Pradhan, he came here to inspire us. The credit for success of this meeting goes to him, Mr Oram, once seen a strong contender for partys chief ministerial candidate in 2019 Assembly polls, said, indicating that he had dropped himself out of the chief ministerial candidate race.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his public address in Balasore and Rourkela early this year, had also send a clear message to the party workers and leaders in Odisha about his love and affection for Mr Pradhan by describing as his most efficient young colleague.

Political circles viewed Mr Orams remark as his submission to pressures from BJP central leaders to accept Mr Pradhan as numero uno leader of the party in Odisha. Many other leaders who were present on the dais also took the name of Mr Pradhan, portraying him as the man who has been trying to usher Odisha in a new era of progress and development.

Mr Shah explained to the public how Mr Pradhans efforts had helped Odisha to get projects worth thousands of crore rupees in petroleum and other sectors, indicating that the saffron party had made up its mind to pit him against the BJD president Naveen Patnaik in 2019 polls.

Senior leaders like K.V. Singhdeo, Bijoy Mohapatra and Pratpa Sarangi, who had earlier reservations about the central leaders promoting Mr Pradhan, have chosen to keep mum, apparently not to incur displeasure of the central leaders.
The Opposition had called for a nationwide strike on November 28 against the demonetisation drive.

Patna: The JD(U) on Saturday came out in strong support of demonetisation drive and announced that it will stay away from the agitation and protests against the note ban.

Speaking on the issue JD(U) state president Basisth Narayan Singh said, Our party has taken a stand in favour of demonetisation and we will not participate in any agitation or strike which has been organised against the issue.

He said that the decision was taken by Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar during a meeting in Patna on Saturday. The JD(U) state president said that the party is convinced that the demonetisation drive will help wipe out black money from the country. The Opposition had called for a nationwide strike on November 28 against the demonetisation drive.

Earlier while addressing a function on the prohibition day, the Bihar chief minister had termed the demonetisation move as courageous.

The Prime Minister should also launch a parallel crackdown on those who have been spending their black money and buying gold and diamond jewellery, he said.

Besides he also urged the Centre to launch crackdown against benami properties and liquor trade along with the ban on high denomination currency notes to wipe out black money.

Everyone knows that people involved in liquor trade have created benami properties to hide their black money. Attack on benami property and liquor trade will uproot black money from India, Mr Kumar said.
The state leaders are not happy at the way Prashant Kishor is running the show.

New Delhi: The Congress cadre in Uttar Pradesh is unsure of the partys future in the state. The apparent bad blood between state leaders of the party and strategist Prashant Kishor has halted the Congress ship in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress was first to get off the block in a high-octane election campaign. But now after several yatras the congress campaign has hit a roadblock.

The Congress started its campaign in July this year and even announced its chief ministerial candidate. It conducted three simultaneous Yatras and even started collection of kisan maang patra (pamphlets) filled by farmers. The party also announced complete farm loan waiver but all the work done in the last three months seems to have fizzled out.

The state leaders are not happy at the way Mr Kishor is running the show. Pradeep mathur the leader of the Congress legislature party in the Uttar Pradesh assembly has already complained to the Congress President about a ploy by Kishor to deny him an assembly ticket from his seat in Mathura. Also, meetings of Mr Kishor with senior leaders of the Samajwadi party have irked many in the Congress. Uttar Pradesh Congress chief has officially denied that Kishor has not been authorised to speak to any party regarding any alliance in UP.
COLUMBUS  City streets will be a bit safer as the holiday season gets underway if alcohol-related offenses involving adults and minors continue the trend maintained through the first 10 months of the year.

Columbus Police officers have pulled over far fewer adult drunken drivers and citations issued for minor in possession of alcohol offenses have dropped off steeply during 2016, according to the police departments monthly activity report.

Police hauled 58 drunken drivers to the county lockup through October of this year, sinking more than 32 percent from the 86 jailed during the same 10-month period in 2015.

In October, police arrested just four drivers for DUI, a dip from six during the same month a year ago.

Minors cited for MIP have followed a similar trend line during 2016.

Police wrote up 49 minors for MIP offenses during the first 10 months of the year, down more than 18 percent from the 60 cited during the same period in 2015.

Officers issued just one MIP citation in October compared to three during the same month a year ago.

October is the latest month for which city crime figures are available.

Local merchants, meanwhile, might think about beefing up store security this holiday season if another yearlong trend holds up.

Sticky fingers have been lifting items off store shelves throughout the year as police reported an increase of nearly 69 percent in shoplifting offenses during 2016.

Officers have issued 118 shoplifting citations so far this year, up from 70 during the same 10-month period in 2015.

In October, offenses actually countered that trend. Police wrote five shoplifting citations during the month, off 67 percent from the 15 issued during the same month a year ago.

Overall theft offenses, which can include theft by exercising control, theft by deception and theft of services, have climbed from 168 through October of 2015 to 243 so far this year.

City burglaries have been sliding this year compared to a year ago.

Police responded to 41 burglaries through the first 10 months of 2016, a dive of 24 percent from the 54 investigated through October a year ago. Officers investigated three break-ins in October, two fewer than the five reported during the same month a year earlier.

Criminal mischief incidents have followed the opposite pattern.

Police responded to 160 criminal mischief incidents during the first 10 months of this year, a jump from the 124 complaints recorded through October of 2015.

In October, officers answered 15 criminal mischief calls, a rise from 11 registered a year ago.

More city drivers have seen the light (at night) this year and fewer are getting behind the wheel without the proper paperwork.

Officers have cited 68 drivers for driving without headlights at night in 2016, a plunge of nearly 45 percent from the 123 ticketed through the first 10 months a year ago. In October, police wrote up just two drivers, a decrease from seven in 2015.

Police have had fewer encounters this year with drivers unable to produce the proper paperwork during traffic stops.

Officers cited 144 drivers for no operators license during the first 10 months of the year, down more than 21 percent from the 183 ticketed through October in 2015.

No operators license citations were nearly cut in half in October, from 17 in 2015 to nine this year.

No proof of insurance and no valid registration tickets also tumbled.

Police wrote 182 citations for no proof of insurance through October, a 40 percent decline from the 304 issued in 2015. In October, 11 drivers were ticketed, off from 20 during the same month a year ago.

Citations for drivers who couldnt provide a valid registration during a stop have totaled 77 so far this year, a fall of more than 53 percent from the 166 drivers cited during the first 10 months of 2015.

No registration tickets were clipped from eight in October a year ago to four during the same month this year.

Officers have stomped on the brakes when writing up speeders in 2016.

Police cited 24 drivers for riding the pedal a little heavy during October, nearly 30 percent fewer than the 34 cited in October 2015.

Police have written up 364 drivers for speeding during the first 10 months of 2016, a 65 percent nosedive from the 1,036 ticketed through October a year ago.

The departments citation figures include tickets that carry a fine and those that warn drivers to slow down.
Salsa dancer Arun has visited over nine countries this year, but the one destination that has stuck with him was Rovinj in Croatia.

I was in Austria with my girlfriend and other friends, when we decided to drive through Slovenia, to Rovinj in Croatia. It was an enjoyable and beautiful couple of hours drive! Rovinj is a small beautiful sea side Mediterranean town that hosts one of the biggest salsa festivals in the world, with over 5,000 dance participants from across 70 countries. It was a four-day trip planned around the festival.

We would head to our favourite restaurant for breakfast and dinner daily to enjoy a good continental meal with a breathtaking view of the sea and the awe-inspiring old town. Dinner, at 8.30 pm, during late sunset, overlooking the calm waters, was our everyday routine when we were there.

All my trips are generally based around dance and dance festivals, but we did manage to take out some time to roam the streets of the old town around the church. We also made sure to spend time by the sea. It captured me so much that I am planning to visit again next year, for a longer duration, so I can explore the countryside at leisure. Croatia in summer is one of the best places Ive been to. Rovinj, especially, has the charm of a quaint old European town built around a church and surrounded by the sea.

The festival kept me busy and so, I only had a chance to meet with all the passionate dancers. You wouldnt be able to tell the locals from the foreigners there! The restaurants and shops are always buzzing and as far as I remember, the locals were extremely friendly and welcoming.

As a dance professional and addict, for me it was a paradise. We would dance through the night till 6 am every day. We went to the legendary pool parties by the sea for two days and some of the dance workshops by the legends. I took a lot of inspiration from there and have added that to the international salsa event I host in Chennai. There couldnt have been anything more romantic than this opportunity to spend every day with my lady love with a beautiful Mediterranean backdrop!

Normally, when I go for events, I get invited to teach or perform but this is one event, where I felt I went for a dance holiday and took time to learn from legends, and to dance all night, literally. I dont remember witnessing the night as the sun sets late and we would party till dawn. Another big highlight is the live music of the worlds top Cuban band playing at the city centre on one of the nights, where more than 3000 people had gathered.

If you have Rovinj on your travel plan, end of June and the beginning of July are the festival dates. Do plan six months or more in advance for your stay and travel. Its so popular that most places get sold out way before the crazy two weeks. Also, there are no direct flights to Rovinj. So, its advisable to plan a longer trip to Europe.

I have already booked my festival pass and my stay for next year. My itinerary for the next year is full with Austria, Hungary, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Croatia in the plan  all for the love of dance!

(As told to Kaavya Pillai)
JNU students and teachers have been agitating against the university administration.

New Delhi: The JNU administration has issued showcause notices to 20 students, including sedition accused Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, seeking explanation for the alleged illegal confinement of vice-chancellor and other officials in the varsity building in October.

Twenty students, including Kanhaiya and Umar, have been sent notices over the illegal confinement and have been asked to depose before the proctorial committee which is probing the issue after a complaint was received from the universitys chief security officer, a senior varsity official said.

A group of agitating students had confined the V-C and other senior officials in the administrative building for over 20 hours in October alleging inaction on the administrations part in locating missing student Najeeb Ahmed.

Other students who have been issued the showcause notice includes JNUSU president Mohit Kumar Pandey, vice-president Amal Pipi, general secretary Satarupa Chakraborty, joint secretary Tabrez Hassan, former general secretary Rama Naga and former president Akbar.

The students, however, alleged that even after finding some of the students guilty of having brawl with Najeeb, the administration is not taking any action on them. Those students who are fighting for justice for Najeeb, they are being threatened in different ways. We had asked for the V-Cs time 10 days back but he is not ready to meet us. So how do you expect to reach to the administration, the students said.

JNU students and teachers have been agitating against the university administration and Delhi police for their failure to locate the missing student.

The university panel probing the incident of October 14, following which Najeeb went missing, had found ABVP members guilty of assaulting him. However, no disciplinary action has been taken yet.
The cash crisis that has hit the country has brought many weak on their knees with the sudden price surge of essential commodities.

New Delhi: While ban on currency has left transporters, farmers, wholesale traders and citizens empty pocketed, a section of the shopkeepers, especially those located in residential areas, have blamed lack of supply resulting in the rise in prices of essential commodities like flour, pulses, oil, milk, and medicines in the city.

According to preliminary reports, the cash crisis has hit the supply of essential commodities with price rise in flour, pulses, bread, and oil by grocery store owners by at least 10-15 per cent, whereas, there has been a considerable dip in the vegetable prices in Delhi and NCR region.

The cash crisis that has hit the country has brought many weak on their knees with the sudden price surge of essential commodities like flour, oil, and pulses. While the market reports reveal that there has been a rise in the prices of wheat flour by over 15 to 20 per cent in the market, the prices for wheat has gone up by Rs 5 to Rs 10.

As per industry insiders, wheat flour in Delhi was sold at an inflated price last week due to the lack of supply, though enough stock was present in the market. The wholesalers alleged that grocery shop owners have hoarded large amount of grains and are minting money by selling them at a higher price.

There has been less supply of wheat due to the trucks going off roads and transport being hit hard by demonetisation. Earlier, where around 10 to 12 trucks of wheat used to be transported to the markets in Delhi and NCR, due to low cash liquidity, it has gone down to just 2 trucks. The main reason behind the fall in supply is that the suppliers are demanding new notes, which are unavailable. And when we try to negotiate and sell it to the suppliers in exchange for old currency, we are getting very less amount, which is inversely effecting the common mans pocket, said Manjeet, a transporter.

Mr Bansal, a representative of the border transport, said that the truck drivers have been left cash-strapped. Though the problem of fuel has been taken care of a little, it has left a ripple effect on the entire supply chain in the market right from the top to the bottom, he said.
Mamata Banerjee talks back on Twitter soon after Modis Mann Ki Baat.

Kolkata: West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of destabilising Indias economy and growth after his decision of demonetisation.

Modiji, you have finished Indias economy and growth, Ms Banerjee tweeted immediately after the Prime Minister made the biggest public push for a cashless economy on his monthly Mann Ki Baat radio address claiming that demonetisation of high value currency notes was a step forward to rid the country of unaccounted hidden wealth and corruption..

The Trinamul Congress supremo described the Prime Ministers Mann Ki Baat as Modi Ki Baat and posted on her twitter page that  Maan Ki Baat has now become Modi Ki Baat. Misusing government machinery. Instead of finding solutions to the suffering & pain of millions of people he is doing personal vendetta personal publicity and business .

Ms Banerjee also strongly rebuffed the Prime Ministers suggestion for using online apps for money transaction and tweeted, We dont trust you or your mismatched wrong technology which you are advertising for. We want technology and progress. But no section of society is to be left out and tortured while doing this.

She further posted that the women in the country will give the Prime Minister a befitting reply. The women of our country will give you a befitting reply. They are the mother of India. They are the mother of all, Mr Todays PM, she tweeted.

Ms Banerjee, who has been on the protest path right after Mr Modis decision of scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, will lead a massive rally from College Square to Dharmatala in Kolkata on Monday in protest of demonetisation. More than one lakh partymen will be on the streets to raise the decibel against the Modi government highlighting the common peoples suffering due to demonetisation, a senior Trinamul Congress leader said on Sunday.

Ms Banerjee had been camping in New Delhi throughout last week trying to organise a platform of Opposition parties against the demonetisation issue.

She had met President Pranab Mukherjee twice on the demonetisation issue.

She will leave for Lucknow soon after the rally in Kolkata and address a meeting on the same issue on November 29. She will be in Patna the next day to organise another protest movement. The TMC will also organise protest movement in Tripura and Jharkhand on this issue.
Most markets in the Mumbai city that employ a large number of daily wage labourers or small-time vendors are generally shut on Monday.

Mumbai: While Opposition parties have called for a nationwide bandh on Monday, it is going to be difficult to gauge its impact in Mumbai, as major markets across the city are all generally closed on Monday. These markets include Dadar flower and cloth market and the Hindamata market apart from shops at Crawford market, shops on Bandras Linking Road and Hill Road, and shops at Fort around Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.

Following a protest staged at Parliament on Wednesday this week, all main Opposition parties, including the Congress, called for a nation wide bandh for all labourers on Monday. However, most markets in the city that employ a large number of daily wage labourers or small-time vendors are generally shut on Monday.

Meanwhile, banking on this possibility, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has already tagged the bandh a major failure. State president of the BJP, Ashish Shelar, said, It is clear that the Opposition is going to fail miserably. We are going to demonstrate that our decision of demonetisation is in sync with the expectations of the people. We are reaching out to people on Sunday via the Man ki baat, Chai ke saath programme, which will be aired in the evening at 310 places all over the city.
Locals say that the reason behind this name is an old Ram temple in the stations vicinity.

Mumbai: The Ram Mandir issue has always been a politically contentious one and now  with the government deciding to name a new station between Jogeshwari and Goregaon as Ram Mandir  both the Shiv Sena and BJP have lined up to take credit for the same. Whats more, the two parties have even started discrediting each other over the issue.

The station, which was popularly being referred to as Oshiwara, was given the name Ram Mandir last week. Locals say that the reason behind this name is an old Ram temple in the stations vicinity.

Many people, though, have already started saying that the move points towards a communalisation of the railways. But the BJP and Sena are both claiming it as a victory for themselves.

Vinay Shukla, the Shiv Senas northern state coordinator and a close aide of Sena scion Aaditya Thackeray, took to Twitter to give credit to local MP Gajanan Kirtikar for the name Ram Mandir being given to the station.

When contacted, Mr Shukla said, The BJP is good at saying things rather than doing things. Everyone knows that it was Mr Kirtikar who took the petition regarding the stations name to the railways and even spoke about it in the Parliament. So it is the Shiv Sena that got the work done and we are thus informing the public about it.

The BJP, though, countered this claim. Niranjan Shetty, spokesperson, BJP Mumbai, said, Everyone knows who was behind Ram Mandirs construction and who started the whole movement. But after the demolition of the disputed structure (Babri Masjid), the Sena took credit for the same. Similarly, it is the BJP that ensured the name Ram Mandir for the new station.

Meanwhile, the BJP and Sena are speaking in one voice when it comes to countering those who are opposing the new name and calling it a communal move. When a station with the word masjid in its name exists and isnt considered communal, then why should Ram Mandir be a bone of contention, said BJP leader Prasad Lad, with Mr Shukla echoing his views on behalf of the Sena.
The India-Pakistan relationship has touched a new low, says Gurmeet Kanwal.

Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd), who has commanded an infantry brigade in the Gurez sector on the Line of Control in Kashmir and an artillery regiment in counter-insurgency operations, says that Indias actions against Pakistan have been carefully calculated to avoid escalation. In an interview to Sanjib Kr Baruah. Brig. Kanwal talks about the latest developments in the vexed India-Pakistan relationship.

Indo-Pak hostilities have spiralled in recent days. What is your assessment of the current scenario? Where are we headed?

The India-Pakistan relationship has touched a new low. Unless Pakistans deep state  the Army and ISI  stops sponsoring terrorism into India and Afghanistan, we may be headed for a short, sharp conflict.

It is said that cross-border raids between the armies of the two countries were fairly common in the pre-2003 days. How correct is it?

This is factually incorrect. On the Indian side there were clear orders to refrain from crossing the LoC, except in retaliation for the barbaric actions of Pakistans rogue army. Such trans-LoC raids were few and far between.

There is a school of thought that India should try to strengthen Pakistans counter-terror mechanism rather than taking Pakistan head on. What are the problems in doing this?

It is for Pakistan to fight the demons within. However, it is in Indias interest that they succeed or else creeping Talibanisation will soon reach our western border. It is in Pakistans interest to keep its eastern front with India quiet. If the Pakistan Army chooses to escalate against India, we have no option but to dominate the LoC to prevent infiltration.

Are the two countries following a conscious policy of brinkmanship? Keeping the nuclear capability in mind, what determines Indias and Pakistans thresholds?

It is only after maintaining restraint over two and a half decades of Pakistans proxy war that India has retaliated proactively. Indias actions have been taken in self-defence and have been carefully calculated to avoid escalation.

In a departure from the past, the Pakistan military establishment has taken to accepting casualties. The names and pictures of the dead Pakistani soldiers are made public by taking recourse to social media. What to your mind is the reason behind this latest change in strategy?

Given the mega-media age that we live in, including the all-pervasive social media, casualties can no longer be kept under wraps. The Pakistan Army now finds it beneficial to own up its casualties and gain popular support.

With as many as 200 ceasefire violations in less than two months, does the 2003 ceasefire agreement hold any significance?

It was an informally agreed ceasefire that had been observed in spirit for almost a decade. Now it is as good as dead and buried.

Pakistan is said to possess India-specific tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs). What is the way to counter it?

Pakistan claims that it will employ its Hatf-9 60 km missile, claimed to be capped with a TNW, to stop the Indian forces advancing into Pakistani territory. Indias nuclear doctrine is premised on massive retaliation to the first use of nuclear weapons against India. If Pakistan uses TNWs against Indian forces and India retaliates with a massive nuclear strike, Pakistan would cease to exist as a coherent nation-state. Presumably, that would be unacceptable to the generals in-charge of Pakistans nuclear arsenal. Hence, the use of TNWs is a bluff that can be called.

A recent report by Hans M. Kristensen, the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, has claimed that Pakistan is secretly changing its nuclear deterrence stance from a limited one to a full-spectrum nuclear deterrence posture. What are the implications for India?

Pakistan has been in the process of graduating to what their analysts have termed full spectrum deterrence for many years now. They are attempting to acquire every type of warhead and delivery system that has ever been invented. Deterrence is not a numbers game. Hence, Indias nuclear deterrence is not affected by Pakistans quest for full spectrum deterrence.

ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent elements in Pakistan have declared their intention to acquire Pakistans nuclear arsenal. How valid is this fear?

As long as the Pakistan Army is in control of Pakistans nuclear warheads and their delivery systems, there is negligible danger of these falling into the hands of ISIS elements or other jihadi groups. Nuclear warhead storage sites have three rings of security. The personnel nominated for guard duties are carefully selected and a constant watch is kept over them. However, if there is a Colonels coup from within the Army by officers with leanings towards radical extremism, then the jihadis will gain control over the full nuclear arsenal. Such a development will be dangerous, but it has a low probability of occurrence.
She has been living in Miami since 1964, and said she cooperated with a CIA plot to oust Fidel.

A sister of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro who has lived in Miami for decades, will not attend his funeral. (Photo: AP)

Miami: Juanita Castro, a sister of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro who has lived in Miami for decades, will not attend his funeral, local media reported Saturday.

"Given unhealthy rumors that I was headed to Cuba for the funeral, I want to state clearly that I have never returned to the island, and I don't plan to do so," Castro told El Nuevo Herald.

"I'm not rejoicing in any human being's death, nor would I do that with someone who shares my family names," she went on. "As Fidel's sister, I am going through the loss of a human being who shared my blood."

President Raul Castro, Fidel's 85-year-old younger brother, made the announcement of Fidel's death on state television around midnight Friday.

Fidel and Cuban President Raul Castro were among their parents' seven offspring. Juanita, born in 1933, was the only one to publicly oppose the Communist regime her brother led for over five decades.

She has been living in Miami since 1964, and said she cooperated with a CIA plot to oust Fidel.
Apex court on October 21 had announced to begin the hearing on the Panamagate petitions filed against Mr Sharif and his family members.

Islamabad: A petition has been filed in Pakistans Supreme Court seeking to summon Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the Panama leaks case involving his family.

The petition has been filed in the Lahore Registry of the Supreme Court seeking the apex courts orders, officials said.

The petition filed by Barrister Javed Iqbal Jafri claimed that Mr Sharif had smuggled billions of rupees out of the country which inflicted irreparable loss to the national exchequer.

He pleaded the court to summon the Prime Minister and make him record his statement as he has to provide evidence of his innocence as required to do so in breach of trust case under Pakistani and Islamic laws.

The names of several Pakistanis including Nawaz Sharifs children Maryam, Hussain, and Hasan surfaced in one of the worlds biggest ever data leaks through an online searchable database made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) in April 2016, following which the prime minister had formed an inquiry commission to probe the offshore accounts. The government and the opposition could not agree on drafting joint rerms of references.

The apex court on October 21 had announced to begin the hearing on the Panamagate petitions filed against Mr Sharif and his family members.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Anwar Zaheer Jamali formed a larger bench in a bid to hear petitions in the Panama Papers leaks case on November 1.
In the first Angelus of Advent, Pope Francis said that "the Lords visit with humanity", at Christmas, also takes place "every day" and will occur when "He will come in glory to judge the living and the dead." "The Gospel does not want to frighten us, but for us to widen our horizons". "... Our Lady help us to not consider ourselves owners of our lives, not to resist when the Lord comes to change it".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The Word of God in the first Sunday of Advent "brings out the contrast between the normal unfolding of things, the daily routine, and the sudden coming of the Lord said Pope Francis commenting on the Sunday Gospel, before praying the Angelus with the faithful in St. Peter's Square.

Speaking of Advent, which begins today with a new liturgical year, he stressed that this liturgical season is dominated by the theme of the "the Lords visit with humanity. The first, in the past, with the Incarnation, and Birth of Jesus at Christmas; the second, in the present, as Jesus visits us continually, every day; and the final visit, in the future, when Jesus will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead'".

Referring more specifically to the Gospel (Matthew 24.37-44), comparing with the visit of the Lord to the coming of a thief or a sudden natural disaster, the pontiff stated: "The Gospel does not want to frighten us, but to open up our horizon to another, greater dimension, which on one hand relativize every day occurrences but at the same time makes them precious, decisive. The relationship with the God-who-comes to visit with us gives every gesture, every thing a different light, importance, a symbolic value ".

"From this perspective - he added - it is an invitation to sobriety, to not be dominated by the things of this world but rather to keep them in their proper place. If, on the other hand, we allow ourselves to be overpowered by a concern for material things, we will not be able to perceive what is much more important: our final encounter with the Lord".

"In this time of Advent - he concluded - we are called to enlarge the horizons of our hearts, to be surprised by the life that is presented each day with its newness. In order to do this we need to learn to not depend on our own securities, our own established plans, because the Lord comes in the hour which we dont imagine.

Our Lady, Virgin of Advent, help us not to consider ourselves owners of our lives, not to resist when the Lord comes to change it, but to be ready to go to him, as a welcome and expected guest, although it upsets our plans " .

After the Marian prayer and greetings with these groups, Francis returned to the subject of Advent: "I wish you all a good Sunday and a good Advent journey. May it be a time of hope! Real hope, founded on the faithfulness of God and on our responsibility. "
Australian staff at Ashurst will now receive additional support from the firm if they are the victim of domestic or family violence.The new Domestic and Family Violence Policy offers an additional five days of paid leave if they or close family members are the victim of domestic or family violence. The time is for medical, legal or counselling appointments."We are committed to this policy, similar to that adopted by many of many of our clients, and to lead by example in the wider business community, commented Ashurst regional head Australia, Phil Breden. It is essential that those impacted by domestic and family violence have a safe and confidential environment to seek support and this is a proactive step for us to take in responding to this community problem."The policy is expected to have a positive influence on the business including improvement of the mental health and wellbeing of staff.The pay gap between male and female lawyers will require more than the incremental changes seen so far.Thats the view of a new research paper by the University of Denvers law and sociology schools, which concludes that simply addressing individual biases is not enough; law firms must make structural changes.Altering the reward structure to make it consistent with actual performance and contribution could lead to better morale among lawyers and lower turnover rates, and could begin to dismantle the remaining features of implicit gender bias in the practice of law, the research recommends. Herbert Smith Freehills was one of the big winners at the British Legal Awards last week.The firm was recognized for its strengths in banking and finance, client relationships and energy and infrastructure at the gala awards ceremony in London, organized by UK industry publication Legal Week. Pinsent Masons was awarded Law Firm of the Year while the innovation award went to Hogan Lovells , the award for best use of technology went to Reed Smith and Travers Smith was recognised for diversity.Team winners included Linklaters (large M&A deal), Baker & McKenzie (private equity), Norton Rose Fulbright (property) and Clifford Chance (litigation, disputes).
Humans arrived in Australia about 50,000 years ago but the timing of their settlement in arid regions and cultural innovation has been uncertain. Now the Warratyi Rock Shelter in the desert region of South Australias north has revealed that humans occupied Australias arid interior and began developing sophisticated tools around 49,000 years ago  10,000 years earlier than previously documented.

The discovery, published in Nature, is the oldest evidence of Aboriginal occupation in South Australia, and reveals new insights into modern human colonisation of Australia, unique cultural innovation, and interaction with now-extinct megafauna.

The project was led by arid zone research archaeologist Giles Hamm, an Honorary Fellow of the South Australian Museum and La Trobe University PhD candidate, with University of Adelaide geochronology specialists Dr Lee Arnold and Prof Nigel Spooner, geomorphologist Dr Peter Mitchell, and other researchers from Flinders University and The University of Queensland. They have worked for the past 9 years with the Adnyamathanha people in the Flinders Ranges.

The study suggests that people settled in the arid interior within a few millennia of arriving on the continent, and developed key technologies and cultural practices much earlier than previously thought for Australia and South-East Asia.

The team found that...
The idea of space warfare has long dominated movie and television scripts. However, what has been a staple of science fiction is now rapidly becoming an acute reality.

Modern military operations rely heavily on satellites for communications, intelligence gathering, reconnaissance, navigation and targeting. At the same time, space weaponry capabilities are being developed by a number of states. Anti-satellite systems are reaching a stage of developmental maturity and may well be deployed before too long. At present there is an undeclared military space race unfolding, with countries vying for ascendency in this potential theatre of operations.

The idea of warfare in, through or from space is well-accepted within military planning circles. Despite this there is at present no clear understanding of how international law, which applies to regulate armed conflict and to minimise civilian casualties and damage on Earth, operates in the field of armed conflict in outer space.

Modern society relies heavily on space-based assets for modern banking, internet, aviation, commerce, medical, agricultural and other critical civilian activities. An unregulated armed conflict in space threatens these major peacetime civilian activities and represents an unchecked vulnerability to our way of life.

The recent 2016 Australian Defence White paper recognises the...
By Jonti Horner, Vice Chancellor's Senior Research Fellow, University of Southern Queensland

ESO/S Brunier, CC BY-SA

Our galaxy, the Milky Way, contains at least 100 billion stars. Over the centuries, astronomers have scoured the skies, developing a thorough understanding of the lives of those stars, from their formation in vast nebulae to their fiery and spectacular deaths.

But how has our galaxy changed over time? Where did the stars we see today form, and which of them are siblings, formed together from the same cloud of material?









Wikimedia/cmglee/NASA Goddard Space Flight Center





To answer these questions we need to perform Galactic archaeology. To do this, an ambitious Australian-led observing survey, called Galah, is undertaking the immense task of capturing millions of rainbows to disentangle our galaxys story.

Birds of a feather

When we break the light from a star into its component colours, the spectrum is laced with dark lines. These are the telltale fingerprints of the various atomic and molecular species present in the stars outer layers.









Wikimedia/nl:Gebruiker:MaureenV/Phrood/Saperaud





By studying those lines we can learn a great deal about the star, such as how fast it spins, its temperature, and what elements it is made of. We can even use them to study stellar magnetic fields.

In essence, stars turn hydrogen and helium into heavier elements. When they die, they return that material to the galaxy, to be incorporated in the next generation of stars.

Most stars form in clusters, groups of hundreds to millions of stars that form at the same time in a vast nebula. Each nebula will have a unique composition, seeded by the death throes of the previous generation of stars in the distant past.

We also know that different types of stars return different elements to the galaxy at the end of their lifetimes. Because of this, astronomers can use the elemental patterns in present-day stars to explore what kinds of stars were in our galaxy in the past.









NASA, ESA, and C R O'Dell (Vanderbilt University)





On timescales of millions of years, stars escape from the clusters in which they formed and migrate around the disk of the galaxy.

If we can use spectra to measure the compositions of many stars, we should be able to identify those that are made of the same stuff. The common origins of widely scattered stars is thus revealed by their matching compositions.

That brings us to Galah.

Hatching the idea for Galah

Galactic archaeology with HERMES (Galah) is a massive observational project using the 3.9-metre Anglo-Australian Telescope at Siding Spring Observatory. Since its start, in late 2013, the survey has collected more than 250,000 spectra, and that number grows every month.









To make such a large project possible, Galah uses robots to position fibre optic cables to catch starlight. These allow the Galah team to observe around 350 stars simultaneously in a region of sky four times the diameter of the full Moon.

After about an hour staring at one group of stars, Galah moves on, scanning field after field to build its catalogue of stellar spectra. When the project is complete, more than a million rainbows will be caught, each in exquisite detail.

In good company

The past few years have seen a worldwide boom in galactic archaeology. Several survey projects are going on around the globe, each filling a unique niche, and even larger projects are planned for the future.

While each of these surveys has a particular goal, when brought together they form a scientific superset that is greater than the sum of its parts.

The APOGEE survey studies red giant stars throughout the Milky Way using the 3.5-metre Sloan telescope in the United States.

Because it observes at infrared wavelengths, it is the only large survey that can peer through the dust that pervades our galaxy. This allows APOGEE to collect data on stars across the entire galaxy.

The disk of our galaxy, which contains the great majority of stars, is surrounded by a roughly spherical halo which consists of ancient stars. The halo hosts the mysterious globular clusters  spherical swarms of millions of tightly packed stars.

The Gaia-ESO Survey targets all these populations and more, using two different visible-light instruments at the 8-metre Very Large Telescope in Chile.

Galah, by contrast, focuses mainly our galaxys disk, where the great bulk of its stars reside. By obtaining such a huge sample of stellar spectra, Galah is the perfect complement to these two more focused surveys, providing the context in which their results can be understood.

Flying to the future with Gaia

While Galah and its fellow archaeological surveys have been farming the night sky, the Gaia spacecraft has been busy pulling together a different, but complementary, data set.

Launched in 2013 on an initial five-year mission, Gaia is continually scouring the sky, repeatedly observing more than a billion stars, measuring their positions with unprecedented precision.









Steve Quirk





By observing the same star several times, Gaia can determine how it moves across the sky, giving us an incredibly precise measurement of the stars distance from Earth. Gaia also reveals the kinematics of the stars  how they move with respect to one another through our galaxy.

Even on its own, Gaias data will be an incredible resource. But when combined with data obtained by Galah and its siblings, it becomes far more powerful. Gaia will provide the distance to, and the precise motion of, a huge number of stars that will also have been surveyed by Galah.

Our first steps

The first public release of Gaia data earlier this year included precise sky positions and brightnesses for more than a billion stars and quasars. More importantly for our work, it also included the distances and space motions for 2 million stars that had been targeted by previous space missions.

To coordinate with Gaia, Galah also made a subset of its data publicly available, including data for 9,860 stars. Of these, 7,894 are in the special subset released by the Gaia team, and hence have precisely known distances.

Combining these data sets will allow the Galah team to investigate not just which stars formed together, but to examine whether they still follow similar paths around the galaxy.

As the Gaia mission continues, it will provide precise distances and space motions for every single star in the Galah catalogue. By piecing Gaias data together with our own, we will paint a far more detailed picture of our galaxys past, present and future than has ever been seen before.

Sarah Martell receives funding from the Australian Research Council.

Jonathan P. Marshall and Jonti Horner do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.

Originally published in The Conversation.
Hi All



Just a bit of background about myself,I am an Australian resident and have been engaged for just a over a year now to a Cambodian citizen



We were meant to be get married in Cambodia in May this year, but silly me didn't check the process on how to legally register a marriage over there, as I needed to be in the country for a month before I could marry a Khmer citizen. So in the end we had to just settle just for a small family and friend gathering without the whole ceremony thing. So that kind of threw the plans to bring her on a partner visa out of whack.!!



So my option is to bring her over on a PMV and then get officially married here in Australia, but atm I dont have the money to come up with the $6-7000 that is required to lodge the PMV. I do have a secure permanent job and a mortgage but will be 4-5 months away from saving that up, as I have just gotten back from spending more time with her a fortnight ago.



I really don't want to be without her for that long of a period, so I would like to ask can I bring her on a tourist visa for greater than 6 months and then register a marriage here before applying for a partner visa? Our families have acknowledged as husband and wife already its just legally we are not, will the CO look at this reason and accept the application ??



Apologies for the long first post, but appreciate any comments or help regarding this.
The introduction of the current line of Mazda 3 has led to the discontinuation of the last of the Mazdaspeed breed , and it appeared that the Japanese brand has no plans of continuing the line.However, the hot hatch segment is still alive and kicking, and the latest introductions in the range could be the best recipients of such versions.It is clear that the ongoing generation of the Mazda3 hatchback will not receive a performance version , but that not might be said for the MX-5, which is the most affordable roadster in numerous markets.The same model is being considered to receive a more sporty version, which could be called MPS or Mazdaspeed, depending on the market where it will be marketed.The rest of the old Mazdaspeed range, namely the Mazda3 and Mazda6 models, could get a comeback when their new generations are introduced to the market. It will be few years until that happens, but Mazda might squeeze more power out of its SkyActiv line of engines, which could lead to more sporty variants of the two models.As we previously reported, Mazdas engineers put the development of any MPS or Mazdaspeed engines on hold to focus on the next generation of SkyActiv engines. The first of them is expected to be launched in 2017, so they might be ready to start development of a new model once the entire lineup of power plants are ready for production.At the moment, there is no timeline for launching the next Mazdaspeed/MPS models from Mazda, but you should expect something from this line by 2020. The same year should also bring the relaunch of the iconic RX-8s successor , if it is going to be ready by then.There are many obstacles between us and a production version of a new Mazdaspeed model, but the Japanese brand should overcome them once it is ready to refresh its lineup with new models, all with improved efficiency.
At 95, Gene Lemiski of Alberta, Canada, longed for decades to be a pilot again after a short flying career as a World War II airman. He got his chance recently with some left-seat time in a Cessna 172, along with an experienced flight instructor to ride along. Lemiski is a veteran of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, a massive effort among several nations to produce air force pilots and crews during the war. He had trained under the program in Canada, flying Fairchild Cornells, Harvards, Anson twins and Consolidated PBY seaplanes, according to Bruce Ritchie, who was Lemiskis copilot for the flight. Ritchie, chief flight instructor at Centennial Flight Centre near Edmonton, said Lemiski couldnt afford to continue flying after 1945, so he set aside airplanes and went on to live his life and raise a family.

More than 70 years later, a friend of Lemiskis stopped in at Ritchies flight school to ask about getting some flight time. I hadnt met Gene yet so I gave his friend the spiel about the possible difficulty of getting someone that old in and out of a 172, Ritchie told AVweb in an email. The fellow said it shouldnt be a problem and then when I met Gene I realized it certainly wouldnt. And I also felt it was an amazing opportunity to do something special for such a nice person. An Edmonton CTV station interviewed the two and recorded the event. I wanted to see if I could do it, and I did, Lemiski said. His passion for flying never left him, he told the station. I loved it, he said. You have to love flying to be  I think  to be a good pilot. Ritchie said the veteran handled the controls easily and flew a tour around Edmonton without any assistance from him, except for just a bit during the landing. It was very special to give him the opportunity to experience the joy of flying after such a long absence from the cockpit, he said.
27 November 2016 10:49 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 24 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry on November 27.

Armenian army was using grenade launchers.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Kokhanabi and Aghdam villages of Tovuz district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located in nameless hills and Mosesgekh village of Berd district.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani army positions were also fired from positions of Armenian positions located near to the occupied Marzili, Shikhlar, Garagashli villages of Aghdam district, Kuropatkino village of Khojavand district, Gorgan, Garakhanbayli villages of Fuzuli district, Mehdili village of Jebrayil district, as well as the nameless hills in Tartar, Khojavand and Fuzuli district.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
27 November 2016 15:00 (UTC+04:00)

Indian transport and logistics companies are interested in developing North-South international transport corridor project, said vice chairman of the Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India Shankar Shinde. He made comments as the Federation of Freight Forwarders Association in India signed an agreement on the development of the corridor with Azerbaijani RJD Logistika company on the sidelines of an international rail business forum Strategic Partnership 1520: The Caspian Region in Baku. He expressed hope that RJD Logistika will be a reliable partner and that the agreement will strengthen business relations between the two countries, Azertac reported.

First Deputy General Director of RJD Logistika Eduard Alirzayev said partnership with Indian companies is of vital importance for the successful implementation of the North-South international transport corridor project.

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By Trend

The OSCE is expected to monitor the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops Nov. 28, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry on November 27.

The monitoring will be held under the mandate of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative along the line of contact in the direction of Azerbaijans Tartar town, said the ministry.

On the Azerbaijani side, the monitoring will be held by Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, personal representative of the OSCE chairperson-in-office and field assistant of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Jiri Aberle.

On the Azerbaijani territories occupied and controlled by Armenian armed forces, the monitoring will be carried out by field assistants of the OSCE chairperson-in-office personal representative Peter Svedberg and Gennady Petrica.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

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27 November 2016 09:50 (UTC+04:00)

Japanese Radio Rainbow town 79.2 FM Tokyo has broadcast a special program on the 25th anniversary of the restoration of state independence of Azerbaijan. The program highlighted the 5th News Agencies World Congress and the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia Pacific News Agencies (OANA), which were co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and AZERTAC, Azertac reported.

The program guests included chairman of the Japan-Azerbaijan Friendship Center, member of the World Azerbaijanis Coordination Council, a renowned scientist in the field of electronics Khalil Kalantar and the Centre's executive director, AZERTAC's Japan-based correspondent Vugar Aghayev.

They spoke of the history of Azerbaijan`s state independence of Azerbaijan, and hailed national leader Heydar Aliyev's role in the protection and development of independence. They emphasized that the establishment of a democratic, constitutional and secular state in Azerbaijan is a historical and milestone achievement of the Azerbaijani nation. They hailed the launch of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipilines, saying this was the decisive factor in Azerbaijan's integration into the world economy. They noted that under the leadership of President Ilham Aliyev Azerbaijan gained global fame as a reformist country.

The program also featured information about the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The guests said that despite the conflict-related decisions and resolutions adopted by international organizations, the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan has not yet been restored. "Azerbaijan's state independence is the greatest asset for every citizen of the country".

The program also provided an insight into the Baku-hosted 5th News Agencies World Congress and the 16th General Assembly of the Organization of Asia Pacific News Agencies (OANA). President Ilham Aliyev's speech at the opening ceremony of the events, co-organized by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation and AZERTAC, was hailed.

"Representatives of more than 130 influential news agencies from all corners of the world, including the representatives of international organizations as UN and UNESCO gathered in Azerbaijan to discuss the important issues on the future of the traditional journalism. The events focused on the future of social media and news agencies. Media executives presented their projects and put forward new proposals."

The program described the News Agencies World Congress as a unique platform for discussing the pressing issues of the media.

The program also highlighted AZERTAC's assuming presidency of both News Agencies World Congress and OANA for 2016-2019.

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27 November 2016 13:23 (UTC+04:00)

First deputy speaker of the parliament, chairman of the parliamentary committee on security and defence Ziyafat Asgarov and chairman of the parliamentary committee on public associations and religious organizations Siyavush Novruzov will pay a visit to Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday, Azertac reported.

The Azerbaijani delegation will attend the first Annual Conference of Association of Parliamentarians for Al Quds.

The conference will focus on a wide range of issues, including the role of international organizations in supporting the rights of Palestinians and situation in Al Quds.

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27 November 2016 10:55 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Iran is assessing a proposal for a collective OPEC output cut, but hasnt announced any commitment to reduce its own production as the group tries to end disagreements about how to share the burden of supply cuts ahead of a meeting in Vienna, Bloomberg reported.

Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa presented a proposal for an OPEC cut of 1.1 million barrels a day during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Tehran on Saturday, according to an Iranian oil ministry official. OPEC is also proposing a 600,000 barrel a day output cut by non-OPEC producers, the official said.

The two ministers discussed each countrys share of the proposed cut and Zanganeh said Iran will assess the proposal and discuss it further at the Vienna meeting on Nov. 30, the official said. Zanganeh, who didnt comment on Irans position about cutting its own production, expressed optimism about the OPEC meeting next week, the official said.

The OPEC talks indicate that the group can arrive at a lasting agreement on its output and market management, Zanganeh said after the meeting, according to the Oil Ministrys official news service, Shana. If we reach an agreement, I am optimistic that prices will rise and the global economy requires such conditions.

Boutarfa, the architect of the Algiers crude supply agreement in September, is on a shuttle diplomacy mission to try to resolve differences blocking the OPEC deal, particularly the question of whether Iran and Iraq are willing to cut production. He is also due to meet with the Iraqi oil minister next week.

An oil production cut would help the oil price to rise to $55-$60 a barrel, Boutarfa said, according to the Iranian oil ministry official. If no agreement is reached in Vienna next week, the price may remain under $50 a barrel, he said.

All OPEC members accepted the decisions adopted in Algiers, which proposed that the groups production be reduced to a range of 32.5 million barrels a day and 33 million barrels, Zanganeh said, according to Shana. Right now the debate revolves around how to divide the production cuts, he said.

In a surprise move, Saudi Arabia pulled out of talks planned for Monday with non-OPEC producers including Russia because it wants to secure an OPEC deal first. The meeting was later canceled and OPEC members called instead for internal talks to try to resolve their own differences ahead of the ministerial meeting on Nov. 30.

The setback suggests that Saudi Arabia remains split from its two biggest Middle Eastern rivals at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Iran insists it should be allowed to restore output to pre-sanctions levels, while it remains unclear if Iraq is still disputing the OPEC supply estimates that would provide the basis for any cuts. With less than a week until the crucial ministerial meeting, the refusal of just one major producer to participate could scuttle the whole of the agreement reached in September in Algiers.

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27 November 2016 10:15 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Russian President Vladimir Putin had a phone talk with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday, focusing on Syria, the Kremlin press service said, TASS reported.

"Today, President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin had a telephone conversation with President of the Turkish Republic Recep Tayyip Erdogan, continuing to exchange opinions on the situation in Syria," the statement said.

The conversation was the second between the two leaders in the past two days. On Friday, Putin and Erdogan had a phone conversation about the Syria crisis and the joint efforts in the fight against terrorism. The Kremlin said that they had exchanged opinions in an encouraging tonality.

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27 November 2016 11:40 (UTC+04:00)

By Trend

Uzbekistan intends to create another four free economic zones, according to the draft decree of the countrys acting president, prime minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev, published for the Uzbek societys discussion.

In accordance with the project, it is planned to create Urgut, Gijduvan, Kokand and Khazarasp free economic zones in Bukhara, Samarkand, Fergana and Khorezm regions of Uzbekistan.

Creation of new free economic zones is aimed at formation of favorable conditions for attracting foreign and domestic investments to create modern production facilities for deep processing of mineral and raw material resources and agricultural products, as well as integrated and efficient use of production and resource potential of the four regions of Uzbekistan.

It is planned to create the new production facilities in the spheres of deep processing, storage and packaging of horticultural and agricultural products, textile, carpet weaving, footwear and leather goods, as well as environmentally friendly chemical, pharmaceutical, food and electrical industry, mechanical engineering and the automotive industry, production of building materials and in other areas.

It is planned that the free economic zones will be operating during 30 years with the possibility of further extension. Special tax and customs privileges will be in power during this time in the free economic zones. Logistics centers and customs posts will be also set up in the territory of the free economic zones.

Discussion of the draft decree on the creation of new free economic zones will be completed in early December 2016.

It was reported that in late October 2016, the acting Uzbek president adopted a decree on the unification of customs and tax privileges and preferences for the participants of free economic zones, which are operating and being created in the country.

In accordance with the document, the benefits for the participants of the free economic zones will be provided for a period of 3-10 years depending on the amount of the investments made.

Currently, there are three free economic zones offering investors privileges and special opportunities for doing business in Uzbekistan. They are the Navoi free economic zone established in Navoi region in 2008, the Angren free economic zone created in Tashkent region in 2012, and the Jizzakh free economic zone with its branch in Syrdarya district, established in 2013.

As many as 50 projects worth $395 million have been currently implemented in the territories of free economic zones in the spheres of textile, chemical, pharmaceutical, food, electrical industry, automotive industry, as well as production of building materials.

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Bakersfield, CA (93308)

Today

Sunny to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 61F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Occasional rain. Low 47F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT

This project results from a years-old venture  the Center for Health Journalism Collaborative  that currently involves The Bakersfield Californian, Radio Bilingue in Fresno, Valley Public Radio in Fresno and Bakersfield, Vida en el Valle in Fresno, the Voice of OC in Santa Ana, the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson, La Estrella de Tucson and CenterforHealthJournalism.org.

The collaborative is an initiative of the Center for Health Journalism at the University of Southern Californias Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism.

You can view our previous work on valley fever at www.centerforhealthjournalism.org/valleyfever.
N. Oregon Coast's Tillamook County Glows with Holiday Happenings

Published 11/26/2016 at 3:43 PM PDT

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff





(Tillamook, Oregon)  Unknown to many, the Oregon coast has some of its most interesting aspects this time of year  and not just storm watching. The post-storm beaches are full of fascinating finds, but the entire shoreline has a unique beachy cheer for the holidays. It's the perfect time to take a break from the madness of inland shopping malls and hectic traffic, and you can still get in a fair amount of Christmas gift gathering in a less frantic atmosphere. (Above: Manzanita dressed up for the holidays.)

On the north Oregon coast, Tillamook County also hosts a wide array of holiday events and vibes  many of them a very different nature you won't find anywhere else. Delight in local festivities while perusing artisan shops, local food and fair, a good book by the fire, long walks on the beach, or holiday activities including Tillamook Countys Candy Cane Express, Festival of Trees or the popular New Years Day Polar Plunges.

Of course, there is the much lauded Whale Watch Week at the end of the month.

On December 3 and 4, and then again on December 10 and 11, you can hop on the the magical Candy Cane Express train ride on the historic Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. Claus visit with passengers over hot chocolate and cookies during this one-hour, round-trip excursion between Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach along the Tillamook Bay, and through the rugged Nehalem River Canyon. The train sparkles with Christmas lights and holiday merriment as it travels near the Pacific Ocean.

The event is open to all ages. Tickets may be purchased online or onboard the train in the caboose for $20 per adult, $19 for seniors and $15 for children. The train departs Garibaldi at 10 a.m., Noon and 2 p.m. For more information on the Candy Cane Express or the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad, visit www.oregoncoastscenic.org or call 503-842-7972. Tillamook Bay, Garibaldi, Bay City

The Tillamook Festival of Trees happens December 3  9. Local organizations, individuals and groups come together to decorate tabletop and full-sized Christmas trees for the annual Tillamook County Pioneer Museum fundraiser. The trees along with additional silent auction items, wreaths and centerpieces are auctioned at the gala event on December 9 at 5:30 p.m. Anyone may purchase a tree. Phone bids as well as in-person bids are accepted.

The trees are available for viewing December 39, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday (extended hours until 7 p.m. on Wednesday, December 7). Tickets to the gala are required and can be purchased at the museum or by calling 503-842-4553. Tickets are $35 in advance or $40 at the door, if it is not already sold out. Proceeds from this years fundraiser are earmarked to purchase a motorized people mover for Kilchis Point Reserve for people who are otherwise unable to make the two-mile round-trip hike.Tillamook Bay, Garibaldi, Bay City

Then on New Year's Day, 2017, in Manzanita and Oceanside, there are the famous Polar Plunges. The Manzanita Polar Plunge began 11 years ago with a few friends being silly and has grown into hundreds of people joining the New Years morning Polar Plunge into the frigid ocean waters of Manzanita, Oregon.

Local spa owner Janice Gaines helped started this FUN-raiser.

We're up to 300 or 400 people taking the plunge, plus another couple hundred watching, she said.

This is not an organized event. However, if you want to join the ranks, be ready and listening at 11 a.m. for Gaines to shout her annual GO! Meet at 10:30 a.m. at Neahkahnie Beach just north of the Reed Road and Nehalem Road intersection. Look for the fire.Nehalem Bay- Manzanita, Wheeler

The Tillamook County Family YMCA is hosting the 4th Annual Oceanside Polar Plunge Challenge on New Years morning. Gather at Oceanside Beach no later than 9:45 a.m. and listen for the 10 a.m. horn to take the plunge. Participants warm up with bonfires, coffee and hot chocolate. Three Cape Loop: Pacific City, Oceanside, Netarts

Find more events and aspects of the holidays at the Tillamook Visitors site.

Then on December 27 through the 31st, it's Winter Whale Watch Week. Whale watch interpreters will be at four places in Tillamook County from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m., helping you spot the giants of the deep as they move on their southern migration. You'll find them at Cape Kiwanda, Cape Lookout, Cape Meares and the overlooks at Neahkahnie mountain above Manzanita. The volunteers also help you learn about the whales' migration and feeding habits.

From late December through to the end of January, more than 1900 whales will be passing by Oregons coast on a southerly jaunt towards the waters of Baja, where females will give birth and other females will get pregnant, only to all return in March as they swim to feeding grounds in the north. Whalespoken.org. Oregon Coast Hotels for these events - Where to eat - Map and Virtual Tour of Three Capes - Map and Virtual Tour of Manzanita, Rockaway Beach





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Prime Minister Theresa May said there were 'really complex issues' at play in the process of leaving the EU

Ministers will be challenged to rule out a hard Brexit deal by senior MPs from three different parties as a new report highlighted the UK's links to the single market.

Aiming to strike new sector-by-sector trade deals with the European Union after Brexit could take almost 25 years and would risk some parts of the British economy losing out, the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) report warned.

Former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg will join Tory ex-minister Anna Soubry and Labour MP Chuka Umunna to present the findings of the research as part of their campaign for the UK to stay in the single market.

The research, commissioned by the Open Britain campaign, said: "Although it might seem theoretically possible to cherry pick a number of sectors and negotiate trade agreements for the sectors, there is considerable linkage between the sectors.

"It has taken a quarter of a century to negotiate the single market as it exists today and could take nearly as long to renegotiate a new arrangement on a sectoral basis.

"The practical problems of negotiating agreements that cover the majority of our trade would not only take years but the uncertainty thus generated would hold back investment and damage the economy."

The CEBR report continued: "A sector-by-sector approach, which seeks to prioritise or choose 'winners' in isolation of others, therefore, cannot be achieved without the risk of creating 'losers' through reduced access and reduced future mutual benefits."

The report warns that the fast-growing "flat white economy" of creative and tech businesses would be dealt a "body blow" if curbs on EU immigration were introduced.

At an event in London, former Liberal Democrat leader Mr Clegg will say: "It is the height of irony that free-market Brexiteers often claim European regulations are the product of an overbearing European super-state, when in fact EU regulations are designed to liberalise markets.

"It is ironic too that arguing to leave the single market on the basis of reducing the regulatory burden we face would in fact lead to reduced trade due to an increase in regulatory trade barriers."

He will acknowledge that "completely tariff-free trade with Europe may even be achievable outside the EU" but will assert that it is "unlikely".

" The optimal scenario, the one which opens up markets and gives certainty, is to remain within the single market," he will say.

"Completely tariff-free trade with Europe may even be achievable outside of the EU. I think it's unlikely but it is still an incredibly low bar to be setting for an economy as large, as complex, and as intertwined with Europe's as ours is.

"The challenge we are making to those who think differently is this - which sectors of our economy should be the lowest priority when it comes to negotiating a FTA (free trade agreement)? They will soon have to admit the easy answers they peddled during the campaign will not work in reality."

Mr Umunna will say: "The benefits we have within the single market cannot be replicated outside it without cost, since every alternative inevitably means increased barriers to trade.

"It would be an honest position to say this cost is worth paying for severe immigration controls or regulatory freedom or another reason to leave the EU.

"But it dishonest to deny any cost exists. In short, cherry-picking winners creates losers, and I am not aware of anyone proposing or voting for creating economic losers."

Ms Soubry will present the report as a "challenge" to those who back leaving the single market, insisting "there is no mandate for one particular Brexit option".

The report comes after shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry refused to rule out the possibility of Labour supporting a second referendum on the terms of the Government's Brexit deal.

Ms Thornberry was asked on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show whether she agreed people should be given a "second chance" if the economy looks like it is suffering.

She said: "I think that we need to take this in stages and at the moment we cannot even have a debate as to how it is that we are going to leave the European Union because the Government claim they are keeping their cards to their chest but we know they don't have any cards and they don't even know what game they are playing."

The Labour frontbencher was also grilled on whether she believed the UK could maintain access to the European single market while also demanding control of its borders.

She said: "It is about time we stopped talking about believing in cake, having our cake and eating our cake.

"We have to look at the options and we have to know that it is a trade off.

"We need to be able to have a proper debate within the British public as to what the options are.

"Now, do I think that too many people at the moment come into this country? I think that yes, I think they do and I think they do because I think that we have a skills shortage."

Tory MP Maria Caulfield, a member of the Brexit select committee, said: "With the shadow foreign secretary refusing to rule out backing a second referendum and suggesting no changes should be made to freedom of movement from Europe, it's clearer than ever that Labour are completely out of touch with working people.

"Only the Conservatives can be trusted to make a success of Brexit and deliver the right deal for Britain - and that must mean controls on the number of people that come to our country."
Tickets are still available for Belfasts biggest New Years Eve party, headlined by Supergrass, at the City Hall.

Three of Northern Irelands hottest young bands  General Fiasco, Fighting With Wire and Universal Remedy  will be joining in the fun, along with up-and-coming rockers, The Pigeon Detectives.

Tickets, priced 5, are on sale from the Belfast Welcome Centre in Donegall Place (tel: 028 9024 6609). They are limited to 10 tickets per booking.

Gaz Coombes, Mick Quinn, Danny Goffey and Rob Coombes  collectively known as Supergrass  are the band behind hits such as Alright, Going Out and Pumping on your Stereo.

The Pigeon Detectives, meanwhile, have also been making waves in the music scene, building up a steady fan base thanks to appearances on the festival circuit and being championed by the likes of DJs Steve Lamacq and Jo Whiley.

No stranger to winning over music fans are homegrown talents General Fiasco and Fighting With Wire. Both bands were part of this years Belsonic line-up and are being tipped as the next big thing.

General Fiasco are brothers Owen and Enda Strathearn and Stephen Leacock who met at school in Magherafelt. They formed a band in 2007 and got their first gig at Glasgowbury before going on to support big name acts such as The Wombats, The Pigeon Detectives and The Enemy. Their debut single Rebel Get By was released last month.

Hitting the local music scene in 2003 were Fighting With Wire, the brainchild of guitarist Cahir ODoherty and drummer Craig McKean. Since then they have played shows with the likes of Biffy Clyro, Million Dead and Future Of The Left and are building a reputation as a must-see live band.

Finally Universal Remedy are a four piece power pop meets rock act from Lisburn. Formed in 2004, the band have been touring local venues and steadily building up a fan base across Northern Ireland and beyond.

The event will be compered by local TV and radio presenter Ralph McLean.

The Lord Mayor of Belfast, Councillor Tom Hartley, said: Im sure everyone will agree that this is a really exciting line-up, with homegrown talent well represented. I think this will be a fantastic event for Belfast and what better place to ring in the new year than in the heart of the city, in the grounds of the magnificent City Hall.

Mark Mahaffy, managing director of Cool FM/Downtown Radio, sponsors of the event, said: Were looking forward to the New Years Eve celebrations in Belfast. The line-up should attract a lot of people into the city centre and were looking forward to helping to entertain the crowds. Its a really exciting time for Belfast and we look forward to a great 2009.

Gates will open at 7pm with Cool FMs Olga getting everyone in the party mood. The concert will finish at 12.20am.
Former UTV chat show host Gerry Kelly has told how he knew the writing was on the wall for him at the station when his television show was axed after 16 years.

The veteran presenter, who begins his new BBC Radio Ulster show next month, said he knew it was time to go when the popular Kelly Show was dropped and no explanation offered for its demise.

And he said he was saddened by recent job cuts at UTV, where he spent almost 30 years as a broadcaster until the end of 2007.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph ahead of the launch of his new Saturday show Gerry Kelly, the Co Down man said he was excited about the new chapter in his career.

But he admitted to feeling like the new boy at school when he turned up at BBC Broadcasting House in Belfast for the first time.

He said: I spent 28 years at UTV, I was there as a boy and man and loved it. It was a great job but Ive no regrets about leaving.

Im saddened at the way things have gone at UTV, especially in its 50th year, but ITV has been suffering hugely for a few years now and the advertising revenue has been on the wane. And even though UTV was performing better than the ITV average, it was almost inevitable that things were going to change, particularly with the easing of the Ofcom rules and regulations.

When the Kelly Show was axed, it was in my head to go. There wasnt a good editorial reason to scrap it, it was still performing and still had a loyal audience.

I knew the writing was on the wall for ITV in general when that happened.

After the Kelly Show was given the chop, Gerry was offered a new vehicle, Gerry Meets. But it never quite made up for the loss of the live show.

I enjoyed Kelly Meets but I really missed the buzz of the Kelly Show, he said. I knew I wasnt happy and that it was time to go.

Gerry spent several months working on his autobiography but always had it in his mind to return to broadcasting.

He was waiting for the right offer to come along, when he was approached, though his agent, by the BBC in Belfast.

I was told that they were looking at changing the weekend Radio Ulster schedule and a general inquiry was put to me to see if I would be interested in doing a radio show, he said.

Id filled in for Sean Coyle at Radio Foyle over the summer and had really enjoyed it, so I jumped at the chance. Initially it was going to be a Sunday slot, but then it was changed to Saturday, which suited me fine.

Although television is my first love, I enjoy radio and the freedom it gives you and Im really looking forward to getting going.

What Radio Ulster is hoping to do is put the fun back into Saturdays and I hope my new show will do that. Therell be plenty of chat and craic with the listeners, as well as celebrity interviews and music.

But the main thrust will be the chat. After all, thats what I enjoy doing most.

Walking into BBC Northern Irelands massive centre at Ormeau Avenue was, according to Gerry, a daunting experience  and hes still trying to find his feet.

Compared to UTV this is a huge place and I keep getting lost, he said.

I must admit, I felt like the new kid at school, I still do, but everyone here has been so welcoming.

I thought it would be like a big conglomerate, but theres actually a real family feel to the place.

To be honest, I havent a clue where Im going, but I know where the studio and canteen are, so Im doing okay. I just cant wait to get a few shows under my belt, then Ill be fine.

Gerry said he had received a few text messages from former colleagues at UTV, wishing him luck with his new venture.

\[Carmel Robinson\]And he said his move proved that there was life beyond UTV.

When you work somewhere like UTV, or the BBC for that matter, you tend to feel cocooned in your own wee world.

But there is a bigger world out there and theres nothing to be afraid of.

Never in a million years did I imagine myself working at the BBC, after spending so many years at UTV. Now look at me.

And he also revealed that his television is not yet over.

I dont think Im finished with television, but I cant really say any more than that Im in talks with two independent media companies about projects which may or may not come off, he said.

But Im not using this new radio show as a stepping stone into television again. Im delighted to be joining Radio Ulster and am looking forward to this exciting new chapter in my career.Gerry Kelly begins on Radio Ulster on Saturday, April 4, 12.30pm-2pm.
The 13-year-old died from injuries sustained in the collision

Police and Forensic accident investigators at the scene on the Newbridge Road Coleraine where there was a serious RTC on Saturday evening. PICTURE KEVIN MCAULEY/MCAULEY MULTIMEDIA

General views of the Newbridge Road in Coleraine where a teenage boy was involved in a hit and run and later died in hospital. A 23-year-old man was arrested after the car was found in Magherafelt. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye.

General views of the Newbridge Road in Coleraine where a teenage boy was involved in a hit and run and later died in hospital. A 23-year-old man was arrested after the car was found in Magherafelt. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye.

A motorcyclist in his 20s has died in hospital from his injuries after a two-vehicle crash in Saintfield, County Down, Northern Ireland. The accident, which also involved a car, happened on the Crossgar Road just after 17:30 GMT on Saturday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press

A tribute to the motorcyclist in his 20s has died in hospital from his injuries after a two-vehicle crash in Saintfield, County Down, Northern Ireland. The accident, which also involved a car, happened on the Crossgar Road just after 17:30 GMT on Saturday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press

A motorcyclist in his 20s has died in hospital from his injuries after a two-vehicle crash in Saintfield, County Down, Northern Ireland. The accident, which also involved a car, happened on the Crossgar Road just after 17:30 GMT on Saturday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press

A motorcyclist in his 20s has died in hospital from his injuries after a two-vehicle crash in Saintfield, County Down, Northern Ireland. The accident, which also involved a car, happened on the Crossgar Road just after 17:30 GMT on Saturday night. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press

Flowers in memory of Coleraine hit and run victim Reece Meenan. Picture by Mark Jamieson

Reese Meenan (13) who died after being struck by a car on Saturday evening. Reese Meenan is believed to have been out with friends when tragedy struck after 6pm in the Newbridge area of Coleraine. Picture by Justin Kernoghan

A teenage boy who died after being struck by a car has been named as Reece Meenan.

The 13-year-old, from the Coleraine area, died from injuries sustained when he was struck at Newbridge Road in the Co Londonderry town on Saturday.

The white car failed to stop at the scene but police traced it to Magherafelt several hours later and arrested a 23-year-old man.

The suspect has since been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

Meanwhile, the motorcyclist who was killed in a separate crash on Saturday was 28-year-old Barry Bell, from the Belvoir area of Belfast.

His motorbike was involved in a collision with a car on the Crossgar Road, Saintfield.

The man died in hospital from his injuries.

Police have appealed for any witnesses to both collisions to come forward.
An 82-year-old former police officer has avoided jail again despite being convicted of his 17th sex crime.

John Stanfield had a two year jail sentence suspended for three years when he appeared in the dock of Downpatrick Crown Court last Thursday.

The pensioner admitted three counts of committing an act outraging public decency; five of breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO); four of engaging in sexual activity in front of a child aged under 13.

The convictions relate to incidents earlier this year when Stanfield fondled himself in various supermarkets near his home on the Rosetta Road in south Belfast. The incidents were caught on CCTV. After being arrested he claimed to have been scratching his psoriasis.

Despite being convicted of 17 sex crimes since 2010 Stanfield has only ever served four weeks in prison.

That was last month when he was remanded in custody ahead of being given a suspended sentence and freed on Thursday.

Stanfield is now back living in the Rosetta area, much to the fury of neighbours who had hoped to see the back of him.

Locals had previously been in touch with DUP peer Lord Morrow who asked the Department of Justice to carry out a serious case review because of the paedophiles constant re-offending. But the politician was told that this was not possible because Stanfields latest crimes were non-contact.

Our sister paper the Sunday Life has also learned that despite being on the sex offenders register and subject to a SOPO the pervert was allowed to go on a recent cruise. He is also a familiar sight in cafes around the Ormeau Road.

A source said: It seems Stanfield cannot control himself and given his past record it will only be a matter of time before he is in trouble again.

Stanfield also has convictions for fondling himself in front of children on beaches. He was nicknamed Dirty John by teenagers in Rosetta after buying Viagra-type sex pills from young dealers.
Leaflets threatening people who co-operate with police have been branded a cowardly attempt to intimidate.

Flyers, featuring a gunman and the union flag, stating: "All PSNI informers will be put out of this area" were distributed in east Belfast at the weekend.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Belfast commander Chief Superintendent Chris Noble, said : "Police roundly condemn this cowardly attempt to intimidate a law-abiding community.

"Policing only works in partnership with the community, acting on those things that are of concern to the community in order to keep them safe.

"Police will continue to apply legitimate pressure to those who prey on local people and who attempt to exercise illegitimate power and cause fear."

The leaflets were placed on cars in east Belfast overnight on Friday.

The PSNI said they were a "clear sign" that community policing was having an impact and vowed to "sharpen" their focus on tackling criminality in the city.

Chris Lyttle, from the cross-community Alliance Party, added his condemnation and urged people to continue to work with the police.

He said: "Once again we see faceless people using the cover of darkness to make threats against the community.

"It is, however, vital that people continue to support and provide information to enable the PSNI to keep our community safe."

Earlier this year police hit back after posters bearing the message 'People Should Not Inform' were put up in parts of west Belfast, Armagh and Tyrone.

Officers in Craigavon used social media to tell members of the public that "inform" was not a dirty word and highlighted a number of instances where information from the public had led to the apprehension of criminals.

In April, an image of a gunman beside the message "Loose talk costs lives" and phrase: "Whatever you say, say nothing" was painted on the 'International Wall' on Belfast's Falls Road.

At the time the message was slammed by the SDLP as a throwback to the 1970s and "open intimidation".
The PSNI has condemned as "cowardly" the circulation of leaflets in east Belfast which threaten anyone who helps them in their investigations.

The leaflets state 'All PSNI informers will be out out of this area' along with an image of a paramilitary with a shotgun and have been seen in various area in the east of the city over the last days.

It is understood that the leaflets were left on car windscreens in the early hours of Saturday in the Wandsworth area of Ballyhackamore.

Alliance MLA Chris Lyttle MLA told the Belfast Telegraph that he believed that the leaflets were in response to reports of several incidents of anti-social crime in the area.

"This is a quiet, peaceful residential area close to the busy trading area of Ballyhackamore and it's important that the residents know that elected representatives and the police will be re-doubling efforts to ensure that the those behind this are found."

However, he urged those who were responding to the threat by posting incidents of how they have reported crime to the police under the hastag #IInformedthePSNI to be careful not to identify anything that would jeopardise their own health and safety.

"This is a genuine grass-roots response to show that the people of this community fully support the police."

Alliance party leader Naomi Long took to social media yesterday to condemn the threatening leaflets, calling them "disgusting".

She urged people to ignore the leaflets and continue to work with the police to keep their area safe.

Belfast District Commander, Chief Superintendent Chris Noble promised to continue to "apply legitimate pressure to those who prey onh local people".

Police roundly condemn this cowardly attempt to intimidate a law abiding community," he added.

"Policing only works in partnership with the community, acting on those things that are of concern to the community in order to keep them safe.

"Police will continue to apply legitimate pressure to those who prey on local people and who attempt to exercise illegitimate power and cause fear.

"Our focus on tackling criminality in East Belfast and all parts of the city will only be sharpened by this clear sign that community policing is having an impact.

"I would actively encourage anyone with any information about criminality in their area to pass that information to police on 101 or alternatively they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Police at the scene of a sudden death on the Brians Well Road area of Poleglass on November 27 2016 in Belfast , Northern Ireland

The Brian's Well Road area of west Belfast where a young man was found dead in the early hours of Sunday. Picture by Jonathan Porter/Press Eye.

A young man has been found dead close to homes in Poleglass, west Belfast.

The PSNI are currently at the scene on the Brian's Well Road.

No more information has yet been released but it is understood that the police are not treating the death as suspicious.

Sinn Fein councillor for the area Stephen Magennis has said that the community was shocked to learn of the death and expressed his sympathies to the man's family.
Ireland has enough on its plate with Brexit for it to deal with a referendum on reunifying the island, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said.

Mr Kenny made clear there was no prospect of a border poll in the near future as he attended the British Irish Council summit in Wales.

At a media conference, the Fine Gael leader was challenged on comments he reportedly made at a private party function that Brexit had opened up an "uncomplicated route" to a united Ireland.

Mr Kenny questioned the accuracy of the news reports and insisted the criteria for calling a referendum, as laid out in the Good Friday peace agreement of 1998, had not been met.

Under the terms of the accord, the UK Secretary of State can call a border poll, but only if there is clear evidence that public opinion in Northern Ireland was in favour of changing the constitutional position.

"This matter has been set out in the Good Friday Agreement, there is no intention of having a border poll now, there is no indication that a border poll will succeed now," said Mr Kenny.

"We have enough on our plates at the moment to deal with Brexit and the many challenges that arise from many other issues to deal with."

The result of the EU referendum drew fresh focus on the constitutional question.

Republicans pointed to the 56% in Northern Ireland that voted to Remain as significant in the context of the UK leaving an EU that would still count the Irish Republic as a member.

The existing border has also become a key issue in the overall discussions about Brexit, with the UK Government being pressed on how it can maintain free movement across it after the exit from the EU.

Malta's prime minister Joseph Muscat has stressed the importance of resolving how the border crossing would operate post-Brexit before other trade issues are addressed in the UK's exit negotiations with the EU. Malta assumes the presidency of the EU in January.

After the BIC summit, Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness said he would like to see a united Ireland "tomorrow morning".

But he said he respected the terms of the peace agreement and noted that successive UK secretaries of state had made clear they "were not interested" in testing public opinion.

However, he again emphasised the EU vote, noting that the 56% were made up of unionists and nationalists.

"The 56% who saw their future in Europe voted to remain - that couldn't have been achieved without the support of unionists, nationalists and republicans voting together to achieve that," he said.

"I think that is very, very significant as we go forward."

Mr McGuinness also reiterated that Sinn Fein MPs would not suspend their abstentionist policy in respect of Westminster if MPs were asked to vote on the terms of Brexit.

Stormont First Minister Arlene Foster said coverage around a potential referendum were "non-stories".

"It won't surprise you to know that I don't want a united Ireland in the morning," said the DUP leader.

Mrs Foster said people should not misinterpret the outcome of the referendum.

"It was a vote on membership of the European Union, it was not a referendum in terms of Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland," she said.

"So this is a bit of a non-story but it comes up from time to time."

Current Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said: "It is ultimately my decision in relation to a border poll and there is no evidence that the conditions requiring a border poll are met - indeed there is very, very strong support, continuing support, for the (present) political arrangements."
The Swiss government is looking to switch to renewable energy by 2050

Swiss voters have rejected a plan to force their government to accelerate the country's exit from nuclear energy.

A majority of states voted against the plan in Sunday's referendum. Under Switzerland's direct democracy system, proposals need a majority of both states and votes to pass.

The plan promoted by the Green party would have meant closing three of Switzerland's five nuclear plants next year, with the last shutting in 2029. A projection for SRF public television showed the initiative failing by 55% to 45%.

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011, the Swiss government adopted a gradualist approach toward transitioning the country to renewable energy by 2050. It said nuclear plants should continue to operate as long as they are deemed safe, but didn't set a precise timetable.

AP
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Communications Deputy Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams says with SABC set to have 16 television channels as a result of the digital migration process, young people will be encouraged to take up careers in the media space.

She said this when she spoke at the Lusaka Community Hall in Nyanga on Friday during a graduation ceremony for 35 Western Cape learners who successfully completed the Film and Television Production Skills Programme.

The Deputy Minister said the graduation of the trainees comes at a time when the department was embarking on the much-anticipated digital migration project.

The training programme would address the issue of scarce skills in the media industry.

It is important to us because as the department we have embarked on a programme to roll out digital migration...

If we are talking about increasing [the] current three TV channels at SABC to sixteen channels it tells you that theres going to be a need for scarce skills, theres going to be a need for people to operate the camera, but most importantly it tells you that we are giving them an opportunity to be part of the value chain in the broadcasting sector, she said.

During her 2015 Budget Vote, the Deputy Minister committed to training young people in online video software.

This commitment was realised through a partnership with MICT SETA and Atos, who then developed the six-month skills programme, an NQF level 5 qualification.

The programme comprises of four modules - communication, sound, camera and online video editing.

Addressing graduates and Nyanga residents, the Deputy Minister encouraged young people in rural areas to take part in the programme, promising that they would be given opportunities.

As Im speaking to you we are in a township in Nyanga, not in Claremont in Cape Town. In the Eastern Cape, we were [at the] Cicira Training College. We took lots of students from around rural areas  We are targeting those that are most vulnerable and in need.

As the country gears up for digital television migration, the Deputy Minister said she is particularly interested in enabling youth from rural and disadvantaged communities to be part of the digital age and providing them with skills in media production is a step towards achieving this goal.

The Deputy Minister urged the SABC to also make use this opportunity and open up spaces for the graduates.

SABC Western Capes Andile Noganta said it is the mandate of SABC to transform the national broadcaster and give black people opportunities.

He said the public broadcaster is looking for local content, and encouraged graduates to produce content and work with the SABC to play that content on air.

Noganta said SABC would offer internships to the graduates. Through partnerships with government communications, SABC will offer these students internship opportunities, he said.

He said they would take on six to 10 interns and the closing date for applications is on the 30 November 2016.

One of the top achievers in the programme, Themba Monethi, thanked the Deputy Minister for initiating the training programme

I want to thank the Deputy Minister for this idea. I would like you Deputy Minister to continue assisting poor communities.

In its pilot phase, the programme was rolled out in Gauteng, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape. The 2017 intake is envisaged to be extended to all other provinces.

Mandisa Matshoba, a Member of Parliaments Portfolio Committee on Communications, urged the youth of Nyanga  an area notorious of its high crime rate - to stay away from crime and to use the opportunity to free themselves from poverty.
The increasing popularity of Black Friday and Cyber Monday in South Africa is seeing retailers gearing up for what is expected to be a bumper sales weekend. However the influx of visitors to e-tailers places websites under increased pressure, making availability a key concern.

Amy Walters via 123RF

The end of November has become an increasingly vital part of the trading calendar. In fact, Black Friday and Cyber Monday could represent a significant portion of online sales annually for brands. It has therefore become imperative that online shops do not suffer from costly downtime or other outages.

According to the 2016 Veeam Availability Report the estimated average annual cost of downtime globally for businesses can go up to $16 million, while the average hourly cost of downtime of one mission-critical application translates to more than R1-million. Given the huge amount of consumer spending that is anticipated over the coming weekend, no retailer can afford to have any hiccups in the sales process.

Looking beyond the financial impact that this represents, the reputational damage to a brand could be even more disastrous. If businesses were to experience any disruption over the next few days, they could lose customers to their competitors forever.

Here are a few tips to ensure a business stays available not only during this weekend, but the festive season as well.

Ditch legacy SLAs: SLAs from the legacy world simply do not cut it in this new digital era. Legacy IT still deals in SLAs that are two to four hours or even longer, when retailers need to be dealing in minutes or even seconds when it comes to downtime  especially with the amount of money at stake during the busy periods of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas. Even if IT vendors meet your reliance on a two-hour recovery agreement the brand damage will have already been long done.

Capacity planning: To determine what the potential peak loads are for site servers, remove the guess work by reviewing previous figures using monitoring data and plan for a significant uptick beyond anything seen before. For greater capacity, consider moving less vital workloads to the public cloud to benefit from its scale.

Real-time monitoring: Preparing in advance is an obvious tip, but it is vital to focus on having a simple escalation process in place of being alerted to any potential issues in the backup and virtual environments of a company. Not only does this speed up troubleshooting of issues, and diagnosis of root causes, it can also enable teams to manage a potential issue before it materialises into an actual problem.

Test, test and test again: Having a backup schedule is good, but it is not good enough. You need to ask some serious questions. For example, how long does it take to recover the backup? Do you have the ability to restore a certain file, where are those files caches, where is your whole system stored for that matter? How often do you test those backups to ensure they work and can be used as a point of rebuild? How many of your backups would fail? And above all how often are you performing these vital backup audits that could mean ultimately impacting the bottom line when time is money?

Availability is critical for retailers. Being able to quickly backup and restore data in the event of an outage ensures customer satisfaction during one of the busiest retail periods of the year.

Fortunately, Veeam research has found that respondents from the retail, distribution, and transport sector confirmed that their organisations have increased their requirements regarding minimising application downtime (57%) and guaranteeing access to data (52%) in the past two years.

Big shopping days such as Black Friday provide a reality check for many companies on the importance of the data centre and availability. We have to wait and see whether local businesses have done their due diligence to ensure they have the right processes and contingencies in place for this busy shopping period.
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Poor Sleep Can Make It Worse For Kidney Patients; Tips To Improve Sleep Disorders Cure oi-Lekhaka

If you have chronic kidney problem, poor sleep can make your suffering even worse, a new research has suggested, as per a report by HealthDay News.

Though it is not emphasised often, but short and disturbed sleep is something that people suffering from chronic kidney disease must keep in mind, the lead of the research, Dr. Ana Ricardo, said according to the report. Dr. Ricardo comes from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

"Our research adds to the accumulating knowledge regarding the importance of sleep on kidney function, and underscores the need to design and test clinical interventions to improve sleep habits in individuals with chronic kidney disease," Dr. Ricardo said in a news release from the American Society of Nephrology.

However, it is also understood that the study isn't conclusive at the moment. It only managed to find a connection between the lack of sleep and kidney failure.

The research involved 432 adults suffering from chronic kidney disease. Their sleeping habits were tracked between five to seven days of the week and their health for an average period of five years.

The participants of the research slept for average of 6.5 hours a night. Of them, 70 had kidney failure and 48 eventually died, the research said, the HealthDay report pointed out.

The researchers said an hour of additional sleep in the night time reduced the possibility of kidney failure by almost 20 per cent. Besides the duration, the quality of sleep is also important, suggested the report. Those who fail to have a sound sleep are more likely to develop kidney failure.

Here are 5 tips on how to improve your sleep:

1. Adjust yourself with your body's natural cycle of sleeping and waking up. Try to follow the same sleeping hours regularly, as that will leave you more energised compared to sleeping at different times.

2. Make the sleeping environment dark at night, so that melatonin, the hormone which regulates your sleep-wake cycle, is secreted more and you feel more sleepy when it is required. Give up late-night television viewing.

3. Exercise regularly. Those who do it feel less sleepy during the day time. Regular exercising treats the problem of insomnia and sleep apnoea and adds to the hours you spend in a sound sleep.

4. Choose your menu carefully. Avoid spicy and heavy food in the night as well as alcohol. Also, do not consume too many diuretic foods in the night, so that your sleep is not disrupted time and again in the night.

5. Prepare yourself for sleep. Practise some deep breathing, listen to soothing music, read a book to allow your nerves to settle down and gradually go to sleep.

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Story first published: Sunday, November 27, 2016, 15:00 [IST]
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/11/2016 (2167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When 17-year-old Michael Wenham heard that Wheat Kings PA announcer and Vincent Massey principal Michael Adamski had been diagnosed with cancer, he knew he had to do something.

The Grade 12 student at Crocus Plains Regional Secondary School, who is no stranger to putting his hair on the line for a good cause, decided to put together a head shave in Adamskis honour.

When I heard that Mr. Adamski had been diagnosed with cancer it really hit me  I knew that this was something I had to do again. Just to raise awareness and help support Mike, Wenham said.

Submitted Michael Wenham (left) will be shaving his head on Dec. 16 in honour of Mike Adamski (right), who was diagnosed with cancer. Wenham has raised $9,000 so far, and hopes to surpass $15,000.

Wenham first organized a head shave in 2013 for his choral director, Elizabeth Grant.

At the time, they were blown away by the response from the community, he said, and this time around did not disappoint.

Right now weve (fundraised) just under $9,000 and our goal is $15,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society, Wenham said.

Brain Canada, which is a separate branch of the Cancer Society, has offered to match our donations dollar for dollar  so theyll double anything we have at the end. Its amazing just having the support from Brain Canada themselves, and its amazing to get the word out there and to have so much attention and support go to the Cancer Society and to Mr. Adamski.

An added bonus to surpassing the $15,000 mark for Wenham is that he might have a partner when it comes time to go bald.

My older brother  said if we get to $15,000 hell shave his whole head with me, Wenham said. So Im really hoping we pass that.

Wenhams head shave will take place at Ecole secondaire Neelin High School on Dec. 16 and will be broadcast live on Facebook. Wenham said he does like his hair, but its a small loss for a worthwhile cause.

Im just letting (my hair) grow as much as it will before then, and on the day it will all be gone, Wenham said.

Donations can be made online through Wenhams Facebook page, or in person through Wenham at 204-573-3316, or his father, Tom, at 204-573-1601.

A benefit social is also being held in support of Adamski and his family on Dec. 1 at the UTC Pavilion at the Keystone Centre.

 edebooy@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @erindebooy
Update 9.07pm: Cystic Fibrosis Ireland has described the leak to a Sunday newspaper that the HSE is unlikely to fund the CF drug, Orkambi, as "heartless".

The HSE has since issued a statement stating that to date the drug has been considered unjustifiably expensive.

The HSE expressed its disappointment at the lack of meaningful engagement by the manufacturer, Vertex, in lowering the price of Orkambi for Irish patients.

Philip Watt, CEO of CF Ireland, said thatthis news is devastating for people with cystic fibrosis.

"Our association is absolutely dismayed about this decisino and also the way it's been conveyed to us," he said.

"The HSE didn't even tell the Minister, when they issued the statement yesterday, and it's utter devastation for our parents and people with CF who would have stood to benefit from this particualr drug."

Earlier:

The HSE has hit out at the drug company Vertex for its disappointing engagement regarding price negotiations for the Cystic Fibrosis drug Orkambi.

The drug is understood to cost 150,000 a year.

According to the HSE: Considerable engagement and negotiation with the manufacturer Vertex was undertaken over a protracted period in an effort to secure a significant price reduction.

However the HSE has stated: To date the drug has been considered unjustifiably expensive and not sufficiently cost effective by both the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) and the HSE Drugs Committee.

The HSE went on to say that it was disappointed with the level of meaningful engagement by the manufacturer in lowering the "exorbitant price of the drug.

The Health Executive concluded by saying no decision had yet been made about whether or not it would be purchasing the drug for Irish Cystic Fibrosis sufferers.

The HSE would be assessing the recommendation of the HSE's Drug Committee together with a NCPE recommendation and other expert advice before making a decision taking into consideration the manufacturers latest price offer.
Ireland's President has rejected claims he ignored human rights concerns in a statement marking the death of Fidel Castro.

Criticism of the comments in which Michael D Higgins described the former Cuban president as a "giant among global leaders" has been unwarranted, his spokesman said.

A statement issued on Sunday said: "Any suggestion that the President neglected human rights concerns is both unsustainable and unwarranted.

"The President has discussed human rights concerns with representatives of the government of Cuba on every occasion he has had meetings, in Cuba, Ireland and elsewhere.

"In all of his speeches on human rights the President has emphasised the universality of human rights and has never shirked from the presentation of that view."

On Saturday Mr Higgins said Fidel Castro would be remembered as a giant among global leaders whose "view was not only one of freedom for his people but for all of the oppressed and excluded peoples on the planet".

His spokesman added: "The President's statement clearly referred to the price paid for social and economic development in terms of civil society and the criticisms it brought. This obviously and unambiguously included the human rights organisations and activists who have always had the support of the President.

"The President made a further reference to civil society later in his statement in the context of the opportunities provided by restoration of diplomatic relations with the United States, and the response which has come from the visit of Pope Francis. The President was here referring to the release of prisoners.

Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said President Higgins was "entitled" to make his own views known about Mr Castro.

He told RTE the former Cuban leader was a complex figure with a mixed legacy.

Mr Flanagan said: "I very much respect the right, in the first instance, but also the view of Michael D Higgins.

"If you go back over the last 40 years, no one in Irish politics has done so much work or had such a level of association with Latin American politics than Michael D Higgins himself."

Speaking on the same programme, Fianna Fail's spokesman on foreign affairs, Darragh O'Brien, said Mr Higgins' statement was not as balanced as it could have been.

Nine days of national mourning have been announced in Cuba following Castro's death at the age of 90.

He took power in 1959 and introduced a one-party communist state which he ruled for nearly half a century before handing over the presidency to his brother Raul in 2008.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein said it's leader, Gerry Adams, intended to fly to Cuba for the funeral.

Mr Adams said: "Fidel Castro was a global leader and a good friend of the Irish people.

"I am proud and honoured to travel to Cuba to represent Sinn Fein, as we remember Fidel Castro."
A new two-part documentary with journalist Paul Williams is to assess the war on crime that has been ongoing since the death of Veronica Guerin 20 years ago.

The documentary, which will be aired on TV3 on Monday 28 November and Tuesday 29 November at 10pm, carries a number of highly emotional scenes from revisiting the place where Veronica Guerin was murdered, exactly 20 years on from time of her death and confronting John Gilligan on Jessbrook estate in Co Kildare where he now lives with his daughter Tracy.
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The series ran from September 1969 to March 1974, attracting viewers during a period of extreme social change and the Vietnam War, neither of which touched the Bradys' world.

Henderson was making a film in Norway in 1969 when she was asked to appear in the pilot episode of The Brady Bunch, an unapologetically upbeat comedy about a woman with three daughters who meets, marries and makes a sunny suburban California home with a widower who has three sons.

Florence Henderson, who began her career as an ingenue soprano in stage musicals in the 1950s but made a more lasting impression on television as the perky 1970s sitcom mother on The Brady Bunch, has died in Los Angeles due to heart failure aged 82.

Florence Henderson (in brown) became a household name starring with the cast of the TV series The Brady Bunch.

Henderson defended the original television show from its detractors, who ridiculed it for its simplistic, impossibly wholesome plots and its idealised portrait of family life. "It was really a show that was seen through the eyes of a child," she said, "and it was supposed to have a little soft glow about it."

The question of whether Carol Brady was widowed or divorced was never definitively established on the television show. In A Very Brady Sequel (1996), the second of the two movies based on the show, a character (who turns out to be an impostor) claims to be her long-lost husband, who was thought to have died at sea.

Henderson pretended to clear up the mystery in a 2015 interview. "I killed my husband," she announced. "I was the original Black Widow. Nobody ever said, but I always say I just got rid of him."

Before the series, Henderson had built an impressive reputation with stage work. She starred in Fanny on Broadway in the mid-1950s, when she was in her early 20s; The King and I at the Los Angeles Music Centre; South Pacific at Lincoln Centre; national tours of Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music; and The Girl Who Came to Supper (1963), Noel Coward's last original Broadway musical.
The anti-mainstream political pressure-cooker was gurgling away in May this year, even if it wasn't obvious to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull when he called the double-dissolution election for July 2.

The election campaign eroded trust in both major parties, which increased the pressure.

Pauline Hanson has given voice to some voters who would normally look to the Liberals but now have an alternative. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

Signs of trouble emerged when the Nick Xenophon Team and especially Pauline Hanson did well in the Senate. Indeed, the Greens and "others" candidates in the Upper House  "outsiders" if you like  drew almost as many first-preference votes as the Coalition and two percentage points more than Labor.

Since July the pressure against the political elites has built even further. With the Trump victory in the US energising the outsiders here, Australia's political mainstream now faces a historically significant challenge to get its message through, let alone remain relevant.
The surprise election of Donald Trump continues to reverberate around the world, triggering a revaluation of political, social and economic assumptions. One institution feeling the tremor is the media, including Australia's.

Even if American voters' desire to upend the economic status quo is genuine, from a news perspective Mr Trump's campaign was a brute-force assault on reality. Its success is a worrying sign for any society that values informed political debate.

The New York Times helped slow the stampede of online news when it reported on Donald Trump's taxes. Credit:AP

There is a sense that many in the US, and even some in Australia, have been bamboozled by the campaign's post-truth rhetoric.

While it would be difficult in Australia's parliamentary system for a person with as little relevant experience as Mr Trump to become prime minister, a figure so antithetical to basic democratic values could emerge here. Rather than recognising the fourth estate's essential role in democracy, there is already a tendency by some to view the media as one more interest group to pander to, to spin or to ignore.
As dictators go, Fidel Castro was certainly a record breaker. For more than 50 years  an entire life for some of us  he ruled his small island and its 11 million subjects with an iron fist.

True, that iron fist was often carefully clothed in velvet, at least for the benefit of outsiders, like those Western intellectuals, democratically-elected leaders and Third World nationalists whom to the very end, continued to fly into Havana with disappointing regularity to pay homage to the man who defied and regularly outwitted no fewer that 10 US presidents.

In the end, of course, Castro proved to be mortal, like you and me.

And at least for me, there is a sobering irony in the way of his parting, not with a bang as I am sure he would have liked, but with a fizzle. A senile old man still spouting slogans from three generations ago at a time when his people make ends meet by selling pirated Che Guevara t-shirts to the same cashed-up American tourists that were until recently despised by Castro as ideological enemies.
Controversial super trawler the Geelong Star was confirmed to have left Australian waters on the eve of the Senate inquiry report being handed down on its operation.

Opponents of the vessel described it as a win for Australia, and recreational and commercial fishers welcomed the news.

The Geelong Star has now left Australian waters. Credit:Jonathan Mallinson

The Geelong Star had been operating in the small pelagic fishery for 18 months, reportedly selling the fish product to Africa. It previously had concentrated fishing efforts on the far south coast of New South Wales, where community concerns centred on the impact the vessel was having on recreational fisheries, the tourism industry, and the diversity of marine life.

A recent review of the vessel management plan failed to address the community concerns of localised bait fish depletion.
The immediate wish retired ADF nurse Sharon Bown had after surviving a helicopter crash in remote East Timor was that she was dead.

In 2004 the RAAF Wing Commander was deployed as an aeromedical evacuation nurse to the village of Same, to transport a woman who had miscarried during labor to Dili for lifesaving health care.

Wing Commander (Ret'd) Sharon Bown at the launch of her book, One Woman's War and Peace, at the Australian War Memorial. Credit:Rohan Thomson

But that trip ended with Ms Bown and her colleague's own lives dangling by a thread, when a severe storm caused the helicopter to plummet to the ground.

"I accepted today would be the day that I would die," Ms Bown said.
Monica Azzopardi loves Christmas.

So for the last eight years, Ms Azzopardi has been decking out her house at 20 Schooner Bay Drive, Patterson Lakes, and spreading festive cheer to all who come by.

Reg and Gale Ford from Wantirna enjoy a cuppa in front of their festooned home. Credit:Simon Schluter

She says it started slowly and then got bigger and bigger each year.

Now, it encompasses not just the outside of the double-storey brick house, but every main room downstairs. A lot of the things are made by Ms Azzopardi herself.
Melbourne Express: Monday, November 28, 2016

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Locals might complain about poor merging skills and soaring temperatures, but a sultry UK celebrity chef had nothing but praise for Western Australia following an appearance at Margaret River's Gourmet Escape food festival.

Nigella Lawson wrapped up her trip to WA with a gushing blog post, where she praised the experience to her legion of followers.

"Where to start? 1) Margaret River, in Western Australia is unbelievably beautiful, and 2) the Gourmet Escape is a quite astonishing food festival," she wrote.

"It's not just about the setting  though that helps  but there was such a sense of community, a warmth and friendliness from both the chefs and the festival-goers that I return inspired and elated.
Washington: Hillary Clinton's campaign has said it will participate in recounts of election ballots across three battleground states that were crucial to putting Donald Trump in the White House.

Mr Trump won the industrial heartland states of Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan by razor-thin margins in the presidential election on November 8.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has added her name to calls for a recount in three key US states. Credit:Matt Rourke

A push for recounts was launched by Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, who claimed electronic voting terminals could have been hacked.

Marc Elias, the Clinton campaign's general counsel, said Ms Clinton's team had carried out an extensive review that "has not in our view resulted in evidence of manipulation of results".
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The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said in a statement Friday that Melbourne-based ANZ had admitted to 10 instances of alleged cartel conduct and Sydney-based Macquarie to eight. They offered to pay A$9 million and A$6 million in penalties respectively, the ACCC said.The case involved Singapore-based traders communicating via private online chat rooms about daily submissions on the Malaysian ringgit fixing rate to be made to the Association of Banks in Singapore, the ACCC said in the statement.Macquarie said in a separate statement that no senior management or any other staff members were aware of the conduct of a former junior employee, who was fired in 2012. ANZ said in a statement that three of its employees had unsuccessfully attempted to influence the setting of benchmark rates used to settle non-deliverable forward foreign- exchange contracts for the ringgit and were no longer employed at the bank.Australias Federal Court will decide whether the agreed penalties are appropriate, the ACCC said.ANZ said the matter was previously investigated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, which completed a review and supervisory action in 2013 involving 20 banks operating in Singapore.While there is no evidence that FX benchmarks in Singapore were successfully influenced, we accept responsibility and apologize for the actions of our former employees, ANZ Chief Risk Officer Nigel Williams said in the statement. We have made significant improvements to our compliance, training and monitoring systems to ensure this does not happen again.Macquarie said it hadnt engaged in any conduct affecting the benchmark or obtained any benefit from the attempted behavior. The bank noted that it had since boosted its e-communication surveillance globally, improved trade monitoring and intensified training for its front office staff.
Warminster boy makes Phillies nation proud with viral video from Game 1

Carson Wallace, 5, of Warminster, starred as one of the Phillies most savage fans as his celebration and taunt of an Astros fan went viral.
New Jersey rates of STDs on the rise, especially in young adults

As rates of sexually transmitted diseases are increasing across New Jersey, doctors are calling for more screening.
After having lost China, Uber, the ride hailing app has stepped up focus on India, the last open market, where it is battling local rival Ola. While it has over $3.5 billion in cash to pump and grab market share over Ola, Apurva Dalal, the head of engineering for India, in an interview with Alnoor Peermohamed says the key for winning the market would be in using technology.
body Indian Cellular Association has sought a 10-year tax holiday to scale up manufacturing to international standards to help India become competitive as against preferred destinations like China and Vietnam.

"ICA recommends that the 10-year tax holiday may be granted on a block of 15-20 years on all profits and gains under Section 80 IA of the IT Act, 1961, for manufacturing or rendering of services in or in relation to handsets, parts, component accessories and various core components subject to fulfilment of value addition norms," ICA said in its submission to the finance ministry.

The body acknowledged that some of the tax measures of the government led to growth of mobile handset manufacturing by approximately 185 per cent in value and 90 per cent in volume in 2015-16 over 2014-15.

"Rs 54,000 crore worth mobile handsets were produced during this period from Rs 18,900 crore in 2014-15. In the current financial year, manufacturing is estimated to grow to Rs 94,000 crore, which would be an estimated 75 per cent year-on-year growth," ICA said.

The recommended tax holiday is expected to bring in fresh investments in plant and machinery and other equipment of durable nature. ICA estimates that Rs 1,000 crore of additional investments in plant and machinery are required from every 130 million rise in production capacity.

According to ICA, boost to mobile manufacturing discouraged import of mobile handsets by 4 per cent in 2015-16 over 2014-15 and is further estimated to drop by over 29 per cent in the current fiscal over 2015-16.

The aims to produce 50 crore mobile handsets annually in the country with value around Rs 1.5-3 lakh crore by 2019 and production of 125 crore handsets with an estimated value of Rs 15 lakh crore by 2025-26.

The industry has set export target of 12 crore handsets by 2019-20, which can go up to 20 crore by 2019-20, and 80 crore by 2025-26, as per the ICA submission.

Currently, India does not offer income tax incentives on manufacturing of mobile handsets and components, it said.

"While India is strongly positioned to replace China on establishment of a robust mobile handset and component manufacturing ecosystem over the coming years... Lack of availability of direct tax incentives is considered to be a major impediment," ICA said.

The industry body backed up, saying Vietnam offers 30 years of tax holiday window at just 10 per cent tax on mobile manufacturing along with other incentives.

The current manufacturing operations in China in the mobile handset ecosystem is estimated at 32-35 times more and that of Vietnam's mobile manufacturing industry is 7-8 times bigger than that of India in value terms, it noted.

"A deep analysis regarding establishment of robust mobile



handset manufacturing industry in China and Vietnam during the past decade would indicate this fact that lucrative incentives, especially income tax holiday and export benefits, compelled the industry to move to these destinations," it said.

ICA said a phased manufacturing programme (PMP) was instituted by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), which led to setting up of 15 new component manufacturing plants generating more than 20,000 new jobs.

MeitY established a Fast Track Task Force (FTTF) to establish a sizeable component industry with a turnover of over Rs 50,000 crore by 2019.

ICA has recommended delinking PMP from budget, saying it "should be announced or notified in advance as a 4-5 year programme as per a Government of India commitment" as it takes at least a lead time of 6-24 months for to execute plans to set up manufacturing facilities depending on technological and capital criticality factors.
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If you are fond of playing mobile games in the trivia, word and puzzle categories, there is now PlaySimple, a start-up which focuses on these.
A few months ago, around the time that the festive season was kicking off in India, Motorola was looking to launch the Moto Z smartphone. Lenovo India, which owns the brand, approached Twitter, wanting to spread the word among the young users of the platform.



The two collaborated to come up with a special set of hashtags and the response was beyond everyones expectations. Not only did the company get the conversation going about phones look and features, data about customer preferences helped tweak its sales and communication strategy for maximum impact.
Rio Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu's quest for a second successive women's singles title ended in disappointment after she went down in straight games to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in the Hong Kong Open Super Series final here on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday thanked citizens and banks across the nation for accepting demonetisationand braving the following inconsequences, while accusing the opposition in a veiled attack, of misleading the nation over the scheme.


Industry body Assocham has urged the government to uncap cash withdrawal for logistics and transport fleet owners, arguing that their operational expenses are higher.

Assocham observed that "the note ban has come as a bottleneck to the transport business".

"The chamber has urged the government to review the cash withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000 from the current account per week and raise it to minimum Rs 4-5 lakh (for transport fleet owners) which is bare minimum," Assocham said.

The government de-legalised Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes on November 8, in a sudden crackdown on black money and terror financing.

Drawing inputs from various sources, the Assocham study on Transport and Logistics noted that close to 10% of the expenses of trucks on trunk routes are accounted for by drivers and other support crew, who are part of the journeys which take 7-8 days on a single trip.

"The entire expenses of the drivers and other crew are to be met by cash. In the wake of the of high value notes, the fleet owners are facing problems in operations," said the chamber.

While fuel accounts for 52-66% of the total trip expenses, another 25-40% outgo is towards sub heads like tolls, octroi, speedy clearance at check posts etc.

Besides, the study also suggested that to promote seamless inter-state freight flows, a green channel should be adopted for transit of secure/sealed containerized cargo.

Presently, there are 177 inter-state check posts and 268 toll barriers on national highways.
Electric avenues that can transmit the sun's energy onto power grids may be coming to a city near you. A subsidiary of Bouygues SA has designed rugged solar panels, capable of withstand the weight of an 18-wheeler truck, that they're now building into road surfaces. After nearly five years of research and laboratory tests, they're constructing 100 outdoor test sites and plan to commercialise the technology in early 2018. "We wanted to find a second life for a road," said Philippe Harelle, the chief technology officer at Colas SA's Wattway unit, owned by ...
Karnataka, home to Bengaluru, Indias new-economy hub, is holding its flagship information technology (IT) event, ITe.biz, from Monday. The event comes as software exporters face new challenges in their main markets and the disruption due to automation and artificial intelligence. Within India, start-ups face a funding crunch. PRIYANK KHARGE, the states minister of IT, tells Apurva Venkat how Bengaluru is reinventing. Edited excerpts:
Five global reinsurers and the lone domestic private sector candidate, ITI Reinsurance, are ready to begin commercial operations as soon as they get final operational licences.

All the companies  Scor Group, Hannover Re, Swiss Re, RGA and Munich Re, as well as ITI  have cleared their second level of regulatory approvals, or R2, and are waiting the final nod (R3 licence) from the regulator to begin operations. One global reinsurer XL Catlin has received R1 licence, while Gen Re has applied for the licence.

The country's first private sector reinsurer ITI Reinsurance, which has also received second round of regulatory nod, is gearing up to start operations.

"We are ready with the capital and are now building our team to start operations from April. We have already brought in Rs 500 crore capital that is required to launch the business. Though other global reinsurers are entering the market, we have better scope as we a domestic company," ITI managing director and chief executive Pradeep Shah told PTI.

French reinsurer Scor Group said it will establish a branch office as soon as it receives R3 authorisation and is expected to start underwriting business from April. It has been dealing with domestic clients since 1973 and had set up a liaison office in 2005.

"Opening a Scor branch this year in the country demonstrates our commitment to this market and we are keen to continue to offer services to clients here," Scor Group chairman and chief executive Denis Kessler said.

The German major Hannover Re has appointed GLN Sarma as its India chief executive and hopes to be operational shortly. With R3 approval, Hannover Re will be able to underwrite life, health and property and casualty business.

Earlier, state-run General Corporation of India (GIC Re) chairman Alice Vaidyan had said her company did not see any foreign players posing significant competition.

"We will continue to have our dominant market position as we are present here for past 45 years now," Vaidyan said.

GIC Re rather believes that joining of the new players will bring innovation and increase penetration in the market.

Meanwhile, Regulatory and Development Authority of India has set up a committee to make a decision on the order of preference in cessions, after the new reinsurers start operating here. The committee to be chaired by M Ramaprasad will have members from life, general and health industry as well as representatives from GIC Re, General Insurance Council, Marsh India, Lloyd's and Munich Re.

The committee will also finalise the operational guidelines, including the rights and obligations of all stakeholders, apart from looking at timelines for offer of best terms, order of preference-wise.
Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of the Naval Staff visits Sri Lanka

Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM,AVSM,ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff, is visiting Sri Lanka on a bilateral visit from 27 November to 01 December 2016. The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the bilateral maritime relations between India and Sri Lanka. During his visit, the CNS will hold bilateral discussions with His Excellency Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka, Mr Ranil Wickremesinghe, Hon'ble Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and various senior dignitaries including the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs.

The Admiral will also attend the 'Galle Dialogue' which is being held at Colombo. The Galle Dialogue is an annual conference hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of Maritime Security and Cooperation between international navies. Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event. The CNS would be delivering Key-Note address on 'India's perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships', during the event.

There exists a robust Naval cooperation between India and Sri Lanka encompassing a wide span which includes operational interactions through bilateral exercises, coordinated patrolling along the common maritime border, Training, Port Calls, Capacity Building and Capacity Augmentation initiatives.

The Admiral will also lay a wreath at the IPKF memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka to honour Indian Martyrs, during his visit.
Shri J P Nadda takes pledge for Organ Donation amidst thousands of enthusiasts and organ donors

Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, Shri J P Nadda took a pledge to donate his organs amidst thousands of enthusiasts comprising officers, staffers, doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff members of all Central Government Hospitals of New Delhi who also pledged along with him, here today. Also present were thousands of participants from the walkathon that took place at the India Gate in the morning today to create and enhance awareness surrounding organ donation.

Speaking at the event, the Union Health Minister stated that donating organs is a gift and is an altruistic, egalitarian and a moral act. He added that we can turn the end of a life into a new beginning with donating our organs. Shri Nadda said Let organ donation become a national movement and show to the world that even in death we care for our fellow citizens and humanity at large". Organ is a national resource and not even one should be wasted, he stated.

The Health Minister said that the Ministry is presently framing rules, regulations and protocols for facilitating organ donation.

There are about 1.5 lakh brain deaths happening in the country every year, and organs from them can be used for saving lives of several lakhs of patients, he stated. He added that it is a matter of concern that the current organ donation and transplantation rate is not close to the requirement within the country for organs. He said that we have started taking decisive steps for harvesting cadaver organs and tissues and saving many lives a result of this.

The Health Ministry is implementing the National Organ Transplant Programme with a view to promoting organ donation from deceased persons and thereby increase the availability of organs for transplantation, Shri Nadda said. A large number of activities have already commenced a part of the programme he stated. State Governments have been sensitised about the need to have systems in place to improve awareness regarding organ donation, adding that training programmes have been organised and these shall be stepped up.

Also present at the pledge taking ceremony were Shri C K Mishra, Secretary (HFW); Dr Jagdish Prasad, DGHS and senior officers of the Ministry.
Jobless and with graduation looming, a computer science student at the premier university in the nation of Georgia decided early this year that money could be made from Americas voracious appetite for passionately partisan political news. He set up a website, posted gushing stories about Hillary Clinton and waited for ad sales to soar.
Iran is assessing a proposal for a collective Opec output cut, but hasnt announced any commitment to reduce its own production as the group tries to end disagreements about how to share the burden of supply cuts ahead of a meeting in Vienna. Algerian Energy Minister Noureddine Boutarfa presented a proposal for an Opec cut of 1.1 million barrels a day during a meeting with his Iranian counterpart Bijan Namdar Zanganeh in Tehran on Saturday, according to an Iranian oil ministry official. Opec is also proposing a 600,000 barrel a day output cut by non-Opec producers, the ...
On Thanksgiving Day, a Philippine developer named hosted a company anniversary bash at one of Manilas poshest hotels. He had much to be thankful for.
Donald Trump started to put his stamp on a more muscular foreign policy Saturday with a toughly-worded statement following the death of Cubas Fidel Castro. The president-elect eschewed the diplomat-speak of President Barack Obama, who offered his condolences to the Castro family in an anodyne statement. Instead, Trump tore into the newly-deceased dictator in perhaps the clearest example since this months election of the two mens sharply different world views. Castro, who established a communist regime in Cuba that survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, ...
As many as 11 civil servants were awarded for their extraordinary achievements in governance at gfiles Governance Awards 2016 on Sunday.

A four-member team led by former governor and former cabinet secretary Prabhat Kumar decided on the names for the awards to be presented. The award is given to IAS and IPS officers, including bureaucrats, for exemplary works in their districts and reforms among general public. It is given after assessment and evaluation of the officers' two years' work.

Speaking on the occasion, Chief Guest Union Minister of Steel Chaudhary Birender Singh said, "There is a need to narrow down the gap between political leadership and the steel frame of India to improve on governance in the country."

"Governance should rest with politicians and administration with bureaucracy," he added.

Singh, along with Ram Bilas Sharma, Haryana Education and Tourism Minister, honoured eminent scientist Dr. R A Marshelkar and ten other civil servants with gfiles Governance Awards.

Dr R.A. Marshelkar, a chemical engineer and a former Director General of the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), was honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award.

"All my life I worked 24x 7, days after days, week after week and year after; I promise you to continue to do so," he said.

Others bagged Exceptional Contribution Awards and Excellent Contribution Awards

O.P. Singh, IPS, Director General, Central Industrial Security Force, was given Exceptional Contribution Award for successfully leading the disaster relief operations.

Saurabh Kumar, IRS, Managing Director, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), Ministry of Power; Sanjay Kumar, IFS, Deputy Inspector General, Nation al Tiger Conservation Authority, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; K. Balamurugan, IFS, Regional Passport Officer, Chennai; Sutirtha Bhattacharya, IAS, CMD, Coal India Limited (CIL); R.S. Julania, Additional Chief Secretary, Panchayat and Rural Development Department, Madhya Pradesh; N. Prasanth, IAS, District Collector & District Magistrate, Kozhikode, Kerala; Amit Lodha, a Bihar cadre IPS, presently Deputy Inspector General, BSF, Jaisalmer; Mandeep Singh Randhawa, IPS, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central District, Delhi Police; and Vikas Arya, Indian Railway Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) officer.

Gfiles Governance Award recognises the young officers, who are working in the districts against all odds and doing commendable work to ameliorate the condition of citizens of India.

The award ceremony was fifth consecutive in as many years. Gfiles is a brain-child of former India Today editor Inderjit Badhwar, Senior Journalist Anil Tyagi, and well-known financial expert Dr. G.S. Sood.

This award has been decided by former governor and former cabinet secretary Prabhat Kumar, former Union energy secretary Anil Razdan, former Union internal security secretary M B Kaushal, former chief secretary of Haryana Vishnu Bhagwan.

Gfiles is the country's first independent magazine written, designed and produced for India's civil services-the vast and formidable network of bureaucracies and public sector organisations, which provide continuity and stability to this nation's governance.

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At least 95 Rohingya Muslims including women and children have been pushed back from different border points of Teknaf by the Border Guard Bangladesh in Cox's Bazar district.

Teknaf 2 BGB Commander Abuzar Al-Zahid was quoted by the Dhaka Tribune, as saying that around 90 Rohingyas had boarded in six boats and were prevented from trespassing in the Naf River at midnight by the BGB.

The paper futher quoted Cox's Bazar 34 BGB Commander Imran Ullah Sarkar, as saying that five Rohingyas, including two children were earlier pushed back from the Ghundhum border of Ukhia in Teknaf upazila.

He also said BGBhas have developed a full-proof security system along on the border to prevent a Rohingya influx and the move has decreased trespassing remarkably.

Violence in Mynamar's Rakhine state has claimed the lives of at least 86 people and displaced 30,000 others.

Myanmar troops launched a crackdown in the Rakhine state in response to attacks on three border posts on October 9 that killed nine police officers, since then many Rohingya Muslims have tried to move into Bangladesh illegally.

Accusations by Rohingyas and rights groups of raping women, torching houses and killing civilians during their operations has been denied by Myanmar and the military.

Rohingyas are not recognised by Myanmar as its citizens and are called Bengali by them.

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Asserting that it will take 50 days for the situation to normalise post the demonetization, Prime Minster Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to the people to embrace digital banking to tide over the currency crunch.

In a renewed push for making India a cashless economy, Prime Minister Modi in his Mann Ki Baat programme said, "Scrapping these notes has opened other avenues to make payments. Download apps of banks and e-payment options. Shopkeepers can keep card swiping facilities and everyone can ensure they pay safe using their credit and debit cards."

He asked traders and small shop owners to provide alternative payment methods such as using POS machines, e-payment wallets and other such "friendly technologies" to their patrons.

The Prime Minister said that by adopting such technology, even small traders can immensely increase their profits.

"I invite you to make India a cashless society. Mobile phone and the whole banking system can pose many alternatives to currency notes. Technological paths are safe's, secure and accelerated. I would like you to just help this campaign successful," he said.

Acknowledging that the demonetisation has caused great hardships to wage workers, Prime Minister Modi asked them to open their bank accounts so that they can also avail digital banking facilities.

"Once the money is in your bank account, you can make payments through your mobile phones. Your mobile phone nowadays serves as an e-purse. You can purchase any essential items with this," he said.

Prime Minister Modi said that it is his dream to have a cashless society.

"Though 100 per cent cashless is not possible but there is no harm in trying," he added.

The Prime Minister opined that the people would be trouble free if they are made aware of all digital financial transaction options.

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Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Minister Hafizur Rehman has said that all China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects will be completed by 2029 and the entire country would benefit from it.

"Today, Russia is getting closer to Pakistan as the government is steering us out of isolation internationally with its correct economic policies," The Express Tribune quoted Rehman, as saying at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday.

He said that the country has wasted numerous opportunities earlier but CPEC would certainly boost the economy.

Stating that the work on the Rs35 billion fiber-optic cable laying project under CPEC has been completed in Gilgit-Baltistan, Rehman said an alternate communication system to the region will be provided by it.

He claimed that work on the Karakoram Highway had been completed whereas the construction on other sections is under way.

The Chief Minister said Land acquisition has also been completed with Rs10 billion less than the original amount for construction of the Diamer-Bhasha Dam.

Asserting that areas bordering China have a potential to generate 60,000 mega-watts electricity, he said that a joint power company will be established under Chinese power investment programme to tap these opportunities.

"This will add 60,000MW to the national grid, which will cost Rs2 per megawatt or less," Rehman said.

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On the occasion of Indian Organ Donation Day today, Fortis Healthcare organised a walkathon where leading actor Irrfan Khan and Paralympics medalist Deepa Malik walked with 2000 participants to spread awareness about the need on organ donation.

The 7.5 kilometer long walk started from Fortis Memorial Research Institute (FMRI) situated near HUDA City Centre today morning. Walkathons were also held in Mumbai, Chennai and Mohali to raise awareness on organ donation across the nation.

'Fortis-NDTV More to Give Walkathon - A Step towards Organ Donation' was part of the commitment towards the cause of creating awareness around the loss of lives that happen for the want of organs. The objective of the walk was to generate a dialogue about the cause of Organ Donation by taking it to the streets of India where the common man can show their support for the cause. Nationally, as many as 10,000 participants along with leading personalities lent support and joined the walk.

A single donor can save eight lives by donating the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas and small bowel. Also, by donating organs and tissues like eyes, skin, bones etc., a single donor can touch several lives. Over the last five years, the organ donation rate in the country has increased ten-fold from 0.05 to 0.5 per million and is likely to touch the 1 per million population mark in 2016. We have made a start but still have a long way to go.

After an enthusiastic participation, Mr Bhavdeep Singh, CEO, Fortis Healthcare shared, "There is a widening chasm between the demand of organs for people at end stages and their availability. Adding to the complexity is the lack of awareness, simultaneously surrounded by superstitions which present themselves as the key obstacles. Donating organs is a humanitarian cause that will gain momentum with increasing awareness in society. At Fortis, we will continue to contribute as much as we can by educating people and saving more and more lives. This walkathon is a reminder that each one of us has more to give."

Fortis has pioneered the cause as two of its hospitals run the largest heart transplant program in the country. Fortis Malar Hospital, Chennai has performed 122 heart transplants which is maximum for any healthcare provider in Asia. Fortis Hospital at Mulund, Mumbai performed a record 35 heart transplants in a span of little over a year. Since 2012, when the FORT program was initiated, 42 organ donors from 10 Fortis hospitals across the country have already donated a total of 128 organs including 17 hearts, 33 livers, 76 kidneys, 1 lung and 1 pancreas. In addition, 110 pairs of eyes.

Dr Avnish Seth, Director, Fortis Organ Retrieval and Transplant, Fortis Healthcare shared, "Altruism comes easily to us as a nation. The availability of medical expertise, infrastructure and increasing awareness on organ donation, coupled with a thrust from the Government provided by National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organization (NOTTO) and the landmark Transplant Rules of 2014 are ready to propel India into a new, exciting phase of deceased organ donation.

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Twenty-three people have been detained by Israeli police on suspicion of arson in connection with wildfires that swept across central and northern parts of the country this week, said police spokeswoman Luba Samri.

According to spokesman for Israel's Fire and Rescue Services, Yoram Levi, firefighters have dealt with more than 250 large fires since last weekend.

The Head of the investigation unit of the Israel fire and rescue services, Ran Sheluf said over 1,500 cases of fire have been reported to the authorities.

"This is twice the usual number. The cause of the fires is either negligence or being started deliberately," CNN quoted Sheluf, as saying.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had yesterday called and thanked Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for sending fire trucks and personnel to fight the blazes, according to the Prime Minister's Office.

Israeli crews were assisted by Palestinian fire crews assisted in northern Israel and near Jerusalem.

Nael Al-Azzeh of the Palestinian Civil Defense said that eight fire trucks were provided by the Palestinian Civil Defense on Thursday in response to an Israeli request for help.

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The demonetisation drive in Indian has also hit traders in Nepal, who import raw materials and readymade products from India, and now they are waiting for the situation to normalise.

"We procure our materials from India. At present, we are not able to import new materials and other things due to the scarcity of new Indian notes," said Prabesh Agrawal, who is supplier of buttons and chains here.

"We cannot analyse situation in India after demonetisation by sitting here in Nepal, but we will get relief when it improves in India. Till then, we will have to wait," said Agrawal.

The Nepali market is mostly dependent on India for agricultural products and readymade items, including clothes, and it will face scarcity of goods in a one month when all stocks are cleared.

"We don't have new Indian currencies even for a medical check up in India due to the demonetisation move," said Mayur Goyal, a shoe trader on New Road, here.

"I want to request the governments of India and Nepal to provide some Indian currencies to Nepal residents here. I also request them to change the Indian currencies into Nepali or into new Indian currencies" said Goyal.

The Central Bank of Nepal (Nepal Rastra Bank) is awaiting the Reserve Bank of India's response on the supply of Rs. 500 and Rs.1000 currency notes to the Nepalese market. The demonetisation has not only affected the import to Nepal, it has also hit Hundi agents here.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had on November 24 said both Nepal Rashtra Bank and Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan are in touch with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regarding the facilitation of collection and deposit of old currency of high-value denominator that are already in stock in Nepal and Bhutan under existing provisions.

"The matter has been raised by both the governments of Nepal and Bhutan as well. The government is considering the matter and the RBI will remain in touch with their counterparts in Nepal and Bhutan," said MEA official spokesperson Vikas Swarup here.

Swarup said the inter-ministerial task force formed by the Centre is looking into issues relating to foreign nationals and tourists in India, NRIs/PIOs holding old currency notes.

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As tensions between the judiciary and the government flared up once again, with both cautioning each other against crossing the "lakshman rekha", the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said parliament and the judiciary have their own places and one must accept their respective status.

Talking to ANI, BJP leader Shania NC said nobody suggested that the judiciary's space should be impounded.

"We respect the judiciary of the country and I don't think anyone is suggesting that their space in any way impounded upon. But the beauty of democracy is that there are processes which need to be adhered to. And, I think, both the Parliament and the judiciary have their own place and we must welcome both status," she added.

Earlier, CJI Thakur emphasised that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's attitude was lackadaisical from the very issue of filling vacancies to providing adequate infrastructure.

Stating that there are 500 judges' posts lying vacant in high courts, Thakur said that courtrooms are lying vacant without judges.

He further said that in principle, the judiciary was not against the formation of tribunals because it would relieve court duties, but the problem arose from the lack of adequate infrastructure provided to the Tribunals.

Stating he "respectfully" disagrees with Thakur, Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government has so far appointed 120 high court judges, adding this is the second highest number of appointments in the history of the country's judicial system.

Prasad also said that the Supreme Court has failed to make the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), a document to guide on the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary, more transparent and reasonable despite repeated requests from the government.

The Centre and the top court have been at war since the Supreme Court struck down the Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, which was brought in to end more than 20-year-old practice of judges appointing judges under the collegium system, with government having no say in the process.

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Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has said that his party would start preparations for the 2018 general elections in case it loses the Panamagate case in the Supreme Court.

The PTI chief was speaking to members of the Supreme Court Press Association at his Banigala residence on Saturday, reports the Dawn.

Supported by the party's secretary general Jahangir Khan Tareen and senior party officials Shafqat Abbasi and Naeemul Haq, as well as lawyer Chaudhry Faisal Hussain, Imran said, the party would "mobilise public opinion through our election campaign" and show "how the ruling elite has fooled the entire nation through loot and plunder".

Khan said that the PTI's vote bank was increasing exponentially with each recent by-election.

He said that PTI would also focus on gathering and organising workers in Sindh and Balochistan.

Claiming that the party has evidence to prove Qatari letter was an 'afterthought', PTI chief expressed hopefulness on the Supreme Court's expected judgment.

"We are in possession of some new documents and evidence to prove the Sharifs' money trail and I am quite confident that the new PTI legal team will be able to establish before the SC that the Qatari letter the PML-N side provided to the court was just an afterthought, not factual and meant only to confuse the people," Khan said.

The PTI chief said that Prime Minister Sharif had never even hinted at his family's association with the Qatari ruling family.

Stating that his party had done what it could do, Khan said they approached Supreme Court as the country was not being served by the state institutions sincerely.

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After ten armed men attacked a high-security jail in Nabha, Punjab, today and fled with dreaded militant and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) terrorist Harminder Singh alias Mintoo, All India Anti-Terrorist Front chairman M.S. Bitta on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should launch an anti-terrorist military squad and added that the jails should come under army surveillance.

"Looking at the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi should launch an anti terrorist military squad. Special jails should be under army surveillance. Central government and state government should be very alert," Bitta told ANI.

"Jail break is a serious issue as the election is soon to come. Can we say that the ISIS is behind this, is Punjab in trouble? Will they kill innocent people? They have funding from foreign countries. If they are not caught, then there is no doubt that Punjab is in big trouble," he added.

He further said that the saddest thing is that all political parties are together when it comes to demonetisation, but they are not together in the fight against terrorism.

Meanwhile, the Punjab government suspended the Director General (Jails) and dismissed the Nabha Jail superintendent and deputy jail superintendent and set up a special task force to look into the Nabha jailbreak incident.

"DG Jails has been suspended and Jail Superintendent and Deputy Jail Superintendent have been dismissed," Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, told reporters.

A manhunt has been launched to trace the prisoners who escaped, the Deputy CM said and added that a special task force has been formed to track them.

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The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Sunday sought a report from the Punjab Government over the jailbreak incident in which Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief and noted terrorist Harminder Singh Mintoo and four other prisoners escaped from the Nabha Jail earlier today.

10 armed men broke into the jail and helped the prisoners' top escape.

The four prisoners who escaped along Mintoo are Gurpreet Singh, Vicky Gondra, Nitin Deol and Vikramjeet Singh.

The incident happened early in the morning when the armed men wearing police uniforms fired over 100 rounds at the jail authorities.

The dreaded militant Mintoo was arrested by the Punjab Police from Delhi's IGI airport on November 2014 when he was on his way back from Thailand.

The 47-year-old is wanted in 10 terror-related cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station.

Mintoo took over the KLF in 2009 after he had defected from Wadhawa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

He is wanted for plotting killings of three Punjab Shiv Sena leaders.

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A new study has found an association between school exposure to allergens and symptoms of asthma.

A new article by Wanda Phipatanakul, M.D., M.S., of Boston's Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and co-authors examined that question in a study that included 284 students (ages 4 to 13) enrolled at 37 inner-city schools in the northeastern United States.

Classroom and home dust samples linked to the students were collected and analyzed for common indoor allergens, including rat, mouse, cockroach, cat, dog and dust mites. Associations between school exposure to allergens and asthma outcomes were adjusted for exposure to the allergens at home.

Mouse allergen was the most commonly detected allergen in schools and homes. Higher exposure to mouse allergen at school was associated with increased asthma symptoms and lower lung function, according to the results.

None of the other airborne allergens were associated with worse asthma outcomes. While cat and dog allergens were commonly detected in the schools, dust mite levels were low and cockroach and rat allergens were mostly undetectable in schools and homes.

Limitations of the study include results that may not be generalisable to other cities where other allergens may be predominant in schools.

"These findings suggest that exposure reduction strategies in the school setting may effectively and efficiently benefit all children with asthma. Future school-based environmental intervention studies

may be warranted," the authors conclude..

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The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation has announced its investment of Rs. 6.7 crore along with Aspada Investment Company in Chennai-based school financing company Shiksha Financial Services India Private Limited.

A pioneering non-banking financial company (NBFC), Shiksha Finance, provides loans in the range of Rs. 0.5 to 10 million to affordable private schools. These loans are used by the schools for education infrastructure development.

Apart from loans to schools, Shiksha Finance also provides loans to middle and lower-income families to finance school fees of their children. The loans, secured through unique social collateral, can be paid back through a manageable repayment schedule.

This investment reiterates the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation's commitment to increasing access to quality education for the poor. While the foundation has invested in market-based solutions to increase the supply of high-quality service providers for the affordable private schools, the schools still struggle with the availability of finance to invest in the improvement of infrastructure and quality.

Shiksha is a compelling solution to improve education quality in the sector and become a full-service solution for the schools and parents of the children studying in these schools.

Shiksha will use this round of funding to further strengthen its technology backbone, launch more innovative products and expand into newer markets.

This investment will enable the organization to provide loans to 2,300 schools over the next three years.

"We are glad to have Aspada and the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation invest in Shiksha. While education loans for higher education is quite common in India, Shiksha is addressing the vacuum in school financing through an innovative Go-To-Market solution. Enhancing Financial Inclusion in the education sector will eventually lead to more inclusive growth. We believe that improved education infrastructure at our schools will eventually translate into enhanced learning outcomes for our children," said Director and Chief Executive Officer Shiksha Finance, V L Ramakrishnan.

"The recent investment in Shiksha supports the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation's belief that a market-based, scalable financing sector can contribute to improving access to high-quality education for students who are at the bottom of the pyramid. We hope that Shiksha's offering will develop into a platform through which schools are able to access quality linked education products and services, and get financially rewarded for improving quality," said Education Director India Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Prachi Windlass.

"Access to essential services is a key investment theme for Aspada, and we view education as a particular area of interest because of its unparalleled ability to unlock opportunities for lower income segments. Operating in a sector which has insufficient formal financing available, Shiksha has a tremendous opportunity to catalyze infrastructure up-gradation and capacity increase necessary for schools to meet the demand for a good quality, yet affordable, private education in India," said Co-founder and Partner Aspada, Tom Hyland.

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Accepting that the Nabha Central Jail incident was result of a conspiracy as well as security lapses, Director General of Punjab Police Suresh Arora on Sunday said five criminals in police fatigue came in a car and told 'santari' (guardsman) that they want to handover a prisoner.

"Following which the 'santari' (guardsman) opened the gate and the criminals, who were carrying small arms, overpowered the santaris and as a result six prisoners, four known criminals and two terrorists, were able to escape," said the DGP, divulging details of the jailbreak.

"Their names are Harvinder Mintoo and Kashmir Singh (both terrorists), and gangsters Gurpreet Sekhon, Vicky Gonder, Amandeep Dhotia and Neeta Deol," he said.

Asked why did the santari open the gate so quickly, the DGP said, "There are two aspects of it: one, they escaped, and the second, what were the lapses and who are responsible for those lapses; is there any connivance, we will clear these things soon."

When asked when the criminals fired 100 rounds, why did not security guards respond, he said, "Not 100 rounds; we have found around 30-35 rounds. Though the security guards responded to the firing, it was ineffective, which will be probed into."

Answering a question that if police suspect a conspiracy, the DGP said, "If you say that it's not a part of conspiracy, then it will be wrong. There is a conspiracy, which we have to unearth. In such a cases, there are also roles of insiders."

He said Deputy Chief Minister-cum-Home Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who visited the Nabha jail to take on the spot stock of the jailbreak, told them to arrest the escapees and fix responsibility of the incident. "Being a Home Minister his directions are very clear - arrest the escapees, fix responsibility of the incident, and to prevent such incidents from reoccurrence by enhancing jails' security."

When asked could Pakistan be behind the incident, he said, "As a police officer I will not comment on this. It is too early for me."

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal held a high-level meeting of the civil and police administration, including intelligence officials, in the morning to review the situation.

The state government has announced a reward of Rs. 25 lakh to any person providing information leading to the arrest of these six escaped undertrial prisoners.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed by the Punjab Police to investigate the escape of six under-trials.

Additional Director General of Police, Internal Vigilance Cell, Prabodh Kumar would head the SIT comprising IGP, Patiala Zone, Paramraj Singh; IGP Ishwar Singh; IGP, Counter Intelligence, Nilabh Kishore; DIG, Patiala Range, Amar Singh Chahal; and Patiala SSP Gurmeet Chouhan.

At the same time, a massive manhunt has been launched to nab the escaped prisoners, and all districts have been alerted to lay 'nakas' (barricades) and conduct mobile patrolling to nab the escapees.

Meanwhile, the statement said, the state government took a series of administrative steps and a red alert has been sounded throughout the state, besides, tightening security apparatus at all jails.

Both the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of the Nabha jail have been dismissed with immediate effect, following the incident.

The state government has also ordered the constitution of an inquiry committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to look into the security lapses that led to the jailbreak.

ADGP (Railways) Rohit Chaudhary has been posted as new ADGP (Jails) in place of MK Tiwari, who has been placed under suspension, and S. Bhupati as the Superintendent of Nabha High Security Jail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The long-awaited sixth population and housing census in Pakistan is unlikely to take off, as the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) has not been able to come out with a concrete time frame for conducting it.

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar convened a meeting to review the PBS preparations for the census on Saturday, reports the Dawn.

The Council of Common Interests (CCI) had decided to postpone the census in March 2016 and since then a number of such meetings have taken place.

The CCI has given the non-availability of army personnel due to rise in tensions along the Line of Control with India as an excuse for postponing the census.

The last census was held 17 years ago.

A senior PBS official said that they are ready to hold the census but supported the decision of the CCI to conduct the census with the support of the army.

He added that it was now up to the CCI to decide and give a roadmap to move forward as the bureau has completed its preparations.

Around 167,000 army personnel are required to go door-to-door for the census exercise. Apart from this an additional 20,30,000 personnel are also estimated by the bureau to supervise the census operation.

An official statement issued after the meeting said PBS Chief Statistician Asif Bajwa gave an overview of the preparations explaining that that the necessary preparations on the civilian side had been completed.

Expressing satisfaction with the preparations made on the civil side for holding the census, the Finance Minister directed the statistics division to maintain close coordination with the armed forces to ensure security and credibility in the census operation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday backed the pushed for a cashless economy and estimated that the nation can achieve the goal of becoming a cashless society through tireless work over the next two to three months.

"In high level meeting on demonetisation with bank officials, we mainly discussed how to provide best service to farmers in the Rabi season. We are also focused on last mile connectivity in terms of banking by deploying banking correspondents," Fadnavis told ANI.

"We have also made a road map to boost cashless transactions, I believe if we work on it tirelessly for tow to three months, we can achieve it," he added.

In his radio broadcast "Mann ki Baat" first time after the demonetisation of Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today urged for a movement to turn India into a cashless society. He asked young people to teach mobile banking and other e-commerce technology to at least 10 families.

Prime Minister Modi termed the decision to demonetise "tough" and said he had been aware of the difficulties regarding the decision.

"I had even spoken about it in the speech that I gave on the day I announced the decision. I knew this was going to be tough, disturbing systems that have been in place for 70 years is never easy, but I am heartened by the support that I have received from the people. And that support convinces me that we will be successful in overcoming the challenges posed by this decision," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump has dismissed a recount effort by the Green Party candidate Jill Stein as a "scam".

"This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount," CNN quoted Trump, as saying in a statement released by his transition team on Saturday afternoon.

"This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing," he added.

More than USD 5 million has been raised by Stein in recent days after asking supporters to help fund recounts in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Clinton's campaign said earlier on Saturday that it would cooperate with the Green Party candidate's effort.

Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias said in a blog post that they themselves have not planned to exercise this option as they have not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology.

He said they will join Stein's effort to make sure the vote count is fair to all sides.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A statement issued by the office of the president, said that Sirisena has forwarded a special message to Trump, seeking American intervention to end the possibility of Colombo being censured for wartime atrocities.

"I sent a special message to Donald Trump asking him to support us at the (council). I am asking him to help completely clear my country (of war crimes allegations) and allow us to start afresh," President Sirisena said in his statement.

Sirisena said he was making a similar appeal to the incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

When outgoing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Sri Lanka last month, President Sirisena had asked him for more time to investigate the war crimes, which is a sensitive political issue in Sinhala-dominant Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka has said it will set up special courts to address issues of accountability, but the promised judicial mechanisms have yet to be established.

There have been allegations that Lankan troops killed up to 40,000 minority Tamils during the final battle against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, a period when Sirisena's predecessor and strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse was in power.

The UNHRC has asked Sri Lanka to ensure credible investigations into war crimes, pay reparations to victims and their families and ensure reconciliation after 37 years of ethnic war which claimed at least 100,000 lives.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Janata Dal (United) on Sunday said that it would not be a part of 'Akosh Diwas', the protest initiated against the Center's demonetisation drive.

"We have supported the government's policy of demonetisation from day one. Nitish Kumar has said that any move to curb black money and corruption will be supported," JD (U) General Secretary Pavan Varma told ANI.

However, he added that the implementation of demonetisation could have been done in a better way.

"We would like demonetisation and such steps to go beyond to curb gold, bullion, benami properties and others," he said.

"All political parties are free to pursue their own political agenda and Nitish Kumar has spoken both to Lalu Prasad Yadav and the president of the Congress in Bihar about it," he added.

The opposition parties will launch a country wide protest 'Aakrosh Diwas' on November 28 over the demonetisation move.

This come as the deadlock continues in Parliament with the government and the opposition locked in dispute on how to discuss or debate the demonetisation decision.

The ruling dispensation has also rejected the opposition's demand for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to be present in the Parliament during the discussion.
The Islamic State (IS) terror outfit carried out a chemical attack in northern Syria, leaving 22 opposition fighters wounded, officials from the Turkish army said on Sunday.

The General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces said the 22 opposition combatants had symptoms of chemical gas exposure following a missile attack by IS jihadists, Efe news agency reported.

The sources did not specify when the attack took place but indicated that IS used artillery shells filled with chlorine.

The wounded combatants from the Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army were transferred to a specialised unit of a hospital in the province of Kilis, which treats injuries caused by chemical, biological and radiological weapons.

The injured had nausea and severe headaches, which are the first symptoms of a chemical attack.

In a statement, the Turkish army also said that an opposition fighter died and 14 others were wounded in clashes against the Islamic State amid Operation Euphrates Shield, which was launched on August 24 to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

--IANS

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Exuberant Americans, reserved Englishmen, orderly Germans, fatalistic Russians, unorganised Italians, charming and chic French, impenetrable Japanese, laidback Australians, gregarious and feckless Irish... are these descriptions a valid guide to these nationalities, and are there any such universal national characteristics at all? Do they just stem from personal, subjective experience or are mere ethnic stereotypes.

There may be protests or academic condemnation, aggrieved parties may move courts or complain to the government but the human tendency to seek classify people, situations and other information in existing slots ensure that stereotyping, ethnic or otherwise, will remain a feature of our mental landscapes -- and so will such jokes.

The problem arises when such thinking starts to guide action or decision, excluding any other consideration, thus mutating into xenophobia. But equally to blame is a lack of knowledge of other cultures and peoples or misconceptions, and one easy, entertainingly funny, yet useful way, to remedy this is to peruse this series of books, ironically named "The Xenophobe's Guides".

Terming its mission to highlight the unique character and behaviour of various nationalities -- in a manner that is "almost guaranteed to cure xenophobia" through judicious dose of humour and the irrepressible laughter it engenders, the series was started in 1993 by Anne Taute "as a humorous take on the UK being an island nation and its prevailing attitude being 'us' (the British) and 'foreigners' (everyone else)".

The humour is typically British -- wittily irreverent, deprecating (self-deprecating when needed) and uproariously hyperbolic at some points, though the writers are not necessarily only British, but, in many cases, hail from the country they seek to profile or have lived there extensively.

Among them is Zhu Song, author of "The Xenophobe's Guide to the Chinese" (2010), who confesses she dislikes three phrases: "Where are you from?", "Why, you speak perfect English!", and "You're so lucky to be able to speak Chinese!" and responds: "How much time do you have?," "Why yes, I speak it better than you," and "That's because I am Chinese. Fancy that." She goes on to note the "Chinese expect rusty Mandarin, the English an Asian accent, and the Americans an American one" but "she routinely confounds them all".

That sets the tone for the series, which presently comprises 32 installments, with all, except three, dealing with a specific nationality (the exceptions are the Scots, the Welsh and the Californians, who differ from the rest of their countrymen in taking "their beliefs so seriously that many lose touch with what doesn't need to be believed").

Almost two-thirds deal with Europe, with its entire western and central parts, Scandinavian/Nordic part and some of southern part (Italians and Greeks) covered. Non-European nationalities comprise the Americans, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders, while Asia is presently represented by the Chinese, Japanese and the Israelis. One on the Brazilians is expected next year.

The format is more less the same with most of the small-sized books, all less than a 100 pages in length, divided into sections on nationalism and identity (including how they perceive themselves and others, usually neighbours, perceive them), character, attitude and values, manners and etiquette, obsessions, behaviour, sense of humour, leisure and pleasure activities, customs and traditions, the family, health and hygiene, culture, eating and drinking, government and bureaucracy, systems, law, crime and punishment, business, language and ideas, and conversations and gestures.

In the process, there are witty observations aplenty. We learn that "a wise traveller realises that a few happy moments with an American do not translate into a permanent commitment of any kind. Indeed, permanent commitments are what Americans fear the most. This is a nation whose fundamental social relationship is the casual acquaintance" or that for "many English people, pet-owning is the closest they ever get to an emotional relationship with another being".

Furthermore, for Germans, "a car or a washing machine which breaks down six months after purchase is not a nuisance, it's a breach of the social contract", the French "insist that everything is done comme il faut (properly), an expression that applies to addressing an envelope or addressing a teacher, filling in a form or stuffing a duck", and the Swiss are the only nation to "make the Germans appear inefficient, the French undiplomatic and the Texans poor".

Nothing is taboo. We learn that among the Swedes, who "indulge in sport for leisure and sex for pleasure, some people treat sex as a sport in order to combine leisure with pleasure, and thus save time and energy".

But beneath the light-hearted is a serious point -- that all cultures have their plus and minus points, have, in their own way, contributed to civilisation, and no one should take themselves too seriously. We need more of these series -- anyone keen to profile the Indians?

(Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)

--IANS

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A Delhi Police officer has been arrested for snatching Rs 18 lakh in demonetised currency notes from a cloth merchant in Tilak Nagar area of west Delhi, police said on Sunday.

The accused has been identified as Sub-Inspector Sudhir Rathi, who was posted in Kalyanpuri Police Station.

According to police, a complaint was received from cloth merchant Amantullah Wasim on November 22. Wasim, who hails from Bihar, came to Delhi on November 7 for a business deal.

However, he could not strike the deal as the government ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes was announced the very next day.

Suffering acute lack of liquidity, Wasim approached one of his friends, Shailender Singh, who assured him that his sisters -- Payal and Monu, working in a city-based bank as Managers -- would help him. He also said they would exchange his Rs 18-lakh worth old currency notes, a police officer said.

Wasim handed over Rs 18 lakh to Shailender Singh, Monu and Payal at Tilak Nagar Metro Station during a meeting with them on November 17.

Later, Shailender Singh told Wasim that he had been able to exchange only Rs 3 lakh and that he needed more time to exchange the entire cash.

When he did not exchange the cash, Wasim complained against Shailender Singh, Payal and Monu to police.

However, during investigation, Payal and Shailender Singh told police that Sudhir Rathi had snatched the cash bag from them on November 21 when they were going to exchange the money in a car, he said.

They said in their statement that SI Rathi also threatened to arrest them for keeping such a huge amount of old currency in a car, the officer said.

Police arrested Rathi, who was presented in Tis Hazari Court on Sunday, where Duty Magistrate Deepika Singh remanded him to a day's police custody. Opposing the custody remand, Rathi's counsel Pradeep Rana pleaded that his client had been implicated in the case.

--IANS

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With support from the state government, Guwahati, Assam's main city and the gateway to India's northeast, has the potential to become a major airline hub, says budget carrier SpiceJet's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh.

Singh feels that because of the northeast's strategic location, it can also become a major airline cargo hub and generate hundreds of jobs.

"The northeast can be made a cargo hub which will create hundreds of jobs if training institutes can be started with government support," Singh said at a seminar on "Assam's Trilemma: Create jobs, Enhance skills, Promote entrepreneurship" here late on Saturday evening.

The seminar was organised by the Delhi Alumni Association, Assam, a group of people across multiple professions hailing from the state who have spent a part of their life as students in the national capital.

Singh stressed that jobs get created when GDP grows and connectivity was a major source of such growth.

In this connection, tourism has "absolutely beautiful potential" in the region, he said.

Stating that SpiceJet had a lot of employees from the northeast, he said people from the region were courteous and spoke well.

Though Guwahati is one of the busiest airports in the country, Singh is of the view that it is time to look at other airports in Assam like Jorhat and Lakhimpur.

Speaking to IANS, he said his company was in talks with the Assam government to make Guwahati a hub for SpiceJet.

He stressed two things - a hangar for his airline at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi (LGB) International Airport in Guwahati and lower sales tax on aviation fuel.

Singh said if SpiceJet got a hangar, it can keep planes there overnight and "we can have first flights out from Guwahati in the morning to major cities across India".

He said the West Bengal government had been very pro-active and had cut sales tax on aviation fuel. This helped SpiceJet in making Kolkata a hub.

"We have flights from Kolkata to Guwahati and Silchar and we are now looking at flights to Jorhat and Lakhimpur."

Saying Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had a positive attitude towards business, Singh said if his government reduced sales tax on aviation fuel, SpiceJet could make Guwahati one of its hubs.

With the Centre's stress on Act East, connectivity to Southeast Asia also cropped up.

Though India was working on a trilateral highway connecting with Myanmar and Thailand, Singh felt such infrastructure projects take time to be completed.

But if Guwahati becomes an airline hub, flights to Southeast Asia "can be made from tomorrow".

SpiceJet on Friday reported a rise of 103 per cent in net profit for the second quarter of 2016-17.

The company's Q2 net profit stood at Rs 58.9 crore, up from Rs 29 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2015-16.

(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)

--IANS

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Indian Navy chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba on Sunday began a five-day visit to Sri Lanka, aimed at consolidating and enhancing bilateral maritime relations, an official statement said.

"The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the bilateral maritime relations between India and Sri Lanka," it said.

During his visit which will last till December 1, Admiral Lanba will call on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and various senior dignitaries including the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs.A

Lanba will also attend the 'Galle Dialogue', an annual conference hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of aritime Security and cooperation between international navies. Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event.

The Indian navy chief would be delivering the keynote address on 'India's perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships', during the event.

Naval cooperation between India and Sri Lanka includes operational interactions through bilateral exercises, coordinated patrolling along the common maritime border, training, port calls, capacity building and augmentation initiatives.

Lanba will also lay a wreath at the Indian Peace Keeping Force memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka.

--IANS

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Four IS militants were killed on Sunday when Israeli soldiers opened fire in response to rockets launched from a vehicle approaching Israeli-held territory from Syria, a military statement said.

Clashes were also reported in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights after an alleged Islamic State affiliate group launched rockets into the region from Syria, Efe news agency reported.

The attack from Syria provoked military engagement from the Israeli Armed Forces present in the contested region which has been administered by the State of Israel since 1967.

"Earlier, gunmen fired and launched mortar shells from Syria at IDF forces in Golan. IDF returned fire and successfully targeted the cell," an Israeli Defense Force spokesperson tweeted.

A military spokeswoman told EFE that the attacks were perpetrated by the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade -- an alleged IS-linked group fighting near the Israeli and Jordanian border.

Tensions have escalated in the Golan Heights region since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. Across the border, the territory is controlled by IS affiliates and various opposition rebel groups.

--IANS

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"Pyaar Ka Punchnama" fame actor Kartik Aaryan is set to start shooting for his next film with director Luv Ranjan soon.

The actor, who recently returned after a month of shooting in London for Ashwni Dhir's next "Atithii Iin London" with Paresh Rawal, told IANS: "It was so much fun shooting with Paresh-ji. I was there for around a month. Now, I am preparing for Luv sir's next in collaboration with T-Series, which is starting very soon."

Set in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the untitled film, will also star Nushrat Bharucha and Sunny Singh who acted in "Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2".

Kartik has acted in all the three films of Ranjan -- "Pyaar Ka Punchnama (PKP)", "Akaash Vani" and "Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 (PKP2)".

Talking about his equation with the director, the actor said: "I think we trust each other more. We started out together as debutants in the same film and we have grown together professionally. Therefore, we share a different kind of bond."

"Audience is appreciating our collaborative projects. Now, when he makes a film, I don't even ask for a script as I trust his conviction."

The actor, who has earned fame from sequels, believes that though such films face comparisons, a film works only if the content is good.

"One of the good things about sequels is that people connect with the characters easily. However, yes, there are comparisons as well. For instance, the monologue scenes of PKP and PKP2 were compared and some people liked both of them, some just liked one. Nevertheless, audiences liked the film because of its content. So, at the end of the day, the story matters the most."

But before carving a niche for himself in the industry, Kartik, who hails from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, used to be an engineering student.

How has the journey changed him?

He said: "I am still a momma's boy and share a strong emotional bond with my family. I did not change much that way. Nevertheless, yes, Mumbai groomed me a lot. I am a better observer now and I am familiar with the fast lifestyle of the city. I know that I have to maintain certain consistency because our industry is very competitive."

"As an actor, I want to explore different genre of movies and wish to work with directors like Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani, Anurag Kashyap and Imtiaz Ali. Most importantly, I want to be part of all the Luv Ranjan films," he added.

--IANS

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Protests against demonetisation are set to be stronger in West Bengal as the Left parties on Sunday intensified their stir in support of Monday's 12-hour general strike while the state's ruling Trinamool Congress planned to come out with a rally to protest the scrapping of high value notes but opposed the general strike.

The Trinamool on Sunday said it would protest any attempt to disrupt normal life.

Left spearhead Communist Party of India-Marxist State Secretary Surjya Kanta Mishra said: "We will make the strike a success for the common people. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee have been saying strike will cause loss of man-days. They must know more man-days were lost as people have to stand in the queue before banks and ATMs resulting from demonetisation."

He said the central government failed completely to restore the money supply after the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.

"The government siphoned Rs 14 lakh crore of high value currency notes and it should have replaced such amount with lower denomination notes. But they did not do so. As a result, the growth of GDP has been hit badly and the economic growth will suffer in future too," he said.

Mishra alleged that workers across the sectors particularly in the manufacturing sector have lost their jobs. "At least 50-60 lakh workers have lost their jobs due to demonetisation," he said.

The Left parties on Saturday had organised street corner meetings and small and medium rallies to explain their stand to the people and reasons for calling the strike.

The Trinamool, on the other hand, accused the Left of helping the BJP by calling the strike and termed the strike as the Left's "negative economy".

Trinamool Parliamentary Party Leader in Rajya Sabha and national spokesperson Derek O'Brien said that Banerjee will be leading a procession in the city on Monday protesting against the demonetisation. "The Left parties have a very negative mind set. Mamata Banerjee has made clear, on behalf of the Trinamool Congress that the people are going through enough pain. We should stand by them. We should help them. These are difficult times," he added.

He also said that the city and Bengal will run peacefully and life will be normal.

"No one will accept negative outdated of the Left parties. The negative of the Left in coalition with BJP will not do," said O'Brien.

Eighteen Left and other parties on Friday called the statewide 12-hour general strike on November 28 to protest the harassment faced by people following the Union government's demonetisation move.

The parties who have convened the strike include the CPI-M, Communist Party of India, All India Forward Bloc, Revolutionary Socialist Party, Janata Dal-United, Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Nationalist Congress Party.

Bank, ATM services, post offices, hospital and medical clinics, ambulance, milk, water and power supplies, newspapers and marriages would be out of the purview of the strike.

Meanwhile, the state government said all its offices, agencies and institutions would remain open on November 28 and state run transport agencies also said they would run their buses with full strength.

--IANS

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US space agency NASA will work with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Space Agency to put communications capability on the UAE's Mars spacecraft Hope that will reach the Red Planet in 2021, an official said on Sunday.

Dr Gale Allen, NASA's Deputy Chief Scientist, in an interview to Gulf News said that the development is part of an "umbrella agreement" for collaboration between the two agencies.

"We want to work very closely with the UAE on any other missions going forward," Allen, who was in the UAE for the UN-UAE High Level Forum on "Space as a Driver for Socio-Economic Sustainable Development", was quoted as saying.

"For the Mars probe, one of things that is very interesting to us is an opportunity to put communications capability on the probe. The importance for us is that we really want to send humans to Mars in the 2030s," she said.

"We are looking at, possibly at some point, putting better communications up there. If we could partner and leverage the UAE Mars probe, it is certainly going to be beneficial for us," she noted.

On the agreement, she pointed out that it was an "umbrella agreement", which meant that NASA wanted to collaborate in future space exploration missions.

"The Mars probe is the first step in...collaborations, but we certainly look at this as a long-term partnership," she noted.

The Hope spacecraft will travel more than 60 million km in its nine-month journey, coinciding with the UAE's 50th anniversary in 2021.

The mission will be supervised by the UAE Space Agency and developed by Mohammad Bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), with support from international partners.

--IANS

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Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi has urged the government to immediately sever trade ties with India over the killing of ten of its civilians and three soldiers in firing along the Line of Control (LoC).

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is fond of Indian bananas and Defence Minister Khawaja Asif, who should have been at the border to defend the country, has been defending the Prime Minister in the Panamagate case, Qureshi said on Saturday.

Qureshi told the media in Umerkot that despite cross-border firing along the LoC the Pakistani government had not broken trade ties with the neighbouring country, Dawn online reported.

Tension between India and Pakistan is again at a peak following Indian Army's "surgical strike" across the border, unrest in Kashmir and September 18 terror attack on the Uri army base.

Since then there have been repeated outbreaks of cross-border firing in Kashmir, with both sides reporting deaths and injuries, including of civilians.

"Indian forces are killing innocent civilians and our army personnel along the LoC but our Prime Minister is fondly eating bananas imported from the neighbouring nation. It is high time we sever trade ties with India and unite on one platform," Qureshi said.

The PTI leader lashed out at the ruling government saying it lacked a full-time Foreign Minister to highlight the Kashmir issue at world forums.

--IANS

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Punjab and Haryana were put on high alert after armed men attacked the maximum security Nabha jail in Punjab on Sunday and escaped with two terrorists, including Khalistan Liberation Force's Harminder Singh Mintoo and four gangsters, police said.

In a related development, a woman was killed as police fired at a vehicle on the Patiala-Cheeka road which did not stop at a barricade set up to catch the escaped prisoners. Police sources said it was a case of mistaken identity.

The police and security agencies launched a manhunt to nab the prisoners. A security lockdown was ordered along Punjab's border with neighbouring Haryana and Rajasthan and along the border with Pakistan.

The Punjab government announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh to anyone giving information leading to the arrest of the six prisoners.

The attackers, dressed in police uniform, breached the tight security of the prison around 9 a.m. and fired at least 100 rounds during a well-planned and executed attack that lasted barely 10 minutes, jail officials said.

Despite several rounds of firing, no one was injured. Official sources said the security in the jail did not retaliate, raising suspicion.

Jail officials told police that the attackers entered the prison premises by telling the outer security they had brought a prisoner for verification. Their vehicles were allowed entry.

Mintoo, arrested in 2014 and with 10 cases against him, and another terrorist, Kashmir Singh Galwadi, were among those who escaped from the jail.

Mintoo had been to Pakistan a few times and had reportedly got training from the Inter-Services Intelligence. Gangsters Vicky Gonder, Gurpreet Sekhon, Neeta Deol and Vikramjit also fled.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also the Home Minister, and Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora reached the Nabha jail.

The Punjab government suspended the Additional DGP-Jails. The Nabha Jail Superintendent and his deputy were dismissed from service, Badal said.

The attackers, about 10-12 in number, entered the jail premises in two cars, including an SUV, breaching the three-tier security ring without much effort.

A self-loading rifle of the jail security was snatched by the attackers.

Security agencies cordoned off the area and launched a massive search to nab the escaped prisoners.

The attack took place when the prisoners were brought out of their barracks for breakfast and other morning chores, the jail sources said.

Witnesses heard several rounds of firing around 9 a.m.

"I was going on my motorcycle when I saw 2-3 cars with armed men inside. They were firing in the air and were in police uniform," a villager told reporters near the jail.

Sukhbir Badal spoke to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and updated him on the steps taken to apprehend the prisoners and attackers.

The Punjab government ordered a probe by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to look into the lapses that led to the jailbreak.

ADGP (Railways) Rohit Chaudhary was posted as new ADGP (Jails) in place of M.K. Tiwari, who has been suspended. Police formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the incident.

Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh said "the incident had exposed a complete breakdown of law and order in the state, while triggering fears of revival of terrorism ahead of the assembly elections.

"This has happened with the connivance of the Punjab government. They have got these people out to use them in elections. The shocking manner in which the gangsters walked into the high-security jail and freed a dreaded Khalistani terrorist along with other convicts clearly shows complicity at the highest levels," Amarinder Singh said.

Added AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal: "This shows complete breakdown of law and order in Punjab. Punjab Home Minister should immediately resign taking responsibility of the jail break and killing of innocent girl by Punjab Police."

The incident is seen as a major security breach and intelligence failure.

Several top terrorists, gangsters and criminals are lodged in the Nabha Jail, located about 100 km from Chandigarh.

--IANS

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Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram on Sunday said there was no problem in speeding up the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the chit fund scam before the panchayat elections in Odisha.

"What is the problem if CBI speeds up its probe into the chit fund scam before panchayat polls in the state," asked Oram.

The Union Minister was replying to reporters whether CBI has expedited the probe soon after the visit to Bhubaneswar of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah, who launched the panchayat polls campaign for the party on Friday.

Oram said the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is in a fix as the CBI would intensify its probe into the chit fund scam.

"Chit fund investigation is going on. The CBI will expedite the probe process. The probe will in no way be slowed down," said the minister.

Notably, CBI has summoned BJD MP Rabindra Kumar Jena and Laxmi Bilasini Biswal, wife of BJD MLA Prabhat Biswal, for their alleged links with chit fund firm Seashore Group of companies.

The ruling BJD said the CBI probe should be impartial and not politically motivated.

"If the CBI is doing it intentionally then it's not wise in part of the democracy. We have nothing to say if the summon is issued as part of a regular process. The (central) government should always act impartially. If it is doing it intentionally to harass the state governments then it's not wise," said senior BJD leader and Higher Education Minister Pradeep Panigrahi.

Congress leader Sarat Rout said the state and its depositors will suffer if CBI is used for a political motive.

He said Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi time and again to slow down the CBI probe into the chit fund scam.

--IANS

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Toonz Media Group's short film "Magical Piano" has bagged a Unesco film award.

The award-winning short film "Magical Piano" was created in association with the Toonz-Disney collaborative venture Kahaani Masters, a story-writing contest organised to find out the finest story masters in the country.

"Magical Piano" follows the story of a child who receives a magical piano for his birthday. Using the magic of music, the child goes on to clean the whole planet and then the whole universe making this a cleaner and happy place to live in.

The story was written by Mayul Verma, an upper primary student from Agra.

The award was handed over at the COP 22 Green Zone in the Unesco Pavilion recently held at Morocco, said a Toonz press release issued here on Sunday.

Unesco Director General Irina Bokova congratulated the winners and praised them on their wonderful creativity.

"It is indeed a delight to know that our short film won an award in this amazing competition which upholds such sublime values. Our youth videos have won many awards in the past at the Chicago Film Festival and Cartoons on the Bay," said P. Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Media Group.

The Salon Youth Video Competition was established by Salon Films, with the support of Unesco, to promote and encourage the next generation to take part in the biggest challenge of the 21st century - sustainable development.

--IANS

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Kerala's ruling LDF, which has called for a statewide shutdown on Monday against demonetisation of high-denomination notes that has left the cooperative banks in turmoil, decided to exempt the tourism industry from the stir's purview.

State Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Sunday gave directions to all concerned to exempt tourists and tourist vehicles from the shutdown.

Police have been directed to ensure that the tourism sector is not affected. The decision comes at a time when the demonetisation has affected the tourism industry, with increased cancellations seen even as the the three-month peak season has just begun.

The shutdown will be from dawn to dusk, while the Congress-led opposition has attacked the move, saying it is going to cause more inconvenience to the people of the state who have been badly affected by the demonetisation.

The entire top leadership of the Congress party will stage a sit in front of the Raj Bhavan, the official residence of the Governor, to see that the ban on the cooperative sector on account of the monetisation is lifted.

On November 8, the central government declared that Rs 500 and 1,000 notes would no more be legal tender. Two days later, permission was withdrawn for the 1,600 odd primary cooperative societies from accepting or exchanging the spiked currencies, creating widespread resentment in Kerala.

The cooperative banking sector in Kerala is a three-tier system with about 1,600 primary cooperative banks attached to 14 district banks, which are further linked to the apex Kerala State Cooperative Bank (KSCB).

The total deposit in the cooperative banks is around Rs 1.27 lakh crore.

--IANS

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Ever since coming to power in May 2014, the Narendra Modi government seems to have carried forward an agenda of interfering in academic matters and filling up academic posts with its loyalists. Right from the National Book Trust to the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), and from the institutions of higher education to various cultural institutions, loyalists of the government have been appointed.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI)s tough riders on withdrawal of cash for marriages have put a dampener on nuptial celebrations. But, opting for online wedding planners can help you tide over the crunch and ensure a smooth marriage.
Barring Kerala and parts of West Bengal, the nationwide protests against note ban being organised by the Opposition on November 28 would not disrupt normal life, with the Congress clarifying there was no call for a Bharat bandh but only marches and rallies across the country.
Opposition Conference leaders on Sunday came in the defense of party president over his controversial remarks saying his statement was based on "facts" as history stands testimony that the LoC has not been altered during the past nearly seven decades.

Questioning BJP's political understanding, senior Conference leaders in a joint statement said, "We want Line of Control to be the line of peace, line of mutual understanding, trust and regional cooperation rather than line of conflict and animosity."

The NC leaders expressed hope India and Pakistan would come to terms with this reality and live like good neighbours.

"We cannot progress and prosper, carrying the baggage of animosity and hostility any longer, as generations have perished in pursuit of peace and tranquility," the leaders said.

They also recalled that such a proposal was seriously considered by former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpyee during while discussing the issue with his Pakistani counterpart.

"And, both the leaders had agreed to the preposition in-principle," they added.

Lashing out at the BJP for its "uncalled for" reaction to the assertion of Farooq Abdullah, Conference said that they should "open up their minds and not behave like ostrich".

"Facing realities is better part of valour," they said, adding that jingoistic posturing will only push the subcontinent to destruction and devastation.

They referred to the colossal loss to human lives during the four wars between the two countries and the ongoing "proxy war" in the Valley and said allowing this situation to continue will be a grave injustice to future generations, who have the right to progress and prosper in a healthy and peaceful environment.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister on Sunday said neither India could take back PoK nor Pakistan has the power to take this part of Kashmir by going to war, so the solution to the problem lies in dialogue between the two countries.
126 pilgrims from Pakistan arrived here to pay obeisance at Rouza Sharif Urs, which began today.

The pilgrims were accorded warm welcome by local authorities upon their arrival at Sirhind railway station.

Some pilgrims, however, complained they were facing problems due to deomoenisiation and finding it difficult to use Rs 2,000 currency notes.

The 3-day annual Rouza Sharif Urs at the tomb of Sufi saint Sheikh Ahmad Farooqui in Sirhind, considered one of the holiest places in Islam will conclude on November 29.

Large number of Muslims from various parts of the country are attending the urs.

The district administration has made elaborate arrangements for holding of the Urs in front of Baba Moti Ram Memorial Trust building near Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib.

Fatehgarh Sahib Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha informed that the district administration has made adequate arrangements of bus services, parking space, drinking water and health facilities and uninterrupted power supply in the area which aer likely to be visited by the devotees.

Health authorities have been asked to make proper arrangement of medicines so that devotees do not face any problem, Sangha said.

He said enough security arrangements have also been made.

Rouza Sharif's Khalifa Mohd Sadiq Raja said special arrangements have been made for boarding and lodging of pilgrims, which includes facility of a community kitchen.

Observed every year in 'Safer' month of Muslim calendar, the Urs provides an opportunity not only to Muslims but also Hindus and Sikhs to pay obeisance to the saint.

Rouza Sharif is situated on the Fatehgarh Sahib-Bassi Pathana road and the shire, built in 1929, is in the vicinity of the Gurdwara Sri Fatehgarh Sahib.

Sheikh Ahmad was the most eminent of Khwaja Baqi Billah's disciples. Around 1599, he had left Sirhind on a pilgrimage and reached Delhi where he was welcomed by Khwaja Billah.

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: Three men were killed and another seriously injured when the car in which they were travelling collide with an omni bus near Annur, about 35 km from here early this morning.

The deceased all aged about 21 years, were from this city city, police said, adding that their friend who was driving the car, was being treated at the government hospital here.

The four were on their way to Udhagamandalam past midnight yesterday along with some friends in two other cars when the mishap occurred.

The bus was proceeding to Munnar in Kerala after touring Nilgiris district, police said.

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As many as 360 people have been arrested in three weeks by the Delhi government's Excise Department during the ongoing drive against consumption of liquor in public places.

The drive was launched on November 7 and action has been taken against the violators under Section 40 of the Delhi Excise Act and they are handed over to Delhi Police for further action as per law.

"Deputy Chief Minister and Excise Minister Manish Sisodia had earlier this month announced a three-fold action plan for crackdown on illegal consumption of liquor in the open," an official said.

Prior to the launch of the drive, a week-long awareness campaign was held in this regard.

"Anyone caught drinking publicly will now have to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 and anyone creating nuisance in public will be fined Rs 10,000 and face arrest," the official said.

Sisodia has earlier said that the intention of the government is not to put people behind bars but to reform them and curb the menace which is taking a toll on families and to ensure the safety of women.

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Around 65 per cent polling was reported in elections to 147 municipal councils and 17 nagar panchayats in Maharashtra today.

The voting which began at 7.30 AM and ended at 5.30 PM, witnessed sporadic incidents of group clashes, an official said.

Voters of Raghuchiwadi village in Osmanabad district boycotted the election to protest non-availability of basic amenities to the village, the official said.

During polling for the Karad municipal council in Satara district, chairman of the Maharashtra State Cooperation Council, Shekhar Charegaonkar allegedly warned a woman police constable of suspension after she objected to him taking his vehicle near the polling booth.

In Wardha district, Rs 3.5 lakh cash was seized from the vehicle of an NCP candidate.

In Chandrapur district, an Independent candidate climbed atop a high power cable tower and tried to woo voters.

In Parbhani district, three people were injured during quarrel between two groups, while polling for the Gangakged municipal council was on, police said.

In Osmanabad district, police registered an offence under section 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC against 27 persons, after two policemen were injured in stone pelting near a police station during polling for the Murum municipal council.

In Sangli district, a call for bandh was given for tomorrow after clashes between BJP and Congress activists during polling for the Tasgaon civic body.

In 41 cases during the campaign for the first phase of elections, Rs 26.04 crore cash was seized, police said.

As many as 15,827 candidates were in the fray for the 3,706 seats spread over the municipal councils and nagar panchayats, where the first phase of polling was held today.

For the post of municipal council president in 147 places, there were 1,013 candidates in fray, State Election Commissioner, J S Saharia said.

He said 147 municipal councils and 18 nagar panchayats



were to vote in the first phase.

However, for Shirala Nagar Panchayat in Sangli district, no nomination was received. As a result, voting is being held in 3,706 seats for the 164 municipal councils and nagar panchayats.

A total of 24,191 nominations were received. Out of this, 20,716 papers were found valid. As many as 4,889 candidates withdrew.

For the municipal council presidents posts, 2,374 nominations were received. As many as 1,533 papers were found valid, while 520 withdrew.

Counting of votes will be taken up at 10 AM tomorrow, the official said.
At least seven persons were killed and 16 other injured, when a jeep they were travelling in plunged into a 300-metre gorge in Nepal's Nawalparasi district.

The accident took place yesterday when the jeep was heading towards Charchare of Dandajheri from Balungtar in the district, slipped off a mountain highway, about 170 km from the capital city of Kathmandu, police said.

"The condition of three injured, including the driver, was critical," District Police officer was quoted as saying by the Himalayn Times.

Police suspects that the casualties occurred when the jeep hit a crowd of people. The jeep fell some 300 metres from the road, that killed seven and injured 16, after hitting the people.

Rescue has been difficult due to the difficult terrain.

Road accidents are very common in Nepal and occur mainly due to poorly maintained roads and vehicles.

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Claiming that 95 per cent of the black money was intact in non-currency forms, CPI(M) leader Brinda Karat today alleged that instead of targeting it, the Centre wants to "conceal the identities" of those hoarding such illegal wealth.

She said withdrawal of 14 lakh crore currency notes from circulation and illegalising it does not make any "logical sense because 90 to 95 per cent of the black economy is intact in land, real estate, foreign banks, (including) Swiss banks, Panama papers and gold."



"So these are the main avenues of black money and instead of attacking it, (Narendra) Modi's government wants to conceal the identities of the culprits," the CPI(M) polit bureau member told reporters here on the sidelines of a function.

Later, she participated in another event held by the All India Democratic Women's Association against violence targeting women and girl children and administered a pledge against such violence.

On November 25, while addressing a protest here, Karat had termed the Centre's demonetisation move as a "totally, utterly misconceived project."



Accusing Prime Minister Modi of having replaced "logic with emotion" on taking policy decisions, she had called for roll back of demonetisation initiative.

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To enhance bilateral maritime relations, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba, on Sunday embarked on a five-day visit to Sri Lanka.

During his visit, Lanba will hold bilateral discussions with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs.

Lanba will also hold 'Galle Dialogue' at Colombo, hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of Maritime Security and Cooperation between international navies.

Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event.

Lanba would also be delivering Key-Note address on 'India's perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships', during the event.

He will also lay a wreath at the IPKF memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka to honour Indian Martyrs, during his visit.
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha will address a Station Commanders Conference here tomorrow.

The two-day conference, to be held at the Headquarters Training Command, will be attended by all Commanders of Flying, Technical and Non-Technical Training Establishments of Training Command, according to a statement issued by the Defence Wing of Press Information Bureau here.

The Air Chief will also interact with all Air Warriors and civilian staffduring his visit, the statement said.

The Chief of Air Staff will be accompanied by his wife, Lily Raha, President, Air Force Wives Welfare Association.

She will be chairing the meeting of Board of Management of Air Force Wives Welfare Association (Regional), besides interacting with the wives of Air Warriors during various events.

She will further review all welfare measures initiated by the Training Command, the statement added.

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Embarking on "great expansion plans", Air India will start direct flights to Madrid from December 1 apart from planning to have six more new connections next year.

The national carrier, which turned operationally profitable in the last financial year, is working on ways to revive its fortunes.

"Madrid connection starts on 1st Dec (December) to be followed by another at least six new connections in 2017. Great expansion plans for Air India," Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani said in a tweet.

It could not be immediately ascertained whether six new connections refer to flying to new destinations or increasing the frequencies between the existing ones.

"Connecting Kanpur and Bhatinda with delhi 2nd week of next month. Connecting India continues with vigour," Lohani said in another tweet.

Earlier this year, Air India had launched Ahmedabad-London-Newark flight, apart from Delhi-Vienna services.

In August, Air India officials had said there are plans to start flights to Washington or Toronto by April-May next year. The other routes on the anvil are Copenhagen and some destinations in Africa.

The carrier is also looking to ramp up the fleet with more fuel-efficient A320 neo (new engine option) planes.

The Air India group has a fleet of around 135 planes, including nearly 70 from Airbus.

For the first time in nearly a decade, Air India reported an operating profit of Rs 105 crore in the last fiscal.

Various steps such as rationalisation of certain loss making routes, closure of overseas offline offices at certain locations, phasing out of old fleet and consequential reduction in maintenance costs have been initiated to reduce the airline's losses.

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Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today alleged that state Congress chief Amarinder Singh was "playing into the hands of anti-national forces" by levelling "wild and malicious" accusations against the ruling SAD-BJP combine in the state, instead of rallying with the government to corner and confront such forces.

"I understand your (Amarinder's) frustration. Your career graph is on the downhill for 10 years. Even now, you have been cornered in your party by the senior leadership which has even forced you to change your political decisions," he claimed.

"All this, however, does not mean that you lose stability of mind and make wild statements such as the government wants to use terrorists and gangsters in the forthcoming (Assembly) elections," Sukhbir said.

"You have been out of the state mostly, but Punjabis know that it is the SAD-BJP government which dealt a death blow to 'gangsterism' in the state and put all of them behind the bars. Our stand on terrorism is clear. We will not allow Pakistan to create any disturbance in Punjab by using terrorist organisations and their sympathisers," he added.

The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) chief said the people of the state were aware that he had already briefed National Security Advisor Ajit Doval on the Nabha jailbreak incident even as Punjab Police had announced a Rs 25 lakh reward for information on the culprits.

They were also aware that a special team was constituted both at the police and civil level to get to the bottom of the "conspiracy", he added.

"The seniormost jail official has been suspended, while the seniormost jail officials at Nabha have been dismissed from service," the deputy chief minister said.

In the light of these facts, it did not behove Amarinder to "politicise" such a sensitive issue with "cheap theatrics", Sukhbir said.

"Any senior politician or statesman would have stood with Punjab and Punjabis at this crucial juncture. But, it seems that you have been so blinded by the lust of power that you are unable to see the welfare of your own people and do not want to stand up and be counted with those who are against terror and terrorism," he added.

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Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today took stock of preparations for the Heart of Asia conference to be held here from December 2 to 3.

It is a matter of great pride that the Centre has selected Amritsar as the venue for the conference, he said after a meeting with the senior state government and External Affairs Ministry officials here.

Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal was also present in the meeting.

Directing officials to ensure due hospitality to visiting foreign dignitaries, Sukhbir said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President of Afghanistan will attend the conference apart from foreign ministers of 14 countries.

He took feedback from officials regarding preparations besides arrangements to take the guests to Sri Darbar Sahib, Jallianwala Bagh and other historical places in the city.

This is the first time India will host the conference. It concentrates on countering terrorism in countries like Afghanistan and explore co-operation in different sectors.

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Andhra Pradesh Minister Ch Ayyanapatrudu and Anakapalle MLA P Satyanarayana today escaped unhurt when the bullock-cart they were riding on accidentally snapped when one of the bullocks tried to run amok.

"The freak incident took place in Anakapalle during TDP's Jana Chaitanya yatra," a minister's aide said.

Ayyanapatrudu was safe and there were no injuries.

The Minister's security personnel immediately came to his rescue while the locals tamed the bullock, which probably got scared in the large crowd.

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A 72-year-old prisoner, who was convicted to five years imprisonment over cow slaughter, has died in the district jail here, officials said.

The prisoner Nina, an asthma patient, was rushed to the hospital yesterday when his condition deteriorated. He was declared brought dead, Jail Superintendent Rakesh Singh said.

The body has been sent for postmortem, he said.

This is the second such death at the district jail this month.

On November 10, an undertrial prisoner Anis had died due to fever, though his family alleged that he was tortured by police and was falsely implicated in a case of theft.

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October 15, 2022, Saturday

US President Joe Biden has said Pakistan is one of the most dangerous nations in the world as it has nuclear weapons without ...
Jagatjit Industries, the maker of Aristocrat Premium whiskey, is working on a slew of measures, including rebranding of leading products and expansion of distribution network, to turn its business around in the next financial year.

The company, which has a debt of around Rs 380 crore on its books, has evaluated the business over the last two years to look at problems and is now putting in place measures to grow at a healthy pace, a top official of the company said.

The Capital-based firm has initiated the measures after having raised Rs 200 crore in June from global investment firm KKR to support its ongoing restructuring efforts.

"After taking over the company's restructuring process some 20-22 months ago, we have evaluated problems facing the company and come out with certain areas which are critical for the turnaround of the company," Jagatjit Industries Promoter and Chief Restructuring Officer Roshini Sanah Jaiswal told PTI.

The company has hired a UK-based firm for packaging the company's brands like Aristocrat Premium and AC Black whiskies, she added.

"The brands were declining and one thing we figured out was the packaging was dated and a fatigue had set in in terms of packaging. So we have brought in this UK-based company. We have already launched repackaged AC Black while we plan to re-launch Aristocrat Premium next month," Jaiswal said.

Besides, the company plans to focus on one state at one go and also expand its distribution network which had gone in limbo due to funding issues.

"With all these efforts we expect the revenue stream of the company to stabilise by the next financial year," Jaiswal said.

When asked about the sales expectations going ahead, she added: "It is very difficult to put out a figure with various aspects like GST expected to come into force next year. All I can say is that, leaving aside inorganic means, we would like to grow in the range of 15-20 per cent over the next three years."



The company's turnover last year stood at around Rs 1,100 crore.

Elaborating on the expansion plans she said that the company is also focusing on export markets and aims to enter various markets especially in Africa. In domestic market, the company produced 8.5 million cases last year. It has manufacturing sites in Punjab, Rajasthan, Hyderabad and Goa.

Besides whiskies, the company also sells IICE Vodka among others.

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Around seven to eight motorcycle-borne miscreants shot at two businessmen dealing in fertiliser, both brothers, killing one of them at Kothia village in Bihar's Begusarai district today.

Sadar Sub-Divisional Police Officer Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased was dentified as Kamlakant (30) while his elder brother Sanjiv Kunwar(45), who was injured, was admitted to a nearby private clinic.

Both the brothers are the residents of Maniappa village under Matihani police station of the district.

The body of the slain brother was sent to the sadar hospital for post mortem, the SDPO said adding that the reason behind the attack was not immediately known.

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Australia made a steady start as they chased 127 runs to win the day-night third Test after dismissing South Africa early on the fourth day at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.

At the tea break, the Australians were 27 without loss and 100 runs away from victory with David Warner on 20 and newcomer Matt Renshaw three not out.

The South Africans thought they had taken the wicket of Renshaw in the second over when they claimed a slips catch by Hashim Amla off Vernon Philander.

But umpire Richard Kettleborough was unmoved and a review showed no contact with Renshaw's bat.

It was the ninth review in this series involving Englishman Kettleborough, who has a 100 percent success rate.

South Africa will be hoping to repeat their predecessors' famous five-run victory in Sydney 22 years ago when they bowled out Australia for 111.

The Proteas, who thrashed Australia in the first two Tests to claim a third consecutive series Down Under, added 56 runs to their overnight lead before they were dismissed for 250 with opener Stephen Cook scoring a defiant century.

Cook raised his second Test century and first against Australia with a pull through square leg for four off Josh Hazlewood.

It was a big finish to an underwhelming series for Cook, who had scores of 0, 12, 23 and 40 in his other innings before his timely ton off 235 balls.

Cook was the last man out when he was bowled by Mitchell Starc 45 minutes before the tea break.

Quinton de Kock, who mastered the Australian bowlers in the first two Tests, fell for just five.

Australia sought a review after Jackson Bird's leg before wicket appeal was turned down and replays showed the ball hitting de Kock's front pad pitching on middle and leg stump.

It was a massive blow for the Proteas' hopes of posting a defendable target for Australia to chase down in the fourth innings. Kagiso Rabada lasted just nine balls before he edged a leg-side delivery from Hazlewood to a diving Matthew Wade.

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An ayah was today arrested for carrying a one-day-old female baby apparently to a couple for sale in Burdwan district.

Police said the woman, who works as ayah in households and local health facilities on contract, was arrested at Sarbamangalapara locality in Burdwan town and the newborn recovered from her possession.

On being questioned the ayah gave incoherent replies following which she was arrested, a police officer said but did not disclose her name.

To a question, the officer said apparently the incident looked unrelated with the sensational child trafficking racket in Kolkata and two neighbouring districts.

Prima facie the woman's claim about the baby being her sister's daughter appeared true, police said.

Police were looking for the couple.

A raid also took place in two nursing homes of Burdwan town, the officer said but again refused to name the nursing homes.

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A Bangladeshi court today charged the chief of a militant group involved in the July 1 attack on a Dhaka cafe which killed 22 people, including an Indian girl, for plotting against the country's sovereignty.

"Ansarullah Bangla Team's (ABT) chief Jasimuddin Rahmani and nine others were indicted while four of them appeared on the dock. Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah fixed January 4 for the start of the trial hearing," prosecutor Tapas Kumar Paul told reporters.

He said the rest of the accused were on the run and will be tried in absentia.

Paul said the indictment came two years after the case was filed following Rahmani's arrest and attributed the delay to the producers required to obtain the government clearance needed to try someone under the anti-terrorism law.

Rahmani is said to be the ABT's so-called spiritual guru who was accused of inciting terrorism through his sermons.

Earlier this month, police reconfirmed as ABT's operational head a renegade army major, who is on the run with a bounty on head.

They said sacked major Syed Ziaul Haque was the key-mastermind of a series of murders of secular writers and bloggers in the country.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said last month the police had found out the whereabouts of Zia and he could be tracked down anytime.

Police on August 8 this year announced the bounty saying anyone who could provide information leading to Zia's arrest would be rewarded with a cash amount of Taka 20 lakh (USD 25,250).

ABT, said to be ideologically inclined to al-Qaeda, is one of the two still vibrant militant outfits with neo-Jamaatul Muhahideen Bangladesh (neo-JMB) being the other which carried out the July 1 attack on a Dhaka cafe, killing 22 people, including 17 foreigners and an Indian girl.

Neo-JMB is the said to be the linked to ISIS.

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Puducherry Lt Governor Kiran Bedi today asked Pondicherry Industrial Promotion Development and Investment Corporation officials to launch steps in association with Forests and Electricity Departments to clear the sprawling site of the PIPDIC industrial estate near here of bushes and snakes.

During her visit to the estate, entrepreneurs attached to Association of Industrialists complained that bushes remaining uncleared in the open plots in the vicinity of industries had become habitats for snakes.

Office bearers of the Association also informed her of the lack of street lights in the estate.

After listening to them,the Lt Governor asked PIPDIC officials to launch joint steps with Forests and Electricity departments to remove the bushes and clear the area of snakes within a fortnight.

A release from the office of the Lt Governor said she asked the PIPDIC management to requisition the services of the Forests Department to catch the snakes and to plant saplings to give a facelift to the estate. She also directed officials of the Electricity Department, who accompanied her, to ensure that street lights were provided.

On the Association's plea for security of women workers, the Lt Governor said a woman police officer should be included in the police beat officers team to go round the estate.

She also said women workers in the industrial units should also be trained by the police department so that trained workers would constitute a 'women civil security force' to ensure safety of women employees.

PIPDIC Managing Director T.Karikalan and officials of Industries and Science and Technology departments also accompanied her.

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Bhagat Singh's "pistol", which was found at BSF's Central School of Weapons and Tactics museum in Indore, should be brought back and put on display in the museum named after the legendary freedom fighter at Khatkar Kalan in Punjab, his nephew Abhay Singh Sandhu demanded today.

"Till 1969, the pistol was lying at the Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur, Punjab. It was only recently due to the efforts of several people at various level that it was traced in the museum in Indore," 58-year-old Sandhu said.

"A senior official of the CSWT, Indore, recently rang me up informing that the serial number and the make of the pistol were the same which had been accessed from the records and files pertaining to the martyr," he said.

He said the legendary martyr's family now demands that this pistol be brought back and placed in the Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh Museum in Khatkar Kalan.

"We demand that the Punjab government make efforts to bring back the pistol belonging to Shaheed Bhagat Singh. As the extension of this museum is also coming up, we demand other personal articles belonging to the Shaheed, which are lying at various other places outside the state, may also be brought and placed in this museum in Khatkar Kalan," Sandhu said.

He said a pair of Bhagat Singh's shoes and his watch, which were lying in the possession of a private individual in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, should also be brought back and put on display in the museum in Khatkar Kalan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A 24-year-old computer operator was found dead in his car with his throat slit and a gunshot injury, in outer Delhi's Narela area, police said today.

Mohit, who worked with a private discom, was seen by a person during morning walk around 8 am following which he was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

"His throat was slit with some sharp-edged object and he was shot with the bullet piercing through his abdomen," said a senior police officer.

Police also received several glasses, liquor bottle and cigarette buts, indicating the presence of persons known to Mohit when he was attacked.

Mohit was a resident of Bakner village in Narela area. He was found in his car barely a kilometre away from his house.

His family members told police that he had left the house in his elder brother Manish's Santro car at 8 pm last night to meet his friends. But he didn't return. They also called his friends but he remained untraceable.

A case of murder has been registered at Narela police station, added the officer.

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Ambitious projects such as satellites that could bring the internet to the remote Amazon and construction of Brazil's first nuclear submarine will proceed despite a deep economic downturn, the defense minister said.

Raul Jungmann said he will be in France this Thursday to take delivery of the first of three communications and defense satellites built by France's Thales and due for launching on March 21 next year.

The nearly six tonne, 2.1 billion reais (USD 617 million) satellite is at the core of a modernization of Brazil's military that Jungmann said will still take hits during planned government austerity cuts.

"We know there's going to be a new fiscal policy with a spending ceiling. We know we'll have to cut back," he said in an interview in Brasilia.

However, some projects "are already at an advanced stage and cannot be stopped, like the nuclear submarine or the four conventional submarines that are also being developed in France," he said. "Three of them are already being built."



Swedish Gripen war planes whose payment schedule he said "is sufficiently flexible" will also survive the cuts.

But with President Michel Temer pushing an austerity strategy through Congress, starting with a proposed 20-year freeze on budget increases, "there are other things we need to review," he said.

The satellite program remains a top priority, described by the minister as a chance for Brazil "to achieve a technological standard that we don't have today."



Stationed over Ecuador, the network will cover all of South America, the southern Atlantic and the west coast of Africa, "what we call Brazil's strategic sphere," Jungmann said.

The network will expand broadband coverage throughout Brazil, "which is an enormous advance for society. It will allow it to reach remote places, the Amazon for example," the minister added.

The telecoms satellites will also bring new security for Brazil by putting all government communications under the country's control and strengthening military communications, he said.

Brazil maintains one of the largest militaries in the Americas, partly to patrol its huge borders, which include 7,500 kilometers of coastline.

Jungmann said the military is concerned by the proximity of "major drug producers and that Brazil, especially in urban centers, has unfortunately turned into a drug consumer. An integrated market has developed both for drugs and weapons.

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Prime Minister Theresa May has admitted that the challenge of securing "the best deal possible" for the UK on Brexit keeps her awake at night, a media report said today.

In an interview with 'The Sunday Times' magazine, she said that the negotiations with the European Union (EU) over Britain's exit from the economic bloc had contributed to her working long into the night.

"In this job you don't get much time to sleep," the 60-year-old prime minister said.

May became UK's second female Prime Minister on July 13 after Margaret Thatcher.

Asked about her "biggest anxieties" and what kept her awake at night, May said: "It's a moment of change. It's a hugely challenging time. And we need to get on with the terms of Brexit. And I'm very conscious of that."



"I want to make sure that everything we do does ensure Britain is a country that works for everyone. And that we really get out there and forge a new role in the world post-Brexit.

"We can make a success of it, we will make a success of it but these are really complex issues. We need to get on with the deal in terms of Brexit. We need to get the best deal possible for the UK," she said.

In one of her most personal interviews so far, May said that that her husband Philip John May gave her advice on her wardrobe and accessories.

"It's taken a bit of adjusting for him to see people writing about what he wears and taking selfies of him, but he's getting used to it! He's been surprised by how much interest he's had. Philip says he gets 90 per centof the fun for only 10 per centof the effort," she said of her husband of 36 years.

Opening up about her own childhood as the only child of a clergyman, May also said some of what drives her - her Christian faith, her self-belief and her sense of duty.

She said: "There was never any suggestion that because I was a girl there were things I couldn't do. My parents' approach was very much: whatever you do, do your best. There was never any suggestion that because I was a girl there were things I couldn't do.

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Hateful letters calling for the genocide of Muslims and praising President-elect Donald Trump have been received by several mosques in the US state of California, raising concerns among the community members for their safety.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has called for increased police protection of local mosques after the letters were sent to multiple California mosques this week.

The letters were sent to the Islamic Center of Long Beach and the Islamic Center of Claremont, CAIR's greater Los Angeles chapter said in a statement. The same letter also was sent to the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, according to CAIR's San Francisco Bay Area chapter.

The handwritten letter, which was photocopied, was addressed to "the children of Satan" and called Muslims a "vile and filthy people", Los Angeles Times reported.

"Your day of reckoning has arrived," the letter states, according to CAIR-LA.

"There's a new sheriff in town - President Donald Trump. He's going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims."



The letter, signed only by "Americans for a Better Way", said Trump was "going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews [sic].""



Both the Los Angeles and Bay Area chapters of CAIR have called for increased cooperation with law enforcement agencies to protect mosques.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA, said in an interview that the Claremont and Long Beach Islamic centers received the letters Wednesday.

The groups were debating whether to go public with the letters, he said, because they did not want to encourage copycats or create panic. But once they learned of the letter sent in Northern California, they wanted to inform the public and encourage police to look into the matter, Ayloush said.

Ayloush said people at the county mosques were "disheartened that anyone would address fellow Americans, fellow human beings, in such a hateful, dehumanising way."



Ayloush said the "irresponsible, hateful rhetoric" of the Trump campaign has fueled "a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters."



"I'm not saying [Trump] created racist people," he said. "He normalized it. While he might say he's not responsible, and I respect that, I remind President-elect Trump that he has a responsibility to act as a president for all Americans."



Los Angeles law enforcement leaders this week vowed to crack down on hate crimes, which surged in California and across the nation last year.

Anti-Muslim incidents jumped 67% in 2015, according to newly released FBI hate crime statistics. There were 257 reported bias crimes against Muslims last year, compared with 154 in 2014.

A spate of bias incidents that followed Trump's presidential election victory has drawn serious concerns from police and human rights activists.

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Leading self-drive car rental company Selfdrive.In is set to enter the UAE with a fleet of 1,500 cars by early January with an investment of around 5 million dirhams (Rs 9.32 crore).

The entry into the nearly 1 billion dirhams UAE car rental market will make the Pune-based company the first domestic player to go international, its founder Soham Shah told PTI.

He also said the UAE car rental market is dominated by American players like Avis, and there is not a single Asian company operating in this space.

"We will start with 1,500 cars in Dubai by January and all the cars will be on lease. The second stage in a year or two will have the number of cars on the platter doubling to 3,000," Shah said, adding, he got commercial licence to begin operations early this month.

The second phase will see expansion into Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, and the other three emirates. He will be investing around 5 million dirhams to begin with and expects to have a revenue of 20 million dirhams.

Shah said he hopes to be the third largest player after Avis and the European company Hertz.

He said unlike in the domestic market, where it is present in Pune, Mumbai and Goa and owns 20 per cent of its 650 cars, in UAE it will be a completely asset-light model.

On staff strength, he said it will have around 10 people to begin with, which will go up to 45 by the end of first year of operations.

On the commercial side, he said the company will be charging 2-25 per cent from a sedan while the same will be 30-35 per cent of the billed amount for a luxury sedan. He justified the higher commission, saying all the responsibility towards the customer will be the company's.

Regarding domestic operations, Shah said he will entering Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad by the first quarter of next year.

Bengaluru and Delhi will be in the first leg, with the rest of the cities in the second phase.

Asked about the bottomline of his business, he claimed the company is already cash positive and hopes to continue to have a strong bottomline in the new cities it plans to enter as well.

On fund raising plans, Shah said the company, fully owned by him and his family, is adequately capitalised and has no plans to divest stake.

Shah started Selfdrive.In in 2010.

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Ruing that their business has virtually come to a standstill post currency ban, traders in Gujarat have sought intervention of the Centre, the state and RBI to tide over the liquidity shortage.

The Gujarat chapter of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and RBI should intervene more to resolve the issue of cash crunch.

"Traders have been forced to shut down their business following the government's surprise move to demonetise high-value currency notes, which has resulted in a shortage of valid bank bills," Pramod Bhagat, President of Gujarat chapter of CAIT, told PTI.

Situation is becoming "grim day by day" as traders are facing liquidity squeeze due to restrictions on withdrawals of cash from their bank accounts.

"Also, traders want limits on withdrawal from the current account to be lifted. The shortage of Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes is also hurting their business," he said.

"We cannot do much business with a weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000 from current account and monthly limit of Rs 2 lakh. This amount is not enough to meet our basic monthly expenses like rent, wages and daily incidental expenses."



Nilesh Shukla, President of the Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industries (VCCI), claimed that lack of required cash is affecting over 18,000 small-scale industrial units in the city, Gujarat's commercial hub.

Naranbhai Rathwa, Congress leader and a former Union minister said Agricultural Produce Market Committee-run yards in Chhotaudepur district had to remain mostly closed after the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, which has led to shortage of low-denomination currencies.
While the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro prompted cheers from the country's exiles in Miami, the 90-year-old revolutionary leader's passing produced expressions of respect in other parts of the world and measured responses from governments that saw the devoted socialist as a threat.

US President Barack Obama noted that while "discord and profound political disagreements" marked the relationship between the US and Cuba for nearly six decades, Americans were extending "a hand of friendship to the Cuban people" during their time of grief.

"History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him," Obama said.

While spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, where the announcement of Castro's death early yesterday brought Cuban exiles into the streets to celebrate, US President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to share a thought that proved pithy even for the medium: "Fidel Castro is dead!"



Elsewhere in world, Castro was honored and mourned by many present and former national leaders.

In a telegram to Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel's 85-year-old brother, Pope Francis offered "my sense of grief to your excellency and family."



Francis broke from the Vatican's usual practice of having the secretary of state send official condolences. In a mark of the esteem the pope held for Castro, whom he met during a visit to Cuba last year, Francis signed the telegram himself.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country was Cuba's main ally and supporter during the Soviet era, called Castro "a sincere and reliable friend of Russia" who had built "an inspiring example for many countries and nations."



Chinese President Xi Jinping said Castro "made immortal historical contributions to the development of socialism around the world."



"With his death, the Chinese people have lost a close comrade and a sincere friend," Xi said in a telegram to Raul Castro, state broadcaster CCTV reported. "His glorious image and great achievements will be recorded in history forever."



UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had vivid memories of meeting Castro in January 2014 and having "a lively discussion that covered developments around the world as well as sustainable development and climate change."



"Under former President Castro, Cuba made advances in the fields of education, literacy and health," Ban said. "I hope Cuba will continue to advance on a path of reform and greater prosperity.

Castro's death was felt especially keenly in Latin America, where his success in overthrowing a military regime inspired leftist activists in other countries.

Salvador Sanchez Ceren, the president of El Salvador, said



he felt "deep sorrow ... Of my friend and eternal companion, Commander Fidel Castro Ruz."



Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto tweeted that "Fidel Castro was a friend of Mexico, promoting bilateral relations based on respect, dialogue and solidarity."



Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro recalled Castro's departure from Mexico on the yacht Granma with his brother Raul and several dozen supporters to start their revolution.

"Sixty years after the Granma sailed from Mexico, Fidel sails toward the immortality of all those who fight their whole lives," Maduro tweeted. "Onward to victory, always!"



Ruben Berrios Martinez, longtime leader of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, called Castro the "largest and most influential Latin American of the 20th century, whose verticality, vision and passion has always served as an inspiration for those who aspired to a more just, free and dignified Latin America."



Brazil's former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on his Facebook page that Castro was his "friend and companion" and the "greatest of all Latin Americans."



Silva said Castro was like an "older brother-an irreplaceable companion. He encouraged dreams of freedom. sovereignty and equality."



A statement from the Spanish government hailed Castro as "a figure of enormous historical importance."



"As a son of Spaniards, former president Castro always maintained close relations with Spain and showed great affection for his family and cultural ties," the government statement said.

However, there were shouts and insults in Madrid as a small crowd composed of both pro- and anti-Castro supporters met in front of the Cuban embassy.

Turkey's foreign ministry commended the "legendary leader of the Cuban Revolution" for "instituting many deep reforms in his country from health care to education, art to science."



"The struggle to which he dedicated his life echoed not just in Cuba but across the world, and has awakened respect even in other political camps," the ministry said. "His words 'another world is possible' reflect the shared longing of billions of people from Latin America to Asia, from the Middle East to Africa."



"India mourns the loss of a great friend," Indian Prime Minister Nerendra Modi said on Twitter.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras tweeted: "Goodbye, commandante. Until the peoples' eternal victory."



"Fidel Castro in the 20th century did everything possible to destroy the colonial system, to establish cooperative relations," former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was quoted as telling the Interfax agency.
Concerned over the jailbreak in Punjab, the Centre today sought a report from the state government asking it provide details of the incident.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to the Punjab DGP and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in the state.

Armed men in police uniform today stormed the high-security Nabha Jail in Patiala district, opening indiscriminate fire and fleeing with five prisoners including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.

The Home Ministry asked the Punjab government to send the report about the jailbreak as early as possible and the steps taken to ensure security in the jails.

The incident came two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces to guard against attempts to disturb peace through "vicious" political campaign or by external extremist forces during the election process in Punjab and four other states.

"We have to keep strict vigil against external extremist elements who may try to create disturbance in Punjab. There have been increased activities of Sikh terrorists in recent months.

"Similarly in Manipur, we have to ensure peace keeping in mind the ethnic divide. In Uttar Pradesh too, there may be attempts to disturb law and order through vicious political campaigning. We have to keep strict vigil and take proper steps to ensure peace during election," the Home Minister said at the conference of Director Generals of Police (DGPs) in Hyderabad on Friday.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China, South Korea and Japan together accounted for more than three-fourths of the 3.60 million tonnes (MT) of steel imported into the country in the first half of this fiscal.

While China was at the top with 1.08 MT during the April-September period in 2016-17, South Korea was second with 1.02 MT. Japan, last in the list, exported 5.60 lakh tonnes (LT) of the metal to India during the period.

On the brighter side, steel imports have declined by 37 per cent to 3.60 MT in the first half of this fiscal compared to the year-ago period, data from the Steel Ministry's Joint Plant Committee (JPC) showed.

According to JPC: "India remained a net importer of total finished steel during April-September 2016-17 but emerged as a net exporter of same during September 2016."



Steel exports from India shot up by 111 per cent to 0.66 MT in September 2016 over September 2015.

Another silver lining is the contraction in steel imports in October and April-October period.

Imports of the metal in October 2016 fell by 55 per cent to 0.54 MT against October 2015 and by 12.4 per cent compared to September 2016. During April-October 2016-17, imports fell by 40 per cent to 4.14 MT compared to the year-ago period.

However, demand for steel in India fell for the second consecutive month in October -- a development that does not bode well for the industry that is already reeling under a subdued business sentiment.

Steel consumption fell by 0.5 per cent to 7.11 MT last month compared to September 2016, while on a year-on-year basis, it fell by 1.4 per cent over October 2015, the latest JPC data showed.

Steel consumption in September 2016 stood at 6.73 MT, a decline of 7.7 per cent over the previous month. However, as compared to September 2015, it rose by 7.6 per cent.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Terming demonetisation as a "once in a lifetime event" that requires mammoth logistics, Governor Urjit Patel today said RBI is taking all necessary actions to "ease the genuine pain of citizens who are honest and who have been hurt" and hoped things will normalise at the earliest.

Speaking for the first time after the decision to withdraw old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, Patel who has been facing criticism for keeping silent, also said the situation is being monitored on a daily basis while printing presses have started to rebalance the production of new notes towards Rs 100 and Rs 500 bills.

Giving details of the steps being taken by RBI, he said, "Both RBI and government have been getting the printing presses to work at capacity to get the new notes available to meet demand.

"RBI is interacting with the banks every day. They are telling us that the situation is gradually easing. The queues in branches and ATMs are shorter and the markets are starting to function, and there are no reported shortages of daily items of consumption.

"Also, about 40-50,000 people were deployed to refit the ATMs. Currency is available and banks are working in a mission mode to lift currency and take them to their branches and ATMs. The staff members of all banks have worked very hard, and we all owe them our gratitude," Patel told PTI in an interview.

On why there have been long queues and a reduction in trade and business, Patel said, "This is a once in a lifetime event. It is very rare to remove 86 per cent of the currency in circulation in one go. The logistics of such an operation is mammoth."



"And yet for withdrawal of legal tender status to be effective, complete secrecy was required. So, it is difficult to get all banks ready and fully prepared in 24 hours for a big step like this. Obviously, this has caused some dislocation. That is why we request support from all Indians for the larger cause of fighting tax evasion and the black economy," he said.

Against the backdrop of criticism directed against Patel, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier today said it is an "unfair attack" and politicians should refrain from making comments on those who cannot defend themselves.

"An unfair attack by Jairam Ramesh on the RBI Governor. Must politicians attack those who can't defend themselves in the same tone?" Jaitley said in a tweet.

Congress spokesperson Ramesh had alleged that Patel is either guilty of misleading the nation about RBI's preparedness on demonetisation or has sacrificed the autonomy of RBI. "Either way, he should resign," Ramesh had said.

On Saturday, Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the decision to scrap Rs 500/1,000 notes was taken by the government on the recommendation of RBI.

Patel said RBI has announced an incremental CRR (Cash



Reserve Ratio) of 100 per cent "because of the large increase in deposits of banks on account of the return of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes" and the decision would be reviewed immediately once the government issues adequate quantum of MSS (Market Stablisation Scheme) bonds which they have promised to do.

He also urged people to start using cash substitutes like debit cards and digital wallets, saying it will make transactions cheaper and easier and in the long term and it will help India "leapfrog into a less cash-use economy at par with more developed nations".

"We are also urging banks to make a big push with PoS (Point of Sale) machines with traders so that debit card use becomes more prevalent," Patel said.

"People have asked why the new currency introduced was different in size and thickness from the old. This is because the new currency has been designed to make it hard to counterfeit. When you are going to make a change of this magnitude, you need to get the best standards in place," he said.

Asked why it was necessary to have undertaken demonetisation, the Governor said the Prime Minister in his address to the nation explained why the withdrawal of legal tender status of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes was required.

"In his speech, he explained the reasons why this was important. He had given a commitment to the people of India that he would clamp down on black money to bring in much-needed transparency and accountability and eradicate counterfeiting.

"A number of steps were taken around this, first by pushing Jan Dhan accounts, an income tax amnesty scheme and the push to get GST passed. This is part of the measures to get people to pay tax and hence, expand the tax base.

"People were holding high denomination notes to keep tax unaccounted for money. Some sectors like real estate were using cash to avoid tax. It also strikes at counterfeit currency and pushes businesses and people to go cashless which greatly increases convenience. Towards the last, banks have waived debit card charges," he said.

To a question on when he expects the situation to settle, the economist-turned-central banker said, "The bankers are saying the situation is getting better and in the metros things are stabilising, but the remote locations are still feeling some pain.

"Liquidity in the banking system has increased and so credit should be becoming more easily available. The intent is to normalise as soon as possible.

On the announcement about incremental CRR yesterday,



Patel said, "This was done because of the large increase in deposits of banks on account of the return of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

"This has led to large excess liquidity in the system. To absorb this liquidity, the incremental CRR has had to be used on a purely temporary basis. While RBI has a significant stock of government securities available, we felt that if the increase in deposits continues we may fall short, hence the decision. Once the government issues adequate quantum of MSS bonds, which they have promised to, we will immediately review the incremental CRR.
Congress workers on Monday held protests outside the residences of Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and other BJP leaders across the state to highlight the cash crunch faced by people following demonetisation, on the eve of 'Bharat bandh' called by opposition parties.

Clarifying that Congress never backed 'Bharat bandh' call given by opposition parties tomorrow, the party said its workers would instead hold protests against the problems being faced by common people in procuring new currency notes.

"Congress was never associated with the Bharat bandh call. Gujarat Congress had only given a call for Gujarat bandh tomorrow, which we have decided to postpone. Instead, our workers will hold demonstrations across the state by observing the day as 'Jan Akrosh Diwas'," state unit party president Bharatsinh Solanki told reporters here.

He said new programmes would be launched against government if the ground situation on cash crunch doesn't improve within a week from now.

The party held protests in various parts of the state on Monday.

In Rajkot, at least 30 workers of Congress were detained for staging protests outside the Chief Minister's bungalow located near Nirmala Convent School.

The workers shouted slogans against and demanded Rs 100 notes in exchange of scrapped currency of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 from Rupani, who was not present in his house at the time of the demonstration.

"Congress workers gathered outside CM's residence and started demanding Rs 100 notes as part of their protest against . We have detained around 30 workers," said DCP (zone-II), Karanraj Vaghela.

Agitations demanding Rs 100 notes were also held in Ahmedabad, Morbi, Vadodara, Bhavnagar, Himmatnagar, Navsari, Anand, Bharuch, Mehsana and other towns.

In Ahmedabad, around 50 Congress workers were detained by Bopal police for staging protests outside the bungalow of former chief minister Anandiben Patel.

MLAs from the city, including Bhushan Bhatt (Khadia) and R M Patel (Asarwa) too faced similar agitations.

In Ranip area, around 30 Congress workers were detained by police for holding protest outside the residence of BJP MP from Ahmedabad (West) Kirit Solanki.
The Indian Embassy in Cairo today celebrated the country's Constitution Day with the staging of a Hindi play on the making of the constitution and a film screening.

The celebration was organised by the Maulana Azad Center for Indian Culture (MACIC), the cultural wing of the Indian Embassy, and had India's Ambassador to Egypt in attendance.

The play titled "Making of the Constitution" was staged in Hindi by Egyptian students, who learn the language at the Embassy's cultural wing.

A short film on the Indian constitution also screened.

Speaking at the event, Ambassador Sanjay Bhattacharyya said that the constitution is the "supreme law" and "higher than the Parliament" in a democracy like India.

"The constitution is important for us because it's the supreme law of the country. So it is higher than the parliament, it is higher than the government and higher than the judiciary. But at the same time it is not fixed because circumstances change," he said.

"At the time of independence it was said that we were undergoing three revolutions; the political revolution..., the second revolution was a social revolution ... And the third was the economic revolution. All these were dynamic and the constitution was actually trying to respond to all of these," he added.

Amr Mahmoud El-Shobaki, Head of Arab-European department in Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, Cairo, delivered a key-note address on the occasion.

"When we started as the committee which drafted the Egyptian constitution (in 2014) we tried to compare with the Indian and French constitutions," he said.

On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India adopted the Constitution, which went into effect on January 26, 1950.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari cannot take advantage of being a mosque head and try to browbeat powers of courts under "fictitious"and "imaginary" threatofcommunal tension, a court said while refusing to quash a criminal case against him.

While terming as "funny and hilarious" the ground of possible communal tension, it also rejected the Imam's contention that he has Z-Plus security and inconvenience would be caused if he was taken to face trial, saying in the National Herald case, top Congress brass including Sonia and Rahul Gandhi appeared as accused in a court here.

"It does not appear to be tenable because recently some senior leaders of the Oppositionparty, namely Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, who were summoned as accused in the National Heraldcase,andwhohadmuchhigher degreeofsecuritythreat hadappearedbeforethecourtoflawwithoutanykindof inconveniencebeingcausedtoanyone," Additional Sessions Judge Lokesh Kumar Sharma said.

If such exemptions and exceptions are carved out in legal arena, none of the "so-called head priests" of any sect would ever be brought to the corridors of justice, the court said.

The remarks were made by the court while dealing with the Imam's revision petition against a magisterial court's May 2016 order rejecting an application by the prosecutor under section 321 (withdrawal of prosecution) of CrPC in a case of alleged assault on public servants and damage to public property in 2001.

"Itappearsthepetitioneristryingtotake advantage of his being the head priest (Shahi Imam) of Jama Masjid, representingaparticularcommunityandistryingtobrowbeat thepowersofthe courtsunderafictitiousandimaginary threatofanoutburstofcommunaltension andunrest.

"Thepetitioner,likeanyotherordinarycitizenof India,isliabletobe prosecutedandtriedbythecourtin accordancewithlaw,tomeettheultimatefateof thecriminal caseregisteredagainsthimlikeanyotheraccused," it said.

The judge also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on him with a direction to deposit the amount in Prime Minister's Relief Fund for "wasting the precious judicial time of the court".

Observing that no one is above law irrespective of his



status, the judge said, "This plea appears to be very funny and hilarious because if such exemptions and exceptions are being carved out in legal arena, I am afraid that if any of the so-called head priest of a particular community or sect would ever be brought to the corridors of justice for any of his acts or omissions constituting an offence as provided in books of statute.

"In future all communal/religious leaders would start demanding such exemptions and immunities citing their position or status in the community or sect to which they belong and thus no such person would ever be punished for any of the wrongs done by him constituting offences under IPC.

"Even the Ex-Prime Minister of this nation, namely late P V Narshimha Rao as well as a very senior leader of the Opposition of that time, L K Advani, had also faced trial before the court of law and that had not sparked any tension or unrest in the society," it further said.

The judge, while upholding the magisterial court order dismissing the prosecutor's application, said it was mandatory for the prosecutor to produce permission of the Centre for withdrawal of prosecution instead of that of the Lieutenant Governor noting that the FIR in the case was lodged by Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

"Nocommunicationfromthecentralgovernmenthasbeen placedon record either before this court or before the magisterial court showing that any permissiontothat particular prosecutorwasaccordedbytheUnionofIndia to move suchanapplicationseekingwithdrawalofprosecution qua thepetitioner (Imam).

"Further,itisnotmandatoryforthecourttopermit withdrawalofthe prosecutionwheneveranysuchapplication ismovedbytheprosecutoronflimsyand whimsicalgrounds andthereforesection321CrPCprovidesthatsuchwithdrawal can onlybemadewithconsentofthecourtandnototherwise," the judge said.
His words and image had filled schoolbooks, airwaves and newspapers since before many of them were born. Now Cubans must face life without Fidel Castro, the leader who guided their island to both greater social equality and years of economic ruin.

Across a hushed capital, people wept in the streets on Saturday as of the 90-year-old revolutionary's death spread. While many mourned, others privately expressed hope that Castro's passing will allow Cuba to move faster toward a more open, prosperous future under his younger brother President Raul Castro.

Both brothers led bands of bearded rebels out of the eastern Sierra Maestra mountains to create a communist government 90 miles from the United States. But since taking over from his ailing brother in 2006, the 85-year-old Raul Castro has allowed an explosion of private enterprise and, last year, restored diplomatic relations with Washington. "Raul wants to do business, that's it. Fidel was still holed up in the Sierra Maestra," said Belkis Bejarano, a 65-year-old homemaker in central Havana.

In his twilight years Fidel Castro largely refrained from offering his opinions publicly on domestic issues, lending tacit backing to his brother's free-market reforms.

But the older Castro surged back onto the public stage twice this year critiquing President Barack Obama's historic March visit to Cuba and proclaiming in April that communism was "a great step forward in the fight against colonialism and its inseparable companion, imperialism."



Ailing and without any overt political power, the 90-year-old revolutionary icon became for some a symbol of resistance to his younger sibling's diplomatic and economic openings. For many other Cubans, however, Fidel Castro was fading into history, increasingly at a remove from the passions that long cast him as either messianic savior or maniacal strongman.

On Saturday, many Cubans on the island described Fidel Castro as a towering figure who brought Cuba free health care, education and true independence from the United States, while saddling the country with an ossified political and economic system that has left streets and buildings crumbling and young, educated elites fleeing in search of greater prosperity abroad.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Government auditor CAG has expressed concern over the post of Chairperson of Cyber Appellate Tribunal lying vacant for about five years, saying this has led to not a single case being heard or disposed of despite pending appeals.

"Non appointment of the Chairperson of Cyber Appellate Tribunal (CyAT) since July 2011 coupled with lack of provision for vesting the members of Tribunal with powers to constitute benches and disposal of appeals, defeated the very purpose of its creation...," the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) said in a report.

This also resulted in "unfruitful expenditure of Rs 27.64 crore on salary and other establishment expenditure for the period from April 2011 to March 2016", said the report tabled in Parliament last week.

CyAT is a statutory organisation under the administrative control of Ministry of Communications and IT, the report noted. The tribunal was to act as a specialised forum to redress cyber frauds when it was set up in 2006.

The CyAT has, for the purposes of discharging its functions under the Information Technology Act, the same powers as are vested in a civil court. It consists of a chairperson and other members appointed by central government in consultation with Chief Justice of India.

"Audit observed that after retirement of the last chairperson on June 30, 2011, no chairperson was appointed as of June 2016 and hence no judicial order was pronounced during this period....Upto March 2016, 66 cases of appeals were pending because of non-appointment of the Chairman. Thus there was no redressal of the grievances of the persons aggrieved by an order, made by Controller or an adjudicating officer," CAG said.

However, members and other staff continued to render services in the CyAT since then and expenditure of Rs 27.64 crore were incurred on its establishment for the period from 2011-12 to 2015-16 without carrying out its primary business of hearing and disposal of appeals, it added.

Ministry, on its part, has said the process of filling up the vacancy in CyAT is under active consideration, the report pointed out.

The Ministry also sought to assure that in future, with due amendment in the IT Act, members of the tribunal would be vested with the powers to constitute benches and dispose of the appeals, in the absence of the chairman.

"Reply of the Ministry is not acceptable because the fact remains that the CyAT has been lying defunct for about five years and not carrying out its primary function of forming benches and listing appeals/cases for hearing to pass the judgement," CAG said.

Further, the cyber fraud victims of the country have no option but to approach the High Courts -- which are already overburdened because of large number of pending cases -- for redressal of the grievances, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Thousands of people belonging to Dalit, Adivasi and other minority communities today held a Mahasangram Rally at Ramlila Maidan here, demanding strict implementation of the Constitution and its spirit of secularism, representation and the rights of the communities.

During the rally, the communities vowed to defend their rights of religious freedom, dignity and decided to continue their unified struggle against communal and divisive forces.

Leaders and representatives of the communities from over 23 states said that the current policies, including demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, were affecting them.

They expressed serious concerns over the promotion of a socio-cultural paradigm jeopardising constitutional rights of enjoying fundamental freedoms of food, faith and livelihood.

The leaders also highlighted the increased atrocities, violence and judicial pronouncements questioning the constitutional rights of Dalits, Adivasis and minorities making them insecure and deserve urgent attention of the government.

Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind general secretary Maulana Mahmood Madani said that the freedom of India has yet to bring equality and development to Dalits, Adivasi and other minorities.

"We are not here to oppose anybody but to change the circumstances. Changing rulers is not enough, the character has to be changed. The change will start from us," he said.

Dalit leader Ashok Bharti said that the declaration of the rally has brought together "Bahujans" in real sense.

He said that the recent decision of demonetisation has caused great inconvenience to the poor and it is ill-planned.

The leaders also demanded allocation of budgets to Dalits, Adivasis and minorities proportionate to their populations and representation in all constitutional and public institution, annihilation of caste system and caste-based discrimination and exclusion, speedy and unbiased justice to the victims of caste and communal violence, truthful implementation of Prevention of Atrocities against SC/ST Act.

They also demanded strict action against the so-called cow vigilante groups which are unleashing violence on Dalits and Muslims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya today lashed out at the opposition for calling protests tomorrow against demonetisation even as he said his ministry was making efforts towards the financial inclusion of unorganised sector workers and to bring them into the banking system, so that they got DBT and other benefits.

"People are very intelligent. We did not expect such a support from them. They have faced inconvenience even to buy food and to travel...All sections, middle classes and all (have supported). Now, the opposition calling to observe 'akrosh diwas' is (political) bankruptcy," he told reporters here.

Dattatreya claimed that the prices of certain natural resources such as sand were falling and the "artificial hike" in real estate prices was also witnessing a "downward trend" following the Centre's decision to demonetise high-value currency notes, adding that the people were supporting the move.

"President Pranab Mukherjee, who was the finance minister in the UPA government, hailed it (demonetisation), but (Congress vice president) Rahul Gandhi does not even have that understanding," he said.

"At least, now, the opposition should come for a constructive debate in Parliament. They should withdraw their call for protests tomorrow," he added.

Noting that it took three months in the US for an alternative system to evolve following a similar decision (demonetisation), Dattatreya said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had only asked for 50 days.

"He (Modi) appreciated those facing inconvenience in his 'Mann ki Baat' radio address," he said.

The government was taking steps like recalibration of ATMs to put an end to the inconvenience of the citizens, he added.

The Union minister said he had written to the chief ministers for forming state-level committees, with labour and banking sector officials in them, for opening Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts for contract, construction, beedi, anganwadi and other unorganised sector workers.

"26 crore (PMJDY) accounts are there so far. There are 38 crore unorganised sector workers. The number of workers in the organised sector is 6.50 crore. We have started the process for opening PMJDY bank accounts for all of them," he said.

Dattatreya said he would also hold zonal conferences -- south, northeast, west, central, east and north -- involving the state labour ministers and officials on the issue.

"We are trying to get them DBT and into the technology mode. I will speed up the process after going to Delhi," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A day ahead of the nation-wide protests planned by the opposition against demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended the move and warned unscrupulous people using the Jan Dhan accounts of the poor to launder their black money of strict action.

Lead opposition party Congress continued to target Modi over demonetising old high-denomination currency notes, terming it a "political move made without preparation" that stemmed from his propensity for "dhamaka politics" (politics aimed at seeking publicity).

The JD(U) will, however, not be a part of the proposed protests as its leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has supported demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

With Jan Dhan accounts witnessing a surge in deposits, Modi issued a warning to those using poor people to park their illegal money, saying the strict 'benami' law would be implemented against such transactions.

He appealed to the people to shift to cashless system of transactions like mobile banking and asked the youth to help in this process by educating the elders and those not literate.

In his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', first after the demonetisation decision, Modi devoted substantial part of the 37-minute broadcast to the issue over which he is under opposition attack.

The Prime Minister said, "Even now, some people think they can bring their black money, the money earned through corruption or the one which is unaccounted for, back into the system through illegal means.

"Unfortunately, they are misusing the poor for this purpose by misleading, luring or tempting them by putting money into their accounts."



He said "a very stringent law to deal with 'benami' transactions is being implemented, that will make such things (transactions) very difficult. Government does not want the people to face such difficulties."



"I would tell such (unscrupulous) people that to reform or not reform is your wish. Following the law or not is your wish - that the law will take care of. But please don't play with the life of the poor. Don't do anything due to which, when there is an investigation, the name of the poor comes on record and he gets into trouble because of you."



Later, addressing BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' in UP's Kushinagar, Modi repeatedly attacked his rivals for calling a 'Bharat Bandh' tomorrow.

"We are trying to check black money and they are busy calling a Bharat Bandh. Tell me, what should be stopped? Should black money be stopped or a Bharat Bandh be called?"



Speaking to reporters in Delhi, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, however, said no 'Bharat Bandh' has been called and that opposition parties will only hold protests across the country against demonetisation.

Calling demonetisation a political move, Ramesh said it had brought all economic activity to a standstill.

"It is a political decision for three reasons. Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in 'dhamaka' (publicity oriented) approach to politics. This is a dhamaka which has changed the narrative. From November 8 there is no other talk but of demonetisation," he said.

Ramesh said demonetisation decision was also taken as



Modi had seen the writing on the wall in UP, which is due for elections next year and wanted to do something dramatic. The third reason was to cover up his failure to bring back illegal money stashed abroad, he said.

"Does the Prime Minister want to have cash-less mandi? Does the PM want to have the unorganized sector working cashless? I am sorry to say it's a ridiculous proposition, to say that India will become cashless and all these economic sectors will become cash-less," he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been at the forefront of the agitation against demonetisation, attacked Modi for his advice to people to shift to cashless transactions.

"Modiji, you have finished India's economy and growth. We don't trust you or your mismatched wrong technology which you are advertising for. We want technology and progress. But no section of society is to be left out and tortured while doing this (demonetisation)," Banerjee said in a statement.

"The women of our country will give you a befitting reply. They are the mothers of India. They are the mothers of all, Mr Today's PM," the Trinamool Congress chief said.

Claiming that the masses were with the government on demonetisation, BJP voiced confidence that the protest called by certain opposition parties tomorrow will not be successful and said parties like Congress were already retreating and not calling it a 'Bharat bandh'.

"It is quite evident that the country is united and is with us on demonetisation. There are only a few parties which have supported the call for 'Bharat bandh'. Those who were raising their voices earlier are also stepping back in fear now," Union minister Babul Supriyo told reporters at the BJP headquarters.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu took a jibe at the Congress for planning to stage protests tomorrow.

"Congress is clearly rattled by certain transformational results...This is the clear reason for it being angry," he said.

"Realising the popular support to remonetisation, it is now calling its countrywide bandh 'akrosh' rallies. From this, it is clear that all of this is aimed at finding some space in the media as it has clearly lost its space at the debating forum of Parliament and in the minds of the people," Naidu said.

JD(U), meanwhile, said it will not participate in the nation-wide protests tomorrow of Mamata Banerjee's dharna in Patna on November 30.

"We have supported he Centre's demonetisation move. How can we oppose or be the part of activity like bandh which is meant to protest the issue which our party has strongly supported," Bihar unit JD(U) President Bashishtha Narayan Singh said.

"JD(U) will not be part of any agitation against demonetisation including the dharna by Mamata Banerjee on November 30 in Patna," party Secretary General K C Tyagi said.

"We have taken an ideological position in favour of demonetisation so how can we be part of any agitation seeking its roll back," Tyagi said.

The ruling Samajwadi Party in poll-bound UP said the



demonetisation drive smacked of an attempt at "financially harming" rival political parties ahead of elections.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move is aimed at financial harming rival political parties in 2017 UP Assembly polls. This poll is a do or die for BJP. BJP thought that due to impact of demonetisation, rival parties in the state will not be able to withdraw money for polls," SP national vice president Kironmay Nanda told
Terming demonetisation a "political move" made without preparation, Congress today said it is being sold as a "step against black money" and the Reserve Bank of India did not give the advice it should have offered to the government.

"Who gave the advice I do not know, but I believe, as Manmohan Singh had said in Rajya Sabha, that Reserve Bank of India did not give the advice it should have offered," party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said.

The economy has been growing at 7-7.5 per cent and the decision was taken only for political reasons, he alleged.

Ramesh made it clear that Congress did not call for a 'Bharat bandh' and alleged that BJP was spreading disinformation in this regard.

The Opposition parties will hold protests against demonetisation across the country by observing "Jan Aakrosh Diwas" tomorrow, he said, adding that economic activity has anyway come to a standstill since November 9.

Ramesh termed the decision to scrap high-value currency notes a "political decision for three reasons".

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in 'dhamaka' politics. This is a dhamaka (bang) that has changed the narrative. Since November 8 there is no talk, but of demonetisation," he said.

The second reason is that Modi had seen the "writing on the wall" in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls next year.

And thirdly, to cover up the government's failure to deliver on the Prime Minister's big electoral promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad.

"We welcome steps taken to eradicate black money. But I am afraid...All best estimates are that only 6 per cent of it is kept in the form of cash. So to address this problem, you have put 80 per cent of India through hardships... While common people were facing difficulties, the actual culprits are leading lives of luxury," Ramesh said.

He said it may take 250 days to print the required number of currency notes to get the economy back on track. If notes are printed abroad, it will be a mockery of "Make in India" initiative of the government.

The Congress leader said "a cashless society Modi has been talking of" may become a reality after 100 years, but not in the near future when a majority depends on cash transactions.

"Does the Prime Minister want to have cash-less mandis? Does the PM want to have the unorganized sector working cashless? I am sorry to say it's a ridiculous proposition, to say that India will become cashless and all these economic sectors will become cashless," he said.

Such transitions take time and cannot be forced through shocks, he said.

Asked why Congress' ally Nitish Kumar was not in favour of protests against demonetisation, Ramesh said JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav was supporting it.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley came to the defence of RBI



Governor Urjit Patel in the wake of criticism by Ramesh, saying it is an "unfair attack" and politicians should refrain from making comments on those who cannot defend themselves.

"An unfair attack by Jairam Ramesh on the RBI Governor. Must politicians attack those who can't defend themselves in the same tone?" he said in a tweet.

Ramesh said it is estimated that only 5-10 per cent of black money is kept in cash, while most of it is in the form of gold, silver, benami property or stashed abroad.

A lot of discomfiture had been caused to people by demonetising Rs 500 notes abruptly, he said.

Citing National Investigation Agency (NIA) estimates, he said counterfeit notes make up just 0.02 per cent of the total currency in circulation. To tackle this, 80 per cent of people, be it farmers, the unorganised and small-scale sector have been subjected to inconvenience.

The Prime Minister had remarked "na khaaonga, na khaane doonga", but Saurabh Patel, who was a minister in the then Modi-led Gujarat government, is learnt to have been linked to a company based in Bahamas, where many tax evaders go, Ramesh alleged.

Patel was removed from his post over some dispute, he claimed.

Asked if Congress was in favour of holding of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously, Ramesh said there were merits as well as demerits of it.

In 2002, a Congress party committee headed by Manmohan Singh had suggested that there should be state funding of elections, he said, adding that various state elections also enforced accountability.

He claimed that the Pune-based organisation, which is said to be behind the the demonetisation idea, has also said the way it is being implemented is not what they had suggested.

Congress was not against the objectives of the measure and will support steps against black money and corruption, but the reality of the situation is different, he said.
Inmates of a central prison in Kerala will soon have e-books in their hands, thanks to a digital library being set up in the jail premises, which is considered as the first such facility in southern India.

Authorities of Poojappura Central Prison, one of the oldest recorded prisons in the state, are busy completing the final works of the innovative library, which will open the infinite world of e-books to its 1,300 inmates.

Being implemented with the support of public sector State Bank of Travancore, the e-library is envisaged to cultivate the reading habit among the inmates and bring positive changes in their outlook towards life and society, jail sources said.

Under the facility, prisoners can read not only digitised collection of books but also e-books using the Amazon Kindle reader, an application, they said.

"I feel the reading habit is very strong among prisoners because options for recreation and relaxation are limited for them. But due to security reasons, we can allow only a limited number of them at the library at a time," Jail Superintendent S Santhosh told PTI.

Senior prisoners of each block now collect books for interested inmates and distribute it in their cells.

But the opening up of e-library is expected to help overcome this difficulty and give more people access to the library facilities, he said.

"Inmates will be given training to use the applications and gadgets to read e-books. It will help them get an easy access to whichever books they want," Santosh said.

"Thus the e-library will not only help them read their favourite books online, but also make them e-literates," he said.

To use the e-library, interested inmates would be given digital identity cards with bar codes. They could walk to the library, being set up at the 11th block of the sprawling prison, hand over their digital ID cards to the librarian and search for their favourite books in the computers there.

The prison already has a huge library with a collection of over 15,000 books, ranging from literature to science.

"A software, comprising details like names of all the 15,000 books, authors and its brief summary, has been developed as part of the project. Prisoners can walk straight to the library and choose their favourite book from computers with the help of the software," he said.

There would be no need for them to spend more time before book shelves searching books, he added.

"Our aim is to provide our inmates all facilities of a modern library. They should get a cultural delight while visiting there. We hope this modern library will also instill a sense of self-esteem in them," Santhosh said.

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SBT is the funding agency for the ambitious e-library initiative and a total of Rs five lakh was earmarked for it, Santhosh said, adding that the facility was expected to be inaugurated in a week's time.

Poojappura prison has already been in the for a number of rehabilitation and welfare initiatives implemented for its inmates.

The low cost but quality-rich chapati-chicken curry combo dished out by the prisoners here and shirts designed and stitched by inmates are already a hit in the market.

Emulating the model of the Food Court run by inmates of Tihar Jail in New Delhi, a cafeteria, serving lip-smacking delicacies prepared by prisoners, was also opened adjacent to the prison by the authorities for foodies.
Hitting out at economists for criticising demonetisation, Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy has said that critics are unaware of the government's financial inclusion programme and their understanding of the situation is based on views expressed in English language newspapers.

"They (economists living abroad) base their understanding essentially on reading English newspapers. Otherwise, how would they know? English language newspapers understood many things wrongly," Debroy told PTI when asked to react on comments of former World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu and other economists who have criticised demonetisation.

"Where does Dr Basu work now? He is based in US. I have a great deal of respect for him...That someone who is away from India may not necessarily be aware what is happening in India," he added.

The eminent economist said Basu will probably react to things like financial inclusion on the basis of data that is three years old, adding, "He (Basu) does not know what happened as a result of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)."



Under PMJDY, 25 crore bank accounts were opened.

Basu, who was also Chief Economic Advisor in Ministry of Finance, had on November 11 said that Modi government's decision to demonetise high denomination currency notes is not 'good economics' and the collateral damage of demonetisation is likely to far outstrip the benefits.

Lawrence 'Larry' Summers, a former chief economist of the World Bank and ex-economic advisor to the US President had described the Indian government's demonetisation steps as the "most sweeping changes in currency policy in the world in decades.

This (Indian government's demonetisation steps) is 'unlikely to have lasting benefits' and that it has resulted in 'chaos and loss of trust in the government'," Summers was quoted as saying.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Egypt today denied Arab media reports claiming that it had a military presence in Syria, days after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed his support for the Syrian army.

"These claims only exist in the imagination of those who promote them," the foreign ministry said in the statement.

On Thursday, the Lebanese newspaper As-Safir said that 18 Egyptian air force pilots had been deployed on a military base in the Syrian central province of Hama.

It added, however, that it was "unclear" whether they were taking part in any military operations.

Sisi, the former army chief who was elected president in 2014, expressed support for the Syrian military during an interview aired Tuesday with Portuguese broadcaster RTP.

"Our priority is to support national armies, for example in Libya to assert control over Libyan territories and deal with extremist elements. The same with Syria and Iraq," he said, responding to a question on whether Egypt would contemplate a UN peacekeeping role in Syria.

Asked by the interviewer whether he meant the Syrian military, Sisi, who has overseen a warming of ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main he responded: "Yes."



Syrian security services chief Ali Mamluk made a surprise visit to Cairo in October and met Egyptian officials, in his first public foreign visit in five years.

Sisi, who was elected in 2014 almost a year after overthrowing his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, has cracked down on Islamists and is battling a deadly jihadist insurgency.

His government had been supported by billions of dollars in aid from Saudi Arabia, but ties appear to have cooled between the two countries amid disagreements over Syria.

Saudi Arabia backs rebels trying to oust Assad, while Russia and Iran are supporting him militarily.

Saudi Arabia suspended oil shipments to Egypt in October, a move announced after Cairo backed a Russian-drafted resolution on Syria in the UN Security Council, angering Riyadh.

And while Egypt has on paper been part of a Saudi-led Arab coalition in Yemen backing pro-government forces against Shiite Huthi rebels, analysts say that behind the scenes, Egypt has been reluctant to engage.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The UK's equalities watchdog today asked politicians to tone down their Brexit related rhetoric that has "polarised" the country and instead engage in "respectful debate" on the country's historic referendum to leave the European Union.

UK's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in a letter called for "accurate information and respectful debate" from politicians in the wake of Britain's referendum to leave the European Union (EU).

"We are concerned that attacks on supporters of both sides of the Brexit debate have polarised many parts of the country," the EHRC letter said.

"There are those who used, and continue to use, public concern about immigration policy and the economy to legitimise hate. The vast majority of people who voted to leave the EU did so because they believe it is best for Britain and not because they are intolerant of others," it said.

The letter calls on the government to do more to combat hate peddled by a "small minority", as it also suggests there should be a review of the effectiveness of sentencing for hate crimes in England and Wales, including the ability to increase sentencing for hate crimes.

The EHRC, an independent statutory body which advises on equality and human rights law, states that "politicians of all sides should be aware of the effect on national mood of their words and policies" even when those policies are not acted upon - like the government's now-abandoned proposal for companies to list foreign workers.

"Your offices bring with them a responsibility to ensure that policy debate is conducted in a way that brings the country together and moves it forward," the EHRC stated.

"Robust discussion is a central pillar of our democracy and nothing should be done to undermine freedom of expression. The right to free and fair elections supported by accurate information and respectful debate is also essential to our democratic process," the letter said.

"Our elected representatives and the media should reflect and foster the best values in our society and engage people on contentious issues in a responsible and considered way," it added.

UK Home Office figures released in October showed racist or religious abuse incidents recorded by police in England and Wales jumped 41 per cent in the month after the UK voted to quit the EU.

May had hoped to invoke Article 50 without having to seek



parliamentary approval but a legal challenge concluded in the UK Supreme Court earlier this week directed her to acquire the consent of both Houses of British Parliament.

MPs will debate the new Bill on Tuesday and Wednesday, the government has announced, with a third day of debate and a vote on February 8. It will then go to the House of Lords to be discussed.

The government hopes this process can take place smoothly for the May to adhere to her declared timetable of wanting to officially notify the EU of Britain's exit plans by the end of March.

Butthe Labour party is planning to table four amendments and the Scottish National Party are planning to table 60.

The Opposition MPs have also expressed their frustration that they will have just few days to debate the bill in Parliament.
A 35-year-old farmer was electrocuted when a high-tension wire fell on him at Rankhandi village under Purkazi police station in the district here, police said today.

"Ramesh was on the way to his fields when power supply wire fell on him. He died on the spot," police said.

In another incident, two people were killed and three seriously injured when a car in which they were travelling collided with a truck near New Mandi bypass on Delhi-Haridwar National Highway.

"Gunjan (35) and Salman (28), a resident of Gurgaon were killed in the incident while Rakesh, Deepak and Akshay sustained serious injuries," police said.

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nearly 200 farmers and some industries in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district have been booked for alleged water theft, police said today.

An FIR under IPC section 430 was yesterday lodged with Kopargaon city police in Ahmednagar for alleged mischief by wrongfully diverting water, against about 200 farmers and some industries in Aurangabad district.

The incident dates back to 2012 when a portion of water released from Darana and Bhandardara dams in Ahmednagar district did not reach Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad. It was meant to be supplied as drinking water to the citizens.

Sanjay Kale, a Kopargaon-based activist, approached the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court after the local police did not entertain his complaint on misuse of water.

"I obtained information through RTI and was shocked to see that 3.5 TMC of the six-TMC water, released from Ahmednagar district, did not reach Jayakwadi dam in Aurangabad. It was released in October, 2012 due to the acute water shortage in central Maharashtra. It clearly means that water was lifted from the river bank without due permissions from the authorities concerned.

"I started following it up with police officers, including the then Ahmednagar SP, but nobody took me seriously," Kale told PTI.

"Hence, I filed a writ petition before the Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court where the reports submitted by the state Irrigation department were discussed and the court directed the police to lodge a complaint," he said.

Kopargaon city police Inspector Suresh Shinde told PTI, "The case has been filed against approximately 200 farmers and some industries. But, the actual theft has taken place in Aurangabad district, near Paithan town. Hence, we will hand over the case to Paithan police station which will further investigate it.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The BJP today accused National Conference chief a nd former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah of speaking the language of Pakistan and insulting Parliament with his remarks in which he had made light of India's claims over Pak-occupied-Kashmir.

Attacking him, its National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said Abdullah was frustrated after being in power in the state and over the fact that it was returning to normalcy following months of unrest.

"He is speaking the language of Pakistan. He is speaking the language of terrorists like Hafiz Sayeed and Azhar Masood. He is unable to digest the return of the state to normalcy. In his greed for power, he is doing this vote bank politics. It only shows his mental bankruptcy," he said.

Noting that Parliament has passed resolutions reiterating India's claim over PoK, he said Abdullah had insulted Parliament even though he has been a Union Minister as well as a Chief Minister.

"PoK is a part of India and sooner than later we will have our sovereignty over it," he said.

The BJP leader blamed Abdullah family and Gandhi family for the Kashmir issue, saying had they listened to the then Home Minister Sardar Patel, then the problem would not have festered so long.

Speaking at a public meeting on Thursday last, Abdullah had said PoK is not "your father's property" as he insisted that neither India nor Pakistan can capture the state's territory falling outside their control.

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Millions of French voters head to the polls today to select a presidential candidate for the centre- right Republicans party, with ex-premier Francois Fillon tipped to emerge the winner and become the favourite for next year's election.

The US-style primary contest, the first for the Republicans, is a battle between socially conservative and economic "radical" Fillon and the more moderate Alain Juppe, also a former prime minister who is nine years older at 71.

The French presidential vote is being seen as a key test for mainstream political parties after the success of Donald Trump in the United States and the Brexit campaign in Britain, both of which harnessed anti-elite, anti-establishment anger.

Whoever wins today will face fierce competition from far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is waiting in the wings ready to attack the victor as a symbol of France's ruling class.

Fillon, a career politician and prime minister from 2007- 12, has warned that France is "on the verge of revolt" and believes his plan to slash 500,000 public sector jobs and business regulations is the tonic the demoralised country needs.

"I'll do everything for entrepreneurs!" he declared at his final rally on Friday night in Paris, promising to unleash businesses in order to create the jobs needed to lower a stubbornly high unemployment rate of around 10 percent.

The devout Catholic and motor racing fan has also won support with his hard line on Muslim immigrants, as well as an emphasis on protecting France's identity, language and family values.

He demanded Friday that "the Islamic religion accept what all the others have accepted in the past... That radicalism and provocation have no place here."



Juppe has made a clear pitch for the centre-ground, accusing his opponent of wanting to reform France with "brutality" with an unrealistic programme that has drawn support from the far-right.

As well as promising to shrink the French state, Juppe's signature announcement was a promise to seek a "happy identity" for multicultural France despite worries about the threat of immigration and Islamic extremism.

"I think I am best placed with my programme to beat Marine Le Pen," Juppe said on the last day of campaigning on Friday.

He has also sought to highlight Fillon's conservative views on abortion and gay marriage, as well as his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin who praised Fillon last week as a "very principled person".

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Four persons, including a Delhi Police Sub-inspector was arrested today in west Delhi's Tilak Nagar area for allegedly duping a man of Rs 18 lakh on the pretext of getting his demonetised banknotes exchanged.

The accused told Sharifuddin, a cloth merchant from Bihar, that they would get his demonetised currency notes exchanged with new ones, a senior police officer said.

He had given them Rs 18 lakh, but did not get the new banknotes in return, following which he filed a complaint at Tilak Nagar Police Station on November 22, the officer said.

After an inquiry, Sudhir Rathi, a sub-inspector posted at Kalyanpuri Police Station, along with three others, Rannvijay, Rohit and Ankur, were arrested this morning, police said.

Rannvijay worked as an insurance agent, while Rohit worked at a private tuition centre and Ankur was unemployed, the police officer said.

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Four boys, aged between 10 and 14, were today detained for allegedly raping a six-year-old girl in city's Pimpri area here, police said.

Yesterday afternoon the boys, who live in Anna Saheb Magar slum, allegedly picked up a six-year-old girl, who was playing in the vicinity and took her to a secluded area and raped her by taking turns, officials from Pimpri police station said today.

"The incident came to light after the girl, who was traumatised, narrated her ordeal to her mother and later police were informed," they said.

A case under sections 376 (rape), 377 (unnatural offences) of IPC and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 was registered, officials said, adding all the four boys have been detained.

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General Qamar Bajwa's "pro- democracy credentials" and his low-profile influenced Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appoint him to the powerful post of army chief superseding four top generals, Pakistani media and experts commented today.

"A careful review of General Bajwa's profile clearly reflects that his pro-democracy credentials earned him the post of Chief of Army Staff," leading Pakistani newspaper The commented, a day after Prime Minister Sharif appointed Gen Bajwa to succeed Gen Raheel Sharif as the army chief.

The media commented that Prime Minister Sharif wanted to appoint an army chief who should be military expert as well as backing democracy in the Islamic nation.

The military has been in charge of the country for more than half of Pakistan's nearly 70-year history since independence from Britain.

"All the four generals being considered for the post of COAS were passed out from military academy on the same day but undoubtedly General Bajwa has an experience more diversified than all others. General Bajwa's caliber, credentials, experience and holding the biggest core also helped him to be appointed the Chief of Army Staff," the report said.

Another leading daily, Dawn said, "Gen Bajwa's relatively more moderate view of the relationship with the civilian government, it is said, proved to be the decisive factor in Prime Minister Sharif's decision."



One of Gen Bajwa's former commanding officers told the paper that the COAS-designate is a "strong proponent of the army not intruding into civilian space."



Under the watch of the outgoing army chief Sharif, the civil-military balance of power had titled more in military's favour, the report said.

With his elevation as army chief, Gen Bajwa has now superseded Lt Gen Syed Wajid Hussain (chairman of Heavy Industries Taxila), Lt Gen Najibullah Khan (DG Joint Staff Headquarters), Lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed (Corps Commander Multan) and Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday (Corps Commander Bahawalpur).

Dawn also said that Prime Minister Sharif named the new military command, appointing Gen Bajwa and Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), respectively, in the hope of stabilising the fragile civil-military balance.

While the office of CJCSC is technically the more senior position - as he serves as the principal military adviser to the prime minister and the National Command Authority (NCA) - the office of army chief is the most prized and arguably the most powerful position in the country, the paper said.

Bajwa, an infantry officer, has commanded the famed 10 Corps, the army's largest, which is responsible for guarding the area along the Line of Control (LoC) with India.

On a personal level, Gen Bajwa is said to be witty, accessible, well-connected with the troops and not fond of the limelight.

Bajwa is the fourth officer from the infantry's Baloch



Regiment to become the army chief. Before him, Gen Yahya Khan, Gen Aslam Beg and Gen Kayani rose to that position.

Meanwhile, PML-N Senator, Lt General (Retired) Abdul Qayyum said there was no difference in the credentials of all the four generals who were considered for the top slot in army. However it was prime minister's discretion to appoint anyone among the four candidates.

"Prime Minister definitely wanted an army chief who is supportive of democratic system in the country, who believes in the supremacy of Parliament and who could work for the betterment of the country.

"These were the major points what I believe the prime minister would have taken into consideration before appointing the COAS. I believe General Qamar Bajwa possesses all these elements due to which he has been given the top slot in Pakistan Army," Gen Qayyum told The .

To a question about General Bajwa's positive role in the 2014 anti-government sit in, he said he was not sure about any such information however if he had played a positive role, it was his duty as they took oath to protect the Constitution of Pakistan.

On Prime Minister Sharif's decision to supersede four generals, Gen Qayyum said it was prime minister's prerogative.

"The premier wanted an all rounder for the top slot in Pakistan Army who could not only run the institution of Pak Army but his relation with the civil government was also important," he said.

Former Corp Commander Karachi Lieutenant General (Retired) Sajjad Ghani said there was no major difference in the credentials of the four candidates for the top slot.

However it was up to the prime minister's discretion who saw his suitability in terms of working relations with the civilian government. Therefore, he said this was not a surprise for those who were aware of the system of Pakistan Army.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's office last night, in a press statement, confirmed the two key military appointments.

"At the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain approved promotions of Lt Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to the rank of Generals.

After promotion, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat has been appointed as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been appointed as Chief of the Army Staff," a press release said.

Bajwa will take charge of the world's sixth-largest army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when General Raheel formally retires.

Later, the army chief designate called on the prime minister and discussed various issues with him.
The police force in Haryana has been put on high alert and security beefed up in and around all prisons in the state in the wake of the sensational Nabha jailbreak incident at Patiala in neighbouring Punjab today.

"The borders with Patiala and the adjoining borders with Ambala, Kaithal and Jind have been sealed," Haryana Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Mohd Akil, said here today.

Besides, checking is being carried out by putting up 'nakas', he said.

"Special teams trained in anti-terrorist activities have been deputed in the state. The police force in both states is working in perfect coordination with each other," he said.

Akil further said that the Haryana Police would leave no stone unturned in tracing the terrorists who escaped from the Nabha maximum security jail.

"Directions had been issued to tighten the security outside all jails in Haryana. High alert has been issued in all districts of the state," he added.

Meanwhile, in the wake of the Nabha jailbreak incident in Punjab, Haryana's Director General of Prisons, Yashpal Singal today directed all prison officers to step up security in and around all prisons in the State, besides enhancing surveillance and carrying out comprehensive search campaigns.

Singal also directed all Superintendents of Jails to conduct meetings at their own level to review security measures in jails and ensure their effective implementation.

He also directed them to maintain vigil regarding any kind of suspicious activity in the vicinity of jail in collaboration with the district police.

In a sensational jailbreak incident, a group of armed men in police uniform today attacked the high-security Nabha Jail in Punjab's Patiala district and escaped with six prisoners, including a Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.

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Artist Chintan Upadhyay, arrested in connection with the murder of his estranged wife Hema and her lawyer Haresh Bhambhani, has approached Bombay High Court seeking bail on the ground that he was falsely implicated.

Chintan filed the bail plea recently in the high court after a sessions court rejected his application for the same last month while referring to the murders as an "act of hate", and cited the possibility of Chintan fleeing from justice if he is let off on bail.

Mumbai-based artist Hema and Bhambani were killed on December 11 last year and their bodies disposed of in cardboard boxes that were thrown into a ditch in suburban Kandivali.

Prime accused Vidyadhar Rajbhar has been absconding since then, while Chintan was arrested soon after on suspicion of being the alleged mastermind behind the conspiracy to eliminate his estranged wife.

Chintan in his bail plea claimed that he has been falsely implicated in the case. He also said that investigations in the case were over and chargesheet has also been filed, hence his custody is not required.

The bail plea will come up for hearing tomorrow before Justice N W Sambre.

In its charge sheet, the police claimed that even the murder of Bhambhani was premeditated as he represented Hema in all her cases and Chintan wanted to finish them both.

The charge sheet also relied heavily on call data records, and said that it was Chintan who had called up his servant Pradeep Rajbhar to confirm if the murder had been committed.

The charge sheet also relied on Pradeep's account of Chintan's involvement.

Apart from Chintan, the others arrested in the case include Pradeep Rajbhar and Shivkumar Rajbhar.

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High alert has been sounded in Northern states after a top Khalistani terrorist along with five others escaped from a Punjab jail, arousing suspicion that the militant might have pre-decided his hideouts.

Central security agencies have told the governments of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi Police to remain on high alert as chief of Khalistan Liberation Front Harminder Mintoo could be hiding in their territory to escape from Punjab Police dragnet.

Sources said Mintoo is unlikely to escape to Pakistan as there has been heightened security along the border in the last few months due to tension between India and Pakistan and continuing cross-border firing along International Border and Line of Control.

Suspicion has arisen that the Khalistani terrorist might have been hiding in pre-decided locations as per the conspiracy hatched to free him from the high-security Nabha prison.

In a sensational jailbreak, Mintoo along with five other prisoners escaped today after armed men in police uniform stormed the high-security Nabha prison in Punjab.

Meanwhile, a high alert has also been sounded in Union Territory Chandigarh, the common capital of both Punjab and Haryana.

Police have stepped up security measures in the city.

Security around the high-security Burail jail here has also been increased. Police teams are checking vehicles at various check barriers, officials said.

Security has also been strengthened in and around the Punjab and Haryana Raj Bhawans and the residences of both Punjab and Haryana Chief Ministers here.
Hollywood star Aaron Eckhart says he is constantly learning from the mistakes he has made in



the industry.

Talking about his "Bleed for This" co-star Miles Teller, Eckhart said he has discussed his mistakes with the young actor



as he feels paternal towards him.

"I'm constantly talking to him about mistakes I made, because I want him to do well. I don't want him to fall into the traps I fell into," Eckhart told the Guardian.

The actor said he wants Teller to avoid the traps that fame and money throws.

"In this business, with the fame and money, there are traps. You can start believing things about yourself that won't



do you any good. And there are conversations nobody had with me



that I wish they had. So, on Sully, I took the chance to ask Tom - top pro - how he handles certain things. Because if you get those things wrong, it damages a career.

"I'm 48. For 20 years I've made mistakes, and recovered from mistakes. I've asked myself tough questions... I've just tried to be a better person, and not take everything so seriously. Because I'm very sensitive.

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Socialite-DJ Paris Hilton said she is not a dumb blonde and loves when people get to see that she is a strong businesswoman.

Although people often expect her to be ditzy, Paris said they are pleasantly surprised when they hear her talk about her



business empire, reported Femalefirst.

"If someone hasn't met me yet, they automatically have their misconceptions about me. As soon as I am in a board room in front of them talking about my business, they immediately know I'm not the dumb blonde they thought I was," Paris, 35, said.

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More BSF personnel have died of heart attack and other illnesses than in action on the borders and anti-Naxal operations in the past two years, according to official data.

While men and women of the country's largest border guarding force BSF face enemy bullets and mortars amid recent hostilities with Pakistan, data reveals that only 25 of total 774 deaths in the period between January 2015 and September 2016 were battle casualties.

Data showed that while a total of 25 personnel were killed in action, 316 died due to a variety of diseases and illnesses and 117 suffered fatal cardiac arrest.

While the cases of deaths due to HIV/AIDS and malaria have gone down in the paramilitary force during the period, fatal casualties of personnel in rail, road and bike accidents continue. Officials said these remained a "cause of worry".

Amongst the other causes of death in the force during the period are: 192 deaths took place due to road or Railway accidents, 18 lost their lives due to HIV/AIDS, 38 due to cancer and five owing to malaria.

"The force lost 774 personnel during the period, out of which only 25 were battle casualties. This is a cause of worry and these numbers need to be brought down. A number of initiatives are being taken to ensure a healthy lifestyle and safe driving habits amongst the personnel," a senior official said.

Last year, former BSF Director General D K Pathak had told PTI that the about 2.5-lakh personnel strong force was witnessing a worrying trend in its ranks, as it was losing four times more troops in off-duty bike accidents, than at the borders or other conflict theatres in the hinterland in the recent past.

The Border Security Force (BSF) is tasked to secure the two most important borders of India with Pakistan and Bangladesh, besides being deployed for a variety of internal security duties including anti-Maoist operations.

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Stepping up its efforts to trace black money parked abroad, India has shot off at least 20 'administrative assistance' requests to Switzerland in recent months seeking details of Indians suspected to have misused Swiss banks' famed high-secrecy walls to evade taxes.

The individuals and companies about whom India has requested for information include at least three listed companies, former CEO of a real estate major, wife of a Delhi- based former bureaucrat, a Dubai-based Indian origin investment banker, a high-profile fugitive along with his wife and an UAE-based holding company, as also some Gujarati businessmen settled abroad and presumably in trading business.

Many of these are suspected to have maintained accounts in Swiss banks through offshore entities, including in Panama and British Virgin Islands.

These requests for 'administrative assistance', which typically involves exchange of information on submission of proof by the requesting country about the account holder's wrongdoing, have been documented by Swiss authorities in their Federal Gazette as per local laws to give the concerned person or entity a last chance to appeal against sharing of data.

While India and Switzerland last week signed a new pact for automatic exchange of information about account details September 2018 onwards, the pending requests have been made under their existing bilateral tax treaty.

In the past also, names of some Indian nationals figured in Switzerland's Federal Gazette notifications after the Swiss authorities were approached by India for information about those people with regard to the pending tax-related probes against them.

After following the due process prescribed under Swiss law, the information has been shared by Switzerland with India in some cases, pursuant to which the Indian authorities -- including the tax department and Enforcement Directorate -- have proceeded with their prosecution and other actions.

However, the pace of seeking such details seems to have quickened in the recent months, going by the sudden spurt in the number of Indian names figuring in such notifications.

So far in November alone, five Indian names have been disclosed, while a similar number of 'administrative assistance' requests were notified in October as well. Since June this year, at least 20 such requests have been disclosed by the Swiss authorities.

Typically, these notifications include name, nationality and date of birth of the concerned individual, while in case of companies, their names and the country of registration are mentioned.

For long, Switzerland has been known for strict secrecy clauses about details of foreigners having accounts in Swiss banks. However, under growing global pressure, Switzerland has begun sharing information in cases where other countries have been able to present some evidence of suspected illegalities.

Under Swiss law, a prescribed procedure is followed for



any administration assistance or information exchange by the FTA (Federal Tax Administration of Switzerland) with India or any other country with which the Alpine nation has tax treaties about their respective nationals.

Among other provisions, this procedure also seeks to safeguard "the right to be heard" of the person about whom information is sought by a foreign country.

"If the person concerned has not designated a person authorised to receive the notifications, the FTA shall inform this person about the pending administrative assistance procedure through the requesting authority.

"Simultaneously, the FTA shall set a period of time for the person concerned to designate a person authorised to receive notifications. The FTA may inform the concerned person directly provided that the requesting authority expressly consents to this procedure in that case," the rules say.

If the person concerned is found to be entitled to appeal, he or she may participate in the procedure and inspect the files. The information can be shared with the foreign authorities after the appeal is rejected.

As per the latest data by Swiss National Bank, money held by Indians in Swiss banks fell to to a record low of 1.2 billion franc (about Rs 8,392 crore) at the end of 2015.

The funds held by Indians with Swiss banks stood at a record high of CHF 6.5 billion (Rs 23,000 crore) at 2006-end.

However, the quantum of these funds has been falling since then, except for in 2011 and in 2013 when Indians' money had risen by over 12 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.

The funds, described by SNB as 'liabilities' of Swiss banks or 'amounts due to' their clients, are the official figures disclosed by the Swiss authorities and do not indicate the quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held by Indians in the safe havens of Switzerland.

SNB's official figures also do not include the money that Indians or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries.

There are more than 250 banks in Switzerland and they together have an estimated 1.24 lakh full-time employees.

Last week, Switzerland agreed to automatic sharing of information with India on Swiss bank accounts of Indians.

The 'Joint Declaration' in this regard provides that both countries will start collecting data in accordance with the global standards in 2018 and exchange it from 2019 onwards.

While Switzerland has conformed to the global standards on automatic exchange of information with the signing of the declaration, India, on its part, has promised to safeguard the confidentiality of the data.
Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba arrived here today on a five day bilateral visit aimed at consolidating and enhance the bilateral maritime security relations between India and Sri Lanka.

During his visit, he will hold bilateral discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and senior dignitaries including the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs, an official statement said.

The Admiral will also attend the 'Galle Dialogue' which is being held at Colombo. The Galle Dialogue is an annual conference hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of Maritime Security and Cooperation between international navies.

Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event.

He would be delivering key-note address on 'India's perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships', during the event.

There exists a robust Naval cooperation between India and Sri Lanka encompassing a wide span which includes operational interactions through bilateral exercises, coordinated patrolling along the common maritime border, training, port calls, capacity building and capacity augmentation initiatives, the statement said.

The Admiral will also lay a wreath at the Indian Peace Keeping Force memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka to honour Indian Martyrs, during his visit.

Lanba's visit also comes days after India and Sri Lanka held their fourth Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) here on November 3.

Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar and the Sri Lankan Defence Secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi co-chaired the meeting along with their delegations, comprising officers from the Defence Ministries, Foreign Affairs Ministries and the Armed Forces of both the countries.

During the ADD, various ongoing defence cooperation initiatives were jointly reviewed and new avenues for cooperation identified. The regional security situation and issues of maritime security were also discussed at the meeting.

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An eight-year-old Indian-origin boy died from internal injuries when a teenager accidentally fell over him during an indoor game of laser tag in Leicester.

Aryan Patel died after the larger boy landed on him at Megazone Laser Tag in the city in the Midlands region of England in April.

An inquest into the death earlier this week concluded Aryan's death in April was accidental.

Following the inquest, Aryan's father, 45-year-old IT worker Rajendra Patel, who went to his son's aid during the incident said, "We have lost a loved one who can never be replaced and will never be forgotten."



"We bare no animosity towards the person who collided with Aryan and commend him for staying behind and providing his details. What he said in the hearing has set our minds at rest. We would like him to try to forget this incident and move forward in his life," he added.

The teenager told Leicester Coroner's Court he did not realise Aryan was there because of his slight build and the poor lighting in the room.

Aryan, who was very small for his age, was groaning and appeared to be having a fit as he was carried to the arena's reception after the collision with the other player and was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary.

He died nearly an hour after arriving at hospital from a liver injury and subsequent blood loss.

Leicester City Council told the court it will be taking no action against Megazone because it was satisfied with the company's health and safety procedures.

"We are bitterly disappointed that Megazone and the Leicester City Council have not looked at implementing changes into how players are more suitably grouped," the Patel family said.

"We would have hoped that Megazone would have taken this unfortunate incident to ensure that no other family will have to go through the pain and anguish that we are going through now and in years to come," the family statement said.

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For the first time, an Indian Sikh has held an exhibition at Guru Nanak's birthplace displaying the images of sacred trees in Sikhism after which nearly 60 Gurudwaras have been named in India and Pakistan.

The exhibition has been put up in the main parikrama of the Nankana Sahib Gurudwara, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion.

The exhibition, inaugurated last Friday by retired Indian IAS officer DS Jaspal, comprises 21 panels.

Each panel has an image of the sacred tree from Jaspal's book 'Tryst with Trees', along with a brief description of its botanical features, its health status, as well as the relationship between the tree and the historical and religious background of the shrine.

Prominent Sikhs, including members of the Pakistan Sigh Gurdwara Parbhandik Committee, attended the inauguration ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Khalid Ali, Additional Secretary, Evacuee Property Trust Board Pakistan, said that the exhibition "sends a strong message not only for peace and religious harmony but also for nature and environment and, in particular, of the relevance of religion in promoting conservation efforts."



Complimenting Jaspal for his pioneering research in documenting, with beautiful photographs, sacred Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan which are named after trees, Khalid said the exhibition will be of interest not only to Sikhs, but also to all nature lovers.

In his pictorial book, Jaspal has documented with photographs 58 sacred Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan which are named after 19 species of trees, like Gurudwara Babe-di-Ber in Sialkot; Gurudwara Nim Sahib in Patiala; Gurudwara Tahli Sahib; Gurudwara Ritha Sahib; Gurudwara Amb Sahib; Gurudwara Imli Sahib; Gurudwara Pipli Sahib; Gurudwara Jand Sahib; Gurudwara Phalahi Sahib.

According to Jaspal, although love and respect for nature and environment are common to every religious faith, the naming of sacred shrines after trees is unique to the Sikh religion.

He pointed out that during the time of Guru Nanak, Nankana Sahib and its environs were thickly forested with hardy species like the Van, Jand and Phalahi which are now almost extinct.

Guru Nanak would often retreat into the forest for meditation and to be in the company of saints and seers, he said.

Jaspal, who has held exhibitions in New York, Washington, Oslo, Delhi, Chandigarh and Lahore travelled extensively in India and Pakistan over a period of three years to compile the material and photographs for his book.

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Indo-US ties are likely to be further strengthened under the incoming Trump administration, the head of an American business advocacy group representing companies having presence in India has said and expressed hope that rhetoric against H-1B visas will also die down and sanity would prevail.

"Our expectation is that the India US relationship would get much more enhanced," Mukesh Aghi, the president of the US India Business Council (USIBC) told PTI.

Observing that "alignment of interest" between the two largest democracies of the world is "not tied to individuals, but to nations", Aghi said the relationship "probably would pick up a momentum" with this Administration.

A day after Donald Trump was elected as the president of the United States, Aghi on behalf of USIBC wrote a letter to the president-elect to invite the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the US in the first year of his administration.

"Now president-elect is little bit obliged, because Indian Americans were the only minority group which stood up for Donald Trump. So I think, he feels some sense of affinity (with India and Indian Americans). So I believe that you will see things moving strongly in the right direction," he said in response to a question.

Addressing a gathering of Indian Americans in New Jersey in late October, Trump had promised a better economic ties and strategic relationship with India, he pointed out.

USIBC and its members, he said, is "constantly in touch" with the transition team.

"The feedback is positive. The feedback is tell us what it is we need to put in policy structure to drive this relationship. That process continues daily between USIBC, its members and its transition team," he said.

Responding to a question on future prospects of H-1B visas, which is the most sought after work visas by Indian techies, the USIBC president said as some of its opponents including Senator Jeff Sessions, who has been nominated for the post of Attorney General, they have to look at "bigger" perspective.

"These are Republicans. They are business oriented. H-1B is not about job displacement. That was election rhetoric. H-1B is about making US industry, US companies more competitive...So I think, we have to take away that noise that H-1B is killing jobs in the United States," he said.

"You have to look at other side of this as well. It is because of H-1B, India is able to get large foreign exchange. And in return, India has become the number one buyer of US defence equipment. So, this is not just one sided story. You have to understand that if you kill H-1B there is an impact on defense side of the relationship as well," he said.

As a result, Aghi hoped that "the rhetoric would die down" and sanity would prevail.

Trump, while outlining his policy plans for the first 100 days in office, had said that he would investigate abuses of work visa programmes.

In its wish-list submitted to the president-elect, the USIBC said that it believes that pro-growth policies can expand commercial partnerships from USD100 billion to USD500 billion in the coming years.

USIBC said inviting Modi in the first year of his administration would send a clear signal about the importance of the bilateral relationship.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China offers the most attractive distressed opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region over the next 12 months, followed by Japan and India, as investors seek to invest amid global uncertainties, says a report.

According to Debtwire's Asia-Pacific Distressed Debt & Special Situations Market Update, produced in association with PwC and ReedSmith, investors are planning to allocate more or the same amount of capital to the region's distressed debt.

Distressed debt opportunities are those in which investors buy assets at bargain prices.

"As the world reckons with the results of the US presidential election, and while Brexit negotiations remain hanging in the air, there have been speculations of realignments in political and trade relations involving Europe and the US, prompting investors to sharpen their focus on markets in the Asia-Pacific region," the report said.

Financial services, oil and gas, and energy are some of the largest sectors where there is distressed debt at the moment, and respondents are also bullish about their prospects in such areas.

The report, based on the opinions of 60 private equity investors, prop desk traders, hedge fund managers, credit risk or workout managers, and emerging market investors in the Asia-Pacific region, noted that in the next 12 months, 88 per cent of respondents plan to allocate more or the same amount of capital to Asia-Pacific distressed debt opportunities.

According to 52 per cent of those surveyed, China offers the most attractive opportunity, followed by Japan which received 35 per cent of investor vote and India 7 per cent votes.

"Volatility and uncertainty remain the watchwords of the year to come, both in economic and geopolitical terms, and it is up to the shrewd investor to know when to strike while the iron is hot," Luc Mongeon, Managing Editor of Debtwire Asia-Pacific, in the foreword of the report, said.

The survey noted that the greatest impediments to restructuring efforts include unfavourable bankruptcy laws, followed by the lender's own capital issues (33 per cent) and debtor delay due to legal and regulatory permissions.

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Firefighters have extinguished blazes that ravaged Israel and the occupied West Bank for five days and forced tens of thousands to flee, authorities said today, blaming arsonists for some outbreaks.

There were no deaths but some 122 people were treated for injuries, mainly due to smoke inhalation, medical officials said.

Around 700 homes were damaged or destroyed as the blazes fed by high winds and dry conditions ripped through thousands of hectares.

In recent days, firefighting planes from a list of countries could be seen sloping low over the hills of the occupied West Bank and Israel dropping tonnes of water and retardants.

At one point last week, flames towered over an area near Jerusalem, and residents on Sunday were left surveying their charred homes and businesses.

"There are no active sites left," fire and rescue service spokesman Yoram Levy told AFP. "Since last night it's pretty calm. We have no new activity."



According to Levy, firefighters dealt with about 2,000 fires in Israel and the West Bank, 20 of them major.

The Israeli authorities suspect that some of the fires were set alight on purpose and linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said today that 17 of 110 fires in the West Bank were so far determined to be arson, without providing further details.

Speaking at the Israeli settlement of Halamish in the West Bank, where dozens of homes were damaged at the weekend, he said Israel should respond to any arson by building more settlement homes.

Police have arrested 23 people suspected of lighting fires and interrogated another seven.

However, Palestinian authorities also joined in the massive international effort to douse the fast-spreading fires and have pointed to damage to their crops and land.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare phone call to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday to thank him for those efforts.

Lieberman also thanked the Palestinians.

Levy noted forces were still "on high alert" due to dry conditions and high winds that were not expected to change prior to rainfall expected on Wednesday.

In an example of the risks, a forest fire was extinguished today near Kiryat Malakhi in southern Israel.

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In their first direct clash with ISIS fighters, the Israeli forces today killed four militants of the dreaded terror group in a swift retaliation after they fired mortars towards the Jewish state's border from Syrian territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lauded his troops for the swift action at the weekly cabinet meeting without going into details.

"I wish to praise IDF (Israel Defence Forces) soldiers for thwarting an attack on our northern border," Netanyahu told his cabinet colleagues.

The skirmish began when a unit of the IDF Golani Brigade was in the middle of conducting an ambush and crossed the fence while remaining in Israeli territory and came under heavy machine gun and mortar fire from ISIS fighters.

A number of mortar shells were also fired towards Israel's direction from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, which landed near the security fence, shortly after gunshots were heard, prompting Israeli troops to retaliate.

Israeli Air Force claimed to have killed all the four attackers soon after.

"The response was sharp and swift and was intended to send a message that we are in the area and are determined to protect our border. The IDF's response took place within minutes," an army official was quoted as saying by website 'Ynet'.

"We have no intention of escalating matters in the area but we will not accept a reality in which forces open fire in our direction," he added.

No Israeli soldier was injured in the skirmishes.

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In pursuance of party chief Nitish Kumar support to demonetisation, JD(U) has decided to keep off from the nationwide protest by Opposition tomorrow against the scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes as well the dharna to be held by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee here on November 30.

"We have supported and welcomed the Centre's demonetisation move. Then how can we oppose or be the part of activity like bandh which is meant to protest the issue which our party has strongly supported," Bihar unit JD(U) President Bashishtha Narayan Singh told PTI today.

Singh attended a high level party meeting held by party chief President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar last evening to take a decision on Monday's stir called by Opposition parties to corner the Narendra Modi government over the ban on denomination currencies to fight blackmoney.

The meeting chaired by Kumar was attended by senior party functionaries K C Tyagi, R C P Singh, Harivansh, Bashishtha Narayan Singh, Pawan Verma, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and others.

In addition to keeping away from the November 28 agitation, JD(U) would not participate in Banerjee's dharna in Patna on Wednesday to demand roll back of demonetisation.

"JD(U) will not be part of any agitation against demonetisation including the dharna of Mamata Banerjee on November 30 in Patna," party Secretary General K C Tyagi said.

"We have taken an ideological position in favour of demonetisation so how can we be part of any agitation seeking its roll back," Tyagi said while stating his party's stand on the proposed agitation as well as the sit-in by TMC chief, who is on the forefront of agitation against demonetisation.

Kumar on Friday had said that he had a talk with Mamata Banerjee only before her visit to Rashtrapati Bhawan to meet President Pranab Mukherjee against the demonetisation.

"She had spoken to me before going to Rashtrapati Bhawan and I had pointed to her that even the President has supported demonetisation," Kumar had said about parleys with Banerjee.

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Juanita Castro, a sister of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro who has lived in Miami for decades, will not attend his funeral, local media has reported.

"Given unhealthy rumours that I was headed to Cuba for the funeral, I want to state clearly that I have never returned to the island, and I don't plan to do so," Castro told El Nuevo Herald yesterday.

"I'm not rejoicing in any human being's death, nor would I do that with someone who shares my family names," she went on. "As Fidel's sister, I am going through the loss of a human being who shared my blood."



President Raul Castro, Fidel's 85-year-old younger brother, made the announcement of Fidel's death on state television around midnight Friday.

Fidel and Cuban President Raul Castro were among their parents' seven offspring. Juanita, born in 1933, was the only one to publicly oppose the Communist regime her brother led for over five decades.

She has been living in Miami since 1964, and said she cooperated with a CIA plot to oust Fidel.

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Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has given in-principle approval to set up a 300 bedded government medical college and hospital at Gurugram.

Stating this here today, an official spokesman said that initially it would be set up with 100 MBBS seats but a provision would be made to increase the number of seats to 200 and addition of a dental college with 100 BDS seats and provision of MD or MS and MDS courses in future.

It would also be upgraded to a 500 bedded hospital in future, he added.

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Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo and five others escaped from Nabha jail in Punjab today after armed men in police uniform tricked the sentries into opening the gates and bolted out with the inmates firing a hail of bullets.

Among the escapees was another terrorist Kashmira Singh, according to Punjab police chief Suresh Arora.

However, hours later, the alleged "mastermind" of the daring daylight jailbreak, Parminder Singh, was arrested from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district when the getaway vehicle--a Toyota Fortuner--was stopped at a police picket.

A self-loading rifle (SLR), three rifles and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from the SUV during the search, UP's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Singh Chaudhary said.

After the six escaped, apparently without facing much resistance from the security personnel, Punjab government sacked two senior prison officials, Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent, suspended ADGP (Jails) M K Tiwari, and formed an SIT to probe the jail break. It ordered a separate inquiry committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to look into the "security lapses".

"There are two aspects. One is that the jailbreak will be probed and the second thing is lapses. Who is responsible, if there is any connivance?" the DGP said.

Arora said, "The unidentified assailants came in police fatigues and were carrying small firearms." He said they told the sentries that they had brought a prisoner along, tricking them into opening the gates.

He said over 35 rounds were fired but there was no casualty among the jail personnel, who were apparently taken offguard and did not offer any strong resistance.

"The firing was also done from inside the jail. We will see why the firing was not effective," the DGP said and added there is a "conspiracy somewhere".

"Had there been effective firing, it would have been the other way round," he said.

Mintoo was arrested by Punjab police in November 2014 after he was deported from Thailand and was wanted in 10 terror cases.

Meanwhile, a woman was killed when the police, in a tizzy after the audacious jailbreak, opened fire at a vehicle which did not stop at a picket, about 20 km away from the jail.

Chaudhary said Parminder had told his interrogators that the escapees had split themselves into groups and had moved in the direction of Karnal and Panipat in Haryana.

"Following the inputs about the jailbreak, we had apprehension that they (escapees) might try to enter Nepal through the long porous border. We had been informed about the registration number of the vehicle. When we searched it, we found weapons. Parminder has confessed to having organised and executed the jailbreak, he was the mastermind," Chaudhary said.

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Islamist-dominated opposition groups and their allies secured nearly half of the Kuwaiti parliament's seats, official results showed today, raising fears of fresh political wrangling in the oil-rich Gulf state.

The opposition and its allies won 24 of the assembly's 50 seats, the electoral authority announced following Saturday's snap election called after a dispute over the hiking of petrol prices.

The Islamist, nationalist and liberal opposition contested the election after a four-year boycott in protest over the government's amendment of the key voting system.

Around half of the opposition candidates who won seats are Islamists from a Muslim Brotherhood-linked group and Salafists.

Voters dealt a heavy blow to candidates from the outgoing parliament, with more than half of them failing to make it into the new assembly.

Two of three cabinet ministers also failed in their bid for re-election.

One third of the members of the new parliament are relatively young and fresh on the political scene.

Only one woman was elected and the Muslim Shiite minority was reduced to six seats from nine in the previous house.

But despite the outcome, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is set to ask the incumbent prime minister or another leading figure from the ruling family to form a new cabinet.

"I think this composition will lead to confrontations between opposition MPs and the next government," political analyst Mohammad al-Ajmi told AFP.

"There are many issues that could spark disputes: economic measures, revoking of citizenships and others," said Ajmi.

In the past two years, the government revoked the citizenship of several leading opposition figures and their family members, citing various motives.

The emir called the poll after dissolving the previous parliament due to a dispute over raising petrol prices.

Saturday's election saw a turnout of about 70 percent amid divisions over cuts in subsidies due to falling oil revenues.

Analyst Dahem al-Qahtani said the opposition had made an "impressive showing".

"Kuwaiti voters have punished those who let them down... and rejected the austerity measures," he told AFP.

Qahtani said for the government to prevent a standoff, it should make initiatives for cooperation with the opposition.

"If the government makes such initiatives, it may succeed in striking a needed political balance and avoid disputes," he said.

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The Left Front is geared up to make its 12-hour West Bengal bandh, called to protest against the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, tomorrow a success while the Trinamool Congress-led state government has vowed to foil it.

The state government has ordered all its employees to attend offices on November 28 and the following day.

Over 3,000 police personnel would be deployed in the metropolis tomorrow to tackle any untoward incident, Kolkata Police Additional Commissioner of Police (III) Supratim Sarkar said here today.

Besides, around 179 police pickets have been set up in different sections and important market places, Sarkar said adding that 11 deputy commissioners and 21 assistant commissioners would monitor the situation in the city tomorrow.

Police personnel would also be present at different metro stations, bus depots, tram terminus, ferry ghats as well as KMC-operated garages, fire sub-stations, Sarkar stated.

Additional security arrangements have been made in all 19 districts of the state to ensure normal life, a West Bengal Police officer said.

The state Finance department has issued a circular stating that all employees would be required to attend office on Monday and Tuesday and exceptions would be made only in case of bereavement, maternity leave, hospitalisation and other 'genuine reasons'.

"We oppose bandhs. We will take out a protest march (against demonetisation) on Monday," state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said.

The state government would take all measures to maintain law and order and normal functioning of public services, state Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee said.

Additional state transport buses and ferry services would be made available for the public to ensure normal life, Transport minister Suvendu Adhikari said.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has opposed the bandh, saying it was against putting people to more hardship when they are "already facing a lot of problems owing to the scarcity of cash".

On November 28, the TMC will take out a rally from College Square to Esplanade to protest against demonetisation, TMC general secretary Subrata Bakshi said.

Justifying the shutdown, Left Front chairman Biman Bose has said that the strike call was necessary to register protest against demonetisation which caused sufferings to the people.

State Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury said that his party would extend moral support to the strike called by the Left parties, with which it had allied during the last Assembly elections.

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Maharashtra government has informed the Bombay High Court that it intends to introduce its own rules on child adoption but until they are brought into force, the existing model rules framed by the Centre shall be operative in the state.

This was stated in an affidavit filed by the state government on November 24 before a bench headed by Chief Justice Dr Manjula Chellur, which was hearing a petition filed by SantoshDigambarHonkarapeand others.

According to the state government, the Centre had its own set of rules on child adoption but Maharashtra intended to frame its own rules by bringing about modifications in the Central rules.

The Centre had told Bombay High Court in May this year that within two months it will frame model rules for the states to follow before Central Adoption Resources Authority (CARA) brings out new guidelines for adoption and added that in the meanwhile, 2015 guidelines issued by CARA will continue.

Thereafter, the Centre framed its own rules on child adoption and informed this to the high court which in turn asked the state government whether it would accept this or bring its own rules.

Now that Maharashtra has decided to frame its own rules, it would set into motion the process for introducing this by seeking approval of both the houses of legislature, said the state government affidavit.

CARA had earlier come out with guidelines after being directed by the Supreme Court in a similar case.

Meanwhile, the high court, on November 24, directed CARA tocomeoutwitha set of guidelines once again so far as the adoption procedure contemplated in the 2015 Act.

The matter has been posted for hearing on January 13, 2017.

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: A 30-year old male elephant was found dead on a railway track in Kerala, at a spot about seven km near the Tamil Nadu border early this morning, police said.

Some people noticed the carcass between Walayar and Vattaparai in Kerala and informed forest department officials, who rushed to the spot with police.

The body of the tusker was later removed.

Police suspect that the elephant might have been hit by a train proceeding to Palakkad from this city.

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Noted Marathi author and Sahitya akademi awardee died in Pune today. He was 80.

According to sources close to his family, Yadav breathed his last at his residence.

His autobiography 'Zombi' had won Sahitya Akadmi award in 1991.

During his illustrious career, Yadav had faced a major controversy over his book 'Santsurya Tukaram', wrote on Sant Tukaram, a saint poet from 17th century.

He was elected president of the 82nd Akhil Bharatiya Sahitya Sammelan, the prestigious literary meet, held in March 2009.

However, he had to resign following the controversy surrounding some remarks in the novel.

In the following year, a Marathi movie 'Natrang' based on Yadav's novel with the same name, was released bringing him back into the limelight.

Yadav had penned around 40 books which comprise collection of essays and poems among others.
General Council meet of Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Film Artistes Association) held here today has endorsed a proposal to expel former office bearers Sarath Kumar and Radha Ravi from the actors' body, General Secretary of the Sangam Vishal said here today.

He said the meet gave its approval for the expulsion of the two against the background of alleged irregularities during their tenure.

Norms like sending them a formal communication on the meet's decision will be done, he told reporters here after the 63rd council meet.

Treasurer and actor Karthi said the duo during their tenure had done an amendment to the byelaws allowing them to be life time trustees of the Nadigar Sangam Charitable Trust, run by the SIAA.

He said that the trust byelaws envisaged nine trustees to run the administration. However, the number of trustees were altered to five through the amendment done in 2008.

Also, both of them appointed themselves as life time trustees. "We do not know how they did that...How they got the right to appoint themselves as life time trustees," he said, adding, other trustees or office-bearers were not kept in the loop.

Actor Radha Ravi, meanwhile, contested the decision of the council while speaking to a Tamil TV channel.

The expulsion move comes after the Sangam's recent decision to suspend them. Also, Nadigar Sangam Charitable Trust had approached the Madras High Court in September last in a connected issue.

Sangam had petitioned the court to direct the police to register an FIR against R Sarathkumar, Radharavi, and another former ex-officio trustee Vagai Chandrasekar for alleged misappropriation of Rs 1.65 crore of the trust's funds.

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Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today paid obeisance at the historic 13th century dargah of sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in the pilgrim town here.

The Chief Minister did 'jiyarat' (worship) in Dargah and presented Chadar on the tomb of the sufi saintin the afternoon.

She prayed to 'Garib Nawaj' (the sufi saint) for peace on India-Pakistan border and peaceful relations between the two countries.

She reached the Dargah after Namaj-e-Johar (afternoon Namaz) and prayed in 'Asthana' (sanctum sanctorum) of sufi saint.

Speaking to media persons here, she said that peace and prosperity are slowly returning to Jammu and Kashmir but still most of the students are not going to schools in the valley.

Mehbooba also listened to qawwali (Sufi devotional music) near panyti gate of the dargah.

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At least 34 civilians were killed today in ethnic violence in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said.

"The provisional toll is 34 civilians killed," said local official Joy Bokele, referring to the attack by a Nande ethnicity militia on the Hutu village of Luhanga.

"They started by attacking the FARDC (DR Congo military) position. While they were attacking the FARDC, another group was executing the population with bladed weapons or bullets," Bokele said.

He added that the attack was carried out by a Nande militia group and that one of the attackers was killed in the clashes.

Tension between the Nande and Hutu peoples have been high in the restive east, shaken by two decades of fighting over land, ethnic tensions and mineral riches.

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Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' who along with five others escaped from the high security jail in Nabha, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014.

The KLF chief was brought to India along with his key aide Gurpeet Singh 'Gopi' after Punjab Police, in coordination with central agencies, traced them in Thailand, a senior police official said.

Mintoo was wanted in ten terror offences while Gopi was tasked to target Hindu outfit leaders in 2013, which were foiled by Punjab Police, in a bid to disturb the peace in the state.

The then Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini had then claimed that Pakistan's spy agency ISI was "making concerted efforts" to use terror outfits like KLF and Babbar Khalsa to revive terrorism in Punjab, with focus on carrying out killings of prominent leaders belonging to a particular community.

To strengthen KLF, he had developed independent contacts with the foreign-based supporters and fund raisers of terrorism, the official said.

When he was in Pakistan, Mintoo worked with Babbar Khalsa International. But, but being ambitious and a good organiser, he developed independent contacts with Pakistan's ISI and Europe and North America-based terrorist sympathisers and fund raisers and had planned to raise his own outfit, police had then said.

During his stay in Pakistan, he had visited Europe in 2010 to establish contacts and in June 2013, he left Pakistan for an extensive tour of Europe lasting 11 months, police had then said.

In South East Asia, the KLF chief had travelled to Laos, Cambodia, Burma, besides Thailand where he had established a base, police had said.

The counter-intelligence wing of Punjab police had been tracking them and shared intelligence inputs with the Central agencies. It was found that Mintoo was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of one Gurdeep Singh.

A two-member team of counter intelligence wing of Punjab police had camped in Thailand for three weeks.

Harminder had been influenced by the radical ideology and had developed contacts with Pakistan based terrorist leaders particularly Wadhawa Singh, the chief of Babbar Khalsa International-another militant outfit, police had then said.

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In a shocking incident, a mother in the US has been accused of injecting fecal matter into her 15-year-old son's intravenous bag and endangering his life while he was undergoing cancer treatments at a hospital.

Tiffany Alberts, 41, of Wolcott, Indiana, used a syringe to inject feces into her son's IV bag on several occasions between November 13 and 17, knowingly placing him "in a situation that endangered the dependent's life or health", according to Marion Superior Court documents.

The mother claimed her actions were meant to get her son moved from the ICU of the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis to another unit, where she believed "the treatment was better", CNN reported.

Alberts' son had been receiving treatment for Leukemia since early August 2016 at the hospital, a Marion County police affidavit said.

He was released and returned to the hospital a few days later, in early September 2016, with a fever, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the report.

Blood tests of the boy showed organisms that are normally found in feces caused an infection which an extensive medical evaluation could not explain.

Suspecting someone may be contaminating the patient's IV lines, hospital staff began monitoring the teenager's room with video surveillance, and observed the mother injecting a substance into his central line.

Alberts was brought to the Child Abuse Office for questioning, at first stating she was injecting water to "flush it as the medicine that was given to him burned."



She later admitted to injecting her son's own fecal matter, which she kept in a gift bag on the bathroom sink of his room, since November 13.

Alberts was charged with six counts of aggravated battery and one count of neglect of a dependent, resulting in serious bodily injury.

Dr. Veda Ackerman, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at IU School of Medicine who is treating the boy, said her greatest concern is missing the best window to keep the boy's leukemia in remission.

The doctor added he "could have died from any of the episodes of septic shock and may well from his leukemia due to the prolonged delay in therapy.

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More than 400 Syrian civilians have fled rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo for the government-controlled west as regime forces advance in the city, a monitor said today.

The civilians fled overnight to the Masaken Hanano district and were taken to regime-controlled areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian state media said government forces had yesterday captured Masaken Hanano, the largest rebel-held district of Aleppo, in what would be a major breakthrough in the regime's offensive to retake the entire city.

Fresh fighting broke out on Saturday night between regime forces and rebel groups in the neighbouring districts of Haidariya and Sakhur, said the Observatory.

Regime forces targeted the area with heavy shelling, said the Britain-based monitoring group.

Pro-government media hailed the "success" of the government forces, reporting that they continued their advance today.

Yesterday, at least 18 civilians were killed in regime raids and artillery fire in several districts of Aleppo, said the monitor.

It took to 219 the overall r of civilians killed, including 27 children, since the government launched the assault on rebel-held east Aleppo on November 15.

The rebels meanwhile intensified rocket attacks on the western districts overnight, killing at least four civilians and wounding dozens, Observatory said.

Such attacks have killed a total of 27 civilians since the offensive began, among them 11 children.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today offered prayers at the dargah of Sufi Saint Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer.

The Chief Minister arrived in Jaipur this morning and left for Ajmer where she paid obeisance to the Saint after noon.

"Mufti offered prayers in the Dargah and stayed there for nearly half-an-hour," SHO of Dargah police station Mahaveer Singh said.

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A city-based journalist and a Customs officer posted were among a group of people who were felicitated for their contribution towards society by an association providing legal aid to the needy.

All India Legal Aid Forum (AILAF), a countrywide association of activists providing legal aid to the people in need, concluded its two-day-long 17th annual conference at Constitution Club in New Delhi yesterday.

During the conference, AILAF honoured a group of people from across the country, including some from Mumbai, for contribution in their chosen fields, the association said in a statement here.

Retired Supreme Court Judge and Chairman of Press Council of India Justice C K Prasad and former Acting Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court Amitabh Lala, among others, feted these people.

Mushtak Khan, a city-based journalist, and Deputy Commissioner (Customs) Prashant Kumar Sinha were among others from Mumbai who were honoured at the hands of Prasad.

AILAF was founded in 1979 to provide legal aid to men and women in need to ensure they get justice, the statement added.

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In a sensational jailbreak, a group of armed men in police uniform today attacked the high-security Nabha Jail here and fled with five prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo, an accused in 10 cases.

Heads started to roll soon after the incident with the Punjab Government suspending DG (Jails) and dismissing two other senior prison officials even as the opposition Congress said the incident exposed the "complete breakdown of law and order" in the state and triggered fears of revival of terrorism ahead of assembly elections.

The Centre has sought a report from the state government over the jailbreak incident.

Giving details of the jailbreak, police said a group of youths dressed in police uniform stormed the jail and opened indiscriminate fire.

Five prisoners including a hardcore terrorist escaped, they said.

Those who escaped from the high-security prison include gangster Vicky Gaundar, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol, Vikramjeet, and Mintoo, police said.

Mintoo was arrested by Punjab Police from Delhi's IGI Airport in 2014. He was arrested in connection with 10 cases including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force Station in 2010.

A high alert has been sounded in Punjab and Haryana after the incident with security around railway stations, airports, inter-state bus terminuses and other places of key importance stepped up.

Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has summoned an emergent meeting of senior officials including State Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal following the incident.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said, "DG Jails has been suspended and Jail superintendent and Deputy Jail Superintendent have been dismissed".

A manhunt has been launched to trace the prisoners who escaped, Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, said and added that a special task force has been formed to track them.

The Deputy CM said a special investigation team under a ADGP rank officer has also been constituted which shall look into lapses as well as any conspiracy theories surrounding the jail break incident.

"Special Investigation team has been asked to submit report within three days in this regard," he said.

The Home Secretary has also been asked to submit a report.

"Home Secretary will give me a report on whether any lapse has taken place. Whosoever will be found responsible in this incident, strict action will be taken against him," he said.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu today hit out at Congress and Left parties over their planned protests tomorrow against demonetisation saying they have been cut off from the people and marginalised.

He also asked the opposition parties to allow resumption of proceedings in Parliament and discuss threadbare the issue of demonetisation over which people have "clearly demonstrated" that they were willing to bear short-term pains for long-term gains.

"It is evident that the so called 'akrosh' of Congress is not genuine since it has no justification to be angry on the issue of demonetisation.

"It is plain and simple. How can any party be angry when the people clearly demonstrated to bear with short term pains for long term gains.

"Congress is cut off from the pulse of the people and they will pay even more heavily for their folly of such false demonstration," the Information and Broadcasting Minister said.

"The people are wise enough to see through such political games borne out of frustration. People have for long held that Left parties can never be right and, hence, they have been marginalized," he said.

Naidu was commenting on the "Jan Aakrosh" (people's anger) protest and the Left parties day-long badh planned against the government decision to junk Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes.

He said Congress was clearly rattled by eight transformational results that will forever bury the eight-fold "inimical" culture of Congress.

"This is the clear reason for it being angry. Knowing the popular support to demonetisation, Congress has changed its tactics from calling for a country wide bandh to akrosh rallies.

"From this, it is clear that all this is aimed at finding some space in the media as they have clearly lost out space in the debating forum of Parliament and the minds of the people."



Congress, he alleged, desperately tried to disrupt proceedings of Parliament for more than a week on some pretext or the other just to buy time to get support of a few other parties in "their desperate attempt for a photo opportunity".

"That is why they stalled the debate on demonetisation from concluding in Rajya Sabha and its commencement in Lok Sabha," he said.

Naidu asked the Congress that people would like to know



"why akrosh (anger)".

"Political parties have a right to reflect the anger of the people on any initiative of the Government. But such an anger should truly reflect the people's mind and not just the frustrations of such parties," he said.

Referring to the Congress and some other parties call for 'Akrosh rallies' and protests, he asked, "what is that they want to highlight and achieve from this orchestrated political theatre of action?"



"If it was against demonetisation of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes, do the Congress and others really believe that they are holding mirror to the anger of the people? If the people were angry and against the government's move, they would not stand in long queues for two weeks now with patience and discipline."



The minister said it was acknowledged that people of the country have made a profound statement in support of the government's move by voluntarily willing to bear with the short term inconveniences that were expected to be caused by the demonetisation of high value currency notes.

"If it is against the manner of remonetisation, these parties should have acted more constructively by speaking their minds inside Parliament rather than orchestrating such photo opportunities."



While making the announcement, Prime Minister on November 8 clearly suggested that there would be some difficulties for a few weeks. This made it clear that the Government was clearly aware of such difficulties and expected cooperation from the people.

"People lived up to the expectations of the Prime Minister and the Government. The last two weeks have witnessed clear demonstration of the keenness of the people for a new and clean India. Then why the Congress is still angry?," he asked.

Naidu said BJP, NDA and the people of the country firmly believe that Congress is angry because the Prime Minister has given a clarion call for a "cultural revolution" against the 55-year-old eight- fold "decadent culture" of "corruption, opportunism, nepotism, greed, repression, exploitation of power, sycophancy and self-seeking" epitomized by the "family centric Congress party" during its long year of rule.

The Prime Minister set in motion a multi-pronged and comprehensive strategy to cleanse the system of all ills that have worked against the interests of poor, the common man and the middle class, since the system nurtured by Congress benefited only a few individuals and groups, he said.

The Prime Minister's efforts will result in a "new normal" in which the financial institutions and systems will serve the interests of the poor, the common man and the middle classes, who constitute the vast majority of the "honest that our society is made of", Naidu said.

The initiatives of the Prime Minister and the Government including the latest "remonetisation" are aimed at a "behavioral change" that is necessary for building a new and resurgent India based on cleanliness of thoughts and actions.

The perception about India from that of being "corrupt to clean" will result in increased investments and enhanced economic and business activities benefiting the millions of unemployed youth, he said.

The new initiatives will herald a modern India on the lines of advanced countries where in financial payments and transactions will not require carrying currency.

"Behavioural modification being targeted and what will eventually follow will result in elimination of the monstrous black money leading to increased revenues to central and state governments that ultimately benefits the poor, common man and the middle classes significantly," he said



The new initiatives will soon transform India "erasing the Congress legacy of eight-fold decadent culture and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will emerge as the tallest leader of post-Independent India," Naidu said.

(REOPENS DEL50)



It is really immoral that Congress and the Left parties are trying to "mislead and instigate people, and to make their suffering more" by bringing business transactions to a halt for a day by organising a bandh, Naidu said.

The opposition would have to pay a heavy price for its false demonstrations planned for tomorrow.
Researchers have discovered a potential new drug that reduces the number of brain cells destroyed by stroke and then helps to repair the damage.

A reduction in blood flow to the brain caused by stroke is a major cause of death and disability and there are few effective treatments, researchers said.

Scientists at University of Manchester in the UK have now found that a potential new stroke drug not only works in rodents by limiting the death of existing brain cells but also by promoting the birth of new neurones (so-called neurogenesis).

This finding provides further support for the development of this anti-inflammatory drug, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), as a new treatment for stroke.

The drug is already licensed for use in humans for some conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis.

The researchers found that in rodents with a stroke there is not only reduced brain damage early on after the stroke, but several days later increased numbers of new neurones, when treated with the anti-inflammatory drug IL-1Ra.

Previous attempts to find a drug to prevent brain damage after stroke have proved unsuccessful and this new research offers the possibility of a new treatment.

Importantly, the use of IL-1Ra might be better than other failed drugs in stroke as it not only limits the initial damage to brain cells, but also helps the brain repair itself long-term through the generation of new brain cells.

These new cells are thought to help restore function to areas of the brain damaged by the stroke. Earlier work by the same group showed that treatment with IL-1Ra does indeed help rodents regain motor skills that were initially lost after a stroke.

Early stage clinical trials in stroke patients also suggest that IL-1Ra could be beneficial.

"The results lend further strong support to the use of IL-1Ra in the treatment of stroke, however further large trials are necessary," said Professor Stuart Allan, who led the study.

The research was published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The nicer or more agreeable a woman is at work, the lower her salary is likely to be, a new study has claimed.

Researchers from Tel Aviv University and University of Haifa in Israel, examined status inconsistencies between men and women through the lens of traditional male and female characteristics.

Dominant, assertive women, who clearly express their expectations and do not retreat from their demands, are compensated better than their more accommodating female peers.

According to the researchers, the same goes for dominant men versus their more conciliatory male counterparts - but even dominant women earn far less than all of their male colleagues, dominant or otherwise.

"We have witnessed dramatic changes in the definition of traditionally male and female qualities over the past several decades," said Sharon Toker, professor at Tel Aviv University.

"However, some people still really cling to the idea that some qualities are exclusively male and exclusively female," said Toker.

"Some professional women are still afraid to exhibit a trait that is incongruent with presumed notions of female character. The result is financial retribution," she said.

"We found that women are not aware that more agreeable women are being punished for being nice," said Michal Biron from the University of Haifa.

"The nice women we polled in our study even believed they were earning more than they deserved," said Biron.

For the purpose of their study, the researchers surveyed 375 men and women at a Dutch electronics company with 1,390 employees. The subjects were selected at random from all 12 of the company departments.

They used both objective and subjective criteria for the study. For objective data, they analysed tenure, education, and performance data relative to income and promotion statistics.

For subjective data, they examined how the individual perceived the fit between their education, experience, and performance on the one hand, and their income and rank on the other.

"We found that women were consistently and objectively status-detracted, which means they invest more of themselves in their jobs than they receive; and are compensated less than their male colleagues across the board," Biron said.

"However dominant women were not punished for reflecting such female-incongruent traits as extroversion and assertiveness," said Renee De Reuver from Tilburg University in The Netherlands.

"In fact, we found that the more dominant a woman is at work, the less likely she is to be status-detracted. We found a similar pattern among men - the more dominant a man is, the more likely he is to be better compensated. But alarmingly, dominant women were still found to earn less than even the most agreeable men who are not promoted," she said.

The study was published in The European Journal of Work and Organisational Psychology.

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Home Minister Rajnath Singh today told top police officers of the country not to arrest or harass anyone on basis of allegation of radicalisation unless solid proof is available.

Singh also said that genuine NGOs are free to carry out development works but warned that those organisations which allegedly indulge in anti-national activities will not be spared.

This was conveyed by Singh at the concluding day of the three-day conference of DGPs and IGPs here.

The Home Minister told the top police brass categorically that no innocent should be arrested or harassed merely on the allegation of radicalisation and one should be nabbed only after getting adequate proof against the accused, official sources said.

Home Minister, however, directed the DGPs and IGPs to remain alert against attempt to radicalise youths through online and strengthen cyber security apparatus of states. On Friday, Singh had said that due to close coordination between state and Central forces, Indian youths, who were influenced by the dreaded terror group ISIS through online radicalisation, have not been able to successful to carry out any terror attack in the country yet.

"So far, 67 youths, who were influenced by the ISIS, were arrested while planning to carry out terror attack," he had said.

In today's meeting, the Home Minister also raised the issue of crack down on NGOs saying that no bonafide NGO doing public service will have to face any kind of government scrutiny. But those NGOs which are allegedly trying to hamper development works or indugle in anti-national activities would not be spared.

Government recently had banned an NGO run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik for alleged terror acts. Besides, FCRA registration of around 20,000 NGOs were also cancelled in last two years for various alleged irregularities.

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Ruling Samajwadi Party today said the demonetisation decision of the Narendra Modi government smacked of an attempt at "financially harming" rival political parties ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

But, people who are facing severe hardships because of the note ban will "punish" BJP in the Assembly elections and teach the saffron party a lesson, SP National Vice President Kironmay Nanda said here.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move is aimed at financial harming rival political parties in 2017 UP Assembly polls. This poll is a do or die for BJP. BJP thought that due to impact of demonetisation, rival parties in the state will not be able to withdraw money for polls," Nanda told PTI in an interview.

"BJP does not know that this step is going to be 'atmghati' (suicidal) for the party. People who are standing in long queues for getting their own money will vote against BJP to vent their ire," he said.

While making it clear that SP is not against a curb on black money, the senior SP MP said the way in which demonetisation has been done showed "inexperience" of policy makers.

"This is creating problems for common man and SP is against it," he said.

"In this vast country four out of every five village do not have banking facilities. Villagers there depend on the rich for their money needs. Due to demonetisation labourers are not getting job and they are starving. Centre has not given these issues a thought before banning 86 per cent of the currency," he said.

"The way in which Union Finance Ministry is changing rules on daily basis only showed that they were not ready to deal with the impact of demonetisation move," he said.

The ruling SP is against the demonetisation move in view



of the hardships being faced by the commoners and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav personally conveyed this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for releasing more funds to cooperative banks due to the cash-crunch they are facing due to demonetisation.

Akhilesh, who met Modi in Delhi last week, highlighted the hardships of farmers in the state due to the cash-crunch triggered by the demonetisation decision.

"The Prime Minister is aware of the hardships of the people. Farmers are unhappy and are facing a lot of trouble. This is the time for sowing...There are so many co-operative banks...When will they get the money," the chief minister had said after his meeting with the Prime Minister.

Akhilesh had earlier written to Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the plight of the people following demonetisation.

Nanda pointed out that the Samajwadi Party government has on its part taken certain measures to ease the problems being faced by the common people.

The Chief Minister has instructed top officials to deal sympathetically with those standing in queues trying to withdraw money or exchange notes.

Instructing District Magistrates and Police Superintendents to deal with all sections of society with a sympathetic and sensitive attitude, the chief minister warned respective district administrations that those found responsible for inappropriate behaviour with people will face stern action.

The chief minister also directed all DMs to ensure that farmers do not face any problem in procuring seeds,fertilisers and other goods since rabi sowing is currently on.
The exercise by the Modi government has brought a rarely seen unity among opposition parties, but they stand divided over the way they would protest against the measure on Monday.

While the Left parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and CPI have called a 12-hour bandh to protest against of old high-value currency notes in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress will not join it and only hold protests.

The Congress too has decided not to go for a bandh.

Senior party leader Jairam Ramesh said no 'Bharat Bandh' has been called by the party which will hold nation-wide protests as part of 'Jan Aakrosh Diwas'.

The Janta Dal (United) has decided not to participate in the protests by opposition parties on Monday or West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's proposed dharna in Patna on November 30 after its leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar welcomed the decision.

"We have supported the Centre's demonetisation move. How can we oppose or be the part of activity like bandh which is meant to protest the issue which our party has strongly supported," Bihar unit JD(U) President Bashishtha Narayan Singh said.

ALSO READ: JD(U) says no to Bharat bandh

"JD(U) will not be part of any agitation against demonetisation including the dharna by Mamata Banerjee on November 30 in Patna," party Secretary General K C Tyagi said.

"We have taken an ideological position in favour of demonetisation so how can we be part of any agitation seeking its roll back," Tyagi said.

Odisha's ruling BJP will also not join the protests with its leader and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik having hailed the demonetisation decision.

ALSO READ: PM Modi appeals people to choose between the path to end corruption or Bharat bandh

The opposition parties have been divided over the ways to protest against demonetisation ever since Mamata Banerjee decided to march to the President against it. While she was joined by Aam Aadmi Party, National Conference and Shiv Sena, an National Democratic Allaince ally, other opposition parties stayed away. Shiv Sena has backed demonetisation but is unhappy over the way it was causing problems to people.

Mamata's TMC and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's AAP are the only parties which have demanded a roll back of the exercise, while other parties have voiced displeasure over the way it was being implemented which was causing hardship to common people.
Three Pakistani TV channels have been penalised by the country's electronic media watchdog which suspended the licences of the two and fined the third one for slandering the judiciary.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) yesterday suspended licences of Din and Neo TV and fined them Rs 1 million each for levelling "baseless allegations" against a Supreme Court judge.

It also imposed Rs 1 million fine on Sach TV for airing remarks of caller Ali Nawaz.

The regulator said that three TV channels were issued notices on November 19 for airing irresponsible analysis and were asked to submit a reply on November 26 after appearance before PEMRA.

On November 26, the reply was submitted and representatives of channels failed to defend themselves.

"After hearing the viewpoint of the three TV channels, PEMRA suspended the licence of Din channel for 30 days and imposed a fine of Rs 1 million. A similar decision was given for Neo TV. However, its licence was suspended for seven days. PEMRA imposed a fine of Rs 1 million on Sach TV and asked the channel to pay the amount within 15 days," it said.

PEMRA has adopted aggressive policy to implement the code of conduct which every owner agrees to abide by while applying for the licence of the TV Channel.

Earlier, the authority banned illegal DTH services and went ahead to auction three DTH licences despite countrywide protest by cable operators.

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Union Minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan today welcomed Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar's decision of supporting the Centre's demonetisation move and dared RJD and Congress to come out of the grand alliance government if they have problem with it.

"The Chief Minister has shown courage in supporting the Central government's drive against black money. Nitish Kumar has done a commendable job by supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move. I thank him for supporting the Centre's decision," he told PTI.

"If the RJD and Congress have problems with Nitish Kumar, the man who is leading the coalition government of three parties, and praising the Centre on demonetisation, then they should come out of the coalition government," the Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister said.

All progressive thinking and honest people are supporting the Centre's demonetisation move and they will not forgive those who are opposing it, Paswan said.

"Both RJD and Congress are trying to run with the hare and hunt with hound. On the one hand, they are not in agreement with Kumar on the issue while on the other hand, both parties are very much part of the ruling alliance led by him," he said.

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Dakota Access oil pipeline protesters will not follow a government directive to leave the federal land where hundreds have camped for months, organisers said, despite state officials encouraging them to do so.

Standing Rock Sioux tribal leader Dave Archambault and other protest organisers confidently explained yesterday that they'll stay at the Oceti Sakowin camp and continue with nonviolent protests a day after Archambault received a letter from the US Army Corps of Engineers that said all federal lands north of the Cannonball River will be closed to public access Dec 5 for "safety concerns."



The Corps cited the oncoming winter and increasingly contentious clashes between protesters, who believe the pipeline could harm drinking water and Native American cultural sites, and police.

"We are wardens of this land. This is our land and they can't remove us," said protester Isaac Weston, who is an Oglala Sioux member from South Dakota. "We have every right to be here to protect our land and to protect our water."



The vast majority of the several hundred people fighting against the four-state, USD 3.8 billion pipeline have created a self-sustaining community at the sprawling camp, which is on Corps land in southern North Dakota, and have put up semi-permanent structures or brought motor homes and trailers in advance of the harsh winter.

On the unseasonably warm Saturday, people were chopping wood and setting up tents at the encampment, which is more than a mile from a Missouri River reservoir where the final large segment of the pipeline is yet to be completed due to the Corps consulting with the tribe. Authorities had set up a staging area about a mile away on a hill overlooking the site.

Dallas Goldtooth, a protest organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, said it is "an atrocious example that colonization has not ended for us here as indigenous people," and that the government's request will escalate already rocky tensions.

Representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers didn't immediately return multiple messages Friday or Saturday seeking comment and verification of the letter. Last month, the Corps said it would not evict the encampment, which started as overflow from smaller private and permitted protest sites nearby and began growing in August.

President Barack Obama raised the possibility of rerouting the pipeline in that area earlier this month, something Kelcy Warren, CEO of Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners, told The Associated Press is not an option from the company's standpoint. Obama said his administration is monitoring the "challenging situation" but would "let it play out for several more weeks."



Some of the protests have resulted in violent confrontations. One woman suffered a serious arm injury last weekend and more than 500 people have been arrested since August.

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In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the demonetisation issue, AIADMK today said by talking about it only outside Parliament, he was "slighting the constitution and democracy."



Listing a set of questions over demonetisation and its implications, AIADMK said, "the Prime Minister who is supposed to answer all these questions is slighting the constitution and democracy by seeking to explain about it only in places other than the Parliament".

"..Having many loopholes (in implementing demonetisation), the BJP's claim to root out blackmoney is like cultivation of desert by drawing water using a bucket that has a sieve for its bottom," the Tamil Nadu ruling party said in its Tamil mouthpiece, 'Dr Namadhu MGR'.

Besides comparing the effort to root out black money with a vain bid to draw water using a bucket full of holes, the AIADMK also claimed that people were incensed at such an exercise of "sham."



Mocking the BJP, it said the partymen do not "shine in their work" and it was a known fact that their "action does not commensurate with their big talks".

The mouthpiece said people were "angry," that the demonetisation move had been "reportedly leaked to many," and a Gujarati daily had even published beforehand about it.

AIADMK said people were incensed by norms like an upper limit even for withdrawals for weddings.

Stating that there were "confusing announcements," and a "daily notification," specifying norms for deposits and withdrawal of scrapped notes, the party said people have reached at a "boiling point," even as holidays were declared by banks to "hide non-receipt of (adequate) currency".

It termed the RBI's directive immediately after demonetisation that cooperative banks cannot accept scrapped notes, as "discriminatory" since lakhs of farmers were part of such cooperatives.

AIADMK alleged that micro, small trade was facing sluggishness and mills were curtailing their work force.

The Jayalalithaa-led party also referred to other issues like the Indian rupee hitting a record low level against USD (on November 24, it hit an all-time low of 68.86 against the USD before recovering partially to end the day at 68.73-- a 39-month closing low) besides Nepal banning new Indian Rs 500, Rs 2,000 notes and alleged quality issues in the new notes.

On Wednesday, AIADMK had joined hands with other opposition parties in staging protests both inside and outside Parliament on the demonetisation issue.

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Prime Minister Prachanda's coalition government failed to keep its promise of registering the Constitution amendment bill in Nepal's Parliament today as uncertainty loomed over the process.

The government was supposed to move the amendment bill in the Parliament so as to accommodate the demands of the agitating Madhesi and ethnic groups that include citizenship and boundary demarcation issues among others.

Also a Cabinet meeting today failed to discuss the Constitution amendment bill, which was supposed to be registered at the Parliament Secretariat today.

Minister for Information and Communications Surendra Kumar Karki told reporters after the meeting that the issue was not discussed owing to Prime Minister Prachanda's busy schedule.

The government's failure to register the motion comes in the wake of growing opposition of the CPN-UML to amending the Constitution.

Meanwhile, talking to a delegation of an indigenous group, Prime Minister Prachanda said, final decision regarding the Constitution amendment will be made only after consulting the top leaders of the ruling parties.

Talking to prominent indigenous leader Padmaratna Tuladhar, the Premier said the matter relating to Constitution amendment has reached its final stage.

The representatives of the Indigenous and Ethnic group has demanded that the number of provincial units should be increased to ten instead of current seven state model as per the recommendation made by the committee for state restructuring and power sharing, sources said.

Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, had led months-long violent protest seeking better representation in the Parliament and the federal structure of the Constitution that divides their ancestral homeland.

Re-demarcation of the provincial boundary and citizenship issue were the two major demands put forth by the agitating Madhesi parties.

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Kalawani has spent the past six years hiding from the Qatari authorities, but finally she is going home to Sri Lanka for the first time since 2010.

The former housemaid is one of 9,000 undocumented residents expected to leave Qatar before December 1 after Doha introduced a three-month amnesty for those living in the country illegally to leave without "legal consequences".

Kalawani ran away after her employer refused to pay her monthly wage of 1,000 Qatari riyals ($275, 260 euros), a common problem.

"I didn't get any salary from my sponsor," she says while waiting for her papers to be approved.

Under Qatar's strict sponsorship laws, anyone wishing to change their job must get permission from their employer, so Kalawani became an "illegal" after fleeing.

She has existed by relying on her family for help and working in a cafe, though that was also illegal as her entry visa to Qatar allowed her to work only as a housemaid.

"This amnesty is good for me. I want to go home," she says quietly.

Under normal rules, she could be facing a huge fine or imprisonment for absconding.

Today, all she has to provide is her passport, ID card or entry visa into Qatar and a plane ticket home -- or at least enough cash to buy one.

Once approved, she will have seven days to leave.

Like all those leaving during the grace period, Kalawani's case is being processed by the Search and Follow Up Department.

Located on the southwestern fringes of Doha, the department is surrounded by a dusty car park, a few palm trees and the hum of one of Qatar's busiest highways.

But the crowds of people outside, and a few packed suitcases propped up against a wall, hint at something happening inside the unremarkable looking building.

Through a small door marked "Reception", about two dozen people wait patiently to register.

From there they will pass to the much grander "Initial Proceedings Hall", a large tent complete with chandeliers and separate queueing spaces for men and women.

The tent buzzes with activity.

Ministry of Interior officers carry out background checks and take all applicants' fingerprints "for the records".

"When we first started (the amnesty), it was like 100 people a day. Now we are coming to the end, it's about 300 each day," one officer says.

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Draped in rainbow colours, hundreds of people today marched in the heart of the national capital for the 9th Queer Pride Parade to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community in making a united call for equality of gender and sexuality and seeking "a life without fear".

Organised by the Delhi Queer Pride Committee, the march kicked off from the corner of Barakhamba Road and Tolstoy Marg here, and saw members of the community as well as their friends and family members turn out with placards, masks and costumes.

"Pride is an inter-mingling of many movements - feminism, anti-caste movements, for free speech, so this march is important as it is a united call for a prejudice-free India," one of the participants said, requesting anonymity.

Another participant, Delhi University student Esha, said unlike earlier occasions, it is important for queer people this year to shout back equally louder to combat "noise from homophobic groups and an unfriendly government".

"I'm not out yet so I tend to keep a low profile at LGBTQ events, but this year pride is important as a show of strength more than ever because noise from homophobic groups and an unfriendly government seems to have become louder. It is important that we as queer people should shout back equally louder," Esha said.

One of the organisers, Rituparna Borah, said this year's parade saw a greater participation than the last year, with around 800-1,000 people turning out.

"People from all walks of life, identifying with different sexual orientations and genders took part in the parade, that culminated at Jantar Mantar," another organiser said.

While the focus of the 'pride' has been the repeal of Section 377 that criminalises same-sex unions and the demand for dignity for people who do not conform to society's ideas of sexual orientation or gender, different movements joined the parade this year in solidarity with the LGBTQ community.

This year's march was also in support of Dalits, Muslims, women, disabled, Kashmiris, people in the North-East, Adivasis, academics, filmmakers and students, according to an earlier statement on the Facebook page created for the event.

The march saw demands being voiced by a wide section of society - from the demand to live free of fear to calls to break down patriarchal mindsets.

"Hence, more than ever, we assert that our pride is inextricably tied to a broader demand for freedom and dignity for all," a statement said.

A participant, who works with a private company here, said, "We want to live without fear of any kind of repercussion from our family and from the workplace because of the gender we identify with. It is important to live a life without fear."



The Parade is a yearly festival, held on the last Sunday of November, to honour and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and many gender and sexual non-conforming people, and their supporters.

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Racist mock 'Pakemon' stickers featuring London Mayor Sadiq Khan and US President Barack Obama have appeared in London with a tagline urging people to "deport them all", prompting police to probe the "hate crime", media reports said today.

The stickers with the tagline "Gotta catch and deport them all", have been put up by unidentified persons on bus stops, cashpoints and at tube stations in London.

Police are investigating the hate crime after the stickers, mock-up versions of Pokemon cards mimicking the real game's slogan "Gotta catch'em all", appeared, Metro.Co.Uk reported.

One such poster has given the name 'Hamaskhan' to Mayor Khan, an an apparent attempt to link him to Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, it reported.

It states, "Description: Probably the most dangerous Pakemon, Hamaskhan believes that Londoners should learn to accept Islamic terrorism whilst he is mayor. Weaknesses: Hamaskhan's hatred of Christians and Jews will result in him losing power and a long prison sentence".

One sticker features Obama, describing him as "the USA's Muslim in Chief", the report said.

Another shows white Muslim convert Jordan Horner, who had called for Shariah Law in London, stating, "Gingermo is not a true Pakemon, having converted to Islam believing he might make some friends who are as angry and weak-minded as himself", it reported.

Stickers have been reported all over the capital, including Bromley, Surbiton and Waterloo.

Some Twitter accounts have been sharing the photos of the stickers, urging people to swap and collect them.

Meanwhile, British Transport Police (BTP) has urged people to report any sightings of the stickers.

"British Transport Police is committed to preventing incidents of hate crime and prejudice and all incidents of this nature are investigated thoroughly.

"Everyone has the right to travel on the rail network without fear or intimidation. Racially or religiously motivated crime will simply not be tolerated," a BTP spokesman said.

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Actor Ralph Fiennes is tired of playing negative characters but he is very possessive about the role of Lord Voldemort in "Harry Potter" series and would not let it go if he had a chance to return to it.

The 53-year-old actor has plays some of the most notorious real as well reel villains in cinema be it an SS commandant in "Schindler's List", Hannibal Lector in "Red Dragon" or his most famous role of Potter's arch enemy.

"(With dark characters), you have to go to weird places in your head and -- well you can never say never -- but after an SS commandant, a serial killer in 'Red Dragon' and Voldemort, I



decided I didn't want to be that definition of evil any more. If you play those parts, I feel you have to put your head in the place of that person...," Fiennes told Evening Standard newspaper.

"(But if) Voldemort came round again, I would feel possessive... Protective. I would like to not let that go'," he added.

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The Federation of Overseas Recruitment Associations of India (Forai) has urged the government to scrap the minimum referral wages (MRWs) directive to foreign employers as it has hit manpower export industry very badly.

The foreign ministry had recently finalised MRWs for different countries in the Gulf and others. It also wants the host country employers to provide free accommodation, food, transportation, medical facilities and applicable overtime wages.

"Though well-intentioned, the MRWs are totally at gross variance with the ground reality in the Gulf region and it needs to be scrapped forthwith," Forai Chairman V S Abdul Kareem said.

He said following this, recruitment of Indians in the Gulf region has come down by more 50 per cent, while the number of emigration clearances issued by India for the region has halved to 4,62,312 in October 2016 from a high 8,04,878 in 2014.

Noting that the MRWs were finalised by the government without consulting the manpower recruiting industry, labour ministries and chambers of commerce in the host countries, Kareem said there is 30-40 per cent difference between the MRWs prescribed by India and wage structure prevailing in the Gulf now.

"It is not clear on what basis these MRWs were determined," Kareem wondered.

He also pointed out that these MRWs and other facilities are far higher than the minimum wages prevailing in these countries and local employers are averse to increase them as per the MRWs determined by India.

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Colour cosmetics and personal care brand Revlon India plans to have 100 exclusive outlets by the end of next year and is targetting 20 per cent of its total revenue from this channel.

"The new channel that we entered in the last two years is exclusive stores. It is doing very well for us. In the initial years, we were trying to figure out the financial feasibility model but more or less now it is settled for us.

"We have 27 outlets till date and this year we would like to end with 30-35 stores.... We would like to reach 100 by end of 2017," Revlon India Director (Sales and Marketing) Rajiv Kumar Bobal told PTI.

The cosmetics company expects the exclusive stores to contribute to at least 20 per cent of its sales by next year.

"As of now the contribution is very insignificant because we have just 27 exclusive stores but we would like the exclusive outlets to contribute 20 per cent. It should happen around 2017-end when we have about 100 stores," he said.

Bobal added that the stores would be across formats, including kiosks, and would be a mix of company-owned and franchise-operated outlets.

At present, 25 to 30 per cent of its exclusive stores are company owned and the ratio might change when it opens its 100th store.

The company invests 5-10 per cent of its revenues on marketing activities and has allocated a higher share for digital marketing.

"Digital is something we are really focusing on. Digital percentage is very very high, around 30-40 per cent.

"We don't do television (advertising) but focus on radio and print as a medium which we find more effective. That's why digital takes a higher percentage," he said.

Revlon India currently enjoys a market share of 13-15 per cent in the USD 233-million colour cosmetics market and around 4 per cent in the USD 274-million hair colour market.

Bobal said tier II and III cities are contributing significantly to sales, especially in the personal care segment.

He declined to divulge financial details but said 35 per cent of its sales comes from the personal care segment.

Revlon India operates two manufacturing facilities in Rudrapur and Modinagar that produce some products with good sales volume like Super Lustrous lipstick brand. Bobal said it will make more products in India going forward.

"The way we are growing, we would definitely like to focus more on manufacturing, which gives us good cost advantage," he said.

Revlon was launched in India in 1995, with the formation of Modi-Revlon Pvt Ltd, an alliance between Modi-Mundipharma (a joint venture between Umesh K Modi Group of India and Mundipharma Group of Switzerland) and Revlon of US.

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Police today recovered Rs 4.95 lakh out of the Rs 5.50 lakh in cash which was looted from a cash van at a post office premises of Industrial police station area of Vaishali district on November 21.

Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar said police have also arrested five persons and seized Rs 4.95 lakh, three country made pistols, six cartridges, three motorcycle and four mobile phones from their possession.

All the miscreants were arrested from near Sultapur village of Industrial police station area.

One of the five arrested persons is the son of a postal employee, the SP said.

The five men had also injured two homeguards trying to snatch arms from them on November 21 last when they looted the money from a cash van at post office premises.

All the cash that have been recovered are old currency notes of high denominations, he said.

The cash van the accused looted was collecting cash from different post offices of the district for depositing them with the Head Post Office at Hajipur, District Postal Superintendent U C Prasad said.

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RSS's vision, which is for the development of humanity, will be the vision of the country in future, the organisation's chief said on Sunday.

Addressing the volunteers in Bhilwara on Sunday, Bhagwat said that RSS's vision was for the overall development of humanity and the world and this was going to the be the vision of the country in future.

He asked the RSS workers to work with dedication to take the country to new heights and to make the nation prosper.

"Solution to the problems will be there when the society is made good and this is the vision of the RSS," he said.

He said that when the Sangh's work will expand, the society will grow and prosper.

"In order to unite the entire society and to develop the nation, we will have to unite our rivals and take them too along with us," he said.

Bhagwat was speaking at a function held on the concluding day of his four-day visit to Bhilwara. Other leaders and functionaries of the organisation were also present in the meeting which was attended by close to 10,000 volunteers who were clad in the new uniform.
A scuffle today broke out between two groups outside the venue of the general council meet of 'Nadigar Sangam', in which the windscreen of an actor's car was allegedly smashed, with police detaining several persons involved in the ruckus.

Trouble erupted when a group of persons, claiming to be supporters of an actor suspended from the 'Sangam', tried to barge into the venue of the meet even as the windscreen of an SUV belonging to actor Karunas was smashed allegedly by unidentified persons, police said.

A fight broke out between those who tried to barge in and those who tried to prevent them, resulting in fisticuffs and chaotic scenes, they said.

Mild force was used to disperse the warring factions and several of them have been detained, police said.

The incident occurred even as the general council meet of Nadigar Sangam (South Indian Film Artistes Association) was about to start, they said.

The Sangam's executive committee had recently suspended actors Sarath Kumar and Radha Ravi.

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BJP President Amit Shah today lauded Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a one-time loyal ally who turned a bitter foe, for his support to demonetisation, the first time that the party leadership has publicly appreciated the JD(U) chief's stand.

"I publicly commend Nitish Kumar for the support he has given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fight against black money and corruption," Shah said at a public meeting with party the acknowledging Kumar's attempts to steer clear of the opposition's attempts to close ranks against the Centre over the issue.

"He first supported demonetisation. He yesterday made it clear that JD(U) is not supporting 'Bharat bandh' call given by some parties. We also acknowledge his support to the GST bill," a party leader said.

BJP, he said, also appreciates Nitish Kumar government's efforts in getting bail of high-profile accused, some linked to ally RJD, cancelled by moving to the Supreme Court.

Incidentally, Shah had parried a query over Kumar's support to demonetisation in a press conference the BJP chief had held immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement in this regard.

Asked if it is an indication of growing bonhomie with Kumar, BJP sources played down such suggestions but added that there is an appreciation for his stand on a various issues and Shah's public praise was an acknowledgment of this.

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The Shunglu Committee, which was formed by Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to examine over 400 files on decisions taken by the AAP regime, today submitted its report to the LG office.

Sources said that the Lt Governor's office will examine the three-member committee's report and take a final call accordingly on all files pertaining to decisions taken by the Kejriwal government since it was formed.

"Committee has submitted its report in a sealed envelop. LG office will now examine the report and thereafter, Lt Governor will take the final decision," they said.

The committee's report may trigger a fresh round of tussle between the city administration and LG's office as the AAP government claimed that it has taken all its decisions as per laid down rules and termed the committee as illegal.

In October, Jung had given the committee a six-week extension and rejected city government's request to dissolve the panel, saying that the "truth hidden behind these files" must come out.

Also, Jung had wondered why the AAP government was "afraid" of the truth coming out if everything, as claimed by AAP ministers, is as per rules.

The committee's tenure was to end on December 2. It was examining any "irregularities" and "infirmities" in the files of the Delhi government.

Jung had formed the committee chaired by former CAG V K Shunglu on August 30 and ex-chief election commissioner N Gopalaswami and ex-chief vigilance commissioner Pradeep Kumar are also its members.

Meanwhile, many files that were sent to the LG have already been returned, highly placed sources told PTI today.

"The files are coming back. Many of the files have already been received by the city government," they said.

Last month, the Delhi Cabinet, chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, had passed a resolution advising L-G to dissolve the committee arguing that "impounding" of 400 files is "creating hurdles" in the works of government.

Turning down the resolution, the L-G office had then said the Cabinet resolution is evidently an attempt to "mislead" the public and take attention away from "grave misdemeanours" evident in some of the files.

Jung had also said the files that had been sent to his office have not been "summoned or impounded" by his office but had been sent by the ministers themselves.

In August this year, the Delhi High Court had ordered that the Lt Governor was the administrator of the National Capital while rejecting several pleas challenging the LG's authority after which he had ordered examining of the files.

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Olympic silver-medallist P V Sindhu's quest for a second successive women's singles title ended in disappointment after she went down in straight games to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying in the Hong Kong Open Super Series final here today.

The Indian lost 15-21 17-21 in a clash which lasted 41 minutes. It was sweet revenge for Tzu Ying, who had lost to Sindhu most recently in the Rio Olympic Games. She now leads 5-3 in the head-to-head record against the Indian.

World No. 3 and fourth seed Tzu Ying was in command of the match from the first game itself and produced a near-perfect all-round performance to be ahead 18-11.

She maintained the lead and grabbed the opening game without much of a trouble. The Indian, on the other hand, was found wanting in her net-play against a swift-moving rival.

The second game was fought on a more even keel with Sindhu stepping it up slightly but once again she struggled to match the pace and range of Tzu Ying's stroke-play.

Tzu Ying's ability to retrieve almost everything that Sindhu threw at her stood out. The Taipei girl's deft use of her wrist to control her shots was also admirable.

However, Sindhu did not let Tzu Ying to simply run away and went neck-and-neck till 10-10.

The Indian took the lead at 11-10 when Tzu Ying mishit a smash which landed outside. But Tzu Ying drew level and took the lead soon after the lemon break.

The Indian's much-admired never-say-die spirit kept her afloat for a couple of more points but her inability to break free proved to be the difference.

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President Maithripala Sirisena-led Sri Lanka Freedom Party would not agree to a federal set up in the new Constitution, a senior minister said today amid calls by Tamil groups in favour of a federal system.

"There are three things that our party believe very strongly in the current constitution reform process," Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Minister of Transport, said while addressing reporters in the central town of Kandy.

"The position for Buddhism must not be diluted, the unitary character of the state must be preserved and there cannot be a federal system," de Silva asserted.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is a partner in the unity government with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP).

The process to replace the existing 1978 Constitution got underway in January this year when parliament was converted into a Constitutional Assembly.

The Constitutional Assembly is to meet in December again to consider the reports of six sub committees.

De Silva said Parliament would evolve a draft Constitution with the participation of all political parties.

Tamil groups have been articulating a federal system would be welcome. However the Sinhala majority is averse to a federal solution being granted.

The government expects the new Constitution to address the demand of Tamil minorities for political recognition.

With the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009 the Tamil groups have opted for maximum devolution as opposed to LTTE's goal of a separate Tamil homeland.

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Industries must come forward to invest in skill and innovative ideas for employment generation and growth in economy, says NALCO CMD Tapan Kumar Chand.

Seventeen per cent of India's GDP depends on agriculture, 26 per cent on industry and 57 per cent on the service sector, he said.

"But to strengthen other sectors, industries must ensure bringing down production costs and increasing the purchasing power. For this, skill development and investment in innovative ideas are a must," said Chand.

He was addressing a gathering on the occasion of the 74th Foundation Day of Utkal University here today. Odisha Governor S C Jameer, also the Chancellor of the University, inaugurated the event.

Chand, in his address, appreciated Prof Ashoka Das, Vice Chancellor and all faculty members for their efforts to bring in all-round development of the university promoting free-thinking.

Citing the example of Navratna NALCO's R&D efforts, Chand spoke about presence of fluoride in the ground water of Angul sector even before Nalco was established, and to address this endemic problem, the company is investing around Rs 20 crore in a breakthrough Nano technology conceived by a young group of scientists.

Similarly, efforts are being made by the company as part of waste management to extract iron from its residual red mud in Damanjodi sector.

As part of industry-institution interaction programme of NALCO, Chand announced that it would collaborate with Utkal University for all-round development, including infrastructure and intellectual development, and provide a platform to students, teachers and researchers for their innovative ideas through a dedicated web portal.

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Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday took stock of preparations for the Heart of conference to be held here from December 2 to 3.

It is a matter of great pride that the Centre has selected Amritsar as the venue for the conference, he said after a meeting with the senior state government and External Affairs Ministry officials here.

Union Minister for Food Processing Industries Harsimrat Kaur Badal was also present in the meeting.

Directing officials to ensure due hospitality to visiting foreign dignitaries, Sukhbir said, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the President of Afghanistan will attend the conference apart from foreign ministers of 14 countries.

He took feedback from officials regarding preparations besides arrangements to take the guests to Sri Darbar Sahib, Jallianwala Bagh and other historical places in the city.

This is the first time India will host the conference. It concentrates on countering terrorism in countries like Afghanistan and explore co-operation in different sectors.
As part of efforts to move towards cashless transactions, the Centre has asked all the statutory 4,041 urban local bodies (ULBs) to shift to at the earliest even as all cities and towns of Madhya Pradesh will go for this mode from March next year.

The message to the officials of these 4,041 ULBs,which account for about 75 per cent of the total 40 crore urban population in the country, was conveyed by Urban Development Secretary Rajiv Gauba through interactive video-conferencing, an official release said today.

Senior officials of the states concerned participated in the half-day long interaction on various aspects of cashless transactions, it added.

"Officials from Madhya Pradesh said the major seven cities have already enabled cashless transactions and all the 378 cities and towns would do so by March next year," the release said.

During the interaction, the state and city level officials were asked to promote Internet banking, online payment via credit and debit cards, besides using Public Finance Management Systems (PFMS) developed by the finance ministry for funds transfer and accounting purposes, among others.

Gauba emphasised that all transactions relating to both income and expenditure of urban local bodies need to be shifted to mode.

Meanwhile, as many as 59 cities have collected tax revenues of Rs 1,722 crore during November so far, including dues payable.

Minister of Urban Development M Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated a cashless payment system introduced by the Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation and orientation camps for educating citizens on e-payment, the release said.
An eight-year-old boy in east China is getting visitors from across the country as he looks like Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, according to a media report.

Up to 50 people a day have visited Fan Xiaoqin over the past two weeks. The boy looks remarkably like one of China's richest men, Jack Ma who founded the e-commerce company Alibaba, the BBC reported.

Rumours had been swirling on social media that the billionaire had promised to fund his education, right through to university.

The boy's family, who live in Jiangxi province, are poor and rely on government benefits. Xiaoqin's father Fan Jiafa is disabled - his right leg has been amputated - his mother has had polio, and his grandmother, who is in her 80s has Alzheimer's.

When journalists asked Alibaba if there was any truth to the gossip, they were told it was unfounded. The company issued a statement on Weibo: "All the about Mini Jack Ma shouldn't be treated as a joke... To fund one child's education is easy, but in order to help millions of poor children, more resources need to be used."



That hasn't dampened the public's interest, though. "Mini Jack Ma" as he is now known, first became an online sensation in 2015 then faded from public view, but with this month's new and unfounded rumours, people started contacting and visiting the family offering Xiaoqin starring roles in films and adverts.

"It's a good thing that my son looks like Jack Ma," Fan Jiafa told BBC Trending, but he has reservations about some of the offers they've received. "I don't want him to go into the film industry and make money now. I hope Xiaoqin can be independent one day and support himself but I believe only education can improve his life."



At the moment, Xiaoqin is struggling to keep up in school and can't write. "I just hope Xiaoqin can receive good education," says his dad. "I don't read and write much as I just spent two years in primary school. I think studying is the most important thing."



And the family has had plenty of moral support on social media. "How depressing! Some people are really opportunistic!" commented one angry Weibo user.

Xiaoqin's father says he doesn't know who to trust and is worried about sending his sons away. Over the past 10 days, he's received more than 10,000 yuan (USD 1,500) in cash donations, clothes, food and household items.

What he wants now is for "the local government to help me and offer me some advice," the report added.

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A tigress in the zoo here today broke its enclosure and came out, creating panic among visitors, but was captured before it could harm anyone.

The big cat was caught after nearly 90 minutes of escaping from the enclosure and put back in its cage, said the in-charge of the zoo run by Indore Municipal Corporation.

The feline turned furious and broke the fencing of its cage after somebody hurled a balloon at it, and slinked out at around 6 pm, said zoo in-charge Uttam Yadav said.

On seeing the wild animal out of its cage, around 200 -odd panic-stricken visitors, including women and children, who were near the enclosure, ran for safety, he said, adding the big cat didn't harm anyone.

Later, police personnel in jeeps evacuated them from the zoo.

Yadav said the entire incident will be probed.

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: 'Magical Piano', a short film by the Toonz Media Group has won an award at the prestigious UNESCO Salon Youth Video Competition 2016.

In an event held in Marrakech, Morocco at the iconic COP 22 Green Zone in the UNESCO Pavilion on November 14, Salon Films Chairman Fred Wang and ArmelleArrou, Chief of Public Relations and Partnerships, UNESCO handed over the award, a company press release said.

UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova congratulated the winners and praised them on their wonderful creativity.

Dr Avaneesh, Head of Development, Toonz Media Group, received the award on behalf of Toonz.

"It is indeed a delight to know that our short film won an award in this amazing competition which upholds such sublime values," he said.

"Our youth videos have won many awards in the past at the Chicago Film Festival, Cartoons on the Bay and so on. Yet this one is very special and truly close to our heart' P Jayakumar, CEO, Toonz Media Group, said.

'Magical Piano' was created in association with the Toonz-Disney collaborative venture 'Kahaani Masters'; a story-writing contest organised to find out the finest story masters in the country.

'Magical Piano' is the story of a child who receives a magical piano for his birthday.

Using the magic of music, the kid goes own to clean the whole planet and then the whole universe, making it a cleaner and happy place to live.

This unique story was written by Mayul Verma, an upper primary student from Agra, India, the release said.

The Salon Youth Video Competition was established by Salon Films, with the support of UNESCO, to promote and encourage the next generation to take part in the biggest challenge of the 21st century, sustainable development.

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Budget hospitality chain Treebo Hotels plans to have 1,500 properties in 150 cities, constituting over 35,000-40,000 rooms by 2018, a company official said.

The hospitality brand, which became operational from June 2015, has 200 properties in 40 cities with over 5,200 rooms, at present.

"We think the country has huge potential and as compared to the overall market we are under-penetrated. We are mainly looking at expansion in a mix of tier I, II and III cities," Treebo Hotels Co-founder Sidharth Gupta told PTI.

The hospitality brand is looking to strengthen its footprint in the cities with existing presence and also to foray into newer places like Northeast and Jammu & Kashmir soon, he said.

"Our focus is to increase the width of our footprint, uniformly spread out in the country. Besides deepening our presence in the existing cities, we will also look at religious destinations, hill stations and industrial hubs," he added.

The company had raised USD 23 million from SAIF Partners, Matrix Partners India and Bertelsmann India Investments for funding the expansion, he said.

In July this year, it raised USD 17 million in a Series B funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), along with existing investors, SAIF Partners and Matrix Partners India.

The Bangalore-based hospitality brand, which operates in asset light model, emphasises on tight quality control.

"As we are operating on franchise model, maintaining quality is very important for us. We have quality auditors or floating general managers, who are responsible for 5-6 properties. They look into staff training and work with the owners in ensuring the maintenance of brand guidelines and its implementations," Gupta said.

The company at present is focused on expansion in the country, but going forward would like to expand overseas into emerging economies having similar potential like Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and South East Asia, he said.

The company also plans to raise its headcount from 400 to 1,000-1,200 by 2018, in line with the expansion, he said.

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Two persons, accused of trying to dig out from the grave bodies of terrorists of the 2001 Parliament attack for "exposing them to vultures", have been acquitted by a Delhi court which said prosecution has failed to prove its case against them.

Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra gave benefit of doubt to Raghu and Vijay Sharma saying it was clear that prosecution witnesses have given contradictory statements in the court.

"... It is clear that the prosecution witnesses have given contradictory statement in the court. The independent witness of the prosecution... Is hostile on the point of identity of the accused. The testimony of police officials is inconsistent and contradictory.

"The prosecution has failed to prove its case against both the accused, accordingly benefit of doubt is given to both the accused," the court said, adding the authenticity of some documents allegedly recovered from the two accused remained unestablished and questionable.

The court freed Raghu and Vijay of the charge under sections 297 (trespassing on burial places) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

A case was registered by Delhi Police at I P Estate Police Station against 10 people but charges were framed against Raghu and Vijay only.

Police received information that some unknown persons, associated with a political party, were planning to exhume the bodies of December 13, 2001 Parliament attack terrorists from the graveyard at ITO here.

Prosecution said when police reached the spot on January 13, 2002, they caught Raghu and Vijay along with spade and stick as they were trying to dig out the corpses of the terrorists for exposing them to vultures.

Both the accused had denied the allegations against them.

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A local court has awarded life imprisonment to two persons for murdering a 44-year-old woman and also imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 each on them.

District and Sessions court judge Ashok Kumar Vyas yesterday convicted Ghanshyam Mali (50) and Kalulal Mali (25), both residents of Rehana village of the district to life-term for killing Kalawati Jat, a resident of Nayapura area of Kota, said Bhupendra Sahay Saxena, Public Prosecutor (PP) at Bundi district court.

The woman, posted as a fourth class employee in (PWD) office of the city, had gone missing from there on June 19, 2013 following which her brother Bhanwar Lal Jat lodged a complaint, he said.

On June 22, 2013, the woman's body was found buried in the jungles of Rehana area under Gendoli police station of Bundi district following which a case was lodged, Saxena said.

The woman was engaged in real estate business and had a monetary dispute with the two convicts, he said, adding that on June 19, 2013she had approached Ghanshyam and Kalulal in Rehana village, where the duo murdered her and buried her body in nearby jungles.

Following investigation, Ghanshyam Mali and Kalulal Mali were arrested and the belongings of the woman were also recovered from their homes, Saxena said.

A total 40 documents were produced and statements of 18 witnesses were recorded in the court, he said, adding that the court convicted the two to life imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 4,000 on each of them.

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Ugandan police stormed the palace of a tribal king and arrested him today after fierce clashes between security forces and a separatist militia they believe is linked to him killed 55, police said.

Heavy fighting broke out yesterday in the western town of Kasese, home to King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom, when his royal guards attacked patrolling security forces, killing 14 police officers and 41 militants, said police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

President Yoweri Museveni phoned the king today morning and ordered him to disband the guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"We took time to talk to the king to get those people out but the king was non-compliant. The only option was to storm the palace and get those people out and get him out for his own security and safety," Kaweesi told AFP.

"He has to explain his involvement in these incidents. He will be charged with inciting violence and brought to Kampala."



Violence has been simmering in the region all week, with four militants killed when they attacked a police post on Thursday, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Kaweesi said members of the royal guard threw an improvised grenade at patrolling officers on Saturday, prompting them to open fire and kill four of the "attackers".

"That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties," he said, adding that fighting between militants - not all of them royal guards - armed with guns and spears and security forces had continued until late in the evening.

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, of the Bakonzo people - with supporters among those who share the same culture and language in the DRC.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo - tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe under colonial rule - declared their own kingdom in 1962.

The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009.

However unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict, as many in the region still feel marginalised by authorities in distant Kampala.

Some in Uganda, with the support from their sister tribe in the DR Congo, have taken up arms and are agitating for the creation of the Yiira Republic which would cover territory in Uganda and part of North Kivu in the DR Congo.

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The Uttarakhand government has withdrawn its decision of posting Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi as OSD, National Green Tribunal.

Chief Secretary Shatrughna Singh has been asked to withdraw the decision taken regarding the posting of Sanjiv Chaturvedi as Officer on Special Duty (OSD), National Green Tribunal, Chief Minister Harish Rawat told reporters yesterday.

The officer will now be given a fresh posting of his choice, he said.

Chaturvedi is said to have not been very interested in taking up the assignment as OSD, NGT where he had to represent Uttarakhand in over 180 cases related to violation of environmental norms.

In a letter to the Chief Secretary earlier this month, the officer had offered his services in the state Vigilance department or state Anti-Corruption Bureau.

Chaturvedi was shifted to the state after his appointment as OSD to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was struck down by the Centre.

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Taking a dig at former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah on his controversial statement over Kashmir, Union Minister of State in the PMO, Jitendra Singh today said that it was "politics of opportunism".

"Some Kashmir centric political parties are like, when they are in power they say Kashmir to be an integral part of India and when the very same people are out of power they get enlightened overnight," Singh told reporters on the sidelines of a function here today.

Without naming the National Conference (NC) President, the union minister said that it become necessary for such leaders to raise question mark on Kashmir once they are voted out of power.

"These Kashmir centric politicians feel the necessity to raise question mark on Kashmir, and I must make this prediction that tomorrow if they come back into power, they will again see Kashmir as an integral part of Kashmir," Singh said.

A section of electronic media had reported that Farooq while speaking at a public meeting in Kishtwar last week had said that Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) is not "your father's property" as he insisted that neither India nor Pakistan could capture the state's territory falling outside their control.

Singh said that the people of Kashmir especially the youth have understood the "dual nature" of this type of politics.

"This is a type of opportunism politics, but the satisfactory thing is that the people of Kashmir especially the youth of the valley have understood the dual nature of their policies," Singh said.

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In a tragic incident, a 24-year-old man shot and killed his father after mistaking him for a deer on a hunting expedition near here.

Kristopher D Paro, shot and killed his father, Kevin D Paro, 58, in the woods behind his house in Sandy Creek, New York.

According to police, Kristopher was hunting alone in the area behind his house. He was in a tree stand when he heard what he thought was a deer about 100 yards away.

The sound was actually of his father, Kevin, who had gone into the woods to hunt as well.

Kristopher fired with a .270 rifle and struck his father in the chest. Kevin was transported to Oswego Hospital where he was pronounced dead, syracuse.Com reported.

State Police are investigating the incident with officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the State Police Forensic Identification Unit. Kristopher has not been charged.

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The United States on Sunday welcomed the appointment of the new army chief of Pakistan expressing hope that the country would never allow the use of soil for terrorism against its neighbours.

The US embassy in Islamabad in a statement welcomed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's appointment of Lieutenant General as the new Chief of Army Staff.

"We look forward to continuing our work with Pakistan's elected leaders, with Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa, and with the Pakistani military to advance our shared counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism goals for Pakistan and the region, and to enable Pakistani authorities to honour their pledge to prevent the use of Pakistan's soil for terrorist attacks against its neighbours," it said.

It also congratulated the outgoing Chief of Army Staff General Raheel and his family upon the conclusion of his three-year appointment.

"General Raheel has been a respected partner throughout his tenure as Army Chief. We appreciate his leadership in combatting terrorism in Pakistan and across the region, and his support for Pakistani civilian governance and institutions. He has demonstrated an impressive commitment to the peace, security, and well-being of the Pakistani people," it said.

The embassy also congratulated the new Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff Committee Lt Gen Zubair Hayat. It also recognised the dedicated service of retiring General Rashad Mahmood whose place General Zubair will fulfil.

Sharif appointed Bajwa as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) by elevating him to the rank of four-star general on Saturday.

Bajwa will take charge of the world's sixth-largest army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when General Raheel formally retires.
Delhi government today gave cheques of Rs 25,000 to each of the 197 residents of shanties at Qutub Road in old city area, which were gutted in a fire on November 7.

Environment and food supplies minister Imran Hussain handed over the cheques to the victims of the fire incident at the relief camp in the area.

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Hussain had inspected the incident spot on the night of the fire and had directed to provide immediate relief for the victims.

The divisional commissioner and district magistrate concerned were directed to ensure maximum ex gratia of Rs 25,000 per shanty.

While distributing cheques, Hussain thanked the revenue department for setting up tents and providing food, water, blankets to the fire victims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has recommended to Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung that the recent appointment of serving VAT commissioner as Member Secretary of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) be withdrawn, terming it to be "unconstitutional".

"It is shocking that the Member Secretary was recently appointed to DCW by you without her name being nominated by the elected government. The government had already nominated a certain name and without considering it, Alka Dewan was nominated to the post. The appointment is unconstitutional and against the order of Delhi High Court and DCW Act," Kejriwal said in his recommendation.

"Preserving the autonomy of the Commission is paramount to its functioning. If the Commission will need constant approvals from the government for its various programmes and activities, how will it question the government authorities?



"The present methods of arm twisting the Commission are dangerous and counter-productive to the well being of the women and girls of Delhi," he added.

The recommendation from the Chief Minister comes following a representation sent to him by DCW chief Swati Maliwal alleging that the appointment has led to stalling of the functioning of the Commission and subverting its autonomy and holding the salaries of the contractual workers for the past three months.

Maliwal had last month claimed that the Commission will have to lose down its mobile helplines and the rape crisis cell, as the Member Secretary to DCW, appointed by the LG, has allegedly stopped releasing salaries of the staff and her being a serving VAT commissioner also makes her appointment to DCW "illegal".

"The part time appointment of Dewan as Member Secretary to the Commission is therefore null and void. It is recommended that she may be immediately withdrawn and in future all appointments to the Commission are made only after due nomination of the same by elected government," Kejriwal said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Food and beverages franchise management company Yellow Tie Hospitality is planning to pump in Rs 100 crore over the next five years in India.

"We are looking to invest Rs 100 crore over the next five years towards building 8-10 food and restaurant brands, creating back-end supply chain infrastructure, marketing and others," founder and CEO Yellow Tie Hospitality Karan Tanna told PTI.

Yellow Tie has initiated the process for PE funds to raise resources to fuel the expansion.

"This is the first time we are looking for investment and being not into business of negative margin, we are receiving positive vibes from the investors," Tanna said, adding that they want to close the transaction in the next 3-6 months.

The F&B management company, which is into a new concept, had begun its journey with its first American brand Genuine Broaster Chicken (GBC). Tanna said there is a plan to turn GBC into a 70-outlet chain by 2017.

"Besides introducing international brands in India, we are working to scale Indian brands with national and international footprints. We have decided to take BBJaan, a luxury Hyderabadi cuisine restaurant to South Eastern countries like Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand," Tanna said.

The other domestic-branded outlets like Dhadoom, Haathapie, Chika Chika and Twist of Tadka will also be scaled up nationally that are currently restricted to one or a few cities only.

"We are tying up with celebrated chefs of the country who put in unique cuisine and we bring in the capability to scale up those nationally and internationally. Well-known Chef Harpal Singh Sokhi has already joined and we are holding dialogue with a few others," Tanna said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR in local parlance) is chief minister (CM) of a state that is rated number one on 'Ease of doing business'. So, it might seem appropriate that he should reward himself by moving into a CM's bungalow in Hyderabad, Telangana, that is spread over 100,000 sq ft, cost upward of Rs 50 crore to build and reportedly has a bulletproof bathroom.
Via Saigon Giai Phong: One more case of Zika in southern province. Excerpt:

Dr. Tu Tan Thu from the Department of Health in the southern province of Binh Duong yesterday confirmed one more person is positive for the mosquito-borne virus.

As per initial investigation, the fourth patient in the province is a man aged over 40 in Di An Town. He experienced prolonged fever, rash, muscle and eye pain. When he saw a doctor in the general hospital Thu Duc in Ho Chi Minh Citys Thu Duc District, doctors took his blood for test in Pasteur Institute because they suspected that he had Zika virus.

Currently, the outpatient was provided information of the disease and his condition is stable.

Accordingly, four people in the province are positive for the virus including one pregnant woman who is stable now.

The Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health yesterday said that the development of Zika is still complicated with most cases in the South Vietnam.

So far, the country has recorded 69 people who are positive for the mosquito-borne virus in 7 cities and provinces; Ho Chi Minh City is leading with 62 cases.
Thanks to demonetisation, operations for most microfinance institutions have come to a near standstill. Loan disbursements and their repayments have almost stopped for many microfinance institutions (MFIs) and therefore, in a sense, the Indian microfinance sector is largely on a holiday. The MFIs cannot accept the old notes as they are no more legal tender. And therefore, disbursements have come to a near standstill because cash is not available to the extent required and even if some MFIs do it electronically, they seem to have stopped because they can credit the borrower's account but they themselves cannot draw the cash.

The problem is not uniform across the country. Some argue that in the South, the repayments have perhaps been a bit better there than elsewhere. Most of the MFIs (microfinance institutions) have therefore opted to temporarily put collections "on hold" - what some others call a "repayment holiday". These could be sums as small as Rs 200 to Rs 1,000 from borrowers depending on whether they are weekly or monthly repayments. This does not seem to have hit those MFI entities that operate as business correspondents for banks. But then, the timing may be quite inappropriate from a borrowers' perspective, given the coming Rabi season, there will be greater demand for loans. As would be the case for the coming marriage season, which might also be a trigger for seeking more loans, at least by small traders.

According to P. Satish, Executive Director, Sa-Dhan, a sector association for micro-lending institutions, "there has been an impact and collections on the whole are down by 30-40 per cent. However, these are largely from rural and remote locations and not so much from urban areas. " He says, since 85-90 per cent of disbursements are usually given away by cash, the whole development is likely to impact growth. The sector has been growing at around 60 per cent and now, he feels, there could be contraction instead of growth this year partly because some of the players are moving out and becoming small finance banks coupled with the effects of demonetisation.

There are also rumours going round in select regions that the loans that some of the poor borrowers have taken have all been waived. To this, Satish says, "Yes, we have also heard this from some pockets like in Vidharba in Maharashtra and from Western UP but we and others in the sector are educating the borrowers that this is not true and non repayment may actually spoil their credit history, which may be bad for them in the long run."

M.S. Sriram, Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), who has studied microfinance closely over the years, makes an interesting observation: "Indian microfinance tends to get cursed and blessed together. Whenever there are signs of overheating, the sector also gets a ready external target it can blame for all the ills. For instance, in 2010, there was the ordinance by the Andhra government and now, cash availability challenges." Now, because of the high growth, over 100 per cent growth, by some estimates, it was beginning to show signs of overheating and there were sector will see some implosion. However, he feels, there could be a correction now and they could all blame it on the currency scenario.

"The January to March quarter, which is usually spent by the microfinance institutions on getting new clients and for offering new loans, will instead see them focusing more on loan recoveries," says Chandni Ohri, CEO, Grameen Foundation in India. It is an entity that operates as a technical expert to various financial service providers and works extensively with microfinance institutions.

So, ultimately, one may see some impact on growth rates overall.
Few people think about trends in the Caucasus with reference to or in the context of Russias Syrian intervention. But Moscow does not make this mistake. From the beginning, Moscow has highlighted its access to the Caucasus through overflight rights and deployment of its forces in regard to Syria, e.g. sending Kalibr cruise missiles from ships stationed in the Caspian Sea to bomb Syria. Therefore we should emulate Russias example and seriously assess military trends in the Caucasus in that Syrian context.

BACKGROUND: Western military analysts have described Russias efforts to build an integrated air defense system (IADS) and anti-ship system in terms of bubbles at certain nodal points and also employed the term anti-access area denial for this strategy (A2AD). These bubbles are in the Baltic, around the Black Sea, and around Syria. They also include the Caucasus. Just as Moscow has delivered Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad  a move that garnered much attention  it has also deployed them in Armenia, ostensibly though not actually, under Armenian control. Indeed, it is virtually inconceivable that Moscow would grant Yerevan operational as well as physical control over those missiles, which are dual capable and could take out any target in Azerbaijan or a radius of 500 kilometers (if not more). Those deployments in Armenia have received virtually no publicity in the West, once again signifying ignorance of Russian strategy and disinterest in the Caucasus. But they have vital strategic significance far beyond Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Coupled with the IADS and A2AD networks that Russia is building in and around Syria and the Black Sea, as well as the base in Iran that Moscow used this summer, Russia is constructing an elaborate network of air and naval defenses. This not only interdicts foreign intervention in Syrias civil war; it also places the entire Caucasus beyond the easy reach of NATO and Western air or military power, while surrounding Turkey from the North, East and South with Russian forces and capabilities that can inhibit any Western effort to come to Turkeys aid. These capabilities also include the naval and A2AD capacity in the Caspian and the deployment of Russian ships with Kalibr or other cruise missiles there, and the possibility of introducing nuclear-capable systems like the Iskander into the Baltic Sea  an already highly volatile theater  if not the Black Sea as well.

In other words, as Moscow moves to maneuver Turkey, as well as Georgia and Azerbaijan, into its orbit through combined economic, ethnic, military, and political pressures, it is also ensuring that these countries will be placed behind an air defense umbrella. This could allow the Russian army and/or navy to advance into them if necessary and to do so with impunity since Western forces would be deterred by the likely high rate of casualties they would incur. Indeed, when this system is completed, Moscow need not invade but only threaten to undermine the sovereignty or integrity of these countries, or their pro-Western affiliations and economic-political ties.

IMPLICATIONS: To intervene in Syria, Moscow had to get overflight rights from the countries of the Caucasus. It now has bases and/or deployed forces in Armenia, Syria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea and the Donbass, and is building them into ever-larger units that could fight protracted wars with the West or anyone else. These bubbles will not only allow for unhindered intervention by ground or naval forces. They will also block any aerospace efforts to deliver ordnance upon Russian targets in this huge swath of territory or rescue states like Georgia and Azerbaijan from Russian threats.

Turkey can no longer be considered as a pro-Western power and its economic dependence upon Russia obliged it to seek a rapprochement with Moscow in advance of the abortive coup of July 2016. This leaves Azerbaijan and Georgia without reliable regional partners and adrift in a sea dominated by Moscow, Tehran, the erratic Turkey, and the increasingly absent or uncomprehending U.S..

It is well known that Moscow is attempting to monopolize any possible process leading to a settlement of the war over Nagorno-Karabakh and entice Azerbaijan into joining the Eurasian Economic Union. At the same time, it is tightening its already strong control over Armenian domestic and foreign policy while selling it more weapons and transferring much higher quality and more lethal ordnance like the Iskander to Armenia. Through such means, Russia can then try to dominate what Geoffrey Kemp and Robert Harkavy called the energy ellipse and the greater Middle East while ousting Washington and its European allies from meaningful regional influence in that zone.

Too many people in Washington and elsewhere persist in the delusion that Putin is a mere tactician who is making it up as he goes along. But the orchestration of the combined military and non-military pressures upon all the actors within the area in question reveal the outlines of a grand design coming into full view.

The consequences of this Russian strategic operation are quite clear. If NATO cannot effectively defend the Caucasus or connect to it, Georgias NATO option becomes meaningless. Since NATO remains unwilling to accept Georgia as a member, the application will become an empty ritual, a check that cannot and will not be cashed.

Both Georgia and Azerbaijan could be pressured to join the Eurasian Economic Union and CSTO. Energy connections to Turkey and Europe could wither under Russian pressure and European disinterest. Russia could impose its version of a peace in Nagorno-Karabakh that enshrines it as the sole regional hegemon but that is unlikely to satisfy either Baku or Yerevan or eliminate the causes of conflict. Meanwhile, the West would be out of the picture and the Caucasus would be a springboard for the ongoing enhancement of Russian and possibly Iranian influence across the Middle East.

The Kurdish and other ethnic minorities throughout this zone would be levers for Moscow to use as it already has done for over a century to place pressure on the Turkish and South Caucasian governments who will gradually be supplanted in the Caucasus by more openly pro-Moscow players who benefit materially as well as politically from their close ties to Moscow, something that is already visible in Armenias new government. At the same time, the West will be gradually marginalized here both strategically and economically, particularly in regard to getting energy from non-Russian sources in any appreciable quantity.

While this result would owe much to the assiduity with which Russia is pursuing its imperial vision, it would also be due in large measure to Western apathy, ignorance, and lack of strategic insight or concern about the Caucasus, a trend that has marked both European and U.S. policy for the period since the Georgian war in 2008 if not earlier.

It is high time that Western governments awoke to what is happening in the Caucasus and the tendencies for either resumed violence or the threat thereof, as well as the threat to Turkish solidarity with NATO and the West. It is quite clear that the Obama Administration has paid far too little attention to the South Caucasus and continues to remain oblivious to anything except Azerbaijans well-known human rights problems. Azerbaijan, to be sure, is no democracy, but neither is Armenia or Russia. If Baku, Tbilisi, and Yerevan lose more of their sovereignty, they will have lost not only the right to actual, as opposed to notional, self-determination; they will have lost any capacity to reform themselves given Moscows vigilant supervision of their policies.

At the same time, the West will have lost any chance to influence domestic trends in any of these countries let alone challenge the spread of Putinism abroad and the creation of a huge Russian sphere of influence in the energy ellipse. Not only is there an acute and urgent need for Western leaders to grasp what is at stake in Syria, they also need to see the big picture and the connection to the Transcaucasus as well as its impact upon their security in order to take purposeful steps to reassert Western influence here.

CONCLUSIONS: Azerbaijan and Georgia are clearly pro-Western states that, whatever their shortcomings, want to identify and cooperate with the West. Neglecting them or chastising them without offering any positive policies except being told to wait patiently leaves them with no option and validates Moscows insistent refrain that the West will not take you. This neglect not only undermines Western strategic interests connected with Turkey and preventing the recrudescence of a Russian empire in Eurasia, it also undermines any possibility down the road for liberalizing reforms in these countries. Absent security, there is little or no future for democratic reform and leaving it to Russia to provide that security is hardly an adequate answer under the circumstances. Therefore, every effort must be made to make sure that the next U.S. administration comes to see the strategic issues at stake in the energy ellipse clearly and acts vigorously, along with its allies and local regimes, to strengthen not just their sovereignty and security but also to bring about opportunities for Western values as well as Western interests.

AUTHORS BIO: Stephen Blank is a Senior Fellow with the American Foreign Policy Council.

Image source: www.expert.ru, accessed on November 26, 2016
Friday, November 25, 2016 at 1:48AM

Apple dominates everyone with a staggering 91 percent operating profit market share but the very distant number 2 at 2.4 percent of the market share is Huawei. Samsungs troubles with its Galaxy Note7 have given the Chinese brand the top spot in the Android device manufacturing game. Two other Chinese companiesVivo and OPPOhave gained 2.2 percent market share each. Samsung has slipped to ninth in the third quarter, which is mostly attributed to the Note7s troubles.

Source: VentureBeat
"They get engaged, she starts looking through all the magazines, and then they start adding up the budgets, and they say, 'It just got too much and we're finding it too stressful,' or there's pressure from parents  the whole thing's just become way too much," said Murray.
"For example, if you're cooking together, there's a whole lot of STEM understandings that can occur. Simple things like classifying and sorting, all the way through to being able to estimate and measure when your jug, for example, doesn't have the same measures as the recipe. Or explicit things like patterns, working out how many Smarties you might need to put around a cake if you're making a specific design.
WHO has published Winning the war against yellow fever. Excerpt:

Four months have passed without a single case of yellow fever related to the outbreak in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thanks to the joint response activities of national health authorities, local health workers, WHO and partners.

"It is incredible that such a large and diverse group of partners have come together to protect people against yellow fever," said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "Im also proud of the Organization-wide support. Staff from across all three levels of WHO  country offices, the Regional Office for Africa and headquarters  have come together under one integrated incident management system. Each level has played an important role: starting from the country level where the outbreak is occurring, to the Regional Office for oversight, command and control and the global level coordination support."

The outbreak, which was first detected in Angola in December 2015, had caused 962 confirmed cases of yellow fever across the two countries (884 in Angola 78 in DRC) by 16 November 2016, with more than 7300 suspected cases. The last confirmed case reported in Angola was on 23 June and DRCs last case was on 12 July.

More than 41 000 volunteers and 8000 vaccination teams were involved in the mass immunization campaigns. The vaccines used came from a global stockpile co-managed by Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), UNICEF and WHO.

In the first 6 months of 2016 alone, the partners delivered more than 19 million doses of the vaccine  three times the 6 million doses usually put aside for a possible outbreak. Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance financed a significant proportion of the vaccines.

"This is the result of a gargantuan effort," said Dr Margaret Lamunu, Yellow Fever Incident Manager at WHO HQ. "30 million people have been vaccinated across the 2 countries  can you imagine the sheer logistics of getting vaccines out to that many people? Many of these people live in dense urban areas or remote rural settings. But we worked tirelessly with the respective governments and our partners  notably Gavi, UNICEF, CDC and all the GOARN partners  and together, we pulled it off."
Certainly the credit rating agencies no longer believe the government's lines. If Australia is trending inevitably towards the eventual loss of our triple-A credit rating, it's because most people choose to believe things can continue on the way they are indefinitely: that we can have ever-increasing spending paid for by taxes on "someone else".
It is hard to get a clear picture of how many people have been cryopreserved to date as there is no system of recording this information. However, there are estimated to be several hundred in the US and Russia where facilities exist.
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 ...
State police have identified the driver who died in the fiery crash of the tanker truck he was driving on Interstate 81 in Franklin County.

State police say 48-year-old William Golladay, of Mount Jackson, Virginia, was killed in the crash just after 6 p.m. Thursday in Greene Township near Chambersburg.

The crash closed the southbound lanes of the highway for about 12 hours.

State police are still investigating the crash and want witnesses to contact the Chambersburg barracks if they know anything about it.
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Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world's largest community for good. Here, you'll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact.

Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. If you find yourself aligning with any of those folks, you can move along, nothing to see here.

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You are our people. You Care. We Care2.
"I was terrified," the victim said after the sentencing. "I still am. I have no means to support myself and my children, but I was terrified Id end up dead if he came back ... I cant give up. I just cant. I want to. Trust me I cry every single day. I am scared and heartbroken for my kids. My sons cant grow up watching me be hit. My daughter cant watch me walk around with a black eye and me act like its okay."
Cadillac has delayed its Project Pinnacle for the second time, pushing back the new dealer incentive program to April 2017.



The program will see the luxury brand dramatically reduce its number of U.S. dealerships to better reflect its current sales volume. As part of Project Pinnacle, 400 of the companys smallest dealers were offered a buyout of up to $180,000, but less than 20 accepted the deal before the Monday deadline, reports Automotive News.

These small dealerships all sold less than 50 vehicles each throughout 2015 and, despite representing 43 per cent of the brands local dealers, only accounted for 9 per cent of sales.

Discussing the low acceptance rate of franchise buyouts, the chairman of the Cadillac dealer council Will Churchill said: The vast majority of people have Chevy, Buick and GMC tied in with that Cadillac store. When you see the amount of money that was put out there, its like a rounding error if youve got a Chevy store. So I think people are deciding theyll take a roll of the dice.

According to Cadillac chief executive Johan de Nysschen, the program was going to be implemented on October 1, but was delayed due to dealer feedback.

PHOTO GALLERY
The UK government is allocating 390 million pounds ($484 million) worth of funding for the development of electric and autonomous vehicles.



The move was announced by the countrys finance minister Philip Hammond as part of the annual budget. According to Hammond, the funding will build on our competitive advantage in low-emission vehicles and the development of connected autonomous vehicles.

Automotive News reports that, alongside the funding, a 100 per cent first-year capital allowance will be provided to develop charging infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Among the beneficiaries of this funding could be Jaguar Land Rover. The British automaker is at the forefront of local autonomous technologies development and has tested autonomous and connected vehicle systems on UK roads. Additionally, the brand will start selling its first all-electric model, the I-Pace, in 2018 and while many of JLRs are built in the UK, the I-Pace will be made in Austria by Magna Steyr.

The UK believes that by 2025, the self-driving car market could be worth $1.1 trillion worldwide.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photo: Wine Crush Market Wine Crush Market's Bill Broddy, left, and Tyson Still.

Five Penticton businesses have been nominated at this year's Small Business B.C. Awards, with most receiving multiple nominations.

That adds to 28 small businesses in Kelowna that have been nominated for the awards ceremony, that has nominations open until Nov. 30.

Wine Crush Market, which won a Penticton and Wine Country Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award for best new business, was nominated for best concept, premier people's choice and best innovation.

Chic Mobile Boutique was nominated for two awards; best concept and premier people's choice, while Felts Photo Services was nominated for the premier people's choice and best community impact awards.

Loom Inc, which recently took a prize at an international lighting contest, has been nominated for best concept. Henna Hut was nominated for best marketer.

After nominations close, organizers will decide on a top 10 for each category, to be announced on Dec. 12. Winners will be announced at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Vancouver on Feb. 23.

The top prize in each category is $1,500, an all-access pass to Small Business BC education, resources and mentorship for one year.
Photo: Getty Images

By Ross Freake

For many people, death is not the No. 1 fear (its No. 5), public speaking is.

Something as simple as standing in front of a group and opening our mouth can turn even the bravest into a quivering mass where the stomach knots, the sphincter tightens, and the sweat glands imitate Niagara. Falls.

And then things get worse.

Maya Webb, president of Okanagan College Toastmasters, knows that feeling.

Well, she did, but she joined Toastmasters and is now a distinguished Toastmaster, the highest level in the international organization of 344,000 members.

"I joined Toastmasters because I was petrified of speaking in public, but had been asked to give a keynote speech. Toastmasters helped me through that and, since then, my confidence has grown and grown.

"Along the way, I have gained more than I bargained for: developing stronger listening skills and becoming better able to give feedback in a constructive, motivating way thats important for my job."

There are eight Toastmaster clubs in Kelowna, meeting on different days of the week and different times of day. What they all have in common is providing a safe, supportive environment in which to challenge yourself and have fun.

Guests are always welcome at any club. Toastmasterskelowna.ca has more details of when and where to find them.

Wade Paterson, social media/communications co-ordinator with Re/Max of Western Canada, came as a guest to the Kelowna AM Toastmasters club almost two years ago and never left.

"I decided to become a Toastmaster because my job requires me to give presentations to 60-70 people. Although I was somewhat confident in my abilities as a speaker, I'd get incredibly nervous before every speaking opportunity, and I wanted to reduce that stress," said Paterson.

Sandy Magee wasn't confident at all about speaking in front of groups, so the Kelowna graphic artist who owns Redsand Creative also joined AM Toastmasters.

Magee overcame his fear, or at least taught the butterflies in his stomach to fly in formation, and later won the Okanagan Toastmasters humorous speech contest.

"I guess it speaks to my comfort level public speaking to be able to deliver it in a ballroom in front of 200 people."

It's been quite a journey for Magee, who described his fear of public speaking over three years ago as between horrible and debilitating.

Now his comfort level is eight out of 10. And he credits Toastmasters with it all.

"My fear of public speaking was something I had to address. It was something I first needed to do so I'd have confidence meeting and pitching to clients.

"Now, I just enjoy the process of developing my communication skills."

Geoff Johnson, a retired superintendent of schools, wrote in an article on public speaking:

Great orators from Pericles and Demosthenes to Lincoln, Churchill and Gandhi have demonstrated that the spoken word, or at least words spoken well, have the power to change the course of history."

Not many of us want to be great orators, an Obama, but the ability to speak coherently is a great asset, one that can be learned.

If youre interviewing for a job, giving a business presentation, leading a seminar, or just need confidence, Toastmasters can help.

Toastmasters will help you:

Speak and present compellingly

Think quickly and clearly

Become a strong leader

Listen effectively

You will learn these skills and more in a supportive, self-paced, fun atmosphere.

How does it work?

Everyone in a Toastmasters meeting was once at the level you are now.

The environment is friendly and supportive, and the self-paced program allows you to build confidence with each speaking assignment. And youll love the applause.

Constructive evaluation is the heart of the Toastmasters program. Each time you give a prepared speech, an evaluator will point out strengths and suggest improvements.

At first youll be applauded for your effort; later youll be applauded for your skill.

Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped millions of men and women become more confident in front of an audience.

"Our network of clubs and their learn-by-doing program are sure to help you become a better speaker and leader," it's written in a Toastmasters brochure.

"Why pay thousands of dollars for a seminar when you can join Toastmasters for a fraction of the cost and have fun in the process?"

For a list of meeting locations in your area, simply visit Toastmasterskelowna.ca. Each group has its own personality, so check out a few to find one that best matches yours.

Ross Freake is president of Kelowna AM Toastmasters. Email [email protected].

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
Photo: Kelowna Right to Life Society

UPDATE: 5:30 p.m.

Organizers released information, Saturday, that their planned demonstrations for UBCO have been postponed until the last week of January.

They decided to postpone the demos after UBCO students expressed concern that the display will cause them extra, unnecessary stress during final exams week.

For the second time this school year, the Kelowna Right to Life Society will be staging a demonstration at the UBC Okanagan campus, but this time it'll be on school property.

The pro-life group stood just off campus property, in the roundabout at the entrance to the school, at the beginning of October with anti-abortion signs, including graphic ones depicting late-term aborted fetuses.

The demonstration disturbed a number of students, prompting a counter-protest a few days later.

Late last week, the university sent out a notice to students informing them the society was coming back to the school on Nov. 29 and 30, and this time they'd be on school property, just south of the bus stop.

Matthew Grant, associate director of communications with UBCO, said the university wanted to have the society on campus property due to the safety risks of them demonstrating near the road.

Additionally, by letting them on school property, the university can control when and where the protest will take place, allowing the school to warn students in advance so they can avoid it if they'd like.

The university believes in the free and respectful exchange of ideas in a way that is safe and respectful to all involved, said Grant. The subject matter of this particular demonstration, we don't have a perspective on it.

While Grant says a discussion was had with the society about the graphic nature of their signs, he expects

"they're going to bring materials that they've used not only here, but in other locations around Canada.

Christina, a nursing student at UBCO, is upset there was no discussion with students before allowing the controversial demonstration on campus.

These officials have signed off on something that is going to make our university, that we pay massive amounts of money to go to, a very unsafe place for those who are going to take this very personally, she said.

The issue has also caused a rift through the school's student union. A letter was sent to UBCO students from the student union's four vice-presidents saying they were unaware of the protest until Friday morning, but that the student union's president, Blake Edwards, had sat in on a meeting to discuss the school's decision.

We believe that as a man, this was not his place and it was upsetting that he believed he could speak on behalf of the women at this institution, the letter reads.

Edwards says he doesn't support having the protest on campus, and that the university had already decided they would host the demonstration before the meeting was held.

The student union never had an opportunity to argue against it, Edwards said. We don't necessarily support the university allowing this to happen, but at least by knowing it's going to happen we can make sure those students are supported to the best of their ability and also to make sure that we can have that counter-protest.

Several on-campus organizations are organizing the counter-protest to coincide with the Right to Life Society's demonstration.

Our counter-protest has been more about the well-being of students, more positive vibes, saying you're accepted, rather than having the radical opposition that would just create more anger, Edwards said.

The Right to Life Society could not be reached by publication time.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Penticton city councillor Tarik Sayeed will go to the May 9 provincial election under the BC NDP banner.

Sayeed was named the BC NDP candidate for the provincial riding in Penticton in a Saturday election by party members in the riding in Summerland.

Sayeed was up against Summerland Coun. Toni Boot for the position.

"I feel humbled by the tremendous amount of support from the citizens of our constituency," he said after the results were read. "And in the next few months, I will be forming a core team and strategizing our next steps."

Saturday's nominating convention included speeches from both candidates, the ballot count and an announcement of the results.

Sayeed spoke about being born in Bangladesh and coming from a strong political family, before being sent to North America to become a professional.

Ultimately he moved on from the corporate world to become an entrepreneur, founding Baby Taxi Inc., a start-up that created gesture recognition software to translate American Sign Language into text and audio.

After being elected to council, he and other council members have dealt with such issues as affordable housing, shelters for the homeless and what he described as the school closure fiasco in the South Okanagan.

He also sits on the citys economic development and prosperity task force.

Boot told those in attendance about her passion for agriculture and her focus on food, shelter, clean air and water that so many take for granted.

She stressed that far too many struggle with the basic necessities of life and that it is time to care about people again.

She later congratulated Sayeed, saying he would be able to bring this riding home for the party.

BC NDP leader John Horgan also welcomed Sayeed to his team of candidates.

Tarik Sayeed is a fantastic candidate. Hes an innovator and a proven leader in municipal government, he said. "I know hell work tirelessly to stand up for Penticton and take on Christy Clark. Im so pleased to have Tarik on the BC NDP team.

Sayeed's main challenger in the election will be incumbent MLA Dan Ashton with the BC Liberals.

 with files from Dustin Godfrey
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Penticton staff continued to spread the word about the city's infrastructure deficit and what's being done about it at an open house Saturday.

Acting CAO Mitch Moroziuk said it is part of an ongoing effort to get feedback from the public on the matter.

"We are continuing to present information and now we are taking a more focused approach to basically find out what the public specifically has for ideas to address the problem," he said.

Like other communities across Canada, the city is dealing with rising costs of aging infrastructure.

The total bill to fix or replace water, sewer, electrical, roads, parks and buildings as needed is estimated to be as high as $175 million.

Reasons for how the city got to this point range from low or no tax increases to flat population growth and the burden of ownership shifted to municipal government.

The open houses, one was also held Thursday, at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre are part of the ongoing dialogue with the public since the deficit was announced.

This includes drop in sessions and online engagement.

During those sessions people asked for information about options available on the matter and the open houses were to give more detail and get more input, said community engagement consultant JoAnne Kleb, who was in attendance, Saturday.

She added that 110 unique ideas received from the public during the process were incorporated into the available information.

Ideas thought to have the most community impact included increasing taxes, seeking grants, consolidating facilities, reducing service levels and costs and reviewing economic incentives.

Wes Nickel, a member of the Penticton Library board. said he was there because it was in the mix for something to happen with the library.

"In fairness I'm here to find out where all this is heading," he said.

While resident Derek Hurst said he wanted to learn more about what the deficit entails and find out what the priorities are.

In addition to being inivited to talk to staff and view storyboards, visitors were able to listen to presentations given by Moroziuk.

Following the open houses feedback will be provided to council and staff for consideration as they develop the five year financial plan.

It's important to note that this is not a one time actuality," said Kleb. "We will need to share information and get input every year for several years and this will likely become a budget consultation issue."
We may well be witnessing the final triumph of Mammon over our national government.

Does that sound overwrought? Consider what Donald Trump is doing. First, he is refusing to put the management of his financial and business interests at arms length during his presidential term. The law may not dictate that he do so, but precedent surely does. And for good reason.

Trump is believed to have business holdings in as many as 150 companies operating in at least 25 different countries. The web of potential conflicts is dizzying. For example, workers at a casino he owns in Las Vegas are now in a labor dispute with Trump. His appointees to the National Labor Relations Board and to the courts will possibly make rulings on this and other cases that involve Trumps interests.

Trump has stated that his business interests would be looked after by three of his adult children. Yet at the same time, there is little evidence this would represent any significant firewall between the nations business and his personal business. Already his children have sat in on meetings and phone calls with foreign leaders. According to an Argentinian news report, the president-elect used a phone call with Argentinian President Mauricio Macri to inquire about the status of some permitting problems that are holding up a Trump building project in Buenos Aires.

There are many more instances that could be cited, but lets look at Trumps reaction to the so-far mild criticism hes come in for, given in his favorite medium, a tweet:

Prior to the election it was well known that I have interests in properties all over the world. Only the crooked media makes this a big deal!

Thats right, folks. You only have yourselves to blame. You trusted him.

To give Trump his due, a good enough portion of the American voting public asked for it. They did so when they latched onto the idea that a man known for his business acumen (deservedly or not) would be leader who had their interests at heart.

It seems a lifetime ago that the press was breathlessly examining the conflicts of interest Bill and Hillary Clinton were courting with their charitable that accepted contributions from foreign donors at a time when Hillary held sway in global affairs as the U.S. Secretary of State. Thats not to mention the outrage of her paid speeches to Wall Street banks.

How quickly things have changed. The Washington Post reports that Trumps foundation has admitted to the IRS that it engaged in self-dealing, which is illegal. That disclosure included this interesting tidbit. A Ukrainian steel oligarch paid Trumps foundation $150,000 in 2015 for what was described as a video speech.

Hmm. Im sure theres no taint in that arrangement.

If Trump keeps it up, he may learn that the public is still capable of being disgusted by corruption in politics. Usually it is not the big honcho who enriches himself but rather his henchmen and the businessmen he cuts in on sweetheart deals. But Trump is different. During the campaign, he gloried in his exploits in the private sector, buying off politicians and avoiding taxes. Well see how long it takes for that act to get old.

Heres what the public needs to keep in mind: Every decision that Trump makes on trade deals, Congressional legislation and all manner of international agreements could have an impact on his global holdings. We have to watch for them. We have to keep him honest, because its doubtful he can do that himself.

Donald Trumps extraordinary ability to cultivate and promote his brand of wealth convinced many voters to send him to the White House. But Trumps success as president will hinge on his ability to pivot from a businessmans way of operating to a viewpoint and style consistent with governing within a democracy. In other words, the skills that brought him into the office cant sustain him after his inauguration.

Admittedly, the idea that the federal government would function better if it behaved more like a business is a seductive one. The sweeping entry of a CEO to upset the Washington status quo is temptingly simplistic.

Yet government does not and should not function like a business. The public good cannot be reduced to profit and loss. Many of governments functions are costly yet essential despite their great expense; think of national security, justice and education. Think of ensuring baseline medical care for all and social insurance for the aged and disabled. Think of national infrastructure.

Private enterprise is largely or wholly inadequate to address these needs on its own, and a businessman/statesman must recognize that.

Donald Trump seems intent to shred the ethics manual on self-enrichment in office. A man like that can just as easily shred the social contract. Stay alert, America.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

MP RIchard Cannings held his first annual Christmas open house at his office on Penticton's Main Street on Friday.

Visitors were invited to chat with the MP, sample Christmas goodies and listen to live music.

"We are always trying to find ways to let people know where our office is and that there are people who can help residents with their problems, such as pensions, tax questions and immigration," he said. "It's also Christmas and it's always fun to get together with residents."

The open house was the start of a busy weekend for the MP, who was also in attendance at the Penticton Constituency Association of the BC NDP nominating convention in Summerland, on Saturday.

There he talked to the crowd about upcoming issues including electoral reform and pipeline announcements.

On Sunday, Cannings will return to Ottawa for three weeks.

Upon his return, another Christmas open house is planned for Castlegar on Dec. 19.
Photo: CTV

Surrey RCMP officers were on scene following a report of a body found in South Surrey on Saturday.

At approximately 2:50 p.m., the RCMP received a report of a body in the ditch in the 3600 Block of 176 Street.

The body was located by pedestrians walking on the street.

Upon attendance, a deceased person was located.

The cause of death has not been confirmed, but it appears that the body was in the water for some time.

While this investigation is at a very early stage there is no information at this time that this incident is related to any other on going investigations.

No further details are available at this time.

Anyone with further information who has not already spoken to police is asked to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or, if they wish to remain anonymous, Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or www.solvecrime.ca.
Photo: CTV

A snowboarder died on Blackcomb Mountain, Saturday.

The 27-year-old man was found unresponsive, just after noon, near a gladed area known as Arthur's Choice.

A skier called 911, who then alerted Blackcomb ski patrol.

A bystander performed CPR until ski patrollers arrived, followed by a support team with a defibrillator.

They couldn't revive the man.

RCMP are investigating the incident.

"Whistler Blackcomb would like to express its sincere condolences to the deceased's friends, colleagues and family," the resort said in an email.

 with files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: The Canadian Press

Students and administrators raised concerns about a Tennessee school bus driver's behaviour behind the wheel in the weeks before a crash that killed six children.

Police have charged driver Johnthony Walker with vehicular homicide after the Chattanooga crash. Federal authorities said Walker was driving off the designated bus route when he wrecked on a curvy road while carrying 37 children on their way home from Woodmore Elementary School.

Records released by the school district Friday include two written statements by students complaining about Walker's driving.

"The bus driver drives fast," one student wrote earlier this month. "It feels like the bus is going to flip over. ... When someone is in the aisle he stops the bus and he makes people hit their heads."

Another student wrote: "The bus driver was doing sharp turns and he made me fly over to the next seat. We need seat belts."

On Nov. 2, a school official boarded the bus after the driver complained that students were not listening to him. One student had complained about the heat on the bus and cursed about it to the bus driver.

"The driver was now visibly upset and continued on by saying that he had another job and driving this bus was just a part-time job for him," wrote Carlis Shackelford, a behavioural specialist at the school. "Driver stated that he could just leave him at the school. He then stated 'or I can just leave the student on the bus and I will get off the bus and leave the school.'"

"Driver stated that he did not care about the students and proceeded to tell the students he did not care about them," Shackelford wrote.

The school district's transportation supervisor, Benjamin Coulter, responded that "we are addressing the issue with the driver."

Walker was in custody at the Hamilton County Correctional Facility on Friday and had a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday. Jail records do not indicate whether he has an attorney.
Photo: The Canadian Press

Every day, thousands of thrill seekers around the globe strap themselves into amusement park rides with a connection to B.C.

The technology that makes the experiences possible can be traced back to a Port Coquitlam company that is quickly making a name for itself as a premier builder of some of the most popular and sophisticated rides on the planet.

Since 2011, Dynamic Attractions has leveraged its longtime expertise in steel fabrication and the precision-engineering of high-end telescopes to work alongside Disney, Universal Studios and other theme park owners.

"Whether it's a tilt and drop, whether it's a spin cycle or a gyro table, it's just to create the effect," said vice-president Kelven Tan. "It has turned the science of rides into an art."

The company has changed dramatically since its inception as a steel fabricator 90 years ago.

Dynamic was established in Vancouver in 1926, but by the late 20th century it had carved out a niche in high-precision engineering for products such as telescopes.

In the late 20th century, the company got a foothold in the amusement park market when a former collaborator who had gone on to work for Disney reached out for help troubleshooting one of its attractions. Fast forward to today, and the company has more than 50 rides operating around the world and many more in the works.

Dynamic is in the process of creating media-based attractions for the inaugural 20th Century Fox World in Malaysia, for Ferrari World in the United Arab Emirates and for an outer space-themed amusement park in Hangzhou, China.

Guy Nelson, Dynamic's president and CEO, bought the company in 2007 and oversaw its transition to designing theme park attractions. The company's background with telescopes made the switch a logical one, he said.

"We have a skill set that's second to none in the area of moving large pieces of steel safely and to precision tolerances, like you would expect of a telescope on top of a mountain," Nelson said.

"Those skill sets transcend and actually are applicable in the ride-system business where precision and safety and quality are very important."
Photo: BC Ferries

BC Ferries came to the rescue of two men whose canoe overturned near Denman Island, Saturday.

The MV Tachek and Baynes Sound Connector launched rescue boats after the paddlers got into trouble.

The canoe overturned between Denman Island and Vancouver Island, in Baynes Sound, about 11:45 a.m..

The men were rescued within minutes, and both were wearing life jackets.

A Coast Guard vessel took the men to Buckley Bay, where they were met by paramedics.

 with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: CTV

Police are investigating a bomb threat made to a Victoria car dealership on Saturday.

The Mercedes dealer received a call Saturday morning about a bomb being in one of its vehicles.

aPolice K9 police units and the Emergency Response Team responded to the incident.

The lot was searched with two explosive sniffing police dogs and, as we kind of suspected, it was a hoax and nothing was found, Sgt. Glenn Vermette told CTV.

Streets in the vicinity were shut down for about two hours as police searched the area.

Victoria Police are now seeking a person of interest caught on surveillance cameras who is believed to have made the call.

 with files from CTV Vancouver Island
Photo: CTV

A new bylaw expected to be passed Monday will target landlords whose tenants engage in illegal operations in Port Coquitlam.

The move would add to current bylaws by putting the onus on landlords who rent their buildings to tenants for illegal purposes.

Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore told CTV Vancouver current bylaws allow only the tenant to be fined for operating without a business licence or doing something illegal.

"What we're going to do on Monday night is keep that, but also include the land owners," said Moore.

"We think the land owners have some responsibility in ensuring what goes on in their building actually is according to bylaws and the laws of this country."

Under provisions of the bylaw, tickets could be issued to the landlord of properties where illegal activities are taking place.

After five-years of non-compliance, the city could sell the property and keep the proceeds.

The bylaw would target, among others, marijuana dispensaries operating illegally within the city.

Moore said the city has received complaint from residents about businesses operating illegally, including marijuana dispensaries.

"They don't have a business licence, they can't get a business licence because their operation is illegal, so yes it would affect them," he said.

One such dispensary is owned by Marc and Jodie Emery.

Their shop was raided by police late last week. No arrests were made, but evidence was seized.

--files from CTV Vancouver
Photo: Flickr - BC gov't

The world has been discovering B.C. in ever increasing numbers this year.

Over the first nine months of 2016, nearly half a million more international visitors have travelled to B.C.

That's an increase of 11.9 per cent over the same period a year ago.

The latest figures from Statistics Canada also show a sharp increase in September compared with the same month in 2015.

International overnight visits to B.C. increased by 14.9 per cent in September. That works out to an additional 74,287 visits.

Some notable increases by region in September include South Korea (44.6 per cent), China (32.2 per cent), Mexico (28.2 per cent) and the United Kingdom (27.9 per cent).

Large increases in international visitors from China, Mexico and the United Kingdom are due in part to improved air access from those regions and Vancouver International Airports vision and business model.

Destination BC, the province's marketing arm, has instituted a new international marketing strategy to attract new visitors to the province.

Tourism is one of the world's fastest growing industries. Among global travellers, Canada is hot. And B.C. is sizzling," said Marsha Walden, CEO Destination British Columbia.

"Right now, B.C. is showing an almost 15% increase year-over-year in overnight arrivals from our international markets. This surge of visitors at the end of summer is a great sign for the tourism seasons ahead and leading into 2017.
Photo: RCMP Super lab

Kelowna RCMP assisted by Federal and Provincial RCMP units shut down a clandestine 'super lab' last week.

Earlier this year, the Kelowna RCMP Drug Section and members of the Southeast District Criminal Intelligence Service began an investigation culminating with the execution of three search warrants. During the course of their investigation, police identified three suspect locations, two in Kelowna and one in Westbridge, BC.



On November 21, 2012, the Kelowna RCMP executed a search warrant on a residence on Christian Valley Road in Westbridge. During the search, police located an exothermic reaction MDMA lab (MDMA has become widely known as "ecstasy" ), and caught several occupants on site allegedly in the act of "cooking" both MDMA and its precursors.

Photo: RCMP $85,000 in cash

A second search was conducted on a storage locker in Kelowna, where police located chemical precursors used in the production of ecstasy (MDMA). In total the team located 3.5 Kilos of MDMA. The third search involved a residence on Chute Lake Road where $85,000 in cash was seized.

Depending on the mix, 3.5 Kilos of MDMA could be used to make up to 200,000 pills. At an average cost of $10 a pill the street value could be $2 million.

The 'E' Division Clandestine Lab Enforcement and Response Team was deployed and attended the first two sites for assessment and to conduct the safe dismantling and processing of the scenes.



Production methods at this level points directly to the involvement of organized crime groups motivated by profit. Targeting these groups is a priority for the Kelowna RCMP, Southeast District and RCMP Federal Policing Services. The Kelowna RCMP and other RCMP support units will continue to combat the trade of illegal drugs as part of our ongoing commitment to reduce the impact of these groups in our communities, said Insp Rick Flewelling, Operations Support Officer of the Kelowna RCMP.



Precursors and active clan labs pose huge fire risks and potential hazmat situations to the immediate environment, neighbourhood and community, due to the nature of the chemicals used and their toxic by-products. As devastating as this environmental damage can be, it pales in comparison to the lives of both youths and adults that are destroyed by the types of synthetic drugs being produced in clan labs.



Ryan Patrick Novy (32), Alesya Efimenko (29), William Charles Forrest (24) and Bradley Fraser Garth (39) have been charged with Possession of a Controlled Substance for the Purpose of Trafficking and Production of a Controlled Substance.



More arrests and further charges may be recommended pending further investigation.



If you suspect drug activity in your neighbourhood, do not investigate, call your local police or, remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.
Rajasthan Government to launch Annapurna Rasoi Programme to provide quality meal at cheap price

Published: November 26, 2016

Rajasthan Government has decided to start Annapurna Rasoi Programme to provide quality meal at cheap and affordable price to people belonging to the weaker section and labourers.

The main beneficiary of the scheme will be rickshaw pullers, labourers, auto drivers, students, working women, elders and other weaker section.

Key Facts

The food under this programme will be provided at subsidized rates, breakfast at Rs 5 per plate and lunch/dinner at Rs 8 per plate.

In the first phase the scheme will be started in 12 districts. They are Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Kota, Bikaner, Bharatpur, Pratapgarh, Dungarpur, Banswara, Baran and Jhalawar.

The food will be distributed by 80 mobile vans at locations decided by local self-help agencies in districts. The remaining 21 districts of state will be covered in second phase.

Month: Current Affairs - November, 2016

Topics: Annapurna Rasoi Programme  Food security  Government Schemes  Rajasthan  Social Issues  States

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They were called the Greatest Generation to have ever lived. The men and women lived through the Great Depression, fought in World War II and then helped shape America to be a great super power. They built super highways, sent a man to the moon, ushered in an age of civil rights, and yet never asked for a thank you or a pat on the back.

Warren Corless, a resident of the Presbyterian Manor in Farmington, is one of those men who gave up two years of his life to serve in the South Pacific and doesnt believe he did much.

I went in the Army, the war wasnt over yet, Corless said. I took basic training at Ft. Knox, and then was sent to Ft. Meade in Maryland. We were supposed to be sent to Europe, but by the time they were ready to send us, the War in Europe was over.

Although the war in Europe was over, it was still raging on in the Pacific. Okinawa had yet to fall, General Douglas MacArthur had returned to the Philippines and President Harry Truman had authorized first the invasion of mainland Japan and then later, the use of the first atomic weapon.

We fumbled around at Ft. Meade for about a month before they decided to send us the Pacific, said Corless. By the time we got there, they were considering dropping the bomb, so I really missed the whole bit.

Once in the Pacific, Corless would be stationed on several different islands including the Philippines, Leyte Island, Savu Island and finally mainland Japan.

While station at Layte, Corless was recovering from an injury before being assigned to the 77th Infantry Division as a member of a tank crew.

It was while stationed on Layte, the United States dropped the bomb on both Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

After the second atomic bomb was dropped and the Japanese offered their unconditional surrender, there was celebration. After six long years, a war that had consumed the entire planet was finally over.

When they dropped the bomb, everyone cheered, Corless said. They went out to the streets and danced. We got a ration of beer and some ice from the Navy, so we had a party on the beach to celebrate.

For many people of the time, especially for the men stationed in the Pacific, the death and destruction leveled by the two bombs were never vocalized. The bombings meant the war was over and those who had served were finally able to go home.

I never got any sense that anyone opposed the dropping of the bombs, Corless said. Now, no one would want it to happen again. It was devastating. But I dont think they knew what was really going to happen when they dropped it. Most of us thought if we would have invaded japan, many of us would have died, possibly even me.

Although the Pacific War was effectively over, Corless and his unit were still ordered to Japan.

Before they dropped the bomb, we were preparing to invade mainland Japan, Corless said. But even after we dropped the bomb, we still went ahead of as if we were going in. I was a tank crewman, so I had to loads all of the tanks and everything else we had on an LST and headed to Japan.

Once the 77th Division made Japan, they were sent north to Hokkaido, one of the most northern most cities in Japan.

When we first got there, it was so quiet. No one was stirring, The Japanese were afraid of us, Corless said. But once they realized we were going to hurt them, they came from everywhere. They wanted our chocolate, our cigarettes, anything we had.

During his time stationed in Japan, Corless had a chance to see the destruction caused by the atomic bomb.

I saw Nagasaki and there was nothing left, Corless said. Everything was flattened. There was a couple of things sticking up but the rest was just flat.

As the days and months after the surrender went on, many of the men in the 77th had been discharged, only leaving a small force left behind for what was basically clean-up duty.

Anyone with who had enough points got to go home, Corless said. So that left a skeleton crew. We had to get all of the tanks and a few other vehicles ready to be turned into the Quarter Master in Yokohama.

After serving his country, Corless would come home and eventually become a postal worker, a job he would work for the next 33 years. He married his sweetheart, Glenda, and had two children with her, David and Susan.

In 1991, Corless and his wife moved to Farmington and began living at Farmington Presbyterian Manor. On any given day, you can find Corless doing laps around the manor, with the help of his walker, and spending the day with his wife of 66 years.
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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
Reporting from Washington  Donald Trump is branded with all manner of unflattering labels, but one that hasn't seemed to much bother him is "climate pariah."

The president-elect is unabashed in his disdain for America's 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.

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Environmentalists take little comfort in Trump's 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 he's 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. "I'm not sure anybody is ever going to really know."

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Yet few things on Trump's confrontational agenda put him more quickly on a collision course with the rest of the world, much of his own country and even some in his own party than his stated desire to abandon the fight against global warming. The looming assault on environmental regulation will test the resilience of California's leadership role in the world, which is defined in large part by aggressive action on climate change that became a blueprint for the Obama administration.

"Donald Trump will be about the only head of state who does not believe in climate science or the responsibility of his government to act," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, which signed up more members in the week after Trump won the election than during the rest of 2016 combined. "This makes the Bush-Cheney administration look like it came from an environmental training camp."

But Trump may be picking a tougher fight than he knows. The last time the White House made the kind of retreat Trump envisions  when President Bush walked away from the Kyoto protocol in 2001  the policy landscape of climate change was drastically different.

Much of the action on climate change in this country no longer plays out in federal agencies but at local commissions enforcing laws in 29 states that push public utilities to go green. Their mandates are to encourage investment in cleaner plants and technology development.

Major U.S. trading partners that signed on to the nearly 200-nation accord reached in Paris last year are already signaling that they will retaliate if the United States backs out, possibly by slapping environmental trade tariffs onto some American products.

Bailing on the deal could also increase the influence of China, itself once a chief climate pariah and now a green-energy powerhouse and lead instigator of international climate agreements. Trump is poised to create a leadership vacuum in the fight against climate change that would only expand Beijing's reach, Chinese officials say.

None of those potential consequences faze the free-market think tanks urging Trump to go rogue. Just weeks ago, these groups were on the lonely fringe, pursuing an agenda written off as wacky by the mainstream science community, but now find themselves helping drive policy at the highest levels.

"We disagree with President Obama that climate change is the end-all and we ought to reorient the global economy around this phenomenon," said William Yeatman, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

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One of the organization's most outspoken scholars, Myron Ebell, was tasked by Trump to oversee the transition to the new administration at the EPA. Ebell accuses the mainstream science community of unnecessarily alarming the public about global warming. Where many erstwhile allies abandoned that position in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary, Ebell doubled down. Last year, he attacked the call by Pope Francis for action on climate change as "scientifically ill-informed, economically illiterate, intellectually incoherent and morally obtuse."

That Ebell is now setting the direction of the EPA is horrifying to no small number of policymakers and scientists who have worked on this issue since even before the Kyoto talks. Some don't even accept it. They expect Ebell will stir so much public outrage that his influence in the new administration will quickly wane.

"He is a fanatical ideologue," said David Doniger, who directs the climate program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "If this were a corporation, would you turn a sales unit over to a nut like that?"

But Trump, who shook up his transition team after winning the election, has left Ebell in charge of the shift at the EPA and may keep him in place to run the agency. Trump's transition team did not respond to a request to interview Ebell.

In California, state officials are already dusting off their playbooks from the George W. Bush years, when the state launched its ambitious climate agenda in spite of the White House. The state's clean-energy start-ups and innovation labs are redrafting business plans to focus on serving customers in places likely to be more hospitable to green tech during the Trump administration. Home-grown California technologies thought to be destined for Pittsburgh or Cincinnati may now divert to Paris or Shanghai.

"I don't see this impacting California one bit," said Yuan-Sheng Yu, an analyst at Lux Research who wrote a report on the future of climate policy under Trump. "California has made clear it is going to move forward regardless of who is president, just as it did before Obama."

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Trump faces an even more politically daunting barrier: many fellow Republicans. Generous federal tax credits for wind and solar production have provided an economic boost to states red and blue alike. Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa put Trump on notice, saying this year that only "over my dead body" would Congress allow a repeal of the wind tax credits Trump has proposed eliminating.

Still, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, which have been dropping for years, are projected to turn sharply upward under Trump, according to the Lux report, even as California and many other states push ahead with their climate plans.

For starters, Trump's agenda would enable unfettered operation of America's most polluting power plants. Obama's Clean Power Plan  which Trump said he will immediately kill  aimed to shut those down. Without those federal regulations in place, states resistant to the California-type approach are free again to go their own way.

Combine that with Trump's plan to strip all subsidies for green power, and add a Trump environmental agenda that includes none of the aggressive goals Hillary Clinton set for accelerating solar installations, and the amount of carbon released into the environment surges.

The public remains alarmed by climate change, and Trump will pay a heavy political price if he proceeds, environmental groups warned.

But even the climate contrarians at the Competitive Enterprise Institute are skeptical about how far he will go. Yeatman pointed to a postelection report in an energy industry publication that said Trump is already putting on the back burner his plan to end the wind and solar subsidies driving so much of America's green economy.

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And the energy plan the Trump campaign has now posted on its website also concerns him. Along with a massive surge in fossil fuel production, Trump promises to "make full use" of "renewable energy sources."

And on Tuesday, Trump walked back a few more steps. Asked whether he was dead set on abandoning the Paris accord, the president-elect wavered. "I'm looking at it very closely," he said. "I have an open mind to it."

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Students play on Nov. 22, 2016, on the playground at Zapata Elementary Academy in the Little Village neighborhood, close to the Hellman's factory, which can be seen in the background. Environmental activists worry that a factory expansion will bring more diesel air pollution to the area. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune)

The news of a factory expansion on the city's West Side is generally a cause for rejoicing  more manufacturing means more jobs in an area that could use them.

But environmental advocates are concerned that the planned expansion of the Hellmann's mayonnaise factory in the Little Village neighborhood will bring heavy truck traffic near an elementary school, exposing children to harmful diesel fumes.

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The Little Village Environmental Justice Organization wants Unilever, parent company of Hellman's maker Best Foods, to commit to using trucks fueled by compressed natural gas (CNG) or electricity, which produce lower carbon monoxide emissions, rather than diesel.

"We are already overburdened with air pollution," said Kim Wasserman, executive director of LVEJO, who said 500 to 900 additional trucks will come to the new facility daily. "This is going to exacerbate the situation."

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Construction for the new single-story mayo factory and distribution center on a vacant site near 28th Street and Kilbourn Avenue will start early next year, according to Chicago Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd), who has said the facility may need as many as 60 new workers. Site preparation for the facility, an expansion to an existing factory, is going on this fall, Munoz said.

The site is near Zapata Elementary Academy at 2728 S. Kostner Ave. Wasserman said Unilever has donated $20 million to upgrade the school  but the upgrades do not address air quality concerns.

Munoz said trucks for the facility would travel on Cicero Avenue and not come through the neighborhood. But Wasserman said that her organization wants the company to promise, in writing, to keep trucks off residential streets.

A spokesperson for Unilever, parent company for such well-known brands as Ben & Jerry's ice cream and Lipton tea, said in an email that the project will require trucks to enter and exit from the main commercial road. The company also said it is increasing its use of natural gas trucks and has made the Kilbourn Avenue plant "a priority" for their use.

Wasserman said she would like to eventually see 100 percent of the trucks use natural gas or electricity.

With its industrial base and proximity to truck-heavy corridors like I-55, Pulaski Road and Cicero and Western avenues, Little Village has had a history of air quality concerns. The Crawford and Fisk coal-burning electric plants, located in Little Village and Pilsen, respectively, and shuttered in 2012, were blamed for contributing to asthma and other respiratory health problems in the region.

"They fight and fight to get rid of these old power plants and then there's another thing that comes in," said Susan Mudd, senior policy advocate for the Environmental Law and Policy Center.

Mudd said the center also is concerned about the possible construction of a distribution warehouse in the neighborhood at 31st Street and Kedzie Avenue, which could also require heavy truck traffic.

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Diesel engines create tiny particles  40 are needed to make up the width of one human hair, Mudd said. Such small particles get past a body's protective systems and are responsible for different health problems. The problem is particularly acute for children, whose lungs are still growing, Mudd said.

Mudd said that diesel trucks built since 2007 are significantly cleaner than older trucks, so newer trucks would help. Another measure that would reduce emissions is for the city of Chicago to strictly enforce its ordinance that diesel vehicles cannot idle for more than three minutes at a time  a stricture that can also be kept by individual companies.

"They can be good citizens without being required to do this," Mudd said.

The Unilever spokesperson said company policy limits idling to 10 minutes.

Munoz said his office is working to mitigate emissions by pushing Unilever to use more compressed natural gas trucks instead of diesel.

Commercial and government fleets, such as United Parcel Service and the Pace suburban bus service, have been expanding use of alternative fuels such as electricity at a faster rate than the general public, according to industry experts.

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The move is being made for environmental reasons but also out of fear of future diesel spikes. There is some dispute on how much better CNG fuel is for the environment, since leaks can release methane, a virulent greenhouse gas.

Mudd said that companies building new facilities should also use newer construction equipment  four to five years old  with diesel particulate filters.

Wasserman noted that the city has worked with other firms, such as the Ozinga construction company and Coca-Cola Bottling Co., to convert a portion of their fleets to alternative fuels. She also would like the city to mandate air quality testing, to see how new facilities affect existing conditions.

"We know there's an interest in (new facilities) in terms of community development and jobs," Mudd said. "Those do not have to come at the cost of people's additional bad health."

Orange/Brown Line mystery

Some readers have wondered why they sometimes see CTA Orange Line trains on the Brown Line.

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To make sure the CTA has enough Brown Line trains in the morning rush, some of the trains used to start from Midway Airport because there is more room to store trains near Midway overnight than in the Kimball yard, which is at the Brown Line's northern end, spokesman Jeff Tolman said.

These trains go to the Adams and Wabash stations, where they turn into Brown Line trains and continue north to the Kimball station. They then return to Midway once the morning rush is over, and that's why you may see Brown Line trains marked for Midway. The trains follow normal routing until the Harold Washington Library stop, and then are rerouted toward the airport.

So, if you find yourself on a southbound Brown Line train marked for Midway  it will still take you to the Loop, except for stops east of library. And if you want to go to Midway, stay onboard.

Metra coat collection

Metra is joining with NBC 5 Chicago to hold a coat drive at downtown Metra and BNSF stations this Monday through Wednesday.

New and gently used coats can be placed in special collection boxes at all downtown Chicago Metra stations, including Union Station, Ogilvie Transportation Center, Millennium, Van Buren Street and LaSalle Street, and at all BNSF stations. The donated coats will be given to The Salvation Army for distribution to those in need.

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Last year, Metra customers donated more than 450 coats, the commuter rail service said.

mwisniewski@tribpub.com

Twitter @marywizchicago
A West Pullman man was ordered held in lieu of $400,000 bail Saturday after prosecutors say he repeatedly sexually assaulted a female relative over the course of seven years.

Billy Clavelle, 44, of the 12100 block of South Wallace Street, appeared in bond court at the Leighton Criminal Court Building where Judge Laura Marie Sullivan ordered him held for predatory criminal sexual assault of a child and aggravated criminal sexual assault with bodily harm.

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Clavelle began abusing the victim when they lived in Gary, Ind., according to Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Holly Grosshans. The abuse continued after they moved to Chicago in September 2007 when the victim was 10 to 12 years old and Clavelle was 33 to 35 years old.

The abuse included Clavelle showing the victim pornographic movies, inappropriate touching, forcing the victim to have sex, and making the victim smoke crack cocaine before, during and after sex, Grosshans said. When the victim refused, Clavelle would overpower her or hit her with his hands or objects like a broken broomstick or a piece of wood. On one occasion in 2012, Clavelle choked the victim until she could not breathe and had red spots and dots on her face.

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On July 8, 2014, Clavelle called the victim away from other people but when she refused, he had her hold a push-up position for at least five minutes. When she finally agreed to go to the bedroom with Clavelle, he made her smoke crack cocaine and locked her in the room and forced her to have sex with him for six hours, Grosshans said. When the victim was released, she called 911. When police came to the door, Clavelle was naked and told the officers everything was fine and closed the door. The victim called to the police outside the window and told them she needed help because Clavelle had been sexually assaulting her, and then the officers made forced entry.

"The victim was taken to the hospital and a rape kit was completed," Grosshans said. "The victim had sustained injuries consistent with her disclosure of sexual and physical abuse."

Clavelle was arrested and released pending results of the rape kit, Grosshans said. In May 2016, a Combined DNA Index System hit came back to Clavelle which could not exclude him as the contributor of the DNA recovered from the victim, Grosshans said.

An investigative alert for Clavelle was issued and he was arrested Thursday.

A woman who identified herself as a relative of Clavelle and was present at his bond hearing said the charges were not true and were "made up."

Clavelle's next court appearance is Monday.
The bodies of a woman and a dog were found on the shoreline of Nippersink Lake in north suburban Fox Lake on Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

Police were called at 2:45 p.m. to the 200 block of Leisure Drive. Two divers went into the water and placed the remains into body bags, said Battalion Chief Tom Preibis of the Fox Lake Fire Protection District. The dog was small and a leash, though not attached to the animal, was also found, Preibis said.

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This is an isolated incident and poses no threat to the community, according to a police news release.

The investigation is ongoing, and officials said more information will be available after the woman is identified and her family is notified.

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An autopsy is scheduled for Monday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the Lake County cororner's office.
Owners of the 90 Miles Cuban Cafe restaurants Alberto Gonzalez and his father, also named Alberto Gonzalez, talk at one of their Chicago locations on Dec. 17, 2014. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

As news of Fidel Castro's death spread quickly through the Chicago area's Cuban-American community, questions lingered about whether the Caribbean nation he ruled for nearly five decades will further loosen strings on the island's economy and make it easier for those who fled his regime to travel freely to their homeland.

There were no spontaneous parades or celebrations like what happened overnight in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood. But at 90 Miles Cuban Cafe in Lincolnwood, owner Alberto Gonzalez said many exiles feel a sense of relief about the death of the bearded dictator, who divided families, imprisoned and killed enemies and seized businesses and property in the name of revolution.

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"There are more reasons for hope that Cuba will have a brighter future," said Gonzalez, who came to the U.S. in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift. "Sometimes it seemed like he would never die. Now we have different ways of looking at things."

Alberto Gonzalez, owner of the 90 Miles Cuban Cafe restaurants, shows a photo on Dec. 17, 2014, of the boat "Lady Mary" that he and his family were on when they traveled the 90 miles from Cuba to the United States. (Antonio Perez / Chicago Tribune)

Gonzalez welcomed the renewed diplomatic and trade ties between the U.S. and Cuba that President Barack Obama's administration negotiated with the government of President Raul Castro, the late Cuban leader's brother. But more needs to be done to ensure the Cuban people can prosper, he said.

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About 21,000 people of Cuban descent live in the Chicago area, according to the U.S. census, a fraction of the nearly 1 million living in the Miami area. As a result, there generally isn't the same widespread acrimony locally toward the Castro regime as there is in South Florida, though even that is changing.

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Gloria Gomez grew up in Havana and moved to Chicago four years ago after living for a few months in Miami, working her way up from waiting tables at Senor Pan Cafe in Albany Park to managing the restaurant that specializes in Cuban food.

Gomez at first shrugged her shoulders when asked about Castro. Like Gonzalez, she remembers Castro's long-winded speeches and his constant presence in the day-to-day lives of Cubans. But with all of her immediate family in the U.S., Gomez said she felt no reason to celebrate Castro's death.

"I really have no feelings one way or another, I guess," she said. "He's a human being like everybody else. It feels wrong to wish for another human being to be dead."

At the same time, Gomez doesn't feel a need to return to her homeland, expressing a fondness for Chicago winters rather than the tropical, Cuban-like weather of Miami.

"Too many Cubans in Miami," she said with a wink. "Make sure you print that."

mhawthorne@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @scribeguy
Police have not yet caught the man who killed a security guard in south suburban Harvey. Nov. 28, 2016. (CBS Chicago)

A manhunt continued Sunday in suburban Harvey after a security guard for the Canadian National Railway was fatally shot Saturday, officials said.

The guard, who was fatally injured in the 15800 block of West Avenue in the south suburb, was identified as Tyrone Hardin, 38, of south suburban Riverdale, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead at 6:25 p.m. Saturday at Advocate South Suburban Hospital, according to the medical examiner's office. An autopsy was scheduled for Sunday.

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Sean Howard, a spokesman for Harvey, said the incident began sometime before 6:30 p.m. Saturday with a call to police from a woman who reported her vehicle was stolen in Harvey. Driving a neighbor's car, the woman was following the man who had taken her car.

Howard said the woman did not know the man who took her car, and it appears to be a random incident.

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As police, with their emergency lights on, began following the stolen car, the driver crashed in the area of 159th Street and Park Avenue in Harvey.

At that point, the man got out of the stolen car and began running on top of a viaduct, which leads to an area belonging to the Canadian National Railway.

The man came into contact with a security guard and shot him several times in the abdomen, Howard said.

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Patrick Waldron, a CNR spokesman, said the officer worked at the facility as a third-party contract security guard and was not directly employed by the railway.

After shooting the security guard, the man got on a railroad car headed south, Howard said. Around 171st Street, he jumped the railcar and ran away from the authorities.

As of 7:30 a.m. Sunday, Howard said the man was still on the lam.

He was described as a black man of medium build who was wearing blue jeans and a black sweatshirt.

Several police agencies continue to search the area around the rail yard for the assailant. Police also are searching nearby Markham and East Hazel Crest.

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Howard said officers do not believe anyone else is working with the man. The suspect is considered to be armed and dangerous.

Check back for updates.
Four days after an 8-year-old southern Illinois girl was found dead, a man more than four decades her senior was arrested in her sexual assault and killing.

Sabrina Stauffenberg, of Olney, was found dead Wednesday behind a vinegar plant on the south side of the town, which is about 250 miles south of Chicago, according to Illinois State Police.

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After an investigation by several law enforcement agencies, including the Southern Illinois Child Death Task Force, 53-year-old Glen R. Ramey was arrested early Sunday.

He was being held at the Richland County Jail awaiting a formal arraignment, which is expected Monday.

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A neighbor who is helping make funeral arrangements for the girl has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for burial expenses for Sabrina's family.
A flight from Chicago O'Hare International Airport bound for China was diverted to Japan after 12 hours in the air because of an "unruly passenger," a United Airlines representative said Sunday.

United's Flight 895 left Chicago for Hong Kong just after 2 p.m. Saturday, according to airline tracking website FlightAware. The Boeing 777 instead landed in Tokyo about 6:30 p.m. local time, United spokesman Charles Hobart said.

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"We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience caused. The safety of our customers and employees is our top priority," Hobart wrote in an email.

He said 241 passengers and 15 crew were aboard the plane.

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Hobart did not immediately answer questions about what the "unruly passenger" is accused of doing but said the flight eventually headed to Hong Kong.

No one was reported injured, Hobart said.
Syrians evacuated from the embattled Syrian city of Aleppo during the ceasefire arrive at a refugee camp in Rashidin, near Idlib, Syria, on Dec. 20, 2016. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Tuesday that Russia, Iran and Turkey are ready to act as guarantors in a peace deal between the Syrian government and the opposition. He spoke on Tuesday after a meeting of the three countries' foreign ministers in Moscow. (STR / AP)

BEIRUT  Simultaneous advances by Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces into eastern Aleppo on Sunday set off a tide of displacement inside the divided city, with thousands of residents evacuating their premises, and threatened to cleave the opposition's enclave.

Rebel defenses collapsed as government forces pushed into the city's Sakhour neighborhood, coming within one kilometer (0.6 miles) of commanding a corridor in eastern Aleppo for the first time since rebels swept into the city in 2012, according to Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

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Kurdish-led forces operating autonomously of the rebels and the government meanwhile seized the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood, allowing thousands of civilians to flee the decimated district to the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud, in the city's north, according to Ahmad Hiso Araj, an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The government's push, backed by thousands of Shiite militia fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, and under the occasional cover of the Russian air force, has laid waste to Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods.

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An estimated quarter-million people are trapped in wretched conditions in the city's rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August. Food supplies are running perilously low, the U.N. warned Thursday, and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

Residents in east Aleppo said in distressed messages on social media that thousands of people were fleeing to the city's government-controlled western neighborhoods, away from the government's merciless assault, or deeper into opposition-held eastern Aleppo.

"The situation in besieged Aleppo (is) very very bad, thousands of eastern residents are moving to the western side of the city," said Khaled Khatib, a photographer for the Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets.

"Aleppo is going to die," he posted on Twitter.

The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the conflict through a network of local contacts, said around 1,700 civilians had escaped to government-controlled areas and another 2,500 to Kurdish authorities.

More than 250 civilians have been killed in the government's bombardment of eastern Aleppo over past 13 days, according to the Observatory.

Locals reported thousands more were moving within the eastern neighborhoods, away from the front lines, but staying inside areas of opposition control.

"The conditions are terrifying" said 28-year-old Modar Sakho, a nurse in eastern Aleppo.

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Wissam Zarqa, an English teacher in eastern Aleppo and outspoken government opponent, said some families would stay put in the face of advancing government forces.

Syrian state media reported government forces had seized the Jabal Badro neighborhood and entered Sakhour Sunday after it took control of the Masaken Hanano neighborhood Saturday.

Syrian state TV broadcast a video Saturday showing a teary reunion between a soldier and his family after nearly five years apart, according to the report. It said the family had been trapped in Masaken Hanano.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the neighborhood Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of a wide thoroughfare. Al-Manar is operated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group aligned with the Syrian government.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces' advance into Bustan al-Basha dealt the opposition a further blow.

Rebels and opposition figures have long accused the SDF and its predecessor groups of conspiring with the government to quash a nationwide revolt.

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Araj denied there was any coordination between government and Kurdish-led forces.

"We were responding to calls from residents in Bustan al-Basha to secure the neighborhood," he said. He added the SDF had entered the area handily as rebel militants fled.

Aleppo used to be Syria's largest city and commerce capital before its neighborhoods were devastated by the country's more than five-year-long civil war.

The U.N.'s child agency warned Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

"Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "This is no way to live  and too many are dying."

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Activists also reported Sunday tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian airstrike on a village outside Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and tens of others wounded. Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base.

The Observatory said the strike was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside.

Meanwhile, Anadolu also reported Sunday that the Islamic State group had used chemical weapons against Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters in northern Syria, wounding 22. The report cited a statement by the chief of general staff's office. The report could not be immediately verified independently.

Later Sunday, Turkey's emergency relief directorate, which investigated the claim, said it found no trace of chemical warfare. The military was not available for further comment.

Elsewhere in Syria, Israeli aircraft struck a machine gun-mounted vehicle inside the country Sunday, killing four Islamic State-affiliated militants on board after they opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, according to the Israeli military.

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Associated Press
Fighters of Popular Mobilization Forces take a photo at the fighting lines against Islamic State Group militants outside Mosul, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016. Iraq's parliament on Saturday voted to accord full legal status to government-sanctioned Shiite militias as a "back-up and reserve" force for the military and police and empower them to "deter" security and terror threats facing the country, like the Islamic State group. (Anmar Khalil / AP)

BAGHDAD  Rekindling sectarian rivalries at a sensitive time, Iraq's parliament on Saturday voted to fully legalize state-sanctioned Shiite militias long accused of abuses against minority Sunnis, adopting a legislation that promoted them to a government force empowered to "deter" security and terror threats facing the country, like the Islamic State group.

The legislation, supported by 208 of the chamber's 327 members, was quickly rejected by Sunni Arab politicians and lawmakers as proof of the "dictatorship" of the country's Shiite majority and evidence of its failure to honor promises of inclusion.

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"The majority does not have the right to determine the fate of everyone else," Osama al-Nujaifi, one of Iraq's three vice presidents and a senior Sunni politician, told reporters after the vote, which was boycotted by many Sunni lawmakers.

"There should be genuine political inclusion. This law must be revised."

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Another Sunni politician, legislator Ahmed al-Masary, said the law cast doubt on the participation in the political process by all of Iraq's religious and ethnic factions.

"The legislation aborts nation building," he said, adding it would pave the way for a dangerous parallel to the military and police.

A spokesman for one of the larger Shiite militias welcomed the legislation as a well-deserved victory. "Those who reject it are engaging in political bargaining," said Jaafar al-Husseini of the Hezbollah Brigades.

"It is not the Sunnis who reject the law, it is the Sunni politicians following foreign agendas," said Shiite lawmaker Mohammed Saadoun.

The law, tabled by parliament's largest Shiite bloc, applies to the Shiite militias fighting IS as well as the much smaller and weaker anti-IS Sunni Arab groups. Militias set up by tiny minorities, like Christians and Turkmen, to fight IS are also covered.

According to a text released by parliament, the militias have now become an "independent" force that is part of the armed forces and report to the prime minister, who is also the commander in chief.

The new force would be subject to military regulations, except for age and education requirements  provisions designed to prevent the exclusion of the elderly and uneducated Iraqis who joined the militias. The militiamen would benefit from salaries and pensions identical to those of the military and police, but are required to severe all links to political parties and refrain from political activism.

The legislation came at a critical stage in Iraq's two-year-long fight against IS, a conflict underscored by heavy sectarian tensions given that the group follows an extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam and the security forces are predominantly Shiite. The Shiite-led government last month launched a massive campaign to dislodge IS from predominantly Sunni Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and the last major urban center still held by the extremist group.

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Through the military, the government has used the campaign to project an image of even-handedness, reaching out to the city's residents and promising them a life free of the atrocities and excesses committed by IS. It has also excluded the Shiite militias from the battle, winning a measure of goodwill from the Sunnis. But Saturday's legislation may stoke the simmering doubts of many Sunnis about the intentions of the government.

An Iraqi special forces soldier, fires mortar shell during a battle against the Islamic State militants, in the Bakr front line neighborhood, in Mosul, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016. The offensive to free Mosul of IS militants is now in its second month, and progress has slowed as troops try to avoid mass civilian casualties that could give the impression the Shiite-heavy military was riding roughshod over the city's majority Sunnis. (Hussein Malla / AP)

The Shiite militias, most of which are backed by Iran, have been bankrolled and equipped by the government since shortly after IS swept across much of northern and western Iraq two years ago. Many of them existed long before IS emerged, fighting American troops in major street battles during the U.S. military presence in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. Their ranks, however, significantly swelled after Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for jihad, or holy struggle, against IS in June 2014.

They now number over 100,000 men and fight with heavy weaponry, including tanks, artillery and rocket launchers. The larger militias have intelligence agencies and run their own jails. Since 2014 they have played a key role in the fight against IS, checking its advance on Baghdad and the Shiite holy cities of Samarra and Karbala and later driving the militants from areas to the south, northeast and north of Baghdad.

Their heavy battlefield involvement followed the collapse of security forces in the face of the 2014 IS blitz, but their role has somewhat diminished in recent months as more and more of Iraq's military units regained their strength and chose to distance themselves from the occasionally unruly militiamen.

Iraq's Sunni Arabs and rights groups have long complained that the militiamen have been involved in extrajudicial killings, abuse and the theft or destruction of property in Sunni areas. They viewed them as the Trojan Horse of Shiite, non-Arab Iran because of their close links to Tehran and their reliance on military advisers from Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Fighters of the Popular Mobilization Forces at the front line against Islamic State Group militants outside Mosul, Iraq, Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016. (Anmar Khalil / AP)

Many in the Sunni Arab community wanted them integrated into the military and police, a proposition long rejected by Shiite militia leaders, some of whom have on occasion spoken of their aspiration of evolving into a force akin to Iran's Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian-backed Hezbollah  both well-armed military groups with substantial political leverage and large economic interests.

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Senior Shiite politician Amar al-Hakim sought to reassure Sunnis on Saturday, saying several laws to be issued by the prime minister to regulate the work of the militias would allay many of their fears. He did not elaborate, but added "The law creates a suitable climate for national unity."

In a statement, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi welcomed the legislation and said the "Popular Mobilization Forces"  the formal name of the militias  would cover all Iraqi sects.

"We must show gratitude for the sacrifices offered by those heroic fighters, young and elderly. It is the least we can offer them," said the statement. "The Popular Mobilization will represent and defend all Iraqis wherever they are."

But Sunni lawmaker Mohammed al-Karbooly said the law ignored pleas by Sunni politicians for the expulsion and prosecution of Shiite militiamen accused of abuses.

"The law, as is, provides them with a cover," he said.

Associated Press
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Mostly sunny. High 78F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Mostly clear skies this evening will become overcast overnight. Low near 60F. Winds light and variable.
Richard Spencer is the carefully crafted face of the so-called alt-right. (Linda Davidson / The Washington Post)

DALLAS  The exclusive Dallas boys' prep school that Richard B. Spencer attended is denouncing the activities and ideas of its white nationalist alumnus.

St. Mark's School of Texas headmaster David Dini issued the statement of criticism after a Nov. 19 rally in Washington where Spencer, a member of St. Marks Class of 1997, shouted "Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!" as supporters raised their arms in Nazi salutes.

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Without referring to Spencer by name, Dini said his activities have "been deeply troubling and terribly upsetting to our whole school community. We reject racism and bigotry in all its forms and expressions." In his statement, posted on the school's Facebook page, Dini hailed other St. Mark's alumni for "expressing their outrage and disgust" toward the National Policy Institute, which Spencer heads, and the ideas that group promotes.

Spencer's classmates have raised about $40,000 so far in a fundraising campaign to settle refugees in Dallas. One of them is Ben Kusin, former "Shark Tank" contestant and chief executive of deodorizing wipes company.

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"This issue hits deep  not just for me but for everyone," he told WFAA-TV of Dallas-Fort Worth, adding about the rally, "When you see something like this, you have to say something."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate group watchdog, describes Spencer as "one of the country's most successful young white nationalist leaders  a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old."

"He wants to expel all these non-white Europeans from this country," Kusin said. "Our countermeasure was supporting refugees coming into this country."

An email message to Spencer from The Associated Press drew no response Sunday.

Other school alumni include folklorist/musicologist Alan Lomax, rock stars Steve Miller and Boz Scaggs, actors Tommy Lee Jones and Luke and Owen Wilson, and investigative journalist Kurt Eichenwald.

Associated Press
Almost two centuries ago, 134 men set sail on two British naval ships to discover the fabled Northwest Passage, a trade route through the Arctic linking Europe to the riches of the East. They never returned. The Inuit, native residents of the North, tell tales of the three-masted ships caught in ice and of men afflicted by scurvy and going hungry, until finally they broke the biggest taboo of humankind: cannibalism.



Despite search efforts, neither ship was found. It was not until 2014 that the first traces of the expedition emerged, when divers located a shipwreck that they identified as HMS Erebus, named after the spiritual limbo between Earth and hell. Last month, the second big piece of the mystery fell into place when an Inuit ranger and a team of explorers announced that they had located HMS Terror -- in near-pristine condition, not far from the Erebus -- at the bottom of the Northwest Passage.



The story of the ships' loss and eventual finding reveals how much the Arctic, and our relationship with this frontier, has changed in just a few decades. The ice is no longer what it once was; scientists think that the Arctic will be reliably ice-free and navigable in the summer by the middle of the century, if not earlier. A cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 tourists traversed the northern ocean of North America for the first time this year.



The conditions today are balmy in comparison to what the expeditioners faced in the middle of the 19th century, at the height of the British Empire. The admiralty asked John Franklin, a 59-year-old polar explorer, to find a northern sea path linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

An illustration of the position of the HMS Terror at sunrise on July 14, 1837. (Owen Stanley / Library and Archives Canada)





No one knew for certain that such a passage existed, but finding it would be yet another jewel in the British crown. Europeans thought of the world as perfect and symmetrical, according to "Franklin's Lost Ship," a book by John Geiger and Alanna Mitchell. Explorers had discovered a passage at the bottom of South America that linked the Atlantic and the Pacific. And so people reasoned that a similar one must exist in the north.



Franklin knew how to navigate through ice, said Tom Zagon, a physical scientist with Canadian Ice Services. He chose two military vessels -- the Erebus and the Terror -- for the journey and reinforced their hulls with iron to withstand the crushing force of ice. He filled his hold with three years' worth of canned food in case the voyage took longer than the expected two years.



On May 19, 1845, Erebus and Terror, both painted a menacing black with a yellow stripe, set off down the River Thames and into the Atlantic Ocean. Londoners thronged the banks and cheered the might of their empire. Success seemed assured.



But Franklin was heading into a frontier that science had not mastered. Compasses did not work properly because their magnetic readings were impaired by proximity to the North Pole. There were no weather reports. It was much colder than today, and there were years with no summer ice melt at all, said Ryan Harris, an underwater archaeologist at Parks Canada. Ships can quickly get trapped in cement-like ice.



The expedition entered the Arctic Ocean before the end of May and picked through the labyrinth of the Canadian Arctic archipelago. Franklin and his men reached as far north as 77 degrees, about 850 miles from the North Pole, before wintering on a tiny uninhabited island. The sea ice must have been unusually light for the ships to get as far north as they did, Zagon said.

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Sir John Franklin, the Arctic Explorer, did not consult with the Inuit before traversing the dangerous strait. (Library and Archives Canada)



The landscape there is flat and desolate, with storms bringing 60-miles-per-hour icy winds from the North Pole. There is almost no wildlife, and the only flora are stubborn Arctic mosses that cling to black rocks littering the frozen ground. The region is vast; even today, only 10 percent of the Canadian Arctic has been mapped.



The only way to survive is by listening to the Inuit, said Adrian Schimnowski, chief executive of the Arctic Research Foundation, who spends five months every year in the North. "When the Inuit give you advice on weather, hunting grounds, the best route to take to get somewhere, I follow 100 percent what they say," he said. "They know the land better than anyone else."



Inuit oral history suggests that Franklin and his men, however, did not consult with them. In September 1846, the British made a fateful decision to sail through a dangerous channel, the Victoria Strait. The strait is only 200 miles from the Canadian mainland, and yet it routinely experiences heavier ice conditions than areas farther north, Zagon said.



Zagon thinks a storm crept up on the expedition, icing Victoria Strait within hours and trapping the ships. The men huddled onboard for nearly two years, waiting for the ice to clear. But even in summer, it remained unyielding, said Edward Carmack an emeritus oceanographer with the Institute of Ocean Sciences in British Columbia. Two dozen men, including Franklin, died of illness.



The remaining men abandoned the ships on April 22, 1848, in a mad effort to walk south, across King William Island, to the Canadian mainland. It was a dangerous plan; in biting winds, it took them three days just to trek across the 15 miles of ice to the island. We know this because five years later, a note written by Erebus's commander was found under a stone landmark on King William Island.



Search parties dispatched from Britain did not find the ships or any survivors, but the Inuit told them of having seen men starving, their faces blackened possibly by scurvy. The survivors ate their comrades after boiling body parts in their boots, the Inuit said. The oral history seemed to be confirmed in 2014 when scientists examined human remains from King William Island and found hack marks apparently left on skeletal remains by desperate butchers.



Franklin's ships had been considered lost to history. But in the 2000s, as the summer sea ice began to clear because of global warming, nations jostled to access the Arctic's riches. In 2008, Canada began searching for the Erebus and the Terror as one way to prove a centuries-long link to the North.



"Franklin's ships are an important part of Canadian history given that his expeditions laid the foundations of Canada's Arctic sovereignty," Stephen Harper, who was then Canada's prime minister, said in 2014.



A coalition of Canadian government agencies and the Arctic Research Foundation, a nonprofit backed by BlackBerry founder and Ontario native Jim Balsillie, began sweeping the Northwest Passages for Franklin's ships using sonar. In 2014, the Erebus showed up on the sonar. When divers examined it, they found a nearly intact ship. Off to one side was a massive bell, cast in 1845 to honor the expedition. On the lower decks are intact chests where the men had stored their personal effects, said Harris of Parks Canada. Underwater archaeologists are carefully recovering artifacts.



A second breakthrough came in September, when Sammy Kogvik, an Inuit ranger who lives in Gjoa Haven, the only settlement on King William Island, boarded an Arctic Research Foundation vessel, where he told Schimnowski an odd story: Seven winters ago, he and a friend had been snowmobiling off King William Island, on the secluded and frozen Terror Bay, when they saw a pole sticking out of the ice. They went closer and saw that it was a six-foot-tall wooden mast. Kogvik wrapped his arms and legs around it and hung off it while his friend snapped a photo. But Kogvik lost the camera during the trip and never told anyone about the incident, although he had thought of Franklin's doomed expedition.



Schimnowski immediately set course for Terror Bay, which was ice-free this past summer. His team used a side-scan sonar, which images the ocean floor, to peer through the turbid waters. Just as they were about to give up, they passed right over an ancient three-masted ship at the bottom of the ocean, 80 miles north of the Erebus. Divers examined the ship a week later and confirmed that it is the Terror. The ship is tightly sealed and probably contains documents and other artifacts in pristine condition.



"All in all, it makes for a rather dramatic visual to see this steely ship lying at rest on the sea floor," Harris said.



Scientists say it is doubtful that the Erebus and the Terror would have been found if they had been hidden under the ice common during Franklin's time or even the ice found in the 1970s and 1980s. Until recently, Victoria Strait thawed only once every 10 years, but now it usually clears every summer, Zagon said. Instruments such as a side-scan sonar are best used in open water.



Over the next few years, Parks Canada scientists will study the ships, photograph them and excavate the site to learn as much as they can about the expedition's fate. They will look for bodies, and perhaps even the coffin of Franklin. They will recover artifacts, documents, charts and other materials to answer old questions and new ones: Why is the Terror so far north of the Erebus? Did the men sail her there? And why did so many men fall ill so rapidly? Why did they decide on a treacherous trek that claimed their lives?



"These were trained men, and they didn't just sit on the boat and starve to death," Carmack said. "They looked for ways out. What was the trail of death, and what will we uncover to complete the story of that survival epic?"
ALLENTOWN  Several minutes into a flight Tuesday bound for Allentown, Emma Baum said she was shocked when a man sitting near her began yelling at the passengers about President-elect Donald Trump, calling them "Hillary b----es."

Baum's 45-second video posted to Facebook under the title "Didn't take long to notice that I'm back in 'Merica ..." had been shared more than 3 million times as of Friday night. Baum has now found herself thrust into the spotlight of political discourse with dozens of calls from national media.

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"We are sorry to our customers who experienced this disruption," Delta posted on its website Saturday, referring to Flight 248 Tuesday from Atlanta to Allentown. "We have followed up with the teams involved and all agree that this customer should not have been allowed to continue on the flight. Our responsibility for ensuring all customers feel safe and comfortable with Delta includes requiring civil behavior from everyone. The behavior we see in this video does not square with our training or culture and follow up will continue so we can better ensure our employees will know they will be fully supported to make the right decisions when these issues arise."

Speaking by phone, Baum, 21, who lives in Belize in Central America, said she was on her way to her hometown in Quakertown to visit family.

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She said she first noticed the man while waiting for the flight to board. The man chanted Trump's slogan several times in the airport terminal, shouting that the president-elect would "make American great again."

As they boarded the plane, Baum said she was seated next to the man and he again said several things about his support of Trump. Baum said that before the flight took off, she switched seats with someone behind her so that he could sit next to his traveling companion.

Before the flight took off, Baum said she told the man she had been out of the country and asked him about the presidential election. As he jumped out of his seat to talk to her, she told him she was going to record him with her cellphone.

"He said, 'Go ahead! I want to tell everyone about Trump. I hope it goes viral,'" Baum said.

In the video, the man claps his hands, shouting to the passengers, "How many people, man?" He loudly claps his hands to a mostly silent audience and says, "Really? Ain't nobody going to say sh-- on this plane?"

One woman off camera says, "We can't hear you," and the man points and claps.

"Donald Trump, baby!" he hoots. "We got some Hillary b----es on this plane?

"Trump! It's your president," the man yells. "Every god---- one of you. If you don't like it, too bad."

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In the video, Baum then scans the rows of silent passengers, including some who craned their necks to watch.

Baum said she was concerned about the man's behavior, and after several minutes, a flight attendant approached the man and took him off the plane. But the man later returned, she said.

"When he came back in, he said, 'This is what I get for being a patriot,'" Baum said.

There were no further outbursts from him the man during the flight.

After the flight landed, Baum said she reported the man's behavior to airport security and police, who both asked for copies of her video to identify the man.

She said her family had told her about the "craziness" of the election. But Baum, who is licensing the video, said she had no idea it would receive so much attention.

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"I did have some people messaging me asking if I was anti-white, and that was disappointing," Baum said. "I just put it up and didn't expect any of this."

pamela.lehman@mcall.com

Twitter @pamelalehman

610-820-6790
2022 election guide: Here are Pueblo County's top races, ballot issues

Here's what you need to know about the local candidates and ballot questions in the 2022 election, as well as how to vote in Pueblo, Colorado.
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North China's Shanxi province has withdrawn the licenses of 15 coal mines, local sources said on Saturday.

The decision will cut annual coal production capacity by 10.6 million tonnes, according to the Shanxi land and resources department.

The 15 mines belong to six state-owned enterprises. Production capacity of the mines is between 300,000 and three million tonnes a year.

Shanxi province supplies about a quarter of China's coal.

China intends to slash about 500 million tonnes of coal capacity in five years starting from 2016 to address overcapacity in this sector.

Shanxi plans to cut 20 million tonnes of coal capacity in 2016.
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Yum China Holdings Inc is in talks to buy food delivery services firm Daojia.com.cn for up to $200 million, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as the biggest operator of fast food on the mainland seeks to boost sales from customers dining at home.

Yum China has long-term ambitions to triple its outlets in Chinese mainland to more than 20,000, but as dining habits change in the world's fastest growing major economy, food delivery is also becoming a crucial area for restaurant operators to improve sales.

The sources warned that discussions are at an early stage and a deal isn't imminent.

Yum is keen to make investments in the sector, but it is still debating internally whether to acquire a business or buy smaller stakes in a series of such companies and have a meaningful say in their operations, one source added.

Established in 2010, Daojia.com.cn focuses on online food orders and delivery services targeting China's middle-class urbanites in 10 cities.

It has a 3,000-strong logistics team, and works with more than 6,000 restaurants.

Food delivery apps are gaining ground in China as the country's biggest internet firms set up "cut-price services".

They include Baidu Inc's Waimai, Alibaba Group Holding-backed Meituan and Tencent Holdings-backed Ele.me.

JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce firm, and Macquarie Capital were investors in a $50 million round of fundraising by Daojia in 2014.

Yum China and Macquarie declined to comment. Daojia and JD.com did not respond to requests for comment.

The sources declined to be identified as the discussions are confidential.

Yum China was only spun off from US-based fast food giant Yum Brands Inc in November. The company's brands include KFC and Pizza Hut.

Last year Yum said food delivery apps in China were posing a serious challenge for its business.

Yum China CEO Micky Pant said this month that delivery was just 10 percent of company's sales, but it was growing at double digits and would be an important driver of growth.

The logistics and delivery segment has attracted investments from China's deep-pocketed technology heavyweights including JD.com, Alibaba, Baidu and others.

"It's a very aggressive play they're making. They'll have access to delivery data across China, it's very powerful to understand what people are buying, what people are consuming," one of the sources said.
Political prisoner, activist, journalist, hymn-writer, emerging think tanker, aspiring novelist, "tribal elder", parliamentary candidate for North West Durham, Shadow Leader of the Opposition, Speedboat, proudly banned from Twitter so officially more dangerous than the Taliban, eagerly awaiting the second (or possibly third) attempt to murder me.
Farmers talk about how to cultivate corn seeds with improved quality in Yunyang county, Chongqing. [Photo by Liu Xingmin/For China Daily]

Last December, an online auction of an island in the Maldives on Chinese e-commerce platform Taobao.com hit the headlines. Surprisingly for such a big deal, the agency that handled all the business transactions was a startup company in Chongqing.

In April, 2015, the internet company Chongqing Meicun Technology Co Ltd launched jutubao.com, a website that provides one-stop services for land transactions at home and abroad.

The first of its kind in the country, "Jutubao" in Chinese means a valuable place to find land.

"Our business model is similar to a property agency, such as Lianjia," Meicun's founder and CEO Tian Jinglong told China Daily.

"The difference is they deal with houses and we do land, all kinds of land."

On the website, people can search for land and publish their needs. After the transaction is done, the company can provide the financial services and asset management for the client.

Another feature of the company is that it makes money not from a commission on the deal, but from the related services, Tian said.

So far, there are 300 million mu (20 million hectares) of land listed on the website, with 190,000 registered users.

Completed transactions for about 14 million mu has already been finished.

As increasing number of Chinese companies and rich people have been purchasing land overseas in recent years, so the website launched its global business arm and is publishing information about land in foreign countries, including islands, ranches and beaches.

"We developed land agents in foreign countries and we have resources in quite a few of them, such as Russia, Australia and Scandinavian countries," Tian said.

At present, Tian said he will focus mainly on rural land, which is in huge demand in China.

Tian, 39, was born and reared in the countryside of Chongqing.

Like most Chinese rural young people, Tian left his home soil at the age of 20 and made a living in Shanghai.

He tried many businesses, such as a travel agency and an online shopping website for rural areas. A trip back home in 2013 helped him choose a new marketrural land circulation.

The term "rural land circulation" means farmers transfer their land operation rights so that dispersed farmland can be centralized for mass agricultural production.

In recent years, much farmland has been left unused as an increasing number of young farmers swarm into the cities.

Due to lack of information, the elderly villagers can hardly rent out their land, while agriculture companies find it hard to get enough land to develop their projects.

"I believe what I'm doing now can really serve the villagers who help the development of agriculture in China," he said.

His project was picked by Tencent Makerspace (Chongqing), an internet startup incubator located in Chongqing Liangjiang New Area, which is the first inland State-level pilot zone for development and the third in China after Shanghai Pudong and Tianjin Binhai.

Makerspace, a new norm in China for startup incubators, is a major platform to attract new ideas and talented people.

Thanks to the tailored service and support from the incubator, jutubao.com has grown fast and has taken about 30 percent of the market share.

Recently, it got its first round of financing, worth millions of dollars, it announced.
China's former finance minister has stressed the need to press ahead with structural reform on the supply side to fend off corruption and low efficiency during the transformation process.

"As a key driver of global economic growth, China needs to continue to carry out structural reform on the supply side," former minister Lou Jiwei said.

Lou, who is now head of the National Council for Social Security Fund, was speaking at the annual meeting of the government-think tank International Cooperation Center.

The message sent by policy makers was that old mass stimulus measures will not boost the economy and address deeply rooted structural problems, according to Lou.

"Although sluggish demand and piling up debt after the 2008 crisis have to do with cyclical factors and the de-leveraging process, the core issues that hinder a possible robust recovery is the structural problems," Lou said. "Structural reform is the only answer."

Commenting on Chinese progress, Lou applauded past achievement and said that the Chinese government has deepened its understanding of structural problems embedded within the economy after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Community Party of China Central Committee. He said a series of measures had been taken that "fit the need" of the demand for global structural reforms in the international community.

Despite much progress, Lou said efforts to implement reform need to be strengthened at a time when low efficiency and corruption might emerge while the government is transforming its role as a direct manager of market resource allocation to an indirect governor of the economy under a market economic scheme.

"We must take precautions against risks and continue to press ahead with structural reforms with no hesitation," Lou said.

A veteran of the nation's tax bureau, Lou stepped down from the position as finance minister earlier this month and later was appointed as head of National Council for Social Security Fund.
BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Saturday that history and people will remember Fidel Castro, calling the Cuban revolutionary leader "a great figure of our times."

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in a message of condolences to Raul Castro, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba, after Fidel Castro died late Friday at the age of 90.

"In the name of the CPC, the Chinese government and people, and in my own name, I express my deepest condolences on the death of Comrade Fidel Castro and sincerest sympathy to his family," Xi said.

Fidel Castro, founder of the Communist Party of Cuba and Cuba's socialist cause, was a great leader of the Cuban people, Xi said, adding that he has made immortal historic contributions and devoted all his life to the Cuban people's great cause of struggling for national liberation, safeguarding state sovereignty and building socialism.

The late Cuban leader has also made immortal historic contributions to the world socialist development, Xi added.

Fidel Castro also dedicated his life to the friendship between China and Cuba, Xi said.

Xi added that the China-Cuba relationship has enjoyed great development since the two countries forged diplomatic ties 56 years ago thanks to Fidel Castro's solicitude and painstaking efforts.

"The death of Fidel Castro has made the Chinese people lose a close comrade and sincere friend. His glorious image and great achievements will go down in history," Xi said.

"The great Comrade Fidel Castro will be forever remembered," said the Chinese president.



Related story:

Full text of Chinese president's condolence message over Fidel Castro's death
BEIJING -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Saturday sent a message of condolence to his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, after Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro passed away late Friday at the age of 90.

In the message sent to Raul Castro, first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, offered his deepest condolences on the death of Fidel Castro and sincerest sympathy to his family.

The English translated version of the message is as follows.

Distressed to learn of the passing away of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, I, in the name of the CPC, the Chinese government and people and in my own name, express my deepest condolences to you and through you to the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban government and people, and my sincerest sympathy to Fidel Castro's family.

Fidel Castro, founder of the Communist Party of Cuba and Cuba's socialist cause, is a great leader of the Cuban people. He has devoted all his life to Cuban people's great cause of struggling for national liberation, safeguarding state sovereignty and building socialism.

He has made immortal historic contributions to the Cuban people and to the world socialism development. Comrade Fidel Castro is a great figure of our times and will be remembered by history and people.

I met with Comrade Fidel Castro many times and held in-depth conversations with him. His real knowledge and deep insight inspired me as his voice and expression live in my memory. Both I and the Chinese people miss him deeply.

Comrade Fidel Castro, who dedicated his life to the friendship between China and Cuba, paid close attention to and spoke highly of China's development.

As a result of his care and support, Cuba became the first Latin American country to establish diplomatic ties with China in 1960. Since then, the two countries have witnessed profound development of bilateral ties, fruitful results of cooperation in a wide range of areas and deepening friendship between the two peoples, thanks to Comrade Fidel Castro's solicitude and painstaking efforts.

The death of Comrade Fidel Castro is a great loss to the Cuban and Latin American people. The Cuban and Latin American people lost an excellent son, and the Chinese people lost a close comrade and sincere friend. His glorious image and great achievements will go down in history.

I believe that under the strong leadership of Comrade Raul Castro, the Communist Party of Cuba, the Cuban government and its people will carry on the unfinished lifework of Comrade Fidel Castro, turn sorrow into strength and keep making new achievements in the cause of socialist construction.

The friendship between two parties, the two countries and the two peoples will definitely be consolidated and further developed.

The great Comrade Fidel Castro will be forever remembered.
URUMQI -- Disaster-relief supplies have reached quake-stricken areas in Akto County hit by a 6.7-magnitude earthquake Friday night, said local sources on Saturday.

According to the publicity department of Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture in Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, 50 quilts, 100 bags of flour, 25 tents and medicine worth 10,000 yuan ($1,440) were sent to the county at 3 am.

In the meantime, an emergency communication support vehicle as well as four maritime satellite phones were dispatched to guarantee normal communication for local residents.

As of 6:50 am, another 100 tents, 300 quilts, 300 coats, 200 bags of flour, 200 tonnes of coal, small generators and flashlights reached Muji, where a villager was killed by a collapsed house.

As of Saturday noon, the earthquake had felled 100 houses and damaged another 124.

About 130 local herdsmen have been evacuated to a safer place.

Gu Wensheng, Party chief of Akto County, said the relief supplies have been sent to each and every quake-affected villager.

Aftershocks continued to hit the county. A magnitude 5 quake, the largest so far, occurred at 5:23 pm with a depth of six km. The quake did not cause any casualties, the county government said.

The epicenter is in remote highland area that is sparsely populated. In Akto 96 percent of the land is mountain.
A photo taken on Sept 15, 2016 shows the gate of Tsinghua University, Beijing. [Photo/IC]

The British Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) has released the latest global ranking, which demonstrates university graduates' performance in employability.

This year, a total of 53 Chinese Universities have been included in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings for Universities, with Tsinghua University winning third place.

Two U.S. academic institutes stay at the forefront of the list, as Stanford University ruling the chart at number one, with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) closely on its heels at second.
URUMQI -- Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region in Northwest China is to build enough kindergartens in rural areas for 220,000 children.

The regional education department said Sunday that from 2016 to 2017, 220,000 children from the underdeveloped areas in southern Xinjiang would reach kindergarten age, but the facilities are far from adequate.

Only around 1,700 of 5,000 villages in southern Xinjiang have kindergartens. The situation is somewhat better in townships where around 260 of 370 townships have kindergartens.

The central government has approved a budget of 1 billion yuan ($144.6 million) to build 552 bilingual kindergartens in Xinjiang this year and the regional government is encouraging the conversion of empty houses into kindergartens.

China has nine years of free and compulsory education, but in Xinjiang, this has been extended to include kindergartens and senior high schools.

By the end of 2015, southern Xinjiang region has 1,700 bilingual kindergartens attending to 350,000 children.
Editor's note: China has a free, compulsory education system that is supported by funding from the central government and covers six years of primary school and three years of junior high school. That is nine years of education. Under revised legislation, profit-driven public schools are not allowed to engage in nine-year compulsory education. What do you think? Is it a wise decision to ban private schools that might provide better education? China Daily readers share their thoughts.

Ted180 (Canada)

Despite my (moderate) left-wing views and my dislike of elitism, I would oppose banning for-profit schools (which, I presume would serve higher-income children). As long as they meet the requirements of government educational standards, they should be permitted. They should receive no government money, and parents should not receive any tax deductions for the cost. I do not favor an overly-intrusive government. My personal opinion is that to separate children into special or elite educational groups is damaging to providing a sense of social solidarity beyond class identification.
File photo taken on April 19, 2016 shows Fidel Castro (L, Front) and Raul Castro (C, Front) attending 7th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, in Havana, Cuba. Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died on Nov 25, 2016 at the age of 90, said his brother Raul, the current leader of Cuba. [Photo/Xinhua]

BEIJING - Leaders, renowned people around the world on Saturday mourned the death of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and offered condolences to his family and the Cuban people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping Saturday called Castro "a great figure of our times," saying that he "will be remembered by history and people."

"The death of Fidel Castro has made the Chinese people lose a close comrade and sincere friend. His glorious image and great achievements will go down in history," Xi said in a message of condolences to his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro. "The great Comrade Fidel Castro will be forever remembered."

Castro died late Friday at the age of 90.

"The name of this outstanding statesman is considered to be a symbol of an entire era in modern world history. A free and independent Cuba built by him and his colleagues has become an influential member of the international community and served as an inspiring example for many countries and nations,"

Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying in a Kremlin statement.

Vietnam also sent condolences to Cuba, saying the Vietnamese leaders and people were deeply mournful about the passing of Castro. It called Castro a great leader of the Cuban people, and an unyielding communist and revolutionary leader of Latin American nations, who struggled for peace and national independence, freedom and socialism.

Brazilian President Michel Temer said Saturday that Fidel Castro was a "leader of convictions," who "marked the second half of the 20th century with the firm defense of the ideas in which he believed."

Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff lamented Castro's death in a statement, calling him a "visionary" and "one of the most important political contemporaries."

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, another former president of Brazil, said losing Castro was like losing an older brother.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Saturday called on the people of the world "to rediscover" themselves following the example of Fidel Castro.
Hillary Clinton departs with her husband, former US President Bill Clinton, after addressing her staff and supporters about the results of the US election at a hotel in the Manhattan borough of New York, US, November 9, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

WASHINGTON -- The campaign of US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton will participate in the vote recount in Wisconsin, her campaign attorney said Saturday.

"We feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself," Clinton's campaign attorney Mark Elias wrote on a online statement.

The statement said that since the election the campaign has received "hundreds of messages" that urged for action against the result, and that the campaign has previously conducted various measures to evaluate the fairness of the vote count but has found no "actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology."

In light of the findings, Clinton's campaign initially decided against filing for recount, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, it will join in, the statement said.

The Wisconsin recount was filed on Friday by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who said in an online video that she will also push for recounts in the states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, which Elias said the Clinton campaign will also participate.

The three states where Stein has asked for recount were the most closely contested states during the presidential election, with Republican candidate Donald Trump's combined lead in all three states just topping 100,000 votes, according to figures released by state authorities.
Children collect firewood amid damage and debris at a site hit yesterday by airstrikes in the rebel held al-Shaar neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria November 17, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

DAMASCUS -- As many as 400 civilians fled rebel-held areas in Syria's northern city of Aleppo overnight, a monitor group reported Sunday.

The civilians fled overnight toward areas under the government control in western Aleppo, as the Syrian army was advancing in rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

State news agency SANA also reported the evacuation of tens of civilians from the Masaken Hanano.

A day earlier, the military forces retook the Masaken Hanano area, following battles with the rebels' Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, during which assorted kinds of weapons were used amid artillery shelling that targeted the rebels' supply lines in the area, SANA said.

Masaken Hanano is the largest rebel-held district in eastern Aleppo, and was also the first area stormed by rebels in mid-2012.

Observers say capturing the Hanano area will expose the Sakhour neighborhood to the Syrian army, enabling it to isolate the northern part of the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo from the southern one.

The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on ground, said the Syrian forces were achieving rapid progress in eastern Aleppo, where over 250,000 civilians are trapped.

For months, the Syrian government and Russia have been urging rebels to leave Aleppo, offering them safe passages to other rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The rebels, however, turned down all offers, which has resulted in intensified violence.
YANGON -- Armed groups continued to attack a town in northern Myanmar's Shan state as clashes broke out between Myanmar government forces and ethnic armed groups last weekend, the Information Committee of the State Counselor's Office said Sunday.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fired one mortar with 40mm rocket launcher and two 60mm mortars at Kutkai town from two separate locations Friday night but retreated after the government's security forces returned fire.

The 60mm shells fired by the armed groups exploded near Lweon village, while the 40mm bomb landed near the grove close to Myoma State High School.

Two armed men on a motorcycle fired at least four rounds in drive-by shootings.

Moreover, armed groups also fired on police outpost at Namkhai bridge near Namhkai village in Kutkai.

Military conflicts erupted in border area of northern Myanmar's Shan state early Sunday after an alliance of three ethnic armed groups launched attacks on government's military outposts and police stations in Muse and Kutkai towns as well as a border trade center.
PARIS - The decisive round of French right-center parties primary started on Sunday and it will send one of the two conservatives, Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe, into the presidential race.

Final opinion polls projected the frontrunner Fillon to seize a major lead over veteran Juppe who had been long dominating the vote intentions before the "ultra-liberal" contender reported a surprise lead last Sunday.

Pollsters also predicted the winner of US-style competition, the first ever held by French conservatives, will occupy the Elysee Palace next year due sliding popularity of the Socialist ruling camp and a lack of majority supporting the far-right National Front party.

An Opinionway poll released on Friday showed Fillon would win the conservative nomination with 61 percent of votes versus 39 percent for his rival.

"I await the voters' verdict. Now it is they who speak and not the candidates," Fillon said after casting his ballot in Paris seventh district.

The former prime minister vowed to put ailing French economy on track thanks "to more radical project" which include raising retirement age and reducing public expenditure by cutting half million public service jobs in addition to undo the 35-hour working week to make the French working longer.

Juppe, 71, who has served as prime minister and foreign minister, portrayed himself as a modern centrist with moderate political rhetoric.

"I made a beautiful campaign. I defended my ideas till the end and it will work. Let's wait (the result) tonight," the moderate politician said after voting in the southwestern town Bordeaux where he is the mayor from 2006.

The latest figures released by the primary organizers showed morning turnout rising by 13 percent than the figure for the same period in the first round. About 1.270 million voters have cast their ballots by noon.

More than 4.2 million people voted in the first round.

Voting opens at 10,228 polling stations across France at 8 am and closes at 7 pm local time. The first partial results may emerge at 8:30 pm.
Chinas Relations With the West: Straight Line Decline

There are those who believe China's ongoing Party Congress will bode well for companies that do business in or with China. I am firmly convinced that the opposite is true and that it will used as yet another opportunity by China to show that it will not be cowered by the declining relations and sanctions/counter-sanctions between the United States / EU / Australia / Japan on the one hand, and China on the other. I see China using this Congress to let the world (domestic and external) know that it fully intends to fight back and fight back hard. In other words, this Party Congress will lead to China's decoupling from much of the world accelerating, not slowing down.
(Photo : US Navy) A US Navy FA-18 Super Hornet lifts off from the USS John C. Stennis

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The Institute for China-American Studies (ICAS), the only Chinese think tank with an office in Washington D.C., believes there's only a "very small chance" the U.S. and China will go to war over the South China Sea while describing U.S. military activity in the region as "more energetic."



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The state-supported think tank also said Japan, which is ramping-up military spending to better thwart China's claim to own its Senkaku Islands, "provides strong support to the U.S. in the South China Sea."



The ICAS study, "Report on the Military of the United States of America in the Asia-Pacific Region," also said naval drills by the U.S. Navy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Royal Australian Navy were "obviously targeted at China."



The three navies, which together are more powerful than the entire People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), carried out their first naval exercise in July 2015 in the waters off Australia. Another drill was held last April in the Java Sea.



The report further noted the certain deployment of the U.S. anti-missile system called THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) in South Korea in late 2017 will directly undermine the strategic security interests of China.



The report said this small prospect for war also holds for the adjacent areas of the South China Sea, which means the area around the Senkakus and Scarborough Shoal in the Philippines, "where U.S. military activity has never been more energetic.



"It's very possible for President-elect Donald Trump to deploy more vessels in the South China Sea," said Dr. Wu Shicun, ICAS president.



Dr. Wu also noted only a "very small chance" of military conflict in the region but warned China might establish an Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the South China Sea "if the U.S. continues to intensify patrols and low-altitude spying in the region."



"With the Obama administration advancing its strategic pivot and rebalancing toward the Asia Pacific, increased military spending, strengthened alliances and partnerships, and expanded scope of military activity are attestations of the apparent expansion and fast track bolstering of American military presence in the region," according to the report.



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TagsInstitute for China-American Studies, ICAS, South China Sea, Report on the Military of the United States of America in the Asia-Pacific Region, U.S. Navy, People's Liberation Army Navy, Senkakus, Scarborough Shoal, Dr. Wu Shicun
(Photo : US Navy) Small aerial drones used by the U.S. military.

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A week after the U.S. Army announced an electromagnetic weapon that can destroy a swarm of Russian aerial drones with a single burst comes an announcement by Russia it's developed a similar but "deadlier" weapon to knock-down U.S. mini-drones.



Russian state-owned media claims the weapon will fry an aerial drone swarm's radio-electric systems, turning the drones into useless pieces of iron and plastic. The weapon was developed by United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation (UIMC), a state-owned firm combining the research and production enterprises that are part of Russia's radio-electronics industry.



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Russian military thinkers acknowledge that if an American swarm of aerial drones is able to reach its Russian target, it's almost impossible to stop. The new Russian anti-drone weapon is designed to block swarms of American drones as they approach their Russian targets.



Instead of simply creating radio interference that screws-up the drone swarm's command guidance, the new weapon destroys all the drones' on-board electronics. The drones aren't physically destroyed but instead are turned into scrap plastic and metal, say the Russians.



Russian media said the specs of the new weapon remains confidential but experts not associated with Russia's defense industry believe the weapon inflicts "electromagnetic damage" on the targeted aerial drones.



Russia media said the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation has long relied on the combat use of electromagnetic radiation.



The U.S. Army last week revealed a hitherto secret weapon called PHASER that can destroy an entire swarm of small armed or unarmed aerial drones with a single electromagnetic burst.



This huge weapon is classified by the army as a "High-Powered Microwave" (HPM) radiation transmitter.



It's an electromagnetic weapon with a huge radar dish atop a 20 foot-long shipping container that fires microwave energy at the target drones.



The intense microwave energy burns-out the aerial drones' control systems; destroys their motors and causes the drones in a swarm to crash to the ground like flies sprayed with insecticide.



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Tagsaerial drone, aerial drone swarms, electromagnetic weapon, Russia, US Army, United Instrument Manufacturing Corporation, PHASER, electromagnetic burst
(Photo : US Navy) US Marines on an amphibious assault exercise

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Sources close to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump are saying the next President will put more teeth into Barack Obama's five year-old pivot to Asia strategy by increasing the number of ships, planes and men in the U.S. Navy.



Confronting China militarily has long been expected of Trump, who blamed the effete Obama for failing to prevent China from building man-made islands that militarized the South China Sea and led to festering tensions that might one day ignite a war.



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Trump has also repeatedly assailed Obama for failing to stem the continuous weakening of the U.S. armed services.



During the presidential campaign, Trump noted that under Obama's watch, the Navy has shrunk to its smallest size since World War I. The Army is the smallest it has been since before World War II while the Air Force is the smallest in its history, while its aircraft are the oldest.



Trump and his Republican Party allies also claim readiness levels across the services are the worst in a generation, with pilots facing significantly reduced cockpit time and deferring critical maintenance.



Navy ships and crews are deploying as long as 10 months while Army units are deferring critical training before deployments. Trump's administration plans to stop this rot.



The US Navy has 272 ready-to-deploy warships and plans to boost this number to 315 by 2020 as part of the Navy's 2016 Force Structure Assessment.



Trump, however, plans to increase the number of active warships to 350 to add more powerful teeth to Obama's pivot strategy in the Asia Pacific region, also called the re-balancing strategy.



Should Trump's plans pan out, the US Navy and Marine Corps are expected to ramp-up their naval patrols and military exercises in Asia, especially in the South China Sea.



Trump also wants Marine combat strength to rise to 36 battalions from 27, which will send a strong signal to China the U.S. is prepared to invade and seize its militarily indefensible man-made islands.



Trump is also expected to bolster military ties with the United States' most powerful military allies in Asia: Japan, India and Australia.



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Tagsdonald trump, pivot to Asia, South China Sea, rebalalncing strategy, US Navy, marine corps
(Photo : Wikimedia Commons) The impounding of the nine Singapore military vehicles by Hong Kong Customs affected the diplomatic ties between Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan.

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Nine Singaporean military vehicles were seized and impounded after Hong Kong customs officials were tipped off by mainland agents regarding the entry of military vehicles through a cargo ship docking in Xiamen Mainland Port.



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The cargo ship initially set sail in Taiwan but docked in the Xiamen Mainland Port en route to Hong Kong, according to the FactWire news agency report.



Singapore government assigned delegates, who arrived in Hong Kong last Friday, to hasten the process of recovering the confiscated vehicles and subdue any possible conflict. However, Singapore would have to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China to recover the nine military vehicles.



Another issue cited was that the discovery of the vehicles has already been reported to the mainland and they alone have the power to decide whether to release them. Hong Kong customs officials, who seized the vehicles in the first place, have no control over the decision of release.



Prior to the cargo ship's arrival in Hong Kong, Chinese law enforcers have already provided the information to the Hong Kong police force that the ship contained military equipment, which was undeclared.



When the cargo ship arrived in semi-autonomous country, the custom officers immediately conducted a search on the vessel and confiscated the military equipment.



The Ministry of Defense in Singapore said through a press statement that the customs officials detained the military vehicles as part of the delay related to the request of Hong Kong customs routine inspections.



In response, a representative of the Hong Kong Customs said that the 12 shipping containers, which carried suspected items, were found on the vessel docked at the Kwai Chung container terminal during the standard operation of ship search last Nov. 23.



The political standoff places Hong Kong in the role of a mediator between the increased tension of China and Singapore. Singapore openly expressed their 'strategic geopolitical disagreements' with Beijing relating to the issue of the South China Sea.



The impounding of the nine Singapore military vehicles by Hong Kong Customs affected the diplomatic ties between Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan.



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(Photo : Getty Images. ) Chinas air force said that it conducted a drill at Western Pacific region on Friday. The exercise on Friday reportedly covered the first island chain region, which is inclusive of Japans Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan.

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China's air force said that it conducted a drill at the Western Pacific region on Friday. This air force drill is the third exercise conducted in less than three months in the region, after China carried out two successive aerial drills in September.



The exercises on Friday "are not aimed at any specific country, region or target, are legal, reasonable and fair," China's air force said in a statement on its official Weibo account.



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"Organising the air corps to carry out exercises far at sea is a normal thing to do for the air forces of countries which border the ocean."



China did not rule out more drills in future as it said it "will continue to organise routine drills far out at sea to further forge and develop the air force's systematic abilities far at sea."



The exercise covered the "first island chain" region, which is inclusive of Japan's Ryukyu Islands and Taiwan.



China's air force, however, did not elaborate on what types of aircrafts participated in the exercise but uploaded photos of H-6 bomber on its official microblogging account.



Japan Responds to China's Air Force Drill



As per reports in Japanese media, Japan's air force immediately responded to the Chinese drill by carrying out similar aerial exercise near Miyako Strait.



Japanese media did not shed much light on the exercise but claimed that the exercise was conducted within its own territory. It also said that the Chinese aircrafts did not breach into the Japanese airspace.



Some reports in Japan's local media quoted Japan's defence ministry's press release claming that China had used two H-6 bombers and two Su-30 fighters in its aerial operation on Friday.



It must be noted that China had also used H-6 bombers and Su-30 fighters during September's aerial operation in Western Pacific region.



South China Sea and East China Sea



The latest air force drill in Western Pacific region comes at a time when tension in South China Sea has more or less subsided. The tension in the region had heightened following international arbitration court's historic ruling in July, which dismissed China's historical claim over the maritime territory.



The tension subsided after Philippines, which dragged China to the arbitration court, extended olive branch to Beijing, in a definite sign that it is seeking to overhaul its foreign policy that was traditionally hostile towards China and friendlier towards the United States.



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Christians in Bangladesh Face Human Rights Abuses 'Almost Daily,' Report Reveals

Christians and other religious minority groups in Bangladesh have been experiencing persecution "almost daily" from different frontsfrom terrorists to their own Muslim neighbours  for the past three years, a new report revealed.

The non-governmental organisation Minority Rights Group International based in the United Kingdom released a report this week entitled "Under Threat: The challenges facing religious minorities in Bangladesh."

The document collated daily attacks suffered by Christians and other minority groupsincluding Buddhists, Hindus and Shi'a Muslimsfrom January to September this year, and noted a rising trend, Sight Magazine reported.

"Violence against Christians has continued, enabled in part by their marginalised position within Bangladeshi society," the report stated.

Christians make up only 0.3 percent of the population in the South Asian country, which is dominated by Sunni Muslims. Overall, religious minorities represent just 9.6 percent of the population.

The continued persecution of Christians in Bangladesh is mainly attributed to land disputes, according to the study.

"Christians are attacked for their land and property, and the attackers are backed by all political parties. They think Christians are a minuscule minority, weak and unable to protest and resist," the report elaborated.

It further said that Christians have been increasingly targeted by extremist groups including the outlawed Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh, which has sent death threats to targeted believers.

Carl Soderbergh, the Minority Rights Group International director of policy and communications, said the increasing attacks on Christians and other religious minorities in the Muslim-dominated country "have highlighted how vulnerable minorities are to attacks, but their situation is also informed by wider structural issues within Bangladeshi society."

Worse, the Bangladeshi government has "singularly failed" in addressing the attacks on Christians.

To be able to address these attacks, the organisation said there is a need for a "wider process of social transformation...to challenge stereotypes and champion respect for all beliefs."
From Persecution To Praise: The Catholic Church and Cuba

Baptised as a Roman Catholic and educated by Jesuits, Fidel Castro became a persecutor of the Church after seizing power in Cuba in 1959.

Nearly 40 years later, he began a rapprochement that was eventually to enable the Vatican to broker a historic resumption of ties between Cuba and the United States.

Despite the contradictions and about-turns, Castro, who died aged 90 on Friday, believed it was possible to be a kind of Christian while remaining true to the cause of revolutionary socialism.

"If people call me Christian, not from the standpoint of religion but from the standpoint of social vision, I declare that I am a Christian," he said in 2006, shortly before illness forced him to hand over power to his brother Raul.

The change in tone was evidenced on Saturday when Pope Francis, who met Castro in Cuba last year, said that his death was "sad news" and that he was grieving and praying for his repose.

Yet in his early years in power, Castro saw the Church as an enemy. Angered by its denunciation of communism, he nationalised Catholic schools, muzzled Church publications and expelled many priests. About 130 were rounded up on just one night in 1961 and bundled onto a freighter bound for Spain.

Fast-forward to 1991, when the break-up of the Soviet Union deprived Cuba of its main financial backer. Facing economic crisis, Castro began loosening some restrictions on the Church and courting the Vatican as a diplomatic partner. The Communist Party dropped its ban on believers in its ranks.

The breakthrough came in 1998 when Pope John Paul visited Cuba, leading to the lifting of more restrictions and the reinstatement of Christmas as a national holiday. Castro attended nearly every papal event and sat in the front row at Masses.

During that trip, the first by any pontiff, John Paul said "Let Cuba open itself to the world and the world open itself to Cuba" and called for an end to "El Bloqueo", the US trade embargo.

The visit galvanized the local Church, infusing it with more courage to stand up to the communist government on human rights abuses and to press for the release of political prisoners.

After Raul Castro took over, the Church in Cuba supported his efforts to reform the Soviet-style command economy. The 2013 election of the popular Francis, the first Latin American pope, and his defense of social justice, have further warmed relations with the Vatican.

In May 2015, Raul stopped in Rome to thank the pope for brokering the thaw between Havana and Washington and said Francis so impressed him that he might return to the Church, despite being a communist. He has yet to do so, although he did attend papal Masses during Francis' trip to Cuba in September 2016.
'Prison Break' season 5 news: How did Michael end up in a Yemeni prison?

It will still take a while before FOX airs the premiere episode of the "Prison Break" reboot, but speculations claim that the series' fifth season will feature a highly emotional reunion between the show's main characters.

At the end of season 4, fans were made to believe that Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) died from brain tumor. But based on the trailer for the "Prison Break" reboot, Michael seemed to have faked his death and got himself entangled in a big mess with an international terrorist group which brought him at a Yemeni prison. However, no one knows how Michael got in trouble with the terrorist group.

If Scofield was the one responsible for breaking his brother Lincoln Burrows (Dominic Purcell) out of prison in the early seasons of "Prison Break," the tables will turn in season 5. This time, Lincoln will find himself working with T-Bag (Robert Knepper), C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), and Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) to rescue Michael in Yemen.

The team will also get the assistance of Michael's wife Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) after she found out that the father of her child is still alive. But Sara will have a new husband named Jacob Ness (Mark Feuerstein), which could make her relationship with Michael more complicated.

Aside from the return of some of the show's original characters, the upcoming reboot of "Prison Break" will feature several additional characters like Sheba (Inbar Lavi), the activist who got involved with Lincoln, A&W (Marina Benedict), a ruthless villain, and Sid (Kunal Sharma), another Yemeni prisoner.

The upcoming "Prison Break" reboot will also introduce Whip (Augustus Prew), Ja (Rick Yune), and Van Gogh (Steve Mouzakis). They could be beneficial to help Lincoln and the rest of the team to get Michael out of prison.

Details about the air date of "Prison Break" season 5 had been scarce after the full trailer of the series had been released. But fans are expecting to see the show sometime in 2017.
When We Can't Go On: 10 Bible Verses About Weariness

There's a Greek myth about a king named Sisyphus who for various sins was condemned after his death to roll a great stone up a hill forever. Just as he got to the top, it would roll down the hill and he would have to do it all again.

Sometimes Christians feel just like that. We get tired of what we're doing, at home or at work or at church, and we wonder how we're going to go on. Perhaps our church commitments feel like a burden, or our family life. We seem to achieve something and then it all goes wrong and we have it all to do again.

In the Bible, God recognises the reality of weariness. Sometimes he himself is weary of our sins. More often, he recognises our weariness and promises help. He is deeply involved in our human condition.

Here are 10 verses about weariness.

1. "You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance." (Psalm 68:9)

2. "My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word." (Psalm 119:28)

3. "Like cold water to a weary soul is good news from a distant land." (Proverbs 25:25)

4. "Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom." (Isaiah 40:28)

5. "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." (Isaiah 40:29)

6. :Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31)

7. "The Sovereign Lord has given me a well-instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed." (Isaiah 50:4)

8. "But if I say, 'I will not mention his word or speak any more in his name,' his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot." (Jeremiah 20:9)

9. "I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint." (Jeremiah 31:25)

10. "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28)
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NEW MILFORD  Seeing as Marilyn Monroe hadnt used it in more than 50 years, and the towns Homestead Inn got new keys, the key the iconic actress used to get into her favorite room  No. 22  was sold Friday by two resident antique dealers.

We just bought all the keys because people like old hotel keys, said Loretta Kretchko, who co-runs Bob Kretchko Antiques with her husband, Bob. We werent thinking Marilyn.

In 1956, Monroe stayed in the inn while she was dating playwright Arthur Miller, who lived in Roxbury at the time. The two later married.

The Kretchkos purchased the keys two years ago, right before a new owner renovated the inn, Loretta said, and they planned on selling them. Many of the rooms had several sets, which was great for the Kretchkos  more old keys to sell, she said.

But this was the only No. 22 key, Loretta said. (Monroe) always stayed in 22.

Last week, the famed Happy Birthday, Mr. President dress Monroe wore when she serenaded President John F. Kennedy went up for auction in Los Angeles and garnered $4.8 million. The Kretchkos thought they should get in on the Monroe act, Loretta said, so they posted the key with its little mid-20th-century fob on eBay.

They put the starting price around $25, she said. Since it was really a New Milford item, they decided to donate 10 percent of whatever the key brought in to First Congregational Churchs food pantry.

If you dont have $4.8 million for her dress, this is the next best thing, Bob wrote on eBay.

The key sold Friday morning for $131 to a person in New Jersey, Loretta said.

While she would have liked the key to go for more  more money for the pantry, she said  she was happy it found a new home.

The Homestead Inn has had its share of famous guests over the years, including Joseph and Rose Kennedy, who stayed in New Milford while their future-president son, John, was an eighth-grader at the Canterbury School.

blytton@hearstmediact.com; 203-731-3411; @bglytton
The Greater Cleveland Chamber of Commerce welcomed new member Mary Kay Cosmetic Consultants Independent Sales Director Julie Everts on Nov. 22.

Mary Kay Inc. is one of the largest direct-selling companies in the world that specializes in cosmetics. The company works through distributors referred to as "beauty consultants" who can work directly with their customers on a personal level.

"Mary Kay has been in the business for 53 years," said Everts. "We manufacture and distribute out of Dallas, Texas."

According to Everts, the company specializes in a variety of cosmetics not only for women but also for men and teenagers.

"We're number one in skin care products," she said.

Mary Kay Inc. also gives back to its local community with contributions to foundations for battered women and other causes.

Everts is based in Kingwood where she keeps a fully stocked store at her home for her customers. She believes that serving her customers is what truly sets Mary Kay Inc. apart from other companies.

Anyone interested in Mary Kay products or hosting a Mary Kay party can contact Everts at 281-636-1074 or JulieEverts@MaryKay.com. For more information or to look at products online through catalogs, visit www.MaryKay.com/JulieEverts.
Christmas has been a favorite holiday of mine since I was a young boy. Of course, I was lucky to grow up in a toy factory where my father, Talley Nichols, manufactured toy cap guns. As you gather with friends and family during this Christmas season, I wish you a very Merry Christmas from my family to yours.

Here are five things happening around your state this month:

1.Bill Filing

On Nov. 14, the Texas Legislature began filing bills for the 85th Legislative Session, which begins on Jan. 10. While not all problems or issues constitute the need for a new law, there are some that do. I have filed bills to limit the growth of property taxes, give general law municipalities authority to protect its citizens and ways to protect landowners. These bills represent some of the priorities brought to me by the citizens of Senate District 3. Further bill filing is still a possibility, and I would encourage your ideas and input. It has been an honor to represent you in the Texas Senate and I look forward to working for you in the upcoming session.

2.Veteran Agricultural Land Exemption

In addition to the bills listed above, I also filed Senate Bill 175, which would prevent agricultural exempt land from reverting back to non-agriculture land if the property owner is a member of the armed services who has been deployed or stationed outside of the state. This legislation builds upon last session where many bills were passed to assist our veterans such as Senate Bill 833, which allowed property owners who were absent from the state because of military service to retain their homestead exemption.

The Texas Legislature recognizes that while many policies for veterans are established on the national level, we should do what we can for those who live in our state. Like most Americans, my family and I enjoy a great many freedoms every day, many of which we take for granted. Without the men and women who serve and make sacrifices in the armed forces, that would not be possible.

3.Sunset Commission

This month, the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission met to vote on recommendations for the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas' Employee Retirement System (ERS). We also heard testimony and reports on the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners, Texas Board of Nursing, Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners and the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners.

An important part of the Sunset process is hearing from the public on these various agencies. There are different ways you can get involved, including providing public comment on the Sunset Commission website and/or coming to the Capitol at the time of a hearing to provide your testimony. You can find the reports and how to provide public comment by visiting www.sunset.texas.gov.

4.Protecting Our Children

In response to reports that thousands of children had gone unseen by Child Protective Services (CPS) caseworkers, a special workgroup, made up of Senate Finance Committee members, was recently created to examine ways to help the Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) to fix the situation. The workgroup has recommended spending approximately $76 million to allow DFPS to raise salaries by $12,000, to stem chronic employee turnover and add 50 new special investigators, 50 new investigative caseworkers and 36 new support staff members.

The workgroups recommendations will now be sent to the Legislative Budget Board, who will decide on how to proceed. CPS workers do a very important job in ensuring the children of our state are safe, and I am confident these recommendations will go a long way in helping to connect abused and neglected children with a support network.

5.Christmas Ornament

In 1996, Nelda Laney, the wife of then Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, realized the Texas Capitol needed its own unique Christmas ornament to adorn the Christmas Trees at the Capitol. The ornament became an annual tradition with the proceeds of the sales going to support ongoing Capitol conservation, maintenance programs and educating the public about the history of the Capitol and its grounds.

The 2016 Capitol ornament features a replica of the 20& foot Capitol Christmas Trees, which are placed in the Senate and House Chambers. The ornament is decorated with lone stars, garland and Capitol ornaments from the past. To buy your own and have a little piece of Capitol history, you can visit www.texascapitolgiftshop.com.
The city of Deer Park, known as the "Birthplace of Texas," strives to research and preserve the past through its Historical Committee.

Since his election in 2013, Mayor Jerry Mouton has supported the committee's work.

"For me there was an emphasis to reenergize the committee and give it more of a simplified mandate," he said. "This is important because we have an amazing history and it's wise of us to try and preserve it."

To that end there are plans for historical displays, including artifacts, to be showcased in the new city hall building that is to be under construction in the early months of 2017.

In the meantime, there is still plenty to see.

Historical artifacts are on display throughout Deer Park, including deeds from some of the city's original land purchases, pieces of both the Battleship Texas and the San Jacinto Monument as well as news articles and photographs. These can be found at the city's Municipal Court and Theater Building at 1302 Center St., the Deer Park Community Center at 610 E. San Augustine; Deer Park Public Library at 3009 Center St., and the Deer Park Visitors Center at 203 Ivy Avenue, Suite 606.

Patrick's Cabin

There also has been work done at Patrick's Cabin which sits in the city's Heritage Park on Center Street.

In April of 1836 Mexican General Santa Anna and his army were defeated during the Battle of San Jacinto by Sam Houston and his men. When the fighting was over, Houston, along with Texas politician David Burnett and members of the Texas cabinet, went to the nearby cabin of Dr. George Patrick. There treaty papers were drawn up which would provide for Texas' independence from Mexico. That cabin was located where present-day Dow Chemical stands today, within Deer Park, hence the city's claims as the "Birthplace of Texas."

City officials like Mouton and Sherry Garrison, a city councilman and chair of the Historical Committee, believe that making the information easily accessible to residents and those visiting Deer Park is a priority.

To that end, Garrison and her committee members have worked to ensure signage of Patrick's Cabin is historically accurate.

The committee is working with the Texas Historical Commission to move a 1936 Texas Historical Marker located near the original home of Dr. Patrick at Dow Chemical to a place close to the cabin in Heritage Park.

"Dow called us weeks ago and wanted to know if we would like to have it moved to Deer Park close to our historic representation of Patrick's Cabin. They need to move it because of security and people can no longer see it," Garrison said. "Of course we said yes and have received permission from Harris County Historical Commission and they've forwarded our request to the Texas Historical Commission. We feel certain they will give us permission and we are planning to place it close to the cabin in Heritage Park."

"The cabin is a representation of (the original Patrick's Cabin), it's not an exact replica because there's no way we can know exactly what the cabin looked like," Garrison said. "So in the past two or three months we've tried very hard to make sure everything we put in writing (about it) is historically accurate."

The committee has discovered the cabin was likely a one-room structure with a large porch. The replica in Heritage Park, Garrison said, is a two-room structure with furniture indicative of the period of the cabin.

Oldest grave

The Historical Committee also has recently reunited what they believe is the oldest grave in Harris County with its headstone. The story goes that in 1928 a headstone marking the burial place of siblings William Wilson and Mary Jackson was discovered on property belonging to Shell Deer Park.

"This is Deer Park's oldest artifact, and we think it's the oldest headstone in Harris County," Garrison said.

"It stayed there until 1977 when Shell contacted the city and asked if the grave and the headstone might be moved to Dow Park in Deer Park."

City officials agreed and Shell moved the headstone, along with a casket filled with a symbolic cubic foot of dirt to represent the gravesite. From 1977 until 2007 or early 2008 the headstone and the dirt-filled casket remained at Dow. At that time, however, a group of residents had the headstone moved to Heritage Park.

When Garrison came into her current position years later she learned details of the headstone's move that troubled her.

"In 2013, the more research we did and the more we found out, we realized the headstone was moved (from Dow Park) without knowledge of City Council, and we realized they didn't bring the little casket with it."

Garrison wanted to correct that wrong, so she petitioned the City Council to move the headstone out of Heritage Park to Dow Park and back to its rightful place above the casket. The Council complied and the move was made in early November.

"That was our goal, to get them back together," she said.

The Historical Committee also is working to secure a Texas Historical marker for the gravesite.

Mayor Mouton praised the Historical Committee's dedication to its work and the important impact it will have for Deer Park's residents.

"Part of preserving history is understanding where we're from and where we're going, so hopefully we've preserved and documented our history and left something for after we're gone," he said.
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An all-boys Dallas prep school recently denounced one of its most infamous alumni, white nationalist Richard Spencer.

Spencer - who is slated to speak at Texas A&M University next month - sparked widespread outrage after invoking Hitler-inspired chants and prompting Nazi salutes at a Washington D.C., event last weekend.

In a statement released online Friday, St. Mark's School of Texas Headmaster David Dini called the former student's views "hateful, divisive, racist, and anti-Semitic."

IN TEXAS: White nationalist scheduled to speak at Texas A&M

"This has been deeply troubling and terribly upsetting to our whole school community," he wrote of the unabashed white nationalist alumnus. "At St. Mark's, we reject racism and bigotry in all its forms and expressions. Our mission, values, and programs stand in direct opposition to these vulgar ideas."

Spencer, who heads up the controversial National Policy Institute and was recently banned from Twitter, garnered widespread media coverage for his support of Donald Trump and his chosen chief strategist, former Breitbart media mogul Steve Bannon.

Initially, Spencer's former high school declined to comment on its 1997 graduate, according to the Dallas Morning News.

ANGRY ON TV: CNN guest snaps over Neo-Nazi questions

Then on Nov. 19, Spencer addressed a crowd of supporters, shouting, "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!" Onlookers captured on camera threw up Nazi salutes in response.

Spencer has long advocated for a separate "ethno-state" for whites and called immigration a "proxy-war - maybe a last stand - for White Americans," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. The civil rights nonprofit described him as "a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old."

"America was until this past generation a white country designed for ourselves and our posterity," he told the capital crowd last weekend. "It is our creation, it is our inheritance, and it belongs to us."

ALT-RIGHT TWEETS: Ann Coulter draws ire on Twitter for defending American Nazis

In response, one day after Thanksgiving, Dini issued his scathing statement on the video, soundly disavowing Spencer's actions without mentioning him by name.

"We are proud that many of our graduates, parents, students, and other community members are expressing their outrage and disgust toward these ideas; while at the same time, they are demonstrating support for the school they know and love," the statement said.

Other St. Mark's alumni fired back at their former classmate with a crowdfunding campaign to help resettle refugees into the Dallas area.

"Spencer's views are un-American and a threat to civil society," the alumni wrote online. "We reject them and urge everyone to join us in condemning him and his agenda."

By Sunday morning, the campaign had netted more than $41,000 in donations.

Close to 10,000 Spencer foes signed an online petition denouncing the Dec. 6 event at Texas A&M, slated to take place in a building dedicated to the alumni who died in World War I and World War II. Spencer will define the "alt-right" in the speech, according to the event's organizer, former student Preston Wiginton.

Wednesday, State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, urged the university to cancel the event, which he worried could incite violence on campus. One day later, the World Jewish Congress, an international nonprofit, also mounted pressure on the College Station university to call it off.

FROM THE FRINGE: Alt-right celebrates Trump's electoral victory

"This man is one of the worst hatemongers in America, and his white supremacist and other bigoted ideas are sickening. I urge the university to deny him access to any facilities on campus," WJC President Ronald Lauder said in a statement.

The university has maintained that it cannot cancel the event, as Wiginton scheduled the speech and reserved the event space as a private citizen.

"I don't think that's something we're able to do, no matter how reprehensible we find this individual's choice of words," said university spokeswoman Amy Smith, who also condemned the controversial speaker and said his views are "in direct conflict" with the university's values.
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A "suspicious" apartment blaze drew fire crews to the scene Sunday afternoon in southwest Houston.

The flames started around 3:40 p.m. on Corporate near Sharpcrest.

Crews were on hand for more than an hour battling the blaze. Firefighters told reporters on scene that the building was vacant and no one was injured.

Initially, three units caught on fire but eventually the flames spread to the entire building, authorities said.

Aaron Jackson, who lives down the street on Oregano, was headed home when the blaze broke out.

"It was in an abandoned section of apartments in the center of the complex," he said. "The units were boarded up."

The flames ate up multiple units, according to Jackson.

Apartment fire in SW Houston Posted by Aaron Jackson on Sunday, November 27, 2016

"Other apartments were in jeopardy of being engulfed as well," he said. "However, there was such a large showing of force from the fire department, that they were able to bring it under control."

Arson investigators combed over the scene after crews tamed the blaze.

"It's definitely suspicious," said HFD Deputy Chief Blake White.

The building burned at least once before, which was why it was fenced off before Sunday's blaze, he added.
Sen. Ted Cruz took to TV Sunday to discourage American leaders from attending Fidel Castro's funeral.

The junior senator from Texas unloaded on ABC's Martha Raddatz, calling the Cuban leader's death "a real opportunity for U.S. officials to show where they stand" and laying blame for the current state of Cuba at President Obama's feet.

How the outgoing Commander-in-Chief handles the dictator's death will be an "interesting test," he said.

TEXAS TAKES NOTE: Local Cubans mark Fidel Castro's death

"I very much hope that we don't see any U.S. government officials going to Fidel Castro's funeral. I hope we don't see Barack Obama and Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton and Democrats lining up to lionize a murderous tyrant and thug," Cruz said on "This Week."

"If you wouldn't go to Pol Pot's funeral or Stalin's funeral or Mao's funeral because they were murderous communist dictators then you shouldn't be doing what Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau are doing, which is celebrating Fidel Castro, a murderous communist dictator."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau drew criticism and sparked the trending hashtag #TrudeauEulogies after he glowingly remembered Castro as a "remarkable leader."

OPPOSITE APPROACHES: Obama, Trump react differently to Fidel Castro's death

Cruz fired back on Twitter.

"Disgraceful," he wrote. "Why do young socialists idolize totalitarian tyrants?"

Cruz, whose father fled the island nation decades ago, recalled watching his dad's reaction to the news of Castro's death.

"I was with my dad when he found out that Fidel Castro was dead and he simply said, 'Praise God.'"

Cruz's father was jailed under the regime of Fulgencio Batista, who was overthrown during Castro's Cuban Revolution of 1959.

IN MIAMI, OF ALL PLACES: Colin Kaepernick praises Fidel Castro

The bearded revolutionary, whose death Friday was announced by Cuban state television, ruled his nation with an iron fist until 2006, when he ceded leadership to his younger brother Raul.

Sunday, Cruz laid blame for Raul Castro's power at Obama's feet.

"What the Obama administration has done is strengthen Raul Castro," he said, adding that the President has funneled funds to Cuba which are now being used to oppress dissidents.

"This ought to be a moment where Cubans are dancing in the street because they're being liberated, but instead, listen, if you dance in the street, you're going to be thrown in jail," he said. "Cuba is not a free society."
You would thing that the entire Chavez debacle would be enough. Oh, **** no, not even close. I mean they are just a step away from honoring Stalin and Pol Pot and Mao. At the same time probably going to tell you that Henry Ford was a monster. Well, ok they already have to a degree. There is reality and there is Socialist wannabe progressives. The two do not exist on the same plane.
Mid-valley school districts who lost their fifth-year college programs are looking to Oregon Promise grants to continue to help higher education be affordable.

Until last year, much of both Linn and Benton counties offered students programs that allowed them to put off receiving their high school diplomas and continue as fifth-year students, taking community college courses that were paid for by their school districts because they hadn't officially left.

Supporters said the programs were invaluable, especially for students who didn't come from families with a college background or who needed extra support for their first year of higher education.

Students remained connected with counselors who guided them through registration, helped them plan their courses and checked up on them after progress reports. The combination helped keep them on track for graduation, both from high school and community college.

But the use of state school funds for an extra year in high school rankled some Oregon lawmakers who felt it wasn't fair to take money from K-12 programs. Large districts, including Portland and Beaverton, complained they wouldn't be able to put similar programs in place without breaking the state bank.

So State Sen. Sara Gelser offered a compromise bill, SB 1537, that established a "postgraduate scholar" program.

Students can become postgraduate scholars only if they have all their credits for a diploma; have filled out the federal financial aid form known as a FAFSA; have applied for and accepted all the grant-based aid for which they are eligible, such as a Pell Grant; and have applied for the new Oregon Promise community college grant.

The idea was that Oregon Promise would cover most of the students who needed help, but the postgraduate program would be there to pick up anyone who needed college help but didn't, say, make the grade point average.

In terms of reducing numbers, the plan is working. Corvallis High School had 174 fifth-year students through its program, Running Start, but that figure has dropped to 10 postgraduates this year, said Eric Wright, alternative pathways coordinator for the Corvallis School District.

In Lebanon, it wasn't unusual to see 150 students in the district's Beyond LHS program, although some of them were taking college classes through programs other than the fifth-year opportunity, said Kim Fandino, director. The Lebanon district had just seven postgraduate scholars graduate this last school year.

"Our program is less than a quarter of what it used to be in size, easily," Fandino said.

According to preliminary state figures, Oregon Promise is helping to pay for community college for more than 5,500 Oregonians this year. But it would be a mistake to equate the grant program with what the fifth-year programs used to be, something Gelser said was frustrating to try to explain to her fellow lawmakers.

Oregon Promise is strictly a college affordability mechanism, Gelser said, while the fifth-year program included a college support system; a method of wrapping services around a student to keep him or her on track.

"Both are incredibly important, but they're different programs serving different people for different reasons," she said. "It frustrates me that they were pitted against each other. I dont think thats useful.

Fandino said she believes the system might also be less fair. Students who do well in school but struggle financially should qualify for Oregon Promise, but that grant doesn't cover books and class fees. In some places, including Linn-Benton Community College, it doesn't even cover tuition.

In contrast, she said, a student whose family has money but who never made much of an effort academically might fall right into the postgraduate net  and all his college costs will be covered through his school.

Gelser doesn't agree. First, she said, Oregon Promise is for two years, not one. Second, students who receive the grant can go to any community college in Oregon, not just the one to which their particular school district is linked.

She does agree that the 2.5 grade point average required by Oregon Promise probably needs to come down, however.

"A 2.0 is a reasonable GPA, and we dont want to tell people they cant move on because they have a C average," she said. "Thats a lot of kids.

Mid-valley districts say they're glad Oregon Promise is available to students in whatever form, but they miss the connections the fifth-year programs used to provide.

Scio's Pace program, developed in 2003, was the oldest fifth-year program in the mid-valley. Superintendent Gary Tempel said he doesn't have any postgraduate scholars now.

"We believe that there is more than a financial barrier to getting the success rate that we need for the state," he said. "Our program certainly cost more than Oregon Promise. Interestingly, It looks like if you blended the two programs it would cost less than either program standing alone. Why, you ask? Because we're able to get them finished sooner than three years at a higher success rate."

In Corvallis, Eric Wright said he'd also bring back the fifth-year if he could.

"For my kids who have struggled in school, the fifth-year program, I believe, is much stronger, Wright said. Also, the retention rate was far higher for fifth-year than for students who just enrolled on their own at LBCC.

That said, Wright went on, he understood the financial concerns that led to the demise of the fifth-year program.

"Thats not where my heart is, but I also know theres a reality there," he said, adding: We're going to continue to fight to make sure kids get what they need.
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A Texas death row inmate will get a chance this week to plead his case, possibly one final time.

The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled the hearing for Bobby James Moore on Tuesday, Nov. 29, the second day back from Thanksgiving for the eight justices currently serving.

Moore, whose 57th birthday was on Oct. 29, went to death row for the 1980 shotgun killing of 72-year-old James "Jim" McCarble in Houston.

SPEEDING UP: California passes measure to accelerate executions

The issues in question are Moore's intellectual capacity and how Texas decides whether he's too disabled to kill.

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals rejected his claim of intellectual disability in September 2015, saying Moore didn't meet Texas' "Briseno factors," an unscientific, seven-pronged test which a judge based on the character Lennie Smalls from John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men."

The U.S. high court declared in 2002 that executing the mentally disabled is unconstitutional. But, the court didn't lay down any bright line as to what constitutes mental disability, instead, leaving it to each to decide.

LEGISLATIVE ACTION: Execution drug among bills Texas lawmakers to consider

Moore's IQ has ranged from the 50s to the 70s in tests over the years - the threshold for disability is generally considered an IQ of 70.

The case has drawn interest from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Constitution Project and the American Bar Association. The high court will decide by late spring if the standards Texas uses are constitutional and if Moore can go to the execution chamber.

The decision will once again put Texas, a state not shy about carrying out death sentences, back in the death penalty spotlight.
Driving drunk is never a good idea, but just in case anyone needed any extra motivation to avoid getting behind the wheel after a few drinks the Wyoming, Minn., Police Department just issued the greatest threat ever.

In a tweet from Nov. 23, the police department warned its citizen to avoid drunk driving or they were in for a miserable trip to jail.
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.
For Larissa James, Oregon Promise has delivered  mostly.

But the 19-year-old South Albany High School graduate would have preferred a little more clarity, however, when the new state grant program first made its promise to cover community college costs.

I had to pay about $600 out of pocket, which is better than paying, I think it was, $1,400 overall," she said.

"The one downfall on Oregon Promise is, I wish when my high school teachers were saying it covers everything, (they had said) it does not cover textbooks.

Modeled on a Tennessee program created two years ago, Oregon Promise is meant to boost enrollment and retention at Oregon community colleges by covering most of the costs for students enrolling there. The first grants were issued for this fall term.

James is in her first year at Linn-Benton Community College. She is one of 506 students there, and roughly 5,524 statewide, to receive the Oregon Promise grant.

To be eligible for the grant, Oregon high school graduates and General Education Development certificate recipients had to enroll in an Oregon community college within six months of graduation.

The students had to be Oregon residents who achieved a grade point average of at least 2.5 (or a GED of 145 or better on each test), and had filed for aid through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, also known as the FAFSA, or the Oregon Student Aid Application, the OSAA.

The total number of Oregon Promise recipients won't be known for a few more weeks, said Endi Hartigan, communications and policy specialist for the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission.

"In December we will compile a preliminary analysis on who is enrolled and what impacts it has had, and we will also be looking at the program longer term in terms of student success," she said.

Although figures are still preliminary, Hartigan said the grant recipients represent only about a quarter of the total applications.

The state had 19,223 applications submitted. Of those, she said, 13,960 were initially reviewed as having met all the criteria.

After initial review, 10,459 had a valid FAFSA application and listed at least one Oregon community college on their FAFSA, Hartigan went on. Numbers dropped even lower after that because not every student accepted ended up enrolling in a community college.

"Ultimately, the students of course needed to enroll in community colleges to receive the grant," she said.

Initially, supporters of the Oregon Promise grant touted it as a free ticket to community college.

However, as James found out, that turned out not to be the case.

Danny Aynes, LBCC's admissions director, said the college has about the same amount of Oregon Promise students now as it used to have in the fifth-year college program, a program in which students put off receiving their high school diplomas in order to spend a year taking college classes.

Unlike the old fifth-year programs, however, which were paid for through state school funds received by the student's parent district, Oregon Promise doesn't cover books or classroom fees.

The grant also pays for only 12 credits of classes per term  take more, and you're on your own  and it bases its coverage on the average tuition of all Oregon's community colleges together. So if your college, like LBCC, costs more than the state average, you'll pay the difference per credit.

We kind of knew going in that wed have to pay a little bit out of pocket, but I personally wasnt expecting to pay more than $200 out of pocket," James said. "I ended up paying twice that."

James said she was planning to attend LBCC even if she didn't receive the Oregon Promise grant, so the out-of-pocket costs didn't kill her college plans.

It's certainly better than nothing, she said, and she encourages students to apply regardless. But she said she hopes schools will do a better job in the future of explaining to students exactly what they can and can't expect the grant to cover.

That's assuming Oregon Promise has a future. It's likely, but not a given.

Hartigan said the program expects that its initial $10 million investment will be enough to support students for this first year.

"Continued funding for the program was in our agency budget recommendation, and we are awaiting the governors recommended budget in December and then the legislative session to determine the funding levels for the upcoming biennium," she said. "The application for the program is currently open for next year for new students, pending funding approval."

Hartigan said current Oregon Promise students will need to fill out another FAFSA to keep receiving the grant and should stay tuned to the Office of Student Access and Completion website for more details.

"Funding for Oregon Promise for the 2017-18 academic year is subject to Oregon Legislative approval," cautions a note on the OSAC website. "More information will be available in spring 2017."
Cyber Monday

Many employers permit online shopping at work -- within reason. Know the rules before you start clicking away for bargains this Cyber Monday. This is a photo of Amazon.com's fulfillment center in DuPont, Washington.

(Associated Press photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio - You are just about to place an item into the online shopping cart when you see your boss headed in your direction. Your computer screen is in clear view.

You minimize your screen, and get back to work. "Why is she still hovering?" you think to yourself. "I need to catch this Cyber Monday deal before it ends in a few minutes!"

The start of the holiday season is in full swing, with all of its rituals. You stuffed yourself on Thanksgiving. Got mauled at the mall on Black Friday. Cyber Monday is the day to click your way to online deals - often while at work.

Trying to hide your on-the-job Cyber Monday shopping - as long as it is within reason -- might not even be necessary.

Sixty-five percent of employers either allow their employees unrestricted access to shop online or grant access but monitor it for excessive use, based on a recent survey of more than 1,400 companies in the United States and Canada by Robert Half Technology, a staffing firm based in Menlo Park, California. The survey found that about one-third of companies actually block access to online shopping sites.

Another finding from the poll might offer a clue about why many employees try to hide that they are surfing for bargains: 55 percent of workers say their employer has not provided them with information or training about the company's information-technology security or online shopping policies.

"I don't think that most employers go out of their way to announce that, 'Yes, it is OK to shop at work,'" said Eric Younkin, branch manager of Robert Half Technology's office in Cleveland. "I think that is where using common sense and asking questions when it is necessary become important.

"If you are not sure what the policy is at work, ask you supervisor, ask your IT director, 'Hey, I want to do some shopping, am I allowed to that?'" he said. "'If so, when is it acceptable, and is there anything that I should look out for?'"

Take Plain Dealer poll: Are you shopping at work this Cyber Monday? (Poll)

While the term "Cyber Monday" wasn't coined until 2005, ordering online using work computers during the Christmas season dates to a time when many people didn't have Internet access at home. Now that Internet access at home and on mobile devices is common, though, the urge to shop at work hasn't diminished.

"It has definitely maintained its popularity," Younkin said of Cyber Monday. "At the end of the day, people find it very convenient to shop online, and retailers are just as aggressive now with Cyber Monday deals as they are with Black Friday deals."

In fact, $3.36 billion is projected to be spent online this Cyber Monday, which is more than probably will be spent on any day between Thanksgiving and Giving Tuesday, according to Adobe Digital Insights, which publishes digital marketing-related research. The projection for Black Friday spending online was $3.05 billion, but the actual total was $3.34 billion, Adobe reported Saturday.

"Cyber Monday will be the largest online shopping day in history," the company predicted, projecting a 9.4 percent increase in sales over 2015.

A survey by RetailMeNot.com shows that shoppers planned to spend four hours on Cyber Monday looking for deals. The Robert Half survey found that 49 percent of employees said they typically shop while in the office on Cyber Monday. (In addition to gauging employers' views on online shopping by polling chief information officers, Robert Half also surveyed 1,400 workers.)

About one-third of workers said they would take the day off to shop.

Both the Robert Half and Adobe research show that in an age of mobile devices, most shoppers won't use these gadgets to make purchases. While Adobe found that nearly 60 percent of consumers would mobile shop on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, fewer than half intended to mobile shop on Cyber Monday.

The Robert Half survey found that 17 percent of workers said they would use a personal mobile device to shop. Thirty-nine percent of those surveyed said they use a work-issued computer or device for online shopping. About a quarter of employees said they shop using both types of devices while at work.

Younkin said employees shouldn't think they aren't shopping at work because they are using personal mobile devices. Employers still are concerned about the impact of online shopping on productivity in the workplace.

Plus, online shopping can cause technical issues, such as slowing down the company's Wi-Fi when too many mobile devices are accessing it at once.

Sixty-four percent of respondents in the Robert Half survey said they had used a lunch break to track down deals. Younkin said that is probably a good strategy. He said searching for deals online is fine as long as it doesn't get in the way of the work day.

"Choose times to do online shopping when it makes sense for the business," he said. "If things are really busy and a lot is going on, it is probably not the best time to jump on Amazon," he said.
AKRON, Ohio - So the dilemma is this: Do you give a Rock & Roll Hall of Famer a pass because she's nervous - or at least appears to be - about playing in front of her family and friends?

Or do you say, "Now, wait a minute. Chrissie Hynde has been doing this for more than 40 years. Figure she's done maybe 10,000 concerts in that time. Restarts for songs really shouldn't be part of the gig at this stage.''

Guess what? I'm gonna go with the former, with just a teensy tease towards the latter. Yeah, Hynde and the Pretenders had to stop a couple of songs in their Saturday night set at E.J. Thomas Hall, and start over. And she did get off on the planned set list (I know because I saw a copy).

So. Bleepin'. What.

For 90 minutes, Akron wrapped its Rubber City arms around their favorite daughter, and for good reason. She hasn't lost a step, and that distinctive voice remains one of the most iconic in rock 'n' roll.

Look, it's never polite to mention a woman's age, or so my mama taught me. So let's just say that if Hynde still lived in Akron, she'd have had her Golden Buckeye card for five years already. You might expect a little fall-off, but you'd be wrong.

Still rail thin, but now sporting a frosted look to her trademark mop, Hynde looks like she could go 10 rounds with the UFC's Rhonda Rousey. Rockin' the skinniest of skinny jeans and a black, nearly sleeveless Elvis Presley T-shirt after discarding a short-waisted pink tuxedo jacket, Hynde and her current lineup of Pretenders turned the nearly sold-out concert hall into a memory to be cherished.

Of course, there won't be any cell phone pictures - no selfies, no bad recordings of "Alone,'' "Middle of the Road'' or "Down the Wrong Way'' - to trigger those memories. That's because Hynde, who feels they are a huge distraction for an artist trying to reach an audience, forbids the use of cell phones or cameras during her shows. Even professional photographers are limited to just the first two songs of the set, from far back at the sound board.

And to be honest, the cell phone ban is a great thing. Too often, it seems fans are missing really great shows because they're trying to focus on that tiny screen, or mugging for a photo of themselves with the artist in the background. Part of me gets it; you want a permanent memento of your night. But the bigger part of me wonders why people pay so much money to see an artist live . . . and then don't.

The bottom line is that fans at E.J. Thomas were treated to 90 minutes - yeah, with a few do-overs - of quality rock 'n' roll from Hynde, original Pretenders drummer Martin Chambers, and the new kids on the block, pedal steel player Eric Heywood, lightning lead guitarist James Walbourne and bassist Nick Wilkinson.

The concert opened with the title cut off the Pretenders' new album, "Alone,'' which was produced by fellow Akron native Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys. In all, six of the 12 cuts on the album made it onto the set list, including "Gotta Wait,"'' "Death Is Not Enough,'' "Let's Get Lost,'' "Holy Commotion'' and "I Hate Myself.''

That last is a killer tune, co-written with Auerbach. Just what each brought to the writing table is something only they know, but it's clear that this is a pairing that works.

But it's the "old'' stuff that put Hynde and the Pretenders in the Rock Hall in 2005, and it sounds just as great today as it did back in the '80s. "Private Life,'' "Stop Your Sobbing,'' "Middle of the Road,'' "Brass in Pocket'' and of course "My City Was Gone'' are all just memories set to music for a generation.

Equally impressive was a nearly a cappella "Hymn to Her'' that proved that Hynde's vocal prowess has only improved. And one of the most fun songs is, as you might expect,'' Back on the Chain Gang,'' with its requisite "ooh-ah'' homage to Sam Cooke's "Chain Gang'' tune.

Akron's own Time Cat kept it an all-in-the-family night as the opening act. The three-piece group - vocalist and guitarist Jeri Sapronetti, drummer Sam Caler and bassist Colton Huffman - might have been a little worried about opening for a legend. But they shouldn't have been.

The musicianship of the trio, whose sound seems to include elements of emo, indie rock, blues and straight-ahead good ol' rock 'n' roll, is as good as any national touring band.

Vocally? There's a little indecision from Sapronetti, who handles all the microphone chores, and it led to some pitchiness, which an excess of echo couldn't hide. But heck, maybe she was just nervous, playing in front of her hometown family and friends.

It's happened to bigger names.
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Guest columnist U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson argues that Europe's energy policy would be bad for the U.S.

(Joshua Gunter/The Plain Dealer/file photo)

U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson

Guest columnist U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson, of Marietta, represents Ohio's 6th District. He serves on the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Now that the dust has settled after the election, we must address some critical policy issues facing our country -- one of which is the regulatory and tax policy around energy. Will the United States put American families first, or look toward the European Union's (EU) regulatory regime as a model instead?

To help understand what is at stake, last year I joined a bipartisan group of members from the House Energy and Commerce Committee on a trip to Portugal, Belgium, and the Ukraine to discuss our mutual energy interests, and Russia's aggression in Eastern Europe. The message from our European allies I met with, overwhelmingly, is that they are looking to the United States to take the lead in providing a reliable and secure source of natural gas.

Meeting with the different European leaders reinforced my belief that adopting an energy policy on the backs of taxpayers to artificially prop up alternative energies, at the expense of coal and natural gas, only hurts our economy and the consumer. Due to EU energy policies, electricity and home heating costs have gone through the roof across Europe, and, on average, gasoline prices in the EU are more than two times higher than U.S. prices. What if the average Ohioan was forced to pay $4 a gallon in gas and 25 percent more in home heating costs? How would it impact your family?

Well, according to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy, the staggering impacts that each and every family would feel by paying European style prices for energy would result in an average $5,000 per year reduction in disposable income for every Ohio household. That is a staggering number.

We have a different approach to energy in America, but there is a relentless campaign on the environmental left to impose European-style policies here, and it is gaining ground. In Ohio, we have already seen this play out through the degrading of our coal industry; what do you think these same groups want to do to our oil and natural gas industry? How will these policies impact our electric, natural gas, and fuel prices here at home? European policies have provided a clear road map.

As I witnessed first-hand with my House colleagues, it would be economically disastrous for America to follow the European example any further. Overregulation, higher prices, and a deep dependence on imported sources of energy - in many cases from hostile nations - would be the inevitable result. We would also surrender the gains we have made in recent years on energy security, lower electricity and home heating costs.

Even President Obama's White House has admitted that thanks to America's shale revolution, U.S. manufacturing has added over 800,000 direct jobs. We have even reached the point where we can export some of our excess energy production to other nations that badly need it - including many in Europe. That's why I have led, and will continue to lead, the drive for bipartisan legislation to export LNG (liquefied natural gas), which will help strengthen ties with our allies abroad, and help further grow our economy at home.

When it comes to energy, Americans should lead, not follow. We do not need to look to Europe for answers or try to repeat their mistakes here. Washington, D.C. must once again put American citizens and jobs first. Regardless of the presidential election results, Americans should come together in a bipartisan way and join the effort to support the responsible development of our resources. By doing so, we will continue to bring manufacturing jobs back, export more American-made products to the world, and continue to keep electricity, home heating and fuel prices low.

We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create American jobs, help our allies, and put a rogue regime on its heels all at the same time. It's time we do it...but America must be willing to lead.

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Readers are invited to submit Opinion page essays on topics of regional or general interest. Send your 500-word essay for consideration to Linda Kinsey at lkinsey@cleveland.com. Essays must also include a brief bio and headshot of the writer. Essays rebutting today's topics are also welcome.
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In March 1978, a sign from the committee to save Mahoning Valley industries partly obscured a sign erected by the mayor of Youngstown calling on President Jimmy Carter to assist the valley. Democrat Carter's 1979 decision to oppose loan guarantees to Youngstown still rankles, writes Thomas Suddes.

(Cleveland Press, File, 1978)

The wonder isn't that the Youngstown-Warren area and once-Democratic Appalachian counties told Democrat Hillary Clinton to get lost on Nov. 8.

The wonder is that it took so long.

Sometimes, not often enough or soon enough, the victim in an abusive relationship says enough is enough, and finally walks away. In March 1979, the incompetent and sanctimonious Jimmy Carter pulled the rug out from under a plan by a Youngstown coalition to save at least some of the city's steel jobs. Carter denied the Youngstown group a $245 million loan guarantee. Again: a guarantee, not cash. (Today, $245 million might equal $800 million, barely enough to buy, maybe, four F-35 fighter jets, among the Pentagon's worst boondoggles ever.)

Voters in the Mahoning River's basin eventually returned Washington's compliment. They sent the late James A. Traficant to Congress, where Traficant got the attention he craved and his district got the laughs it needed. Otherwise, people in that neck of Ohio almost always backed standard-issue Democrats, who promised to make things better. But in some ways they couldn't: If you're taken for granted politically, you get leftovers, not entrees. Thanks, Washington; way to go, Columbus.

Why 2016 was the breaking point for till-then loyal Democrats along the Pennsylvania border and the Ohio River is hard to say. But this isn't: Compared to Barack Obama's 2012 totals, voters in Appalachian Ohio - 32 counties Ohio defines to include Ashtabula (Jefferson), Mahoning (Youngstown) and Trumbull (Warren) - gave Clinton the brush. The region denied Clinton about a third of the votes she needed to carry Ohio. Result, there and elsewhere in Ohio: Donald Trump captured the Buckeye State.

For those Ohio Democrats who believe they've been ignored for too long, it must've felt great to tell Hillary Clinton and her entourage to go back to Chappaqua and take their granola and tofu with them. But there's always a morning after, and this is it:

While Trump does stand-up in the White House, congressional Republicans will try to prune Medicare and Medicaid and give their Wall Street pals a chance to gamble with Social Security. If you like economic claptrap, that's great. But if you're an Ohioan, especially (but not just) an Ohioan in Appalachia, that's bad news.

A big chunk of what money still comes into many Ohio counties is in the form of "transfer payments" - Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, food stamps, Social Security disability, Supplemental Security Income and the like. Basically, those checks are cut in Washington.

Statewide, transfer payments make up 20 percent of Ohioans' total personal incomes, according to Ohio Development Services Agency data. The transfer payment percentage is 19.6 percent in Cuyahoga County; 15.9 percent in Franklin County; 22.5 percent in Montgomery County.

The percentage is bigger than the statewide percentage in Mahoning (26.1), which voted for Clinton - barely - and in Trumbull (29.2) and Ashtabula (31.5), which Trump won.

Downstate, transfer payment percentages are above 33 percent in such Trump counties as Scioto (Portsmouth), Adams (West Union), Vinton (McArthur), Pike (Waverly), Meigs (Pomeroy), Gallia (Gallipolis) and Lawrence (Ironton).

Matter of fact, in each of Ohio's Appalachian counties, except heavily Amish Holmes (Millersburg) and suburban Cincinnati's Clermont (Batavia), the transfer payment percentages are greater than the statewide percentage.

Cut those payments, and a lot of Ohio will bleed.

Ohioans who voted for Trump want tomorrow to be better than yesterday. It can't be, if Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell chop Social Security, Medicare and the like - and voters, distracted by Trump's show-biz antics, don't notice Congress picking people's pockets in struggling Ohio counties.

Thomas Suddes, a member of the editorial board, writes from Athens.

To reach Thomas Suddes: tsuddes@gmail.com, 216-999-4689

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Profit growth in China's industrial sector picked up in October, aided by stronger sales and higher prices, suggesting further strengthening of the world's second-largest economy, though growth was skewed towards high-polluting heavy industry.

There has been widespread speculation in China's commodities futures market this year, with coal prices hitting records in recent weeks, and economists say growth driven by loose money policies won't last.

Indeed, a subdued property market is expected to drag on growth in the first two quarters next year, as policymakers introduce curbs to cool home prices, which could hit profits of companies producing construction materials.

Profits in October rose 9.8 percent to 616.1 billion yuan ($89.1 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on Sunday. Profits in September rose 7.7 percent.

Industrial profits rose 8.6 percent in the first 10 months from the same period a year earlier, similar to an 8.4 percent growth rate in the first nine months of the year.

Profits in the coal mining sector rose 112.9 percent for January-October from the same period a year earlier while manufacturing profits rose 13.2 percent.
AC Milan motored into second place in Serie A on Saturday with an emphatic 4-1 win at Empoli  their first win in the fixture in eight seasons.

Gianluca Lapadula, taking advantage of the absence through injury of Colombia striker Carlos Bacca, bagged a brace  a goal in either half  while Spaniard Suso also hit the target. An own goal from Andrea Costa completed the rout.

The win provisionally moved the Milanese three points of Roma though they stay four adrift of leaders Juventus, in action Sunday at Genoa while Roma host Pescara.

Empoli remain in the bottom four.

In Saturdays other game, Joe Harts Torino thanked a double inside three first half minutes from Spanish forward Falque for a 2-1 win over Chievo which moved them level on points with Lazio and Atalanta in fourth spot.

Roberto Inglese headed a late consolation past England keeper Hart.

Lazio visit struggling Palermo on Sunday while Atalanta are in action at midtable Bologna.
After beating Egypt 5-0 on Friday, to secure a semifinal ticket at the ongoing African Womens Nations Cup in Cameroun, players and officials of the Banyana Banyana of South Africa celebrated so loud into the Parliamentarian Hotel as if they had won the title. They share the same camp with the Super Falcons of Nigeria here in Buea.

Both South Africa and Egypt relocated from the nations capital city, Yaounde after their second group matches. While the Banyana Banyana were camped with the Falcons at the Parliamentarian Flat Hotel located on the foot of Cameroun Mountain in Buea, the Egyptians and Kenyans shared same hotel in Limbe, the seaside town, where the Omisport Stadium is located.

The 5-0 demolition of the Egyptians placed South Africa behind the host nation, Cameroun, in Group A.

Two years ago in Windhoek, Namibia, the Super Falcons defeated the South Africans 2-0 in the semifinal with Arsenal Ladies striker, Asisat Oshoala, accounting for both goals. The Falcons went on to win the title, beating Cameroun in the final. Before then, Nigeria had been a major blockage to the Banyana Banyana in the past.

In 2004, when South Africa hosted the Womens Nations Cup for the second time, the Falcons defeated them on home soil to win the title. A year earlier, it was the Falcons who stopped the South Africans in the final of Abuja 2003 All African Games, before edging them out in the qualifiers for the Athens 2004 Olympic Games where Vera Okolo, provided the lone goal.

This time around, the South Africans believe they are better equipped to stand between the Falcons and victory, if the two meet again.

Speaking at the Parliamentarian Hotel on arrival from their game against Egypt on Friday night, an official of the South African team vowed that her country would never to fall to the Falcons in this tournament.

If your team (referring to the Super Falcons) top Group B, then it is the end of the road for Nigeria in this competition because we wont allow them to beat us here. You saw how we dismantled Egypt 5-0, that is exactly how we will beat your team in the semi. Just pray that your team finish second in your group so that you people travel to Yaounde to face Cameroun. Even if Ghana top your group and come here for the semifinal, we will teach them good lessons too, the female official boasted.
The U.S. Secret Service and Peruvian authorities on Nov. 15 seized counterfeit Federal Reserve notes and euro currency.

As has been reported in various media outlets on a consistent basis, Peru has been known for several years as the counterfeiting capital of the world. The U.S. Secret Service and Peruvian authorities on Nov. 15 made the largest seizure of counterfeit currency in Secret Service history.

As has been reported in various media outlets on a consistent basis, Peru has been known for several years as the counterfeiting capital of the world. One report attributed to it as much as 17 percent of the counterfeit currency in the United States.

At least some of the activity has now come to an end. On Nov. 17 the Secret Service announced the success of the largest seizure of counterfeit currency in the history of the agency.

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Called Operation Sunset, it was the culmination of a global investigation involving six Peruvian-based criminal organizations. On Nov. 15, 2016, the Peruvian government, along with U.S. Secret Service agents, executed 54 pre-dawn search and arrest warrants in Lima. More than 1,500 Peruvian National Police officers were involved in the operation, and 48 people were arrested in all.

The Secret Service said that $30 million in counterfeit Federal Reserve notes and 50,000 in euro notes were discovered, six counterfeit plants were suppressed, eight counterfeit manufacturing presses seized, and over 1,600 printing plates and negatives of varying denominations were found.

The Peruvian government has become a valuable partner in our efforts to combat counterfeit currency, said Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy.

Protecting the nations financial infrastructure is a vital component of our integrated mission of protection and investigations, he said.

The U.S. Secret Service opened a resident office in Lima in an effort to combat the widespread counterfeiting and to offer support and training to the National Police. An anti-Counterfeiting Task Force was created and Peruvian officers were trained at Secret Service training facilities.
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.
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Transcription

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN MINX GOTTI (f/k/a Alexander LeFlore), JEFFREY KNUTSEN, and DARRICK WALKER, Plaintiffs, RICK RAEMISCH, et al., v. Case No. 07-CV Defendants. SECOND AMENDED COMPLAINT FOR DECLARATORY AND INJUNCTIVE RELIEF 1. Minx Gotti, Jeffrey Knutsen, and Darrick Walker, by their attorneys, for their Complaint against Rick Raemisch, James Greer, Tim Lundquist, Tim Correll and Randall Hepp, in their official capacities (collectively, Defendants ), allege as follows: NATURE OF THE ACTION 2. This Complaint is related to the case of Sundstrom v. Frank, Case No. 06-C-112 (CNC), which was tried before the Court on October 22-25, It asserts a civil rights action pursuant to 42 U.S.C for declaratory and injunctive relief to redress Defendants violations of Plaintiffs rights under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. Defendants have violated the Constitution by enforcing 2005 Wisconsin Act 105 to terminate and deprive Plaintiffs of medical treatment for Plaintiffs serious health condition, with no exercise whatsoever of individualized medical judgment and in contrast to the treatment Defendants provide to other similarly situated inmates at Wisconsin Department of Corrections Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 1 of of 12 Document

2 ( DOC ) facilities. Plaintiffs seek an end to those actions of Defendants that violate Plaintiffs right to equal protection and their right to be free from cruel and unusual punishment, pursuant to the Fourteenth and Eighth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and a declaration that 2005 Wisconsin Act 105 is unconstitutional on its face. JURISDICTION AND VENUE 3. This Court has jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1331, as this action arises under the laws and Constitution of the United States, and 28 U.S.C. 2201, as an actual controversy exists within this Court s jurisdiction. 4. Venue is proper in this district pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1391, because at least one Defendant resides in her official capacity in this district and all Defendants reside in this State. PARTIES 5. Plaintiff Minx Gotti ( Gotti ) is a 35-year-old transgender woman, meaning that she 1 was born anatomically male, but has a female gender identity. Since October 2007, Gotti has been incarcerated at the Jackson Correctional Institution ( JCI ) in Black River Falls, Wisconsin. Prior to that, she was incarcerated at Dodge Correctional Institution ( DCI ) in Waupun, Dodge County, Wisconsin. 6. Plaintiff Jeffrey Knutsen, a/k/a Sara Knutsen ("Knutsen"), is a 36-year-old transgender woman, meaning that she was born anatomically male, but has a female gender identity. Since February 2008, Knutsen has been incarcerated at the Dodge Correctional Institution ("DCI") in Waupun, Dodge County, Wisconsin. 7. Plaintiff Darrick Walker, a/k/a Michelle Walker ( Walker ), is a 33-year-old 1 This Complaint uses feminine pronouns to refer to Plaintiffs, a practice consistent with their gender identity, their preference, common practice, modern judicial practice, and the advice and guidance of mental health and other professionals who work with transgender persons. 2 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 2 of of 12 Document

3 transgender woman, meaning that she was born anatomically male, but has a female gender identity. Since March 2009, Walker has been incarcerated at the Dodge Correctional Institution ("DCI") in Waupun, Dodge County, Wisconsin. 8. Defendant Rick Raemisch ( Raemisch ) is an adult citizen of the United States who is the Secretary of the DOC in Madison, Wisconsin. At all material times, Raemisch had the authority to implement state laws regarding the treatment of inmates at DOC facilities, including DCI and JCI, and was acting under color and authority of state law. Raemisch is sued in his official capacity. 9. James Greer ( Greer ) is an adult citizen of the United States who is the Director of the DOC Bureau of Health Services. At all material times, Greer had the authority to implement state laws regarding the treatment of inmates at DOC facilities, including DCI and JCI, and was acting under color and authority of state law. Greer is sued in his official capacity. 10. Defendant Tim Lundquist ( Lundquist ) is an adult citizen of the United States who is the Warden of DCI. At all material times, Lundquist had the authority to implement state laws regarding the treatment of inmates at DCI and was acting under color and authority of state law. Lundquist is sued in his official capacity. 11. Defendant Tim Correll ( Correll ) is a physician at DCI who provided treatment to Plaintiff Gotti and was acting under color of state law. Correll is sued in his official capacity. 12. Defendant Randall Hepp ( Hepp ) is an adult citizen of the United States who is the Warden of JCI. At all material times, Hepp had the authority to implement state laws regarding the treatment of inmates at JCI and was acting under color and authority of state law. Hepp is sued in his official capacity. ALLEGATIONS OF FACT 3 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 3 of of 12 Document

4 13. Gender Identity Disorder ( GID ) is a recognized medical condition defined in the American Psychiatric Association s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. DSM-IV (4 th ed. Text Reference 2001). 14. GID, sometimes known as gender dysphoria or transsexualism, is a serious health condition that involves a strong and consistent cross-gender identification and a persistent discomfort with one s anatomical sex. 15. For people with GID, the conflict between their gender identity and their anatomy causes extreme psychological distress. Contemporary medical knowledge indicates that gender identity cannot be changed, and that attempts to change a person s gender identity are futile and unethical. 16. Although GID is classified as a mental disorder, mounting medical research indicates that GID may be caused by biological or physiological factors that are not yet fully understood. For example, an article entitled A Sex Difference in the Human Brain and Its Relations to Transsexualism, authored by J.-N. Zhou, M.A. Hofman, L.J. Gooren, D.F. Swaab and published at International Journal of Transgenderism 1 (1997), reports that an area of the brain that may be involved in human sexual or reproductive functions was female-sized in maleto-female transsexuals. 17. Regardless of the etiology of GID, the prevailing medical standards of care dictate that hormone therapy and, in some cases Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS), are the appropriate and medically mandated treatments for severe cases of GID. Although terminology used in the medical literature varies in subtle ways, transexualism, as used in this complaint, is GID of such severity that hormone therapy or SRS are medically necessary for adequate treatment. 18. The World Professional Association for Transgender Health ( WPATH, 4 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 4 of of 12 Document

5 formerly known as the Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association (HBIGDA)) is the leading professional association for surgeons, doctors, psychologists, medical researchers and others who specialize in the medical treatment of people with GID. Based on decades of clinical experience, WPATH has promulgated medical standards of care for treating patients with GID. 19. The WPATH Standards of Care for Gender Identity Disorders ( SOC ) recognize that treatment is medically necessary for people with GID. The SOC further indicate that the therapeutic approach includes three components (hormone therapy, living full-time as a member of the gender corresponding with one s identity, and sex reassignment surgery), and that the appropriate course of treatment should be determined based upon individualized medical evaluation. 20. Plaintiff Gotti was identified as male when she was born but has a female gender identity, i.e., an innate sense of being female. Starting around the age of three, she felt uncomfortable about being perceived as a boy. When she was seven, she wore her aunt s shoes to school. At age thirteen, she started living as a female. 21. In or around 2001, doctors at Froedtert Hospital and Clinics in Milwaukee, Wisconsin diagnosed her with Gender Identity Disorder ( GID ). She has been prescribed and taken feminizing hormones since Gotti legally changed her name from Alexander LeFlore to Minx Gotti in Ms. Gotti is a transsexual, for whom hormone therapy is medically necessary treatment for her severe GID. 22. Under the medical supervision of the Department of Corrections medical personnel, including Dr. Correll, the Department of Corrections provided Gotti with hormone therapy since about the time she arrived at Dodge Correctional Institution in August Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 5 of of 12 Document

6 23. Plaintiff Knutsen was identified as male when she was born but has a female gender identity, i.e., an innate sense of being female. Starting around puberty, she began to recognize her female identity and began to try on girls clothing. When she was 23 years old, she attempted suicide, in part because of gender identity issues. In approximately 2003, she came out to her friends and family as transgender and adopted the first name "Sara." 24. In or around 2006, Knutsen sought counseling in Milwaukee for gender identity issues. After evaluating Knutsen, the counselor wrote a letter to Knutsen s physician, Dr. Lynn Telford in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, recommending the initiation of feminizing hormone therapy for Knutsen. Dr. Telford prescribed feminizing hormone therapy to Knutsen. Knutsen commenced hormone therapy on or around January 1, 2007, and continued that treatment uninterrupted until the events alleged in this Amended Complaint. Knutsen has also undergone repeated laser hair removal treatments on her face. On information and belief, Knutsen is a transsexual, for whom hormone therapy is medically necessary treatment for her severe GID. 25. Plaintiff Walker was identified as male when she was born but has a female gender identity, i.e., an innate sense of being female. She began wearing women s clothing in high school and disclosed her transgender identity to her family and friends in approximately She has lived and worked full-time as a woman for years. 26. Around 1997, Plaintiff Walker went to a physician who evaluated her and prescribed a feminizing hormone therapy regimen. Most recently, Dr. Rodney Mayhorn in Milwaukee prescribed feminizing hormone therapy to Walker, and conducted routine follow-up blood work to monitor her hormone levels. On information and belief, Walker is a transsexual, for whom hormone therapy is medically necessary treatment for her severe GID. 27. On December 6, 2005, the Wisconsin legislature passed 2005 Wisconsin Act 105, 6 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 6 of of 12 Document

7 codified at Wis. Stat (5m) ( the Act ). The Act provides that the DOC may not authorize the payment of any funds or the use of any resources of this state or the payment of any federal funds passing through the state treasury to provide or to facilitate the provision of hormonal therapy or sexual reassignment surgery to any inmate in a state prison, correctional facility, or secured child caring institution, or to any forensic patient in a state institution. 28. The Act defines hormonal therapy as the use of hormones to stimulate the development or alteration of a person s sexual characteristics in order to alter the person s physical appearance so that the person appears more like the opposite gender, and defines sexual reassignment surgery as surgical procedures to alter a person s physical appearance so that the person appears more like the opposite gender. 29. After its passage, co-sponsors of the Act issued press releases calling it the Inmate Sex Change Prevention Act, describing medical treatment for GID as bizarre. 30. The Act took effect on January 24, Prior to the Act s passage, the Defendants provided hormone therapy to DOC inmates in accordance with individualized medical judgments, patient needs, and prevailing medical standards of care. 32. On or about October 15, 2007, the staff of the Health Services Unit at JCI notified Plaintiff Gotti that they intend to reduce her current hormone dosage and ultimately stop entirely her hormone therapy, because of a law that was enacted by the Wisconsin legislature and went into effect in Gotti has suffered serious negative health effects when she has been without hormones temporarily in the past. On those occasions, she has experienced depression, suicidal thoughts, long crying spells, headaches, fatigue and agitation, chest pains and other body aches, 7 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 7 of of 12 Document

8 and increased facial and body hair. The loss of some of her female physical characteristics and increased hair embarrasses her and makes her want to isolate herself. She expects and fears the same kinds of harmful effects from the reduction and termination of hormone therapy on her body and her emotional well being that she has experienced in the past. 34. On or around February 20, 2008, a physician at DCI notified Plaintiff Knutsen that her current hormone dosage would be reduced and ultimately stopped entirely, because of a law that was enacted by the Wisconsin legislature and went into effect in Shortly thereafter, DCI reduced the dosage of Knutsen s feminizing hormone therapy. 35. As a result of the reduction in her hormone therapy dosage, Knutsen has suffered serious negative health effects, including sleeping problems, mood swings, and changes to her breast tissue. 36. On or around March 10, 2009, Dr. Scott Hoftiezer, a physician at Dodge Correctional Institution, informed Plaintiff Walker that her hormone therapy would be continued only until the end of March 2009, and then would be terminated because of Act 105. Plaintiff Walker is at risk of severe negative health effects due to the imminent termination of her hormone therapy. 37. Medical professionals experienced in the treatment of GID recognize that the abrupt reduction and termination of hormone therapy can have disastrous consequences for transgender people, including serious risk of permanent physical and emotional harm, severe danger of self-mutilation, and suicidal ideation and attempts. 38. Defendants restricted Plaintiffs hormone dosage, and notified them of Defendants intention to terminate Plaintiffs hormone therapy, despite Defendants knowledge that Plaintiffs previously had received hormone therapy and despite having provided that 8 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 8 of of 12 Document

9 hormone therapy to Plaintiffs. 39. Defendants actions, which were undertaken without regard for any individualized medical determination and contradicted previously-existing policies regarding the provision of hormone therapy, were performed with deliberate indifference to Plaintiffs serious medical needs. FIRST CLAIM FOR RELIEF Brought under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 for Violation of the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution (against all Defendants) 40. Plaintiffs repeat and reallege each and every allegation in the foregoing paragraphs as if fully set forth herein. 41. Plaintiffs receive hormone therapy as treatment for their serious health condition. 42. Defendants application of the Act to Plaintiffs by denying them hormone therapy without consideration of any individualized medical judgment formed by Plaintiffs health care providers constitutes deliberate indifference to Plaintiffs serious medical needs and violates the Eighth Amendment s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. 43. The Act, which Defendants have followed and have announced they will follow, establishes a blanket rule that denies medical treatment to Plaintiffs and all other inmates of DOC facilities without consideration of any individualized medical judgment formed by health care providers, and therefore violates the Eighth Amendment s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishments. 44. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants purposeful and intentional actions, Plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer injury, including, without limitation, serious physical, psychological and emotional harm, mental anguish, distress, humiliation, and 9 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page 9 of of 12 Document

10 indignity. SECOND CLAIM FOR RELIEF Brought under 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 for Violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (against all Defendants) 45. Plaintiffs repeat and reallege each and every allegation in the foregoing paragraphs as if fully set forth herein. 46. As transsexual inmates of a DOC facility, Plaintiffs are members of an identifiable group of people. 47. Defendants provide individualized medical evaluations to other inmates at DOC facilities with serious health conditions. Those evaluations result in medical judgments that determine the course of treatment that Defendants provide to those inmates. 48. The Act, and Defendants application of the Act, treats Plaintiffs differently from similarly situated inmates at DOC facilities by singling Plaintiffs out for termination and denial of medical treatment, and by failing to provide treatment in accordance with individualized medical judgment. 49. Defendants actions towards Plaintiffs are undertaken purposefully and intentionally and bear no rational relationship to any legitimate governmental or penological interest. 50. As a direct and proximate result of Defendants actions, Plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer injury, including, without limitation, serious physical, psychological and emotional harm, mental anguish, distress, humiliation, and indignity. RELIEF WHEREFORE, Plaintiffs pray for judgment under all her causes of action: 10 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page of of Document

11 (a) Awarding Plaintiffs preliminary and permanent injunctive relief against Defendants enforcement of the Act against them; (b) Declaring that the Act, both on its face and as applied to Plaintiffs, violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution; (c) Awarding costs for the suit herein, including Plaintiffs reasonable attorneys fees and expert fees pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1988; and (d) Awarding all other relief that the Court deems just and proper. Dated this 24th day of March, Respectfully submitted, s/ Cole Thaler Cole Thaler Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund, Inc. 730 Peachtree St. NE, Suite 1070 Atlanta, GA Telephone: (404) Fax: (404) Laurence Dupuis American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin Foundation, Inc. State Bar No East Buffalo Street, Suite 325 Milwaukee, WI (414) John A. Knight American Civil Liberties Union Foundation 180 N. Michigan Avenue, Suite 2300 Chicago, Illinois (312) Erik Guenther State Bar No Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page of of Document

12 Hurley Burish & Stanton, SC 10 E Doty St # 320 PO Box 1528 Madison, WI (608) Attorneys for Plaintiffs 12 Case 2:07-cv CNC Filed 03/25/ /01/2009 Page of of Document
World Freedom in 2015

World Freedom in 1995

There was only one non-free country in the Americas on Freedom Houses map both last year and 20 years previously: Cuba. We cite this impeccably neutral source in the aftermath of the disagreement yesterday between the Left and Right over the man who made it what it is today, Fidel Castro  the investment-destroying, poverty-boosting, Soviet-supporting, free election-barring, corruption-enhancing, opponent-murdering, dissident-imprisoning, free trade union-quashing, church-persecuting, internet-suppressing, free speech-stifling, gay-killing tyrant, windbag and nuclear war enthusiast whose death was announced yesterday.

Castro clung on in Cuba but was rolled back abroad, when the Soviet system which he relied upon crumbled. So his attempt to project power in Africa failed. Hugo Chavez in Venezuela resembled Castro in his anti-American populism, as did other pink tide Latin American leaders, but Cuba remains the only wholly unfree blot on the two continents copybook.

There is another lesson to be learned from looking at Freedom Houses 2015 map above, which can be drawn from comparing it to the one that the same organisation issued in 1995. The world now looks less free than it did in the aftermath of the collapse of communism. Yes, there has been some progress  in India, parts of West Africa, and Malaysia. But the northern half of Latin America has shifted from green, the colour that Freedom House uses to highlight free countries, to yellow, the one that it uses to mark those that are only partly at so. Vladimir Putins Russia has shifted from yellow to red  the same colour as Cuba  as has much of south-east Asia.

But perhaps the most striking feature of the change is the lack of freedom in most Muslim-majority countries, spreading down from the Middle East into much of northern and eastern Africa. This is doing neither its own Islamic population or anyone else any good, there or further afield. Castro may have lost, but democracy isnt winning. Does Donald Trump have a practicable plan  or any at all  to turn the tables worldwide?
A top pro-Narendra Modi scribe has revealed it all. In a recent blog, he has said, there was no expert economic advise which drove Modi to demonetize Rs 500 and 1000 notes on November 8; in fact, he suggests, virtually giving credence to former finance minister P Chidambaram, that Modi did not consult any economist. Swapan Dasgupta, in his column Right & Wrong of the Times of India's online blog platform, has said that economists are bewildered by the Prime Ministers audacity, and he emphasizes, has become pretty obvious.Known for his open and long-time support to the BJP, especially Modi, Dasgupta was nominated as member of Parliament by the President in April 2016. Earlier, in 2015, the Modi government conferred on his India's topmost award, Padma Bhushan for his contribution to literature and education.Refusing to name those who are being named as not having been consulted, including Arvind Subramanian, an economist of highest order currently working as chief economist with the Government of India, Dasgupta, says, There are absolutely no precedents of a step that has led to as much as nearly 86% of the cash currency in circulation being scrapped.The only other demonetization exercises in recent times, he says, are of Germany after World War II, Russia after the break-up of the Soviet Union and Libya after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, adding, these were undertaken in ravaged economies and after huge political turmoil.He goes on to add, India is the only known example of a functioning economy, indeed one experiencing a healthy growth rate, where such an experiment has been attempted.Consequently, Dasgupta, who is privy to what's happening around Modi than any other journalist, says, While economists may evolve theoretical models of the likely consequences, they are hamstrung by the fact that they have no worthwhile historical precedents to base their forecasts.Based on these facts, he says, To a very large extent, the November 8 announcement (of demonetization) has reduced economics to plain conjecture. This is the reason, Dasgupta believes, why former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went beyond the familiar complaints of 'monumental mismanagement' of the demonetisation exercise and berated the Narendra Modi government for 'organized loot and legalized' plunder of the Indian people.He adds, These were strong words from a person who, apart from being a consummate politician, has a reputation as an economist.Yet, Dasgupta says, Economics was only tangentially the rationale behind a move whose ramifications have not yet been fully grasped, nor are likely for six months, insisting, That every family in the country has been inconvenienced in different degrees is undeniable. Perhaps no act of government has affected every citizen of India so profoundly as this one.It is Modi's politics, suggests Dasgupta, which behind Modi's move. Regardless of what conclusions the collective body of Indians have arrived at  or will arrive at in the near future  Modi has made his credentials as an agent of change known to every Indian, and made them experience it, he says, predicting, it would be a precursor to the the 2019 general election.Praising Modi for forcing a revolutionary change on a civilization that has got too used to baby steps, he says, it would help the economy go cashless, something already visible with the demand for card swipe machines going up drastically among smaller shop owners and businesses, pushing behind the era of traditional, cash economic transactions.
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1 Serial: IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI No. 201-EC SCT MARCUS WALLACE v. ELECTION COMMISSION OF THE TOWN OF EDWARDS, MISSISSIPPI EN BANC ORDER Marcus L. Wallace presented to the City Clerk of the Town of Edwards, a Qualifying Statement of Intent, purporting to contain the names of a sufficient number of qualified electors to have his name placed on the ballot as an independent candidate for mayor of the City of Edwards. On March 8, 201, the Town of Edwards Election Commission ( Commission ) informed Wallace by letter that his Statement of Intent did not meet the required signatures. On March 18, 201, the Commission met with Wallace and his counsel and accepted more of the names on Wallace s qualifying papers, but the total number remained insufficient to have his name placed on the ballot. On March 27, 201, Wallace filed with the Commission a petition to have his name placed on the ballot, claiming there were eighteen names on his Qualifying Statement that the Commission had improperly rejected. Because the Commission did not act on his petition, Wallace filed an Emergency Complaint for Writ of Mandamus with the Circuit

2 Court of the Second Judicial District of Hinds County. He asked the court to act on [his] Petition and to issue a Writ of Mandamus to the Election Commission to forthwith convene a hearing on the Petition to place Marcus L. Wallace on Ballot as an Independent Candidate for Mayor of the Town of Edwards.... Before us today is Wallace s appeal of the circuit court s denial of his petition for a writ of mandamus. We find that this case is controlled by our decision in Meeks v Tallahatchie County, wherein we held that when a candidate * * * files the proper qualifying papers and pays the requisite filing fee to become a candidate for public office, neither the state nor, in the case of a primary election, a political party may arbitrarily or capriciously deprive him or her of a place on the ballot 1 We went further to state that the candidate was entitled to due process protection on two levels. First, he was entitled to the opportunity to be heard. Second, he was entitled that his name not be finally stricken from the ballot except that result be required by law. Incident to the conduct of a party primary election, a political party s county executive committee is required, upon the expiration of the qualifying deadline, to review the papers of all who have offered as candidates for the party nomination and decide in each instance whether the individual is qualified to run for the office. No advance notice and opportunity to be heard is required before that meeting. Where the executive committee decides that a person is not eligible, however, and where that person wishes to be heard regarding the matter, the executive committee, as a matter of due process, is required to allow the disqualified candidate a reasonable opportunity to present his case. 2 1 Meeks v. Tallahatchie County, 51 So. 2d 56, 565 (Miss. 1987). 2 Id. (emphasis added). 2

3 While Meeks addressed issues before a political party s executive committee, and not an election commission, we find the principles quoted above are the same. We hold that the circuit court erred in failing to grant Wallace s petition for mandamus, and we reverse the circuit court s judgment and remand this case with instructions to the circuit court to grant Wallace s petition for mandamus. We further find that, under this Court s authority to suspend the rules, and in light of imminent ballot printing deadlines, no motion for rehearing will be allowed and this Order shall be deemed final in all respects. We direct that the mandate in this matter shall immediately issue. The Appellee is taxed with all costs of this appeal. th SO ORDERED THIS 16 day of May, 201. /s/ Jess H. Dickinson JESS H. DICKINSON, PRESIDING JUSTICE AGREE: DICKINSON AND RANDOLPH, P.JJ., LAMAR, KITCHENS, KING AND COLEMAN, JJ. PIERCE, J., OBJECTS TO THE ORDER WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN STATEMENT JOINED BY WALLER, C.J., AND CHANDLER, J. Miss. R. App. P. 2(c).

4 IN THE SUPREME COURT OF MISSISSIPPI NO. 201-EC Marcus Wallace v. Election Commission of The Town of Edwards, Mississippi PIERCE, JUSTICE, OBJECTING TO THE ORDER WITH SEPARATE WRITTEN STATEMENT: 1. The majority finds that Marcus Wallace s due-process rights were violated by the Edwards Election Commission s refusal to give him a second hearing. With all due respect, I disagree. 2. First, in the petition Wallace filed with the commission, he never asked for another hearing. Yet he now faults the commission for not giving him a hearing he didn t request.. Second, Wallace was in fact given a reasonable opportunity to be heard. The hearing required by Meeks v. Tallahatchie County, 51 So. 2d 56 (Miss. 1987), was held on March 18. At Wallace s request, the election commission met with Wallace and his two attorneys. The commission reviewed the signatures that had been previously invalidated. They also consulted with a contact in the Secretary of State s office. There is no indication that the commission refused to allow Wallace to present his case completely. After that hearing, the commission determined that several of the names submitted by Wallace were in fact proper and those signatures were added to the ones previously validated. Hence, I would find that Wallace was given ample opportunity to be heard on his claims and that no due-process violation occurred. 4

5 4. Third, even if Wallace had been due a second hearing, his remedy was to appeal from the commission s decision pursuant to Mississippi Code Section Town of Terry v. Smith, 48 So. d 507 (Miss. 2010). Wallace failed to perfect an appeal and chose to attempt to proceed by mandamus. This was clearly improper. See Hinds County Democratic Executive Committee v. Muirhead, 259 So. 2d 692 (Miss. 1972) (the trial court erred in issuing mandamus at the time the appellee had a statutory right to appeal). Mandamus was properly denied here. 5. I disagree with Wallace s claim that he is due another hearing on his written petition and that he should be given another opportunity to prove the validity of the signatures he submitted. I would affirm the trial judge. WALLER, C.J., AND CHANDLER, J., JOIN THIS SEPARATE WRITTEN STATEMENT. 5
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The Hawaiian influence was evident in the Saimin noodle soup - think mid-Pacific ramen. A dashi broth contained pork belly, mushrooms, and scallions, with a globular egg balanced on top. The broth was a little smoky, with a fresh snap from chopped pea pods and bean sprouts, and was enriched by the egg. The curry noodle soup may be the best thing for a winter's night, with bright yellow curry, coconut milk and vegetables. The curry was legitimately spicy, each spoonful containing chunks of peppers and peas - the flavors intermingling with the oily/sweet coconut.

The world would be flat and uninteresting without tacos, and thankfully we were served two varieties. Miro's Tako Taco is filled with grilled octopus in a corn tortilla with roasted corn salsa and a foundation of slightly piquant aioli. The octopus was well prepared: grilled to softer texture, it was still chewy, but diced in small enough chunks that it never became a chore. It worked well with the snap from the corn. The duck tacos were my pick of the two. The duck itself was pulled, and served with hoisin and a thick glaze of peanut sauce. These were outstanding, and I could have eaten a dozen at a time, especially with thin slices of cabbage providing some snappy texture.

Chef McCall adds Shichimi togarashi seven spice to his lobster mac and cheese, which adds depth to the dish, accentuated by the intense smokiness of chunk bacon alongside the lobster. The creamy cheese dish was served with the General Tso's cauliflower, which has already garnered praise on this site, but was a first for me. This is absolutely not the gluey, technicolor morsels served at a buffet, and the pairing was excellent. The vegetable lo mein which followed was similarly a step above the familiar, though not quite as revelatory as the cauliflower, which is a hell of a thing to type.

Kabilnitsky initially thought of opening an Italian eatery at the location, formerly Tomato&Basil, "but those are everywhere," he said. "So everyone has their own favorite neighborhood spot, and your reach is limited."

"We worked on conceiving a much more unique option, and the reach here is much longer because you can't just get this food anywhere."

Crispy coconut shrimp and grits appeared with scallions and a drizzle of hot Thai chili oil. The grits were built up with white cheese and coconut milk, and given more life with the chili heat. The shrimp themselves were fantastic, slightly sweet and toasty from a crust which had likewise absorbed the hot oil. This dish is good for the saintly to share, or the realist to have as a small, solo, entree.

If there was anywhere the menu lost momentum, it was the macadamia calamansi cod. That odd word in the middle is another word for calamondin, a citrus/kumquat hybrid fruit used in a lot of Filipino cooking. The cod was perfectly cooked - moist and flaky, not disintegrating - and I liked the light dusting of finely ground macadamia crust, but the calamansi was used subtly enough to be overwhelmed by a huge dose of salt. This joined with the acid to produce a drying effect on the tongue I didn't enjoy. Your mileage may vary.
General Electrics decision to move its headquarters from Fairfield to Boston is the bad news story that keeps on giving bad news.

First, it sparked a backlash against Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for raising taxes and driving business out of Connecticut, even though GEs exit had virtually nothing to do with taxes.

Second, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, the states biggest business lobby, seized on Malloys weakness to back GOP candidates who nearly took control of the state Senate.

Third, that political pressure to do something about our hostile business climate forced Malloy to defend kinda sorta  well, actually, in fact  indefensible decisions, like awarding $30 million in aid to a gargantuan hedge fund in tony Greenwich.

Sure, the deal with AQR Capital Management may in the long run yield more for the state than it invested, but politics is largely perception: Malloy took from the poor to give to the rich. His administration is preparing next year to close billions of dollars in budget short falls, cutting public services to the states most vulnerable while putting more pressure on municipalities to make do.

Indeed, Fairfield has lost not once but twice.

Once when General Electric left after years of being Fairfields biggest property-tax payer. Twice when Sacred Heart University announced plans Monday to buy GEs former HQ for $31.5 million. Fairfield has only so much land. Now subtract 68 acres of what used to be high-dollar real estate. Why used to be?

SHU is tax-exempt.

Fairfield now joins New Haven and other college towns in Connecticut and beyond that face a vexing problem  a tax base that has sharply narrowed thanks to the success, growth and tax-exempt status of nonprofit universities. While the state cuts off funding from above, colleges cut off funding from below.

Universities like Yale address the problem two ways. One, they make payments in lieu of taxes. Yale voluntarily pays New Haven, when its convenient, about $8 million annually. Two, they argue they bring more to their host communities in goods and services than what would be the case if those universities were taxed.

That may be a credible argument in fat times, but not in lean.

In Yales case, the argument is made less convincing by its owning half the land in New Haven and sitting on a $25 billion endowment. Yale officials have argued also that taxing it would discouraged giving. Donors, they say, fear having their dollars taxed.

Thats weak tea, city officials say. Last year Democratic state legislators introduced a bill that would force universities with endowments over $10 billion  that is, Yale  to spend a percentage of their earnings or have those earnings taxed.

Yale fought back and won. A spokesman called the measure an attack on independent higher education. That may be so, but the attackers arent city leaders trying to balance municipal budgets.

It all goes back to business climate.

Fact is, Connecticut isnt hostile. Sure, we havent seen economic growth for years but growth is a poor indicator of business climate. A better indicator is wages, and Connecticut, along with New Jersey, has the nations highest. If wages are on the rise, and they are according to Census records, our business climate cant be all bad.

But politics is largely perception, and the perception is that, as far as the business community is concerned, Connecticut is hostile to business. As long as the business community can maintain the perception that Connecticut is hostile to business, businesses like AQR Capital Management, which manages billions, can expect Connecticut politicians to bend over backwards for them.

Meanwhile, city leaders must figure out what to do.

The answer may be taxing the previously untaxable.

John Stoehr is a lecturer in political science at Yale and the 2016 Koeppel Journalism Fellow at Wesleyan. He is a contributing writer to Washington Monthly and U.S. News & World Report. He can be reached at johnastoehr@gmail.com.
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Small Business Saturday has stolen the spotlight.

Wedged between Black Friday frenzies and Cyber Monday sales is the shopping day that receives less attention in some corners but a growing share from consumers pocketbooks.

Last year more people, 95 million, shopped in support of independent businesses on Saturday and spent more, $16.2 billion, than shoppers the day before on Black Friday, according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses. In comparison, 74.2 million spent $13.14 billion on Friday, as reported by the National Retail Federation.

American Express hailed the Saturday following Thanksgiving as a small-business-focused shopping event just six years ago. Municipalities across the nation and Connecticut have quickly joined efforts to promote it.

Shop small doormats welcome customers to a number of Greenwich businesses, particularly in Cos Cob and Old Greenwich. Greenwichs Chamber of Commerce handed out the welcome mats a few years ago and every year it chooses a handful of businesses to receive cloth shopping bags proclaiming the same message.

Bridgeport, for the second year, planned a celebration downtown allowing retailers without storefronts to open pop-up shops, and shoppers could visit a welcome station at the library to find bags, maps, discounts and prizes. Norwalk was offering downtown visitors free parking on Saturday, and Stamford planned to host an extravaganza filled with free popcorn, gift card giveaways and a selfie station.

The increased awareness about Small Business Saturday, and shopping locally in general, has benefited the establishments, many owners said.

(Black) Friday is busy like a normal holiday day, but that Saturday is one of the busiest of the year for us, Marie McCarthy, owner of Nordica Toys in New Milford, said. Small Business Saturday has definitely caught on. Weve been busy since the first one we did.

Many children visit Old Greenwich shops like Housewarmings searching for gifts, per instructions from their parents to invest their dollars locally, said Lauren Lufkin, Housewarmings co-owner.

Lufkin has been in business in the Old Greenwich business district for 13 years and said shes seen an uptick in shoppers choosing to buy locally in the past few years. She credits this to two things  efforts by American Express and the chamber to publicize the event, as well as efforts by the community surrounding her small store.

This town is very community-oriented and a lot of people want to show us support because they appreciate us being here, she said, adding many display loyalty to independent store owners.

Greenwich Cheese Co. co-owner Chris Palumbo agreed. His shop opened in 2014 and comprises a section of Cos Cob with similar artisanal shops, Fjord Fish Market and Fleishers Craft Butchery.

People will often mention that theyre aware of shop small, shop local, he said, and we have a lot of synergy being next to these shops. It looks like a more European model of people shopping at specialty stores. They are taking more of an interest in where their foods coming from.

Though Small Business Saturday drums up extra business for Fleishers, CEO Ryan Fibiger said, Most people in Greenwich who choose to vote with their dollars typically do so all the time. The main reasons we hear are that they want the best products from artisan producers, and they want to support their local community and economy.

Growing support for small businesses is important for more than a feel-good sense of contributing to local owners, considering they provide more than half of the jobs in the United States. And small businesses likely make up more of the retail market then most would think with 98 percent employing 50 or fewer people, according to NRF.

Small Business Saturday could continue to raise awareness about shopping locally for holiday purchases and beyond, Greenwich Chamber Executive Director Marcia OKane said.

We want people to be mindful to spend the extra time and maybe a little more money to purchase from local businesses, she said. The success of our downtown is important to the success of our entire town.
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STAMFORD  Connecticuts stagnating economic recovery has raised many questions about the states workforce.

The shrinking employment rolls in recent months have led some experts to ask whether the state is producing enough qualified people for positions in growing industries. Others are skeptical a skills gap is significantly contributing to the lack of job growth. They say Connecticut is producing a qualified corps of workers and a continued commitment to education will yield economic gains.

In a state like Connecticut, to the extent that you develop your state as an education-first state and at all levels invest in education to make the citizens of your state smarter, theyll assimilate into areas of need really with the least resistance, said Joe Carbone, president and CEO of The Workplace, a Bridgeport-based workforce development firm. That is a good way to respond to what is often referred to as a skills shortage.

Looking for the right skills

Connecticut lost 7,200 jobs last month, according to state Department of Labor statistics. The drop-off marked the fourth straight month of shrinking employment rolls in the state. Compounding the decline, Septembers originally released job decrease of 5,200 was revised down to a loss of 6,600.

Despite the sharp decline, Connecticuts unemployment rate fell in the past month from 5.4 percent to 5.1 percent, three-tenths of a point lower than the rate a year ago. But the falling jobless rate might be partly attributable to more people leaving the workforce.

Pete Gioia, economist for the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, sees the lack of job creation as partly attributable to many openings in industries going unfilled.

This is a core problem, Gioia said. We have thousands of people looking for jobs and thousands of job openings, and we cant get it to match.

Several industries  including architecture and engineering, management, office and administrative support, business and financial operations, and health care support  keep more than 30 percent of their Connecticut-based job postings open for more than 60 days on the job site Indeed. The length of those opening s could indicate employers are struggling to find the right talent, said Daniel Culbertson, an economist with Indeed.

Some are for higher-skilled roles, such as architecture and engineering, as well as management positions, but its interesting to see a number are for lower-skilled positions in food preparation, production and office administration, Culbertson said. That would indicate that Connecticut is facing some tightness in various sectors of its labor market.

But a number of talent-recruitment executives said they are not seeing a glaring skills gap.

I dont hear a lot of clients of ours saying weve got all these positions open and we cant find people to fill them, said David Lewis, founder and CEO of Operations Inc., a Norwalk-based human resources outsourcing and consulting firm. That is not something that businesses that were working with are knowledgeable about. The only exception is in the manufacturing section.

Compared with a number of other industries in the state, manufacturing has posted a competitive growth rate. It ranked third among all sectors last month with a 0.4 percent increase in jobs.

If they do encounter shortages in key positions, companies should not expect government or the states higher education system to single-handedly fill the void, said a number of talent recruitment and professional-services executives.

The universities and colleges shouldnt be expected to keep up with all the transformation occurring in every organization, said Heather Ziegler, Stamford managing partner and deputy strategic risk leader for the professional-services firm Deloitte. A piece of that will have to come from training internally in organizations.

A number of Connecticut companies are paying more attention to workforce development. Stamford-based Synchrony Financial announced last month it would invest $2.2 million in new cybersecurity initiatives at the University of Connecticut.

Focus on education

While acknowledging schools cannot unilaterally train future workers, business leaders and economic experts generally agree Connecticuts workforce will develop the foundation of skills needed to excel in the contemporary economy through a comprehensive and rigorous education system.

In Stamford, J.M. Wright Technical High School represents the increasingly advanced and comprehensive career training offered in local schools. At Wright Tech  which reopened in 2014 in Scalzi Park after an approximately $90 million renovation  students pick a trade in which they specialize. They start working in their trades while in school and graduate with professional credentials and a high school diploma. About 320 now attend the school.

We offer the most practical approach to a high school diploma, said Wright Tech Principal Eric Hilversum. The skills that we teach are transferable to any career. Our students will leave here with significant professional experience, which very few students have at graduation.

The schools trade programs include automotive technology, carpentry, culinary arts and sciences, digital media, electrical, facilities management, health technology, information systems technology, plumbing and heating and tourism and hospitality.

The trades prepare us a lot, said junior Soranlly Ramirez, whose trade is tourism and hospitality. We have a chance to go to college. And it helps a lot when you go out to look for a job.

At the University of Connecticut, officials said recent numbers show that UConn students are developing sought-after skills.

Some 58 percent of 2016 UConn graduates found jobs within four months of earning a degree, according to data released in September by the university. Another 18 percent went into academic programs.

The career fair UConn hosted last month on its main campus, in Storrs, attracted approximately 300 employers. That total exceeded the combined attendance of the five fairs that UConn held in 2011.

Employers have a need to hire, and theyre looking to UConn where they can get extremely high-caliber talent, said Jim Lowe, assistant vice provost and executive director of UConns Center for Career Development. Thats why theyre coming here.

pschott@scni.com; 203-964-2236; Twitter: @paulschott
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STAMFORD  Dressed in a red gown embroidered with the black, double-headed eagle of the Albanian flag, Laurentina Nezaj, 19, of Stamford, sang an upbeat patriotic song about homesickness called Shqiperi o Nena Ime, as a standing-room-only crowd of Albanian Americans clapped in time.

Albanian Americans from Stamford and surrounding towns gathered at the Stamford Government Center Sunday afternoon to celebrate the 104th anniversary of Albanian independence with two hours of traditional dance, music and boldly colorful traditional costumes from different regions of their country. The annual celebration was organized by the Albanian American Community of Stamford, a heritage and culture group headed by Richard Lukaj, a banker from Greenwich.

Monday is Albanian Independence Day, when Albanians around the world honor revolutionaries who formed a parliament in the city of Vlore in 1912 and declared autonomy after 500 years of rule by the Ottoman Empire. After the declaration in Vlore, Ismael Qemali, a leader of the independence movement, raised the countrys flag from a second-story balcony.

Nezaj said during her childhood in Stamford, her family, who are originally from Kosovo, maintained a connection to the Albanian language, music and other traditions. As weve grown up, weve kept in touch with it, Nezaj said. We always celebrate Independence Day.

At the event U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and State Rep. William Tong, D-Stamford, spoke along with Besiana Kadare, the Albanian ambassador to the United Nations, and Teuta Sahatqija, consul general of Kosovo in New York City, who offered comments in Albanian.

Blumenthal and Tong expressed appreciation for the performances and spoke about the commonality of struggles of immigrants to find their American success story.

Blumenthal praised Lukaj for his generosity in the community before talking about his father, Martin, who arrived in traveled Frankfurt, Germany, to the United States in 1935 as a teenager with no money.

My father came to this country at 17 years old and came to escape persecution in Europe and knew virtually no one, Blumenthal said. This country gave him a chance to succeed. We are the greatest country in the history of the world because we are a nation of immigrants.

The annual celebration of Albanian traditions in Stamford also underscores the importance of keeping traditions alive, Blumenthal said. It is important to all of us as Americans to know your heritage and celebrate the Albanian-American heritage, because you are the best part of the nations tradition of immigrants, he said.

Tong encouraged adolescents and young adults performing at Sundays event to appreciate the sacrifices their parents and other elders have made. He recalled his fathers beginnings in the United States working as a cook in a Chinese restaurant. His father eventually went on to own his own restaurant.

How many people in this room know that story? Tong said. How many have lived that story? Today, I just want to say to the young people, this celebration happens now because your parents and grandparents made incredible sacrifices and continue to make incredible sacrifices. Give thanks for the opportunities youve been given and make the most of them.

After the speeches and performances, Lukaj and a smaller group gathered outside the Stamford Government Center to raise the red and black Albanian flag.

At the celebration Fjolla Gashi, 16, of Greenwich danced in several of the performances. Gashi helps organize the group of Albanian-American teenagers who usually take part. Her parents Mexhit and Serbeze Gashi are Kosovar Albanians who left Kosovo in 1998 because of the dangers of the Kosovo War, she said.

We like to share Albanian culture and, in a sense, keep it going, Gashi said. It doesnt matter what kind of Albanian you are. It is important to maintain the culture.
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I am not celebrating the death of Fidel Castro, said Raul Laffitte, 66, of Bridgeport, as nearly a dozen of his fellow members gathered on Saturday at Liceo Cubano in Bridgeport.

Castro, the longtime ruler of Cuba, died Friday. He was 90.

With over a 1,000 people of Cuban descent according to a recent census, Bridgeport is a center of Cuban culture in the state, Connecticuts Miami.

At the Liceo, also known as the Cuban Club, Laffitte stood in front of a bust of 19th-century Cuban revolutionary Jose Marti.

Sitting across from him was another Cuban man in his 60s, known as El Morro. He was less diplomatic about the death.

I am very content and Im celebrating the death of (Castro), the beast, said the man known as El Morro, He trembled with anger as he told how he fled Cuba with little but the clothes on his back and fear of the Castro regime.

For those in the room, Castros death evoked painful memories of a tumultuous time when many of them were wrenched from their homes and lost the country they knew.

They sum up their view of Castros legacy as mostly negative, citing killings, separated families and the economic tumult caused by land and property redistribution by the communist party.

Club members shared stories of family fortunes gutted, and relatives separated by Castros policies.

What I am celebrating is the opportunity and the possibility of having a free Cuba with free elections, human rights (and) free speech, said Laffitte, the club president. He is also a Cuban native whose family fled the island.

He said he hopes Castros death will make it easier for the U.S. Congress to approve an end to the economic embargo of Cuba. He said news of the death will facilitate an idea hes had to pair Bridgeport with a sister city in Cuba.

He said he has already mentioned the plan to Mayor Joe Ganim and Bridgeport Police Chief Armando Perez, a fellow Cuban-American.

On Saturday, as he took a break from raking fall leaves, Perez said he was thinking of his memories of growing up in Castros Cuba.

My dad was asked by the Castro regime to train the troops, Perez, born in Arroyo Arena, Cuba, said in a phone interview. (He) said No, I dont want want to be in the army any more, Im retired, Im outta here. He was blackballed, could not get a job.

At the Cuban Club, members watched images on Telemundo of celebrations in Miami, home to more than a million Cuban-Americans, according to Pew Hispanic.

At the Cuban club, Maria Gelabert acknowledged a positive part of Castros legacy  improved education and health care. Born after Castros revolution, she now owns a beauty salon in Westport, the kind of small business that was illegal during most of Fidel Castros long tenure as Cubas leader. Castros brother Raul Castro has loosened restrictions in recent years.

Even Laffitte, who works for the Bridgeport Board of Education, has studied the islands educational system as a possible model to help improve schools here.

The benefits of Castros Cuba were little consolation to Lily Blanco-Rodriguez, 60, the Cuban Clubs vice treasurer. She was also born in Cuba.

She heard the news first from her father, who she said was forced to on the island after she, her mother, and her sick brother left to get advanced medical care.

Its mixed (in Cuba), Blanco-Rodriguez said. The people (there) that are happy that he passed are celebrating, but of course not as outspoken as our people in Miami. Because in Cuba they dont have free speech, so its very mixed.
The wrath of Donald Trump against so-called sanctuary cities could be pronounced for Connecticut if he makes good on threats to withhold federal funds from communities that protect undocumented immigrants from deportation.

Whether the tough-talking president-elect does or not is a source of growing consternation from city halls to the state Capitol, so much that Gov. Dannel P. Malloy recently vowed to sue Trumps administration if it targets cuts here.

Not only do many state and city leaders contend its beyond their scope to enforce federal immigration laws, they say its unconstitutional to detain individuals based solely on their immigration status.

This is government time (and) that was sound-bite time, so well see, said Michael Lawlor, the states under secretary for criminal justice policy and planning. You cant just lock people up for no reason. You have to have a warrant.

A request for comment was left for Trumps transition team.

Welcoming and vigilant

Connecticut itself has been designated as a sanctuary state by the nonprofit Center for Immigration Studies, in addition to the cities of New Haven and Hartford.

Its not a legal term, but is generally used to describe cities and other jurisdictions that have granted asylum to undocumented immigrants, either formally or informally.

Sanctuary can mean anything from local police denying detainer requests from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to refusing to check immigration status.

In general, I guess you could apply it to Bridgeport, but that doesnt mean we dont cooperate with federal agencies, said Av Harris, a spokesman for Bridgeport Mayor Joe Ganim. Of course we do.

During Ganims second stint as mayor of the states largest city, Bridgeport has focused on preventing gun violence, in addition to drug and human trafficking.

We are not the agency in charge of finding undocumented immigrants and getting them in front of a deportation hearing, Harris said. There is a federal agency that is already doing that.

Census data shows 28 percent of residents in the states largest city are foreign born, with significant numbers of immigrants coming from Cape Verde, the Middle East, Asia and the West Indies.

There are undocumented immigrants in our community and they are part of the essential fabric of our community, Harris said. This has always been a city thats welcoming to immigrants. Immigrants have given the city its strength and vibrancy.

Bridgeport officials say they arent worried about losing federal funding under Trump, who they noted has a solid rapport with Ganim going back to the 1990s when the two tried to collaborate on a waterfront casino development.

Enforcement at issue

Both the governor and his criminal justice czar have frowned upon the use of the term sanctuary city, however.

I think its just a pejorative term that they use, Lawlor said.

In 2013, Connecticut passed the Transparency and Responsibility Using State Tools Act, which gives local law enforcement officers discretion to carry out immigration detainer requests only for suspected felons. The legislation was borne out of a class-action lawsuit filed by a Yale Law clinic on behalf of Sergio Brizuela, an East Haven resident who was held for several days by the state Department of Correction on an immigration detainer.

Republican Peter Lumaj, an immigration and criminal lawyer from Fairfield who was born in Albania and is exploring a run for governor, said cities are flouting the law.

I think their funding should be cut, Lumaj said. Sanctuary cities basically harbor illegals. If youre illegal, youre illegal.

neil.vigdor@scni.com; 203-625-4436; http://twitter.com/gettinviggy
As I've mentioned before, I got a threatening letter from Trump's attorney over a post we did on Melania's former career. I didn't think much about it and my own attorney told me to ignore it. Since then one member of the DWT staff told me he's been getting threats-- including to his family-- from Trumpist deplorables. A well-known public figure who is about to start writing a regular column was wondering if it would be safe and if, perhaps he should use a pseudonym. (In the end he decided to use his real name and his column will start in about 2 weeks.) Today a fiery grassroots progressive Blue America helped elect e-mailed me: "I am so sickened by what is going on. Bannon, etc. I want you to know I plan to fight very, very, hard against Donald Trump's ugly policies and beliefs. This is going to be so awful, but we must have courage and determination. Thanks for all you did to help me get this seat back. At least we have Democrats here who are not fooled by Trump and his crowd!" I know she;'s not-- and never will be. Her colleagues, on the other hand... I look at them and I see potential collaborators. I hope I'm wrong. This was brave of someone at Google Maps to do this morning:









TPM about an Erie County state legislator who Who will stand up to the coming fascist storm and who will try swimming with the hide? I was heartened by a post I saw a few days ago atabout an Erie County state legislator who introduced a bill to ban so-called "conversion therapy" in his county-- and not just banned it, but named the bill for Trump's obsessive homophobe Mike Pence.

Erie County legislator Patrick Burke proposed the Prevention of Emotional Neglect and Childhood Endangerment bill, which would ban the practice of conversion therapy locally.



I think it is an abusive practice. Some of the things that are actually carried out in conversion therapy are pretty disturbing, Burke said in an interview with WBFO.



This practice has no business in our society and really the idea of trying to sexually desensitize children is disgusting and distributing, he continued.



Burke told the station that invoking Pence's name was intentional because he supported the practice as governor of Indiana. During his 2000 congressional campaign, Pence's website stated that "resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior."



Burke, an independent Democrat, said he wants it to really "sink in" that Pence supports the practice.



Mike Pence is probably going to have the most power of any vice president in the history of our country and he has openly advocated for conversion therapy," he told WBFO. "I want that to sink into people. I want them to realize it's a serious issue of abuse of children flatly, whether they are gay or not, its abuse, then you have a man who is going to have enormous power over all of us, who advocates for it."



Burke told the station that he unsuccessfully pushed for the issue over the past two years and is hoping to build up more support for it this time around.

That takes some courage in a county where psychotic Trumpist Carl Paladino is taken seriously and where the presidential vote was uncomfortably close this year. Obama won Erie County in 2012 with 220,184 votes (57%). This year Hillary won, but it was much tighter-- 192,065 votes (50.1%). Romney only took 159,678 votes in the county. Trump got 173,817. We're going to need more courageous men and women like Patrick Burke going forward.





NY Times ran a piece by Carl Hulse that touched on This morning, theran a piece by Carl Hulse that touched on whether or not Republicans in the Senate would let Trumpism roll over them . Chuck Schumer, a sleaze ball hack from Brooklyn who has taken money from Trump in the past, who he gets along with chummily and who has the same authoritarian personality, has already signaled he plans to be a collaborationist with the new regime. Schumer-- every fiber of Schumer-- sings " kapo ." So what about the Republicans? Hulse has some hope; I don't. He writes of "a handful of independent-minded Republican senators who have shown a willingness to break with the president-elect and have readily split with their own party on issues in the past." I'll have to see it before I believe it-- especially when the pressure starts to build-- as it inevitably will if this whiny spoiled baby is thwarted in any way :important" to him.

Some are already making known their readiness to take on the new administration. There will be some areas where I dont agree, and it will be my job to represent a coequal branch of the government, said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who was outspoken in his criticism of Mr. Trump during the campaign.





Other senators who will be prominent in the will-they-or-wont-they caucus include Mr. Grahams longtime ally, John McCain of Arizona; Jeff Flake of Arizona; Susan Collins of Maine; Lisa Murkowski of Alaska; Lamar Alexander of Tennessee; Ben Sasse of Nebraska; and Rand Paul of Kentucky.



They will differ issue by issue, and they will certainly side much more often than not with the Republican majority. And dont count on them to block cabinet nominees such as their Republican colleague Jeff Sessions of Alabama, Mr. Trumps choice for attorney general, despite criticism of his civil rights record. They know and like Mr. Sessions.



They are poised to challenge the new administration and their colleagues on policy areas in which they deeply disagree or on some of the more extreme proposals that arose from the Trump campaign.



If the president came forth with a legislative proposal that would ban all Muslims from coming into the United States, I would obviously oppose something like that, said Ms. Collins, a centrist who wrote an op-ed article in August announcing that she would not vote for Mr. Trump because he did not represent historical Republican values.



She and others in this group are fully capable of building bipartisan coalitions large enough to assert control over an issue and push legislation in one direction or another, siphoning some authority from the leadership. Though House conservatives are agitating to eliminate the filibuster, most of the senators in this group would be reluctant to support such a move since they derive some of their own clout from the threat of that procedural tool.

We'll see how willing these Republicans will be to stand up to pressure-- real pressure-- once Trump, Bannon and Pence start rolling. Besides, they'll certainly have a gaggle of ultra-conservative Democrats who are up for reelection in 2018 to deal with. These are a bunch of cowardly political hacks always eager to show the folks back home that they like working with Republicans anyway. These are the worst of the worst-- and the number next to their name represents the percentage of the vote Trump just got in their state. The no backbone caucus, ordered by how much they cross the aisle to oppose progressive initiatives and back conservative ones-- the terrible to absolute worst:

 Bill Nelson (FL)- 49.1%

 Jon Tester (MT)- 56.5%

 Claire McCaskill (MO)- 57.1%

 Joe Donnelly (IN)- 57.2%

 Joe Manchin (WV)- 68.7%

 Heidi Heitkamp (ND)- 64.1%

And these are the senators Hulse is counting on... along with Trump's scores in their states. He won every one of their states except Maine:

 Susan Collins (ME)- 45.2%

 Lamar Alexander (TN)- 61.1%

 Lindsey Graham (SC)- 54.9%

 John McCain (AZ)- 49.5%

 Lisa Murkowski (AK)- 52.9%

 Jeff Flake (AZ)- 49.5%

 Ben Sasse (NE)- 60.3%

 Rand Paul (KY)- 62.5%

McCain, Murkowsky and Paul were all just reelected to 6 year terms. Murkowski, who Hulse labeled "somewhat of a free agent," beat Joe Miller-- a Trump extremist running on the Libertarian line-- 44.3- 29.5%. McCain proven far more popular in Arizona than Trump did. He drew 53.4% (1,089,324 votes) to Trump's 49.5% (1,021,154 votes). Hulse pointed out that "McCain most likely ran his last race, freeing him from electoral concerns about a backlash from the right." Kentucky voters, though, were more enthusiastic about Trump than about Paul. Paul took 1,090,151 votes (57.3%) while Trump cleaned up with 1,202,942 votes (62.5%). Trump won every county in the state but Jefferson (Louisville) and Fayette (Lexington). Paul's landslide can't be denied but he also lost in Jefferson and Fayette counties and lost 5 others that Trump won.





Flake is the only one of these Republicans up for reelection in 2018-- and Trump has already threatened to finance a primary opponent. Hulse termed him "One of the most outspoken Trump foes in the Senate, he took Mr. Trump on directly at a private party meeting. Both in the House and the Senate, Mr. Flake has challenged his leadership, and in some cases has won, notably on his crusade against the home-state projects known as earmarks. A champion of immigration reform, he is up for re-election in 2018 and is likely to be hit from right and left."





Blue America will be closely looking at candidates for 2018 in terms of courage as well as policy. Are you ready?




Trump led Ted Cruz into thinking he was up for the Attorney General job, all the time laughing his ass off at the despised Texas ego-maniac. He called Cruz in for a very public meeting, encouraged him to blab to the press that he was being considered to head the Department of Justice... and then promptly humiliated him by appointing an incompetent DC joke, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III. Thursday we were wondering if he wasn't doing the same thing to Romney with the Secretary of State position. Huckabee and Gingrich have been leading a smear campaign against Romney inside the transition apparatus. Huckabee went to the press and said that "It would be a real insult to all those Donald Trump voters who worked really hard" if he picked Romney and Gingrich's take was-- aside from hoping for the position for himself-- the same, almost word-for-word, as Huckabee's. On Fox Huckabee said that the only way Romney "could even be considered for a post like that [is if] he goes to a microphone in a very public place and repudiates everything he said in that famous Salt Lake City speech and everything he said after that, where he said Donald Trump wasnt fit, that he lacked character. I mean on and on. Thats beyond just the normal political infighting that we all experience."





Will Romney grovel for job ? Fox News is reporting that Romney basically has no dignity left at all and he's prepared to grovel to Trump's heart's content. They want that public apology, as part of the Trump 3 ring circus-- and humiliation of the establishment.

A transition official told Foxs Ed Henry that some in Trumps inner circle want the former Massachusetts governor to apologize in order to be seriously considered for the secretary of State.



Trump is reportedly considering whether to pick Romney or former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani for the coveted cabinet position.



Giuliani is the preferred choice of Trumps loyalists and grassroots supporters, while Romney is a favorite of establishment conservatives.

Wall Street Journal claims And theclaims Giuliani is actively and aggressively lobbying for the post . "He has spent the last two weeks," they reported, "engaged in an unusually public fight to land the secretary-of-state slot in the next administration. Mr. Trump, the Republican president-elect, is also considering nominating Mitt Romney, the GOPs 2012 presidential nominee and former investment banker. But Mr. Giuliani and his allies continue to press his case."

Giulianis quest for the nations top diplomatic post is a sharp deviation from prior presidential transitions, in which candidates for top jobs avoided the news media so as not to damage their prospects. A spokeswoman for Mr. Romney didnt respond to a request for comment.



In addition to secretary of state, Mr. Giuliani is being considered for the countrys most senior spy position, director of national intelligence, according to people familiar with the transition teams deliberations.



...Ethics experts said Mr. Giulianis work for foreign governments wouldnt prevent him from taking a job in the Trump administration but would likely raise questions about potential conflicts of interest.

American Conservative called the choice between Romney and Rudy a What an administration this is going to be! Yesterday, Daniel Larison, writing for thecalled the choice between Romney and Rudy a dreadful choice , pointing out that the quarrel between the two camps "is that it has essentially nothing to do with the contenders qualifications for the position in question."
26 Kasm 2016 Cumartesi, 16:19

Investigations by the Turkish Armed Forces and intelligence units continue into the air strike on a Special Forces team positioned to the north of Al-Bab within the Euphrates Shield operation. Investigations are focussing on whether or not the coordinates of the teams position were leaked. Military sources point out that it would have been impossible for Syria to have struck the Turkish special forces team in a night raid without this critical information having been passed on. Immediately after the strike, Air-Force Radar Command supplied top-level state administrators with on-site findings and the radar trace of the plane that conducted the raid. This includes radar records that show in detail the path taken by the plane that bombed the Al-Bab region.



Is there a leak?



According to information obtained from military sources, the identity of the plane remains an enigma. This accounts for the comment, A plane belonging to Syria is considered to have conducted the strike that was made with reference to the bombing. The sources, indicating that such wording is reserved for situations that evade clarification, pointed out that a small number of planes remained at the Assad regimes disposal and the number of planes capable of staging night operations was even smaller. The sources, stating that there was no way that the special forces position could have been detected by the Assad regime, pointed out that this raises the prospect of a potential leak or assistance by other actors who would have been capable of making such detection. The sources had the following to say about the lack of clarity: The Assad regime all but lacks the systems needed to detect and pinpoint the target. Sophisticated equipment was needed to enable the position of the special team and the artillery elements close by to be detected. The planes at the regimes disposal are most certainly not capable of providing close air support. This was a strike that could only have been staged if precise coordinates had been given or if the target had been pinpointed. This is not a strike that the regime could have staged without obtaining support.
26 Kasm 2016 Cumartesi, 16:21

An earth-shattering scandal has erupted around the protocol signed between Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality (IMM) and Hattat Holdings Managing Director, Mehmet Hattat, over the holdings half-finished Diamond of Istanbul project in Maslak. Under the protocol, Hattat Holding donated eighteen plots to IMM and in return obtained approval for the billion-dollar project that had earlier been red tagged. The location of three of the plots that Hattat donated is highly significant. These three plots are situated immediately behind IMM Mayor Kadir Topbass villa in Kumburgaz. In fact, businessman Hattat made confessions that will go down in history about the plots behind Topbass villa in the two-page letter he addressed to IMM one month ago.



Mehmet Hattat, having inquired, Why, in breach of the protocol, have you not converted these plots with planning permission beside his honour the mayors home Kumburgaz that you forced me personally to buy at a multimillion dollar price into religious facilities? Will they not ask in the days to come how it was that you denied permission and red tagged these civil works (Diamond of Istanbul) for seven years and certified the preliminary plan after having obtained the plots and other immovables beside his honour the mayors home?, threatened to sue IMM officials for damages.



Hattat ended his letter, I submit and request that you withdraw your proposal from before the Assembly and immediately licence my preliminary plan that you sent to Saryer Municipality annexed to the correspondence of 30 June 2016 before I forfeit my rights arising under the Regulation of 1 June 2013, so as not to create a new chain of events in these days of crisis and to avoid both actions for damages and the bringing of legal proceedings and also to keep the affair out of the press. Following Hattats letter, the most recent proposal concerning the Diamond of Istanbul project was remitted back to the Communications Directorate.



The CHPs Huseyin Sag, who sits on the assembly, calling on Topbas to resign, said, What does this letter testify to? It testifies to graft. The businessman says, You told me to and I made the purchase. Here are some eye-catching extracts from the two-page letter that Hattat Holding Managing Director Mehmet Hattat addressed to IMM Vice General Secretary Ahmet Erhan Gokal on 14 October 2016, quoted verbatim:



-I spoke with the AKP people  I spoke with AK Party Group Vice Chair Mr Temel Basalan, the Planning Commission Chair Mr Hadi Diler and Communications Commission Chair Mr Mahmut Yeter on 12 October 2016. As I stated to them, the planning and project approval procedures in connection with the said plot proceeded as follows. (Hattat is describing the approval procedures in respect of the billion-dollar Diamond of Istanbul project from 2011 until today. The historic confessions start with the reference made to cancellation of the project mooted under a new proposal concerning the Diamond of Istanbul project submitted to the IMM Assembly in October 2016.)



-Why did you take eighteen plots into IMMs ownership?  If so, given that these reasons raised by the Communications Planning Directorate had been in existence since 2013, what was the reason for drawing up the Unconditional Donation Protocol on 2 November 2015 and taking eighteen plots into IMMs ownership before the preliminary plan was signed?



You forced me personally to buy them at a multimillion dollar price.  You said on 13 October 2016 when our companys authorised persons Halil Beyenal and Gulten Vural visited your exalted person, Apart from one plot that you have donated, we will return the other plots to you and we have made that one plot the site of a religious facility. Why, in breach of the protocol, have you not converted these plots with planning permission beside his honour the mayors home Kumburgaz that you yourself appended to the list submitted to you and that you forced me personally to buy at a multimillion dollar price into religious facilities?



Threatened legal action  Legal proceedings will be commenced over the return of this plot made into the site of a religious facility and the other plots along with my other rights contained in the plan approved on 16 March 2011 and the protocol that was drawn up, and not only will both the actions for damages and this affair place their honours our mayor and the general secretary, the other authorised signatories and your exalted persons in a difficult position before the courts, but they will also give rise to speculation and various allegations in the press and public discourse concerning myself along with the aforementioned persons.



I tried to protect our mayor  Even though the special status of three staff members who were added to the list has been alluded to in the press with various allegations, although you are very well aware that I tried to protect his honour our mayor by taking full responsibility for the statements I made, this attitude of yours is incomprehensible.



Cancellation would have grave consequences -The cancellation of the plan is being mooted in the proposal made to the assembly today (he is referring to 14 October 2016) for the same reasons as under the 2013 proposal. If these reasons remain in existence, what was the reason for drawing up the unconditional donation protocol on 2 November 2015  more than one years time has been spent needlessly and a vast amount of needless expenditure made. It has taken more than one year of all of our and all of your time. In view of the aforementioned process, the submission of the proposal emanating from the Communications Planning Directorate on 4 October following the passage of three and a half years to the Assembly at lightning speed six days later on the tenth of the month gives rise to a situation that will cause grave and very serious difficulties.
Heres one of my favorite Deirdre McCloskey remarks, from her Bourgeois Virtues:

I dont care how one defines capitalism, as long as its not defined as evil incarnate.

Unfortunately, thats exactly how it is often defined. Heres a recent example from Yahoo.com:

Satellite photos and testimonies of defectors show there are now about 400 mostly outdoor markets, called jangmadang, in the North. Recent surveys of refugees suggest most ordinary North Koreans resort to market activities for a living as the countrys public rationing systems have never been fully restored. Four defectors who talked to The Associated Press said they received no rations at all. . . .

There are risks in the business, whether authorities are hunting for contraband, cracking down on foreign currency or simply committing graft. Lee O.P. says she decided to flee after police officers confiscated her whole savings for unauthorized phone calls with her daughter who already defected to South Korea.

Now in South Korea, Lee O.P. said she was amazed at social welfare programs directed at her and other underprivileged people.

For me, its like North Korea is a capitalistic country while South Korea is a socialist country, she said. In North Korea, if you dont have money, youll just have to die.
Somerset County Treasurer will 'do what it takes' for best returns
I think Jo Cox's killer should be hanged, writes Peter Hitchens

I think the man who murdered Jo Cox MP should be hanged. I think it a great pity that we no longer have this powerful deterrent against cruel violence.

So let no Leftist propagandist try to smear me as an apologist for her killer, whose dishonoured name I shant even repeat here in case he relishes his notoriety.

But I am repelled and disturbed by the attempt to pretend that this deranged, muttering creep was in any way encouraged or licensed to kill a defenceless, brave young mother, by the campaign to leave the European Union.

Of all the low, dishonest tricks used by Remainers in this continuing contest, this slimy innuendo is the worst. Of course cheap Left-wing propagandists always like to insinuate that anyone more conservative than John Major is a secret Nazi, longing to massacre people in death camps.

Two could play at that, and it wouldnt work out well for the Leftist smear-merchants, if two did play at it.

A lot of very prominent people on the mainstream British Left, in politics and the media, have never properly apologised for their many years of sympathy with the Soviet cause. Even fewer have regretted their slurping admiration for the homicidal, torture-prone Castro regime in Cuba.

Sick Leftist monster-worship of this kind is, amazingly, quite respectable. Listen to them still talking about Fidel today as if they were old mates.

Admiration for Nazi killers and torturers is, quite rightly, restricted to such people as the Moors murderer Ian Brady and Jo Coxs attacker.

Nazi-obsessed killer Mair (right) stabbed Jo Cox (left) 15 times and shot her three times during a brutal attack in her hometown of Batley, West Yorkshire

I do not know why Jo Coxs killer did what he did. I am told that, despite his supposed Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (he washed his hands until they bled), he was not prescribed any of the potent mind-altering pills that doctors like to dish out for these things. Likewise, there is no evidence that he took illegal drugs.

But the same is true of Brady. Some people just do step outside the normal limits of humanity. It cannot always be explained. But this was not a person with any serious political interest. Had he been, he would have known that the cruel murder of a young mother would help the very cause he wanted to damage.

But one Blairite commentator wrote last week: Deep down they [opponents of the EU] feared that aspects of the language or direction of the Brexit campaign they legitimately supported had emboldened extremism. While they themselves were in no way permissive of the act, might they in some way have been permissive of the motive? Or even of the mood?

The politest word for this is cobblers, but tripe will do as well. More or less deranged people turn violent all the time, whatever the mood. Jo Coxs attacker was not officially classed as mentally ill, but (and here I am absolutely not trying to excuse his act) I am not sure where the boundaries of mental illness run.

Officially mentally ill people (those actually classified as such by the NHS) attack  and often kill  dozens of innocents every year, alas.

Sometimes they give their acts grandeur by saying or yelling political things. But it doesnt mean their motive is political. The Leytonstone knifeman shouted This is for Syria! but not long before, he had told doctors (seriously) that Tony Blair was his guardian angel.

When I heard of Jo Coxs death I simply felt grief at such a loss, as any normal person did. Only later did I realise that some people would take this opportunity to smear the Leave campaign. And so they have.

What is much worse, the authorities entered into the same spirit. The killer was tried, absurdly, as a terrorist. Terrorists, like the IRA who actually did murder another MP, Ian Gow, are horribly rational. They saw Mr Gow as a fierce and influential opponent of the peace process, by which they would eventually defeat the British state and obtain its surrender.

They didnt shout anything. They just put a bomb under his car and stole away, later collecting their reward  victory  from the Blair government. I dont recall anyone, at the time, blaming Left-wingers who openly sympathised with Irish republicanism for creating a mood in which this sort of thing was more likely.

Jo Cox, a shiningly good person, was foully murdered. Her killer has been justly tried and convicted but alas cannot be justly punished. Let her family mourn, and let her rest in peace. Do not turn her memory into cheap propaganda.

FANTASTIC BEASTS: A FANTASY FULL OF REAL DANGER I have been puzzled for years about the extraordinary appeal of the Harry Potter industry. The books arent that good, and the films arent either. Can it possibly be because they confirm the soppy self-satisfied groupthink of the post-Blair generation? I went to see the new J. K. Rowling film Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them and I still have no idea what it was about, writes Peter Hitchens (pictured, Eddie Redmayne starring in the film) In search of an answer, I went to see the new J. K. Rowling film Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. I still have no idea what it was about. An angry pudding terrorises New York City, but it cant be all bad because it occasionally kills Right-wing politicians and puritanical religious leaders. These are portrayed as killjoys, witch-hunters and child-beaters, with terrible hair and clothes. Meanwhile, the Magical Community is full of funky, Multiculti, understanding, liberal types, sparkling with equality and diversity. Eventually, they manage to understand the pudding, which only wants to be loved. But then they kill it. Have I got this right? I am not sure, and do not care. But too much of this must certainly soften the brains of those exposed to it. Advertisement

A major military power on the edge of Europe, which illegally occupies a neighbouring states territory, is sinking into tyranny.

Its increasingly megalomaniac leader has built himself a huge new palace and is systematically eliminating all opposition as he prepares to become an unchallengeable supreme ruler.

Journalists at the only remaining major opposition newspaper have been arrested on ridiculous charges. They are among thousands of others scooped up in an enormous purge, flung into prison or removed from their jobs.

Turkeys President Erdogan is at least as repressive as Russias Vladimir Putin and has certainly locked up many more journalists

No, its not Russia, the economic cripple with a navy even more decrepit than ours, which youre constantly being told to fear.

It is Turkey, still an unchallenged member of the supposedly pro-freedom alliance Nato. Turkey, in actions very similar to the Russian seizure of Crimea, grabbed North Cyprus by force in 1974 and has been there ever since, still our welcome ally.

Turkeys President Erdogan, a passionate Islamist who regards democracy as a means to an end, is at least as repressive as Russias Vladimir Putin, and has certainly locked up many more journalists.

So, if all those media who attack Mr Putin the whole time are really so worried about Russian repression, why do they say so much less about the ruthless extinction of freedom in our Nato ally? Could it be their anti-Russian outrage is phoney?
Charlotte Connell has been raising funds for Movember since 2012

It is for a good cause; Ms Connell's dad died from prostate cancer last year

The pair have dressed up as Santa, librarians and more this month

The 33-year-old and her son wear different moustaches every day

For Charlotte Connell, 33, from Sydney, when she lost her 67-year-old father to prostate cancer last November, she didn't just lose a dad.

According to the mum-of-one, she also lost 'my best friend'.

Ms Connell's father is the principal inspiration behind a charity project the 33-year-old has spearheaded this year.

The project sees Ms Connell and her baby son, Finn, wear a different moustache every day of Movember, 'in honour of my dad's magnificent mo'.

Charlotte Connell (pictured with her son, Finn), from Sydney, started a charity project this month for Movember

Each day, the pair dress up, wear different moustaches and take photos; Ms Connell's dad died from prostate cancer last year at just 67

'Any donation over AUD $20 can choose what Mo we wear,' Ms Connell writes on the Movember Foundation page set up to help to raise money for her cause.

'Let's stop more dads, brothers, sons, partners and friends dying too young.'

Over the course of the past month, the pair have raised an impressive AUD $3,675, while Ms Connell has individually raised over $14,000 since she got involved with Movember in 2012.

The project is being done 'in honour of my Dad's magnificent mo', which, according to Ms Connell, he never lost despite two rounds of chemotherapy

Over the course of the past month, the pair have raised an impressive AUD $3,675, while Ms Connell has individually raised over $14,000 since she got involved with Movember in 2012

The cuteness of the pair's themed photos certainly helps.

From sporting stick-on moustaches with Santa hats and beards to rocking a 'librarian' aesthetic by way of glasses and curled facial hair, Ms Connell has posted daily photos on Instagram of herself and little Finn looking adorable.

When my dad died last November, shortly afterwards I fell pregnant with Finn

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, Ms Connell said she's been proud to spread the message, and has had a lot of fun thinking up different daily outfits.

'It's been so fun getting creative,' she said.

'But there is a serious message behind all of the outfits. When my dad died last November, shortly afterwards I fell pregnant with Finn.

'It's so important to get checks, and if this helps to raise awareness in any way, then that's great.'

'When my dad died last November, shortly afterwards I fell pregnant with Finn,' Ms Connell said, talking about the fun project's serious intentions

She urged all men to get checked, in order to try and prevent the disease

Ms Connell started helping with Movember in 2012, when her dad was first diagnosed and she was left feeling 'powerless' (pictured with her father)

Charlotte Connell originally started helping with Movember back in 2012, when her dad was first diagnosed and she was left feeling 'powerless', but in need of doing something.

'I just thought if Dad was going to lose his magnificent moustache from chemotherapy, I could wear one and hopefully inspire men out there to get a health check or at least raise some coin for prostate cancer research,' she said previously.

'Somewhat crazily, while Dad did lose all of his hair after two rounds of chemo, he kept his moustache,' Ms Connell told Daily Mail Australia.

'This is our tribute to him.'
Michael Parkinson dared to question whether or not Helen Mirren was a serious Shakespearean actress, given her equipment

Who would be a man these days? We women never forget a slight. The fact you bought us a thong that was a size too big two Christmases ago.

The fact you ignored us at a party in 1983. Or, as in Michael Parkinsons case, the fact you dared to question, in 1975 no less, whether or not Helen Mirren was a serious Shakespearean actress, given her equipment.

Helen Mirren retaliated: Serious actresses cant have big bosoms, is that what you mean?

This brief encounter on his chat show has resurfaced regularly over the years as an example of the kind of crass sexism that leaves women permanently diminished.

Last Sunday Parky finally retaliated in an interview in Event magazine, saying, There is no need to apologise, not at all Am I a sexist? No, Im Yorkshire.

Now, I dont have much equipment  I had a breast reduction at the age of 29  and so have never experienced the shock of men alluding to them in conversation, but I do live in North Yorkshire.

When I first moved here, a Yorkshireman arrived to erect my Sky dish. Youll do aight here, he said, upon learning I was single.

I brightened, until he added: If youve nout got wool and are female, youll do aight.

By her own admission, Helen Mirren started her career with a toxic mix of a great physical shyness and a palpable physical presence, but soon realised that her brand of sensuality is a very uncommon property, and not to use it would be an appalling waste. In other words, she used her body as a tool, a springboard.

Last Sunday Parky finally retaliated in an interview in Event magazine, saying, There is no need to apologise, not at all Am I a sexist? No, Im Yorkshire'

And why not? Shes an actress, not trying to uncover the mysteries of black holes. How she looks is pertinent.

After doing her dues teaching and in rep, she joined the RSC, which prompted an early interview in a Sunday supplement to bear the headline Stratfords very own sex queen.

The epithet haunted her for 20 years, and the accompanying article exposes the sexism of the day: the male writer called Mirren a nicely rounded girl, and described her mostly female stage door fans as having no trace of the butch fervour which so often marks the Ladies Paddock in the gallery.

Mirren, on the other hand, revealed herself in that interview to be a prototype feminist: What I cant stand is when a woman comes into a room with just one thought in her tiny mind: what effect shes having on the men.

She has never needed the furies of the sisterhood to rush to her defence. Not then, not ever. She had Parkys measure from the start, so why should he apologise?

Ive met Mirren twice. Once, at the Vanity Fair party after she won an Oscar for The Queen, when I made her pose with me for a selfie: she was gracious and smiley. The second time, also in LA, was when I interviewed her to promote a film.

By her own admission, Helen Mirren started her career with a toxic mix of a great physical shyness and a palpable physical presence. She is pictured here in film The Queen

SHE had clearly had no work done to her face and kept rubbing her eyes, leaning her face in her hands, something Id never seen a Hollywood actress do before: when you touch or rub your face, wrinkles form.

We talked about a recent pap shot of her in a red bikini: Im beyond bikini-wearing age, I dont really look that good normally, it was just a flattering picture. I look like a woman in her 60s. Tellingly, on the day we met, there was a small earthquake.

Id sat at my desk in my hotel room, typing, despite the fact my chair was trying to traverse the room.

Mirren, too, it turned out, had been unperturbed, and continued posing for some photo or other. Thats stoicism. That an ill-judged remark from a middle-aged chat-show host would have derailed her, I very much doubt.

Parky, like most men, and despite the recent headlines of historic abuse by 1970s TV stars, is harmless; he was simply making great TV.

Aged 29, I should have taken a leaf out of Helen Mirrens book. Use what you have. Your body is not that important. Your looks will go. Try to be happy. Enjoy a long and happy marriage.

If you cant have children, then leave behind a body of work. And if a man disrespects you, make him feel small, as Mirren did so deftly with Parky.

Success is the best revenge. Not endless inquiries, witch-hunts, demands for compensation. The best a victim can do  and Helen Mirren was a victim: of her time, of male directors and writers and chat-show hosts and journalists  is to have the last laugh.
A student at one of Britain's top art schools has formed the first society dedicated to porn - and the group has even made its own film.

Dylan Meade, 25, set up the society at Glasgow's School of Art, where he is studying for a painting and printmaking degree.

The society's activities range from informal group discussions about porn-related journals and film screenings to club nights.

Dylan Meade (pictured), a student at one of Britain's top art schools, has formed the first society dedicated to porn - and the group has even made its own film

Speaking to student newspaper The Tab, Mr Meade said: 'Some people think we just sit in a room watching films and masturbating, but people who joke just don't get it.

'A group of six or seven of us made a porn film, which was quite cool.

'We also screen short films, from newer stuff to gay porn shot in the '70s.

'I'm a gay man, and we often talk about some of the different producers and the history of gay porn and what it means for a company.'

The society, formed in October 2014, hosts regular meetings and occasional events.

Meetings are attended by anywhere between ten and 30 people, with some events attracting more than 100.

Dylan added: 'Growing up in the internet age, we're bombarded with hardcore imagery, and my work is representative of pictures I see around me.

Activities range from porn-related journal discussions to club nights. Pictured, an outing to the exhibition on pornography at the Glasgow Centre for Contemporary Arts

'There were a lot of really right-wing views on morality and sexuality around.

'But there's been a rise in queer and feminist porn-making across the world, and there's a whole academic side to it.

'There's not been a lot of engagement with porn from an art school perspective, and I wanted to introduce it to the curriculum.'

The student has encountered mixed reactions to the society, with many finding the idea difficult to digest.

He said: 'For younger students, sex and porn is still exciting in a different way.

'Some people just giggle, because they don't understand the society.

'As an art school, I want people to understand the thinking behind it, and the ways to deal with and develop porn.'

Dylan says the university's student association has been supportive of the society

Dylan says the university's student association has been supportive of the society, but the directors 'weren't engaged'.

He added: 'The students' association were really helpful, they clicked on and understood where we were coming from.

'But the directors weren't interested - I tried to talk to them but they weren't engaged.

'Some of our tutors understand but it's a frigid institution.'
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Decorations from charity shops and garage sales, recycled timber archways and absolutely no alcohol.

When Christo and Hannah Wilken planned their wedding, they knew they wanted to do things their way.

The hipster couple from Port Macquarie, New South Wales, had seen others their age blow big budgets on lavish ceremonies.

And so, in an organic ceremony among family and friends, Mr and Mrs Wilken chose to buck many trends.

Among them Australia's famed drinking culture, with the young pair deciding their special day would be booze-free.

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Christo and Hannah Wilken (pictured) married in Port Macquarie, NSW, in a unique ceremony that was alcohol free

The couple said they wanted to enjoy (and remember) their special day among their closest family and friends

'We just wanted everyone to celebrate the most amazing day of our lives in a way that we could come together,' Mr Wilken told Daily Mail Australia

The happy couple enjoyed their incredible organic ceremony among 100 family and friends next to a stunning lake

'It's never been a massive or essential part in our lives,' Mr Wilken told Daily Mail Australia.

'We just wanted everyone to celebrate the most amazing day of our lives in a way that we could come together.'

For many couples, the idea of having a 'dry wedding' is something that would never work.

But for the Wilken's - who have both grown up in largely Christian families - it was the only way.

While there wasn't any alcohol on their special day, it didn't stop the happy couple and guests from kicking up their heels

Mr Wilken struggled to contain his emotions as he stood under the archway and watched his wife-to-be walk down the aisle

Through items and props gathered from op shops and garage sales the couple decked out their wedding organically

Mr Wilken, 24, and Mrs Wilken, 23, could hardly wipe the smiles off their faces throughout their big day

After being married beneath a wooden archway the happy couple dug into a cake together in front of their family and friends

'We made the decision as a couple as it was something we both wanted to do,' Mr Wilken said.

'Our friends were all really supportive, of course there were questions about why, but once we explained our situation they were right on board with it.'

In a blog post on the website of their wedding photographer James Day, Mrs Wilken said the move was one they were happy they made.

'Christo and I are so warmed by the fact that our wedding day was really a time where no one got stressed or anxious,' she said.

'Love just really shone through with everyone working together to help create the most beautiful day which was nothing short of perfection.'

While there wasn't any alcohol on their special day, there certainly wasn't a lack of fun.

With old fashioned games such as hookey the more than 100 guests were completely entertained throughout the day

Mr Wilken was overcome by emotion after being met at their outdoor altar by his beautiful wife-to-be

A large crowd of close to 100 guests gathered to see Mr and Mrs Wilken become husband and wife in an intimate ceremony

Mr Wilken, 24, and Mrs Wilken, 23, said the day was 'perfect' and the lack of alcohol did nothing to affect their celebration

With old fashioned games such as hookey and a beautiful lakeside view the more than 100 guests were completely entertained, and the special day captioned by leading photographer James Day.

'We just wanted to utilise the nature, produce and people's skills in the community to add to the rawness of the wedding,' she said.

'It honestly felt like something out of a movie, nothing went wrong at all.

'The amount of joy and happiness on this day I haven't been able to replicate again.'

Mr Wilken said the day 'honestly felt like something out of a movie' and said the couple wouldn't change a thing

The newlyweds were all smiles as they posed for photos by renowned wedding photographer James Day after the ceremony

The couple chose a beautiful setting in country New South Wales as the perfect place to get married
A ban on 'arousing' chili sauce and a law against getting intimate on a parked motorcycle appear on a list of the most bizarre sex-related legislation around the world.

The website weirdsexlaws.com has compiled the list of strange laws from places like Indonesia, Poland and the US.

Many of the laws can be traced back to now out-dated ordinances, but there are also some surprising modern entries - including standing naked in your window in Singapore.

In Singapore, hotel guests should avoid nudity near windows or face the threat of a 2,000 fine (File photo)

London

In London it is reportedly illegal to have sex on a parked motorcycle.

According to an old City ordinance, it is also against the law to check into a hotel in London under an assumed name for the purpose of having sex.

Birmingham

In Birmingham it is against the law for a man and a woman to have sex 'on the steps of any church after the sun goes down'.

Getting caught making love in these circumstances brings a charge of 'disorderly conduct' and a potential fine of up to 25 each, according to author Nigel Cawthorne.

In Birmingham it is against the law for a man and a woman to have sex 'on the steps of any church after the sun goes down' (File photo)

Singapore

In Singapore anyone 'who appears nude in a private place and is exposed to public view, shall be guilty of an offence'.

In 2009, a taxi driver was fined 2,000 for being naked in his own flat when his neighbours caught a view of him through his window.

This means that hotel guests should avoid nudity if possible - especially if they're visible from outside their window.

Peru

In the 1970s, the Peruvian government banned prison inmates from eating chili sauce and hot spices because of fears they could arouse sexual desires.

Indonesia

According to Article 281 of national law, the maximum sentence for masturbation in Indonesia is 32 months imprisonment.

In the town of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, if a police officer approaches a vehicle and believes the occupants might be having sex, he must flash his lights and wait three minutes (File photo)

Poland

In Krakow, Poland, offenders found guilty of having sex with an animal three times can reportedly be shot.

According to author Shane Mooney, the punishment for this crime is a shot to the head.

Idaho

In the town of Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, if a police officer approaches a vehicle and believes the occupants might be having sex, he must flash his lights and wait three minutes before approaching the car.

Alabama

The Anti-Obscenity Enforcement Act of 1998 bans the sale of sex toys in the state of Alabama.
The mother-of-three is the founder of online sensation 'Babe Scrubs'

Kim Peirce left her stable six-figure job to start up a beauty

From a six-figure job as a management consultant to mixing soap in her kitchen.

For Kim Peirce, a mother-of-three from Melbourne, the decision was nothing short of a bold move.

Instead of her highly paid career she chose to take on the beauty industry, mixing buzz ingredients such as essential oils with Himalayan sea salt.

But now, three years after starting Babe Scrub, Mrs Peirce's gamble is paying big dividends, with her product stocked by retailers like department store Nordstrom and fashion outlet Urban Outfitters around the world.

Kim Peirce (pictured), a mother-of-three from Melbourne, decided to leave her high paying job to take on the beauty industry

She started out making Babe Scrub (pictured) from her kitchen sink and now sells her product to buyers across the world

'We launched Babe Scrub with a view to having a purely online business,' she told the Adelaide Advertiser.

'We had this vision of sitting back in Thailand drinking cocktails while on our laptop, servicing our orders from some remote fulfilment centre.'

While her previous job brought stability, Mrs Peirce admits she was 'restless'.

And so she decided to risk everything for a shot at a better lifestyle, knowing that if her online business boomed she would have greater control over her life.

'We've got three children and we just really want to be involved in life as much as possible,' she said.

By launching four different start up businesses, the aim was that one would become the household brand she needed.

Mrs Peirce said a large reason behind her risking her career for business was a dream to have a better lifestyle for her, her husband and their children

Through the power of social media her business became an international sensation, meaning she was forced to move production out of her family home

Through the power of social media her Babe Scrub business was spotted by major chains in the United States.

It meant almost instantly her small business became too big for her home.

While business booms, Mrs Pierce and her husband Joseph say the biggest winner is their lifestyle.
It's hard to believe that it's already been eight months since Ivanka Trump and her husband welcomed their son Theodore.

And in celebration of the little boy reaching that milestone on Sunday, the 35-year-old mom took to Instagram to share yet another adorable snap of Theodore.

The photo shows the youngster in a sweater and slippers sitting on an ottoman in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace.

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Ivanka Trump shared a sweet image of her son Theodore in honor of his eight-month 'birthday' on Sunday

Ivanka was soon swamped with comments on social media poking fun at her for calling it a 'birthday'

Several made jokes at the future First Daughter's expense for using the phrase

The users questioned whether Ivanka knew what a 'birthday' actually was

Ivanka finally responded back to the criticizing Twitter users in her tweet above

Ivanka posed with her husband Jared, their three children Arabella, Joseph and Theodore, and her maternal grandmother Marie Zelnickova for a Thanksgiving portrait on Thursday

'I cannot believe that Theodore is eight months old today!' Ivanka wrote in the caption. 'Happy birthday little teddy bear!'

However, the latter statement drew a wave of criticism online, with many people poking fun at the mom for calling eight months a 'birthday' and telling her: 'That's not how birthdays work.'

'I hope he enjoys his 2nd birthday in 4 months time. Wait...' joked one user.

Another added: 'Shoot! I forgot to wish my kids 'Happy Birthday" on a random day in November.'

Ivanka finally hit back at her Twitter criticizers in a tweet that said: 'Lol. Of course, you are right! Only in a baby's first year of life would a parent "celebrate" a child's birthday on a monthly basis!'

Aside from that bit of trouble, it's been a family fun-packed weekend for the future First Daughter as she rang in the holiday with her three children and husband Jared Kushner, 35.

Ivanka Trump took to social media on Thursday to tell fans how grateful she is for her life.

The president-elect's daughter posed for a portrait with her husband Jared, their kids and her maternal grandmother, captioning the image: 'I feel incredibly blessed and thankful on this Thanksgiving day.

She also posted this image of daughter Arabella enjoying a ride on a swing outside

'Wishing you and your families a very happy Thanksgiving!'

Earlier, she shared a photograph of her husband and three-year-old son Joseph as they took in the traditional Macy's parade.

After dinner, she shared a rosy-cheeked selfie asking jokingly: 'Is it too early for seconds?'

On Friday she also posted a picturesque view of daughter Arabella enjoying a go on a wooden swing, shared with the caption: 'Swinging into the weekend.'

The 35-year-old's upbeat messages came as her father retreated to his Florida mansion to spend the holiday with his wife Melania and their son Barron.

They were seen enjoying dinner on Wednesday night as he enjoyed a break from putting together his administration.

Trump had been holed up at Trump Tower, his Manhattan bolthole, since winning the election on November 9.

He has been assembling his cabinet from his sprawling penthouse apartment in the building.

Ivanka and her husband have been a constant fixture there, taking part in some of her father's meetings including one with the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Also on Thursday, the mother-of-three shared a rosy-cheeked selfie and a photograph of her husband Jared and their three-year-old son Joseph snuggled up on the couch

Their presence at the meeting sparked controversy and criticism over President-elect Trump's style of leadership.

On Wednesday, 70-year-old Trump issued a Thanksgiving address, asking the country to 'come together' and move forward after his polarizing election win.

' We are very blessed to call this nation our home, and thats what America is  it is our home,' he said in a video posted on YouTube.

'Its where we raise our families, care for our loved ones, look out for our neighbors, and live out our dreams.

On Wednesday, Trump pleaded with voters to 'come together' in a YouTube video to mark the holiday

'Its my prayer that on this Thanksgiving that we begin to heal our divisions and move forward as one country strengthened by shared purpose and very, very common resolve,' he continued.

He acknowledged emotions are 'raw' since his win, adding: 'tensions just don't heal overnight.'

Ivanka has seen her own business suffer since her father's election victory.

Democrats have boycotted her fashion and accessories label in protest against his win.

The public swerve from her business prompted her to issue a statement on Wednesday insisting the brand had nothing to do with her father's political stance.

'Our companys message is not political  it never was and it never will be  however, Ivanka, personally, has an increased opportunity to advocate for woman and be a positive force for change.

'As a private citizen, with full awareness of her heightened visibility, she will broaden her efforts to take a stance on issues of critical important to American women and families,' it said.

She was earlier blasted for using a 60 Minutes interview with the rest of her family to promote a bracelet from her jewelry range.
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Last week we said lawyers who quit the Independent Inquiry Into Child Sexual Abuse were expected to write to the Home Affairs Select Committee regarding allegations of bullying and harassment at the inquiry offices. In fact, the lawyers, including Toby Fisher, wrote that they could not answer questions because of professional duties of confidentiality.

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If you have a problem, write to Zelda West-Meads at: YOU, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS, or email z.west-meads@you.co.uk

I need to tackle my social phobia

It has taken me a long time to write this letter. I am a 30-year-old man, have no friends or social life and still live at home. The only human contact I have is with my family.

When people visit, I busy myself in the kitchen and, if there is a social event coming up, I am anxious for days beforehand and struggle to talk to people  even though I long to do more socially. I am afraid to apply for jobs. In the past, I have had panic attacks.

My mother is not a caring type of person. If I decided I wanted to get help from a doctor, she might stop me from going  and I dont know who my GP is, anyway.

When I was seeing a counsellor at secondary school, my mother told me not to talk about her. I fear I will stay in this situation for the rest of my life.

I am so glad that you have found the confidence to write to me. See it as the important first step to your recovery and the future life that you want and can have.

Instead of being loving, your mother sounds critical and controlling, and that has left you anxious with very little self-confidence.

Sadly, I see this often in my work. It has affected you so badly that it is difficult for you to seek help, but please make sure you do. Contact your local GPs surgery to ask if you are registered as a patient. If not, sign up to one, then make an appointment.

If you have to tell your mother where you are going, just give a physical reason  such as constant headaches  and on no account let her go with you.

Explain to your doctor about your anxiety and social phobia and ask for a referral to a psychiatrist or counsellor, which will, in time, help to give you the confidence you need to stand up to your mother.

Im also sure it would help if you were to leave home. Your local job centre can advise you on further training and things such as registering for a jobseekers allowance, while your local Citizens Advice Bureau (citizensadvice.org.uk) could recommend how to find and obtain rented accommodation.

Alternatively, apply to study at university as a mature student to increase your chances of getting a job. For further support, please contact the Anxiety Alliance (anxietyalliance.org.uk, 0845 296 7877).

He earns more so feels I owe him

My husband and I have two children and live in a lovely home. He has a well-paid job, whereas I work part time and, though I enjoy what I do, I do not earn a lot.

Sometimes I feel as though I am a second-class citizen as, because he is the bigger earner, my husband seems to think that I have to give him what he wants, which is sex whenever he chooses.

If I dont do this, he tries to stop me seeing my friends and going to the gym. When we do have sex, he is much more caring and loving for a few days, but then it all goes downhill until the next time.

I think he would like us to do it every day, whereas once a week is a little too much for me. I do love him, but this is making me so angry.

Your husband is blackmailing you into having sex with him and, as a result, you will feel increasingly angry and enjoy it less and less.

There is a mismatch of sexual desire which a lot of couples experience, but your husband is not handling this well and should not be forcing you.

So choose a good moment to talk to him and explain this. Tell him that you love him, but the way he has been treating you regarding your sex life is hurtful and it has the opposite effect.

Discuss how often you would both like to make love, which may be less than he would prefer and a little more than you would choose, so you will need to agree on a compromise, eg, perhaps once or twice a week.

It is important that he recognises that he has been bullying you. He should apologise and understand that for a woman to want to make love, she needs to feel loved and emotionally close to a man.

Will I be able to trust him again?

Two years ago, I met a man who was divorcing after a long separation. I had also recently broken up with my long-term partner.

We kept our own homes as we did not want to rush things  and we both have children. Both our families were supportive.

Then recently, just as my divorce came near to being finalised, I discovered he was seeing someone else who was free and single. I cut off all contact.

Within a week he was all over me and two months on he still is. He regrets seeing this other woman, says he loves me and wants us to get married. I still love him, but I feel betrayed. What should I do?

This man has let you down and betrayed your trust. If your instincts say that you should end it, that is probably what you should do.

But if he is genuinely sorry, and as you love each other, you could give him one last chance.

However, there are a few buts. Firstly, you would need to make it clear to him that if this ever happened again, there would be no more chances.

Dont marry until trust has been rebuilt and the children are used to you being together.

Secondly, what is his track record in relationships? Have most of them been relatively short term and ended because of his infidelity?

If so, then history is likely to repeat itself. Or has he had mainly long-term relationships and always been faithful before?

If this is the case, and if things remain good between you, you could have a future together.

If you have a problem, write to Zelda West-Meads at: YOU, Northcliffe House, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS, or email z.west-meads@you.co.uk
Abandonment, homelessness, domestic violence, forced marriage, rape and murder. As a child Naz Shah was exposed to them all. Today she is a successful MP. She tells Catherine OBrien how her disastrous start in life became her driving force

MP for Bradford West Naz Shah in front of the Houses of Parliament

For much of the past 18 months since she was elected as an MP, Naz Shahs working week has begun with a 200-mile drive from her constituency in Yorkshire to London. Travelling by car rather than train gives her the flexibility of leaving late Sunday night or early Monday morning, depending on what is happening at home with her three school-age children, and time to switch from domestic to professional mode. But still, every time she pulls into Parliament Square, she admits to having an OMG moment.

Im the little girl who started out working in a laundry and a crisp factory and now Im contributing to the laws of the land, so, yes, its been quite a journey, she says. But Im also very clear that this is where I belong.

Politics is not a profession that demands formal qualifications, but you could be forgiven for thinking  until very recently  that just about everyone inside the Westminster bubble had honed their debating skills in the unions of Oxford or Cambridge. The Labour member for Bradford West, by contrast, can truly claim to be a graduate of the school of life.

British-born but of Pakistani heritage, Naz survived abandonment, homelessness and poverty from the age of six when her father walked out on her mother to elope with their neighbours 16-year-old daughter. At 12,

Naz was taken out of secondary education and sent to Pakistan where, three years later, she was forced into a marriage with a cousin who used his fists  and worse  to communicate. Later, aged 18 and back in the UK, Naz was plunged into another nightmare after her mother Zoora was convicted of murdering the drug dealer who purported to be the family saviour, but, Zoora claims, had in fact raped, beaten and pimped her for more than a decade.

When youve experienced that, there is not much that can frighten you, but there is an awful lot you want to change. And, finally, Im in a position where I can do just that, Naz says.

It comes as no surprise that the assured and straight-talking Naz should feel so instantly at home in Westminster, but today we are in Bradford, where she has just spent the morning at a meet Naz session. Sixty per cent of Bradford West constituents are black and minority ethnic and more than 50 per cent are Muslim. In representing them, Naz believes she is in a position to forge a new type of politics. There are things I can say as an Asian woman that might not land with the same compassion were I a white MP, she explains. She does not balk, for example, at pointing the finger of blame at gangs of Pakistani men for grooming girls in Bradford and elsewhere, and she is scathing of the patriarchal Pakistani culture that has oppressed women for generations.

Naz on the campaign trail in her constituency with former London Mayor and MP Ken Livingstone

As we settle in a corner of her constituency office, I note that she is wearing a business-like blouse with black trousers and high heels  I love my heels, she says. Where does she stand on dress codes for Muslim women? She does not wear the hijab or own a burkini, but on holiday with her children this summer, I wore three-quarter-length leggings and long-sleeved tops in the pool because that is how I feel comfortable. Similarly, Ive never worn a miniskirt  not because I cant, but because I dont have the legs for one.

Its about choice, but it is also about culture and identity. Women should be free to wear whatever they want and shouldnt have to give up anything just because it doesnt fit in with the Western model of feminism. Being covered doesnt always equate to being oppressed, just as being naked doesnt always mean being liberated.

Among the most challenging cases Naz took on this year was that of Samia Shahid, the 28-year-old woman from Bradford who was allegedly raped and strangled in an honour killing in Pakistan. Samia had divorced her first husband  a cousin she had been pressured into marrying  and gone on to marry a man of both a different clan and different Islamic sect  an act that could have been perceived as bringing shame on the family.

Her family initially said that she had died of a heart attack. However, her second husband insisted she had been murdered after being tricked into visiting family in Pakistan on the pretext that her father was gravely ill. Naz intervened, lobbying the Pakistani prime minister directly, and Samias first husband and her father have now been arrested and are being held in custody awaiting a hearing to determine charges.

For me, this is personal, Naz says. Samia was like the girls I grew up with: Bradford born and bred. Maybe it is easier for me to talk about this sort of taboo precisely because it is my community, because she could have been one of my mates.

Naz, 43, is the first born of five children, two of whom died as babies, she later learned, as a consequence of the violence her mother Zoora endured from her husband Abid during pregnancies. Born and educated in Britain, Abid ran a successful furnishing business. Zoora, who was illiterate and spoke almost no English, grew up in Pakistan and came to the UK when she was 20, after their arranged marriage. The relationship was always volatile  Nazs earliest memories are of running to our neighbours because Dad was beating Mum and I had to get them to stop it.

The couple had Naz and a son, Amrahz, and Zoora was pregnant with another daughter, Fozia, when Abid left. His affair with the neighbours daughter had started after he offered her lifts to school. Although Abid was clearly the guilty party, the shame was also Zooras for having failed to be a good enough wife for her husband. The concept of honour is hugely defined by a womans behaviour in our culture, says Naz.

'I started out working in a factory; now Im contributing to the laws of the land,' says Naz

The disgrace  and the fact that her father had taken someone elses daughter  meant they were no longer safe at home. Zoora bundled their belongings into bin bags and they fled first to relatives, then to wherever they could find shelter. In two years, they moved 14 times from squalor to squalor. During winters, they lived in one room because they couldnt afford heating. Naz and her brother contracted tuberculosis, and once she had recovered, Naz would spend the time when she was not at school accompanying her mother to work as a cleaner so that she could act as her interpreter.

Isolated and desperate, Zoora was befriended by Mohammed Azam, a drug dealer from Bradfords criminal underworld, who offered to arrange a mortgage for her in his name, but paid for by the sale of her wedding jewellery and her meagre earnings. At first Azam was Zooras knight in shining armour. He was like an uncle to us  I liked him, Naz recalls. But as children, she and her siblings knew nothing of his dark side.

A married man with his own family, his presence in their lives had to be kept secret, but having secured a financial hold over Zoora, she claims he became her abuser, forcing her to have sex as and when he pleased. She says he also made repeated threats to throw them on to the streets if she disobeyed him, and told her his armed contacts would hunt her down if she ever tried to run away. When he was imprisoned for dealing in heroin, Zoora thought she was finally free of him. Instead, she claims men began knocking on her door demanding sex after their releases from prison because Azam was pimping her from inside jail.

Such a dreadful catalogue of cruelty leaves one with the impression that Zoora was weak and helpless, but, in fact, Naz attributes much of her own resilience to her mothers strength. She was a victim, but she was also incredibly strong as a parent. She absolutely drilled into me that my code of conduct had to be ten times better than that of anyone else because we didnt have a man in the house. My friends could go to the movies but I never did because my behaviour had to be beyond reproach.

When, after his release from prison, Azam allegedly indicated to Zoora that Naz, then 12, might become the next target of his sexual attentions, Zoora hurriedly packed her daughter off to her parents in Pakistan. Until that point, Naz had, despite the deprivation of her upbringing, been happy-go-lucky. I was the family livewire  quick thinking and a bright spark. I just got on with things because I didnt know any different.

But the move to her grandparents house signalled the end of her schooling and childhood. She was expected to cook and clean rather than play outside, and when she was 15, she was coerced into marrying a cousin. My uncle said, If you do not marry my son, your mother will fall out with even more uncles and you dont want that. It was a lot of pressure.

A year later, when she returned to the UK, there was a second wedding ceremony, attended by her mother and other relatives, so that her 18-year-old husband could get a spouses visa. During last years general election campaign, when Naz stood as Labour candidate against the sitting MP and Respect Party candidate George Galloway, he produced the certificate from that wedding and accused her of lying about being forced into marriage at 15.

Naz campaigning for Labour in the 2015 general election

I could have produced evidence as long as my arm, but how much do you argue with a man who just doesnt get it? she says. But George did force me to deal with the emotional fallout of that first marriage, because for years I had been blocking it out.

Naz says that the marriage, which technically lasted a decade (although she was with her ex-husband for only two and a half years on and off), was horrendously violent. She recalls his first serious assault, which was prompted by her saying, Ill see you later to a boy she had gone to school with. It was just an expression, but to my ex-husband, it was evidence that I was having an affair. He slapped me on my ear, which forced a pocket of air to perforate my eardrum causing permanent damage.

On another occasion, he tied me up and held an iron close to my face, threatening to burn me. I was petrified, screaming, crying, begging. Much of the conflict centred around sex. He would complain to my mum, Shes not being my wife. And my mums attitude was, Youre married, get on with it. It is a cultural thing  sex was not something you enjoyed as a wife, it was something you did because it was expected of you. It wasnt about you. Today, I would say to any woman, If youre not happy, get out. You do not belong to anybody.

Zooras arrest following the murder of Azam in 1992  after years of suicide attempts and being treated for depression, she snapped and poisoned him with arsenic in his food  meant that overnight Naz, then aged 18, had to become a mother to her brother and sister, then 13 and 11. I was hopeless, she says. We lived on Pot Noodle. I couldnt manage money or plan for the future. All the time Mum was awaiting trial, I kept thinking she would soon be back to take over.

Instead, Zoora was jailed for life with a minimum of 20 years (she eventually served 14 after her evidence of the abuse she suffered led the home secretary Jack Straw to reduce her sentence). In the aftermath of the trial, Naz attempted suicide by overdose, as did her sister. But her mothers case was then taken up by campaign groups including Southall Black Sisters and Justice for Women, and suddenly Naz realised they were not alone.

What happened to my mum was tragic, but I always say Im blessed because, through her case, I was exposed to some of the best womens rights activists in the country, she says. I learned that when the world seems to be against you, you must stick to your convictions. I also learned that the power of women supporting each other is massive.

At 25, Naz returned to college to sit a maths and English GCSE-equivalent that enabled her to put her years of factory work behind her and embark on a career as a carer for children with disabilities, which then led to her becoming a public involvement coordinator (a patient representative role) with the NHS.

Naz on the ITV show Lorraine

She also became a Samaritan. It was my way of giving back, but it was also a method of deflecting what had happened to me, she admits. When you are dealing with other peoples issues, you dont have to deal with your own. Much later, she had some counselling herself, but I know that I still package away the bad experiences I had by advocating for others. It has become part of who I am.

By the time Zoora was released from prison in 2006, Naz was remarried (she asks me not to publish her second husbands name) with a daughter, Leyana, and son, Aydan. At work, she was seconded to a project aimed at getting more Muslim women into leadership roles. But two weeks into the job, she had serious concerns about the programmes funding arrangements and ended up resigning, turning whistleblower and later winning detriment damages at a tribunal. Although the victor, she claims the stress of the case cost her her marriage, which broke up in 2011 while she was pregnant with her third child, a son, Raese.

Naz says the thought of becoming an MP had not entered her head until the night, in 2014, she agreed to join a friend from the Bradford Muslim Womens Forum at a Labour Party meeting. It was a typical bloke occasion  all the men were downstairs in the bar and the women were sent upstairs to the restaurant, she recalls. Eventually, they gathered together to listen to speaker Khalid Mahmood, the Labour MP for Perry Bar, Birmingham.

He asked how we felt about politics as women and I gave him a colourful answer  something along the lines of it being a mans world and a dirty business. And he said, Why dont you come in and clean it up then? And he was right, because you can be an activist but, ultimately, if you are not in the system, you cant change it.

In May 2015, Naz ousted George Galloway, beating him by more than 11,000 votes. I knew I would win. If anyone was going to take him on, it was me, she says defiantly. And yet her inaugural year as an MP didnt go smoothly. Last April, she was temporarily suspended from the Labour Party after the release of a series of Facebook posts from 2014, including one in which she shared a post stating that Israel should relocate to the US. To her credit, she apologised unreservedly for the offence caused. What I said was ignorant and wrong and I knew the minute it blew up how big it was going to be, she says. But I also know that I am not anti-Semitic.

I learned that when the world is against you, you must stick by your convictions

Naz happily confesses to being a workaholic. During the three or four nights a week she is in Westminster, her children stay with their father. The rest of the time, they are with Naz in her two-bedroom cottage in Yorkshire. (I keep thinking about an extension, but its never the right time, she says. Perhaps I just dont prioritise bricks and mortar.)

Having seen first her father, who died of cancer 13 years ago, lose everything when he walked out on his marriage, and then her mother lose everything twice  once with the breakdown of her marriage and again with her imprisonment  Naz says she avoids attachment to worldly goods. What is important is stability for her children. She and her ex-husband work hard together as parents because the biggest thing for us is that they know they are loved and are the centre of everything we do.

Often at home with Naz and the children is Zoora, who is now 64 and sleeps some nights at Nazs house and others at the homes of her son and other daughter in a sort of informal shared-care arrangement. Her time in prison has left her claustrophobic, but we dont talk about it these days, says Naz. Zoora is intensely proud that her daughter is an MP, and Naz is pleased that her mother feels that some of her izzat (honour) has been restored. But my future isnt about my mum any more. Its about my children, she says.

Raese is five, Aydan nine and Leyana 12  the same age Naz was when she was sent to Pakistan. But there will be no arranged marriage for her children, and no curtailment of Leyanas schooling. As an MP, I am passionate about social mobility, bridging the gaps in race and gender inequality and changing the world my children are growing up in, she says. And if my daughter ends up going to university  maybe even to Oxford or Cambridge  that would be amazing. But as a mother, it is also my job to ensure they keep their feet on the ground and appreciate how privileged they are.
Though the cash crisis following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has hit the people badly, the banking staff too have suffered great hardships to make the transition to the new legal tender.

They have been threatened by local goons, manhandled at times by impatient crowds and even faced the ire of non-BJP governments.

The right-wing National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) claimed that banking staff needed more protection and support from the Centre as well as the state governments even in the coming days to make the transition to the new legal tender.

BJP workers at the partys Sankalp Yatra in Delhi in favour of demonetisation and against black money & corruption

The NOBW claims that the banking staff is wearing out fast due to the initial rush to the banks and then the cash crunch.

The NOBW is an affiliate of the right-wing workers' union, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) founded by RSS pracharak and economic thinker Dattopant Bapurao Thengadi, who also founded the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS).

Ashwani Rana, vice president of NOBW, told Mail Today: "Bankers had to face a lot of trouble even as we support the move. While the logic behind demonetisation is clear, the preparation was not up to the mark.

"We understand that prior announcement could have benefitted undesirable elements, but it has been extremely difficult to deal with the crisis.

BJP Workers during BJP's Sankalp March for fight against black money corruption

"We believe the worst phase has passed, but bankers too are at their wits' ends and need to be pacified with better facilities," said Rana.

The NOBW also claimed that several complaints of manhandling and having been held at gun point too were received by it from different parts of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

"Non-BJP governments are not cooperating with the banks. Bankers need to be protected against goons who have forced branch managers to exchange old notes at gun point. Moreover, cash chests could not be moved freely in the hinterland as police did not provide guards," Rana said.

Rana attacked politicians who have only been 'making noise' over the issue and did nothing to help solve the problem.

"Political leaders are busy shouting slogans against demonetisation in the name of the poor and farmers, but I wonder how many of them went to their constituencies and tried to help the people.

How many parties pressed in their volunteers to help manage, for instance, people in queues?" he asked.

The organisation also criticised the directive to open accounts for all workers, including daily-wagers and contractual, so that their salaries could be transferred directly into the accounts.

"It is a good move. Now businessmen will not be able to hide the actual wages that are being paid, which are many a time less than minimum wages.

"But we have been burdened with it when we are already reeling under the cash crisis. The labour department should take the lead in this," Rana said.

Yechury's swipe at 'Maun Modi'

Yechury said demonetisation would have a deep impact on Indian economy on a medium term basis as it would take at least six months for things to settle down.

Backing former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's demonetisation comments in Parliament, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury called Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'Narendra Maun Modi' for remaining silent in Parliament over the issue.

"Narendra Modi used to call Manmohan Singh 'Maun Mohan Singh'. In this Parliament session, the tables have turned.

Manmohan Singh spoke rather eloquently and it was Modi who was sitting silent and did not come back to Parliament after the break," Yechury told reporters.

Yechury said demonetisation would have a deep impact on Indian economy on a medium term basis as it would take at least six months for things to settle down.
Punjab Congress Chief Amarinder Singh exuded confidence that the party would come to power in the state with two-thirds majority, as he kicked off the second phase of his roadshow.

Reaching out to people of Patiala district, he promised to waive off farmer debts and vowed to protect the water of Punjab at all costs.

On allocation of tickets, the PPCC chief said the scrutiny committee will meet on November 29 and 30, followed by a meeting of the Congress Election Committee on December 3, to discuss the matter.

Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh during his roadshow in Patiala

He said winnability would be the sole criterion in candidate selection, and denied any major dispute in the party on ticket distribution.

To a question on the possibility of former Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu joining the Congress, Amarinder said: "Sidhu was currently shooting in Mumbai and would be with the party once back."

Joined by wife and former Union minister Preneet Kaur, Amarinder made several halts along the way as he kicked off his high-tech bus roadshow from Shambu border in Ghanur.

Captain dismissed PM Modi's statement on the Indus water treaty as political posturing ahead of the elections

Talking to media along the roadshow route, he said once in power, Congress will take over the liabilities of the farmers and pay their capital and interest.

On demonetisation, former Punjab CM reiterated that while the objectives of the initiative were fine, but the implementation was totally unplanned, causing extremely hardships to the common people.

Describing SYL as a major election issue, Amarinder said: "This region (Rajpura, Ghanaur and surrounding areas) was faced with a dire water crisis and the SYL canal could not be allowed to be built at any cost."

Rejecting as an outright lie the Badals' allegation that he had carried a silver 'tasla/kassi' for the foundation laying ceremony of SYL, Amarinder said he had carried a silver 'tasla' only once - during the 1984 kar seva at the Golden Temple.

He dismissed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on the Indus water treaty as political posturing ahead of the elections.
In the first and admittedly direct fallout of the seventh pay commission among other issues, the Indian Navy (IN) has admitted to a 'spike' witnessed this year in the number of its officers wanting to resign or seek Premature Retirement (PR).

Data shows it is the highest in the last seven years.

In the leaked note, Commodore Rajesh Dhankar, Principal Director of Personnel, Indian Navy, predicted a continuation in the present trend of 'increase in the number of PR requests.'

Navy is considering a slew of steps to make it difficult for the officers to exit due to the provisions of the seventh pay commission

To 'manage the change', the Navy is considering a slew of steps.

A dialogue has been initiated between the naval headquarters and the three commands in Mumbai, Vizag and Kochi.

Those within the force, are seeing this move as a tightening of stance, aimed at stemming the flow and making it more difficult for officers to exit.

The cause, according to sources, is the seventh pay commission, the implementation of which was notified in July this year.

The three service chiefs have represented against many of Pay commission clauses before the Defence Minister Parrikar (pictured)

There has been widespread criticism of the provisions by the Defence veterans.

The three service chiefs too, have represented against many of its clauses before the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister.

Insiders believe the provisions to be 'hurtful' and say 'they do not help the cause of attracting the best talent.'

As a measure of the resistance to the Pay Commission, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had claimed he would ensure the deletion of its recommendations, a move which has not yielded till now.

Navy's data shows till date, in the current year, 135 cases of PR have been received.

Compare this to 69 cases in 2015, 91 in 2014, 96 in 2013, 132 in 2012, 122 in 2011, 114 in 2010 and 125 in 2009 and the situation speaks for itself.

At present, for seeking PR applications, requests are made between three-twelve months of the intended date of exit.

While the Navy did not respond to a set of questions sent, a source said: 'We have no problem if officers who see no future in the force want to resign. However, we have to ensure it does not happen in a way that important positions remain unmanned.'

Playing down the 'impact' of resignations, the source said: 'This may appear big, but it is only marginally higher than what we had anticipated. One must understand that when a pay commission is about to be awarded, those who've been wanting to go also stay on because one's pay gets revised and it has a direct fallout on the pension they will draw.'

With the pay commission being notified, those waiting have decided to bolt for better opportunities.

According to an assessment shared by a senior officer: 'We are getting the numbers. But when we look at the quality, it leaves a lot to be desired. Obviously, we won't be lowering the bar to accommodate subpar candidates which leaves us with deficiencies.'

Many pointed to the consistent woes of armed forces, which have precipitated ugly, public spats, impact impressionable minds as factors keeping youngsters away from choosing the armed forces for a career.

This comes at a time when the Navy has been grappling with a 17 per cent shortfall in the number of sanctioned officers.

The Indian Army has an even bigger shortfall at 23 per cent while the Indian Air Force (IAF) is better placed with barely 4 per cent shortfall.
Lt General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who has extensive experience of handling affairs in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the northern areas, was appointed as Pakistan's new army chief to succeed Gen Raheel Sharif.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Bajwa as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) by elevating him to the rank of four-star general, officials said.

Twitter is abuzz with Pakistani natives posting hailing the appointment of new General. A hashtag #QamarJavedbajwa trended as soon as the news was announced.

Bajwa will take charge of the world's sixth largest army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when General Raheel formally retires.

Bajwa will take charge of the world's sixth largest army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when General Raheel formally retires.

Raheel in January had declared he would not seek extension.

"I will retire on the due date," he had said.

However, there was speculation that the PML-N government would give him extension at the eleventh hour citing reasons that he was needed by the country to lead the war on terror.

Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif has confirmed that Bajwa was appointed as COAS and Zubair Hayat as Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

"May God help us in these decisions and new appointments," he said.

Bajwa was serving as Inspector General of the Training and Evaluation. He has also commanded the famed 10 Corps, the army's largest, which is responsible for the area along the Line of Control (LoC).

As a major general, he led the Force Command Northern Areas and also served in the 10 Corps as lieutenant colonel.

Speculations made rounds that Gen Sharif's term will be extended

He also served with a UN mission in Congo as a brigade commander alongside former Indian army chief Gen Bikram Singh, who was also there as a division commander.

Previously, he also remained the commandant of the Infantry School in Quetta.

The new army chief has wide experience of LoC affairs due to his extensive involvement with PoK and northern areas, reports said here.

His military colleagues say he is not attention-seeking and remains well-connected with his troops.
A group of heavily-armed men breached the three-tier security defenses at Punjab's Nabha Jail on Sunday morning, successfully freeing six of Punjab's most notorious convicts.

The targets for the jailbreak included Khalistan Liberation Force militant Harminder Singh Mintoo, in what is already being billed as the most brazen attack on a jail in the state's history.

One of the accomplices has been arrested in western Uttar Pradesh with the automatic weapons kept in a Toyota SUV used in the jailbreak.

An Indian police officer stands near the gate of the Nabha maximum-security prison in Punjab

Armed men in police uniforms free five in Punjab jailbreak At least 10 armed men disguised as policemen stormed a high-security prison in India's Punjab state Sunday and freed a top Sikh militant commander and four others, officials said. The attackers, who travelled in cars, stabbed and injured a guard at the main gate of Nabha Jail in Patiala district and fired several shots before fleeing with the inmates. Two other guards were injured by the firing during the incident, India's second major jailbreak in less than a month. A state-wide alert has been declared and special teams formed to hunt down the attackers, said H S Dhillon, Punjab director-general of police for law and order. Police sealed all entry and exit routes in the state. They identified one of the fugitives as Harminder Singh Mintoo, chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) - a militant group fighting for a Sikh homeland in Punjab. Mintoo was arrested in 2014 and is on trial for "terror attacks and funding". The four others are part of a local criminal gang and were on trial for murder. Local media reports said the attackers numbered around 20 and that six prisoners had escaped. Advertisement

Mail Today has learnt that the police will be investigating the role of its own officials who may have compromised the jail security.

This is second time after Pathankot terror attack when the integrity of state police officials has been brought to question.

Security experts told Mail Today that the operation is in all likelihood an attempt to revive militancy in Punjab and opening a parallel front in the border state alongside Jammu & Kashmir.

Escaped terrorist Mintoo is believed to have made frequent trips to Pakistan before he was arrested in November 2014 from IGI International Airport.

Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said in a tweeted: 'Pak desperate to revive terror post-surgical strike. Could be behind jail break'.

Badal, who spoke to National Security Advisor Ajit Doval after the incident, also suspended additional DGP (Jails) MK Tewari and the superintendent and deputy superintendent of Nabha Jail.

An investigation by Mail Today revealed that the security of the outer cover of this jail was given to a private agency which is run by retired army jawans who were not prepared to deal with the attack.

Another fact which points a finger towards the suspicious role of jail officials is that the police did not fire even a single shot in their defence whereas the attackers used around 200 rounds of fire.

The attackers, clearly did not want to kill any police as not one of the dozens of jail guards at the scene were injured in gunfire.

Inspector general of the Patiala Police Range AS Chahal told reporters that a group of six to eight men, all attired in Punjab Police uniforms, entered the heavily-guarded prison around 8:30 am in four vehicles, firing indiscriminately with weapons including Klashnikovs.

A group of heavily-armed men breached the three-tier security defenses at Punjab's Nabha Jail on Sunday morning, seeking to free six of Punjab's most notorious convicts

According to the IG, the group succeeded in breaching the three-tier security of the correctional facility, by convincing sentries that they had brought a prisoner in for verification.

'As soon as he opened the main gate the men rushed in and overpowered the jail guards,' a prison officer said also revealing that all the six escapees evidently knew of the plan to spring them from captivity.

'They were all waiting, conveniently close to the gate and leapt aboard the waiting vehicles while their accomplices opened indiscriminate fire,' he said.

Meanwhile, UP Police ADG, Law and Order, Daljit Chaudhary told reporters that a team is interrogating the arrested accomplice Parminder and sharing information with IB and other central agencies.

Sources said there were two more persons travelling with Parminder but they managed to escape.

Besides Mintoo, the men who managed to escape include Kashmir Singh, another Khalistani terrorist arrested for the murderous assault on Punjab Shiv Sena secretary Harvinder Soni in April 2015.

Who is Harminder Singh Mintoo? Harminder Singh Mintoo (centre) is the leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force, which was created with the motive of establishing a separate sovereign autonomous Sikh state of Khalistan. The movement, which dates back to the pre-independence era and KLF is one among the many militant groups supporting the cause of Khalistan. Founded in 1986 by Aroor Singh and Sukhwinder Singh Babbar, the group in 1995 was listed as one of the four major militant group in Khalistan movement. This group is reportedly involved in a number of terrorist activities and assassinations, primarily in Punjab. According to sources, Mintoo was influenced by the radical ideology and developed contacts with Pakistan based terrorist leaders, particularly Wadhawa Singh, the chief of Babbar Khalsa Internationalanother militant outfit. The 49-year-old militant was part of the Wadhawa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International till 2009, when he switched sides to lead its splinter group KLF. He was using Thailand as his base to mobilise funds for the banned organisation and also used online resources to enlist support for the Khalistan cause and to radicalise youth. He was wanted for an attack on Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and for plotting assassination of Shiv Sena leaders. Advertisement

The others are top gangsters - Vicky Gounder, Amandeep Dhotian, Gurpreet Sekhon, and Neetu Sekhon.

Nabha jail, spread over an area of 22 acre, is one of the few jails which have been given maximum security title.

The jail houses nearly 1000 inmates out of which nearly 400 deemed 'highly sensitive' being known terrorists and gangsters.

Police officials investigate after five inmates of Nabha Jail including dreaded Khalistan ultra and Khalistan Liberation Force

The jail is guarded by about 250 police officials besides a strong 150 CCTV camera surveillance network.

A cobra wire which has 240 volts current is also being used to stop jail break. The main gate, from where the terrorists escaped is 22 feet high.

Alerts have been sounded across Haryana, Rajasthan, HimachalPradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it will re-investigate 286 cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as it is 'determined to render speedy justice to affected families'.

The decision assumes significance as the Punjab assembly elections are drawing close and the emotive issue may once again take the centre stage.

In an affidavit submitted to the SC, the home ministry said: (The) 'Government has all the right intention to render justice to the victims of riots as early as possible.'

The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that it will re-investigate 286 cases related to the 1984 anti-Sikh riots as it is 'determined to render speedy justice to affected families'

The affidavit was filed in response to a petition filed by one S Gurlad Singh Kahlon, a member of Delhi Gurudwara Management Committee.

The petition had sought monitoring of the working of the Special Investigation Team constituted on February 12, 2015, to ensure speedy justice to the riots victims.

Over 700 Sikhs were killed in the carnage following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984.

The petitioner argued that the SIT had already got an extension for a year but there was an inordinate delay in prosecution of the cases and further delay would prejudice the trial.

The Golden Temple in Amritsar India. In 1984 it was the scene of an assault by the Indian Army as they sought to flush out Sikh separatists

However, the MHA rejected the plea saying, 'Since the ministry is already monitoring the progress of investigation which is at an advance stage, there is no requirement of monitoring the SIT by another agency at this stage.

Various measures have been taken by the government and the SIT also has been constituted for the very purpose of rendering justice to the aggrieved parties.'

'Various actions have been taken by the ministry to strengthen SIT and the progress is regularly monitored,' the MHA added.

According to the affidavit, out of the 650 cases registered in connection with anti-Sikh riots in 1984, it had been found that 18 were cancelled and 268 case files are untraceable.

The SIT had taken up scrutiny of these 286 cases for the purpose of re-investigation or further probe.

'As of now, 218 cases are under various stages of scrutiny. So far, 22 cases have been identified for further investigation. The SIT has issued public notices with regard to these 22 cases prior to proceeding further', the affidavit said.

Explaining the 'inordinate delay' alleged by the petitioner, the ministry said lapse of 32-years was taking a toll on collection of relevant documents and case files from police stations and courts.

Over 700 Sikhs were killed in the carnage following the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984

In many cases, documents were in Urdu or Gurmukhi and this was further delaying their scrutiny.

'The cases being very old, there has been difficulty in collating and scrutinizing records. It is also ensured that the cases are properly examined before any decision is taken,' it said.

'Notwithstanding the difficulties, the SIT has taken up the challenge and all efforts are being made to examine the cases minutely and due care is being taken to scrutinize the cases with a view to render speedy justice to affected families,' it said.

The government said the home ministry was monitoring the progress in SIT probe into the cases every fortnight.

The Centre had constituted a committee headed by G P Mathur on December 23, 2014 and the committee on January 22, 2015 had recommended setting up of an SIT.

On the basis of the recommendation, the government set up an SIT on February 12, 2015 comprising IPS officer Pramod Asthana as its chairman.
Householders are cancelling healthcare insurance policies in the face of rising insurance taxes, the boss of AXA UK, Amanda Blanc, warned this weekend.

This is the sharp end of the controversial rise in insurance premium taxes over recent years.

And for Blanc, who is head of the group that has ten million UK customers, it is clear evidence the Government insurance tax policy is bad for consumers and the Government as more people abandon private health insurance and fall back on the NHS.

In charge: AXA UK boss Amanda Blanc

For the average private medical insurance policy its 52 more in tax, Blanc says of the latest rise.

These are people taking the burden off the NHS. People are looking at it and saying thats a really big increase in the premium, she warns.

The 49-year-old is outspoken with a good sense of humour, tweeting her views on the industry through an account called Amandas Shoes as well as through her official AXA CEO account.

She has adopted her light-hearted online profile set up originally by colleagues  insurance commando and shoe aficionado  with gusto.

Blanc pulls no punches. As well as decrying the Chancellor, she has some choice words for injury claims lawyers and thinks stronger defences may not always be the best solution to the seemingly growing problem of flooding. AXA paid out 80 million for last Decembers storms alone.

But first that insurance tax hike.

AXA UK is the second largest player in the health insurance market, so it is understandably vocal about the Chancellors latest tax raid. In many other European countries personal medical insurance policies are not taxed, she says.

Claims: Blanc says flood defences in Carlisle were ineffective, while she welcomes whiplash reforms

Insurance premium tax has become a cash-cow for the Treasury recently. Former Chancellor George Osborne raised it from 5 per cent to 6 per cent in his first Budget in 2010.

It was then hiked to 10 per cent in two successive Budgets last year and up to 12 per cent in last weeks Autumn Statement, and will raise 13 billion over the next five years.

Blanc spells out what the latest hike means. For households that have got car insurance its 32 more, and 12.50 is added to an average building and contents policy.

The insurance industry has thrown everything at trying to convince the Government this stealth tax is a bad idea.

It will hit young drivers particularly hard given the huge premiums they face and experts are expecting a rise in uninsured drivers as a result.

The tax is due to raise more than beer, wine, spirits and air passenger duty, the ABI says, which adds that it is now the sixth highest insurance levy in Europe.

On the front foot: Blanc is a shoe 'aficionado' - owning a pair emblazoned with the Union Jack

The increase to 12 per cent is hugely penal on people the Government is trying to help, Blanc says, referring to those who are just about managing  the group Prime Minister Theresa May says her Government will act for.

It affects businesses too. Respected economic think-tank, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, argued last week that hikes to IPT would end up distorting the economy, encouraging sectors that do not need much insurance over those that do.

One of the frustrations for the insurance industry is that the latest hikes came on the back of some good news  reforms to whiplash claims that will stop cash payouts.

The whiplash reforms would save about 43 per policy, but the IPT increase costs a household more than 100.

'Theyre giving with one hand and taking with another, Blanc says. Having said that, she says the industry is hugely encouraged by the whiplash changes. In France only 30 per cent of claims are whiplash, here it is 80 per cent, she says.

FROM HEALTHCARE TO VINEYARDS, THE FIRM IS WORTH 45BN The AXA group is one of the largest insurance businesses in the world with more than 100 million global customers. AXA UK is one of the largest insurers in Britain with about ten million customers and specialises in general and healthcare insurance. - UK turnover last year was 2.2billion with underlying profits of 138million. - The group can trace its history to insurance groups formed in the early 18th Century, but the AXA name was created in the 1980s. - Listed on the Paris stock market, the group is valued at 53 billion (45 billion) and has worldwide revenues of 98 billion (83 billion). - The group has invested in top vineyards including Port producer Quinta Do Noval and Sauternes vineyard Chateau Suduiraut.

How does she know this is related to an alleged compensation culture though? The answer to that is simple: Claims are going up in areas where claims management companies have their headquarters, she says.

Claimant lawyers need to admit they are the problem. They say we are profiteering. Our margin on motor insurance is 2 per cent, and over the last 15 years car insurers have had one or two years of profit.

Another thing driving up motor insurance premiums is the increasing technological sophistication of cars  which means that replacement parts following a crash are rising in cost. Given many are made abroad, they will go up further as a result of Brexit and the collapse in sterling, Blanc says.

AXA has been stung too by flooding. Blanc believes that as well as investing on defences, there should be more focus on resilience and recovering from floods.

That means building properties with electric plugs halfway up the walls rather than at floor level, and using stone flooring instead of carpets.

Its clear that in Carlisle, the flood defences didnt help at all, there was a huge amount of trapped water in premises and flooding was worse.

The insurer is building a resilient house with the Building Research Establishment in Watford to show it could be attractive and no more expensive than a standard home.

A mother of two girls aged fourteen and ten, Blanc lives in London with her husband, who gave up work so she could pursue her career.

She became chief executive of AXA UK earlier this year, and away from work likes to take part in sportives  mass long-distance cycle races.
Newtown's school superintendent says the fourth anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre will be marked by a full day of classes and quiet reflection.

Superintendent Joseph Eradi sent an email to parents this week saying how the school intends to reflect and remember the horrific massacre, reported the Connecticut Post.

A memorial left on the grounds of Sandy Hook in 2012, five days after the tragedy - this year's fourth anniversary will be marked by quiet contemplation and a full day of classes

The new $50million Sandy Hook Elementary (above) was completed in August

On the one year anniversary (above), locals asked media to stay away and it will be doing the same this year on the fouth

'I am certain that many of you will join me in finding private space for personal reflection as the Newtown community continues to recover from an unconscionable act of violence. 'If requested by parents, school staff will provide talking points for parents to assist them with personal conversations with their child.'

On December 14, 2012, gunman Adam Lanza entered the school and shot to death 20 first graders and six educators. He also killed himself and his mother.

As happened last year, leaders of the town's Interfaith Clergy Association are expected to lead a private prayer service with staff before classes begin.

There will also be an evening remembrance service at Trinity Episcopal Church.

The healing of Newtown continues as residents and students will quietly reflect on the horror of that day (above) when 20 students and six educators were murdered by gunman Adam Lanza, who then shot himself

The school day will start with a moment of silence and then age-appropriate messages for students.

Since media camera crews and commotion can trigger post-traumatic stress syndromes symptoms for some children, the media is being asked to stay away from the town during the anniversary, and is banned from school grounds, reports the outlet.

In August, the new $50million Sandy Hook school opened after the former school was demolished.
In 2005, the family of a young woman was told to say their goodbyes after she was brutally beaten and left for dead in a burning house.

The then 18-year-old was given a five per cent chance of survival after she was found bound and unconscious in the garage of her burning family home in Western Sydney.

Now, Lauren Huxley has made a full recovery and will turn 30 on Christmas Eve, Fairfax Media reported.

Lauren Huxley at her 30th birthday party in Sydney on Saturday afternoon

Lauren Huxley eleven years ago, who was barely alive while she spent six months in Westmead Hospital

Lauren had an early birthday party on Saturday as friends and family celebrated her bright and positive attitude that got her through the tough times.

'I've always been very determined... I was able to prove them all wrong,' she told Fairfax Media.

She says she is now happier than ever.

That is a stark contrast to the Lauren Huxley eleven years ago, who was barely alive while she spent six months in Westmead Hospital.

She endured nine major surgeries and countless procedures and was left partially brain-damaged.

Her assailant was Robert Black Farmer. He was jailed for more than 20 years for bashing Lauren repeatedly with fibro cutters, dousing her in petrol and leaving her for dead in her burning Northmead home.

Farmer has a long criminal history. He was in court for stealing thousands of litres of petrol just one month before the attack and has also been convicted of armed robbery with wounding.

But, with lengthy rehabilitation and an enthusiastic mindset, Lauren is now fully independent with a full-time job and has a great life.

She recently spoke at an event raising awareness about violence against women.

'Never be ashamed of your scars, as it simply means that you were, and are, stronger than the person that tried to hurt you,' Lauren told the audience.

As for the future, Lauren hopes to travel over the world, find love and start a family.

'Mostly, I just want to live that normal life I was told I would never have,' she said.

She endured nine major surgeries and countless procedures and was left partially brain-damaged

Lauren Huxley on a bus in Sydney on the day she was found bound and unconscious in the garage of her family home in Western Sydney

The then 18-year-old was given a 5 per cent chance of survival after she was left for dead

Lauren Huxley's 30th Birthday Celebrations at The Argyle, 11 year's after she was the victim of a brutal home invasion by a stranger

Ms Huxley (second from right) was at court for the sentencing of Robert Black Farmer, who was given a 24 year sentence for attempting to murder her

Lauren Huxley (left) an Australian assault victim who was brutally beaten and left for dead and her father Pat, smile after meeting Pope Benedict XVI at an event for young disadvantaged
Del Conde spent a year in prison for helping the revolutionaries, but eventually made it to Cuba to celebrate with his friends

The 90-year-old met Castro in 1950s and gave him the boat and weapons

The man who helped a young Fidel Castro set sail for Cuba in a weapons-filled yacht has been left speechless and devastated by the death of his old friend.

Mexico City gun dealer Antonio del Conde, nicknamed 'The Friend', praised the Cuban leader on Saturday for changing his life, as well as that of many people around the world.

Del Conde, nicknamed 'The Friend,' met Castro in the 1950s and bought him Granma, the boat Castro used to sail from Mexico to Cuba. There, insurgents started the revolution that toppled US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista two years later.

'I have no words,' del Conde said in an interview at his home in Mexico City. 'He changed my life, like he changed the lives of many people in different countries around the world.'

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Mexico City gun dealer Antonio del Conde (pictured next to a photograph of Fidel Castro) said Saturday from his Mexico apartment that Castro's death had left him speechless

Castro and 81 others traveled on a boat bought by del Conde to Cuba in 1956. Castro is pictured practicing shooting in Mexico during the preparations of the uprising

Cuban leader Raul Castro said his brother died late on Friday, exactly 60 years since Fidel and a band of armed comrades left from the port of Tuxpan on Mexico's Gulf coast.

Fidel was 90 years old, the same age as del Conde.

'When my friend told me... I was silent,' del Conde said, speaking from his modest apartment in southern Mexico City.

Del Conde spent a year in prison for helping the revolutionaries, but eventually made it to Cuba to celebrate with his friends.

A sepia-toned photograph hung on the wall, showing del Conde drinking malt beer over dinner with a bearded Fidel, Raul and left-wing icon Ernesto 'Che' Guevara after the revolution.

'He changed my life, like he changed the lives of many people in different countries around the world,' del Conde said of Castro (pictured in April this year)

HOW A RAMSHACKLE BOAT BROUGHT REVOLUTION TO CUBA Granma, a 60-foot, diesel-powered yacht (pictured), took 82 insurgents from Mexico to Cuba in 1956 - the first step in Fidel Castro's revolution Fidel Castro, his brother Raul, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and 79 other insurgents left in the early hours of November 25, 1956 on the Granma yacht. They made it to Cuba from Mexico in a week, arriving on December 2. 'Che' Guevara later described their arrival as 'less a landing than a shipwreck'. The 82 men spent a week on the 60-foot, diesel-powered boat, built for only eight to 12 passengers. They had to take turns standing up and sitting down while the boat struggled through terrible weather. It started raining as soon as the boat left Tuxpan on November 25 and the rest of the journey took them through rough seas, causing some men to get seasick. All got soaking wet and the group ran out of food. Weather conditions delayed their intended arrival by two days. When they finally made it to Cuba, they had to walk to the coast while holding their weapons above their heads, out of the water. It is estimated that only a quarter of the men made it to Cuba's Sierra Maestra, with the rest of them getting killed or captured. Sources: Smithsonian magazine and History Today Advertisement

Del Conde first met Castro in 1955, when the young revolutionary walked into his arms shop in the Mexican capital saying he wanted to buy something.

'I replied, "Sir, I don't know who you are, but I'm going to help you," ' del Conde said. 'It was Fidel Castro.'

Del Conde (pictured) bought the Granma for Castro and furnished it with weapons

Del Conde bought the Granma yacht from an American couple for the Cubans and loaded it with weapons and fuel.

The yacht, only designed to hold a few people, was said to have been named after the grandmother of its original owner. It later gave its name to Cuba's Communist Party newspaper.

The 82 insurgents, including Raul and 'Che' Guevara, left Mexico in the early hours of November 25, 1956, to land in Cuba a week later. They overthrew Batista in just over two years.

This week, before news of Castro's death was announced, a group including del Conde gathered in Tuxpan in Veracruz state to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the boat's departure.

'I asked for a round of applause for 'The Commander' Fidel Castro; we all stood up and clapped,' del Conde said.

The original yacht now sits inside a glass case outside the Museum of the Revolution in the Cuban capital, Havana.

'We have to keep his image alive,' del Conde said, 'as if he were with us, very close to us.'
Foreign Secretary made his first visit to Afghanistan this weekend

He said sniping against Johnson from inside Whitehall had to stop

Tory MP allies of Boris Johnson launched a thinly veiled attack on Theresa May and Philip Hammond yesterday for publicly mocking the Foreign Secretary.

Jake Berry, a close personal and political ally of Johnson, leapt to his defence saying sniping against Johnson from inside Whitehall had to stop.

His comment was clearly aimed at Downing Street, where the sniping against Johnson has been led by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.

Tory MP allies of Boris Johnson (pictured in Lahore, Pakistan, on Friday) launched a thinly veiled attack on Theresa May and Philip Hammond for publicly mocking the Foreign Secretary

Johnson has faced additional flak from Europe, with EU ambassadors describing him as no longer amusing and saying his wit does not always travel well.

And he was called insulting by the Italian economics minister for claiming Rome would veto trade tariffs on the UK to protect prosecco sales.

Boriss supporters believe the Downing Street-led jibes have helped to encourage the attacks by undermining his status.

The Foreign Secretarys friends swung into action as he showcased his serious side by making his first visit to Afghanistan this weekend.

And his fightback will continue next week when he makes a major foreign policy speech on Britains post-Brexit place in the world.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Mr Berry said: Boris has spent this weekend in Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

And what are his armchair critics doing? Sniping from the comfort of Whitehall.

They need to get behind him if Britain is going to succeed with Brexit.

The comments were directed at Downing Street, where the sniping against Johnson has been led by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor

The Foreign Secretary said: Afghanistan is an amazing country and Im incredibly proud of the work that the UK is doing here to challenge extremism and terrorism, promote democracy and human rights and support the Afghan governments reform plans.

British military trainers are improving the ability of the Afghan military to stabilise the country and respond to extremism, and our development work means girls are defying extremists by going to school and university.

Our work also means that terrorism is increasingly tackled at source.

Hundreds of British men and women continue to work here for noble reasons, in often highly dangerous circumstances, and we continue to owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the vital contribution that they are making.

Berry has a reputation for standing up for Johnson. When he was knifed by Michael Gove in the Tory leadership contest, Berry said there was a deep pit reserved in hell for him.

Another Conservative MP said: If May and Hammond want Boris to be able to help Britain get a good Brexit deal they had better start treating him with the respect he deserves.

Every time they take potshots at him in public, it encourages others to do the same here and in Brussels. He deserves better.

Hammond humiliated Johnson last week during his Commons Autumn Statement over his bungled bid to become PM in the summer.

Turning Johnsons 2013 quip that he could run for Tory leader if the ball came loose at the back of the scrum against him, Hammond said: I suspect that I will prove no more adept at pulling rabbits from hats than (Boris) at retrieving balls from the back of scrums.

OUCH! THOSE BOJO JIBES What Hammond said ' I suspect that I will prove no more adept at pulling rabbits from hats than [Boris] retrieving balls from the back of the scrum' What he meant So much for your leadership bid Boris... you dropped the ball What May said 'Boris, the dog was put down when its master [Michael Heseltine] decided it wasnt needed anymore' What she meant Get back in your basket, Buster Advertisement

Johnson, standing a few feet away, was furious as MPs, including May, roared with laughter.

Earlier this month, the PM teased him after he had joked about Michael Heseltine throttling his dog. Mrs May said: Boris, the dog was put down when its master decided it wasnt needed any more. And she used him as the butt of her humour in her main party conference speech by joking about her struggles to keep him on message.

Last weeks Mail on Sunday reported that Boris made a bumbling performance in the Cabinet Brexit committee when he appeared to have brought the wrong papers with him.

Johnson angrily denied the claims and friends said it was part of a whispering campaign against him.

Boriss task is not made any easier by the turf war with his fellow Brexiteers, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Brexit Secretary David Davis, which has limited his influence.

His trip to Afghanistan and Pakistan signals the start of a drive by the Foreign Secretary to shed his bumbling image and command more respect among his international counterparts.

During the trip, which required Boris to wear body armour and travel in heavily protected convoys, he burnished his statesman credentials by holding talks with Afghan president Ashraf Ghani over the volatile security situation and visited a military training academy where British troops are trying to help Afghan forces to build a professional army. He laid a wreath at the British war memorial in Kabul and met our troops stationed at the citys airport.

He also saw the results of tying British investment to extending opportunities for women by watching a production of Macbeth which, unusually for the strictly Muslim country, featured female actors.

In his speech next week, Boris will set out his personal vision for the post-Brexit world order for the first time, addressing the forces which propelled Donald Trump into the White House, the future of Nato, the geopolitical threat posed by Russian president Putin and the destabilising effects of the Syrian conflict and the migrant crisis.

Another pro-Boris Tory MP said yesterday: It is obvious that Downing Street is determined to take Boris down a peg. The below the belt comments are no longer funny.
It was an excruciating moment as Prince Harry was left biting his lip and fiddling with his shirt when the Prime Minister of Antigua joked about his romance with US actress Meghan Markle.

But yesterday the islands premier Gaston Browne refused to apologise for suggesting the couple might like to honeymoon on his island and said he had not been trying to pimp the prince when he introduced him to a group of beauty queens.

Speaking exclusively to The Mail on Sunday yesterday, Mr Browne admitted his comments, made last week during Harrys visit to the island, may have been awkward for the Prince.

Prince Harry listens as Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne speaks at a reception

Local dancers perform for Prince Harry at the party on Monday evening, which was held in Barnacle Point, Antigua

Prince Harry chats to Miss Antigua & Barbuda (left), Leanda Ann Norville, and Island beauty Queens

Earlier in the day, Harry visited the Vermont Trail, where he spoke to staff members

But he said: You apologise if there was an offence. It wasnt something that made the Prince upset, or created any problems.

The foot-in-mouth moment came when Mr Browne told Harry at a reception in front of 300 guests last week: I believe we are expecting a new princess soon. I want you to know that you are very welcome to come on your honeymoon here.

Then, introducing the Prince to a group of scantily clad dancers, the Prime Minister joked: Whatever is done here, stays here. So do not worry.

Mr Browne tried to explain his comments yesterday, describing Miss Markle as extremely gorgeous and a class act, and adding she would make beautiful babies with Prince Harry.

He said: As he is in what appears to be a serious relationship, I would imagine there is a possibility they could get married. I do accept that whenever the subject of marriage is raised it is going to create a little awkward feeling for a male.

I can imagine that he would have been perturbed if there has been some sly remark. But if anything it was an endorsement of the relationship, so I dont see how that could have hurt.

Mr Browne also revealed he had asked Harry for a second time about bringing Miss Markle to Antigua  but for a holiday instead of a honeymoon. He said there had been no objection to the proposal. Mr Browne said his comments about the beauty queens were intended to stop Harry feeling self-conscious about having a little dance  and that he was not trying to pimp the prince. He said: Its all tasteful stuff here.

Harry continued his tour yesterday in St Vincent, where he visited a project raising awareness of endangered sea turtles. He was also pictured drinking from a coconut at the Vermont Nature Trail. He is due to visit nearby Grenada tomorrow.

Prince Harry poses next to a portrait that a young school child painted of him

Prince Harry walks down the beach with Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves and Sir Frederick Nathaniel Ballantyne, the Governor-General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Prince Harry meets a young boy called Jyasi Junior as he visits a Turtle Conservation Project

Prince Harry drinks from a coconut during his visit to the Vermont Nature Trail

The Prince has spent some of his time aboard a Royal Navy service vessel where he would have been offered the crews favourite dish, known as a cheesy hammy eggy  cheese on toast, a slice of processed ham, and a fried egg on top.

Meanwhile, it was suggested yesterday that Prince William is dismayed at Harrys decision to confirm publicly his romance with Miss Markle as he believes this will only serve to fuel speculation.
It's not just teenagers having a good time at schoolies, with a police officer filmed cutting loose on the d-floor before he is surrounded by cheering teenage girls.

Western Australian school leavers have headed to Dunsborough, south of Perth, for a week of mayhem at the coastal town.

But police at the celebration seem to be having the most fun of all, with videos of officers dancing among the crowds flooding social media.

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A police officer at the Dunsborough, WA, schoolies celebration cuts loose

DJ and producer GR/LEY posted a video on Saturday morning of an officer spinning around and jigging back and forth.

Further video showed him surrounded by young women as they danced and cheered at the 2016 Leavers event.

'My man,' someone could be heard yelling out in the video posted to Instagram.

One viewer wrote: 'Lmao [laugh my a*** off] this cop's cooler than all those kids.'

The officer was then surrounded by young women as they danced and cheered at the 2016 Leavers event

In another video from the same celebration, two police officers can be seen getting their groove on when they realise they are being filmed.

'Dunsborough cops are way too cool,' a Schoolie who posted the video on Instagram wrote.

A few days earlier, an officer was filmed dancing with the teenage crowd inside a tent at the event.

Photos of school leavers with police officers have been flooding social media.

'Apple doesn't fall far from the tree': A school leaver recreated a photo from her elder sister's schoolies celebration

Last week, officers got up on stage and showed off their moves  and even stopped to take a selfie in front of the crowd.

At the Gold Coast schoolies event, a video of Jordie Ward getting his groove on with an unidentified cop was viewed on Facebook almost 225,000 times.

In the amusing video, the police officer is seen spinning around on the beach and flashing his torch while the teenager dances enthusiastically.

A group of school leavers celebrating in Dunsborough snap a picture with an officer

Another group get a photo with three police officers at the Western Australian 2016 Leavers celebration

Video of officers enjoying the music at the Dunsborough event have been flooding social media

Officers got up on stage to join hundreds of school leavers partying at the event

A police officer has been caught on camera dancing with a Schoolie on a beach in Gold Coast, busting some quite remarkable moves
The potential earnings for a week at the Kirribilli dwelling was $1890

It was claimed to be advertised on AirBnB as three separate bedrooms

After they were evicted Mr Louisson noticed the same place was on AirBnB

They were renting a two bedroom unit in Kirribilli for $540 a week

Nicholas Louisson and his partner claim to have been evicted from home

The rise of AirBnB across the nation has resulted in property owners cashing in on the lucrative hospitality market - and causing headaches for renters in the process.

Nicholas Louisson, 28, was renting a two-bedroom unit for a modest $540 a week for more than two-years in North Shore, Sydney, when he was told he was being evicted.

Mr Louisson told Daily Mail Australia he proposed a counter offer of $600 per week to stay and was hoping his record of a great landlord would put him in a good position.

'I was there and in that two years I had never had to contact the landlord for fixing anything and I never caused any strife,' he said.

Nicholas Louisson and his girlfriend (right) were evicted from their apartment of two years

The rise of AirBnB across the nation has resulted in property owners cashing in on the lucrative hospitality market, but it wasn't suppose to cause headaches for local renters (Stock Image)

Locations around manly, Coogee, Bronte, Newtown and Kirribilli have seen a exponential rise in the number of AirBnB listings over the last few years (Stock Image)

However, Mr Louisson and his girlfriend were evicted.

After moving to Waterloo to his displeasure he noticed his old dwelling was put up on AirBnB for a potential $1890 a week, according to Domain.

The whopping price shocked Mr Louisson with the home (including the floor below) being offered as three separate bedrooms with a potential to sleep nine people, according to Domain.

With only one bathroom to share in his old apartment, Mr Louisson could not believe that many people could fit in the unit.

'It is a tiny apartment, it has two bedrooms, it has a good size kitchen. If you can imagine five or six people sharing that apartment it is not easy.

The potential to rent out separate rooms or increase the weekly rate on AirBnB has seen a huge rise in properties being listed.

Critics of AirBnB, Neighbours Not Strangers, claim the lure to lease your home away over a short period is damaging a property market that is already locking out struggling renters.

'From May this year there's been a 75.5 per cent increase in listings in Airbnb in Sydney, that's 23,558 Sydney dwellings no longer available for people to live in. They're bleeding the residential housing market dry,' it told Domain.

Locations around manly, Coogee, Bronte, Newtown and Kirribilli have seen a exponential rise in the number of AirBnB listings over the last few years.

A two bedroom cottage only a few minutes away with a balcony and full commodities was going for $917 a week

Near where Mr Louisson's was renting, in Kirribilli, there are 306 properties to rent.

'What chance do people like us stand who want to rent in the area they grew up in, when people push them out of their beautiful homes just so they can make so much more money by renting them commercially?' Mr Louisson told the publication.

Comparing the potential earnings of the former two-bedroom home to other similar apartments in the North Sydney area, details the opportunity for a large increase in price for short term leases for some units on AirBnB.

Similar properties for rent vs AirBnB in North Sydney Rent per week Cost AirBnB Cost Two Bedroom, One bathroom,

balcony facing the Sydney Opera House

$1000 One Bedroom studio, One bathroom,

Sydney Opera House views $1382 Two bedroom, One bathroom,

open kitchen and lounge room $1250 Two bedroom Cottage,

sunny courtyard and deck $917

On AirBnB a two bedroom cottage only a few minutes away from Mr Louisson's old place with a balcony and full commodities was going for around $917 a week.

To rent another apartment with with just one bedroom and Sydney Opera House views you would be looking at $1382 per week on AirBnB.

Property on the Domain website, showed units within walking distance of Mr Louisson's old home and harbour views were going for around $1000 per week.

Bondi is another thriving AirBnB zone, with a modern open two floor pad with one bedroom going for around $1944 a week.

This property on the Domain website, was within walking distance of Mr Louisson's old home in Kirribilli with harbour views was going for around $1000 per week

This unit up renting for $1250 in Kirribilli has two bedrooms, one bathroom, a courtyard and glimpses of the harbour

This one bedroom unit with a city skyline view on AirBnB is going for $1382 a week

The view from the one bedroom unit with a city skyline on AirBnB going for $1382 a week

The opportunity for property owners to charge hefty prices per night for their apartment, or break up the rooms and rent them out individually, appears to be too much of a lure.

Despite making his case to North Sydney Council, Mr Louisson's it appears the case fell on deaf ears.

In North Sydney, a council spokesman told the publication owners of properties in residential areas should not be letting their property for less than three months.

'Properties in residential zones are considered to be for residential occupation and not for short-term letting except as permanent residential occupation, usually defined as a period of three months or more.'

It appears Mr Louisson and his girlfriend were frozen out of their home as a result of the demand for AirBnB's in superb locations.

The owner of Louissons old apartment, Louise Ommundson, told Fairfax she had decided to stop it being used for Airbnb.

Similar properties for rent vs AirBnB in Bondi Rent per week Cost AirBnB per week Cost Two Bedroom, One bathroom,

fully furnished, Art Deco building $720 Two bedroom, fully furnished,

three minute walk to beach $1615 Two bedroom, one bathroom,

parking, veranda $860 Modern open two floor pad,

one bedroom,rooftop terrace,

furnished $1944

Bondi is another thriving AirBnB zone, with this modern open two floor pad with one bedroom going for around $1944 a week

AirBnB fully furnished apartment with two bedrooms going for $1615 per week

Two bedroom, one bathroom, parking and veranda unit in Bondi renting for $860 a week
After youve wolfed down enough turkey and sprouts to sink the sofa, it can be tricky to find room for a portion of gut-busting figgy pudding on Christmas Day.

Which might go some way to explaining why more of us are now turning to the lighter panettone.

Sales of the Italian cake have soared in recent years, with Selfridges reporting that its now outselling Christmas puddings by a two-to-one ratio.

At Waitrose, sales are up 56 per cent on last year and it has been forced to order more to cope with demand.

Panettone, a buttery cake studded with citrus peel, spices and plump raisins, certainly has a similarly venerable provenance to the figgy pudding

It is now outselling Christmas puddings by a two-to-one ratio, according to Selfridges

Sainsburys and Asda have also launched their own festive versions of the dish.

Panettone, a buttery cake studded with citrus peel, spices and plump raisins, certainly has a similarly venerable provenance to the figgy pudding. It, too, has been around since at least the Middle Ages.

The name is thought to be derived from pane di Tonio  Tonys bread  after a poor Milanese baker invented the loaf as a dowry when his daughter fell in love with a rich nobleman.

Heston's Christmas pudding, with a hidden orange inside, is usually a sell-out at Waitrose

Selfridges current bestseller is a 24.99 salted caramel panettone, while Sainsburys is selling a 9 Prosecco panettone, made with marrons glaces and a sachet of edible glitter to sprinkle on top.
Pipes were being sold alongside sweets in a shop near a primary school

paraphernalia cost as little as 3.50 in some of the shops

Pipes used for smoking cocaine and highly addictive crystal meth are being sold in shops alongside everyday groceries, The Mail on Sunday can reveal today.

The illegal pipes, costing as little as 3.50, can be bought on high streets across the country, including in a store just a stones throw from Kensington Palace, home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their two young children.

In another instance, the small glass tubes, also known as Breaking Bad pipes after the popular TV series, were on offer alongside sweets in a shop near a primary school.

The small glass tubes, also known as Breaking Bad pipes after the popular TV series, were on offer alongside sweets in a shop near a primary school

Last night MPs demanded a nationwide clampdown.

Tory James Berry, a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, said: Police need to issue notices to shop owners as a first step so they cannot plead ignorance if they are taken to court, and this needs to be rolled out nationwide.

'Responsible owners would not stock these items.

In the store close to Kensington Palace  once the residence of Princess Diana and now the home of her sons Prince William and Prince Harry  the pipes are on sale alongside luggage and tourist souvenirs.

Clearly displayed in a glass case, the pipes were on sale for 9.99.

Two miles away, at Chelsea Green Food and Wine, close to the Oratory Roman Catholic Primary School, drugs paraphernalia was on a shelf too high for customers to reach.

When we asked to see the pipes, staff looked embarrassed and initially claimed they did not know the prices.

They later said that a simple clear glass tube was just 5.

On the receipt, the item was misleadingly listed as tobacco.

The pipes are also available outside London, but in more obviously specialist shops.

In Newcastle, an undercover reporter went to Hemp Nation in the district of Heaton.

When the shop assistant asked what kind of pipe they wanted, the reporter said crack, to which the assistant replied: For crack it would have to be glass. It makes a huge difference.

The reporter bought one for 5.

In the store close to Kensington Palace  once the residence of Princess Diana and now the home of her sons Prince William and Prince Harry  the pipes are on sale alongside luggage and tourist souvenirs

And in Zen in Digbeth, Birmingham, a reporter bought a pipe  displayed in a glass cabinet in the back of the shop  for 3.50.

Crystal meth, or methamphetamine, became notorious thanks to the hit American TV drama Breaking Bad, in which the anti-hero Walter White sets up a drugs lab in a camper van.

The drug is a powerful psychoactive substance.

Meanwhile, crack is cocaine in rock form.

Both crack and crystal meth are smoked through a small glass pipe designed so that the drug can reach the brain quickly, delivering an intense high.

Under the Misuse of Drugs Act, it is illegal for shopkeepers to sell paraphernalia they believe could be used to consume drugs.

When questioned by our reporters, some shopkeepers argued that they could be used for ornamental purposes.

Zen in Digbeth, Birmingham, a reporter bought a pipe  displayed in a glass cabinet in the back of the shop  for 3.50

But experts say the pipes can have only one possible purpose  to consume illegal Class A narcotics.

Sergeant Nick Clarke, of the Metropolitan Police, said: If you are stocking these items, you know why you are selling them.

These are clearly pipes for smoking crack cocaine or crystal meth.

But Section 9A of the Misuse of Drugs Act, which deals with the supply and sale of these kinds of items, is very rarely enforced because the law says you have to believe these items are going to be used for the consumption of illegal drugs.

When we contacted Hemp Nation, an assistant claimed the pipe we were sold was for ornamental purposes.

When our reporter pointed out that his colleague had specified it was for crack, the assistant added: No comment.

At Zen, a woman called Lisa, who described herself as the manager, said: We do sell pipes. How people choose to use them is within their own control.

At the Kensington High Street outlet, a man who would only identify himself as Hassan, said: I dont know. It depends on the person how they use these pipes.

'It is not up to us. Most of the shops in London sell these.

Chris Hobbs, a retired Metropolitan Police officer who served 32 years and worked on drugs trafficking cases in the Caribbean, said: This must be stopped.

'If children are getting hooked on crystal meth  and this must be a possibility  we have a nightmare scenario on our hands. It is catastrophic.
They were also shown to perform surgery on wrong part of body

Patients are suffering potentially fatal harm because NHS staff are making basic mistakes such as failing to read their medical notes, according to internal health service documents.

Doctors are performing surgery on the wrong part of the body, or giving the wrong type of blood, because they are paying scant attention to notes, not checking the identities of their patients, or working by themselves. Such errors are called never events by the NHS because they simply should not happen.

However, one such incident occurs somewhere in England almost every day, according to official figures  which, although made public, rarely provide any explanations.

Patients are suffering potentially fatal harm because NHS staff are making basic mistakes (stock image)

Now, though, The Mail on Sunday, using the Freedom of Information Act, has unearthed detailed reasons for a number of recent never events. These include two occasions on which patients were given the incorrect blood type, which can prove fatal.

In July 2015, one such mistake happened because a doctor had used a transfusion from the wrong patient. A note explaining the incident read: Incompatible red [blood] cells were transfused to a patient due to a pre-transfusion sampling error where the blood was collected by the doctor from the wrong patient because the required patient identification checks were not completed.

And last November, a poorly baby received the wrong blood because of an error by a lone working member of staff in the heat of an ongoing emergency. It is unclear whether the two patients lived or died.

Another blunder led to a patient having a tendon operation performed on the wrong toe because staff failed to read the medical notes correctly.

According to subsequent analysis of the incident, the locum surgeon did not have any doubt which toe was to be operated on  but was mistaken. The notes blamed the error on how busy the clinic was.

A similar incident led to someone undergoing angioplasty, a procedure to clear blood vessels, performed on the wrong part of the body. Doctors realised they had mis-read the request card afterwards and performed the correct operation later.

A Mail on Sunday investigation found doctors are performing surgery on the wrong part of the body or giving the wrong type of blood (stock image)

And in March this year, a patient who had been due to undergo a colonoscopy, where a tiny camera is inserted up the anal passage to check for bowel problems, was given a gastroscopy instead. This is a procedure during which a camera is inserted down the throat, to look for problems in the upper part of the digestive system.

Katherine Murphy, chief executive of The Patients Association, said it should be made clear to all staff and medical professionals that to simply forget or not take due care and attention is wholly unacceptable.
A civil rights group has called for more police protection of mosques after several in California says it received letters that praised President-elect Donald Trump and threatened Muslim genocide.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, said the same handwritten, photocopied letter was sent last week to the Islamic Center of Long Beach, the Islamic Center of Claremont and the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The letter was addressed to 'the children of Satan' and it was signed by 'American for A Better Way.' The LA area mosques received it Wednesday and the San Jose mosque on Thursday.

The letter, above, was said to have been left with three California mosques and was addressed to 'the children of Satan' and signed 'Americans for a Better Way'

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, Executive Director, Hussam Ayloush (pictured), at the ACLU Foundation of Southern California headquarters in Los Angeles, said he blames Trump's inflammatory speech during the campaign for the letters

'There's a new sheriff in town - President Donald Trump. He's going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims,' the letter states, according to CAIR. 'And, he's going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews (sic).

'You Muslims would be wise to pack your bags and get out of Dodge. This is a great time for patriotic Americans. Long live President Trump and God Bless the USA!'

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA, said people at the L.A. County mosques were disheartened by the hateful letters and added that the 'irresponsible, hateful rhetoric' of the Trump campaign has fueled 'a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters.'

The Long Beach Islamic Center in California received one of the hand-written threatening letters

The Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose (above) also said it received one of the letters which warned Muslims to 'get out of Dodge'

'I'm not saying [Trump] created racist people,' he said. 'He normalized it. While he might say he's not responsible, and I respect that, I remind President-elect Trump that he has a responsibility to act as a president for all Americans.'

San Jose Police Department spokesman Sgt. Enrique Garcia said police have opened an investigation and are treating it as a 'hate-motivated incident.'

The letter was also left at the Islamic Center of Claremont (above) said CAIR

Hate crimes have been widely reported since Trump's election, but it is not clear if there has been an actual spike in hate crimes, reports Quartz.

Reported hate crimes against Muslims did increase six percent from 2014 to 2015, according to The New York Times.

During the campaign, Trump said he would stop all Muslims immigrating to the US - but later amended that to extreme vetting.
- 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

The woman who wanted to bring celebrity British photographer David Hamilton to justice for allegedly raping her as child was yesterday said to be devastated by his death.

Flavie Flament, a French radio presenter, has told friends that she is inconsolable after hearing of the 83-year-olds suspected suicide.

Mr Hamiltons body was found in his Paris flat on Thursday night, just days after he pledged to take four women, including 42-year-old Ms Flament, to court for libelling him.

She has published a book, The Consolation, which led to Mr Hamilton being publicly exposed as an alleged predatory paedophile.

But his alleged victims could not take him to court because the age limit in France for pressing for charges of rape of a minor is 38.

This led to Ms Flament and the three others, who have not been identified, being invited to work with the French authorities to bring Mr Hamilton to justice.

Karina Hocine, Ms Flaments editor, said: Flavie is devastated.

'They told us it was a suicide. Make no mistake that were sharing a sense of horror at the situation and a sense of humanity.

'At the same time there is a sense of immense revolt because there will not now be any time for justice to do its work.

London-born Mr Hamilton, who lived by himself in Montmartre, was found in an asphyxiated state by emergency workers.

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

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

Police outside David Hamilton's apartment in Paris

Ms Flament has told how she was 13 when Mr Hamilton raped her in his luxury beach hut in Cap dAgde, in the South of France, following a photoshoot.

Mr Hamilton had said of Ms Flaments allegations: Clearly the instigator of this media lynching is looking for her 15 minutes of fame by defaming me in her novel.
The grieving relatives of three SAS recruits who died during a gruelling training march accused defence chiefs of a cover-up last night after an 18-month investigation into the tragedy was dropped.

The soldiers collapsed in scorching temperatures while carrying heavy packs over a 16-mile mountain course in a bid to join the world-famous Special Forces unit.

A coroner later blasted the SAS for neglect, which contributed to the deaths of reservists Corporal James Dunsby, Lance Corporal Craig Roberts and Trooper Edward Maher three years ago.

Corporal James Dunsby, Trooper Edward Maher and Lance Corporal Craig Roberts all died three years ago

Following an inquest, coroner Louise Hunt said there had been a catalogue of serious mistakes made by many people, including a failure to conduct a risk assessment, a lack of water supplies along the route and the use of a tracker system not fit for purpose.

Yet in spite of her excoriating attack on the SAS, none of the personnel who made the serious mistakes will face any disciplinary charges whatsoever under military law, The Mail on Sunday can exclusively reveal.

The decision to clear all those responsible for the death march was attacked last night by grieving father David Dunsby, 59, who said he was disgusted and incredulous at the move.

He said: The SAS commander on the day  known as Soldier 1A  failed in his duty of care to his men, while the conduct of many of those working under him fell short and they should have faced a charge of dereliction of duty and failing to provide a safe working environment. Control was lost on the course and this led to the events unfolding as they did.

Since the tragedy, the Ministry of Defence hasnt demonstrated any accountability for what happened or accepted any responsibility. So on that basis, I am not surprised that this decision has been made. But the families of those who died that day want to see justice. So we will appeal the decision.

Bryher Dunsby, widow of Corporal James Dunsby has previously issued a plea to the MoD to make safety improvements

The Mail on Sunday understands that following hundreds of hours of interviews with SAS directing staff who oversaw the march, the Royal Military Police recommended disciplinary charges be brought against seven personnel.

Files on their cases were duly sent by the RMP to the Service Prosecuting Authority (SPA)  the military equivalent of the Crown Prosecution Service  earlier this year.

But to the surprise of many defence insiders, the SPA decided that there was not a reasonable prospect of prosecution.

This decision is now being challenged by families of the three SAS recruits who lost their lives.

Claire Stephens, a solicitor acting for David Dunsby and the parents of L / Cpl Craig Roberts, said last night: We have applied for an independent review of the SPAs decision and if that doesnt work then we will seek a judicial review.

Cpl Dunsbys widow Bryher Dunsby declined to comment last night.

After the inquest last year, she issued a plea to the MoD to make safety improvements.
More than half a million Cubans fled in the 15 years after Castro took power

Some Cuban-Americans are posting videos of their grandparents' emotional reactions after hearing the news of Fidel Castro's death.

Brian David Ramos, 17, didn't waste a second when it was announced around 1am on Saturday that the controversial Cuban revolutionary had died.

Ramos immediately went to wake up his grandmother Flora Lorenzo, 84, at their Hialeah, Florida home so he could tell her the news.

The teen burst into his grandmother's dark bedroom, turning on the lights as he yelled 'Ita! Ita!', a shortened version of 'abuelita', the Spanish word for grandmother.

Brian David Ramos, 17, shared a video of the moment he woke up his grandmother Flora Lorenzo, 84, in the middle of the night to share the news that Fidel Castro had died

'Se murio Fidel!' he excitedly tells her.

'Que?' she asks, still surprised from her grandson's sudden appearance.

'Se murio Fidel!' he repeats, as she throws off her blanket and gets up in shock.

It was a welcome wake-up call for Lorenzo, who Ramos said left her native country in 1974 to escape Castro's regime of 'oppression, discrimination, and mistreatment'.

'I've never seen her get up so fast,' Ramos told Buzzfeed.

The teen said his grandmother has been calling everyone she knows and is over the moon at the news.

'She's feeling great and won't stop kissing me,' he said.

Ramos and Lorenzo will join the thousands of Cuban-Americans who have taken to the streets of Miami to celebrate El Comandante's demise.

'Castro's death was something everyone hoped for, but it seemed like it would never happen,' Ramos said. 'It's kind of surreal.'

'This means liberty, the union of the Cuban people, and hope that Cuba will be free one day,' Lorenz added.

Ramos and Lorenzo joined thousands of Cuban-Americans who have taken to the streets of Miami to celebrate El Comandante's demise on Saturday

The party began early Saturday morning when the news about Castro's death first broke

Ramos' video has been retweeted nearly 2,000 times and touched many fellow Cuban-Americans whose families were torn apart by Castro's communist regime.

Another Twitter user named Naty posted an emotional video that showed the moment her grandfather found out Castro was dead.

The clip shows him sitting at the table when his daughter comes up to him and says she has news from Cuba.

'What from Cuba?' he asks in Spanish.

After some build-up, she simply tells him: 'He died.'

'Fidel died?' he asks, already overcome with emotion.

'Yes,' she replies.

The grandfather raises his hand to the sky in shock and relief, holding his heart before he bursts into tears, his daughter planting a kiss on his head.

'Oh my god,' he says, 'What great news! Oh my god.'

Naty wrote on Twitter that her grandfather had been a political prisoner who was 'taken away from his family because he didn't agree with the Castro regime'.

'He went through so much just to better the lives of my family members,' she added. 'I am grateful for his bravery.'

Castro, who led the country of Cuba for nearly half a century (pictured during his last official appearance in April this year) died Friday at the age of 90

The controversial former president (pictured in 2001) ruled the country as a one-party state from 1959 to 2006

People were still celebrating in Miami, where thousands of Cuban exiles live, on Saturday

It was revealed early Saturday morning that Castro had passed away at the age of 90.

His younger brother, Raul Castro, made the announcement on state television that the former Cuban president died at 10.29pm on Friday night.

While nine days of public mourning were declared in Cuba, the streets of Miami quickly filled with Cuban exiles who celebrated their former leader's demise.

'Cuba si! Castro no!' they chanted, while others screamed 'Cuba libre!'

Thousands of Cubans fled the island for the United States after Castro took power in 1959.

Republican US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban-American from Miami, said in a statement: 'A tyrant is dead and a new beginning can dawn on the last remaining communist bastion of the Western Hemisphere.'

More than half a million Cubans eventually fled for Miami in the 15 years after Castro's revolution began. Pictured here is a Cuban refugee smiling on a US Coast Guard Ship

Cuban refugees on Sal Cay waiting for US Coast Guard to take them to Florida

Many Cubans first celebrated Castro when, at the age of 32, he toppled Fulgencio Batista's dictatorial regime.

Cubans thought he would be their savior, the one to bring back free elections and restore the country's liberal 1940 constitution.

But instead Castro turned Cuba into a one-party state, closed independent newspapers and ordered the deaths of at least 582 members of the old government, who were gunned down by firing squads over the course of two years.

In 1964, Castro acknowledged holding 15,000 political prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled, including Castro's daughter Alina Fernandez.

'When people tell me he's a dictator,' I tell them that's not the right word. Fidel is a tyrant,' Fernandez, who now lives in Miami, once said of her father.

More than half a million Cubans eventually fled for Miami in the 15 years after the revolution began.
Crystal clear waters, whiter than white sand, luscious palm trees and long hot days.

If this sounds like your ultimate dream it could become a reality for just $250 after Tigerair and Scoot cut prices to the Maldives from the Gold Coast in the latest round of the airline's market share war, according to the Gold Coast Bulletin.

One way flights to the Maldives are usually anywhere upwards of $700.

The one way economy flights will go on sale just after midnight on Sunday and will last until one minute before midnight December 4.

Tigerair and Scoot are offering flights to the idyllic south Asian location of the Maldives from the Gold Coast for the a jaw dropping price of just $249

The flights will be available to travel from February 8 until May 18, 2017.

The cost does not include food or baggage and travel during school holidays or other events will not be included.

Famed for its pristine waters and unblemished white sand the tiny south Asian island country hosts over 600,000 tourists annually.

Flights from the Gold Coast will see tourists cruise into the countries main airport of Male.

With a choice of over 92 hotels and resorts travelers are spoilt for choice when choosing their ideal location.

Earlier this month Tigerair offered $9 flights in Australia to mark the 9th anniversary of the airline beginning its first domestic service in Australia.

Famed for its pristine waters and unblemished white sand the tiny south Asian island country hosts over 600,000 tourists annually

Flights will go on sale just after midnight on Sunday and will last until one minute before midnight December 4
and it is a 'private matter'

Buckingham Palace said the Queen is

The Queen is in mourning after her best friend and first cousin Margaret Rhodes died aged 91 after battling a short illness.

Her Majesty, 90, is said to have visited her friend at her home in Windsor, Berkshire, when she became ill earlier in November.

Buckingham Palace said last night that the Queen is aware and that it is a 'private matter'.

Queen Elizabeth and Margaret Rhodes take a break during a trek through the deer stalking area at Balmoral, Scotland

This photograph shows a young Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret and their cousin Margaret Elphinstone, later Rhodes

The Queen (right) and her first cousin Margaret Rhodes (left) remained close after growing up together

Mrs Rhodes appeared in a number of documentaries about the Queen - who does not give interviews, Camilla Tominey reported in the Sunday Express.

The pair remained close and would meet up when the Queen was in Windsor after church on Sundays.

A royal source told the newspaper: 'The Queen will be devastated to have lost her best friend. She grew up with Mrs Rhodes and they had so much shared history.

'They remained close throughout the Queen's reign and Her Majesty continued to be a regular visitor at Mrs Rhodes's Windsor home until very recently.

'It is such a sad loss for Her Majesty, Mrs Rhodes' family and everyone in the royal household. She was an extraordinary woman.'

The Queen and her first cousin enjoy lunch at Glen Beg, Her Majesty's log cabin on the Balmoral estate in Scotland

Margaret is seen centre with the Queen, left, and lady-in-waiting Susan Hussey at Balmoral in a picture taken from the book The Queen's Story

Margaret Rhodes' mother Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon was a sister of the Queen Mother (right)

The Queen and Mrs Rhodes (seen near the Sandringham estate in 2013) would meet up when Her Majesty was in Windsor after church on Sundays

The Honourable Margaret Rhodes appeared on This Morning to mark the Queen's Jubilee

Mrs Rhodes was a first cousin of Elizabeth II and was the youngest daughter of the 16th Lord Elphinstone and his wife Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon.

Lady Bowes-Lyon was a sister of The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth.

During World War II, Mrs Rhodes - who was born in London - lived at both Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle when she worked as a secretary for MI6.

Buckingham Palace has said only that Mrs Rhodes' passing was a 'private matter'

She shared stories from behind the palace doors in an appearance on This Morning in 2011

Mrs Rhodes, pictured in 2014, was the youngest daughter of the 16th Lord Elphinstone and his wife Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon, and a first cousin of the Queen

Mrs Rhodes, seen on the television programme The Queen's Big Night Out, joined the Queen, then 19, among the crowds celebrating VE Day on May 18 1945

Before the Queen's 80th birthday ten years ago she gave an interview and confirmed that the Queen would not retire, despite rumours.

In 2013, she was asked whether she was excited about the upcoming birth of Prince George.
A college has come under fire over its decision to stop flying the American flag in the wake of Donald Trump's election win.

Hampshire College, a liberal arts school in Amherst, Massachusetts, made the decision after a series of controversies surrounding the university's policy on the flag.

It first created headlines by siding with a students' decision to lower the flag to half-mast after the election.

However, when the flag was torched on November 10 - the day before Veterans Day, locals became furious with the school's stance.

Scroll down for video

Hampshire College, a liberal arts school in Amherst, Massachusetts, has come under fire over its decision to stop flying the American flag in the wake of Donald Trump's election win. Pictured is the school's flag at half-mast, before it was removed entirely

President Jonathan Lash explained the rationale behind lowering the flag in a statement.

'In the current environment of escalating hate-based violence, we made the decision to fly Hampshire's U.S. flag at half-staff for a time while the community delved deeper into the meaning of the flag and its presence on our campus,' he wrote in the statement.

'This was meant as an expression of grief over the violent deaths being suffered in this country and globally, including the many U.S. service members who have lost their lives.

'Our intention was to create the space for meaningful and respectful dialogue across the many perspectives represented in our community.'

He then went on to address criticism the school has received, and made clear why no flag will fly at the school for the time being.

'Some have perceived the action of lowering the flag as a commentary on the results of the presidential election - this, unequivocally, was not our intent,' Lash wrote.

The school made the decision after a series of controversies surrounding the university's policy on the flag (pictured)

A worker at the college in Massachusetts is seen taking the flag down on campus

'After some preliminary consultation with campus constituents (much more is needed), we decided on Friday that we will not fly the U.S. flag or any other flags on our college flagpole for the time being.

'We hope this will enable us in the near term to instead focus our efforts on addressing racist, misogynistic, Islamophobic, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and behaviors.'

Many students appeared supportive of the stance, posting images and video to social media celebrating the change.

Alums also commented on the college's Facebook page saying the were 'proud' at the school for taking a strong stance.

President Jonathan Lash (left) explained the rationale behind lowering the flag in a statement (right)

The school (pictured) took the flag down entirely after it was torched on November 10

However, some from outside the school flooded its Facebook page with negative comments.

'As both a veteran and a taxpayer, I am appalled at the decision of this college to ban the flying of the US flag, the symbol of your school's educational freedom. I sincerely hope that the parents of your precious students, the ones actually paying the tuition, withdraw their support,' Bob Gardner wrote.

'That's a horrible decision. If my sons went to Hampshire College or had applied there I would have pulled them out,' Deb Levine commented.

'You need to lose your Federal Funding if you are not going to honor the American Flag because of a bunch of whining little runts who never got punished or spanked as kids growing up,' Robert Diberto angrily wrote.
One man was left dead and five others injured after a house party in Chicago erupted into a terrifying gun battle that may gave lasted as long as ten minutes.

The incident occurred at about 2:30am Saturday, when witnesses say two people began firing into a crowd that had gathered to dance at a house party.

DJ Carl Benton, who was playing at the party, told the Boston Herald that the shooting lasted about ten minutes, and he heard 'about 100' shots from both inside and outside the home on the 8800 block of South Exchange Avenue.

'People that were on top of me told me to lay down,' he said. 'I was trying to get up and they wouldn't let me up.'

One man is dead and five injured after a house party erupted in gunfire when witnesses said two people started shooting into the crowd

Partygoers were seen jumping off the second floor to escape the shoot-out, community activist Andrew Holmes told ABC 7.

A neighbor told the channel that he had also heard 'about 100' gunshots that woke him from his sleep. His truck had been damaged in the gunfire.

One man died at the scene after being shot in the chest, according to authorities. He has not yet been identified.

But according to ABC7, members of his family were seen approaching officers to confirm his death.

'Bro, he just came back. He just came back,' a distraught man on the scene reportedly yelled out.

And a woman was heard saying, through tears, 'He wasn't supposed to die. This isn't a game.'

Another man, 20, was shot in the groin, according toThe Chicago Herald, and rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he is in critical condition.

A third man was shot in the arm, while a 25-year-old woman had a bullet graze her head, a 22-year-old was shot in the hand, and a 23-year-old was shot in the arm.

All were stabilized, according to the outlet.

The shooting started about 2:30am, leaving one attendee dead, and others in the hospital

Police flowed across the street after the shooting, checking the backyards of nearby homes while another officer waited in the street with a rifle, the Boston Herald said.

Police have not yet named any suspects or a motive. No-one has been arrested.

Three hours earlier, a block away, a drive-by shooting left an 18-year-old man seriously injured.

Witnesses said that gunmen in a blue Ford Focus opened fire on the youth, hitting him in the stomach at around 11:20pm Fridat.
She said she does not have any plans to return to Cuba in her lifetime

However, she opposed her brother's rule and stands with Cuban exiles

His sister, who has been in Miami for 51 years, said she

Juanita Castro, sister of dictator Fidel Castro who died on Friday at age 90, said she will not be attending her brother's funeral in Cuba.

Despite expressing sorrow over the death of her brother, she said on Saturday she wouldn't be returning to Cuba in her lifetime.

Juanita has been living in Miami since 1965 after accusing her brother a year earlier of turning Cuba into 'an enormous prison surrounded by water'.

On Saturday, she said the pain of her brother's death brought old wounds to the surface.

She also put rumors to rest that she would be heading to Cuba for the memorial and said she will remain in the United States, the Miami Herald reported.

Juanita Castro (pictured in 2009), sister of dictator Fidel Castro who died on Friday at age 90, said she will not be attending her brother's funeral in Cuba

Juanita (pictured in 1970) has been living in Miami since 1965 and said the pain of her brother's death brought old wounds to the surface

'In light of the bad rumors that said I was going to go to Cuba for the funeral, I want to clarify that I have never returned to the island, nor do I have plans to do so.

'I have fought alongside exiles, arm and arm, during their most active and intense stages of struggle in past decades, and I respect the feelings of all,' Juanita said in a statement.

'I do not rejoice over the death of any human being, much less when that person is someone with my blood and surnames.

'As a sister of Fidel, I am experiencing the loss of a human being who shared my blood, as happened with the deaths of my siblings Ramon and Angelita,' Juanita said in a statement.

On Saturday, she put rumors to rest that she would be heading to Cuba for Fidel Casto's (right) funeral the memorial and said she will remain in the United States

Juanita said she's been exiled in Miami for 51 years like others who had to flee Cuba under her brother's regime.

She said she suffered a double-edged sword of losing her connection to her family in Cuba and being rejected by exiles in Miami because she was a Castro.

'I hope that we can find, not a way toward confrontation and hatred, but toward one that finally binds all Cubans,' she said.

Juanita is one of four of Castro's sisters and was supportive in the late 1950s of her brother's effort to overthrow Fulgencio Batista.
The Governor of the Bank of England wants British businesses to stay in the single market for at least two years after Brexit in 2019, risking a clash with the Prime Minister.

Mark Carney is reported to be working on a secret transition plan to give banks, industry and major companies extra time to adjust to leaving the EU.

Mark Carney is reported to be working on a secret transition plan to give banks, industry and major companies extra time to adjust to leaving the EU

He is said to have hosted private meetings and dinners with key City figures to discuss the proposal, dubbed the 'Brexit buffer'.

One banker who attended a Chatham House event with Mr Carney last week told The Sunday Times: 'Carney knows there needs to be a two- to three-year extension to allow Britain to adjust from the old rules under Europe to the new order. His key word is continuity.'

However, the Governor faces a confrontation with Theresa May, who is keen not to reveal her hand in EU negotiations.

The Prime Minister will also be aware of the political risks of striking any deal that looks as if she is surreptitiously trying to keep Britain in Europe, particularly with a General Election set for 2020.

The Governor faces a confrontation with Prime Minister Theresa May, who is keen not to reveal her hand in EU negotiations

Mr Carney's plan would also anger Ministers who favour a clean break with the EU as soon as 2019, known as 'hard Brexit' and likened to a 'quickie divorce'.

By contrast, business leaders would prefer a smooth transition out of the EU rather than the 'cliff edge' some pro-Leave Ministers favour.

Bank of England blew 100,000 on summer party WEEKS after Brexit vote

The Bank of England spent almost 100,000 of taxpayers' money on its annual summer party just weeks after the Brexit vote.

Just two weeks after the UK's decision to leave the European Union, governor Mark Carney and around 2,500 Bank staff, policymakers and their families partied at its annual summer sports day, at a cost of 99,035 to the public purse.

The Bank insisted it 'carefully budgeted' for the Governors' Day jolly on July 10 at its sports ground in Roehampton, south west London.

But the details could up the pressure on Mr Carney - who was accused of wading into the referendum campaign by highlighting the risks from Brexit.

The Bank has since rowed back on its gloomy predictions - most recently upgrading its forecasts for growth this year and next.

Responding to an FOI request from the Press Association, the Bank said it spent more than 94,500 excluding VAT on food, entertainment and the venue for the summer event, with nearly another 4,500 on 'other' costs.

The Bank of England's summer party took place at its sports ground in Roehampton, south west London

The TaxPayers' Alliance branded revelations over the Bank's summer party as a 'huge slap in the face to all those who have struggled under the Bank of England's policies'.

Chief executive John O'Connell said: 'Not only have savers had very little to celebrate over the last eight years because of rock bottom interest rates, but many will rightly be angry that staff are then spending huge sums of money on lavish parties for themselves.

'It would be right to consider these sensitivities when planning any future function.'

The Bank said the Governors' Day is a 'long-held tradition that is open to all employees - including members of the Monetary Policy Committee - including their families, with the aim of recognising their hard work and dedication'.

It added: 'The annual event is an important one for all Bank employees and the Bank strongly believes that this carefully budgeted event is worthwhile.'

The Bank spent similar amounts on its Governors' Day in the previous two years, at 99,465 and 99,288 in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

It also confirmed that just under 2,500 was raised for charity at this year's event - for The Lily Foundation and The Myotubular Trust - which was matched by the Bank.

Canadian Mr Carney has revamped the annual fete since taking over from predecessor Lord King, ditching the traditional cricket match in 2014 with a game of rounders to be more inclusive, while also hiring a bouncy castle.
Tony Abbott has given prime minister Malcolm Turnbull his two cents on the budget and power prices as parliament enters its final sitting week for the year.

The former prime minister said it was time for the Coalition to be a 'sensible centre right government' and to be focused on differences instead of minimising them in order to stay in front of the far right, in an interview with Sky News on Sunday morning.

Mr Abbott added 'it's good that we're no longer talking about innovation and agility because, quite frankly, that loses people'.

Former prime minister Tony Abbott suggested the Turnbull government take a page from his 2014 budget and give people confidence in the management of the nation's economy

He suggested the Turnbull government look at previous aspects of his 2014 budget to give people confidence in the management of the nation's economy.

Mr Abbott discussed resurrecting the anti-carbon tax and re-branding it to focus on lowering power prices.

'We've got to talk about the issues that they understand and we've got to put it in terms of their interests and how we are going to advance their interests,' he said.

He even hinted he would be willing to work in a cabinet position next to the man who ousted him from the top job in 2015.

'You don't have to idolise someone to be able to work with them,' he said.

Mr Abbott said that he even hinted at wanting a cabinet position in the Turnbull government

When asked about his thoughts about Turnbull's job so far as prime minister, Mr Abbott answered 'there's a sense of prime ministers and governments always needing to do more.'

He even acknowledged that things could have managed more smoother and that 'one or two matters' should have been widely consulted on.
An uninhabitable house has sold for a whopping $4.5million at auction, more than $1million over its reserve price.

Two developers went on a bidding war at the property in Box Hill, 14kilometer east of Melbourne city, Domain reported.

The decrepit home had last been sold for just $133,000 in 1993, but fetched $4.5 million on Saturday.

An uninhabitable house in Box Hill, east Melbourne, has sold for a whopping $4.5 million at auction, more than $1 million over its reserve price

'[The house] is really shabby, it's not habitable at all,' Woodards Camberwell realtor Helena Chow said

Sitting on a corner block of about 646 square metres, 23 Irving Street is in a residential growth zone and has no height limit  subject to council approval.

The real estate listing by Woodards Camberwell described the property as an 'ideal multi-level apartment site'.

'[The] position does not get any better than this,' the listing said. 'This is one of the last remaining undeveloped corner sites within minutes of thriving Box Hill business precinct'.

Sitting on a corner block of about 646 square metres, 23 Irving Street is in a residential growth zone and has no height limit  subject to council approval

Woodards realtor Helena Chow said the bidding between the developers was 'competitive'.

'[The house] is really shabby, it's not habitable at all,' Ms Chow told Domain.
Two young black men have been left bewildered after a store worker called the police on them - simply for asking if they could buy some cheese.

Rick Berry and his roommate Phillip Blackwell went on a late-night food run to a CVS in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday night, when they were profiled by staff working in the store.

Moments after the men spoke to a worker, the rest of the staff disappeared without a trace.

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Rick Berry (pictured) and his roommate Phillip Blackwell have been left bewildered after a store worker called the police on them - simply for asking if they could buy some cheese

Berry (right) and Blackwell (left) went on a late-night food run to a CVS in Richmond, Virginia, on Tuesday night, when they were profiled by staff working in the store

Berry and Blackwell, along with another customer in the store, were left to search for someone who could check them out with their cheese.

'Sliced cheese, all I asked for was sliced cheese,' Berry told WRIC.

'We looked around for probably 30, 45 minutes and we couldn't find anybody.'

They were then even more shocked when a police officer arrived about 30 minutes later.

'We were walking around trying to find an employee, and the cop himself ended up opening up the emergency door, which set the alarm off,' Berry told the network, before adding the officer started to help with the search.

'He was laughing with us because, like, this is how weird, apocalyptic movies start,' Berry said.

The men had police called on them when they visited a CVS Pharmacy in Richmond, Virginia (pictured)

A Snapchat video the friends filmed in the store showed the officer searching the store and trying to open locked doors to find the vanished workers.

However, the night then took a turn for the worse for the roommates, when the cop received a call and was ordered to kick them out of the store - after workers claimed they were 'scared' of the duo.

'He just told us that we need to leave premises or else we would be arrested for trespassing and that flipped the script on all of us.

Berry (left) and Blackwell (right) said the police were called on them after they asked if they could buy cheese

A police officer arrived and helped the men search for the store's workers. Pictured is the cop trying to open a locked door

'We had no idea what was going on.'

Despite being kicked out by the cop, Berry only had good words to say about the officer, describing him as 'nice' throughout the ordeal.
Rosie O'Donnell has defended questioning if Barron Trump is autistic by explaining that her own daughter has the condition and that she recognizes the signs.

The comedian penned an emotional message to fans on her website on Saturday after sparking fury among Twitter followers earlier in the week when she shared a video which suggested the president-elect's 10-year-old son is autistic.

Insisting that her post was 'from the heart', she said it had 'nothing' to do with her old foe Donald Trump.

'I have no ill will for his children or any children,' said O'Donnell, adding that her own daughter, three-year-old Dakota, was diagnosed with high functioning autism in September.

The row began on Monday when O'Donnell shared an anti-bullying video of Trump's son. It speculated that he may be autistic based on the way he clapped during an appearance at the Republican National Convention in July.

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Rosie O'Donnell defended speculating if Barron Trump is autistic on Saturday, explaining that she had become 'immersed' in spotting symptoms since her three-year-old daughter Dakota (above together) was diagnosed with the condition earlier this year

The row began on Monday when O'Donnell shared an anti-bullying video which speculated that the president-elect's 10-year-old son may have the condition

It was uploaded by YouTube user James Hunter under the title 'Is Barron Trump Autistic? #StopTheBullying' and has over 2million views since it was first shared on November 11.

Reposting the video, O'Donnell wrote: ' Barron Trump autistic? If so - what an amazing opportunity to bring attention to the AUTISM epidemic.'

She was inundated by angry parents and social media users who described the post as 'evil'. Many said it was a new low in her ongoing, public spat with Trump.

'Rosie, as a parent of a child with autism - I am extremely insulted. This wasn't meant to help raise awareness. Just plain cruel,' said one.

'I am the mom of an 11 yr old with ASD and I am in tears that Rosie did this!! Shame on her!!'

'Is Rosie O'Donnell really going after Barron Trump? That's low even for her. Attacking children bc you don't like their parent (s) is wrong.

'I think it's disgusting and evil what Rosie O'Donnell said about Trump's son. It's one thing to attack a politician but it's evil to attack their children,' others fumed.

Among apparent 'signs' of autism that were pointed out by the video was Barron's style of clapping during his father's appearance at the Republican National Convention

The video, which has been viewed 2million times, implored social media users not to 'bully' Barron. It said his straight-face during his father's acceptance of the nomination was another indicator of autism

O'Donnell later said that she has 'no ill will' for any of Trump's children

On Saturday, O'Donnell however said the post was well-wished and entirely independent of her political beliefs.

'My 3.5 yr old daughter dakota was diagnosed in September with HFA  high functioning autism...

'When I saw the anti bullying video that mentioned Barron, it spoke to the symptoms many ASD kids have. It was educational and informational.

'This autism subject had nothing to do with Donald though i admit he does trigger me in all ways.

'I have no ill will for his children or any children and if u knew anything about me u would know that (sic).'

ROSIE O'DONNELL EXPLAINS ON HER WEBSITE WHY SHE SHARED VIDEO OF BARRON TRUMP 'H ere is how it went down. My 3.5 yr old daughter Dakota was diagnosed in September with HFA  high functioning autism. I have been immersed in that world/reality since. learning  reading  asking questions, Its all autism  all the time for the newly diagnosed as we try to grab onto anything to keep us standing. The knowledge we r not alone, there r others living this too. 'When I saw the anti bullying video that mentioned Barron it spoke to the symptoms many ASD kids have it was educational and informational. These symptoms so many do not understand I thought  how amazing IF it is true. 'IF it is true  I tweeted from my heart. It would help so much with the autism epidemic. 1 in 55 kids is an epidemic. Donald and I agree on that and not much else. 'I feel he is a clear and present danger but this autism subject had nothing to do with Donald. Though i admithe does trigger me in all ways. 'I have no ill will for his children or any children and if u knew anything about me u would know that. Donald does not have the power to change the facts to re write history so speak true  stand tall. THE WORLD IS WATCHING. 'For those who felt me a horror what can i say humans we try our very best and fail often. Peace out as we try to save democracy from this madman who thinks OUR country is his.' Advertisement

Twitter and Facebook users were quick to criticize the comedian for her tweet

In a separate tweet, she said: 'I didn't make the video, I watched it, and I found it compelling.

'Not my movie clip. Lots of us, who raise autistic children, notice things many would miss. Somethings felt familiar.'

She added the hashtag 'NoshameAUTISM'.

The video bases its assumption of Barron's health on observations of his behavior throughout his father's campaign.

The Trump family has never spoken on the matter. His representatives did not respond to requests for comment early on Sunday morning.

O'Donnell shared various tweets - seen above - over the past week, defending herself for sharing the video

O'Donnell responded by explaining that she saw similarities in Barron's behavior to that of her daughter, Dakota (above)

O'Donnell regularly shares photographs of her daughter on social media. Dakota was born in 2013 and is the comedian's third child.

She and former wife Michelle Rounds adopted Dakota in 2013. The pair divorced in 2015.

In February, before her daughter was diagnosed with the condition, O'Donnell was slammed by autism groups for joking during a stand-up set that she would 'trade in' her teenagers for 'autistic triplets'.

She previously wrote a book about her 16-year-old son Blake's struggle with Auditory Processing Disorder which affects the ability to distinguish between sounds.

O'Donnell has four older children, Vivienne, Chelsea and Blake (above) and Parker. She previously wrote a book about her son Blake's struggle with Auditory Processing Disorder

Trump and O'Donnell kicked off their bitter feud long before the November 8 election

Trump and O'Donnell kicked off their bitter feud long before the November 8 election.

It began in 2006 when O'Donnell was a host on The View and continued for years.

Throughout his campaign for the White House, O'Donnell regularly took swipes at the president-elect.

The 70-year-old has labelled her a 'fat pig', 'slob' and 'total degenerate' over the years and even brought her up in the presidential debates.

When Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton accused Trump of sexism during the debate at Hofstra University, New York, he took the opportunity to take another jab at ODonnell.

WHAT IS AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER? Autism is a general term for a group of complex disorders of brain development. It is characterized by difficulties with interacting socially, communicating verbally and non-verbally and repetitive behaviors. The most obvious signs of autism tend to show between two and three years of age and they affect daily functioning. Around one in 68 American children are on the autism spectrum, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The main autism symptoms are social deficits, language impairment and repetitive behaviors. While there is no cure for autism, there are therapies and behavioral interventions designed to remedy specific symptoms and can improve those symptoms. Advertisement

'This is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs,' Clinton said.

Clinton did not mention ODonnell but Trump responded using her name, implying she was the only woman hed ever verbally attacked.

'Somebody who's been very vicious to me, Rosie O'Donnell  I said very tough things to her. And I think everybody would agree that she deserves it, and nobody feels sorry for her,' Trump said.

ODonnell hit back at Trump after the debate calling him an orange anus.

At the time ODonnell responded via Twitter saying he will never be President before tweeting a link to a clip from The View in 2006 that shows her mocking Trump, a TV moment that is believed to be the origin of their feud.
A knife-wielding man has pushed four women, including one in her 80s, off a railway platform and onto train tracks in a bizarre daylight blitz lasting 90 seconds.

Two women, aged 81 and 75, were rushed to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries when they - along with two others - were allegedly pushed onto the tracks at Glenhuntly station, in Melbourne's southeast.

A 45-year-old man allegedly stabbed a woman's handbag and went onto assault the four women when his knife broke in half, about 11am on Sunday, police say.

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A knife-wielding man has allegedly assaulted four women, including one in her 80s, and pushed them onto the train tracks at Glenhuntly station, southeast Melbourne

A 45-year-old man initially stabbed a woman's handbag and went onto assault the four women when his knife broke in half, about 11am on Sunday, police say

Two women, aged 81 and 75, were rushed to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries when they - along with two others - were pushed onto the tracks at Glenhuntly station

All four women have been taken to The Alfred hospital.

A witness named Alfred, told Community News Leader, the offender appeared 'out of his mind'.

'I jumped out and started yelling at him and he took off,' he said.

'He only wanted to hit vulnerable people. He didn't want to confront anyone who could do anything about it.'

'He just looked like he wasn't there.'

The alleged offender was described as 190cm, with a shaved head and tattoos, Community News Leader reported.

A witness told 7 News he 'was calm' when he pushed the women onto the tracks in the path of an oncoming train.

The witness said he had punched one of the women.

An ambulance spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia a fifth woman was assessed but was not taken to hospital.

A 45-year-old man has been arrested and is being questioned by police (scene picture)

The man initially stabbed a woman's handbag and went onto assault the four women when his knife broke in half, about 11am on Sunday, police allege

Sergeant Jason Venturoni said two of the women were aged 81 and 75.

'There are suspected fractures, possible hip fractures and head injuries,' he told ABC News.



'The women were pushed off the platform onto the tracks and all sustained non-life threatening injuries,' a police spokeswoman said in a statement.

Two women, aged 25 and 36, suffered minor injuries.

The 45-year-old man from Carnegie has been arrested and is being interviewed by police.

Trains have not been disrupted.

A witness said the women were pushed into the path of an oncoming train
The car was found dumped in Thomastown on Saturday

Four teenagers have been arrested following a high-speed car chase in country Victoria and police are still searching for a fifth suspect.

Officers ended the pursuit for safety reasons after using unmarked cars to follow the dark-coloured BMW sedan from Thomastown to Heathcote on Friday afternoon.

In video shot from a helicopter and live streamed online by news agencies, the sedan could be seen speeding through Kyneton and narrowly missing a pedestrian in Lancefield as it continued, apparently in the direction of Bendigo.

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A man wearing a black suit and driving a black BMW led police on a high speed chase through the streets of north Melbourne as he darts in and out of lanes

The audacious driver stopped off several times for petrol during the dangerous high speed car chase.

The dark-coloured BMW sedan was found dumped in Thomastown just before 5pm on Saturday and a 17-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy were arrested nearby.

A 14-year-old Thomastown girl has been charged with two counts of theft of a vehicle and remanded in custody, while a Thomastown girl, 17, has been charged with one count of theft of a vehicle and granted bail.

Both girls will appear in a children's court at a later date.

Police say they are still searching for one of the male occupant involved in Friday's afternoon chase.

Four teenagers were arrested following the high-speed car chase in country Victoria but police say they're still looking for another

Police arrested two female passengers when they exited the car at an Aldi store
President-elect Donald Trump: 'Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades.

Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.

While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, 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.

Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.

I join the many Cuban Americans who supported me so greatly in the presidential campaign, including the Brigade 2506 Veterans Association that endorsed me, with the hope of one day soon seeing a free Cuba.'

Vice President-elect Mike Pence: 'The tyrant #Castro is dead. New hope dawns. We will stand with the oppressed Cuban people for a free and democratic Cuba. Viva Cuba Libre!'

Texas Senator Ted Cruz: 'Fidel Castro's death cannot bring back his thousands of victims, nor can it bring comfort to their families,' wrote in a Facebook post.

'Today we remember them and honor the brave souls who fought the lonely fight against the brutal Communist dictatorship he imposed on Cuba.'

Former President Jimmy Carter: 'Rosalynn and I share our sympathies with the Castro family and the Cuban people on the death of Fidel Castro,' Carter said in a statement.

'We remember fondly our visits with him in Cuba and his love of his country. We wish the Cuban citizens peace and prosperity in the years ahead.'

Secretary of State John Kerry: 'As our two countries continue to move forward on the process of normalization - restoring the economic, diplomatic and cultural ties severed by a troubled past - we do so in a spirit of friendship and with an earnest desire not to ignore history but to write a new and better future for our two peoples.'

Republican Ed Royce, the chairman of the House of Representatives' Foreign Affairs Committee: 'For more than half a century, the Cuban people have suffered under the brutal dictatorship of the Castro clan. No one should rule anywhere near as long as Fidel Castro did. His legacy is one of repression at home, and support for terrorism abroad. Sadly, Raul Castro is no better for Cubans who yearn for freedom.'

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: 'A tyrant is dead and a new beginning can dawn on the last remaining communist bastion of the Western hemisphere. We must seize the moment and help write a new chapter in the history of Cuba; that of a Cuba that is free, democratic, and prosperous.'

Florida Senator Marco Rubio: 'Fidel Castro seized power promising to bring freedom and prosperity to Cuba, but his communist regime turned it into an impoverished island prison.

'Over six decades, millions of Cubans were forced to flee their own country, and those accused of opposing the regime were routinely jailed and even killed. Sadly, Fidel Castro's death does not mean freedom for the Cuban people or justice for the democratic activists, religious leaders, and political opponents he and his brother have jailed and persecuted.

'The dictator has died, but the dictatorship has not. And one thing is clear, history will not absolve Fidel Castro; it will remember him as an evil, murderous dictator who inflicted misery and suffering on his own people.

'The future of Cuba ultimately remains in the hands of the Cuban people, and now more than ever Congress and the new administration must stand with them against their brutal rulers and support their struggle for freedom and basic human rights.'

Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton: 'Fidel Castro created hell on earth for the Cuban people. He will now become intimately familiar with what he wrought.'

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell: 'While Fidel Castro is gone, sadly the oppression that was the hallmark of his era is not. It is my hope that the Cuban regime will use this opportunity to turn the page for the good of the Cuban people and for all those living in the Americas. Freedom and democracy are long overdue in Cuba.'

Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush: 'While Fidel Castro is gone, sadly the oppression that was the hallmark of his era is not. It is my hope that the Cuban regime will use this opportunity to turn the page for the good of the Cuban people and for all those living in the Americas. Freedom and democracy are long overdue in Cuba.'

House Speaker Paul Ryan: 'Now that Fidel Castro is dead, the cruelty and oppression of his regime should die with him. Sadly, much work remains to secure the freedom of the Cuban people, and the United States must be fully committed to that work. Today let us reflect on the memory and sacrifices of all those who have suffered under the Castros.'

Tennessee Senator Bob Corker: 'Under Fidel Castro's brutal and oppressive dictatorship, the Cuban people have suffered politically and economically for decades, and it is my hope that his passing might turn the page toward a better way of life for the many who have dreamed of a brighter future for their country.'

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich: 'The outpouring of praise for Fidel Castro is tragic. He was a relentless dictator who imprisoned thousands, killed and tortured many Cubans. Castro's policies impoverished the Cuban people. Look at the cars in pictures. A dictatorship that drove out hundreds of thousands of Cubans.'

Florida Governor Rick Scott: 'I join Cuban-Americans and Floridians across the country who are incredibly hopeful for the future of Cuba. After decades of oppression, the Cuban people deserve freedom, peace and democracy.

'I have met so many Cubans who have come to Florida to flee the tyranny, brutality, and communism of the Castro brothers' oppressive regime and now is the time to look at policy changes that will demand democracy in Cuba.

'Today's news should usher in an era of freedom, peace and human dignity for everyone in Cuba and the State of Florida stands ready to assist in that mission. I spoke to President-elect Trump this morning to let him know that the State of Florida will help his administration in any way to support a pro-democracy movement in Cuba.'
A 63-year-old Sydney woman is in a stable condition in hospital after being bitten by a deadly eastern brown snake.

Deborah Mary Martin was admitted to Nepean hospital on Saturday after being bitten on the finger during a snake handling course.

The eastern brown snake is considered the world's second most venomous land snake.

The trained WIRES volunteer said that while doing a refresher course on snake handling at the Springwood Scout Hall in the Blue Mountains the reptile turned around and bit her on the finger.

Deborah Mary Martin, 63, was admitted to Nepean hospital on Saturday after being bitten a deadly eastern brown snake during a snake handling course

To stay up to date with correct techniques volunteers are required to do a snake handling refresher course every two years.

'We were doing our refresher course and everything was going fine but I must have done something wrong because the eastern brown snake I was trying to catch turned around and bit me on the finger,' Ms Martin told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Ms Martin was initially treated for the bite by the people running the course who she described as 'excellent' before being rushed to hospital.

'If I didn't get the correct first aid treatment that quickly, I think I might have died,' she said.

Ms Martin was initially treated for the bite by the people running the course who she described as 'excellent' before being rushed to hospital

The trained WIRES volunteer said that while doing a refresher course on snake handling at the Springwood Scout Hall in the Blue Mountains the reptile turned around and bit her finger

From hospital Ms Martin alerted friends and family by posting to Facebook to tell them that she was OK.

'I am in Nepean Hospital after being bitten by an Eastern Brown snake at a WIRES reptile course,' she wrote.

'Thank you to Rhonda for finding Pete and driving him here. Doctors in emergency are doing regular blood tests to decide whether I need anti venom. All good so far.'

On Sunday Ms Martin updated her friends on her condition saying that she would have to spend another night in hospital and was undergoing a number of tests.

'Update on snake bite: I am in Nepean for another night so they can take more blood samples to monitor clotting,' she wrote.

'And I am participating in the Australian Snakebite Project which is a national study on the use of anti-venom. (It just involves donating blood samples). I look like a pin cushion!'
Team Trump cannot decide who it wants to select as its newest member.

Donald Trump spent Thanksgiving weekend holed up at his lavish Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida, and conversation around the dinner table was focused on who the President-elect should pick to be secretary of state.

Internal divisions over his choice have reportedly delayed the critical decision, with his closest advisers weighing up a field of candidates that includes Rudy Giuliani, a Trump loyalist, and Mitt Romney, one of the former reality television host's loudest critics.

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Donald Trump reportedly cannot decide who he wants to be secretary of state, with vocal critic Mitt Romney one of the final option under consideration

Trump is also considering giving Rudy Giuliani the job. The two are pictured together at the Trump National Golf Club in New Jersey on November 20

Romney is largely regarded as the most qualified candidate, but his criticisms of Trump may end up costing him the job.

Tennessee Senator Bob Corker is also a possibility, as well as Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard from Hawaii, according to The Hill.

Trump is so conflicted about who to name to the high-profile position, he was even asking members in the clubs living room who he should pick.

'Donald was walking around asking everybody he could about who should be his secretary of state,' a person said, according to the New York Post.

Donald Trump speaks with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani at the clubhouse of Trump International Golf Club, in Bedminster Township, New Jersey, on November 20

President-elect Donald Trump shouts out as Mitt Romney walks away after meeting with him on Saturday, November 19, in New Jersey

Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (left) from Hawaii and Tennessee Senator Bob Corker (right) are also under consideration for the position, according to reports

'There was a lot of criticism about Romney, and a lot of people like Rudy. There are also many people advocating for [former US ambassador to the UN] John Bolton.'

It comes after it was reported earlier in the week that Trump's team wanted Romney to issue a public apology for his critical comments.

Romney famously tore into Trump in March, telling a Utah audience that the New York billionaire was 'a phony' and 'a fraud'.

Citing a Trump transition official, Fox News Channel correspondent Ed Henry said Thursday: 'there has been a conversation going on in private, very quiet of course, about whether or not Mitt Romney should issue some sort of formal or informal apology to President-elect Donald Trump.'

'Does he write a letter? Does he put out a statement of some kind?' Henry said.

Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have been after the same job before. Both are picture during a Republican presidential nominee debate in Florida in 2008

Trump has spend the holiday weekend holed up at the Mar-A-Lago resort in Florida. Pictured is a coast guard boat on patrol near the club
The funeral for the first of six children killed in a school bus accident has been held in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

A horse-drawn hearse pulled the casket of CorDayja Jones down Main Street in the city as people exited businesses and homes to look on. An American flag flew at half-mast.

Five more funerals are to be come for the Woodmore Elementary School children who died on Monday after their bus crashed into a tree while being driven by 24-year-old Johnthony Walker, who is facing six vehicular homicide charges.

The funeral for CorDayja Jones, who died in a bus crash in Chattanooga, was held on Saturday. In this picture her mother LaTesha Jones weeps as she touches a picture of her child

Approximately 500 people came out for Jones (pictured) funeral, which precedes five more funerals to come

Pictures of Jones dancing and posing were on display at the funeral, showing off the child's shinning personality

'She was the most genuine child you could ever meet,' Children's pastor Moriah Stanley said

Other children remain hospitalized and in critical condition, USA Today reported.

Pastor Kevin Wallace delivered the eulogy at Redemption Point Church for nine-year-old Jones on Saturday to the approximately 500 people who came out to remember her.

Pictures of Jones dancing and posing were on display, showing off the child's shinning personality.

'She sang with my two daughters every week and was an angel  a strong, quiet, caring young lady. She was the embodiment of what we want every child in this community to become,' Wallace told USA Today.

The church's choir, with which Jones loved to perform, sang her favorite songs in her memory.

'She was the most genuine child you could ever meet. You know when people say, that oh man - they leave everyone smiling? And they just say it? For Cor'Dayja, they really meant that. When she left a room people were always smiling

'I was really blown away by her when there was a new kid and he sat at the table by himself.

'And she went over and made friends with him. She was the first one to go over and talk to him.

'And it just made his experience at church a whole lot better,' Children's pastor Moriah Stanley told News Channel 9.

LaTesha Jones, the nine-year-old's mother, sobbed as she touched a picture of her daughter during the service.

The community has come together to support Jones' family and the families of the other victims: D'Myunn Brown, six; Zyaira Mateen, six; Keontae Wilson, eight; Zoie Nash, nine; Zyanna Janal Harris, ten

A fund has been created for families of the victims and already $112,000 has been raised

The neighborhood has also created a memorial site where the bus crashed and have brought balloons, pictures, stuffed animals, flowers and candles to remember the children

During the eulogy, Wallace talked about the moment he met Jones' mother in the hospital after she had been notified of her child's death.

Wallace said it was a moment he'd never forget.

'I will never forget watching a precious mother cry as she was notified that her baby would not make it home that day,' he said.

But he also said that people shouldn't worry about her not making it to her home on earth, as she is now at home with God.

'Somewhere in the middle of that tragedy, God got on bus 366 and on her way home in the midst of that crash, I believe God looked down and said, "Cor'Dayja Jones, we're closer to my house than we are to your house, so why don't you come on home with me'," Wallace said.

Eight-year-old Keyonte Wilson has been identified as the sixth person to have died in the horrible bus crash in Tennessee

Zacaureea Brown (right) had rescued one of her sisters from the bus and tried to go back to save her other sister, six-year-old Zyaira Mateen (left), but was unable to do so

The second funeral will be held for Zyanna Harris (pictured) on Sunday and the next will be on Thursday

D'Myunn Brown, 6, (left) also died in the crash, along with six-year-old Zyaira Mateen (right)

The community has come together to support Jones' family and the families of the other victims: D'Myunn Brown, six; Zyaira Mateen, six; Keontae Wilson, eight; Zoie Nash, nine; Zyanna Janal Harris, ten.

Harris' funeral will take place on Sunday and Mateen's will happen on Thursday.

A fund has been created for families of the victims and already $112,000 has been raised.

One of the people who came out to pay their respects was Chattanooga Police Deputy Chief David Roddy, who was at the scene of the crash.

The funeral comes just one day after it was revealed that a number of complaints had been lodged against Walker (pictured), the bus's driver, in the weeks before the crash

'It's therapeutic for everyone  to see this much of the community come to support the family, not only with faces that they know, but organizations that they recognize, whether it be first responders, the school, the hospital or local businesses,' he said.

Those who responded to the scene have also been checking in on the children who are still in the hospital and have delivered meals - including on Thanksgiving - to their families.

'One of the strengths of this city is how we come together during a crisis. And we have the history to show that,' Roddy said.

The neighborhood has also created a memorial site where the bus crashed and have brought balloons, pictures, stuffed animals, flowers and candles to remember the children.

Family members of Jones' said healing will now take time and patience

Records released by the school district Friday include two written statements by students complaining about Walker's driving

The funeral comes just one day after it was revealed that a number of complaints had been lodged against Walker, the bus's driver, in the weeks before the crash.

Records released by the school district Friday include two written statements by students complaining about Walker's driving.

'The bus driver drives fast,' one student wrote earlier this month.

'It feels like the bus is going to flip over... When someone is in the aisle he stops the bus and he makes people hit their heads.'

Another student wrote: 'The bus driver was doing sharp turns and he made me fly over to the next seat. We need seat belts.'
Trudeau praised Castro as a 'remarkable leader' who was 'larger than life' while Obama 'extended a hand of friendship to the people of Cuba'

Ted Cruz has joined Marco Rubio in slamming President Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for their statements after Fidel Castro died on Friday.

Rubio hit out at Obama's statement on Saturday morning, calling it 'pathetic' and saying it failed to mention the 'thousands he killed and imprisoned'.

The Florida senator, a Cuban-American, similarly called Trudeau's response to the former Cuban president's death 'shameful and embarrassing'.

Cruz, a fellow Cuban-American, was quick to support Marco's criticisms against the world leaders.

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Ted Cruz has joined Marco Rubio in slamming President Obama and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for their statements after Fidel Castro died on Friday

Rubio, a Cuban-American who ran against President-elect Donald Trump to be the Republican presidential candidate, called Obama's statement 'pathetic' in a post on Twitter on Saturday

Texas Sen. Cruz, a fellow Cuban-American, was quick to support Marco's criticisms against the world leaders

'Obama & Trudeau, before slobbering adulation on tyrants, take a min to look into the eyes of victims of communism,' he tweeted.

'Marco's right. Why does Obama persist in showering love on our enemies? Castro was not leftist chic; he was a murderer and a thug.'

Cruz also linked to Trudeau's statement and called it 'disgraceful'.

'Why do young socialists idolize totalitarian tyrants? Castro, Stalin, Mao, Pot Pot -- all evil, torturing murderers.'

Trudeau hailed Castro, who died aged 90, as a 'larger than life' leader who was a 'legendary revolutionary and orator' in his statement.

Trudeau praised Castro as a 'remarkable leader' who was 'larger than life' while Obama 'extended a hand of friendship to the people of Cuba' in their respective statements

Cruz said that Obama's efforts to be 'diplomatically polite' about Castro's death seemed to indicate he hopes the revolutionary's brother 'can be brought round

'It is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba's longest serving President,' Trudeau said in his tribute, which was released on Saturday.

'While a controversial figure, both Mr Castros supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for "el Comandante'".

Trudeau celebrated Castro's 'significant improvements' to Cuba's education and healthcare systems and said his own father was 'very proud to call him a friend'.

'On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and many, many supporters of Mr Castro,' he concluded.

'We join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader.'

Obama 'extended a hand of friendship' to the Cuban people in his statement on Castro's death, writing little about the leader himself.

'We know that this moment fills Cubans - in Cuba and in the United States - with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families, and of the Cuban nation,' he wrote.

U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA RELEASES A STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF FIDEL CASTRO At this time of Fidel Castro's passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans - in Cuba and in the United States - 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. For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends - bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba. Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America. Advertisement

'History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.'

Obama's statement focused more on the relationship between the US and Cuba, one marked by 'discord and profound political disagreements' for nearly six decades.

The president and Castro's brother Raul announced in 2014 the two countries would move to restore diplomatic ties for the first time since they were severed in 1961.

'We have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is not defined by our differences,' Obama wrote.

'But by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends - bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity,' he said.

'This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.'

'Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future.

'As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.'

Castro died on Friday aged 90, his younger brother and successor Raul Castro announced

Castro was a longtime friend of Trudeau's father, former Canadian PM Pierre Trudeau (pictured together during his historic visit to Cuba in 1976)

On Saturday, Rubio was quick to criticize Trudeau's statement on Castro's death

Cruz said that Obama's efforts to be 'diplomatically polite' about Castro's death seemed to indicate he hopes the revolutionary's brother 'can be brought round'.

'The 60 years Fidel Castro spent systematically exploiting and oppressing the people of Cuba provide more than enough history to pass judgment on both Fidel and, now more importantly, his brother Raul,' Cruz wrote in an op-ed for The National Review.

'All historical evidence points to the opposite conclusion. Raul is not a different Castro. He is his brothers chosen successor who has spent the last eight years implementing his dynastic plan.'

Cruz, whose aunt was jailed and tortured after joining the resistance against Castro, warned that there was a 'real danger' into thinking the revolutionary's death would change Cuba.

FLORIDA SENATOR MARCO RUBIO'S STATEMENT ON FIDEL CASTRO'S DEATH Fidel Castro seized power promising to bring freedom and prosperity to Cuba, but his communist regime turned it into an impoverished island prison. Over six decades, millions of Cubans were forced to flee their own country, and those accused of opposing the regime were routinely jailed and even killed. Sadly, Fidel Castro's death does not mean freedom for the Cuban people or justice for the democratic activists, religious leaders, and political opponents he and his brother have jailed and persecuted. The dictator has died, but the dictatorship has not. And one thing is clear, history will not absolve Fidel Castro; it will remember him as an evil, murderous dictator who inflicted misery and suffering on his own people. The future of Cuba ultimately remains in the hands of the Cuban people, and now more than ever Congress and the new administration must stand with them against their brutal rulers and support their struggle for freedom and basic human rights. Advertisement

'A dictator is dead. But his dark, repressive legacy will not automatically follow him to the grave,' Cruz wrote.

'Change can come to Cuba, but only if America learns from history and prevents Fidels successor from playing the same old tricks.'

Rubio similarly said that Castro's death did not mean 'freedom for the Cuban people'.

'The dictator has died, but the dictatorship has not,' he wrote in his statement.

'One thing is clear, history will not absolve Fidel Castro; it will remember him as an evil, murderous dictator who inflicted misery and suffering on his own people.'

Rubio said the country's future was was now 'in the hands of the Cuban people', but that the American government needed to support them.

'Now more than ever Congress and the new administration must stand with them against their brutal rulers,' he wrote, 'And support their struggle for freedom and basic human rights.'
Robby Chon is in intensive care after being attacked by a suspect with a skateboard

A police officer is in critical condition after being attacked by a thug who hit him over the head with a skateboard.

Robby Chon, a South San Francisco police officer who has worked with the force for 12 years, is in intensive care after the attack.

The father-of-two had to undergo surgery after being assaulted by Luis Alberto Ramos-Coreas, a 28-year-old he was trying to stop after being called to Grand Avenue on Thanksgiving to calls of a disturbance at 2.20pm.

Police officers have since paid tribute to him as a hardworking and beloved member of the department.

Chon was called to the area at 2.20pm on Thursday amid reports of a man behaving aggressively, according to Fox News.

Police say he tried to question Ramos-Coreas but that the 28-year-old smashed him over the head with the skateboard.

He was taken to hospital while other officers rushed to the scene. Photographs immediately afterwards show Ramos-Coreas sitting cross-legged and shirtless on the street after being arrested.

A GoFundMe page dedicated to raising money for Chon's care has already raised more than $80,000.

The veteran police officer was chasing Luis Alberto Ramos-Coreas after claims he was causing a disturbance on Grand Avenue in South San Francisco on Thanksgiving

Chon, a father-of-two, underwent surgery but is still in a critical condition in hospital

In its description, friend and fellow police officer Chris Swinney said Chon was an 'inspirational' member of the department.

'Robbie is the kind of man who'd give you the shirt off his back, it's time we return the favor,' he said.

South San Francisco Police Chief said it was the latest in a spate of attacks against officers.

'Law enforcement is going through difficult times with unprovoked targeted attacks on police officers.

'Yesterday this hit home in South San Francisco,' he told a press conference.

Ramos-Coreas was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and attempted murder.

His mother told ABC he suffered mental health issues for which he was taking medication.
An acrobat and Australian Olympic gymnast fell on her head during a Cirque du Soleil circus performance in Brisbane.

Lisa Skinner, 35, a three-time Olympian fell four to five metres from rings during a Sunday afternoon show.

Paramedics rushed to the Commonwealth Games gold medalist's side as it appeared she was conscious and displaying no obvious signs of injuries.

She was performing at the big top at Skygate, near Brisbane Airport, about 2pm AEST on Sunday and remains in a stable condition at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital.

Paramedics (pictured) rushed to acrobat Lisa Skinner's side after she fell from rings during a Cirque du Soleil performance in Brisbane

The 35-year-old acrobat was rushed to hospital in a stable condition and observed for internal injuries

Lisa Skinner performing at the Cirque du Soleil in Brisbane during the Kooza tour

Three-time Australian Olympian Lisa Skinner performed with hoops as part of the Cirque du Soleil in Brisbane before she suffered a terrifying fall

Lisa Skinner, a three-time Olympian, remained conscious after her terrifying fall. Stock image

The Brisbane woman was performing with the Kooza show when the accident happened.

But she is expected to leave hospital in coming days, Cirque du Soleil said.

'We are happy to report that Lisa is currently stable and in good condition,' they said in a statement on Monday afternoon.

' At this time, our priority is on supporting Lisa and her family so they can focus on her recovery. The thoughts and love from the cast and crew of Kooza are with her.'

A witness said the fall was absolutely terrifying.

'We were not allowed to move out of our seats with two small children,' she told The Courier-Mail.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the acrobat was taken to hospital in case she had sustained any internal injuries.

Australian born Lisa Maree Skinner, 35, from Queensland, is an artistic gymnast who competed at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games.

She was the first Australian gymnast to qualify for an individual event final at the Olympics.

Fellow performers watch on as medical staff take Ms Skinner to the ambulance

The show continued after the unexpected drama and Ms Skinner is being treated at hospital but it is only believed to be as a precaution

The circus told local media they rehearse for these moments and hope Ms Skinner has a speedy recovery

She was on tour with the Cirque du Soleil production Kooza, performing solo aerial hoops.

The circus show promotes its aim to shock and demonstrate the extremes of human performance.

The 35-year-old competed at the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympic Games during her career

The matinee show was temporarily stopped, but was restarted after Ms Skinner was taken away.

A circus spokesman has been telling local media that they are always well prepared for this accidents and rehearse them regularly as safety of their performers is their main concern.

The Cirque du Soleil performance in Brisbane was marred by a terrifying fall on Sunday
France's former Prime Minister Francois Fillon has won today's final of the primary for the conservative candidate to take on Marine Le Pen in next year's presidential election.

His moderate rival, Alain Juppe, conceded defeat, meaning Mr Fillon, 62, will represent Les Republicains (The Republicans) party in the election next spring.

Mr Fillon has promised to sack 500,000 civil servants and save 100 billion euros (85billion) from public spending.

Although the Socialist President Francois Hollande has yet to decide whether to stand his approval ratings are at a record low and it is assumed the contest will be between Le Pen's far-right Front National and the candidate from Les Republicains (The Republicans).

In early results from today's primary the organisers said today Mr Fillon had 69.5 percent of votes and Alain Juppe had 30.5 percent.

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Francois Fillon, (pictured, centre), casts his vote today in the second and final round of the conservative primary election. He has been the front-runner since Nicolas Sarkozy was knocked out in the first round earlier this month

Mr Fillon (pictured, left) is married to Penelope (right), who was born in Wales. She has said she prefers spending time with her five children and her many horses rather than the bright lights of Paris

Soon afterwards Mr Juppe, the 71-year-old Mayor of Bordeaux, accepted defeat.

Mr Fillon and Mr Juppe were the final two after four candidates, including the former President Nicolas Sarkozy, were knocked out in the first round.

Mr Fillon, an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, has campaigned on promises of dramatic free-market reforms, a squeeze on immigration and friendlier ties with Russia's Vladimir Putin.

Polls suggest Mr Fillon has a high chance of winning the French presidency in the spring.

Francois Fillon is pictured after driving the Peugeot 908 at Le Mans in 2009. He is a big fan of motor racing and a well-known petrolhead

The election is in two rounds and opinion polls suggest the Socialist candidate - whether it is Mr Hollande or someone else - and maverick Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron will be knocked out in the first round, leaving Mr Fillon to take on Ms Le Pen.

Her party is still perceived as racist by many French voters and it is thought Left-wing voters would turn out to vote for Mr Fillon in the second round, rather than let Ms Le Pen win the presidency.

The same thing happened in 2002 when Ms Le Pen's father, Jean-Marie, made it to the second round but was trounced by Jacques Chirac.

Former French Prime Minister and Bordeaux's Mayor Alain Juppe, casts his vote in the city today. He later conceded defeat

Mr Fillon, a right-wing conservative and devout Catholic, has been married to Penelope (nee Clarke), for 36 years.

He said tonight: 'The victory is mine, and it's a victory based on my convictions.

'Conservative voters have found in my campaign the values that are dear to them. I will defend those values, and we will share them with everyone that loves France.'

Conservative voters have found in my campaign the values that are dear to them. I will defend those values, and we will share them with everyone that loves France Francois Fillon

Speaking from his campaign headquarters in Paris, Mr Fillon said: 'I must now convince the whole country our project is the only one that can lift us up.'

Mr Juppe said: 'I congratulate Francois Fillon on his great victory. I support him and wish him good luck in his future presidential campaign.'

Mr Fillon has welcomed the French media projecting him as the 'French Margaret Thatcher', who will reform his country in the same way that the Iron Lady did Britain in the 1980s.

At a final rally on Friday in Paris, Mr Fillon pledged to cut up to half a million civil service jobs, to increase working hours, and to fight the trade unions.

'We have to change the system', he told the rally.

He stressed the need for stronger 'family values', saying he would limit adoption rights for same-sex couples.

Francois Fillon (right) shakes hands with one of his key supporters, former Food Minister Bruno Le Maire, after his victory was announced

Mr Fillon (pictured) emerged from the shadow of Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round and sent his old boss into retirement

Mr Fillon is pictured casting his own vote this morning (left) and later humbly accepting the nomination (right)

There was also a pledge to bring back school uniform, and to clamp down on Islamists who threatened traditional French values.

In turn, Mr Juppe had accused Mr Fillon of wanting to drag France backwards with an 'an extremely traditionalist vision, not to say slightly retrograde vision, of the role of women, the family and marriage.'

There is a feeling in France that, following Brexit and Donald Trump's election as president, there could be another shock, with Ms Le Pen becoming head of state.

Mr Fillon came from behind in the first round of the primary, winning 44 percent of the vote.

A woman casts her ballot in the second round of the primary. Mr Fillon was way ahead after the first round and today's round was largely seen as a foregone conclusion
A man with a long and violent criminal history allegedly raped a girl in a park earlier this month only a day after he was released on bail on stalking charges.

He had been in court the previous day on two counts of stalking and intimidation, one count of resisting arrest and one count of using offensive language near a school.

This man, 37, also had a criminal record that ran to 40 pages, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

A 37-year-old man with a long criminal record is alleged to have sexually assaulted a girl a day after being released on bail for stalking and intimidation charges. Stock image

Police sources have said the man on child sex charges had been arrested 70 times since he was a child. Stock image

He had been released on bail despite having an extensive rap sheet which included charges for domestic violence, breaking and entering and violent robberies.

Police sources told News Corp Australia the man had been arrested more than 70 times since he was a child and had done considerable jail time.

The suspect was arrested near the park a few hours after the alleged attack, earlier this month, and charged with having sex with a child under 10 years old.

He was refused bail last week.

The man charged with having sex with a child under 10 had previously been charged with domestic violence offences, police sources say. Stock image

Victims of Crime Assistance League said the man charged with child sex should not have been granted bail. Stock image

Victims of Crime Assistance League vice-president Howard Brown said magistrates needed to be better informed about bail laws.

'There was no way in the world he should have been granted bail,' he told The Sunday Telegraph.

'He was clearly an unacceptable risk.'
The Chancellor of the Exchequer has been forced to lock up his pet dogs - to keep them safe from vicious Larry the cat.

Philip Hammond moved his dogs, a Welsh terrier called Rex and a dachshund named Oscar, into Number 10 a few days ago but relations with Larry have got off to a bad start for the pooches.

Mr Hammond confessed to friends that he has had to keep Rex and Oscar locked up in a room upstairs, while Larry patrols his domain downstairs at Number 10.

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Larry the cat, pictured left, is not afraid to defend his territory at Number 10, meaning Rex and Oscar, seen right with his wife Susan Williams-Walker and a friend, have to be locked away

A friend of the Chancellor told the Telegraph: 'The dogs are not free to roam around the house. The cat is all over the place.

'Larry fights, he is pretty feisty. The dachshund is pretty small and I am not at all sure if it really came to a punch up who would come off best.'

Friends of former Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said he had kept Lola, his Bichon Frise, away from Number 10's cat when he moved her into the building in 2013.

According to the paper, Downing Street officials had been concerned for Larry's safety when the Chancellor decided to bring in his dogs, but the moggy has been prepared to mark his territory.

Philip Hammond moved his two dogs into Number 10 but he has been forced to keep them locked up so they don't get hurt by Larry the cat

Larry has been well-known for clashing with Palmerston, the Foreign Office's cat, and the two have been photographed swiping violently at each other in Downing Street.

Both were brought to their political homes from Battersea Dogs and Cats home in south London.

Larry has become known for his feisty nature and has clashed with Palmerston, the cat from the Foreign Office, on numerous occasions

While David Cameron had to prove his love for Larry, Theresa May and Mr Hammond confessed they were dog people recently.

Though Downing Street has its fair share of pets, they are banned from the halls of Westminster, much to the frustration of MPs who say they have a mouse problem in the House of Commons.

Tory chief whip Gavin Williamson keeps his pet tarantula on his desk in his Commons office and refuses to move him until the mouse problem is dealt with.

Some 103,000 was spent on pest controls across parliament last year - including employing a full time 'pest control technician'.

But despite more than 1,700 'bait stations' being laid sightings have been on the rise.

There had been 169 reports of mice by June this year - compared to 223 in the whole of 2015.
A schoolgirl who fell head-first down a 10-metre cliff has awoken from a month-long coma with no memory as a result of post trauma amnesia.

On October 20, Faith Butt, 13, fell in Taipan Wall Gorge in Victoria's Grampians National Park during a school trip.

Although she has awoken from her coma and experts say she'll have no memory of the 'particular phase', Faith's mother believes she recognises her.

Faith Butt, 13, has woken from a coma, however, she can't communicate and has lost her memory

Faith fell 10 metres down a cliff in the Taipan Wall Gorge in the Grampians National Park (pictured)

'I know that she knows when I'm there because she settles,' Barb Cox told the Herald Sun.

Faith - who is from Mathoura, New South Wales, is off life support and has the ability to breathe on her own - but she can't communicate.

'We dont have any idea what is going to happen next,' Ms Cox said.

Experts said children's brains had a lot of 'plasticity' but the path to recovery wasn't clear.

The 'frightening' situation had taken a toll on the family, and she'd been at her daughter's bedside in the Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital - where she was airlifted to - since the fall.

Faith has been in the intensive care unit since receiving emergency surgery, recovering from fractured skull and facial bones and a broken pelvis.

Faith's mother Barb has been at her side at the Melbourne Royal Children's Hospital (pictured) since the fall

Paramedics had to trek to the remote location where she fell before they could winch her to a helicopter.

She was among a group of 20 Year 8 students and three adults from Moama Anglican Grammar, New South Wales, on an excursion to the region.

Ms Cox is planning to leave her job to care for Faith full time, and a Go Fund Me campaign has been started to help support the family.

We dont have any idea what is going to happen next Barb Cox, Faith's mother

Specialists believe Faith will need at least a year of rehabilitation and support to make a recovery.

The Go Fund Me page for Faith describes her as an 'incredibly talented, fun loving' child'

'Those that know Faith understand how very special she is,' the page states.

'Her loving, caring and kind personality mixes with her high intellect and sense of fun.

'She is an Italian speaking, piano playing, netball and swimming champion who is incredibly strong, determined and focused. It is these qualities that she is drawing on right now as she digs in for the fight of her life.'

Victoria Police and Worksafe are investigating Faith's fall.

Emergency services at the scene when Faith was rescued from the Grampians National Park
Heroic: Five medals awarded to Alice Keppel are expected to fetch 3,000 at auction

A collection of war medals awarded to Alice Keppel, the celebrated mistress of Edward VII and great-grandmother of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are expected to fetch 3,000 at auction.

Keppel received the five medals, including the 1914 Star, which women rarely received, for her work as a nurse in a French field hospital in Etaples, during the First World War.

Her heroic efforts also earned her the British War and Victory Medals.

Keppel became the Prince of Waless mistress in 1898, when she was aged just 29 and he was 57, and remained the favourite of Queen Victoria's son until his death 12 years later.

Throughout his reign, which began in 1901, Keppel liked to say she was the real Queen of England, and that his wife Alexandra was not his soulmate  she was.

The Royal Family did all they could, after his death in 1910, to destroy evidence of Edward VIIs long affair with Alice.

His private secretary, Sir Francis Knollys, is said to have destroyed mountains of letters and private papers in a bonfire that lasted days.

Famously, when the current Prince of Wales met Keppel's great-granddaughter Camilla Shand decades later, legend has it she seduced him with the words: My great-grandmother was the mistress of your great-great-grandfather  so how about it?

Keppel married the Honourable George Keppel in 1891, when she was aged 23, and the couple had two children, but her husband's lack of money led her to engage in affairs with richer men.

The collection of five medals includes the 1914 Star, which was rarely awarded to women

Her association with the king did much to help her family's financial affairs. He gave her shares in a rubber company, which gained her around 50,000 - the equivalent of 7.5million today - and he allowed her to use his own bankers and financial advisers.

Alice Keppel was 29 when she met 57-year-old Bertie, Prince of Wales and later Edward VII

King Edward VII was also instrumental in securing well-paid jobs for her husband and brother, Archie.

Extraordinarily, the monarch asked for Keppel to be at his side during his last hours, much to the dismay of his wife.

The medals, which also include the Coronation Medal of 1902 - awarded when Keppel's lover ascended to the throne - and Geroge V's Silver Jubilee Medal, received in 1935 - will be auctioned by a private collector.

When Charles first met Camilla, legend has it she brought up their infamous family connection

Will Bennett, of London auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, told Sunday Express: Alice Keppel and Edward loved one another until the day he died and the scene when she was summoned to his deathbed in the presence of Queen Alexandra remains one of the most extraordinary episodes in the history of the Royal Family.
They will hold an alternative celebration called 'One Day' two days later

Colin Barnett described it as 'disloyal to the country, state and community'

The WA Premier has slammed a decision by the City of Fremantle to cancel their Australia Day celebrations and hold an alternative event two days later.

The annual fireworks display in the port city, which take place on January 26, will be replaced with another event called One Day, reported the ABC.

On Sunday Mr Barnett said he was 'extremely disappointed' by the decision.

The WA Premier Colin Barnett (pictured) has slammed a decision by the City of Fremantle to cancel their Australia Day celebrations and hold an alternative event two days later

The annual fireworks display in the port city (pictured), which takes place on January 26, will be replaced with another event called One Day

'It's disloyal to our country, it's disloyal to our state, and I think it's disloyal to the community of Fremantle,' he said.

'There are people from all over the world who live in Fremantle and we come together as one people, one country on Australia Day - no one should undermine that.'

Mr Barnett said everyone understood the history and debate around Australia Day, but it was a national day and he said most Aboriginal groups accepted it and put it to one side.

Earlier this year Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettit told the ABC he anticipated the public reaction to the decision would be mixed.

Earlier this year Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettit said he anticipated the public reaction to the decision would be mixed. Pictured is a demonstration against Australia Day celebrations in the city

Mr Pettit said the fireworks are much loved but for Aboriginal people in Fremantle it was a day of sadness and 'in many ways a day that marks the start of their dispossession'. Pictured are protestors calling for the council to be sensitive to the concerns of the Indigenous community

'The [fireworks] are fun, and they are much loved, and it was a pretty tough decision ... but at the heart of it, it came down to some conversations quite a few of us had with local Aboriginal people in Fremantle,' he said.

'For them there was a real sense that Australia Day is not a day of celebration for everybody, in fact, for them it is a day of sadness and in many ways, a day that marks the start of much of their dispossession.'

The protest against the fireworks (pictured) was held earlier this year and coordinated through the Australians of British Heritage for Indigenous Justice and Reconciliation group
Margaret Thatcher was forced to pay the Iranian regime 2 million to rebuild their London embassy after the dramatic siege in the 1980s - to avoid betraying the secrets of the SAS.

The embassy was engulfed by flames after a series of explosions during the raid in May 1980 - after six gunmen from a radical Iranian Arab group took 24 people hostage.

Stun grenades lobbed through the broken windows also set fire to the curtains, nearly roasting one SAS trooper alive.

Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who was orced to pay the Iranian regime 2 million to rebuild their London embassy after the dramatic siege in the 1980s - to avoid betraying the secrets of the SAS

Two hostages died in the raid, which came after a six day siege, while all but one of the gunmen, who were demanding the release of prisoners, were also killed.

For two years, the Prime Minister refused to pay a penny to Iran to repair the burned-out ruin on Princes Gate in South Kensington.

She was furious that Iran had the nerve to make the claim, when the Ayatollah's brutal regime was still holding 52 US hostages and innocent Britons in an emabssy in Tehran.

But secret documents have revealed how she relented after the insurance wrangle threatened to expose SAS operations and allow soldiers to be sued for doing their duty.

The embassy was engulfed by flames after a series of explosions during the raid in May 1980 - after six gunmen from a radical Iranian Arab group took 24 people hostage

The televised storming of the embassy boosted SAS prestige they were invited by numerous foreign governments to go 'on loan' to resolve hostage situations abroad

At the time, the SAS had just played a highly secret role in liberating the Falklands and it was also conducting highly sensitive operations against the IRA which would deliver hammer blows to the terrorists throughout the 1980s.

The televised storming of the embassy boosted SAS prestige they were invited by numerous foreign governments to go 'on loan' to resolve hostage situations abroad.

But a hidden Home Office file found in the National Archives has revealed how the secret war on terror was nearly compromised by the insurance wrangle over Princes Gate.

The long-lost dossier says within weeks of the raid, police, the Ministry of Defence, Home Office and Foreign Offices were stunned to receive a letter from Iran's insurance brokers based in Essex.

Firefighters remove a body from the burnt out remains of the embassy building after the siege ended

Ministers feared that paying for damage caused by the military operating under Metropolitan Police supervision would create a legal minefield

Sent by recorded delivery, it demanded payment for damage to the embassy building and contents from the 'unfortunate incident', adding: 'It would seem the damage was directly caused by the SAS rescue operation which itself took place under the direct orders of Her Majesty's Government.'

Ministers feared that paying for damage caused by the military operating under Metropolitan Police supervision would create a legal minefield.

It would also be cause 'public outrage' given the 'brutal and unpopular nature' of the Iranian regime, ministers agreed in confidential memos.

But in August 1982, Foreign Secretary Frances Pym wrote to a still adamant Mrs Thatcher to warn her 'matters may soon come to a head.'

The Iranian embassy reopened in 1993 after Mrs Thatcher agreed the funding to repair the building

Following the raid by SAS troops, the embassy in Princes Gate was left in ruins and needed repair

He said: ''Neighbours, Westminster City Council, and the general public are becoming increasingly restive at the continuance of this dangerous eye sore.

'Westminster City Council has obtained a court order authorising them to carry out repairs and charge the cost to the Iranians.

'If the the council's workmen move in without Iranian agreement, I would expect the Iranians to react sharply.'

Britain had been considering arbitration with Iran through the courts but the Attorney General Sir Michael Havers was advising against this.

The danger that Iran was likely to use its position to publicly insult Britain and the Special Air Service.

A staircase inside the Iranian embassy in London, which was rebuild following a siege in 1980

Given that millions in overseas trade agreements were also riding on a deal, the cost of repairs was 'small by comparison' at between 1 and 2 million', he argued.

The Iranian embassy reopened in 1993 after Mrs Thatcher agreed the funding - in exchange for Iran repairing the British Embassy damaged in Tehran during the Revolution.
Labour's Brexit plan would involve the UK remaining under the control of EU judges, it has been revealed.

The European Court of Justice would still precede over legal matters - even after ties had been severed, shadow Brexit minister Sir Keir Starmer proposed.

MPs and anti-EU groups have criticised the court for blocking government attempts to deport terror suspects and criminals.

The European Court of Justice would still precede over British legal matters - even after ties had been severed, shadow Brexit minister Sir Keir Starmer said

Judges in the European Court of Justice base decisions on EU law as well as the European Convention on Human Rights - a separate treaty which has its own court. It was set up following the mass slaughter and abuse of ethnic groups during the Second World War.

Leaving the EU would not automatically mean Britain would cease to follow ECHR principles, human rights activists have warned.

Sir Keir has urged ministers to obey European Court of Justice rulings to help avoid a 'hard Brexit'.

He warned that a Britain without membership of the single market and the court could be 'hugely damaging'.

In a speech addressing his concerns that Brexit could affect environment laws, he said: 'A hard Brexit - removed from the single market and outside of common regulations and minimum standards - could be hugely damaging for our environment, our climate and our wider politics and society.

'Labour will fight for a Brexit deal that puts the economy, jobs and living standards first and makes sure there is no watering down of key environmental protections or standards.'

Brexiteers have criticised Sir Keir for his comments. Former justice minister Dominic Raab claimed he was taking the 'public for fools'.

Sir Keir (left) has urged ministers to obey European Court of Justice rulings to help avoid a 'hard Brexit'. Diane Abbott (right), shadow home secretary, has called for a 'soft' Brexit

He told The Sun on Sunday: 'Labour say they respect the referendum result. But their Brexit spokesman opposes Britain leaving the court that prevents us barring entry to terrorists or removing criminals who commit crimes here.'

Mark Carney, the Bank of England governor, has also called for Britain to retain access to the single market and the European Court of Justice until at least 2021.

Diane Abbott, shadow home secretary, has also called for a 'soft' Brexit.

The veteran Labour MP claimed Britain must accept uncontrolled EU migration if it is to keep access to the single market.

Britain has been defeated in 101 out of 131 cases brought to the Court of Justice.

The EU was criticised when it only lifted the ban on Britain exporting beef in 2006 - 10 years after the then prime minister John Major tried to get it repealed.
Syrian rebels have been hit by a chemical gas attack from Islamic State (IS) jihadists in northern Syria, the Turkish army has said.

Twenty-two pro-Ankara rebels were hit in the attack.

'After a rocket was fired by Daesh (IS), 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas,' the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

Rebels have lost ground in Aleppo as it is reported Syrian-government forces have retaken a rebel-held are in the east of the city.

Smoke billows following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces in a rebel-held area of Daraa, in southern Syria on Sunday

One of the victims of a chemical attack is stretchered into hospital after suffering symptoms of chemical gas

The video shows emergency workers dressed in protective clothing to keep them safe while they treat the victims

Turkish media said 22 people had fallen victim to the attack and were taken to Turkey for treatment

According to the BBC, Syrian government forces had fully recaptured Jabal Badro.

Neighbouring Hanano district has also fallen.

Media sources in Turkey said the chemical attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria, but it is not clear exactly when.

The affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey's AFAD emergencies agency.

The reports said that the Turkish emergency workers were equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves.

Emergency relief teams had conducted various tests on the affected rebels for traces of chemical materials at a hospital where they are undergoing treatment.

A video from outside the hospital showed some of the Syrians being transferred on stretchers, with the emergency workers dressed in full-body white protective clothing and gas masks.

Smoke billows following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces in a rebel-held area of Daraa

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out IS jihadists from the border area

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out IS jihadists from the border area and also ensuring there is no Kurdish militia presence.

In a three-month operation, the rebels have so far captured the IS stronghold of Jarabulus, cleared IS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance.
Nigel Farage has revealed his fears for his life after his high-profile backing for Donald Trump in the US presidential race.

The MEP, who is due to stand aside as Ukip leader tomorrow, said he has received a wave of death threats and no longer goes out in public without security guards.

But he has risked further fury by hinting he could endorse Front National leader Marine Le Pen in the looming French elections.

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Nigel Farage, pictured at a Trump rally during the US presidential race, has become the first British politician to meet the incoming commander-in-chief

The Brexit campaigner has long been a controversial figure, and has repeatedly voiced concerns about his own safety in the past.

One of the main reasons he decided to quit as Ukip leader in July was the rising number of threats he was receiving after the historic referendum result.

He said his political career had come at a 'significant cost' to his wife Kirsten and children.

However, since then he has taken a high-profile role in the US presidential battle - appearing at rallies for Mr Trump and predicting that he would pull off a Brexit-style political shock.

After the billionaire Republican emerged victorious, Mr Farage became the first British politician to meet him, spending an hour at Trump Tower in New York.

By contrast Theresa May had to make do with a ten minute phone call, coming after a host of other leaders.

Mr Trump then ratcheted up the pressure on the Prime Minister by calling for Mr Farage to be made Britain's ambassador to the US.

Mr Farage handed out Ferrero Rocher chocolates during a party in his honour at the Ritz this week - a joking reference to Mr Trump's suggestion he should be ambassador

The prospect has been dismissed by Downing Street, with Chancellor Philip Hammond telling the MEP not to 'hold his breath' for a call from the government.

Speaking to the Daily Express, Mr Farage said: 'Certainly I would not go out in London of an evening on my own without security  couldn't even think about it.

'I can't even walk down the street without it. I have to go to private places, private venues.'

Mr Farage suggested his support for Trump had 'changed everything' and upped the level of animosity towards him

He also hinted that he could support Marine Le Pen's bid in the looming battle to become French president.

He said the Front National leader was 'very determined' and 'brilliant on TV', but there was 'lots of baggage' with her party.

Asked whether he could back her in the latter stages of the presidential race, Mr Farage said: 'It depends what the circumstances are, you'll have to ask me in April. I have never said a bad word about her but I have never said a good word about her party and that's where I am with this - it's slightly awkward.'

Mr Trump was pictured with the Republican billionaire in Trump Tower after their meeting
But doctors refused to give the procedure in case they change their minds

Many women spend their teenage years dreaming of their weddings and picking out names for the children everyone assumes they will have.

But for two young women this vision of the future is more like a nightmare, they and want to get sterilised to make sure they never become mothers.

Dayna Foote, 19, and Laura Hosemans, 18, deal with the daily disbelief of family, friends, and even strangers, who insist they are selfish or will one day change their minds.

Dayna Foote, 19, wants to get sterilised to make sure she never becomes a mother

Laura Hosemans, 18, deals with the daily disbelief of family, friends, and even strangers, who insist she is selfish or will one day change her mind

Doctors are no more understanding of their convictions and their pair have not found a single one willing to perform even the least invasive procedure.

'For as long as I can remember I've always been uncomfortable with the concept of having kids,' Ms Foote told Daily Mail Australia.

'I thought I had to, but I realised that it was more or less a family obligation and that it's ultimately my choice.'

The aerospace engineering student said she started thinking about life without children when she was 14 and 'found it more and more appealing each day'.

'I'm terrible at being motherly. I guess I just don't have that instinct. I don't enjoy prolonged time spent with kids, and I don't particularly involve myself with them,' she said.

'Apart from those reasons, having children is pretty awful for the environment, and I don't want to add to that.'

Ms Foote, an aerospace engineering student, said she started thinking about life without children when she was 14 and 'found it more and more appealing each day'

The Melbourne woman said most people, particularly outside her generation, were shocked when she told them, and has heard all the usual arguments.

'I've had people say I'll change my mind when I'm older, or that I just don't understand the joys of having kids yet,' she said.

'Even some strangers seem to think it would be a 'shame' for me, a total stranger, to not have children. They don't know if I'd be a terrible parent or not, they just think there's a problem with someone not wanting kids.'

Some of her friends were adamant she was making the wrong choice, calling her decision 'ridiculous' or insisting she will eventually 'accept her body's biological purpose'.

But she does have the steadfast support of her boyfriend of one year, who also 'doesn't see the point of having kids'.

The Melbourne woman said most people, particularly outside her generation, were shocked when she told them, and has heard all the usual arguments

Ms Foote put off consulting doctors about having her tubes tied until after her university exams at RMIT, and admitted to being 'very worried' of rejection.

'I'm intimidated by visiting all the doctors I'm going to have to see, because I know I'll get rejected a million times,' she said.

She was even willing to travel overseas to have the procedure if Australian doctors knocked her back.

Ms Foote put off consulting doctors about having her tubes tied until after her university exams at RMIT, and admitted to being 'very worried' of rejection

Ms Hosemans, who just graduated high school in the Yarra Ranges, said she decided at age 15 she didn't want children and spent the past two years research permanent contraception options.

Im not really maternal, I dont feel compelled to have any. I just dont see them in my future, its not the kind of life that I want,' she said.

'I dont hate them, but its like seeing other peoples dogs, youre happy to see them for a bit but then you go home and they arent there.'

Ms Hosemans said she frequently clashed with people about her decision, especially middle-aged women at her work, and had given up arguing with them.

People says youll change your mind, dont decide quite yet or "things will change and youll want them, or they tell me I'll regret it later, it will be different if the kids are mine, or that being a mother is "so worth it",' she told DMA.

Ms Hosemans said she decided at age 15 she didn't want children and spent the past two years research permanent contraception options

She said the worst was being told 'youll definitively want kids, its in your biology' or that her biological clock was ticking.

I get annoyed because its like hearing a broken record and they feel like they know me better than I know myself, which is quite upsetting. I'm fed up with the stigma,' she said.

Ms Hosemans said she decided to get sterilised because the pill was a hassle to take every day and was not 100 per cent effective.

If I dont want them, why take the risk? If you get pregnant as a young woman youre frowned upon if you keep the baby or not,' she said.

The determined school leaver went to her general practitioner to discuss how she might go about getting her tubes tied.

The GP looked at me with astonishment and said why would you even consider that? and shut me down right away,' Ms Hosemans said.

The teenager, who just graduated high school in the Yarra Ranges, said she frequently clashed with people about her decision and had given up arguing with them

'She said it was difficult even for middle-aged women, let alone one her age, even with a lot of third party opinions, so I should definitely reconsider despite me being pretty firm.

Ms Hosemans said the doctor objected because of potential complications, but the main focus was if she regretted it later in life.

I think because she was worried I might sue,' she said.

Getting nowhere, Ms Hosemans inquired about instead getting an intrauterine device (IUD), a T-shaped device inserted into the uterus to prevent fertilisation.

The doctor reluctantly gave her a referral to Monash Family Planning to discuss it, but Ms Hosemans said before she even made contact they called her parents.

I thought I had confidentiality but apparently not. They just went right ahead and called her before me,' she said.

Ms Hosemans said she decided to get sterilised because the pill was a hassle to take every day and was not 100 per cent effective

A two-hour argument with her parents followed, during which they said she shouldnt be getting birth control as she 'shouldnt be doing anything anyway'.

'I dont think they really believe Ill never have kids, they think Ill eventually change my mind,' she said.

Ms Hosemans said her parents were now suspicious of her going to the doctor for any reason.

The pair represent a growing trend of Australian women forgoing having children, either to focus on their careers or for many other reasons.

Australia has the second-highest rate of voluntarily childless people in the OECD, and number of childless women aged 45 to 49 increased from just nine per cent in 1986 to 11 per cent in 1996 and 14 per cent in 2006, according to census data.
GCSE pupils are making more spelling mistakes than their parents' generations and struggle with words such as 'too', 'of' and 'said', a study has revealed.

Research by exam group Cambridge Assessment, which looks at children's writing in the English GCSE every decade, found their spelling is worse than those in previous years.

Across all ability levels, spelling has not improved since 1980, the study found.

A study by exam group Cambridge Assessment found standards in spelling has gone down since 1980 with children struggling to spell 'of' and 'thought' correctly

The five most commonly misspelt words in 2014 were 'off', 'too', 'said', 'myself' and thought'.

Semicolons were more accurately used by the high achieving students but correct use fell sharply among the weaker pupils.

The study, which is published in full on Wednesday, revealed how children in the digital age were influenced by their Facebook posts, use of texting and other forms of social media.

John Sutherland, a professor at University College London and expert on grammar, said children should be allowed to spell words phonetically, the Sunday Times reported.

He said: 'British spelling is of great archaeological interest but George Bernard Shaw was right. We really should rationalise it. Texting makes it cleer, donnit?'

Researchers analysed exam scripts by 30 boys at every GCSE grade between 1980 and 2014

The findings come as the government prepares to launch a more rigorous grading scale of one to nine next year, which is pegged to international standards for the first time.

A five will be considered a 'good pass'  between a current C and B grade  and a nine will be gained by only the highest achievers.

Ministers are also introducing a new measure of school performance across eight 'academic' GCSE subjects including English, maths, science, languages and the humanities.

Earlier this year it was also found white British pupils were being overtaken by students from ten other ethnic groups by the time they sit their GCSEs.

A report found immigrant children were 'keen to make use of the educational opportunities' on offer and received huge support from their aspirational families.

White British children were being 'let down' by parents who did not fully support their education.
Some academics argue young people should 'face up to difficult things'

University students left distressed by learning about sex, suicide or violence are being offered deadline extensions, resits and even exemptions to ensure they are not disadvantaged.

Newcastle University has issued guidance for lecturers covering 'sensitive topics', which includes rape, abuse, misogyny and racism.

But Dennis Haynes, professor of education at Derby University and director of campaign group Academics for Academic Freedom, dismissed the policy to The Sunday Times as 'bureaucratic mollycoddling'.

Newcastle University has issued guidance to lecturers dealing with students who have been affected by learning about 'sensitive topics' including abuse, suicide or violence (file picture)

Many institutions across the UK already employ a policy of 'trigger warnings', whereby students are told in advance of any material in lectures and seminars which could be potentially upsetting.

It is feared discussions of sex, suicide or religion or graphic images of war or crime could cause problems with students who have suffered related trauma.

The practice of trigger warnings began in the US, but has now spread across the pond to universities including Goldsmiths, Edinburgh and the London School of Economics.

In Oxford, undergraduates studying law are being told before lectures on cases involving violence or death that they can leave if they fear the content will be too distressing.

Some academics have defended the warnings, including Dr Naomi Wolf, a university lecturer in Victorian sexualities.

Some universities are concerned that students have been left distressed by learning about war and death and have been issuing 'trigger warnings' in advance of lectures (file picture)

Speaking to The Times last month, she said: 'Trauma from sexual or other assault and abuse is very real, and triggers are real for victims of abuse.

'But the place to process or deal with survivor triggers is with a trained therapist in a counsellor's office, and not in a classroom.'

Meanwhile television presenter Mary Beard, who teaches classics at Cambridge, argued that young adults should 'face up to difficult things'.
Michael Gove reignited the bitter row over warnings of a 60billion Brexit hit today - accusing economists of failing to learn lessons from the Project Fear debacle.

The former Cabinet minister said he believed the Office for Budget Responsibility's gloomy predictions would go the same way as those before the historic referendum vote.

And he warned that the whole industry of economic forecasting risked being completely discredited.

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Michael Gove has accused economists of failing to learn lessons from their failures over recent years, including over the credit crunch and Brexit

The defiant comments came as the OBR estimates came under fire from an unexpected quarter - with Gina Miller, who is fighting a court case against Theresa May triggering Brexit without a parliamentary vote - branding them 'nonsense'.

In figures accompanying Philip Hammond's Autum Statement last week, the watchdog gave a grim assessment of UK plc's prospects as we cut ties with Brussels - suggesting government borrowing will be 122billion higher than prevously expected by 2021, with around half that directly blamed on Brexit.

The figures were furiously denied as 'bogus' by leading Eurosceptics, with complaints that the OBR was relying on a 'broken' economic model and had been too gloomy about the prospects for trade.

Similar anger greeted a warning from the Institute for Financial Studies (IFS) that the country was facing more than a decade of stagnating wage growth.

Appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr programme today, Mr Gove - a high-profile Leave campaigner during the referendum - said he did not dispute the integrity with which the forecasts had been produced.

But he insisted he was 'radically sceptical' about whether they were accurate and said ministers were right to treat them with a large 'pinch of salt'.

'For me it felt like deja vu all over again. I remember during the referendum campaign that we had a litany of warnings  the sky was going to go dark, there would be a plague of frogs on the street if we voted to leave the European Union,' he said.

'There's a challenge here not so much for the Government as for many of those who were heavily invested in what became known as 'Project Fear'.

'Economists overall have to recognise that their profession is in crisis, that the economic profession failed to predict the 2008 financial crash; that economists in the past argued almost to a man and woman that we should enter the single currency, they were proven wrong; and then professionally they were proven wrong about the impact of Britain voting to leave the European Union.'

The former Cabinet minister was appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr programme today

The OBR, headed by Robert Chote, came under heavy fire over its gloomy forecasts about the impact of Brexit last week

Mr Gove clarified that he was not arguing that 'all experts are wrong' - as he notoriously seemed to suggest during the referendum battle.

But he said: 'There is a sub-class of experts, particularly economists, pollsters, social scientists, who really do need to reflect on some of the mistakes that they've made in the same way as a politician I've reflected on some of the mistakes that I've made.'

Mrs Miller, interviewed in the Sunday Times today, criticised Mr Hammond's financial package for not being 'bold and courageous' enough.

Gina Miller, who is fighting a court battle to stop Theresa May triggering Brexit without a parliamentary vote, said the economic forecasts were 'nonsense'

The businesswoman and former model said: 'All the economic forecasts that were made last Wednesday are pure nonsense. If 2016 has taught us anything, it is that nobody knows how to forecast.'

Meanwhile, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has risked opening a new rift with Labour colleagues by refusing to rule out the possibility of a second referendum on the Government's Brexit deal.

The remarks came after Tony Blair insisted the prospect should not be dismissed out of hand.

But shadow chancellor John McDonnell and other senior figures have made clear the idea is a non-starter.

Asked if there should be another national vote, Mrs Thornberry said: 'I think that we need to take this in stages and at the moment we cannot even have a debate as to how it is that we are going to leave the European Union because the Government claim they are keeping their cards to their chest but we know they don't have any cards and they don't even know what game they are playing.'

Pressed again on the issue, Mrs Thornberry said the process needed to be taken 'step by step'.

But Mr Gove branded it an effort to frustrate the will of the people.

He also complained about the characterisation of the UK leaving the European customs union as 'hard Brexit'.

'I think when people voted to leave the European Union they voted to take back control of our money, our laws, trade deals and our borders.

'That means that the single market, that is basically a bureaucratic web, we need to be out of.

'And the customs union, insofar as it prevents us forging trade deals with other countries, we should be out of that too.'

On immigration, he said: 'My own view and strong preference is for a fair migration policy which does not discriminate between EU citizens and others.

'I do not see, just because you happen to be Bulgarian, why you should have any more right to come here than somebody from Bangladesh.

'It should be a case of skills.'
More than 4,000 civilians have fled eastern Aleppo in the past 24 hours as regime forces advance against rebel-held districts of Syria's second city, a monitor said on Sunday.

The capture on Saturday of Masaken Hanano - which had been the biggest rebel-held district of Aleppo - was a major breakthrough in government forces 13-day regime offensive to retake the entire city.

The fighting moved to neighbouring districts, including Haidariya and Sakhur, on Sunday, with regime aircraft pounding rebel positions and heavy clashes between the opposition and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

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Syrian displaced families gather at a makeshift camp on Sunday in the government-held district of Jibreen in Aleppo

Civilians have fled the eastern part of the city in the past 24 hours as regime forces advance against rebel-held districts

Masaken Hanano was the first district the rebels took in the summer of 2012 in a move that divided the city into a rebel-held east and a regime-controlled west.

Around 250,000 civilians trapped under government siege for months in the east have faced serious food and fuel shortages.

More than 4,000 civilians have now fled and are living in makeshift camps in the government-held district of Jibreen in Aleppo.

The civilians fled to Masaken Hanano after it fell under government control and were taken by the army to regime-held areas, the Observatory said.

An outside view of the pharmaceutical plant building which was destroyed by Russian warplanes at al-Masura district of Aleppo on November 26

More than 500 civilians fled rebel-held districts for the government-controlled west overnight

'It is the first exodus of this kind from east Aleppo since 2012,' Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Syrian state television broadcast images of a crowd of civilians including women and children gathered around green buses that it said had come to pick them up in Masaken Hanano.

One woman was shown pushing a stroller and many others carried plastic bags on their heads while bombardment could be heard in the distance.

Yasser al-Youssef, from the rebel group Nureddin al-Zinki, said that opposition fighters were consolidating their positions in Sakhur.

'We are strengthening our positions to defend the city and residents, but the aircraft are destroying everything methodically, area by area,' he said, referring to a regime campaign of air strikes on the city.

Sakhur lies on a stretch of less than a mile (1.5km) between west Aleppo and Masaken Hanano, now both controlled by the regime.

Smoke billows following a reported air strike by Syrian government forces in a rebel-held area of Daraa, in southern Syria

Syrain rebels were injured in a chemical gas attack in northern Syria and had to be taken to Turkey for treatment

If the regime did manage to take control of the district, east Aleppo would be split in two from north to south, dealing a further blow to the armed opposition.

Pro-government media reported government forces continued their advance on Sunday.

The latest regime push comes after days of intense bombardment on the east, which has been pounded with air strikes, shells and barrel bombs.

On Saturday, dozens of families fled Sakhur and Haidariya as regime raids and artillery fire killed at least 18 civilians in several districts, the Britain-based Observatory said.

That took to 219 the overall number of civilians killed, including 27 children, since the government launched its latest assault on east Aleppo on November 15.

Children talk and play as the families gather at a camp after fleeing the eastern part of the city

On Saturday, dozens of families fled Sakhur and Haidariya as regime raids and artillery fire killed at least 18 civilians

Rebel forces also intensified rocket attacks on western districts overnight, killing at least four civilians and wounding dozens, the Observatory said.

Such attacks have killed a total of 27 civilians since the offensive began, among them 11 children.

The United Nations has a plan to deliver aid to Aleppo and evacuate the sick and wounded, which rebel factions have approved but which Damascus has not yet agreed. Guarantees are also needed from regime ally Russia.

Once a commercial and industrial hub, Aleppo has seen some of the worst fighting in Syria's five-and-a-half-year war.

The conflict broke out in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests and has since evolved into a complex war involving different factions and foreign powers.

On Sunday, the Turkish army said that 22 pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by a chemical gas attack from Islamic State group jihadists in northern Syria.

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented cross-border operation it says is targeting both IS and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which it considers to be a 'terrorist' group.

The YPG is a key component of a US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance that is fighting to oust IS from its de facto Syria capital of Raqa, after the jihadist group overran large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014.

Syria's war has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced more than half the population.
Couple were on the way to see their newborn baby Jock in Mercy Hospital

She remains in the Royal Melbourne

A woman is still in a critical condition in hospital after her husband drove their car off the side of a road into a dam.

Dr Kerry Arrow and her husband Phil Budding were driving on Margaret Road in Healsville, about an hour north of Melbourne, at 10.20am on Saturday when the incident took place, reported Perth Now.

Mr Budding was driving at the time, when their white Nissan Patrol drove off the side of the steep driveway and into the dam.

A 36-year-old clinical psychologist is still in a critical condition in hospital after her husband drove their car off the side of a road into a dam (pictured)

Dr Kerry Arrow (pictured) and her husband Phil Budding were driving on Margaret Road in Healsville, about an hour north of Melbourne, at 10.20am on Saturday when the incident took place

The 36-year-old clinical psychologist was dragged from the car by her husband.

Dr Arrow was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital after the incident took place, where she remains.

Sky News reported the couple were on their way to Mercy Hospital to visit their newborn baby Jock.

Police said there was evidence on the driveway indicating how the vehicle went into the dam.

Mr Budding was driving at the time, when their white Nissan Patrol drove off the side of the steep driveway and into the dam (pictured)

Dr Arrow's husband is said to have dragged her out of the submerged vehicle (pictured)

'The circumstances of how it ended up in the dam are certainly still under investigation,' the officer said.

Mr Budding was taken into police custody for questioning, but later released without charge.

The major collisions investigation unit it reportedly still investigating the scene of the incident.

Dr Arrow was flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital (pictured) where she remains in a critical condition
A 43-year-old woman has been found dead at an Earthcore dance music festival.

The woman's body was found just after 4.30pm on Saturday at the event in Pyalong, Central Victoria.

She was initially reported to be 25-years-old.

Police told Daily Mail Australia she had not yet been formally identified by Sunday evening and the cause of death had not yet been confirmed.

Festival goers dance at the Earthcore festival in Pyalong, Victoria over the weekend

Some of the festival goers take time out from the four-day event

People's clothing choice at the dance festival varied greatly

Most were pictured at the event enjoying themselves in the sunshine

Earthcore organisers released a statement on Monday in regards to the woman's death, saying they 'are aware of an existing medical condition' and noting paramedics arrived within minutes but were unable to revive her.

Her death was not being treated as suspicious, police said.

At the 2015 event, five people were arrested for drug possession and two drug diversion notices were issued, while other people were taken to hospital for drug-related issues, the Herald Sun reported.

Arrests, if any, or other police activity at the 2016 event which ends on Monday were not known.

A report is being prepared for the coroner.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted event organisers for comment.

It is not suggested that anyone pictured in this story took drugs or was under the influence of drugs.

Festival goers clad in bright clothing dance during the four-day party

Thousands of people descended upon Pyalong for the event

Some of the party goers stop to pose for a photograph

This woman opted for a bright-coloured cape at the event

A woman wears neon-green glasses during the night at the festival
Grave fears are held for former NRL player Chad Robinson after he disappeared from his home in Sydney's hills on Friday night.

The 36-year-old's family, including Cronulla Sharks star Tim Robinson, are desperately searching for him and appealed for help on social media.

His sister Monique Brennan said Robinson was last seen in Beaumont Hills driving his silver Subaru Outback, registration CME54F, with damage to its passenger side.

Former NRL player Chad Robinson (left with his sister Monique Brennan), 36, is missing

Robinson was last seen in Beaumont Hills driving his silver Subaru Outback, registration CME54F, with damage to its passenger side

'If anyone comes across him or the car, could you please contact any of the family or the police. As you can imagine we are very concerned for his welfare,' she wrote.

She said the father-of-three had no phone or wallet with him. He is 185 centimetres tall with dark, receding hair.

NSW Police said it had not received a missing persons report and was not yet looking for Robinson.

A family friend put together a missing persons poster with the details of his disappearance, though it's not clear if all the details are correct

Robinson played six seasons for the Parramatta Eels (pictured) and three for the Sydney Roosters in 2000-08, including in the 2003 and 2004 NRL Grand Finals

Robinson played six seasons for the Parramatta Eels and three for the Sydney Roosters in 2000-08, including in the 2003 and 2004 NRL Grand Finals.

In 2009 he moved to London to play for the Harlequins but was released after one season because of a persistent knee injury.

He retired and became an asset finance broker for United Financial Services, Brightside Money and KJ Cooper Financial Solutions in Sydney.
Labour's approach to Brexit has been plunged further into chaos after Emily Thornberry repeatedly refused to rule out calling for a second referendum.

The shadow foreign secretary contradicted senior colleagues by suggesting there should be a fresh national vote on the package the government negotiates.

But Tories branded the idea 'ridiculous' - warning that the EU would just give us a bad deal to ensure it was rejected by the public.

Labour MPs also insisted there is 'no appetite' for a re-run of the bitter referendum battle.

Emily Thornberry repeatedly refused to rule out calling for a second EU referendum as she appeared on the BBC's Andrew Marr show today

Mrs Thornberry's remarks came after former PM Tony Blair insisted the prospect of another vote should not be dismissed out of hand.

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell and other senior figures have made clear the idea is a non-starter.

But asked if there should be another national vote, Mrs Thornberry said: 'I think that we need to take this in stages and at the moment we cannot even have a debate as to how it is that we are going to leave the European Union because the Government claim they are keeping their cards to their chest but we know they don't have any cards and they don't even know what game they are playing.'

Pressed again on the issue, Mrs Thornberry said the process needed to be taken 'step by step'.

The Labour frontbencher was also grilled on whether she believed the UK could maintain access to the European single market while also demanding control of its borders.

She said: 'It is about time we stopped talking about believing in cake, having our cake and eating our cake.

'We have to look at the options and we have to know that it is a trade off.

'We need to be able to have a proper debate within the British public as to what the options are.

'Now, do I think that too many people at the moment come into this country? I think that yes, I think they do.'

Mrs Thornberry also insisted people had to recognise there was no possibility of single market membership if the UK insisted on being outside freedom of movement rules

Former PM Tony Blair said last week that the prospect of another referendum should not be ruled out completely

Conservative MP Maria Caulfield, a member of the Brexit Select Committee, said: 'Labour continues to demonstrate they have neither the plan nor the desire to reduce immigration into our country.

'With the shadow Foreign Secretary refusing to rule out backing a second referendum and suggesting no changes should be made to freedom of movement from Europe, it's clearer than ever that Labour are completely out of touch with working people.

Tory MP and ex-minister Owen Paterson told the BBC's Sunday Politics programme: 'This would be a ridiculous idea. It would be a complete gift to the EU negotiators to give us an impossible deal because they would do everything possible to make sure it did not get through.'

He warned that if the government did not deliver on the will of the public as expressed in June it would be 'absolutely disastrous' for the reputation of politics.

Former Cabinet minister Michael Gove warned against attempts to over-complicate Brexit and suggested that transitional measures could be an attempt to effectively keep the UK in the EU.

He also said the UK should leave both the single market and customs union and dismissed the idea that EU citizens should be given preference in the immigration system after Brexit.

He told Marr: 'I think when people voted to leave the European Union they voted to take back control of our money, our laws, trade deals and our borders.

Ex-Cabinet minister Michael Gove, pictured on the Marr show today, said he believed Britain should shun single market membership and also drop out of the customs union

'That means that the single market, that is basically a bureaucratic web, we need to be out of.

'And the customs union, insofar as it prevents us forging trade deals with other countries, we should be out of that too.'

On immigration, he said: 'My own view and strong preference is for a fair migration policy which does not discriminate between EU citizens and others.

'I do not see, just because you happen to be Bulgarian, why you should have any more right to come here than somebody from Bangladesh.

'It should be a case of skills.'
He also held up her concession speech in which she accepted losing

She'd called his suggestion to call a recount if he lost election 'horrifying'

In a twitter rant he repeated remarks she made before the election

Donald Trump launched into a furious Twitter rant Sunday morning, calling Hillary Clinton a hypocrite for joining Jill Stein's call for recounts in three key election states.

Clinton's team said on Saturday that it would be part of a recount initiated by Stein in Wisconsin, and would support recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Trump responded Sunday morning with a six-tweet-long screed in which he held up Clinton quotes from before and after the election, in which she called his own similar remarks about election recounts 'horrifying.'

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Donald Trump lashed out after Hillary Clinton joined Jill Stein's bid to recount ballots, implying she was a hypocrite for criticizing his talk of recounts before the election

Clinton has backed Green Party candidate Stein's movement to recount Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania votes after experts said they could have been hacked

At around 7am EST Sunday, Trump Tweeted that 'nothing will change'. He then began a six-tweet-long screed in which he quoted Clinton's own remarks before and after the election

At around 7am EST, Trump tweeted: 'Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change.'

Then, an hour later, came the six-tweet message in which he initially quoted Clinton's remarks from the third presidential debate.

'Hillary's debate answer on delay: "That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free and fair elections.

'"We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on - a during a general election.

'"I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of position."'

Trump then paraphrased a remark she made in a rally speech after the debate.

'Then, separately she stated, "He said something truly horrifying ... he refused to say that he would respect the results of this election. That is a direct threat to our democracy."'

Finally, he quoted from her acceptance speech after losing the Electoral College vote.

'She then said, "We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead."

'So much time and money will be spent - same result!' he concluded. 'Sad.'

Trump implied that Clinton was a hypocrite - though the complaints against him were about writing off the results before they were called, not calling for a recount after they came in

Wisconsin will recount its votes after receiving a petition from Green Party candidate Jill Stein (right) on Friday. Experts believe that state and two others may have had results hacked

Trump's take on Clinton's criticism of his pre-election remarks does leave out a little detail.

Criticism of Trump's calls for a recount were specifically about him challenging the results of the election before it had even taken place, due to what he said was 'rigging' of the polls.

In a rally in Delaware, Ohio, on October 20, he said he would 'promise and pledge ... to all of my voters and supporters, and all of the people of the United States, that I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election - if I win.'

That comment, and others like it, dismissed the possibility of a fair Clinton win, and implied that he would challenge the election's results even if it was not a close call or there was no sign of rigging.

The challenge by Stein - and now Clinton - comes post-election, and after experts have suggested that results in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania may have been altered by hackers to ensure Clinton lost.

After receiving criticism before the election, Trump amended his remarks to be more vague.

When asked point-blank if he would respect the election decision in the final debate said he would 'tell you at the time, I'll keep you in suspense.'

It was immediately after that remark that Clinton responded with the 'That is horrifying' comments that Trump tweeted Sunday morning.

The President-elect had previously accused Stein of just trying to 'fill her coffers with money' by initiating the 'ridiculous' ballot recount.

'The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, "We must accept this result and then look to the future",' Trump said in the statement obtained by Bloomberg.

'This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount.

'All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes.

'This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing.'

On Saturday evening, Trump tweeted to his followers about Stein's 'scam' to 'fill up her coffers' adding that she has now been joined by the Democrats

Trump did not attack Clinton in that statement, but later went after the Democrats for joining Stein in her campaign.

On Saturday evening, he tweeted to his followers about Stein's 'scam' to 'fill up her coffers', adding that she had been joined by the Democrats.

'The Green Party scam to fill up their coffers by asking for impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated & demoralized Dems,' he wrote.

Later he tweeted again about the Democrats, saying they pushed him to accept the election results but that was 'not so anymore'.

Later he tweeted again about the Democrats, saying they pushed him to accept the election results but that was 'not so anymore'

'The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore!' he tweeted.

His aide Kellyanne Conway also said the Democrat's campaign couldn't 'accept reality'.

'What a pack of sore losers,' Conway said. 'After asking Mr Trump and his team a million times on the trail, "Will HE accept the election results?" it turns out Team Hillary and their new BFF Jill Stein can't accept reality.

'Rather than adhere to the tradition of graciously conceding and wishing the winner well, theyve opted to waste millions of dollars and dismiss the democratic process. The people have spoken. Time to listen up.'

Hillary Clinton's (pictured shopping for Thanksgiving in Chappaqua, New York) campaign says they intend to take part in a recount initiated by Greens Party candidate Jill Stein in Wisconsin

Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has hit out at Hillary Clinton's campaign for taking part in a ballot recount in Wisconsin

Trump's newly-appointed general counsel Don McGahn has already been briefed on a legal battle for the Wisconsin recount, according to Bloomberg

In an interview with CNN, Stein said she has had no contact with the Clinton campaign but said her lawyers would make contact following news of the recount.

Stein tweeted on Saturday: 'I will do a recount in any state where the deadline has not passed. Help my staff find state deadlines #Recount2016.'

TRUMP'S STATEMENT The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, "We must accept this result and then look to the future." This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount. All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes. This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing. Advertisement

Trump's newly-appointed general counsel Don McGahn has already been briefed for a legal battle in regards to the Wisconsin recount, Bloomberg reports.

It comes after Marc Elias, Clinton's campaign's general counsel, wrote in a statement they had quietly taken a number of steps in the last two weeks amid calls for an audit and recount.

He said while the campaign had not planned to initiate a recount, they intend to participate given one will go ahead in Wisconsin.

The campaign received hundreds of messages in recent days urging them to investigate claims the election results were hacked, particularly in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

'Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides,' Elias wrote.

'If Jill Stein follows through as she has promised and pursues recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, we will take the same approach in those states as well.

'We do so fully aware that the number of votes separating Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the closest of these states - Michigan - well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount.'

Stein said on Saturday she has had no contact with the Clinton campaign but said her lawyers would make contact following news of the recount

Donald Trump has lashed out at Green Party candidate Jill Stein calling her Wisconsin ballot recount a 'scam' designed to get money

The Wisconsin Elections Commission announced its plan to begin recounting votes next week in a statement issued on Friday

Wisconsin announced its plan to start recounting ballots after Stein filed for a recount on Friday.

She has raised more than $6million for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania amid claims the election result has been tampered with.

She claims voting machines used in some states were susceptible to cyber attack and therefore cannot be trusted.

Elias wrote that the campaign had consulted with experts to investigate any irregularities or to see if there is anything to suggest a hack.

'The campaign is grateful to all those who have expended time and effort to investigate various claims of abnormalities and irregularities,' Elias wrote.

'While that effort has not, in our view, resulted in evidence of manipulation of results, now that a recount is underway, we believe we have an obligation to the more than 64 million Americans who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton to participate in ongoing proceedings to ensure that an accurate vote count will be reported.'

A recount in Wisconsin will do little for Stein's own chances in the state given she only won one percent of the vote compared to Donald Trump's 47 and Hillary Clinton's 46

Clinton's campaign general counsel Marc Elias, wrote in a statement the campaign had quietly taken a number of steps in the last two weeks amid calls for an audit and recount

A recount in Wisconsin will do little for Stein's own chances in the state given she only won one percent of the vote compared to Donald Trump's 47 and Hillary Clinton's 46

A recount in Wisconsin will do little for Stein's own chances in the state given she only won one percent of the vote compared to Donald Trump's 47 and Hillary Clinton's 46.

An Obama administration said on Friday it stood by the election results as recount proceedings began in Wisconsin.

'We stand behind our election results, which accurately reflect the will of the American people,' an official told Politico.

'The federal government did not observe any increased level of malicious cyber activity aimed at disrupting our electoral process on election day,' the official added. 'We believe our elections were free and fair from a cybersecurity perspective.'

In a statement on Friday, the Wisconsin Elections Commission said it would begin recounting once it received full payment from Stein's campaign.

' The Wisconsin Elections Commission today received two recount petitions from the Jill Stein for President Campaign and from Rocky Roque De La Fuente.

'The Commission is preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates,' Administrator Michael Haas said.

De La Fuente trailed behind Stein in Wisconsin, winning just 0.1 percent of the vote.

Clinton, however, lost by just one percent, some 27,000 votes. According to experts who have cast doubt over the election results, hackers could have cost her as many as 30,000 by tapping in to apparently vulnerable machines.

The recount will include paper ballots in addition to electronic votes, the commission said.

While a recount would do little to help Stein, analysts claim it could prove Clinton was robbed of thousands of votes by hackers and theoretically put her back in play for the presidency

The computer experts used a statistical analysis to conclude Clinton did worse in states with electronic voting machines - which they argue could have left the door open to hacking

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Wisconsin Wisconsin is the first state to respond to calls for a recount because it is so far the only state to have received an official petition demanding one. It has until December 13 to complete the recount of all its votes and return its findings, so long as Stein's campaign stumps up the required fee. As of Friday afternoon, the total cost was still unclear - administrators at the Elections Commission said they were working to determine an estimate. Wisconsin has 72 counties. Clerks from each are responsible with carrying out the recount while the Elections Commission's role is to make sure it is performed lawfully. If candidates disagree with the recount result, they will have five days from when it is returned to take their grievance to the circuit court before a judge. Pennsylvania In Pennsylvania, voters or candidates can petition courts for a recount of the vote. A judge is required to make a decision on whether one should go ahead. If granted, county boards are tasked with performing the recount. Michigan Unlike in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, the election winner in Michigan can object to a recount. Stein cannot request a recount until the vote in Michigan is certified, something that is not due to happen until Monday. Its deadline for a recount petition is Wednesday. If a recount is granted by the director of elections for Secretary of State, clerks have until December 19 to complete it when Michigan's electoral college meets. Could a recount overturn the election result? It is unlikely. Donald Trump won with 290 electoral votes over Hillary Clinton's 232. Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan account for 46 electoral college votes. If recounts show, as analysts say is possible, that Clinton should have won all three, she would technically win the Electoral College. Clinton has shied away from talk of ballot recounts, staying quiet on the subject while Stein pushes on. It would be up to the sitting president to respond to any election recount results. Advertisement

Wisconsin is the first of the three targeted battleground states to respond to her calls for a recount.

Stein filed her petition with seconds to spare before the window for demanding recounts closed on November 25.

Unlike in Wisconsin, which the Elections Commission described as the 'most decentralized system' in the country, Pennsylvania requires a judge's consent.

Michigan allows the winning candidate to object to a recount before putting the matter before the Board of Elections.

Pennsylvania has until November 28 to receive petitions for recounts while Michigan's deadline is November 30.

The Wisconsin recount must be completed by December 13 to comply with regulations.

State election boards and county clerks keep record of ballots, including electronic voting machines, after an election.

One possible explanation for why a recount could show a different result is that hackers could have planted self-destructing malware before the election which was designed to tamper with results on November 8 but would no longer be traced.

Recounts in all three states could cost as much as $7million, Stein said in her website appeal to donors.

It was however needed to 'ensure that "We the People" can have confidence in reported results,' she said.

'To give you a sense of the problem, the voting machines used in Wisconsin were banned in California after they were shown to be highly vulnerable to hacking and malicious programming due to lacking security features,' she said in her fundraising appeal.

Clinton lost the Wisconsin vote to Trump by 1 per cent, roughly 27,000 votes, but analysts say she may have been robbed of as many as 30,000 by hackers targeting electronic voting machines

Trump took the lead over Clinton by more than 1 per cent in Pennsylvania, which has 20 electoral college votes

In Michigan, Clinton fell behind by just 0.3 per cent in one of the tightest races

JILL STEIN AND THE GREEN PARTY FORM FOR DEMANDING RECOUNTS Critics have accused Stein of 'conning' donors out of money This is not the first time a defeated Green Party candidate has demanded a recount in a presidential election. In 2004, David Cobb raised $150,000 to have the result challenged in Ohio amid wild claims officials had spoiled votes for John Kerry, pushing George W Bush into the White House. The recount did nothing to sway the outcome. It showed Kerry had in fact received some 300 more votes than first counted - not enough to change the result, according toThe Chicago Tribune. Questions surrounding Jill Stein's motives for a recount have grown since her efforts were announced. On Friday, she appeared in a Facebook Live video to insist her intention was not to overturn the result but to shed light on the voting system and its apparent vulnerabilities. 'We have raised at this point over $5million, the total cost will be $7million,' she said. 'We are well on our way to that. This is a real grass roots, people's campaign. 'The purpose here is not to overturn the results of the election, the purpose is to establish voting integrity, to verify our votes and to ensure we can, going forward, ensure we can count on the accuracy and veracity of our votes. 'We need to know that the system has not been tampered with or compromised.' Critics were quick to accuse her of 'conning' voters out of money, pointing to the fact that a recount is not necessarily guaranteed despite their donations. Stein ran for the presidency in 2012 for the Green Party. She has an MD from Harvard Medical School. Despite several efforts to run for president, governor and a house representative, Stein has only ever been elected to the Lexington Town Meeting in Massachusetts. Advertisement

She later took to Facebook Live to celebrate the pace her campaign had gathered but admitted she had intention of overturning the election result.

' We have raised at this point over $5million, the total cost will be $7million,' she said.

'We are well on our way to that. This is a real grass roots, people's campaign.

'The purpose here is not to overturn the results of the election, the purpose is to establish voting integrity, to verify our votes and to ensure we can, going forward, ensure we can count on the accuracy and veracity of our votes.

Stein appeared in a Facebook Live video on Friday night to celebrate the pace her campaign had gathered

'We need to know that the system has not been tampered with or compromised.'

Calls for a recount collected momentum after a variety of independent analysts and data groups aired the possibility that voting machines in key states may have been hacked.

Some, whose claims were published in New York Magazine, said Clinton's performance in counties using electronic machines was drastically worse than in paper ballot zones and used this as cause for speculation of tampering.

Their calculations say a hack could have robbed her of 30,000 votes in Wisconsin where she officially lost to Trump by 27,000.

There is evidence she may have fallen victim to hackers in Pennsylvania and Michigan too, the magazine reported.

One of the quoted researchers later penned his own article for Medium to 'set the record straight'.

'The only way to know whether a cyberattack changed the result is to closely examine the available physical evidence - paper ballots and voting equipment in critical states like Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania,' said J Alex Halderman.

Halderman is the director of the University of Michigan Center for Computer Security and Society.
Children are being pressured to send nude photos to strangers through a new social networking app described as a cross between Snapchat and Tinder.

The app, called 'Yellow' is marketed as 'an easy and free way to make new chat friends' but online safety experts are concerned adult predators could use the app to groom minors for sex, reported the Adelaide Advertiser.

Yellow was designed by Anthony Tuil and Sacha Lazimi of company Twelve APP, who are based in Paris, France.

Teenagers and children are being asked to send nude photos to strangers through app 'Yellow'

The new social networking app described as a cross between Snapchat and Tinder

On the Apple Store information page, instructions for how to use the app are described in steps - swipe right to like and left to pass, if it's a mutual like then you can chat to the person.

Once a person matches with someone else, all their communication then takes place over the picture-messaging app Snapchat.

However, the instructions on how to use Yellow are the same as dating app Tinder.

Kidz Biz Education founder Wendy Hill has described it as 'the children's version of Tinder'.

Online safety experts are worried adult predators could use the app to groom minors for sex

Online safety advocate Sonya Ryan, from the Carly Ryan Foundation, said she came across requests for nude images straight away while testing the app, and said users could be faking their age and identity.

Yellow's founders told the Advertiser underage users couldn't connect with people over 18 and vice versa, they could only communicate after sending mutual friend requests, they could only 'chat' by text and could not send pictures within Yellow itself.

They also said users could report suspicious profiles and 'inappropriate content'.
Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway continued to publicly suggest that Mitt Romney may not be the best pick for the president-elect's secretary of state.

'I'm all for party unity, but I'm not sure we have to pay for that with the secretary of state position,' she mused to a wide-eyed Dana Bash on CNN's 'State of the Union' this morning.

Conway went so far as to question if Romney, the GOP's 2012 nominee who never backed Trump, had done anything in the past four years to earn the nomination.

'Has he been around the globe doing something on behalf of the United States of which we're unaware?' she asked. 'Did he go intervene in Syria where they're having a massive crisis, meaning, when I say intervene, I mean offer to help?'

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Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump's campaign manager, publicly questioned Mitt Romney's credentials to be secretary of state

Kellyanne Conway (right) mused to CNN's Dana Bash (left) whether Romney had been 'around the globe doing something on behalf of the United States of which we're unaware'

'Has he been helpful to Mr. Netanyahu?' she added, referencing Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a popular figure for American conservatives.

Conway, who ran Trump's campaign and is now actively working on the transition, said she originally felt 'compelled' to mention the Romney pick publicly because 'it's just breathtaking in scope and intensity the type of messages I received from all over the country.'

'The number of people who feel betrayed to think that a Governor Romney would get the most prominent cabinet post after he went so far out of his way to hurt Donald Trump,' she continued.

Conway pointed out the speeches Romney gave against Trump.

The most prominent came in March, long before the GOP primary was over, when Romney called Trump a 'phony' and a 'fraud.'

And she said Romney was never complimentary of any of Trump's ideas.

'And the Romney consultants were the worst to all of us, including to Mr. Trump,' she said. 'Their Twitter feeds were 100 percent anti-Trump screeds,' she pointed out.

'And look, if President-elect Trump chooses Mitt Romney as his secretary of state, or whomever he chooses, that will have the full support and backing of all of us,' she said.

'I respect the brilliance and judgment and sheer instinct of President-elect Trump to form his cabinet as he wishes, but I felt compelled to come forward on behalf of the people who were weighing in,' she added.

Bash pointed out that it sounded like Conway's personal opinion was that she was against including Romney in the cabinet.

Conway stated that she wasn't sure if her personal concerns mattered.

'But am I wrong to say that?' the journalist asked.

'No, you're not wrong to say that because Gov. Romney went out of his way,' Conway replied, not finishing her complete thought.

She pointed out how Romney 'put Evan McMullin up in Utah,' referencing the third-party candidate based out of Utah, who could have messed up Trump's chances if it had been a tighter race.

'We don't even know if Mitt Romney voted for Donald Trump,' Conway said.

Kellyanne Conway again took to Twitter this morning to explain why she's making public her thinking on why Mitt Romney shouldn't be Donald Trump's secretary of state

Conway echoed her concerns when she talked to Chuck Todd on 'Meet the Press,' though said she was mainly speaking for the grassroots.

'I'm not campaigning against anyone, I'm just a concerned citizen,' she answered when Todd pointed out that it seemed like she was actively campaigning against Romney getting the high-profile job.

Trump supporters, Conway said, felt 'betrayed that you can get a Romney back in there after everything he did.'

'He and his consultants were nothing but awful to Donald Trump for a year,' she repeated. 'We don't even know if he voted for Donald Trump,' she said once more.

After her television appearances, Conway reiterated her talking points in a tweet.

Responding to CNN's Ana Navarro, who questioned why Conway was talking about the Romney choice publicly when she had access to Trump's ear, Conway shot back: 'I did tell him privately. And I'll respect his decision.'

'Point is the volume & intensity of grassroots resistance to Romney is breathtaking,' Conway wrote.

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, Trump's incoming chief of staff, laughed when 'Fox News Sunday' host Chris Wallace characterized what was going on with Romney as 'something close to open warfare.'

'It isn't a matter of warfare,' Priebus said. 'I mean there's a lot of opinions about this and yes, it is a sort of "team of rivals" concept if you were to go toward the Governor Romney concept.'

Wallace noted not only Conway's objection, but public statements made by Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee, two of Trump's most vocal allies.

Priebus wouldn't answer Wallace's question about whether Romney would have to apologize to Trump to get the job first.

Instead, he suggested that Americans should view the fact that Romney is in the running for secretary of state as a good thing.

'And I can just assure the American people the fact that he's actually even flirting with the idea of choosing a rival should tell the American people where he's at, which is the best place for everyone in this country,' Priebus said.




In the months leading up to her disappearance, Rachel Antonio, 16, poured her private thoughts about her alleged older lover out in letters to friends.

Her writing focused on 25-year-old surf lifesaving club member Robert Hytch who also lived in the town of Bowen, Queensland, where she disappeared from in April 1998.

In material released by a coroner, Rachel wrote about how she couldn't stop thinking and dreaming about Hytch, who was later charged with her murder, the Courier Mail reported.

Letters written by Queensland schoolgirl Rachel Antonio, 16, before she went missing in 1998, have revealed her personal thoughts

Her letters seem to reveal a relationship between herself and much older Robert Hytch - although he has denied it

Robert Hytch, who was 25 at the time Rachel disappeared in 1998 aged 16

Hytch was later found guilty of her manslaughter before successfully appealing and having it overturned then being acquitted at a retrial.

'I cant stop thinking about him. I even walk to the shop hoping Ill see him. Its really weird,' one letter read.

Later, she revealed how they had 'almost had sex' in a letter to a friend.

Other details in her writing had revealed she dated Hytch's younger brother Scott for a short period of time and how she didn't want her parents to know about her interactions with the opposite gender.

In 2016, a coroner found Rachel and Hytch were in a sexual relationship and that she died after a physical altercation

Rachel's parents, Ian and Cheryl Antonio, still hope her body will be found

She detailed arguments with Hytch, including how she would feel upset afterwards, the Courier Mail reported.

TIMELINE OF THE RACHEL ANTONIO CASE April 1998: Rachel is reported missing December 1998: Robert Hytch charged with murder November 1999: Hytch found guilty of manslaughter, given nine years' jail May 2000: Hytch appeals conviction August 2000: Hytch's conviction overturned and a new trial ordered June 2001: Hytch acquitted following retrial at Townsville Supreme Court July 2014: Inquest into Rachel's disappearance lasts for three weeks, is adjourned, continues in 2015 July 2016: Coroner finds Rachel and Hytch were in a sexual relationship and that she died after physical altercation Source: AAP Advertisement

'I constantly worry about what hes doing and who hes with and I just want things to work out between us. In Townsville I was physically sick with worry and I realised the next 2 yrs of my life are so important (Yrs 11 + 12) so I cant have any problems/distractions.'

She was also worried he would find another girlfriend.

Hytch has always denied the relationship and having had anything to do with her disappearance.

It's an insight into Rachel's thoughts months after a coroner ruled Hytch caused her death in 1998, however, he is appealing to have the ruling overturned.

Under double jeopardy laws, he can't be tried again unless new, compelling evidence is found.

Rachel was last seen on April 25 that year and her body has never been found.

Rachel was last seen on April 25, 1998, and her body has never been found

Rachel's letters are part of material released by a coroner recently
Prince Harry was left in an awkward position when he was asked to take part in a moment's silence after the death of Fidel Castro - despite some describing the Cuban leader as a 'murderous dictator'.

The silence was observed when the prince attended a drinks reception on the island of St Vincent, during his Caribbean tour.

He had been at the reception as the guest of honour to present Duke of Edinburgh awards to young people.

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Prince Harry, who has been forced to observe a minute's silence for controversial Cuban leader Fidel Castro who has died aged 90 during his Caribbean tour

But the country's governor general Sir Frederick Ballantyne, who was hosting the event, asked his guests to mark the death of the international figure.

A source close to Harry said that the silence was not planned in advance and was called for by the Governor General.

Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke told MailOnline that forcing Prince Harry to join the minute's silence was 'very unfair' and the government should make clear it was unacceptable.

'Castro was a murderous dictator. He is dead, and good riddance,' he said.

'This endless stream of people excusing him, especially Labour MPs like Jeremy Corbyn, is ridiculous.

'It is very unfair to put pressure on members of the Royal Family to take part in this kind of tribute.

'Prince Harry shouldn't be put in this position. I think it would be desirable, through the usual diplomatic channels, to make sure this kind of thing does not happen again where Royals are put in this situation.'

Ralph Gonsalves, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines' Prime Minister, described Castro as a 'good friend of the island'.

He went on to tell of how the Cuban leader had invested in the country, which has been a trading partner for decades.

Also at the event, Prince Harry was presented with an oil painting of himself by a local artist

The prince seemed thrilled by the painting as he laughed and joked with his guests at the reception on St Vincent

And Harry was faced with no choice but to listen to the tributes to the controversial political figure and join in the silence in honour of the man who led Cuba for more than half a century.

The 32-year-old stared straight ahead expressionless during the silence which lasted around 20 seconds.

So far, neither the Queen nor the Prime Minister Theresa May has officially made any statements about the passing of the Cuban leader, who some regard as a 'revolutionary' while others see him as a communist dictator.

Kensington Palace declined to comment.

Conservative MP Michael Fabricant said Prince Harry had conducted himself well after being put in an 'awkward' situation.

'I am no fan of Fidel Castro, who was more of a tyrant than an enlightened leader,' Mr Fabricant told MailOnline.

'But I am a fan of Prince Harry. It must have been an awkward moment for him but hey, what else could he do?'

The prince also posed for a picture with a group of Girl Guides who were also invited to the reception

The guides were positively beaming as they got the chance to chat to the prince last night

The minute's silence came at the event, where Harry also met with local Girl Guides and was also presented with an oil painting of himself.

The prince seemed thrilled to receive the colourful painting, which was presented to him by local artist Calvert Jones.

Meanwhile the group of girl guides were beaming as they chatted with Harry and he posed for a picture with them.

The death of Castro was announced early yesterday and nine days of national mourning have been declared in Cuba.

This prompted Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to pay his tributes by saying that for 'all his flaws', Castro would be remembered as a 'champion of social justice'.

The death of Castro, pictured in 1989, was announced early yesterday and nine days of national mourning have been declared in Cuba

But his statement prompted widespread outcry as critics highlighted the Castro regime's human rights abuses and its lack of democratic accountability.

However, today shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has said it is 'quite difficult' to get past allegations of brutality made against Castro.

Yesterday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to pay his tributes by saying that for 'all his flaws', Castro would be remembered as a 'champion of social justice'

Mrs Thornberry told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show that Mr Corbyn had 'tried to put forward both sides'.

She said: 'I think that Castro was a hugely divisive figure and I think that it's quite difficult to get beyond the human rights abuses.

'But my own experience, I went to Cuba in the early 1990s when there was great economic difficulties in that country and I found a country that was egalitarian with a fantastic health service, I had my baby with me, we had to go off and see the doctor and we were really struck by it.'

She continued: 'It came at a price but it was, in my view, a brave island that stood against a regime that for 50 years would not trade with it and would not let other countries trade with it too.

'Not only did they stand firm and strong they also exported their values across South America and into Africa, producing doctors and nurses and teachers.'

She also said she recognised the Castro regime had a dark side.

'I acknowledge that but all I am saying is that from my experience, my experience was visiting a country that was at the time they didn't have enough petrol to be able to drive cars, they were going around on bicycles on the May Day parade,' she said.

'But nevertheless there were not people starving and they still had an excellent health and education service.

'I'm not saying any more than that. But it was an enormous achievement for a little Caribbean island.'

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under fire for hailing Castro as 'larger than life' and a 'legendary revolutionary and orator'.

But former Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, who is Cuban-American, was quick to criticize Trudeau on Saturday morning

Elsewhere, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came under fire for hailing Castro as 'larger than life' and a 'legendary revolutionary and orator'.

Trudeau praised the former Cuban president in a tribute that focused on his family's close ties to Castro and made no mention of his history of ruthless suppression.

'It is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba's longest serving President,' Trudeau said in his statement, which was released on Saturday.

But former US Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio, who is Cuban-American, was quick to criticise Trudeau on Saturday morning.
Edie's first job, as a 15-year-old, was at a juice bar where staff were made to wear tight-fitting uniforms with strategically-placed branding.

It was only her second day that she was told there was a 'very good reason' why the writing was across the chest and crotch areas.

'Once I was making a smoothie with milk and a customer asked how much extra for breast milk,' she told The Age.

Her manager saw the exchange unfold but only said: 'Take it as a compliment that customers think youre hot.'

Edie's (pictured) first job, as a 15-year-old, was at a juice bar where staff were made to wear tight-fitting uniforms with branding across their chest and crotch

When she tried to attract less attention by wearing the largest-size uniform she could find, she was given fewer shifts.

Later Edie worked in a call centre selling pay TV subscriptions and many men, hearing a women's voice, would sexually harass her.

One time a customer explicitly described his masturbatory fantasies and asked if she offered phone sex.

Shaken, she hung up on him and asked for a break, but was told to get back to work and reprimanded for ending the call.

Edie is one of countless women who are harassed by customers at work, and told their stories to an investigation by the newspaper.

'Once I was making a smoothie with milk and a customer asked how much extra for breast milk,' she said

Women told of creepy sexual comments, leering body language, demeaning remarks, rape threats and unwanted groping that in some cases happened daily.

Men were harassed on the job too, but almost always by other men.

The Sex Discrimination Act was updated five years ago to make harassment by customers towards staff a crime, but it remains staggeringly unreported.

Just 750 complaints were lodged since the law came into effect, which experts and campaigners alike said would not even be the tip of the iceberg.

None of them ever made it to court, so the law, and its definitions, have never been properly tested.

Later Edie worked in a call centre where one time a customer explicitly described his masturbatory fantasies and asked if she offered phone sex

Former sex discrimination commissioner Elizabeth Broderick said the small number of reports were because staff were socialised to accept harassment as part of the job.

A 2012 Australian Human Right Commission survey found people denied they had been sexually harassed, even when told the definition.

It was only when they were given example that a quarter of them agreed it had happened to them - because it didn't fit the workplace harassment stereotype.

Despite the law threatening employers with liability if they did not take reasonable steps to protect staff, those harassed did not feel empowered to complain.

Women said managers often made excuses for perpetrators or blamed them for seeming to 'attract that kind of thing'.

The Sex Discrimination Act was updated five years ago to make harassment by customers towards staff a crime, but it remains staggeringly unreported

Australia's current Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins said complaints often put staff at odds with their employers and were difficult to pursue.

'People making a complaint just want the conduct to stop, and not to suffer as a consequence. Its confidence in their manager they need, that the manager will back them up and be supportive,' she said.

Regulators and business organisations have not stepped up either, with no big awareness campaigns or support programs, and the Fair Work Commission and Ombudsman and WorkSafe not stepping in.
President Borut Pahor also invited the Trumps to visit in a call this week

Slovenian President and Prime Minister both thanked her in a letter

Soon-to-be First Lady Melania Trump is probably Slovenia's highest-profile export ever - and the Eastern-European country is making sure she knows it.

Slovenian President Borut Pahor and Prime Minister Dr Miro Cerar have both in touch with the former model to express their gratitude for her prominent position in American life.

The pair wrote a letter to her thanking her for 'raising visibility of our central-European country,' TMZ reported.

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Slovenian star: Melania Trump (right) is Slovenia's highest-profile export, and so its government have been in touch to thank her for raising the country's profile this week

Grateful: Slovenia's President, Borut Pahor (left) and Prime Minister, Dr Miro Cerar (right) both thanked her by letter. Pahor also invited Trump and Melania to visit Slovenia in a call this week

First Lady: Melania met Trump in 1998, and - barring a brief break-up early on - has been by his side ever since

The letter to Melania was written in Slovenian and sent out by the country's Embassy in the US, an embassy official told TMZ.

That's not the end of Pahor and Cerar's attempts to reach out to the Trumps, however.

Pahor spoke with both Donald and Melania Trump this week, and invited them to visit the country.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of the opening of relations between the US and Slovenia.

Melania was born in Slovenia in 1970, in the city of Novo Mesto, but she grew up in a humble apartment with her father, mother and sister in Sevnica, around 40 minutes' drive away.

The cities were then part of the former Yugoslavia, which broke apart in the 1990s, and were under Communist rule.

Her father was a Communist party member, and held a job in state-owned children's clothing company Jutranjka.

That company chose five-year-old Melania to be a model for its clothing, starting off her obsession with becoming a model, and her eventual career.

At 17 she was spotted by renowned Slovenian fashion photographer Stane Jerko; that led to her moving to Milan in the 1980s, and ultimately to America.

Going up in the world: Melania Trump grew up in a humble apartment (left) in Svenica, but now lives in New York's Trump tower (right) with her husband and family

As well as being the 25th anniversary of the start of the US-Slovenian relationship, 2017 is the 19th anniversary of the relationship between Trump and Melania - they met in 1998, at a Fashion Week party in New York City.

He was separated from then-wife Maria Marples at the time, and she initially refused to give him her number, as he'd attended the event with Norwegian cosmetics heiress Celina Midelfart.

Melania broke off the relationship early on, due to 'trust issues', according to GQ, but they got back together about six months later.

She stood by him during his foray into presidential politics in 2000, when he tried to win the nomination for leader of the Reform Party.

So it's a happy time for the couple that they should, 16 years later, not only be married, but also the new First Couple in the White House.

But Melania hasn't forgotten her roots: Her parents, Viktor and Amalija Knavs, spend around half of each year in the US, helping to raise Barron, who now speaks fluent Slovenian.
- but they are too old for a prosecution

Flavie Flement said the photographer's apparent suicide left her devastated that justice would never be done

The woman who wanted to bring British photographer David Hamilton to justice for allegedly raping her has branded his apparent suicide as a 'cowardly act'.

Flavie Flament, a French radio presenter, has told friends that she is inconsolable after hearing of the 83-year-olds suspected suicide.

Mr Hamiltons body was found in his Paris flat on Thursday night, just days after he pledged to take four women, including 42-year-old Ms Flament, to court for libelling him.

Ms Flament said the act would not undo what she said she endured and she had been silenced.

Speaking to the Sunday Times she said: 'We are condemned to silence. It's horrible.

'We can't be heard any more. We are stunned.'

Her book, The Consolation, led to Mr Hamilton being publicly exposed as an alleged predatory paedophile.

But his alleged victims could not take him to court because the age limit in France for pressing for charges of rape of a minor is 38.

This led to Ms Flament and the three others, who have not been identified, being invited to work with the French authorities to bring Mr Hamilton to justice.

David Hamilton stands in front of one of his photographs taken during the late 1970s at a 2007 exhibition

In an interview with the Sunday paper, Ms Flament said she had been raped in the shower by the photographer aged 13.

She described lying on a towel outside on the terrace when the photographer put his face between her legs, kissed her and led her to the shower.

The mother-of-one said she remembers pain and disgust.

She said on her second visit to the photographer's flat in Cap d'Agde, he appeared at the door naked but for a camera around his neck.

She recalled: 'That would have been a good moment for my mother to say "OK, we're leaving now" but instead it was just, "what time shall I pick her up?"

'I remember then looking into his eyes, and then down again, then up again - I couldn't believe it.'

She added that she knew something was not right, 'but there was no one around to help'.

Ms Flament said she remembered nothing as she was repeatedly taken back to the flat, suffering from traumatic amnesia.

Hamilton was known for his soft-focus portraits of young, often nude, girls. He denied claims of rape made against him by four women

Police outside David Hamilton's apartment in Paris, where his body was found in an asphyxiated state by emergency workers

The presenter is now to head a body in France that will examine whether to change the statue of limitation for sex crimes against children in France.

Ms Flament said: 'I want to expose the absurdity of the law. Nothing will stop me.'

Karina Hocine, Ms Flaments editor, said: Flavie is devastated.

'They told us it was a suicide. Make no mistake that were sharing a sense of horror at the situation and a sense of humanity.

'At the same time there is a sense of immense revolt because there will not now be any time for justice to do its work.

London-born Mr Hamilton, who lived by himself in Montmartre, was found in an asphyxiated state by emergency workers.

Mr Hamilton had said of Ms Flaments allegations: Clearly the instigator of this media lynching is looking for her 15 minutes of fame by defaming me in her novel.
The businesswoman behind the Article 50 court battle has spent some 60,000 on security measures after receiving threats.

Gina Miller said she beefed up protections after a 5,000 reward was offered on social media to anyone who ran her over.

The details emerged as the equalities watchdog appealed for politicians on both sides of the bitter EU row to tone down their rhetoric.

Nigel Farage has also spoken of his fears for his safety in the wake of the referendum amid a welter of death threats.

Remain campaigner Gina Miller, who is spearheading the legal challenge to Theresa May triggering Article 50 without parliamentary approval, has told how she has been forced to beef up security measures

The outgoing Ukip leader was threatened with a glass at a bar last week and now does not go out without security guards.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission warned that the hostility in the debate was polarising the UK and fuelling a rise in hate attacks.

It insisted there was no evidence that the historic Brexit vote had been driven by racism - saying Leave voters genuinely believed they were doing the best thing for the country.

In a letter sent to the big political parties, the watchdog said: 'We are concerned that attacks on supporters of both sides of the Brexit debate have polarised many parts of the country.

'There are those who used, and continue to use, public concern about immigration policy and the economy to legitimise hate.

'The vast majority of people who voted to leave the European Union did so because they believe it is best for Britain and not because they are intolerant of others.'

The letter calls on the Government to do more to combat hate peddled by a 'small minority' as it also suggests there should be a review of the effectiveness of sentencing for hate crimes in England and Wales, including the ability to increase sentencing for crimes motivated by hate.

The equalities watchdog has urged both sides in the EU debate to tone down their rhetoric and recognise that people had genuine motivations for the way they cast their votes

It states that 'politicians of all sides should be aware of the effect on national mood of their words and policies' even when those policies are not acted upon - like the Government's now-ditched proposal for companies to list foreign workers.

'Your offices bring with them a responsibility to ensure that policy debate is conducted in a way that brings the country together and moves it forward,' the letter states.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, Mrs Miller - a former model who forged a successful career in the City - declined to say how much the Brexit case was costing her personally.

But she revealed that she had run up a bill of around 60,000 addressing security risks. The case is due to be considered by the Supreme Court before Christmas, with a victory for the challenge potentially delaying Mrs May's plans to trigger Article 50 by March.

Gina Miller, the businesswoman and former model fighting a legal battle to stop Theresa May invoking Brexit without a parliamentary vote, has said she has spent more than 60,000 on security

Mrs Miller said: 'There is a security burden that I had not envisaged.

'I have had to take measures for myself and my staff as well as for the business and website  all in all, we're talking 50,000-60,000.

'It may be more, depending on what happens at the Supreme Court.

'Somebody has put a bounty on my head on social media, offering 5,000 to anybody who runs me over.'

Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green, who backed Remain, said he was 'uncomfortable' with the abuse surrounding the Brexit debate.

He told ITV's Peston on Sunday: 'One of the things that's wrong with this country is the political discourse we have. It's become abusive, it's become personal and it's not good for democracy so I suggest everyone on all sides of the Brexit argument or of any other argument, let's be civilised, let's agree that you can hold positions on either side of an argument and still respect each other. '
New York police on Sunday are trying to determine how a 39-year-old man whose lifeless body was found on a subway platform in midtown Manhattan died.

Police officers had discovered the corpse on a bench on a subway platform in Penn Station after responding to a 911 distress call after 2:00am on Sunday, the New York Daily News reported.

Commuters in this file photo wait for the subway on a platform in New York's Penn Station

Officials said there were no signs of trauma.
They may seem like a strange and unlikely match but this coyote and badger made quite the team when they were spotted hunting together in Colorado.

The coyote and badger were on the prowl together earlier this month as they hunted on the prairies of Colorado searching for ground-squirrels and wild dogs.

The two animals were pictured on the hunt for prey and lying down to take breaks next to each other - strangely comfortable in each other's company.

A coyote and badger were spotted hunting together in Colorado earlier this month

The unlikely duo were snapped together by Kimberly Fraser of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

While it may seem like a strange partnership, it is not that unusual for the two animals to work together.

They both have their own role in the hunting process - the coyote chases the prey and the badger can employ its digging skills if the animal burrows underground to escape.

'Each partner in this unlikely duo brings a skill the other one lacks. Together they are both faster and better diggers than the burrowing rodents they hunt,' a USFWS spokesperson said.

The unlikely duo were worked together as they searched for ground-squirrels and wild dogs

The hunting duo were pictured searching for prey and lying down to take breaks next to each other - strangely comfortable in each other's company

It is not uncommon for the two animals to team up with each bringing a skill the other one lacks. The coyote can chase the prey, while the badger can dig if it buries underground

The unlikely partnership generally occurs in the warmer weather.

'In the winter, the badger can dig up hibernating prey as it sleeps in its burrow. It has no need for the fleet-footed coyote,' the spokesperson said.

'Coyotes and badgers have a sort of open relationship. They will sometimes hunt together; but they also often hunt on their own.

'Each species is a treat to see, but together is even more fascinating and special.'
Donald Trump and President Barack Obama are speaking regularly, the president-elect's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway revealed.

'He's even been talking to President Obama,' Conway told Chuck Todd on this morning's 'Meet the Press.' 'You know beyond the sit-down they had 30 hours or so after President-elect Trump won the election, they've been talking regularly on any number of issues. They talked just yesterday.'

When Todd asked if she could give an update about what they talked about she replied, 'no, of course not,' telling the broadcaster, instead, that the two spoke for about 40 to 45 minutes.

'I can tell you from President-elect Trump's side that he very much enjoys speaking with President Obama, talking about the serious issues that face this country and the world,' Conway said.

'They get along nicely. They disagree on many things. That's not going to change,' the top Trump aide added.

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Donald Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said on 'Meet the Press' that Donald Trump has been speaking regularly with President Barack Obama

Kellyanne Conway (right) told Chuck Todd (left) that the two leaders get along swimmingly, though noted that they still disagree on many issues

She then pivoted to echo her boss and complain about Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein's recount in three Midwestern state, which Hillary Clinton's lawyers said they'd join in on.

'But there is a respect there and there is a respect there for the process and the peaceful transition of power, which is why this recount by Jill Stein and now the Hillary people is just so confounding and disappointing,' Conway said.

'Their president, Barack Obama, is going to be in office for eight more weeks,' she said, with the 'they' likely meaning liberals in general.

'And they have to decide whether they're going to interfere with him finishing his business, interfere with the peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence or if they are going to be a bunch of cry babies and sore losers about an election they can't turn around,' she added.

Conway, who did the Sunday show rounds this morning as the top surrogate for team Trump, was happy to bring up conversations the president-elect was having, but was less inclined to discuss who he might not be speaking with.

Over on CNN, Dana Bash asked Conway on 'State of the Union' if Trump had been turning down intelligence briefings, as was reported in the Washington Post.

'So he is receiving classified intelligence briefings,' Conway said. 'And the president-elect is also receiving information through his personal and on the phone meetings with over what's now 41 world leaders, in addition to meeting with 60 men and women who could serve in his government.'

Bash interrupted and asked again if Trump had passed on being briefed.

'I really, I can't discuss that publicly,' Conway replied.

'What I can tell you is that he is the most engaged individual I've ever met, and brilliant to boot. And  and he is certainly availing himself of the information that is provided to him from a number of sources, including those intelligence briefings,' she said.

Bash pointed out that both Presidents Obama and George W. Bush had started getting briefed daily after being elected so they could get acquainted with national security matters before day one at the White House.

The CNN anchor asked, 'Especially given the fact that President-elect Trump has no experience in government or the military, shouldn't he also be getting them every day as it is allowed?'

'Dana, I assure you, President-elect Trump and Vice President-elect Pence are receiving a steady stream of information, including intelligence that will further prepare them to be the number one and number two leaders of this country,' Conway said.
Japanese defence planes were deployed after Chinese bombers flew through a key passage into the Pacific Ocean, it has been confirmed.

Chinese jets carried out drills in the Western Pacific, flying through the Bashi Channel - which separates Taiwan and the Philippines - and the Miyako Strait near Japan's Okinawa island.

The Chinese air force described the exercises as part of annual planned drills, which it says accord with international law and practice.

Japanese defence planes responded to a flight by Chinese H-6 bombers (File picture)

Although the flights were legal, they did pass through a sensitive area - despite not infringing into Japanese airspace.

It happened at a time when China has been increasingly asserting itself in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas.

The flashpoint happened on the day of talks between China and Japan aimed at preventing accidental clashes between aircraft and vessels.

It happened at a time when China has been increasingly asserting itself in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas

The drills on Friday, 'are not aimed at any specific country, region or target, are legal, reasonable and fair', China's air force said in a statement on its official microblog.

China carried out similar exercises in the Western Pacific at least twice in September, also flying close to either Taiwan, which China claims as its own, or Japan.

China has rapidly been ramping up research into advanced new military equipment, including stealth jets, submarines, aircraft carriers and anti-satellite missiles, which has rattled nerves regionally and in the United States.

The exercises passed what China calls the 'first island chain' - an area that includes Japan's Ryukyu Islands and self-ruled Taiwan

'Organising the air corps to carry out exercises far at sea is a normal thing to do for the air forces of countries which border the ocean,' China's air force said.

'The air force will continue to organise routine drills far out at sea to further forge and develop the air force's systematic abilities far at sea, maintain national sovereignty, protect national security and guarantee peaceful development.'

The exercises passed what China calls the 'first island chain' - an area that includes Japan's Ryukyu Islands and self-ruled Taiwan - and achieved their set aims, the air force said, without elaborating.

The statement did not say what types of aircraft participated but showed a picture of an H-6 bomber. It did not say when or where the picture was taken.

China's air force, along with its navy, has been honing its abilities to conduct operations far from its shores, including drills in which aircraft have flown through the Miyako Strait, a body of water between Japan's islands of Miyako and Okinawa, on their way to the Pacific.
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Thousands of Hasidic rabbis gathered in Brooklyn on Sunday morning to take an impressive group picture - but some couldn't resist taking selfies instead of holding still.

About 4,500 rabbis from around the world are currently in New York for the international conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries, an annual event dedicated to reviving Jewish practices across the globe.

The five-day event was scheduled to draw to a close on Sunday with a gala banquet at 4 pm. The rabbis began their day at 7:30 am on Sunday with a prayer, and gathered for their group picture an hour later.

Some of the thousands of rabbis posed dutifully for the picture while others took out their cellphones - and even a selfie stick - to take their own photos with their neighbors.

Thousands of Hasidic rabbis from around the world gathered in Brooklyn on Sunday morning to take an impressive group picture. They are in town for the international conference of Chabad-Lubavitch Emissaries

The rabbis couldn't resist taking selfies with their own cellphones while they were supposed to pose for the group shot, while others seemed deep in conversation and appeared to exchange jokes

Two of the many rabbis took out their phones and snapped selfies, surrounded by their numerous peers. The group had started their day at 7:30 and had gathered an hour later for the group shot

Some of the rabbis posed dutifully for the picture on Sunday morning and waited for their peers to settle long enough and allow the photographer to take the massive group shot

One of the men on Sunday removed his coat and hat to reveal a Batman costume - and posed proudly among the rabbis

Are we done yet? One of the rabbis buried his face in his hand as all waited for the group shot to be finalized on Sunday morning. Another one seemed to be yawning - the rabbis' day had begun at 7:30 am with a morning prayer

One rabbi even removed his coat and hat to reveal a Batman costume, posing proudly among his traditionally-clothed peers.

The crowd was so large that only a fisheye lens, which warps the photo on the left and on the right, could capture it in its entirety.

Chabad-Lubavitch, an Orthodox Jewish movement that began more than 200 years ago in Russia, has become one of the largest groups within the Hasidic movement and is headquartered in Brooklyn.

The international conference of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries began in 1983 with 65 attendees from the United States and Canada - far from today's 4,500-plus.

It took on a larger scale in 1987, with emissaries coming around the globe to New York City. Another conference was added in 1991 for the female emissaries - women were meant to attend the original gathering, but arranging childcare with both parents away proved too difficult, according to Chabad.org.

An additional program was created in 1995 for the emissaries' children. Lay leaders from local communities, who are not emissaries, have been able to attend the conference in recent years as guests.

Focus! Some of the rabbis in attendance were distracted by their phones while a couple were busy reading their newspapers

One of the men took matter in his own hands and whipped out his iPhone to snap his own picture of the gathering

Another rabbi felt comfortable enough to pull out a selfie stick, so as to get a perfect snap of himself and the crowd

The Hasidic rabbis gathered in New York city for the international conference of Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries began in 1983 with 65 attendees from the United States and Canada - far from today's 4,500-plus

I can see you: Two rabbis tried to have a discreet conversation behind their hands and notebooks, but were still noticeable
He was killed when a three-year-old boy wandered into his enclosure

Harambe was 17-year-old gorilla who was shot dead this past May

Over a thousand sweatshirts at $49.99 each have sold in less than a week

His death made him an icon. This holiday season, he is being immortalized.

Harambe, the gorilla who was shot dead by zookeepers in Cincinnati after a three-year-old boy errantly wandered into his enclosure this past May, is now featured on a Christmas sweater that is selling fast.

A likeness of the 17-year-old Western lowland gorilla is on a design issued by Fresh Brewed Tees, according to TMZ.

The sweater, which is available for $49.99, is a hit with shoppers who have bought over 1,000 in less than a week.

A company called Fresh Brewed Tees has issued a special Harambe holiday sweater that has proven to be a hit with shoppers who have snatched up over 1,000 in less than a week

The brainchild behind the sweater was wise to capitalize on the Harambe craze six months after it swept the country.

On May 28, 2016, three-year-old Isiah Gregg fell 15 feet into the moat of the gorilla enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo.

In the ensuing moments which were captured on video, Harambe, the 450lb gorilla, dragged Isiah through the water before standing over him as the horrified crowd of zoo visitors looked on.

Zoo personnel, fearing for Gregg's life, shot Harambe dead.

Harambe was a Western lowland gorilla who was shot dead by zookeepers at the Cincinnati Zoo who feared for the life of a three-year-old boy who fell into his gorilla enclosure

Video of Harambe's encounter with the boy (above) in the moments just before he was shot dead went viral. It shows the gorilla dragging the boy through his enclosure

Animal lovers were outraged over the decision to shoot the gorilla, saying that the video showed he was protecting the boy, three-year-old Isiah Gregg (seen with Harambe above)

The story and the footage went viral worldwide and became a hotly debated topic.

Animal rights activists and conservationists were outraged over the zoo's actions, saying that Harambe was protecting the boy and did not pose a threat to his life.
England will face its coldest November night for almost 25 years as temperatures plummet below freezing this week.

People have been told to wrap up warm with overnight temperatures forecast to drop to -8C in southern England by Tuesday.

The last time it was this cold was in Yorkshire, on November 22 1993.

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England will face its coldest November night for almost 25 years as temperatures plummet this week (Pictured, a woman walks her dogs in Sidcup, Kent)

It will be chilly this evening with temperatures dropping to -6C in the South of England and minus -5C in the West Midlands.

A band of cloud over the North of the country and towards Scotland will keep temperatures milder, reaching around 4C.

Into Monday and Tuesday it will remain dry with clear skies, but temperatures will drop overnight to -8C.

However, due to the lack of cloud there is no snow forecast and only minimal frost.

The brisk conditions are only expected to last until Wednesday, with warmer weather forecast later on in the week.

Met office meteorologist, Luke Miall said: 'We are set for a couple of cold nights but we won't see sub zero temperatures during the day. It's just a case of wrapping up warm if you go out.

By Tuesday night temperatures will drop to -8C, the lowest in November since 1993, but snow has not been forecast (Pictured, a woman enjoys a winter walk in Sidcup, Kent)

While skies will remain clear temperatures are set to drop below freezing this week

'There won't be a huge amount of frost so people won't be spending hours scraping their windscreens.

'The actual chance of winter hazards will be minimal and because there won't be any rain the roads should be fairly dry.'

Ladbrokes are offering odds of 2/1 that a new record is set for the coldest night of 2016 before next Sunday.

The coldest of the weather will come over night while sub zero temperatures are not predicted during the day (Pictured, people walk through the mist on the Gateacre estate in Liverpool)

The bookmaker is only offering evens odds that the temperature drops to -10c or lower.

It is also offering odds of 2/1 for a white Christmas in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow with better odds as you head south with 3/1 for Newcastle and Belfast, 4/1 for London, 5/1 for Liverpool and Manchester and 6/1 for Cardiff and Birmingham.
Four ISIS gunmen were killed today after they opened fire on Israeli soldiers in their first attack on the occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli soldiers were targeted with machine gun fire and mortars but were unhurt and fired back.

But the gunmen - believed to come from a group called Shuhada al-Yarmouk, which is affiliated to ISIS - were killed by an Israeli air strike on their vehicle.

Israeli soldiers patrol near the village of Ma'rbah in the Golan Heights today (pictured). Today's incident was the first time ISIS or their allies have taken on Israel, the strongest military power in the region

Israeli soldiers on a tank monitor the Golan Heights today after four ISIS gunmen attacked Israeli forces in the area before being killed by an air strike

Israeli soldiers on a tank near the village of Ma'rbah, in the southern Golan Heights, today after a clash with gunmen from a group which swears allegiance to ISIS

Israel Defence Force spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, said the soldiers were from the Golani Brigade.

Since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011, stray shells have hit Israel but today was the first deliberate attack on Israeli forces.

Nitzan Nuriel, a retired Israeli general, said: 'A direct attack like that on Israeli activities on Israeli side of border - this is the first time.'

He said he was baffled what lay behind the attack and said: 'They know exactly what the Israeli response would be. An Israeli front is the last thing ISIS needs at this stage.'

Israel had been hit by a stray artillery shells from the Syrian civil war but this is the first deliberate attack on Israeli forces

An Israeli tank sitting on a ridge in the Golan Heights with the Syrian town of Quneitra in the distance. The Israelis have had a lofty view of the Syrian civil war STOCK PHOTO

Around 20,000 Jewish settlers live in the Golan Heights and are protected by several thousand Israeli troops (pictured)

General Nuriel, a former director of Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau, said he suspected the attack was the idea of local hotheads rather than a change of policy ordered by ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the soldiers who 'successfully repelled an attempted attack on the convergence point of three borders'.

He added: 'Our forces are prepared on our northern border, and we won't let ISIS elements or other hostile elements use the cover of the war in Syria to establish themselves next to our borders.'

This fence marks the boundary between the Golan Heights and Syria proper. Israel annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 but it has never been recognised under international law

Israeli soldiers stand guard close to the scene of today's incident in the Golan Heights

Israel seized 460 square miles of the strategically important Golan Heights in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it. They have always refused to return it to Syria and have never come under pressure to do so from their closest allies, the United States.

Israel has assiduously avoided being drawn into the Syrian civil war.

Although many Israeli politicians have gloated at the trouble Syria's President Bashar al-Assad - a long-time Israeli enemy - has faced, the instability in the region has given many ordinary Israelis the jitters.
Massa first started reporting on television in 2015 in Kitchener, Ontario

She was praised for anchor stint but was hit with some negative comments

TV reporter said she was the first Canadian anchor to wear a hijab on air

Meet the first television anchor to wear a hijab while reading the news at one of Canada's major broadcasters.

Reporter Ginella Massa, 29, was asked to fill in on the anchor desk at Toronto's CityNews during the 11pm broadcast last week.

She created a buzz after the broadcast ended and she tweeted: 'That's a wrap! Tonight wasn't just important for me. I don't think a woman in hijab has ever anchored a newscast in Canada.'

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Ginella Massa, 29, is believed to be Canada's first anchor to don a hijab after she was asked to fill in on the desk at Toronto's CityNews (pictured) last week

Massa said she became Canada's first hijab-wearing television news reporter in 2015 when she was reporting for CTV News in Kitchener, Ontario.

She moved back to Toronto in February this year to take a reporting job at CityNews.

Massa said she recognized that moving onto the anchor desk was a step up in her career, but it took her editor to point out the larger significance.

'It wasn't until my editor said, "Hey, great job! Was that a first for Canada? A woman in a hijab?" And I said yes. And so I tweeted about it,' she said.

'As much as I knew it was important, I didn't expect the reaction that I received. My phone hasn't stopped buzzing for the last week.'

Massa has been widely applauded on social media for her anchor stint, but the reporter has been hit with some negative comments, particularly on Twitter.

She created a buzz after the broadcast ended and she tweeted: 'That's a wrap! Tonight wasn't just important for me. I don't think a woman in hijab has ever anchored a newscast in Canada'

Massa, (right) pictured interviewing U.S. Olympic bronze medallist Ibtihaj Muhammad (left), became Canada's first hijab-wearing TV reporter in 2015

'I've talked to many women who are journalists in the U.S. who work behind the scenes and they've told me that they face multiple challenges trying to get on air,' Massa said.

'They've been told because of their hijab, that's not going to happen. That makes me really sad because they're being held back by someone else's idea of what the public can or cannot handle.'

In an interview earlier in her career, Massa told Muslims Actually that she had always wanted to be a reporter.

'I always wanted to work in broadcasting or media in some capacity, and my real desire was to be in front of the camera, but in the back of my mind I worried about whether I could make it very far in hijab,' she said.

'I dont think I really believed it could be a viable career until I was at Seneca, and landed my first internship in a newsroom.

'I realized this was something I could be good at, and thats what pushed me to work really hard, in the hopes that someone would see past my hijab and give me a chance to show my skills.'

The 29-year-old Toronto reporter was thrilled to meet CNN commentator and former White House advisor Van Jones
The teaching assistant told the pupil that she objected to the use of the rainbow flag as a symbol of gay pride

A Christian classroom assistant who told a teenager she did not approve of same-sex relations is seeking compensation after she was disciplined.

Vicky Allen claims she suffered 'injury to feelings' after being issued with a warning for her comments, in which she also said she was unhappy about rainbows being adopted as a gay pride symbol.

Bosses at Brannel School, in Cornwall, took exception to her remarks, saying she did not give a balanced view to a 14-year-old autistic boy.

Senior staff acted after a complaint by the boy's mother, and the 51-year-old was given a written warning.

The warning was issued for not living up to the school's equal opportunities policies.

Bosses at Brannel School, in Cornwall, took exception to her remarks, saying she did not give a balanced view to a 14-year-old autistic boy

But Allen wants the warning rescinded, and will seek compensation at a hearing at Bodmin Magistrates Court tomorrow.

She believes she is being discriminated against because of her Christian beliefs, and told the Sunday Times: 'I felt like a criminal - it was unbelievable.

'It's taken away any trust I had. It's made me more cautious.'

The teaching assistant said the boy asked her about her beliefs, so she told him.

She is being supported by the Christian Legal Centre, whose chief executive Andrea Williams said, the Sunday Times reports: 'Freedoms in our country are being catastrophically eroded by political correctness and fear.'
She has uploaded a photograph of her appearing to mock British culture

His now lives with his new wife, Mercy May, in Manila in the Philippines

, 66, was jailed for six years and three months after being caught

Canoe man John Darwin's new wife has mocked Britain's 'free' benefits culture and has said she 'can't wait' to live here.

Mercy May uploaded a photograph of her holding a fake British passport before writing that the UK is the land of 'free benefits, housing, school and doctors'.

The Filipina bride, 43, married British conman Darwin, 66, in February 2015 and was smiling in the photograph and gave the thumbs up.

She uploaded the picture to her Google Plus account and wrote: 'Yes! Got it! Who said I was banned! UK, land of the free, free benefits, housing, school and doctors, can't wait to move with all the family lol.'

The Filipina bride, 43, married British conman Darwin, 66, in February 2015 and was smiling in the photograph and gave the thumbs up

Darwin (pictured) earned notoriety when he faked his own death so his ex-wife Anne could claim 679,000

The market trader has three children, aged 23, 11 and eight and could eventually apply for them to join her in Britain, reports the Daily Star Sunday.

Darwin earned notoriety when he faked his own death so his ex-wife Anne could claim 679,000.

He has spent the last two years living in a small room in Manila, Philippines, with his new wife.

In March 2002, the former prison officer paddled out to sea in a canoe at Seaton Carew, near Hartlepool, before ditching the vessel to give the impression that he drowned in the North Sea.

He and Anne, who both hid the news from their two sons, used the money to travel around the world and buy several properties in Panama, which he used as a base.

After a change in the country's visa laws, he decided to return to the UK in 2007 and tried to fake amnesia.

Darwin and Mercy were photographed sell womens' clothes to commuters at her market stall in Manila

They were both convicted of fraud in July 2008. John was ordered to serve six years and three months in prison while his wife, who police described as a compulsive liar, got six years and six months.

An investigation earlier this year found he was making 138 selling underwear and t-shirts at his new wife's stall in the capital of Philippines.

His wife is entitled to live and work in Britain. However, before arriving, she must apply for a marriage visa.

After she has been with him for four years, she can apply for a real passport if she passes a citizenship test.
Delta has apologized for not stepping in after a Donald Trump supporter got out of his seat on Tuesday and started loudly praising the President-elect while talking about 'Hillary b****es'.

The man stood up several minutes into a flight from Atlanta to Allentown on Tuesday and started goading other passengers into speaking up about which of the candidates they supported.

'We are sorry to our customers who experienced this disruption,' Delta said in an official statement Saturday. 'We have followed up with the teams involved and all agree that this customer should not have been allowed to continue this flight.'

Apology: Delta has apologized for not removing this man from one of its planes Tuesday after a bizarre rant in which he shouted about Donald Trump and berated 'Hillary b****es'

Delta's statement continued: 'Our responsibility for ensuring all customers feel safe and comfortable with Delta includes requiring civil behavior from everyone.

'The behavior we see in this video does not square with our training or culture and follow up will continue so we can better ensure our employees will know that they will be fully supported to make the right decisions when these issues arise.'

In a video posted to Facebook by a yoga teacher named Emma Baum, the man is seen shouting 'Donald Trump baby!' We got some Hillary b****es on here?'

'Come on baby, Trump!' he continues. 'Donald Trump is your President - every god-damn one of you. If you don't like it, too bad.'

Epic rant: The Donald Trump supporter got out of his seat and started yelling out screams of praise for the president-elect on a recent flight, much to the shock of other passengers

As the man sits down the camera pans back through the cabin, showing various passengers with expressions of annoyance or embarrassment.

The video has been viewed 2.1million times since it was posted Tuesday, and shared 18,500 times.

Baum said that the man was taken away by flight attendants for 'at least 15 minutes' before being returned to his seat.

Upon sitting back down, Baum said the man remarked: 'This is what you get for being a patriot.'

The moment was similar to an incident on an United Airlines flight straight after the election. The pilot of the flight - going from San Francisco to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico - had to intervene over the intercom after an argument broke out between passengers.

According to other people on the flight, a man made some racist comments to an African-American woman about how he was 'glad to have kept his guns'.

The two passengers were separated before the pilot made the announcement.

'I understand everybody has their opinions; that's fine,' said the captain.

'If you support him (referring to Donald Trump), great. If you don't, I understand. 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.'

During the announcement, the captain added: 'Nobody wants to argue, nobody is going to change their minds by arguing.

'And let's keep our opinions to ourselves on this particular matter at this particular time.'
Jewish students at Cambridge University say they were victims of vile anti-Semitic abuse, in which drinking society members shouted at them: 'Jew, get f***** out of here'.

The three men were also told 'you don't belong here', and their abusers allegedly shouted 'dirty Jew' and 'f*** off, darkie'.

One of them was allegedly choked by a thug, while his two friends were pushed around, according to witnesses.

Cambridge University bosses have been accused of not taking the incident seriously enough

They were also told their faces would be 'smashed'.

They have accused university bosses of failing to take the incident seriously after two men were disciplined but cleared of anti-Semitism.

The trio said the abuse came after drinking club members spotted they were wearing kippots, which are Jewish skullcaps.

Shlomo Roiter-Jesner, 25, told The Telegraph: 'All of a sudden they were shouting: "Jew, get f***** out of here.

'We tried to leave but they were yelling at us.'

Two members of Christ's College were disciplined, but it has refused to reveal the punishment or identify the individuals.

It happened last month as they entered the graduate union building at the university.

University chiefs reviewed CCTV of the incident, but it did not contain any sound.

After an investigation, Mr Roiter-Jesner was told that two students had been disciplined and the matter was concluded.

He said: 'The college has not confronted the issue at all. They have brushed it under the carpet.'

A statement from Professor Jane Stapleton, Master of Christ's College and passed to MailOnline said: 'You may have seen stories in the press today alleging that the College has covered up an incident of alleged anti-Semitism.

'I want to assure you that the College and I personally condemn in the strongest possible terms anti-Semitic, racist or any other form of discriminatory abuse, and that uncompromising disciplinary action would be taken if any substantiated evidence comes to light that a Member of Christs engaged in such conduct.

'At this point the College has no corroborating evidence that any of its students has been involved in such behaviour.

'I also want to assure you personally that I would not tolerate any covering up of such behaviour and I have strongly rejected that allegation.

'I cannot comment in detail on the incident, but can let you know that the Tutors have already investigated it and taken action. I am, of course, available to discuss this or other matters of concern to Members of the Christs community.'
An off-duty police officer has saved the lives of a woman and her elderly woman by heroically kicking down a fence to help them escape a ferocious house fire.

The two women could not open a gate to free themselves when a fire broke out at their Essendon home, in Melbourne's north west, at about 8.30pm on Sunday.

But a neighbour heard the pair's desperate screams for help and quickly ran down a side lane, kicked a hole in the back fence and helped them flee to safety.

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An off-duty police officer has saved the lives of a woman and her elderly woman by heroically kicking down a fence to help them escape a ferocious house fire

'Dad ran around the back and kicked down the fence so they could get out the back,' the daughter of the policeman, who didn't want to be identified, told the Herald Sun.

'There was smoke everywhere, black smoke and huge, huge flames. The powerlines were sparking and then they fell down and people were almost walking into them.'

Around 30 firefighters battled the blaze for at least 70 minutes before it was brought under control.

But despite their best efforts, fire crews were unable to save the single-story weatherboard home, the MFB said.

Around 30 firefighters battled the blaze for at least 70 minutes before it was brought under control

'There was smoke everywhere, black smoke and huge, huge flames,' a witness said

But despite their best efforts, fire crews were unable to save the single-story weatherboard home

The roof of the house collapsed and investigators will inspect the site on Monday

The roof of the house collapsed and investigators will inspect the site on Monday.

The family had reportedly lived in the home for 46 years.
A cosmetic surgeon is being sued for 100,000 after allegedly leaving a patient's face disfigured.

Dr Colin Lyons, who runs a clinic at the five-star Sofitel Hotel at Heathrow, has been accused of negligence following the filler treatment.

Penny Collins, 59, from near Henley, Oxfordshire, says she has been left with a scar on her cheek, a droopy lip and eyelid, and slurred speech.

Cosmetic surgeon Dr Colin Lyons is being sued for 100,000 after allegedly leaving a patient's face disfigured

She claims she suffered a burning sensation down the left side of her face after Dr Lyons injected the filler, the Telegraph reported.

Ms Collins' face later swelled up, and she required five operations at hospital to treat the adverse reaction.

The General Medical Council (GMC) issued a warning to Dr Lyons earlier this year after investigating the incident, which took place at the West London Skin Clinic he ran in June 2013.

The report concluded that he failed to record the patients medical history, history of allergies, or his examination findings.

Penny Collins, 59, from Henley, Oxfordshire, says she has been left with a scar on her cheek, a droopy lip and eyelid, and slurred speech

The GMC said that in subsequent dealings with the patient he continued to fail to make complete or adequate medical records.

Dr Lyons said: ' This was an isolated event but my heart goes out to this lady. I did everything possible at the time to reduce the reaction and have expressed my sorrow that this lady has experienced problems on several occasions.

'The unfortunate incident occurred over three years ago and since then, our clinical documentation procedures have been revised.

'Non-invasive anti-ageing techniques are a safe and successful way to rejuvenate and reinvigorate the skin. I stand by the safety and professionalism of my practice.'

Sofitel has been contacted for comment.
New York police have arrested a 29-year-old man with a Playboy bunny tattoo who allegedly pointed a gun at a woman on a Bronx-bound subway train after she spurned his advances.

Sharif Mitchell was detained by police in the Bronx on Saturday afternoon after he was identified by a 23-year-old woman as the man who had touched her thigh while they were both riding the No. 2 northbound subway line, WNBC-TV reported.

The alleged incident took place at around 3am on Saturday just as the No. 2 train was pulling out of the 72nd Street station in Manhattan.

According to the alleged victim, Mitchell had approached her and sat by her side after noticing her board the train at the 42nd Street-Times Square station.

The incident occurred just as the No. 2 train carrying Mitchell and the alleged victim was pulling out of the 72nd Street station in Manhattan (above)

The woman told police that Mitchell started to compliment the woman and touched her right leg against her wishes.

After she repeatedly insisted that he stop, Mitchell then pulled out a gun and pointed it at her, WNBC-TV reported.

Mitchell then ordered the woman to leave the train with him as it pulled into the 149th Street-3rd Avenue station in the Bronx, but she refused.

The woman said that the suspect had a Playboy bunny tattoo on his neck, leading the police to arrest Mitchell. The Playboy bunny logo is seen above

After Mitchell left the train, two female bystanders came to the victims aid after witnessing part of the encounter and called the police.

The woman gave police the description of the man, specifically mentioning the Playboy bunny tattoo on his neck.

Local police in the Bronx who heard the description over their scanner spotted a man, Mitchell, who fit the characteristics at 143rd Street and Third Avenue.

Officers searched Mitchell and found a loaded gun as well as ammunition, WNBC-TV reported.

Mitchell has a long history of run-ins with the law, having been arrested for a variety of alleged crimes including robbery and fare evasion.
Newt Gingrich has warned that President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary Of State John Kerry shouldn't go to Fidel Castro's funeral, labeling the deceased Cuban leader a tyrant.

The former House speaker and Trump adviser bashed Castro in a series of tweets Saturday, the latest of which concerned his upcoming state funeral.

'Under no circumstance should President Obama or VP Biden or Secstate [sic] Kerry go to Cuba for Castro's funeral. He was a tyrant,' Gingrich tweeted.

Obama, Biden and Kerry have given no indication so far that they will attend Castro's funeral on December 4.

Former house speaker Newt Gingrich (pictured) warned in a tweet Saturday that Barack Obama, Joe Biden and John Kerry should abstain from attending Fidel Castro's funeral

Gingrich published several furious tweets following Castro's death on Friday.

'The outpouring of praise for Fidel Castro is tragic. He was a relentless dictator who imprisoned thousands, killed and tortured many Cubans,' he wrote on Saturday.

'Build a list of those praising Castro and you will have a list of leftists who reject reality for an ideological fantasy,' Gingrich added in a later message.

Obama reacted to Castro's passing on Saturday, saying in a statement: ' At this time of Fidel Castro's passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people.

President Obama (right) has given no indication so far that he or anyone in his administration will attend the state funeral planned for the deceased Cuban leader (left) on December 4

'We know that this moment fills Cubans - in Cuba and in the United States - 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.'

Kerry meanwhile said in a statement of his own: 'We extend our condolences to the Cuban people today as they mourn the passing of Fidel Castro. Over more than half a century, he played an outsized role in their lives, and he influenced the direction of regional, even global affairs.

'As our two countries continue to move forward on the process of normalization -- restoring the economic, diplomatic and cultural ties severed by a troubled past -- we do so in a spirit of friendship and with an earnest desire not to ignore history but to write a new and better future for our two peoples.

'The United States reaffirms its support for deepening our engagement with the Cuban people now and in coming years.'

Castro's burial will take place on December 4, after nine days of official mourning. During this time, flags will be at half-mast, no public activities or shows will take place and radio and television will stick to what the government has defined as 'an informative, patriotic and historical programming'.

Senator Ted Cruz, pictured, warmed President Obama against attending Castro's funeral

However, Senator Ted Cruz warned Obama against attending Castro's funeral or sending any US representative on his behalf.

Appearing on ABC News, Cruz said: 'I hope we dont see Barack Obama and and the Democrats lining up to lionize a murderous tyrant and thug.

'If you wouldnt go to Pol Pot's funeral or Stalins funeral or Maos funeral because they were murderous communist dictators then you shouldnt be doing what Barack Obama and Justin Trudeau are doing, which is celebrating Fidel Castro, a murderous communist dictator.'

He added: 'Raul is the dictator now ... And what Obama has done is funneled billion of dollars to Raul Castro, which is being used to oppress dissidents. This ought to be a moment where Cubans are dancing in the street because theyre being liberated, but instead, listen, if you dance in the street, youre going to be thrown in jail. Cuba is not a free society.'

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said he has no plans to attend Castro's funeral.

His spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was preparing for a major speech, although Vyacheslav Volodin, speaker of the Duma, will lead the Russian delegation to Havana.

Vice-President Biden (pictured right next to Vice-President elect Mike Pence) has also not said whether he will attend Castro's funeral in December
Donald Trump accused the media of ignoring serious electoral fraud and claimed millions of illegal ballots cost him the popular vote on Sunday night  as he returned to Trump Tower amid growing acrimony over Hillary Clintons lawyer's backing of a recount in Wisconsin.

The President-elect tweeted that there had been 'serious voter fraud' in Virginia, California and New Hampshire hours after claiming he would have won the popular vote had 'millions' of people not voted 'illegally'.

'Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!' he said.

Earlier, he suggested he would have won the popular vote as well as the electoral college despite being beaten by his opponent in the former by 2.2million ballots. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud.

'In addition to winning the Electoral College by a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,' he said.

It was the latest in a string of outbursts since Clinton's camp joined Green Party candidate Jill Stein in her efforts for a recount in three major electoral college states; Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

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Donald Trump (above on Sunday leaving Palm Beach, Florida) claimed millions of people 'illegally voted' for Hillary Clinton and tweeted that he could have won the popular vote. He proudly sported the number 45 on his hat on Sunday, a nod to his forthcoming inauguration as America's 45th president

On Sunday evening, the president-elect doubled down on his claims of fraud and accused the media of ignoring 'serious' cases of it in Virginia, New Hampshire and California

He earlier dashed off a trio of tweets that suggested Hillary Clinton won the popular vote due to widespread voter fraud

Trump was spotted arriving back at Trump Tower on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue in a motorcade on Sunday night

The president-elect used his final hours in Mar-a-Lago, Florida, on Sunday afternoon to send out a flurry of tweets before jetting back to New York with his wife Melania and son Barron after a brief Thanksgiving break.

He was spotted returning to his Fifth Avenue sanctuary in a motorcade some hours later.

This afternoon, after making his initial illegal voting claim, Trump followed up with two more tweets, which suggested it would have been easier for him to win the popular vote anyways, because he would have just campaigned in a handful of highly-populated states.

'It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4--,' he began. 'states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!' he concluded in the second tweet.

Trump's new theory about 'winning' the popular vote quickly got slammed on Twitter for its falsehoods about fraud.

'We will have a Conspiracy Theorist in charge of our government, our military and our nuclear arsenal. What could possibly go wrong?' wrote former White House senior advisor to President Obama Dan Pfeiffer.

Josh Marshall of the left-leaning Talking Points Memo wrote, 'As deep as we've gone in this Orwellian political s***hole, very disturbing that an incoming President says this.'

The 70-year-old left Mar-a-Lago hours earlier wearing a US 45 hat

He boarded his personal plane with wife Melania and 10-year-old son Barron after a four-day break in Florida where he spent Thanksgiving

Barron Trump sported a red polo-shirt and carried a matching rucksack for the journey back to New York on Sunday

The future first family arrived at Palm Beach Airport on Sunday in a 13-car motorcade which also included 19 motorcycles

And on the right, the National Review's David French said, 'Trump's worst policies can be checked, but this stuff? A steady drumbeat of this nonsense will further damage our political culture,' the best-selling author wrote, sharing the president-elect's tweet.

'This is an unbelievable lie,' French said.

The flurry of tweets came as he made his way back to New York from his Mar-a-Lago resort where he enjoyed a 'brief break from action' over the Thanksgiving holiday.

The president-elect was followed on to his Boeing 757-200 by his wife Melania and Barron on Sunday, both of whom sported Republican red for their private flight back to New York. Trump will now resume assembling his administration from Trump Tower in Manhattan.

Between dinners at the resort over the weekend, Trump spent much of the break tweeting about recount efforts in three Midwestern states as calls for a do-over gathered steam.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein raised funds for a recount, starting in Wisconsin, and Clinton's team said they would also participate.

Starting at 7:19 a.m. Sunday morning, Trump dashed off seven tweets about the recount efforts.

'Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change,' he wrote first.

He then quoted Clinton several times, including something she said about not accepting the results of the election  after Trump himself had sowed the seeds that it was going to be 'rigged'  during the third and final presidential debate.

At around 7am EST Sunday, Trump Tweeted that 'nothing will change'. He then began a six-tweet-long screed in which he quoted Clinton's own remarks before and after the election

Trump implied that Clinton was a hypocrite - though the complaints against him were about writing off the results before they were called, not calling for a recount after they came in

'That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a [debate stage] during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of position,' Trump said quoting Clinton and forgetting the words 'debate stage.'

TRUMP'S STATEMENT The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, "We must accept this result and then look to the future." This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount. All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes. This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing. Advertisement

Clinton had made those statements to moderator Chris Wallace at the Las Vegas debate after Trump said 'I'll keep you in suspense' about whether he would concede the election to Clinton if she were to win.

She didn't.

Trump also quoted Clinton saying, 'We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.'

Ending that flurry of tweets with his own commentary he wrote, 'So much time and money will be spent - same result! Sad.'

He had previously labeled the recount effort as a way for Stein to 'fill her coffers with money.'

'The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, "We must accept this result and then look to the future",' Trump said in the statement obtained by Bloomberg.

'This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount.

'All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes.

'This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing.'

Without even being asked about it, Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway went after the recount efforts while appearing on 'Meet the Press' with Chuck Todd today.

Conway was talking about how the president-elect had spoken with President Barack Obama yesterday on a 45 minute call.

'But there is a respect there and there is a respect there for the process and the peaceful transition of power, which is why this recount by Jill Stein and now the Hillary people is just so confounding and disappointing,' Conway said, making the pivot.

'Their president, Barack Obama is going to be in office for eight more weeks,' she continued, pointing to the two left-of-center political parties.
A brawl has broken out between a group of teenagers as the mayhem continues for schoolies at the Gold Coast.

More than a dozen high school leavers were caught in mobile phone footage in a mass brawl at Surfers Paradise.

Video shows the teenage men swore at one another as two began throwing punches before others jumped in, Nine News reported.

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Two began throwing punches before others jumped in at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast

Security surrounded the men and worked to break up the fight while the teenagers continued to swear at one another on pavement in front of the beach.

Last monday, a brawl erupted between Queensland school leavers when an Australian man mocked a group of New Zealanders who were performing the haka.

Security surrounded the men and worked to break up the fight while the teenagers continued to swear at one another on pavement in front of the beach

The fights come as police reported about double the number of schoolies had been arrested in the first week compared to last year.

The official week of the celebration for Queenslanders finished at the weekend, before NSW and other interstate teens headed to the Gold Coast.

With the majority of interstate schoolies being 18 years of age and over, the policing strategy for the next few weeks will shift towards licensed venues.
The car was found dumped in Victoria's Thomastown on Saturday

A mother has slammed her 14-year-old daughter for allegedly getting in a stolen car with a teenage boy who was high on ice before they led police on a 150km/h chase.

The 15-year-old boy - who remains on the run - was allegedly behind the wheel of a luxury BMW during a high-speed chase from Thomastown to Heathcote, north of Melbourne, on Friday afternoon.

The mother, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed her daughter and another teenage girl broke down in tears as they pleaded to get out of the back seat of the car.

'My daughter is an idiot,' she told The Herald Sun, adding she believed the teenage driver was allegedly high on crystal methamphetamine.

'She is a child so I do not think she understands the full extent of what serious trouble they are in.

'She has never stolen a car - but she is stupid because she hops into them.'

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A mother has slammed her 14-year-old daughter for allegedly getting in a stolen dark-coloured BMW with a teenage boy who was high on ice before they led police on a 150km/h chase

The two girls managed to fled to an Aldi supermarket when the 15-year-old driver (pictured wearing black clothes) stopped at a petrol station to fill up the dark-coloured sedan

The two girls managed to fled to an Aldi supermarket when the driver stopped at a petrol station to fill up the dark-coloured sedan.

The mother said she was unaware that her daughter was getting into a stolen car until she saw police put their sirens on ahead of the pursuit.

Her comments comes after four teenagers were arrested as police search for the fifth suspect.

Footage showed the car speeding through Kyneton and narrowly missing a pedestrian in Lancefield as it continued, apparently in the direction of Bendigo.

The sedan was found dumped on Alvarado Avenue in Thomastown just before 5pm on Saturday.

The luxury BMW spotted driving on the opposite side of the road during the high-speed chase

Police arrested two female passengers after they managed to escape the car at an Aldi store

The dark-coloured BMW sedan was found dumped in Thomastown on Saturday afternoon

A 17-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were arrested a short time later at an Emma Court address in Thomastown.

The Thomastown girl has been charged with theft of motor vehicle and breach of bail while the Diamond Creek boy has been charged with theft of motor vehicle.

Both have been remanded in custody to appear at a childrens court at a later date.

Police are still searching for one of the male occupants believed to be involved in Friday's afternoon chase.

Three teenagers have now been charged in relation to the incident.
Two monkeys stolen from a wildlife park have been found, while the search for the remaining stolen monkey continues.

Police found a four-week-old baby pygmy marmoset in a car with two men driving in Appin, southwest of Sydney on Sunday afternoon following a tip-off.

Experts had said the baby monkey would likely die if separated from its mother for more than 24 hours.

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A newborn pygmy marmoset (pictured) has been found in a car southwest of Sydney. But the search continues for the third stolen monkey

The two men in the car, aged 23 and 26, were arrested and taken to the Campbelltown Police Station where they were charged with dealing with proceeds of crime.

Both men have been refused bail and are due to front Campbelltown Local Court on Monday.

Following extensive inquiries by Wollongong police, a second monkey was located on Sunday evening in the Campbelltown area.

Both recovered monkeys have been returned to the wildlife park.

Meanwhile, the location of the newborn's father Gomez, 10, is still unknown.

'We are assessing the condition of the young, and will re-introduce to mum as soon as possible,' Symbio staff posted on social media on Sunday night.

'THANK YOU to all of our followers for your continuing support and assistance in having the successful return of our baby - but the ordeal is not over yet.'

It was fortunate the baby was found on Sunday as experts had warned it would likely die if kept away from its mother for more than a day, as it is still suckling and dependent upon her.

Staff at the wildlife park in Helensburgh were shocked to discover the pygmy marmoset enclosure had been broken into and three of the monkeys had been taken on Saturday morning.

Officers arrived at the scene at 8am to find the entry into the enclosure was forced.

The four-week-old was stolen on Saturday from Symbio Wildlife Park south of Sydney, along with its father Gomez, 10, and its younger sister named Sophia, 10

The three monkeys taken were the father Gomez, 10, the younger sister called Sophia, 1, and a four-week-old who is yet to be named.

Park operations supervisor at Symbio Zoo, Ryan Leahy, told Daily Mail Australia the thieves were direct in their robbery, stealing only three monkeys and not vandalising or stealing anything else.

'The park has sufficient security throughout the boundaries and the exhibit, but they clearly managed to break their way through the initial door, Mr Leahy said.

He added: 'The mother (monkey) is clearly stressed because half of her family is not with her and this has shaken up all of the staff.'

A zookeeper had also told police its twin, who was left at the zoo, could also die because the mother was too stressed to feed it.

The newborn's twin could also die if as the mother was too stressed to feed

The wildlife park has asked for its Facebook followers to share their post of the missing monkey, with many of them leaving comments expressing their disbelief.

One man wrote: 'What is wrong with people these days... and how stupid... taking a four-week-old baby that can only survive with its mother... low lifes.'

A woman commented: 'Whoever has taken them, please just give them back or even take them to a vet to be reunited with their family. That tiny baby needs its mum.

'I can't believe this! I'm hoping they get returned safely to the wildlife park! I'm praying they're okay' another wrote.
Farmers have reportedly been left unable to sleep and 'very threatened' after a new animal rights campaign group has started to invade slaughterhouses in the UK.

The vegan group, called The Save Movement, now has 24 branches in the UK from Cornwall in the south to Scotland in the north.

They have 'Save groups' in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Italy, USA, Sweden and Poland and they claim to use a 'love-based approach'.

On its website, the movement says it focuses on 'non-violence' and they believe animals are individuals which have rights.

A video of the East London Chicken Save - a branch of The Save Movement - shows activists enter the Kedassia kosher abattoir in Hackney Wick earlier this month

Police were called and a spokesman from the group criticised the arrival of officers

But some groups have taken a different approach and it is 'only a matter of time' before a protester or worker gets hurt, according to an industry spokesman.

The movement - which has a 'zero tolerance approach to animal exploitation' - has staged around 60 demonstrations, reports Andrew Gilligan at the Sunday Times.

And it seems the number of protesters ranges from a handful of people to more than 50 activists.

Their demonstrations included an invasion of a kosher abattoir in London and anti-Semitic graffiti was plastered on the walls.

A video of the East London Chicken Save - a branch of The Save Movement - shows activists enter the Kedassia kosher abattoir in Hackney Wick earlier this month.

They pushed past security and abused staff because they were 'helping to kill babies', reports the newspaper.

Police were called and a group spokesman criticised the arrival of officers.

They said the police presence stopped them 'from liberating these innocent chickens'.

The 12-minute video, which was uploaded to YouTube, has been viewed more than 5,00 times.

A caption underneath the video said: 'East London Chicken Save were able to get inside the slaughterhouse and the kill room.

'The pipes were filled with guts and the stench of death and faeces was overwhelming.

'The chickens in the truck were extremely disfigured and many had huge sores on their bodies.'

And following a second demonstration last week, anti-Semitic graffiti was daubed on the walls of a London abattoir.

The group, called The Save Movement, believe that animals are individuals with rights and some of the 24 UK branches are invading slaughterhouses

Extra police are patrolling the areas surrounding the farms (stock photograph) because people are worried the protests will 'continue to escalate'

A Star of David was drawn on the walls along with references to Nazism, reports the newspaper.

A spokesperson for The Save Movement told MailOnline: 'We don't condone discrimination of any kind, be it speciesism, racism, anti-Semitism or any other kind.

'We don't approve of negative graffiti or even swearing at our vigils. Nor do we condone shouting or arguing with slaughterhouse workers.

'We see them as victims of animal agriculture also. We are there to show love for the animals, not to engage in conflict.

'We don't target religious slaughterhouses. Our aim is to have vigils at every slaughterhouse.

'There is only one big slaughterhouse in London hence the vigils there but there are 24 other save groups in the UK holding vigils at one or more slaughterhouses each -these being non religious slaughterhouses.'

Lizzie Wilson, from the National Pig Association, told the newspaper: 'It has grown up very quickly. In the main, they are a peaceful protest and entitled to their.

'It's when they start to become more aggressive that it's obviously a concern.'

She added that some farmers felt 'threatened' and can't sleep at night after some groups turned up at farms and slaughterhouses at night.

This resulted in extra police patrolling the areas surrounding the farms because people are worried the protests will 'continue to escalate', reports the paper.

A British Meat Processors Association spokesman said campaigners were jumping in front of lorries in order to get their point across.

He said: 'It is only a matter of time before a protester of a member of plant staff is injured.'
A couple welcomed their baby girl into the world in the middle of New York holiday traffic.

Terrice Thomas and her husband, Austin Thomas, were on a highway in Yonkers when their baby Taliah could no longer wait to meet them.

The couple pulled over on the side of the highway amid the rush of holiday traffic that was backed up more than a mile and Austin had no choice but to deliver their baby, WABC-TV reported.

Terrice Thomas and her husband, Austin Thomas (both pictured), were on a highway in Yonkers when their baby Taliah (pictured) could no longer wait to meet them

The couple pulled over on the side of the highway amid the rush of holiday traffic that was backed up more than a mile and Austin had no choice but to deliver their baby Taliah

Austin had to pull over and call 911 so that they could walk him through the delivery. He said the dispatcher told him that the baby was going to be slippery and that he must catch her. Within 10 minutes baby Taliah was delivered just in time for the firefighters to arrive

'We pulled over, he called 911, they started to walk him through what to do, and I'm like, "I'm here, I'm over here," I called out to the dispatcher, "I'm here, I'm over here, the baby's coming,"' Terrice told the station.

Austin told WABC that he saw the baby's head and within 10 minutes he had delivered Taliah.

'So he [dispatcher] was saying to me, "Listen the baby's going to be slippery, you got to catch it. Don't let it fall, you got to catch the baby,"' Austin said.

Terrice gave birth to the healthy baby in the front seat.

When firefighters arrived to the scene they checked Taliah's vital signs and cut her umbilical cord.

'The mother was just kind of amazed that it happened in the car so fast,' Station 11 firefighter John Pozzi told the New York Daily News.

He said it was the fire crew's first on-the-job delivery.

The family was taken to the Phelps Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, New York, where they are all doing well.

Terrice gave birth to the healthy baby in the front seat. When firefighters arrived to the scene they checked Taliah's vital signs and cut her umbilical cord

Austin and Terrice also have two other young children




An award-winning reporter quit her job at a Denver TV station after being warned of death threats allegedly from a businessman she covered in a story.

Heidi Hemmat, an investigative reporter at KDVR Fox 31, penned a post on her website on Thursday confirming details of her departure from the news station saying she felt her life was in danger.

Hemmat, who has won six Emmy awards, claims to have received 'downright terrifying' threats from a businessman she investigated at length in 2015 over his alleged dumping of customers' documents.

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Heidi Hemmat, a reporter at KDVR Fox 31, claims to have quit her job at the Denver TV station after receiving death threats allegedly from a businessman she covered in a story

During a four-part investigative story for KDVR, Hemmat literally went dumpster diving to retrieve some of the receipts the owner had allegedly thrown away.

'We're looking at all the receipts you threw away,' she told the business owner when he confronted her and threatened to call the sheriff.

'You probably should. They asked you not to throw these receipts away,' she hit back.

Hemmat's story also covered that the business owner was accused of fraud.

'I worked very hard to expose this guy - and in the end, I paid a very high price. There's a reason why I'm not saying his name - it's because I'm still scared of him,' Hemmat wrote on her website.

Hemmat allegedly received 'downright terrifying' threats from a businessman she investigated at length in 2015 over his alleged dumping of customers' documents

During a four-part investigative story for KDVR, Hemmat literally went dumpster diving to retrieve some of the receipts the owner (pictured) had allegedly thrown away

'Shortly after he learned about the charges against him, that were a direct result of me, I got a call from his psychiatrist.

'She told me he was 'homicidal' and was planning to kill me. The psychiatrist thought the threat was so credible, she broke HPPA laws (the laws that protect medical records of psychos, such as the theater shooter - James Holmes) to warn me.'

The mother of two said her employer KDVR initially paid for undercover Denver police officers to be stationed at her home but then expressed concern over how much it was costing and removed the personal security.

KDVR has denied this claim.

'These accusations are unequivocally false, we took Heidis concerns very seriously and provided her with support, security and an attorney, for which Heidi expressed her appreciation,' a spokesperson said.

'To be clear, we never denied a request for additional security.'

According to her news report, the man was Muhammed Murib and he was eventually ordered to close his AAAA TV Electronics Repair and Vacuum business.

Hemmat alleges her employer told her to keep covering the ongoing consumer fraud case against Murib over the following six months despite the reporter 'fearing for life'

Hemmat penned a post on her website on Thanksgiving Day detailing her departure. She said since leaving the station she has spent more time with her two children and husband

Hemmat alleges her employer expected her to cover the ongoing consumer fraud case against Murib over the following six months despite the reporter 'fearing for life'.

'I knew I couldn't keep ambushing people who did bad things to other people. Society has changed. People have changed. My physical and mental health were unraveling,' she wrote.

She said she applied for an unpaid leave of absence when the ratings period ended and in August asked to be let out of her contract.

Hemmat wrote that her boss sent around a note saying 'Heidi is no longer an employee of FOX 31' - and failed to acknowledge her 15 years of employment and the six Emmy awards she had won.

A spokesperson for the network said: 'We are disappointed Heidi has chosen to view the circumstances differently and disparage the station.
A dramatic standoff that was sparked by a dog attack and spanned around 14 hours has finally come to an end.

The standoff begun at 5:30 pm on Sunday in the suburb of Moonah in Hobart.

Police were called to a house on Maple Avenue following reports of a dog attacking a person.

Police armed with shields worked through the night to try and negotiate a peaceful end to the standoff

A 47-year-old man had barricaded himself inside a house and a police spokesperson confirmed 'a number of shot have been fired.'

Special Operations Group officers were on the scene through the night, using a police command bus as a headquarters for the negotiations.

Police confirmed the man has now been arrested and taken into custody.

'Police successfully negotiated a peaceful resolution to the incident a few moments ago,' a police statement said.
The new water safety program will be mandatory in Victorian schools

Students must learn to swim at least 50 metres before they finish school

Victorian children must now learn to swim under

Children must learn to swim a lap of an Olympic pool before the end of primary school under a curriculum overhaul that aims to kerb fatal drownings.

The new water safety program will see Victorian children will learn how to float and swim at least 50 metres after it was revealed three out of five students in the state could not swim by the time they finished primary school, the Herald Sun reported.

Education and Emergency Services Minister James Merlino said the compulsory physical education lessons come amid concerns about a rise in fatal drownings and will be implemented as early as first semester 2017.

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Children must learn to swim a lap of an Olympic pool before the end of primary school under a curriculum overhaul that aims to kerb fatal drownings

'Last year 43 people lost their lives - most concerning for me is that's five more than the ten year average,' Mr Merlino told Today.

'It shows we've got to do more so we've made the decision to make sure swimming as well as water safety swim survival skills a compulsory part of the new Victorian curriculum,' he added.

He said there was a 'huge variance' in what is being offered at schools across the state with some doing 'precious little'.

'I know the school my kids go to it's a week of activities. Other schools do a one day swim carnival,' he said on Monday.

Last year 43 people in Victoria lost their lives in a fatal drowning incident

Lifesaving Victoria said only two out of every five Victorian children can swim when leaving primary school

Swimming lessons before school are being trialled, with financial grants available for students unable to afford fund lessons.
'I never thought I would end up at a zoo but I love it!' Dr Nicholas Pilfold told MailOnline Travel during a recent visit to San Diego Zoo.

The Vancouver native, 34, is in the running for having literally one of the coolest jobs in the world, with his work focused on protecting polar bears from human threat and climate change.

This year, his work has taken him to the deep Arctic and most recently to Churchill, in Canada, where the San Diego Zoo Global team worked at using a specially-designed drone to track bears' movement.

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Fieldwork: Dr Nicholas Pilfold is based at San Diego Zoo Global with his work focused on the conservation of polar bears - pictured, with a sedated bear in the Arctic

While many scientists are wary about unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) invading animals' natural habitat, Dr Pilfold says they will keep a safe distance to monitor the bears' behavior.

Test flights conducted in November went well and the team were able to use the drones to unobtrusively investigate remote areas inaccessible by foot.

So, how does one come to be a polar bear expert?

Dr Pilfold said he was fascinated by bears and 'remote far-off places' as a child, so he looked for a line of work that would marry the two.

He said after his first research trip to the Arctic he was hooked and he knew immediately that 'this was the life for me'.

Dream job: Dr Pilfold said he was fascinated by bears and 'remote far-off places' as a child, so he looked for a line of work that would marry the two

Up in the air: Dr Pilfold looks down on a polar bear from a helicopter - his work takes him to some of the most remote spots in the world

Dr Pilfold completed a bachelor's degree in Life Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver before completing a post-doctoral fellowship in biological sciences.

His work focused on the conservation of polar bears and he also studied the predator-prey relationships between polar bears and seals in the Beaufort Sea of Canada's western Arctic.

In January of this year, Dr Pilfold landed the role of Postdoctoral Associate with San Diego Zoo Global.

Along with polar bears, the avid adventurer also studies Andean bears in Peru and giant pandas in China.

Safe place: San Diego Zoo Global - which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year - is currently home to three polar bears, which were rescued from the wild after being orphaned

Water baby: The zoo's polar bear enclosure includes a plunge pool with glass windows which allow visitors to watch the giant bears in action

This means his work takes him to the bears' homeplace and next February a trip to Sichuan in China - the home of giant pandas - is in the pipeline.

'It's a really varied role and that's what I enjoy,' Dr Pilfold said of his job.

San Diego Zoo - which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year - is currently home to three polar bears, which were rescued from the wild after being orphaned.

Kalluk and Tatqiq, a brother and sister pair, were only a few months old when they arrived at the complex in March of 2001 from Alaska.

Their mother had been wearing a radio collar for research purposes. When a sensor went off on her radio collar, the researchers went to check on her and her cubs. They found that she had been shot and killed, and her cubs were rescued.

Since they were so young, they would not have survived without their mother and were soon transferred to the zoo, where they have lived ever since.

Chinook, a female bear, also landed at San Diego Zoo in May 1996 as an orphan, but researchers don't know what happened to her mother.

Since 2008, in the U.S., polar bears have been on the threatened species list

Dwindling numbers: It's estimated that the polar bear population stands at around 22,000 to 31,000 worldwide

Visiting San Diego Zoo, it appears the polar bear facility is one of the most popular attractions.

The enclosure includes a plunge pool with glass windows which allow visitors to watch the giant bears in action.

After MailOnline Travel's interview Dr Nicholas Pilfold has to head back to work.

'I've got to plan the kit list for our Arctic expedition - it's going to be -20 degrees Celsius, so we will need warm gear!' he explains.

His job is literally on the Sub Zero side of coolness!

Since 2008, in the U.S., polar bears have been on the threatened species list and it's estimated that the population stands at around 22,000 to 31,000 worldwide.

But hopefully, with Dr Pilfold and San Diego Zoo Global's work along with other collaborators, numbers will gradually improve.

Their number one aim? 'To end extinction,' Dr Pilfold concludes.
From little acorns do great oaks grow - or Hollywood stars as the case may be.

The 800 to 1,000-year-old Major Oak tree in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire, is just one of the trees that has attracted hordes of visitors over the years with its famous links to Robin Hood and his merry men.

From the oak tree seen in the 1994 blockbuster Shawshank Redemption to the Joshua Tree which starred on the front of U2's 1987 album of the same name, here's MailOnline Travel's round-up of some of the world's most showstopping saplings...

Oak tree, Ohio

Final bow: A 200-year-old white oak tree near Malabar Farm in Mansfield, Ohio, shot to fame in one of the final scenes of the 1994 classic film Shawshank Redemption

Star outing: It's underneath the tree that Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding - played by Morgan Freeman (pictured) - character finds an important letter buried by Robbins' character

A 200-year-old white oak tree near Malabar Farm in Mansfield, Ohio, shot to fame in one of the final scenes of the 1994 classic film Shawshank Redemption.

The movie, based on a Stephen King novella, stars Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.

It's underneath the tree that Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding - played by Freeman - finds an important letter buried by Robbins' character.

This July the tree - which attracts thousands of visitors a year - fell down during high winds. It now remains toppled over with the trunk split in two.

Sycamore Gap, Northumberland National Park

Does it look familiar? A sycamore in Nothumberland National Park found fame after starring in Kevin Costners 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves

Lasting memory: Thanks to its Hollywood debut, the shrub has been known as the The Robin Hood Tree ever since

A sycamore in Nothumberland National Park found fame after starring in Kevin Costners 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.

The famous tree grows in a dip with Hadrians Wall rising up either side, making for a dramatic backdrop.

Thanks to its Hollywood debut, the shrub has been known as the The Robin Hood Tree ever since.

This year the iconic landmark was nominated for England's Tree of the Year.

Joshua Tree, Joshua Tree National Park, California

Iconic: The image of a Joshua Tree which appeared on the 1987 U2 album of the same name was shot by photographer Anton Corbijn

Graveyard: The Joshua Tree became a tourist attraction for thousands of U2 fans but sadly it shrivelled up and died in 2000 - it was reportedly chopped up by souvenir hunters

Record hit: The Joshua Tree album was designed to represent the band's experience of America

The image of a Joshua Tree which appeared on the 1987 U2 album of the same name was shot by photographer Anton Corbijn.

He traveled with the band for three days in December 1986 trying to find the right spot for a photo.

The album was designed to represent the band's experience of America.

The Joshua Tree became a tourist attraction for thousands of U2 fans but sadly it shrivelled up and died in 2000.

It was then reportedly chopped up by a souvenir hunter and vandalised.

Pollarded beech, Hertfordshire

Woodland wonder: An ancient tree in Frithsden Beeches - part of the National Trusts Ashridge Estate - was scouted by location managers working on the Harry Potter movies

On the silver screen: It starred as the magical Whomping Willow plant, located on the grounds of Hogwarts school

An ancient tree in Frithsden Beeches - part of the National Trusts Ashridge Estate -was scouted by location managers working on the Harry Potter movies the Goblet of Fire and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

It starred as the magical Whomping Willow plant, located on the grounds of Hogwarts school.

It reportedly went on and was reported to have earned the Ashridge Estate around 50,000 in tourism in the same year.

However, in 2014 the tree split in half and collapsed under the strain of its own weight and old age. It was thought to be around 400 years old.

Chestnut tree, Amsterdam

Sign of hope: During the two years Anne Frank spent hiding from the Nazis, a giant chestnut tree outside her window offered comfort and the hope of a happier life

'Our chestnut tree is in full blossom. It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year,' Anne Frank wrote in May 1944

During the two years Anne Frank spent hiding from the Nazis, a giant chestnut tree outside her window offered comfort and the hope of a happier life.

The 170-year-old tree was one of the few signs of nature visible to the Jewish teenager from the concealed attic she hid in for over two years during World War Two and it is mentioned in the diary which became a worldwide best-seller after her death in a concentration camp in 1945.

'Our chestnut tree is in full blossom. It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year,' she wrote in May 1944, not long before she was betrayed to the Nazis.

The tree developed fungus and was set to be felled in 2007 due to concerns for the safety of the visitors to the museum.

It was later toppled in a storm in 2010.

Major oak, Nottinghamshire

In the history books: Local legend suggests that Robin Hood and his men used the Major Oak's hollow trunk as a hiding place

The tree is visited by thousands of people each year and has become popular with couples getting married.

Because of its age a fence has been put up around Major Oak to stop visitors' feet from compressing the ground above its roots in the hope that it will keep the tree healthy for years to come.

The Major Oak is a Quercus Robur, the English or pendunculate oak and in a 2002 survey was voed Britain's favourite tree.

Local legend suggests that Robin Hood and his men used its hollow trunk as a hiding place.

It weighs around 23 tonnes and has a trunk circumference of 33 feet and a 92 foot branch span.

The tree has been known by several names over the centuries including the Cockpen Tree and the Queen Oak.

It became known as the Major Oak after Major Hayman Rooke included it in a popular book about the ancient oaks of Sherwood written in 1790.

Coservation work has been carried out on Major Oak since 1908, with metal chains initially used to support the branches, replaced by wooden struts in the late 1970s.

Thin steel poles now prop up its branches.

Ghost gums, Australia

Standing tall: Ghost gum trees were made famous by the work of Aboriginal Australian artist, Albert Namatjira

Hitting the press: The trees featured on a stamp and were also included in the song I Am Australian

Ghost gum trees were made famous by the work of Aboriginal Australian artist, Albert Namatjira

The trees helped Namatjira establish his place in the world-wide art world when he painted them into his Twin Ghosts painting in the 1940s.

The trees featured on a stamp and were also included in the song I Am Australian.

Namatjira first came to the notice of Australian art circles in the late 1930s and by the late 1950s he had won international acclaim.
trip saw him ditch his aircraft in the sea off

'I get my kids in the pilot's seat around the age of one,' Quentin Smith joked as he opened up about his illustrious helicoptering career, which includes flying to both the North and South Poles and circumnavigating the globe twice.

Talking to an audience at the Breitling store on New Bond Street - the watch maker responsible for once saving his life with one of their time-keeping gadgets - the aviation pro, otherwise known as Captain Q, has the look of a classic explorer.

Sat wearing a cravat, with a crisp white shirt, mustard-coloured trousers and shoulder-length hair, the 51-year-old adds that he was once mistaken for being the King of Calcutta - a mix-up which spared him going to a Bangladeshi prison after straying into a military zone.

Helicopter maestro: Quentin Smith gave a talk last week at the Breitling store in London about his illustrious flying career

Quizzed by leading polar explorer Ben Saunders about his passion for flying - to celebrate the launch of Avaunt Magazine's fourth issue - Captain Q explained that it was a love affair that started from an early age.

'I started flying helicopters when I was five, my father was in the forces so it came naturally to me.'

Captain Q became a top private pilot at the age of 17 and he got his pilot licence at 20.

After studying physics at school he applied for a job in finance thinking he had to find 'a normal job' but he soon realised he wasn't made for sitting behind a desk nine to five.

Life-long passion: Captain Q became a top private pilot at the age of 17 and he got his pilot licence at 20

The father-of-three went on to pursue helicoptering and exploring full-time.

He became the first person to fly to both North and South Poles by helicopter.

He also is a two time Helicopter Aerobatics World Champion and he has circumnavigated the world twice.

I have seen so many wonderful, amazing places that it's impossible to pick a favourite

Along with nearly landing in a Bangladeshi prison, Captain Q has had an array of hairy experiences, including ditching an aircraft in the freezing South Atlantic sea off Antarctica.

Luckily the avid adventurer and his co-pilot, Steve Brooks, were able to activate distress beacons on their specially-designed Breitling Emergency watches to alert search and rescue teams.

Despite almost losing his life to the frozen ocean, Captain Q has continued on his quest to boldly go where no other chopper has been.

Record-breaker: The father-of-three became the first person to fly to both North and South Poles by helicopter

He said after going around the world, he wasn't sure how to beat it but there have been a string of expeditions which have kept him busy since.

'It's been pretty much insane... I've been non-stop!' he laughed.

Asked what's been his number one place to date, he paused for a brief moment before replying: 'I have seen so many wonderful, amazing places that it's impossible to pick a favourite. Everywhere is beautiful.

It's a great privilege to show the helicopter to anyone... You've just got to go and see the world

'The trouble is the more you go on you realise there's more and more to see.'

Captain Q says he's looking forward to exploring more of the Caribbean by air over Christmas with his family.

A member of the audience asks him what it's like flying with his children.

'It's great, I put them behind the controls at the age of one. You should give children sharp corners not round ones, they need to learn what to do for themselves. I always give my kids matchboxes to play with.'

Ready for lift-off: Along with exploring, Captain Q is considered to be one of the top instructors and examiners in the business with more than 15,000 hours of flying

Along with a keen sense of adventure, another thing that Captain Q certainly possesses is a sense of humour.

On that note, times up and the pilot is left to step down from the microphone.

Captain Q's energy is certainly infectious. The room is abuzz with people ardently talking about his adventuring.

Along with exploring, Captain Q is considered to be one of the top instructors and examiners in the business with more than 15,000 hours of flying under his seat belt.
When her dad Rowan Atkinson watched her in cabaret in March, he seemed to fall asleep. But there should be no dozing off among audience members when Lily Atkinson, takes to the stage again tomorrow.

The glamorous 20-year-old will be wearing stockings and kitten ears as she performs sultry jazz in a burlesque show at Londons St James Theatre.

Lily Atkinson will be wearing stockings and kitten ears as she performs sultry jazz in a burlesque show at Londons St James Theatre (pictured)

Lily is the daughter of Sunetra Sastry, who Mr Bean actor Rowan (pictured), 60, divorced last November in a minute-long court hearing

Lily is the daughter of Sunetra Sastry, who Mr Bean actor Rowan, 60, divorced last November in a minute-long court hearing. Since then, he has been dating actress Louise Ford, 32, who plays the Duchess of Cambridge in Channel 4s The Windsors. The two moved in together earlier this year.

Lily isnt the only child doing interesting things. I recently revealed her brother Ben, 22, was off to Sandhurst to become an Army officer.

Cherie Blair was once troubled by the drunken behaviour of her then-teenage son Euan when he was arrested after he infamously overindulged after his GCSEs.

Cherie Blair was once troubled by the drunken behaviour of her son Euan, but now her children have grown-up, they are laying down the law

But 16 years later, the tables have turned for barrister Cherie, who tells me that now her children have grown-up, they are the ones laying down the law.

Im not a big drinker. After years of coming to events like this and being in the public eye, I think its best to stay sober. My kids say, Mum you can have one glass. After that... Im just not used to it, Tony Blairs 62-year-old wife told me at the Women Of The Future Awards.

Things are certainly going from bad to worse for New Labour darling Anthony Bailey.

Just months after becoming entangled in an honours scandal and earning himself a sharp rebuke from Buckingham Palace, I can reveal that PR adviser Bailey is being divorced by his wife, Princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg  an Austrian royal and great-granddaughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin died in 2006 after being attacked by a stingray.

And on Saturday, Bindi Irwin, boyfriend Chandler Powell, brother Robert and mother Terri remembered Steve, as they attended the tenth annual Steve Irwin Gala dinner in Brisbane.

Taking to the Australia Zoo's Wildlife Warriors Instagram page, Bindi gushed about her father: 'His legacy will live on forever.'

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Date night: On Saturday, Bindi Irwin and boyfriend Chandler Powell attended the tenth annual Steve Irwin Gala dinner in Brisbane

Family: Terri Irwin and Bindi's brother Robert were also there

'As the #SteveIrwinGala comes to an end this year we reflect on the beautiful memories we have of the ultimate Wildlife Warrior, my Dad, Steve Irwin,' she added.

On the night, Bindi, 18, stunned in a black lace dress, which stopped at her knees and featured a layered A-line skirt.

She had her light brown locks out and over her shoulders in loose waves and wore light makeup.

Sweet: Bindi wrote on Instagram on the night that her late father's 'legacy will live on forever'

Looking lovely: On the night, Bindi, 18, stunned in a black lace dress, which stopped at her knees and featured a layered A-line skirt

Dolled up: She had her light brown locks out and over her shoulders in loose waves and wore light makeup

Terri, 52, meanwhile wore a floral grey cocktail dress, Robert wore a black suit and brown bow tie and Bindi's boyfriend Chandler wore a black suit with a khaki shirt.

Bindi and American wakeboarder Chandler, 20, cosied up at the event and appeared in high spirits.

Bindi last week was forced to shut down rumours she and Chandler were planning to marry.

The young media personality and Wildlife warrior told Today Extra: '[There are] no wedding bells just yet.'

'I'm very lucky. I have a wonderful boyfriend. I'm so glad that Chandler is here in Australia, to celebrate his 20th birthday,' Bindi said.

Happy: Bindi and American wakeboarder Chandler, 20, cosied up at the event and appeared in high spirits

Cute: Robert wore a suit and beige bow tie on the evening

'No wedding bells just yet': Bindi last week was forced to shut down rumours she and Chandler were planning to marry

'We're just enjoying our time together. No wedding bells just yet....I'm happy. I'm 18,' Bindi she added.

The comments come after a spokesperson from Australia Zoo told Daily Mail Australia that reports that the young couple were tying the knot were simply 'untrue', and they arent planning to wed or have a family of their own any time soon.

I dont even know how anyone would have a clue about Bindis health but that claim is also entirely untrue, the spokesperson said when asked if the Wildlife Warrior was hoping to become a mother soon.

Setting the record straight: The comments come after a spokesperson from Australia Zoo told Daily Mail Australia that reports that the young couple were tying the knot were simply 'untrue'

In good company: The Irwin's welcomed guests to the bash

Rumours: New Idea claimed that the couple will declare their love for one another in front of the same pastor who married her parents Terri and Steve in 1992

New Idea claimed that the couple will declare their love for one another in front of the same pastor who married her parents Terri and Steve in 1992.

The magazine also alleged that Bindi and Chandler have made several 'secret visits' to the church, which is located in Eugene, US, to prepare for the big day.

Meanwhile, Woman's Day also claimed that Terri is worried the couple may become parents at a young age, despite them staying in separate beds when together.

'A couple of weeks ago, Bindi was under the weather and it flashed through Terri's mind she could be pregnant,' a source told.

'But it turned out to be a bug and Terri breathed a huge sigh of relief.'

Not a bride yet! The magazine also alleged that Bindi and Chandler have made several 'secret visits' to the church, which is located in Eugene, US, to prepare for the big day

Speculation: Meanwhile, Woman's Day also claimed that Terri is worried the couple may become parents at a young age
Emily Blunt won't reprise her role in the Sicario sequel because 'her arc was complete'.

The 33-year-old actress wowed audiences in the lead role of FBI agent Kate Macer in the 2015 movie.

Fans were left disgruntled when it was revealed in June that the star would not be taking up the role for the upcoming sequel, Soldado.

'Her arc was complete': Emily Blunt, 33, won't reprise her role in the Sicario sequel says screenwriter Taylor Sheridan. She is pictured on October 4 in New York

Now, screenwriter Taylor Sheridan has explained his reasoning for leaving Emily's character out of the script, saying that there was no story left to tell that would do the character 'justice'.

He explained to TheWrap.com: 'That was my decision, and at some point I'm going to have to talk to her about it. Her arc was complete ... I couldn't figure out a way to write a character that would do her talent justice.'

And Taylor also opened up about the 'difficult role' that Kate Macer, played in the story, adding that she 'went through' a lot and her story is finished.

'I couldn't figure out a way': Screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, seen Septemeber 11 in Toronto, has explained his reasoning for leaving Emily's character out of the script

He added: 'Look what she went through. It was a difficult role. Here I write this lead character and then I use her as a surrogate for the audience. 'I make her completely passive against her own will so the audience feels the same impotence that a lot of law enforcement officers feel, I drag her through hell, and betray her in the end.

'It was an arduous journey for the character, and for Emily. That character had arc.'

Although Soldado decides to focus on supporting character Alejandro Gillick, played by Benecio del Toro, Taylor hasn't ruled out bringing back Emily's role in the future.

She 'went through a lot': Taylor also opened up about the 'difficult role' that Kate Macer, played in the story

He said: 'What do you do next? She moves to some little town and becomes a sheriff and then gets kidnapped and then we have Taken?

'I had to tell the story that was true to this role, and I didn't feel like I could create something with that character that would further that world that would do Emily's character justice. That said, there could be room for Kate somewhere else down the road.'

Soldado is set for release sometime next year.
Lil Wayne has pulled out of a concert in the Caribbean at the last minute with conflicting reports as tot he reason why.

The rapper was scheduled to headline SummerFall 2016 on the island of Curacao Saturday night, along with artists including Meek Mill, Rick Ross and French Montana.

TMZ broke the news of Lil Wayne's cancellation saying his reps told the website it was because of a 'breach of contract.'

No show: Lil Wayne, pictured performing in LA on November 12, cancelled his scheduled appearance at SummerFall Curacao Saturday at the last minute

However, the concert organizers Curacao Color Events updated their Facebook page Saturday afternoon to deny that was the reason for the artist's no show.

'Contrary to recent reports, Color Events met all contractual obligations for Lil Wayne to perform at the SummerFall concert tonight,'' the statement said.

'We are still investigating the reason for the last-minute cancellation and have nothing further to comment on except that although we are disappointed Lil Wayne will not be performing, we excited about the lineup of artist who will be performing tonight.'

TMZ had claimed organizers had been told the rapper had suffered a seizure Friday night in Miami. But Lil Wayne's reps denied the story.

Conflicting reports: The rapper was the headline act for the event on the Caribbean island. Mystery surrounds the reason for his decision not to perform

Back in March 2013, Lil Wayne suffered multiple seizures that landed him in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles where he spent six days in the Intensive Care Unit.

And this past June he suffered two separate seizures while en route by private plane from Milwaukee to California.

And in July, he cancelled a performance at Tao in Las Vegas after suffering a seizure just before he was due to go on stage.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Lil Wayne's reps seeking comment.
She never fails to put in a fashionable appearance on the red carpet.

And Nicola Hughes was certainly dressed to impress on the red carpet at the 14th annual Urban Music Awards 2016 in London on Saturday night.

The blonde beauty might have left Made In Chelsea behind her, but she still turned heads in a plunging jumpsuit with sexy cut-outs at the hips.

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Glamorous: Nicola Hughes was certainly dressed to impress on the red carpet at the 14th annual Urban Music Awards 2016 in London on Saturday night

Nicola's navy one-piece gave the illusion of endless legs thanks to the floor-skimming, flared trouser legs.

The Irish beauty's ensemble was cut down to her navel, highlighting her tiny waist and perfect proportions.

She styled her glossy blonde locks in tumbling curls and set off her features with smokey eye make-up.

Looking good: The blonde beauty might have left Made In Chelsea behind her, but she still turned heads in a plunging jumpsuit with sexy cut-outs at the hips

Nicola has been enjoying the single life since her split from MIC co-star Alex, 25, who has moved on with Kate Moss' half-sister Lottie, 18.

Rising star Lottie has immersed herself with Alex's Made In Chelsea crowd as their blossoming relationship picks up the pace.

Meanwhile, Nicola recently revealed she had come to terms with her break-up from Alex.

Single and loving it: Nicola has been enjoying the single life since her split from MIC co-star Alex, 25, who has moved on with Kate Moss' half-sister Lottie, 18

'Myself and Alex are actually quite good,' she told OK! Magazine.

'Obviously, originally the break up was quite messy but it's now four months later and we've come to terms with things together.'

Nicola also revealed she was still a big fan of MIC and tuned into the show every week.

'I've been on the show for the last two years, it's what brought me to the UK so I'll always love them.'
She is currently back in her home country of Australia to enjoy the summer season.

And on Saturday, model Tahnee Atkinson wasn't afraid to show off her curvy figure as she kicked back at Bondi Icebergs Pool in Sydney's east.

While out and about at the iconic location, the 24-year-old stripped down to a teeny tiny bikini as she flaunted her feminine curves and buttocks region.

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Beach babe: Model Tahnee Atkinson showed off her killer figure on Saturday as she kicked back at Bondi Icebergs Pool in Sydney's east

The purple bandaged top wrapped tightly around her ample assets and featured a criss-cross lace-up at the back.

She wore matching coloured bottoms, which featured thin straps and flattered her pert derriere.

While going makeup free, Tahnee wore her wet chocolate brown locks out and allowed them to fall freely down her back.

Killer body: While out and about at the iconic location, the 24-year-old stripped down to a teeny tiny bikini as she flaunted her feminine curves and buttocks region

Finer details: The purple bandaged top wrapped tightly around her ample assets and featured a criss-cross lace-up at the back

Headturning: She wore matching coloured bottoms, which featured thin straps and flattered her pert derriere

She covered her blemish-free face with a pair of cream-framed sunglasses.

In February, Tahnee spoke to Daily Mail Australia about her new bikini line.

'I've obviously got bigger breasts, so we're catering to girls with bigger boobs,' she said.

'It's all very neutral colours, very simple, plain, beautiful cuts,' she continued. 'Girls are gonna love it.'

Beauty: While going makeup free, Tahnee wore her wet chocolate brown locks out and allowed them to fall freely down her back

Sun safe: As she sunbaked, she covered her face with a pair of cream-framed sunglasses

Switching it up: The model later turned on her belly and gave her back and buttocks some time in the beaming sunlight

Tahnee seems to be back in the country after spending much time getting work across the pond - something she puts down to her size.

'In Australia I was introduced as a model who was a bigger size, so that is what I am known for here,' she told Confidential.

'But there is a lot of work overseas for girls with a bigger bust and girls who are more curvy, so I have spent a bit of time in London and the USA.

She added: 'I always love working in Australia though. I have a really good relationship with a lot of the people I work with and everyone is so laid back and easy here.'

Under wraps: Later in the day, Tahnee hid her figure under a grey and white towel
Danny Baker has angrily denied accusations that he is a bully, despite reducing a fellow contestant on Im A Celebrity to tears.

Baker, 59, who was the first person to be evicted from the show on Friday night, came in for widespread criticism after he confronted Martin Roberts, the host of BBC daytime show Homes Under The Hammer.

The broadcasting veteran accused Martin, 53, of ignoring orders from Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt, 26, when she was elected camp president.

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Speaking out: Danny Baker has angrily denied accusations that he is a bully, despite reducing a fellow contestant on Im A Celebrity to tears

The clash left Roberts so shaken that he had to be comforted by fellow campmates, prompting National Bullying Helpline founder Christine Platt to comment: Its a pity there are no phones, as we would want to encourage Martin to call us right now.

But Danny said it was not his fault Roberts broke down, and described the claims of bullying as passive aggressive nonsense.

Speaking after spending just over a week in the Australian jungle, he added: I dont understand that at all.

Difficult viewing: Danny and Martin's clash left the Homes Under The Hammer star so shaken that he had to be comforted by fellow campmates

'If someone is jabbing away at you and you have a go back but they then say, Oh, youre bullying me, then that seems like passive aggressive nonsense to me.

Maybe he cried. But Im not responsible for that.

'Its not my fault a bloke breaks down and cries after Ive picked him up because hes having a go at one of the girls in there.

Let it rain: Danny cuddled up to his wife Wendy as they posed for snaps on the iconic red bridge whilst confetti streamed down overhead

Close call: Danny strode out of the jungle after being in the bottom two with Carol Vorderman

Baker, who was diagnosed with mouth and throat cancer five years ago, said: I didnt go in there planning to have rows and to blow up  but its not entirely alien to my nature.

He predicts a big future in broadcasting for Scarlett, saying: She could host Have I Got News For You  and she wouldnt need the scriptwriters.

On Friday night, Danny became the first star to be voted out of camp.

Cheering and hollering, the 59-year-old presenter shouted: 'I'm on my way! Make way!' as he strode out of the jungle after being in the bottom two with Carol Vorderman.

Chatting with Ant and Dec in his elimination interview he explained: 'I'm not surprised to be turfed out fast,' as he reasoned his 'cavalier' attitude probably stopped him getting votes.
The Missing has kept viewers one the edge of their seats with its gripping second series.

And BBC bosses have teased the prospect of a third season for the harrowing thriller, which comes to an explosive end next Wednesday in a grand finale which will see 'all questions answered'.

The show's writers, brothers Harry and Jack Williams, claim the third series would have to be 'very different' - but added that it would allow them to explore French detective, Julien Baptiste's story more.

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More to come? BBC bosses have teased the prospect of a third season for The Missing, which comes to an explosive end next Wednesday where 'all questions will be answered'

Speaking about the show, Harry Williams told the Daily Express: 'It would have to be very different, but never say, never.'

Discussing next week's ending, producer Willow Grylls said: 'All the questions that have been asked will be answered in the course of the show. That's what we have been so incredibly careful of.'

Co-writer Harry agreed: 'The end is satisfying.'

In next week's final episode, the truth will finally be revealed about the events leading to Alice Webster's apparent return in 2014 to Eckhausen in Germany in 2014.

She's alive: Alice Webster is finally seen after seven weeks of wondering in last week's episode. Adam Getterick had been holding her captive alongside Sophie Giroux and her daughter Lucy

Tense: Gemma and Sam's (David Morrissey) marriage is falling apart and there is only one person that can bring them back together - their daughter Alice

Clash: Julien Baptiste lost his cool with Brigadier Adrien Stone during last week's episode of The Missing as he tried to crack the case

Meanwhile, Alice's parents, Sam (David Morrissey) and Gemma Webster (Keeley Hawes) will join Julien Baptiste to find their daughter's abductor, hunting from Germany to the mountains of Switzerland.

The Missing's second series has centred around the disappearance of two girls: Alice Webster from a British army base in Germany, and Sophie Giroux, a French girl.

However, the show's nine million fans will reportedly have to wait at least two years for a third series, according to the Sunday People.

Harry and Jack Williams, are said to be tied up with other projects in the future, including BBC crime thriller, Rellik, which is due to air next year, and a new ITV drama.

The plot thickens: Getterick escapes Baptiste who he claims is suffering from hallucinations and confusing him with Nadia Hurtz's husband, who is already in prison for the abductions. Baptiste is then arrested by police for allegedly attacking Eve's (seen above, centre) father Brigadier Stone

Confrontation: Julien Baptiste (Tcheky Karyo) confronts Adam Getterick (Derek Riddell) after he finally links the mystery surrounding the missing girls to him

But the pair have told BBC chiefs they want to 'explore' more of Julien Baptiste's story (played by Tcheky Karyo).

The brothers told the newspaper: 'We love Julien. We feel there's more to say with him and more of his story to explore.

'We just don't have an idea for a story we want to tell at this moment. We wouldn't rule it out, but it's not on the horizon any time soon.'

Last week fans of The Missing rejoiced as it was revealed a fter seven weeks that Alice Webster was still alive.

Press liaison officer Adam Getterick was confronted by Julien Baptiste in tonight's episode, who informed him he knew everything he had done - including that he had abducted Sophie Giroux and Alice.

Evidence: Gemma Webster and Baptiste discovered a locked door beneath Getterick's floorboards, the same lock that he had been chained up with when he was tortured in Iraq

Cabin in the woods: The murderer and abductor hot-footed it to he cabin with Lucy to meet Sophie after Julien Baptiste told him he knew everything about what he had done

Fans were thrilled when, in the nail-biting final seconds of the captivating drama, Alice's face was finally shown as she whispered a desperate ' I will be good' to her captor.

Alice's appearance is the first glimpse viewers have had after patiently waiting to find out if Getterick had kept her alive while Sophie pretended to be her.

The drama has been shifting back and forth between the events surrounding Alice's disappearance, her return, and the present day and - after she appeared to burn alive in the shed - her death.

With one final episode left for Baptiste to unravel the entire mystery the former detective is on a race against time as his health deteriorates because of a brain tumour.

While viewers are aware Getterick murdered German detective Jorn Lernhart after he discovered the connection to a third missing girl, Baptiste is still unaware.

As Gemma and Sam's marriage falls apart because of Eve Stone's pregnancy there is potentially only one person who can reunite them - Alice.
Richie Strahan revealed he only just met girlfriend Alex Nation's son Elijah face to face shortly before their NW magazine photo shoot.

But if the images from the shoot are anything to go by, the former Bachelor and the five year old are sure becoming fast friends.

Richie, Alex and Elijah were spotted recently posing for the publication, with Richie doting on his future step son and sweetly carrying him on his shoulders.

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Happy families: Richie Strahan, Alex Nation and her five year old son were seen recently posing for their NW Magazine photo shoot

Fast friends: Richie doted on his future step son and sweetly carried him on his shoulders

There were a variety of outfit changes on the day, with the pair dressing up for one portion of the shoot with Richie wearing a white shirt and Alex a slinky black dress.

In other images, Richie looked casual in a white T-shirt and jeans before he put on a blue open collar shirt on top.

Alex stunned in looks including a black and white mini dress and a navy pink and red play suit.

Loving it: Richie appeared in his element as he mucked around with Elijah as Alex happily looked on

Casual: Richie wore a variety of look son the day including a T-shirt and jeans as they posed in a garden setting

What's up! At one point, Richie gave Elijah a high-five

At one point, Richie could also be seen holding Elijah in his arms as they walked about and at one point, gave him a high-five.

Richie appeared in his element as he mucked around with Elijah as Alex happily looked on.

The ropes access technician told OK! Magazine about the first time he met Elijah face-to-face, saying they hit it off right away.

'I flew in quite late [one night] and woke up to the little guy with this big grin on his face.'

'He jumped in [bed], gave me a hug and then we just chilled there for a bit'.

Alex went on to gush about Richie and Elijah's first encounter, saying the moment 'felt so right'.

Adorable: The ropes access technician told the publication about the first time he met Elijah face-to-face, saying they hit it off right away

Going swimmingly: 'I flew in quite late [one night] and woke up to the little guy with this big grin on his face,' Richie told the magazine

Going well: Alex went on to gush about Richie and Elijah's first encounter, saying the moment 'felt so right'

'As a mother, you can't put into words seeing everything feel so right when the man that's come into your life meets the most important person in the world,' she told.

But while Richie and Elijah already hold a close bond, he and Alex have insisted they aren't ready to have a child of their own.

The mother-of-one told the publication they want to enjoy the time they have with her young son before committing to one of their own.

Though a child is nowhere near for the couple, Richie hinted a move to Melbourne to be with his girlfriend 'will be soon' and that they 'will look at living together'.

Not adding to the brood for a while! But while Richie and Elijah already hold a close bond, he and Alex have insisted they aren't ready to have a child of their own

Fair call: The mother-of-one told the publication they want to enjoy the time they have with her young son before committing to one of their own

Taking things slow: Though a child is nowhere near for the couple, Richie hinted a move to Melbourne to be with his girlfriend 'will be soon' and that they 'will look at living together'

Having fun: Elijah clung to Richie on set

Last month, Alex revealed the first initial introduction between Richie and Elijah had happened in a rather unconventional way, via a FaceTime chat.

The mother told TV Week of the meeting: 'I swear to god my ovaries exploded, it was cute!'

Richie previously told The Daily Telegraph they were taking things slow with Elijah.

'We chat on the phone a lot ... I haven't met him (in person) as of yet,' Richie said.

'We want to do it in the right way in our own time so it is something that we are working on.'

Modern family: Last month, Alex revealed the first initial introduction between Richie and Elijah had happened in a rather unconventional way, via a FaceTime chat

'It's something that we're working on': Richie previously told The Daily Telegraph they were taking things slow with Elijah

Richie and Alex met on the latest series of The Bachelor earlier this year.

Alex was declared the winner over second runner-up and fan favourite Nikki Gogan.

The model recently became the face of Teen Mom UK, which airs on MTV.

She joined forces with the show to highlight the issue of teen pregnancy.

Alex gave birth to Elijah five years ago with her ex-husband Joel Porter and previously said on her Instagram that motherhood is 'really flipping hard.'

Smitten: Richie and Alex met on the latest series of The Bachelor earlier this year

She did it: Alex was declared the winner over second runner-up and fan favourite Nikki Gogan

Talking from experience: The model recently became the face of Teen Mom UK, which airs on MTV

New role: She joined forces with the show to highlight the issue of teen pregnancy

Being honest: Alex gave birth to Elijah five years ago with her ex-husband Joel Porter and previously said on her Instagram that motherhood is 'really flipping hard'

Looking good: Alex showed off her trim figure in a billowing playsuit on the day
Their comedy Yoga Hosers was released just a few months ago, and co-stars Lily-Rose Depp and Harley Quinn Smith were more than happy to catch up off the set over a relaxed lunch in Studio City on Saturday.

The girls were joined by Lily's rumoured boyfriend, Ash Stymest, 25, who was spotted getting in a nicotine fix as he strode ahead in a black Converse sweatshirt.

Lily, 17, gave her gal pal, also 17, her undivided attention as they approached the star's car, looking quite happy to have been able to spend a relaxed weekend afternoon with one another.

Ladies who lunch: Yoga Hosers co-stars Lily-Rose Depp and Harley Quinn Smith were busy making up for lost time as they caught up over a relaxed lunch in Studio City on Saturday

The actress, who is the daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, kept things casual in beige trousers, an oversized black sweatshirt, and white tank top.

She slicked her light brunette locks back into a low ponytail and had a black-and-white purse slung across her shoulder.

Cigarette break: Ash Stymest was spotted getting in a nicotine fix as he strode ahead in a black Converse sweatshirt

Her co-star, meanwhile, rocked blue jeans, a coral pink jacket, and white sneakers.

Harley is the daughter of Jay And Silent Bob star Kevin Smith, who directed the movie both she and Lily starred in.

The film was released in September and also stars Justin Long.

Cool customers: Harley rocked blue jeans, a coral pink jacket, and white sneakers while Depp opted for cosy trousers and a black sweatshirt

Lily, meanwhile, has been busy these last few months promoting another new film, Planetarium, which was first unveiled at the Venice Film Festival in September.

Starring alongside Oscar winner Natalie Portman, the film follows two sisters who tour 1930s France as mediums.

They cross paths with a visionary French producer while performing in Paris, who is keen to capture them on film - but trouble ensues.

The film was released on November 16 in France.
Nick Jonas shared a photo on social media Saturday showing himself and his brothers Joe and Frankie on a ski lift.

The three are wearing helmets and reflective goggles and Nick captioned the snap: 'Thanksgiving missing one of the bros...'

He was referring to brother Kevin who recently welcomed his second child, a baby daughter Valentina.

'Thanksgiving missing one of the bros...': Nick and Joe Jonas were joined by younger brother Frankie, 16, left, on a ski trip Saturday. MIA was brother Kevin Jonas

It's the first time younger sibling Frankie has been seen since it emerged the teen had been cited for possession of marijuana on Tuesday night.

The 16-year-old was outside a convenience store in Nashville, Tennessee, when police searched him, according to TMZ.

Frankie is very upset about the bust, according to a source. He does not have a track record. His famous brothers have not said anything publicly about the incident.

Busted: Frankie was cited for possession of marijuana Tuesday night in Nashville, tennessee

Stayed home: Missing from the family trip was Kevin Jonas who welcomed his second child, baby daughter Valentina three weeks ago

Frankie, who used to be referred to as the 'bonus Jonas,' is considered one of the more focused Jonas family members.

Not only has he already graduated from high school two years early, but he is already taking college courses.

His offence is not considered that serious in Nashville, however, as in September the city passed a city measure reducing penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana.
She appeared on the most recent series of The Bachelor for a total of three weeks.

Now, Keira Maguire has hit out at reports her sudden shot to fame is quickly coming to an end.

On Sunday, the 29-year-old reality star took to social media to address the rumours while and shutting down claims she follows paparazzi around in a bid to keep herself relevant.

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Not happy: Keira Maguire has hit out at reports her sudden shot to fame is quickly coming to a sudden end

In an Instagram rant, she attempted to explain she had in fact tried to escape the photographers while out at an event in Sydney, after reports claimed she was 'trying to get their attention'.

'Funny because I had spent ages trying to get away from the pap who was following me around for over half an hour... finally gave up as I had an appointment to go to,' she wrote.

'I asked the pap to show me the pics & because they were bad I said can you please take them again...

Unimpressed: On Sunday, the 29-year-old took to social media to address the rumours while and shutting down claims she follows paparazzi around in a bid to keep herself relevant

Escaping: In the rant, she explained she had in fact tried to escape the photographers while out at an event in Sydney, after reports claimed she was 'trying to get their attention'

'I mean as if I care about trying to get a paps attention,' she continued, leaving her social media followers confused.

Keira continued to rant on the post: 'I've got my own stuff going on...

'My fames running out...that's why they are talking about me?!?!? Thanks for the exposure, God knows I need it.....,' she concluded.

The Lara Bingle look-a-like rose to national fame after appearing on the Network 10 dating show back in July.

Fame lover: Keira continued to rant: 'I've got my own stuff going on...My fames running out...that's why they are talking about me?!?!? Thanks for the exposure'

During her time on the popular reality TV series, Keira was portrayed as the villain, thanks to her outspoken personality.

After being sent home by Richie Strahan, the blonde admitted she didn't care about being labelled as the villain because she 'was just being herself' during the successful series.

'I'd rather be the honest one who's upfront and have people (in the house) hate me rather than pretend to be something I'm not,' she told the Herald Sun at the time.

'At least I know I was true to myself. I just say it how it is. I'm a bit competitive, so that will probably shine through, but I like to have a good laugh as well.'
They welcomed their first child back in April.

And racing commentator Francesca Cumani and her polo-playing husband Rob Archibald have been pictured with their son Harry for the very first time.

The happy couple barely took their eyes off the adorable seven-month-old as they basked in the sunshine at Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach.

Beach day! Racing commentator Francesca Cumani and her polo-playing husband Rob Archibald have been pictured with their son Harry for the very first time

The pair took turns to enjoy a dip in the water, while the other stayed on the sand to nurse the youngster.

Harry was treated to a sip of his mother's coconut drink, before enjoying some playtime on the sand.

Sporting a striped high cut two-piece bikini, Francesca showed off her slender post-baby body.

Happy news: The pair announced they had welcomed baby Harry back in April, but this is the first time they have been pictured with the youngster

Adorable: The happy couple barely took their eyes off their seven-month-old boy, Harry

Team work: The pair took turns to enjoy a dip in the water, while the other stayed on the sand to nurse the youngster

Day out: The family basked in the sunshine for the day at Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach

Her husband showcased his lean physique in a pair of pink boardshorts as he frolicked through the waves.

After drying off, he added a white cap and dark T-shirt as he cradled his young son.

At one stage during their beach outing, young Harry was seen cuddling up to his mother as the pair lay on the sand.

Pensive: Polo star Rob seemed deep in thought at one point as he cradled his son

Playtime: On one rare occasion, Harry's mother took her eyes of him as he played in the sand

That didn't take long! Francesca's eyes were quickly back on the youngster

Mother's touch: At one point, the beauty gently held Harry's head away from the sand

The trio were briefly joined by a female friend, who appeared captivated by the toddler.

The lovebirds appeared to be in great spirits as they kicked back in the balmy, sun-soaked climes.

The couple confirmed the happy news in April, announcing Francesca had given birth to a baby boy.

Still got it! Francesca showed off her slender post-baby body in a striped high cut two-piece bikini

At one stage during their beach outing, young Harry was seen cuddling up to his mother as the pair lay on the sand

Lunch time: Harry seemed intrigued by his bucket of baby food

Beach body: Francesca cut a trim figure after giving birth to Harry just seven months ago

'Mum and son (and dad) doing great,' the couple said in a joint statement at the time.

The genetically blessed pair confirmed the news they were expecting in October last year.

Speaking about her pregnancy to the Herald Sun at the time, Francesca said the pair were excited to start a family.

Yummy! Much to his delight, Harry was treated to a sip of his mother's coconut drink

All smiles: Francesca shared a joke with her husband and female friend while nursing the youngster

Intrigued: The trio were briefly joined by a female friend, who appeared captivated by the toddler

Happy times: The lovebirds appeared to be in great spirits as they kicked back in the balmy, sun-soaked climes

'Rob and I are really excited and looking forward to starting our family': The pair announced the news they were expecting in October last year

'Rob and I are really excited and looking forward to starting our family,' she said.

'I am feeling well and enjoying the Spring Carnival.'

Francesca is renowned for her vast knowledge of horse racing, as well speaking four languages fluently.

'Mum and son (and dad) doing great': The couple announced they had welcomed Harry in April

New gig: The beauty was recently announced as the new face of ITVs racing coverage in the UK from next year

High-profile family: Francesca is the daughter of renowned Italian horse trainer Luca Cumani

The beauty, who is the daughter of renowned Italian horse trainer Luca Cumani, has hosting roles with CNN and Network Seven.

She was recently announced as the new face of ITVs racing coverage in the UK from next year.

To add to her busy schedule, Francesca has shares in a number of racehorses.

Keeping busy: To add to her busy schedule, Francesca has shares in a number of racehorses

Hot property: In 2009 Rob was voted among Vanity Fairs Polos Hottest Horsemen as a result of his Kennedy-esque good looks

Meanwhile, Rob is one of Australias top ranked polo players, as well as heir to a 70-year family legacy of polo pony breeding, playing and training.

In 2009, he was voted among Vanity Fairs Polos Hottest Horsemen as a result of his Kennedy-esque good looks.

The couple wed in 2014 and juggle their time between a property in rural New South Wales and the UK.
Joanna Krupa appears to be most comfortable in the nude.

And the 37-year-old once more decided against clothing for what could be the most revealing mannequin challenge to date.

The model was filmed on Saturday lounging completely naked by a window as the camera panned around her motionless body.

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Clothing optional: Joanna Krupa once more decided against clothing for what could be the most revealing mannequin challenge to date

The mannequin challenge has become a hugely popular craze on social media.

Individuals pretend to be mannequins and stand frozen as a camera moves around them.

In her video, the beautiful actress showed off her flat stomach, hints of her ample cleavage and her sculpted legs.

Joanna strategically lifted one leg up in the air while holding up a magazine with both arms raised.

She's a beauty! The model took part in the mannequin challenge while on a trip to Chicago; pictured in October in Poland

Joanna was filmed by her husband Romain Zago as she posed next to a window at her Chicago hotel.

She captioned it: 'My version of the #mannequinchallenge.'

Right before, the animal activist posted an identical photo teasing the mannequin challenge video she just filmed.

Strike a pose: The 37-year-old was filmed on Saturday lounging completely naked by a window as the camera panned around her frozen body

Th blonde captined it: 'Naughty way of relaxing on this gorgeous clear day at @parkhyattchicago reading @michiganavemag. And doing mannequin challenge my way. Photo credit: @romainzago #nofilter.'

In October, Joanna showed off her incredible figure in another steamy snap; this time a view of pert derriere.

The Polish-born stunner wrote: 'Mirror mirror on the wall...good morning #loveyourself.'

Joanna and Romain, 44, jetted off to Chicago earlier this week for Thanksgiving; the lovebirds posed in front of an elaborately decorated Christmas tree.

She captioned it: 'Happy Thanksgiving everyone from @RomainZago And I !!!!! May this season be filled with lots of love joy and happiness.'

Not shy: In October, Joanna showed off her incredible figure in another steamy snap; this time a view of pert derriere
The couple that protests together, stays together.

Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom have added their voices to the wave of celebs opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The pair posted separate messages of support for the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, as it attempts to block an oil carrying pipeline from being built across ancient burial grounds while putting their water supply at risk.

Teaming up: Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom have added their voices to the wave of celebs opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline

They both took to Instagram on Thanksgiving, noting the irony of the US holiday as the Government continues to subject the peacefully protesting Native Americans to appalling conditions.

'On #Thanksgiving, a day with complex origins, I want to speak up in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and their protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline,' Katy wrote in a lengthy post.

'Please take a moment to familiarize yourself with what is going on in North Dakota. While it may not be on your front pages, this is not a frightening series of events for them, it is frightening series of events for all of us.

'The pipeline in question, would carry crude oil through land sacred to indigenous peoples and put a crucial water supply at risk. We have seen the results of unintended oil spills before and they are crippling to the health of the surrounding people and environment.

Sad: Katy's post included a heartbreaking image of a Native American woman surrounded by heavily armed law enforcement

Her post included a heartbreaking image of a Native American woman surrounded by heavily armed law enforcement.

'To all those peacefully protesting to protect history, to protect that which is personally sacred and to protect our life sustaining water sources, we are here shoulder to shoulder with you across this country,' she continued.

'We cannot afford to be complacent with our rights and we cannot afford to be complacent with the rights of our neighbor.'

Some thanks: They both took to Instagram on Thanksgiving, noting the irony of the US holiday as the Government continues to subject the peacefully protesting Native Americans to appalling conditions

Her boyfriend meanwhile chimed in: This #thanksgiving we cannot stand idly by while so many stand in solidarity on the front line to protect the most essential of human needs on sacred land.

They both donated money to the resistance, and called on followers to do the same by texting WATER to 82623.

Other celebs supporting the cause include Zendaya, Lupita Nyongo, Alyssa Milano, Mark Ruffalo and Patton Oswalt.

Shailene Woodley meanwhile was arrested after she physically went to Dakota to join the protests.
She usually posts pictures of herself looking immaculate.

But on Sunday, actress Pia Miller uploaded a more relatable snap of herself in a less-than perfect state.

The 33-year-old took to Instagram to showcase an awkward moment from the night before, showing the front of her dress drenched after an unfortunate spill.

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Wearing your drink! Home and Away star Pia Miller showed off the awkward moment from the night before in a snap uploaded to Instagram on Sunday, showing the front of her dress drenched after the unfortunate spill

With a seemingly fresh and filled glass of white wine in hand, the brunette beauty showed off the damage in the snap, and appeared mid sentence - perhaps recouting how it all occurred.

The soap star lifted her frilled polka-dot dress to highlight the wet patch for the camera, clearly owning the soggy moment.

Pia's slender frame was highlighted by the wrap dress, which cinched in at the waist.

The thigh-skimming frilly design also showcased her slender pins, while the low-cut neckline flaunted the mother-of-two's cleavage.

She simply captioned the image '#Clumsy', however fans were quick to question if that was actually the case.

Fans opinion: The model's fans commented on her clumsy shot, saying 'Someone looks like they've had a couple too many', 'I think more like tipsy lol' and '#clumsy or #typsy?'

The model's fans commented: 'Someone looks like they've had a couple too many', 'I think more like tipsy lol' and '#clumsy or #typsy?'

Many of her followers also wished to know where they could purchase the dress, with the design setting fashionistas back $242 and is from the US label Realisation.

Variations of the cheery red cap sleeved frock has also been work by Bella Hadid, Jenna Dewan Tatum and MKR's Zana Pali in the past.

Red hot! Variations of the cheery red cap sleeved frock has also been work by Bella Hadid, Jenna Dewan Tatum and MKR's Zana Peli (Pictured) in the past

Fit! The Australian model is a mother-of-two sons aged nine and 13 to previous relationships

The Australian star has been dating producer Tyson Mullane for more than a year and often document their blossoming romance across social media.

Pia is mother to son Lennox, nine, whom she shares with former AFL player Brad Miller and son Isaiah, 13, whom she has from a previous relationship.

She announced their split in October 2015 after eight years of marriage although they continue to amicably co-parent.
Nika Biggs has slammed photo sharing websites for their 'ridiculous' blanket ban on showing women's nipples.

Sites like Instagram remove any images violating their privacy laws and the sister of former Miss Universe Australia Sherri-Lee Biggs believes there is gender bias at play.

In an interview with Perth Now, published on Sunday, the 20-year-old model said she struggles to understand why rules are different for men and women.

Unhappy: Nika Biggs has slammed social media photo sharing websites for their 'ridiculous' blanket ban on showing women's nipples

She told the publication: 'A man's nipple is legal but then women's nipples are illegal, purely based on the way we're genetically engineered, which is ridiculous.'

Nika's modelling portfolio includes topless shots and the beauty threw her weight behind campaigns to end censorship of the female form on social media.

The brunette said: 'I fully support the fact that we should be allowed to have our nipples in photos and it not get deleted on Instagram.'

Big sis: Sites like Instagram remove any images violating their privacy laws and the sister of former Miss Universe Australia Sherri-Lee Biggs (pictured) believes there is gender bias at play

Rebellion: Nika's modelling portfolio includes topless shots and the beauty threw her weight behind campaigns to end censorship of the female form on social media

Free The Nipple is the biggest global movement aimed at impacting change on social media, and Nika has previously shows her support on Instagram.

In a post earlier this year, she used '#freethenip' alongside a photo of her posing topless behind a 'keep off' sign at the beach.

However, her sister's high profile job as a Perth weather presenter prevents Nika from doing more risque photo shoots than the semi-nude ones to date.

Family ties: Her sister's high profile job as a Perth weather presenter prevents Nika from doing more risque photo shoots than the semi-nude ones to date

Beauty queen: Sherri-Lee was often seen bikini-clad as she became Miss Universe Australia in 2011

Sherri-Lee was often seen bikini-clad during her days as a beauty queen when she became Miss Universe Australia in 2011.

Nika has no qualms about showing off her own slender, toned body to her near-3,000 followers on Instagram.

The model regularly post pics from her latest shoots, treading the line between what's acceptable to post and what's not.
It is arguably the most famous jungle shower in I'm A Celebrity history.

And it seems Ola Jordan was keen to emulate Myleene Klass' iconic bikini moment on Saturday as she enjoyed a shower in a strikingly similar white two-piece.

The dancer, 34, showed off her enviably slender figure and womanly curves in the sizzling white bikini as she indulged in a hot shower over in the Royal camp, Snake Rock.

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A touch of Klass! It seems Ola Jordan was keen to emulate Myleene Klass' iconic bikini moment on Saturday as she enjoyed a Jungle shower in a strikingly similar white two-piece

The former Strictly pro's shower was akin to that of Myleene Klass famous jungle moment back - which saw her incredibly slim figure hit headlines during her time on the show back in 2006.

However Ola certainly gave the presenter a run for her money in her white bikini, which plunged low at the chest to reveal plenty of delicate cleavage and bronzed skin.

Matched with equally skimpy bottoms secured by single strings at the side, the Ballroom queen's taut, toned stomach and womanly waist were left on full display.

Bit of all white! However Ola certainly gave the presenter a run for her money in her white bikini, which plunged low at the chest to reveal plenty of delicate cleavage

Blonde bombshell: Opting for a white bikini that complemented her tanned complexion, the blonde beauty showed off her phenomenal figure in all its glory

Sexy: Matched with equally skimpy bottoms secured by single strings at the side, the Ballroom queen's taut, toned stomach and womanly waist were left on full display

Opting for a white number, the blonde beauty complemented her sun-kissed complexion, which kept all eyes on her phenomenal figure in all its glory.

The Polish star swept her hair back into a topknot as she lathered herself off in the water, drawing attention to her smooth and glowing complexion.

Closing her eyes as she rinsed herself clean, Ola looked utterly relaxed throughout the scene - clearly thrilled to be privileged with the luxury of a hot shower as one of this year's camp 'royals'.

Natural beauty: The Polish star swept her hair back into a topknot, drawing attention to her smooth and glowing complexion

Luxury: Ola looked very satisfied with the hot shower, which comes as a luxury for the camp Royals living in Camp Rock

Battle of the bikini babes: Back in camp Lisa Snowdon also slipped into a bikini to show off her sensational womanly curves in the shower

The dancer secured a place in the luxurious camp by dethroning Martin Roberts in the Bush Brewery trial - which saw them chug various pints of gruesome drinks.

Ola proved herself quite the tough cookie as she easily beat the Homes Under the Hammer host - choking down glasses of blended ox tongue and sheep's testicles.

Viewers have been impressed with Ola and her steely determination throughout the duration of the competition - with the Polish beauty remaining calm in several critter-infested challenges.

Taking her place: The dancer secured a place in the luxurious camp, complete with hot shower, by dethroning Martin Roberts in the Bush Brewery trial

No messing: Ola proved herself quite the tough cookie as she easily beat the Homes Under the Hammer host - choking down glasses of blended ox tongue and sheep's testicles

Even her husband James, who she has been married to for 13 years, admitted he was surprised by her stellar efforts.

He admitted on I'm A Celebrity spin off show Extra Camp on Thursday that Ola has heavily impressed him by her performance in camp.

'It's not the Ola I know,' he said. 'She's just this petite 5"3 delicate girl and she's totally shocked me. I can't begin to tell you how proud I am of her. She's amazing. She's like a jungle warrior.'
Larry Lamb has unknowingly been a grandfather for 18 years, according to The Sun on Sunday.

The paper revealed that his distant daughter Vanessa, who he only met once when she was seven months old, is mother to a girl in her late teens.

The news emerges after the EastEnders actor, 69, admitted he 'may have a grandchild' when he discussed his 'long-lost daughter' on this year's I'm A Celebrity.

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Revealed: Larry Lamb has unknowingly been a grandfather for 18 years, according to The Sun on Sunday

The Daily Mirror reported last week that Larry fathered a daughter, Vanessa, with his first wife Anita, and only saw her once when she was seven months old.

The Gavin and Stacey actor then discussed the situation with Adam Thomas in the celebrity jungle later that week - admitting he 'might be a granddad' after confirming he had a 'long lost daughter' who he fathered at 21.

It has now emerged that this speculation could be true - with The Sun reporting that Vanessa is mother to an 18-year-old girl of her own.

Family ties: The Sun revealed that the star has a secret granddaughter, who is currently at uni in the UK, from his long-lost daughter Vanessa, who he fathered at 21

It is believed that Larry's secret granddaughter is currently studying at a UK university, while her mother resides in Murcia, Spain, where she is a teacher.

As he is still competing on I'm A Celebrity and living in the Australian outback, it is assumed Larry remains unaware of his younger family member.

The actor, who is famed for his role as Archie Mitchell in EastEnders, admitted on I'm A Celebrity last week that he had not seen or been in contact with his estranged daughter for over 40 years.

Getting personal: The news emerges after the actor, 69, admitted he 'may have a grandchild' when he discussed his 'long-lost daughter' with Adam Thomas on I'm A Celebrity (above)

Larry had met first wife Anita when he was 20, and the pair fell pregnant following a Christmas reunion.

Although Larry is said to have wanted an abortion, they decided to have the child and married when he was just 21 and working in Germany.

A source told the Daily Mirror: 'Larry only ever saw his daughter once [when she was not even a year old] and has never taken responsibility for her. It is very sad.'

Long lost family: Larry admitted during the chat that he had 'always wanted to know' his daugher, but after 46 years he couldn't just 'go bouncing back' into her life

Talking to Emmerdale star Adam by the jungle camp fire, Larry explained: 'I always wanted to [know her], but me and her mum broke up, and then she was adopted by her mum's new husband, so I never had anything to do with her.'

'And I can't just go bouncing back into someone's life,' he added.

When Adam asked whether he knew where she was or what she doing currently, the fan favourite further explained: 'I have no idea where she is, but I do think about her a lot.'

Next steps: Larry later married Linda Martin in 1979, and the couple had TV presenter son George (above) during their 17 years together

Reflecting on his troubled past, Larry then admitted he regretted not making the effort, but that he could not have done anything else at the time as he was 'just a kid'.

He said of his younger self: 'I was such a baby, I was 21 when I had her, just a kid. And I knew absolutely nothing. But now years later, I think 'Oh my god - all that part of your life that you've missed out on''.

Larry later married Linda Martin in 1979, and the couple had TV presenter son George during their 17 years together.

He has been with his current partner Clare Burt, 49, for 20 years and the couple have daughters Eloise, 17, and Eva, 13.
She's never been one to shy away from flaunting her figure.

And Katie Salmon was up to her old tricks once more as she slipped into a skintight sheer latex catsuit as she arrived at the Prodigal Fox lingerie launch party at cafe De Paris in London on Saturday.

The Love Island star, 20, sported the daring printed figure-hugging number which featured a plunging neckline to her naval with silk ribbon lace-up detail in the midst of her ample cleavage as she debut her new bleach blonde tresses.

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Skintight: Katie Salmon was up to her old tricks once more as she slipped into a skintight sheer latex catsuit as she arrived at the Prodigal Fox lingerie launch party at cafe De Paris in London on Saturday

Leaving little to the imagination, Katie's halterneck one-piece teased at her assets as she placed nipple pasties over her bosoms to protect her modesty as she flashed her black underwear while posing for photos.

She proved the phrase 'if you got it, flaunt it' in the jumpsuit that clung to her curves and pert derriere as she strutted to the venue.

Cutting the evening chill, the beauty - who shot to fame on ITV2's Love Island this year - draped an edgy studded leather jacket over her shoulders which featured a number of kooky badges on it as she held her nude clutch in her manicured hand.

Katie injected height into her petite frame as she adorned her feet with a sky-high pointed pump while sashaying into the venue with her team of equally scantily clad gals.

Rock chick! The Love Island star, 20, sported the daring printed figure-hugging number which featured a plunging neckline to her naval with silk ribbon lace-up detail in the midst of her ample cleavage

Bottoms up! She proved the phrase 'if you got it, flaunt it' in the jumpsuit that clung to her curves and pert derriere as she strutted to the venue, posing with a pal outside the hotspot

Debuting her newly blonde locks, Katie worked her waist long tresses into a centre parting, teasing her locks into a straight style as they cascaded down her shoulders.

Surrounded by her lingerie clad pals, the stunner went for a full on glam beauty look with a heavy dusting of blush and slick of lipgloss across her plump pout.

The reality star opened last month about a horrific ordeal that was left her bloodied and unconscious after a stranger spiked her drink with a date rape drug.

Here come the girls: Katie injected height into her petite frame as she adorned her feet with a sky-high pointed pump as she sashayed into the venue with her team of equally scantily clad gals

Vamping it up! Leaving little to the imagination, Katie's halterneck one-piece teased at her assets as she placed nipple pasties over her bosoms to protect her modesty as she flashed her black underwear

She described her terrifying ordeal, which she believes to be at the hands of a fan she met at a West London nightclub, who plied her with drinks.

Police believe Katie took liquid ecstasy (GHB) and she reported that she had been robbed but not raped, in an account given to The Sun newspaper on Thursday.

Describing her exchange with a man she calls 'Dan,' she explained that the Love Island fan introduced himself, asked for selfies and began pouring her drinks.

Warming up! The beauty - who shot to fame on ITV2's Love Island this year - draped an edgy studded leather jacket over her shoulders which featured a number of kooky badges

She said: 'My friends told me that he spent the rest of the night following me around, trying to give me drinks and even waiting outside the toilet for me.'

The model has no recollection of the rest of the evening, but her last memory was from inside the nightclub bathrooms where she says she was 'feeling really weird'.

Katie then woke up outside a hotel covered in blood with cuts and bruises but no sign of her phone or handbag, three hours after leaving the nightclub with the man.

Goldie locks: Debuting her newly blonde locks, Katie worked her waist long tresses into a centre parting, teasing her locks into a straight style as they cascaded down her shoulders

She continued: 'I was crying hysterically and really shook up, I was so confused and had no idea what happened, all I knew was that I needed the police.'

The police believe the offender used a drug common on the London nightlife scene, GHB, which can send victims off to sleep.

Police were unable to test for traces and therefore closed their investigations, while the nightclub were unable to release CCTV footage, Katie says.
She has received her fair share of online hate since expressing her views against Donald Trump.

But Emmy Rossum took to the Chelsea Handler Show on Friday to address the backlash she has received, and plead with the people of America to 'come together against hate'.

After revealing on Twitter she had been 'a victim of sexual violence', the actress, 30, has now defended herself against critics of the personal admission - expressing that it is 'not about who you voted for' but instead about 'common decency' and 'kindness'.

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Standing up for herself: Emmy Rossum, 30, took to the Chelsea Handler Show on Friday to address the backlash she has received on Twitter regarding her political tweets

After Trump was voted in as President of the United States, the Shameless star took to Twitter to express her sadness.

She wrote to fans: 'This morning still sad. I was looking forward to the next 4 yrs. To having a child, maybe a daughter, under the first female president.'

'I wanted to tell her she could achieve anything she wanted. That she would win if she led with kindness. Not to make fun of people. Or bully.'

Causing a stir: Emmy sent a very personal Tweet noting she had been a victim of sexual violence (above) on election day - which resulted in huge criticism from Trump fans

Stay strong: She said to Chelsea of the situation: 'I think it's important that if you see something, say something' and that people should always 'come together against hate'

However it was a later Tweet that caused a commotion on the social media site, which read: 'I am a woman. I am Jewish. I am marrying an Arab American. My sister in law is handicapped. I'm a victim of sexual violence. It's personal.'

The shocking message received close to 50,000 retweets and responses - which involved both huge praise as well as plenty of anger and criticism.

Addressing the negative responses to her highly personal admission, the brunette urged her followers to always stick up for themselves and their beliefs in times of trouble.

She said to Chelsea: 'I think it's important that if you see something, say something.'

Be active: Admitting she does not normally reply to social media trolls, she argued that when it is personal against you, 'standing idly by and being silent is just as bad'

'Be safe, stick up for yourself, stick up for others. I don't generally interact with people who are, say, trolls on Instagram, but if someone makes a specific threat me or against someone and I'm at replied on it... I think standing idly by and being silent is just as bad.'

She went on to Tweet the phrase 'we are in this together' later that day - a view which she affirmed once again on the chat show.

'There is a need to come together,' she added. 'I think of hate on either side of the aisle  it's not about who you voted for or what you believe  it's about common decency, its about decorum, and its about kindness.'

Joining forces: She further explained: 'It's not about who you voted for or what you believe  it's about common decency, its about decorum, and its about kindness'

Despite admitting her personal struggles on the site to her 612,000 folllowers, the actress has since remained silent on her experience with sexual violence.

However her online trolling from political rivals has not stopped there - with the Jewish actress also becoming subject to anti-Semitic Tweets, too.

Venting her anger at the shocking behaviour of certain users on the site, she wrote in disgust: 'Trump supporters are sending me messages threatening to send me & my "ilk" to the gas chambers & writing hashtags like #sieg hiel". NOT OK.'

Shocking: However her online trolling from political rivals has not stopped there - with the Jewish actress also becoming subject to anti-Semitic Tweets too (above)

Standing her ground: Emmy was very open in her support of Hilary Clinton during the Presidential election, alongside her fiance Sam Esmail

Then responding to one particular user, who messaged her with a reference to concentration camps, she added: 'Telling anyone to "get ready for the trains" in reference to WWII is disgusting & offensive. Reporting you to twitter is not enough. Back off.'

Emmy was very open in her support of Hilary Clinton during the Presidential election, alongside her fiance Sam Esmail - an Egyptian-American producer and director.

Turning conversation on the show to more positive things, the screen star went on to discuss the screenwriter's proposal - which she admitted occurred while she was completely naked.

Lightening the mood: Turning conversation to more positive things, the screen star went on to discuss fiance Sam's proposal - which she admitted occurred while she was completely naked

She confessed to the comedienne that she was in the bath when he asked for her hand in marriage last summer, after two years of dating.

'And then I got out of the bathtub because I didn't want the story to be that I was in the bathtub when it was happening,' Emmy explained.

'And then I got cold as it was still going on, got back in the bathtub. It was a comedy of errors but it all worked out.'

She added, laughing: 'I really was not expecting it in the bathtub.'
She's known for her fierce fashion sense, and Chloe Sims did not disappoint when she turned heads in her ensemble on Sunday.

The blonde reality star ditched her usual more daring style for a chic LBD as she strutted her stuff in Liverpool during filming for the TOWIE Christmas Special.

Chloe, 34, put on a busty display and stunned in a sheer feathered frock as leggy co-star Georgia Kousoulou rocked a 'Slay' slogan T-shirt dress and thigh-high boots.

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Slay girls! TOWIE's Chloe Sims, 34, stunned in a sheer Victoriana frock as leggy Georgia Kousoulou rocked a slogan T-shirt dress during filming for Christmas Special on Sunday

Flaunting her gorgeous curves in a figure hugging dress, Chloe looked stylish in her dress which had a sheer panel blouse that gave a glimpse of her bra and bosom.

Her pins looked incredible in a feathery black skirt as she strutted her stuff on set.

She teamed her look with an understated pair of black strappy sandals that showed off her toned legs to perfection.

The mother-of-one ramped up the glam as she wore her platinum blonde hair in tussled curls with added extensions for volume.

Diva! Ever the style diva, Chloe went for old school Hollywood glam when it came to her make-up as well as hair

Ever the diva, Chloe went for old school Hollywood glam when it came to her make-up as well as hair.

She looked flawless with a ruby red matt lipstick which she wore with a dark lip pencil to define her pout.

The reality star, who owns her a beauty bar in Essex, went all out with her eye make-up too going for a dramatic effect with full lashes and a red and brown smokey eye.

Chloe was pictured shielding herself from the cold in a big green padded winter jacket in between takes.

In another shot she was seen catching up with her good friend Megan McKenna, who is back dating Chloe's bestie Pete Wicks.

Chill: Chloe was pictured shielding herself from the cold in a big green padded winter jacket in between takes

Girl time: Chloe was seen catching up with her good friend Megan McKenna, who is back dating Chloe's bestie Pete Wicks

Meanwhile she is one of the trendiest TOWIE cast members and Georgia Kousoulou lived up to her reputation as she attended a filming session in Liverpool.

Georgia, 24, slipped into a black slogan T-shirt dress with the words Slay emblazoned across it.

She teamed this with a pair of racy thigh-high suede boots as she joined her cast members on the weekend.

Ever the style queen, she rocked two on-trend plaits in her hair in a half-up style, and left her blonde locks in sophisticated curls to tumble over her shoulders.

Slay! Georgia, 24, slipped into a black slogan T-shirt dress with the words Slay emblazoned across it
Kate Ritchie has paid tribute to the 'very special and unique' Home and Away - 29 years after she joined the show as an eight-year-old.

The actress-turned-radio host spent 20 years as Sally Fletcher on the long-running soap after joining the programme in 1987.

And the 38-year-old admitted to The Daily Telegraph in an interview published on Monday, that the show gave her a 'great foundation' for her career.

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Home is where the heart is: Kate Ritchie has paid tribute to the 'very special and unique' Home and Away - 29 years after she joined the show as an eight-year-old

Speaking at the Nova FM Christmas lunch on Friday, Kate said: 'It's really comforting to know that the show continues to go from strength to strength.

'I don't think I'll ever find anything like that again. It's a very special and unique place to work.'

After leaving the show in 2008, the mum-of-one has gone on to host a radio show on Nova FM alongside Tim Blackwell and Marty Sheargold.

In character: The actress turned radio host spent 20 years as Sally Fletcher on the long-running soap after joining the programme in 1987

Red carpet: And the 38-year-old admitted to The Daily Telegraph on Monday that the show gave her a 'great foundation' for her career

The Gold Logie winner has also won plaudits for her television work since leaving the soap, and she feels it set her up for a successful future.

She told the publication: 'It was such a great foundation, it taught me a wonderful work ethic. I just hope it's nurturing all those young people, like it did for us.'

Years after leaving the show, Summer Bay still holds a special place in Kate's heart.

Solid foundation: The Gold Logie winner has also won plaudits for her television work since leaving the soap, and she feels it set her up for a successful future

In a cryptic photograph posted to Instagram earlier this year, the 38-year-old radio host revealed that she was back on the sands of Palm Beach in Sydney's northern beaches, where the soap is filmed.

'It doesn't quite solve the big issues like it used to but continues to have its claws in my heart and offer me some quiet,' she captioned one image.

In one photo, Kate beamed for the camera with the beach as her backdrop and she appeared to be standing in the sand.

Memory lane: Kate rugged up and strolled along Sydney's Palm Beach earlier this year. She said the beach 'continues to have its claws in my heart and offer me some quiet'

In another image, her shadow reflected on the sand as she enjoyed a solo outing.

'Sometimes you've just got to put your toes in the sand,' she captioned the photo, alongside the hash-tag 'palmy.'

The former soap star told TV Week that she would happily return to set, sending fans into a frenzy about her possible return to the show.

Could this mean a return to the small screen? Kate posted a cryptic shot of herself at Sydney's Palm Beach, where Home and Away is filmed

Back in uniform: The former soap actress told TV Week she would happily return to set, and as her character was not killed off the show, 'the option is there'

'They didn't kill me off, so the option is there,' she said.

In June, the mother-of-one celebrated the release of Hollywood movie Independence Day: Resurgence with her Nova 969 co-hosts Tim and Marty.

The trio dressed in clothes from 1996, when the original Independence Day film was released.

Kate of course chose to don an outfit similar to her Summer Bay High uniform, in a tribute to the show which launched her career and proved she could still pull off the youthful look.
She hardly ever puts a foot wrong when it comes to her fashion choices.

And Karrueche Tran pulled it out of the bag once again as she hit the town on Saturday night.

The stunning model went for a sophisticated sexy look in a leather wrap skirt and turtle neck.

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Style savvy: Karrueche Tran pulled it out of the bag once again as she hit the town on Saturday night

The skirt was split to the thigh, making the most of her stunning legs.

She added some quirky ankle boots to the ensemble, alongside a chic camel coat as she headed to current celebrity favourite, Catch.

Last week, the stunner made sure to look her finest as she attended the Whitney Art Party at The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

The rising star, 28, wowed as she flashed her toned tummy in a striking floral co-ord on the red carpet.

Split decision! The stunning model went for a sophisticated sexy look in a leather wrap skirt and turtle neck

Hell for leather: The skirt was split to the thigh, making the most of her stunning legs

Dining out: She added some quirky ankle boots to the ensemble, alongside a chic camel coat as she headed to current celebrity favourite, Catch

The bardot-style bandeau top showcased her washboard stomach and she teamed the look with a matching high-waisted skirt.

The model's two-piece, which boasted hues of red, green and blue, showed off her petite frame, as well as her flair for fashion.

Karrueche accessorised with a dainty silver choker, while her side-parted raven tresses framed her striking features.

Abs-olutely fabulous: Karrueche Tran made sure to look her finest as she attended the Whitney Art Party at The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York on Tuesday night

Bloomin' lovely: The rising star, 28, wowed as she flashed her toned tummy in a striking floral co-ord on the red carpet

Busy bee: The model and former stylist is quite the girl about town at present, and was spotted at new West Hollywood hotspot, Catch LA, on Monday night

Karrueche's style reign comes in light of her hitting back at those who believe her current celebrity status is derived from her famous ex, Chris Brown.

In a recent interview with Kode magazine, the actress responded: 'I have nothing to say to anyone who has anything negative to say.'

Karrueche, who has over five million followers on Instagram, also described her 'love/hate relationship' with sites such as Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat.

'I have a love/ hate relationship with social media,' she said.

'I love it because it's built a platform for many people and many businesses. It's a new day and age in society,' she began, before describing its downfalls.

Ex factor: Karrueche's style reign comes in light of her hitting back at those who believe her current celebrity status is derived from her ex, Chris Brown (pictured in February 2015)

'There is a dark side which is negative and hateful. I think it's awesome to have social media as a platform to progress and build. Of course using it in the most positive and genuine way,' she concluded.

Chris and Karrueche dated on and off from 2011 to 2015, briefly breaking up in 2013 when the RnB hitmaker reconciled with his ex-girlfriend, pop princess Rihanna.

After their relationship ended, Chris and Karrueche reunited, but the couple parted ways again when the model discovered the musician had fathered a child with Nia Guzman while they were together.
She debut her new glamorous 'do earlier this week.

Pleased with the outcome, Helena Bonham Carter let her lighter hued tresses fall loose as she stepped out with her with two children and estranged husband Tim Burton on Sunday at Primrose Hill Fair in London.

The 50-year-old British actress looked radiant as she wrapped up in a demure oversized black coat that was sure to keep her cosy, despite the chilly temperatures.

Golden gal: Helena Bonham Carter let her lighter hued tresses fall loose as she stepped out with her with two children and estranged husband Tim Burton on Sunday at Primrose Hill Fair

Helena teamed the statement jacket with a pair of form-fitting leggings as she enjoys a well-deserved break from filming Ocean's Eight with an all-female cast.

The Alice In Wonderland star wrapped a faux fur stole around her neck as she sashayed around the day time event in her black trainers, holding a green balloon.

Accessorising her look, she placed statement drop earrings in her lobes as her new glamorous blonde hued locks tumbled in the wind as she walked alongside her children and her director ex.

Positively glowing, Helena accenutated her flawless complexion with dusting of blush and groomed brows as her new hair colour made her hazel brown eyes pop.

United front: Helena and her director ex Tim were sure to put on an amicable display while out with their two children

Day out: The amicable duo - who split in 2014 after 13 years together, and are parents to son Billy, 13, and daughter Nell, who turns nine next month - happily co-parent their children

Glowing: Helena teamed the statement coat with a pair of form-fitting leggings as she enjoys a well-deserved break from filming Ocean's Eight with an all-female cast

Meanwhile, Tim coordinated Helena in an all-black ensemble as he donned his signature shades, despite the significant lack of sunshine.

The amicable duo split in 2014 after 13 years together, and are parents to son Billy, 13, and daughter Nell, who turns nine next month.

Helena is starring with Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock and Anne Hathaway in the big screen all-female reboot of Ocean's Eleven.

Normally she is based in London where she is raising her two children with filmmaker Tim.

Supportive: Accessorising her look, she placed statement drop earrings in her lobes as her new glamorous blonde hued locks tumbled in the wind as she walked alongside her children and her director ex

Flawless: Positively glowing, Helena accenutated her flawless complexion with dusting of blush and groomed brows as her new hair colour made her hazel brown eyes pop

It has been claimed that Sandra will play the ex-con sister of George Clooney's character from the Ocean's trilogy, which kicked off in 2001, and was, in itself, a remake of the 1960 film of the same name.

George, who starred alongside Sandra in 2013's Gravity, is also a producer on the film with his Smokehouse Pictures company he runs with Grant Heslov.

They have kept mum on plot details, though a writer for The Hollywood Reporter Plot has said that the film will reportedly revolve around a heist at the Met Gala.

Ocean's Eight is set to hit theatres on June 8, 2018.

Laidback: Helena carried a hot pink Teddy Bear under her arm as she enjoyed her day out with her kids and ex

Keeping fashionable company: Meg Matthews was also spotted at the fair, wearing some quirky raw hem jeans with red boots
Actor Anthony Michael hall has been charged with felony assault causing serious bodily injury following an attack on his neighbor in September.

If convicted, the Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles star could face up to seven years in prison since special circumstances are alleged, TMZ reported Sunday.

Hall, 48, was caught on CCTV shoving a man to the ground at his condo complex in Playa del Rey in Los Angeles on September 13.

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Facing trial: Anthony Michael Hall, 48, has been charged with felony assault causing serious bodily injury for attacking his neighbor on an incident caught on CCTV on September 13

The incident occurred in a dispute over a gate left open.

In the grainy video, Hall is seen walking through the complex before turning to face a man who is following him.

Words appear to be spoken before he lashes out at the man sending him falling on his back, allegedly breaking his wrist and suffering a back injury.

The neighbor then called 911 to alert police to the assault.

According to TMZ, the victim told cops the brawl began when he left their condo gate open, and Hall yelled at him to close it.

The actor then went over and shut the gate himself before getting into it with the neighbor.

Classic movie: The actor is best known for his role in 1985's The Breakfast Club with Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Ally Sheedy and Molly Ringwald

It's not the first time either that Hall has been engaged in disputes with his fellow condo residents.

Back in 2011, the website says, his neighbors claimed he would scream obscenities and challenge people to fights.

Hall's big break came at age 13 when he was tapped to play Rusty Griswold in the 1985 comedy classic National Lampoon's Vacation with Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo.

He went on to star in the hit movies Sixteen Candles with Molly Ringwald in 1984 followed by The Breakfast Club in 1985, with Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Ringwald.

He has continued to work steadily in movies and television, most recently having a recurring role in season three of Murder In the First and Ben Affleck's upcoming movie Live By Night.
Some of the world's most beautiful women boarded a private plane Sunday in NYC headed for Paris and the 2016 Victoria's secret Fashion Show.

Alessandra Ambrosio, Lily Aldridge, Stella Maxwell, Jasmine Tookes, Martha Hunt and Sara Sampaio were among the bevy of beauties who waved the flag before departing to the French capital for the highly-anticipated lingerie runway show.

Among the first to arrive and get on board, though, were pals Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid who showed up together barely containing their excitement.

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All aboard! Lily Aldridge shared this photo of herself and some of her fellow Angels as they prepared to board a private jet Sunday bound for Paris and the 2016 VS Fashion Show

We're coming! Among the first to arrive for the flight were Kendall Jenner, 21, and Bella Hadid, 20, who have been invited to join the official Angels for the runway show

Reality star Kendall, 21, and millionaire's daughter Bella, 20, wore matching skinny jeans and black boots for their trip.

Kendall added a fur jacket and sunglasses while Bella opted for a black jacket adorned with badges on the sleeve.

'We're off!': The Keeping up With The Kardashians reality star shared this pic to her Instagram showing herself and Bella with Angels Lily Donaldson and Joan Smalls before take off

Natural beauty: Sara Sampaio posed on the tarmac with an Eiffel Tower flag and baring her taut midriff in a cropped pink Victoria's Secret Paris 2016 t-shirt and dark denims

Heaven on earth! Jenner and Lily showed off their tiny French flags, while Hadid and Smalls held sparkling replicas of the Eiffel Tower

Looking divine: The ladies kept things casual in blue jeans and black boots

The daughter of Caitlyn and Kris Jenner shared a pic to her Instagram showing her flying a French flag while posing with Bella, Lily Donaldson and Joan Smalls in front of the private jet with the caption: 'We're off!'

The Keeping Up With The Kardashians castmember made her debut at last year's Victoria's secret Fashion Show and this year marks the first time Bella, whose mother is former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Yolanda Foster, will walk the runway.

Bella's older sister Gigi is also walking in the lingerie spectacular.

En route to the City Of Love! Hadid kissed her Eiffel Tower

Wheel-y fun! Joan grinned from ear-to-ear as she pushed her pals upon a cart

On their way: Elsa Hosk, left, shared this group photo showing models on the bus taking them out to the plane ahead of departure

The 21-year-old who also took part on the 2015 show, is already in Paris where she was seen arriving solo on Sunday.

Also heading to the City of light are Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and The Weeknd who are all set to perform at the extravaganza that will be taped Wednesday for broadcast on December 5 on CBS.

Meanwhile, two Angels had to skip the show this year due to their new roles as mothers.

Ready for take off: Taylor Hill and Romee Strijd struck a pose on board the plane that was loaded with Victoria's secret branded items

Let's get this show on the road! The ladies couldn't contain their excitement as they prepared to head to France

Lucky chaps! The plane's pilots got a special cockpit visit from Alessandra Ambrosio

Gang's all here: The lingerie line posted this group shot of all the models to its Facebook page. The runway show will be taped Wednesday and broadcast on CBS on December 5

Spreading their wings: The catwalk queens lined up as they prepared for their journey

All aboard! The stars took yet another snap before heading off

Behati Prinsloo, 27, who welcomed her first child, daughter Dusty Rose with husband Adam Levine two months ago, opted to stay home this time around.

She posted a flashback photo of herself in VS lingerie and explained on Instagram: 'Opening the #vsfashionshow for the first time was a dream come true opening twice in a row was just NUTS, still pinching myself.'

'To the girls and crew, good luck in Paris, me and Dusty Rose will be cheering,' she added.

In high spirits: The models all had fun on social media sharing photos and video via Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat

Paris, here we come: Everyone was clearly excited to be on their way

Practical: Jeans, branded pink t-shirts and jackets seemed to be the order of the day when it came to travel gear

Missing out: Behati Prinsloo, 27, is skipping this year's show after welcoming her first child with husband Adam Levine. She posted a throwback photo and message to Instagram Sunday

Meanwhile, Candice Swanepoel 28, who gave birth to son Anaca with Hermann Nicoli in early October, also shared a throwback photo.

'Good luck in paris beautiful ladies! So sad to be missing this show! No doubt it will be magical,' she wrote.

So hard for me to disappoint the people that always root for me, I wish I was there making you all proud.'

Staying home: Candice Swanepoel, 28, welcomed her first child in early October and also opted to skip the show posting this message to the models who are walking in Paris

Larking around: Joan Smalls was snapped pushing Lily Donaldson, Bella and Kendall on a luggage cart as they happily waited to board the flight

Here come the catwalk queens! Kendall and Bella were spotted after landing in Paris

Follow the leader! Kendall led the way for the other models in her extremely impressive heels

So fly: Jenner looked extremely fashionable as she touched down into Paris in her fur coat, while Bella did as well in her edgy black jacket and skin tight jeans
Fans of The Walking Dead have had to watch many of their favourite characters die since the show began six years ago.

And now some have speculated that Carl could be the next person to be killed off.

Chandler Riggs, who has portrayed Carl since the first season of the series, sparked rumours he might be leaving The Walking Dead earlier this month when he revealed has been offered a place at university.

Will Carl be next?: Fans have speculated that Carl (portrayed by Chandler Riggs, seen here in June) could be the next person to be killed off The Walking Dead

'ayy i just got accepted into auburn,' the 17-year-old tweeted.

It's very possible Chandler could remain on the show and still attend classes at the college, as Auburn University is less than two hours by car from the show's set in Atlanta, Georgia.

However fans grew increasingly worried about Carl's fate after Chandler's father William revealed his son's contract is up.

'Completed 7 years on TWD! #freedom #thewalkingdead,' he captioned an Instagram photo of himself and the child actor last week.

Central character: The now-17-year-old (shown in season four) has starred in the series since it began

'I just got accepted into Auburn': Chandler sparked rumours earlier this month when he revealed he has a place at university, but the college is less than a two hour drive from the set

Chandler's mother, Gina-Ann Riggs, then insisted on her own Instagram page that it didn't necessarily mean anything.

'Don't over analyze,' she wrote in a response to someone else's comment. 'His seven year contract is up. That's all he was saying, nothing else.

'Pretty big accomplishment for a child actor (and for the parent who had to quit his job for this child to be able to follow his dream).'

Although his contract has finished, Chandler may still be signing on to continue in the show.

'#freedom': Fans grew increasingly worried when the child actor's father William Riggs shared this Instagram photo last week to celebrate Chandler completing his seven year contract

'Don't over analyze': However the star's mother Gina-Ann then told social media users on her own page that it didn't necessarily mean anything

Earlier this month ComicBook.com revealed that Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus had renegotiated their contracts for season eight.

And fans of the comic book series which the show is based on will know that Carl is far from done.

The TV series does not always follow the comics, but it did at the beginning of the seventh and current season when Glenn (portrayed by Steven Yuen) was murdered at Negan's hand.

When asked during a Reddit AMA session with fans in May who his favourite character is, show writer Robert Kirkman said: ' I dont play favorites. They all die eventually Carl.'
She's earned rave reviews for her role as Alice Webster in the BBC's gripping crime drama,The Missing.

But before Abigail Hardingham saw her star rise to dizzying heights, the actress, 24, wasn't averse to taking on an edgier role - going naked on camera in one film.

Starring opposite Cian Barry and Fiona O'Shaughnessy in the 2015 Horror Rom-com, the actress and her co-stars had to spend much of the film naked.

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MISSING something? before Abigail Hardingham saw her star rise to dizzying heights, the actress, 24, wasn't averse to taking on an edgier role - going naked on camera in one film

Abigail was 21 at the time the film was shot, and to that date had had some exposure in MySpace's online drama Freaks, The Sparticle Mystery, and Hollyoaks Later.

Taking on her first starring role in a feature film, the British-born star played Holly, a paramedic who is plagued in the bedroom by her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend's ghost.

The adventurous romantic-comedy saw all three of the films young stars spend much of their time naked on location in Elephant and Castle.

Breakout role: Starring opposite Cian Barry and Fiona O'Shaughnessy in the 2015 Horror Rom-com, the actress and her co-stars had to spend much of the film naked

Stripping off to film some intimate and racy scenes with her co-stars, the actress is the consummate professional as she plays the beguiling, Holly.

Garnering rave review for her performance in the film the stunning actress won the Most Promising Newcomer award at the British Independent Film Awards in 2015.

Speaking about how 'surreal' it was to be half-naked with her co-stars, especially when one is made to look like a corpse, she said there were moment when she though 'What's going on?'.

Taking on her first starring role in a feature film, the British-born star played Holly, a paramedic who is plagued in the bedroom by her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend's ghost.

The adventurous romantic-comedy saw all three of the films young stars spend much of their time naked on location in Elephant and Castle.

Garnering rave review for her performance in the film the stunning actress won the Most Promising Newcomer award at the British Independent Film Awards in 2015.

'We decided we would rather people had a real naked person on screen with stretchmarks and scars and not the typically perfect Hollywood body': She said of the film

Speaking to the East London & West Essex Guardian at the awards, she said: 'There were some really surreal moments, but I have to say filming in a graveyard in the middle of the night and me and Fiona are half naked did make me think, "whats going on?".'

Delving further into the experience of filming, she said: ''You have your own little niggles like "oh I hate my thighs" or"I hope they dont see my belly as Ive had a huge frickin lunch today".

'But we kind of all had this moment where we decided we would rather people had a real naked person on screen with stretchmarks and scars and not the typically perfect Hollywood body.'

A cult classic: Since the films release plaudits have rolled in for the actress for her work on the film, but more recently she has received acclaim for her role as Alice in The Missing

Since the films release plaudits have rolled in for the actress for her work on the film, but more recently she has received acclaim for her role as Alice in The Missing.

She plays Alice Webster, a girl who sparks a man-hunt and investigation in Germany when she disappears from a British military base in the fictional town of Eckhausen near Hanover, Germany.

The action cuts between 2003 when Alice disappears and 2014 when she mysteriously reappears.
Things can't get much rosier for Meghan Markle.

The 35-year-old not only has Prince Harry for a boyfriend, but it she is also close pals with one of Hollywood's hottest rising stars.

While her royal boyfriend is 2,000 miles away touring the Caribbean, Suits star Meghan spent her Friday night sipping cocktails with Priyanka Chopra.

Famous friends: Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle (L) enjoyed cocktails with Priyanka Chopra (R) and film producer Mubina Rattonsey in Los Angeles on Friday

The 34-year-old Quantico star posted a photo to Instagram which showed her and Meghan in a dimly lit bar with drinks on the table in front of them.

The two actresses, who have shared pictures together in the past, pouted at the camera while joined by film producer Mubina Rattonsey.

'Girls just wanna have fun.. @meghanmarkle @mubinarattonsey #LAlife,' Priyanka, who has been busy filming in Los Angeles, captioned the snapshot.

Close: The two actresses have been friends for a while, and are pictured here together in May

Crossing paths: Priyanka, who stars on Quantico, and Meghan, who has a role on Suits, often catch up when they are in the same place. They are shown in May with Mubina

The former Miss World 2000 flashed her legs while clad in a plaid top, while Harry's girl was dressed casually in a white T-shirt and ripped jeans.

Earlier this week Meghan had shared a throwback photo of herself with a turkey on Instagram and told fans she was feeling 'the pressure' of cooking for Thanksgiving.

Meghan, who has become a household name since her relationship with Harry was announced last month, has been without her prince while he is on an official visit to the Caribbean.

Without her prince: Harry (seen on Saturday) is currently on an official tour of the Caribbean

'The pressure is on': Meghan revealed earlier this week that she was nervous about cooking for Thanksgiving, as she shared a throwback photo to Instagram

She is currently in her hometown of LA after returning to the Toronto, Canada set of Suits following a recent trip to London.

During her short visit, Meghan was seen in Kensington and it is believed that she stayed with Harry at his Kensington Palace home, Nottingham Cottage.

Before she took on her most well-known role as feisty paralegal Rachel in American legal drama Suits, the brunette beauty was a 'briefcase girl' on the American version of Deal Or No Deal.

Rising star: The 35-year-old is known for playing feisty paralegal Rachel in legal drama Suits

Before she was famous: When her career was starting out, Meghan was a 'briefcase girl' on the American version of Deal Or No Deal

In a 2013 interview with Esquire, Meghan said it's an experience she'd rather forget, explaining: 'I would put that in the category of things I was doing while I was auditioning to try to make ends meet.

'I went from working in the U.S. Embassy in Argentina to ending up on Deal. Definitely working on Deal or No Deal was a learning experience, and it helped me to understand what I would rather be doing.'

She added: 'So if that's a way for me to gloss over that subject, then I will happily shift gears into something else.'
She joined the bevy of beauties heading to Paris on a private jet for the 2016 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

And Alessandra Ambrosio made sure to personally thank the male flight crew in a pre-take off visit to the cockpit.

The leggy brunette posed for a photo with the captain, first officer and flight engineer as she perched gingerly next to the instrument console.

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Sky high: Alessandra Ambrosio made the day of the crew of the private jet chartered by Victoria's Secret to fly Angels from NYC to Paris Sunday ahead of the brand's Fashion Show

The Brazilian model, 35, shared the snap to her Instagram Sunday morning.

'Taking off.... next stop #Paris,' she wrote.

Alessandra wore the de rigueur pink Victoriua's Secret Paris 2016 t-shirt worn by all the Angels and models on the flight.

She paired it with skinny jeans tucked into over-the-knee black boots.

Headed to France: The Brazilian beauty, 35, shared video with her fans via Snapchat as she got ready to board the flight

Catwalk ready: Alessandra was clearly in her comfort zone. She's walked in the lingerie extravaganza since 2005

'Ready to board': She shared this group photo to Instagram showing herself with other models including Martha Hunt, Jasmine Tookes and Elsa Hosk, all exited to be on their way to Paris

Alessandra has been a VS Fashion Show staple since 2005.

She walked in she lingerie extravaganza three months after the birth of her first child in 2008 and again in 2011 while pregnant with her second.

She has also twice paraded down the runway in the brand's multi-million dollar Fantasy Bra, in 2012 and in 2014.

She's been engaged to businessman Jamie Mazur since 2008 with whom she shares her kids Anja and Noah.
He was rumoured to have cosied up to his support act Kelsea Ballerini, 21 last year.

And now Keith Urban, 47, has yet another skeleton in the closet.

According to New Idea former flame Joni Wilson, 58, used to meet with the musician and husband of Nicole Kidman, 49, for 'coffee dates' and later penned a sexy love song for him.

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Straying again? He was rumoured to have cosied up to his support act Kelsea Ballerini, 21 last year. And now Keith Urban, 47, has yet another skeleton in the closet

Former flame? According to New Idea former flame Joni Wilson, 58, used to meet with the musician and husband of Nicole Kidman, 49, for 'coffee dates' and later penned a sexy love song for him

'My song was about calling your boss to say you're not coming in for the day - you're staying at home with your lover and having sex,' Joni told the publication.

'I thought it would be perfect for Keith, being a sexy love song,' she added.

Joni first met Keith in the 1990s when Keith had relocated from Australia to Canada but would later meet up with him.

Wondering eye: according to the publication and insider told them, "Joni is not the only former flame Keith keeps in touch with, he's very flirty when he's on tour and Nicole's not there to keep an eye on him'

'I got backstage at one of his concerts and he was like,"Hey Joni! How are you?" I was happy about that. Keith was a flirt. He had so much charisma.'

And according to the publication and insider told them, "Joni is not the only former flame Keith keeps in touch with, he's very flirty when he's on tour and Nicole's not there to keep an eye on him.'

They also warned that Nicole should keep a very close eye on the interview with Joni as it is very telling.

History together: Joni first met Keith in the 1990s when Keith had relocated from Australia to Canada but would later meet up with him

Keith recently told Rolling Stone he took drugs in the early 1990s, the same years he spent partying with Joni.

Despite the correlation in dates, Joni said she didn't think he took drugs and that he never seemed high.

She later admitted that Keith to this day faces an ongoing battle against his addictions but she is proud of him for killing them and loving his family.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted a representative of Keith Urban for comment.

Keith has been married to Nicole Kidman for 10 years.

A decade of marraige: Keith has been married to Nicole Kidman for 10 years
Figure Skating Canadian pair win NHK Trophy with record

Olympic silver medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the NHK Trophy ice-dance title on Sunday, bagging a world record score with their dazzling performance.

The duo skated to the crown with a combined 195.84 points, earning a standing ovation at the Makomanai Ice Arena in the northern Japan city of Sapporo.

The score eclipsed the previous record of 195.52, which brought gold to the American duo of Meryl Davis and Charlie White in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Canada's Tessa Virtue (L) and Scott Moir took the NHK Trophy ice-dance title with a combined 195.84 points, eclipsing the previous record of 195.52 Toshifumi Kitamura (AFP)

It was "a huge task" for the Canadian dancers to compete against a field that included the French world champions, Virtue said.

"They inspired us every day... Luckily we're able to just focus on our job and compete like we trained," he said.

The world record marked a stunning return to competition for a couple who had been off the circuit since taking the silver medal at Sochi two years ago.

Moir said they had missed competing and the structure of training.

"We missed pushing ourselves, so we're so pleased to be in this position to make art and create material that we're proud of.

"We just can't wait to get home and build this programme even more," she said.

Virtue said the duo would try to keep up the momentum towards the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Two-time world and European champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France finished second, with Italian veterans Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte coming third.

The French ice dancers, we well as Canada's Moir and Virtue, qualify for the Grand Prix Final in Marseille, France, on December 8-11.

In the men's competition, Japan's reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu retained his NHK Trophy title on Saturday, moving into high gear as he aims for a record fourth straight triumph in the Grand Prix Final.

In the women's competition, World bronze medallist Anna Pogorilaya of Russia won the trophy, while two-time and reigning world champions Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford of Canada triumphed in the pairs component.
Sri Lanka seeks Trump's help to drop war crimes charges

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Donald Trump to pressure the UN Human Rights Council to drop war crimes allegations against the country's troops.

Sirisena's office said Sunday he had sent a "special message" to president-elect Trump seeking US intervention at the council, where Sri Lanka faces censure for wartime atrocities.

"I sent a special message to Donald Trump asking him to support us at the (council)," the President said. "I am asking him to help completely clear my country (of war crimes allegations) and allow us to start afresh."

Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Donald Trump to pressure the UN Human Rights Council to drop war crimes allegations against the country's troops

Sirisena said he was making a similar appeal to the incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

However, during a visit by outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka last month, Sirisena had asked for more time to investigate war crimes, a sensitive political issue in the majority-Sinhalese country.

Sri Lanka has said it will set up special courts to address issues of accountability, but the promised judicial mechanisms have yet to be established.

There have been allegations that troops killed up to 40,000 minority Tamils during the final battle against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, a period when Sirisena's predecessor and strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse was in power.

Sirisena said he had been able to "tone down" a US-initiated censure resolution soon after defeating Rajapakse and coming to power in January 2015. But he was keen to secure Trump's help to have the allegations against Sri Lanka dropped.

The rights council has asked Sri Lanka to ensure credible investigations into war crimes, pay reparations to victims and their families and ensure reconciliation after 37 years of ethnic war which claimed at least 100,000 lives.
Turkey says Syria rebels hit by IS chemical attack

Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by an Islamic State (IS) gas attack in northern Syria, the Turkish army said Sunday, the first time Turkey has accused the jihadists of chemical warfare.

Observers, including the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), have previously accused IS of using mustard gas in Syria and described the possibility as extremely worrying.

"After a rocket was fired by Daesh (IS), 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas," the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The Turkish army is backing pro-Ankara Syrian rebels in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out Islamic State (IS) jihadists from the border area Nazeer al-Khatib (AFP/File)

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria, where the pro-Ankara fighters backed by Turkish special forces and air power are battling to dislodge the jihadists from the border area.

The report did not specify what type of gas was used.

Turkish media said the affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey's AFAD emergencies agency.

The reports said the Turkish emergency workers were equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves. The Syrians were brought to the main hospital in Kilis where they are undergoing treatment.

Television pictures showed some of the Syrians being transferred on stretchers to the hospital, with the emergency workers dressed in full-body white protective clothing and gas masks.

The incident comes amid growing fears over the use of chemical weapons on Syria's over five year civil war.

A joint UN and OPCW backed panel established during a year-long investigation that forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.

But the panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), also found that the Islamic State group in Syria used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015.

- Erdogan, Putin talk again -

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council unanimously decided to extend for another year the panel's mandate.

OPCW director general Ahmet Uzumcu told AFP earlier this month that IS may have itself manufactured mustard gas used in attacks in Syria and Iraq.

He said analysis of samples of mustard gas used was was "poor quality, but still harmful ... and it was weaponised so it's extremely worrying".

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out IS jihadists from the border area and also ensuring there is no Kurdish militia presence.

In a three-month operation, the rebels have so far captured the IS stronghold of Jarabulus, cleared IS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance.

With Turkish support they are now pressing to take Al Bab, another town deeper inside Syria, from the jihadists in an advance that appears to be taking more time and encountering greater opposition.

Tensions are running high after six Turkish soldiers were killed in the last week alone, two by IS but four in an air strike it believed was carried out by forces of Assad.

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Assad's main ally, discussed the Syria conflict by telephone for the second time in just over 24 hours, both sides said.

The Turkish armed forces said that four IS targets had been destroyed in the latest air raids by Turkish war planes over northern Syria.
Resurgent Autralia deny S. Africa Test series sweep

Australia rebounded to a seven-wicket victory over South Africa to end a run of five Test defeats in the day-night third Test in Adelaide on Sunday.

The Australians, rejuvenated by five team changes in response to two humiliating defeats to the Proteas to lose the series, chased down 127 runs for victory after dismissing the tourists for 250 on the fourth day of the pink-ball Test.

Debutant Peter Handscomb hit the winning run to finish one not out with fellow newcomer Matthew Renshaw on 34 in Australia's 127 for three.

Australia's batsman Matt Renshaw avoids a bouncer from South Africa on the fourth day of the third Test match between Australia and South Africa in Adelaide Peter Parks (AFP)

Handscomb came to the wicket after skipper Steve Smith was caught behind for 40 off Kyle Abbott with two runs to win.

"It's much better to be on this side of the fence," Smith said.

"A little bitter-sweet, it was a disappointing series, we were outplayed in the first two Tests.

"But I'm really proud how the team came back in this game, new players came in, they stood up and we showed some fight and character."

The home side also lost the wickets of David Warner and epic first-innings centurion Usman Khawaja on the way to victory.

Warner blazed 47 off 51 balls before he was run out in a mix-up and Khawaja, who batted for almost eight hours in the first innings, lasted just two balls before he was leg before wicket to a Tabraiz Shamsi wrong'un.

Australia's victory saw off the threat of South Africa taking an unprecedented series clean sweep Down Under and was just the tonic after recrimination over the team's abject form.

But after seizing a 124-run innings lead, Steve Smith's team broke down the Proteas resistance for their first Test victory since beating New Zealand by seven wickets in Christchurch in February.

Once the dangerous Quinton de Kock was removed for five early on the fourth day, South Africa were always under pressure to build a defendable target to bowl at the Australians.

Both teams wore black armbands to mark the second anniversary of the death of former Australia Test opener Phillip Hughes, who died from bleeding on the brain after being hit on the neck by a rising ball during a domestic match in Sydney.

- 'Huge effort' -

South Africa held outside hopes of repeating their predecessors' famous five-run victory in Sydney 22 years ago when they bowled out Australia for 111.

"Very happy. Our mission was successful. The last four days was not planned, but we came here to win the series, fortunately for us it was in Hobart (second Test)," South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis said.

"It was an incredible series to beat Australia 2-1 and to do it three times in a row is a huge effort."

The Proteas, who thrashed Australia in the first two Tests to claim a third consecutive series Down Under, added 56 runs to their overnight lead before they were bowled out with opener Stephen Cook scoring a defiant century.

Cook raised his second Test century and first against Australia with a pull through square leg for four off Josh Hazlewood.

It was a positive finish to an underwhelming series for Cook, who had scores of 0, 12, 23 and 40 in his other innings before his timely ton off 235 balls.

Cook was the last man out when he was bowled by Mitchell Starc 45 minutes before the tea break.

De Kock, who mastered the Australian bowlers, especially spinner Lyon, in the first two Tests, went cheaply.

Australia sought a review after Jackson Bird's leg before wicket appeal was turned down and replays showed the ball hitting de Kock's front pad pitching on middle and leg stump.

It was a massive blow for the Proteas' hopes of giving Australia a challenging target to chase down in the fourth innings.

Philander, named man-of-the-series, was one of Starc's four victims when he was leg before wicket for 17, losing a review in the process.

Kagiso Rabada lasted just nine balls before he edged a leg-side delivery from Hazlewood to a diving Matthew Wade and Cook's dismissal ended the innings.

The second pink-ball Test played in Adelaide drew a total of almost 126,000 fans over the four days.

Australia's captain Steve Smith makes a run against South Africa on the fourth day of the third Test match in Adelaide Peter Parks (AFP)

Australia's David Warner walks after being dismissed by South Africa on the fourth day of the third Test match in Adelaide on November 27, 2016 Peter Parks (AFP)
Israeli forces kill four IS-linked gunmen after Golan attack

Israeli forces killed four gunmen linked to the Islamic State group after they fired on soldiers Sunday, the military said, in the first such attack on the occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli soldiers were targeted with machinegun fire and mortars and they shot back, before the air force bombed the vehicle carrying the gunmen identified as members of "Shuhada al-Yarmouk, an IS affiliate", said spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner.

The soldiers, from the Golani Brigade, were beyond the fence separating Israeli-occupied Golan from Syria but on Israeli territory, Lerner told AFP, noting none was wounded in the clash.

Israeli soldiers take part in an exercise in the northern part of the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on September 13, 2016 Jalaa Marey (AFP/File)

Since the beginning of the internal Syrian conflict in 2011, stray fire from government and rebel forces has hit Israel, as have attacks by the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its affiliates.

Sunday's clash marked the first time Syria-based jihadists opened fire on Israeli soldiers on territory under Israeli control, according to a retired general, but probably did not mark a change in the strategy of the IS group.

"A direct attack like that on Israeli activities on Israeli side of border -- this is the first time," reserves general Nitzan Nuriel told reporters.

Nuriel said Israel has a policy of preventive action that it uses from time to time in the "grey zone" -- the term he used to describe "pockets between the security fence along the border and the official (demarcation line) between us and our neighbours."

The former director of Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau said the initiative behind the jihadist attack was "a local decision" and not emanating from a higher echelon, and did not mark a new policy of IS attacks on Israeli forces.

"They know exactly what the Israeli response" would be to attacks, Nuriel said of IS. An Israeli front is "the last thing IS needs at this stage".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the soldiers who "successfully repelled an attempted attack on the convergence point of three borders".

"Our forces are prepared on our northern border, and we won't let IS elements or other hostile elements use the cover of the war in Syria to establish themselves next to our borders," he said in remarks relayed by his office.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

While avoiding being drawn into the internal Syrian conflict, Israel attacks Syrian military targets when fire, even unintentional, spills over the demarcation line.
Ugandan tribal king arrested after clashes kill 55

Ugandan police stormed the palace of a tribal king and arrested him Sunday after fierce clashes between security forces and a separatist militia they believe is linked to him killed 55, police said.

Heavy fighting broke out Saturday in the western town of Kasese, home to King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom, when his royal guards attacked patrolling security forces, killing 14 police officers and 41 militants, said police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

President Yoweri Museveni phoned the king on Sunday morning and ordered him to disband the guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Ugandan policemen keep guard outside the home of an opposition leader in Kasangati, a Kampala suburb on February 20, 2016 Isaac Kasamani (AFP/File)

"We took time to talk to the king to get those people out but the king was non-compliant. The only option was to storm the palace and get those people out and get him out for his own security and safety," Kaweesi told AFP.

"He has to explain his involvement in these incidents. He will be charged with inciting violence and brought to Kampala."

Violence has been simmering in the region all week, with four militants killed when they attacked a police post on Thursday, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Kaweesi said members of the royal guard threw an improvised grenade at patrolling officers on Saturday, prompting them to open fire and kill four of the "attackers".

"That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties," he said, adding that fighting between militants -- not all of them royal guards -- armed with guns and spears and security forces had continued until late in the evening.

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, of the Bakonzo people -- with supporters among those who share the same culture and language in the DRC.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo -- tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe under colonial rule -- declared their own kingdom in 1962.

The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

- 'The kingdom is not involved' -

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009.

However unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict, as many in the region still feel marginalised by authorities in distant Kampala.

Some in Uganda, with the support from their sister tribe in the DR Congo, have taken up arms and are agitating for the creation of the Yiira Republic which would cover territory in Uganda and part of North Kivu in the DR Congo.

The Banande in DRC and the Bakonzo in Uganda, have the same culture and language and are believed to stem from one people known as the Ba-Yira.

Though Mumbere has distanced himself from the cause, authorities accuse his royal guards of training in the mountains alongside separatist militia forces to attack government installations.

"We have told the government the kingdom is not involved in the creation of Yiira republic which wants to break away (from Uganda) and that the royal guards are not involved," Rwenzururu kingdom spokesman, Clarence Bwambale told AFP shortly before the king's arrest as heavy shooting echoed in the background.
Armed men in police uniforms free five in India jailbreak

At least 10 armed men disguised as policemen stormed a high-security prison in India's Punjab state Sunday and freed a top Sikh militant commander and four others, officials said.

The attackers, who travelled in cars, stabbed and injured a guard at the main gate of Nabha Jail in Patiala district and fired several shots before fleeing with the inmates.

Two other guards were injured by the firing during the incident, India's second major jailbreak in less than a month.

An Indian police officer stands near the gate of the Nabha maximum-security prison in Punjab

A state-wide alert has been declared and special teams formed to hunt down the attackers, said H S Dhillon, Punjab director-general of police for law and order.

Police sealed all entry and exit routes in the state.

They identified one of the fugitives as Harminder Singh Mintoo, chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) -- a militant group fighting for a Sikh homeland in Punjab.

Mintoo was arrested in 2014 and is on trial for "terror attacks and funding".

The four others are part of a local criminal gang and were on trial for murder.

Local media reports said the attackers numbered around 20 and that six prisoners had escaped.

- Woman killed -

A woman was killed late Sunday after police shot at her car when the driver allegedly failed to stop at a checkpoint on a highway, some 25 kilometres from Patiala district.

The woman was an artist travelling with her team to attend a wedding in a neighbouring state and had no connection to the jailbreak, police said.

"We are trying to find out what actually happened," said one officer, requesting anonymity.

Another person was injured.

Four officials, including the Punjab prisons chief and jail superintendent, have been suspended or sacked after the jailbreak, authorities said.

A reward of 2.5 million rupees ($36,000) has been offered for information on the escapees.

In October eight Islamists awaiting trial escaped a prison in Madhya Pradesh state. They were gunned down hours later in a shootout, which many allege was staged by police.

A senior police officer said the swift assault on Sunday took guards by surprise as the attackers moved quickly through the complex, indicating they knew the jail layout.

"We are trying to figure out the connection between the gangsters and the militant leader. Did he flee by a fluke?" the officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Punjab was in the grip of an insurgency for almost three decades after several groups launched an armed campaign in the 1970s for an independent Sikh state to be known as Khalistan.

The violence peaked following the army's 1984 storming of the holiest Sikh shrine, Amritsar's Golden Temple, to flush out militants.

The military operation angered Sikhs, resulting in the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Thousands of Sikhs took up arms to avenge the sacrilege at the temple.

More than 20,000 people, mostly civilians, had died by the late 90s, when the insurgency waned.

But several Sikh groups remain committed to the Khalistan movement and dozens of alleged militants remain imprisoned.
Angola: Fidel Castro's big African adventure

Southern African leaders paid glowing tributes to the late revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, but if one country will forever be heavily indebted to his leadership of Cuba, it is Angola.

Castro sent tens of thousands of troops when oil-giant Angola became embroiled in a proxy war between the United States and Russia who were vying for Cold War supremacy.

Having gained independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government faced a civil war against the rival National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

Cuban soldiers helping the Angolan regular army and Soviet-backed Marxist MPLA regime patrol near Cuito Cuanavale, southern Angola, on February 29, 1988 where they were fighting the Western-backed UNITA nationalist movement Pascal Guyot (AFP/File)

Castro supported the MPLA, which was fighting US- and apartheid-backed UNITA.

It culminated in the 1988 Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, in southern Angola, an epic confrontation that sounded the death knell for South Africa's apartheid regime and indirectly led to the independence of Namibia.

He was "an extraordinary figure of transcendent historical importance," Angolan leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos said of the late Cuban leader.

In a manner similar to Libya, Cuba provided military and ideological support to national liberation movements across the African continent -- around 56,000 of the nearly 400,000 troops Castro sent to Cold War hot spots were in Angola.

The highlight of that deployment was Cuito Cuanavale, which "was the watershed moment in southern African liberation," said Namibia's President Hage Geingob.

Castro, 14,000 kilometres (8,600 miles) away in Havana, reportedly gave commands via telephone to his generals on the ground.

"Cuba, in Angola is where the cold war superpowers forces had their showdown," said Paula Roque, a University of Oxford specialist researcher on Angola.

- Watershed moment -

While Cuba provided troops, the Soviet Union was responsible for military hardware.

By the time the war ended Angola owed Moscow $5-billion, but nothing to Cuba. Castro believed "revolution was not something you paid for," said Roque.

"They were very much punching above their weight, they were a small island that had such a big ambitious project in Angola," she added.

Even African countries with lesser links to Cuba, such as South Sudan, had liberation movement leaders trained in Havana.

"Southern Africa freedom is inextricably intertwined with the history of Cuba," said Mac Maharaj, an ANC veteran and fellow inmate of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's late anti-apartheid icon.

After Namibia won independence from South Africa in 1990, shortly after Cuito Cuanavale, apartheid would fall and the African National Congress (ANC), led by the freed Mandela, won its first free elections in 1994.

"Fidel became a huge inspiration. There in an unbreakable bond between Cuba and the southern African struggle," said Maharaj.

It was Castro who received the "loudest applause" from the audience at the inauguration of Mandela as president, according to the late former president's friend in the struggle against apartheid, Ahmed Kathrada.

And three decades after the end of Cuba's military involvement, Havana's contribution to Angola and southern Africa is still alive.

More than 42 percent of healthcare workers in Angola are Cubans, many of whom decided to stay on after the war.

Elsewhere in the region, South African state security, intelligence officers still go for training in Cuba, according to Roque.
Vintage biplane crashes in Kenya, Irish pilots unhurt

An Irish father and daughter team taking part in a cross-Africa rally escaped unhurt after crashlanding their 1930s biplane on the way to Kenya's capital, where participants staged an airshow Sunday, organisers said.

"Team Eagle in a Boeing Stearman have suffered total engine failure and made a forced landing. We are happy to say and terribly relieved that both crew are uninjured, but the aircraft is irreparably damaged," the Vintage Air Rally said on its Facebook page of the incident which took place on Saturday.

About a dozen planes from the 1920s and 1930s are taking part in the 13,000-kilometre (8,000-mile) journey from the Greek island of Crete to Cape Town -- an extraordinary bid in aircraft with no autopilot, automation or protection from the elements.

People look at a vintage Boeing Stearman Model 75 biplane as it sits on the runway at Khartoum airport in Khartoum, Sudan during the Vintage Air Rally (VAR) on November 20, 2016 Ashraf Shazly (AFP/File)

The teams became the first group of aircraft to land at Egypt's Giza pyramids in 80 years and were detained for two days in rough conditions in Ethiopia after a mix-up with their flight permits.

However they finally made it to Kenya where they flew their vintage planes on Sunday above Nairobi's famed National Park, where lions, zebra and giraffe roam in the shadow of the city.

The adventure-filled rally has also seen maverick 72-year-old British pilot Maurice Kirk go missing twice. After being released from Ethiopia he landed up in conflict-torn South Sudan instead of Kenya.

"Locals found him and called a Brit in Juba they recently worked for. He contacted the British embassy in Juba," organisers said on their Facebook page Saturday.
Syria forces retake 6 Aleppo rebel areas, civilians flee

Government forces have retaken a third of rebel-held territory in Aleppo, forcing nearly 10,000 civilians to flee as they pressed their offensive to retake Syria's second city.

In a major breakthrough in the push to retake the whole city, regime forces captured six rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo over the weekend, including Masaken Hanano, the biggest of those in eastern Aleppo.

On Sunday, the 13th day of the operation, they also took control of the adjacent neighbourhoods of Jabal Badra and Baadeeen and captured three others, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A tank is seen on a street on November 27, 2016 in the Masaken Hanano district in eastern Aleppo, a day after Syrian pro-government forces seized it from rebel fighters George Ourfalian (AFP)

Inzarat, Al-Sakan al-Shaabi and Ain al-Tall have all returned to regime hands and government forces have made large forays into Sakhur and nearby Haidariya, the monitor said.

It said government forces are "in control of most of the northern part" of Aleppo.

"The rebels have lost at least 30 percent of the territory they once controlled in Aleppo," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The regime gains came as its aircraft pounded rebel positions and amid heavy clashes between the opposition and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the strategic Sakhur district.

Masaken Hanano was the first district the rebels took in the summer of 2012 in a move that divided the city into a rebel-held east and a regime-controlled west.

Around 250,000 civilians besieged for months in the east have faced serious food and fuel shortages.

The Observatory said that nearly 10,000 civilians had fled east Aleppo overnight Saturday -- at least 6,000 to the Kurdish-controlled northern district of Sheikh Maksoud, with the rest fleeing to government-held areas.

"It is the first exodus of this kind from east Aleppo since 2012," Abdel Rahman said.

- Regime sights on Sakhur -

Syrian state television broadcast images of a crowd of civilians including women and children gathered around green buses that it said had come to pick them up in Masaken Hanano.

One woman was shown pushing a stroller and many others carried plastic bags on their heads as bombardment was heard in the distance.

Official media said they were taken "by the army to safe areas".

Yasser al-Youssef, from the rebel group Nureddin al-Zinki, said opposition fighters were consolidating their positions in Sakhur.

"We are strengthening our positions to defend the city and residents, but the aircraft are destroying everything methodically, area by area," he said of a regime campaign of air strikes.

Sakhur lies on a stretch of just 1.5 kilometres (less than a mile) between west Aleppo and Masaken Hanano, now both regime-controlled.

If the regime takes control of Sakhur, east Aleppo would be split in two from north to south, dealing a further blow to the armed opposition.

The latest regime push comes after days of intense bombardment on the east, which has been pounded with air strikes, shelling and barrel bombs.

On Saturday, dozens of families fled Sakhur and Haidariya as regime raids and artillery killed at least 18 civilians in several districts, the Britain-based Observatory said.

At least 225 civilians, including 27 children, have been killed since the government's latest assault on east Aleppo began on November 15.

- IS chemical attack -

Rebel forces also intensified rocket attacks on western districts overnight, killing at least four civilians and wounding dozens, the Observatory said.

Such attacks have killed a total of 27 civilians since the offensive began, among them 11 children.

The United Nations has a plan to deliver aid to Aleppo and evacuate the sick and wounded, which rebel factions have approved but which Damascus has not yet agreed. Guarantees are also needed from regime ally Russia.

Once a commercial and industrial hub, Aleppo has seen some of the worst fighting in Syria's nearly six-year war.

The conflict broke out in 2011 with the brutal repression of anti-government protests, and has since evolved into a complex war involving different factions and foreign powers.

On Sunday, the Turkish army said that 22 pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by a chemical gas attack from Islamic State group jihadists in northern Syria.

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented cross-border operation it says is targeting both IS and the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, which Ankara considers to be a "terrorist" group.

The YPG is a key component of a US-backed Arab-Kurdish alliance fighting to oust IS from its de facto Syria capital of Raqa, after the jihadist group overran large parts of Syria and Iraq in 2014.

Syria's war has killed more than 300,000 people and displaced more than half the population.

Regime forces advance in Aleppo

Displaced Syrian families arrive at a makeshit camp on November 27, 2016 in the government-held district of Jibreen in Aleppo George Ourfalian (AFP)

Syrian pro-government forces inspect an area in the Masaken Hanano district in eastern Aleppo November 27, 2016, a day after they resized it from rebel fighters George Ourfalian (AFP)

Syrian pro-government forces inspect an area on November 27, 2016 in the Masaken Hanano district in eastern Aleppo, a day after they resized it from rebel fighters George Ourfalian (AFP)

Displaced Syrian families gather at a makeshit camp on November 27, 2016 in the government-held district of Jibreen in Aleppo, as civilians have fled the eastern part of the city in the wake of regime forces advancing against rebel-held districts George Ourfalian (AFP)




President Tran Dai Quang and his Madagascan counterpart Hery Rajaonarimampianina (Photo: VNA)

The talks were held at Madagascars Presidential Palace following an official welcoming ceremony for the Vietnamese leader, who is in the African nation to attend the 16th Francophonie Summit.



They rejoiced at progress in the two countries traditional friendship and sound cooperation.

The host leader underlined the importance of President Quangs visit as this is the first time his country has welcomed a Vietnamese President.

He said the Madagascan people have long admired the Communist Party of Vietnam and the Vietnamese people since the Southeast Asian country is a symbol of the struggle for national liberation in the past as well as of current national development, particularly in poverty reduction, which has been recognised by many countries around the world.

President Quang said his country is ready to cooperate with Madagascar in the fields it is strong in and Madagascar has demand for, especially agriculture, trade and investment.

He asked both sides to soon sign important agreements such as those on double-taxation avoidance, and investment encouragement and protection so as to create a legal framework for business and investment partnerships.

The two Presidents agreed to direct their respective agriculture ministries to expeditiously organise meetings to devise concrete cooperation projects. The Vietnamese side repeated an invitation to Madagascars agriculture minister to visit its country in the near future.

Vietnam and Madagascar should increase delegation exchanges at all levels and boost economic, trade and investment cooperation to intensify bilateral ties, President Quang said, asking Madagascar to provide optimal conditions for Vietnams military-run telecom Viettel to invest in the local telecommunication industry.

Both leaders highly valued the inauguration of Vietnams honorary consulate in Madagascar and described this as a milestone in the countries relations. The consulate is expected to help bring about practical outcomes in their cooperation in the time ahead.

At the talks, they also exchanged views on many issues to improve cooperation within the International Organisation of La Francophonie. President Quang spoke highly of Madagascars efforts to host the 16th Francophonie Summit.

With regard to international and regional situations, the Vietnamese leader stressed the significance of enhanced cooperation to maintain peace, stability and development, particularly to ensure freedom, security and safety of navigation.

The two sides highlighted the law-abiding spirit and the principle of resolving sea disputes by peaceful means on the basis of international law, including the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

They agreed to continue coordination at international forums, especially within the framework of the UN and the Non-Aligned Movement.

President Quang took this occasion to ask Madagascar to support his countrys candidacy for a non-permanent membership in the UN Security Council in the 2020-2021 tenure.

He thanked the Madagascan Government for helping to renovate the complex of President Ho Chi Minh statue at a square in downtown Antananarivo capital city, noting that the complex is a symbol of the countries time-honoured amity and demonstrates Madagascans sentiment towards the late leader of Vietnam.

He also acknowledged favourable conditions the Madagascan Government has provided for Vietnamese-origin people.

On this occasion, he invited HeryRajaonarimampianina to pay an official visit to Vietnam. The Madagascan President thanked and accepted the invitation.

Following their talks, the two Presidents witnessed the signing of a memorandum of understanding on rice trading cooperation between Vietnam and Madagascar.

Also on November 25th, President Quang laid a wreath at Ho Chi Minh Square in Antananarivo and visited Vietnams pavilion at the Francophone Village.

Talking to Vietnamese-Madagascans, he assured the Vietnamese Party, State and people always consider Madagascans of Vietnamese origin as an integral part of the country. He also acknowledged their contributions to the development of Vietnam and hoped that they will keep solidarity and work harder for the sake of Madagascar as well as bilateral relations./.
UN Yemen envoy in new bid for peace

The UN envoy for Yemen has announced a new bid for peace talks between the government and rebels, after the latest ceasefire failed to end the 20-month conflict.

The peace efforts by Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed came as dozens were reported killed in fighting at the weekend.

Envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed said he was heading to Riyadh and Kuwait "to prepare for a new round" of talks, as he left Muscat late Saturday after discussions with representatives of Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies.

The United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed pictured at Sanaa international airport on October 25, 2016 Mohammed Huwais (AFP/File)

Riyadh has been the base of Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since the rebels forced him to flee his country in March 2015 and prompted Saudi Arabia to lead an Arab coalition in a military campaign against the insurgents.

The UN envoy was to meet Hadi "within two days" in the southern Yemeni city of Aden to receive the government's response to his peace proposals, Foreign Minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi told AFP.

Hadi flew to Aden on Saturday for a surprise visit to the port city which is serving as Yemen's temporary capital since coalition-backed loyalists recaptured it from the rebels.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed, quoted by Oman's official ONA news agency, said he found "a lot of seriousness" in talks with representatives of the Huthis and their allies from the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The envoy also said he had been in contact with US Secretary of State John Kerry who "sees a historic chance to achieve peace in Yemen".

A previous round of peace talks held in Kuwait collapsed in August.

A 48-hour ceasefire declared by the coalition ended last Monday with little success in reducing violence in the war-torn country.

Both parties traded blame for the numerous violations of the ceasefire that came into effect after Kerry intervened.

It was the latest international attempt to end a conflict which the United Nations says has killed more than 7,000 people and wounded nearly 37,000 since March last year.

The Huthis overran the capital Sanaa and other parts of the impoverished country in September 2014.

A Yemeni official said Sunday 12 civilians were killed when a coalition air strike hit two makeshift wooden houses sheltering displaced families in the western province of Hodeida.

The official said the raid late on Saturday had apparently targeted the two houses "mistakenly", adding that a rebel position 300 metres (yards) away was untouched.

The coalition has been strongly criticised over the high number of civilians killed in its air strikes.

In northwest Yemen, the sources said, 40 soldiers and 22 rebels have been killed since Friday in heavy clashes for control of a road linking the Red Sea port city of Midi and nearby Haradh.

Elsewhere, two women were killed in rebel bombing of the southwestern city of Taez, military officials said.
Two Yazidi mass graves found near Iraq's Sinjar

Two graves containing the bodies of Iraqi Yazidis believed to have been killed by the Islamic State group have been discovered in northern Iraq, a local official said.

"Two mass graves were found in Um al-Shababik village," Sinjar mayor Mahma Khalil told AFP.

He said the two graves, containing nine bodies each, were about 150 metres from each other, in the western Sinjar region.

Two Yazidi graves, similar to the mass grave found on November 7, 2016 (pictured), have been discovered in northern Iraq Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP/File)

Khalil said the authorities were informed and added that the Yazidi Genocide Commission had taken samples.

He said the latest discoveries brought to 29 the number of such graves discovered since anti-IS forces last year retook Sinjar, the minority's main urban hub.

They contain at least 1,600 bodies, he said.

The Kurdish-speaking minority is neither Arab nor Muslim and is mostly based around Sinjar mountain, between the city of Mosul and the Syrian border.

It practices its own religion, a unique blend of faiths which is rooted in Zoroastrianism but borrows from Islam, Christianity and other beliefs.

In August 2014, two months after sweeping across Iraq's Sunni heartland, IS jihadists made a second push into an area that had been under Kurdish security control.

Thousands of Yazidi men were massacred when the jihadists attacked the town of Sinjar and thousands of women and girls were kidnapped and enslaved.

Yazidi community leaders say up to 3,000 Yazidi women may still be at the hands of the jihadists across the "caliphate" they proclaimed more than two years ago over parts of Iraq and Syria.
No elections in DR Congo before April 2018: minister

Controversial moves to extend Congolese President Laurent Kabila's stay in power appeared to advance Sunday as a close ally said elections would not be held until April 2018, 16 months after Kabila was due to leave office.

Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda also warned that the political opposition in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has urged Kabila to step down on December 20 when his term officially ends, could foment violence.

Tshibanda, speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Madagascar, said that Kabila's government had "consulted election experts" from Congo, the United Nations and elsewhere, and that "it has been decided that the voter registration operation will end on July 31, 2017 and that elections will take place in April 2018".

Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda warned political opposition to incumbent president Laurent Kabila could foment violence Gianluigi Guercia (AFP)

"Before that no expert thinks it will be possible" to organise a vote, he said.

Kabila, who has been elected to two presidential terms, is barred from serving again but has never said he plans to step aside.

Earlier this month he cut a power-sharing deal, appointing fringe opposition politician Samy Badibanga as prime minister in a move that effectively extends his term to at least late 2017.

The "Gathering", a movement of mainstream opposition groups that back politician Etienne Tshisekedi to replace Kabila, have rejected the deal.

In September, during protests organised by the Gathering against the delayed elections, 53 people were killed, according to a UN toll. Congolese authorities have banned further rallies including one last week.

"It is clear that not all political actors are acting responsibly, and that some of them are practising politics of the worst kind", Tshibanda said.

He said he "cannot exclude that there might be attempts at violence", and warned that "the Congolese government will act accordingly".

The question of Kabila's succession has triggered renewed political crisis in Congo, a vast resource-rich nation riven for decades by rival power struggles.

Kabila came to power after the murder of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila by a bodyguard in 2001 during the Second Congo War, which ended two years later.

Elected in 2006, he went on to win a second five-year term in a 2011 vote decried as rigged by the opposition.

Tshibanda, speaking at a summit of leaders of French-speaking nations, said Kabila was unable to attend.

"The head of state cannot leave the capital when he is in the middle of consultations to form a government," the foreign minister said.
Status of main battle fronts in Iraq and Syria

Here is a look at the latest developments on the ground on the main fronts of the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, as of 1700 GMT on Sunday:

IRAQ

- Battle for Mosul -

An Iraqi army MI-28 helicopter flies over the village of Baylunah on November 27, 2016 during an ongoing operation against Islamic State (IS) group jihadists, which began on October 17, 2016 Ahmad Al-Rubaye (AFP)

Iraqi forces battled the Islamic State group deep in eastern Mosul, edging deeper towards the Tigris river that divides the city.

Since the October 17 start of a broad offensive to retake Mosul, Iraqi forces have recaptured several eastern neighbourhoods despite fierce jihadist resistance. Last week they were reported to be in control of 40 percent of eastern Mosul.

Iraqi forces are also within striking distance on northern and southern fronts, but there has been a halt in progress in recent days.

The Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitaries, reaching the outskirts of the town of Tal Afar, to the west, gained more ground Sunday and seized small villages in remote areas southwest of Mosul.

SYRIA

- Raqa -

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, is advancing in the desert as it tries to push closer to IS's de facto Syrian capital of Raqa.

The SDF has been battling the jihadists to drive them from positions some 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the city.

- Battle for Aleppo -

More than 4,000 civilians have fled rebel-held districts after regime forces scored a major breakthrough on Saturday by capturing what had been the largest opposition-controlled neighbourhood, Masaken Hanano.

On Sunday, they also took the adjacent neighbourhoods of Jabal Badro and Baadeen.

The fighting moved to neighbouring districts, including Haidariya and Sakhur, with regime aircraft pounding rebel positions and heavy fighting between the opposition and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Sakhur lies on a stretch of just 1.5 kilometres (less than a mile) between west Aleppo and Masaken Hanano. If the regime did manage to take control of the district, east Aleppo would be split in two from north to south, dealing a further blow to the armed opposition.

A least 219 civilians, including 27 children, have been killed in east Aleppo since the latest assault began on November 15, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Another 27 civilians, among them 11 children, have been killed in rebel fire on western Aleppo, it says.

- Other fronts -

Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by an IS gas attack in northern Syria, the Turkish army said Sunday, the first time Turkey has accused the jihadists of chemical warfare.

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria, where the pro-Ankara fighters backed by Turkish special forces and air power are battling to dislodge the jihadists from the border area.

Syrian rebels backed by Turkish forces are inching closer to the IS stronghold of Al-Bab in Aleppo province, as they press Ankara's Operation "Euphrates Shield" to expel IS from the border area.

Iraqi forces in Mosul Simon Malfatto, Sabrina Blanchard, Thomas Saint-Cricq (AFP/File)

Civilians greet fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces, as they advance in the desert toward Raqa Delil Souleiman (AFP/File)

Civilians trying to flee Aleppo Kun Tian, Sabrina Blanchard, Thomas Saint-Cricq (AFP/File)
Ron Glass, co-star of TV's 'Barney Miller' dead at 71

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Ron Glass, the handsome, prolific character actor best known for his role as the gregarious, sometimes sardonic detective Ron Harris in the long-running cop comedy "Barney Miller," has died at age 71.

Glass died Friday of respiratory failure, his agent, Jeffrey Leavett, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

"Ron was a private, gentle and caring man," said Leavett, a longtime friend of the actor. "He was an absolute delight to watch on screen. Words cannot adequately express my sorrow. "

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2013 file photo, actor Ron Glass arrives at the 65th Emmy Awards Nomination Celebration at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. Glass, the handsome, prolific character actor best known for his role as Ron Harris, the gregarious, sometimes sardonic detective in the long-running cop comedy "Barney Miller," has died at age 71. Glass died Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, of respiratory failure, his agent, Jeffrey Leavett, told The Associated Press on Saturday. (Photo by Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP, File)

Although best known for "Barney Miller," Glass appeared in dozens of other shows in a television and film career dating to the early 1970s.

He portrayed Derrial Book, the spiritual shepherd with a cloudy past in the 2002 science-fiction series Firefly" and its 2005 film sequel "Serenity."

He was Felix Unger opposite Desmond Wilson's Oscar Madison in "The New Odd Couple," a 1980s reboot of the original Broadway show, film and television series that this time cast black actors in the lead roles of Unger's prissy neat freak forced to share an apartment with slovenly friend Madison.

Glass was also the voice of Randy Carmichael, the genial neighbor and father of four children in the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series "Rugrats" and its spinoff, "All Grown Up."

He also made appearances in such shows as "Friends," ''Star Trek: Voyager" and "Designing Women." More recently he appeared in episodes of "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" and "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." Early credits included "All in the Family," ''Maude," ''Sanford and Son" and "Hawaii Five-0."

In "Barney Miller" his literate Detective Ron Harris was one of the few generally normal characters who populated a New York City police precinct filled with oddballs on both sides of the law. The ensemble cast included Hal Linden as precinct Capt. Barney Miller, Max Gail as Detective Stan 'Wojo' Wojciehowicz, and Abe Vigoda as Detective Phil Fish.

The show aired from 1975 until 1982, winning two Golden Globes and two Emmy Awards for best comedy series. Glass was nominated for a supporting actor Emmy in 1982.

Raised in Evansville, Indiana, Glass received a Bachelor of Arts degree in drama and literature from the University of Evansville.

After graduation he moved to Minneapolis where he worked in regional theater before coming to Los Angeles to launch his TV and film career.

He was also a member of the board of directors for Los Angeles' AL Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, an organization named for a man murdered in a gang-initiation drive-by shooting and dedicated to helping inner-city youth stay safe and receive an education.

Information on funeral services and survivors was not immediately available.

FILE - In this Sept. 17, 2013 file photo, actor Ron Glass arrives at the 65th Emmy Awards Nomination Celebration at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. Glass, the handsome, prolific character actor best known for his role as Ron Harris, the gregarious, sometimes sardonic detective in the long-running cop comedy "Barney Miller," has died at age 71. Glass died Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, of respiratory failure, his agent, Jeffrey Leavett, told The Associated Press on Saturday. (Photo by Paul A. Hebert/Invision/AP, File)
Wells Fargo seeks arbitration order in customer lawsuit

Wells Fargo & Co. wants a federal court judge in Utah to order that customers suing the banking giant over improper sales practices submit their claims to binding arbitration.

The San Francisco-based company's request applies to a class-action lawsuit filed initially by three Utah residents who at one time had accounts with the bank.

They sued Wells Fargo in September, one week after the bank made headlines for agreeing to pay $185 million to settle allegations that its workers opened millions of accounts without customers' permission to reach aggressive sales targets.

The class-action complaint, which alleges breach of contract, fraud and other claims, now includes 80 named plaintiffs.

In a filing Wednesday to U.S. District Judge Clark Waddoups, Wells Fargo asserted that the plaintiffs agreed to submit any disputes to arbitration when they signed up for Wells Fargo checking accounts, credit cards or other services.

The lender also asked the court to allow it to gather more information on 22 of the plaintiffs so that the company can determine whether they should also be included in its request to have plaintiffs' claims deal with via arbitration.

Additionally, Wells Fargo asked Waddoups to dismiss the lawsuit, in case the company's bid for an arbitration order fails.
Australia ends 5-test losing streak with win vs South Africa

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP)  Steve Smith ushered his new-look Australia lineup to the brink of victory, then entrusted a pair of rookies to finish off the seven-wicket win over South Africa on Sunday that ended a demoralizing streak of five defeats.

In a move that could be considered either bold or desperate, Australia selectors responded to big losses to South Africa in Perth and Hobart by making five changes to the XI for the day-night test in Adelaide, including three uncapped batsmen in the top six.

Two of them  20-year-old opener Matt Renshaw and 25-year-old No. 5 Peter Handscomb  were there when Australia reached the target of 127 for the loss of three wickets, sealing the match with more than a day to spare.

Australia's Steven Smith, left, and South Africa's Faf du Plessis shake hands at the end of their cricket test match in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Australia win the match while South Africa took the series 2-1. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Handscomb hit the winning single and Renshaw finished unbeaten on 34 after sharing partnerships of 64 with vice-captain David Warner (47) and 61 with his skipper, Smith (40).

South Africa won its third straight series in Australia, clinching it with wins by 177 runs and by an innings and 80 runs despite the absence of captain A.B. de Villiers and the injury-enforced loss of pace spearhead Dale Steyn.

But Australia won some redemption.

"It's nice to get a win on the board," said Smith, who was dismissed just two runs from victory. "We've been outplayed in the first two test matches, but to come out here with a new-look team, an inexperienced team, and show some character and some fight and resilience, I think it was a great turnaround."

After the loss in Hobart, Smith said he was humiliated and embarrassed by Australia's batting collapses.

Chief selector Rod Marsh retired, and five players were discarded. Youthful batsmen Renshaw, Handscomb and Nic Maddinson were rushed into the team, wicketkeeper Matt Wade replaced Peter Nevill and seamer Jackson Bird was brought in to support the new ball pair of Mitch Starc and Josh Hazlewood.

"I'm really proud and pleased with the way the boys stood up in this game," Smith said. "They showed a bit of fight, character and resilience."

Renshaw showed he could occupy the crease, surviving 12 overs under lights against the pink ball on the opening night after Faf du Plessis's tactical declaration at 259-9. It was the start Australia needed to get to 383. He anchored the second innings, facing 139 balls for his 34.

"He didn't seem fazed by it all. He just got on with the job," Smith said. "It was nice for him and Pete, two guys on debut, to be there at the end."

The Australians were coasting until Warner was run out and Usman Khawaja, who scored 145 in a first innings that spanned three days  was trapped lbw with the total on 64.

The rest of the fourth day, though, went entirely Australia's way. South Africa resumed at 194-6 and was all out for 250, with Starc returning 4-80 and spinner Nathan Lyon taking 3-60. Stephen Cook's 104  his highest score since a century on debut against England in January  was the highlight of the South African innings.

"He's a fighter, Cooky," du Plessis said. "Just proud of his character that he showed. It's hardest when you're under pressure to score a big innings like that."

Du Plessis should know. He scored an unbeaten 118 in the first innings, when he was booed as he walked onto the field and when he reached his century. It followed a week of upheaval after he was found guilty of ball tampering by the International Cricket Council for the way he shined the ball in the second test with a mint in his mouth. He says he has been unfairly labeled a cheat for doing something that cricketers all over the world have done. Cricket South Africa has appealed the verdict.

"Mission successful," du Plessis said, reflecting on the three-match series. "Incredible series to beat Australia 2-1, and to do it three times in a row  it's fantastic."

Du Plessis praised his bowlers, led by player-of-the-series Vernon Philander, for how they rattled the Australians in Steyn's absence.

He said he'd take time out to relax before the home test series against Sri Lanka. Australia will host New Zealand in a limited-overs series before kicking off a three-test series against Pakistan on Dec. 15 with a day-night match in Brisbane.

South Africa's Faf du Plessis, left, along with teammate Tabraiz Shamsi congratulate Australia's Peter Handscomb, right, at the end of their cricket test match in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Australia won the match while South Africa took the series 2-1. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Australia's Steven Smith, left, and Matt Renshaw run between wickets at the end of their cricket test match against South Africa in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Australia won the match while South Africa took the series 2-1. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

South Africa's Stephen Cook raises his bat after making 100 runs against Australia during their cricket test match in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

South Africa's Stephen Cook is bowled for 104 runs against Australia during their cricket test match in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

Australia's Nathan Lyon, left, puts his arm around teammate Mitchell Starc during their cricket test match against South Africa in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)

South Africa's Stephen Cook ducks under a bouncer from Australia during their cricket test match in Adelaide, Australia, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Virtue, Moir win ice dance at NHK to qualify for GP Final

SAPPORO, Japan (AP)  Olympic and world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada set a record score to win the ice dance event at the NHK Trophy on Sunday and qualify for the figure skating Grand Prix Final.

The Canadians, first after the short program, finished with a combined total of 195.84 points, slightly edging the previous high of 195.52 set by Meryl Davis and Charlie White at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

"Tessa and I always have been a team that doesn't really pay attention to the points," Moir said. "It is kind of great to hear that you got a world record score, but it doesn't really mean very much. For us, the focus is just on our skating and just being in the mix again."

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2016 file photo, Canada's Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir perform in the ice dance free skate during the Skate Canada figure skating event in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Olympic and world champions Virtue and Moir set a record score to win the ice dance event at the NHK Trophy in Sapporo, Japan, on Sunday, Nov. 27, and qualify for the figure skating Grand Prix Final. (Mark Blinch/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France were second with 186.66 points followed by Anna Cappellini and Luna Lanotte of Italy with 180.42.

Virtue and Moir completed level-four lifts, spin and twizzles and got a level three for their circular and diagonal step sequences.

In their return to competition this season, Virtue and Moir won the Autumn Classic in September and Skate Canada in October.

"It feels great to be back, we're excited to build on this momentum as we head into Grand Prix Final", Virtue said.

Papadakis and Cizeron also qualified for the GP Final. The other teams to qualify are; Maia and Alex Shibutani, Madison Chock and Evan Bates; Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States; Ekatrina Bobrova and Dimitri Soloviev of Russia.
Who deserves millions in art seized from Marcos regime?

NEW YORK (AP)  A multimillion-dollar trove of seized Impressionist art believed to have been owned by the regime of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has sat for five years in a climate-controlled Brooklyn warehouse, the subject of a bitter legal fight.

At issue is whether the 50 works  which include an 1881 painting by Claude Monet  should go to thousands of victims of the now-dead dictator, to the current Philippine government or to the personal secretary to Imelda Marcos, who contends she was rightfully given some of the art as gifts.

"It's a question of who is the owner and who is entitled," said Robert Swift, a human rights attorney representing nearly 10,000 victims of the Marcos regime who in 2011 won a judgment against Marcos, his estate and Imelda, his wife.

FILE - In this Sept. 26, 1982 file photo, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Imelda Marcos appear at a rally in the Los Angeles Sports Arena. A multimillion-dollar trove of seized Impressionist art believed to have been owned by the regime of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has sat for five years in a climate-controlled New York warehouse, the subject of a bitter legal fight. At issue is whether the 50 works should go to thousands of victims of the now-dead dictator, to the current Filipino government or to the secretary to Imelda Marcos, who contends she was rightfully given some of the art as gifts. (AP Photo, File)

Of particular interest in the long-running, multi-jurisdictional case is an 1899 Monet from the "Water Lilies" series called "Le Bassin aux Nympheas," that the secretary, Vilma Bautista, sold in 2010 for $32 million. The other highly disputed items are three other prominent paintings still locked away in storage  an 1897 Alfred Sisley painting called "Langland Bay"; Monet's 1881 "L'Eglise et La Seine a Vetheuil"; and Albert Marquet's 1946 "Le Cypres de Djenan Sidi Said."

Both the government agency established by the Philippines to recover billions of dollars in assets believed to have been amassed during Marcos' 14-year regime, the Presidential Commission on Good Government, and Swift believe they're entitled to the paintings.

"My client has nothing against the human rights victims," said Casey Murphy, the American lawyer representing the commission. "Our point is, if these were paintings accumulated through misappropriated funds, they should go to all Filipinos and not just one class of people and their lawyers."

And then there's Bautista, who kept $28 million when she sold the water lily to a Panamanian corporation controlled by a London-based art gallery. That gallery then sold the painting to a British hedge fund manager in Switzerland for $43 million, according to court papers.

The hedge fund manager has paid $10 million to Swift's clients. The Filipino government has also sought to recover the painting.

New York City prosecutors charged Bautista with failing to disclose the sale on her 2010 tax returns, and she was convicted after a five-week trial in 2013 of conspiracy, tax fraud and other charges. About $15 million of her funds were frozen by the courts.

A lawyer for Bautista, who is now 78 and free while appealing her conviction, hasn't returned a message seeking comment. At the time, her lawyers argued she had the right to sell the Monet, which was owned by Imelda Marcos. The other paintings were given to her as gifts or obtained on her own, her lawyers have argued.

Ultimately, it will be up to a Manhattan federal judge to sort it all out.

In the meantime, the Presidential Commission has established a website to solicit tips as to the location of hundreds of paintings and jewelry that Marcos, now 87 and a congresswoman in the Philippines, and her family allegedly obtained with state funds.

Representatives for Marcos said the congresswoman had no comment on the art.

Murphy said he hoped a judge would agree with the Presidential Commission's position that since Imelda Marcos ultimately obtained the paintings improperly, she was never a rightful owner.

"In the main, the argument is a thief never gets good title to property," he said.

___
Trump Tower becomes 'Dump Tower' on Google Maps

NEW YORK (AP)  Someone renamed Donald Trump's midtown Manhattan building on Google Maps, and the new moniker isn't very flattering.

Instead of Trump Tower, it was briefly renamed "Dump Tower."

Users of the mapping service began noticing the new name for the Fifth Avenue building on Saturday and some took to social media to report it.

Trump, the Republican president-elect, has not yet commented on it. Trump has been using Trump Tower as his transition headquarters.

A Google spokeswoman told The Associated Press that the company has changed the name back to its original.
Lao leaders say goodbye to Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong who concludes Laos visit on November 26th (Photo: VNA)



According to Secretary of the provincial Party Committee and Governor of Bolikhamsai Kongkeo Saysongkham, the province has a total area of nearly 17,000 square kilometers and a population of more than 172,000 people.



Last year, it recorded a GDP growth of 8 percent with per capita income of USD1,900 per annum. In 2016, the province has 225 licenced investment projects worth 130 billion kip (USD15.92 million) in total.

It has more than 1,600 hectares of rice and over 26,000 hectares of other crops. Its import-export revenue hit more than USD160 million.

Currently, Bolikhamsai has set up partnerships with Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces, Da Nang city and a number of other localities of Vietnam. They have regularly held meetings to exchange experience in socio-economic development, poverty reduction, human resources development as well as Party building and security-defence.

Sixteen Vietnamese firms are investing in Bolikhamsai, mostly in mining, restaurant, hotel and agricultural product processing.

At a meeting with Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Saysongkham thanked the Party, State and people of Vietnam for providing the province with timely and effective support over the past years.

The Vietnamese Party leader hailed Bolikhamsais sound relationship with Vietnamese localities.

He briefed the host on the outcomes of his meetings with the Lao Party and State leaders, expressing delight at the growth of the traditional friendship, special solidarity and comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides affirmed their determination to further bolster the bilateral ties, he added.

The Party chief said he hopes Bolikhamsai and Vietnamese localities, especially those along the shared border, will strengthen cooperation and mutual support in all fields, contributing to the development of the Vietnam-Laos relations.

He expressed belief that the Lao province will make greater achievements in the future, fulfilling the targets set by the provincial Party Congress.

On the occasion, he announced the construction of a high school as a present to Bolikhamsai. He also joined the thread tightening ceremony, a traditional practice of Laos to pray for peace and prosperity of both countries.

He also paid a floral tribute to Xixomphon Lovanxay, one of the first members of Laos revolution, at his monument.

The same day, the Party chief and the Vietnamese delegation left Bolikhamsai for Hanoi, concluding his three-day official visit to Laos./.
Israeli military kills 4 IS militants in Syria after ambush

JERUSALEM (AP)  Israeli aircraft struck a machine gun-mounted vehicle inside Syria Sunday, killing four Islamic State-affiliated militants inside after they had opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering only sporadic incidents of spillover fire over the frontier that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors of the Assad regime. Israel has responded to these cases lightly, with limited reprisals on Syrian positions in response to the errant fire.

But Sunday's event, in the southern part of the Golan Heights, appears to be a rare case of an intentional shooting ambush by Islamic militants targeting Israeli troops.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said the Israeli patrol came under machine gun and mortar fire early Sunday. They returned fire toward Syria before an Israeli aircraft engaged, striking the vehicle in question and killing its passengers. He said all were suspected militants from an IS offshoot that controls the area. No Israeli troops were harmed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the troops for thwarting the attack.

"We are well prepared on our northern border and will not allow Islamic State elements or any other hostile elements to use the war in Syria to establish themselves close to our borders," he said at his weekly Cabinet meeting.

Though Israel has generally stayed on the sidelines of the fighting, fearing being sucked into a clash between forces that are all hostile to it, it is widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on arms shipments said to be destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of the Syrian government.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and the two countries remain enemies.

Amos Yadlin, a former military intelligence chief and current director of the Institute for National Security Studies, an independent think-tank, said it was too early to determine whether the attack marked a shift in IS policy or just a local initiative by some of its fighters.

He said IS has been very careful to avoid attacking Israel to this point since it has been engaged with so many other adversaries. But with its back against the wall in Syria and Iraq, he said they may be looking for a propaganda victory by targeting Israel. He said they were capable of far worse than a routine ambush.
New Orleans French Quarter shooting kills 1 and wounds 9

NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Police had already increased patrols in New Orleans' bustling French Quarter before gunfire erupted early Sunday, leaving one man dead and nine other people wounded in a tourist district famed for its bars, bright lights and live music.

Extra uniformed and plainclothes officers were on duty and ambulance crews were on standby for what Mayor Mitch Landrieu said was supposed to be a festive time with college and pro football games in the city and people vacationing over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said officers responded about 1:30 a.m. Sunday to the shooting at the intersection of Iberville and Bourbon streets.

New Orleans Police Department investigators study a crime scene after a fatal shooting in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. (Matthew Hinton/The Advocate via AP)

Harrison said none of the victims was an intended target when two other men began arguing and shooting. Investigators continued searching Sunday night for the suspects, who fled on foot. Landrieu said authorities believe the suspects are from out of town.

"We will find them. And we will go to the ends of the earth to make sure that we bring them to justice," Landrieu said.

The shooting victims were two women and eight men, ranging in age from 20 to 37, Harrison said. One of the men  25-year-old Demontris Toliver  died at a hospital.

About 25 people who said they were friends and relatives of Toliver gathered late Sunday and lit candles at the scene of the shooting. They hugged each other, some crying. Several men in the group appeared to pray.

Five of the victims were released from a hospital by Sunday night, and four remained hospitalized with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, the police superintendent said.

Twelve people, including one of those shot, were arrested in the French Quarter on Saturday and Sunday and charged with illegal possession of a firearm, police said. However, none of them was considered a suspect in the mass shooting.

Harrison said the violence happened despite an increased police presence for the Bayou Classic football game Saturday night between Southern and Grambling universities. The New Orleans Saints played Sunday at the Superdome. He said officers were nearby, heard the shots and ran toward them.

Glean Williams, who was selling hats and other items at a table a block away from the shooting, told NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune (http://bit.ly/2foeQRu ) that people ran into doorways and hotels, or hid behind palm trees decorated with Christmas lights along nearby Canal Street.

"It was panic," said Williams, 24. "Everybody started running. People getting run over, stepped on, knocked over."

Harrison asked that anyone witnessing the shooting to call police so "we can hold those accountable who committed this heinous crime and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."

New Orleans Police investigate a shooting a fatal shooting early Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016, in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP)

An evidence cone marks a hat by a bike as New Orleans Police investigate a fatal shooting early Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016, in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP)

A crime scene technician collects evidence from the street as New Orleans Police investigate a fatal shooting at Iberville and Bourbon streets early Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016, in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP)

New Orleans Police Department investigators study a crime scene after a fatal shooting in New Orleans on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. (Matthew Hinton/The Advocate via AP)

A crime scene technician collects a shell casing as New Orleans Police investigate a fatal shooting at Iberville and Bourbon streets early Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016, in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP)

A crime scene technician collects clothing from the street as New Orleans Police investigate a fatal shooting at Iberville and Bourbon streets early Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016, in New Orleans. (Michael DeMocker/NOLA.com The Times-Picayune via AP)

Orleans Parish Sheriff Office mounted patrol block off a crime scene after a fatal shooting in New Orleans, on Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. (Matthew Hinton/The Advocate via AP)
9-months-pregnant woman shot dead in southern Thailand

HAD YAI, Thailand (AP)  A nine-months-pregnant woman has been shot dead in southern Thailand by a gunman suspected of being a Muslim insurgent, police said Sunday.

A gunman who arrived by motorcycle walked up to two women eating at a street stall Saturday evening in Pattani province's Panarae district, shooting both before fleeing, said police Capt. Norawit Thongsod.

The pregnant woman was killed in the attack, while her wounded companion survived. Doctors performed a C-section operation on the mortally wounded woman but could not save the baby.

More than 6,000 people have been killed since a separatist insurgency flared in 2004 in Thailand's three southernmost provinces, the only ones with Muslim majorities in the predominantly Buddhist country. Muslims in the area have long complained about being treated as second-class citizens, and have a decades-long history of sometimes violent resistance.
He and his brother, Hawaii natives, were once fitness managers at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia

Ramos had been in the Hawaii Air National Guard for more than 21 years

Officials said on Sunday that their search had produced no signs of him

A 21-year veteran of the Hawaii Air National Guard is presumed dead six days after going missing during a nighttime swim in Guam.

Master Sergeant Greg Ramos, 39, disappeared around midnight last Monday off Tarague Beach. Officials at Andersen Air Force Base looked for him for six days but said Sunday night that their efforts had produced no signs of him.

Brigadier General Douglas Cox, commander of the base's 36th Wing, said the military is 'extremely saddened' and he offered prayers for Ramos' family and friends.

Ramos, a married father, and his brother Gavin, natives of Kapolei, Hawaii, once worked together as fitness managers during a deployment at an undisclosed base in Southwest Asia. Gavin, seven years younger than Ramos, had credited his brother for being a great mentor.

Master Sergeant Greg Ramos (pictured left next to his younger brother Gavin), 39, is now presumed dead after going missing during a nighttime swim in Guam last week

Authorities had received an alert about a missing swimmer off Tarague Beach after Ramos' swim - prompting a search that continued through Saturday.

Cox cautioned that while 'the waters off Guam are beautiful and inviting,' they can be dangerous. Three beaches on the base - Tarague, Serena and Scout - were closed until further notice.

Ramos, who had been in the Hawaii Air National Guard for at least 21 years, once said he felt a duty to set an example, being the oldest sibling in his family.

He was pictured, wearing a wedding ring, reading a book for his children in front of a video camera in 2010. Ramos participated in the United Through Reading program, which allows deployed service members to read a book while being recorded. The book and a DVD of the recording are then sent home to the service member's child so that they can follow along.

Ramos (pictured on the back row, right, in a family shot) had been in the Hawaii Air National Guard for at least 21 years. He and his brother once were fitness managers at a base in Asia

Authorities had received an alert about a missing swimmer off Tarague Beach (file picture) after Ramos' swim, prompting a search that continued through Saturday

Ramos' family had started a Go Fund Me to support the search, calling him by his nickname Hoku - which means 'star' in Hawaiian. They had sent Gavin and his son Jacob to Guam to keep up with the mission.

'With a heavy heart I have to report that the extensive search for Hoku was officially suspended and military officials have declared him gone,' Ramos' aunt Gayle wrote Saturday.

'Please continue to keep the Ramos ohana in your prayers during this difficult time.

'Hoku, so many have rallied for you to come home but looks like you've gone to a much grander home... Safe in the father's arm! #hokuishome'

Ramos saw his decision to join the Hawaii Air National Guard as a wise move that gave him direction when he was younger.

'When I was young and joined the Guard, there were a lot of circumstances going on and joining the Guard helped me to get on a path of success,' Ramos said in a 2010 a National Guard story.

His time in the force, he said, has been good for him and for his family.

The two were at the time trying to convince another brother to join the Hawaii Air National Guard, as well as a nephew who had recently graduated high school.

'In our family, it started with me but I think more of us will go the way of the Air National Guard,' Ramos said.

Ramos once credited joining the Hawaii Air National Guard with helping him find a path to success. He is pictured being recorded reading a book for his children

Gavin said he would always be proud to serve with his brother. 'He's a great man, he leads the way, and makes me proud to call him my brother,' Gavin said of Ramos.

No cause of death has been announced for Ramos. The waters of Guam can be treacherous due to coral reefs and currents, the US Coast Guard has warned.

The sharp reef can cause deep and painful cuts, while holes and cracks on its surface can catch a swimmer's foot or hand and leave them trapped. Large waves breaking on the reef create additional danger.
Prosecutor's desire to move police shooting trial is unusual

CINCINNATI (AP)  A prosecutor's widely expected decision to retry a white former police officer on a murder charge in the traffic-stop shooting of a black man came with the surprise that he wants to move the next trial out of the Cincinnati area.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced plans for the request on Tuesday as he said he would try fired University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing on the same charges on which jurors deadlocked. A judge declared a mistrial Nov. 12 after jurors remained hung after 25 hours of deliberations. The charges are murder and voluntary manslaughter in the July 19, 2015, fatal shooting of Sam DuBose.

Deters says he wants a jury in another Ohio county, away from intense local attention.

FILE  In this Nov. 10, 2016, file photo, former University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing leaves court after the second day of jury deliberations in his murder trial in Cincinnati. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters' widely expected decision to retry Tensing on a murder charge in the traffic-stop shooting of Sam DuBose came with the surprise that he wants to move the next trial out of the Cincinnati area. A judge declared a mistrial Nov. 12 after jurors remained hung after 25 hours of deliberations. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

It's very rare for a prosecutor to ask for a change of venue, usually sought by defense attorneys who think a fair and impartial jury can't be seated, legal experts say.

One veteran Cincinnati attorney called it "a blockbuster move" by Deters.

"I've been practicing law since 1989, and I've never, ever, had a prosecutor request a change of venue," said attorney Carl Lewis.

Jurors in the racially charged case were scared of being identified, even revolting and refusing to come out of the jury room at one point, Deters said. Prosecutors talked to some of the jurors after the mistrial, and Deters said prosecutors think the intense local attention could have "seeped into the jury room."

Martin Pinales, a Cincinnati attorney and a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he expected Deters to retry Tensing on murder charges because of local political pressure, but was "a little surprised at the change of venue."

Pinales said changes of venue are meant for when "a defendant cannot get a fair trial." Judges often will try to seat a jury before agreeing to move a trial.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan has scheduled a hearing Monday morning. Shanahan might ask Deters what has changed since the first jury selection, Lewis said.

"But I think what the prosecutor is going to say is that the change is that the jurors fear for their safety and the fact that it's been a hung jury, that changes the complexity of the case, and for that reason, those changes in circumstances warrant a change of venue," Lewis said.

Tensing's attorney, Stewart Mathews, said he didn't have an immediate position on the moving the trial but would lean against it for various reasons including logistical and financial hardship.

It was Mathews who unsuccessfully asked the judge to move the first trial because of prejudicial pretrial publicity, including comments by Deters and other local officials. He noted after Deters' announcement Tuesday that it was possible for a jury in Hamilton County to be seated for the first trial and doesn't see a reason why another fair and impartial panel couldn't be.

Tensing testified that he feared for his life when DuBose tried to drive away. Mathews said DuBose tried to use his car as a deadly weapon. Deters repeated last week that he believes the shooting wasn't justified and the evidence contradicts Tensing's story.

DuBose family members, the Cincinnati City Council and groups including faith leaders had called for a new murder trial.

City Councilwoman Yvette Simpson said that while a venue change would be logistically challenging, it could "provide a better opportunity for a fair and impartial trial, and hopefully, a unanimous verdict."

The case is among those across the country calling attention to how police deal with blacks. A trial is set to resume Monday in Charleston, South Carolina, for a since-fired white patrolman, Michael Slager, facing 30 years to life if convicted of murder in the death last year of a black man, Walter Scott, shot while running from a traffic stop.

___
Indonesia helicopter wreckage found; 1 rescued, 4 missing

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  A search team on Sunday found the wreckage of an Indonesian army helicopter and rescued an injured pilot three days after the aircraft disappeared on Indonesia's part of Borneo island. Four people are still missing.

The Bell 412 EP helicopter was carrying five soldiers, including two pilots, to Long Bawan, a remote town near the border with Malaysia, when it lost contact with its base in North Kalimantan province minutes after taking off on Thursday.

Army spokesman Brig. Gen. Sabrar Fadhilah said the wreckage of the 3-year-old helicopter was spotted Sunday in a remote area of Malinau district in the same province.

He said rugged, forested terrain and bad weather made it difficult to reach the site. Rescuers are searching for the four missing soldiers.

"We hope we can rescue the rest of the victims safely," Fadhilah said. "An investigation is underway to find what caused the crash."

The helicopter was carrying about 400 kilograms (880 pounds) of supplies to deliver to border patrol troops.

Indonesia, a sprawling archipelagic nation of more than 250 million people, has been plagued by transportation accidents in recent years, from plane and train crashes to ferry sinkings. Overcrowding, poor infrastructure and unenforced safety rules are often to blame. The military, which suffers from low funding, has also regularly suffered airplane and helicopter crashes.
Authorities have 'no plans to forcibly remove' Dakota Access oil pipeline protesters near Standing Rock Sioux reservation, despite the December 5 deadline given for them to clear out.

That seems to contradict Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier's assertion that he won't 'allow people to become unlawful.'

Kirchmeier, who has been leading the response to the protests has taken what has been controversial - and some say overly aggressive - action against demonstrators.

'We are just not going to allow people to become unlawful,' said Kirchmeier, a veteran of the North Dakota Highway Patrol and National Guard who was elected to his first term as sheriff about two years ago. 'It's just not going to happen.'

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, front, listens to Brian Wesley Horinek, of Oklahoma, outside the New Camp on Pipeline Easement in North Dakota

But US authorities said on Sunday they had no plans to forcibly remove activists.

But the US Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the federal land where the main camp protesting the Dakota Access pipeline is located, said last week it would close public access to the area north of the Cannonball River on December 5.

On Sunday, the agency said in a statement that it had 'no plans for forcible removal' of protesters. The statement said anyone who remained would be considered unauthorized and could be subject to various citations.

It also said emergency services might not be adequately provided to the area.

Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier looks up from his desk in Mandan, North Dakota on Tuesday - he has led the police response to the Dakota Access oil pipeline protests, and shrugs off criticism that that response has been heavy-handed

'The Army Corps of Engineers is seeking a peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location,' the statement said. 'This will reduce the risk of harm to people in the encampments caused (by) the harsh North Dakota winter conditions.'

A representative for the agency could not be immediately reached on Sunday to provide further clarification on its plans.

Organizers told a news conference on Saturday at the main protest site where about 5,000 people are camped that they had no intention of moving.

More than 525 people from across the country have been arrested during months of protests over the four-state, $3.8billion pipeline, all here in support of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe that's fighting the project because it believes it threatens drinking water and cultural sites on their nearby reservation.

Organizers of protests against construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline speak at a news conference on Saturday

His department's job of policing the protesters - the vast majority who've been camping on federal land that the US Army Corps of Engineers says it will close in December for safety concerns - has cost the county more than $8million, even with help from the state Highway Patrol and officers from various states.

Their tactics, however, have drawn criticism from Standing Rock's tribal leader as well as protest organizers and celebrities.

Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault said he and Kirchmeier have met many times and each meeting has been tense and unproductive. 'I don't think aggressive force is necessary and he thinks it's necessary,' Archambault said.

Opponents of the Dakota Access oil pipeline lead a procession on a bridge that crosses the Cannonball River

In the most recent clash between police and protesters, which was near the path of the pipeline and happened last week, officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and large water hoses in freezing weather.

Organizers said at least 17 protesters were taken to the hospital, some for hypothermia and one for a serious arm injury, and one officer was injured.

Archambault called the confrontation an act of terror against unarmed protesters that was sanctioned by Kirchmeier.

'His job is to protect and serve, not to inflict harm and hurt,' Archambault said.

But Kirchmeier, who has the backing of the state's Republican governor and attorney general, defended officers' actions. He and other authorities said officers were assaulted with rocks, bottles and burning logs.

Police use a water cannon on protesters during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation

Kirchmeier, a 53-year-old married father, grew up in this county, which has a population of fewer than 30,000 people - about 15 residents per square mile. He retired from the North Dakota Highway Patrol as a captain after 29 years, and had served in the National Guard for four years.

The protests are demanding: Kirchmeier hasn't had a day off since August, routinely working more than 12 hours a day.

The 34 deputies in his department are pulling similar shifts, he said, even with help from more than 1,200 officers from North Dakota and nine other states.

Police tear gas protesters during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline

Some officers have been targeted online by protesters, Kirchmeier included. He said someone recently posted the location of his father's grave, which he took as an effort to intimidate.

'Social media has been very bad and it has turned out like law enforcement is building the pipeline,' he said. 'I can't stop the pipeline. My job is to enforce the law.'

President Barack Obama raised the possibility of rerouting the pipeline earlier this month, and construction on the last remaining large chunk, which is on federal land near the reservation, was halted by the Corps for the time being.

But Kelcy Warren, CEO of pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners, told The Associated Press the company won't do any rerouting.

Women hold a demonstration on Backwater Bridge during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation

Kirchmeier, like many other of the state's elected officials, blame the Obama administration for not stepping in.

'The issue of the pipeline is not going to get solved with protesters and cops looking at each other,' Kirchmeier said. 'This is bigger and takes way more political clout than what the county has to offer.'

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Kirchmeier is in 'an incredibly difficult position.'

'He has the responsibility to allow people to lawfully exercise their First Amendment rights and he has the obligation to stop it when there is violence contrary to the law,' Stenehjem said. 'And now there are a significant number or lawless people and the citizens are worried.'

Gov. Jack Dalrymple said Kirchmeier 'has done a remarkable job dealing with all the issues brought about by these protests. He has been totally professional in what is not a typical law enforcement challenge in North Dakota.'

With winter looming, the Corps has decided to close the land north of the Cannonball River where the Oceti Sakowin protest encampment have flourished on December 5, also citing the confrontations between protesters and authorities, according to a letter Archambault said he received.

'To be clear, this means that no member of the general public, to include Dakota Access pipeline protesters, can be on these Corps lands,' the letter provided by the tribe said.

The Corps said in a statement Sunday that has 'no plans for forcible removal' of protesters and that it 'is seeking a peaceful and orderly transition to a safer location.' The agency says anyone on the property north of the Cannonball River after Dec. 5 will be trespassing and subject to prosecution.

Protest organizers said Saturday that they don't intend to leave or stop their acts of civil disobedience.

Kirchmeier said before the Corps' move that North Dakota residents who have grown tired - and increasingly afraid - of the protests are backing law enforcement.
Delta sorry for not booting pro-Trump passenger from plane

ALLENTOWN, Pa. (AP)  Delta Air Lines is apologizing for not removing a passenger from a flight to Pennsylvania who rudely professed his support for President-elect Donald Trump and insulted those who didn't.

The (Allentown) Morning Call first reported on a video posted on Facebook by a fellow passenger on the Tuesday flight from Atlanta to Allentown. The video shows the man standing in the aisle, yelling and insulting Hillary Clinton supporters.

In the video, the man asks loudly: "We got some Hillary bitches on here?"

Referring to Trump's victory, he says: "If you don't like it, too bad."
Texas school repudiates white nationalist alumnus

DALLAS (AP)  The exclusive Dallas boys' prep school that Richard B. Spencer attended is denouncing the activities and ideas of its white nationalist alumnus.

St. Mark's School of Texas headmaster David Dini issued the statement of criticism after a Nov. 19 rally in Washington where Spencer, a member of St. Marks Class of 1997, shouted "Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory!" as supporters raised their arms in Nazi salutes.

Without referring to Spencer by name, Dini said his activities have "been deeply troubling and terribly upsetting to our whole school community. We reject racism and bigotry in all its forms and expressions." In his statement, posted on the school's Facebook page, Dini hailed other St. Mark's alumni for "expressing their outrage and disgust" toward the National Policy Institute, which Spencer heads, and the ideas that group promotes.

FILE - In this Nov. 18, 2016, file photo, Richard Spencer attends a white nationalist and Alt-right conference in Washington. The exclusive Dallas boys' prep school that Spencer attended, St. Mark's School, is denouncing the activities and ideas of its white nationalist alumnus. The school's headmaster David Dini said Spencer's activities have "been deeply troubling and terribly upsetting to our whole school community." Dini issued the statement after the rally in Washington. (Linda Davidson/The Washington Post via AP)

Spencer's classmates have raised about $40,000 so far in a fundraising campaign to settle refugees in Dallas. One of them is Ben Kusin, former "Shark Tank" contestant and chief executive of deodorizing wipes company.

"This issue hits deep  not just for me but for everyone," he told WFAA-TV of Dallas-Fort Worth, adding about the rally, "When you see something like this, you have to say something."

The Southern Poverty Law Center, a hate group watchdog, describes Spencer as "one of the country's most successful young white nationalist leaders  a suit-and-tie version of the white supremacists of old."

"He wants to expel all these non-white Europeans from this country," Kusin said. "Our countermeasure was supporting refugees coming into this country."

An email message to Spencer from The Associated Press drew no response Sunday.
Republican states that expanded Medicaid want it kept

PHOENIX (AP)  Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer fought her own Republican party in the state Legislature for months to push through a Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act.

That was three years ago. Now, as an early Donald Trump supporter who has his ear, Brewer hopes one of the pillars of President Barack Obama's health care law can be saved as Trump pushes to dump much of the overhaul.

"I don't know how much of that, and I mean it sincerely, is going to be affected," she told The Associated Press in an interview. She said she's encouraging Trump's administration to look at Arizona's model because it is so cost-effective.

FILE - In this Jan. 27, 2015, file photo, Indiana Republican Gov. Mike Pence announces that the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services had approved the state's waiver request, called HIP 2.0, during a speech in Indianapolis. Pence told Republican governors meeting in Florida on Nov. 14, 2016, that Donald Trump would replace traditional Medicaid funding to states with block grants that encourage innovation that better delivers health care to eligible residents, according to a statement from the Trump transition team. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)

Brewer said the low-income population that the Medicaid expansion was designed to cover was one of the main drivers of the law, and she's not prepared to see that group go without care. Nearly 400,000 Arizonans have gained Medicaid insurance since Brewer's proposal took effect in 2014.

Arizona is one of 31 states that expanded Medicaid, many of them run by Democrats. Republicans have blocked expansion in the remaining 19 states.

Among the GOP-led states that expanded Medicaid, many officials are like Brewer, strong proponents of the program that has brought insurance to about 9 million low-income Americans who can't possibly afford to buy it themselves. Before the expansion, those people had little access to regular health care, and when they got sick, hospitals were forced to treat them without compensation.

States that strongly oppose Medicaid expansion, however, continue to do so.

Mississippi's three top Republican leaders have said consistently for years that they believe the state cannot afford expansion, as have Idaho's GOP leaders.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for a complete repeal of Obama's overhaul a week after the Nov. 8 election. Scott has been vague, however, about what should be done about the 20 million Americans who got health insurance through the overhaul, nearly half of them though Medicaid expansion his state rejected.

If he doesn't completely dump the program, Trump will be under pressure to allow changes to it to give states more control.

Current Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey last year proposed a work requirement for healthy Medicaid recipients, premiums and co-pays and a five-year limit on coverage. The Obama administration approved limited co-pays but nixed the work requirement and the five-year limit. Michigan, Indiana and Iowa also have been allowed to charge premiums or fees, but broader changes requested by some states have been rejected.

Vice president-elect Mike Pence told Republican governors meeting in Florida on Nov. 14 that Trump would replace traditional Medicaid funding to states with block grants that "encourage innovation that better delivers health care to eligible residents," according to a statement from the Trump transition team.

Pence, Indiana's governor, expanded Medicaid in his state but got waivers from the Obama administration to implement plans that kick healthy people off the program for six months if they fail to pay premiums.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said he hopes Trump's election means the state will have more flexibility in how it spends Medicaid money. More than 300,000 people are enrolled in the state's hybrid Medicaid expansion, which uses federal expansion money to buy private insurance for low-income residents.

"This election means we're going to have an administration that wants to give more flexibility to the states," Hutchinson, a Republican, said recently. "So this is good news in our ability to get waivers to implement the reform we want in terms of work requirements, in terms of cost-sharing, in terms of other elements of reform that encourages employer-based insurance."

Hutchinson stopped short of saying whether he'd like some form of coverage for those on the expanded Medicaid program to continue if Trump and congressional Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act.

But Ducey, Arizona's governor, said recently the discussion is "not only about repeal but replace."

"We want to see all of our citizens have access to affordable health care," Ducey told reporters in response to a question about the future of Medicaid expansion. "That was the objective. That's not where we are. We've got a new president and a new Congress, and a fresh start."

A spokesman for Republican Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said he plans to work with the new administration to tout the successes and advantages of his state's Medicaid expansion.

"How we continue that success is important, and he's willing to discuss how to do that with anyone who has other ideas to consider," Ari Adler said.

As for Arizona's former governor, she said her state's Medicaid program is among the nation's best in terms of costs and provider choice. The program contracts with private insurers to provide care on a per-patient basis.

"I don't know how you could deliver that population any more services better, more cheaply, than what we've already done here," Brewer said.

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Associated Press writers David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan, Gary Fineout in Orlando, Florida, and Andrew DeMillo in Little Rock, Arkansas contributed to this report.
Photo for illustration



Specifically, in October, markets witnessing growth in the number of CBU autos exported to Vietnam were Thailand (up 200 autos), Russia (100), India (550) and the Republic of Korea (760).

Meanwhile, reductions in the number were seen in some markets, including China (25 autos), Germany (120) and the US (more than 50).



The total volume handled by eight main auto exporters to Vietnam in the ten months decreased more than 11,200 units against the same period last year.

According to the General Department of Customs, among the eight markets, China, India and the Republic of Korea saw sharp decreases in volume with 21,000 units in the ten months. Meanwhile, the remaining five markets Thailand, Russia, Japan, Germany and the US had an increase of 9,200 units.

Experts said the application of special consumption tax rates from July 1st was the main reason leading to the reduction. Accordingly, the rate on cars with cylinder capacity of 2.0L decreased from 5% to 15%, while those with cylinder capacity above 2.5-6.0L increased 15-60%./.
Fillon wins France's conservative presidential primary

PARIS (AP)  Francois Fillon won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary Sunday after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism, beating a more moderate rival who had warned of encroaching populism.

"President! President!" chanted the former prime minister's supporters as he declared victory over Alain Juppe in a nationwide runoff election.

Polls suggest the sober, authoritative Fillon, 62, would have a strong chance of winning the French presidency in the April-May election, amid widespread frustration with France's current Socialist leadership.

Francois Fillon delivers a speech after the conservative presidential primary in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Fillon won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism, beating a more moderate rival who had warned of encroaching populism. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Fillon, who was prime minister from 2007-2012 under ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, enjoyed a surprise surge in popularity in recent weeks. A rise in nationalist sentiment across Europe may have favored his strict conservative positions over Juppe's more centrist stance.

France needs "a complete change of software," Fillon said, promising in his victory speech to defend "French values."

Among his promises: slash public spending, cap immigration, support traditional family values and reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Juppe, 71, congratulated Fillon on his "wide victory." During the primary campaign, he expressed similar ideas as his rival on the French economy, but tried to rally conservatives around a more tolerant attitude toward France's ethnic, religious and social diversity.

With results from 96 percent of voting stations, organizers of the Republicans party primary said Fillon had 66.5 percent of votes and Juppe 33.5 percent. More than 4 million of France's 44 million voters took part, which was considered a good turnout given that it was the conservatives' first experiment with a primary.

Fillon's toughest challenge ahead is likely to be far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Le Pen, candidate of her National Front party, is running an anti-establishment campaign that particularly targets immigrants, France's Muslim minority, and the European Union.

Socialist President Francois Hollande is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether he will seek re-election, but the French left has been deeply weakened by his extreme unpopularity. A wild card is outsider candidate Emmanuel Macron, Hollande's former economy minister, who is leading a centrist campaign.

Fillon walked a careful line Sunday, stressing the need for "authority of the state" but also insisting, "No one should feel excluded from a society that I want to see more just and with more solidarity."

If elected next year, he pledges to hold a referendum on a quota system for immigrants to reduce legal immigration "to a minimum," and to push for stronger controls at Europe's borders.

In a country still rattled by a string of deadly Islamic State group attacks, Fillon wants to prohibit French jihadists from returning home. He recently published a book called "Conquering Islamic Totalitarianism."

A practicing Catholic with a British wife of 36 years and five children, Fillon pledges to weaken adoption rights for same-sex couples. Yet he has said he wouldn't scrap a 2013 law allowing same-sex marriage.

His most dramatic proposals concern France's long-stagnant economy, beset by chronic 10 percent unemployment.

He wants to cut taxes on businesses, slash public spending by 110 billion euros ($116 billion) and reduce the number of public servants. He would also raise the retirement age from 62 to 65, extend the workweek beyond 35 hours, and ease France's strict labor rules in order to boost job hiring.

Soccer agent Cherif Diallo said it was Fillon's economic program that won his vote.

"In life, you must sacrifice in order to obtain good results. The program of Francois Fillon is radical as his adversaries say, but it's a necessity in order to get the country in order," Diallo said.

While he's seen as lacking charisma, Fillon's supporters like him because they regard him as experienced and well-qualified for France's top job.

Besides serving as prime minister, he's been a cabinet minister six times and spent years as a lawmaker representing his hometown of Le Mans in western France, home to the famed 24 of Le Mans auto race.

Both Fillon and Juppe, who campaigned on similar economic platforms, are high-profile leaders of the Republicans party who knocked Sarkozy  their former boss  out of the primary's first round of voting a week ago. Sarkozy then threw his weight behind Fillon.

Sunday's runoff came after a bruising and highly adversarial end phase to the months-long primary contest, an American-style effort to end party infighting and bolster support for the party's nominee. The conservatives previously chose their candidate internally.

Fillon has said he wants to drop sanctions against Russia over its aggressive actions in Ukraine and partner with Russia in the fight against Islamic State extremists. Fillon insists "Russia poses no threat" to the West.

All French citizens over 18  whether they are members of the Republicans party or not  were eligible to vote in the primary, if they paid 2 euros in fees and signed a pledge stating they "share the republican values of the right and the center."

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Thomas Adamson and Jeffrey Schaeffer in Paris contributed to this report.

Alain Juppe, left behind, watches Francois Fillon leaving after the conservative presidential primary in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Fillon won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism, beating a more moderate rival who had warned of encroaching populism. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

France's upcoming presidential primary election candidate of the right-wing party, Francois Fillon, centre, leaves after casting his vote for the second round of the conservative primary election, in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. French conservatives on Sunday are choosing their nominee for next year's vital presidential election from among two former prime ministers with deep experience in government and differing views on how to prevent more terror attacks on French soil. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

France's upcoming presidential primary election candidate of the right-wing party, Francois Fillon, centre, leaves after casting his vote for the second round of the conservative primary election, in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. French conservatives on Sunday are choosing their nominee for next year's vital presidential election from among two former prime ministers with deep experience in government and differing views on how to prevent more terror attacks on French soil. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Alain Juppe, left, shakes hands with Francois Fillon after the conservative presidential primary in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Fillon won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism, beating a more moderate rival who had warned of encroaching populism. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Nicola Sturgeon visiting Dublin to boost Scotland-Ireland links

Nicola Sturgeon wants to expand business, cultural and political links between Scotland and Ireland under plans to strengthen relationships with other countries in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Scotland's First Minister will visit Dublin on Monday to meet business leaders and discuss investment plans.

She is to address 120 chief executives at Irish business organisation Ibec and will stress that "Scotland is open for business".

Nicola Sturgeon will address 120 chief executives at Irish business organisation Ibec

Last week the leaders of the UK's three devolved administrations met with Irish premier Enda Kenny and a number of UK Government ministers at the British Irish Council.

Top of the agenda was how the UK could maintain access to the European Single Market post-Brexit if it denied freedom of movement to EU citizens.

Ms Sturgeon has said proposals aimed at keeping Scotland in the single market will be published in the coming weeks with a Norway-style model and membership of the European Free Trade Association options under consideration.

During the trip to Dublin, the First Minister will also visit the Scottish Government's Investment and Innovation Hub in the city.

Ms Sturgeon said: "The business, academic, cultural and political links between Scotland and Ireland are well established and we want to strengthen these even further.

"Scottish exports to Ireland are worth 1.125 billion and Irish investment into Scotland currently supports more than 6,000 jobs.

"It's important to get across to our European partners, such as Ireland, that Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU and that we are doing everything we can to protect our relationship with Europe.

"I want companies in Ireland to know that Scotland remains open for business and will continue to be an attractive place to invest. I will be asking the delegates at Ibec to work with the Hub and to come to Scotland to see what we have to offer.

"A number of new Scottish investment wins have been landed this year and through the strong network the hub continues to develop with Irish-based investors - further projects are in the pipeline.

"Ireland has always been and will continue to be a key economic partner for Scotland. It is even more important than ever that our two countries work together for the benefit of both our nations."
Social care crisis cannot be ignored, ministers warned

The country faces a "social care crisis" unless funding is increased, with knock-on effects likely to add to pressures on hospital A&E departments over the winter, ministers have been warned.

Chancellor Philip Hammond has come under fire after failing to allocate more money to social care in his Autumn Statement last week, with the head of the NHS Confederation saying it was "disappointing" and a "mistake".

More than half of councils tasked with care for the elderly - 77 out of 152 - have had at least one residential and nursing care provider closed in the last six months, figures obtained by the Observer showed.

The country is on the brink of a social care crisis unless more money is pumped into the care of the elderly, Theresa May has been warned

Meanwhile, 48 councils have seen at least one company that deals with helping to care for the elderly in their own home forced to close, according to the data.

New care arrangements were also sought by 59 councils after contracts were deemed by providers to be insufficiently funded to meet the needs required.

In a letter to the paper, the leaders of the Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent groups of the Local Government Association warned: "The social care crisis is real and it is happening right now. The Government cannot ignore it any longer if we are to truly have a society that works for everyone."

They said: "The fact the Government appears to have chosen not to act will lower the quality of life for our elderly and vulnerable residents."

NHS Confederation chairman Stephen Dorrell said he was " very disappointed" that the Chancellor had not said anything about social care in his mini-budget statement.

"It was a mistake in my view not to make an investment in social care," Tory former health secretary Mr Dorrell said.

Hospitals face problems with so-called bed blocking because they are unable to discharge elderly patients unless there are adequate social care arrangements in place, adding to winter pressures on the NHS.

Mr Dorrell told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "There is no good going into this winter saying it is all going to be all right when we already have lengthening queues in A&E departments, we already have problems with hospitals unable to discharge people because of inadequate provision of social care."

A Government spokesman said: "We're supporting those most in need with a social care package worth 3.5 billion by 2019-20 compared to the 2.9 billion councils said they needed.

"We've also devolved new powers and funding to local areas so they can integrate health and social care, provide better services for older people, and plan for an ageing population."

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said Labour would give the health service "the funding it needs" - but would not specify how his party would pay for it.

He told BBC's Sunday Politics: "I will want to work with John McDonnell, our shadow chancellor, to find a package to give the NHS the money it needs.

"But of course our shadow chancellor, like any shadow chancellor at this stage in the cycle, will want to see what the books look like on the latest financial statement ahead of an election before making commitments."
Sir Edward Heath child abuse case based on pernicious claims, whistleblower says

A whistleblower has said she has uncovered a "catalogue of fabrication" at the heart of a probe into child sex abuse allegations against former prime minister Sir Edward Heath.

Dr Rachel Hoskins, who was enlisted by detectives to examine the evidence in Wiltshire Police's inquiry, warned the force that it should immediately end its investigation into a key accuser's "pernicious" claims of satanic ritual abuse.

The leading criminologist branded the inquiry "a disgrace" and warned that, while the force had accepted her report, she had "little confidence" police would pass the findings on to MPs.

Child sex abuse allegations against former prime minister Sir Edward Heath were dismissed as a fantasy in an official report, it has been claimed

A Wiltshire Police spokeswoman said the report was "only small part of a very complex and sensitive investigation".

Writing in the Mail on Sunday, Dr Hoskins, an expert in ritualistic crimes, said she had been asked to review Operation Conifer and Operation Midland, Scotland Yard's inquiry into false claims of a VIP paedophile ring made by a man called "Nick".

She wrote: "I have exposed a catalogue of fabrication at the heart of two major inquiries. Worse still, Operation Conifer ploughs ahead. People remain accused of things that simply never happened. Wiltshire Police insist that not all their evidence is based on claims of ritual abuse. We will see. But those cases that are based on this pernicious fallacy must be closed immediately."

Dr Hoskins said she was "profoundly disturbed" to find both operations were based on two uncorroborated witnesses who had been under the influence of controversial psychotherapists.

Furthermore, Sir Edward's key accuser made claims under hypnosis that dredged up "false memories" and her allegations were the result of an "over-active imagination," the expert said.

The woman, referred to as "Lucy X", had previously made claims of satanic abuse in Tidworth, Wiltshire, to police in 1989 that were later dismissed as "nonsense".

The allegations, the expert said, were made during a period in the late 1980s when fears of widespread satanic ritual abuse where triggered by a book.

Michelle Remembers, by Canadian psychotherapist Lawrence Pazder, recounted his discussions with a hypnotised client who claimed there was an underground network of sadistic killers operating in North America. It was later widely discredited.

Dr Hoskins said that a protege of Mr Pazder, who learned his hypnosis techniques, then used them on a patient of her own in 1988.

"She wasn't to know it at the time, but she was to start the Heath sex abuse inquiry. The client's name was Lucy X," she said.

According to Dr Hoskins, Lucy X made allegations under hypnosis that included satanic ritual in churches and on Salisbury Plain and a cult who "gorged themselves on blood and body parts". Lucy X later shared these stories with three other women.

"Earlier this year they would 'remember' that Heath was a prime mover in a network of sadistic paedophile abusers ... But this was not a case built around four separate witnesses. It all went back to one patient under the hypnotic influence of a Canadian psychotherapist," Dr Hoskins said.

According to Dr Hoskins both Nick and Lucy X produced their evidence during session with psychotherapists who used similar techniques.

She said: "I have seen in the personal notes written by both Lucy X and Nick how time and again they say their psychotherapists enabled them to recall their past. I believe that without their psychotherapists there would have been no evidence."

There were also "geographical coincidences" between the two witnesses, although there is no evidence they have ever met, according to Dr Hoskins.

Sir Edward, who led the Conservative government between 1970 and 1974, died at home in Salisbury in July 2005, aged 89.

He became the most high-profile figure linked to historical abuse allegations last year.

According to Dr Hoskins the police sought to gag her, but she chose to take "the personal risk of disclosing my findings to the public".

She said: "In the process of these historic VIP child abuse inquiries, police have not only ruined the lives of many innocent people, including Ted Heath's family, they have set back the cause of genuine child abuse victims, of whom there are all too many. It is a disgrace."

A Wiltshire Police spokeswoman said the force was "disappointed that information relating a confidential report has been leaked and potentially may have impact upon those who have disclosed abuse to us".

She added: "This investigation is complex and multi-stranded. There are a number of allegations with a significant number of individuals who have disclosed allegations of abuse. In addition to this there are a number of investigations that have fallen out of the main investigation that we are pursuing.

"This report forms part of a live allegation. When we receive an allegation we are duty bound to investigate and we go impartially where the evidence takes us."

Earlier this month two people were arrested and bailed by detectives working on Operation Conifer, launched in August last year.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission launched a probe into alleged historical corruption after information from a retired officer raised concerns that Wiltshire Police deliberately caused a criminal prosecution to fail 22 years ago.
Girl taken by father years ago to discuss plight with judge on Skype or FaceTime

A nine-year-old girl thought to be living in Cairo after being taken from her English mother by her Egyptian father nearly five years ago is set to discuss her plight with a High Court judge analysing her case in London via Skype or FaceTime.

Elsa Salama vanished in December 2011 after her father Tamer Salama, 41, took her from her mother Naomi Button, 43, while all three were visiting Egypt.

Ms Button, a leadership consultant from Leeds, launched family court action in England in the hope of getting her daughter back.

Elsa Salama, now nine, is thought to be in Cairo (Quest Public Relations/PA)

Mr Salama - a former teacher who lives in Manchester and has lived in Nottingham and Southampton, Hampshire - was jailed in January 2012 for breaching judges' orders to arrange Elsa's return to England or to reveal where she was.

He was released in December 2013 after a judge ruled that continuing to keep him in prison was no longer proportionate or justifiable.

Mr Justice Baker, the judge currently overseeing the litigation at hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London, has been told that Elsa is thought to be living with her father's relatives in Cairo.

He says he intends to speak to the youngster personally via Skype or FaceTime when he next considers the case in the near future.

The judge, who has indicated that he wants to gauge the youngster's thoughts and feelings, said an Arabic interpreter would be needed because Elsa no longer spoke English.

Mr Salama has told the judge he can arrange for his relatives to make Elsa available.

The judge outlined his plan when overseeing the latest hearing in the case on Friday.

"Nearly five years have passed since this father removed Elsa, then four, now nearly 10, from her mother's care," said Mr Justice Baker.

"Enormous efforts have been made by the courts with the assistance of the media to try to restore the relationship between Elsa and her mother.

"Those efforts have so far been unsuccessful."

He said Ms Button had been in contact with her daughter via Skype - but not recently.

Mr Salama had said the youngster did not want to talk to her mother.

The judge said he intended to speak to Elsa - via Skype or FaceTime - personally.

"My hope is to be able to bring resumption of some form of contact with the mother," he added.

"This court has got to do something to try to change the situation."

Both Ms Button and Mr Salama - who were married but are now divorced - were at Friday's hearing.

Mr Justice Baker said Mr Salama had it within his power to bring about Elsa's return.

The judge said he thought Mr Salama's behaviour had been "disgraceful, manipulative and abusive".

:: Mr Salama failed in a bid to bar journalists from reporting the latest stage of litigation.

He said detail aired at the private family court hearing should remain private.

He complained that previous media coverage had been partisan and had not given his side of the story.

And he asked the judge to rule that nothing said at the hearing should be reported.

But Mr Justice Baker ruled against him.

He said the case had previously been reported as a result of Salama being jailed for contempt at a public hearing.

He said judges had made enormous efforts to reunite Elsa with her mother in recent years - and the media had assisted

He said on any view the case was in the public domain.
Knife-wielding man wearing Yoda and gorilla masks hunted over attacks on women

A knife-wielding pervert who wore a Yoda mask during a series of attacks on young women is being hunted by police.

Four incidents involving a man indecently exposing himself to lone women in Selly Oak, Birmingham, have been reported in the last week, West Midlands Police said.

The man wore a gorilla mask for three of the attacks and disguised himself as the Star Wars character for the fourth.

When officers arrived, they arrived in large numbers, with stunned residents in Barratts Road looking on as the area was searched (Stock image)

Police said two of the women had been threatened with a knife but escaped unharmed.

The first woman was approached by the attacker, holding a knife and exposing himself, on Lottie Road early on November 20.

He beckoned to another resident on her doorstep who closed her door immediately, police said.

A young woman was grabbed and threatened with a fire lighter by a man in the same attire, again exposing himself, on Hubert Road on Thursday. She struggled with him and managed to break free.

Another woman was grabbed and threatened with a knife, before being forced to perform a sexual act on her attacker, on Warwards Lane, early on Saturday.

The suspect is described as white, in his forties, and between 5ft 6in and 5ft 8in tall, with short grey hair.

Detective Inspector Karl Fletcher, from the public protection unit, said: "These are extremely serious attacks and we have placed a large number of resources into catching the offender."

He added: "We are also asking young women to be vigilant when returning home late at night. We ask that you walk home with friends or take a taxi for safety."
France votes for centre-right candidate - and perhaps next president

By Richard Lough and Sudip Kar-Gupta

PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Former prime ministers Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe go head-to-head on Sunday in a runoff vote for France's centre-right presidential nomination, with the winner likely to face a showdown against a resurgent far-right in next year's election.

Opinion polls show Fillon, a social conservative with a deep attachment to his Catholic roots, going into the race as the clear favourite after stunning his centrist challenger with a massive surge in support just before the Nov. 20 first round.

A 62-year-old racing car enthusiast who lives in a Loire valley chateau, Fillon promises radical reforms to France's regulation-encumbered economy, vowing to roll back the state and slash government's bloated costs.

Scrambling to regain momentum, Juppe, 71, a soft-mannered moderate who is currently mayor of Bordeaux, has attacked the "brutality" of his rival's reform programme and says the Paris lawmaker lacks credibility.

But in a blow to his comeback bid, television viewers found Fillon more convincing in a head-to-head debate on Thursday.

"My enemy is the decline of France," Fillon declared on Friday night, speaking to supporters in Paris at a final rally before the vote.

Many French citizens view Sunday's Les Republicains primary contest as a proxy for next spring's presidential election.

Pollsters say the winner will be favourite to enter the Elysee palace, with the ruling Socialists in turmoil and the anti-establishment National Front historically disadvantaged by France's two-round system.

Yet after Britain's vote to leave the European Union and Donald Trump's shock triumph in the U.S. election, France's vote is shaping up to be another battle of strength between weakened mainstream parties and the rising force of insurgent populists.

There could still be upsets ahead.

Voting opens at more than 10,000 polling stations across France at 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) and closes at 7 p.m. The first results may emerge within an hour and a half of polls closing.

With France still under a state of emergency since Islamist militants killed 130 people in gun and bomb attacks in Paris in November 2015, and with soldiers on patrol in the capital's streets, security will be tight near polling points.

THATCHERITE PLATFORM

Juppe, who has focused his attacks on Fillon's proposals to cut public sector jobs and end the 35-hour week, bills himself as the best-placed Les Republicains candidate to defeat the far-right leader Marine Le Pen next spring.

"There is a France that is winning and a France that is suffering," he said in Thursday's debate. "We must bring the two together."

Polls show both candidates would beat Le Pen in the expected presidential runoff vote, though Juppe, who would be better placed to rally left-wing voters, would do so by a more comfortable margin.

President Francois Hollande, whose low popularity ratings mirror the disarray in the ranks of the Left, has two weeks in which to decide whether to run for re-election.

Fillon's Thatcherite economic platform would give the 62-year-old Hollande a target to attack and could convince him to make a bid for a second five-year mandate against the odds.

Current opinion polls show any Socialist candidate would get knocked out of the election's first round next April, with the Les Republicains candidate going on to beat the National Front's Le Pen in the May runoff.

In a sign of growing frustration among the Left's forces, a leading Socialist on Saturday urged both Hollande and his prime minister, Manuel Valls, to contest the party's primary in January.

Claude Bartolone, who heads the lower house of parliament, said the Socialist party would benefit if the two men and others such as former economy minister Emmanuel Macron were to stand. The latter is standing anyway as an independent.

FREE MARKETEER

Voters say they are fed up with France's near double-digit rate of unemployment -- nearly double that of some European peers -- and sluggish job creation in an economy that is forecast to grow an anemic 1.4 percent in 2016.

A free marketeer, Fillon promises to take on the powerful trade unions and push through reforms that would reduce the state's dirigiste role in the euro zone's number two economy.

He wants to axe half a million civil service jobs, a cull that will be made possible by extending the 35-hour working week to 39 hours in the public sector. Corporate tax cuts will help spur growth, and only then will income tax cuts follow he says.

In another sign of his determination to reduce state involvement in the economy, Fillon wants to roll back state support in health care.

"Reform shouldn't punish, it should provide hope," Juppe told the eight million viewers of Thursday's televised debate.

"I want to persuade the French that my reforms will not be penitence but represent a hope for improving the life of each person," he said later on Friday at a rally in Nancy.
For top Iraqi commander, Mosul offensive is personal battle

By Michael Georgy

JULUKHAN, Iraq, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Major General Najm al-Jubbouri, a top commander in the offensive against Islamic State in the Iraqi city of Mosul, peered through binoculars at flames after his men shot dead an Islamic State suicide bomber.

It was a small victory for a man whose war against jihadists is deeply personal.

"You are heroes," he said through a walkie talkie as Iraqi forces cleared another village, hoping to open a new route to the militants' stronghold of Mosul. "You are heroes".

Last year, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked Jubbouri to return home from the United States to help lead the fight against Islamic State, which swept through Mosul and other parts of northern Iraq in 2014 and imposed a reign of terror.

Jubbouri is upbeat as he paces on the rooftop of a house that serves as a makeshift command centre, surveying the battlefield and tightly managing advances.

But he is acutely aware of what Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is capable of.

Last year, he watched an Islamic State video broadcast on social media which showed the drowning of prisoners who are locked inside a steel cage and slowly lowered to their deaths in a pool.

Some of the victims were Jubbouri's cousins, he said.

"My relatives and citizens suffered a lot from al Qaeda and ISIS. I decided to return back here. In Mosul, ISIS killed a lot from my tribe and from my friends," he told Reuters in an interview.

Jubbouri left his family behind and his job at the National Defence University in the United States and put on his military fatigues again at home.

Eager to avenge the deaths of his relatives and help stabilize Iraq, Jubbouri is trying to figure out ways to overcome the complex challenges of fighting Islamic State in Mosul, home to about one million people.

Iraqi forces can't move heavy weapons and tanks through Mosul's narrow streets, and Islamic State is using civilians as human shields to slow government advances, said Jubbouri, who served in Saddam Hussein's army for decades.

In the desert just beyond Jubbouri are two army trucks mounted with machineguns, primed to attack any suicide bombers in vehicles who try to approach the makeshift command centre, which is surrounded by bodyguards.

"We want to remove the cancer (of Islamic State) from the body and this is a very difficult mission inside Mosul," said Jubbouri.

Jubbouri, who moved to the United States in 2008, is acutely aware of the dangers posed by Islamic militants, and the sectarian animosities which have destablised Iraq.

As mayor of Tel Afar from 2005-2008, he cleared out al-Qaeda fighters from the town and promoted reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi'ites.

Iraq has been struggling to find a formula for stability since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Even if Islamic State is defeated in Mosul, Iraqi leaders must ensure that the same ethnic and sectarian hostilities which helped Islamic State establish a widespread presence in the country do not creep up again.

The group initially won over Sunni supporters because that sect felt marginalised by the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

Jubbouri called for an end to a governing system which allocates top posts based on sects.

"It won't be rosy. Many difficulties," he said. "Some politicians will not like to change because many of them would lose their positions."

For now, he is focused on the fight against Islamic State. Jubbouri said Iraqi forces had set a six-month timetable for the Mosul campaign. But he is confident of victory by the end of this year, predicting the group will collapse.

So far, Iraqi forces have captured about 60 percent of eastern Mosul, and the western part of Iraq's second biggest city could prove far more dangerous.
In northern Iraq, Yazidis risk all to flee Islamic State

By John Davison

DUHOK, Iraq, Nov 26 (Reuters) - When shells began crashing around the town of Tal Afar as Shi'ite militias brought the fight to Islamic State in northern Iraq, Abu Faraj saw his chance to escape captivity.

He and 17 other members of the Yazidi religious community, one of Iraq's oldest minorities, moved to the town's outskirts while their Islamic State captors were busy with the battle.

Four days later, in the early evening, they fled. The group, which included women and children, walked overnight through the desert and hours later reached Kurdish-controlled territory -- and safety.

"I remember the exact time we decided to flee, it was 6:50 p.m.," said Abu Faraj, 23, who had waited more than two years for that moment.

"We had to walk in single file through the desert and follow each other's footsteps in case the area was mined," he said, giving an alias for fear of identification by Islamic State militants, who still hold some of his relatives.

The group, including Abu Faraj's wife and two daughters, were captured when Islamic State overran Sinjar in northern Iraq in August 2014.

The insurgents systematically killed, captured and enslaved thousands of Yazidis, whose beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions and are regarded by Islamic State as devil-worshippers.

Mass Yazidi graves have been found since Kurdish forces retook areas north of Sinjar in December 2014, and the town itself in November 2015, but Islamic State had already transferred many Yazidis to other areas, including Tal Afar.

Reports from the area suggest thousands of people have fled Tal Afar in recent days as the Shi'ite paramilitary groups -- assisting a U.S.-backed operation to drive Islamic State out of the city of Mosul to the east -- advanced.

Most of those who have fled are from the town's Turkmen Sunni Muslim majority, fearing sectarian revenge by the Shi'ite fighters.

But Yazidis are also among them, and for Abu Faraj and his fellow Yazidis, who squat for now in a half-finished building in the northern city of Duhok, the escape has been a huge relief.

"We left our house when other people were also fleeing. We didn't ask who they were, whether they were Daesh (Islamic State) families. We just used the chaos to go," he said, smoking a cigarette -- a practice forbidden under Islamic State rule.

"Under Daesh we watched executions, beatings. You name it, we've seen it."

HUSBAND, DAUGHTER TAKEN AWAY

Abu Faraj, who worked as a slave labourer in Tal Afar, is among the few young Yazidi men to have escaped Islamic State. He did not say how he managed to survive when others had disappeared or been killed, also for fear of identification.

"The rest of the group are women, children and elderly," he said.

U.N. investigators said in a report in June that Islamic State is committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy the community of 400,000 people through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes.

One 42-year-old woman, who gave her name only as "a member of the Meshu family" and covered her face with a scarf, made the same journey as Abu Faraj with her three youngest children.

"When we finally made it to a peshmerga (Kurdish forces) position, we took our veils off and raised our hands -- with our all-black clothes we were scared they'd think we were Daesh and shoot us," she said.

Her husband, 16-year-old son and 20-year-old daughter had been separated from her and the younger children when they were first taken by the militants.

"I don't know what has happened to them, or where they are," she said.

Islamic State took many Yazidi girls as sex slaves.

The family was moved from town to town after their capture, spending some time in makeshift prisons and the rest under what amounted to house arrest in Tal Afar.

"We didn't leave the house except to get essential supplies. I avoided sending the kids to an Islamic State school," she said.

"Daesh fighters gave us just enough to eat, but it was often dirty food and water," she said, sitting next to her tired and pale children.

The Office of Kidnapped Affairs in Duhok, a department backed by the Kurdistan regional government, said about 3,500 Yazidis were believed to remain in areas controlled by Islamic State, many of them women and children.

But even for those who have escaped, the ordeal is not over.
Blast rocks northern Syrian town, deaths reported and wounded taken to Turkey -sources

By Daren Butler

ISTANBUL, Nov 27 (Reuters) - A blast ripped through a street in the northern Syrian town of al-Rai on Sunday in what was believed to be an Islamic State suicide bombing, with several deaths reported and security and hosital sources saying 12 wounded, mostly children, were taken to a hospital in nearby Turkey.

The town of al-Rai, which is 2 km (1 mile) south of Turkey's Kilis border province, is in an area under the control of Turkey-backed rebels and was seized from Islamic State militants in Ankara's "Euphrates Shield" operation launched in August.

Local sources said the explosion was caused by a vehicle-borne bomb which killed several people, according to Turkey's Dogan news agency. The casualty toll could not be confirmed.

The Turkey-backed rebels have for days been besieging the IS-controlled town of al-Bab, around 30 km south of al-Rai, as part of the three-month-old offensive to drive the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

Turkey's army earlier said IS militants fired a rocket into the Haliliye area of the same region that caused symptoms of "chemical gas" exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The rebels were transferred to a Turkish hospital on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches following the attack, the Hurriyet website reported.

But Anadolu said a subsequent analysis by Turkey's disaster and emergency organisation AFAD did not detect chemical materials and the symptoms were regarded as having been caused by a tear gas-like substance.

Turkish jets on Saturday destroyed four Islamic State targets in the Anifah region, and one Turkey-backed Syrian rebel was killed and 14 wounded in clashes, the army said.

On Thursday, three Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike which the army believed was carried out by the Syrian air force. It happened on the first anniversary of Turkey's downing of a Russian jet over Syria and raised fears of an escalation in the conflict.

Turkey subsequently deployed low-altitude air defence systems with Stinger missiles to the border area, Dogan said.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the air strike with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. They spoke again late on Saturday about "Syria and efforts to resolve the humanitarian drama in Aleppo", sources in Erdogan's office said.

Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main military backer. Turkey backs rebels fighting to oust him.
On display are photos of Vietnams socio-economic achievements as well as political and cultural progress over the past 30 years.



A large space at the Vietnam booth is dedicated to the countrys tangible and intangible heritage through images provided by the Vietnam National UNESCO Committee.



Information on several Vietnamese companies wishing to invest in Africa is also available at the booth.





The Francophone Village in Antananarivo, Madagascar (Photo: Madagascar-tribune)



Pham Sanh Chau, Assistant to the Foreign Minister, expressed his thanks to the Vietnamese honorary consulate in Madagascar, and the Director for Asia-Pacific of the International Organisation of La Francophonie Eric Normand Thhibeault and his wife, for their support and assistance for Vietnam in joining the event.



The Vietnam booth expects to welcome Vietnamese President and other high-ranking delegates on November 26th afternoon.



The 16th Francophone Summit will take place in Madagascar from November 26th-27th. President Tran Dai Quang arrived in Antananarivo, Madagascar on November 25th, beginning his trip to the country to attend the 16th Francophone Summit at the invitation of the host countrys President Hery Rajaonarimampianina./.
Militants kidnap six Pakistanis working for Polish oil firm

By Saud Mehsud

DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Six Pakistanis working for a Polish oil and gas surveying company have been kidnapped in northwestern Pakistan, military sources told Reuters, years after a Polish engineer from the same company was beheaded by Pakistani militants.

The six Geofizyka Krakow workers were snatched from their vehicles on Saturday afternoon on a road near the village of Drazinda, about 80km (50 miles) from the city of Dera Ismail Khan, two officials with security forces in the area said.

One of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity as they are not authorised to speak to media, provided Reuters with the names and national identity card numbers of the workers.

Geofizyka Krakow, a subsidiary of Poland's state-run gas firm PGNiG, could not be immediately reached for comment. On its website, the PGNiG local unit said it had gone into liquidation in August 2016.

"They were sub-contractors providing works for Geofizyka Krakow, a company which is now in liquidation. They were not Polish," a PGNiG spokesman said. He declined to give any more details.

A Polish foreign ministry spokeswoman tweeted that there were no Polish citizens in the group and that the Polish embassy in Islamabad is monitoring the situation.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. In the past, militants from the hardline Islamist Pakistani Taliban group have kidnapped people in the region for ransom or to bargain for the release of prisoners.

The area where the workers were kidnapped is close to South Waziristan, part of the lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) bordering Afghanistan.

Geofizyka Krakow has a long history of seismic survey work in Pakistan.

In 2008, a Polish engineer working for the firm was kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban near the northwestern city of Attock, and beheaded several months later.

Overall security in Pakistan has improved over the last few years but many of the northwestern areas bordering Afghanistan remain volatile and dangerous, especially for foreigners and those working with foreign companies.

The frontier regions, deeply conservative and hard to access due to rough terrain, have long been the sanctuary of fighters from al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups.
Gaza risks becoming easy launchpad for Islamic State -Qatari minister

By Tom Finn and William Maclean

DOHA, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Palestinian infighting and years of an Israeli blockade could turn the impoverished Gaza Strip into an easy "launching pad" for Islamic State recruiters, Qatar's foreign minister says.

The small gas-rich Gulf state is a major backer of Hamas, the armed movement which has maintained its control over the coastal enclave for almost a decade despite conflicts with Israel and a rift with Western-backed President Mahmoud Abbas.

Foreign minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said in an interview in Doha on Saturday that a blockade imposed on Gaza's borders by Israel and Egypt had turned the territory into an "open-air prison".

"If we will leave them as they are, people from Daesh can recruit them easily. They can start operations from there easily," he told Reuters, using an Arabic acronym for the group.

"It (Gaza) can tranform also as a launching pad for extremism and for terrorism ... That's why we need to put an end to this," he said.

Cut off from trade, many of Gaza's 2 million people live in poverty and struggle to find work. Israel and Egypt have accused Hamas of being a terrorist group exploiting Gaza's suffering for its political gain - charges the group denies.

Hamas, an Islamist movement that shares the Islamic State's hostility to Israel but not their quest for a global religious war, deny the jihadists have a presence in the territory.

Pro-Islamic State social media accounts have accused Hamas of arresting their supporters in Gaza.

Qatar has no diplomatic relations with Israel and strained ties with Egypt's military-backed government, which has kept its border with the Gaza Strip largely closed since the 2013 overthrow of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

Doha has paid the salaries of Gaza public sector workers and built new homes for Palestinians after a 2014 war with Israel.

The Qatari donations, as well as its hosting of Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal since 2012, have buoyed Gaza's de facto Islamist rulers, irking Israel and the U.S.-backed Palestinian administration based in the occupied West Bank.

Sheikh Mohammed said that advancing Palestinian unity efforts and easing the blockades should not be "forgotten about" because of war unfolding across the Middle East.
By Ingrid Melander and Michel Rose

PARIS, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Hardline reformist Francois Fillon scored a resounding win in France's conservative primaries on Sunday, making him favourite to win a presidential election five months from now against the popular far-right and a deeply divided left.

Fillon, a former prime minister who wants to raise the retirement age, cut back social security and scrap the 35-hour working week, would easily beat National Front leader Marine Le Pen in a run-off second round, a flash opinion poll said right after his primaries victory.

But to do that, the 62-year old former prime minister and admirer of late British prime minister Margaret Thatcher now faces the challenge of bringing voters behind a programme that promises radical change.

"I must now convince the whole country our project is the only one that can lift us up, for jobs, growth and to fight those fanatics that declared war on us," a visibly moved Fillon said at his campaign headquarters.

"I will take up an unusual challenge for France: tell the truth and completely change its software," said Fillon, a racing car enthusiast who lives in a Loire valley chateau.

With votes from nearly all of 10,229 polling stations counted, Fillon had won 66.5 percent of the votes in the primaries organised by the centre-right Les Republicains party.

Next year's presidentials in the euro zone's second-largest economy are shaping up to be another test of the strength of anti-establishment parties in Western countries, with French voters angry with stubbornly high unemployment and fearful after a wave of Islamist militant Attacks.

In a country that saw months of street protests earlier this year against labour reforms that are much milder than those Fillon proposes, his far-reaching plans give both the ruling Socialists and Le Pen's National Front (FN) some hope that they can make a comeback.

Up until a couple of weeks ago they expected the centre-right candidate to be Alain Juppe, a more moderate proposition who had been a favourite in polls for months.

"For us, he's a great candidate (to face in the election)," the National Front's Florian Philippot told Reuters. "His project is so sharply different from ours."

Under the leadership of Le Pen, who took over from her father Jean-Marie in 2011, the FN has switched from an economically liberal, pro-small business party to one that promises to lower the retirement age and guarantee France's generous welfare safety net.

Fillon plans to slash public spending by 100 billion euros over five years, scrap a tax on the wealthy and push the retirement age to 65 as well as increase VAT sales tax.

"It's a programme of chaos. It's impossible that this austerity cure does not trigger chaos," Philippot said.

DIVIDED LEFT

All eyes now turn to whether the deeply unpopular President Francois Hollande will decide to run for the left-wing ticket in his party's primaries in January, amid signs that his prime minister, Manuel Valls, is considering a bid of his own.

Close aides of Hollande have said he will run despite his deep unpopularity. Fillon lacks the broad appeal of the more centrist Juppe and his more radical economic reform plans could give Hollande a peg on which to base his candidacy.

But on Sunday, Hollande's prime minister Manuel Valls for the first time raised the prospect he could challenge Hollande as the Socialists' candidate in the 2017 presidential election, in a further sign of the left's divisions.

Neither of them would get more than 9 percent of the votes in the first round of the presidential election and neither would qualify for the run-off, the Harris Interactive flash poll on Sunday showed.

Both Hollande's former economy minister Emmanuel Macron and leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, would do much better, the poll showed. Both on Sunday reaffirmed that they would run in the presidentials and bypass the Socialist party's primaries - guaranteeing a split vote on the left.

Fillon's misgivings about gay marriage, and belief that immigrants should assimilate to French cultural values, could make him a more difficult opponent on social issues for the FN, and an easier target for the left.

Fillon has also raised eyebrows in Germany by espousing warmer ties with Russia than Hollande has pursued.

Leading centre-right politicians, including the losers in the primaries, said unity after Sunday's vote was key to winning the presidency for Les Republicains.

Juppe said he would support Fillon's campaign and former president Nicolas Sarkozy also called for unity.
Islamic State gone, Mosul district residents adjust to new life

By Isabel Coles

GOGJALI, Iraq, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Until three weeks ago, many of Abu Osama's customers were Islamic State militants who brought their wives and children to his pharmacy on the eastern edge of Mosul for injections and treatment.

Now, most of them are Iraqi security forces who recaptured the Gogjali neighborhood earlier this month and are pushing further into the city, which has been under Islamic State control for more than two years.

As the militants retreat, civilians are adjusting to a new reality in their wake and a clearer picture is emerging of what they did to survive the punishments and deprivation of Islamic State rule.

"Whether Daesh (Islamic State) or army: my door is open to everyone," said Abu Osama, taking the blood pressure of an Iraqi policeman. "If my worst enemy comes here, I must treat him."

Several Islamic State militants, both local and foreign, lived in Gogjali and it was mainly their families that visited the pharmacy because the militants themselves were often away, Abu Osama said.

The front of his shop and those next door are marked with the Arabic letter "z" for zakat, meaning alms, and beside it an identification number Islamic State bureaucrats assigned to record donations made at the shop for their self-proclaimed caliphate.

Advancing Iraqi forces have sprayed Shi'ite slogans over it.

The 40-year old opened the pharmacy after Mosul fell to Islamic State and the salary he received as an employee of the Iraqi health ministry was cut by the government as it sought to choke off funding to the militants, who were skimming the pay of public sector workers in areas they controlled.

The militants wanted Abu Osama to work for them in a hospital, but he refused because it would have meant pledging allegiance to the group, and he does not agree with their hardline ideology.

According to that ideology, the depiction of living creatures is un-Islamic because it can lead to idolatry. After a militant upbraided him for displaying a poster with an image of a baby on the wall of his pharmacy, Abu Osama blotted out its eyes with a black marker pen and then did the same to every label featuring a human being.

The 500 dinar note ($0.40), which bears an image of a statue, was banned for the same reason, according to several civilians.

CHINESE, INDIAN MEDICINE

All medicine came from Syria -- Mosul's only outlet to the world as an array of forces slowly closed in on the city in Iraq. Syrian traders imported cheap Chinese and Indian medicine via Turkey and paid Islamic State a tax to bring it to market in Mosul, Abu Osama said.

By the time medicine reached his still sparsely stocked shelves, the price had tripled, and many of his customers could not afford to buy it, so he sold it to them on credit and is now owed 1.25 million Iraq dinars ($1,016).

Since women were obliged by Islamic State to veil their faces completely, Abu Osama cannot be sure who owes him what, he said.

Standing in the pharmacy, forty-three-year old Sohaib commented that if he became separated from his wife in a crowded marketplace, she would have to find him, as he could not distinguish her from all the other women shrouded from head to toe in black.

Abu Osama could treat women only when they were accompanied by a male relative, and if a female patient lifted her veil before him and Islamic State's vice squad found out, he would be held accountable. It never happened to him, but the militants punish such infractions with fines and whipping.

Residents of Gogjali said Islamic State's laws were less strictly enforced there because it is far from the city center.

When Iraqi special forces took the neighborhood, two of the militants left their wives behind, locals said, identifying the women as Russian. The jihadi brides tried to flee Mosul among displaced civilians but were found out and detained by Iraqi security forces, according to a soldier sitting in the pharmacy.

"They were unbelievably beautiful," he said.

Several doors down, twenty-seven year old Ammar, who runs a grocery shop, said the militants were his best customers because they had more money than anyone else.

"They chatted with us and said we must fight jihad. Everyone preached to us, but each to their own," he said.

All the goods he sold came from Syria, he said, but now that route is blocked too, and several traders from the nearby Kurdish region are taking advantage of the opening in the market.

Outside the grocery shop, a Kurdish trader unloaded goods from a van, including items banned by Islamic State such as cigarettes, biscuits made in Iran and Brazilian canned meat.

"It says halal on the tin, but they said it wasn't," Ammar said, shrugging.
Fidel was the last of the epic heroes. Whatever our travails, our generation and the ones before us were fortunate to live in the decades in which there were great leaders, visionaries who combined their ideal with action and changed the world they inherited. Our generation and one, perhaps two before that, lived consciously in the twentieth century which was inhabited by such heroes. My own generation lived at the time of Mao, Ho Chi Minh, Tito, Fidel and Che Guevara. We were lucky to have read of and watched these Homeric heroes as they fought colossal enemies against incredible odds; led and changed reality and became legend.

With Fidel gone we are almost at the end of an age, perhaps a cycle of Historythe age of modern heroism, but with a continuity going back millennia to the dawn of the hero. I say almost because the Moncada and Granma generation is not dead, the companeros of Fidel and Che, namely Raul and Ramiro Valdez, are still alive and active, as are Fidels Latin American political sons such as Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua and Salvador Sanchez of El Salvador.

It was almost sixty years ago (Dec 2, 1956) that Fidel, Che and Raul landed on the shores of Cuba in the leaky yacht Granma, to start the revolutionary guerrilla war that led to victory two and a half years later.

One would expect that it would be fairly easy for someone such as myself who has authored a book on Fidel, published in the UK/ US, to write a short article on him, but it is actually quite difficult. There is so much to say about Fidel because he did so much, tried to do so much, and meant so much to so many of us, that it is difficult to isolate just a few aspects or points for a short reflection.

There will be a huge sense of irreplaceable loss most palpably in Cuba and the whole of Latin America, but it will range wider, throughout the Global South and even in the First World. No country will be untouched. Before Fidel, Cuba was the playground of American gangsters and gamblers, as depicted in so many movies, most memorably Godfather II. After Fidel and because of Fidel, a vote in the United Nations every year for the last quarter century against the embargo imposed by the USA won near unanimity. Fidel gave Cuba dignity as a nation and respect throughout the world, even in the ranks of his enemies.



In his The Rebel, Albert Camus drew a distinction between a revolutionary, who was one who used unlimited violence to change the whole system and a rebel, who used limited and selective violence to oppose wrongs and injustice. Camus opted for the rebel over the revolutionary. Fidel was a rebel and a revolutionary. He opted for revolutionary war to overthrow a system and build a new one but his use of violence was selective and discriminatory in the best sense.

Fidel also transcended another seemingly unbridgeable gap. He was a revolutionary as well as a statesman. He led a revolution and supported, defended and inspired others, but he also piloted the Cuban state through the most dreadful dangers and against the worst odds. Che Guevara refered to Fidels leadership which he said no one could have matched, during the sad and luminous days of the Cuban Missile Crisis where it lived under the shadow of a US military invasion and perhaps global nuclear war, but did so unflinchingly, unblinkingly.

Fidel was a patriot, steeped in the Cuban national spirit and heritage, while also being an internationalist on a grand scale. Mere months after the victory of the Cuban revolution he sent tanks to defend Algeria which had just achieved its liberation.

Nelson Mandela went on the record to credit Cuba with the decisive role of defeating the powerful (nuclear armed) South African military in the battle of Cuito Cuenevale in Angola in 1988, which shattered the myth of white South African military invincibility and opened the prison door for Mandela and a negotiated end to apartheid in South Africa. Fidel personally oversaw the Angolan campaign from across the Atlantic.

Angola also shed light on what I was the first to identify in the academic literature as Fidels greatest single contribution, namely his evolution and practised of a humane and humanitarian ethics of violence. Three hundred and fifty thousand Cuban volunteers rotated in and out of Angola over twelve years of war and there was not a single allegation of atrocities against them in the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva, even by the United States. Just as the Catholic saints Ambrose, Augustine and Thomas Aquinas evolved and codified the Just War theory for rulers and states, Fidel, who had a Jesuit education and formation, practiced and developed Just War in both anti-state liberation struggle as well as when he led the Cuban state in fighting against domestic terrorism and imperialist oppression throughout the world.



Fidel stood for independence, Fidel felt it was necessary to fight for the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation state as a bulwark against imperialist domination and state segmentation (as in Yugoslavia).

Fidel Castro was an anti-imperialist who was never a fanatic. He always combined his anti-imperialism with a sense of the welfare of humanity and the planet as a whole, and he put forward proposals for global structural reform which could ensure the welfare of all. While a militant anti-imperialist he was not an advocate of war for the sake of war, polarization and radicalization.

From his earliest interview with Herbert Mathews of the New York Times while fighting in the Sierra Maestra mountains, to the famous, almost seductively cinematic mid-1970s interviews with Barbara Walters, to the documentaries by Vietnam war veteran and famous Hollywood filmmaker Oliver Stone, Fidel always reached out to the American public. He was Cubas best lobbyist, simply by charm of personality and force of argumentation.

Thus Fidel was the great synthesizer or was himself the great synthesis, fusing factors and attributes that were regarded as unbridgeable antinomies. Fidel taught us all, a way to be. The way of the fighter, the warrior, the hero. Fidel was, to borrow the title of Brazilian author Paul Coelhos book, a great Warrior of Light. But his was not merely or primarily a martial heroism. Fidel Castro was a global guerrilla commander, the commander-in-chief, in the battle of ideas.

Looking back on my life as one who was lucky enough to have been born in the year, the month and around the time that Fidel, Raul and Che were landing on the shores of Cuba in the Granma, I am glad to have been able to make a modest contribution to the theoretical comprehension of Fidels contribution. TeleSUR, the Venezuela based Latin American TV station interviewed me on Fidels 90th birthday this last August and interviewer Naomi Cohen summarized my perspective as follows: The liberation fighter loyal to Fidels teachings can ultimately overcome and vanquish imperialism through weapons of ethics and morality. I told her in that interview that Fidel proves that you can fight without losing your soul. Even if you lose militarily, you win morally and eventually politically. Fidel has universal value wherever people and movements are struggling. I also explained that it is not merely a Latin American phenomenon, still less a merely Cuban phenomenon, still less a 20th century phenomenon. Fidel has contributed to universal values.

Naomi Cohens TeleSUR interview with me included the following idea from my book on the Moral Dimension of the Political Thought of Fidel Castro:According to Fidels logic, the liberation and revolutionary fighter must exercise conscious restraint, writes Jayatilleka in Fidels Ethics of Violence while simultaneously drawing on a moral philosophy that does not rest on culturally specific and circumscribed notions (such as those that inform many jihadist groups) or claims of self-evident (actually, self-referential) systemic superiority, as is the case of western imperialist states. Instead, Fidel calls for an ethics that springs from the wellsprings of modernity and universalism but stands for an alternative modernity.

The Latin American progressive audience apart, my theorizing of Fidels singular contribution made its way into rigorous western scholarship and will now be engaged with by every serious student of Castro.Nick Hewlett, D.Litt, author of a book on the French philosophers Badiou, Balibar, Ranciere (Bloomsbury 2007) has just put out his volume Blood and Progress:Violence in Pursuit of Emancipation(Univ. of Edinburgh Press, 2016) in which he has a Chapter on Fidel Castro which concludes:

Most importantly, for our purposes, Castro is deeply reflective on the ethics of violence in revolt and offers the most developed morality in relation to violence in pursuit of emancipation of any revolutionary leader. We might say that Castro and the practice of the Cuban revolution offer the spirit with which we should approach the question of violence in revolt, which promotes the importance of the life and well being of all human beings, with the regretful acknowledgement that fighting and loss of life in pursuit of a substantially more just and less exploitative society is sometimes necessary. This is, at the very least, a highly inspiring way to approach the question.

Prof Hewlett summarizes what I concluded was Fidels abiding contribution, in my book on Fidel:

In an insightful study, Dayan Jayatilleka (2007) examines Castros ethics of violence, suggesting that the Cuban leader resolved the disagreement between Sartre and Camus regarding violence and morality, namely where Sartre was critical of Camus for Camuss disapproval of the violence of the oppressed. Castros main contribution to Marxism, Jayatilleka argues, is the way in which he introduces an ethical and moral dimension. Jayatilleka suggests there are three possible approaches to violence: by those who contend that violence is always wrong, by those who defend it if it is in pursuit of a just end, and by those who argue that not only should the end be a worthy one but that the means of achieving this end must be subjected to ethical scrutiny. It is this last position which he argues is the correct one and the one which Castro embraces. Jayatilleka argues convincingly that neither Sorel nor Fanon nor Sartre:

went beyond the understanding of the effect of dehumanization of the violence of the oppressor on the oppressed and the effect of humanization on the oppressed of the exercise of counter-violence, to an understanding of the effect of dehumanization of violence on the oppressed (which the Gandhians and other pacifists understood), when used by them without limits. There is no dialectical understanding of the violence of the oppressed, encompassing its contradictory aspects, both liberating and dehumanizing...

Winston Churchills famous lines of praise for the RAF flyers applies, with slight modification, several times over to Cuba and Fidel Castro: never in the field of human conflict and contemporary history have so many owed so much to one country and one man.
Now that Donald Trump has won the US presidential election, it is high time for him to end the inward-looking America first movement and start talking about the United States role as a globally engaged leader.



Asia hopes Trumps provocative and isolationist campaign rhetoric will not be implemented as administration policy. The region is rife with major geopolitical hot spots  Chinas rise, maritime disputes in the East and South China Seas, instability on the Korean peninsula and a recent trend of tensions between Southeast Asias strongman leaders and Washington. A United States withdrawal would destabilise the region and cause a split between Asia and the Pacific.



The American dream is not based on protectionism but rather on the liberal principles of freedom, tolerance and openness. The United States has not always lived up to these ideals perfectly but it has always set them as an ideal to be reached  and others have followed. As the worlds economic and political focus shifts to the Asia-Pacific, the regions path is still undetermined. If the United States refuses to participate in the process of building regional architecture, it will be relegated to an alternate rule-maker and those rules will be based on another vision.

So what does the Asia-Pacific hope for in a Trump presidency?

The region hopes for an acknowledgment that the liberal international order has benefited the United States. In the great game now underway in the Asia-Pacific, Chinas long-term strategy is to undermine and overturn this rules-based order. But the greater existential challenge to the current order is domestic. Across the developed world there is growing popular opposition to globalisation. By setting a gold standard in the Asia-Pacific, the United States can play a key role in upgrading the liberal international order to be smarter and more equitable.



The much-maligned Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement could have been a gateway for the United States to be at the heart of this process. Without it, China can push its own Sino-centric trade deals that exclude the United States  such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. This plays right into Beijings divide and trade approach in the region. Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines have recently postured a bold separation from Washington. Trump must be careful not to further provoke such departures with a my way or the highway response.



Instead, Trumps administration should look to engage with Asia through alternative avenues, even if the region rejects the TPP. Forums such as the ASEANUS Special Leaders Summit, APEC and the East Asian Summit fulfil a similar function of encouraging open regionalism.



During the Obama administration, US allies  such as Japan  have become frustrated with Washingtons overly accommodating and sometimes erratic attitudes towards Beijing. But in line with his campaign statements, Trumps administration may take a more principled and hard-headed approach to Chinese engagement. The United States should frame a regional policy for Asia ahead of a China policy. For example, Tokyo would welcome an approach that precludes a USChina G2 special relationship.



Such a policy would need the support of the US key allies. So far, Trump has been critical of these allies, suggesting that they have not been paying their fair share. With financial troubles at home and unpopular interventions in the Middle East, it is increasingly difficult to convince Americans of the necessity to sustain the global alliance network in its current form.

While the United States must not forget that its power derives from its global reach and access, partners in Asia also have a responsibility to show greater leadership as geopolitical challenges grow in complexity. Initiatives such as the South KoreaJapan agreement on comfort women issues, Japans civilian coast guard capacity building and the potential IndonesiaAustralia joint maritime patrols should be a growing feature of a new autonomy shown by US allies in managing the region.

Equally, allies can contribute further in terms of political capacity. As the US closest ally in Asia, Japan has an opportunity to act as a bridge to leaders such as Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte who otherwise may not be receptive to the United States. The United States should also leverage Japans attempts to reshape the geostrategic environment. Despite opposition from Washington, Japan has pushed ahead with fostering closer ties with Russia. Whether it is balancing against China, responding to North Korea or meeting the regions energy and security needs, Japan recognises that Russia should be incorporated into an Asia-Pacific regional framework. Unlike former US leaders, Trump believes that he can build a rapport with Putin  here Japan can help.

Trump must also urgently deal with unrest on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea has conducted two nuclear tests this year. The South Korean government is in disarray and the changeover between the Obama and Trump administrations could result in a short-term political vacuum. With Trump previously stating that he will handle any madmen in North Korea, now is the time to plan for any contingencies.



Finally, Trump needs to pick his team wisely. Institutions and relationships built over time and based on familiarity are especially valued in Asian diplomacy. If Trump overturns the foreign policy establishment, he will find it hard to put in place people with the necessary networks. His choice of trade representative will be of particular importance as it is a symbol of whether the United States is willing to engage or pull back  the defining question of Trumps Asia policy.



(Courtesy East Asia Forum)

(Yoichi Funabashi is Chairman of the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation)
Loan to be disbursed in two equal tranches

Finance Ministry is executing agency

From left: Insurance Board of Sri Lanka Chairperson Indrani Sugathadasa, Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samarathunga, ADB Country Director Sri Widowati and Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Thilak Karunaratne

CB, IBSL, SEC and SLAASMB are implementing agencies

The Sri Lankan government has entered into a loan agreement with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to obtain a loan of US $ 250 million from the Ordinary Capital Resources Fund of ADB to implement the Capital Market Development Programme (CMDP) in Sri Lanka.

The main objective of the CMDP is to ensure that the capital market in Sri Lanka is more effective in mobilizing resources for the economys financing requirements to better promote growth and development.



Under the CMDP, it is desired to develop an efficient, stable and transparent capital market, which is a highly proficient conduit for resource mobilization with a strong legal and regulatory framework.

Increasing the capacity and size of the capital market through enhanced market facilitation, demand measures and supply measures are also identified as objectives of the CMDP.

The proposed loan of US $ 250 million will be disbursed in two tranches of approximately US $ 125 million each based on the accomplishment of the policy actions relevant for each of the tranches. The Finance Ministry will be the executing agency of the programme, whereas the Central Bank (CB) of Sri Lanka, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Insurance Board of Sri Lanka (IBSL) and Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards Monitoring Board (SLAASMB) will be the implementing agencies.



In this connection, Finance Ministry Secretary Dr. R.H.S. Samarathunga on behalf of the Government of Sri Lanka and ADB Sri Lanka Resident Mission Country Director Sri Widowati on behalf of ADB signed the loan agreement on November 24 at the Finance Ministry.
Education Minister Akila Viraj Kariyawasam was welcomed by the State Minister of Defence Ruwan Wijewardane to the youth camp held at Naula in Matale.Pix by Pradeep Pathirana
n Saturday November 26, Cuba announced the death of revolutionary icon Fidel Castro at the age of 90  one of the best-known freedom fighters. A man whose name is synonymous with freedom struggles the world over and the most successful leader of a socialist state.

Given his age and ill-health his death was to be expected. Yet, when death came to the man who survived innumerable US attempted assassinations, it still left countries of the developing world in shock, disbelief and profound sadness. There were of course those Cubans who migrated to the US who danced in the streets when news of his death was made public.

Comrade Castro or el Comandante as he was fondly referred to was a pillar of strength to the peoples of the developing world struggling to overthrow the shackles of imperialism which kept them in slavery.

Castro will best be remembered not only for the leadership role he played during the Cuban revolution, but as the helmsman who guided his country safely through a US global economic and trade embargo -including a prohibition on the transfer of medical equipment and medicaments- freezing the countrys assets and an invasion of Cuba sponsored by the CIA.

Yet, despite the US embargo imposed on his country, Cuba was recognized by the UN as the country with the best healthcare system in the world.



At the time Castro and his band of revolutionaries seized power in Cuba, half of Cubas children did not attend school. Over a million adults in a population of eleven million were illiterate. More than 50% houses had no toilets of any kind. 85% had no running water. 91% had no electricity. There was only 1 doctor per 2,000 people in rural areas and 75% of rural houses were shacks made of

palm fronds.

It was in this background, speaking at the UN General Assembly in 1960 -scarcely a year after capturing power- Castro wowed to wipe illiteracy from the country within a year and wipe it out he did. So much so that within a short period of time, Cuba was sending voluntary doctors to countries the developing world over, including to Sri Lanka. And many of these volunteer doctors opted to work in the poorest areas of the country as for example

in Moneragala.

Castros younger brother Raul Castro, who became President of Cuba in 2006 after Fidel fell desperately ill, announced the iconic leaders death on television.

..It is with profound sadness, he said I inform our people and our friends across [Latin] America and the world, that today, November 25, 2016, at 10.29 pm, Fidel Castro, the Commander in Chief of the Cuban revolution, died,.



Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa remembered the role of Castro during South Africas struggle against apartheid.

Frances Hollande described Castro as a towering figure of the 20th century who incarnated the Cuban revolution, in both its hopes and subsequent disillusionments. Not unexpectedly Castro had his share of detractors, media outlets spoke of expatriate Cubans living in Miami taking to the streets celebrating his death, singing, dancing, and waving Cuban flags chanting Cuba Libre! (Cuba is Free) and el viejo murio (the old man is dead).

However, the main body of Cuban people and people in developing countries mourn the passing away of the man who along with the late Ernesto Che Guvera embodied the spirit of freedom, steadfastly standing up to imperialist plots and

foiling them.

In Sri Lanka, people irrespective of their political beliefs heard the news with sadness, shock and disbelief. We are strengthened however by the legacy he bequeathed us  whether big or small, with or without many natural resources, the human spirit and will to stand up to international bullies and can conquer the wiles of the most powerful country in the world.

Today once again we salute Cuban leader Fidel Castro  the man who defied the most powerful nation in the world, to raise his country from poverty and illiteracy to the export of voluntary health-care and education worldwide.

Farewell Comrade, you left the world a better place to live in.
The program aims to raise awareness about environmental protection among pupils and guide them to protect the environment through simple actions in daily life; contributing to the movement of create a green - clean - modern environment in the country.

Mr Sawa Shunji, CVN General Manager, said: Our surroundings are being seriously polluted, not only in urban areas but also in rural ones. Although the amount of rubbish is still smaller in rural areas, there is almost no system to collect and dispose of waste. Therefore, environmental pollution is getting more and more serious, requiring immediate action. Via this program, CVN hopes to send an important message to all of us, especially the youth: we need to take action together in order to protect and build up a green Vietnam and a greener planet generally. This is surely an invaluable gift for future generations.

Photos: ATP

By participating in the event, pupils get basic knowledge of real environment situation in Vietnam as well as in the whole world via vivid images and legends. Canon staff also guide pupils protect the environment following 3R - an effective environmental protection activity in the world. 3R is abbreviation of 3 English words meaning Reduce - Reuse - Recycle. Nowadays, 3R is still unfamiliar among pupils. They also joined in two games named reuse - using used things to make new things, and rubbish classification.

Canon Vietnam also gave five plastic rubbish bins, a laser printer and 225 gift sets to Tu Mai primary school in order to serving daily activities and ensure hygiene quality at the school. Besides, the company also presented a laser printer to the Peoples Committee of Tu Mai commune to serve their work.

Later, 50 CVN volunteers, and youth members from Tu Mai commune and pupils (4th-5th grade) jointly cleaned up and collected rubbish along rural roads and public areas.

This is the 18th event that organized by CVN in the provinces Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Hanoi city.

As scheduled, this December, Canon will cooperate with Bac Ninh province Communist Youth Union to host the same program in Thua town primary school, Luong Tai district with the participation of around 440 pupils and more than 30 CVN volunteers./.
Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said today that though the United National Party (UNP) followed a line of policies that was different from the one that followed by Fidel Castro, his policies were hailed world over.

The former President of Cuba passed away on Friday at the age of 90.

Issuing a condolence message the Prime Minister stated the former Cuban leader was in the forefront among personalities prominent during the 20th century.

Mr. Wickremesinghe observed that Sri Lanka had a lot to learn from his revolutionary planning and reforms in the fields of housing, education and health.

The Prime Minister reminisced the close personal relationship that existed between the leader of the Cuban revolution and the former Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene and recalled that Mr. Jayewardene sent a collection of best Sri Lankan teas to the Cuban leader every month, which in turn sent a box of precious Havana cigars to Mr. Jayewardene.

I recollect with gratitude the contribution Castro made during the Angolan liberation struggle and the South African freedom struggle, while praising his support to Sri Lanka at the international level, maintaining diplomatic relationship with Sri Lanka since 1959, the Prime Minister stated.
he Prime Minister had stated in Parliament that his wife gets a higher salary than his and would not hesitate to support the proposals to increase salaries of parliamentarians and to provide vehicles to MPs to carry out their work in their electorates. His plan to push these two issues, conflicts with the electoral mandate given to them. They had been voted to run a responsible government. They should pursue the electorates interest or national interest and not the selfish interest of greedy, myopic, vision-less, opportunistic parliamentarians.

The PM must ensure that the scarce resources are managed sparingly with utmost care. The PM is aware that a bulk of our people live in misery despite being home to thousands of skilled and talented citizens. Due to corrupt political leaders, they presently live in frustration, hopelessness and poverty. Now that the war is no more, the PM had better give good leadership to stimulate the precious resource  the people.

Due to the lack of far-sighted, altruistic, visionary-type, progressive parliamentarians in our legislature, the people are suffering endlessly for no fault of theirs. They had failed to fix our pressing problems. The political leadership at least now should evaluate situations correctly and take

precise decisions.

"The PM is aware that a bulk of our people live in misery despite being home to thousands of skilled and talented citizens"



Are they in an occupation by which they earn their living or in a business? Parliament is the peoples deliberative assembly belonging to the NATION. Elected representatives are our agents, trustees and the delegates. Christopher de Souza, a Singaporean MP in Parliament had said: I believe most, if not all, of us present  would agree with me that political office is both a calling (and a passion). Those who want to serve must have the sense of duty and beyond that passion to the nation, as well as a desire to contribute to the public good of Singapore. He had further elaborated  For MPs, we are in this because we believe in the ethos of sacrifice that public service entails, listening to them, caring for them, offering encouragement in times of difficulty and mapping out real ways of progress for them and their children  that is fulfilling, that is politics. Let me also quote how he had ended the debate  Those who want to serve must have that sense of duty and, beyond that, passion to the Nation, as well as a desire to contribute to the public good.

The British Parliament has also taken a giant leap forward and established  The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) in 2009, in the aftermath of what had come to be known as the EXPENSES SCANDAL, which now sets MPs wages, among other things. This no doubt was a total deviation from the past practice. For the first time in UK, an independent body considered and determined how MPs should be paid. IPSA introduced a pay structure, which became effective from May 2015. Consequently, MPs no longer will be responsible for setting their own pay in the UK. They do not now serve themselves with a larger spoon. But our MPs do!

These crucial changes had been made although MPs had controlled their own pay for centuries in the UK. It had also been revealed that MPs had held their pay at a lower level though they had continued to draw allowances, expenses etc. that were far less visible to the public, like our Parliamentarians? Political scientists frequently use the term rent-seeking to describe an individual or a group searching for ways in which they would benefit by manipulating the institutional environment to their own advantage.

It had, however, culminated in the EXPENSES SCANDAL  2009. This issue has created a huge uproar and had caused serious damage to the Parliament, Parliamentarians and to the confidence in MPs. IPSA has therefore established an international standard on how politicians should be supported transparently and independently from the public purse. PM should introduce a similar body now that he had already introduced the Sectorial Oversight Committees of British Parliament (having abolished the Consultative Committees), to strengthen good governance. If not, why? Couldnt it be better to have it included in the proposed Constitution?

Do you know in Kenya too, owing to similar problems like ours, they have taken necessary steps to establish an Independent Salaries and Remuneration Commission, which had reduced the salaries of Parliamentarians elected to the current Parliament? The newly elected MPs had threatened to disband the Commission for reducing their salaries. The activist Boniface Mwangi who had organized protests over the MPs pay dispute had said This battle was a fight between 349 legislators and 42 million Kenyans. The Kenyans won.

President Uhuru Kenyata in his ceremonial address in Parliament had said that the government salary Bill exceeded 12 % GDP, above the internationally accepted level of 7%. He had therefore urged the MPs not to demand pay hikes because half of all revenue collected by the government had been set aside to pay government salaries.

"43% of the population do not get even two US$ a day. Owing to these reasons, namely lack of education and poor health, productivity capacity is drastically low. "



In Sri Lanka, as well, with too many Cabinet Ministers, State Ministers, Deputy Ministers (beyond the Constitutional restrictions) and an excessively overstaffed public sector, parliamentary pensions, perks, benefits, fuel, vehicle maintenance costs,etc., it is said that Bills go far beyond 20%. Shouldnt we add the cost of sustaining the Parliament - so called white elephant, for which government spends millions daily.

How did the able Minister of Finance Ravi Karunanayake, a member of the Staff Advisory Committee (SAC), fail to call for detailed reports, relating to numerous issues amounting to billions raised by the Auditor-General concerning parliamentary administration year after year. The issues of uneconomical operations, enormous waste, serious frauds, corruption, abuse,misappropriation, theft, over-staffing, lethargy, mismanagement, lack of supervision, neglect, idle labour, tendering procedural violations, over-purchases etc. etc., if fixed, could pave the way to

save billions.

In Singapore, there is zero tolerance for corruption and they pay MPs extremely well as in the case of other public servants. Australians too are among the best paid in the world.Why is the PM justifying the increase to MPs without solving the pressing economic issues before the country today? The PM should create necessary avenues to uplift productivity and promote growth to overcome financial instability due to excessive loans, corruption and top heavy government.

The government has also cut down allocations on health, education etc. People do not have essential medicines in government hospitals. The PM had said 43% of the population do not get even two US$ a day. Owing to these reasons, namely lack of education and poor health, productivity capacity is drastically low. Children in certain categories do not have schools, they are less likely to become highly skilled workers. Their productive capacity of the economy, is diminished. Nevertheless, does that mean the PM wants salary increase and vehicles approved purely for MPs to commensurate with their status?

We expect our decision makers to consider the impact on low and modest income households if they finally agree to implement these proposals.At a meeting, two Sri Lankan Economists, had said that the governments economic policies are inconsistent, inappropriate and disruptive.

Razeen Sally had accused the government for excessive increases in state spending and salaries. Sally had also warned not to resort to ad hoc measures and should focus on fiscal consolidation and improving of local businesses and investment culture.

Another respected former Central Banker/Economist Wijewardena had also said that governments fiscal and monetary policies have been contradictory. He had added both monetary and fiscal policies are working in opposite directions. British Finance Minister Philip Hammond recently had said that he is aiming to help struggling families and boost countrys long-term growth. He had added We have got to make sure that the prosperity that comes from seizing opportunities ahead is shared across the country and across the income distribution.

Remember, hidden wasteful expenses, inefficiencies and corruption etc. cost billions in our country. Consequently, the wide gulf between rich and poor impairs social cohesion and compounds a wide array of social problems, including poor physical and mental health, crime, violence etc. It is time to re-think about how the decision makers should understand and restructure political and economic arrangements in the 21st century. The current systems are not working. It does not serve the needs of the humankind.

We, the citizens, therefore, must look beyond the visible signs and beyond the border how and why the PM manifestly using political power to reward party men  without aiming to bring down ever increasing cost of living and achieving growth and development. Are they seemingly trying to provide their coterie with the necessary resources to fight future elections? To the leadership, the creation and allocations of State rents serves political purposes.Sri Lankan politicians do not like developing merit-based bureaucratic values, institutionalized competitive politics, established transparent government processes and an informed civil society as in the case of developed countries.

Prior to the elections, they assured that they would establish a framework of strong financial control management system. Shouldnt they fulfil that before increasing the payments for MPs because such improvements will enable the PM to find the necessary resources.

Our politicians have ultimately created an impoverished country. It appears owing to these, foreign debt had already shot up to billions of dollars. Economists believe the country is heading to a debt crisis. The PM speaking at the Business Today Top 30 awards ceremony last week had said I am keen to achieve 7% growth next year as opposed to the Central Bank forecast 6% because that will spur the required momentum. It is a make or break time for us. It will not be easy, but it will be worth it.
India's surprise move to get scrap 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to target hidden stashes of "black money" has affected the country's immediate neighbours, which all have long-standing trade, tourism and family links.

Sri Lankans living in India says they are facing serious difficulties as a result of the sudden decision by the Indian government.

A PhD student who declined to give her name said the announcement came while she was visiting Sri Lanka on holiday.

"When I came to Sri Lanka, I brought some Indian rupees with me. As I have an Indian visa for valid for 4 years, I was not shocked as I thought I would be able to go to State Bank of India in Colombo with my 500 rupee notes," she said.

"But they were quite rude and told me only dollar notes could be exchanged outside India. They also refused to offer me any advice."

Sri Lankan diplomats have also told BBC Sinhala that the cash crisis has left hundreds of Buddhist pilgrims stranded in India. Without access to cash, they are finding it difficult to continue their journeys or return home, the diplomat said.

Poor families normally take part in these pilgrimages, sometimes even pawning their jewellery or other valuables to make the trip.

More than one million Bangladeshis visit India every year for medical, tourism and business purposes.

Many Bangladeshis, especially businessmen, visit as often as two or three times a month. Being businessmen, they tend to carry wads of high-value Indian notes on their trips.

Since the new rules have come into effect, Bangladeshis have been trying to exchange their unusable currency, but money-changers have refused to take them.

There is a lot of informal trade in goods between Bangladeshi and Indian businesspeople, and they exchange money at the border without bothering with documentation.

Farmers in eastern Nepal say the volume of their agricultural exports to India have decreased by almost 90% since the Indian currency move.

The unsold products are being dumped in warehouses and even along main roads.

About 98% of cardamom and more than 70% of tea and ginger produced in Nepal are bought by Indian businessmen from across the border.

In Pakistan, currency dealers are estimated to hold more than 150 million rupees ($2.2m) worth of Indian currency. After the government's move on the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes, this stash is being traded for about a quarter of its value, they say.

The general secretary of the Pakistan Exchange Companies Association says Pakistani citizens hold Indian currency - sometimes in large amounts - because they travel there for family reasons.

"Not enough time was given to people outside India to exchange money," Zafar Paracha said. "It was very sudden."

Pakistan has also denied that counterfeit Indian currency is being produced in Karachi and Peshawar. Targeting counterfeit cash is thought to be another reason for India's unexpected move.(BBC)
Three women, including the wife, and a daughter of MP Lohan Ratwatte, had been admitted to the Karapitiya Hospital, when two vehicles collided head-on at Yakgaha near the Pinnaduwa point of entry on E01 last night, the Police said.

The Police said five women, including Ratwattes wife, and the daughter were on their way to reach the Pinnaduwa entrance, to travel to Colombo from Galle. The vehicle had collided with another car travelling in the opposite direction.

The injured had been admitted to the hospital with minor injuries.

The Police said both the vehicles were severely damaged due to the accident.

The Akmeemana Police are investigating.(D.G. Sugathapala and Sumathipala Deeyagahage)
President Maithripala Sirisena hopes US President-elect Donald Trump would grant Sri Lanka redress by not pursuing the human rights accountability charges against the country.

"I will write to President (Donald) Trump to ask him to free us from these accusations", President Sirisena said while addressing a membership drive of Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in Galle.

"I was able to save the former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and our valiant soldiers by giving the UN Human Rights Council necessary messages," President said referring to the leniency shown by the US and the international community when he came to power in January 2015.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) allowed Sri Lanka more time to set rights accountability mechanisms to probe the alleged rights violations that took place in the country during the last phase of the military campaign that ended in 2009 with victory of government troops.

The UNHRC had adopted three successive resolutions against Sri Lanka with the US taking the lead.

Having led three anti-Sri Lanka resolutions at the UNHRC between 2012 to 2014, the Obama administration adopted a softer line on Sri Lanka since Maitripala Sirisena was elected as President.(PTI)
Outlining Sri Lankas foreign policy in the wake of new global situation, the Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday said the election of Donald Trump as the USs new President would not be the end of the USAs aim of dominating the world.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe made this point at the graduation ceremony of Bandaranaike Centre for International studies on Thursday.

The elected of new President in USA is to have a re-look at the foreign policy. It might challenge the belief of orthodox members of US foreign policy, how to deal with Russia, North American neighbors and how do you deal with free trade.

It was a revolt against the establishment. Trump would not have got there if not for his new vision. Even if he does not implement everything he promised, there would be a reassessment of US rule, he said.

Certainly I dont think it will be the end of the USs aim of dominating the world, he stated and added what we see was the end of post-cold war order.

"Simply because for 70 years the policies followed by the West to give independence to the Asian nations, promoting their own models in these countries, General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) and World Trade Organization (WTO), the alliances USA had with Japan and East Asian and South East Asian nations, strategic understanding with China resulted in a boom in the Asian economies and they were able to withstand the 2008 global financial crisis, he said.

I would say this is a significant moment to the whole world. There is a question as to what will happen to the Western world, which controlled the world for so many years. The United States of America led the Western powers to challenge the Soviet Union, with the long term objective of ensuring global peace and ensuring there is no rivalry to the Western Powers," he stated.

They had the Cold war, first and at the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Easton block, the post cold war period. A question is being asked after results of the Referendum in UK and the election of Donald Trump whether this is the end of the Western domination in the global order, the Prime Minister said.

"Certainly some fear the coming of the isolation of USA and inward UK. Currently the UK is looking to play a new role in the world to adopt themselves to the world having left the single market.

I dont think anyone had studied the consequences of leaving the single market. Therefore it is a new game for the UK and the rest of Europe, he added.

He said there was also emergence of China to demarcate a role for itself, and becoming a rival for USA as the Soviet Union did.

With the strategic understanding with US it will re-design its role in Asia. The question that is to be asked is what will happen to Trans-Pacific Partnerships (TPP). With the deleted response from Obama administration of how to have Asian allies together and give them market access on those determined by USA it will be favorable to US businessmen. This was the core of Trumps campaign whether right or wrong, which featured loss of jobs in Mexico and Asia, he also said.

Premier Wickremesinghe also said that Sri Lanka would work towards bringing Asia together, while working with the West, China, India and Japan. (Yohan Perera)
In the light of the ongoing Constitutional Reform Process the Daily Mirror spoke to Laksiri Fernando, former Senior Professor in Political Science and Public Policy at the University of Colombo and Manohara De Silva PC to get their views on the agenda.

Then there should be a clear vision for a plural democratic system, Preamble

- Laksiri Fernando

Q Could you enlighten us on where exactly the constitution reform process of Sri Lanka stands at the moment?

Formally, we are at the middle of the second stage as the six Sub-Committees of the Constitutional Assembly have submitted their reports. Three main stages are anticipated in the Constitution-making process before proposals go to the Cabinet to become a Constitutional Bill to be presented to Parliament. There is no agreed time frame.

First stage was from January to May 2016 after the Cabinet appointed the Public Representation Committee (PRC) which went around the districts and gathered peoples opinions orally and in writing. Opinions were invited on 20 topics from anyone. That was commendable.

Then started the second stage or the Sub-Committee process based on the Framework Resolution approved by Parliament for the Constitutional Assembly on 9 March 2016.

However, the Steering Committee is yet to submit its report to complete this stage. This is a difficult task as there are overlapping proposals and in fact some Sub-Committees have gone beyond their premises to very controversial terrain without necessary caution.

It is also necessary, in my view, to allow some time for the citizens to express their views on the Sub-Committee reports before the Steering Committee drafts/submits its report. This will be a Draft Constitutional Proposal.

"We must understand that the people in the North have a great sense of freedom. This should be respected and accommodated as much as possible. They should be free from external control. But they should abide by the Constitution. With freedom also comes responsibility"



Q The Constitution has been formally emended 19 times and it is our third constitution since we received independence. What does this say about our country?

It says that our country has been through a constitutional disequilibrium. -at times, through a dangerous disequilibrium.

The situation after the 18th Amendment was the example for the latter. That is why we need a New Constitution. We were at the edge of losing democracy. This is also one reason why the constitution makers should be extremely careful and should take necessary time without rushing. On the other hand, unnecessary delays also might make a disaster like in August 2000.

Disequilibrium means the absence of harmony. Therefore, there should be harmony to have constitutional equilibrium. On the one hand, harmony between peoples expectations/aspirations and the constitution. People expect security and protection personally, and collectively as a nation. People also expect justice and fairness. Therefore, those should be delivered by a New Constitution.

On the other hand, it also means harmony among various institutions within the constitutional system. The Legislature, Executive and Judiciary are the three main institutions at the apex level. There should be harmony among them, while absolutely respecting institutional independence of the judiciary. There are also the Centre (national government) and the Provincial Councils at the horizontal axis. There should be harmony between them as well.

Since constitutional affairs are governed by politics (and adversarial ones) it is too ideal to expect perfect harmony. Equilibrium here therefore means reasonable harmony within an acceptable range. Politics is often defined by power. But it should be for justice. If we move for the latter objective of justice, it wouldnt be difficult to achieve constitutional equilibrium both in theory and practice.



Q In light of questionable and controversial popular, democratic decisions in the American elections and Brexit, how can one still defend public participation in governance? Are these instances where Hobbesian Ideas of Governance should exist? Or is this the flip side of an absolute form of democracy that no one likes to see?

I think all democratic election outcomes should be respected, except those that are completely rigged or forced. That is the way to correct any deviations or flip sides. Therefore, the Hobbesian idea of governance should not prevail. Just because we dislike an outcome, the popular verdict should not be denounced. It is very subjective. In 1934, Hitler forced the referendum outcome through armed groups.

Thereafter, referendums were rigged. No such a thing at Brexit or American Presidential elections. The discrepancy between the popular majority and the electoral college majority in America was because of the electoral system. Electoral systems are not perfect. Those should be improved when defects are detected. This applies more to Sri Lanka in the present constitutional reform.

There are ups and downs in any democratic system. The lesson of Brexit or the US polls is about how to avoid extremes. If you go to one extreme, the other side might go to the other extreme. The best path is the Middle Path. Even in the present constitutional making process that should be the approach.



Q Reforms focussing on several areas such as the role of the provincial Governor, and the fiscal, administrative, land and police powers of the provincial councils have been proposed. Do you think such reforms will solve issues in the North? If not what reforms would better solve reconciliation efforts?

As far as I am aware, there are no final proposals regarding the Provincial Governor, land or police powers. However, the following are my present views on those matters.

The Governor should represent the President. Although we are moving for a parliamentary system, the President can be elected nationally like in Ireland. The Presidents executive tasks should be limited to national security and national reconciliation.

Other tasks should be ceremonial. The Governors tasks also should be related to national security and national reconciliation. All others should be ceremonial. This means the reduction of all other powers from the present provincial Governor.

"Independence of the Judiciary should be strengthened and ensured. The Present Chapter on Public Service is appallingly poor. It should be revised to strengthen professionalism, integrity and independence."



We must understand that the people in the North have a great sense of freedom. This should be respected and accommodated as much as possible. They should be free from external control. But they should abide by the Constitution. With freedom also comes responsibility.

My conception to resolve the issues in the North is cooperative devolution. We should reduce and rename the concurrent list as cooperative list. This means the tasks that the Centre and the Provincial Councils should undertake cooperatively.

In my view, land and police powers could be cooperative tasks. Balanced regional development is another way of resolving the issues in the North as well as in other rural provinces (i.e. North Central, East, Uva etc.).

Balanced regional development also should be a cooperative task. Many others could be given to the provinces. The Centre should not hesitate to give. As much as they give, they can perform their tasks better nationally. This is better for the country, its development and for the people. The devolution is like division of labour. It improves efficiency and productivity.



Q What sort of effect will the Geneva Resolution have on this process and the idea of Human Rights in general?

I dont think the Geneva Resolution has much bearing on the constitution making process. We have been striving for a New Constitution since 1994. I have not seen any Sub-Committee making any reference to that Resolution. Instead, the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights and Freedoms has taken inspirations from several new constitutions in the world (South Africa, East Timor, Nepal, Ecuador, Bolivia and Kenya).

It is important that the New Constitution anchors its philosophy on democracy and human rights. A great new effort is placed on recognizing and implementing Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This effort goes beyond the present fundamental rights chapter of the 1978 Constitution. There is no recognition of these rights in the present constitution. This is beneficial for the ordinary masses.

This is what we should emphasize when we go for the referendum. Cultural rights also mean minority rights and group rights. Apart from devolution, a new vision for fundamental human rights and freedoms should be geared for national reconciliation. Our conception of human rights is also with human responsibilities.



Q In your personal opinion, what are some key areas of reform?

I think I have already underlined some. To sum up, key structural areas are: (1) Devolution or centre-periphery relations also giving emphasis on local government. (2) Reforming the electoral system to make it more democratic and people friendly. Old parliamentary seat system (under FPP) within an overall proportional representation (PR) is possible. (3) Changing the executive presidential system to a parliamentary system. However, keeping a useful role for an elected President is desirable.

Then there should be a clear vision for a plural democratic system, recognizing the multicultural nature of the society in an operational Preamble. It is interesting note that Bolivia calls it a plurinational state considering various nations in the country. I am not at all advocating it. The state can be unitary with [extensive] devolution. But in a constitution, adjectives [extensive] are not usually used. We have already discussed fundamental rights and freedoms. I wish, if it is called fundamental human rights with an emphasis on human rights aspect. It is educational and comes closer to the universal norms.

"However, it is important that if it is a unitary Constitution, the Central Government has the final say, if not, it is not unitary. Therefore dont mislead the public by calling it unitary"



Language rights or issues should be clearly fixed. I wish all three languages (Sinhalese, Tamil and English) be official languages. There should be a language revolution in Sri Lanka in strengthening trilingual competence of all citizens, particularly the youth. This is possible under the present-day technology. There should be a special place always for Sinhala and Tamil as national (indigenous) languages.

Independence of the Judiciary should be strengthened and ensured. The Present Chapter on Public Service is appallingly poor. It should be revised to strengthen professionalism, integrity and independence. Finance is another area which requires reform. Fiscal devolution is also necessary. There should be a new chapter on External Affairs. This is lacking at present. There should be a Code of Ethics for MPs as a Schedule to the New Constitution.

The entire process is a total fraud

- Manohara De Silva

anohara De Silva is of the opinion that the Governments plan for the Constitutional Reform process was fine, but what has unraveled thus far was anything but satisfactory. The Government spoke about public representation but the majority of the committee, headed by and including Lal Wijeynayake are sympathetic to a federal state so it is not balanced. When there is a debate between a unitary and a federal state it needs to be a balanced one.

De Silva highlights the fact that when considering the representations made, although it was said that several people were interviewed, he has evidence, including that from lawyers in Kandy, that those taking the ideas were very indifferent to the views expressed. According to him, many who spoke for a unitary state have not been included in the list that was published. The report was just intended to show the world that the people are for federalism, which is the view of the present Government as well. The entire process is a total fraud because it is merely a selection of what they want to hear

De Silva feels that this is not a genuine attempt but a portrayal of what the separatists want; a deliberate manipulation.

What is happening is that a constitution has already been prepared and now this is just the collection of groundwork to back it up.

Even in the six committees subsequently appointed there was no proper representation. De Silva explains that in the Centre-Periphery Committee for example, the report itself starts out by stating that the Chairman and members are in favour of a federal State and that a unitary system was an obstacle to centre periphery operations. So if this is the view then at the start itself the view is prejudicial. An open mind is essential Another example he gives is how the Joint Opposition wanted Udaya Gammanpila, however he was put into a comparatively unimportant committee instead.

Firm believers of a unitary model have been kept aside. Instead those who have expressed views for federalism have been put in

When asked about what one could conclude if one were to analyse the data in terms of what the public want De Silva says that this cannot be done by looking at the reports since the reports themselves are fraudulent.

"As per the 9th Schedule, the Police is under the control of the Chief Minister. If Police powers are given to the provinces we are giving them the power to legislate on law and order. If all the land is given as well these will become separate States"



Therefore it has to be analysed as what the committees want. As such this would be doing away with the concurrent list. Countries such as India, South Africa, and Australia, all countries that have devolved power have concurrent lists. This has been proposed to be removed so that the Centre cannot interfere in wrong decisions by the periphery Another thing that Manohara feels that the committee wants is the abolition of the role of the Governor. As per Art. 154 (B) (2) of the Constitution, the President can intervene through the Governor however if his post is abolished the result is that the Provincial Cabinet of Ministers and the Chief Minister can do whatever they want The Government tells the public that they are standing for a unitary Sri Lanka but the committees are placed to propose only federal features. All proposals indicate the want of a federal state.

Another issue is police powers.

As per the 9th Schedule, the Police is under the control of the Chief Minister. If Police powers are given to the provinces we are giving them the power to legislate on law and order. If all the land is given as well these will become separate States.

When asked about devolution, De Silva said that he was not against devolution per say as in any country decisions have to be taken at the local Government level. However, it is important that if it is a unitary Constitution the Central Government has the final say, if not it is not unitary. Therefore dont mislead the public by calling it unitary

He admits that, nevertheless, there must be certain safeguards.

If the Centre takes wrong decisions there should be a mechanism to get a decision from the judiciary But that is not what these people want. They want the Centre to not have any power at all Art. 154 (G) (2) and (3) state that laws of provincial councils cannot be repealed without a 2/3rds majority. However Parliament laws can be, by a simple majority. How can we still say Parliament is supreme?

In relation to the proposed Bill of Rights and the inclusion of more liberal ideas, De Silva says that what the Government is talking about in relation to these liberal ideas are those like homosexuality. What two men or two women do in their own bedroom is their own business but I am against legalizing homosexual marriages since it destroys our culture. Other cultural values cant be put in by force to the rich culture we have inherited. He nevertheless feels that a Bill of Rights is okay and there is a lot of room to improve it. When asked about what he thinks should be the key areas of reform, if the 13th Amendment is to stay in its present form then Article 154 (G) (2) and (3) must be repealed. The power of the President to intervene should be kept intact. The policy of allowing the Central Government to decide on policy should be kept. Police and land powers should not be given to the provinces. However the present Government is manipulating the process to give victory

to the separatists
The rashness demonstrated by the new regime in making tax policies has not only made the business of brewing tougher than ever but also pushed the people towards hard liquor, which is arguably more detrimental to health.



According to the countrys top brewer, Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC (LION), the alcohol industry has now been made liable for not just the higher excise duty, which was raised back in October 2014, but also for the higher value-added tax (VAT), which came into effect from November 1, 2016, making the total tax increase on beer up to 70 percent compared to the 25 percent increase in taxes on spirits.

The beer industry  to a degree greater than the others in the alcohol sector  has been at the receiving end of this type of ad hoc and incomprehensible policymaking for many years.

With the advent of this government, we hoped things would change and that a more rational approach would prevail.

Unfortunately, this has not been the case and today Sri Lankans consume a significantly greater amount of hard alcohol than they did two years ago, the company said in a note to its interim financial accounts released to the Colombo Stock Exchange recently.

This irrational tax policy by the government appears to have pushed the people to consume more spirits and toddy, while the consumption of beer has reduced by 39 percent. But the consumption of spirits has increased by 9 percent during the same period.

Alcohol consumption in a country could go up either if the population is extremely happy or they have been made extremely poor. While the former condition mostly drives the demand for formal liquor and a milder version of alcohol such as beer, the latter condition could drive the demand for illicit liquor or moonshine.



Therefore, excessive taxing of the formal alcohol industry could in fact boomerang on the government both economically and socially. But successive governments milked both the tobacco and alcohol industries whenever they found their exchequers depleted.

But analysts point out that this strategy could become futile as the demand will not remain inelastic forever.

Whilst empirical evidence strongly indicates that there has been a very significant increase in the consumption of toddy, available records hide this fact since the quantities manufactured are not accurately disclosed by the producers, LION said.

Toddy has now become an extremely unhealthy beverage made in the most unhygienic conditions and no longer of coconut sap but made now of a chemical concoction. The alcohol industry was exempted from VAT in October 2014 by the Rajapaksa administration to bring revenue neutrality, i.e., excise taxes were increased then to recover the loss from VAT.

However, with effect from November 1, 2016, the industry is now liable under higher excise duty and higher VAT.



The countrys belligerent finance minister pushed the VAT Amendment Bill through parliament to satisfy the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which gave a US $ 1.5 billion bailout package in June to arrest a possible balance of payment crisis.

We hope however, that better sense will prevail sooner rather than later, the company finally added.

Lion Brewery September in red due to flood-induced factory closure

Lion Brewery Ceylon PLC (LION) said its financial performance was badly affected by the floods in the month of May, which wrecked havoc, bringing the brewing in the facility into a complete standstill.



As a result, the company turned a net loss of Rs.477.2 million or a loss per share of Rs.5.97 during the quarter ended September 30, 2016 (2Q17), from a profit of Rs.695.4 million a year ago.

However, the company managed to continue its supplies to the market, albeit below potential capacity, through imports that came from four Carlsberg breweries in the Asian region.

We placed our brewers in the locations that supplied us our own brands to ensure the quality and consistency consumers expect from us, the company said in a statement. The government considered LION among other similarly affected businesses to import, specified quantity,

at taxes limited to the value of the local excise duty for which the company expressed its deep appreciation.

Nevertheless, a case is pending at the courts contesting the relief granted on imported beer by the Trade and Investment Policy Department, with the concurrence of the finance minister and this case is coming up for hearing on December 15.

Despite the company trying to keep up with the demand through imports, the top line contracted by 55 percent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs.4.45 billion. For the six months ended September 30 (1H17), revenue fell 47 percent YoY to Rs.10.0 billion.

Due to logistical reasons, the imports mentioned above were restricted to cans. Thus, our major SKU, bottles, were not available in the market  other than for relatively smaller quantities of Carlsberg and Carlsberg Special Brew  whilst the brewery was not in production. As a result, sales were hampered and our results impacted, the company noted.

Meanwhile, for the 1H17, the company incurred a loss of Rs.954.2 million or Rs.11.93 a share, against the Rs.1.27 billion net profit earned during the same period last year. During this period, the companys borrowings rose sharply by around Rs.6.5 billion to a total of Rs.11.3 billion as the company had to depend on bank borrowings until the insurance claims are finalized, which is expected to be concluded before the end of the ongoing financial year.

Based on the preliminary assessment of the damage caused to the investors and to some fixed assets due to flooding, an interim claim was submitted for which the company received an advance payment of Rs.300 million during the period.



The damaged facility however is now in commercial operation, the company said.

As of September 30, Ceylon Beverage Holdings PLC held a 52.25 percent stake, while Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad held a 25 percent stake.

Carson Cumberbatch PLC held another 5.13 percent stake being the third largest shareholder.
Laws constitute the backbone for a country or a society. This is quite basic and understood well.

Yet, for some strange reason, we see it again and again in India that laws often lag while the country or people here attempt to chart into new territories.

The latest example is Digital India, which aims to bring everyone on the web and make the economy mostly cashless.

There are a number of reasons why demonetisation is going from bad to worse with each passing moment. Some of it also has to do with the policy and law, or rather the lack of them, on the digital side of things.

Even as India attempts to bring something like personal finance, which can be a touchy topic for most people, into the digital world where each transaction is recorded and then stored, the laws that can govern these transactions are lacking.

If Modi government is really serious about a cashless economy, it ought to formulate two laws immediately.

How to make a safe, Digital India. (Photo credit: Google)

One should guarantee Indians privacy and another should ensure that user data is safe.

Right now, there is no such thing as digital privacy in India. It's free for all, where different people interpret privacy in different way.

That makes pushing something like personal finance into the digital world very difficult because people just can't trust anyone, including their banks, to keep the data private.

There is no law that guarantees privacy to Indians, and there are no reasonable safety checks in place to limit the power of government or institutions like bank and telecom companies from peering into the digital lives of people.

The second digital law that India needs is related to how private companies, or for that matter even government bodies, handle user data.

Currently, there is no proper provision that forces any company in India to keep the user data safe. That is why we get so many spam messages and calls.

You give your phone number somewhere and then it is sold to some marketing company. More significantly, if there is a data breach or if data is stolen, users aren't told about it.

We saw this with the recent debit card hacking in India. Details of 32 lakh cards were leaked but card holders don't know how and what they should do.

There is an idea that cash equates to anonymity. When a government pushes people towards cashless transactions, it also asks them to give up this anonymity.

People would not - and should not - give it up unless in return the government guarantees them reasonable privacy. Currently, the Indian government does not.
One more star has fallen from the sky of the poor in the world battling against the Unites States imperial hegemony. Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and many others were the architect of the Cuban Revolution. It crushed the old capitalist tyranny that was driven by US-supported dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Prior to the transformation, Cuba was a hotbed of betting, gambling, prostitution, and drug markets. It was also the playground for rich Cubans and US imperialists. After the revolution, political power was put under the control of workers and farmers through mass mobilisation.

Fidel Castro's vision for a communist nation was so focused and well planned that even the capitalist US (which is just 50 miles away from the Cuban border) couldn't spread its venom of imperialism in the last 57 years. Fidel was not a born leader. The exploitation, injustice and poverty witnessed by him resulted in his transition from a son of a wealthy landowner to a communist revolutionary.

"Capitalism has neither the capacity, nor the morality, nor the ethics to solve the problem of poverty."

The US government spent more than $1billion (6900 plus crores in present day) attempting to murder, undermine or generally drive Castro away from power, yet he survived more than 600 plus assassination attempts before old age and illness took him on November 26, 2016. His death marks the end of an era for many. Castro was the last surviving leader from the group of charismatic communist leaders including Chinese Mao Zedong, Korean Kim Il-sung and Soviets Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev.

After the demise of the USSR and the socialist bloc, nobody would have even bet a penny on the survival of the Cuban revolution. The United States further tightened the blockade. Even in these conditions, the work undertaken and the consciousness built throughout the years succeeded in working miracles because the revolution has always had, as it still does and always will to an ever-greater degree, the support of the people - an intelligent people, increasingly united, educated and combative. Castro undertook a series of tentative economic reforms to get through the crisis, including opening up to foreign tourism.

Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and many others were the architect of the Cuban Revolution.

Fidel and Cuba inspired an successful decolonisation movement all through the world, one which Fidel effectively bolstered by making systems of common guide all through Latin America, Africa, and rest of the Global South. He changed the nation from one terrorised by torture, killings and dispossession to one fundamentally dedicated to wealth redistribution, education and universal healthcare.

Before 1959, the official literacy rate for Cuba was between 60 and 76 per cent, largely because of lack of education access in rural areas and a lack of instructors. As a result, Fidel Castro, at Che Guevara's behest, dubbed 1961 the "year of education" and sent "literacy brigades" out into the countryside to construct schools, train new educators, and teach the predominantly illiterate peasants to read and write. The campaign was "a remarkable success". By its completion, 7,07,212 adults were taught to read and write.

It is estimated that 2,68,000 Cubans worked to eliminate illiteracy and by 1962, the country's literacy rate was 96 per cent, one of the highest in the world.

Dictator or national legend, Castro was called numerous things along his path, as he rose from being an student activist challenging abusive administrations to becoming the president of Cuba.

Loved by numerous and loathed by others, the Cuban leader stayed persuasive and was profoundly viewed as a sharp examiner of world issues.

Today Venezuela is experiencing a monetary emergency - not at all like what it has seen since the times before the Bolivarian Revolution. The crisis is settled around food and the access to it. Note that the emergency is not an emergency of need, but one of monetary harm by the Right wing and its cronies, who are hoarding food and cutting down production to encourage an emergency that is felt primarily by the country's poor and regular workers, especially those of African race.

Since the Bolivarian Revolution that started with the election of Hugo Chavez on December 6, 1998, Cuba has amplified a turn in solidarity with fellow Latin Americans and comrades in the battle against US imperialism and neocolonialism.

With the help of Cuban doctors sent to Venezuela under the Mission Barrio Adentro , which provides free healthcare to all Venezuelans, the government has been able to save 2,26,334 lives and provide other services, in addition to the diagnostic centres that have carried out 237 million blood tests and 100 million electrocardiograms. Mission Barrio Adentro, which was launched in 2003, is divided into various stages, all of which are free. Since its inception, it has treated 19 million individuals, as indicated by official statistics.

Loved by numerous and loathed by others, the Cuban leader stayed persuasive and was profoundly viewed as a sharp examiner of world issues.

In 1998, Haiti was struck by hurricane Georges bringing upon more than 230 deaths, devastating 80 per cent of the nation's crops, and leaving more than 160,000 Haitians without homes. Despite the fact that Cuba and Haiti didn't have conciliatory connections around then and for as far back as 36 years, the progressive administration of Cuba expressed solidarity with the ailing country through medical aid.

By 2010, at no cost to medical students, Cuba had trained some 550 Haitian doctors. Since 1998 some 6,094 Cuban medical personnel have worked in Haiti. They had given over 14.6 million consultations, carried out 2,07,000 surgical operations, including 45,000 vision restoration operations through their Operation Miracle program, attended 1,03,000 births, and taught literacy to 165,000.

"I'll be 90 years old soon," Fidel said at an April 2016 Communist Party congress where he made his most extensive public appearance in years. "Soon I'll be like all the others. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain as proof that on this planet, if one works with fervour and dignity, they can produce the material and cultural goods that human beings need and that need to be fought for without ever giving up."

Revolutions are not moments in time, they are progressing forms that change the people who make them and world around them. The Cuban Revolution of 1959 lives on today and it proceeds notwithstanding the misfortunes created by the falling of the USSR and Socialist Camp states. Since its beginning, progressive Cuba has looked to help every freedom struggle against colonialist control, and racial oppression within its bounds and once in a while even more.

I'd start lacking words if I went on highlighting what comrade Fidel has given to the world. Today, we confront a world with escalated competition and inconsistencies among the capitalists. The capitalist camp is in a condition of decadence. This makes the camp more egoistic, more careless. The pretends it's idea to be based on democracy and liberation. The same democracy and liberation which USA has established in Syria, Libya, Iraq, and Yemen in the past few years. North Korea would have met the same fate had it not gained control of nuclear weapons.

For most Cubans, Fidel Castro has been the pervasive figure of their whole life and they share his faith in a communist future. On an average, Cubans earn the equivalent of $20 a month, even in an economy where education and healthcare are free and many basic goods and services are heavily subsidised.

Dear Comrade Fidel, with your life and battle, you have honoured the whole human culture as you have never acknowledged insult and disrespect and exploitation of any form. We will never overlook your perseverance and determination to support the people striving in nations like Africas and Latin Americas. We will never forget that the Cuban ambassadors were the last negotiators to leave Baghdad amid the US invasion of Iraq.

The victories in the field of healthcare, medical research, education, ecological farming Cuba accomplished was under your direction. Along these lines, human society might always remember you. Or maybe, you will stay in every one of our battles and struggles. Your presence will become stronger and stronger the more our struggles spread wide and intensify.

The red flag of struggle will forever be laid for the cause of humanity, for the oppressed, for the exploited, and for the deprived.
Photo for illustration

Almost all markets sending tourists to Vietnam witnessed positive growth, such as Hong Kong-China (72.9%), China (53.9%), the Republic of Korea (39.2%), New Zealand (35.4%), Russia (29.1%), Thailand (29%), Italy (28.5%), Spain (27.7%), the Netherlands (23.5%) and England (20.8%).

In the 11 months, the country also served about 57.7 million domestic tourists, in which 27.1% travelled overnight.

Total tourism turnover reached an estimated more than VND368.6 trillion, up 18.6% over a year earlier./.
On November 26, General Qamar Javed Bajwa was chosen as Pakistan's new army chief, which surprises many, from Pakistan as well as India. He ranked the second lowest in terms of seniority of the names submitted by the outgoing army chief Raheel Sharif to Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif. What may have tipped the scales in his favour is his experience in the Kashmir corridor, say analysts.

Many experts believe Bajwa is following in the footsteps of Raheel Sharif as, in 2013, when the then army chief General Kayani announced that he would not seek an extension for a second time, general Sharif was not among the favourites in the race for army chief either.

Even after he beat the odds to lead the Pakistan army, his detractors continued to doubt him saying he lacked an intelligence and operations background. Moreover, Bajwa is expected to continue Pakistan's army's policy of putting pressure on the civilian government in not engaging in a comprehensive dialogue with India.

Qamar Javed Bajwa has extensive experience in operations in Kashmir and Pakistan's Northern Areas, and his job to formulate counter-terrorism, for the government has put him ahead of senior contenders for the top job. Interestingly, Bajwa has served with a UN mission in Congo as a brigade commander, alongside former Indian army chief General Bikram Singh, who was deployed as a division commander.

A recent report published in Bulletin of Atomic Scientists suggested that Pakistan has developed an estimated stockpile of 130 to 140 warheads for delivery and will be the fifth largest nuke capable nation by 2025, and will stand third biggest nuke capable state. With Pakistan having six lakh of active military might, the question is how will Bajwa do justice to by far the most powerful Pakistani job?

Many challenges before Bajwa

The country's powerful military still faces many challenges, with attacks continuing elsewhere and heightened tensions with India along the mutual de facto border in Kashmir. Now he will have a duty to help Pakistan restore peace along with India at the LoC in Kashmir, and strive to curb homegrown terrorism in Pakistan. He will also have to deal with the terror outfits such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. Bajwa is also expected to work with the ISI, the Pakistan government and terrorist organisations very cleverly and tactfully in favour of Pakistan.

Who is Bajwa?

Bajwa is currently the Inspector General for Training and Development at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. General Raheel Sharif, who is set to retire on November 29, also served in this same post before taking over as army chief. Bajwa is from the infantry's Baloch Regiment, which has given three officers to the post of army chief - general Yahya Khan, general Aslam Beg and general Ashfaq Parvez Kayani. He was commissioned in the 10th Baloch Regiment in October 1980. He graduated from the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College in Toronto and is a Naval Post Graduate from Monetray University, California. He also studied at the National Defence University in Islamabad. Bajwa has also been an instructor at the School of Infantry and Tactics at Quetta.

Sheer coincidence

Describing Pakistan's new Army chief, former Indian Army chief General Bikram Singh, under whom Bajwa has worked in UN force, said Bajwa was a "thorough professional" who gave an "outstanding performance" in the Congo mission, but said things change once an officer goes back to his home country and India should wait and watch, and be "careful".
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Global Payments Inc. provides payment technology and software solutions for card, electronic, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Business and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization services, settlement and funding services, customer support and help-desk functions, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security services, consolidated billing and statements, and on-line reporting services. This segment also provides an array of enterprise software solutions that streamline business operations of its customers in various vertical markets; and value-added services, such as point-of-sale solutions, and analytic and engagement tools, as well as payroll and human capital management services. The Issuer Solutions segment offers solutions that enable financial institutions and retailers to manage their card portfolios through a platform; and commercial payments and ePayables solutions for businesses and governments. The Business and Consumer Solutions segment provides general-purpose reloadable prepaid debit and payroll cards, demand deposit accounts, and other financial service solutions to the underbanked and other consumers, and businesses under the Netspend brand. It markets its products and services through direct sales force, trade associations, agent and enterprise software providers, referral arrangements with value-added resellers, and independent sales organizations. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company discovers, develops, licenses, manufactures, and markets biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It offers products for hematology, oncology, cardiovascular, immunology, fibrotic, neuroscience, and covid-19 diseases. The company's products include Revlimid, an oral immunomodulatory drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma; Eliquis, an oral inhibitor for reduction in risk of stroke/systemic embolism in NVAF, and for the treatment of DVT/PE; Opdivo for anti-cancer indications; Pomalyst/Imnovid indicated for patients with multiple myeloma; and Orencia for adult patients with active RA and psoriatic arthritis. It also provides Sprycel for the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia; Yervoy for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic melanoma; Abraxane, a protein-bound chemotherapy product; Reblozyl for the treatment of anemia in adult patients with beta thalassemia; and Empliciti for the treatment of multiple myeloma. In addition, the company offers Zeposia to treat relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis; Breyanzi, a CD19-directed genetically modified autologous T cell immunotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory large B-cell lymphoma; Inrebic, an oral kinase inhibitor indicated for the treatment of adult patients with myelofibrosis; and Onureg for the treatment of adult patients with AML. It sells products to wholesalers, distributors, pharmacies, retailers, hospitals, clinics, and government agencies. The company was formerly known as Bristol-Myers Company. The company was founded in 1887 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. manufactures, markets, and sells skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products worldwide. It offers a range of skin care products, including moisturizers, serums, cleansers, toners, body care, exfoliators, acne care and oil correctors, facial masks, cleansing devices, and sun care products; and makeup products, such as lipsticks, lip glosses, mascaras, foundations, eyeshadows, nail polishes, and powders, as well as compacts, brushes, and other makeup tools. The company also provides fragrance products in various forms comprising eau de parfum sprays and colognes, as well as lotions, powders, creams, candles, and soaps; and hair care products that include shampoos, conditioners, styling products, treatment, finishing sprays, and hair color products, as well as sells ancillary products and services. It offers its products under the Estee Lauder, Aramis, Clinique, Lab Series, Origins, MAC, Bobbi Brown, La Mer, Aveda, Jo Malone London, Bumble and bumble, Darphin, Smashbox, Le Labo, Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle, GLAMGLOW, Kilian Paris, Too Faced, Dr. Jart+, DECIEM, and The Ordinary brands. The company sells its products through department stores, specialty-multi retailers, upscale perfumeries and pharmacies, and salons and spas; freestanding stores; its own and authorized retailer websites; third-party online malls; stores in airports; and duty-free shops. The Estee Lauder Companies Inc. was founded in 1946 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the 5th largest bank in the world and the largest in the U.S. The current company is the result of a series of mergers that began in the earliest days of American banking history and include more than 1,200 original banks. The oldest predecessor is The Bank Of The Manhattan Company which was founded in 1799 by Aaron Burr. At the time, The Bank Of The Manhattan Company was the 3rd oldest bank in the U.S. and the 31st oldest in the world. The Chase Manhattan Bank, a precursor to JPMorgan Chase, was later formed when The Bank Of Manhattan Company purchased Chase Bank which was established in 1877.

JPMorgan & Co came to life in 1895 in order to finance the United States Steel Corporation. Itself a result of merger, the company also financed other early American businesses as well as aided the federal government by backing a bond offering. It wasnt until the year 2000 and after several more mergers that JPMorgan Chase & Co was born. It will be four more years before the merger with Bank One which is notable because it brings CEO Jamie Dimon into the picture.

JPMorgan Chase & Co was instrumental in aiding the US government during the 2008 financial crisis. It backed the accounts of several major banks including Bear Stearns and eventually took over their operations. Today, JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide with operations on every continent and in more than 60 countries.

JPMorgan Chase & Co operates through four segments that are Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). Services are available in branches in 48 of the 50 US states and around the world. Services are available via ATM, online, mobile, and telephone.

The CCB segment offers traditional banking services to consumers that include but are not limited to deposits, loans, mortgages, and lines of credit. The CIB segment provides investment banking products and services to businesses, institutions, and governments that range from prime brokerage, insurance, corporate strategy, and access to capital markets, to lending, cross-border financing, and derivative instruments. The CB segment provides financial services for small, medium, and large businesses including commercial real estate banking of all types.

The AWM segment provides investment management solutions to institutional and retail investors. This segment also provides retirement products, brokerage, trusts and estates, and investment management products.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

By Anakhanum Hidayatova  Trend:

Latvias Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics is expected to visit Azerbaijan in early 2017, Latvian Ambassador Juris Maklakovs told Trend.

During his upcoming visit, the foreign minister will work on organization of a higher level visit, the diplomat said.

He noted that high-level visits between Azerbaijan and Latvia take place regularly.

Speaker of Latvias parliament Inara Murniece visited Azerbaijan few months ago, Maklakovs said, adding that he and Murniece invited Ogtay Asadov, speaker of the parliament of Azerbaijan, to visit Latvia the next summer.

The ambassador, praising the political relations between the two countries, expressed concern over the decline in the trade between Azerbaijan and Latvia.

Total trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Latvia amounted to $6.78 million in January-October 2016, which is 8.3 percent less than in the same period last year, according to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Despite that, in the reporting period the export of Azerbaijani goods increased by 19.98 percent, however, the import decreased by 9.98 percent.

Over the recent years, the bilateral trade turnover fell by three times, the Latvian ambassador said. He added that the ways to develop Azerbaijani-Latvian trade turnover are being discussed.

Maklakovs noted that the relations between Azerbaijan and Latvia in the sphere of tourism and culture develop quite successfully, but it is necessary to work on the development of economic ties.

Latvia has already proposed Azerbaijan to consider the possibility of cooperation in the spheres of environmentally friendly technologies, food industry, pharmaceuticals and health tourism during the 6th meeting of Azerbaijan-Latvia intergovernmental commission on economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation in Riga.

Priority areas of cooperation between the two countries include joint investment projects, increasing the volume of trade turnover, effective use of international transportation corridors, education, agriculture, construction, tourism and health.

Latvia's Minister for Transport Uldis Augulis said earlier that Latvia is an important transportation artery and an integral part of the new Silk Road and the North-South transportation corridor.

Ambassador Maklakovs added that a new strategic agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan will certainly become beneficial for both sides. The first agreement between the EU and Azerbaijan was signed in 1996, and a lot has changed in the world since then, he said.

It is necessary to develop new cooperation opportunities and the new agreement will make that possible, he noted.

Latvia has always supported the Eastern Partnership program, and the country will provide the same support for the new agreement, which will be beneficial for both Azerbaijan and Latvia, as a member of the EU, Maklakovs added.

The European Council adopted 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 Azerbaijan on Nov. 14. The new agreement should replace the 1996 partnership and cooperation agreement and should better take account of the shared objectives and challenges the EU and Azerbaijan face today.

The agreement will follow the principles endorsed in the 2015 review of the European Neighborhood Policy and offer a renewed basis for political dialogue and mutually beneficial cooperation between the EU and Azerbaijan.

The agreement also envisages the compliance of Azerbaijans legislation and procedures with the EUs most important international trade norms and standards, which should lead to the improvement of Azerbaijani goods access to the EU markets.

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.

---

Follow the author on Twitter: @Anahanum
AbbVie Inc. discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals in the worldwide. The company offers HUMIRA, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behcet's diseases; SKYRIZI to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis in adults; RINVOQ, a JAK inhibitor for the treatment of moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients; IMBRUVICA to treat adult patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL), and VENCLEXTA, a BCL-2 inhibitor used to treat adults with CLL or SLL; and MAVYRET to treat patients with chronic HCV genotype 1-6 infection. It also provides CREON, a pancreatic enzyme therapy for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency; Synthroid used in the treatment of hypothyroidism; Linzess/Constella to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation; Lupron for the palliative treatment of advanced prostate cancer, endometriosis and central precocious puberty, and patients with anemia caused by uterine fibroids; and Botox therapeutic. In addition, the company offers ORILISSA, a nonpeptide small molecule gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist for women with moderate to severe endometriosis pain; Duopa and Duodopa, a levodopa-carbidopa intestinal gel to treat Parkinson's disease; Lumigan/Ganfort, a bimatoprost ophthalmic solution for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with open angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension; Ubrelvy to treat migraine with or without aura in adults; Alphagan/ Combigan, an alpha-adrenergic receptor agonist for the reduction of IOP in patients with OAG; and Restasis, a calcineurin inhibitor immunosuppressant to increase tear production, as well as other eye care products. AbbVie Inc. has a research collaboration with Dragonfly Therapeutics, Inc. The company was incorporated in 2012 and is headquartered in North Chicago, Illinois.
Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. The Consumer Banking and Lending segment offers diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses. Its financial products and services include checking and savings accounts, and credit and debit cards, as well as home, auto, personal, and small business lending services. The Commercial Banking segment provides financial solutions to private, family owned, and certain public companies. Its products and services include banking and credit products across various industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management services. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment offers a suite of capital markets, banking, and financial products and services to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients. Its products and services comprise corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, equity, and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities services. The Wealth and Investment Management segment provides personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, and trust and fiduciary products and services to affluent, high-net worth, and ultra-high-net worth clients. It also operates through financial advisors. Wells Fargo & Company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.
Standard Motor Products, Inc. manufactures and distributes replacement parts that are used in the maintenance, repair, and service of vehicles in the automotive aftermarket industry with a complementary focus on specialized original equipment parts for manufacturers across agriculture, heavy duty, and construction equipment industries. The company's Engine Management segment provides electronic ignition control modules, camshaft and crankshaft position sensors, ignition wires and coils, switches and relays, exhaust gas recirculation valves, pressure and temperature sensors, variable valve timing components, mass airflow and fuel pressure sensors, electronic throttle bodies, and diesel injectors and pumps; and anti-lock brake, vehicle speed, tire pressure monitoring, and park assist sensors. This segment offers its products under the Standard, Blue Streak, BWD, Intermotor, OEM, SMP Blue Streak Canada, GP Sorensen, Locksmart, Standard Motorcycle, and Blue Streak Race Wires brands. Its Temperature Control segment provides components for the temperature control systems, engine cooling systems, power window accessories, and windshield washer systems of motor vehicles under the Four Seasons, ACI, Hayden, Factory Air, and Maxair brands. Its products include air conditioning compressors and repair kits, clutch assemblies, blower and radiator fan motors, filter dryers, evaporators, accumulators, actuators, hose assemblies, thermal expansion devices, heater valves, heater cores, A/C service tools and chemicals, fan assemblies, fan clutches, oil coolers, window lift motors, window regulators and assemblies, and windshield washer pumps. The company serves primarily automotive aftermarket retailers, warehouse distributors, original equipment manufacturers, and original equipment service part operations in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, Mexico, and other Latin American countries. The company was founded in 1919 and is headquartered in Long Island City, New York.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 24 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry Nov. 27.

Armenian army was using grenade launchers.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Kokhanabi and Aghdam villages of Tovuz district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located on the nameless heights and Mosesgekh village of Berd district.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani army positions were also fired from Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Marzili, Shikhlar, Garagashli villages of Aghdam district, Kuropatkino village of Khojavand district, Gorgan, Garakhanbayli villages of Fuzuli district, Mehdili village of Jabrayil district, as well as the nameless heights in Tartar, Khojavand and Fuzuli 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.
The Boeing Company is the worlds largest manufacturer of airplanes and commands more than 50% of the market in some channels and categories. The company and its family of subsidiaries design, develops, manufacture, sell, service, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight, and related services worldwide. The company operates through four segments including Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; Global Services; and Boeing Capital providing products and services to end-users in 150 countries.

Boeing got its start in 1910 when William E. Boeing developed a love for aircraft. Soon after he takes his first plane ride which leads him to build a hangar and begin construction of his first plane. The onset of WWI helped spur the companys growth but business was cut drastically in its wake. The start of WWII was another milestone for the company and one that led to its current position of dominance. The company was incorporated in 1916 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. Boeing employs over 140,000 people in 65 countries making it one of the most diverse employers on the planet.

The Commercial Airplanes segment is built around the iconic 7-series which includes the 737, 747, and 787. The segment provides commercial jet aircraft for passenger and cargo requirements, as well as fleet support services for regional, national, and international air carriers and logistics and freight companies. In terms of global volume, the company estimates about 90% of all air freight is carried aboard one of its jets. This segment also includes the Dreamliner family of planes. The Dreamliner is a game-changing airplane for many carriers as it opens up the potential for new one-stop destinations because of its capacity and range.

The Defense, Space & Security segment develops and manufactures a range of systems including manned and unmanned aircraft, missiles, missile defense systems, satellites, communications equipment, and intelligence systems for governments. Among the many iconic brands within this segment are the AH-64 Apache, Air Force One, B-52, C-17 Globemaster, Chinook, F/A-18, and the V-22 Osprey VTOL aircraft used by the Marines.

The Global Services segment offers a range of products and services that include supply chain and logistics management, engineering, maintenance, upgrades, conversions, spare parts, pilot and maintenance training, technical and maintenance documents, and data analytics to its commercial and defense customers.

Boeing is also a leader in innovation, leveraging its many decades and avenues of experience to further aerospace and defense technology. Among the many innovations is the MQ-25 Stingray which will be the worlds first autonomous aircraft. The Stingray is only one of many areas of research that also include drones and undersea vehicles.
United Parcel Service, Inc. provides letter and package delivery, transportation, logistics, and related services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States. The International Package segment provides guaranteed day and time-definite international shipping services in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Canada and Latin America, the Indian sub-continent, the Middle East, and Africa. This segment offers guaranteed time-definite express options. The company also provides international air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, distribution and post-sales, and mail and consulting services in approximately 200 countries and territories. In addition, it offers truckload brokerage services; supply chain solutions to the healthcare and life sciences industry; shipping, visibility, and billing technologies; and financial and insurance services. The company operates a fleet of approximately 121,000 package cars, vans, tractors, and motorcycles; and owns 59,000 containers that are used to transport cargo in its aircraft. United Parcel Service, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the electric utility, banking, and renewable/sustainable infrastructure investment businesses in the state of Hawaii. It operates in three segments: Electric Utility, Bank, and Other. The Electric Utility segment engages in the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Lanai, and Molokai. Its renewable energy sources and potential sources include wind, solar, photovoltaic, geothermal, wave, hydroelectric, municipal waste, and other biofuels. This segment serves suburban communities, resorts, the United States armed forces installations, and agricultural operations. The Bank segment operates a community bank that offers banking and other financial services to consumers and businesses, including savings and checking accounts; and loans comprising residential and commercial real estate, residential mortgage, construction and development, multifamily residential and commercial real estate, consumer, and commercial loans. This segment operates 42 branches, including 29 branches in Oahu, 6 branches in Maui, 4 branches in Hawaii, 2 branches in Kauai, and 1 branch in Molokai. The Other segment invests in non-regulated renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure in the State of Hawaii. Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. was incorporated in 1891 and is headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Juniper Networks, Inc. designs, develops, and sells network products and services worldwide. The company offers routing products, such as ACX series universal access routers to deploy high-bandwidth services; MX series Ethernet routers that function as a universal edge platform; PTX series packet transport routers; wide-area network SDN controllers; and session smart routers. It also provides switching products, including EX series Ethernet switches to address the access, aggregation, and core layer switching requirements of micro branch, branch office, and campus environments; QFX series of core, spine, and top-of-rack data center switches; and juniper access points, which provide Wi-Fi access and performance. In addition, the company offers security products comprising SRX series services gateways for the data center; Branch SRX family provides an integrated and next-generation firewall; virtual firewall that delivers various features of physical firewalls; and advanced malware protection, a cloud-based service and Juniper ATP. Further, it offers Junos OS, a network operating system; Contrail networking, which provides an open-source and standards-based platform for SDN; Mist AI-driven Wired, Wireless, and WAN assurance solutions to set and measure key metrics; Mist AI-driven Marvis Virtual Network Assistant, which identifies the root cause of issues; Juniper Paragon Automation, a modular portfolio of cloud-native software applications; and Juniper Apstra to automate the network lifecycle in a single system. Additionally, the company provides software-as-a-service, technical support, maintenance, and professional services, as well as education and training programs. It sells its products through direct sales, distributors, value-added resellers, and original equipment manufacturers to end-users in the cloud, service provider, and enterprise markets. The company was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

By Emil Ilgar  Trend:

Iran and Belarus have been negotiating over an oil export deal, the deputy of oil minister Amir-Hossein Zamani told Shana news agency.

He said that regarding the "geological location" of Belarus, the more negotiations are needed for sealing an oil export deal.

Belarus is landlocked and the nearest body of water is the Baltic Sea passing through Lithuania and Latvia.

Previously, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Oct.10 that the country is in talks with Iran on supplies of oil.

According to Sputnik, Belarus faces decline in oil deliveries from Russia. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said last month that the decrease in deliveries was linked to Minsk's gas debt and shortfall of petrochemicals' deliveries to Russia.

Moscow and Minsk have been locked in talks over the price of Russian gas supplied to Belarusian consumers.

In July, Novak said that "Belarus owed $270 million in unpaid gas bills to Russia. Minsk has been refusing to recognize the debt, saying that the price of $132.77 per 1,000 cubic meters of gas demanded by Moscow is unfair," Sputnik reported.

According to the National Statistics Committee of Belarus, Belarus increased oil imports from Russia by 1.8 percent to 22.9 million tons in 2015 year-on-year.

Belarusian Naftogaz earned $1.7 billion transit revenue in 2015 from Gazprom for transiting 64.1 billion cubic meters of gas.
Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (NYSE:ARE), an S&P 500<sup></sup> urban office real estate investment trust ("REIT"), is the first, longest-tenured, and pioneering owner, operator, and developer uniquely focused on collaborative life science, technology, and agtech campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, with a total market capitalization of $31.9 billion as of December 31, 2020, and an asset base in North America of 49.7 million square feet ("SF"). The asset base in North America includes 31.9 million RSF of operating properties and 3.3 million RSF of Class A properties undergoing construction, 7.1 million RSF of near-term and intermediate-term development and redevelopment projects, and 7.4 million SF of future development projects. Founded in 1994, Alexandria pioneered this niche and has since established a significant market presence in key locations, including Greater Boston, San Francisco, New York City, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and Research Triangle. Alexandria has a longstanding and proven track record of developing Class A properties clustered in urban life science, technology, and agtech campuses that provide our innovative tenants with highly dynamic and collaborative environments that enhance their ability to successfully recruit and retain world-class talent and inspire productivity, efficiency, creativity, and success. Alexandria also provides strategic capital to transformative life science, technology, and agtech companies through our venture capital platform. We believe our unique business model and diligent underwriting ensure a high-quality and diverse tenant base that results in higher occupancy levels, longer lease terms, higher rental income, higher returns, and greater long-term asset value.
Russia agrees non-OPEC countries should join the agreement on stabilizing the oil market after OPEC members reach a consensus, and Moscow continues negotiations with its partners on the matter, Russian Energy Minster Alexander Novak said on Saturday, Sputnik International reported.

"We back the position that OPEC countries should first reach a consensus before other countries could join the agreement. Russia remains positive about the agreement and continues to participate in the consultations with our partners," the minister told journalists.

In September, the OPEC club of the world's major oil producers reached a preliminary agreement in Algeria to set the oil output ceiling at 32.5-33 million barrels a day for the cartel. The OPEC countries have yet to finalize the deal at the November 30 meeting in Vienna with non-OPEC states, including Russia, open to capping the output.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 27

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier in Ashgabat, Neutral Turkmenistan newspaper reported.

According to the message, the priority aspect of cooperation is to ensure energy security as an important factor of global sustainable development.

"Strengthening of the constructive cooperation with the OSCE is an important priority of Turkmenistan's foreign policy strategy," President Berdimuhamedov was cited by the newspaper as saying.

Zannier emphasized the interest in expanding cooperation with Turkmenistan.

Turkmenistan joined OSCE January 30, 1992. Several big international OSCE and UN forums, including those on energy security have been recently held in Ashgabat. Ashgabat considers it appropriate to intensify the energy dialogue within OSCE, formulate mechanisms for multilateral consultations on political, financial, economic, technological and environmental aspects of the construction and operation of the pipeline infrastructure.

Turkmenistan supports a number of initiatives to ensure the reliable and stable supply of energy resources to the world markets as part of the UN.
Older Americans are still less likely to go online than the rest of the population, but according to a Pew Research study, once they do  theyre hooked.

Its one way the generations interests are converging.

Indeed, of those 65 and older who are on the internet, Pew reports that more than 70 percent of them go online almost every day. Pew also reports that the number of seniors going online is growing. Many will be shopping online this holiday season, as do all ages.

And its easy to understand why. Almost everything is available for purchase online now, plus its fast and convenient, and technology has advanced to such a degree that the experience is nearly seamless. Find, click, pay and boom  it shows up at your door (or a loved ones door) in a day or two. For seniors who cant drive, or get around easily, its a welcome alternative to battling the holiday shopping crowds.

Online shopping, however, requires some vigilance to make sure you dont get ripped off, and a bit of savvy to make sure you get a good deal. For example, it s a good idea to do a Google search to compare prices on items before you buy. There are also a number of good price comparison websites out there, like Google Shopping, PriceRunner, and ShopBot, which allow you to compare prices at a number of online stores all on one website.

Another great thing about shopping online is customer reviews on products. But dont just rely on one or two; read several reviews on a product before you make your choice.

Make sure you also understand the shipping options and online store offers, as it can really add a lot to your purchase. Amazon, for example, offers free shipping for certain items and also offers free shipping after you spend a certain amount. Some people add on some needed household items to their order to take advantage of this. Of course, sign up as an Amazon Prime member and youll get a host of shipping benefits, as you will signing up as a member at a number of online stores.

Also, search the web for discounts and coupon codes on items that can save you money. Websites like RetailMeNot.com allow you to browse for online coupons, and provide reviews from people on how good the deals are.

Beware of a scam called phishing. Thats when you receive emails that look like theyre from real companies, like a confirmation email for something you dont remember buying. Theyre just trying to get your personal information. Check the authenticity of the email address, and look for strange grammar or typos in the email. These folks will also send you fake, too-good-to-be-true deals from companies. Look for that deal on the companys official website, or call, before clicking on such links.

You should always use a credit card when making online purchases, not a debit card, as hackers wont get a direct link to your bank account. But an even more secure method is using pre-paid credit cards, or digital payment services like Apple Pay or Google Wallet, because they dont contain your financial information.

Making your passwords hard to hack is also a must these days, especially if you are going to be doing a lot of online shopping. I know its easier to come up with passwords you can remember, like a childs name or a memorable street address, but youre asking for trouble, especially if you use the same password on multiple websites. Even coming up with a scrambled, random, and complicated password is no good if you keep using the same one. You really should use a good password (random characters, upper/lower case letters, numbers) for every online account you have. Write them down on a scrap of paper you keep somewhere, or use a password manager like LastPass.com or 1Password.com to store them.

Its also a good idea to think the same way about usernames. Dont put any familiar information in them, or use the same ones, as that will make it easier for hackers to follow you.

Also, dont shop online using public Wi-Fi, like at your local coffee shop, as hackers love grabbing information from people off unsecure networks.

Most importantly, only shop at legitimate and secure online stores. To make sure youre on a secure website at check out, look at the web address. Secure site addresses are proceeded by https, which stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure, and ensures that your information is encrypted and secure in transit. You can also check the address and confirm that the phone number is real. If youre asked to provide personal or financial information while you browse, dont do it and get off the site. Amazon, of course, is one of the most popular online stores, and they also own other online stores, like Zappos.com, Diapers.com, Look.com, YoYo.com, and Soap.com. Other companies with reputable online store operations include Kohls, Macys, BestBuy, Target, Etsy, Walmart, Barnes and Noble, and EBay.

Finally, shopping online allows you to give back while you shop. Amazon, for example, allows you to shop and donate to your favorite charity at the same time. Sign up at AmazonSmile.com, enter choose your charity from the list registered, and when you purchase products that are eligible for the program, Amazon will donate 0.5 percent of the purchase price to your charity. This adds up!

You might also want to check out something called GiveBackBox.com. Its a really unique idea that allows you to use the box your online purchase comes in to help those in need. Simply pack the box with items you no longer need (clothes, shoes, jewelry, etc.) and go sign-up at GiveBackBox.com and print out as many free shipping labels as you need. Your donations will be sent to the nearest Goodwill organization.

Young or old, tech savvy or not, youll have a happy holiday season by following these tips.

David McNair handles publicity, marketing, media relations and social media efforts for the Jefferson Area Board for Aging.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 27

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov discussed the further cooperation prospects at the meeting with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Margvelashvili, the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency reported.

Stressing that Georgia plays an important role in the integration of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, President Margvelashvili confirmed the readiness to act as a reliable partner in the implementation of joint transport projects, the message said.

According to the message, President Berdimuhamedov and President Margvelashvili stressed that the geographical location of the countries and the plans to create the transport and communication corridors are an important factor of the trade and economic partnership.

"The cooperation in the field of maritime transport is one of the priority vectors," the message said.

President Berdimuhamedov added that the creation of logistics infrastructure will be of great significance for the two countries and the region as a whole.

Earlier, it was reported that Ashgabat and Tbilisi are considering the projects to create the transport and transit infrastructure between the Caspian Sea and

the Black Sea.

Moreover, Tbilisi drew attention to the fact that Georgia is an important component of the South Caucasus transportation and energy corridor. Georgia is ready to ensure reliable and safe transit of energy resources from the Caspian Basin and Central Asia through its territory.

Turkmenistan ranks fourth in the world in natural gas reserves.
The old saying goes: Death always wins.

Modern medicine is suited to stretching life out as long as possible. Quantity isnt always quality, though, and in some cases, prolonging a patients life also might be to prolong suffering.

Most people, including doctors, dont like to think about the moral dilemma facing terminally ill patients. But they should, according to officials from the Hospice of the Piedmont, which is trying to change the perception of hospice care as the absolute last resort for terminal patients.

I think its underused, said Ron Cottrell, who took over as the hospices president and CEO in September after a long run as an administrator with Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital.

Theres this stigma attached to it  that once you say hospice, its like youre giving up hope, Cottrell said.

Many terminally ill patients and their families would benefit from treatment that maximizes the quality of their remaining lives, he said, as opposed to prolonging life at any cost.

One problem is the fact that doctors dont want to make hospice referrals because they see it as giving up. Talking with medical professionals is a key part of Hospice of the Piedmonts outreach plan, but its not always easy.

At the least, Cottrell said, physicians should present hospice to patients and families as a viable option before taking drastic measures that may cause more suffering at the end of life.

Part of that means letting patients know what theyre getting themselves into and giving them an alternative. For instance, some doctors give terminal patients a tour of the intensive care unit  to give them a glimpse into what theyd face if they decided to take on treatment.

Its such a delicate topic, but one that every family needs to have, he said.

About 40 percent of patients die within the first week of admission, but it really takes six weeks to provide the full experience, said Dr. James Avery, Hospices chief mission officer and former CEO. In that time, patients get a full battery of treatment to relieve pain, make arrangements with their families and  perhaps most importantly  make their peace.

For some, that means owning up to regrets. Avery recalls one patient, a World War II veteran, who admitted to shooting enemy soldiers who were trying to surrender. He kept this memory from his family for decades, ashamed of what hed done.

Others have been estranged from family members. Avery helped another patient, who had been cut off from his family because he was gay, to get back in touch with his relatives so they could reconcile.

Others admitted to having extramarital affairs. Most of them, Avery said, felt a sense of relief when they finally opened up about it.

I realized that there was a huge spiritual component here  people feel the need, almost an innate need, to just confess, Avery said. To tell somebody about it.

In his earlier years as a doctor, Avery said, he began to realize he was ill-equipped to counsel these people.

Hospice care, which includes counselors, social workers and chaplains assigned to each patient, provides them with another dimension of care  something they may not get in a traditional hospital.

A lot of it is about reconciliation, Avery said. Thats what a lot of physicians dont recognize. They think of death as a medical process. But theres so much more of it that gets into the psycho, social and spiritual realms.

Avery, who had to step down from as CEO of the local hospice in February due to health problems, is now tasked with spreading this message to medical professionals and the wider community. He often speaks at seminars and conferences for doctors, as well as to church congregations and local clubs.

Although its a difficult thing to think about, people are usually receptive to his message, he said. Death is an inevitability, he tells them, and thinking about it can make one appreciate life more.

Thinking about death is actually the secret to living well, Avery said.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 27

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov met with Karlheinz Kopf, the second president of the Austrian National Council, the Turkmen government said in a message.

According to the message, President Berdimuhamedov and Kopf discussed the issues of cooperation, established in a bilateral format and through big international organizations and authoritative organizations.

The sides also exchanged views on the issues of regional and international policy of mutual interest, the message said.

Earlier it was reported that Austria is interested in procurement of Turkmen textile.

Austria is also looking for partnership in the field of processing of agricultural products.

The opportunity of participating in the projects for the construction of livestock complexes in Turkmenistan, supply of equipment for the production of meat and dairy products is being considered.

Among the priority areas are construction, health and tourism.

Turkmenistan and Austria periodically conduct business forums.

Such companies as WOMA GmbH, Schoeller Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment AG, Unger Stahlbau Group, Schrack Seconet AG, Oswelt GmbH, AME International, Landhof, Schlafhorst, Truetzschler Group, Uster Technologies AG, Strabag SE show interest in the Turkmen market.

Turkmenistan is one of the most promising partners for Austria in the field of energy security and the possibility of diversifying the sources of supply of raw materials.
The recent demand by nearly 500 faculty members and students that University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan stop quoting UVa founder Thomas Jefferson in her emails reminds us that, when ignorance and arrogance join hands, the results are seldom pretty.

To her credit, President Sullivan did not succumb to the pressure.

And, to be fair, the ignorance of the letters signers should not be surprising. We are all ignorant about many important things, and prominent historians have achieved fame and fortune  including prestigious book awards  for their efforts to bring down the man professor Joseph Ellis has described as the Dead White Male who matters most and the most valued trophy in the cultural wars.

The signers of the letter complain that Jefferson owned slaves and held racist views. Virtually everyone during Jeffersons era held racist views (as did Abraham Lincoln decades later); and until the Virginia legislature enacted a 1782 statute  initially drafted by Jefferson 13 years earlier  permitting the manumission of slaves, it was unlawful for him to free the roughly 175 slaves he had inherited from his father and father-in-law.

Philip Foner, editor of The Complete Writings of Thomas Paine, noted that the characterization of Paine as the first American abolitionist was inaccurate, due to Jeffersons 1769 effort to legalize the manumission of Virginia slaves.

President Sullivans critics appear oblivious to the reality that Thomas Jefferson was a lifelong opponent of slavery. In his original draft of the Declaration of Independence, he denounced King George III for having waged cruel war against human nature itself on a distant people who never offended him by carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere.

Writing for a British abolitionist newspaper in 1843, former President John Quincy Adams noted that this language was too strong for the many other signers of the Declaration who also owned slaves, and at their insistence the language was removed. But the draft was preserved, where Adams declared: It stands, an unanswerable testimonial to posterity, that on the roll of American abolitionists, first and foremost after the name of George Washington, is that of Thomas Jefferson. (In reality, Washington never once spoke out publicly against slavery.)

Upon returning to Virginia after drafting the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson prepared a law prohibiting the importation of new slaves into Virginia, which was enacted two years later.

The Constitution prohibited Congress from enacting any law restricting the slave trade until 1808. In 1806, President Jefferson sent a letter to Congress congratulating it on the approaching opportunity to withdraw the citizens of the United States from all further participation in those violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending inhabitants of Africa, and which the morality, the reputation, and the best interests of our country, have long been eager to proscribe. Congress complied.

Writing in his only book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1783), Jefferson once again eloquently denounced slavery: [C]an the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep for ever. ... The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest.

When called upon in 1784 by his colleagues in the Second Continental Congress to draft rules to govern the Northwest Territories, Jefferson provided in Article Six: There shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted.

It failed by a single vote. Jefferson later lamented: God was silent in that awful moment.

But seven decades later, following the Civil War, the authors of the Thirteenth Amendment selected this language for its text to honor Jeffersons courageous struggle against slavery. (Would those who wish to censor Jeffersons words strike down the constitutional ban against slavery?)

In addition to the fact that he owned slaves, Jeffersons critics like to remind us that 1998 DNA tests proved he fathered children by the enslaved child Sally Hemings. Wrong again.

I had the honor of taking part in the most thorough examination of all of the evidence on that issue in 2000-2001, when a team of more than a dozen Jefferson scholars from across the nation spent a year looking at all of the evidence and published a 400-page book (The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy: Report of the Scholars Commission) concluding with but a single mild dissent that the story is likely false.

They noted that historical evidence had been altered, and that the widely misunderstood DNA tests did not even involve genetic material from Thomas Jefferson. The tests showed merely that one of the more than two-dozen Jefferson men in Virginia at the time likely fathered Sallys youngest child, Eston. Based solely on the DNA tests, the odds that Estons father was President Jefferson were no greater than 4 percent.

Estons descendants passed down the story that he was not the presidents child but the son of an uncle. The presidents much younger brother Randolph was invited to visit Monticello 15 days before Estons likely conception date to see his beloved twin sister, who had just arrived following an extended absence. Because of his relationship to daughter Martha  who ran Monticello while her father was in the White House  he was known as Uncle Randolph at Monticello.

In the book Memoirs of a Monticello Slave, former blacksmith Isaac Granger stated that Randolph spent his evenings at Monticello playing his fiddle and dancing half the night with the presidents slaves. There is no evidence of President Jefferson socializing with slaves.

Days before concluding his second term as president and returning to his beloved Monticello, Jefferson wrote in a Feb. 25, 1809, letter to Henri Gregoire that no person would be more pleased than himself to see a refutation of the doubts he had expressed about the intellectual abilities of black slaves  a distinction he repeatedly acknowledged might be but a consequence of their circumstances.

He added: [W]hatever be their degree of talent, it is no measure of their rights. Because Sir Isaac Newton was superior to others in understanding, he was not therefore lord of the person or property of others.

When Jefferson traveled to Paris in 1784, he took with him a servant named James Hemings to be trained as a French chef. Among the most talented servants at Monticello, James was manumitted in 1796  and within five years had turned to alcohol and committed suicide. The news caused great sadness at Monticello, and likely reinforced Jeffersons view that  until what he termed this moral and political depravity could be outlawed  freeing individual slaves did them no service.

Historian Joseph Ellis expressed the view in his prize-winning biography American Sphinx that Jefferson could have passed a polygraph test confirming his conviction that his own slaves were more content and better off as members of his extended family than under any other imaginable circumstances.

In an 1814 letter to fellow Albemarle County abolitionist Edward Coles, Jefferson wrote about the duties owed to slaves: My opinion has ever been that, until more can be done for them, we should endeavor, with those whom fortune has thrown on our hands, to feed and clothe them well, protect them from ill usage, require such reasonable labor only as is performed voluntarily by freemen, and be led by no repugnancies to abdicate them, and our duties to them.

Much has been made of the fact that Jefferson did not free his slaves in his will. The simple explanation is that during Jeffersons life, African slaves were treated under the law as chattel property (like cattle), and Section 54 of the Revised Virginia Code of 1819 protected the rights of creditors. Jefferson died deeply in debt, and thus freeing his slaves in his will was not a legal option.

As the world confronts religious extremists who brutally behead and burn alive those who refuse to embrace their theology, we should remember that Jefferson also authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom  protecting our right to worship the God of our choice (or none at all).

He also championed the cause of what he called Native Americans (a term primarily used at the time to refer to people of European ancestry born in the New World), and acknowledged in 1785 they were in body and mind equal to the white man. The following year he declared: The want of attention to their rights is a principal source of dishonor to the American character.

Indeed, Jeffersons primary criticism of Native Americans was that they subjected their women to unjust drudgery, which he contended was the case with every barbarous people.

[F]orce is law, he said. The stronger sex imposes on the weaker.

Was Jefferson perfect? Certainly not. But he was ahead of his time in so many ways.

Rather than promoting ignorance by censoring his thoughts and writings, UVa faculty and students should feel honored to have the opportunity to teach and study at the remarkable university he founded nearly two centuries ago.

I have repeatedly offered to debate as many as three critics of Jefferson at a time on these issues  UVa faculty or from elsewhere. Thus far, there have been no takers. The offer remains open.

Professor Robert F. Turner holds both professional and academic doctorates from the University of Virginia Law School and is a Distinguished Fellow at the Center for National Security Law. He is the editor of The Jefferson-Hemings Controversy: Report of the Scholars Commission (2011), and has taught at UVa for 29 years.
I teach high school social studies. If you remember high school at all, then you know that my days are mixed with laughter and learning  and, of course, the occasional frustration. But I get that part: Being invested in the education of our nations young people means that the day-to-day challenges come with the territory.

What I have a harder time getting is why we sometimes fail to make things easier for teachers on a larger scale  and better for students over a longer term  by embracing a cross-curricular, data-driven approach and using the many tools within our reach to do so. Let me explain.

Once, during a unit on the civil rights movement, a student asked, Wait, what do the numbers in this graph mean?

My heart sank. Knowing how to interpret data is crucial not only in classrooms beyond math (like mine), but, more important, in a society where information is king. It was clear my students were not prepared for success in either.

Turning this and other similar moments into my own learning experience (I am a teacher after all), I have come to recognize a simple truth: Real education can only occur when concepts in my classroom are reinforced elsewhere, and vice versa. Connecting seemingly disjointed ideas  like a graph in a history textbook with a graphing exercise in math class  helps strengthen academic concepts, allowing students to develop a fuller, broader picture of the world.

While this cross-curricular, data-driven approach is not new, it is not put into practice enough. Some teachers argue the method is unrealistic  requiring preparation, collaboration and schedules that are hard to accommodate. But I believe the stakes are too high for us not to try.

And now there is no excuse: Teachers (myself included) and subject matter experts from across the country worked with the U.S. Census Bureau in 2016 to revise its Statistics in Schools program to meet the needs of the modern student. Available online as of August, the program offers free, classroom-ready K-12 activities that use real-world data in the context of history, social studies, geography, sociology and, of course, math. The activities invoke compelling themes and tag specific topics and skills to help teachers make easy connections among subjects.

For example, a team could focus on educational attainment trends as one cross-curricular theme. Using the downloadable activities, students could explore U.S. maps of census data on education levels in geography class, discuss how historical events relate to African-American education trends in history and compare and analyze graphs about educations role in career advancement in math.

Parents can also help by reinforcing classroom concepts at home, through, for example, reading a relevant book with their child or starting a discussion on a thematic concept.

If I have learned anything from my time in the classroom, it is that teaching concepts in isolation does not work. A cross-curricular, data-driven approach is necessary for todays students to truly grasp the material.

While achieving this goal is not always easy, a clearinghouse of resources like the Statistics in Schools web site makes it easier. With the click of a mouse, teachers can now make education more relevant, engrossing and fun. For my students and for me, that means less frustration, more laughter and more real learning  so we can all finally get it.

Chris Bunin is a social studies and geospatial technologies teacher at Albemarle High School. He was named Outstanding Secondary Social Studies Teacher of the Year for 2016 by the National Council for the Social Studies. For more information, visit www.census.gov/schools.
Many people who voted for Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 havent recovered from the shock of Donald Trump winning the White House, even though she won in the national vote. Protests continue in many cities, and some cities even declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal residents.

What happened in 2016 resembles what occurred in the 1952 election, when voters decided they wanted change in Washington and brought Republicans back into power after 20 years of Democratic rule. This year, enough voters in Midwestern states who wanted change in Washington decided that Clinton would continue Obamas policies for another four years.

Those of us old enough to vote in 1952 recall the major foreign and fiscal policy changes the Republicans campaigned on. The election result was not close  primarily because the party chose a war hero, Dwight Eisenhower, to be its candidate. Democrats picked Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois who, like Barack Obama, was a fine orator and intellectual who appealed to educated voters. He was no match, however, for Eisenhower, who commanded the Allied forces that defeated Nazi Germany in 1945.

In 1952, the Republican Party was deeply split between conservatives, who wanted to roll back Franklin Roosevelts New Deal programs (including Social Security) and adopt an isolationist foreign policy, and moderates, who wanted to defend Americas commitments to Western Europe in the face of Soviet threats to undermine their governments. Eisenhower won nomination in the hotly contested Republican convention that summer over Sen. Robert Taft of Ohio.

When Republicans took over Washington in January 1953, few Americans had any doubts that major changes in policy were on the way.

In 1953, I had worked for a year in the State Department when its secretary, Dean Acheson, managed the countrys foreign policy despite wild charges by Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy that the department was riddled with Communists.

Acheson was replaced as secretary by John Foster Dulles, a serious hardliner who had been an adviser to both Democratic and Republican leaders and who favored a robust foreign policy to counter Moscows political and military pressure on Western Europe, including Berlin.

I recall a cold February morning in Washington in 1953 when department employees gathered in a parking lot adjacent to State Department headquarters to hear what our new boss had to say. Mr. Dulles soon appeared at the podium and spoke into a microphone.

He declared (Im paraphrasing here): The new administration will bring about major changes in our foreign policy, and I expect all of our employees to show positive loyalty in carrying out your responsibilities.

A colleague looked stunned and blurted out: Hes questioning my loyalty?

There were certainly major changes in foreign policy, including harsh anti-Communist and anti-Soviet propaganda, and a major strengthening of U.S. strategic forces to cope with Moscows development of nuclear weapons. Eisenhower also threatened Moscow with a major escalation of war in Korea unless it forced North Korea to agree on a permanent cease-fire. He later negotiated a detente relationship with new Soviet leaders who had succeeded Joseph Stalin, and this greatly reduced Cold War tensions.

Donald Trump faces foreign policy challenges similar to those Eisenhower and Dulles dealt with  for example, how to deal with an aggressive Moscow, confront a nuclear North Korea, and counter an Iranian regime that tries to expand its influence over the entire Persian Gulf area. In addition, Trump must deal with a resurgent China, which aims to establish its hegemony over East Asia at the expense of American power and influence in the region.

Its too early, in my view, to judge how Donald Trump will conduct his foreign policy. His appointments of secretaries of state, defense, and treasury will give us a clearer idea of where his policy is headed. We should also appreciate that the Senate must approve all Trumps Cabinet choices, and its doubtful that Republican senators will simply rubber-stamp his selections.

In the meantime, especially before Jan. 20, it would be prudent for us to stay calm and let the democratic process of checks and balances do its job.

Donald Nuechterlein is a political scientist and author who resides near Charlottesville. Contact him at nuechtd@cstone.net.
President-elect Donald Trump would have picked up nearly half of Virginias Electoral College votes under a proposal by a Republican state lawmaker from Spotsylvania County.

Del. Mark Cole pre-filed a bill Nov. 3 to revamp a long-standing process that awards all 13 Electoral College votes to Virginias popular vote winnerwho this year was Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Under Coles proposal, the top overall vote-getter would receive two Electoral College votes. The remaining votes would be allotted based on the outcome in each of Virginias 11 congressional districts.

The Electoral College system has come under fire because Trump, a Republican, won the presidency despite losing the popular vote. But Cole said the process makes states important and helps minimize the impact of voter fraud in states that are pretty lax on who they let vote.

He said his proposal for Virginia would better reflect voter sentiment, adding that some people in rural areas feel like their votes dont count because Northern Virginia is overwhelmingly Democratic.

I think this is probably a fairer way to do it, said Cole, who noted that he submitted the bill before the presidential election. It still gives extra credit to whoever wins the state because you get the two at-large votes. But I think it more accurately reflects, probably, the sentiment of the popular vote within the state.

If the proposal had been in effect for this years presidential election, Clinton would have received seven Electoral College votes, and Trump would have gotten six. But in 2012, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would have picked up more Electoral College votes than President Barack Obama, despite losing the states popular vote.

University of Mary Washington political science professor Stephen Farnsworth said Coles proposal would increase the impact of gerrymandering, when lawmakers redraw districts to benefit a particular political party. Only Nebraska and Maine tally Electoral College votes based on the winners of congressional districts.

This suggests that at least some Republicans think theyre more likely to lose the Electoral College votes in Virginia in the years to come, Farnsworth said of Coles bill. A Republican who was confident about winning the state in the future would not propose this bill.

Farnsworth said a number of states have rejected similar proposals because they are swing states where both parties envision themselves being successful in the future. Even if Coles bill passes during next years General Assembly session, Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe would veto it in a New York minute, Farnsworth said.

Polls show that most voters favor eliminating the Electoral College system rather than changing it, Farnsworth said. The process was designed for a time when states did not have modern voting machines and infrastructure, he said.

Modern communication and transportation systems have created a very different environment than the founders were looking at in the 18th century, when they established the Electoral College, Farnsworth said.
Some of the people can be fooled all of the time, and some seem plenty pleased about it when it gives them license to exercise their most malicious impulses. How else to explain the noxious torrent of vitriol, venom and threats trained recently against a popular upper Northwest Washington pizzeria, which has been the subject of ludicrous conspiracy theories alleging that it is the center of a child-abuse racket run by Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman, John Podesta?

The allegations against Comet Ping Pong, reported by the New York Times, are absurd on their face and detached from any gossamer thread of fact. They took root in the dark crevices of the Web and took flight thanks to social media platforms, whose witless who, us? posture in the face of misinformation and outright lunacy is a civic embarrassment.

More than that, the use of social media as a platform for outright lies about public figures and, in this case, malevolent rumors about a pleasant neighborhood restaurant popular with families is a menace to private lives, peace and prosperity. In response to the firestorm of anonymous death threats and warnings directed at Comets owner, James Alefantis, and some of his employees, District of Columbia police have had to deploy officers to keep an eye on the restaurant.

Fake and unfounded news articles suggesting that Comets backrooms, heretofore known for a couple of ping-pong tables and a play area for kids, were the scene of trafficked and molested children have appeared on Facebook, as well as on websites serving as platforms for scurrilous disinformation and fantasy conspiracies.

So what if Alefantis has never met Clinton and neither traffics nor abuses children? Social media, a neutral host body for parasitical insanity, have turned their algorithmic gaze upon him. The culprits include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Reddit and other platforms that have done too little to safeguard their sites from deception and fraud. (Reddit belatedly shut down a message board devoted to pizzagate.)

Like 93 percent of Washingtonians, the restaurateur happened to support Clinton for president; he has some prominent Democratic friends, past and present. Alefantiss name surfaced in leaked email from Podestas account, published by WikiLeaks, in which the two men discussed holding a Clinton fundraiser. As far as anyone knows, there is no more logic than that as to why Alefantis and his restaurant became targets.

The First Amendment is a bulwark of democracy but provides no protection for defamatory allegations published in knowing disregard for the truth. Alefantis is more than entitled to sue for defamation and libel, if he can find the purveyors of the garbage heaved his way.

A separate question is whether criminal charges may arise from some of the threats that have been leveled at the restaurant and its owner, online and by phone. Mischief may stray into the province of criminality if it incites violence.
Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, Nov. 27

By Huseyn Hasanov Trend:

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov expressed condolences to his Iranian counterpart Hassan Rouhani over the railway accident in the city of Shahroud which resulted in heavy casualties and injuries, the Turkmen government said in a message.

On behalf of the people of Turkmenistan and on my own behalf, I extend my deep condolences to you, the bereaved families, the loved ones of those who died and wish the injured recovery, the presidents message said.

Two trains collided and one caught fire in the northern province of Semnan on Nov. 25, killing 44 people and injuring dozens more, in one of the country's worst ever rail disasters. The crash occurred near Shahroud, on the main line between Teheran and Iran's second city Mashhad.
Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Nov. 27

By Demir Azizov Trend:

OSCE experts stressed the improvement of the electoral legislation of Uzbekistan after the presidential election in March 2015, said the interim report of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) following monitoring of the presidential election November 2-20.

Calling the upcoming election as a "turning point in the history of the country after 25 years of leadership of the countrys first President Islam Karimov", the experts stressed that the amendments to the electoral law were made taking into account the previous ODIHR recommendations.

Among important innovations are the conditions created for people with disabilities during voting. Moreover, for the first time, ballots were prepared for blind people.

According to the ODIHR mission, the countrys Central Election Committee (CEC) conducted trainings for the members of precinct election commissions.

According to the experts, the candidates running for the presidency used video conferencing during the meetings with voters in the regions.

According to the report, there are some shortcomings in the electoral process, in particular, the lack of a single electronic registrar of voters.

ODIHR has been involved in election monitoring in Uzbekistan for the seventh time.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

By Fatih Karimov  Trend

The National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with the world's largest oilfield services company, Schlumberger, to explore three oilfields, SHANA news agency reported Nov. 27.

Under the agreement, the multinational company will undertake exploration in Irans Rag Sefid field (including Asmari, Bangestan and Khami reservoirs), Parsi (Asmari reservoir) and Shadegan (including Asmari and Bangestan reservoirs) oil fields and will submit the exploration results to the NISOC.

The contract was signed by Bijan Alipour, managing director of the NISOC and Antony Brockmann, marketing vice president for Schlumberger.

The NISOC earlier announced that four fields of Parsi, Karanj, Rag Sefid and Shadegan, including nine oil reserves, are specified for development based on NISOC contract framework which is confirmed by Iran's oil ministry.

The nine reserves include Asmari, Pabdeh and Khami in Karanj field, three reserves in Asmari, Bangestan and Khami in Rag Sefid field, Asmari field in Parsi field and two reserves of Asmari and Bangestan in Shadegan field.

On Nov. 23 the company signed the first NDA with Pergas international consortium within the NISOC contract to explore Karanj and Shadegan oilfields.

Over 60 Iranian and foreign companies have announced readiness for cooperation with the NISOC within the NISOC contracts. The NISOC has held talks with 33 companies out of the total number so far.

The National Iranian South Oil Company operates as a subsidiary of National Iranian Oil Company. As Iran's largest oil company, NISOC is producing about 83 percent of all crude oil and 16 percent of natural gas produced in the country.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

By Fatih Karimov  Trend

Iran imported 21.563 million tons of goods, worth $27.383 billion during the first eight months of the current fiscal year (started March 20, 2016).

The figure indicates a 0.94 percent increase compared to the same period of preceding year, the Iranian Customs Administration reported Nov. 27.

Iran's non-oil trade balance over the first eight months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 20-Nov. 21) remained positive for eighth straight month and stood at $734 million.

Corn fodder worth $874 million topped the list of Iran's imported goods during the eight-month period.

After corn fodder, soybean worth $594 million, car parts worth $531 million, rice worth $520 million, and motor vehicles with internal combustion engine worth $459 million were among other main imported goods of the Islamic Republic in the first eight months of the current fiscal year.

China was the main exporter of goods to Iran in the mentioned period. Iran imported $6.469 billion worth of goods from China in the eight-month period.

After China, the UAE ($4.679 billion), South Korea ($2.148 billion), Turkey ($1.76 billion) and Germany ($1.461 billion) were among other four biggest exporters of goods to Iran.

Irans imports from Germany witnessed an increase by 25.21 percent during the eight-month period, meanwhile Chinas exports decreased by 4.82 percent.

The Islamic Republics imports from the UAE, South Korea and Turkey also witnessed fall by 10.91 percent, 12.38 percent and 14.23 percent respectively.

Iran's non-oil exports (including gas condensates) increased by 5.74 percent to $28.117 billion during the first eight months of the current Iranian fiscal year.
10:58 (GMT+4) The Governor of Behshahr said that all five passengers on board were killed in a National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) helicopter which crashed in the Caspian sea on Sunday, IRNA reported.

Khalegh Sajjadi told IRNA that the dead bodies of three of the passengers were recovered by Red Crescent Society rescue teams.

He added that the search operation continues to recover the 2 other bodies.

A helicopter with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) crashed in the Caspian Sea early on Sunday.

Technical failure caused the crash after the helicopter with five on board took off on a mission to carry an injured person from an oil platform, Khaleq Sajjadi told IRNA.

10:12 (GMT+4) A helicopter with the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) crashed in the Caspian Sea early on Sunday, governor of Behshahr in this northern Iranian province has announced, IRNA reported.

Technical failure caused the crash after the helicopter with five on board took off on a mission to carry an injured person from an oil platform, Khaleq Sajjadi told IRNA.

According to Sajjadi, the fate of the five is not clear yet.

Further information will be released later.
Razdan was flooded with One Time Transaction (OTPs) and transaction messages while she was in South Mumbai with her older daughter Shaheen (Pic courtesy: Instagram/ sonirazdan).

Mumbai: This Friday, yesteryear actress and mother of starlet Alia Bhatt, Soni Razdan was robbed off a decent amount of money while she was out with her daughter Shaheen.

As many as 19 transitions were carried out through her credit within a span of few minutes.

A traumatised Razdan told a leading daily that this unfortunate instance of fraudulent has left her scared. The actress also revealed that the card in question is seldom used and that she prefers keeping it locked in her cupboard.

"That card is either in my cupboard in lock and key, or it's in my purse but it's never swiped. I do my transactions through another service. I was with my daughter Shaheen in South Mumbai when I got a message with an OTP (one time password). We thought it's an old message that has been resent. In a fraction of a second, there was a diarrhoea of messages on my phone with OTPs and transactions. The bank promptly blocked my card, and assured me that I wouldn't have to pay for those fraudulent transactions. But I'm really scared now. What if I was shooting in the back of beyond and didn't get those messages? I would have been robbed! the actress was quoted as saying by Bombay Times.

The last time she used this card was at Singapore airport. The actress is planning on filing police complaint and bring the culprits to justice.
While heading to the Golden Temple to seek blessings before a films release is a common occurrence, shooting inside the sacred temples premises isnt too easy. And thats something that director Raja Krishna Menon of Airlift fame discovered when he landed in Amritsar to shoot with Saif Ali Khan for Chef.

Apparently, the authorities had a tough time keeping the pilgrims, visitors and even the sevaks and workers of the Golden Temple from jostling for pictures. Says Raja, It was tough, since we arent allowed to disturb other pilgrims at the Golden Temple. And when they saw Saif in the flesh, they wanted pictures. But we finally managed to get some really beautiful shots.

The director recalls with joy and nervousness the challenges of shooting at the sacred place. There was a huge crowd, but they were really well-behaved. It was quite a beautiful experience. They just wanted to see Saif. I was quite surprised to know how many of them in the crowd were Airlift fans.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

By Fatih Karimov  Trend

Irans deputy minister of Roads and Urban Development and head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Railways, Mohsen Pour Seyed Aghaei, resigned over deadly train crash, which claimed lives of 44 Iranian citizens.

Pour Seyed Aghaei announced his resignation on Nov. 26 as a social responsibility and out of sympathy for the survivors of this accident, Irans IRNA news agency reported.

The incident occurred due to "human error", Pour Seyed Aghaei said.

However he added that managers should assume responsibility for such incidents, and for this reason, he has officially submitted his resignation over the tragic incident.

Three people were detained over the crash.

Two trains collided and one caught fire in the northern province of Semnan on Nov. 25, killing 44 people and injuring dozens more, in one of the country's worst ever rail disasters. The crash occurred near Shahroud, on the main line between Teheran and Iran's second city Mashhad.

In 2009, at least three people were killed and two others got injured when two trains collided on the outskirts of Tehran. The accident happened when a passenger train en route from Mashhad to Tehran hit a maintenance train on the line near the town of Varamin.

Back in 2004, a train loaded with chemicals and fertilizer derailed and exploded along the same route, killing at least 300 people.
Mumbai: Kapoor is less than a month away from delivering her first child but the lady just refuses to keep her work commitments at bay. From making public appearances to doing photoshoots, Mrs. Khan is doing everything a non-pregnant actress would do.

The Heroine star had made it clear right at the beginning that she will continue working and she has stuck to her words till today.

To-be-grandfather Randhir Kapoor is obviously excited about the arrival of his daughters little one.

Were all waiting to hold her little one in our arms. Shes extremely healthy and the baby is doing fine. Yes, she is due on December 20. At the moment, we cant say whether she will opt for a surgery or follow the natural procedure. Her doctors will take a call closer to the due date depending on the babys position and Kareenas health. For now, were just preparing to welcome our grandkid, Randhir was quoted saying in a report of The Times of India.

Kapoor has always praised his dashing daughters decision to work through the pregnancy. Kareena has handled her pregnancy very well, added the proud father.

Her husband, however, is reportedly concerned about her health and has requested the workaholic actress to calm down and work less.

Recently, Kareena was seen lunching with her bff Amirta Arora Ladak and sister Karishma Kapoor at a suburb restaurant in Mumbai.

Bebo will start shooting for Veere Di Wedding along with Swara Bhaskar and Sonam Kapoor.
Mumbai: Kunal Kapoor was spotted with a fan during the shoot of his new film 'Raag Desh'. Not only is he looking great, but also completely different from his last film 'Veeram'.

He recently said he felt like a time traveller considering he is playing a 16th century warrior, a soldier from the 40's and a millennial man! Well, 'timeless' would be more appropriate here, wouldn't you agree?

Tigmanshu Dhulia period film 'Raag Desh' also stars Sonam Kapoors cousin brother Mohit Marwah along with a host of prominent names. The film is a period drama set in 1945.
Pawan Kalyan is one of those actors who is not very active on social media. He posts very rarely and that too, only when he wants to make a political statement.

With the demise of Fidel Castro, the well-known Communist leader from Cuba, the actor seems to have made an exception. We remember him for his Great journey with Che Guevara whom I adore and respect. May his Soul rest in Peace.. (sic), wrote the actor, who saluted him and called him a great and inspiring leader.

The actor posted a series of tweets condoling the demise of the leader.
LGBT Community members and supporters during the Delhi Queer Pride March in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Draped in rainbow colours, hundreds of people on Sunday marched in the heart of the national capital for the 9th Queer Pride Parade to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community in making a united call for equality of gender and sexuality and seeking "a life without fear".

Organised by the Delhi Queer Pride Committee, the march kicked off from the corner of Barakhamba Road and Tolstoy Marg here, and saw members of the community as well as their friends and family members turn out with placards, masks and costumes.

"Pride is an inter-mingling of many movements - feminism, anti-caste movements, for free speech, so this march is important as it is a united call for a prejudice-free India," one of the participants said, requesting anonymity.

Another participant, Delhi University student Esha, said unlike earlier occasions, it is important for queer people this year to shout back equally louder to combat "noise from homophobic groups and an unfriendly government".

"I'm not out yet so I tend to keep a low profile at LGBTQ events, but this year pride is important as a show of strength more than ever because noise from homophobic groups and an unfriendly government seems to have become louder. It is important that we as queer people should shout back equally louder," Esha said.

One of the organisers, Rituparna Borah, said this year's parade saw a greater participation than the last year, with around 800-1,000 people turning out.

"People from all walks of life, identifying with different sexual orientations and genders took part in the parade, that culminated at Jantar Mantar," another organizer said.

While the focus of the 'pride' has been the repeal of Section 377 that criminalises same-sex unions and the demand for dignity for people who do not conform to society's ideas of sexual orientation or gender, different movements joined the parade this year in solidarity with the LGBTQ community.

This year's march was also in support of Dalits, Muslims, women, disabled, Kashmiris, people in the North-East, Adivasis, academics, filmmakers and students, according to an earlier statement on the Facebook page created for the event.

The march saw demands being voiced by a wide section of society - from the demand to live free of fear to calls to break down patriarchal mindsets.

"Hence, more than ever, we assert that our pride is inextricably tied to a broader demand for freedom and dignity for all," a statement said.

A participant, who works with a private company in Delhi, said, "We want to live without fear of any kind of repercussion from our family and from the workplace because of the gender we identify with. It is important to live a life without fear."

The Parade is a yearly festival, held on the last Sunday of November, to honour and celebrate lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and many gender and sexual non-conforming people, and their supporters.
The clarification came while hearing a review plea filed by Ojasvi Party seeking restoration of its earlier petition which was dismissed by NGT for not submitting English translation of documents. (Photo: file)

New Delhi: Prohibiting use of Hindi during its proceedings, the National Green Tribunal has made it clear that a litigant, who appears before it as party-in-person, must submit documents in English only.

The green panel said according to Rule 33 of the NGT (Practice and Procedure) Rules, 2011, the proceedings of the tribunal have to be conducted only in English.

The clarification came while hearing a review plea filed by Ojasvi Party seeking restoration of its earlier petition which was dismissed by NGT for not submitting English translation of documents.

"The plea submits that the applicants were under delusion that the Hindi being national language, the tribunal must entertain the applications moved in Hindi. However, now his delusion is removed and he understands that business of the

tribunal has to be conducted in English as per Rule 33 of the NGT (Practice and Procedure) Rules, 2011... "Considering these submissions and the record before us, which reveals that the English version of original appeal was filed on September 24, 2015, we allow this application and restore the application to the file. However all the applications moved therein in Hindi without there being English translation on record would stand dismissed," a bench headed by Justice U D Salvi said.

The religious grouping had approached the tribunal in 2015 against the pollution caused in river Yamuna due to slaughtering of cattle.
Mintoo was arrested by Punjab Police from Delhi's IGI airport on November 2014 while he was on his way back from Thailand. (Photo: Twitter)

Amritsar: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal on Sunday said that Pakistan was desperate to revive terror post-surgical strike by Indian Army, and suggested that neighbouring country could be behind Nabha jailbreak incident that saw Khalistan Liberation Front terrorist Harminder Singh Mintoo escape.

Earlier in the day, the Punjab government announced the formation of a Special Task Force to track the movement of Mintoo and four other prisoners who had escaped from the prison.

He said that the Director General of Police (Jail) has been suspended, while the Superintendent and the Deputy Superintendent of Police of the jail have been dismissed.

Badal said that a separate Additional Director General of Police-led team has been tasked to assess the incident that led to the jail break.

"The state home Secretary will give me a report on wherever lapses have taken place and strict action will be taken on the responsible one," Badal told media here.

He also said that his government will ensure that the incident will not have any adverse impact on the sixth Heart of Asia Conference scheduled to be held in Amritsar on December 3.

On Sunday, around 10 men, masquerading in police uniform, broke into the jail and helped Harminder Mintoo and four of his cohorts to escape.

The four prisoners have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, Vicky Gondra, Nitin Deol and Vikramjeet Singh.

Mintoo was arrested by Punjab Police from Delhi's IGI airport on November 2014 while he was on his way back from Thailand.

The 47-year-old is wanted in 10 terror-related cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and the 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station.

He is wanted for plotting the killings of three Punjab Shiv Sena leaders.
Hyderabad: Madhapur police arrested three persons from Nellore, when they came to the city to exchange demonetised currency at a 23 per cent-margin.

Police recovered Rs 9 lakh in Rs 2,000 denomination from their possession.

The cash was handed over to income-tax officials as the trio failed to reveal the source of cash, police officials said. The trio, Ch. Ashok, Syed Shanavas and Md Mastan, came to Hyderabad with the cash to exchange Rs 2,000 notes against demonetised currency with a person named Praveen, who works at a hotel in the city. The trio asked for 23 per cent commission and brought the amount to hand it over to two receivers in Madhapur, said a police official.

Police stopped the suspects when they were going on two-wheelers from Jubilee Hills towards HiTech City. During the check, we found cash and they could not give a satisfactory reply to our queries. They were taken to the police station and during questioning it was revealed that they came to exchange the cash," said Madhapur inspector K. Chandra Shekhar.

The trio revealed that they brought the cash from their native place in Nellore. They remained silent about the source of the cash. Police officials are yet to find out how they got the Rs 9 lakh in Rs 2000 denomination notes. Police is inquiring if the trio had been working with bank officials in Nellore.

Police has taken the two receivers, who were waiting for the trio, into custody. Officials said that Praveen would be arrested and handed over to the income-tax department. We have alerted the income-tax department to verify the source of cash. They will be inquiring into it, said Madhapur inspector K. Chandra Shekhar.
Police found that Mahesh had killed his father Chandraiah six years ago during a fight over a petty issue.

Hyderabad: Enraged by his mother refusing to give him Rs 300 for alcohol, a 28-year- old man brutally killed her, and after she collapsed he dragged the body into the house to hide the matter. Pirrala Mahesh had earlier killed his father after a fight over a petty issue.

Police said P. Mahesh, 28, hailing from Dudyala village in Bomraspet mandal was working as a cook in a college in Hyderabad. As it was harvest time in his village he came home three days ago. On Saturday his mother P. Mogulamma, 50, sold her crop and got Rs 1,500 for it. Knowing that, Mahesh came home heavily drunk at night and asked her for money.

When she refused to give money for alcohol he hit her on the head with a stone. She collapsed and died on the spot. He then dragged her body into the house, Kodangal inspector N. Srinivas Reddy said.

Neighbours who saw blood stains checked inside and found Mogulamma dead and Mahesh sitting beside her body. They informed her relatives. Police registered a case of murder and of destroying evidence willfully.

Police found that Mahesh had killed his father Chandraiah six years ago during a fight over a petty issue. He was arrested and remanded and is out on bail now. Mahesh has been detained for questioning.
Hyderabad: A 30-year-old constable who was addicted to alcohol allegedly committed suicide at Meerpet on Sunday.

Police said R. Ramesh hanged himself on the ceiling. Ramesh who was posted in Meerpet police station was attached to the control room in the commissioners office four months ago as he was irregular in attending duties.

Meerpet SI A. Raju said that Ramesh, a 2009 batch constable, was married to Nikhitha and was staying at Balapur X Roads along with two kids. He used to often come home drunk and beat up his wife and kids.

On Saturday evening he came heavily drunk and started beating Nikitha. When he tried to beat up his three-month-old son she got scared and went to her home with both kids after which Ramesh was alone in the home, he said. On Sunday morning he went out on work, returned home in the noon and committed suicide.

Neighbours saw him hanging in his house and informed the police, who registered a suspicious death case and shifted the body for autopsy.
Berne/New Delhi: Stepping up its efforts to trace black money parked abroad, India has shot off at least 20 'administrative assistance' requests to Switzerland in recent months seeking details of Indians suspected to have misused Swiss banks' famed high-secrecy walls to evade taxes.

The individuals and companies about whom India has requested for information include at least three listed companies, former CEO of a real estate major, wife of a Delhi-based former bureaucrat, a Dubai-based Indian origin investment banker, a high-profile fugitive along with his wife and an UAE-based holding company, as also some Gujarati businessmen settled abroad and presumably in trading business.

Many of these are suspected to have maintained accounts in Swiss banks through offshore entities, including in Panama and British Virgin Islands.

These requests for 'administrative assistance', which typically involves exchange of information on submission of proof by the requesting country about the account holder's wrongdoing, have been documented by Swiss authorities in their

Federal Gazette as per local laws to give the concerned person or entity a last chance to appeal against sharing of data.

While India and Switzerland last week signed a new pact for automatic exchange of information about account details September 2018 onwards, the pending requests have been made under their existing bilateral tax treaty.

In the past also, names of some Indian nationals figured in Switzerland's Federal Gazette notifications after the Swiss authorities were approached by India for information about those people with regard to the pending tax-related probes against them.

After following the due process prescribed under Swiss law, the information has been shared by Switzerland with India in some cases, pursuant to which the Indian authorities -- including the tax department and Enforcement Directorate -- have proceeded with their prosecution and other actions.

However, the pace of seeking such details seems to have quickened in the recent months, going by the sudden spurt in the number of Indian names figuring in such notifications.

So far in November alone, five Indian names have been disclosed, while a similar number of 'administrative assistance' requests were notified in October as well. Since

June this year, at least 20 such requests have been disclosed by the Swiss authorities.

Typically, these notifications include name, nationality and date of birth of the concerned individual, while in case of companies, their names and the country of registration are mentioned.

For long, Switzerland has been known for strict secrecy clauses about details of foreigners having accounts in Swiss banks. However, under growing global pressure, Switzerland has begun sharing information in cases where other countries have been able to present some evidence of suspected illegalities.

Under Swiss law, a prescribed procedure is followed for any administration assistance or information exchange by the FTA (Federal Tax Administration of Switzerland) with India or any other country with which the Alpine nation has tax treaties about their respective nationals.

Among other provisions, this procedure also seeks to safeguard "the right to be heard" of the person about whom information is sought by a foreign country.

"If the person concerned has not designated a person authorised to receive the notifications, the FTA shall inform this person about the pending administrative assistance procedure through the requesting authority.

"Simultaneously, the FTA shall set a period of time for the person concerned to designate a person authorised to receive notifications. The FTA may inform the concerned person directly provided that the requesting authority expressly consents to this procedure in that case," the rules say.

If the person concerned is found to be entitled to appeal, he or she may participate in the procedure and inspect the files. The information can be shared with the foreign authorities after the appeal is rejected.

As per the latest data by Swiss National Bank, money held by Indians in Swiss banks fell to to a record low of 1.2 billion franc (about Rs 8,392 crore) at the end of 2015.

The funds held by Indians with Swiss banks stood at a record high of CHF 6.5 billion (Rs 23,000 crore) at 2006-end.

However, the quantum of these funds has been falling since then, except for in 2011 and in 2013 when Indians' money had risen by over 12 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.

The funds, described by SNB as 'liabilities' of Swiss banks or 'amounts due to' their clients, are the official figures disclosed by the Swiss authorities and do not indicate the quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held by Indians in the safe havens of Switzerland.

SNB's official figures also do not include the money that Indians or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries.

There are more than 250 banks in Switzerland and they together have an estimated 1.24 lakh full-time employees.

Last week, Switzerland agreed to automatic sharing of information with India on Swiss bank accounts of Indians.

The 'Joint Declaration' in this regard provides that both countries will start collecting data in accordance with the global standards in 2018 and exchange it from 2019 onwards.

While Switzerland has conformed to the global standards on automatic exchange of information with the signing of the declaration, India, on its part, has promised to safeguard the confidentiality of the data.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

By Farhad Daneshvar  Trend:

Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of Azerbaijan's Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic Vasif Talibov has expressed his condolences over a recent deadly train incident in Iran.

Addressing Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif through a message, the Azerbaijani official has expressed condolences to the bereaved families, relatives of those who died in the incident, the PR office of Iran's consulate general in Nakhchivan reported.

About 40 people were killed and dozens more injured in the train collision in Irans northern province of Semnan.

According to Iranian media reports, four carriages derailed and two caught fire when a train that had broken down was hit by another train early on Friday 250 kilometers east of the capital Tehran.
New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday came to the defence of RBI Governor Urjit Patel in the wake of criticism by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, saying it is an "unfair attack" and politicians should refrain from making comments on those who cannot defend themselves.

"An unfair attack by Jairam Ramesh on the RBI Governor. Must politicians attack those who can't defend themselves in the same tone?" he said in a tweet.

In an article written in National Herald, Congress spokesperson Ramesh alleged that RBI was kept in the dark by the government about its surprise demonetisation move.

"Urjit Patel is either guilty of misleading the nation about RBI's preparedness on demonetisation or has sacrificed the autonomy of RBI. Either way, he should resign," Ramesh had said.

Read: Trying our best to help honest people after note ban: RBI Guv Urjit Patel

"RBI is the monetary authority of India and is solely responsible for making bank notes available to all residents of India. If RBI headed by Patel gave its approval to the

Prime Minister's demonetisation plan, then ostensibly RBI was confident of making currency notes available easily."

He complained that there are not enough notes in the system and this shortage can continue for at least a few more weeks, if not months.

Questioning the RBI Governor's "stoic silence" through the entire currency crisis of the last two weeks, Ramesh said the central bank is independent and autonomous and needs to clarify on the current situation.

"How can the head of RBI that is solely responsible for the current currency crisis not be seen clarifying and assuring the nation amid this grave crisis?" he questioned.
Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday asked bankers to help realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's appeal for a cashless economy.

"Let us accept the challenge, plan accordingly and make cashless economy possible as appealed by our PM Narendra Modi ji," Fadnavis said, addressing an urgent meeting of State Level Bankers' Committee (SLBC) in Mumbai.

Fadnavis said the country could be made cashless in 2-3 months if tireless efforts were put into it.

Fadnavis had called this meeting to discuss cashless transactions, increasing modes of e-payments, facilitating transactions in rural areas for farmers, traders and transporters, a CMO official said.

Minister Subhash Deshmukh, Secretaries of various Departments, representatives from RBI, SBI, BOM, BOI, NABARD and mobile wallet companies were present.

The issue of cash requirements for rural bank branches for Kharif harvest marketing and Rabi sowing and crop loans was also discussed on Sunday.

It was decided to use all 'Aaple Sarkar' Centres in Maharashtra for digital banking facilities to bring major relief at Gram Panchayat level, the official said.

Banks agreed to provide single form to easily transfer cash from farmers account to authorised dealers' account for purchase of seeds, pesticides etc.

Fadnavis congratulated bank officials for working extra hours and smoothly handling pressure. He appealed to them to work in the same way for a few more days, the official said.

"We have to work for farmers and even for farm labourers. We need to increase number of Point of Sale to bring ease for people in this situation," he said.
Panaji: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday claimed that due to the Centre's demonetisation move, the rate of crime in Mumbai, including contract killings, murders, extortion and drug trafficking, has come down drastically.

"The decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a historic one. The blackmoney, corruption money, terror funding and drug money has received a jolt," Mr Parrikar said while addressing BJP's Vijay Sankalp rally in Aldona constituency in North Goa.

"One of my friends from Mumbai was telling me that the supari (contract) killings have reduced there. There is no lack of people offering supari, but there is no money to pay. In the last 20 days, the murder rate has come to half in Mumbai," he claimed.

"The instances of extortion have also reduced in Mumbai. If anyone goes to the builder and tries to extort money, he is ready to give the sum, but that money has no value as they are old notes. Due to this, now the one who wanted to extort money has also stopped. Even here in Goa, extortion attempts from the builders have stopped," he said.

According to Mr Parrikar, the movement of narcotics in Mumbai has collapsed due to lack of money to fuel it.

"Thanks to demonetisation, the crime graph has been reduced in Mumbai. Modi has eliminated drug lords, terror funders, fake notes and blackmoney," he said.

Stating that Goa will become cashless by December 30, Mr Parrikar appealed to the people to cooperate to fulfil this dream of the Prime Minister.

"By December 30, we will become a cashless society. Goa has a capability to become a model state for rest of the states," he said.

"We always feel safe with cash money...A bank manager was telling me that pensioners rush to the bank on every first of the month...He said the pensioners don't feel satisfied till they count notes," Mr Parrikar said.

"But I feel in the current era, there is no need for notes. In the Information Technology sector, Goa's penetration is more than that of Singapore. We can show the way for the country," he added.
Mumbai: Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik on Sunday claimed that there has been no misuse of funds by his banned NGO and rejected all allegations of involvement in terror-related activities.

Remaining non-committal on returning to India, where he has been booked for hate speech and under anti-terror law UAPA, the 51-year-old televangelist, who is currently abroad, said he has repeatedly offered his cooperation to NIA.

Facing heat over charge of inspiring some of the Dhaka attackers through his speeches, he said the moment someone resorts to violence, he ceases to be Islamic and loses his support.

"It is wrong to imply that a few miscreants who joined terror groups were influenced by me. So if I was really spreading terror, wouldn't I have made a few lakh terrorists by now? Not just a handful.

"In a fan following of millions, there may be a handful of anti-social elements who will go astray and take up violence.

But they are surely not following what I've told them. The moment they pick up senseless violence, they cease to be Islamic and they surely lose my support," Naik told PTI in an e-mail interview.

Asked about the legal steps he would take to challenge the ban on his NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), he said his legal teams in Mumbai and Delhi were looking into the issue and would move the Court soon.

The Centre recently banned the IRF for five years and declared it as an unlawful association.

Naik said the ban on IRF was politically motivated.

On allegations of money laundering by IRF in the funds received from abroad, he said the Rs 47 crore in question came from his personal account in Dubai to his personal account in Mumbai in the last six plus years.

"It was duly declared by me in the returns and used for lawful activities, including giving gifts and loans to my family members. I don't know where is the problem in that.

"IRF received about Rs 14 crore in the FCRA account over the past 15 years. Of this, about Rs 4 crore was from NRIs living abroad. Only about Rs 10 crore was received from foreign donors in the last about 15 years. All of this was duly declared to the MHA, including the amounts, the names and the addresses of the donors. So, where is the question of money laundering?" Naik asked.

Asked why was he not returning to India, Naik said he has repeatedly offered his co-operation to government agencies in their investigations but till date, no agency bothered to contact him, ask him questions, or send him any notice.
Chandigarh: AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday demanded "immediate" resignation of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal over Nabha jailbreak in which six prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo, escaped.

Blaming Punjab police for killing a woman, he tweeted, "Punjab Home Minister shud immediately resign taking responsibility of jail break and killing of innocent girl by Punjab police."

"This shows complete breakdown of law n order in Punjab," Kejriwal said in another tweet attacking Sukhbir who also holds the portfolio of the home minister of the state.

In a sensational jailbreak, chief of Khalistan Liberation Front militant outfit Harminder Mintoo escaped along with five other prisoners after armed men in police uniform stormed the high-security Nabha prison in Chandigarh.

A woman, who was in an SHO's vehicle, died after being hit by a bullet when police opened fire at her vehicle after it jumped a barrier about 20 km away from the prison. The incident occurred at a 'naka' on Patiala-Gulha Cheeka road, police said.

Read: Nabha jailbreak: 1 person arrested from UP, Punjab govt sacks officials

Meanwhile, AAP national spokesperson Sanjay Singh demanded resignations of jail minister Sohan Singh Thandal and the Deputy Chief Minister.

Sukhbir has no "moral right" to keep the portfolio of the Punjab home minister "even for a day" because under him the state is being "pushed toward anarchy", he said.

"Be it attack on a religious preacher, murder of Mata Chand Kaur of Namdhari Sect, series of sacrilege incidents, the drug haul in Punjab, murder of RSS ideologue or the jailbreak, he has completely failed as the home minister," Singh said.

On Sukhbir alleging that Pakistan "could be behind the jailbreak", the AAP leader said, "If he is right that Pakistan was indeed behind Nabha jailbreak, then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh should also quit for failing to protect the international borders."

Slamming Sukhbir, AAP Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi alleged, "He does not think twice before blaming Pakistan for the ills of Punjab. Every time he constitutes a

Special Investigation Team and puts the issue under the carpet. They have yielded no results so far."

"Such daredevil attack on the jail by armed men in police uniform could not have been possible without active connivance of the state government or higher police officials," Ghuggi alleged and demanded that there is a need to immediately deploy paramilitary forces in Punjab.
Parminder alias Penda was travelling in an SUV when his vehicle was intercepted by police at a check post in Kairana in Shamli district. (Photo: ANI Twitter)

Chandigarh: UP Police claimed to have arrested one of the armed men involved in the sensational jailbreak in Patiala in which a Khalistani militant outfit chief and five other prisoners escaped this morning.

Parminder alias Penda was travelling in an SUV when his vehicle was intercepted by police at a check post in Kairana in Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh, police said.

He tried to flee but was apprehended. Police said it has recovered an SLR and three other rifles from his possession. ADG (law and order) Daljeet Choudhury said that police had heightened security as it had apprehensions that the accused in the jailbreak may try to flee to Nepal.

The ADG said that Parminder had "confessed" to his involvement during questioning. He was also allegedly wanted in connection with the murder of a policeman.

The Punjab government on Sunday sacked the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of Nabha jail and suspended the ADGP (Prisons) after the jailbreak incident, and announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the escapees.

The state government has issued orders to set up an inquiry committee to look into any lapse in security that led to the incident. It will be headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu.

A special investigation team under an ADGP-rank officer has also been constituted which will look into lapses as well as any conspiracy theories surrounding the incident.

"ADGP (Jails) has been suspended and Jail Superintendent and Deputy Jail Superintendent have been dismissed," Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, told reporters.

ADGP (Railways) Rohit Chaudhary has been appointed as the new ADGP (Jails) in place of M K Tiwari and IPS officer S Bhupati is the new Superintendent of Nabha jail.

Sukhbir rushed to the jail for an on-the-spot review of the situation. Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora is already in Nabha following the incident, a spokesman said.

Additional Director General of Police, Internal Vigilance Cell, Prabodh Kumar will head the SIT comprising IGP (Patiala Zone) Paramraj Singh, IGP Ishwar Singh, IGP (Counter Intelligence) Nilabh Kishore, DIG (Patiala Range) Amar Singh Chahal and SSP (Patiala) Gurmeet Chouhan.

"Special Investigation team has been asked to submit a report within three days in this regard," Sukhbir said.

The Home Secretary has also been asked to submit a report on the incident.

"Home Secretary will give me a report on lapses. Whosoever will be found responsible in this incident, strict action will be taken against him," he said.

The Deputy Chief Minister said a reward of Rs 25 lakh will be given for information leading to the arrest of the escapees.

A group of armed men in police uniform on Sunday stormed the high-security jail and fled with six prisoners including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.
New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal about the Nabha jailbreak in which a hardcore Khalistani terrorist escaped along with five other prisoners and sought a detailed report from the state government.

The Home Minister, who was in Hyderabad, also asked the Chief Minister to take urgent steps to tighten security in all jails in Punjab, officials said.

During the 15-minute telephonic conversation, Badal briefed Singh about the incident and steps taken to nab the culprits.

"I have told the Home Secretary to get a report from the Punjab government immediately. If the Punjab government needs any assistance, we will provide it," Singh said.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also spoke to the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and apprised him of the details of the incident. He updated the NSA on steps being taken to apprehend the culprits.

Concerned over the incident, Home Ministry asked the Punjab government to send the report as early as possible.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to Director General of Punjab Police and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in Punjab.

In the sensational jailbreak, a group of armed men in police uniform attacked the high-security Nabha Jail in Patiala and fled with six prisoners, including Khalistan

Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo, an accused in 10 cases.

The incident came two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces to guard against attempts to disturb peace through "vicious" political campaign or by external extremist forces during the election process in Punjab and four other states.

"We have to keep strict vigil against external extremist elements who may try to create disturbance in Punjab. There have been increased activities of the Sikh terrorists in recent months.

"Similarly in Manipur, we have to ensure peace keeping in mind the ethnic divide. In Uttar Pradesh too, there may be attempts to disturb law and order through vicious political campaigning. We have to keep strict vigil and take proper steps to ensure peace during election," he said at the DGPs conference in Hyderabad on Friday.
New Delhi: Congress on Sunday made it clear it has not called for a 'Bharat bandh' on Monday, but will hold protests across the country against demonetisation, which it alleged "was a political move being sold as a fight against corruption".

Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, party leader Jairam Ramesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in "dhamaka" politics and the decision to scrap high-value currency notes was taken because he had seen the "writing on the wall" in Uttar Pradesh, where polls are due next year.

He claimed that Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes were scrapped to cover up the government's failure to deliver on the Prime Minister's big electoral promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad and Modi wanted to do something "dramatic".

"It is a political move which is being sold as a fight against corruption," Ramesh said hitting out at the Centre.

He said people who have amassed wealth by illegal means are not suffering, but those who do not have black money are facing hardships.

"Unfortunately, people who needed to be attacked have gone scot-free," he said, adding that one section of "suited-booted" people was still leading a life of luxury.

Ramesh, a former Union Cabinet minister, claimed that BJP was spreading misinformation that Congress and other parties have called for a 'Bharat bandh'.

The Opposition parties will hold protests across the country by observing "Jan Aakrosh Diwas", he said.

Taking a swipe at the Modi government, he said economic activity has anyway come to a standstill since November 9.

Asked what will be the Opposition's strategy in Parliament, Ramesh said a debate will happen if the Prime Minister participates in it.

The Congress leader also questioned government's preparedness to bring in new currency notes, saying that according to estimates, it may take up to 250 days to print new notes and bring economy back on the track.

He also criticised the Prime Minister's call for a "cashless" or "less-cash" society, saying that in India, a majority of people use cash for daily transactions."

"Such things take time and cannot be forced by giving shocks," Ramesh said.

Asked why Congress' ally Nitish Kumar was not in the favour of protests against demonetisation, Ramesh said JDU leader Sharad Yadav was supporting it.

He claimed that the Pune-based organisation, which is said to be behind the demonetisation idea, has also said the way it is being implemented is not what they had suggested.

Congress was not against the objectives of the measure and will support steps against black money and corruption, but the reality of the situation is different, he said.

Only two per cent of people in the country undertake cashless transactions. It will take time before the country becomes cashless, he said.

The Prime Minister, who believes in "sound bytes", has been talking of "cashless and less-cash society. Does he want cashless mandis also?" the Congress leader asked.

Citing National Investigation Agency (NIA) estimates, he said counterfeit notes make up just 0.02 per cent of the total currency in circulation. To tackle this, 80 per cent of

people, be it farmers, the unorganised and small-scale sector have been subjected to inconvenience.

Accusing the Prime Minister of making tall claims, Ramesh said an action plan should have been readied and the shortcomings examined.

He said it is estimated that only 5-10 per cent of black money is kept in cash, while most of it is in the form of gold, silver, benami property or stashed abroad.

A lot of discomfiture had been caused to people by demonetising Rs 500 notes abruptly, he said.

The Prime Minister had remarked "na khaaonga, na khaane doonga", but Saurabh Patel, who was a minister in the then Modi-led Gujarat government, is learnt to have been linked to a company based in Bahamas, where many tax evaders go, Ramesh alleged.

Asked if Congress was in favour of holding of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously, Ramesh said there were merits as well as demerits of it.

In 2002, a Congress party committee headed by Manmohan Singh had suggested that there should be state funding of elections, he said, adding that various state elections also enforced accountability.
Chief Justice of India T S Thakur with Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at the All India conference of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)

Mumbai: As tensions between the judiciary and the government flared up once again, with both cautioning each other against crossing the "lakshman rekha", the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said parliament and the judiciary have their own places and one must accept their respective status.

Talking to ANI, BJP leader Shania NC said nobody suggested that the judiciary's space should be impounded.

"We respect the judiciary of the country and I don't think anyone is suggesting that their space in any way impounded upon. But the beauty of democracy is that there are processes which need to be adhered to. And, I think, both the Parliament and the judiciary have their own place and we must welcome both status," she added.

Earlier, CJI Thakur emphasised that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's attitude was lackadaisical from the very issue of filling vacancies to providing adequate infrastructure.

Stating that there are 500 judges' posts lying vacant in high courts, Thakur said that courtrooms are lying vacant without judges.

He further said that in principle, the judiciary was not against the formation of tribunals because it would relieve court duties, but the problem arose from the lack of adequate infrastructure provided to the Tribunals.

Stating he "respectfully" disagrees with Thakur, Union Law and Justice Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said the government has so far appointed 120 high court judges, adding this is the second highest number of appointments in the history of the country's judicial system.

Prasad also said that the Supreme Court has failed to make the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP), a document to guide on the appointment of judges to the higher judiciary, more transparent and reasonable despite repeated requests from the government.

The Centre and the top court have been at war since the Supreme Court struck down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, which was brought in to end more than 20-year-old practice of judges appointing judges under the collegium system, with government having no say in the process.
Nabha: Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief and noted terrorist Harminder Singh Mintoo and four other prisoners escaped from Punjab's Nabha Jail on Sunday after 10 armed men broke into the jail and helped the prisoners top escape.

The four prisoners who escaped along Mintoo are Gurpreet Singh, Vicky Gondra, Nitin Deol and Vikramjeet Singh.

The incident happened early in the morning, when the armed men wearing police uniforms fired over 100 rounds at the jail authorities.

The Punjab Police are now at spot to assess the situation, even as the probe has been initiated.

The Punjab government has suspended the Director General of jails for the incident.

A team under ADGP has been formed to investigate the incident. Strict action will be taken against whoever responsible, Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal said.

He said that a special Task Force under intelligence agencies has been set up to track down the escapees.

The dreaded militant Mintoo, was arrested by Punjab police from Delhi's IGI airport on November 2014 when he was on his way back from Thailand.

The 47-year-old is wanted in 10 terror-related cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station.

Mintoo took over the KLF in 2009 after he had defected from Wadhawa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).

He is wanted for plotting killings of three Punjab Shiv Sena leaders. He also planted Improvised Explosive Devices at Halwara Air Force station near Ludhiana in 2010.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili has signed a decree appointing acting Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili as the head of government, Sputnik reported.

Kvirikashvili has been in charge of the Georgian government since December 2015. On Saturday, Kvirikashvili and his cabinet received the vote of confidence in parliament.

"According to the eighth paragraph of the Article 80 of the Constitution of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili has been appointed as prime minister of Georgia," the presidential decree read.

Under the Georgian law, after parliament issues a vote of confidence to the new government, a parliament speaker shall sign the respective act and sent it to the president, who must finally approve the prime minister. According to the constitution, the president has two days for the approval. After that, the approved head of government should appoint his ministers within two days.
Mumbai: Breaking his silence over the demonetisation issue, RBI Governor Urjit Patel on Sunday said the central bank is monitoring the situation on a daily basis and taking all necessary actions to "ease the genuine pain of citizens" with a clear intent to normalise the things as early as possible.

Patel also said the RBI has announced an incremental CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) of 100 per cent "because of the large increase in deposits of banks on account of the return of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes" and the decision would be reviewed immediately once the government issues adequate quantum of MSS (Market Stablisation Scheme) bonds which they have promised to do.

Patel said the situation arising out of the decision to withdraw Rs 500/1,000 notes is being monitored on a daily basis and the printing presses have started to re-balance the production of new notes towards Rs 100 and Rs 500 bills.

He also urged the people to start using cash substitutes like debit cards and digital wallets, saying it will make transactions cheaper and easier and in the long term, it will help India "leapfrog into a less cash-use economy at par with more developed nations."

"We are also urging banks to make a big push with PoS (Point of Sale) machines with traders so that debit card use becomes more prevalent," he said.

Giving details of the steps being taken by RBI, he said, "Both RBI and government have been getting the printing presses to work at capacity to get the new notes available to meet demand.

"The RBI is interacting with the banks every day. They are telling us that the situation is gradually easing. The queues in branches and ATMs are shorter and the markets are starting to function, and there are no reported shortages of daily items of consumption.

"Also, about 40-50,000 people were deployed to refit the ATMs. Currency is available and banks are working in a mission mode to lift currency and take them to their branches and ATMs. The staff members of all banks have worked very hard, and we all owe them our gratitude," Patel said.

"Having said that, it is important to regularly review the situation, and taking the required decisions to ease the genuine pain of citizens who are honest and who have been hurt. There are no precedents on this subject at this scale and we have to be reactive to the situation.

"People have asked why the new currency introduced was different in size and thickness from the old. This is because the new currency has been designed to make it hard to counterfeit. When you are going to make a change of this magnitude, you need to get the best standards in place," Patel said.

Asked why it was necessary to have undertaken demonetisation, the Governor said the Prime Minister in his address to the nation explained why the withdrawal of legal tender status of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes was required.

"In his speech, he explained the reasons why this was important. He had given a commitment to the people of India that he would clamp down on black money to bring in much needed transparency and accountability and eradicate counterfeiting.

"A number of steps were taken around this, first by pushing Jan Dhan accounts, an income tax amnesty scheme and the push to get GST passed. This is part of the measures to get people to pay tax and hence expand the tax base.

"People were holding high denomination notes to keep tax unaccounted for money. Some sectors like real estate were using cash to avoid tax. It also strikes at counterfeit currency and pushes businesses and people to go cashless which greatly increases convenience. Towards the last, banks have waived debit card charges," he said.

On why there have been long queues and a reduction in trade and business, Patel said, "This is a once in a lifetime event. It is very rare to remove 86 per cent of the currency in circulation in one go. The logistics of such an operation are mammoth.

"And yet for withdrawal of legal tender status to be effective, complete secrecy was required. So it is difficult to get all banks ready and fully prepared in 24 hours for a big step like this. Obviously this has caused some dislocation. That is why we request support from all Indians for the larger cause of fighting tax evasion and the black economy."

To a question on when he expects the situation to settle, the economist-turned-central banker said, "The bankers are saying the situation is getting better and in the metrosthings are stabilising but the remote locations are still feeling some pain.

"Liquidity in the banking system has increased and so credit should be becoming more easily available. The intent is to normalise as soon as possible."

On the announcement about incremental CRR on Saturday, Patel said, "This was done because of the large increase in deposits of banks on account of the return of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

"This has led to large excess liquidity in the system. To absorb this liquidity the incremental CRR has had to be used on a purely temporary basis. While the RBI has a significant stock of government securities available, we felt that if the increase in deposits continues we may fall short, hence the decision. Once the government issues adequate quantum of MSS bonds, which they have promised to, we will immediately review the incremental CRR."
New Delhi: Pointing out that he had warned citizens of the hardships of demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again asserted on Sunday that people were in support of the note ban and that it was done in the interest of the nation.

Speaking at his fortnightly Mann Ki Baat address to the nation, the Prime Minister said, "I understand your problems but for a disease which has infected our country for 70 years, treatment can't be simple."

Here are the updates from PM's Mann Ki Baat:
New Delhi: Despite having an ideal opportunity at hand, there are very less chances of India and Pakistan holding bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Heart of Asia conference that will be held in Amritsar on December 4.

According to a report, Sartaj Aziz, the foreign policy advisor to the Pakistan Prime Minister, will arrive in Amritsar on December 4. He will not be a part of the official dinner hosted by India on the eve of the conference on December 3. He is scheduled to leave the same day, with very little scope of a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minster Narendra Modi, who will inaugurate the event, or the Minster of External Affairs.

With MEA Sushma Swaraj soon to undergo a kidney transplant, MoS MJ Akbar is likely to attend the Heart of Asia conference on her behalf, the report added.

In addition, India is also concerned about any meeting between Aziz and Kashmiri separatist leaders, the report claimed. This has always been a major bone of contention between the two countries and had resulted in the cancellation of an earlier visit by Sartaj Aziz in April.

Briefing the Pakistan's Parliament ahead of his visit, Aziz also said that Pakistan was willing to come to the table only if India will include Kashmir issue in the agenda.

Aziz will be attending the event flanked by Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan Syed Abrar Hussain and senior MoFA official Mansoor Khan.

Confirming his visit to India for the Hear of Asia conference on December 3 and 4, Aziz had earlier said that he was looking forward to defuse tensions between the two countries during his visit.

The visit will be the first by a senior Pakistani official since the Uri attack in September, which saw gunmen raiding an army base and killing 19 soldiers.

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have gone for a toss since the attack, which was followed by a surgical strike by the Indian Army in PoK, to inundate terror camps across the border along the LoC. Tensions mounted between the two nuclear armed neighbours as both countries accused each others diplomats of spying, and incessant ceasefire violations only made matters worse.

The Heart of Asia conference will seek ways to help improve security and bring peace to Afghanistan, which has been mired in conflict since a U.S.-led coalition toppled the hardline Islamist Taliban government in 2001.

Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have also been strained over the past year, with Kabul accusing Islamabad of harbouring the leaders of Taliban and seeking to meddle in Afghan affairs. Pakistan denies the charge.
Kushinagar (Uttar Pradesh): With the opposition set to observe 'Aakrosh Diwas' across the nation on Monday against the Centre's demonetisation move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called on the nation to either end corruption or endorse the protest.

"I have asked 50 days from the nation. We are talking about stopping the black money, they (Opposition) are talking about stopping the country. Choose between 'note bandi' and 'Bharat bandi'. On one hand we are initiating steps to curb corruption but on the other side a few people are talking about ' Bharat Bandh'. Those who have looted the country for 70 years won't be spared," Prime Minister Modi said while speaking at the BJP's Parivartan rally here.

Asserting that corruption and black money have ruined the nation, Prime Minister Modi said the government is working hard to help its people.

"I seek your blessings to end corruption and work towards development. I have asked only 50 days, no there are only 30 days left. Corruption and black money have ruined the nation. India should now become free from all such evils. I salute the people of this country. Despite facing inconvenience, people have accepted demonetization drive," he added.

Vouching for digital banking, the Prime Minister urged the youth to train other people how mobile technology can lead to transparent transactions.

"Technology has simplified our lives. Mobile phones have become banks today. I urge the youth to train other people how mobile technology can lead to transparent transactions. It will choke black money," he added.

The opposition parties will launch a country wide protest 'Aakrosh Diwas' on Monday over the BJP-led NDA regime's demonetisation move.

This come as the deadlock continues in Parliament with the government refusing to agree to a discussion in the Lok Sabha that ends in a vote.

The ruling dispensation has also rejected the opposition's demand that Prime Minister Modi speak in the Rajya Sabha, where the government is in a minority.
Hyderabad: Refraining from criticising on the TRS government and his TS counterpart K. Chandrasekhar Rao, TD president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu asked the party to work to regain its past glory in the state.

Stepping into the TD headquarters, NTR Bhavan after nine months, Mr Naidu participated in the TS TD general body meeting amidst much fanfare on Sunday.

Mr Naidu told the meeting that the BJP was a cadre-based party and Prime Minister Narendra Modi as its leader had achieved the impossible of absolute majority in the Lok Sabha, a record for a non-Congress party.

He said he was witnessing gloomy faces in the party unit here, and said though he wished to be in TS and lead the party to victory, it was not possible as he was Chief Minister of AP. He promised to allot at least a day in a month for the TS unit.

Leaders who spoke before Mr Naidu, such as TS TD president L. Ramana, working pre-sident A. Revanth Reddy, politburo member M. Narasimhulu and membership drive incharge E. Peddireddy bitterly criticised the TRS government. They said the government had not keep its poll promises and only concentrating on making wealth and leading a life of luxury.

There was a wide applause for Mr Revanth Reddy who during his 25-minute address criticised the TS CM with choicest abuses. Mr Narasimhulu took a dig at the party state leadership for not taking along wea-ker sections and appe-aled to Mr Naidu that he personally interact with the deprived sections when they visits Vijayawada to meet him.

Cash crash? Telangana TD has 1.76 lakh members

The demonetisation of high-value currency notes has impacted the TDs biennial membership drive. The party had targeted one crore members in AP and TS. TD president and AP Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu acknowledged this at the partys general body meeting here.

Mr E. Peddireddy, TS TD membership drive incharge, said 1.76 lakh members had enrolled against the target of 15 lakh so far. The deadline is November 30.

Later Mr Naidu, reading out details from his iPad, said the party had enrolled only 23 lakh members in both states, and said that demonetisation had impac-ted the party drive. He said the membership could reach 33 lakh by November 30, and the leadership would take a decision on extending the deadline for few more days.

He said the party had registered 54 lakh party members in 55 days, a record and wanted concerted efforts to improve membership. He said the TD had for the first time in India had introduced insurance along with membership. Each active member would have to pay `100, and all details would be digitised.
Hyderabad: Coming down heavily on the Narendra Modi government over the demonetisation of high-value currency notes, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday said that the move has aggravated the agrarian crisid as farmers could lose their Rabi crop.

Addressing a Rythu Garjana public meeting at Achampet of Nagarkurnool district on Sunday, Mr Reddy said the farmers of Telangana state were already facing a crisis due to the non-waiver of their crop loan by the state government.

While farmers were expecting a good crop due to the bountiful rains, he said their hopes were demolished by demonetisation as the process would overlap the Khariff harvest and Rabi sowing season.

He asked the state government to extend immediate assistance to farmers to ensure that they do not fall short of funds to carry out sowing operations.

He alleged that the Telangana State Level Bankers Committee, in its recent meeting, had admitted that a very small percentage of proposed Rs 11,300 crore was disbursed to farmers towards Rabi loans.

Further, with the state government not clearing the dues under promised Rs 1 lakh crop loan waiver scheme, banks refused to grant fresh loans to farmers.

The limitations on withdrawal of cash and non-availability or acute shortage of cash in rural banks have aggravated the agrarian crisis in the state, the state Congress chief said.
New Delhi/Patna: Sworn enemies have suddenly begun getting closer. That was the feeling in political circles with Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar coming out in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modis contentious demonetisation step.

Earlier, Mr Kumar was the first among the Opposition leaders to back Mr Modis surgical strikes against Pakistan. His support to the demonetisation scheme not merely raised eyebrows but also created rift in the Grand Secular Alliance. Mr Kumars close aides, however, said, that theres a method in his madness.

Regardless of the tremors in the Grand Alliance, Mr Kumar, apparently nurturing Prime Ministerial ambitions, has been tacitly trying to project himself as the face for the non-BJP, non-Congress outfits.

Sources said Mr Kumar felt that demonetisation not only had huge public support but was also a major signal against corruption. It was claimed that at this juncture, Mr Kumar would not do anything which could possibly go against his clean image. It was this image which, his close aides felt, helped the JD(U) win the Bihar Assembly polls.

JD(U) spokesperson and party principal general secretary K.C. Tyagi had said that though the party was with the Opposition on the demand for bringing normalcy to banking services, we fully support demonetisation move. He said as Mr Kumar had also said that lot more needs to be done to check black money, especially bringing back black money from outside the country.

Asked about the party's earlier support to BJP on surgical strikes and whether the JD(U) was inching closer to the saffron camp, Mr Tyagi had said; There is no question of going back with the BJP. But when Modi government takes good steps, we should support (it).

At this juncture the race is between Mr Kumar and Trinamul supremo Mamata Banerjee to emerge as the face of the Opposition. Ms Banerjee has taken a more aggressive stance by going all-out against demonetisation. If in the near future Mr Modis gamble goes wrong, Ms Banerjee could surge past Mr Kumar. If the gamble pays off, though, Mr Modi will emerge virtually invincible, Mr Kumar would remain the sane voice in the Opposition.

A senior JD(U) leader said that the first acid test would be the UP elections next year. If Ms Banerjee was trying to whip up anti-Modi sentiment by holding rallies at Lucknow and Varanasi, Mr Kumar was quietly working on the possibility of striking an alliance with the RLD and the BSP.

The RLD along with Mr Kumar was working at what RLD chief Ajit Singhs father and former PM, Charan Singh called Ajgar (python) formula, comprising the Ahirs, Jats, Gujjars and Rajputs. Some RJD leaders indicated that the Mr Kumars national ambition could possibly have an adverse impact on the grand alliance.
Bengaluru: Alleging that the Congress government in Karnataka has not implemented any of the 56 programmes launched by the Narendra Modi government, BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday called upon the people of the state to vote out Congress. The time has come to make Karnataka a Congress-mukt state, he said.

Referring to the rally that was launched with the beating of drums by all the leaders, he said, When I asked Ananth Kumar why no lamp was lit? He told me: Mr Siddaramaiah always sleeps. So this is a wake up call. This is a poll bugle inviting the rivals to come for a fight. When Mr Yeddyurappa becomes chief minister in 2018, we will beat the drum again, for the third time, he said.

Coming down heavily on Congress, SP, BSP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejrival, he said, Till November 7, they would ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi, what did you do for containing black money? But the day the Prime Minister announced demonetisation, they were worried about their black money. Look at their faces, they have lost charm.

He compared the present situation to a flood, saying, When the flood hits, all the animals run to a safe place. Even opposition parties are facing a similar situation." He showered praises on Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for extending support to the demonetisation scheme.

Listing out the programmes launched by the Modi government, he said, Outside the country, wherever he goes, the people love him. It is not the love for the Prime Minister, but for the 125 crore people." In the end, he made the people take a vow to root out the Congress government in Karnataka.
Bengaluru: Despite the call for a bandh on Monday by the Left parties, the Congress-run state government said it would not support the bandh. As per CM Siddaramaiahs words, the state will not support the bandh but will instead protest the demonetisation move.

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, As the Chief Minister had mentioned the Congress party will not support the bandh. All services will run as usual. However, we will protest the demonetisation move by the Centre.

KSRTC sources informed DC that services will go on as usual. Services will run as usual. There will be no stoppage or change in KSRTC schedules, she reiterated. BMTC too will run scheduled services as usual.

Petrol bunks too will keep open on Monday. According to an Indian Oil employee, There will be no holiday on Monday and petrol bunks will function as usual. We are not supporting the bandh.

Hotels, hospitals and medical shops will carry on with business as usual. Since these are emergency and essential services. Mohan of Pavan Medicals on Horamavu Main Road said, We are not affected by the bandh. We have to stay open as we are part of essential services.

Banks too will function on Monday. According to a PNB branch manager, We have not been notified over any Bandh on Monday. We will go about our business as usual. All banks will stay open.

However, Bangalore University has postponed exam scheduled for Monday citing the bandh call. BA, B.Com, BBM and BHM students were supposed to sit for exams on Monday which will now be held on December 8.

The state government had earlier issued a circular to district commissioners to take a call on whether schools and colleges would operate on Monday.

School associations though are taking things very seriously and have asked managements to take a decision. According to Shashi Kumar of Association of Managements of English Medium Schools in Karnataka (KAMS), We have asked school managements to take a decision over keeping schools open. Their decision depends on the situation in their respective areas. Bangalore Tourist Taxi Owners Association is not supporting the bandh. All cabs will run as usual today.
Hyderabad: Twenty-one women, who were sent to Saudi Arabia from the Old City area of Hyderabad on visas for domestic servants by agents in Malakpet, have lost contact with their families back home. Two maids from Hyderabad have died in the last two years in Saudi Arabia, allegedly due to torture.

The 21 women are from Chaderghat, Falaknuma, Charminar, Bahadurpura, Rein Bazar, Malakpet and Vattepally.

Families of 21 women had come to us seeking help to bring them back safely. Most of them have also approached the police. The families have had no contact with the women after they left for Saudi, said M.B.T. Amjed Ullah Khan, who has been helping trapped victims to get back to Hyderabad.

The women were told that their job would be to take care of children and old patients. They were also promised good salaries. Instead, they have to work for 18 to 20 hours every day and get only a much smaller salary. Some of them have been able to secretly call or text their family members in Hyderabad about their condition. The women were approached by agents who are working for Saudi-based recruiters and employers.

There are also women agents in the city. A woman agent from Asman Garh used to visit the houses of low income families and tell the women they could get comfortable jobs and good pay. Only after reaching Saudi Arabia do the victims realise that they will not even get half the salary they were promised. Since the employer has a contract with the agents here, the trapped victim cannot come back without finishing the contract period, in effect making her a bonded labourer, Amjed Ullah Khan said.

Most of these agents get at least Rs 3 lakh from the employers for recruiting each Khadima (domestic servant). Thats why they hunt for gullible women from poor families in Hyderabad, he added.Though many such cases have been reported, women still fall into the trap of unscrupulous agents.

The ordeal of maids in Saudi is widely known in our city. Still women from poor families have no way out but try their luck. They face horror, said MIM leader Shahbas Ahmed Khan, who helped some victims.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

By Orkhan Quluzade  Trend:

Turkish Minister of Culture and Tourism Nabi Avci is expected to visit Azerbaijan next week, the Turkish culture and tourism ministry told Trend.

According to the message, Avci will participate in the 34th meeting of the Permanent Council of Culture Ministers of TURKSOY member-states.

Turkish Minister of Transport, Shipping and Communications Ahmet Arslan is also expected to visit Azerbaijan November 28-29, the message said.

Arslan will participate in the meeting of the Turkic-speaking states working group on ICT, the message said.
Hyderabad: Demonetisation of high value currency notes will be the main agenda for the State Cabinet that will meet on Monday. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who held a review meeting on Sunday, said the government could not remain a spectator to the situation arising out of the demonetisation.

Mr Rao has constituted a five-member committee to work out modalities for preparing a policy towards launching cashless e-payment system.

Mr Rao is likely to speak to the press after the Cabinet meeting; he has not reacted in public so far. Mr Rao asked chief secretary Rajiv Sharma to instruct collectors to discuss with the bankers to educate the people to move towards cashless transactions, an official said.

The five-member panel includes IAS officers Suresh Chanda, Navin Mittal, Jay-esh Ranjan and collectors Raghunandan Rao and Surendra Mohan. Ms Santi Kumari, principal secretary to the CM, will represent the CMO.

It will prepare a job chart to the collectors to face any grave situation for for the Cabinet. Mr Rao asked finance secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao to prepare a detailed note on the impact, implications and other aspects of demonetisation.
HYDERABAD: The Madiga community got a big boost in its fight for categorisation of Scheduled Castes, with almost all parties  except the TRS  lining up in support.

Apart from Union ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu and Bandaru Dattatreya, senior office-bearers from the BJP, Congress, Telugu Desam, and the CPI participated in a public meeting  called Dharma Yuddh-am  organised by the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti at Parade Grounds in Secunderabad on Sunday.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Naidu promised SC quota would be categorised to enable all sub-castes get reservation benefits based on their population.

The categorisation of SCs is on Prime Minister Narendra Modis priority list. A Consti-tutional amendment is necessary to make this possible and the Centre is making efforts to garner the support of all parties like the DMK, AIADMK, Trinamul Congress, Samajwadi Party and the NCP, he said. Mr Naidu promised to fight for the demand, if needed.

Mr Naidu said he did not have any political ambitions left and would not contest in the next elections. Mr Dattatreya said the demand of the Madiga community was justified. He said he would use his good offices to impress upon Mr Modi so that the categorisation Bill get the nod of Parliament.

CPI national general secretary Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy called upon the Mala community, which was opposing the SC categorisation, to accept the demand. It will ensure justice to all sub-castes among SCs, he said.

Responding to Mr Naidu, MRPS president Manda Krishna Madiga said the community was looking up to Mr Naidu to fulfill their dream. He said the Constitution was amended 122 times and hoped that the SC categorisation would be the 123rd.

TPCC president Uttam Kumar Reddy and TD working president Reva-nth Reddy spoke in support of the demand. With people across TS and neighbouring sta-tes thronging the venue, traffic management went haywire for some time on Sunday evening. Motorists passing from Paradise towards Patny, Jubilee bus stand, YMCA and Secundera-bad Railway station had a harrowing time as traffic moved slowly.
Chennai: The MDMK will not take part in the protests announced by its PWA allies against demonetisation of high value currencies on November 28, showing strong differences within the formation of the issue.

However, Thirumavalavan announced that Vaiko, along with him and Left leaders, would attend a PWA conference on December 6, indicating that the difference of opinion is restricted only to the demonetisation issue and the formation would continue to function together on other issues.

MDMK secretary Vaiko on Saturday lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the move, but made it clear that his support to the central government was only on this issue.

Hats off to Modi on this issue, he said when talking to reporters and added that Modi had the support of people on the move. Vaiko welcomed the move immediately, and his party organ, Sangoli had come out with an article saying that honest people had nothing to lose and they need not be afraid of it.

It had added that parties which had amassed huge wealth when they were in power at the centre and state are strongly opposing the move. However, the Left parties had harshly hit out at the BJP governments move and organised a protest on November 28. VCK leader Thirumavalavan had announced that his party would take part in the agitations organised by the Left parties.
New Delhi: Congress leader and former union minister Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of India becoming a cashless society would take at least 20 years to achieve.

He said that what has been initiated since November 8 by the Centre is a clear case of "monumental mismanagement".

Seeking to highlight the huge task that lies before the government of the day, Ramesh said that at least1200 crore rupees in Rs.500 currency notes needs to be created to get the country economically back on track.

He said, " To get India back on track, the government needs to create 1200 crore in 500 rupee notes and for this, it will take 250 days. This is a clear case of monumental mismanagement as former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has said, and our present Prime Minister knows that."

He further stated that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is on record as stating that Rs.400 crore in fake currency is in circulation, and warned that Rs 50 to Rs.60 crore is added to this kitty every year.

"It will take between 20 and 100 years for us to be a cashless society. So, what world is the Prime Minister living in?"

"This country will run without cash as long as it can, and according to Mr Modi, this is possible," he added.

"The entire country is shutdown already. So, there is really no need to make a separate announcement of a Bharat Bandh by us (Congress). The only thing that won't be affected by the Bandh is the 'suit-boot'," Ramesh referring indirectly to Prime Minister Modi's sartorial dress sense.

Referring to the call for people to use plastic more often in their transactions, Ramesh said that only two crore people out of 125 crore have this facility, and so, he did not see India becoming a cash less society at least over the next 20 years.

He maintained that the decision to demonetise cannot be laid at the doorstep of the Reserve Bank of India governor, as it was purely a political move and without appropriate preparation.
The disease of encounters, or extra-judicial killings, by members of the police, security or armed forces is at least half a century old, but has now assumed epidemic proportions. In Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, the police have been on the rampage. A report by the National Human Rights Commission of India states that half of the 2,560 police encounters reported between 1993 and 2009 were found to be false. Action was not taken against approximately 85 per cent of the culprits. On October 31, 2016, a barbaric encounter was witnessed in Bhopal, capital of Madhya Pradesh. Incarcerated at the high-security Bhopal Central Jail, eight alleged members of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) were said to have escaped by slitting the head constables throat (allegedly with an eating utensil), and climbing a parapet wall some nine metres high using bedsheets and ropes before climbing two more walls. It is claimed they walked at least six kilometres.

They were standing on a hillock with no escape route when the police surrounded them. Videos that later surfaced showed five of the men waving to the police, apparently trying to signal their intention to surrender. Three days after the encounter, audio clips of the conversations between policemen at the scene emerged that seemingly indicate that they had orders to kill. How did things come to such a pass? Ravi Nair, an internationally respected human rights activist and director of the South Asian Human Rights Documentation Centre in New Delhi, recalls inquiries held 40 years ago and concludes that six factors account for the spread of encounters: the states failure to ensure prompt and fair investigations; its failure to prosecute known culprits; inefficiency and dilatoriness of Indias creaking judicial system; unaccountability to the law of the police, security and armed forces; and indifference bordering on connivance to encounters.

Indias Supreme Court is not blameless. In 2009, the Andhra Pradesh high court held: If a person goes with a gun to kill another, the intended victim is entitled to act in self-defence and if he so acts, there is no right in the former to kill him in order to prevent him from acting in self-defence. It held that, where a police officer causes the death of a person acting or purporting to act in discharge of official duties or in self-defence as the case may be, the first information relating to such circumstance shall be recorded and registered as a first information report (FIR). The Supreme Court promptly stayed this judgment on an appeal from the Andhra Pradesh Police Officers Association and has kept it pending all these years.

In 2014, another bench laid down 16 guidelines to be followed in investigating police encounters resulting in death. The number of encounter cases has gone up from 90,946 in 2008-09 to 105,664 in 2005-16. In a detailed expose in Frontline (November 25, 2016), Divya Trivedi reported: Statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for 2015 show that Muslims constituted a greater share in the prison population than any other segment of people. While their share in Indias population as per Census 2011 was 14.2 per cent, their proportion in the undertrial prison population stood at 20.9 per cent. The percentage of convicted Muslims was 15.8 per cent. The percentage of Muslims among detainees was also high at 23.8 per cent. In fact, they fared as badly as dalits and the tribal people. Together, these three communities constituted 39 per cent of the population but accounted for more than 55 per cent of all undertrials and 50.4 per cent of all convicts.

Encounter cases increased in Gujarat after the pogrom against Muslims in 2002. Harsh Mander, a highly respected activist, filed a petition challenging the discharge of Narendra Modis confidant, Amit Shah, in the famous Sohrabuddin encounter case in Gujarat. An unprecedented number of 32 police officers, including six from the Indian Police Service, were jailed for cold-blooded killings in Gujarat. Predictably, Indian Kashmir tops the list. Encounters staged outside are coupled with custodial killings inside prisons. The clime fosters the crime. Both a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and the former Shiv Sena boss, late Bal Thackeray, approved of encounters. Bollywood reflects social attitudes and, in turn, shapes them. It has lionised police officials who stage encounters. In two films, the hero, an inspector in charge of a police station, killed the villain who was a don. In both cases, he had the support of his colleagues. In both, they lied to the media about the cause of the deaths. The hero is a high-priced star. Small wonder, then, that encounters are not censured. There is no popular censure. People complain of delays in court and incompetence by the police.

By arrangement with Dawn
Donald Trump won the Presidential election on the straightforward and simple slogan to make America great again. His definition of greatness is rooted in nativism, which asserts that the deficiencies of the United States today are attributable to foreign presence and influence. Trumpism is a genie that has been let out of the bottle and cannot be put back. Therefore, it goes without saying that his policies will centre around the theory that the fewer the migrants in the US, the better it will be for the nation.

ALSO READ: Its bumpy ride ahead for Indian students

Such an approach has appealed to a large number of people, particularly the whites, who have felt that the minorities of various kinds have been more privileged than them. Losing jobs to the migrants and outsourcing is a lament, which began to be heard right from the beginning of the economic meltdown and Trump was not the first to promise that outsourcing will be reduced and work permits will be brought down. At the same time, it has been realized that outsourcing is a win-win situation for the US economy and that foreign workers are essential, particularly in the IT industry. A balance has to be struck between the imperatives of local sentiment and the dictates of international cooperation. Several other countries too have toyed with the idea of indigenization, without being able to implement it.

Trump, of course, fanned the flames of xenophobia and anti-migration sentiments by specifically mentioning that Muslims and Hispanics were candidates for deportation and building of walls, even though, as an international businessman, he should have known the need for interdependence of nations and a liberal immigration policy. The initial alarm had already been tempered towards the end of his campaign, as demonstrated by the fact that he was able to win some votes of the minorities in the battle ground states.

The transformation of candidate Trump into President Trump is inevitable and there are signs of thaw in his extreme positions on several issues. From suggestions of massive deportation of various categories of migrants, he has moved to action against illegal migrants and the great wall of Mexico has begun to recede. But, as has been indicated in his agenda for the first hundred days, some action against abuse of visas will be taken and the appointment of Senator Jeff Sessions, who has a strong position on migration as the Attorney General is a confirmation of the emerging policy.

Amidst the chaos of the various and contradictory pronouncements by Trump during the campaign, observers had identified certain strands in his thinking, which might be favourable to India. His strong position on terrorism, his suspicion of Pakistan and his business interests in India were some of these features. He had also participated in an Indian community event, where he declared himself as a fan of Hindus and India. But, on the practical level, there was apprehension that he would restructure or restrict the work authorization visa (H-1B visa) that had benefitted thousands of technically qualified Indians to build their fortunes in the US. As expected, his agenda for the first 100 days has inevitably included a call for a scrutiny of abuses in Americas work visa system, which will have implications for the Indians in the IT sector, present and future.

The H-1B is a non-immigrant visa, which allows U.S. employers to temporarily employ foreigners in specialty occupations. The regulations define a "specialty occupation" as requiring theoretical and practical application of a body of highly specialized knowledge in a field of human endeavor and requiring the attainment of a bachelor's degree or its equivalent as a minimum (with the exception of fashion models, who must be "of distinguished merit and ability"). The foreign worker must also possess state license, if required to practice in that field. H-1B work-authorization is strictly limited to employment by the sponsoring employer.

The H-1B visa was the main instrument of Indian migration to the United States of various categories, ranging from nurses, doctors, engineers and teachers to IT professionals, many of whom have become permanent residents and citizens over the years. Although the declared policy is only to scrutinize abuses, the objective is to find jobs for the unemployed Americans, and the process will inevitably reduce the visas and restrict Indian migration. The silver lining, however is that Trump is a businessman, who will not hurt industries and once he realizes the folly of throwing the baby with the bath water, his eagerness to clear the swamp may assume a more realistic approach. The very acute shortage of skilled labour in the US will not permit an immediate switch to indigenization and it is estimated that it will take a minimum period of seven to nine years to bring about a significant change. The instinct will be to preserve the advantages of the economy rather than to disturb it at this point.

But the fact remains that there will be a period of uncertainty during the review process. Attention will focus on the fact that a majority of temporary work visas, are issued each year by the US to Indian workers, mostly in the information technology and related sectors. In 2015, 64 per cent of the 85,000 H1B visas allowed in the US were issued to Indians, including 84 per cent of visas issued for technology jobs. These include 65,000 visas for foreign nationals based abroad, and 20,000 visas for foreign students in the US. The large issuance of H1B visas to foreign nationals, particularly to one country has repeatedly been criticised by members of both the Republican and Democratic parties. Many of the conditions under which American companies can hire foreign graduates do not need them to first try and hire US nationals, a loophole most criticised by opponents of the H1B programme.

As for abuses of the system, India is not free of accusations. It is alleged that American companies have been circumventing the law by getting Indian companies like Infosys and Tata Consul tancy Services (TCS) to apply for work visas on behalf of Indian workers. Retrenched workers of certain companies had filed federal lawsuits against Infosys and TCS, accusing them of violating the spirit and intent of the H1B programme. But India has diplomatically and through US companies resisted moves to restrict the visas for Indians, pointing out the mutual benefits of the existing system. Tightening of the visa rules will be a matter of concern to India.

Indias dialogue with the Trump Administration is likely to begin with a visit of Prime Minister Modi to Washington during 1917. The agenda will be heavy in the light of the shifting priorities of the US in the Asia Pacific region. But given the fact that both Trump and Modi have the right business instincts, it can be expected that the visa issue will be resolved without delay and that there will not be any unfavorable changes in the existing system. The visa issue may be the first litmus test of Trumps goodwill towards India he professes.

(The writer is a former Ambassador of India and Governor for India of the IAEA)
Winter is here. The days are getting shorter and nights colder. But Christmas cheer pervades along with the illuminations on Oxford Street. And nothing can warm you up as much as shopping. I should say shopping on Black Friday! Thanksgiving is a completely American import, an excuse for shops to get rid of all their unsold stock just before restocking for Christmas. Of course, Black Friday began on the previous Monday. In the past, the shops opened at 5 am to accommodate the long queues. So this year too there were expected to be 14 million shoppers breaking down the doors. But most shoppers stayed online. (India is not the only country turning to the power of plastic).

Just as this revolution happens abroad, it is in the interest of the industry to ensure their customers are connected to the Internet or they will lose them to those who are. John Lewis, for instance, had orders every five seconds between 8 and 8.30 am. Shops stayed open but empty with very few customers turning up. Taking a lesson from worldwide trends, lets not slam demonetisation but try to ensure that those who are outside the world wide web now get connected super fast. The world is turning away from cash, and why not? In any case, Brexit or no, we are determined to have a good time. Of course, in the hurry to grab a bargain, many buy what they dont really need, but who is complaining?

Eventually it will all land up on online stores. However in the evening, a funny thing happened. The lights went out all over the West End and Black Friday became a reality. The iconic advertising board at Piccadilly Circus went blank. Theatres had to cancel shows and pay their customers back. Even traffic lights were out but luckily the Underground did not have a power outage. Restaurants in the shopping districts closed early. This is highly unusual, or so one hopes!

The sorry but also brave story of the 14-year-old girl who had cancer has captured everyones imagination. She convinced her parents to preserve her body cryogenically so that in 200 years when a cure for cancer has been found her body can be unfrozen and she can have a healthy life. It is a daunting experiment. The religious say she should have let her body die and saved her soul for eventual rebirth. But why not try what science can offer? I had first encountered cryogenics when I was writing my book on surrogacy, as surrogate mothers are often impregnated with embryos that have been preserved in liquid nitrogen. That too is a largely unregulated industry as is cryogenics. Perhaps it is time to regulate and ensure that proper procedures are followed as according to the reports the girls mother was upset with the way it was done.

Buckingham Palace is Falling Down, my Fair Lady. Not quite. But it will need extensive repairs and restoration. It will cost 455 million. The government has said it would pay. It derives its income from the Crown Estate while the Queen gets to keep a portion herself as her privy purse. There is the usual outcry that the royal family should pay for their palace. But few understand that the Crown Estate has been given over to the government in return for an arrangement whereby the royal family gets an annual settlement. The repair of Buckingham Palace is not the Queens responsibility. But there will always be people who do not want to hear the logical argument. So this will run and run.

Sadly we have had to relive the murder of Jo Cox MP. Her killer just received a life sentence. The murder was shocking enough as she was a popular and conscientious MP who was going to spend that day in her constituency sorting out problems. The killer shot and knifed her. It turns out that he collected Nazi memorabilia and had racist posters in his home. Even so, he had such a sad life that Brendan Cox, Jos husband, said: We feel nothing but pity for him; that his life was so devoid of love that his only way of finding meaning was to attack a defenceless woman who represented the best of our country in an act of supreme cowardice.

There has been much amusement at US President-elect Donald Trumps suggestion that Nigel Farage be made UK ambassador to the US. Mr Farage was supporting Mr Trump even before the election and was among the first few from the UK to meet him. The government is apparently appalled by the idea and ruled it out. Mr Farage has laughed it off as he just celebrated the Brexit victory as well as Mr Trumps election at the Royal Cafe. He has even been presented a large gold plate of Ferrero Rocher, the chocolate of choice. He said he will migrate to the US as soon as his term as a member of European Parliament ends. I dont hear anyone complaining about that!
Brig. Gurmeet Kanwal (Retd), who has commanded an infantry brigade in the Gurez sector on the Line of Control in Kashmir and an artillery regiment in counter-insurgency operations, says that Indias actions against Pakistan have been carefully calculated to avoid escalation. In an interview to Sanjib Kr Baruah. Brig. Kanwal talks about the latest developments in the vexed India-Pakistan relationship.

Indo-Pak hostilities have spiralled in recent days. What is your assessment of the current scenario? Where are we headed?

The India-Pakistan relationship has touched a new low. Unless Pakistans deep state  the Army and ISI  stops sponsoring terrorism into India and Afghanistan, we may be headed for a short, sharp conflict.

It is said that cross-border raids between the armies of the two countries were fairly common in the pre-2003 days. How correct is it?

This is factually incorrect. On the Indian side there were clear orders to refrain from crossing the LoC, except in retaliation for the barbaric actions of Pakistans rogue army. Such trans-LoC raids were few and far between.

There is a school of thought that India should try to strengthen Pakistans counter-terror mechanism rather than taking Pakistan head on. What are the problems in doing this?

It is for Pakistan to fight the demons within. However, it is in Indias interest that they succeed or else creeping Talibanisation will soon reach our western border. It is in Pakistans interest to keep its eastern front with India quiet. If the Pakistan Army chooses to escalate against India, we have no option but to dominate the LoC to prevent infiltration.

Are the two countries following a conscious policy of brinkmanship? Keeping the nuclear capability in mind, what determines Indias and Pakistans thresholds?

It is only after maintaining restraint over two and a half decades of Pakistans proxy war that India has retaliated proactively. Indias actions have been taken in self-defence and have been carefully calculated to avoid escalation.

In a departure from the past, the Pakistan military establishment has taken to accepting casualties. The names and pictures of the dead Pakistani soldiers are made public by taking recourse to social media. What to your mind is the reason behind this latest change in strategy?

Given the mega-media age that we live in, including the all-pervasive social media, casualties can no longer be kept under wraps. The Pakistan Army now finds it beneficial to own up its casualties and gain popular support.

With as many as 200 ceasefire violations in less than two months, does the 2003 ceasefire agreement hold any significance?

It was an informally agreed ceasefire that had been observed in spirit for almost a decade. Now it is as good as dead and buried.

Pakistan is said to possess India-specific tactical nuclear weapons (TNWs). What is the way to counter it?

Pakistan claims that it will employ its Hatf-9 60 km missile, claimed to be capped with a TNW, to stop the Indian forces advancing into Pakistani territory. Indias nuclear doctrine is premised on massive retaliation to the first use of nuclear weapons against India. If Pakistan uses TNWs against Indian forces and India retaliates with a massive nuclear strike, Pakistan would cease to exist as a coherent nation-state. Presumably, that would be unacceptable to the generals in-charge of Pakistans nuclear arsenal. Hence, the use of TNWs is a bluff that can be called.

A recent report by Hans M. Kristensen, the director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, has claimed that Pakistan is secretly changing its nuclear deterrence stance from a limited one to a full-spectrum nuclear deterrence posture. What are the implications for India?

Pakistan has been in the process of graduating to what their analysts have termed full spectrum deterrence for many years now. They are attempting to acquire every type of warhead and delivery system that has ever been invented. Deterrence is not a numbers game. Hence, Indias nuclear deterrence is not affected by Pakistans quest for full spectrum deterrence.

ISIS and Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent elements in Pakistan have declared their intention to acquire Pakistans nuclear arsenal. How valid is this fear?

As long as the Pakistan Army is in control of Pakistans nuclear warheads and their delivery systems, there is negligible danger of these falling into the hands of ISIS elements or other jihadi groups. Nuclear warhead storage sites have three rings of security. The personnel nominated for guard duties are carefully selected and a constant watch is kept over them. However, if there is a Colonels coup from within the Army by officers with leanings towards radical extremism, then the jihadis will gain control over the full nuclear arsenal. Such a development will be dangerous, but it has a low probability of occurrence.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is currently facing a strange kind of charge, hilarious in nature, which may rather yield dividends for him, at least politically. Mr Chouhan, known as a compulsive orator for his unique skill in holding his audiences under a spell with his uninterrupted but animated speeches, has left his officials amused when he took a leaf from Prime Minister Narendra Modis famous one-liner Na khaunga, na khane dunga (Neither will I indulge in corruption, nor allow others to resort to), to exhort them to pull up their shocks to deliver while reviewing implementation of various welfare schemes in the state through a video-conference with the district-level officers in Bhopal on November 24.

In an apparent call to the state government officers to shed their laidback attitude and improve work culture, the chief minister hinted that he would move around the state to review progress of all schemes, small or big. Na main baithunga, na kissi ko baithne dunga (Neither will I rest, nor permit others to relax), he quipped, prompting the officers participating in the conference to take note of the analogy. The one-liner has created a buzz in political circles in the state, bringing his both admirers and adversaries on the same page to hurl charges of plagiarising the PMs script in this regard, against him. It is difficult to say if the terminology was coined by him as a show of loyalty for the PM, but there is no dispute to the fact that he plagiarised the PMs script, a senior ruling BJP leader here quipped. Of course, the charge of plagiarism levelled against him may, ultimately, turn out to be rewarding, at least politically, for him, he added.

Heart specialist Shah

BJP president Amit Shah knows it quite well how to strike a chord with the heterogeneous crowd gathered at a public rally. After snubbing Odisha chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik in no uncertain terms in the partys Jana Jagaran Samavesh on Friday in Bhubaneswar to assuage the angry feeling of hardcore party activists, he tried to touch the hearts of the youths. Mr Shah said Mr Patnaik does not understand the heart of youths and hence he has done little in his 17 years of rule to provide them jobs in their home state, as a result of which they are going to cities like Surat, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

Im deeply saddened that the young men of Odisha are migrating to cities like Surat, Mumbai and Hyderabad to earn their livelihood, leaving behind their old parents and wives. I understand what could be going on in the minds of these young men and women who are forced to remain separated from each for months only for the sake of survival. Mr Patnaik has failed to understand this hard reality for which he has done little to provide jobs to youths here, he said with a mischievous smile as the cloud cheered in applause. Mission accomplished, the BJP president then switched over to regular exercise: Bashing Rahul Baba (Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi).
Forty-seven years ago, Man made the giant leap. The three return tickets for astronauts Lt Col Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin cost the American taxpayer a reported $25 billion. In todays money, that would be roughly around $100 billion  a budget today thats reserved for war machines. But fortunately for our species, inter-planetary travel has become cheaper, faster and more purposeful. Which is why, in 2017, a private company has secured permission to become the first-ever such firm to travel to the Moon. Moon Express, manned by a few engineers and over 20 entrepreneurs, will take off towards the Earths satellite sometime in the middle of next year. In every sense of the word, this privately-funded corporation will become the fourth superpower on the planet to deploy a mission of this magnitude... following in the footsteps of the United States, the former Soviet Union and China. Moon Express will ride a purchased rocket, land on lunar soil and thanks to recent regulations, will be able to keep what they mine. And the lunar surface is primed for drilling.

Naveen Jain, co-founder of Moon Express, tells Deccan Chronicle that this is just the start. There are so many applications to this mission. When Steve Jobs and Apple created the iPhone, they didnt really predict the device would be responsible for so many of these apps we see today. We just dont know, what the Angry Birds of the space industry is yet. According to Jain, the Moon business will create several hundred streams of business  from creating new energy resources to disrupting the diamond industry back on terra. Were talking quadrillions here.

On the Moon is enough Helium-3 to solve Earths energy crisis. Bringing back Moon rock will make it even rarer than diamonds and that means it will have the potential to disrupt the gems industry here. Lovers once asked for the Moon and well, youll have it soon. Like I said, this is just the start. On Earth were running out of space but when you look up, all you see is real estate. We were always meant to be a multi-planetary society and these are the early days of something phenomenal.

Top on the list for Moon Express is the setting up of a permanent Moon outpose  a giant lunar port thatll allow us to refuel spacecrafts, and continue. Ninety-three per cent of a rockets weight is fuel. Now if you were to set up a refuelling station on the Moon, we could have an increased payload and an ability to prepare for a longer trip into Deep Space. However, the best part is how the distance between the Earth and the Moon has shrunk. Key to this is the EM Drive propulsion tech thats being prepared by Nasa. Its an engine that can provide thrust in the vacuum of Space and once operational, it will cover the 3,84,400 kilometres separating us from a lunar landing spot in four hours. It will reach Mars in 70 days and Pluto will be just 18 months away.

The cost of going to the Moon has already come down to single-digit millions and will continue to come down very significantly over the years to thousands of dollars which will be same as airfare from Los Angeles to Sydney. The EM drive will make the journey faster than a trip from San Francisco to New York City. Our future galactic net will provide seamless communication between Earth and the moon which will be no different than communicating from New Delhi to Washington D.C.

And Moon Express is confident they are on the brink of the brave new age.

Landing on the moon is symbolic of whats possible. It shows that entrepreneurs are now capable of doing things that have only been done by superpowers before. It proves that the next set of entrepreneurs are likely to do things that used to be the domain of nation states. We are living in the most innovative decade of human history and convergence of exponential technologies will soon change the trajectory of how humanity lives in the future. We will have abundance of energy, abundance of fresh water, food and abundance of land that will bring world peace and unleash the creativity of humans on the next set of problems. More importantly, basic needs will be free for everyone, adds Jain.

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In a statement Sunday, the Turkish General Staff said Syrian opposition fighters had been exposed to chemical gas during a Daesh missile attack, Anadolu reported.

The General Staff said 22 fighters -- who combat Daesh in alliance with Turkish forces within the scope of Operation Euphrates Shield -- were observed showing symptoms of chemical gas exposure in northern Syrias Khalidiyah region.

The Turkish military also said a clash with Daesh terrorists had left one opposition fighter dead and 14 others injured.

Meanwhile, Turkish warplanes destroyed four Daesh targets in the Anifah neighborhood near al-Bab, also in Syria's north.

Operation Euphrates Shield was launched by Turkey in late August to rid the northern Syrian border area of terrorists.
It was once the home of Britain's codebreakers during World War Two. Now more than 70 years later, Bletchley Park is preparing to host the UK's first national college of cyber education, with a first intake of students starting in September 2018.

Work is under way to revamp several derelict buildings on the site where mathematician Alan Turing cracked Nazi Germany's "unbreakable" Enigma code.

The new school for 16- to 18-year-olds, which will sit beside the historical attraction and the National Museum of Computing, will take 100 students in its first year. Forty percent of their curriculum will consist of cyber studies.

The plan for the school, which will be part publicly and part privately funded, was unveiled by Qufaro, which calls itself a not-for-profit body formed by cyber security experts, as part of an initiative to establish a UK national cyber security hub.

"Bletchley Park we felt was a natural home for a cyber security college because it's building on the innovation and the work that took place in the Second World War, bringing it up to date and making it relevant again," said Tim Reynolds, deputy chairman of the National Museum of Computing and a director of Qufaro.

Selection for places will be through talent spotting and an entrance exam. Qufaro expects 90 percent of students to board at the school.

"What we are looking to do is to wrap around all of the expertise that currently exists along with the educational support that they are going to need, to ensure that they're either industry ready or university ready," Reynolds said.

"This will be a one-stop-shop where the outcome, or output in terms of students, will be ready for whatever path they choose to take."

While Bletchley Park attracts visitors, some of its buildings are in need of work, with smashed windows and peeling paint.

Among those who have helped save it from disrepair is Margaret Sale, whose late husband Tony led the rebuilding of a replica of Colossus, the world's first electronic computer, used to decipher codes sent from the Lorenz Cipher, a machine used by the Nazis.

The 84-year-old, who still volunteers at the National Museum of Computing, hopes the new college will help preserve the Bletchley Park legacy.

Asked about the difference between the site's codebreaking past and the college's future work, she said: "It will have a different feel because the world is so different. Now we know what is in people's speeches before they even sometimes know it themselves."

"So much has changed ... But basically it's still the same thing. It's making sure that you are one step in advance of your enemies."

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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for companies, bureaucrats and the political class to work more closely together so Japan can win in robotics, batteries, renewable energy and other new and growing markets. (Photo:PTI)

Japan plans to build the world's fastest-known supercomputer in a bid to arm the country's manufacturers with a platform for research that could help them develop and improve driverless cars, robotics and medical diagnostics.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will spend 19.5 billion yen ($173 million) on the previously unreported project, a budget breakdown shows, as part of a government policy to get back Japan's mojo in the world of technology. The country has lost its edge in many electronic fields amid intensifying competition from South Korea and China, home to the world's current best-performing machine.

In a move that is expected to vault Japan to the top of the supercomputing heap, its engineers will be tasked with building a machine that can make 130 quadrillion calculations per second - or 130 petaflops in scientific parlance - as early as next year, sources involved in the project told Reuters.

At that speed, Japan's computer would be ahead of China's Sunway Taihulight that is capable of 93 petaflops.

"As far as we know, there is nothing out there that is as fast," said Satoshi Sekiguchi, a director general at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, where the computer will be built.

The push to return to the vanguard comes at a time of growing nostalgia for the heyday of Japan's technological prowess, which has dwindled since China overtook it as the world's second-biggest economy.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called for companies, bureaucrats and the political class to work more closely together so Japan can win in robotics, batteries, renewable energy and other new and growing markets.

DEEP LEARNING

In the area of supercomputing, Japan's aim is to use ultra-fast calculations to accelerate advances in artificial intelligence (AI), such as "deep learning" technology that works off algorithms which mimic the human brain's neural pathways, to help computers perform new tasks and analyze scores of data.

Recent achievements in this area have come from Google's DeepMind AI program, AlphaGo, which in March beat South Korean professional Lee Seedol in the ancient board game of Go.

Applications include helping companies improve driverless vehicles by allowing them to analyze huge troves of visual traffic data, or it could help factories improve automation.

China uses the Sunway Taihulight for weather forecasting, pharmaceutical research, industrial design, among other things.

Japan's new supercomputer could help tap medical records to develop new services and applications, Sekiguchi said.

The supercomputer will be made available for a fee to Japan's corporations, who now outsource data crunching to foreign firms such as Google and Microsoft, Sekiguchi and others involved in the project said.

The new computer has been dubbed ABCI, an acronym for AI Bridging Cloud Infrastructure. Bidding for the project has begun and will close on Dec. 8.

Fujitsu Ltd, the builder of the fastest Japanese supercomputer to date - the Oakforest-PACS, capable of 13.6 petaflops, declined to say if it would bid for the project.

The company has, however, said it is keen to be involved in supercomputer development.

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Sharp drops in smartphone sales for China's Xiaomi Inc will not have a major impact on the company as profit growth will be driven by sales from smart home devices.

Sharp drops in smartphone sales for China's Xiaomi Inc will not have a major impact on the company as profit growth will be driven by sales from smart home devices as well as revenue from its software eco-system, a senior executive said.

Xiaomi was valued at $46 billion in its last fund-raising in 2014 - making it briefly the world's most valuable start-up at a time when it was China's best-selling smartphone maker and looked set to make a splash worldwide.

But last year it missed its global smartphone targets by 12 percent, while its third-quarter China smartphone sales have tumbled 45 percent, according to research firm IDC - raising doubts that the valuation is still warranted.

Xiaomi's global vice-president Hugo Barra said the company's business model was not based on money made from handset sales per se and that it did not need to raise more funds or see any point in doing so at a valuation of less than $46 billion.

"Basically we're giving [handsets] to you without making any money we care about the recurring revenue streams over many years," he told Reuters in an interview.

"We could sell 10 billion smartphones and we wouldn't make a single dime in profits," he added.

Xiaomi, which discloses little of its profit and revenue figures, has increasingly emphasized its range of home appliances such as air and water purifiers, and rice cookers as key earnings drivers.

In April, Xiaomi Vice President Liu De said the firm expects sales of smart home devices to double to 10 billion yuan ($1.5 billion) this year.

The company has invested heavily in India and Southeast Asia and is making its first forays into the U.S. market - launching next month its first device capable of roaming on the country's 4G networks.

Barra said they are first targeting Chinese users traveling in the U.S., but are laying the groundwork for direct sales to U.S. consumers.

In January, Xiaomi will also make its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, launching a new product during the event, he said.

Xiaomi's tentative first steps in the U.S. smartphone market come as cash-strapped rival LeEco faces a crippling shortage of funds, which were revealed in a public letter by CEO Jia Yueting months after the company launched its first flagship phones in the United States.

"There's no pressing need to do an IPO or even a private round," said Barra brushing off concerns that Xiaomi could face a similar funding shortage. "We are not a flash in someone's PR pan."

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At least 55 people have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia linked to a tribal king. (Photo: AP/File)

Kampala: At least 55 people have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia linked to a tribal king, police said Sunday.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said 14 police officers and 41 militants had died in the clashes in the town of Kasese on Saturday, when fighters linked to the royal guard of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces.

"Yesterday a joint Uganda police and UPDF (army) operation, patrolling in Kasese town... came under attack by royal guards of the kingdom. The attackers threw an improvised grenade which exploded and injured one soldier. Security forces reacted and shot in self-defence, killing four attackers," said Kaweesi.

"That incident set of an explosion in all local sub-counties."

Fighting continued all day and was still underway on Sunday, with the King Charles Wesley Mumbere holed up in his palace as heavy gunfire sounded outside, according to his spokesman.

Kaweesi said the attackers -- not all of whom were royal guards -- had guns, spears and improvised explosive devices.

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its members are mainly the Bakonzo people -- also found in both countries.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo declared their own kingdom in 1962.

The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009.

However unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict, as many in the region still feel marginalised by authorities in distant Kampala.

Some in Uganda, with the support of their fellow Bakonzo in the DR Congo, have taken up arms and are agitating for the creation of the Yiira Republic which would cover territory in Uganda and part of North Kivu in the DR Congo.

Royal guards ordered to disband

Mumbere has distanced himself from the cause, however the authorities accuse his royal guards of training in the mountains alongside separatist militia forces to attack government installations.

"The situation is volatile. Several of our guards have been killed after the government gave an order to disband the royal guards immediately which is not easy," Rwenzururu kingdom spokesman, Clarence Bwambale, told AFP from the palace where he and the king were holed up, as heavy shooting echoed in the background.

"The king spoke to the president (Museveni) this morning and he gave him two hours to disband the royal guards which is impossible. Now the army and police have raided the palace and attacked the royal guards" he said, with a large explosion heard in the background.

"We have told the government the kingdom is not involved in the creation of Yiira republic which wants to break away (from Uganda) and that the royal guards are not involved," he said.

Earlier this year Museveni ruled out any form of secession in the Rwenzori region.

He told the Daily Monitor newspaper: "I want to state categorically that Uganda will not lose even a piece of her land to the creation of the so-called Yiira republic.
Police have opened an investigation and are treating it as a 'hate-motivated incident'. (Representational photo: AP)

Los Angeles: A civil rights group has called for more police protection of mosques after several in California received letters that praised President-elect Donald Trump and threatened Muslim genocide.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, said the same handwritten, photocopied letter was sent last week to the Islamic Center of Long Beach, the Islamic Center of Claremont and the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

The letter was addressed to "the children of Satan" and it was signed by "American for A Better Way." The LA area mosques received it Wednesday and the San Jose mosque on Thursday.

"There's a new sheriff in town -- President Donald Trump. He's going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims," the letter states, according to CAIR. "And, he's going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews (sic)."

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA, said people at the LA County mosques were disheartened by the hateful letters and added that the "irresponsible, hateful rhetoric" of the Trump campaign has fueled "a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters."

"I'm not saying (Trump) created racist people," he said.

"He normalised it. While he might say he's not responsible, and I respect that, I remind President-elect Trump that he has a responsibility to act as a president for all Americans."

San Jose Police Department spokesman Sgt Enrique Garcia said police have opened an investigation and are treating it as a "hate-motivated incident."
Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr says President elect-Donald Trump offered him the job of education secretary. (Photo: AP)

Richmond: Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr says President elect-Donald Trump offered him the job of education secretary, but that he turned it down for personal reasons.

Falwell tells The Associated Press that Trump offered him the job last week during a meeting in New York. He says Trump wanted a four-to six-year commitment, but that he couldn't leave Liberty for more than two years.

Falwell says he couldn't afford to work at a Cabinet-level job for longer than that and didn't want to move his family, especially his 16-year-old daughter.

Trump announced Wednesday he had selected charter school advocate Betsy DeVos for the job. Falwell says he thinks DeVos is an "excellent choice."

Trump spoke at the Christian university in Lynchburg, Virginia, in January and Falwell later endorsed him.
Washington: US president-elect Donald Trump has termed the Green party-initiated move to recount votes in the state of Wisconsin as a "scam", asserting that "the people have spoken and the election is over."

The push to recount the votes was spearheaded by Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein, who is also seeking recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Trump won unexpected and narrow victories against Hillary Clinton in the November 8 presidential elections in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with Michigan still too close to call.

The billionaire from New York, who continually claimed that the election was "rigged" before his victory, insisted in a statement that the results should be "respected, instead of being challenged and abused".

The president-elect alleged it was a way for Stein  who has raised USD 5.9 million toward a USD 7 million target for the recount push -- to "fill her coffers with money".

"The people have spoken and the election is over, as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night in addition to her conceding," Trump said, a day after the Green Party candidate moved a petition for the recounting of votes in Wisconsin which was accepted by the State Election Commission.

Yesterday morning, the Hillary Clinton Campaign said that it is joining the Green Party in the recounting move. It said it will also support the recounting of votes in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Trump said: "This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing."

While Trump has convincingly won the electoral college votes, the counting of votes has indicated that Clinton leads by more than two million popular votes.

"This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount. All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes," said the US president-elect.

The Green Party meanwhile dismissed Trump's allegations that it will not use the money raised for the purpose recounting of votes.

"For his information, this is all going into a dedicated and segregated account so that it can only be spent on the recount," Stein told CNN in an interview.

"He may be creating his own facts here as he's been known to do some times in the past. He himself said it was a rigged election unless he won it," she said.
A mother in the US has been accused of injecting fecal matter into her 15-year-old son's intravenous bag. (Photo: Pixabay/Representational)

Chicago : In a shocking incident, a mother in the US has been accused of injecting fecal matter into her 15-year-old son's intravenous bag and endangering his life while he was undergoing cancer treatments at a hospital.

Tiffany Alberts, 41, of Wolcott, Indiana, used a syringe to inject feces into her son's IV bag on several occasions between November 13 and 17, knowingly placing him "in a situation that endangered the dependent's life or health", according to Marion Superior Court documents.

The mother claimed her actions were meant to get her son moved from the ICU of the Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis to another unit, where she believed "the treatment was better", CNN reported.

Alberts' son had been receiving treatment for Leukemia since early August 2016 at the hospital, a Marion County police affidavit said.

He was released and returned to the hospital a few days later, in early September 2016, with a fever, vomiting and diarrhea, according to the report.

Blood tests of the boy showed organisms that are normally found in feces caused an infection, which an extensive medical evaluation could not explain.

Suspecting someone may be contaminating the patient's IV lines, hospital staff began monitoring the teenager's room with video surveillance, and observed the mother injecting a substance into his central line.

Alberts was brought to the Child Abuse Office for questioning, at first stating she was injecting water to "flush it as the medicine that was given to him burned."

She later admitted to injecting her son's own fecal matter, which she kept in a gift bag on the bathroom sink of his room, since November 13.

Alberts was charged with six counts of aggravated battery and one count of neglect of a dependent, resulting in serious bodily injury.

Dr. Veda Ackerman, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at IU School of Medicine who is treating the boy, said her greatest concern is missing the best window to keep the boy's leukaemia in remission.

The doctor added he "could have died from any of the episodes of septic shock and may well from his leukemia due to the prolonged delay in therapy."
Flowers, candles and a Cuban cigar are displayed in memory of Cuban President Fidel Castro, who died on Friday. (Photo: AP)

Havana: The death of El Comandante has added to worries among Cubans that U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump will slam the door shut on nascent trade and travel ties, undoing two years of detente between the estranged neighbors.

A brutal dictator of a totalitarian island, declared President-elect Donald Trump, underscoring the historical trauma still separating the countries.

Trump has struck a very different tone from Obama, who reached an agreement two years ago with Castros younger brother President Raul Castro to end half a century of hostilities.

Late in his election campaign, Trump sought to reassure the Cuban-American vote in Florida that he was firm in his opposition to the Castros, and pledged that, if elected, he would close down the newly re-opened U.S. embassy in Havana.

Many Cubans reckon they could do with their late leaders charisma and way with words to counter Trumps bombast. With him gone, I am a little fearful of what could happen because of Trumps way of thinking and acting, said Yaneisi Lara, a 36-year-old Havana street vendor.

He could block everything Obama has done, and he did a lot, managing to get the United States. closer to Cuba, Lara was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Islamabad: Pakistan has suspended the import of cotton and other agriculture commodities, including vegetables, from India due to rising tensions between the two countries along the LoC, a media report here said.

Officials of Department of Plant Protection (DPP) said that import of agri items from India through the Wagah border crossing and Karachi port and issuing permits for future imports has been halted, the Dawn reported.

Cotton importers and customs clearing agents claimed that the department had stopped the import of agriculture commodities from India without a warning or written order because of increase in tensions across the LoC.

Imran Shami, chief of DPP which is a subordinate department of the national food security and research ministry, however sought to dispel the impression.

"We have stopped import of tomatoes and other fresh vegetables in order to protect our farmers. We have enough tomato and other vegetables stocks, which we import from India only in case of shortages in the domestic market," he said.

The reason behind the "suspension" of cotton imports from India was, nevertheless, different, he said.

"No. We have not stopped cotton imports from India. It has just been halted over reports that the Indian exporters are not meeting our bio-security conditions. We're looking into these reports and will lift restriction on cotton imports if our apprehensions are proved wrong," Shami said.

He said only those cotton consignments would be allowed to enter Pakistan through surface or sea routes where importers had already secured permits from his department and carried phyto-sanitary certificates.

"Our cotton consignments are not being allowed to enter Pakistan through Wagah and Karachi for reasons known to the ministry but cheaper, subsidised Indian yarn is being brought in without any let or hindrance. At least 11 trucks of Indian yarn entered Pakistan on Thursday when the department stopped cotton consignments from coming to this side of the border," a textile factory owner told Dawn.

He said the suspension of cotton import from India would create a huge problem for the textile exporters as the truncated domestic crop target of 11.25 million bales for this year appeared difficult if not impossible to meet.

"The industry requires 14 million bales. We will still be short by three million bales of cotton even if the crop target is achieved," he said.

He said cotton shortages after the ban on Indian imports would make domestic prices shoot up at the expense of exports.

Pakistan had imported 2.7 million bales of cotton (1 bale is 170 kgs) - about 40 per cent of India's total cotton exports in 2015-16 - due to crop failure that wiped off 0.5 per cent of GDP growth. The industry is expecting to import 2 million bales this year.
The death toll from Australias thunderstorm asthma episode has risen to six and three others are in critical condition, authorities said Sunday, as they assessed the fallout from the unprecedented event, Reuters reported.

Four victims  ranging from the ages of 18 to 35  were last week linked to the unusual weather phenomenon, where a thunderstorm coincided with a high pollen count and sent more than 8,500 patients to hospital emergency departments.

The rare event in Australias southern state of Victoria triggered respiratory problems for asthma and hay fever sufferers.

There have now been six deaths that may have occurred as a result of conditions relating to the thunderstorm asthma events on Monday, Victorias health department spokesman said in a statement.
Twenty-two people, including 17 foreigners, were killed in the brutal late-night attack at the Holey Artisan Bakery. (Photo: PTI/File)

Dhaka: A Bangladeshi court on Sunday charged the chief of a militant group involved in the July 1 attack on a Dhaka cafe which killed 22 people, including an Indian girl, for plotting against the country's sovereignty.

"Ansarullah Bangla Team's (ABT) chief Jasimuddin Rahmani and nine others were indicted while four of them appeared on the dock. Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Kamrul Hossain Mollah fixed January 4 for the start of the trial hearing," prosecutor Tapas Kumar Paul told reporters.

He said the rest of the accused were on the run and will be tried in absentia.

Paul said the indictment came two years after the case was filed following Rahmani's arrest and attributed the delay to the producers required to obtain the government clearance needed to try someone under the anti-terrorism law.

Rahmani is said to be the ABT's so-called spiritual guru who was accused of inciting terrorism through his sermons.

Earlier this month, police reconfirmed as ABT's operational head a renegade army major, who is on the run with a bounty on head.

They said sacked major Syed Ziaul Haque was the key-mastermind of a series of murders of secular writers and bloggers in the country.

Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan said last month the police had found out the whereabouts of Zia and he could be tracked down anytime.

Police on August 8 this year announced the bounty saying anyone who could provide information leading to Zia's arrest would be rewarded with a cash amount of Taka 20 lakh (USD 25,250).

ABT, said to be ideologically inclined to al-Qaeda, is one of the two still vibrant militant outfits with neo-Jamaatul Muhahideen Bangladesh (neo-JMB) being the other which carried out the July 1 attack on a Dhaka cafe, killing 22 people, including 17 foreigners and an Indian girl.

Neo-JMB is the said to be the linked to ISIS.
Hillary Clinton's election campaign said today it would join in a recount of votes in the state of Wisconsin although it has not seen any irregularities so far in the White House contest won by Donald Trump.





Marc Erik Elias, an election lawyer for the Democratic candidate, said in a post on Medium.com that the campaign would also participate in recounts in the also closely contested states of Michigan and Pennsylvania if they are arranged.



Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by just over 100,000 votes. The razor-thin victories in those states pushed him above the 270 votes needed for victory in the Electoral College.



Green Party candidate Jill Stein has requested a recount in Wisconsin and has announced her intention to also seek recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.



"Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves," said Elias, the Clinton lawyer.



"But now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides," he added.



"If Jill Stein follows through as she has promised and pursues recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, we will take the same approach in those states as well," Elias said.



Although experts say there is virtually no chance of overturning the final result, the recounts could reignite debate over the legitimacy of Trump's election, already fueled by Clinton's lead in the popular vote, which now stands at more than two million.



She lost by a margin of around 20,000 votes in Wisconsin, 70,000 votes in Pennsylvania and 10,000 votes in Michigan.




Punjab government sacked two senior prison officials, Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent, suspended ADGP (Jails) and formed an SIT to probe the jail break. It ordered a separate inquiry committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to look into the "security lapses".



"There are two aspects. One is that the jailbreak will be probed and the second thing is lapses. Who is responsible, if there is any connivance?" the DGP said. Those who escaped from the high-security prison included hardcore Khalistani militant Mintoo, who was arrested by Punjab police in November 2014 after he was deported from Thailand and was wanted in 10 terror cases.



Meanwhile, a woman, who was in an SHO's vehicle, died after being hit by a bullet when the police opened fire at her vehicle after it jumped a barrier about 20 km away from the prison. The incident occurred at a 'naka' on Patiala-Gulha Cheeka road, police said. After the jailbreak, security agencies in northern states were sent into high alert and Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. He sought an immediate report on the incident, besides directing the state to step up security in jails.



National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal who apprised him of the details of the incident and steps being taken to apprehend the six absconders. Sukhbir said Pakistan could be behind the incident as it was desperate to revive terrorism in the state post-surgical strike across LoC and vowed that the "conspiracy" will be unravelled soon.



The others who fled were gangster Vicky Gaundar, Amandeep Dhotian, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol and Kashmira Singh, who is also a terrorist. The DGP said that the prisoners had fled towards Haryana. Punjab government has announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for any person who provides information leading to the arrest of the under-trial prisoners.



With Punjab going to polls early next year, the opposition Congress said the incident exposed the "complete breakdown of law and order" in the state and triggered fears of revival of terrorism ahead of Assembly elections.



Montoo was arrested in 10 cases including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force Station in 2010. A high alert has been sounded in Punjab and Haryana after the incident with security around railway stations, airports, inter-state bus terminuses and other places of key importance stepped up.



The CM held a meeting with top brass including State Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal following the incident. A manhunt has been launched to trace the prisoners who escaped, Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, said and added that a special task force has been formed to track them.



The Deputy CM said a special investigation team under an ADGP rank officer has also been constituted which shall look into lapses as well as any conspiracy theories surrounding the jail break incident. "Special Investigation team has been asked to submit report within three days in this regard," he said. The Home Secretary has also been asked to submit a report.



"Home Secretary will give me a report on wherever any lapse has taken place. Whosoever will be found responsible in this incident, strict action will be taken against him," he said. Prabodh Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Internal Vigilance Cell shall head the SIT comprising Paramraj Singh, IGP/Patiala Zone, Ishwar Singh, IGP, Nilabh Kishore, IGP/Counter Intelligence, Amar Singh Chahal, DIG/Patiala Range and Gurmeet Chouhan, SSP/Patiala.



He said the red alert has been issued throughout the state and security at all jails has been furthered tightened. However, Deputy CM said that there was no need to worry adding, "they (prisoners) will not be allowed to run away. Police is after them. We will catch them soon." Sukhbir had rushed to Nabha jail after the incident, an official spokesman said.



ADGP (Jails) M K Tiwari has been placed under suspension, the spokesman said adding that the government has dismissed both the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of High Security Nabha Jail with immediate effect. Meanwhile, ADGP (Railways) Rohit Chaudhary has been posted as new ADGP (Jails) and S Bhupati, an IPS officer has been appointed as the Superintendent of Nabha High Security Jail.



Sukhbir also summoned jail minister Sohan Singh Thandale, officials said. The jailbreak incident triggered sharp reactions from the opposition with Punjab Congress President Capt Amarinder Singh alleging connivance of the Badal government in the "brazen daylight" jailbreak.



The "shocking manner" in which the gangsters walked into the high-security jail and freed a dreaded Khalistani terrorist along with other convicts clearly shows complicity at the highest levels, he told reporters during the second day of the his road show in Sangrur. Amarinder said the law and order situation in the state had "deteriorated to unprecedented levels" under the Badal regime, especially in the run-up to the Assembly polls.



Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal demanded the resignation of Sukhbir. "Punjab Home minister shud immediately resign taking responsibility of jail break and killing of innocent girl by Punjab police," Kejriwal said in his tweet.



In a sensational jailbreak, chief of Khalistan Liberation Front militant outfit Harminder Mintoo today escaped along with five other prisoners after armed men in police uniform stormed the high-security Nabha prison here, exposing "lapses" and raising doubts of possible collusion of insiders, with the Centre seeking an immediate report.Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said that "the unidentified assailants came in police fatigues and were carrying small firearms." He said that they told police personnel deployed on jail premises that they were bringing a prisoner. "Later, they fired indiscriminately and fled with six criminals, including a terrorist," he said, adding over 35 rounds were fire and there was no casualty among the jail personnel, who were allegedly taken offguard and did not offer any strong resistance."The firing was also done from inside the jail. We will see why the firing was not effective," the DGP said and added there is a "conspiracy somewhere". "Had there been effective firing, it would have been the other way round," he said.
Hardening their position against Tata Sons, ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry and independent director Nusli Wadia, who has been backing him, will contest the proposal to remove them from the board of Tata Motors by making separate representation to "members of the company".



In a regulatory filing, Tata Motors said it has called extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on December 22 to consider resolutions moved by their holding company, Tata Sons, seeking removal of Mistry and Wadia.



Tata Motors said Mistry and Wadia "intend to provide a separate representation to be sent to the members of the company".



Yesterday, in a regulatory filing, Tata Steel and Tata Chemicals said Cyrus Mistry and Nusli Wadia intend to make representation to shareholders in respect of their removal.

Tata Sons holds 26.51 per cent stake in Tata Motors.



Mistry, who was on October 24 abruptly removed as chairman of Tata Sons, the holding company of the USD 103-billion salt-to-software conglomerate, was voted out as chairman of Tata Steel on November 25.



Despite being removed as Chairman of Tata Sons, he continues to head some group firms and is on boards of many.



While the chairman can be removed by board of directors, removal of a director can only be done by shareholders. So, Tata Sons, which brought back Ratan Tata after removing Mistry last month, is seeking to remove him from group firms too one after another.



He has already been ousted as chairman of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Tata Global Beverages Ltd. EGMs have been called to remove him as director on these firms as well as Tata Motors and Indian Hotels.



Throughout, Wadia has been supporting Mistry, who continues to be at the helm and/or is director of some of the group companies.



Mistry's sudden and dramatic removal as the chairman of Tata Sons triggered a confrontation between the single-largest shareholder and the Tatas.
Satyanarayan Sharma has been a messiah for the needy in a time when demonetization has left many in a state of distress.





Sharma, who exchanges old notes since 1966 at Chandni Chowk in Old Delhi, has been taking old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 from people who are needy and are in desperately in want for the new notes to buy essential items like medicines and food. He does not have an ATM card but is still accepting the old notes.



I am taking the banned notes only from people who are in dire need even though I dont have an ATM card. I am ready to stand in a queue for hours. But if this action helps a person who is in need, then I would be happy to do so, said Satyanarayan Sharma, a resident of Paranthe Waali Gali.



One can find several money changers sitting outside the various banks in Old Delhi, changing torn and old Indian currencies in lieu of some commission to run their livelihood.

They do not have a big showroom for their business, but sit with a small wooden frame which displays old coins, not in use of the common public now.



Sharma says the five paise, ten paise, 20 paise, 25 paise coins are for the children who would be excited to see them as these are not available now.



While Deccan Herald spent an entire day with these old money changers, they gave intrinsic details of how one could distinguish the fake notes and coins from the real ones.

These money changers take the notes which are either torn or are in a dilapidated condition and give the customers proper notes in exchange of these. The torn notes are then stuck with the help of glue and returned to the Reserve Bank of India at Parliament Street, which gives new notes in exchange of the soiled ones.



We use glue to stick the notes which are torn. Initially we could exchange a note which was torn into three-four pieces. But now the rules have changed and only notes which are in two parts can be exchanged. This has affected our business in the last six-seven years, said Ramsukh Tiwari, another money changer who has been in the business since half a century.



The money changers are allowed to exchange Rs 4000 in a week at one go at the RBI. The commission earned by the changers depends on the condition of the notes.

Earlier the commission would have been 10 percent but now it depends on the condition of the notes, Sharma said.



While talking to DH, he showed a bundle of old five hundred rupee notes which he had taken from the customers who were pauperized. He also explained the ways to distinguish between the fake and real ten rupee coin.



If there is a dot under 1, then it is produced in Noida. If there is a diamond on the right side then it is made in Mumbai. If the rupee symbol is missing from the coin then it is fake, Sharma explained.



But he refrained from explaining about the basics to distinguish the notes.

The demonetization has also impacted the business of these soiled note changers as they are not accepting the old notes. Many people were seen coming with torn notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 but their requested to exchange them was turned down. One of them even came with a couple of burnt Rs 1000 notes which were also not exchanged.



Demonetization has a mixed reaction on the lives of these money changers. While some slammed the move saying their business has deteriorated, others said the action would help the government collect taxes from people who have been escaping to pay it.



This will really help the government to collect taxes from the rich who have not been paying it. I strongly support the decision by the government, Sharma said.



However, Ramsukh Tiwari said the decision has affected their business and they have suffered losses as they are now not taking the old notes as they have been banned.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had declared on November 8 that Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes would not be legal tender and could be exchanged in banks till December 31.



There was a mixed bag of reactions as many of the people had to stand in long queues of the banks and ATMs to withdraw their money with a limit on the withdrawal.



Sharma is setting an example for people as he shows his large heartedness by not only accepting the old notes, but also giving away old and antique coins to children who come with their parents to buy and exchange notes and coins.



The decision has seen stormy Parliament proceedings in the winter session with the opposition parties slamming the government. Many people have even lost their lives including bank officials who have to work extra hours to exchange the notes which are not legal tender any more.


Fake currency is one of the reasons cited by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to justify demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, that has sparked a political storm in the Capital.





Delhi Police investigators confirm that the Capital is a transit point for transporting fake currency but the rival political parties have largely ignored this aspect while highlighting the inconvenience being faced by the common ban due to the currency ban.



A few weeks before demonetisation, the Union Home Ministry held a meeting with bank authorities, Delhi Police and Delhi government officials to discuss measures to prevent money from bank cash van heists landing in terror operatives hands.



Drastic measures were discussed in the meeting which also looked at possible solutions to curb terror funding and use of Fake currency, said an official of the Delhi

governments Home Department.



The AAP and the Congress have questioned the execution of demonetisation, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal even calling it a Rs 8 lakh crore scam and leading his partys government in passing a resolution in Assembly slamming Modi over the currency ban.



Stakes were so high for the Congress that its Vice President Rahul Gandhi himself took rounds of ATMs and banks to show solidarity with the people waiting in queues.



The move is only going to benefit a limited 15-20 friends of Modi, he said, while raising the concerns of the common man.



While some leaders in the Congress agreed that the fight against terror funding is also important, they lashed out at the manner in which city residents have been forced to shiver in cold nights, waiting for their turn to exchange old notes from banks in the morning.



Delhi Congress spokesman Chatter Singh said: We are not against demonetisation or removal of fake currency used to fund terror. Our objection is to the problems that the people have been forced to face due to the poor execution of the move.



The Congress held protests in 70 Delhi Assembly constituencies, the AAP and the Congress took out marches on the issue and the partys government in the city passed a resolution in the Assembly criticising Modi for demonetisation.



New player Swaraj India, headed by Yogendra Yadav, held corner meetings in almost 100 colonies and slammed the central government for the inconvenience caused to public.

Yadav even demanded a roll back of demonetisation till December 31 and suggested introduction of new currency notes from January 1, along with other measures to fight corruption.



Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said common people have been put to unbearable difficulties due to the total unpreparedness in the implementation of demonetization, which has caught the poor and the common people unaware.



People were desperate for survival due to non-availability of cash, despite standing in queues before banks for long hours, he said.



Maken said it was a shame that despite the announcement that bank on November 19 would devote all their time to senior citizens and help them withdraw cash from banks, senior citizens had to return home empty-handed due to non-availability of cash.



Fiftyfive ragic deaths have been recorded on account of the ill-prepared implementation of demonetisation so far, as people are being compelled to sleep outside ATMs, parents are being compelled to cancel marriages, farmers are suffering immensely as their harvests have no takers due to cash shortage in the market, he said.



Kejriwal said he was with Modi in most good decisions he took but dubbed demonetisation as anti-people while sharing dais with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.



The AAP convenor also held over a dozen rallies in other states, including poll-bound Punjab, and exhorted his supporters to give a strong response to supporter of BJP and Mod who are welcoming the demonetisation process which has taken over 40 lives and put millions of people to inconvenience.



Vocal AAP legislator from Chandni Chowk Alka Lamba criticised Modi for wasting resources on demonetisation.



The country appears to be helpless instead of strong. Had Modiji channelized the time and power of 125 crore people for some constructive work, said Lamba in a tweet in Hindi.



The Delhi BJP supported the Modi governments fight against fake currency and black money by claiming that the rival parties had embarked upon ambitious scheme of misleading the innocent public.



Leader of Opposition in Assembly Vijender Gupta said that while the situation was improving, the AAP and Congress have decided to mount protests against the Central Government.



The forbearance of a common man is pretty good response to their nefarious

designs, he said, claiming the common man was with the Centre on its fight against fake currency and black money.



As part of posturing, Gupta went to the extent of alleging that the orchestrated response of AAP and Congress under their leadership has established beyond doubt that these parties have special sympathy in their hearts for fake currency note and hawala operators, black money owners, terrorists, Maoist, Naxalites and jihadies.



The Leader of Opposition said that both AAP and Congress have overlooked that normalcy that has returned to Kashmir, 100 fake currency notes are going out of circulation, hawala operators have disappeared and deadly blow has been struck to terrorist, Naxalites and jihadies.



While the political rivals battle it out to strike a chord with voters and supporters over the demonetisation issue, there are voices only in the saffron party which are highlighting the fake currency and terror funding link.



The priority of political parties seems to be to question the Centre more on the so-called action against black money rather than indulge in spats on public platforms over the benefits from demonetisation in fighting fake currency.


Terming organ donation "an egalitarian and a moral act", Health Minister J P Nadda today said the government will come out with rules, regulations and protocols for facilitating organ donation as he pitched for making it a national movement and pledge his own.





Expressing concern over the present rate of organ donation and transplantation not being close to the requirement in the country, he said organs were national resource and not even one should be wasted.



"Donating organs is a gift and is an altruistic, egalitarian and a moral act. We can turn the 'end of a life' into a new beginning with donating our organs.



"Let organ donation become a national movement and show to the world that even in death we care for our fellow citizens and humanity at large. Organ is a national resource and not even one should be wasted," Nadda said.



He along with officers, staffers, doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff members of all central government hospitals of the national capital pledged to donate his organs.



Also present were participants from the Walkathon that took place at the India Gate today to create and enhance awareness surrounding organ donation, an official statement said.



"The Ministry is presently framing rules, regulations and protocols for facilitating organ donation. There are about 1.5 lakh brain deaths happening in the country every year, and organs from them can be used for saving lives of several lakh patients.



"It is a matter of concern that the current organ donation and transplantation rate is not close to the requirement within the country for organs. We have started taking decisive steps for harvesting cadaver organs and tissues and saving many lives a result of this," Nadda said.



Health Ministry is implementing the National Organ Transplant Programme with a view to promote organ donation from deceased persons and increase the availability of organs for transplantation.



The Minister said a number of activities have already commenced a part of the programme and the state governments have been sensitised about the need to have systems in place to improve awareness in this regard.



Later, in a series of tweets, Nadda said "Administered Pledge for #OrganDonation to encourage people to participate in this noble cause. It is indeed a special year for @MoHFW_INDIA since it has organised several activities to propagate the message of donation".



"NOTTO had 10,000 pledges till June 2016. Today we have about 1,00,000. I appreciate the effort & fix a target of 20,00,000 by next year," he tweeted.
Islamic preacher Zakir Naik today claimed that there has been no misuse of funds by his banned NGO and rejected all allegations of involvement in terror-related activities.



Remaining non-committal on returning to India, where he has been booked for hate speech and under anti-terror law UAPA, the 51-year-old televangelist, who is currently abroad, said he has repeatedly offered his cooperation to NIA.



Facing heat over charge of inspiring some of the Dhaka attackers through his speeches, he said the moment someone resorts to violence, he ceases to be Islamic and loses his support.



"It is wrong to imply that a few miscreants who joined terror groups were influenced by me. So if I was really spreading terror, wouldn't I have made a few lakh terrorists by now? Not just a handful.



"In a fan following of millions, there may be a handful of anti-social elements who will go astray and take up violence. But they are surely not following what I've told them. The moment they pick up senseless violence, they cease to be Islamic and they surely lose my support," Naik told PTI in an e-mail interview.



Asked about the legal steps he would take to challenge the ban on his NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), he said his legal teams in Mumbai and Delhi were looking into the issue and would move the Court soon.



The Centre recently banned the IRF for five years and declared it as an unlawful association.



Naik said the ban on IRF was politically motivated.



On allegations of money laundering by IRF in the funds received from abroad, he said the Rs 47 crore in question came from his personal account in Dubai to his personal account in Mumbai in the last six plus years.



"It was duly declared by me in the returns and used for lawful activities, including giving gifts and loans to my family members. I don't know where is the problem in that.



"IRF received about Rs 14 crore in the FCRA account over the past 15 years. Of this, about Rs 4 crore was from NRIs living abroad. Only about Rs 10 crore was received from foreign donors in the last about 15 years. All of this was duly declared to the MHA, including the amounts, the names and the addresses of the donors. So, where is the question of money laundering?" Naik asked.



Asked why was he not returning to India, Naik said he has repeatedly offered his co-operation to government agencies in their investigations but till date, no agency bothered to contact him, ask him questions, or send him any notice.



The physician-turned-preacher claimed he was invited twice before May 2014 to address IPS trainees at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad.



"Do you mean to say that this prestigious Institution invited a person who promotes terrorism to address the IPS officers?" he asked.



Naik said he was positive the NIA and other agencies, after doing thorough research for more than four months would have surely realised he was far away from promoting terrorism, but they have no choice but to give in to political pressures.



"More unfortunately, it is also indicative of the grim state of affairs existing in my beloved homeland since the Modi government took over two-and-a-half years ago," he said.



"Till date there's been no contact and only an FIR has been lodged against me. They (agencies) have not provided a single proof to substantiate their claims. That's because none exist, and all that agencies are claiming are chatter and nothing else.



"What I'm doing now is the same work I've been doing for 25 years. Do you really think my so called "terrorist activities" would have been hidden from multiple intelligence agencies for so long?" he said.



Early this week, Naik released an open letter in which he said ban on his NGO was timed with the demonetisation move to avert resistance to action against the outfit and divert media attention, and alleged it was "an attack on Muslims, peace, democracy and justice".
Racist mock 'Pakemon' stickers featuring London Mayor Sadiq Khan and US President Barack Obama have appeared in London with a tagline urging people to "deport them all", prompting police to probe the "hate crime", media reports said today.



The stickers with the tagline "Gotta catch and deport them all", have been put up by unidentified persons on bus stops, cashpoints and at tube stations in London.



Police are investigating the hate crime after the stickers, mock-up versions of Pokemon cards mimicking the real game's slogan "Gotta catch'em all", appeared, Metro.co.uk reported.



One such poster has given the name 'Hamaskhan' to Mayor Khan, an an apparent attempt to link him to Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, it reported.



It states, "Description: Probably the most dangerous Pakemon, Hamaskhan believes that Londoners should learn to accept Islamic terrorism whilst he is mayor. Weaknesses: Hamaskhan's hatred of Christians and Jews will result in him losing power and a long prison sentence".



One sticker features Obama, describing him as "the USA's Muslim in Chief", the report said.



Another shows white Muslim convert Jordan Horner, who had called for Shariah Law in London, stating, "Gingermo is not a true Pakemon, having converted to Islam believing he might make some friends who are as angry and weak-minded as himself", it reported.



Stickers have been reported all over the capital, including Bromley, Surbiton and Waterloo.



Some Twitter accounts have been sharing the photos of the stickers, urging people to swap and collect them.



Meanwhile, British Transport Police (BTP) has urged people to report any sightings of the stickers.



"British Transport Police is committed to preventing incidents of hate crime and prejudice and all incidents of this nature are investigated thoroughly.



"Everyone has the right to travel on the rail network without fear or intimidation. Racially or religiously motivated crime will simply not be tolerated," a BTP spokesman said.
The police force in Haryana has been put on high alert and security beefed up in and around all prisons in the state in the wake of the sensational Nabha jailbreak incident at Patiala in neighbouring Punjab today.





"The borders with Patiala and the adjoining borders with Ambala, Kaithal and Jind have been sealed," Haryana Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order), Mohd Akil, said here today.



Besides, checking is being carried out by putting up 'nakas', he said.



"Special teams trained in anti-terrorist activities have been deputed in the state. The police force in both states is working in perfect coordination with each other," he said.



Akil further said that the Haryana Police would leave no stone unturned in tracing the

terrorists who escaped from the Nabha maximum security jail.



"Directions had been issued to tighten the security outside all jails in Haryana. High alert has been issued in all districts of the state," he added.



Meanwhile, in the wake of the Nabha jailbreak incident in Punjab, Haryana's Director General of Prisons, Yashpal Singal today directed all prison officers to step up security in and around all prisons in the State, besides enhancing surveillance and carrying out comprehensive search campaigns.



Singal also directed all Superintendents of Jails to conduct meetings at their own level to review security measures in jails and ensure their effective implementation.



He also directed them to maintain vigil regarding any kind of suspicious activity in the vicinity of jail in collaboration with the district police.



In a sensational jailbreak incident, a group of armed men in police uniform today attacked the high-security Nabha Jail in Punjab's Patiala district and escaped with six prisoners, including a Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.
Terming demonetisation a "political move" made without preparation, Congress today said it is being sold as a "step against black money" and the Reserve Bank of India did not give the advice it should have offered to the government.





"Who gave the advice I do not know, but I believe, as Manmohan Singh had said in Rajya Sabha, that Reserve Bank of India did not give the advice it should have offered," party spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said.



The economy has been growing at 7-7.5 per cent and the decision was taken only for political reasons, he alleged.



Ramesh made it clear that Congress did not call for a 'Bharat bandh' and alleged that BJP was spreading disinformation in this regard.



The Opposition parties will hold protests against demonetisation across the country by observing "Jan Aakrosh Diwas" tomorrow, he said, adding that economic activity has anyway come to a standstill since November 9.



Ramesh termed the decision to scrap high-value currency notes a "political decision for three reasons".



"Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in 'dhamaka' politics. This is a dhamaka (bang) that has changed the narrative. Since November 8 there is no talk, but of demonetisation," he said.



The second reason is that Modi had seen the "writing on the wall" in Uttar Pradesh, which goes to polls next year.



And thirdly, to cover up the government's failure to deliver on the Prime Minister's big electoral promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad.



"We welcome steps taken to eradicate black money. But I am afraid...all best estimates are that only 6 per cent of it is kept in the form of cash. So to address this problem, you have put 80 per cent of India through hardships... While common people were facing difficulties, the actual culprits are leading lives of luxury," Ramesh said.



He said it may take 250 days to print the required number of currency notes to get the economy back on track. If notes are printed abroad, it will be a mockery of "Make in India" initiative of the government.



The Congress leader said "a cashless society Modi has been talking of" may become a reality after 100 years, but not in the near future when a majority depends on cash transactions.



"Does the Prime Minister want to have cash-less mandis? Does the PM want to have the unorganized sector working cashless? I am sorry to say it's a ridiculous proposition, to say that India will become cashless and all these economic sectors will become cashless," he said.



Such transitions take time and cannot be forced through shocks, he said.



Asked why Congress' ally Nitish Kumar was not in favour of protests against demonetisation, Ramesh said JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav was supporting it.



Finance Minister Arun Jaitley came to the defence of RBI Governor Urjit Patel in the wake of criticism by Ramesh, saying it is an "unfair attack" and politicians should refrain from making comments on those who cannot defend themselves.



"An unfair attack by Jairam Ramesh on the RBI Governor. Must politicians attack those who can't defend themselves in the same tone?" he said in a tweet.



Ramesh said it is estimated that only 5-10 per cent of black money is kept in cash, while most of it is in the form of gold, silver, benami property or stashed abroad.



A lot of discomfiture had been caused to people by demonetising Rs 500 notes abruptly, he said.



Citing National Investigation Agency (NIA) estimates, he said counterfeit notes make up just 0.02 per cent of the total currency in circulation. To tackle this, 80 per cent of people, be it farmers, the unorganised and small-scale sector have been subjected to inconvenience.



The Prime Minister had remarked "na khaaonga, na khaane doonga", but Saurabh Patel, who was a minister in the then Modi-led Gujarat government, is learnt to have been linked to a company based in Bahamas, where many tax evaders go, Ramesh alleged.

Patel was removed from his post over some dispute, he claimed.



Asked if Congress was in favour of holding of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously, Ramesh said there were merits as well as demerits of it.



In 2002, a Congress party committee headed by Manmohan Singh had suggested that there should be state funding of elections, he said, adding that various state elections also enforced accountability.



He claimed that the Pune-based organisation, which is said to be behind the the demonetisation idea, has also said the way it is being implemented is not what they had suggested.



Congress was not against the objectives of the measure and will support steps against black money and corruption, but the reality of the situation is different, he said.
When a person asks someone why they want to shift to a new country, a change in environment is usually the answer. But for Cecilia Fiquet, it was something in addition to the change in weather that made her move to Bengaluru six years ago.





Hailing from Saint-Cere, France, the engineer came to Ahmedabad for a friends wedding. When the company she was working for in The Netherlands gave her the opportunity to come and work here, she took up the offer without hesitating. She says, Netherlands is a beautiful and gorgeous city, but it gets very cold there. Ive heard that Bengaluru has a wonderful weather and environment and I wanted to explore that.



Before her shift, she did a thorough research about the city. I read up as much as I could  how I can survive in a big city, the traffic situation, good places to hang out and explore, the work environment for a woman and about the expatriate

community, she says.



But I never had any culture shock as I am lucky to have made good friends here. They helped me settle in and introduced me to new things that I now enjoy indulging in, she adds.



During her free time, she enjoys going for a run in the morning. If time permits, she hits the gym and does yoga. Cecilia and her friends often meet at restaurants like Toit and The Fatty Bao. She also enjoys playing board games, reading and travelling. A friend of mine from America visits the city once in a while and he stays with me for that period. He gives me an insight on the different parts of the country and Im often left with fresh perspectives on things. Ive travelled to Rajasthan, New Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala, Kolkata, Coorg, Goa and Amritsar. I like going to Puducherry for the French cuisine they offer. I still have Darjeeling, Ladakh and Varanasi on my bucket list, she explains.



Though she is adapting well to the lifestyle of the city, she thought it was weird that everyone has house-help here. In Europe, you are taught to be self-sufficient. But in India, you can get someone to cook, clean and do things for you. The only help I have now is someone to drive me to work everyday. I dont mind driving here, but the time spent in traffic allows me to make calls, listen to podcasts and get my work done.



While many consider France to be a beautiful city, growing up, Cecilia always looked forward to leaving the small town. She moved to Paris and London for her studies. And it was for her job that she moved to The Netherlands before coming here. She says, Saint-Cere is an absolutely beautiful town to grow up in. It is a countryside place with lots of greenery. But as a teenager, I was pining to live in a big city. I do miss the life and culture of Paris. The museums were always one of my favourite places to visit. However, I do like going back home to meet my family. Its a breath of fresh air sometimes.



However, she says there are a few things about the French that she is not too fond of. She says, Now that I have lived in different countries and seen what it is like, I feel the French complain too much. We are spoilt for choice with all the privileges and opportunities yet we dont always make the tourists feel welcome. But it is slowly improving as people in many areas of Europe do speak English now. Cecilia is happy that her life in the city has been a blissful one. I have been living here for a while now and the city has grown so much. But the urban planning is not good here. Though the mission to improve the city is appreciated, I think it will be much better if we broaden the network of people involved.



One thing that she likes is the activities held in the city. She says, Though the

government is doing its part, I like how the citizens come together and contribute to making the city better. There is a lot happening here all the time. I do wish we had more parks, though!



Relishing a variety of chaats, Kerala cuisine and Bengali dishes, she hopes to stay here as long as she can. I might move back to Europe in the future but I am very happy with the city and it would be great to live here for some more time, says

Cecilia.




Kalawani has spent the past six years hiding from the Qatari authorities, but finally she is going home to Sri Lanka for the first time since 2010.





The former housemaid is one of 9,000 undocumented residents expected to leave Qatar before December 1 after Doha introduced a three-month amnesty for those living in the country illegally to leave without "legal consequences".



Kalawani ran away after her employer refused to pay her monthly wage of 1,000 Qatari riyals (USD 275, 260 euros), a common problem. "I didn't get any salary from my sponsor," she says while waiting for her papers to be approved.



Under Qatar's strict sponsorship laws, anyone wishing to change their job must get permission from their employer, so Kalawani became an "illegal" after fleeing.



She has existed by relying on her family for help and working in a cafe, though that was also illegal as her entry visa to Qatar allowed her to work only as a housemaid.



"This amnesty is good for me. I want to go home," she says quietly. Under normal rules, she could be facing a huge fine or imprisonment for absconding.



Today, all she has to provide is her passport, ID card or entry visa into Qatar and a plane ticket home -- or at least enough cash to buy one. Once approved, she will have seven days to leave.



Like all those leaving during the grace period, Kalawani's case is being processed by the Search and Follow Up Department.



Located on the southwestern fringes of Doha, the department is surrounded by a dusty car park, a few palm trees and the hum of one of Qatar's busiest highways.



But the crowds of people outside, and a few packed suitcases propped up against a wall, hint at something happening inside the unremarkable looking building.



Through a small door marked "Reception", about two dozen people wait patiently to register.



From there they will pass to the much grander "Initial Proceedings Hall", a large tent complete with chandeliers and separate queueing spaces for men and women.



"When we first started (the amnesty), it was like 100 people a day. Now we are coming to the end, it's about 300 each day," one officer says.



Officials say most of those who will take advantage of the amnesty come from Asia, including Bangladesh, Nepal and the Philippines.



In the "Exit Hall", where "illegals" receive final approval to leave, is Sajad, from Kerala, India.



"I had some problems with my sponsor, salary and security issues," he says about his eight months outside the law.
The world has taken an important step towards operationalising the Paris agreement on climate change at the recently concluded 22nd Conference of Parties (COP22) at Marrakech, Morocco. The 196 countries and the European Union, signatories to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), agreed to finalise the rules for implementation of the agreement after 10 days of negotiations. The Marrakech Action Proclamation, issued at the end of the assembly, has called for the highest political commitment to combat climate change, as a matter of highest priority and set a deadline for framing the rules. The Marrakech meet was intended to initiate the rule-making process, to take stock of the steps being taken by parties to address the climate change challenge and to ensure that the developed countries stood by their commitments made before the Paris meet. The negotiations were, as usual, hard and laborious and an agreement came only at the end. There were many differences between developing and developed countries, but finally there was some unity.



The deadline for finalisation of the rules has been set as December 2018. It is not an easy task to accomplish, given the history of climate negotiations. The Marrakech proceedings showed that there were many contentious issues to be addressed, and there are doubts whether just about two years are enough to tackle all of them.

Formulating specific rules is much more difficult than agreeing on general principles and goals. So, the deadline does not mean that a clear roadmap has been laid. But, if the present plan works out, the new treaty will come into effect before the deadline of 2020 set by the Paris meet. An early implementation will be a welcome sign of the sense of urgency that should attend policies and actions needed to fight climate change. The Marrakech declaration is also important because it has conveyed to US President-elect Donald Trump, who has said that climate change is only scare-mongering, that the entire world thinks it is a serious threat and is united in its plans to fight it. Trump had said that the US would withdraw from the Paris agreement if he was elected, but he has now softened his position, as he has done on some other issues.



Some participants made new promises and commitments and the meeting also saw a few initiatives which help and support the cause of reducing harmful emissions. The financial package promised by the rich countries to help the developing countries in their climate actions plans is yet to become a reality. Developing countries may have to use more persuasion and pressure in this respect in the coming months.




With Fidel Castros passing away on Saturday, the world has lost one of its most remarkable revolutionaries of the 20th century. He will be rem-embered with gratitude not just in Cuba for liberating it from Fulgencio Batistas dictatorship, but also in countries like Algeria, Mozambique, Namibia, Guinea-Bissau and Angola, where he provided military and other support to their anti-colonial struggles. Castro stood up for the opp-ressed of Latin America as well and supported their struggles against American imperialism. He established the Communist rule in Cuba and was successful in making its society more equal than most others in the world. Among his greatest legacies is the superb health system he set up in Cuba, one that has given its people an average life expectancy on par with many advanced countries. Cuba under Castro showed the world that an exemplary healthcare system is possible even with limited resources.



Castro will be also remembered for his steadfast opposition to American imperialism. This opposition did not end with the Cuban revolution. With the US determined to extinguish Communist rule in Cuba, opposition to America became a lifelong necessity for Castro. In 1961, he fought off an American-led invasion by Cuban exiles on the Bay of Pigs. The CIA is said to have made hundreds of attempts to assassinate him, but Castro survived them all. Successive US governments sought to bring Cuba to its knees by imposing a string of economic embargoes on the tiny island-nation. But Castro refused to buckle to American bullying. Cuba under Castro also survived the fall of communism. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 saw Cuba lose millions of dollars in financial assistance, but it weathered the crisis although it was forced to pull back support to other communist movements. However, Castro ruled Cuba with an iron hand. Political opponents were jailed and dissidence was crushed. His critics have accused him of denying Cubans choice, individual freedoms and a luxurious life.



Will Castros death lead to political and economic upheaval in Cuba? It may not be as dramatic as feared since Cuba began transitioning to a post-Castro era in 2006 when Castro stepped down as Cubas president and handed over charge to his brother Raul. Changes have come since; the US has lifted trade and travel embargoes on Cuba. But the system that Castro put in place remains more or less intact. However, clouds of threat loom. US president-elect Donald Trumps aggressive rhetoric on Castros death suggests that the US will step up efforts to meddle in Cuba again. The survival of Castros rich legacy would depend on how successfully Raul will be able to resist renewed US pressure.


President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to dismantle many of the signature policies put in place by the Obama administration to fight the effects of climate change.



During the campaign, he threatened, among other things, to kill the Clean Power Plan, a set of rules to reduce emissions from power plants. He has also taken aim at new regulations to limit methane leaks from wells and pipelines. And members of his transition team have suggested that he may reduce or eliminate basic climate research at Nasa or other agencies.



If he follows through, most of these moves will be opposed by environmental groups, by Democrats in Congress and perhaps even by some Republicans. But Trump will have several tools to begin nullifying the Obama climate agenda.



One of them is the little-known Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, a small outpost within the executive branch that has, since the Clinton administration, been the last stop for many regulations before they go into effect.



Lawyers in the office pore over thousands of pages of federal regulations daily and pride themselves on meticulously reviewing the fine print, even if that takes months or years.



Under the control of the new administration, the office could slow President Barack Obamas latest regulatory initiatives by repeatedly sending them back for additional work.



It has been a brake on agency regulation throughout its lifetime, said Jody Freeman, a professor at Harvard Law School and an expert on environmental regulation. Some presidents have used it as more of a brake than others.



Much remains to be learned about the president-elects environmental policy goals, and some of his views appear to have shifted.



Trump, who has claimed that global warming is a hoax, said this week in an interview with The New York Times that he now saw some connectivity between humans and climate change, and that he would keep an open mind about whether to pull out of the Paris climate accord, as he threatened to do during the campaign. Yet at the same time, some key positions on his transition team are occupied by people with a long history of rejecting the overwhelming scientific consensus on climate change.



Other than climate change, there are numerous environmental issues that he has never talked about and that he might be content to leave untouched. And once agency heads are in place, they may choose very different tactics from those discussed during Trumps campaign or by his advisers. Two people considered to be in the running to head the Environmental Protection Agency  Jeffrey R Holmstead, an energy lobbyist, and Robert E Grady, a venture capitalist  also have experience in the complex machinations of the federal government.



Every new administration comes in with an overestimation of what it can accomplish and how quickly it can accomplish it, said Kevin Ewing, a partner at Bracewell, a Washington law firm.



If Trump does decide to withdraw from the Paris agreement, he will find it difficult: The accord went into force this month. He would also encounter tremendous obstacles were he to try to dismantle the EPA, another campaign threat. But he may have an easier time abandoning other climate initiatives, including a UN-backed programme to reduce the environmental impact of international air travel beginning in 2020. The US has only informally committed to participate in the programme, and the new administration could refuse to make that commitment legally binding.



One of the most powerful methods to hobble Obamas domestic environmental initiatives would be to block financing for the EPA and other agencies. Congress can always pass an appropriations rider that for one year prevents any funding for the implementation or enforcement of a particular regulation, said Scott H Segal, a partner and director of the policy resolution group at Bracewell. Riders can be passed year after year, effectively neutering a specific regulation, Segal said.



Such an approach can be stealthier than trying to undo the regulation itself, Freeman said. You dont have to repeal these statutes, she said. You just have to make it impossible to implement them.



Last week, the White House unveiled a sweeping plan to try to stiffen environmental regulations before Obama leaves office. Environmental groups can be expected to fight any efforts to undo them. Donald Trump cant just snap his fingers and change climate policy, said David Goldston, director of government affairs at the Natural Resources Defence Council. We have ways to thwart him in Congress and the courts that we could employ.



The approach the Trump administration takes will depend in part on the status of specific rules and regulations.



Some environmental policies  like guidance issued by the White House this year, instructing agencies to consider the effects of climate change when conducting environmental reviews  do not have the force of law that agency regulations do, and can be abolished with a pen stroke. Undoing a regulation is more complicated. Some of the EPAs new methane rules are completed, for example, but other rules, both at the EPA and at the Interior Department, are not and can simply be abandoned.



Different options



If a rule is final, the options are different. The new administration cannot just rescind these regulations, but it can order agencies to revisit them. That reopens the rule-making process, however, including the opportunity for public comment. Any revisions or replacement regulations must have a basis in facts and a cost-benefit analysis, not politics or ideology.



There are other potential options for specific regulations. The Clean Power Plan, for instance, is completed but not yet in effect because of a judicial stay imposed while legal action against it plays out in a federal appeals court in Washington. If there is no ruling by Inauguration Day, Jan 20, Trumps Justice Department can ask the court to put the case in abeyance, effectively extending the stay indefinitely.



Segal said the Republican Congress might also be able to overturn some recently completed regulations under a law that gives both houses up to 60 legislative days to reject them. That law, the Congressional Review Act, usually comes into play only when the party of the incoming president is different from the departing ones and the same party controls both houses, as is the case now.



William K Reilly, a Republican who was EPA administrator under President George Bush, said Trump needed to be careful about whom he picked for the top jobs in each department.



He cited the Reagan administrations experience with Anne Gorsuch, who incurred the wrath of politicians of both parties when, as administrator of the EPA, she cut the agencys budget by more than 20%, gutting research and regulatory enforcement. She resigned under fire in 1983 in the midst of accusations that she had mismanaged a hazardous waste cleanup programme.



The administration got badly burned by discounting the sensitivities and public support for what the EPA protects us from, Reilly said. Its a public health agency above all.




People must not pay heed to rumours regarding the activities of a group that has been indulging in kidnapping children, said DCP (Crime) Dr Sanjiv M Patil.





He was speaking at the SC/ST grievance meet at the Police Commissioners office in Mangaluru on Sunday. Anil Kumar of Kankanady said that the parents are not sending their children to schools, fearing the activities of kidnapping gang.



In response, the police official said that the public need not panic and could send their wards to schools without any fear, as no incident of kidnapping has been found during investigation.



Messages are being circulated on social networking sites but they are not true. If the public find any suspicious objects, vehicles or persons, they may immediately inform the police control room by calling 100, he added.



Vishu Kumar from Mulki complained that some drunkards create trouble at the Mulki bus stand and at KS Rao Nagar.



DCP (Law and Order) Shantaraju said that a vehicle has been provided to womens police station. Problems related to issues like space constraints will be addressed to in due course, he said. Ramesh Kotian had complained in the last grievance meeting that womens police station lacks space, generator, vehicle and other facilities.



Shantaraju said that the Commissionerate has written to the Mangaluru City Corporation regarding the misuse of community halls that are meant for use of people belonging to SC/ST, which was a problem mentioned by Lingappa Nantoor during the previous SC/ST meet.



S P Anand said that many are not aware of the facilities provided by the state government to people belonging to SC/ST through Ambedkar Development Corporation. Hence, the beneficiaries should be given information about it through media. Also, the selection of beneficiaries should be transparent.



The service bus stand in Mangaluru has become an abode of self-declared transgenders who harass people for money. He further said that the auto rickshaw drivers near Fr Muller Hospital in Kankanady refuse to ferry passengers, most of whom are the discharged patients from the hospital, to Ekkur and Bajal areas.



DCP Sanjiv Patil said that if the auto rickshaw drivers refuse to ferry passengers, the vehicle number must be noted and given to the police by calling the toll-free number 100.



Mukhesh said that there are no CCTV cameras in most of the schools and colleges in the city.



Raghuvir suggested conducting grievance redressal meeting for women from SC/ST, in the presence of lady police personnel. DCP Shantaraju directed sub-inspectors present in the meeting to send lady police staff to the meetings held in the respective police station limits.
Unidentified attackers threw a Molotov cocktail against the wall of a refugee center near Vienna, Austrian newswire APA reported on Sunday.

A police spokesman told APA a beer bottle filled with a flammable liquid was ignited and thrown, leaving scorch marks on the wall. Nobody was injured. The incident was being investigated by regional police and authorities in charge of handling suspected hate crimes, Reuters reported.

Austria votes again next Sunday in a presidential election between independent Alexander Van der Bellen and far-right candidate Norbert Hofer, who has capitalized on worries about immigration.

Van der Bellen beat Hofer narrowly in a now-annulled run-off vote in May, but nearly one-sixth of prospective voters in August said they could switch sides in the upcoming vote.

Earlier this year, attackers set fire to a new, unoccupied refugee center in Altenfelden near Austria's borders with the Czech Republic and Germany.
Pledging his organs for donation, Union Health Minister J P Nadda on Sunday claimed his ministry would soon come out with new rules, regulations and protocols to facilitate cadaver donation.





Though India documents about 1.5 lakh brain dead patients every year, only a handful of patient families come forward to donate organs, showcasing a lukewarm response to the governments organ donation campaign.



Organs are national resources and not even one should be wasted. Donating organs is a gift and is an altruistic, egalitarian and a moral act. We can turn the end of a life into a new beginning by donating our organs, Nadda said.



Health ministry officers, doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff members of all central government hospitals in Delhi, too, pledged to donate their organs.



Even though we have a good (organ transplant) law, very few are able to afford the cost of an organ transplant in the absence of organs and facilities. An average Indian remains deprived, said Vivekanand Jha from The George Institute for Global Health, India.



A large number of potentially transplantable organs could not be utilised due to lack of awareness on the part of ICU physicians.



A recent research has shown that in a big tertiary care centre, less than 10% of brain stem dead patients could be converted to actual donors. It suggests a huge untapped potential for cadaver transplant.
The NDA government has begun preparing the ground to introduce birth control implants for women in the family planning programme.





The contraceptive implants are on the radar for the health ministry that received a clinical trial report from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on the efficacy of these birth control tools that are in use in the western countries for the last 10 years.



The implant tested by the ICMR is a flexible plastic rod about the size of a matchstick that contains a hormone called etonogestrel. It is inserted under the skin of the inner side of the upper arm through a minor surgical procedure. It can also be taken out easily.



Carried out on 3,119 women who were followed up for three years at 22 government hospitals, the study was submitted to the Director General of Health Services in the health ministry earlier this month, sources told DH.



More than 66% women continued to use the implant for contraception. For those who discontinued its use, the main reason was irregular menstrual bleeding, though the irregularity declines with time.



The study also indicated that fertility return was quite early after discontinuation of the implant especially among those planning for pregnancy. While multiple variants are available in the market, the one examined by the ICMR is known as Implanon and manufactured by Merck.



The medical research council suggested to the health ministry an operational roll-out after piloting it in 5-8 district hospitals so as to look into the logistics requirements and to address issues like screening and selection of appropriate users, ensuring quality of care, training of health providers in its insertion and removal and management requirements for side effects.



The ministry, in turn, initiated consultation with several stake holders as the government plans to overhaul the family planning programme following a Supreme Court direction.



The protection that implants provide at a very low cost and the ease of insertion of implants, leads me to believe that India should add it to the existing basket of spacing methods, said Sanjay Jaiswal, Lok Sabha member from Pashchim Champaran, Bihar, who is the convener of the Forum for Parliamentarians for Health and Family Planning.
Post the daring jailbreak in Punjab, questions are being raised about the security apparatus in place at the maximum security Nabha central jail where several notorious gangsters and militants are lodged.





Baring one, all jails in Punjab are over-crowded. At present there are over 45,000 inmates confined in Punjab jails against an authorised accommodation of 23,617. Gangsters and criminals have often enjoyed a lavish lifestyle inside prisons in Punjab.



There are an estimated 50 plus gangs currently operating in Punjab and pose a threat ahead of the Assembly elections. Crime is childs play for them, for fame, superiority. Border state Punjab is growing with this underbelly.



These gangsters are even more on the social media. They lead a flashy lifestyle with high-end cars, upgraded weapons, posts on Facebookeven from jailsand live with that condescending attitude. They are in their mid-20s and 30s.



Sometime ago, a gangster-turned-politician Jaswinder Singh alias Rocky was killed on the Chandigarh-Shimla highway near Parwanoo in daylight. Posts from inside jails in Punjab were quick to pour in. Gangsters from jail even claimed credit for killing Rocky. Facebook is extensively used.



Gangsters post their pictures from jail and many at times even when they are taken for hearings in courts. One gangster whose fan page was created in 2013 had over 80,000 likes.
Even as the conspiracy angle appears highly possible, the great escape of the terrorist and gangsters from the high-security Nabha jail was not only daring, but also diligently planned and executed.





The entire plan was executed in just about 12 minutes. Some jails in Punjab are home to many of the most dreaded gangsters and militants and are ill-famed for various notorious activities.



At around 8.30 am, two members of a gang, disguised as policemen  one dressed up as assistant sub-inspector of police  entered the jail on the pretext of handing over a jail inmate. The guard was asked to open the gate.



The duo insisted on going inside the restricted area, which is when the jail staff grew suspicious and denied permission. That was the time when one of the men, took out a dagger and overpowered the jail guard, it is learnt.



The other pulled out a gun. Some of the group members waiting outside were signalled to barge in. Bullets were sprayed indiscriminately to deter the jail staff.



The armed men, along with the accused, including terrorist Mintoo, were rushed out of the jail. They sped away in Toyota Fortuner and Hyundai Verna cars. The culprits continued to fire while on the run.



There was a railway crossing close to the jail, which was closed. Seeing this, the accused turned around and sped away, passing through the main entrance of the jail without much of a challenge.
Within hours after the escape of the dreaded Khalistani militant Harminder Singh Mintoo and five others, the police nabbed a person, who reportedly played a key role in the jailbreak, from Shamli district.





Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Daljit Chaudhary said the police arrested Parminder Singh from Kairana in Shamli on Sunday evening.



Chaudhary said that Parminder, who had escaped from jail in March this year, was nabbed during a checking following an alert sounded in the state after the jailbreak in Punjab.



The police intercepted a white SUV, bearing Haryana number plates, on Panipat-Khatima Road and nabbed Parminder, who was driving the vehicle. One SLR, three rifles and large quantity of cartridges were recovered from the vehicle, the official said.



Chaudhary said that during interrogation, Parminder confessed to his involvement in the jailbreak. He was the person, who had arranged the vehicle, he added.



Parminder had been arrested on charge of killing a sub-inspector, he said adding that the escapees had earlier planned to go towards Delhi, but later changed their plan.



The other vehicles carrying the escapees moved towards Karnal and Panipat, while this one came to Kairana, he said.



Chaudhary said that Parminder revealed the names of the others, who were part of the group which attacked the prison. The two men in police uniform were Prema and Harry, he added.



The senior police officer said that the Uttar Pradesh Police had shared the information with their counterparts in Punjab.
Stepping up its efforts to trace black money parked abroad, India has shot off at least 20 administrative assistance requests to Switzerland in recent months, seeking details of Indians suspected to have misused Swiss banks famed high-secrecy walls to evade taxes.





The individuals and companies about whom India has requested for information include at least three listed companies, former CEO of a real estate major, wife of a Delhi- based former bureaucrat, a Dubai-based Indian origin investment banker, a high-profile fugitive along with his wife and an UAE-based holding company, as also some Gujarati businessmen settled abroad and presumably in trading business.



Many of these are suspected to have maintained accounts in Swiss banks through offshore entities, including in Panama and British Virgin Islands.



These requests for administrative assistance, which typically involves exchange of information on submission of proof by the requesting country about the account holders wrongdoing, have been documented by Swiss authorities in their Federal Gazette as per local laws to give the concerned person or entity a last chance to appeal against sharing of data.



While India and Switzerland last week signed a new pact for automatic exchange of information about account details September 2018 onwards, the pending requests have been made under their existing bilateral tax treaty.



In the past also, names of some Indian nationals figured in Switzerlands Federal Gazette notifications after the Swiss authorities were approached by India for information about those people with regard to the pending tax-related probes against them.



After following the due process prescribed under Swiss law, the information has been shared by Switzerland with India in some cases, pursuant to which the Indian authorities  including the tax department and Enforcement Directorate  have proceeded with their prosecution and other actions.



However, the pace of seeking such details seems to have quickened in the recent months, going by the sudden spurt in the number of Indian names figuring in such notifications.



So far in November alone, five Indian names have been disclosed, while a similar number of administrative assistance requests were notified in October as well.
The OBCs convention portrayed a show of unity among state BJP leaders with most of the prominent faces in the party being present.





Seating arrangements had been made for Union ministers, MPs, legislators, partys state office bearers, district presidents and chiefs of various morchas and secretaries on the dais. At least 300 people were seated on the 10-foot-long stage. To convey the show of strength, the convention had been christened Ekta rally (rally of unity).



BJP president Amit Shah arrived one-and-a-half hour late, resulting in a large number of state leaders getting an opportunity to address the gathering. Speaker after speaker criticised the Congress double standards on upliftment of backward classes. BJP leaders said representatives from 198 OBC communities attended the event.



The convention had also been organised to quell dissidence within the BJP. In the last few weeks, a section of leaders had questioned the style of functioning of BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa. Senior leader K S Eshwarappa had repeatedly been associating himself with Sangolli Rayanna bridge, a forum for the welfare of OBCs and the Dalits. Eshwarappa too attended the convention and addressed the gathering.



A luncheon meeting had been organised for Shah with top state leaders at Kumara Krupa guesthouse. It was said that the meeting would discuss state-of-affairs in the BJP state unit, including the rift between Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa. The meeting could not be held as Shah, running behind schedule, left for HAL airport from the convention venue, where he took a special flight to New Delhi.
Pakistan has suspended the import of cotton and other agriculture commodities, including vegetables, from India due to rising tensions between the two countries along the LoC, a media report here said.





Officials of the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) said the import of agriculture items from India through the Wagah border crossing and Karachi port, and issuing permits for future imports has been halted, the Dawn reported.



Cotton importers and customs clearing agents claimed that the department had stopped the import without a warning or written order.



Imran Shami, chief of DPP, which is a subordinate department of the national food security and research ministry, however, sought to dispel the impression.



We have stopped import of tomatoes and other fresh vegetables in order to protect our farmers, he said.



The reason behind the suspension of cotton imports from India was, nevertheless, different, he said.



We have not stopped cotton imports from India. It has just been halted over reports that the Indian exporters are not meeting our bio-security conditions.

Were looking into these reports and will lift restriction on cotton imports if our apprehensions are proved wrong, Shami said.



He said the cotton consignments would be allowed to enter Pakistan through surface or sea routes.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

Trend:

Turkey has faced some challenges for the last three years, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, Anadolu agency reported.

President Erdogan made remarks at a recent rally in Istanbul.

Turkeys current fight can be described as a new stage of the Liberation War, he said.

The president added that this war is observed in military, political, diplomatic, economic and social spheres.

The president recalled that some 248 Turkish citizens were killed, 2,193 were injured on the day of the coup attempt - July 15.

President Erdogan said that while making decisions, the Turkish authorities take into account the opinion of people.

"The Turkish citizens are calling for the restoration of the death penalty, the president said. If the countrys parliament approves such a decision, I will support it."

The president sharply criticized the position of the European Parliament, which adopted a resolution calling for suspending the negotiations on Turkey's EU membership.

"Remember who you are! Turkey is governed by the government, rather than the European Parliament!" President Erdogan said.
The state police has tightened security across the state to prevent any untoward incident on Monday during Aakrosh Diwas being observed by various Opposition parties to protest the Narendra Modi governments demonetisation move.





Armed police forces as well as reserve forces have been put on duty in addition to the civil police across the state. We have given equal attention to all the districts to ensure peace, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Alok Mohan told DH on Sunday. Additional security measures will be in place in important places such as Bengaluru, he added.



In Bengaluru, 30 platoons of Karnataka State Reserve Police and City Armed Reserve besides 250 Hoysala patrol vehicles have been deployed. Quick reaction teams and water jets have been stationed in sensitive areas. About 15,000 policemen will be on security duty. Security will be heightened at railway stations, bus terminals, banks, malls and the Kempegowda International Airport, the police said.
Exhorting people to go for cashless transactions to curb the menace of black money and corruption, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the demonetisation decision was hard, but the future is bright.





He also criticised the Opposition parties for their nation-wide protest call on Monday against demonetisation.



Addressing a rally in Uttar Pradeshs Kushinagar district, Modi also sought to assure the country that the difficulties being encountered by them due to the cash crunch would be over shortly.



Nirnay kathor tha, par bhavishya ujjwal hai (the decision was hard, but the future is bright), Modi said.



I know you are facing problems... the demonetisation decision was not an easy one nor is its implementation easy, he remarked, asking people to cooperate with him in his fight against corruption.



In his hour-long address, the prime minister made a strong pitch for moving towards a cashless society and asked people to download the apps on their cell phones and switch to mobile banking.



He said the days of keeping wallets are gone. Your (people) mobile phone is your bank branch... you can use it to make payments, he said.



Modi pointed at a newspaper advertisement displaying the State Bank of India mobile banking app, and asked BJP workers to put it up at shops in villages so that everyone is aware of it.

Even during his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat on Sunday, Modi asked people to make India a cashless society, and appealed to the youth to join him in this pious mission.



Take a pledge to be part of a cashless society from today and volunteer in helping others also to join in, he said.



Shut Bharat or graft?



Slamming the Opposition for their protest call, Modi said, While I am trying to plug all the loopholes and curb corruption, there are others who have called a Bharat bandh... you (people) tell me, what should be shut... Bharat or corruption?.



He said the exercise against black money would help the government spend more for the welfare of the poor. We will spend the money on the education of your children... for your health, he added.



Modi also referred to media reports in China, hailing demonetisation. Even the newspapers in China have said that no one had the courage to take such a decision (demonetisation) in a democracy, he said.
BJP President Amit Shah on Sunday welcomed Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumars decision to support demonetisation and thanked him for it.





I utilise this platform to publicly thank Nitish Kumars support for Prime Minister Narendra Modis fight against black money, Shah said while addressing a mammoth convention of the state BJPs Other Backward Classes at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru.



Shahs public acknowledgement of Nitishs support has now led to speculation in political parties on possible revival of ties between the two erstwhile NDA partners, the BJP and JD(U).



Nitish had stated that he had taken a principled stand on demonetisation of high denomination currency notes as he was convinced that the step would help fight black money. He had also said the JD(U) would not support the Mondays Aakrosh Diwas protest rally called by a group of Opposition parties.



Shah tore into political parties opposing the demonetisation move. Rahul Gandhi, Mulayam, Mayawati have lost sleep after demonetisation. It has taken away the gleam from their faces, the BJP chief said.



He compared demonetisation to a flood, which has united even arch rivals in Indian

politics. Imagine there is a flood and a huge banyan tree. Everyone wants to climb that tree to save themselves from the raging waters. Rats, cats, snakes, mongoose all climb that tree but do not attack each other only waiting for the flood to recede, Shah said.



Decision will boomerang



Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said the decision of the Opposition parties to observe Monday as Aakrosh Diwas would boomerang. They will now have to face the aakrosh (anger) of 125 crore people of the country, Kumar said.



BJP to observe Sambhram diwas today



The state BJP will observe Sambhram diwas (day of celebrations) to counter the Congress Aakrosh diwas on Monday. A decision to this effect was taken at the core committee meeting of the state BJP here on Sunday evening, DHNS reports from Bengaluru. The BJP workers in all the Assembly constituencies will distribute sweets and hold small rallies to celebrate the demonetisation move of the Narendra Modi government.



The meeting also decided to constitute three teams to visit drought-hit areas of the state and submit a report to the Centre, BJP sources said.


BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday charged the Congress government in the state of not allowing Central schemes to reach the people, especially the poor and the farmers.





Addressing a well-attended convention of the state BJPs Other Backward Classes (OBCs) at Palace Grounds in Bengaluru, Shah charged the Siddaramaiah government with being the most corrupt in the country and stated that the time had come to weed it out of power.



He said that for political gains the state government was creating hurdles and depriving the people of the schemes launched by the NDA government during the last two-and-a-half years. We have launched 54 schemes for the poor and the farmers since coming to power. They have reached the nook and corner of the country and are being appreciated. But the people of Karnataka are being deprived of the same by the state government, Shah said.



The BJP chief addressed the convention in Hindi and kept it brief. Shah said the beating of drums (nagaari) to mark the inauguration of the OBCs convention had signalled that the last nail in the coffin of the state government had been hit. The state has slipped down during the last five years. You must take it forward by voting the BJP back to power under the leadership of B S Yeddyurappa, Shah stated.



He said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi India had become the fastest growing economy in the world. Modi has been getting a rousing welcome whichever country he visiting. It is just not the welcome and greeting of the prime minister, but also a tribute to 125 crore people of India, Shah said.



BJP state president Yeddyurappa challenged the Siddaramaiah government to hold a public debate to compare its achievement during the last three-and-a-half years to the programmes implemented during the BJP regime. He said the government had failed on all fronts. The Congress had sought votes from the OBCs during the Assembly polls but had betrayed them by completely ignoring their welfare, he said.



Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar said there will be two more occasion when the BJP will beat the drum (nagaari): when the party will launch its full-fledged electoral war against the Congress government and when Yeddyurappa is crowned the next chief minister of the state.






At least 10 armed men on Sunday morning stormed the high-security Nabha Central Jail in Patiala and freed Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and five other gangsters.





The men were dressed in police uniform and fired over 150 rounds, leaving two policemen injured. The meticulously planned operation lasted just about 12 minutes.



Mintoo, who was arrested in 2014 by the Punjab Police on his return from Thailand, is an accused in 10 terror cases.



Later, one of the persons involved in the conspiracy to free the inmates, Parminder Singh, was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police near Shamli. Arms and ammunition were recovered from Parminder, who confessed that he was part of the group involved in Sundays jailbreak, the police said.



The armed men arrived in two vehicles and entered the jail on the pretext of dropping an inmate. Flanked by a handcuffed accomplice, they argued with the guard to let them in as they were in police uniform. The accused, who managed to flee, were alerted in advance and reached the designated area to escape.



The armed men then went further inside and managed to overpower the guards inside. They opened heavy fire, which was responded by ineffective resistance from the jail staff. The accused, including Mintoo and gangster Kashmir Singh, were hurriedly frisked away. A massive manhunt is underway.



An alert has been sounded in all the neighbouring states. The Centre has sought a report from the state government on details of the jailbreak. The incident is being viewed as an attempt to disrupt law and order in Punjab ahead of the Assembly elections.



The Punjab government has announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for any information on the incident. A special task force has been set up. Lapses in police and jail security have come to the fore. Additional DG (Jails) has been suspended.



The jail superintendent and deputy superintendent of the Nabha Central Jail have been sacked.
The police are yet to achieve a breakthrough in connection with the theft of Rs 92 lakh from the Bank of India premises on November 23.





Dominic Selvaraj Roy, 45, an employee with Secure Transit, a security firm that deals with banks, who fled with the cash, is still at large. The police did not get vital information when they questioned his relatives and friends about his whereabouts.



Police teams are searching for Roy in Chennai, Hyderabad and different parts of Kerala. There is no information about Roy, his wife and his children. Roy, a resident of Lingarajapuram, drove off with Rs 1.37 crore in cash from the Bank of India branch on the busy KG Road.



The police found the van abandoned in Vasanthnagar on November 24. They found Rs 45 lakh and a gun inside it.



A day later, a few notes from a particular series stolen by Roy were found to be in circulation at Begumpet in Hyderabad. The police had detained a few people and had interrogated them to get information about Roy, but the efforts went in vain.



Conmen still at large



The JP Nagar police are yet to arrest the three conmen who posed as sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) and robbed realtors of Rs 83 lakh on November 24.



The three suspects hail from Bengaluru. The police questioned family members of the trio to get information. But the family members told the police that the trio had deserted the families a few years ago, DCP (South) S D Sharanappa told DH.



Akshay, a close associate of the conmen, had told Shivaramu and Satish, both realtors, that he had demonetised notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, worth Rs one crore. He had told the two that he would give 20% commission for exchanging the demonetised notes with the Rs 100 and Rs 2,000 denomination notes. The realtors believed him and arranged Rs 83 lakh.



Based on Akshays instructions, the trio barged inside Satishs house where the notes were stored on November 24. They claimed to be the CCB police sleuths, transferred the notes to their cars and drove away along with Shivaramu and Satish. The suspects abandoned the realtors on the way and absconded.



No trace of fake IT officials



Two men, who posed as Income Tax officials and fled with Rs one crore that belonged to a Tamil Nadu-based industrialist on November 21 on Nice Road, are still at large.



Two special teams are searching for the suspects on the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu border. The police have questioned employees of the industrialists warehouse at Madanayakanahalli on Tumakuru Road, but there is no evidence to suspect the insiders role in the robbery.



The incident took place at around 4.30 am on November 21 when Shivu, Xavier and Sagayi Raj, all employed by Arogya Raj, the industrialist, were carrying the cash in a container vehicle to the warehouse.
The Bengaluru police on Saturday night raided a house in Palamner in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh and rescued a 10-year-old son of a businessman from KR Puram here, who was kidnapped for ransom earlier in the day.





The police arrested Naresh, Jagadish, Anil, Venkatesh, Rajesh, Ponnaswamy and Subramani for the crime. Naresh, the prime suspect, is an employee of the boys father Haresh Patel, the proprietor of Vinayak Timber Yard at Devasandra in KR Puram. Naresh had closely observed Patels financial transactions and hence plotted his sons abduction to make big money, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) N Satheesh Kumar told DH on Sunday.



In fact, Naresh and Jagadish had accompanied Patel to the KR Puram police station to lodge a complaint after the boy was kidnapped, the police said.



The kidnappers had kept the boy at the house of Venkateshs relative in Palamaner. The police raided the house around 11 pm on Saturday and rescued the boy. The kidnappers had given chocolates, biscuits and food to the boy and had not harmed him, the DCP said.



Naresh sought help of his close friend Jagadish to kidnap the boy. Jagadish in turn requested his friends Rajesh, Ponnaswamy and Subramani, all residents of Hosur in Tamil Nadu to help Naresh. Subsequently, Subramani contacted his friends Anil and Venkatesh of Sigehalli near KR Puram and promised to pay them if they help Naresh in kidnapping the boy, the police said.



Acting on the instructions of Naresh and Jagadish, the five kidnapped the boy from Hoodi-Ayyappanagar Main road, around 8 am on Saturday when he was walking towards his school along with his grandfather.



A little later, Patel got a call on his mobile phone and the caller told him that the boy was in his captivity. The caller said he would call again to demand ransom for the boys release. Immediately, Patel along with Naresh and Jagadish went to the KR Puram police station and filed a complaint.



We verified the call details of the number from which a call was made to Patel. We found that the caller was in constant touch with Jagadish and Naresh in the last one week. The call logs provided the crucial lead in cracking the case, the DCP said.



The police questioned Jagadish and Naresh who confessed to the crime. Based on the call details and inputs given by Jagadish and Naresh, a police team raided the house in Palamaner and rescued the boy after arresting Anil and Venkatesh.



Another police team nabbed the three others in Hosur. The kidnappers had decided to demand a ransom of Rs 1 crore from Patel. However, they dropped the idea as they feared that Patel might approach the police as the amount was too huge, the police said.
Political battle over demonetisiation is set to intensify on Monday as the Congress prepares to hold protests and the BJP urging traders not to join any call for downing shutters against the anti-black money move of the Centre.





Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken said party workers will hold a protest march from Mandi House to the Parliament House with the beating of canisters and utensils to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the alleged demonetisation scam.



Modiji should explain to the people the reasons for causing misery to the people on account of demonetization, he said.



The BJP tried to blunt the rivals aggression by urging traders associations all over the city to stay away from any shut down call by a section of political parties.Delhi BJP president Satish Upadhyay met traders associations and addressed a gathering at Mayur Vihar.



He said that traders with their hard work traders have contributed a lot to prosperity of the country. No doubt today traders are facing loss of sales but this is a transitory phase and soon doing business will be better and healthier.



Today economy is slowly switching from cash flow to cash less system and once this happens exploitation of traders by tax officials will end. Trade will be cleaner and traders will be biggest contributor to countrys revenue, he said.



South Delhi MP Ramesh Bidhuri talked to traders of South Delhis Tughlakabad, Sangam Vihar and Kalkaji markets and discussed their problems. Bidhuri sought support for the prime ministers tirade against black money which is root of corruption. Traders fully rejected opposition parties bandh call.



BJP's national secretary Sardar R P Singh met office-bearers of the Confederation of Sadar Bazar Traders Association to understand their problems and assured them to pass on their feedback to central government. Traders assured normal business at Sadar Bazar on Monday.



Delhi BJP general secretary Ashish Sood met traders at West Delhis biggest wholesale markets at Possangipur and Shivpuri who assured that business will be normal on Monday in their markets.



Chandni Chowk District BJP president Suman Kumar Gupta, councillor Surekha Gupta, Delhi BJP Media Incharge Praveen Shankar Kapoor talked to traders in wholesale markets at Khari Baoli and Chandni Chowk and traders assured normal business on Monday.



Councillor Arvind Garg met traders at Kamla Nagar, Bungalow Road, Subzi Mandi which have Monday as weekly off but here too traders extended full support to the prime ministers effort to make India a cashless economy. Many Traders here are contemplating opening shops on Monday, he said.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 27

Trend:

Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yldrm criticized the position of the European Parliament which adopted a biased resolution calling for the suspension of negotiations on Turkeys EU membership, Turkish Anadolu agency reported.

Yldrm made remarks at the recent health exhibition in Istanbul.

"The European Parliaments resolution is of no importance for Ankara, he added. We take into account only the Turkish peoples position. We are not interested in all other decisions."

He added that the EU must first choose whether it wants to cooperate with Turkey or terrorist organizations.

"Turkish people are waiting for an answer," Yldrm said.

The European Parliaments resolution was adopted by 479 votes "for" and 37 "against", 107 MPs abstained from voting.

According to the resolution, the European Parliament is concerned about the measures taken in Turkey as part of the emergency situation in the country.

According to the document, if the death penalty is restored in Turkey, Turkey's EU membership will be fully suspended.

Moreover, according to the resolution, Turkey has not fulfilled seven of 72 conditions for visa-free travel within the EU.
31 October 2016 (New Scientist)  British butterflies could be under threat from increasingly frequent episodes of extreme weather. In fact, heat waves, cold snaps, and heavy rain may have already contributed to reported butterfly population crashes. Researchers analysed data from the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS), which contains information on butterfly populations collected from more than 1,800 sites across the UK over 37 years. The team found that rainfall level during the cocoon life stage of butterflies adversely affected more than a quarter of butterfly species in the UK. But the greatest harm was caused by extreme heat during the over-wintering life stage, which had an impact on more than half the species. This may be due to increased incidences of disease. Or it could be that extreme hot temperatures act as a cue for butterflies or their larvae to come out from over-wintering too early and subsequently be killed off by temperatures returning to colder conditions, said study co-author Aldina Franco, from the University of East Anglia. [] The study has demonstrated previously unknown sensitivities of our UK butterflies to extreme climatic events, which are becoming more frequent with climate change, said lead author Osgur McDermott-Long, of the School of Environmental Sciences at UEA. [more]
By Glen Johnson

25 November 2016 (Los Angeles Times)  Police and migrants clashed violently in Bulgarias largest refugee camp Thursday night, resulting in hundreds of arrests. In response, the countrys prime minister vowed Friday to move hundreds of refugees to closed camps and begin deporting others. Around 400 residents of the camp, most of them from Afghanistan, were arrested for clashing with riot police Thursday. About 2,000 refugees were involved in the conflict, police said. [] Video published on the news website Balkan Insight showed refugee youth hurling stones at the police and setting tires and wood ablaze, sending plumes of smoke skyward. Authorities used water cannons and rubber bullets to bring the riot under control. 24 police officers were injured, and some 60 soldiers were deployed to help quell the violence.
The European Union cannot afford to lose Turkey, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said in London on Sunday, Anadolu reported.

In a speech made at the Turkish embassy to mark the end of his three-day visit to the U.K., Kurtulmus said: Losing Turkey is not an option the EU can afford.

About the state of relations between Turkey and EU, he said: Unfortunately, we had to tell our counterparts here about how the EUs failure to take necessary steps towards visa liberalization as agreed in the deal created a sense of betrayal on the Turkish side.

Turkey and the EU signed a refugee deal in March, which aimed to discourage irregular migration through the Aegean Sea by taking stricter measures against human traffickers and improving the conditions of nearly three million Syrian refugees in Turkey.

The deal also allowed for the acceleration of Turkeys EU membership bid and visa-free travel for Turkish nationals within the Schengen area.

He said Turkey had fulfilled its promise to stop the flow of refugees from Turkey to European countries as part of the deal. In return we expected them to keep their promises. Unfortunately, they did not do that, he said.

Intelligent politicians who think about the institutional interests of the EU and even think of their own national interests must understand this. If EU loses Turkey, it will become more introverted, he added.

The remarks of the deputy premier come after the European Parliament on Thursday passed a non-binding motion that advised to halt accession talks between the European Union and Turkey.

It is for the EU to decide, the politicians of EU to decide about how to shape the future of relations with Turkey, he said.

They will have to make their decisions and take steps to maintain negotiations with Turkey on a level of equal partnership, leave aside their biased and partial attitudes towards the country or the alternative of this would be pathetic for Europe, he added.
City plans to offer $500k buyouts to 4 deputy police chiefs

Five of the six current Columbus deputy chiefs would be eligible to apply for a buyout payment of $500,000. Four chosen would leave in January.
The Pirate Bay (TPB) is one of the most resilient torrent sites since 2003. (Photo : YouTube / Official10s)

The Pirate Bay has been the number one alternative after KickAss Torrents was seized after the alleged owner was arrested. Now, the said torrent sites together with others like 1337X and RAR.BG are reportedly in danger of being taken down by the authorities as well.







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A lot of torrenting sites have been taken down in the previous weeks. One recent move from authorities in Ukraine have led to alleged shut downs of such sites. Google is also starting to block torrent sites for those who use their popular Chrome browser, News.au reported.



Some torrent sites reportedly went offline without warning after the successful break-ins piloted by Ukrainian authorities working with the anti-piracy group Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) in the United States. On the other hand, some torrent sites are being blocked on Google Chrome and even Mozilla Firefox browsers.



French authorities have reportedly detained 12 servers of the private music tracker what.cd. Many believe that it is the reason why the site was down in the past few days. Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music (SACEM), the organization is equivalent to MPAA in France, was the one who held an operation against what.cd, Torrent Freak reported.



What.cd reportedly caused an estimated damage of $43 million to music creators because of its activities. As usual, the operations are an attempt to damage the piracy industry wherein Kickass Torrents alternatives and torrent sites thrive.



Since 2014, the French officials and SACEM have been giving a lot of effort to end the illegitimate undertakings facilitated by what.cd. Despite the site's takedown, torrents of music files are still available online.



Kickass Torrents alternatives, ExtraTorrent and The Pirate Bay are still alive but pirates do not know how much longer they can survive. KAT's takedown was a huge blow for the piracy industry but TPB's resilience could assure pirates that torrent sites will still resurface time and time again.



Learn how to unblock ExtraTorrent through the video below:






General Qamar Javed Bajwa. (Photo : Pakistan Army)

General Qamar Javed Bajwa will become the 16th Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army on Nov. 29 and is neither expected to end the Army's hostility towards India nor modify the Army's decades-old strategy of bleeding the Indian Army to death through a thousand cuts in Kashmir.



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The hard liner succeeds General Raheel Sharif, who retires from military service on Nov. 28, but whose three-year tenure as army chief was marked by a frosty and sometimes hostile relationship with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.



Gen. Bajwa was once Chief of Staff (as a Brigadier General) of the important Pakistan Army X Corps. He returned as X Corps Commander from 2013 to 2015 and is, therefore, very familiar with Pakistan's policy towards India.



X Corps is one of two military brigades seeing combat against India in Kashmir. Gen. Bajwa was posted to X Corps three times, the first time as a Lieutenant Colonel.



Gen. Bajwa's appointment as Army chief is puzzling some quarters since his X Corps is notorious for its frequent involvement in military coup d'etats against the Pakistani government since Pakistan's independence in 1947.



Other observers, however, said he was appointed Chief of Army Staff because he has no interest in politics and doesn't seek attention.



"I believe there will be no let-up as far as Pakistan Army's Kashmir policy is concerned," said former Army chief Gen. Bikram Singh, under whom Gen Bajwa served as a brigade commander in the United Nations peace-keeping operations in Congo in 2007.



Gen. Singh advised it's important to "wait-and-watch" how Gen. Bajwa conducts himself.



"In the UN operations, Gen Bajwa's performance was totally professional and outstanding. But a military officer's conduct in the international environment is different from the way he conducts himself back home. There, he is governed by his country's national interests," said Gen. Singh.



An unidentified senior officer in the Pakistan Army told Pakistani media that Gen. Bajwa has extensive experience with the complexities, the nature of operations and terrain along the Line of Control (LoC) separating areas of Kashmir separately administered by India and Pakistan.



Gen. Bajwa is expected to continue bleeding the Indian Army across the LoC through a combination of incessant small unit raids by Kashmiri militants, Pakistan Army Rangers, covert operations by Pakistan's spy agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and the occasional artillery and mortar bombardment.



The danger of a full-scale war erupting at the LoC remains high as both the Pakistan and Indian Army continue carrying out violent activities short of war. Most of those killed in the worsening violence are Indian and Pakistani civilians, however.



Prior to his appointment as army chief, Gen. Bajwa served at General Headquarters as the Inspector General of the Training and Evaluation from 2015 to 2016.


Rio Tinto to sell some Scottish aluminum assets to SIMEC for $410 mn

Mining giant Rio Tinto Plc struck a deal to sell its aluminum-related operations, including a smelter and hydro power plant in Scotland, to privately-owned SIMEC for $410 million.

The sale is part of the London-based company's earlier plan to divest some of its less profitable aluminum operations.

The sale comprises Rio Tinto's 100-per cent shareholding in Alcan Aluminium UK Ltd, which includes the operating smelter, the hydroelectric facilities at Kinlochleven and Lochaber as well as all associated land.

Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios, said, ''This is a value-creating sale for Rio Tinto and represents another example of refining our portfolio to focus on our suite of tier one assets.

''At the same time, our priority has been to ensure a long-term sustainable future for Lochaber and economic benefit for the wider Fort William community. There was significant interest in the assets, but SIMEC is committed to continuing operations at the smelter and working with the community on further economic development,'' he added.

The smelter will be operated by Liberty House Group, SIMEC's subsidiary within the international GFG Alliance.

GFG Alliance strategic board executive chairman Sanjeev Gupta said, ''This is a significant boost to our renewables portfolio and will be another major step towards reducing our carbon footprint in metals production.''

Gupta recently acquired two steel mills in Scotland from Tata Steel and had planned to bid for Tata's remaining U.K. operations, but Tata Steel entered into exclusive talks with German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG to create a European joint venture.

Rio Tinto has now agreed more than $1.3 billion in divestments this year, bringing the total value of divestments announced or completed to $5.3 billion since January 2013.


The Chair of the Donegal Policing Committee is calling on people to be more vigilant during the dark evenings and in the run up to Christmas following a recent spike in attempted and actual burglaries in Letterkenny.

Cllr Gerry McMonagle said in recent weeks there has been an organised gang of criminals in operation

As chairperson of the Joint Policing Committee I am appealing to local communities to get organised into Neighbourhood Watch committees and keep an eye out for your neighbours when they are away. Work in partnership with local Gardai to foil these criminals who are robbing our homes. People should ensure that their valuables are photographed and secretly marked and in a secure place in their home. Doors and windows should always be locked and if going away for the evening people should inform their neighbours and ask them to keep a watch on their home.

These cruel robbers dont care who they rob - the young, old, infirm if they see an opportunity they will strike. So I am asking the community to work in partnership with the Gardai and if they see anything suspicious around their neighbours homes to contact Gardai immediately.

As part of our work Donegal Joint Policing Committee will be holding an information meeting around Text Alert System and Neighbourhood Watch in Letterkenny at the end of November and we would like a good turnout from the local community at this event. Further details about the venue and time of the meeting will be published soon but until then we would ask people to secure their properties and valuables and to keep an eye out for their neighbours especially our elderly citizens.
One of two men charged in connection with a major fire in Letterkenny in September will be laid to rest later today after he was found dead in Dublin.

Owen McFadden (40) was found dead in Dublin last week.

It is not believed his death was suspicious.

His funeral takes place this morning in Falcarragh. He is survived by his mother and four sisters.

His remains will be removed from his mother's home at 15 Carrowcannon, Falcarragh to St Finnians Church, Falcarragh, for funeral Mass at 1pm, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery.

Mr McFadden's father passed away last month.

Mr McFadden, of Cavanconor, Falcarragh, and 30-year-old Paul McGinley from Glen Hola, Gortahork, were both charged with ten offences relating to a fire at Rosemount Lane in Letterkenny in the early hours of September 29th.

Nine cars were destroyed in the fire that occurred in the car park at Rosemount Lane, just off Letterkenny main street.

The cost of the damage has been estimated in the region of half a million euro.

A number of families who lived in apartments in the building had to leave their homes and several businesses nearby were closed for several weeks due to the fire.

Both Mr McGinley and Mr McFadden had been released on bail to appear again before Judge Paul Kelly in Letterkenny.
During my recent rambles travelogue around the USA I wrote on the fact that I visited West Point Military Academy and mentioned Irish emigrant Martin Maher who worked there for 50 years.

Since that, a series of coincidences occurred which I appreciate.

Last week Sky television screened among my all time favourite movies , The Long Gray Line, starring Tyrone Power (Martin Maher) and Maureen OHara (Mary O Donnell). Filmed on location at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with superb scenery, more significant, the fact that during my travels there, I walked the Academy areas on the Hudson river shown in the film.

Not only that but the film relates a fantastic story of Irish immigrant Martin Maher the main character, from Tipperary who in 1898 secured a waiters job at West Point.

Two years later he enlisted in the army, going through the ranks and ended up a swimming instructor and Master of the Sword. Many of the well known U.S. high ranking soldiers and generals taught to swim by the Tipperary man.

But wait until you read this one.Another young Irish immigrant also came to work at West Point, named Mary ODonnell who married Marty. Where do you think she was from? Meenacreave, Annagry Co Donegal.

Sadly their first baby, a boy, died at infancy and they could not have any more children, so both took it upon themselves to look after the young Corps of Cadets throughout the years. Many who eventually became household names - for instance, five star generals Dwight Eisenhower later President of the USA, George Patton( Battle of the Bulge) etc.

Again, coincidentally last week I received a very nice letter from Muses reader Annette ODonnell who now resides in Inver but originally from Annagry.

I couldnt believe my luck. Annette writes that the above mentioned Mary ODonnell was a distant relative of her family and the ruins of her old home still to be seen in the Meenacreave area. Better still, Annette also enclosed a photo of the grave, pride of place at West Point, of Martin and Mary Maher which proudly shows Martin born in Ballygrine, Tipperary and Mary born in Meenacreave, Co Donegal.

A Unique Area

I am not going to go into boundary areas as to where the Rosses starts and finishes, but just going to merely state a well known fact. The general Gaeltacht area of West Donegal is indeed a fascinating one, whose sons and daughters contributed immensely to the history and advancement of the United States of America.

For instance, General Martin Dempsey, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the U.S. Army, the highest ranking military officer in the U.S. Armed Forces, retired in 2015.

His grandfather John Devenney left Ranafast in 1926 and caught the emigrant boat to the USA. Martin, a fluent Gaelic speaker, spent every summer of his youth in the Ranafast Gaeltacht. There's scope for a Heritage Centre in the area to capture reflect on all these people..

The place was buzzing

Is gra geal mo chroi thu, Thir Chonaill, a stor,Do lui mar bheadh seoid ghlas san fharraige mor.

The words of the ancient Sean-Dun na nGall as excellently sung by Mountcharles lady Eithne Sneedon at the book launch in the Manhattan lounge Donegal Town last week of the Wild Atlantic Words.

A collection of short stories by Meas a creative writing group, many of these well known local authors, Darren Gallagher, Ann Garratt, Charlie Garratt, Marie Hannigan, Sally Neary, Clarrie Pringle, Malachy Sweeney. These 21 spell bounding stories, from Malachys, The Bees Knees, Sally Nearys Pilgrims to Ann Garratts The Phoenix provide a unique insight into a part of Ireland where people once gathered around turf fires to indulge their love of storytelling, a craft which lives on through Meas writers today.
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Almeria crowned as Spains post-Brexit vote hotspot, as British families seek value in the sunshine

New data from the Spanish registrars has shown that Almeria is Spains new hotspot, racing ahead of other regions when it comes to property sales.

Richard Speigal, Head of Research and data guru at leading Spanish property portal Kyero.com, explains, Weve been studying the latest sales data from the registrars, looking for patterns across the Spanish provinces in the wake of the Brexit vote. Our own data has already revealed that British buyers are increasingly focused on value for money since the referendum. Now were seeing Almeria emerge as the clear choice for those looking for good value Spanish property.

On a quarterly basis, property sales in Almeria are up by 93% when compared with Q3 2015, according to the registrars figures. With the rest of Spain growing modestly, Almeria stands out as enjoying a significant boom.

Almeria is in Andalusia, on Spains southern, Mediterranean coastline. While other Costas were busy erecting high rise developments in the late 1960s, to cram in as many tourists as possible, Costa Almeria remained largely untouched. Today, the coastal towns of Almeria effuse a sun-kissed charm that their more developed neighbours have lost for good.

Sharon Garner, Sales Director for Almeria-based Spanish Property Choice, comments, Costa Almeria offers exceptional value for money. Property here costs a fraction of what it does in the neighbouring Costas. Our coastal towns remain full of charm and character and just a 15-minute drive away, you can find yourself in wonderful countryside. This lifestyle is sought by a new influx of foreign buyers including French, Dutch and Germans.

Of course, there is still as steady flow of Brits still searching for their little slice of the Spanish lifestyle. Weve been shocked at the response to the Brexit vote by British buyers. Weve seen a sharp rise in sales and long term lets, both of which have superseded our expectations for the year.

Spanish Property Choice has had to expand its staff team twice already during 2016 to cope with increased buyer demand. The companys data also reveals a shifting clientele in the past couple of years. When the company opened in 2007, overseas buyers in Almeria were largely between 55 and 65 years old. Now, it is 45 to 60 year olds who are looking for a second home in the sunshine, with early retirees joined by those looking to bring up their family in a safe, healthy environment.

Kyero.coms Richard Speigal echoes the findings, There used to be a fairly well established pattern of British buyers working until their retirement date and they spending their savings on a home in the sunshine. Modern ways of working and shifting values among the younger generation are having a significant impact on that approach. Many people struggle to buy UK property well into their 30s, if not their 40s these days. With remote working an option and property prices in Spain so reasonable  and particularly so in Almeria, where the average property costs just 129,000  the appeal of moving overseas to raise a family has never been stronger.

By way of comparison, the average property in Alicante costs 210,000, while the average home in Malaga costs 295,000.

For further details, visit kyero.com.
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Tertiary-level students from select institutes can apply for a competition that will give them a chance to design a wool len garment for a fashion brand. Wool Runway is meant to raise awareness as well as educate the next generation of consumers and inspire emerging fashion designers to work with merino wool. The final presentation and design event are scheduled for December 21, 2017, in Mumbai.

Three institutions, including NIFT and the National Institute of Design, will be part of the pilot. Participating students will engage with wool while their teachers showcase the fibres properties, natural benefits and its place in contemporary fashion.

With Australian wool as the muse, each garment is required to constitute at least 80% wool. It must be accompanied by a design documentation including a mood board, creative statement, design illustration and a technical sketch. The applicant must be (and remain for the duration of the competition) a student in the final year of studies at one of the nine campuses of the three tertiary institutions in India (each an eligible campus) -- NID, Ahmedabad; NIFT, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore and Pearl Academy, Delhi, Noida, Jaipur and Mumbai. Participants will have an opportunity to be mentored by Gautam Vazirani, fashion curator, IMG Reliance. They will receive financial support and an internship offer.

Arti Gudal, country manager India, The Woolmark Company, said, "We see potential in Indian design students. Through this competition, we want to encourage them to expand their horizon and innovate. We want them to explore opportunities within the global wool industry."
An Australian university has launched scholarships for postgraduate and undergraduate students across all its courses.

Macquarie University is collaborating with three Indian institutions to offer some of the new scholarships and grants valued at more than A$240,000 to the latters exchange students and graduates enrolling on postgraduate courses in Sydney. These are Lady Shri Ram College for Women in Delhi, Tata Institute of Social Science in Mumbai and St Xaviers College in Kolkata.

Tim Beresford, deputy vice-chancellor, said, Those who come for an exchange programme receive the ambassador scholarships. They are offered a fee waiver for a semester and a living stipend of A$5,000. Postgraduate students are given merit scholarships, which entail a 50% reduction in the fee for Masters programme.




In todays competitive environment, it is extremely important to broaden your horizons and expose yourself to new thoughts and ideas. As someone with an entrepreneurial spirit, I always wanted to explore and push boundaries. To invent something new and go beyond the ordinary has always been my passion. As such, I embarked on an academic path that led me to study for a BE in Electronics Engineering at Nagpur University followed by an MS in Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan. However, I realised I needed to blend academic theory with proven project management techniques to manage future ventures. This is what led me to pursue a Stanford University certification in programme management.

Gandhi

INRDVS Electrical Consulting Pvt Ltd

Todays competitive environment, however, calls for more than just a slew of degrees. What is necessary is experiential learning coupled with hands-on knowledge that adds to effective leadership and success in the market. After carefully examining my avenues and weighing the options, I zeroed in on the fully funded Chevening Rolls-Royce Science and Innovation Leadership Fellowship (CRISP). Delivered at Said Business School, University of Oxford, the 11-week CRISP programme is for high-calibre, mid-career professionals. Twelve Indians and two Sri Lankans from the field of science, innovation, manufacturing, technology, business and related public administration with links to public policy are carefully chosen for it every year. Candidates are mostly corporate executives, entrepreneurs, research scientists, academics as well as public sector and government employees. You need to make an application. Afterwards, a panel interviews and selects shortlisted candidates.During the programme, I explored various avenues of research, innovation, and economic development by interacting with eminent thought leaders in their respective areas. Besides extensive research and visits to universities of repute, one fascinating experience was a networking session at the British House of Commons. Also, visiting the Rolls-Royce facility at Derby gave us an idea of why it is a leader in power systems and services. The fellows were also hosted by the company and the British Foreign Office for a memorable evening. The programme has helped me immensely as it has broadened my horizons. The chance to interact with people from other walks of life, sharing experiences across professions and opening myself to cultural nuances has given me a fresh perspective to understand the pulse of people. Above all, the programme gave me a chance to closely understand market dynamics in the UK and in mainland Europe, and network with peers and industry professionals. I feel fortunate that I was chosen for the fellowship. The knowledge and experience I gained through the 11 weeks is incomparable. I look forward to using my learning to further my professional and personal aspirations. The programme has the potential to help and nurture for India the next generation of innovative leaders who want to contribute to the cause of science and innovation and serve as an ideal platform to improve the countrys competitive index through innovation.
I studied from the beginning of the year. I was not concerned about the board exam. My preparation was not aimed at only faring well in the exam. I followed the natural course of education.

Of all the subjects, maths was my favourite. While the other subjects were fine, I was not particularly comfortable with Odia. So, I needed to put in more effort to improve in that subject. Beyond school hours, I devoted one hour every day to private tuition and the rest of the time was for self-study.

I feel the run-up to the boards is a healthy mix of the school playing a crucial role and the effort made by the student . My school has made a sizeable contribution to my achievement. From sincere guidance to dedicated teaching to evoking curiosity within me, it supported me as well as other students at every step of our journey.

My prescription for board preparations would be that you should not merely focus on the exam. Education is meant for the holistic development of students. Try to enjoy the learning process, explore your interests, understand concepts and enjoy them.

In all this, recreation is essential for all students, especially to negate the fear psychosis or tension that stems from exams. After a few laborious hours, students need a break, thats when they should involve themselves in hobbies, games or anything that interests them. However, having said this, it is of utmost importance to single-mindedly concentrate on the lesson during study time. I studied for four to six hours a day, besides school and tuition work. It does not matter how long you sit with a book; what counts is how focused you are during that period.

Library and reference work are of great help. You can access a wide variety of books, not just those related to school curricula, which help to develop your knowledge in multifarious fields.

Students should have their concepts clear. There is no scope for rote-learning if you wish to ace the exams.

My parents, family, friends and teachers have been the most influential people in my life. I aspire to be an astrophysicist in the future.

-As told to Aditi Guha
A study conducted by the National University of Educational Planning & Administration commissioned by the Ministry of Human Resource Development found that, as of 2013, there were 478 international schools in India. These schools were affiliated to three foreign boards - the International Baccalaureate ( IB ) in Geneva, Cambridge International Examination (CIE) and Edexcel, both based in the UK. However, though schools offering international curricula continue to gain in popularity, many parents are still unaware of the exact differences between the two more common boards  IB and International General Certificate of Secondary Education ( IGCSE ) and how to go about selecting the right one for their child. Here are the major differences between the two curricula.



>>Academic levels

IGCSE and IB essentially cater to students from different age groups. Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) IGCSE is comparable to IBs Middle Years Programme (MYP) while its A levels are comparable to the latters diploma programme (IBDP). Explains education counsellor Karan Gupta, At class X level, IB students study the MYP while CIE students study for the IGCSE. IGCSE students can opt for the IBDP after the IGCSE exams or move on to A levels. Both have maths, at least one science, humanities and social science and two languages as mandatory requirements. Apart from these, MYP covers arts (including visual art, media, drama, music and dance options), design and physical and health education subjects. In the IGCSE curriculum, additional subjects under the business, technical and creative courses include accounting, art and design, business studies, drama, enterprise, food and nutrition, and information and communication technology. Every school may offer different subjects and subject combinations. The combinations at A level and in the IBDP are similar to those offered at the IGCSE and MYP levels.



>>Approaches

While both organisations are known to be flexible and provide students a platform to explore their potential, they have a distinct approach to achieving the objective. The IGCSE curriculum is more content-orientated and exam-centric whereas the IB prefers a stronger practical approach. Opines Sudha Goyal, principal, Scottish High International School Gurgaon, Components such as TOK (Theory of Knowledge), CAS (Creativity Action Service) and EE (Extended Essay) make IB education more comprehensive especially at diploma programme level. Adds Meghna Singh, who is studying the IBDP after completing her IGCSE at Jamnabai Narsee International School, Mumbai, The IGCSE means a wider range of subjects. It encourages high academic standards through a practical approach to teaching and learning. If students find a particular subject difficult, they can drop it. The IBDP develops students holistically and encourages them to be better people as they are required to keep track of current affairs. Furthermore, it makes students come out of their shells. Individual presentations in class and oral exams are among the many ways students gain confidence. I was always shy and reluctant to make presentations, but the IB taught me to be bold.

>>Future options

IB and IGCSE qualifications are recognised by Indian universities. Till last year, both the IBDP and A level results were declared after the Indian college admission season. Thus, colleges would offer provisional admission on the basis of predicted grades. However, this year, the A level results of the March exam were announced in time for college admissions in May. However, experts agree that such qualifications open overseas opportunities for students. Says Gupta, While the IB is preferred by US schools, UK schools will prefer students with A levels.

>>Factors to consider

When it comes to international schools, parents have numerous options. However, it is important to find a good fit for your child. Evaluate the childs strengths as well as weaknesses and take his/her academic goals into account. Advises Gupta, Parents should make sure that the student is doing well  in the end grades matter. If a student finds the IB or CIE tough, he/she should consider moving to an Indian board. More important than the board choice is the school. Opt for a school which has good teachers and where students consistently perform well. There is no point in opting for the IB or CIE at a school where the highest grades are less than optimal. Adds Singh, A few subjects are difficult and demand time and energy. Students will be busier as the number of assignments keeps increasing and tests become harder. So, parents must be supportive as well.
To share with friends and brethren The Gospel of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (the Everlasting Gospel), and to prepare a people to stand when He returns to redeem His remnant. Also, to share relevant information of current events, and to show how they relate to prophecy; By means of articles, editorials, opinions, scripture readings, and poetry.

Disclaimer

Endrtimes does not necessarily endorse or agree with every opinion expressed in every article/video posted on this site. The information provided here is done so for personal edification; It's up to the reader to separate truth from error, and to examine everything (like the Bereans) from a Biblical perspective. Let the Holy Scriptures be you guide! - - - FAIR USE NOTICE: These pages/videos may contain copyrighted () material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of ecological, POLITICAL, HUMAN RIGHTS, economic, DEMOCRACY, scientific, MORAL, ETHICAL, and SOCIAL JUSTICE ISSUES, etc. It is believed that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior general interest in receiving similar information for research and educational purposes.
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The cause of the latest fire in the popular in Sayeda Aisha has not yet been determined; no injuries reported

Related Massive fire spreads through popular south Cairo market

Cairos fire department succeeded to extinguish a blaze that erupted Saturday morning in the popular Al-Sayeda Aisha street market in the south of the capital, destroying six alleyways of furniture and household shops, state news agency MENA reported.

The fire broke out in an 600-metre area of the market, which is known as Al-Tunsi or Friday market. No injuries were reported, MENA said.

The market is considered a time bomb in the heart of the capital as it lacks to safety and security conditions and this catastrophe could be repeated anytime," Cairo governor Atef Abdel-Hamid was quoted by MENA as saying.

"The market is very chatoic, and the narrow alleys where the market is located make it not safe and easy for civil protection to intervene," Khaled Mostafa, spokesman for Cairo governorate, told Ahram Online.

"We [the governorate] almost found a new location, which is 500 metres from the current market, in El-Khalifa area, and it will be fully protected," he added.

According to Mostafa, the total number of merchants in the market is not known.

The general secretary of the governorate told MENA that the cause of the fire had not been determined.

Two fires flared in the same market in June and September 2016.

The street market, located near Salah Eddin Citadel in the heart of Cairo, opens Friday and Sunday. The market is known for its cheap antiques, garments, furniture and household appliances.

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The Front to Defend Freedoms, an Egyptian coalition consisting of a number of political parties and rights organisations, released a statement on the third anniversary of the so-called Shura protests calling for the release of people detained in that case as well as a stop to policies of oppression.

The Shura protests case dates back to November 2013, when police broke up a protest in front of the now-defunct Shura Council where demonstrators demanded that the committee tasked with writing Egypt's constitution at the time strike down articles that allowed for military trials of civilians.

The statement called for the release of the Egyptian activists Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Abdel-Rahman Tarek and Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, who tried to defend female protesters after they were beaten by security forces as he passed by the protest but did not participate.

The statement also called for the overturning of verdicts issued in absentia against other defendants who were sentenced to 15 years in prison in the same case.

Dozens were arrested during the protest and 22 defendants stood trial for breaking the protest law two days after it was issued.

In September 2015, 18 of the 22 defendants were pardoned by a presidential decree, while earlier this month one detainee was pardoned by the president.

The Front to Defend Freedoms is a coalition that was formed in February 2016 to defend constitutional rights and liberties, and it consists of a number of political parties and rights organisations including the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, the Dostour Party, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) and El-Hakanya Centre for Social and Economic rights.

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New Zealand 271 and 0 for 0 lead Pakistan 216 (Azam 90*, Sarfraz 41, Southee 6-80, Wagner 3-59) by 55 runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Tim Southee and Neil Wagner combined to take nine Pakistan wickets  Getty Images

A six-wicket haul from Tim Southee secured a 55-run lead for New Zealand and left Babar Azam stranded ten short of a maiden Test hundred on a damp third day at Seddon Park. Rain allowed only 38.1 overs of play. A brief shower forced lunch eight minutes early, and only six balls were possible in the second session. Pakistan's innings ended 5.2 overs into the third session, after which the New Zealand openers came out and faced one ball before it rained again.

Pakistan were 76 for 5 at the start of the day's play, and trailed New Zealand by 195. That they narrowed their deficit to 55 was down largely to two partnerships featuring Azam: 74 for the sixth wicket with Sarfraz Ahmed, and 67 for the seventh with Sohail Khan. New Zealand then struck back, taking the last four wickets for only 24 runs.

Azam had feasted on some wayward New Zealand bowling on the second evening, picking up a number of boundaries with the cut and the flick. The seamers were a lot more disciplined against him on the third morning, largely sticking to a fourth-stump line and seldom wavering from a good length. Azam fought discipline with discipline, showing excellent defensive technique and looking entirely unaffected when his partners outscored him. He looked to play in the V as much as possible, and two of his five fours on the day came in that region, glorious drives down the ground off Wagner.

A long awaited five-for 28 Tests played by Tim Southee without taking a five-wicket haul. His previous five-for was 6 for 50 at Lord's in 2013.

2 Five-fors for Southee in 26 home Tests. His first five-wicket haul at home had come on debut in 2007-08.

1996 The last time a Pakistan No.3 made a higher score against New Zealand than Babar Azam's 90 not out - Ijaz Ahmed scored 125 in Rawalpindi.

61.75 Babar Azam's average in international matches this year - the best for Pakistan. He has 988 runs in 20 innings across formats.

The morning began with Sarfraz going after the bowling by pulling, cutting, and jumping out of his crease to put the fast bowlers off their length. He hit six fours in two successive overs from Southee, who was unable to find either the seam movement or the length that helped him run through Pakistan's top order on day two and offered up a number of short balls. Just as he entered the 40s and raised hopes of a similar innings to his match-turning 96 against Sri Lanka in Galle last year, he steered Neil Wagner straight to second slip, where Jeet Raval clung onto an excellent reflex catch.

Sohail, whose second-innings 40 in Christchurch earned him a promotion to No. 8, took over Sarfraz's role at the crease. Wagner, looking to test him with the short ball from both sides of the wicket, ended up leaking runs as Sohail took him on with the pull and the hook. Twice in succession, Sohail sent the ball soaring over the fielder at long leg, and once he bisected long leg and deep square leg.

The seventh-wicket pair took Pakistan into the 190s before Southee, returning for his second spell of the day, found some outswing to break the partnership, first beating and then kissing Sohail's outside edge. Then, in the next over, Colin de Grandhomme had Wahab Riaz lbw, his front pad going too far across the stumps and coming in the way of his bat's downswing.

The final session began with Pakistan 201 for 8, with Azam batting on 81. Southee bowled a leg-stump half-volley which Azam put away to the boundary, but produced a beauty in his next over, the extra bounce forcing Mohammad Amir to lob a catch to second slip off the glove.

In came Imran Khan, playing his eighth Test and yet to score a run in the format. He got off the mark off his second ball, dabbing Southee for a couple towards third man, and Azam moved to 90 with a rasping square-cut off Matt Henry in the next over. That, though, would remain his last scoring stroke, as Southee, peppering Imran with the short ball, forced the No. 11 to tickle one off his ribs and offer BJ Watling a catch down the leg side.
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Your contribution supports ETAN's ongoing support for the campaign of government and people of Timor-Leste to establish maritime boundaries with its neighbors. Legally-recognized boundaries would end Australia's theft of Timor's resources and bring to a close the independence struggle that began more than 40 years ago. In March, we conducted a successful online campaign calling on Australia to negotiate maritime boundaries now. This was in association with demonstrations in Dili, throughout Australia and elsewhere.



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Will the Pound vs New Zealand Dollar (GBP NZD) Exchange Rate Outlook See an Push Higher or a Test of 2016 Lows?

At the time of writing, the British pound to New Zealand dollar exchange rate is seen trading at the 1.75001 level, sharply lower compared to the week's opening levels.

GBP/NZD trended limply on Monday afternoon after falling to its worst levels in a week, as stronger demand for risk-correlated currencies ahead of Wednesdays OPEC meeting made it difficult for Sterling to hold its ground.

While the British currency recovered slightly from its worst levels as the Euro weakened, increased Brexit uncertainty weighed heavily on GBP trade throughout the day.

The GBP/NZD is expected to struggle in the near-term, owing to fresh Brexit fears.

The issue at hand is that the UK may be unable to leave the EU single market after leaving the EU, without first holding fresh debates and discussions. This would effectively force the Government to adopt looser immigration controls in line with EU leader demands, which could further erode confidence in how Brexit is being handled.

The British Pound was unable to advance against the New Zealand Dollar on Friday, falling by around -0.7% to trade at a near-weekly low of 1.76.

The main source of negativity for the Pound was a statement from Malta that the UK would be unable to stay in the EU single market without loose immigration controls, dashing UK Government hopes of such an outcome.

In domestic news, the Pound was unsettled after second estimates for Q3 GDP growth rates fell on the quarter but rose on the year; elsewhere, Confederation of British Industry (CBI) trades in November rose instead of falling on the month.

Latest Pound/New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rates

On Wednesday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1

The GBP to GBP exchange rate converts at 1 today.

At time of writing the pound to euro exchange rate is quoted at 1.159.

The pound conversion rate (against us dollar) is quoted at 1.151 USD/GBP.

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.

GBP NZD Exchange Rate Predicted to Dip if Brexit Questions Remain Unanswered Next Week

The coming week will bring high-impact UK data from Wednesday to Friday, though the underlying influencer is likely to be any Government response to the claims of restrictions in Brexit negotiations.

Wednesdays data will be the GfK consumer confidence figure for November, which is expected to show marginal movement towards a positive range from -3 to -1.

Thursday and Fridays news will cover UK manufacturing and construction PMIs; unhelpfully for GBP NZD forecasts, the manufacturing variant is expected to fall while construction has a slight rise forecast.

New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Rally Recorded on Friday after Supportive Trade Stats

Last week ended well for the New Zealand Dollar, which was able to climb against the Pound to a rate of 0.56 due to high investor optimism on trade stats.

Specifically, the October trade balance on Thursday night showed a supportive drop in the present trade deficit from -1394m to -846m.

Earlier in the week, the NZD was softened when US President-Elect Donald Trump announced that he would remove the US from the TPP trade deal, which New Zealand is part of.

New Zealand Economic Input Limited Next Week, NZD Shifts Likely on US News

The most significant New Zealand data out next week is likely to be Wednesdays ANZ business confidence result for November; this has a rise from 24.5 to 25.1 forecast.

Outside of this news, NZD is expected to be shifted against the Pound by any further trade-related comments from Trump, especially if he meets resistance to the planned TPP pull-out.

The week after next will see the Global Dairy Trade price index announced; any major milk price shifts in the week beforehand have the potential to further move the New Zealand Dollar against the Pound.

Could Philippines Trade Link Boost NZD Value in Future?

One potentially key piece of New Zealand trade news last week concerned the countrys relationship with the Philippines, which was put across by Australian-New Zealand Chamber of Commerce (ANZCHAM) official Tom Grealy.

Speaking at an anniversary dinner, Grealy said that;

Im very optimistic about the Philippines. Im very optimistic about opportunities on business. People who have been around, observing the Philippines, talk about this as the most purposeful, fastest-moving, most driven economic team seen in any administration. And you can feel it.

The NZD-impacting events in the next seven days include the RBNZ Financial Stability Report, the Building Consents (Source), the RBNZ Gov Wheeler Speaks (Source), the ANZ Business Confidence (Source and the Overseas Trade Index.
The USD to CAD exchange rate predicted to reach a best conversion of $1.35885.

The Pound to Canadian Dollar rate today: +0.16pct at 1.66592.

The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar rate today (29/11/16): +0.16pct at 1.34261.

According to Citibank analysts, USD/CAD's expected trading range is between $1.3312-$1.3575 in the near-term.

Citibank claims that the OPEC may reach an agreement to cut oil production on Wednesday with oil producer such as Russia and Iran supporting the production cut. The resulting oil price rise should underpin CAD.

"Oil prices may be underpinned as crude oil inventories are being digested gradually," Citibank wrote in a research note on Monday.

The main risk event for CAD is the Bank of Canada interest rate cut that may be delivered as early as this December in wave of the US president Trump's protectionism that increased external uncertainty.

The Nov 30 OPEC meeting looms large for the Canadian dollar (CAD) exchange rates complex this week.

'If an agreement to freeze production is finally reached, oil price and CAD may be supported' note Citbank's FX analysts on Monday.

"USD/CAD may range trade between 1.3312-1.3575 (5.83-5.71)"

The USD/CAD exchange rates remains 'stuck in a consolidation pattern as the markets pause to reflect on the sharp moves seen since the US elections' notes Adam Cole of RBC Capital Markets.

The Canadian dollars slide has deterred many from Black Friday cross-border shopping.

The sad news for the shoppers is that the forecast for the next year is not rosy either.

Bearish forecasts on the Canadian dollar

It is not just one forecaster, a slew of analysts forecast the CAD to weaken in 2017.

The most bearish forecast is by JP Morgan Chase.

They predict the CAD to drop to 70 US cents by mid-2017 and then hover between 70 and 71 for the remainder of the year.

Desjardins also expect the loonie to touch a level of 70 US cents by end of next year.

Scotiabank is slightly less bearish, as they expect a dip to 71 cents by the second quarter of 2017, however, by the year end, they see the loonie strengthening to 74 cents.

CIBC expects the loonie to drop to 72 cents by the first quarter of 2017 and recover a cent before the year ends.

CAD Dollars fall good new for Canadian exporters

The Bank of Canada has been hoping a surge in exports will help the economy transition away from the dependency of crude oil.

Hence, a weaker loonie is not something that will worry the central bank, as, a weaker currency increases the competitiveness of the Canadian exports.

With increased fiscal spending and tax cuts, Americans will have more disposable income in their hand and the Canadian exporters will want a share of the pie. The only hindrance is that Trump has threatened to withdraw from the NAFTA, which will be negative for the exporters. Trump has already dumped the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), hence it is likely that he will withdraw from NAFTA and then negotiate a bilateral deal with Canada.

"With oil prices still too tepid, a weaker Canadian dollar, encouraged by dovish monetary policy, has been seen as key to shifting growth towards non-energy exports and related capital spending," CIBC said, as quoted in CBC News.

Uncertainty in oil continues

OPECs forthcoming meeting is critical for crude oil prices.

If the meeting ends without a deal, it is likely to push oil prices down to $40 a barrel mark.

On the other hand, if the cartel manages to strike a deal, which we believe they will, crude is likely to rally towards $52 a barrel mark.

If crude oil prices rally, it is likely to support the loonie in the short-term.

Nevertheless, in December the market participants will be focused on the US Fed meeting and in January all eyes will be on the new President as he takes oath on January 20.

Until then, the markets are likely to disregard any macroeconomic data.

The CAD-impacting events in the next seven days include the Current Account (Source), the GDP, the RMP and the IPPI.

Will the USD CAD Exchange Rate Rally Next Week?

The USD/CAD continues its uptrend with the bulls buying every dip towards the 20 day exponential moving average.

The 50% retracement level of the fall from the highs in January of this year to the lows in May is at 1.3573.

We expect this level to act as a formidable resistance next week.

Hence, traders should go long on the pair only on dips towards the 20 EMA.

Due to the OPEC meeting next week, the USD/CAD is likely to remain volatile.

Traders should reduce their lot size to minimize their risk in a volatile market.

Short positions should be avoided as long as the pair trades above the 20 and 50 day EMA.

Oil Prices Set to Rise on Upcoming OPEC Agreement

In an update regarding the OPEC meeting this week, and something set to have a significant affect on oil prices and the Canadian dollar, UBS have released a Global Oil update:

"It looks increasingly likely that at its meeting on 30 Nov next week OPEC will agree the production cut envisaged at its Sept extraordinary meeting. In Sept an OPEC-14 production target range between 32.5-33.0Mbd was agreed, designed to accelerate inventory draw-down and bring fwd re-balancing. Saudi's reluctance to shoulder the burden of a production cut in 2014 appeared to signal a desire to bring down prices to a more sustaining level and to let the market set prices. The duration and depth of the negative price response and its severe impact on the domestic economy appears to have encouraged it to reconsider this position, at least in the short-term. Saudi may also be concerned that a further year of dramatic investment shortfalls that would inevitably accompany another price collapse could set up a dangerous price rebound that would be no good for anyone (flagged in the recent IEA 2016 World Energy Outlook)." UBS, 25th November 2016

So where do UBS see the price of oil in a scenario where an agreement fails or is successful?

"In the absence of any intervention by OPEC, we would expect the laws of economics to slowly correct the oil market along its pathway of readjustment, with sustained inventory drawdowns beginning in 3Q17 (sooner if OPEC successfully engineers a cut)."

"A failed agreement may see prices temporarily fall below $40/bbl but an effective agreement likely puts in a floor around $50/bbl."
Question regarding ECA & Education details



I am from India and currently based in Australia.



I have done by bachelors degree in Commerce and Post Graduate Diploma in Systems Management. All my education is from India.



I completed the ECA process through WES. In the report, WES considered only the graduation and the report mentions 'Bachelor's degree (three years) in CANADIAN EQUIVALENCY SUMMARY'.



I want to check the following -



1. While filling the education details in the online application for CIC, shall I provide the details for my post graduation diploma although it has not been considered by WES.



2. While filling the education details in the online application for CIC, shall I provide the details for my schooling.



2. In the ECA process, do we get high school (class 10) & senior secondary school (class 12) certificates accessed? If someone is applying from India then he will be able to help with this as different countries have different schooling systems.



Thanks

A
The Egyptian foreign ministry denies reports in Lebanese media that there are Egyptian troops aiding Al-Assad forces in Syria

Egypt's foreign ministry denied Sunday recent media reports claiming that Egyptian troops were participating in operations with the Syrian army against rebels in the war-torn country.

"These claims exist only in the imagination of those who spread them," Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in media statements, adding that Egypt was committed to the principle of "non-intervention in other countries' internal affairs."

"There are constitutional and legal procedures that are taken before sending any Egyptian soldier or armored vehicle outside state borders.

"Those procedures cannot be taken without the Egyptian people's knowledge," he added.

Last week, Lebanese As-Safir newspaper quoted alleged informed sources in Syria claiming that there was a "unit of 14 pilots from Egyptian air forces" that arrived at Hama air force base.



The newspaper also said that four Egyptian commanders arrived in Damascus earlier this month, giving aid to Syrian government forces.

Earlier in November, Egypt denied Iranian media reports that it had sent troops to Syria to aid the army in its war against "terrorists."

In an interview with Portuguese TV last week, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stated that Egypt was "standing with the Syrian Arab Army against terrorist organisations".

Egypt has long maintained that a political solution is the only way to end the conflict in Syria.

According to Article 152 of the Egyptian constitution, the president can not send the armed forces on combat missions outside state borders except after consultation with the National Defence Council and obtaining approval from the House of Representatives by a majority of two-thirds of its members.

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MADISON, Wis.  The Zika virus thrives in tropical climates. But it is also growing in this cold-weather city  up a flight of stairs, past a flier for lunchtime yoga and behind a locked door. That is where scientists working in a lab for Takeda, the Japanese drug company, inspect and test vials of the virus.

They are engaged in an all-out race to halt Zika, a disease that has set off worldwide alarm because of its links to severe birth defects. Day and night, these researchers are trying to crack the code to the virus.

Were slaves to the cells, said Jeremy Fuchs, a senior researcher at the lab.

And they are far from alone. Perhaps never before have so many companies and government organizations worked so quickly to develop a vaccine from scratch. Vaccines usually take a decade or more to develop. But researchers say a Zika vaccine could be available as early as 2018, in what would be a remarkable two-year turnaround.

More than a dozen companies are on the hunt, in addition to government stalwarts including the National Institutes of Health. To get ahead, some teams are employing innovative technologies that rely on splicing DNA, a method that has the potential to revolutionize the development of vaccines but that has never before been approved for use in humans.

The prestige of solving the puzzle and the chance to save lives are possible rewards. For the companies, another motive is the potential for significant profit. Unlike many recent viral outbreaks, which have been confined to poor areas, Zika has spread to countries such as Brazil and the United States, with millions of wealthy people and governments that can afford public vaccination campaigns.

Its highly unusual, said Dr. Thomas Monath, the chief scientific officer and chief operating officer of NewLink Genetics, one of the companies developing a vaccine. It reflects the big opportunity and public health need, and also the fact that we have more, different technologies available today.

But meeting the ambitious timeline is far from guaranteed. To keep the fast pace, some clinical trial organizers are trying to start their tests in South America over the next few months, when Zika infection rates are expected to be at their height there.

The timing is crucial. An outbreak of Zika provides an ideal testing ground for a vaccine, so the preventive medication can be evaluated in a population exposed to the virus. Researchers will know in short order whether the vaccines being tested are effective.

If they miss the window, a vaccine could be delayed for a year or more  a result that could lead to millions more people becoming infected with the virus.

Its a race against nature, said Michel De Wilde, a vaccine research consultant and former executive at Sanofi, a French vaccine manufacturer.

The virus, spread by mosquitoes and sexual intercourse, has now been reported in more than 70 countries. This summer, it landed in the U.S., spreading quickly in Puerto Rico and turning up in Miami. Government officials have advised pregnant women to avoid parts of Miami where the virus is active. In a sign that Zika will be a continuing threat, the World Health Organization has lifted its nine-month emergency declaration and said it would shift to a longer-term effort to combat the virus.

By September, after acrimonious debate and a long delay in Congress, President Barack Obama approved a $1.1 billion spending package to fight the virus. About $400 million of the money will go toward developing a vaccine and diagnostic tests.

The escalation of attention has been remarkable. Identified nearly seven decades ago, Zika was once considered mostly harmless, because about 80 percent of people who are infected show no symptoms.

But about 18 months ago, Brazilian officials began to sound alarms that it was to blame for an otherwise mysterious outbreak of babies born with microcephaly, or unusually small heads and malformed brains. Around the same time, heartbreaking photographs of children born with the condition shot around the globe.

Dr. Barney Graham, deputy director of the Vaccine Research Center at the NIH, was at a meeting in July 2015 when he learned of the threat. A Brazilian doctor pulled him aside at the meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, which had been called to discuss chikungunya, another tropical disease.

I know were here about chikungunya, Graham said the doctor told him. But I really want to tell you about Zika virus.

Within months, the link seemed increasingly clear, and public health officials predicted that the virus would probably infect millions of people. In December, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the NIH, called a meeting with the top members of his vaccine staff.

Similar meetings were occurring elsewhere in the vaccine world  at small companies like Inovio Pharmaceuticals and NewLink, in the offices of big manufacturers like GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi, and at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, which is a few miles from the NIH campus in Bethesda, where Faucis team works.

I said, All hands on deck, Fauci recalled. We have a serious problem here. Weve got to really move.

No single person directs an operation as widespread as the race for the Zika vaccine. But Fauci certainly sits near the center of it and comes with a singular perspective.

An immunologist, Fauci, 75, has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for more than three decades, playing a role in nearly every major disease outbreak since the 1980s.

And to hear him tell it, the Zika virus does not stand much of a chance.

Without being presumptuous, most of us in the field feel that we will get a vaccine for Zika, Fauci said recently, his staccato Brooklyn accent underscoring his confidence. So its really a question of whats the best one, how quickly can you get it, is it safe and is it scalable?

But he also knows the stakes.

For a pregnant woman, he said, its absolutely devastating in its potential impact.

His team, and the others chasing a Zika vaccine, started with a couple of big advantages. For one, the economic incentives are clear. The first company to develop an effective vaccine will win a toehold in a market that could ultimately reap billions in profit. And because governments are paying for some of the early development, the financial risk is limited.

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.

Also, the disease belongs to a family of viruses known as flaviviruses, which scientists have been battling for more than a century. Vaccines already exist for some of these viruses, such as yellow fever, Japanese encephalitis and dengue.

Another good sign: Adults infected with Zika seem to fight off the illness on their own, meaning the human body, if given the right tools, already has the resources to defeat it.

The vaccine hunters had several options. The tried-and-true method is what is known as a killed vaccine, in which a dead virus is injected into the body. The body then builds its defense against the virus in a way that also protects against the live version. This is how many vaccines work, including those for polio and the flu.

Several teams, including those at Takeda and one at Walter Reed, chose that path. Walter Reeds candidate entered early clinical trials this month. Sanofi has signed on to bring that product to market.

The advantage of the killed vaccines is that they are reliable. Several vaccine specialists said they were confident a Zika vaccine using this method would succeed. The downside is that developing one takes time, sometimes decades.

Other teams, including Faucis scientists at the NIH, decided on a newer approach. It involves manufacturing a harmless piece of the virus DNA, the molecule that acts like an instruction manual for the body. Once injected, the DNA tells human cells to make Zika proteins. Those proteins then assemble themselves into harmless viruslike particles that trick the body into developing antibodies that can fight the disease if it arrives.

It is a startlingly simple and fast approach. Faucis team created a prototype that it could begin testing in mice within weeks.

You can jump in right away, he said.

However, DNA vaccines are largely unproved in humans. While the technology has been approved for animals, none of the vaccines has been approved for humans. A vaccine developed by the NIH to prevent West Nile, another virus related to Zika, succeeded in early trials but never completed trials and was not brought to market because researchers could not find a drug company that was interested.

Part of the reason DNA vaccines are tricky, researchers say, is because the vaccines DNA must reach the nucleus of a persons cells before it can begin instructing them to make Zika proteins. When the vaccine is injected into the body, not all of it reaches the nucleus, lowering its effectiveness.

To solve this problem, some companies are trying a similar method that uses RNA, a molecule in the body that is more flexible than DNA. Among the things it can do is carry out, on its own, the instructions contained in DNA. The vaccine would not need to reach a cells nucleus to trigger the immune response.

GlaxoSmithKline and Moderna Therapeutics, using government grants, are working on RNA vaccines for Zika that are still in their early stages.

If one or more Zika vaccines are successful, it is unclear who would ultimately get them. The medication could be used only during outbreaks, or it could become routine in some parts of the world.

Early trials of the DNA-based vaccine developed by the NIH are underway.
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Ruben Soto, 56, remembers the day he and his family left Cuba. A woman from their church scraped the back of his throat to eliminate signs of strep throatan illness could have complicated, or even canceled, their travel plans.

Soto was 7 years old in 1967 when his parents parents received a letter telling them their application to leave the island nation was granted. They had feared for their lives and his for years.

My parents were jumping up and down, Soto said.

Soto is one of several San Antonio residents celebrating and looking ahead following the death of Fidel Castro on Friday.

Castro was the Communist leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, when he officially ceded power to his brother Raul Castro. Cubans and Cuban-Americans living in San Antonio see Castros death as the end of an ugly era, in which more than a million Cubans fled the country.

The Sotos decided to leave when Castro began persecuting Christians. Sotos father was a Protestant minister, and Castros regime cracked down on religion in the 1960s, closing churches and exiling religious leaders.

All of the pastorscouldnt go out and preach the word of God in public or talk to people, Soto said. You would be put in jail.

In Castros death, Soto said he sees hope for a country that extends freedom to its people. And for exiles, like himself, to one day begin to heal from the wounds caused by generations of separation from their homeland.

First generation American

The grandfather of David Cibrian, a longtime San Antonio lawyer, refused to speak to his grandson for 14 months after Cibrian shook Castros hand in 1995.

Cibrian was invited to a United Nations reception after helping The Dallas Morning News establish one of two U.S. daily news bureaus in Havana. There, he met and spoke briefly with Castro.

His grandfathers ire was understandable, Cibrian said, considering Castros regime jailed him in the 1960s.

My maternal grandfather actually spent about six months in jail for committing the crime of owning a business, Cibrian said. They took the store and then they jailed my grandfather, and just interrogated him off and on for six months to see if he was tied to the (Fulgencio) Batista administration, which he wasnt.

The incident was one of the motivating factors that led to the familys exile to the U.S. Cibrians parents were both students, but had to put their studies on hold when Castro came into power.

Cibrian was born in Miami two years after his parents first arrived in the U.S.

His maternal grandmother is 97 and told him, emotionally, Saturday morning that she had outlived Castro and thats all that mattered.

His mother and grandmother are pleased that that ugly era has ended as far as Fidel is concerned, but theyre also hopeful that more change will happen, Cibrian said.

He believes Raul Castro will be motivated by his ego to separate himself from his brothers legacy and establish his own.

Whether its because of good motivations or not doesnt matter, Cibrian said. As long as the Cuban people are better off.

Trip to hell

When Javier Oliva heard the news of Castros passing late Friday, his first thought was that his late father, who he believes to be in heaven, would be making a trip down to hell to give Castro a piece of his mind.

Olivas parents fled Cuba in 1963, one year before he was born. His father was in school to become a psychiatrist, but then his school closed. They saw their opportunity to leave when Castro decided he wanted the condominium complex they were living in at the time.

Fidel Castro said we want to seize these condos in the name of the revolution and anybody who wants to leave can leave this country, Oliva said.

His parents and older brother boarded a ship for America.

They had to give up all of their property, their apartment, all of their clothes, they could just go with what they had on themselves, said Oliva, who teaches government and pre-law studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio and runs a local general law practice.

His mother woke up this morning believing she had dreamt Castros death. She and her husband moved their family to San Antonio in 1971, where they have remained and grown.

I pray and hope that with his passing and that of his influence, now is the time for open and free elections and freedom for the Cuban people, Oliva said. And the suffering will come to an end, and we can start a new and free and prosperous Cuba.

bmartin@express-news.net

Twitter: @beedotmartin
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Commemorations today and a funeral Monday will honor San Antonio Police Detective Benjamin Marconi, who was killed outside police headquarters last week.

Marconi, 50, was a 20-year veteran of the department who worked in the Special Victims Unit. He was working overtime Nov. 20 when a man approached his patrol car as he conducted a traffic stop and shot him twice.

Marconi leaves behind two adult-age children, Jacy Marconi and Dane Marconi, and many other relatives, including a young grandson.

Friends and family have described Marconi as a loving and caring person who would pray for everyone. He was also a doting grandfather, they say.

I always knew he was going to be something very special, his aunt Elsie McGuire said last week. He had this beauty about him that was always with people  working with people, talking to people. He was always being there. I knew when he became a policeman, it was like thats his calling. To protect others. And thats what he loved. Thats the biggest thing he loved, doing his job.

He was also a decorated officer, according to a department list of Marconis merits and commendations. Marconi had been honored over a dozen times since 1997 for outstanding police work, including helping apprehend several burglary suspects on multiple occasions.

More Information Memorial The San Antonio Police Officers Association has set up a memorial fund in Marconi's name at Generations Federal Credit Union. To donate, go to any bank branch or online at www.mygenfcu.org/MarconiMemorial. Marconi's family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations go to the memorial fund or any of the following: South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, Lifesharing Community Organ and Tissue Donation, the Battered Women and Children's Shelter of San Antonio, Haven for Hope or The 100 Club of San Antonio. See More Collapse

Bens great attitude, initiative and commitment to serve our citizens represents high standards and expectations associated with officers of our San Antonio Police Department, Sgt. Samuel Esparza wrote in a 2004 merit letter.

Additionally, in 2002, Marconi was given the Top Gun Award by Centurion, the official magazine of the San Antonio Police Officers Association, for helping save an 11-year-old boy who had fallen into Alazan Creek near El Paso Street during a flood and was being swept away, floating facedown.

Marconi got onto the creek bank downstream, and as the boy approached, he jumped into the swiftly flowing water while dressed in full police uniform and caught the boy for a short period of time. The water was moving so quickly that Marconi wasnt able to remove the boy from the creek but briefly held the boys head above water.

That short interruption in the boys passage, however, allowed the fire department high-water rescue team to set up a short distance further down stream, according to an article in Centurion. According to the rescue workers, Officer Marconis valiant attempt to pull (the boy) from the creek water played a significant role in their ability to set up the best location to implement a high-water rescue plan.

Were it not for Officer Marconis selfless act of courage, endangering his own life in the process, (the boy) may have been swept to his death before rescue could have reached him, the article stated.

The boy was pulled from the water and airlifted to a hospital in critical condition but alive.

Viewing, funeral details

Today, a public viewing will be from 3 to 7 p.m. at Porter Loring Mortuary, 1101 McCullough Ave. The viewing will be followed by a rosary service.

At 10 a.m. Monday, a private procession, which will include the hearse, the Marconi family and some SAPD vehicles, will travel from the mortuary to Community Bible Church, the site of the funeral.

The procession will take McCullough Avenue to Interstate 35 North, travel along U.S. 281 North to eastbound Loop 1604 and exit at Gold Canyon Road.

Traffic may be heavy in those areas from 9 to 11:30 a.m., and the Police Department is encouraging motorists to avoid the areas, if possible.

The public is welcome to observe the processional from a safe location along the route. There will be Fire Department trucks parked on every overpass along U.S. 281; the overpasses will be partially closed to allow people to stop safely to pay their respects.

The procession will likely be brief, unlike the miles-long one in 2014 for Officer Robert Deckard, the last SAPD officer killed in the line of duty.

After the hearse arrives at Community Bible Church, 2477 Loop 1604 North, an honor guard will perform a rifle volley, taps will be played and a helicopter will fly over.

The public funeral will begin at 11 a.m.

Law enforcement officers from throughout the nation are expected to attend, as well as local and state government officials, according to SAPD spokesman Sgt. Jesse Salame.

Marconis colleagues in the Special Victims Unit will also attend, with their shifts covered by SAPDs homicide unit.

A public reception will follow the funeral.

There will not be a procession after the funeral and reception, as Marconi wished to be cremated.

The public can watch the funeral live on mysanantonio.com or follow the San Antonio Express-News coverage on Facebook and Twitter.

eeaton@express-news.net

Twitter: @emilieeaton
Related Israel firefighters say all fires extinguished

Egypt provided assistance to Israel in extinguishing a major fire that broke out Tuesday and spread in several parts of the country, an Egyptian government source told official state news agency MENA on Sunday.

The source said that Egyptian assistance in firefighting operations was to minimise the impact [of the fire] on people.

There has been no official confirmation from Egyptian authorities that the country had provided help in putting out the fire.

The blaze spread through much of Israel, starting in Neve Shalom, the Judean Hills and Zichron Yaakov, a town just south of the major city of Haifa, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes, according to Israeli media reports.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority assisted in firefighting efforts.

Other countries that provided assistance include the US and Turkey.

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WASHINGTON  Fearing Donald Trumps immigration plans and doubtful about help from the GOP-run Congress, pro-immigration forces are seeking to mobilize public opinion to forestall the president-elects threatened initiatives.

San Antonio Democratic lawmakers and national advocacy groups say Trumps promise to immediately rescind Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, is the most urgent threat as they prepare for an uncertain time in which prospects for comprehensive immigration reform have dimmed.

Both sides on the issue await Trumps appointments to head Homeland Security and for related posts as a signal of his plans. Trumps selection of Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the U.S. Senates most ardent critic of liberalized immigration, won praise from immigration critics while leaving immigrant advocates expecting the worst as Trumps selections become known.

Hoping to bring public pressure on Trump, U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro and Lloyd Doggett, both San Antonio Democrats, intend to take part in a DACA summit at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Dec. 11 to call attention to threats from Trumps promised cancellation of DACA.

Under DACA, started in the Obama administration in 2012, some 750,000 immigrants who came to the U.S. as children, young people known as Dreamers, have been shielded from deportation and provided temporary work authorizations.

Castro also is offering to help others in Congress sponsor DACA summits modeled after the December event in San Antonio, spearheaded by state Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, and others.

I think its going to be important to show the country who they are and that they are in this situation through no fault of their own, Castro said.

In recent letters to other House Democrats, Castro recommended sponsoring DACA summits in December, before Trumps January inauguration, to publicize personal stories of Dreamers and highlight benefits of keeping the program.

There are hundreds of thousands of people who now live in fear of being deported, Castro wrote. All because they came forward to get right with the law and pursue their dreams of living a full life in America, the only country they know.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups that expected to be pressing now for far-reaching immigration reform in a Clinton administration instead are planning defensive tactics that rely on turning public opinion against heavy-handed immigration policies.

Those efforts have generated statements from public officials in Texas and more than 20 other states that they would not take an active role in deportation.

Cosecha, a new organization dedicated to rights for undocumented immigrants of all ages, said it has organized 135 colleges and universities thus far. Many of them held protests and walkouts Nov. 16 and another round is scheduled for Thursday.

The idea of sanctuary campuses has spread like wildfire, said Cosecha spokeswoman Vera Parra. Students are saying we are not going to allow mass deportations under a Trump administration to become the new normal and that they will do whatever it takes to stand up to ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement).

Frank Sharry, who heads Americas Voice, an alliance of pro-immigration groups, described a moment of uncertainty among members with a lot of hotlines, webinars, consultations and meetings.

If theres a broad response from mayors, educational and health institutions and private individuals that say were going to get between Trump and Dreamers and others who are undocumented, that is probably our best shot at blowing up the deportation machinery, he said.

Trump has given no indication on how he might proceed since his assertion on CBS 60 Minutes this month that he would target 2 million to 3 million undocumented immigrants who have criminal records. It remains unclear how he arrived at those numbers.

Daniel Garza, who heads Libre Initiative, a national organization of conservative Latinos, said that if Trump cancels DACA he should swiftly offer measures in Congress that would protect Dreamers. Garza, of Mission, worked in the George W. Bush White House and is rumored to be in line for a position on Trumps transition team.

Undoing DACA, as Trump has promised, makes these kids real vulnerable. And we feel thats unfair because they came forward in good faith, and the president promised them that he would take care of them, Garza said.

Garza believes that Congress can pass a broad immigration reform bill this year  perhaps a minority view  that includes Dreamer protections. He said Republicans in Congress might be wise to notice the increasing Latino turnout this year, an estimated 2 million higher on Nov. 8 than four years ago.

You would endear yourself to the Latino community because these 11 million people are our neighbors, our fellow church members and our colleagues at school. This is our community, and it would go a long way with the Latino community if we got on with the business of reform, he said.

His view runs counter to recommendations of the Federation for American Immigration Reform, or FAIR, a well-connected organization with the goal of limiting immigration. FAIR wants Trump to rescind several executive actions that the group contends add up to failure to enforce immigration laws.

FAIR media director Ira Mehlman dismissed the recent flurry of statements from localities about refusing to assist in deportation.

Theres a difference between not participating and obstruction, he said. I dont think anybody is asking these communities to go out and find people who are in the country illegally.

FAIR could wield clout in the new administration if Trump chooses Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach for a key Homeland Security position, perhaps even secretary. Kobach, who has carved out a national reputation for hard-line immigration proposals, met with Trump on Sunday.

He is somebody who has an intimate knowledge of immigration policy, Mehlman said of Kobach, who has retained a position as a lawyer for FAIRs legal arm while serving in his elected office.

Sharry, of Americas Voice, declared Kobach even worse than Sessions on immigration matters. The Southern Poverty Law Center, which describes itself as a nonprofit that combats hate and intolerance, wrote in a recent report that Kobach is a central figure in the nativist movement and has ties to white nationalist leaders.

FAIR struck back last week, referring to the center as a daily smear machine that bullies political opponents and is deeply invested in promoting mass immigration.

FAIR said it intended to file a complaint with the IRS challenging the centers nonprofit tax status.

bill.lambrecht@hearstdc.com
Before Republican Donald Trump bested Hillary Clinton for president, Sen. Ted Cruz sparked a fresh line of speculation when he hinted that the Senate in 2017 might not even vote to fill a vacancy on the Supreme Court.

The Texas Republican, an attorney and former Supreme Court clerk who went on to represent Texas before the court, asserted that the courts current composition of eight justices  following the February 2016 death in Texas of Justice Antonin Scalia  was consistent with other times the court had fewer than nine members.

Cruz, addressing an October 2016 campaign rally for Darryl Glenn, the Republican U.S. Senate nominee in Colorado, said: There is certainly a long historical precedent for a Supreme Court with few justices.

We asked Cruzs Senate office what he meant by a court with fewer than nine justices. Did a specific historical period back his claim? By email, Cruz spokesman Phil Novack didnt offer detail, saying instead: The key here is that Cruz said there is time to debate the issue.

Speaking of debate, we spotted objections from two justices to the court not regaining a member. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said in May 2016 that eight members is not a good number for a multi-member court. In September 2016, Justice Elena Kagan opined that an eight-member court would become a problem over time because of the potential for tie votes, according to a U.S. News & World Report news story.

At the Colorado rally, though, Cruz noted that Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who joined the court in 1994, had observed that the vacancy is not impacting the ability of the court to do its job. Cruz was referring to an Oct. 24, 2016, interview of Breyer on MSNBCs Morning Joe in which the justice said the Supreme Court occasionally has functioned with fewer than nine members. The court, when it began at the time of the Constitutions writing, had six members, Breyer said. They had six members for several years. They had 10 members for several years after the Civil War.

The Supreme Court without nine members

The court can act without an odd number of members. But if a majority cannot agree on an opinion, its as if the court never took up the case. If the Court divides 4-4, the lower court opinion is affirmed without creating any Supreme Court precedent, Jeffrey Fisher, a Stanford University law professor, told Business Insider.

And the even number of justices after Scalias death altered the trajectory of a few major decisions during the courts latest term, which ran from October 2015 to June 2016. Consider Fisher vs. University of Texas in which the court decided 4-3 that the University of Texas at Austins race-conscious admissions program and others like it around the country were constitutional. If Scalia were alive to cast a vote in the case, court observers agree, he likely would have made it a 4-4 decision--with the court still upholding the UT program but not creating a national precedent.

The thing is that the court gets the hard cases where you got legitimate arguments on both sides, Kermit Roosevelt, a University of Pennsylvania law professor, told us by phone. Those are exactly the cases where it needs not to split 4-4.

For months, filling Scalias seat has been a topic of fierce partisan fighting. Democrats have criticized the Republican-majority Senate for refusing to consider President Barack Obamas nomination of Merrick Garland, a federal appellate judge, to fill the vacancy. Senate Democrats argue that the court needs a full contingent of nine justices to settle legal disputes of consequence.

Courts size through history

Breyer was correct that the court didnt start with nine members. Also, we learned, the courts size is set by statutory law, not in the Constitution.

There also have been long stretches where the court remained short a justice. Most recently, 257 days elapsed between Scalias death and Cruzs statement.

To our inquiry, James OHara, chairman of the Library Committee at the Supreme Court Historical Society, told us by phone that when there is divided government in Washington, fighting over a vacant court seat is to be expected. Since the Constitution is mum about how many judges can sit on the high court, any change to the number requires federal legislation.

OHara, a retired history professor from Loyola University Maryland, said: When it comes to Supreme Court vacancies, Congress and the president play hardball and this is not the first time. Its something that has happened multiple times, usually because the president is from one party and the other party is in control of the Senate.

We asked about specific years when the number of Supreme Court justices fluctuated, and OHara advised that twice in the courts history, it operated for months with fewer than nine justices.

Arguments for and against a nine-member court

Next, we looked for research into whether an even-numbered court has affected the courts quality of work  finding that debatable. After all, the last time the court was statutorily set at fewer than nine justices, America did not have 50 states and slavery was a major legal issue. The courts membership has not permanently dropped below nine for more than a century, making it difficult to compare whether it is more or less able to do its work with fewer than nine.

Brianne Gorod, chief counsel at the Constitutional Accountability Center, argued in a February 2016 Huffington Post piece that an even-numbered court would promote stalemates. By hearing cases in which lower courts are divided, the Court can settle the dispute and establish one rule of law to govern the entire nation, she wrote. But there will be many cases in which the Court cannot do that when it has only eight members. Theres no question that on this sharply divided Court, the potential for 4-4 decisions will be strong.

Meanwhile, Eric Segall, a professor at Georgia State University College of Law, argued in an April 2016 Salon blog that an even-numbered court would champion compromise. First, with eight Justices equally divided between the two major political parties, the winning side must convince at least one Justice to side with Justices from the other party to form a majority. Over time, this requirement would lead to more public confidence in the final outcomes and also likely generate more moderate arguments and decisions (which is a good thing given that the Court is composed of life tenured, elite lawyers who the people dont elect and cannot vote out of office).

Our ruling

Cruz said: There is long historical precedent for a Supreme Court with fewer justices.

In fact, Congress has kept the court at nine members for all but a handful of years since lawmakers set that number of justices in 1837. A few extended vacancies later left the court operating with eight members, but they occurred because the Senate was resisting nominees rather than committing to an even-steven smaller court.

We rate this claim Mostly False.

MOSTLY FALSE - The statement contains an element of truth but ignores critical facts that would give a different impression.
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WASHINGTON  After six years of futility, Texas Republican Kevin Brady is feeling the adrenalin rush of repealing Obamacare.

As the chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, the low-key congressman from The Woodlands will be the point man for the replacement of President Barack Obamas signature health care overhaul, the top target of congressional Republicans and President-elect Donald Trump.

This is a blast, Brady said last week. Its pretty exciting. Its pretty neat. Its hard to sleep.

Amid the war whoops of repeal, however, there have been some mixed signals about what should come after the Affordable Care Act, the law that has expanded health insurance to an estimated 20 million Americans, including some 1 million Texans.

Trump, echoing a House Republican blueprint that Brady helped roll out this year, has hinted that he may want to keep the most popular features of the law. That includes protections for young adults now covered on their parents plans and for patients with pre-existing medical conditions.

By all accounts, replacing the ACA is going to be a tough political slog, and not just because of Democratic opposition. Since his election, Trump has backed away from the sort of total repeal promised by conservative rivals such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who ran for president promising to repeal every word of Obamacare.

Some free-market conservatives argue against any government mandate that guarantees certain kinds of coverage, while industry leaders who have invested heavily in the ACA system worry about the vagaries of any political transition and its unpredictable results.

Were in completely uncharted territory, said Larry Levitt, a Kaiser Family Foundation executive who tracks health care policy. A law affecting this many people has never been unwound before.

While there is little doubt that a newly energized Republican-led Congress has the political muscle to pass an Obamacare repeal bill  and a president who will sign it  consumer and industry groups worry about a highly politicized process that could take years to play out. Any pitfalls along the way could send insurers fleeing and leave millions without coverage.

Just because we dont know yet whats happening yet, its keeping us all awake at night. said Ken Janda, president and CEO of Community Health Choice, which offers a plan on the federal exchange.

Janda, who recently attended industry conferences in Dallas and Pittsburgh, said an orderly transition could be just as important as the final product that emerges from Congress.

It is a real concern that, if not handled appropriately, you could just have all the insurance companies have no choice but to bail out and leave people hanging, he said.

At the center of the coming debate is Brady, whose committee will be charged with reversing the tax policies that form the architecture of Obamacare. The most notable is the individual mandate, enforced by the threat of tax penalties against Americans who do not buy coverage.

It is that mandate, along with the edict requiring large employers to insure workers, that has most upset Republicans. It has had mixed results adding hordes of young, healthy people to the insurance rolls, the linchpin Obamacare relies on to guarantee coverage to people with costly medical conditions.

The spiking premiums on the Obamacare exchanges this year are viewed by many health care experts as a symptom of the laws enrollment struggles, even with the individual mandate.

The Republican plan would break that linkage, replacing it with a combination of high-risk pools, portable tax incentives to buy low-cost insurance and continuous coverage protection.

The individual mandate failed because it forced people to buy health care they didnt want and couldnt afford, Brady said.

The test of any new Republican plan will lie in whether it improves access to health care, without government edicts, and at a lower cost. That is what Brady and his colleagues promise.

Unlike Obamacare, Republicans are not going to rip health care out of the hands of the American people, Brady said. There will be an appropriate, deliberate transition so Americans can fully choose health care that works for them, rather than health care that works for Washington.

Brady dismissed the charge that Republicans are poised to dump millions of newly covered Americans from the insurance rolls, calling it the new big lie in health care.

A GOP outline drafted by Brady, House Speaker Paul Ryan and other House leaders this year envisions a new system of vouchers and state block grants to make up for the estimated 11 million indigent and low-income people who have benefited from Obamacares expansion of Medicaid.

Texas, which did not participate in the Medicaid expansion, leads the nation with an estimated 4.6 million uninsured people.

For those higher on the income scale, the GOP plan promises to preserve employer-based insurance, expand health savings accounts and expand the flexibility to buy insurance across state lines.

For now, those promises remain enshrined in a 20,000-word sketch. There is no draft replacement bill with specific costs and timelines for policy experts to scrutinize.

There is, however, political pressure to repeal Obamacare on day one of the Trump presidency.

We should do it immediately, said Rep. Bill Flores of Bryan, the outgoing head of the conservative Republican Study Committee, the largest group within the House GOP caucus. I would think that we should do it right after the swearing-in of the new Congress and have the repeal bill on the presidents desk on January the 20th.

While Brady says he is focused more on the solution than the timeline for repeal and replacement, other insiders contemplate a transition that would take at least a couple of years.

The ACAs protections for people with pre-existing conditions, shelter from lifetime caps and allowances for young adults to stay on their parents plans until they turn 26 remain politically popular. Brady calls them common-sense protections.

Trump, in a recent 60 Minutes interview, called them the strongest assets of the law.

They also would be the hardest parts to jettison. Because they do not have direct federal cost or revenue implications, under Senate budget rules they are the parts of Obamacare that remain subject to a likely Democratic filibuster.

Still, some conservatives would like to see even the most palatable elements of Obamacare extinguished and replaced in some form. What that might look like remains to be seen.

I think Republicans would be making a mistake if they dont carve them out and find some other way to take care of them, said Blaine Winship, the lead trial counsel for 26 states, including Texas, that mounted an unsuccessful legal challenge to the ACA before the Supreme Court.

Winship argued that guaranteed coverage for pre-existing conditions is like insuring a car after a crash. Who would buy insurance until they get sick?

If the Republicans want to have a system in which we have a viable, active segment of private health care insurers, he said, we cant be forcing the insurance companies under any circumstances to be having to do these kinds of things, and still call it insurance.

The answer, according to Brady and Flores, would be some combination of carrots and sticks: The carrot would be the promise of low-cost insurance up front; the stick would be progressively expensive out-of-pocket costs the longer one waits to buy. For now, the details are murky.

I dont know, Flores said, well have to come up with something.

kevin.diaz@chron.com
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Only three Texas National Guard soldiers who transferred from California have been caught up in a re-enlistment bonus controversy that made headlines across the country and triggered a Pentagon order to stop federal efforts to collect millions of dollars from troops, officials said.

But officials at Camp Mabry in Austin said the Texas Guard is trying to recoup up to $4.6 million from 2,252 soldiers it believes violated their bonus contracts.

A review found no evidence that it inadvertently gave its soldiers larger-than-allowed bonuses  problems that emerged in the California scandal  and no evidence of fraud, the officials said.

The government did, however, seek repayment from Texas Guard soldiers who failed to meet contract requirements, mostly for reasons that included failing two consecutive physical training tests, misconduct leading to a discharge, voluntary retirement or failing to qualify for the job specialty for which a bonus was given. Some were deemed to have forfeited bonus money by transferring to another military branch.

Texas has the nations largest National Guard organization, with 18,216 soldiers in its Army component and 3,315 airmen. Overall, 10,366 of its GIs were given $48 million in enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses from 2007 through the 2016 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 20.

More Information Texas National Guard The largest National Guard organization in the nation has 21,531 soldiers and airmen reporting to 112 facilities. Budget for 2016 fiscal year: $510.4 million Army Guard: 18,216 soldiers Air Guard: 3,315 airmen State Guard: 1,862 civilian volunteers Troops killed in action since 9/11: 12, all from the Army Guard See More Collapse

The bonuses became popular with Army National Guard organizations nationwide as the Iraq insurgency exploded in 2006 and the Pentagon grew desperate to keep experienced troops in uniform. A recent Los Angeles Times account of the program administered by the California National Guard revealed that thousands of soldiers were ordered to repay higher-than-authorized bonuses mistakenly handed out years ago.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter suspended the California Guard collection efforts after a public outcry last month, saying he wanted to treat fairly the California soldiers who might have been given bonuses or tuition assistance in error. In that state, the Los Angeles Times reported, 9,700 troops have been forced to pay back $22 million in bonus money.

Some California veterans told the Times they had to take out loans and second mortgages to repay their bonuses. One master sergeant, the incentives manager for the California program, was given 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2011 to filing $15.2 million in false claims.

Carter was critical of the sluggish pace of resolving cases and said the Defense Department would provide for a process that puts as little burden as possible on any soldier who received an improper payment through no fault of his or her own while vowing to respect our important obligation to the taxpayer.

A Pentagon official, Maj. Jamie Davis, said the stop-payment order affected only the California National Guard. Recoupment efforts are ongoing in other states, including Texas.

After a thorough internal review coupled with reports from a recent site visit by the National Guard Bureau, we are confident that unauthorized contracts of enlistment bonuses are not an issue in the Texas Army National Guard, Air Force Lt. Col. Travis Walters, the Guards chief spokesman, said in a prepared statement.

The problem stretches back a full decade. The review found that roughly half of the Texas Guard soldiers who failed to meet the requirements of their re-enlistment bonus contracts owed the government the lions share of the money involved, a total of $3.18 million paid out from 2006 to 2008  the peak of Iraqs insurgency.

So far, 601 Texas Guard soldiers have submitted appeals, with about seven out of 10 prevailing, said Maj. Brian Hildebrand, the Guards education and incentives officer in charge of recruiting and retention.

The defense secretarys order stopped collection activities for only three Texas Guard soldiers, all of them transfers from California. The one owing the most money, identified as Soldier K, is $30,000 in arrears after receiving funds for bonuses that should not have been given.

Hildebrand said the case is thought to have involved fraud, but he had no details. The soldier, who received $20,000 from the Select Reserve Incentive Program and $10,000 under the Officer Affiliation Bonus, has repaid $510.

Another ex-California Guardsman, Soldier D, had been ineligible for a $20,000 enlistment bonus and has paid back less than half of it. That case did not appear to be fraudulent, he said.

The three from California are among eight Texas Guard soldiers who came from other states or the active-duty ranks and owed money to the government. As a group, they have paid about one-fifth of their debt. One former active-duty soldier who received bonuses totaling $15,157 transferred to Texas and still owes $12,495.

In the other cases, the Texas Guard did not always demand repayment of bonuses. And sometimes it attempted to collect repayments only for part of the time a soldier served.

More than 100 of the GIs who were asked to return bonus money had become officers or transferred to the active-duty Army. Dozens had traded their military jobs for civilian positions.

Other National Guard organizations around the country also reported far fewer problems than were uncovered in California. Guard officials in New York, Illinois, Washington State and Connecticut told the Express-News they saw no evidence of fraud in their bonus re-enlistment programs.

It just didnt happen here, said New York National Guard spokesman Eric Durr, who noted that 60 troops among the organizations 16,100 soldiers and airmen had been asked to pay back bonuses over the past decade because they failed to meet requirements.

The thing that happened in California did not happen in the state of New York, he said.

In Connecticut, the Guard said audits there going back six years found that no soldier had unwittingly received a larger bonus than should have been given. The Illinois Guards Lt. Col. Brad Leighton said that was true of his state as well.

The Washington National Guard said 330 soldiers and airmen have received bonuses that had some administrative recoupment action required since 2002. Most were due to the troops failing to meet their enlistment obligations, Capt. Joseph Siemandel said.

The Texas Guard said the usual contract in the Select Reserve Incentive Program, which covers enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, was worth $5,000, with the maximum running four times that.

The largest single recoupment in the Texas Guard has been $21,388. Hildebrand, the incentives officer, cautioned that while up to $4.6 million could be recouped, the amount will be less as soldiers appeal.

How low, he said, we cannot tell you or predict.

sigc@express-news.net
The National Farmers Union has today renewed its call for new dairy Producer Organisations (POs) after the release of an EU Commission report into the impact of the 2009 Milk Package.

NFU dairy board chairman Michael Oakes said the UK must develop a 'collaborative dairy industry' that can compete effectively in the UK and on the world markets.

The focus of the Commission report is the important role POs can play in increasing farmer bargaining power, it lines up with the NFU dairy boards asks including its calls for fairer, more balanced milk contracts and stronger producer representation.

'Its a shame that many UK milk buyers, both large and small, see POs as a threat,' NFU dairy board chairman Michael Oakes said

The report reveals that in some EU countries, which have fully adopted the measures within the package, the dairy farmers position in the supply chain has been improved.

In 2009 the NFU, NFU Scotland and DairyUK agreed a voluntary code of conduct on contractual relationships as a preferred route to the type of regulation Defra was contemplating at the time. The voluntary approach has led to some improvements, but not a wholesale change of behaviour from milk buyers.

The three organisations said many farmers continue to be treated unfairly, with contract terms changed with little or no notice, and verbal assurances offered by milk buyers but then withdrawn.

'Vital part of developing new relationships'

Mr Oakes said the thrust of the EU Commission report is on the role of dairy Producer Organisations.

This is something the NFU has always promoted and encouraged," Mr Oakes said, its a shame that many UK milk buyers, both large and small, see POs as a threat and have publically said that they will not work with farmers who are part of a PO. Today in the dairy farming sector, collaboration is the key and the NFU sees POs as a vital part of developing new relationships in the UK dairy sector.

While this report concludes that the EU milk package must continue post 2020, I would urge the UK government to read the report carefully and ensure that many of the recommendations are implemented here to the benefit of UK dairy farmers. It would be extremely unfair if the Commission supports EU farmers to collaborate and increase their bargaining power in the supply chain but the same support isnt offered here in the UK.

I was encouraged to hear farming minister George Eustice supporting the NFUs approach during Defra questions in the House of Commons today, saying that he was reviewing the option of bringing the voluntary code under the remit of the Grocery Code Adjudicator and also promoting role of POs, Mr Oakes concluded.
A case of high risk H5N8 bird flu has been confirmed in the German state of Lower Saxony and about 16,000 turkeys have been culled, authorities say.

Some 16,000 turkeys had been ordered killed in a farm on the outside of Cloppenburg as a precaution, it was confirmed the flu was of the H5 strain. A prohibited zone has been set up with a radius of at least 1.8 miles (3 kilometers) around the farm and further birds within one kilometer may also have to be killed.

"Due to the new risk situation, we have immediately decided that poultry must be kept in their sheds, however, exceptions are possible in some individual cases," Environment Minister for Saxony-Anhalt Claudia Dalbert said.

Last Friday (18 November), following the discovery of cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N8 in several European countries, France decided to raise the level of risk of disease from "negligible" to "moderate".

So far, most cases of the contagious strain of flu have been found in wild birds, but there have been outbreaks on farms in Austria, Denmark, Hungary and elsewhere in northern Germany.

British bird keepers have been urged to remain alert for any signs of the disease, and have been told by the government to immediately contact local vets if they suspect birds have avian influenza.
The scheme was set up to help consumers support British dairy farmers, but three quarters of the proceeds from the 'Milk for Farmers' project is going to farmers abroad, it has been revealed.

Both Morrisons and Asda run the programme which sold milk at a higher price with the money going back to dairy farmers in the UK.

The proceeds are in fact divided up among farmers producing milk, butter and cheese in the UK, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.

When the scheme was launched last year, in a joint statement, the National Farmers' Union, Tenant Farmers' Association and Farmers for Action said it was 'absolutely vital' that the extra money goes back to British farmers, 'we cannot emphasise this enough.'

But data from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) said Arla contracted British farmers received 290 from the scheme but would have been paid 1,300 had it not been distributed overseas.

European farmers benefit from money paid by shoppers for 'British milk'

In a statement Asda said: "Arla unveiled Arla Farmers Milk to give shoppers the opportunity to pay a little extra on each bottle to help Arla farmers during challenging market conditions.

"The extra 25p for Arla Farmers Milk will be returned directly to Arla farmers. In line with Arlas cooperatives principles, this extra money will be shared amongst its 12,700 farmer owners."

Morrisons said: "Our customers tell us they welcome the opportunity to give extra money to dairy farmers if they so choose.

The packaging on our Milk for Farmers products is clear that this extra money is distributed by Arla to its farmers in the UK and European countries."

Price conscious

82% of the British public say they would disappointed to see a reduction in UK dairy farming and would be willing to pay a little extra to support it, according to AHDB.

Among the 55 years and older age group, this rises to 91%. More than three-quarters (76%) would do something to stop dairy farming significantly reducing, this score is at the highest level since the study was relaunched in July of last year.

More than half now say that they intend to buy more products with a quality logo; 43% are considering switching to a retailer that sells only British dairy products. Further evidence of the growing sympathy towards dairy farmers can be found in attitudes towards milk price, AHDB said.

Since the recession of 2009, British consumers have become increasingly price conscious, so it is significant that a substantial majority say they would be willing to pay more for their milk.
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Lawyer says body cam shows police trying to cover up unlawful stop

The exchange can be heard in body camera footage released Tuesday in the case of Ja'Lana Dunlap-Banks, 22, who says she was wrongly detained Sept. 6.
MPs say government-drafted amendments came short of 'securing the country's national security needs'

Leading members of the Egyptian parliament's Social Solidarity Committee said on Sunday that they reject most of the amendments introduced by the government to the new NGO law.

The committee's deputy chairwoman Rasha Ramadan described the amendments drafted in a memo by the social solidarity ministry as provocative.

The NGO law, drafted by parliament's social solidarity committee, was approved in a plenary session on 15 November and states that NGOs must receive approval from a yet-to-be-created body before receiving foreign funding.

However, the social solidarity ministry has rejected this stipulation, saying there is no need for an independent regulatory body with branches in all provincial governorates and that it would be overly costly and bureaucratic.

The ministry argued that if such a regulatory body must be created, it should be within the ministry itself.

Ramadan, however, said that the setting up of an independent regulatory body will help tighten control on foreign NGOs and foreign funding of local NGOs.

The government's memo lacks a national security perspective and so it comes short of the benchmarks necessary to make sure that NGOs serve national development objectives and keep away from performing political activities, said Ramadan.



'Terrorist activities'

The head of parliament's Social Solidarity Committee Abdel-Hadi Al-Qasabi has also told reporters that the creation of an independent NGO regulatory body will not be costly at all.

The independent regulatory NGO body will be neither costly nor bureaucratic, said Al-Qasabi, adding that the objective of this body is to make sure that NGOs do not receive foreign funding that might be used in supporting terrorist activities.

Al-Qasabi said that the Ministry of Social Solidarity has no authority to review the activities of NGOs operating in Egypt and make sure that they seek transparency in spending on their activities.

The parliament-drafted NGO law primarily aims to secure national security goals and the creation of an independent regulatory body is necessary to achieve this goal, said Al-Qasabi.

The committee's deputy chairman Mohamed Abu Hamed has told reporters that MPs' rejection of the ministry's drafted amendments forced minister of social solidarity Ghad Wali to propose that the suggested NGO regulatory body be affiliated with the ministry itself.

But this proposal was also rejected because the main reason parliament proposed the creation of an independent NGO regulatory body was that the Ministry of Social Solidarity has greatly failed to regulate the activities of foreign NGOs or effectively supervise their performance and their sources of funding, said Abu Hamed.

Abu Hamed explained that the main foundation upon which parliament's drafted NGO law is based is that local and foreign NGOs do not compromise the national security of Egypt, and an independent regulatory body is necessary to keep this foundation intact.

If we accepted the government's amendment in this respect, this would mean that the law would be without a backbone and would collapse into pieces, he added.

However, the government and the Central Agency for Organisation and Administration (CAOA) believe that the proposed NGO regulatory body will be highly costly and bureaucratic.

At a time when the government is trying to lower the budget deficit, trim public spending and introduce administrative reform, it becomes illogical that a new bureaucratic body adding to budgetary burdens is created, said a CAOA memo.

The government's memo on the parliament-drafted NGO law has also argued that the Ministry of Social Solidarity itself acts as regulatory body.

It has much experience in reviewing and supervising the activities of foreign NGOs, and so there is no need at all for an independent regulatory body, said the memo, adding that the number of foreign NGOs operating in Egypt does not exceed 100 and that the number of those who obtain foreign funding stands at no more than 250.

These are small numbers which do not justify the creation of an independent NGO regulatory body, said the memo.

Parliament speaker Ali Abdel-Al told MPs that a final approval of the law would only be granted after the law is revised in legal and constitutional terms by the state council.

However, Abdel-Al indicated that the government still has the right to submit amendments while the law is being revised.

Parliament has complete legislative powers and if the government has any amendments, it has the right to do this before the law is finally approved, Abdel-Al said on 15 November.

He also insisted that parliament rejects any kind of local or foreign pressure and that its draft of the law is not restrictive.

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Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi inaugurated the 20th round of Cairos ICT conference and exhibition on Sunday, announcing the launch of two technological sites in the Upper Egyptian city of Assiut and Alexandria's Borg El-Arab.

In his speech at the inauguration ceremony, President El-Sisi said that finishing the two sites in less than one year with a [reduced labour capacity] is an achievement.

The president added that this project would provide 8,000 job opportunities at both sites in its first year.

[These sites] will contribute to an increase in exports, whether from the software industry or the providing of telecommunications and information technology services, as well as encourage creativity and entrepreneurship and an increase in exports of electronic devices that will be produced in the factories to be established in these areas, he added.

El-Sisi also highlighted the launch of the pilot phase of the fourth generation (4G) licenses on Sunday, saying that it would enhance the efficiency of wireless networks, data transfer services as well as the services needed in the business sector and networks in border areas in Egypt.

Egypts mobile operators Vodafone, Orange and Etisalat, along with Telecom Egypt (TE), the countrys sole landline operator, received 4G licenses in October, which will allow them to increase internet speed and launch virtual fixed line services.

The Egyptian president also referred to the implementation of phase one of a project aimed at creating a database to catalog the national IDs of Egyptian citizens.

The Cairo ICT conference, which will take place till 30 November, is a yearly event covering exhibitions, conferences and consumer and corporate activities for the public and private sectors organised by Trade Fairs International, according to the conferences website.

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Firefighters extinguished blazes ravaging Israel and West Bank settlements that forced tens of thousands to flee their homes and saw more than 20 people arrested, authorities said Sunday.

"There are no active sites left," fire and rescue service spokesman Yoram Levy told AFP. "Since last night it's pretty calm, we have no new activity."

Israeli firefighters had since Tuesday been battling wildfires throughout the country which on Thursday hit major city Haifa, forcing thousands to evacuate their homes.

Firefighting planes from Israel and countries including Russia, Turkey, Greece, France, Spain and Canada dumped tonnes of water and retardants on fires.

Palestinians had joined the efforts, sending 41 firefighters and eight trucks.

The Israeli authorities suspect that some of the fires may have been of criminal origin and linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Police arrested 23 people suspected of lighting fires and interrogated another seven.

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Only the second non-family member to be named President in company's 65 year history.

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 26, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --The Board of Directors of SICO Inc. is pleased to announce the promotion of Ken Steinbauer to President and Chief Operating Officer effective December 1, 2016.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161126/443022

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130107/CG37898LOGO

Ken will be responsible for providing strategic leadership and unifying global business efforts in Asia, Europe, Australia and the Middle East in addition to the Americas. He continues as President of SICO America, the largest operating unit of SICO Inc. and reports to Chris Wilson, CEO of SICO Inc.

In addition to his new role as President, Ken was also appointed to the Board of Directors of Beijing SICO-SST Hospitality Equipment Manufacturing Ltd. SICO-SST is a joint venture company between SICO Inc. and Beijing Sheng Shi Tong Hotel Equipment Manufacturing Company Ltd. Established in 2004, SICO-SST serves China's market. Ken replaces Andy Shea who resigned from the SICO-SST Board. Andy remains on the Board of Directors of SICO Inc.

"Ken's leadership of SICO America, and now across the globe, is a critical move in providing a seamless brand experience for customers around the world," said Chris, third generation leader for the family-owned company. "As only the second non-family member president, I am confident the success Ken has demonstrated at SICO and at other international companies will continue to drive innovation for our company. Ken's leadership skills are well-suited to lead our efforts as we continue our mission to be the innovator of high quality value added products for event spaces around the world." His addition to the SICO-SST Board allows for integration of all efforts around the globe carrying the SICO brand.

Since joining the company in 2008 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for SICO America, Ken was promoted to Executive Vice President and President of SICO America in 2012 and 2013 respectively. He was promoted to Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing in April 2016. Prior to joining SICO, Ken held a number of senior leadership roles at AT&T/Lucent Technologies, Shaw Industries and Lifetouch.

"Working closely with the Wilson family and continuing the vision of innovation created by Chris' grandfather Kermit in 1951 when the company originated is an honor," said Ken, "I look forward to emphasizing innovation in product development to ensure we remain a global market leader in space utilization products."

Ken holds both an MBA from the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, Minnesota and an executive MBA from the University of Minnesota.

About SICO Incorporated

SICO is the global leader in mobile folding and rolling, space efficient products that help customers optimize their use of space. The detailed engineering and superior manufacturing that goes into every SICO product is supported by a strong warranty program and excellent customer service. In addition to mobile folding cafeteria tables, SICO manufactures and sells portable dance floors, catering tables, room service tables, food warmers, luggage carts, mobile buffet stations, portable stages, choral risers, mobile sleepers, crowd barriers and wallbed systems. SICO Incorporated is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA with additional offices in Europe, Asia, Australia and the Middle East.

Please visit www.sicoinc.comfor additional information.




With the new Rajnikanth starrer 2.0 (a.k.a. Enthiran 2) having its first look in Mumbai, science fiction has suddenly become topical. 2.0 is presumably related to Rajnikanths earlier starrer Enthiran (2010), not as sequel but as spiritual heir. Readers may be aware that the earlier film was about a scientist (Rajnikanth) who creates a robot in his own likeness and finds it falling in love with his girlfriend. Needless to add, there was also an evil scientist (Danny Denzongpa), enlisting the robot for less than laudable purposes. 2.0 hopes, plainly, to outdo its precursor  with a larger budget and a bigger Bollywood star (Akshay Kumar) as the villain. What Rajnikanth will be up to this time has been the subject of immense speculation, but more interesting to consider, is what the SF genre is actually about, and whether Indian films conveniently labelled SF are legitimately science fiction.

Science fiction is evidently much older than cinema.

Its origins have been traced to colonial expansion and the experiences of Europe. It was arguably initiated by the marvellous journeys to other worlds which precedes SF in literature. The Copernican shift from a geocentric to a heliocentric understanding of the solar system provides a crucial point where the marvellous journey starts evolving into science fiction. But developments in the physical sciences were not the only important influence because the recognition that the course taken by ones culture is only one among several possible ones was also crucial. In the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries, Europeans greatly expanded the extent and the kinds of contacts they had with the non-European world. Europeans mapped the non-European world, settled colonies in it and exploited its resources. Historians of science fiction generally agree that utopian and satirical representations of encounters between European travellers and non-Europeans  such as in Thomas Mores Utopia (1516) and Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels (1726)  form a major part of the genres prehistory. They also concur that the period of imperialist expansion in the late nineteenth century is the crucial period for the emergence of the genre.

Science fiction came into visibility first in those countries most heavily involved in imperialist projects  France and England  and then gained popularity in the United States, Germany, and Russia as those countries also entered into more serious imperial competition. There are, consequently, two key responses to colonialism which take the guise of science fiction. The first is that science fiction becomes an extension of the Victorian adventure novel  having no place on Earth left for the exoticism of unexplored territories, the writers invent places elsewhere (e.g. H Rider Haggard). The second kind of novel is a radical reversal of hierarchies in which invaders treat earthlings the way the colonialists treated savages and this is a way in which HG Wells The War of the Worlds (1898) has been read. If a cultural effect of contact with savages was to regard them as models for what the civilized had once been, it found itself reflected in science fiction which began regarding humanity as a passing phase which would be got beyond as in Welles The Time Machine (1895). Ideas about the nature of humankind are central to all literature, but scientific accounts of humanitys origins and its possible or probable futures are especially basic to science fiction. The historical past is also important to science fiction in as much as our experience of the past influences our imagining of the future.

Science fiction no longer implicates only the physical sciences and with the growing importance of biology, there is an enormous range of SF dedicated to strange diseases, biological warfare and cloning. With the coming of the electronic age, the internet and robotics, possible themes have multiplied further. What remains constant is that true SF is speculative and should concern itself with humankinds future. These futures could also be imagined as extensions of todays socio-political happenings. Ray Bradburys novel Fahrenheit 451 (1953) about a future in which all books are burned was provoked by the threat of book burning in the United States in the McCarthy era and is considered a classic of science fiction.

It may be self-evident that, with its capacity to produce the imagined as spectacle, cinema has been particularly suited to take on SF themes, and the advent of digital animation has strengthened this capacity. But there are nonetheless two aspects that cast doubts on the validity of much of recent cinema as legitimate SF, i.e. most of it, while producing spectacular effects pertaining to the never-experienced-before, are not engaged in imagining or speculating about the future of humankind. In the first place, public knowledge of the frontiers of science today is so clouded in misunderstanding and hype that audiences are unable to distinguish even between philosophically valid ideas and gibberish, as evidenced in recent films like Dr Strange (2016).

With technical jargon supplanting valid ideas it would seem that speculation is actually being endangered in fiction  since audiences are misled by obscure terminology into believing that they understand. Secondly, spectacle stupefies and visual effects distract one from questioning. On seeing Jurassic Park (1994), for instance, one does not ask how the blood extracted from a single mosquito trapped in amber can produce so many species of animal (and plant) life. But while Jurassic Park was still SF since it imagined a future affected by man tinkering with creation, most recent films taken to be science fiction bring in elements incompatible with science and scientific/technological speculation (e.g. technology and Norse mythology mingling in The Avengers). Many of them are only covert allegories which prey on current social concerns. Avatar (2009) basically warns against climate change, and does it by eulogising primitivity. The dividing line between the fantastic or marvellous and speculative science fiction is blurred today by common people not understanding scientific thought but getting its magical benefits in everyday life.

Science fiction was non-existent in Indian cinema until relatively recently because Indians have not traditionally pursued contextual truths. The future of humankind is always contextual speculation induced by historical developments and I indicated how imperialist expansion led to science fiction in the 19th century. Stanley Kubricks 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) was science fiction produced by a sense of how the expansion of knowledges frontiers exposed humankind to what might not be known rationally.

As argued in my earlier piece on the historical film the truths pursued by popular cinema in India are not contextualised in history but are universals, and the same is true of Koi Mil Gaya (2003) which, to my knowledge, was the first Bollywood film to claim to be SF. This film, as readers may be aware, is about a young man, the son of a scientist investigating extra-terrestrial intelligence, who is miraculously gifted with superhuman abilities when he accidentally summons aliens using his fathers computer. Koi Mil Gaya is hardly speculating about humankinds future and this is substantiated when its sequel Krrish (2006) emerges as a super-hero film which is largely family drama and romance. What gives these films the confidence to call themselves SF are references to scientific notions like extra-terrestrials but this is moot: the protagonist of Koi Mil Gaya could equally have been given his powers by a tantrik. One could therefore propose that SF in Indian cinema is largely innocent fantasy interspersed with babble suggesting current science or technology. This is also true of Ra.One (2011) where techno-babble is used to create villains with magical powers and justify the dead being brought back to life. Mr X in Bombay (1964) was also SF since a dead person merely happened to be invisible!

Bollywoods biggest SF hit may have been Rajkumar Hiranis PK (2014) with Aamir Khan as an alien forced to confront aspects of social behaviour in India. It is to PKs credit that it does not play up the extra-terrestrial angle but positions itself as social satire about present day Indian society and its contradictions. PK can also be understood as an intelligent reference to Pakistan as Indias other. PK does not use expensive special effects as Enthiran does and this is appropriate considering that such effects are only efforts to convince audiences of plausible science underneath. Enthiran and 2.0 are big budget films because of their pretence that they are not merely stories about twins but actually implicate robotics.

I have hitherto dwelt exclusively on the science fiction produced by popular cinema but a more difficult question is why the Indian art film has ignored the possibilities offered by the SF genre. Speculative science fiction is intellectually challenging and the art film caters to educated audiences. The reason for art cinema not venturing into SF domain may be the supposition that science fiction needs big budgets; it could also be due to art cinemas unwavering commitment only to social issues. But I have already argued that science fiction only needed to speculate about humankinds future and that even the socio-political developments of today  and not only technology  could provide the impetus. Given this opening for science fiction, cannot even the recent demonetisation of currency notes provide film-makers with an opportunity? One can imagine a future in which all use of cash is disallowed, but with one exception. The only place where cash might still be spent is the temple where notes and coins are dropped into the priests mangalarathi plate, beside the burning camphor. The reason for this concession could be the recognition that God is the only One with neither a bank account nor an Adhaar number. Such a scenario, I propose, would be straight out of a science fiction film.

MK Raghavendra is a Swarna Kamal winning film scholar and author of The Oxford India Short Introduction to Bollywood (2016).
The following are some facts about former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.* Fidel Castro led Cuba for five decades and was the world's third longest-serving head of state, after Britain's Queen Elizabeth and the King of Thailand. He temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul in July 2006 after undergoing intestinal surgery. The handover of power became official in 2008. * In his last years, Castro occasionally appeared in public and in videos and pictures usually meeting with guests. He wrote hundreds of columns for the official media. Stooped and walking with difficulty, Castro was seen in public twice in 2012 and twice in 2013. He was seen in public on Jan. 8, 2014, at the opening of a cultural center, though photos of visiting dignitaries at the Castro home appeared after that.* Castro holds the record for the longest speech ever delivered to the United Nations: 4 hours and 29 minutes, on Sept. 26, 1960, according to the U.N. website. One of his longest speeches on record lasted 7 hours and 30 minutes on Feb. 24, 1998, after the national assembly re-elected him to a five-year term as president.

* Castro claimed he survived 634 attempts or plots to assassinate him, mainly masterminded by the Central Intelligence Agency and U.S.-based exile organizations. They may have included poison pills, a toxic cigar, exploding mollusks, and a chemically tainted diving suit. Another alleged plan involved giving him powder that would make his beard fall out and so undermine his popularity.

* Despite the plots, a U.S.-backed exile invasion at the Bay of Pigs and five decades of economic sanctions, Castro outlasted nine U.S. presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton, stepping down while George W. Bush was in office. * Castro used to chomp on Cuban cigars but gave them up in 1985. Years later he summed up the harm of smoking tobacco by saying: "The best thing you can do with this box of cigars is give them to your enemy."

* Time Magazine in 2012 named Castro as one of the 100 most influential personalities of all time.* Castro had nine children from five women. His eldest son Fidel Castro Diaz-Balart, who is the image of his father and is known as Fidelito, is a Soviet-trained nuclear scientist born in 1949 out of his brief marriage to Mirta Diaz-Balart. Daughter Alina Fernandez, the result of an affair with a Havana socialite when Castro was underground in the 1950s, escaped from Cuba disguised as a tourist in 1993 and is a vocal critic. Castro has five sons with his common-law wife since the 1960s, Dalia Soto del Valle. He also has a son and a daughter born to two other women with whom he had affairs before coming to power. (Reporting by Marc Frank and Daniel Trotta; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Drazen Jorgic

| ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD There will be no immediate shift in Pakistan's military policy under the new army chief, the country's defence minister said, after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed a new military leader on Saturday.Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa will replace retiring army chief Raheel Sharif when his three-year term ends on Tuesday, a rare example of a smooth transition in a nation where army chiefs have a history of clinging to power.General Sharif, who is not related to the prime minister, has proved popular with ordinary Pakistanis but during his tenure relations between the army and the civilian government have often been tense.Relations abroad have also frayed, with the United States and Afghanistan complaining of a lack of action by Islamabad against Afghan Taliban militants based on Pakistani soil, while a stand-off with old foe India over Kashmir has soured relations.Bajwa was one of several high-ranking candidates put forward for the job by the army but little is publicly known about him or his ideological stance on key issues, including relations with India or how to tackle home-grown Islamist militants.Defence Minister Khawaja Asif dampened any expectations that Bajwa would immediately push for a radical policy shift."The military policy will continue and there will be no immediate change in it," Asif told Geo News TV channel."The legacy of General Raheel Sharif would continue in the light of the examples he set," Asif added.Security in Pakistan has vastly improved during General Sharif's tenure, but the country remains vulnerable to internal strife, with Islamist militant groups carrying out major bomb and gun attacks. In recent months a hospital, a mosque and a police training college have been targeted.

Islamic State, which has claimed several large-scale attacks in recent months, is also trying to establish a foothold in the nuclear armed nation of 190 million people.The United States on Sunday issued a statement welcoming Bajwa's appointment and said it wanted to assist Pakistan with its domestic and regional counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism efforts.In a statement, the U.S. embassy in Islamabad also said it wanted to help "Pakistani authorities to honour their pledge to prevent the use of Pakistan's soil for terrorist attacks against its neighbours".India has in recent months sought to isolate Pakistan after an Indian army base in the disputed Kashmir region was attacked and 18 soldiers killed in a September raid that New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based militants. Islamabad denies involvement.

INDIAN ARMY CHIEF PRAISE

General Sharif will become the first army chief in more than 20 years to step down at the end of his term. Previous army chiefs have either obtained extensions or in the case of General Pervez Musharraf, staged a coup.One cabinet minister told Reuters Bajwa was chosen because of his low-key approach and a belief by Prime Minister Sharif that he would shun the limelight, in contrast to his predecessor, while ceding more policy space to the civilian government.The army plays a big role in Pakistani politics, including dominating foreign policy strategy on key areas such as relations with India, Afghanistan and the United States. The military also runs a vast business empire.

Zahid Hussain, a security analyst, said heightened tensions with India, kept inflamed by fierce cross-border shelling in the Kashmir region, means in the short term the army was likely to maintain a tight grip on foreign policy issues related to India."Since the tension is so high, Nawaz (Sharif) is not in a position to manoeuvre out of that," Hussain said.Bajwa, who was first commissioned in the army in 1980, has served in Kashmir and other regions bordering India but it is not clear if he will take a less hawkish approach to Pakistan's historic foe.General Bikram Singh, a former head of India's army who served with Bajwa in the Congo as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force, praised Bajwa's conduct as a soldier during their time in Africa."In the international environment, his performance was professional, outstanding," Singh told India Today TV channel.But when reporters asked Singh if he expected Bajwa to alter Pakistan's military policy, he said: "I do not see any change". (Additional reporting by Asad Hashim, Mehreen Zahra Malik and Amjad Ali; Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

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FRANKFURT German pilots union VC said on Sunday it was open to further talks with Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) to try to find a compromise over a long-running pay dispute that caused a four-day strike last week, adding the airline needed to present a new offer."It will become clear in the course of the day how the dispute will continue," a spokesman for VC told Reuters.Lufthansa said earlier that all flights would start on schedule on Monday, Nov. 28, as there had been no further strike call from VC so far.Lufthansa cancelled nearly 2,800 flights during a four-day strike from Wednesday that affected more than 350,000 passengers, the 14th walkout in a dispute since early 2014 that has cost the carrier hundreds of millions of euros.Germany's biggest airline earlier urged VC to resume talks."We have to talk," Bettina Volkens, Lufthansa's board member in charge of human resources, told Bild am Sonntag. "I hope very much that (VC) finally changes its uncompromising stance."

"This cannot be forced via strikes."VC rejected the latest pay offer from Lufthansa late on Friday but lifted the threat of extending its strike beyond Saturday.

It said on Saturday more strikes were possible, and would be announced at least 24 hours in advance.Lufthansa has offered to increase wages by 4.4 percent in two instalments, plus a one-off payment worth 1.8 months' pay. The union wants an average annual pay rise of 3.7 percent for 5,400 pilots over a five-year period backdated to 2012.Pilot strikes cost Lufthansa 222 million euros ($235 million) in 2014, according to the IW Cologne Institute for Economic Research, while in 2015, walkouts by pilots and cabin crew cost the airline 231 million euros.

Lufthansa said it had taken another 20 million euro hit over the first two days of the latest strike. ($1 = 0.9443 euros) (Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Peter Maushagen; Editing by David Clarke and Mark Potter)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
New Delhi: With tags of 'patriots' and 'anti-nationals' being at the centre of debate, the Central Information Commission has asked the Home Ministry to make public the list of people who are facing sedition charges for indulging in alleged anti-national activities.

The transparency watchdog's directives came on a petition by Moradabad-resident Pawan Aggarwal, who had sought from the Prime Minister's Office through an RTI application the list of persons declared as "martyrs" and "anti-nationals".

Aggarwal's petition was forwarded by the PMO to the Home Ministry which responded that there was no list available with it in which people were categorised as "patriots", "martyrs" or anti-nationals, hence the information cannot be provided.

The Ministry had said that it did not categorise any person as a "patriot", "traitor" or a "martyr" based on certain yardsticks and specifications or maintained any data of such categories of persons.

"The respondent further submitted that under the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005, a public authority is under obligation to provide an applicant only that information which exists in the records and is held by or under the control of that authority," Information Commissioner Sudhir Bhargava noted in the order.

During the hearing before Bhargava, Aggarwal contended that sedition cases have been filed against a number of persons.

Hence, MHA should be having details about persons who are being involved in anti-national activities. Similarly, the Freedom Fighters Division, MHA will also be having information about freedom fighters/martyrs, he argued.

"The Commission, after hearing the submissions of both the parties and perusing the records, observes that as per National Crime Bureau Research (NCRB) 47 cases pertaining to sedition were registered in 2014. Hence, information about persons indulging in anti-national activities should be available," Bhargava said.

Bhargava said in case the information was not available with MHA, the RTI application should have been transferred to the public authority which holds such information.

The Information Commissioner pointed out that he had come to know from another case that Indian Council for Historical Research has been working on a project of the Culture Ministry entitled as "Dictionary of Martyrs: India's Freedom Struggle (1857 to 1947)".

"The Commission had also observed that MHA should have acredible repository of information on freedom fighters. The Commission, therefore, directs the CPIO, MHA to provide point wise information as available with them to the appellant and point(s) for which the information is not available with them, forward the RTI application to the public authority concerned," Bhargava directed.
New Delhi: Congress on Sunday made it clear it has not called for a 'Bharat bandh' on Monday, but will hold protests across the country against demonetisation, which it alleged "was a political move being sold as a fight against corruption".

Speaking to reporters here, party leader Jairam Ramesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in "dhamaka" politics and the decision to scrap high-value currency notes was taken because he had seen the "writing on the wall" in Uttar Pradesh, where polls are due next year.

He claimed that Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes were scrapped to cover up the government's failure to deliver on the Prime Minister's big electoral promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad and Modi wanted to do something "dramatic".

"It is a political move which is being sold as a fight against corruption," Ramesh said hitting out at the Centre.

He said people who have amassed wealth by illegal means are not suffering, but those who do not have black money are facing hardships.

"Unfortunately, people who needed to be attacked have gone scot-free," he said, adding that one section of "suited-booted" people was still leading a life of luxury.

Ramesh, a former Union Cabinet minister, claimed that BJP was spreading misinformation that Congress and other parties have called for a 'Bharat bandh'.

The Opposition parties will hold protests across the country by observing "Jan Aakrosh Diwas", he said.

Taking a swipe at the Modi government, he said economic activity has anyway come to a standstill since 9 November.

Asked what will be the Opposition's strategy in Parliament, Ramesh said a debate will happen if the Prime Minister participates in it.

The Congress leader also questioned government's preparedness to bring in new currency notes, saying that according to estimates, it may take up to 250 days to print new notes and bring economy back on the track.

He also criticised the Prime Minister's call for a "cashless" or "less cash" society, saying that in India, a majority of people use cash for daily transactions."

"Such things take time and cannot be forced by giving shocks," Ramesh said.

Asked why Congress' ally Nitish Kumar was not in the favour of protests against demonetisation, Ramesh said JDU leader Sharad Yadav was supporting it.

He claimed that the Pune-based organisation, which is said to be behind the the demonetisation idea, has also said the way it is being implemented is not what they had suggested.

Congress was not against the objectives of the measure and will support steps against black money and corruption, but the reality of the situation is different, he said.

Only two percent of people in the country undertake cashless transactions. It will take time before the country becomes cashless, he said.

The Prime Minister, who believes in "sound bytes", has been talking of "cashless and lesscash society. Does he want cashless mandis also?" the Congress leader asked.

Citing National Investigation Agency (NIA) estimates, he said counterfeit notes make up just 0.02 percent of the total currency in circulation. To tackle this, 80 per cent of people, be it farmers, the unorganised and small-scale sector have been subjected to inconvenience.

Accusing the Prime Minister of making tall claims, Ramesh said an action plan should have been readied and the shortcomings examined.

He said it is estimated that only 5-10 per cent of black money is kept in cash, while most of it is in the form of gold, silver, benami property or stashed abroad.

A lot of discomfiture had been caused to people by demonetising Rs 500 notes abruptly, he said.

The Prime Minister had remarked "na khaaonga, na khaane doonga", but Saurabh Patel, who was a minister in the then Modi-led Gujarat government, is learnt to have been linked to a company based in Bahamas, where many tax evaders go, Ramesh alleged.
Panaji: Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday claimed that due to the Centre's demonetisation move, the rate of crime in Mumbai, including contract killings, murders, extortion and drug trafficking, has come down drastically.

"The decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a historic one. The black money, corruption money, terror funding and drug money has received a jolt," Parrikar said while addressing BJP's Vijay Sankalp rally in Aldona constituency in North Goa.

"One of my friends from Mumbai was telling me that the supari (contract) killings have reduced there. There is no lack of people offering supari, but there is no money to pay. In the last 20 days, the murder rate has come to half in Mumbai," he claimed.

"The instances of extortion have also reduced in Mumbai. If anyone goes to the builder and tries to extort money, he is ready to give the sum, but that money has no value as they are old notes. Due to this, now the one who wanted to extort money has also stopped. Even here in Goa, extortion attempts from the builders have stopped," he said.

According to Parrikar, the movement of narcotics in Mumbai has collapsed due to lack of money to fuel it.

"Thanks to demonetisation, the crime graph has been reduced in Mumbai. Modi has eliminated drug lords, terror funders, fake notes and black money," he said.

Stating that Goa will become cashless by December 30, Parrikar appealed to the people to cooperate to fulfil this dream of the Prime Minister.

"By December 30, we will become a cashless society. Goa has a capability to become a model state for rest of the states," he said.

"We always feel safe with cash money...A bank manager was telling me that pensioners rush to the bank on every first of the month...He said the pensioners don't feel satisfied till they count notes," Parrikar said.

"But I feel in the current era, there is no need for notes. In the Information Technology sector, Goa's penetration is more than that of Singapore. We can show the way for the country," he added.
New Delhi: To reach out to unbanked villages, private lender ICICI Bank has deployed mobile branches in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha to help customers meet their daily financial needs conveniently, post demonetisation.

"The deployment of the mobile branches is yet another step by the bank to expand its reach to villages which are devoid of banking facilities.

The mobile branches are catering to over 25,000 rural customers, helping them meet their daily financial needs in a convenient manner," ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochhar said. "This initiative is in line with the bank's commitment to extending banking services to the remote locations of the country."

Taking the nation by surprise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 8 November announced the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, making these notes invalid in a major assault on black money, fake currency and corruption.

Since 9 November, ICICI Bank has deployed mobile branches across 21 villages in Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. Over 90 per cent of the villages are unbanked. These mobile branches offer a wide range of banking products and services such as savings accounts, loans, cash deposit/withdrawal, account balance enquiries, statement printing and fund transfer, among others.
Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by a chemical gas attack from Islamic State (IS) militants in northern Syria, the Turkish army said on Sunday.

"After a rocket was fired by Daesh (IS), 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas," the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria.

Turkish media said that the affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey's AFAD emergencies agency.

The reports said that the Turkish emergency workers were equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves. The Syrians were brought to the main hospital in Kilis where they are currently undergoing treatment.

Television pictures showed some of the Syrians being transferred on stretchers to the hospital, with the emergency workers dressed in full-body white protective clothing and gas masks.

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out IS militants from the border area and also ensuring there is no Kurdish militia presence.

In a three-month operation, the rebels have so far captured the IS stronghold of Jarabulus, cleared IS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance.

With Turkish support, they are now pressing to take Al Bab from the militants in an advance that appears to be taking more time and encountering greater opposition.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday talked about the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on the radio programme 'Mann Ki Baat' and appealed to the people of India to help him create a "less-cash society".

"A lot of people have asked me to talk more about the currency ban," said the Prime Minister, as he began talking about demonetisation.

"When I had taken this decision, I had said that this is full of difficulties. And the implementation of this decision was also bound to be difficult. I knew about the kind of difficulties people would have to face," Modi said. "I knew that it will definitely take 50 days to come out of the effect [of demonetisation]," he added.

"But for 70 years, we have been tolerating the disease of corruption and black money. The cure to that disease cannot be simple," he said.

"But I see your support. Despite so many attempts to dissuade you, you have understood this move for the welfare of this nation," said the Prime Minister. "The entire world is watching this move. Every economist is analysing this move. The world is watching whether 1.25 crore Indians, despite difficulties, will achieve success."

He then said that India trusts its citizens who will make the country emerge successful after "this test of fire".

"Bank branches and officials are involved in this process. It is because of their efforts that India will succeed," he said. "I have seen that banks and post office officials are working. And when it comes to humanity, they are two steps ahead of everyone else. I remember when the Jan Dhan Yojana was announced, the way the bank officials worked showed that they did something which had not been done in 70 years," he added.

"There are still some people who have a bad habit of trying to find loopholes. They are trying to find other means to save their black money and benaami money," Modi said.

"They are trying to influence and oppress the poor people to do this. I want to tell these people: Following laws or not is up to you. But please do not play with the lives of the poor. Don't do anything because of which the poor suffer because of your actions," he said.

Modi also said that demonetisation was changing rural lives too. He said that because of demonetisation, in one week, Rs 13,000 crore was deposited in many municipalities this year, which was much greater than last year.

"I want to thank the farmers. Compared to last year, the sowing by farmers has increased. Despite difficulties, the farmers have found solutions. The farmers always stand resilient," he said.

"Small traders also faced difficulties. But they are achieving a lot through technology," Modi said. He also asked small traders and businessmen to use bank apps on their mobile phones and "learn how to participate in trade through cashless transactions."

"I also want to thanks labourers," Modi said. "They are forced to give a cut to many people after getting their wages. Through mobile phones and e-wallets, you can avoid giving these cuts," he added.

"I took this decision for the poor and the needy," he said.

The prime minister then appealed to the youth to help teach others about technology and online transactions.

"I want to talk to the youth. I know that you have liked and supported this decision. You are my real soldiers. This is a golden opportunity to help India," he said.

"Many elders in your family will not know what an app is. You know how to conduct transactions online," he said.

"Our dream is a cashless society. But why can't India move towards a 'less-cash society'. I know you will not disappoint me," said the prime minister.

"There are many opportunities for mobile and e-banking. Every bank offers online transactions. Through Jan Dhan Yojana, crores of people have RuPay card. Many have started using that," he said.

He also talked about the benefits of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which he said was "very simple, like sending a Whatsapp message. Even an illiterate person knows how to send a Whatsapp message. You don't even need a smartphone to do this."

"There is an entire generation which does not know about online transactions," Modi said. "Make a promise that you will be a part of a cashless society. Every day, educate at least ten families about technology and online transactions," he said, asking support from the youth.

"I invite you to not only support the government but also become soldiers of this change. There are many countries where the youth changed the country. Revolution is done by the youth," Modi said.

Before his radio address, Modi had also tweeted, asking citizens to "embrace e-banking, mobile banking & more such technology".

Time has come for everyone, particularly my young friends, to embrace e-banking, mobile banking & more such technology. pic.twitter.com/VfPtIl6m2I  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 27, 2016

The prime minister, in his Mann Ki Baat address, also talked about how Amitabh Bachchan talked about the importance of cleanliness on the occasion of the birth anniversary of hi father Harivansh Rai Bachchan.

He also talked about celebrating Diwali with the soldiers of the army and asked people to always support the jawans of the nation.

Lastly, he also talked about how the participation of the students of Jammu and Kashmir in their examinations showed that "the children of Jammu and Kashmir want to touch new heights of development through education".
Thiruvananthapuram: A 35-year-old Japanese woman was allegedly raped by a man from neighbouring Karnataka at nearby Kovalam, police said on Saturday.

The accused, identified as Teja (25), was arrested on Saturday based on the woman's statement. His family runs a handicrafts shop at Kovalam, police said.

A case was registered against him under section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code.

The incident is alleged to have taken place on Friday night, they said.

The woman, who was injured and bleeding in her hotel room, was rushed to the government SAT Hospital here by the staff, police said.

After being tipped off by hospital authorities about the incident, police collected information from the woman and arrested the man.

The woman had arrived in Kovalam on Thursday, police said.
Much of what governments do is aimed at trying to undo the damage of what they have done in the past. One might expect such words from a radical critic of the governance system, perhaps a fiery and radical student activist. One rarely hears them from a minister. One especially does not expect such words from one who, in his own state, is a pillar of the establishment, a pretty conservative one at that.

But Jammu and Kashmirs education minister Naeem Akhtar was in a feisty mood on Friday evening. In a brief speech at New Delhis hallowed India International Centre, he did not beat about the bush. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (universal literacy movement) is "a ticking time bomb," he said. The "atrociously implemented" scheme had been little more than a mechanism to divert taxpayers money to let favourites open a school at home, and employ a cook too.

The scheme was a pet project of the Centre during UPA-I, when Arjun Singh was the minister for human resource development.

The idea that India has a demographic advantage from its 1.3 billion people has been reduced to "a slogan," Akhtar said, pointing out that education had become focused on the formal process of obtaining degrees and certificates rather than learning. Literacy without learning was not just useless but actually counterproductive, he seemed to suggest.

In a speech to launch a fund-raising drive for a university in Ladakh, Akhtar asked what sort of future the country hoped to produce through its current education.

The new university has been envisaged by Sonam Wangchuk, the founder and head of the Ladakh-based Students Educational and Cultural Movement Of Ladakh (Secmol). Wangchuk recently won an international award for innovative ideas  for a mechanism to create artificial ice cones which could re-green the ice desert of Ladakh.

Akhtar has taken on established vested interests in the education sector since he became education minister in the Mufti Sayeed-led government last year. It has, at times, been a rough ride.

Ironically, Wangchuk too had taken on the entrenched vested interests of the education department in Leh district  and the rest of the district establishment too - after he set up Secmol in 1994. Things came to such a pass in 2007 that Wangchuk was run out of the state, with an FIR accusing him of being a foreign agent hanging like Damocles sword over his extremely useful, and popular, work in the Leh district.

Such are the ways in which Jammu and Kashmirs extraordinarily compromised establishment sometimes deals with change makers who try and work for peace and progress at the grassroots!

Both Akhtar and Wangchuk have both stayed the course  and Akhtar on Friday publicly assured Wangchuk of the governments full support.

Schools without students.

In the context of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Akhtar said he had had to close 4,000 (non-functional) schools in Jammu and Kashmir, Akhtar said. And Rajasthan had closed 20,000 schools.

The minister added that he had also closed 142 schools that had teachers but no students. Indeed, it is a fact that several such schools have been operational, at which salaries are paid for no work done. One such school operated down the road from the Jawahar Nagar house in Srinagar, where Akhtar lived for several years.

Akhtar is almost the only minister in the current Mehbooba Mufti-led government who has made his presence felt during the turmoil since July. He directly took on the Hurriyat, including Syed Ali Shah Geelani, through an open letter. He has insisted throughout the recent unrest that examinations would be held, and that schools must function.

Of course it is a different matter that the government caved in to popular demand recently and ordered mass promotions, and halved the syllabi for state board examinations. One hopes the government will now stand firm on the commitment Akhtar made on Friday to support Wangchuks pathbreaking university project.
Chandigarh: Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' who along with five others escaped from the high security jail in Nabha, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014.

The KLF chief was brought to India along with his key aide Gurpeet Singh 'Gopi' after Punjab Police, in coordination with central agencies, traced them in Thailand, a senior police official said.

Mintoo was wanted in ten terror offences while Gopi was tasked to target Hindu outfit leaders in 2013, which were foiled by Punjab Police, in a bid to disturb the peace in the state.

The then Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini had then claimed that Pakistan's spy agency ISI was "making concerted efforts" to use terror outfits like KLF and Babbar Khalsa to revive terrorism in Punjab, with focus on carrying out killings of prominent leaders belonging to a particular community.

To strengthen KLF, he had developed independent contacts with the foreign-based supporters and fund raisers of terrorism, the official said.

When he was in Pakistan, Mintoo worked with Babbar Khalsa International. But, but being ambitious and a good organiser, he developed independent contacts with Pakistan's ISI and Europe and North America-based terrorist sympathisers and fund raisers and had planned to raise his own outfit, police had then said.

During his stay in Pakistan, he had visited Europe in 2010 to establish contacts and in June 2013, he left Pakistan for an extensive tour of Europe lasting 11 months, police had then said.

In South East Asia, the KLF chief had travelled to Laos, Cambodia, Burma, besides Thailand where he had established a base, police had said.

The counter-intelligence wing of Punjab police had been tracking them and shared intelligence inputs with the Central agencies. It was found that Mintoo was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of one Gurdeep Singh.

A two-member team of counter intelligence wing of Punjab police had camped in Thailand for three weeks.

Harminder had been influenced by the radical ideology and had developed contacts with Pakistan based terrorist leaders particularly Wadhawa Singh, the chief of Babbar Khalsa International-another militant outfit, police had then said.
New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal about the Nabha jailbreak in which a hardcore Khalistani terrorist escaped along with five other prisoners and sought a detailed report from the state government.

The home minister, who was in Hyderabad, also asked the chief minister to take urgent steps to tighten security in all jails in Punjab, officials said.

During the 15-minute telephonic conversation, Badal briefed Singh about the incident and steps taken to nab the culprits.

"I have told the home secretary to get a report from the Punjab government immediately. If the Punjab government needs any assistance, we will provide it," Singh said.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also spoke to the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and apprised him of the details of the incident. He updated the NSA on steps being taken to apprehend the culprits.

Concerned over the incident, Home Ministry asked the Punjab government to send the report as early as possible.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to Director General of Punjab Police and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in Punjab.

In the sensational jailbreak, a group of armed men in police uniform attacked the high-security Nabha jail in Patiala and fled with six prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo, an accused in 10 cases.

The incident came two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces to guard against attempts to disturb peace through "vicious" political campaign or by external extremist forces during the election process in Punjab and four other states.

"We have to keep strict vigil against external extremist elements who may try to create disturbance in Punjab. There have been increased activities of the Sikh terrorists in recent months. Similarly in Manipur, we have to ensure peace keeping in mind the ethnic divide. In Uttar Pradesh too, there may be attempts to disturb law and order through vicious political campaigning. We have to keep strict vigil and take proper

steps to ensure peace during election," he said at the DGPs conference in Hyderabad on Friday.
Jammu: Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah on Sunday said neither India could take back Pak-occupied-Kashmir nor Pakistan has the power to take this part of Kashmir by going to war, so the solution to the problem lies in dialogue between the two countries.

"We cannot take what is with them with war...what is with them neither can we take it nor they have the power to take this Kashmir from us, so what other way is left?" Abdullah told reporters on the sidelines of a function in Jammu on Sunday.

He said people who call him "anti-national" and making "hue and cry" over his recent statement on PoK are those who once appreciated him for "defending the nation in the United Nations" and if they have guts, (they should) go and fight on the borders.

"They will keep on saying Farooq Abdullah as anti-national, it is upto them what they call, when I defended my nation in the United Nations that time was I not anti-national, even (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee lauded me," he said.

Stressing for resumption of dialogue between India and Pakistan, the National Conference chief said resident of Jammu and Kashmir on both sides of the divided line (Line of Control) were suffering due to the cross-borderfiring.

"They should come and see the problems of the people living on the borders. The people of Jammu and Kashmir are dying. On both sides, it is our people who are dying. What is the solution? There is no solution except dialogue," he said.

Senior Abdullah also took a swipe on India's failure to bring back Masoor Azhar or Dawood Ibrahim, saying we could not bring Masood Azhar or the Don who lives in Karachi what resolutions are you talking of.

Earlier, Abdullah paid tributes to veteran leader Girdhari Lal Dogra and described him as a legendary politician who worked tirelessly for uplift of poor and progress of Jammu and Kashmir.

"Dogra Sahib has left an indelible mark of public service and he continues to be remembered as a towering leader for his tremendous connect with the masses," he said while offering tributes to Dogra on his 29th death anniversary.

He said Dogra was among the few leaders of the state whose contribution towards its development is remembered even now. "As a true democrat, he had earned a niche for himself and endeared so much among the people that he never lost any election," the former Chief Minister said.

"Such people are rare, who keep aside politics and treat everyone equal, irrespective of caste, creed, colour or regional affiliation," the NC President said, adding that he will always remain an inspiration for younger generation of political activists, who really want to serve the people and the state by giving their best.

He said Dogra had unflinching faith in secularism and all his life he worked for strengthening the bonds of amity and brotherhood between various segments of society.
Kushinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at Opposition parties for their 'Bharat bandh' call against demonetisaion, saying they are organising the strike at a time when he is trying to root out corruption and black money.

"I am stopping black money and corruption and some are giving call for Bharat bandh," he said at BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' rally in Uttar Pradesh.

Without naming any Opposition party, Modi said, "We are trying to curb corruption and they are organising Bharat bandh. Should there be Bharat bandh or should the route of corruption be blocked?"

Several opposition parties have given a call for 'Akrosh Diwas' tomorrow to protest against the Centre's demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

The prime minister said the decision on demonetisation was tough, "but (the) future will be bright".

Referring to the problems being faced by common man including villagers in withdrawing money, he advised them to take the e-wallet route.

"Era of wallet has gone, you can use your mobile phone as your bank branch with the same ease with which you take snaps and send them to friends," Modi said.

Modi said just as people did not have to attend classes to learn how to use mobile phones, they can now use the device in the same way to carry out monetary transactions.

"I have already said problems do come. I have sought 50 days from you. Of these, 30 days are still left and the government is taking all efforts to assuage the sufferings of people," he said.

"Have you learnt how to charge your mobile by going to school? You have learnt to operate WhatsApp.

Technology has become easy. If you have a bank account, you can purchase whatever you want," he added.

Amid the Opposition parties creating uproar over poor implementation of demonetisation and stalling Parliament for days, Modi said he is aware that people are facing inconvenience.

"The NDA govt at the Centre is fully dedicated to the poor, farmers, villagers and Dalits," he said amid applause from the crowd.

A united Opposition has been attacking the Centre in Parliament over the demonetisation issue, with former prime minister Manmohan Singh terming the move a "monumental management failure" and a case of "organised loot and legalised plunder" which would lead to dip in GDP growth by at least 2 percent.

Modi also attacked the Samajwadi Party government in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, saying it was not interested in implementing central schemes for farmers.

Thanking the people attending his rally, he said that in 2014 elections when he was himself contesting from Varanasi, he visited many areas of the state but the crowd was not as big.

"As compared to today, only half of people used to come. Now a huge crowd, including women, has come to give me blessings," he said, adding, "I bow before you for the trust you have on me... I will not betray you."
In a major breakthrough in the Nabha jailbreak case in Punjab, an arrest has been made in Shamli, Uttar Pradesh, which is 200 km from Nabha, according to ANI.

Just hours later, the alleged "mastermind" of the daring daylight jailbreak, Parminder Singh, was arrested from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district when the getaway vehicle  a Toyota Fortuner  was stopped at a police picket.

A self-loading rifle (SLR), three rifles and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from the SUV during the search, UP's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Singh Chaudhary said.

According to CNN-News18 the arrested man has confirmed his involvement in the case in a statement to the police. Huge cashe of ammunitions was also recovered. The Additional Director General of UP Police Daljeet Singh Choudhary, told ANI that the accused was nabbed in Shamli district of western Uttar Pradesh and a huge cache of arms was recovered from his car. He also added that the UP police was on a high alert since morning, as they had information that the accused might try to go towards Nepal via UP.

One person (Parminder) arrested in connection with Punjab jailbreak, huge cache of arms recovered from his car in Shamli, UP pic.twitter.com/zNKHK5LweU  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

Meanwhile, a high alert has been sounded in Punjab's neighbouring states, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Himachal Pradesh and security has been beefed up.

Punjab government kicked into firefighting mode on Sunday, with Deputy Chief minister visiting the Nabha jail, after ten armed men broke into the prison and helped six known 'criminals and terrorists' escape. Among the escapees was another terrorist Kashmira Singh, according to Punjab police chief Suresh Arora.

Following the security breach, the Punjab government suspended the Director General (Jails) and dismissed the Nabha Jail superintendent and deputy jail superintendent and set up a special task force to look into the Nabha jailbreak incident. A manhunt was launched to trace the prisoners who escaped, the Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab, Sukhbir Singh Badal said.

The Punjab government also announced a reward of Rs 25 lakhs to any person providing information leading to the arrest of six escaped under-trial prisoners, ANI reported.

Sukhbir also added that a special investigation team under the ADGP rank officer has also been constituted which shall look into lapses as well as any conspiracy theories surrounding the jail break incident.

"Special Investigation team has been asked to submit report within three days in this regard," he said. The Home Secretary has also been asked to submit a report on the incident.

"Home Secretary will give me a report on wherever any lapse has taken place. Whosoever will be found responsible in this incident, strict action will be taken against him," he said.

However, the Deputy CM said that there was no need to worry. "They (prisoners) will not be allowed to run away. Police is after them. We will catch them soon," he said.

In the wake of the incident, Punjab Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal has called a meeting of senior officials including State Chief Secretary Sarvesh Kaushal and a high alert had been sounded in Punjab with security around railway stations, airports, inter-state bus terminuses and other places of key importance stepped up, officials said.

The Central government, in the meanwhile, has sought a a report from the state government asking it provide details of the incident. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to the Punjab DGP and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in the state.

Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State of the PMO, said that concerned agencies will take cognisance and do what is appropriate, reported ANI.

We have been given to understand that the Govt is in full control: Jitendra Singh, MoS PMO on security situation in Punjab pic.twitter.com/ebqRVY5sqQ  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

On Sunday morning, 10 armed men in police uniform, indulged in indiscriminate firing at the prison gate to provide a cover to Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, an accused in 10 cases, and five others to escape from jail, following which a high alert has been sounded in Punjab, reported CNN-News18.

There were at least 20 men- one dressed in ASI uniform, others dressed in police uniforms; they opened indiscriminate fire: Eyewitness pic.twitter.com/h8qvBrRs09  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

Earlier it was reported that in all five prisoners had escaped the high security prison, but later the police confirmed that one more inmate is missing, reported CNN-News18.

The TV channel also said that the armed men were wearing police uniform and reached the jail entrance at around 9:30 am and fired over 100 rounds of ammunition at police personnel. No injuries were were reported in the incident so far.

Meanwhile, in another development, a woman was killed when police opened fire at a vehicle which had jumped a barrier. The incident occurred at a 'naka' on Patiala-Gulha Cheeka road. Police tried to stop the car, but its driver did not stop despite being asked to and when police opened fire, a woman who received the gunshot wounds was killed. Police sources said that it could not be immediately ascertained whether the woman, who was not travelling in the car which jumped the barrier, was in some other vehicle or was walking on the road when she got hit by the bullet.

Chandigarh Tribune also reported that DGP law and order HS Dhillon has confirmed the jailbreak. Several check posts have been set up across Punjab, reported CNN-News18.

The news channel also reported that Mintoo was a high-profile criminal who had links with the Inter-Serivces Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan. Mintoo was arrested by Punjab Police from Delhi's IGI Airport in 2014, in connection with 10 cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station in 2010.

This incident took place in a maximum security prison at around 8.30 am.

Punjab Government spokesperson Vineet Joshi has said that "It looks that involvement of cross-border agency meaning Pakistan is possible. The incident points finger toward Pakistan."

The jailbreak incident triggered sharp reactions from the opposition with Punjab Congress President Capt Amarinder Singh alleging connivance of the Badal government in the "brazen daylight" jailbreak.

Amarinder Singh said the incident has exposed a "complete breakdown of law and order" in the state, while triggering fears of revival of terrorism ahead of the Assembly elections. The "shocking manner" in which the gangsters walked into the high-security jail and freed a dreaded Khalistani terrorist along with other convicts clearly shows complicity at the highest levels, he told reporters during the second day of the his road show in Sangrur.

Amarinder said the law and order situation in the state had "deteriorated to unprecedented levels" under the Badal regime, especially in the run-up to the Assembly polls.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari pointed out the lack of law and order in the state, according to a tweet by ANI.

Points out lack of lawIf a high-security prison can be attacked like this,it's an alarming development-Manish Tewari #PunjabJailBreak pic.twitter.com/atf7gyuyng  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

With inputs from PTI
Hyderabad: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday told top police officers of the country not to arrest or harass anyone on basis of allegation of radicalisation unless solid proof is available.

Singh also said that genuine NGOs are free to carry out development works but warned that those organisations which allegedly indulge in anti-national activities will not be spared.

This was conveyed by Singh at the concluding day of the three-day conference of DGPs and IGPs in Hyderabad. The Home Minister told the top police brass categorically that no innocent should be arrested or harassed merely on the allegation of radicalisation and one should be nabbed only after getting adequate proof against the accused, official sources said.

Home Minister, however, directed the DGPs and IGPs to remain alert against attempt to radicalise youths through online and strengthen cyber security apparatus of states. On Friday, Singh had said that due to close coordination between state and Central forces, Indian youths, who were influenced by the dreaded terror group ISIS through online radicalisation, have not been able to successful to carry out any terror attack in the country yet.

"So far, 67 youths, who were influenced by the ISIS, were arrested while planning to carry out terror attack," he had said.

In Sunday's meeting, the Home Minister also raised the issue of crack down on NGOs saying that no bonafide NGO doing public service will have to face any kind of government scrutiny. But those NGOs which are allegedly trying to hamper development works or indugle in anti-national activities would not be spared.

Government recently had banned an NGO run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik for alleged terror acts. Besides, FCRA registration of around 20,000 NGOs were also cancelled in last two years for various alleged irregularities.
More than 400 Syrian civilians have fled rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo for the government-controlled west as regime forces advance in the city, a monitor said Sunday.

The civilians fled overnight to the Masaken Hanano district and were taken to regime-controlled areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian state media said government forces had on Saturday captured Masaken Hanano, the largest rebel-held district of Aleppo, in what would be a major breakthrough in the regime's offensive to retake the entire city.

Fresh fighting broke out on Saturday night between regime forces and rebel groups in the neighbouring districts of Haidariya and Sakhur, said the Observatory.

Regime forces targeted the area with heavy shelling, said the Britain-based monitoring group.

Pro-government media hailed the "success" of the government forces, reporting that they continued their advance on Sunday.

On Saturday, at least 18 civilians were killed in regime raids and artillery fire in several districts of Aleppo, said the monitor.

It took to 219 the overall number of civilians killed, including 27 children, since the government launched the assault on rebel-held east Aleppo on November 15.

The rebels meanwhile intensified rocket attacks on the western districts overnight, killing at least four civilians and wounding dozens, Observatory said.

Such attacks have killed a total of 27 civilians since the offensive began, among them 11 children.

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How many times have we groaned about needing some coffee or tea to get us moving in the morning, or to keep us going for long nights? The memes, quotes, articles, documentaries and personality quizzes are here to stay  were addicted. Dont talk to me before my first cup of (insert caffeinated beverage here), we disclaim. But deep down, theres also a fondness mixed with pride. In our preference for tea or coffee, there is something so quintessential about us, so needed, so given, that it often acts shorthand to our entire personalities. Youre just a Google search away from finding out if youre a tea or coffee personality. We identify intensely with our habits, our compulsions, our indulgences and in a world characterised by identity politics, we also become what we drink.

So it wakes us up in the morning, gives us energy to deal with the day and the demands of the university or workplace. It also works as an amazing pick-me-up in the middle of the day when all that sleep deprivation tends to snowball and threaten our eyes shut right in the middle of a lecture or meeting. On the odd (but not rare) days that we need to pull all-nighters, an evening cup bypasses our bodily desire for sleep and hopefully pushes us into overdrive. Then, of course, there are those of us who are simply addicted, jittery until the next cup. But why do we only seem to romanticize this drinking? Why do we not talk about the rigors of a system that necessitate our being under-slept and overworked? As we consume our way, organically or not, into meeting the demands of a life under late capitalism and neoliberalism, we pay little attention to being consumed by capitalistic notions of productivity.

These are the questions that filmmaker Shweta Ghoshs 2016 documentary Steeped and Stirred quietly brings up. Ghosh is a consummate filmmaker and writer. Her previous films, Accsex (2013) and Chatkorichya Athvani (A Slice of Memory) (2015) tackle completely different subjects but are connected by a common desire to read agency into the invisiblised corners of our social and personal lives. Steeped and Stirred (produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust), in its quest to trace the history of chais presence and role in India, is infused with the same ambition.

At just a little under 60 minutes, Ghoshs film works as a wonderful sampler of the various entryways into the history of tea. We look at the colonial history of tea and its relatively recent introduction into Indian consciousness, the socio-economics of tea cultivation and tea drinking, who drinks it, how they drink, why they drink it and where. At times, just when youre getting settled into the narrative (and Ghosh is a deft storyteller) the audience is yanked out of it hurriedly to visit another part on Indias map. Where Steeped and Stirred is vulnerable to its film length, it makes up for it in an expansiveness that is impressive for being under an hour. We are taken to West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Mumbai and grapple with the intertwining histories of tea consumption in India. From scriptures written millennia ago to the neoliberalised economy that ensure most high-grade tea grown in India is exported outside it, Ghosh takes us on a stimulating journey. According to the film, which quotes Professor Gautam Bhadra on this, what we take to be so quintessentially Indian was in fact the product of a colonial marketing operation.

On the way, we meet Shilpa Phadke in Mumbai, whose brilliant book (co-authored with Shilpa Ranade and Sameera Khan) Why Loiter?: Women and Risk on Mumbai Streets (2011) looks at how public spaces in India are gendered. In the movie, Phadke talks about the dynamics of who gets to sit in roadside tea-stalls. This is, of course, gendered  women are read differently if seen loitering/spending time in a roadside public space than men. But its not only gendered, its also a symptom of class. In his essay, Adda, Calcutta: Dwelling in Modernity, historian Dipesh Chakrabarty looks at the role of addas in capitalism. Addas, the social practice of friends coming together for long, informal conversations, are for Chakrabarty a flawed social practice because they are predominantly male, oblivious to the materiality of labour in a capitalistic society and also neglect entirely the existence of the working classes.

What makes the crowd in a trendy cafe more respectable and safer than a roadside tea-stall? What are the politics of spending time in a coffee shop as opposed to a roadside chai tapri? When is it considered spending ones time and when is it deemed wasting ones time? Its important to note that in the absence of economic consumption, public spaces for tea/coffee drinking are inaccessible. The State of Bombay legislates against loitering, you can be thus penalised if found wandering aimlessly or without sufficient accountability. But this idea of time as being wasteful, purposeless etc. is inextricable from capitalist ideas of productivity and efficiency. How dare you waste time when you have so much work to do? This rhetoric is especially exercised in the case of the lower working class. Tea breaks are meant to be fuel pit stops so you can cope with being underpaid and overworked, not indulgences.

Ghoshs film is a veritable love letter to tea and tea-drinking culture, but it does not shy away from looking at its embarrassing or problematic parts. A considerable chunk of the film looks at the caste politics of drinking tea. Ghosh takes us to Gujarat, where we are introduced to the idea of Ram Patras  vessels segregated by upper caste employers for use by Dalits. We also look at the economics of tea, who gets the high grade, who is left with the low, the colonial interventions that pushed for making tea popular in the first place. In doing exactly this, in inviting us to stare into these questions of caste, class, gender, race, colonialism and neoliberalism embedded in this drink we love, Ghoshs movie is an act of love. To look this lovingly and critically at something dear to you is not a minor act. This is Ghoshs liquid courage.

This is of course not to say that we boycott drinking tea or coffee in a bid to extricate completely ourselves from the Great Evils of Capitalism. It couldnt be that simple. We can continue being unabashed chai enthusiasts and lovers, but maybe not unaware ones. Irrespective of whether your chai is fair trade and/or organic, beyond the nitty-gritties of how we drink it (tea first, milk later obviously) it is important we are also aware of the politics of why we drink it and where we are allowed to drink it.

What do we long for when we long for a cup of tea? A moments peace, some energy, the sugar hit, the soothing heat trickling down a sore throat? When it rains, we yearn for its full-bodied warmth, crave the crunch of a pakora or the snap of a biscuit, the fluffiness of sponge cake. The promise of tea can be whatever you want it to be, a moment of solitude during your workplace clamour, shared conversation amongst friends, the only reason youre at that insufferable conference or event. But tea (like most everything else) is as meditatively personal as it is strategically political. The danger of not engaging with the political is to risk individualising a systemic problem.

We buy, drink and make tea to make us more efficient, to arrest dwindling attention and the increasing need for fitful sleep, to just make it through the day in one piece. But why should we not be able to make it in one piece? What threatens this peace of mind and the restful sleep? Why should being overworked and woefully underpaid (for a huge chunk of humanity) be accepted so matter-of-factly? Like Ghoshs film invites us to ask ourselves, why do we romanticise chai the way we do? Given its complicated and current socio-political history, do we add to the dissonance by romanticising it? We spend money to consume tea in order to meet the demands of a job so that we can get paid to be able to afford things like tea. Tea instigates  it wakes you up, it organises revolts (the Boston Tea Party for one), but it also suppresses. In many ways, it pacifies us, giving us just enough comfort and warmth to, paradoxically, keep us from boiling over.

The writer is studying The Social Justice Institute, University of British Columbia
Lucknow: Ruling Samajwadi Party on Sunday said the demonetisation decision of the Narendra Modi government smacked of an attempt at "financially harming" rival political parties ahead of Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

But, people who are facing severe hardships because of the note ban will "punish" BJP in the Assembly elections and teach the saffron party a lesson, SP National Vice President Kironmay Nanda said in Lucknow.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move is aimed at financial harming rival political parties in 2017 UP Assembly polls. This poll is a do or die for BJP. BJP thought that due to impact of demonetisation, rival parties in the state will not be able to withdraw money for polls," Nanda told PTI in an interview.

"BJP does not know that this step is going to be 'atmghati' (suicidal) for the party. People who are standing in long queues for getting their own money will vote against BJP to vent their ire," he said.

While making it clear that SP is not against a curb on black money, the senior SP MP said the way in which demonetisation has been done showed "inexperience" of policy makers.

"This is creating problems for common man and SP is against it," he said.

"In this vast country four out of every five village do not have banking facilities. Villagers there depend on the rich for their money needs. Due to demonetisation labourers are not getting job and they are starving. Centre has not given these issues a thought before banning 86 per cent of the currency," he said.

"The way in which Union Finance Ministry is changing rules on daily basis only showed that they were not ready to deal with the impact of demonetisation move," he said.

The ruling SP is against the demonetisation move in view of the hardships being faced by the commoners and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav personally conveyed this to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to press for releasing more funds to cooperative banks due to the cash-crunch they are facing due to demonetisation.

Akhilesh, who met Modi in Delhi last week, highlighted the hardships of farmers in the state due to the cash-crunch triggered by the demonetisation decision.

"The Prime Minister is aware of the hardships of the people. Farmers are unhappy and are facing a lot of trouble. This is the time for sowing...There are so many co-operative banks...When will they get the money," the chief minister had said after his meeting with the Prime Minister.

Akhilesh had earlier written to Modi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on the plight of the people following demonetisation.

Nanda pointed out that the Samajwadi Party government has on its part taken certain measures to ease the problems being faced by the common people.

The Chief Minister has instructed top officials to deal sympathetically with those standing in queues trying to withdraw money or exchange notes.

Instructing District Magistrates and Police Superintendents to deal with all sections of society with a sympathetic and sensitive attitude, the chief minister warned respective district administrations that those found responsible for inappropriate behaviour with people will face stern action.

The chief minister also directed all DMs to ensure that farmers do not face any problem in procuring seeds,fertilisers and other goods since rabi sowing is currently on.
In another bid to corner the ruling BJP government on the issue of demonetisation, the Opposition on Saturday had announced a 'nationwide bandh' to protest against the 'dictatorial move of the Narendra Modi government', however, on Sunday confusion and uncertainty prevailed over the effects of the Opposition's call.

Amid reports of a nationwide bandh, the Congress party on Sunday clarified that it was only planning protests across the nation, even as the prime minister took a jibe at the call for bandh at an election rally in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh.

Hitting out at the Opposition for their Bharat bandh call against demonetisaion, the prime minister said that they are organising the strike at a time when he is trying to root out corruption and black money. Without naming any Opposition party, Modi said, "We are trying to curb corruption and they are organising Bharat bandh. Should there be Bharat bandh or should the route of corruption be blocked?" Modi also tried to dilute the Opposition's criticism on Mann ki Baat by making a pitch for a cashless economy.

The Congress, on the other hand, claimed that it was the BJP that was spreading misinformation that Congress and other parties have called for a Bharat bandh. In what it alleged "was a political move being sold as a fight against corruption," the Congress party on Sunday stressed that the Opposition parties will hold protests across the country by observing 'Jan Aakrosh Diwas'.

Several Opposition parties have given a call for 'Akrosh Diwas' on Monday to protest against the Centre's demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh said Modi believes in "dhamaka" politics and the decision to scrap high-value currency notes was taken because he had seen the "writing on the wall" in Uttar Pradesh, where polls are due next year. He claimed that Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes were scrapped to cover up the government's failure to deliver on the prime minister's big electoral promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad and Modi wanted to do something "dramatic".

"It is a political move which is being sold as a fight against corruption," Ramesh said hitting out at the Centre. He said people who have amassed wealth by illegal means are not suffering, but those who do not have black money are facing hardships. Unfortunately, people who needed to be attacked have gone scot-free," he said, adding that one section of "suited-booted" people was still leading a life of luxury.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also sought to quell the 'rumours' about a bandh, as she tweeted out that the Opposition parties have only planned protests.

In Delhi at the meeting of Opposition parties, a Bandh was never discussed or agreed to. We do not support any Bandh called 1/2  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 25, 2016

People are suffering so I appeal to all to help citizens and stand by them at this hour of crisis 2/2  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 25, 2016

However, the Congress' protest, while garnering resounding support from Mamata, evoked only a tepid response from its ally in Bihar, Janata Dal United.

While Mamata, continued her tirade against Modi announcing a dharna in Patna on 30 November, JD(U) distanced itself from the Opposition protests and Mamata's rally. "We have supported and welcomed the Centre's demonetisation move. Then how can we oppose or be the part of activity like bandh which is meant to protest the issue which our party has strongly supported," Bihar JD(U) unit president Bashishtha Narayan Singh told PTI.

JD(U) maintained a cautious line stating that the party's stand has been clear on the issue of demonetisation from day one, Singh said the Centre's move had actually strengthened conviction of JD(U) which had been fighting against black money and corruption since the days of socialist leaders.

The party, however, believes that the hardship caused by the cash-crunch could have been avoided with efficient and effective management, he said adding, "We'll certainly raise the issue of inconvenience and hardship being faced by the people at an appropriate forum, including Parliament."

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) chief, who is at the forefront of the Opposition attack against the Modi government on the issue, had earlier exuded confidence that representatives of many parties would join the TMC's dharna in Patna.

"All Opposition is united, and you are divided," Mamata had claimed while hitting out at Modi as she called him "a bad politician and a worse administrator" who is spreading lies and relaxing while the citizens are suffering.

While the JD(U) has decided to keep its distance from any agitation of its allies in Bihar, coalition Congress and RJD have decided to support it.

The state JD(U) chief said that Nitish Kumar had also conveyed the party's decision to the leaders of alliance partners i.e. RJD chief Lalu Prasad and state Congress chief Ashok Choudhary on the issue of demonetisation.

"This is a coalition govenrment which is confined to Bihar only...But parties are free to take their own stand," Singh said. Kumar had dismissed report of "confusion or fissures" in the grand alliance in Bihar over demonetisation due to divergent views of Congress and RJD on the issue of scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

"The grand alliance is only in Bihar and on issues concerning Bihar. On issues outside the state, every party is privy to its own viewpoint...there is no confusion or fissures in coalition," Kumar had told reporters in his state Assembly room on Friday.

Asked whether JD(U) and BJP are coming together, Singh rubbished it as "baseless" and said that "the issues on which JD(U) had differences with BJP are still there...We are opposing the central government as it has failed to provide any relief to the common people".

The Congress, however, tried to downplay its ally's distancing itself from the protests stating that JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav was supporting it.

Ramesh claimed that the Pune-based organisation, which is said to be behind the demonetisation idea, has also said the way it is being implemented is not what they had suggested. Congress was not against the objectives of the measure and will support steps against black money and corruption, but the reality of the situation is different, he said. Only two percent of people in the country undertake cashless transactions. It will take time before the country becomes cashless, he said.

The prime minister, who believes in "soundbites", has been talking of "cashless and less-cash society. Does he want cashless mandis also?" the Congress leader asked.

Citing National Investigation Agency (NIA) estimates, he said counterfeit notes make up just 0.02 percent of the total currency in circulation. To tackle this, 80 percent of people, be it farmers, the unorganised and small-scale sector have been subjected to inconvenience.

Modi, however, tore into the Opposition's narrative at an election rally in UP, stating "I am stopping black money and corruption and some are giving call for Bharat bandh." Modi sought the cooperation of all sections of the society, despite the difficulties, to make the transition to the new currency denominations a success. He also took on the Opposition in his Mann ki Baat radio programme. "There are still some people who have a bad habit of trying to find loopholes. They are trying to find other means to save their black money and benaami money," Modi said.

He also talked about the benefits of Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which he said was "very simple, like sending a WhatsApp message. Even an illiterate person knows how to send a WhatsApp message. You don't even need a smartphone to do this."

"There is an entire generation which does not know about online transactions," Modi said. "Make a promise that you will be a part of a cashless society. Every day, educate at least ten families about technology and online transactions," he said, asking support from the youth.

"I invite you to not only support the government but also become soldiers of this change. There are many countries where the youth changed the country. Revolution is done by the youth," Modi said.

The BJP also voiced confidence that the protest called by certain Opposition parties on Monday will not be successful and said parties like Congress were already retreating and not calling it a Bharat bandh.

"It is quite evident that the country is united and with us on demonetisation. There are only a few parties who have supported the call for Bharat bandh. Those who were raising their voices earlier are also stepping back in fear now," said Union minister Babul Supriyo.

He told reporters at the BJP headquarters. "Even if it's a Bharat bandh, there can be attempts of violence or unruly behaviour. The administration will be alert and all arrangements will be in place to avoid any unfortunate situation," he added.

A united Opposition has been attacking the Centre in Parliament over the demonetisation issue, with former prime minister Manmohan Singh terming the move a "monumental management failure" and a case of "organised loot and legalised plunder" which would lead to dip in GDP growth by at least 2 percent.

(With inputs from agencies)
Patna: In pursuance of party chief Nitish Kumar support to demonetisation, JD(U) has decided to keep off

from the nationwide protest by Opposition on Monday against the scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes as well the dharna to be held by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee here on 30 November.

"We have supported and welcomed the Centre's demonetisation move. Then how can we oppose or be the part of activity like bandh which is meant to protest the issue which our party has strongly supported," Bihar unit JD(U) President Bashishtha Narayan Singh told PTI.

Singh attended a high-level party meeting held by party president and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar last evening to take a decision on Monday's stir called by Opposition parties to corner the Narendra Modi government over the ban on denomination currencies to fight black money.

The meeting chaired by Kumar was attended by senior party functionaries KC Tyagi, RCP Singh, Harivansh, Bashishtha Narayan Singh, Pawan Verma, Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh and others.

In addition to keeping away from the 28 November agitation, JD(U) would not participate in Banerjee's dharna in Patna on Wednesday to demand roll back of demonetisation.

"JD(U) will not be part of any agitation against demonetisation including the dharna of Mamata on 30 November in Patna," party Secretary General KC Tyagi said.

"We have taken an ideological position in favour of demonetisation so how can we be part of any agitation seeking its roll back," Tyagi said while stating his party's stand on the proposed agitation as well as the sit-in by TMC chief, who is on the forefront of agitation against demonetisation.

Kumar on Friday had said that he had a talk with Mamata only before her visit to Rashtrapati Bhawan to meet President Pranab Mukherjee against the demonetisation. "She had spoken to me before going to Rashtrapati Bhawan and I had pointed to her that even the President has supported demonetisation," Kumar had said about parleys with Banerjee.

The party's stand has been clear on the issue of demonetisation from day one, Singh said adding the Centre's move had actually strengthened conviction of JD(U) which had been fighting against black money and corruption since the days of socialist leaders.

The party, however, believes that the hardship caused by cash-crunch to the common people could have been avoided with efficient and effective management, he said adding, "we'll certainly raise the issue of inconvenience and hardship being faced by the people at an appropriate forum including Parliament".

While the JD(U) has decided to keep distance from any agitation of its allies in Bihar, coalition Congress and RJD have decided to support it.

The state JD(U) chief Bashishtha Narayan Singh said that Nitish Kumar had also conveyed party's decision to the leaders of alliance partners i.e. RJD chief Lalu Prasad and state Congress chief Ashok Choudhary on the issue of demonetisation.

"This is a coalition govenrment which is confined to Bihar only...But parties are free to take their own stand," Singh said.

Kumar had dismissed report of "confusion or fissures" in the grand alliance in Bihar over demonetisation due to divergent views of Congress and RJD on the issue of scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

"The grand alliance is only in Bihar and on issues concerning Bihar. On issues outside the state, every party is privy to its own viewpoint...there is no confusion or fissures in coalition," Kumar had told reporters in his state Assembly room on Friday.

Asked whether JD(U) and BJP are coming together, Singh rubbished it as "baseless" and said that "the issues on which JD(U) had differences with BJP is still there...We are opposing the Central government as it has failed to provide any relief to the common people".
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday demanded the resignation of Punjab Home Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal after two Khalistani terrorists fled from a jail in the state.

Punjab Home Minister shud immediately resign taking responsibility of jail break and killing of innocent girl by Punjab police  Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) November 27, 2016

"Punjab Home Minister should immediately resign taking responsibility of jail break and the later killing of an innocent girl by Punjab Police," the Aam Aadmi Party leader tweeted.

"This shows complete breakdown of law and order in Punjab," Kejriwal added.

Sukhbir Badal is also the Deputy Chief Minister and son of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

In a sensational jailbreak, armed men on Sunday attacked the maximum security Nabha prison and escaped with two terrorists including Khalistan Liberation Force leader Harminder Singh Mintoo.
Kolkata: The Left Front is geared up to make its 12-hour West Bengal bandh, called to protest against the demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, on Monday a success while the Trinamool Congress-led state government has vowed to foil it.

The state government has ordered all its employees to attend offices on 28 November and the following day.

Over 3,000 police personnel would be deployed in the metropolis to tackle any untoward incident, Kolkata Police Additional Commissioner of Police (III) Supratim Sarkar said. Besides, around 179 police pickets have been set up in different sections and important market places, Sarkar said adding that 11 deputy commissioners and 21 assistant commissioners would monitor the situation in the city on Monday.

Police personnel would also be present at different metro stations, bus depots, tram terminus, ferry ghats as well as KMC-operated garages, fire sub-stations, Sarkar stated.

Additional security arrangements have been made in all 19 districts of the state to ensure normal life, a West Bengal Police officer said.

The state finance department has issued a circular stating that all employees would be required to attend office on Monday and Tuesday and exceptions would be made only in case of bereavement, maternity leave, hospitalisation and other 'genuine reasons'.

"We oppose bandhs. We will take out a protest march (against demonetisation) on Monday," state Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said.

The state government would take all measures to maintain law and order and normal functioning of public

services, state Chief Secretary Basudeb Banerjee said.

Additional state transport buses and ferry services would be made available for the public to ensure normal life, Transport Minister Suvendu Adhikari said.

The ruling Trinamool Congress has opposed the bandh, saying it was against putting people to more hardship when they are "already facing a lot of problems owing to the scarcity of cash".

On 28 November, the TMC will take out a rally from College Square to Esplanade to protest against demonetisation, TMC general secretary Subrata Bakshi said.

Justifying the shutdown, Left Front chairman Biman Bose has said that the strike call was necessary to register protest against demonetisation which caused sufferings to the people.

State Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury said that his party would extend moral support to the strike called by the Left parties, with which it had allied during the last Assembly elections.
Stressing upon the need to move to a cashless economy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a strong pitch, especially to the youth, to move to technology-based financial transactions such as e-banking, mobile banking and other facilities such as Unified Payment Interface (UPI) for their daily financial transactions.

The PM sought the cooperation of all sections of the society, despite the difficulties, to make the transition to the new currency denominations a success. Even after three weeks post the demonetisation announcement, banking system is still struggling to meet the cash requirements of people, with long queues still seen before ATMs. Small traders,vegetable vendors and farmers are hit hard due to the currency shortage.

Addressing the nation through his monthly radio programme "Mann ki Baat", Modi urged the youth of India to take a pledge to become part of a 'cashless society' for a corruption less, black money-free India.

"Poor started using Rupay card, which was not used that frequent, after 8 November decision and nearly 300 percent development happened," Modi said in his radio programme.

For small traders, who have been facing the hardships due to the prevailing cash crunch in the system, Modi urged them to adopt cashless method. "I urge my trader brothers and sisters...this is an opportunity for them to enter the digital world," said Modi, adding that adopting cashless economy will bring about a huge transformation in the country.

Modi has been more vocal about the usage of less cash and more digital technology-related transactions in the economy, given his decision earlier in the month (8 November) to demonetise high denomination currrencies of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes from the system to keep a check on the black money generation.

It has been estimated that people have exchanged and deposited over Rs 5.44 lakh crore worth of scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes at different banks till 18 November following demonetisation of the higher denomination currency.

Although the government's demonetisation decision was welcomed by majority of the poeple across the country, the Centre, however, came under severe criticism from various political parties for not taking evasive measures to ease common man's concerns.

Specifically, the decision led to severe cash shortage in the economy, with bank branches and ATMs frequently running out of cash in just few minutes time, thereby, leaving people hassled. With several ATMs for better period post the demonetisation announcement were not calibrated to dispense new cash denominations, people standing in long queues were forced to leave with little or no cash at times.

Reports of several people losing their lives standing in long queues to withdraw money triggered angry reactions from the masses with some even calling for the government to roll back the decision.

The government's constant flip-flop on exchanging and depositing old cash notes in the bank branches, besides changing the limits on cash withdrawals created lot of confusion among the people.

Immediately after the demonetisation announcement, the government first permitted people to exchange banned notes of up to Rs 4,000, with the exchange limit later being increased to Rs 4,500. The government also asked banks to start using indelible inks on customers exchanging old notes on fears that same people were going to different banks to exchange old notes.

A week later, the government reduced the exchange limit from Rs 4,500 to Rs 2,000. On cash withdrawal front, the government first allowed Rs 2,000 to be withdrawn before increasing it to Rs 4,000 per card. The government also kept changing the daily and weekly withdrawal cash limits at banks leading to lot of confusion among the people.

While the government has been hell bent on flushing out fake currencies and black money from the system, traders, vegetable, fruit and flower vendors across the country have already witnessed a major slowdown in their businesses in past few weeks.

With the business being hit hard, especially, in the country's unorganised and MSME (medium and small enterprises) sectors, there have been reports of massive job losses across the country. Last week, CPI leader Sitaram Yechury said over four lakh people have lost their jobs due to the demonetisation exercise.

Finally, the demonetisation move has forced several economists, rating agencies and brokerages to slash the country's GDP growth estimates for the next few quarters citing subdued consumer spending and likely slowdown in economy. Not just that, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, too, last week cautioned that GDP could fall by about 2 percent in the aftermath of demonetisation.
Kushinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the Samajwadi Party government in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh for being "unconcerned" to the hardships of the people and asked if its family feud was over to allow it to concentrate on implementing central schemes for farmers.

Modi criticised the Akhilesh Yadav government for not implementing the schemes to benefit farmers though the Centre was paying for them.

"I want to ask UP government if you have settled your dispute, implement crop insurance scheme in UP. I don't think they (UP government) can do that... They don't have interest in solving problems," he said at BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' rally.

He was apparently referring to the crisis within the Yadav family that pitted Akhilesh against his father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal months ahead of the UP elections.

Modi said had previous governments thought of changing lives in villages, farmers and poor would not have been facing problems as he tried to strike an emotional chord with farmers by beginning his speech in Bhojpuri and devoted a considerable part of his speech to problems of cane growers.

"The time has gone when those in government called themselves rulers. I am your 'sewak' (I am at your service)...It's my responsibility to work for you. You have given me a lot. I am indebted to you," he added.

Stating that cane dues amounted to a whopping Rs 22,000 crore in 2014-15, he said people had got "used to" it, so much so that they did not even complain.

"The UP government was also unconcerned. When we formed government at the Centre, we decided to take care of cane growers. Now only very little payment is pending," he said.

Highlighting his government's initiatives, Modi said, "Sugar mill owners wanted package when they met me. I asked them your habit to take packages is old. I will give you whatever you want and I later sent officers to seek list of those whose dues were pending."

"I later said package will be given but not to sugar mills but to farmers and their dues will be transferred to their account directly" to ensure there are no middlemen, he said.

Modi said that in order to remove worries of sugarcane growers, he also asked sugar mills to install machinery to produce ethanol, which could be used as an alternative to petrol and diesel.

"If sugar prices fall, produce ethanol. We won't let cane growers die. The sugar mills have produced 100 crore litre of ethanol that is a record for the country. This is used in vehicles and saved on import of fuel," he said.
By Daren Butler

| ISTANBUL

ISTANBUL A blast ripped through a street in the northern Syrian town of al-Rai on Sunday in what was believed to be an Islamic State suicide bombing, with several deaths reported and security and hosital sources saying 12 wounded, mostly children, were taken to a hospital in nearby Turkey.The town of al-Rai, which is 2 km (1 mile) south of Turkey's Kilis border province, is in an area under the control of Turkey-backed rebels and was seized from Islamic State militants in Ankara's "Euphrates Shield" operation launched in August.Local sources said the explosion was caused by a vehicle-borne bomb which killed several people, according to Turkey's Dogan news agency. The casualty toll could not be confirmed.The Turkey-backed rebels have for days been besieging the IS-controlled town of al-Bab, around 30 km south of al-Rai, as part of the three-month-old offensive to drive the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.Turkey's army earlier said IS militants fired a rocket into the Haliliye area of the same region that caused symptoms of "chemical gas" exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The rebels were transferred to a Turkish hospital on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches following the attack, the Hurriyet website reported. But Anadolu said a subsequent analysis by Turkey's disaster and emergency organisation AFAD did not detect chemical materials and the symptoms were regarded as having been caused by a tear gas-like substance.Turkish jets on Saturday destroyed four Islamic State targets in the Anifah region, and one Turkey-backed Syrian rebel was killed and 14 wounded in clashes, the army said.

On Thursday, three Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike which the army believed was carried out by the Syrian air force. It happened on the first anniversary of Turkey's downing of a Russian jet over Syria and raised fears of an escalation in the conflict.Turkey subsequently deployed low-altitude air defence systems with Stinger missiles to the border area, Dogan said.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the air strike with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. They spoke again late on Saturday about "Syria and efforts to resolve the humanitarian drama in Aleppo", sources in Erdogan's office said.Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main military backer. Turkey backs rebels fighting to oust him.Ankara and Moscow only restored ties, which had been damaged by last November's jet incident, in August. While they continue to pursue conflicting goals in Syria, Turkey has of late been less openly critical of Assad than in the past. (Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Andrew Bolton)

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Washington: Fidel Castro's passing removes what was the single greatest psychological barrier to a warmer US-Cuba relationship. But it also adds to the uncertainty ahead with the transition from an Obama to a Trump administration.

"A brutal dictator" of a "totalitarian island", declared President-elect Donald Trump, underscoring the historical trauma still separating the countries.

A more restrained President Barack Obama, carefully promoting and working to preserve his own attempt to rebuild those ties, said history would assess Castro's impact and that the Cuban people could reflect "with powerful emotions" about how their longtime leader influenced their country.

In death as in life, Castro has divided opinion: a revolutionary who stood up to American aggression or a ruthless dictator whose movement trampled human rights and democratic aspirations.

President Raul Castro, Fidel's younger brother, is 85. Their Communist Party shows no signs of opening up greater political space despite agreeing with the United States to re-establish embassies and facilitate greater trade and investment.

As Obama leaves office in January, his decision to engage rather than pressure Havana in the hopes of forging new bonds could quickly unravel. Trump has hardly championed the effort and Republican leaders in Congress fiercely opposed Obama's calls to end the 55-year-old US trade embargo of the island.

"We know that this moment fills Cubans  in Cuba and in the United States  with powerful emotions, recalling the countless ways in which Fidel Castro altered the course of individual lives, families and of the Cuban nation," Obama said.

He offered neither condemnation nor praise for Castro, who outlasted invasion and assassination plots, and presided over the Cuban missile crisis, which took the world to the brink of nuclear war.

"History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him," Obama said, adding that US-Cuban relations shouldn't be defined "by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends."

Trump didn't pass off his evaluation to the historians.

"Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades," Trump said in a statement. "Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights."

Trump expressed hope that Castro's death would mark a "move away from the horrors" toward a future where Cubans live in freedom. But he said nothing about Obama's project to reset ties, and even hailed the election support he received from veterans of the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion that was backed by the CIA.

Such a statement probably will irritate Havana, coming after a two-year period of intense diplomatic discussions with Washington that have done more to improve relations between the countries than anything in the past 5  decades.

Castro's reign began when his improbable insurrection ousted the US-backed strongman Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Only 32 at the time, Castro was the youngest leader in Latin America and inspired revolutionaries as far afield as Africa and Asia.

But Castro's socialist Cuba was anything but an idyll, and the United States quickly became his fiercest opponent.

In death as in life, Castro has divided opinion: a revolutionary who stood up to American aggression or a ruthless dictator whose movement trampled human rights and democratic aspirations

Members of Batista's government went before summary courts, with at least 582 executed by firing squad in the first two years of Castro's rule. Independent newspapers were closed. Gays were herded into camps for "re-education." Tens of thousands were held as political prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled. After the Soviet Union vanished, Cuba's economy collapsed.

In Miami and other American cities, a powerful emigre community emerged that was bitterly opposed to any improvement in US relations with Castro's government. For many years, their threat alone was enough to sink any attempts to bridge divides.

The dynamic began changing a decade ago, as Castro stepped back from public life. His health ailing, he handed over power to brother Raul in 2008 and a period of limited economic reforms was ushered in.

After Cuba's government released American prisoner Alan Gross and agreed to a spy swap with Washington in 2014, Obama and Raul Castro felt they finally had enough trust to embark on a journey of rapprochement.

While some US investment has opened up and travel rules for Americans are now greatly eased, the normalization has been limited because Obama could never get Republican lawmakers to end the vast restrictions tied up in the trade embargo. Triumphant alongside Trump in November, some GOP leaders have vowed to reverse Obama's effort.

"Now that Fidel Castro is dead, the cruelty and oppression of his regime should die with him," House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said in a statement Saturday. "Sadly, much work remains to secure the freedom of the Cuban people."

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, who is pushing legislation to scrap the embargo, said in an interview that Castro's shadow "loomed over all the government's decisions" even though he had left power. She hoped Trump and Republican leaders would respond to Castro's death by at least not rolling back Obama's openings to Cuba and perhaps advancing them.

During his campaign, Trump criticised Obama for striking a "very weak agreement" and threatened to reverse Obama's executive orders "unless the Castro regime meets our demands." He never laid out those demands, and at other times hinted about being amenable to more US investment in Cuba.

As with much of his foreign policy, Trump never outlined clearly a set of policy objectives with Cuba. The ambiguity leaves much of the recent warming on uncertain ground. It's unclear if Castro's death, however powerful for castigators and champions, will dramatically sway Trump one way or the other.
Algerian police on Sunday broke up a protest in the capital against a reform to end early retirement that is to be debated in parliament, an AFP correspondent said.

A drop in oil revenues prompted the draft law to end both early retirement and retirement after 32 years of contributions to a pension fund regardless of age.

Retirement age for all Algerians will be 60, under the reform due to come into force in January.

Protests have been banned in public places in Algeria since 2001.

Police arrested several demonstrators and tore up banners held up by trade unionists chanting the national anthem, the correspondent said.

"I was roughed up by police and wounded" above the eye, school director Abdelmalek Zegada said.

Protesters said that many others had been held up at security checkpoints outside the capital and prevented from joining the gathering.

"Police beat up teachers, doctors and workers," said Um Abdelkader, a teacher. "We're all shocked."

Opposition lawmaker Nadia Chouitem said she was sad to see "so much violence".

Fellow parliamentarian Smain Kouadria accused the state of sliding into the behaviour of a "totalitarian state" in the face of "legitimate" demands.

Algeria's parliament is expected to approve the draft law as the legislature is largely dominated by parties who support President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

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By Sudip Kar-Gupta and Marine Pennetier

| PARIS

PARIS Two former prime ministers went head-to-head on Sunday in a runoff vote for France's centre-right presidential nomination, with the victor expected to face a showdown against a resurgent far-right in May.The winner, either Francois Fillon or Alain Juppe, will most likely represent the entire French political mainstream against the National Front's Marine Le Pen, in another test of the anti-establishment anger in Western countries that saw Britain vote to leave the EU and Americans elect Donald Trump as president. Opinion polls show Fillon, a social conservative with a deep attachment to France's Catholic roots, as the clear favourite after stunning his more centrist challenger with a surge in support just before the Nov. 20 party nomination first round.Voting opened at more than 10,000 polling stations across France at 8 a.m. (0700 GMT) and was set to close at 7 p.m., with the first results likely up to an hour and a half later.Organisers from the centre-right party, which took the name Les Republicains last year, said that by midday the participation rate was 10 to 15 percent higher than in last week's first round. A 62-year-old racing car enthusiast who lives in a Loire valley chateau, Fillon promises radical reforms to France's regulation-encumbered economy, vowing to roll back the state and slash government's bloated costs.Scrambling to regain momentum, Juppe, 71, a soft-mannered moderate who is now mayor of Bordeaux, has attacked the "brutality" of his rival's reform programme and says the Paris lawmaker lacks credibility.But in a blow to Juppe, television viewers found the harder-line Fillon more convincing in a head-to-head debate on Thursday."He's not ashamed of being on the right, and even less of being Catholic," Fillon backer Valerie Sonnard, a childminder in her forties, told Reuters at a polling station in Toulouse, southern France on Sunday."My choice is Francois Fillon because I don't want a right that is tainted by the left," said Harold Bakinsian, a 51 year-old architect voting in Frejus on the Mediterranean coast.As the two candidates voted, Fillon told reporters: "It is the voters who are talking now, not the candidate."

Juppe meanwhile said he was proud of his campaign, but also complained over the way he had been cast on social media as soft on Islamist militancy - a sensitive subject in France, where more than 230 people have died in Islamist militant attacks since January last year."Some truths came out too late," he said.Any registered voter can take part in the primary, making its outcome difficult to predict. The search for a consensus candidate to stop the National Front could help the more centrist Juppe, particularly if many voters from outside the ranks of the centre-right take part."I voted for Alain Juppe because I fear Francois Fillon's economic programme, too rightist and too conservative, will divide society too much," said Daniel Dunia, a Toulouse-based researcher in his forties who considers himself a leftwing voter.

CULTURE, ECONOMY

Pollsters say the winner of the centre-right primary will be the favourite to enter the Elysee palace, likely to place in the top two alongside Le Pen in a first round in April and defeat her in a run-off in May.While polls show either Fillon or Juppe would beat Le Pen, Juppe would do so by a more comfortable margin. But the shock results in the British referendum and U.S. presidential contest mean forecasters' assumptions are being treated with caution.Voter anger is sweeping aside establishment figures in Western countries, with Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi forecast to lose a referendum on constitutional reform on Dec 4. Germany's Angela Merkel faces a fight for re-election next year.French President Francois Hollande is so unpopular and his Socialists so divided that pollsters say he would be unlikely even to reach the run-off should he decide to run.With France still under a state of emergency since Islamist militant attacks over the past two years, cultural tensions in a country that hosts Europe's biggest Muslim community have been central to the election debate.

Juppe praises France's diversity. Fillon says immigrants should assimilate to French cultural values."I think Juppe hasn't been firm enough on immigration questions and on the attacks," said Sonnard, the childminder in Toulouse.There are also differences on foreign policy, with Fillon's pro-Russia stance raising eyebrows in Germany. On social policy, Fillon wants to curb adoption rights for same-sex couples.Much of the arguments have centred on the economy.Fillon proposes to cut twice as many public sector jobs as Juppe, lower corporate taxes, take on trade unions and reduce the role of the state, like his hero, Margaret Thatcher.Fillon's photo-shopped face wearing the former British prime minister's distinctive hairstyle graced the front page of a left-leaning national newspaper last week. "You think I look like Margaret Thatcher?" he joked in English to reporters on Sunday.Voters say they are fed up with France's near double-digit rate of unemployment -- nearly double that of some European peers -- and sluggish job creation in an economy that is forecast to grow an anaemic 1.4 percent in 2016.Hollande now has two weeks in which to decide whether to run for re-election. A win for Fillon and his hardline economic platform would give the 62-year-old Hollande a target to attack and could convince him to make a bid for a second five-year mandate against the odds. His Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, is also gearing up to stand. The Socialist primaries are due to take place in January. (Additional reporting by Myriam Rivet and Chine Labbe in Paris, Julie Rimbert in Toulouse and Jean-Francois Rosnoblet in Frejus; Writing by Richard Lough and Richard Balmforth; Editing by Andrew Callus and Peter Graff)

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By Michael Georgy, Isabel Coles and John Davison

| MOSUL, Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq Iraq's sectarian political leaders have plunged back into a dispute over the status of Shi'ite armed groups, undermining efforts to reunite the country as its troops press on with the assault of Mosul, Islamic State's biggest stronghold.Forty days into the biggest ground offensive in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, about a quarter of the city has been taken by U.S.-backed government units on the eastern side. The western part could prove far more dangerous, Major General Najm al-Jubbouri, one of the army's top commanders, told Reuters.Residents still wearing the long beards demanded by Islamic State welcomed Iraqi troops into a neighbourhood of east Mosul with coffee, cheers and kisses after the fighters left."Today we have been released from prison," said a resident, Ahmed Zeidan Mahmoud. "We were imprisoned. No water, no electricity, there was nothing." On the wall of a kindergarten, the faces of two girls were blotted out by militants who consider it un Islamic to depict people. Nearby, a dog was eating the corpse of a militant.The slow progress was overshadowed by the sectarian political quarrel that erupted in Baghdad on Saturday when Shi'ite lawmakers forced a law through parliament legalising the mainly Iranian-backed paramilitary units known as Popular Mobilisation forces.Many Sunnis consider the paramilitaries to be sectarian militia and accuse them of having carried out abuses in Sunni areas recaptured from Islamic State. The Popular Mobilisation units deny having sectarian aims or committing widespread abuse and say they saved the nation when the army crumbled in the face of Islamic State's lightning advance two years ago.Sunni members of parliament boycotted the session held on Saturday, objecting to the existence of armed groups outside the army and the police, and worrying that Popular Mobilisation will enhance Shi'ite majority rule and Iran's regional influence.The dispute threatens to complicate efforts to pull the country back together and foster reconciliation when Mosul is captured, which would mark the effective defeat of Islamic State in Iraq.

The Iraqi military estimates there are 5,000 to 6,000 insurgents in Mosul facing a 100,000-strong force made up of Iraqi government troops, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shi'ite Popular Mobilisation units.MANY DIFFICULTIES

The law voted on on Saturday would turn the Popular Mobilisation units into a separate military corps, reporting to the prime minister. Under Iraq's political system that splits top jobs between different communities, the prime minister is a member of the Shi'ite majority.Sunni lawmakers plan to challenge the law in the federal court, one of them, Raad al-Dahlaki, told Reuters on Sunday.

Official status for the Shi'ite fighters could feed into the narrative of fear and resentment among Sunnis that helped Islamic State's Sunni militants sweep to power in areas covering a third of Iraq in 2014.After taking Mosul, the largest city in the north, the fighters declared a "caliphate" that also spans part of Syria. The group considers all Shi'ite Muslims to be heretics who must repent or die. But its violent rule has also antagonised Sunnis, raising hope for reconciliation among Iraq's sects after the group is defeated."It won't be rosy. Many difficulties," said Major General al-Jubbouri, who is himself a Sunni, commenting on the sectarian system established post-Saddam Hussein. "Some politicians will not like to change because many of them would lose their positions," he said.Islamic State fighters in Mosul are dug in among more than a million civilians as a tactic to hamper air strikes. They are resisting the advancing troops with suicide car bombs and sniper and mortar fire.

"If there weren't civilians we'd be able to advance to the 4th bridge," in southern Mosul, said Brigadier Gen. Mustafa Sabah from the 9th armoured division that is attacking from the south east. He was referring to one of the strategic bridges across the Tigris river that splits Mosul west from east. U.S. strikes have hit four of the five bridges militants have been using to cross between the two halves of the city.Iraq forces pushed deeper into eastern Mosul over the weekend, clearing out a residential apartment complex where residents welcomed them. The militants finally left after positioning themselves on the rooftops of three-storey apartment blocks.One resident said the militants had tried to scare local people by telling them the army would rape their women.In some parts of east Mosul there are signs of heavy fighting during the liberation but others are not damaged suggesting militants may have retreated. Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to be somewhere near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat from the city.Mohammed Ahmed, an 18 year-old resident in Mosul's Khadra district, said he heard one IS fighter shouting: "The angels are fighting with us. The angels are fighting with us." (With additional reporting by Saif Hameed in Baghdad; writing by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by Patrick Markey and Peter Graff)

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Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to thank him for sending firefighting teams and trucks to help Israel put out fires.

A statement released by the PM's Office said on Saturday that Netanyahu "appreciates the fact that Jews and Arabs have opened their homes for victims of the blazes", Xinhua news agency reported.

The rare talk between Israeli and Palestinian leaders came as a string of massive fires have been raging for five days in Israel and its neighbours including the West Bank, Egypt and Lebanon.

Netanyahu and other right-wing leaders on Friday pointed the finger at Israeli Arabs, suggesting they committed "arson-terrorism".

Palestinian leaders in response accused Netanyahu of "inciting" against Israel's Arab minority.

On Sunday, the Palestinian National Authority sent eight firefighting trucks through the Gilboa Mountains to help Israel fight the massive fire in Haifa, which has consumed about 9,880 acres of land and prompted the evacuation of a quarter of the city's population.

Overnight between Friday and Saturday, the Palestinians sent two other trucks from Ramallah to help put out a fire in the Jewish West Bank settlement of Halamish, Israeli officials said.

The fire has damaged at least 40 settlement homes and lightly injured four.

Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Croatia, Turkey and Italy have also sent crews and planes to assist Israel in its efforts to fight the fires.

On Saturday afternoon, a Boeing-747 Supertanker, the world's largest firefighting plane, was put to work in an area between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Experts said an unusually dry and windy weather condition has helped stoke the fires that broke out on Tuesday and spread across half of the country.
Miami: Wearing his "Bay of Pigs Veteran" shirt, 80-year-old Rafael Torre stood amid hundreds of Cuban-Americans celebrating the death of Fidel Castro and marveled that he remained in power for so long.

Cuban exiles such as Torre tried numerous ways to dislodge Castro after he took control in 1959, including the failed 1961 CIA-backed invasion memorialised on his shirt. Now, like many others, Torre is hopeful for Cuba's future with the bearded revolutionary leader finally gone.

"We tried for more than 50 years but couldn't do it. Now he's dead, and maybe things can change," Torre said. "It might take three or four years. Maybe the revolution will be on the streets in three or four months."

Thousands of people took to the streets of Miami and nearby cities on Saturday shortly after the early morning announcement of Castro's death at age 90, and kept the party going all day. They banged pots with spoons, honked car horns, waved Cuban and US flags in the air and whooped in jubilation on Calle Ocho  as Little Havana's 8th Street is universally known.

Police blocked off streets leading to Cafe Versailles, the quintessential Cuban-American hotspot where strong cafecitos  sweetened espresso  were as common as a harsh word about Castro, the nemesis of so many exiles for so long. Many said they recognise his death alone doesn't mean immediate democracy or freedom for the communist island.

"We need for the people of Cuba to have the freedom we have in the US, but this changes nothing. There won't be change until the people revolt," said Juan Cobas, 50, who came to the US from Cuba at age 13.

Others saw Fidel's death as a sign that a generation that has ruled Cuba for decades is passing from the world stage, many noting that his brother, current President Raul Castro, is 85.

"I'm feeling this is the beginning of the end," said Alex Pineiro, 32. "Fidel was the architect of what's going on. It's a mix of emotions, I'm happy he's dead, but I'm celebrating hope."

There were no reports of violence or any arrests during the demonstrations, Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Fallat said Saturday. Miami-Dade County officials said there were no plans to activate the emergency operations center  another sign of the more subdued reaction to Castro's death than might have previously been expected.

"They are celebrating but in a very peaceful way," Fallat said of the demonstrators.

The US Coast Guard was running regular patrols and not increasing staffing levels or taking other emergency steps, said Petty Officer Jonathan Lally. The Coast Guard has seen a sharp uptick recently in Cubans attempting to arrive in Florida by sea, with at least 7,411 Cubans attempting to migrate over the Florida Straits in the fiscal year that ended 30 September compared with 4,473 in the same timeframe last year.

After Castro took power, Cubans fled the island to Miami, Tampa, New Jersey and elsewhere. Some were loyalists of Fulgencio Batista, the president prior to Castro, while others left with the hope they would be able to return soon, after Castro was toppled. He never was.

Many other exiles believed they would never be free under Castro and his communist regime. Thousands left behind their possessions, loved ones, and hard-earned educations and businesses, traveling to the US by plane, boat or raft. Many Cubans died on the ocean trip to South Florida. Some had land and possessions taken by the Castro government.

The ones that made it to Miami took a largely, and vehemently, anti-Castro stance.

"He should not be revered. He should be reviled," said US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican who was born in Cuba.

Some people said the election of Donald Trump as president could lead to a tougher stance against the Havana government that might hasten change.

"I hope that Trump takes a hard line against the Castro regime," said Henry Marinello, 60, who left Cuba as a child in 1961,

On New Year's Eve every year, Cubans in Miami utter a toast in Spanish as they hoist glasses of liquor: "Next year in Cuba." But as the Cuban exiles aged, and as Castro outlived them, and as President Barack Obama eroded the embargo and younger Cubans returned to the island, the toast rang silent in many households.

News of Castro's death was long anticipated and had been the subject of countless rumors over the decades, so that it became something of a running joke. This time, though, it was real.

"We're all celebrating, this is like a carnival," said 72-year-old Jay Fernandez, who came to Miami when he was 18 in 1961 after he was jailed twice by the Cuban government. He and his wife and another woman held up a bilingual sign he'd made four years ago when Castro first became ill. "Satan, Fidel is now yours. Give him what he deserves. Don't let him rest in peace."
Islamabad: Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, who has extensive experience of handling affairs in PoK and the northern areas, was on Saturday appointed as Pakistan's new army chief to succeed Gen Raheel Sharif.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Bajwa as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) by elevating him to the rank of four-star general, officials said.

Bajwa will take charge of the world's sixth-largest army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when General Raheel formally retires.

Raheel in January had declared he would not seek extension. "I will retire on the due date," he had said.

There were speculation that the PML-N government would give him extension at the eleventh hour citing reasons that he was needed by the country to lead war on terror. The post of Army chief is the most powerful in Pakistan.

Pakistan's defence minister Khawaja Asif has confirmed that Bajwa was appointed as COAS and Zubair Hayat as Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee (CJCSC).

"May God help us in these decisions and new appointments," he said.

Bajwa was serving as Inspector General of the Training and Evaluation and has been elevated to position of four star general and appointed as Chief of Army Staff, the officials said.

He has also commanded the famed 10 Corps, the Army`s largest, which is responsible for the area along the Line of Control (LoC).

As a major general, he led the Force Command Northern Areas. He also served in the 10 Corps as lieutenant colonel.

He also served with a UN mission in Congo as a brigade commander alongside former Indian army chief Gen Bikram Singh, who was also there as a division commander.

Previously, he also remained the commandant of the Infantry School in Quetta.

The new army chief has wide experience of LoC affairs due to his extensive involvement with PoK and northern areas, reports said here.

His military colleagues say he is not attention-seeking and remains well-connected with his troops.

The new army chief is from the infantry's Baloch Regiment, which has given three officers to the post of army chief Gen Yahya Khan, Gen Aslam Beg and Gen Ashfaq Perviaz Kayani.

Sharif appointed Chief of General Staff Lt Gen Zubair Hayat as CJCSC by elevating him to the position of four-star general. He is the senior most serving army officer.

Hayat is from the artillery. As a three-star general, he was previously posted as director general of the Strategic Plans Division (SPD) and corps commander Bahawalpur.

The most obvious man dropped while making the two key appointments by Prime Minister Sharif is Lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed who was serving Multan Corps Commander.

Another officer left out is Bahawalpur Corps Commander Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday.

There were two other senior officers overlooked, including Heavy Industrial Complex Taxila Chairman Lt Gen Syed Wajid Hussain and Director General Joint Staff Lt Gen Najibullah Khan.

Another Lt Gen Maqsood Ahmed serving as military adviser with the United Nations is already on an extension and WAS not eligible for promotion.

It is the record fifth time Sharif appointed an army chief as Prime Minister. If his botched attempt to replace Gen Pervez Musharraf with Ziauddin Butt in 1999 is also counted, this will be the sixth time Sharif appointed head of army.

His earlier picks were Gen Asif Nawaz Janjua (1991), Gen Waheed Kakar (1993), Gen Musharraf (1998) and Gen Raheel Sharif (2013). Of the seven army chiefs after Gen Zia, five were handpicked by Sharif.

After Gen Musharraf, all four-star generals in the army  Gen Tariq Majid, Gen Khalid Shamim Wynne, Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Gen Rashad Mehmood and Gen Raheel Sharif  were from the infantry.

Gen Musharraf was the last four-star general from the artillery.

At the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain approved promotions of Lt Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to the rank of Generals. After promotion, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat has been appointed as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been appointed as Chief of the Army Staff," said a press release from the Prime Minister's Office.

Later, the army chief designate called on the prime minister and discussed various issues with him.
London: A theory which predicts that the speed of light is variable, not constant as suggested by Albert Einstein, may soon be tested and could change our understanding of the early universe if proven to be true. Einstein observed that the speed of light remains the same in any situation, and this meant that space and time could be different in different situations. The assumption that the speed of light is constant, and always has been, underpins many theories in physics, such as Einstein's theory of general relativity.

In particular, it plays a role in models of what happened in the very early universe, seconds after the Big Bang. However, some researchers have suggested that the speed of light could have been much higher in this early universe.

Now, one of this theory's originators, Joao Magueijo from Imperial College London, working with Niayesh Afshordi at the Perimeter Institute in Canada, has made a prediction that could be used to test the theory's validity.

Structures in the universe, for example galaxies, all formed from fluctuations in the early universe  tiny differences in density from one region to another. A record of these early fluctuations is imprinted on the cosmic microwave background  a map of the oldest light in the universe  in the form of a 'spectral index'.

Working with their theory that the fluctuations were influenced by a varying speed of light in the early universe, researchers used a model to put an exact figure on the spectral index.

Cosmologists are currently getting ever more precise readings of this figure, so that prediction could soon be tested  either confirming or ruling out the team's model of the early universe. The figure is 0.96478. This is close to the current estimate of readings of the cosmic microwave background, which puts it around 0.968, with some margin of error.

"The theory, which we first proposed in the late-1990s, has now reached a maturity point  it has produced a testable prediction," said Magueijo. "If observations in the near future do find this number to be accurate, it could lead to a modification of Einstein's theory of gravity," he said.

"The idea that the speed of light could be variable was radical when first proposed, but with a numerical prediction, it becomes something physicists can actually test," Magueijo said. "If true, it would mean that the laws of nature were not always the same as they are today," he said. The research was published in the journal Physical Review.
Colombo: Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Donald Trump to pressure the UN Human Rights Council to drop war crimes allegations against the country's troops.

Sirisena's office said on Sunday he had sent a "special message" to president-elect Trump seeking US intervention at the council, where Sri Lanka faces censure for wartime atrocities.

"I sent a special message to Donald Trump asking him to support us at the [council]," the President said. "I am asking him to help completely clear my country [of war crimes allegations] and allow us to start afresh."

Sirisena said he was making a similar appeal to the incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

However, during a visit by outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka last month, Sirisena had asked for more time to investigate war crimes, a sensitive political issue in the majority-Sinhalese country.

Sri Lanka has said it will set up special courts to address issues of accountability, but the promised judicial mechanisms have yet to be established.

There have been allegations that troops killed up to 40,000 minority Tamils during the final battle against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, a period when Sirisena's predecessor and strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse was in power.

Sirisena said he had been able to "tone down" a US-initiated censure resolution soon after defeating Rajapakse and coming to power in January 2015. But he was keen to secure Trump's help to have the allegations against Sri Lanka dropped.

The rights council has asked Sri Lanka to ensure credible investigations into war crimes, pay reparations to victims and their families and ensure reconciliation after 37 years of ethnic war which claimed at least 1,00,000 lives.

Troops still have a large presence in the former conflict zones in the north and east and keep a close watch on the local Tamil population, seven years after the end of the war.
By Andy Sullivan

| WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON An internal dispute among Donald Trump's advisers broke out into the open on Sunday when his campaign manager warned that the president-elect could face an intense backlash from supporters if he chose Mitt Romney to be his secretary of state.Trump has been weighing whether to pick Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who spent much of the past year criticizing Trump, or former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who backed the real-estate mogul's insurgent presidential run.Giuliani would fit with the other loyalists and conservative hardliners that Trump has picked to fill out his administration so far, but he has drawn criticism for working as a consultant to foreign governments. Trump could help unite his party and win over skeptical establishment Republicans if he chooses Romney for the post.

Though the debate has largely played out behind closed doors, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway warned that Trump could anger his supporters if he picked Romney, who called him a "fraud" and a "phony" in speeches this year."They feel betrayed to think that you can get Romney back in there after everything he did - we don't even know if he voted for Donald Trump. He and his consultants were nothing but awful to Donald Trump for a year," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"I am all for party unity but I am not sure that we have to pay for that with the Secretary of State position," Conway said on CNN.Conway said she would support Trump if he decided to pick Romney for the position, but other Republicans criticized her for making her case on television, rather than talking to Trump directly.

"Astounding to hear K. Conway, who has the ability to tell Trump privately, trash possibility of Romney as Sec of State publicly," Republican strategist Ana Navarro wrote on Twitter. (Addtional reporting by David Chance; Editing by Nick Zieminski)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
By Elias Biryabarema

| KAMPALA

KAMPALA The Ugandan authorities said on Sunday 41 tribal insurgents and 14 police officers were killed in clashes in the west of the country, and the tribal king of the area near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo was detained.The police, who announced the death toll on Twitter, said the clashes took place in the Rwenzori region, where there has been unrest since a disputed presidential election in February that was won by veteran leader Yoweri Museveni.Police said the people it simply described as "attackers" were fighting to create an independent state in the area.Army spokesman Paddy Ankunda told Reuters that Charles Wesley Mumbere, the king of the Rwenzururu Kingdom who supports the opposition, was detained for questioning.

There are several tribal kings in Uganda who have a largely ceremonial role with some modest regional powers.The opposition has accused the government of stoking tensions in the region, where the opposition has strong support, with a clamp down on political activity."The attackers used IED (improvised explosive devices as) grenades, guns, and spears to attack security personnel," the police said, adding a police vehicle at a security post was burned during the fighting.

"So far we have arrested 15 key ring leaders," police said.According to the Daily Monitor, a leading local daily, a group of security personnel on patrol in Kasese, the biggest town in the region, was attacked by Mumbere's royal guards on Saturday, sparking a firefight that led to clashes.

It quoted a security official in its report. Ankunda did not offer details about the clashes, and the police spokesman could not be reached for comment. (Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Mark Potter)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
The Turkish authorities on Sunday freed a reporter for the BBC's Turkish language service in the southeast of the country after holding her for a day without explanation, the broadcaster said.



Hatice Kamer was detained on Saturday while reporting on a mine disaster in the Kurdish-dominated Siirt region of the southeast that left 11 miners dead and five missing, BBC Turkce (BBC Turkish) said in a statement on its website.



It said she had been held overnight at the Siirt police headquarters and was in a good condition. BBC Turkce added that there was still no explanation over why Kamer had been detained.



Kamer is a board member for the association of journalists in southeast Turkey. As well as BBC Turkce, she works for German broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).



BBC Turkce said that she had been looking to talk to relatives of the miners at the copper mine, which collapsed late on November 17. Rescue efforts are still continuing at the mine.



Dozens of journalists have been detained in Turkey under the state of emergency in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.



Critics say the scope of the crackdown goes far beyond measures against the suspected coup plotters and is targeting any critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.



According to the Platform for Independent Journalism website, there are now 145 journalists behind bars in Turkey, which is ranked 151st of 180 countries in the 2016 World Press Freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders.



Several of the journalists under arrest are from the Kurdish-majority southeast where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is waging a deadly insurgency against the military.

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If you thought the Justice Dept.'s promise to keep close tabs on Anheuser-Busch InBev's (BUD -0.67%) attempt to sway the craft beer market would keep it from making more forays into the space, well, you'd be wrong. The mega brewer recently announced it would be buying yet another craft brewer, scrutiny be damned.

Carving out a craft beer plan

Earlier this month Anheuser-Busch said it would be buying Texas-based Karbach Brewing for an undisclosed sum, and would be folding it into its high-end business unit that focuses on craft and imported beers.

Over the past few years, the brewer has purchased a dozen or so craft beer names including Goose Island Brewery, Four Peaks, and Breckenridge Brewery after having launched its own craft beer, Shock Top, to counteract the success of Molson Coors' Blue Moon. It also acquired several craft beer distributors and most recently bought the leading homebrewer supply house.

Yet all those acquisitions caught the attention of the Justice Department when it sought to acquire SABMiller in a $100 billion merger. The craft beer industry had complained that A-B's efforts were an attempt to drive craft competition from store shelves, and pointed to its agreements with the distributors to pay for their marketing expenses if they only carried A-B brands, or mostly did so.

Trust, but verify

In agreeing to let the Miller merger go through, the Justice Department was adamant in protecting competition, particularly for craft and imported beers. It said its settlement with Anheuser-Busch "prohibits ABI from instituting or continuing practices and programs that limit the ability and incentives of independent beer distributors to sell and promote the beers of ABI's rivals, including high-end craft and import beers."

Importantly, the regulator also said it was precluding Anheuser-Busch from making more distributor and brewer acquisitions, particularly of craft brewers, without first giving the deals a closer look for the impact they might have on industry competition.

As long as Justice doesn't find any problems with the acquisition from a competitive standpoint, the deal will likely get the green light, but is it likely that the Justice really won't find any problems?

Everything is bigger in Texas

According to industry site Brewbound, Karbach is currently only distributed in Texas and has ramped up production from 8,000 barrels in 2012 to 80,000 in 2016, and Anheuser-Busch says it wants to nearly double it to 150,000 barrels by 2019. The craft beer industry trade group Brewers Association points out that 57% of all craft breweries produce less than 15,000 barrels annually.

Despite that limited distribution area, A-B describes Karbach as one of the fastest-growing craft brewers in the country. It's also to be expected the macro brewer will distribute Karbach beyond the narrow confines of the Texas market it currently dominates, perhaps even nationally. The purchase would certainly give Anheuser-Busch undue influence of the Texas market and it might end up control others that the craft beer is eventually sold into, causing the Justice Dept. to look askance at the acquisition.

Constellation Brands (STZ 0.84%) recently followed that path after buying San Diego-based Ballast Point Brewery for $1 billion. The craft brewer has been enjoying rapid expansion after joining Constellation's distribution network and in its latest quarterly report the beer, wine, and spirits distributor said Ballast Point was enjoying double-digit depletion growth as its beer became more widely available (depletions are sales from distributors to retailers, and are considered a reliable proxy for consumer demand).

Brewing up trouble

Yet it's an interesting time for A-B to be making this acquisition, beyond probable Justice Department scrutiny. The craft beer market is slowing. While it has benefited from double-digit growth for years, this year the Brewers Association expects it to fall to just 8% growth, though a lot of that has to do with sales slowing at the biggest names in the business, including Boston Beer, New Belgium Brewing, and Sierra Nevada. Take them out and sales are still growing at double-digit percentages.

Anheuser-Busch InBev's purchase of homebrew supplies shop Northern Brewer has attracted Justice Department interest and this latest deal will, too. The regulatory agency has said it doesn't matter if the deals are individual or in the aggregate, too much influence could sink them. Coming just two months after agreeing to being monitored, it's a cheeky move by the big brewer, but one that might cause it some trouble.
Disney's (DIS -0.14%) slowest-growing Florida theme park will be getting a makeover. Imagineers may be hard at work getting Pandora -- The World of Avatar ready to open next summer at Animal Kingdom and breathing new life into Disney's Hollywood Studios with Toy Story Land and Star Wars Land in the coming years, but Epcot appears to be the theme park giant's next target for rejuvenation.

"We will be doing some major transformation at Epcot in the future," Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Bob Chapek announced last weekend during the Destination D conference for theme park enthusiasts.

The statement isn't really a surprise. EPCOT could use the attention. Disney World's second theme park is an acronym for Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, but for some it feels more like EPCOP, Experimental Prototype Community of the Past. Many of the park's Future World attractions are ironically dated, and the World Showcase section of the park has been slow to add new country pavilions.

Attendance trends don't lie. EPCOT has always been the silver medalist in terms of attendance when it comes to Disney World's four theme parks, but it's also the one that is growing at the slowest clip. EPCOT is the only Disney World park that hasn't grown its turnstile clicks at a double-digit clip over the past six years.

Park 2009 Attendance 2015 Attendance Change Magic Kingdom 17,233,000 20,492,000 18.9% EPCOT 10,990,000 11,798,000 7.4% Animal Kingdom 9,590,000 10,922,000 13.9% Hollywood Studios 9,700,000 10,822,000 11.6%

Making of a makeover

Disney did show EPCOT some love this summer. It updated a pair of attractions, turning Norway's Maelstrom boat ride into Frozen Ever After. It gave the Soarin' hang gliding simulator a worldwide spin, trading in clips of California for global vistas in Soarin' Around the World.

The moves aren't insignificant, but they also fell short of being game changers. The Frozen-themed ride was held back by downtime. Soarin' Around the World is a challenge for guests sitting on the sides to enjoy because some of the images are warped, unless the Eiffel Tower is method acting to be the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

Chapek's "major transformation" will likely focus on the Future World section that makes up the front half of the park. There's been a rumor percolating among Disney enthusiast blogs, suggesting that Disney will transform its sleepy Universe of Energy attraction into a Guardians of the Galaxy thrill ride. The adjacent Wonders of Life pavilion is rarely being used outside of festival stints, giving Disney a wide footprint to crank out a head-turning e-ticket addition. The World Showcase half of the park can use a few more countries, but the real crowd magnet would be adding more country-specific rides and attractions to draw visitors to the back of the park where the big-ticket meals and drinks are sold.

EPCOT is the only Disney theme park in the U.S. without a roller coaster. Purists will argue that it doesn't need one. EPCOT's charm has steered in the direction of foodies and oenophiles that flock to its libations-fueled festivals and Disney die-hards who wax nostalgic over its quaint throwback attractions. However, as Disney World's slowest-growing theme park, it's where the biggest opportunity rests.

Change is coming. It will take a few years, but Chapek's not going to retract his promise. Rival Central Florida parks are growing faster than Disney's four parks, and EPCOT's bringing up the rear. Theme parks represent Disney's second-largest business, and after years of neglect, it's time to start making up for lost time before shareholders begin feeling the market share pinch.
Ford Motor Company (F 1.79%) said that it will reveal an all-new version of its small Fiesta next week. The Blue Oval will show off the new subcompact at an event in Cologne, Germany, this coming Tuesday, Nov. 29.

A new Fiesta might not seem like a big deal to Americans. Small cars are a tough sell in the U.S. right now. But the little Fiesta is a big deal in Europe, South America, and Asia -- and the new one is likely to be more profitable than the outgoing model. That makes it a big deal for Ford shareholders. Here's what we know.

What we know about the new Fiesta

"The new Fiesta will be our best expression of Ford -- lovable fun, sporty to drive and with an unmatched personality true to the spirit of the iconic small car that has delighted generations of customers for the past 40 years," Ford Europe chief Jim Farley said.

In other words, it won't be a radical departure from the current Fiesta. Spy photos published by British magazine Auto Express suggest that hatchback versions of the new Fiesta will have the same general shape as the current car, with a lower nose similar to that on the latest Focus and new horizontal taillights that make the car look wider.

That's not a surprise, as the new Fiesta will be built on the same basic architecture that underpins the current car. But it will almost certainly be refined in subtle ways to improve the little car's ride and the general impression of quality.

The biggest changes are said to be inside, where the new Fiesta interior will feature more premium materials to give the car more of an upmarket feel. Ford's latest SYNC 3 touchscreen system will almost certainly be offered as an option, as will the company's latest "smart" safety systems (lane departure warning, blind spot monitoring, and so forth).

The new Fiesta's engines will probably include Ford's latest small EcoBoost powerplants. Ford's well-regarded turbocharged 1.0 liter three-cylinder EcoBoost engine might be the standard engine for the U.S. market. It's possible that a hybrid version of the new Fiesta is in the works, as part of Ford's larger global "electrification" effort, but it may not be launched until later.

Why is Ford investing in the Fiesta when sales are down?

It's true that sales of the Fiesta in the United States have fallen off a cliff. Through October, U.S. Fiesta sales are down 26.6% from a year ago. With gas prices still hovering near $2 a gallon, buyers have overlooked the little Ford in favor of crossover SUVs and other, larger options.

But remember that Ford is a global company, and the Fiesta is a global product. It's critically important in markets where roads are narrow, gas is heavily taxed, or both. The Fiesta is Ford's biggest-selling model in Europe, by far, and it's a big seller in South America and many Asian markets, too.

It's built all over the world as well. Ford builds the Fiesta in factories in Germany, India, Mexico, Taiwan, Thailand, Venezuela, and Vietnam. As with the current model, new Fiestas for the U.S. market will come from Ford's factory in Cuautitlan, Mexico.

How the new Fiesta could boost Ford's bottom line

Back in September, CEO Mark Fields said that Ford is planning to make its small models more profitable over the next few years. He pointed to five key elements that he said drive Ford's profitability in small vehicles, and said that Ford was working on ways to improve in each.

How will those five elements play into the all-new Fiesta? For starters, it's likely that there will be fewer options offered, for a much smaller total number of what Ford calls "orderable combinations." That reduces manufacturing complexity, which in turn reduces cost.

But that doesn't mean customers will suffer: One way to reduce complexity is to make more features standard. That's probably the approach that Ford will take with the new Fiesta: fewer trim lines, with more features included at each level, at somewhat higher prices that still offer competitive value (thanks to the somewhat more upscale feel of the new Fiesta).

If Ford succeeds at giving the new Fiesta a more premium feel with plenty of appealing features, I suspect buyers won't mind the somewhat higher prices. The upshot will be that the all-new Fiesta delivers better profit margins for Ford. That could make a real improvement in Ford's profitability in Europe, and possibly in South America as well.

When will we see the all-new Fiesta in the United States?

We don't yet know for sure. But based on what we know about Ford's product plan, it's likely that the all-new Fiesta will arrive at U.S. dealers sometime in 2018. We'll probably learn more at Ford's event on Tuesday.
Syrian government forces advanced deep into eastern Aleppo on Sunday amid a swift collapse of rebel defenses inside the divided northern city, threatening to cleave the opposition's enclave between its northern and southern parts.

The advance into the city's Sakhour neighborhood brings the military within less than one kilometer (0.6 miles) of commanding a corridor in eastern Aleppo for the first time since rebels swept into the city in 2012, according to Syrian state media and an external monitoring group.

Residents in the east of the city expressed distress among opposition circles on social media and in messaging groups.

"The situation in besieged Aleppo (is) very very bad, thousands of eastern residents are moving to the western side of the city," said Khaled Khatib, a photographer for the Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group.

"Aleppo is going to die," he posted on Twitter.

Syrian state media reported government forces seized the Jabal Badro neighborhood and entered Sakhour Sunday after it took control of the Masaken Hanano neighborhood Saturday.

Syrian state TV broadcast a video Saturday showing a teary reunion between a soldier and his family after nearly five years apart, according to the report. It said the family had been trapped in Masaken Hanano.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the neighborhood Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of a wide avenue. Al-Manar is operated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group aligned with the Syrian government.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the war through local contacts, also reported the advance. It said some 1,700 civilians had fled to areas under government control.

The government's push, reportedly backed by thousands of Shiite militia fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, and at times by the Russian air force, has laid waste to Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods.

Aleppo used to be Syria's largest city and commerce capital before its neighborhoods were devastated by the country's more than five-year-long civil war.

An estimated quarter-million people are trapped in wretched conditions in the city's rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August. Food supplies are running perilously low, the U.N. warned Thursday, and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

The U.N.'s child agency warned Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

"Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "This is no way to live  and too many are dying."

Activists also reported Sunday tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian airstrike on a village outside Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and tens of others wounded. Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base.

The Britain-based Observatory said the strike was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside.

Meanwhile, Anadolu also reported Sunday that the Islamic State group had used chemical weapons against Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters in northern Syria, wounding 22. The report cited a statement by the chief of general staff's office. The report could not be immediately verified independently.

Later Sunday, Turkey's emergency relief directorate, which investigated the claim, said it found no trace of chemical warfare. The military was not available for further comment.

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Image source: Getty Images.

If you thought the Justice Dept.'s promise to keep close tabs on Anheuser-Busch InBev's (NYSE: BUD) attempt to sway the craft beer market would keep it from making more forays into the space, well, you'd be wrong. The mega brewer recently announced it would be buying yet another craft brewer, scrutiny be damned.

Carving out a craft beer plan

Earlier this month Anheuser-Busch said it would be buying Texas-based Karbach Brewing for an undisclosed sum, and would be folding it into its high-end business unit that focuses on craft and imported beers.

Over the past few years, the brewer has purchased a dozen or so craft beer names including Goose Island Brewery, Four Peaks, and Breckenridge Brewery after having launched its own craft beer, Shock Top, to counteract the success of Molson Coors'Blue Moon. It also acquired several craft beer distributors and most recently bought the leading homebrewer supply house.

Yet all those acquisitions caught the attention of the Justice Department when it sought to acquire SABMiller in a $100 billion merger. The craft beer industry had complained that A-B's efforts were an attempt to drive craft competition from store shelves, and pointed to its agreements with the distributors to pay for their marketing expenses if they only carried A-B brands, or mostly did so.

Trust, but verify

In agreeing to let the Miller merger go through, the Justice Department was adamant in protecting competition, particularly for craft and imported beers. It said its settlement with Anheuser-Busch"prohibits ABI from instituting or continuing practices and programs that limit the ability and incentives of independent beer distributors to sell and promote the beers of ABI's rivals, including high-end craft and import beers."

Importantly, the regulator also said it was precluding Anheuser-Busch from making more distributor and brewer acquisitions, particularly of craft brewers, without first giving the deals a closer look for the impact they might have on industry competition.

As long as Justice doesn't find any problems with the acquisition from a competitive standpoint, the deal will likely get the green light, but is it likely that the Justice really won't find any problems?

Everything is bigger in Texas

According to industry site Brewbound, Karbach is currently only distributed in Texas and has ramped up production from 8,000 barrels in 2012 to 80,000 in 2016, and Anheuser-Busch says it wants to nearly double it to 150,000 barrels by 2019.The craft beer industry trade group Brewers Association points out that 57% of all craft breweries produce less than 15,000 barrels annually.

Despite that limited distribution area, A-B describes Karbach as one of the fastest-growing craft brewers in the country.It's also to be expected the macro brewer will distribute Karbach beyond the narrow confines of the Texas market it currently dominates, perhaps even nationally. The purchase would certainly give Anheuser-Busch undue influence of the Texas market and it might end up control others that the craft beer is eventually sold into, causing the Justice Dept. to look askance at the acquisition.

Image source: Getty Images.

Constellation Brands (NYSE: STZ) recently followed that path after buying San Diego-based Ballast Point Brewery for $1 billion. The craft brewer has been enjoying rapid expansion after joining Constellation's distribution network and in its latest quarterly report the beer, wine, and spirits distributor said Ballast Point was enjoying double-digit depletion growthas its beer became more widely available (depletions are sales from distributors to retailers, and are considered a reliable proxy for consumer demand).

Brewing up trouble

Yet it's an interesting time for A-B to be making this acquisition, beyond probable Justice Department scrutiny. The craft beer market is slowing. While it has benefited from double-digit growth for years, this year the Brewers Association expects it to fall to just 8% growth, though a lot of that has to do with sales slowing at the biggest names in the business, including Boston Beer, New Belgium Brewing, and Sierra Nevada. Take them out and sales are still growing at double-digit percentages.

Anheuser-Busch InBev's purchase of homebrew supplies shop Northern Brewer has attracted Justice Department interest and this latest deal will, too. The regulatory agency has said it doesn't matter if the deals are individual or in the aggregate, too much influence could sink them. Coming just two months after agreeing to being monitored, it's a cheeky move by the big brewer, but one that might cause it some trouble.

Forget the 2016 Election: 10 stocks we like better than Anheuser-Busch InBev NV Donald Trump was just elected president, and volatility is up. But here's why you should ignore the election:

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Don't look for apologies from the North Dakota sheriff leading the response to the Dakota Access oil pipeline protests, especially for the recent  and, in some circles, controversial  action against demonstrators who he believes have become increasingly aggressive.

"We are just not going to allow people to become unlawful," said Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier, a veteran of the North Dakota Highway Patrol and National Guard who was elected to his first term as sheriff about two years ago. "It's just not going to happen."

More than 525 people from across the country have been arrested during months of protests over the four-state, $3.8 billion pipeline, all here in support of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe that's fighting the project because it believes it threatens drinking water and cultural sites on their nearby reservation.

His department's job of policing the protesters  the vast majority who've been camping on federal land that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it'll close in December for safety concerns  has cost the county more than $8 million, even with help from the state Highway Patrol and officers from various states. Their tactics, however, have drawn criticism from Standing Rock's tribal leader as well as protest organizers and celebrities.

Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault said he and Kirchmeier have met many times and each meeting has been tense and unproductive. "I don't think aggressive force is necessary and he thinks it's necessary," Archambault said.

In the most recent clash between police and protesters, which was near the path of the pipeline and spanned Sunday night into Monday morning, officers used tear gas, rubber bullets and large water hoses in freezing weather. Organizers said at least 17 protesters were taken to the hospital, some for hypothermia and one for a serious arm injury, and one officer was injured.

Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault called the confrontation an act of terror against unarmed protesters that was sanctioned by Kirchmeier.

"His job is to protect and serve, not to inflict harm and hurt," Archambault said.

But Kirchmeier, who has the backing of the state's Republican governor and attorney general, defended officers' actions. He and other authorities said officers were assaulted with rocks, bottles and burning logs.

Kirchmeier, a 53-year-old married father, grew up in this county, which has a population of fewer than 30,000 people  about 15 residents per square mile. He retired from the North Dakota Highway Patrol as a captain after 29 years, and had served in the National Guard for four years.

The protests are demanding: Kirchmeier hasn't had a day off since August, routinely working more than 12 hours a day. The 34 deputies in his department are pulling similar shifts, he said, even with help from more than 1,200 officers from North Dakota and nine other states.

Some officers have been targeted online by protesters, Kirchmeier included. He said someone recently posted the location of his father's grave, which he took as an effort to intimidate.

"Social media has been very bad and it has turned out like law enforcement is building the pipeline," he said. "I can't stop the pipeline. My job is to enforce the law."

President Barack Obama raised the possibility of rerouting the pipeline earlier this month, and construction on the last remaining large chunk, which is on federal near the reservation, was halted by the Corps for the time being. But Kelcy Warren, CEO of pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners, told The Associated Press the company won't do any rerouting.

Kirchmeier, like many other of the state's elected officials, blame the Obama administration for not stepping in.

"The issue of the pipeline is not going to get solved with protesters and cops looking at each other," Kirchmeier said. "This is bigger and takes way more political clout than what the county has to offer."

Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said Kirchmeier is in "an incredibly difficult position."

"He has the responsibility to allow people to lawfully exercise their First Amendment rights and he has the obligation to stop it when there is violence contrary to the law," Stenehjem said. "And now there are a significant number or lawless people and the citizens are worried."

Gov. Jack Dalrymple said Kirchmeier "has done a remarkable job dealing with all the issues brought about by these protests. He has been totally professional in what is not a typical law enforcement challenge in North Dakota."

With winter looming, the Corps has decided to close the land north of the Cannonball River where the Oceti Sakowin protest encampment have flourished on Dec. 5, also citing the confrontations between protesters and authorities, according to a letter Archambault said he received.

"To be clear, this means that no member of the general public, to include Dakota Access pipeline protesters, can be on these Corps lands," the letter provided by the tribe said.

But protest organizers said Saturday that they don't intend to leave or stop their acts of civil disobedience.

Kirchmeier said before the Corps' move that North Dakota residents who have grown tired  and increasingly afraid  of the protests are backing law enforcement.

"People don't want their livelihoods disrupted," he said. "They are not taking this lightly."
Actor Anthony Michael Hall could be in big trouble.

The 48-year-old star was charged with felony assault with serious bodily injury by the Los Angeles District Attorney, TMZ reports.

Hall is alleged to have violently shoved a neighbor during a confrontation at their Playa der Rey apartment complex. The fight reportedly left the neighbor with a broken wrist and injured back.

Undisclosed special circumstances reportedly upped the maximum jail term from four years to seven.

The incident happened in mid-September after the neighbor left his condo gate open which prompted the actor to angrily tell him to shut it, according to TMZ. Hall then went to close the gate himself.

Grainy video appears to show Hall and the other man arguing before the actor roughly pushes his neighbor to the ground and then strides off.

Its not the first time Hall has been in trouble with his neighbors.

TMZ reports that in 2011 he reportedly frightened a number of fellow residents in their Playa del Rey, Calif. neighborhood by shouting obscenities and challenging them to fights.

Halls best known for 80s movies like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles. He also starred in the television series The Dead Zone.
Brady Bunch star Barry Williams turned a fair amount of heads with a chapter in his book, Growing Up Brady: I Was a Teenage Greg, titled, Dating Your Mom. Williams, who played oldest Brady son Greg, did not really date Florence Henderson, who played Brady matriarch Carol, but, Williams told Variety on Friday, anything that is semi-salacious and Brady in the same sentence, and youre off to the races.

What Williams and Henderson, who died Thursday at age 82, really had was a five-decade-long friendship. At different times she acted maternally, but also as a good friend, and then as a mentor, Williams said.

That mentorship took a form Williams had never seen before. Shortly after The Brady Bunch had ended, Williams went to New York to audition for Bob Fosse for the lead role in Pippin. The audition was at the Imperial Theater, with Fosse and the bigwig producers and writers in the audience. There were a gaggle of guys my age who look about the same, auditioning. You could cut the tension with a knife, Williams said. He was increasingly nervous as the auditions wore on.

And who should show up just before his name was called? Florence just appeared backstage, Williams remembered. She sauntered out pretending to be an ingenue, ribbing the assembled notables. And of course she knew everybody, he added. But what she did was to really break the ice, and the whole place relaxed, so when I was called, I was much more focused and comfortable. And that was how I became the next Pippin.

Williams credits the continued cultural relevance of The Brady Bunch to the magic of chemistry, of which Henderson was a key element. I dont think Robert Reed was overly comfortable at first working with her, Williams said. And she really was able to make him feel comfortable and cared a great deal for and about him. The same comfort extended to the rest of the cast. Because she cared so much, she had this global overview of the cast. I give her a lot of credit for that.

She was motherly, he added, but motherly in the hottest way.
A multimillion-dollar trove of seized Impressionist art believed to have been owned by the regime of Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos has sat for five years in a climate-controlled Brooklyn warehouse, the subject of a bitter legal fight.

At issue is whether the 50 works  which include an 1881 painting by Claude Monet  should go to thousands of victims of the now-dead dictator, to the current Philippine government or to the personal secretary to Imelda Marcos, who contends she was rightfully given some of the art as gifts.

"It's a question of who is the owner and who is entitled," said Robert Swift, a human rights attorney representing nearly 10,000 victims of the Marcos regime who in 2011 won a judgment against Marcos, his estate and Imelda, his wife.

Of particular interest in the long-running, multi-jurisdictional case is an 1899 Monet from the "Water Lilies" series called "Le Bassin aux Nympheas," that the secretary, Vilma Bautista, sold in 2010 for $32 million. The other highly disputed items are three other prominent paintings still locked away in storage  an 1897 Alfred Sisley painting called "Langland Bay"; Monet's 1881 "L'Eglise et La Seine a Vetheuil"; and Albert Marquet's 1946 "Le Cypres de Djenan Sidi Said."

Both the government agency established by the Philippines to recover billions of dollars in assets believed to have been amassed during Marcos' 14-year regime, the Presidential Commission on Good Government, and Swift believe they're entitled to the paintings.

"My client has nothing against the human rights victims," said Casey Murphy, the American lawyer representing the commission. "Our point is, if these were paintings accumulated through misappropriated funds, they should go to all Filipinos and not just one class of people and their lawyers."

And then there's Bautista, who kept $28 million when she sold the water lily to a Panamanian corporation controlled by a London-based art gallery. That gallery then sold the painting to a British hedge fund manager in Switzerland for $43 million, according to court papers.

The hedge fund manager has paid $10 million to Swift's clients. The Filipino government has also sought to recover the painting.

New York City prosecutors charged Bautista with failing to disclose the sale on her 2010 tax returns, and she was convicted after a five-week trial in 2013 of conspiracy, tax fraud and other charges. About $15 million of her funds were frozen by the courts.

A lawyer for Bautista, who is now 78 and free while appealing her conviction, hasn't returned a message seeking comment. At the time, her lawyers argued she had the right to sell the Monet, which was owned by Imelda Marcos. The other paintings were given to her as gifts or obtained on her own, her lawyers have argued.

Ultimately, it will be up to a Manhattan federal judge to sort it all out.

In the meantime, the Presidential Commission has established a website to solicit tips as to the location of hundreds of paintings and jewelry that Marcos, now 87 and a congresswoman in the Philippines, and her family allegedly obtained with state funds.

Representatives for Marcos said the congresswoman had no comment on the art.

Murphy said he hoped a judge would agree with the Presidential Commission's position that since Imelda Marcos ultimately obtained the paintings improperly, she was never a rightful owner.

"In the main, the argument is a thief never gets good title to property," he said.
President-elect Donald Trump said Saturday that the death of Cubas Fidel Castro marks the passing of brutal dictator, while President Obama argued that history will be Castros final judge.

Castros legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights, said Trump, who also expressed optimism about Castros death finally ending decades of communist oppression for Cubans.

"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, Trump said. Our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.

Castros death was announced Saturday on state television. He was 90. Castros younger brother, Raul Castro, remains Cubas leader.

We extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people, Obama said. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.  For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements.

During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us.  This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.

Trump, in his successful White House bid, railed against numerous international deals that he argued put the U.S. at a disadvantage, including one Obama made to normalize relations with Cuba, a communist country and long-time Cold War enemy.

In 2014, Obama announced a diplomatic effort that would easy travel and trade between the countries. And last year, Obama took Cuba off Americas state-sponsored terror list, amid criticism about continuing human rights violations on the island nation.

Every single aspect of this deal is in Cubas favor, Trump said during this years GOP presidential primary debates.

Florida GOP Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen -- who was born in Havana in 1952 and whose family eight years later fled Castros regime -- told Fox News on Saturday that Trump criticized Obamas 2014 deal because the U.S. made concessions in exchange for nothing, including Cuba releasing no American political prisoners.

Ros-Lehtinens congressional district includes Miami, where for decades Cubans have come to live.

But whether the Cuba agreement made by Obama through executive order, or whether Castros death improves the potential to improve the two countries relationship, remains unclear.

Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, whose parents emigrated from Cuba before Castros rise in 1959, said on Fox News that the ex-dictators death was a newsworthy event but that he didnt think it would change anything, or at least while Raul Castro remains in power.

Rubio, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate and potential 2020 contender, also argued that Obama attending Castros funeral or sending a top-level administration official would validate the life of somebody who oversaw the assassination of Americans.

Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, whose father was born in Cuba, said: Fidel Castro's death cannot bring back his thousands of victims, nor can it bring comfort to their families."

"Today we remember them and honor the brave souls who fought the lonely fight against the brutal communist dictatorship he imposed on Cuba," continued Cruz, also a 2016 GOP presidential candidate.

Trump was among the first Washington leaders to react to the announcement of Castros death, exclaiming on Twitter: Fidel Castro is dead!

Vice President-elect Mike Pence tweeted: "The tyrant #Castro is dead. New hope dawns. We will stand with the oppressed Cuban people for a free and democratic Cuba. Viva Cuba Libre!"
Donald Trump and Hillary Clintons truce and efforts to come together after their bitter White House race appeared to fray this weekend when Clinton joined in a vote recount effort that the President-elect assailed in a series of Tweets Sunday.

In the posts, Trump claimed that "millions" of people cast illegal votes in this month's presidential election, and claimed that the press was covering the matter unfairly.

Trump further contended that if the popular vote determined the presidency, "It would have been much easier for me to win" it because he would have altered his campaign to pile up overall vote totals, not Electoral College votes.

The real estate mogul also tweeted part of Clinton's concession speech, when she told supporters they must accept that "Donald Trump is going to be our president," and snippets from her debate remarks, when she denounced the Republican nominee for refusing to say in advance that he would accept the Election Day verdict.

There's been no indication of widespread vote manipulation, illegal voting or hacking that materially affected the outcome one way or the other. It's that very lack of evidence that suggests Trump is likely to prevail in recounts.

Trump's social media storm came one day after a Hillary for America lawyer said that Clinton would join in a vote-recall effort by Green Party Candidate Jill Stein.

The attorney, Marc Elias, said Clinton was taking the step to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides."

Stein has already raised at least $5.4 million in her effort to recount votes in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- states that were the key to Trump's upset victory. She began the process Friday by officially requesting a review in Wisconsin.

Stein has argued the recount is intended to test the integrity of the U.S. voting system, amid so-far unfounded speculation that Russia tampered with the process.

However, the effort also could undo the 70-plus electoral votes by which Trump beat Clinton.

Trump won Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and, as of Wednesday, held a lead of almost 11,000 votes in Michigan, with the results awaiting state certification Monday.

Stein received only about 1 percent of the national vote, which has prompted Trump to call her effort a fundraising scam.

I would say (Trump) has been incredibly gracious and magnanimous to Secretary Clinton at a time when for whatever reason her folks are saying they will join in a recount, senior Trump transition team adviser Kellyanne Conway said on CNNs State of the Union.

She congratulated him and conceded to him on election night.  The idea that we are going to drag this out now where the president-elect has been incredibly magnanimous to the Clintons and to the Obamas is incredible.

Meanwhile, Conway refused to rule out the possibility of further investigating Clinton over her use of a private email server while secretary of state between 2009 and 2013.

Conway made clear that Trump said only that he wouldnt rule out another possible email probe because new evidence could emerge and he wouldnt want to undercut the authority of federal and congressional investigators.

The FBI this summer concluded its one-year investigation into Clinton using the private server by saying she was extremely careless and that some of the emails included classified information.

However, the investigation was effectively closed without criminal charges being recommended to the Justice Department.

Trump, in his presidential debates with Clinton, also suggested that if elected he would appoint a special prosecutor for the matter.

Trump planned to return to New York on Sunday after spending Thanksgiving weekend at his West Palm Beach estate. His transition team said the president-elect had scheduled a series of meetings Monday with prospective administration hires.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
While President-elect Donald Trump and his transition team huddle privately to pick their administrations secretary of state, top adviser Kellyanne Conway on Sunday made a repeated, public case against deciding on Mitt Romney.

Conway says she will support whomever Trump picks, but continues to argue that the grass-roots supporters who backed his improbable victory feel let down about Romney, considering he called Trump a con man and a phony.

"People feel betrayed to think that  Romney, who went out of his way to question the character and the intellect and the integrity of Donald Trump  would be given the most significant Cabinet post of all, Conway said on NBC's "Meet the Press.

Trump, a Republican, and his team of advisers appear to be split on whether Trump should pick Romney, a former GOP presidential nominee, or former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, an early Trump loyalist.

Incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on Fox News Sunday downplayed rumors over vicious infighting over who will lead the State Department, saying that Trump's "going to make the best decision for the American people.

However, Conway, openly talking outside the confines of transition headquarters in New Yorks Trump Tower, suggests a clear divide.

We don't even know if (Romney) voted for Donald Trump, Conway said in a separate interview Sunday on CNNs State of the Union. He and his consultants were nothing but awful to Donald Trump for a year  "I'm all for party unity. But I'm not sure we have to pay for that with the secretary of state position. I think there are concerns that those of us that are loyal have, and we want a secretary of state who's loyal to the president."

This is not the first time that Conway, who emerged late in the White House race to lead the Trump campaign to victory, has made her thoughts known about Romney.

On Thursday, she tweeted: Receiving deluge of social media & private comms re: Romney. Some Trump loyalists warn against Romney as sec of state.

On Sunday, Conway, now a senior adviser for the Trump transition team, said on Twitter that she has privately expressed her thoughts to Trump and that shell respect his decision. However, the larger point is the volume & intensity of grass-roots resistance to Romney is breathtaking, she also tweeted.
Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Sunday he had agreed to form a new government with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservative Party.

The deal, announced on Twitter, could reduce the risk of snap elections, as Rasmussen's minority government has faced tough negotiations on a broad 10-year financial reform plan.

Since last year's election, the government has consisted only of Rasmussen's Liberal Party, which holds just 34 of 179 seats in parliament.

Rasmussen did not extend his invitation to join the government to the Danish People's Party, the largest of the three parties supporting his current government.

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The telegenic Hispanic mayor of the nation's oldest state capital has become a public face of "sanctuary cities" following Donald Trump's presidential victory.

Javier Gonzales sat down with Fox and CNN anchors last week to denounce Trump's renewed vows to deport millions of immigrants and his campaign promises to withhold federal funding from sanctuary cities that defy immigration authorities. Gonzales happened to be in New York for a conference on mental health care and scored a national media platform.

Santa Fe isn't the typical U.S. sanctuary city. Its population is about 70,000, and its immigrant communities are dwarfed by those in major cities with sanctuary-like policies, like Los Angeles and Chicago. It also has a unique immigration history, dating to the Spanish conquest in the 1500s and 1600s.

"Where we're unique is that Mexican and the Central American and the South American immigration have been part of Santa Fe's story for those 400 years," said Gonzales, whose father also was a Santa Fe mayor.

That story remains the source of public pride and pageantry in Santa Fe during an annual costumed re-enactment of the Spanish re-conquest of the city after a Native American revolt in 1680. The procession depicts a peaceful, almost welcome return of the Spanish  despite increasingly disruptive protests and recriminations in recent years based on the early suffering of Native Americans.

Gonzales as a young man played the lead role of conquistador Don Diego de Varga. As mayor, Gonzales has had to referee public objections by Native Americans and others who contend the re-conquest was brutal and the modern festival is offensive and hurtful.

Santa Fe's embrace of sanctuary-city status dates to the 1999 adoption of an ordinance that says "no municipal resources will be used to identify or apprehend any non-citizen resident solely on the basis of immigration status, unless otherwise lawfully required to do so."

That means local police do not enforce noncriminal warrants from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or so-called detainer requests to delay the release of immigrants arrested on minor offenses, city spokesman Matt Ross said.

The municipal police department has a written policy of not making arrests based solely on immigration status, but officers are allowed to share information on other arrests with federal immigration agencies. No other New Mexico city has similar sanctuary provisions, and most county sheriff's offices cooperate closely with immigration enforcement.

That type of assistance from small cities and rural counties is important to federal immigration officials, said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies for the Center for Immigration Studies, which calls for lower U.S. immigration levels.

Federal authorities often have fewer resources in those areas and rely on county jails and sheriff's departments to detain or delay the release of immigrants flagged for violations, Vaughan said. She estimates about 300 jurisdictions nationwide have sanctuary-style policies.

In an interview with The Associated Press, Gonzales brushed off critical and derogatory Twitter postings about his television appearances and said the onus will be on Trump to address the country's immigration problems. Santa Fe receives about $6 million a year, or 2 percent of its budget, from the U.S. government  money that would be in jeopardy if Trump's administration decided to strike back against sanctuary cities.

"We'll see if the president-elect chooses to penalize sanctuary cities before he proposes one piece of legislation that fixes a broken immigration system," Gonzales said. "That tells you a lot about his priorities."

Gonzales has framed the sanctuary city debate around moral values and economic common sense, questioning the wisdom of uprooting productive families when no serious crime is involved.

"It's much bigger than federal funding," he said. "It's really an issue about the values of Santa Fe and what we prioritize when it comes to how we want to live."

A self-described progressive who also works for a real estate company on energy efficiency projects, Gonzales recently announced plans to ask voters to increase taxes on soda and other sugary drinks to finance more early childhood education programs.

His other initiatives include a newly approved "verde fund" that sets aside money for environmental and anti-poverty projects.

Despite its sanctuary provisions, Santa Fe maintains a "really good working relationship and understanding" with federal immigration authorities, Gonzales said.

"What it's meant is we get the bad guys when we need to."

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President-elect Donald Trump will keep his campaign promise to void a 2014 deal that improves diplomacy and commerce between the U.S. and Cuba, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Sunday, a day after the announcement of Cuban dictator Fidel Castros death.

President-elect Trump has been pretty clear, Priebus told Fox News Sunday, in a wide-ranging interview. Weve got to have a better deal.

Trump, during his successful White House bid, argued against President Obamas 2014 executive action that attempts to normalize relations between the United States and the communist country.

Obama used executive actions to ease sanctions against Cuba. The president ended the 180-day ban on ships docking at U.S. ports after sailing from Cuba, paved the way for doctors to work with Cuban researchers on medical investigations and allowed Americans to travel to Cuba in cultural exchange programs.

Obama visited Cuba in March, becoming the first president since Calvin Coolidge to visit the island nation. Coolidge took the trip in 1928.

Trump, during a campaign stop in September, said if elected president he would void Obamas deal unless Cuba met his demands, which included religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners.

The incoming Republican president and other critics said Obama's deal vastly improves the island nations isolated economy, while the U.S. gets nothing in return.

Priebus repeated that Cuban leader Raul Castro, the brother of Fidel Castro, will have to meet our demands for such a deal to continue.

He cited such issues as Cuba opening up its economic markets and putting an end to religious oppression and other human rights violations.

These things need to change, said Priebus, making clear that the continuing Castro regime has to at least show signs of moving in those directions.

This isnt going to be one way, he said. I think the president-elect has been clear on this.

Priebus also slammed 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Steins efforts to have vote recounts in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, calling the effort, which Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton joined Saturday, a fundraising scheme.

He called the effort a total waste of time.

Priebus also downplayed rumors about vicious infighting within the transition team about whether Trump should pick former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani or former GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney as his secretary of state.

Hes going to have the best possible people, said Priebus, while acknowledging teams of rivals in the debate over who will run the State Department. Hes going to make the best decision for the American people.
Police in Alaska say a preliminary investigation shows 22-year-old McKay Hutton was the gunman who killed three others including an infant  and himself at a hotel on Friday. The Fairbanks police public information officer released a statement Saturday saying a motive is unknown.

The victims were identified as 54-year-old Linda Hutton, 22-year-old Emily McDonald and 8-week-old Teagan Hutton.

Fairbanks police and fire departments were called to a Hampton Inn on Friday afternoon by hotel staff. Arriving officers found a man crying as he sat in a second-floor hallway. Police say he directed officers to a nearby room, where they found the bodies.

The infant appears to be the daughter of McDonald whose Facebook page says she and McKay Hutton were married a year ago.

The police department says all had gunshot wounds. They say there is no indication that drugs or alcohol was involved.

"What we know is that there's a lot we still don't know. So until we can figure out and put some more pieces together we're not going to talk about a motive or possible scenario of what might have happened," a police officer told The Fairbanks News Miner.

Police say details involving the shooter or any motive is still under investigation.

Autopsies will be performed on the victims.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Beaver dams have been demolished, burbling fountains silenced, and the drinking water in one southern town has taken on the light brownish color of sweet tea.

Though water shortages have yet to drastically change most people's lifestyles, southerners are beginning to realize that they'll need to save their drinking supplies with no end in sight to an eight-month drought.

Already, watering lawns and washing cars is restricted in some parts of the South. More severe limits loom if forecasts of below-normal rain hold true through the rest of 2016.

One harbinger of the drought arrived without warning in Chris Benson's bathroom in Griffin, Georgia. The brown water in the bathtub was the result of high levels of manganese that showed up after the water level in the city's reservoir dropped.
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Arabic language classes are drawing 25 to 30 people a week in preparation for the new arrivals in town. High school students are helping collect furniture and housewares for them, and employers have inquired about giving them jobs.

For the past several months, Rutland has been getting ready to receive 100 mostly Syrian refugees beginning early next year. But with Donald Trump taking office in late January, Rutland's plans and those of other U.S. cities that have agreed to take in people fleeing the civil war have been thrown into question, given the incoming president's hostility to Muslim immigrants.

"I am not even going to hazard a guess" about the fate of the program, said Mayor Christopher Louras, who invited the newcomers in the hope they can help revitalize this shrinking, post-industrial, heroin-plagued city of 15,800.

In the fiscal year that just ended, the Obama administration screened and admitted nearly 12,600 Syrian refugees, who were resettled in cities and towns across the U.S. Thousands more are scheduled to arrive in the coming year.

During the campaign, Trump proposed a ban on Muslims entering the country and called for a moratorium on accepting Syrian refugees for fear of terrorists slipping through. He also vowed "extreme vetting" of would-be immigrants from countries plagued by extremism.

Presidents set the quotas for refugees allowed into the country. Once Trump takes office Jan. 20, he could cut off the flow or reduce the number the U.S. will accept. The president-elect's transition team had no comment this month on his plans.

Stacie Blake, spokeswoman for the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, said her organization hopes Rutland will start seeing the refugees arrive by mid-January. Once admitted to the U.S., refugees cannot be expelled unless they have committed a serious crime or are found to have lied to gain entry.

Rutland's plan has been welcomed by some and condemned by others, who warn that the refugees could not only pose a security threat and but also take away housing, jobs and social services from locals.

"It's just sad, sad. We don't need any more people here, from anyplace, but especially the Syrians, because who knows, there could be one terrorist in there. Once they're here, they're hard to get rid of. They're like a tick, or rats," Rennie Masler said.

Among the many other U.S. communities preparing to accept Syrians and other refugees in 2017 is Bowling Green, Kentucky, a long-time refugee resettlement community that took in about 400 mostly African immigrants this year. It expects 40 Syrians in September.

Albert Mbanfu, executive director of the International Center of Kentucky, a refugee resettlement agency in Bowling Green, said he isn't so sure Trump will follow through on his threats.

"Campaign rhetoric is completely different from governing, and there are so many things that we might say because we are in the heat of a campaign, and when we get into the practicality of things, we do it differently," Mbanfu said. He added: "I believe we will be fine."

Two Iraqi refugees who arrived in Bowling Green in 2009 were charged two years later with attempting to provide money and weapons to extremists in Iraq. Both are serving prison sentences.

The Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, said that of the 784,000 refugees cleared for resettlement in the U.S. since 9/11, only the two Iraqis in Bowling Green and a third man from Uzbekistan were later arrested and accused of planning acts of violence.

In Rutland, the mayor sees accepting refugees not just as a humanitarian gesture but as a way to boost the population and inject energy into the city, which had a booming marble-quarrying industry that was built on immigrant labor from Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The local hospital, restaurants, ski resorts, contractors and other employers have expressed interest in hiring the refugees, Louras said.

Rutland's population has dropped by about 700 since the 2010 census, and the city has suffered from the surge in heroin use that is hitting small-town America. Rutland has been using a mixture of law enforcement, treatment and neighborhood revitalization to fight the drug scourge with some success. It has been helping to buy and seize drug houses and either demolish them or renovate them for new owners.

As preparation for the refugees continue, Morgan Denehy, a Rutland County native who majored in Arabic and spent two terms in college living in north Africa, is giving the weekly Arabic lessons.

"Even if it's how to say 'hello,' even if you learn one or two phrases to say something to someone," he said, "it can make such a difference."

___

Associated Press writers Alicia A. Caldwell in Washington and Dylan Lovan in Bowling Green, Kentucky contributed to this report.
A former Marine who stole a combat veterans story of valor and scammed the government out of a house and benefits is facing 21 years in jail for his crimes, WFAA reported.

The family of Casey Owens, a Marine who lost both of his legs in 2004 when his Humvee hit an anti-tank mine and then killed himself after a decade of pain and fighting the Veterans Administration, tells the station that Brandon Blackstone is no hero for what he did.

It took my breath away that someone would do something like that, his sister Lezleigh Owens Kleibrink of Trophy Club, Texas, said.

Blackstone, of Arlington, recently pleaded guilty to defrauding the government. He faces sentencing in February.

Blackstone and Owens were in the same unit in Iraq.

His deception unraveled when he showed a picture of the mangled Humvee to one of Owens Marine buddies who witnessed the explosion.

The only thing I can figure out is that he convinced himself, Kleibrink told the station, referring to Blackstone.

She said she will attend the sentencing with her mother.

I just want it to be a closed case so that these guys know their Marine is OK, she told the station, referring to her brother's unit pals. He's standing at the gates of Valhalla. And he's proud of them. And they're proud of him. That's what matters most to me.

WFAA reports that for years Blackstone told audiences how he earned a Purple Heart when his Humvee ran over a land mine, leaving him with a traumatic brain injury.

The VA paid him monthly disability benefits and a charity bought him a house, the station reported.

In truth he left Iraq with appendicitis.

Click for more from WFAA-TV.
An 8-year-old girl was apparently lured from her home in Illinois and killed by a perpetrator who dumped her body behind a vinegar plant, the Belleview News-Democrat reported Sunday.

Sabrina Stauffenberg was found dead Wednesday on the south side of Olney, the paper reported. She was waiting on the porch of her home for a bus to take her to a church service when she disappeared.

The paper reported that an Olney man, Glen Ramey, 53, was taken into custody around 2:30 a.m. Sunday on charges of first-degree murder and predatory sexual assault. Authoriites released a mug shot of Ramey.

Denise Haley, a friend of Sabrinas family, told the paper Ramey had been dating a relative of Sabrina. She said he was known to have had mental health problems.

JACOB WETTERLING'S KILLER GIVEN 20 YEARS FOR CHILD PORN

Were just glad they caught the real killer, and now this family can mourn the loss of this beautiful child, said Haley, who set up a GoFundMe page to defray the costs of the girl's funeral and burial.

The News-Democrat reported that Illinois State police have released few details about the arrest or the circumstances surrounding Sabrinas death.

Ramey was arrested in August on a battery charge. He was also the subject of orders of protection filed by women in 2014 and 2016, according to the paper.

Halely told the paper that on Wednesday Sabrina called her grandmother to say the bus was late.

TWO CHILDREN, WOMAN KILLED IN NEW JERSEY STABBING, THREE OTHERS INJURED

She said the grandmother called the church and then called Sabrina back, but there was no answer.

Haley said searchers found Sabrinas body by locating her cellphone.
A Denver TV station Sunday denied a report that it had refused an Emmy-winning journalist's request for additional security after she received death threats over one of her stories.

Heidi Hemmat claimed that KDVR Fox 31 had stopped paying for personal security at her home because of concerns over the cost of employing undercover Denver police officers. Her claim was initially made on her website, and then picked up by Mediaite. KDVR General Manager Joan Barrett called Hemmat's accusations "unequivocally false" in a statement to FoxNews.com late Sunday.

"We took Heidi's concerns very seriously and provided her with support, security and an attorney, for which Heidi expressed her appreciation," Barrett said.

On her website Thursday, Hemmat blamed her departure from the station on fallout from a four-part investigative piece on a Denver businessman's alleged dumping of customers' documents that held their personal information and other alleged misdeeds. Consumer fraud charges were filed against the subject of Hemmat's story.

"Shortly after he learned about the charges against him, that were a direct result of me, I got a call from his psychiatrist," Hemmat wrote. "She told me he was 'homicidal' and was planning to kill me. The psychiatrist thought the threat was so credible, she broke HPPA laws (the laws that protect medical records of psychos, such as the theater shooter -- James Holmes) to warn me."

According to Hemmat's KDVR report, Muhammed Murib was charged with fraud after allegedly charging people for unnecessary parts through his business, AAAA TV Electronics Repair and Vacuum.

Murib was ordered to close his repair shop, although the business could still sell new merchandise.

The report also revealed a 1993 case filed by the Denver district attorney in which Murib, who owned American Vacuum, Sewing and Typewriter at the time, was charged with 18 counts of consumer fraud. He pleaded guilty in that case and reopened a new business, according to KDVR.

As the 2015 case against Murib continued, Hemmat says her supervisors expected her to cover every new development regarding the alleged fraud. She says she resisted, was overruled, and continued to fear for her life.

"I knew I couldn't keep ambushing people who did bad things to other people," she said in her web post. "Society has changed. People have changed. My physical and mental health were unraveling. As soon as that ratings period ended I took an unpaid leave of absence, and in August I asked to be let out of my contract."

KDVR officials said they never denied security requests and expressed regret that Hemmat has chosen to blame the station.

"To be clear, we never denied a request for additional security," Barrett said Sunday. "We are disappointed Heidi has chosen to view the circumstances differently and disparage the station. We wish her nothing but the best during what appears to be a continued difficult time."


The Latest on a mass shooting in the New Orleans French Quarter (all times local):

4:40 p.m.

New Orleans authorities are identifying the man killed in a shooting that also injured nine other people in a busy tourist district.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison says none of the victims was an intended target when two other men began arguing and shooting early Sunday in the French Quarter.

Harrison says the man killed was 25-year-old Demontris Toliver of New Orleans. He adds that five of the victims were released from a hospital by Sunday afternoon, and four remained hospitalized with injuries that were not considered life-threatening.

Investigators were searching for the suspected shooters, who fled on foot.

Mayor Mitch Landrieu says the suspects are believed to be from out of town. He called the gun violence "completely unacceptable."

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3:14 a.m.

New Orleans Police say a man has died following a shooting in the French Quarter.

Police said in a statement Sunday morning that "multiple victims" may have been involved in the shooting that happened at the intersection of Iberville and Bourbon streets.

They say a victim identified as a male died at the hospital. No further information was immediately available.

NOPD Homicide detectives are investigating.
Tunisia will host 2,000 business and finance executives from 40 countries this week in hopes of drumming up investment to boost its struggling economy.

Six years since the revolution that swept away dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the country's fragile democratic progress has been threatened by economic stagnation that has stirred social unrest.

As it tackles high unemployment, low growth and a tourism sector hammered by militant attacks, the government hopes to persuade attendees of the "Tunisia 2020" conference on Tuesday and Wednesday that the country is open for business.

"Tunisia today needs foreign direct investment, and the conference will be a chance to re-start the machine and create jobs," Prime Minister Youssef Chahed told AFP.

Chahed's government took office in August in place of an administration heavily criticised for its economic management.

That followed a catastrophic 2015 in which attacks claimed by the Islamic State group killed 59 foreign visitors and 13 Tunisians, a devastating blow to a key industry.

Strikes and social unrest have also hit strategic sectors including phosphate mining.

Some 15 percent of the workforce was unemployed in the spring of 2016 according to the World Bank -- many of them young graduates, who have seen the hope of the Arab Spring dissipate.

The government will use this week's conference to call for bids on 140 projects -- including large-scale infrastructure projects -- worth some $32 billion (30 billion euros).

Officials say the conference is part of a charm offensive aimed at the private sector.

"The idea is to leave the conference with Tunisia as a destination back on the investment map of the Mediterranean," said Fadhel Abdelkefi, Tunisia's investment and international cooperation minister.

Abdelkefi will present the country's new investment code that aims to streamline procedures and create a "new business climate" in the country.

He said Tunisia is "extremely competitive".

"It has already attracted more than 3,500 (foreign) companies that produce in Tunisia, export, use logistics," he said, also highlighting the country's "deep and qualified employment pool".

Chahed said he is determined to tackle Tunisia's smuggling and corruption networks.

"They are complex networks to take apart, but we will succeed," he said.

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls will attend the conference along with representatives of top international lenders -- the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and the African Development Bank.

The European Union has already announced a doubling of its financial support in 2017 to $318 million (300 million euros).

Chahed said Tunisia deserves support as it struggles to defend "universal values".

"The international community should invest in Tunisian democracy," he said.

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A civil rights group is calling for greater police protection of mosques after several in California received letters that praised President-elect Donald Trump and threatened Muslim genocide.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, said that the same letter was sent to multiple mosques last week according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Islamic Center of Long Beach, the Islamic Center of Claremont and the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose all received the latter that was addressed to "the children of Satan." It was then signed by "American for A Better Way."

"There's a new sheriff in town  President Donald Trump. He's going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims," the letter states, CAIR reported. "And, he's going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews (sic)."

CAIR-LAs executive director Hussam Ayloush said the "irresponsible, hateful rhetoric" of the Trump campaign has fueled "a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters."

"I'm not saying (Trump) created racist people," Ayloush said. "He normalized it. While he might say he's not responsible, and I respect that, I remind President-elect Trump that he has a responsibility to act as a president for all Americans."

A spokesman for the San Jose Police Department said officials have opened an investigation in the incident.



The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click here for more from the Los Angeles Times.
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New Orleans Police say a man has died following a shooting in the French Quarter.

Police said in a statement Sunday morning that "multiple victims" may have been involved in the shooting that happened at the intersection of Iberville and Bourbon streets.

They say a victim identified as a male died at the hospital. No further information was immediately available.

NOPD Homicide detectives are investigating.
One person was killed and nine others injured following a shooting early Sunday in New Orleans' famed French Quarter, officials said.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said during a news conference that officers responded about 1:30 a.m. Sunday to the shooting at the intersection of Iberville and Bourbon streets.

Harrison told reporters the shooting victims whose ages ranged from 20 to 37 included two females and eight males. One male victim died at a hospital.

The popular area was crowded because of the Thanksgiving holiday and Bayou Classic football game in the Superdome between Southern and Grambling universities, Fox 8 reported. Harrison said more than 30 officers were in the area because of the game.

"This was not the place or time to bring firearms to the Bayou Classic or any event," he said. "This is not the place where something like this should happen."

Police made two arrests, both of which were men were carrying firearms.

One of the individuals was identified as a victim in the shooting, according to Harrison. He is being treated for his injuries. The second arrest was an unrelated individual found to be in illegal possession of a handgun at the scene, he said.

Glean Williams, who was selling hats and other items at a table a block away from the shooting, told NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune that people ran into doorways and hotels, or hid behind palm trees decorated with Christmas lights along nearby Canal Street.

"It was panic," said Williams, 24. "Everybody started running. People getting run over, stepped on, knocked over."

During a news conference with Harrison, Mayor Mitch Landrieu said authorities would pursue the shooters "very, very aggressively."

"It's totally unacceptable," Landrieu said. "I mean, the violence just continues to spin out of control with people brandishing weapons whenever they think they can."



No further information was immediately available. An investigation is ongoing.

Click for more from Fox8Live.com.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Seven people were killed and another person was missing after a chartered fishing boat disappeared from view in large waves at the entrance to a harbor near Auckland, New Zealand authorities said.

The boat Francie was carrying 11 people when it got into trouble on Saturday afternoon in Kaipara Harbour. Rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a hospital. A search for the missing person was continuing Sunday, said police Inspector Duncan Hall.

Crew members from the boat notified the coast guard that they were attempting to cross a sandbar at the entrance to the harbor at about 2 p.m., said Patrick Holmes, the chief executive of Coastguard New Zealand.

He said the coast guard raised the alarm an hour later after the boat didn't report back and could no longer be reached on its marine radio or by mobile phone.

Other boats in the area reported to the coast guard that they could no longer see the boat, although he wasn't yet clear if it had sunk. An investigation was underway.

Waves at the sandbar were about four meters (13 feet) high at the time of the accident, Holmes said. Sandbars are formed by sand building up on the seafloor, something which can happen at harbor entrances where the ocean meets calmer harbor water.

"All sandbar crossings are dangerous. They shift with storms and tides, so the bars are not in exactly the same position," Holmes said. "Because it's a disturbance of the seafloor, the action of the waves becomes distorted and irregular."

Eyewitnesses told Television New Zealand that rescuers in helicopters plucked the survivors from the water and placed them on a beach, where locals kept them warm until ambulances arrived.

Police said they were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the harbor, which is about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northwest of Auckland.

Inspector Hall said rescuers recovered five bodies from the water soon after the accident. Another two bodies washed ashore at nearby beaches and were found early Sunday.

The Facebook page for Francie Charters says its boat Francie is licensed to carry up to 20 people with two crew members. It shows customers using fishing rods to catch snapper and other fish, and encountering dolphins.
When Fidel Castro and his rebel army marched into Havana in the early days of January 1959 Dwight D. Eisenhower was president of the United States. At the time of the Cuban strongmans death on Friday, Donald Trump is preparing his move into the White House.

The 57 years in between Castro seizing power in Cuba and his death were filled with turbulent moments between Havana and Washington  from the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs to the Mariel boatlift and Elian Gonzalez  but his passing will do little to change the current thaw in relations between the two Cold War-era foes that has sped up in the last few years, experts say.

With [Fidel Castro] gone there is less resistance to opening up to Cuba, Jason Marczak, director of the Latin America Economic Growth Initiative at the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center, told FoxNews.com. Its a real blessing in disguise for those in Cuba and the U.S. who want to see the opening in relations between the two countries continue.

While Castro still remains a potent symbol of anti-imperialism and a figurehead for the Latin American left, his ironclad grip on Cuban affairs had in the last few years dissipated tremendously since he formally handed over power to his younger brother, Raul, in 2008 amid failing health.

As his health continued to decline over the last decade, Castro had less and less say in the ruling of the country as Raul Castro began to steer the once hardline communist nation toward more free market economic policies and eased the long-standing tension between Cuba and the U.S.

It is well known that the elder Castro disliked a number of his brothers polices and moves  especially President Obamas visit to the island earlier this year  and some experts believe - now that his brother is dead - Raul Castro will push for even more changes both internally and with the U.S.

Castro inhibited Raul from making many reforms and moving forward, Elizabeth Newhouse, the director of the Center for International Policys Cuba Project, told FoxNews.com. His passing may embolden Raul to move a little faster. Maybe hell take advantage of this and speed up changes before he himself retires in 2018.

JUDY MILLER: EVEN WITH CASTRO GONE, CUBA'S FUTURE IS IN DOUBT

The death of Fidel Castro certainly marks a sea change in terms U.S.-Cuban relations, but analysts say the bigger question is less what Cuba will do now and more about what will become of the thaw when President-elect Trump takes office in January.

On the campaign trail, Trump flip-flopped on his stance toward U.S.-Cuban relations  at times speaking out against the decades-long embargo imposed on the island and at other times preaching that it must be upheld  and his response to Castros death was both damning and hopeful.

Fidel Castros legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights, Trump said in a statement on Saturday. "While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, 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.

Given that Castro was such a polarizing figure within the Cuban-American community, his death could take away much of the drive for a harsher rhetoric from Washington toward Havana.

Fidel Castro was a symbol of the peoples animus, Christopher Sabatini, a professor at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs, told FoxNews.com. A lot of the momentum to roll back these changes will slow down. It takes a lot of wind out the sails.

Sabatini added that even if Trump tried to roll back the progress made by the Obama administration, he would face a severe backlash from a number of businesses that stand to benefit from the renewed relations between the country, including major airlines and the travel and tourism industry.

Trump has not said that he is opposed to the thaw in relations, Sabatini said. Hes a businessman and he has said that the just wants a better deal.

Castros death may have been celebrated on the streets of Miami and other Cuban-American enclaves across the country, but the late Latin American strongman in being mourned in other parts of the region.

For members of Latin Americas revolutionary leftwing, the death of Castro leaves a void that he had almost singlehandedly filled for over five decades. As leftist leaders in places like Venezuela, Bolivia and Ecuador battle struggling economies, civil unrest and regional shift toward conservatism, they have no one to look to anymore for guidance.

That iconic revolutionary figure is gone, Sabatini said. While the appeal of this type of leader may not be gone, there is no one to inherit Castros mantle.


Francois Fillon won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary Sunday after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism, beating a more moderate rival who had warned of encroaching populism.

"President! President!" chanted the former prime minister's supporters as he declared victory over Alain Juppe in a nationwide runoff election.

Polls suggest the sober, authoritative Fillon, 62, would have a strong chance of winning the French presidency in the April-May election, amid widespread frustration with France's current Socialist leadership.

Fillon, who was prime minister from 2007-2012 under ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy, enjoyed a surprise surge in popularity in recent weeks. A rise in nationalist sentiment across Europe may have favored his strict conservative positions over Juppe's more centrist stance.

France needs "a complete change of software," Fillon said, promising in his victory speech to defend "French values."

Among his promises: slash public spending, cap immigration, support traditional family values and reach out to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Juppe, 71, congratulated Fillon on his "wide victory." During the primary campaign, he expressed similar ideas as his rival on the French economy, but tried to rally conservatives around a more tolerant attitude toward France's ethnic, religious and social diversity.

With results from 96 percent of voting stations, organizers of the Republicans party primary said Fillon had 66.5 percent of votes and Juppe 33.5 percent. More than 4 million of France's 44 million voters took part, which was considered a good turnout given that it was the conservatives' first experiment with a primary.

Fillon's toughest challenge ahead is likely to be far-right leader Marine Le Pen. Le Pen, candidate of her National Front party, is running an anti-establishment campaign that particularly targets immigrants, France's Muslim minority, and the European Union.

Socialist President Francois Hollande is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether he will seek re-election, but the French left has been deeply weakened by his extreme unpopularity. A wild card is outsider candidate Emmanuel Macron, Hollande's former economy minister, who is leading a centrist campaign.

Fillon walked a careful line Sunday, stressing the need for "authority of the state" but also insisting, "No one should feel excluded from a society that I want to see more just and with more solidarity."

If elected next year, he pledges to hold a referendum on a quota system for immigrants to reduce legal immigration "to a minimum," and to push for stronger controls at Europe's borders.

In a country still rattled by a string of deadly Islamic State group attacks, Fillon wants to prohibit French jihadists from returning home. He recently published a book called "Conquering Islamic Totalitarianism."

A practicing Catholic with a British wife of 36 years and five children, Fillon pledges to weaken adoption rights for same-sex couples. Yet he has said he wouldn't scrap a 2013 law allowing same-sex marriage.

His most dramatic proposals concern France's long-stagnant economy, beset by chronic 10 percent unemployment.

He wants to cut taxes on businesses, slash public spending by 110 billion euros ($116 billion) and reduce the number of public servants. He would also raise the retirement age from 62 to 65, extend the workweek beyond 35 hours, and ease France's strict labor rules in order to boost job hiring.

Soccer agent Cherif Diallo said it was Fillon's economic program that won his vote.

"In life, you must sacrifice in order to obtain good results. The program of Francois Fillon is radical as his adversaries say, but it's a necessity in order to get the country in order," Diallo said.

While he's seen as lacking charisma, Fillon's supporters like him because they regard him as experienced and well-qualified for France's top job.

Besides serving as prime minister, he's been a cabinet minister six times and spent years as a lawmaker representing his hometown of Le Mans in western France, home to the famed 24 of Le Mans auto race.

Both Fillon and Juppe, who campaigned on similar economic platforms, are high-profile leaders of the Republicans party who knocked Sarkozy  their former boss  out of the primary's first round of voting a week ago. Sarkozy then threw his weight behind Fillon.

Sunday's runoff came after a bruising and highly adversarial end phase to the months-long primary contest, an American-style effort to end party infighting and bolster support for the party's nominee. The conservatives previously chose their candidate internally.

Fillon has said he wants to drop sanctions against Russia over its aggressive actions in Ukraine and partner with Russia in the fight against Islamic State extremists. Fillon insists "Russia poses no threat" to the West.

All French citizens over 18  whether they are members of the Republicans party or not  were eligible to vote in the primary, if they paid 2 euros in fees and signed a pledge stating they "share the republican values of the right and the center."


Two days of fighting between Ugandan forces and a tribal militia in a remote district near the border with Congo have left at least 19 people dead, a Ugandan government official said Sunday.

After the rebels had killed four Ugandan police officers and wounded a soldier, Ugandan forces launched an operation in which at least 15 rebel fighters have been killed, government spokesman Col. Shaban Bantariza said.

The killings are an escalation of a long-running conflict between Ugandan security forces and rebels who are believed to be loyal to a tribal king, Wesley Mumbere, a critic of the country's long-time president.

Mumbere is king of Uganda's Bakonzo people, and some of his supporters have been calling for secession from Uganda, according to Bantariza, who said he had seen copies of money printed by the secessionist group, which is hoping to create a republic known as Yiira.

The western district of Kasese, where Mumbere is based, is a hotbed of opposition to President Yoweri Museveni, who lost there in the last presidential polls.

Some of the rebels had climbed high up the Rwenzori mountains and set up military camps from which they were said to run a small government, even collecting taxes from the people they control. The rebels are armed with modern weapons and improvised explosive devices, according to Bantariza.

"They had shut down life in the areas they occupied," he said. "We shall beat those who want to cause trouble on our land."

Museveni, in power since 1986, has struggled to win over the support of the Bakonzo people in presidential elections. There are frequent land disputes in the area, with many accusing the government of sponsoring land grabs. A new plan to divide up Kasese into two parts has also been fiercely opposed.

In the 1990s, the area was the scene of a violent insurgency by the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group that now is based in Congo after being forced out of Uganda.
Workers spruced up the Cuban capital's sprawling Revolution Plaza and began setting up fencing Sunday in preparation for two days of tributes to deceased leader Fidel Castro.

Throngs of islanders are expected to visit to pay their respects to Castro's remains there starting Monday in the shadow of Havana's towering monument to independence hero Jose Marti and a huge sculpture of revolution leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

The Communist Party newspaper Granma published an extensive list of planned street closures and information on how Cubans will be able to access the square. Authorities called on islanders to go there to make a "solemn oath of fulfillment with the concept of the revolution."

"It is a great sorrow. Everyone is feeling it," said Orlando Alvarez, a jeweler who was fishing on the seaside Malecon boulevard in the morning. "Everyone will be there" at the square.

Cuba's government declared nine days of national mourning following Castro's death Friday night at age 90, and this normally vibrant city has been notably subdued since. On Saturday night, the Malecon, Havana's social center, was all but deserted, with dozens of people instead of the thousands who normally go to party there on weekends.

"I have never seen this square so quiet," Spanish tourist Miguel Gonzalez said as he took pictures of Revolution Plaza.

A mass public ceremony is planned at the square Tuesday.

Elian Gonzalez, who as a boy survived a shipwreck and became the center of an international custody battle in Florida in 2000, said Castro will still be with Cubans despite his death.

It's "not right to talk about Fidel in the past tense ... but rather that Fidel will be," Gonzalez said Sunday in an interview with state television. "Today more than ever, make him omnipresent."

"Fidel was a friend who at a difficult moment was with my family, with my father, and made it possible for me to return to my father, to return to Cuba," he said.

Gonzalez was a young boy when he, his mother and others attempted a sea crossing between Cuba and the United States nearly two decades ago. His mother died on the voyage, but he survived and was taken to Florida. A bitter dispute broke out between his relatives in the United States, who wanted him to stay there, and his father back home.

Castro made the issue a national cause celebre and led huge demonstrations demanding Elian be returned to his father. U.S. authorities eventually sent him back to Cuba.

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Iranian semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting that the son of late dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri has been defrocked and sentenced to six years in prison.

The Sunday report says Iran's Special Clerical Court sentenced Ahmad Montazeri to six years in prison for publishing a tape recording carrying the voice of his father condemning the execution of thousands of prisoners at the end of the country's 1988 war with Iraq.

According to Tasnim, the verdict was announced Sunday and is appealable within a 20 day period.

For years, Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, who died in 2009, had accused the country's ruling Islamic establishment of imposing a dictatorship in the name of Islam, and persisted with his criticism after the disputed presidential election in June of that year.
The Israeli military says it has killed four Islamic State-affiliated militants in Syria, after the militants opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner says the Israeli patrol came under machine gun and mortar fire early Sunday. They returned fire toward Syria before an Israeli aircraft engaged, striking a machine gun-mounted vehicle and killing its passengers. All were suspected militants from an IS offshoot that controls the area. No Israeli troops were harmed.

Israel has largely been unaffected by the Syrian civil war next door. There have been sporadic incidents of spillover fire that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors of the Assad regime. This appears to be the first case of an intentional ambush targeting Israeli troops.
At an increase of 13.9 percent, the total value of imports from East Asian countries reached EGP 151.6bn in 2015

The Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) issued Sunday a report on trade exchange between Egypt and East Asian countries for 2015, where China came in first place on exports to Egypt with a value of EGP 74.8bn

The top imported items from China were electrical equipment, machinery, mechanical appliances and spare parts.

At an increase of 13.9 percent, the total value of imports from East Asian countries reached EGP 151.6bn in 2015, in comparison to EGP 133.2bn in 2014.

The report stated that the total value of exports to East Asian countries reached EGP 15.5bn in 2015, versus EGP 24.7bn in 2014, at a decrease of 37.1 percent, as a result of the decline in the global price of crude oil.

India was the largest recipient of Egyptian exports. However, its total value fell from EGP 13.7bn in 2014 to EGP 6.9bn in 2015 (down 50.1 percent).

The most important Egyptian export to India is crude oil.

Althought its imports fell by 62.5% in the same period, Japan was the second largest importer of Egyptian goods in 2015.

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Israeli aircraft struck a machine gun-mounted vehicle inside Syria Sunday, killing four Islamic State-affiliated militants inside after they had opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering only sporadic incidents of spillover fire over the frontier that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors of the Assad regime. Israel has responded to these cases lightly, with limited reprisals on Syrian positions in response to the errant fire.

But Sunday's event, in the southern part of the Golan Heights, appears to be a rare case of an intentional shooting ambush by Islamic militants targeting Israeli troops.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said the Israeli patrol came under machine gun and mortar fire early Sunday. They returned fire toward Syria before an Israeli aircraft engaged, striking the vehicle in question and killing its passengers. He said all were suspected militants from an IS offshoot that controls the area. No Israeli troops were harmed.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the troops for thwarting the attack.

"We are well prepared on our northern border and will not allow Islamic State elements or any other hostile elements to use the war in Syria to establish themselves close to our borders," he said at his weekly Cabinet meeting.

Though Israel has generally stayed on the sidelines of the fighting, fearing being sucked into a clash between forces that are all hostile to it, it is widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on arms shipments said to be destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of the Syrian government.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and the two countries remain enemies.

Amos Yadlin, a former military intelligence chief and current director of the Institute for National Security Studies, an independent think-tank, said it was too early to determine whether the attack marked a shift in IS policy or just a local initiative by some of its fighters.

He said IS has been very careful to avoid attacking Israel to this point since it has been engaged with so many other adversaries. But with its back against the wall in Syria and Iraq, he said they may be looking for a propaganda victory by targeting Israel. He said they were capable of far worse than a routine ambush.

"We will have to watch closely in the future to see if this is a change of policy," Yadlin said. "I don't think this is a planned strategy."
Simultaneous advances by Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces into eastern Aleppo on Sunday set off a tide of displacement inside the divided city, with thousands of residents evacuating their premises, and threatened to cleave the opposition's enclave.

Rebel defenses collapsed as government forces pushed into the city's Sakhour neighborhood, coming within one kilometer (0.6 miles) of commanding a corridor in eastern Aleppo for the first time since rebels swept into the city in 2012, according to Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

Kurdish-led forces operating autonomously of the rebels and the government meanwhile seized the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood, allowing thousands of civilians to flee the decimated district to the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud, in the city's north, according to Ahmad Hiso Araj, an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The government's push, backed by thousands of Shiite militia fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, and under the occasional cover of the Russian air force, has laid waste to Aleppo's eastern neighborhoods.

An estimated quarter-million people are trapped in wretched conditions in the city's rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August. Food supplies are running perilously low, the U.N. warned Thursday, and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

Residents in east Aleppo said in distressed messages on social media that thousands of people were fleeing to the city's government-controlled western neighborhoods, away from the government's merciless assault, or deeper into opposition-held eastern Aleppo.

"The situation in besieged Aleppo (is) very very bad, thousands of eastern residents are moving to the western side of the city," said Khaled Khatib, a photographer for the Syrian Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets.

"Aleppo is going to die," he posted on Twitter.

The Britain-based Observatory, which monitors the conflict through a network of local contacts, said around 1,700 civilians had escaped to government-controlled areas and another 2,500 to Kurdish authorities.

More than 250 civilians have been killed in the government's bombardment of eastern Aleppo over past 13 days, according to the Observatory.

Locals reported thousands more were moving within the eastern neighborhoods, away from the front lines, but staying inside areas of opposition control.

"The conditions are terrifying" said 28-year-old Modar Sakho, a nurse in eastern Aleppo.

Wissam Zarqa, an English teacher in eastern Aleppo and outspoken government opponent, said some families would stay put in the face of advancing government forces.

Syrian state media reported government forces had seized the Jabal Badro neighborhood and entered Sakhour Sunday after it took control of the Masaken Hanano neighborhood Saturday.

Syrian state TV broadcast a video Saturday showing a teary reunion between a soldier and his family after nearly five years apart, according to the report. It said the family had been trapped in Masaken Hanano.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the neighborhood Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of a wide thoroughfare. Al-Manar is operated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group aligned with the Syrian government.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces' advance into Bustan al-Basha dealt the opposition a further blow.

Rebels and opposition figures have long accused the SDF and its predecessor groups of conspiring with the government to quash a nationwide revolt.

Araj denied there was any coordination between government and Kurdish-led forces.

"We were responding to calls from residents in Bustan al-Basha to secure the neighborhood," he said. He added the SDF had entered the area handily as rebel militants fled.

Aleppo used to be Syria's largest city and commerce capital before its neighborhoods were devastated by the country's more than five-year-long civil war.

The U.N.'s child agency warned Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

"Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine," said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake. "This is no way to live  and too many are dying."

Activists also reported Sunday tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian airstrike on a village outside Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and tens of others wounded. Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base.

The Observatory said the strike was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside.

Meanwhile, Anadolu also reported Sunday that the Islamic State group had used chemical weapons against Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters in northern Syria, wounding 22. The report cited a statement by the chief of general staff's office. The report could not be immediately verified independently.

Later Sunday, Turkey's emergency relief directorate, which investigated the claim, said it found no trace of chemical warfare. The military was not available for further comment.

Elsewhere in Syria, Israeli aircraft struck a machine gun-mounted vehicle inside the country Sunday, killing four Islamic State-affiliated militants on board after they opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, according to the Israeli military.


A Texas state trooper was wounded on the Texas-Mexico border when a bullet apparently strayed from a gunbattle on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.

Lt. Johnny Hernandez of the Texas Department of Public Safety says the trooper suffered a leg wound.

The state trooper was hit about 1 p.m. Friday while on foot patrol with the Border Patrol agent in Fronton, on the border about 105 miles upstream from Brownsville. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection statement says the federal agent also was hit but was protected by body armor.

The trooper, whose identity hasn't been released, was in stable condition at a McAllen hospital.

Hernandez says it's unclear who was involved in the gunfight.

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Based on the Ibrahim Eissa novel of the same name, 'Mawlana' will have a special screening in Dubai's evening gala, 10 December

The Egyptian drama Mawlana (The Preacher) will get a special evening gala screening on Saturday, 10 December, within a lineup of special gala screenings taking place at Madinat Arena throughout the Dubai International Film Festival (DIFF).

Directed by Magdy Ahmed Aly, Mawlana is written by Egyptian journalist and editor in-chief of El-Tahrir newspaper Ibrahim Eissa.

Mawlana, a work that tackles the phenomenon of sheikhs appearing on television in recent years, is the first novel by Eissa.

Published by Bloomsbury Qatar, the novel explores the hidden world of sheikhs and their ties with security institutions, politicians as well as businessmen. Ultimately, the novel aims to show how religion is misused in politics.

In Egypt, the book was already adapted on stage and performed by the Egyptian Modern Dance Theatre Company, directed and choreographed by Monadel Antar.

The newly released film Mawlana stars Amr Saad, Dorra Zarrouk and Ahmed Magdy, and looks into the lives of preachers (sheikhs) in Egypt through the story of one of them. It is also competing in DIFF's Muhr features category, and will be screened at Mall of The Emirates on 13 December.

Madinat Arena is a state of the art screening venue with a seating capacity of 1,800 audience members, specially built to host DIFFs lavish "Red Carpet Galas" and provide the luxury of a VIP experience. Movie goers can get tickets for these screenings, at a higher price than DIFF's regular screenings, and share the screening hall with A-list stars.

DIFFs gala screenings will take place throughout the festivals days (7-14 December). On the same day as Mawlana, the morning gala screenings will open with Rock Dog, a comedy animation directed by Ash Brannon with the voices of Luke Wilson and J K Simmons. Damien Chazelles musical comedy La La Land starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and J K Simons will screen in the afternoon.

After Mawlana, The Founder will be screened, directed by John Lee Hancock and starring Michael Keaton, to close the gala screenings.

From the Arab world, the Lebanese comedy Solitaire (Mahbas) will have its world premiere with a gala screening on Sunday, 11 November. The film is directed by Sophie Boutros and stars Julia Kassar, Ali El-Khalil and Bassam Koussa

DIFFs special gala screenings are the crowning glory of the festival and something we really look forward to each year. The setting at the Madinat Arena adds even more magic to the wonder of cinema and provides a truly memorable film experience for all our guests as they have the chance to view some of the latest and greatest films from around the globe in a bespoke venue created just for the festival, Masoud Amralla Al Ali, DIFFs artistic director, said in a press release.

DIFFs extensive programme of international films will be held across eight days at the Madinat Jumeirah Arena, Madinat Theatre, Souk Madinat Jumeirah and VOX Cinemas, Mall of the Emirates and The Beach.

For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture

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Fidel Castro was a master of stagecraft until the end.

His death, announced Friday night, came on the 60th anniversary of the day when he, his brother Raul, Che Guevara and 79 other revolutionaries boarded a decrepit cabin cruiser in Mexico under the cover of darkness and headed to Cuba to resume their armed struggle against the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

Most of the revolutionaries aboard the Granma were quickly killed after landing in Cuba. But the Castros and Guevara, who holed up in the Sierra Maestra, waged a guerrilla campaign that ousted Batista and propelled Fidel to power and gave him absolute control.

It is Castros past as a revolutionary firebrand that will figure heavily in Cubas plans to mark the passing of the man who loomed larger than life in Cuban politics for more than six decades and inspired passionboth admiration and revulsion.

Although many Cuban exiles, who took to the streets of Miami late Friday and Saturday to celebrate the demise of the dictator, would have preferred a different, perhaps more violent end to Fidel Castros life, the timing of his death was also impeccable.

He survived until to age 90 something he called a whim of fate, rather than anything he was responsible for, and lived to see the special tributes and historical events that were carried out for an entire year leading up to his Aug. 13 birthday.

He even managed to say farewell to the nation during the Cuban Communist Partys VII Congress in April, when he addressed the gathering in a faltering voice: Soon I will be like everyone else. We all face the same fate. ... This may be one of the last times I speak in this hall.

Its a shame that Fidel died peacefully in a bed without being tried for all the crimes he committed against the Cuban people, Felix Rodriguez said Saturday in Miami. Rodriguez, a Bay of Pigs veteran, helped in the 1967 capture of Guevara, who was subsequently executed in Bolivia.

Unfortunately, at this point, power has been consolidated by his brother. There wont be a big change in Cuba; I wish this had happened years ago. But its the death of an evil man, Rodriguez said.

Castro also lived long enough to see the rapprochement between the United States and Cubaalthough he was lukewarm to the process.

Health permitting, Castro tried to stay politically engaged until the end. As recently as mid-November he met with Vietnams President Tran Dai Quang in Havana and in recent months received other world leaders.

Castro was to be cremated Saturday, according to his wishes, said Raul Castro, who announced his brothers death to the nation in a national TV broadcast around midnight.

The government declared nine days of mourning that began at 6 a.m. Saturday and will continue until noon Sunday when Castros ashes will be buried at Santa Ifigenia Cemetery in Santiago de Cuba, the heroic city know as the cradle of the Cuban Revolution.

Many Cubans were unaware of Castros passing at 10:39 p.m. until they awoke to the news Saturday morning.

Santiago is sleeping. The majority of Santiagueros that woke up with hunger and fatigue didnt know about the death of Fidel Castro, said Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the dissident group Union Patriotica de Cuba. Besides, he has been thought to be dead so many times.

Ferrer said he feared more repression against dissidents.

As condolences poured into Cuba from world leaders, many evoked Castros revolutionary past.

He embodied the Cuban Revolution, said French President Francois Hollande.

His ashes will be placed in the Plaza of the Revolution in Havana where Cubans will be able to pay their respects Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday the ashes will begin a journey that along the same path of the 1959 Caravana de La Libertad when Castro and the revolutionaries marched in triumph from eastern Cuba into the capital.

But this time, the caravan will take Castros remains back to where it all started.

The ashes will end up in Santiago de Cuba on Dec. 3 where a mass gathering is planned the Antonio Maceo Plaza. His ashes will be interred the next day at 7 a.m.

As news of Castros death spread, reaction was more swift on social media that on the streets of Cuba.

Many in Havana still dont know, the streets vacant, in my building ... silence, Cuban blogger Yoani Sanchez, who directs the independent digital news site 14ymedio, commented on Twitter.

Charlie Serrano, a Chicago businessman who has been taking political and business groups to the island for the past 24 years, said it was a quiet Saturday morning in Havana, in contrast to the raw emotion on display in Miami.

It was a typical Saturday morning, very calm. People were going about their business, but they werent gathering in the streets. You could tell they were aware that something had happened, Serrano said by phone from Havana.

There was no music playing _ the usual backdrop of life in Havana _ and no light-hearted banter, he said.

Serrano saw off a group of American educators at the Havana airport Saturday. He said the mood was subdued but nothing out of the ordinary was going on. He said it appeared that the Cuban government was trying not to make Castros death disruptive. I think that is the way that Fidel Castro would have wanted it to happen.

Maria Ricardo, 17, of Tampa, Fla., returned on a charter flight Saturday morning after visiting her aunt on the island. She said the Miami Herald the streets in Cuba were quiet when she left.

She woke up to the news on the radio. My aunt was crying uncontrollably; thats always been her president,  said Ricardo. They played Castros favorite songs, really sad music.

Many of the passengers arriving in Miami from Cuba didnt want to talk about Castros death.

Were not supposed to talk about this, one man said. At the airport in Havana people were quiet and hushed. I found out by the taxi-cab driver who told me to keep my reaction to myself. We arent allowed to speak our minds there, but just know that I am the happiest man alive.

Another passenger questioned the euphoria being expressed in Miami. He is a human being. Why would we ever celebrate someones death? No matter if theyre your enemy?
Discounted Kitchen Cabinets In Richmond VA: Remodeling Services Now Available

This industry leading Kitchen Remodeling Company announced the availability of their new Discounted Kitchen Cabinets & Remdoling Service beginning 11/26. More information can be found at http://transporttrendstechnologies.com/kitchenremodel.

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Customers looking for the latest Discounted Kitchen Cabinets & Remodeling Service will soon be able to get involved with one of the industry leaders located in Richmond. Today the company releases details of the new Discounted Kitchen Cabinets & Remodeling Service's development.

The Discounted Kitchen Cabinets & Remodeling Service is designed to appeal specifically to homeowners and includes:

Low Cost - This feature was included because it is the business' philosophy to give something back. This is great news for the consumer as it helps them to save money. They offer competitive pricing for top of the line cabinetry (one of their main products) which can be one of the most expensive items in the kitchen because of sheer volume. If customers are frugal, they help them to save money by suggesting cheaper alternatives to higher-priced items without compromising on taste.

Custom Modifications - This was made part of the service because they did not want to limit customers to factory-made items, although tasteful. Customers who invest in the service should enjoy this feature because it allows customers to be fully engaged in manifesting their ideas.

Design Assistance - This Richmond, VA Kitchen Remodeling Company made sure to make this part of the offer as to help customers make decisions. Customers of the Discounted Kitchen Cabinets & Remodeling Service will likely appreciate this because if one does not know what exactly what she wants, they will help her find it. They have consultants on hand to help customers in choosing all materials they need at their showroom.

The company, when asked about the Discounted Kitchen Cabinets & Remodeling Service said:

"Not only do we help you in choosing the materials, but we sell them to you and design everything for you as well. We are a one-stop shop for everything kitchen. But more importantly, we honor timelines."

This is the latest offering from this company and they are particularly excited about this launch because of the many new kitchens they will help create for the holidays.

For those who are financially savvy know how potentially beneficial an investment on a project like this can be. The average national return on investment for Kitchen Remodeling is between 84.8% and 98.5%, making it a project standing to generate a substantial profit.

Those interested in learning more about this company and their Discounted Kitchen Cabinets & Remodeling Service can do so on the website at http://transporttrendstechnologies.com/kitchenremodel

For more information, please visit http://transporttrendstechnologies.com/kitchenremodel

Contact Info:

Name: Dave

Organization: River City Remodeling

Address: 5501 Stony Point Pkwy, Suite 500 Richmond, VA 23235



Release ID: 149766

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On Saturday, 26 November, one of the greatest classical music works, Ludwig van Beethovens Symphony No 9 (The Choral Symphony) was performed by the artistic forces of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina to the full house of listeners.



Conducted by Hisham Gabr, the performance of the symphony combined the BA Chamber Orchestra, BA Youth Orchestra, BA Symphonic Choir and soloists soprano Mona Rafla (Egypt), alto Rodica Ocheseanu (Romania), tenor Khalil Saeed (Tunisia) and baritone Haithem Hadhiri (Tunisia).

The evening will also include Borodin's Polovtsian Dances from the composer's opera Prince Igor.

The Symphony No 9 is Beethoven's last completed symphony and one of the best-known works of classical music, included in the Memory of the World International Register compiled by UNESCO as the greatest testimonies of human history.

The great pinnacle of Beethovens greatness, the work is admired by musicians and music lovers alike, mainly due to the final cantata that comes in its last, fourth movement, Ode to Joy sung to the poem by Friedrich von Schiller.

Ahram Online followed the making of the performance at Bibliotheca Alexandrina, from the rehearsals to the concert that took place on Saturday 26 November.

Photos: Butheina Shalan
Akoni Homeware Launch Brand New Website For Product Launch

Alongside a product launch this week, Akoni Homeware have also announced the launch of the website.

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Brand new home lifestyle brand, Akoni Homeware, have announced the launch of their website, akonihomeware.com/us/. The brand have launched their debut product, a Salt & Pepper Grinder Set onto Amazon this week so it is vital that they have a website for customers to find out more information about the brand.

The website is designed to be functional and user friendly, containing pages that are named in a straightforward manner and buttons that are linked from the homepage to different areas of the website.

Although the brand was founded earlier this year, the new website is the first time that they have opened their doors to paying customers. All current products are viewable on the website before the customer is directed to purchase on Amazon.com. The brand were keen to sell on Amazon.com to give their customers an excellent standard of service.

"Our customers mean everything to us and we can't wait to grow our business with them." said Lisa from Akoni Homeware, "The new website is the first step into the unknown and we're very excited about what the future holds for us."

The brand's debut product, a Salt and Pepper Grinder Set, contains 2 stainless steel and glass grinders, a collapsible funnel and a cleaning brush. The product has been designed to be mess free, preventing granules falling into cupboards by putting the grinding mechanism on the top of the grinder.

"Our first product on Amazon is both competitive and unique." continued Lisa, "We offer all of the features that our competitors do but our set has higher quality materials. We want our grinders to be able to withstand the wear and tear of everyday life so we've made them as strong as possible."

The new Salt and Pepper Grinder Set is now available from Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Akoni-Homeware-Salt-Pepper-...

Akoni Homeware's brand new website can be viewed here: www.akonihomeware.com/us/

Contact Info:

Name: Lisa Miller

Organization: Akoni Homeware

Address: 9450 SW Gemini Dr #29796



Release ID: 149642

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Kenny Slaught - Congratulates UCSB on Receiving Grand Challenges Explorations Grant

The University of California Santa Barbara announced on May 26, 2016 that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations grant winner.

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Active member and supporter of UCSB Foundation, Kenny Slaught has recently posted on his blog at KennySlaught.com that "The University of California Santa Barbara announced on May 26, 2016 that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations grant winner."

David Low, a professor in UCSB's Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project titled "Strategy for development of enteric pathogen-specific phage". Low's research focuses on a new way to deal with serious bacterial pathogens that are becoming resistant to many once-powerful antibiotics. According to Kenny Slaught, "He will engineer phage to selectively target and destroy several pathogenic bacteria to prevent enteric diseases in infants".

David Low was awarded his bachelor's degree in biology from UC San Diego, his master's degree in microbiology from San Diego State University and his Ph.D. in cellular biochemistry from UC Irvine. As a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University he conducted research in molecular microbiology in the lab of Stanley Falkow, now a professor emeritus in microbiology and immunology. Low joined the UCSB faculty in 1998 after 13 years as a professor at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center. He was elected a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2013 and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2003.

In 2011, Guillermo Bazan, a professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, was one of the winners of the GCE grant. Bazan's award was for the study of how semiconducting molecules that penetrate the membranes of living organisms can facilitate the conversion of wastewater into energy. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation was interested in the possibility of using this technology to alleviate the emerging world's problem with sanitation, which presents a significant health hazard and negatively impacts people's dignity.

Founder of Investec Real Estate Companies, Kenny Slaught has been in the industry for more than four decades. A dedicated investment strategist, he manages more than 3 million square feet of property throughout California. With total transactions valued above $1.2 billion, Investec has grown to become one of Santa Barbara's leading real estate firms. An avid philanthropist, Mr. Slaught is involved with many non-profit and community organizations, including Santa Barbara Bowl Foundation and the Music Academy of the West. Contributing to the benefit of youth in the area, he dedicates considerable time to these and other worthy causes.

Kenny Slaught - Founder & President of Investec Real Estate Companies: http://kennyslaughtnews.com

Kenny Slaught - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KennethSlaught

Engineers Who Developed Lunar Rovers in Goleta Honored at Dedication Ceremony: https://www.noozhawk.com/article/engineers_who_developed_lunar_rovers_goleta_honored_dedication_ceremony

For more information, please visit http://www.KennySlaughtNews.com

Contact Info:

Name: KSN

Email: kenny@kennyslaughtnews.com

Organization: KennySlaughtNews.com



Source: http://marketersmedia.com/kenny-slaught-congratulates-ucsb-on-receiving-grand-challenges-explorations-grant/149794

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Farmers are being advised to beef up security after a disturbing spike in farm crime.

The theft of farm machinery, including tractors, quad bikes and telehandlers, rose sharply in August, September and October in parts of the UK.

In Essex, the theft of tractors, quads and telehandlers rose 50%, according to rural insurer NFU Mutual.

See also: Video: Farmers top tips to fight rural crime

In Scotland, the theft of high-value tractors and quads has seen the cost of farm machinery thefts quadruple.

This week, police said they were investigating a number of quad bikes thefts from the West Calder/West Lothian areas.

Quad bikes are also disappearing at an alarming rate from farms on the Yorkshire Dales.

Meanwhile, thieves are continuing to target Land Rover Defenders, since production of this model ended, and tools and equipment from barns and workshops.

This all comes after a year when farm theft levels remained static at an estimated cost of 42.5m in 2015.

Tim Price, NFU Mutuals rural crime specialist, said the dark nights were presenting thieves with the opportunity to work under the cover of darkness.

There can be no doubt that both opportunist criminals and organised criminal gangs are targeting farms with a vengeance, added Mr Price.

Therefore, it was important for farmers to ramp up security to protect rural homes, machinery, livestock and farm equipment.

Report all crimes

Although all farms are different, Mr Price said basic security measures can help foil would-be thieves.

Are vehicles, trailers and machinery left in the open? Are access gates locked and padlocked? Are warning signs and security lighting clearly visible?

However, a higher level of security could be needed to prevent determined thieves, he added.

Mr Price urged farmers to report farm crime to police, no matter how big or small, help officers build a picture of rural crime.

To report an incident call the police non-emergency number 101 or 999 in an emergency.
Moto Z and Moto Z Force Latest Updates, Specs & News: Android Nougat Rolling Out For Motorola Devices

The Moto Z and Moto Z Force will be running on Android Nougat beginning this week. The two smartphones will follow the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL which were earlier updated to Nougat.

When these phones run on Android Nougat, they will be made compatible with the Daydream VR giving users a better virtual reality gaming and watching experience. Only the Pixel phones and now Motorola's two handsets were given the green light by Google to be compatible with its VR headset.

What updates to expect

This update will start to roll out on Moto Z and Moto Z Force handsets all over the world within the week. Owners of the smartphones will soon enjoy the newly released and improved operating system to do things faster and have a better experience of their phones.

How to download

Those who want to know if they can already download the update they can simply check their phone Settings, head to About Phone then see System Updates. Fans have long waited for the Android Nougat since Motorola earlier promised that it would come to their devices.

Despite the upcoming update, Motorola has not yet reportedly released the official changelog for users. But they have made a more exciting announcement about the compatibility of the device for the Daydream VR headset.

New settings

Other updates rolling out on Motorola phones include the Swipe action which shrinks the screen of the handset. The company even introduced high-tech settings for some of their devices like the lockscreen enable and disable and the fingerprint sensor for the Moto G4 Plus.

When it came out last month, the Moto Z was praised for its great performance, good screen and its light design. Experts, however, claimed that Motorola can still lower the price of the device and improve battery performance since it can get hot when used heavily.
The 100 Season 4 Air Date, Spoilers, News & Update: Will Clarke Reveal The Nuclear Disaster? How Soon Can Octavia Move On?

The announcement of "The 100" season 4 premiere date inspired a lot of plot speculations and theories. The fourth season will pick up right where season three ended, with an impending disaster looms ahead. Could the nuclear apocalypse bring together the different factions?

Will Clarke Tell Everyone What She Knows?

In an interview with Den of Geek during the San Diego Comic-Con, executive producer Jason Rothenberg said that "The 100" season 4 will pick continue working on from the last season. Last season, half of the Skaikru were spread out into two areas: Polis and Arkadia. Clarke (Eliza Taylor) will have to face the dilemma of informing (or not informing) the two groups of an impending nuclear disaster.

Meanwhile, Christopher Larkin (Monty Green) discussed the main villain of "The 100" season 4. Season three saw ALIE as the villain however, the upcoming season will have to fight a Nuclear War. This time, radiation will attempt to destroy all of the humankind. It remains unknown how the survivors can live out this one.

First shot of Season 4!! Welcome back to Polis! #The100 #THE100SEASON4 pic.twitter.com/szRXfEXvWM  The 100 Writers Room (@The100writers) August 2, 2016

Is Octavia Pregnant?

Meanwhile, Marie Avgeropoulos said that her character Octavia will be focused on fighting and killing people. However, Sivertimes suggested that Octavia may have a big surprise when "The 100" season 4 airs. Her role in the upcoming season is closely guarded that a changed Octavia may appear next season.

While Octavia tried to alleviate her feeling by killing Pike (Michael Beach), it left a whole in her heart that's impossible to fill. While many speculations suggest that another love interest may come next season, a recent one suggests that she may actually be pregnant.

Her lack of appearance in the photo sessions prompted fans to theorize the pregnancy story. Add to the fact that her role is close-guarded by the writers and showrunners. Could Octavia really be pregnant? "The 100" season 4 will premiere on February 1 on The CW.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Latest News & Update: Specs, Features Revealed! Preparing To Take On Its Adversary For 2017 Launch!

Samsung is preparing to go up against its adversary for 2017 as its freshest lead is supposed to be in the last phase of advancement. Perused more insights about the spilled components and specs of the up and coming Samsung Galaxy S8!

It appears like Galaxy Note 7 disaster has made Samsung more forceful with regards to cell phone producing. As per The Investor, it took years before Samsung could think of an Android cell phone that will encourage take the UI into the most elevated amount of computerized involvement through the up and coming 2017 leader, Samsung Galaxy S8.

Android Circuit: New Galaxy S8 Leaks, Nokia Returns To MWC,Shiny Samsung Challenges Apple https://t.co/jwMfNtLw2q pic.twitter.com/FqlK8VO2Oo  njobi (@njobidotcom) November 26, 2016

Not at all like its antecedents, Samsung Galaxy S8 is said to be furnished with fantastic components and top of the line specs that will, in the long run, be the way to compensate for the misfortune done by Galaxy Note 7. As per Phone Arena, Galaxy S8 is said to focus on the Galaxy Note 7 clients and increase back their trust and certainty to the brand which is, in reality, liable to happen because of the accompanying specs and components:

Samsung anadiria finalmente sensores de presion a la pantalla del Galaxy S8 https://t.co/HqIPG4KjD9 pic.twitter.com/mxfqyFD1GV  Geektopia (@GeekTopic) November 16, 2016

Samsung more often than not divulges new cell phones in Mobile World Congress. Taking after the said design, the South Korean tech organization is required to dispatch Galaxy S8 amid the MWC in February 2017. Samsung Galaxy S8 cost is assessed to be less expensive than the recently launched Apple iPhone 7. As per bits of gossip, the sum is probably going to fall between $750 to $850 given the spilled specs.
Samsung Selling Uncomplimentary Businesses To Competitors; Lenovo For PC, HP For Printing

Reports of Samsung and Lenovo being in talks for the sale of the former's PC division to the latter are currently circulating. A South Korean publication has revealed that Samsung has been negotiating with Lenovo for a few months now to close the deal.

Samsung - Lenovo PC Deal Negotiations

The Bell reported that there is no involvement of a financial advisor in the deal from Samsung's side but it has hired a legal advisor, Paul Hastings, for the same. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is reportedly representing Lenovo. In addition, the media outlet said that if the sale is satisfactory and desirable then Samsung will sell its printing division to US tech ace HP, worth more than $1 billion. The deal has already been approved in October.

If the sale of the PC division is successful, Lenovo will have to pay more than $850 million to take control of the Samsung business. "Considering the close business relationship between PCs and printers, it seems quite obvious that Samsung, after its PC business sell-off, is withdrawing from the PC market," a former executive from the South Korean company said.

Samsung Sells Unprofitable Businesses

Samsung has decided to sell the businesses that it finds not complimenting the brand or declining in terms of profits. With the emergence of smartphones, the PC business has been affected adversely. The desktops and notebooks are not performing well enough. The sale of PCs has seen a gradual decline over the past two years. Although the Samsung-Lenovo deal has been in focus for few months now, it is yet unconfirmed if both of them will agree on the terms.

While Samsung is trying to sell some of its unprofitable businesses, it is trying to include new innovative techniques its brand name, Zdnet mentions. Samsung Galaxy S8 will have new AI-basedvoice assistants one Bixby while the other will be its feminine alter ego version Kestra. The special features will enable users to conduct online payment controlled by user voices.
New Maintenance Error Message Hits PlayStation Network Systems, North America and UK Affective By the Server Error

The PlayStation Network has been reported to be down for several PS4 users in both North America and the UK earlier this week. Although the PSN Status is now back and running for all services, a few customers are still experiencing some errors. There is still a mix of reports from players who are having difficulties getting back online as it may take some time for the PlayStation Network Systems to be back on track.

Earlier in the week, Sony has confirmed that all of their major online services were online. The PSN status were all turned to red which means that all their systems are not working during that time. According to Daily Star, both the website monitoring service and the Down Detector were experiencing major issues as well. The cause of the new maintenance error message is still unclear, but Sony is currently working on the issue to have it resolved, Daily Star reported.

Back in October 2016, the New Party system had problems that appeared to be affecting the PlayStation Network Systems as well. The error was reported at around 6pm UK time which caused some players to be kicked out due to network error. Sony didn't confirm if it was a widespread problem and was able to fix the issue later on.

Another issue was PlayStation Network was also reported in August 2016. According to Express, a hacker group was able to get into the PlayStation Network which caused PS4 and PS3 outage. One of the users even reported that the PS4 kept on timing out when the user was trying to connect to the PlayStation Network in Tennessee. Some users were unable to log in for almost an hour before the hacker group went into disrupting "GTA Online" servers. Whether these incidents are linked is yet to be cleared. Sony is continuously trying to resolve the issue as of this moment.
'SpaceX' is Flying High After NASA Approves Contract To Help Survey Earths Bodies of Water

Elon Musk's SpaceX project recently landed a contract with NASA for the exploration of the Earth's bodies of water. According to reports, this will be the first time, an exploration of this type will be made. The journey of the SpaceX via Falcon 9 to exploration will include the collection of measurement of bodies of water on the surface of the Earth.

The SpaceX mission is also expected to bodies of water and how they change overtime; caused by climate change as well as the improved ocean circulation in a specified time range. Last week, NASA sealed the $112 million contract with SpaceX and expects the project to begin in California in 2021.

According to Florida Today, the SpaceX mission will deliver the $750 million NASA project using a Falcon 9 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in April 2021. The NASA project is listed under the agency's Surface Water and Ocean Topography mission. In a statement given by SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell, she said "We're excited to carry this critical science payload into orbit for NASA, the nation, and the international community. We appreciate NASA's partnership and confidence in SpaceX as a launch provider."

The SpaceX and its mission is a joint project of NASA and the French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES). The SpaceX in September was grounded after one of their Falcon 9 rockets exploded on a Florida Launchpad. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has since addressed the cause of the explosion and revealed, it was one of the company's hardest issue to solve. He also added that, the company targets the end of 2016 as their next launch date.

For more news and update about the case of the Falcon 9 and SpaceX future mission with NASA, make sure to read and get the latest information here on GameNGuide.
Microsoft's Surface Phone Release Date, Latest News & Update: Release Date Confirmed, New Flagship Tagged As The Ultimate Phone?

Another amazing high-tech device is on its way. Microsoft is now working on polishing things for the newest and powerful flagship, the Microsoft Surface Phone. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tagged the latest device as the "ultimate mobile device" that carries irresistible features. For sure, consumers will be looking out for it.

Microsoft Surface Phone release date confirmed

Everyone is now thrilled about the newest flagship that is about to arrive. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella expressed that the latest phone model that the company will be launching is said to be the "ultimate mobile device."

He admitted that the giant tech company missed the first mobile device trip but it doesn't mean that Microsoft will not land to their destination. The whole team is working so hard to reach the community's goal. Each of the Microsoft family is determined to exceed everyone's expectation about the Microsoft Surface Phone.

The latest flagship, Microsoft Surface Phone, is said to be launched by Microsoft next year. Consumers can expect the unique and advanced mobile device first half of 2017.

Microsoft Surface Phone tagged as the ultimate phone?

The Microsoft's new baby will run in Snapdragon 835 that supports Quick Charge 4.0. The Microsoft Surface Mobile will also carry Windows 10 Mobile framework with 64-Bit. One of the models has 6GB RAM that can flawlessly run X86 apps in Continuum.

The another high-tech model that the team is developing has a 4GB RAM and it will never leave the user hanging as it will run in Snapdragon 835. This also has 64-Bit Windows Mobile but unlike the other models, this unit cannot run X86 X86 apps in Continuum. Probably this version of Microsoft Surface Mobile is for entry level.

It has been reported that Microsoft is indeed creating a 3-in-1 device. The display size of Microsoft Surface Mobile that has been noted is said to be 5.5-inch and QHD display. The giant tech company will continuously be doing unique devices for consumers who need specific capabilities.
MacBook Pro News & Update: Alternative Laptops As Good As Your MacBook Pro

The MacBook Pro might be the best selling laptop, it might have proven to be a wonderful device for the geekerati, but there are alternatives that are just as good as Apple's laptop. Depending on what you need from it, there are options that are more suitable than the "MacBook Pro."

As many professionals have discovered with this emphasis of the "MacBook Pro," it feels more like a Pro version of the MacBook Air rather than a MacBook OS machine that gives top-notch specifications and features. There are other options, and over the next few weeks, I'm going to look in detail at some of the alternatives to the latest MacBook Pro.

But before those articles, here's a quick overview of some machines that push the envelope that has snapped my attention (including "Microsoft's Surface Book," Razer's Blade, and HP's Spectre x360). Hence, I do need to prefer it to a big man in a big game.

Unless you are ready to work some monumental hacking spells, one element that you are not going to be able to replicate on these laptops is "MacBook OS". Apple's current deskbound operating system is a UNIX-based system that runs on the Mac range but nowhere else (outside of some herculean hacking). Any alternative to the MacBook Pro will be running something other than macOS.

In ninety-nine percent of cases, it's something to be Windows 10. Microsoft has made some drastic development over the last few years to get its OS to work as comfortably in a touch environment as a mouse and keyboard. I'd argue that "Windows 10" is at this point, so the mix of competent hybrids and tablet/laptop convertibles on offer will grow.

"Windows 10" offers a much broader choice of third-party applications and has a better chance of finding a choice of apps for anything you need. And if you must have connection to an iPhone, iPod, or Android smartphone, Windows 10 is universal enough to be able to cover up both platforms as well as pretty much any cloud service.
Samsung Galaxy S8 Latest News & Update: Samsungs Flagship Device Inspired By The IPhone 7? Will Steal Another Big Feature?

A fresh update on some of the specs are coming to the Galaxy S8; and it insinuates that Samsung is not through exacting inspiration from Apple. Samsung's flagship handset, the Galaxy S8, is anticipated to sport a major redesign.

In 2017, Samsung will reportedly work at an all-screen Galaxy S8 design, as what iPhone 8 is supposedly doing. Like the iPhone 7, that lacks a physical home key and is awaited to come in two sizes, including a phablet version that will likely feature a dual lens. So will also be the Galaxy S8.

That's not all. Samsung is also believed to outfit the phone with a pressure sensitive display -- just like the iPhone 7, reports BGR. Seemingly, Apple already scrapped the 3.5mm audio jack and combined the audio jack and charging port. This seems to have become common practice and, according to rumors, Samsung might also do the same.

Samsung Galaxy S8, Iphone 7 Memory & Processors

It's not clear how much storage the cheapest model will pack or whether the microSD slot will still be included in the Galaxy S8 at this time. The phone is rumored to have 6GB of RAM, which is a weighty increase compared to Samsung's 2016 flagship smartphones.

According to Know Your Mobile, when it comes to processors, the Galaxy S8 is expected to come in two versions, sporting either Samsung's latest Exynos chipset or Qualcomm's newly announced Snapdragon 835 CPU. Other rumored specs hold faster wireless charging, an iris scanner, and a new virtual assistant to compete with Siri and Google Assistant.

Why Galaxy S8 And IPhone 8 Need To Secure The Phones' Success

Both Galaxy S8 and iPhone 8 (or 7S) flagships are expected to launch next year. Apple has, despite selling good numbers of iPhones, experienced the third straight drop in revenue in 2016, while Samsung's revenue has taken a hit due to the Galaxy Note 7 scandal, which makes both the future phones' success imperative for the companies.
It's early yet  why, as you read this, it's only been three days since Thanksgiving, and I'm not yet among those who believe that the holiday season starts with Halloween  so I'm not worried yet that I haven't received any holiday cards.

However, it has occurred to me that I'm to blame for the decreasing number of holiday greetings that have arrived at my house these last few years, in large part because all of my previous attempts to send out Christmas cards and newsletters over the past five years are still stacked in a corner of my desk, unfinished and looking increasingly bereft. If these unsent cards and letters could talk, they would be accusatory: "We're not going out again this year, are we?"

"No," I would admit to the accusatory stack of paperwork. "Now that the younger daughter is in graduate school, perhaps it is too late to be bragging about how well she did in first grade."

Besides, it's just too hard to summarize the actual events of the year just passed in one page, but I always try to do that, because who has time to read much longer? And I always have to do some fact checking, because who remembers what happened in January? Truth be told, I'm a little fuzzy on what I had for breakfast  wait; did I even have breakfast today? I can't afford to be skipping the most important meal of the day.

Sure, if I were one of those people who posts everything on Facebook, I could just go back and review my feed for highlights. But I'm not that person. In fact, it appears as if my last Facebook post dates back to when the younger daughter was in first grade. (Note to self: After breakfast, update Facebook page.)

But I have an answer to this problem, and it's one that might work for you as well as you prepare your own holiday missive. Since we apparently now live in the era of fake news ("We say goodbye to Sly Stallone, one of the all-time greats"), why not use that approach this year for your own holiday letter?

Here's a first draft of my 2016 fake news holiday letter. Feel free to swipe however many of these nuggets work for you.

 "2016 has been quite the year. Such a whirlwind! Were we ever surprised when the year started with an extended visit from our new foreign exchange student, who turned out to be Russian strongman Vladimir Putin! It's true that he spent most of the year holed up in the upstairs bedroom  he said he had some work to do on the internet or something like that  but he was never less than a gentleman, although would it kill him to put a shirt on from time to time? We're just kidding; he's a sweetie!"

 "Our extended vacation this January at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge turned out be not exactly as the travel agent advertised."

 "If you ask us which of the surprise accolades from 2016 meant the most  the Oscar for best supporting actor, the bronze medal from the Rio Olympics, the Nobel Peace Prize  well, it's like choosing a favorite child. But the Nobel Peace Prize, for sure, because it's all about the children."

 "It was disappointing to miss out on being cast as the next James Bond, but nabbing the role as the villain was a nice consolation prize. Spoiler alert: Instead of explaining his scheme, the villain just kills Bond right at the start of the movie. It's the shortest Bond movie yet."

 "We easily found a place to park at the university on a school day."

 "Who would have expected both Congress and the state Legislature to work so effectively to really fix some of our problems?"

Oh, sorry; that last one was from next year's fake news holiday letter. (mm)
All Mobile Phones in India Must Have Panic Buttons from 2017 Features oi -Samden Sherpa In a bid to prevent crimes against women, all mobile phones sold in India will be required to have a physical panic button installed by the beginning of next year.

While going through news, we often see that the crimes rates have gone up in India with respect to women abuse.

Now, taking a step towards the protection of women, the Government of India has announced that every cellphone sold in India from next year onwards will have to feature "a panic button" configured to the phones.

SEE ALSO: Beware of These Reliance Jio, Narendra Modi, and Paytm Related Hoax WhatsApp Messages

The government has shared their opinion that while technology has been solely meant to make human life better, it could be used for the security of women. In essence, the move aims to help improve and tighten security for women and at the same time increase accountability of the security forces as well.

Essentially, feature phones which don't support an Android or iOS will have to ensure the facility of pressing numeric key 5 or numeric key 9 to enable an emergency call. On smartphones, however, the user should be able to make an emergency call by pressing either a special panic button for a long time or using the existing power button to do the same by pressing it thrice in quick succession.

SEE ALSO: How to Get Unlimited RComm Voice Calling for Just Rs. 149

On smartphones, it might be also possible to download safety apps which can help during emergencies, but the government are skeptic about it and have said that launching apps could take too long in a crisis.

To meet the new requirements, every phone maker including giants like Apple and Samsung will have to write software for India that includes the panic button configuration.

Apple is already known to cooperate with governments for country-specific features and it has in fact added an SOS button in the iOS 10.2 beta 3 version which we are hoping will be made available in India.

SEE ALSO: Reliance Jio Scam: FAKE Bill Urges User to Pay Rs. 27,000 During Welcome Offer

While Apple can add the panic button requirements via a relatively simple software update, the situation is much more complex in the Android setting. What is more concerning is that this could probably delay the launch of certain phones in India.

While the launch may be delayed, the prices might go up too. The government has also included plans to have all handsets equipped with a location-based technology by 2018.

On hearing the news, manufacturers have expressed concerns that mandatory GPS will increase the cost of devices, pricing them out of range for some consumers.

Nonetheless, as panic buttons may be a start, we could hope that this will have a positive impact on our nation and women's safety.

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Counter-ISIL Strikes Hit Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Nov. 26, 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, fighter, bomber and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 15 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Abu Kamal, three strikes destroyed four oil wellheads and an oil pumpjack.

-- Near Raqqah, six strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units and a storage facility, destroying two vehicles, a command-and-control node and a fighting position.

-- Near Ayn Isa, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit.

-- Near Dayr Az Zawr, two strikes destroyed three oil refinement equipment pieces, three oil storage tanks and an oil wellhead.

-- Near Manbij, three strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed three fighting positions.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter, rotary and remotely piloted aircraft conducted eight strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government:

-- Near Huwayjah, a strike engaged a vehicle bomb-making facility.

-- Near Haditha, a strike destroyed a vehicle bomb.

-- Near Mosul, five strikes engaged three ISIL tactical units; destroying three vehicles, three ISIL-held buildings, three mortar systems, a vehicle bomb-making facility, a vehicle bomb, a supply cache, a watercraft, and a fighting position. A vehicle bomb-making facility and seven roads were degraded. A mortar system was suppressed.

-- Near Tal Afar, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a vehicle.

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.

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Saudi airstrike kills a dozen civilians in Yemen's Hudaydah

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 6:56PM

At least a dozen people, including women and children, have been killed when Saudi fighter jets carried out an airstrike against a residential neighborhood in Yemen's western coastal province of Hudaydah.

Local sources told Arabic-language al-Masirah television network that the civilians lost their lives as Saudi warplanes struck two houses in the al-Marawi'ah district of the province, located 150 kilometers southwest of the capital, Sana'a, on Saturday evening.

The development came shortly after Saudi military aircraft struck a number of telecommunications towers in the area.

Separately, Saudi jets pounded a house in the al-Khawkhah district of the same Yemeni province, leaving a woman and a girl dead. Two people sustained injuries in the aerial attack.

Saudi fighter jets also launched four airstrikes against an area in the Dhubab district of the southwestern Yemeni province of Ta'izz, though no reports of possible casualties were immediately available.

Additionally, a boy was seriously wounded in a blast of a Saudi cluster bomb in the Bani Sa'd area of the al-Dhahir district, which lies in Yemen's northwestern province of Sa'ada.

Elsewhere in the As Silw district of Ta'izz Province, a girl and a boy were killed as pro-Saudi militiamen loyal to resigned Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi opened fire.

Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a deadly campaign against Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to bring back the former Yemeni government to power and undermine the Houthi Ansarullah movement.

The impoverished Arab country is grappling with the scarcity of food supplies and outbreak of diseases amid Saudi Arabia's atrocious airstrikes.

The United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF) says 7.4 million Yemeni children are in dire need of medical help, and 370,000 run the risk of severe acute malnutrition.

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Car bomb attack kills 10 at busy market in Somali capital

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 1:29PM

At least 10 people have been killed in a car bomb attack in a crowded market in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, police say.

The huge blast occurred at a police checkpoint next to a busy vegetable market in Waberi district on Saturday, wrecking the shops and stalls and wounding at least a dozen people, police official Ibrahim Mohamed said.

He further said the death toll could increase since the car went off at a time when the market was densely populated. Most of the wounded sustained serious injuries, the police official said.

Abdukadir Abdirahman Adem, the director of Amin Ambulance Service (AAS), raised the death toll to nearly 30 people, but the figure has not been confirmed by authorities.

According to police official Captain Mohamed Hussein, the assailant apparently targeted the police station in a neighborhood where President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was visiting a university at the time.

"The whole market is ruined and people perished," said Colonel Abdikadir Farah, describing the deadly attack.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it bears the hallmark of those carried out by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab Takfiri terrorist group, which has conducted a series of deadly attacks in the African country over the past ten years in an attempt to weaken the government.

The group has been pushed out of Mogadishu and other major cities by the joint forces of the government and the African Union, but it continues to hit Mogadishu despite setbacks.

Al-Shabab currently controls swaths of rural areas, from where it carries out guerrilla attacks.

On August 26, over a dozen people were killed in a car bombing outside a popular hotel close to the presidential palace in the capital. The group claimed the assault.

Somalia has not seen a powerful central government since former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled by warlords in 1991. Since 2007, some 22,000 peacekeepers have been deployed in Somalia in the multi-national African Union force to aid the government in curbing the militancy.

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South Sudan agrees to deployment of peacekeeping force

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 10:8AM

South Sudan's government has finally agreed to the deployment of a new regional force mandated by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to the country to contain civil fighting.

"I would like... to inform the people on behalf of the transitional government of national unity that your cabinet has resolved unanimously to allow the deployment of the regional protection force anytime from now," said Akol Paul Kordit, South Sudan's deputy information minister, late on Friday.

Kordit's announcement came after hours of deliberations during a cabinet meeting chaired by President Salva Kiir.

South Sudanese authorities, however, have not provided any details about when and where the force would be deployed.

South Sudan plunged into civil war soon after seceding from Sudan in 2011. Fighting surged in July, when deadly clashes erupted in the capital, Juba. More than 300 people have been killed in the clashes.

The UNSC authorized the deployment of 4,000 additional troops from East Africa with a stronger mandate than the UN peacekeeping mission (UNMISS) that had already been deployed to the country to ensure security amid the renewed fighting.

President Salva Kiir, however, initially rejected the deployment of the new regional force as a breach of South Sudan's sovereignty but later agreed to the deployment on September 4.

Since then, the UN had been accusing Kiir's government of procrastination and threatened to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan.

In his Friday remarks, Kordit further said that the force will "bring peace in this country, to end the suffering of the people of South Sudan."

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War on Yemen waged by US, Saudi Arabia: Ansarullah

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 6:14AM

Yemen's Houthi Ansarullah movement has accused the US, which has recently put forward a peace plan for the war-torn country, of leading the ongoing aggression against Yemen along with Saudi Arabia.

Speaking late on Friday, Ansarullah spokesman Mohammad Abdulsalam highlighted the negative role of Washington in the war on Yemen, saying the US is among the states that are involved in the aggression against the impoverished country rather than a mediator between the Yemeni forces and the Riyadh regime.

He further pointed to Washington-Riyadh relations and warned that the US is blackmailing Saudi Arabia and this practice will intensify in the future.

The war on Yemen is a US-Saudi one, with Yemen's former president Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi having no role in the offensive, Abdulsalam said, stressing that history will prove this assertion.

The aggression was started in a bid to overcome the will of the Yemeni people, he added.

Earlier this month, US Secretary of State John Kerry said during a regional visit that he had presented Houthi delegates with a document outlining a ceasefire and peace deal.

The Houthis agreed to observe the truce provided that the other side implemented it, Abdulsalam said. Riyadh also announced a 48-hour ceasefire in Yemen, but did not halt their airstrikes.

The Ansarullah spokesman said Saudi Arabia is opposed to the peace plan, but Ansarullah is committed to the deal so long as the opposite side honors it.

Abdulsalam said the agreement will be presented to Hadi for signing.

Hadi in Aden

The former president flew into Aden from his base in Saudi Arabia Saturday on a surprise visit to the headquarters of his beleaguered militant group, an aide said.

Hadi is expected to stay for a few days in the southern port city, which is rife with frequent unrest 18 months after his loyalists stormed the city with the Saudi support.

It is Hadi's first visit to Aden in a year and comes two months after self-styled prime minister Ahmed bin Dagher and seven ministers set up base in the city.

Hadi's loyalists have faced repeated attack by Takfiri militants of both al-Qaeda and its rival, the Daesh group and his security chiefs in Aden have been a particular target.

Abdulsalam said the Ansarullah movement has lost nothing by agreeing to the peace deal and will not negotiate with anybody before the first phase of the accord takes effect.

Washington used to rely on Riyadh on issues related to Yemen, but it was forced to put aside the kingdom and directly engage with the Yemeni side, he added.

The official said Ansarullah reserves the right to defend itself with all means against any act of aggression and hostility by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Saudi Arabia has been conducting airstrikes against Yemen since March 2015 in an attempt to crush the Houthis and reinstate the former Yemeni administration. The war has left at least 11,400 civilians dead, according to a latest tally by a Yemeni monitoring group.

The US has also been providing logistic and surveillance support to the kingdom in the bloody military campaign.

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South Sudan Agrees to Additional UN Force Deployment in Capital

Sputnik News

22:33 26.11.2016(updated 04:41 27.11.2016)

In a reversal of its previous position, South Sudan has agreed to allow an increase of UN peacekeeping troops in the country "without conditions."

The UN Security Council voted in August to send an additional 4,000 troops to the country after an outburst of violence around the capital, Juba, killed hundreds. President Salva Kiir initially argued that more UN forces would threaten the sovereignty of the five-year-old nation and said his government would need to approve the size of the force, the weapons they would use and the nationality of the UN troops.

There are already 12,000 UN troops in the country as part of the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). The new troops are intended to help secure the capital city and its airport, as well as UN facilities there.

On November 25, after a long meeting chaired by Kiir, Deputy Information Minister Akol Paul Kordit said the "cabinet has resolved unanimously to allow the deployment of the regional protection force anytime from now," Deusche Welle reported.

"We have agreed without precondition because the resolution is clear and we want the country to move forward," Kordit said. "So our committee is going to finalize the deployment process."

It is not yet known when new troops will arrive and where in the capital they will be stationed.

"I expect them arrive at any time. The challenge is now on the UN to implement and fulfill their promises," Minister of Cabinet Affairs Martin Lomuro told the Associated Press November 26.

Speaking at a UN Security Council meeting November 17, US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power called the country "a nation at the precipice," noting that the UN's Special Adviser for the Prevention of Genocide said there is "a strong risk of violence escalating along ethnic lines, with the potential for genocide" in the country.

"[W]e do not have adequate forces in place to stop mass atrocities, should the violence continue to escalate  as all those who watch South Sudan closely deem likely," she told the council.

Power also said the US would support an arms embargo on South Sudan and targeted sanctions against those they believe responsible for the violence.

Newly independent South Sudan was racked by a civil war starting in 2013, during which tens of thousands were killed. Now, factions of the opposing armies led by Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar been stationed in Juba since April, after signing a peace agreement in August 2015. But the troops have yet to work together to jointly maintain peace in the capital, Deusche Welle comments.

UN troops already in the country have been criticized for failing to prevent attacks on civilians.

 Sputnik

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Japan Scrambles Jet Fighters Amid Flight of Chinese Aircraft Near Okinawa

Sputnik News

09:07 26.11.2016(updated 09:27 26.11.2016)

The fighters of Japan's Air Self-Defense Forces (JASDF) have raised to the sky on Saturday after the Chinese Air Force aircraft were spotted near the Japanese island of Okinawa, local media reported Saturday.

TOKYO (Sputnik)  According to the Kyodo news agency, citing the Defense Ministry officials, four Chinese Xian H-6 jet bombers flew over the Miyako Strait, south to Okinawa, in the direction of the East China Sea. In parallel, two Chinese Su-30s were registered, initially heading in the opposite direction, but near the Miyako Strait aircraft made a turn and also headed toward the East China Sea.

The Japanese authorities said that the Chinese planes did not violate the Japanese airspace. No other particular information was immediately available.

In November 2013, China declared the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the East Chins Sea, which provides for certain air traffic restrictions.

In late September, JASDF jets flew on to intercept eight Chinese military aircraft flying between Okinawa's main island and Miyako Island. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said then that it was the first time that Chinese military aircraft flew over the area.

 Sputnik

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Afghan, Pakistani Leaders Discuss Tense Bilateral Ties

By Ayaz Gul November 26, 2016

Pakistani and Afghan leaders met Saturday on the sidelines of an international conference in Turkmenistan to discuss issues straining ties between their two countries.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani discussed bilateral relations and regional issues, Pakistani officials said without giving further details.

Sharif and Ghani are attending the first Global Sustainable Transport Conference the United Nations has convened in the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat.

The two-day international gathering is aimed at highlighting the fundamental role of sustainable transport in fighting climate change and achieving a sustainable future.

Peaceful neighborhood

Sharif, while addressing the conference, reiterated that Pakistan is committed to a policy of a peaceful neighborhood.

"Peace and development are interlinked. Without regional peace and stability, we will not be able to reap the benefits of connectivity and integration," he said.

Meanwhile, Afghan officials say Pakistan's outgoing military chief, General Raheel Sharif, in a farewell telephone call to Afghanistan's Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah Friday night, discussed strengthening of bilateral relations.

The contacts between Afghan and Pakistani leaders come as traditionally mistrust-marred relations between the two countries have deteriorated in recent months over mutual allegations of sponsored terrorist attacks on each other's soils.

Accusations on both sides

Ghani alleges Pakistani intelligence agencies are covertly supporting the Taliban-led insurgency in Afghanistan and allowing them to use sanctuaries on the other side of the border.

Islamabad rejects the charges and instead blames Afghan authorities for harboring anti-Pakistan militants.

Pakistan's recent push to send millions of documented and undocumented Afghan refugees back to Afghanistan has also fueled the tensions.

Pakistani officials insist the refugee localities serve as hiding places for insurgents involved in terrorist attacks in both countries.

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Greenland Pushes Denmark to Clean Up Dangerous American Military Junk

Sputnik News

03:39 27.11.2016(updated 04:41 27.11.2016)

Greenland is asking Denmark to clean up US military junk left behind by Cold War-era American military projects on the giant island.

Denmark allowed the US to build 33 bases and radar stations on the giant island, then a part of Denmark, in a 1951 deal, AP reports. The agreement between the two NATO allies didn't say who was to clean the stuff up.

Now Greenland, an autonomous though not fully independent nation, is tired of being America's junkyard and has asked Denmark to come clean up.

The military debris includes Camp Century, a planned nuclear missile launch site that was to tunnel massive missiles along a sort of railway under Greenland's ice.

The camp, begun in 1959 and abandoned in 1967, still contains 200,000 liters of diesel oil and sewage  and perhaps more sinister litter. Camp Century was powered by a nuclear reactor, Business Insider reports. Though the Americans took the reactor away, they seem to have left radioactive waste along with the fuel and other materials beneath the ice.

At the time, Greenland's ice would have seemed impenetrable and safe. Now, Business Insider reports, the ice keeping all this waste out of Greenland's water and soil could melt within 88 years, if the current rate of melting holds.

"The question is whether it's going to come out in hundreds of years, in thousands of years, or in tens of thousands of years," University of Colorado climate scientist James White said in a press release. "This stuff was going to come out anyway, but what climate change did was press the gas pedal to the floor and say, 'it's going to come out a lot faster than you thought.'"

"Two generations ago, people were interring waste in different areas of the world, and now climate change is modifying those sites," said William Colgan, a climate and glacier scientist at York University in Toronto and author of an August study on the coming military waste crisis in Greenland. Cogan and the other authors of the study warn that oil, radioactive waste and cancer causing chemicals may soon leak into Greenland's environment as the ice melts.

"It's a new breed of political challenge we have to think about."

"Unless Denmark has entered other agreements with the United States about Camp Century, the responsibility for investigation and cleanup lies with Denmark alone," Vittus Qujaukitsoq, Greenland's minister in charge of foreign affairs, said about the cleanup, according to AP.

In other areas, the US left behind so many oil barrels that the Inuit people who live nearby call their rusted remains "American Flowers," Business Insider reported earlier this year. The vast majority of Greenland's population is Inuit.

Danish Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen said earlier this month that Denmark's Environment Ministry is looking into the problem. "It is still too early to say who will be involved in a possible cleanup," he told AP later via email.

The US Air Force still uses Thule Air Base in Greenland. At about 745 miles below the North Pole, it is the Air Force's northernmost base.

Aleqa Hammond, a former premier of Greenland who now represents the island in Denmark's Parliament, said Greenland could bring the matter to a UN panel on indigenous issues if Denmark dawdles.

 Sputnik

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Japan mulls deployment of US THAAD missiles

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 6:28AM

Japan is moving closer to the deployment of a US missile system which is set to further escalate tensions in the region.

Defense Minister Tomomi Inada said Tokyo does not intend to immediately introduce the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, and that military authorities are "considering what can be done."

"Although there is no specific plan to introduce the THAAD, the introduction of the new equipment will lead to strengthening Japan's ability" in terms of dealing with possible ballistic missile threats, he added.

Tokyo has established a commission led by State Minister of Defense Kenji Wakamiya to examine the pros and cons of the advance interceptor system which is due to report its findings by next summer.

Moreover, the defense minister plans to visit a US military base in Guam next month to inspect the THAAD systems at work, Japanese media reported this week.

Japan already has a two-layer ballistic missile system. Ship-based SM-3 interceptors target missiles in space and land-based PAC-3 batteries aim to intercept them as they near the ground.

THAAD is said to be capable of intercepting missiles in or outside the earth's atmosphere.

The development comes after South Korea agreed earlier this year to deploy THAAD batteries on its territory, citing concerns over the North Korean missile threat, despite objections from China and Russia.

US will provide South Korea with THAAD batteries at the cost of nearly $1.3 billion per unit, according to South Korean press reports.

South Koreans have protested, citing safety fears over the system's sophisticated radar and its potential to be a wartime target.

Japanese media reports say the deployment of THAAD will cost the nation hundreds of billions of yen with no suggestions as to how it may be funded.

Russian media reported on Tuesday that the country had deployed Bastion and Bal anti-ship missile systems on the islands also claimed by Japan.

The islands are part of an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean over which Russia and Japan have staked rival claims for 70 years.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the deployment is "regrettable". His comments came less than a month before Russian President Vladimir Putin is to visit Japan for talks aimed at progress on the decades-old territorial row.

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Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro dies at 90

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 14:04, November 26, 2016

Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died late Friday at the age of 90, said his brother Raul, the current leader of Cuba.

"With deep sorrow I report to the Cuban people that our beloved leader Fidel Castro passed away at 10:29 p.m. on Friday," said Raul Castro in a statement broadcast on Radio Reloj.

His body will be cremated according to his will. The organizing committee for his funeral will give more details of the mourning.

Castro had led Cuba for nearly half a century before stepping down in 2006 for health reasons. He was succeeded by Raul Castro.

Fidel Castro spent the last years of his life largely out of the public eye, writing editorials on world affairs for Cuba's official Granma daily, and receiving dignitaries at his home in Havana.

The last such meeting was with Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang on Nov. 15.

Fidel Castro was born on Aug. 13, 1926 in Biran, a village in Holguin Province, as the son of Spanish immigrant Angel Castro and Cuban farmer Lina Ruz.

Castro became well-known worldwide after he led the 1959 Cuban revolution that overthrew Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Almost immediately, the United States moved to topple Castro, fearing the socialist revolution would inspire the rest of Latin America.

Washington attacked Cuba on many fronts, including economically and financially, by imposing a trade embargo in February 1962 that continues to this day.

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Iran's president condoles death of Cuba's revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:31PM

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has extended his condolences to the Cuban government and nation as well as the Latin American people over the death of Cuba's revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro.

In a message to Cuba's President Raul Castro on Saturday, Rouhani said the death of the "indefatigable combatant and leader of Cuba's Revolution" caused deep sorrow and grief for him.

"At a time that the world's oppressed nations are suffering from the violation of the most basic and fundamental human principles such as peace, justice and freedom, there are fortunately noble men and combatants who do not give up the struggle until the last days of their lives to raise the justice- and freedom-seeking flag," the Iranian president said.

Rouhani met with Fidel Castro during a one-day state visit in Havana on September 19. Rouhani visited Cuba after attending the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) summit in Venezuela.

Earlier on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif offered his condolences over Fidel Castro's death, saying he was a unique figure in the fight against colonialism and exploitation and was an icon of independence-seeking fights of the oppressed nations.

Cuba's former president Fidel Castro, one of the world's longest-serving and most iconic leaders, died on Saturday at the age of 90, his younger brother and successor as president, Raul, announced the news on state television.

Castro famously led a guerrilla campaign that gained popular support and ousted US-backed Cuban dictator General Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959. He was then named prime minister.

Castro ruled Cuba for five decades, until 2006, when he temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul because he had to undergo surgery. The transfer of power became official in 2008.

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World reacts to death of Fidel Castro

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 4:32PM

The death of Cuba's revolutionary leader Fidel Castro at the age of 90 has drawn an array of reactions from world leaders and politicians.

In a message on Saturday, Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif extended his condolences over the death of Castro to the government and people of Cuba.

The Iranian foreign minister praised Castro as an exemplary figure "in the fight against colonialism and exploitation... and the independence-seeking fight of oppressed nations."

China

China's President Xi Jinping said in reaction to the death of Cuba's iconic former president that the "Chinese people have lost a close comrade and a sincere friend."

In a message broadcast on the national television, Xi said, "Comrade Castro will live forever. History and people will remember him."

Gorbachev

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has hailed Castro, saying the late revolutionary leader "strengthened" Cuba.

"Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American blockade, when there was colossal pressure on him and he still took his country out of this blockade to a path of independent development," Interfax quoted Gorbachev as saying on Saturday.

"In the past years, even when Fidel Castro was not formally in power, his role in strengthening the country was huge," he said.

Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Castro as "the symbol of an era" on Saturday.

"The name of this distinguished statesman is rightly considered the symbol of an era in modern world history," Putin said in a telegram to Cuban President Raul Castro cited by the Kremlin.

"Fidel Castro was a sincere and reliable friend of Russia," Putin stated.

France

French President Francois Hollande said in a statement on Saturday that Castro's rejection of foreign interference in Cuba was a source of "pride" for the Cuban people.

"An actor of the Cold War... he represented, for Cubans, pride in rejecting external domination," Hollande said, referring to Castro's rejection of US dominance over his country.

Venezuela

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro conveyed his condolences to the Cuban people over the death of Castro.

Maduro, himself a socialist revolutionary, said the news of Castro's death had "hit hard."

"With all our solidarity and all our love and condolences and the sorrow of the revolutionaries and of the Venezuelan Chavista patriots. To the people of Cuba: I spoke to Raul and I shared with him the pain we are feeling. It was a hard hit for all the revolutionaries, the revolutionaries of the world," Maduro told broadcaster Telesur in an interview.

India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on his Twitter account that Fidel Castro "was one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century."

Modi said his country "mourns the loss of a great friend."

Indian President Pranab Mukherjee also expressed his "heartfelt condolences" on the "sad demise" of the Cuban revolutionary leader.

EL Salvador

EL Salvador's leftist government of Salvador Sanchez Ceren issued a statement, expressing "eternal gratitude" to Castro, El Salvador's "eternal friend," and the Cuban people for help "in the most difficult times," an apparent reference to Cuba's support of the guerrilla factions fighting a US-backed and military-dominated government, which was in power in the 1980s.

The statement further said Castro's "example will live forever in our struggles and will flower in the noble ideas of new generations."

Ecuador

Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa said in a message posted on Twitter, "It was a big one Long live Cuba! Long live Latin America!"

Bolivia

Bolivia's President Evo Morales said Castro "left us a legacy of having fought for the integration of the world's peoples The departure of Comandante Fidel Castro really hurts."

South Africa

South Africa's President Jacob Zuma expressed his gratitude to Castro for his solidarity with the black South Africans during their struggle to topple the apartheid regime in the country.

"President Castro identified with our struggle against apartheid. He inspired the Cuban people to join us in our own struggle against apartheid." Zuma stated.

Nelson Mandela foundation

The Nelson Mandela foundation conveyed its "deepest condolences" to the Cuban people and government "on passing of Fidel Castro." It also shared a photo on Twitter showing Castro with South Africa's late leader Nelson Mandela.

Namibia

Namibia's President Hage Geingob also tweeted that "the death of Fidel signals the end of an era. Our comrade is no more but his revolutionary legacy will remain with Namibia forever."

Pope Francis

The pontiff described Castro's demise as "sad news." He added that he was grieving and praying for Castro's "repose."

In a message to Castro's brother, Raul, Pope offered his "sense of grief to your excellency and family."

Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also expressed grief over Castro's death, saying, "It is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cuba's longest serving president."

"Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation I offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and many, many supporters of Mr. Castro," Trudeau said.

He added that the Canadian people "join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader."

Mexico

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on his Twitter account, "Fidel Castro was a friend of Mexico, promoting bilateral relations based on respect, dialogue and solidarity."

Spain

Spain's Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy conveyed his condolences to the Cuban government over Castro's death, describing him as "a figure of enormous historical importance."

Rajoy's government also issued a statement, saying, "As a son of Spaniards, former President Castro always maintained close relations with Spain and showed great affection for his family and cultural ties."

Greece

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras also tweeted, "Goodbye, commandante. Until the peoples' eternal victory."

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Castro icon of independence-seeking fights: Iran FM

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:23PM

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has offered his condolences over the death of the legendary leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, saying he was an icon of the oppressed people's struggle for independence.

"I offer my condolences to the resilient and revolutionary Cuban government and nation over the demise of Fidel Castro, the leader of Cuba's Revolution who was a unique figure in the fight against colonialism and exploitation and was an icon of independence-seeking fights of the oppressed nations," Zarif said in his message of condolences on Saturday.

May his soul rest in peace, he added.

Cuba's former president Fidel Castro, one of the world's longest-serving and most iconic leaders, died on Saturday at the age of 90, his younger brother and successor as president, Raul, announced the news on state television.

Castro famously led a guerrilla campaign that gained popular support and ousted US-backed Cuban dictator General Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959. He was then named prime minister.

Castro visited Iran in May 2001 and held talks with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Leading a Communist Cuba, Castro broke off diplomatic ties with the Capitalist United States in 1961 and expropriated US companies' assets totaling more than one billion dollars.

Castro ruled Cuba for five decades, until 2006, when he temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul because he had to undergo surgery. The transfer of power became official in 2008.

During his revolutionary life, the US spy agency, the CIA, attempted to assassinate him numerous times.

Iran's participation in Castro's commemoration ceremonies

Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi told IRNA on Saturday that an Iranian delegation will travel to Cuba to participate in Castro's commemoration ceremonies.

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Cuba's Fidel Castro dies

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:24AM

The legendary leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro, has died, the Cuban president and his brother has announced. Castro was 90.

"The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours this evening," President Raul Castro announced on national television on Saturday.

President Castro said that the revolutionary leader's body will be cremated early on Saturday, "in compliance with his expressed will."

Castro famously led a guerrilla campaign that gained popular support and ousted US-backed Cuban dictator General Fulgencio Batista on January 1, 1959. He was then named prime minister.

Leading a Communist Cuba, Castro broke off diplomatic ties with the Capitalist United States in 1961 and expropriated US companies' assets totaling more than one billion dollars.

The US began imposing crippling sanctions on Cuba, which the country survived even as poverty rose. Hostilities continued between the Cold War-era adversaries  although lately in words only  until July 2015, when the two countries resumed diplomatic ties and reopened embassies.

Castro ruled Cuba for five decades, until 2006, when he temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul because he had to undergo surgery. The transfer of power became official in 2008.

During his revolutionary life, the United States' spy agency, the CIA, attempted to assassinate him numerous times.

Castro himself said he survived 634 attempts or plots to assassinate him, mainly masterminded by the CIA or US-based exile organizations. Such attempts may have included poison pills, a toxic cigar, exploding mollusks, and a chemically tainted diving suit, among other things.

Castro was born on August 13, 1926 to a Spanish immigrant father and a Cuban mother.

Meanwhile, the Cuban government has announced a funeral for the late Cuban leader on December 4. Havana also announced nine days of mourning.

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Obituary: Cuban Revolutionary Leader Fidel Castro, 1926-2016

RFE/RL November 26, 2016

Fidel Castro, the man who led Cuba for nearly a half century has died at the age of 90, his brother, President Raul Castro, announced on national television.

"The commander in chief of the Cuban revolution died at 22:29 hours" on November 25, the president announced on national television.

The former revolutionary leader will be cremated on November 26 in accordance with his wishes, Castro said.

The son of wealthy, Spanish-born landowners, Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926. He received a strict Roman Catholic education under Jesuit priests.

Their austerity may have influenced Castro, who said he was shocked by the stark contrast between his family's wealth and the poverty of those around them.

Embracing Marxism-Leninism after law school in Havana, Castro in the early 1950s began organizing a militia in a bid to oust pro-American President Fulgenico Batista.

Under Batista's regime, known for its corruption and brutality, Havana was at the time a playground for America's rich -- famous for its nightlife and music.

But the fun ended on January 1, 1959. After failing six years previously in a bid to spark a popular revolt, Castro's forces finally ousted Batista, storming into Havana to the cheers of thousands of supporters.

Just 30 days after entering Havana, Castro embarked on a victory tour of the United States.

During the visit, which would be his last to the U.S.A., Castro portrayed himself as a humble man without ambition.

"But I have said that I have no ambition at all," he claimed. "I feel myself sincerely, I do not have ambition for money, power, nothing -- only to serve my country."

Little did anyone know that he would go on to lead his nation for nearly half a century.

Missile Crisis

In the year following the revolution, relations between Havana and Washington soured. First, the United States suspended Cuban sugar imports after Havana nationalized a U.S.-owned oil refinery. Washington began a partial economic embargo of Cuba, followed by a severing of diplomatic ties.

But Castro was not to be deterred. Fortified by deepening political and economic ties with Moscow, Castro's forces soundly defeated a U.S.-backed invasion by Cuban exiles in the Bay of Pigs in April 1961.

A full economic embargo of Cuba soon followed. But it was the events of October 1962 -- the so-called Cuban missile crisis -- that would shake the world.

Speaking at the United Nations, U.S. Ambassador Adlai Stevenson demanded to know from Valerian Zorin, his Soviet counterpart, whether Moscow was deploying nuclear-tipped missiles in Cuba that could hit U.S. cities.

"All right, sir, let me ask you one simple question," he said. "Do you, Ambassador Zorin, deny that the USSR has placed, and is placing, medium and intermediate range missiles in sites in Cuba? Yes or no? Don't wait for the translation! Yes or no!"

Zorin refused to reply, much to Stevenson's chagrin, but Russian missiles had indeed been deployed on the Caribbean island.

Taped records of conversations involving U.S. President John F. Kennedy show that the world has perhaps never been closer to a nuclear confrontation.

But after a U.S. naval blockade of Cuba, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev relented. The missiles were removed.

As America's No. 1 enemy, Castro was reportedly the target of hundreds of assassination attempts. One was even said to have included a cigar laced with explosives.

Progress At A Price

Castro went on to attain iconic status in Latin America, where Cuba's excellent medical system, 98 percent literacy rate, and low infant mortality were the region's best.

Yet progress came at a price, often paid for by the Soviet Union, which at its demise in 1991 was giving Havana some $6 billion a year in aid.

With that money cut off, and the country still under an intense economic blockade, tens of thousands of Cubans sought to reach the United States aboard makeshift boats. Many of them died.

Over the years, Castro's regime was also regularly criticized by human rights groups and Western governments for persecuting dissidents and jailing them without trial.

With the collapse of the U.S.S.R., Cuba was fighting for survival, as Castro acknowledged in a 1992 speech when he said the country was being "asked again for an extraordinary international mission. Save the Cuban revolution! Save Socialism in Cuba!"

For some years now, that revolution has been in the hands of Castro's younger brother, Raul, who was unanimously chosen as president by Cuba's National Assembly in February, 2008.

Fidel Castro's younger brother by four years, Raul had been acting president since 2006, when Fidel underwent intestinal surgery. Like Fidel, he was a revolutionary, serving as a rebel commander in the 1950s. After his brother became president, Raul rose to prominence in the regime. He was minister of the armed forces from 1959 to 2008.

As president, he has introduced economic reforms in the area of consumer choices, wages, and food production.

In December 2014, Raul Castro agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties and end decades of hostility with the United States.

Castro lived long enough to see U.S. President Barack Obama visit Cuba earlier this year, the first trip by a U.S. president in 88 years.

He did not met Obama and wrote a scathing column condemning the U.S. president's "honey-coated" words and reminding Cubans of the numerous U.S. efforts to overthrow and weaken Cuba's Communist government.

Former RFE/RL correspondent Jeffrey Donovan wrote the original version of this article.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/cuba-fidel-castro- obituary/28140654.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Trump Calls Fidel Castro 'Brutal Dictator' As Others Pay Tribute To Late Cuban Leader

RFE/RL November 26, 2016

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has described the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro as a "brutal dictator" and said he hoped his death would lead to "freedom" for the Cuban people.

The 90-year-old's death was announced on November 26, prompting tributes from some world leaders and less effusive reactions from others.

Meanwhile, thousands of Cuban exiles living in the U.S. city of Miami took to the streets to celebrate Castro's demise.

"While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, 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," Trump said in a statement.

Castro, the Cuban revolutionary who led the communist island nation for nearly half a century, was admired by many leftists around the world, who saw him as a visionary who stood up to U.S. domination of Latin America, and brought healthcare and education to the poor, inspiring socialist movements across the world.

But his critics accused him of being an autocrat who cracked down on dissent with brutal force.

Trump, who takes office in January, had taken a tough line on Cuba during the campaign, when he threatened to reverse the historic rapprochement between the United States and the island nation if Castro did not allow "religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners."

U.S. President Barack Obama offered his condolences to Castro's family in a statement and added that history would judge Castro's impact on Cuba and around the world.

"At this time of Fidel Castro's passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people," Obama said. "History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him."

Castro lived long enough to see Obama visit Cuba earlier this year, the first trip by a U.S. president in 88 years.

Castro did not meet Obama and wrote a scathing column condemning his "honey-coated" words and reminding Cubans of the numerous U.S. efforts to overthrow and weaken Cuba's communist government.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Castro as the "symbol of an era," the Kremlin said in a statement on November 26.

"The name of this distinguished statesman is rightly considered the symbol of an era in modern world history," Putin said in a telegram to Raul Castro cited by the Kremlin.

"Fidel Castro was a sincere and reliable friend of Russia," the telegram read.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev hailed Castro for "strengthening" his island nation.

"Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American blockade, when there was colossal pressure on him and he still took his country out of this blockade to a path of independent development," the Interfax news agency quoted Gorbachev as saying.

Venezuela's socialist President Nicolas Maduro said that "revolutionaries of the world must follow his legacy."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Castro "one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century," in a tweet.

"I lament the death of Fidel Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban revolution and emblematic reference of the 20th century," Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter.

French President Francois Hollande said Castro embodied the "hopes and disappointments" of the Cuban revolution, noting concerns over human rights abuses under the Castro regime.

Over the years, Castro's regime has been regularly criticized by human rights groups and Western governments for persecuting dissidents and jailing them without trial.

Hollande met Castro in May, 2015 during the first ever visit by a French head of state to Cuba since the Cuban revolution.

South African President Jacob Zuma thanked the Cuban leader for his support in the struggle to overthrow apartheid.

"President Castro identified with our struggle against apartheid. He inspired the Cuban people to join us in our own struggle," Zuma said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a message read out during the country's main TV channel newscast, said, "Comrade Castro will live forever."

Castro's ashes will be buried at a ceremony on December 4 in the historic southeastern city of Santiago after a four-day procession through the country and a nine-day period of mourning.

Suffering from an unspecified serious intestinal illness, Castro temporarily stepped down in July, 2006, before formally handing over power to his brother in 2008.

He ruled the island as a one-party state for 47 years.

In his final years, Castro wrote opinion columns for the state media but rarely made public appearances.

He made his most extensive public appearance in years, on the final day of the country's Communist Party congress in April.

"Soon I'll be like all the others. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban communists will remain as proof that on this planet, if one works with fervor and dignity, they can produce the material and cultural goods that human beings need and that need to be fought for without ever giving up," Castro said.

A central figure in the Cold War, Castro's rule was marked by the U.S-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban missile crisis a year later, which brought the world the closest it has been to nuclear war.

Under Castro, Cuba survived a crippling U.S. trade embargo, as well as dozens of assassination plots.

Several years after Castro stepped down, in December 2014, Raul Castro agreed to reestablish diplomatic ties and end decades of hostility with the United States.

He lived long enough to see U.S. President Barack Obama visit Cuba earlier this year, the first trip by a U.S. president in 88 years.

Castro did not meet Obama and wrote a scathing column condemning his "honey-coated" words and reminding Cubans of the numerous U.S. efforts to overthrow and weaken Cuba's communist government.

Castro's death seems unlikely to trigger a crisis, as Raul has maintained a firm hold on power in the last decade. He has kept dissidents largely in check and economic reform limited.

Raul Castro has vowed to step down when his term ends in 2018. He has designated Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel as his successor.

With reporting by AFP, BBC, AP, and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/cuba-fidel-castro- dead-at-90/28140600.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Former Cuban President Fidel Castro Dies At Age of 90 - Reports

Sputnik News

08:26 26.11.2016(updated 13:50 26.11.2016)

Former Cuban President Fidel Castro has died aged 90, Cuban state TV has announced.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro has died, local media reported on Saturday.

The former Cuban president died at the age of 90 and his body will be cremated under his own will, the Prensa Latina news agency reported, citing incumbent Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel Castro's brother.

The following is his biography.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926, in the village of Biran, Oriente Province (now Holguin Province). His father, Angel Castro, a Spanish immigrant, owned a large sugar plantation. In addition to two children from his first marriage, Castro's father adopted the five children he fathered out of wedlock with his cook Lina Ruz Gonzalez.

Fidel and his brothers went to a Catholic boarding school in Santiago. He also attended Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belen in Havana. There he excelled in the humanities and devoted a great deal of time to sports, and was named his school's best athlete in 1944.

In 1950, he graduated from the law department at the University of Havana, and went on to complete his graduate studies there to earn a Juris Doctor degree.

After graduation, Castro practiced law in Havana, providing pro-bono legal assistance to the poor.

In the early 1950s, Fidel joined the Party of the Cuban People (Partido Ortodoxo). He was considered a parliamentary candidate on the party's list in the 1952 parliamentary elections, but the party's leadership ultimately decided Castro was too radical.

Following the military coup of March 11, 1952, which brought Fulgencio Batista to power, Castro emerged in the forefront of the struggle against the dictatorship. He formed a small group of former members of the disbanded Partido Ortodoxo and began preparing to topple the Batista regime.

On July 26, 1953, the group stormed the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba, but the attack was brutally suppressed. Castro was arrested and faced a military tribunal. At the trial, he delivered his famous "History Will Absolve Me" speech, in which he outlined a program for national liberation and revolutionary change in Cuba. Castro was sentenced to 15 years in prison, but in May 1955, he was pardoned under the pressure of public opinion and left for Mexico the same year.

In December 1956, a group of revolutionaries led by Castro returned to Cuba on a small yacht called the Granma, landing in the province of Oriente. The group grew to become the Rebel Army, which launched a guerrilla war against the regime.

Following the overthrow of the Batista dictatorship on January 1, 1959, Castro took command of the Cuban Army, and became prime minister of Cuba in February 1959. In April 1961, he led the operation to defeat the US-sponsored invasion of Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs.

After fending off a countercoup, Castro announced that Cuba would embrace socialism.

In October 1965, he was appointed first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party.

In 1976, he took over as chairman of the Cuban National Assembly's State Council, thus simultaneously serving as Cuba's head of state and government.

On August 1, 2006, Castro temporarily transferred power to his younger brother Raul before undergoing intestinal tract surgery on July 31, 2006.

On February 19, 2008, he announced his resignation as head of state. On the same day, the Granma newspaper published his address to the people of Cuba, in which he declared that he would not return to power.

After retiring from government, Castro first secretary of the Cuban Communist Party until April 19, 2011, when he officially announced his resignation from the post, to be succeeded by brother Raul.

Since retiring, Castro has devoted his time to publishing a series of articles called "Reflections."

In 1963, Castro was made an Emeritus Doctor of Law by the Lomonosov Moscow State University. In 1961, he was awarded the Lenin Peace Prize. In 1963, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. Castro holds two orders of Lenin, awarded in 1972 and 1986, and an Order of the October Revolution, awarded in 1976.

Among the many international awards Castro has received, some are truly unique, including the Commander's Cross of the Order of Saint Bridget of Sweden, presented to him on March 8, 2003, by the abbess of the monastic order founded in the 14th century in Sweden. Castro was awarded the cross in recognition of his services "in promoting the high ideals of dialogue and peace." The presentation of the Commander's Cross was timed to coincide with the opening of the Order of the Holy Savior of Santa Brigida residence in the heart of Havana.

On August 31, 2003, Castro was awarded the highest honor of the American Indian Movement, the Eagle Feather, in recognition of his revolutionary achievements and warrior qualities. The Eagle Feather is awarded to persons who have demonstrated courage, dignity and honesty. Castro was the first recipient of this award born outside of the United States.

During his years in power, Castro reportedly survived more than 600 assassination attempts by the US government, Cuban exile groups and the US mafia.

 Sputnik

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The Passing of Fidel Castro

Press Statement

John Kerry

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

November 26, 2016

We extend our condolences to the Cuban people today as they mourn the passing of Fidel Castro. Over more than half a century, he played an outsized role in their lives, and he influenced the direction of regional, even global affairs.

As our two countries continue to move forward on the process of normalization -- restoring the economic, diplomatic and cultural ties severed by a troubled past -- we do so in a spirit of friendship and with an earnest desire not to ignore history but to write a new and better future for our two peoples.

The United States reaffirms its support for deepening our engagement with the Cuban people now and in coming years.

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As Cuba mourns passing of former President Fidel Castro, Ban offers condolences, UN support

26 November 2016  Speaking on behalf of the United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon this morning extended condolences to the Cuban people and to the family of former President Fidel Castro Ruz, who passed away overnight at the age of 90.

"At this time of national mourning, I offer the support of the United Nations to work alongside the people of the island," Mr. Ban told reporters in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, where he is attending the Global Sustainable Transport Conference. He offered his particular condolences to Cuban President Raul Castro Ruz.

Fidel Castro served as Cuba's President from 1976 to 2008.

Recalling vividly his meeting with former President Fidel Castro during a visit to Cuba in January 2014, Mr. Ban said the two had held a lively discussion that covered developments around the world, sustainable development and climate change.

"Under former President Castro, Cuba made advances in the fields of education literacy and health. I hope that Cuba will continue to advance on a path of reform and greater prosperity," the Secretary-General concluded.

A statement issued later in the day by Mr. Ban's spokesperson in New York noted that former President Castro was an emblematic figure of the Cuban revolution, prominent in Latin America and influential in world affairs.

"As Prime Minister, President, Commander of the Cuban Armed Forces and First Secretary of the Cuban Communist Party, his role at the helm of Cuba spanned nearly 50 years, during which he left a major imprint on his country and on global politics," the statement said, adding: "His revolutionary ideals left few indifferent. He was a strong voice for social justice in global discussions at the UN General Assembly and international and regional forums."

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Is Castro's Death a Hopeful Turning Point?

By Katherine Gypson November 26, 2016

Six decades after declaring history would absolve him, Fidel Castro's life has ended and his troubled human rights legacy can be considered.

Cuban-Americans took to the streets of Little Havana on Saturday, saying the passing of one man could be the beginning of hope for the many who had suffered under him.

"A bad dictator that had Cuba under oppression and repression for almost six decades is no longer with us, and that will give an opportunity to the Cuban people to start the journey to freedom and democracy," Cuban-American Jose Sanchez told VOA as he celebrated with hundreds of other Cuban-Americans in Miami.

Under Castro's rule, three generations of Cuban people lacked nearly all basic civil and political freedoms, including the rights to expression, assembly and association. The communist government routinely detained journalists and dissenters while denying independent human rights monitoring organizations access inside the country.

"This is a man who is deeply admired in the rest of the region for standing up to the United States," said Eduardo Gamarra, professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University. "But at the same time, and it's very important to remember, he also presided over a tyrannical regime, a regime that was responsible for the deaths by firing squad of hundreds of people and somebody who jailed people for their political views."

U.S.-Cuba relations

Even the restoration of relations with the United States, starting in December 2014, didn't loosen limitations on freedoms.

According to a 2016 Human Rights Watch report, internet access in Cuba was still severely limited despite the opening of 35 Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide, and the government continued to control nearly all media outlets. The number of jailed dissidents remained consistent at between 8,000 and 9,000 prisoners each year.

Now it will be up to Raul Castro, who had gradually taken over control of the communist island nation starting in 2006, to decide whether his brother's death marks the end of an era.

"The symbol is dead," Guadalupe Correa Cabrera, professor of public affairs and security studies at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, said of Castro's death.

Cabrera said Raul Castro's control over the country had already opened the door for normalization of relations with the United States, and with the death of Fidel marking the end of an era, even more opportunities could arise.

"He needs to change his approach and allow the country to be more open," Cabrera said.

Human rights

Human rights concerns have long shaped U.S. relations with Cuba, playing an often crucial role in presidential politics. In the hours after Castro's death, many U.S. lawmakers took to Twitter to recall Castro's legacy and express the hope his passing would begin a new chapter for the country.

"While some may wish to paint a rosy picture of communism and this dictator's leadership, any account that ignores his bloody atrocities and human rights abuses, economic persecution and support for terrorism abroad does no justice to the survivors and victims of his legacy," U.S. Representative Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee on foreign affairs, said in a statement released Saturday.

Even as the aging leader slipped from public view, the memory of his rule remained alive in the minds of the generations he marked  a psychological toll that could have very real consequences as the nation moves forward.

"We knew that as long as the dictator who founded the Cuban revolution was alive and in Cuba, change would be very difficult. But now this represents an opportunity  especially for those freedom fighters in Cuba, the opposition leaders who have been risking their lives, their security, their well-being, for years to fight for a better country. Now they're going to be stronger," U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida told VOA.

But change in the wake of Castro's death could come at a steep cost, exacted by the communist government still in place.

"The primary objective of the Cuban regime today is the preservation of power as long as possible, and while dissidents still have the potential to create the kind of unrest that might unsettle a Cuban leadership, they'll continue to repress," said Brian Fonseca, director at Florida International University's Public Policy Institute.

Create 'fissures'

"If the social fissures sort of begin to manifest because of changes in the emotional temper of the Cuban people, and if that does occur, given that preservation of power is most critical to the Cuban political elite, then I think you may find political repression going up, at least in the short term," Fonseca said.

Back in the streets of Little Havana, many realized the end of the era of Castro is in many ways just the beginning.

"We're here honoring all our grandparents and that entire generation that wasn't here to experience it today, but for them we're here, and hopefully this is the beginning of freedom for Cuba," said Lissette Calderon, a Cuban-American woman who has never set foot on the island but brought her children out to witness the historic moment.

"The people of Cuba do not have free elections; there's no democracy. I think those of us aren't going to rest until we see freedom for the people of Cuba," Calderon said.

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Will Trump Roll Back Obama's Cuba Deal?

By Joshua Fatzick November 26, 2016

President-elect Donald Trump has been a longtime critic of the Cuban government and U.S. President Barack Obama's efforts to normalize relations with the country, vowing to roll back all of Obama's executive actions related to Cuba.

Speaking at a campaign event in September, Trump said that should he win the presidency he would "stand with the Cuban people in their fight against communist oppression."

He bashed Obama's actions to lift restrictions on U.S. trade with Cuba as one-sided, working only to the benefit of Cuban President Raul Castro's regime.

'Unhappy about it'

"People are very unhappy about it," Trump told the crowd in Miami, which is home to a large Cuban population. "But all of the concessions that Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them. And that is what I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands."

Obama had been working with Castro and others in the Cuban government for nearly two years to restart relations between Cuba and the U.S., culminating earlier this year in the first direct flights between the two countries in 50 years and the reopening of embassies.

The relaxed regulations introduced by Obama made it easier for Americans to bring products back from Cuba, allowed more access for doctors to work with Cuban researchers on medical investigations and ended the 180-day ban on ships docking at U.S. ports after leaving Cuba.

Obama also visited Cuba earlier this year, marking the first time a U.S. president had stepped foot in Cuba since Calvin Coolidge did in 1928.

At the time of Obama's announcement, national security adviser Susan Rice was asked whether a new administration would be able to alter the new rules, to which she said: "It would be profoundly unwise and counterproductive to turn back the clock."

Roll back

But during that September campaign stop, Trump said he would roll back Obama's executive orders unless Cuba met his demands, which included "religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners."

As a sign of what may happen under Trump's leadership, John Kavulich, a Trump transition adviser and president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, said it would be easy for a Trump administration to eliminate the flights to Cuba, calling them "an additional measure of normalcy in an anything-but-normal" relationship.

"Individuals associated with the president-elect, both officially and unofficially, will not be enthusiastic about the resumption of the flights; they will view each flight as a satchel of United States currency traveling on a one-way journey to Cuba with no meaningful measurable return other than to perpetuate abhorrent commercial, economic and political systems," he said.

'Very weak agreement'

During an interview in October with a local CBS-TV affiliate in Miami, Trump called the Obama administration's Cuba deal a "very weak agreement," but said he would like to have some sort of a deal and he would do "whatever you have to do to get a strong agreement."

The reporter asked Trump if he would break off diplomatic relations with Cuba on his first day in office, and Trump repeated that he would "do whatever you have to get a strong agreement."

"And people want an agreement, I like the idea of an agreement, but it has to be a real agreement. So if you call that for negotiation purposes, whatever you have to do to make a great deal for the people of Cuba," Trump said.

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In Life and Death, Castro Splits Cubans, US Policy

By Victoria Macchi November 26, 2016

In life and death, Fidel Castro split Cubans - those who remained on the island, by choice or lack thereof, and those who left, by rickety raft or plane. Likewise, U.S. policy divided the community on both sides of the Florida Straits. Now the U.S., which in recent years revived diplomatic relations with Cuba, is on the cusp of an administration change that could once again alter the relationship.

"His legacy is definitely going to be complicated and divisive," says Sarah Kinosian, a researcher on Cuba at the Washington Office on Latin America. "He was a polarizing figure, but a powerful one."

In Miami, the geographic heart of Cuban exile and anti-Castro sentiment, there was joy at his death and the seeming end of an era as Cuban-Americans turned out in the pre-dawn streets of Little Havana; in the Cuban capital, as ever, reaction split along party lines: those who opposed Castro leadership, and those who mourned the iconic leader's death.

Under the headline in Spanish, "Until victory, always!" state media reported that Castro died November 25, at 10:29 p.m.

"He's not here... he's gone. We survived Fidel Castro," wrote blogger Yoani Sanchez, who for years has been one of the most visible, outspoken anti-Castro voices in Cuba.

In a poetic ode to the leader Saturday morning, pro-Castro writer Yenima Diaz Velazquez posted on her blog: "The world is crying over you, though a few people are laughing. They think that without you, it will all end. As if death extinguished an entire life's work. But, what death am I talking about, if you live on?"

Fidel Castro is internationally recognized, both revered and loathed. His death has been falsely reported so many times since the 1960s that one Cuban blogger said she received calls early Saturday checking to see if the news was really true this time.

"Fidel Castro is dead," writes Reinaldo Escobar, a journalist in Havana with one of the non-governmental news websites in the country. "To the sadness of some, and the delight of others, this time it's true."

Future of Cuba-US Relations

For years, in falling health, Castro waned from public view, handing over daily leadership to his brother Raul and ushering in an era of rapprochement between Washington and Havana, the likes of which hadn't been seen in decades of Castro rule that outlasted 11 U.S. presidents. President Barack Obama became the first U.S. leader to visit the island since the Castro revolution and restored diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

"I don't think you're going to see some massive change overnight," Kinosian says of Cuba after Fidel Castro's death. "His legacy is definitely going to be weighed with these different visions of him... Raul is still in power until 2018. I think the question now is whether Fidel's death will weaken hardliners resisting reform."

Likewise, Brian Fonseca, Director of the Institute of Public Policy at Florida International University's School of International and Public Affairs, doesn't believe there will be immediate political changes for Cuba, "but it's certainly going to cast off this shadow that Fidel has had over the island for so many years and perhaps create the space that would allow for change going forward."

As Havana residents prepared for Obama's visit last March, they were uncertain about what they wanted from renewed diplomatic relations. And end to the economic embargo, for the most part - but they remain under Castro family leadership, regardless of U.S. policy. Hardline anti-Castro protesters were unconvinced then that the rapprochement was a good idea, and that it would bring change to the island.

"Cuba has already its transition and its transition will largely be headed by Raul until February 2018," explains Florida International University politics professor Eduardo Gamarra. "They have in place a transition mechanism as well beyond 2018, so I don't think there is going to be any change in what Cuba is doing, but I do think there will be a change in what Washington will be doing."

But what "change" will mean under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump remains unclear, and won't be solidified until at least Jan. 20, when he takes office. Last year, Trump claimed to support thawing relations with Havana, saying "I think it's fine, but we should have made a better deal," Trump added. "The concept of opening with Cuba is fine."

While campaigning in Florida in September, Trump switched gears, saying he would reverse Obama's policies on Cuba "unless the Castro Regime meets our demands. Those demands will include religious and political freedom for the Cuban people."

On Saturday, he issued a statement that echoes the rhetoric of hardline anti-Castro members of Congress, calling Fidel Castro a "brutal dictator" and Cuba a "totalitarian island."

If and when he alters what was accomplished during Obama's tenure remains unclear, especially given Trump's change in stance already.

"We're in an era - as with any administration - it depends on what the actual policies put in place are," says Kinosian. "This kind of statement definitely sets a tone for his incoming administration."

Wayne Lee contributed to this report from Washington.

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Fidel Castro Left Mark on Somalia, Horn of Africa

By Harun Maruf November 26, 2016

One place besides Miami where few tears will be shed over the death of Fidel Castro is Somalia, where his military involvement left a mark.

In the mid-1970s, Castro and former Soviet leaders were celebrating what looked like the emergence of another socialist leadership following the rise of the Derg regime in Ethiopia. Somalia had already been declared a socialist state and had hosted a large presence of Soviet and Cuban military advisers and trainers.

In early 1977, Castro brought together the leaders of Somalia, Ethiopia and southern Yemen to create greater socialist federal states in the region. General Mohamed Nur Galal was the former deputy defense minister of Somalia and the focal point of Somalia's military contacts with Cuba at that time. He was present at the meeting in Aden in March 1977.

Castro's vision

"He [Castro] was representing the Soviet Union, although he did not say that at the meeting. He said Somalia and Ethiopia should join up, and said that Yemen will join up, too," Galal said.

According to Galal, Castro told them that the merger would create a strategic alliance that would control the Red Sea, Suez Canal, the Arabian Gulf and the Indian Ocean.

Castro also explained to the leaders that setting up the new alliance would bring another benefit to the region: solving the conflict between Somalia and Ethiopia over the ethnic Somali Ogaden region.

"We told him that this is about the self-determination of people, and if this federation is going to unite ethnic Somalis, we are up for it," Galal said.

The meeting ended without progress. At the time, Somalia was already in an advanced stage of a military buildup to take the Ogaden region, regarded by the Somali government as a territory "occupied" by Ethiopia.

Meeting with Barre

When Castro learned of Somalia's plans, he flew to Mogadishu and met his counterpart, dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.

After the meeting, Castro reportedly said that Barre showed him the territories that he considered part of "Greater Somalia," including northeastern Kenya, Ogaden and Djibouti, which was still under French control.

Castro reportedly described Barre as a "chauvinist  and someone who thinks he is at the summit of wisdom."

Two months after Castro's visit to Mogadishu, Somali tanks were pounding Ethiopian military defense positions.

Somali troops took over Ogaden and moved deep into Ethiopia. The Soviet Union sent military advisers and provided technical assistance to Ethiopia.

Galal said Cuba had members of its Civil Defense System in Somalia and ordered them to go to Ethiopia. Castro also sent thousands of troops to Ethiopia.

Somalis beaten back

By March 1978, Somali troops had suffered heavy defeats and were driven back to where they started the offensive.

The following month, members of the demoralized Somali military officers made a coup attempt in Mogadishu. Barre held on, but the officers who survived the purge escaped to Ethiopia to set up the armed rebels who would overthrow him 13 years later, in January 1991. Somalia has never recovered from the following state collapse.

"I read a book Castro wrote, saying he brought Somalia to its knees. ... He was a bad man who hated Somalis," Galal said.

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Statement by the President on the Passing of Fidel Castro

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

November 26, 2016



At this time of Fidel Castro's passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans - in Cuba and in the United States - 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.

For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends - bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.

Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.

###



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IRGC Navy Commander: World powers admit Iran's power of deterrence

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Ahvaz, Khuzestan prov, Nov 26, IRNA -- The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy Commander Rear Admiral Ali Fadavi said the world hegemonic powers especially the US admit Iran's power of deterrence.

Addressing a ceremony to honor martyrs of this southwestern province on Friday, he said the improved defense might and offensive power of the Iranian army has persuaded enemies that they could not harm Iran through the hard war.

He said today no enemy forces are able to penetrate into the Iranian borders knowing that they will meet with the powerful and instant response of the Iranian forces.

He said the fact that Iran is currently fighting against its enemies not inside its own soil but thousands of kilometers away proves Iran's might and grandeur.

1424**1771

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Chief of staff hails navy forces achievements

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Nov 26, IRNA -- Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri on Saturday hailed the navy forces' achievements.

He made the remarks in a meeting with the navy forces' top commanders.

Studies show that Iran's navy forces have experienced a significant growth during the rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari command, Baqeri added.

He said that there are many volunteers in the navy forces who are keen to join the defenders of the holy shrines (Iran's military advisors in Syria and Iraq).

Shiraz Warship is under construction which is a big step forward in the intelligence field, the commander noted.

He urged promotion of surveillance over enemy activities by using the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

Iran should update its defensive doctrine at sea in order to enhance its deterrence power, Baqeri added.

9191**1771

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Iran May Need Naval Bases in Syria, Yemen - Armed Forces Chief of Staff

Sputnik News

16:24 26.11.2016

Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said that Tehran may need naval bases on the coasts of Yemen and Syria.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Iran needs to boost its deterrent power by setting up overseas naval bases, including in Syria and Yemen, Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Hossein Baqeri said on Saturday.

"One day, we may need naval bases on the coasts of Yemen and Syria, and we need the necessary infrastructure for it under the international maritime law," Baqeri said in an address to a gathering of senior Navy commanders in Tehran, as quoted by Tasnim News Agency.

Citing Central Asian countries' demand to have access to international waters through Iran, Baqeri added that Iran might build more harbors on its own coast, thus, breaking Russia's monopoly on Central Asia's connection to the world.

Iran has been increasing its naval presence in the recent years to secure naval routes and protect merchant vessels and oil tankers from pirates. In addition, the country is providing support for Yemen and Syria, both engulfed in civil war.

 Sputnik

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Purchase of Russia's Su-30 Jets on Iran's Defense Ministry's Agenda - Minister

Sputnik News

10:20 26.11.2016(updated 10:52 26.11.2016)

Iranian Defense Minister said that Defense Ministry is considering purchase of the Russian Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighter jets.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Iranian Defense Ministry is considering purchase of the Russian Sukhoi Su-30 multirole fighter jets, Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan said Saturday.

"The purchase of Su-30 fighters is on the agenda of the defense ministry," Dehghan said, as quoted by the Tasnim news agency.

Moscow and Tehran have been discussing the deliveries of the Su-30 aircraft for quite a long time. In February, a high-ranking official in the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation told RIA Novosti that the contract of for the delivery of Russian Su-30SM fighters could be signed in 2016, but so far the parties are only discussing the issue in negotiations.

The two countries stepped up their military cooperation last year after Iran reached a deal with six world powers to scale back its nuclear research in exchange for an easing of sanctions against it. The agreement took softened the UN arms embargo, allowing weapons to be sold to Iran provided they are reviewed by the United Nations on a case-by-case basis. At the same time, Washington had opposed the sale of Russia's fighter jets to Iran.

 Sputnik

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Iraqi parliament passes law legalizing Popular Mobilization Units

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 5:11PM

The Iraqi parliament has approved a law to give full legal status to fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, who have joined forces with government forces in counter-terrorism operations against Daesh Takfiri militants across the country.

A total of 208 members of the Council of Representatives on Saturday voted in support of the legislation, which recognizes Hashd al-Shaabi as part of the national armed forces, places the volunteer fighters under the command of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, and grants them the right to receive salaries and pensions just like the regular army and police.

The legislation, tabled by the National Iraqi Alliance, also stipulates that Popular Mobilization Units reports directly to the prime minister.

Abadi welcomed the law in a statement, saying Hashd al-Shaabi incorporates members of all Iraqi ethnic and religious groups.

"We must show gratitude for the sacrifices offered by those heroic fighters, young and elderly. It is the least we can offer them. The Popular Mobilization Units will represent and defend all Iraqis wherever they are," the statement read.

Hashd al-Shaabi reportedly numbers more than 100,000 fighters. Iraqi authorities say there are between 25,000 and 30,000 Sunni tribal fighters within the force's ranks in addition to Kurdish Izadi and Christian units.

Fighters from Popular Mobilization Units have played a major role in the liberation of Daesh-held areas to the south, northeast and north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, ever since the terrorists launched an offensive in the country in June 2014.

Abadi recently charged Hashd al-Shaabi fighters with the demanding task of the liberation of the northern city of Tal Afar, located 63 kilometers west of Mosul.

Jawad al-Talabawi, a spokesman for the Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq volunteer forces, said on Wednesday that the Imam Hussein Brigade of the force has undertaken the mission.

Talabawi added that the Tal Afar liberation operation differs from that of Mosul as the former requires highly trained forces capable of fighting in urban areas.

Also on Saturday, Popular Mobilization Units recaptured the village of al-Baynounah, south of Tal Afar, following fierce skirmishes with Daesh terrorists. An unspecified number of the extremists were reportedly killed during the gun battle.

Later in the day, Hashd al-Shaabi forces wrested control over al-Ajbouri and al-Fotsah villages west of Tal Afar. The volunteer forces also freed 400 families in al-Ajbouri. The civilians were being used as human shields by the terrorists.

Additionally, Popular Mobilization Units seized full control of Tal Samir Kabir region in the northern province of Nineveh.

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Daesh mortar attack leaves 16 Iraqi civilians dead in Mosul

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 3:30PM

At least 16 civilians have lost their lives in a mortar attack by members of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group on residential neighborhoods in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, which government forces and allied fighters are trying to recapture from the militants.

Iraqi military and hospital officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the civilians were killed when several mortar shells fired by Takfiri terrorists struck areas across the city, located some 400 kilometers north of the capital, Baghdad, overnight and early on Saturday.

The bodies of the victims have been brought to military hospitals in eastern Mosul, the officials added.

Separately, the Iraqi Federal Police announced in a statement that security forces had liberated Um al-Masaed village, which lies southwest of Mosul, from the grip of Daesh Takfiris, and wrested control over the road linking Mosul to the nearby city of Tal Afar.

Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) also reported that soldiers from the 9th Armored Division retook the village of Jeliokhan, situated 10 kilometers southeast of Mosul, from Daesh on Saturday.

Moreover, an armed CASC Rainbow drone of the Iraqi army targeted and destroyed a car rigged with some 200 improvised explosive devices in al-Zawiyah village south of Mosul.

The vehicle had been parked close to a militant hideout, which accommodated a bomb-making workshop. The force of the explosion reduced the building to a pile of debris.

Pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units, better known by the Arabic name al-Hashd al-Shaabi, also recaptured the village of al-Baynounah, south of Tal Afar, on Saturday, following fierce skirmishes with Daesh terrorists. An unspecified number of the extremists were reportedly killed during the gun battle.

Later in the day, Hashd al-Shaabi forces wrested control over al-Ajbouri and al-Fotsah villages west of Tal Afar, located 63 kilometers west of Mosul, after they engaged pockets of Daesh militants there.

The volunteer forces also managed to free 400 families from the grip of Daesh in al-Ajbouri. The civilians were being used as human shields by the terrorists.

Additionally, Popular Mobilization Units seized full control of the hilly Tal Samir Kabir region in the northern Iraqi province of Nineveh.

There are also reports that the Daesh self-proclaimed governor of Tal Afar has stolen millions of dollars, and fled the area along with four close aides.

A local source, requesting not to be named, said the director for Daesh public properties affairs in Tal Afar, identified as Abu Islam Uzbek, is among the militants at large. The defectors are apparently heading towards al-Ba'aj district.

After months of preparation, Iraqi army soldiers, backed by pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched an operation on October 17 to retake Mosul from the Daesh terrorists.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has vowed that Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, will be fully recaptured by year-end.

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Terrorists to receive punsihment on battleground: Ayatollah Sistani

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 6:21AM

Iraq's top cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has condemned a recent deadly attack targeting pilgrims near Hillah, saying the perpetrators of the carnage will pay for their crimes on the battleground.

Ayatollah Ahmad al-Safi, the religious leader's representative, cited him as making the remarks on Friday, a day after the attack.

The terrorist assault involved a truck bomb that exploded at a gas station in the Shomali Village in the suburbs of al-Hillah, killing at least 73 people, including many Iranians.

The incident occurred as pilgrims were returning from Karbala, where they marked Arba'een, the 40th day since the anniversary of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad.

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack. The terrorist group has been wreaking havoc Iraq , with Iraqi government troops and volunteer forces currently fighting Takfiri militants in their last major bastion in Mosul.

Ayatollah Sistani said the terrorists, who had failed to target the pilgrims during the Arba'een rituals in Karbala, sought to attack them at a gas station outside the holy city.

"This act of terror will increase the number of those loving Imam Hussein, and those who committed it will meet their comeuppance on battlegrounds," he said.

Iraqi security forces had established tight security on the main paths to Karbala and in the city itself during the rituals.

Safi expressed his appreciation of the Iraqi people's efforts to help create the safest circumstances possible around the rituals.

Iran's counselor in Karbala, Massoud Hosseini, has said that 28 Iranian identification cards had been found at the site of the explosion. He announced that 71 bags of human remains were being transferred to Iran for DNA testing in order to identify the victims.

Also on Friday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani condemned the attack as "desperate" and said Iran was determined to continue its "all-out fight" against terrorism.

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Iraq's Parliament Adopts Law Legalizing Shi'ite Militias

November 26, 2016

Iraq's parliament approved a law on November 26 that would transform the Popular Mobilization forces, a coalition of Shi'ite militias that play a role in fighting Islamic State, into a legal and separate military corps.

There have been disagreements over the paramilitary forces as Iraq battles the Islamic State (IS) group, which swept across northern and western Iraq in 2014.

The bill, supported by the Shi'ite blocs in parliament, was boycotted by lawmakers from the Sunni minority who object to the existence of armed forces outside the army and police.

Iraq's Sunni Arabs and rights groups have accused the Shi'ite militiamen of extrajudicial killings, abuse, theft, and the destruction of property in the places where they have expelled IS.

The Shi'ite militias, most of them backed by neighboring Iran, existed long before IS emerged and were fighting American troops during the U.S. military presence in Iraq between 2003 and 2011.

The law will put the militias under Shi'ite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and give them salaries and pensions similar to those of the military and police.

The law doesn't specify how many fighters will be included in the legalized Popular Mobilization corps, or define the breakdown between members from the different communities.

The bill comes at a time when Iraqi forces are fighting Islamic State militants to recapture Mosul, IS's last major city stronghold in Iraq, with support from the U.S.-led coalition, Kurdish and Popular Mobilization forces.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/iraq-adopts-law-legalizing- shi-ite-militias/28141138.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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6 killed as Pakistani soldiers, militants engage in shootout

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 7:52AM

Armed militants have attacked a mosque at an army facility in northwestern Pakistan, prompting a gunfight with army soldiers that left a total of six people dead.

The Pakistani military said in a statement that the raid took place at Ghalani Camp in Mohmand tribal region bordering Afghanistan on Saturday.

Security forces "valiantly averted" an attempted bombing and killed all four militants, the statement read, adding that two Pakistani troops were killed and 14 more wounded.

The assailants started firing after they reached the army base mosque, where residents and recruits had gathered for an early morning prayer. Security officials said they were trying to trace and detain any accomplices of the assailants.

Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway faction of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the militant group said the assault was in response to alleged torture of detained militants.

Pakistani army has conducted several operations to eliminate militant hideouts in the Mohmand tribal region.

The country has been battling al-Qaeda-linked terrorists and pro-Taliban militants for years, especially after the US-led invasion of neighboring Afghanistan in 2001 and the subsequent spillover of militancy into the region.

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed to continue operations against militants until they are eliminated in the country.

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Pakistan Appoints New Military Chief

By Ayaz Gul November 26, 2016

Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, appointed his new military chief Saturday to replace Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif, who is due to retire on November 29 when his official three-year term ends.

The new chief, Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa, is expected to take charge next week of the world's sixth largest military in a formal handover ceremony in Rawalpindi, where the Pakistan army is headquartered.

General Bajwa's appointment comes at a time when Pakistan's military tensions with neighboring India are running high over Kashmir.

The two nuclear-armed rival nations have been routinely trading fire for weeks, causing military and civilian casualties on both sides of the Line of Control, or LoC, which divides the Himalayan region between Pakistan and India.

General Bajwa, among other key assignments, has commanded the army's largest '10 Corp', which is also responsible for the area along the Kashmir LoC. The current tensions with India, say analysts, appear to have played a role in Bajwa's appointment because of his "extensive involvement with Kashmir affairs".

According to his profile released by the military's media wing, the newly-appointed military chief is a graduate of the Canadian Forces Command and Staff College (Toronto), California's Naval Post Graduate University in Monetary, and has commanded the Pakistan Contingent in Congo.

General Bajwa is presently serving as Inspector General Training and Evaluation at the General Headquarters.

Prime Minister Sharif also appointed Lieutenant General Zubair Hayat as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee.

Outgoing General Sharif (no relation to Prime Minister Sharif) has become Pakistan's first army chief in more than 20 years to step down on time.

His immediate predecessor obtained a three-year extension while the previous army chief, General Pervez Musharraf, staged a bloodless coup in 1999 and ruled Pakistan until he stepped down in 2008.

General Sharif is credited with improving national security and rooting out local and foreign militant networks from their bases in Pakistan's northwestern semiautonomous tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.

He also ordered forces to undertake a major operation against criminal gangs and militant groups in Karachi, the country's largest city and commercial hub.

The operation won General Sharif nationwide praise for improving the security situation in Karachi, the economic lifeline of Pakistan.

The counter-militancy and counterterrorism actions have made General Sharif an immensely popular figure among ordinary Pakistanis.

But critics questioned his unannounced control over foreign policy matters, particularly when it came to Pakistan's dealings with Afghanistan and India.

Prime Minister Sharif's political opponents, however, blamed his weak governance for allowing the military to assert itself.

Afghan leaders allege Pakistan's military action in border areas spared Taliban insurgents and their partners, the Haqqani Network.

Instead they blame Islamabad for covertly supporting and providing sanctuaries to the insurgents to prolong the war in Afghanistan.

Pakistani civilian and military officials reject the charges.

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Suicide Bombers Attack Pakistan Army Base Near Afghan Border

By Ayaz Gul November 26, 2016

Pakistan's military says that an early morning suicide attack on one of its regional bases near the Afghan border left four assailants and two soldiers dead.

The heavily armed group of bombers tried to enter the Ghalani camp in the Mohmand tribal district and attack a packed mosque in a residential area, according to an official statement.

It said that security forces engaged them and contained them in the outer courtyard of the mosque, killing two attackers while the other two blew themselves up during an intense gunbattle.

The military confirmed the encounter left two of its personnel dead and another 14 wounded.

An extremist group fighting alongside the anti-state Pakistani Taliban claimed it was behind the assault.

The so-called Jamaat-ul-Ahrar faction claimed in a statement sent to reporters that the Pakistan military camp was targeted because it serves as a detention and torture center for captured Taliban fighters and their relatives.

The group has staged multiple attacks in Pakistan, targeting civilians, religious minorities and security forces.

Pakistani authorities allege the group is sheltering and operating out of border areas in Afghanistan with the help of the neighboring country's intelligence agency.

Kabul denies the charges.

The United States earlier this year added Jamaat-ul-Ahrar to its list of global terrorist organizations after it claimed responsibility for a attack on the U.S. consulate in Peshawar.

The violence killed two Pakistani employees of the diplomatic facility.

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Over 1.5Mln Expected to Gather in S.Korea for 5th Week of Anti-President Rallies

Sputnik News

14:37 26.11.2016(updated 14:47 26.11.2016)

Over 1.5 million protesters are expected to attend the rally in Seoul on Saturday, in response to allegations of President Park Geun-hye's involvement in the influence-peddling and corruption scandal linked to her confidante, local media reported.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  Yonhap agency reported, citing local police, that around 1,500 liberal and progressive civic groups have organized a rally around Gwanghwamun Square calling for Park to step down, with an expected 1.5 million participants. As of 4:00 p.m. (07:00 GMT), 200,000 citizens were estimated to have gathered.

The protesters also marched within 200 meters of the presidential office holding banners with messages such as "Arrest President Park."

At 8:00 p.m., participants are set to hold a blackout by putting out their candles, with ordinary citizens turning off their lights as a symbol of protest.

Police said they will deploy some 25,000 officers, despite previous protests ending peacefully.

This is the fifth rally since the outbreak of the scandal. Approximately 600,000 participants were present at the protest last week.

On October 24, media reported that Choi Soon-sil, a friend and "shadow adviser" of the president, allegedly received drafts of speeches and presidential documents, though she had never held a public post.

On November 20, the Seoul Central District Prosecutor's Office filed formal charges against Choi and two of Park's former aides and stated that Park was suspected of being an accomplice in the conspiracy. South Korea's main opposition Democratic Party (The Minjoo) has announced plans to seek vote on Park's impeachment in December. On Friday, Park's approval rating fell to a record-low of 4 percent.

 Sputnik

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US, South Korea Discuss Status of Forces Agreement Before Trump Inauguration

Sputnik News

03:59 26.11.2016(updated 12:00 26.11.2016)

On Tuesday, government officials from Seoul and Washington met to discuss the ongoing deployment of nearly 30,000 American soldiers in South Korea as well as the changes to the arrangement that President-elect Donald Trump may seek.

Air Force Deputy commander of US Forces-Korea Lt. Gen. Thomas Bergeson, who is also deputy commander of the United Nations Korean Command, led the American contingent, while the South Korean group was headed by Yeo Seung-bae, the Foreign Ministry's director-general for North America. The gathering in Seoul marks the first time in almost a year that the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) joint committee has met.

While campaigning, Trump voiced frustration that NATO allies, along with Seoul and Tokyo, are not paying enough for American forces to be stationed in the their regions, expressing his intention to "have allies, including South Korea, pay more for American troops stationed in those countries."

South Korean News Agency Yonhap quoted one official from the Foreign Ministry in Seoul saying that, "Both sides agreed to continue cooperation to manage various SOFA issues so that the US can have a stable environment for their forces here, while South Korea can minimize the discomfort to their people."

The meeting comes at an uneasy time for South Korea, as threats from Pyongyang continue to loom and internal issues that have led many to call for President Park Geun-hye to resign.

Tens of thousands of South Koreans marched to demand Park's resignation early in November, with one 66-year-old telling The Guardian that the South Korean president "needs to step down."

Asian Institute for Policy Studies researcher Woo Jung-yeop was quoted saying, "it will become difficult to predict policy direction" under a Trump Presidency.

 Sputnik

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Syrian army declares liberation of Hanano in eastern Aleppo

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 2:3PM

Syrian armed forces and allies have managed to seize control of a key district in the northwestern city of Aleppo, which has been a flash point over the past few months.

The Syrian army declared the full liberation of Hanano in eastern Aleppo on Saturday, hours after the forces launched a major offensive in the area.

A monitoring group based in Britain confirmed that the neighborhood was mostly under the control of the Syrian forces. The so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which advocates militants operating in Syria, said Hanano was the first Aleppo neighborhood to fall into the hands of militants in 2012.

The recapture of the neighborhood comes 10 days after pro-government forces resumed an offensive on the city's eastern part, which is under the control of militants.

Syrian forces have repeatedly halted the push to retake militant-held areas in order to allow civilians out of the neighborhoods and let in humanitarian access. Russia, which supports the Syrian ground forces through air cover, resumed airstrikes on militant positions on November 15.

Syria's official news agency, SANA, said on Saturday that a fresh batch of civilians, most of them women and children, had left the militant-held parts of Aleppo.

SANA said nearly two dozen locals "from the eastern neighborhoods of Aleppo that had been held hostage by the terrorist organizations exited the neighborhoods on Friday evening." Syrian army units evacuated the civilians to safety, it added.

Nearly 300,000 people have been killed in the turmoil that has gripped Syria since March 2011, according to unofficial figures. The Syrian government blames the West and regional allies for the spread of militancy in the country, saying the terrorists could not have survived without support from certain countries such as Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

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Syria Touts Recapture of Key District in Rebel-Held Aleppo

By VOA News November 26, 2016

After days of heavy combat, Syria said Saturday that its Russia-backed army had gained "full control" of a key rebel-held district in the war-torn city of Aleppo.

State media reported army engineering units in the Masaken Hanano district were dismantling mines and other explosive devices planted by rebels who had seized control of eastern Aleppo in 2012 as part of a push to topple the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

"The armed forces retook full control of Masaken Hanano after having put an end to the presence of terrorists there," state television reported.

Western analysts have for days stressed the strategic significance of Masaken Hanano, the largest district in eastern Aleppo, warning that its fall would place government forces in position to cut off northern parts of the rebel-held sector from the rest of the opposition-held districts.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors and reports on the country's nearly six-year civil war, said last week that the imminent fall of Masaken Hanano would give the government regime a line-of-fire control over several other neighborhoods.

Ground assault

Government ground forces began a push into Masaken Hanano last week, after days of an intensive bombing campaign by Syrian and Russian warplanes.

Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, told the U.N. Security Council recently that nearly 300 civilians had been killed in eastern Aleppo in the preceding week. Dozens more have been reported killed since then.

"The reality is that the [government] regime and Russia are continuing their 'starve, get bombed or surrender' strategy in eastern Aleppo," she said Monday.

Moscow and Damascus have routinely described the fight against rebels in eastern Aleppo as a battle against terrorists, despite the sector's vast civilian population trapped in the city since fighting resumed in September. Both governments have used that characterization to justify the deadly and apparently indiscriminate bombings in the sector since then.

Western governments and the United Nations have framed the Aleppo onslaught as a vast humanitarian crisis that threatens the safety of at least 250,000 civilians believed trapped in the mayhem. Diplomats and human rights organizations argue that both Moscow and Damascus could face war crimes inquiries for their roles in the destruction of eastern Aleppo.

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Can Syrian Army Find New Volunteers?

By Sirwan Kajjo November 26, 2016

The announcement this week by Syria's embattled military that it will form an all-volunteer unit is an indication that the government is struggling in its fight against rebels and the Islamic State group, analysts say.

"The Syrian regime is running low on manpower," said Syrian researcher Khorshid Alika, who closely observes the dynamics of Syria's civil war. "They need additional reinforcements on so many fronts, particularly in Aleppo, Damascus and Hama."

The new division "will fight alongside other military units and our allied forces in Syria" and will officially allow civilians to take part in the fight for the first time, a Syrian government military official said in a televised statement this week.

The decision was made "in response to the rapid development of events, to support the successes of armed forces, and to meet people's wishes to put an end to terrorist acts in the Syrian Arab Republic," the statement said.

The unit, to be known as "The Fifth Attack Troops Corps of Volunteers," will consist of men and women over age 18 who are "not already eligible for military service or deserters," the statement said.

Diminished numbers

With nearly 5 million refugees abroad, and about 6.6 million refugees internally displaced, the pool of possible volunteers is greatly diminished.

Syria has already pulled most 18-year-olds into mandatory service and their terms have been extended past two years as Syria's civil war continues. Thousands of young recruits, too, have reportedly deserted the army and fled the country, further depleting government forces.

"I defected from the army the first chance I had," said Issam, a former Syrian solider who is currently in Jordan. He gave only his first name for fear of retribution.

"I saw no end to the fighting. I realized that I would either get killed or kill more people," Issam told VOA in a phone interview. He said he was drafted into service in 2013 despite his status as a college student at Homs University.

The Syrian military reportedly has more than 300,000 soldiers, with an additional 400,000 reserve members, most of whom are enlisted now. They are spread across the country, fighting various rebel forces as well as pockets of IS resistance.

Salaries for the volunteer unit will range from $200 to $350 per month, according to local news reports. The government is encouraging civil servants to sign up.

Foreign militias

Syrian government forces have relied heavily on foreign militias since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. Iran and Russia have been staunch allies, with Russian bombers taking on a bulk of the aerial campaign and Iran providing ground forces.

Elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces, along with Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Afghan and Pakistan mercenaries, have fought alongside Syrian troops. In parts of Damascus and Homs provinces, Iranian-led troops have been the primary forces against rebels.

But Tehran's commitment to provide additional servicemen to aid Syrian government forces has declined, analysts say. And an Iranian official said this week that Iranian troop casualties were mounting  over 1,000 dead since the start of Syria's civil war.

"Iran is busy in other conflicts in Iraq and Yemen, and so its focus and resources could be shifted," Alika, the Syrian researcher, told VOA.

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Erdogan warns EU about extending state of emergency

Iran Press TV

Sat Nov 26, 2016 3:14PM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has censured the European Union, warning that Ankara could extend a state of emergency in place since the abortive coup of July 15.

"Maybe the state of emergency will be extended by three months and then maybe another three months... This is a decision for the government and the parliament," Erdogan said on Saturday.

The state of emergency was once renewed and could be extended again in January.

Erdogan blasted the EU for meddling in the internal affairs of Turkey, following a decision by the European Parliament on November 24 to back a freeze in EU accession talks with Ankara.

"Is the European Parliament in charge of this country or is the government in charge of this country?" Erdogan asked. "What's it to you?... Know your place!"

The long and angry speech of criticism and accusation by the Turkish president comes amid strained relations between Ankara and Brussels.

Turkey has criticized the EU for not doing enough to condemn the abortive coup. The EU says Ankara has been acting beyond the rule of law in its post-coup clampdown. More than 37,000 people have been arrested in Turkey as part of the crackdown, which targets people suspected of having links to US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Turkish government accuses of having masterminded the coup. Gulen denies the allegation.

More than 100,000 people have also been dismissed or suspended from jobs on similar charges. Turkey has also toughened its crackdown on the Kurdish population in the country's southeast, claiming it is hunting down militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

Erdogan said in his speech that the EU parliament's decisions against Turkey aids and abets terrorism. He also threatened that reinstatement of capital punishment would be on agenda for Ankara if the Turkish parliament deemed it necessary. Erdogan said that in reviving the death penalty he would listen to the Turkish people and not "Hans" and "George," referring to two common European names.

"If the people want capital punishment, it goes to parliament. If parliament says yes, I will sign it. I am not going to take a decision based on what Hans says, or what George says," Erdogan said, adding, "I answer to the people."

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Ukraine Calls For Holodomor Famine To Be Recognized As 'Genocide'

RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service November 26, 2016

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has called for the Holodomor, the Ukraine famine of the 1930s, to be recognized as "genocide."

Poroshenko spoke at a ceremony in Kyiv on November 26 marking the official Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holodomor, which commemorates the millions who died of famine under Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

"I just signed a presidential decree that among other things tasks the Foreign Ministry to continue its work to achieve a recognition of Holodomor among the international community, foreign countries, and international organizations as the genocide of the Ukrainian people," he said.

Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman, representatives from Ukraine's churches, and envoys from various countries attended a ceremony to honor the victims.

There was also a nationwide minute's silence observed at 4 p.m. local time.

The official Day of Remembrance for the victims of the famine is marked every year on the fourth Saturday of November.

The Holodomor took place in 1932 and 1933 as Soviet authorities forced peasants in Ukraine to join collective farms by requisitioning their grain and other foodstuffs.

Historians say the failure to properly harvest crops in 1932 under Soviet mismanagement was the main cause of the famine.

It is estimated that as many as 9 million people may have died as a result of executions, deportation, and starvation during the Stalin-era campaign.

Last year, a monument commemorating the Ukrainians who perished in the Holodomor was unveiled in the U.S. capital.

The monument -- a bronze slab resting on a stone plinth and showing a field of wheat stalks -- symbolizes the seizure of grain by the Soviets.

"The famine was an attempt to force the Ukrainian people to their knees, to deprive us of our dignity, to destroy our national identity and to kill our hope for the right to create our own destiny in our own land," Poroshenko said in a taped video address that was played at the unveiling.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-holodomor- victims-remembrance-day/28140900.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Danville has stopped adding carbon to the citys drinking water after several months of no detected taste or odor issues.

The city gradually decreased the amount of carbon over about two weeks before eliminating it from the water at the beginning of this month, said Barry Dunkley, director of water and wastewater treatment.

However, Dunkley said the city is keeping an eye on its finished water in case more taste and odor issues arise.

We are monitoring the water real closely to be sure, he said.

Danvilles water problems began in early 2015 when residents began complaining of a dirty, musty odor and taste. An algae bloom was blamed for the problem.

The city began adding carbon shortly after the complaints to get rid of the bad taste and odor. Before its most recent removal, the carbon was taken out for about a week in 2015, but it was added back after the problem was detected again, Dunkley said.

Though the city has not detected odor or taste issues for several months  except for the detection of odor in the raw water in September  officials continued feeding the carbon as a precaution, Dunkley said.

The city will add carbon again if more problems arise, he said.

City workers have replaced the carbon with added potassium permanganate, an oxidant that helps remove iron and manganese. It also removes taste and odor, but not as effectively as carbon, Dunkley said.

Danville  which has always added potassium permanganate to its water  had to reduce it when the city included the carbon because it ate away the carbon, Dunkley said.

We used very little when we used the activated carbon, Dunkley said.

Virginia Tech is coordinating a $500,000 study of the Dan and Smith rivers to determine the source of the problems, Dunkley said. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is paying for the analysis, which will cost the city nothing, he said.

Virginia Tech received the grant following a request from Danville and the Halifax County Service Authority, which also had taste and odor issues with its water, Dunkley said.

Sampling is being done once a month for taste and odor problems at 11 monitoring points along the Smith and Dan rivers in an area from Bassett to South Boston, Dunkley said.

It includes sampling of sediment and the water column for algae-type issues. Sampling also will be done at the water surface for the microbial population, algae and organisms that can affect taste and odor, Dunkley said.

Were trying to do everything we can to get the best determination of odor and whatever we need, Dunkley said.

As for other water-related matters, Dunkley said there have been complaints of black particles from plumbing fixtures and water mains in the street.

There occasionally also have been complaints of white particles from customers water heaters plastic dip tubes. The plastic gets brittle and breaks apart over time, Dunkley said.

Another common complaint is turbid or muddy water, which are usually the result of work on water mains, or if flushing has been done, Dunkley said.

Rust particles or stirring up of material in the distribution system can cause muddy or turbid water, he said.
Shannon and Josh Yeatts brought their son home seven years ago but unlike most first-time parents, their new arrival was already 4 years old.

Josh explained he had heard about a second cousin who had health and other issues and could no longer take care of the young boy; she was looking for someone to adopt him.

We prayed about it and felt it was what God wanted us to do, Shannon said.

The process was lengthy, complicated by the fact that the couple lived in Virginia and the child, Cole, lived in North Carolina. But that was balanced by the fact that Shannon and Josh were relatives and the birth mother wanted them to have young Cole.

While paperwork was processed, Cole could visit. Then he moved in as a foster child until all of the legal issues could be squared away.

That was so hard; we wanted to post his photos so our families could see how proud we were of him, Shannon said. But you cant do that with foster children.

The birth father had to be located to sign off on the paperwork, and that wasnt easy, according to Josh.

He moved a lot, Josh said. He was real hard to pinpoint.

In the meantime, Cole came to live with the Yeatts while they attended required classes for all adoptive or foster parents.

Josh said they decided to tell Coles story to let people know that while adoption is not an easy process, it does not have to be expensive or impossible.

Even Cole wanted to talk about it, Josh said. He knows he is adopted and proud of it.

Cole, now 11 years old, smiles and admits he doesnt remember coming home, but then his face lit up.

I do remember! It was a Friday night after church and you showed me my room, Cole said, grinning at his adoptive parents.

He also remembers his mother, who died of a heart attack about a year after the adoption went through, and his seven half sisters and brothers, four on his birth mothers side and three on his birth fathers side of the family. The birth mother visited the Yeatts family about once a month until her death, and Cole is still in touch with most of his siblings, most of whom are in the foster care system or have aged out and are on their own now.

Both Shannon and Josh are pastors at Faith Church Ministries on Holland Road in Danville and they live in Blairs.

Josh said they chose to be open about the adoption to encourage others to look into the possibility.

In sharing our story, maybe someone will be inspired to adopt, Josh said. Or even let a scared, young, pregnant woman see her way around abortion.

Josh and Shannon both admit they have medical histories that make them cautious about considering having biological children.

They tried for five years, but Shannons condition makes pregnancy difficult and miscarriages likely if pregnancy should occur, and while Josh is healthy, he is a carrier of a disease that can cause physical disabilities.

Doctors tell me theres a one in three chance that if I have a child, it will have a severe genetic disorder, Josh said.

Were stepping out in obedience, Shannon added. Were placing it in Gods hands.

The couple is thinking about adopting again, and would like to find a newborn or infant this time. They arent particular about gender (though Cole is rooting for a baby sister) or ethnicity, but would like to experience a child that age. Then, Josh said, they will look into adopting an older child, a teen who has a more difficult likelihood of being adopted.

We know whatever God wants, well do, Shannon said.

Adopting in Danville

There are nine children in Danville currently approved for and awaiting adoption  and about 700 statewide looking for parents, Deborah Fitzgerald, the family services manager for Danville Social Services, said.

While the process cant be called quick and easy  getting through the court system and being approved as an adoptive parent is a multi-step process that will take 15-18 months  it is designed to make sure adoptions are legal and the adoptive parents are ready to take on the responsibility of having a child.

All potential parents are expected to go through a training program that qualifies them to be adoptive, foster or respite parents.

There also are background and credit checks, home inspections, extensive interviews and other steps that must be completed, Fitzgerald said.

Most of the children available for adoption are older teens, have siblings they would prefer to be kept with or have medical or emotional issues that make finding adoptive parents far more difficult than finding a home for an orphaned, healthy infant, Fitzgerald said.

Most of our kids still have living parents, but mental, health, substance abuse issues, or a child with special needs, often mean the parents are just not able to make the changes necessary for the child to be safe, despite all the programs we have to offer, Fitzgerald said. After 15-18 months in foster care, we have to decide if the child cant go to a relative we need to pursue adoption.

Healthy infants, Fitzgerald said, are more often surrendered at birth to private adoption agencies.

Weve had three infants in the last several years who were surrendered; its rare for us to get infants here, Fitzgerald said. When we do, they are often not the healthiest due to the mothers drug use or lack of prenatal care.

Once potential parents complete the steps to become approved foster/adoptive parents, they will first become foster parents, Fitzgerald said, giving them  and the children  time to get to know each other before deciding if the family will be a good fit.

Between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2016, we had nine children adopted  all by their foster parents, Fitzgerald said.

This year, a 17-year-old who was one month shy of his 18th birthday, was adopted, Fitzgerald said  a rare case of an older teen being adopted and something that pleased Fitzgerald greatly.

Statistics are terrible for kids who age out of foster care, Fitzgerald said. We never used to look at 17-year-olds for adoption, but we realize how important permanence is  at least they have someplace to go for Thanksgiving dinner.

Fitzgerald said she has seen a lot of changes in her 26 years working with foster and adoptive children, with taboos about keeping adoptions within racial lines being dropped.

It just doesnt matter as much as it used to, she said.

And while infants are best sought through private adoption agencies, there are benefits to adopting older children.

There are no smelly diapers, you dont have to worry as much about child care, they can tie their own shoelaces  the benefits are endless, Fitzgerald said with a smile. We need people to adopt kids who are 8 to 16, and sibling groups  we need our children to be taken care of and we need prepared and trained parents for those children.
Mercedes is not ruling out making a financial contribution to keep the German grand prix on track.

However, it appears that when the final 2017 calendar is published shortly by the FIA, it will be missing a Hockenheim date after talks with Bernie Ecclestone collapsed.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff joins Bernie Ecclestone in not fully understanding why the German race is struggling for profitability.

"Maybe it is due to the fact that Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel won so many races and titles," he is quoted by Speed Week.

But would Mercedes step into the breach and help Hockenheim pay the fee to Ecclestone?

"The fact is, when the race was doubtful in the past we offered financial help, so we are open to lending a hand. But at that time nothing came of it," revealed Wolff.

(GMM)
Pirelli is taking the F1 drivers' feedback on board and is working on improving its rain tyres.

That is the claim of Mario Isola, a leading official of F1's official supplier, following a key meeting with drivers in Abu Dhabi.

The meeting followed a wave of criticism of Pirelli's rain tyres after the red flag, safety car and crash-affected Brazilian grand prix.

"These rain tyres are just bad tyres," Romain Grosjean, who crashed on the reconnaissance laps even before the Interlagos race, is quoted by Speed Week.

Isola explained: "The basic problem is that we are not able to do much testing. We need more test days to understand better how to make a more suitable product.

"The discussion with the drivers was very interesting," he added in Abu Dhabi.

Speed Week claims that one touted solution is a further wet tyre option that is more suited to a track surface like Interlagos.

Isola said: "We are looking at this right now, but again, to have a better tyre, we need more testing."

(GMM)
Renault team boss Frederic Vasseur says he does not rule out working with Kevin Magnussen again.

Actually, the Danish driver is leaving the French works team after reportedly balking at the political situation at Renault and the offer of only a one-year extension.

Vasseur admits that he and Magnussen clashed.

"Kevin has his personality and I have my own personality," he told BT newspaper. It's has not always been easy. We have had our battles."

But the Frenchman denies that those 'battles' explain Magnussen's decision to leave for Haas.

"No, no, no," Vasseur insisted. "In a long season, there are times of good news and good results, and harder times. But we got through it because we could always have a good talk and clarify the situation.

"I definitely want all the best for Kevin because he deserves it, and he did a good job for us. I hope that in the future we can meet again," he added.

(GMM)
Niki Lauda says he is feeling relaxed ahead of Sunday's title showdown -- except for one "fear".

"It's been three perfect years," said the Mercedes team chairman, referring to the fact that the German squad is guaranteed the drivers' title in Abu Dhabi.

"First one (driver) is faster, then the other. But for me they are absolutely equal," Lauda told the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Asked if he feels nervous as Nico Rosberg bids to win his first world title ahead of pole sitter Lewis Hamilton on Sunday, Lauda answered: "Me? It will be a race like any other.

"The important thing is that there are no technical problems. It's my only fear," the triple world champion added.

However, another fear might be that, with so much dominance since 2014, the Mercedes board might soon get sick of funding the F1 programme.

Indeed, there have been rumours that Mercedes will pull out after 2020 to focus solely on Formula E.

Lauda answered: "We are 100 per cent committed to formula one and there is no plan to exit. Absolutely not."

But he admitted that 2017 is a brand new challenge for Mercedes, with the rules changing so significantly.

"When there are new things, some engineers can be the best interpreters of the rules and gain an advantage," said Lauda. "Who knows?

"We will find out when we see the new cars on the track."

One possibility is that his old team, Ferrari, could return to winning ways in 2017, and end Sebastian Vettel's run of apparent tension.

"It is normal when you have a car that does not win that you are not happy," Lauda said when asked about Vettel's current mood.

"But with the change of regulation there is a good chance to be competitive again. And not just the Ferraris. When you're in trouble, a change can be the best for overcoming problems.

"But I have the feeling that Ferrari will be better next year. (Sergio) Marchionne is pushing a lot," said Lauda.

(GMM)
Sebastian Vettel has added his own tribute to former McLaren doctor Aki Hintsa, who sadly passed away last week at the age of 58.

Lewis Hamilton, who made his debut for McLaren in 2007, gave an emotional and fitting farewell to the Finn in the Thursday press conference in Abu Dhabi.

But in truth, drivers up and down the pitlane also knew him well, including Sebastian Vettel who got his F1 fitness up to speed with Dr Hintsa as a 20-year-old rookie.

"We met a long time ago and he was ready to help me even though he had no reason to," Vettel told the Finnish broadcaster MTV in Abu Dhabi.

"I feel that he not only made me a better driver, but also a better man," the German added.

"And Aki not only helped me, but many people.

"We are here in the paddock for a short time, and we all wear different coloured shirts, but Aki never looked at them. He had the gift to help people and is still a great inspiration," Vettel added.

Dr Hintsa died after a battle with cancer.

(GMM)
Esteban Gutierrez has admitted returning to Ferrari is an option for 2017.

The Mexican, who has failed to score a point all year, is disappointed to have been dropped by the new American team Haas after one season.

He is still linked with one of the Manor seats for 2017, but admits that his options to race are limited.

"My biggest mistake was to focus too much on achieving good results and not enough on dealing with the situation," Gutierrez, referring to his diminishing options, said in Abu Dhabi.

"I take the responsibility for it. I was not aware of what was happening around me."

Still, he said he has "a few possibilities" for 2017.

One of them is returning to Ferrari as third driver.

"The relationship has continued to be very positive, so this is one of the options," he said.

"But I must say, honestly, I have nothing confirmed at this time. I will keep working hard to put things in place," he added.

(GMM)
Pawan: Why Not Our MPs Stand In Bank Queues?

The demonetisation move of the Narendra Modi government has taken as many as 80 lives of the people who collapsed while standing in queues before banks. The Centre did not bother to react to these unfortunate incidents.

But, our power star Pavan Kalyan did. He was very much pained at the death of a retired employee who died of heart attack when he was standing in queue at the State Bank of India in Kurnool.

In his twitter, Pavan regretted that the old man could not get money even after standing in the queue for three consecutive days.

The Jana Sena Party chief suggested that all the Parliament members should stand in queues in front of banks along with people to draw money so as to feel the pain of the masses.

He also called upon the BJP MPs in the two Telugu states to stand at the ATMs and banks to express their solidarity with the suffering people.

Good idea, Pavan! But will our thick-skinned politicians listen?
Donald Trump seems ready to fight the world on climate change, and it could cost the US




Haiti - FLASH : Former Prime Minister Neptune attacked, shot and wounded





Black Saturday in Haiti where several assaults on people were reported in the afternoon in Port-au-Prince, Petion-ville and in the province...



In Port-au-Prince 4 armed bandits tried to force the entrance of the Unibank on Darguin Street, record 1 wounded security guard and a assailant killed ;



In Petion-ville, Jeff Jean Pierre aka "Ton Jeff", manager of the group "Kreyol La", was the victim of an assault at the exit of a bank and robbed by two bandits;



Also on Saturday, armed individuals attacked the former Prime Minister (2002-2004) Yvon Neptune, in Williamson (locality of Saintard, near Arcahaie), National Road #1 and did not hesitate to fire on him , wounding him at the elbow and the wrist. He received first aid at the Nicolas Armand hospital (Arcahaie), before being taken by ambulance to Port-au-Prince, where he is in a stable state. The ex-Prime Minister's nephew confirmed that his uncle was hit by two projectiles "My uncle was effectively wounded by bullets, but his life is not in danger."



Finally, in Port-Salut a young man in his twenties was shot dead, a security guard of the deputy Sinal Bertrand, would be implied according to testimonies, an investigation is under way.



According to the former Minister of the Interior and former Secretary of State for Public Security Reginald Delva "Following the attacks recorded on Saturday, the month of November 2016 will have broken all records of assassinations and robberies against bank customers."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Politic : Ultimate tribute to Fidel Castro by Moise J-C





Following the death last Friday in La Havana (Cuba) of President Fidel Castro at the age of 90, Moise Jean-Charles wanted to pay a last special tribute to the one that was a source of inspiration for him and that he admired.



Tribute to Fidel Castro by Moise Jean-Charles :

"The star of the Socialist Galaxy of the Hemisphere, in the silence of that night of the patron saint of St. Catherine Virgo and Martyr, as always to testify of its august humility, was extinguished at the confluence of a stillborn planetary village and a colorless post-modern world grimacing with an imperial monstrosity. It was expected- death is one of the great stages of life; But one refused to think of it, still the icon inspired the Renewal of Humanity.



The leader of the Cuban revolution Fidele Castro, the legendary voice of the disinherited people of the continent and of Africa in particular, in the days of the political bipolarity of the land of men, of satellites and the digital world, has led for more than half a century the struggle for social justice and respect for peoples.



Vertical, Imperturbable but attentive insightful and transcendent, he was able to inculcate to generations of Statesmen, especially of Latin America, the sense of the responsible leadership for the progress and the flourishing of the people.



On this day that marks the end of a time and the beginning of the flowering of his ideas, I see myself yesterday studying in Cuba with the insignificant privilege of listening serenely the Apostle of the Socialist Innovator, who spoke to us of the international politics, public governance, the essence and dream of a Nation, the duty of solidarity of the peoples of the South. With what precise approachdid he not warn against the imbalance of the substantive debates on the transition from the post-Cold War world ? Long before, Ignacio Ramonet, the famous editorialist of 'Le monde Diplomatique' Christoff Scherrer, AFE Benessaieh, the great Comrade invited to question, the ideology that underlies the primacy of market economy and social cause of the ILO (Organization, International Labor Organization). He laid bare before us, a social and political activist of economic liberalism. He rightly argued and other giants have followed him in this itinerary of reflection that the much-vaunted social cause G. Vian Liemt, born of Globalization and the idealization of the market, is a conspiracy of the financial world-reinforced by the IMF (International Monetary Fund), WTO (World Trade Organization) and OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) to consolidate and perpetuate the protectionism of capitalism.



Before his great journey towards the eternal peaks, the events proved him right. Indeed, the failure of Perestroika in Russia, street confrontation in Seattle in 1999 at the WTO meeting in Washington DC during the IMF and World Bank meetings, severe criticism in the media, at the global level, of the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) in Paris sponsored by the OECD adequately attest to the real dangers on the National Sovereignty.



Closer to home the financial Crash of the end of the first decade of this 21st century and the controversial considerations on the Brexit still confirm, if need be, the political maturity and clairvoyance of the 'Maximo leader'.



In truth the great rich Nations have to gain by listening to the thinkers of the south to renew civilization.



The great comrade, theorist and outstanding communicator always combines act with speech-and vice-versa. He therefore translates his vision of solidarity into reality. And for proof.



Elected mayor of Milot, I solicited and obtained the facilitation of President Fidele Castro in the twinning of my commune with that of Morron in the framework of a partnership of exchanges aimed at the rehabilitation of Milot. Also it is necessary that I reiterate my gratitude and my highest consideration for opening diplomatic horizons in Africa and the Latin American subcontinent. And I will emphasize in strong ink that he planned with Brazil and Burundi my first intervention at the United Nations Tribune in March 2013.



I must also admit that it was at his school that I learned to rediscover and revisit the great models of our history as a people, hooked even in harsh privations and in spite of the ardor of the neo-Liberals and nationalists altered to annihilate the self-determination of peoples to the principles of dignity, freedom and solidarity. I thus recognized the immeasurable grandeur of the father of my fatherland Jean-Jacques Dessalines.

Illustrious Comrade, Fidele Castro, leave in Peace, your day has been full.



Comrade Moise Jean Charles."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - Elections : D-1, the PNH in maximum alert





At 24 hours of the date confirmed by the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP) for the publication of the preliminary results of the elections of Sunday 20 November 2016 (Monday 28 November) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19345-haiti-flash-already-more-than-1-700-minutes-in-quarantine-presidential.html Camille Edouard Jr., Minister of Justice, said he was confident that all measures would be taken to avoid spillovers after the announcement of the results and that the police will be up to its task.



It indicates that all Public Prosecutor's Offices and the Haitian National Police (HNP) are on high alert, in order to prevent, intervene and repress if necessary lawbreakers.



While recognizing the right of people to peacefully protest, he recalled that the Electoral Decree prohibited any demonstration until the results were published. He remains convinced that "the population has the maturity to understand that we are in a democracy and that we are building a Rule of law [...]"



To see the repeated demonstrations of the supporters of Famni Lavalas since the elections, in violation of the Electoral Decree and with impunity, one can only wonder about the effectiveness of these announced measures, which aim to reassure a population worried about the possible consequences and violence, that these results can cause...



TB/ HaitiLibre


















Published on 2016/11/27 | Source

A growing number of young Koreans in their 20s and 30s wrap up their work day with a stop at a convenience store on their way home.

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Sales from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. accounted for 32.1 percent of convenience stores' revenues over the past three years, according to the CU convenience store chain.

Lunchtime sales from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. or late at night from 11p.m.-2 a.m. are declining slightly.

Younger workers seem to feel refreshed by these stops.

Kim Yu-jin, a 29-year-old woman in Seoul, stops in a convenience store on her way home from work every day, even though she does not enjoy late night snacks. She browses the shelves and buys just one or two small products like jellybeans or coffee.

"I like going to the convenience store not to buy necessities but to comfort myself by just browsing cheap products", she said.

The main reason for many is that convenience stores sell things in smaller packages for singles, but they are also attracted to the dazzling bright light and sterile anonymous atmosphere.

"In a convenience store, you can go shopping freely late at night and nobody minds if you pay by credit card for small purchases", one said.

Staff leave them alone because they are constantly rotated and work different shifts, so there is no pressure to establish any kind of relationship.

Devoted fans even swap information online about their favorite convenience stores.

"Convenience stores are more accessible than any other place and your anonymity is guaranteed there. Shopping in convenience stores is quite a new way for singles to seek comfort", said sociologist Hyun Taek-soo.
Published on 2016/11/26

A street performer hits the streets to help raise awareness for Korea's LGBT community, further arrests made in connection to the Lee Ufan forgery scandal, Lester Jone's captures daily life on Korea's streets in his new travel gallery, and 10 Magazine highlights the country's impressive architecture.

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"Three More Arrested in South Korea for Producing and Selling Lee Ufan Forgeries"

More news on the Lee Ufan forgery scandal has come to light after three more confirmed forgeries were identified and the suspects arrested: "Seoul Police revealed on Monday that they had nabbed a painter, identified only as Park, who confessed to forging around 40 paintings, and two dealers, husband-and-wife Kim and Ku". The cost of the scandal is well into the millions of dollars.

...READ ON ARTNET NEWS

"Queer Street Performer in South Korea Promotes Acceptance With Art"

Street artist Heezy Yang is making a fabulous statement on Korea's streets to help raise awareness about Korea's LGBT community. Although he doesn't like labels, Heezy believes by getting out in public he will be able to help raise the country's consciousness around issues of sexual and gender identity. "[A]s a result of the sexual and gender minority movement of the last two decades, there have been more organizations than ever before and an increasing number of people are living out", says Candy Yun from Korean Sexual-Minority Culture and Rights Center.

...READ ON NBC NEWS

"Yet More Candid Scenes of the People & Architecture of South Korea"

Enjoy this gallery on HighsNobiety featuring some captivating shots by photographer Lester Jones. The photographs are from his new travel gallery that explores daily life in South Korea: "Part of his work was a study around the fusion of new vs. old that Jones found representative of South Korea's sense of contemporary identity..."

...READ ON HIGHSNOBIETY

"10 MOST IMPRESSIVE MODERN ARCHITECTURE IN KOREA"

Wow, have you seen some of these stunning pieces of architecture around Korea? Art and creativity take many forms in the Land of the Morning Calm, and in this post on 10 Magazine, you'll get a taste of some of the country's impressive buildingsthe future is now!

...READ ON 10 MAGAZINE
By William Schwartz | Published on 2016/11/26

Joon-oh (played by Hwang Jung-min) is an insurance agent still reeling from childhood trauma. At home life with his girlfriend Mi-na (played by Kim Seo-hyung) is pretty much all right, but alas, Joon-oh is kind of dumb and fails to properly take to heart the first rule of insurance claim adjusting- never tells clients details about your actual life. Although admittedly, whoever drafted that rule probably did not anticipate that the company's insurance agents would go through the procession of body horror that is the "Black House".

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...Well I exaggerate although really, horror movies in general tend to oversell the gore. In "Black House" the emphasis is mainly on the simple mystery- was the scene Joon-oh stumbles into staged? If so, by who? And why? Alas, as is often the case it's not the literal plot that's the most engaging aspect of a good horror film, but rather the interplay between character personalities. "Black House" is somewhat lacking in that department.

Joon-oh is the most obvious case, as his trauma ultimately ends up merely being a wedge wielded by the villain. Mi-na's lack of proper character development is a more subtly disappointing case. She obviously knows about Joon-oh's trauma, and being a doctor, proves a useful gateway for Joon-oh to meet other people that are more interested in psychiatric theory than Joon-oh's unimaginative co-workers. Yet by the end, she's nothing more than a victim need in rescue.

This is odd because until the climactic showdowns Joon-oh is consistently the big victim in "Black House". Even before the criminal is finally unveiled Joon-oh constantly undermines himself to authority figures by acting like, well, a total unconvincing dweeb. Kudos to Hwang Jung-min for being able to pull off such effective meekness. Alas, this just hints at further questions like "why is Mi-na together with this guy?" which are unfortunately never explored.

"Black House" is the kind of movie that's perfectly enjoyable to just kill time and experience the tension which frequently comes with watching characters come close to getting clawed to death. Unfortunately "Black House" is also one of those movies for which is hard to come up with sincere praise in terms of critical analysis. Director Shin Terra is just so focused on making a generically good horror thriller that nothing comes off as all that unique or noteworthy.

This is a shame particularly because the acting is quite good at points, as if the cast made a point of reading the original (Japanese) novel in full detail to insure they nail every moment of subtle creepiness to absolute perfection. The set design is pretty great- the editing was just choppy enough to make me wince away from the screen, and the continuity makes perfect logical sense. Well, at least until the end where Mi-na briefly disappears somehow for the sole purpose of facilitating a final showdown. Ah, whatever. The fight scenes were pretty legit, so if you're more into the gore than the mystery, don't worry. Director Shin Terra is going to get you there sooner or later.

Review by William Schwartz

"Black House" is directed by Shin Terra and features Hwang Jung-min, Yoo Sun, Kang Shin-il and Kim Seo-hyung.

Available on DVD and VCD from Amazon and YESASIA

Black House DVD
Published on 2016/11/27 | Source

A record 17 million foreigners are expected to visit Korea by the end of this year. According to the Korea Tourism Organization on Monday, the number of foreign visitors has reached 15 million so far this year, breaking the record of 14.2 million for the whole of 2014.

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The number of Chinese tourists surged thanks to the lasting popularity of Korean pop culture and cosmetics in China. So did numbers of visitors from Japan and Southeast Asia.

Some 1.89 million Japanese visited Korea between January and October, almost back to the 1.93 million recorded in 2014.

More people are also coming from fast-growing economies in Southeast Asia like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam, but they still make up just 12 percent of all visitors, compared to 48 percent for Chinese. Some 240,000 Indonesians visited Korea during the period, up 53 percent on-year, while travelers from Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam increased 30 to 50 percent.

Kim Sang-tae of the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute said, "Southeast Asia is a solid tourism market with a new crop of young women attracted to Korean pop culture".

An executive with the Lotte World amusement park said Southeast Asian visitors increased about 20 to 30 percent this year. Lotte hired boy band EXO to promote the amusement park among foreign travelers. "We expect the number of Southeast Asian visitors to exceed 2 million mark for the first time this year", said Chung Ki-jeong of the KTO.

Meanwhile, Japan welcomed more than 20 million visitors from January to October and expects a total of 24 million this year.
Published on 2016/11/27 | Source

In a long-awaited decision on Friday, the government declined a request by Google to use official Korean map data for its Maps app. A government committee had been reviewing the matter for five months.

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National Geographic Information Institute chief Choe Byong-nam said the maps would identify secret installations that are usually left off maps for public use.

"Google's request for mapping data carries the risk of worsening the security threat from North Korea", Choe said. He added the government offered to provide mapping data by blurring out satellite images of classified sites, but the U.S. tech giant refused.

The decision was expected in August, but the government delayed the announcement by two more months to hold further negotiations with Google.

Choe said Seoul's decision placed top priority on national security but the government could consider further talks with Google.

"Security problems change over time", he said. "We can't say for sure that we would reject further requests by Google or other global business for mapping data".

Google was unhappy with the decision. "We're disappointed", Google spokesman Taj Meadows said in a statement. "We've always taken security concerns very seriously and will continue to provide useful map services in compliance with Korea's current map data export regulation".

Read this article in Korean
Hawaii just became the first state to elect a 100 percent one-party state Senate since 1979

by Stephen Wolf, Daily Kos, Nov 26, 2016 Reprinted with permission.

Despite good results for Republicans across the country, Hawaii was Hillary Clintons best state nationally, voting for her by a resounding 62-32 margin over Donald Trump. Its governor, both senators, and both House members all are Democrats who won lopsided victories over their last Republican opponent. Furthermore, it has only ever voted Republican for president in the 1972 and 1984 Nixon and Reagan landslides. Astoundingly, its the only state in the country where Republicans have never controlled the state House of Representatives.

That last streak shows no signs of abating, since Democrats have won both legislative chambers every two years since 1962. In 2016, they just won literally every seat in the 25-member state Senate for the first time since Hawaii became the 50th state in 1959. Not since the dying days of the Solid South has any party won every single seat in any American state legislative chamber. The last time it happened was when Louisiana Democrats swept every state Senate district in 1979, but they later lost two to the Republicans at the next election in 1983.

In 2010, 2012, and 2014, Republican state Sen. Sam Slom was the only member of his party to win a single seat in the Hawaii state Senate. However, in 2016 he finally lost to former Democratic Honolulu City Councilor Stanley Chang by a 53-47 margin after 20 years of representing the 9th District on Oahus southeastern shore. As one supporter facetiously quipped when Chang canvassed his neighborhood, now that they have every seat, Hawaii Democrats finally can get a lot of things done.

For more info on 2016 state legislative outcomes, see our rundown of the partisan balance in all 50 states.

---30---
SINGING

SINKING SPRING PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH: Abingdon, Va., 136 E. Main Street. Dec. 1, 2:30 p.m.: Christmas concert, featuring the Southwest Community College Jazz and Vocal Ensemble, everyone welcome, donations asked but not required, 276-628-2243.

WATAUGA CHAPEL: Abingdon, Va., Watauga Road Route 677. Dec. 4, 6 p.m.: Christmas singing, featuring Joyful Hearts, everyone welcome.

COMMUNITY

ADVENT LUNCHEON SERIES: Bristol, Tenn./Va., 105 North Street. Nov. 30  Dec. 21, 11: 50 a.m.  1 p.m. every Wednesday: Nov. 30: St. Luke UMC, 105 North Street, guest speaker, Rev. Scott Spence, of Beech Groove UMC. Dec. 7: South Bristol UMC, 1809 Southside Avenue, guest speaker Rev. Robert Kariuki of John Wesley UMC. Dec. 14: Virginia Avenue UMC, 1127 Virginia Avenue, guest speaker Rev. Jeremy McMillan, of St. Luke UMC. Dec. 21: John Wesley UMC, 311 Lee Street, guest speaker Rev. Liz Hamilton, of Addilynn Memorial UMC. Worship begins noon. Lunch served 12:30  1 p.m., everyone welcome.

ALDERSGATE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: Bristol, Tenn., 136 Highridge Street. Dec. 3, 1  4p.m.: Great Christmas Stocking giveaway, first 500 kids present can choose a stocking, fill with candy, snacks, toys, free refreshment, everyone welcome, 423-341-5240.

FIRST BROAD STREET UNITED METHODIST CHURCH: Kingsport, Tenn., 101 East Church Circle. Volunteer two hours any day Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Marlene Hudson, 423-817-8332, to help with food, Bob Smith, 423-246-3966. Clothing and other donations can be brought to Single Vision or taken to Shades of Grace.

FAIRVIEW UNITED METHODISH CHURCH: Jonesborough, Tenn., 878 Highway 81 North. Third Saturday each month, 7-10 a.m.: Country breakfast, bacon, fresh ground sausage, eggs, pancakes, gravy, biscuits and more. Donations. Located 5 miles from downtown Jonesborough going toward Fall Branch.

YARD SALE

WOODLAWN BAPTIST CHURCH: Bristol, Tenn., 1400 Southside Avenue. Nov. 26, 8 a.m.  2 p.m.: Indoor yard sale, 423-968-2287.

PENTECOSTAL CHURCH: Abingdon, Va., 17535 Jeb Stuart Highway off Exit 19 toward Damascus: Yard Sale, second Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Name brand childrens and maternity clothes, plus tons of good quality baby equipment. Proceeds benefit the Mayan malnourished children of Guatemala, and children in our orphanage and those in our orphans at home program. www.safehomesforchildren.org.

HOW TO SUBMIT

News and calendar items for the Religion section should be emailed only to features@bristolnews.com with Religion Calendar in the subject line or sent by mail to Religion Editor, Bristol Herald Courier, P.O. Box 606, Bristol, VA 24203. Mailed items must be typewritten. Deadline is noon Monday. Please include the complete address of event location, name and telephone number of a contact person. If you have questions, contact Dorothy Hurt at 276-645-2556 or email dhurt@bristolnews.com. The service is free.
It's been 125 years since Dracula was published. And it's still scary.
Israelis voted on Tuesday for an unprecedented fifth time in four years to break the political impasse that has paralysed the country.
The relics of two chief disciples of the BuddhaSariputta and Maha Moggallana- are exhibited for public once a year at Sanchi and hundreds of thousands of Buddhist devotees form around the world come to the World Heritage site for a glimpse.

This year, the relics are being exhibited on Saturday and Sunday during the annual International Buddhist festival at Sanchi. The festival is organised on the last Sunday of November at the Chethiyagiri Vihara.

A 35-member delegation of Buddhists from Taiwan has come to have a glimpse of the relics and offer their prayers.

Buddhists from Taiwan, Myanmar and Sri Lanka have already arrived in Sanchi on Saturday and devotees from Japan and Singapore will arrive on Sunday, says Chandri Bodhi Patil, chief of the Buddhist Society of India.

Few people know that the keys to the highly guarded room where the relics are kept are with two persons Raisen district collector and office bearer of the Maha Bodhi Society, he tells Hindustan Times.

Earlier, the relics were displayed only on Sunday, but now as more devotees are pouring in, it was decided to exhibit the relics on Saturday also, he says.

In 1851, British archaeologist Alexander Cunningham found two boxes of gray sandstone inside the Stupa at Sanchi, where he was excavating a third- century BC Ashokan Buddhist complex, says archeologist Dr Narayan Vyas.

The relics from both stupas were removed to England and placed in the Victoria and Albert Museum. Maha Bodhi Society and Jawahar Lal Nehru played a key role in getting the relics back, he says.

The society requested the British government to return the relics to India in 1937 and after years of lobbying and struggle the relics were handed over to India in 1947.

Not many know that the Nawab of Bhopal also played a key role in re-enshrinement of relics at Sanchi.

According to research scholar Torkel Brekke from the University of Oslo, in 1946, the Maha Bodhi Society sent a delegation to the Nawab of Bhopal, seeking his permission to re-enshrine the relics at Sanchi.

Besides granting permission, the Nawab also promised to donate Rs 25 000 for the enshrinement. Finally on November 30, 1952, the remaining relics were enshrined in the newly built Chetiyagiri Vihara, by the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru.
Nargis Fakhri is currently shooting in Chandigarh, Punjab along with Rajkummar Rao for an upcoming film.

A source reveals that on their day off, the actors decided to explore the city. Nargis is currently caught up in a hectic schedule. But on her off day, she and Rajkummar decided to roam around Chandigarh. Nargis is a travel junkie and she frequently uploads pictures of her vacations on her Instagram account, says the source.

The actors explored the well-known locations in Chandigarh. Nargis and Raj Kummar first visited the famous coffee house in the city. After that, the two visited the Sukhna Lake, which is another popular tourist attraction of Chandigarh, says the source. The source further reveals that Nargis went on a shopping expedition, as she was keen on buying ethnic Punjabi wear. The actor decided to go shopping at a local designer store. She bought her first ever phulkari lehenga from there. Raj Kummar not only accompanied Nargis but also helped her shop, adds the source.

Nargis Fakhri poses in front of Chandigarhs famous Coffee House. (HT Photo)

Nargis Fakhri clicked with her co-star Raj Kummar Rao, during a shopping visit to a local designer store. (HT Photo )

The actors spent the entire day together and bonded well. The two actors share a friendly equation. This outing further helped in strengthening their bond, informs the source.

The two actors share a friendly equation. This outing further helped in strengthening their bond, informs the source.
Sanjay Dutts life has surely been an eventful one. From being one of the most popular actors of his time to being convicted for possessing a firearm, the actor has been through his share of highs and lows. And it seems colleges and companies are keen to get a first-hand account of how the actor dealt with his problems and brought his life back around.

A source reveals that many colleges and corporate organisations have been approaching the actor to ask him to share his experiences. Although Sanjay has shared details of his time in Yerwada jail with the media, he has been asked to do the same with college students and corporates. People are keen to find out how the actor got back on his feet again after such an experience, says the source.

The source adds that the actor was recently invited to attend a corporate event in Delhi. Sanjay spoke in detail about his time in Yerwada jail at the event. The actor talked about how he managed to stay optimistic under the circumstances. He also engaged in an interactive session with the employees, during which he answered their questions. Later, the actor left for Kolkata as he had to lead a similar session at a college event there, says the source.

A still in which Sanjay Dutt is seen walking out of Yerwada jail. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

Sanjay was not available for a comment.
The success of Jeffrey Archers 35-year literary career is undeniable. His bestsellers, including Kane And Abel, Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less and Honor Among Thieves, can be seen featured in most bookstores even decades after their launch. And thanks to a large number of fans in India, the writer has made regular visits to the country over the years. We met the 75-year-old on the last leg of a five-day tour in India for the launch of the final installment in the Clifton Chronicles series.

Jeffrey Archer launched his new book titled This Was A Man. (HT Photo)

You keep coming back to India. What fascinates you about the country?

Its been a love affair with India for some time now. And its an affair that has lasted. Its pretty exciting for an old man to walk onto a stage and see 2,700 young people screaming. And two-thirds of the crowd are women between the ages of 18 and 22. Im told that no author gets that treatment in India. Im a 75-year-old author and these young kids are shouting for me. Its wonderful to be here.

Jeffrey Archer takes a selfie with fans at a bookstore during a tour to launch his new book in India. (HT Photo)

Is there anything you dislike about India?

I used to disapprove of the way women were treated in India. When I first came here 30 years ago, they were second-rate citizens. Then I got to the group who began to get jobs, and that was about 15 years ago. Now, I think women here have a more equal footing. The head chef here [in the hotel Im staying at] is a woman. The flight I took to India was piloted by an Indian woman. Ive been saying that the crowd [of women] who came for my launch is going to dominate this country. Men are going to have to stay very alert.

Jeffrey Archer says he will publish a set of short stories next year. (HT Photo)

Now that the last book in the Clifton Series has been launched, is there a sense of relief?

I feel a sense of relief and loss because I got very attached to Harry Clifton [the protagonist] and Emma [Barrington], to Giles [Barrington], and the wicked Lady Virginia. They were a big part of my life for seven years. I am relieved how kind the critics have been about the series and the last book. So, I am glad on one level, but slightly sad at another. Im doing a set of short stories next. I have been collecting them for the past 10 years, and they are set to come out next March or April.

The 75-year-old author speaks about his new book at a bookstore in Mumbai. (HT Photo)

Do you find writing short stories easier?

They are easier in the sense that they have a beginning, a middle and an end within five thousand words. The challenges of 1,20,000 word book are different. But theyre just as demanding in the sense the reader wants to be satisfied and it is more difficult to satisfy a reader with a short story than it is with a novel. Every word has got to count in a short story. Every sentence they look at should matter. Because at the end of it [the short story] I want them to says Wow. So, yes its easier in theory but its just as demanding.

Tell us about some of your favourite short story writers.

Hector Hugh Monroe, who wrote under the pen name Saki, wrote a story titled Tobermory. Its the story of a cat who can talk. Its deadly because the cat sits in the corner listening to everybody. The story is very clever. He wrote another short story called Sredni Vashtar which is also a masterpiece. I put F Scott Fitzgerald, O Henry, Guy De Maupassant up there, but HH Monroe is the best short story teller. Theres also R K Narayan.

Youve been on a non-stop book tour in India. Did you get a chance to travel to other cities?

Its been an incredible week in India. Around 3000 people came to hear me speak at the Crossword Bookstore in Mumbai. It was amazing experience. Ive been to five Indian cities in five days. But the trouble with the tours is I dont get a single moment off. Every hour of every day is allocated to various activities. But I am not here to holiday, Im here to work. I definitely want to travel. I am yet to see the Taj Mahal.

Have you ever had a writers block?

Never. Im very lucky indeed. I have this tiny gift  to be able to tell a story. Im a storyteller not a writer. I handwrite every word and I write three or four pages ahead and after that it never stops. I think because I write long hand it helps. When the pen moves it helps me think. I am very afraid of typing and if I type instead of writing I am not sure the brain would react in the same way. I do like the slowness of the pens movement.

Jeffrey Archer answers questions about his new books and interacts with fans. (HT Photo)

Have you ever considered writing an autobiography on your life?

I wouldnt want to do that. The Clifton Chronicles are very autobiographical. I am Harry and theres a bit of me in Giles. My wife is Emma, my mother is Maise but I am not going to reveal who Lady Virginia is (laughs). Im a writer, please read my books. Dont bother with what I do. Its the writing that matters not my personal life.

What is the difference between your readership in India and UK?

Around 700 people paid 50 pounds to hear me at a speech I did in London, UK in Cadogan Hall but nobody pays for me here in India, which is fine. I regularly draw a thousand in London but my biggest crowd is in India. I get much more reception here. Its much more cross-section here. The chef came to see me because hes read my books, the man who brought me breakfast has read my books and there are more of such people in India, than anywhere else in the world.

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RBI governor Urjit Patel has said the central bank was taking necessary actions to ease the genuine pain of citizens in the wake of the governments demonetisation move, breaking his silence on the decision to scrap high-value banknotes about a fortnight ago.



In an interview to PTI, Patel said the central bank was monitoring the situation on a daily basis, urging people to start using cash substitutes such as debit cards and digital wallets. He said this will make transactions cheaper and easier, and help India leapfrog into a less cash-use economy at par with more developed nations.

This was the first-ever interview as RBI governor by Patel, who is known to keep a low profile.

Patels silence on demonetisation has been criticised by the opposition Congress party, which has said the RBI was kept in the dark on the surprise move. But the central bank governor got support from finance minister Arun Jaitley on Sunday.

After the Congresss Jairam Ramesh said Patel was either guilty of misleading the nation about RBIs preparedness or had sacrificed RBIs autonomy, Jaitley termed the attack unfair.

Patel told PTI that the new notes -- that of Rs 500 and Rs 2000 released after demonetisation --- have been designed to make it hard to counterfeit, explaining why the new bills were different in size and thickness.

When you are going to make a change of this magnitude, you need to get the best standards in place.

Read | Exchange of old Rs 500, Rs 1000 notes to continue at RBI counter

He stressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had explained why the withdrawal of legal tender status of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes was required.

...He had given a commitment to the people of India that he would clamp down on black money to bring in much needed transparency and accountability and eradicate counterfeiting...

People were holding high denomination notes to keep tax unaccounted for money. Some sectors like real estate were using cash to avoid tax. It also strikes at counterfeit currency and pushes businesses and people to go cashless which greatly increases convenience. Towards the last, banks have waived debit card charges, he said.

Modis surprise announcement to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8 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 RBI is interacting with the banks every day. They are telling us that the situation is gradually easing. The queues in branches and ATMs are shorter and the markets are starting to function, and there are no reported shortages of daily items of consumption.

Also, about 40-50,000 people were deployed to refit the ATMs. Currency is available and banks are working in a mission mode to lift currency and take them to their branches and ATMs. The staff members of all banks have worked very hard, and we all owe them our gratitude, Patel said.

Liquidity in the banking system has been increased; the intent is to normalise things as soon as possible.

Patel said the RBI has announced an incremental CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) of 100% because of the large increase in deposits of banks on account of the return of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, and the decision would be reviewed immediately once the government issues adequate quantum of MSS (Market Stablisation Scheme) bonds which they have promised to do.

Also read | Demonetisation: How govt rules changed as chaos increased
Two businessmen were detained and Rs 22.75 lakh in scrapped banknotes were recovered from them in Ahmedabad on Sunday, police said.

During a routine checking, we seized the money from a four-wheeler and detained Hitesh Kargathra and Mukesh Khoglavadra, when they were on their way to Morbi, JH Sarvaiya, inspector at Vatva Police Station said.

The seized money includes 2,898 pieces of old Rs 500 notes and 826 pieces in Rs 1,000 banknotes he said, adding those detained are associated with a ceramic business at Morbi in Saurashtra region.

Asked about the source of the cash, Kargathra said he had come here to collect money which he had lent to his relative here, Sarvaiya said.

The notes, seized under section 102 of Criminal Procedure Code, were handed over to the income tax department for investigation.
Four boys, aged between 10 and 14, were on Sunday detained for allegedly raping a six-year-old girl in citys Pimpri area in Pune, police said.

The boys from Anna Saheb Magar slum allegedly picked up a six-year-old girl, who was playing in the vicinity, and took her to a secluded area and raped in turns, officials from Pimpri police station said.

The incident came to light after the girl, who was traumatised, narrated her ordeal to her mother and later police were informed, they said.

The incident had taken place on Saturday.

Read | Four minors are raped every day, only 1 in every 3 accused convicted

A case of rape (section 376) and unnatural offences (section 377) has been registered under the Indian Penal Code, and relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, officials said, adding all the four boys have been detained.

Also read | Justice is elusive in a system obliquely insensitive to child victims of rape
Dozens of Pakistani refugees living in a slum settlement were rendered homeless as nearly 30 shanties were gutted in fire at north Delhis Majnu ka Tila in the afternoon on Sunday.

A senior Delhi Fire service officer said the fire incident was reported around 12:45 pm.

He said nine fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it was brought under control soon and no casualty was reported.

The affected families have taken shelter at their relatives in the settlement, having around 100 temporary shanties, police said.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has recommended to lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung that the recent appointment of serving VAT commissioner as member secretary of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) be withdrawn, terming it unconstitutional.

It is shocking that the member secretary was recently appointed to DCW by you without her name being nominated by the elected government. The government had already nominated a certain name and without considering it, Alka Dewan was nominated to the post. The appointment is unconstitutional and against the order of Delhi high court and DCW Act, Kejriwal said in his recommendation.

Preserving the autonomy of the Commission is paramount to its functioning. If the Commission will need constant approvals from the government for its various programmes and activities, how will it question the government authorities?

The present methods of arm twisting the Commission are dangerous and counter-productive to the well being of the women and girls of Delhi, he added.

The recommendation from the chief minister comes following a representation sent to him by DCW chief Swati Maliwal who alleged that the appointment led to stalling of the functioning of the Commission, subverted its autonomy, and was holding the salaries of contractual workers for the past three months.

Maliwal had last month claimed that the Commission will have to close down its mobile helplines and the rape crisis cell, as the member secretary to DCW, appointed by the L-G, had allegedly stopped releasing salaries of the staff and her being a serving VAT commissioner also made her appointment to DCW illegal.

The part time appointment of Dewan as member secretary to the Commission is therefore null and void. It is recommended that she may be immediately withdrawn and in future all appointments to the Commission are made only after due nomination of the same by elected government, Kejriwal said.
The world does not lack a shortage of humanitarian crises but among the most alarming and most neglected is the oppression of the Rohingyas, Myanmars Muslim minority. It is not only because the oppression is state-sponsored and because it has a brutal ethnic cleansing as its primary goal. There is good reason to believe it could metastasize into a full-blown case of genocide. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees has warned that the present wave of violence by the Myanmar military includes mass murders, physical assaults and rapes followed by the physical burning of entire villages. Thousands of Rohingyas have fled to Bangladesh, which recently closed its borders to further refugees. Presumably other Rohingyas have taken to the sea as they have done in the past.

Read: Myanmar pursuing ethnic cleansing of Rohingya: UN official

The provocation for the latest spike in violence is an attack, supposedly by a militant Rohingya group, that left nine Myanmar border guards dead last month. While the killing was reprehensible, the violent response by the Myanmar army is also reprehensible in every way: it is collectively punishing an entire ethnic group, there was no attempt to determine who was guilty of the attack and it is almost certainly disproportionate. There is a strong sense that Naypyidaw seeks any ready excuse to oppress its Muslim minority  or at times no excuse at all.

Read: Hundreds of Rohingya cross into Bangladesh, fleeing unrest

The international community seems to have put all its hopes in Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel peace prize-winner and global human rights icon. However, Suu Kyi seems to have concluded that given the antipathy of her people to the Rohingyas and her delicate relationship with the military, her best policy is silence and passivity. The world needs to find other means to pressure the Myanmar military in particular. This has its own problems. At the time of a growing great power rivalry in the Indo-Pacific, Myanmar holds an especially pivotal position. Countries like India and Japan, focused on constructing east-west connectivity as a response to Chinas north-south plans for Southeast Asia, are wary of bearding Myanmar on such issues. China has no interest whatsoever of raising human rights issues with any country anywhere. Combined with the belief that Myanmar is going to be the next Asian tiger economy, the result leaves Naypyidaw sitting pretty. A collective response is needed to neutralise this geopolitical conundrum. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations and perhaps South Asian countries like India and Bangladesh should consider engaging on how to offer a united front to Naypyidaw on the Rohingya issue. Malaysia and Indonesia have already begun taking more openly critical stances, but have constrained the debate by treating it as a matter of Islamophobia. New Delhi should begin to take closer note. If nothing else, there is now considerable evidence of the Rohingyas being recruited by Islamicist terror groups and Myanmars policies are directly responsible for this.
The human resource development (HRD) ministry is likely to table the proposed draft of the IIM bill in the ongoing Parliament session, now that it has received the law ministrys approval.

Sources said the law ministry had questioned the absence of a reference to the visitor  who happens to be the President  from the draft bill. However, the HRD ministry clarified that IIMs, in the final shape, will not have the President as their visitor. This means the President will not have the power to review the functioning of IIMs or order a probe.

All major government-funded institutes, including IITs and central universities, have the President of India as their visitor.

The HRD ministry has already responded, clarifying that it is a policy matter. The law ministry didnt raise an objection but a query. Everything has been sorted out now, said a source.

The proposed bill will be presented before the cabinet for its approval before being tabled in Parliament. If passed, it will allow the premier management institutes to give away degrees instead of post-graduate diplomas.

Sources said the ministry hopes to table it in the second week of December.

The President, in his capacity as the visitor, makes top appointments to all centrally funded institutes. He is also empowered to hold an inquiry into the functioning of an institute or its head. In the past, the President has given his nod for the removal of vice-chancellors of central universities as well as approval for probes into allegations of financial irregularities.

The draft bill also empowers the countrys 20 IIMs to appoint directors of their own choice. The HRD ministry has decided to give more autonomy to IIMs. The board of governors will be empowered to appoint their director, said a source.

Though the Prime Ministers Office had pitched for according greater autonomy to IIMs even during former HRD minister Smriti Iranis tenure, it was emphasised that the visitors post would be retained to ensure accountability in functioning.

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Despite a shortage of institutions offering the MBBS course, as many as 2,078 seats remained vacant in 83 of the countrys 417 private and government medical colleges this year.

This is a significant jump from the previous year, when such vacancies stood at a mere 28 seats.

A reply from the Medical Council of India (MCI) to an HT application filed under the Right to Information Act revealed that just 56,748 seats of the total 58,826 MBBS seats were filled  leaving as many as 2,078 seats vacant.

Read | Will dissolving the Medical Council of India help medical education?

Of these 83 colleges, four couldnt fill even 15% of the sanctioned seats. For instance, only 20 students took admission at the Ruxmaniben Deepchand Gardi Medical College in Madhya Pradesh while Glocal Medical College in UP snagged a mere 21. Around 130 seats were still vacant in each college.

Many colleges in this category were newly sanctioned by the Supreme Court-appointed oversight committee (OC).

Experts say this phenomenon highlights the need to launch quality colleges instead of setting up a number of inferior institutions every year. HT recently reported that many new medical colleges lacked even basic amenities. Most colleges violate the OCs order that the students list should be posted on their websites.

A senior MCI official said the data provided to HT may contain minor anomalies because some institutions were yet to submit admission details. As many as four lakh candidates cleared the National Eligibility cum Entrance Exam for admission to MBBS and BDS (bachelor of dental surgery) courses this year.

Read | Correct treatment: How India can be a world leader in medical education

In other words, there are over six students vying for a single medical seat. Experts believe poor infrastructure and lack of qualified faculty members are the main reasons for students rejecting certain institutions.

Good colleges are always in demand, but students reject the ones that have failed to live up to their expectations, said Dr KK Aggarwal, president-elect of the Indian Medical Association.

MCI lawyer Gaurav Sharma cited another reason for this development.

This year, the Supreme Court scrapped the management quota under which colleges used to demand capitation fee. Consequently, private colleges arbitrarily hiked their fees to levels that many students found unaffordable. While the annual tuition fee previously ranged anywhere between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, colleges increased it by 80% to 100% this year.

According to the RTI response, 46 of the 51 new colleges submitted admission data to the MCI. Out of them, 15 had admitted only 1,448 candidates against 2,200 seats. The remaining 31 were able to fill all their seats. Fewer admissions make it difficult for colleges to meet the MCIs minimum requirement of faculty and facilities.

Even if a college gets just 20 students, it has to maintain enough faculty members and facilities for the sanctioned strength  which could be 100 or 150 students. And if the colleges are found lacking in faculty members or facilities during inspections, they lose their permit to operate, said a senior doctor who conducts inspections for the MCI.

Read | MBBS might not be enough to be doctor as govt plans another qualifying exam

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Commenting on Prime Minister Narendra Modis promotion of digital banking through his Mann ki Baat address , the Congress on Sunday said the former is living in cuckoo land where ground reality is completely different from the statements he was making.

In India there are 350 million bank accounts, including a substantive number of zero balance Jan-dhan accounts. In a country of 1350 million people if only 315 million people have access to a bank account, that means the bulk of the transactions, especially in rural India is taking place in cash. So, the prime minister seems to be living completely in cuckoo land, said Congress leader Manish Tewari.

Further commenting on the Centres demonetisation drive, Tewari said that Prime Minister Modi failed to understand the pain he has unleashed on the country by his move.

The fact when a decision of the government has hurt so many people across the country, as it is the people who make up the country, then that action for lack of a better word is anti- national, he said.

Asserting that it will take 50 days for the situation to normalise post demonetisation, Prime Minster Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to the people to embrace digital banking to tide over the currency crunch.

In a renewed push for making India a cashless economy, Prime Minister Modi in his Mann Ki Baat programme said, Scrapping these notes has opened other avenues to make payments. Download apps of banks and e-payment options. Shopkeepers can keep card swiping facilities and everyone can ensure they pay safe using their credit and debit cards.

He asked traders and small shop owners to provide alternative payment methods such as using POS machines, e-payment wallets and other such friendly technologies to their patrons.

The prime minister said that by adopting such technology, even small traders can immensely increase their profits.

Read| Note-ban decision in national interest, to benefit poor, farmer: PM Modi
Three days after Bastars controversial inspector-general (IG) of police SRP Kalluri was admitted to hospital, the Chhattisgarh government on Sunday gave additional charge of the range to his Bilaspur counterpart Vivekanand.

IG Kalluri is suffering from problems of kidney and heart and undergoing dialysis in Visakhapatnam. He will take time to recover, so additional charge was given to IG Bilaspur, said DM Awasthi, additional director general (Naxal).

On talk that Kalluri was being sidelined as part of a political move, state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said, As per my information, Kalluri is seriously ill and it should not be politicised. The Congress leader, who had demanded Kalluris arrest a few days ago for alleged excesses, added, My fight with him is ideological not personal.

Incidentally, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had summoned Chhattisgarh chief secretary Vivek Dhand and Kalluri to appear before it on November 30 to explain the allegations of hostility and abuse of power against human rights defenders in the state.

The NHRC had taken suo motu cognizance of the nationwide outcry and protest following the registration of an FIR at Tongpal police station on November 5 against teachers, including Delhi University Professor Nandini Sundar, and activists for the murder of a tribal in insurgency-hit Sukma district.

It is unlikely that Kalluri would be able to appear before the rights body. Dhand has accompanied the chief minister on 10-day trip to the US and he too would not be able to appear before the NHRC on November 30, said sources.

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Audacious as it may sound, the Sunday morning Nabha jailbreak in Punjab seems to have been carried out with great ease.

It took the attackers just 10 minutes to get dreaded Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh, alias Mintoo, and five notorious gangsters out of the prison.

While the eyewitness account of the events raises questions about policing at the high-security prison, it also highlights the planning gone into the strike.

At around 8.45am, two policemen came to the Nabha jail main gate with a handcuffed man in tow, jail staff said. The two men  one dressed as an ASI and other as a constable -- told the prison guards they had come to drop a prisoner.

They were allowed in. In the jail, they asked the two policemen on duty for keys to the cells so that they could lock up the handcuffed man, jail sources said.

Read | 10 gunmen break into Punjabs Nabha jail, flee with dreaded Sikh militant

The policemen got suspicious and said they would escort the man to the cell themselves, asking the two men to leave. Suddenly, one of the men pulled out a dagger and put it in the mouth of the policeman who had told them to go.

His accomplice put a gun to the head of the second policeman and the two attackers yelled out, asking rest of the group, which was waiting outside, to come in.

They then opened fire, spraying bullets in all directions to pre-empt police action, sources said.

As the firing was on, an attacker called out the names of Harminder Singh and the five gangsters, who stepped out in no time.

The six men were taken out of the jail immediately and driven away in a Toyota Fortuner amid heavy firing, sources said.

The group timed the attack with the breakfast hour when prisoners are brought out of their cells, sources said, adding the response of the six prisoners indicated they knew of the plan.

The remaining members of the group fled in two vehicles and all it took was 10 minutes.

The attackers used automatic weapons and these could be the ones snatched from police in Jalandhar six months ago, sources said.

With assembly election due next year, the jailbreak is not going to die down soon. Politics aside, the attack comes as a huge embarrassment for the Punjab Police that has been flagging concerns about insurgents banding together to create disturbance in the state.

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The Centres demonetisation exercise has brought a rarely seen unity among opposition parties in Parliament, but they appear divided over the way they will protest against the measure on Monday.

The Left Front is intent on making its 12-hour West Bengal bandh to protest the scrapping of high-value banknotes a success, while the Trinamool Congress-led state government has vowed to foil it.

The state finance department has issued a circular stating that all employees would be required to attend office on Monday and Tuesday, and exceptions would be made only in case of bereavement, maternity leave, hospitalisation and other genuine reasons.

However, chief minister Mamata Banerjee said, We oppose bandhs. We will take out a protest march (against demonetisation) on Monday.

Read: No Bharat bandh, only protests over demonetisation, says Congress

Over 3,000 police personnel would be deployed in the metropolis on Monday to tackle any untoward incident, said Supratim Sarkar, Kolkata police additional commissioner of police (III).

Justifying the shutdown, Left Front chairman Biman Bose has said the strike call was necessary to register protest against demonetisation, which has caused sufferings to the people.

State Congress chief Adhir Chowdhury said his party would extend moral support to the strike called by the Left parties, with which it had allied during the last assembly elections.

In Kerala, ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) has called a dawn-to-dusk shutdown to denounce demonetisation, which has virtually crippled the thriving co-operative sector in the state.

Last week the state assembly had passed a resolution and decided to send an all-party delegation to Delhi. But the meet was called off after the delegation failed to get an appointment with the Prime Minister.

Though the opposition Congress-led UDF had supported the resolution, it is not supporting the shutdown. The BJP has termed the shutdown political drama.

A man releases a hot air balloon attached to a replica of the demonetised Rs 500 note, in Kolkata on Sunday. (PTI)

In Tripura, the opposition parties would oppose the strike called by the Left Front. The BJP campaigned throughout the state on Sunday and pitched the merits of demonetisation, while appealing to people to make the strike unsuccessful.

The JD(U) decided not to participate in the protests on Monday or the West Bengal CMs proposed dharna in Patna on November 30 because its leader and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has welcomed the demonetisation decision.

We have supported the Centres demonetisation move. How can we oppose or be the part of activity like bandh which is meant to protest the issue which our party has strongly supported, said Bihar unit JD(U) president Bashishtha Narayan Singh.

Read: Demonetisation has given Rahul, Mamata sleepless nights: Amit Shah

In Tamil Nadu, protests will largely be conducted by the DMK, as well as the CPI, CPI (M) and the Congress. DMK leader M Karunanidhi issued a statement saying that the Dravidian major plans to protest outside central government offices in all districts of Tamil Nadu.

Incidentally, the ruling AIADMK  whose leader, chief minister Jayalalithaa, is yet to make a statement on the demonetisation scheme  has decided to join the nationwide protest.

While the CM is yet to comment personally, AIADMK Rajya Sabha member A Navaneethakrishnan said the party was opposing the implementation of demonetisation because it is causing inconvenience to rural people.

In Assam, Congress workers have scheduled a protest rally at Guwahatis iconic Dighalipukhuri area at 11am. The protest call against demonetisation is not expected to have any impact in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, both ruled by BJP allies, and it makes no difference for Manipur, already experiencing an economic blockade for weeks.

Odishas ruling BJD will also not join the protests, with its leader and chief minister Naveen Patnaik having hailed the demonetisation decision. The Congress and five Left parties have lined up separate demonstrations across the state.

The opposition parties have been divided over the ways to protest demonetisation ever since Banerjee decided to march to the Presidents House over the issue. While she was joined by the AAP, National Conference and the Shiv Sena, an NDA ally, other opposition parties stayed away.

The Shiv Sena has backed demonetisation, but is unhappy over the way it is causing problems to people.

(With inputs from Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, Agartala, Patna, Chennai, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar )
Hundreds of marriages made in heavenly, but economically backward, trans-Giri region of Himachal Pradesh are giving the administration reasons to pry officially into the motives. Over the years, the region in Sirmaur district has become known as a place from where men from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab  states with a skewed sex ratio (the number of girls per 1,000 boys)  have found brides.

The recent rescue of a woman allegedly abducted for marriage forced the administration to look at a trend described as cross-regional migration of brides. Locals do not like to talk about this, but following the womans rescue, the administration in the regions Shillai area, about 240 km from Shimla, conducted a survey to assess the exodus.

The survey conducted across 140 villages revealed that in the last decade nearly 1,100 women from Shillai had married men in Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh, said Vikas Shukla, sub-divisional magistrate (SDM), Shillai.

The report was shocking. A majority of the women were enticed for marriage with the promise of better life, said Shukla. Not all the grooms were youth. He said the Union minister for women and child development, Maneka Gandhi, had sought information on this disturbing trend.

Several instances of migrated brides being sent back home, allegedly after facing mental and physical abuse, have caught the administrations eye. Many of these marriages are not registered and solemnised with the chunni-odhna tradition in which a bride and groom tie the knot under a sheet, according to a government official who did not want to be named.

Not all women who marry outside are abducted, but the survey has found the enticement is money, a big draw in the region where jobs are few and crop activities are limited to ginger and tomato. Many people from this region make up the workforce in various unorganised sectors across the state. It is generally known that people who come bride hunting either pay her family or purchase land for them. None of the people involved speaks about it, said the government official.

Pratap Singh Tomar, convener of the Central Haati Committee, an organisation seeking Scheduled Tribe status for nearly 250,000 people in the trans-Giri region, said, Not all the girls marry for money. They also look for better life. There is so much hardship here. The people in trans-Giri region make up nearly half the population in Sirmaur district.

Surinder Rana, head of Millah panchayat in the region, said, We have heard about some families marrying their girls outside for money. I have been trying to discourage this.

Incidentally, there have been reports of girls and women of the region being trafficked on the pretext of marriage. Sirmaur police busted an interstate racket two years ago. Three men from Haryana were arrested. Girls had been taken to Haryana on the pretext of finding a match, said Zahur Zaidi, inspector general of police (Law and Order).

The survey in Shillai has put the spotlight on the cross-regional migration of brides. Anuradha Thakur, secretary of the states women child welfare department said officials had contacted the Shillai SDM, and the social welfare department was conducting an independent inquiry. We will do whatever is needed so that women and girls dont have to make forced choices, said Thakur.

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The change that India needs is a new mindset for men about everything which concerns gender. No matter what class, caste or community, this one obduracy refuses to abate. No matter what safeguards and laws are enacted by the State, which it does under unrelenting pressure from womens groups, there is no banishing the benign contention that boys will be boys, men will be men! This adage holds true not just for India but for the entire globe, steeped as it is in a patriarchal mould.

My limited brief for this piece is Muslim women and the current storm over the issues of triple talaq, polygamy, propelling the move towards a Uniform Civil Code. So much has been spoken and written that I can imagine the reader not wanting to hear or read another word. So let me make my point by telling a story, my story.

Twenty years ago, I challenged myself to examine the condition of Muslim women in India. This impulse was born of a sense of guilt. I saw myself as one who, despite being Muslim, was never denied anything that really mattered in life. When I say mattered, I mean what mattered to my family, namely education, and that too the very best we could afford. Wealth was never on our mattered list. When I looked around, I saw my co-religionists, Muslim women, as the most wretched lot. At the time my interest in the matter was mostly academic.

I had just completed my work at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. In my eyes Maulanas stature had become huge. I found him one among three tallest leaders, not only of Muslims but of all Indians. I had also completed my translation of works of Maulana Altaf Husain Hali, who was Indias first and most profound feminist poet. He was the first poet who used his writings to lambast Muslims for their state of inertia and inability to lift themselves from the depths into which they have sunk. Despite these rehnumas, what made Muslims men and women lag so far behind, I asked.

To understand this, I decided to hold public hearings all over the country to which I invited Muslim women to speak out what was in their hearts. I selected 18 cities from states with large Muslim population. Another criteria was places where I could find partners who would understand my objective. For one year I roamed the country collecting facts, while continuing my other work as a member of the National Commission for Women.

At the end of the year I presented a report, Voice of the Voiceless Status of Muslim Women in India. I recorded that women had come out in hundreds at each of the 18 locations which were mapped in the report. They had spoken foremost about their abject poverty, then about the danger of being given arbitrary talaq and thrown out of their homes. Some spoke of polygamy and its squeeze on already meagre resources. Beedi rollers, zardozi wokers, domestic workers, labourers, women came in droves. All staggering under triple burdens.

The report was shared with the central and state governments, Muslim leaders and voluntary organisations. A special reference was made to the Muslim Personal Law Board (MPLB) who we met in the process of our documentation. We were assured by its venerable chair Maulana Ali Hasan Nadwi that our findings will find space in their deliberations.

So how is my story relevant to the subject of this piece?

Mine was one small struggle among thousands of struggles of women to get gender justice, whether in personal or public spheres. In each instance, it was the fiercely persistent women who got enlightened judgments on common issues such as violence, rape, sexual harassment and dowry. Although the same cohort, even after 30 years we are unable to get the Womens Reservation Bill passed. At central and state levels, men ensured that the bill died a thousand deaths.

Similarly, Muslim womens struggles have led to reversing of the intent in Muslim Womens (Right to Protection) Act 1986. The SCs liberal interpretation gave them right to maintenance for life during their period of iddat. Whatever gains women have been made are also due to feminist men who walk along with the women.

History will always remember Danial Latifi whose arguments led to the SC judgment. But the largest majority of men have no gender lens. In my own experience, the gains I made in my negotiation with MPLB under Maulana Ali Miyan have been negated by the current dispensation. Not only are they pursuing a lost agenda in their submission to SC but by refusing to see the imperative of internal reform they are exposing the most vulnerable Muslims to the rigours of a state which is avowedly against this second largest population of Muslims in the world.

The change that India needs is a massive crash course in dismantling the patriarchal order and looking at the world through a gendered lens. As regards Muslims, had those who call themselves Alims used their ilm to understand what thousands of women petitioners were saying to us, they would have themselves applied the corrective. And banned the obnoxious practice of triple talaq, called talaq-e-bidat (meaning forbidden), anti-Quran and anti-Islam. They would have banned polygamy instead of using the argument that the practice ensures that women are protected instead of being killed or burnt by disgruntled husbands.

This change starts with the child, both male and female. It is seeded at birth and nurtured at home and school. The process is long but its results are enduring.

The writer is an educationist, womens rights activist, and a former member of the Planning Commission of India
A 25-year-old man was arrested on Saturday for raping a Japanese tourist in Keralas Kovalam district, police said.

The 35-year-old tourist was rushed to a government hospital after she was found injured and bleeding in her hotel room on Friday, a few hours after she arrived in the coastal town, police said.

Teja, a resident of neighbouring Karnataka, was arrested the next day on the tourists complaint. His family runs a handicrafts shop in Kovalam.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at large about the plight of sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh while addressing a BJP rally in Kushinagar town on Sunday.

The rally comes ahead of the state assembly polls due early next year.

Here are live updates from the rally:

2.10pm: Ive asked 50 days from the nation. Were talking about stopping the black money, they (Opposition) are talking about stopping the country: PM Modi says.

PM Modi ends his address, asking people to choose between note bandi and Bharat bandi -- Note ban or all India strike called by Left over the demonetisation

2.00pm: Slamming the Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh for the condition of farmers, PM Modi says, I dont think this UP government will not be able to do any work. Theyre not even interested in this.

I want to tell the UP government that if they have time and are concerned about the farmers of the state, implement the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana: PM Modi in Kushinagar.

The Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme is to ensure farmers get adequate compensation against any losses due to crop damage.

01.45pm: The BJP government decided to pass on sugarcane dues directly to accounts of farmers, and not their agents or the traders. We ensured that there are no middlemen. When my government took charge, sugarcane farmers were to be paid Rs 12,000 crore. I made sure their dues were cleared: PM Modi in Kushinagar

01.35pm: PM Modi address the gathering, says the government is dedicated to the poor, to the farmers and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and each one of those who have shown trust in me.

I have come to repay your debt as the countrys Pradhan Sevak, the PM says.

01.10pm: Yogi Adityanath, the firebrand BJP MP from Gorakhpur arrives at the rally to a warm welcome backs Modis demonetisation decision.

A huge applause goes up as UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya asks the crowd to raise hands to show support for demonetisation move.

12:53pm: PM Modi arrives at the rally site. Crowd erupts with Modi Modi chant.

12:49pm: Now just ahead of PMs arrival former BSP heavyweight Swami Prasad Maurya attacks Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samajwadi Party and the Congress.

12:43pm: Rita Bahuguna Joshi attacks her former party -Congress - for criticism of the Modi government over surgical strikes and the crackdown on black money. Backing the BJP-led NDA governments demonetisation move, Joshi says, Modi would rule for several decades.

12.30pm: Former BSP heavyweight Swami Prasad Maurya and former UP Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi share the BJPs Parivartan Rally stage in Kushi Nagar where the PM Narendra Modi is expected after some time. Maurya and Joshi have already embraced the BJP in Delhi in the presence of BJP chief Amit Shah.

Watch PM Modis full speech here:



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Faced with severe fund crunch, the Congress in Maharashtra has asked its office-bearers to deposit Rs 1,000 every month in the party account.

The directive came a few weeks ago and before PM Narendra Modis demonetisation announcement.

Congress sources said the drive has been launched in the wake of paucity of funds for the upcoming elections to 27 district councils (Zilla parishad) and 212 municipal councils.

The elections begin on Sunday and the Congress is locked in a contest with the BJP, Shiv Sena and its one-time ally, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

A Maharashtra Congress leader said the party functionaries were asked to give standing instructions to their respective banks to deduct Rs 1,000 every month from their saving accounts.

This is not the first time the party has sought donations from its members to overcome the financial drought.

Last year, the Congress asked its sitting and former MPs and legislatures to donate Rs 1 lakh each to the party fund.

Several Congress candidates had admitted to the severe fund crunch during the Lok Sabha elections last year, adding that they did not get a substantial amount to contest polls.

The crisis reportedly continued during the assembly polls that followed.

Party functionaries blamed the paucity of funds on corporate houses moving away from the Congress.

Many big business houses sensed our defeat well in advance and swiftly switched over to the BJP, an AICC functionary said.

Reports about the financial crisis had prompted political circles to question the role of fund managers and the status of donations and funds collected during the partys 10-year rule at the Centre and in states such as Maharashtra and Haryana.

In February last year, the Congress had made it mandatory for each member to contribute Rs 250 per year to the party fund.

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Madhya Pradesh police arrested a 19-year-old engineering student for a social media post on demonetisation and attacking chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and the BJP on the issue.

Nineteen-year-old Abhishek Mishra, a resident of Chhatarpur, was first detained on November 11 and then arrested by cyber cell of Bhopal police on November 12 from a private hostel. Initially, the police kept the news of his arrest a secret. He was bailed out on November 13.

Police sources said cops seized the students laptop, mobile phone, accessed his accounts and deleted the controversial posts.

Calling himself an RTI activist and video maker in order to spread awareness among people Abhishek has been a critic of the saffron brigade. The demonetisation issue was his latest topic.

He has 16,000 followers and after his controversial posts were deleted the number of his tweets on his Twitter page read 45 on Sunday evening.

Police registered an FIR under section 469 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66C of Information Technology Act, 2000 against him at the cyber crime cell.

Town inspector cyber cell, Bhopal, Ravikant Dehariya confirmed the arrest.

Abhishek was involved in posting offensive comments and posts against the chief minister and other important dignitaries. He was also running a website. We arrested him, deleted all the posts from his Facebook and also blocked his website, he said.

But Dehariya refused to disclose the exact complaint against Abhishek. The arrest was made after collecting all the evidence against Mishra by the technical wing of cyber cell.

Despite efforts Abhishek Mishra could not be contacted.

However, Abhisheks lawyer Ajay Mishra said, After demonetisation, a newspaper had published news that police had seized money from the car of a BJP leader in Hoshangabad district. According to charges levelled against him, Abhishek had shared a photograph of the news and pasted the picture of chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

He added, Someone in the CMs house saw the post and informed the cyber cell and the police took action against him. The police also seized his laptop, dongle and mobile phone and some other electronic gadgets. Despite repeated requests, police are not providing the copy of the FIR, he added.

Additional inspector general of cyber cell (crime) Vijay Khatri said the cell was dealing with the case and it is the town inspector (TI) who would give all the details.

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The Nabha jailbreak has given the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) enough ammunition to corner the ruling Akali-BJP government ahead of the high-stake assembly in Punjab.

Alleging involvement of the Parkash Singh Badal government in the jailbreak, Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh said the incident had exposed a complete breakdown of law and order in the state, while triggering fears of revival of terrorism ahead of the assembly elections.

The manner in which gangsters walked into the high-security jail and freed a Khalistani terrorist along with other convicts shows complicity of the highest level, Amarinder said in a statement.

Reiterating his fears of terror attacks and other violent incidents in the state ahead of the polls, Amarinder said the rescue of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, accused in 10 terror-related cases, suggested an active effort from across the border to revive terrorism in Punjab.

Meanwhile, AAP national spokesman and Punjab in-charge Sanjay Singh has demanded deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who is also the state home minister, and jails minister Sohan Singh Thandals resignation.

By claiming that the Nabha jailbreak was the handiwork of Pakistan, Sukhbir has once again exposed himself to his irresponsible behaviour, the AAP leader said, adding that if it is true, Union home minister Rajnath Singh should also quit for failing to protect the international border.

Partys Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich said this was not the first time when Sukhbir has blamed Pakistan for ills in Punjab.
Punjab deputy chief minister and home minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday suspended additional director general of police (ADGP- Jails) M K Tewari and dismissed the superintendent and deputy superintendent of the Nabha high security jail after gunmen stormed the prison and freed Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo and five others.

The deputy CM has asked additional chief secretary (home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to submit a report on the incident.

Sukhbir also spoke to the national security adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval , apprised him of the details of the incident and updated him on the steps being taken to apprehend the culprits.

Police have also launched a manhunt to nab the escaped prisoners. A red alert has been issued throughout the state and security at all jails has been furthered tightened.

The Nabha jail is said to be the most secure one in Punjab. But the gunmen apparently did not face any opposition as they completed the audacious jailbreak in just about 10 minutes.

ADGP railways Rohit Chaudhary has been given charge of ADGP Jails while S Bhupati has been posted as the superintendent Nabha Jail.

The deputy chief minister is expected to visit the jail premises to assess the situation. Punjab DGP Suresh Arora is already in Nabha following the incident.

Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal held a high level meeting of civil and police administration including intelligence officials in the morning to review the situation following the jailbreak.

The state government has announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh to any person providing information leading to the arrest of the five undertrial prisoners.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed by the Punjab Police to investigate the escape of the prisoners. Prabodh Kumar, ADGP, Internal Vigilance Cell would head the SIT comprising Paramraj Singh, IGP/Patiala Zone, Ishwar Singh, IGP, Nilabh Kishore, IGP/Counter Intelligence, Amar Singh Chahal, DIG/Patiala Range and Gurmeet Chouhan, SSP/Patiala.
Navy chief admiral Sunil Lanba arrived in Colombo on Sunday on a five-day visit aimed at consolidating and enhancing the bilateral maritime security relations between India and Sri Lanka.

During his visit, he will hold bilateral discussions with President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and senior dignitaries including the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs, an official statement said.

The Admiral will also attend the Galle Dialogue which is being held at Colombo. The Galle Dialogue is an annual conference hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of Maritime Security and Cooperation between international navies.

Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event.

He will be delivering key-note address on Indias perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships, during the event.

There exists a robust Naval cooperation between India and Sri Lanka encompassing a wide span which includes operational interactions through bilateral exercises, coordinated patrolling along the common maritime border, training, port calls, capacity building and capacity augmentation initiatives, the statement said.

The Admiral will also lay a wreath at the Indian Peace Keeping Force memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka to honour Indian Martyrs, during his visit.

Lanbas visit also comes days after India and Sri Lanka held their fourth Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) on November 3.

Defence secretary G Mohan Kumar and the Sri Lankan defence secretary Karunasena Hettiarachchi co-chaired the meeting along with their delegations, comprising officers from the defence ministries, foreign affairs ministries and the armed forces of both the countries.

During the ADD, various ongoing defence cooperation initiatives were jointly reviewed and new avenues for cooperation identified. The regional security situation and issues of maritime security were also discussed at the meeting.
Ahead of Mondays nationwide shutdown called by Left outfits to protest demonetisation, the Congress and other parties distanced themselves from the Bharat Bandh but insisted they would hold protests across the country.

Breaking ranks, Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar has decided to stay away from the Janaakrosh Divas.

Kumar has supported Prime Minister Narendra Modis move to ban Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes, saying it would help fight black money. The Bihar CMs stand has earned him praise from BJP chief Amit Shah.

The Congress has clarified it did not call for a shutdown but would hold protests around the country. The main opposition party has accused the BJP of spreading misinformation on the strike call.

Modi had on Sunday slammed the Opposition for its bandh call, saying the country instead needed to put a stop, or bandh, to menaces like black money.

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, who has been at the forefront of opposing the currency switch, too, has spoken against the Left-sponsored strike.

The JD(U) will also not join Banerjees sit-in protest in Patna on November 3.

But Kumar dismissed reports of confusion in the grand alliance in Bihar due to divergent views of alliance partners the Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on the recall of high-value notes.

JD(U) leaders have also rubbished the speculation that Kumars stand indicated the coming together of their party and the BJP.

We have taken an ideological position in favour of demonetisation so how can we be part of any agitation seeking its rollback, JD(U) leader KC Tyagi said.

The Congress tried to downplay its allys distancing itself from the protests, saying the JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav was supporting the protests.

Kumar had walked out of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, protesting the alliance partners choice of Modi as its prime ministerial candidate.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu attacked the Congress for its protest plan. Congress is clearly rattled by certain transformational results, he said.

Realising the popular support to remonetisation, it is now calling its countrywide bandh aakrosh rallies. From this, it is clear that all of this is aimed at finding some space in the media as it has clearly lost its space at the debating forum of Parliament and in the minds of the people, Naidu said.

The opposition has launched an offensive against the government, accusing it of unleashing financial anarchy.

Former prime minister and Congress leader Manmohan Singh has termed as a monumental management failure the implementation of the currency switch. He said demonetisation was organised loot and legalised plunder that could see Indias growth dip by two percentage points.

Click for live updates of the protests over notes ban
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said demonetisation was an essential step taken in national interest for the benefit of the poor, farmers, labourers and the deprived sections of India.

Modis defence of the decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 banknotes came in the 26th edition of his radio show Mann ki Baat and at a time when the Opposition has launched an all-out war against the government over demonetisation.

The two sides are locked in a fierce battle over the decision that sucked out 86% of the money in circulation, leaving people scrambling for notes in a country where most transactions are driven by cash.

The government says the move is part of its war against black money but the Opposition accuses it of unleashing financial anarchy. The differences have cast a shadow on the ongoing winter session of Parliament that has seen regular disruptions and got little business done.

The Opposition has called an all-India protest day on Monday.

I have taken this big decision for the poor, the farmer, the labourer and the deprived sections of society, Modi said.

Warning black money hoarders against using poor peoples Jan Dhan bank accounts for depositing money, he said the law would deal with such people. The benami transactions law was a stringent law, he warned.

Some people have chosen to use the poor to convert their black money into white. Whether you improve or not, follow the laws or not, the law will deal with that. But, I want to tell you do not do anything that puts my poor people in trouble, Modi said.

He made a pitch for a cashless society, saying it would help the poor. We can start with a less cash society, Modi said.

The Opposition has often accused the government of being anti-poor and anti-farmer especially after its several attempts to push through a land acquisition law.

Labourers were not paid their wages in full, Modi said. They signed on a different amount but receive a lesser sum. When your wages are deposited in your bank accounts, this exploitation will end, he said. Thanking farmers for sowing more seeds than previous years, Modi added: Farmers have found the way out despite the difficulties.

Defending the currency switch, Modi said tax collections in 47 cities had gone up four times against last years around Rs 3,500 crore. This money will now be used to build gutters in a poor locality or supply drinking water to the poor, he said.

Modi also pushed for electronic transactions to end the menace of black money. Exhorting the youth to do their bit, he said one person should help at least 10 families in using mobile phones for digital transactions. I know you support this decision but I need your physical help and your time for this, he said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit back at Opposition for its all-India bandh call over demonetisation, saying the country instead needed an end to evils like corruption and black money.

The PM was speaking at the Bharatiya Janata Partys Parivartan Rally in Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

On the one hand we are initiating steps to curb corruption but on the other hand a few people are talking about Bharat Bandh, the PM said, to loud cheers from the crowd.

He described demonetisation as a cure to the 70-year-old disease of corruption.

Read | Our govt is for poor, farmers, Dalits: Highlights of PM Modis Kushinagar rally

Waving a full page newspaper advertisement put out by the government, he said all should go through it and put it up near shops as it teaches people how to carry out financial transactions with a mobile phone.

He also asserted that his government was fully committed to working for the welfare of the poor, farmers, women, Dalits and the backward classes.

During the speech in which he made a strong pro-farmer pitch, Modi said it seemed the UP government was not interested in implementing central schemes for farmers.

Alluding to the Samajwadi Party feud, he said if their infighting had stopped, the UP government should implement such schemes as the Centre was ready to spend on them.

I want to tell the UP government that if they have time and are concerned about the farmers of the state, then they should implement the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana, he said.

The Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme is meant to ensure farmers get adequate compensation against any losses due to crop damage.

Modi also said his government had decided to pass on payments against sugarcane dues directly to the accounts of the cane growers, and suggested that ethanol from sugarcane could reduce Indias fuel imports and ensure that farmers did not suffer a loss when sugar price fell.

Villages were never a priority earlier (for previous government), he said.

The PM, who began his speech in Bhojpuri, observed, So many people have gathered today in large numbers in Kushinagar. This shows your faith in us.

He added: I will never betray the trust the people have in me.

Describing himself as the countrys pradhan sevak (prime servant), he said he had come to repay the debt of the people.

Asserting that his government was keen to give an impetus to infrastructure in UP, he said, We want Poorvanchal to prosper, be it railways, fertiliser plants.

Uttar Pradesh cannot progress unless the eastern part of the state is developed, he added.

Read: Note-ban decision in national interest, to benefit poor, farmer: PM Modi

Earlier, former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) heavyweight Swami Prasad Maurya and former UP Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi shared the stage in Kushinagar.

Maurya and Joshi had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Delhi recently in the presence of party chief Amit Shah.

Joshi attacked her former party and said Modi would rule for several decades. She also backed the demonetisation of Rs 500 and 1,000 notes announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8.

Firebrand Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath, who arrived here to a warm welcome, also backed Modis demonetisation decision. A huge applause went up as UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya asked the crowd to raise hands to show support for the demonetisation move.

This was the PMs third Parivartan rally in poll-bound UP. He addressed the first public meeting at Ghazipur on November 14 and the second in Agra on November 20.

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About 10 gunmen disguised as policemen tricked their way into Punjabs high-security Nabha prison, stabbed a guard at the gate, fired automatics, and escaped with a Khalistani militant group commander, his sidekick and four gangsters in a daring jailbreak on Sunday.

The stunned jail guards offered no resistance and couldnt allegedly fire a single shot to stop the self-styled chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Harminder Singh Mintoo, his aide Kashmir Singh Galwadi and another four prisoners from escaping.

Besides the militants, the fugitives include gangsters Harjinder Singh alias Vicky Gondar, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon, Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta, and Amandeep Singh alias Bura.

Their rescuers fired more than 200 rounds before escaping in getaway cars  a sedan, a hatchback and an SUV. The entire operation lasted not more than 10 minutes, indicating the attackers were familiar with the jails layout and routine.

Read: Decoy prisoner to getaway cars: Punjab jailbreak planned to last detail

Uttar Pradesh police arrested one of attackers, Palwinder Singh alias Pinda, at Kairana in Shamli district later in the evening. A self-loading rifle, two rifles, bullets and cash were found on him.

When constables flagged down a Haryana-registered white SUV, he jumped from the vehicle and tried to escape. The constables chased and caught him in a congested market alley.

He has confessed to the crime. Mintoo was with Palvinder in the car but he got down at Panipat. Police have recovered two more vehicles used in the Punjab jail attack, a sedan and a hatchback, additional director general of police Daljeet Singh Chowdhary said.

Pinda was arrested for killing an assistant sub-inspector in Jalandhar in 2013. But he escaped this March with the help of aides when he was undergoing treatment at a Patiala government hospital.

The 49-year-old Mintoo was arrested in November 2014 at the New Delhi airport after he was deported from Thailand. He was wanted in at least 10 terrorism-related offences, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and recovery of explosives at Halwara air force station in 2010.

Galwadi, 30, was arrested for shooting at a Shiv Sena leader in Gurdaspur last April.

The 28-year-old Gurpreet alias Gopi is on trial for murder, kidnap, extortion and highway robberies. A trained flight attendant, he comes from an affluent family that owns brick kilns.

A reward of Rs 25 lakh was offered for information on the fugitives and a high alert sounded in Punjab, Haryana, UP and New Delhi with security around railway stations, airports, bus terminuses and other public places stepped up.

Deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal suspended the states additional director general of police (jails) MK Tewari and dismissed the jails superintendent and deputy superintendent. The railways ADGP, Rohit Chaudhary, has been given the charge of prisons.

Badal, whose Shiromani Akali Dal is facing tough elections next year, sniffed a Pakistani hand in the incident, saying the neighbouring country was desperate to revive terrorism in the state after Indian forces destroyed militant hideouts in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in surprise raids across the border.

Read: Punjab: Woman killed in police firing at check post after Nabha jailbreak

Pak desperate to revive terror post surgical strike. Could be behind jailbreak, Badal, who also spoke to national security advisor Ajit Doval after the incident, tweeted.

His father and chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal, ordered a probe and formed a special investigation team. Union home minister Rajnath Singh sought a report.

The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) found a handle to reaffirm their campaign point that Punjabs law and order have plummeted under the Akali-BJP alliance government.

State Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh said: The manner in which gangsters walked into the high-security jail  shows complicity of the highest level.

Punjab was in the grip of insurgency for almost three decades since the 1970s after several Sikh groups launched an armed campaign for an independent country, named Khalistan.

AAPs Punjab in-charge, Sanjay Singh, demanded deputy chief minister Badals resignation.

By claiming that the jailbreak was the handiwork of Pakistan, Sukhbir has again exposed his irresponsible behaviour.

The meticulous and swift assault shook the establishment as it follows a similar but controversial jailbreak in Bhopal on October 31, in which eight suspected Islamic radicals were killed a few hours after they escaped from prison. The two incidents put to question the security set-up in jails.

KLF chief Mintoo, police said, had spent time in Pakistan. The neighbouring countrys all-powerful spy agency, the ISI, has helped Khalistani outfits with money, arms and training.

The KLF remained among the most dreaded of the Sikh organisations fighting for a separate homeland of Khalistan till 1993 when several of its frontline militants were killed in a ruthless anti-terrorist campaign led by Punjab Police chief KPS Gill.

(With inputs from S Raju in Meerut and agencies)

Read: Nabha jailbreak: Punjab cracks whip on top cops, launches manhunt

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RSSs vision, which is for the development of humanity, will be the vision of the country in future, the organisations chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Sunday.

Addressing the volunteers in Bhilwara, Bhagwat said that RSSs vision was for the overall development of humanity and the world and this was going to the be the vision of the country in future.

He asked the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers to work with dedication to take the country to new heights and to make the nation prosper.

Solution to the problems will be there when the society is made good and this is the vision of the RSS, he said.

He said that when the Sanghs work will expand, the society will grow and prosper.

In order to unite the entire society and to develop the nation, we will have to unite our rivals and take them too along with us, he said.

Bhagwat was speaking at a function held on the concluding day of his four-day visit to Bhilwara. Other leaders and functionaries of the organisation were also present in the meeting which was attended by close to 10,000 volunteers who were clad in the new uniform.
Sri Lankas President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Donald Trump to pressure the UN Human Rights Council to drop war crimes allegations against the countrys troops.

Sirisenas office said Sunday he had sent a special message to president-elect Trump seeking US intervention at the council, where Sri Lanka faces censure for wartime atrocities.

I sent a special message to Donald Trump asking him to support us at the (council), the President said. I am asking him to help completely clear my country (of war crimes allegations) and allow us to start afresh.

Sirisena said he was making a similar appeal to the incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

However, during a visit by outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka last month, Sirisena had asked for more time to investigate war crimes, a sensitive political issue in the majority-Sinhalese country.

Sri Lanka has said it will set up special courts to address issues of accountability, but the promised judicial mechanisms have yet to be established.

There have been allegations that troops killed up to 40,000 minority Tamils during the final battle against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, a period when Sirisenas predecessor and strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse was in power.

Sirisena said he had been able to tone down a US-initiated censure resolution soon after defeating Rajapakse and coming to power in January 2015. But he was keen to secure Trumps help to have the allegations against Sri Lanka dropped.

The rights council has asked Sri Lanka to ensure credible investigations into war crimes, pay reparations to victims and their families and ensure reconciliation after 37 years of ethnic war which claimed at least 100,000 lives.

Troops still have a large presence in the former conflict zones in the north and east and keep a close watch on the local Tamil population, seven years after the end of the war.
A suspected member of the gang that broke into a Punjab jail and freed a Khalistani militant has been arrested in Uttar Pradesh, police said on Sunday.

Palwinder Singh, a wanted criminal, confessed to his involvement in the daring raid, police said. A cache of arms and ammunition was found in his vehicle --- a Fortuner SUV.

An alert was sounded in northern states after Khalistani militant Harminder Singh Mintoo, his aide and four gangsters escaped from the high-security Nabha prison following a raid by a group of about 10 gunmen in the morning.

Police recovered a self-loading rifle, two rifles, cartridges and cash from the 29-year-old Palwinders possession after he was arrested in Shamli districts Kairana, said Ajay Anand, the Meerut zone inspector general.

He has been taken at some secret location for interrogation. We have informed Punjab police, and the interrogation is underway, Anand said.

The car seized after Palvinders arrest. (Pic provided by UP police)

Daljeet Singh Chowdhary, the UP additional director general of police (law and order), said: ...Harminder Singh Mintoo was travelling with Palwinder in the Fortuner (now with UP police). But Mintoo got down at Panipat.

He said police recovered two more vehicles used in the Punjab jailbreak --- one Honda City and one i20. These were reportedly found in Haryana.

Javeed Ahmad, the director general of UP police, congratulated his force for the breakthrough in the case.

Well done Shamli police in nabbing one of the crls involved in Nabha Punjab jailbreak. Breakthrough in case. Shabash.  Javeed (@javeeddgpup) November 27, 2016

Read | Decoy prisoner to getaway cars: Punjab jailbreak planned to last detail

Palwinder was caught in a congested market area after two policemen chased his vehicle down. Police had been on the lookout for a Fortuner SUV, which was used to ferry the escapees from Nabha jail.

One such SUV, with a Haryana license number HR 20-AD 7659, was coming from Pilibhit when police spotted it at around 5:45 pm.

As the constables reached the vehicle, Palwinder jumped out with a bag and tried to escape. But he was pinned down. UP police announced Rs 50,000 each for the two personnel who caught hold of Palwinder.

In 2013, Palwinder was arrested by Patiala police in connection with the killing of a policeman in Jalandhar.

Five armed men freed Palwinder this March after firing on policemen at a civil hospital where he was brought for dental examination in Patiala.

(With inputs from HTC Lucknow and Patiala)
The ambitious coastal road project, a super-way to bring the city closer, may now be extended up to the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway through Vasai and Virar.

The Rs14,000-crore project proposes to connect Marine Lines in the south to Kandivli in the north with a 29.2-km road running along the coast. Plans of its extension were announced on Saturday by Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray during a site inspection with civic chief Ajoy Mehta.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has said the foundation stone for the first phase will be laid before next years monsoon. Meanwhile, the looming civic polls are likely to see allies Sena and BJP lock horns over credit for this, and several other infrastructure upgrades proposed for the city.

While CM Devendra Fadnavis boasts of having pushed the project with various state and Central agencies, Thackeray claimed to be committed to completing it quickly so commuting becomes hassle-free.

The first phase, between Princess Street and the Bandra Sea Link, will be completed by 2019, after which work for on the next phase will begin. We are proposing to extend the road to the Ahmedabad highway , Thackeray said on Saturday.

Mehta said extending the project till the Mumbai-Ahemdabad highway will also help decongest the arterial western express highway. The plan is in a very initial phase, and as of now, we are focussing on getting the first phase off the ground, Mehta said.

Another good thing about the project is, the iconic Girgaum Chowpatty will remain unaffected of this project, Thackeray said.

The coastal road proposes to connect the western suburbs along the coast, using a combination of under-sea tunnels, roads on reclaimed land and elevated roads. It will have eight lanes with two dedicated bus lanes. The project will require 186 hectares of land to be reclaimed, of which 91 hectares will be developed as green spaces. To speed up clearance, the BMC plans to build the road in phases  a south phase that may get faster environmental clearances owing to its location; and a trickier north phase, which needs mangrove and coastal land clearances.

Read:

Coastal road: BMC wants Centre to relax green panel conditions

Centre nod to reclaim land for Mumbais coastal road plan

Coastal road project: Bandra residents, fisherfolk unite to protest
The local police detained four boys aged eight, nine, 10 and 15 on Sunday for allegedly sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl at Annasaheb Magar slum in Pimpri on Saturday evening.

The survivors mother filed a complaint with the Pimpri police, stating that her daughter had been playing near her residence, when two boys arrived and took her to deserted area nearby. The other two joined them later, and then all four assaulted her.

When the girl returned home, she started crying. She narrated the incident to her parents after they asked her what had happened.

Read

Nashik on edge after teen sexually assaults 5-yr-old

Minor raped, burnt with cigarettes in Delhi, uncle arrested

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Phillaur MLA Avinash Chandar, who was set to join the Congress on November 29 after resigning from the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), has been left in the lurch with Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) chief Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday tweeting that Avinash was not joining the party.

The tweet in which Captain terms reports regarding the Dalit leader joining the Congress as mere speculation has not only put the MLA in no mans land, but also caused him embarrassment as it was Avinash himself who had announced that he would join the party on November 29.

Dalit leaders in the Congress claim that the PPCC chief was compelled to clarify his stand as his move to unilaterally induct former minister and five-time MLA Sarwan Singh Phillaur, facing Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation in Bhola drug racket case, into the party, met with a huge opposition.

Captain first inducted Phillaur. Now he was all set to bring another tainted leader (Avinash) into the party whose name has also figured in the Bhola drug case. Besides, some of his close associates have also been booked by the police in drug cases, said a Congress Rajya Sabha member, requesting anonymity.

He said Captain was forced to stop Avinashs induction as he also faced flak over his move to bring the former SAD leader in the meeting of partys screening committee in Delhi.

Sources said senior leaders from Doaba on Friday registered a strong protest before the Captain, citing media reports in which Avinash was shown as a ticket-seeker from Adampur.

When contacted, Avinash admitted that he had met the PPCC chief a few days ago. I dont know what Maharaja Saab has tweeted. I still believe in his earlier message in which I was asked to join the party on November 29, he said.

May be this tweet has come from a fake account. I am yet to get a call about any change of decision, Avinash told HT.

Meanwhile, sources close to Amarinder disclosed that he got upset after Avinash went on record in the media to disclose his joining date.

They said the second reason behind blocking Avinashs entry is his controversial past. He had been accused of using police for atrocities on Congress workers in Kartarpur and Phillaur constituencies, which he represented in the past two terms, respectively, they added.

Phillaur was inducted into the party because he earned great sympathy among Dalits after he was removed from the state cabinet in 2014. However, there is no such Dalit support for Avinash, they added.

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The unprecedented audacious act at the high-security Nabha jail on Sunday has once again brought under glare the chaos and corruption ruling Punjab prisons.

Jails have virtually lost their meaning and instead of serving as reform centres they are being used by gangsters to regroup and realign, recruit new members and plan crimes together. With easy access to mobile phones, they also execute crimes, run extortion rackets and plan their own escapes.

Also Read: Probe ordered after 10 gunmen break into Punjab jail, flee with Sikh militant

The police investigating the Nabha jailbreak incident is of the view that the six inmates who dashed to freedom this morning were in constant touch with those who had come to facilitate their escape. Since January 2015, 37 gangsters have escaped from custody while being brought for hearing and another eight have absconded while out on bail, in most cases with the active help of fellow gangsters.

Corruption nub of the problem

The nub of the problem is rampant corruption with jail staff allowing almost every comfort possible to the inmates for a price. Inmates, have access to mobile phones, sim cards, cash and drugs. In May, police conducted surprise checks of various jails in Punjab and recovered 65 mobile phones, a dozen sim cards, opium and other drugs besides cash. As many as 15 phones were seized from Nabha jail.

Also Read: Nabha jailbreak: Congress, AAP corner Badal govt

Inmates manage to smuggle these things either through the help of relatives who come to meet them in jail or during their visit to the court for hearings. Inmates also use mobile phones of the jail staff for a price. Similarly drugs, syringes to inject drugs, cigarettes, bidis etc are also supplied through the jail staff.

Shortage of staff and infrastructure

The jail department suffers from a perpetual shortage of staff to control the overburdened jails. In Punjab there are 26 jails which house over 23,000 inmates. The sanctioned strength of staff is around 2,000 but runs short of 300 to 400 persons. The department had only recently started hiring almost 560 jail wardens after the cabinet cleared additional posts for the department.

In order to enhance security inside and outside the jails, the department has been demanding a battalion of the Punjab Armed Police (PAP) for every jail but the police have not been able to spare its employees for duty in jails. Most of the jails in the state also lack basic surveillance and monitoring infrastructure and it was only recently that the police started installing jammers and CCTV cameras in jails.

From the Archives| Read: HT Spotlight: Gunning for the gangs of Punjab

The missed opportunity

Todays incident also comes in wake of the state government having shot down a move to bring in the Punjab Control of Organised Crime Act (PCOCA), 2016, to empower the police and courts to effectively counter gangsters. The draft act was proposed by the police but was put off by the cabinet on the grounds that some of its provisions could be misused by the police.

In the past five years, not a single gangster in the state has been convicted with 55 cases ending in acquittals. Of the 105 gangsters arrested between 1996 and 2016, only 10 were convicted. In most cases, witnesses turned hostile for fear of the gangster or a compromise was struck. But under the PCOCA, confessions made before a superintendent of police would be admissible as evidence.

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It is the sole power of the chief justice to appoint a person on any post in the high court, as per requirement.

Of this requirement, the chief justice is the best judge, the Punjab and Haryana high court has said, defending out of turn promotions to a driver, now protocol officer with chief justice. where the discretionary administrative powers are exercised by a competent authority in good faith and upon due application of mind, such exercise of discretion ought not to be interfered with unless there are strong and convincing grounds to show that the discretion vested in an authority has been blatantly abused.., Barinder Singh Romana, (officer on special duty) vigilance, HC, has said in response to a petition challenging out of turn promotions to Rajbir Singh.

Recruited as driver in 1991, Rajbir was given out of turn promotion in 2010 as senior assistant and later to superintendent-grade-II (deputy superintendent) in July 2014 and designated as protocol officer to the chief justice.

The 2010 appointment was done by then chief justice Mukul Mudgal (now retired) and subsequent promotion by then chief justice, Sanjay Kishan Kaul, days before his transfer to Madras high court.

Both the decisions of the then chief justices have been challenged by 18 high court senior assistants, whom Rajbir Singh had superseded in 2014. They have sought directions to promote them from the date he was promoted. They had also argued that service rules do not permit promotion from the post of driver to the post of senior assistant and that he could have been promoted only to the post of supervisor to the drivers.

The HC administration has sought dismissal of the petition with exemplary costs claiming that relief sought was after a delay of five years, since the date of Rajbirs appointment.

Defending the 2010 appointment from the post of driver to senior assistant, the HC says that being a graduate he was eligible to be considered for the post and was considered for appointment as he discharged his duties as driver diligently and efficiently.

The chief justice has the discretionary powers to relax rules even in a case of an individual keeping in view the spirit and ambit of Article 229 of Constitution of India in the administrative matters of the HC, the affidavit says.

On his promotion to deputy superintendent, the affidavit says he was promoted keeping in view his dedication ....meritorious service record as protocol officer, again by, discretionary administrative powers.

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Hitting the road once again for the second phase of road shows from his home district, Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday asserted that the party will get absolute majority in the assembly polls in the state, due next year.

People are disillusioned with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). We are confident that the Congress will form government with a two-thirds majority, he said after the completion of a road show in Ghanaur assembly segment, where he sought to reach out to people with the promise to waive off farmers debts and a vow to protect the river waters of Punjab at all costs.

Accompanied by his wife and Congress MLA Preneet Kaur and former MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur , Amarinder made several impromptu halts along the way.

CASH BAN BROUGHT VOTERS BACK TO CONGRESS

On the issue of demonetisation, he said, It has caused great hardship to the common man. This development has brought back middle-class and lower-class voters back to the Congress.

The idea of cash ban to curb black money was fine, but its implementation was totally unplanned, he added.

QUESTIONS SILENCE OF MODI, KEJRIWAL ON SYL

He questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal on the Sutlej Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.

On the PMs remark on the Indus water treaty as political posturing ahead of the elections, he said, Modi is raking the non-issue of the Indus treaty, which he cant undo unilaterally, as per the international law. However, he can scrap the SYL project as there are BJP governments at the Centre and Haryana while Punjab is ruled by SAD-BJP. Chief minister Parkash Singh Badal must talk to Modi in this regard, he added.

Referring to the Delhi CM, he asked, Why Kerjiwal remained silent on SYL during his six-day Punjab tour?

Describing SYL as a major poll plank, Amarinder said this region (Rajpura, Ghanaur and surrounding areas) was faced with an acute water crisis and therefore, the SYL canal would not be allowed to be built at any cost.

He refuted Badals allegation that he had carried a silver tasla and kassi for the foundation-laying ceremony of the SYL and said he had carried a silver tasla only once  during the 1984 kar sewa at the Golden Temple.

WHOS BALBIR?

Asked how strong is the AAP candidate Dr Balbir Singh pitted against him in Patiala Urban constituency, Amarinder asked, Who is Dr Balbir Singh? I dont know him. But I wish him good luck.

To a question, he confirmed that he is once again going to contest from the Patiala Urban seat.
A permanent exhibition of images of sacred trees of Sikhism, documented by retired Indian IAS officer DS Jaspal in his book Tryst with Trees-Punjabs Sacred Heritage, was inaugurated on Sunday in Nankana Sahib gurdwara, Pakistan.

It is for the first time ever that a permanent exhibition has been put up in the main parikrama of the sacred Nankana Sahib gurdwara, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, founder of the Sikh religion.

The exhibition comprises 21 panels. Each panel has an image of the sacred tree from Jaspals book Tryst with Trees, along with a brief description of its botanical features and the background of the shrine.

Prominent Sikhs including members of the Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) attended the function.

On the occasion, Khalid Ali, additional secretary, Evacuee Property Trust Board, said, the exhibition sends a strong message not only for peace and religious harmony but also of the relevance of religion in promoting conservation efforts.

In his book, Jaspal documented 58 sacred Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan which are named after 19 species of trees, like Gurdwara Babe-di-Ber, Sialkot, Pakistan; Gurdwara Nim Sahib, Patiala; Gurdwara Tahli Sahib; Gurdwara Ritha Sahib; Gurdwara Amb Sahib; Gurdwara Imli Sahib; Gurdwara Pipli Sahib; Gurdwara Jand Sahib; Gurdwara Phalahi Sahib.

According to Jaspal, although love and respect for nature and environment are common to every religion, the naming of sacred shrines after trees is unique to the Sikh religion.
Haryana has been put on high alert after 10 armed men attacked the high-security Nabha jail in Punjab early on Sunday and freed a dreaded Sikh militant and five others.

Inspector general of police, CID, Anil Kumar Rao told HT that high alert has been sounded. Our teams in Kaithal, Pehowa, Jind and other areas adjoining Punjab are on maximum alert. They are checking all suspicious vehicles. The situation is being constantly monitored, he said.

Also read | 10 gunmen break into Punjabs Nabha jail, flee with dreaded Sikh militant

The attackers were dressed in police uniforms and fired indiscriminately before fleeing with Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo and some gangsters from the Central jail in Patiala district.
Members of the Bhartiya Kisan Union-Dakaunda (BKU-Dakaunda) have decided to burn effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and stage a protests at all district headquarters on Monday to press him to accept their demand for increase in the cash withdrawal limit for agriculture purposes from banks.

The protests will be staged in front of the offices of all deputy commissioners (DCs) on November 28, where the farmers would raise their voice against the demonetisation. The union members claimed that the decision of scrapping the banknotes has left farmers struggling to buy fertilisers and other farm chemicals.

The union members were also annoyed over the decision of not accepting scrapped banknotes in co-operative banks. They claimed that these banks were the backbone of agriculture in Punjab and almost 70% farmers have their accounts in these banks.

The farmers are already stressed over the non-payment for the procured paddy and claimed that the government had not made payment for the paddy procured after October 22.

State general secretary of the union, Jagmohan Singh, said, We will stage a protest in front of the office of the deputy commissioner demanding increase in the cash withdrawal limit for agricultural purposes and change the decision on cooperative bank.

He added there are 800 branches of District Central Cooperative Bank in Punjab, having lakhs of accounts of farmers and labourers. Leaders claimed that banks have already banned all types of loans and it is becoming difficult for farmers as they do not have the required cash.
In the race of Political campaigning where political parties are busy defacing the city by putting political advertisements, banners and posters on private and public buildings there Municipal corporation has failed to crack down illegal hoardings and a few unaccounted uniploes in the city .

In a reality check done by Hindustan Times on Saturday it was found that be it a private building, government property, walls, pillars, water tanks, toilets, historical gates of Amritsar, electricity and the list is endless.

Notably it was found that due to political patronage of the ruling government there is a clear monopoly of SAD-BJP political advertisements where they have exhibited their schemes and developmental works.

But a source from Municipal corporation on the condition of anonymity shared that despite there is monopoly of SAD the public relation department of the government after a proper tendering has hired private advisers who are further paying rent and advertisement tax to the corporation thus not every unipole and hoarding in city can be called as illegal. But there are a few unipoles and also banners and hoardings which are not accounted for they need to be checked by the department.

Though everything is happening so blatantly and right under the nose of Municipal Corporation but MC, which is custodian and lawmaker for advertising policy seems to be in a deep slumber over the issue.

Political parties are flouting the rules and city is dotted with these illegal political banners, posters and hoardings which have not only defaced the city but also has become a cause of concern for many residents as there private buildings have been used for the same, these posters are also dotted outside house walls which is giving trouble to the residents.

Various areas in the city where hoardings of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal other political leaders were found.

Major areas where this poster campaigning has become a concern for the residents is Durgiana Temple area, Gate Hakima, Khazana gate, Sultanwind gate, Mall road, Chheharta, Batala road, Lahori gate and others. Besides hoardings illegal political advertisements are also found on private buildings of shopping centers which is being objected by the shop owners. This violation is also seen on electricity poles.

 Outdoor advertisement laws are not being followed by political parties , they are violating rules for now but when there would be code of conduct only the legal hoardings for which party is paying expenses would be held back and rest unaccounted would have to be taken off . Unipoles for which contractors would be paying rent would stay back rest can be questioned as they are unaccounted, said he

Notably these illegal hoardings have also been found on PWD building and various bus stops of the city especially the stops which have recently come up under the ambitious BRTS project. In the absence of proper execution of the orders by the authorities concerned, illegal hoardings can be seen within and outside municipal corporation limits creating problem for commuters as well. These hoardings have also been seen in newly inaugurated heritage street area , which if not curbed would deface the project.

In the previous interview with HT, Municipal Corporation Commissioner Sonali Giri assured that they would conduct a exercise to monitor roadsides defacement but things seem to be in pipeline.

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Family members of a six-year-old boy, who died at Deep Hospital on Saturday morning, created ruckus by breaking glasses and furniture in the hospital, forcing police to come to the spot to handle the situation.

The police have booked an attending nurse for negligence.

The boys mother Preeti Rani, a resident of Dashmesh Nagar on Gill Road, said that her son, Shivan, had a problem in his throat, so he was admitted to the hospital on November 18, where doctors informed that Shivan had developed pus in his throat.

Rani claimed that till Friday, her son was recovering but on Saturday when a nurse injected medicine in the glucose bottle, blood started oozing from his nose after which his condition became critical. She also claimed that Dr Baldeep Singh, the owner of the hospital, did not respond to calls.

Even when the hospital authorities informed about the violent protests, the police reached the spot after 40 minutes. While there were nearly 60-70 protesters, only 10-12 police personnel initially came, and more force was called in later.

Senior police officials, including deputy commissioner of police Dhruman Nimbale, rushed to the spot to try and pacify the family and members of the Valmiki community, to which the boy belonged, who had gathered and were protesting against the hospital authorities.

When Dr Singh was contacted, he said the allegations levelled against the hospital were not correct. The doctors who were treating the patient are very senior and cannot be blamed for any negligence. Even I was present at the hospital when the incident happened, but was busy with another patient. But a doctor was immediately sent to check the child.

Station house officer (SHO) of Model Town, Gurdev Singh, said a case has been registered against the attending nurse Kamlesh under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code.

Patients, attendants inconvenienced

Panic gripped the hospital where many patients were left panicked due to the protest in the hospital.

Attendants of the patients were also disturbed due to the protest that lasted for four hours, as they had no place to sit. Blood stains caused due to injuries to protesters when they broke glasses also worried the patients and their attendants.
Britains equalities and human rights watchdog on Sunday regretted attempts to legitimise hate after the June 23 Brexit vote that increased divisions in society and sparked a wave of hate crime against minorities.

The Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) wrote to Britains political parties to express its concern and ask politicians of all sides to be aware of the effect on national mood of their words and policies, even when they are not enacted.

The police have recorded an upsurge in hate crime since the EU referendum.

Trolls also targeted two former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major last week for suggesting a second referendum on leaving the EU.

The EHRC letter states: After the referendum, politicians of all parties spoke about the need to heal the country and bring people together. However, since those early weeks there is growing concern that the divisions on a range of big questions are widening and exacerbating tensions in our society.

Citing examples of hate crime, it adds: We are concerned that attacks on supporters of both sides of the Brexit debate have polarised many parts of the country. There are those who used, and continue to use, public concern about immigration policy and the economy to legitimise hate.

The vast majority of people who voted to leave the European Union did so because they believe it is best for Britain and not because they are intolerant of others.

The letter, which is co-signed by its chairman David Isaac and chief executive Rebecca Hilsenrath, said politicians had spoken about "the need to heal the country and bring people together" following the referendum.

But instead, it said there is growing concern that the divisions on a range of big questions are widening and exacerbating tensions in our society.

Latest Home Office figures showed racist or religious abuse incidents recorded by police in England and Wales jumped 41% in the month after Britain voted to quit the EU.

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China has asked Muslim citizens to resolutely oppose religious extremism and stick to socialism with Chinese characteristics as it tightened security in the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province with stern measures.

Chinese Muslims should resolutely oppose religious extremism, Wang Zuoan, chief of the state administration for religious affairs, said.

In his address at the 10th National Congress of Chinese Muslims on Saturday, Wang said the development of Islam in China should stick to socialism with Chinese characteristics, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

While respecting Muslims beliefs and customs, religious interference in the fields of politics, justice and education is intolerable, Wang said.

It is strongly advocated that new mosques should demonstrate Chinese characteristics and national features, instead of deliberate copying foreign architectural styles, Wang said.

He also said he appreciated the work of the Islamic Association of China (IAC) during the past five years.

The IAC should foster Islamic clergy and actively carry out friendly exchange with foreign countries, Wang said.

His comments came as China has tightened rules for religious ceremonies and directed residents in Xinjiang province to surrender their passports in a bid to restrict their attempts to migrate abroad.

People of the province have been told to surrender their passports to local police stations for examination and management.

Those who refuse to hand in their passports should bear the responsibility themselves if they are forbidden from going abroad, the local government directive said last week.

Also Xinjiang has established religious committees and residential communities to manage religious practices since September, requiring local residents to report their religious activities or activities attended by religious people, including circumcision, weddings and funerals, La Disheng, a professor at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Xinjiang regional committee, said.

Getting a passport is often complicated and takes more time in Xinjiang than in other provinces, given the rising threat of terrorism in the region and the governments ongoing anti-terrorism campaign, an official in the province said.

The new passport followed steady migration of Uyghurs, Turkik speaking Muslims to Turkey and several other countries.

According to reports, several hundred Uyghur youth have been fighting along with Islamic State in Syria and China apprehends that the battle-hardened militants may return to cause more violence in the troubled province.

Resource-rich Xinjiang, bordering PoK and Afghanistan was on the boil for over six years following unrest among Uyghur Muslims over the increasing settlements of Han Chinese from other provinces.

The province has witnessed some deadly terror attacks in recent years which also spread to Beijing and other parts of China. The attacks were officially blamed on the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) which is linked to al-Qaeda in the past and now Islamic State.
General Qamar Bajwas pro- democracy credentials and his low profile influenced Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appoint him to the powerful post of army chief superseding four top generals, Pakistani media and experts commented on Sunday.

A careful review of General Bajwas profile clearly reflects that his pro-democracy credentials earned him the post of Chief of Army Staff, Pakistani newspaper The News commented, a day after PM Sharif appointed Gen Bajwa to succeed Gen Raheel Sharif .

The media commented that PM Sharif wanted to appoint an army chief who should be military expert as well as backing democracy in the Islamic nation.

The military has been in charge of the country for more than half of Pakistans nearly 70-year history since independence from Britain.

Read: Experience in Kashmir affairs was Gen Bajwas key to Pak Armys top post

All the four generals being considered for the post of COAS were passed out from military academy on the same day but undoubtedly General Bajwa has an experience more diversified than all others. General Bajwas caliber, credentials, experience and holding the biggest core also helped him to be appointed the Chief of Army Staff, the report said.

Another leading daily, the Dawn, said, Gen Bajwas relatively more moderate view of the relationship with the civilian government, it is said, proved to be the decisive factor in Prime Minister Sharifs decision.

One of Gen Bajwas former commanding officers told the paper that the COAS-designate is a strong proponent of the army not intruding into civilian space.

Under the watch of the outgoing army chief Sharif, the civil-military balance of power had titled more in militarys favour, the report said.

Read: General Qamar Javed Bajwa named new Pakistan Army chief

With his elevation as army chief, Gen Bajwa has now superseded Lt Gen Syed Wajid Hussain (chairman of Heavy Industries Taxila), Lt Gen Najibullah Khan (DG Joint Staff Headquarters), Lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed (Corps Commander Multan) and Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday (Corps Commander Bahawalpur).

The Dawn also said that PM Sharif named the new military command, appointing Gen Bajwa and Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), respectively, in the hope of stabilising the fragile civil-military balance.

While the office of CJCSC is technically the more senior position  as he serves as the principal military adviser to the prime minister and the National Command Authority (NCA)  the office of army chief is the most prized and arguably the most powerful position in the country, the paper said.

Bajwa, an infantry officer, has commanded the famed 10 Corps, the armys largest, which is responsible for guarding the area along the Line of Control (LoC) with India.

On a personal level, Gen Bajwa is said to be witty, accessible, well-connected with the troops and not fond of the limelight.
Racist mock Pakemon stickers featuring London mayor Sadiq Khan and US President Barack Obama have appeared in London with a tagline urging people to deport them all, prompting police to probe the hate crime, media reports said on Sunday.

The stickers with the tagline Gotta catch and deport them all, have been put up by unidentified persons on bus stops, cashpoints and at tube stations in London.

Police are investigating the hate crime after the stickers, mock-up versions of Pokemon cards mimicking the real games slogan Gotta catchem all, appeared, Metro.co.uk reported.

One such poster has given the name Hamaskhan to Mayor Khan, an an apparent attempt to link him to Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, it reported.

It states, Description: Probably the most dangerous Pakemon, Hamaskhan believes that Londoners should learn to accept Islamic terrorism whilst he is mayor. Weaknesses: Hamaskhans hatred of Christians and Jews will result in him losing power and a long prison sentence.

One sticker features Obama, describing him as the USAs Muslim in Chief, the report said.

Another shows white Muslim convert Jordan Horner, who had called for Shariah Law in London, stating, Gingermo is not a true Pakemon, having converted to Islam believing he might make some friends who are as angry and weak-minded as himself, it reported.

(Photo: Twitter)

Stickers have been reported all over the capital, including Bromley, Surbiton and Waterloo.

Some Twitter accounts have been sharing the photos of the stickers, urging people to swap and collect them.

Meanwhile, British Transport Police (BTP) has urged people to report any sightings of the stickers.

British Transport Police is committed to preventing incidents of hate crime and prejudice and all incidents of this nature are investigated thoroughly.

Everyone has the right to travel on the rail network without fear or intimidation. Racially or religiously motivated crime will simply not be tolerated, a BTP spokesman said.
Firefighters have extinguished blazes that ravaged Israel and the occupied West Bank for five days and forced tens of thousands to flee, authorities said Sunday, blaming arsonists for some outbreaks.

There were no deaths but some 122 people were treated for injuries, mainly due to smoke inhalation, medical officials said.

Around 700 homes were damaged or destroyed as the blazes fed by high winds and dry conditions ripped through thousands of hectares.

In recent days, firefighting planes from a list of countries could be seen sloping low over the hills of the occupied West Bank and Israel dropping tonnes of water and retardants.

At one point last week, flames towered over an area near Jerusalem, and residents on Sunday were left surveying their charred homes and businesses.

There are no active sites left, fire and rescue service spokesman Yoram Levy told AFP. Since last night its pretty calm. We have no new activity.

According to Levy, firefighters dealt with about 2,000 fires in Israel and the West Bank, 20 of them major.

A foreign firefighting plane helps extinguish a fire over the village of Nataf close to Jerusalem, as it helps extinguish an ongoing fire in the area, on November 26, 2016. (AFP)

The Israeli authorities suspect that some of the fires were set alight on purpose and linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Sunday that 17 of 110 fires in the West Bank were so far determined to be arson, without providing further details.

Speaking at the Israeli settlement of Halamish in the West Bank, where dozens of homes were damaged at the weekend, he said Israel should respond to any arson by building more settlement homes.

Police have arrested 23 people suspected of lighting fires and interrogated another seven.

However, Palestinian authorities also joined in the massive international effort to douse the fast-spreading fires and have pointed to damage to their crops and land.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a rare phone call to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday to thank him for those efforts.

Lieberman also thanked the Palestinians.

Levy noted forces were still on high alert due to dry conditions and high winds that were not expected to change prior to rainfall expected on Wednesday.

In an example of the risks, a forest fire was extinguished on Sunday near Kiryat Malakhi in southern Israel.

Supertanker, international effort

The American 747 supertanker helps extinguish a fire over the village of Nataf close to Jerusalem, as it helps extinguish an ongoing fire in the area, on November 26, 2016. (AFP)

Israeli firefighters had since Tuesday been battling wildfires throughout the country which on Thursday hit major city Haifa, forcing tens of thousands to evacuate their homes.

Around 1,000 residents of Halamish near Ramallah in the West Bank had to flee at the weekend.

Some 45 homes there were damaged or destroyed by fire, police said.

Firefighting planes from Israel and countries including Russia, Turkey, Greece, France, Spain and Canada dumped tonnes of water and retardants.

A US Supertanker, considered the largest firefighting aircraft in the world, joined the emergency operation on Saturday.

Palestinian authorities sent 41 firefighters and eight trucks on Friday. They helped with fires in Haifa and the Jerusalem area, and returned to the West Bank on Saturday night.

Israels Nature and Parks Authority said tens of thousands of hectares of forest and shrubland had burned.

Fires that hit Palestinian areas of the West Bank were also out by Saturday night, with the Ramallah-based Civil Defence saying it had dealt with 143 blazes which burnt crops and trees but caused no casualties.

Speaking at Halamish on Sunday, Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said that the person who threw the firebomb -- which was found -- that lit the fire here tried to murder the residents of an entire settlement, no less.

Israeli authorities had not confirmed the Halamish fire was started by arson.

Dozens of olive trees in the area of the Palestinian village of Deir Nizam near Halamish were also destroyed, while five Palestinian villages were without electricity overnight, residents told AFP.
Israeli aircraft struck a machine gun-mounted vehicle inside Syria Sunday, killing four Islamic State-affiliated militants inside after they had opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, the Israeli military said.

Israel has been largely unaffected by the Syrian civil war raging next door, suffering only sporadic incidents of spillover fire over the frontier that Israel has generally dismissed as tactical errors of the Assad regime. Israel has responded to these cases lightly, with limited reprisals on Syrian positions in response to the errant fire.

But Sundays event, in the southern part of the Golan Heights, appears to be a rare case of an intentional shooting ambush by Islamic militants targeting Israeli troops.

Read | Turkey army says 22 Syrian rebels hit by IS chemical attack

Lt Col Peter Lerner said the Israeli patrol came under machine gun and mortar fire early Sunday. They returned fire toward Syria before an Israeli aircraft engaged, striking the vehicle in question and killing its passengers. He said all were suspected militants from an IS offshoot that controls the area. No Israeli troops were harmed.

Though Israel has generally stayed on the sidelines of the fighting, fearing being sucked into a clash between forces that are all hostile to it, it is widely believed to have carried out airstrikes on arms shipments said to be destined for the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a close ally of the Syrian government.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and the two countries remain enemies.

Read | IS-linked militants under siege in Philippine President Dutertes home town

Amos Yadlin, a former military intelligence chief and current director of the Institute for National Security Studies, an independent think-tank, said it was too early to determine whether the attack marked a shift in IS policy or just a local initiative by some of its fighters.

He said IS has been very careful to avoid attacking Israel to this point since it has been engaged with so many other adversaries. But with its back against the wall in Syria and Iraq, he said they may be looking for a propaganda victory by targeting Israel. He said they were capable of far worse than a routine ambush.

We will have to watch closely in the future to see if this is a change of policy, Yadlin said. I dont think this is a planned strategy.
There will be no immediate shift in Pakistans military policy under the new army chief, the countrys defence minister said, after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed a new military leader on Saturday.

Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa will replace retiring army chief Raheel Sharif when his three-year term ends on Tuesday, a rare example of a smooth transition in a nation where army chiefs have a history of clinging to power.

General Sharif, who is not related to the prime minister, proved popular with ordinary Pakistanis. However, during his tenure, relations between the army and the civilian government have often been tense.

The army plays a big role in Pakistani politics, including dominating foreign policy strategy on key areas such as relations with India, Afghanistan and the United States. The military also runs a vast business empire.

Relations abroad have also frayed, with the United States and Afghanistan complaining of a lack of action by Islamabad against Afghan Taliban militants based on Pakistani soil, while a stand-off with India over Kashmir has soured relations.

Zahid Hussain, a security analyst, said heightened tensions with India, kept inflamed by fierce cross-border shelling in the Kashmir region, means in the short term the army was likely to maintain a tight grip on foreign policy issues related to India.

Since the tension is so high, Nawaz (Sharif) is not in a position to manoeuvre out of that, Hussain said.

Bajwa was one of several high-ranking candidates put forward for the job by the army but little is publicly known about him or his ideological stance on key issues, including relations with India or how to tackle home-grown Islamist militants.

Read | Experience in Kashmir affairs was Gen Bajwas key to Pak Armys top post

Defence minister Khawaja Asif dampened any expectations that Bajwa would immediately push for a radical policy shift.

The military policy will continue and there will be no immediate change in it, Asif told Geo News TV channel.

The legacy of General Raheel Sharif would continue in the light of the examples he set, Asif added.

Security in Pakistan has vastly improved during General Sharifs tenure, but the country remains vulnerable to internal strife, with Islamist militant groups carrying out major bomb and gun attacks. In recent months, a hospital, a mosque and a police training college have been targeted.

Islamic State, which has claimed several large-scale attacks in recent months, is also trying to establish a foothold in the nuclear armed nation of 190 million people.

The United States on Sunday issued a statement welcoming Bajwas appointment and said it wanted to assist Pakistan with its domestic and regional counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism efforts.

In a statement, the U.S. embassy in Islamabad also said it wanted to help Pakistani authorities to honour their pledge to prevent the use of Pakistans soil for terrorist attacks against its neighbours.

India has in recent months sought to isolate Pakistan after an Indian army base in the disputed Kashmir region was attacked and 18 soldiers killed in a September raid that New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based militants. Islamabad denies involvement.

Also read | Gen Bajwas pro-democratic credentials helped him: Pak media on new army chief
Prime minister Prachandas coalition government failed to keep its promise of registering the Constitution amendment bill in Nepals Parliament on Sunday as uncertainty loomed over the process.

The government was supposed to move the amendment bill in the Parliament so as to accommodate the demands of the agitating Madhesi and ethnic groups that include citizenship and boundary demarcation issues among others.

Also a Cabinet meeting on Sunday failed to discuss the Constitution amendment bill, which was supposed to be registered at the Parliament Secretariat today.

Minister for information and communications Surendra Kumar Karki told reporters after the meeting that the issue was not discussed owing to prime minister Prachandas busy schedule.

The governments failure to register the motion comes in the wake of growing opposition of the CPN-UML to amending the Constitution.

Meanwhile, talking to a delegation of an indigenous group, prime minister Prachanda said, final decision regarding the Constitution amendment will be made only after consulting the top leaders of the ruling parties.

Talking to prominent indigenous leader Padmaratna Tuladhar, the Premier said the matter relating to Constitution amendment has reached its final stage.

The representatives of the Indigenous and Ethnic group has demanded that the number of provincial units should be increased to ten instead of current seven state model as per the recommendation made by the committee for state restructuring and power sharing, sources said.

Madhesis, mostly of Indian-origin, had led months-long violent protest seeking better representation in the Parliament and the federal structure of the Constitution that divides their ancestral homeland.

Re-demarcation of the provincial boundary and citizenship issue were the two major demands put forth by the agitating Madhesi parties.
President-elect Donald Trump and his top aides on Sunday doubled down on their criticism of Hillary Clintons camp for joining a vote recount in Wisconsin, terming the decision ridiculous and a waste of time.

With the recount threatening to revive debate about the legitimacy of Trumps victory -- Clinton won far more popular votes, while he carried the all-important Electoral College count -- Trump aides pushed back hard on Sunday.

In his latest early-morning Twitter storm, Trump quoted Clinton about the need to respect the electoral process, calling the presidential vote recount sad. It is time for people to accept the November 8 result and move ahead, he said on Saturday.

Trumps top aide Kellyanne Conway appeared on Sunday to at least hint that if the Clinton team pushes too hard on the recount, the president-elect might rethink his vow not to seek Clintons prosecution for using a private email server when she was secretary of state.

While Trump was being magnanimous toward Clinton, I guess her attitude towards that is to have her counsel go and join this ridiculous recount, Conway said on ABC.

And Reince Priebus, Trumps chief of staff, said that while the president-elect is not seeking methods and ways to persecute and prosecute Hillary Clinton, Trump would probably be open to listening should any new findings against her emerge from future investigations.

Legal right

There was no immediate reaction from the Clinton team, but Bernie Sanders, Clintons Democratic rival in the primary race and now a member of the Senate leadership, defended the recount.

The Green Party has the legal right to do it, he said on CNN. We have recounts probably almost every election. No one expects (there) to be profound change.

The recount was requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who received a minute fraction of the total vote in Wisconsin. Clintons campaign has said it would join the process despite having seen no irregularities in the White House contest so far.

Marc Erik Elias, an election lawyer for the Democratic candidate, said in a post on Medium.com on Saturday that the campaign would also participate in recounts in the closely contested states of Michigan and Pennsylvania if they are arranged.

Most election experts see almost no chance the election outcome could be reversed -- Clinton trails in each state by several thousand votes.

Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a total of just over 100,000 votes, even while compiling many more than the 270 votes needed for victory in the Electoral College.

Trump on Saturday dismissed the recount movement as a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded.
Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by a chemical gas attack from Islamic State (IS) jihadists in northern Syria, the Turkish army said on Sunday.

After a rocket was fired by Daesh (IS), 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas, the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria.

Turkish media said that the affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkeys AFAD emergencies agency.

The reports said that the Turkish emergency workers were equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves. The Syrians were brought to the main hospital in Kilis where they are currently undergoing treatment.

Television pictures showed some of the Syrians being transferred on stretchers to the hospital, with the emergency workers dressed in full-body white protective clothing and gas masks.

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out IS jihadists from the border area and also ensuring there is no Kurdish militia presence.

In a three-month operation, the rebels have so far captured the IS stronghold of Jarabulus, cleared IS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance.

With Turkish support, they are now pressing to take Al Bab from the jihadists in an advance that appears to be taking more time and encountering greater opposition.
Ugandan police stormed the palace of a tribal king and arrested him on Sunday after fierce clashes between security forces and a separatist militia they believe is linked to him killed 55, police said.

Heavy fighting broke out on Saturday in the western town of Kasese, home to King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom, when his royal guards attacked patrolling security forces, killing 14 police officers and 41 militants, said police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

President Yoweri Museveni phoned the king on Sunday morning and ordered him to disband the guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

We took time to talk to the king to get those people out but the king was non-compliant. The only option was to storm the palace and get those people out and get him out for his own security and safety, Kaweesi told AFP.

He has to explain his involvement in these incidents. He will be charged with inciting violence and brought to Kampala.

Violence has been simmering in the region all week, with four militants killed when they attacked a police post on Thursday, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Kaweesi said members of the royal guard threw an improvised grenade at patrolling officers on Saturday, prompting them to open fire and kill four of the attackers.

That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties, he said, adding that fighting between militants - not all of them royal guards - armed with guns and spears and security forces had continued until late in the evening.

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, of the Bakonzo people - with supporters among those who share the same culture and language in the DRC.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo - tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe under colonial rule - declared their own kingdom in 1962.

The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009.

However unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict, as many in the region still feel marginalised by authorities in distant Kampala.

Some in Uganda, with the support from their sister tribe in the DR Congo, have taken up arms and are agitating for the creation of the Yiira Republic which would cover territory in Uganda and part of North Kivu in the DR Congo.
Francois Fillon, the man tipped to win the French rightwing presidential nomination on Sunday, is a free-market reformer, devout Catholic and motor sport fan who has promised to transform France.

Fillon, 62, has professed admiration for Britains 1980s prime minister Margaret Thatcher and vowed to slash public spending to shrink the French state.

You have to tear the house down to properly rebuild it, he has said.

His runaway victory in the first round of the centre-right Republicans party primary last Sunday was revenge on his former boss, ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy, who crashed out in third place, had once dismissed Fillon as a Mr Nobody when he served as Sarkozys prime minister from 2007 to 2012.

But the man who himself admitted in a TV interview he had a boring image has emerged as the rights best hope to retake power after five years of Socialist rule.

The winner of Sundays primary run-off will become the favourite for next years presidential election in May where he will likely face -- and polls say beat -- Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (FN).

With the backing of influential fellow Republicans leaders and favourable polls, Fillon has the momentum heading into Sundays vote to clinch the nomination against rival candidate Alain Juppe, 71.

Fillon, an amateur rally driver who was born in Le Mans, home of the world-renowned 24-hour race, believes he is several laps ahead of his adversary.

Francois Fillon (C), candidate for the right-wing primaries ahead of the French 2017 presidential election, sings the national anthem with supporters at the end of a campaign rally in Paris, on November 25, 2016, ahead of the primary's second round on November 27. (AFP)

Quietly assured

Perhaps because of his softly-spoken and understated style, Fillon was not taken seriously until his late acceleration in the two-month primary campaign.

At the start he was a distant third place in opinion polls, but after a series of assured television performances he surged to take 44% of the vote last Sunday.

Since then, he has picked up some heavyweight endorsements, including from Sarkozy.

Fillon has a radical economic reform programme, including scrapping the 35-hour week, one of the sacred cows of the French left.

He has also pledged to slash an eye-popping 500,000 jobs from the public sector, leading to charges from the more centrist Juppe that he wants to reform brutally when a more consensual approach is needed.

Im tagged with the label of an (economic) liberal in the same way they would daub crosses on the doors of lepers in the Middle Ages, Fillon has joked.

He argues he is merely a pragmatist.

Fillon is also socially conservative, reflecting his life as a father of five children and practising Catholic who has been married to his Welsh wife Penelope for more than 30 years. They live in a 12th century manor house near Le Mans.

Supporters of Candidate for the right-wing Les Republicains (LR) party primaries ahead of the 2017 presidential election and former French prime minister Francois Fillon (unseen) wave French national flags and a placard reading "Fillon 2017" during a public meeting on November 22, 2016 in Chassieu, southwestern France. (AFP Photo)

He voted against gay marriage when it was introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande and has said he wants to amend the 2013 law.

His views on abortion -- he is personally opposed but says he will not change the law or funding for it -- have also been in the spotlight.

My conscience is my business, he said on Thursday during a final televised debate.

Compared with Juppe, Fillon also takes a harder line on questions of identity and Islam which have dominated the Republicans party primary campaign after a string of jihadist attacks in France.

He penned a book over the summer called Defeating Islamic Totalitarianism and believes there is a problem linked to Islam in France after a series of attacks by homegrown jihadists.

No, France is not a multi-cultural country. France has a history, a language and a culture which have naturally been enriched from outside, Fillon said on Thursday.

Support from Putin

The self-declared Gaullist -- a form of nationalism that proposes an independent and strong France -- has been in politics for around 40 years.

He formed a bond with Russian President Vladimir Putin when both men overlapped as prime ministers from 2008-2012 and their closeness has led to questions about his foreign policy.

In this Thursday, March 21, 2013 file picture Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, meets with former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon in the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow. (AP Photo)

Former foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, who worked with Fillon, told AFP this week that the two leaders would sometimes jog together and demonstrated a friendship, a mutual understanding.

While Fillon maintains that France must keep its alliance with the United States, he favours closer ties to Moscow and has accused Europe and Washington of provoking Putin.

He is against sanctions imposed on Russia after Putins invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and he has resisted pressure to condemn alleged war crimes by Russian forces in Syria.

The question is: must we continue to provoke the Russians, refusing dialogue with them and pushing them to be more and more violent, aggressive and less and less European? he said in October.
Kate Middleton could see Meghan Markle as a threat that will upstage her in every possible way conceivable. It's quite possible, don't you think?

The scenario where Kate Middleton see Prince Harry's new love as a terrifying threat could be possible. Meghan Markle is a beautiful and famous woman who is also doing humanitarian work and have passion in making this world a better place.

The Duchess of Cambridge is known for her gleaming smile and sleek hairstyles and so is Miss Markle. So, one thing is sure, both Prince William's wife and Harry's new girlfriend are still queens of style in slinky little black dresses.

Since Prince Harry was known as partying kind of person who has never been in serious relationship with any girl. A woman enough in all aspects to persuade him "put a ring on it."

However, things have changed in 2016. He has a new girlfriend that the world apparently adores. The "Suits" actress participate in humanitarian work all over the world.

On the other hand, there's Kate Middleton who, reportedly, manages to be part of just few charity activities recently. So, rumor has it that Queen Elizabeth isn't satisfied with the way she is handling her royal duties.

Her Majesty must admire Meghan's work ethic and would favor new woman in Prince Harry's life over work-allergic Prince William's wife. However, there is no way that the Duchess of Cambridge is going to lose what little good-standing she has with Queen Elizabeth- at least not to Meghan Markle.

As for Queen Elizabeth's Christmas celebration, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge like to spend more quiet family time at Anmer Hall and away from the noisy celebrations with the Royal Family at Sandringham. Her Majesty has graciously allowed Kate Middleton and Prince William to enjoy a normal family Christmas before they're required to show up at Sandringham.

According to earlier reports, Meghan Markle will be visiting the U.K. over Christmas to spend some time with her boyfriend Prince Harry. However, will she be attending the Queen's Christmas celebration at Sandringham? Has she earned Queen Elizabeth's trust yet?

Has Prince Harry' Girlfriend made enough of an impression on Her Majesty that she favors Meghan Markle over Kate Middleton?

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Kate Middleton and Prince William divorce stories keep doing the rounds and the latest is that Meghan Markle, girlfriend of Prince Harry, has caused them to quarrel. Queen Elizabeth is reconsidering the throne inheritors, following the Kate Middleton scandals that have the royal family embarrassed.

It has come to the light that Kate and William had a spat over Markle's humanitarian work as the Duchess of Cambridge feels that it is not real and only an attempt to get into the good books of Queen Elizabeth, reports Game & Guide. According to the news outlet, the royal couple is facing problems in their marriage and the entry of Markle in their family circle has only added to their woes, especially Kate.

Kate feels that the 'Suits' actress is not being genuine as she goes about indulging in charity and humanitarian activities. According to her, it is mere pretense so that Prince Harry falls for her more passionately. Notably, Prince Harry is known to be very active and interested in charity. Currently, he is on a Caribbean tour on the behalf of the Queen.

It is worth mentioning here that the Duchess' beliefs have some solid basis too as Markle's charity trips never created any buzz in the past. It is only recently that they started making headlines, sparking some amount of doubt about their authenticity.

In fact, Meghan's charitable work is one of the main reasons that is said to have attracted Harry towards her as he wants a life partner who he can travel with for such work, claims Celeb Dirty Laundry. In contrast, Prince William and Kate Middleton have been known to shirk their royal engagements, which have miffed the Queen a great deal.

Additionally, the presence of the Middleton family members who have embarrassed them in the past, at Pippa Middleton's wedding is causing further humiliation to the royal family. The Middleton family scandals are too much and the Queen is said to be thinking of replacing Prince William and Kate with Prince Harry and his would-be wife, Markle as the throne inheritors.

Well, one does not know how true it is but what is pretty clear is that the relationship of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle appears to be heading in a serious direction. Both are said to be madly in love and marriage also figures in their future agenda. But, for Kate Middleton and Prince William, it may be a rocky road ahead.

@ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Gunplay was recently in the UK, and naturally made a trip to see Time Westwood  coming straight from the airport, in fact. On top of dropping a ferocious freestyle for the DJ, Gunplay also joined him for a 20-minute conversation, which of course, brought about the subject on every Americans mind  Donald Trump.



The MMG rapper is definitely not a fan of Trumps political views.  I cant figure it out, joking that hes in the UK to get away from the Trump presidency the U.S. now faces. I dont condone what Donald Trump believes in. I dont condone his ideology.



However, he did have a certain amount of respect for Trumps business sense. He hustled. He did his thing. You gotta respect it, said the rapper, comparing Trump running with no political experience to his own labelmate. Thats like Ross going to be the President.



Gunplay does recognize Trump as a complete racist, though he hopes for the good of the American people that he doesnt prove to be as bigoted as his rhetoric suggests. Hes alright with me  as long as he stays in the borders and the parameters of not being a total racist, which it is right now, he offered.



Watch the full interview and freestyle below.

Gunplay
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Phoenix-based Alliance Residential Co. is bringing more than 2,000 apartment units in seven communities to the Houston market under its Broadstone brand.

The developer, which has been in the Houston market for 15 years, is offering incentives such as two or more months free rent at several of its properties as the region works through an oversupply.

In the last year, more than 26,000 apartment units in 96 communities have been completed in the Houston area, according to Transwestern's TrendLines report. Another 15,000 units will be finished by the end of 2017.

Cyrus Bahrami, managing director of South Texas for Alliance Residential, acknowledged the down cycle, with Houston currently facing headwinds related to supply and the drop in oil prices.

"In the long run, I think we all can agree that Houston will continue to lead the nation in population and job growth because of its strategic corporate alliances, entrepreneurial environment, low cost of living and friendly communities," Bahrami said in an announcement.

The Broadstone communities are frequently close to dining, parks and shopping. Amenities at various properties include lounges with skyline views in the inner city, lakes in the suburbs, outdoor kitchens, resort-style pools and fitness centers.

The properties consist of:

Broadstone Falcon Landing, a 386-unit complex at 3300 Falcon Landing Blvd. in Katy, with traditional apartments and three-story townhomes.

Broadstone Energy Park, a 416-unit property at 880 Texas 6 next to George Bush Park.

Broadstone Harmony, with 273 units, some with attached garages, at 2625 Harmony Park Crossing in Spring.

Broadstone Woodmill Creek, with 380 units at 1835 Woodland Field Crossing, and The Townhomes at Woodmill Creek, with 171 units at 25145 Panther Bend Court in The Woodlands.

Broadstone Skyline, a 269-unit complex at 707 Saulnier and 707 Robin west of downtown. Preleasing will begin by the end of the year.

Broadstone Tinsley Park, a 365-unit complex on 10 acres at 919 Gillette across from Buffalo Bayou Park. Opening is planned in 2017.

Alliance Residential has 27 communities in the Houston market, some of which are managed for another owner.
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SUGAR LAND - When Faisal Momin looked back at the packed sanctuary of Christ Church Sugar Land, he felt goose bumps raising on his arms.

Momin, who is Ismaili, a tradition of Shia Islam, was in the Methodist church during an interfaith Thanksgiving service, the product of months of work from a handful of Fort Bend County clergy and faith group leaders.

Soon, the music directors from Christ Church and nearby St. Laurence Catholic Church would sing a duet: "For the Beauty of the Earth." The University of Houston brass quartet would play. And, accompanied by the organ, an 80-person choir would sing an opening hymn. But at that moment, Momin was moved by emotion at the sight of over 500 people shedding their religious differences to stand together.

"It's a celebration of home," Momin said during the event this past Monday.

These interfaith, Thanksgiving-timed services aren't rare. In recent weeks similar gatherings were held in Spring, The Woodlands and at the Rothko Chapel in Houston. But in Fort Bend, considered one of the most diverse counties in America, this mingling of different faiths is something new.

At a time when Fort Bend County residents said national politics have pressured them to divide, they committed to coming together and celebrating their diversity.

"This is who we are," said Josh Lobel, the rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Missouri City. "And this is who we want to be."

With a population that's 35 percent non-Hispanic white, 24 percent Hispanic, 21 percent black and 20 percent Asian, Fort Bend County is one of the most ethnically diverse regions in the United States. That carries over to religion as well.

Houston-area adults are still overwhelmingly Christian - 73 percent, according to the Pew Research Center. Nationally, it's about 70 percent, but that percentage has declined in recent years. Meanwhile, the percentage of Muslim Americans has grown in recent years, and is projected to double from about 1 percent by 2050. In the Houston area, it has reached around 1 percent. Buddhists and Hindus make up an additional percent each.

In Fort Bend County, the diversifying religious landscape is evident. Hindu temples spring up along highways while several mosques flourish in the master planned communities in and around Sugar Land.

"When you look at more integrated religious diversity, the suburbs are really where it's happening," said Gregory Han, director of interfaith relations at Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston.

"Interfaith is the new normal. This isn't a luxury anymore. This is the new necessity."

Until recently, there wasn't a formal interfaith community in Fort Bend County. That changed with Lobel. When the rabbi moved to Missouri City in 2014, he contacted local religious groups to gauge interest in interfaith events. The best way to start, he concluded, was with an interfaith Thanksgiving service.

The first service was held in 2015. This year's follow-up was, to put it simply, bigger and better.

Participants from six faith communities - Protestants, Catholics, Sunni Muslims, Ismaili Muslims, Reformed Jews and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - spoke at the service. They gave readings in five different languages, which echoed in the high-ceilinged church that could hold nearly 1,000 people.

There was a collective murmur of awe after a four-person Ismaili choir finished singing a poem of praise in Urdu. A member of the LDS church recited the Litany of Thanksgiving in Chinese.

There were nods of agreement when every faith group spoke about their commitments to pluralism - whether during the homily or through verses from the Quran, Bible, Torah and Book of Mormon.

It was a service that resonated with different faiths without comprising their belief systems or values.

"It is the authentic faith of many, practiced in a civil way," said Chappell Temple, lead pastor at Christ Church Sugar Land.

As for the differences between faiths? "The God I know is big enough to allow for those sorts of variations," Temple said.

The congregation appeared fine with those differences as well.

Brady Smith, a 19-year-old Mormon missionary who lives in Missouri City, praised the poem sung by the Ismailis. And Farha Ahmed, 51, who attends Maryam Islamic Center in Sugar Land, said she was in awe of the way different languages were integrated into the service.

It's what the organizers had hoped for, and the result of some careful planning.

The service grew out of monthly meetings by a group that informally calls itself the Fort Bend Interfaith Community. Its participants range from clergy to music directors. They gather every month to chat, plan and keep each other up-to-date on what's going on in their respective communities. Guided by Interfaith Communities of Greater Houston, they're working on a mission statement and will hold their second annual interfaith service project in the spring.

The group still has a long way to go, Lobel said. They don't yet have representatives from the Buddhist or Hindu communities, or many of the local Protestant churches. But this is a solid first step, Han said.

"That's where Thanksgiving is so helpful," Han said. It's a uniquely American, not religious, holiday.

The 90-minute service ended on an American, if not secular, note. The choir and congregation stood to sing "America the Beautiful," before spilling out into the entrance hall to socialize.

Women still in their red choir robes and women in hijabs hugged. Neighbors - clad in yarmulkes, traditional Indian dress, or name tags that identified them as members of Christ Church - greeted each other.

Lobel and Momin lingered afterward as the crowd thinned. They rehashed the homily, given by the president of the local Southwestern Council of the Ismaili community. They discussed their next meeting - it will be in mid-December. Lobel said he was a fan of the children's choir from the LDS church, whose performance was new this year.

"This is what we do," Lobel said to Momin. "I'm just so proud."
Fidel Castro, the fiery apostle of the revolution who brought the Cold War to the Western Hemisphere in 1959 and then defied the United States for nearly half a century as Cuba's maximum leader, bedeviling 11 U.S. presidents and briefly pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, died Friday. He was 90.

His death was announced by Cuban state television.

In declining health for years, Castro had orchestrated what he hoped would be the continuation of his Communist revolution, stepping aside in 2006 when he was felled by a serious illness. He provisionally ceded much of his power to his younger brother Raul, now 85, and two years later formally resigned as president.

Raul Castro, who had fought alongside Fidel Castro from the earliest days of the insurrection and remained minister of defense and his brother's closest confidant, has ruled Cuba since then, although he has told the Cuban people he intends to resign in 2018.

Fidel Castro had held onto power longer than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He became a towering international figure whose importance in the 20th century far exceeded what might have been expected from the head of state of a Caribbean island nation of 11 million people.

He dominated his country with strength and symbolism from the day he triumphantly entered Havana on Jan. 8, 1959 and completed his overthrow of Fulgencio Batista.

Castro wielded power like a tyrant, controlling every aspect of the island's existence. From atop a Cuban army tank, he directed his country's defense at the Bay of Pigs. Countless details fell to him, from selecting the color of uniforms that Cuban soldiers wore in Angola to overseeing a program to produce a superbreed of milk cows. He personally set the goals for sugar harvests. He personally sent countless men to prison.

But it was more than repression and fear that kept him and his totalitarian government in power for so long. He had both admirers and detractors in Cuba and around the world. Some saw him as a ruthless despot who trampled rights and freedoms; many others hailed him as the crowds did that first night, as a revolutionary hero for the ages.

Even when he fell ill and was hospitalized with diverticulitis in the summer of 2006, giving up most of his powers for the first time, Castro tried to dictate the details of his own medical care and orchestrate the continuation of his Communist revolution, engaging a plan as old as the revolution itself.

By handing power to his brother, Castro once more raised the ire of his enemies in Washington. U.S. officials condemned the transition, saying it prolonged a dictatorship and again denied long-suffering Cubans a chance to control their own lives.

But in December 2014, President Barack Obama used his executive powers to dial down the decades of antagonism between Washington and Havana, a deal worked out with the help of Pope Francis and after 18 months of secret talks between representatives of both governments.

Although increasingly frail and rarely seen in public, Castro even then made clear his enduring mistrust of the United States. A few days after Obama's highly publicized visit to Cuba this year - the first by a sitting U.S. president in 88 years - Castro penned a cranky response denigrating Obama's overtures of peace and insisting that Cuba did not need anything the United States was offering.

***

Write to Calle Houston
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Mijail Barzaga spent more than seven years in Cuban prisons, one of 75 dissidents jailed in a 2003 crackdown called Black Spring.

He had been a journalist, trying to investigate Fidel Castro and his regime, and was tossed behind bars, at times stuffed into a metal box so small he could barely breathe.

On Saturday, Barzaga, 49, celebrated Castro's death with dozens of others in the Cuban diaspora in Houston. They blame the former Cuban leader for five decades of totalitarianism, economic and political strife, and cultural suppression.

"Cuba libre," Barzaga chanted as a Cuban flag waved behind him at Cafe Piquet in southwest Houston.

Castro's death comes at a time of transition for the country. A decade earlier, Castro ceded authority to his brother Raul Castro. Then, two years ago, President Barack Obama restored diplomatic ties with Cuba and, earlier this year, he became the first American president to visit the country.

Each event inspired discussions - and heightened optimism - about Cuba's future at Cafe Piquet, a gathering place for some of the 20,000 to 30,000 people of Cuban descent who live in the greater Houston area, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

A joke on the country

Nelly Piquet, the owner of the restaurant, hugged and kissed Cuban patrons as they arrived Saturday. She said she left Cuba at the age of 12, in 1962, and recalls how her father would call Castro a joke on the country.

She said she felt it was about time for the dictator to die, but she wouldn't truly celebrate until the Cuban people acquired civil and human rights.

Piquet also lamented that her husband Guido, who opened the restaurant with her, hadn't been able to witness the news. Friday, the day Castro died, was the 10th anniversary of Guido's death. She said he had been on one of the last airlifts off the island during the Cuban missile crisis.

"Guido would have been partying all day out of happiness," Piquet said, wiping away tears.

Jorge Ferragut, executive director of Casa Cuba (Cuba House), a Houston-based social organization with strong anti-Castro sentiments, sipped on lemonade on the restaurant's patio with a smile on his face.

He shared greater confidence in what Castro's death means for his homeland.

"This is the first step for the liberation of Cuba," Ferragut said. "The snake's head has been severed."

Ferragut said he was celebrating in the name of Castro's victims.

Bill King, a businessman who ran against Mayor Sylvester Turner in 2015, understands why Cubans here have such strong feelings about Castro. He met the man once, in 1988, when he accompanied the late Congressman Mickey Leland on a mission to free political prisoners there. King had arranged the planes for the trip.

Castro was charismatic and funny and talked almost non-stop for three hours, waxing about Marxism, King said.

"He really believed if he could control everything, he could fix all the problems," King said.

Local trade ties

In the Houston area, leaders had been talking optimistically about bolstering local ties with Cuba. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett called Castro's death symbolic and another step toward reform in a country that's had one government for half a century.

Emmett, who visited Cuba earlier this year, said Cuba offers a big opportunity for economic and cultural exchange.

"We're so close to each other," he said. "Clearly, with the Panama Canal opening and the potential for global trade, Cuba is perfectly positioned to play a role."

He said even the Guantanamo Bay naval base could be repurposed to play a "major role" in global trade, because of its proximity to the canal. Trade ties with the Houston area also could include Cuba buying natural gas and oil.

Emmett said the county would likely announce a new economic development initiative early next year, which could offer incentives for investment by American companies in Cuba and also Cuban investment in Harris County, though he declined to provide details.

Real change a way off

Not everyone shares the optimism. Rafael Saumell, a professor of Spanish at Sam Houston State University, fled Cuba in 1988 after spending five years in prison for writing a collection of short stories deemed by the government to be evil propaganda, he said.

He said short visits by American politicians on Cuban soil would not change the situation there, with Raul Castro still in power. Despite Fidel Castro's death, real change, he said, is a long way off.

"An American flag in a foreign territory doesn't mean there will be democracy," Saumell said.

At the makeshift party at Cafe Piquet's patio, Barzaga snapped photos on his point-and-shoot camera of friends singing along to Cuban songs. But he could only muster a half-smile.

Barzaga worries about what will happen now in Cuba, and whether there will be violent backlashes against the government.

"There were always some people who loved Fidel and still do, but no one loves Raul," he said.
Mijail Barzaga, 49, spent more than seven years in various Cuban prisons as one of 75 dissidents jailed in a 2003 crackdown called Black Spring.

On Saturday Barzaga, a former journalist, joined members of the local Cuban community at Cafe Piquet to celebrate the death of the man behind his imprisonment: Fidel Castro.

Cuba libre, Barzaga chanted as a Cuban flag waved behind him in the restaurants patio.

TIMELINE: Key dates in Fidel Castro's Cuba

Revelers at the popular gathering space for local Cubans expressed a mix of joy and sadness when speaking about the former leaders death, though the sadness was hardly meant in mourning.

If only he died 10 years ago, before his brother Raul took over. Then there could have been change, Barzaga said with a deep sigh.

Nelly Piquet, the restaurants owner, said she left Cuba at the age of 12 in 1962 and recalls how her father would call Castro a joke on the country. She said that while she felt it was about time for the dictator to die, she wouldnt truly celebrate until the Cuban people acquired their civil and human rights.

Piquet also lamented that her husband and original restaurant co-owner, Guido, was unable to witness the news. She said he had been on one of the last airlifts out of the island country during the Cuban missile crisis. Friday was his 10 year death anniversary  the same date as Castros death.

A LIFE: A look at Fidel Castro's time as Cuba's leader

Guido would have been partying all day out of happiness, Piquet said wiping away tears.

Jorge Ferragut, executive director of Casa Cuba (Cuba House), a Houston-based social organization with strong anti-Castro sentiments, sipped on lemonade in the restaurants patio with a smile on his face.

He shared greater confidence in what Castros death means for the future of Cuba.

We dont celebrate the death of a human being, but we do celebrate in the name of his victims, Ferragut said. This is the first step for the liberation of Cuba. The snakes head has been severed.

Ferragut, 69, who said he left Cuba with family in 1979 after his children started facing discrimination from teachers for being Catholic, said he hasnt contacted relatives still in Cuba about the news. Once he does, he would need to be careful and speak in code with them to ensure they face no legal repercussions for speaking in favor of Castros end.

At the makeshift party at Cafe Piquets patio, Barzaga snapped photos on his point and shoot camera of friends singing along to Cuban songs. But he could only muster a half smile.

With Raul Castro now leading the country without his older brother in the background, Barzaga ponders the possibility of violent backlashes against the government.

There were always some people who loved Fidel and still do, but no one loves Raul, he said.
Only three Texas National Guard soldiers who transferred from California have been caught up in a re-enlistment bonus controversy that made headlines across the country and triggered a Pentagon order to stop federal efforts to collect millions of dollars from troops, officials said.

But officials at Camp Mabry in Austin said the Texas Guard is still trying to recoup up to $4.6 million from 2,252 soldiers it believes violated their bonus contracts. A review found no evidence that it inadvertently gave its soldiers larger-than-allowed bonuses - problems that emerged in the California scandal - and no evidence of fraud, the officials said.

Texas has the nation's largest National Guard organization, with 18,216 soldiers in its Army component and another 3,315 airmen. Overall, 10,366 of its GIs were given $48 million in enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses from 2007 through the 2016 fiscal year, which ended Sept. 20.

The bonuses became popular with Army National Guard organizations nationwide as the Iraq insurgency exploded in 2006 and the Pentagon grew desperate to keep experienced troops in uniform. A recent Los Angeles Times account of the program administered by the California National Guard revealed that thousands of soldiers were ordered to repay higher-than-authorized bonuses mistakenly handed out years ago.

$22 million returned

Defense Secretary Ash Carter suspended the California Guard collection efforts after a public outcry last month, saying he wanted to fairly treat California soldiers who might have been given bonuses or tuition assistance in error. In that state, the Los Angeles Times reported, 9,700 troops have been forced to pay back $22 million in bonus money.

Some California veterans told the Times they had to take out loans and second mortgages to repay their bonuses. One master sergeant, the incentives manager for the California program, was given 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty in 2011 to filing $15.2 million in false claims.

Carter was critical of the sluggish pace of resolving cases, and said the Defense Department would "provide for a process that puts as little burden as possible on any soldier who received an improper payment through no fault of his or her own" while vowing to "respect our important obligation to the taxpayer."

A Pentagon official, Maj. Jamie Davis, said the stop-payment order only affected the California National Guard. Recoupment efforts are ongoing in other states, including Texas.

"After a thorough internal review coupled with reports from a recent site visit by the National Guard Bureau, we are confident that unauthorized contracts of enlistment bonuses are not an issue in the Texas Army National Guard," Air Force Lt. Col. Travis Walters, the guard's chief spokesman, said in a prepared statement.

601 soliders appeal

The problem stretches back a full decade. The review found that roughly half of the Texas Guard soldiers who failed to meet the requirements of their re-enlistment bonus contracts owed the government the lion's share of the money involved, a total of $3.18 million paid out from 2006-2008 - the peak of Iraq's insurgency.

So far, 601 Texas Guard soldiers have submitted appeals, with around seven out of 10 prevailing, said Maj. Brian Hildebrand, the Guard's education and incentives officer in charge of recruiting and retention.

The defense secretary's order stopped collection activities for only three Texas Guard soldiers, all transfers from California. The one owing the most money, identified as "Soldier K," is $30,000 in arrears after receiving funds for bonuses that should not have been given.

Hildebrand said the case is thought to have involved fraud, but had no details. The soldier received $20,000 from the Select Reserve Incentive Program and another $10,000 under the Officer Affiliation Bonus, and has repaid $510.

Another ex-California Guardsman, "Soldier D," had been ineligible for a $20,000 enlistment bonus and has paid back less than half of it. That case did not appear to be fraudulent, he said.

The three from California are among eight Texas Guard soldiers who came from other states or the active-duty ranks and owed money to the government. As a group, they have paid about one-fifth of their debt. One former active-duty soldier who received bonuses totaling $15,157 transferred to Texas and still owes $12,495.

Failed requirements

No one has been prosecuted for defrauding the Texas Guard. Recoupment actions were taken for failing to meet one or more requirements of bonus contracts. Most soldiers were targeted for reasons that include failing two consecutive physical training tests, misconduct leading to a discharge, voluntary retirement or failing to qualify for the job specialty for which a bonus was given.

In some cases, the guard did not demand repayment of bonuses. In others, it only went after bonuses for part of the time a soldier served.

There were other reasons for recoupment actions. More than 100 of the GIs who were asked to return bonus money had become officers or transferred to the active-duty Army. Dozens had traded their military jobs for a civilian position. Other National Guard organizations around the country also reported far fewer problems than were uncovered in California. Guard officials in New York, Illinois, Washington State and Connecticut told the Express-News they saw no evidence of fraud in their bonus re-enlistment programs.

The Texas Guard said the usual contract in the Select Reserve Incentive Program, which covers enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, was worth $5,000, with the max imum running four times that.
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While the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro prompted cheers from the country's exiles in Miami, the 90-year-old revolutionary leader's passing produced expressions of respect in other parts of the world and measured responses from governments that saw the devoted socialist as a threat.

U.S. President Barack Obama noted that while "discord and profound political disagreements" marked the relationship between the United States and Cuba for nearly six decades, Americans were extending "a hand of friendship to the Cuban people" during their time of grief.

"History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him," Obama said.

While spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, where the announcement of Castro's death early Saturday brought Cuban exiles into the streets to celebrate, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to share a thought that proved pithy even for the medium: "Fidel Castro is dead!"

Elsewhere in world, Castro was honored and mourned by many present and former leaders.

In a telegram to Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel's 85-year-old brother, Pope Francis offered "my sense of grief to your excellency and family."

Francis broke from the Vatican's usual practice of having the secretary of state send official condolences. In a mark of the esteem the pope held for Castro, whom he met during a visit to Cuba last year, Francis signed the telegram himself.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country was Cuba's main ally and supporter during the Soviet era, called Castro "a sincere and reliable friend of Russia" who had built "an inspiring example for many countries and nations."

Castro's death was felt especially keenly in Latin America, where his success in overthrowing a military regime inspired leftist activists in other countries.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro recalled Castro's departure from Mexico on the yacht Granma with his brother Raul and several dozen supporters to start their revolution.

"Sixty years after the Granma sailed from Mexico, Fidel sails toward the immortality of all those who fight their whole lives," Maduro tweeted. "Onward to victory, always!"

Ruben Berrios Martinez, longtime leader of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, called Castro the "largest and most influential Latin American of the 20th century, whose verticality, vision and passion has always served as an inspiration for those who aspired to a more just, free and dignified Latin America."

While most of the official remembrances were complimentary, a few emphasized less-flattering views of the late leader.

Trump elaborated on his tweet later Saturday, calling Castro "a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades." Trump says Castro left a legacy of "firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights."

"I hope his death can start a freedom revolution in Cuba," Denmark's Foreign Minister Kristian Jensen said. "Any demise is sad. In this case I believe that it can bring something good."
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BAGHDAD - Rekindling sectarian rivalries at a sensitive time, Iraq's parliament on Saturday voted to fully legalize state-sanctioned Shiite militias long accused of abuses against minority Sunnis, adopting a legislation that promoted them to a government force empowered to "deter" security and terror threats facing the country, like the Islamic State group.

The legislation, supported by 208 of the chamber's 327 members, was quickly rejected by Sunni Arab politicians and lawmakers as proof of the "dictatorship" of the country's Shiite majority and evidence of its failure to honor promises of inclusion.

"The majority does not have the right to determine the fate of everyone else," Osama al-Nujaifi, one of Iraq's three vice presidents and a senior Sunni politician, told reporters after the vote, which was boycotted by many Sunni lawmakers.

"There should be genuine political inclusion. This law must be revised."

Another Sunni politician, legislator Ahmed al-Masary, said the law cast doubt on the participation in the political process by all of Iraq's religious and ethnic factions.

"The legislation aborts nation building," he said, adding it would pave the way for a dangerous parallel to the military and police.

A spokesman for one of the larger Shiite militias welcomed the legislation as a well-deserved victory. "Those who reject it are engaging in political bargaining," said Jaafar al-Husseini of the Hezbollah Brigades.

"It is not the Sunnis who reject the law, it is the Sunni politicians following foreign agendas," said Shiite lawmaker Mohammed Saadoun.

The law, tabled by parliament's largest Shiite bloc, applies to the Shiite militias fighting ISIS as well as the much smaller and weaker anti-ISIS Sunni Arab groups.

Militias set up by tiny minorities, like Christians and Turkmen, to fight ISIS are also covered.

According to a text released by parliament, the militias have now become an "independent" force that is part of the armed forces and report to the prime minister, who is also the commander in chief.
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KABUL, Afghanistan - After operating out of Pakistan for more than a decade, the leaders of Afghanistan's Taliban movement may have moved back to their homeland to try to build on this year's gains in the war and to establish a permanent presence.

If confirmed, the move would be a sign of the Taliban's confidence in their fight against the U.S.-backed government in Kabul. It could also be an attempt by the militants to distance themselves from Pakistan, which is accused of supporting the movement.

The Taliban's leaders have been based in Pakistani cities, including Quetta, Karachi and Peshawar, since their rule in Afghanistan was overthrown in the 2001 U.S. invasion after the 9/11 attacks.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the leadership shura, or council, relocated to Afghanistan "some months ago," although he would not say to where.

One Taliban official said the shura had moved to southern Helmand province, which the insurgents consider to be part of their heartland and where most of the opium that funds their operations is produced. The official refused to be identified because of security reasons.

Other Taliban sources said the justice, recruitment and religious councils had also moved to southern Afghanistan. The statements could not be independently confirmed.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's office said it had no confirmation that any such move had taken place.

"No intelligence confirms that the Taliban has shifted its shura to Afghanistan," said Haroon Chakhansuri, Ghani's spokesman. "We still believe they are still operating in their safe havens outside Afghanistan."

Mujahid, however, said Kabul officials were aware of the moves, prompted by battlefield gains that the insurgents believed would put them in a strong position once talks with the Afghan government aimed at ending the war were restarted. Dialogue broke down earlier this year.

The insurgents have spread their footprint across Afghanistan since international combat troops scaled down in 2014. They have maintained multiple offensives and threatened at least three provincial capitals in recent months: Kunduz, in northern Kunduz province; Lashkah Gar, in Helmand in the south; and Tirin Kot in Uruzgan.

The U.S. military has conceded the insurgents have gained ground, although definitive breakdowns are difficult to verify. This year, Afghan security forces are believed to have suffered their worst losses since 2001, with the military estimating 2016 fatalities at more than 5,000 so far.

A permanent Taliban presence in Afghanistan would send a message to followers and fighters that the insurgents now control so much territory they can no longer be dislodged by government security forces, said Franz-Michael Mellbin, the European Union's ambassador in Kabul.

He said he has not confirmed the reports, which have circulated for weeks. But such a move could also be part of "the Taliban's attempt to try to create a more independent position," he said, as "parts of the Taliban would like to be under less direct pressure from Pakistan."
MEXICO CITY - Fidel Castro, the fiery apostle of revolution who brought the Cold War to the Western Hemisphere in 1959 and then defied the United States for nearly half a century as Cuba's maximum leader, bedeviling 11 U.S. presidents and briefly pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, died Friday. He was 90.

In declining health for several years, Castro had orchestrated what he hoped would be the continuation of his Communist revolution, stepping aside in 2006 when he was felled by a serious illness. He provisionally ceded much of his power to his younger brother Raul, now 85, and two years later formally resigned as president.'

Fidel Castro had held on to power longer than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He became a towering international figure whose importance in the 20th century far exceeded what might have been expected from the head of state of a Caribbean island nation of 11 million people.

He dominated his country with strength and symbolism from the moment he triumphantly entered Havana on Jan. 8, 1959, and completed his overthrow of Fulgencio Batista by delivering his first major speech in the capital before tens of thousands of admirers at the vanquished dictator's military headquarters.

Fidel wielded power like a tyrant, controlling every aspect of the island's existence. From atop a Cuban army tank, he directed his country's defense at the Bay of Pigs. Countless details fell to him, from selecting the color of uniforms Cuban soldiers wore in Angola to overseeing a program to produce a superbreed of milk cows. He personally set the goals for sugar harvests. He personally sent countless men to prison.

Despised, yet hailed

But it was more than repression and fear that kept him and his totalitarian government in power for so long. He had both admirers and detractors in Cuba and around the world. Some saw him as a ruthless despot who trampled rights and freedoms; many others hailed him as the crowds did that first night, as a revolutionary hero for the ages.

Even when he fell ill and was hospitalized with diverticulitis in summer 2006, giving up most of his powers for the first time, Fidel tried to dictate the details of his own medical care and orchestrate the continuation of his Communist revolution, engaging a plan as old as the revolution itself.

By handing power to his brother, Castro once more raised the ire of his enemies in Washington. U.S. officials condemned the transition, saying it prolonged a dictatorship and again denied the long-suffering Cuban people a chance to control their own lives.

For half a century, as Fidel transformed Cuba into a communist state and sparred with the U.S., his brother Raul worked in his shadow, the authoritarian leader's disciplined, junior partner.

But by the time the elder Castro died Friday night, Raul, had transformed Cuba into country that was unrecognizable in many ways - and yet remarkably the same.

Raul discarded some of the precepts that Fidel had considered sacred, chipping away at the communist scaffold his brother had built. And in a stunning embrace that caught the world off guard, he negotiated an end to the 50-year diplomatic standoff with the U.S. that Fidel had fiercely maintained.

New economic course

It is now solidly Raul's Cuba, an island where millennials talk to their cousins on Skype, where restaurant owners hustle for zucchini at privately run farms and where Americans clog the streets of old Havana.

Over all this, he has a firm hold on power, secured by trusted military leaders in vital positions and a new economic course of his making in which private enterprise plays an essential - but unthreatening - role.

Still, Fidel died at a time of great uncertainty. Cuba's regional benefactor, Venezuela, is collapsing economically. And many Cubans are trying to reach the U.S. while special immigration privileges are still in place.

And now, after multiple rounds of changes by President Barack Obama to knit the two countries closer together, a wild card has emerged: the election of Donald Trump, who has threatened to undermine the detente between the two nations unless he can extract more concessions from the Castro government.

With Fidel gone, a lingering question may now be answered: Did the weight of his legacy hold Raul back, preventing him from substantially dismantling the cherished system his brother had constructed, or were the slow, halting steps toward change a reflection of Raul's own desire to insert new life into the ailing Cuban economy - without weakening the structures of state power?

Stability for nation

Roberto Veiga, the director of Cuba Posible, an organization based in Havana that promotes political dialogue, said that Fidel's passing would "deeply affect people" on the island, but that it would not change the course of the country.

"It's a long time since Fidel was in the presidency," he added. "Raul Castro has been leading the country for years. He has a team. There's stability."

Enrique Lopez Oliva, a retired church historian in Cuba, expects change. While he did not rejoice in Castro's death, he said, he found himself excited about the possibilities that it could bring for Cuba's future.

"Now Raul will feel more free," he said. "The process of change will undoubtedly accelerate."

Some experts contend that Raul held back true economic reforms because his brother opposed them. Fidel, some believe, prevented the Communist Party from announcing major new endeavors at the party congress this year, Lopez said.

A pledge to step down

Some Cuba watchers wonder if the breakthrough with the U.S. could have been achieved if Fidel had still been in power or in better health. But others believe that the changes must have carried Fidel's endorsement, or at least that Raul acted in a belief that he was following his brother's grand design.

In the televised speech to announce the rapprochement with the U.S., Raul said his openness to talks was "a position that was expressed to the United States government, both in public and in private, by our Comrade Fidel at different moments of our long struggle."

While Raul is firmly in control, and seemingly in good health, many people inside and outside Cuban wonder what kind of Cuba comes after him.

Raul, 85, has pledged to step down in 2018. His vice president and former minister for higher education, Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez, 56, is expected to fill the presidency. But in the opaque, tightly guarded circles of Cuban politics, it is impossible to know for sure.
This page has been known to disagree a time or two with our own John Culberson, the veteran Republican who represents the Texas 7th Congressional District, but on one issue we believe he's absolutely right: The nation needs earmarks.

Earmarks, from the general public's perspective, are about as popular as earwigs, but their lowly reputation is ill-deserved (same for the lowly earwig, for that matter). They are generally described as line-item requests by lawmakers for federal funds to be directed to specific projects or entities in their individual districts - roads, bridges, museums and the like. They got a bad name a decade or so ago with revelations that some lawmakers had grossly misused them. The $400 million "Bridge to Nowhere" between two remote islands in Alaska may have been the most notorious example. Then-House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, got them outlawed in 2010.

Culberson, who chairs an Appropriations subcommittee, believes they can serve a useful purpose and is cosponsoring an amendment that would bring them back in limited circumstances. A sizeable number of his House colleagues, Republican and Democrat - including Houston's two Green congressmen, Gene and Al - support his effort.

Culberson's amendment would require the earmark request to be made at the committee level and would prohibit using the funds for recreational facilities. The sponsoring lawmaker would have to be identified, the earmark would be fully disclosed to the public and it could only redirect spending, not increase it.

Despite widespread support among his colleagues, Culberson has one formidable foe: House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis. After a "drain the swamp" election, Republicans "cannot turn right around and bring back earmarks behind closed doors," the speaker reportedly told his fellow Republicans in a private meeting a few days ago. Fortunately, Ryan didn't kill the proposal outright but assigned it to a GOP task force that will report back with a revised proposal early next year.

In a frustratingly sclerotic Congress, earmarks would encourage compromise and would help get things done. Since the dawn of the American Republic, as Jonathan Rauch of The Atlantic magazine has pointed out, earmarks have "helped glue Congress together by giving members a kind of currency to trade: You support my pork, and I'll support yours."

"Earmarks," Chris Cilliza of The Washington Post has written, "are the WD-40 that helped the gears of government grind forward. They are the carrot in the carrot-and-stick approach that legislative leaders have long used to cajole weary members to cast a certain vote. They are the cheese on the broccoli."

Culberson has complained about difficulties he's had pursuing money for Port of Houston dredging, because doing so would violate the earmark ban. Reps. Gene Green and Al Green have made similar complaints about their inability to direct funding to Houston flood-control efforts because of the earmark ban.

"The lack of the ability for an individual congressman to try to help his own district in specific ways puts us at a great disadvantage," U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Woodville, told the Dallas Morning News recently. And that's the point. Our elected representatives are not talking about frivolous boondoggles cunningly conceived to get themselves reelected. They're trying to address purely local needs, legitimate needs that they understand better than their congressional colleagues or Washington bureaucrats. Earmarks would help.

Keep pushing, Mr. Culberson. It's time, once again, to spread the Velveeta over the broccoli.
Bigger problems

Regarding "Bathroom law tops Patrick's plan" (Page A1, Friday), do our state leaders have nothing better to worry about than who uses the women's bathroom? The last I checked, Texas was almost last in the nation in education and dead last in health care for our residents. Those are only two of many issues that need to be addressed by our Legislature, and yet our lieutenant governor seems to be consumed with concern about "women's privacy."

I am a woman, and have been using the bathrooms in Texas for the 40 plus years I have lived in Texas with no problems and no concerns. I suspect that if a man wants to enter a women's bathroom for "criminal intent," no law is going to stop him. And what about the impact such a law would have on businesses and our ability to draw conventions, sporting events, etc. to our city? It's time for our leaders to stop trying to pass discriminatory laws poorly clothed in concern for women's privacy and do something worthwhile.

Paula Wehrman, Fayetteville

School funding

Regarding "Public schools don't need privatization" (Page A35, Friday), our country was built on offering free public education to everyone. If affluent people can send their children private schools, let them pay for it. We cannot divert public funds to help people send their children to private schools. Vouchers would only help the affluent because private schools cost so much more than a voucher could pay. Texas lawmakers should at least get our state up to the national average in spending per child.

E L Gill, Houston

Use of resources

Regarding "State fighting foster care recommendations" (Page A3, Wednesday), why is Attorney General Ken Paxton insisting on spending money on a lawsuit fighting a losing battle instead of spending that money to fix the issues that exist in the foster care system? This makes absolutely no sense to me.

While it is true (unfortunately) that Paxton is not obligated to follow the wishes of the Senate Finance Committee, in this case I believe he would be smart to do so. At a time when finances in the state have tightened due to the downturn in the oil industry, Paxton has an obligation not to waste taxpayer money. This lawsuit is clearly a waste of state resources..

Cathy Newman, Meadows Place

Bad behavior

Regarding "Text, crash, die" (Page A16, Wednesday), I can only hope that your editorial provides a wake-up call to our legislators to get this bill passed - finally. There is absolutely no disputing the fact that anything taking one's attention off the road is dangerous; study after study have underlined what should be obvious. The fact that this is the fourth time such legislation has been sponsored is proof positive as to how invested we are in our cell phones. But that investment is costing us dearly.

There is a time and place for everything. Talking and texting while driving is not that time or place. Shame on former Gov. Rick Perry for vetoing prior measures based on his characterization of this deadly behavior as a "governmental effort to micromanage the behavior of adults." If that's the case, let's take a step back in time and remove the penalties for drunk driving - after all, isn't that micromanaging adult behavior? On second thought, let's not. Let's just move into the 21st century and characterize distracted driving for what it is - a decision and behavior that has deadly consequences.

Until personal choice is taken out of the equation and stiff penalties are enacted, this behavior will continue, as will the ever-climbing death toll because people will not put down their phones.

Nancy Jacobs, Houston
At age 18, I attended a party where police found tiny amounts of marijuana. Without funds for an attorney, I accepted "deferred probation". It has followed me my entire life. I graduated from college, law, and graduate school, yet I had to endure a hearing to ascertain my fitness to practice. It also caused employment rejection.

Later as assistant county attorney in El Paso, and elected district attorney in Willacy County, I routinely dismissed pot cases. Prosecutors' offices have limited budgets, yet mountains of cases. Dismissing marijuana offenses allowed me to send more dangerous criminals to prison. Even probation for pot was wasteful. Curfews and reporting requirements should be for prowlers and burglars, not pot smokers.

This problem persists, as 620,000 Americans were arrested for pot last year. Yes, illegal marijuana creates jobs for probation officers, prosecutors, bailiffs, chemists, clerical staff and many more; however taxpayers get soaked.

California and three other states legalized marijuana on November 8, 2016. Voters were persuaded by the Colorado experience, where $2.4 billion in revenues and 17,000 jobs were created in legalization's first year. This year's final results will be far better. Some of this boom comes from visiting Texans. The Denver Post polled "Would you repeal legalization?" The answer; "No", by a 51 percent-36 percent margin. Gallup's 2016 poll showed support for legalization has grown to 60 percent, and recent studies demonstrate no increased use among youngsters since legalization. Colorado is booming, and other states want what they're smoking.

The old "Reefer Madness" arguments against marijuana have been dispelled. Today's legalization opponents such as Insys Therapeutics, which develops synthetic painkillers, poured $500,000 into the "No" vote. It's these "legal" painkillers, that cause so much addiction and harm. Prescription drugs increase our health costs and "Big Pharma" doesn't want competition. The Catholic Church was also a huge contributor, with the Boston Archdiocese alone donating $850,000. Wouldn't their money be better spent helping needy children with winter coats - or victims of pedophilia? I believe most attorneys, however, are for legalization, even though it will reduce our income.

One lingering anti-pot argument is that people will ingest and drive. This happens anyway and it will be illegal everywhere. Not satisfied, opponents wonder how they will test for marijuana. Field tests still work. But jeez, how about we just arm each officer with a chocolate bar, and they could cuff the stoned drivers as they grab for it?

Legalization will come eventually, as it's only the oldest ages groups who are opposed. Nancy Reagan "Just said No," but 15,000,000 Americans use it regularly, and about half our population has admitted trying marijuana.

Legalization bills for the 2017 Texas Legislature have been filed. Republicans are increasingly in favor of legalization because of the fiscal benefits, as well as individual-freedom arguments. Democrats are already there, and almost everyone wants to decrease the power of the violent drug cartels who smuggle pot across our border. Let's legalize it, and have Mexico put up the wall - to keep Texans from trafficking marijuana into their country.

Fischer, an attorney, has been a professor of Criminology and a Texas State Bar director.
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On Saturday, a grassroots petition asking for the Investigatory Powers Bill to be repealed reached over 100,000 signatures on Parliaments petition site. This means it will be considered for debate. This is fantastic news.

It followed a week of press coverage warning how everyones website history would be recorded for a year, and how many organisations would be able to access that data. These are proposals that have caused public consternation for a decade.

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What does this huge public response mean, given that the Bill has been voted on by both Houses of Parliament with seemingly little interest from the public? Why was there so little debate in the press, given that this has been debated in Commons, Lords and committees for practically six months now?

In my view, Brexit has a lot to do with our predicament. The media, MPs and public were almost entirely preoccupied with the vote and its aftermath when it mattered, in May and June. In those two months, MPs had their major debates, and the campaign against the Bill threw everything we had at raising public consciousness, including a huge media campaign and awareness raising online, but without the kind of response we are seeing now.

MPs now have another chance to consider what they have voted for. They may be tempted to reject this petition, as it their right, as the issue has been through a full Parliamentary procedure, and subject to very recent Commons votes. However I do not believe that Parliament has given this Bill the thought it deserved and is weaker for that lack of serious challenge. For these reasons, I would urge that people keep signing the petition, and continue building the number up. Parliament must be shown that there is still a great deal of concern.

Of course it is unlikely that the whole bill will be undone, as the petition demands. Not all of the bill is completely bad, either; oversight arrangements are generally improved.

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But what Parliament can and must do is look again at measures which constitute mass interference into peoples privacy. Parliament may be forced to re-legislate several of the measures in the Bill, as a consequence of legal actions that are soon to come back, so this request for a debate gives a timely opportunity to consider the issues that will be brought up by the courts.

The first of the judgments is the case against data retention brought by Tom Watson (and David Davis, before he became a minister). This case went before the Court of Justice of the EU, to work out how UK law should deal with the CJEU judgment against EU data retention. The likely result is the CJEU will state that there are minimum privacy safeguards expected in EU law.

These will be common sense, perhaps restricting what data can be kept, how it can be used, and most importantly, how access is authorised afterwards. That is how the Advocate Generals opinion suggested the court rules.

The court will almost certainly say that authorisation must be made by an independent body. Currently, police and other authorities have trained staff to make these authorisations, but they are not by any means independent.

The UK data retention regime has been expanded massively by the bill, through the creation of powers to keep Internet Connection Records, and a Home Office or police search engine to access this data. This combination is incredibly intrusive and may also be called into question by the CJEU judgment.

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This is what has most upset the signatories of the petition, and must be addressed by Parliament after the judgment comes back early next year.

There are many other problems that have not been properly fixed. They include restraints on hacking, bulk hacking, problems with asking companies to weaken security, and the bulk collection at GCHQ. Perhaps the most stark of these is the way that GCHQ and the United States NSA work together.

The Bill does not set out what safeguards and protections are available when peoples data is handed to the USA. Yet data sharing is near complete: with the USA able to access and use practically all of the UKs raw data, collected in bulk, about UK and foreign citizens. The US does not regard foreigners as having strong privacy rights. Under a Trump presidency, the risks are plainly unacceptable.

The impact of the ECtHR case is harder to know at this point. They have however started to be clearer that indiscriminate collection of data is, lets say, problematic. They are likely to say things about the safeguards necessary for any surveillance regime. While the most obvious safeguard, legal clarity, has been improved by spelling out the powers the state has in the IP Bill, we expect the court will point to more that can be done.
Contrary to conventional wisdom (which is invariably wrong), the United States Constitution is the nation's strategy for greatness. The strategy entails invincible self-defense; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; and, entangling alliances with none.

At present, that strategy means returning our troops stationed abroad back to the United States to defend we the people, not foreigners whose loyalties lie elsewhere. It means repositioning all of our air and naval forces to defend we the people, not foreigners whose loyalties lie elsewhere. It means devoting our cyberwarfare capabilities to defending we the people, not foreigners whose loyalties lie elsewhere. And it means renouncing all of our treaty commitments to defend other nations militarily without congressional declarations of war.

Our national strategy of invincible self-defense; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; and, entangling alliances with none, finds expression not in the Constitution's text, but in its dispersal of power among the three branches.

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Institutions possess distinct personalities that transcend the personalities of the occupants of the offices. These institutional personalities determine policies within a very narrow range.

The Constitution as our national strategy follows inexorably from its assignment of the war power exclusively to Congress, i.e., its prohibition of presidential wars. Article I, section 8, clause 11 empowers only the legislative branch to declare war.

The Constitution's profound authors knew that Congress would be a "talking shop." It would be highly risk-averse, like a dog that retreats to its kennel when danger appears. Members of Congress would have little to gain but much to lose politically by initiating war. No obelisk or monument had ever been constructed to honor a legislator's vote for war. Legislative powers diminished during belligerency. And if the war ended in defeat or a truce because of the President's ineptitude as commander in chief or otherwise, Members would not be able to evade political responsibility.

The Constitution's drafters knew to a virtual certainty that Congress would only declare war in response to actual or perceived aggression against the United States, i.e., only in self-defense. Indeed, during the drafting, debating, and ratification of the Constitution, no participant conceived that the war power would ever be exercised for preemptive, preventive, humanitarian, economic, democratizing or other non-self-defense objectives.

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History has vindicated the Constitution's conception of the congressional personality. In 227 years, Congress has declared war in only five conflicts, and only in response to actual or perceived aggression against the United States: the War of 1812; the Mexican-American War; the Spanish-American War; World War I; and, World War II. The Declare War Clause required Congress to decide whether to cross the Rubicon from peace to war. Congress could not escape its responsibility by delegating the decision to the President. The June 18, 1812 Declaration of War is exemplary. It provided:

"Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress assembled, That war be and the same is hereby declared to exist between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dependencies thereof, and the United States of America and their territories...."

The Constitution's national strategy of wars only in self-defense and declared by Congress is vastly superior to all the alternatives that have ever been conceived or attempted. War diverts invaluable genius and resources from production to killing, which is an economic deadweight. War crushes liberty and silences the law. War breeds secrecy, which fathers fraud, waste, abuse, and crime. War subordinates civilian supremacy to tenuous claims of military necessity. War makes killings legal that would customarily be punished as first-degree murder. War makes children orphans and wives widows. War causes courageous soldiers to be slaughtered and maimed. It causes taxes to be raised or money to be borrowed to finance the war machine.

Abraham Lincoln elaborated:

"The provision of the Constitution giving the war making power to Congress was dictated...by the following reasons: kings had always been involving and impoverishing their people in wars, pretending generally, if not always, that the good of the people was the object. This our convention understood to be the most oppressive of all kingly oppressions, and they resolved to so frame the Constitution that no one man should hold the power of bringing this oppression upon us."

Lincoln was echoing James Madison, father of the Constitution, who had lettered Thomas Jefferson:

"The constitution supposes, what the History of all Govts demonstrates, that the Ex. is the branch of power most interested in war, & most prone to it. It has accordingly with studied care, vested the question of war in the Legisl. But the Doctrines lately advanced strike at the root of all these provisions, and will deposit the peace of the Country in that Department which the Constitution distrusts as most ready without cause to renounce it."

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Mr. Jefferson agreed in a letter to Mr. Madison: "We have already given in example one effectual check to the Dog of war by transferring the power of letting him loose from the Executive to the Legislative body, from those who are to spend to those who are to pay."

James Wilson, delegate to the constitutional convention and future Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, similarly understood that depositing the war power with Congress would be the death knell to gratuitous wars. He informed the Pennsylvania Ratification Convention:

"This system will not hurry us into war; it is calculated to guard against it. It will not be in the power of a single man, or a single body of men, to involve us in such distress, for the important power of declaring war is vested in the legislature at large;--this declaration must be made with the concurrence of the House of Representatives; from this circumstance we may draw a certain conclusion, that nothing but our national interest can draw us into a war."

The United States generally followed the Constitution's national strategy for a century. We astonished the world with our vertical climb in riches and prosperity by devoting our energies and talents to making money in lieu of making war. We proved the prescience of Adam Smith's instruction:

"Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things."



But after a century, we lost our way. We were misled by the intellectual delusions and messianic ambitions of Woodrow Wilson and the rebarbative apotheosis of war and killing by Theodore Roosevelt. The former coveted war to transform the world into Camelot. The latter barked that,"[i]f there is not the war, you don't get the great general; if there is not a great occasion, you don't get a great statesman; if Lincoln had lived in a time of peace, no one would have known his name." As President and commander in chief, Roosevelt warred against Filipinos fighting for self-determination in the aftermath of the Spanish-American war by employing waterboarding and perpetrating mass atrocities. The United States Senate Investigating Committee on the Philippines meticulously documented the grisly war tactics that flourished under President Roosevelt.

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We ignored the warning of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams on July 4, 1821, that we could become dictatress of the world, but if we did, our policy would degenerate from liberty to coercion and domination, and we would plunge from light to darkness.

We have come full circle from fighting the empire ambitions of British King George III to embracing them. We have become the chosen people of the Old Testament bent on destroying modern counterparts of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Rephaims, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, the Jebusites, the Perizzites, the Ammonites, the Amalekites, and the Philistines.

To recapture our former greatness and prosperity attained by a national strategy of invincible self-defense; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; and, entangling alliances with none, we need only to follow the Constitution's entrustment of decisions on war or peace exclusively to Congress.

The Constitution's authors were intellectual and philosophical giants that have never been equaled. In comparison, today's leaders are pygmies.

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If politics were like sports, the losers would take their losses graciously; but Washington politics are not like sports.

Some still appear to have a difficult time at accepting the results of the presidential election, but they should not act like an attorney who lost his case before the judge, and walks outside seeking to relitigate it in front of the public and the media. They should not be in the pounding table and yelling stage, but they should understand that the case is closed.

Some are even heavily criticizing potential Cabinet nominees even before the President-elect Donald Trump has picked any specific individual for the key White House positions.

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For example, Daniel Benjamin, a former Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department, recently posted an article in regard to the potential Cabinet nominees as well as a grassroots Iranian organization.

We should adequately and meticulously analyze the politics, facts, and the law.

The Politics

On politics, the 2016 elections are over: Donald Trump won. Republicans control the White House, Senate, and the House of Representatives, and the decades-old policy of appeasement of the Islamic Republic of Iran has received a major blow. Therefore, let's just get over it.

The Facts

On Nov. 23, Benjamin launched a broadside against the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran/Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (PMOI/MEK); it is the largest and best-organized Iranian opposition movement within the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which acts as the parliament-in-exile.

He criticized a number of former U.S. officials including Mayor Rudy Giuliani for their support for the MEK. In a recent article, he said, "With Giuliani, as perhaps with Gingrich and others, the attraction to the MEK may be more grounded in plain old greed than foreign policy."

Nevertheless, there exists robust evidence, gathered by U.S. officials, confirming that the mainstream MEK was not responsible for the killing of U.S. citizens in Iran. Rather, those assassinations were the work of a breakaway Marxist-Leninist faction, known as Peykar, which hijacked the movement after the arrest and execution of the leaders of the MEK and killed both the MEK members who resisted the hijacking of their organization and several Americans in Tehran.

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Upon being released from prison during the 1979 Revolution, after serving 8 years of his life term, MEK leader "[Massoud] Rajavi had to rebuild the organization, which had been badly battered by the Peykar experience," said Patrick Clawson in a Council on Foreign Relations interview. He is an Iran scholar and director of research at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. The Law

In March 2012, the Treasury Department seemed to suspect that advocates of the MEK were providing material support for a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). The Department began to issue subpoenas to distinguished former U.S. officials who advocated on behalf of the MEK. But Treasury ended its inquiry about a year after the courts and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delisted the MEK in September.

Treasury cited no violations of any laws, either by the Iranian-Americans who were organizing the conferences or the speakers who appeared at these events. So, there is no legal leg on which anyone can make the case that advocates of the MEK were or are in violation of the law, which prohibits providing material support to a listed organization. And, more fundamentally, one is innocent until proven guilty. Mr. Benjamin wrote that the MEK "inclusion on the FTO list underscored a central principle of U.S. counterterrorism policy, namely, that the target of terrorist violence is irrelevant, and the killing of innocents to advance a political agenda is always wrong." But according to a report by Dr. Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs, at the Congressional Research Service, State Department reports on international terrorism till 2011 did not assert that MEK ever targeted civilians purposely.

And most importantly the European Court and the United States ruled in favor of the MEK. Therefore, getting the politics, facts, and the law correctly is critical. The Way Forward

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First, based on politics, facts, and law, refrain from falling back; rather let us look forward together.

Second, the future lies with those who lose gracefully and those who win humbly, as Clinton and Trump have done so well.

Third, former Camp Liberty residents of MEK held under strenuous conditions by the Iraqi Government are now in Albania and other European countries.

The US thanked Albania for resettling members of MEK, "U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has used a visit to Albania to thank the government for resettling members of an Iranian opposition group known as the Mujahedin e Khalq, or MEK"

The real debate, however, is over the U.S. policy on Iran. On the one hand, those who favor the policy of appeasement wish to follow in the footsteps of President Obama. But they are on their way out, with little chance for having any substantial impact at least for the next four years. On the other hand, there are those who favor holding the Iranian regime accountable for its hostility and terrorism against the United States and its allies in the region. They have also called for imposing additional sanctions for Iran's abysmal human rights record, and its involvement in terrorism. They are also on the record that they like to see democratic change in Iran by relying on the Iranian people. For its part, we cannot escape the fact that the MEK appears to be the single most important internal player that can facilitate the democratic change in Iran, as they have demonstrated their extraordinary ability to organize. That explains all the criticisms and attacks on the MEK as well as on those who espouse a favorable view about the MEK, including dozens of senior bipartisan former government officials, such as Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Speaker Newt Gingrich, Governors Howard Dean, Ambassador John Bolton, Secretary Tom Ridge and Governor Edward Rendell. The proponents of the appeasement policy should realize that the tide is turning, they won't succeed in resisting it.

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_____________________

You can sign up for Dr. Rafizadeh's newsletter for the latest news and analyses on HERE.

Harvard-educated, Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is an American political scientist, president of the International American Council on the Middle East, business advisor, and best-selling author. He serves on the advisory board of Harvard International Review.

Dr. Rafizadeh is frequently invited to brief governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as speak, as a featured speaker, at security, business, diplomatic, and social events. He has been recipient of several fellowships and scholarships including from Oxford University, Annenberg, University of California Santa Barbara, Fulbright program, to name few He is regularly quoted and invited to speak on national and international outlets including CNN, BBC World TV and Radio, ABC, Aljazeera English, Fox News, CTV, RT, CCTV America, Skynews, CTV, and France 24 International, to name a few. . He analyses have appeared on academic and non-academic publications including New York Times International, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Farred zakaria GPS, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, The Nation, The National. Aljazeera, The Daily Beast, The Nation, Jerusalem Post, The Economic Times, USA Today Yale Journal of International Affairs, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, and Harvard International Review. He is a board member of several significant and influential international and governmental institutions, and he is native speaker of couple of languages including Persian, English, and Arabic. He also speaks Dari, and can converse in French, Hebrew. More at Harvard.

You can also order his books on HERE.

You can learn more about Dr. Rafizadeh on HERE.
Washington DC: Goodyear Satire Co.--

Eighty-seven ambassadorships were sold by the incoming Trump Administration on Black Friday, shattering the record held by the 2004 George W. Bush transition team.

"The sale raised $750 million, which will be used to fund much needed voter suppression efforts," according to sales lead Tom Colonnade.

"The sale was a yuge success," beamed President-Elect Trump. "Bigly."

With rock bottom prices, Cabinet secretaries were in especially high demand. The Department of Education went to Betsy DeVos of the Amway fortune for $9.5 million in donations. "So every time you buy a can of spray-on-shoe polish, you're helping cut funds for your child's public school. We call that a win-win," said Colonnade.

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Sources say this effort is all part of Donald Trump's plan to repurpose America into a profit center. "Why fight for human rights when there's money to be made?" asked First Daughter Ivanka Trump. "Would you like to buy my watch?"

"We're doing this needed restructuring work for America at no charge because of love of America," said the President-Elect. "Love, and a small piece of the back end."

Trump was especially proud that so many of the buyers have absolutely no experience in government, like himself. "We're proud to be replacing corrupt Washington insiders with corrupt Washington outsiders," Trump said. "That's the Trump legacy."

In a related story, the previously principled Republican Party sold out to the alt-right for $32.50 and the chance to repeal Obamacare.

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The Army Corps of Engineers has announced it plans to evict the Oceti Sakowin Camp, the main camp of the water protectors at Standing Rock where thousands are now living and preparing for winter. But early responses suggest the water protectors will not budge.

The Standing Rock Sioux received a letter from the Army Corps of Engineers dated November 25 (the day after Thanksgiving) stating that everyone must leave Army Corps land by December 5.

Chairman David Archambault II responded the same day, expressing disappointment, and calling on the Obama administration to protect public health and well being, not by evicting water protectors but by denying the permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline.

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The other water protectors' camps are on the reservation and/or private land, so they will not be affected by the eviction.

In other relevant news: 1500 unarmed veterans, EMTs, firefighters and others are converging on Standing Rock on December 4 to support and protect the water protectors. This event was announced well before the Army Corps eviction announcement. What will happen if police and National Guard confront the camp, with this massive infusion of veterans who have come to stand with them, is far from clear.

At least some water protectors are saying they will not leave:

"It is true what they're trying to do but it won't matter," said Joye Braun, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network and a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

"We're going to stand. We're ready for whatever they throw at us, rubber bullets, pepper spray, mace, water canons," she said on a Facebook live feed. "They try everything. It's just making us stronger."

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Chase Iron Eyes, an attorney and member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, posted this, showing the continuity between the eviction order and the long history of Indian removal:

"-Dec.3, 1875: The US Govt issued an order declaring all Natives not on reservations would be considered "hostile." Natives had until January 31, 1876, to report to their places of reservation confinement or be removed by the military.

"-Nov.25, 2016: The US Govt issued an order declaring all Natives & protectors not on the reservation would be considered "trespassers." Natives & others have until Dec.5, 2016 to report to the Standing Rock reservation or be removed by the Corporate State."

"We ain't going anywhere. More will come and join us," Iron Eyes posted on his Facebook page.



Sarah van Gelder, co-founder and editor at large of YES! Magazine, has spent two weeks at the Oceti Sakowin Camp at Standing Rock during two reporting trips there. Click here for her blog, photos, and excerpts from her book, "The Revolution Where You Live."
Gehan Gunatilleke is the Research Director at Verite Research, a think tank based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

This interview has been edited lightly.

What's your general take on the performance of the coalition government?

We in Sri Lanka tend to understand this government purely as a coalition of political parties. But I think this is also a coalition of ideologies, and what's interesting is that the ideological fault lines don't neatly fit the party divisions. So ideological differences don't exist merely between the [United National Party] UNP and the [United People's Freedom Alliance] UPFA faction in government. It's clear to me that even within the UNP, there are certain fundamental ideological differences, and these differences are ultimately going to shape the reform agenda of the government. The recent proposals on a new counterterrorism law illustrate this problem. Attempts to enact legislation that denies suspects prompt access to legal counsel is another example. These proposals are not emanating from the UPFA -- they are being championed by actors from within the UNP.

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So in this context, I think the coalition government's performance has been mixed. On the one hand, it has engaged the international community, enacted progressive legislation such as the [Right to Information] RTI Act, and has ratified international instruments such as the enforced disappearances convention. On the other, it has attempted on a number of occasions to enact repressive legislation. This bipolarity is becoming a regular feature of this government. Meanwhile, it has made very slow progress on combating corruption and prosecuting past crimes, including international crimes committed during the war, and crimes against religious minorities. So a culture of impunity still prevails under this coalition government.

Colombo's reform agenda is wide-ranging, but let's turn to transitional justice. On that front, are you satisfied with the government's performance thus far?

The enactment of the [Office of Missing Persons] OMP Act was a positive move. It now needs to be operationalized, and that requires the president to assign the subject of the act to a particular minister. That minister will then need to appoint a date on which the act comes into operation as per section 1(2) of the act. So I'm afraid we are still a fair distance away from having even the first of the four promised mechanisms established. It is therefore obvious that progress has been slow -- particularly in terms of ensuring accountability for international crimes.

However, we need to place the transitional justice agenda in context. I believe we are making steady progress in terms of constitutional reform. So rushing the transitional justice process to meet the March 2017 deadline is not prudent if it means compromising on substance. It is better to be sensible and defer the process for a further period of time, and ensure that all the mechanisms including the judicial mechanism is delivered together to the satisfaction of those actually affected. Let us not forget that we began this process to deliver accountability -- not anything that falls short of it.

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Do you have any concerns that the government may not be fully committed to implementing a credible, comprehensive transitional justice program?

As mentioned above, my concerns relate to the ideological factions within government. A lot depends on which faction prevails. If those who champion the counterterrorism law prevail, I am certain we will not see a credible transitional justice program. But if a more progressive faction within government is empowered to deliver on its promises made in Geneva [at the UN Human Rights Council] last year, we could still see this process put back on track.

I hope local civil society and international actors understand these dynamics and act strategically over the next few months. They must understand that this government and the constituent political parties are not homogeneous. Transitional justice will ultimately depend on whose voices in government are empowered.

How involved should international actors be in Sri Lanka's transitional justice process?

I'm starting to wonder about this. Let me say at the outset that international actors have been an indispensable part of getting Sri Lanka on the international agenda and putting pressure on the government to commit to a transitional justice agenda. But this involvement has given us diminishing returns over the last year or so. Some international actors have not understood the dynamics at play and have at times overestimated the government's sincerity. A good example is the discourse on sequencing. Local civil society actors have been pressing for sequencing that does not place accountability on the back burner. But this has not been the consistent view of international actors and advisors. I'm afraid the lack of deference to local demands has cost this process important momentum in terms of establishing an accountability mechanism. So I think it's time international actors trust and defer to local civil society actors and play more of a supportive role. At the end of the day, Sri Lanka's transitional justice process has to be locally owned and driven.

Negotiations are currently underway for Sri Lanka to regain the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+). How has the application process been progressing? What do you expect to happen?

Sri Lanka applied for the GSP+ facility and is now awaiting the European Commission's (EC) assessment of the application. There is some expectation within government that the assessment would reap a positive result. However, two major challenges remain.

First, the government must undertake legislative reform to ensure suspects are granted prompt access to legal counsel -- which means access from the point of arrest. The recent proposals to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure Act fell short of this expectation, as it only granted access after the first police statement is recorded. I'm pleased that those proposals have been shelved, as the status quo under our law is better. Rules were issued in 2012 under the Police Ordinance to give lawyers the right to meet their clients in any police station. While this is not the same as giving suspects prompt access to counsel, it is better than what was proposed recently by the Minister of Justice.

Second, regaining GSP+ will depend on reforming the [Prevention of Terrorism Act] PTA. The EC highlighted a number of problematic provisions in the PTA in a letter sent to the government in 2010. Among the concerns raised was the admissibility of confessions to a police officer and unduly prolonged detention. Until the government takes steps to reform the PTA along these lines, it is difficult to see the EC providing a positive assessment of Sri Lanka's application for GSP+.

Intended to replace the Prevention of Terrorism Act, Sri Lanka's draft for new counterterrorism legislation has received considerable criticism -- both domestically and internationally. Why is the draft so problematic? Do you anticipate that the draft legislation will be modified significantly before it's eventually passed?

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Continuing the point made above, reforming the PTA is a vital part of regaining GSP+. However, the recently unveiled policy and legal framework for a new counterterrorism law is deeply problematic and does not meet international standards. So I have doubts as to whether Sri Lanka can secure GSP+ if it continues to pursue the counterterrorism proposals in their current form.

The counterterrorism proposals have been criticized for a number of reasons. But I think three of them stand out. First, the proposals deny suspects prompt access to counsel. A suspect arrested under the proposed counterterrorism law would be given access to counsel only after the police statement is recorded. It is curious that the language is almost identical to the proposed amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure Act. It can be assumed that the same actors are involved in influencing the drafting process. Second, the proposals make confessions to a police officer admissible. This is hugely problematic given the widespread practice of torture in the country. The Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka recorded 420 torture complaints in 2015 alone. So the practice has not ended despite the government change in January 2015. This is why civil society actors have insisted that the new counterterrorism law not make confessions to police officers admissible.

Incidentally, a set of proposals on national security legislation prepared by the Law Commission of Sri Lanka earlier this year recommended that confessions be made admissible only when made to a magistrate, and that access to counsel should not be denied to suspects. These proposals by the Law Commission, however, were unfortunately discarded.

Finally, the new counterterrorism proposals have an extremely wide range of offenses. I'm yet to see such a broad list of offenses in any other counterterrorism law. The most problematic of these is the offense on speech and writing that 'threatens unity.' I've written on this issue here -- so I won't repeat the arguments on why this offense is deeply problematic in terms of safeguarding the rights of journalists and political dissenters in Sri Lanka.

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The true nature of the relationship between the Russians and President-elect Donald Trump may never be fully known. What is clear is that the framework for a new relationship is more complicated for the Trump team than it has been for any of their predecessors in the past quarter century. This is in part because of Donald Trump's particularly positive comments about Russian President Vladimir Putin at a time when there is heightened tension between the United States and Russia on a number of fronts.

Making deals is Trump's trademark. Deals have helped define US-Russian relations in everything from the Nunn-Lugar program to secure the Soviet Union's nuclear arsenal to the P5+1 deal with Iran, which included Russia. Deals will likely continue to be part of a Trump approach to Russia, since dealing with Russia is not an option, but a necessity. There are three areas that require immediate attention--Syria, Ukraine and cyber issues. If they are dealt with firmly, they could steer US-Russian relations in a productive direction. Nonetheless, accommodating Russia at the expense of US interests is not a viable strategy for the US or its allies.

The first deal to be made is on Syria. Pursuing a limited goal may be a good place to start, by focusing on the humanitarian crisis in Syria. The US should tell the Russians that its immediate concern in Syria, beyond eliminating ISIS and getting a political agreement, is the humanitarian catastrophe in Aleppo and elsewhere. The new Administration should let the Russians know it will support efforts to guarantee the delivery of supplies to innocent civilians in Syria, militarily if necessary. The US should go to the UN to get a resolution that will support the use of force as needed to get humanitarian assistance delivered.

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At the same time, the US should explore the possibility of working with Russia to set up humanitarian zones in Syria in which neither the Syrian army nor the rebels will be allowed to operate. The neutrality and security of these zones would be guaranteed by the UN with US and Russian support. If the Russians refuse all of these suggestions, which may be the case, the US has two options: working with the Europeans to impose Syria-related sanctions against Russia, and if sanctions do not get the Russians to support the effort, using NATO to protect the delivery of humanitarian aid.

A second big issue to be considered is what to do about Ukraine. Flawed as it is, implementing the Minsk II agreement, which lays out a road map for dealing with the fighting in Ukraine, is a start. An OSCE police mission to keep the warring parties in eastern Ukraine apart should also be supported by all concerned parties. Russia must agree to help implement a cease-fire, which is part of Minsk II, and the US must be willing to put pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to make sure he lives up to his commitment. If he does not, increasing military assistance to Ukraine, in addition to increasing sanctions, has to be seriously considered. At the same time, the illegal annexation of Crimea cannot stand, and getting Russia to reverse this act has to be part of broader discussions between Ukraine, supported by the US and EU, and Russia. The status quo on Crimea does not work either legally or politically.

A third problem that has to be addressed is Russian cyber interference in the US political process. This is a concern for all Americans regardless of political affiliation, and has to be dealt with by whatever means available, clandestine or otherwise. The new Administration should let the Russians know this will not be tolerated. Vice President Biden has suggested there may be a covert response to Russia's actions. At a minimum, the new Administration should follow through on whatever plans have already been made--covert or overt-- by the Obama Administration. In addition, the Administration must develop a strategy to deal with Russian disinformation efforts, working closely with European allies to counter Russian propaganda and fake news.

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There should also be a thorough investigation by Congress of what the Russians did with respect to hacking and disinformation during the election, supported by the new Administration, and what needs to be done to prevent it from happening again. It would send a strong signal coming from the Trump team, since they were the beneficiaries of Russian interference.
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The Passing of Fidel Castro

Washington, DC - Secretary of State John Kerry: "We extend our condolences to the Cuban people today as they mourn the passing of Fidel Castro. Over more than half a century, he played an outsized role in their lives, and he influenced the direction of regional, even global affairs.

"As our two countries continue to move forward on the process of normalization -- restoring the economic, diplomatic and cultural ties severed by a troubled past -- we do so in a spirit of friendship and with an earnest desire not to ignore history but to write a new and better future for our two peoples.



"The United States reaffirms its support for deepening our engagement with the Cuban people now and in coming years."
Never Stop Fighting Never Give Up, Becomes Mantra on Long Road to Better Health

Rochester, Minnesota - Stacy Neumayer was a teenager when she received her first kidney transplant. Her health problems began when she was 4 years old. Over time, Stacy developed a condition called glomerulonerphritis, which causes inflammation in the tiny pockets of the kidneys that help remove excess fluid, electrolytes and waste from the bloodstream.

The illness affected Stacys kidney function, and she was put on dialysis until a donor kidney became available.

Eventually my body and my kidneys started shutting down, so I went on dialysis until I had my first transplant, Stacy says. Unfortunately, my body rejected the donor organ before I even left the hospital, so it was back to dialysis.

Im so thankful that I found Mayo Clinic, because they have really fought for me ... They fought for me like they were my family. ~ Stacy Neumayer

Dialysis had affected her spleen, and her spleen caused her body to reject the new kidney. That led to an extended period of dialysis waiting for another donated organ. But Stacy and her family remained strong in their belief that she would persevere and lead the life she always wanted.

Determined to prevail

What Stacy and her family couldnt have known was that her long road to health would include six kidney transplants. In between almost every transplant, Stacy and her family had to work through the challenges of dialysis.

Starting dialysis as a teenager, when youre already dealing with all the emotions and stress of high school, was really hard, Stacy says.

As Stacy grew up, graduated and got married, she went through the series of transplants, receiving both deceased and living donor organs.

Throughout this process, I learned to be in tune with my body and alert to every little thing that was happening, because each rejection was a little different, she says. Over the years, we always had people telling us the worst. But I always had my family telling me a different story: that we were going to fight this.

Each transplant lasted longer than the previous transplant and improved her quality of life. Still, one goal eluded Stacy and her husband  becoming parents.

At age 40, Stacy underwent her fifth transplant  a donation from her younger brother. Because of her improved health status at that time, she and her husband were able to adopt a daughter and make their dream of having a family a reality.

Im so thankful that I found Mayo Clinic, because they have really fought for me, Stacy says. One of my physicians, Dr. Mark Stegall said, We need to get you a kidney, so you can be a mom to that little girl. They fought for me like they were my family.

Empowered to advocate

During her search for an answer, Stacy participated in a clinical trial for a drug designed to reduce antibodies that can cause organ rejection. When that didnt work, Stacys care team at Mayo Clinic considered other approaches, including paired kidney donation. Although a match was found for Stacy in a paired exchange, at the same time a kidney became available from a deceased donor. Stacys doctors felt it was a better match. This most recent transplant, Stacys sixth, has been the most successful by far.

Even early after the transplant, I was doing more than I ever was able to before. I can go shopping with my daughter. Weve gone camping for a weekend. That never could have happened before, because I was always on dialysis, and that limited what my entire family could do, Stacy says. The freedom to be able to do what we want, to live and to go where we want is an amazing feeling. Im going to be able to raise my child, and thats exciting for me because I waited a long time to become her mom.

Throughout her experiences as a transplant patient, Stacy says shes learned many valuable lessons, including:

Your family can be an incredible source of support and strength and can keep you focused on your life goals.

Your physicians and medical care team are also your family and should fight for you.

You can learn from the experience of other patients and draw confidence from them to carry you through.

Dont let fear get in the way of feeling better and living the life you were meant to live; talk to a nurse or other patients about your fears.

Ask questions, listen to your body, and be your own best advocate.

Im a patient who asks a lot of questions because my main job is to take care of this kidney, Stacy says. I owe it to the people who love me and have been there to support me. I may be hard to deal with as a patient sometimes because I ask so many questions and Im so determined, but Im my own best advocate. Thats my philosophy for survival.

Focused on assisting others

Stacy is now looking forward to her daughters first year of school and being able to do what many parents take for granted, such as volunteering to help in the classroom. She also hopes to help other patients going through their own transplant journeys and to encourage people to consider organ donation as a way to help other families.

I found a T-shirt before my last transplant that said, No one fights alone. This became so important to me, because Ive had so much support through my life, Stacy says.

I wear that shirt in honor of my family, the care team at Mayo and the family of the person who donated to me, Stacy says. Even if you dont have extensive family support, you will not find the kind of treatment that you get at Mayo anyplace else. Anyone who goes to Mayo will find that they are not alone. The doctors, nurses and staff are all fighting for you.
President Barack Obama on the Passing of Fidel Castro

Washington, DC - President Barack Obama: "At this time of Fidel Castros passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans - in Cuba and in the United States - 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.

"For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends - bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.

"Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castro's family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America."
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Getting a round in, dashing through the self-checkout, tapping in on public transport: in the past few years contactless card payments have become a part of daily life. More than 260 million contactless transactions were made in the UK in August, almost 200 per cent more than in the same month last year. If the UK carries on at this rate, homeless people will have to rethink their requests for spare change. Grandparents everywhere will be writing IOUs for pocket money. The tooth fairy will go out of business. Maybe these are necessary sacrifices as everything moves online, where it can be traced and logged for posterity. Or maybe we should fight to keep our pockets jangling. It pays to decide how you feel on the subject, because in Sweden, the government is investing in plans for a digital currency that could mean hard moneys days are numbered everywhere.

The declining use of cash in Sweden means that this is more of a burning issue for us than for most other central banks, said Cecilia Skingsley, deputy governor of the Riksbank, Swedens central bank. The amount of notes and coins in circulation in Sweden has fallen by 40 per cent since 2009, driven in part by the decision to eliminate the countrys largest denomination bill. Rather than complaining, Swedes started using less of the second largest bill, the 500-krona note. Now, by some estimates, only a fifth of Swedish retail transactions are conducted in cash. Buses, trains, bars and restaurants all refuse it. Many of the countrys bank branches dont allow withdrawals or deposits of the hard stuff.

Even in Sweden, scrapping cash is not quite as easy as it sounds. The Riksbank is clear that any digital currency would be introduced alongside cash at first. Although it may appear simple at first glance to issue e-krona, this is something entirely new for a central bank and there is no precedent to follow, said Skingsley.

So it would be even harder to introduce a digital currency in the UK, where last year 2.2 million people relied almost exclusively on cash for everyday transactions. The Bank of England just strengthened its commitment to physical currency with the introduction of the first polymer banknote, the five pound note featuring Winston Churchill. But it has also started a long-term research project into the possibility of a digital pound.

The Bank of England strengthened its commitment to physical currency with the introduction of the first polymer banknote (Getty) (Getty Images)

The really big questions arise... where [central bank digital currency] is available to everybody, allowing businesses and households to hold balances in central bank money and to pay each other in real time with full and final settlement, in an electronic format, Victoria Cleland, chief cashier of the Bank of England, said in a speech in September. One of the biggest questions facing the bank is how to make sure digital payments are backed up by real money if the banknote is eliminated.

Gadget and tech news: In pictures Show all 25 1 /25 Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gadget and tech news: In pictures Gun-toting humanoid robot sent into space Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy. Dmitry Rogozin/Twitter Gadget and tech news: In pictures Google turns 21 Google celebrates its 21st birthday on September 27. The The search engine was founded in September 1998 by two PhD students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, in their dormitories at Californias Stanford University. Page and Brin chose the name google as it recalled the mathematic term 'googol', meaning 10 raised to the power of 100 Google Gadget and tech news: In pictures Hexa drone lifts off Chief engineer of LIFT aircraft Balazs Kerulo demonstrates the company's "Hexa" personal drone craft in Lago Vista, Texas on June 3 2019 Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures Project Scarlett to succeed Xbox One Microsoft announced Project Scarlett, the successor to the Xbox One, at E3 2019. The company said that the new console will be 4 times as powerful as the Xbox One and is slated for a release date of Christmas 2020 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures First new iPod in four years Apple has announced the new iPod Touch, the first new iPod in four years. The device will have the option of adding more storage, up to 256GB Apple Gadget and tech news: In pictures Folding phone may flop Samsung will cancel orders of its Galaxy Fold phone at the end of May if the phone is not then ready for sale. The $2000 folding phone has been found to break easily with review copies being recalled after backlash PA Gadget and tech news: In pictures Charging mat non-starter Apple has cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat, which was slated as a way to charge numerous apple products at once AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures "Super league" India shoots down satellite India has claimed status as part of a "super league" of nations after shooting down a live satellite in a test of new missile technology EPA Gadget and tech news: In pictures 5G incoming 5G wireless internet is expected to launch in 2019, with the potential to reach speeds of 50mb/s Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Uber halts driverless testing after death Uber has halted testing of driverless vehicles after a woman was killed by one of their cars in Tempe, Arizona. March 19 2018 Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A humanoid robot gestures during a demo at a stall in the Indian Machine Tools Expo, IMTEX/Tooltech 2017 held in Bangalore Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures The giant human-like robot bears a striking resemblance to the military robots starring in the movie 'Avatar' and is claimed as a world first by its creators from a South Korean robotic company Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Engineers test a four-metre-tall humanoid manned robot dubbed Method-2 in a lab of the Hankook Mirae Technology in Gunpo, south of Seoul, South Korea Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures Waseda University's saxophonist robot WAS-5, developed by professor Atsuo Takanishi and Kaptain Rock playing one string light saber guitar perform jam session Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway resembling the giant panda is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A test line of a new energy suspension railway, resembling a giant panda, is seen in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A concept car by Trumpchi from GAC Group is shown at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Rex Gadget and tech news: In pictures A Mirai fuel cell vehicle by Toyota is displayed at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A visitor tries a Nissan VR experience at the International Automobile Exhibition in Guangzhou, China Reuters Gadget and tech news: In pictures A man looks at an exhibit entitled 'Mimus' a giant industrial robot which has been reprogrammed to interact with humans during a photocall at the new Design Museum in South Kensington, London Getty Gadget and tech news: In pictures A new Israeli Da-Vinci unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Elbit Systems is displayed during the 4th International conference on Home Land Security and Cyber in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv Getty

Then theres the question of what type of technology would be used to issue the currency and how it could be made secure. The Bank of England is interested in distributed ledger technology like Blockchain, in which a set of currency data is synchronised and spread across multiple sites or institutions, allowing everyone in the network to have their own identical copy. It has already researched the practical application of Blockchain and is looking for new opportunities to work with companies on developing the technology.

A vendor sells Stockholm's street paper for the homeless wears a sign reading 'we take cards (Getty)

Even if the Bank of England finds a solution, it might face backlash from the public. Anyone who remembers the public outcry that followed the central bank decision to stop dealing in cheques  and subsequent U-turn  a few years ago will know that the British can be stubborn. Many Britons like the anonymity that comes with cash, not because they are tax dodgers or cheats, but simply because it allows them greater privacy. Some people value the fact that cash cannot be traced and, while the appeal of this is sometimes questionable, it may also be that as Brits we value our privacy, also seen in the fact that we have always rejected the idea of identity cards which other European take for granted, Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for South West England and Gibraltar, told The Independent.

More than 70 per cent of Britons would not be happy with government agencies such as the police, intelligence services and the taxman being able to track every payment they made, according to a recent survey of more than 5,000 people by Cartridge Save. Some fear that if physical cash was scrapped, government agencies could switch off peoples access to their own money if they wanted to, for example if they were convicted of a crime.

Duncan McCann, researcher at the New Economics Foundation, told The Independent that he has already seen those with a vested interest in the transition to digital mounting campaigns try and turn us off cash and onto their payments systems, where they receive part of the transaction. You might have too, if youve seen an advert for a digital wallet like PayPal or something similar. With such an oligopolistic payment system I do not want to imbue them with even more power, McCann said.

Many establishments and modes of transport don't accept the highest denominations of kroner notes (Getty)

What if there was another way? Scott Cato said a digital currency could have popular appeal  if it didnt involve central banks. Interestingly, when the European Parliament recently worked on a report on Bitcoin there was widespread support for this genuine digital money that is created by users without the intervention of banks. So politicians from various political backgrounds all saw the value in citizens' liberating themselves from bank money and creating their own, she said.

Despite all the hype  and all the FinTech companies hoping for a slice of the pie  the amount of cash in the UK is rising, not falling like in Sweden. That means the UK could have longer to wait for a digital currency, if it gets one at all. I am extremely skeptical about the transition to a cashless society, said McCann. Looks like the tooth fairy can breathe a sigh of relief  for now at least.
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Audrey Mabrey was 26 when she was struck four times with a hammer, covered in petrol and set on fire by her husband.

She survived the brutal attack, which prosecutors called a monstrous and unimaginable crime, and woke up from a coma six weeks later with burns to 80 per cent of her body.

Doctors at the Florida hospital where she was first treated carried out seven separate operations to save her life, leaving her with a medical bill of more than $100,000 (80,000).

The first time I saw myself I thought I looked like Freddie Kruger, like a monster from a horror film, says Mabrey.

Mabrey became an advocate against domestic violence and came into contact with Face Forward, an organisation which provides survivors with free reconstructive plastic surgery  often unaffordable under Americas healthcare system.

Her former husband, Christopher Hanney, was jailed for life in 2012 for the premeditated attack he inflicted on her in November 2009.

The pair had separated a few months previously and Mabrey had moved out with their two children. She stopped off at the house they used to share in between work and attending a class at a nearby community college, believing Hanney was out at jury duty.

Audrey Mabrey speaks out against domestic violence on US television programme Dr Phil in 2010 (The Dr Phil Show/YouTube screengrab) (The Dr Phil Show / Youtube screengrab)

She had a drink in the flat and went for a jog  but when she returned, he was waiting for her inside, with a butchers knife in his hands and a crazed look in his eyes.

He pushed her into the garage, where he had placed a blanket on the floor, tried to rape her and then hit her in the head four times with a hammer.

I started praying. I didn't see a way out of there  he was 5ft 11 and a retired NYC detective. For me that was it, my life was over, she says.

Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Show all 10 1 /10 Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Brazilian women march in Sao Paulo during a protest following the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl There have been calls for protests to end to what campaigners call Brazil's 'culture of rape' after the attack Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl An online campaign has been set up in response to the crime, using the hashtag #EstuproNuncaMais, meaning 'rape never again' Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl The 16-year-old victim was attacked in a poor neighbourhood in the west of the city on 21 May 2016 Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Two of the attackers posted pictures and video on Twitter of the assault, which has shocked the country Rex Features Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Brazilian women protest in front of the Candelaria Church in Rio de Janeiro AFP/Getty Images Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Seven men have been charged in connection with the attack AFP/Getty Images Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Women's underwear and photos from Brazilian photographer Marcio Freitas displayed on Copacabana beach during a protest by non-governmental organization Rio de Paz (Rio of Peace) against rape and violence against women REUTERS Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Women's underwear smeared with paint is seen during a protest against rape and violence against women in Brasilia, Brazil REUTERS Feminist protests demand end to violence against women in Brazil after gang rape of teenage girl Demonstrators attend a protest against rape and violence against women in Brasilia, Brazil REUTERS

Hanney lit a candle, doused her in petrol, and threw it at her. She went up in flames as soon as it hit the fumes, but managed to escape through the garage door where her neighbour helped to put her out and called an ambulance.

Around three years ago, Mabrey approached Face Forward, set up in 2007 by domestic violence survivor Deborah Alessi and her husband, plastic surgeon David Alessi.

Since then, Mabrey has had one procedure to replace scar tissue on her neck with smooth skin taken from her back, another to rebuild part of her ear and a third to reduce the height of scarring around her mouth.

David and Deborah Alessi at the 6th annual Face Forward gala in Los Angeles in September 2015 (Rex Features)

She is returning to Los Angeles, where Face Forward is based, for a fourth operation in January. After every procedure, I've looked more and more like myself. Not better and better, but more myself, she says.

When I look in the mirror today, I see a beautiful and confident woman.

Face Forward provides survivors with transport to LA, accommodation, counselling and pro-bono surgery, usually performed by Dr Alessi himself.

It holds an annual fundraising gala, this year headlined by Nelly, and last year donated the equivalent of $750,000 (600,000) in surgery.

The number of survivors helped by the charity each year varies, but Deborah says while they may work with around 12 people in one year, many of them will require multiple surgical procedures.

Stephanie Schurman, 48, developed a disfiguring benign tumour called a hemangioma on the side of her face after she was raped and stabbed multiple times by her cousins partner in 1993.

Schurman, who was 23 at the time, had finished late at the salon where she worked in Griffin, in the south east US state of Georgia.

She stopped off at her mothers home to collect her three children, where she was confronted by the man her cousin had been seeing.

He got on top of me and started punching me in the face. It was so horrible. My three- and two-year-olds were standing there watching, says Schurman.

Stephanie Schurman before (L) and after Face Forward provided her with reconstructive surgery (Courtesy of Face Forward)

He said he liked me and wanted to be with me and thought I wanted him too, she says. When she tried to fight him off, he became angry and told her he was going to kill her.

The attacker picked up a kitchen knife and started cutting me everywhere: my face, my stomach, says Schurman. Then he left me for dead. I played dead  something told me to do so.

Schurman was in hospital for three weeks, where the doctors inserted artificial ligaments into her hand. Her attacker was arrested and jailed but was released after 15 years for good behaviour.

Recommended Katie Piper criticises people wearing fake burns for Halloween

When the tumour  believed to be linked to the trauma she suffered  began to protrude from her face, her new health insurance company refused to pay for its removal.

They don't do reconstructive surgery on you, they just patch you up, she says.

When I started working [again], I tried to have reconstructive surgery, but they insurance company said they do not pay for pre-existing conditions. They let you walk around like that.

For years, Schurman lived with the tumour, until Face Forward helped to reduce its size and remove some of her scars earlier this year.

I feel so good, she says. I hadn't been able to smile in 23 years; I couldn't smile because of the protruding tumour.

Without Face Forward, I wouldn't have had the surgery. It would have had to be a miracle.

The organisation hopes to eventually set up in Britain, where Deborah says the charity will allow survivors to access complex treatment more quickly than NHS waiting lists allow.

Its probably quite different in this country, because you do have the National Health Service, says Polly Neate, CEO of Womans Aid.

But as a general system in the UK, we need to do a lot more to provide much earlier help to survivors of domestic abuse. Were already concentrating a lot on picking up the pieces.

One of the biggest things we need to do is encourage women who are being abused to come forward much more readily.

 Kenya: Domestic violence victims find refuge in women-only villages

Face Forward has already begun to help domestic violence survivors from other countries, says Deborah, who grew up in Glasgow but moved to the US and met David after surviving an abusive relationship herself.

We have one from the UK coming up, and we have helped people from Uganda, Kenya, Guatemala, Mexico, India and Afghanistan, she says.

I want to give people their life back, give them hope and a tomorrow.
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John Humphrys is BBC Radio 4 personified. While most of the world lies asleep, the Welsh broadcaster has spent decades rising at 3.30am and travelling through pre-dawn London to confront some politician or other on the air waves of the Today programme.

But like all things, this will eventually come to an end. The 73-year-old, who is undoubtedly one of Britains toughest interviewers, has said for the first time in three decades he can see an end to his time at the BBC show.

Mr Humphrys, who has been known as the Rottweiler of Radio 4 for almost 30 years, said he could wave farewell to the BBC show anytime from next week to next month to next year in an interview with The Times magazine.

Despite the interviewer probing him about when this will be, he did not give a concrete answer but said it is "extremely unlikely" he will be covering another general election.

Thats another three and a half years away, and its unlikely Ill be there in three years. Extremely unlikely, he said. Will I be there in a year? I dont know.

People news in pictures Show all 18 1 /18 People news in pictures People news in pictures 7 October 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in an ice hockey match between former NHL stars and officials at the Shayba Arena in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. Vladimir Putin spent his 63rd birthday on the ice, playing hockey with NHL stars against Russian officials and tycoons EPA People news in pictures 6 October 2015 German designer Karl Lagerfeld (R) and model Cara Delevingne (C) appear at the end of his Spring/Summer 2016 women's ready-to-wear collection for fashion house Chanel at the Grand Palais which is transformed into a Chanel airport during the Fashion Week in Paris, France Reuters People news in pictures 5 October 2015 Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne addresses the Conservative party conference in Manchester. The Chancellor argued that reducing the payments to people in low paid jobs would give them economic security by reducing the Governments spending deficit Getty Images People news in pictures 4 October 2015 Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston takes a moment in the centre of the field with his daughter Frankie Thurston, holding dark-skinned doll, after winning the 2015 NRL Grand Final match between the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium in Sydney. The image quickly became the talking point of Australias National Rugby League Final and provoked a strong reaction on social media, with many praising Thurston for giving his child a toy that promotes inclusiveness and diversity Getty Images People news in pictures 3 October 2015 Pope Francis gives a thumbs-up as he greets people at the end of an audience to the participants of a meeting organized by the "Food Bank" at the Paul VI audience hall in Vatican Getty Images People news in pictures 2 October 2015 Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne (L) throws an American football as he meets with former American football players Dan Marino (2nd R) and Curtis Martin (not pictured) at 11 Downing Street in London, ahead of the New York Jets playing against the Miami Dolphins at London's Wembley Stadium on 4 October Getty Images People news in pictures 1 October 2015 An honor guard opens the door as Russian President Vladimir Putin enters a hall to attend a meeting with members of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia People news in pictures 30 September 2015 Former Mrs America Lisa Christie, who alleges misconduct by Bill Cosby, holds up photos of her younger self during a news conference at the law office of attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Matt Damon has defended himself against claims that he instructed gay actors to remain in the closet. He had said I think youre a better actor the less people know about you and sexuality is a huge part of that. Whether youre straight or gay, people shouldnt know anything about your sexuality but an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show said, I was just trying to say actors are more effective when theyre a mystery. Right? Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Marion Cotillard has said that there is no place for feminism in Hollywood. Speaking to Porter magazine, she saidFilm-making is not about gender/ You cannot ask a president in a festival like Cannes to have, like, five movies directed by women and five by men. For me it doesnt create equality, it creates separation. I mean, I dont qualify myself as a feminist." Getty People news in pictures 29 September 2015 Actor Paul Walkers daughter, Meadow, is suing Porsche over her fathers death in a lawsuit that claims he was trapped in the burning car because of design flaws and the seat belt. The Fast and Furious star was killed when the Porsche Carrera GT he was a passenger in hit a pole in California in 2013. The driver, his friend Roger Rodas, also died when the vehicle burst into flames. AP People news in pictures 28 September 2015 Robert Mugabe waits to address the United Nations General Assembly. The leader of Zimbabwe reportedly exclaimed 'We are not gay!' as he criticised Western nation's "double standards and attempts to prescribe new rights that are contrary to our values, norms, traditions and beliefs. In 2013 he described homosexuals as worse than pigs, goats and birds. Reuters People news in pictures 28 September 2015 South African comedian Trevor Noah hosts the first 'Daily Show' since taking over from Jon Stewart as host. Stewart had presented the US satirical news show since 1999 and was described by Noah during the show as a 'Political father' 2015 Getty Images People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Sir Elton John may have received a phone call from the real Vladimir Putin. Mr Putin's spokesman announced he had made contact weeks after the singer was duped by pranksters pretending to be the Russian President. Getty People news in pictures 25 September 2015 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio was mistakenly declared as the artist who produced the Mona Lisa by Fox News anchor Shepard Smith. It was in fact Leonardo da Vinci. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 A new biography claims Donald Trump expected to be dead by 40 and never marry. The Guardian says the a new book also claims that in 1980, Mr Trump manufactured a fake vice-president of his real estate conglomerate, whom he called John Baron. People news in pictures 24 September 2015 The Dalai Lama has said that Britain's policy towards China is just about 'Money, money, money.' And asked 'Where is morality?' People news in pictures 24 September 2015 Puff Daddy secured the number-one spot on the Forbes Hip Hop Cash Kings list, with the publication calculating he made an estimated $60million (39m) between June 2014 and June 2015.

Next year will mark his 30th anniversary as a presenter on the Today programme and he is currently in the process of writing a book called The Today Files which is intended to coincide with his departure.

Increasingly I think, yeah, there really are things I want to do. So I suppose one has to, you know 

But when pressed about whether he plans to retire, he said: Ive no intention of ever stopping working  ever! The thought horrifies me."

Yes, just the Today programme. Because Today does make  even though I only do it a maximum four days a week  huge demands on you.

Since Mr Humphrys left school in Cardiff at the age of 15 to become a newspaper journalist, he has gone from strength to strength. In 1966 he joined the BBC and within five years was Washington correspondent and covering Richard Nixon's resignation. A pillar of the BBC, Mr Humphrys has also worked as a foreign correspondent in both America and Africa and as diplomatic correspondent and presenter of the Nine O'Clock News.
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While the majority of world leaders dished out lukewarm tributes to Fidel Castro or skirted around the subject of his legacy, Justin Trudeaus reaction to the death of the former Cuban leader was pointedly warm.

In turn, the Canadian Prime Minister has drawn criticism for praising the former Cuban leader and revolutionary who died at the age of 90 on Friday.

Known as Fidel to both friends and foes, Castro split public opinion in life and death and leaves behind a massively divided legacy. While the firebrand leader gained support for bringing universal free education and healthcare to Cuba, his opponents criticise his human rights record and say he suppressed dissent.

Mr Trudeau hailed Castro as a "remarkable leader" and a legendary revolutionary and orator in a statement and warmly recalled his late fathers friendship with Castro.

While a controversial figure, both Mr Castros supporters and detractors recognised his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for el Comandante, he said.

I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away. It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raul Castro during my recent visit to Cuba.

The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Show all 10 1 /10 The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Attempts made on Castro's life since he came to power in 1959: 638 (according to Fabian Escalante, former Cuban security chief) Reuters/Prensa Latina The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Castro is a baseball fan - with 16 teams making up the Cuban National Baseball League Reuters/Kimberly White The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Size of the original rebel army led by Castro and including Che Guevara that sailed to Cuba in 1956, eventually toppling President Batista on 1 January 1959: 82 STF/AFP/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Acts of "civil disobedience" logged in Cuba in 2005, according to a report by the exiled Cuban Democratic Directorate: 3,322 Miguel Vinas/AFP/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Age at which Castro began smoking cigars: 15 Age at which Castro gave up smoking cigars: 59 Jorge Rey/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Jorge Rey/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Reuters/Andrew Winning The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Total number of Cubans believed to have emigrated while Castro was in power: about 1.4 million (81 per cent of whom have settled in North America) Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Duration of a speech Castro made at the UN in 1960: 4 hours 29 minutes (listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest speech made in the United Nations) Tom Mihalek/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Films: Castro is listed as an "uncredited extra" in the 1946 musical Holiday in Mexico and as a "poolside spectator" in the romantic comedy Easy to Wed (also 1946) Hrvoje Polan/AFP/Getty Images

Mr Trudeau has drawn criticism from some politicians for his positive tribute and has also been subject to the wrath of Twitter.

US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who is of Cuban descent, suggested the leaders comments were shameful and embarrassing and questioned whether the statement was real or a parody.

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, another Cuban-American, said his statement was disgraceful and accused him of slobbering adulation of Castro.

In the opposition Conservative Party in Canada, Kellie Leitch, who is running for the partys leadership, criticised him for his fawning characterisation of Castro.

Despite the fact that the politician often appears impervious to social media criticism, the tribute gave rise to the Twitter hashtag #TrudeauEulogies. It immediately started trending on the social media site, with people mocking his genial tone.

Today we say goodbye to Mr Mussolini, the former Italian prime minister best known for his competent train-management," said one.

Castro was an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of Trudeaus father and former prime minister Pierre Trudeau in 2000. His father was the first leader of a Nato member state to visit communist Cuba in 1976.
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Star Wars reared its head in the American presidential campaign on more occasion than one. From the parody of Donald Trump as the evildoer of Darth Trump to Mr Trump rebuking Barack Obama for supposedly prioritising watching Star Wars over fighting terrorism, the adventures of a galaxy far, far away have found their place in an American presidential campaign plagued with bitterness on planet earth.

Since the President-elects shock victory, the sci-fi trilogy has found its way into politics again. The newly appointed Chief White House strategist, Steve Bannon, who is the former Breitbart executive chairman, appeared to compare himself to a Star Wars villain. Darkness is good. Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. Thats power, Bannon told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month.

As such, it seems particularly apt that Mark Hamill, who is known for his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy, has now weighed in on Mr Trumps presidency.

The 64-year-old actor, who is a long-time Democrat, said Mr Trumps presidency is shaping up to be a whos-who of really despicable people in an interview with The Daily Beast. Hamill said he was in total denial about his win.

President Donald Trump life in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 President Donald Trump life in pictures President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump poses in a rocking chair once used by President John F. Kennedy at his New York City residence Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump with his new bride Marla Maples after their wedding at the Plaza hotel in New York Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Celina Midelfart watch the match between Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer during U.S. Open. She was the date whom Donald Trump was with when he met his current wife Melania at a party in 1996 Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas serving as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, speaks to Donald Trump and Melania Knauss on the starting grid at the Daytona International Speedwa Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump talks with his former wife Ivana Trump during the men's final at the U.S. Open Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and his friend Melania Knauss pose for photographers as they arrive at the New York premiere of Star Wars Episode : 'The Phantom Menace,' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump talks with host Larry King. Trump told King that he was moving toward a possible bid for the United States presidency with the formation of a presidential exploratory committee Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump answers questions as Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura looks on in Brooklyn Park. Trump said on Friday he 'very well might' make a run for president under the Reform Party banner but had not made a final decision Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump makes a face at a friend as he sits next to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso before the start of the 2003 Miss Universe pageant in Panama City Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Entrepreneur Donald Trump is greeted by a Marilyn Monroe character look-a-alike, as he arrives at Universal Studios Hollywood to attend the an open casting call for his NBC television network reality series 'The Apprentice.' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Simon Cowell present an Emmy during the 56th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Megan Mullally perform at the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump, poses with his children, son Donald Trump, Jr., and daughters Tiffany and Ivanka Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump told Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner on Tuesday she would be given a second chance after reported misbehavior Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump holds a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as his wife Melania holds their son Barron in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. property mogul Donald Trump stands next to a bagpiper during a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, north east Scotland Reuters

Im glad I have [the show] to take my mind off whats going on. Because if you look at whats being assembled for our government its like, yikes. Its a whos-who of really despicable people.

Mr Bannon was formerly the executive chairman of Breitbart News and declared the pro-Trump site the platform for the alt-right. The alt-right political movement has been accused of racism, anti-Semitism and misogyny and of sharing an ideology with far-right parties such as the French National Front.

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker in 1977 (Rex Features)

Hamill urged the American public not to give up and be paralysed by fear in the wake of Mr Trumps victory. Its tempting to say, Well, Im moving to Canada, I cant stand it. But in other ways, its a challenge to stay and defend your country and do what you think is right and not retreat and hide under the covers. Its not gonna be easy, thats for sure".

 Donald Trump's four biggest U-turns

He also said that political debates would be rife at Thanksgiving this year given the country is so profoundly politically divided. Half the people in the country are thrilled and delighted and half the people are disgusted, repulsed, and embarrassed.
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Employers should stop ruining Christmas for workers through fear of offending people of other faiths, according to Britain's main equalities watchdog.

David Isaac, who has been Equalities and Human Right Commission (EHRC) since May, said bosses should not feel guilty about sending Christmas cards or holding office Christmas parties.

In the face of increased concerns about respecting the rights of minority groups, Mr Isaac urged companies to take a common sense approach to dealing with religious matters at work.

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He told the Sunday Times: Freedom of religion is a fundamental human right and it shouldnt be suppressed through fear of offending.

"Lots of employers have now become really worried about doing anything discriminatory regarding their Muslim or Jewish staff.

Bosses have been guilty of extreme and disproportionate behaviour that couldproduce some sort of resentment about special treatment, he added.

Mr Isaac, whose previous role as chairman of the gay and lesbian rights group Stonewall led some Christian groups to try block his appointment to the EHRC, said current UK equality laws were adequate but needed to be interpreted sensibly.

It comes after reports of some employers renaming Christmas parties, banning decorations and encouraging use of the term winter holidays instead of Christmas holidays as part of attempts to be more inclusive.

Last year, some cinema chains caused a stir by banning an advert featuring the Lord's Prayer in case it offended non-Christians.

John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' Show all 14 1 /14 John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer John Lewis 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer' John Lewis Launches 2016 Christmas Advertising Campaign Buster The Boxer

Mr Isaac suggested this was excessive and warned businesses not to surpress religious freedoms.

He said: There are a lot of myths out there when it comes to dealing with religion at work. I want to put the record straight.

It is ok to hold a party and to send Christmas cards. Most Muslims and Jews that I know adhere to their own religious beliefs of course, but to some extent acknowledge that Christmas happens and to some extent, with a small 'c', celebrate it. This is peoples lived experience and we need to reflect it.

The EHRC will publish new guidelines this week on religion in the workplace. These will make clear that employers do not have to agree to requests for time off for a religious holiday or time off to pray during work hours. However, they must show they have given proper consideration to any request.

The intervention comes weeks after Dame Louise Casey, the Governments integration tsar, warned policies that undermined Christmas traditions were a threat to community cohesion.

She said: "I have become convinced that it is only the upholding of our core British laws, cultures, values and traditions that will offer us the route map through the different and complex challenge of creating a cohesive society."

She referred to having met an incredibly well-meaning white manager of a community centre who had insisted the organisations Christmas tree be referred to as a festive tree in order to avoid offending Asian and Muslim employees.

Ms Casey said: What offence did he think he was causing? What did we ever think would be offensive about celebrating Christmas with a tree?

Bosses were over-worrying about causing offence, she added,
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An east London primary school has provoked a furious backlash from parents after it introduced unisex toilets for pupils over the age of eight.

The controversy arose after a new 12m building at Leytonstones Buxton School was equipped with the gender-neutral bathrooms.

Despite a petition protesting against the new toilets having nearly 700 signatures on Sunday, the schools headteacher Kath Wheeler welcomed the change.

She said the full-height unisex toilets created a safe space where pupils show respect towards each other and feel respected, according to the East London and West Essex Guardian.

She also noted the toilets meet Department of Education and Waltham Forest council regulations.

However, parents suggested it would leave children vulnerable to sexual abuse or premature sexualisation.

"There's already so much child abuse going on and this will increase the situation even more. If anything does happen then the headteacher and other associates will be fully responsible. Totally disgusting, one parent wrote on petition site Change.org.

Another said: Why would you want girls and boys in the same bathroom? Privacy seems to be out of the window nowadays. This is ridiculous to think it's ok for schools to have unisex toilets. It's difficult to deal with the opposite sexes in normal circumstances, but now you think the children have to deal with awkwardness in the bathroom. Keep their privacy separate.

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Many parents also voiced their disappointment that the school did not consult them.

One wrote: "This is a terrible idea and has many potential risk to unisex toilets. I am very upset that the school did not even have the decency to consult with the parents of the children, this came as a shock when I was informed by a mother. I would like to know who would be held responsible should there be an incident?

Another said: My main issue with this is the lack of consultation with parents. No forum to debate and possibly vote on it. For me, they should introduce it as a continuous thing from nursery/reception not change it half way through a child's schooling. The children shouldn't notice a change. That is what is very wrong. The children are voicing how uncomfortable they feel and children feeling uncomfortable is simply wrong. It's making them more aware of gender differences at an early age and defeating the object.

Other parents said they supported the measure, suggesting it was a progressive step towards opening up gender norms.

Everyone should be able to use the toilet in peace whether in unisex or single sex toilets. Hopefully the kids will be taught to be respectful of each other, whether in the toilets or not," one parent said.

Ms Wheeler, who is now inviting parents to take tours of the new facility, reminded them that single sex toilets were still available for use.

No pupil has to use a unisex toilet if they do not want to, she told the East London and West Essex Guardian.
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An ally of Boris Johnson has pleaded with senior Tories to stop undermining the Foreign Secretary with public jibes.

Tory MP Jake Berry told critics of Mr Johnson to stop "sniping from the comfort of Whitehall" and back the Cabinet minister.

He spoke out about the attacks on Mr Johnson, amid concerns among they are damaging the reputation of the Foreign Secretary around the world.

In recent weeks Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond have publicly poked fun at the former London mayor.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Mr Berry's defence of Mr Johnson came after the Foreign Secretary visited Afghanistan for the first time.

Mr Berry told the Mail on Sunday: "Boris has spent this weekend in Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

"And what are his armchair critics doing? Sniping from the comfort of Whitehall.

"They need to get behind him if Britain is going to succeed with Brexit."

His comments echo those of Paul Goodman, the former Tory MP who is now editor of the ConservativeHome website.

He wrote in the Daily Telegraph last week: "Mr Johnson is used to being asked to knock off the jokes. But the same request should now be made of the Prime Minister, at least as far as those at his expense are concerned."

The Prime Minister used her Conservative Party conference speech to joke "can Boris Johnson stay on message for a full four days? Just about".

At a recent awards ceremony the Prime Minister also teased him after he had joked about Lord Heseltine "throttling" his dog. Mrs May said: "Boris, the dog was put down ... when its master decided it wasn't needed any more."

Mr Hammond made a barbed reference to Mr Johnson's aborted leadership campaign as he delivered his Autumn Statement in the Commons.

"I suspect that I will prove no more adept at pulling rabbits from hats than my successor as Foreign Secretary has been at retrieving balls from the back of scrums," Mr Hammond said - a reference to Mr Johnson's previous comments about his leadership ambitions that "if the ball came loose at the back of the scrum" he would pick it up.

On his visit to Afghanistan, the Foreign Secretary held talks with president Ashraf Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and praised the work of British military and civilian staff helping to rebuild and stabilise the country.

Mr Johnson said: "Afghanistan is an amazing country and I'm incredibly proud of the work that the UK is doing here to challenge extremism and terrorism, promote democracy and human rights and support the Afghan government's reform plans.

"British military trainers are improving the ability of the Afghan military to stabilise the country and respond to extremism, and our development works means girls are defying extremists by going to school and university. Our work also means that terrorism is increasingly tackled at source.

"Hundreds of British men and women continue to work here for noble reasons, in often highly dangerous circumstances, and we continue to owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the vital contribution that they are making."

Mr Johnson also went to the British Cemetery in Kabul to pay tribute at a memorial to the 456 UK servicemen and women who lost have their lives in Afghanistan since 2001.

PA
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Britons living in EU countries must have their rights protected after Brexit, scores of MPs said in a letter to European Council president Donald Tusk.

The letter, backed by 80 parliamentarians including 70 Tory MPs, calls for an early agreement on reciprocal rights for British citizens in European Union countries and citizens of those nations living in the UK - saying people should not be used as bargaining chips in Brexit negotiations.

The letter, organised by Tories Michael Tomlinson and Steve Baker, calls for the issue to be put on the agenda of the summit of European leaders in December and hits out at the refusal of Brussels officials to allow formal talks on the matter to take place.

Theresa May has said she wants to guarantee EU citizens the right to remain in the UK and has said that the only reason that would not happen is if other European countries do not offer the same privileges to Britons.

The Prime Minister has also indicated she would like the issue resolved at an early stage to end the uncertainty affecting people's lives.

But the MPs said the European Commission was refusing to work on the issue until the formal Brexit process begins with the triggering of Article 50, even though leaders of EU countries backed Mrs May's position.

The Prime Minister has said she will trigger Article 50 by the end of March next year.

In their letter to Mr Tusk ahead of December's European Council summit in Brussels, the MPs highlighted the stance taken by the commission's lead Brexit official Michel Barnier who said in a message on Twitter after talks with Brexit Secretary David Davis there would be no negotiation without notification.

The MPs - including former Cabinet ministers Michael Gove, Iain Duncan Smith and John Whittingdale - said: We warmly welcome the news that individual member states are working with the Prime Minister and Her Majesty's Government to resolve the status of EU citizens in the UK and our citizens living and working in Europe, but we are extremely concerned that members of the commission - particularly commissioner Barnier - seem worryingly indifferent to securing reciprocal rights for our and your resident citizens.

His attempts to prevent negotiations taking place on this issue between the democratically-elected governments of EU member states are making it harder to achieve what is in everyone's interest: ending the anxiety and uncertainty for UK and EU citizens living in one another's territories.

It is the only just and humane thing to do and anything else would be unworthy of Europe's common values.

People are not bargaining chips. Human beings are not cards to be traded 'tit for tat' in a political playground.

The letter's author Mr Tomlinson, deputy chairman of the pro-Brexit European Research Group (ERG), said: At the October meeting of the European Council, Donald Tusk said that there was nothing to discuss about Brexit.

With respect I disagree with him. People are not bargaining chips. Theresa May wants to secure reciprocal rights for our citizens.

This letter is a call to Donald Tusk to liberate Theresa May to achieve what is in all of our national interests and to end the anxiety and uncertainty for UK and EU citizens. It must be discussed at the next European Council meeting. But not only discussed, it must be resolved.

Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned  forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA  because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty

ERG chairman Steve Baker MP said: Michel Barnier's intransigence is inhumane. It is only compounded by the petulance of his recent tweet.

He should apologise and immediately agree in principle the continuation of reciprocal rights for resident UK and EU citizens.

Press Association
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A Conservative manifesto pledge to plant 11 million trees in England will go unfulfilled, official figures suggest.

According to new figures released by the Forestry Commission just 1.35 million trees have been planted since May 2015  below the estimated three million needed to stay on track to fulfil the promise.

In the manifesto, the party said it was proud of its record on the environment in its previous five years of government, saying it had safeguarded the Green Belt and planted 11 million trees.

It vowed: We will ensure that our public forests and woodland are kept in trust for the nation and plant another 11 million trees."

But campaigners have warned too little is being done to combat Britain status as one of the least wooded countries in Europe as the data showed the rate of tree planting in England had fallen to its lowest levels since the 1970s, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

Greenpeace UK's head of public affairs, Rosie Rogers, said: "Ministers say they're committed to leaving the environment in a better state for the next generation, yet they seem to have given up on a crucial policy to deliver on it.

"Trees help absorb climate-warming CO2, provide a vital habitat for wildlife and pollinators, improve peoples experience of local nature, and, crucially, help prevent floods by trapping more water on hilltops and slowing run-offs."

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

Green campaigners have now called for the Government to import trees from Europe despite fears they may bring disease.

Thousands of trees in the UK have had to be culled in recent years due to the spread of a disease called Ash dieback which arrived in the country in 2012.

A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs spokesperson said: "Woodland cover in England is at its highest level since the 14th century and, although planting rates vary from year to year, we are committed to planting another 11 million trees over the course of this Parliament.

"As part of this commitment, we have just opened the Woodland Carbon Fund  a 19 million fund that will encourage large scale planting."
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Nigel Farage has hinted he will back far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen in next years French presidential election.

The interim Ukip leader described Ms le Pen as brilliant and suggested a victory for would mean its over for the European Union.

In the past, Mr Farage has distanced himself from the National Front's "prejudice and anti-Semitism" - despite Ms le Pen insisting there is not a "hair's breadth" between it and Ukip.

 Farage gives speech on 'Brexit revolution'

But, in an interview with The Sunday Express, he said he was on the fence" over whether her victory would be a price worth paying to bring down the EU altogether.

Mr Farage said: I know her. She's very determined, brilliant on TV. I mean absolutely brilliant.

When you watch her making her argument and you can see her getting into it she is really good at it. There's lots of baggage and that's the problem.

In the first round of the Presidential election, next April, Mr Farage will back Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, of the France Arise party  an utterly respectable Eurosceptic.

The final round, in May, is expected to be a contest between Ms le Pen and Francois Fillon, the strong favourite to emerge as the centre-right candidate after todays run-off.

Mr Fillon is expected to beat Alain Juppe to be the Republicans candidate  after beating him by 44.1 per cent to 28.5 per cent a week ago.

On backing the National Front at that point, Mr Farage said: It depends what the circumstances are - you'll have to ask me in April.

I have never said a bad word about her, but I have never said a good word about her party and that's where I am with this - it's slightly awkward.

The comments came in an interview in which Mr Farage claimed he cannot leave his house without security after the Brexit vote and Donald Trump's US presidential election victory.

He said he has received death threats and was confronted with a glass during a night out last week.

Mr Farage said: I've got no life - I can't do anything, I can't go anywhere.

Certainly I would not go out in London of an evening on my own without security - couldn't even think about it.

I can't even walk down the street without it. I have to go to private places, private venues. The thought of doing a Friday night pub crawl around Westminster - I just can't do it anymore."

Mr Farage announced his retirement the day after Britain voted to leave the EU in June, but returned temporarily after his party imploded.

He then embarrassed Theresa May by stealing a march on her to become the first British politician to meet Mr Trump since his victory.

The President-elect tweeted he would do a great job as British ambassador to the US - prompting anger from Downing Street, which said there was "no vacancy".
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Nigel Farage has announced plans to apologise to the American people on behalf of Britain for criticisms made of Donald Trump during his presidential campaign.

The interim Ukip leader said he would travel to the US at the end of the week in an effort to cement ties with Washington DC, after becoming the first British politician to meet the President-elect after his shock election victory at the beginning of the month.

Speaking on LBC on Sunday, Mr Farage also reiterated his desire to facilitate an introduction between Theresa May and Mr Trump formally or informally, despite Downing Street confirming: There is no vacancy. We have an excellent ambassador to the US.

Last week, President-elect Trump tweeted to say: "Many people would like to see Nigel Farage represent Great Britain as their Ambassador to the United States. He would do a great job!"

And Mr Farage said: Regardless of what Downing Street thinks, Im going back to America at the end of this week, Im going to meet all sorts of people and I shall say to them, regardless whether the government uses me or not, please forgive some of the things that were said about your President during the election campaign, its in both of our interests to get closer, he said.

The best thing for us would be to have the best possible relationship with America, lets start talking and get closer.

He also hit out at Ms Mays reluctance to involve him as a third party in the UK-US special relationship.

Im happy to help formally or informally, Im happy to make an introduction. But I just think it is ridiculous, petty and potentially against the national interest not even to ring me up and have a chat with me, let alone ask me to make some introductions, he said.

It isnt just Trump, but quite a few of Trumps team now taking senior positions that I have known and got on with for years I have a slight advantage but I promise you Im not bigging myself up in any way.

The comments came some weeks after an ecstatic Mr Farage was photographed with Mr Trump, who have both sought to present themselves as anti-establishment, in front of a gold-plated lift at Trump Tower in New York.

Fellow Leave advocates Arron Banks, Andy Wigmore and Raheem Kassam were also in attendance at the President-elects first meeting with a British politician.

After spending more than an hour with the Mr Trump, the Brexit campaigner urged Ms May to stop running him down and instead use his closeness to Mr Trump to put the national interest first.

He also said the new US leaders team was concerned by disparaging comments made about him in London during his election campaign.

The meeting came amid claims, not denied by Mr Farage, that he had spoken with Tory ministers about serving as an intermediary to try and improve relations with the new US leader.

Mr Farage said on LBC: If I did get the job, any job I promise you one thing, you questioned whether I would be impartial, I couldnt be impartial, Im afraid I would have to always put the interests of my own country first and I believe it is in the interest of my country to forge a strong relationship with the new president.
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The country is on the brink of a "social care crisis" if funding for the care of the elderly is not improved, the Government has been warned.

More than half of councils tasked with care for the elderly - 77 out of 152 - have had at least one residential and nursing care provider closed in the last six months, figures obtained by the Observer showed.

Meanwhile, 48 councils have seen at least one company that deals with helping to care for the elderly in their own home forced to close, according to the data.

New care arrangements were also sought by 59 councils after contracts were deemed by providers to be insufficiently funded to meet the needs required.

In a letter to the paper, a cross-party group of politicians said: "The social care crisis is real and it is happening right now. The Government cannot ignore it any longer if we are to truly have a society that works for everyone."

The group said a further 2.6bn is urgently needed to plunge the funding gap as "the quality and safety of care of our elderly is at risk and the vulnerable will increasingly struggle to receive the help they need to meet basic needs such as washing, dressing or getting out of bed".

Social care providers say they have been squeezed by a combination of cuts to local authority funding and rising costs such as the new minimum wage  which is now 7.20 for over 25s.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 18 September 2022 A man stands among campers on The Mall ahead of the Queens funeral Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2022 Wolverhampton Wanderers Nathan Collins fouls Manchester Citys Jack Grealish leading to a red card. City went on to win the match at Molineux Stadium three goals to nil. Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 16 September 2022 Members of the public stand in the queue near Tower Bridge, and opposite the Tower of London, as they wait in line to pay their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II, in London AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 15 September 2022 Members of the public in the queue on in Potters Fields Park, central London, as they wait to view Queen Elizabeth II lying in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 14 September 2022 The first members of the public pay their respects as the vigil begins around the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Hall, London, where it will lie in state ahead of her funeral on Monday PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2022 Crowds cheer as King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort arrive for a visit to Hillsborough Castle Getty

It comes after the chair of the Commons Health Select Committee, Dr Sarah Wollaston, and four other MPs wrote an open letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond saying Theresa May's claims of 10bn in extra funding gave the "false impression" the health service had enough money.

They urged Mr Hammond to use the Autumn Statement to give the NHS a cash injection as social care was at "tipping point".

Dr Wollaston warned that unless the Government provided the fundings for capital investment in the NHS, it would struggle to care for the ageing population long-term.

She said it was untrue that the extra revenues council would be able to fund better social care through council tax receipts as much of their gains in recent years had been swallowed up by the increase in the minimum wage.

The MP, who worked as a GP before entering the House of Commons in 2010, said this would lead to a rise in the number of A&E admissions and longer hospital stays.

She said: "Numerous sources testify to the impact of the real terms cuts to social care, not only to the vulnerable people who rely on care, but also on NHS service.

"There is an emerging consensus across the NHS that any additional money that might be available in the Autumn Statement should be directed first towards social care. We agree."

Additional reporting by PA
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Theresa May has described how her faith in God makes her convinced she is doing the right thing as Prime Minister.

In a rare interview  in which she said the hugely challenging task of Brexit leaves her with little time for sleep  Ms May opened up about her Christian beliefs.

Speaking with the Sunday Times, the Prime Minister was asked how she steeled herself for the job and the tough decisions ahead,

She replied: It's about, 'Are you doing the right thing?' If you know you are doing the right thing, you have the confidence, the energy to go and deliver that right message.

Asked if that was a moral approach, Ms May added: I suppose there is something in terms of faith.

I am a practising member of the Church of England and so forth, that lies behind what I do.

It's not like I've decided to do what I'm going to do and I'm stubborn. I'll think it through, have a gut instinct, look at the evidence, work through the arguments, because you have to think through the unintended consequences.

In the interview, the Prime Minister admitted that it was the really complex issues" at play in the process of leaving the EU that meant that in this job you don't get much sleep.

She said: It is a moment of change. It is a hugely challenging time. And we need to get on with the deal in terms of Brexit. And I'm very conscious of that.

Theresa May in quotes Show all 10 1 /10 Theresa May in quotes Theresa May in quotes On being described by the former chancellor Ken Clarke as a bloody difficult woman: Politics could do with some Bloody Difficult Women actually Rex Features Theresa May in quotes On keeping secrets even from her husband: There are some things I am told that I am not able to confide in anybody Rex Features Theresa May in quotes On the relentless focus on her appearance during a speech at the Women in the World summit: "I like clothes and I like shoes. One of the challenges for women in the workplace is to be ourselves and I say you can be clever and like clothes. You can have a career and like clothes Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On comparisons to Margaret Thatcher: I think there can only ever be one Margaret Thatcher. Im not someone who naturally looks to role models. Ive always, whatever job it is Im doing at the time, given it my best shot. I put my all into it, and try to do the best job I can AFP/Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On her rebelliousness, or lack of, as a teenager: I probably was Goody Two Shoes at school Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On being replaced as chairman by Lord Saatchi and Liam Fox in 2003: Yes, it takes two men to step into the shoes of one woman AFP/Getty Images Theresa May in quotes What Theresa May said when she was asked about her political ambitions during an interview with Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, a lawyer married to Nick Clegg, in December: MD: "My very last question is: that little girl who is somewhere there, is she dreaming of becoming the next British Prime Minister?" TM: "Shes dreaming of carrying on doing a good job in the Home Office" Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On not being able to have children: I like to keep my personal life personal. We couldnt have children, we dealt with it and moved on. I hope nobody would think that mattered; I can still empathise, understand people and care about fairness and opportunity Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On whether she can deliver the mandate of the EU referendum: I think for party members and indeed for others, I would say look at my record. I think they can see that Im somebody who gets on with the job, but Im also somebody who says it as I see it and actually delivers on what I say Getty Images Theresa May in quotes On the equally relentless obsession with her shoes: As a woman I know you can be very serious about something and very soberly dressed add a little bit of interest with footwear. I always tell women you have to be yourself, dont assume you have to fit into a stereotype and if your personality is shown through your clothes or shoes, so be it Getty Images

"I want to make sure that everything we do ensures Britain is a country that works for everyone. And that we really get out there and forge a new role in the world post-Brexit.

Ms May spoke about growing up as the only child of a clergyman. Her father, Hubert Brasier, was the vicar of an Oxfordshire village.

She said: Being brought up in a vicarage, of course the advantage is that you do see people from all walks of life, and particularly in villages you see people from all sorts of backgrounds and all sorts of conditions, in terms of disadvantage and advantage.

What came out of my upbringing was a sense of service.

On not having any children, the Prime Minister said: Well, that wasn't possible, so you get on with life, adding that she has nieces and nephews and godchildren.

Ms May revealed the celebrity aspect of the job has taken her by surprise, saying: I did do my first wedding video the other day.

I came out of a shop onto the street and there was a smart young man and he said, 'My friends are getting married today, will you do a wedding video for them?'

It was sort of like a selfie, but I had to say, 'Hello James and Sarah, happy wedding day!'"

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She was also asked if her husband, Philip  who accompanies her frequently - found it hard being a male political consort, replying: Well, I hope it's getting easier than it used to be.

We don't want a situation where we feel it's really difficult to be a man if a woman happens to be prime minister.
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Several MPs are seeking a new investigation into Tony Blair's role in the Iraq war.

MPs from six parties are preparing to table a Commons motion calling for a parliamentary committee to investigate whether Mr Blair misled parliament and the public in the run up to the war in 2003, The Observer reports.

The motion will be debated on Wednesday, in Commons time allotted to the SNP.

 Blair on Iraq: From 2002-16

The motion calls on MPs to recognise that the Chilcot inquiry into the war provided substantial evidence of misleading information presented by the then prime minister and others on the development of the then governments policy towards the invasion of Iraq as shown most clearly in the contrast between private correspondence to the United States government and public statements to parliament and people.

It also asks the Commons public administration and constitutional affairs committee to examine the differences between Mr Blair's public and private policy.

In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Relatives and friends of the military personnel who died in Iraq, leave the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre PA In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Dawn Holmes, the mother of L Cpl Sarah Holmes who died in Iraq, is consoled by solicitor Matthew Jury as she leaves the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre PA In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report A family member holding a photograph of Stephen Robert Wright (R), outside the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, after the publication of the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq War PA In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Families of soldiers killed in the Iraq conflict stand together outside the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre after the outcome of the Chilcot report Getty Images In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Relatives of military personnel killed during the Iraq War talk at a news conference after listening to Sir John Chilcot present The Iraq Inquiry Report at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster Getty In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Relatives of military personnel killed during the Iraq War react after listening to Sir John Chilcot presenting The Iraq Inquiry Report at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in London AP In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Relatives and friends of military personnel killed during the Iraq War attend a news conference after listening to Sir John Chilcot present The Iraq Inquiry Report at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster Getty Images In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Family of those who died in Iraq speak to the media as they leave the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London PA In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Relatives and friends of military personnel killed during the Iraq War attend a news conference after Sir John Chilcot presented The Iraq Inquiry Report at the Queen Elizabeth II Centre in Westminster Getty Images In pictures: Families of Iraq War victims react to Chilcot report Victoria Jones (L), a relative of a British soldier killed in Iraq, holds a copy of The Report of the Iraq Inquiry, by John Chilcot, at the Queen Elizabeth II centre in London Reuters

The motion is supported by SNP MP Alex Salmond, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas and Plaid Cymru's Westminster leader Hywel Williams, as well as senior Tory and Labour Mps.

Mr Salmond said the committee could recommend Mr Blair is stripped of his membership of the privy council.

The Chilcot Inquiry, published in June, concluded the secret intelligence reports Mr Blair received "did not justify" his certainty Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

When he appeared before the Commons liaison committee, Sir John Chilcot said: I absolve him [Mr Blair] from a personal and demonstrable decision to deceive parliament or the public  to state falsehoods, knowing them to be false.
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A hippo charged into the path of a mans car as he drove from Mozambique to South Africa through a national park on Friday, in a terrifying incident that left him fearing for his life.

Wikus Ceronie was travelling through Kruger National Park when he spotted the hippo on the bridge in front of him.

Assuming the hippo was used to human interaction, he took out his camera phone and started filming.

But just moments later the hippo turned and charged at the 26-year-olds car, leaving a huge dent in the bonnet.

This is my first time ever working in Mozambique and I was on a jolly journey back home to South Africa. I was crossing the border from Kruger National Park when I noticed a hippo on the bridge. There were people walking around nearby, so I automatically assumed this hippo was used to humans. I was quite fascinated by this so I took out my phone to start filming, he told LatestSightings.com.

Suddenly the hippo turned and just started charging. I braced myself as I realised he wasnt going to stop. He hit the bakkie [truck] head on and then tried biting it. I guess after that he decided he had won because he just turned around and left.

Mr Ceronie told how he was terrified when he realised the hippo had hit him in the side as to his left there was a 50 metre drop.

This was terrifying for me because I realised I had nowhere to go and no time to do it in. Beside me was a 50 metre drop so had he hit me on the side I have no doubt the car would have rolled down the embankment, he said.

Mr Ceronie was stunned by his run-in with the baby hippo and could be heard screaming s*** as it rammed into his car with force.

Even though there was damage done to the bonnet of my vehicle and the door couldnt open, Im grateful there were no serious injuries at the end of day.
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Ugandan police stormed the palace of a tribal king and arrested him after fierce clashes between security forces and a separatist militia they believe is linked to him killed at least 55 people.

Heavy fighting broke out in the western town of Kasese on Saturday, when royal guards protecting King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces, police said.

At least 14 police officers and 41 militants had been killed, police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi told Agence France-Presse.

"We took time to talk to the king to get those people out but the king was non-compliant. The only option was to storm the palace and get those people out and get him out for his own security and safety," Mr Kaweesi added.

"He has to explain his involvement in these incidents. He will be charged with inciting violence and brought to Kampala."

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President Yoweri Museveni phoned the king on Sunday morning and ordered him to disband the guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Kaweesi said members of the royal guard threw an improvised grenade at patrolling officers on Saturday, prompting them to open fire and kill four of the "attackers".

"That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties," he said, adding that fighting between militants  not all of them royal guards  armed with guns and spears and security forces had continued until late in the evening.

After the rebels had killed four police officers, security forces launched an operation to disarm the royal guards and other armed supporters of Mumbere in the region, government spokesman Colonel Shaban Bantariza told The Associated Press.

Mr Mumbere has denied any role in the attacks on police posts.

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy, based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo  tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe under colonial rule  declared their own kingdom in 1962.

President Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009, however unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict.

Additional reporting by agencies
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President-elect Donald Trump has spoken to President Barack Obama regularly in the weeks since his shock election victory, including a conversation this weekend that went on for around 45 minutes, Mr Trumps former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has revealed.

Speaking to NBCs Meet the Press on Sunday, Ms Conway said the President-elect and Mr Obama have been talking regularly on a number of issues, including the question of Mr Trumps Cuba policy, which has been lent urgency by the death of Fidel Castro.

On that particular matter, Ms Conway said, nothing is definite, adding that Mr Trump would be consulting his advisers  including Mr Obama, whose administration is responsible for a historic thaw in relations between the two nations.

Mr Trump and Mr Obama have been political adversaries ever since Mr Trump raised questions, without a shred of evidence, over Mr Obamas birth and US citizenship during his first presidential term. Mr Obama was highly critical of Mr Trumps divisive presidential campaign.

But two days after the election, Mr Obama welcomed his successor to the White House for a first meeting subsequently characterised as cordial. The Wall Street Journal later reported that Mr Obama plans to spend more time with his successor than presidents typically do as it was clear Mr Trump needs more guidance.

Ms Conway suggested as much in her interview with Meet the Press host Chuck Todd. This country is not accustomed to having a successful businessman at the helm, she acknowledged. It is different.
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Donald Trump has accused Hillary Clintons team of hypocrisy for supporting Green Party candidate Jill Stein in her push for recounts in three key states.

The President-elect said Ms Steins effort was a scam and taunted the Democrats, calling the party badly defeated and demoralised.

The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore! he tweeted on Saturday night.

 Donald Trump's four biggest U-turns

So far Ms Stein has raised close to $6 million (4.8 million) through crowdfunding to pay to petition for recounts of the election results in the key state of Wisconsin and two others.

The request for a recount was submitted to the election authorities in Wisconsin on Friday.

If she reaches her goal of raising $7 million (5.6 million) in total, Ms Stein will be able to make similar filings to Pennsylvania and Michigan next week.

The plan has been formally backed by Ms Clintons campaign team, which confirmed it would help Ms Stein in her efforts to force a recount in the states where Mr Trumps margin of victory was very slim.

But Mr Trump dismissed the process as a scam designed by the Green Party to fill up their coffers, echoing the sentiments of a lengthy statement issued earlier in the day in which he called it ridiculous.

The Green Party scam to fill up their coffers by asking for impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated [and] demoralized Dems, he wrote on Twitter.

In the statement, Mr Trump accused Ms Stein of keeping the money raised for herself and the party instead of spending it on the recounts.

Recommended Ethics lawyer urges electoral college to dump Donald Trump

"This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasnt even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount," he said.

"All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes."

In Pennsylvania, which has 20 Electoral College votes, Mr Trump in fact won by roughly 68,000 votes, and in Wisconsin, which has ten such votes, his margin was even smaller: just 27,000.

Michigan, which carries 14 votes, is still too close to call, with the difference between the two candidates amounting to fewer than 12,000.

Ms Stein is raising money through a crowdfunding effort to pay for a manual recount of ballots in three states (Getty) ((Getty))

On Saturday, the Clinton campaign said that although it has found no evidence of any external manipulation or tampering of voting systems in any of the states, it would participate in the process started by the Green Party.

Before election day, Ms Clinton and her allies often admonished Mr Trump, who had repeatedly called the system rigged, to respect the results when they came in.

Ms Stein has also said her party has no evidence that any manipulation of the voting system.

Let me be very clear: We do not have evidence of fraud. We do not have smoking guns. What we do have is an election that was surrounded by hacking, she wrote on her website.

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Mr Trump collected 290 Electoral College votes compared to 232 for Ms Clinton. For her to overturn the results, she would need to secure the votes of all three disputed states.

Ms Stein called for a manual recount of paper ballots in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan after computer experts and electoral lawyers said they found strong evidence the results were potentially manipulated.

It is considered highly unlikely that the effort would result in all three of the states flipping from his column to hers, an event that would bring chaos to the presidential transition and spawn an almost certain legal challenge from his side.
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US civil rights groups are calling for better protection of American mosques after several in California were targeted with letters threatening genocide of Muslims.

According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), letters were sent to the Islamic Centre of Long Beach, the Islamic Centre of Claremont, CAIRs greater Los Angeles chapter, and to the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose.

The handwritten letter was addressed to the children of Satan and expressed support for President-elect Donald Trump. It also called Muslims vile and filthy people.

Your day of reckoning has arrived. Theres a new sheriff in town, President Donald Trump. Hes going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, hes going to start with you Muslims, the letter stated.

Signed only by Americans for a Better Way, the letter said Mr Trump was going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews [sic].

CAIR is now calling for greater police protection of mosques as hate crime in the US surges in the wake of Mr Trumps election victory.

According to the groups executive director, Hussam Ayloush, the centres were unsure whether they wanted to go public with the story for fear of copycats or fuelling further fear in the Muslim community.

However, once they learned of another letter sent in Northern California, they wanted to inform the public and encourage police to look into the matter.

You always want to trust that most people are good, that your neighbors have been good, and that has been our experience, he told the LA Times.

However, he blamed Mr Trumps irresponsible, hateful rhetoric for fuelling a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters.

Im not saying Trump created racist people, he said.

He normalised it. While he might say hes not responsible, and I respect that, I remind President-elect Trump that he has a responsibility to act as a president for all Americans.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Centre, there have been at least 701 examples of hate crime since 9 November, including one woman being told: Ill spit on you, you dirty bitch. I can smell the Africa on you, with growing fears anti-Muslim hate crimes could be reaching post-9/11 levels.

Anti-Muslim hate crimes have also grown since in the past year according to FBI data, with 257 anti-Islamic-motivated crimes reported in 2015, compared to 296 in 2001.

San Jose Police Department spokesman Sgt. Enrique Garcia said police have opened an investigation and are treating it as a "hate-motivated incident."
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Donald Trump has blasted the recount effort launched last week by the Green Party in Wisconsin which on Saturday attracted the formal support also of Hillary Clinton.

From his Palm Beach retreat in Florida, Mr Trump issued a lengthy rebuke of the initiative calling it ridiculous and a scam that had been launched purely to benefit the Green Partys nominee, Jill Stein, and fill her coffers with money.

So far Ms Stein has raised close to $6 million through crowdfunding to pay to petition for recounts of the election results in three states. The request for a recount was submitted to the election authorities in Wisconsin on Friday. If she reaches her goal of raising $7 million in total she will be able to make similar filings to Pennsylvania and Michigan next week.

 Donald Trump's four biggest U-turns

This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasnt even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount, Mr Trump railed. All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes.

In Pennsylvania, which has 20 Electoral College votes, Mr Trump in fact won by roughly 68,000 votes, and in Wisconsin, which has ten such votes, his margin was even smaller: just 27,000. Michigan, which carries 14 votes, is still too close to call, with the difference between the two candidates amounting to fewer than 12,000.

On Saturday, the Clinton campaign revealed in a posting on Medium, the online publishing platform, that although it has found no evidence of any external manipulation or tampering of voting systems in any of the states, it will participate in the process that the Green Party started.

The development appeared to get under the skin of Mr Trump, though most of his ire was focused on Ms Stein. This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing, he said.

However, the statement opened with an implied charge of hypocrisy on the part Ms Clinton also. The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, 'We must accept this result and then look to the future.

There is some irony to the situation, given how often Ms Clinton and her allies admonished Mr Trump before election day to respect the results when they came in. He had repeatedly called the system rigged and Ms Clinton was certain that she would be the victor on 8 November.

Announcing the campaigns decision to join the recount efforts, the chief counsel to the Clinton campaign, Marc Elias, made clear that it would not have taken the route itself without Ms Stein starting the process first.

Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides, Mr Elias wrote in his Medium post.
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Hundreds of gay rights activists marched to the beat of drums in Delhi on Sunday, both to celebrate their sexuality and to draw attention to the continuing discrimination India's LGBT community faces.

Some participants in the annual gay pride parade said the ninth event felt different to past marches because more people have come to accept gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. But others said India's right-wing government is reversing rights gains.

Campaigners demanded the repeal of a recently re-instated law criminalising homosexual acts.

In 2009, activists cheered and danced in the street when the New Delhi High Court declared Section 377 of the Penal Code unconstitutional. The colonial era anti-sodomy law, which is vaguely worded but usually interpreted as criminalising various homosexual acts, was written into the law books of dozens of colonies by the British Empire. It still exists today in 42 of 52 British commonwealth nations.

India temporarily took the tally down to 51, but the judgment was overturned in 2013, when India's Supreme Court decided that amending or repealing Section 377 should be left to Parliament, not the judiciary.

The law makes gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

There has been a lot of change, and we have gone back also, said Saurav Jain, a 33-year-old architect who attended the parade.

Rituparna Borah, an activist, was not very hopeful, saying that the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not supportive of gay rights. We have yet to have an inclusive society, she said.

In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-6.jpg Reuters In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-1.jpg AP In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-2.jpg AP In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-4.jpg Getty Images In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-5.jpg Reuters In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-8.jpg Getty Images In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-7.jpg Reuters In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-3.jpg AP In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-9.jpg AP In pictures: Gay pride march in Nepal nepal-gay-pride-10.jpg AP

Over the past decade, LGBT people have gained a degree of acceptance in India, especially in big cities. Many bars have gay nights, and some high-profile Bollywood films have dealt with gay issues.

However, being gay is seen as shameful in most of the country, and many people keep their sexual preference and gender identity secret.

PA contributed to ths report
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Pakistan has announced Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa as the new head of the country's army, ending weeks of speculation.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the 62-year-old would take over from the outgoing chief, Raheel Sharif, in a change-of-command ceremony on Tuesday. General Bajwa will become one of the most influential people in the country.

The Pakistani military is the sixth-largest in the world, and the 190-million-people country is one of only nine nations globally to possess nuclear weapons. The military is also particularly politically powerful, having ruled the south Asian state for about half of the 69-years since it became independent from Britain, and continuing to enjoy extensive powers even under civilian administrations.

General Sharif is retiring after completing a three-year term, in which he quickly became immensely popular for cracking down on domestic terror groups and bringing about a drop in violence.

He was so well liked that some Pakistanis reportedly demanded that his term in office be extended, but General Sharif always insisted he would step down as scheduled. He is the first army chief in two decades to do so.

General Sharif clashed repeatedly with the Prime Minister, who was previously ousted by a military coup in 1999, led by then-army chief Pervez Musharraf.

The Pakistani media reported there were other contenders for the role, including a more senior general, Zubair Hayat, who has instead been made chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee.

It is believed General Bajwa may have been picked from him rivals for his unassuming personality, in the hope that he will help to restore harmony between the civilian and military leaderships.

A cabinet minister said Prime Minister Sharif picked General Bajwa because of his "low-key style". The politician, who asked not to be named, felt the incoming general would be more willing to cede control of key areas to the civilian government, an appealing prospect for Mr Sharif, who has long hoped to assert the supremacy of civilian rule over the army.

The minister said: He is essentially a very low-profile person and after our last experience (with General Sharif) this is just a very important consideration; someone who doesnt want the limelight at all."

Talat Masood, a retired general, told the Guardian he also believed the appointment of General Bajwa could soothe current tensions between the military and the prime minister.

General Bajwa is not one of those who will try to assert his personality in order to dominate the political scene, or constantly be in the media, General Masood said. He is more reserved than his predecessor and that will help make the situation more harmonious with the government.

However, experts have cautioned against assuming General Bajwa will remain neutral; when the Prime Minister chose General Sharif as army chief in 2013, it was because the general was the most apolitical figure among the candidates, sources close to the premier said at the time.

But once appointed, General Sharif maintained the army's strong influence within Pakistani politics. Though he did not overtly meddle and rarely made public political statements, he was seen as a key player in behind-the-scene decision making.

Analysts believe history could repeat itself, pointing out that all previous military leaders ended up challenging the prime minister's authority in some way once they began to represent the interests of the army.

Since returning to power in 2013, the Prime Minister Sharif has fallen out with the army over an attempt to prosecute General Musharraf for treason, and the antics of a pro-government private news channel that accused the armys intelligence agency of attempting to assassinate a popular journalist.

According to the Guardian, General Bajwa may not be as popular with the public as General Sharif. He was reportedly selected for the role despite a vilification campaign on social media that spread claims some of his relatives were members of the Ahmadiyya community, an Islamic sect despised as heretics by religious hardliners.

It is not known how General Bajwa, an officer of 35 years who was trained by the Canadian military, leans politically, including on key ideological issues such as Pakistan's relationship with India.

But he is experienced, having held senior command positions in the countrys mountainous north, including the contested region of Kashmir.

In addition to managing tensions with India, General Bajwa is likely to continue his predecessors policy of fighting domestic jihadi groups, particularly the Pakistani Taliban.

Despite the improvements Mr Sharif brought about in national security, General Bajwa is expected to face serious challenges. Isis is trying to make inroads into the country ,and militant groups such as the Pakistani Taliban continue to stage large-scale bomb and gun attacks.

Since August, 184 people have been killed in three major attacks in the restive Baluchistan region alone, Reuters reported.

Abroad, Pakistan's relations with the United States, a long-time ally, as well as nuclear-armed rival India, have worsened over the past year.

Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack Show all 7 1 /7 Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack 347098.bin AFP Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack 347096.bin Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack 347100.bin Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack 347099.bin AFP Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack 347097.bin Reuters Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack 347094.bin AFP Shadow lands: Pakistan - a nation under attack 347095.bin Reuters

Both countries have accused Pakistan of harbouring Islamist militant groups. Islamabad has denied all such charges.

General Masood said the new army chief might also take a tougher line against militant groups that fight in Afghanistan and India.

The change of command gives him an opportunity to do that and my impression is that he believes it is necessary, he said.

He will try to make Pakistan not become a reason for the world to point fingers.

It is not known how General Bajwa, an officer of 35 years who was trained by the Canadian military, leans politically, including on key ideological issues such as Pakistan's relationship with India.
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A trapeze artist plummeted to the ground in an accident during a Cirque du Soleil performance in Australia.

Lisa Skinner, a three-time Olympian who won gold at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, was reportedly about 16 feet from the ground performing a solo aerial hoops act when she appeared to lose her grip and suddenly dropped to the floor.

The 35-year-old athlete reportedly lost consciousness when she hit the ground during the show in Brisbane on Saturday and had to be placed in a neck brace before she was rushed out of the big top.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the acrobat was taken to hospital in case she had sustained any internal injuries, but was in a stable condition.

A witness in the audience told 7 News Australia: She was doing a hoop from the ceiling and she was suspending and doing a twisty thing and going through the hoop and then all of the sudden she just fell flat on the floor."

The audience, including many children, were reportedly left shocked by the accident, which occurred during a matinee performance of Cirque du Soleil's latest production, Kooza.

The show was stopped temporarily but resumed after Ms Skinner was taken away by paramedics.

Jessica Levoeuf from Cirque Du Soleil said the situation was something the circus is always prepared for.

It's something that we actually rehearse for different scenarios every single week at Cirque du Solei, Ms Levoef told 7 News Australia.

The safety and security of our artists and our patrons as well is always the number one concern.

Our first response team reacted very quickly and the performer is responsive, safe and under great medical care at the moment.

Ms Skinner competed as a gymnast at the Olympic games in Atlanta, Sydney and Athens.

Cirque du Soleil: Kooza Show all 5 1 /5 Cirque du Soleil: Kooza Cirque du Soleil: Kooza Cirque du Soleil: Kooza at the Royal Albert Hall, London Cirque du Soleil: Kooza Cirque du Soleil: Kooza at the Royal Albert Hall, London Cirque du Soleil: Kooza Cirque du Soleil: Kooza at the Royal Albert Hall, London Cirque du Soleil: Kooza Cirque du Soleil: Kooza at the Royal Albert Hall, London Cirque du Soleil: Kooza Cirque du Soleil: Kooza at the Royal Albert Hall, London Cirque du Soleil: Kooza at the Royal Albert Hall, London

Since retiring from competitive gymnastics, she has been performing dazzling but dangerous aerial hoop acts as a circus performer for several years.

Ms Skinner's injuries are reportedly still being assessed in hospital, but for the rest of the Cirque du Soleil cast the show is going ahead as normal.

A representative of the circus told local media their thoughts were with Ms Skinner as she recovered.
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A sixth person has died in a mass asthma outbreak caused by a thunderstorm in Melbourne.

Five people remain on life support with three in a critical condition a week after heavy winds and rain hit Australias second-largest city.

The extreme weather on Monday night spread tiny pollen particles across the city, triggering a rare condition known as thunderstorm asthma.

Ryegrass pollen grains became soaked and broke open in the storm, dispersing very fine, highly allergenic particles, which can penetrate deep into the lungs.

The sixth victim died in in hospital on Saturday night from medical complications relating to the storm, according to the health department.

It said another 12 patients were still in hospitals with less serious respiratory and related conditions.

Around 8,500 people received hospital treatment in total, with a third of patients who suffered asthma attacks on Monday night reporting never having had asthma before.

In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK Show all 15 1 /15 In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK A man leans into the wind on the beach at Newhaven. Winter storm Imogen has brought rough seas and gale force winds to many coastal areas of Britain Reuters In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK A man moves a traffic cone to close Fistral Beach car park because of strong winds in Newquay Getty Images In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK Recovery vehicles work to right an overturned lorry on the M4 between Bridgend and Port Talbot as winds of nearly 100mph battered Britain after Storm Imogen slammed into the south coast bringing fierce gusts and torrential downpours PA In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK Waves crash over the sea wall at Porthcawl in Wales PA In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK A flooded road near Lower Brockhampton in Dorset PA In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK Vehicles drive down a a flooded road near Lower Brockhampton in Dorset PA In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK Fallen sixty foot oak tree blocks a road in the Hampshire village of Hook Rex Features In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK Bruno, a bearded collie cross, walks in the wind in Newquay in Cornwall Getty Images In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK A car which crashed into a fallen tree on the Romsey Road in New Forest, Hampshire PA In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK A lorry lies overturned off the road when gale force winds hit Brighton EPA In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK A collapsed wall in the Worcestershire village of Bretforton near Evesham which injured two children PA In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK Waves hit a harbour wall in Newhaven, East Sussex Getty Images In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK The P&O Pride of Burgundy is battered by waves as she arrives at the Port of Dover in Kent PA In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK Waves hit a lighthouse on the harbour in Newhaven, East Sussex Getty Images In pictures: Storm Imogen hits UK A house in Hampshire where a crew from Gosport Fire Station were called to help as a trampoline got stuck on the roof of a conservatory following high winds PA

Local emergency services said they took six times more calls than the daily average between 6pm and 11pm local time.

It was extraordinarily busy, it was unprecedented, Mick Stephenson, Ambulance Victoria's executive director of emergency operations, told the BBC.

He said about 200 calls were directly linked to asthma, but 600 more reported respiratory issues.

What we do know is that a lot of people who called last night had never had asthma before, so this was their first experience, he said.

The world's first recorded thunderstorm asthma event occurred in Melbourne in 1987, when hospitals reported a five-fold increase in asthma cases.

Australia: Thousands rally for Aboriginal rights, denounce Australia Day in Melbourne

Similar events have taken place in the United States, Canada, the UK and Italy. The last major occurrence in Melbourne was in November 2010.

Before this week, the largest known outbreak was in London in June 1994, when hospitals were inundated by 640 patients seeking emergency treatment for asthma and other breathing problems.

The Australian health minister Jill Hennessy said an investigation would be launched by the Inspector General for Emergency Management.

But the shadow health minister Mary Wooldridge said there had clearly been a communications failure on Monday night, according to the Herald Sun.

This was life and death and there were no alerts to the media, the information was not going out to people, she said.

The incident occurred on one of Australia's hottest November days. At 8am the temperature had already hit 26 degrees, rising to 35 degrees in the afternoon before the storm hit.

By Tuesday the weather had dropped by a dramatic 18 degrees, providing relief to residents who described it as typically Melbourne, local media reported.
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The German government has announced an investigation into the influence of the Nazis on the countrys post-war government.

A four-year inquiry will follow 20 other investigations made over the past 70 years to determine how far networks attached to Hitler's regime reached into the new administration after the fall of the Third Reich.

The probe, which will cost an estimated 4m (3.4m), will look in particular at how far Nazi influence lingered in the Chancellory  the German equivalent of Downing Street  to see how many staff who worked for the Third Reich remained in the office after 1945, Der Spiegel reported.

In a statement, the cultural ministry said post-war recruitment policies and the mentality of political culture will also be looked at, particularly studying the role of Hans Globke, who served as chief of staff to former West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer between 1953 and 1963.

Mr Globke worked as a senior civil servant both under the Nazis and its predecessor the Weimar Republic.

He was involved in drafting the notorious Nuremberg race laws which revoked Jewish peoples German citizenship in 1935.

While appearing as a witness for both the prosecution and defence at the Nuremberg trials of senior Nazis after the war, he admitted he knew the Jews were being killed in large numbers.

Nazi war crimes: the hunt for Doctor Death Show all 2 1 /2 Nazi war crimes: the hunt for Doctor Death Nazi war crimes: the hunt for Doctor Death AP Photo/LKA Baden-Wuerttemberg Nazi war crimes: the hunt for Doctor Death Independent Graphics

According to another report in October, in 1957 around 77 per cent of senior legal experts in the justice ministry had previously been members of the Nazi party.

After the war, several leading Nazis reportedly managed to escaped justice living in secret in South America with many of those convicted released in the 1950s due to ill-health.

Most other minor Nazi party members and soldiers, administrators and other minor cogs in the Reich machine were largely allowed to escape justice as the Cold War divided the country and the Allies attempted to rebuild their half.
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Vandals have broken into a Stockholm mosque and spray-painted Nazi swastikas and messages of hate on its walls.

Only one worshiper was present in the mosque in Bredang, a southern area of the Swedish capital, when the unidentified attackers entered.

A spokesperson for the mosque told the TT news agency, the man was left shaken but unharmed after the incident.

Stockholm police have said officers are investigating the incident as a case of vandalism and hate crime. No arrests have yet been made, The Local reports.

Mustafa Turnturk, who was one of the mosque's founders in 1985 and a representative of the Stockholm Muslim community, said he could no longer recognise his country.

Mr Turnturk said: "This is not something one would expect...It's hard to understand what is going on in society, both internationally and in our own country. I don't recognise Sweden anymore."

As Sweden has received record numbers of refugees - 245,000 in 2014 and 2015 - the number of attacks on mosques and refugee centres have increased.

 Right-wing group protests in Sweden

In the UK, reported hate crime has risen by 41 per cent in the aftermath of the Brexit result.

The National Police Chiefs lead on hate crime, Mark Hamilton said: "Nobody in this country should have to live their lives enduring fear, intimidation or  in a third of cases  violence because of who they are.

A large part of this increase is driven by better police reporting and support systems giving victims the confidence to speak up and get help."
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The US trade embargo on Cuba should be lifted definitively following the death of former Cuban president Fidel Castro, French president Francois Hollande has said.

The embargo was introduced in the 1960s as punishment for communist Cubas support for the Soviet Union and is still in place more than 50 years later.

The policy makes it difficult for Cuban people to access basic goods such as toilet paper and shampoo, and has been criticised by human rights groups for being overly punitive.

Recommended Justin Trudeau draws criticism for praising Fidel Castro

Mr Hollande said during a summit in Madagascar of French-speaking nations: Even if I have repeatedly denounced human rights abuses in Cuba, I have always believed that the embargo was an unacceptable, unilateral decision.

I want, on the occasion of the death of Fidel Castro, to again insist that the embargo that punishes Cuba should be lifted definitively. Cuba should be fully regarded as a partner in the international community.

France always sees Cuba as a partner, he said, and has always challenged the embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba.

The French president had earlier described Mr Castro as a great figure of the 20th Century who embodied the Cuban revolution, in the hopes it had raised then in the disillusionment it caused.

The revolutionary leader was known for representing Cubans proud rejection of foreign domination, he added.

The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Show all 10 1 /10 The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Attempts made on Castro's life since he came to power in 1959: 638 (according to Fabian Escalante, former Cuban security chief) Reuters/Prensa Latina The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Castro is a baseball fan - with 16 teams making up the Cuban National Baseball League Reuters/Kimberly White The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Size of the original rebel army led by Castro and including Che Guevara that sailed to Cuba in 1956, eventually toppling President Batista on 1 January 1959: 82 STF/AFP/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Acts of "civil disobedience" logged in Cuba in 2005, according to a report by the exiled Cuban Democratic Directorate: 3,322 Miguel Vinas/AFP/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Age at which Castro began smoking cigars: 15 Age at which Castro gave up smoking cigars: 59 Jorge Rey/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Jorge Rey/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Reuters/Andrew Winning The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Total number of Cubans believed to have emigrated while Castro was in power: about 1.4 million (81 per cent of whom have settled in North America) Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Duration of a speech Castro made at the UN in 1960: 4 hours 29 minutes (listed by the Guinness Book of Records as the longest speech made in the United Nations) Tom Mihalek/Getty Images The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures Films: Castro is listed as an "uncredited extra" in the 1946 musical Holiday in Mexico and as a "poolside spectator" in the romantic comedy Easy to Wed (also 1946) Hrvoje Polan/AFP/Getty Images

Mr Hollande visited Cuba last year and met with both Mr Castro and his brother Raul, the countrys current president.

During the trip he said France would do everything it could to ensure the measures which have so badly harmed Cubas development can finally be repealed.

President Obama has begun the process of restarting diplomatic ties between Cuba and the US but the trade embargo remains largely in place.

The policy means Cuba is increasingly reliant on countries such as Venezuela and China for its energy and resource needs.

Mr Castro died late on Friday at the age of 90 after years of ill-health. The revolutionary was one of the leaders of Cubas 1953-1959 revolution and first served as the countrys prime minister and then as its president from 1976 to 2008, before being succeeded by Raul.

His death divided opinion, with some hailing a socialist icon and others criticising Mr Castros record of human rights abuses.
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Syrian regime forces claim to have taken over two residential neighbourhoods in the rebel-held eastern part of Aleppo city in two days.

In a statement, the army said it and its allies had taken full control of the Jabal Badro district on Sunday, a day after capturing the neighbouring Hanano housing district.

The attack is likely to split the rebels' most important urban stronghold in two, weakening their control and bringing more residents closer to the frontlines.

The government's push, reportedly backed by thousands of Shia militia fighters from Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran, and the Russian air force, has laid waste to Aleppo's eastern neighbourhoods.

In pictures: Aleppo bombing Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Aleppo bombing In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Smoke rises after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family runs for cover amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man reacts as he stands on blood stains at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Fardous district, Syria, April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damage of the airstrikes in the rebel-held area of Aleppo on April 28 Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damaged the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria's Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on a rebel-held of Aleppo on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man leads a woman in tears and child out of the scene after airstrikes hit Aleppo AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Civil defence members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in the Bustan al-Qasr rebel-held district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate people from a damaged building following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern city of Aleppo

"The situation in besieged Aleppo [is] very very bad, thousands of eastern residents are moving to the western side of the city," said Khaled Khatib, a photographer for the Syrian Civil Defence search-and-rescue group, better known as the White Helmets.

"Aleppo is going to die," he posted on Twitter.

Hundreds of residents of eastern Aleppo fled the shifting frontlines ahead of the army's advance.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said around 400 people had travelled into Hanano, where the army transferred them to government-held western Aleppo.

The Observatory says the assault has killed at least 219 civilians, including 27 children.

An estimated 275,000 people are trapped in wretched conditions in the city's rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August.

Food supplies are running perilously low, the UN warned on Thursday, and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

 Boy asks if he will die after alleged chlorine attack in Aleppo

The UN's child agency warned on Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

"Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine," said Unicef executive director Anthony Lake.

"This is no way to live  and too many are dying."

The assault came as activists reported tens of civilian casualties from a presumed regime or Russian air strike on a village outside of Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian air strike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and many others wounded.

Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base.

Capturing all of Aleppo would be a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Five and a half years of fighting in the country have killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced 11 million others.
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Israeli forces killed four Isis militants in Syria in the first direct clash between the country and the jihadi group.

The militants opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, a military spokesman said.

Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner said the patrol came under machine gun and mortar fire early on Sunday.

 Kurds capture Isis fighter

They returned fire towards Syria before an Israeli aircraft engaged the militants, striking a machine gun-armed car and killing its passengers.

All of the gunmen were suspected militants from "Shuhada al-Yarmouk," an Isis offshoot which controls the area.

Mr Lerner said none of the Israeli soldiers, from the Golani Brigade, were wounded in the clash.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the troops for thwarting the attack.

"We are well prepared on our northern border and will not allow Islamic State elements or any other hostile elements to use the war in Syria to establish themselves close to our borders," he said at his weekly Cabinet meeting.

In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Smoke rises after airstrikes by US-led coalition planes as Iraqi security forces advance against Islamic State extremists in Fallujah, June 15, 2016 AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Iraqi security forces advance during heavy fighting against Isis militants in Fallujah, Iraq, on 14 June AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia militia say that moving resources from Fallujah towards the area near Mosul was a 'betrayal' of the battle for the city GETTY In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Hospital sources said 18 bodies were recovered from the river over the weekend AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Up to 60,000 civilians were feared trapped in Fallujah at the start of the Iraqi operation AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters hold an Isis flag in an operation east of Fallujah  the terror group has lost ground in both Syria and Iraq AFP/Getty In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters hold their weapons as they gather near Falluja, Iraq, June 4, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Pro-government forces bid to take back ground from Isis in Fallujah MOADH AL-DULAIMI/AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Smoke billows on the horizon as Iraqi military forces prepare for an offensive to retake the city AP In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah A member of the Iraqi security forces fires artillery during clashes with Isis militants near Fallujah, Iraq, 29 May, 2016 Reuters In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Iraqi government forces fire a rocket near al-Sejar village, north-east of Fallujah, on May 26, 2016, as they take part in a major assault to retake the city from the Islamic State group AFP/Getty In pictures: Iraq battles to drive Isis out of Fallujah Shia fighters and Iraqi security forces advance towards Fallujah Thaier Al-Sudani/Reuters

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

It has largely been unaffected by the Syrian civil war next door.

While avoiding being drawn into the internal Syrian conflict, Israel attacks Syrian military targets when fire, even unintentional, spills over the demarcation line.

The Israeli army holds the Syrian government accountable for any fire from its territory, regardless of the source.

Additional reporting by agencies
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The Syrian government claims its army has retaken control of a key district in rebel-held eastern Aleppo.

Rebels have stated their frontlines have collapsed due to heavy air strikes and a lack of hospitals.

The government offensive into eastern Aleppo is aiming to split the anti-Assad stronghold into two, according to rebels themselves.

Before the civil war began more than six years ago, Aleppo was Syria's largest city and it has become the scene of some of the most bloody fighting.

The city has been divided between the government-held west and the rebel-held east.

The Syrian army said in a statement that, with the help of allies, they have taken control of the Hanano housing district - adding: "Engineering teams are removing mines and improvised explosive devices planted by terrorists in the squares and streets."

The district was first taken by armed opposition groups in 2012 who have said Hanano had been empty of residents for months.

According to the UN, at least 250,000 civilians are trapped in the years-long siege. An estimated 400,000 civilians have been killed during the civil war.

A spokesman for Jabha Shamiya, one of the leading rebel groups fighting President Bashar Al-assad, condemned the "international silence" regarding Aleppo.

 Boy asks if he will die after alleged chlorine attack in Aleppo

He added that the government was taking advantage of the period before Donald Trump took office.

The spokesman said: "The Iranians, Russians and regime know there is a vacuum and they are trying to exploit it using all means.

"We are in touch with the friendly states but unfortunately Aleppo is being left to be slaughtered."

In the 12 days since the renewed bombardment on eastern Aleppo, at least 201 civilians including 27 children have died in the sector - according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights.
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Its not every day that you come face to face with the commander of the most powerful, ruthless  and undoubtedly most feared  security agency in all of Syria. The very words Syrian Air Force Intelligence are enough to stop any conversation in its tracks. The moderate Free Syrian Army famously reported the assassination of this most loyal and ferocious of presidential protectors four years ago and even Wikipedia still refers to him in the past tense. But I can assure you that 63-year old General Jamil Hassan is very much alive.

His handshake is vice-like, and his eyes  which stare at you like an angry interrogator when he speaks  fixed their gaze upon me like a lighthouse beam when I asked him if he was a cruel man. His voice combines a lions roar with the slow deliberation of an intelligence boss who is fast running out of patience.

This is not a man to be crossed. In the Western media, I am a war criminal, he growls at me. So Im not sure your article about me will be allowed in The Independent. I am ready  even if they take me to the War Crimes Tribunal  to continue with my work. Because Syria deserves the sacrifice.

General Hassan is slightly exaggerating his notoriety. No war crimes court has sought his arrest. But the EU has condemned him for his involvement in the repression against the civilian uprising in Syria in 2011, imposing both a travel ban and a freezing of his financial assets.

The US Treasury, after threats by President Barack Obama against the Syrian regime, has imposed its own sanctions upon the general for engaging in the commission of human rights abuses. The Americans stated that Syrian Air Force Intelligence  whose name derives from President Bashar al-Assads father Hafez, who was a Syrian air force officer  killed at least 43 demonstrators in April 2011. Of which, more later.

Throughout our astonishing three-hour interview, General Jamil Hassan ducked no questions, even about his own prisons, and while repeatedly declaring his loyalty to President Bashar al-Assad, made it perfectly clear that a more ruthless reaction to the first hints of revolution in Syria in 2011 might have crushed all armed opposition to the regime at once.

He even referred to the crushing of the Muslim Brotherhood revolt in Hama in 1982, when thousands of civilians and fighters were slaughtered after the Brotherhood went on a murderous rampage against Baath Party members in the city.

General Hassan was a junior security officer at the time, serving Hafez el-Assads government. I was a very young man, he said. There were exaggerated media reports [of the casualties]. [But] if we did what we did in Hama at the beginning of this crisis, we would have saved a lot of Syrian blood. I was also briefly in Hama during the 1982 revolt: I recorded at the time that fatalities might have reached 20,000.

It was a strange, unexpected  and unsought  meeting with one of Syrias most powerful figures. Outside the generals office hung one Syrian and three Russian flags. He knew his history books, and he lit a Churchill cigar as he spoke of Hitler, Rommel, Montgomery and Churchill. But there was no doubt in his mind as to just who was to blame for Syrias tragedy.

 Boy asks if he will die after alleged chlorine attack in Aleppo

The West conspires against Syria, he almost shouts at me. First Israel, the head of the snake and all who support its policies, along with the Arab regimes, led by Saudi Arabia  Im not talking about the Saudis as a people, but the King and the royal family  this selfish and narcissistic family which has a very dirty attitude towards the Arab people, especially a country like Syria, which has a disciplined [sic] rule and a young leaderwho is very intelligent and knows the interests of his people and even the interests of the whole Arab world.

"The Israelis and the dirty rulers of Arab peoples are not interested in these attitudes. They need agents to execute their own agendasneed to execute their agendas  because they know that the strength of Syria is in its unity. So they do all this to divide Syria. They encourage extremist ideology. The big role in this was that of the Wahabis and al-Qaeda and their black doctrines. From this, they launched their plans to divide Syria.

I restrained myself from telling General Hassan that the last time I heard such condemnation of the Saudi autocracy, it came from the mouth of Osama bin Laden, talking to me in Afghanistan of his wish to destroy the Saudi regime.

In pictures: Aleppo bombing Show all 14 1 /14 In pictures: Aleppo bombing In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Smoke rises after airstrikes on the rebel-held al-Sakhour neighborhood of Aleppo, Syria April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family runs for cover amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al-Qatarji in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man reacts as he stands on blood stains at a site hit by airstrikes in the rebel held area of Aleppo's al-Fardous district, Syria, April 29, 2016. Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damage of the airstrikes in the rebel-held area of Aleppo on April 28 Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo The damaged the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-backed al-Quds hospital after it was hit by airstrikes, in a rebel-held area of Syria's Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians evacuate an injured man amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following an air strike on a rebel-held of Aleppo on April 29, 2016. AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo's Bustan al-Qasr AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A man leads a woman in tears and child out of the scene after airstrikes hit Aleppo AP In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Civil defence members search for survivors after an airstrike at a field hospital in the rebel held area of al-Sukari district of Aleppo Reuters In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian boy is comforted as he cries next to the body of a relative who died in a reported air strike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Soukour in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo A Syrian family walks amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike in the Bustan al-Qasr rebel-held district of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrians help a wounded youth following an air strike on the Fardous rebel held neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo Getty Images In pictures: Aleppo bombing Bombing in Aleppo Syrian civil defence volunteers evacuate people from a damaged building following a reported airstrike in the rebel-held neighbourhood of Tareeq al-Bab in the northern city of Aleppo

But later, the general spoke of bin Laden as a very intelligent man. During our long interview, the general seemed to divide his life in two: his first twenty years as a young and, his critics would say, very brutal security officer, and the rest as a father figure, encouraging his young protege Colonel Suheil Tiger Hassan (no relation) in his battle against Islamist extremists, while praising Bashar al Assad  even though he clearly thought that Hafez dealt more firmly and harshly with his enemies.

The Tiger fought to clear the military desert road to relieve the siege of western Aleppo last year, but the general revealed that the Tiger had been in action against Islamist suicide bombers in Idlib province in Syria in 2005  six years before the world realised the extent of the governments war against its armed opponents.

He was interested in talking about this earlier history; there were times, indeed, when I thought that General Hassan, like many older men, was beginning to care less what his critics and supporters thought about him now  but more what posterity might say about him later.

This is the first time he has ever spoken to a Western reporter  indeed, to any reporter at all. Thus he combined his harsh view of the Arab world with talk of his own failings and of the mistakes of his intelligence agency.

But his remarks on the start of the Syrian war in 2011 were even more revealing. Unfortunately, some of our illiterate Syrian people participated or conspired with these dirty extremist Islamists and pretended that there was a revolution. Beginning in March 2011, the Qatari regime  which has good links with the Muslim Brotherhood represented by Sheikh [Yusuf] Qaradawi  was encouraging sectarianism.

Islamist extremists and Zionist extremists met with one purpose and decided to divide Syria. As evidence, [I ask] why is the Jabhat al-Nusra coordinating with the Israelis on Golan and [why is Israel] giving health care and treatment to the militias? Even when Isis captured a few kilometres near the Israeli border, Israel didnt attack them.

So what did this mean? This is a very important matterBritain, France, and America and Israel and the Saudis decided to divide Syria, even though they have very opposing interests. Syria is a very big country for [all of] them to come together. If they were real friends they would [want to] make the sectarian differences smaller. I believe that European people will be [the] most damaged if Syria collapsedThe Americans and the Europeans are like the shepherd who allows the wolf into his home  this wolf will eventually eat all the chickens and the sheep.

And so to the bloodbath of Hama in 1982. If the tactics used at Hama in 1982 had been used here, we would have ended this war, General Hassan said uncompromisingly. I was in Hama in 1982 and I was fighting the extremists then in tunnels under the ground. At the time of Hafez el-Assads rule, I was a lieutenant security officer, and the extremists received a painful blow in the 1980s and it was almost a final blow. I felt this was a very intelligent decision at that time. There was a different environment at that period.

"It was very hard for President [Hafez] al-Assad. In this present era  today  if we did this, we would end this war now. The present strategy is a decision of our present leadership. I have a different opinion. The Chinese students staged their demonstration in Tienanmin Square [in 1989], they wanted to change China. If the Chinese government hadnt ended this thing, where would China be now?"

Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Show all 16 1 /16 Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo A girl who fled areas of conflict rides a vehicle in Dahiyet al-Assad, west Aleppo city, Syria REUTERS/Ammar Abdullah Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Rebel fighters from the Jaish al-Fatah (or Army of Conquest) brigade have a tea in a building under construction Getty Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo A rebel fighters' armoured vehicle in Dahiyet al-Assad Reuters Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Rebel fighters from the Jaish al-Fatah (or Army of Conquest) brigades sit on a tank Getty Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Abandoned magazine of shells after rebel fighters took control of Dahiyet al-Assad Reuters Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Rebel fighters ride a pick-up truck with civilians who fled areas of conflict in Dahiyet al-Assad, west Aleppo city, Syria Reuters Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo A rebel fighter gestures with a girl who fled areas of conflict while they ride a pick-up truck in Dahiyet al-Assad Reuters Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Smoke rises near a damaged road in Dahiyet al-Assad, west Aleppo city, Syria Reuters Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Syrians carry their belongings as they leave the southwestern frontline neighbourhood of Dahiyet al-,Assad Getty Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo A view shows a damaged minaret of a mosque after rebel fighters took control of Dahiyet al-Assad, Syria Reuters Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Rebel groups have pledged to push from newly captured positions in the Dahiyet al-Assad district towards Hamdaniyeh. Rebels and allied jihadists launched a major offensive on October 28, 2016 to break through government lines and reach the 250,000 people living in the city's east Getty Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Rebel groups have pledged to push from newly captured positions in the Dahiyet al-Assad district towards Hamdaniyeh Getty Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Rebel fighters from the Jaish al-Fatah (or Army of Conquest) brigades hold a position at an entrance to Aleppo, in the southwestern frontline neighbourhood of Dahiyet al-Assad Getty Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Smoke billows from the frontline district of Dahiyet al-Assad following an attack by rebels on Syrian regime forces in the northern city of Aleppo Getty Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo Syrians carry their belongings as they leave the southwestern frontline neighbourhood of Dahiyet al-Assad Getty Dahiyet al-Assad - Aleppo People who fled areas of conflict ride a pick-up truck in Dahiyet al-Assad, west Aleppo city, Syria Reuters

In the 1980s, General Jamil Hassan reminisced, Turkey was intellectual rather than the very cruel Islamic Turkey which exists today. The supporters of terrorism then were Saddam Hussein of Iraq and King Hussein of Jordan. Saddam Hussein didnt support terrorism in Syria because he liked Islam  but because he wanted to anger Hafez el-Assad. Saddam Hussein supported Islamists, though he was not an Islamic extremist himself.

"Even King Hussain [of Jordan] didnt like Islamists  but [used them] because he wanted to challenge Hafez el-Assadand use the Muslim Brotherhood. There were times, I have to say, when General Jamils voice sounded to me a little like that of Hafez al-Assad."

He spoke of brainwashing and ideological pressure on Syrias rural poor in the early years of the present war. Acts by Al-Qaeda [which now calls itself Jabhat al-Nusra] had been encouraging this ideology and cruelty inside the hearts of the people  its the fruit of ten [sic] years of ideological brain-washing. I follow them very closely. It was the Western states, General Hassan said, who gave weapons to radical Islamists.

I know of a village where the people were forced to fight us. The people were forced into different traditions, even their clothes. Eighty per cent of the people of eastern Aleppo want to leave and come to the area [of western Aleppo] under the control of the government. The only solution is that the Western states stop supporting the terrorists.

And in remarks sure to enrage the US administration of Barack Obama  if not of his successor Donald Trump  the general added that it is quite ridiculous for the Americans to say that there is a moderate opposition. It is a disgusting thing. I am astounded that the US and UN make all this effort [over eastern Aleppo] just for this very small district.

"The only dirty game played in Aleppo is played by the Americans. If they stop their supply of weapons, everything will endWhy do the Western governments not care about the shelling of [government-controlled] western Aleppo where many people are killed?...I will fight to defend Syria to the last minute of my life."

 Assad believes video of boy covered in rubble is fake

And so we reached the sensitive matter of Daraa, where the Syrian war began in 2011 and whose citizens deaths were claimed to be the reason why General Hassan was sanctioned by Washington. In the beginning of the crisis, they said a security man took the finger nails of children out, the general said. This is just rumour  but even the people who were for the President were coming to believe this because of the media. In reality, it was very planned propaganda

The story of the Daraa children is by now well known. At least fifteen, accused of spray-painting the words The People Want the Fall of the Regime on a wall in the southern Syrian city in early 2011, were reportedly tortured by state security police, an act which prompted widespread demonstrations in April, the deaths of dozens of protestors and Syrian soldiers and the dismissal of the local governor by President Bashar himself.

General Jamil Hassans next words to me must therefore be read with both care and reservation. The people who made these plots [against us] used weapons from the beginning but accused the government of using them, he said. From the beginning, when the demonstrators were in the streets, the security apparatus were prevented from having weaponsThe people who made these plots [against us] used weapons from the beginning, but accused the government of using them.

The armed opponents of the government, General Hassan repeated, targeted Syrias united society. The security apparatus are the ones responsible for this unityso they were the new targets.

But then the general added: This does not mean there were no mistakes made by them. During my long career I dont remember insulting anyone for the sake of insulting him. Maybe I was at fault in misunderstanding some of my deedsI spent 40 years in security.

In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: Children play underground in Syria In pictures: Children play underground in Syria A child plays in the ball pit at the 'Land of Childhood,' an underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Abdulaziz, 10, plays in the 'Land of Childhood' underground playground in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Boys look through a show window inside the tunnel that provides a safe passage for children between the two basements that form the 'Land of Childhood' in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Children play at the underground 'Land of Childhood' in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Two girls play at the 'Land of Childhood' underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Children on the ride on a ferris wheel at the 'Land of Childhood', an underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Seven-year-old Massa at the "Land of Childhood" underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Children wait in line to buy sweets at the 'Land of Childhood,' an underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef

At this point, there was a considerable pause in our conversation. I asked the obvious question of this much feared officer: Are you a cruel man? I am cruel towards the issues which relate to my country, he replied sharply  and not without some ambiguity. In my relations towards my people, I am not cruel, and the people like me He was a man without pretence, the general said. Why, in 2009 a wise man came to his office when he had become head of Air Force Intelligence and told me to take care not to lock up an innocent man.

General Hassan had a story to tell. At the time, I didnt think about this advice until some corruption occurred in one of my prisonsthen I made an investigation and I fired a lot of the prison guards and I requested the leadership to arrest many officers  but I requested that I myself should be at the top of the list of those who must be punished.

"And I was told that the leader [Bashar al-Assad] was very much astonished at this request  but he ended this matter and gave me another chance, because he knew I was a straight and true man. Every man has a fault, he said. Let us give Jamil this chance and we shall punish the ones who did these deeds, because he has no role in this corruption. After this day, I have checked every day what happens in the prisons"

This was an important episode in the generals life  albeit not fully explained. He went on to speak of how he orders his men not to kill terrorists but to bring them in alive because we are in need of their information and to know what they carry in their minds. He even orders his men, he says, to bring the bodies of foreign fighters to Damascus for examination to gather all their nationalities and details.

 UK Ambassador gives damning speech to UN after Russia's security council veto over Syria

One of his prisoners, a Tajik, had a son of six who was found holding a weapon. I told one of my [security] employees to take the boy to his home and bring him up and I gave my man a salary and for his wife who became a stepmother. After six months, the boy became another person.

Now came a moment not to be missed. I have myself twice interviewed General Jamil Hassans foreign prisoners in the Mezze military jail in Damascus: inmates from Turkey, Saudi Arabia, France Would the general, I asked, give me his word that none of these prisoners, indeed not one of the men in his prisons, would be executed?

We will not execute them, he replied. Then he added: We will do our best. I will recommend that they not be executed. But the final decision is up to the tribunal and court.

Now I doubt very much if the Syrian judiciary, however independently it claims to function, would deny a letter of recommendation from so formidable a figure as General Jamil Hassan. So his prisoners will be spared. I must accept that the general is a man of his word. Readers, as they say, will be kept informed.
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My mum doesn't allow me to play in the street with the neighbours' children, but when she learnt that this place is underground she let me come here to play, says 10-year-old Abdulaziz.

He has been playing with his friends in earthen tunnels that form part of a subterranean playground where they can be kept safe from relentless bombardment by Syrian government forces and their allies.

The Land of Childhood sits hidden in a rebel-held region of the war-torn country as it continues to be besieged, trapping civilian families inside under fire and facing shortages of food and vital medicine.

 Underground playgrounds give solace to children in Syrias Aleppo

Abdulaziz, whose father was killed in the war, is one of many youngsters attempting to live normal childhoods amid the unending violence.

The network of basements linked by volunteers led by a former architecture student, allows them and their parents a moment of relative safety to play.

Toy cars sit on display in an enclave dug into the earthen walls, while a Wendy house, ball pit and park complete with climbing frame and rocking horses has been installed.

In one corner, volunteers make homemade sweets while a makeshift ferris wheel takes up another wall decorated with colourful paintings of flowers and trees  a reminder of the outside world that is no longer safe for these children and many more.

My friends and I come here because it's the last theme park that is still working [...] the one we used to go to was attacked and is not working anymore, a young girl told Unicef workers during a visit.

In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: Children play underground in Syria In pictures: Children play underground in Syria A child plays in the ball pit at the 'Land of Childhood,' an underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Abdulaziz, 10, plays in the 'Land of Childhood' underground playground in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Boys look through a show window inside the tunnel that provides a safe passage for children between the two basements that form the 'Land of Childhood' in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Children play at the underground 'Land of Childhood' in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Two girls play at the 'Land of Childhood' underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Children on the ride on a ferris wheel at the 'Land of Childhood', an underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Seven-year-old Massa at the "Land of Childhood" underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef In pictures: Children play underground in Syria Children wait in line to buy sweets at the 'Land of Childhood,' an underground playground in a besieged town in Syria Unicef

Another child, seven-year-old Massa, travels from a nearby town to play in safety.

She said: I wasn't afraid of bombardment because my dad told me that we're in the basement.

More than 200 children visit the playground every day, while in another besieged area an underground school is allowing 50 girls to continue their education.

Yaseen, the Land of Childhoods designer, told Unicef volunteers dug tunnels themselves before adding coloured lights and toys.

We wanted to turn the tunnel from being linked to attacks, fear and horror to a fun place that attracts children to pass through it, he said.

The UN says worsening violence in Syrias fifth year of civil war has caused the number of children living under siege to double.

Seven-year-old Massa at the "Land of Childhood" underground playground in a besieged town in Syria (Unicef)

Almost 500,000 children are estimated to live in 16 besieged areas across the country, almost completely cut off from humanitarian aid and basic services, some for two years.

Anthony Lake, Unicefs executive director, said: For millions of human beings in Syria, life has become an endless nightmare - in particular for the hundreds of thousands of children living under siege.

Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine. This is no way to live  and too many are dying.

Bashar al-Assads forces and allies are responsible for the vast majority of sieges, along with Islamist rebels in the Jaysh al-Fath coalition and Isis.

International pressure resulted in aid reaching the rebel-held town of Madaya and Shia towns of Kefraya and Foua earlier this year after evidence of mass starvation emerged but many other areas remain cut off by fighting and in desperate need.

Boys look through a show window inside the tunnel that provides a safe passage for children between the two basements that form the 'Land of Childhood' in a besieged town in Syria (Unicef)

Unicef, which is calling for all parties in the conflict to lift sieges and allow unconditional humanitarian access, estimates that 100,000 children are living under siege in eastern Aleppo alone.

Opposition-controlled districts of the divided city are the focus of an intensified campaign by Syrian government forces attempting to drive rebels out of their symbolic stronghold and deliver a major psychological blow to opponents.

Assads forces said troops captured another rebel neighbourhood on Saturday. The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said regime soldiers gained control of most of Hanano, which was the first district of Aleppo to fall into the hands of rebels in 2012.

Monitors say at least 357 people have been killed in the city and surrounding areas since the government offensive resumed on 15 November, despite consternation from the United Nations and humanitarian organisations.

Syrian state media said rebel shelling of government-controlled west Aleppo killed three people and wounded 15 on Saturday, adding that 150 residents of east Aleppo were able to leave the besieged area of 275,000 people.

Deals have reportedly being made to evacuate rebels and weapons from two surrounded suburbs of Damascus as regime troops advance on the besieged opposition stronghold of Ghouta.
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Mary Dejevsky marks the death of Fidel Castro with the declaration that The era of the socialist experiment is over (26 November).How utterly predictable.

While I dont accept that Castros Cuba  whatever its virtues or failures  was socialist, I salute Castro as someone who was looking for an alternative to capitalism. And Castro had an answer for capitalisms apologist: They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia and Latin America?

With the on-going economic crisis which began in 2009 you can add Europe and North America to Castros list of continents where capitalism has failed.

With the effects of catastrophic climate change already beginning to assert itself, and re-emergent fascist movements growing across Europe and the US, the choice for humanity is still the one Rosa Luxemburg recognised in 1915  either a transition to socialism or regression into barbarism.

Sasha Simic

London

While many of us admire the Cuban revolution and the changes it brought by overthrowing the US-backed brutal dictator, Batista, and the wonderful health and education systems, I'm sure not many Cubans wanted to replace one dictator with another  his brother.

Castro died at a time when many leftists still support brutal dictators like Assad. It is time for a democratic left that stands for the people instead of idolising individuals.

Mohammed Samaana

Belfast

It should not go unnoticed how some people on the left who are now heaping praise on Fidel Castro for his support of national independence movements in Africa are the same people who turn a blind eye to the very same thing for the British people, independence from the EU, in a word, Brexit. Hypocrisy or just ignorance?

Fawzi Ibrahim

London

The wrong advice

So the referendum result was the advice of the people not the will of the people. Perhaps the expert on experts, Mr Gove, should be asked whether any advice he has received has ever been wrong. Or is it because the electorate are not experts that he accepts the referendum so readily.

Michael Aston

London

My son has lived and worked in Europe all his working life. Firstly, he worked in in Germany and then transferred to Luxembourg. His partner is German, he has three children and considers himself a European. They are very much a European family and never contemplate moving back to the UK. He is also British and proud of being so. Nowadays, he is a worried and so is his family. A sad situation.

Sheilah Elvins

Lenham
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The election of Donald Trump to the American presidency is causing turmoil in Italian politics in the run up to a constitutional referendum to be held on 4 December.

The referendum sets the stage for Italy to host the third major anti-establishment protest shock of 2016, before weve even had the chance fully to digest the news of Trump and Brexit.

The referendum is on a wide-ranging constitutional reform designed by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and his government. It took more than two years to navigate through parliament and was put to the public vote once it had failed to win a two-thirds majority in parliament.

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Renzi claims the reform will make Italian governments more stable and efficient. But the worry is that Trumps election increases the likelihood that the reform will be rejected by voters.

Thats not because of the merits or flaws of the reform itself but because of the politics surrounding it. Renzi has effectively staked his all on the outcome of this referendum. In December 2015, with his personal poll ratings riding high, he announced, in De Gaullean style, that if he were to be defeated in the referendum he would resign.

This manoeuvre, which he assumed would convince any waverers to support the reform, turned out to be a catastrophic tactical misjudgement. It effectively turned the referendum into a plebiscite on Renzi.

That provided a theme for the anti-establishment Five Star Movement, which has campaigned vehemently for a No vote purely to remove Renzi from office.

The Five Star Movement has crowed Donald Trumps election as evidence of a protest movement sweeping the West. It is calling on Italians to seize the opportunity of the referendum to join in. And indeed, support for the reform has consistently declined throughout the year. Polls now show a small majority in favour of voting No  although the large number of undecided voters leaves the outcome in the balance.

Renzi, since the summer, has attempted to change tack and depersonalise the referendum, separating its outcome from his own future. But the genie cant be put back in the bottle. Polls indicate that over half of Italians intending to vote view the referendum as a judgement on the Renzi government and not the reform.

Renzi will surely be thinking of former British Prime Minister David Cameron, who famously argued that he would not resign if he lost the Brexit referendum, when most observers knew that it would be inevitable. A No vote in the referendum would signal not just the rejection of the reform but the end of the Renzi experiment.

If this is to be Renzis fate, the result will be instability, if not chaos. Thats not because the country will immediately go to an election, but rather because it will be unrealistic to do so.

To try and reinforce support for the constitutional reform, Renzi has also carried through an electoral reform of the lower house (the Chamber of Deputies), which came into effect in July. This new electoral law (the Italicum) was expressly designed to reinforce the constitutional reform, which reshapes the Senate, curtailing its powers compared to the Chamber of Deputies  the only house to be directly elected under the new scheme  by ensuring that a stable governing majority would always emerge from the ballot box.

However, if the constitutional reform is rejected, Italy would be left with two completely different electoral systems for the two parliamentary houses. It would provide the basis for two separate majorities in a system where both houses currently have identical powers.

The potential paralysis that this would create makes it inevitable that further electoral reform would immediately have to follow a rejection of the constitutional reform. And if Renzi resigned, it would mean bringing in yet another transitional government to implement such a reform.

This would probably be a technical or institutional government along the lines of those led by Renzis two immediate predecessors, Mario Monti and Enrico Letta. These administrations were installed under the auspices of the non-partisan Italian president with a specific programme of reform to implement, based on the (fragile) support of different political forces in parliament. Yet, the divisions between the parties over the sort of electoral reform needed would cause months of negotiation, instability, lack of direction and possible stalemate.

The elections that would surely follow electoral reform could result in the Five Star Movement emerging as the largest party. Successive opinion polls reveal a situation of tripolarity, with Renzis Democratic Party, the Five Star Movement and the centre-right parties (Silvio Berlusconis Forza Italia, the Northern League and Brothers of Italy) commanding about 30 per cent of the vote each.

All this will have reverberations beyond Italy because of the way Renzi has been able to convince international elites (most notably the European Union and President Obama) that the constitutional reform will increase Italys capacity to deliver on the EUs economic agenda. Indeed, some of Renzis supporters in Italy are arguing that expectations abroad about the reform are now so high that its rejection would send a shock wave through international circles, damaging Italys credibility abroad and leaving it at the mercy of the markets.

For Renzi, there is bitter irony in the way this referendum has turned into an impending watershed for Italian politics. He stands to lose both the reform and possibly his political career on a wave of anti-establishment protest when his own emergence as leader of the Democratic Party and then as Prime Minister was precisely on the basis of an anti-establishment programme. He swept to power promising to scrap the old political class (rottamazione) and lay the foundations for a new politics in Italy. That was barely two years ago, but Renzi has learnt to his cost that an anti-establishment profile does not last long once in office.

This piece first appeared in The Conversation.
President Michael D Higgins rejected claims he ignored human rights concerns in a statement marking the death of Fidel Castro

The President has rejected claims he ignored human rights concerns in a statement marking the death of Fidel Castro.

Criticism of the comments in which Michael D Higgins described the former Cuban president as a "giant among global leaders" has been unwarranted, his spokesman said.

A statement issued on Sunday said: " Any suggestion that the President neglected human rights concerns is both unsustainable and unwarranted.

"The President has discussed human rights concerns with representatives of the government of Cuba on every occasion he has had meetings, in Cuba, Ireland and elsewhere.

"In all of his speeches on human rights the President has emphasised the universality of human rights and has never shirked from the presentation of that view."

On Saturday Mr Higgins said Fidel Castro would be remembered as a giant among global leaders whose "view was not only one of freedom for his people but for all of the oppressed and excluded peoples on the planet".

His spokesman added: "The President's statement clearly referred to the price paid for social and economic development in terms of civil society and the criticisms it brought. This obviously and unambiguously included the human rights organisations and activists who have always had the support of the President.

"The President made a further reference to civil society later in his statement in the context of the opportunities provided by restoration of diplomatic relations with the United States, and the response which has come from the visit of Pope Francis. The President was here referring to the release of prisoners.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan said President Higgins was "entitled" to make his own views known about Mr Castro.

He told RTE the former Cuban leader was a complex figure with a mixed legacy.

Mr Flanagan said: "I very much respect the right, in the first instance, but also the view of Michael D Higgins.

"If you go back over the last 40 years, no one in Irish politics has done so much work or had such a level of association with Latin American politics than Michael D Higgins himself."

Speaking on the same programme, Fianna Fail's spokesman on foreign affairs, Darragh O'Brien, said Mr Higgins' statement was not as balanced as it could have been.

Nine days of national mourning have been announced in Cuba following Castro's death at the age of 90.

He took power in 1959 and introduced a one-party communist state which he ruled for nearly half a century before handing over the presidency to his brother Raul in 2008.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein said it's leader, Gerry Adams, intended to fly to Cuba for the funeral.

Mr Adams said: "Fidel Castro was a global leader and a good friend of the Irish people.

"I am proud and honoured to travel to Cuba to represent Sinn Fein, as we remember Fidel Castro."
Ian Quinn, co-founder of the Galway medical devices firm Creganna Medical, which was sold earlier this year for 820m, is expanding into the sandwich business.

Creganna, founded by Quinn in 1980, is a large global manufacturer of medical devices for the minimally invasive vascular surgery market.

A company owned by him and his wife, Enda, Xenium Clarinbridge, has applied for planning permission to convert a Dublin retail unit into a cafe/sandwich bar. Located in the Bottleworks building in Ringsend, it would target tech workers in the Dublin Silicon Docks.

Retained profits at Xenium Clarinbridge soared to almost 1.1m last year, from less than 300,000 in 2014, according to the company's most recently filed accounts. Its principal activity is described as management of real estate on a fee or contract basis.

Quinn has recently invested in Bluedrop Medical, a Galway-based medical technology startup that aims to save diabetics from amputations.

The investment is part of a 600,000 fund-raising bid to develop and commercialise an internet-connected device which scans a person's foot to predict the formation of, and detection of diabetic foot ulcers.

"Our device looks like an electronic weighing scales you might have in your bathroom, but it performs a daily scan of a patient's feet. It then sends the data to the cloud for analysis using advanced algorithms capable of detecting abnormalities," Bluedrop co-founder Chris Murphy told the Sunday Independent in August.
Ireland's top hotel boss has said Dublin hotels should consider aiming to charge at London or Paris levels.

In an interview due to be published shortly, Dalata chief executive Pat McCann said Dublin hotel rates are low by international standards and that this is hindering the supply of new hotel rooms in the capital.

"Out of a basket of approximately 20 European cities, Dublin is number 11 in terms of room rate but number one in occupancy. In my view we will never be able to command the room rates achieved by hoteliers in cities like London or Paris but perhaps that should be our ambition," McCann said in an interview with accounting and finance firm BDO.

He said Dalata remained committed to expanding in the UK but that its plans have been slowed by the Brexit vote.

He said the company was seeing increased corporate business due to what he called a 'Google effect' causing increased employment in technology and financial services.

"These companies and their employees are frequent hotel users," McCann said, adding that improvements in infrastructure had also contributed to an increased demand for hotel rooms, with supply remaining relatively static.

McCann spoke to BDO for its annual 'Hotels, Restaurants and Bars Report'. BDO Partner Stewart Dunne said rising tourism numbers and consumer confidence contributed to a sense that Ireland's recovery was more established.

But Dunne said Brexit uncertainty, skills shortages and minimum wage hikes had caused concern in the industry.
Amongst the Slieve Mish Mountains near Dingle in Co Kerry weary travellers devour Brigid O'Connor's homemade apple tarts as sheep look through the window.

North of Nenagh, Co Tipperary, the pigs snuffle by the old farmhouse and playfully root for vegetables while Margaret O'Farrell makes the bed for a couple arriving that night, and on the shores of Mullagh Lake in Cavan, Jane Shackleton is setting the fire in a white-washed cottage so visitors can warm their hands when they step in out of the November rain.

The three women have never met, but they share a profession - they are Airbnb hosts in rural Ireland.

They are trendsetters for a business model which, we're told, is sweeping across the regions and bringing tourists and much-needed revenue to parts of rural areas off the beaten track.

Expand Close Jane Shackleton has a rural farm on the shores of Mullagh Lake / Facebook

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Earlier this month, Airbnb launched their 'Home-Sharing: Empowering Regional & Rural Ireland' report, which stated that the Airbnb community contributed an estimated 74m to regional and rural communities across Ireland in the last year.

This includes 47m of estimated visitor spending by driving additional footfall to regional businesses, and 27m earned by the host communities themselves.

Across rural Ireland many farmers are choosing to make a room or two available through Airbnb - the homestay network that enables people to list or rent short-term lodging in residential properties - to supplement their main income.

This month's report found that in the last year, 6,000 hosts in regional and rural Ireland earned an average additional income of 2,700 per household.

Most rooms cost around 35 per person per night, and cottages or separate dwellings can cost around 100 per night.

The amounts of money may not be massive, but the sum quickly adds up, and the Airbnb owners I spoke to say they're getting busier year-on-year.

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In Camp, Co Kerry, Brigid O'Connor's home is listed as 'Sheep Farm, Gleann na nGealt', and visitors post warm reviews about 'the sweetest of hosts'.

"My son was travelling and using Airbnb and suggested I do it, so I said I'd try it out and it really was one of the most wonderful decisions we ever made," explains Brigid.

"People come from all over the world to spend some time on a rural Irish farm. Sure, its lovely for them and me. They have dinner in the local restaurants in the village and get their messages in the local shop. It's been a great success."

And when Margaret O'Farrell and her other half Alfie lost their jobs during the downturn in 2009, the Airbnb business saw them through difficult days at 'Old Farm' Lorrha, North Tipperary.

"With the cutbacks, my job in the public service went, and Alfie worked in construction, which dried up - so we set about farming and doing Airbnb," says Margaret.

"We have two spare rooms in the house, a double and a twin room, and thankfully all our guests have been wonderful. The reality is we're hardly in a tourism hotspot here, but still because of Airbnb and positive reviews we're extremely busy. We also rear pigs and other animals and the visitors love the farmyard element of the place too."

For Jane Shackleton, the spread and diversity of Airbnb properties across areas which haven't been traditionally marketed as tourism destinations showcases exciting parts of the country to both domestic and international tourists.

"When we started Airbnb a year-and-a-half ago some said 'sure, no one will go to Mullagh' - but we've proved them wrong," says Jane.

"We're only an hour from Dublin and couples like to escape from the city at the weekend. The converted whitewashed harness room has attracted visitors from across the world, they eat the organic home-grown lamb, go for a pint in the nearby village and dine in local restaurants. I feel Airbnb has opened up so much of rural Ireland to the world."

Criticism

But not everyone is so sure the spread of the Airbnb enterprise across Ireland is good for Irish tourism.

The Irish Hotel Federation has raised questions about the health and safety aspect of Airbnbs, and says while its members have to operate in extremely tight regulated environments, the same is not true of their Airbnb counterparts.

The group has called for 'equal treatment' and says if its members must be fully compliant with health and safety laws, which includes having fire escapes and adequate insurance cover, then Airbnb hosts should be also.

One hotelier in Waterford told the Farming Independent that Airbnbs have reduced his annual income significantly.

"I know for a fact that I'm losing at least a couple of hundred euro a week during the summer to local Airbnbs and now during the winter I've more rooms vacant each week than in the previous year," said the source.

"My fear is that an unregulated sector like that will have a devastating impact on struggling small hotels like mine which employ staff and try to do everything by the book."

Facts
Changes to the Rural Social Scheme (RSS) have been heavily criticised by Sinn Fein spokesperson on Rural Affairs and Regional Development, Peadar Toibin.

He says the changes appear to be an initiation of the phasing out of the scheme, as well as discriminating against younger farmers.

Speaking today an Toibin said the Rural Social Scheme has been a massive support to farmers, both economically and socially.

He said the government has now made changes to the scheme so new entrants have to be at least 25 years old, and cannot avail of the scheme for a period of over six years.

Previously those who qualified for the scheme could stay on it for a substantial period of time. Now it appears that participants in the scheme will not be able to avail of it for periods longer than three years at a time.

"Quietly and cunningly the government have introduced what are effectively nasty stealth cuts, by the imposition of these stringent conditions," he said.

According to the Sein Fein Deputy payments to the scheme were cut drastically two years ago.

"Now it seems that a phasing out of the scheme has been initiated," he warned.

"The vast majority of farmers availing of the scheme are over 55 years of age. It seems as though the government are looking to impose finite time restrictions now, so that the scheme will be redundant in less than a decade.

Minister Varadkar claims that he wishes to align the RSS with other employment schemes  but they cannot be comparable. This scheme was not introduced as a labour market initiative, but was designed to encourage people to continue farming. It offered financial support and security as well as having vital social benefits.

Farms are becoming increasingly unsustainable. Younger farmers in particular are at risk of leaving the land entirely and seeking alternative work. Often smaller farms are sold to plantation companies for monoculture farming, which can further fracture what are often very isolated communities further, with the absence of people and families in these holdings.

The human cost of government policy which has had utter disregard to rural Ireland, and the West of Ireland in particular, is devastating. Whats more, Fine Gael policy is supporting the shift of land from small, independent farmers into the control of wealthier individuals and companies.

I would ask Minister Leo Varadkar to review the changes to the Rural Social Scheme as they go against the sustaining and development of farms and by proxy, vibrant rural communities, he said.
The total losses generated by these schemes are estimated to be 550m, with avoided potential capital gains tax of 110m, Revenue officials confirmed to the Sunday Independent

A major Revenue crackdown on tax-avoidance schemes used by Ireland's richest people has clawed back more than 36m for the taxpayer in the past year.

The tax-avoidance team at Revenue's large cases division has agreed settlements with a number of high-wealth individuals - defined as those with net assets greater than 50m -recovering 36.6m in unpaid tax and penalties.

The unit is currently dealing with more than 430 cases as part of a clampdown on individuals and businesses who try to avoid tax through artificial loss relief schemes and artificial capital loss schemes.

Revenue has been specifically targeting high net worth individuals who have used sophisticated financial instruments, known as contracts for difference, to generate artificial losses.

The total losses generated by these schemes are estimated to be 550m, with avoided potential capital gains tax of 110m, Revenue officials confirmed to the Sunday Independent.

"Revenue has successfully settled a number of these cases. Specific anti-avoidance rules have been introduced to prevent the use of this scheme and other similar schemes," a Revenue official said.

Revenue deems artificial schemes to be "transactions which have little or no commercial reality but are intended to reduce, avoid or defer a tax or duty charge or to artificially create or increase a tax deduction".

Contracts for difference are best-known in Ireland as the financial device used to bet on the former Anglo Irish Bank's share price, with disastrous results. They came to prominence in 2008 after the family of Ireland's then-richest man Sean Quinn built up a 28pc stake in the bank between 2006 and 2008 using the instruments.

"Revenue's policy is to actively challenge tax-avoidance transactions and to litigate such cases in the courts," said a spokesperson.

"Dedicated anti-avoidance units in Revenue's large-cases division are focussed on monitoring and challenging potential tax-avoidance transactions generally and, in particular, tax avoidance that may be undertaken by high-wealth individuals."

The rules around tax avoidance, as distinct from tax evasion, were tightened in the 2014 Finance Bill.

A separate Revenue crackdown on a tax-avoidance scheme used by individuals with companies located in the British Virgin Islands is targeting a 37m clawback for Irish taxpayers.

The cases involve claims of artificial trading losses by an estimated 200 taxpayers in an attempt to shelter income from taxation using offshore companies.

Revenue's large-cases division has around 250 staff. It was set up as part of the restructuring of the Revenue Commission in 2003.
We have been writing in this paper about the gambling phenomenon for at least 10 years now, so we were happy to see the Claire Byrne Live show telling its viewers about it last Monday.

We have been seeing it not just as "a steam train coming down the tracks", as it was described a couple of years ago, but as a high-speed locomotive that had already arrived at Platform One long before that, having picked up a load of passengers at every station down the line.

Indeed in describing the journey of that proverbial supertrain, we have covered just about everything short of the menu in the dining car.

Although we can today confirm that for all those first-class ticket holders there is now a choice of chicken or fish.

But the Claire Byrne Live show did bring us the testimony of Davy Glennon, the Galway hurler who described his own gambling addiction. And it is always enlightening, if extremely rare, to have someone on a 'current affairs' type programme about addictive behaviour who really knows what he's talking about - for example you could watch these programmes for years on the subject of alcohol, and you would keep seeing all sorts of 'stakeholders' such as the Vintners and the Professors and the Junior Ministers, but no sign of an alcoholic who can make the subject sound interesting because he actually understands it.

Davy Glennon was all the more compelling as a witness to this gambling epidemic, because you sensed that he didn't welcome the attention of a TV audience, he was doing this for the right reasons. And you could still feel uneasy about sharing his trauma as he reviewed the famous fall of Annie Power at the last hurdle at Cheltenham, the fourth and final leg of an accumulator which would have won him 58,000.

But in the contribution of Davy, we see something that can illuminate this matter even further, the fact that of the well-known individuals who have made a public declaration of their gambling addiction, most are inter-county GAA players - Oisin McConville, Niall McNamee, Cathal McCarron and now Davy Glennon have all described the ways in which gambling consumed them, but their prominence in this field is also telling us something about how deep this thing goes all over Ireland.

Certainly they are in the most target-rich area for the betting corporations, they are young men with a serious interest in sport and a fiercely competitive nature.

But there are such men everywhere in this country, even within the GAA you have lesser-known players and players who are unknown outside of their own homes, you have selectors and of course you have "mentors".

You've got an awful lot of people there, and so it is most unlikely that this addiction would be confined to the elite performers.

But the main thing to note here, is that there may be a serious gambling culture going on within the GAA, but that the GAA is also creating a culture which allows these individuals to emerge and to share their stories and to feel that they will be supported.

If the same could be said for solicitors or accountants or even journalists, we might see a sense of urgency in relation to this addiction that would even come to the attention of the Government. Indeed there was an important intervention on Claire Byrne Live by Stuart Gilhooly, President of the Law Society, pointing out that there is an avalanche of advertising coming from the betting corporations - we have indeed noted in these pages that it might be an idea to curtail this or even to stop it, since the ads are being put out there at such a rate, it looks as if the corporations are rounding up every last unfortunate punter that they can, while they are still getting away with it.

Then again the Gambling Control Bill of 2013 has not yet been enacted, so the Government does not seem to share any sense of urgency - it's as if they've been told that for the "overwhelming majority", it's just "fun".

But we should not characterise this as political inertia, it is in truth a positive action in favour of the betting corporations, against the common good. Because for the bookies these are the glory days, internet gambling is the Wild West, and by definition any form of law or rule or regulation will not be good for them.

We might also speculate about other areas of public health in which this "inertia" is going on, but hey, we're too busy here having fun.

And of course in relation to many aspects of addiction, there is not much that any Government can do, but in this case there is one really important thing it can do, it can either reduce the advertising or it can cut it out altogether.

It is now clear to any half-intelligent person that online gambling is a very big deal, that this addiction is leading to all manner of madness, to bankruptcies and divorces and suicides, that this train is indeed no longer "coming down the tracks", it is here.

And knowing all this, for three years, which is a long time in human ruination, the betting corporations have been getting the thing that they crave - no change.

In this, as in so many other areas of their dark trade, they're winning.
Golden Discs chief executive, Stephen Fitzgerald: It has never been more fragmented in terms of the amount of ways to consume music and movies

Sales of DVDs and CDs have been under pressure for many years, but the next few weeks will be hectic for Golden Discs. Now one of the last remaining music and movie retailers, 50pc of its annual sales take place in November and December.

"Our business is so seasonal. We see a lot of people who wouldn't darken our doors most of the year because they prefer to stream or download. But you can't really give your mum a Michael Buble download," said Golden Discs chief executive, Stephen Fitzgerald.

In addition to the usual pre-Christmas rush, Fitzgerald will also be pushing out its new relationship with Tesco.

"We've been working very, very hard on this deal for the past seven months and we're still at it," said Fitzgerald. "We're just ironing out teething problems now but we've been stocking the Tesco stores over the past number of weeks and we've just launched the Golden Discs branding piece in the stores."

Golden Discs and logistics company Exertis will supply 80 Tesco stores around Ireland. Under the partnership, Golden Discs at Tesco concessions will operate as standalone units within those Tesco stores.

The arrangement comes against a difficult backdrop. Sales of DVDs have been on the slide, with chart-topping releases now selling hundreds rather than 1000s of copies in Ireland.

However, Fitzgerald expects that the new relationship with Tesco will change that. "It is very hard to make an deductions from the chart numbers this year based in everything that has happened in the industry," he said.

"Xtra-Vision is gone, HMV is gone, a lot of independents are gone and the Tesco business has been adrift for a number of months. So Golden Discs has been the only sizeable contributor and when you're comparing them with last year, sales have fallen off a cliff," he said.

"Now that the Tesco business is up and running again and being supplied and we're actively managing it, I think you are going to see that number improve significantly."

Fitzgerald said that Irish DVDs and CDs would also see a boost from its expanded role in the Irish market. "We will very much focus on the Irish and local repertoire, that will be a big thing for us."

Among the big sellers in the coming weeks will be Game of Thrones box sets and comedian Tommy Tiernan's DVD.

Although the way people consume content is undergoing enormous change, Fitzgerald is optimistic about the future.

"I think it has never been more fragmented in terms of the amount of ways to consume music and movies in terms of streaming and subscriptions," he said. "And I think there is absolutely a very strong and healthy position in all of that for physical products."

He said that music is so widely available, people are consuming more and more of it. "Overall, the music market is up 11pc this year and I think packaged is down about 3pc. So it's certainly challenged but there is plenty of room there for us."

Fitzgerald described the Golden Discs journey as a "rollercoaster ride". His father, Jack, set up the business in 1962. In the company's heyday, there were 35 stores and for many years Golden Discs was the go-to retailer for teenagers stocking up on the latest vinyl or CD albums.

Following an examinership in 2009, the company shrank to ten stores during the recession.

But opportunities have re-emerged. When HMV and Xtravision left the market, the chain expanded into new locations.

In recent weeks, Golden Discs has opened in former HMV stores in Dundrum Town Centre and Henry street on a temporary basis.

"There is an option in Dundrum to stay on for something longer but the immediate deal is just into the first quarter of 2017," he said.

At the moment, the chain has 14 stores and would like to add five to six next year.

"Depending on what happens with Dundrum and Henry Street, we would open stores in those type of locations in Dublin and several others around the country," said Fitzgerald.

This would give the group seven in Dublin, four in Cork and around nine around the rest of the country.

"They will need to have the footfall where it makes sense," he added. "I think the days of the big, big superstore are just over and equally, the big rents on Grafton Street are just not possible any more."

Fitzgerald expects that expansion into regional towns to equate to an investment of 3m.

"That would be funded through various sources, from suppliers and from internal resources and some external resources." Up to 40 new jobs would be created.

Despite the pressure on physical formats, there are areas of growth.

"We're seeing growth in CD," said Fitzgerald. "Some people might think that is counter-intuitive. You would think digital services are killing it off. But the predictions out of the UK and US is that CDs are probably bottoming out now."

"We're seeing huge growth in vinyl," he said. "We are probably up around 200pc on last year's numbers."

Fitzgerald said that vinyl sales as a percentage of turnover is small, accounting for single digits in some stores and moving into the early teens in others.

"But if is keeps growing at current rates, it is going to be a sizeable format in the not too distant future." In the US vinyl sales now equate to half of CD sales.

It had been a niche area, appealing to middle-aged shoppers but now the hipster penchant for vinyl is feeding into sales. "Some 46pc of vinyl sales are to 16 to 25 year olds."

Fitzgerald said that despite all the negativity around DVDs, some growth was being witnessed for box sets and newer high-definition formats such as 3D and the latest technology, 4K.

As part of its deal with Tesco, Golden Discs will sell games, which is a new area for the chain, although games are being also stocked in the Dundrum pop-up shop.

"We are going to look at it very closely now and see how the performance is and take a view on in the New Year," he said in relation to a the chain's longer-term position on gaming.

"The detail of that industry is very different to music and DVDs. Margins are tighter, the stock investment is significantly higher and is more fickle. You can kind of predict what a film will do on DVD because you have seen it in the cinema. And an album you can predict it by the amount of marketing support a label puts behind it and how popular the artist it, but games are notoriously tricky to predict."

He is not concerned about the switch to online shopping. "It's always been there and yes there is a foreign exchange gain for sterling, but for the most part, when you add post and packaging for most purchases it is coming out the same as our retail on-shelf products."

"The labels and the studios are cognisant of that and they want to drive volumes, which is reflected now in much better pricing."

After some difficult times, the company's financial position has improved. In the past year, Fitzgerald said that the company had a "healthy turnover and, yes, absolutely profitable".
INM Group Advertising Director Karen Preston (right) with the winners of the trip to the Cannes Lions festival, Aisling Baker from Starcom and Brian Carolan from PHD

Over 200 marketers and media industry professionals gathered at Dublin's Royal Hibernian Academy on Thursday as Independent News & Media (INM) celebrated 'the power of print'.

INM, the publisher of this newspaper and Ireland's largest news and media group, explained the reasons behind an innovative anonymous advertising campaign that ran throughout November.

The campaign successfully brought print into the world of digital natives. Eye-catching print ads invited named industry professionals to join in 'an exciting journey' by visiting a dedicated website where they would be in with a chance of winning one of two tickets to creativity festival Cannes Lions 2017.

Later INM revealed itself as being behind the campaign, demonstrating that it was a print newspaper ad that had brought media planners, buyers and industry professionals to the website, proving the influence of print media, and supporting the recent 'Book of Evidence' market research conducted by INM.

"This event was another step on the journey we want to take marketers on. We wanted to drive the message and prove that Book of Evidence finding that print is an integral part of the marketing mix, driving 10pc of all landing page visits," INM Commercial Director Geoff Lyons said.

"As the leading media organisation in Ireland, it is important that we provide insightful information on the print industry and the benefits it continues to offer in a challenging environment."
RTE may not produce DVDs of its drama programming next year if distribution of Irish CDs does not improve, according to the broadcaster's commercial director Willie O'Reilly.

RTE and other producers of Irish content have been alarmed by the fall off in retail sales of DVDs and CDs in the past year.

The closure of Xtra-vision and HMV has resulted in fewer points of purchase for such products. Sales of DVDs, for example, have fallen from tens of thousands for chart-topping programming to thousands and in some case hundreds for the biggest sellers.

For example, in 2014 number one selling DVD Frozen sold almost 243,000 copies. Last year, the top selling DVD was another version of Frozen but it only mustered sales of less than 25,000. This year top-selling DVDs are selling far fewer copies.

Irish-owned chain Golden Discs has recently announced that it will supply 80 Tesco stores with DVDs and CDs and there is hope that this will provide an improved distribution channel.

"We will have two dramas next year potentially. If the distribution isn't strong enough, we won't go to DVD and the Irish public will be deprived of the opportunity to purchase it," said O'Reilly.

"You can't just produce a thousand of them, there has to be some scale to justify it," he said.

RTE has previously had considerable success with sales of Love/Hate. While DVDs and CDs are available online, a significant portion of the sales are usually bought in store as last-minute stocking fillers.

Golden Discs, for example, does 50pc of its trade in November and December.

O'Reilly said that the new Golden Discs deal with Tesco 'could boost the category if it is minded and looked after'. "We'll be watching it to ensure they have Irish product," he said.

RTE had been hard hit from the closure of HMV and Xtra-vision. It temporarily closed its online shop, from which it sells DVDs and other merchandise, following the Xtra-vision collapse last January.

Stephen Fitzgerald, chief executive of Golden Discs, said: "It is very hard to make any deductions from the chart numbers this year based in everything that has happened in the industry. Xtra-vision gone, HMV gone, a lot of independents gone and the Tesco business being adrift for a number of months.

"So Golden Discs has been the only sizeable contributor and when you're comparing them with last year, sales have fallen off a cliff.

"Now that the Tesco business is up and running again and being supplied and actively managing it, I think you are going to see that number improve significantly."

Golden Discs has recently opened pop-up shops in Dundrum Town Centre and Henry Street in Dublin. Fitzgerald told the Sunday Independent that the group is seeing growth in a number of segments such as vinyl and new technology such as 3D.

He hopes to open in a number of regional towns in 2017, with plans to open five to six new stores. The chain currently has 14 shops.
'For a house costing 400,000, to take one example, first-time buyers will need a deposit of 40,000, while anyone else buying the home to live in will need a deposit of 80,000.' Stock photo: PA

Earlier this week, the Central Bank announced its changes to the mortgage rules introduced earlier last year. The main change of substance is that first-time buyers will no longer need to have a 20pc deposit for any amount greater than 220,000. In other words, the rules from 2017 will make it easier for first-time buyers to borrow more.

The obvious effect of this will be to push up prices. Economic theory is unambiguous on this: if you "shift out credit supply" - as economists describe it - you effectively give first-time buyers more credit to bid against each other. Combined with the tax rebate announced in the recent Budget, this makes it significantly easier for wealthy first-time buyers to access large amounts of credit.

What economic theory is silent on, though, is why first-time buyers should be treated so differently to other buyers. For a house costing 400,000, to take one example, first-time buyers will need a deposit of 40,000, while anyone else buying the home to live in will need a deposit of 80,000. And if the dwelling is newly built, the first-time buyers will need a deposit of just 20,000, factoring in their new rebate. What is the rationale for such a huge gap?

To see why this is particularly problematic in Ireland right now, we just need to remember our recent economic history and, in particular, think of the negative equity generation.

Take two families, identical in almost every respect. Both families have a gross income of 80,000 a year and both are looking to buy a family home in the greater Dublin area for 400,000. In one family, though, the husband had bought a one-bedroom apartment in 2005, which subsequently fell in value by 60pc. Apartments have not recovered nearly as much in value as houses and so it is still 40pc below what he paid for it.

But, after many long years of paying back the mortgage, the husband finally got back in the black and sold the home on. The family now rent and want to buy a family home. The rules mean, however, that they will need to save a deposit of 80,000. Their almost-identical peers - who differ only in what they did not buy in 2005 - need a deposit of just 20,000. Does that seem right?

I have seen Central Bank researchers present analysis which seems to show that first-time buyers are indeed a lower risk than other borrowers. However, I have yet to hear a good explanation for this. This research is based off analysing hundreds of thousands of loans in Ireland, in particular during the period 2000-2010. However, the problem with "big data" is that it throws up spurious links all the time. This is why theory is so important.

Without theory to understand links thrown up by big data, researchers are left with story-telling. "Perhaps," they say, "first-time buyers are just more afraid of losing their home and so pay the mortgage regardless." Is that enough evidence to make a pretty major decision in terms of public policy? It is possible to come up with a number of other plausible stories consistent with the link between first-time buyers and fewer defaults thrown up in the Central Bank research.

What is perhaps even more puzzling is that the changes will have the biggest upward pressure on prices for the most expensive and therefore riskiest types of properties. For a property costing 250,000, the deposit requirement for first-time buyers has fallen by 3,000 to 25,000. But take a property costing 750,000 - one where the borrower and lender face a much greater risk of a fall in value of 100,000. Here, the deposit requirement has fallen over 40pc, from 128,000 to 75,000.

In introducing the rules back at the start of 2015, the Central Bank was effectively declaring: "The housing market would not be safe if people were allowed to borrow more than five times their savings." They did make an allowance for first-time buyers - but it was a small one and one that dwindled as the price (and thus risk) of the property got larger.

It seems they have now changed their mind. With first-time buyers accounting for roughly half the market and thus acting as price-setters for housing, the Central Bank has effectively admitted: "The housing market is safe even if people are allowed to borrow anything up to 10 times their savings."

The crucial caveat to that admission, though, is this has only been allowed for first-time buyers. But is there anything fundamentally different between a 40-year-old accountant and a 38-year-old teacher who earn 80,000 a year and who have never bought property before, and the same couple but who have?

If you think the answer to that question is no, then the logical next step is a 10pc deposit for all.

Ronan Lyons is assistant professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin and author of the Daft.ie Report. In the interests of disclosure, he is neither a would-be first-time buyer, nor a member of the 'negative equity' generation.
Cyber Monday - the busiest online sales day of the year - is predicted to boost Irish retailers' coffers to the tune of 53m.

The annual online sales splurge that traditionally takes place tomorrow is the online equivalent of Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year in the US.

As Irish consumers grow increasingly familiar with the concept of Cyber Monday, and more brands offer cut-price deals, online sales have surged by 32pc to an estimated 53m, with as many as one in three brands now offering online discounts.

According to new research from Core Media, Ireland's largest media buying group, one in eight Irish adults will purchase online, with total internet traffic forecast to increase 20pc on 2015 figures.

Research conducted across 250 brands in Ireland also showed that one in three brands will offer a discount online. Technology is the sector with the largest percentage of offers, with 75pc of brands in this category having specific offers for the day versus 45pc in 2015.

"Cyber Monday is becoming a very important date for retailers in Ireland. If you look to the US, the sale is beginning to reach its peak due to an increase in sales in the run-up to Christmas, with the likes of Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day and Singles Day in China," said Colm Sherwin, group digital media director of Core Media.

"Searches for Cyber Monday on Google in the US only grew by 5pc in 2015 year on year, but here in Ireland they increase by nearly 25pc," said Sherwin.

"Consumers are beginning to see this sale as an established part of the sales calendar and now prepare their online shopping plan well in advance of the date.

"Another reason driving Cyber Monday is that it occurs around the last pay date for many employees before Christmas, and consumers tend to buy online far in advance of the final postal dates."

Meanwhile, Irish retailers have voiced concerns over poor pre-Christmas trading, with many citing "an aggressive slowdown" in the past fortnight.

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In a note to members, trade body Retail Excellence Ireland said: "We have been contacted by a significant number of members in recent days who are very concerned about current trading.

"What we have seen so far in 2016 has been a reasonable first half to the year, followed by a significant reduction in activity in quarter three, with a further more aggressive slowdown over the past three weeks.

"We believe a key contributor is the postponement of spending by consumers into the dreaded Black Friday weekend."

Black Friday - traditionally the day after Thanksgiving Day in the US - has become a global phenomenon, with Irish shoppers splurging millions on discounted goods ahead of the festive rush.

This year, Amazon was the first to launch Black Friday deals daily from November 14. In the UK, Morrisons followed suit, tempting shoppers with bargains on prosecco, wine and beer. Then eBay jumped on the bandwagon, as did Argos, Boots, Tesco and Carphone Warehouse, to name but a few.

Some high street stores opened their doors as early as 5am, with some bargain hunter shoppers even paying others to queue for them.
In addition to setting a licensed limit for certain pollutants, the program will allow the government to impose fees or other sanctions when a company surpasses its limit. China will link the system with a total emissions control and environmental impact assessment system for corporations, the country's State Council announced.

China is putting a greater onus on power plants and big industries to track and limit their environmental damage, requiring them for the first time to get government permission - in the form of licenses - to pollute the air and water.

In addition to setting a licensed limit for certain pollutants, the program will allow the government to impose fees or other sanctions when a company surpasses its limit. China will link the system with a total emissions control and environmental impact assessment system for corporations, the country's State Council announced.

The system will start with licenses being granted to coal-fired power plants and paper-making industries. But the program will eventually - the goal is by 2020 - apply to all "critical industries," as listed in the country's Air Pollution Action Plan (2013) and Water Pollution Action Plan (2015).

"After these reforms, licenses for every corporation that emits pollutants will be like an identity card, theirs only, a unique license allowing them to emit pollutants, and a fundamental basis for them to follow law, and for law enforcement to execute and supervise," Chen Jining, head of the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP), said in a statement. The license-based plan will replace a pollution quota system that had been linked to a geographic region - rather than a particular company. That process, monitored by local governments, has been seen as ineffective, as officials have been inclined to forgive pollution fees for companies that help the local economy.

"The licenses will not just be a piece of paper to put on the wall, but a package of legal documents that include detailed information on the kinds of pollutants, their intensity, where the emissions are going, and what kinds of treatment facilities the company is operating," said Song Guojun, a professor from Renmin University's School of the Environment in Beijing. Guojun has been tasked by the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) to advise on the system, according to statements on the ministry website.

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There cannot be many more bizarre stories than the one about the only violin concerto that Robert Schumann ever wrote. An exceptional tunesmith, he began composing for the piano, branched into song when at his happiest around the time of his marriage to Clara Wieck. His gorgeous piano concerto was for her to play. There was a cello concerto, too, as well as four symphonies and chamber and choral music on top. Schumann was prolific.

He had a line to the star performers of the day, one of whom was Joseph Joachim, the top violinist then, the mid-19th century, the height of the Romantic movement.

Schumann was only in his 40s when his mental health began to deteriorate. It was around this time that he set about composing a concerto for Joachim. He'd already written for the virtuoso and this was to be his crowning achievement for the violin.

It was completed in just three weeks, and Joachim arranged for it to be played in private for Schumann to hear.

Not long after, the composer attempted to end his life by jumping off a bridge into the River Rhine. He was rescued by fishermen, but subsequently had himself admitted to a private psychiatric hospital.

This turn of events convinced Joachim, out of deference to Schumann, not to proceed with either publication or performance, and he retained the manuscript.

In his will, Joachim stipulated that the piece was not to be played until a hundred years after the composer's death, which would have meant it would not have been heard until 1956.

But events took a strange turn. In 1930s London, a noted violinist by the name of Jelly d'Aranyi, who happened to be Joachim's great-niece, was a guest at a seance hosted by Sweden's Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

Through the medium, they were directed to seek out Robert Schumann's unpublished concerto. Sceptics suggested Jelly must have known about it through her great-uncle, but she insisted it was all news to her.

A further message, this time supposedly from Joachim, sent the diplomat - a Baron Erik Kule Palmstierna - off to Berlin in search of the music, and it was duly located in the Prussian State Library.

Then things got a little complicated. The young Yehudi Menuhin got wind of it and wanted to give it its premiere, but Jelly reckoned she should have first crack at it.

Hitler's Nazi government intervened, saying that as the copyright was German, they would have the final say. Joachim's 100-year embargo was quietly forgotten.

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For them, the Schumann concerto was a godsend. They'd banned the music of Felix Mendelssohn, a Jew, which included his masterful violin concerto. Now they had a replacement.

Georg Kulenkampff, a virtuoso from Bremen in the north-west of the country - and most importantly, an Aryan - who'd had Menuhin as one of his pupils - would give Schumann's piece its premiere with the Berlin Philharmonic under Karl Bohm.

The concert, presided over by Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, took place at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin on November 26, 1937.

Yehudi Menuhin got to give the work its first outing in the USA, in Carnegie Hall, while Jelly d'Aranyi was first to play it in England. For Menuhin, it represented the missing link, as he put it, in the line that runs through the violin repertoire from Beethoven to Brahms.

George Hamilton presents The Hamilton Scores on RTE lyric fm from 10am each Saturday and Sunday.
Live albums are curious oddities. Even the better ones tend to just offer a faded facsimile of the concert spectacle and, robbed of audiovisual, multisensory glory, they can be aural documents to appeal only to the most hardened fan.

Ten years on from the launch of YouTube, where fragments of gigs, if not entire shows, are posted for posterity, live albums seem to be especially redundant.

But if there's one concert album that will truly enhance your life this year it's Kate Bush's Before the Dawn. Out this weekend, this triple album gives some sense of the majesty of her residency at London's Hammersmith Apollo in the autumn of 2014. It manages to be, in places, a real crowd-pleaser, and, in others, gloriously, wilfully experimental. With Kate Bush, you wouldn't want it any other way.

Those shows were her first in 35 years - she had last toured at the tender age of 19 - and many assumed Bush simply wouldn't play live again. For some, the prospect of a Smiths reunion was more likely than this most singular of British musicians taking to the stage again.

For one who had eschewed live performance for so long, there was understandable excitement when she announced that she was going to be treading the boards.

The Apollo, incidentally, had been the venue for her final show of the Tour of Life back in 1979, and would be the only venue she played on her comeback. She told BBC Radio 6 at the weekend that she wanted to stay in one location due to the complex nature of her theatrical show.

Few were surprised when the 22 shows sold out in 15 minutes, and reviews at the time were euphoric. Even the more hard-bitten of critics were talking about the Kate Bush live experience as something that was several leagues above the ordinary.

This lengthy album captures much of the otherworldliness that critics attending those shows talked about. Intriguingly, the concerts eschewed any material from her first four albums. Most of it was culled from her wonderful 1985 album, Hounds of Love, as well as the more recent Ariel. To be more accurate, the shows were built around song suites from both albums, with 'The Ninth Wave' movement from Hounds sounding particularly wonderful on the album.

The concerts did not include any material from 1989's The Sensual World, although Before the Dawn features a sublime rendition of that album's 'Never Be Mine', which, apparently, had been performed during rehearsals for the shows.

It says something for Bush's extraordinary back catalogue that she was able to eschew some of her best-known songs and still deliver a concert quite unlike anyone else. It's remarkable too that someone in her 50s - who hadn't played gigs since her teen years - was able to adapt so well. But then, enormous amounts of work went into prepping the shows. To employ that hoary cliche, Bush is a perfectionist - one can hear that in all her recorded work.

It's especially the case on 2011's Director's Cut, in which Bush took songs from both The Sensual World and The Red Shoes and reworked them substantially. In three instances, those songs were completely rerecorded. The most significant change came on The Sensual World's title track, now renamed 'Flower of the Mountain'. Inspired by Molly Bloom's saucy soliloquy at the end of Ulysses, Bush had wanted to use the actual words James Joyce had written, but his estate said no. Twenty years later, she asked them again and this time they were more accommodating. Davy Spillane's gorgeously evocative uilleann pipes survived the change. For an artist who has been known to obsess about the smallest detail in studio, Before the Dawn remains largely unmucked about with. You can hear imperfections here and there and the sound isn't as pristine as some of those Auto-Tuned live albums tend to be, but it's all the better for it.

Two of the shows were filmed with the intention of a future DVD release, but there are no plans, as yet, to bring out such a concert film.

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Intriguingly, Bush toyed with the notion of having someone else 'play' her part on stage. In a long, absorbing interview with Mojo magazine, she said: "I thought it would be nice if I got someone else to be in it and I could oversee the whole show from the outside." Not sure there would have been quite as big a ticket-stampede in that case.

Sadly, Bush seems in no rush to play any more gigs or to get working on a new album. In an interview on BBC Radio 6 at the weekend, she did her best to scotch expectations: "Every time I sit down to write something new it feels really difficult because it feels like I've never done it before."

* Other Voices returns for its 15th instalment next weekend and what a remarkable little festival it's become. When a handful of contemporary performers first played Dingle's tiny Church of Ireland church in front of RTE's cameras in 2003, few could have imagined that it would be firmly ensconced in the Irish music calendar. It's now an annual December pilgrimage for many and an incredible boost for the Kerry town in low season.

This year's line-up is eclectic and predominately homegrown. Lisa Hannigan will be performing songs from her excellent third album, At Swim, while Le Galaxie, All Tvvins and a new-look Imelda May will also be trying to deliver magic in the intimate setting of St James's Church. Rising Dublin rapper Rejjie Snow and Pixie Geldof - currently attracting glowing reviews for her debut album, I'm Yours - will also be performing.

Those unable to make it to the Kingdom can see what all the fuss is about when RTE broadcast the latest Other Voices series next year, although it's never quite the same on screen.
Singer Niall Horan performs onstage during the 2016 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Harry Styles of One Direction attends the BBC Music Awards at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre on December 11, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

Recording artist Niall Horan attends the 2016 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Niall Horan has assured fans that One Direction will reform, saying it would be "ridiculous" not to.

The Mullingar native told the Sunday People that members of the band are enjoying their time off, but they will work together again in the future.

At the moment we are all doing our own thing. Everyone is just enjoying just how chilled it is," he said.

Harry wanted do is his movie and everyone is just chilling. I dont think anyone needs to worry about us we are fine."

Expand Close Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Harry Styles of One Direction attends the BBC Music Awards at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre on December 11, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Harry Styles of One Direction attends the BBC Music Awards at Earl's Court Exhibition Centre on December 11, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images)

We will back. We would would silly not to..ridiculous.

The 23-year-old recently released his debut solo single, This Town, and is working on releasing his first album.

He said that he took a similar approach in creating his solo tracks as he did when he was in the band.

This time around it was me working closely with producers and knowing what they like in terms of sound and being inspired by different artists and how they would write and in different ways writing songs.

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Whatsapp Singer Niall Horan performs onstage during the 2016 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

On our first album we were all sh** scared of the prospect of going into the studio as we have never done it before. But over time you become confident and know what you are good."

Over the last five years Ive become a good guitarist and I love to play the piano. You learn a lot so it makes it easier this time around.
Patrick Bergin with Julia Roberts in Sleeping With The Enemy

Hollywood actor Patrick Bergin has joined the cast of TV3's Red Rock.

The Dublin native will star in the series as Jim Tierney, the grandfather of Detective Rory Walsh.

Jim Tierney is Rory's only family and holds a chequered past. He is no stranger to crime and has a dark secret that Rory will risk his career for to keep safe.

The 65-year-old said he is "looking forward to bringing some danger and mystique" to the show.

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Im a big fan of Red Rock so its a massive privilege to have a character created for me. Im looking forward to bringing some danger and mystique to Red Rock! Whats even nicer is we're filming just down the road from Drimnagh, where I grew up, so it's good to be home.

He is currently filming at The John Player Factory on the South Circular Road and his first scene will be aired in April 2017.

Bergin is best known for his roles in Hollywood films Sleeping With The Enemy starring alongside Julia Roberts, Patriot Games alongside Harrison Ford and When The Sky Falls.

Red Rock returns Monday 9th January on TV3.

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God save the Queen - or at least thank heavens for The Crown (Netflix), which saved my television week from an overload of tedium and tripe.

A couple of weeks back I wrote admiringly of The Crown's first episode, while wondering if I'd have the patience to persevere throughout the 10 instalments of this initial season, let alone the five more seasons to come.

Well, since then I've binge-watched most of it and have nothing but praise for the way it has avoided the temptations of hagiography in its portrait of a still reigning monarch. Indeed the young queen in this opening season is already a steely, unknowable and not especially likeable person - someone who, in the name of tradition and protocol, is prepared to sacrifice the romantic dreams of her younger sister.

Praise, too, to Claire Foy for a remarkably uningratiating portrayal that manages to be much more subtle than mere impersonation, though that's there, too, in the clipped vowels and basilisk stare. Indeed, there's a wealth of star turns here: Matt Smith as Philip, Vanessa Kirby as Margaret, Jared Harris as George VI, Alex Jennings as the Duke of Windsor, John Lithgow as Churchill and Ben Miles as Margaret's doomed lover Peter Townsend.

All of them must have relished Peter Morgan's clever and often acerbic script, while Morgan is also to be commended for his alertness to a wider social context - there's a touching episode involving Churchill's young secretary, who comes from a less privileged England than the people she serves, and there are vivid portraits of Labour leader Clement Attlee and other politicians and functionaries.

It all makes for an absorbing reimagining of postwar England and has set new standards for lavish historical dramas. The BBC, which has long considered itself the master of this domain, must feel quite envious.

Meanwhile back on RTE2, the lamentable Bridget and Eamon contrived a mirth-free half-hour with an episode in which the two spouses put themselves forward as political candidates. Cue laboured gags and frantic mugging from all concerned.

Still, it was a masterpiece of nuance compared with The Rubberbandits' Guide to Sex (RTE2), in which the plastic-bag-faced duo sought enlightenment from Wilde, Joyce and Beckett, who were lowering pints in a pub. "I'll teach you how to get your hole", Joyce told the two lads, one of whom boasted that he'd "fingered a shark in its blowhole".

I can't believe I'm passing on these quotes, but then I couldn't believe I was watching a comedy programme so witlessly unfunny. What has happened to these guys? 'Horse Outside' seems a long time ago.

On The Republic of Telly (RTE2), someone thought it a good idea to devise a sketch in which John Creedon played Bull McCabe in a parody of The Field. Also taking part were Aonghus McAnally, Blathnaid Ni Chofaigh and Dave Fanning, but if there was a point to this tediously unamusing skit it wasn't revealed.

Not that things were much better across the water. Since the nightmarish advent of President-Elect Trump, smug media liberals have imagined that the best response is to scoff at him, thus proving that they don't really get what's happening to their cosy little world.

And so, on Have I Got News For You (BBC1), Ian Hislop and his cronies have been sniggering at the lunacy of it all, while on Frankie Boyle's US Election Autopsy (BBC2), the bilious Scottish comic was reduced to sneering that Trump looked like someone "playing a president in a porno". Oh, that's telling him, Frankie.

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Thanks, though, for Fir Bolg (TG4), a comedy-drama about a group of ageing musicians uneasily reuniting decades after they'd been a celebrated band.

There are no easy, or indeed obvious, laughs here, but there's a real sense of these fractious individuals and of the emotional and psychological baggage they've variously accumulated down through the years. With a bright script by Brian Reddin and with good playing by Sean McGinley, Don Wycherly and Aonghus McAnally, this Thursday night series is definitely worth a look.

And I chuckled at an Oliver Callan radio skit which declared that, in her current series, Vogue Williams was "boldly going where everyone had gone before". Certainly in this week's Vogue Williams: On the Edge (RTE2), she approached the subject of sexual cybercrime as if the topic was tabloid news.

"A sinkhole of predatory misogyny" was how she described the internet, while she herself had felt violated when a porn site photoshopped her head on to a woman's naked body.

Worse fates befell others and on a Chicago cafe balcony she chatted to Alicia, who as a young teenager had been groomed online by a middle-aged predator before he kidnapped, raped and beat her until her lucky rescue four days later.

This was properly shocking, but in a more uneasy sequence she also met a middle-aged English couple who styled themselves as "paedophile hunters" and who pretended to be young girls online in order to meet and expose the predators who contacted them.

The vigilante nature of their actions seemed less troubling to the presenter than to this viewer, and in general it was hard not to wonder what was to be taken from a film that had nothing new to say and that seemed more intent on conveying outrage than anything more helpful.
Bosco has slammed RTE for "not thinking about the children" as they announced they will be outsourcing young people's TV programming.

"I was very sad when I heard that RTE were axing childrens TV programmes because I think its a really bad decision and a really bad thing to do," Bosco told Independent.ie.

Bosco said there is fear for the future of shows such as the Late Late Toy Show.

"One morning I woke up and it said on the news no more childrens Irish television and then I couldnt go to sleep because I think what If I wake up tomorrow and the toy late late will be gone because someone decided they didnt want children to see that either.

"I just think RTE arent thinking straight. I think theyre not thinking about the children and what they want. They want Irish television."

Managers at the State broadcaster are currently in discussions with trade union officials as workers demand a reversal of the decision to halt children's programming.

Staff contracts have been extended to January 31 after management conceded a lack of consultation on the issue was in breach of guiding principles agreed with unions.

Bosco said RTE should ask people what they want and listen to the children.

"Everybody is very sad about the big mess. I dont think anyone in RTE really cares about children or what they want. Nobody asked them.

"I tweeted Enda Kenny and asked if he would talk sense into them but he never even tweeted me back."

The Sunday Independent has revealed today that workers at the state broadcaster considered protesting The Late Late Toy Show.

In a memo, seen by the newspaper, union members said a very strong response was required.

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"It is envisaged that withdrawal from the requirements of these agreements and protests targeting The Late Late Toy Show will be on the cards if the decision to outsource YPP is not reversed," said the memo.

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A large cohort met with union officials in Studio Four in Donnybrook, Dublin, on Friday. Siptu's campaigns and equality organiser Karan O'Loughlin criticised the timing of RTE's intention to cut children's services yesterday.

She said: "It is fair to say there was no specific threat made by either party but the Toy Show is a core part of what RTE does for children.

"I think there is an understanding on their side that the announcement to cease production of children's programming a week before a key plank of their children's programming does not sit well."
The Bishop of Elphin has his eye on Putin's Russia, and the Kremlin doesn't like it.

An extraordinary correspondence has emerged between the Most Reverend Kevin Doran, of the western diocese, and the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Ireland, His Excellency Maxim Peshkov.

The bishop, who ministers to 70,000 Catholics across Roscommon, Sligo, Galway and Westmeath, challenged Russia (population 146 million) over its involvement in the Syrian conflict. But his letter, written on October 13 to the Russian ambassador, provoked an undiplomatic response from Putin's man in Dublin who accused the cleric of "ignorance" and falling prey to "preconceived western propaganda".

In his epistle, the bishop said he was writing to "express my abhorrence of the manner in which the Russian Federation has become engaged in the conflict in Syria. I am aware that many factions and nations are involved directly or indirectly in the conflict and that Syria is being used as a theatre for the fighting of proxy wars, just as other countries have been used by the 'great powers' in the past.

"All of these warring factions have some responsibility for the conflict and for the untold suffering that it brings to the ordinary citizens of Syria.

"What sets the Russian Federation apart is the daily bombing of the innocent civilian population of Aleppo, which, like many people, I regard as a crime against humanity. I am quite certain the God who created all of these men, women and children in his image is not blind to what is being done to them or deaf to their cries".

On October 19, Ambassador Peshkov responded, tartly: "You expressed your abhorrence of the manner in which the Russian Federation has become engaged in the conflict in Syria. I wonder what do you feel when [you] learned that the US-led coalition launched its military assault on Mosul (Iraq) with about two million population, including children, thousands of whom already doomed to die? Are you going to write a denunciative letter to [the] US Ambassador to Ireland?"

Later in the lengthy letter stoutly defending Russia's involvement in Syria, Ambassador Peshkov added: "We don't resent your remarks. It seems the cause of your ignorance is one-sided preconceived western propaganda... the western mass media deliberately demonises Russia, labels it a killer nation of civilians in order to conceal the West's crimes, including their support [of the] terrorist machine used as an instrument in western hands to oust the legitimate president of Syria."

Ambassador Peshkov, a direct descendant of the Nobel Prize-nominated writer Maxim Gorky, whose coffin was carried by Stalin, concluded his letter to the bishop: "If you happen to be in Dublin and interested in another point of view, you're welcome in the Embassy of the Russia Federation to exchange views."

Of course Stalin in his early life was enrolled by his mother to train as a priest in the Greek Orthodox Church but abandoned his religious studies.

The great essayist Christopher Hitchens observed with deep irony: "Indeed he was considered one of the more promising of the Tbilisi ordinands."
Ms Justice Mary Laffoy, chair, speaks at the Citizens Assembly who are tasked with examining the Eighth Amendment at the Grand Hotel in Malahide. Picture credit: Damien Eagers

Irish people living abroad have been asked to "make their voices heard" in the contentious debate over abortion laws in Ireland. And those aged under 18 have also been asked to contribute their thoughts to the discussion.

The Citizens' Assembly's 99 members, drafted from the general public, convened in the Grand Hotel, Malahide, for its first full-day meeting yesterday.

Among the speakers were Professor John Higgins, an obstetrician and gynaecologist from UCC, who told the Assembly that there were 26 pregnancies terminated in Ireland between 2014 and 2015.

The terminations were facilitated under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act.

He said many of these arose from mothers lives coming under threat from a physical illness. Three pregnancies were terminated because they involved the threat of suicide.

Speaking on the first day of deliberations regarding the highly controversial abortion issue, chairperson Ms Justice Mary Laffoy stressed the importance of "deliberative democracy" in the process.

"We are actively seeking submissions from representative groups, citizens' organisations, other interest bodies, and members of the public on the topic of the Eighth Amendment," she said.

To date, the assembly has received almost 600 public submissions, including one from the standing committee of the Church of Ireland.

These have not yet been published online although this will be done in due course.

Some representations contained personal testimony from women regarding their experiences.

"The submissions are integral to the work of the assembly and I would encourage people to have their voices heard, in particular the diaspora and young people under 18 years of age, who are not directly represented in the assembly membership.

"The submissions will form the basis of the selection of advocacy and other organisations which will make presentations in future weekend sessions."

Four weekends of deliberations and presentations between now and March will be dedicated solely on the topic of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. The provision recognises "the right to life of the unborn, with due regard to the equal life of the mother."

A recommendation will then be made to the Oireachtas for consideration following a vote or a series of votes by members. If a change is recommended, the Government must decide if a referendum is required.

Meanwhile, 11 of the 99 ordinary members of the assembly have stepped down from the body over the past month.

In the majority of cases the decision was made for personal reasons. The body's secretariat says they have been replaced by substitutes - drawn from a panel which was chosen along with the full members - in the lead-up to the assembly's first meeting last month.

Ranging in age from 20 to 70, members were randomly selected by a polling company to be broadly representative of the Irish electorate.

There will be a further half-day session today which will see Professor Mark Sheehan of Oxford University provide the members with a variety of options to approach ethical issues. The objective of this weekend's forum is to inform members of the legislation regarding abortion and how it operates in practice.

However, he will not specifically deal with the ethical matters surrounding the issue.

Other topics the assembly will cover over the year include an ageing population, fixed-term parliaments, referendums and climate change.
Sharp differences emerged between President Michael D Higgins and Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan in their reaction to the death of Fidel Castro.

The President lauded the Cuban leader as "a giant among global leaders", while Mr Flanagan labelled him "a dictator". The President's tribute, in which he expressed "great sadness", was criticised by Independent Senator Ronan Mullen as "fawning, offensive and wholly inappropriate".

Mr Flanagan did not criticise the President but his views on Castro were in stark contrast to those of Mr Higgins. "He was a dictator who presided over a questionable regime with human rights issues," the minister said.

"He was a very divisive figure, embroiled in controversy for most of his career, and there will be very mixed views on his legacy."

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 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 Then Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro smokes a cigar during interviews with the press during a visit of U.S. Senator Charles McGovern, in Havana in this May 1975 file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo Cuba's President Fidel Castro looks at the crowd during a mass rally in Cordoba, Argentina July 21, 2006. REUTERS/Andres Stapff/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro fights a yawn on the first day of the VII Ibero-American summit on Margarita Island in this November 8, 1997 file photo. REUTERS/Andrew Winning/File Photo Then Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro relaxes in a swimming pool during a visit to Romania in this May 28, 1972 file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro (R) and then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) exchange documents during a treaty signing ceremony in Havana in this April 4, 1989 file photo. REUTERS/Gary Hershorn/File Photo Pope Benedict XVI meets former Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana in this March 28, 2012 file photo. REUTERS/Alex Castro-Cubadebate/Handout/File Photo Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez (L) visits his then Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro in Havana in this August 13, 2006 file photo. REUTERS/Estudios Revolucion-Granma/Handout/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro smokes a cigar during a meeting of the National Assembly in Havana, in this December 2, 1976 file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro (C) casts his ballot at a polling station in Havana in this February 3, 2013 file photo provided by Cubadebate. REUTERS/Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate/Handout/File Photo Former South African President Nelson Mandela (L) hugs Cuba's President Fidel Castro during a visit to Mandela's home in Houghton, Johannesburg in this September 2, 2001 file photo. REUTERS/Chris Kotze/File Photo Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter (L) talk during a meeting in Havana in this March 30, 2011 file photo. The woman in the center is a translator. REUTERS/Alex Castro/Courtesy of Cubadebate/Handout/File Photo Ernesto Che Guevara (front) plays golf as Fidel Castro stands behind him at Colina Villareal in Havana in this undated file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo Cuban President Fidel Castro (R) winks at a woman at the graduation of hundreds of Cuban art students at Havana's Sports City in this October 28, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro addresses the audience during an event with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez on Havana's Revolution Square in this February 3, 2006 file photo. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Former Cuban President Fidel Castro listens during a meeting with his brother Cuban President Raul Castro (R) and Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (L) in Havana in this June 17, 2008 file photo. REUTERS/Estudios Revolucion/Handout/File Photo Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and then Cuban President Fidel Castro (R) listen to the Cuban national anthem at the baseball stadium "Latinoamericano" in Havana in this May 14, 2002 file photo. REUTERS/Rafael Perez/File Photo Cuban President Fidel Castro walks to the podium during the May Day commemoration ceremony in Revolution Square in Havana in this May 1, 2004 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Cuban President Fidel Castro salutes as the national anthem plays during a reception for the Cuban baseball team in Havana in this March 21, 2006 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro talks to then Pope John Paul II during the presentation of their delegations at the Palace of the Revolution in Havana in this January 22, 1998 file photo. REUTERS/Paul Hanna/File Photo People are seen through a poster with a picture of Cuba's former leader Fidel Castro and late Argentine revolution leader Che Guevara (L) during the May Day parade in Havana's Revolution Square in this May 1, 2013 file photo. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan/File Photo Fidel Castro (L) is seen during a hunting trip in Romania in this May 1972 file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo Cuba's President Fidel Castro (L) talks to Elian Gonzalez during a political rally in celebration of Elian's 12th birthday in Cardenas, Cuba in this December 6, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro acknowledges the applause of the audience while standing underneath an image of late revolutionary hero Ernesto Che Guevara, during the inauguration of games involving mainly Cuban and Venezuelan athletes in Havana in this June 17, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro (L) holds up the arm of his brother, Cuba's President Raul Castro, during the closing ceremony of the sixth Cuban Communist Party (PCC) congress in Havana in this April 19, 2011 file photo. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan/File Photo Then Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro attends manoeuvres during the 19th anniversary of his and his fellow revolutionaries arrival on the yacht Granma, in Havana in this November 1976 file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo Then Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro plays baseball in Havana in this August 1964 file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo Cuba's President Fidel Castro addresses the audience during an anti-Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) meeting in Havana in this April 28, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo/Files Then Cuban President Fidel Castro addresses the audience during a political rally in celebration of the 12th birthday of Cuban boy Elian Gonzalez in Cardenas in this December 6, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro laughs during the year-end session of the Cuban parliament in Havana in this December 23, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro (R) and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez chat on the field after taking part in a friendly baseball game between their two countries at the Barquisimeto baseball stadium in this October 29, 2000 file photo. Picture taken October 29, 2000. REUTERS/Andrew Winning/Files Cuba's President Fidel Castro attends a Mercosur trade bloc summit in Cordoba, Argentina in this July 21, 2006 file photo. REUTERS/David Mercado/File Photo Cuba's President Fidel Castro gestures during a tour of Paris in this March 15, 1995 file photo. Ailing Cuban leader Castro said on February 19, 2008 that he will not return to lead the country, retiring as head of state 49 years after he seized power in an armed revolution. REUTERS/Charles Platiau/Files Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro speaks during celebrations to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) in Havana in this September 28, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan/File Photo Cuban President Fidel Castro (L) and Argentine soccer legend Diego Maradona play with a ball during an interview in La Havana, in this October 26, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Canal 13/Handout/File Photo Iin this Feb. 6, 1959 file photo, Cuba's leader Fidel Castro speaks to a crowd during his triumphant march to Havana after the fall of the Batista regime. Former President Fidel Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half century rule, has died at age 90. The bearded revolutionary, who survived a crippling U.S. trade embargo as well as dozens, possibly hundreds, of assassination plots, died eight years after ill health forced him to formally hand power over to his younger brother Raul, who announced his death late Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, on state television. (AP Photo/File) Fidel Castro, left, raises his brother's hand, Cuba's President Raul Castro, center, as they sing the anthem of international socialism during the 6th Communist Party Congress in Havana, Cuba.(AP Photo/Javier Galeano, File) Then Cuban President Fidel Castro glances over his shoulder during the May Day commemoration at Revolution Square in Havana, in this May 1, 2004 file photo. Picture taken May 1, 2004. REUTERS/Rafael Perez/Files Cuba's President Fidel Castro addresses the crowd at the Plaza de la Patria (Homeland Square) in Bayamo, Cuba, July 26, 2006. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Cuban President Fidel Castro listens to a speaker during the May Day parade in Havana's Revolution Square in this May 1, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez (L) and his Cuban counterpart Fidel Castro joke after joining their medallions, given by medical graduates, at Havana's Karl Marx theatre, in this August 20, 2005 file photo. REUTERS/Claudia Daut/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro addresses the audience as president of the Non-Aligned Movement at the United Nations in New York, in this October 12, 1979 file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo Then Cuban President Fidel Castro (L) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez joke during a batting session where Chavez pitched to Castro after taking part in a friendly baseball game between their two countries at the Barquisimeto baseball stadium in this October 29, 2000 file photo. REUTERS/Andrew Winning/File Photo Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro attends the closing ceremony of the sixth Cuban Communist Party (PCC) congress in Havana in this April 19, 2011 file photo. REUTERS/Desmond Boylan/File Photo In this March 14, 1957 file photo, Fidel Castro, the young anti-Batista guerrilla leader, center, is seen with his brother Raul Castro, left, and Camilo Cienfuegos, right, while operating in the Mountains of Eastern Cuba. Cuban President Raul Castro has announced the death of his brother Fidel Castro at age 90 on Cuban state media on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Andrew St. George, File) In this Aug.18, 1999 file photo, Cuba's leader Fidel Castro gestures at a speaking event as he explains that he does not understand why he is not blind after all the camera flashes he has received in Havana, Cuba. Former President Fidel Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half century rule, has died at age 90. The bearded revolutionary, who survived a crippling U.S. trade embargo as well as dozens, possibly hundreds, of assassination plots, died eight years after ill health forced him to formally hand power over to his younger brother Raul, who announced his death late Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, on state television. (AP Photo/Jose Goitia, File) In this April 19, 2016 file photo, Fidel Castro attends the last day of the 7th Cuban Communist Party Congress in Havana, Cuba. Fidel Castro formally stepped down in 2008 after suffering gastrointestinal ailments and public appearances have been increasingly unusual in recent years. Cuban President Raul Castro has announced the death of his brother Fidel Castro at age 90 on Cuban state media on Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. (Ismael Francisco/Cubadebate via AP, File) China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (L) writes in a notebook as former Cuban leader Fidel Castro holds it during a meeting in Havana in this August 1, 2010 file photo. REUTERS/Roberto Chile/File Photo Cuban President Fidel Castro attends a conference on terrorism in Havana's convention centre June 3, 2005. REUTERS/Mariana Bazo/File Photo Cuba's President Raul Castro announces the death of his brother, revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, in a still image from government television in Havana, Cuba November 26, 2016. Cuban Television via Reuters TV FILE - In this Jan. 25, 1998 file photo, Cuba's leader Fidel Castro, left, greets former Pope John Paul II at the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. Former President Fidel Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half century rule, has died at age 90. The bearded revolutionary, who survived a crippling U.S. trade embargo as well as dozens, possibly hundreds, of assassination plots, died eight years after ill health forced him to formally hand power over to his younger brother Raul, who announced his death late Friday, Nov. 25, 2016, on state television. (AP Photo/Ruth Fremson, File) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Then Cuban Prime Minister Fidel Castro smokes a cigar during interviews with the press during a visit of U.S. Senator Charles McGovern, in Havana in this May 1975 file photo. REUTERS/Prensa Latina/File Photo

President Higgins made no reference to the darker side of Castro's legacy, except for a single, equivocal sentence: "The economic and social reforms introduced were at the price of a restriction of civil society, which brought its critics." He added: "Fidel will be remembered as a giant among global leaders."

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According to Amnesty International, severe restrictions on freedom of expression and free movement continue in Cuba. Government critics are subject to "acts of repudiation", while "arbitrary arrests and detentions" are commonplace.

It said the judicial system also remains under political control and journalists and human rights activists were routinely subjected to arbitrary arrest.
A senior garda regarded as the force's top international terrorism expert is one of the 'critical' officers whose promotion is being potentially blocked in the dispute between the Garda and the Policing Authority.

There is alarm in the Special Detective Unit and the crime and security section in Garda HQ over what they say is a serious depletion of senior staff engaged in countering international and domestic terrorism.

The force's two most senior crime and security officer, Assistant Commissioner John O'Mahoney and Assistant Commissioner Michael O'Sullivan, are due to retire in the New Year as is the most senior 'operational' officer in the Crime and Security section, Chief Superintendent Peter Kirwan. All are reaching the compulsory retirement age of 60.

There has been no head of the Special Detective Unit since the retirement of the last incumbent, Chief Superintendent John McMahon over a month ago, also due to age.

Now, sources say the officer who was on the promotion list to take over as new head of crime and security is one of those whose promotion to assistant commissioner rank is being blocked as responsibility for appointments shifts from Cabinet to the Policing Authority.

Chief Superintendent Michael O'Sullivan (no relation to the Assistant Commissioner of the same name) was one of six chiefs selected for promotion in a competition in May this year.

Four chief superintendents were promoted earlier this year followed by a fifth, Chief Superintendent Mick Finn from Cork, whose promotion was ratified by Cabinet last week.

However, there is now serious uncertainty over whether or not Chief Superintendent O'Sullivan, the senior liaison officer with Interpol as well as the US, British and other intelligence agencies, will have his promotion ratified.

The Cabinet only allowed a shortened list of promotions sought by Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan, excluding the Crime and Security Chief Superintendent (again, no relation to Commissioner O'Sullivan).

One source said: "It's now confirmed that all promotions not approved by Cabinet which were conducted under the 2015 regulations will become void when the legislative provisions giving effect to the Policing Authority come into effect possibly in mid December this year.

"The Commissioner described the vacancies as critical, and the Minister agreed to the (Garda) Transformation Programme in July which the Commissioner is now trying to implement but can't without the people being in position.

When the Authority take this over it will take them up to six months to get the new promotion system up and running which leaves the Commissioner in limbo for that period.
Gangster John Gilligan may be heading for the European Court of Human Rights if his Supreme Court appeal against eviction from Jessbrook, his Co Kildare home, is thrown out, gardai believe.

Gilligan has returned to Ireland after fleeing following a gangland attempt on his life in 2014, and was recently confronted by the crime journalist, Paul Williams during the making of the TV3 documentary State of Fear.

Last Monday was the twentieth anniversary of the Garda's seizure of Gilligan's horse jumping arena, 50 acres of land and bungalow a few miles south of Enfield.

The Supreme Court is due to give judgment in what was believed to be Gilligan's last effort in this country to stave off the seizure of the entire Jessbrook property, including the bungalow which has been occupied by his wife Geraldine in recent years.

The seizure of Jessbrook, which cost Gilligan a reputed 1.5m to develop, was a symbol of the State's fightback against organised crime via the new Garda agency, the Criminal Assets Bureau, following the murder of Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin in 1996.

The High Court granted an order backing the seizure on July 16, 1997.

Gilligan immediately appealed and has been in court since. He moved back to Jessbrook following his release from prison in October, 2013 but left in March the following year after he was injured in the second attempt on his life. He returned earlier this year after spending more than a year hiding in England.

Gilligan, separately or together with his wife and children Tracey and Darren, has since challenged the seizure of Jessbrook and three other properties on various grounds in courts up to and including the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court is currently preparing judgment in one of the Jessbrook cases it heard over two days in June.

Gilligan, his wife and children were represented by three Queen's Counsels from Gray's Inn in London. The three barristers are all listed as 'top flight' in UK lawyer approval ratings. Legal sources here said an Irish senior counsel might expect 10,000 per day in the Supreme Court but a top London QC might expect three times that amount.

Among the grounds on which Gilligan is appealing is breach of constitutional and human rights, which could take him to the European courts while aged in his 70s. The expectation is that Gilligan will continue his challenges probably under the European Convention on Human Rights to the European Court in Strasbourg.

A forensic accounting report on Gilligan's importing business in 1997 estimated that he had made a profit of nearly 17m in two years, the bulk of which remains unaccounted for and remains unrecovered.

So, despite pleading poverty and constantly seeking free legal aid for his appeals against the seizure of Jessbrook and other properties he may have the wherewithal to continue his efforts to take the case to Strasbourg. CAB seizures have dropped significantly in recent years.
The Government is considering benchmarking nurse and doctor salaries against international competitors to bring to an end the brain drain in the health sector.

Since the economic collapse, nurses and doctors here have been emigrating in their thousands to the UK, Australia and the Middle East in search of better pay and conditions.

Now senior figures in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform have suggested ripping up the public sector pay structure as part of an attempt to keep our brightest professionals in Ireland and lure home those who emigrated during the financial crash.

The proposal, which is at the very early stages of discussion, stems from a belief that Ireland is effectively in a single labour market with the UK, Australia and the Middle East when it comes to hiring nurses and doctors.

The radical move would see the Government act to match the salaries and perks available to medical professionals who emigrated.

Other skilled professionals who work in the public sector, such as IT and finance experts, could also benefit from the proposed overhaul of the public sector pay structure.

There is a belief in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform that the Government should focus on increasing the home-grown workforce in certain areas of the public sector.

"There are some sectors in which we have little difficulty hiring and you have other sectors where that might not be the case," a senior source said.

The same source noted that the State did not have a problem hiring new teachers or gardai and it rarely lost workers in either area to other countries.

The Public Sector Pay Commission was specifically tasked with comparing salaries of public sector workers in other countries.

The terms of reference state: "Comparing appropriate rates for identifiable groups within the public service with their equivalents in other jurisdictions, particularly where internationally traded skill sets are required, having due regard to differences in living costs."

It is understood that the Government hopes the commission's findings on international pay comparisons will feed into a debate on public sector pay. The debate would focus on keeping and attracting the best skilled workers for the areas of the public sector where they are needed most.

However, there is so far no indication that Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Paschal Donohoe is willing to bring forward talks with public sector unions on renegotiating the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

Donohoe is determined to face down the unions despite growing industrial unrest in the wake of the Labour Court recommendation which will see the Garda pay bill increase by 50m next year.

The minister intends to wait for the Public Sector Pay Commission's final report before beginning any official talks on a successor to Lansdowne.

Last week, commission chairman Kevin Duffy came under fire when he described as "mutiny" the decision by Garda representatives bodies to propose strike action.

The Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors said it would not work with the pay commission because of Duffy's comments. However, he received the backing of Taoiseach Enda Kenny who described him as an "outstanding individual".
Marchioness Conyngham, far right, with relatives at the funeral of Eileen, Countess of Mount Charles at St. Patrick's Cathedral, Trim Photo: Tony Gavin

The shrill notes of a hunting horn echoed through the porch of St Patrick's Cathedral, Trim, yesterday when the unadorned coffin of Eileen, Countess of Mount Charles, was borne from the church.

She was carried by her two sons, Lord Simon and Lord Patrick Conyngham, with their elder brother, the 8th Marquess Conyngham, better known as Henry Mount Charles, following.

Eileen was the daughter of Captain Charles Wren Newsam better known as 'Con' and Eileen Ussher. The Wren part of the name comes from Sir Christopher Wren, architect of St Paul's Cathedral, London, from whom the Newsams descended.

She grew up in Beau Park, across the river from Slane Castle. According to her nephew Nicholas Nicholson, 'Baby' as she was nicknamed, was a tomboy who developed a lifelong love of horses and dogs. The first pet she bought was a donkey - named Henry.

Her father was the founder and managing director of Navan Carpets.

Eileen spent the war years in London as a nurse and later joined the Army Catering Corps and made her way to Berlin at the end of the war where a photograph was taken of her standing in the smouldering ruins of the Reichstag.

Back home she learned of "this interesting man across the river" (Boyne) and in April, 1950 became the first of the Seventh Marquess's four wives, moving to Slane Castle and bearing him three sons, Henry, Simon and Patrick. The Marquess, who succeeded to his Irish estates in 1974, left Ireland to live in the Isle of Man because of the Coalition government's wealth tax. Her nephew told the congregation that "she never really got over the break-up of her marriage", but found consolation in farming and on the hunting field. The couple divorced in 1970.

One of her claims to fame was appearing in Captain Lightfoot filmed in Ireland in 1955, starring Rock Hudson.

While out on the hunting field one day in 1970, she spotted Galtrim House between Summerhill and Dunsany described as "the finest of Francis Johnston's small houses". She bought it on the spot and lived there for the rest of her life.

Eileen had a keen eye for horses and bred Last Suspect, owned by Anne Duchess of Westminster, which won the Aintree Grand National in 1985 at 50/1. She died aged 92 at Knightsbridge Nursing Home, near Trim, and was buried across the field from her home in Galtrim cemetery.
Majella Donoghue was laid to rest in her hometown of Mayo

The death from a sudden illness of a beautiful young woman on an engagement trip to South Africa was the stuff of a tearful TV drama, a priest said at the funeral on Sunday of Majella Donoghue.

But unfortunately, continued Fr. Kevin Hegarty at the funeral Mass for Majella in St. Brendan's Church, Tirrane, on the Erris Peninsula, Co. Mayo, the script this time was all too true.

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Fr. Hegarty, the parish priest of Kilmore Erris, was one of 11 priests who joined in concelebrating the funeral Mass for the 30-year-old in the tiny church where she was baptised and made her first holy communion.

"Majella was our Sunday in every week, beautiful, vivacious and sensitive", Fr. Hegarty continued, adding: "she captured the heart of everyone she met."

There were few dry eyes in the packed church as the PP recalled hearing thirty years ago of the joyful news of the birth of Majella and her twin brother, Stephen.

"Who would have thought 30 years later we would be here to celebrate her funeral", he continued.

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"When news of her death reached us, to the natural gloom of November was added the darkness of the heart."

Fr. Hegarty recalled that Majella used to help her mother, Mary, in the maintenance and care of the church.

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He mentioned her love of the Fr. Ted television series remarking humorously "perhaps she was well used to priestly foibles having worked so often in the sacristy here".

Fr. Hegarty said Majella's life was "shaped by love, loyalty and laughter" and spoke of her generosity to her widowed mother who she brought as a treat to chef Neven Maguire's restaurant in Blacklion, Co. Cavan, a few weeks before her death.

"They dined well but rather more sparingly than in Mary's kitchen", Fr. Hegarty remarked to chuckles of laughter from the congregation.

Majella, who worked for Boston Scientific in Galway, was waked in her family home adjacent to the church on Saturda night after the remains had been flown in earlier from London to Ireland West Airport Knock.

Her fiance, Barry Doherty, her mother, Mary, twin brother, Stephen, sister Angela, and brothers, Tommy, David and Brendan were the chief mourners.

In an eulogy at the end of the Mass, Majella's fiance, Barry Doherty recalled her love for fancy dress and festivals especially the "Fr. Ted" weekends on the Aran Islands.

"I love her dearly, I will miss her so much", he added.

Gifts brought to the altar inlcuded a statue of Our Lady, a bodhran, teddy bears and the Mayo jersey which Majella wore to GAA matches.

Majella was laid rest on in Faulmore Cemetery, Blacksod, in the same plot as her father, Willie, who passed away some years ago.

The results of a post mortem into the young woman's death are not yet available.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny and six other Cabinet members have had private email and password details compromised by international cyber criminals responsible for the world's biggest hacking scandals, the Sunday Independent can reveal.

The revelation raises serious questions about cyber security across Government and the level of information about senior ministers available online to criminals who target the internet's most popular websites.

It also comes at a time of heightened global tensions over internet security following accusations that Russia- backed hackers targeted the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton ahead of the recent US presidential election.

And now a Sunday Independent investigation has found the details of Ireland's most senior politicians on an online database of victims of cyber attack, which had previously remained secret.

The database, which is used by Irish and international cyber security analysts, shows the Taoiseach and five of his Cabinet colleagues had personal information stolen by hackers who targeted business networking website LinkedIn.

The other Cabinet members include Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan, Education Minister Richard Bruton, Communications Minister Denis Naughten, Transport Minister Shane Ross, and Chief Whip Regina Doherty.

The attack on LinkedIn was in 2012 but information of those targeted only emerged in August this year when criminals published email details of those exposed during the hack on the so-called 'dark web'. Oireachtas email addresses and accompanying passwords for LinkedIn profiles belonging to the ministers were uploaded by criminals seeking to sell the details of more than 164 million users of the website.

There is no suggestion that the minsters or Taoiseach's Oireachtas email accounts have been compromised; however, the addresses and LinkedIn passwords are available for sale. There is also no evidence to suggest criminals have so far used the information to gain access to the accounts used by the Cabinet members.

Health Minister Simon Harris's email and password details for file-sharing service Dropbox were compromised during an attack on the website in 2012, which resulted in 68 million users' details being traded online.

However, Dropbox forced users to change their passwords on the website in August. A source close to the minister said he was not concerned about the breach as he does not use the account for official business. Last week, it emerged Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan's Dropbox account was among those hacked in 2012.

Worryingly, none of the ministers or their advisers, who were contacted by the Sunday Independent, were aware that their details had been stolen by hackers and are currently available for sale on the internet.

The Taoiseach's spokesman insisted Enda Kenny has a secure email address for receiving confidential material which would not be available to the public or used for any purpose other than official business. "There is absolutely no evidence of the Taoiseach's private official account being compromised in any way," he said. The information on the ministers who were hacked was collated from the cyber security website 'haveibeenpwned.com'.

The website is a database of all email addresses uploaded to the dark web by hackers who have breached the security of popular websites.

The service was created by Microsoft regional director and security expert Troy Hunt. The database is regularly used by security analysts.

Hunt said the purpose of the database is to help people see if they have been targeted by hackers.

"We consistently see people from all walks of life exposed in data breaches. Politicians, military personnel, children; there's no discrimination," he told the Sunday Independent.

"Nor is there any discrimination on the types of websites we see these people exposed in and there are many government email addresses in the likes of Ashley Madison and Adult Friend Finder," he added. However, Hunt said his database does not allow users to publicly search for email addresses involved in "sensitive" security breaches such as that of Ashley Madison - a website that facilitates extramarital affairs.

Users seeking to establish if their details were hacked as a result of security breaches on porn or adult websites have to email Hunt's service directly. Irish security analyst Conor Flynn, who is the founder of Information Security Assurance Services, said he uses and advises clients to use Hunt's website.

"It is a good service with honourable intentions and it is a good place to check your details," Flynn said.

Flynn said email and passwords are not enough for criminals to commit identity theft. However, if they had access to other information which might be widely known about politicians, they could access other more secure websites such as email or online banking accounts.

"Having a user name and password is one thing but if you have a date of birth or a mother's maiden name, a billing address, then you are getting into information that could be used for resetting passwords on other accounts," he added. "If it is an email system, then one of the dangers is people, out of laziness and sloppiness, store other details in their email system, such as emails of bank account details."
The Cystic Fibrosis (CF) community have expressed their devastation following a HSE decision to reject a game-changing drug that could dramatically improve and extend their lives.

CF sufferers say the Orkambi drug has the potential to give patients a better quality of life, along with an increased life-expectancy rate.

However, the HSE have recently decided that the Orkambi drug will not deliver sufficient benefits to patients to justify its 159,000 annual price.

A spokesperson told Independent.ie: To date the drug has been considered unjustifiably expensive and not sufficiently cost effective by both the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) and the HSE Drugs Committee.

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The decision was met with shock and disappointment within the CF community who have been continuously pressuring the government to introduce the drug in Ireland.

Siobhan Brophy, whose nine-year-old daughter Saoirse suffers from CF, said she is devastated by the news.

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Nobody told us at all. The whole CF community are extremely disappointed that we had to find this out through the media instead of the government delivering the news to us personally.

With CF you end up with a sticky mucus that clogs up your pancreas and blocks your lungs which causes all kinds of infections.

What Orkambi does is break down the sticky mucus that clogs up your pancreas and blocks your lungs. It hits the problem head on as opposed to just papering over it like the other drugs.

Thats why its such a game changer. It would mean that people living with CF wont be in hospital as much or miss as much school. They will also be able to finish their college courses and also hold down a full time job.

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Linda Whitmarsh, whose two-year-old son Finn has CF, told Independent.ie that the Orkambi drug was the only hope she and her family had.

Every time I go to a funeral I wonder about my sons fate and every time I go to a wedding I wonder if hes ever going to get married and have a normal life.

Orkambi was a silver bullet for the CF community. It wasnt a cure but it was the only hope we had."

Finn was diagnosed with CF when he was two weeks old and it was an absolutely devastating time for us all. In the last two and a half years he has attended hospital 38 times - everyday is a battle for him. We know that without Orkambi Finn will be lucky to live until his 30s."

Cystic Fibrosis Ireland has vowed to fight the decision.

In a statement, released on Sunday afternoon, CEO Philip Watt said: "Cystic Fibrosis Ireland is angry at the cynical way the HSE has conveyed this information to our patients, some of whom are very ill.

"The decision was leaked to a Sunday newspaper even before the Minister was informed, never mind patients. Its a disgraceful and heartless form of communication."

A HSE spokesperson said it has undertaken considerable engagement and negotiation with the manufacturer Vertex over a protracted period in an effort to secure a significant price reduction for Orkambi with a view to having it approved for reimbursement for CF sufferers in Ireland.

"To date the drug has been considered unjustifiably expensive and not sufficiently cost effective by both the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics (NCPE) and the HSE Drugs Committee.

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"The HSE is disappointed around the level of meaningful engagement by the manufacturer (Vertex) in lowering the exorbitant price of Orkambi for Irish patients (and indeed equally for CF patients in the UK, Canada, Scotland and Australia).

"The HSE has recently completed its most recent round of negotiations with Vertex. On foot of this, the HSEs Drugs Committee (together with a NCPE recommendation and other expert advice) is in the process of sending its latest recommendation on the cost-effectiveness of Orkambi to the HSE Directorate.

"The HSE Directorate will then make a decision taking into consideration the manufacturers latest price offer," said the spokesperson.

A number of members from Cystic Fibrosis Ireland have been invited to the AV Room in Leinster House on December 1 to voice their opinions on the Orkambi drug in front of a panel of TDs.
John Gilligan is photographed near Jessbrook in Co Meath

Coming face-to-face with former crime boss, drug trafficker and murderer John Gilligan was a totally unexpected encounter - and it wasn't in the script.

I was back, for the first time in many years, at Jessbrook, the world-class equestrian centre in Co Kildare that the diminutive criminal built in the early 1990s while he was on the dole.

Standing there in the middle of the impressive edifice that has remained unused for two decades was an emotional experience because the structure is a permanent reminder as to why Veronica Guerin was gunned down without mercy on June 26, 1996.

I had been there with my producer on a reconnaissance mission in preparation for the closing sequence of a new TV3 documentary series, State of Fear.

I decided to have a look at what was Gilligan's former home adjoining the centre, the house where he beat Veronica when she challenged him to answer questions in 1995.

Having being warned by our lawyers not to trespass on the grounds of the house, I began filming with a phone - and that was when I spotted a figure walking on the other side of the treeline.

Gilligan was kitted out in rain gear and carrying shears on his way to cut bushes.

And there he was in front of me, still here after 20 years, proving that nothing has actually changed.

I lost it to a degree and marched towards him.

I shouted: "I have always wanted to meet you again, you scumbag. What are you doing back here?"

The words came out before I had the chance to think.

Gilligan said nothing and turned his back to walk away. I shouted to him to come back and assured him I didn't have a gun.

The story begins and ends here: Gilligan built Jessbrook on a foundation of blood and drug money and it will forever remain as a monument to a gangster's hubris.

First let us remind ourselves of what happened all those years ago, before comparing it to the gangland murder madness that we have come to accept as the norm today.

When Gilligan was released from prison in 1993, he had decided on a major career change: swapping robbery for the much more lucrative - and less risky - business of drugs.

And he vowed never to serve another day inside.

Within months, "Factory John" and his associates were raking in the cash and on the way to becoming the most dangerous and powerful criminal gang we had yet seen in this country.

They developed a highly organised industrial-scale operation that ran like clockwork and turned over millions of pounds under the noses of the State authorities.

Gilligan employed a small army of workers and gangsters to run the business and killed anyone who got in the way or considered turning police informant.

He pumped the drugs cash into Jessbrook, his vanity project, which he and his wife Geraldine wanted to establish as one of Europe's biggest indoor equestrian arenas.

The plan was that it would buy them respectability.

Perhaps it is hard to countenance now but at the time he was completely untouchable.

Despite being officially unemployed, he could apparently do what he liked - drug money and his penchant for intimidation and violence were all he needed.

He had a pretty straightforward, no-nonsense approach when he went about acquiring additional lands from local landowners: they either agreed to sell their fields or faced the consequences.

He issued some with a classic Godfather ultimatum: an offer they could not, or dared not, refuse.

The State was powerless to do anything about it and Gilligan knew it.

When the taxmen came calling, he told them where to go and they never came back.

He also threatened social welfare inspectors when they began to investigate State handouts to his children. They left him alone after that.

There were no laws to put a stop to his gallop, which is where Veronica Guerin came into the cross hairs.

One day in September 1995, she drove down to Gilligan's ranch armed only with her journalistic curiosity and one question: "Where did you get the money for all this while on the dole, John?"

The criminal godfather hardly gave her time to finish her question before he launched his terrifying physical attack.

Incandescent with rage at her temerity, Gilligan savagely beat Veronica and threatened to kill her and her entire family.

She later described the incident as being more terrifying than the time, several months earlier, when a gunman shot her in the leg.

Gilligan was charged with assault and was facing definite jail time, but he was determined he would not go back behind bars.

And so, as we all know now, he had Veronica murdered on June 26, 1996.

It was the chilling moment of realisation that organised crime had been allowed to take root - and that the godfathers were prepared to cross the Rubicon if they deemed it necessary. If a journalist could be assassinated, then so too could a politician, a judge, or a senior garda. This was narco-terrorism.

The reaction from the State was resolute and welcome. A raft of powerful new laws were introduced which culminated in the establishment of the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB).

The first major target of this unprecedented law-enforcement agency was Gilligan and his cherished equestrian centre.

But for the past 20 years, most of which he spent behind bars, Gilligan has played ducks and drakes with the Irish legal system as he challenged the CAB every step of the way.

His myriad legal manoeuvres have cost the taxpayer an estimated 20m, including free legal aid. That in itself is an insult to the thousands of citizens who have been dumped out of their houses because they fell behind on their mortgages through no fault of their own.

They cannot avail of free legal aid or stall the eviction process for two decades.

And that brings us back to the encounter with Gilligan on a cold, wet winter's day a few weeks ago.

There he was, pottering around the grounds of his country residence like he owned the place, and no one in authority has lifted a finger to do anything about it.

Gardai have not even bothered to search the place or let him know they haven't forgotten him.

Gilligan has been back living in the house with his wife - who claims that they are separated - for several months while his latest Supreme Court challenge against the CAB's seizure of his property is pondered by judges.

A decent, law-abiding businessman bought the actual equestrian centre but it remains closed such is the fear of Gilligan's presence in the area.

To think that this thug is now effectively a tenant of the organisation set up to take away his ill-gotten gains makes an ass of our criminal justice system, our laws and political institutions.

But more distressing is that it represents a grotesque insult to the memory of a brave lady called Veronica Guerin.

State of Fear airs at 10pm on Monday and Tuesday on TV3




A woman was rushed to hospital early this morning after she was stabbed a number of times at a house in Limerick.

Gardai in Mayorstone, Limerick are investigating the serious assault on the 37-year-old woman.

Independent.ie has learned that officers were called to the scene at approximately 12.40am after receiving a report of a disturbance at a property at Hassetts Villas, Thomondgate.

When officers entered the home they found the woman with serious stab injuries to her body.

An ambulance was called and the injured woman was taken to University Hospital Limerick. Gardai say that she is in a critical but stable condition.

A 28-year-old man was arrested at the scene and he is being detained at Henry St Garda station under the provisions of section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 as amended.

A garda spokesman said: "The scene has been preserved for a technical examination. Anyone with information is asked to contact Mayorstone on 061 456980."
Chrissy Teigen couldnt hide her embarrassment in a Yousef Akbar gown  however, Anja Rubik, Jennifer Lopez and Kendall Jenner, pictured, have all worn Vaccarello

Model Chrissy Teigen walks onstage during the 2016 American Music Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 20, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Hollywood has a new erogenous zone, somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle of groin, thigh and hip bone. Starlets are striding down red carpets in dresses with slits so high the crease between the leg and lady parts is defiantly on display.

It's a trend that has been quietly simmering for the past four years and has now finally peaked. Suddenly, hardly a red carpet goes by without somebody's labia threatening to escape.

Back in 2012, we were giddy at the sight of Angelina Jolie's right leg thrust out from the split of her Atelier Versace gown as she walked the Oscars' red carpet. She had us up in arms, or legs rather, with a flash of flesh that now seems downright prudish.

Three months later the furore around Angelina's milky limb had just about waned when Anna Wintour threw her take on the Oscars, the annual Met Gala. It was attended by a choice selection of A-listers along with the industry's most high-profile personalities. Among them was Anja Rubik, a Polish model whose name you probably don't know but who has worked prolifically for the past decade.

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She is also one half of the duo we can thank for getting us intimately acquainted with a rake of Hollywood pelvises.

The other half is Anthony Vaccarello, a 34-year-old designer who has recently been made creative director at Yves Saint Laurent.

Back in 2012, he was busy garnering critical acclaim for his particular brand of sex appeal. Consider him the Grand Master Slash of the fashion world; seams are ripped open, bodices laid bare, cleavage is plunging and hipbones, groins and thighs are thrust centre-stage.

Rubik stepped out in a signature Vaccarello gown that, if you ask me, was the dress that started it all. The ivory silk draped around her statuesque frame, one slit running across her chest, the other up her leg finishing nearly at her waist.

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With hipbones as chiselled as her cheekbones, it was clear why she was crowned his official muse in 2011. Her physique, coupled with his razor-sharp aesthetic suddenly had every A-lister scrambling for a dress that had been sent through the shredder.

In Harper's Bazaar March issue of that year, the impossibly toned Gwyneth Paltrow paraded across the pages in a Vaccarello gown that was slashed from shoulder to bust, then again across the torso and finally up one leg to the hipbone.

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The following year, Jennifer Lopez wore a thigh-skimming Vaccarello gown to the Grammys. At the 2013 Met Gala, supermodel Gisele's Vaccarello featured a see-through chainmail panel that ran from thigh to torso. In 2014, Kendall Jenner attended Canada's MMVAs in a Fausto Puglisi gown slit up both legs nearly to her belly button. Jenner's daring double-slit prompted the question that has been uttered by every best-dressed panel since - is she, or is she not, wearing knickers?

It was the same question we asked when Bella Hadid strode down the Cannes red carpet in an Alexandre Vauthier gown that snaked along her underwear line, her modesty apparently protected by a built-in bodysuit.

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At September's Venice Film Festival, Italian models Giulia Salemi and Dayane Mello each wore a gown cut so close to the groin their pelvic bones were like caped crusaders, threatening to disrobe at any moment.

And last week, Chrissy Teigen took to the red carpet at the American Music Awards in a Yousef Akbar gown that came so close to exposing her nethers she publicly thanked her laser hair removalist along with her stylist and makeup artist.

As the Vaccarello effect takes hold, I fear we will soon be staring into the depths of somebody's belly button, making small talk with their fallopian tubes.

Legs are fabulous, and cleavage has its obvious appeal. But our groins?

Call me old fashioned, but the female groin is a sacred thing. I'm not talking about a pious vehicle for ferrying out newborns, I'm talking about the powerful, musky mystery that sits between our legs that houses our biological bits capable of extreme measures of pleasure and pain.

To call our groins our private parts may seem childish, but in these drastic times, there could be no more appropriate title. As A-listers show no signs of covering up, this trend shows no sign of abating. With the Oscars looming next February, there's every possibility somebody will take things one step further, barging past the final frontier by going full frontal.

Suddenly, a Vaccarello gown will be rendered prim, Rubik a chaste dairymaid, and Angelina's right leg will never have looked so wholesome.
Health Minister Simon Harris has given his strongest indication to date that he may challenge for the Fine Gael leadership once Taoiseach Enda Kenny steps aside.

In a rallying speech at a Young Fine Gael conference yesterday, Mr Harris insisted that youth and inexperience were no reason to dismiss a person's abilities or ideas.

The 30-year-old said it used to drive him "nuts" and make him livid that people would question his ability to take on the responsibility of ministerial office owing to his age. "Yes, we are young but that's a qualifier, not a disqualifier," he said.

The minister also quoted advice that John F Kennedy received from his father before beginning his career in politics: "Son, don't wait your turn."

Mr Harris's speech focused on reducing limitations for ambitious young people but also addressed the rise of populism and the need for more visionary politicians.

Sources close to the minister said the address was a landmark speech aimed at showing that the older members of Fine Gael were not the only ones with a vision for the country. "If Leo Varadkar made a speech like this it would be a page one story," one said.

Sources close to Mr Varadkar last night insisted the Social Protection Minister would like there to be a contest so the whole of the party was fully engaged and energised and the new leader had a mandate for its plans.

Sources close to Mr Harris previously indicated he would not let Mr Varadkar have a free run at the leadership.

Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald also spoke at the conference. Mr Harris is seen as a close confidant of Ms Fitzgerald and until now a key ally in the Tanaiste's bid to replace Mr Kenny as Fine Gael leader.

In his speech, Mr Harris said he hoped to prove through his ministry that young people had the ability to service in high office.

"Being responsible as a Minister for Health means many things, but one of the most important is that I am responsible to you," he said.

"I must perform, I must do the very best of which I am capable, because I have to prove not only that younger members of Fine Gael can step up to the plate and deliver, but that there should be no delay in asking them to step up to the plate and deliver," he added. The minister attacked the politics of "credit-taking and legacy-crafting".

"I'm not saying we shouldn't leave a legacy or acknowledge those of any party who do. But the idea that any of us should do the right thing, not because it is the right thing, but because it will be a decoration on our political tombstone. Let's get a small bit of a grip. Let's just do it because it should be done. Let's do it in hope and idealism and optimism," he said.

The Tanaiste delivered a similarly visionary speech in which she detailed her career as a social worker and campaigner on women's issues. She also outlined her vision for Ireland based on social justice and equality of opportunity.

Ms Fitzgerald called for the politics of the centre to stand up and fight in the face of populism and extremism.

"A simple post-war assumption has been that the centre - be it left or right - holds against extremism. We cannot assume that any more. We have to fight to defend it," she said.

In attempt to reach out to younger Fine Gael members and voters, Ms Fitzgerald referenced popular US comedian Amy Schumer.

"Feminism is more relevant than ever to women, to men, and to the sustainable future of our whole society. Indeed feminism is becoming dangerously fashionable," she said.

"When Amy Schumer says that 'Anyone who is not a feminist is an insane person', you know that feminism is becoming hot.

"What better time, therefore, to redouble our efforts toward a better future for women and girls?"
President Michael D Higgins has defended his remarks on Fidel Castro, insisting he did raise the late Cuban leader's human rights record.

Mr Higgins has come under fire for releasing what's been described as a "fawning" statement on the former communist dictator, who passed away at the age of 90.

The President described Castro as "a giant among global leaders".

Senator Ronan Mullen branded those comments "fawning and wholly inappropriate" while Fine Gael's Noel Rock said Mr Higgins should have recognised that Mr Castro's regime "killed and tortured political opponents".

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This afternoon a spokesman for the President insisted that his statement did refer to human rights abuses in Cuba.

"The Presidents statement clearly referred to the price paid for social and economic development in terms of civil society and the criticisms it brought."

He added: "This obviously and unambiguously included the human rights organisations and activists who have always had the support of the President."

The spokesman said: "Any suggestion that the President neglected human rights concerns is both unsustainable and unwarranted.

"The President has discussed human rights concerns with representatives of the Government of Cuba on every occasion he has had meetings, in Cuba, Ireland and elsewhere," he added.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said Mr Higgins is "quite entitled to make his views known on the passing of Castro".

Mr Flanagan's own statement on Castro's death said he was "a dictator who presided over a questionable regime with human rights issues".

Speaking on the Week in Politics, Mr Flanagan said he isn't "a fan" of Castro but added: "I come from an historically different position than President Higgins".
RTE's decision to suspend outsourcing young people's programming (YPP) until January came hours after a memo circulated to workers' representatives said a protest targeting The Late Late Toy Show was on the cards.

Managers at the State broadcaster are currently in discussions with trade union officials as workers demand a reversal of the decision to halt children's programming.

Staff contracts have been extended to January 31 after management conceded a lack of consultation on the issue was in breach of guiding principles agreed with unions.

In a memo seen by the Sunday Independent, union members said a very strong response was required.

"It is envisaged that withdrawal from the requirements of these agreements and protests targeting The Late Late Toy Show will be on the cards if the decision to outsource YPP is not reversed," said the memo.

A large cohort met with union officials in Studio Four in Donnybrook, Dublin, on Friday. Siptu's campaigns and equality organiser Karan O'Loughlin criticised the timing of RTE's intention to cut children's services yesterday.

She said: "It is fair to say there was no specific threat made by either party but the Toy Show is a core part of what RTE does for children.

"I think there is an understanding on their side that the announcement to cease production of children's programming a week before a key plank of their children's programming does not sit well."

Union officials will meet RTE representatives tomorrow when the final touches will be put on the timeline of a consultation process, which is scheduled to end before January 31.

RTE's outsourcing announcement has been met with widespread criticism.

Expand Close Frustration: TV character Bosco has criticised the RTEs decision to outsource production of childrens programmes Picture: Steve Humphreys / Facebook

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The Lambert family, who played a key role in the production of hit children's shows such as Wanderly Wagon and Bosco, said the move to independently sourced programmes would be detrimental to Irish culture.

Miriam and Paula Lambert both played the part of Bosco during their RTE careers.

"I think it is very sad now that we are losing that culture," Miriam said.

"Children are watching all of these American-produced shows, picking up an American accent and becoming very Americanised. It is sad that children are not getting our own wealth of storytelling."

Paula added that it is vital any new shows are sourced properly. She said: "The shows now will only be as good as the people who commission them, so it will be interesting to see who gets that job and (whether) is it someone who is passionate about children's programmes."

Bosco also weighed in on the dispute, criticising RTE's move away from the production of children's programming. "I think it is a really bad decision," Bosco said.

"They are not thinking about what children want - and they want to watch Irish television."

A spokeswoman for RTE said the station is still committed to delivering Irish content. "RTE is not reducing its commitment to young people's programmes," she said.
There's no doubt that Irish designers and retailers have been enjoying their well-deserved time in the limelight as 2016 comes to a close.

If they're not exhibiting abroad at major design fairs such as Maison d'Objet and the London Design Festival, they're opening beautiful design-led pop-up stores in time for the festive season or collaborating with local Irish artists to produce prints and new, contemporary products. Between Irish retailers introducing the best in design from abroad and collectives promoting makers and crafters from Ireland, beautiful and thoughtful homewares are easier to buy than ever, ensuring you'll have your Christmas gift list sorted.

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"Makers today are focusing on innovative design with smart price points and fresh on-trend contemporary colours," says Brian McGee, market development director of the Design and Crafts Council of Ireland (DCCoI). "Carve On, for example, sprang to life by working with fine Irish natural materials resulting in a range of leather products that can all be personalised, such as leather iPad sleeves or luggage tags. New for 2016, Candella's Earth Collection candles were created by combining their passion for design with the rich history of copper."

Interior and product design in Ireland is an area that combines heritage with natural materials and rich texture, as well as longevity and quality, to create things we can live with happily in the home. This is where Designireland.ie comes in to play. Launched by DCCoI, this global online platform now makes it easier than ever for people to buy, and keep up to date with, these 100pc Irish, sought-after designs. Visitors to the site can browse Irish products and link directly to purchase from maker websites and stockists. So, if buying Irish is a priority for you this Christmas, Designireland.ie is certainly the website to know.

"The perfect choice for cosying up on cold winter evenings, try a throw from Foxford Woollen Mills or a blanket by Mourne Textiles," says Brian. "Chaim Factor's wooden cheese knife or the Black Lily fragrance diffuser from Max Benjamin would make ideal affordable gifts too. For something a little different, check out Stickman's Sheepskin Stool with timber legs or the Santa Clara modern industrial table lamp by Mullan Lighting."

But, worry not, Irish retailers haven't gone completely digital. Many online stores are making the shift to renting physical retail spaces on the short-term - and Christmas is when you'll find a lot of the very best. The launch of the aforementioned Designireland.ie coincides with a whole host of week-long pop-up shops at the Westbury Mall in Dublin 2, where 12 Irish designers are being featured right up to December 24. Also on Westbury Mall is Stable, selling a range of home-grown fabrics, scarves, throws and cushions.

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Trendy, Irish-owned April and the Bear is also in on the pop-up action, opening a Christmas shop on December 1 in Thirty Four Cafe on Dublin's Lennox Street that will run up until December 11, while Makers and Brothers pop-up at 41 Dawson Street has opened its doors already.

Fancy being on the pulse of Irish design while gift-giving this Christmas? It's all too easy.

Anna Shelswell-White is editor of House and Home magazine
When most of us make the annual trip to the attic to dust off the Christmas decorations, what we're looking at is a jumbled mix of the shiny, the sentimental, and the randomly purchased over the years. A Christmas tree in the living room is usually the star of the show and the focus of our decorating efforts, while the rest of the house can be overlooked. Rarely does the colour scheme stray from the traditional red, green and gold.

But it doesn't have to be like this. According to Caroline Foran and Jo Linehan, the pair behind Gaff Interiors (gafftinteriors.ie), a new website that offers practical advice to those working within a limited space or budget: "The world doesn't have to revolve around the Christmas tree, which is nice, because it's suitable for people who may not have space for a tree."

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Caroline has just bought her first home, and Jo is currently renting. This, along with their combined backgrounds in the areas of beauty, fashion, interiors, set design, lifestyle, and health, both in online and in print journalism, makes them well suited to running a website that offers smart solutions and ideas that tick all the right style boxes.

"We've got great taste but no money," laughs Caroline, summing up their approach. The website offers lots of suggestions for making the most of what you have and appeals mainly to first-time buyers or renters.

The Gaff Christmas decor philosophy taps into the notion of Hygge, this year's biggest lifestyle trend, which advocates making your home cosy throughout the winter months. "Some things can look great all year round," says Caroline, whose home is scattered with twinkly fairy lights, cosy faux fur throws, sheepskin rugs and candles which add to the festive atmosphere, but also lend a general sense of snugness.

"What people don't often consider with Christmas is their soft furnishings. They can be really comforting and cosy, you want to snuggle down and watch Home Alone with your glogg."

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Jo also advises rethinking the balance of how you decorate your home. "If the main space that you use is the kitchen, then that should be the place that you decorate," rather than focusing on one corner of the living room.

"We're more into having different areas, and bringing a whole vibe into your house," explains Jo. "And working with the space that you have, rather than trying to shove a Christmas tree into it," adds Caroline.

They warn against bringing in a completely new style for Christmas. Instead "incorporate pieces that are obviously festive, but that also complement your home, rather than going completely against the existing decor," advises Jo.

For many of us, reds, silvers and golds, with lots of tinsel, tends to be the favoured colour scheme. But the duo have eschewed this traditional palette in favour of a Scandi look of pale pinks and grey. Highlights of gold run throughout - candles, cutlery, yellow lights and even the brass edging of some furnishings, keep the theme from looking cold or sterile. The use of natural fabrics and foliage; wood, twine, fern, also softens the effect.

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Here, they offer their decorating tips for achieving a modern, fresh look that won't blow the budget, and will take you past Christmas Day.

1 Go alternative

If you don't have the space, or the budget, for a traditional tree, think outside the box. Caroline and Jo used a wooden cross decorated with lights. Other suggestions include arranging fairy lights or Christmas cards on a wall in the shape of a Christmas tree. Dunnes Stores is selling a space-saving half Christmas tree, where the back is flat and can be placed against the wall.

2 Light up

Fairy lights are not just for the tree, or for Christmas for that matter. String the delicate twinkly strands from bookcases, mirrors, along your dining table as part of the place setting, in coloured glass vases, and by the front door on potted plants. The battery-operated variety is widely available now - they tend to be more delicate and mean you aren't tied to where plugs are located. Look for the variety with copper wires which can be bent into various shapes.

3 forage for decorations

Appassionata Flowers is their go-to for professional arrangements, but any walk this year will have you spoilt for choice when it comes to branches, pine cones and other foliage that can be incorporated into place settings, dressed in vases, or used for the wreath. Plus it adds that delicious whiff of Christmas. All very budget-friendly, and the colours - green and brown - will go with any interior palette. Use twine to tie it all together.

Expand Close White Christmas tree ornaments, 2.75 at sostrenegrene.com; fairy lights, 15 at dunnesstores.com. / Facebook

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4 Keep it natural

Go for natural fabrics, avoid the traditional overdone look in favour of cute paper decorations (see Danish store Tiger for ideas) with a garnish of natural foliage. Use novelty cutlery. A mirror placed down on the table with fairy lights on top makes a lovely light feature.

5 Bring in the hostess trolley

The hostess trolley is back and it brings instant character to a room. It can be used to stack anything from drinks to books or music systems for the rest of the year. It's easy to decorate - just scatter a few baubles - and is a good way of delegating at least one task from the main host as guests can help themselves to drinks rather than having to have their glasses refilled. Any kind of table that you can set up with drinks and appetizers will fill the same role.

6 Don't wrap, box it

If you're in a rush, buy small cardboard boxes in which to present your gifts, rather than going through the hassle of wrapping. Any children on your list will consider this a gift in itself.

7 dress your door

Set the tone with a gorgeous wreath. Buy a base and make your own with ivy, twigs, moss and cones - it'll look and smell good. Use twine, which looks great, to hang your wreath on the front door by wrapping it around the wreath, pulling it over the top of door, and taping it down inside. Themed Christmas doormats are another nice, festive touch.

8 engage the senses

Nothing is as evocative or creates an atmosphere like scent. Pile pine cones high in a pretty bowl and set on your hall table to greet guests. Invest in a fragranced three-wick candle with significant burning hours - light and enjoy.

9 Have fun

Scatter a collection of whimsical, cute decorations around the house and as part of your table decorations, or look for funny cards for your guests. Don't feel you have to follow a look or colour scheme slavishly - have fun with it, be tongue in cheek. Use what you like and work with what you have.
1: When the original Corolla went on sale, the chief engineer of Toyota, Tatsuo Hasegawa, gave the following message in order to convey the vehicle's value to the public: "In order to get a vehicle widely used as a family car, it has to satisfy customers in terms of its performance, comfort, feel, etc. Even if you satisfy all of these criteria, however, the vehicle still will be a flop if it costs too much for the general public or if its maintenance costs are too high.

2: The Corolla has a GM sibling in the Geo/Chevrolet Prizm which was built as a joint venture between the two companies. The car was based on the Corolla and essentially was a GM version of the popular car.

3: Exported from Japan, Australia was the first to receive Corollas.

4: The name Corolla is part of Toyota's naming tradition of using names derived from the Toyota Crown for saloons. Hence, Corolla means Crown.

5: To prepare the car for exporting it to Canada, they put it to the ultimate test, a road trip across the country in the winter of 1967.

6: The Corolla became the best-selling car in the world in 1974.

7: The car continued to be so popular that by 1982 it was available in 116 countries and nearly 10 million units were produced.

8: A Corolla rolls off the production line every 23 seconds.

9: One in every five new vehicles sold in Toyota's 79-year history has been a Corolla.

10: The Corolla overtook the Beetle as the best selling model ever in 1997.
In his documentary State of Fear, to be aired this week, Paul Williams describes John Gilligan living back at his home in Jessbrook as a grotesque insult to the memory of Veronica Guerin. In my view, it's worse than that.

Within two months of Veronica's brutal killing, the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) was established to seize the assets of the major criminals. Its first and most important target was to be John Gilligan, the biggest drug dealer in the State and the man responsible for the murder of Sunday Independent journalist Veronica Guerin.

Police forces came from all over the world to see what had been achieved by setting up the CAB. It was to be the new weapon against criminal empires worldwide. The CAB was the envy of police forces everywhere.

Twenty years on, it should be disbanded. Today it is no more than an insult to the memory of my late sister.

Watching footage of this murderer Gilligan tending to his garden sickens me - this amoral thug is still enjoying his ill-gotten gains, the gains he was trying to protect when Veronica was killed. CAB is no more. It has failed Veronica, her family, and society.

To make matters worse, Gilligan is a tenant of the CAB, paying no rent. The Garda press office refused to answer me when I enquired if Geraldine Gilligan was in breach of her tenancy by allowing people live in the house with her, or has the property been inspected by the receiver in the past eight years; reasonable questions but gardai feel it's not appropriate to comment on individual cases.

When Gilligan was released from prison in 1993, he swore he would never return to jail again. He took on Veronica and lost, it cost Veronica her life.

When Gilligan was jailed, he swore that he would return and enjoy his home in Jessbrook, he took on the State and won. It cost the taxpayer 20m in legal fees including his free legal aid.

On Thursday, September 14, 1995 Veronica drove up the driveway at Gilligan's house. It would be a short drive that would lead to her being brutally assassinated in broad daylight on the June 26, 1996.

Veronica knocked on Gilligan's door at his luxury bungalow and when he opened the door, he lunged at Veronica, tearing her clothes and beating her black and blue. He thought by giving Veronica a severe hiding she would go away and lick her wounds. When he learned that she was proceeding with charges against him, he tried everything to make her change her mind, he tried to buy her off with his drug money, he tried to intimidate her. Veronica stood up to this drug dealer, Gilligan, who was a cancer in society. She felt a sense of duty to herself and society as a whole.

Many times since her awful murder I wished that she had not been so stubborn, not so brave and not so determined. When Gilligan knew that he was going back to prison for this cowardly assault, he decided if he was to avoid prison and continue to make his millions, he would have to have Veronica shot.

A 37-year-old mother assassinated in broad daylight, going about her daily business, because she stood up to the biggest drug dealer in the State. That's where Dublin was in 1996; today it is in a much worse place. As we approach the end of 2016, we have seen first-hand how the crime scene in Dublin has become much worse.

Morale within An Garda Siochana is at an all-time low. The drug lords are back in control. The lives of some journalists are under threat. The gangsters are again showing off their wealth and occasionally we see CAB operations mounted as more of a PR exercise than a real attempt to seize proceeds of crime. The Kinahan/Hutch feud has highlighted that gardai are no longer in charge. They have been starved of leadership. Some of the best investigators within our force have been driven out because of their frustration at being denied the necessary resources to tackle the criminals who now run our cities.

If gardai are being denied resources then the Justive Minister has failed us and should be held to account. If the Garda Commissioner has the resources then she has failed us and should be held to account; someone needs to be responsible for allowing the criminals take back control that was wrested from them in 1996.

Since being elected a councillor in 2014, I have seen first-hand how the criminals have become more violent, how drugs is a bigger problem and destroying more lives. Criminals no longer fear the rule of law.

But something else I have learned is that if we want to get Jessbrook from Gilligan, let's employ the banks, vulture funds or other institutions who have repossessed over 10,000 homes from families since 1996.

We can take houses from those who have fallen on hard times, yet with our millions and all our experts, we are unable to take Jessbrook back from the Gilligans.

Dublin is a sad place in 2016.
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Brendan OConnor Opinion The jig is up as Feis fixing has former winners like me reeling

As the holder of the Marie Cranny Perpetual cup for Extempore and Public Speaking (Under 15s) in Feis Maitiu in, of all years, 1984, I would like to use this platform to say this feis-fixing scandal has sullied my legacy, and that of all other holders of the cup down the years (you had to give it back at the end of the year).
Not for nothing was Barbara Bush known as 'The Enforcer'

Barbara Bush, tougher than her husband and known to her family as 'The Enforcer', is probably the most popular of all ex-US first ladies of recent times. Jackie Kennedy is remembered across the globe for elegance and tragedy, but she was not loved. Rosalynn Carter worked hard and was a noted campaigner on issues of mental health, but she has suffered in retrospect because of her bitterness at his defeat by Ronald Reagan, who is widely perceived to have been as great a success as Carter was a failure. The brittle Nancy Reagan was an essential support to her husband, but was thought to care little for anyone else. Hillary Clinton was loathed by those who thought her a careerist. The likeable Laura Bush did a lot of useful work but lacked her mother-in-law's commanding personality. And although Michelle Obama had rock-star status, that has diminished as she and her husband embrace luxury and celebrity. Betty Ford is probably the closest rival, having been far more effective and formidable than her husband Gerald, the 38th president, and still having a posthumous reputation for her prowess as a campaigner on addiction, not least because so many of the famous troop to the Betty Ford Clinic.
Lady Justice Hallett during a rehearsal of a production of the Trial of Hamlet

Hamlet was cleared of murder on Sunday as some of the country's top legal minds went on stage alongside actors and comedians for a live courtroom drama.

Shakespeare's fictional Danish prince stood in the dock in front of real-life Court of Appeal judge Lady Justice Hallett and four top QCs, accused of murder over the violent stabbing death of Polonius.

The Trial of Hamlet saw Tom Conti, Poldark star Ruby Bentall, Meera Syal and Lee Mack take on the roles of the play's protagonists as they gave evidence both for and against the troubled royal, played by John Heffernan.

They were joined by schoolchildren taking part in programmes run by event organiser the Shakespeare Schools Festival (SSF), who performed "flashback" scenes.

The audience at Wyndham's Theatre in London's West End became the jury, aided by Outnumbered star Hugh Dennis as foreman, to clear him of any wrongdoing.

Shakespeare's best-known work sees Hamlet thrust a dagger into his murderous stepfather/uncle Claudius's chief minister as the older man spied on him from behind an "arras" - a tapestry.

But his defence team successfully claimed he acted in self-defence. Now in its third year, the show's forgiving audiences have previously acquitted both Romeo and Macbeth.

Lady Justice Hallett told the Press Association: "There are an awful lot of us who have really not wanted to be role models, but I have come to understand it's really important that people do see that women, people from modest backgrounds like mine, that they can make it through the professions.

"I think the more we do have role models around the more we can encourage children to aspire to greater things.

"And that's one of the things I love about this exercise. The SSF is all about taking children who might otherwise not have thought about the law or even doing things in a more senior level. It will give them the confidence I hope to aspire higher."

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The performance raised 60,000 for the SSF, which works to bring Shakespeare to children in schools that might not otherwise have access to the theatre.

The charity has been running Shakespeare projects since 2000 and says more than 250,000 youngsters have taken part in its programmes. This year more than 1,100 schools have put on performances in 131 theatres nationwide, it said.

Conti, who played Claudius, told the Press Association: "I would never encourage children to go into my business, never ever. But I would encourage schools to involve children in the arts generally using acting and writing and all of that.

"Because it's very good for a young mind and lots of children who can be troubled can find some kind of... emotional assistance somehow in acting parts."
Travis have been honoured for their contribution to Scottish music over the last two decades.

The Glasgow band, who released their first album in 1997, collected the Outstanding Contribution to Music prize at the 18th Scottish Music Awards in the city on Saturday night.

They also performed at the ceremony which raises money for music therapy charity Nordoff Robbins.

Other winners included Twin Atlantic, who were named best UK band, Biffy Clyro for best live act and KT Tunstall, who collected a song writing award.

Donald MacLeod, chairman of Nordoff Robbins Scotland, said: "The SSE Scottish Music Awards is now one of the biggest and best music moments on the Scottish event calendar, and this year's ceremony was nothing short of spectacular.

"It was the perfect celebration of 20 years of Nordoff Robbins Scotland and we're incredibly grateful to the guests, sponsors, volunteers, and musicians who helped us make the event happen.

"Also, to everyone who has supported us for over 20 years - thank you."

The charity said funds raised by the awards ceremony have helped it put on more than 8,000 music therapy sessions, involving around 450 vulnerable people, over the last year.
Lindsay Lohan implied earlier in the year that no-one had heard of Kettering

Lindsay Lohan has wished Kettering "happy holidays" and revealed she will not be at the Christmas light switch-on because of her "busy schedule".

The Mean Girls actress had originally agreed to travel to the Northamptonshire town after implying earlier this year that nobody had heard of the place.

But hours before the festive event on Thursday, Lohan posted a video to her nine million Twitter followers to make her excuses. In it, she said: "Hi everyone in Kettering it's Lindsay Lohan.

"I really wanted to make it there to light the tree but with my busy schedule I wasn't able to, and appreciate the offer. Happy holidays."

She was invited to turn on Kettering's lights by Conservative MP Philip Hollobone after she posted a tweet on the night of the EU referendum which said: "Sorry but Kettering where are you?"

The Kettering MP officially asked her in a Commons speech to undertake the festive task, " thus redeeming her political reputation and raising money for good causes".

Lohan tweeted in response: "Direct message me about your offer. Would be happy to light the Christmas tree in #Kettering."

But since then Kettering Borough Council, which is organising the switch-on on November 24, said it had not heard from her.

It was announced earlier this month they had instead drafted in ex-EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison, who played Heather Trott in the BBC soap, to light up the town.

Kettering Borough Council chief executive David Cook said: " It would have been wonderful if Lindsay could have joined us this evening but sadly her other commitments made this impossible.

"However, we appreciate how hard she and her team tried to make this work and we were delighted to get a video message wishing us well.

"It's going to be a fabulous evening with lots of fun and excitement with a range of super activities planned, including Cheryl Fergison and other members of the cast of Beauty And The Beast doing the honours for us tonight."
Irish catwalk star Stella Maxwell will lead out an army of Victoria's Secret superstar models at the grand finale of the company's annual fashion show in Paris on Wednesday.

Born in Belgium to Irish parents Stella Maynes and Maurice Maxwell, the supermodel is one of 36 models walking the glitter runway at the annual extravaganza, which has launched the careers of famous models such as Adriana Lima and Gigi Hadid (who has yet to earn her 'wings').

The runway show, which began in 1995, now serves as the fashion world's Super Bowl. Viewers tune in from more than 180 countries around the world, and the spectacle is such a guaranteed ratings boon that CBS reportedly pays the company the rights to air the event.

When the 26-year-old Irish woman was told she would lead out the final section on the night, the model is said to have become emotional.

"Are you sure?" she asked in thrilled disbelief. "Hang on, let me pull myself together," she added.

Joining the girls on the runway for this year's annual musical performances will be Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars and The Weeknd.

Tickets for the event are highly sought after and can cost up to 12,500.
The European Union and Turkey must honour their commitments to one other, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said in an effort to settle a row over migration.

She spoke last Friday - a day after members of the European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution to freeze talks on Turkey joining the bloc, following Ankara's crackdown on dissents after a failed coup in July.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip threatened to unleash a wave of migrants on Europe in response to the resolution.

He suggested he might scrap a deal to keep hundreds of thousands of migrants inside his borders in return for the promise of accelerated EU membership talks, visa-free travel for Turks in Europe, and financial aid.

Mrs Merkel told members of her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party during a regional conference in the northern city of Neumuenster that the deal had helped to control the influx of migrants and fight human trafficking

She added: "The refugee deal with Turkey, I think, this agreement is in the mutual interest of both sides. And that's why we as Europeans must meet our commitments and Turkey must do the same."

Asked by a CDU member if she had an alternative plan in case the deal with Ankara should fall apart, Mrs Merkel said: "I have no plan B... it's difficult but I'm working hard to make sure that this plan is being implemented.

"I'm working hard to make sure we reach similar agreements with other countries."

Most other EU states back continued engagement with Turkey, despite their concerns about its human rights record.

Turkish authorities have detained or dismissed more than 125,000 people - including soldiers, academics, judges, journalists and Kurdish leaders - over their alleged backing of the coup. Opponents, rights groups and some Western allies have said it is an attempt to crush all dissent.

Meanwhile, Australia is attempting to extradite from Turkey a man suspected of being a recruiter for the Islamic State movement, the government said yesterday.

Before his capture it was thought Neil Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled al-Cambodi, had been killed by a US air strike in May in the Iraqi city of Mosul.

At the time of the false reports, the Australian government described him as "the most dangerous Australian" involved with the extremist movement in the Middle East.

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The President Michael D Higgins and the Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan differed sharply in their reactions to the death of Fidel Castro.

The President lauded the Cuban leader as "a giant among global leaders" while Minister Flanagan labelled Castro "a dictator".

And the President's tribute in which he expressed "great sadness" at the death of the communist leader was slammed by Independent Senator Ronan Mullen, who described the comments from the Aras as "fawning, offensive and wholly inappropriate".

The Minister for Foreign Affairs did not criticise the President, but his comments, following the announcement from Havana of Fidel Castro's death, were in stark contrast to the President.

Minister Flanagan branded Castro "a dictator who presided over a questionable regime with human rights issues".

"He was a very divisive figure embroiled in controversy for most of his career and there will be very mixed views on his legacy," the minister added.

In the early morning statement from the Aras, President Higgins said: "I have learned with great sadness of the death of Fidel Castro, founder of modern Cuba, and its Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976, as well as its President from 1976 to 2008."

The President continued: "Having survived some 600 attempts on his life, Fidel Castro, known to his peers in Cuba as 'El Comandante', became one of the longest-serving Heads of State in the world, guiding the country through a remarkable process of social and political change, advocating a development path that was unique and determinedly independent.

"Cuba achieved 100pc literacy many years ago and built up a health system that is one the most admired in the world. With economic growth rates similar to many other Latin American countries, inequality and poverty are much less pronounced in Cuba than in surrounding nations."

The President referred only in passing to the dark side of the Castro legacy.

"The economic and social reforms introduced were at the price of a restriction of civil society, which brought its critics," the President said.

President Higgins concluded: "Fidel Castro will be remembered as a giant among global leaders."

According to Amnesty International, severe restrictions on freedoms of expression and free movement continue in Cuba. Government critics are subject to "acts of repudiation", while "arbitrary arrests and detentions" are commonplace, the agency concluded.

And it said the judicial system also remains under political control.

"Journalists and human rights activists are routinely subjected to arbitrary arrests and short-term detention for exercising their rights to freedom of expression, association, assembly and movement."

Senator Ronan Mullen said: "Our President is silent regarding the long catalogue of abuses of power by Castro.

"President Higgins's comments are the mirror image of the attitude shown by American governments in the past to oppressive dictatorships, expressed in the phrase, 'He may be a bastard, but he's our bastard'. The difference is, that our President is not entitled to play politics like this... he has insulted the victims of communist rule of Cuba. And he has undermined his moral authority to criticise human rights abuses in countries across the world on our behalf."
Francois Fillon has won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism.

He beat more moderate rival Alain Juppe, who had warned of encroaching populism.

"President! President!" chanted the former prime minister's supporters as he declared victory over Mr Juppe in a nationwide run-off election.

Polls suggest 62-year-old Mr Fillon, prime minister from 2007 to 2012 under ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy, would have a good chance of winning the French presidency in the April-May election.

Mr Fillon campaigned on promises of slashing public spending, capping immigration, support for traditional family values and friendlier ties with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Mr Fillon enjoyed a surprise surge in popularity in recent weeks over long-time front-runner Mr Juppe, who also previously served as the country's prime minister.

In a sober victory speech, Mr Fillon promised to defend "French values" and said France needs "a complete change of software".

"There is in our country an immense need for respect and pride. There is also a call for the authority of the state, and exemplary behaviour by those who lead it," he said.

Mr Fillon, whom Mr Juppe had accused of running a divisive campaign that catered to the far right, struck a slightly more inclusive tone on Sunday night.

"No one should feel excluded from a society that I want to see more just and with more solidarity," he said.

Mr Juppe, 71, congratulated Mr Fillon on his "wide victory".

During the primary campaign, he expressed similar ideas as his rival on the French economy, but tried to rally conservatives around a more tolerant attitude towards France's ethnic, religious and social diversity.

Based on results from about 88% of polling stations, organisers of the centre-right Republicans party primary said Mr Fillon led with 67% of the vote compared to 33% for Mr Juppe.

Mr Fillon's toughest challenge ahead is likely to be far-right leader Marine Le Pen. She is running an anti-establishment campaign that particularly targets immigrants, France's large Muslim minority, and the European Union.

Socialist president Francois Hollande is expected to announce in the coming weeks whether he will seek re-election, but the French left has been deeply weakened by Mr Hollande's extreme unpopularity.

Both Mr Fillon and Mr Juppe are high-profile leaders of the Republicans party who knocked their former boss - Mr Sarkozy - out of the primary's first round of voting a week ago. Mr Sarkozy then threw his weight behind Mr Fillon.

Sunday's run-off came after a bruising and highly adversarial end phase to the months-long primary contest, an American-style effort to end party infighting and bolster support for the party's nominee. The conservatives previously chose their candidate internally.

Mr Fillon, a conservative Catholic who opposed France's law legalising same-sex marriages, said he plans to reduce immigration to France "to a minimum" - positioning himself firmly to Mr Juppe's right.

Mr Fillon wants to drop sanctions against Russia over its aggressive actions in Ukraine and partner with Russia in the fight against Islamic State extremists. Mr Fillon insists "Russia poses no threat" to the West, while Mr Juppe wants France to continue putting pressure on Mr Putin on various fronts.

They both pledged to cut public spending, reduce the number of civil servants, raise the retirement age from 62 to 65, end the 35-hour work week and cut business taxes.

All French citizens over 18 - whether they are members of the Republicans party or not - were eligible to vote in the primary, if they paid two euro in fees and signed a pledge stating they "share the republican values of the right and the centre".

AP
Fidel Castro's favourite cigar was the famed Cohiba Coronas Especiale, and it was probably these fat seven-inch smokes famed for complex aromas of cedar and coffee that the Cuban leader sent to former Taoiseach Charles Haughey.

The gift of cigars and a special wooden casket to hold them in, was delivered at Shannon Airport in the winter of 1982, documents in the National Archives show.

Why Castro pitched up at Shannon remains a mystery, but there has been conjecture that he may have required a stopover when he travelled to the USSR for the funeral of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev in November of that year.

Liam Skelly, who was a director of Shannon Airport, and then Minister Sylvie Barrett welcomed Castro.

He was accompanied by President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua which adds weight to the theory about both attending Brezhnev's funeral.

Skelly told the Sunday Independent yesterday: "He chatted with us and had an Irish coffee. He quizzed me about what crops were grown in Ireland and what livestock were reared."

The airport, which celebrates the 70th anniversary of the first duty-free shop this year, presented both men with Waterford Crystal decanters.

"It wasn't just Mr Haughey who got cigars, myself, Sylvie Barrett and the President all received gifts," Skelly said.

Haughey wrote a rather gushing private letter to the Cuban President on December 9, 1982 to express gratitude for the gift Castro had left for him.

The Fianna Fail leader thanked Castro for the "magnificent gift." Haughey told Castro: "The hand-carved casket is most impressive and the cigars will be greatly enjoyed by my family and friends at Christmas."

When Mr Haughey did get around to having a smoke under the Christmas tree, he was no longer Taoiseach. A Fine Gael, Labour coalition was in power led by Garret FitzGerald following a general election.

Ironically, 23 years before Castro made his fleeting Irish visit, the man he replaced, the Cuban dictator General Fulgencio Batista, sought refuge in Ireland. Just months after fleeing his homeland, Batista and his family were looking for a new home in exile.

In a letter to the then Irish President Sean T O'Kelly, the dictator's wife Marta de Batista who was at this time staying at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, expressed the hope that the General and his family could set up home in Ireland.

"Knowing of your presence today in the city, and faced with the circumstances under which I live these days, it is that I take the liberty of addressing you in this informal way," she wrote to the Irish President.

"It is my hope and that of my children, that my husband, the former President of Cuba, General Fulgencio Batista, would be granted permission to reside in your beautiful country, so that we can establish our home there and be all together again.

''If this were to be possible, we shall always be grateful for your Excellency's kindness."

She received a letter of acknowledgement but no offer of sanctuary.
I have no memories of the Cuban missile crisis, that moment in October 1962 when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war. As an avid nine-year-old reader of newspapers there was, suddenly and inexplicably, no news at home. My parents, I subsequently learned, were so concerned about the prospect of World War III that - for the only time in my childhood - they censored the news.

Our house fell eerily quiet. Even the radio, which usually prattled away in the background, was silent. I do not remember asking about this sudden blackout, but it would have been a pointless question: no one was talking, and everyone was holding their breath.

In the grown-up world, the crisis kicked off on October 15, when US reconnaissance photographs identified, unequivocally, the deployment of Soviet medium-range ballistic missiles just 150km from the American mainland. This was perhaps the first moment of most severe international jeopardy. President Kennedy's opening gambit was deliberately low-key - a naval blockade, not airstrikes.

The situation was all the more fraught because the state department, which never thought the USSR would make such a move, had no plan of action. Kennedy was on his own, with support from advisers such as his brother Robert. For the moment, however, the Americans were refusing to blink.

On the evening of October 22, JFK addressed the American people and declared that "any nuclear missile launched from Fidel Castro's Cuba against any nation in the western hemisphere" would be deemed "as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response upon the Soviet Union".

As the stakes went up, a feverish international response stoked dark fears of war. Mao's China declared its support for the Cubans; the Pope appealed to "all governments" to do all in their power "to save the peace".

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On October 26, as the crisis deepened, the US raised the readiness level of its forces to Defcon 2. For a unique moment in US history, its B-52 bombers were put on "continuous airborne alert", with several other bombing units made ready to take off, fully armed, at 15 minutes' notice.

Behind the scenes in the White House and in the Kremlin, there were scenes of extraordinary tension. On the evening of October 26, the state department received a long and highly emotional letter personally written by Khrushchev to JFK.

Meanwhile, in Washington the debate about how to curb the Soviet-Cuban alliance raged on. To bomb or not to bomb? From Havana, Che Guevara fanned the flames, declaring that "direct aggression against Cuba would mean nuclear war".

In hindsight, the moment of greatest jeopardy came on October 27 - "Black Saturday" - when the US informed its allies that "the United States may find it necessary within a very short time in its interest and that of its fellow nations in the western hemisphere to take whatever military action may be necessary".

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Simultaneously, a US U-2 spy plane made an accidental, unauthorised, 90-minute overflight of the Soviet Union's far eastern coast, to which the Soviets responded by scrambling MiG fighters. In response, the Americans launched F-102 fighters over the Bering Sea, armed with nuclear air-to-air missiles. More breath-holding.

Castro never missed a rhetorical opportunity to assail his American enemies. On October 27, he sent Khrushchev an "Armageddon Letter" in which he appeared to urge the use of nuclear force in the event of an attack on Cuba.

Throughout this cliff-hanger, a convoy of Soviet freighters, bound for Cuba, became the symbol of the US-USSR stand-off. For as long as they steamed towards the US blockade, the outcome was uncertain. On October 28, after intense covert negotiations, with several trade-offs, Kennedy and Khrushchev reached a deal. By the end of October the convoy had turned back. The Cuban missile crisis was over.

Later, in the 1980s, there would be a number of cold war scares, some of them arguably more serious than that of 1962. But those 13 days in October remain, in the popular imagination, the moment the planet perhaps came closest to a nuclear apocalypse.

Observer
US President-elect Donald Trump last night condemned a growing push to force recounts in three states pivotal to his election victory, confronting the Green Party-backed effort for the first time even as he worked to address key Cabinet vacancies.

The New York billionaire, who charged the election was "rigged" on a daily basis before his victory, called the developing recount effort "a scam" in a statement released by his transition team.

Trump had been ignoring Green Party nominee Jill Stein's fight to revisit vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Wisconsin officials announced late on Friday night that they were moving forward with the first presidential recount in state history.

"The people have spoken and the election is over," Trump declared Saturday. He added, "We must accept this result and then look to the future."

Trump had paid little if any attention to Stein's recount push, but Democratic rival Hillary Clinton forced his hand on Saturday by formally joining the effort. Jill Stein, who drew 1pc of the vote nationally, has already raised over 5m to fund the recounts.

"Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves," Clinton campaign attorney Marc Elias wrote Saturday in his blog post. "But now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure that the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides."

Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, now a senior adviser to the US president-elect, also issued a statement yesterday

"What a pack of sore losers," Conway said. "After asking Mr Trump and his team a million times on the trail if he will accept the election results, it turns out Team Hillary and their new BFF Jill Stein can't accept reality."

The Obama administration, while not wanting to be drawn into any new controversy in the final weeks of Barack Obama's presidency, seemed to come down on the side of Donald Trump.

A statement from the White House said: "The Kremlin probably expected that publicity surrounding the disclosures that followed the Russian government-directed compromises of emails from US persons and institutions, including from US political organisations, would raise questions about the integrity of the election process that could have undermined the legitimacy of the president-elect.

"Nevertheless, we stand behind our election results, which accurately reflect the will of the American people," the statement concluded.

Speculation that electronic voting machines could be hacked has largely been debunked - primarily because the machines are not connected to the internet.

Associated Press
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Rupee declines 12 paise against the dollar In morning trade on Wednesday, the rupee lost 12 paise to 82.71 against the US dollar due to a flat trend in domestic stocks. Forex traders reported that the rupee started the day flat before t... November 02, 2022 | 02-11-2022 2:45 pm

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Ranveer Singh is a man whose energy levels and confidence are always sky high. His clothes are quirkier than his sense of humor!

Crush  A photo posted by a new world  (@bollydreams) on Nov 26, 2016 at 10:55pm PST

And whether you love him or hate him, he will continue being awesome. Just a few days ago, Ranveer's ad for Jack and Jones faced the brunt of people because of 'sexism' but his statement and apology proved that his heart is in the right place. In his latest conversation with Shekhar Gupta on the show Off The Cuff, he was at his candid best.

While there are actors who love the whole idea of being a fine actor, Ranveer Singh begs to differ. He has no issues being objectified and without any hesitation, he said,

He gives the best expressions #ranveersingh #dharam #khilji #befikre A photo posted by Ranveertard (@ranveertard) on Nov 26, 2016 at 9:47pm PST

"I have no issue being objectified. I love when I'm positioned as a sex symbol. It's like the best thing ever. I don't want to be known as the best actor or the guy whose films make the most money. Just call me the sexiest, the hottest, the most desirable"

However, not many know that enthu-cutlet Ranveer Singh has a sensitive side as well. During the conversation, he said,

I decided to make a baba fanbase. As you can see I am a big fan of the guy! I have been inspired by @ranveerunivers  I would look around some abos. Between my name is elyas and yours? A photo posted by @rsunivers on Nov 26, 2016 at 7:47pm PST

"I am a sensitive actor. When I get yelled at, I go into a shell and my spirit breaks very easily. And I'm not resilient because as actors you're baring your soul, you're most vulnerable. There have been instances when I had to excuse myself from set, take a walk, come out of the studios, bawl my eyes out and come back"
Listen carefully and you might hear a creaky, squeaky noise. It is the sound of safe deposit boxes in security vaults across India being opened and emptied as their panicky renters anticipate an impending government crackdown as part of the war on black money.

BCCL/representational image

No such notice has been delivered officially, nor does anyone in the government seem to have said anything about lockers. But it would be a logical move. Many have pointed out that black money cant be tackled only through notes, since tax evaders convert it into gold, jewellery and other assets, many of which can be easily stored in a safe deposit box.

Also Read: Government Has No Plan To Seal Bank Lockers Or Confiscate Jewellery, Clarifies Finance Ministry

So perhaps just as a precaution, or perhaps because they were opening the lockers anyway to get stashes of old Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes to exchange, renters are quietly transferring their contents home  and hoping this activity goes undetected by both the authorities and the more criminal elements. There are stories of an upsurge in flights to India as Non-Resident Indians suddenly recall safe deposit boxes they left behind and which they will have to come in person to access.

This has happened before. In August 1964, for example, the Times of India (ToI) reported a run on lockers in Delhi by people wanting to remove jewellery and other valuables, following reports of searches of houses and lockers in Bombay. Additional staff had to be deputed to cope with the rush.

Safe deposit companies cashing in on fears

But just a few weeks later, ToI noted that banks were reporting that safe deposit activity was going on as usual, with just a10% fall in utilisation.

BCCL/representational image

This is the paradox of safe deposit lockers. They are meant to provide renters with peace of mind about their valuables. Safe deposit services, whether run by banks or private operators, go to great lengths to stress the high security of their premises, the cutting-edge measures against criminals, the scrupulous procedures followed to allow access.

Also Read: Crackdown On Black Money Begins As Income Tax Department Sends Notices To Large Cash Depositers

Yet simply gathering these valuables in one place makes them a magnet for those wanting to get their hands on them  including taxmen. Steel doors, reinforced concrete walls and security cameras may block burglars, but what can guard against the government? And if the answer is to take the valuables home, how safe is that either? How safe is anything, really?

The promises

Safe deposit companies tend to duck this question. On the one hand, scaring people is their basic marketing tactic. Ads and articles about safe deposit vaults paint a scary picture of the world. If Bombay were to be overrun by an insurrectionary mob and the safe deposit were to fall into their hands, they would be unable to pierce its armour if the building above were gutted by fire and collapsed it might bury but still could not damage the Safe Deposit, wrote ToI in an article from 1910 about Indias first customdesigned facility, set up the year before by Forbes, Forbes & Campbell, one of the oldest registered firms in India (now owned by Shapoorji Pallonji).

BCCL/representational image

Security companies also emphasise their stringent procedures to grant access. They emphasise how renters have complete control over their keys and how extra locks can be placed. But they never deal with what happens if taxmen come calling, and the alarm that greets RBI attempts to regulate lockers is a sign of how sensitive this issue is.

This is a dilemma that goes back to the roots of banking, in which safe deposits played a large part. In ancient times temples were seen as places where people could deposit their valuables, perhaps counting on divine protection. But when invasions took place, temples were often the first to be looted.

Prominent merchants, who occupied positions of trust in the community, and jewellers, who had secure vaults anyway, started taking peoples valuables for a fee, and gave them receipts. At some point people realised they didnt need to physically remove valuables to sell them  they could just transfer the receipts, and in this way banknotes were born.

The evolution

The vaults themselves remained much the same  thick walls, strong doors and ceilings vaulted for support, hence their name. But inside they were usually often just piles of valuables, at most kept in large trunks. Apart from the chance of things getting lost in the mess, there was also the very real danger that vault employees could casually walk away with stuff.

BCCL/representational image

The answer was devised in the 1860s, thanks to the invention of new, lightweight yet secure locks, like those manufactured by Yale (patented in 1843-57). According to an excellent history written by Christopher Barrow of Metropolitan Safe Custody, one of the largest UK operators, the first company to offer locked boxes within vaults, the Safe Deposit Company in New York, which started in 1865, may have had locks from the newly established Yale Lock Company.

It wasnt just the rich who responded to this. Regular people opened lockers to put family mementoes, important documents, photographs, objects of art, medals, as well as odder materials, like false teeth and human ashes. (A particularly Indian angle on this has been the urns with ashes apparently from Gandhis cremation that have turned up in safe deposit lockers over the years.)

Safe deposit companies acquired a civic reputation, a necessity for cities of a certain size and wealth. The Forbes facility may have been Indias first, but in the 1930s others opened, particularly due to the efforts of Purshotamdas Thakurdas, a leading businessman of that time. On December 30, 1937, ToI carried a three-page feature on `his opening of Surats new vault, which had Italian marble staircases, seemingly designed for public display as well as private deposits. Earlier that same year, the Madras Safe Deposit Vaults had opened with Thakurdas as chairman. In another long ToI article, one of the leading architects in Madras, LM Chitale, talked about the safety features he had built in. Chitale also mentioned one other innovation  the vault was specially air-conditioned, a novelty then in India. Vaults had to be made comfortable enough for people to use them. They now had a social function as well as people spent time in them looking at family documents and women wore (and later put back) their jewellery.

Behind the vaults

It was almost a ritual for children to be taken in at some point, to be shown family heirlooms: a great grandmothers necklace, a grandfathers gold watch or jewelled cufflinks, many of them emblematic of a world gone by. In the Harry Potter books, a key moment is when Harry is taken to his family vault in Gringotts, the goblin-run bank, to be restored to his heritage.

BCCL/representational image

The very blankness of the exterior of safe deposit boxes hints at the secrets they contain, and makes them a favoured backdrop for films like The Bourne Identity, The Bank Job, Inside Man and Casino.

Artificial ventilation also helped with one problem that operators didnt want to admit  the chance that customers could get locked in. This happened in 1994 to Mrs Pushpa Devi Singhania in Calcutta, after she went to her locker in Uco Bank. Scarily, she was locked in on a Saturday while Monday was a holiday too for Janmashtami. So she ended up spending 70 hours inside, while her family frantically went around the city looking for her. Luckily, she survived.

BCCL/representational image

Another unanticipated social problem took place after 1947, when Partition meant that many fled leaving unopened lockers behind. In the 1950s, the Indian and Pakistani governments tried and failed to set up meetings to sort this out. Pre-Partition lockers still turn up; in 2007, SBI found a gun placed in a locker by a British officer 83 years ago.

Having to deal with problems like this is one reason why banks, which are most associated with safe lockers, have rarely been keen on the business. It is seen as a drain on expensive real estate, a security headache and a source of problems ranging from what people might store to claims for theft. It also rarely generates good revenue since customers value the service, yet resent having to pay high fees. Banks have tried to make use of the fact that there is usually a waiting list for lockers by insisting customers make large fixed deposits with them, or pay for other services, but this is generally frowned upon. They also put limits on the number of times customers can visit their lockers for free; after around 12 visits per year a fee is often charged.
Global e-commerce giant Amazon will now ship Amul products to consumers in the US, a move that will help the Indian dairy major to increase its exports.

screen grab/amazon

Under its partnership announced today, Amazon under its Global Selling programme will offer Amul's Ghee and Gulab Jamun range to consumers in America. The range will gradually be increased to add other products like cheese and butter.

"There are 30 lakh Indian NRIs in the US. We have been exporting our dairy products to the US for the last 20 years but it was mostly to local stores with Indian population in the vicinity. With this partnership, we are targetting to reach every nook and corner of the American market," GCMMF (Amul) Managing Director R S Sodhi told PTI.

He added that Amul exports Rs 30-35 crore worth of dairy products to the US market annually.

TOI/representational image

"We are looking at increasing our export, which is 1-2 per cent of our turnover currently," he said.

GCMMF, which sells its products under the Amul brand, is owned by over 3.6 million milk producers. Its turnover stood at over Rs 23,000 crore in FY2015-16.

Reuters/representational image

Amazon had launched its 'Global Selling Program' in India in May last year. It facilitates access for Indian sellers to sell their products to consumers across the globe.

The programme has witnessed 70 per cent increase in seller base as compared to last year with over 18,000 Indian sellers selling over 25 million products globally across nine of Amazon's global marketplaces.

The programme offers end-to-end solution that includes assisting sellers with imaging, logistics, tax advisory and remittance.

"We are excited to help fuel the brand's growth in the US market by offering unprecedented reach to consumers. Through this programme, we will offer Amul an end-to-end solution and help the brand cater to the growing appetite for quality Indian food products amongst global consumers," Amazon India Director and GM (Seller Services) Gopal Pillai said.
AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday claimed that there were 40 lakh young drug addicts in Punjab and brought the issue of narcotics back to the centre stage of the political debate ahead of the 2017 assembly elections.

Also Read: Arvind Kejriwal Promises To End #PunjabDrugCrisis, Claims AAP Will Win 100 Of 117 Seats

BCCL/representational image

It was Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi who had first made Punjab's drug problem into a political issue in 2012 by claiming that seven out of 10 youths in the state were addicts. The Akali DalBJP government has since challenged the numbers but the issue has kept recurring all through the past year.

Also Read: Kejriwal Says He'll End #PunjabDrugCrisis in 1 Month. Meanwhile 4,000 Child-Addicts Of Delhi Are Dying For Rehab

Forty lakh would mean that nearly 15% of Punjab's population uses drugs. After the recent recruitment drive of constables by the Punjab police, the state government had claimed that only 1.30% youths tested positive for drugs. Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal and BJP leaders have been saying that AAP was defaming the state by inflating number of addicts.

AP

Addressing a rally jointly for Nakodar and Shahkot constituencies on Saturday, Kejriwal said that the latest figures were conveyed to him by the father of an addict who died of overdose some months ago. "This person, who is a government officer, sent his son's body in a coffin to Modi Sahib and now he has taken a vow to end drugs in Punjab, "he told the gathering.

Also Read: Drugs Worth Rs.7500 Crore Are Smuggled Into Punjab From Pakistan Every Year! State Spends Rs 20 Cr On Drugs Daily!

The Delhi chief minister claimed that the crusader has gathered information from the entire state through RTI. "He has details of addicts admitted to government hospitals across Punjab. He has collected information of the last two years which states that five lakh young addicts came to these hospitals, "Kejriwal added.

BCCL/representational image

"According to him, only two out of ten addicts go to hospitals for treatment. If five lakh went to hospitals then it means that there are around 40 lakh youth addicts in Punjab. Forty lakh young lives have been destroyed by the Punjab government.Forty lakh families have been destroyed."

Also Read: AIIMS Study Proves That Punjab Has Already Lost Its Battle Against Drugs Addiction

Ajali Dal's Nakodar candidate and sitting MLA Gurpartap Singh Wadala called the numbers a plain lie. "He is stooping to this level out of frustration, "Wadala said. "Kejriwal has got feedback that his party is losing ground in Punjab. Elections come and go, but such bad propaganda would do longterm damage to the image of Punjabi youths."

governancenow/representational image

Punjab BJP spokesperson Rajat Mahindru called Kejriwal's numbers imaginary. "He should make the source of his data public instead of tarnishing the image of young Punjabis by spreading such canards," he said. "Kejriwal and his party are damaging the image of Punjab and its youth nationally and internationally. "Earlier, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had come under sharp criticism for saying that 70% youth of Punjab were addicted to drugs.
Ten armed men broke into Punjabs Nabha jail in the wee hours on Sunday morning, taking along Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and four others - gangsters Vicky Gondar, Neeta Johal, Gurpreet Singh, Vikramjeet Singh.

Twitter/Outlook Magazine

The men were wearing police uniform and fired over 200 rounds before fleeing with the five men from the high-security prison.

Senior police officials have rushed to the spot and a probe is underway. A high alert has been sounded at the border. Pickets have been put up on a 50 km radius.

Twitter/Firstpost

Harminder Singh (49) is wanted in 10 terror-related cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station.

He reportedly took charge of the KLF in 2009 after he left Wadhawa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International (BKI). He is wanted for plotting killings of three Punjab Shiv Sena leaders. He also allegedly planted Improvised Explosive Devices at Halwara Air Force station near Ludhiana in 2010.

The police said Singh, who has allegedly lived in Pakistan, was asked by the ISI to launch an attack on Independence Day in 2010 but the plan did not work.

He was born in Jalandhars Dalli village in April 1967 was using a fake Malaysian passport and documents to travel. His family now lives in Goa.

Apart from Thailand, he also allegedly travelled to Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to set up a base.

The KLF was founded after the Operation Blue Star in 1984 when the Indian Army entered Golden Temple  the holiest Sikh shrine in Amritsar  to flush out militants. The incident had triggered widespread anger.

Till 1993, the KLF was considered to be the most dreaded organisation fighting for a separate homeland of Khalistan. It was neutralised after several of its activists were killed in an operation led by the then Punjab Police chief KPS Gill.

Harminder was finally arrested in 2014 and his arrest was hailed as a huge success for anti-terror operations in Punjab. Singh and his aide Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi were arrested in November 2014 at the New Delhi airport after the two were nabbed in Thailand.

Twitter

His aide Gopi was tasked with executing targeted killings of Hindu leaders in 2013, which the Punjab Police foiled.
The salt-to-software descriptor, often used for the Tata Group, is barely enough. You could throw in cars, steel rails and pulses in between. But imagine Tata goats, or for that matter milk or apricots.

Reuters

The sellers do not pay any fees to the Tatas for using the brand, but they sell in the name of Tata nevertheless, with the blessings of the Tatas. Goats in Uttar Pradesh, milk in Manipur and apricots in Leh are products from projects helped by the Tata trusts. The Tata trusts are a group of public charitable organisations that engage in philanthropic activities across the country. They are in the news today, not because of their philanthropy; doing good rarely makes the news.

Also Read: After Cyrus Mistry, Maruti Suzuki Chairman Hits Out At Tata Nano, Says It Failed To Meet Customer Aspirations

They are in focus because of the trusts, led by Ratan Tata, chairman of the board of trustees, are also the largest shareholder (66%) of Tata Sons, the holding company of India's largest conglomerate. On October 24, the Tata Sons board had removed Cyrus Mistry as the chairman of Tata Sons, bringing Ratan Tata back as interim chairman. Over the last month, the story about a struggle for control between Mistry, whose family owns

AP

18% in Tata Sons and the trusts has emerged, with insinuations that the opaque structure of the trusts hides much more than the occasional animal sold in its name; that trustees involve themselves in operational decisions of not just Tata Sons but various publicly listed Tata companies, where Tata Sons hold substantial stakes; and that, all this undermines corporate governance principles. The Tata trust offices are on the 26th floor of Mumbai's World Trade Centre, in Cuff Parade. The premises have an old-new feel.

Also Read: TATA Sons Hits Back At Every Claim By Cyrus Mistry In This Shocking 9 Page Letter!

Everything has a fresh coat of paint. The layout is traditional with cubicles and chambers. The reception has bright red walls, with photographs of JN Tata, Sir Dorabji Tata, Sir Ratan Tata and JRD Tata. Three-and-a-half years back, after Ratan Tata retired from Tata Sons, he moved all the employees of the trusts to sit together on two floors of the WTC. In August 2013, R Venkataramanan, Tata's former executive assistant was moved into the trusts. In 2014, he became the executive trustee and in 2016, was elevated as the managing trustee.

"It's an open book, open source," Venkataramanan said repeatedly during his interview, asserting that there's nothing secretive about how the trusts operate. In fact, a few years back there was little cohesion. The eight trusts, over the years, operated almost independent of each other. A seeker of a grant could approach a different Tata trust after failing with one. Venkataramanan says: "Three years ago was the first joint meet of all the program teams of the trusts. The last meet before that was 6.5 years ago."

Demand Driven Philanthropy

Going through the open book and travelling to interiors of India where the Tata trusts run projects right from Gadchiroli in Maharashtra to parts of Tripura where most people speak in Kokborok, has left Venkataramanan with a "left of centre alignment".

He explains how the Tata trusts try to move away from the normal definition of charity and engage in projects that create livelihood and improve the economy of the area. In fact, that has been the mandate right from JRD Tata's time.

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One of the key programmes that Ratan Tata takes a keen interest in is focused on nutrition and fortifying food with micronutrients. Tata trusts have done some advanced work with the University of Toronto on adding iron, apart from iodine, to salt and has helped the government of Tripura procure the salt.

Also Read: Battle Lines Drawn As Tatas Ask Three Group Companies To Sack Nusli Wadia

Just last week Samajwadi Salt, a similar effort by the UP government, was launched with the government getting it at Rs 12 a kilo. A reverse auction process set up by the Tata trusts helped. In Maharashtra, the trusts have worked on pilots to fortify rice and wheat sold through ration shops with iron.

Praveen Pardeshi, the principal secretary to Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, says what he likes about the Tata trusts is that they are demand driven. "Unlike other philanthropic organisations who want to build a building like a trophy and name it, the Tata trusts try to find out what is the need or what the government wants and work accordingly." He speaks about how the government wanted a project in Gadchiroli that would help uplift the local economy without harming the forestry and the trusts funded a project based on bamboo.

"They also provided the market linkages," Pardeshi adds. The trusts have worked closely with Ronnie Screwvala's Swades Foundation in some districts of Maharashtra. Screwvala says: "The strongest part of Tata trusts is their clarity of purpose and their domain knowledge based on varied experiences."

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One of the most successful interventions by the trusts in recent years has been in Vijayawada, where they have worked in close collaboration with Lok Sabha MP Kesineni Srinivas, helping him map 264 villages in his constituency.

It all started when the trusts wrote to all MPs saying they could help with their adopted villages under the Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana. Srinivas wanted them to work on all the villages in his constituency. Today he is amazed that the team from the trusts actually individually mapped 10 lakh individuals in these villages and have data on them, their health and welfare needs as well as the number of cows and buffaloes owned by each family.

Also Read: Ratan Tata Wanted To Sell TCS To IBM, Says Cyrus Mistry As The War Of Words Continues

Kesineni Srinivas tells: "They worked on a project with Google called Internet Saathi, which helped village women in my constituency to use the Internet. Even the illiterate women were taught voice Internet. It is helping a lot these days after de-notification as people have adopted cashless transactions."

He echoes Pardeshi in describing how the trusts choose their projects. "Mostly it is brainstorming. Villagers actually come up with ideas."

Srinivas says he gets a call once a month from Ratan Tata, asking if any new area needs an intervention. From one village to a constituency to now building toilets in 800 villages in the Krishna districts, the Tata trusts are now increasing their footprint in the region, spending more money than the state and central government grants per toilet, bridging the gap by putting in the trusts' own funds.

Big money, Big Assets

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There is big money in play  Rs 750 crore a year is what the trusts spend on philanthropy. They employ around 1,000 people directly and indirectly.

While how the trusts spend and how they create a difference in the lives of the people of India is a lesser known story, how the trusts earn their money is much better known. The principal asset of the Tata trusts is, of course, their combined 66% holding in Tata Sons. Their earnings are the dividends that Tata Sons pays to the trusts. And Tata Sons own earnings are of course the dividends that it earns from various Tata companies.

Venkataramanan tells that the trusts and the trustees are well aware of the significance of their collective holding in Tata Sons. "We will have to do whatever it takes to ensure that the value of that asset doesn't go down. In our fiduciary capacity as trustees, we have to take responsibility for that asset." He added: "The trustees are personally accountable for the assets under the trust. There is an unlimited liability."

Also Read: Tata Steel Board Sacks Cyrus Mistry, OP Bhatt Named New Chairman

On October 24, 2016 "whatever it takes" meant taking action to remove Cyrus Mistry from the chairmanship of Tata Sons. As the battle between the Mistry camp and the Tata Sons ensued, Mistry attacked the trusts, hinting that these are controlled by Ratan Tata himself and there is no accountability at the trusts level, given their huge assets. With Tata Sons holdings in various Tata companies valued at approximately $65-70 billion, the trusts' holding in Tata Sons can be estimated to be worth $42-43 billion.

Venkataramanan, however, asserts that it is not easy to spend and since the trusts are regulated by the charity commissioner any transaction above `5,000 has to be reported. He further asserts that even ideas proposed by Ratan Tata have to be passed by the board of trustees and that at times even his ideas get rejected (see "Every Major Decision Needs Approval of the Trustees").

The eight Tata trusts have people with a wide range of experience (see Tata Trusts in Brief). Some are old Tata hands while others are reputed professionals in their own right without any history of serving with the Tatas.

KB Dadiseth, a former chairman of what was then Hindustan Lever, is a prime example. There are Tata veterans too, like RK Krishna Kumar and NA Soonawala, apart from Ratan Tata's brother Jimmy. The legal counsel always gets a seat in the trusts, and Jehangir Mistry from Mulla & Mulla is one of the trustees.

Darius Khambata, one of the trustees, resigned from the trusts after Cyrus Mistry's removal citing other demands on his time. TVS chairman and managing director Venu Srinivasan has inducted as a trustee soon afterwards. Srinivasan is also a member of the Tata Sons board.

Khambata's exit led to many questions being asked, including why Srinivasan was inducted at this juncture. These questions, as well as those raised by Cyrus Mistry, have their genesis in the situation that developed over the last four years where the interests of the trusts and those of the Tata Sons slowly seemed to diverge. After decades, the trusts, the majority owner of Tata Sons, had a head who wasn't chairman of the holding company. This clash between philanthropy and corporate governance, if one may call it that, can easily recur in future, too. Vimal Bhandari, an avid corporate watcher and CEO of IndoStar Capital, says: "For the future of the group, I look upon to Ratan Tata to create a more efficient group architecture."

Only that can ensure that the Tata name will have a footprint that will go beyond the Tata brand.

Every major decision needs approval of the trustees: R Venkataramanan

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Managing Trustee of the Tata Trusts, R Venkataramanan, is a man caught in the eye of a storm, as the trusts try to establish their control over the Tata empire; the Mistry camp has taken potshots at him, and at other trustees like NA Soonawala and Ratan Tata himself. In his first interview since October 24, Venkataramanan tried to explain that the Tata trusts are not a secretive organisation. Edited Excerpts:

On the relationship among the several Tata Trusts

Each trust is an independent legal entity created by the trust's respective deed, some of the trusts have common objects that are aligned to certain charitable goals, while some have flexibility.

On the trustees, their tenures and responsibilities

We have internally created tenures for the trustees on the two main trusts of 3 years and 5 years after which terms are renewable, but technically it is difficult to remove a trustee unless otherwise provided by law. The responsibilities of the trustees are joint and several.

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There is the unlimited liability, the trustees are personally accountable for the assets under the trust. Every detail of the trust activity has to be filed with the charity commissioner. Any transaction of asset changes above Rs 5,000 has to be notified to the charity commissioner. Our work and philosophy is open book, open source, for all to see.

On how decisions are taken at the trusts

For every major decision, we have to take the approval of the board of trustees. We have to make a presentation and answer their questions and many times proposals do get rejected. Even some ideas that Mr Tata brings to the board sometimes face questions and there have been cases where Mr Tata has asked me to drop ideas if other trustees are not comfortable with it.

On the newest initiative

On October 23, we had announced the Tata Institute of Active Genetics and Society (TIAGS), in collaboration with University of California, San Diego, to bring cutting edge genetics research for India's use. Several states are pitching for it now. It all got drowned in what happened on October 24.
An Indian man who was forced to spend over eight months on the terrace of a building in UAE's Ajman city is finally getting much-needed offers of help, a newspaper said on Friday.

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The dramatic turn in his fortunes came after the Khaleej Times published a story on the plight of Sajeev Rajan, who hails from Kerala and who lost his job eight months ago.

Moved by his suffering, an Indian philanthropist from Oman, K.T. Mohammed Rabeeh Rabeeullah, has offered to put Rs. 10 lakh in Mr Rajan's Indian bank account, the Khaleej Times reported.

Rabeeullah, Chairman and Managing Director of Shifa Al Jazeera Medical Group, a healthcare conglomerate, came to Ajman to meet the electrician.

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Rabeeullah also gave Dh 5,000 (Rs. 93,000) in cash for Mr Rajan's immediate requirements, said Biju Karunagapally, a friend and well-wisher of the man from Kerala.

Several social workers and the Indian mission in the UAE have also come forward to help Mr Rajan who, the daily said, had been living in "deplorable conditions" on the terrace of a residential building.

"Rabeeullah came directly from Oman to meet me and promised to help me financially," Mr Rajan was quoted as saying.

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"It is a big relief for me because my pocket is empty. I have not received any money for the past eight months and my travel back home seemed impossible."

The Indian Consulate is also offering help to Mr Rajan.

His company officials have also agreed to cancel Mr Rajan's visa and return his passport. The consulate is considering offering him temporary accommodation and food.

"I visited the consulate and now I am getting support from all corners," he said. "I am very happy and I will be flying home soon."
Diverging from the ruling grand alliance in Bihar, Chief Minister Nitish Kumars party, the Janata DalUnited or JD(U), has decided not to take part in Akrosh Diwas to be observed by the Opposition across the country on Monday against the demonetisation.

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The decision was taken in a meeting held by senior leaders on Saturday.

Also Read: Demonetisation: Frustrated People May Conduct Surgical Strike On Govt, Says Uddhav

JD(U) had made it clear that it supports demonetisation move and therefore, it will not be part of the bandh, said JD(U) General Secretary Pawan Varma.

The JD(U) has informed its allies Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD and Congress about its decision.

Also Read: Mamata Banerjee Calls Demonetisation A 'Big Black Scandal', Demands Rollback

Varma added, Mr Nitish Kumar had made it clear that the Opposition has the right to pursue their own political agenda. He has spoken to Lalu Prasad ji and Congress about this. It will not affect the grand alliance.

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Chief Minister Kumar has been vocal about his support to PM Narendra Modis unprecedented decision to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes to combat black money.

Also Read: Arvind Kejriwal Lashes Out At Centre, Joins Mamta Didi In Questioning RBI Over Demonetisation

I support demonetization as I am convinced that it will help in the fight against black money, Kumar had earlier said addressing a function in Patna.

He had also called the decision to demonetize higher currency notes a bold move.

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While RJD has categorically stated its opposition to the move stating Kumars support does not reflect the sentiments of the grand alliance ruling in Bihar.

Also Read: Manmohan Singh Speaks Against Demonetisation. Twitter Delivers Him A Surgical Strike

The opposition parties will launch a country-wide protest Akrosh Diwas on November 28 over the BJP-led NDA regimes sudden move. This come as the deadlock continues in both houses of Parliament with the government refusing to agree to a discussion in the Lok Sabha that ends in a vote.
After running form pillar to post for eight long years to get his civic taxes fixed, a man here on Thursday hoisted Pakistani flag at his house to draw the attention of the authorities but was instead arrested for promoting 'enmity in society' and sent to jail.

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Chandrapal Singh, a self-proclaimed 'jyotishacharya' (astrologer), who lives in Nehrunagar of Seesamau locality of the city, had reportedly hoisted the Pakistani flag atop his house to protest against Kanpur Nagar Nigam's house and water tax, which he claimed to be "bogus."

Also Read: Chinese, Pakistani Flags Recovered, 44 Arrested In Baramulla Anti-Terrorism Crackdown

After being alerted by local residents, the police arrested Chandrapal in the night and booked him under various sections, including 153 (a) of IPC.

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"Chandrapal has admitted to hoisting Pakistani flag. A case under Section 153 (a) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against him while the flag has been seized," circle officer Seesamau Brahmanand Yadav told TOI. Chandrapal was found respon sible for "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race or residence, besides, it's also illegal to hoist the flag of another country," said police.

Also Read: Virat Kohli's Pakistani Fan, Facing Up To 10 Years In Jail For Waving Indian Flag, Denied Bail

"The accused said he hoisted the flag out of sheer frustration.He claimed he had been making rounds of the offices of Nagar Nigam, Jalkal Vibhag, district magistrate for eight years besides tweeting to senior officials and ministers demanding an immediate solution for his tax woes, but all his pleas had fallen on deaf ears," said station officer Seesamau Dharmendra Singh.
Stating that the country's Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, has completed one revolution around the Red Planet, Ritu Karidhal, deputy operation director of Bengaluru-based MOM ISRO Satellite Centre said studies based on analysis of data being sent by the orbiter would soon answer different queries related to life on the planet.

Mars Orbiter Mission got into orbit around September 2014 to closely study Marss atmospheric composition. It was a mission that successfully demonstrated Indias technological capability for interplanetary exploration.

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"The span of two years on Earth nearly equals to one year on Mars. The Mangalyaan, which entered into the orbit of Mars around two years ago, has completed one revolution. The data being sent by it over a period of last two years is being studied by ISRO for analysing atmospheric configuration," said Karidhal.

Also Read: Mangalyaan's Cost Wasn't Rs 450 Crore, Austere ISRO Returned Rs 2.61 Crore

Delivering fourth keynote address as a part of Yeshwant Inspirational Talk Series here on Saturday, she said the analysis of the data sent by MOM could reveal presence of carbon content, if any, in atmosphere of Mars.

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"The question still exists that whether life existed on Mars and can it be possible in future. The atmospheric studies of Mars using data sent by MOM would help in knowing whether the remote planet has methane or any form of carbon in its atmosphere. If such traces are found, the planet can have life like it is hoped to have had in the past," Karidhal said.

The ISRO scientist said the MOM could last in the space further for at least 5 to 10 years. "The Mangalyaan does not have any fuel system to support its existence while orbiting Mars but is being purely driven by its different components. The life of these components would decide the future life of MOM," Karidhal said.

Also Read: ISRO Begins Preparations For Mangalyaan-II, Seeks Proposals For Its Interplanetary Mission

Listing down some of the many firsts associated with MOM at the international level, including the mission that was successful in the first attempt, she said the greatest achievement of Mangalyaan was to infuse confidence among countrymen that India was second to none.

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"India's Mars Mission has basically empowered 1.2 billion countrymen. The Mission has not only inspired citizens but also instilled confidence that they are second to none," she said.

Later, while answering a student query in the interactive session, the ISRO scientist said studies also need to be done to ascertain whether any correlation exists between astrology and astronomy. "There may be some linking between both these fields, but scientific studies need to be done focussing on cosmic energy," Karidhal said.

ISROs Mangalyaan completes first revolution around Mars in two years https://t.co/HeIBjlVw7n  The TeCake (@TheTeCake) November 27, 2016

To another query, asking why Venus was not considered by ISRO for space mission instead of Mars, she said the second planet from the Sun has relatively harsher atmosphere. Also there are no indications so far that any form of life existed on Venus, which is not the case with Mars, she added.

Started in the memory of late Yeshwant L Garde, one of the founder members of Chamber of Marathwada Industries and Agriculture and former head of Aurangabad Co-operative Industrial Estate, Yeshwant Inspirational Talk Series has been initiated since the past four years with the focus on sharing knowledge among youth.
Earlier this year after the PU paper leak debacle, when the Karnataka government 'vowed' not to let history (or chemistry) repeat itself, who would have thought it would actually send its students to wedding halls? The Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB), which conducts Class 10 exams across the state, is gearing up to conduct its March-April exams, and wedding halls are very likely to be used as exam centres.

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Primary and Secondary Education minister Tanveer Sait told Mirror that following reports of malpractices and mass copying at taluk and district exam centres, the department has decided to reduce the number of exami nation centres. "Reduction in the number of centres helps in better utilisation of available staff and effective supervision and prevention of malpractices. If you have too many centres, all may not be kept under supervision and also remote areas become inaccessible at times. Hence, the decision," said Sait.

While currently, centres have an average strength of 300 students, these will now hold "a minimum of 400 stu dents and a maximum of 1,000. We will have these centres either at the taluk level or at the cluster-level. In a case of a shortage or absence of infrastructure to accommodate so many students, we will go for wedding halls (choultries). We'll ensure that students don't have to travel more than 10-15 km to write the exams," explained Sait.

After this year's PU paper leak, the Primary and Secondary Education Department is contemplating bringing an amendment to the Karnataka Education Act to will allow punishment for those involved in or benefitting from such malpractices.

New system

To put an end to mass copying in districts, the department is also looking to have a centralised system of conducting exams so that all activities can be controlled and supervised by department officials.

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While a few of the changes are likely to be implemented starting from the examination during March-April 2017, other major examination reforms will be implemented from the next academic year, according to Sait.

The minister elaborated on the amendment the department is looking for: "We have discussed with the legal department, and had several rounds of internal discussion in this regard. The amendment will allow stringent punishment for those who leak the paper and also those who obtain it [parents, students]. There will be imprisonment as well as a hefty penalty. The move would serve as a deterrent.Currently, those who are found guilty of leaking question papers are being handled under various other laws and in future apart from the IPC, they will also be punished under the Karnataka Education Act," said Sait.

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The education department is also worried that every time when a question paper is leaked, it gets the beating even though the incidents are happened in another department."While we prepare and print question papers, it would be kept at treasuries across the state that is controlled by the Revenue department.Question papers are leaked from the treasuries but the education department is blamed for the mess. Hence we are putting in place a ready network in which only Education department is involved in all steps from preparation of question papers to announcement of results. As a result, we are chalking out plans to safe storage and transport and distribution of question papers. The idea is still in its nascent stage," the minister revealed.

Better safety

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The department is looking at securing leaks at every level.From replacing old vehicles used to transport papers, to considering moving teachers - along with their families - to resorts or recreational places in other states till the end of the examination process, sources revealed that the department was looking into every aspect of security. The recent decision to separate the question paper and answer sheet from the same bundle was a decision aimed at reducing the burden on students and department.

Question banks

Putting an end to complaints by parents and students that department has often prepared questions from out of the syllabus; the department will publish separate question banks based on its syllabus."Currently, the market is flooded with hundreds of question banks and students buy them for better preparation.

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Many of them have questions based on a private syllabus or additional books that are taught in many schools.Students often end up neglecting our own syllabus. Hence, we will roll out our own question banks with 5,000 to 10,000 questions purely based on our state syllabus. These questions need not be mentioned at the end of every chapter," said Sait. The question banks will either be made available through school network or by uploading it to the department's website.
Misandry has become the latest fad these days. People do not need a reason to hate men - if anything goes wrong, it's the man's fault. But tell you what, it isn't always. In a world where evil is thriving at the speed of light, it is extremely difficult to take a side.



As quoted by Elie Wiesel "We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere."

Which is exactly what this girl did. Recently, Himani Jain, a resident of Mumbai took a cab home after office.

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During her journey, she experienced the ill-behaviour of her Uber-pool co-passenger against her innocent driver, and she decided to speak up. She happened to share her ride with a woman, who started abusing the driver for no good reason. According to Himani, there was some miscommunication between the two, but the woman's reaction was absolutely unacceptable. The driver sat mum, without any signs of disrespect, but the woman kept on abusing him.

Had it not been for her, the driver's career would have gone for a toss!

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Read her story here:

Happened with me yesterday

I took Uber Pool to home from office yesterday. The driver, Shahid (Name changed), was very polite and well behaved. I was sharing cab with a lady, Gayatri (Name changed), who was probably in her late thirties. She got into the cab and within a minute she started arguing with Shahid about the drop. He explained her politely that it doesn't matter, he will drop according to the App to the provided address and she can't choose the route.

Gayatri started speaking to Shahid in extremely derogatory tone. She said (shouted) that she is not new to Uber and he is too stupid understand her question. Gayatri used words like dumb, Ch***ya, MC, BC, "I will slap you"etc. Shahid kept calm and asked her if he should start the trip. I asked Gayatri to stay calm and explained that there is a miscommunication between you and Shahid, and I will explain him. By this time she lost her cool completely and asked Shahid to come to police station and asked me to join her in her complaint. When I disagreed she started verbally abusing me as well. Shahid ended my trip, apologized for the inconvenience and asked me to take another ride home. While all this drama was happening 20 odd people and two security ladies gathered around our cab. I gave my number to security lady so that they can contact me in case police trouble Shahid. Meanwhile, both Gayatri and Shahid had already dialed 100 and cops came in no time. I explained them the situation, gave my number to the police as well in case they want my statement in favour of Shahid. When I was about to leave, the security Lady came to me and said "Madam, please jao na police station, wo maar daalenge isko. Ladies ka case hai toh iska koi nahi sunega". Though it was already 9pm and I was scared to go to police station(first experience), I didn't feel like leaving him in that situation so I decided to go police station along with them. And the funny part is that when Gayatri was explaining all this ruckus to the Constable, he asked "madam where is the problem". When she saw nothing happening her way, she made false accusations against Shahid of verbally abusing her and asking her to get out of the car and asked them to lodge an FIR against him.

I gave my statement to the police and told them that neither I am related to Shahid nor Gayatri and I had no reason to come here. I came here to support Shahid who is completely innocent in this case. She did not leave police station till 11pm. Gayatri demanded that the driver should apologize her and touch her feet as a part of apology. Apparently she wanted to teach him a lesson. I stayed there till she left the police station. I spoke to the police and fortunately, they understood the situation. They placated her that they will take action against him and asked her to leave. Meanwhile they took Shahid to a room and I could hear sounds of someone getting beaten up. I ran to the Constable and I said there is no mistake of him. To my surprise, they were beating the floor with the belt and Shahid was just making noises with a smile. I don't know if it was right or wrong but I felt happy. Cop came and thanked me for standing up for Shahid otherwise it would have been a disaster for the driver. I felt contended. I called Shahid after an hour of reaching home. He is sound and safe. :)

Thanks to Mumbai police for understanding.

Here's the original post

More power to you, girl!
Is India doing enough to detect fake notes, cited by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a significant reason for withdrawing 86 per cent of India's currency, a process popularly known as "demonetisation"?

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Apparently not. In 2015-16, only 16 of every 250 fake notes were detected, according to an IndiaSpend analysis of government data.

Also Read: Fake Notes Worth Rs 125.18 Crore Were Seized In India Between 2012-14, Delhi Topped The List

Modi cited terrorism financed by fake Indian currency as a major reason for invalidating the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that made up 86 per cent of money in circulation. On November 9, in response to Telugu filmstar Nagarjuna's tweet praising "demonetisation" -- Modi tweeted: "Dear @iamnagarjuna, this step will check corruption, black money and fake currency rackets that slow our progress."

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Of the 90.26 billion Indian currency notes in circulation in 2015-16, no more than 0.63 million -- that is 0.0007%, or seven-millionths of 1 per cent, seven in every million -- were detected as fake, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. The value of these fake notes in 2015-16 was Rs 29.64 crore, which is 0.0018 per cent of the Rs 16.41 lakh crore currency in circulation.

Also Read: Now Rs 2000 Fake Note With Gandhi Watermark, Security Thread Surfaces In Gujarat

In 2015, 0.88 million fake notes worth Rs 43.8 crore were seized, according to data from the National Crime Records Bureau tabled in the Lok Sabha on November 18. Rs 27.8 crore was seized until September 30, 2016, the data further reveal.

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The value of fake currency in circulation at any given time is Rs 400 crore, and 250 in every million notes are fake, according to a 2015 joint study by the Indian Statistical Institute and National Investigation Agency, to analyse fake-currency trends, especially those originating across India's borders.

The study estimated that fake currency worth Rs 70 crore enters circulation every year, with agencies only being able to intercept one-third of it. The detection of fake currency is carried out primarily by commercial banks, but such reporting is irregular: Only three banks -- Axis, HDFC and ICICI -- report about 80 per cent of fake currency detected.

In 2012, the then Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee wrote a white paper on black money in India, which revealed that the cash component of undisclosed incomes ranged from 3.7 per cent to 7.4 per cent, based on searches conducted by the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

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For instance, in the financial year 2011-12, of undisclosed admitted income of Rs 9,289 crore, no more than Rs 499 crore (5.4 per cent) was found in cash, according to the white paper.

On November 17, Sitaram Yechury, General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist), tweeted: "Black economy is only 6% Cash, rest wired. Counterfeit currency 0.025% of total currency. So what is the Demonetisation move targeting?"

Yechury's claim was based on a Hindustan Times analysis of data from tax raids for the financial year 2012-13 onwards. Cash recovered was less than 6 per cent of the undisclosed income seized from tax evaders, said the newspaper.

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Data from income-tax investigations between April 1 and October 31, 2016, revealed that black-money holders accepted having Rs 7,700 crore worth of unaccounted assets; of this, Rs 408 crore, or 5 per cent, was cash. The rest was invested in business, stocks, real estate and benami bank accounts, the data showed.

In 2015-16, a year that reported the largest detection of black-money, 6 per cent was cash.

"While, in the public eye, piles of cash are synonymous with corruption, we should be careful about distinguishing between the three components of the black economy. The first is the underlying source of corruption. An example of this would be the high stamp duties on real estate transactions that lead to payments in cash. The second is the methods adopted for storing unaccounted wealth. An example of this would be holding assets in gold. The third element is the method through which transactions are effected. This could involve cash," Vijay Kelkar and Ajay Shah wrote in the Mint.

"The black economy involves all three elements. Targeting unaccounted cash on one particular day is only a small part of the story."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday took part in an hour-long Yoga session with top police officers of the country, who gathered in Hyderabad at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy for an annual conference focusing on cross-border terrorism, infiltration and radicalisation of youth.

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Later, he paid tributes to Martyrs Column at SVPNPA, where he placed a wreath.

The Prime Minister also paid floral tributes to Patel at his statue at SVPNPA, and planted a sapling on the Academy premises.

The three-day conference of the Directors General of Police (DGPs) of all states was inaugurated on Friday by Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

PM Narendra Modi plants a sapling at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad. pic.twitter.com/iZewKdzfiT  ANI (@ANI_news) November 26, 2016

Union Ministers of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju and Hansraj Gangaram Ahir, besides National Security Adviser (NSA) Ajit Doval and Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi are among those attending the event.

The Prime Minister would spend the entire day today in deliberations with the top police officers before flying back to Delhi in the evening.

"Issues like cross-border terrorism, radicalisation of youth and attempts to lure Indians to Middle East terrorist groups, like ISIS, and other matters of internal security will be discussed at the meeting," official sources said.

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Filling up of vacant posts in various police forces, reforms in police forces, menace of narcotics smuggling and human trafficking will also be discussed extensively during the conference.

The Prime Minister and Home Minister will interact with the top police officers and get their feedback about the internal security situation and various aspects of police personnel, the sources said.

This is for the third time since Independence that the conference is being held outside Delhi. It was held in Guwahati in 2014 and Kutch in Gujarat last year. The idea of holding the meeting of DGPs and IGPs outside Delhi was mooted by Modi after he assumed power in 2014.

The conference is being attended by around 100 DGPs of states, Director Generals of Central paramilitary forces and their Inspectors General.
Gold bars weighing 14 kilograms worth Rs 4 crore were allegedly looted from the office of a cash logistics company here today, police said.

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Two robbers looted gold from the office of SIS Prosegur at Mithakali locality after attacking a security guard with iron rod, they said.

The incident was reported to police early this morning after which the police recovered a CCTV footage in which two persons are seen looting gold by breaking a locker.

screen grab/toi

"Two persons entered the office of SIS Prosegur, a cash logistics company at Mithakali locality this morning and did away with around 14 kg gold bars worth over Rs 4 crore after attacking an armed guard," Navrangpura Police Inspector RV Desai said.

The guard was attacked on head with an iron rod when he tried to raise alarm, while another guard was asleep in the van, he said.

screen grab/toi

"We have recovered a CCTV footage which shows two youths robbing gold. The identity of the robbers is not immediately clear and we are investigating the matter," Desai said.

He said dog squad and Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) were involved in the investigations but nobody has been arrested as yet.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday dared enemies to shoot him, saying he had given up his official bullet-proof Ambassador and was using a non-bullet proof vehicle.

AP

"The car stopped after every two days. I bid goodbye to the Ambassador and asked for a regular white car without bullet proofing. If someone wants to shoot me, shoot me. But as far as those who wish to shoot these bullets are concerned, we will not let them reach Delhi alive" Parrikar said.

BCCL

The Defence Minister was speaking at an election rally in Aldona village in North Goa, 20 kms from Panaji.

Also Read: Shoot To Kill At Anyone Who Holds An AK47, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar Told Indian Army
Ninety three-year old Manu Ghosh, a resident of Vrindavan's Meerasahabhagini Ashram had often heard the title song of Shakti Samanta's `An Evening in Paris'. That she would get to live the words was something she had not expected.

AP

Life took an interesting turn for her and 73-year-old Gaurvani Sheel, another resident of the ashram, when the duo got to visit Paris for a photography exhibition recently .

Standing at the base of the Eiffel Tower and posing for shutterbugs in the French capital in the twilight of their lives had them elated.

Ghosh and Sheel were invited to one of Europe's biggest exhibitions of photographs--the Montier-en-Der photography festival from November 17 to 21.They represented the Vrindavan widows, who were the subject of some exhibits. During their stay in Paris, they interacted with people from diverse nationalities and have created unforgettable memories.

"It was not just a foreign trip for us. The whole tour provided an international platform to us. We got respect which we deserve. I got an opportunity to represent thousands of widows of Vrindavan and Varanasi at the international festival," said a delighted Ghosh.

Sulabh International

The Paris trip has boosted her self-confidence and induced belief in herself and her abilities, she said, with Sheel in agreement.

"I will try to infuse the same vigour in other inmates of the Meerasahbhagini Ashram," said the 93-year-old.

Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of the NGO that has set up the ashrams, said, "Manu Ghosh is well-known among ashram inmates as a volunteer.She speaks up about the cause of the widows and has travelled to various places in India to represent the widows of Vrindavan and Varanasi. She and Gaurvani Sheel are from West Bengal and share a strong bond due to their origin and common fate. They make up a formidable combination."

Widows at the ashram have broken several barriers to get even the littlest of joys others take for granted. For example, celebrating festivals like Holi and Diwali. A trip like this, naturally, is a strong boost to their self-esteem.

AP/representational image

"The trip was arranged to give these women the message that they are not neglected," says Pathak.

Widows from several parts of the country make Vrindavan their home to live a life of austerity and quietude. Considered inauspicious by their families, they head to the city of Lord Krishna after being ostracised in their villages. Most of them are banished from property or any kind of family income.Some of them are even teenagers.

Celebrating a festival, dressing up or generally expressing joy were considered taboos for them until not long ago. However, with society evolving and even the intervention of the Supreme Court, social organisations and individuals, things are changing. In the Vrindavan ashram, widows get a healthcare and vocational training apart from lessons in Hindi, Bengali and English -for which they have special teachers. But, there is still a long way to go.

For now, events and opportunities like this trip will go a long way to give these women a sense of achievement, belonging and a feelingthat they are not unwanted.
When demonetisation hit tourists at Rajasthan's Pushkar, many of them were stranded. The money they were carrying turned to paper overnight, leaving them "virtually penniless."

hindustantimes

To fund their return tickets to Delhi, 2 groups of tourists from Germany, Australia and France began to put on a show near the famous Brhama temple, and at the Gau Ghat crossing on Saturday.

"We came here on November 8 to see the famous Pushkar fair. The same night government of India announced demonetisation of R500 and R1000 banknotes. Whatever change we had in Rs100 and lower denominations are exhausted," Jayden, an Australian tourist added.

hindustantimes

Holding up placards saying: "You can help us" and "Money problem", thy played musical instruments and performed acrobatic stunts

"Locals have been kind to us. So far we have collected around Rs2600," Adlrik, a German tourist told Hindustan Times.

Tourists in Pushkar begging for money. #NarendraModi,# demonetisation pic.twitter.com/inalBOekJt  Naveen Sharma (@naveenpinkcity) November 27, 2016

"As a last resort, we took recourse to performing on the streets to get some help from locals so that we can at least reach Delhi to seek help from our embassies," said Jayden.

No one was willing to exchange their Rs. 500 and 1000 Rupee notes, and they say the nearest ATM ran out of money.
4 Islamic State gunmen were killed after they opened mortar fire on Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in the Southern Golan Heights, in the first ISIS-Israel clash.

#BREAKING: Shots fired from Syria on an Israeli IDF forces - no one was injured; IDF aircraft killed several of the ISIS attackets pic.twitter.com/Ylidb9FBzL  Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) November 27, 2016

The incident saw ISIS allies Shuhada al-Yarmouk organization, attempt to ambush Israeli forces.

AP



After IDF's Golani Brigade retaliated, Israeli forces spotted a vehicle outfitted with a heavy machine gun, and 4 gunmen several hundred meters from the border. An Israeli aircraft bombed the car, killing the gunmen.

#Israel: #ISIS-affiliated Jaish Khalid Ibn Walid opened fire toward IDF soldiers near the Syrian border, IDF responded & killed 4 militants pic.twitter.com/Cz2xvxa9Xs  Prime Source (@PrimeSourceME) November 27, 2016

The militants fired at the Israeli soldiers, who were on the Israeli-controlled territory, from the car driving along the Syrian side of the Golan, said Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner.

Earlier, gunman fired & launched mortar shells from Syria at IDF forces in Golan. IDF returned fire & successfully targeted the cell.  IDF (@IDFSpokesperson) November 27, 2016

The troops fired back before Israeli aircraft struck.

"The air force intervened, targeted the vehicle the gunmen were in and hit and struck the vehicle, killing what seems as four terrorists," Lerner said. He added that the militants were from the Islamic State-affiliated Yarmouk Martyrs Brigades. There was no immediate response from the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade.
'Viva Fidel!' By Jon Lee Anderson November 27, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " New Yorker " - Fidel Castro has died. Few political leaders of modern times have been as iconic or as enduring as the Cuban revolutionary, who had turned ninety in August. He had been formally retired since 2008he had handed power over to his younger brother Raul two years before, after falling seriously illbut he had ruled as Cubas jefe maximo for no less than forty-nine years, and he remained Cubas undisputed revolutionary patriarch until his death. Fidel had been frail for some time. His last public appearance, in April, at the Cuban Communist Party Congress that was convened shortly after President Obamas historic trip to Havana, had the air of a final leave-taking. In his address, a short, shaky speech in which he struggled to pronounce his words, Fidel mentioned his upcoming birthday and said that soon Ill be like all the others. Many of the Communist Party delegates present wept as they listened to him. Fidels allusion to his own death was significantit was something that he had rarely ever discussed publicly before. For the decades he was in power, from January, 1959, when he ousted the dictator Fulgencio Batista, until his resignation, eight years ago, Cubans had followed his cue, cloaking the topic with euphemisms like biological inevitability. Fidel, more than any other political leader in recent memory, had the stature of a living myth in his own country. For many years, Cubans regarded him as something close to immortal. Fidel was at the center stage of world events for an extraordinary sweep of time. He seized power in the age of Dwight Eisenhower and remained there until George W. Bushs second term in office. He has died in the waning days of the Presidency of Barack Obama, the first American President in all that time to travel to Havana, an event that took place after he and Raul negotiated a diplomatic breakthrough in 2014. Fidel did not meet with Obama when he came to Cuba, and the American Presidents visit was, in a real sense, final proof that Fidels era had truly ended. Fidel had always distrusted the Americans, something he reminded everyone of in a public letter he published in January, 2015, a few weeks after the announcement that Raul and Obama had restored relations between the two countries. I dont trust the policy of the U.S., nor have I exchanged a word with them, he wrote, but this does not mean I reject a peaceful solution to conflicts. In a roundabout way of offering his approval, he went on to say that, in conducting his negotiations with Cubas main adversaries, Raul had taken the pertinent steps in accordance with his prerogatives and the powers given to him by the National Assembly of the Communist Party of Cuba. But his churlishness was obvious to all. With such remarks, Fidel emerged as the ultimate paterfamilias of those Cuban apparatchiks who felt skeptical about the countrys newly thawed relationship with the U.S. and the concessions to capitalism ushered in by Raul, which have accelerated since the Cuban-American detente. In a column he published shortly after Obamas visit, Fidel questioned the breeziness of Obamas appeal to Cubans to forget the past and look to the future. He ranted about how Cubas past was rife with episodes of American-inspired or -conducted acts of violence, ones that could not be forgotten. He added, pridefully, that Cubas revolution had little to learn from the Yankees, and no need of their charity, either. We dont need the Empire to give us anything, he wrote. The effect of Fidels grumbling helped foster an official Cuban backlash to Obamas outreach. Fidels death has come just eight weeks before Donald Trump assumes the U.S. Presidency. Among other things, Trump has promised conservative Cuban-Americans in Miami that he will roll back Obamas policy initiatives with Cuba, which are aimed at forging closer links through increased American tourism and business deals. Critics of Obamas approach argue that such blandishments have merely helped shore up a repugnant communist regime. If Trump goes through with his promises, the two countries will likely return to the wary, indefinite standoff that had defined their relationship ever since Fidel launched his socialist revolution and made Cuba a front-line state in the Cold War. Whatever happens to the fragile new U.S.-Cuban relationship, it is a noteworthy irony that its main skeptics were led by Fidel, on the one hand, and by his archenemies in Miami on the other. Fidels legacy will long remain divisive. Cuba today is a dilapidated country, but its social and economic indicators are the envy of many of its neighbors. The highly restrictive Marxist regime that Fidel put in place all those years ago has loosened up in some waysthere is a great deal of religious freedom in Cuba today, and Cubans, including outspoken political dissidents, come and go freely from the islandbut the country remains a one-party state. The police use a heavy hand on those who seek to organize public protests. The press, too, such as it exists, remains largely in the hands of party commissars, imparting ideological treatises, rather than actual news. For Cubas young people, many of whom were mere children when he retired, Fidel was already an obscure totem, a grandfather figure given to making pronouncements about issues that had little to do with their lives. With growing numbers of Cubans working independently of the stateself-employed cuentapropistas: taxi drivers, cooks, waiters, barbers, handymenFidels revolutionary exhortations had come to be regarded as the quaint utterings of a old man whose day had come and gone. In recent years, Fidel was given to writing his reflections in a sporadic series of columns published in the official Communist Party newspaper, Granma. In his final column, which appeared on October 8th under the title The Uncertain Destiny of the Human Species, Fidel offered up a free-form and somewhat obscure rumination on science and religion, concluding, At this point, religions acquire a special value. In the most recent thousands of years, perhaps the last eight or ten thousand, the existence has been shown of beliefs that are well developed, with details of interest. Beyond these limits, what is known has the feel of ancient traditions that different groups of humans have been creating. I know a fair amount about Christ, given what I have read, and what they taught me in schools run by Jesuits and by the La Salle brothers, from whom I heard many stories about Adam and Eve; Cain and Abel; Noah and the flood; and the manna that fell from heaven when food was scarce because of drought or other reasons. I will try to convey a few more ideas about this singular problem, at another time. That other time, of course, will no longer come. In a life that saw Fidel install a communist regime in Cuba; defeat the C.I.A.-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs; spark off the Cuban Missile Crisis; launch and arm myriad Marxist insurgencies in Latin America and Africa; dispatch Cubans to fight South African troops in Angolathus helping to weaken the apartheid regime; survive the collapse of the Soviet Union and keep Cubas communist system intact for another quarter century, often seemingly through sheer willpower and to the chagrin and frustration of his many enemies; and for a man who sought to help transform humanity through revolutionary socialism to the end of his days, ninety years was, perhaps, not quite enough time. Jon Lee Anderson, a staff writer, began contributing to The New Yorker in 1998. Muere Fidel Castro / R.I.P 1926 - 2016 Donald Trump calls Fidel Castro 'brutal dictator' : Trump said that while Cuba remained "a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long
An 11-year-old obese boy who weighs 23 stone has been set on fire in a bizarre bid to lose weight.

Li Hang is said to be undergoing the traditional Chinese medicine treatment after his weight increased while suffering a rare condition from the age of three.

The treatment includes fire cupping, fire therapy  known as huo liao  and acupuncture.

Photographs of the treatment show the youngster screaming in terror as a doctor lights up towels on top of his bare bulging tummy.

It is being carried out on the boy at Changchun Kangda Hospita, Changchun city, in the northeastern Chinese province of Jilin.

Specialising in slimming treatments, Changchun Kangda Hospital employs various Chinese medicine practices including Baguan (fire cupping), fire therapy and acupuncture to treat their patients, of which seven out of its 53 overweight patients are children.

Li, of Harbin city, weighed 6.7 stone at age four, the website reported, about 2.5 times the weight of other children that age.

He suffers Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare disorder involving obsessive eating, learning difficulties and growth abnormalities.

China is set to have the greatest number of overweight children aged 5 to 18 years by 2025.

The number of overweight children will reach 48.5 million, according to a report released by the World Obesity Federation last month.
A victim of a three-man syndicate that specialises in swindling unsuspecting members of the public by pretending to have their goods seized by the Nigerian Customs has told the police how she was duped of N9,000.

Chiwenu Ibeh said she was going to Ojodu Berger from Ojota, in Lagos, when a taxi driver, in an ash-coloured Toyota Camry 1997 model with registration number SMK 886 DK, stopped at the bus stop to pick her.

As he drove along, he picked another passenger on Kudirat Abiola Way, said Mrs. Ibeh.

We were still on Kudirat Abiola Way when the new passenger started a conversation in something like French language with the driver.

Mrs. Ibeh said the driver then pleaded with her that he wants to take the new passenger to Customs Office on Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way, where his goods were seized.

It was here that their story changed and I became the subject of their manipulation in connivance with a Customs agent and a pastor, she said.

Under the pretext that the four of us assist the man whose goods were trapped with the Customs over export duties, they brainwashed me into releasing my ATM card, led me to withdraw the last N9,000 from my account.

After this, the pastor prayed for me and told me to go home and get more money my family kept at home.

Mrs. Ibeh said the incident occurred last week.

On Thursday, my husband and I were standing at the Maryland Bus Stop, she continued.

I saw the same Toyota Camry with same number plate and a new driver, but beside it was the former driver that lured me into fraud, pretending to be passenger.

I alerted RRS officers stationed in Maryland and they arrested them.

In a statement on Sunday, the police said they arrested the driver, Kenneth Umukoro, 36, and his accomplice, Uba Utokcha, 41.

The police said they also arrested two other suspects, Joseph Onuoha and Ikechukwu Okeke separately but in similar circumstances on Tuesday and Wednesday last week respectively.

Mr. Onuoha told interrogators that he belonged to a fraud syndicate led by one man simply identified as Toronto (who is now at large), who trained over 40 of them to go out daily in search of would-be victims, the police statement said.

When we hit jackpot, we share it into five parts. Toronto takes two parts. Two of us in a team share two and we would share the remaining part to others, the statement quoted Mr. Onuoha, 40, as saying.

Presently, our office in Ajegunle has been busted by the police. Toronto as I was told has relocated to somewhere in Surulere. Whenever we have issues with the police, he comes around to secure our bail.

Dolapo Badmus, the Police Public Relations Officer, said the police would not relent in their duties of making the state crime free and warned members of the public to be wary of suspicious dealings.

The police said the four suspects have been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti.

Source: PremiumTimes
A teenager identified as Daddy was arrested by the operatives of the Rivers state police command for allegedly beheading a mother and her daughter in Ibaa community in Emohua Local Government Area of the state.

According to reports, the suspect was arrested on Thursday by angry youths of Ibaa who trooped into bushes in the area in search of the suspected murderer.

The 18-year-old boy had allegedly killed Mrs. Cecilia Wojile and her first daughter, Blessing Wojile, last Friday using a machete to chop off thier heads at about 6am, while the duo, who sold cooked food, were preparing for market.

According to a source, it was gathered that the suspect had broken into the home of the Wojiles several times. But on one occassion when Mrs. Wojile got him arrested, the suspect vowed to kill her.

When contacted over the development, the victims eldest son, Mr. Isaiah Wojile, said the suspect met his mother while she was in the room and killed her.

Isaiah said, The development is painful. I never imagined that human beings could be this wicked. Daddy killed my mother and my own sister as if they are goats.

The only thing I demand is justice. He who takes the life of another, his will be taken as well. I want the police to investigate the matter, fetch out the culprit and make him to face the wrath of the law.

Based on alleged delay in the investigation, Isaiah had transferred the matter to the State Criminal Investigation Department, noting that the Rumuji Police Station that was handling the matter was not serious.

Isaiah became worried that five days after the incident, the culprit had yet to be apprehended by the police.

He also regretted that the suspect, who was apprehended by the community youths the same day of the incident, escaped from the hands of security men deployed in the area.

He, however, called on the state police command to speedily intervene to ensure justice was done in the matter.

Meanwhile, a senior police officer at the State Criminal Investigation Department confirmed that they had received a case file established by Rumuji Divisional headquarters and promised to swing into action to arrest and prosecute the alleged killer of the mother and daughter.

Also speaking, the commands spokesperson, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, said the command was aware of the incident and promised full scale investigation to unravel the circumstance behind the murder.

It was learnt that some youths in Ibaa mobilised to capture the suspect in his hideout within the community.

A source said that when the youths apprehended Daddy, the security men in the area whom he earlier escaped from, shot him in the leg before sending him to the Rumuji Divisional Police headquarters.

Source: BreakingTimes
The Governor of Jigawa State, Mr. Badaru Abubakar on Sunday said the Islamic Development Bank has concluded plans to invest about $35 million to promote agriculture in the state.

The gov. made the disclosure at Kwalge Dam in Auyo Local Government during the Hadejia Zonal Fishing Festival adding that the investment would largely be in the area of accelerated crop production across the state.

According to him, the investment would enhance agricultural financing, mechanization, processing and enterprise.

He added that the government is collaborating with the World Bank and African Development Bank, to clear water hyacinth on Hadejia River, which had inhibited fishing and effective utilization of the water for consumption and irrigation.

The state government, he continued, with support from the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had initiated Anchor Borrower Scheme to support farmers transform agriculture and attain food sufficiency.

The governor noted that the programme was designed to support rural farmers, build their capacity, increase crop production, encourage modern processing and add value to the produce.

Mr. Abubakar reiterated the governments commitment to reduce poverty, provide job opportunities and enhance wealth through effective utilization of agricultural resources.

Also commenting, Kabir Ali, the Commissioner for Agriculture, said the fishing festival was re-introduced to encourage fishery development in the state.

Mr. Ali said the state government had expended about N4 million to support fishery development programmes, adding that similar fishing festivals would be held in Birnin-Kudu and Kirikasamma Local Government Areas.

The fishing festival is to motivate fishermen and encourage production, he added.

Mr. Ali disclosed that the state government had stocked about 150, 000 fingerlings at Warwade Dam in Dutse Local Government, to enhance fish production.

The commissioner, therefore, called on farmers to support government policies and programmes to reinvigorate agriculture and make it the mainstay of the states economy.
A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party in Ondo State, Jimoh Ibrahim has allegedly written to congratulate Romiti Akeredolu, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the ongoing election in the state.

According to the letter obtained by our reporter on Saturday, Jimoh, whose ambition to govern the state was truncated by the Supreme Court, claimed that from every indication, Aketi, would eventually win.

Ibrahim earlier threw his weight behind Akeredolu of the APC.

However, Ibrahim warned him to avoid the outgoing governor, Olusegun Mimiko if the baton of leaderhip is eventually handed over to him.

Meanwhile, checks by our reporter Friday evening show that the Independent National Electoral Commission was yet to make any official announcement.

The letter reads: My dear Egbon

Congratulations I have computed the results sent to me from 2907 wards by my party agents across Ondo State. It shows you are leading with unrecoverable margin.

I congratulate you as Governor-elect of our lovely state. I will advise you quickly maintain distance from Mimiko if you want to succeed.

I have no doubt that you will urgently create hope for our people, kindly do whatever you can to assist our lovely civil servants

I saw poverty in those villages I visited during campaign please kindly assist traditional rulers as much as you can.

Ondo state account requires clear audit and this is urgent for immediate recovery of our money to assist in major programme infrastructural development

Once again congratulations

Jimoh Ibrahim.

OFR CFR

PDP Candidate 2016

Source: Daily Post
The Lagos State Aids Control Agency, LSACA, has said in the last two years it has recorded more than 24,000 cases of HIV positive cases in the state.

Dr. Oluseyi Temowo, the Chief Executive Officer of the agency, revealed this while speaking on the activities the agency has lined up to mark this years World Aids Day, which takes place every December 1.

While explaining how the agency came about the outrageous number, he said that in 2015, out of 599, 560 persons counseled and tested, 15, 311 persons tested positive, while in 2016, 616, 318 residents were counseled and tested, 9, 579 individuals were found to be positive.

Continuing, he said about 52, 803 positive individuals are currently on anti-retrovirals, noting that the state, over time has shown an unstable HIV prevalence trend.

To mark the day this year, Temowo said that his agency would stage a walk from Ikeja Local Council Secretariat, and it would terminate at the State House, where Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, would receive the participants.
A man attended a hearing last month where he urged the courts to keep his father in jail for as long as possible for injecting him with HIV when he was just 11 months old.

Bryan Jackson, 25, claimed his father, Brian Stewart, performed the terrible act just to get back at his mother.

Stewart, who worked as a blood tester after leaving the military, allegedly injected his son with a syringe full of HIV-tainted blood.

Jackson, however, survived the virus turning into full blown AIDS.

Jacksons school life was difficult because other kids would tease him about his condition and would exclude him from birthday parties or other special events.

The tragedy of my school life was that the school didnt want me. They were scared, he said. Theyd call me things like, Aids boy, gay boy. Thats when I started to feel isolated and alone. I felt like there was no place in the world for me.

Stewart was found guilty in 1998 by a Missouri jury and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. The whole purpose of Jackson attending last months hearing was to ensure that it would stay that way.

I may have forgiven him, but even in forgiveness I believe you have to pay the consequences, he told BBC.

These days, he is much healthier and has an undetectable status.

Right now my T-cell count is above average. That gives me virtually no chance of passing the virus on. Ive gone from taking 23 pills a day to taking one. I dont know what Ive been doing but now my HIV status is undetectable, he said.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed off fake cosmetics factory in Benue State.

Men of task force on counterfeit products of the agency, who stormed the factories located in Makurdi also picked up a distributor of fake product at Nala, headquarters of Gwer West Local Government Area at the weekend.

Leader of the team and NAFDACs Chief Regulatory Officer, Enforcement Operations, Mr. Uche Chidi, said that the special operation was based on a tip off.

According to him, we are here because our office in Lagos State received an information about the suspected activities by some people in Makurdi, which have now been confirmed.

On arrival at this place, we discovered the production of counterfeit and unregistered products in the range of body lotion, hair food and conditioners, creams, jellies and perfumes.

We discovered that all the products being produced here in Makurdi had Lagos and Onitsha addresses and without date markings while some had no addresses.

It took the diligence of the task force to unravel and trace this production site because none of the products had a genuine address for anyone to trail the manufacturers.
Barcelona player Neymar was involved in a car accident on Sunday morning.

The Brazilian forward was on his way to Barcas Ciutat Esportiva training ground, where the squad was scheduled to meet before flying to San Sebastian to play Real Sociedad.

Pictures emerged of his car, a Ferrari 458 Spider, facing the opposite direction of the side of the road he was driving on.

Club members immediately arrived at the scene to escort the Brazilian, who fortunately escaped unhurt, leaving him available for selection.

The Catalans have slipped to third place in the table after the La Liga results on Saturday. Real Madrid are now seven points clear of Barca, who they face next weekend in El Clasico, while Sevilla are a point above Luis Enriques men following a 2-1 win over Valencia.
Some security agents deployed for Saturdays governorship election in Ondo State slept in some police stations due to non-provision of accommodation as they claimed that their allowances had not been paid.

Investigation by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Okitipupa revealed that the security agencies involved included the police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the State Security Service.

Some of the security agents, who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, claimed they slept in any available police station in the area of deployment and were unable to feed well because of unpaid allowance.

Those that do not have relatives here slept over in the police station and we also had to make arrangement for feeding because our allowances were not paid, one of them told NAN.

NAN also reports that the security agents had removed all barricades and checkpoints on major highways in the area, ensuring free vehicular movement.

All efforts to speak with the Divisional Police Officer in Okitipupa, Oluwole Ojo, however, proved abortive.

But the spokesman of the Ondo State Police Command, Femi Joseph, said he was not aware of the development.

I am not aware and I do not have the facts now because I am at INEC headquarters. I do not think any police man would contemplate leaving his duty post, he said.

The police said 26,000 personnel, three helicopters, 12 Armoured Personnel Carriers and 20 gunboats were deployed for the election.

The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, also said five officers would be at each polling unit during the election while three helicopters would be patrolling each of the senatorial districts.

Mr. Idris added that three commissioners of police would be in the state for special operations during the election.

The NSCDC also said 15, 000 personnel and 25 sniffer dogs would be deployed for the poll.

Source: NAN
A pastor simply identified as Adekunle Francis, has been arrested by the Ogun State Police Command for allegedly raping a 17-year-old girl, simply identified as Dolapo.

The suspected was arrested on November 22 Sango Ota, after he reportedly lured his victim into an uncompleted building under the pretext of praying for and anointing her but instead raped her until she passed out.

Parading the suspect on Thursday, the State Police Spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the victim reported her ordeal at the Sango Police Station.

On interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime. He told policemen at the Sango Police Division that the act was the work of the devil.

The state Commissioner of Police, CP, Ahmed Iliyasu, had ordered the immediate transfer of the case to the Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Labour Unit of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, SCIID, Abeokuta, for further investigation, he added.
Extreme bushfires are to become the new normal in Australia as the climate becomes hotter and drier due to climate change, a new report says.Megafires will be 30% more likely to occur by 2070, the Natural hazards in Australia: Extreme bushfire report, published last month, said, and the time between fires is increasing while the conditions are worsening.Australian Firefighters Climate Alliance spokesman Jim Casey said that extreme wildfires are becoming the new normal.Essentially these fires are just so big and so fuel loaded they act more like a storm than a fire, he told news.com.au. With shorter winters and less time to do hazard reduction burning, it creates perfect conditions for fires like this.Previous megafires have become so fierce that crews could do nothing to stop them, he added.Their real danger is their size, they are unfightable, he said. When fire crews are faced with fire fronts stretching across 50km and its 10m high, the only option is to leave.According to Insurance Council of Australia figures, insurance claims as a result of fires totalled $88 million in 1987-1996.This jumped to $491 million between 1997 and 2006, and more than doubled to $1.179 billion between 2007-2016.Casey said rising insurance costs over the past 20 years were evidence that fires were occurring more regularly.He added that the research and cost findings from the Insurance Council of Australia came as no surprise to firefighters on the frontline.Megafires have been fought in Victoria, Western Australia, New South Wales and the ACT during the past decade, and, just last year, four people lost their lives in bushfires to the north of Esperance in Western Australia.Casey warned that unless there was real leadership shown on climate change, disasters would continue to occur.We can take all the steps to try and get ready that we can, he said, But at the end of the day its like sticking a Band-Aid over a wound that is rapidly becoming gangrenous.The cost of not addressing the root cause of worsening bushfires is high, and growing ever higher, he continued.This is a real threat because it has the potential to be so catastrophic.
The insurance industry often has its fair share of critics, but few are as high profile as this.In a recent ABC news report, the industry came under fire from mental health advocates who openly questioned the approach of insurers in dealing with people who have mental health issues.The report focused on the case of 17-year-old Ella Ingram (which we reported on earlier this year ) who was set for a school trip to New York. However, shortly before the trip she was diagnosed with a major depression and hospitalised.Her family attempted to claim for the cancelled trip on their travel insurance policy  only to find the claim was rejected on what was described as a blanket exclusion of mental illness. So frustrated were the Ingrams with QBE , their insurer, that they actually challenged the company in court  and, in December last year, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal ruled that the company had unlawfully discriminated against Ella based on her disability.However, the ABC report quoted mental health advocates who believe little or nothing has changed since the court case. Gary Galambos, chairman of the NSW Branch of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, for example, claimed that he had patients who were fearful insurers will exclude people from products if theyve seen a psychiatrist.Its doesnt make sense [its the] Dark Ages, he said.The insurance industry should be encouraging their people to see us, and be reassured that help seeking people are help seeking people, and are less likely to be a risk for these companies.The report goes on to slam insurers suggesting there is evidence insurers use even the most benign information from our past to assess your risk to their bottom line. It reports on one case of a school leaver who had seen a school psychiatrist and was ultimately excluded from having insurance.In addition, it suggests that insurance companies are undermining efforts to tackle the stigma associated with mental health issues.It goes on to highlight the federal disability discrimination laws provisions for the insurance industry and that insurers can use data to explain why covering an illness would be unsustainable. However, it accuses the insurance industry of failing to make this data public, although Andrew Bragg, of the Financial Services Council, states were not in the business of disclosing commercial in confidence material but we are open and committed to having an ongoing dialogue with mental health advocates.So now we put the question to you, the professionals of the insurance industry in Australia. Do you believe that mental health issues are being treated unfairly by the industry or are the intricacies of insurance being misunderstood by this mainstream report? Leave us a comment with your reaction, below.
The event was organised by the School of Journalism and the School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistics at the University of Limerick in conjunction with Front Line Defenders.

In a conversation with Dr Fergal Quinn from the School of Journalism and Ms Muireann Prendergast from the School of Modern Languages and Applied Linguistic, the Indian cartoonist spoke about his experiences in India and how his cartoons gained worldwide attention.

Best known for his anti-corruption campaign Cartoons Against Corruption, Mr Trivedi spoke about why he created his website which was later banned by Mumbai Police in December 2011, prior to his arrest.

Mr Trivedi said, I was trying to find a way to use my cartoons beyond the newspapers because when you have cartoons in newspapers they die in a day or two or in a week so I wanted them to last long and serve a purpose.

He explained how the anti-corruption movement in India in 2011 gave him a reason to use his cartoons for a purpose and created his website Cartoons Against Corruption to display them.

He spoke about the regulations in India which led to his arrest on charges of sedition, breach of Section 66A of the IT Act and disrespect of national symbols on September 8 2012.

The constitution says you are able to express your views in any way you want but actually when you see the reality it doesnt happen because India is a place where religions are quite strong and people are involved in different communities, he said.

They [People] are quite sensitive and sentimental about their symbols, about their religion, about their community, he added.

Cartoons, such as one where he altered Indias three-lion national emblem and replaced them with wolves to highlight corruption, attracted the charges against him.

His cartoons attracted attention on media platforms worldwide, which he feels put pressure on the Indian government to release him from prison a short four days after his arrest.

Mr Trivedi believes that the charge of sedition against him was a step too far and he decided not to hire a lawyer and not to apply for bail until they removed the charge.

Sedition means to initiate or to attempt to initiate a war against a nation and drawing a cartoon is not like a war against a nation, he said.

It was not about the creating of war against a nation so it was not me who had gone too far it was the policemen and the people who charged me, they had gone too far, he continued.

Chairman Justice Markandey Katju of the Press Council of India defended Mr Trivedi and in a statement said that arresting a cartoonist or any other person who has not committed a crime, is itself a crime under the Indian Penal Code, as it is a wrongful arrest and wrongful confinement.

Sedition charges were dropped by the Mumbai High Court one month after his release from prison and Section 66A of IT Act was scrapped by the Supreme Court in March 2015 with Mr Trivedi now facing only one charge which he is yet to be summoned for.

Displaying samples of his work to the audience, Mr Trivedi explained why a particular cartoon he drew after the Charlie Hebdo shootings in Paris is his favourite work to date.

Aseem Trivedi showing the audience samples of his work. Photo: Andrew Roberts

The three panel cartoon depicted the Prophet Muhammad and a cartoonist and portrayed a time of fear within society and a time where Mr Trivedi felt disturbed by the attacks.

Fear should not lead the thoughts, fear should not control the society, fear should not control the lives, the way we live and it should be our intellect and our conscious that controls us not fear. Fear should never be in the lead position, he said.

He highlighted the importance of using social media as a platform for freedom of speech while displaying another cartoon captioned, If the pen is mightier than the sword, then Facebook is mightier than the gun.

We had the right to express but we didn't have a medium. Social media gave us a medium. So it was not a very good thing for the government because they didn't want people to be so vocal, he said.

Freedom of speech starts at the moment your freedom ends. When your freedom stops existing your freedom of speech takes over, he continued.

Mr Trivedis latest project Black and White is an online cartoon magazine which aims to support human rights defenders through his cartoons.

The campaign supports artists, bloggers and journalists who face censorship, fake charges, unlawful detentions, unfair trial and inhuman sentences for their work in any part of the world.

Speaking about the work that Mr Trivedi undergoes, Programme Manager of Front Line Defenders, Tara Madden, said, Not only is he a human rights defender raising human rights issues in his own country, hes now began telling stories of human rights in other countries with visuals that are really effective.

Mr Trivedi concluded the conversation by saying he is back living in India and he feels safe in his country. I am safe and I feel safe, he said.
Today

Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. High 76F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Gusty winds during the evening. Low 57F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunny. Gusty winds diminishing in the afternoon. High 68F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
CBS TV series "Blue Bloods" has become the talk of the TV movie world when romance between police officers Jamie and Eddie started to blossom in the story line. The movie has always attracted viewers because of the exciting action and drama it brings.

The added attraction of a romantic twist in the story started in the last two episodes of the movie. Clearly, the two characters Jamie Reagan (played by Will Estes) and Eddie Janco (Vanessa Ray) have been repressing their feelings towards each other as the viewers eagerly keep prodding them to consummate their love.

International Business Times reports that in the last episode, the two police officers were invited to attend the wedding of a friend. It was a social gathering but the two acted as if they were going on a date. The event did not go well because Jamie got into a fight with some other cop.

The man was dancing with Eddie and Jamie tried to cut in. The whole scene heated up, the fight started and they all end up in jail.

To make amends, Jamie invited Eddie for a real date which the latter accepted and both prepared to go on their date. Jamie came with a neat attire and Jamie wore a sexy black dress that wowed anyone with eyes to see.

Eddie was surprised at the venue chosen by Jamie which had a nice dance floor. She always thought that Jamie did not like dancing. But Jamie did like dancing if he had the right partner and asked Eddie for a dance.

As they danced to the tune of "What a Wonderful World", they exchanged words with romantic overtures that the audience knew this was the time right for them to profess their love for each other.

Unfortunately, two police officers missed their chance for a sweet romance. Game N Guide predicts that audience will again see kissing scenes in the next episode of "Blue Bloods."
Sanyu, Chrysanthemums in A Glass Vase [Photo provided to China Daily]

A flower still-life by Chinese-French painter Sanyu (Chang Yu, 1901-1966) fetched a whopping HK$103.58 million ($13.35 million) at a Hong Kong auction Saturday night.

Chrysanthemums in a Glass Vase was painted in the 1950s and a French family collection acquired the painting from the artist in 1965.

Born into a wealthy family in Sichuan province, Sanyu went to France to study art in 1921 and had spent the rest of his life in Paris.

Flowers were a frequent motif of Sanyus oil paintings, in which he explored the harmony of color, space and light and successfully presented the graceful simplicity of Eastern aesthetics.

In Chrysanthemums in a Glass Vase, he applied only ochre, scarlet-black and gold to create its lustrous appeal.

The painting was among the 15 lots being hammered at a Christies evening sale of Asian art.

In the same sale, another Chinese-French master painter Chu Teh-chuns (1920-2014) abstract work, Snowy Vertigo, was sold for HK$91.82 million.

It was inspired by a train trip from Switzerland to France in 1985 during which Chu saw a snow storm striking the Alps. He thus created a series of paintings to reflect snow scenes, including the one on auction that took him nearly a decade to complete.

Zao Wou-kis (1920-2013) Water Music was sold for HK$48.7 million. In the oil painting, he traversed ancient Chinese characters among a void of colors to achieve a feeling of infinity. Both Chu and Zao were schoolmates at the Hangzhou Fine Art School (now China Academy of Fine Art) and members of the Academy of Fine Arts of France.

Their headmaster Lin Fengmian (1900-1991) was a part of the first generation of Chinese painters trained in France. His oil work Fishing Village was sold for HK$39.74 million.
The infamous "Black Friday" sale continues its tradition this Friday as shopping centers in cities all over the country mark down their prices with millions of consumers ready to take advantage of the great sale on many choice items. Due to the number of people simultaneously inside shopping centers, some malls have opened on Thursday of Thanksgiving itself -- now called "Gray Thursday".

Shoppers will be competing with hundreds in a single shopping center during "Black Friday" with many of them having learned so many things participating in the shopping sprees previous years. According to WMDT interviewee Pocomoke City resident Carolyn Ennis, head to the shopping centers during the morning -- as early as 5 a.m. -- to avoid the long lines and possible violence.

She said that shoppers should have an idea of what they want before they arrive in the shopping center and see if the products on their list have good prices. According to USA Today, their analysis of information from the National Retail Federation indicates that holiday sales would increase to 3.6 percent this year equivalent to $655.8 billion. It was a great boost from the 3.4 percent drop in seven years from the Great Recession of 2009.

It also reported that those shopping in different US cities are "most (people who) lived in the area, but some came far, far away." In their interview with a man from Dublin Ireland named Rionagh Walsh, the man said he purchased loads of "Jewelry. Handbags. Sketchers" and "anything that would be of great value for us that wouldn't be in Dublin."

Some retailers chose to close and shut down operations this "Black Friday". Among them are Office Depot, RadioShack and The Mall of America. CBL & Associates Properties are also closing their malls to give their employees and shoppers time with their families.

Some shops have chosen to open during the Thursday of Thanksgiving itself. "Gray Thursday" had helped many get a headstart on the sales and avoid the long lines and shoving in select shopping centers. Shoppers said they felt for the employees who missed their Thanksgiving dinner with their families.
Patrick Simpson has been named Vice President, Small Business Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture Development Officer for GBC Business Capital, a division of Georgia Banking Co. He will be responsible for new business development in North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Simpsons focus will be assisting business owners with expansions, refinancing, business acquisitions, partner buyouts, commercial real estate and other transactions. He brings to GBC Business Capital an extensive 30-year career with banks and mortgage companies with particular emphasis on commercial lending, risk management, and mortgage guaranty insurance services. During the last five years, Simpson has focused on Government Guaranteed Lending, a specialty of GBC Business Capital. He graduated with a B.S. degree in Economics from Radford University and holds an MBA from Babcock Graduate School at Wake Forest University.

Bell, Davis & Pitt, PA, has been named to U.S. News  Best Lawyers 2017 list of Best Law Firms. Bell, Davis & Pitt has been recognized across 21 practice areas in the Metropolitan areas of Charlotte and the Triad region of Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point. The Greensboro practice areas are: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships), Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Corporate Law, Elder Law, Employment Law  Management, Family Law, Family Law Mediation, Financial Services Regulation Law, Litigation  Banking and Finance, Litigation  Bankruptcy, Litigation  Construction, Litigation  Intellectual Property, Litigation  Land Use and Zoning, Litigation  Trusts & Estates, Personal Injury Litigation  Defendants, Real Estate Law, Tax Law and Trusts and Estates Law. In Charlotte, Commercial Litigation.

Winston-Salem State University has been awarded $26,000 from AT&T that will provide scholarships to help students stay on track and graduate. The donation will support WSSUs Gap Scholarship Fund, which helps students who need financial assistance to continue their education. The gift will allow the university to award need-based scholarships to about 20 students, ranging from $1,000 to $1,500. In the past three years, WSSU has shown the greatest increase in first-year retention in the 16-member UNC System, from 71 percent to 80 percent. Almost 90 percent of WSSU students received need-based financial aid, and 60 percent have no family assistance in paying for their college expenses. The Gap Scholarship Fund is administered by the Winston-Salem State University Foundation and the Office of Financial Aid. Financial Aid officers work in partnership with academic success counselors and faculty advisors to identify students who are in need of scholarships.

Jon Fox has been named a Senior Financial Advisor at Truliant Federal Credit Union. He will offer investment guidance to member-owners to help them pursue individual and business goals through financial planning, insurance and investments. Fox has more than 30 years of banking experience and has also worked for institutions including RBC Centura/RBC Capital Markets, E.F. Hutton and Nations Securities. He is a longtime resident of Winston-Salem and a graduate of Auburn University.

Julie Boyer has opened a new law office at 8 W. Third St. She focuses her practice on traffic, DWI and all levels of criminal defense and is a State Bar Board Certified Specialist in Juvenile Delinquency-Criminal Law. Boyer was awarded the Howard L. Gum Service Award earlier this year for her work with the Specialization Committee. She has been practicing criminal law for 12 years and left the Office of the Capital Defender in Forsyth County earlier this year after spending three years exclusively defending people charged with first-degree murder.

General Shale has received the N.C. Department of Labors Annual Gold Safety Award for its Kernersville retail location for the fifth consecutive year. General Shale is a provider of brick for high-quality commercial and residential projects throughout the nation. The DOLs Safety Awards Program recognizes private and public firms that achieve and maintain good health and safety records. To qualify for a safety award, a company must have had no fatalities during the calendar year at the location for which the award was given, and must have maintained an incidence rate that is at least 50 percent below the average for its particular industry group.

BB&T Retirement and Institutional Services received top rankings and 36 Best-in-Class awards in the national 2016 Defined Contribution Survey conducted by PLANSPONSOR magazine. The annual survey is considered one of the retirement industrys leading indicators of plan sponsor satisfaction. BB&Ts highlights include: earning 22 out of 22 Best-In-Class awards for plans in the $5 million$25 million asset range in the categories of technology, education and communications, plan administration, investments and fees and account service teams. It earned 14 Best-In-Class awards for plans under $5 million, including awards in value for price, industry knowledge of account service team and plan communications. BB&T also received a 90.6-percent overall recommendation likelihood.

Charlie W. Bethea has joined Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group. A long-time resident of the area, Bethea will assist home buyers in North Carolina and South Carolina. He has more than 20 years of mortgage and banking experience. He was most recently employed by River Community Bank. Bethea earned a Bachelor of Arts in business administration/accounting from Winston-Salem State University. He is active in the Special Needs Ministry at United Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc.

The Variable advertising agency has promoted seven people and hired seven people. The promotions are: David Mullen, promoted to agency vice president; Gary Bostwick, promoted to associate creative director of brand citizenship; Jodi Dias, promoted to associate director of business development; Kate Fenstermacher, promoted to associate director of operations; Nick Riegal, has been hired as group account director; Keith Rose has been hired as director of integrated production. Additional staff hires include: Kate Masten as group media director; Mandy Hubich, as account director; Jessica Ptachick, senior media strategist; Sarah Farland, media planner; and Justin Jackson designer. Additional promotions include Julie Kuhn to integrated media supervisor; Brandelynn Perry to senior account executive, and James Webb to senior account executive.

Carolina Farm Credit has announced the participants for its eighth annual Ag Biz Planner. The Ag Biz Planner program is an e-learning financial and business planning course whose curriculum includes financial and business planning, budgeting and other money matters essential to a farms success. The participants are paired with an experienced Carolina Farm Credit Loan Officer to mentor them throughout the program. Area participants are Craig and Jessica Myers, and Tommy Dyson from Mocksville. They will be mentored by Mark Robertson, a loan officer from the Lexington branch. Their business operation includes four-layer chicken houses, beef cattle and 110 acres of soybeans. Michele and Joel Cox from Elkin are mentored by loan officer Jocelyn Roten from the Pilot Mountain branch. They will be planting eight acres of hazelnut and oak trees to be used in the growth of truffles.

Garrick Throckmorton has been promoted to vice president of strategy at Allegacy Federal Credit Union. He has been with the Allegacy since 2012 and will lead new efforts to ensure that business strategies, innovation and goals are aligned, communicated and executed. He will also direct the external well-being efforts and create an internal culture of innovation. Throckmorton earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Bradley University and a masters in counseling with a focus on organizational development from Wake Forest University. He also serves as an adjunct faculty instructor in the Wake Forest University Master of Arts in Counseling Program.

Hawley Truax, the Environment Program Officer at the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, will leave the foundation at the end of the year to take a position as the Southeast Regional Director for Environmental Defense Fund  a leading international nonprofit that focuses on clean air and water; abundant fish and wildlife; and a stable climate by creating solutions that also carry economic benefits.

Kim Strohacker, a member of the Winston-Salem Regional Association of Realtors, has graduated from the 2016 Central Carolina Regional Leadership Academy. In 2013, six area REALTOR Associations began regional leadership academies to help emerging REALTORS gain real estate industry and regional knowledge that would help them fill volunteer leadership positions in their local association and communities.
A loud knock on the door one morning in 1980 at Gliser Fuentes home in Cuba could only mean one thing. Her mother told her to hide.

Framed by the curtains, Fuentes  just 11 at the time  watched through eyes dripping with tears as her mother was ripped away from her home by government agents, she said. She stayed there for hours, the lights off, in a paralyzed nightmare.

When the bad people came, they threw many people in jail. People were hysteric, but there was nothing we could do, the High Point resident said. They came for my mom because she was not happy with the government.

From that moment forward, Fuentes was branded the daughter of a traitor and, under Fidel Castros regime, was unable to attend school or pursue her dreams of painting.

She moved in with her grandmother, but eventually had to move to a big city to escape the shackles that came with the title of treason, she said. Life was hard.

It would be more than 20 long years before Fuentes would be tearfully reunited with her mother in Miami. They both made it out of Cuba and are now U.S. citizens.

Fuentes, who has now been here about 15 years, was painting, as she often does when she cant sleep, when she heard the news: Fidel Castro was dead.

She could hardly believe her eyes as she watched videos of friends in Miami rejoicing and dancing in the streets.

What is happening, oh my God. It was like a carnival, flags waving, people dancing, said Fuentes, now 48.

I wouldnt wish death on anyone, but I rejoice in the mortality of some men.

Fuentes had waited to have a family until she moved to the U.S., so that her children could be born in a land of freedom and opportunities, a far cry from her childhood, she said.

The death of Castro, a dictator who ruled for half a century, means hope for her country and for those she has left behind, like her grandmother, she said.

Im not happy because someone died, but because a door opened things can get better now, the mother of three said. Change is coming.
A conclusion could be in sight  potentially sooner rather than later  for the contested governors race, with a pivotal caveat attached.

The Pat McCrory re-election campaign issued a statement Saturday night supporting an appeal by Thomas Stark, the attorney for the N.C. Republican Party, to the State Board of Elections, who independently filed the request for himself as a registered Durham County voter.

Stark is appealing how the Durham County Board of Elections handled more than 94,000 ballots on Election Day, including turning down on Nov. 18 his request for a total ballot recount by hand.

If a Durham County recount provides the same results as earlier posted, the McCrory committee will be prepared to withdraw its statewide recount request in the governors race, the campaign said.

Stark asked the state elections board to expedite his request for a hearing and a ballot recount.

The Durham elections board ruled unanimously (3-0) that there was a lack of evidence of what Stark has called ballot malfeasance.

Starks latest appeal is perhaps the most pivotal legal and political step pitting McCrory, the Republican incumbent governor, against GOP-controlled county and state elections boards. State law dictates that the party of the governor be in the majority on county and state elections boards.

McCrory called Tuesday for a statewide recount even though the state board has not certified the race results. State law allows for a recount if a candidate is within 10,000 votes.

The latest count from the state board has Democratic challenger Roy Cooper with a 7,716-vote lead over McCrory out of more than 4.69 million votes cast. Coopers lead was 4,987 when the states 2,704 precincts reported complete but unofficial results Nov. 9.

Thirteen counties have not completed the canvassing of absentee and certified provisional ballots, including Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg and Buncombe  all of which Cooper won handily.

This reasonable request will provide confidence and clarity in the Durham results for the voters of North Carolina, the McCrory re-election campaign said. Upon completion of this recount, we can better assess next steps.

Mitch Kokai, a policy analyst with the John Locke Foundation, a conservative research group, said Saturday that the Cooper and McCrory camps should welcome a decision that resolves this issue as quickly as possible.

As long as the Durham ballot issue remains unresolved, Cooper cant have complete confidence that hell take over as governor in January, Kokai said. Meanwhile, McCrory wont know for certain whether these ballots give him any reason to continue questioning the vote counts validity.

Cooper supporters have pressured McCrory to concede. Coopers campaign refers to him as governor-elect, and he has begun the process of forming an administration transition team.

State law says a candidate cannot take office until the state elections board has certified the race results. The state board is supposed to finish the statewide certification by Tuesday, but that now could be delayed until at least Dec. 9.

That potential late certification date could be used by the McCrory campaign to justify an appeal to the Republican-controlled General Assembly to declare a winner in the race. Under state law, the legislature is allowed to intervene if it can be proven that the winning candidate is ineligible or unqualified to serve, or that there are errors in vote tabulation.

Political analysts have questioned whether the legislature would take that drastic step in opposition to the apparent will of North Carolina voters.

House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, has not ruled out intervening if the McCrory or Chuck Stuber campaigns request it.

Stuber, a Republican, has asked for a recount in the state auditors race, which Democratic incumbent Beth Wood currently leads by 4,282 votes.

Stark and the McCrory campaign have pointed to one precinct and five early-voting precincts with potential irregularities.

Although there was a memory card issue affecting the county commissioners race in those precincts, those votes were tabulated by hand. The tabulation of those more than 90,000 ballots was completed late on Election Day.

No evidence has been presented that the memory card issue affected the votes in the governors race.

The malfunctions and irregularities in Durham have been extremely troubling to this campaign, said Russell Peck, McCrorys re-election campaign manager.

We are now left with no other position but to request the State Board of Elections expeditiously order a full recount of Durham Countys early vote totals, Peck said.

Once this occurs, we can all move toward a conclusion of this process, he said.

Cooper won Durham County by a 78.6 percent (121,824 votes) to 19.8 percent (30,645) margin, by far the widest margin of the eight urban counties he swept.

About 77 percent of the ballots cast in Durham were by early voting and were officially tabulated on Election Day.

By comparison, 55 percent of ballots were cast in early voting in Forsyth County, 65 percent in Guilford County, 61 percent in Mecklenburg County and 59 percent in Wake County.

The Stark appeal was made four days after Francis De Luca, the president of the right-leaning Civitas Institute, sued the state elections board.

De Luca wants a federal judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina to issue a preliminary injunction that prevents the state board from certifying results until it has verified the mailing addresses of more than 90,000 same-day registrants during the early-voting period. That process could take until Dec. 7 to complete.

It is not clear how Starks appeal may affect De Lucas lawsuit. A federal judge has set a hearing for 11 a.m. Friday to consider De Lucas complaint.

Attorneys representing the three intervenors, including two Appalachian State University students, filed a motion Wednesday after U.S. District Judge James Dever III set a hearing on De Lucas motion.

It is not clear how much, if any, that McCrory would benefit from De Lucas request. Political analysts say Republican voters have been more likely to vote by same-day registration than Democrats since that option became available in 2007.
DEFUNIAK SPRINGS, Fla.  While his mother was preparing food in the kitchen, a 5-year-old Florida boy called 911 to invite law-enforcement officers over for Thanksgiving dinner.

Monica Webster of the Walton County Sheriffs Office said that with all the bad calls they receive every day, this was a happy call.

But young Billy Nolins family had no idea he had invited guests to dinner.

His mother, Landi McCormick, said she was cooking when Billys grandfather noticed him talking to someone on an old cellphone. She reprimanded Billy when he admitted calling 911. He was crying when sheriffs Deputy Dannon Byrd drove up.

McCormick said the deputy thanked Billy for his kind invitation, then reminded him that he should only use 911 for emergencies. The deputies gave Billy a sheriffs badge.
SAN DIEGO  Smoking has dropped to historic lows nationwide, dramatically decreasing revenue from tobacco taxes. In search of funds, a growing number of states are taxing electronic cigarettes  a trend that is sparking a fierce public health debate over whether it will deter smokers from switching to a safer alternative.

California became the seventh state to tax e-cigarettes with the overwhelming approval of a Nov. 8 ballot measure. Proposition 56 also will add a $2 per pack state tax to cigarettes onto the existing 87 cents per pack tax.

State officials are still calculating the new tax structure. The vaping industry estimates the tax could increase the price of the battery-operated devices and liquids by more than 60 percent, making it more expensive to vape than to smoke, even with the additional per-pack tobacco tax.

California just made the most attractive option unattractive for many smokers and unaffordable, said Gregory Conley of the American Vaping Association, which advocates for electronic cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco. Some may never make an attempt to quit.

The taxation of e-cigarettes has split the public health community between those who support e-cigarettes being treated the same as tobacco and those who see them as an important tool in the fight against smoking, the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States.

Theres no scientific consensus on the risks or advantages of vaping.

Its one of the nastiest debates Ive ever seen in the public health community, and Ive been researching tobacco control policies for 40 years, University of Michigan public health professor Kenneth Warner said. The momentum, if you will, is in the direction against e-cigarettes, for sure, and it is unfortunate in a big way, because we may be missing out on a potential intervention that could reduce the toll of smoking by a lot.

E-cigarettes heat a nicotine liquid into a vapor, delivering the chemical that smokers crave without the harmful tar generated from burning tobacco.

Britain promotes the devices for smokers. Its leading physicians organization said it found the devices were 95 percent safer than cigarettes, but some researchers dispute that.

E-cigarettes emit chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other harm, and there is concern over the long-term impact that nicotine has on adolescent brain development, according to Californias Public Health Department. Use among young adults ages 18 to 29 has tripled in the state.

The evidence is piling up very fast that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than people thought, said Stanton Glantz, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco.

Glantz said the universitys analysis of more than three dozen studies also found that only a fraction of smokers quit after switching to e-cigarettes and that many end up smoking and vaping, which could be worse.

Concern over the jump in youth users was a driving force behind taxing e-cigarettes, Glantz said.

If we could snap our fingers and have all smokers become e-cigarette users  and not change anything else  that would be better, he said. The problem is all the other complicated things going on.

Representatives from about 180 countries participating in the World Health Organizations global tobacco control treaty negotiations, including the United States, adopted a declaration this month in which they vowed to prohibit or regulate the sale of e-cigarettes. The declaration comes months after the U.S. announced its first federal regulations of e-cigarettes.

The $3 billion vaping industry fears taxes coupled with regulations will shut down many small shops.

Scott Drenkard of the nonpartisan Tax Foundation said the products potential to help smokers is losing out to the rush to recover eroding tobacco tax revenues, which make up as much as 2 percent of state budgets. More than two dozen states have considered taxing e-cigarettes since 2015.

In California, tobacco tax revenue dropped by 44 percent between 1989 and last year, from $1.6 billion to roughly $830 million. The state has the nations second-lowest smoking rate, behind Utah.

State officials estimate Proposition 56 will raise more than $1 billion in the first year for California, with much of the money earmarked for health care for the poor.

Public health experts, like Warner, favor a staggered system that applies a heavy tax on tobacco cigarettes, a lighter tax on e-cigarettes and keeping no tax on nicotine replacement therapies that have been determined to be relatively risk-free.

North Carolina adds a tax of 5 cents to each milliliter of nicotine liquid compared with 45 cents per pack for traditional cigarettes.
The State Board of Elections approved on a contingent basis Sunday holding a hearing later this week on an appeal focused on how the Durham County elections board processed more than 94,000 ballots on Election Day.

We want to proceed sooner given the critical nature of whats at stake here, said Grant Whitney Jr., chairman of the state board.

The latest count from the state board has Democratic challenger Roy Cooper with a 7,742-vote lead over Gov. Pat McCrory out of more than 4.69 million votes cast. Coopers lead was 4,987 when the states 2,704 precincts reported complete but unofficial results Nov. 9.

The state board decision comes a day after the McCrory campaign said in a statement that if a Durham County recount provides the same results as earlier posted, the McCrory committee will be prepared to withdraw its statewide recount request in the governors race.

The state board held an emergency teleconference at 12:30 p.m. to determine its initial response to the appeal filed by Thomas Stark, the N.C. Republican Party attorney who was representing himself as a registered Durham County voter.

Stark asks the state board to take authority over the Durham ballot process. Both the state and Durham elections boards are controlled by Republicans.

The state board requests the Durham board or the county attorney provide it by 4 p.m. Tuesday with a transcript and full record of the Durham boards Nov. 18 meeting.

The Durham board voted 3-0 to deny Starks request for a total ballot recount and for non-elections board personnel to review the ballots. Stark has accused the Durham board of ballot malfeasance.

The deadline represents the end of a 48-hour period from when Stark independently filed his request.

If the Durham board meets the deadline, the state board said it would need time to review the documentation, but planned to meet within 48 hours of receiving it.

Whitney said board members would need time to review the specific ballot recount processes since Stark appears to be wanting to bring everything into this appeal.

Counsel representing the state Democratic Party told state board officials that they believe there is no compelling reason to expedite Starks appeal. The normal appeal process could take 10 or more days before the state board would conduct a hearing.

The state board also voted 5-0 to retain outside counsel to address a lawsuit filed Wednesday by Francis De Luca, president of the right-leaning think tank The Civitas Institute.

De Luca wants a federal judge in the Eastern District of North Carolina to issue a preliminary injunction that prevents the state board from certifying results until it has verified the mailing addresses of more than 90,000 same-day registrants during the early voting period.

That process could take until Dec. 7 to complete. A hearing on his request has been set for 11 a.m. Friday in Raleigh, which would require state board personnel to be present.

These two 48-hour periods work and still lets us have the hearing on the appeal to not conflict with the federal expedited hearing, Whitney said. We need to provide some time certainty with the political processes.

The McCrory re-election campaign issued a statement supporting Starks appeal and his request for a total ballot recount in Durham. State board officials said the statement had not been submitted to them as of the emergency meeting.

McCrory called Tuesday for a statewide recount even though the state board has not certified the race results. State law allows for a recount if a candidate is within 10,000 votes.

Twelve counties have not completed the canvassing of absentee and certified provisional ballots, including Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg and Buncombe  all of which Cooper won handily.

This reasonable request will provide confidence and clarity in the Durham results for the voters of North Carolina, the McCrory re-election campaign said. Upon completion of this recount, we can better assess next steps.

State law says a candidate cannot take office until the state board has certified the race results. The state board is supposed to finish the statewide certification by Tuesday, but that now could be delayed until at least Dec. 9.

Cooper supporters have pressured McCrory to concede. Coopers campaign refers to him as governor-elect, and he has begun the process of forming an administration transition team.

That potential late certification date could be used by the McCrory campaign to justify an appeal to the Republican-controlled General Assembly to declare a winner in the race. Under state law, the legislature is allowed to intervene if it can be proven that the winning candidate is ineligible or unqualified to serve, or that there are errors in vote tabulation.

Political analysts have questioned whether the legislature would take that drastic step in opposition to the apparent will of North Carolina voters.

House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, has not ruled out intervening if the McCrory or Chuck Stuber campaigns request it.

Stuber, a Republican, has asked for a recount in the state auditors race, which Democratic incumbent Beth Wood currently leads by 4,295 votes.

Stark and the McCrory campaign have pointed to one precinct and five early-voting precincts with potential irregularities.

Although there was a memory card issue affecting the county commissioners race in those precincts, those votes were tabulated by hand. The tabulation of those more than 90,000 ballots was completed late on Election Day.

No evidence has been presented that the memory card issue affected the votes in the governors race.

The malfunctions and irregularities in Durham have been extremely troubling to this campaign, said Russell Peck, McCrorys re-election campaign manager.

We are now left with no other position but to request the State Board of Elections expeditiously order a full recount of Durham Countys early vote totals, Peck said.

Once this occurs, we can all move toward a conclusion of this process, he said.

Cooper won Durham County by a 78.6 percent (121,824 votes) to 19.8 percent (30,645) margin, by far the widest margin of the eight urban counties he swept.

About 77 percent of the ballots cast in Durham were by early voting and were officially tabulated on Election Day.

By comparison, 55 percent of ballots were cast in early voting in Forsyth County, 65 percent in Guilford County, 61 percent in Mecklenburg County and 59 percent in Wake County.
I have long marveled at catchphrases that invoke patriotic yearnings.

Make America Great Again would certainly fall into that category, as would the strict constructionists desire to Take the country back to what the Founders intended.

Both lines have been proven effective because they offer just enough specificity that the listener is free to interpret their meaning for themselves.

Though its convenient to assume the Founders had a definitive vision for America that left no room for altering by their descendants, that runs counter to Americas historical narrative.

There were two compromises, in particular, between the North and the South during the countrys inception that I believe offer insight as to the direction that we ought to be taking the country.

The Compromise of 1787, or the three-fifths compromise, through the 20/20 lens of hindsight is one of the countrys great Faustian bargains.

The three-fifths compromise was reached during the Philadelphia Convention in 1787 for census purposes and taxation. Those in the North opposed to slavery wanted to only count free citizens, but the South wanted slaves counted in the population.

Slaves could not vote, giving slaveholders increased representation in the House of Representatives  hence the compromise.

Not even the Pennsylvania Abolition Society endorsed by Benjamin Franklin, a Founder whose stature was second only to George Washington, could derail the compromise that would eventually require a civil war and the ratification of three constitutional amendments to eliminate.

The other compromise of note took place in 1790 at a private dinner party hosted by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson to settle differences between Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton and U.S. Rep. James Madison.

Jefferson brokered a deal that allowed Madison to support Hamiltons plan that the federal government would assume state debts incurred from the Revolutionary War. In return, Hamilton would use his influence to support a bill to locate the U.S. capitol on the Potomac River.

Jefferson, who in theory distrusted the expansion of the federal government, thought it preferable to have the U.S. capitol located in the South.

By having the capitol placed between two slaveholding states (Maryland and Virginia), the implied assumption was the North would at least provide tacit approval of slavery in the South.

Regardless of how one might feel about the compromises in retrospect, they serve to remind us that compromise is an integral part of our republic.

From the words that appeared on the final draft of the Declaration of Independence to the Continental Congress voting for self-determination, the origins of America were fertilized with compromise.

Somehow, compromise has become pejorative in the current discourse. Compromise only possesses value when the minority acquiesces to the desires of the majority.

For good or ill, America is the only country based on an idea. And that idea can only survive with the oxygen of compromise.

The other lesson derived from these historical compromises is each generation is burdened with the responsibility to be the guardians of our democratic values.

The three-fifths compromise failed to address Americas original sin of slavery. No other issue in American history was so fervently kicked down the road to such tragic consequences.

In a letter addressing slavery after he had retired to his Monticello plantation, Jefferson wrote: I leave it for future generations to correct the ills of their fathers.

For all the reliance on the original intent of the Founders, there remains a responsibility that each generation bears to understand what the immortal words of the Founders mean for them.

If that were not true, the 14th Amendment, which reaffirms due process and establishes equal protection under the law, could not have been conceived.

In the practice of paralyzing the Founders words in granite without context and deifying flawed men beyond recognition, we do ourselves a disservice. It was never the goal of the Founders for future generations to serve as automatons.

It is too easy to simply rely on what one surmises the Founders might think about a society that they could never perceive. We can and should embrace their words in a macro-context to discover how they might illuminate our understanding of democratic values today.

But any claims to solely depend on the original intent of the Founders are an abdication of ones responsibilities.

How can an ever-changing society in 2016 maintain a commitment to its most sacred document that was ratified 227 years ago? How, without active engagement, can society do that without regressing into something that appears closer to perfection in the melancholy imaginations of some than it could ever be in reality?
RALEIGH  Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the governors race, North Carolina will continue its role as one of the nations leading practitioners of conservative reform and innovation.

Im not suggesting that the identity of the governor is irrelevant. Far from it. Over the past four years, Pat McCrory has put some issues on the agenda that the Republican-controlled General Assembly might not otherwise have prioritized. On other matters, McCrory and the legislature agreed about a goal but differed on the means. In these cases, the policy that emerged bore the imprint of each.

Over the next few years, a Gov. McCrory would likely relate to state lawmakers in a similar way. If Roy Cooper is governor, the relationship would obviously be more adversarial. But when it comes to enacting public policy, North Carolinas legislature has always been the dominant branch of government. That will continue, particularly since the Republicans maintained their veto-proof majorities in both chambers in the 2016 election.

What does it mean for the 2017 session and beyond? On most issues, I dont foresee a significant change in direction. On some, I foresee another round of significant accomplishments.

On the state budget, for example, the General Assembly will maintain a conservative approach. Expenditures will continue to grow at a modest pace, thus putting a lid on the overall size of government while hedging against a recession or other risks. Over the first four months of the 2016-17 fiscal year, General Fund revenues are slightly higher than projected while expenditures are pretty much on track. Thanks to its fiscal discipline, North Carolina also has nearly $1.6 billion in its rainy-day account and some $400 million in Medicaid reserves.

In the coming weeks and months, you can expect lawmakers to fund disaster relief in hurricane-ravaged counties in the east and fire-ravaged counties in the west. You can expect more money for teacher salaries, including higher pay for higher performance and hard-to-staff positions, as well as for pressing needs in areas such as the justice system. But dont expect massive new programs or a reversal of North Carolinas tax reforms and reductions, even if Cooper is governor.

On education policy, conservatives will now have another ally: incoming State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson. A former teacher and Republican school-board member, Johnson supports parental choice and other recent education reforms, while advocating changes in North Carolinas testing and accountability system that many GOP lawmakers also favor.

Regardless of who sits in the governors mansion, you can expect the General Assembly to enact more reforms of the regulatory process. For example, there is bipartisan interest in changing occupational licensing to make it easier for North Carolinians to change careers or start their own businesses. Lawmakers will likely take another look at subjecting costly new rules to more legislative oversight, including floor votes. And given that a new Republican administration will be staffing federal regulatory agencies and, eventually, the federal judiciary, you can expect Republican legislators in Raleigh and other state capitals to think creatively about lightening the regulatory burden to increase private-sector jobs and incomes.

Although their rhetoric does not always match their records, Republicans generally favor devolving responsibilities from Washington. If the Trump administration and Congress practice what they preach on federalism, states and localities will have far more policy room to maneuver than they had under President Obama.

It couldnt come at a more opportune time for conservatives. Across the nation, they enjoy more influence in state and local government than they have since the 1920s. Here in North Carolina, they will continue to be the dominant players in crafting public policy.

Thats different from saying they are the only players, however. Every conservative reform has its opponents, some ideological and some simply looking out for organized interest groups. North Carolina is a state of conflicting opinions and complex challenges. Conservative leaders should always be willing to listen and learn, even as they continue to advance their core principles, including economic freedom and personal responsibility.
RICHMOND  Nate Parker and I sat in the back of a stretch limo last weekend, rolling through the night streets of the Confederate capital that ruled until the Union took it down just a few long generations ago. Wed grown up just an hours drive apart, he in Norfolk, and I, several years earlier, in rural Southampton County.

So close, but worlds apart. Parker grew up black in a crowded housing project. I grew up white in a spacious house.

But we have both, just as so many other Americans, long wrestled with the legacy of slavery. That legacy has both defined us all as Americans even as our differences over it still keep us from becoming whole as a country.

We met at an event last weekend held by The Richmond Forum, a fine group led by Bill Chapman that brings in big names like Parker to speak. I moderated the event with Parker, who has sparked nationwide controversy with his new film about Nat Turner, a black slave preacher who, in 1831 in my home county, led the nations only sustained slave fight for freedom, killing almost 60 white men, women, children and babies. Whites, in retaliation, killed as many as 100 blacks.

Parkers movie, The Birth of a Nation, makes Turner, who was convicted and hanged, out to be a hero. Thats heresy for many in my homeland. I can certainly understood why Turner and his followers, with no access to the courts, used violence to rebel against a system that had used violence against blacks for two centuries to keep them working for free. But Turner as a hero?

I thought about that as Parker and I rode in the limo along with several others. We made small talk, knowing wed tackle the big questions soon enough. Someone made a joke about not wanting to accidentally call Nate Nat. Its certainly happened before, Parker said with a laugh.

At the event site, the venerable Altria Theater, Parker and I sat in the Green Room waiting to take the stage. He paced the floor, winding himself up. I sat in a chair, reading over the questions I would ask him.

Parker took the stage first with a short speech. Im not here to entertain you, he told the large crowd. I am here to challenge you. Today we grow. That is my hope, even if I just make you angry to the point where you wake up tomorrow feeling different about your beliefs.

Then I joined him on stage. He gave me a bear hug and we began our chat. I started by telling him that his movie blew me away. Parker co-wrote, produced and directed the film that came out last month, and he plays Turner.

The movie starts with a disclaimer that its based on a true story, as opposed to every scene and line being factual. Once I saw that disclaimer, I just decided to not take the film literally. Its a movie, not a documentary, and its a movie that, like the best art, can transform you. When, in college, I read William Styrons 1967 novel The Confessions of Nat Turner, I saw Turner, for the first time, as a complex and smart human being. Parkers movie took that process an uncomfortable step further, making Nat even likeable.

The movie does not show the killing of the young, but does refer to it, suggesting that Turner felt justified by an Old Testament-inspired vision he had before he began his revolt. Nat only killed one person himself, but he led in all the carnage.

In my opinion, Nat Turner is a great black hero, just like some people would say Patrick Henry is a great white hero, Parker told me and the audience.

He asked me what I would have done in Turners shoes. Im Quaker, I replied. But then, Ive never been an enslaved person.

Parker smiled and nodded.

Touche, I thought. Youve made me think, to at least try to get inside the heads of Turner and his men who revolted against the brutal and sustained madness of slavery: all the rapes, all the beatings, all the murders, all the families being split apart. I dont condone any violence, whether it was that done in slavery, toddlers being killed by Turners men, the Klan in later days or police officers being killed or killing today. But I do try to understand the motivations behind it all.

By a simple twist of fate, I could have been born a slave or even been born as Nat Turner. Parker could have been born his owner. Were all related, more than many of us ever acknowledge.

One of Parkers overarching messages is that the fight against injustice is far from over, especially for African Americans.

We have to be honest about the history of this country, and we need to confront it, Parker told the crowd and me. I think if an alien dropped down to this planet, his assessment of what is going on would be a lot more practical. I want to get to the place where when we see injustice, we do something. Right away We have to clean the wound, sew it up and see to it that it will heal.

Parker, whose work includes a nonprofit foundation to help African-American communities, hasnt always had an easy path. While he was in college almost 20 years ago at Pennsylvania State University, he was charged with sexual assault but acquitted. Big Media revisiting of that case overrode publicity about the film itself, probably causing many people to stay away from the movie.

Thats regrettable. Parkers movie, and his message about fighting injustice, couldnt come at a better time. That fight, always crucial, must be waged with peace in the modern era. We should all be riding that road together.
David Baldaccis typical action thriller often features a character in dire emotional straits. This gives the novel dramatic depth and intensity, making it an unforgettable read. It has a strong element of science fiction, is action-packed and thought-provoking.

His latest, No Mans Land, has two such troubled characters: John Puller and Paul Rogers. Puller is a military investigator whose accomplishments were chronicled in several previous Baldacci novels. Hes visiting his father, who is hospitalized with dementia, when two Army officials arrive with devastating news. The Army, they announce, has reopened the 30-year-old case of his mothers disappearance after receiving a letter accusing his father of his wifes murder.

Puller Sr., a legendary three-star general, wasnt a suspect then because he was believed to have been out of the country. But new evidence and the letter show that he was at Fort Monroe, Va,  where the family lived at that time  a few hours before Jackie Pullers disappearance.

Meanwhile, Paul Rogers is on parole in an unnamed town after serving 10 years for killing a man. Rogers, an unnaturally strong man with a mysterious implant in the back of his head, has to constantly fight his impulse to kill. He considers himself the most dangerous animal of all because he has a human brain to go along with the wild part.

Now, the man has one goal: Return to Fort Monroe, where he once lived, to take care of some unfinished business. Puller is already there, trying to find out what happened to his mother when he was 8 years old and his Air Force major-brother was 9. Only when he accidentally meets and gets to know Rogers is he able to uncover the horrifying truth behind the family tragedy, a secret the Army has covered up for decades.
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By Bill Emmott | (Project Syndicate) |  

LONDON  For the past couple of weeks, the world has been guessing at how US President-elect Donald Trump will behave in office and what policies he will pursue, following a long campaign full of contradictory statements. Americas previous businessman-presidents  Warren G. Harding and Herbert Hoover  were around too long ago to provide much guidance. There is, however, a recent European precedent: Italys Silvio Berlusconi.

What Trump has achieved, Berlusconi pioneered. Like Trump, Berlusconi is a businessman who made his first fortune in real estate. When he entered politics in 1994, he was an outsider, albeit one who, also like Trump, had long been close to plenty of insiders.

Americas president-elect has done little to assuage growing anxiety, both at home and abroad, since his victory. Project Syndicate contributors explain why the fear is justified.

The similarities dont end there. Both Trump and Berlusconi are intimately familiar with the insides of courtrooms; Trump has moved fast since the election to settle fraud lawsuits against Trump University, but has about 70 other suits outstanding against him and his businesses. And both have an array of conflicts of interest with their role as head of government, thanks to their large business empires.

Berlusconi, like Trump, managed to present himself as a rich man and a populist. He preferred to communicate directly with the people, bypassing traditional media and party structures. His propensity for glamorous women and glitzy homes somehow enhanced his popular appeal.

The comparison between Trump and Berlusconi is far from superficial. In fact, Italys experience with Berlusconi  or Il Cavaliere (the Knight), as he is known in his country  provides six clear lessons for Americans and the world on what to expect from Trump.

First, no one should underestimate the next US president. Already, Trump has defied expectations; few expected him even to win the Republican primary. Yet many observers continue to predict his imminent downfall, assuming that he will last only four years in the White House, if he is not impeached before that.

Berlusconis experience tells a different story. Berlusconi, too, has been consistently underestimated by his opponents. Commentators deemed him too ignorant and inexperienced to last as prime minister, assuming that he would not survive the cut and thrust of politics or the pressures of government.

Yet Berlusconi remains one of the kingpins of Italian politics. In the last 22 years, he has won three general elections and served as prime minister for nine years. Every time journalists or intellectuals have tried to take him on in public debate, they have lost. Trumps critics  indeed, all US observers  should keep that in mind.

The second lesson is that Trump will probably pursue what is essentially a permanent political campaign, injecting himself directly into conversations. Berlusconi has often used television, especially his own commercial channels, to that end. Instead of giving interviews he cannot control, Berlusconi has often worked with favored acolytes, or simply talked directly to the camera. When he was in office, many a political talk show was interrupted by a phone call from the prime minister demanding to have his say.

From Trump, we should expect not just a continued Twitter barrage, but also the use of TV, including talk shows, and other channels to speak directly to the people. Trumps decision to release a two-and-a-half-minute YouTube video laying out his priorities, in lieu of a press conference, reinforces this reading. While the approach may not seem very presidential, it works, at least when carried out by a master marketer who plays fast and loose with the facts.

The third lesson from Berlusconis success is that even a very wealthy and powerful person can wield the victim narrative effectively. Indeed, even while in office, Berlusconi consistently claimed that he was being attacked by the judiciary, by rival businessmen, by communists, by the political establishment.

When the chips are down, expect Trump to do the same. Never mind that he is a billionaire, born to a wealthy family, or that, in the next election, he will be the incumbent. He will consistently portray himself as besieged by self-serving enemies.

The fourth lesson is that mudslinging is bound to happen. Berlusconis used his TV stations and newspapers so liberally to smear his opponents that the writer Roberto Saviano called them his macchina del fango or mud machine.

Trumps attacks on the media, often carried out via Twitter, are a precursor to this, as are his campaign vows to open up libel laws. His chief mud-slinger is likely to be his newly appointed chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, the former chair of the ultra right-wing Breitbart News.

The fifth lesson is that Trump will probably continue to prize loyalty above all else in his administration, just as Berlusconi has. Already, Trump has made his three oldest children  who are supposed to run his business during his presidency  key players in his campaign and transition.

Federal law may prohibit Trump from appointing his children to government posts, but they will surely remain at the center of his decision-making. Already, his daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, attended Trumps first meeting with a head of government, Japans Shinzo Abe. Even Trumps non-family appointments  often controversial or radical figures who would not have a place in any administration except his  reflect an emphasis on personal loyalty.

The final lesson of Berlusconi is that expressions of admiration for strongmen like Russian President Vladimir Putin should be taken seriously. Narcissistic lone rangers like Berlusconi and Trump are accustomed to making personal deals, and prefer other strongmen as their interlocutors. Berlusconis favorite overseas visits while in office were to Putins dacha and former Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafis tent, not to boring European Council meetings or G20 summits.

In the end, however, there is one key difference between Silvio Berlusconi and Donald Trump. Berlusconi had no real agenda while in office, except to further his business and personal interests and nurture his own power by providing resources and favors to his supporters. His greatest disservice to Italians was his inaction in the face of economic stagnation, but at least he didnt make it worse. Trump, by contrast, does have an agenda, however hard to read. Whether it will make things better or worse remains to be seen.

Bill Emmott is a former editor-in-chief of The Economist.

Via Project Syndicate

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The Jimmy Dore Show: The Right Way To Resist Trump  Italian Scholar Who Studied Italys Berlusconi
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By Tharanga Yakupitiyage | (Inter Press Service) |  

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 24 2016 (IPS)  Although U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has hinted he may be softening his stance on climate change, many are still uncertain of what lies ahead concerning climate action within and beyond the United States.



A demonstration against the XL Pipeline. Credit: Kanya DAlmeida/IPS

In a meeting with New York Times on Tuesday, the newly elected U.S. President Donald Trump promised an open mind to climate change, contrary to prior statements in which he described it as a hoax created by China.

Despite acknowledging some connectivity between man-made emissions and climate change, Trumps controversial environmental policies still appear to remain on the table, sparking concerns across the globe.

Among Trumps environmental policies is the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, the rollback of the Clean Power Plan which aims to reduce the countrys greenhouse gas emissions, and the diversion of billions in payments to UN climate programs towards building up domestic coal, oil and gas industries.

On Tuesday, the President-elect also announced his intention to eliminate all climate change funding and research by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an organisation that conducts comprehensive research on global warming. Bob Walker, who is appointed to lead the NASA transition team for the new administration, described NASAs climate work as too politicised.

The election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency has raised acute concernin relation to future global action to curb climate change and help people in the poorest, most vulnerable countries cope with its devastating effects,  Andrew Norton.

The election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency has raised acute concernin relation to future global action to curb climate change and help people in the poorest, most vulnerable countries cope with its devastating effects, Director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) Andrew Norton told IPS.

Norton stressed the importance of the U.S. to continue being a leader in the fight against climate change, including upholding its commitment to the Paris Agreement.

Action by all countries is crucial to keeping temperature rise to within 1.5 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels to avoid severe damage to vulnerable countries and communities. Norton told IPS.

In an effort to keep global warming below 2 degrees celsius as agreed in the Paris Agreement, the U.S., which is the second biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the world, has pledged to decrease its emissions by 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Global action against climate change is therefore only stronger with the U.S. as part of it, said Norton.

Union of Concerned Scientists Director of Strategy and Policy Alden Meyer told IPS that despite uncertainty in the U.S. role, the Paris Agreement will continue on as agreed.

[Nations] wanted the U.S. to stay in, but if they didnt, it wasnt going to stop them from moving forwardtheres a sort of spirit of were in this together and were going to go ahead and know that the U.S. will come back in at some point, Meyer told IPS.

But it will be a tough road ahead to secure effective and inclusive climate policies at the federal level, Meyer added.

Soon after the election, the President-elect appointed climate change skeptic Myron Ebell, who urged the senate to reject the Paris Agreement, to lead the transition at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a discouraging signal in the global struggle against climate change.

Both Meyer and Norton also pointed to the implications of a Trump administration on climate finance.

There is no doubt that if the U.S. cancelled the climate finance it has pledged it would have a huge effect on the speed and ability for the poorest, most vulnerable countries to protect themselves from the worst effects of climate change, Norton said.

Of particular concern is the UN Green Climate Fund established during the 2010 UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun to address pressing climate mitigation and adaptation needs of developing countries. Developed nations agreed to mobilise $US 100 billion per year by 2020 as part of the initiative.

The U.S. promised $3 billion, representing approximately 30 percent of the total nearly $10 billion pledged. So far, only $500 million has been approved by Congress.

If the U.S. government cancels their payments, there will be a major gap in much needed climate finance for developing countries that often lack such resources.

It would put some pressure on countries like Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Japan and others to step up to the plate and fill any hole created by that, Meyer told IPS.

The effects of such policies are not isolated to developing countries, but also have major implications domestically.

The most at risk is the Clean Power Plan which aims to reduce carbon pollution from power plants. Coal burning is the U.S. top source of greenhouse gas emissions, and is responsible for a number of respiratory illnesses, premature deaths, and the contamination and destruction of essential natural resources.

Since 2010, almost one third of the countrys coal plants have been phased out as part of the EPA initiative. These retirements are one of the main reasons that U.S. carbon emissions have declined 12 percent in a decade.

In his 100-day plan, President-elect Trump vowed to cancel all restrictions on US energy production, including those in the Clean Power Plan, in order to create millions of jobs. However, due to global trends in the expansion of renewable energy, coal and gas may soon be obsolete.

If the US turns away from climate action, isolation from the developing global green economy could lock the US into technologies that will be increasingly redundant and fossil fuel energy that will be increasingly expensive in relation to renewable alternatives, said Norton.

Trump also plans to green light mega infrastructure projects such as the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines.

The 1,172-mile long Dakota Access Pipeline has been met with widespread criticism and resistance due to the reported destruction of sacred Native American sites, potential threat of water contamination, and fuelling of climate change.

In an effort to ensure domestic climate action, a group of 21 youths aged 9 to 20 filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government noting the cost of inaction on climate change on their constitutional rights to life, liberty and property.

The government has known that climate change is happening and is caused by carbon emissions since 1965 at leastso were arguing that their actions all throughout these years have created a situation where our generation and our childrens generations right to live in a stable society that depends on a stable climate is being threatened, said 19-year-old plaintiff Jacob Lebel to IPS.

Named in the lawsuit is the Jordan Cove project, a natural gas power plant project in Coos Bay, Oregon which connects with the 232-mile Pacific Connector Gas pipeline transporting natural gas across the Northwest state. If built, the plant and pipeline would be the largest source of carbon emissions in Oregon.

What I found out is that the government at the state and federal levels were just rubber stamping this project with no consideration for environmental or climate impacts, Lebel told IPS.

The pipeline route was to be built just a mile from Lebels family farm.

Jordan Cove however is just one project and acts as a symbol for all thats wrong with such environmentally-destructive government projects, said Lebel.

If President Obama does not settle with the plaintiffs before he leaves office, Donald Trump will be named in the lawsuit after January 21 and the case can potentially go to trial.

Just last week, Oregon Judge Ann Aiken ruled that the young plaintiffs have standing to bring the case to trial, denying the U.S. government and fossil fuel industrys motions to dismiss the constitutional climate change lawsuit.

If the groups claims continue to be validated, they have the basis to stop projects such as Jordan Cove and Dakota Access pipeline, and hold the government accountable to U.S. youth and future generations, said Lebel.

The UN also has a role to play, Lebel added.

This message of action in the face of climate change and youth action needs to be talked aboutI think the UN can have a role in giving the youth plaintiffs a platform to tell their stories on a wider, global audience and to maybe inspire people around the world, he told IPS.

Already, similar cases have popped up across the world.

In 2015, a Hague court ordered the Dutch government to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 after the organisation Urgenda filed a lawsuit on behalf of 900 citizens due to insufficient government action to keep them safe from climate change.

Currently, a coalition of youth groups, indigenous activists and Greenpeace filed a lawsuit against the Norwegian government over a decision to allow oil exploration and drilling in the Barents Sea, stating that it violates the countrys constitution and threatens the Paris Agreement.

Through such lawsuits, climate change now has a global face.

The hard thing about climate change, carbon emissions and greenhouse gases is that we cant see them. We are starting to see the effects, but by the time we see the full extent of the ecological and planetary damage that were doing, it will be too late to do anything about it, Lebel told IPS.

Through this lawsuit, we are putting faces on the problem of climate changeand we are telling their stories, showing the concrete ways that they are being affected and that they will continue to be affected in the future, he concluded.

During the recent climate change conference (COP22) in Marrakesh, the U.S. election cast a shadow as nations took the stand to highlight the necessity of action on climate change and urged President-elect Trump to continue the countrys commitment to the issue.

The United States, the largest economic power in the world, the second largest greenhouse gas emitter, must respect the commitments it has undertaken, French President Francois Hollande said to the nearly 200 countries in attendance.

Fijis Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama made an emotional appeal to Trump, stating: President-elect Trump, I formally invite you to Fijiwe will show you how we are already having to move entire communities out of the way of the rising seasthe world looks to America for leadership as we work together to confront this challenge to our survival and the well-being of our planet. President-elect Trump, I appeal to youfor humanitys saketo show that leadership and to join our common cause.

Licensed from Inter Press Service
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TeleSur |  

The world remembers Nelson Mandela as the freedom fighter and president who liberated South Africa from apartheid.

But many look back with a selected memory of how the former prisoners story unfolded. The man who former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher [and US President Ronald Reagan] branded a terrorist was a close personal friend and political ally of Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

Mandela was inspired by Fidel and the Cuban Revolution in 1959 when he began a South African resistance militia to end racial oppression.

Any and every source was of interest to me, Mandela wrote in his autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. I read the report of Blas Roca, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, about their years as an illegal organization during the Batista regime. In Commando, by Deneys Reitz, I read of the unconventional guerrilla tactics of the Boer generals during the Anglo-Boer War. I read works by and about Che Guevara, Mao Tse-tung, Fidel Castro.

Furthermore, after his release from prison in 1990, Mandela traveled to Cuba to meet his friend in person and to thank him for sending soldiers to Angola during the 1970s and 1980s to fight apartheid regimes, widely believed to be a significant catalyst to the eventual ending of apartheid.

In his speech, Mandela said, We have come here today recognizing our great debt to the Cuban people. What other country has such a history of selfless behavior as Cuba has shown for the people of Africa?

How many countries benefit from Cuban health care professionals and educators? How many of these volunteers are now in Africa?

What country has ever needed help from Cuba and has not received it? How many countries threatened by imperialism or fighting for their freedom have been able to count on the support of Cuba?

Castro responded, I have not visited my homeland South Africa, but I love it as if it were my homeland.

In 1994, Castro was able to return the visit to attend Mandelas presidential inauguration after he was elected as South Africas first black president. Four years later, on a return visit to South Africa, Castro was given a heros welcome, delivering a speech to a packed African National Congress. Castro could barely get through his address for the cheers of Cuba, Cuba, and Fidel, Fidel.

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By Juan Cole |  

In the wake of the election of Donald Trump, the regime of Bashar al-Assad and its Russian backer have thrown caution to the wind. No less than the Republican Congress, Damascus and Moscow know that Barack Obama is a lame duck. Understanding that Trump campaigned on giving Syria to Russia and preferring the continuation of the al-Assad regime to the possibility of a radical fundamentalist government, Putin and al-Assad have decided to simply finish off the rebels in the East Aleppo pocket.

Two Wednesdays ago the Syrian and Russian air forces broke a weeks-long aerial ceasefire negotiated by Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Since then, theyve been hitting East Aleppo civilian neighborhoods, and the front lines of the rebel guerrillas, with intensive bombardment reminiscent of World War II tactics, or of the tactics used by Vladimir Putin against Chechnya in 2002. At least two hundred innocent civilians have been killed in the week and a half of bombing.

In the East Aleppo pocket, some 250,000 civilians are trapped by about 4,000 rebel fighters, about a quarter of them members of the Syrian al-Qaeda affiliate and the others a mixture of remnants of the Free Syrian Army and Muslim Brotherhood militias, such as the CIA-vetted Levant Front. West Aleppo, the traditionally nicer part of the city, has a population of closer to a million, and has all along been under regime control.

Middle East Online reports that the Syrian army has announced that on Saturday it established control over an important district of East Aleppo, Hanano, after fierce battles. The rebel forces admitted that intensive bombardment from the air, fierce land battles and high rebel casualties, along with the lack of hospitals had together caused their front to collapse. Hanano has been largely empty of people for months, but some 150 were allowed to leave Saturday by government forces.

The Syrian Arab Army launched both land and air campaigns on the eastern stretches of the city, in an attempt to cut East Aleppo in two.

If the al-Assad regime proves able to establish control over all of Aleppo, it would be an enormous victory for al-Assad after 6 and a half years of war.

The Syrian army communique said that on taking Hanano, units immediately began sweeping for mines and booby traps set up by the rebel fighters. Hanano had been the first part of Aleppo to fall to the rebels in 2012.

A year ago, the situation was reversed, and the rebels managed for several weeks to cut off West Aleppo from resupply, creating a looming humanitarian disaster. West Aleppo has all along been targeted by the rebels with indiscriminate mortar fire. At that time there were no anguished headlines in the West. As it happened, the Russian intervention broke the siege, which was barely reported in the US news media.

Now it is East Aleppo that is surrounded and being starved out.

Moreover, it is being intensively bombarded by regime and Russian aircraft, with an attempt to break the pocket psychologically by targeting civilians and civilian institutions such as hospitals. It is a charnel house. When you string together war crimes one after another, eventually you fall to a whole new level of demonic, that of crimes against humanity. That is surely what the assault on the East Aleppo pocket is. Nor are the rebel guerillas innocent in all this. They appear to be attempting to prevent civilians from leaving, and shooting some of those who try.

The East Aleppo rebels have made several attempts to break the siege on them without success, one of them recent. Rumors are flying that if East Aleppo falls, the al-Assad regime may announce that it has won the war. Certainly, it would then have all the major urban areas.

The Al-Assad regime has revealed itself to be capable of extreme brutaility in order toe stay in power. It now knows that it has a friend in the next White House, and that knowledge appears to have impelled it to go all out to make substantial gains even before the election.



-

Related video:

Wochit News: Rebel-Held East Aleppo Infiltrated By Syrian Government
[JURIST] A lawyer for Hillary Clinton on Saturday announced [blog post] that the Clinton campaign is joining Green Party candidate Jill Steins recount in Wisconsin, and the campaign promised it will look into allegations of voter fraud. General counsel Marc Elias [official website], in a post on blog website Medium, responded to the hundreds of messages, emails, and calls urging us to do something, anything, to investigate claims that the election results were hacked and altered in a way to disadvantage Secretary Clinton, particularly in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, noting that [no] actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology had been found. While the Clinton campaign stated that we believe we have an obligation to the more than 64 million Americans who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton to participate in ongoing proceedings to ensure that an accurate vote count will be reported, President-elect Donald Trump urged that [t]he results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing.

Voting rights and issues have remained a constant topic in US courts. Earlier this month, a federal judge in Wisconsin ruled [JURIST report] that Republican redistricting in the state was unconstitutional gerrymandering. Advocacy groups in September filed a lawsuit challenging the redrawn boundaries [JURIST report] for North Carolinas congressional seats. Also in September several organizations filed a federal lawsuit challenging Georgias voter registration system [JURIST report]. In April the Supreme Court unanimously upheld [JURIST report] an Arizona commissions decisions regarding the redistricting of voting districts in the state.
The government refused [NYT report] a plea offer from accused white supremacist Dylann Roof on Friday. Roof, the man charged with killing nine black church members attending Emanuel AME Church [official website] in Charleston, offered to plead guilty in exchange for a sentence of life in prison. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced her decision in May to pursue the death penalty. The nature of the alleged crime and the resulting harm compelled this decision, said Ms. Lynch. The critics for the Justice Departments decision have several arguments, including the efficacy and morality of the death penalty. William N. Nettles, previous United States attorney for South Carolina, says that a federal death penalty trial would be duplicative as the state is both willing and able to address the issue. Roof is also facing a trial for capital crimes in state court beginning in January.

Jury selection for the trail is scheduled to resume on Monday after the delay due to a request for a competency hearing. US District Judge Richard Gergel released an order [PDF, text] that found Roof to be competent [Reuter report] to stand trial. The closed competency hearing included the testimony of Dr. James C. Ballenger, one of the nations most renowned and respected psychologists. Last year Roof entered a temporary plea [JURIST report] of not guilty. He faces 33 charges including federal hate crimes and firearms charges for killing and attempting to kill African-Americans based on race and in an effort to interfere with the victims right to exercise their religious beliefs
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Moments ago at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko made a successful defense of his title, defeating the previously undefeated Nicholas Walters after 7 rounds of lopsided action. Walters was never in the fight as Lomachenko controlled the pace with his superior footwork and combination punching. After a dominant 7th round, a seemingly embarrassed Walters had enough and decided to tell the referee to call a halt to the fight. Relive all the action in FightHype's round-by-round results!



ROUND 1

They touch gloves to start the fight. Both fighters gauging distance with their jabs. Walters fires to the body. Lomachenko lands a jab and a body shot. Not much to choose from so far. They trade jabs. Right sneaks in for Lomachenko. Jab lands for Lomachenko. Right hook lands for Lomachenko. Round to Lomachenko.



Lomachenko 10 Walters 9



ROUND 2

Walters jabs to the body. Lomachhenko flicks his jab. Straight left lands for Lomachenko. Walters on the retreat a bit. Lomachenko landing his jab. Walters gets in a right. Lomachenko jabs. Quick left lands for Lomachenko. Walters answers with an uppercut. They trade jabs. Good jab lands for Walters. Lomachenko lands a left. Another left lands for Lomachenko. Round to Lomachenko.



Lomachenko 20 Walters 18



ROUND 3

Quick left lands for Lomachenko. Walters grazes him with a left hook. They trade some jabs. Walters gets in an uppercut. 1-2 from Lomachenko. Straight left lands for Lomachenko. Another. Right and a left lands for Lomachenko. Walters lands a left hook. Left for Lomachenko. Walters digs to the body. Good combination lands for Lomachenko to end the round. Round to Lomachenko.



Lomachenko 30 Walters 27



ROUND 4

Lomachenko moving in circles around Walters. Some jabs from Lomachenko. They trade shots. A break in the action after Lomachenko pushes Walters to the ground. Good left lands for Lomachenko. Another left lands for Lomachenko. Walters digs to the body. They trade jabs. Lomachenko lands a left. Hook lands for Lomachenko. Good body shot lands for Lomachenko. They trade shots. Round to Lomachenko.



Lomachenko 40 Walters 36



ROUND 5

Quick jab lands for Lomachenko. 1-2 lands for Lomachenko. Walters just can't find the target. Lomachenko lands a left and a right. Left hand lands for Lomachenko. Walters digs to the body. Hard body shot lands for Lomachenko. Nice left from Lomachenko snaps the head back of Walters. Lomachenko taunts him by dropping his hands. Round to Lomachenko.



Lomachenko 50 Walters 45



ROUND 6

Clubbing right from Wlaters is blocked. Quick left lands for Lomachenko. A couple lefts land for Lomachenko. Uppercut and a right lands for Lomachenko. Good body shot lands for Walters. Walters lands a 1-2. Nice right lands for Lomachenko. Another right lands for Lomachenko. Walters lands a left to the body. Right lands for Lomachenko. Round to Lomachenko.



Lomachenko 60 Walters 54



ROUND 7

They trade some shots on the inside. Lomachenko lands a nice combination. Left to the body lands for Lomachenko. Good right lands for Lomachenko. Another lands and Walters looks shook. HARD body shot lands for Lomachenko. Good left lands for Lomachenko. Walters holds on. Lomachenko walking him down and landing some good shots. Walters fires back. Lomachenko starting to toy with him now; landing lots of punches. Round to Lomachenko.



Lomachenko 70 Walters 63



THAT'S IT...IT'S OVER...THE CORNER OF NICHOLAS WALTERS CALL IT OFF...SHADES OF "NO MAS"

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The Vancouver Aquarium is facing criticism from animal welfare groups after the second death of a beluga whale at the facility in just under two weeks. Aurora died late Friday evening after struggling with an unknown illness that became apparent immediately following the death of her offspring Qila 10 days earlier. Aurora catches a fish thrown by a trainer while being fed at the Vancouver Aquarium in Vancouver, B.C., in a June 25, 2014, file photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck
Brazil's President Michel Temer, center, speaks to the press about proposed anti-corruption legislation, flanked by Federal Senate President Renan Calheiros, left, and Chamber of Deputies President Rodrigo Maia, in Brasilia, Brazil, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Many Brazilians are concerned the legislation to toughen prosecution of corruption might perversely offer amnesty to politicians who had previously engaged in the practice. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
(Kitco News) - Prime Minister Narendra Modis move to ban 500 and 1,000 rupee notes caught the country by surprise, with many Indians now looking to liquidate their stockpiles of cash. Internet chatter is now a flurry, with some wondering whether the governments next step will be to ban gold imports and prevent Indians from cashing in black money.

"The Indian financial market is in chaos right now  India, like the U.S. and Germany have a lot of people who produce newsletters on the internet that are not necessarily based on fact but rather contain extreme theories and rumors." Jeff Christian, Managing Director, CPM Group

Nigam Arora, chief investment officer of the Arora Report, said he is taking the potential ban seriously. We took this rumor seriously and incorporated it in our models that gave the sell signal in gold right after the U. S. presidential election, he wrote in a MarketWatch commentary.

He warned that much of the media in the Western world is still oblivious to this major potential development ahead.

The Indian Bullion & Jewellers Association has informed its members that they are hearing from certain circles of a potential ban on gold imports, Arora said, adding that social media in Asia is abuzz with these rumors.

He explained, [T]he premium on gold being sold in India has jumped to $12 per ounce, the highest premium since November 2014. We see this jump in premium as tangible proof that the rumor is taking hold and affecting gold price. Arora said that the real reason behind the current depression in the gold price is the situation in India and not talk of Trumps infrastructure spending, which would be gold-price negative.

Arora explained that Indian imports are a huge deal. On average, India imports about 700 tons of gold each year. This is an enormous quantity. An abrupt reduction in demand of this magnitude, if there is a ban on Indian imports, will be a major shock to the gold market, he said.

The most common method to convert black money into white money over the past 50 years has been too slowly buy gold by paying cash in large bills, Arora said. Now that large bills used to buy gold are worthless, demand for physical gold will decline.

Frank Holmes, chief executive officer of U.S. Global Investors, thinks there may be something to the rumors. Holmes said that concerns over the potential gold import ban are prompting some Indian gold traders to place bulk, short-term orders of gold.

"The uncertainty in the Indian gold market, after the ban on high-denomination banknotes last week, is exacerbated by the threat of an import ban, and wild swings in the gold price are likely, he said.

He added that Prime Minister Modi is taking a big political gamble, because of the upcoming elections next quarter in India. It is all a political maneuver, [Modi] vowed to go after corruption - he is a maverick politician like Trump.

And while Arora thinks if the ban should occur, gold could fall $200 an ounce on a given day, Holmes forecasts that it would be more along the lines of a potential $100 decline and then the metal should reset itself.

Holmes added that this would not mark the first time India initiates a gold ban. The country did so in 1968 and as Holmes explained, it wasnt sustainable. Its an old movie being replayed  they had a gold ban before and they took it off because it didnt work gold is engrained in the psyche of the people.

However, other industry experts and insiders think the gold ban rumors are just that -- rumors.

I dont believe it, Phil Newman, director of research firm Metals Focus, told Kitco News. [The rumors] seem to have been started by the market participants. Why they started? We dont know.

What is real is that there has been tremendous uncertainty in the gold and silver market in India, Newman said. When [the government] took out the notes, that caused huge problems for the trade and it hasnt really recovered yet.

Newman said he remains price positive despite weak gold demand during what should be a thriving wedding season in India, coupled with a lackluster market in China and the Middle East. People are looking for the white knight of the physical market and it is hard to see where it is going to come from.

A recent report from Business Standard echoed Newmans opinion that demand for gold is at rock bottom even though marriage season has started in the country.

Jeff Christian, managing director of New York based firm CPM Group, agreed that the rupee note ban has thrown the Indian economy for a loop.

The Indian financial market is in chaos right now  India, like the U.S. and Germany have a lot of people who produce newsletters on the internet that are not necessarily based on fact but rather contain extreme theories and rumors, he told Kitco News.

Christian noted that Modis predecessor Manmohan Singh did the exact same thing, so the move to ban rupee notes is not unprecedented.

The bizarre thing is, Modi is doing it two years after and we still have not received a good explanation as to why, Christian said.

Modis move also follows similar action taken by the European Central Bank, which is discontinuing the use of 500-euro ($575) notes to stop their use in illicit activities.

The Reserve Bank of India will issue new currency notes of 2,000 rupees and 500 rupees.

Spot Gold on Kitco.com last traded at $1,189.40 an ounce, down $22.70 on the day.

Related Stories:

By Daniela Cambone of Kitco News; dcambone@kitco.com

Follow @DanielaCambone
(Updates with one winning ticket, adds details, background)

Nov 26 (Reuters) - A ticket sold in Tennessee had the winning numbers for a $421 million Powerball jackpot, one of the biggest on record, lottery officials said after Saturday's draw.

A Powerball spokeswoman said no one as yet had stepped forward to claim the prize, which has grown in the absence of a winner in the past few weeks.

The winning numbers selected were 17, 19, 21, 37, 44, with the Powerball 16.

The jackpot soared from $403 million to a reported $420.9 million on Saturday due to a spate of late ticket-buying. The lump sum payment would add up to about $254.7 million.

The odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292 million.

The largest ever U.S. lottery prize of $1.6 billion was split between three winning tickets in January.

Powerball, one of several games run by the Multi-State Lottery Association, a non-profit owned and operated by member states' lotteries, is played in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Players can either buy $2 tickets using their own numbers or have them randomly generated by a computer.

(Reporting by Chris Michaud; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
New road, sidewalks coming to Almira Drive, View Ridge Elementary

The city is pursuing a nearly $5 million project that will reconstruct Almira Drive, and create a safer route for pedestrians with new sidewalks.
An emotional Colleen Prichard, a special-education para-educator at Breidablik Elementary, gets a hug from Breidablik third-grader Kaitlyn McKinsey after the announcement to close the school at the North Kitsap School Board meeting Thursday in Poulsbo. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

SHARE Breidablik Elementary School Kitsap Sun file A list of factors that the North Kitsap School Board considered when deciding to close Breidablik sits at the front of the room during the boardas Thursday meeting at North Kitsap High School. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN Kim Poggi wipes away tears as the North Kitsap School Board chooses Thursday to close Breidablik Elementary. Poggi has a second-grader at Breidablik. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN Gordon Elementary PTA members (from left) Dawn Fairless, Kelly Rosenbach and Siri Reinbold share a hug and tears of relief after the announcement to close Breidablik Elementary on Thursday. MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

By Steven Gardner

Breidablik Elementary School in Poulsbo will close at the end of this school year following a 5-0 vote by the North Kitsap School Board on Thursday night.

Board members gave varied reasons for picking Breidablik, and there was one dissenter before the vote.

Gordons location adjacent to Kingston Middle School and Kingston High School played a big role in the boards decision to keep it open.

Wolfle, also in Kingston, was spared in some part because of its lower projected maintenance costs.

In a study session before the regular meeting, board members agreed cost savings was the No. 1 factor, but in the regular meeting they said the projected savings were not substantially different.

Tom Anderson, the board member who made the motion picking Breidablik, said his call came in part because closing the Waghorn Road school will cause the least displacement of special-needs children and students overall.

In the study session, Anderson said projected growth was not much of a factor for him. Im a little skeptical on growth in the next few years, he said, adding that the district anticipated major growth when big developments were planned for Poulsbo at Olhava and near Kingston with Arborwood. Neither happened.

Board member Bill Webb said he believed the districts growth is likely to happen in Kingston. Dan Weedin, board president, said that growth over the next 10 years is likely to be flat and that his decision came down to Breidablik being the decision he hated the least.

Board member Ken Ames said he eliminated Wolfle because its roof was in far less need of repair than the other schools, a cost factor. He said that Gordons location near the middle and high schools was an advantage. He said the volunteerism he saw at all three schools gave him comfort that all students would be well cared for no matter which school closed.

Board member Scott Henden said he believed any growth is more likely to happen in Poulsbo, if anywhere. He said he favored closing Wolfle but voted with the rest of the board.

The about 150 people there to witness the board meeting responded quietly to the decision. Parents and other supporters of all three schools shed tears and hugged.

Gary Stebbins, Breidabliks interim principal, said the school will meet with staff to help speak to the schools students Friday, making sure the children know theyll be at the school the rest of the year.

Breidablik parents planned to bring breakfast and lunch for the schools teachers and staff.

Beyond the sad news, Saturday is the birthday of Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss. Stebbins planned to dress Friday as the Cat in the Hat, accompanied by a Thing One and Thing Two. Were not going to spend the day mourning, Stebbins said.

That commitment to make the best of a sad situation also was in evidence on a Facebook group for Breidablik PTSA members. The group announced: The board has voted to close Breidablik. :( We will do what we can to make the rest of the year as amazing as we can.

Kari McKinsey, a mother of two Breidablik students, said she didnt believe the boards contention that it was relying on data to make its decision. Just listening to the board, they said it was all about the numbers and when it came down to it they closed the school that would save the most over 10 years, she said.

McKinsey said she will either home-school her two children or have them attend Central Kitsap schools. And she said the community will see Thursdays decision as a bad one into the future. I think theyre crazy if they think theyre going to get a bond passed now, she said.

Kaitlyn McKinsey, Kari McKinseys third-grade daughter, said she would miss her friends and her teacher in her multiage class, a Breidablik feature.

The regular meeting opened on an emotional note, with a dozen black-tie-clad members of the North Kitsap High School a cappella choir Just Men singing the appropriately named Prayer of the Children by Kurt Bestor.

Paul Fairless, a parent of Gordon students, vowed his support for the district and all North Kitsap schools no matter the decision. Were going to get an answer tonight and someones going to get hurt, he said before the announcement. Ill support whoever it is, but we take care of one another.

Thursdays decision came following a couple of years of putting off closure, and two different committees studying the question. Supporters of each school had meetings dedicated to them.

The lobbying continued during the day Thursday. Janean Moriarty, a Breidablik parent, sent an email pointing to a study concluding that students moving to a higher performing school can soften the impact of having to move at all. She pointed out that Breidablik students scores on statewide tests was the highest of the three schools under consideration.

During the study session, board members said test scores would not be part of the decision process, because when demographics were factored into the scores, there was no discernible difference among the schools.
The Herald reports:

Thirty-three of New Zealands most senior editors have urged the Commerce Commission to rethink its plan to reject the NZME-Fairfax merger. They are at loggerheads with a group of 11 former editors who say the Commerce Commission got it right. The current editors, all in senior roles at both companies, say the commission has misinterpreted the state of New Zealand journalism and believe a merger is the best option to sustain quality journalism. They say that editorial independence would not be lost under a merger: It is at the core of what we do.

Hmmn they claim editorial independence would not be lost yet they all have signed a letter presumably written for them by management.

We believe  no, we know  that the rapid dismantling of local newsrooms and journalism at scale in this country is inevitable if this merger does not proceed.

They may be right about that. The status quo is not attractive.

Yesterday, a group of 11 former daily and Sunday newspaper editors said they backed the commissions preliminary view that a merger should not go ahead. Though we acknowledge that such a merger is seen by some of us as a pragmatic response to the singular challenges that newspapers face, we all accept that the destruction of great mastheads and all that they have stood for at the heart of our communities since New Zealand settlement cannot possibly enhance content  it can only diminish it, said the former editors, including Gavin Ellis, Tim Pankhurst, Suzanne Carty and Suzanne Chetwin.

You tend to think the former editors who are not free agents are saying what they really think, while the current editors have to toe the party line.

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Shenandoah, IA (51601)

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A mix of clouds and sun with gusty winds. High 76F. Winds S at 25 to 35 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..

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Former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is playing with fire by allowing her unsuccessful Democratic presidential campaign organization to participate in an election recount in Wisconsin initiated by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.

Marc Elias, the Clinton organizations general counsel, said over the weekend that the campaign would take part in the Wisconsin recount without financially contributing to the operation. He also raised the possibility of joining the Third Party in recounts in two other closely contested states, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Related: Why Trump Should Welcome an Election Recount

Republican President-elect Donald Trump, seething over what he and his top advisers perceive as Clintons reneging on her pledge to abide by the outcome of the Nov. 8 election, predicted that a recount in Wisconsin and the other states would not alter the results of the election.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in, Trump said in one of a flurry of angry tweets early Sunday. Nothing will change.

The Trump team bitterly complained that the recount would be a colossal waste of time and money and serve as a distraction from the president-elects efforts to assemble a new cabinet and administration that would carry out his agenda and help reunite a sorely divided country.

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS.

More ominously, Trumps campaign manager and senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, hinted that Trump might be having second thoughts about abandoning a campaign pledge to call for a special prosecutor to investigate Clintons mishandling of State Department emails and the questionable fundraising activities of her familys global foundation.

Related: Looks Like Most Voters Disagree With Trump on Just About Everything

Story continues

Trump told the New York Times last Tuesday that he had no intention of pressing for an investigation of Clinton and her family, saying that I dont want to hurt the Clintons, I really dont. During an appearance today on the ABC News This Week program, Conway noted repeatedly that Trump is being very magnanimous towards Clinton. At the same time, she declined to totally rule out the possibility that the Justice Department would eventually seek such an investigation after Trump takes office.

Conway suggested that Trumps generosity was being met by a slap in the face from Clinton, who ordered Elias, her counsel, to join this ridiculously fantastical recount that Jill Stein is engaging in in Wisconsin and perhaps elsewhere.

Conway didnt say specifically that Trump would retaliate against Clinton for allowing her organization to take part in the recount, but she left it to viewers to connect the dots.

I guess the real question is, why in the world cant the Democrats accept the election results: after Clinton and the news media made a big issue of Trumps refusal to definitively promise to abide by the results if he lost the election, she said.

Clinton and her advisers sharply criticized Trump during the campaign for refusing to say definitively whether he would abide by the election results if he lost. Trump warned his supporters that he could only lose to Clinton if the election was somehow rigged against him, and he even called on his backers to be vigilant at the polls for possible fraud.

Related: Trump Calls Green Party Vote Recount Request a 'Scam'

Elias wrote in a post on Medium that Clintons campaign had received hundreds of messages, emails, and calls urging us to do something, anything, to investigate claims that the election results were hacked and altered in a way to disadvantage Secretary Clinton, especially in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin where Trumps combined margin of victory was only 107,000 votes.

Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chair and newly appointed chief of staff to Trump, fumed during an appearance on Fox News Sunday that the recount was a ridiculous fund-raising fraud perpetrated by a Green Party nominee. He noted that Stein won only 33,000 votes in Wisconsin, compared to Trumps 1.4 million votes in the state.

So here we have a person perpetrating a fundraising scheme that has lost by over 1.35 million votes in Wisconsin, attempting to undo [Trumps] 28,000 vote lead [over Clinton]. Its never going to happen. Its a total waste of everybodys time.

Stein on Friday filed for a recount in Wisconsin and said she had raised more than $5 million for the effort. She indicated she would be raising more money for similar efforts in Michigan and Pennsylvania, and disputed Trumps claim that this is a scam.

The point to drive home here is that having a secure elections process benefits us all, Stein told CNNs Newsroom.

Related: Trump Is Starting to Sound Like the Backtracker in Chief

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who challenged Clinton for the Democratic nomination, said the Green Party has a legal right to seek a recount, regardless of how unlikely it was to change the election results. No one expects there to be a profound change, but theres nothing wrong with going through the process., he told Dana Bash of CNN today.

Sanders, who is taking a prominent role in trying to rebuild and reshape the Democratic party, said the more important question is whether Trump would keep many of his campaign promises that Democrats actually agree with -- such as lowering prescription drug prices and protecting Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid from cuts.

Lets see if he keeps his word, Sanders said.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:


Big companies forced to contribute billions of won to gov't initiatives

By Kim Tae-gyu

Prosecutors' investigations show that domestic conglomerates have been forced to contribute a total of 77.4 billion won to the Mir and K-Sports foundations, which were masterminded by President Park Geun-hye's shadowy aide Choi Soon-sil.

The amount is not small even for big companies, which complain that it was by no means the first time the government pressured them for donations.

Midway through 2015, President Park came up with the idea herself of creating the Youth Hope Fund, which finances various programs for young jobseekers to grapple with the rising unemployment rate.

Corporate giants coughed up 88 billion won for the fund.

They also had to cough up 21 billion won for a research institute on "intelligent knowledge," 20 billion won for a fund on internet-based promotional campaigns and 10 billion won for a fund for small-sized merchants.

Overall, local groups donated 216.4 billion won under the Park administration, which was inaugurated in early 2013. And the problem is that such goodwill activities are not voluntarily done.

"When senior government bureaucrats ask us to take part in a specific government-initiated project, we practically have no choice but to accept it," said an official at a Seoul-based group.

"The incumbent administration seems to regard companies as its private ATM. We don't understand why we should give money for initiatives, which should be collected through taxes."

Also while establishing 17 innovation centers across the world geared toward stimulating the creative economy, 15 companies were compelled to take charge of creation of a center and its operation.

As a basic economic tenet in her campaign platform, Park has tried to realize a creative economy through convergence of different industries and promotion of startups.

But criticisms have sprung up that the concept lacks concrete content and the related efforts failed to boost the moribund economy, which has struggled to find its feet in recent years.

"The government announced its blueprint for the creative economy innovation centers in September 2014. And it let us know our region a day before through the Federation of Korean Industries (FKI)," said a representative of another conglomerate.

"Back then, we asked what we should do and the answers were like, You can do whatever you are good at.' Then, we were at a loss regarding what we should do with the center."



Origin of forced donations

President Park might grumble that she just followed suit from her predecessors and that is true.

The forced donations practice stretches back to 1983 when the Ilhae Foundation was set up as part of efforts to deal with the aftermath of North Korea's deadly bombing in Yangon earlier in the year.

Then South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan, the intended target of the attack, avoided the attack but 17 South Koreans including Cabinet ministers and four Burmese officials were killed.

The Ilhae Foundation, which was named after Chun's penname, was designed to support the families of the victims. Toward that end, companies were to give 59.8 billion won in 1984.

Chun and his successor Roh Tae-woo, both army generals-turned-presidents, covertly requested slush funds from companies. But after they were punished in the 1990s for their misdeeds and the relevant law was strengthened in 2004, such unlawful demands almost disappeared.

Sometime later, forced donations became the norm again.

During the Kim Dae-jung administration that spearheaded an initiative providing fertilizers to North Korea, controversies sprouted up as it was found to have solicited 10 billion won from companies.

President Park's immediate predecessor Lee Myung-bak also resorted to this method of raising funds _ his government conducted two campaigns of helping the financially vulnerable and seeking shared growth between big firms and small ones.

The corporate side contributed around 500 billion won and 700 billion won for the two initiatives, respectively.

"When tycoons are embroiled in scandals or illegal activities, they tend to give reluctant consent to the idea of donating their private funds in order to beg for forgiveness," said an industry source who asked not to be named.

"When the country suffers natural disasters including droughts and floods, we also have to donate money. That is the case for major sporting events like the Olympics. The accumulated amount would reach trillions of won."



How to bring change?

Understandably, the business circle is opposed to the involuntary contributions. And an increasing number of experts agree something should be done.

"From the perspective of companies, they would not be able to flatly refuse the government's demands because it has so many tools to disrupt their business such as tax audits and antitrust investigations," said a Seoul analyst.

"Hence, the government can easily twist the arms of conglomerates to collect funds."

In the case of Choi, who is suspected of having illegitimately meddled in state affairs, observers said she could flex her muscles to make firms open up their purses.

Prof. Kim Sang-jo at Hansung University claims a new regulation should be introduced.

"We need to phase in a new corporate rule that dubious expenditures including forced donations should be reported to and discussed at board of directors' meetings," Kim said.

Out of 23 companies that transferred more than 1 billion won to the Mir and K-Sports foundations, only two discussed it at board of directors' meetings.

Public citizens are also implicated by the forced contribution.

For example, tax experts said that out of 77.4 billion won funded to the Mir and K-Sports foundations, a maximum of 18.7 billion won would be returned to the donors in the form of tax credits.

In other words, the two foundations were created on 58.7 billion won donations and 18.7 billion won taxes, which would further raise the ire of already-angry taxpayers.
Cosmetics shipments to Canada jump 58% over four years

By Park Jae-hyuk

Korea's cosmetics goods are expanding their presence in Canada and will likely grow further with the elimination of tariffs next year, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said Sunday.

According to KOTRA, the North American country imported $2.5 million worth of cosmetics from Korea last year, a 57.9 percent rise from four years earlier, and Korea was the seventh-largest cosmetics exporter to the country.

Canada imported $1.3 billion worth of cosmetics last year, marking a 7.7 percent average annual growth rate in last four years.

KOTRA said Korea's cosmetics exports to Canada would increase further next year because the tariff on Korean cosmetics will be removed on the third anniversary of the Canada-Korea Free Trade Agreement (CKFTA).

Canada imposes a 2.1 to 3.9 percent tariff on Korea's cosmetics, so these goods are expected to gain price competitiveness from next year.

Meanwhile, KOTRA explained the popularity of Korea's cosmetics was because of K-beauty fever worldwide.

According to KOTRA, Korean cosmetics brands are sold by large retailers in Canada, including Sephora, Hudson's Bay, Walmart and Shoppers Drug Mart. Sephora has opened a K-beauty section in its online and offline malls.

KOTRA expects the Canadian cosmetics market will continue to grow because Canadian men are very interested in skin care.

But, KOTRA also said Korean firms should be aware that the Canadian government plans to strengthen regulations on cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals in a few years.

"Regulations on cosmetics seem to be similar to existing ones, but Korean firms should keep checking the list of harmful substances that are banned by the Canadian government," KOTRA said in the report.
Hyundai Motor is considering suspending the sales of the Grandeur sedan, exported under the name Azera, in the United States, industry sources said Sunday, due to its sluggish sales there.

While Hyundai announced the launch of the sixth-generation Grandeur earlier in November, sources said the company would not introduce the model in the U.S. If South Korea's top automaker makes that decision, it would mark the first time in 16 years for the Azera to leave the U.S. market.

Industry watchers said although the Grandeur stands as a major high-end sedan in the South Korean market, it failed to grab enough attention in the North American market, losing out to the popular Sonata and the premium Genesis models.

Hyundai sold 4,134 units of the Grandeur in the U.S. through October this year, which translates into roughly 400 units per month. Over the cited period, shipments of the Sonata and the Genesis G80 came to 170,243 units and 21,635 units, respectively.

The company, however, plans to continue sales of the model in other markets, including the Middle East.

"Nothing is decided yet," a Hyundai official said, adding the company is open to "various possibilities."

Reflecting such factors, Hyundai did not announce a global sales goal for the 2017 Hyundai Grandeur introduced last week. (Yonhap)
By Jhoo Dong-chan



Hyundai Motor is considering not exporting the all-new Grandeur mid-size sedan, called the Azera, to the U.S. market due to a weak performance in the world's No. 2 automotive market, an official said Sunday.



The country's largest automaker had been selling the brand there with the introduction of the Grandeur XG in 2000. If Hyundai Motor decides not to sell the sixth-generation Grandeur in the U.S, this would mark the model's market exit for the first time in 16 years.



"Hyundai Motor has decided to focus on the domestic auto market with the 2017 Grandeur for a while next year," a Hyundai official said.



"The Grandeur is still considered the automaker's flagship sedan here, but its price range, which is a bit higher than the popular Sonata sedan, may be considered a premium sedan in the U.S. where Hyundai Motor's luxury Genesis brand is already making inroads."



Industry insiders also say that the Grandeur's ambiguous market position in the Hyundai Motor lineup is one of the reasons for its weak market performance.



Hyundai Motor introduced a new model of its luxury division brand Genesis in November last year, which has dominated Korea's luxury car market with a 46 percent share during the first three quarters of this year.



The Genesis has also been well accepted in the U.S. market  it was named one of three finalists for the North American Car of the Year with its popular EQ900, known as the G90 in the U.S.



"The Grandeur is still widely loved in Korea but that is not the case in the U.S. The all-new Grandeur sedan's position could overlap between the Genesis and the Sonata in the U.S.," the insider said.



"I believe Hyundai Motor needs to be cautious introducing the all-new Grandeur in the U.S. market because cannibalization could take place in its portfolio there."



The Grandeur is not cruising well in the U.S. market as just 4,134 of its latest fifth-generation model had been sold this year by the end of September, which means that its monthly sales are only around 400.



In the meantime, the sales of the Genesis G80 and the Sonata amounted to 21,635 and 170,243, respectively. Plus, the Genesis is expected to introduce another mid-size luxury sedan, the G70, later next year.



A Hyundai Motor official said, however, that it will export the all-new Grandeur sedan to other regions where the model is still competitive and popular, such as the Middle East.




By Yoon Ja-young



The economy is expected to grow 2.5 percent next year as construction investment slows and corporate restructuring hampers expansion in private consumption. Major export items will suffer an excess of supply amid growing protectionism, the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) noted in a report.



In the 2017 economic and industrial outlook released Sunday, the institute pointed out that construction investment has been pulling up domestic demand while exports have been losing steam.



"Construction investment has been making up for the slowdown caused by sluggish exports. The economy has been increasingly resorting to construction investment for growth this year," said Kang Du-yong, a senior research fellow at the institute. Construction investment contributed to two thirds of economic growth in the third quarter.



Such a growth pattern, however, should be avoided as it incorporates huge risks and is limited in sustainability, according to Kang.



"When considering the demographic changes, the recent increase in housing supply is likely to result in a glut of homes. Since Korea's ratio of construction investment in GDP is already high compared with those of other major countries, such a growth pattern isn't sustainable," he said, citing job creation and a social safety net as key for consumption that should lead growth.



Economists expect the global economy to grow slightly higher in 2017 than this year, but the outlook isn't very positive for China, to which Korea's economy is closely related. Global oil prices will rebound to mark a yearly average of $50 per barrel on OPEC's reduction in production. Kang cited the new Donald Trump administration in the United States as well as a slowdown in China and geopolitical risks as external negatives for Korea. Stronger protectionism will weigh on global trade.



By industries, excesses in supply will continue in sectors like shipbuilding, steel, textiles, home electronics and ICT devices. The institute expects a 12.3 percent dip in exports by shipbuilders and a 3.6 percent drop in automobiles exports.



Continuing facility investment in emerging countries will lead to an oversupply of steel. Strengthening competition among Chinese players as well as their advancement into markets overseas will also increase the supply of home electronics, ICT devices, and petrochemical products.



The institute added that intensifying protectionism in the U.S. Trump administration will weigh on Korea's main industries as he had pledged the renegotiation of FTAs and protection of domestic industries.



Semiconductors, Korea's main export item, meanwhile, will see global demand increase on growth of the internet of things and smart cars.



Overall, exports will increase 2.1 percent in 2017 and imports 3.6 percent. Korea is expected to have an $86 billion trade surplus, according to KIET.






By Park Si-soo



The prosecution has labeled President Park Geun-hye an "accomplice" and "criminal suspect" following a sweeping probe into the corruption scandal involving her long-time friend Choi Soon-sil, although her spokesman has strongly denied all allegations.

Investigators last Sunday revealed charges that could be imposed on the scandalized head of state, but they have remained tight-lipped about details.

But the strategic silence shows signs of breaking as Park's approval rating plunged to an all-time low of 4 percent, which has loosened her grip on law enforcement.

A prosecutor involved in the case recently told reporters that "only 10 seconds of an audio file would be long enough for people to storm the streets with torches, instead of candles." The prosecutor was referring to nearly 50 audio files found on two confiscated smartphones of Jung Ho-sung, Park's close aide, who was arrested recently for allegedly leaking confidential presidential documents to Choi.

The files are believed to contain sensitive dialogue between the President and Jung. Reports have it that the buttoned-up aide admitted his alleged wrongdoings after prosecutors came out with the files.












Seoul Global Center, a city-run support center for expats, will team with Jongro-gu police station to provide foreign residents with driving license education. / Courtesy of Twitter



By Lee Han-soo

Seoul Global Center, a city-run support center for expats, will team with Jongro-gu police station to provide foreign residents with driving license education.

Lessons and textbooks will be free.

Classes will be held on Dec. 6, 8, 13 and 15, for 16 hours from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the fourth floor of the Seoul Global Center.

The classes will be in Korean and the curriculum include practicing for the written exam.

Anyone interested should e-mail hotline@seoul.go.kr or phone 02-2075-4133.

Registration will be on a first-come-first-served basis.
They were caught at 10 p.m. sneaking toward Cheong Wa Dae along an uncharted trail on Mt. Bukak behind the presidential office. / Korea Times file



By Lee Han-soo

Four anti-President protesters were caught trying to break into the heavily secured presidential office on Saturday.

According to police, they were caught at 10 p.m. sneaking toward Cheong Wa Dae along an uncharted trail on Mt. Bukak behind the presidential office.

They jumped the first fence surrounding Cheong Wa Dae and were caught on their way to the second fence, according to police.

The activists had been broadcasting their "mission" on Facebook Live.

"After police committed an outrage by blocking every road to Cheong Wa Dae, we tried to figure out the best route to Cheong Wa Dae," said one activist during the broadcast.

"We jumped over the fence at Mt. Bukak to shout Park must resign' as close as we could to Cheong Wa Dae."

Because the activists jumped only over the first fence controlled by Jong-ro Gu, the four were released with a warning.

They would have been jailed if they had gone through or over the military-controlled second fence, according to police.
College students dressed in black call for the resignation of President Park Geun-hye, who allegedly helped her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil meddle in critical state affairs for her own benefit, at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Saturday. / Yonhap



By Choi Ha-young





A protester wears a mask to mock President Park as Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France, who could not understand the plight of the people.

/ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Students  from high school to college  have emerged as a core element in the candlelit protests.

Collegians from Sookmyung Women's University and other universities nationwide are joining a campaign to boycott classes to protest the presidential scandal.

They are taking to the streets to express their frustration and anger against embattled President Park Geun-hye who is under pressure to quit over the scandal involving her friend Choi Soon-sil.

College students, who call their country "Hell Joseon" (Korea) because of the high jobless rate and other hardships facing them, had previously been busy preparing to land jobs and ignored social issues.

However, the presidential scandal made it hard for university students to stay put.

Kim Ji-yoon, a sophomore at Sookmyung, said, "I am majoring in political science. According to what I learned, politics is all about how to distribute national resources in a fairer manner. However, the reality is the opposite."

Kim said politicians have ignored the public, failing to meet their main mission: serving the people. "They must think about the origin of the government authority they are exerting."

More student council bodies are pledging to join the campaign to boycott classes.

"We will boycott classes on Nov. 30., demanding Park's resignation," said Lee Tak-gyu, 23, newly elected chief of the student body of Soul National University (SNU).

Kim Ji-soo, 22, a Hanyang University student, said that students also need stronger solidarity to make their voice heard.

"We dream of equal solidarity. We welcome everyone regardless of their age and gender. We need to stage an active protest based on the legal framework that police and a court have approved," Kim said.

Students also demanded that the Park administration cancel its plan to publish a state-authored history textbook.

Cho Seong-hoon, 21, a student of Myongji University, said, "Students are taking to the streets as they are angry about Park's policies, including a government-authored history textbook."

Braving the snow and wind, around 3,000 students gathered in front of the King Sejong statue in Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul., at 2 p.m. before the fifth mass rally began.



Protesters masquerade as men with no necks waiting to hear the news that President Park Geun-hye has decided to resign. The masquerade represents the Korean idiom, "Wait until the neck comes out," which means waiting for a long time. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul



Disputes inside campus












Prosecutors say Park ordered aide to help Cha Eun-taek

By Jung Min-ho

Cha Eun-taek Lee Dong-soo

Prosecutors said Sunday that they believe President Park Geun-hye conspired in additional criminal activities committed by key figures in a major influence-peddling scandal that has engulfed her administration.

According to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, the President ordered An Chong-bum, a former presidential secretary who has already been indicted over abuse of power, to help Cha Eun-taek, a friend of Choi Soon-sil, amass an illicit fortune.

At Park's behest, An pressured KT, the country's second-largest telecom firm, to hire Cha's friends, Lee Dong-soo and someone known only by his surname Shin, as its executives last year. They allegedly helped Playground Communications, an ad company owned by Choi, become KT's advertising agency, prosecutors said.

Playground Communications then made about 6.8 billion won ($5.8 million) in revenue for making seven ads between March and August this year.

The announcement comes a week after prosecutors confirmed Park conspired in Choi's criminal activities. Choi allegedly exploited her presidential ties to benefit herself.

Prosecutors said they have indicted Cha on charges of attempted extortion, abuse of power and embezzlement among others. Four others, including Song Sung-gak, former CEO of the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA), have also been indicted on similar charges.

According to prosecutors, Cha and Song blackmailed the owner of Comm. Together, an ad firm and shareholder of Poreka, an in-house ad company for POSCO, to hand over 80 percent of its shares to the company they control.

In doing so, prosecutors said, they exploited their close relationship with the President, who directly ordered An to help them get the shares with the help of KT CEO Hwang Chang-gyu.

When the head of Comm. Together turned down their request, Cha and Song threatened to have government agencies conduct tax evasion inspections into his company.

Cha is also suspected of having embezzled 1 billion won at another of his ad companies, Africa Pictures, to pay off personal debts and finance his child's overseas education.

In another surprising revelation, Kim Jong-min, Cha's lawyer, told reporters that his client met with major figures of the Park administration, including former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon, Kim Chong, the former vice minister of culture, sports and tourism who has been arrested over the scandal, and Choi.

In earlier interviews, Kim Ki-choon and Kim Chong claimed that they never met one another.

Cha's lawyer also said his client played a round of golf with Choi and the mother-in-law of Woo Byung-woo, a former presidential secretary who is being investigated for his role in the scandal, which may help solve the question over how Woo ended up at Cheong Wa Dae.

President Park has yet to respond to their request for face-to-face questioning.

Three key figures in the scandal, Choi, An and Jeong Ho-seong, a former secretary for presidential affairs, have already been indicted on charges of abuse of power, extortion and mishandling of classified information among others.

Park, whom prosecutors recently called a key suspect in the scandal, is alleged to have pressured major conglomerates into making "donations" to Choi's foundations, which legal experts say could constitute an abuse of authority.

Meanwhile, prosecutors summoned Choi Soon-deuk, Choi Soon-sil's sister, Saturday, for questioning over her role in the scandal.

Choi Soon-deuk is the mother of Jang Si-ho, who was arrested for pocketing profits from various deals related to the country's preparations for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games.
By Kim Se-jeong

Minister of Education Lee Joon-sik said Sunday that publication of a controversial new state-authored history textbook for middle- and high-school students will go ahead. He denied previous reports that he was considering scrapping the project.

"There's no plan to halt the project. We have consulted with Cheong Wa Dae about our position," Lee said during a press conference held in Seoul. He also dismissed allegations that the presidential office and the ministry were at odds over the history book project.

The draft of the books will be made public today _ the electronic version of the draft will be available at http://historytextbook.moe.go.kr.



The ministry will also disclose a list of textbook authors whose identities it had concealed.



However, acknowledging that there is little time to collect feedback before school starts in March 2017, the ministry is considering holding the books back until 2018.

Last week, Minister Lee said, "we will reveal the draft Monday as planned but will start to discuss how to bring this book to the classroom."

Many interpreted his statement as the ministry going back on the project at the last minute. "That is not correct. What I meant was, collecting feedback from teachers in the field and contemplating how to go from there," the minister said.

According to the original plan, the ministry will receive online feedback and hold an off-line discussion with the authors and other stakeholders Dec. 23, before beginning printing in January.

The project was started with the assertion by the government that Korean children were learning a too liberal a view of history, and they needed a more balanced book.

The announcement quickly drew a backlash from the public, especially school teachers and historians who claimed it was a propaganda tactic by President Park who wished to embellish her dictatorial father President Park Chung-hee's achievements.

Critics anticipate that the new book will be filled with praise for the economic growth achieved during her father's rule but will omit his crackdowns on dissidents.

The book is also expected to assert Aug. 15, 1945 as the date of the establishment of Korea, a point which liberal scholars dispute as diminishing the importance of a provisional government set up in 1919 in Shanghai, China.
By Jane Han

The fifth candlelit protest against embattled President Park Geun-hye drew more than 1.9 million protesters across South Korea, Saturday, but will Cheong Wa Dae budge this time?

It should, says a renowned U.S. expert on the Korean Peninsula.

"The importance of these demonstrations should not be underestimated," David Steinberg, a professor at Georgetown University and former representative of the Asia Foundation in Korea, said in an interview with The Korea Times.

"Conservative, respected and rather elderly professors have joined the demonstrations, which speaks to their importance and the widespread sense of grievance."












A record number of protesters hold candles during a mass rally at Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul, Saturday, calling for President Park Geun-hye to step down. For the fifth straight weekend, protesters occupied main streets in central Seoul, demanding Park  suspected of helping her friend extort companies to amass illicit wealth  resign. Rally organizers estimate that about 1.5 million people joined the fifth candlelit rally in Seoul and 400,000 in other major cities. They vowed to hold massive protests every Saturday until Park accepts their demand. / Joint press corps



1.9 million citizens storm streets in 5th candlelit protest

By Ko Dong-hwan, Choi Ha-young

Park Geun-hye is no longer the President for those who poured onto the streets for candlelit protests in Seoul and other major cities nationwide, Saturday.

In the biggest anti-government rally in the country's history, more than 1.9 million protesters came out to demand Park's resignation  1.5 million at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul and about 400,000 in other areas, according to organizers.

The cold snap and snow did not deter people, furious about the presidential scandal involving Park's friend Choi Soon-sil, from taking to the streets for a fifth candlelit rally.

"I've come to this rally every week. We the ordinary people have to work so hard to survive. Park and Choi Soon-sil extorted money from the people and businesses," said Lee Jeong-su, 51, an office worker. "It's so embarrassing to see this scandal becoming an international issue. I will continue to come out until Park steps down."

The nationwide candlelit rallies, which have drawn a record 4 million people since they began in late October, have also been a major factor pushing an investigation by the prosecution, and the move to impeach the President.

Biggest rally in history

Experts say Park will not be able to win the fight against the people and will have no other choice but to succumb to their demand.

David Steinberg, a professor at Georgetown University, told The Korea Times: "The importance of these demonstrations should not be underestimated. Conservative, respected and rather elderly professors have joined the demonstrations, which speaks to their importance and the widespread sense of grievance."

The protesters marched to 200 meters from Cheong Wa Dae, holding banners that said "Arrest President Park" and "Surrender Now."

Kim Beom-jae, 62, a Seoul resident, said, "We cannot see the true power of the candlelit rallies for now. But I'm sure that they will become an enormous undercurrent that will propel changes in our society."

Not only students but also their teachers and professors took part in the rally.

"I have always taught my students about the importance of honesty and democracy. But now I cannot do it," said Kwon In-taek, a middle school teacher from South Chungcheong Province. "One of my students made a video of the President riding a swing named Soon-sil for his video-making homework. I praised him. Park is no longer our President. My school no longer prevents students from going to the candlelit protests."
Former National Assembly speakers and other elderly politicians, along with religious figures, gather at the Lotte Hotel in downtown Seoul, Sunday, to discuss the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil. Park Gwan-yong, third from left, who was the 16th Assembly speaker, arranged the meeting. Participants included the 19th Speaker Kang Chang-hee, sixth from right, and Kwon Noh-gab, fourth from left, a senior adviser to the second-largest opposition People's Party. / Yonhap



By Jun Ji-hye

Former National Assembly speakers and other elderly politicians agreed Sunday to call on President Park Geun-hye to step down by April at the latest to overcome a crisis caused by the influence-peddling scandal involving her and her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil.

The agreement was made at a meeting arranged by the 16th Assembly Speaker,Park Gwan-yong.

He said the participants urged Park to announce her decision to step down at the earliest possible date and actually leave office at least by April to minimize confusion amid upcoming political events such as the presidential election scheduled for December next year.

They also called on the Assembly to promptly pick a bipartisan prime minister, saying the President needs to delegate most of her power to him or her.

The former politicians called on the ruling and opposition parties to push for revising the Constitution to change the current five-year, single term presidency. They cited that the current Constitution, introduced in 1987, gave birth to an "imperial presidency," calling it a major cause of the ongoing high-profile political scandal.

Other participants included the 19th Speaker Kang Chang-hee and senior adviser to the second-largest opposition People's Party, Kwon Noh-gab.

Their meeting came at a time when senior politicians and religious figures have been joining calls for the resignation of the President.

The elderly politicians, who participated in a ceremony, Nov. 22, to commemorate the first anniversary of the death of former President Kim Young-sam, said Park should take responsibility and heed the public's demand.

"Park has seriously spoiled the reputation of the country. I felt ashamed," said Kim Duck-ryong, former floor leader of the Grand National Party, the predecessor of the ruling Saenuri Party.

Former Prime Minister Lee Hong-koo urged Park to bear in mind the late President Kim's efforts to promote democracy.

Kim, who served as president from 1993 to 1998, is also credited with ending decades of military rule.

Protestant pastor Hong Jung-gil said in a letter sent to the press, Nov. 22 that the best way for Park to redeem herself would be to quit power with "all the evil forces that used the President to satisfy their selfish interests and desires."

He said when a North Korean asked him what democracy is, he answered that "under the system, even the head of the state goes to jail if he or she performs any unlawful acts."

"Punishing the President will be a shortcut to prove the superiority of democracy," he said.

Father Ham Se-woong, together with Lee Man-yeol, former president of the National Institute of Korean History, and Kang Man-kil, professor emeritus of Korea University, also called for Park's resignation, Nov. 19.
Omani Ambassador to Korea Mohamed Alharthy speaks at a reception to mark his country's 46th National Day at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in Gwanghwamun on Nov. 21. / Courtesy of the Embassy of Oman



By Rachel Lee

Oman-Korea relations have experienced significant development in an expanded range of sectors over the past few years, with more opportunities and incentives assured by the Arab country, an Omani envoy said.

"The opportunities and investment incentives represent a motive to expand the horizons of cooperation to include other sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, tourism, mining and fisheries, and further expand in energy, technology, education and health," Oman's Ambassador to Korea, Mohamed Alharthy, said at a reception to mark his country's 46th National Day, at the at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul in Gwanghwamun on Nov. 21.

Hundreds of foreign and local envoys  including Korea's foreign ministry spokesman Cho June-hyuck  and business representatives attended the two-hour event.

The ambassador highlighted the openness and diversification of the Omani economy as the focus of its economic policies and visions.

"The industrial zones and free economic zones in Oman provide many investment opportunities in various sectors, and there are many incentives, including the strategic geographical location, security and political stability, beside many facilities and support to attract domestic and foreign investments," Alharthy said.

He also mentioned Oman's foreign policy principles, which are based on building bridges of "friendship and cooperation" through "mutual respect, common interests, standing always with the side of right and justice, and non- interference in the affairs of others."

Apart from strong economic ties, Oman has a lot to introduce to Korea that is not yet well known, including as a tourism destination, Alharthy said.

"Oman is a tourist country with diverse, beautiful geographical nature, unique geological landscapes, ancient heritage, and is known as the land of Sinbad the sailor and the country of luban, where you can feel and smell the essence of history and Arabian hospitality," the ambassador said.

The government is working to improve the country's tourist infrastructure by providing additional services, hotels and hotel apartments, preparing the airports and seaports to receive large numbers of tourists and establishing tourist megaprojects. These initiatives have made Oman a highly popular tourist destination. Recent reports showed that Oman has been selected by Lonely Planet among the top 10 recommended places to visit in 2017.

"The march of the modern Omani renaissance continues under the wise leadership of H.M Sultan Qaboos bin Said to achieve further progress and prosperity in all aspects of life to allow the Omani citizens to fulfil their role and partnership in development and decision-making," Alharthy said.

Early this month, Korea and Oman held their fifth joint committee on trade and investment in Seoul, where Ministry of Finance Adviser Abdulmalik bin Abdullah al Hinai and other officials met to discuss ways to promote investment opportunities in Oman with Korean counterpart Lee In-ho, Deputy Minister for International Trade and Investment at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The committee also covered logistics, tourism, industry, information and communication technology, education and renewable energy. The two sides stressed the "importance of constantly following up the discussed topics and achieving prospective outcomes for the interest of both countries," according to the Embassy of Oman.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Korean companies were invited to take up the opportunities and incentives provided by many economic and free zones  including the Duqm Special Economic Zone  in Oman.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, left, holds talks with Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul on Nov. 1. / Yonhap



By Rachel Lee

With the international community pressuring North Korea over its nuclear threats, Sudan, which once had military ties with Pyongyang, has cut connections, the country's foreign minister said.

"We do not have any exchanges with North Korea," Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour told The Korea Times. "No embassies and no further plans as well. Sudan supports Seoul and the international community regarding the nuclear issue and we have complied with the United Nations Security Council's resolution."

The diplomat also stressed the importance of bilateral relations with Seoul, which will mark their 40th anniversary next year.

"Sudan and Korea have achieved continued cooperation, especially in the business and investment sector," the minister said.

He said Korean companies have increased market share in Sudan's car and medical equipment sectors over the past 10 years.

"I believe there is also great potential for Korea to invest in our food and meat industries as well as textiles," Ghandour said. "Apart from those business exchanges, both sides have actively made efforts to promote a cultural and educational exchange, which was one of the reasons I was here in Seoul."

The foreign minister was in Korea last month to meet his Korean counterpart, Yun Byung-se, and officials from the Korea International Cooperation Agency. The two ministers signed a memorandum of understanding as part of efforts to continue high-level dialogue.

This was the first time in 10 years that the Sudanese foreign minister had visited Seoul.
German Ambassador to Korea Stephan Auer, far right, hosts a ceremony to celebrate the installation of Germany's symbolic "Buddy Bear" sculpture outside Seoul Square, Nov. 21. The life-size sculpture, which has become a symbol of Berlin since 2001, has been exhibited around the world representing peace and co-existence. The Embassy of Germany, since it moved its office to Seoul Square two years ago, has made efforts to create a Buddy Bear for Seoul, and artist Jang Yun-hee, second from right, was the winner of the design competition organized by the embassy.



/ Courtesy of the German Embassy
Chef Kim Seong-il, chief of the culinary team of The Shilla Seoul's Korean restaurant La Yeon, poses in front of the restaurant. / Courtesy of The Shilla Seoul



This is the fourth in a series of interviews with chefs at Michelin star-awarded restaurants in Korea  ED.

By Yun Suh-young





It was 28 years ago that chef Kim Seong-il joined The Shilla Seoul as a new employee. At the time, right before the 1988 Olympics was held in Seoul, hotels were busy recruiting new staff in their restaurants to cater to the influx of foreign guests. That's when chef Kim, now the chief of the culinary team of The Shilla Seoul's Korean restaurant La Yeon, joined.

"I sent applications to several hotels at the time and was called in for interviews by many of them. But the dates were all at the same time, on the same day. I guess hotels purposefully did that to compete. So I was mulling over which interview to attend and my parents told me to go to Shilla because it's part of the Samsung Group. That's how I ended up here," said Kim during an interview with The Korea Times.

"My parents were so proud of me working here. Before they passed away, they told me to stay as long as I could at this hotel. That was their will. I plan to live up to that wish."



Since then Kim has worked at the same place for 28 years, putting in steady and ceaseless effort into his dishes. Those efforts were honored by Michelin on Nov. 7, with three shining stars as a symbol of excellence.Kim's dream wasn't to become a chef originally. He wanted to become a policeman or a soldier. But it didn't work out as he had hoped. So, when his aunt from Australia invited him to live there, he was ready to leave. He acquired a certificate for Korean cuisine only to get an immigrant visa. But again, life didn't work out as planned. His mother became seriously ill and his family told him off for only thinking about himself and his dreams so he decided to stay. That's when he started looking for local jobs and applied to hotels.

"To chefs, the Michelin award is a huge honor. I would like to attribute the stars to the entire culinary team as well as other teams that collaborate with us such as the purchasing team, food and beverage team, planning, marketing and communications teams," said Kim.

"It's also thanks to our CEO's investment into research and development of Korean cuisine. She didn't hesitate to support our trips overseas to experience top notch services to use as benchmark. She also stressed the importance of authenticity in our food and to retain our tradition."

Last year, the restaurant collaborated with the Kim family clan of Gwangsan to revive recipes from an age-old cook book called "Soo-eun-jap-bang" which dates back to 1540 in the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The promotion ran for three days offering 10 representative dishes from the book.





Cold octopus salad



"We benchmarked a lot from traditional Korean family clans and the promotion was part of that effort. At first we were doubtful whether we could reenact the recipe, but it was met with positive reviews," he said.

La Yeon's food is characterized as simple and mild.

"Our food focuses on simplicity and not adding fusion elements to it. I think being simple is best. In order to maximize the natural taste of the main ingredients, we must not add too many additional ingredients or seasonings. That's why our foreign guests say our food is not burdensome because we don't use strong spices. My philosophy is to keep the taste simple yet harmonious," said Kim.

"It also needs to be consistent because this is a top quality hotel with many VIP guests. The gap in the level of chefs must not be wide. My goal is to level out the skills of my chefs so that the most junior and the most senior all can end up creating the same taste. A standardized procedure is important. We must provide the same standard whoever visits."

After the Michelin announcement, the number of foreign visitors increased to match the number of local visitors.

"We had about 40 percent of foreign guests, which is still a high percentage, but after the Michelin award, it jumped to 50 percent. We get more calls from overseas and the first thing they tell us is 'Congratulations.' Our seats are fully booked until the end of December," said Kim.





Royal hot pot "Sinseollo"



"Another different phenomenon is the increase in younger customers. Our usual customer age range was in the 40s to 50s group. Now customers in their 20s and 30s also come. I started inspecting the dining room every day since the Michelin announcement and it's completely full, which was hardly the case before. They also feel grateful when I come out to say hello. But I feel even more grateful for them coming."

Kim pushes his staff to study constantly, offering a study group session every week to introduce new learning and new dishes. Every week one chef is designated to make a presentation, either on what they have newly discovered through books or a new recipe they came up with.

"The realm of Korean cuisine is so large that we need to continuously research. I think the study session helps add a bit of tension because chefs here go through routine work. We have limits on creativity and mostly follow the standardized process. So I wanted to give my staff the opportunity to research and develop their skills," said Kim.

"We try not to be too avant-garde with the recipes but to be mildly creative within the boundaries of tradition. Among those presented, some of them  such as cold octopus salad and cod fish porridge for November  have been introduced as part of our new menu."
By Nam Sang-so





The super carrier of the U.S. Navy, a mobile airbase armed with the heaviest firepower on Earth, made a port call at Busan escorted by several naval combat ships. Its majestic appearance displaying numerous jetfighters on its flat deck has surely wiped out the exhausted and grim minds of many South Koreans who have been hearing endless futile political debates about the North Korean threads.

During the 1950-53 Korean War, serving for the country's navy, I had chances to stay at Sasebo and Yokosuka U.S. Naval Bases with the American sailors. And I've served over a year on the bridge of PF-61, a Korean frigate (retired earlier) on the East Sea as one of the convoy ships of the 7th U.S. Fleet.

The aircraft carriers I've seen in Korean waters and at their homeports were USS Boxer, Valley Forge and Essex. Ronald Reagan was christened in March 2001. Like other newly designed aircraft carriers she too has an angled flight deck which is laid out 9 degree staggered against the longitudinal keel of the ship. The staggering runway provides efficient and flexible deck space utilization as maneuvering of departing and returning planes can be performed at the same time while departing planes can be steam catapulted undisturbed at the bow of the ship. The carrier speeds up when a plane takes off or lands on the deck to help extend the length of the runway.

There are groves of antennas and radars mounted on the top of the island, and from the top down are: the primary flight control station, navigation bridge and flight deck control. The Combat Direction Center (CDC), the nerve center for combat, is located somewhere deep below the flight deck but its location is classified.

Some 18,000 meals are prepared daily, changing the menu in every two weeks. The Ronald Reagan operates on nuclear power so she does not require fuel but fresh food must be supplied. Local media estimates some 6 billion won must have been dropped in the city of Busan on her port call. The sum might include the costs for the purchasing of locally produced fresh eggs, vegetables and fruits especially apples. The carrier produces its own potable water from seawater.

The Korean frigate PF-1, well equipped with radar, sonar and depth charges, was usually assigned to the outer circle of the fleet formation. Often we, along with two Korean minesweepers, are directed to cruise around off Wonsan Bay to look out for injured planes returning from missions in the North.

And as it happened we saw a jet fighter plane with U.S. Navy insignia painted on its fuselage crash into the water leaving behind in the sky an orange parachute slowly descending. A U.S. helicopter quickly approached and picked the pilot out of the water. On the decks of the frigate we all clapped and cheered stretching our arms into the sky.

The captain asked me to send a congratulatory message to the flagship. "Congratulations.ROKN61" I flashed in the pre-coded Morse code by the light signal. "Thanks well done 61 dot-dash-dot (Roger)," she said.

We couldn't wait to smell the earth at Wonsan, and were eager to find out if the northern girls are really prettier than the southern girls. Those were the days. And they will be the same as the USS Ronald Reagan along with its U.S. Naval Fleet are cruising every day and night on the seas around the Korean Peninsula, completely irrespective of the political turmoil on the land.





The writer is a Korean War navy veteran. His email address is sangsonam@gmail.com.
Lockheed Martin must answer allegations that its chairman met Choi Soon-sil, the central figure in the "anything-goes" scandal involving President Park Geun-hye, last June before the nation's key decision on a U.S. missile interceptor system.

Rep. An Min-suk, a four-term lawmaker of the main Democratic Party of Korea, claimed the meeting between Choi and Lockheed Chairwoman, President and CEO Marillyn Hewson occurred one month before the Korea-U.S. decision to deploy Lockheed Martin's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system.

The lawmaker claimed what Choi has received so far  tens of millions of dollars she extracted from chaebol with Park's help  would be "peanuts," compared with commissions from the THAAD deployment.

He also argued that the American firm had paid for an "influential" person's long-term stay in the U.S. without identifying the person. He backed his claim by referring to a big jump in Lockheed's Korean sales since Park took office.

The U.S. defense contractor was selected to provide Korea with its 40 F-35 Lightning jets at 7.3 trillion won. The choice was controversial because it Boeing's F-15 Silent Eagle was the only that allegedly met the purchase criteria, but the F-35 was chosen instead.












Peaceful protests speak loudly to a recalcitrant president.



Across the nation, Saturday, 1.9 million people participated in protests to demand President Park Geun-hye step down for privatizing her mandate and allowing her cronies to line their pockets illegally.



The peaceful nature of these protests, now running for weeks, is remarkable. Three concerned parties  the people, President Park and politicians  should remind themselves of their respective mission in unwinding the situation without letting it become a crisis.



First, the protesters should continue to remain peaceful in their protests. The demonstrators have every right to assume that each of them represents many others who are not on the scene. Simple arithmetic confirms this, with surveys showing Park's disapproval ratings surpassing 90 percent. With great power comes great responsibility.



Also, the protesters are showing that peaceful means can be a solution to democracy's intractable flaws such as corruption at the top, which often result in a tragic cycle of violence and counter-violence.



Second, President Park should stop having fantasies about a silent majority that either supports her or sits on the fence. What she sees on television and hears from Cheong Wa Dae is the real deal and represents what people think about her. She should ensure that the protests remain peaceful and that she does not use the situation, as past dictatorships have done, to justify violence and brutal crackdowns to stay in power. There would be no pardon for such an act.



Park must show a conscience as a human, and dignity as the elected head of state. So far, she has failed deplorably on both accounts. She has tried to lie her way out of trouble through deft use of silence and obfuscation about her role in "donations" from chaebol, and about her long duplicitous relationship with her assistant Choi Soon-sil.



Park also has let her aides take all the blame so she can avoid accountability. Her action is the antithesis of a decent chief executive whose spirit is well captured by U.S. President Harry S. Truman's statement, "The buck stops here."



Third, both ruling and opposition parties have left a lot to be desired about their handling of Park's escapism. The ruling Saenuri Party has been engaged in a dog-eat-dog power struggle between Park's loyalists and her critics. Conspicuously missing in their narrative is earnest discussion about the interests of the people they have been elected to represent.



For the opposition, the situation is even more complex. Presidential hopefuls are busy jockeying for better positions, while the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, the second-largest People's Party, and the minor Justice Party often fail to speak with the same voice even at critical moments. Fortunately, they have reached consensus on an impeachment motion, making this week a critical juncture for the nation's democracy.



Most important, the people, protesters included, should keep their eyes peeled and ears open in their collective mission to prevent President Park and the political establishment from deviating from their will. In a democracy, we the people cannot afford to fall asleep on our watch.




By Andrei Lankov





A new U.S. President has been elected, and this time the world's most powerful job went to, should we say, a rather unconventional person. Indeed, a former real estate tycoon and TV celebrity is not the type of individual we expect to see in the Oval Office. But such was the will of the people, and the outside world must adjust to this new era.

To what extent Donald Trump's domestic and foreign policies will follow the rather wild promises he generously delivered on the campaign trail remains unknown. Some economist friends are optimistic that some of Trumps' proposals may work well. We will have to wait and see. Inhabitants of this rather small peninsula in Northeast Asia, however, have good reason to feel uneasy about the next four, perhaps eight years.

What little is known about Donald Trump and his world view does not bode well for stability on the Korean Peninsula. During his campaign, Trump offered clues about his approach to North Korea. First, he said in an interview, rather casually, that he would not mind talking to Kim Jong-un  or, to be more precise, to meet the North Korean leader over a hamburger (but not at a state dinner). Second, the real estate mogul argued that China should be somehow forced to "make that [North Korean] problem disappear." Third, he expressed his admiration for Kim Jong-un's skills in taking and maintaining power against tremendous odds. And, of course, Mr. Trump has expressed his belief that South Korea is, to an extent, a free rider in the U.S.-ROK alliance and may be better off with a nuclear arsenal instead of 28,000 US soldiers.

These are rather discombobulated signals, which might indicate a willingness to talk and search for compromise, but at the same time a desire to leave things as they are (that is, to continue President Obama's "strategic patience"). Both options are certainly possible, but so is, unfortunately in equal parts, a dangerous escalation of hostilities and instability on the Korean Peninsula.

The central problem is that Kim Jong-un and his circle remain determined to acquire the capability to strike the lower 48 states with a nuclear warhead. At present there only two countries capable of this (excluding longtime U.S. allies)  Russia and China. North Korean may join this group soon and, judging by the speed of its advances, it might happen while Donald Trump resides in the White House.

This will be the foremost national security challenge of his administration, and one can only wonder how President Trump will react to it. In the past, dramatic revelations of North Korea's nuclear advancement were likely to provoke illicit conciliatory action from the international community with some additional (not particularly effective) diplomatic gestures or pressure. However, the unpredictable Donald Trump may well consider something that has been taboo since, at least, the early 1990s  an offensive preventive strike against North Korean nuclear and missile facilities.

Similar actions, undertaken by the Israelis against historical enemies Iraq and Syria, have been successful  at least, both countries never again approached comparable nuclear technology after their facilities were wiped out by the Israeli air force. There is some reason to believe a similar scheme may work in North Korea: one well-planned strike could theoretically halt North Korea's advancement for many years.

Such options have been similarly dismissed by U.S. central command (even when South Korea wanted to mount some sort of counterattack, as was the case following the Cheonan sinking in 2010).The conventional wisdom is that any attack on the North would spill in to an all-out war, straining U.S. alliances and threatening international stability.

North Korea is highly unlikely to retaliate against the U.S. directly following an attack on their nuclear facilities. This is simply beyond their capabilities, and they will hardly wish for more airstrikes from a vastly superior air power that would target the Kim family compound and those of Pyongyang power brokers. However, that doesn't mean North Korea wouldn't do anything. The vast majority of Northern firepower lies at or near the DMZ and is pointed directly at Seoul, less than 60km away and home to nearly half of South Korea's 51 million people. Until now the tremendous risk of civilian causalities has tabled any serious discussion on strikes against North Korea. But will President Trump and his advisers make the same considerations? He has said himself the United States should be "unpredictable." Alliances  military and economic alike  seem to be arbitrarily dismissed one day and embraced the next.

Admittedly, this is treading towards a worst-case scenario. A lot of things will have to happen to get us to that point. And many actors will have to be involved  the incoming administration has over 4,300 positions to fill. There are entrenched D.C. elites and a vast Asia-focused bureaucracy to navigate and overcome, should Trump depart radically from the current path. A lot will depend on those close to him, his diplomats, security advisers and the like. We have no way to know whether he is serious about his earlier promises. Nonetheless, an unpredictable Trump White House forces us to consider once-taboo policy scenarios.





Andrei Lankov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, and teaches at Kookmin University in Seoul. Reach him at anlankov@yahoo.com.
The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary

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This article appears in the November 25, 2016 issue of Executive Intelligence Review.

EDITORIAL

Revolt of the Lame Ducks in Berlin:

Th e Musi c o f Histor y Play s Elsewhere

by Helga Zepp-LaRouche, chairwoman of the German political party Civil Rights Movement Solidarity (BuSo)

[Print version of this article]

Nov. 19The great waves of hysteria in die-hard Atlanticist circles and the mass media, which were already sweeping in before the U.S. election, have reached an unprecedented scale since Trumps victory, and give us clinical insight into the mental state and understanding of democracy of these people. Evidently they would rather have a President Hillary Clinton and a Third World War resulting from her announced Syria policy, than the potential improvement of Russian-American relations, which is indispensable for establishing world peace and achieving positive solutions for Syria and Ukraine.

It is truly remarkable: After the repudiated President Obama managed to find three days to stay at Berlins Hotel Adlon, and to dine and talk with his friend Angela Merkel, and then to hold a mini-summit of the self-appointed European Six, the two of them decidedalong with the other heads of stateto prolong the sanctions against Russia for another year. These not-so-secure others were French President Francois Hollande (7% approval rating), Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (the likely loser in an Italian referendum on Dec. 4), Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (interim head of state of a minority government), and the hapless British Prime Minister Theresa May. It is doubtful that they will contribute to cohesion in the EU with this move to make themselves a virtual Directorate of the European Union, and then decree a policy which half of the EU member countries oppose.

Our Inalienable Rights

This self-anointed Six have obviously not yet grasped that their variant of neoliberal policy, based on confrontation with Russia and China, was voted out in the Brexit vote in June and in the recent presidential election in the United States.

They have not understood that a situation has developed in the trans-Atlantic world that is evoked in the American Declaration of Independence: namely, that if governments have become destructive of the ends of their mandatespecifically, to guarantee the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinessthen it is the right of the people, indeed it is their their duty to alter or abolish such a government. The long train of abuses and usurpations elaborated in the Declaration of Independence corresponds exactly to what those people whom Hillary Clinton so contemptuously called the basket of deplorables have endured under Obamas policiesabuses and usurpations which they did not want continued under a President Hillary Clinton.

The self-anointed Six, and above all, the utterly crazed members of the media, who themselves do not shrink from issuing threats against Trump, disguised as humor, are so imprisoned in their own ideology that they cannot grasp the natural-law dimension of this revolution.

Yet the New York Times on Nov. 18 published an article on its front page with the headline Trump-Size Idea for a New President: Build Something Inspiring. The Times stated correctly that Trump can only unite the country if he brings on line investments in great infrastructure projects, the likes of which have been totally ignored over the last decades. He must build modern versions of Franklin D. Roosevelts Golden Gate Bridge, Hoover Dam, and Lincoln Tunnel. Then the newspaper of record enumerated Roosevelts most important projects. But the article is, of course, far behind the program of Lyndon LaRouche, who in 2015 published a proposal to build the New Silk Road in the United Statesa program of large-scale infrastructure building and reindustrializationwhich would integrate the United States into the World Land-Bridge.

The APEC Summit

Meanwhile, the win-win cooperation for development of the New Silk Road is going forward in giant steps. It is the dominant theme at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Lima, the Peruvian capital, on Nov. 19-20, in which Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, are participating and at which they are also holding bilateral meetings. Abe had met with President-elect Trump beforehand, and attested to his admirable leadership qualities.

President Xi paid a state visit to Ecuador prior to the APEC summit and has state visits scheduled in Peru and Chile afterwards. President Xi and Ecuadors President Rafael Correa agreed on a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between their two nations, which involves regular, wide-ranging exchange and cooperation on a broad range of issues. Among them are strengthened productive investment, the development of economic and trade relations, economic cooperation, and cooperation in science and technology. China has already provided generous aid for the reconstruction of buildings and grounds which were destroyed in the severe earthquake in April of this year.

President Correa gave eloquent thanks to China in which he stressed that the two countries were of a like mind. China wants to place its economy on the foundation of innovation; Ecuador seeks to progress from being an exporter of goods to being a knowledge-based economy. Without Chinese financing and technology transfer, it would be impossible. In a joint declaration, they pledged to work together for the realization of great projects in the areas of oil, gas, mining, infrastructure, water, water management, communications, the financial sector, agriculture, petrochemical production, shipbuilding, metallurgy, paper production, and the construction of a new science city. In his speech, President Correa stressed that President Xis state visit was the most important event in the history of Ecuador.

Can you imagine Chancellor Merkel going to Greece with such a program? Probably not. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schauble turns red when a journalist asks about partial debt reliefas he did at a bankers conference in Frankfurtand then pontificates about the Greeks having lived beyond their means. This, after the Troikas austerity policy has driven 45 percent of Greeks below the poverty line. The policy of the trans-Atlantic sector is not win-win, but lose-loseunless, of course, one is a banker or a corporate executive.

The Interests of One Mankind

Now that Obamas free trade deal for Asia, the TPP, is now as dead as the TTIP deal for the Atlantic region, it is the Chinese-designed, inclusive Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) and the Regional Comprehensive Partnership (RCEP) that are on the agenda.

In answer to irresponsible media articles about these trade agreements, official Russian and Chinese spokesmen stressed that they are in no way intended to shut out or isolate the United States. Xinhua quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang saying that China would not seize a leading role in either the FTAAP or the RCEP, and that the trade agreements are proposed for working together, not against one another. The contrast with Obamas the United States makes the rules could not be clearer.

Another important subject of discussion at the APEC conference is the construction of the bioceanic railroad from Brazil to Peru, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, which will also be built with Chinas help, and whose construction is an important step toward the infrastructural development of the Latin American continent.

The contrast between the two paradigms, between the win-win perspective of the New Silk Road, versus the Western community of values of Obama and Merkel, could not be more obvious. In the first, nations work for the mutual advantage of their common development. In the latter, there is much talk of democracy, freedom, and human rights, but a deafening silence on drone strikes, regime change against legitimate governments with the aid of terrorist groups, total surveillance, and life-shortening austerity policies.

As Abraham Lincoln once said: You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time. But you cant fool all of the people all of the time.

It is high time that Germany freed itself from the grip of the fantasy of imperial dominance, be it dictated from Washington and London, or the derivative of More Europe. Mankinds future can only lie in a completely new paradigm that serves the interests of one mankind and respects international lawa paradigm through which the creative potential of every human being on this planet can be developed. And that is exactly why we need to cooperate with the New Silk Road.

Written for the newspaper Neue Solidaritat and translated from German.
PRESS RELEASE

If Elected, French Presidential Pre-Candidate Fillon Says, Hell Re-start Dialogue with Russia

Nov. 25, 2016 (EIRNS)French Republican Presidential pre-candidate Francois Fillon said that if he were elected he would immediately reverse the governments dangerous policy against Russia and open a dialogue with Russia. The comments were made during his debate with rival candidate in the Republicans primary, Alain Juppe. Both Fillon and Juppe are former prime ministers.

"I think that Francois Hollandes policies in the past four years regarding Russia, are absurd. They force Russia to take a harsher stance, to isolate itself, to trigger a nationalist reflex,"

Fillon said.

"Russia is the worlds biggest country, armed to its teeth with nuclear weapons and, therefore, poses danger if treated the way we have been doing it in the past five years,"

he continued according to TASS which does not say where he made the statement.

"I demand that we sit at the negotiating table with Russia, without waiting for a permission from the Americans, and that we try to restore ties,"

Fillon said

Pointing to the growing economic strength of Asia as being Europes main concern, he said,

"It is not a military threat, but a threat of global economic domination. Would it be wise to use the policy of sanctions, which produced no result apart from harming French farmers, in order to push Russia closer to Asia? I think that this policy has failed, and its time to admit it,"

he said.

On Syria he said Europe needs to include Russia, Iran and the government of Bashar Assad in the talks to end the conflict, according to another TASS report yesterday. "Did our actions help to put an end to this violence? No, and we have to admit it and start looking for another way to act," he said.

"In order to stop this war, we need to involve Russia in negotiations with Europe. We need to talk with Iran because, regardless of the countrys flaws, it plays a key role in the Syrian conflict. We also need to finally accept the idea that, possibly, a certain kind of interim agreement will be concluded in order to seal the status quo and at least stop the violence,"

he said during the televised debates before the second round of primaries on Nov. 27. While Fillon pushed what have been called Thatcherite economic policies, a spot poll showed that 57% of the viewers thought he won the debate.
Giuliana Tapia was way behind her classmates.

She was just 5 years old, starting kindergarten at Telesis Academy of Science and Math in West Covina.

At a kindergarten screening two months before her first day, she happily chattered about her dog Toodles, her favorite color pink, her Santa Claus pajamas, her nickname Gigi, her outings with dad to see SpongeBob SquarePants movies.

But many of her 21 classmates already knew most of the alphabet, colors and shapes. Two of them could even read all 100 words  at, the, there, like  that kindergartners are expected to know by the end of the year.

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About half had been to preschool; Giuliana had not.

I dont know, she said when she was asked to identify letters on a sheet of paper.

Kindergartner Giuliana Tapia struggles to write her name on the first day of school in Maryellen Whittinghams class at the Telesis Academy. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

Then, anxiously, But thats OK, right?

Giuliana is not atypical of Latino children, who have the lowest rates of preschool attendance among all racial and ethnic groups. A 2015 UC Berkeley study of 4,550 children nationwide found that although Latino children showed roughly the same level of language comprehension as their white peers at 9 months old, four-fifths had fallen up to 5 months behind by the time they were 2.

The study found that only 28% of the Mexican American mothers who spoke English at home, as Giulianas mother does, read to their children daily, compared with 59% of white mothers.

No preschool. No daily stories read out loud. Could Giuliana catch up?

***

Giuliana is the firstborn child of Arturo and Anna Tapia, who have showered her with love and family time  outings to beaches and mountains, Disneyland and SeaWorld, movies and the zoo. And they worked to develop her social and verbal skills, eschewing baby talk.

Kindergarten student Giana Fraguere looks up to her mother while she struggles with her alphabet and words on the first day of school at the Telesis Academy. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

But the Tapias did not read to her at home, take her to the library or teach her the alphabet. A relative who teaches kindergarten had urged preschool for Giuliana, but the Tapias were protective. We thought she was going to stay little forever, Arturo Tapia said.

The La Puente couple  she a debt collector, he a salesman  had not gone to preschool themselves or finished college; their own parents are immigrants from Mexico with middle-school educations.

I just didnt realize how important it was to introduce her to [literacy] prior to starting kindergarten, Anna said. I thought, Oh, shell learn as she goes. 

On the first day of kindergarten last year, they saw their mistake. Other children were writing their names and reciting the alphabet. Giuliana only recognized X, learned from watching Dora the Explorer. She could count only to 14. She didnt know all of her shapes and couldnt recognize her written name.

Giuliana stands at the head of the line, ready to lead her fellow students back to the classroom. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

The Tapias felt guilty  and anxious. Would the other children make fun of their girl?

Giuliana seemed happy in her purple school uniform and hair bow. Her classroom was cheerful, with shelves of books and stuffed animals. There were bins filled with plastic dinosaurs, Lego pieces and toys for counting; colorful bulletin boards featured numbers, letters, days of the week and months of the year. Maris, Crystal and Giana seemed like theyd make nice friends.

Giulianas teacher, Maryellen Whittingham, was soft and smiley and told the kids to call her Mom or Grandma if they forgot her long name. She read them a book in a singsong voice about a teacher named Miss Bindergarten, taught them a counting rhyme with an alligator puppet and let them get up and wiggle when they got restless.

But when the children sang their ABCs, Giuliana did not join in, even when a classmate said, Sing! She played with her hair and wandered away from her spot in the group.

Months later, she said shed been scared.

***

Whittingham thought Telesis Academy could help Giuliana catch up to her classmates, but not on its own  her parents would have to step it up, she told them. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

Whittingham is a literacy specialist with more than two decades of experience. She quickly spots children who need extra help.

Giuliana worried her a bit. Yikes, she thought, thats a blank slate.

The kindergarten class was about 80% Latino and overwhelmingly low-income, and relatively few parents had gone to college. About half the children were learning English. Giuliana wasnt the only one behind, but many of her classmates at least knew most of the alphabet.

In the six years since Telesis opened, a top-notch staff had transformed what had been a struggling middle school with declining enrollment into an award-winning K-8 campus. The Rowland Unified School District campus  a member of a national network called called No Excuses University  was committed to high expectations, teaching values and college preparation. Staff collaborated and used testing and data to shape teaching.

Telesis could help Giuliana, Whittingham felt, but not on its own.

At her first parent meeting a few months into the school year, she told the Tapias they needed to step up. Giuliana still was lagging behind. She knew only three target words and could not write sentences.

Her parents were ready for drastic action.

I said I was going to stop going out, Anna Tapia recalled. All Im going to do is sit down and read to her and study high-frequency words.

Absolutely not, Whittingham said. Keep living your life, but also create a richly literate environment.

Put alphabet magnets on the refrigerator. Make word flashcards to read in the car. Write letters and have Giuliana trace them. Point out words on menus: H in hamburger. Spell on outings: z-o-o. Read every night.

It seemed straightforward, but the new regimen was challenging.

Giuliana watches and listens with her classmates during story time. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

Giuliana got frustrated. She wrote her letters backward. She let her younger brother distract her. She said, bursting into tears, I cant do this.

Sometimes, Arturo Tapia lost patience and began to raise his voice. But not his wife, he says.

Anna quizzed Giuliana everywhere they went  What is s-t-o-p?  and made her write down the words when she got home. She insisted her daughter write in a journal every day. She bought her books and school supplies instead of toys.

I honestly felt it was my fault she was at that level, Anna said. So now I had to do my part to help her.

A breakthrough came in December, when Giuliana came home singing several new songs she had learned for the schools winter concert. Her mother noticed her ease in remembering the words. At Whittinghams suggestion, she came up with a song to help Giuliana memorize how to spell her name. It worked beautifully.

Later that month, Giuliana began writing sentences: I see stocking full of toys. At the sight of them, her mother cried.

A breakthrough came in December for Giuliana, when she used a song to memorize how to spell her name and began writing sentences. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

***

In class, Whittingham was teaching kindergartners what used to be first-grade work: three-to-five sentence essays that stay on topic and give details, with correct punctuation and words spelled phonetically.

Two years ago, the school district nearly tripled the number of words it expected them to know from 36 to 100.

The more ambitious learning goals are driven by the Common Core academic standards  adopted by more than 40 states since 2010  that are supposed to better prepare students for college and careers.

Now when Whittingham reads a book to her kindergartners, she questions them about the cover and title, the author and illustrator, the problem and solution, the setting and characters. During one visit, she read two versions of The Three Little Pigs so they could compare and contrast the texts.

Twenty years ago, we read books just for the joy of reading, Whittingham said wistfully. It seems like were rushing kids to grow up.

She works to raise performance but not anxiety. She models everything: using scissors, drawing figures, writing letters, even making mistakes. Once, she deliberately messed up a letter.

I can cry. I can make a big X. Or I can be proud and keep going, she told the class. If you dont make a mistake, youre not learning anything new.

Parents who expect perfection hold their children back, she said, by making them afraid to try new things and so develop skills.

***

In class, Whittingham was teaching kindergartners what used to be first-grade work: three-to-five sentence essays. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

By the end of February, Giuliana had managed to reach grade level, mastering 50 words. Whittinghams entire class  including those who started as limited English speakers  had moved from the lowest two of four reading levels to the highest, an achievement Telesis Principal Johan Schmitz called phenomenal.

By June, 90% had reached English fluency, and every student had reached or exceeded grade level for all other milestones in reading and math.

Whittingham credits their parents willingness to take her suggestions to heart and diligently work with their children.

What makes the biggest difference is parent support and enforcing high expectations, Whittingham says. If we have that, we can overcome language barriers and socioeconomic differences.

That message appears to be spreading. A new Stanford University study found that the stubborn academic gap between white and Latino kindergartners had narrowed between 1998 and 2010. A companion study suggested why: Low-income parents in that time had started reading more to their children, taking them on more enriching outings and getting them books and home computers.

Whittingham works one-on-one with Giuliana. By the end of February, she had managed to reach grade level, mastering 50 words. (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

***

By the end of the year, Giuliana had learned to read and write five-sentence essays, count to 100 and draw pictures of people with fully formed features.

On her first day of summer school in June, she sat with Whittingham, arms crossed and brow knit in concentration. Her teacher pointed to a word on a list of 100. Ninety-seven had been marked off. Just three more to go.

Place, Giuliana read.

Mmade.

Great.

Whittingham smiled. You know what that means.

Im in the 100 Club! Giuliana whooped, as classmates high-fived her.

She couldnt wait to get home to share the news with her parents  who already are reading daily to her 21-month-old brother, Sebastian, and plan to send him to preschool.

My mom, Giuliana said, is going to flip.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

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The nations largest state bar association is overhauling ethics rules for attorneys for the first time in 30 years, and some lawyers are unhappy about a proposal that would open them up to discipline for having sex with clients.

California currently bars attorneys from coercing a client into sex or demanding sex in exchange for legal representation.

Supporters of an all-out ban say the relationship between a lawyer and client is inherently unequal, so any sexual relationship is potentially coercive. But some attorneys say its an unjustified invasion of privacy.

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The proposal is part of a long-awaited shake-up of the state bar associations ethics rules for attorneys, which were last fully revised in 1987. Lawyers who violate the regulations are subject to discipline ranging from private censure to loss of their legal license.

A state bar commission has spent months crafting and amending 70 rules under goals set by the California Supreme Court. Other changes under consideration would allow the state bar to discipline attorneys for discrimination and harassment even without a separate finding of wrongdoing. The current rule requires a final determination of wrongful discrimination in a lawsuit or other proceeding before the state bar can take action.

Another change would bring California in line with other states by subjecting prosecutors to discipline for failing to turn over evidence they know or reasonably should know would help the defense.

The first and foremost goal is to promote confidence in the legal profession and administration of justice and ensure adequate protection to the public, said Lee Smalley Edmon, a California appellate court judge and head of the commission revising the rules.

The sex ban has divided the rules revision commission, though similar restrictions are in place in other states. As of May 2015, 17 states had adopted a blanket sex ban drafted by the American Bar Assn., according to an ABA committee that looked at implementation of the groups ban.

Like the ABA ban, Californias proposal creates an exception when the sexual relationship preceded the attorney-client relationship.

At an October commission meeting, lawyer and commission member Daniel Eaton said the current rule regarding sex isnt working, and he pointed to a lack of disciplinary action against attorneys as evidence.

Between September 1992 and January 2010, the state bar investigated 205 complaints of misconduct under the current sex restriction, according to an analysis of state bar data that accompanied the proposal. It imposed discipline in one case.

The current rule also forbids sex if it causes the lawyer to perform legal services incompetently.

A bright-line rule would provide clarity to attorneys and remove the difficulty of proving the sexual relationship was the result of coercion or negatively affected the lawyers performance, supporters say.

If we have a very flat guideline, it gets out of the area of subjectivity, said Andrew Servais, chairman of the San Diego County Bar Assn.'s legal ethics committee.

Opponents of the ban, including the Los Angeles County Bar Assn.'s ethics committee, say its unnecessary and would be struck down as an unconstitutional violation of fundamental privacy rights.

No empirical or even reliable anecdotal evidence shows a ban is needed to protect the public or regulate the legal profession, James Ham, another lawyer on the commission, said in a dissent filed with the commission.

Proponents of a complete ban cannot articulate why a lawyer should be disciplined for sexual relations with a mature, intelligent, consenting adult, in the absence of any quid pro quo, coercion, intimidation or undue influence, he wrote.

The revisions commission modified the proposal at the October meeting to create an exception from the sex ban for lawyers spouses or registered domestic partners. It also required the state bar to consider whether a client would be unduly burdened by an investigation of sexual misconduct if someone other than the client filed the complaint.

The bars board of trustees approved an additional public comment period on the sex ban rule earlier this month. The rules commission has until the end of March 2017 to get the boards approval for the proposals and send them to the California Supreme Court, which will have final say on the changes.
Sherri Papini, the Northern California mother missing for three weeks, was found on the side of a road on Thanksgiving morning chained and heavily battered, according to police dispatch logs.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the circumstances of Papinis abduction and are looking for two women they believe are the kidnappers.

The 34-year-old woman was found bound by restraints along Interstate 5 in Yolo County. Officials were called about 4:30 a.m. after Papini was able to flag down a motorist. The mother of two was treated for injuries and reunited with her husband, Keith.

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The Redding Record-Searchlight quoted dispatch logs from the California Highway Patrol, which said Papini was heavily battered and chained to something.

Speaking on Good Morning America, Shasta County Sheriff Tom Bosenko said detectives are hoping to get more information from Papini soon in an effort to find her kidnappers.

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It shows what a community can do when it works together to get the word out, he said.

Residents who had been helping with the search were relieved that Papini was found safe.

It was just the biggest blessing, not only for the family but for the community thats been trying to find her, Sandra Oswald, a 29-year-old community organizer in Redding, told the Associated Press. Now, its just praying for them and her recovery.

Before Papini was found, police had filed about 20 search warrants in court related to the investigation. Many were filed under seal, the Sacramento Bee reported.

esmeralda.bermudez@latimes.com

Times staff writer Shelby Grad contributed to this report.

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His reach stretched across the Florida Straits, from Havana to Miami, and his influence in South Florida may have surpassed even that of Henry Flagler, whose railroad opened up the area to modern civilization.

Fidel Castro, one of the last paragons of the moribund communist system, was the catalyst who changed South Florida from a sun-drenched backwater of retired New Yorkers and drawling Southerners to an international destination with a decidedly Latin flavor.

Little did South Floridians know on New Years Day 1959, when Castro seized power in Cuba, that their world was about to be shaken to its core.

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The most transformational event in the history of South Florida was the Castro takeover, said Paul George, a history professor at Miami-Dade College. Youve got a guy thats widely reviled, and yet because of him were living in a completely different area today.

When Castro ascended to the Cuban presidency more than five decades ago, Cubans made up only 2% of Miami-Dade Countys population. As of 2010, they represented 34%.

More than 700,000 Cuban refugees have braved the journey to South Florida by plane, boat or rickety raft since the bearded revolutionary marched into Havana that day. Today, Floridians who identify themselves as Cuban number 1.5 million.

Its ironic, George said. Hes the single most hated person by hundreds of thousands of people here, and yet hes the reason theyre here; hes the reason they helped shape this place.

The exiles initially expected to return home once the leftist regime collapsed  quickly, they hoped. But Castros revolution took root. South Floridas Cuban cohort likewise took root in its adopted land, buying homes and businesses and, most significantly, having children.

These people came over as exiles and refugees, and yet they have shaped this place like nobody else has, George said.

Cubas elites and middle classes, the most likely to suffer under a communist reign, were the first to flee Castro. South Florida was for them a natural fit. Many already had strong business ties to the peninsula. And the U.S. government accommodated them by making it easy to stay: The powerful anti-communist sentiments of the mid-20th century led to a law that allowed Cuban refugees to remain here without the usual immigration requirements.

Cuban elites may have left behind their homes and possessions, but their businesses often were easily relocated to the other side of the Florida Straits. Professionals with an acumen for international business, coming from cosmopolitan Havana, found sleepy South Florida ripe turf for expansion.

Working-class Cubans were drawn to the jobs those businesses offered. Cuban refugees quickly created an enclave with its own culture, language and hopes.

Some of those effects took unforeseen turns.

The Roman Catholic Church, for instance, once its own enclave in a predominantly Protestant region, grew into a powerful force as a result of the Cuban influx. In charge of resettling Cuban refugees, the church received boxcars of federal money to help with jobs, housing and education for the often-bewildered immigrants.

Education in South Florida was also transformed by the immigrant wave. Again, with an outpouring of government funds, schools developed new programs to teach English to new arrivals, young and old. School districts expanded as more students entered the system.

Cubans found teaching jobs, and in 1963 Miami schools became officially bilingual, leading the nation in a seismic cultural shift that is still underway.

And in the weeks leading up to the Bay of Pigs invasion in April 1961, South Florida became Spy Central, hosting the greatest number of CIA operatives outside Washington. There were business fronts, safe houses and back-room plotting. Historians peg the number of local operatives on the CIAs payroll at 10,000.

With a population that included Jews and other educated seasonal residents, Miami was oddly both Southern and Northern liberal. Locals figured the newcomers would replicate previous immigrant groups and quickly assimilate. But the Cubans werent here to stay, only to wait out Castros fall.

There was no significant backlash at first against the immigrants  except from African Americans. Fresh from the heady victories of the Civil Rights movement, blacks had raised their expectations only to see the communist-hating Cubans reap the societal benefits, or so it seemed to some.

By the 1970s, local whites were experiencing their own surge of resentment. The working-class whites felt there were no jobs unless you spoke Spanish, that Cubans favored hiring each other, said Alex Stepick, a Florida International University professor of anthropology and sociology who has published articles and books on Cuban immigration. Their population declined.

Indeed, by 1979, about half of Miami-Dades major construction companies were Cuban-owned.

Upper-class whites, with an appreciation for the economic opportunities, stayed and embraced Miami as the capital of Latin America. By the late 1980s a reverse assimilation was underway, with elite whites and their children hiring Spanish tutors and immersing themselves in Latino culture.

The 80s also saw the Mariel boatlift, which spurred more working-class flight and was the event that, in retrospect, propelled Cuban Americans local political ascendancy.

Cuba opened its borders and some 125,000 refugees inundated South Florida in a matter of months. Castro painted the emigrants as either crazy or criminals, though later studies showed only 1% or 2% were actually from prisons or mental institutions.

It was an era of high crime and fear. Many locals felt they were being threatened by foreign-speaking invaders. Laws were passed enshrining English as the official language.

But South Floridas Cubans used politics to rehabilitate their image. Nameplates on the daises of municipal and county councils were suddenly peppered with Latin patronyms. Cubans enamored of Ronald Reagans hard anti-communist stance helped transform Florida from a Democratic to Republican state.

Through politics and economics, the Cubans proved a unstoppable force in altering South Florida history. If you look at Greater Miami, every area of endeavor is now led by Cubans, whether its educational institutes, politics, business, banking, George said.

Newcomers no longer, South Floridas Cubans are now in their third generation. Reluctant exiles who once chafed for an early return home, they too have changed greatly over the long decades of waiting for Castros downfall or demise.

Theyre now Americans, said George. Theyre as American as anybody.

Nolin writes for the Sun Sentinel.

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Opposing sides in the increasingly tense standoff over the Dakota Access oil pipeline have found little to agree on. But on this fact there is no dispute: Sometime between 3 and 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 21, a young woman demonstrating against the pipeine nearly had her arm blown off.

But agreement ends there. Depending on the point of view, the explosion that mangled Sophia Wilanskys left arm happened either because police launched a concussion grenade, or because a propane canister rigged by activists exploded in her hand.



For the record: A previous version of this article referred to the Chiricahua Apache Nation. It should be the Chiricahua band of the Apache Nation. Also, one of the protesters names was incorrect. It should be Efrain Montalvo, not Efrain Mobles.

The horrific injury to Wilansky, who remains in a Minneapolis hospital facing multiple surgeries to save her arm, exemplifies the war of conflicting narratives over a portion of the 3.8-billion, 1,172-mile Dakota Access pipeline being built in North Dakota.

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Her injury is the latest major incident in an eight-month fight to define the pipeline battle as competing values of human and Native American rights versus the rule of law, environmental protection versus public safety. Pipeline opponents fear a spill would pollute waterways and say construction would desecrate lands tribes hold as sacred.

The explosion that injured Wilansky occurred during a 10-hour clash at the Backwater Bridge near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. The standoff began around sundown Nov. 20 and continued past 4 a.m. the next day. Each side, police and protesters, portrayed the other as dangerous and violent.

Videos showed white trails of smoke, showers of orange sparks, and clouds of tear gas hanging overhead as protesters chanted Water is life amid urgent shouting for medical assistance.

It was a war zone, Graywolf, 71, Southern California director of the American Indian Movement, said days later. Police, standing behind concrete barriers and looping razor wire, launched tear gas canisters, rubber bullets and beanbag and sponge rounds, and drenched protesters with fire hoses in the subfreezing temperatures.

These are the types of things more typical of trench warfare, not protests, said Noah Morris, who treated the injured as a member of the Standing Rock Medic and Healer Council. Medics treated more than 300 water protectors, he said. Twenty-six were sent to hospitals. Wilansky was air-evacuated to Minneapolis.

Police portray themselves as the victims of a calculated effort by protesters to cause harm, saying demonstrators hurled Molotov cocktails and other objects at them. The self-proclaimed water protectors denied this, though some did throw bottles, and in at least one case a demonstrator picked up a smoking tear gas canister and hurled it back at the police line.

In recent weeks police have consistently portrayed the protesters as rioters, a description repeated on nightly newscasts and by local talk radio hosts, who also have begun to use the label terrorist.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend, North Dakota authorities issued a code red alert warning the public to be on alert to any suspicious activity. Rioters in the area are intent on creating an unsafe environment for the public.

The portrayal seems to be effective in the largely white towns of Bismarck and Mandan, where an estimated 1,000 residents met Saturday morning on a bridge over the Missouri River to pledge their support for law enforcement.

 Protesters have stood in the path of an oil pipeline that is under construction near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, which straddles North and South Dakota.

Over the last few months, largely peaceful protesters have squared off against hundreds of militarized police wearing riot helmets and flanking military equipment designed to absorb roadside explosions in Iraq. In recent weeks, outside observers have underscored a frequent protest chant: The world is watching.

Earlier this month, the United Nations called on the U.S. to take urgent action on the alarming situation in North Dakota, including the criminalization of indigenous peoples in their peaceful attempts to safeguard their human rights and fundamental rights.

And last week Amnesty International alerted Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier of a new delegation of observers to North Dakota to monitor the handling of the protests, reminding him to take all measures needed to ensure that the treatment of demonstrators is in accordance with international human rights standards and the U.S. Constitution.

The protesters say the use of hoses, and earlier, of dogs from the pipeline companys security team attacking water protectors, evoke images of the Deep South from decades ago.

Its like the freedom marches of the 1960s, said Strong Young Pony, 43, a member of the Chiricahua band of the Apache Nation in Arizona who worked on the triage team during Sundays clashes.

Last week in the main Oceti Sakowin camp, which has swelled in recent weeks to more than 5,000 Native people and their supporters, traumatized demonstrators showed swollen hands and deep purple bruises suffered from the many rubber bullets fired by police. Medics reported seeing injuries to protesters faces, thighs and groin areas.

Police, however, accuse pipeline opponents of manufacturing stories in an effort to bring more sympathy to their cause  like their account of an incident involving a private security companys guard dog. The story of the 4-year-old girl being bit by a dog was not true, Kirchmeier said in a heated October discussion with camp coordinator Mekasi Camp-Horinek.

Camp-Horninek, in turn, asked Kirchmeier why he went on TV and said we had pipe bombs  that wasnt true. Kirchmeier acknowledged the pipe bomb allegation was incorrect, blaming it on bad intelligence.

 On Nov. 21, Authorities defended their decision to douse protesters with water during a skirmish near the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

It turned out the weapons were actually ceremonial pipes, according to Angela Bibens, lead attorney for the camps Red Owl Legal Collective. This is a profound cultural misinterpretation of what are chanupas, or peace pipes. These are sacred ceremonial objects.

On at least two occasions, the Morton County Sheriffs Department has alleged that demonstrators were carrying bows and arrows, only to acknowledge later that this also was not true.

Now the battle rages over the circumstances surrounding the gruesome injury to Wilansky, 21, a recent graduate of Williams College.

In an emotional news conference outside a Minnesota hospital on Tuesday, her father, Wayne Wilansky, unequivocally blamed police for his daughters injury. Intentionally an officer threw a grenade that exploded right as it hit her forearm, said Wilansky, who said his daughter told him she saw police throw a device at her. This is not Afghanistan; its not Iraq. We dont throw grenades at people.

A trauma surgeon and advocate for the protesters who saw photographs of Wilanskys injury said they contradicted the police account of what happened. The photographs show no evidence of any charring of the flesh or burnt clothing that would indicate an explosive device such as a propane canister, said Dr. Jesse Lopez, a physician of Heartland Surgical Care in Leawood, Kan., and a periodic volunteer with the Medic and Healer Council.

Police have vehemently denied their equipment caused her injury.

The injuries sustained are inconsistent with any resources utilized by law enforcement and are not a direct result of any tools or weapons used by law enforcement, said North Dakota Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson.

Yet in separate interviews, nearly a dozen pipeline protesters described the bright flashes, loud reports and concussive airwaves they believe indicated concussion grenades.

Its kind of like you come into a vacuum, said Strong Young Pony. Youre standing still and then you have a shock wave  a movement of a wave, like a ghost  someone walking past you that you cant see, he said.

Another protester, Efrain Montalvo, 25, a representative of the International Indigenous Youth Council, said bright flashes left him temporarily blind. Its like a white light, but then it makes you shiver, he said. You just dont really know where you are. He described having what he called a seizure, lying prone while convulsing for 10 minutes.

A Morton County Sheriffs Department spokesman, Rob Keller, wrote in an email that the department does not use or possess concussion or flash-bang grenades. Our law enforcement ONLY deployed less than lethal munitions, he wrote.

North Dakota officials suggest instead that it was protesters who rigged one-pound propane cylinders as explosives. Officials said they recovered three of the cylinders.

Sophia Wilansky, meanwhile, faces a grueling road to recovery, even if she does not lose her arm. Her father says she may not ever recover full use of it. She faces up to 20 surgeries in the coming months.

As she heals, protests will undoubtedly continue and, with them, the possibility of more clashes.

On Friday the Army Corps of Engineers ordered that the main camp be evacuated by Dec. 5. The water protectors already are saying they will not agree to this.

Tolan is a special correspondent.

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Opponents of President-elect Donald Trump are trying to persuade Republican electors to vote against him next month. A primer on the electoral college and the roles of electors:

What is the electoral college?

Its made up of the 538 Americans who actually elect the president. The number corresponds to the seats a state has in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, plus the three electoral votes allotted to Washington, D.C. The magic number is 270, the bare majority required to win the presidency.

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Electors meet in their state capitals to cast their ballots; this year, that will take place Dec. 19.

How can a candidate win the popular vote and not the electoral college?

The national popular vote simply doesnt matter. Electoral votes are instead awarded based on state-by-state results. Essentially, the U.S. holds 50 separate popular votes that determine an electoral college vote count.

How many times has a candidate won the popular vote but lost the election?

Hillary Clinton would be the fifth candidate in the nations history to fall into this dubious category. The others were Andrew Jackson in 1824; Samuel Tilden in 1876; Grover Cleveland in 1888; and Al Gore in 2000.

How did the college originate?

The electoral college is an original feature of the Constitution. Some framers wanted popular election of the commander in chief. Many others didnt trust the masses. The electoral college was a compromise.

Pegging a states electoral vote count to the size of its congressional delegation was a negotiated design, giving small states more influence proportionally than large states.

The same urban versus rural, small state versus large state battle is the reason for the makeup of the U.S. Senate, where every state has two members.

Do electors have to vote the way their state voted?

The Constitution is silent on this point, which suggests electors can go their own way. This is certainly the thinking behind petitions and a handful of Clinton electors urging Republican electors to abandon Trump.

In 29 states, there are either statutes or party rules that theoretically bind electors to honor state results. But the penalty for becoming a faithless elector is typically a fine measured in the hundreds of dollars.

The U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled explicitly on those state laws and party rules, and some constitutional scholars say such state restrictions would be struck down if challenged.

Have there been faithless electors before?

The National Archives says that throughout the nations history more than 99% of electors have voted as pledged.

According to research by FairVote.org, a nonprofit group that advocates national popular-vote elections for president, there have been just 157 so-called faithless electors. That represents less than 1% of the total electoral votes cast in the nations history.

Only a handful of those have been in the modern era. The last publicly identified faithless elector was Barbara Lett-Simmons of Washington, D.C., in 2000.

A Gore elector, Lett-Simmons abstained as a public protest for her home city having no voting representation in Congress. According to news reporters, Lett-Simmons sought, and received, Gores permission for her act of defiance.

What happens if no candidate receives the 270-vote majority?

Under the Constitution, the House of Representatives decides, with each state delegation casting a single vote for one of the top three vote-getters. Republicans control a majority of state delegations, so this route still benefits Trump.

The House has decided presidential elections only twice, in 1800 and 1824.

Barrow writes for the Associated Press.

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As a presidential candidate, Donald Trump pledged to oust special interests from government by promising to drain the swamp in Washington. These three words may make for a clever chant. But Trumps key proposals  hiring freezes for the federal workforce, term limits for Congress and a few cosmetic lobbying bans are to ending corruption what bloodletting and leeches are to healing the sick. They wont work, and they only make matters worse.

In the Trump narrative, Washington is broken because of career politicians and lobbyists, and if we remove those players, surely we will remove the corruption. Trump himself supposedly proves this fantasy: He ran a bare-bones campaign as an outsider free from special interests, with virtually no experienced policy advisers.

Yet upon winning, Trump immediately turned to the very same lobbyists he had attacked. When confronted on 60 Minutes about his decision to rely on lobbyists in his transition efforts, Trump acknowledged a reality of Washington policymaking: Thats the only people you have down there. And when he then tried to change course by prohibiting registered lobbyists from helping out, some of the lobbyists simply deregistered. This highlights the comic futility and worthlessness of such bans: Theyre very easy to get around.

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Just plain common sense isnt enough to make good laws. Keeping experts on congressional staffs isnt a waste of taxpayer money.

Trumps vision for government reform runs up against three basic truths about U.S. policymaking. One is that our government creates a large number of very complex laws and policies because we live in a complex society. A second is that lots of powerful groups are affected by these policies, and now more than ever, those groups are well-mobilized to shape the design of government policy. The third is that if government doesnt have resources of its own to develop policies, private groups with narrow interests  businesses above all  will happily do it themselves.

The way these truths play themselves out is clear at the state level, where being a lawmaker is often a part-time job. The less professionalized a legislature is, the more likely it will outsource the drafting of bills to business interests and the more corporate-sourced bills wind up enacted into law. And wherever there are term limits, lobbyists have even more influence because theyre often the only ones around with any real experience moving bills through the legislature.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, in 16 states, lawmakers report spending about half their time working on legislative issues and are paid less than $20,000 on average. But those states that do not spend much on their legislatures pass many more bills that favor narrow business interests, such as tax cuts, that wind up draining state coffers over the long run.

Since the 1980s, Washington has steadily de-invested in its own professional capacity, leaving members of Congress with fewer and less-experienced staff than they had in the past. Over the last several years, staff salaries have actually declined, while turnover remains high. From 2006 to 2016, the median term for a Senate chief of staff was 2.5 years, and for a House chief of staff, 2.8 years. The problem suggests its own solution: Expand policy resources in government, including paying to retain and attract experienced and knowledgeable people.

Washington requires lawmakers, legislative staff and bureaucrats who have the time and know-how to actually think through policy on their own. This means countering simplistic drain the swamp ideas. Just plain common sense isnt enough to make good laws. Keeping experts on congressional staffs isnt a waste of taxpayer money. And ordinary citizens  especially those who do not need a government paycheck, like Donald Trump  wont do a better job or be more likely to resist special interests than those with experience and expertise.

It is true that citizen legislatures and non-professional politicians cost less in direct terms. And convincing voters that their legislators and administrative agencies need more resources will be difficult, especially in an era when public officials are viewed with distrust and disdain. But the evidence is increasingly clear: Disproportionate special interest and lobbyist influence comes from the simple fact that on many issues, these lobbyists are the only ones investing in crucial policy resources.

Eventually, medical science recognized that bloodletting and leeches were counterproductive. Instead, we came to understand that the body had a natural immune system, and the key to curing illness was to strengthen  not weaken  those responses. Experienced and informed public officials are the immune system of representative democracy, the individuals best-positioned to resist the enervating influence of narrow special and corporate interests. We need more, not fewer, of them.

Lee Drutman is a senior fellow in the political reform program at New America and the author of The Business of America is Lobbying. Alexander Hertel-Fernandez is an assistant professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University and the author of the forthcoming book Politics at Work.

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Carl Higbie, a prominent supporter of Donald Trump, said recently that the mass internment of Japanese Americans during World War II was a precedent for the president-elects plans to create a registry for immigrants from Muslim countries. He said the plan would be legal, that it would hold constitutional muster.

That claim betrays a misreading of history. It rests on a wartime Supreme Court decision that was based on falsehoods and suppressed evidence, a decision that is regarded as a stain on American jurisprudence.

In February 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. About 120,000 Japanese Americans  two-thirds of them native-born U.S. citizens  had to register and report to assembly centers. They had just days to divest themselves of all they owned  their homes, farms and businesses. With just what they could carry, they were shipped off to federally run internment camps, imprisoned behind barbed wire and watched by armed guards.

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My grandmother, Bette Takei, was one of them. She was incarcerated in Colorado, while her husband, my grandfather, Kuichi Takei, fought in an artillery unit of the United States Army in Europe. Bette was from a small town in the Sacramento River Delta; Kuichi was from Santa Cruz.

A Japs a Jap. It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen or not.  Lt. Gen. General John L. DeWitt

In the Bay Area, 23-year-old Fred T. Korematsu quietly defied the February 1942 order. He was picked up, arrested and convicted, and then he too was imprisoned. The ACLU of Northern California represented him before the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging the policy of roundups and incarceration. In 1944  after D-day but before the war was over  Korematsu lost.

It was not a unanimous decision. In one dissent, Justice Frank Murphy wrote, Racial discrimination in any form and in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life. Justice Robert Jackson wrote that the court should not affirm the military order because the principle then lies about like a loaded weapon, ready for the hand of any authority that can bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need.

Decades later, Aiko Herzig-Yoshinaga, a researcher for a congressional commission appointed to consider legislative redress for victims of the wartime incarceration, who had herself been rounded up as a teenager, found a curious document in the National Archives.

In Korematsus Supreme Court case, government lawyers had submitted a report by Lt. Gen. General John L. DeWitt, and quoted from it in their oral arguments to justify the executive order. They won in large part because of this report, which claimed that the imprisonment of Japanese Americans was a military necessity because there was no time for government officials to determine who was loyal and who might be a security threat.

DeWitts racist views were widely known: A Japs a Jap, he said publicly. It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen or not. But his report offered a plausible justification for Roosevelts policy, and it carried the day.

What Herzig-Yoshinaga found was an earlier draft of DeWitts report, which said that anyone of Japanese ancestry in the U.S. had to be rounded up simply because Japanese racial characteristics made it impossible to distinguish the sheep from the goats  no matter how much time was available.

Had this original report been submitted to the court, its likely the justices would have realized that racism, not time pressure, was the true motivation for the indiscriminate roundup. Instead, almost all copies of the original were destroyed. It was purposefully kept out of the record, along with intelligence reports showing that Japanese Americans posed no credible threat to the U.S.

In the early 1980s, the judiciary, in effect, apologized. Korematsu and two other Japanese Americans who had lost wartime challenges against their incarceration, petitioned to overturn their decades-old criminal convictions. They succeeded using a legal procedure called coram nobis, the equivalent of the judiciary admitting a serious mistake.

The coram nobis cases never reached the Supreme Court because the plaintiffs won at lower levels. So far, the high court has not heard a case that called on it to overturn the original Korematsu decision. Nonetheless, the ruling is as close to completely repudiated as it could be without having been formally overruled.

Federal District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel wrote, presciently, in her 1984 opinion overturning Korematsus conviction: In times of international hostility and antagonism, our institutions, legislative, executive and judicial, must be prepared to exercise their authority to protect all citizens from the petty fears and prejudices that are so easily aroused.

The Civil Liberties Act of 1988, signed into law by President Reagan, provided reparations of $20,000 to each Japanese American camp survivor. The legislation admitted that Executive Order 9066 was based on race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership. Reagan called the incarceration a great injustice and apologized on behalf of all Americans. More than $1.6 billion in reparations was disbursed.

Despite that apology, our leaders have become increasingly bold in unlearning this lesson. Korematsu himself returned to the Supreme Court in 2004 to file a brief challenging the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Now, the racist underpinnings of the World War II incarceration are being used to push for a Muslim registry.

My family framed the apology letter my grandparents got from the government. It is signed by President George H.W. Bush and it hangs on the wall of the home I grew up in. We can never fully right the wrongs of the past, it says.

When my grandfather died in November 2014, he believed the extreme prejudice he and my grandmother faced had ended. We should remember the wrongs they suffered, not revive them.

Carl Takei is a staff attorney for the ACLU National Prison Project.

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
SAN PEDRO

Lecture

Learn how scientists are developing and implementing techniques to restore the California rock-reef ecosystem.

When, where: 7-9 p.m. Friday at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 3720 Stephen M. White Drive, San Pedro.

Admission, info: Free. RSVP to (310) 548-7562 or lecture@cmaqua.org.

HIKING

Family hike

Join a naturalist guide and discover habitat, wildlife and more on an easy, family-friendly hike in George F Canyon.

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When, where: 9 a.m. Saturday,, George F Canyon Nature Center and Preserve, 27305 Palos Verdes Drive East, Rolling Hills Estates.

Admission, info: Free. (310) 547-0862. RSVP to www.pvplc.org

JOSHUA TREE

Photography

Craig Fucile will lead an instructional program as well as an all-day photo shoot in the Big Morongo preserve and Keys Ranch.

When, where: 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. Repeats Dec. 4 at the same time. Class size limited.

Admission, info: $95. RSVP to (760) 367-5535

Please email announcements at least three weeks before the event to travel@latimes.com.
Whether youre a hotel geek, an aficionado of horror or just another Colorado traveler, you might need to make a small detour in Estes Park, outside the east end of Rocky Mountain National Park.

What for? The Stanley Hotel, which opened in 1909. By the 1970s, it had faded so dramatically that it inspired Stephen Kings setting for The Shining. (The Stanley Kubrick movie was shot elsewhere.)

Rates typically start around $230 nightly, but you need not sleep here. Just prowl the public rooms and let your imagination roam.

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Or, if youre deep into the horror vibe, sign on for one of the hotels several tours, most of which have spooky themes. They run 90 mintues and are priced at $20-$28 per person.

In honor of this years National Park Service centennial, the Travel section is posting 100 park travel ideas and tips based on trips staff travel writer Christopher Reynolds has taken, along with photo-op advice from Times photographer Mark Boster. Well post one per day through Dec. 31.

Follow Reynolds on Twitter: @MrCSReynolds

See travel videos by Reynolds from around the world.
Now its our turn for a few laughs courtesy of the letter writer who disagreed with the choice of Travel section stories and the content of those stories [Letters, Nov. 13].

Im sure every U.S. citizen is thinking about the must-sees in Washington, D.C.: Maybe the White House, the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, the Washington Monument? Not a chance. My first stop is going to be the Afghan Kabob Palace. What citizen doesnt crave a kebab?

Second stop? Yes, Im thinking an Ethiopian joint, because Washington has the largest expat community of Ethiopians outside of Ethiopia.

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Thanks for the travel tips. That letter writer is my new travel guru.

Robert Bubnovich

Irvine

One story, two views

I really enjoyed reading Julie L. Kesslers article about Papua New Guinea [Going Off the Grid, Nov. 13]. I love off-the-beaten-path locations, but that one is so far off the path that I would not have considered it a possibility before learning how Kessler navigated it.

Her writing is clear, concise and full of imagery. Im inspired by her adventuresome spirit.

Barbara Shoemaker

Redondo Beach

::

As a cultural anthropologist, I read with horror Kesslers articles on exotic tourism in Papua New Guinea.

She describes her excursions to stare voyeuristically at naked natives of various clans, ostensibly unchanged for hundreds of years and untouched by the modern world, as if this were no more complicated than bird watching.

She repeats every trope of oblivious colonial adventure in the tropics, updated to add lack of cell service to the list of privations suffered by these off-the-grid savages.

Despite the history she recounts, albeit superficially, of New Guineas exploitation by European powers, there is no hint of the social or ethical contexts in which these communities expose themselves for her leisure.

Dennis ORourkes 1988 documentary Cannibal Tours, on just the sort of trips she reports on, will help her see how anachronistic and absurd these pieces are.

John Norvell

Professor of anthropology

Mt. San Antonio College

Walnut

Battery tips

The best solution I have found for keeping loose coin batteries from shorting while traveling or in storage is to fold a piece of blue masking tape over them [Know Your Battery Basics for Air Travel, On the Spot, by Catharine Hamm, Nov. 13]. I write the battery type on the outside.

Doc Dougherty

Playa del Rey

Heres to Bugsy

Re: At 75, El Cortez Mixes Mob Past, Hip Present, by Jay Jones, Nov. 13: As many times as Ive been to Vegas, Ive never taken the time to go inside the old El Cortez hotel. Im sure the hotel, once owned by the infamous Bugsy Siegel, has a plethora of stories hidden within its walls.

Jones article also covers the Flamingo hotel, which Siegel opened on the Strip in 1946. Ive stayed there many times through the years.

The 1991 movie Bugsy, starring Warren Beatty, Siegel says throughout the movie, Everybody deserves a fresh start every once in awhile.

The next time Im sitting at Bugsys Bar at the Flamingo, Ill toast Siegel, who didnt get his fresh start but was shot and killed six months after the Flamingo opened.

Bill Spitalnick

Newport Beach

The friendlier skies?

A bright note: The much maligned United Airlines may be coming around under new leadership.

My son just returned from Tokyo on a United flight and reported that it was smooth and that it arrived almost an hour early.

I also had a positive experience recently. I arrived at LAX from Sydney, Australia, ahead of schedule. The last leg of the journey was a United Express commuter flight scheduled to depart late in the evening.

I approached the United counter in Terminal 7 to inquire about an earlier flight, not really expecting help.

Instead, I was directed to another desk, where the attendant put me on standby for an earlier flight and waived the change fee.

I was among the people who swore off United after trips were ruined by canceled flights and poor service. If the sky has indeed turned friendly again, I just might become a United frequent flier once more.

Mei-Ling L. Liu

Arroyo Grande, Calif.
At first, the mood at the demonstration staged on a high school playing field in the city of Aba, Nigeria, was almost festive. Dozens of demonstrators, calling for Biafran independence, waved red, black and green flags, and danced, clapped and chanted. Within hours, the military moved in and opened fire with live bullets.

The flags toppled and were picked up by soldiers who used the wooden flagpoles to beat protesters who had fallen, as others fled. The scene plays out on a video taken by a witness and offered to the rights group Amnesty International.

The protest on Feb. 9 received little international attention at the time, but a report last week by Amnesty International has cast a spotlight on the incident and an ongoing conflict that has gone largely unnoticed outside Africa.

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The region in southeast Nigeria saw a deadly civil war and starvation in 1967 after it declared itself an independent country, Biafra. The government imposed a food blockade, and around 2 million people died, mostly from starvation.

Renewed calls for secession have sprung up in recent years, led by a separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra, which emerged in 2012. The pro-Biafra movement involves mainly the Igbo people, a group that long has felt marginalized and neglected by Nigerian governments.

The Amnesty International report, released Thursday, accused Nigerian security forces of a chilling campaign of torture and killings to clamp down on a pro-Biafran independence movement. Between August 2015 and August 2016, Nigerias military killed at least 150 pro-Biafran protesters, according to the report, warning the actual numbers killed could be much higher.

Nigerias military says it acted with restraint and accused the protesters of violence. Military spokesman Sani Usman told Reuters that protesters killed five police officers at a May protest and attacked both military and police vehicles.

The Amnesty International report addresses several incidents but focuses in particular on the Feb. 9 protest at Aba National High School.

They started shooting us, killing our brothers. Over 10 of them were lying dead there, wept one young male protester in the video of the protest.

The video also quotes a woman who was at the protest: People dying. People falling on the ground. Blood gushing out. The whole part of that field was filled with human beings blood. Then after awhile, they started carrying dead bodies into their van.

Four days later, 13 bodies of protesters were found in a shallow pit by the Aba-Port Harcourt highway in Abia state, Amnesty International said.

The organization interviewed 146 eyewitnesses and reviewed 87 videos and 122 photographs in its investigation of the violence and found that police repeatedly fired live ammunition at protesters without warning.

Eyewitness testimony and video footage of the rallies, marches and meetings demonstrate that the Nigerian military deliberately used deadly force, according to the report.

In the worst incident at a protest on May 30, in Onitsha, Anambra State, at least 60 pro-Biafran demonstrators were killed when soldiers opened fire on a protest, the report found. Some protesters who took cover in gutters were pursued by soldiers and executed, according to the report.

One protester, a 28-year-old teacher who hid in a gutter, told Amnesty International that he saw the soldiers piling up bodies of those who were shot. He said a soldier found him in a gutter and poured acid on him.

I covered my face. I would have been blind by now. He poured acid on my hands. My hands and body started burning. The flesh was burning. They dragged me out of the gutter. They said Ill die slowly. In a video of an interview with Amnesty International, the man still bears burn scars on his arms.

A 28-year-old woman recounted getting a morning phone call from her husband on May 30, from the scene of the Onitsha demonstration. He told her he had been shot in his stomach and had been thrown on the back of a moving military vehicle with six other people, four of whom were dead.

Then her husband started whispering. He told her the vehicle had just stopped.

He was scared they would kill the remaining three of them that were alive, the wife, who has one child, told Amnesty International. He paused and told me they were coming closer. I heard gunshots, and I did not hear a word from him after that.

She found his body in the mortuary the next day. He had a gunshot wound to the stomach and two shots in his chest.

The Nigerian military has defended its actions. In June, an army spokesman, H.A. Gambo, said the protesters unleashed anarchy and security forces had acted responsively in order to de-escalate the deteriorating security scenario.

Nigerian police and military often have been criticized for killings and rights violations in various parts of the country by international human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

It is chilling to see how these soldiers gunned down peaceful IPOB members. The video evidence shows that this was a military operation with intent to kill and injure, said Amnesty International interim director for Nigeria Makmid Kamara.

The IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, who was arrested in December, faces trial for treason, along with other activists.

robyn.dixon@latimes.com

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Just months ago, world leaders were fretting over the threat posed by an increasingly assertive China.

The countrys government oversaw the worst crackdown on dissent in nearly three decades. The Chinese built, then militarized, islands in disputed waters of the South China Sea. They tightened controls over the Internet, freezing out foreign firms while allowing their domestic competitors to prosper.

Then the United States elected Donald Trump as president.

Now some of those same countries are looking to Beijing to defend international cooperation on matters as diverse as trade and climate change, propelling China to new heights on the world stage.

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And yet China doesnt sound particularly enthused about its elevation.

The Global Times, a Communist Party mouthpiece, this week called it beyond imagination to think that China could replace the U.S. to lead the world.

The 21st Century Business Herald, Chinas leading business newspaper, referred to the country as a promoter, a reformer, not a revolutionary.

China wants to be a force of stability, said Min Ye, an associate professor at Boston Universitys Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. But its not into changing the global order. Its a big responsibility  China still sees itself as a growing power.

China, whose leaders greatest concern is domestic stability, is also battling a slowing economy and rampant income inequality at home.

Factor one is whether China has the capacity to be leader, and factor two is whether China has the willingness to be leader, said Chen Dingding, professor of international relations at Jinan University in Guangzhou.

If the U.S.  No. 1 power  not interested in global leadership, why should China be?

The election of a U.S. president who takes an inward and sometimes contradictory approach to foreign policy has already handed China major geopolitical wins, analysts say.

The president-elects vow to block President Obamas signature trade pact, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, has drawn some countries closer to Chinas economic orbit.

Malaysia, once a backer of the 12-nation free trade deal, is shifting its focus to a Chinese alternative, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. Vietnam recently decided not to ratify the U.S.-backed agreement, leaving an opening for Chinas pact. Even longtime American ally Australia plans to seek out other trade options.

Obama saw the TPP  which excluded China  as vital to expanding Americas influence in the region. China considered it a blatant attempt to contain its growing economic and political clout.

Trumps dismissal of the pact leaves a gap, said Claire Reade, a senior associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. Is China going to walk into that gap to encourage regional and global integration? I think the answer is yes.

The regions pivot toward China on economic matters hurts the United States ability to shape developments on the political front. The U.S. typically ties its international aid and loans to causes such as gender equality, government transparency and human rights  issues on which Chinas authoritarian leaders rarely engage.

U.S. hegemony is not great, but its the best hegemony weve had in a long time, said David Zweig, a Canadian who researches Sino-American relations at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

China has reason to defend globalization.

Although Beijing has chafed at perceived U.S. incursions, including criticism of its human rights record and U.S. naval operations in the South China Sea, it has benefited greatly from closer economic cooperation with the rest of the world. The struggling country that entered the World Trade Organization in 2001 has grown into the worlds second-largest economy.

While Trump has been promoting his America first platform, China has sought to reassure world leaders about its reliability and consistency on international matters.

China will not shut the door to the outside world but will open it even wider, Chinese President Xi Jinping said Nov. 20 at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Peru.

Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin last week dismissed Trumps assertion that climate change is a hoax invented by China to destroy U.S. competitiveness and pledged to defend a landmark agreement to fight global warming whatever the circumstances.

This year, China opened the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, a Beijing-based rival to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. The country has also greatly expanded its One Belt, One Road initiative, which aims to revive ancient Silk Road trade routes by building roads, ports and other infrastructure across Asia, Europe and North Africa.

Nations far outside Chinas regional sphere of influence are paying heed.

In 2012, China struck a deal with 16 Central and Eastern European countries to deepen economic, tourism and education ties.

That framework has encouraged Eastern European countries to see China as sort of a savior in difficult economic times, when there is a need for investment that the West cannot provide, said Anastas Vangeli, a sociologist at the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Chinas economic rise, combined with the shock of the recent global financial crisis and the wave of populism now sweeping the U.S. and Europe, has some people in the region questioning the virtues of Western-style democracy.

When you take a lot of people who dont know much about China, and you show them snatches of Beijing and Shanghai, they get fascinated with it, Vangeli said. Often in their statements, they say things like, Maybe China got some things right.

jonathan.kaiman@latimes.com

For more news from Asia, follow @JRKaiman on Twitter

Meyers is a special correspondent. Nicole Liu in The Times Beijing bureau contributed to this report.

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Facebook has been blocked by Chinese authorities for over five years, but company founder Mark Zuckerberg appears to be on a new charm offensive to crack the massive market. In a move that has sent tongues wagging across China and around the globe, Zuckerberg on Wednesday showed off his nascent Chinese-language skills in Beijing by participating in a 30-minute question-and-answer session conducted entirely in Mandarin.

Speaking to a group of students at the prestigious Tsinghua University, Zuckerberg opened his remarks by greeting everyone in Mandarin with Dajia hao, (Hello everyone). The audience exploded with claps and cheers even before he could finish.

My Chinese is very bad, but Ill try to use Chinese today, the 30-year-old billionaire said.

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Mark, everyone is very shocked that you can speak Chinese, said the host, who introduced Zuckerberg in English. Can you tell us why you wanted to learn Chinese?

Zuckerberg responded in a form familiar to many Chinese officials, who like to use first, second and third when talking to the public. First, my wife is Chinese. Her family speaks Chinese and her grandma only speaks Chinese. I wanted to communicate with them, he said. When Priscilla and I decided to get married, I told her grandma our decision in Chinese. She was really shocked.

In 2010, Zuckerberg announced on his Facebook page that learning Mandarin was his personal challenge for the year.

Several news accounts at the time said he took morning lessons at his kitchen table with a tutor. Zuckerbergs wife, Priscilla Chan, whom he met at Harvard University and married in 2012, grew up in the United States as the daughter of immigrants and spoke Cantonese at home.

During the Q&A session, Zuckerberg said that language is the best way to understand another culture and that he wants to know more about the Chinese culture. And, he said, he loves the challenge of learning a tongue as difficult as Mandarin, a tonal language.

Though Zuckerberg struggled at times to find the precise words to express himself and frequently bungled his tones, he was able to get his points across to the audience, which cheered him repeatedly.

He talked about Facebooks plans to hire more students from China next year and said he had eaten dinner the night before with Lei Jun, chief executive of fast-growing Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.

When asked about Facebooks plans in China, Zuckerberg said the company already has a presence in the country, focused on helping Chinese companies grow in the international market through advertising on the social networking site. And, he said, hes also looking to work with more Chinese cities to help them launch introductory pages on Facebook.

But Zuckerberg didnt touch the most sensitive and most pressing topic: whether Facebooks service would be available in China someday. Facebook has been blocked since July 2009, when a violent riot in western Chinas Xinjiang province killed almost 200 people. Chinas Communist Party authorities said rioters had used foreign social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to organize their attack; Twitter is also blocked in mainland China.

As the role of Twitter, Facebook and other Western social media services in drawing together demonstrators during the Arab Spring became clear, Chinese authorities clamped down even harder on such services, tightening their grip on social media websites run by domestic companies, including Sina and Tencent.

In addition to machine-based censoring, such as blocking of keywords, thousands of human censors are deployed in China each day to filter and delete content deemed dangerous or harmful on Chinese social media services such as Weibo and WeChat. During the recent pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the Chinese government blocked Instagram, the photo-sharing service owned by Facebook that had been available here.

Although Zuckerberg was not pressed for details on whether the Facebook block may ever be lifted, his visit to China is just the latest sign that the company is working toward bolstering its presence in the Chinese market and finding new opportunities here.

In July, Bloomberg News reported that Facebook signed a three-year lease last spring to rent more than 8,600 square feet of office space in Beijings central business district. This week, Zuckerberg was named a board member of Chinas top business school, Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management, the scene of the Q&A session.

Zuckerberg joined the board along with IBM Chief Executive Virginia Rometty and Carlos Brito, chief executive of Anheuser-Busch InBev. Given that the business school board has extensive connections to Chinas central government and serves as a network and meeting ground for influential policymakers and international businesspeople, Zuckerberg may find the role useful for finding new avenues to discuss his companys access to the Chinese market.

As of September, the number of Internet users in China has topped 1 billion, government data show, and 870 million access the Web on mobile devices. Major American technology companies such as Facebook and Apple are desperately trying to strengthen their foothold in the massive market.

Zuckerbergs visit to the Middle Kingdom this week coincides with a China road trip by Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, who met with Chinese deputy prime minister Ma Kai on Wednesday in Beijing at the Zhongnanhai government headquarters compound. Among the topics the two covered was user data security, the official New China News Agency reported.

Cooks visit came in a week when Chinese users of Apples iCloud service reportedly faced man-in-the-middle attacks through a fake certificate. Technical analysis by Internet security experts suggested that the attack originated from China.

Video clips of Zuckerbergs talk made big headlines in China and circulated widely on services such as WeChat. But some Chinese Internet users expressed frustration over all the ballyhoo concerning Zuckerberg -- given that Facebook remains essentially invisible to anyone in mainland China who doesnt use VPN software to scale the countrys so-called Great Firewall.

Tsinghua University is really special. They invited the CEO of a website that doesnt even exist on earth to give a speech and speak Mandarin with Shandong accent, said one commenter on Weibo who writes under the name Queenkrule.

Others noted that Zuckerberg himself must use VPN while in China, because he was able to upload a video of his Tsinghua session to his account.

When he finished the Q&A, Zuckerberg scaled Chinas Great Firewall secretly and posted the video of on his Facebook page, Zhuang Xiaopi, a Weibo user from Fujian, noted on his account.

Tommy Yang in the Beijing bureau contributed to this report.
With his legacy in mind, President Obama has used the final months of his administration trying to ensure that his historic reopening of U.S. relations with Cuba could not be easily reversed.

He ended a Cold War animosity that had begun before he was born and established unprecedented diplomatic, economic and cultural ties with a Communist-ruled island long off-limits to most U.S. citizens.

President-elect Donald Trump had previously called for a reversal of Obamas approach to Cuba, but his intentions now are unclear. And the death late Friday of Cuban leader Fidel Castro  who Trump called a brutal dictator in a statement Saturday - may hand the incoming administration a politically acceptable way to keep some of Obamas changes in place.

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Trump may have signaled a shift in his hard-line stance when he said it was his 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.

As a candidate, Trump variously threatened to scuttle Obamas changes  especially when he was campaigning among anti-Castro Cuban immigrants in Florida  or to seek what he calls a better deal.

The question is, as Cuba expert William LeoGrande at American University in Washington put it: Will Cuba policy meet Trump the hard-liner or Trump the deal-maker?

Trumps selection of a secretary of State, still very much up in the air and reportedly roiled by disagreement within the transition team, may give a sense of how much he will try to change policy toward Cuba.

Some reversals, from a legal and technical standpoint, would be easy. Obama enacted many of the new measures through executive authority and once hes in the White House, Trump can overturn those with his signature.

Obama recently used executive action, for example, to expand the legal importation of Cuban cigars and rum by U.S. citizens who visit the island. Obama also vastly increased the number of Americans who can visit, and U.S. businesses that can work on the island.

But there is also pressure from U.S. agriculture and tourism sectors to continue with the more relaxed regimen for doing business. With flights and cruise ships pouring into Cuba daily, the country is proving a wildly fertile new market.

Trump the hard-liner spoke first in his statement Saturday.

A brutal dictator has died, Trump said, citing what he called Castros legacy of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.

Trump went on to praise the support of the Cuban-American group of veterans who fought in the failed CIA-backed attempted invasion of the Bay of Pigs in 1961. The episode has been considered a fiasco for U.S. policy ever since.

But then Trump suggested that Castros death marked a turning point and opened a future in which Cubans can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.

Castros brother Raul, the current president, is also a communist and an old-school military man. But Raul, 85, has already said he will step down in 2018, so Trump presumably wont have to deal with him for very long after he enters the White House.

1 / 9 Antonio Nico Lopez, left, Abel Santamaria, Fidel Castro, Jose Luis Tasende and Ernesto Tizol stand with comrades in Los Palos, Havana province, during the preparation of the attack on the Moncada Garrison. (Prensa Latina / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 9 Castro with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at the United Nations. (Marty Lederhandler / Associated Press) 3 / 9 Castro enjoys a Cohiba cigar during a ceremony at the Palace of Receptions in Havana. (Phil Sandlin / Associated Press) 4 / 9 Castro addresses the United Nations General Assembly. (Marty Lederhandler / Associated Press) 5 / 9 Castro with Nicaraguas President Daniel Ortega at the opening of a sugar processing plant in the Central American country. Cuban workers built the project. (Arturo Robles / Associated Press) 6 / 9 Castro during an interview at his presidential palace in Havana. (Charles Tasnadi / Associated Press) 7 / 9 Castro and former President Carter attend funeral services for former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Montreal. (Jacques Boissinot / Associated Press) 8 / 9 Castro consults with his brother Raul during a meeting of the Cuban parliament. Castro, the only leader Cuba had known for nearly five decades, would hand the reins of power to his brother after undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006. (Adalberto Roque / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 9 2011: Castro at the Cuban Communist Party Congress in Havana, during which he officially relinquished his position as head of the party. (Adalberto Roque / AFP/Getty Images)

Whatever direction Trump chooses, he is unlikely to try to reimpose the complete diplomatic and economic isolation of Cuba even if he revokes some of Obamas executive actions.

After decades of pent-up demand, the number of U.S. tourists to Cuba grew 80% this year compared with 2015. Hundreds of commercial flights go to and from the island weekly, with U.S. carriers scheduled to join this week.

Other tourism industries, including in-home lodgings, restaurants and banking services with U.S. credit cards  unheard of until now  are flourishing.

Agriculture businesses, including chicken and pork suppliers in the southern United States and farm-equipment companies in the Midwest, are eagerly pursuing prospects.

The business community will undoubtedly make its position heard as the president-elect ponders what to do in Cuba.

There is going to be a strong push back, said Eric Olson, associate director of the Latin American program at the nonpartisan Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington. Trump is after all a hotel man. I suspect he will understand the potential for American enterprise.

In deciding to restore ties with Cuba, Obama made several calculations.

A half-century-old policy of isolation, embargo and sanctions had clearly not weakened the Castro brothers hold on power. Many would argue that it backfired.

Obama also decided that waiting for reciprocal action from Havana was holding his decisions hostage to what the Castro government might or might not do.

Ultimately, he decided, engaging with Cubans, first, and Cuba second would spread a desire and impetus for freedom, ignoring whether President Castro acted in kind.

After two years of secret negotiations, facilitated in part by Pope Francis, Obama and Raul Castro announced a renewal of diplomatic ties in December 2014. Within a year, the countries had reopened their embassies and expanded trade and travel. This year, Obama traveled to Havana, the first sitting U.S. president to do so in nearly 90 years.

Obamas next step was to push the policy as far as he could. He could not end the trade embargo put in place under the Eisenhower administration. Only Congress could do that, and a handful of Cuban-American legislators continued to block that path.

Instead, Obama ordered changed hundreds of regulations that, in the words of his national security advisor, Susan Rice, would make the swing of the pendulum permanent.

It would be profoundly unwise and counterproductive to turn back the clock, she said in October.

Obama and advocates of the thaw with Cuba note that public opinion in the U.S. has also shifted. New opinion polling indicates overwhelming approval for detente among Cuban-Americans, traditionally anti-Castro but now infused with younger blood.

The death of Fidel Castro will make it more difficult to justify policies that are rooted in past ideologies rather than future opportunities, said Geoff Thale, program director for the Washington Office on Latin America, a nonpartisan think tank.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter

MORE ON CASTRO

Timeline: The life of Fidel Castro

In Havana, Castros passing marks the end of an era

In Miamis Little Havana, Cubans whoop, dance and reflect as they celebrate Castros death
Few Cubans alive today can remember a time without Fidel Castro.

In his day, he was one of the most influential, most provocative figures in the Western Hemisphere.

Yet the Cuba in which Castro died Friday night at age 90 is a very different Cuba from the one he ruled for nearly half a century, and the impact of his death will also be very different.

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New diplomatic and commercial relations with the United States, unimaginable during much of Castros reign, are now in place, thanks to the pragmatism of his successor, brother Raul, and of President Obama.

Castro, who stepped down as head of the government in 2008, had largely faded from the spotlight in recent years, making occasional appearances at a university, on the dais of a Communist Party meeting or in photographs showing him greeting a visiting dignitary. He looked frail and gaunt, almost always in an exercise suit.

It was probably by government design, easing Castro from view as a way to ease the transition and solidify his brothers grip on power.

Castro today represents a bygone era. Cubas new chapter opened before Castros death.

In terms of governance, little is likely to change. The uncertainty that would have accompanied a handover of power is greatly lessened. Raul Castro is in charge.

Yoani Sanchez, a world-known Cuban blogger, was touring Havanas picturesque Malecon, or seafront boulevard, in the early morning Saturday to gauge the reaction of the mostly young people gathered there.

Some are saying goodbye with pain, others with relief, Sanchez said via Twitter. The great majority with a certain touch of indifference.

As Fidel Castro faded, Raul consolidated and shifted. He slightly loosened socialist restrictions on the economy while budging hardly at all on political freedoms.

He allowed, for the first time, a measure of private enterprise, where ordinary Cubans could run small businesses, from restaurants to beauty salons to mechanics shops.

It made a big difference for many Cubans.

Even more significant, Raul Castro lifted a requirement that Cubans obtain a special permit to travel off the island. Suddenly even dissidents, like Sanchez, could get passports, travel abroad and return home.

I noticed remarkable change between my first and second visits to Cuba.

On my first trip to Havana in 2009, I was pursued by Cubans begging me to buy them food or diapers. Not two years later, they were selling food and diapers, handcrafted knickknacks and just about anything else an imagination could scrape together.

At the same time, other forces were at work. A young Cuban generation was growing increasingly savvy about voicing dissent, even though generally denied access to the Internet. They could complain, grouse and disagree with the government, but cloak it in music, painting, dance and other artistic expression.

As Cubas famous novelist Leonardo Padura put it: Risks and censorship can also be a challenge to the imagination.

Somehow, the dissent of artists and youth was less of a threat to the government. Overt dissent -- such as the Ladies in White, the wives and mothers of imprisoned political activists -- continued to be dealt with harshly, with pro-government demonstrators harassing their weekly marches, and state security agents routinely beating or arresting them, however briefly.

Omar Sayut is one of the artists, both proud and open in his criticism of the government, effusive in his posting of hip-hop videos on YouTube. And willing to do the occasional quick stint in jail.

This is how I speak out, Sayut, in his early 30s, told me last year on my most recent trip to Cuba.

Separately, and secretly, another force was at work. Judging that 50 years of embargo and isolation had failed to substantially weaken Castros rule, the Obama administration embarked on behind-the-scene talks, with the help of, among others, Pope Francis.

It took about two years, but in December 2014, Obama and Raul Castro made dramatic, simultaneous televised announcements to their respective nations. Diplomatic ties were being renewed after half a century.

Over the year that followed, embassies were reopened, airlines were flying, and, slowly, trade deals were being made.

It culminated with the remarkable trip by Obama to Havana in March, the first sitting U.S. president to visit in about 90 years.

Other changes are slowly transforming the island. Dollar-spending tourists are flooding Cuba, with the pros and cons that influx suggests. Many, though not all of the dilapidated homes and buildings that populated most Havana neighborhoods have gotten a coat of paint. On occasion, more food is available at markets.

Would this progress, however tempered and limited it might be, have taken place if it were still Fidel, not Raul Castro, running things the last few years?

Its hard to say but not likely.

Raul certainly was more realistic and willing to acknowledge failings than Fidel, the ideologue, ever was. By acknowledging something was not working, Raul could allow at least a few tweaks, though he insists that socialism remains Cubas system.

Ultimately, more than a single policy or politicians good will, it was the weight of time that brought change to the island. It changed Cubas system. It took Fidel Castros body.

And now the new chapter continues.

tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter

ALSO

Timeline: The life of Fidel Castro

History will judge Castros era, Obama says, as world leaders react to former Cuban leaders death

Fidel Castro marks his 90th birthday with a letter, thanking Cuba and criticizing Obama
Recently in the global news, the Colombian government has signed an agreement with the FARC, the country's largest rebel group. It was a peace deal between the two parties.

In a report by BBC News, there was a previous deal which was rejected by the Colombian people almost a month ago. However, they were persistent to make a deal to the degree that there was a revised agreement submitted to the Congress of the Columbian agreement. It was Congress who gave the approval upon request rather than casting votes from the public through a referendum.

In the signing of the agreement by the two parties, there only about 800 people invited to Thursday's ceremony in the Colon Theater. It was more than half of the 2,500 people who attended the previous ceremony which took over in the port city of Cartagena. Of course, the leader of the group Farc, Rodrigo Londono, who is better known as Timochenko, and the President Juan Manuel Santos, the Columbian President, led the ceremony together upon signing the agreement.

Timochenko mentioned in an interview that it was better to put a definite end to the war that is going on so that they may be able to know their differences in a civilized manner. On the other hand, President Santos had emphasized that this revised agreement should proceed to implementation as soon as possible. He added that he expects Congress also to vote on the deal probably next week.

Meanwhile, in a report by the New York Times, the rivals of President Santos were accusing him of rushing into this new agreement instead of asking them to check and revise on it. Also, the Alvaro Uribe, who was the former president of Columbia was against to this move of the present administration. He said that the agreement does not put punish the rebels by the justice system.

Moreover, the following comprise other changes to the new agreement as reported in BBC:

FARC assets will have to undergo a handover to the government. Money from those assets will go to reparations for conflict victims. The agreement will address issues on family values arising from the agreement - as raised by religious groups.

The transitional justice system will have a 10-year time limit.

FARC rebels will have to divulge information on any drug trafficking-related cases.

The Colombian constitution will not include even parts of the peace agreement.

Stay tuned for more updates here in the global news.
Infiniti opens brand experience center in Beijing

Nov 27, 2016, 1:52pm ET

It is the luxury marque\'s first showroom of its kind.

Infiniti has opened a "brand experience center" in Beijing, hoping to capture customers in China's insatiable luxury car market.

Located Sanlitun, Chaoyang, a popular shopping district populated with many international brands, it is not a dealer but Infiniti's first automaker-run showroom anywhere in the world. Dane Fisher, Infiniti general manager of global business transformation and brand, said, "We are very excited that Chinese customers can get to experience it first. As a fully interactive experience, visitors can get up close with our brand understand our 'Empower the Drive' brand statement."

The building stands four stories high and is exhibits plenty of steel, glass, and white rooms in its modern architecture. At its grand opening, designer Zhang Chi put on a fashion show with clothing inspired by Infiniti cars.

Currently, an exhibit of the QX30 features prominently, while racing simulators demonstrate the movement and styling of the Infiniti Concept Vision Gran Turismo. Nearby, displays explain Infiniti tech such as direct adaptive steering. There is, of course, a gift shop as well.

Infinit's headquarters was relocated to Hong Kong, China in 2012. The company also has a design studio in Beijing.
Allentown police are investigating a pair of weekend shootings.

The first report of shots fired came in at 10:24 p.m. Friday in the 500 block of Wyoming Street. Assistant Police Chief Gail Struss said bullets were fired at a home and parked vehicle, but there were no reported injuries.

"(Police) received numerous calls about the shooting," Struss said.

She said callers stated they heard an argument in the street just before shots rang out.

Police continue to investigate and are looking for leads on any descriptions of the suspects.

The second shooting occurred at 4:47 a.m. Saturday.

Police responded to Lehigh Valley Hospital Cedar Crest in Salisbury Township for a 22-year-old man suffering from a shot wound to the foot. The man told police he was walking in the area of Fourth and Tilghman streets when a man approached him and demanded his shoes.

Struss said when the man refused, the suspect shot him in the foot and ran.

Police also don't have a description on the shooter in that incident and say the victim has been uncooperative with police.

"He's telling us not to investigate it," Struss said.

Anyone with information on either incident is urged to call the Allentown Police Department's Detective Bureau at 610-437-7721.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
liquor store

Pennsylvania has liberalized the sales of beer and wine this year, but not for liquor.

(AP File Photo)

Just in time for the holiday season, Pennsylvanians are getting their first taste of wine shopping in supermarkets. Also, consumers are now able to order wine for home delivery from private wholesalers, without the rigmarole of using a state-run liquor store as the intermediary.

There's more. Beer drinkers may now buy six-packs, growlers and even single cans at beer distributors; six-pack sales are no longer limited to bars, taverns and stores with special take-out licenses. Beer to go is available at some convenience stores that had fought for that privilege in the courts, but it's far from a universal offering at this point. Some state liquor stores have expanded hours to meet consumer demand.

In a state that has doggedly clung to Prohibition-era restrictions in accessibility, these changes rank as the greatest loosening of consumer choice since -- well, since the 21st Amendment was enacted in 1933.

It's taken 83 years to bring Pennsylvania to the point where people of legal age can buy beer and wine at outlets closer to their homes and other shopping destinations, but they still must go to a taxpayer-funded liquor store if they want anything harder -- or a more comprehensive selection of wines.

Gov. Tom Wolf and some lawmakers are celebrating 2016 as the year wine and beer sales were "liberated" from the clutch of the bureaucracy. Yet the needle has merely shifted toward the goal of complete privatization. These changes are welcome, but Pennsylvania remains a crazy-quilt commonwealth of liquor rules that confuses out-of-staters and inconveniences the locals.

Changes in the makeup of the Legislature in the Nov. 8 election may be putting more pro-privatization people in office soon -- the Senate, unlike the House, now has a veto-proof majority -- but Wolf's resistance to the full monty seems unlikely to waver in the next two years. He vetoed the last legislative attempt at privatization in 2015.

To be sure, the state has bigger fish to fry. Reforming state employee, teacher and municipal pension plans is the most pressing need. So is redistricting reform, with time running out as we approach the 2020 Census. Shrinking the size of the Legislature is on the agenda, too.

We'd be willing to swap liquor reform in the short term for a more ethical, affordable government -- but there are good reasons not to give up on privatization.

It is doable. Now. Without having to spend a lot of money.

The state is facing another can-barely-make-it-to-June-30 budget year, with an estimated $1.7 billion budget deficit awaiting for 2017-18.

Privatizing liquor won't undo all that red ink, but it could generate hundreds of millions of dollars in new revenue.

You can't obliterate a structural deficit with the most recent halfway measures -- liberating the six-pack, letting someone grab a bottle or red or white with the weekly groceries.

But you can make a serious budget dent by getting the state out of the liquor business completely, handing it over to private enterprise. That's our New Year's resolution, anyway -- to end the hangover of liquor "modernization."
The future of some rail line services is at the tipping point, according to a recent review which starkly warned of the risk of line closures unless significant additional State investment is provided.

The review, which is in draft form, says the rail network requires an investment of more than 600 million over the next five years.

It warns that in the absence of any additional Government funding, large chunks of the rail network will have to close to eliminate the funding gap.

The service from Cloughjordan to Ballybrophy and the viability of the Ballybrophy to Limerick line are in question as they have been deemed unecomical due to the small number of users.

Generally, while the number of users has increased, the review says that Iarnrod Eireann will lose about 11 million this year.

The report is juxtaposed with the re-opening of the 139-year old Phoenix Park tunnel for rail commuters, allowing a new service from Kildare to the Grand Canal Dock.

This involved a 13.7 m investment in upgrading the route.

The new service, unfortunately, does not extend to Laois, even though this county now falls well within the parameters of the commuter belt.

At it's opening Iarnrod Eireann Chief Executive , David Franks said that more commuters would be encouraged to switch from the country's congested roads t o a fast and efficient rail transport alternative.

That's all well and fine, but the rail system does need significant investment.

The Dublin Chamber of Commerce has urged the Government to think bigger and bolder if it is to avoid a congestion crisis in Dublin.

Some years ago, when the transport infrastructure of the country was being discussed, it was suggested here and elsewhere that more rail lines were needed, to enhance the service and to meet extra volume.

It seems incongrous for a country such as this, in which so many people are now commuting, to have only two lines up and down the country.

The motorways have enhanced transport immeasurably, but now they are increasingly clogged and snarled with traffic.

In many ways this horse has bolted, but the benefits of investing in more and enhanced rail services are tangible and may be more sustainable long term.
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As they prepare to front this year's Road Safety Authority Christmas campaign, parents Gillian and Ronan Treacy share the tragic story of losing their four year old son Ciaran after a drunk driver crashed into their car in April 2014.

The Laois parents of a child killed by a drunk driver, who are fronting a campaign to stop people from drinking and driving, have relived the horrific loss of their son and the damage the drink driver responsible has caused.

The heart-wrenching Road Safety Authority TV ad campaign starts next Thursday, December 1 and features footage of the late Ciaran Treacy, aged just four at the time of his death in 2014, playing with his family.

His parents, Ronan and Gillian Treacy, announced that they were taking part in the campaign in an interview on RTE's Ray D'Arcy show. Gillian made the offer to front an anti-drink driving campaign more than more than a year ago, after a drunk driver was convicted and jailed for causing the death of her son.

On the late afternoon of Holy Thursday 2014 Finbarr O'Rourke from Portlaoise caused the death of little Ciaran, badly injuring Gillian. O'Rourke had been on a drinking binge that day and ploughed across the road and hit their car head on when they were on their way home to Portarlington from Portlaoise.

She told Ray that her Ciaran and his brother Sean, aged seven at the time, had spent "a beautiful perfect day" day around Stradbally's woods and lake on the day of the crash.

Gillian said she collected the boys afterwards and met a friend in Portlaoise. Her daughter Caoimhe was in creche. On the way home she recalled a conversation she had with Ciaran about pancakes. There were lots of lemons left over from a party the family had hosted for Ronan's father the previous week.

"The last thing Ciaran would have said to me in the car was 'Oh mam are we having pancakes?' And I said 'yes we will' and he said to his brother 'Sean we're having pancakes!' That was the lovely chat in the car coming home," she said.

Gillian told Ray the accident happened quickly but it felt like slow motion.

"In saying that I was able to take in half of the car's reg, the colour, the make. I noticed Finbar O'Rourke slumped over the wheel. There was a lot to take in in those few seconds...He just came across the road. You don't really have time to think. I didn't even have time to brake," said Gillian

She recalled the airbags, the smell of smoke, the engines of both cars sitting on her legs and, the noise.

"The noise was deafening - the crashing and then just the silence. When everything came to a stop there was just this silence. That was more scary than the noise," said Gillian.

She said the children initially screamed and she was trying to comfort them. She said she was trapped so she tried to tell her son Sean to get out of the car because she was a afraid of a fire.

"Ciaran got quieter and quieter. With that, Sean said to me I think Ciaran is dead," said Gillian.

She remembered that local man Emmett and his son Ciaran were first on the scene.

"Emett removed Ciaran from the car and performed CPR on the side of the road. His son Ciaran phoned for the emergency services," she said.

Ronan Treacy told Ray he found out at 8.20pm that there had been an accident when he got a call from Gillian.

"I didn't think it was that severe. The fact that she was able to remember my number and tell me where it (the accident) was - Ship House, Ballymorris. I just really didn't think about it. I just grabbed Caoimhe put her into the car.

"I got to literally within 10 metres where the collision was. There were ambulances, fire brigades. People working on Gillian's car and people working with Ciaran.

"I went to Gillian and she said 'go to Ciaran. I think there is a problem with Ciaran'. I went over towards him and the would not let me come near him...They didn't want me to see. I went over to Sean and he was hysterical. A local woman was singing to him, trying to comfort him to block out the noise," said Ronan.

Gillian said it took a little over an hour for the emergency services to cut her out of the car. Gillian was taken to Tullamore hospital while Sean and Ciaran were taken to Portlaoise hospital where the midlands paediatric unit is located. Ronan travelled with his sons.

"When I got to Portlaoise I was ushered into a room, taken to one said and they told me about Ciaran. I remember dropping to my knees and crying. I just couldn't believe it. I remember being told 'you have to get it together and get out there and pretend to Sean that nothing has happened'. They were concerned about him as well and we had to be strong for him.

"At the same time I was worried about Gillian as well. The fact that she was in a different hospital was really really difficult," he said.

Gillian said she had to be resuscitated at the A&E in Tullamore. She doesn't remember much about her own immediate hospital care other the "panic" on arrival in hospital and the team of doctors and nurses.

"I was very close to dying at one stage," she said.

She said that she had known from the immediate aftermath of the accident that her son was gone.

"I would have known from the car the silence. It was a silence that I knew deep in my heart the Ciaran was either very badly injured or at the worst dead. I was leaning toward dead so I kind of knew.

"I knew for some reason that Sean was going to be ok. But I knew it was Ciaran was in trouble. I had that feeling all along," she said.

Gillian recounted the first thing she asked her two brothers and sister when they came to see her in Tullamore was was there any word on the boys.

"They kinda looked away...that said it all," she said.

On the day after the accident Ronan visited her and with his brother Fergus. She was on a ventillator so couldn't communicate with him.

"I wrote a letter C on the sheet. Ronan knew of course its meaning and Ronan told me than that Ciaran didn't make it," she said.

Gillian complimented the hospitals for their medical care and a lot more.

"I have to say that both Portlaoise and Tullamore hospitals were fantastic. They looked after Ronan and the boys very well (in Portlaoise). Tullamore hospital was fantastic. They organised for me to go to the funeral. Ciaran was brought to me on the Friday.

"With the medication and surgery I don't remember a lot but I do remember him being brought to me. He looked perfect with a lovely pyjamas and blanket. On Saturday night I would have spent all night talking to him so that was really special.

"It was the hospitals that organised all of that. They put everything into motion. Everything that they could have done they did for us," she said.

Gillian went to the funeral with her aunt Caroline and an ICU nurse. She did not attend the burial as her "heart could not have taken that part".

Gillian also spoke about the injuries she suffered and which she is still recovering from.

"I broke both my ankles. I had a compound fracture to my left leg. I had a broken pelvis, broken elbow and broken sternum," she said.

Gillian was in so much pain with her left leg that amputation was suggested to give her a better quality of life. Since then a frame has been put on her leg and the healing has improved.

Ronan spoke about how the two other children managed during the horrific time.

"They were wandering around the house. Their cousins were around trying to keep them company. Sean wouldn't accept that Ciaran was gone. He wouldn't come in to see him in the coffin during the wake until the very last minute.

"I remember I encouraged him to write a letter letter to Ciaran and put it in and he did that. Thankfully he did say goodbye," he said.

The couple also spoke about the man responsible and the system of punishment for drink driving. Ronan believes Finbarr O'Rourke went drinking after finishing work.

"As soon as he finished work he drove straight to Portarlington and went on the rip with a buddy of his where he consumed anything up to 10 pints of cider. He got into his car and changed our lives forever.

"He walked away from the scene. He was almost a kilometre away from where he was picked up. Subsequent checks by the gardai on his phone records showed that he phoned his friend twice. Not once but twice. Never even attempted to ring emergency services," said Ronan.

The man who caused their son's death heard about the impact when he was being jailed last November.

"Everything that happened in the Victim Impact Statement is what happened an is the truth," said Gillian.

"It came from the heart. That was our only voice in the court because Finbarr O'Rourke pleaded guilty. We didn't even have a voice in court. That was our only way of getting the impact across to him and to the judge and to the public," she said.

Gillian read some of the victim impact statement on the Ray D'Arcy Show. Part of it features in the ad campaign.

"Some of my darkest moments have been at night when the children slept trying to come to terms with everything from the trauma of the crash, the nightmares, the feeling of being on fire, the screams of my children and not being able to attend to them as a mother.

"On nights that it was unbearable I just wanted to die. Ronan would hold me while we both cried and ached for Ciaran. We've had to watch our parents, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews and extended family and friends of Ciaran go through this nightmare of the complete devestation of Ciaran's loss."

The maximum sentence for drunk driving causing death is ten years. O'Rourke's original seven and half year sentence was reduced to six years in recent months on appeal. The couple told Ray that the reduction of punishment made them angry.

"Without a doubt but we probably knew it was going to happen because that is what is done in Ireland," said Ronan.

"That is the way the system falls. Number one, they don't get enough time for that particular crime. And then number 2, they get an automatic third off (their sentence for good behaviour) which is totally wrong.

"I say to myself who is going to give us our third off? If anything it has taken years off our lives," he said.

Ciaran Treacy would have been turned seven on January 3 next.

Ray D'Arcy praised the Treacy family for taking part in the ad campaign.

"I think what you are doing is amazing because every time that piece of video goes out on the TV and you are in the room at home, you are going to have to relive that day, that moment and the loss of your son.

"But I can tell you now that, and I know this to be a fact, that by doing this, Gillian and Ronan you are going to save lives. That is an OK legacy for little Ciaran" said the TV host.

Gillian said she hoped it would work.

"It is very difficult but as I said all along - if this prevents another family from what we are going through it will be worth it," said Gillian.
Laois Civil Defence featured on RTE news the use of drones in helping search and rescue efforts at a display and presentation day for the Irish Aviation Authority held promote safe drone of the small aircraft.

Laois Civil Defence has two licenced Small Unmanned Aircraft (SUA) pilots. There are just 18 trained Civil Defence members in Ireland who use drones in search and rescue missions. The pilots have received a competency certificates from the Aviation Authority.

Laois pilot Damien Dollard was among the Civil Defence National SUA Team who gathered with the other pilots. He was interviewed by RTE news. Damien said the drones have a number of uses.

"It allows us to search the areas that we are going to be searching from an overview before we send any volunteers in. It also allows pre-planning for various events so we can plan for flooding. We can also take before and after photographs for planning for future operations," Damien said.

The Civil Defence service, which is the largest SUA operation in the country, is available to be called out by any of the primary response agencies or local authorities 365 days a year.

http://laoiscivildefence.ie/

More than 6,000 drones have been registered by the Irish Aviation Authority and more are likely to be sold over Christmas. The authority urges all owners to register drones weighing 1 kg or more and invest in quality training on how to use the drone safely.



The legislation prohibits users from operating their drones:

if it will be a hazard to another aircraft in flight;

over an assembly of people;

farther than 300m from the operator;

within 120m of any person, vessel or structure not under the operators control;

closer than 5km from an aerodrome;

in a negligent or reckless manner so as to endanger life or property of others;

over 400ft (120m) above ground level;

over urban areas;

in civil of military controlled airspace;

in restricted areas (e.g. military installations, prisons, etc.);

unless the operator has permission from the landowner for take-off and landing.



You must be at least 16 years of age or older and drones operated by those under 16 years of age must be registered by a parent or legal guardian. There is a nominal 5 fee to register.

For more on drone regulations.

https://www.iaa.ie/general-aviation/drones
You know Christmas is getting near when the town is lit up!!

So say the organisers of the the Mountrath Christmas lights which will be lit up this weekend at the start of what will be a extra busy Christmas season around the Laois town.

The Mountrath Christmas Lights Committee invites all the community to their annual 'Switching On' in the Square this Sunday, November 27 at 5pm, wrap up warm and enjoy!

The event will be followed on with a very special Christmas event A Taste of a Cosy Christmas on Sunday December 4th in aid of the Cuisle Centre Portlaoise.

A Taste of Cosy Christmas was a brain storming idea over a cosy chat among friends Sinead Hanlon owner of Cost Cafe and Marguerite Sheeran of Timber Manufacture CJ Sheerans. Both Ladies want to introduce Christmas to Mountrath with warmth and good spirit while helping out The Cuisle Cancer Support Centre as they both had relatives in recent past with the dreaded illness.

So lots of calls and contacts later with the help of our local sponsors (Listed below) The Taste Of Cosy Christmas is a reality and takes place in Mountrath Square 4th Dec / 4pm till 9pm . See more in next week's Leinster Express.

Mountrath Senior Citizens Christmas Party on Sunday, December 4. Invites have been distributed and if you haven't received one please contact Bernie on 086 085 2988. Please confirm if attending.

Meanwhile, the Mountrath Scouts Troop are looking for your support. The scouts have made a deal with a local Christmas tree supplier and for every tree we sell, they will give us a percentage.

Trees available in sizes from 6ft to 8ft, from 40-50 to collect from our Scout Den on December 10 and 11. Contact Mark 087 2301949 or Mai 085 7867792.

Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind will again be selling Christmas Cards and 2017 calanders this year. Your support would be much appreciated. They can be purchased at Byrnes Shop, Main Street, Mountrath or contact Sean at 087 7676318.
Barnardos has launched its annual Christmas Toy Appeal, supported by GLS ParcelShops. The childrens charity is asking shoppers in Co. Leitrim to add the Barnardos Christmas Toy Appeal to their shopping lists this festive season and help make a childs Christmas.

Every Christmas Barnardos needs gifts for children of all ages, from babies through to teenagers. The charity asks that all gifts are new and unwrapped and has a handy gift guide available on its website, www.barnardos.ie, to help shoppers choose age-appropriate toys and gifts.

For the seventh year running, GLS ParcelShops are supporting the Barnardos Toy Appeal. Drop your gift off at any of 180 GLS ParcelShops nationwide by Friday, 16 December and it will be delivered to Barnardos in time for Christmas. To find your local GLS ParcelShops visit www.barnardos.ie/toyappeal.

The GLS ParcelShops in Leitrim are located in:

Click@Carrick Netcafe, 13 Park Lane, Carrick-on-Shannon

Simpson's Newsagents, Book Street, Kinlough

Speaking at the launch, Barnardos CEO, Fergus Finlay said, For most of us, Christmas brings up happy memories. But for many of the families we work with in Barnardos, it can be a burden. Thousands of children and families are facing hardships every day across the country  and we see first-hand the extra pressure they come under at Christmas. Thanks to GLS ParcelShops and all those who so generously donate to the Toy Appeal each year, we can make sure the children and families we work with experience the magic of Christmas.

Barnardos provides specialised early intervention and prevention services to over 13,100 children and families in 40 communities across Ireland.

Barnardos works with children of all ages, from infants up to teenagers. Some suggestions if you need some help in choosing your gift:

Infants and toddlers: Activity toys, pre-school toys

3-6 years: Soft toys, action toys, character toys such as Peppa Pig and SpongeBob SquarePants

7-9 years: Board games, dressing up outfits, books, cars

10-15 years: Books, jewellery, games, music, toiletries, clothes vouchers

All gifts for the Barnardos Toy Appeal must be new and worth about 10, to ensure that all children get something of equal quality.

GLS are collecting gifts in their ParcelShops all over Ireland and will deliver the gifts to Barnardos in time for Christmas.

If you can't make it to a GLS location, you can choose to give an online gift of any value by visiting www.barnardos.ie.
Since the end of October our energy in London has been focused on the Richmond Park by-election. We have spent hours campaigning and gathering data about which voters will support our superb candidate, Sarah Olney next Thursday. We now have a few days to get those people who have said they will vote Liberal Democrat to do so on Thursday. Everything is now concentrated on getting out the vote (GOTV).

The next few days will be even more intense, with thousands of letters and leaflets to be delivered and, we hope, hundreds of Liberal Democrat activists moving in for the win.

Rarely has there been such an important by-election for the party and for the country. We stand to elect a Liberal Democrat woman who will add her experience to our team of MPs and demonstrate the party is back in game of taking on big money and winning. Many pundits have doubted the Liberal Democrats could bounce back within 18 months of the last General Election and achieve a sensational win. Our army of enthusiastic and energetic activists is determined to prove them wrong.

For the country and more importantly the Tory Government, a strongly pro EU and remain campaign will surely make them re-assess their strategy (if they have one!). For an affluent South West London constituency to endorse everything Tim Farron has been so passionately articulating since June will have impact. It will show there is an opposition to this Government and it will show to many Tory and Labour supporters the Liberal Democrats are a beacon of hope and a credible alternative worth joining.

Sarah Olney will only win if we, the activists awoken by the outcome of the referendum, give even more time over the coming few days. If you live within travelling distance of Richmond and Kingston, please spare a few hours (particularly on Thursday) to go and help encourage those people who have said they will support Sarah go and vote. If you are further afield, pick up a phone and make a few calls. If you have never been involved in a winning election campaign, this is your chance to make a huge difference to our party and country.

You can sign up to volunteer for Sarahs campaign here.

* Chris Maines is a former Liberal Democrat Parliamentary candidate for Orpington.
Liberal Democrat Voice was kind enough to run my piece on the Liberal Democrats adopting the strategic slogan, The Party of Freedom, as an umbrella proposition for all the party stands for and to give voters an elemental reason to want to vote for us. The article elicited a lively range of opinions. Most, I think, favourable to my thinking.

So, I want to keep the debate alive because I think the idea has real electoral legs.

As a new member of the party I am completely ignorant of its structures and processes. Im equally ignorant of its internal traditions. So, I think I can use the freshness of my membership to be pretty objective. In this case, ignorance may have some benefits.

By achievement, by attitudes, by policy, by instinct, the Liberal Democrats have always been the party of freedom and the party that gave people an alternative to the excesses of free market economics, spirit crushing Marxism and the xenophobia and insularity of UKIP.

For a time, it looked like the battle of capital versus labour was old hat, but not any more. Corbyns hard left Labour is lined up against Mays hard Right Tea Party Tories and her champions of The City and multinational business (how she reconciles this is anyones guess). Extremes always threaten freedom. Extremist parties by instinct want to quiet the voices of moderation. Freedom is at risk.

Farage  and his sidekick Trump are like the French Poujadist party of the 1950s; populist, small business; fighting against the forces of change and, in the helpful words of Wikipedia, articulated around the defence of the common man against the elites. Pierre Poujade regularly insulted the institutions of French democracy and the countrys elected representatives. Farage and Trump are not originals.

De Gaulles eleven-year dominance of French politics saw the Poujadists go from a membership of some 400,000 to almost nothing. Le Pen is the contemporary Poujade.

As Tim Farron constantly says, the ascent of the far Right is not inevitable. It can be stopped, but it needs many elements to ensure victory. That includes having a big, powerful, emotional message based in the essence of what the Lib Dems have been and are today. It must be a message that resonates inside the party. Far, far more importantly it must resonate with the millions of our fellows who may follow us by instinct but need more persuasion to vote for us.

It would be for the party to define which half dozen or so freedoms it wanted to focus on at national level, while articulating many others when required. It might be wise to have three freedoms to and three freedoms from.

A strapline is a clue, a reminder, an umbrella, a call to action, a stimulus, but mainly by its ubiquity it begins to register with people. It starts with awareness, then familiarity, then favourability (familiarity breeds favourability) and builds permission to believe. Permission to believe will come from what the party says, how it behaves and what it is perceived to stand for. The strapline is the central clue to the electorate, brought to life by the work of activists, leader, MPs and Peers, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

In communications terms, this is firstly and lastly about the electorate not about us. On Tuesday evening, in Canterbury, I heard Tim Farron speak to a packed room of some 200 people. E Tim said exactly what my professor of politics said in my first tutorial many decades ago: politics is a minority sport. The vast majority of people have at best a passing interest in politics and are increasingly suspicious of the political classes. Emotion has in recent times frequently won over rationality. The complexities of the internet age mean that more and more people are talking and listening within small peer groups. Influencing from outside the group is a huge job.

So, if we want to win  and why else are we here  we have to use as many proven communications techniques as we can to give Tim Farron the platform he needs to help us capture the mood, the time and the victories. We can give him a far greater chance of success by giving him a more focused, emotional and powerful communications framework like Liberal Democrats  The Party of Freedom.

* Martin Roche is a member of Canterbury Liberal Democrats
It has come sooner than we might have thought. But the first crunch parliamentary vote on Brexit is about to take place. Not in Westminster, but 200 miles to the east, in Brussels. And the British press is waking up to it.

Splashed across the front page [] of Saturdays edition of The Times is the news that Guy Verhofstadt, the Belgian MEP who leads the Liberal group in the European Parliament, backs the idea of offering EU citizenship directly to Brits who want it post-Brexit. The Guardian and others have reported on it too (if you dont have access through the paywall).

I first blogged about this idea last month, and wrote about it here in Lib Dem Voice earlier this month after learning that another Liberal MEP, Luxembourgs Charles Goerens, had started to push for it.

Brexit might not yet happen, but on 8 December MEPs on the Parliaments Constitutional Affairs Committee will cast the first votes on whether Brits might be able to opt back in to the EU as individuals in the event that it does.

Now is the time to lobby your MEPs. It wont be good if the idea falls at the first hurdle. Ive set out all you need to know in a post on the blog I set up to campaign for this very thing. It tells you all about the proposal, why its a good idea for pro-EU Brits, why it would make sense for the rest of the EU to offer it, and why theres no good reason for those who want the UK to leave the EU to oppose it.

This idea would not force anything on anyone. It would be opt in. If you wanted to stay an EU citizen, you could. If you wanted to leave, you could. In contrast, Brexit forces us all to leave whether or not we want to do so. Brexit is a one-size-fits-all straitjacket. This opt-in citizenship idea gives individuals the freedom to choose whats best for them. It is a very liberal solution.

Now is the time for us to lobby our MEPs. Our awesome Catherine Bearder is on board. Lets convince the others too (although maybe not bother with the kippers).

* Stuart Bonar was the Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate in Plymouth Moor View.
PLANS to redirect 330m litres a day from the Shannon up to Dublin have been described as the equivalent of taking a spoonful out of a bath.

Gerry Geoghegan, who is responsible for managing the huge project made the comments at a public consultation organised by Irish Water in Limerick this week.

As part of 1.2bn proposals, the state utility is planning to build a 170km pipeline from the Parteen basin to Peamount in West Dublin, with the aim to supply the equivalent of 125 Olympic-sized swimming pools to the capital and midlands on a daily basis.

The plans have prompted controversy in Limerick, with the River Shannon Protection Alliance arguing it could hamper development of the Port and impede the flow of the River Shannon.

Irish Water has said with the population of the Greater Dublin area set to rise to over two million by 2050, the move is necessary.

Concerns have been raised here, however, with Limericks population also expected to rise.

But Mr Geoghegan said: Limerick could become a city of one million people, and there would be sufficient water available to it. There is absolutely no risk to Limerick not having enough water available.

To illustrate this, he said Limerick uses around 60 to 80 cubic metres a day, with the capacity at the Clareview treatment plant for 140m daily.

Limerick is extremely well catered for, he added in an interview with media at the Strand Hotel.

He also denied claims that it might harm business at Limerick Port, with claims the flow of the Shannon will be impeded.

The only impact of the extraction is that the water discharged through [Ardnacrusha] will be two per cent less of the time. It will be the same rate of extraction, he said.

In Ardnacrusha, rather than discharging at 100 cubic metres a second for ten hours, they will now discharged for ten or 12 minutes less.

It will have no impact on the flow and I think the Limerick Harbour Commissioners fully accept this.

The proposals are unlikely to have any impact on flooding in Limerick, Mr Geoghegan admitted, due to the low nature of the extraction taking place.

I would love to be able to claim it will. But it is like taking a spoonful out of a bath. It wont make things any worse, but I dont think you could claim it as a plus on this project, he explained.

Among the many submissions to this project was a comprehensive report from Zurich-based solicitor Emma Kennedy, who described the project as being a white elephant and a complete waste of public money.

Mr Geoghegan countered this, by pointing out three water outages in Dublin in recent years had cost the Irish economy 78m a day.

Planning permission for the pipeline will be submitted to An Bord Pleanala by the end of 2017, he also confirmed.

Due to the inclement weather Monday, only a small number of people showed up to the consultation.

Mr Geoghegan confirmed they will return in the New Year to talk to more people about the plans.

We are not trying to develop this project under the radar or hide. We want to do this in full openness and transparently. We are confident in our scheme, and we are confident in its sustainability, he concluded.
A ROW has erupted over Sinn Feins commemoration of General Liam Lynch in Anglesboro, which was attended by the partys vice-president Mary Lou McDonald.

General Liam Lynch, a former Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army, was born in the townland of Barnagurraha near Anglesboro in 1893. In 1978, the General Liam Lynch National Commemoration committee erected a monument in the village in his honour.

A spokesperson for Sinn Fein said the party has sought to commemorate General Liam Lynch near his homeplace in Anglesboro to celebrate his contribution to the pursuit of Irish independence.

This commemoration has been held since 2013, some 120 years after his birth, and is set to be an annual event. There is a monument to General Lynch in Anglesboro for decades and Sinn Fein thought it appropriate to stage a commemoration at the site, said a spokesperson.

The most recent Sinn Fein event was held on Sunday, November 13 where Deputy Mary Lou McDonald gave the oration. Prior to the gathering an organiser was quoted in another newspaper as saying, We feel the monument was put there and nothing ever happened. We have organised the commemoration to give people like Liam Lynch recognition.

Cllr Frank OFlynn, a former chairman of the General Liam Lynch National Commemoration committee, has taken issue with this.

We are an extremely active committee. We put up that monument and it was unveiled in 1978 by then Minister Gerry Collins in Anglesboro. The committee paid for it, erected it, unveiled it and maintain with the help of neighbours.

There is an annual commemoration held at the Republican plot in Kilcrumper cemetery, Fermoy, where Liam Lynch is buried, on the second Sunday in September. Every April there is an annual Mass in Newcastle near where he was killed in the Knockmealdowns.

We held a commemoration in Anglesboro on the 100th anniversary of his birth and on the 75th anniversary of 1921. We have also brought out a booklet on Liam Lynch. It is wrong to say there is no one thinking of Liam Lynch now, said Cllr OFlynn.

Billy OCallaghan, a great grandnephew of Liam Lynch, said he goes to the ceremonies in Fermoy and Newcastle organised by the General Liam Lynch National Commemoration committee.

Sinn Fein just came on and started that one in Anglesboro. I was invited to lay a wreath one year but I didnt do it. I would'nt go to it. Only one or two locals over in Anglesboro would go to it, Id say they are all Sinn Fein, said Mr OCallaghan, who would prefer if Sinn Fein left the ceremonies in honour of his ancestor to the General Liam Lynch National Commemoration committee.

Sinn Feins spokesperson said the party certainly does not seek to supplant or replace any other commemorations. Sinn Fein holds hundreds of commemorations to the fallen who gave their lives for the cause of Irish freedom across the island. No one holds a monopoly on the legacy of the struggle for Irelands freedom.
A WOMAN is in a critical condition in hospital following a stabbing incident in Limerick city overnight..

The 37-year-old was seriously injured during the incident which happened at a property at Hassetts Villas, Thomondgate at around 12.30am.

When gardai responded to to reports of a disturbance at the property, they observed a female with serious injuries to her body.

An ambulance was called and the woman was taken to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) where her condition is described as critical but stable.

A 28-year-old man who was arrested a short time later is being detained at Henry Street garda station under the provisions of section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act

The scene has been preserved for a technical examination and house-to-house inquiries will be carried out in the area today.

Gardai are appealing for witnesses or anyone with information to contact Mayorstone garda station at (061) 456980.

For updates, stay with limerickleader.ie or follow the Limerick Leader on our social media platforms - Twitter, Instagram & Facebook
UP to 80 people were found drinking in a bar in Carrigkerry shortly before Christmas last year.

Sgt McWalter told Newcastle West court that gardai entered the premises known as Moores Bar at 3.20am last December 20. The premises was full, with up to 80 people there, she said, and some had fresh drinks.

Music was playing and the door was open, the sergeant said, and closing time on the night was 12.30am.

Patrick Quaid, Knockbrack, Knocknagoshel pleaded to a breach of the licensing laws, of aiding and abetting.

He had no excuse other than to say there was a Christmas party, Sgt McWalter said. He had no previous convictions under the licensing acts.

Pleading for her client, solicitor Kate Cussen accepted that he was the person in charge on the night and that patrons were on the premises very late. But, she said, unbeknownst to her client, the back door was open and some patrons had come in.

Amazing that they were all in the one place in a rural area, Judge Mary Larkin said. The word obviously went out that there was drink.

He has learnt his lesson, Ms Cussen said.

Louise Culhane, Barneigue, Carrigkerry was the licensee at the time, the court was told and she was fined 120 for breaching the licensing law and permitting alcohol to be served after hours.

She was not on the premises on the night and was effectively easing out of the business the court was told. She is no longer the licensee.
METROPOLITAN mayor Michael Hourigan says he is willing to facilitate a meeting between residents of Moyross and neighbouring communities over the fate of the areas wall.

As of this Wednesday, over 130 people had signed the petition to demolish the divide which separates Moyross and Thomond Student Village at the Old Cratloe Road.

The campaign  first revealed by the Limerick Leader  has sparked a huge debate both locally and nationally.

The petition reads: It is a disgrace this wall was put there in the first place, as no planning permission was allowed. We want Moyross opened up to the rest of the city. Not ghettoised and separated by a big wall.

And speaking to the Leader this Wednesday, Cllr Hourigan  who represents both the Moyross and the neighbouring communities on the local authority  said he wants to bring the matter to a conclusion.

You dont want a rival situation where you disimprove the quality of life for one grouping in favour of another. So its important to get a balance on these things. Id be quite happy as metropolitan mayor to get the two groups together and see if we can find a resolution to it, he said.

He acknowledged there is strength of feeling on both sides of the divide.

One councillor who is supportive of the replacement of the Moyross wall with a smaller structure is the Anti-Austerity Alliances Cian Prendiville.

He said: It was only put in as a temporary measure. I think the residents have genuine points and the council needs to look at it, especially if the wall is dangerous. The wall could be put there in a nicer way, a not-so-ghettoising way, and a safer way.

Cllr Prendiville was joined by Cllr John Loftus in his opposition to the wall, with the Independent member revealing he was one of the over 130 people who signed the petition.

Its there as if people are going to sweep into Thomond Village and Caherdavin and rape and pillage. Its not a fair reflection of Moyross. We are told how dangerous the place is  I think people need to get real though, said Cllr Loftus.

Moyross man Dean Quinn, who started the petition, has been fielding telephone calls from as far afield as the USA and Australia since its launch last week.

He has also appeared on Limericks Live 95FM, Classic Hits 4FM and will shortly make an appearance on UTVs Ireland Live to discuss the controversial issue.

My phone has been really busy with phone calls. Im surprised this matter was not brought up years ago. The wall is separating communities, Mr Quinn told the Leader.

The thing we need is to tear it down. We are doing this in a positive way, and we are hoping the council can replace it with a nice railing or something.

The petition has brought opposition, with one Caherdavin community activist predicting an equally big campaign if plans were ever put in place for the wall to fall.

What's your view? - Leave a comment or email news@limerickleader.ie
A MAN is still being questioned about an horrific attack which left a woman with critical injuries.

The 37-year-old victim was named locally as Simone Lee, from Thomondgate.

The victim was discovered by gardai who responded to reports of a disturbance in Thomondgate in the early hours of this morning.

The woman, who has been living in sheltered accommodation in recent times, was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) where her condition has been described as critical but stable.

While gardai have not disclosed any further details of the womans injuries, it is understood some form of corrosive substance was thrown at her face during the incident.

It really is horrific what happened to her, she got an awful doing, said one man who lives nearby.

The alarm was raised at around 12.40am after gardai responded to reports of a disturbance at a property at Hassetts Villas, Thomondgate.

When Gardai entered the premises they observed a female with serious injuries to her body, said a garda spokesman who confirmed the woman sustained a number of suspected stab wounds.

A 28-year-old man who was arrested a short time after the injured woman was discovered was taken to Henry Street garda station where he is being questioned.

It is understood he has connections to the St Marys Park area of the city.

The man is being detained under under the provisions of section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and gardai are in regular contact with the office of the DPP.

The incident happened at a building, which consists of a number of apartments.

The area, which has been declared a crime scene, was preserved throughout the day to facilitate technical and forensic examinations.

An upstairs window at one of the apartments appeared to be broken but its not known if that has any connection to what happened.

House-to-house inquiries were also carried out as part of the investigation which is being conducted by detectives attached to Mayorstone garda station.

It is not known if investigating gardai have spoken to the victim given the serious nature of her injuries.

Deputy Maurice Quinlivan, who lives in the area, says what happened is shocking.

It is awful and my thoughts are with that woman and her family and I hope that she manages to pull through and I would appeal to anyone who has any information  no matter how little  to come forward to gardai because whoever is responsible needs to be taken off the streets, he said.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Mayorstone garda station at (061) 456980.
Nov 27, 2016, 4 AM

A knitted version of a candle is pictured on one of the three 2016 Christmas stamps from Iceland.

An Epiphany blessing is written in chalk above the door on this Christmas stamp from Slovenia.

A Christmas stamp issued Nov. 17 by Cyprus depicts a looped strand of lights on a white background.

A silhouette of the Nativity in gold is pictured on this nondenominated Christmas stamp from Brazil.

An angel is outlined in red in the snow on a stamp from Switzerland.

A wrapped Christmas present represents joy on this stamp from Australia.

By Denise McCarty

For this years Christmas stamps, several postal administrations appear to have taken a minimalist approach in design, perhaps following the less is more adage or simply trying to remove some Christmas clutter.

For example, a 0.34 stamp from Cyprus simply depicts a looping strand of lights on a white background. Similarly, a 0.41 stamp shows a stylized tree on a white background.

Cyprus also issued a 0.64 Christmas stamp picturing Adoration of the Magi, an icon originally from the Church of Panayia Faneromenis in Nicosia, now in the Byzantine Museum of the Archbishop Makarios III Foundation.

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The three Christmas stamps from Cyprus were designed by Marianna Iacovou and Nicolas Ladommatos.

Freshly fallen snow forms the backdrop for Switzerlands Christmas stamps designed by Ludek Martschini. A red outline image of an angel is featured on the 1.50-franc stamp.

The other designs show similar images of a tree in green (85 centimes), a snowman in blue (1fr), and a sled in tan (2fr).

Both Cyprus and Switzerland issued their Christmas stamps Nov. 17.

Guernsey Post selected symbols representing holiday traditions in the United Kingdom and beyond for its Christmas stamps issued Nov. 8.

The seven designs, which include foil, show a holly and ivy, a tree, a wrapped present, Santa Claus, a reindeer, snowman, and star, all in green and gold on a white background.

Another seven stamps for Alderney, an island that is part of the bailiwick of Guernsey, depict symbols of Christmas in blue and silver.

Mark Totty designed all 14 stamps from Guernsey Post.

A wrapped present and a star represent joy and goodwill, respectively, on Australia Posts two secular Christmas stamps issued Oct. 31. These 65 stamps were designed by Stacey Zass.

Australias three religious Christmas stamps (65, $1.70, and $2.25) illustrate scenes of biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus from the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Australia Post described the designs by Stuart McLachlan as having been executed using the intricate technique of paper-cut, adding that McLachlan hand-cut delicate paper shapes before layering and colouring them to create the beautiful images.

Brazils two Christmas stamps issued Oct. 4 show biblical scenes against a midnight blue sky dotted with stars.

Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in the manger are silhouetted in gold on the nondenominated stamp paying the first-class domestic rate. The 2.40-real stamp shows a gold woodcut style illustration of the archangel Gabriel by Biagio Mazzeo.

The design of Germanys 0.70 stamp is based on a photograph of a single red ornament in the foreground and an abstract background of Christmas lights. The photo, which is copyrighted Getty Images, is by Joey Waitschat.

Issued Nov. 30, this stamp also includes greetings for a Merry Christmas in different languages. Stefan Klein and Olaf Neumann designed the stamp.

A knitted version of a round Christmas ornament is illustrated on Icelands nondenominated stamp for use on mail to other European countries. A knitted star and a Christmas candle are shown on the stamps for domestic second- and first-class mail, respectively.

Designed by Harry Hadaya, Icelands three Christmas stamps were issued Nov. 3.

Edible stars and other Christmas symbols appear on stamps from Estonia and Gibraltar.

The 0.65 stamp from Estonia picturing a gingerbread star decorated with white icing is scented to smell like gingerbread as well. This stamp was issued Nov. 18, along with a 1.40 stamp showing symbols of people and animals forming the shape of a Christmas tree.

Indrek Ilves designed Estonias 0.65 stamp, and Riho Luuse designed the 1.40 stamp.

Gibraltar selected Christmas cookies as the theme for its six stamps issued Nov. 2.

The nondenominated G stamp (22 pence) features a Santa-shaped cookie. The other cookies are shaped like a reindeer (40p), bell (60p), tree (70p), two shooting stars (80p), and snowman (2).

On each design, the cookie or cookies are shown on a background of planks of wood and evergreen branches. Stephen Perera designed the stamps, using photographs from the agency Ingimage.

At first glance, the holiday connection is difficult to find on the nondenominated C Christmas stamp from Slovenia.

The stamp depicts a wooden door bare of decorations. Above the door, however, 20+G+M+B+17 is written in chalk.

The new-issue announcement from Posta Slovenije calls this design the Epiphany Blessing of Homes.

Ethnologist Janez Bogataj explains the significance: One of the rituals or customs surrounding Christmas and New Year celebrations involves the blessing of homes. After the priest blesses a home with a prayer, incense and holy water, he traditionally chalks or otherwise inscribes the letters GMB, along with the number of the new year, on the gate or front door. These letters represent the names of the Three Kings, also known as the Magi or the Three Wise Men: Gaser (Caspar), Miha (Melchior) and Boltezr (Balthasar).

The inscription also is sometimes written above the doors of farm buildings and businesses.

Barbara Filipcic and Ziga Okorn designed this stamp, which was issued Nov. 3 in sheets of 50 and booklets of 12.
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The Taliban said 100 mujahideen have graduated from its Khalid bin Walid Camp and 50 more from its Abu Dujana Camp. These two facilities are designed to indoctrinate and train fighters in basic combat techniques, and the Khalid bin Walid Camp can train up to 2000 recruits at a single time, according to the Taliban.

The training camps were promoted on Voice of Jihad, the Talibans official propaganda outlet. According to the group, the facilities were established and are currently run by the Commission for Military Camps and Martyrdom Battalions.

The location of the Khalid bin Walid Camp was not specifically disclosed, however the Taliban said that it trains recruits in 8 provinces (Helmand, Kandahar, Ghazni, Ghor, Saripul, Faryab, Farah and Maidan Wardak) and has around 300 military trainers and scholars. The facility can train up to 2000 recruits at a single time and trains them in the fields of Shariah, military, technical and intelligence.

The Abu Dujana Camp is located in Sar-i-Pul province, and is one of 12 branches of the Khalid bin Walid Camp, according to the Taliban.

According to the Taliban, the fighters at both camps were given a basic 45 day training course in military, Islamic creed, Hanafi Fiqh [understanding of the Hanafi school of jurisprudence], Seerat (life of the noble Prophet SAW) and intelligence.

During the military instruction, the fighters are given training of most used weapons like rifles, machine guns, RPG 7, 75mm and 82mm artillery, mortars, Dshk, KPV and ZPU-2 AA guns as well as other arms and at the same time are given basic information about different explosives, APCs, tanks, aircrafts, lasers, recon planes and other modern gear.

The statement promoting the two camps was accompanied by a series of photographs showing the Taliban recruits in various formations. The Taliban fighters are operating in the open in broad daylight.

Jihadist training camps in Afghanistan

The Taliban has publicized several training camps in Afghanistan in recent years. In Dec. 2014, the Taliban showcased a training camp in the Jawzjan district of Faryab Province. In Jan. 2015, it highlighted a training camp in Kunar. Last June, the jihadist group advertised a special forces training camp somewhere in Afghanistan. Two months later, a training camp in the Zurmat district of Paktia Province was touted online. In Sept. 2016, the Haqqani Network, a powerful subgroup of the Taliban, released a video from its Salahadin Ayyubi camp someplace in eastern Afghanistan. In July 2016, the Taliban promoted the Omar ibn Khattab Training Camp, which is thought to be located in Kunduz province.

In its last feature, in Oct. 2106, the group showcased the Abdullah ibn Mubarak Jihad Training Camp, which is likely run by the Haqqani Network. In the propaganda video, which was produced in multiple languages, the Taliban encouraged Muslims from all countries to wage jihad.

Thus, we are presenting our honorable viewers with the training activities of some of the mujahideen from one of their training camps with the hope that this will encourage Muslim youth in defending their religion, Muslim lands, the narrator of the video promoting the Abdullah ibn Mubarak Jihad Training Camp stated.

Other jihadist groups, including al Qaeda, are known to operate camps inside Afghanistan. In 2015, the US raided an al Qaeda camp in Bermal district in Paktika, and two others in the Shorabak district in Kandahar province. The outgoing commander of US forces in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, said that one of the camps in Shorabak was the largest in Afghanistan since the US invaded in 2001. Al Qaeda has also operated camps in Kunar and Nuristan.

Harakat-ul-Mujahideen a Pakistani jihadist group that is closely allied with al Qaeda,operates terrorist training camps in eastern Afghanistan, the US government stated in 2014. The Turkistan Islamic Party, the Islamic Jihad Union, and the Imam Bukhari Jamaat, an Uzbek jihadist group that operates in both Syria and Afghanistan, have all claimed to operate camps inside Afghanistan.



Images from the Khalid bin Walid and Abu Dujana training camps

Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal.

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Style / Jewellery

The first watch designed by Chanel with a masculine touch goes through a complete makeover and is now smaller, girlier and the most desirable it has ever been.

Nov 27, 2016 | By Kenny Loh

The first watch designed by Chanel with a masculine touch goes through a complete makeover and is now smaller, girlier and the most desirable it has ever been. This story is from the perspective of our friends at LOfficiel Singapore; we have previously adopted the WOW Singapore review of the same watch.

The year 2003 was no ordinary one for Chanel. It finally made its debut at BaselWorld (the industrys biggest watch fair where top manufacturers gather annually in Switzerland to show off their latest horological feats), 16 years after the Parisian house unveiled its first timepiece, the Premiere. But the year was also a dismal one for the people of the world who were fiercely battling the Sars epidemic. In fact, China realized that it had many more cases than what was officially announced, Chanels International Watch Director Nicolas Beau recalls. It was two days before the show and a lot of Chinese would be coming in. Everybody panicked. Some even wanted to go home.

But when BaselWorld concluded that year, people werent talking about Sars as much as Chanels J12, which was presented at the fair in a new white high-tech ceramic version (trumping the reception of its black predecessor launched back in 2000). Suddenly we realized how powerful this creation was, Beau adds. The J12 introduced a new color and a new spirit to quite a traditional-looking watch. And because its a traditional-looking watch, it would be boring if we made it in steel. Ours in ceramic told people something different.

The J12, which was Chanels first automatic timepiece, is a fascinating work of art. Seven years of research and development contribute to the allure of the watch, most of which lies within its high-tech ceramic case. Made entirely from scratch at the brands G&F Chatelain Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the material is lighter and hardier than gold and steel, resistant to thermal and chemical shocks, and very comfortable to wear, absorbing and maintaining the skins temperature when worn. We have discovered many new things since we started making ceramics in 2000, Beau reveals. We can even incorporate the material into mechanical movements now.

That isnt the only novelty. The J12 was also the first timepiece which Chanel designed with a surprising yet compellingly masculine approach. The houses late artistic director Jacques Helleu had these goals in mind for the watch: it had to look timeless, be indestructible and remind him of masterpieces in the world of automobiles. As Beau points out: We created a strong full-black watch with the original J12 and then followed up with an even stronger J12 in white. Today, both have become very key colors in the watch market.

In October, Chanel gave the J12 its most exciting update yet (leading to both this and the previously published piece). Named the Chanel J12 XS, the new petite 19mm model is still beguiling with a case in either black or white high-tech ceramic, but it now exudes vibes that are way more girly than macho. There are four permanent boutique styles: the first two have slim patent calfskin straps that are worn over larger matte calfskin cuffs. The third is attached onto a pair of supple lambskin gloves, while the fourth features a patent calfskin cuff in multiple rows thats quite rock n roll.

The making of the J12 XS also involved Frances most brilliant craftsmen such as glove makers from the House of Causse and couture embroiderers from Maison Lesage (the latter is behind the most artistic dials of Chanels Mademoiselle Prive timepiece range). To make the new model even more desirable, there are also six sequinned styles which are hand-embroidered by Maison Lesage to resemble the natural patterns found on exotic python, alligator and shark leather.

For those with more exquisite taste, there are also four unique and extremely wearable high jewelry models. One comes with a large solid cuff (they are unlike the boutique-exclusive Chanel J12 XS watch cuffs, which are supple) while two come with smaller, solid cuffs. All three are decorated with diamond-set white gold trims. Finally, there is a cheeky time-telling ring that is set with 24 baguette-cut diamonds around a white gold flange.

The J12 introduced a new colour and a new spirit to quite a traditional-looking watch. And because its a traditional-looking watch, it would be boring if we made it in steel. Ours in ceramic told people something different. declared Nicolas Beau, Chanels international watch director.

This story was first published in lOfficiel Singapore
Kozhikode: Human rights activists on Saturday alleged that the Maoist encounter in Karulayi forest in Nilambur was a fake one. The activist raised the allegations while visiting the Kozhikode medical College where the postmortem of the killed Maoists took place.

Pointing that the police could only revive a hand gun from the Maoists, they alleged that the government failed to give an explanation on the encounter. The activist also asked that why police weren't able to arrest any of the 11- 20 group alive. All these incidents point that they were killed in police custody, they added.
Silver Mining Stocks Q3 2016 Fundamentals

The silver miners recently finished reporting their third-quarter results, offering a hard fundamental look into this sector. This reality check is valuable given the fierce winds of bearish sentiment buffeting silver stocks in recent months. Despite their huge correction, the elite silver miners fundamentals remain strong. They are producing at costs far below prevailing silver levels, with profits poised to soar as silver recovers.

Silver mining is a tough business both geologically and economically. Primary silver deposits, those with enough silver to generate over half their revenues when mined, are quite rare. Most of the worlds silver ore formed alongside base metals or gold, and their value usually well outweighs silvers. According to the venerable Silver Institute, only 30% of 2015s global mined supply came from primary silver mines!

Well over 2/3rds of the 886.7m ounces mined last year was simply a byproduct of base-metals and gold mining. And as scarce as silver-heavy deposits supporting primary silver mines are, primary silver miners are even rarer. Since silver is so much less valuable than gold, most silver miners need multiple mines. And these often include non-primary-silver ones, usually gold, to bolster the lower silver-mining cash flows.

So the universe of major silver miners is pretty small. The definitive list of these companies to analyze comes from the most-popular silver-stock investment vehicle, the SIL Global X Silver Miners ETF. SIL dominates the silver-stock-ETF space, with net assets running 4.8x its next-largest competitors. Since ETF investing is becoming the new norm, inclusion in SIL is a major boon for silver-mining companies.

While there arent a ton of silver miners to pick from, major-ETF inclusion shows silver stocks have been vetted by elite analysts. It also ensures fund capital flowing into leading silver-stock ETFs benefits their components. The ETF managers shunt excess differential buying pressure on their shares directly into the underlying component silver miners held by these ETFs, bidding their individual stock prices higher.

As of mid-November when silver miners finished reporting their Q3 results, SIL included 24 major silver miners. This term is used somewhat loosely, as SIL includes plenty of companies that simply cant be described as primary silver miners. Most generate well under half their revenues from silver, greatly limiting their stocks upside to silver-price increases. One is even a gold miner that doesnt report any silver production!

Ive been a silver-stock investor and speculator for decades, and my biggest reservation about SIL is its heavy weighting of metals other than silver. When traders buy a Silver Miners ETF which is what SIL advertises itself as, they expect to get silver miners with natural upside leverage to silver gains. While pure silver miners are nonexistent due to the geology and economics of silver mining, SIL could do better.

The greater the percentage of revenues any miner derives from silver, naturally the higher its silver-price exposure. If a company only earns 20%, 30%, or even 40% of its sales from silver mining, its definitely not a primary silver miner. Technically that designation should just apply to miners deriving at least half of their revenues from silver production. SILs managers could build a far-superior ETF if they stuck to that rule.

This leading silver-stock ETF has long been dominated by primary gold miners and even worse mining conglomerates. Because these non-primary-silver miners generate only relatively-minor fractions of their sales from silver, their stock prices arent very responsive to silver-price moves. SIL shareholders would be far better served by replacing these inappropriate components with smaller primary silver miners.

Nevertheless SIL is what weve got, so Ive spent recent weeks digging into the Q316 10-Q reports filed by this ETFs top 17 components. That number was chosen because that many stocks fit neatly into the table below. But as these silver miners command fully 95.5% of SILs weighting, they are essentially all that matters. Every quarter I collect a bunch of key data for each, and feed it into a spreadsheet for analysis.

Some of that data made it into the following table. If a field is blank, the company didnt report that data for Q3. SIL includes foreign miners trading in Mexico and the UK, where publicly-traded companies are only required to report in half-year increments instead of quarterly. So they generally dont release any detailed financial information for Q1s and Q3s. They do tend to report on production though, which is helpful.

The first couple columns show each SIL components symbol and weighting in SIL as of the middle of November when Q3 reporting finished. If you cant find a symbol here in the States, it is a listing from a companys primary foreign stock exchange. Thats followed by each companys Q3 silver production, along with its quarter-on-quarter change from Q2. Thats probably more relevant than year-over-year today.

With a major new silver bull market underway in 2016, this year has proved radically different for silver miners than last year which was mired deep in a bear market. Thus traditional YoY comparisons are so distorted that sequential QoQ ones make more sense today. Bull years dont compare well with bear years and vice versa. Once silvers young bull is a couple years old, then we can switch back to YoY analysis.

Q316 silver production is followed by gold production. Every single top silver miner included in SIL also produces significant if not large amounts of gold! While gold stabilizes silver miners cash flows, it also retards their stocks sensitivity to silver itself. Silver-stock investors and speculators need to know how pure silver miners really are. So I included another column showing each SIL components percentage of silver.

This is mostly calculated by taking a companys Q3 silver production, multiplying it by the average silver price in Q3, and dividing that number by the companys total quarterly sales. In a couple cases where miners didnt report Q3 revenues, I approximated them by adding the silver sales to gold sales based on quarterly production and Q3s average gold price. Either way, it reveals how focused on silver these companies are.

Thats followed by cash costs and all-in sustaining costs per ounce of silver produced. They reveal just how profitable silver miners are and how easily they can weather silver corrections. Finally operating cash flows generated in Q3 are shown, which are the best proxy for how silver miners are currently faring. Some of the elite silver miners included in SIL enjoyed amazing quarterly gains in operating profitability.

Compared to everything else including gold, silver is a tiny market. The world authorities on supply and demand in each are the World Gold Council and Silver Institute. Using their respective numbers on global demand last year, world silver demand was worth just $13.9b compared to $162.0b for gold! With silvers market only about 1/12th the size of golds, there is a lot less interest in and data available on silver.

Together these top 17 SIL components produced 76.2m ounces of silver in Q3. Annualize that, and it equates to 304.8m or about 34% of 2015s global silver mine production. But thats misleading too, as the largest silver miners included in SIL definitely arent primary silver miners. The top 3 in Q3 were led by Mexican mining conglomerates Industrias Penoles and Fresnillo, closely followed by the UKs Polymetal.

Despite their huge absolute silver production, silver is just a minor overall byproduct for Penoles and Polymetal. Their silver production in Q3 was responsible for just 26% and 30% of their total revenues! Neither should be included in SIL, because their small silver percentages render their stock prices very unresponsive to silver. Fresnillo didnt provide enough data to calculate for Q3, but in Q2 it ran a respectable 49%.

Now you could definitely argue that companies deriving over 40% of their revenues from silver qualify as silver miners, but anything under that seems pretty questionable. Investors buy silver-stock ETFs solely because they want mining profits leveraged to silver-price upside. SILs managers really ought to take that into consideration. Including so many non-primary miners really dilutes SILs usefulness to investors.

SILs 9th-largest component in mid-November, Alamos Gold, actually reports zero silver production! It should be kicked out in favor of the smaller silver miners that didnt make the top 17. Two other SIL components, Klondex Mines and McEwen Mining, produce so little silver that they dont even report silver costs. SIL really needs to establish at least a 40% silver threshold to live up to its billing as Silver Miners ETF.

Interestingly SILs top 17 component companies actually saw silver production fall 2.1% QoQ, which is fairly steep. But this entire sequential drop came from sharp production declines in those big Mexican mining conglomerates Penoles and Fresnillo. Without them, the other top 15 SIL component companies actually saw silver production grow 1.3% QoQ. But gold production grew even more, diluting silver percentages.

The average QoQ growth rate in these elite SIL components silver production ran just 1.5% in Q3, way behind their average 8.7% gold-production growth! That helped drive their average percentage of sales generated by silver down from 45.3% in Q2 to 42.8% in Q3. On the bright side, SILs top 17 companies still included 6 that were definitely primary silver miners with 50%+ of their revenues derived from silver.

Their silver percentages are highlighted in blue in this table. Investors looking for pure silver miners with profits and therefore stock prices heavily levered to silver would do far better owning some combination of these individual stocks rather than SIL. A common problem among all sector ETFs is the upside of the best stocks they hold is retarded by the lower performances from laggard peers, reducing gains.

Thats why Ive always preferred handpicking the best individual stocks to own in a sector instead of settling for an ETFs over-diversified holdings. While ETFs like SIL usually contain the best a sector has to offer, they are also burdened with many underperforming companies in a somewhat-misguided quest for diversification. While diversification indeed reduces risk, it also reduces reward. It is a double-edged sword.

Understanding how the elite silver miners fared fundamentally in Q3 requires looking at their costs. The classic way to measure these is cash costs per ounce. They include all direct production costs of mining silver, mine-level administration, smelting, refining, transport, regulatory, royalty, and tax expenses. They are the acid-test measure of silver-miner survivability, revealing silver prices necessary to keep the doors open.

In Q316, the top 17 SIL component stocks that reported silver cash costs averaged $5.63. That proved a steep 5.8% QoQ jump from Q2s $5.32. I suspect this was partially due to Q3s sharply-higher average silver prices. They averaged $19.55 last quarter, a whopping 16.4% higher than Q2s $16.79! That was silvers best quarter in a couple years, since Q314. That gave silver miners some breathing room on grades.

Silver deposits certainly arent homogeneous, with different areas in the same ore bodies having major variations in silver mineralization. Miners often have to dig through lower-grade ore to get to higher-grade ore underneath. They can sometimes alter their mining plans to take advantage of higher prices by mixing in lower-grade ore that has to be eventually mined anyway with higher-grade ore, raising costs.

Since the throughput of mines mills which process the ore is essentially fixed, lower-grade ore results in lower quarterly production. That spreads the big fixed costs of mining across fewer ounces, pushing up per-ounce costs. It is not clear thats what actually happened in Q3, as most of the elite silver miners had higher quarterly silver production than Q2. But higher silver prices generally facilitate higher costs.

That happened to a lesser extent in all-in sustaining costs too, a far-superior cost measure introduced by the World Gold Council in June 2013. AISC give investors a much-better understanding of what it actually costs to maintain a silver mine as an ongoing concern. They include all direct cash costs, but then add on everything else necessary to maintain and replenish operations at current silver-production levels.

These additional expenses include exploration for new silver to mine to replace depleting deposits, mine-development and construction expenses, remediation, and mine reclamation. They also include the corporate-level administrative expenses necessary to oversee silver mines. All-in sustaining costs are the most-important silver-mining cost metric by far for investors, revealing miners true operating profitability.

In Q3 these top 17 SIL companies which reported AISC averaged an impressive $10.13 per ounce! As long as the silver price stays above all-in-sustaining-cost levels, the silver miners can operate indefinitely. This shows how overdone the bearish silver-stock psychology has been since the election, with silvers lowest price seen in Q4 still way up at $16.36. These are still very-profitable levels for elite major silver miners.

Q3s AISC among these SIL miners rose a modest 0.8% from Q216s $10.05, much less than the 5.8% QoQ jump in cash costs. The fact the silver miners held the line on all-important AISC despite sharply-higher silver prices is very impressive. That helped generate big operating profitability. On average the elite silver miners were earning $9.42 per ounce in profits with silvers $19.55 average price seen in Q3!

This was a whopping 39.8% higher than the $6.74 margin earned in Q2 when silver averaged $16.79, nicely leveraging the 16.4% jump in average silver prices quarter-on-quarter! Silver miners big inherent profits leverage to silver is the primary reason investors want to own these stocks. The more of any miners sales are driven by silver, the greater its profits leverage to the white metal and thus the bigger its stocks upside.

These strong margins naturally fed big growth in cash flows generated from operations, the best read on current operating profitability. On average the top 17 SIL component silver miners that reported financial results in Q3 saw strong 19.6% QoQ operating-cash-flows growth! This is very impressive, certainly way up among the best sectors in all the stock markets. Silver-stock fundamentals supported surging prices.

Because of the half-year reporting by foreign silver miners, a straight comparison of the total operating cash flows of these top 17 SIL components isnt righteous. But as Polymetal and Hochschild didnt break out Q216 operating cash flows in time for my last analysis on silver stocks either, we only have to exclude Fresnillo. It reported Q216 operating cash flows as part of half-year results, but didnt report Q3s.

Without Fresnillo, these top SIL-component companies collectively generated $1577m in operating cash flows in Q3. This was 30.2% higher than Q216s total ex-Fresnillo! Seeing an entire industrys cash flows generated from operations surge by nearly a third sequentially in a single quarter is amazing. This even beat the major gold miners gains, showing why investors flock to silver stocks during silver bulls.

On an actual accounting-profits basis, which isnt shown in this table, SILs top 17 silver miners ex-Fresnillo earned $382m in Q3 compared to $301m in Q2. That is hefty 26.9% QoQ growth in earnings! Can you imagine Wall Street beating down the doors to flood into any other sector where something like this occurred? The fundamental improvement in silver miners this year has been nothing short of enormous.

But today silver-stock investors and speculators are ignoring the miners strong Q3 results to get caught up in the bearish prevailing sentiment. Silver has been hit hard in Q4 due to heavy gold-futures selling in early October and then again after early Novembers election. So far in Q4, silver has only averaged $17.59. Thats down 10.0% from Q3s $19.55. Does the fundamental impact justify the sharp silver-stock selloff?

Lets conservatively assume that silver doesnt bounce even though a big rebound higher is overdue, so Q4-to-dates average silver price will hold until year-end. If the silver miners can maintain Q3s $10.13 AISC, that yields profit margins of $7.46 per ounce. While 20.8% lower than Q3s $9.42, that still leaves silver mining very profitable. The sharp drops in silver-stock prices in recent months have dwarfed that impact.

As measured by SIL, the silver stocks peaked in mid-August. Since then, SIL has plunged 36.6% at worst! And that significantly understates recent months downside in primary silver miners, since SILs higher weightings are commanded by non-primary silver producers. So its definitely safe to say that the recent plunge in silver-stock prices is nearly double the probable fundamental impact of Q4s lower silver levels!

Thus the recent silver-stock correction is wildly overdone compared to underlying fundamentals. Like usual when sentiment swings against silver stocks, investors and speculators have gotten caught up in the popular bearishness and forgotten about fundamental reality. The silver miners strong Q3 results are a big wake-up call. The silver miners fundamentals have strengthened dramatically on silvers new bull.

And that is far from over. The post-election silver plunge was driven by heavy gold-futures selling which sucked silver in. But that extreme gold selling was anomalous and will soon reverse. Sooner or later the overvalued stock markets euphoria at the prospects of fiscal stimulus will be shattered by the hard realities of actually getting it done. As stock markets inevitably roll over, gold and silver will catch major bids.

Once undervalued silver starts powering higher again, capital will flood back into the beaten-down silver stocks catapulting their prices higher. The silver miners operating profitability improves massively during silver bulls, so their huge silver-stock upside is totally justified fundamentally. The anomalous post-election silver-stock plunge is an incredible buy-low opportunity on excessively-bearish psychology.

At Zeal weve spent decades researching and trading silver stocks, with excellent results. As of the end of Q3, all 851 stock trades recommended to our newsletter subscribers in real-time since 2001 averaged stellar annualized realized gains of +24.1% including all losers! Thats an order of magnitude greater than the general stock markets performance over that span. Achieving it required staying focused no matter what.

Sadly most investors and speculators lose interest in silver stocks the moment they correct hard. So they foolishly bury their heads in the sand. Big gains are only possible by staying informed all the time. Only that will ensure you are aware when silver stocks are screaming buys fundamentally. We can help you stay informed and fight your own greed and fear with our acclaimed weekly and monthly newsletters. They draw on our vast experience, knowledge, wisdom, and ongoing research to explain whats going on in the markets, why, and how to trade them with specific stocks. Subscribe today! For just $10 per issue, you can keep abreast and thrive.

The bottom line is the major silver miners recently-reported Q316 fundamentals were incredibly strong and bullish. Stable all-in sustaining costs combined with sharply-higher silver prices drove explosive growth in operating cash flows and accounting profitability. The fundamental transformation the silver stocks have undergone in 2016 has been amazing, and it is only starting as silvers new bull remains young.

But unfortunately most investors and speculators today arent paying attention to the silver miners strong fundamentals. Instead they are all wrapped up in the fearful prevailing sentiment. Thats a big mistake as always. While silver-mining operating profitability will decrease in Q4 if silver prices remain low, that will be short-lived before silvers bull resumes. Higher silver will fuel far-higher silver-stock levels.

Adam Hamilton, CPA

So how can you profit from this information? We publish an acclaimed monthly newsletter, Zeal Intelligence , that details exactly what we are doing in terms of actual stock and options trading based on all the lessons we have learned in our market research. Please consider joining us each month for tactical trading details and more in our premium Zeal Intelligence service at  www.zealllc.com/subscribe.htm

Questions for Adam? I would be more than happy to address them through my private consulting business. Please visit www.zealllc.com/adam.htm for more information.

Thoughts, comments, or flames? Fire away at zelotes@zealllc.com . Due to my staggering and perpetually increasing e-mail load, I regret that I am not able to respond to comments personally. I will read all messages though and really appreciate your feedback!

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US Stocks Bull Market New All Time Highs

The market started the week at SPX 2182. After a gap up opening Monday the market rallied to SPX 2205 by Tuesday. Then after a pullback to SPX 2195 on Wednesday the market closed out the week at a new closing high of SPX 2213. For the week the SPX/DOW gained 1.45%, and the NDX/NAZ gained 1.40%. Economic reports were mostly positive. On the downtick: weekly jobless claims and the trade deficit both increased. On the uptick: existing home sales, durable goods, the FHFA, consumer sentiment and the WLEI. Next weeks reports will be highlighted by Q3 GDP, monthly payrolls, the PCE and the FEDs beige book. Best to your week!

LONG TERM: uptrend

Nine months into this new bull market, and 2+ weeks after the presidential election some interesting and noteworthy events have occurred. As with all new bull markets there has been a change in leadership. Sectors that outperformed during the 2009-2015 bull market, i.e. health care, consumer discretionary and consumer staples, are underperforming the financials, materials and energy sectors. The old leaders were XLP, XLV and XLY, and the new leaders are XLB, XLE and XLF.

We are also witnessing what often occurs in the beginning of bull markets and in third wave thrusts: small capitalization leadership. Since the February low the Semiconductors and Russell 2000 have significantly outperformed all the major indices except the Transports. The R2K has been rising for 15 days in a row, and hit an overbought condition that has not occurred since the 1990s. One has to go back to 1999 to find the last time the R2K had a daily RSI of 96+. In fact, during the 1990s the R2K hit an overbought reading of 96+ six times and none since, until this week.

Naturally bull markets do not unfold without the proverbial wall of worry. And this market has already had its share of crisis events. The commodity melt down in January/February which ended the bear market, the Br-exit vote in June, and the Trump vote in November. Then there is the ongoing concerns of a high Debt/GDP ratio, the rising USD, an historically high PE multiple, a new administration just ahead, and now rising long term rates. Bull markets do not unfold without the proverbial wall of worry.

Our long term count remains unchanged. A Super cycle low in March 2009, led to a Primary I bull market until May 2015. Then after a short Primary II bear market into February 2016, a Primary III bull market was underway. Thus far we have counted only three impulse uptrends from that SPX 1810 low. Intermediate waves i and ii in April and June, then Minor waves 1 and 2 in August and November. Minor wave 3 is currently underway and has already made new all time highs.

MEDIUM TERM: uptrend

The characteristics of this new bull market have been quite simple thus far. Both impulse uptrends have lasted two months, and both corrections that followed have lasted 2  3 months. This suggests this new uptrend should at least last from November to January. Also the first uptrend was about 300 SPX points, and the second of a lesser degree was about 200 points. This relationship suggests the current uptrend should rise about 300 SPX points, to around the SPX 2380s. Three weeks into the uptrend and the market has already reached SPX 2213.

The uptrend, thus far, still appears to be in its first of five waves up. The first wave up of the previous two impulse uptrends were 137 points and 117 points. This first wave has already risen 129 points, which fits right in the middle. At SPX 2222, oddly enough, it will be longer than the previous two first waves. At Fridays close the daily RSI is now the most overbought it has been since the bull market began in February, and the most overbought it has been since November 2014. Seems this market is due for that second wave pullback sooner than later. Medium term support is now at the 2212 and 2177 pivots, with resistance at the 2270 pivot.

SHORT TERM

The advance from the SPX 2084 downtrend low to Fridays SPX 2213 uptrend high has been a bit difficult to count. Just when the market looks like its ready for a significant pullback, the dips are bought and the rally extends. We initially started counting the waves from the absolute low at SPX 2084, shifted to the secondary low at 2085, and now are back to the absolute low again. Thus far we can count 27 small waves from that low, obviously making it difficult to track.

The only significant pullback that has occurred since the SPX 2084 low, occurred within one hours time on November 10th when the SPX dropped from 2182-2151. There were two other pullbacks of 20+ points, one before and one after the 10th. Other than that the pullbacks have been generally quite small. Rather than put some labels on all these waves we will just wait until the market provides a meaningful pullback to signal the second of five waves. Currently this would require a drop into the 2177 pivot range again, from current or higher levels. Other than that the uptrend continues, with the SPX 2380s as the upside target. Short term support is at the 2177 and 2131 pivots, with resistance at the 2270 pivot. Short term momentum ended the week extremely overbought. The most overbought since the uptrend began. Best to your trading!

FOREIGN MARKETS

Asian markets were all higher and gained 1.6%.

European markets were mostly higher and gained 0.7%.

The DJ World index rose 1.3%.

COMMODITIES

Bonds continue to downtrend and lost 0.2% on the week.

Crude is trying to uptrend but lost 0.7%.

Gold continues to downtrend and lost 2.5%.

The USD remains in an uptrend and gained 0.3%

NEXT WEEK

Tuesday: Q3 GDP (est. +2.9%), Case-Shiller and consumer confidence. Wednesday: the ADP, personal income/spending, the PCE, the Chicago PMI, pending home sales and the FEDs beige book. Thursday: weekly jobless claims, construction spending, ISM manufacturing, and auto sales. Friday: monthly payrolls (est. 172K) and the unemployment rate.

CHARTS: http://stockcharts.com/public/1269446/tenpp

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After about 40 years of investing in the markets one learns that the markets are constantly changing, not only in price, but in what drives the markets. In the 1960s, the Nifty Fifty were the leaders of the stock market. In the 1970s, stock selection using Technical Analysis was important, as the market stayed with a trading range for the entire decade. In the 1980s, the market finally broke out of it doldrums, as the DOW broke through 1100 in 1982, and launched the greatest bull market on record.

Sharing is an important aspect of a life. Over 100 people have joined our group, from all walks of life, covering twenty three countries across the globe. It's been the most fun I have ever had in the market. Sharing uncommon knowledge, with investors. In hope of aiding them in finding their financial independence.

Copyright  2016 Tony Caldaro - 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.

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MARTINSVILLE  Three of the five people who will be on the City Council in January have some level of interest in becoming the next mayor.

I would like the opportunity to be mayor, Jennifer Bowles, the current vice mayor, declared in a phone interview.

If she is elected, it would be historic. Not only would she become Martinsvilles first African-American woman mayor but, at 27, she also would become the youngest mayor, to city officials knowledge.

Gene Teague and Kathy Lawson said they would be willing to be mayor. Both previously served in that role. Lawson was the citys first woman mayor.

Unlike in many cities where the mayor is elected by voters, Martinsvilles mayor is elected by the council from among its members every two years. The mayor presides over council meetings and often speaks on the councils behalf and represents the city at major events.

Yet the title is largely ceremonial. The mayors vote is no more important than those of the other council members.

Danny Turner, the current mayor, did not seek re-election to the council this year. Neither did Councilman Mark Stroud. Lawson and Chad Martin were elected to replace them.

In early January, the council will hold a special organizational meeting during which Lawson and Martin will be administered their oaths of office and a new mayor will be elected.

As of Friday, Teagues profile on the website Linkedin stated that he has served on the council from 1994  Present (22 years). However, he was not on the council from 2005 to 2008, when he was re-appointed to fill the unexpired term of former councilman Mark Anderson, who resigned. He has since been re-elected.

Teague was mayor from 2002 to 2004.

I havent yet had all the conversations I need to have with other council members about whether they are interested in being mayor, Teague said. Still, he said he would be willing to serve. He declined further comment.

Lawson, who was on the council from 2006 to 2010 and was mayor during the latter two years, said she would serve as mayor again if other council members asked her to and expressed confidence in her leadership abilities.

In public service, youre always willing to serve in whatever role youre needed, she said. But I dont think youll hear me solicit for it (mayor). Im not seeking it actively.

Bowles, who joined the council in January 2015, believes she has the skills and experience needed to be mayor.

During her tenure on the council, Bowles said, she has been part of the councils involvement in improvements made within the city schools and small business development. As the vice mayor, she has represented Martinsville at functions statewide and made connections that could benefit the city in the future, she said.

Bowles added that immediately following the most divisive presidential election in history, she has the ability to connect with people of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds and bring them together in efforts to make the city a better place to live and work.

Residents have told her they would like for her to be mayor, she said.

I hope the council will vote for me and listen to the people, Bowles added.

She said that she hasnt heard of any other council members wanting to be mayor and until she does, she cannot say whether she would support anyone else holding the post.

Councilwoman Sharon Brooks Hodge said she will support Bowles for mayor and might nominate her.

Shes worked hard over the past two years to develop leadership skills, Hodge said, expressing faith that Bowles can do the job. I would like to see Jennifer grow and develop further as a leader.

Whats important to me, Hodge continued, is continuing the progress weve made in the city in the past several years, such as with education and small business development.

Hodge said she is not interested in being mayor. One reason why is that career responsibilities require her to frequently travel out of town, she said.

Also, mentioning that her views on issues sometimes have differed from those of other council members, she described herself as being an analytical balance on the panel rather than a cheerleader for the city.

I dont think Id be asked to be mayor, Hodge said. There are two people who very much want the position  Bowles and Teague, who she said expressed interest in becoming mayor again two years ago.

Martin said that although people have told him they would like for him to become mayor, he is not interested in holding the post immediately. He said he believes he needs to gain experience with city government first as a regular council member.

Recently, Martin said on a Facebook posting that he favors Teague for mayor.

I shouldnt have done that, he said, adding that he has not yet firmly decided who he will support.

In pondering the issue, Martin said he is considering factors such as council members political experiences, leadership abilities and personalities. The latter is important in being able to work and discuss local issues with different types of people, including Henry County officials, he said.

He said he doesnt think Bowles has gained enough experience to be mayor yet.

So he is leaning toward Teague, he said, adding that Ive prayed and prayed about this issue.

Teague has the years of experience and the temperance to be mayor, Martin said.

He has not always agreed with how Teague has voted, he emphasized.

But I agree with his reasoning and logic, as well as his willingness to explain the reasons behind his votes, Martin said. And, in deciding how he will vote, at least he weighs the options and tries to find middle ground.

Teague is director of business planning for Nautica. Martin said he thinks that come January, Teague  in his managerial role  will be the only council member who will be able to take enough time off from work to handle certain mayoral tasks, such as meeting with executives of prospective companies when they visit the area.

Bowles works in customer care for Hooker Furniture Corp. Lawson is the personal lines manager for Burch Hodges Stone, a Martinsville insurance agency.

Martin said leaders with whom he has talked in both the government and private sectors statewide have told him that in choosing a mayor, it is better to have a capable leader than to vote for someone just to make history.
SUNDAYS WORD is proclamation (prak-le-mash-on). Example: A proclamation went out to all of the Roman Empire that each man should go back to his hometown to be taxed.

THURSDAYS WORD was gobble (ga-bel). It means to eat something hurriedly and noisily. Example: It didnt take long for him to gobble up the turkey, once it was set down on the table.

Giving Tuesday

Weve had Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, but now its time for a different sort of spending. Nov. 29 is marked as Giving Tuesday, an international day set aside to focus on charities. Weve highlighted some of those who need help in our Sunday Helping Hands series. The idea for Giving Tuesday first popped up in October 2012, proposed by officials from Mashable, a technology website. Skype and Microsoft joined up too, along with Starwood Hotels. Soon after, it became an international holiday (just remember that when the trivia question gets to international holidays. You might hear this ones name again.)

Free Community Meal

Smith Memorial United Methodist Church, 2703 Daniels Creek Road in Collinsville, will have a free meal for the community this coming Wednesday. Itll run from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. and everyone is invited.

Restocking

If youre looking to fish in Fairy Stone Lake, theres some good news. Rainbow trout have been restocked here lately at the lake, over at Fairy Stone State Park. Were not talking tiny fish either. The average size is about 15 inches and the average weight is about two pounds. This is the second year fish have been stocked at the 168-acre lake. Now if the question is whos allowed to fish, the answer is any visitors to Fairystone that paid the standard parking fee. For the weekdays, thats $4 and for the weekends, its $5. Now you do of course need a valid Virginia fishing license, but you wont need a special trout license. You can get a Virginia fishing license in the park or through the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. The rules say that anglers may keep six trout per day, with no fish less than 7 inches, in accordance with general statewide limits. For more specific information about the park, you may call (276) 930-2424 or email fairystone@dcr.virginia.gov.

End of Year

The Colonel George Waller Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution will hold its end-of-year muster at the Dutch Inn, 2360 Virginia Ave., Collinsville. The muster will take place at 9 a.m. on Dec. 3.

TRIVIA QUESTION: As we head into the Christmas season, its a time for carols. But how was that tradition created and when was the first carol performed? The answer will be in tomorrows Stroller.

THURSDAYS TRIVIA ANSWER: On Thanksgiving, one of the traditions in the Strollers household is to turn on the Macys Day Parade. But how did that parade get started and in what year was the first one held? It started out of pride. In 1924, many of Macys employees were first-generation immigrants, having come over through Ellis Island. Proud of their status as American citizens, they felt it was important to celebrate Thanksgiving with a parade.

And so the employees marched up to Macys flagship store on 34th Street, dressed up in different costumes. They had floats, a few bands and live animals they borrowed from the Central Park Zoo. Santa made an appearance at the end of the parade and was crowned King of the Kiddies. All told, just over 250,000 people showed up to watch.
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Mayor Domenic Sarno is one of the first contributors to the 2016 Toy for Joy Fund which will help provide families in need within Hampden, Hampshire, and Franklin counties with toys to give their kids on Christmas. (Don Treeger / The Republican)

(Treeger)

SPRINGFIELD -- "Every child should have something for the holidays (and) Christmastime," was the message that Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno wanted to get across as he was one of the first to make a donation to the 94th annual Toy for Joy campaign.

Toy for Joy is a collaboration between the Salvation Army, The Republican and MassLive to make sure children in need throughout Western Massachusetts have presents waiting for them on Christmas morning.

"I think it's great what The Republican has done for years and now MassLive," said Sarno. "When I had my old South End Community Center, we'd always make sure that we (pulled) together funds and stuff to get Christmas gifts to kids and families that were in need."

Sarno has donated to the cause over the years, and says he holds it "near and dear to my heart."

According to the Springfield mayor, initiatives like Toy for Joy make a huge difference in a child's life.

"You might have some families or mothers and fathers that want to give, (but) they just don't have the (money) in their budget," he said. "They are providing everything else to give to a child, but this is why this initiative is so important. You've got to be able to show those kids and families that people do care, and there is hope out there."

During the 2015 Toy for Joy campaign, more than 3,500 families and 16,460 children in Springfield and 1,100 families and 2,657 children in Holyoke, among others, benefited from the toy drive.

With this year's donations goal set at $150,000 , Sarno said that "no donation is too small or too large."

To make a contribution to the Toy for Joy fund, write: Toy for Joy, 1860 Main St., Springfield, MA 01101.

Contributions may also be dropped off with the coupon that accompanies this story in the print edition to The Republican, 1860 Main St., Springfield, weekdays between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., through noon on Dec. 23.

There is also an online portal run by MassLive.com to make donating to Toy for Joy more convenient.

Online donations can be made by clicking here

Registration for families to receive gifts for their children begins Moday at Salvation Army headquarters in Springfield, Holyoke and Greenfield.

Toy for Joy registration

Here are the times for families to register at Salvation Army sites for the 94th annual Toy for Joy campaign. The Springfield citadel will assist families whose communities are not listed below:

Greater Springfield Citadel: 170 Pearl St., Springfield; Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; for information, call 413-733-1518; serves Agawam, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Longmeadow, Ludlow, Northampton, Palmer, Monson, Springfield, Ware, West Springfield, Wilbraham, Westfield, Southwick, Russell and Belchertown

Holyoke Salvation Army: 271 Appleton St., Holyoke; Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; for information, call 413-532-6312; serves Holyoke, South Hadley, Granby and Chicopee

Greenfield Salvation Army: 72 Chapman St., Greenfield; Nov. 28-Dec. 2, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.; for information, call 413-773-3154; serves all Franklin County communities

Required documentation: Photo ID for parent/guardian, proof of address dated within last 30 days, birth certificates or passports for each child 16 years and younger and proof of financial need (MassHealth, Women, Infants and Children, current pay stub or other acceptable documentation)

Today's Toy for Joy Donations:

The Ludlow chapter of The American Veterans in Prison fifteenth annual walk-a-thon, $375

In loving memory of Peggy "Sullivan" Bernini, $25

Thank you Jesus, Blessed Mary and St. Jude for prayers answered, $30

In loving memory of Jacqueline Johnson by her family, $20

In memory of Doug Hosmer, $25

Paul and Mary Perron, $100

Colleen and Loy, $150

In memory of my husband Ken O'Connor, $10

Anonymous, $5

No child should go without, please make a difference, from Mayor Domenic Sarno, $150

RECEIVED: $890

TOTAL TO DATE: $890

STILL NEEDED: $149,110
hamp court house 1.jpg

This file photograph shows the Hampshire County Courthouse at 99 Main St. in Northampton. Efforts are underway to continue a $4 million effort to restore the 129-year-old building.

(JOHN SUCHOCKI / THE REPUBLICAN)

As much as things have changed in downtown Northampton over the years, many things remain the same. Especially now that the oft missing "A" is back on the marquee at the Calvin theater on King Street.

The Calvin is where my brother and I, along with a legion of Northampton kids, saw our first movies. Four years older than I, he was in charge when we got dropped off by our parents to see the latest Walt Disney movie in the early 1960s, from "Toby Tyler" and "Swiss Family Robinson" to "Big Red" to "Mary Poppins."

The Calvin is still going strong as it entertains new generations of theater-goers thanks to the efforts of entrepreneur Eric Suher, while across the street, the Hampshire County Courthouse is showing signs of age, a historic public building in need of care and attention.

Some of the red terracotta tiles from the roof of its central tower now regularly litter the lawn surrounding the courthouse where there are regular public art displays and summertime concerts. Vegetation can be seen growing from parts of the facade, in places where water and decay are helping the volunteer plants take root.

When an invite arrived last month to get a tour of the venerable granite-and-brownstone building which has been an anchor of my hometown's downtown for more than 125 years, I jumped at the opportunity to go inside where I hadn't been in decades and to one place, the tower that provides a panoramic view of downtown and the mountains beyond, where few members of the public can go.

In 2012 as part of the observance of the 350th anniversary of Hampshire County, Joseph Kearns, the Middlefield representative to the Hampshire Council of Governments, rang this bell made in the foundry owned by Paul Revere during a ceremony to mark the celebration at the Hampshire County Courthouse. Revere's son, Joseph Revere, cast the bell that hung in the previous courthouse from 1823 to 1887.

Hampshire County has existed for more than 350 years, and the 129-year-old building is the fourth courthouse to sit on the site at 99 Main St., situated at the busy intersection of King, Pleasant and Main streets. It was here that Calvin Coolidge once served as a clerk of courts before he went on to become mayor, governor and later president of the U.S.

It was at this site where a man named Daniel Shays, a Revolutionary War veteran and farmer from Pelham, more than 200 years ago launched his armed rebellion against state and local enforcement of tax collections.

The once-bustling center of county government is a more quiet place these days. Its primary purpose is as the home to the Hampshire Council of Government and the offices where its work is conducted. The council of governments is one of the last vestiges of county government, which was essentially abolished across the state in 1999, and is facing challenges of its own to stay in business.

The Hampshire Law Library, leased by the state in the basement of the structure, is still regularly used by lawyers and judges. The second-floor courtroom, also leased by the state Trial Court, gets occasional use for ceremonial events, mock trials and major judicial proceedings.

Most of the county's legal business, though, is now taken up in a newer courthouse building that sits behind and is connected to the old courthouse and in the Family & Probate Courthouse across the street where once stood a garage for the Hotel Northampton (still going strong) and the YMCA where I learned to swim. (Like I said, lots of things have changed.)

Back when it was built (the cornerstone was laid in 1886), the old courthouse is said to have cost $68,000 to construct. Today, the cost of the renovations the Hampshire Council of Governments says is needed to repair and restore the structure reaches almost $4 million. And, this was the purpose of the recent tour for the region's legislative delegation and others to draw to attention to the fate of the historic courthouse and a need for community support to help secure the release of previously-approved state bond funds to pursue repairs for the tower, roof and foundation.

Todd D. Ford, executive director of the council of governments, took the group of about two dozen on a tour of building, highlighting the beauty of the structure outside and then inside before taking all up a narrow, rickety stairwell to the tower. It's the best place to see the root of the problems with the building's deterioration and how left unabated it could come to pose a hazard to public safety.

Ronald Alex, architect with Back Bay Architects, is seen here inside the tower of the Hampshire County Courthouse during an October tour in which he described the deteriorating conditions at the more than century-old building in downtown Northampton.

Sunlight filters through into the tower via some of the spaces open to the elements as the mortar has given way over the years. A bird skeleton amid the dust and rubble of history is obvious proof that the outside is getting inside at the heart of the structure.

It was five years ago that $30,000, paid for with money from the Grousbeck Fund and a grant from the state Historical Commission, was spent to hire Boston Bay Architects and Monaco Restoration to assess and prioritize the building's needs. (Irving Harold Grousbeck, by the way, was Northampton city solicitor from 1928 to 132 and district attorney from 1944 to 1946.)

In the intervening years, some $500,000 of the $4 million in bond funds were released by the state Division of Asset Management and Maintenance for the courthouse work. Initial work last year involved the restoration of the main and side granite staircases to the building. Now, more substantial work to repair and preserve the tower and to care for the roof, the masonry and foundation.

Senate President Stanley Rosenberg, D-Amherst, and the county's Democratic members of the House, including Peter Kocot, of Northampton, John W. Scibak, of South Hadley, and Stephen Kulik, of Worthington, were all there to see and hear about the work needed to save the courthouse from further decay.

Rosenberg led the request for Ford and the architect, Ronald Alex, of Back Bay, to provide an updated priority listing for the restoration work. The delegation then plans to use that list in an effort to convince Gov. Charlie Baker and fellow legislators to free some of the bond funds for the additional work.

More than half a century ago, a citizens group saved the structure from potential demolition. The council of governments more recently has worked to ensure there is community support for saving the courthouse from further decay. The council is asking the communities that make up Hampshire County come together to contribute $1 million. Already, there's been $33,000 raised from area banks, community preservation funds allocated by Northampton and the town of Goshen and thousands of dollars garnered in fundraising efforts, including a buy-a-brick campaign. (I am among the contributors to the brick campaign, giving in memory of my parents who were both born and raised in Northampton. My dad worked for 40 years as a teller in the old First National Bank of Northampton across the street from the courthouse that is today Silverscape Designs.).

The old courthouse was dedicated on Dec. 10, 1887. You can learn more about the restoration efforts online at restorethecourthouse.org. I hope by this time next year, as the building's 130th anniversary arrives, steps will have been taken to cement a solid future for the grand old structure.

Cynthia G. Simison, managing editor of The Republican, may be reached by email to csimison@repub.com.
missing-girl1.jpg

Braintree authorities are searching for Ivy Koulis, 17, who went missing on Friday.

(National Center for Missing and Exploited Children photo)

BRAINTREE  Authorities in Braintree are asking for the public's help in locating a missing 17-year-old girl, according The Boston Globe.

Local authorities are collaborating with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to find Ivy Koulis, a teen girl who reportedly ran away from the Hyatt Hotel on Granite Street on Friday.

Police say Koulis may need medical attention.

She is described as being 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing approximately 210 pounds. She has brown eyes, black hair, and was last seen wearing a grey hooded sweat-shirt with horizontal stripes, as well as red skinny jeans.

Braintree police have asked anyone with information about the whereabouts of Koulis to get in touch with the department at 781-843-1212.
AMHERST -- A massive demonstration Sunday at Hampshire College called for the school to reverse a decision to stop flying the American flag.

Veterans groups organized the protest after the school decided to stop flying all flags on the main campus flagpole, including the U.S. flag, following several high-profile controversies. The flag was lowered by students to half-staff before Veterans Day and in response to the presidential election, and someone burned the flag the night before Veterans Day.

The college flew a new flag at full-staff on Veterans Day.

The college said it would stop flying the flag in order to allow a discussion about its many possible meanings to students and employees from diverse backgrounds. School spokesman John Courtmanche said previously that, while some students take pride in the American flag, for others it is "a powerful symbol of fear."

Hundreds of people gathered outside the West Street campus for the 1 p.m. rally. They waved flags of all sizes, carried signs bearing slogans like "No flag = no taxpayer (money)" and sang "God Bless America" in a booming chorus.

Speakers included veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, Springfield City Councilor Kateri Walsh and Westfield state Rep. John Velis, who served in Afghanistan, urged Hampshire College to fly the flag again.

Micah Welintokonis, a veteran from Coventry, Conn., said the school's decision is disgraceful.

"Coddling young men and women old enough to serve our country has zero educational value," said Welintokonis. "I am frustrated by the things going on in this country. Let us pray for our nation to move forward together."

Sarno called on Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash to reverse course, saying the flag symbolizes the sacrifices of veterans and their families.

The U.S., said Sarno, is "the beacon of hope. Freedom and democracy. And that is because of each and every one of our veterans, and those veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice."

Lash met with members of the Amherst VFW before the protest. John Courtmanche, the school spokesman, said Lash "acknowledged their right to demonstrate, and expressed his regret that a still unknown person or persons had burned the college's flag overnight before Veterans Day."

"President Lash listened respectfully to the views of the veterans, and explained that the Hampshire College community includes a wide range of views including employees and students who have served or are currently serving in the US military," said Courtmanche.

Lash also told the veterans that the goal is "to enable a discussion of values among all members of our campus, not make a political statement."

Toward the end of the demonstration, organizers tried to gather everyone around the Hampshire College sign at the campus entrance for a group photo, but they were interrupted by a lone counter-protester who sat on the sign and raised both middle fingers. Campus police surrounded the young man as flag-waving demonstrators jeered or tried to talk to him.

The young man said nothing. He eventually lowered his hands and stared straight ahead, ignoring the crowd. He walked away after several minutes.

Another protester interrupted remarks by Hampshire County District Attorney David Sullivan. A man carrying a sign reading "feminist witchs" and several profanities shouted that his free speech had been violated by "anti-Trumpers." He was led away by campus police officers, and Sullivan began to speak.

"We're here today to honor and respect our flag," said Sullivan. "Hampshire College, raise our flag!"

Leo Deschenes of South Hadley served in the U.S. Coast Guard for 16 years. He vividly recalls rescuing Cuban and Haitian migrants at sea, thousands of people living under daily oppression. He said he came to peacefully protest in defense of "a country that has given people more freedom than any other country in the world."

"It's not about who won the election," said Deschenes. "It's about being able to have free elections and voice opinions or opposition and not be hauled off to jail or imprisoned forever or executed in the streets."

He said the country is divided because people don't want to listen to each other. The flag controversy, he said, can be blamed partly on a lack of understanding.

"It's about listening to different opinions, respecting them, but all being Americans in the end," he said.

Mary Ann Donze said students at Hampshire College should exercise their free speech rights, but "respect the blood of those who gave it to them." Donze, of South Hadley, said her son is serving overseas in the Marines.
HOLYOKE -- Coffee, bakery, deli, drive-through, gas, round-the-clock -- welcome to the neighborhood, said City Councilor Kevin A. Jourdain to representatives of the Pride gas station-convenience store at 1553 Dwight St.

"I just wanted to come over and congratulate you guys ... to wish you well, welcome to the neighborhood....You've really been an integral piece to, you know, cleaning up what's going on here," Jourdain said Wednesday.

Patrons stopping in for snacks or household items or to gas up vehicles means that the 24-hour Pride store has replaced a boarded-up building with a prospering property, said Jourdain. He's the City Council President and representative on the council for Ward 6, where the Pride store is located.

Jourdain spoke at the store with Pride officials Ray Saegaert, liquors manager, Michael Dominik, deli manager and John Minie, wine manager.

The store doesn't have an alcohol license and might not seek one from the city, given the space such items would require and the variety of what the store already does offer, Saegaert said.

The store opened in August, the city's first Pride facility, across from Walgreens off Northampton Street and near Interstate 91. It has nine employees, officials said.

The company that was founded by and is still run by the Bolduc family -- Pride Corp. celebrates its 100th anniversary next year -- has more than 30 gas station-stores. Most are in Western Massachusetts with a fourth Connecticut store being built, Saegaert said.

The recently opened deli is part of the effort to make the store the neighborhood's favorite, he said.

"Holyoke has treated us well," he told Jourdain, who asked why the location was chosen.

"We had a lot of people asking us, 'Are you coming to Holyoke, are you coming to Holyoke?' And this site turned out to be right," Saegaert said.

Jourdain asked the Pride officials how much money the company spent investing in the store here, but Saegaert said he was unable to discuss that.

"We're open 24 hours and we want people to feel comfortable coming here all the time," Saegaert said.

"We've got big plans for the neighborhood," Jourdain said. "We're going to do something with (nearby) Lynch School."

Adam Senecal, who works at the deli counter, said the store is selling 10 to 15 sandwiches a day from the two to three a day when deli service began recently.

The store is always open but the deli operates Monday to Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., he said.

Another plus, he said: Customers in the drive-through lane can order anything in the store except for gas and lottery tickets and an employee will get the items for purchase at the pickup window.

"I know like in the winter, that helps out so they don't have to get out of their car in the cold," Senecal said.

The Pride commissary in Springfield makes the sandwiches and donuts and other bakery treats daily for early-morning delivery to all the stores as "gas stations" continue diversifying, Saegaert said.

"The dynamics of what a gas station is have changed over the years," he said.

Also: A New England Patriots victory means customers at Pride stores get free coffee the next day, he said.
HARVARD -- A month after "racially divisive incidents," led the Harvard School Committee to issue a statement asking to make schools in the district "safe and inclusive environment(s)," officials are dealing with another incident.

Swastikas, homophobic and sexist symbols, and racist terms were found Friday on a rock outside the Bromfield School in Harvard, according to school officials quoted in

.

A letter was sent out to students, parents and community members from Harvard Public Schools Superintendent Linda Dwight informing them that the district "condemns the vandalism."

"We ask that the senior class rededicate their rock to expressions of hope for the future, including tolerance that reflects the diversity of our town and the student body as they have done so well in the past," she wrote in the letter provided to

The Boston Globe

.

The town of Harvard has two schools, Hildreth Elementary School, and the Bromfield School, for students in grades 6-12.

In October the School Committee issued a statement that is on the Harvard Public Schools website reading:

"One of our core values is to create and maintain a safe and inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff that values diversity. Recently our school district experienced some racially divisive incidents. We take all of these incidents very seriously. The police were immediately involved, families brought in, consequences were given, counseling was provided, and a diversity professional was brought in to meet with students.

We do not and will not tolerate harassment or any other conduct that is antithetical to the values of our school community. Looking forward, we will continue to engage diversity professionals to work with our school community while creating opportunities for families and students to engage in activities and conversations to promote inclusivity. There is work yet to be done both in our community and across the country to eliminate racism and intolerance and we are committed to that challenge."

No further information is being released on what the " racially divisive incidents" were or who was involved with defacing the rock at the school. Police are investigating the latest incident.

According to a follow-up article, students repainted the rock Saturday afternoon. A Go Fund Me page has raised $1,495 for supplies to paint a design on the rock Monday.
SPRINGFIELD

 Police flooded the area around Liberty and Dwight streets early Sunday morning after a ShotSpotter activation indicated one gunshot had been fired. Not far away, a patrolling cruiser found three men walking on Liberty Street and one of those men was carrying a Luger pistol.

Springfield Police Capt. Brian Keenan said Christian Olivo, 23, was arrested and charged with firearms violations after a pat search found the iconic firearm in his pocket. The pistol had recently been fired.

Keenan said officers responding to the activation saw Olivo and two friends walking on Liberty Street and stopped and questioned them. A pat search of Olivo turned up the 9 mm handgun, and the arrest was made within minutes of the fired shot. Keenan said the gun was reported stolen in Florida several years ago.

Olivo will face charges of carrying a firearm without a license, discharged of a firearm within 500 feet of a building, carrying a firearm with a high capacity magazine and possession of ammunition without a firearms identification card. He will be arraigned in Springfield District Court Monday.
Kevin Spacey

Actor Kevin Spacey laughs during the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel, Saturday, April 27, 2013, in Washington. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

By Mark Shields

Creators Content

What do the following smile-worthy lines spoken by American politicians of the past all, surprisingly, have in common?

Mark Shields

Rep. Brooks Hays of Arkansas used to tell about the temperance advocate in his home state who wound up, in an impassioned speech, endorsing Prohibition this way: "I'm a minister of the Gospel, and I would rather commit adultery than drink a glass of beer." That prompted one man in the crowd to respond, "I didn't know we had a choice."

When Rep. Morris K. Udall of Arizona mounted a long-shot challenge to become majority leader of the House, he confidently predicted, relying on the firm assurances given to him by his colleagues that they were solidly in his corner, that he could win. In the secret ballot within the caucus, those "firm assurances" disappeared, and Mo Udall was trounced by his opponent backed by the party elders. Asked afterward by reporters what had happened, Udall explained: "I have learned the difference between a cactus and a caucus: On a cactus, the pricks are on the outside."

After finishing far back in the field in the 1984 New Hampshire presidential primary, Sen. Ernest "Fritz" Hollings of South Carolina withdrew from the race with this observation: "Thomas Wolfe was wrong; you can go home again. I know. That's what the people of New Hampshire told me to do."

What the authors of these lines  Brooks Hays, Mo Udall and Fritz Hollings  have in common is that all of them were Democrats. There was a time, not that long ago, when Democrats were proudly rogues, rascals and reprobates  not the sober-sided, self-serious purveyors of position papers they seem so often to have become. It was a Democratic speaker of the House, Jim Wright of Texas, who described the Democratic Party as "a mixture, an amalgam, a mosaic. Call it a fruitcake."

Think of contemporary Democratic activists you see on the news. Their brows are almost always furrowed. Their mouths are pinched, their jaws clenched in self-righteousness as they unequivocally announce their nonnegotiable demands.

Adversaries and political opponents are not merely misinformed or mistaken. Worse, they are branded as "enemies" and regularly indicted as misogynist or sexist or recklessly given the nuclear charge of being racist. The happy-go-lucky feminist leader rarely appears on our home screen or before a microphone.

Please understand that the three individuals whose sense of humor I cited approvingly were also public servants of exceptional ability, integrity and accomplishment. Udall wrote a bill to set aside millions of acres of pristine wilderness in Alaska and then led an ultimately successful three-year fight through Congress to pass it over the powerful opposition of oil companies and other developers.

Hays, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, dared to mediate the bitter battle in Little Rock over the desegregation of Central High School enforced by Army troops sent by President Dwight Eisenhower. It cost him his House seat and his career. Hollings, when Mississippi and Alabama were led by segregationists and were combat zones of bayonets and brutality in the bloody battle for civil rights, was the governor of South Carolina, where he directly challenged the Legislature: "We of today must realize the lesson of 100 years ago and move on for the good of South Carolina and our United States. This should be done with dignity. It must be done with law and order." Hollings and peaceable change prevailed.

To be a successful public leader, you don't have to be a solemn crepehanger predicting gloom. Politics can and should be fun. Democrats could begin their comeback with a smile and even an occasional laugh. It's worked before.
Barack Obama

FILE - In this Oct. 20, 2016 file photo, President Barack Obama speaks about the Affordable Care Act, at Miami Dade College in Miami. President Barack Obama is leaving the White House in just a few months, but his namesake health care law will still be generating headlines. With premiums rising significantly and some insurers bailing out, the 2017 sign-up season that starts Nov. 1, 2106, could get tricky. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

(Susan Walsh)

President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans have pledged to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act, President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul. What would that mean for Massachusetts?

Health care experts say it is too early to tell what the implications are, because Trump and the Republicans have not laid out exactly what they plan to do. Massachusetts is better positioned to withstand changes than many other states because Massachusetts has had its own version of universal health care coverage since 2006. Then-Gov. Mitt Romney's health care overhaul became the basis for Obama's national law. However, Massachusetts has had to make significant changes to comply with the national law, and millions of dollars of federal funding is at stake if it is repealed.

"There's going to be a lot of uncertainty," said Lora Pellegrini, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans. "We do still have the state law on the books, but how is that going to be financed?"

Health care, in addition to being a budget-buster in Massachusetts, is one of the areas in which the state and federal governments are most closely intertwined.

Medicaid, health insurance for the poor, and Medicare, insurance for the elderly, are joint federal-state programs. MassHealth, the state Medicaid program, costs approximately $15 billion, of which around $9 billion is paid for by the federal government. In early November, state officials received a waiver from the federal government allowing Massachusetts to restructure MassHealth in a five-year, $52.4 billion deal.

State administration officials have said they assume that waiver will remain in effect, although there are no guarantees.

"We're working off that waiver from this point forward," Gov. Charlie Baker said at a post-election press conference.

Trump, a Republican, has said since the election that he wants to keep some popular provisions of the Affordable Care Act, including prohibiting insurers from denying coverage based on pre-existing conditions and allowing young adults to remain on their parents' health plans until age 26. Major provisions that could potentially be repealed include the individual mandate requiring that everyone buy health insurance, the mandate requiring employers to offer insurance, the federal subsidies that make insurance affordable for low-income families, the expansion of Medicaid to new groups of people and new taxes on individuals, employers and medical device companies.

There has been talk among Republicans about providing Medicaid funding as "block grants," where each state gets a sum of money to design its own program. Plans previously proposed by Republican leaders would use this strategy to cut Medicaid funding, so states would be faced with the choice of whether to cut eligibility or benefits or use more state money.

Top Massachusetts officials have said they are committed to keeping Massachusetts' 2006 commitment to providing near-universal coverage.

"The commonwealth of Massachusetts was very far down the road on its own, implementing and supporting what for all intents and purposes was pretty close to universal coverage for everyone in the commonwealth before the ACA," Baker said. "My view on this is it's a policy statement and policy totem that's held in very high regard here in the commonwealth, and we'll do what we need to do to make sure that we continue to be a national leader on this irrespective of whatever happens."

State Sen. Jim Welch, D-West Springfield, co-chair of the Legislature's Joint Committee on Health Care Financing, said similarly, "My belief is that Massachusetts will continue on the path that we're on, even if there are changes on the federal level."

Tim Gens, executive vice president and general counsel at the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association, said all the groups involved in health care in Massachusetts are committed to expanding insurance coverage, providing quality care and addressing costs. "I can say there's a broad commitment that we will fight to maintain the great programs and coverage that we have right now," Gens said.

Gens said it is too early to know what the federal landscape will look like, but his biggest concern is money. "The funding for coverage in Massachusetts is intertwined, the federal funding and the state funding. Some of it is embedded in ways that I think can be maintained, others may be open for questions," Gens said.

Although Massachusetts already had the basic systems in place before the ACA, such as a health insurance marketplace with subsidies and an individual mandate, significant changes were made to conform with the federal law. Under the ACA, Massachusetts residents earning 300 percent to 400 percent of the poverty level became eligible for federal subsidies to buy insurance. MassHealth was expanded to cover all poor people, not only those who are children, elderly or disabled. Preventative care became covered with no co-pays or deductibles.

Massachusetts also had a years-long struggle to develop a new health insurance exchange that conformed to the federal law.

If the ACA is repealed, "What we'll have to understand is how do we go from the ACA version back to what was Romneycare before," said Ashley Allen, vice president of sales and marketing for the Springfield-based insurer Health New England. "Until we know exactly what those changes at a federal level are, we won't understand how difficult it will be."

If federal funding is removed for things like subsidies or the Medicaid expansion, it will be up to state officials to decide whether to roll back those programs or to replace the federal dollars with state money.

"I certainly have real concerns about Medicaid and Medicaid funding coming into our state," said Attorney General Maura Healey, whose office tracks health care costs.

Healey said her office is committed to working with legislative leaders to monitor federal health care policy and be ready for Massachusetts to respond in a way that protects the state's consumers and health care market.

Stuart Altman, chairman of Massachusetts' Health Policy Commission, said his biggest concern is what congressional Republicans will push for. He said a budget plan proposed by Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan would have "serious negatives" for Massachusetts. "They'll cut back on Medicare spending, they'll cut back on Medicaid spending, and they'll eliminate subsidies for people who buy insurance, which means our uninsured rate will go up," Altman said. But Altman said his sense is Trump has a more nuanced approach, so he is waiting to see what happens.

David Seltz, executive director of the Health Policy Commission, said the first major signal about the administration's intentions will be who Trump appoints as Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Like other Massachusetts experts, Seltz said the biggest question will be how the state will maintain coverage for residents if federal funding dries up. "If the federal government is not a partner financially, that will require some difficult decisions at a state level in terms of finding a plan to finance the coverage and maintain that commitment," Seltz said.
Prospera Business Network is the lead non-profit organization advancing and supporting community-centered economic development in southwest Montana. Our focus is helping people start and grow their business  in turn strengthening our regions economy and communities.
Our range includes a flat range from 10-100 yards as well as a 20 target walking course for more realistic simulation of hunting scenarios.
An intellectual property plan should first identify and protect the companys IP. For example, a startup should ensure that its name, slogan or logo are entitled to protection under trademark law and do not infringe others trademark rights. Failure to do so could push a startup into an unwanted lawsuit, force the company to rebrand itself, or both. Startups can ill afford this kind of hassle and expense.

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BY DANA HERBERHOLZ

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Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) The Tainan District Court on Sunday rejected criticism that it was too lenient in its sentencing of five people implicated in the collapse of a housing complex in Tainan following an earthquake in February that resulted in the deaths of 115 residents.
Following the wave of forest fires in Israel in the last few days, many Palestinians, Israeli Arabs and Arabs in other countries responded to the events on social media. Many responses expressed glee over the fires, and described them as a punishment from Allah for Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, especially for its "muezzin bill" aiming to prevent mosques from using loudspeakers to broadcast the call for prayer. At the same time, there were also many Israeli Arabs who condemned these expressions of joy and even called them "ignorant," and some Israeli Arab officials and individuals offered to assist and to host Israelis, both Jews and Arabs, whose homes have been damaged by the fires.

The following is a sampling of the responses on social media.

Expressions Of Glee Over The Fires, Claims That They Are "A Punishment From Allah"

A post in the Palestinian Facebook page "This is Nablus" stated: "Rejoice, oh Inshirah,[1] Israel is burning, hahaha," eliciting expressions of joy and amusement from readers.





Another post on the same page said: "The winds did what the Islamic ummah failed to do in order to defend its religion. The winds are Allah's soldiers..." A reader wrote in response: "Allah curse the Jews, our God can [defeat] them."[2]

A Palestinian calling himself "Sham'at Tafaul" ("Candle of Optimism") wrote: "May Allah burn the Jews and protect the Arab Muslims and Christians in Israel."[3]

A Palestinian wrote on the Hamas-affiliated "Palestine Now" Facebook page: "A collective prayer: Oh Allah, we ask you [to let] the fires rage just as the Muslim tears in Palestinian flowed and the just as every drop of pure blood was shed in cruelty and aggression, and as befitting [the honor of] the mosques and the Korans that the evildoers desecrated. Allah, have no mercy on them, just as they have no mercy on our Palestinian brethren. Amen! Show them hell in this world, oh great and vengeful [God]. Amen!"[4]

A post on a Palestinian Facebook page called "Breaking News from Gaza" said: "When Abraha tried to destroy the Ka'ba, Allah showered him with flocks of birds,[5] and when the [Israeli] occupation tried to ban mosque loudspeakers, Allah exhausted [the Israelis] with raging fires that have not abated for three days."[6]

An anonymous response to a post on the "Eyes on Haifa" Facebook page likewise stated that the fires were a punishment from Allah for Israel's muezzin bill. It said: "That is an Israeli settlement on fire. That's very good, they deserve it. It's a punishment from Allah for banning the call for prayer..."[7]

A user from Haifa responded on the same page: "Of course I am not glad of the fires, because I live in Haifa, but this is Allah's punishment for banning the call for prayer... I hope no Arab gets hurt... Fire does not distinguish between Jews and Arabs, [but] Allah distinguishes between the oppressors and the oppressed..."[8]

An Arab user from Nazareth wrote on the Israeli Arab @we7di.48 Facebook page: "Allah akbar, praise Allah... Go on preventing the mosques' call for prayer and see what our God does [to you]..."[9] An Israeli Arab from Tamra wrote in a similar vein: "Allah knows all. This is Allah's wrath at the oppressor... Praise Allah..."[10]

A post on the Palestinian Shu'afat Al-Quds Facebook page stated that Israel was lying when it said that evidence of an arson attempt by Palestinians had been found: "The occupation authorities claim they found a car full of gas in one of the forests near a Jewish settlement, and that Palestinians had placed it there in order to set it on fire [and start a forest fire]. They repeated this lie until they believed it." A reader wrote in response: "Liars! It's just like they used to place knives in the cars of Palestinians [to falsely accuse them of planning stabbing attacks]."[11]

A response on another Facebook page stated that the fires were an Israeli attempt to incite against Israeli Arabs. It said: "I am almost convinced that all these fires were deliberately set [by Israel]. In my opinion - and I hope I'm wrong - this is one of the steps in the plan to incite against Israeli Arabs. They have already begun calling it an intifada. I don't believe in coincidences, there is a trick here."[12]

Expressions Of Glee From Around The Arab World

Expressions of joy over the fires in Israel were also voiced around the Arab world. In a post on his Facebook page, Saudi cleric Dr. Salman Al-'Odeh wished "the terrible torments of hell" on Israel.[13]

Egyptian poet Amir Teima tweeted under the hashtag "Israel is burning": "It is your right to feel that rejoicing over the fires in Israel is inhuman, and it is my right to hope the fire destroys everything in its path."[14]

The Egyptian Ghalaba movement, which opposes the Al-Sisi regime, posted on its Facebook page: "Allah, pour your wrath upon them just as they burned our children in Gaza... and make the flames of their fires also reach all the treasonous Arab leaders who made alliances with them."[15]

Sheikh Mashari Rashed Al-'Afasi, the imam of the Great Mosque in Kuwait City and a ministry of religious endowments preacher, drew a connection between the fires and the muezzin bill. He tweeted: "Israel is burning. It is losing control and asking for help from its allies, after it banned the call for prayer in occupied Jerusalem and in our stolen holy places."[16]

Under the "Israel is burning" hashtag, a Facebook user named Ahmad Al-Nashar posted a picture of Hitler with the text "Yes, this brings back some memories. Die slowly, Jews, die slowly."[17]

Israeli Arabs Condemn The Expressions Of Glee Over The Fires, Call To Help Israelis Evacuated From Their Homes

A post on the Israeli Arab @we7di.48 Facebook page pointed out that the fires were also threatening Arab towns and villages: "The fire has reached Baqa Al-Gharbiyya, Jabel Al-Qafza in Nazareth, the Iksal [area] and the Arab village of Nahaf. It is destroying everything and people are being evacuated from their homes. [It has also reached] the woods of Tamra and Kabul, of Barta'a in Jenin, of Deir Sharaf in Nablus, of Jibia in Ramallah, and has reached Tulkarm and Qalqilya!! What are you so happy about? Oh fire, turn into hail; [I hope] our people [come out of this] safe and sound."[18]

Another post on this page criticized the reports and the responses in the Muslim world that expressed joy at Israel's misfortune and linked the fires it to the muezzin bill. It said: "...Israel is burning several days after [debating] the muezzin bill, and joy is filling the Muslim countries. Allah akbar. [But] it is trees, mountains and plains that are burning - namely the homeland. That's why I don't understand people's sense of triumph. Have we become so weak that we rejoice over the burning of a tree? All that's happening is that there is no rain, and the strong winds are fanning the flames. Keep your false sense of victory to yourselves. I hope we defeat [our own] ignorance someday."[19]

A post on the "Nazareth Here" Facebook page beseeched Allah to look after the trees, homes, forests and people.[20]

The Israeli Arab Facebook page Alarab.net posted a banner captioned "Our Homes Are Open to All," which called on Arabs in the Galilee and the "Triangle" area: "Let us open our homes to all residents of Haifa, Jews and Arabs, whose homes have been damaged by the fires or who have left their homes fearing that the flames may reach them." [21]

Several Arab mayors and local council heads expressed sorrow over the damage caused by the fires and offered to host families, both Jewish and Arab, who have been evacuated, as a humanitarian gesture. The Nazareth Here and the @we7di.48 Facebook pages quoted Nazareth mayor 'Ali Salem, who described the events as "very saddening" and announced: "Nazareth, its facilities and its hotels are open to citizens who have been hurt by the fires, both Arabs and Jews." He added: "We are all human, regardless of our religion. We all live in the same country and we must be brothers both in times of need and in times of happiness."[22]

The Baqa Al-Gharbiya municipality also offered to assist Haifa residents and to host them in the town.[23]

The @we7di.48 Facebook page quoted the mayors of Kafar Qassem and of Rahat, and the municipality of Kafara Bara, as offering to assist and host evacuated families.[24] The Facebbok page of the Islamic Movement - Southern Branch quoted the movement's head, Mansour Kamal, as saying that dozens of Arab families are willing to host any families harmed by the fires, regardless of whether they are Jewish or Arab.[25]

Many Israeli Arabs likewise offered to host families forced to leave their homes because of the fires.[26]

Endnotes:
Vishal Choprawho shot to fame with his appearance on The Roadiesknows a thing or two about beards. Because the dude's been growing one for a while now. We grilled him recently on a bunch of hot topicsfrom his knowledge (or the lack of it) on grooming products, what women (actually) want and what's hip in 2017nothing was off-limits. Read the receipts below!

 Vishal Chopra

It's November where are you right now, how are you feeling, what are you eating, drinking and listening to?

Currently in Bombayjust back from a documentary shoot in Chambalfeeling festive, listening to Blues, eating orange marmalade on toast and drinking a ton of caffeine.

Tell us about your beard timeline. How long have you been growing it? Any special beard stories:

I've (almost) always had a big-boy beard. And, my current beard is about 3 months old. Here's a tragic-ish story: I had a 5-month-old beard, which looked fantastic, but had to be trimmed when I was called to audition, for the role of a 'young biker dude'. Never landed that role and decided to never trim my beard for something as primary as an audition!

Do you use products? If so, what are your favorite beard products?

WATER! As long as you wash your beard/face, about two times a day, you're pretty much sorted.

 Vishal Chopra

How do you maintain your beard? Tell us your daily routine?

I don't really do anything dailyapart from religiously washing and combing it. However, I do visit a barber once every fortnight to give it shapewhich is if you really feel like doing something to your beard.

What are your (beard) dos and don'ts?

Make sure it's clean, wash it after every meal'cause food tends to get easily stuck in the beard bib.

Don't be boringtreat it like your canvasdecorate it with flowers, sequins, paint it, etc. I'm planning to color it white for Christmas. Caution: Stunt to be performed only by trained professionals!

Are women into beards? (In other words: Will a beard get you laid?)

Women are into interesting men, simple! A beard won't magically get you laid, but will definitely help you get the conversation started, and, if you can back it up with charm, she'll most definitely beg you for a few minutes of 'beard play'.

 Vishal Chopra

Has growing a full-on beard, changed your sense of style. Do you dress differently when you have a full beard?

Style is about confidence. If you're confident enough to carry a beard offyou can pretty much rock anything. But I guess a beard definitely opens your wardrobe up to a wider range of clothes. I think, a bearded guy in a pink shirt will look better than a clean shaven dude (in pink)

One advice for boys trying to grow their beards?

Don't grow it just because it's trendyit'll show and you'll end up looking like you're trying too hard. Grow it if you look at your face, in the mirror and can relate better to the person, with a beard on. Also, treat your beard like it's your BFFtalk to it, stroke it and ask for its opinion. As long as you make sure your beard is amused, it'll be fine. Case in point: My beard hugs my face tight, at night.
Clients of convicted immigration consultant facing deportation for lying

500 more cases being investigated

Passport 'falsified'

$7-million home

More needed to stop 'ghost consultants'

One by one, many of the 1,200 former clients of an unlicensed Richmond, B.C., immigration consultant are getting the bad news  they're no longer welcome in Canada because they lied.CBC News has learned 320 immigrants, who each paid thousands of dollars to New Can Consulting and owner Xun (Sunny) Wang, are now facing deportation to China.One year ago, Wang, 47, was convicted of one of the biggest immigration scams in Canadian history  making $10 million by filing fraudulent immigration applications for his clients.In one of his ploys, Wang falsely used his own home in Richmond as an address for 114 of his clients who didn't live in Canada.His appeal of his seven-year prison term and $900,000 fine was rejected last month.Three of his former employees will be sentenced in January and three more are awaiting trial. At least three others have warrants out for their arrest.Now the Canada Border Services Agency says of Wang's 320 ex-clients facing review of their immigration status, approximately 200 could be stripped of their citizenship and 120 could lose their permanent residency status.Hundreds of other former New Can clients could also be in trouble.In an email to CBC News, the border agency said it is continuing efforts to "uncover fraud on approximately 500 cases remaining to be investigated".That means out of the 1,200 clients of New Can, over 800 could ultimately be sent back to China.Guo Liang Lin is one of them.At his recent hearing before the Immigration Refugee Board (IRB), the clean-cut man in his late 40s was ruled "inadmissible to Canada due to misrepresentation."Lin was issued an exclusion order, banning him from re-entry into Canada for five years unless he gets permission from immigration officials to come back sooner  something an immigration and refugee spokesperson says rarely happens.Lin immediately launched an appeal on humanitarian and compassionate grounds, a move that will allow him to remain in Canada for nine to 12 months until his case is reviewed by the Immigration Appeal Division.To obtain details of Lin's case, CBC News attended his IRB hearing on Nov. 23.The board adjudicator heard that Lin, who received permanent resident status in 2010, had spent just seven months in Canada over five years  not the minimum two years required by law.This allowed him to live and work in China, while keeping his wife, son and daughter in B.C.But his passport was altered by New Can Consulting, his IRB hearing heard, with entry and exit stamps falsified to make it appear Lin had spent 980 days, or just over 2 years, in Canada.Permanent residents are entitled to most social benefits in Canada, including health care.Despite his prolonged absences in the past, Lin says being forced to return to China will unfairly separate him from his wife and children."[My] family members are all in Canada," he told CBC News outside his hearing, "So me alone in China, this is a hardship".Lin's new immigration consultant, Eric Leung, who is helping Lin with his IRB case, blames the deceptive practices of New Can consulting, saying Lin was an innocent victim who signed documents that were in English, not his native Mandarin."My client did not understand English, so they trusted the agent. The agent asked [him] to sign, and [he] signed."CBC News attended an IRB hearing for another former client of New Can Consulting, Pei Jia Li.Li, 51, lives in a $7-million Kerrisdale home and drives a luxury SUV.A permanent resident, he also had fraudulent entry and exit stamps in his passport, his IRB hearing heard  and he, too, was quickly ruled inadmissible to Canada on grounds of misrepresentation.Like Lin, Li has filed an appeal.Li pulled a hoodie over his head and later roared off in his SUV when approached by CBC News.But his lawyer, Andrew Wlodyka, also blames New Can Consulting for the possible deportation orders now facing 800 of the company's former clients."The consultants were absolutely dealing with people who are totally ignorant. They didn't even realize that the consultant was not even licensed," says Wlodyka."A lot of these people have actually made a significant contribution to Canadian society. They laid roots here, they've bought property, they've established businesses. So it's a really tragic situation.""All of the circumstances have to be looked at to determine whether booting them out of Canada is the right thing."Both Li and Lin have indicated they will argue they weren't responsible for the fraudulent tactics of New Can Consulting. But they could face an uphill battle.The federal court has ruled that misrepresentation in immigration cases can be direct or indirect. If a consultant misrepresents a client, the client is ultimately responsible for that misrepresentation, since the immigrant has a duty to ensure their information is complete and accurate.Still, Lin's immigration consultant Eric Leung maintains his client isn't at fault.He says the Canadian government hasn't been keeping other immigration consultants honest."The problem is there must be somebody doing something to manage those we call ghost consultants or those licensed consultants doing something not right," he says.Leung believes that while New Can has been shut down and owner (Sunny) Wang thrown in prison, other dishonest consultants are still busy filing fraudulent claims on behalf of clients."We should not stop the investigation. We have to find all of them. I personally do think there are always non-stop cheating issues around our country, around B.C. province. Definitely."If Leung's suspicion is followed up by Canadian immigration officials, it could mean many more permanent residents and Canadian citizens who obtained their status through dubious consultants could be looking over their shoulders in the months to come.
Of all the Trumps, Americans know the least about 10-year-old Barron Trump.

He appeared on the campaign trail only three times, because his mother didn't want his life upturned.
Kennametal Inc. engages in development and application of tungsten carbides, ceramics, and super-hard materials and solutions for use in metal cutting and extreme wear applications to enable customers work against corrosion and high temperatures conditions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Metal Cutting and Infrastructure. It offers standard and custom products, including turning, milling, hole making, tooling systems, and services, as well as specialized wear components and metallurgical powders for manufacturers engaged in various industries, such as the manufacturers of transportation vehicles and components, machine tools, and light and heavy machinery; airframe and aerospace components; and energy-related components for the oil and gas industry, as well as power generation. The company also provides specified product design, selection, application, and support services; and standard and custom metal cutting solutions to aerospace, general engineering, energy, and transportation customers. In addition, it produces compacts, nozzles, frac seats, and custom components used in oil and gas, and petrochemical industries; rod blanks and abrasive water jet nozzles for general industries; earth cutting tools and systems used in underground mining, trenching and foundation drilling, and road milling; tungsten carbide powders for the oil and gas, aerospace, and process industries; and ceramics used by the packaging industry for metallization of films and papers. It provides its products under the Kennametal, WIDIA, WIDIA Hanita, and WIDIA GTD brands through its direct sales force; a network of independent and national distributors; integrated supplier channels; and through the Internet. The company was founded in 1938 and is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
the time is drawing nigh when we'll be bereft of his uncle barry grin. we'll all miss him.in the spirit of audacious jocundity, let us thank the magic negro, barack hussein obama II , for all he has given to not only the United States but the world.and who better to start with really than the socially informed and highly educated young people in maryland.heh...mary land. that's funny.anyway kids:With the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, families will soon be gathered around their tables to give thanks.In honor of the holiday,visited the University of Maryland to find out if students are thankful for Obamas presidency, and if so, what exactly theyre thankful for....my mom pays my insurance.According to a recent CNN Poll , Obamas 57 percent favorability rating is the highest since early 2009, and he enjoys even higher support among millennials, who awarded him a massive 70 percent favorability rating.Carrying a Thanks, Obama card,asked young Obama supporters what the president has done throughout his two terms that warrants their thanks, but found many were unable to name or defend a single policy achievement.The main thing I think that he did was try to unify this country, one student said, before admitting that it was tough to say whether the country is more unified today than it was prior to Obama taking office.Several students were also unable to answer for the skyrocketing premiums under the Affordable Care Act, with one student admitting she was unsure how insurance works because, my mom pays my insurance.Nothing goes smoothly right away, another ACA fan claimed. You know, your wallets not the most important thing.One student even erroneously attributed the Supreme Courts legalization of same-sex marriage to President Obama, and was unable to name any of the presidents other initiatives, explaining, I dont know, actually.Others faced a similar problem when trying to name policies they were thankful for, with answers including, I dont have any specifics, I have no idea, and Can I phone a friend?A popular theme throughout the day were allusions to Obama as the cool president, with many students thanking him for personality traits as opposed to policies.Thank you for being the funniest president of all time, one student said, prompting another to chime in that he does seem to have a good sense of humor.
The following companies are subsidiares of D.R. Horton: 10700 Pecan Park Austin Inc., 11241 Slater Avenue NE LLC, 2 C Development Company LLC, 8800 Roswell Road Bldg. B LLC, 91st Avenue & Happy Valley L.L.C., ANN & 215 LLC, Austin Data Inc., BP456 Inc., C. Richard Dobson Builders Inc., CH Funding LLC, CH Investments of Texas Inc., CHI Construction Company, CHM Partners L.P., CHTEX of Texas Inc., CV Mountain View 25 Inv LLC, Cane Island LLC, Continental Homes Inc., Continental Homes of Texas L.P., Continental Residential Inc., Continental Traditions LLC, Crown Operating Company Inc., Cypress Road L.P., D.R. Horton - CHAustin LLC, D.R. Horton - Colorado LLC, D.R. Horton - Crown LLC, D.R. Horton - Emerald Ltd., D.R. Horton - Georgia LLC, D.R. Horton - Hawaii LLC, D.R. Horton - Highland LLC, D.R. Horton - Indiana LLC, D.R. Horton - Iowa LLC, D.R. Horton - MV LLC, D.R. Horton - Nebraska LLC, D.R. Horton - Permian LLC, D.R. Horton - Regent LLC, D.R. Horton - Terramor LLC, D.R. Horton - Texas Ltd., D.R. Horton - WPH LLC, D.R. Horton - Wyoming LLC, D.R. Horton BAY Inc., D.R. Horton CA2 Inc., D.R. Horton CA3 Inc., D.R. Horton CA4 LLC, D.R. Horton Commercial Inc., D.R. Horton Cruces Construction Inc., D.R. Horton Inc. - Birmingham, D.R. Horton Inc. - Chicago, D.R. Horton Inc. - Denver, D.R. Horton Inc. - Dietz-Crane, D.R. Horton Inc. - Greensboro, D.R. Horton Inc. - Gulf Coast, D.R. Horton Inc. - Huntsville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Jacksonville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Louisville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Midwest, D.R. Horton Inc. - Minnesota, D.R. Horton Inc. - NNV, D.R. Horton Inc. - New Jersey, D.R. Horton Inc. - Portland, D.R. Horton Inc. - Torrey, D.R. Horton Inc. Foundation, D.R. Horton Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton LA North Inc., D.R. Horton Life Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton Los Angeles Holding Company Inc., D.R. Horton Management Company Ltd., D.R. Horton Materials Inc., D.R. Horton Realty LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Atlantic County LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Central Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Delaware LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Georgia Inc., D.R. Horton Realty of Melbourne LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Tampa LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Virginia LLC, D.R. Horton Seabridge Marina Inc., D.R. Horton Serenity Construction LLC, D.R. Horton Urban Renewal LLC, D.R. Horton VEN Inc., D.R. Horton  Corpus Christi LLC, DBC54 LLC, DHI Commercial - Lakeview LLC, DHI Commercial - Signal Butte LLC, DHI Commercial - Tamarron LLC, DHI Commercial Inc., DHI Communities Construction LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Arizona LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Colorado LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Florida LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Iowa LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Nevada LLC, DHI Communities Construction of North Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of South Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Texas LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Utah LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Virginia LLC, DHI Communities II LLC, DHI Communities Inc., DHI Engineering LLC, DHI Insurance Inc., DHI Mortgage Company, DHI Mortgage Company GP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company LP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company Ltd., DHI Ranch Ltd., DHI Realty of Alabama LLC, DHI Realty of Mississippi LLC, DHI Title GP Inc., DHI Title LP Inc., DHI Title of Alabama Inc., DHI Title of Arizona Inc., DHI Title of Florida Inc., DHI Title of Minnesota Inc., DHI Title of Nevada Inc., DHI Title of Texas Ltd., DHI Title of Washington Inc., DHI Verandah South Shores Communities LLC, DHIC - Bridges LLC, DHIC - Brittmore LLC, DHIC - Carolina Forest LLC, DHIC - Desert Peak LLC, DHIC - Durbin Creek LLC, DHIC - Freestone LLC, DHIC - Hammock Landing LLC, DHIC - Heritage LLC, DHIC - Horizon Uptown LLC, DHIC - Jacobs Reserve LLC, DHIC - Lakeview LLC, DHIC - Lipoma LLC, DHIC - Minton Cove LLC, DHIC - Mountain Vista LLC, DHIC - Naco LLC, DHIC - Northshore LLC, DHIC - Prairie Village LLC, DHIC - South Creek LLC, DHIC - Tamarron LLC, DHIC - Valley Vista LLC, DHIC - Varina Gateway LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh II LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh III LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh LLC, DHIC - Westridge LLC, DHIC LLC, DHIC  Glendale LLC, DHIC  Grove West LLC, DHIC  South Park LLC, DHIC  Westinghouse LLC, DHIR - Aspen Vista LLC, DHIR - Avian Pointe LLC, DHIR - Emerald Lakes LLC, DHIR - Fosters Ridge LLC, DHIR - Gulf Stream LLC, DHIR - Parkview at Lynn Haven LLC, DHIR - Poplar Terrace LLC, DHIR - Properties I LLC, DHIR - Rock Ridge LLC, DHIR - Sunset Village LLC, DHIR - Village at Hickory Street LLC, DRH - ARK LLC, DRH - ASG LLC, DRH - HWY 114 LLC, DRH Cambridge Homes LLC, DRH Capital Trust I, DRH Capital Trust II, DRH Capital Trust III, DRH Colorado Realty Inc., DRH Construction Inc., DRH Energy Inc., DRH FS Mortgage Reinsurance Ltd., DRH Land Opportunities I Inc., DRH Land Opportunities II Inc., DRH Mountain View LLC, DRH Oil & Gas Inc., DRH Opportunities I Inc., DRH Properties Inc., DRH Realty Company Inc., DRH Realty of Iowa LLC, DRH Regrem L LLC, DRH Regrem LI LLC, DRH Regrem LII LLC, DRH Regrem LIII LLC, DRH Regrem LIV LLC, DRH Regrem LV LLC, DRH Regrem VII LP, DRH Regrem XII LP, DRH Regrem XIV Inc., DRH Regrem XIX Inc., DRH Regrem XLIX LLC, DRH Regrem XLV LLC, DRH Regrem XLVI LLC, DRH Regrem XLVII LLC, DRH Regrem XLVIII LLC, DRH Regrem XV Inc., DRH Regrem XVI Inc., DRH Regrem XVII Inc., DRH Regrem XVIII Inc., DRH Regrem XX Inc., DRH Regrem XXI Inc., DRH Regrem XXII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIV Inc., DRH Regrem XXV Inc., DRH Southwest Construction Inc., DRH Tucson Construction Inc., DRHI Inc., Deer Valley Office Park LLC, Desert Ridge Phase I Partners, Emerald Creek No. 4 L.P., Emerald Realty of Alabama LLC, Emerald Realty of Central Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of North Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Encore II Inc., Encore Venture Partners II (California) L.P., Encore Venture Partners II (Texas) L.P., Encore Venture Partners L.P., Express Realty of Central Florida LLC, Express Realty of North Florida LLC, Express Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Forestar Group, Forestar Group Inc., Founders Oil & Gas II LLC, Founders Oil & Gas III LLC, Founders Oil & Gas IV LLC, Founders Oil & Gas LLC, Founders Oil & Gas Operating LLC, GP-Encore Inc., Georgetown Data Inc., Germann & McQueen L.L.C., Grand Title Agency LLC, Grande Realty Incorporated, Grande Realty of Pennsylvania LLC, Greywes LLC, HPH Homebuilders 2000 L.P., Hadian LLC, KDB Homes Inc., Kaomalo LLC, Lexington Homes - DRH LLC, MRLF LLC, Martin Road Lake Forest LLC, McQueen & Willis LLC, Meadows I Ltd., Meadows II Ltd., Meadows IX Inc., Meadows VIII Ltd., Meadows X Inc., Melody Homes Inc., Pacific Ridge - DRH LLC, Rielly Carlsbad LLC, Rielly Homes Madison LLC, SFTEN LLC, SGS Communities at Grand Quay L.L.C, SHA Construction LLC, SHLR of California Inc., SHLR of Nevada Inc., SHLR of Washington Inc., SRHI LLC, SSHI LLC, Schuler Homes of Arizona LLC, Schuler Homes of California Inc., Schuler Homes of Oregon Inc., Schuler Homes of Washington Inc., Summerlin Pkwy & Cimarron LLC, Surprise Village North LLC, The Club at Cobblestone LLC, The Club at Hidden River LLC, Tierra Financial Advisors LLC, Travis County Title Company, Treasure Assets LLC, Venture Management of South Carolina LLC, Vertical Construction Corporation, WPH-Camino Ruiz LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon II LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon LLC, Walker Drive LLC, Western Pacific Brea Development LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Mountaingate L.P., Western Pacific Housing - SDG LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Westlake II L.P., Western Pacific Housing Inc., Western Pacific Housing Management Inc., Western Pacific Housing-Antigua LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Broadway LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Canyon Park LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Carrillo LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Communications Hill LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Copper Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Creekside LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lomas Verdes LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lyons Canyon Partners LLC, Western Pacific Housing-McGonigle Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Norco Estates LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Pacific Park II LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue East LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue West LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Playa Vista LLC, Western Pacific Housing-River Ridge LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Terra Bay Duets LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Meadows LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Village Center LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Windemere LLC, and Wilson Parker Homes.

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Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc., an offshore energy services company, provides specialty services to the offshore energy industry primarily in Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, the Asia Pacific, and West Africa regions. The company operates through three segments: Well Intervention, Robotics, and Production Facilities. It engages in the installation of flowlines, control umbilicals, and manifold assemblies and risers; trenching and burial of pipelines; installation and tie-in of riser and manifold assembly; commissioning, testing, and inspection activities; and provision of cable and umbilical lay, and connection services. The company also provides well intervention, intervention engineering, and production enhancement services; inspection, repair, and maintenance of production structures, trees, jumpers, risers, pipelines, and subsea equipment; and related support services. In addition, it offers reclamation and remediation services; well plug and abandonment services; pipeline abandonment services; and site inspections. Additionally, the company offers oil and natural gas processing facilities and services; and fast response system, as well as site clearance and subsea support services. It serves independent oil and gas producers and suppliers, pipeline transmission companies, renewable energy companies, and offshore engineering and construction firms. The company was formerly known as Cal Dive International, Inc. and changed its name to Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. in March 2006. Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. was incorporated in 1979 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.
CA, Inc., doing business as CA technologies, develops, markets, delivers, and licenses software products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Mainframe Solutions, Enterprise Solutions, and Services. The Mainframe Solutions segment offers solutions for the IBM z Systems platform, which runs various mission critical business applications. Its mainframe solutions enable customers enhance economics by increasing throughput and lowering cost per transaction; increasing business agility through DevOps tooling and processes; increasing reliability and availability of operations through machine intelligence and automation solutions; and protecting enterprise data with security and compliance. The Enterprise Solutions segment provides a range of software planning, development, and management tools for mobile, cloud, and distributed computing environments. It primarily provides customers secure application development, infrastructure management, automation, and identity-centric security solutions. The Services segment offers various services, such as consulting, implementation, application management, education, and support services to commercial and government customers for implementation and adoption of its software solutions. The company serves banks, insurance companies, other financial services providers, government agencies, information technology service providers, telecommunication providers, transportation companies, manufacturers, technology companies, retailers, educational organizations, and health care institutions. It sells its products through direct sales force, as well as through various partner channels comprising resellers, service providers, system integrators, managed service providers, and technology partners. The company was formerly known as Computer Associates International, Inc. and changed its name to CA, Inc. in 2006. CA, Inc. was founded in 1974 and is headquartered in New York, New York.
But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something

over there only because I am here . But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past

as past
The following companies are subsidiares of Mohawk Industries: A&S Energie NV, A&U Energie NV, Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation, Aladdin Manufacturing Of New York LLC, Aladdin Manufacturing of Alabama LLC, Alsace Logistique S.A., Avelgem Green Power CVBA, Avon Pacific Holdings Ltd, B&M NV, BGE Mexico S. de R. L. de C.V., Berghoef GmbH, Berghoef-Hout B.V., Bienes Raices y Materiales del Centro S. de R.L. de C.V., C.F. Marazzi S.A., Canterbury Spinners Ltd, Carpet Foundation Ltd, Cevotrans BV, Ceramus Bahia S/A  Produtos Ceramicos, DT Mex Holdings LLC, DTM/CM Holdings LLC, Dal Italia LLC, Dal-Elit LLC, Dal-Tile Chile Comercial Limitada, Dal-Tile Colombia S.A.S., Dal-Tile Distribution Inc., Dal-Tile Group Inc., Dal-Tile I LLC, Dal-Tile Industrias S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile International Inc., Dal-Tile Mexico Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Operaciones Mexico S. De R.L. De C.V., Dal-Tile Peru SRL, Dal-Tile Puerto Rico Inc., Dal-Tile Services Inc., Dal-Tile Shared Services Inc., Dal-Tile Tennessee LLC, Dal-Tile of Canada ULC, Daltile, Daltile, Dekaply NV, Durkan, Dynea NV, Eliane Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Eliane S/A - Revestimentos Ceramicos, Emilceramica India Pvt Ltd., Emilceramica S.r.l, Emilgermany GmbH, Emilgroup Asia Ltd, Explorer S.r.l., F.I.L.S. Investments Unlimited Company, Feltex Carpets Ltd, Feltex Carpets Pty Ltd, Feltex New Zealand Ltd, Fibremakers Australia Pty Ltd, Flooring Foundation Ltd, Flooring Industries Limited S.a r.l., Flooring XL B.V., Floorscape Limited, Godfrey Hirst & Co Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Group, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Hytherm (Ireland) Limited, IVC BVBA, IVC Far-East Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., IVC France S.a r.l., IVC GROUP LIMITED, IVC Green Power NV, IVC Group, IVC Group GmbH, IVC Luxembourg S.a r.l., IVC Rus OOO, IVC US Inc., International Flooring Systems S.a r.l., International Vinyl Company - Vostok OOO, KAI Group, KAI Keramica Ltd, KAI Mining EOOD, KERAMA CENTER OOO, Kerama Baltics OOO, Kerama Export OOO, Kerama Marazzi OOO, Kerampromservis (LLC), Khan Asparuh - Transport EOOD, Khan Asparuh AD, Khan Omurtag AD, Koninklijke Peitsman B.V., Kraj Kerama OOO, MG China Trading Ltd., MI Finance SRL, MUD (Holding) Brazil Ltda., Management Co EAD, Marazzi Acquisition S.r.l., Marazzi Deutschland G.m.b.H., Marazzi France Trading S.A.S., Marazzi Group, Marazzi Group F.Z.E., Marazzi Group S.r.l., Marazzi Group Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Marazzi Iberia S.L.U., Marazzi Japan Co. Ltd., Marazzi Middle East FZ LLC, Marazzi Schweiz S.A.G.L., Marazzi UK Ltd., Mohawk Assurance Services Inc., Mohawk Australia Pty Ltd, Mohawk Canada Corporation, Mohawk Capital Finance S.A., Mohawk Capital Luxembourg SA, Mohawk Carpet Distribution Inc., Mohawk Carpet Foundation Inc., Mohawk Carpet LLC, Mohawk Carpet Transportation Of Georgia LLC, Mohawk Commercial Inc., Mohawk ESV Inc., Mohawk Europe BVBA, Mohawk Factoring II Inc., Mohawk Factoring LLC, Mohawk Finance S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Acquisitions S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Funding S.a.r.l, Mohawk Foreign Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Investments Inc., Mohawk Global Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Holdings International B.V., Mohawk Industries Inc., Mohawk International (Europe) S.a r.l., Mohawk International (Hong Kong) Limited, Mohawk International Capital N.V., Mohawk International Financing S.a.r.l, Mohawk International Holdings (DE) LLC, Mohawk International Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk International Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk International Netherlands B.V., Mohawk International Services BVBA, Mohawk KAI Luxembourg Holding S.a r.l., Mohawk KAI Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Capital S.A., Mohawk Luxembourg Financing S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Pacific S.a r.l., Mohawk Marazzi International BV, Mohawk Marazzi Russia BV, Mohawk New Zealand Limited, Mohawk Operaciones Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Mohawk Operations Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Pacific Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Resources LLC, Mohawk Servicing LLC, Mohawk Singapore Private Limited, Mohawk Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mohawk Unilin Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk United Finance B.V., Mohawk United International B.V., Mohawk Vinyl Financing S.a r.l., Molber Beheer B.V., Monarch Ceramic Tile Inc., P.F. Onroerend Goed B.V., PF Beheer B.V., Pergo, Pergo (Europe) AB, Pergo Holding BV, Pergo India Pvt Ltd, Polcolorit S.A., Premium Floors Australia Pty Limited, RR Apex LLC, Rata International Pty Ltd, Recubrimientos Interceramica S. de R.L. de C.V., Riverside Textiles Pty Ltd, S.C. KAI Ceramics SRL, Sibir Kerama OOO, SimpleSolutions USA LLC, Soft Step (Australia) Pty Ltd, Spano Group, Spano Invest BVBA, Spano NV, Stroyagromekhzapchast ChaO, Stroytrans OAO Orelstroy, Summit Wool Spinners Ltd, The Flooring Federation Ltd, Tiles Co OOD, Unilin (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Unilin ApS, Unilin Arauco Pisos Ltda., Unilin BVBA, Unilin Beheer BV, Unilin Distribution Ltd., Unilin Distribution Ukraine LLC, Unilin Finland OY, Unilin Flooring India Private Limited, Unilin Flooring SAS, Unilin GmbH, Unilin Holding BVBA, Unilin Insulation BV, Unilin Insulation SAS, Unilin Insulation Sury SAS, Unilin Italia S.R.L., Unilin North America LLC, Unilin Norway AS, Unilin OOO, Unilin Panels SAS, Unilin Poland Sp.Z.o.o., Unilin SAS, Unilin Spain SL, Unilin Swiss GmbH, Unilin s.r.o., World International Inc., Xtratherm, Xtratherm Limited, Xtratherm S.A., and Xtratherm UK Limited.

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CNO Financial Group, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, markets, and administers health insurance, annuity, individual life insurance, and other insurance products for senior and middle-income markets in the United States. It offers Medicare supplement, supplemental health, and long-term care insurance policies; life insurance; and annuities, as well as Medicare advantage plans to individuals through phone, online, mail, and face-to-face. The company also focuses on worksite and group sales for businesses, associations, and other membership groups by interacting with customers at their place of employment. In addition, it provides fixed index annuities; fixed interest annuities, including fixed rate single and flexible premium deferred annuities; single premium immediate annuities; supplemental health products, such as specified disease, accident, and hospital indemnity products; and long-term care plans primarily to retirees and older self-employed individuals in the middle-income market. Further, the company offers universal life and other interest-sensitive life products; and traditional life policies that include whole life, graded benefit life, term life, and single premium whole life products, as well as graded benefit life insurance products. CNO Financial Group, Inc. markets its products under the Bankers Life, Washington National, and Colonial Penn brand names. The company sells its products through agents, independent producers, and direct marketing. CNO Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in Carmel, Indiana.
The following companies are subsidiares of Tenet Healthcare: 45th Street MOB LLC, 601 N 30th Street I L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street II L.L.C., 601 N 30th Street III Inc., AHM Acquisition Co. Inc., AIG Holdings LLC, AIGB Global LLC, AIGB Group Inc., AIGB Holdings Inc., AIGB Management Services LLC, AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #3 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #4 L.L.C., AMC/North Fulton Urgent Care #5 L.L.C., AMI Information Systems Group Inc., AMI/HTI Tarzana Encino Joint Venture, APN, ARC Worcester Center L.P., ASC Old Co. LP, ASC of New Jersey LLC, ASJH Joint Venture LLC, Abrazo Health Network EP Clinical Services LLC, Abrazo Surgical Outpatient Center LLC, Advanced Ambulatory Surgical Care L.P., Advanced Center for Surgery  Vero Beach LLC, Advanced Regional Surgery Center LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Bethesda LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Metairie LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Northern Louisiana LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Sarasota LLC, Advanced Surgery Center of Tampa LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of Lutz LLC, Advanced Surgical Care of St Louis LLC, Advanced Surgical Concepts LLC, Advantage Health Care Management Company LLC, Advantage Health Network Inc., AdventHealth Surgery Center Celebration LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Mills Park LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Wellswood LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Center Winter Garden LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers Central Florida LLC, AdventHealth Surgery Centers West Florida LLC, Alabama Cardiovascular Associates L.L.C., Alabama Digestive Health Endoscopy Center L.L.C., Alabama Hand and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Alamo Heights Surgicare L.P., Alliance Surgery Birmingham LLC, Alliance Surgery Inc., Alvarado Hospital Medical Center Inc., Ambulatory Surgical Associates LLC, Ambulatory Surgical Center of Somerville LLC, American Institute of Gastric Banding Ltd., American Institute of Gastric Banding Phoenix Limited Partnership, American Medical Inc., Amisub Inc., Amisub Inc., Amisub of California Inc., Amisub of North Carolina Inc., Amisub of South Carolina Inc., Amisub of Texas Inc., Anaheim Hills Medical Imaging L.L.C., Anaheim MRI Holding Inc., Anesthesia Partners of Gallatin LLC, Arizona Care Network  Next L.L.C., Arizona Health Partners LLC, Arizona Spine and Joint Hospital LLC, Ascension Saint Thomas Lebanon Surgery Center LLC, Asia Outsourcing US Inc., Aspen Healthcare, Atlanta Medical Center Inc., Atlanta Medical Center Interventional Neurology Associates L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Neurosurgical & Spine Specialists L.L.C., Atlanta Medical Center Physician Group L.L.C., Atlantic Coast Surgical Suites LLC, Atlantic Health-USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Audubon Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Avita/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., BBH BMC LLC, BBH CBMC LLC, BBH DevelopmentCo LLC, BBH NP Clinicians Inc., BBH PBMC LLC, BBH SBMC LLC, BBH WBMC LLC, BCDC EmployeeCO LLC, BHC-Talladega Pediatrics LLC, BHS Accountable Care LLC, BHS Affinity LLC, BHS Integrated Physician Partners LLC, BHS Physician Performance Network LLC, BHS Physicians Alliance for ACE LLC, BHS Physicians Network Inc., BHS Specialty Network Inc., BT East Dallas JV LLP, BW Cardiology LLC, BW Cyberknife LLC, BW Hand Practice LLC, BW Office Buildings LLC, BW Parking Decks LLC, BW Physician Practices LLC, BW Retail Pharmacy LLC, BW Sports Practice LLC, Baptist Accountable Care LLC, Baptist Diagnostics LLC, Baptist Health Centers LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance ACO LLC, Baptist Physician Alliance LLC, Baptist Plaza Surgicare L.P., Baptist Surgery Center L.P., Baptist Womens Health Center LLC, Baptist/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Bartlett ASC LLC, Beaumont Surgical Affiliates Ltd., Berkshire Eye LLC, Bloomington ASC LLC, Blue Ridge/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Bluffton Okatie Primary Care L.L.C., Bluffton Okatie Surgery Center L.L.C., Braselton Endoscopy Center LLC, Briarcliff Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Bristol Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Broad River Primary Care L.L.C., Brookwood Ancillary Holdings Inc., Brookwood Baptist Health 1 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 2 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Health 3 LLC, Brookwood Baptist Imaging LLC, Brookwood Center Development Corporation, Brookwood Development Inc., Brookwood Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, Brookwood Garages L.L.C., Brookwood Health Services Inc., Brookwood Home Health LLC, Brookwood Occupational Health Clinic L.L.C., Brookwood Parking Associates Ltd., Brookwood Primary Care Cahaba Heights L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care Hoover L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care The Narrows L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Homewood L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Inverness L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Mountain Brook L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Oak Mountain L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Care  Vestavia L.L.C., Brookwood Primary Network Care Inc., Brookwood Specialty Care  Endocrinology L.L.C., Brookwood Sports and Orthopedics L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Care L.L.C., Brookwood Womens Diagnostic Center LLC, Brookwood  Maternal Fetal Medicine L.L.C., Brownsville Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, C7 Technologies LLC, CGH GP Inc., CGH Hospital Ltd., CHIC/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CHN Holdings LLC, CHVI Tucson Holdings LLC, CML-Chicago Market Labs Inc., CRNAs of Michigan, CS/USP General Partner LLC, CS/USP Surgery Centers LP, Camp Creek Urgent Care L.L.C., Camp Lowell Surgery Center L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Associates L.L.C., Cardiology Physicians Corporation L.L.C., Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery Associates L.L.C., Cardiovascular Clinical Excellence at Sierra Providence LLC, CareSpot of Austin LLC, CareSpot of Memphis LLC, Carmel Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Castle Rock Surgery Center LLC, Catawba-Piedmont Cardiothoracic Surgery L.L.C., Cedar Hill Primary Care L.L.C., Cedar Park Surgery Center L.L.P., Center for Advanced Research Excellence L.L.C., Center for the Urban Child Inc., Central Carolina Physicians  Sandhills L.L.C., Central Carolina-IMA L.L.C., Central Jersey Surgery Center LLC, Central Texas Corridor Hospital Company LLC, Central Valley Quality Alliance LLC, Central Virginia Surgi-Center L.P., Centura Ventures Surgery Centers LLC, Centura/USP Colorado Springs Surgery Centers L.L.C., Chalon Living Inc., Chandler Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Charlotte Endoscopic Surgery Center LLC, Chattanooga Pain Management Center LLC, Chesterfield Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Chico Surgery Center L.P., Clarksville Surgery Center LLC, Coast Healthcare Management LLC, Coast Surgery Center L.P., Coastal Carolina Medical Center, Coastal Carolina Medical Center Inc., Coastal Carolina Physician Practices LLC, Coastal Carolina Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Colorado GI Centers LLC, Commonwealth Continental Health Care Inc., Community Connection Health Plan Inc., Community Hospital of Los Gatos Inc., Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Asheville LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Odessa LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Raleigh LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of St. Petersburg LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Tampa LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Waco LLC, Compass Surgical Partners Holdings of Winston-Salem LLC, Conifer Care Continuum Solutions LLC, Conifer Ethics and Compliance Inc., Conifer Global Business Center Inc., Conifer Global Holdings Inc., Conifer Health Solutions LLC, Conifer Holdings Inc., Conifer Patient Communications LLC, Conifer Physician Services Holdings Inc., Conifer Physician Services Inc., Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions LLC, Conifer Value-Based Care LLC, Conroe Surgery Center 2 LLC, Coral Ridge Outpatient Center LLC, Corpus Christi Surgicare Ltd., Covenant/USP Surgery Centers LLC, CreAtiv Management Company Inc., Creekwood Surgery Center L.P., Crown Point Surgery Center LLC, DH/USP SJOSC Investment Company L.L.C., DMC Detroit Receiving Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Education & Research, DMC Harper University Hospital Premier Clinical Co-Management Services LLC, DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, DMC Imaging L.L.C., DeTar/USP Surgery Center LLC, Delray Beach ASC LLC, Delray Medical Center Inc., Delray Medical Physician Services L.L.C., Denville Surgery Center LLC, Des Peres Physician Network LLC, Desert Regional Medical Center Inc., Desert Ridge Outpatient Surgery LLC, Desoto Surgicare Partners Ltd., Destin Surgery Center LLC, Detroit Education & Research, DigitalMed Inc., Dignity/Abrazo Health Network LLC, Dignity/USP Phoenix Surgery Centers II LLC, Doctors Hospital of Manteca Inc., Doctors Medical Center Neurosciences Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center Orthopedics Clinical Co-Management LLC, Doctors Medical Center of Modesto Inc., Doctors Outpatient Surgery Center of Jupiter L.L.C., EPHC Inc., EPIC ASC LLC, East Atlanta Endoscopy Centers LLC, East Cobb Urgent Care LLC, East Cooper Coastal Family Physicians L.L.C., East Cooper Community Hospital Inc., East Cooper Hyperbarics L.L.C., East Cooper OB/GYN L.L.C., East Cooper Physician Network LLC, East Cooper Primary Care Physicians L.L.C., East West Surgery Center L.P., Eastgate Building Center L.L.C., El Mirador Surgery Center L.L.C., El Paso Center for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy LLC, El Paso Day Surgery LLC, El Paso Urology Surgery Center Curie LLC, Emanate/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Emanuel Medical Center, Emerus BHS/SA NW Military LLC, Emerus BHS/SA Southside LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Hausman LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Kelly LLC, Emerus/BHS SA LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Overlook Parkway LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Schertz LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Thousand Oaks LLC, Emerus/BHS SA Westover Hills LLC, Encinitas Endoscopy Center LLC, Endoscopy Consultants LLC, Enterprise Research Solutions LLC, European Surgical Partners Ltd., Eye Center of Nashville UAP LLC, Eye Surgery Center of Nashville LLC, FMC Medical Inc., FMCC Network Contracting L.L.C., FREH Real Estate L.L.C., FRS Imaging Services L.L.C., First Choice Physician Partners, Flatirons Surgery Center LLC, Fort Bend Clinical Services Inc., Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate LP, Foundation Bariatric Hospital of San Antonio LLC, Foundation San Antonio Borrower Sub LLC, Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center, Fountain Valley Surgery Center LLC, Franklin Endo UAP LLC, Franklin Endoscopy Center LLC, Frontenac Ambulatory Surgery & Spine Care Center L.P., Frye Regional Medical Center Inc., FryeCare Boone L.L.C., FryeCare Morganton L.L.C., FryeCare Physicians L.L.C., FryeCare Valdese L.L.C., FryeCare Watauga L.L.C., FryeCare Womens Services L.L.C., GAB Endoscopy Center LLC, GCSA Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, GIA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Gainesville Endoscopy ASC LLC, Gainesville Endoscopy Center LLC, Gamma Surgery Center LLC, Gardendale Surgical Associates LLC, Gastric Health Institute L.L.C., Georgia Endoscopy Center LLC, Georgia Gifts From Grace L.L.C., Georgia Musculoskeletal Network Inc., Georgia North Fulton Healthcare Associates L.L.C., Georgia Northside Ear Nose and Throat L.L.C., Georgia Physicians of Cardiology L.L.C., Georgia Spectrum Neurosurgical Specialists L.L.C., Glen Echo Surgery Center LLC, Golden Ridge ASC LLC, Good Samaritan Medical Center Inc., Good Samaritan Surgery L.L.C., Graystone Family Healthcare  Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Great Lakes Surgical Suites LLC, Greater Dallas Healthcare Enterprises, Greater Northwest Houston Enterprises, Greenville Physicians Surgery Center LLP, Greenwood ASC LLC, Greystone Internal Medicine  Brookwood L.L.C., Gulf Coast Community Hospital Inc., HC Hialeah Holdings Inc., HCH Tucson Holdings LLC, HCN EP Horizon City LLC, HCN EP Lee Trevino LLC, HCN EP Northeast LLC, HCN EP Sunland Park LLC, HCN Emerus El Paso LLC, HCN Emerus Management Sub LLC, HCN Emerus Texas LLC, HCN Laboratories Inc., HCN Physicians Inc., HCN Surgery Center Holdings Inc., HDMC Holdings L.L.C., HKRI Holdings LLC, HMHP/USP Surgery Centers LLC, HNMC Inc., HNW GP Inc., HNW LP Inc., HSRM International Inc., HSS Palm Beach Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, HSS/USP Surgery Center LLC, Hagerstown Surgery Center LLC, Harbor Heights Surgery Center LLC, Hardeeville Medical Group L.L.C., Hardeeville Primary Care L.L.C., Harlingen Physician Network Inc., Harper-Hutzel AHP Services Inc., Harvard Park Surgery Center LLC, Haymarket Surgery Center LLC, Health & Wellness Surgery Center L.P., Health Horizons of Kansas City Inc., Health Horizons of Murfreesboro Inc., Health Horizons/Piedmont Joint Venture LLC, Health Services CFMC Inc., Health Services HNMC Inc., Health Services Network Care Inc., Health Services Network Hospitals Inc., Health Services Network Texas Inc., HealthCorp Network Inc., Healthcare Compliance LLC, Healthcare Network Alabama Inc., Healthcare Network CFMC Inc., Healthcare Network DPH Inc., Healthcare Network Georgia Inc., Healthcare Network Holdings Inc., Healthcare Network Hospitals Inc., Healthcare Network Louisiana Inc., Healthcare Network Missouri Inc., Healthcare Network North Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network South Carolina Inc., Healthcare Network Tennessee Inc., Healthcare Network Texas Inc., Healthcare SMG I L.L.C., Healthcare SMG II L.L.C., Healthcare SMG IV L.L.C., Healthcare UC Holdings Inc., Healthmark Partners Inc., Healthpoint of North Carolina L.L.C., Heart and Vascular Institute of Michigan, Hialeah Real Properties Inc., Hickory Family Practice Associates - Tenet North Carolina L.L.C., Hill Country ASC Partners LLC, Hill Country Surgery Center LLC, Hilton Head Health System L.P., Hilton Head Regional Healthcare L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional OB/GYN Partners L.L.C., Hilton Head Regional Physician Network LLC, Hilton Head Regional Physician Network  Georgia L.L.C., Hitchcock State Street Real Estate Inc., Holston Valley Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Holy Cross Hospital Inc., Home Health Partners of San Antonio LLC, Hoover Doctors Group Inc., Hoover Land LLC, Hospital Development of West Phoenix Inc., Hospital RCM Services LLC, Houston Northwest Partners Ltd., Houston PSC L.P., Houston Specialty Hospital Inc., Houston Sunrise Investors Inc., Hyde Park Surgery Center LLC, Imaging Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., InforMed Insurance Services LLC, International Health and Wellness Inc., Intracoastal Surgery Center LLC, JFK Memorial Hospital Inc., Jacksonville Endoscopy Centers LLC, Journey Home Healthcare of San Antonio LLC, KHS Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, KHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Kingsport Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Laguna Medical Systems Inc., Lake Endoscopy Center LLC, Lake Health Care Facilities Inc., LakeFront Medical Associates LLC, Lakewood Regional Medical Center Inc., Lancaster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Lebanon Endoscopy Center LLC, Legacy Warren Partners L.P., Leonardtown Surgery Center LLC, Lifemark Hospitals Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Florida Inc., Lifemark Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Longleaf Surgery Center LLC, Los Alamitos Medical Center Inc., Lubbock ASC Holding Co LLC, MASC Partners LLC, MH/USP Bay Area LLC, MH/USP Brazoria LLC, MH/USP Kingsland LLC, MH/USP Kingwood LLC, MH/USP Kirby LLC, MH/USP Main Street LLC, MH/USP North Freeway LLC, MH/USP North Houston LLC, MH/USP Richmond LLC, MH/USP Sugar Land LLC, MH/USP TMC Endoscopy LLC, MH/USP West Houston L.L.C., MH/USP Woodlands Parkway LLC, MSV Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MVH/USP Surgery Centers LLC, MacNeal Management Services Inc., MacNeal Medical Records Inc., MacNeal Physicians Group LLC, Magnetic Resonance Imaging of San Luis Obispo Inc., Magnolia Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Manchester Ambulatory Surgery Center LP, Maple Lawn Surgery Center LLC, Marion Surgery Center LLC, Mason Ridge Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., McLaren ASC of Flint LLC, Meadowcrest Hospital LLC, Medical House Staffing LLC, Medplex Outpatient Medical Centers Inc., Medplex Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Memorial Hermann Bay Area Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann Endoscopy & Surgery Center North Houston L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Endoscopy Center North Freeway LLC, Memorial Hermann Specialty Hospital Kingwood L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Surgical Hospital L.L.P., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Brazoria LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Cypress LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kingsland L.L.C., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Kirby LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Main Street LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Pinecroft LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Preston Road Ltd., Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Richmond LLC, Memorial Hermann Surgery Center Woodlands Parkway LLC, Memorial Hermann Texas International Endoscopy Center LLC, Memorial Hermann West Houston Surgery Center LLC, Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers II L.P., Memorial Hermann/USP Surgery Centers IV LLP, Memorial Surgery Center LLC, Memphis Urgent Care #1 L.L.C., Memphis Urgent Care #2 L.L.C., Metro Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Metro Surgery Center LLC, MetroWest HomeCare & Hospice LLC, Metropolitan Medical Partners LLC, Miami Surgical Suites LLC, Michigan Pioneer ACO LLC, Michigan Regional Imaging LLC, Mid Rivers Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Mid State Endo UAP LLC, Mid-State Endoscopy Center LLC, Middle Tennessee Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Midland Memorial/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Midland Texas Surgical Center LLC, Midwest Digestive Health Center LLC, Midwest Pharmacies Inc., Midwest Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Millennium Surgical Center LLC, Minimally Invasive Surgicenter LLC, Minimally Invasive Surgicenter of Delray LLC, Mobile Imaging Management LLC, Mobile Technology Management LLC, Modesto Radiology Imaging Inc., Monocacy Surgery Center LLC, Mountain Empire Surgery Center L.P., Munster Specialty Surgery Center LLC, Murdock Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, NICH GP Holdings LLC, NKCH/USP Briarcliff GP LLC, NKCH/USP Liberty GP LLC, NKCH/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., NMC Lessor L.P., NMC Surgery Center L.P., NME Headquarters Inc., NME Properties Corp., NME Properties Inc., NME Property Holding Co. Inc., NME Psychiatric Hospitals Inc., NME Rehabilitation Properties Inc., NS Medical Billing Center L.L.C., NSCH GP Holdings LLC, NSCH/USP Desert Surgery Centers L.L.C., NSMC Holdings Inc., NSN Revenue Resources LLC, NUCH of Georgia L.L.C., NUCH of Massachusetts LLC, NUCH of Michigan Inc., Nacogdoches ASC-LP Inc., National ASC Inc., National Ancillary Inc., National Diagnostic Imaging Centers Inc., National HHC Inc., National Home Health Holdings Inc., National ICN Inc., National Imaging Center Holdings Inc., National Medical Services II Inc., National Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., National Surgery Center Holdings Inc., National Urgent Care Inc., Network Management Associates Inc., New Dimensions LLC, New England Physician Performance Network LLC, New H Acute Inc., New Horizons Surgery Center LLC, New Medical Horizons II Ltd., Newhope Imaging Center Inc., North Anaheim Surgery Center LLC, North Atlantic Surgical Suites LLC, North Campus Surgery Center LLC, North Carolina Community Family Medicine L.L.C., North Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, North Fulton Cardiovascular Medicine L.L.C., North Fulton Hospitalist Group L.L.C., North Fulton Medical Center Inc., North Fulton Primary Care - Willeo Rd. L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Windward Parkway L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care - Wylie Bridge L.L.C., North Fulton Primary Care Associates L.L.C., North Fulton Pulmonary Specialists L.L.C., North Fulton Womens Consultants L.L.C., North Haven Surgery Center LLC, North Miami Medical Center Ltd., North Shore Same Day Surgery L.L.C., North Shore Surgical Suites LLC, NorthPointe Surgical Suites LLC, NorthShore/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Northridge Surgery Center L.P., Northwest Georgia Orthopaedic Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Regional ASC LLC, Northwest Regional Surgery Center LLC, Northwest Surgery Center Ltd., Novant Health/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Novant/UVA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Okatie Surgical Partners L.L.C., Old Tesson Surgery Center L.P., Olive Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Olive Branch Urgent Care #1 LLC, Ophthalmology Anesthesia Services LLC, Ophthalmology Surgery Center of Orlando LLC, Optimum Spine Center LLC, OrNda Healthcorp, OrNda Hospital Corporation, Orlando Health/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., OrthoArizona Surgery Center Gilbert LLC, OrthoLink ASC Corporation, OrthoLink Physicians Corporation, OrthoLink Radiology Services Corporation, OrthoLink/ Georgia ASC Inc., OrthoLink/New Mexico ASC Inc., Orthopedic Associates of the Lowcountry L.L.C., Oxford Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, PAHS/USP Surgery Centers LLC, PDN L.L.C., PHPS Inc., PHPS-CHM Acquisition Inc., PM CyFair Land Partners LLC, PMC Physician Network L.L.C., PSS Patient Solution Services LLC, Pacific Endo-Surgical Center L.P., Pacific Endoscopy and Surgery Center LLC, Paley Institute Global LLC, Palm Beach Gardens Community Hospital Inc., Palm Beach International Surgery Center LLC, Park Plaza Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., ParkCreek ASC LLC, Parkwest Surgery Center L.P., Patient Partners LLC, Peak Gastroenterology ASC LLC, Pediatric Surgery Center  Odessa LLC, Pediatric Surgery Centers LLC, Physician Performance Network L.L.C., Physician Performance Network of Arizona LLC, Physician Performance Network of South Carolina LLC, Physician Performance Network of Tucson LLC, Physicians Performance Network of Houston, Physicians Performance Network of North Texas, Physicians Surgery Center of Tempe LLC, Physicians Surgery Center of Chattanooga L.L.C., Physicians Surgery Center of Knoxville LLC, Piccard Surgery Center LLC, Piedmont ASC LLC, Piedmont Behavioral Medicine Associates LLC, Piedmont Cardiovascular Physicians L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina OB/GYN of York County L.L.C., Piedmont Carolina Vascular Surgery L.L.C., Piedmont East Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Piedmont Express Care at Sutton Road L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Rock Hill L.L.C., Piedmont Family Practice at Tega Cay L.L.C., Piedmont General Surgery Associates L.L.C., Piedmont Internal Medicine at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Physician Network LLC, Piedmont Pulmonology L.L.C., Piedmont Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care Center at Baxter Village L.L.C., Piedmont Urgent Care and Industrial Health Centers Inc., Piedmont/Carolinas Radiation Therapy LLC, Placentia-Linda Hospital Inc., Pleasanton Diagnostic Imaging Inc., Point of Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Porter Musculoskeletal Surgery Center LLC, Potomac View Surgery Center LLC, Practice Partners Management L.P., Premier ACO Physicians Network LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Adult and Childrens Surgery Center LLC, Premier Endoscopy ASC LLC, Premier Health Plan Services Inc., Premier Medical Specialists L.L.C., Prince William Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Professional Anesthesia Services LLC, Pros Temporary Staffing Inc., Providence/UCLA/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Providence/USP Santa Clarita GP LLC, Providence/USP South Bay Surgery Centers L.L.C., Providence/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Pueblo Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, R.H.S.C. El Paso Inc., RE Plano Med Inc., RHC Parkway Inc., RLC LLC, Reading Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Reading Endoscopy Center LLC, Reagan Street Surgery Center LLC, Red Cedar Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Surgery Center LLC, Republic Health Corporation of Rockwall County, Resolute Health Physicians Network Inc., Resolute Hospital Company LLC, Resurgens Surgery Center LLC, Rheumatology Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Rio Grande Valley Indigent Health Care Corporation, Riva Road Surgery Center LLC, River North Same Day Surgery L.L.C., Riverside Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Rock Bridge Surgical Institute L.L.C., Rock Hill Surgery Center LLC, Rockville Surgical Suites LLC, Rocky Mountain Endoscopy Centers LLC, Roswell Surgery Center L.L.C., SCNRE LLC, SFMP Inc., SFMPE - Crittenden L.L.C., SL-HLC Inc., SLH Physicians L.L.C., SLH Vista Inc., SLPA ACO LLC, SLUH Anesthesia Physicians L.L.C., SMSJ Imaging Company LLC, SMSJ Tucson Holdings LLC, SRRMC Management Inc., SSI Holdings Inc., Safety Harbor ASC Company LLC, Saint Francis Cardiology Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis Cardiovascular Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Center for Surgical Weight Loss L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Billing Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital Medicare ACO LLC, Saint Francis Hospital Pro Fee Billing L.L.C., Saint Francis Hospital-Bartlett Inc., Saint Francis Medical Partners East L.L.C., Saint Francis Medical Partners General Surgery L.L.C., Saint Francis Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis Quality Alliance LLC, Saint Francis Surgery Center L.L.C., Saint Francis Surgical Associates L.L.C., Saint Francis-Arkansas Physician Network LLC, Saint Francis-Bartlett Physician Network LLC, Saint Thomas Campus Surgicare L.P., Saint Thomas Surgery Center New Salem LLC, Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers II L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., Saint Thomas/USP  Baptist Plaza L.L.C., Saint Vincent Physician Services Inc., Salmon Surgery Center LLC, Same Day Management L.L.C., Same Day Surgery L.L.C., San Antonio Endoscopy L.P., San Fernando Valley Surgery Center L.P., San Gabriel Valley Surgical Center L.P., San Ramon ASC L. P., San Ramon Ambulatory Care LLC, San Ramon Network Joint Venture LLC, San Ramon Regional Medical Center LLC, Santa Barbara Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Santa Clarita Surgery Center L.P., Savannah Endoscopy Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Schertz Surgery Center LLC, Scottsdale Endoscopy ASC LLC, Scripps/USP Surgery Centers 2 LLC, Seaside Surgery Center LLC, Shelby Baptist Affinity LLC, Shelby Baptist Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Shore Outpatient Surgicenter L.L.C., Shoreline Real Estate Partnership LLP, Shoreline Surgery Center LLP, Sierra Providence Health Network Inc., Sierra Providence Healthcare Enterprises, Sierra Vista Hospital Inc., Sierra Vista Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Silver Cross/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Sinai-Grace Premier Clinical Management Services LLC, Solantic Development LLC, Solantic Holdings Corporation, South Carolina East Cooper Surgical Specialists L.L.C., South Carolina Health Services LLC, South Carolina SeWee Family Medicine L.L.C., South County Outpatient Endoscopy Services L.P., South Denver Musculoskeletal Surgical Partners LLC, South Florida Ambulatory Surgical Center LLC, South Fulton Health Care Centers Inc., South Plains Endoscopy Associates LLC, SouthCare Physicians Group Neurology L.L.C., SouthCare Physicians Group Obstetrics & Gynecology L.L.C., Southeast Ohio Surgical Suites LLC, Southern Orthopedics and Sports Medicine L.L.C., Southern States Physician Operations Inc., Southwest Childrens Hospital LLC, Southwest Endoscopy LLC, Southwestern Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Spalding Regional Medical Center Inc., Spalding Regional OB/GYN L.L.C., Spalding Regional Physician Services L.L.C., Specialty Surgicenters Inc., Springfield Service Holding Corporation, St. Augustine Endoscopy Center LLC, St. Christophers Pediatric Urgent Care Center - Allentown L.L.C, St. Josephs Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Josephs Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, St. Louis Physician Alliance LLC, St. Louis Surgical Center LC, St. Louis Urology Center LLC, St. Lukes/USP Surgery Centers LLC, St. Marys Hospital Cardiovascular Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Hospital Surgical Co-Management LLC, St. Marys Levee Company LLC, St. Marys Medical Center Inc., St. Vincent Health/USP LLC, St. Vincent/USP Surgery Centers LLC, Suburban Endoscopy Center LLC, Summit View Surgery Center LLC, Sun View Imaging L.L.C., SurgCenter Camelback LLC, SurgCenter Clearwater LLC, SurgCenter Development, SurgCenter Northeast LLC, SurgCenter Pinellas LLC, SurgCenter Tucson LLC, SurgCenter at Paradise Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Deer Valley LLC, SurgCenter of Glen Burnie LLC, SurgCenter of Greater Dallas LLC, SurgCenter of Greater Jacksonville LLC, SurgCenter of Northern Baltimore LLC, SurgCenter of Palm Beach Gardens LLC, SurgCenter of Pine Ridge LLC, SurgCenter of Silver Spring LLC, SurgCenter of Southern Maryland LLC, SurgCenter of St. Lucie LLC, SurgCenter of White Marsh LLC, SurgCenter of the Potomac LLC, Surgery Affiliate of El Paso LLC, Surgery Center at Mount Pleasant LLC, Surgery Center at University Park LLC, Surgery Center of Columbia L.P., Surgery Center of Coral Gables LLC, Surgery Center of Okeechobee LLC, Surgery Center of Pembroke Pines L.L.C., Surgery Center of Peoria L.L.C., Surgery Center of Santa Barbara LLC, Surgery Center of Scottsdale LLC, Surgery Centers of America II L.L.C., Surgery Centre of SW Florida LLC, Surgical & Bariatric Associates of Atlanta Medical Center L.L.C., Surgical Center Development #3 LLC, Surgical Center Development #4 LLC, Surgical Clinical Excellence at Desert Regional LLC, Surgical Elite of Avondale L.L.C., Surgical Health Partners LLC, Surgical Institute Management LLC, Surgical Institute of Reading LLC, Surgicare of Miramar L.L.C., Surginet Inc., Surgis Inc., Surgis Management Services Inc., Surgis of Chico Inc., Surgis of Phoenix Inc., Surgis of Redding Inc., Surgis of Victoria Inc., Sutton Road Pediatrics L.L.C., Sylvan Grove Hospital Inc., T1 Security LLC, TENN SM LLC, TFPS IV L.L.C., TH Healthcare Ltd., TH International Services Florida LLC, TLC ASC LLC, TOPS Specialty Hospital Ltd., TOSCA ASC Holdings LLC, TPR Practice Management LLC, TPS VI of PA L.L.C., TSPE LLC, Tamarac Surgery Center LLC, Tampa Bay Joint and Spine LLC, Tempe New Day Surgery Center LP, Templeton Imaging Inc., Tenet Business Services Corporation, Tenet California Inc., Tenet Central Carolina Physicians Inc., Tenet EKG Inc., Tenet El Paso Ltd., Tenet Employment Inc., Tenet Finance Corp., Tenet Florida Inc., Tenet Florida Physician Services II L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services III L.L.C., Tenet Florida Physician Services L.L.C., Tenet Fort Mill Inc., Tenet Global Business Center Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Bucks County L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Graduate L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Hahnemann L.L.C., Tenet HealthSystem Medical Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Nacogdoches ASC GP Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Philadelphia Inc., Tenet HealthSystem Roxborough LLC, Tenet HealthSystem St. Christophers Hospital for Children L.L.C., Tenet Hilton Head Heart L.L.C., Tenet Hospitals Limited, Tenet Network Management Inc., Tenet Patient Safety Organization LLC, Tenet Physician Resources LLC, Tenet Physician Services - Hilton Head Inc., Tenet Rehab Piedmont Inc., Tenet Relocation Services L.L.C., Tenet SC East Cooper Hospitalists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Gastrointestinal Surgical Specialists L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Island Medical L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Lowcountry OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet South Carolina Mt. Pleasant OB/GYN L.L.C., Tenet Unifour Urgent Care Center L.L.C., Tenet Ventures Inc., TenetCare Frisco Inc., Terre Haute Surgical Center LLC, Teton Outpatient Services LLC, Texan Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Texas Orthopedics Surgery Center LLC, Texas Regional Medical in Sunnyvale, The 6300 West Roosevelt Partnership, The Healthcare Insurance Corporation, The Healthcare Underwriting Company a Risk Retention Group, The Huron Corporation, The Old Bridge Surgery Center LLC, The Outpatient Center LLC, The Southeastern Spine Institute Ambulatory Surgery Center L.L.C., The Surgery Center at Jensen Beach LLC, The Tresanti Surgical Center LLC, Theda Oaks Gastroenterology & Endoscopy Center LLC, Three Springs ASC LLC, Timonium Surgery Center LLC, Titan Health Corporation, Titan Health of Chattanooga Inc., Titan Health of Hershey Inc., Titan Health of Mount Laurel LLC, Titan Health of North Haven Inc., Titan Health of Pittsburgh Inc., Titan Health of Pleasant Hills Inc., Titan Health of Princeton Inc., Titan Health of Sacramento Inc., Titan Health of Saginaw Inc., Titan Health of Titusville Inc., Titan Health of West Penn Inc., Titan Health of Westminster Inc., Titan Management Corporation, Titusville Center for Surgical Excellence LLC, Treasure Coast ASC LLC, Trinity Health of New England/USP Surgery Centers L.L.C., True Medical Weight Loss L.P., True Medical Wellness LP, True Results Georgia Inc., True Results HoldCo LLC, True Results Missouri LLC, Tucson Digestive Institute LLC, Tucson Hospital Holdings Inc., Tucson Physician Group Holdings LLC, Turlock Imaging Services LLC, Turlock Land Company LLC, Twin Cities Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Twin Cities Community Hospital Inc., UAP Lebanon Endo LLC, UAP Nashville Endoscopy LLC, UAP Scopes LLC, UAP of Arizona Inc., UAP of California Inc., UAP of Missouri Inc., UAP of New Jersey Inc., UAP of Oklahoma Inc., UAP of Tennessee Inc., UAP of Texas Inc., UCC Tucson Holdings LLC, UMC Surgery Center Lubbock LLC, UMC-USP Surgery Centers LLC, USC/Norris Cancer Hospital, USP 12th Ave Real Estate Inc., USP Acquisition Corporation, USP Alexandria Inc., USP Assurance Company, USP Athens Inc., USP Atlanta Inc., USP Austin Inc., USP Bariatric LLC, USP Beaumont Inc., USP Bergen Inc., USP Bloomington Inc., USP Bridgeton Inc., USP Cedar Park Inc., USP Chesterfield Inc., USP Chicago Inc., USP Cincinnati Inc., USP Coast Inc., USP Columbia Inc., USP Connecticut Inc., USP Corpus Christi Inc., USP Creve Coeur Inc., USP Denver Inc., USP Des Peres Inc., USP Destin Inc., USP Domestic Holdings Inc., USP Effingham Inc., USP Encinitas Endoscopy Inc., USP Fenton Inc., USP Festus Inc., USP Florissant Inc., USP Fort Lauderdale Inc., USP Fort Worth Hospital Real Estate Inc., USP Fredericksburg Inc., USP Fresno Inc., USP Frontenac Inc., USP Gateway Inc., USP HMH Surgery Center at Shore LLC, USP Harbour View Inc., USP Houston Inc., USP Indiana Inc., USP International Holdings Inc., USP Jacksonville Inc., USP Jersey City Inc., USP Kansas City Inc., USP Knoxville Inc., USP Little Rock Inc., USP Long Island Inc., USP Louisiana Inc., USP Lubbock Inc., USP Maryland Inc., USP Mason Ridge Inc., USP Mattis Inc., USP Michigan Inc., USP Midland Inc., USP Midland Real Estate Inc., USP Midwest Inc., USP Mission Hills Inc., USP Montana Inc., USP Morris Inc., USP Mt. Vernon Inc., USP Nevada Holdings LLC, USP Nevada Inc., USP New Hampshire Inc., USP New Jersey Inc., USP Newport News Inc., USP North Carolina Inc., USP North Kansas City Inc., USP North Texas Inc., USP Northwest Arkansas Inc., USP OKC Inc., USP OKC Manager Inc., USP Office Parkway Inc., USP Ohio RE Inc., USP Oklahoma Inc., USP Olive Inc., USP Orlando Inc., USP Philadelphia Inc., USP Phoenix Inc., USP Portland Inc., USP Reading Inc., USP Richmond II Inc., USP Richmond Inc., USP Sacramento Inc., USP San Antonio Inc., USP Santa Barbara Surgery Centers Inc., USP Securities Corporation , USP Silver Cross Inc., USP Siouxland Inc., USP Somerset Inc., USP South Carolina Inc., USP Southlake RE Inc., USP St. Louis Inc., USP St. Louis Urology Inc., USP St. Peters Inc., USP Sunset Hills Inc., USP TJ STL Inc., USP Tennessee Inc., USP Texas Air L.L.C., USP Texas L.P., USP Torrance Inc., USP Tucson Inc., USP Turnersville Inc., USP Virginia Beach Inc., USP Washington Inc., USP Waxahachie Management L.L.C., USP Webster Groves Inc., USP West Covina Inc., USP Westwood Inc., USP Winter Park Inc., USP Wisconsin Inc., USP-HMH Surgery Center at Central Jersey LLC, USP/Carondelet Tucson Surgery Centers LLC, USP/SOS Joint Venture LLC, USPI Group Holdings Inc., USPI Holding Company Inc.1, USPI Holdings Inc., USPI Physician Strategy Group LLC, USPI San Diego Inc., USPI Stockton Inc., USPI Surgical Services Inc., Underwood Surgery Center LLC, United Anesthesia Partners Inc., United Real Estate Development Inc., United Real Estate Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners Holdings Inc., United Surgical Partners International, United Surgical Partners International Inc., Universal Medical Care Center L.L.C., University Surgery Center Ltd., Upper Bay Surgery Center LLC, Utica/USP Tulsa L.L.C., VB Brownsville LTACH LLC, VBOA ASC GP LLC, VBOA ASC Partners L.L.C., VHM Services Inc., VHS Acquisition Corporation, VHS Acquisition Partnership Number 1 L.P, VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 1 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 11 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 12 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 3 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 4 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 5 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 6 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 7 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 8 Inc., VHS Acquisition Subsidiary Number 9 Inc., VHS Arizona Heart Institute Inc., VHS Brownsville Hospital Company LLC, VHS Chicago Market Procurement LLC, VHS Childrens Hospital of Michigan Inc., VHS Detroit Businesses Inc., VHS Detroit Receiving Hospital Inc., VHS Detroit Ventures Inc., VHS Harlingen Hospital Company LLC, VHS Harper-Hutzel Hospital Inc., VHS Holding Company Inc., VHS Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital Inc., VHS Imaging Centers Inc., VHS New England Holding Company I Inc., VHS Outpatient Clinics Inc., VHS Phoenix Health Plan Inc., VHS Physicians of Michigan, VHS Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan Inc., VHS San Antonio Imaging Partners L.P., VHS San Antonio Partners LLC, VHS Sinai-Grace Hospital Inc., VHS University Laboratories Inc., VHS Valley Health System LLC, VHS Valley Holdings LLC, VHS Valley Management Company Inc., VHS West Suburban Medical Center Inc., VHS Westlake Hospital Inc., VHS of Anaheim Inc., VHS of Arrowhead Inc., VHS of Huntington Beach Inc., VHS of Illinois Inc., VHS of Michigan Inc., VHS of Michigan Staffing Inc., VHS of Orange County Inc., VHS of Phoenix Inc., VHS of South Phoenix Inc., Valley Baptist Lab Services LLC, Valley Baptist Physician Performance Network, Valley Baptist Realty Company LLC, Valley Baptist Surgery Center LLC, Valley Baptist Surgery Center Real Estate LLC, Valley Baptist Wellness Center LLC, Valley Health Care Network, Vanguard Health Financial Company LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company I LLC, Vanguard Health Holding Company II LLC, Vanguard Health Management Inc., Vanguard Health Systems, Vanguard Health Systems Inc., Vanguard Holding Company I Inc., Vanguard Holding Company II Inc., Vanguard Medical Specialists LLC, Vanguard Physician Services LLC, Ventana Surgical Center LLC, Veroscan Inc., Victoria Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., WHASA L.C., Walker Baptist Affinity LLC, Walker Street Imaging Care Inc., Warner Park Surgery Center LLC, Watermark Physician Services Inc., Webster Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Wellington Endo LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture I LLC, Wellstar/USP Joint Venture II LLC, West Boca Health Services L.L.C., West Boca Medical Center Inc., West Bozeman Surgery Center LLC, West Palm Healthcare Real Estate Inc., West Suburban Radiation Therapy Center LLC, Westgate Surgery Center LLC, Westlake Hospital LLC, Westlawn Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Center LLC, Westminster Surgery Centers LLC, White Fence Surgical Suites LLC, Wilmington Endoscopy Center LLC, Wilshire Rental Corp., Windsor Mill Surgery Center LLC, Winter Haven Ambulatory Surgical Center L.L.C., Wisconsin Specialty Surgery Center LLC, and Wymark Surgery Center LLC.

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Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in "Allied." (Courtesy photo | Paramount/Daniel Smith)

(Daniel Smith)

FILM REVIEW

'Allied'

3 stars (out of 4)

MPAA rating: R for violence, some sexuality/nudity, language and brief drug use

Cast: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Jared Harris

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Run time: 124 minutes

The biggest bomb in "Allied" drops quietly. It also drops in the trailer for this World War II film, a grand example of the level of contempt marketing wizards have for the art of storytelling. The big moment arrives halfway into the film, but also halfway into a two-minute advertisement telling us not only what happens, but that movie studios don't believe a stately, throwback melodrama starring Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, directed by veteran Robert Zemeckis, can sell itself. Honestly, it might not - after all, it features no spandexed superheroes, and is not based on an already familiar media property, and does not feature talking cartoon animals - but it should.

So. Do I reveal this key plot point, potentially diminishing its impact upon a viewer smart and/or lucky enough to sidestep marketing manipulations? Actually, I'll sidestep my own straw man, and assert that "Allied" is much more than its twist. Granted, it's a familiar story, treading no fresh ground, and the romantic chemistry between Pitt and Cotillard is more of a light microwaving than scorching sensual flame. But I liked the movie anyway, for its well-considered, functional-but-artful filmmaking method, highlights of which include eloquent cinematography, clarity of narrative and a skilled nurturing of many suspenseful, Hitchcock-derived moments.

The tension is our entry point to the film's base appeal to the emotions, rooted in two fundamental anxieties: Death by Nazi, and suspecting one's spouse of moral digression. Pitt is Max Vatan, a Canadian wing commander who parachutes into the Moroccan desert in the film's opening scene. He ventures into Casablanca, a setting implying a certain inevitability of cinematic destiny. Marianne Beausejour (Cotillard) is his French "wife" for an undercover operation; they've never met, but the job requires that, when they at last do, they must kiss like affectionate and familiar lovers. If face-mashing a beautiful person and sort of but not really trying not to succumb to the romantic tug of Casablanca seems like a cake gig, at least on a superficial level, keep in mind, they eventually need to crash a Deutsches Reich shindig and assassinate a German ambassador while wearing bowties and ball gowns.

It's the morning of said assignment that consummates trouble of a different kind. Awake with stomach butterflies, this pair of Hollywood-beautiful secret agents treks to a golden, Hollywood-beautiful sand dune to watch the sunrise. They could very easily die while sipping Teutonic champagne on this mission, so why should they not steam up the windows of the car while under cover of a thrashing North African sandstorm?

Marianne and Max will eventually settle in London, which, at this point in the war, boasts a hardened and cynical citizenry, all but shrugging at the bombing-raid sirens. The wails disrupt the couple's wedding reception at the pub, and their daughter is born on a gurney under a night sky lit up by explosions and firefights. It's quite histrionic, a bit hokey, and strangely beautiful, because the artillery fire bears a more than passing resemblance to shooting stars.

Pitt and Cotillard are stronger within their individual characters than they are together. Although their attempts at generating sexual tension fizzle, unspoken in their performances is a true sense of the struggle to self-identify when you're committed to subterfuge (especially Cotillard). The traumatic situation - which I have yet to reveal, in case you haven't noticed - had me focusing on Max's role as a father more than a husband, successfully grounding the raw reality of his predicament. The film, despite its flaws, emits palpable emotional current, perhaps not entirely unlike tear gas.

Although Zemeckis could be accused of mimicking many of the most invigorating elements of 1940s cinema, his work is consistently strong. (Notably, it's hard to see a swastika on the screen and not feel as if it's forcing itself into the frame.) When a commonplace object lurks in the foreground like a threat, he recalls Hitchcock at his wiliest; when an airplane engine fails to turn over, over and over, we grit our teeth and shift in our seats. Zemeckis plants a seed of suspicion and draws it out slowly for the kind of dramatic torment that can at once be entertaining and laden with inexorable tragedy. The moral complexities of "Allied" aren't always deep, but they are effective.
900 west michigan shooting.PNG

A shooting was reporting on Nov. 26, 2016, in the 900 block of W. Michigan Ave. in Ypsilanti.

(Courtesy)

UPDATE:16-year-old shot during robbery in Ypsilanti, police say

YPSILANTI, MI - Police are investigating a shooting that took place on the evening of Saturday, Nov. 26 in Ypsilanti.

Police were called about 5:45 p.m. to the 900 block of W. Michigan Ave. for a report of a person shot, according to the Ypsilanti Police Department.

Police located a man who said he'd been shot in the leg, police said.

One person was transported from the area in stable condition to University of Michigan hospital, said Chad French of Huron Valley Ambulance.

Further information on the incident was not immediately available.
BAY CITY, MI -- Police investigating a homicide in Bay City are looking for a missing truck.

Firefighters at 7:06 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 24, responded to a burning house at 205 18th St. in the city's South End. About 7:30 a.m., they found a man's body inside the home.

An autopsy performed Saturday confirmed the man's manner of death to be homicide, though police have not disclosed how he was slain. Police have also not disclosed the name of the victim, as they are awaiting positive identification via dental records, Bay City Public Safety Capt. Joseph Lanava has said.

Public Safety Director Michael J. Cecchini said at 8:45 p.m. Saturday that detectives are actively investigating the killing. Two vehicles were registered to the home, one of which police have recovered.

The second vehicle is a burgundy 2013 GMC Sierra pickup truck with the license plate number ACS-056 and a Michigan centennial plate on its front bumper, Cecchini has confirmed.

The director added investigators do not know if the truck was stolen, but if anyone sees it or has knowledge of its location, they should call 911.

Police have not made any arrests in connection with the slaying, nor have they yet developed any suspects, Cecchini said.

Investigators are awaiting results from the Michigan State Police Crime Lab to determine what sparked the fire, Lanava has said.

No other injuries were reported.

Fire crews cleared the scene about 2 p.m.
MASON, MI - Police officers and dog handlers from various agencies will cycle Sunday in honor of Officer Collin Rose - who used to ride among them.

The Michigan Capital Area Police Unity Tour team will travel a 15-mile route beginning at noon Nov. 27 at the Ingham County Sheriff's Office, 630 N. Cedar St. in Mason, south of Lansing.

"Our team has been fortunate to ride many miles and hours with Collin... we were riding for many officers that were killed in the line of duty, now we will be riding for Collin and his family," reads a post on the team's Facebook page.

Rose, a Wayne State University police officer and canine handler, was shot Tuesday, Nov. 22, a few blocks from the Midtown Detroit campus. He had just called for backup as he stopped a man on a bicycle in an area that has seen a spike in thefts from vehicles.

He died a day later, on Wednesday, at a Detroit hospital.

The man, DeAngelo Davis, has since been arrested and charged with first-degree murder, murder of a police officer and firearm offenses.

Sunday's "Ride for Collin" is open to riders of all experience. Participants will have a police escort as they travel from the sheriff's office to N. Cedar Street to E. Willoughby Road, to Hagadorn Road and back to the sheriff's office.

"Even if you cannot ride, please feel free to come, bring your K9 partner, say a prayer, share in a moment of silence or just show your support for the entire thin blue line community that is grieving the tragic loss of a beautiful soul," reads the event information page.

Rose rode in the Police Unity Tour, under the motto "we ride for those who died," last year with officers from around the country. He proposed to his now fiancee Nicole Salgot at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C., according to information posted by the team.

People gathered Saturday night in the Woodbridge neighborhood of Detroit to carry candles in his honor on the last streets he patrolled.

A visitation is scheduled for 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Ford Field.

The funeral is to begin at 11 a.m. at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in St. Clair Shores.
DETROIT -- Collin Rose used to travel the country to help honor police officers who died in the line of duty.

Now he's the one being honored.

A crowd of mourners gathered at Scripps Park in Detroit's Woodbridge neighborhood Saturday night in a candlelight vigil for Rose, who died Wednesday of a gunshot wound.

A vigil is held for fallen Wayne State Police Officer Collin Rose Posted by MLive.com on Saturday, November 26, 2016

"He exemplified what a good police officer should be," said Francis Zdamkiewicz, a Woodhaven police sergeant who knew Rose through Unity Tour, a group that travels the country honoring fallen police officers.

"... Collin is now one of those people that we will ride for."

He said Rose was a champion of the cause.

"He was a great cop and a really great person and a friend that a lot of us are going to miss," Zdamkiewicz told the emotional crowd.

Mourners took turns sharing memories of Rose, 29, who worked for the Village of Richland Police Department for a brief time before transferring to Detroit to become a Wayne State Police University police officer.

He died a day after being shot in the head while stopping a man on a bicycle in an area near campus that has seen a spike in larcenies from vehicles.

An intense manhunt ensued after the Tuesday, with residents of the city's Woodbridge neighborhood ordered to stay indoors while police scoured the area and helicopters hovered above.

A suspect, 31-year-old DeAngelo Davis, was arrested around 10 p.m. He was charged with first-degree murder and murder of a police officer Friday.

On Saturday morning, dozens of police departments around Michigan escorted Rose's body from Gift of Life surgical center in Ann Arbor to a funeral home in Macomb County.

Rose donated his organs, which could go to help as many as 75 people, according to the Gift of Life Michigan.

In the Saturday night vigil, mourners marched about a mile through Woodbridge, led by resident Darla Welton singing Amazing Grace, and followed by more than a dozen emergency vehicles with lights activated.

"He had the right stuff," said Wayne State Police University Police Chief Holt, who said Rose would always stop to help a citizen with a flat tire.

"He would be nothing but overjoyed to see the outpouring of support from the community."

The candlelight procession ended near where Rose was found shot.

Marchers laid down flowers near a make shift memorial at a traffic sign surrounded by stuffed animals and cards.

"When this happened, we knew we had to come together to do something," said Woodbridge resident Tamara French, who helped organize the vigil.

French said the community is looking to find ways to memorialize Rose by possibly naming or renaming a local park in his honor.

A GoFundMe account for the family of the slain officer has gathered just over $51,000 as of Saturday night.

Visitations are scheduled from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, at Ford Field in Detroit, and from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Kaul Funeral home, 28433 Jefferson Ave. in St. Clair Shores, according to the funeral home.

Family will greet friends beginning at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, 22412 Overlake St. in St. Clair Shores, north of Detroit. A mass is set for 11 a.m. at the church.

There will be a second mass at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Ann Catholic Church, 12648 E. D Ave., in Augusta, east of Kalamazoo in Rose's home town.
Operation Good Cheer is seeking volunteer pilots for its Christmas gift-giving program Dec. 2 and 3 at the Oakland County International Airport. (Courtesy of Oakland County)

A unique charitable operation is looking for volunteer pilots to help deliver Christmas gifts across Michigan to children in need.

Operation Good Cheer takes place on Dec. 2 and 3, with pilots will flying from Oakland County International Airport to various destinations across Michigan.

"More than 5,000 children and adults with special needs experience the magic of Christmas because of the generosity of the volunteers and donors of Operation Good Cheer," Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said. "But this year, there is a shortage of pilots. So, we're putting out the call for local pilots to step up and help give these children a Christmas to remember."

Operation Good Cheer is a service sponsored by Child and Family Services of Michigan, which is celebrating 45 years of its volunteer gift-giving program.

Thousands of children, teenagers and adults with disabilities make Christmas wish lists for Operation Good Cheer, according to a county news release. Donors purchase the gifts and volunteers wrap and prepare them at the airport.

In 2015, the operation served 5,394 recipients and delivered 16,000 gifts with 151 volunteer pilots, 500 volunteers on the ground and 257 gift donors.

"It really is a sight to see when hundreds of volunteers prepare thousands of Christmas gifts that will brighten a child's holiday," said J. David VanderVeen, director of central services for Oakland County.

The Operation Good Cheer volunteer application is available here.

More information here.
BYRON TOWNSHIP, MI -- An 18-year-old driver from Wyoming was killed in a single-vehicle crash.

The incident occurred on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 12:50 a.m. The Kent County Sheriff's Department responded to a report of a single-vehicle crash on 68th Street SW, east of Wilson Avenue SW in Byron Township.

An investigation revealed that 18-year-old Tyler Vanderwest was driving his 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix east on 68th Street when he lost control and struck a tree.

Vanderwest was not wearing a seatbelt. Police said speed was a factor in the incident, however the crash remains under investigation.
sheriffcar.jpg

(MLive File Photo)

LAKE COUNTY, MI -- Police say a Osceola County man reported missing earlier this week is dead, according to 9&10 News.

The body of Steve Darling was found in Lake County, Osceola County Sheriff's Department told the news station. No other information was provided.

Darling was reported missing on Tuesday, Nov. 22, two days before Thanksgiving.
On Oct. 14, 1960, then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy was on a mission in Michigan.

In the wee hours of the morning, the Democratic candidate for the presidency touched down in Ann Arbor and made impromptu remarks to 10,000 students gathered that would eventually spawn one of his enduring legacies -- the Peace Corps.

That speech later became famous, but Kennedy didn't stop there. He campaigned aggressively in Michigan later that day during a whistle stop tour by train that took him through 10 Michigan cities: Ann Arbor, Jackson, Albion, Marshall, Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Lansing, Owosso and Saginaw.

There to capture the tour was former Ann Arbor News photographer Doug Fulton, who worked at the paper as a photographer and outdoor writer from the late 1950s until his retirement in 1983, according to a collection of his personal documents preserved by the University of Michigan's Bentley Historical Library.

Fulton, who grew up in Arizona and attended both the University of Arizona and the University of Michigan, returned west following his retirement, taking many negatives of his photos with him.

His photos of Kennedy were recently rediscovered by the Michigan History Project, an educational nonprofit that works to preserve and publish Michigan history, especially photography.

Michigan History Project President Alan Glenn said they recently learned Fulton had kept a collection of negatives in his garage and reached out to his widow, who sent the organization several large boxes of material.

"We were surprised and excited to find some packs of negatives labeled 'JFK,'" Glenn said. "There wasn't any explanation to go with them, other than the month and year they were exposed. But with a bit of detective work we were able to figure out what they were of, and where they were taken."

Glenn said newspaper reports from the time, famous Michigan landmarks present in the photos and a digital enhancement of several photographs helped the Michigan History Project trace Kennedy's path through several regions of the state on that October day.

Because the negatives were out of order, Glenn said it "took some doing" to reorganize the photos and put them in their proper places.

Famous Michigan landmarks such as the Kalamazoo City Hall, Battle Creek's Kellogg Auditorium and Lansing's State Capitol building helped locate some of the photos, while signage held by spectators in the crowd -- "Albion is for Kennedy and Johnson," for example -- assisted with others, Glenn said.

News reports from the time indicate Kennedy's speeches from the train were for the most part generic campaign speeches. The trip was designed to focus on many of Michigan's heavily Republican areas.

During his trip, Kennedy was reportedly followed by a Republican "truth squad" to provide opposition to his speeches.

Following his mid-October whistle stop tour and another month of campaigning, Kennedy went on to win the 1960 presidential election both in Michigan and nationally, taking the state with 50.85 percent of the vote to Nixon's 48.84 percent.

Nationally, Kennedy carried 303 electoral votes and 49.72 percent of the popular vote, while Nixon earned 219 electoral votes and 49.55 percent of the popular vote.

Visit the Michigan History Project's website to see additional photos of Kennedy campaigning in Michigan in 1960 or to learn more about the organization.
KALAMAZOO, MI -- A man was unable to be caught by police after crashing into a light pole.

The crash occurred at 4:24 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 27. The Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety began checking the area of South Westnedge and West Michigan avenues after an officer in the area heard a collision.

A driver crashed into a light pole at the intersection, severing it at the base and leaving a power line strewn across South Westnedge Avenue. The driver fled the scene on foot and has not been located.



South Westnedge Avenue was closed from West Michigan to Academy Street until Consumers Energy could respond to remove the power line from the roadway.



Anyone having information regarding this incident is asked to contact the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety at (269) 337-8994 or Silent Observer at (269) 343-2100.
arson charges.jpg

Janal Lyn Magnuson, left, and her son, Aaron Clincy, have been charged with fourth-degree arson.

(Muskegon County Jail)

MUSKEGON, MI - A mother and son are accused of arson in connection to a car torching in Muskegon, and he also is charged with stealing medication from a hospital emergency room.

Janal Lyn Magnuson, 42, and Aaron Jerrold-Jay Clincy, 23, both of 889 Ada in Muskegon have been charged with arson in connection with the Sept. 21 fire incident in Muskegon.

Clincy also is accused of stealing medication from Mercy Health Muskegon's Hackley Campus on Nov. 10 and is facing a felony charge of larceny from a building, according to court records. He gave the court an alternate address of 761 Covey Court.

It's alleged that Clincy stole amiodarone from a crash cart in the Hackley emergency room, said Muskegon County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat. He had been transported for treatment of an undisclosed medical ailment from the Muskegon County Jail where he was an inmate, Maat said.

Amiodarone is a prescription medication used to treat irregular heart rhythm.

Court records show Clincy had been arraigned that same day, Nov. 10, on a misdemeanor larceny charge. The jail web site on Friday indicated he also was being held for failure to appear in court.

On Sept. 21, Clincy allegedly set fire to a 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that did not belong to him on Fifth Street, Maat said. Magnuson allegedly helped her son, Maat said.

The charge of fourth degree arson, involving property valued over $1,000, is a felony punishable by up to five years in prison. The actual sentence is determined by the sentencing judge based on guidelines that consider the defendant's criminal history.

In this case, both defendants are charged as second time habitual offenders. Magnuson has a 2009 felony conviction for attempted uttering and publishing and Clincy has a 2014 felony conviction of assault with a dangerous weapon, Maat said.

Clincy and Magnuson were arraigned on the arson charges on Nov. 22. Preliminary examinations for both are scheduled for 9 a.m. Dec. 12 in 60th District Judge Andrew Wierengo's courtroom. Bond was set at $20,000 cash or surety.

Clincy was arraigned Nov. 18 on the larceny charge. The preliminary exam in that case is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Dec. 5 in Wierengo's court. Bond was set at $20,000 cash of surety.

The larceny from a building charge in punishable by up to four years in prison. Clincy is charged as a second time habitual offender in that case as well.
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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
Concho Resources Inc. has reached a definitive agreement to acquire approximately 24,000 gross (16,400 net) acres in the northern Delaware Basin for approximately $430 million.

The acquired acreage is complementary to the companys leasehold position in the northern Delaware Basin, with approximately 12,000 gross (10,000 net) acres located in the Red Hills area in Lea County, New Mexico.

The acquisition includes approximately 2.5 MBoepd (69 percent oil) of current production. It expands Conchos position in the Red Hills area by more than 25 percent to approximately 47,000 net acres and doubles the companys long-lateral drilling inventory in Red Hills. The acquisition also provides significant development upside across multiple, de-risked zones and is accretive to cash flow per share and leverage neutral.

Tim Leach, chairman, chief executive officer and president, commented, This transaction is an opportunistic bolt-on in the Red Hills area where we are consistently delivering strong well performance. Our evaluation provides for multiple opportunities to enhance value through increased density development on multi-well pads as well as additional zones beyond the Avalon Shale, Wolfcamp Shale and the emerging Wolfcamp Sands. With a continued focus on driving capital efficiency gains and actively managing our portfolio, this acquisition further strengthens our industry-leading position in the Permian Basin and reinforces our ability to deliver differentiated long-term growth.

The Red Hills area is an oil-prone fairway generating exceptional returns at current commodity prices. With more than 5,000 feet of resource-rich hydrocarbon column, this area is highly prospective for multi-zone development.

Consideration in the transaction includes approximately $150 million of cash and 2.18 million shares of Conchos common stock. Concho expects to fund the cash portion of the transaction with cash on hand, borrowings under its credit facility and potential non-core asset sales. The acquisition is expected to close in January 2017 and is subject to customary closing conditions.
Survey: Oil and gas contractors optimistic after U.S. elections

By Mike D. Smith

Houston Chronicle

The majority of oil and gas contractors in a recent survey agreed the election of Donald J. Trump will have a positive result and create more jobs in the global energy sector, according to NES Global Talent.

NES Global, which helps provide workers for oil and gas, construction, mining, manufacturing and other sectors, recently surveyed more than 300 oil and gas contractors.

Of those surveyed worldwide, 48 percent said they personally felt positive about Trumps election and 63 percent said it would have a positive effect on the energy industry.

Among U.S. respondents, 70 percent said the result was positive and 78 percent expected it would mean good news for the energy sector. Also, 64 percent of U.S. respondents felt more confident about job prospects, compared to 44 percent for respondents worldwide, according to the results.

Donald Trump certainly made some bold claims on the campaign trail which could see his presidency herald a seismic shift in US domestic energy policy and reignite growth in the sector, NES Global said in a statement released with the results.

Regulatory impediments look likely to be removed and there will be little government support now for those blocking infrastructure projects, leaving the path open for new pipeline projects to move forward, the statement continued.

Climbing oil prices shield most U.S. drillers from default, Fitch says

By Collin Eaton

Hiouston Chronicle

Rising oil prices have probably shielded most U.S. drillers from debt defaults next year, Fitch Ratings says.

Energy companies have defaulted on $7.7 billion in leveraged loans, a certain category of higher-risk loans sold to investors, the credit rating agency said in a new report Tuesday. Fitch is majority-owned by Hearst Corp., the parent company of the Houston Chronicle.

Thats out of the $40 billion in leveraged loans they ran up to fuel the shale oil boom. Companies also defaulted on $40 billion of the $254 billion in risky corporate bonds theyve taken out in recent years, said Eric Rosenthal, senior director of leveraged finance at Fitch.

But the oil industrys financial prospects could improve next year, he said, as crude prices rise above $45 a barrel. Almost half of the leverage loans Fitch believes are at risk of default are tied to the energy industry, but the firm expects only a few drillers to default next year.

Pioneer denied request to reclassify oil wells

By Ryan Handy

Houston Chronicle

The Railroad Commission of Texas last week denied Pioneer Natural Resources request to reclassify several oil wells as gas wells, citing concerns that the company was looking to take advantage of a tax exemption for gas wells.

State regulations allow oil and gas operators to classify wells as oil-producing or gas-producing, based on their production ratios. But gas wells grant operators a decades-old tax credit, known as the high-cost gas credit, which was put in place to encourage natural gas production.

But the request also opened a discussion on how the Railroad Commission, which regulates the oil and gas industry, classifies wells, specifically if it should add another category.

Pioneer made the argument that several of its oil wells in the Eagleford basin should be reclassified as gas wells, a claim that the commissions staff disputed. The companys arguments included a claim that the presence of natural gas liquids in the wells makes them gas wells.

During an October meeting, Paul Dubois, a technical examiner for the agency, told the commissioners that Pioneer had given them no proof that it would suffer if the wells retained an oil classification. But, Dubois pointed out, reclassifying them as as gas wells will get them a significant severance tax reduction.

Pioneer disputed Dubois analysis, arguing that the wells were clearly producing gas and the potential for tax breaks was not the companys motive in seeking reclassification. .

The commission ultimately denied Pioneers request during its Nov. 15 meeting, but Commission Ryan Sitton raised the issue of creating a third classification to cover natural gas condensate, or liquids. Natural gas liquids are considered valuable and useable, but regulators arent sure if it should be declared natural gas or oil.

The essential issue in this case is how we consider condensate, said Sitton. There is a a long record of saying it is not oil, but there is no precedent considering it gas.

Swift Energy sells Louisiana asset to intensify Eagle Ford drilling

By Mike D. Smith

Houston Chronicle

Swift Energy Co. sold its interests in a southeast Louisiana production area to intensify its focus on South Texas.

The Houston-based exploration company has divested its Lake Washington Field holdings. The field comprises about 14,000 acres and 23 active wells in Plaquemines Parish, which straddles the Mississippi River where it enters the Gulf of Mexico.

The field produced about 1,160 barrels per day of oil equivalent at the end of the companys third quarter. The company anticipates receiving $40 million upon closing, which could happen in early December.

The move gives Swift more financial flexibility for 2017 development plans, company officials said.

In a statement, company CEO Bob Banks called the sale one of several strategic moves the company is making to become a premier producer in the Eagle Ford Shale play in south Texas.

Weve had a tremendous amount of success with the development of our assets in south Texas, and this transaction allows us to focus exclusively on our very best rate of return projects, Banks said.

The company has identified more than 400 high-quality drilling locations in the Eagle Ford region.

Sanchez Production Partners completes Eagle Ford, South Texas acquisitions

By Mike D. Smith

Houston Chronicle

Sanchez Production Partners previously announced acquisitions of several Eagle Ford and South Texas assets are complete, the partnership has announced.

The Houston-based midstream and production partnership paid $55.5 million in cash to acquire Carnero Processing, LLC, and assumed $24.5 million in Carnero capital commitments. Carnero is building a cryogenic natural gas processing plant in La Salle County.

The partnership also has completed its $27 million acquisition from Sanchez Energy Corp., of more than 30 oil- and gas-producing wells in Dimmitt, Zavala and Gonzales counties in South Texas.

In a statement, partnership CEO Gerry Willinger said Sanchez Production Partners has completed a total of $600 million in transactions with Sanchez Energy.

In the process, we have demonstrated how our strategic relationship with Sanchez Energy can be leveraged to enable each company to better optimize its respective strategies, capital resources, and financial targets, Willinger said. We are excited to be further aligned with Sanchez Energy and its plans for development in South Texas, and look forward to capitalizing on additional opportunities to grow alongside this leading Eagle Ford operator over time.

Sanchez Production Partners acquires, develops and operates assets across South Texas, the Texas and Louisiana Gulf coasts, Oklahoma and Kansas.
MASON CITY  A 22-year-old Hampton woman was killed Friday night and two people were injured in a crash involving three vehicles on Partridge Avenue between Mason City and Rockwell.

Griselda Castaneda Tello was pronounced dead at the scene.

According to the Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office, Tello was southbound on Partridge Avenue/U.S. Highway 65 at about 7:35 p.m. in a 2001 Chevrolet Impala, when a 2005 Chevrolet K3500 pickup driven by Paul Edward Wood, 59, of Manly, northbound on Partridge, crossed the centerline and struck the Tello vehicle.

A third vehicle, a 2001 Daewoo Lanos driven by Jacqueline Sickels, 58, of Sheffield, was headed south on Partridge Avenue when it struck debris in the roadway, causing her vehicle to spin out of control.

Wood was transported by ambulance to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa with what were described as minor injuries. Sickels was taken to the hospital by private vehicle. Both were reported by a Mercy spokesperson as being treated and released.

The accident remains under investigation by the Cerro Gordo County Sheriffs Office.

Assisting agencies were Iowa State Patrol, Mason City Fire Department, Rockwell Police Department and Rockwell Fire Department.
PECOS, N.M.  A battle is brewing between residents of a northern New Mexico village and a Midland oil and gas executive who owns a ranch along the Pecos River.

At issue is a pending water rights transfer that some Pecos residents believe will affect a centuries-old acequia that diverts water for agricultural use.

Once the water is severed from the land, the "option in the future to farm these properties is gone," villager and gas station owner Pancho Adelo told the Santa Fe New Mexican (http://bit.ly/2f3EwTp ).

Several residents have filed protests against the proposal, which calls for transferring 20 acre-feet of water from Pecos resident and Village Council member Herman Gallegos to Benjamin Strickling's ranch. It would mark the second transfer between Gallegos and Strickling since 2014.

Residents say the transfers could limit the amount of water available to farmers and ranchers downstream from the ranch. They say it's hard for the state engineer to regulate how much water the ranch pumps out or ensure that Gallegos stops using the water upstream.

Strickling and his attorney, Kyle Harwood, say the transfer is well within the rule of law and won't change how the water is used. They also say it wouldn't affect the water rights of residents upstream or downstream of the ranch.

Our goal is and always has been to continue the traditional use of water to irrigate fields to benefit wildlife, control erosion and support agriculture," Strickling said in a statement.

Since buying the ranch from actor Val Kilmer in 2011, Strickling thinned overgrown woodland, reseeded natural grasses and partnered with the Santa Fe Conservation Trust to preserve a significant portion of the ranch. Strickling is a director of the trust.

Under New Mexico law, a water rights transfer cannot harm public welfare, alter water conservation or impair the water right itself. Many of the rights to water from the region's acequias are senior rights, dating to 1698. People in Pecos believe transferring rights away from an acequia weakens it and makes the land more susceptible to development.

"In New Mexico, because we are water-scarce for the most part, all of the water in New Mexico is spoken for," said Paula Garcia, director of the New Mexico Acequia Association. "There is no new water (in a transfer). That water has to come from somewhere."

Ralph Vigil, whose family has farmed in Pecos since the 1840s, says it's difficult dealing with a landowner like Strickling "because he is very, very wealthy, and most people in acequias don't have money to hire an attorney."

Initially, 19 parties objected to the transfer, but about 10 dropped out, unable to obtain legal representation or the money to handle processing fees. Some held community raffles, and Pecos vegetable farmer Wes Thompson is in the process of setting up a legal fund.

Harwood says state water law is designed to protect private interests. While public welfare and water conservation cannot be compromised in a transfer, that area of the law is not well-defined, he says.
WASHINGTON - Come January, the Donald Trump administration will lend outsized power to seven Texas Republicans in the nations capital.

For years, these GOP members built up seniority on Capitol Hill, but often found their legislative efforts stymied by President Obamas veto pen.

With Trumps ideology continuing to shift, it is unclear whether he and these Texas Republicans will be able to work in concert as they all hope. But a GOP-controlled Congress and White House presents their best shot at passing generationally consequential legislation like repealing President Obamas health care law, building a border wall with Mexico and revamping the tax code, Medicare and Medicaid.

Had Hillary Clinton won the presidency, some Texas Democrats would have been on the ascent, namely U.S. Reps. Joaquin Castro of San Antonio, his twin brother, outgoing Housing and Urban Development Secretary Joaquin Castro, and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Houston.

But without Clinton in the Oval Office, Democrats lost their fallback power for halting GOP legislation  a presidential veto. That leaves Democrats at their weakest point in over ten years. Therefore, no Democrats are on this list.

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn

There will be no Texan with a more pivotal role in the U.S. government than the states senior senator.

House Republicans are expected to roll Democrats with waves of legislation repealing President Obamas policy successes. But the Senates rules, which empower the minority party, are expected to be where the legislation slows down.

Which is where Cornyn comes in.

As the Senate majority whip, Cornyn will not just twist arms and keep Republicans in line. As the former chief of the Senate GOP campaign arm, he is likely to hover over Democratic senators up for re-election in Trump-friendly states, pressuring them to vote for Republican policies.

U.S. Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Dallas

But thats not why Hensarling is standing on such a influential perch. Its always nice to be a chairman, especially overseeing a committee as powerful as the House Financial Services Committee.

Years ago, Hensarling formed a friendship tri-fecta with two other up-and-coming House members: future U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and future Vice President-elect Mike Pence.

Hensarling is under consideration to serve as U.S. Secretary of Treasury. But even if Trump goes another direction, Hensarling will likely find his calls promptly returned from two of the most powerful people in the U.S. government.

U.S. Sen Ted Cruz

Given last summer's panned speech at the Republican National Convention and his months of pained dealings with the president-elect, Cruz is politically weakened.

And a Trump presidency is new terrain for Cruz: He will not have the Obama administration as a political foil. And with Trump in Washington, D.C., Cruz will not be the most bombastic voice in a thousand-mile radius.

But even Cruz's detractors concede he is wily and tactical, and most assume he will find a way to recover his relevance. He currently chairs two subcommittees, and convened dramatic hearings this fall on issues like internet sovereignty.

While Trump passed over Cruz for U.S. attorney general, plenty of Republicans are openly lobbying Trump to nominate his former rival for the presidency to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Such a nod would take Cruz out of the political ring, but would put him in one of the most powerful positions in the country for the rest of his life. Given his unpopularity in the Senate, he could fly through confirmation - if only to move him out of the chamber.

But if that does not come to pass either, his 2018 Senate re-election race is already the most fascinating topic of conversation in state politics.

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Austin

Next to Cruz, there is no Texas politician more closely watched right now than McCaul.

He could end up in the Trump cabinet as Secretary of Homeland Security; he could challenge Cruz in the 2018 Senate primary. Or, he could continue as the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee until 2019, when he will hit term limits on the position under House GOP rules.

Currently, those close to the border policy debate say they have no sense on how Trump will move forward on a wall. Will he continue to push for a literal wall or move toward more mainstream concepts like boosting fencing and border security technology?

Whether as a cabinet official or House chairman, McCaul will be at the center of implementing that unclear vision.

Should McCaul challenge Cruz, it will likely be a knife fight that will consume the states political class and donors.

U.S. Rep. Kay Granger, R-Fort Worth

The lone woman in the Texas GOP delegation spent years consolidating her power on the House Appropriations Committee, and she will spend her next term atop a powerful Appropriations subcommittee, a status known in Washington as a cardinal.

But her time as the senior Texas Republican on the committee could prove dicey.

Trump's campaign proposals feature a series of controversial legislative initiatives that will need to be funded, which is where the Appropriations Committee comes in. Some on Capitol Hill are expecting that committee is where horns lock between the legislative and executive branches.

Looking to the future, Granger could be well-positioned to become the full committees chairwoman during a theoretical Trump second term.

U.S. Rep. Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands

In some ways, the Trump victory killed the biggest policy initiative on Bradys plate as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee: the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal.

The Rust Belt, packed with voters against the deal, proved this presidential election to be the most consequential voting bloc. The trade deal was already on shaky ground but those results, and Trump's outspoken opposition to TPP, effectively finished it off as a lame duck prospect.

All that aside, any of the GOP attempts to reform the tax code, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will cross through Bradys tax-writing committee.

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R-San Antonio

There are not many policy areas where Republicans are more eager to deregulate than on the environment, and much of that will run through Smiths jurisdiction as chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.

But also, Smith may be poised to serve as a committee chairman for the rest of his career, despite term limits on committee chairs in House GOP rules.

Smith is currently the second-ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee. He could shift to that gavel if McCaul is elevated to the Cabinet, or succeed to that chairmanship in 2019 when McCaul is set to be term-limited.
It probably shouldnt be a surprise that the downtown hotel project  a key element in Mason Citys downtown redevelopment project  has been delayed. Its not unusual for such projects to take a while ironing out financing and other details, and thats the situation here.

Mason City residents should be encouraged, then, that the developer has promised there will be a hotel built and the state Economic Development Board, which holds the check for a $7 million grant to the project  or more  is giving key elements of the plan more time to progress.

Now its essential that a big push be made toward getting this project up and running.

Philip Chodur, a former Mason City resident and a San Diego developer, is both a hero and the goat so far in this months-old tale.

From the beginning, he has been in on the $36.2 million plan that calls for a mixed-use building, music pavilion, ice arena and multipurpose center in Southbridge Mall and the hotel in the parking lot directly west of City Hall.

The hotel is key to the downtown renovation plans success because the Iowa Economic Development Authority is requiring a substantial private investment in the project to be paired with the public funds. The hotels projected $10 million price tag would satisfy that private investment. Other requirements by the state include a finalized lease for the proposed ice arena and music pavilion  and those two appear to be sure bets at this point.

But Chodur has missed one key city deadline already  the start of construction by Oct. 31  because he had not lined up funding by then. The City Council gave him another 30 days to get the funding wrapped up.

Some casual observers, doubters and naysayers werent surprised at the missed deadline, and point to some problems that Chodur has had with projects in other communities in expressing their skepticism this project will ever see the first shovel of dirt turned.

But Chodur says not to worry. He is confident funding can be arranged and that the hotel will be built. He also notes he has other significant investments in Mason City already, and he has already sunk a large chunk of money into the downtown hotel project.

The city, taking the best  perhaps only  approach at this point, backed Chodur and asked the state development authority for its patience. City Administrator Brent Trout reaffirmed the citys position to the state board, saying the city is making progress on its lease of the hotel land with Chodur.

Trout said if Chodur cannot secure financing, the city will explore other options  likely putting out a new request for proposals.

We appreciate greatly the states decision to grant the extension. The members of the board have enough experience with large development projects to know that things often dont progress as smoothly as everyone involved would like.

These are big deals with lots of financing pieces to them, said Tina Hoffman, marketing and communications director for the Iowa Economic Development Authority. Delays like this are not unusual.

Hoffman said the state program is just 2 years old, and there is little precedent for how projects are handled. But she also noted that projects in other communities have experienced delays.

The board is made up of business leaders, Hoffman said. They know these kinds of deals take time to put everything together. So the Mason City project is not in jeopardy, but of course this cant go on forever.

The city knows it cant go on forever. Chodur knows that. The state, of course, is watching closely to see what happens and would love to see progress soon.

We hope Chodur comes through on his promise that the hotel will be built. But if he isnt the person to make it happen, the city should push aggressively for alternatives.

This project should not be allowed to fail. The city has to do whats prudent and do it in a timely fashion so that the state maintains its confidence and that  someday  North Iowa residents and visitors to the area will be able to enjoy a fancy new ice arena, a new hotel and convention center, the parking ramp and all the other parts this ambitious plan entails.
New members inducted into Institute of ...
An Orlando restaurant is encouraging its customers to engage in political discussion after Fidel Castro's death.

Cuba Libre is offering free cocktails following Castro's death

Televisions inside the restaurant will air news coverage of Castro's death

Cuba Libre Restaurant & Rum Bar said Saturday that it would offer a free drink throughout the 9 days leading up to Castro's funeral. They also said televisions at the bar will air news coverage of Castro's death throughout Happy Hour, with closed captioning available. 



One customer, Kurt Carlisle, says his mom fled Cuba when she was 9 years old. He says when he heard about Castro's death, he immediately called his family in San Diego.

"Everyone was like really excited and happy just because it was such a big deal leaving and my fiance and I are going to get married in Cuba and they were reluctant to go and now that he's passed, I think they're little bit at ease with going now," said Carlisle.

Cuba Libre also said its chef, Guillermo Perno, has been leading bi-annual trips to Cuba over the past several years.
As most of you know, Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving and it can be a killer day to save money when shopping online. But like any shopping event, there are insider secrets thatll maximize your savings. Here is what you need to know to make Cyber Monday a great day to save money on Christmas gifts this year according to my friend Kyle James, founder of the website, Rather-Be-Shopping.

Kyle says that if you are shopping for apparel or shoes you need to check out the savings available on Cyber Monday. Last year netted 30 percent or 40 percent off coupon codes from the following websites: American Eagle, Ann Taylor, Lands End, The Limited, Hot Topic, J. Jill, J. Crew, Macys, Nautica, Old Navy, GAP, Banana Republic, Wet Seal, and the list goes on and on. Also, be sure you know your size at individual retailers. What size jeans do you wear from Old Navy? What size sweater do you wear from Lands End? By knowing your sizes ahead of time, youre going to avoid return costs if those skinny jeans wont button.

Ever wonder how the deals on Cyber Monday compare to some of the deals you can bag on Black Friday?

Black Friday is a terrible day to score a deal on a quality, name-brand HDTV. All of the amazing door-buster deals are from third-tier manufacturers that youve never heard of. But this is not the case on Cyber Monday. The last couple Cyber Mondays in particular have seen some excellent deals on name-brand TVs from Samsung, Sony and Panasonic.

Budget laptops are in full force on Black Friday. Budget Laptop systems are OK for surfing the web, posting pictures of your cat on Facebook, and answering email, but thats about it. If you need a laptop for running productivity software, video editing or running multiple programs at once, youll want to shop for a higher quality laptop on Cyber Monday. Unlike Black Friday, theyll be in full force.

Deals on tablets from brands like Apple, Samsung and Lenovo are going to be good on Black Friday and thats going to carry over to Cyber Monday. Be sure to surf the web for these deals.

Cyber Monday is an excellent day to shop for both the popular XBox One and PlayStation 4. Last year on Cyber Monday at Walmart.com we saw the lowest price of the year on the PS4 system. Always look to bundle as that is where youll get the most savings. Bundles usually include the gaming system, an extra controller and a popular game.

Making a large purchase on Cyber Monday? Perhaps a TV from BestBuy.com or a new crib from Babies R Us.com? Consider Kyles frugal hack of abandoning your virtual shopping cart a few days before Cyber Monday in an attempt to trigger a coupon sent via email.

Also try shopping on eBay on Cyber Monday. Why? Because countless wannabe entrepreneurs snatch up the Black Friday leftovers and put them up on eBay for a quick cash profit. But the good news for you is that with the saturated eBay market youre going to score a deal and end up paying only slightly more than if you had stood in line at 11 p.m. on Thanksgiving night.

Be sure to start your Cyber Monday shopping at a retailer offering free shipping on your entire purchase, then look for a coupon code to throw on top of your purchase for even more savings.

Lastly, if youre shopping on Cyber Monday and the deal looks too good to be true, trust your gut instinct and stay away. This is especially true if the deal or coupon is from a website with which you are not familiar with. Other signs of a fraudulent website include the lack of a contact phone number or a physical address. Also, dont click unknown links in your email claiming to offer amazing Cyber Monday deals.

For a full list of hacks to save money on Cyber Monday, visit this website: https://www.rather-be-shopping.com/blog/2016/11/01/cyber-monday-secret-hacks/

Join me on Facebook, search Coupon Clippin Cuties and add yourself to our group. Discover how cyber shopping hacks will save you money this Monday.

Sandra Dulakis is a nurse, mother and founder of Coupon Clippin Cuties.
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Tis the season to sit around and binge watch.

Streaming fans are sure to get something they'll like this season with all the new additions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu this December.

Check out the gallery above to see what's new on your favorite streaming giant this December.

Some classics and newer titles are heading to Netflix, with the addition of National Lampoons: Animal House, Beverly Hulls Cop, The Angry Birds Movie, and Captain America: Civil War this month. The second season of Netflix's original show Fuller House also begins in time for the holidays.

Related: 12 fall TV shows you can't miss

Fans of hit series The Man in the High Castle will be happy for the return of its second season this month, as well as a new season of Mozart in the Jungle and The Expanse.

Hulu has numerous hit movies being added this month. Apocalypse Now, American Beauty, Rain Man, and Pulp Fiction are all heading to the streaming platform. If you're missing the horror of October, the first eight Friday the 13th movies will all be available to stream on Hulu as well.
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Saratoga Springs

Four restaurants near the corner of Caroline and Putnam streets expect to be closed for anywhere from a few days to nearly three weeks following a fire that caused damage to the structures Thanksgiving morning.

The owners of Hamlet & Ghost, a cocktail lounge at 24 Caroline St., have organized a fund drive in hopes of paying employees any wages they lose from the unexpected closure this holiday season. The bar and restaurant sustained smoke and water damage while firefighters battled a blaze that broke out in the kitchen of Mio Posto, an Italian restaurant next door.

"Insurance covers most of the damage in there, but we wanted to do something for all the employees who are going to be out of work for a while, possibly right up until Christmas," said Alanna Nolan, a bartender who manned a fundraising booth outside the restaurant Saturday.

Employees of the restaurant, which opened in January, said an inspector has not yet assessed the damage but said they expect to be closed no more than three weeks. An online fundraiser set up through the crowdsourcing site, GoFundMe, had raised $6,075 toward a $20,000 goal as of Saturday afternoon.

A cause of the early morning fire has not yet been determined. Mio Posto owners could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Sperry's Restaurant at 30  Caroline St. and The Ice House at 70 Putnam St. also sustained smoke and water damage from the firefighting effort.

Sperry's General Manager Seth Berger said on Saturday the restaurant sustained the least damage of all the buildings affected, but estimated it would take at least 10 days to get up and running again. The popular downtown restaurant employs 44 people, he said.

Calls to The Ice House were unsuccessful Saturday. A post on the tavern's Facebook page said smoke and water had damaged the building, and estimated a reopening might be possible by next week.

bbump@timesunion.com  518-454-5387  @bethanybump
Fidel Castro, the fiery apostle of revolution who brought the Cold War to the Western Hemisphere in 1959 and then defied the United States for nearly half a century as Cuba's maximum leader, bedeviling 11 U.S. presidents and briefly pushing the world to the brink of nuclear war, died Friday. He was 90.

His death was announced by Cuban state television.

In declining health for several years, Castro had orchestrated what he hoped would be the continuation of his Communist revolution, stepping aside in 2006 when he was felled by a serious illness. He provisionally ceded much of his power to his younger brother Raul, now 85, and two years later formally resigned as president. Raul Castro, who had fought alongside Fidel Castro from the earliest days of the insurrection and remained minister of defense and his brother's closest confidant, has ruled Cuba since then, although he has told the Cuban people he intends to resign in 2018.

Fidel Castro had held on to power longer than any other living national leader except Queen Elizabeth II. He became a towering international figure whose importance in the 20th century far exceeded what might have been expected from the head of state of a Caribbean island nation of 11 million people.

He dominated his country with strength and symbolism from the moment he triumphantly entered Havana on Jan. 8, 1959, and completed his overthrow of Fulgencio Batista by delivering his first major speech in the capital before tens of thousands of admirers at the vanquished dictator's military headquarters.

Castro wielded power like a tyrant, controlling every aspect of the island's existence. He was Cuba's "Maximo Lider." From atop a Cuban army tank, he directed his country's defense at the Bay of Pigs. Countless details fell to him, from selecting the color of uniforms Cuban soldiers wore in Angola to overseeing a program to produce a superbreed of milk cows. He personally set the goals for sugar harvests. He personally sent countless men to prison.

But it was more than repression and fear that kept him and his totalitarian government in power for so long. He had both admirers and detractors in Cuba and around the world. Some saw him as a ruthless despot who trampled rights and freedoms; many others hailed him as the crowds did that first night, as a revolutionary hero for the ages.

Even when he fell ill and was hospitalized with diverticulitis in summer 2006, giving up most of his powers for the first time, Castro tried to dictate the details of his own medical care and orchestrate the continuation of his Communist revolution, engaging a plan as old as the revolution itself.

By handing power to his brother, Castro once more raised the ire of his enemies in Washington. U.S. officials condemned the transition, saying it prolonged a dictatorship and again denied the long-suffering Cuban people a chance to control their own lives.

But in December 2014, President Barack Obama used his executive powers to dial down the decades of antagonism between Washington and Havana by moving to exchange prisoners and normalize diplomatic relations between the two countries, a deal worked out with the help of Pope Francis and after 18 months of secret talks between representatives of both governments.

Although increasingly frail and rarely seen in public, Castro even then made clear his enduring mistrust of the United States. A few days after Obama's highly publicized visit to Cuba in 2016  the first by a sitting U.S. president in 88 years  Castro penned a cranky response denigrating Obama's overtures of peace and insisting that Cuba did not need anything the United States was offering.

Castro was perhaps the most important leader to emerge from Latin America since the wars of independence in the early 19th century. He was decidedly the most influential shaper of Cuban history since his own hero, Jose Marti, struggled for Cuban independence in the late 19th century. Castro's revolution transformed Cuban society and had a longer-lasting impact throughout the region than that of any other 20th-century Latin American insurrection, with the possible exception of the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

Castro's legacy in Cuba and elsewhere has been a mixed record of social progress and abject poverty, of racial equality and political persecution, of medical advances and a degree of misery comparable to the conditions that existed in Cuba when he entered Havana as a victorious guerrilla commander in 1959.

That image made him a symbol of revolution throughout the world and an inspiration to many imitators. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela considered Castro his ideological godfather. Subcommander Marcos began a revolt in the mountains of southern Mexico in 1994, using many of the same tactics.

Even Castro's spotty performance as an aging autocrat in charge of a foundering economy could not undermine his image.

But beyond anything else, it was Castro's obsession with the United States, and America's obsession with him, that shaped his rule. After he embraced communism, Washington portrayed him as a devil and a tyrant and repeatedly tried to remove him from power through an ill-fated invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, an economic embargo that has lasted decades, assassination plots and even bizarre plans to undercut his prestige by making his beard fall out.

Castro's defiance of U.S. power made him a beacon of resistance in Latin America and elsewhere, and his bushy beard, long Cuban cigar and green fatigues became universal symbols of rebellion.

Castro's understanding of the power of images, especially on television, helped him retain the loyalty of many Cubans even during the harshest periods of deprivation and isolation when he routinely blamed many of Cuba's ills on America and its embargo. And his mastery of words in thousands of speeches, often lasting hours, imbued many Cubans with his own hatred of the United States by keeping them on constant watch for an invasion  military, economic or ideological  from the north.

Over many years Castro gave hundreds of interviews and retained the ability to twist the most compromising question to his favor. In a 1985 interview in Playboy magazine, he was asked how he would respond to President Ronald Reagan's description of him as a ruthless military dictator.

"Let's think about your question," Castro said, toying with his interviewer. "If being a dictator means governing by decree, then you might use that argument to accuse the pope of being a dictator."

He turned the question back on Reagan: "If his power includes something as monstrously undemocratic as the ability to order a thermonuclear war, I ask you, who then is more of a dictator, the president of the United States or I?"
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When Lisa Benavides stepped into a Northwest Side Walmart for some shopping at 4 p.m. on Black Friday, she didnt know she was saying goodbye to her husband, Isidro Zarate, for the last time.

Less than 30 minutes later, Benavides stepped outside of the store at 1603 Vance Jackson Road and walked into a nightmare. Zarate, 39, had been shot dead after stepping in to defend a woman who was allegedly the victim of a domestic assault in the parking lot.

A man was grabbing a woman by her hair, so Isidro drove up, rolled down his window and yelled, take your hands off of her! said Benavides, who raised four children with Zarate during the couples 22 years of marriage. Isidro was trying to help, but the man just walked up and shot my husband in the neck.

The suspect, identified by police as Teles Mandan Juarez, 21, was chased by helicopter and arrested at Cupples and Castroville roads after fleeing the scene. Juarez was charged with aggravated assault and retaliation, both felonies, Saturday. McManus said Friday that Benavides killer also would face a murder charge.

After hearing Zarates words, Juarez allegedly drew a gun and dealt Zarate a fatal, close-range shot to the neck, said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus. Shrapnel from the gun also struck an unidentified woman in Zarates car, and a stray bullet critically wounded a third woman standing further away from the scene, according to police reports. Both of those women were transported to University Hospital and are expected to recover.

I couldnt have taken more than 30 minutes inside the store, Benavides said. And when I came back out, Isidro had a bag over his body  thats how fast it happened.

Benavides said her family has lost its voice with Zarate gone.

We called him the storyteller, Benavides said. He always had a story to tell, he always had a joke. He couldnt ever just say what needed to be said  he had to make it a story.

A niece of Zarates set up a gofundme account to cover funeral expenses for Zarate, who didnt have life insurance.

Isidro was such a sweetheart, she said. He made me laugh more than a lot of people I know. He was always smiling ... and was just a very positive person to be around.

I love him and I miss him, Benavides added. We were together forever. I dont know what Im going to do without him.

jgerlach@express-news.net
Matthew Busch, For The San Antonio Express-News / For The San Antonio Express-News

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San Antonio Police Detective Benjamin Marconi, who was killed outside police headquarters last week, will be remembered starting today with commemorations and a funeral Monday.

Marconi, 50, was a 20-year veteran of the department who worked in the Special Victims Unit. He was working overtime Nov. 20 when a man approached his patrol car as he conducted a traffic stop and shot him twice.

Marconi leaves behind two adult-age children, Jacy Marconi and Dane Marconi, and many other relatives, including a young grandson.

Sunday, a public viewing will be from 3 to 7 p.m. at Porter Loring Mortuary, 1101 McCullough Ave. The viewing will be followed by a rosary service.

RELATED: Donald Trump called son of slain SAPD Det. Benjamin Marconi, family says

At 10 a.m. Monday, a private procession, which will include the hearse, the Marconi family and some SAPD vehicles, will travel from the mortuary to Community Bible Church, the site of the funeral.

The procession will take McCullough Avenue to Interstate 35 North, travel along U.S. 281 North to eastbound Loop 1604 and exit at Gold Canyon Road.

Traffic may be heavy in those areas from 9 to 11:30 a.m., and the Police Department is encouraging motorists to avoid the areas, if possible.

The public is welcome to observe the processional from a safe location along the route. There will be Fire Department trucks parked on every overpass along U.S. 281; the overpasses will be partially closed to allow people to stop safely to pay their respects.

The procession will likely be brief, unlike the miles-long one in 2014 for Officer Robert Deckard, the last SAPD officer killed in the line of duty.

After the hearse arrives at Community Bible Church, 2477 Loop 1604 North, an honor guard will perform a rifle volley, taps will be played and a helicopter will fly over.

The public funeral will begin at 11 a.m.

RELATED: Ambush killing of SAPD's Marconi marks 18th officer killed in line of duty in Texas in 2016

Law enforcement officers from throughout the nation are expected to attend, as well as local and state government officials, according to SAPD spokesman Sgt. Jesse Salame.

Marconi's colleagues in the Special Victims Unit will also attend, with their shifts covered by SAPD's homicide unit.

A public reception will follow the funeral.

There will not be a procession after the funeral and reception, as Marconi wished to be cremated.

The public can watch the funeral live on mysanantonio.com or follow the San Antonio Express-News' coverage on Facebook and Twitter.

eeaton@express-news.net

Twitter: @emilieeaton
One man is dead and another in critical condition after a shooting on the East Side Saturday night.

About 10:30 p.m., Saturday, in the 300 block of Vine Street, four men were arguing when the disagreement escalated into gunfire and two men were shot in the head, according to San Antonio police.
EDITORS NOTE  OWI means operating while intoxicated. DWLS means driving while license suspended. (MC) is for District Court Judge Michael D. Carpenter. Sentences may vary based on previous offenses committed by the defendant. Some sentencings include other fees imposed by the state.

Bay City

Rebecca Elizabeth Wiechec, 25, second-degree retail fraud on Aug. 5 and Aug. 13, 93 days in jail with credit for 16 days, $576.79 restitution (MC).

Beaverton

David Kyle Fleming, 25, DWLS on Sept. 20, $700 fines and costs (MC).

Deneise Ann Sarles, 34, allowing DWLS on July 10, $250 fines and costs (MC).

Lake

Zed Amadeus Adams, 22, driving with a forged, altered or fake identification on Aug. 19, 28 days in jail with credit for one day, $200 fines and costs (MC).

Linwood

Darren Russell Rosengard, 49, DWLS on Sept. 1, $975 fines and costs (MC).

Midland

Paul Robert Blankenship, 56, Hedgewood Drive, second-offense drunken driving on Oct. 4, one year in jail held in abeyance with credit for two days, $700 fines and costs, one year probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed, to be monitored by an alcohol tether for three months (MC).

Cody Alan Conway, 25, South Homer Road, impaired driving on Oct. 12, 93 days in jail with all but five days suspended and credit for two days, $550 fines and costs, one year probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC).

Diana Marie Deprest, 26, Jefferson Avenue, attempted larceny less than $200 on Sept. 8, 2015, 23 days in jail, $125 fines and costs, $100 restitution (MC).

Aaron Joseph Lange, 25, East Ashman Street, illegal plate and attempted driving without insurance on Oct. 12, $500 fines and costs (MC).

Christopher Edward Pappas, 26, Adelaide Street, second-offense domestic violence on Sept. 15, 180 days in jail with credit for 20 days, $125 fines and costs (MC).

Lisa Marie Pressey, 53, West Allen Street, improper plate on Oct. 16, $175 fines and costs (MC).

Mount Pleasant

Zakery George-Wayne Ripley, 28, improper transport of medical marijuana on Aug. 6, $400 fines and costs (MC).

Saginaw

Fierra Tachiana Hughes, 27, driving without insurance on Aug. 8, $300 fines and costs (MC).

Billie Jo Way, 36, fail to stop and identify at the scene of a traffic crash on July 13, $200 fines and costs (MC).

Elsewhere

Collin James Suchecki, 23, Comstock Park, OWI and DWLS on Sept. 13, 93 days in jail with credit for two days, $200 fines and costs (MC).
Every time I visit South Texas I am struck by how little America understands it.

From its people to its economy, it is wide-ranging in riches. From the Spurs roster representing countries from around the world to the diversity of the regions civic and economic leadership, it is a part of the nation that depends on bridges, not walls.

Unfortunately, the 2016 presidential campaign did not represent this reality. And early signs suggest President-elect Donald Trump wants to close America, and Texas, off from the world.

Most Texans know smart, fine and hardworking people who are contributing to our economy. American workers across the state are benefiting. From the expertise of skilled farmworkers in the Rio Grande Valley to the creativity of engineers in Austin, the Texas economy is healthier because of bridges with Mexico and the rest of the world.

Then theres the border itself. Never before has it been such a point of contention. Never has it been less understood. We are faced with an urgent need to reaffirm our core values, change this understanding and bring clear eyes to the border debate. To be clear, we need to emphasize effective barriers along our borders as part of a revamped immigration process. Our security and safety are paramount.

A wall spanning the entire border would cost $27 billion to $40 billion just to build, Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers have found. But there are better ways to ensure our safety than a border wall that will crumble under the weight of logic, logistics and cost. For example, eradicating the invasive and nonnative carrizo cane and salt cedar plants along the Rio Grande will provide Border Patrol with greater visibility and access to the river.

The U.S.-Mexico border is one of the safest regions in the country. And, because of that, research has shown that the overwhelming majority of border community residents actively oppose the construction of a wall, citing its significant cost to taxpayers, its damaging environmental and cultural impact, and the imposition it would pose on private property owners who live along the border.

Our border policy must take into account economic and cultural bridges between the U.S. and Mexico that allow both countries to thrive. According to the American Mexico PAC, 382,000 jobs in Texas depend on trade with Mexico. Since 1993, Texas exports to Mexico have increased by 364 percent, totaling $94.5 billion in 2015, according to the Wilson Center Mexico Institute.

We have already made significant investments to secure our borders. And we can continue to secure and enforce our borders while remaining a welcoming nation. How? By improving border management and exploring legislative solutions. Its the bridges we build that facilitate trade with our third-largest trading partner and one of our closest neighbors and allies.

The voters made their choice. And we have more tough choices ahead. Instead of a wall, we need our leadership in Washington, D.C., to choose bridges that facilitate trade, tourism and the economic health of South Texas and two nations.

We face a choice, but not the choice the rhetoric of the campaign suggests it is. Our choice is between enabling immigrants to strengthen our communities and economy in a way that benefits all of us, or squelching that potential and handicapping ourselves. San Antonio can lead the way in defending these values, defending our neighbors, and advocating an immigration process that promises safety and security, benefits American workers and provides a pathway to legal status and citizenship for undocumented immigrants who meet certain criteria.

It is the practical, accountable way. And it is the only way we will stay true to the values that have made us great.

Ali Noorani is the executive director of the National Immigration Forum.
On March 15, President Barack Obama nominated Walter Counts, who has served as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Western District of Texas since 2009, for a vacancy on that district court.

Judge Counts is a well-qualified, mainstream nominee, who enjoys the powerful support of Texas Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a hearing for Counts on Sept. 7.

Nonetheless, he has languished since then, primarily because GOP leaders refused to grant him a panel vote and a final debate and ballot. Because Judge Counts is an experienced, moderate nominee and the Western District of Texas requires all of its vacancies filled, the Senate must swiftly conduct the nominees committee vote and his confirmation debate and vote.

The district presently has two openings in 13 active judgeships. Thus, the court lacks 15 percent of its active judicial cohort, which complicates endeavors to promptly, economically and fairly decide cases. Because the Speedy Trial Act accords criminal prosecutions precedence, litigants participating in civil cases encounter problems securing trial dates and concluding their lawsuits.

Resolving litigation without 15 percent of the judgeships authorized correspondingly places increased pressure on the courts judges. In fact, those judges carry caseloads that are more than 50 percent higher than the national average and, thus, qualify as judicial emergencies.

The president nominated Counts nearly eight months ago to the seat vacataed by Senior District Judge Robert Junell. Obama lauded his excellent legal career, observing that he was a distinguished individual who displayed unwavering commitment to justice and integrity. The White House press release remarked that Counts had served as a magistrate judge for seven years and as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1995 to 2009.

Nevertheless, the Judiciary Committee only arranged Counts hearing on Sept. 7. The Texas senators introduced the nominee, praised the jurists strong qualifications, and urged prompt Senate confirmation. Cornyn presided at the hearing and voiced hope that the Senate would quickly process Counts. That hearing progressed well, and the members who posed questions appeared satisfied with Counts answers.

However, the Senate recessed to campaign in late September, even though the panel could have accorded him a vote on three Thursdays that month but chose not to hold a meeting.

Since September, Count has awaited a committee and a floor vote. The GOP leadership has argued that Republicans are returning the Senate to regular order. However, Counts and numerous other well-qualified, centrist nominees have waited months for panel and final ballots.

Many senators have requested prompt floor votes for 20 district court nominees with panel approval, yet Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not set those ballots.

Several Democratic senators have pursued unanimous consent to vote on those nominees who need final consideration, but other members have objected. If the GOP follows regular order, the 20 will apparently have floor ballots soon, while Counts should receive a panel vote and final ballot soon.

It is past time for senators to vote on Walter Counts. He is a capable, moderate nominee whom both Texas senators support. The district must have all of its active judges to promptly, economically and fairly resolve cases. The districts judiciary, as well as individuals and businesses litigating in federal court, deserve a full bench, while Counts merits a final vote. Thus, senators must conduct his panel ballot and final debate, and vote before they adjourn the lame duck session.

Carl Tobias is the Williams Chair in Law at the University of Richmond.
Texas is often referred to as a poverty-ridden state due to its reliance on a model of limited government. More prosperity is preferred, and the evidence is clear that standards of living are substantially higher in Texas than in California, which has a model of excessive government.

These two states provide a nice comparison because they are similar in terms of their economies and populations while radically different in their policy choices.

Together they contribute to $1 out of $4 in economic output nationwide, 1 of every 5 Americans resides there, and both have abundant natural resources. However, the Texas model is based on low taxes, no personal income tax, and sensible regulation whereas Californias model is high taxes, highest marginal income tax rate nationwide, and burdensome regulation.

These policy differences are reflected in measures of government intervention. Texas ranks third best in terms of economic freedom while California ranks second worst. Texas has the 14th best business tax climate while California ranks third worst.

These rankings matter because research surrounding them finds that states with more economic freedom and lower tax burdens support higher standards of living.

Poverty averages over the 2013 to 2015 period for the official measure were 15 percent in California and 16.1 percent in Texas. Although these data support critics claims of the failure of the Texas model, the official measure doesnt include regional differences in housing costs or noncash government assistance like Section 8 housing. The supplemental poverty rate does account for these factors and finds that Texas rate is 14.9 percent and Californias is the nations highest at 20.6 percent during the same period.

Nominal median household income for the 2010 to 2014 period in California ($61,489) is 17 percent higher than in Texas ($52,576). However, real income after adjusting for regional price parities, otherwise known as costs of living, is the same in the two states, meaning that $1 in Texas goes just as far and even further when accounting for less after-tax income in California.

Income inequality as measured by the share of a states total income held by the top 10 percent of income earners has also been higher in California. From 2000 to 2013, the average of this measure was 46.8 percent in Texas and 49.7 percent in California. The redistributionary policies in the Golden State havent been as fruitful in equalizing incomes as the free market policies in the Lone Star State.

Texas shines when it comes to raising standards of living. Its not just in less poverty, more income and less income inequality, but its also in more economic opportunities.

During the last decade, economic growth in the real private sector has increased by 29 percent in Texas compared with only 14 percent in California. Job creation increased by 1.2 million in California compared with 1.7 million in Texas, which has a labor force two-thirds of that in California. Remarkably, Texas job creation was roughly one-third of total civilian employment increases nationwide.

It boils down to basic economics: The more you tax and regulate something, the less you get of it. This is why its important for the 2017 Texas Legislature to give Texans the best opportunity to get themselves out of poverty by getting a well-paid job from passing conservative budgets, putting the business franchise tax on a path to elimination, and reducing unnecessary regulation.

Achieving these goals will avoid the Californiazation of Texas so that higher standards of living in San Antonio and elsewhere result and people can live a more fulfilled life.

Vance Ginn, Ph.D., is an economist, and Malcolm Dang is a research associate in the Center for Fiscal Policy at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, a nonprofit, free-market research institute based in Austin.
If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, U.S. Sen. Jefferson Sessions of Alabama will be Donald Trumps attorney general.

A more proper way of looking at that is that Sessions will be the peoples attorney general  pledged to the proper enforcement of federal law and to protect the civil rights of all Americans.

Theres compelling reason to believe Sessions will be more the former  Trumps attorney general  than the latter, the peoples. This appointment, among others, belies Trumps assertion that he will be a president for all Americans.

In 1986, Sessions, a federal prosecutor at the time, made history. A GOP-controlled Senate rejected him for a federal judgeship because it believed allegations that he was a racist were credible.

Nominated by Ronald Reagan, his confirmation was denied after testimony that he had called a black man boy, suggested that a white civil rights attorney was a race traitor, said that his only problem with the KKK was members marijuana use and labeled civil rights groups un-American for trying to force civil rights down the throats of people who were trying to put problems behind them.

A president should be given leeway to appoint an attorney general aligned with his own political philosophy. However, the Senate need not approve a nominee with a record of offending cherished American norms of inclusion and tolerance  even if the president doesnt have a problem with that behavior.

As Alabamas attorney general, Sessions defended a voter initiative, in reaction to Brown vs. Board of Education, that said there was no constitutional right to public education. Fortunately, he lost.

In 1986, a GOP-controlled Senate properly concluded that it could not take the chance with a federal judgeship for Sessions, a lifetime position with as much power to erode rights as bolster them.

Attorney general is not a lifetime post, but it is invested with much power to undo rights  with a stroke of a pen rather than a gavel. He can cherry-pick which cases to prosecute and which rights to protect.

Sen. Sessions has demonstrated a hostility for immigration, the Voting Rights Act and crime reform to unskew systemic harshness for Americans of color. In advice and consent, the president has no right of consent if a nominee is unacceptable. Sessions is. We will be looking for Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to reject this nomination, as should the entire Senate.
The Witte Museum, on the banks of the San Antonio River on Broadway, has come a long way since its humble beginnings just a few years before the Great Depression.

The land for what has become one of Bexar Countys most significant cultural treasures was purchased with a $65,000 bequest from San Antonio businessman Alfred W. Witte to fund a museum in Brackenridge Park

In 1926, a year after Witte died, the museum opened in a single building that housed historical and natural artifacts. It was run by a director who worked for a mere $1 year and had an annual operating budget of $100.

The nonprofit has experienced a significant evolution over the last nine decades, but the fruits of its latest capital improvement campaign outshine any upgrades that came before. Visitors will experience an entirely new Witte when the $100 million in renovation projects underway are completed next year.

The modernization and expansion of exhibit space and features on the grounds will place the museum on top-tier status among the nations museums. Witte President and CEO Marise McDermott deserves major kudos for orchestrating the recent changes.

The expansive work has been made possible through generous private and corporate donations. Fundraising efforts have resulted in commitment for $88 million of the $100 million needed. The impressive scope of the changes that have already occurred should assist with raising the last $12 million.

This month, Bexar County commissioners agreed to add another $1 million to the $1.25 million they committed to the museum capital project last year. The funds will help create riparian, or riverside, habitat in an area of the river behind the museum. The project will include what museum officials are calling an interpretive homage to an 18th-century diversionary dam and acequia that once served the area.

Investment of public dollars to preserve our communitys rich history is a worthwhile endeavor.
Government will soon unveil higher denominations of money to bring convenience to the transacting public but has to do so with caution to avoid inflationary pressures, Secretary for Finance and Economic Development, Mr George Guvamatanga has said.

He said some coins and bond notes will gradually be withdrawn from circulation when Government ultimately introduce higher denominations.

Mr Guvamatanga said this today while responding to questions from journalists during a media briefing in Harare that was organised by Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube.

 Chronicle

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The Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Professor Amon Murwira has been thrown out of Zanu PF primary elections while another technocrat and former Mimosa Platinum CEO, Winston Chitando is now a definite 2018 Senatorial candidate after he entered the race uncontested in Gutu, sources have told The Mirror

Six sitting MPs suspected of belonging to the G40 faction were dropped from the primary elections by Masvingo Provincial Executive at the first stage of the partys vetting process which took place after the close nominations on Friday last week.

These are four Chiredzi MPs, Denford Masiya, Ret Brigadier Gen Callisto Gwanetsa, Darlington Chiwa and Robert Mukwena. Tichafa Madondo who is the sitting MP for Gutu North and Chivi Central MP Ephraim Gwanongodza were also dropped at the provincial level.

Masvingo Provincial chairman Ezra Chadzamira confirmed that a lot of candidates were dropped by the province but would not give specific names. The second and final stage for vetting will be done by the elections directorate in Harare. However, there are chances that the directorate may allow the dropped candidates to stand in primary elections.

Prof Murwira was dropped from the primary elections because he has not served the party for the required five years.

Also barred from contesting in the elections is and Fungai Mahofa who is the son of the late Shuva Mahofa and prominent Bikita businessman Pascal Mudzikisi who is accused of having links with People First led by Ambassador Agrippa Mutambara.

Chadzamira will stand uncontested in Masvingo West constituency after wealthy businessman Rodrick Mumbire was barred from the primaries.

Mumbire is loyal to individuals and not the party. He is aligned to Dzikamai Mavhaire so he was disqualified for that, said a source in the party.

Professor Gomba who is a lecturer with Czech Republic University who flew in to hand in his CV was also struck off after he failed to meet the minimum requirements.

He is believed to be one of the technocrats earmarked for ministerial positions but flew back to his base after his election bid failed.

Meanwhile, Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ) president Lovemeore Mufamba was also barred from contesting in ward 10 Masvingo urban where he is the sitting councillor.

He was labelled a non-repentant factionalist aligned to G40 cabal which was decimated after the military during Government takeover in November last year.

 MasvingoMirror

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Lambert: I dont want this to be true because I love the big city (though not all the time). Damn. Readers?

By Leith van Onselen, an economist who has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury, and Goldman Sachs. Originally published at Macrobusiness.

New research has been released showing that Australias major cities are benefiting the rich more than the poor and are becoming breeding grounds for inequality in the process. From 9News:

Lead researcher Somwrita Sarkar said the findings suggest cities like Sydney and Melbourne have a disproportionate accumulation of the highest income earners who have the advantage of affording the best services and infrastructure while poorer people face being pushed out. If we think of income and population distribution as a pyramid what is true is big cities drive a lot of the innovation and economic growth for the whole nation, but what is unappreciated is that the pyramid needs a stable base of a large number of people doing normal jobs to support that innovation, she told AAP on Thursday. If richer and richer people agglomerate in bigger and bigger cities, you push up the prices and you push out that large pyramid base. Either you are pushing them out of the city or you are forcing them to live with conditions that are not very sensitive to their wellbeing. The findings by Dr Sarkar and her team of researchers at the University of Sydneys Urban Lab were based on the 2011 census and income data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Sydney and Melbourne had the highest numbers of people earning $2000 or more a week, while Hobart and Cairns had fairly even income distributions the poor spend a substantially high proportion of their income in housing and travel costs, whereas the rich spend, comparatively, a much lower proportion of their income for the same goods and services certainly concentrating all the development on the big cities is not the way forward if we want this trend to decline.

I am not surprised by this result. Sydney and Melbourne are home to most of the headquarters of Australias large oligopolistic companies (e.g. the big four banks, the managed funds/superannuation industry, large retailers, media companies, etc), which effectively collect economic rents from the rest of the nation. Accordingly, the workers in these companies earn a disproportionately higher income, thus widening the gap between rich and poor.

Both major cities are also built-out and have growth control measures in place to prevent urban sprawl. Accordingly, affordable land/housing is next to non-existent, whereas infrastructure access outside the inner areas is poor. In both cases, it is the poor in both Sydney and Melbourne that bear the burden, whereas the wealthy elite gain from both higher housing values as well as better amenity. Theres a reason why the numbers of homeless people in Australias major cities are expanding as the rich get richer!

It is the above dynamics that makes the wealthy elite  the growth lobby  such strong supporters of high immigration and a Big Australia. A bigger population provides the growth lobby with a larger domestic market to sell to, thus providing them with lazy profits. At the same time, their property holdings inflate in value from all the added demand (and debt), making them substantially wealthier.

To the growth lobby, high immigration provides a way of privatising the gains from a bigger population while the rest of society  and the poor in particular  socialise the costs.

But dont just take my word for it. The Productivity Commissions modelling on the Economic Impacts of Immigration, conducted in 2006, considered the distributional impacts of immigration (unlike their latest modelling). The PCs 2006 report found that boosting skilled migration by 50% over the years 2005 to 2025 would actually lower the incomes of incumbent workers, while wealthy capital owners (and the migrants themselves) reap the gains:

The increase in labour supply causes the labour / capita ratio to rise and the terms of trade to fall. This generates a negative deviation in the average real wage. By 2025 the deviation in the real wage is 1.7 per cent Broadly, incumbent workers lose from the policy, while incumbent capital owners gain. At a 5 per cent discount rate, the net present value of per capita incumbent wage income losses over the period 2005  2025 is $1,775. The net present value of per capita incumbent capital income gains is $1,953 per capita Owners of capital in the sectors experiencing the largest output gains will, in general, experience the largest gains in capital income. Also, the distribution of capital income is quite concentrated: the capital owned by the wealthiest 10 per cent of the Australian population represents approximately 45 per cent of all household net wealth

With Sydneys and Melbournes populations projected to skyrocket on the back of continued strong immigration (see below charts), the outcomes for ordinary Australians and inequality are destined to get much worse.

It is precisely the wrong kind of economic model that Australia should be facilitating via ongoing high immigration and a Big Australia: one that places overall growth ahead of improving productivity, sustainability and individual living standards.
Your Dog Wants You to Pipe Down and Just Talk With Your Hands Instead New York Magazine

Learning to love the secret language of urine WaPo. They should know.

42 Million Dead In Bloodiest Black Friday Weekend On Record The Onion

Thanksgiving, Black Friday store sales fall, online rises Reuters

Choke Point of a Nation: The High Cost of an Aging River Lock NYT

State of Michigan tells Detroit students Literacy is not a right Fox2

Climate change used to be a bipartisan issue  until the fossil fuel industry got involved Business Insider

Geopolitical role of trade deals is often overdramatised FT. FT moving from denial, through bargaining, to acceptance?

Syraqistan

Theresa May carries on Labours business pay crackdown Telegraph. Tories stealing the lefts clothes while Parliamentary Labour dithers and fumes.

France votes for center-right candidate  and perhaps next president Reuters

China?

In Indonesia, Fears Rise Among Ethnic Chinese Amid Blasphemy Probe WSJ

#NoDAPL

Health Care

Why 27 Million Are Still Uninsured Under Obamacare Bloomberg. From October, still useful.

Our Famously Free Press

2016 Post Mortem

Trump Transition

Pelosi Nominates Members for Leadership Positions Roll Call. Forward with Pelosi and Schumer!

A Year at the Zoning Board Jacobin. You think national politics is bad?

Class Warfare

No Credit History? No Problem. Lenders Are Looking at Your Phone Data Bloomberg

Slot machines and smartphones: To understand the fatal distraction of mobile tech, look at Las Vegas Saskatoon Star Phoenix (MR).

Fix an iPhone Cable the Stylish WayWith Electrical Tape WSJ. These are the same crapification engineering geniuses who got rid of the MagSafe connector  returning you, the user, to the happy days when tripping over your cable could mean repairing your screen  and gave savvy investors a reason go long dongles with the new MacBook Pro. Tim! Tim! Yo, Tim!

Antidote du jour (via):

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Memories flowed and former classmates renewed friendships as Our Lady of Mercy Primary School celebrated it's 50th anniversary.

Last Friday the school invited members of the community that had connections with the school over the past 50 years to the special celebrations.

There has been much activity in the school since it opened in 1966 and many generations have walked its halls there over the years.

It was fantastic to see the past pupils, parents and many of the staff members from over the years as well as Boards of Management and Parents' Council (past and present) present for their special day.

After Mass was celebrated in St. Mary's Parish Church all descended on the school hall for delicious, homemade refreshments. To celebrate events that took place over a 50 year span there were some beautiful displays made by the current pupils to see, as well as many old photos and old school roll books to examine in the colourfully decorated school hall. There was also much talking, laughing and reminiscing! Well done to everyone involved, it was enjoyed by one and all.
The late Fr James Mulcahy was son of James Mulcahy who spent his teaching life in Grange and was author of An Gleann agus a Raibh Ann. Among his appointments in Waterford Diocese were a number of years spent attached to SS Peter & Pauls Parish, Clonmel.

He also served in Middlesborough in England, Graigenamanangh, Rathgormack, Waterford city and especially in Knockanore where he spent all of his years as a Parish priest

This tribute to Fr Mulcahy was written by Fr. Michael OConnor, former President of St Johns College, Waterford and a native of Monksgrange, Clonmel. It was prepared for his time reposing in Grange before his burial in Knockanore.

Fr O'Connor recalled that Fr Mulcahy had launched the 2016 edition of the Grange Journal and quoted what he had said on the night.

"I am delighted to be invited to Launch the 2016 copy of the Grange Journal. It is devoted to 1916. I am probably the nearest in age here to 1916. However, I understand that I was invited to do the Launch not because of that but because the journal also has an article about my late Father.

Because he was the teacher in Grange from 1904 I spent my youth here. We started off on the High Rd in Brick before taking up residence in the Teachers House here in the village.

My years as a student in St Johns coincided with the years of the Second World War. There ware no cars. Tony Heffernan and myself cycled to Croke Park and to Thurles- and to many other venues to see Tipperary playing.

All over the years I have kept up contact with Grange as my home area. I am delighted to be here this evening and delighted to Launch the Journal. My father would be proud of the way that his memory is being honoured at the present time  not only here in Grange but also with the Eigse in Newcastle."

Fr O'Connor continues - The words that I have quoted already are his own acknowledgement that it is Grange, in the community of his family and of the wider parish that he forged the character and faith that sustained his life and that enabled him to give a christian ministry and service to so many people over the years.

When Jim Mulcahy chose to become a priest it was a life choice that was encouraged in this community and there were here many others following the same pathas well as his two brothers, there were three Farrells, two Scullies, Tom and John Murphy, Jimmy OConnor, John OByrne and a number of others.

He was dismayed to see it become a dangerous occupation. Jim saw many changes during his almost 70 years as a priest. He learned quickly to cope with the changes that came in with Vatican 2 and he adapted well to the different personalities and character of the four Bishops that were in charge of the Diocese during his time. He coped with these changes not however, without having his own critical evaluation of what was going on.

He was an intelligent man who had a good reputation in Clonmel and Waterford for the quality of his sermons. He was blessed to keep his clear mind and sharp wit almost up to the end. I recall the wry smile on his face a few years ago at the launch of the translation of his fathers book An Gleann agus a raibh ann when he signed copies as Seamus Og O Maolcathaig . Those who knew him well knew that he had his own perceptive assessments of much that took place but he generally managed discretion when expressing his opinions especially when these opinions were critical.

I am probably one of the few people here who were present at his first Mass in June 1947. I had started school two months earlier at Easter. Jims father was the school principal a the time, so all the school were present at the Mass. We were in the Gallery. Jims mother was one of my mothers friends  when she came for tea she was brought into the sitting room which was reserved for Christmas and special visitors. Jims father was my fathers primary school teacher and I recall getting sweets to mark his retirement just a year before he was due to become my teacher.

I have spent most of my life in St Johns College and when Jim retired he opted to live there which he has done for the past 16 years. So for these years I have had almost daily contact with him. I am sure that it is for these family reasons that Jim asked that I should speak here this evening.

Words of appreciation from me would not do justice to Jims life and character and his life of service in this Diocese. His life was lived out, as I have said, during past hidden years in the parishes in which he served. In these he made many friends and in his retirement he continued to keep many of these. as well as adding new ones.

The people who looked after him, Tom Gaule, Tina Flynn and Margaret Marks made it possible for him to live in his own house almost to the end except for the last ten days of his life. He had daily visits from Paddy Crotty and frequent visits from the other dog walkers' who took an interest in Jims dog, Ben. This is the life that he has been called to give up lived out in these relationships and many,many others over past hidden years. There are words in the Book of Proverbs that I would like to adapt in summary of his life : He did good not harm all the days of his life and worked with willing hands. He opened his hands to the poor and reached out to the needy. Strength and dignity were his clothing and kindness was in his heart.

He was a proud son of Grange and also a grateful one. He greatly appreciated how the community here have honoured his fathers memory and also considered it a great honour to himself to have been featured in this year's Parish Journal and to be invited to launch it.

The cross stretches its arms across everyones life. We do not know when, how or in what form it may enter our own lives. For Jim in recent weeks it took the form of bouts of sickness and in the last week removal from his house and the care of the people that he wanted with him. It is now our faith and hope that he has now finally attained the freedom from this cross which he so much desired.

Jim ended his Mass each day with the prayer that the blessing of Almighty God,Father ,Son and Holy Spirit would come upon us. We cannot do better this evening than express the hope that this blessing may be realised now in its fullness for Jim and that he may now enjoy the fullness of new life in the glory of the father.


Aldi is delighted to announce that Cahir Day Care Centre is the latestcharity to benefit from Aldis new community support fund. Aldis Cahir store staff have awarded Cahir Day Care Centre a 500 grant in recognition of its tremendous work within the local community and to help support its vital services.

The 500 grant was presented to Lil Davis, Manager and Bob Condon, Treasurer at Cahir Day Care Centre, by Aldis Charity Champion Padraig Collins.

Commenting, Finbar McCarthy, Group Buying Director, Aldi Ireland, said, We are delighted our Cahir store employees have chosen to support Cahir Day Care Centre, as they play a pivotal role in bettering the local community as a whole. The social outlet Cahir Day Care Centre provides for older people is vital in helping combat loneliness. Supporting the local communities our stores serve is something that we truly believe in and we are proud to be contributing to the important work done by charities and not-forprofit organisations across County Tipperary through our community support fund.

Aldis community support fund programme provides each Aldi employee with the opportunity to nominate a charity, community group or not-for-profit organisation within their local community for support. Nominated charities are assessed according to a defined selection criteria, with the organisation deemed the most worthwhile receiving a 500 donation from Aldi.

Each of Aldis 128 Irish stores has been allocated an individual annual bursary fund and a Charity Champion assigned to co-ordinate the programme at a local level and work closely with the local charities and not-for-profit organisations. The programme aims to make a difference to the communities Aldis stores serve, focusing on helping develop Irelands youth, combat food poverty and improve the wellbeing of families.
(NaturalNews) While glyphosate has been the primary target of global concern, there are still plenty of other harmful herbicides and pesticides on the market to be worried about. Atrazine, for example, is the second most popular herbicide in the United States, and it's so toxic that it has been banned in Europe.Over a decade ago, the European Union chose to ban atrazine. Naturally, lobbying efforts have ensured that the US did not follow in their footsteps. Instead, atrazine has become a normal facet of American society. It's used on sugarcane, corn, pineapples, sorghum and macadamia nuts. It's also used in evergreen forest regrowth efforts, and on evergreen tree farms. The herbicide is also used on our nation's highways and railroads. So, it's basically everywhere. And it's an environmental hazard that's causing deformities and other abnormalities in aquatic wildlife, and other adverse effects in humans.The CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) itself notes that this chemical can persist in the soil for months  and in some cases, even years. The ATSDR also notes that atrazine takes an exceptionally long time to break down in water. The agency notes that any time the herbicide is washed away into rivers or streams it will stay there for "a long time." That is why the chemical is often also present in the groundwater of agricultural areas.When atrazine enters the air , it's a whole different ball game. The ATSDR states that atrazine may be broken down when it encounters other elements in the air, but it can also adhere to other particles, like dust. When atrazine adheres to dust or other such particulates it does not break down  and it can travel great distances. The agency contends that atrazine is primarily removed from the air by rainfall. This all plays into how this herbicide has been found in rainwater more than 180 miles away from the nearest application area.According to the ATSDR, atrazine typically breaks down into a number of different metabolites when it enters the human body. According to them, most of the metabolites will exit the body through your urine, but the agency does note that some will be absorbed by your internal organs and adipose tissue. In a bit of a contradiction, the ATSDR report goes on to to contend that atrazine does not accumulate in the body  despite noting that it can be absorbed by bodily tissues (which would tend to denote accumulation).Atrazine is a known to disrupt the endocrine system , and has the potential to severely impair fertility. It has also caused physical deformities in animals. There is substantial evidence that the herbicide is capable of interfering with reproduction and development, and can cause cancer. Severe abnormalities have been seen in animals such as frogs. Male frogs in particular have been grievously harmed by this herbicide Reports have indicated that male frogs exhibit signs of severe hormone abnormalities. Failure of the voice box to develop correctly indicates that testosterone is not being produced properly. Male frogs and male smallmouth bass have been seen carrying and laying eggs, as if they were females. Atrazine turns males into females by inducing an enzyme called aromatase, which causes an over-production of estrogen. In fact, 85 percent of smallmouth bass in 19 different US sanctuaries have been found to be carrying eggs. If this is what exposure does to animals, what do you think it does to humans?High amounts of atrazine in drinking water have been linked to a number of adverse effects in humans, such as birth defects and impaired development in young boys  including genital deformities. Exposure has also been linked to a number of different cancers, such as ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, hairy-cell leukemia and thyroid cancer  yet another reason why clean water In other words, atrazine is bad news. It has the potential to persist in the environment, and likely the human body, and it can do serious damage to people and wildlife alike. The EU took a stand against this harmful herbicide years ago. Why haven't we?
This just shows you how off-the-rails the Post's managing editors are

No proof, no identity, no evidence  only baseless accusations

Someone will have to answer for this absurd accusation

(NaturalNews) The managing editors of the Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post are losing it. Since Donald J. Trump beat Hillary Clinton  the Post's chosen candidate  in the Nov. 8 presidential election, the paper has gone full tin-foil hat in its attempt to de-legitimize the Trump win while undermining his administration before he even takes office.As Natural News founder/editor Mike Adams pointed out in a recent column after learning that the Post, relying on some "anonymous," shady organization, accused our publication and hundreds of other alternative media sites of being Russian propaganda tools in the employ of the Kremlin . As crazy as that is, the Post offeredof its allegations, save for citing a pair of hidden 'organizations' who have made the charge as well.Yes. The Washington Post just alleged Adams, myself, and the rest of our correspondentsduring the presidential campaign, for the purposes of "undermining" our democracy while helping Trump.That's what happens when you cover issues fairly and are legitimately hard on a candidate who has a 30-year record of political chicanery and criminal investigations: You so unhinge the "mainstream" media that they will latch on to the wildest of conspiracy theories in order to assuage their failure to help drag their candidate across the finish line.It doesn't get any goofier than this. But it just tells you how utterly off the rails the managing editors and reporters for the paper who backed Clinton have gone.Even the reliably Left-wing site The Interceptwhich was founded in the wake of revelations by former NSA contractor analyst Edward Snowden that the Obama administration was conducting mass surveillance on the American peopleis astonished (and disappointed) that the paper which co-published many Snowden revelations has lost its bearing (and its symbolic mind).In a piece comparing the Post's promotion of some group called PropOrNot and it's "McCarthyite list" of news sites it falsely claimed were purposely spreading Russian propaganda, The Intercept deemed it "disgraceful."To wit:The Post report even went so far as to describe those behind the questionable web site as "experts," then went on to describe it as simply this "nonpartisan collection of researchers with foreign policy, military and technology backgrounds."As a journalist of many years, I can tell you with complete honestybut it is written in such a way as to make the reader believe it is 100 percent authentic. 'So many experts from such important backgrounds -The Post, that's who. And the ironic part is, the Post ran this phony news story on the premise that the sites on the list, including ours,You just can't make this stuff up.What the Post did not do is name a single person who is supposedly a member of this shadowy group. And the only quotes  from its alleged executive director  are anonymous. Why? Well, "to avoid being targeted by Russia's legions of skilled hackers," the Post said.Of course!You see how that works? So official-sounding! And yet readers learning zilch about this organization  like where it came from, all of a sudden...after Clinton lost the election. Surely if she'd won, we'd have- right? I mean, it still would have been news  yes?Maybeheadline:- or something similarly idiotic.So in the end, what has happened is that the Post  using this shadowy group  has accused journalists and news outlets who opposed Clinton politically of being tools of Russian propaganda, and even called on the FBI to investigate us , all "while cowardly hiding their own identity," The Intercept noted.Sen. Joe McCarthy's spirit lives  in the newsroom of the Washington Post.The Intercept said that its reporters contacted PropOrNot and asked numerous questions about about its team, but received only this?reply: "We're getting a lot of requests for comment and can get back to you today =) [smiley face?emoticon]." The group added: "We're over 30 people, organized into teams, and we cannot confirm or deny anyone's involvement."What happens next is up to people other than myself, but I can't imagine that my publication will take this accusation lightly. It's one thing to create a stupid narrative  'the fake news did Clinton in!'  but to accuse hundreds of news organizations and reporters of colluding with the Russians (as PropOrNot has done) in violation of federal espionage laws is serious."The Washington Post has just committed journalistic suicide," said Adams "The once-esteemed publication ran with a highly publicized but journalistically shoddy hit piece, sourced from a secretive and shady group of shadowy people who refuse to identify themselves, with the intention of blacklisting news sites that disagree with the kind of state-run propaganda printed by WashPost," he added."The Post's commission of journalistic malpractice was so blatant and malicious that Gleen Greenwald, a mostly left-leaning independent journalist at The Intercept, tore into the shoddy journalism with his own analysis."And someone will have to answer for it, of that you can be certain.
Glenn Greenwald: "Reckless and unproven allegations... shoddy, slothful journalistic tactics..."

The Washington Post will forfeit any last semblance of credibility if it does not retract this obviously false, baseless and defamatory story

Multi-party defamation lawsuit is now forming

Prediction: There will be a significant grassroots backlash against the Washington Post

WashPost's fabricated stories are the dying, desperate screams of an institution slitting its own throat and bleeding out for all the world to see...

(NaturalNews) If the Washington Post hopes to retain any semblance of journalistic credibility, it must now retract and apologize for its baseless, deliberately falsified story that accuses dozens of independent media websites of working in conspiracy with the Russian government to undermine U.S. democracy.The story by Craig Timberg, published by the Washington Post on Nov. 24 , stands as perhaps the most desperate example yet of a defeated mainstream media wholly fabricating false stories and peddling them as "news." After having lost the election, the Washington Post has now lost its mind, and writers like Timberg now seem so deeply muddled in their own paranoid delusions that they clearly qualify for psychiatric evaluation.Flatly stated, Craig Timberg and the Washington Post. In doing so, the Post now cements its own credibility demise, having abandoned any shred of journalistic integrity in its quest to defame the very parties that are now taking over real journalism in America. The Washington Post has lost the hearts and minds of the American people. It has lost the debate. Now it hopes to censor its competition out of existence so that readers have no choice but to keep swallowing the lies and deceptions peddled by the Post.The disgraceful, malicious hit piece engineered by the Washington Post is so reprehensible that even Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept lashed out at the publisher for its shockingly unethical journalism."[T]he article is rife with obviously reckless and unproven allegations, and fundamentally shaped by shoddy, slothful journalistic tactics," wrote authors Greenwald and Norton. "In his article, the Post's Timberg did not include a link to PropOrNot's website. If readers had the opportunity to visit the site, it would have become instantly apparent that this group of ostensible experts far more resembles amateur peddlers of primitive, shallow propagandistic cliches than serious, substantive analysis and expertise; that it has a blatant, demonstrable bias in promoting the interests of western governments; and that it is engaging in extremely dubious McCarthyite tactics."Now, Natural News is demanding the Washington Post retract its blatantly falsified story and publicly apologize to each website named in the story.We are giving the Post an opportunity to take this action in avoidance of a coordinated, multi-party defamation lawsuit that will be served against the Washington Post if a retraction and public apology are not forthcoming. There is no excuse for the Post's complete fabrication of their blatantly false story. They must either retract their false story or forfeit any claim to legitimate journalism.Accusing independent media publishers of actively conspiring with a foreign enemy of the U.S. government is no small matter. Such a damning accusation must surely be backed by evidence if it were to appear in the Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post, no?Yet a review of the article authored by Timberg revealsSurely there must be documents or audio recordings linking the named websites to the Russians, right? No. There are no documents or audio recordings. They do not exist.Surely these accusations of conspiracy against America must come from credible, authoritative sources willing to stand behind their reputations, right? No. All the accusations mentioned in the Washington Post article... cowards hiding behind anonymity to make baseless accusations while fleeing from scrutiny of their own biases or political leanings.Surely the Washington Post must have contacted some of the websites it named in order to confirm or deny these serious allegations, right? No. I am the founder of Natural News, and I was not contacted by anyone from Timberg's team, nor was I given any opportunity to refute the false charges asserted by the Washington Post.Surely the process by which websites are added to the "blacklist" from PropOrNot must be researched with a well-defined, rigorous, objective review process rooted in science, right? No. The list appears to have beentargeting the "unpopular" crowd.Surely the Washington Post conducted some sort of fact checking or due diligence before publishing its story that cited these anonymous sources, right? No. The Post conductedand refused to name its sources. The entire article was a slanderous hit piece fabricated out of thin air.Well then, surely the Washington Post must be sitting on some sort of damning evidence it's going to roll out that ties all these sites to the Kremlin, right? No. The Post has no such evidence. It does not exist. The story was utterly and completely fabricated in Rolling Stone fashion. There is not a single shred of credible evidence to support even a single assertion of the story.I'm going to give the Washington Post a bit of time to retract their story and apologize to those websites it named in its hit piece. To the lawyers at the Post, if you want to reach me, your writer named Sullivan knows how to reach me because he interviewed me for a different story, and he actually had the integrity to quote me accurately. So you can reach me through Sullivan if you wish to negotiate the wording of your apology.If a retraction and public apology do not appear in the next few days, I will activate a sustained legal effort against the Washington Post, and I will invite. One of my legal representation firms is located in Washington D.C., so they can sit down with you in person to negotiate the terms of your settlement.I also anticipate announcing, payable in the form ofvia an anonymizer of your choice, as someone has already stepped up to the plate and told me they will offer this reward money in the interests of public transparency and truth in journalism. This offer is NOT YET activated, but for those who may be interested, watch Natural News for further details. Once activated, the offer will be solid.Legal action is only the beginning of where all this may lead, it turns out. By utterly fabricating this defamatory piece of false journalism in order to destroy its competition, the Post hasand confessed that it is willing to invent false "facts" without hesitation in order to push its censorship agenda. (Hilariously, the Washington Post, which has invented this utterly FAKE news , accused the independent media of being "fake news" sites.)This means the Washington Post is now completely comfortable with publishing so-called "factual" articles accusing anybody of anything. Don't be surprised if you see another hit piece story accusing some indy media founder of being a child molester, in other words. At this point, the Post can (and will) fabricate anything it wants, even if the assertions are utterly baseless. If I ran Natural News using the same lack of integrity practiced by the Washington Post, I could invent some completely false story that says Jeff Bezos molests little children, then cite a group of "anonymous" activists who made a "secret list" of all the names of the little children Bezos has molested. That's the kind of despicable journalism to which the Post has now descended. There is no place for such tactics in a free society.The victims of the Washington Post's malicious journalism aren't just conservative websites, by the way, such as InfoWars or Liberty Blitzkrieg. The Post is also maliciously targeting a huge number of independent, progressive websites like Collective Evolution and Truthout. What they all have in common is that. And that's what's freaking out the globalists like Bezos who run the WashPost.What's going to happen if this moves forward is thatagainst the Washington Post... and the Post will find itself rapidly going down the path of Gawker, subjected to intense public ridicule, boycotts of advertisers, comment section flashmobs and a number of other non-violent grassroots tactics now being used by the masses against dishonest, lying institutions that deceive the people.With its journalistic credibility in tatters, the Post will quickly find itself on the receiving end ofcombined with, I predict, independent activist actions from justice hacker groups like Anonymous. I do not have contact with anyone inside Anonymous, and I do not control or endorse their actions, but I do realize they often see themselves as justice warriors taking a stand against the corrupt, lying institutions that enslave people with disinformation. That's a perfect description of the Washington Post, and it's not difficult to predict that groups like Anonymous may unleash unrelenting cyber assault waves against Bezos properties, including Amazon servers, WashPost content servers and even WashPost advertisers. This is an analysis, not a call to action, by the way. People can decide for themselves what they wish to do. I consistently tell people to avoid violence and avoid violating the law, as a matter of principle.In my analysis, in other words, I predict. (Yep, it was the hackers who ultimately brought her down via Podesta's leaked emails.)The appropriate hashtag for this operation might beRest assured, this will all get really interesting. It might even be entertaining. But the only loser in all this will be the Washington Post, asYou see, what the NYT, WashPost, CNN and MSNBC still don't realize is this jaw-dropping whopper of hard-core truth:by refusing to carry out legitimate journalism in America.By censoring real news, falsifying "facts" and treating their own audiences as dumbed-down sheeple, theythat has been filled by Natural News, Infowars, AntiWar, Truthout, The Economic Collapse Blog and dozens of other website publishers dedicated to the real truth as they see it. Every website doesn't get every fact correct every time, but these people -- and I know many of them -- are... i.e. rooting out the truth in a world full of lies and delivering that truth to curious readers.The Washington Post, in contrast, is dedicated to fabricating lies in a world full of truth, then pulling the wool over the eyes of its ever-shrinking base of readers, hoping they will swallow all the lies without question. The Post, you see, is. It lies with premeditation and conscious deliberation. It lies to achieve a political outcome (such as the election of Hillary Clinton) or to disrupt its competition. The Washington Post has no dedication whatever so honest reporting and stands today as a bastion of Orwellian propaganda parading around as "facts."That is why the Washington Post will implode. Readers in America have no real desire to continue to be lied to by propagandists pretending to be journalists. They want real news from real people who display real passions and real life experiences. They're hungry to hearthat publishers like the Washington Post have been sweeping under the rug for decades. And because WashPost, NYT, USA Today and CNN no longer engage in real journalism,If the Washington Post had been reporting real news all these years, sites like Natural News never would have gained two million Facebook followers and millions of monthly readers. Infowars alone now has a far more popular broadcast than Anderson Cooper of CNN, and the combined readership across the independent media completely dwarfs the Washington Post. (DrudgeReport.com all by itself generates more website referral traffic than the New York Times.)The "lamestream media" has lost the war. So now they're trying to throw suicide grenades in every direction, hoping to take out as many other publishers as they can while they implode. That's the Washington Post today: A suicidal psych ward of insane propagandists who tell each other they're journalists... but they wouldn't recognize real journalism if it sat on them.These people at the Post have been cognitively masturbating each other for so long with so many deep layers of echo-chamber propaganda, they literally cannot recognize reality anymore. They live in the liberal "bubble" of self-delusion, and to explain what they see as bizarre transformations happening all around them, they are now turning to the kind of kooky, conspiracy paranoia they used to attribute to people like Alex Jones.Now, Alex Jones appears more sane than Jeff Bezos, and it's Craig Timberg from the Washington Post who needs to be locked in a padded cell. The Washington Post has become not a Ministry of Truth, but theStay tuned to Natural News for more updates as this drama unfolds. Don't expect the paper to apologize, by the way. They're so deluded, they can no longer tell the difference between fiction and reality. So they print fiction and call it "reality" and hope nobody notices the difference.Well, we did. And right now,
Have you ever wondered who invented agriculture? A new research from the University of Munich reveals that the first farmers on Earth millions of years ago were not human beings but, were in fact, Fijian ants.

The study, published in the journal Nature Plants, reveals that Fijian ant species called Philidris nagasau knew how to sow seeds, fertilize them and grow them into plants. The two researchers, Guillaume Chomicki and Susanne Renner, closely observed the behavior of Fijian ants inside their domatia, a closed structure at the base of plant stems where they live. There, the researchers observed how these ants sow and nurture plants.

"I first noticed the relationship when I saw dozens of these ant-filled plants clustered in the same trees," Chomicki told NPR. He further explained that the Fijian ants gather Squamellaria seeds, which they put inside cracks of trees. For fertilization, the ants use their own poop and then harvest the seeds of the plants when they're fully grown.

"The story is unique. We already have ants that disperse seeds, and have ants that feed plants, but we've never had a case where they farm a plant they can't live without," said Brian Fisher from the California Academy of Sciences.

Fisher explains that apart from Fijian ants, another ant species, leaf-cutter ants, has been farming for at least eight million years. However, different from Fijian ants, leaf-cutter ants farm fungus. Ants also have an important role in the environment as 40 percent of plants in Northeastern U.S. are dispersed by ants.

However, ants' ability to farm does not stop in planting -- they have also domesticated animals. NPR notes that some ant species have the ability to herd wild aphids and milk honeydew from them by stroking their antenna.

CS Monitor notes that the relationship between ants and plants are not yet clear but compared to humans, who have just begun sowing and farming 12,000 years ago, ants clearly had a head start.
The Popocatepetl volcano in Mexico has been under observation since it violently spewed ash vertically into the air, startling locals. The explosion reached more than five kilometers above the volcano's crater and spread plumes of ash, reaching small towns and villages on the outskirts of the volcano.

According to Mexico's director of civil protection, Luis Felipe Puente, the explosion consisted of steam, gas,and ash. The volcano has been dormant for more than 20 years since its strong eruption in 1994. There had been records of evacuations in 2000 as scientists warned that it could erupt again, its strongest in the past thousand years.

Since 2012, the volcano has been increasing its activity, creating tension in the area, since the volcano tends to behave erratically. It has been recorded to spew ash and some lava in April but local authorities have indicated that rumblings from the volcano have been continuously experienced by the locals for decades.

The volcano is a part of the Trans-Mexican volcanic belt and is known to be the second highest peak in the country. Being dormant for years, it is one of the tall peaks in Mexico which contain glaciers. However, due to its activity, the glaciers have been greatly decreasing in size.

According to reports, for the past 24 hours after the Popocatepetl volcano surprised locals, it has been recorded that there were 129 incidents of release of ash columns, there had been three more major explosions and a 1.8 magnitude tremor. Local authorities have prompted warnings to both locals and tourists to stay away from the areas near the volcano, particularly its crater.

Hiking has been strongly prohibited as the erratic spewing of ash is very dangerous. Furthermore, residents around the region has been warned to take extra precautions as the ash can cause breathing issues especially for children, elderly and pre-existing respiratory problems.
The Three Software Freedoms

Here are the Four Software Freedoms, as published by the GNU project. A program must have all four freedoms to be Free Software:

The freedom to run the program as you wish, for any purpose The freedom to study how the program works, and change it so it does your computing as you wish The freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbor The freedom to distribute copies of your modified versions to others

I think it's unfortunate that they decided to zero-index the list... I mean it's really confusing that freedom 1 is the second freedom and freedom 2 is the third freedom etc.

I also think it's unfortunate that they decided to shoe-horn two freedoms into freedom 1.

Also Freedom 0 is just silly I mean of course I can use the program as I wish.[clarification 29th Nov]

And we might as well combine 2 and 3 together since they're so similar.

Also I don't know why they use the term "program". I mean the software might be an OS; and people rarely describe an Operating System as a program. I think the term "software" is better.

Here I present a sanitised version, which I will use for the rest of this article:

The freedom to study the software The freedom to modify the software The freedom to redistribute the software, modified or unmodified

So, why is each of these three freedoms important?

1. The freedom to study

I think this is the most important freedom. Computers are not toys anymore, people use them extensively and for important things. Therefore it's inappropriate for us to be using software that neither us, nor anyone in our society or even our government can read. We need to be able to know what it does, and to do quality or security audits.

The freedom to study is normally taken away because the software vendor keeps the human-readable version of the code secret, only distributing the compiled program.

I assert that there is no legitimate reason for a software vendor to keep the code of their software secret. If they are so ashamed of their code then they should fix it up. Or if they really want to stop people redistributing or re-using their code then they can use copyright to take away freedom 2 and 3, without taking away freedom 1.

Personally I think it should be illegal to distribute software with the code kept secret.

2. The freedom to modify the software

This freedom is almost as important as freedom 1, because if we cannot modify our software we cannot maintain it. If a problem is found in an important piece of software, it's unacceptable for us to be dependant on the vendor to fix it. The vendor might be unwilling, incompetent or slow, or just bankrupt.

A legendary example is what happened in 2014. Microsoft stopped providing security updates for Windows XP, even though hundreds of millions of people were still using it. It was not possible for third-parties to provide security support, because Windows is proprietary software, lacking all of the freedoms.

As an industrial example; if a safety problem is found in some code that controls a nuclear power station and we can't fix it... Do you think this is fine and great?

3. The freedom to redistribute the software, modified or unmodified.

Freedom 3 is just as important as freedom 2, because without the freedom to redistribute, we cannot share our code changes/updates/fixes with non-programmers. Non-programmers are the majority of computer users!

However, freedom 3 brings a big problem: if we have the freedom to redistribute software, it gives us permission to share it with each-other without paying. This can make it difficult for vendors to get payed for their product because everyone pirates it!

The solution is for people to grow out of their pirating habits, and for vendors to write software so good that people WANT to pay for it.

Why Free Software is great

Hitherto, this article has mostly focused on why it's bad to lack the software freedoms. But there's another point to discuss too: why Free Software is great!

Well for a start it allows community software development, which is so much more interesting than just watching the software companies constantly rewrite and tweak their stuff just to make it look updated.

The fun of collaborating on Free Software is what has driven the Free Software community to write and maintain thousands of Free Software programs and operating systems since the 80s. I run Free Software on all my computers[1] and it's great!

Also Free Software is empowering to the people, which is great if you're an anarchist.

Also, being a Free Software enthusiast is probably a much cheaper hobby than being, say, an apple fan-boy, or a gaming enthusiast. In practice, most Free Software doesn't cost anything so it's just a matter of finding great hardware that works with Free Software!

Should government get involved?

The government can help us by making software companies distribute the source code. They can say it's "in the interest of national security". And they can sort out the patent system (there are various problems with how the patent system handles software which are out of the scope of this article). So when you chat to your MP please mention this.

Now be free and have fun!
A limo carrying five minors hit a truck before slamming into a traffic light pole in Northern California Saturday, sending the limo driver and one of the young passengers to a hospital with major injuries, according to reports.

NBC affiliate KCRA reported that the four other young passengers were transported to a hospital with minor to moderate injuries.

The roll-over crash occurred around 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of Highway 70 and Georgia Pacific Way in Oroville, a city roughly 70 miles north of Sacramento.

CHP officials on scene said the limo ran a red light before hitting and flipping a pickup truck and then smashing into a pole, according to KCRA.

The limo, which was carrying a total of six people, was reportedly headed to a birthday party in Sacramento, KCRA reported. The passengers in the limo were not wearing seat belts.

Further information was not available at the time.
A Concord family is shocked and unsettled after someone cut electricity to their home and planted 56 American flags, seven of which were defaced with handwritten pro-Donald Trump messages, on their East Bay front lawn early Saturday morning.

Concord police are investigating the incident, reported by Jay and Denisen Hartlove, who live on Montana Drive.

The couple was preparing for bed just after midnight when Jay Hartlove heard someone fiddling with their screen door. When he went to check out the noise, he says he found scores of plastic American flags staked into his front lawn, and a man  believed to be a neighbor with whom the family has had previous issues  skulking away from the house.

"There was one in the door handle to our car, there were flags all over the front lawn, and there was one in our screen door," Denisen Hartlove said.

Some of the flags had "Build The Damn Wall" and "I Luv The Donald" written on them in black ink. The Hartloves say they are one of the more liberal families on the block, and believe they may have been targeted because of it.

"Why else would someone do that?" Jay wondered. "(The vandal) must have spent 20 minutes out there putting the flags in. This is not some drive-by prank.I mean, where do you get 56 flags in November?"

Upon finding the flags, the couple was irked but not worried. It was only after their electricity suddenly shut off at around 1:30 a.m. that the pair decided to call police.

"At that point, I thought we were under attack," Denisen said.

Family Rattled After Lawn Defaces With Trump Flags, Electricity Cut

Jay Hartlove, who went outside to investigate, says he discovered the metering box connecting power to their property had been ripped off.

The couple called the Concord Police Department and filed a police report with two officers, both of whom the Hartloves describe as being "very unhelpful."

"They basically said that because (the neighbor) denied doing it, they couldnt do anything," Jay said.

Chris Blakely, a spokesman with the Concord Police Department, said that officers are investigating, and noted that a detective has already been assigned to the case. A follow-up is scheduled for Monday, he said.

"For us to do our job efficiently, we have to make sure that we get all the information," Blakely said. "That includes taking photographs, talking to neighbors, seeing if anyone has surveillance footage. Its not as quick as some people want, but we do take it seriously."

Throughout the Bay Area and the nation, politically-motivated instances of harassment are being reported at an alarming rate, according to hate-tracking groups. As of Monday, the Southern Poverty Law Center had noted 701 reports of harassment since election day.

Many critics have pointed to President-elect Donald Trump's campaign rhetoric as fueling the incidents. In a sit-down interview with 60 Minutes, Trump told any of his supporters engaging in the behavior to "stop it."

The Hartloves, who have lived on Montana street for 20 years, are in the process of installing surveillance cameras around their home  a security measure they never thought they would need in their safe, suburban neighborhood.

"We like our house. We like the street. We like our neighbors. With very few exceptions, its a wonderful place to be," Denisen Hartlove said. "But, at this stage, I dont know that Im not going to wake up with the house burning down around me.

For her, the silver lining on a dark cloud has been the neighbors, Republican and Democrat, who have stepped up to condemn the vandalism.

"We had quite a few neighbors offer support and say You know what, thats not OK," she said. "They offered us help, and that was really nice to see. It was just really nice to see people step forward from our community."

Gillian Edevane covers Contra Costa County for NBC Bay Area. Contact her at Gillian.Edevane@NBCuni.com or through text or call at (669) 263-2895.
Two Oakland leaders have called for donations to the Oakland Parks and Recreation Foundation after a two-alarm fire destroyed the Mosswood Recreation Center on Saturday.

Mayor Libby Schaaf and City Council president Lynette Gibson McElhaney released statements on Saturday encouraging residents to donate online.

The foundation is a nonprofit that funds the City of Oakland's offices of Parks and Recreation and Public Works.

When firefighters arrived at Mosswood Park at around 5:30 a.m., they found the recreation center fully involved in flames.

Several nearby homes were threatened, fire officials said.

Firefighters extinguished the flames within about an hour, leaving the 151-year-old J. Mora Moss House unharmed.

No injuries were reported as a result of the fire, Oakland fire Chief Zoraida Diaz said. The fire's cause is under investigation.

"I am working closely with city administration as staff works to secure the site with fencing, monitor demolition and oversee insurance compensation," McElhaney said in a statement.

"We will reach out to the community to get input on how to design a new, state-of-the-art building that will meet the needs of the residents," McElhaney said.

The Mosswood Recreation Center, located at 3612 Webster St., hosted after-school programs and a summer camp. It featured a kitchen for cooking classes, a computer lab and a dance studio.
Muni, the popular transportation system in San Francisco, is working to resolve serious computer issues Saturday, according to spokesperson Paul Rose.

A message, which in part read "You Hacked, ALL Data Encrypted," was spotted on system computers at various stations beginning Friday, signaling a technical glitch. An "Out of Service" message also appeared on ticket payment machines, the The San Francisco Examiner first reported.

The transportation agency decided to open up its gates without taking fares in order to prevent a traffic headache, Rose said.

Rose did not provide specific details regarding the problem other than saying that the agency was experiencing computer system issues. He added that regular transit service was not interrupted and said that Muni will continue to investigate the matter.
Two California Highway Patrol officers were released from a South Bay hospital after being struck by a vehicle while they were sitting in their squad car late Saturday, police said.

The collision occurred on southbound Interstate 680 near Capitol Avenue. The two officers were on the scene of an abandoned vehicle when the driver of a pickup truck lost control and slammed into the cruiser, CHP San Jose Sgt. Daniel Hill said.

Both officers sitting inside the police cruiser suffered minor injuries, but were released from a local hospital after evaluation, Hill said.

"We were very lucky," Hill said.

The driver of the pickup truck was not intoxicated at the time of the crash. Hill believes that wet conditions and unsafe driving played a role in the crash.
Police had already increased patrols in New Orleans' bustling French Quarter before gunfire erupted early Sunday, leaving one man dead and nine other people wounded in a tourist district famed for its bars, bright lights and live music.

Extra uniformed and plainclothes officers were on duty and ambulance crews were on standby for what Mayor Mitch Landrieu said was supposed to be a festive time with college and pro football games in the city and people vacationing over the long Thanksgiving weekend.

Police Superintendent Michael Harrison said officers responded about 1:30 a.m. Sunday to the shooting at the intersection of Iberville and Bourbon streets.

Harrison said none of the victims was an intended target when two other men began arguing and shooting. Investigators continued searching Sunday night for the suspects, who fled on foot. Landrieu said authorities believe the suspects are from out of town.

"We will find them. And we will go to the ends of the earth to make sure that we bring them to justice," Landrieu said.

The shooting victims were two women and eight men, ranging in age from 20 to 37, Harrison said. One of the men  25-year-old Demontris Toliver  died at a hospital.

Five of the victims were released from a hospital by Sunday night, and four remained hospitalized with injuries that were not considered life-threatening, the police superintendent said.

Twelve people, including one of those shot, were arrested in the French Quarter on Saturday and Sunday and charged with illegal possession of a firearm, police said. However, none of them was considered a suspect in the mass shooting.

Harrison said the violence happened despite an increased police presence for the Bayou Classic football game Saturday night between Southern and Grambling universities. The New Orleans Saints played Sunday at the Superdome. He said officers were nearby, heard the shots and ran toward them.

Glean Williams, who was selling hats and other items at a table a block away from the shooting, told NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune that people ran into doorways and hotels, or hid behind palm trees decorated with Christmas lights along nearby Canal Street.

"It was panic," said Williams, 24. "Everybody started running. People getting run over, stepped on, knocked over."

Harrison asked that anyone who witnessed the shooting call police so "we can hold those accountable who committed this heinous crime and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law."
A man was shot and seriously wounded in the River North neighborhood on Chicago's Near North Side Sunday morning, according to police.

Just after 6 a.m., a 32-year-old man was in the 600 block of North Clark when a person on a bicycle approached and opened fire, authorities said.

The victim was shot in the abdomen, according to police, and ran into a nearby hotel seeking assistance.

He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he is listed in serious condition.

No one is in custody and authorities continue to investigate.

This incident was one of more than 50 shootings that have occurred across Chicago over Thanksgiving weekend, leaving 6 people dead.
Connecticut state police arrested two men after the pair tried to flee a DUI enforcement checkpoint Friday night, police said.

According to police the driver, identified as Leroy Sterling, 28, stopped before the checkpoint at the exit 38 entrance ramp to I-91, make a u-turn and drove the wrong way on the ramp to avoid police.

When police tried to stop Sterling, he continued driving south on Route 75 until he reached Hansom Hill Road. Police said Sterling and his passenger, identified as Charles Miller, 28, then got out of the car and ran off.

Police said when they caught up with Miller he was uncooperative and a trooper had to deploy his Taser to take Miller into custody.

After an hour-long search by troopers, two K9 teams and Windsor police, Sterling was found and taken into custody.

Sterling was charged with disobeying the signal of an officer, operating a motor vehicle with a suspended license, improper entry/leaving of highway, and engaging in a police pursuit.

Miller was charged with interfering with an officer.

Both are scheduled to appear in Enfield Superior Court on Dec. 9.
Middletown police are searching for a man who robbed a liquor store Saturday night.

Police said the suspect pictured above entered Sals Package Store at 326 East Main Street around 9 p.m., told employees he had a gun and demanded a large amount of money.

He then fled the store on foot running north toward the intersection of Saybrook Road and East Main Street.

He is described as having a slender build, goatee, and dreadlocks. He was wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, black and white sneakers, red gloves and prescription glasses at the time of the crime.

Anyone with information or who recognizes the subject pictured above is asked to contact the Middletown Police Department Detective Bureau at 860-638-4000.
Dallas Police have released a sketch of the man suspected of stealing a backhoe, driving the wrong way down Stemmons Freeway and crashing into an SUV, killing the passenger and injuring the driver.

Police say the man stole the equipment from the city of Dallas Water Department at Walnut Hill Lane and Shady Trail at about 5 a.m. on November 27th.

Less than an hour later, at 5:46 a.m., the man drove the stolen backhoe southbound in the northbound lanes of I-35E Stemmons Freeway, according to police.

The backhoe drove head-on into a GMC Envoy driven by 22-year-old Diana Mejicanos in the 9900 block of N. Stemmons Freeway, officers said.

Elizabeth Suarez, 22, a passenger in Mejicanos' vehicle, was killed on impact, according to police. Dallas Fire-Rescue transported Mejicanos to Parkland Memorial Hospital.

Police said the male suspect fled the scene on foot.

Dallas Police released a sketch of the man, hoping it will lead to his arrest.

He is described as a white or Latin male, in his mid to late 30s. He was wearing a red and black baseball cap with a Chicago Bulls logo, with "Windy City" on the outside. He also had on white shoes, dark pants and a light colored shirt.

Police said he will most likely have an injury to his head or face.

Witnesses told Dallas police that the backhoe was driving the wrong way without any lights on. Two construction workers pulled over and moved the backhoe off the highway to prevent any other vehicles from running into it.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Det. Eric Knight at 214-671-0020.
A cousin of Fidel Castro paid tribute to the late Cuban leader Sunday in his father's Spanish hometown of Lancara.

Making a noticeable physical effort, 103-year-old Manuela Argiz observed a minute of silence in the small town.

Manuela is one of the two surviving relatives of the leader in Spain.

Helped by members of the local government, Argiz took part in a ceremony to remember Castro at the door of the house where his father Angel Castro was born in 1875.

Manuela, who met Castro in Spain when he made an official visit in 1992, used to live in the family house.

However, due to her age, she now lives in a nearby elderly home.

The mayor of Lancara, Dario Pineiro, said Sunday he is in the process of requesting that the family donate the home to the municipality so it can be transformed into a museum.

Manuela is the daughter of Juana Castro, sister of the late Cuban president's father.
Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy who was involved in an international custody battle 16 years ago in Miami, is mourning the death of Fidel Castro, a man he compared to a "father."

Elian was a photogenic five-year-old in 1999 when he was found floating on an inner tube off the Florida coast.

Sixteen years later, he is recalling Fidel Castro as a man he likened to a father.

In an interview on Cuban State TV Saturday, he said he wanted Fidel to be proud of him.

Speaking in Spanish, he said, "He is a father who like my father, I wanted to show him everything I achieved."

Now almost 23 years old, Elian remembered when Fidel attended his elementary school graduation.

Gonzalez' mother and other Cubans accompanying the boy died trying to get to the United States from the island 90 miles to the south.

His case quickly became another battle in the long-running feud between Havana and Miami - one that ended with the boy's return to his father and grandparents in Cuba.
The estranged sister of the late Fidel Castro says she will not attend her brother's funeral in Cuba.

The communist island announced Friday the death of the former leader.

Juanita Castro, who currently lives in Miami, said her brother's death "brought painful wounds to present".

She escaped Havana 51 years ago after Castro's regime assumed power and never spoke to the communist leader for more than four decades.

In the past, Juana has called her brother a "monster", but during medical crises and now Castro's death, Juanita has reserved her resentment and chose not to celebrate on the streets like many emotional Cubans in South Florida.

Instead, she released a statement saying, she respects the feelings of each person, but that she does not rejoice in the death of any human being, much less someone who's blood.

Juanita add that she has never changed her position even though she had to pay a high price of pain and isolation. She said she has fought alongside the exile community even though she was attacked because of her surname.

Juanita shut down rumors that she plans on traveling to Cuba for her brother's funeral. She says she never returned to Cuba, nor does she have any plans to do so.

Juanita offered a message of hope, asking that Cubans become united.
Hundreds gathered inside the National Shrine for Our Lady of Charity known to many as La Ermita de la Caridad in Coconut Grove Saturday, one night after the death of Fidel Castro.

Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski lead the special mass highlighting the passing of the former Cuban leader. Given the emotions of the day and no matter what those emotions are we should be able to unite around the need to pray for Cuba and for its people and we pray that Cuba will experience a future of hope, Wenski told parishioners.

The religious leader preached to the crowd that now Fidel Castro will be judged by God. A chapter of Cuban history is being closed and a new advent for the Cuban people who have been suffering for 50 years, said Father Fernando Heria.

Cubans across South Florida have shown great devotion over the years to the patron saint of Cuba and what she stands for to them in their journey to freedom.

Josue Suarez attended the special mass. He said the saint means a lot to him. She's the one that oversees us, helps us, takes care of us in all aspects of life and I am very proud to be here tonight, said Suarez. At the mass, Suarez wore a Cuba Libre t-shirt. The words translate to Cuba Free in English. Suarez is hopeful the Cuban people who havent been able to raise their voices can do so now. We are hopeful that our country is free one day and it's not free yet, added Suarez.

Above all, the Catholic Church urged unity for the Cuban people. They're rejoicing over the fact that a chapter is closed and a hopeful beginning is upon us, said Father Heria.
Flags waved at half mast in front of Cuba's Plaza 13 de Marzo as the country somberly prepares for two days of tributes to honor the late Fidel Castro.

Thousands are expected to pay their respects to his remains at Revolution Plaza starting Monday near a huge sculpture of revolution leader and Castro's close friend Ernesto "Che' Guevara. Cubans gathered sporadically Saturday evening to memorialize their former leader, some brought to tears while others chanted revolutionary slogans.

An extensive list of street closures and how to access Revolution Plaza was published in the Communist Party newspaper Granma. NBC 4 is one of the few American news outlets reporting on Castro's death from Havana.

The Cuban government announced nine days of national mourning beginning Saturday and culminating with a burial ceremony at Santiago de Cuba on Dec. 4. In the meantime, a mass gathering will be held in the capital Tuesday. The following day, his ashes will embark on a four-day tour of the country retracing the "Caravan of Liberty" he led after ousting his predecessor in 1959.

Celebrations erupted on the streets of Cuban-American neighborhoods in Miami and remembrances from world leaders poured in when word spread that the divisive, iconic figure had passed away. In Union City, a New Jersey city dubbed "Havana on the Hudson," reaction to Castro's death was more mixed.

Castro retreated from the public eye in 2006 following emergency surgery for intestinal bleeding. His health problems forced him to temporarily hand power to his younger brother, who permanently took his place as president in 2008.

Castro's death follows a historic thawing of relations between Cuba and the United States with the announcement in mid-December that the countries planned to restore diplomatic and economic ties.
What to Know Fidel Castro died at the age of 90 on Friday, bringing mixed reactions to Cuban-Americans in Union City, New Jersey

The enclave once had the largest Cuban population outside of Miami

Only 11% of Union City's current residents are Cuban, according to the latest census data

While the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was met with celebratory cheers from the exile community in South Florida, reactions were mixed for Cuban-Americans in New Jersey.

Nicknamed 'Havana on the Hudson', Union City was once the U.S. city with the largest Cuban population outside Miami. Many were forced to flee during the 1950s to escape the pressures of Castro's regime.

On one hand, cars honked in celebration, signaling the symbolic end of an era. Angela Ortega, who said his father was a torture victim, honked her horn for Cubans stateside and abroad.

"I'm very happy for my father, who was tortured by him for years," she said, her voice breaking. "And I'm happy for all the Cuban people who are still there and have no idea what's going on."

"It's very powerful being Cuban American that his time has come," said Monica Ceballo, a Union City resident. "Hopefully now it's faith and hope for the Cuban people."

For others, the happiness comes with the end of a lingering pain. Hundreds of families were forcibly uprooted from Cuba to New Jersey, including Jose Cardenas, whose family felt the stifling grip of Fidel Castro.

"I hate the man. He did a lot of damage to my family," he said tearfully. "It's pretty rough. In my heart, I'll always be a Cuban."

The faces of firing squad victims line the white walls of Eduardo Ochoa's office. They are only a fraction of the thousands that were killed. Ochoa, a former political prisoner for three years, says he's one of the lucky ones.

"I saw many people killed in the firing squad, I saw many 20-30 years in prison," he said.

He and others in the Cuban community hope that instead of celebrating a death, the world will commemorate the lives lost under the Castro regime and look toward a promising future in Cuba.

"Love based on human rights, freedom, liberty and democracy. That's our dream for the future generation of Cuba."
What to Know A man assaulted a 23-year-old woman on a Bronx-bound 2 train in the early hours of Saturday morning, police said

He touched her thigh against her wishes, then pulled a gun on her when she asked him to stop

The woman noticed a tattoo of the Playboy logo on the suspect's neck before he exited the train

A gunman with a Playboy bunny tattoo has been apprehended for harassing a woman on a Bronx-bound subway, police said.

Sharif Mitchell was arrested Saturday afternoon in connection with the subway assault. The 29-year-old was charged with stalking, criminal possession of a weapon, menacing and harassment.

The victim boarded a Wakefield-241st Street-bound 2 train at 42nd Street-Times Square at 3 a.m. on Saturday, authorities said. As the train departed the 72nd Street station, Mitchell approached the 23-year-old and sat beside her.

He then began to compliment the victim and touch her right leg against her wishes. Despite her requests to stop, he brandished a black gun from his waistband and pointed it at her.

When the train reached the 149th Street-3rd Avenue station, he told the victim to exit the train with him, but she refused. Authorities said the young woman noticed a Playboy bunny tattooed on the left side of his neck before he exited the train.

Two female good samaritans who witnessed part of the ordeal called the police on the victim's behald after the three of them exited the train at the Intervale Avenue station, police said.

Mitchell was stopped near 143rd Street and Third Avenue in the Bronx after a description was broadcast over police department radio.

Once the young woman identified him as the culprit, he was placed under arrest. Officers recovered a Hi-Point .380 caliber handgun from his front pants pocket and a loaded magazine from his back pocket.

Mitchell has an extensive history of arrests dating back to 2009, including fare evasion and robbery, according to police. In 2014, he had 23 sealed and 8 unsealed arrests.

"You guys saved me, I was going to kill someone else," he allegedly told the cops.
A driver was injured after a car caught fire in the Port Richmond section of Philadelphia Saturday night.

The vehicle caught fire at Aramingo Avenue and Tacony Street across from a Lukoil gas station around 8:45 p.m. The Fire Department sent a foam truck to help extinguish the flames.

The driver suffered burns during the fire. He or she was taken to Temple University Hospital. Officials have not yet revealed the victim's condition.




It's going to be especially hard to get back to the grind tomorrow, so why not make the most out of the weekend and check out a show tonight! At the Casbah, Hot Chip return for an always fun dance party while Jai Wolf brings his unique Eastern vibe to electronic music at the Observatory. For some British folk-pop, check out Skinny Lister at Soda Bar or see rap legend Kool Keith at House of Blues. For an especially cozy way to shut down the weekend, head to Sycamore Den and nestle into the fireplace nook while you enjoy tunes by Daniel Crawford and Jesse LaMonaca.

Sunday, Nov. 27:

Hot Chip (DJ Set), Goose Mavrk @ Casbah

Jai Wolf, Jerry Folk, Ramzoid @ Observatory North Park

Skinny Lister, Lincoln Durham, Trapper Schoepp @ Soda Bar

Rat Sabbath @ Bar Pink

Live & Local w/ Rick Berry, Sweet Myths, Trynket, Jesse Blaze Snider @ The Holding Company 1502

Cirque Du Soleil Toruk: The First Flight @ Valley View Casino Center

Kool Keith @ House of Blues

Daniel Crawford & the Unknown Ravens, Jesse LaMonaca & the Dime Novels @ Sycamore Den

Uptown Top Ranking: Tribe of Kings @ The Office

Dave Good's Jazz Jam @ Java Joe's (2 p.m.)

Festival of Trees Preview Party & Brunch @ California Center for the Arts Escondido

La Traviata @ California Center for the Arts Escondido

Dark Globe @ The Bancroft

Reggae Sunday @ U-31

Obviously Orduno w/ Mirage @ Whistle Stop

Jason Brown @ Humphreys Backstage Live (10 a.m.)

Kimberly Jackson @ Humphreys Backstage Live (8 p.m.)

Third Annual Slapfrost Tour @ Kava Lounge

Reggae Sunday @ Spin

Rosemary Bystrak is the publicist for the Casbah and writes about the San Diego music scene, events and general musings about life in San Diego on San Diego: Dialed In. Follow her updates on Twitter or contact her directly.
With his return to New York, President-elect Donald Trump faces a pressing need to set more of the foundation blocks of his presidency in place by filling vacancies for secretary of state and other top posts.

Distraction looms, however, much of it created by the president-elect himself, who cited a fringe conspiracy theory of widespread voter fraud during a 12-hour Twitter offensive on Sunday, casting a shadow over the legitimacy of an election that he actually won.

"I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally," Trump tweeted Sunday. He later alleged "serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California."

Trump's transition team did not provide any evidence to back up the president-elect's assertions of fraud in the November election. They pointed only to past charges of irregularities in voter registration.

Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., said Monday he had "not seen any voter irregularity in the millions."

"I don't know what he was talking about on that one," Lankford said of Trump on CNN's "New Day."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, asked about the claims, said Monday he would defer to the president-elect's team "for commentary on his tweets."

"I think what I can say as an objective of fact is that there has been no evidence produced to substantiate a claim like that," Earnest said.

Indeed, there has been no evidence of widespread tampering or hacking that would change the results of the presidential contest between Trump and Clinton. The Democrat's team said it had been looking for abnormalities and found nothing that would alter the results.

Still, Clinton's campaign was joining a recount led by Green Party candidate Jill Stein in up to three states.

The Wisconsin Elections Commission voted unanimously Monday to reject a request from Stein to conduct a hand recount of the presidential vote.

Instead, the commission voted to allow local election clerks to determine the method they would use for a recount.

The recount of Wisconsin's presidential vote will begin Thursday if the state receives payment on Tuesday. The commission has given counties until noon Monday to submit estimated costs for the efforts so Stein can be billed. Independent candidate Rocky De La Fuente has also asked for a recount.

Stein's request included an affidavit from J. Alex Halderman, who stated he's a computer scientist at the University of Michigan. He wrote in the affidavit that the only way to determine whether a cyberattack affected the results is to count ballots manually and examine the voting equipment.

Stein can ask a judge to order the recount be done by hand, which could considerably delay how quickly it gets done. Federal law requires the recount to be completed by Dec. 13.

Recounts are possible in Pennsylvania and Michigan as well.

"We intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides," Clinton campaign attorney Marc Elias said.

Trump narrowly won Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and, as of last Wednesday, held a lead of almost 11,000 votes in Michigan, with the results awaiting state certification Monday. All three would need to flip to Clinton to upend the Republican's victory, and Clinton's team says Trump has a larger edge in all three states than has ever been overcome in a presidential recount.

After spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Florida, Trump was back in New York for meetings with potential Cabinet nominees. His team was divided over his choices for secretary of state, particularly the prospect that Trump could tap 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney for the prominent post.

Romney is scheduled to hold his second in-person meeting with Trump on Tuesday. But the president-elect is also looking at other options, meeting Monday with retired Gen. David Petraeus and on Tuesday with Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

In an unusual public airing of internal machinations, Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway warned Sunday that the president-elect's supporters would feel "betrayed" if he tapped Romney as secretary of state. Romney denounced Trump in scathing terms during the campaign, prompting Trump to call him a "choker" who "walks like a penguin."

The spectacle of close aides who speak frequently with Trump in private being so explicit about their personal opinions in public raised the possibility that Conway was acting at Trump's behest.

People involved in the transition process said Trump's decision on his secretary of state did not appear to be imminent. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani was initially seen as the favorite for the diplomatic post, but Trump is said to have grown irritated by questions about Giuliani's international business ties, as well as the mayor's public campaigning for the job.

Even with major administration decisions looming, Trump seems preoccupied by the prospect of a recount.

"Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in," He tweeted Sunday. "Nothing will change."

He quoted from Clinton's concession speech  "We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead"  and he concluded: "So much time and money will be spent - same result! Sad."

On NBC's "Meet the Press," Conway said Stein, "the Hillary people" and others supporting recounts have to decide whether they are going to back a peaceful transition "or if they're going to be a bunch of crybabies and sore losers about an election that they can't turn around."

Clinton's lawyer said her team has been combing through the results since the election in search of anomalies that would suggest hacking by Russians or others and found "no actionable evidence." But "we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself," he said.
A man who shot at a police officer after robbing a barber shop in Maryland is still on the loose, police said.

Three men robbed Joe's Old Fashion Barber Shop at 5833 Martin Luther King Jr. Highway in Seat Pleasant, Maryland, just after 5 p.m. Saturday, police said.

Seat Pleasant police responded to the robbery and saw a van that matched the description of the one used by the robbers. The driver wouldn't stop when police tried to pull the van over, police said.

After a brief chase into D.C., the van slowed down on C St. SE and the driver fell out of the van into the street, police said. He was suffering from a gunshot wound.

It is not known if the suspect was shot by accident.

"We know at some point, there was a gun shot going off. We don't know if it was self-inflicted or inflicted by another suspect in the vehicle or not, but it was not an officer-involved shooting at all," said Seat Pleasant police Chief Devan Martin.

After the driver fell out, two other men ran from the van, and one of them shot at a Seat Pleasant officer.

"During the chase, he turned, fired a single shot at one of our officers and continued fleeing," said Thomas Lester, a spokesperson for Seat Pleasant police.

The officer was not injured and did not shoot back at the man, police said. That person is still on the loose, and no description has been provided.

Police arrested the two suspects, including the driver who was shot. He was taken to the hospital and is in critical condition.

Officers recovered three guns at the scene.

"We are very upset. We're very angered," said Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant. "We're thankful that none of our officers were shot or killed or injured in this incident. But it goes to prove further the need to get guns off of the streets."

Prince George's County police were also involved in the investigation.
Police have identified two men who died after their car plunged into the Lamoille River in Morristown, Vermont, over the weekend.

Police say 34-year-old Paul Smith and 25-year-old Leonard Audet, both of Morristown, were found dead Saturday.

The crash happened on Route 15 A near Tenney Bridge.

The Burlington Free Press reports police believe the car was in the river for a period of time before it was discovered. Police believe speed may have been a factor in the crash. They are also attempting to determine what the road conditions may have been at the time.

Lamoille County State's Attorney Paul Finnerty said his office will work with police to "determine if it's anything more than an accident'' based on the autopsy reports.
Two men are dead and another was seriously injured after two shootings overnight in Maine.

State police said one man was shot and killed after a shootout with Cumberland County Sheriff's deputies at a mobile home on Songo School Road in Naples.

The man has been identified as 59-year-old Norman Strobel, of Naples.

After further investigation, police discovered the body of another man inside the mobile home. That man has been identified as 55-year-old Richard Dickema.

Police had been searching for Strobel after a man was shot late Saturday night at a camp on Winifred Lane in Casco. That man, identified as Jason Almeida, was shot four times and is being treated at an area hospital. Police said Almeida's girlfriend, Alyssa Goulet, 32, of Middletown, Rhode Island, also staying at the camp, escaped injury.

Police said Strobel had a protection order issued against him on Goulet's behalf, and he had taken her two dogs recently. The dogs were safely located at the mobile home on Sunday.

None of the deputies involved were injured. State police and the Maine Attorney Generals Office are investigating the incident.
A man was hospitalized Friday evening after police say he was assaulted and robbed at a gas station in Dartmouth, Massachusetts.

Officers arrived to the Shell gas station at the intersection of State and Reed Roads at about 6 p.m. where the victim said he had been beaten with a firearm and robbed of his money while inside the store.

The victim was taken to St. Lukes Hospital in New Bedford where his condition is unknown.

The robber is described as a heavy set black man and approximately 59. He was wearing jeans, a dark hoodie and sneakers at the time of the incident.

Police searched the area with a K9 crew but did not find the man.

The incident is under investigation.
Police in Braintree, Massachusetts, and the National Center for Missing Children are asking for the public's help in locating a teenage girl who was last seen on Friday.

Authorities said Ivy Koulis ran away from the Hyatt Hotel on Granite Street.

Koulis was last seen wearing red skinny jeans and a gray hooded sweater with horizontal stripes.

Police said she may be in need of medical attention.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Koulis is asked to contact Braintree Police at 781-843-1212.
One man is dead after his car flipped over the guardrail and crashed into another on Interstate 93 in Boston.

State police responded to the crash, near exit 14, at about 12:40 a.m. Sunday. Authorities said the car flew over the railing, then hit another car driving on Morrissey Boulevard. The woman inside, Nurys N. Castillo, 21, of Dorchester, was taken to Boston Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

The driver of the car that flipped over the guardrail, Daniel P. Lee, 50, of Chatham, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Massachusetts State Police are investigating the exact cause of the crash.
Crushed by straw bales at Thatcham farm

A VERDICT of accidental death was recorded at the inquest into the death of a Burghfield man who was crushed by straw bales at a farm.

The inquest at Reading Town Hall into the death of 61-year-old Nigel Strang, of Theale Road, on September 19 heard that, at 2pm, he had dropped off some bales at Henwick Manor Farm  owned by his partner  and he was unloading them when the fatal accident happened.

A statement written by George Graham, the son of the farm owner, was read out by Berkshire coroner Peter Bedford on Thursday last week.

Mr Graham said his mother telephoned Mr Strang at 6.30pm, but received no response.

At 7pm, Mr Graham discovered Mr Strangs tractor and flatbed trailer still loaded with straw bales and the engine running.

These vehicles had not been visible from the farmhouse, he said.

He found Mr Strang lying beneath two of the bales and then telephoned the emergency services.

Mr Graham said: Obviously he had sadly passed away. I rang 999 and shouted for my mother.

A statement by South Central Ambulance Service said paramedics found Mr Strang had no pulse, no sign of breathing and fixed, dilated pupils and he was declared dead at 7.33pm.

The court also heard that a large strap was found hanging down from the trailer, with the middle strap removed and a gap where the bales had fallen from the trailer.

The heavy bales trapping Mr Strang required machinery to move them.

The task of loading the trailer and securing the straps was routinely carried out several times a day by Mr Strang, the court also heard.

According to Thames Valley Police statements, the middle set of the four foot by two foot bales had fallen over and the top two bales had toppled on to him.

The Health and Safety Executive had said, because Mr Strang was not employed at the farm, the incident was not classed as an industrial accident and therefore not subject to any investigation.

A toxicology report revealed tests for drugs or alcohol had proved negative.

A post mortem examination revealed no external or head injuries, but multiple broken bones.

According to his medical records, Mr Strang, a patient at Theale Medical Centre, had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis last year and had suffered from arm pains.

The cause of death was recorded as suffocation and fracture of the spine.
Names and faces

Morrison-Maierle has hired Brandon Graff in its Helena office as a Transportation Market Group Engineer Intern. He will be working on the Toston Structures, Baxter/Love Lane Safety Improvement project, and the Madison Street Bridge Rehab project. A native of Chester, Brandon received his bachelor's degree from Carroll College in civil engineering. Prior to joining Morrison-Maierle, he worked for the Montana Department of Transportation as a summer intern in 2015.

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SMA Architects, located in Helena and Bozeman, has announced three promotions.

Klint Fisher, AIA, NCARB will now be serving as a principal with the firm. Fisher holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design, and Master of Architecture; both from Montana State University. He serves on the City of Helena Board of Adjustments, and is the Immediate Past President for AIA Montana. Licensed in Montana and Washington, Fisher is also NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) certified.

Mark Ophus, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB will now be serving as an associate. Ophus holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Design and Master of Architecture; both from Montana State University. He is a licensed architect in Montana, and also NCARB certified.

Charley Franklin, AIA, NCARB, is the Director of the Bozeman office and has been promoted to an associate. Franklin holds a bachelors degree in anthropology, and a Master of Architecture; both from Montana State University. He is a member of the Design Review Board for the City of Bozeman. Licensed in Montana, Franklin is also a two-time City of Bozeman Beautification Award winner for Excellence in Historic Preservation (2012 for Story Block Building) and Remarkable Renovated Residence (2016 for N. Black Residence).

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Dr. Roger L. Kiesling has been elected vice president of finance of the American Dental Association Foundation. The American Dental Association Foundations core missions are centered around improving access to dental care domestically and internationally, dental research, dental scholarships for minority dental students, and charitable assistance for those in need in the dental community.

The not-for-profit American Dental Association Foundation is headquartered in Chicago and represents over 160,000 member dentists. Kiesling formerly served on the American Dental Association Board of Trustees from 2010 to 2014, and subsequently was elected to serve on the American Dental Association Foundation Board of Directors in 2015. His term on the ADAF Board runs through 2019.

Kiesling has practiced general dentistry in Helena, MT since 1979, and is currently a partner with Associated Dental Care of Helena, PLLC.

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Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies, The Montana Coalition, Inc. (HMHB) has announced the hiring of Katie McLain, director of fundraising and programs and Sarah Corbally, director of operations and government relations. HMHB endeavors to improve the safety, health, and well-being of Montana babies and their caretakers.

McLain and Corbally bring with them a diverse skill set that will allow the organization to grow its programs related to the prevention of adverse childhood experiences, coalition building, and help HMHB expand its focus to include improving maternal mental health in Montana moms. McLain has served as a federal grant manager for large programs focused on juvenile crime prevention and Corbally has a background in law and social work, with an emphasis on childrens rights. Both will serve part-time in their roles.

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Awards and honors

DBM honored for revenue growth

Davis Business Machines, Inc. has received the national top honor for Revenue Growth of Mid-Market Dealers from Ricoh USA, which was based on fiscal year revenues ending in March 2016.

Great Falls territory manager, Amanda Byrne, and Helena territory manager, Mark LaFave, were present to accept the award on behalf of DBM at the annual Convergence meeting that was held in Las Vegas the final week of October. Byrne and her team were instrumental in securing the comprehensive management plan for printers, copiers and fax units for Benefis Healthcare Systems in Great Falls by bringing the best over-all solutions for their needs. LaFave's team was able to address the high-capacity requirements of the Helena School District with two production print systems as well as one similar unit going to the state of Montana Print and Mail Services.

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News and notes

Montana Taxpayers Association meeting set

The Montana Taxpayers Association will be holding its 95th annual Meeting, Dec. 7. The meeting will be headquartered at the Radisson Colonial Hotel in Helena. The agenda filled with topics for the upcoming legislative session.

Governor Steve Bullock will be the speaker at the noon luncheon.

The agenda topics following lunch will include:

economic outlook for Montana;

discussion panel on local option sales tax;

report from the infrastructure coalition;

presentation of the upcoming state budget and fiscal issues facing the Legislature;

and a panel of the legislative caucus leadership outlining their goals for the 2017 session.

The meeting will wrap up with a reception and refreshments about 5 p.m.

Pre-registration is now open  register at www.montax.org or call 442-2130. To attend, registration has to be in by Dec. 1.

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Guidelines

The IR welcomes reports of hiring, promotions, awards, recognition, learning opportunities and other news from local companies and nonprofits. We accept press releases and photos (digital images at 300 dpi or more are preferred, but we can also use regular photos; we dont guarantee return of these).

There is no charge for items appearing in the Business Briefcase. Items are run on a space-available basis, and we reserve the right to edit and use information as we see fit.

The deadline is Tuesday at noon to be considered for publication the following Sunday.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: After petrol pumps, cash can now be withdrawn by swiping debit cards at select Ola cabs as India's largest ride-hailing service partners with lenders like State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank to ease cash crunch.

With banks and ATMs not being able to cope with the rush for access to lower denomination or new currency after old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes were banned, cash dispensing through swipe of debit cards at POS machines was introduced at around 3,700 petrol pumps.

The same is being replicated by Ola on a test basis in its cabs in Kolkata and Hyderabad where taxis with a bank officer and POS machine are parked at different locations to dispense cash up to Rs 2,000 per card.

Ola Chief Operating Officer Pranay Jivrajka told PTI that the initial response has been tremendous and the company was exploring with banks to expand this service to other cities with cash being dispensed on the go rather than current experiment of cars being parked at a particular busy point.

In Kolkata, Ola has partnered with Punjab National Bank (PNB), while for Hyderabad, it has collaborated with SBI and Andhra Bank.

"The week-long activity, that is already servicing thousands of citizens, will continue till end of the month. It (cabs) will visit areas like Chandni Chowk Metro Station, Esplanade Metro, Barabazaar, Salt Lake, Exide and Rashbehari (in Kolkata)," he said.

Cars carrying POS machine are servicing citizens in popular areas in Hyderabad like KBR Park, JNTU, Inorbit Mall over the weekend, he added.

"We are also looking at flagging off the programme in other key cities, including Delhi. The banks are providing on-ground executives to enable people withdraw cash seamlessly," he said.

Following the government's move to scrap old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes earlier this month, there have been serpentine queues at banks and ATMs as people lined up to withdraw valid currency.

There have been demands for setting up more mobile ATMs across the country and also refilling them more often as there seems to be a crunch of liquid cash given the long queues.

Ola, which has its mobile wallet service, claimed it has seen 1500 per cent growth in recharge of 'Ola Money'. "The number of trips paid in cash has certainly gone down. More people are now paying using digital platforms like Ola Money and credit/debit cards," he said.

NEW DELHI: After petrol pumps, cash can now be withdrawn by swiping debit cards at select Ola cabs as India's largest ride-hailing service partners with lenders like State Bank of India (SBI) and Punjab National Bank to ease cash crunch. With banks and ATMs not being able to cope with the rush for access to lower denomination or new currency after old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes were banned, cash dispensing through swipe of debit cards at POS machines was introduced at around 3,700 petrol pumps. The same is being replicated by Ola on a test basis in its cabs in Kolkata and Hyderabad where taxis with a bank officer and POS machine are parked at different locations to dispense cash up to Rs 2,000 per card. Ola Chief Operating Officer Pranay Jivrajka told PTI that the initial response has been tremendous and the company was exploring with banks to expand this service to other cities with cash being dispensed on the go rather than current experiment of cars being parked at a particular busy point. In Kolkata, Ola has partnered with Punjab National Bank (PNB), while for Hyderabad, it has collaborated with SBI and Andhra Bank. "The week-long activity, that is already servicing thousands of citizens, will continue till end of the month. It (cabs) will visit areas like Chandni Chowk Metro Station, Esplanade Metro, Barabazaar, Salt Lake, Exide and Rashbehari (in Kolkata)," he said. Cars carrying POS machine are servicing citizens in popular areas in Hyderabad like KBR Park, JNTU, Inorbit Mall over the weekend, he added. "We are also looking at flagging off the programme in other key cities, including Delhi. The banks are providing on-ground executives to enable people withdraw cash seamlessly," he said. Following the government's move to scrap old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes earlier this month, there have been serpentine queues at banks and ATMs as people lined up to withdraw valid currency. There have been demands for setting up more mobile ATMs across the country and also refilling them more often as there seems to be a crunch of liquid cash given the long queues. Ola, which has its mobile wallet service, claimed it has seen 1500 per cent growth in recharge of 'Ola Money'. "The number of trips paid in cash has certainly gone down. More people are now paying using digital platforms like Ola Money and credit/debit cards," he said.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: The impact of demonetisation on the educational sector in India is a story not many are talking about, and not many wish to talk about. Ever since Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes ceased to be legal tender, its effect on trade, markets, business, GDP and many other sectors have been discussed to death. But students, academicians and authorities from various academic institutions are unanimous that its overall effect on education has been positive.

However, most agree that there are several initial hiccups that have to be faced before the hurdles are crossed. The decision to withdraw high value bank notes will not hurt just those educational institutions who accept donations and capitation fees.

Prashant K, who works for the Indian School Finance Company (ISFC) Pvt Ltd in Bengaluru says Our EMI amounts are like 15,000-20,000 at times and people are not able to collect that money to pay us back. Very few people can use the Electronic Clearance System (ECH). Our collection cycle is getting delayed due to this. I dont know for how long this will continue but its proving to be very painful for the moment 

He adds that, contrary to perception, there are still many in the country who do not have the digital acumen to make their EMI payments online.

However, the advantages are there to be found. Now that all transactions will have to be accounted for, there will be a curb in commercialisation among both authorities and parents. Once commercialisation is curbed, there will be better quality of education in the long run. This will communicate a value system to the students, says M K Sridhar, Former Director, Canara Bank School of Management, Bangalore University.

He adds that, earlier, there was a kind of hopelessness and dissatisfaction among parents and students who could not afford certain educational institutions due to the requirement of donations and capitation fees. Many meritorious students could not make it to private institutions and professional courses like medical and engineering as they could not afford the fees charged through the backdoor. There will be a dip in these activities, he points out.

The impact on donation are no problem to institutions that are run properly and account for them. There is no problem with donations as they come from cheques and bank transfers, but we are facing problem with our support staff whom we pay in cash, Krupalathaa Martin Dass, Founder and Executive Director of Sukrupa, which provides education to underprivileged children said.

The move has also been met with widespread approval from students who had to bear the burden of capitation fees that cross several lakh, especially in fields like medicine and engineering. A medical student from Chittaranjan Medical College in Kolkata, who refused to be named, said, This has taken away the bread and butter of the ringleaders who would facilitate the selling of seats in all these private medical colleges.

He also added, There is a nexus between the college authorities and these middlemen who broker the sale by keeping a percentage of the payment as their fees. All of these payment would be done in black money and most students who could not make it to government colleges had lost hope of pursuing their degrees.

BENGALURU: The impact of demonetisation on the educational sector in India is a story not many are talking about, and not many wish to talk about. Ever since Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes ceased to be legal tender, its effect on trade, markets, business, GDP and many other sectors have been discussed to death. But students, academicians and authorities from various academic institutions are unanimous that its overall effect on education has been positive. However, most agree that there are several initial hiccups that have to be faced before the hurdles are crossed. The decision to withdraw high value bank notes will not hurt just those educational institutions who accept donations and capitation fees. Prashant K, who works for the Indian School Finance Company (ISFC) Pvt Ltd in Bengaluru says Our EMI amounts are like 15,000-20,000 at times and people are not able to collect that money to pay us back. Very few people can use the Electronic Clearance System (ECH). Our collection cycle is getting delayed due to this. I dont know for how long this will continue but its proving to be very painful for the moment  He adds that, contrary to perception, there are still many in the country who do not have the digital acumen to make their EMI payments online. However, the advantages are there to be found. Now that all transactions will have to be accounted for, there will be a curb in commercialisation among both authorities and parents. Once commercialisation is curbed, there will be better quality of education in the long run. This will communicate a value system to the students, says M K Sridhar, Former Director, Canara Bank School of Management, Bangalore University. He adds that, earlier, there was a kind of hopelessness and dissatisfaction among parents and students who could not afford certain educational institutions due to the requirement of donations and capitation fees. Many meritorious students could not make it to private institutions and professional courses like medical and engineering as they could not afford the fees charged through the backdoor. There will be a dip in these activities, he points out. The impact on donation are no problem to institutions that are run properly and account for them. There is no problem with donations as they come from cheques and bank transfers, but we are facing problem with our support staff whom we pay in cash, Krupalathaa Martin Dass, Founder and Executive Director of Sukrupa, which provides education to underprivileged children said. The move has also been met with widespread approval from students who had to bear the burden of capitation fees that cross several lakh, especially in fields like medicine and engineering. A medical student from Chittaranjan Medical College in Kolkata, who refused to be named, said, This has taken away the bread and butter of the ringleaders who would facilitate the selling of seats in all these private medical colleges. He also added, There is a nexus between the college authorities and these middlemen who broker the sale by keeping a percentage of the payment as their fees. All of these payment would be done in black money and most students who could not make it to government colleges had lost hope of pursuing their degrees.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: The demonetisation drive announced on November 8 by Prime Minister Naredra Modi has squarely hit the bulls-eye of the cooperative banking sector in the country. Courts have been, and are still, continuosly flooded with cases against the move and even hartals have been called in some states.



But fingers are pointed at the sector as a launderer of blackmoney for three main reasons - non-transparency (these banks are headed by politicians), non-adaptation of technology and finally non-payment of tax to the government.

suvajit dey



On a rough estimate, the total deposits in cooperative banks is at least Rs 3 lakh crore.

The Indian cooperative bank system is one of the largest in the world with more than 20 crore members. It has about 67 per cent penetration in villages and funds 46 per cent of total rural credit.



But a RBI circular on November 14 banned District Cooperative Banks (DCB) from accepting deposits and exchanging notes.



Even though many channels from petrol pumps to post officers were allowed to carry out these functions, 14,060 strong DCBs across the country were omitted, deliberately.

As many as 368 DCBs in India have license from RBI, which means they are equal to banks. But the government and RBI have not allowed them to implement demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.



The customers of Primary Cooperative Credit Societies are farmers and these societies are their primary source for credit and they form the back bone of rural economy, pointed out Dilip Sanghani, chairman, National Federation of State Cooperative Banks Ltd.



There are lakhs of such societies in the country. If there are KYC or compliance issues we are ready to address those. We should be allowed to function as we were in the past, he added.

However, even with the critical situation of rural credit post demonetisation, even those in the banking sector admit that cooperative banking is not as technologically advanced as rest.



Manipulations are rampant and political parties control most of them.

In its latest annual report, NABARD said that there were 14 supervisory concerns regarding cooperative banking structure including poor corporate governance and non-compliance of KYC/anti-money laundering standards. Besides, almost 18 per cent of the DCBs fall short of the minimum share capital requirement of holding at least 7 per cent capital adequacy ratio as set by RBI.



There is no transparency in the operations of cooperative banks. In most of these, banks accounts are maintained manually, which allow them to make pre-dated entries. These banks are headed by politicians and take-overs by one party from another is often. Because of non-compliance of KYC norms, they usually split deposits of same person as below Rs 50,000 amounts and keep in different names, said Professor V K Vijayakumar, Investment Strategist at finance firm Geojit BNP Paribas.



Technological inefficiency is not a big deal when compared to the social cause they are serving. It is a fact that they have to improve in technology. But it does not justify RBI decision not to permit them doing banking activities. We demand immediate roll back of the decision, argued C H Venkatachalam, general secretary, All India Bank Employees Association.



But he did add that by imparting transparency these banks should be revived as these are vital for rural economy.



However, terming the government and RBIs action discriminatory, Kallettumkara Service Cooperative Bank Limited, President, N K Joseph said that they are ready to adore technology and are open to any inspection. The bank has moved the supreme court against the decision.

The government in a midnight announced that all our deposits are unaccounted money. It has negated all over goodwill over the years. This is unacceptable and is an insult. We have been in this country decades before independence, he said.

KOCHI: The demonetisation drive announced on November 8 by Prime Minister Naredra Modi has squarely hit the bulls-eye of the cooperative banking sector in the country. Courts have been, and are still, continuosly flooded with cases against the move and even hartals have been called in some states. But fingers are pointed at the sector as a launderer of blackmoney for three main reasons - non-transparency (these banks are headed by politicians), non-adaptation of technology and finally non-payment of tax to the government. suvajit dey On a rough estimate, the total deposits in cooperative banks is at least Rs 3 lakh crore. The Indian cooperative bank system is one of the largest in the world with more than 20 crore members. It has about 67 per cent penetration in villages and funds 46 per cent of total rural credit. But a RBI circular on November 14 banned District Cooperative Banks (DCB) from accepting deposits and exchanging notes. Even though many channels from petrol pumps to post officers were allowed to carry out these functions, 14,060 strong DCBs across the country were omitted, deliberately. As many as 368 DCBs in India have license from RBI, which means they are equal to banks. But the government and RBI have not allowed them to implement demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The customers of Primary Cooperative Credit Societies are farmers and these societies are their primary source for credit and they form the back bone of rural economy, pointed out Dilip Sanghani, chairman, National Federation of State Cooperative Banks Ltd. There are lakhs of such societies in the country. If there are KYC or compliance issues we are ready to address those. We should be allowed to function as we were in the past, he added. However, even with the critical situation of rural credit post demonetisation, even those in the banking sector admit that cooperative banking is not as technologically advanced as rest. Manipulations are rampant and political parties control most of them. In its latest annual report, NABARD said that there were 14 supervisory concerns regarding cooperative banking structure including poor corporate governance and non-compliance of KYC/anti-money laundering standards. Besides, almost 18 per cent of the DCBs fall short of the minimum share capital requirement of holding at least 7 per cent capital adequacy ratio as set by RBI. There is no transparency in the operations of cooperative banks. In most of these, banks accounts are maintained manually, which allow them to make pre-dated entries. These banks are headed by politicians and take-overs by one party from another is often. Because of non-compliance of KYC norms, they usually split deposits of same person as below Rs 50,000 amounts and keep in different names, said Professor V K Vijayakumar, Investment Strategist at finance firm Geojit BNP Paribas. Technological inefficiency is not a big deal when compared to the social cause they are serving. It is a fact that they have to improve in technology. But it does not justify RBI decision not to permit them doing banking activities. We demand immediate roll back of the decision, argued C H Venkatachalam, general secretary, All India Bank Employees Association. But he did add that by imparting transparency these banks should be revived as these are vital for rural economy. However, terming the government and RBIs action discriminatory, Kallettumkara Service Cooperative Bank Limited, President, N K Joseph said that they are ready to adore technology and are open to any inspection. The bank has moved the supreme court against the decision. The government in a midnight announced that all our deposits are unaccounted money. It has negated all over goodwill over the years. This is unacceptable and is an insult. We have been in this country decades before independence, he said.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Since demonetisation was announced, financial intelligence agencies have unearthed over 1,650 such bank accounts on hire. Hoarders are paying a monthly rent of up to Rs 15,000 to some bank account holders to stash unaccounted money.

Income tax and intelligence agencies are scanning rogue bank accounts for deposits made since November 8. After examining 600 such accounts, showcause notices have been issued to the holders.

Suspicious Transaction Reports from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat were received and analysed by agencies on Thursday. These showed that 462 accounts from Bihar, 308 from West Bengal and 98 in Punjab have witnessed a sudden spurt of financial activity since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation drive.

Probing agencies have also discovered some account holders have been lending out their inoperative bank accounts at a monthly rent of Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000. One individual was found to have hired 115 rented bank accounts. Agencies are trying to establish whether it is an organised syndicate or bank employee connivance, which is behind the account scam. Officials are also looking into the role of bank staff in providing non-operational accounts to park black money. We found bank officials were asking black money hoarders for 20-25 per cent commission to deposit unaccountable cash,an official said.

NEW DELHI: Since demonetisation was announced, financial intelligence agencies have unearthed over 1,650 such bank accounts on hire. Hoarders are paying a monthly rent of up to Rs 15,000 to some bank account holders to stash unaccounted money. Income tax and intelligence agencies are scanning rogue bank accounts for deposits made since November 8. After examining 600 such accounts, showcause notices have been issued to the holders. Suspicious Transaction Reports from Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, West Bengal, Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Gujarat were received and analysed by agencies on Thursday. These showed that 462 accounts from Bihar, 308 from West Bengal and 98 in Punjab have witnessed a sudden spurt of financial activity since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation drive. Probing agencies have also discovered some account holders have been lending out their inoperative bank accounts at a monthly rent of Rs 10,000-Rs 15,000. One individual was found to have hired 115 rented bank accounts. Agencies are trying to establish whether it is an organised syndicate or bank employee connivance, which is behind the account scam. Officials are also looking into the role of bank staff in providing non-operational accounts to park black money. We found bank officials were asking black money hoarders for 20-25 per cent commission to deposit unaccountable cash,an official said.
Ashwini M Sripad By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: Gold prices have taken a beating in the last 15 days but unlike other times, there are no takers. Soon after the Centre demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, many jewellers were selling gold at higher prices by taking demonetised currency. This stopped after a few days when the Income Tax department raided such jewellers. Following this the prices came down.

Gold price was around Rs 31,010 per 10 grams (24 karat) and Rs 29,000 (22 karat) before the demonetisation move. Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would be scrapped, prices touched Rs 32,500 (24 karat) and Rs 31,500 (22 karat). The prices shot up as many saw this as an opportunity to buy gold using old currency. However, just two to three days later, Income Tax department raided such jewellers and prices dropped.

On Saturday, gold price was Rs 29,500 and Rs 27,550 per 10 gram of 24 karat and 22 karat gold respectively. In just 15 days, the price of gold reduced by Rs 3,000 for 10gm. If this continues, the price could even touch Rs 2,500 per gm, said the owner of a jewellery shop in Malleswaram.

According to him, people who buy gold prefer to pay in cash. This may be a tactic to change black money to white. Even now, some have approached with old currency notes. We dont accept old notes as it might be problematic for us, he said.

According to T A Saravana, president of Karnataka Jewellers Association and owner of Sai Gold Palace, Karnataka has 25,500 jewellers and 8,500 are in Bengaluru. Almost 70 per cent of these businesses are hit. There are lakhs working in this industry. If the price continuous to go down, we might have to lay off staff, he said. He added that in a day, an average of Rs 20,000 crore is made from gold businesses in the state. A part of this was paid as VAT. Since business is dull, we will not able to pay VAT, which means less fund flow to the government, he added.

BENGALURU: Gold prices have taken a beating in the last 15 days but unlike other times, there are no takers. Soon after the Centre demonetised Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, many jewellers were selling gold at higher prices by taking demonetised currency. This stopped after a few days when the Income Tax department raided such jewellers. Following this the prices came down. Gold price was around Rs 31,010 per 10 grams (24 karat) and Rs 29,000 (22 karat) before the demonetisation move. Soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes would be scrapped, prices touched Rs 32,500 (24 karat) and Rs 31,500 (22 karat). The prices shot up as many saw this as an opportunity to buy gold using old currency. However, just two to three days later, Income Tax department raided such jewellers and prices dropped. On Saturday, gold price was Rs 29,500 and Rs 27,550 per 10 gram of 24 karat and 22 karat gold respectively. In just 15 days, the price of gold reduced by Rs 3,000 for 10gm. If this continues, the price could even touch Rs 2,500 per gm, said the owner of a jewellery shop in Malleswaram. According to him, people who buy gold prefer to pay in cash. This may be a tactic to change black money to white. Even now, some have approached with old currency notes. We dont accept old notes as it might be problematic for us, he said. According to T A Saravana, president of Karnataka Jewellers Association and owner of Sai Gold Palace, Karnataka has 25,500 jewellers and 8,500 are in Bengaluru. Almost 70 per cent of these businesses are hit. There are lakhs working in this industry. If the price continuous to go down, we might have to lay off staff, he said. He added that in a day, an average of Rs 20,000 crore is made from gold businesses in the state. A part of this was paid as VAT. Since business is dull, we will not able to pay VAT, which means less fund flow to the government, he added.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Upset over the alleged harassment by his manager, a 28-year-old assistant at a private hospital hanged himself at his house in Yeshwantpur on Friday. The deceased is Sandesh (27), a native of Dakshina Kannada district who was working at Subbaiah Hospital in Mathikere.

Police said that Sandesh was found hanging in his house by his family members. In his suicide note, Sandesh alleged that Chakravarthy, the manager of the hospital, had falsely accused him of stealing `25,000 in demonetised currency notes from his cabin to exchange for new notes. Sandesh was being harassed by other senior staff over trivial issues, the note said.

Sandeshs brother Dinesh told police that the hospital staff had checked CCTV footage and had found no evidence of theft. However, they had harassed Sandesh and forced him to say he was involved in it. Upset over this, Sandesh took this extreme step, he added.

A case of abetment to suicide has been filed and further investigations are on. The hospital staff were not available for comment.

BENGALURU: Upset over the alleged harassment by his manager, a 28-year-old assistant at a private hospital hanged himself at his house in Yeshwantpur on Friday. The deceased is Sandesh (27), a native of Dakshina Kannada district who was working at Subbaiah Hospital in Mathikere. Police said that Sandesh was found hanging in his house by his family members. In his suicide note, Sandesh alleged that Chakravarthy, the manager of the hospital, had falsely accused him of stealing `25,000 in demonetised currency notes from his cabin to exchange for new notes. Sandesh was being harassed by other senior staff over trivial issues, the note said. Sandeshs brother Dinesh told police that the hospital staff had checked CCTV footage and had found no evidence of theft. However, they had harassed Sandesh and forced him to say he was involved in it. Upset over this, Sandesh took this extreme step, he added. A case of abetment to suicide has been filed and further investigations are on. The hospital staff were not available for comment.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday asked the countrys top police officers not to arrest or harass anyone on basis of allegations of radicalisation unless solid proof was available. Singh also said that genuine NGOs were free to carry out development works but warned that organisations which indulged in anti-national activities, would not be spared.

Singh made these comments on the concluding day of the three-day conference of DGPs and IGPs held in the city. Singh told the top police brass that no innocent person should be arrested or harassed on the basis of allegations of radicalisation and one should be held only after getting adequate proof, sources said. He, however, directed them to remain alert against online attempts to radicalise youth and urged them to strengthen the cyber security apparatus.

Singh also raised the issue of the crackdown on NGOs, assuring that no bonafide NGO doing public service would have to face government scrutiny.

But those NGOs which are allegedly trying to hamper development works or indugle in anti-national activities would not be spared, the Home Minister said, in a reference to the ban on the NGO run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.

HYDERABAD: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday asked the countrys top police officers not to arrest or harass anyone on basis of allegations of radicalisation unless solid proof was available. Singh also said that genuine NGOs were free to carry out development works but warned that organisations which indulged in anti-national activities, would not be spared. Singh made these comments on the concluding day of the three-day conference of DGPs and IGPs held in the city. Singh told the top police brass that no innocent person should be arrested or harassed on the basis of allegations of radicalisation and one should be held only after getting adequate proof, sources said. He, however, directed them to remain alert against online attempts to radicalise youth and urged them to strengthen the cyber security apparatus. Singh also raised the issue of the crackdown on NGOs, assuring that no bonafide NGO doing public service would have to face government scrutiny. But those NGOs which are allegedly trying to hamper development works or indugle in anti-national activities would not be spared, the Home Minister said, in a reference to the ban on the NGO run by controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: For 62-year-old Manik Ali, who hails from Maldives, a hospital in Kochi has become his home over the past two years. During the period, Ali, a successful marine exporter, was rushed to KIMS Hospital in the city a dozen times. At least on ten occasions, he was admitted in the ICU and was on ventilator support. The businessman who had been suffering from frequent lung infections and low oxygen level, walked out of the hospital on October 10 as a completely different man - he no longer suffers from breathlessness and his oxygen level has become normal. He no longer has the fear of getting admitted to hospital.

The change in Alis life came through a major surgery performed by renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Nasser Yusuf at KIMS. Back in Maldives, Ali was exposed to the vagaries of the weather and the sea. He had started smoking at a very young age, and at times smoked 20 cigarettes a day, which made him prone to chronic chest infections that required multiple courses of antibiotics. As a long-term effect of all these, his lungs became weak and two-thirds of the left lung got damaged.

The condition was diagnosed as COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), with bronchiectasis of the left lung. COPD is a condition wherein the lung becomes weak. It is caused mainly by smoking, pollution and chemical exposure. Bronchiectasis is characterised by damage of lung. At KIMS, Dr Nasser Yusuf and his team explained details of the surgery and its most dreaded complications to Ali and his family. The surgery was performed on September 26.

Ali was taken off ventilator immediately after the surgery and started walking the very next day. The operation lasted six hours, requiring four bottles of blood. The team that performed the surgery include consultant anaesthetist Dr Rajeev K Warrier, pulmonology consultants Dr Paramez A R and Dr Shine Shukoor and nurse Sijo.

KOCHI: For 62-year-old Manik Ali, who hails from Maldives, a hospital in Kochi has become his home over the past two years. During the period, Ali, a successful marine exporter, was rushed to KIMS Hospital in the city a dozen times. At least on ten occasions, he was admitted in the ICU and was on ventilator support. The businessman who had been suffering from frequent lung infections and low oxygen level, walked out of the hospital on October 10 as a completely different man - he no longer suffers from breathlessness and his oxygen level has become normal. He no longer has the fear of getting admitted to hospital. The change in Alis life came through a major surgery performed by renowned cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Nasser Yusuf at KIMS. Back in Maldives, Ali was exposed to the vagaries of the weather and the sea. He had started smoking at a very young age, and at times smoked 20 cigarettes a day, which made him prone to chronic chest infections that required multiple courses of antibiotics. As a long-term effect of all these, his lungs became weak and two-thirds of the left lung got damaged. The condition was diagnosed as COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease), with bronchiectasis of the left lung. COPD is a condition wherein the lung becomes weak. It is caused mainly by smoking, pollution and chemical exposure. Bronchiectasis is characterised by damage of lung. At KIMS, Dr Nasser Yusuf and his team explained details of the surgery and its most dreaded complications to Ali and his family. The surgery was performed on September 26. Ali was taken off ventilator immediately after the surgery and started walking the very next day. The operation lasted six hours, requiring four bottles of blood. The team that performed the surgery include consultant anaesthetist Dr Rajeev K Warrier, pulmonology consultants Dr Paramez A R and Dr Shine Shukoor and nurse Sijo.
Kumar Vikram By

The first phase of demonetisation will make lakhs of crores of black money redundant. It is a good beginning, but it is not the only solution to eliminate black money. I have welcomed this idea but an area of creation of black money is largely unnoticed. That is human trafficking, child labour, issue of missing children, etc. Because every single rupee earned though these crimes against children is black money. All these transactions in such crimes are made in notes of Rs 500 or Rs 1,000. That way, this initiative is a big assault on their earnings. Also, prostitution and other forms of sex trade, including pornography, are big sources of black money.

The governments initiative is a kind of breaking the backbone of the traffickers and slave masters. However, more efforts are needed in terms of good laws and implementation of those against trafficking and child labour so that new black money is not generated. The government is going to propose the new law in Parliament. I dont know whether it will come in this session. But it is needed and it should be properly enforced to get the desired results.

If political parties were serious and convinced that these child-related crimes have to be stopped in priority then this situation would not have continued. So, we need strong political will. It should be not only from the government but also from all the major political parties at state as well as national levels.

I have appealed to all the party leaderships that they should spare at least one full day in Parliament in both the Houses to discuss on the issues of children, the hardships and problems they are facing, and how this could be resolved. But that does not happen and it has never happened in the Parliamentary history of India. These children may not be voters, but they are future voters for those political parties. Moreover, there has never been any serious discussion or conference by these political parties on this issue. Never has any all-party meeting been held on the issues concerning children who constitute 41 per cent population of India.

But only political will is not enough in solving the issue. There is a need of social will that begins with social consciousness and social concern of the society. It has been seen that the children belonging to the marginalised section of society or poor children are not in our social radar. Collective efforts are needed to protect these children. Therefore, social efforts are indispensable for long-term solutions to problems concerning marginalized children. Whosoever is the government, they cant do the policing to protect the children. We need to create safer environment for children in our houses, neighbourhood, schools, etc., which perhaps the police cannot do.

Equally important is some sort of concerns from religious leaders belonging to all faiths. I have been making an appeal to them again and again that you have so much mass following, but you hardly speak on childrens issues. When a message comes from religious leaders, it generates much more impact. So I would again call upon them to speak out on these issues. Though these children cant give you anything now, they will certainly help in shaping the future of the country.

Launching a moral platform of Nobel laureates and noble leaders that I called Laureates and Leaders for Children, which would be inaugurated by the President on December 10 at Rashtrapati Bhawan, will be the strongest moral voice on behalf of the worlds deprived children. Then it would be followed the next day (December 11) by launching 100 Million for 100 Million campaign, a kind of youth-for-youth initiative where the young people who are better off in schools, colleges, universities and professions can be the change-makers for another millions of children who are left out. This is also like harnessing the power of youth and giving them a better objective in life to engage themselves and help others.

Education is essential for children like us to recover from our problems - Ravi D, 16, rescued from a construction site in Bengaluru, Karnataka

Ravi worked as a construction labourer. He didnt want to do manual labour, but didnt have any other option. If children are allowed to work, they will be subservient to their masters, he says. Even when children are employed as labourers, they do not enjoy the work. All I thought about when I was forced to do physical labour was to run away. It was torture. He wants the government to stop children from working and offer assistance to let them study.

I want to fly. I dont want to work, but I have to.- Rintu Kumari, 8, brick kiln labourer in Midnapore, West Bengal



Rintu and his family are caught in a debt circle in a brick kiln of West Bengal, for which they have to return every year for five months to work. I want to fly, says Rintu, pointing at a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet zooming over her work place. I dont want to work, but I have to. Says her father Raju Prasad, I cant leave my family in the village. The more hands I have, the faster I can pay off the debts. His wife Devika and three children, aged 8 to 11, work with him in the brick kiln. Back home, they work as farm labourers and earn between Rs 120-150 a day.

Supporting my family is my goal - Mohammed Illyas, 13, works in a graveyard in New Delhi



I have been working here since my father died six months ago. I was the replacement for him; my elder brother also works here, says Illyas, who gets Rs 2,000 per month for maintaining the graveyard and helping dig graves. Illyas lives in Bawana Police colony with four siblings, of whom one is sick. He was in Class VIII in a government school when his family asked him to start earning. Some of my friends go to school. I have no interest in going to school now. What I had to learn I have learnt, now supporting my family is my goal, he says.

Me and many others from my caste want to study, but we are not allowed to - Sonu, 12, brick kiln labourer in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

There is a huge playground adjacent to the brick kiln in Lakhapur in Varanasi. On the other side is a school. A Musahar by caste, Sonu works at the kiln. He has never been to school. He earns Rs 250 a day for casting 1,000 bricks. Me and many others from my caste want to study, but we are not allowed to. Our family responsibilities, and beating and bullying by upper caste children turn us away from schools. Even the teachers dont stop this harassment, he says. His meagre earning is not enough for his family. He is the only earning member to support his sister and widowed mother. There is hardly any money left for books, a school uniform or even clean clothes. So, no studies and no school.

I worked with my father in the fields and never wanted to go to school - Rahul Kumar, 15, paan shop worker in Mumbai, Maharashtra

Rahul came to Mumbai from Muzaffarpur in Bihar a month ago, and works at one of the many paan shops owned by his uncle. He has never gone to school, even though his younger siblings do. He helped his father at their ancestral tobacco farm. Many people in our village have made fortunes by growing tobacco. I worked with my father in the fields and never felt like going to school, he says. We are used to tobacco ever since we started knowing the world around us. We can make all kinds of paan and mawa. My uncle trusts me with all operations of this shop. Rahul wants his own paan shop in a couple of years. Three of his friends from Muzzaffarpur also work in paan shops in Mumbai.

I would like to study, but that is not possible as I need money for my family - Gautam Kumar, 13, plastic cartoon characters seller in Patna, Bihar

In a makeshift shop near Patna Junction railway station, Gautam sells glitzy plastic frames of cartoon characters. His demeanour reflects the quiet anguish of a normal childhood snatched away. Gautam is a farmers son from Gaya. His family: parents, two younger sisters, and himself. There was a crop failure due to lack of water. My father was unwell for long, he says. He earns Rs 3,000 a month and the shop owner provides him meals and a corner of his house to live. I would like to study, but that is not possible for me as I need money for my family, he says. I want to complete my education some day.

I wanted to study, but my father wanted me to work - Suraj, 15, grocery shop worker in Guwahati, Assam

Suraj was studying in Class V in a Bihar government school when his father, Dinesh Kumar, brought him to Guwahati in 2013. Dinesh, a daily-wage earner, wanted his son to earn some money for the family of five. Suraj started working at a grocery shop, and now earns Rs 3,000 a month. I wanted to study, but my father wanted me to work. Before I dropped out to work in the grocery shop, my father was finding it very tough to run the family. Things have improved now. I stay at the house of my shop owner and eat there. My salary is doing my father a world of good, says Suraj.

I wanted to go to school, but our poverty didnt let it happen - Imran Ahmad, 13, helper at a roadside tea stall in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir

Son of a poor labourer, Imran has three brothers and two younger sisters. He has never gone to school. I wanted to study to earn a decent and honourable livelihood, but our poverty did not let it happen. I have been working as helper in tea stalls for many years to help my family meet the two ends, he says. Imrans elder brother is a mechanic at an automobile workshop. By working as a helper and earning Rs 2,000 per month, I am helping my family to survive, says Imran. My sisters go to school. I want them to study so that they can achieve their goals. Ill ensure they dont end up as illiterates.

Children shouldnt work in family business because it is forced. It is more important in todays competitive world for them to study to cope with the pressures of school. They also need time to play, for their physical and mental well-being. - Manvi Teki, 15, Student, daughter of Vishy Teki and Manisha Agarwal in Hyderabad

MANVIS SOLUTIONS:

* As the provision in law says children can work in family business, it is important that the government helps parents and families market their businesses so that there is sufficient earning and the child does not have to work.

* Government should ensure better employment opportunities to their families. If parents earn sufficiently, then there is no need for the children to work.

* Parents need to be made aware how important education is for their children.

* Schools should encourage learning for children in a particular skill besides studies to ensure that they can be self-employed.

The first phase of demonetisation will make lakhs of crores of black money redundant. It is a good beginning, but it is not the only solution to eliminate black money. I have welcomed this idea but an area of creation of black money is largely unnoticed. That is human trafficking, child labour, issue of missing children, etc. Because every single rupee earned though these crimes against children is black money. All these transactions in such crimes are made in notes of Rs 500 or Rs 1,000. That way, this initiative is a big assault on their earnings. Also, prostitution and other forms of sex trade, including pornography, are big sources of black money. The governments initiative is a kind of breaking the backbone of the traffickers and slave masters. However, more efforts are needed in terms of good laws and implementation of those against trafficking and child labour so that new black money is not generated. The government is going to propose the new law in Parliament. I dont know whether it will come in this session. But it is needed and it should be properly enforced to get the desired results. If political parties were serious and convinced that these child-related crimes have to be stopped in priority then this situation would not have continued. So, we need strong political will. It should be not only from the government but also from all the major political parties at state as well as national levels. I have appealed to all the party leaderships that they should spare at least one full day in Parliament in both the Houses to discuss on the issues of children, the hardships and problems they are facing, and how this could be resolved. But that does not happen and it has never happened in the Parliamentary history of India. These children may not be voters, but they are future voters for those political parties. Moreover, there has never been any serious discussion or conference by these political parties on this issue. Never has any all-party meeting been held on the issues concerning children who constitute 41 per cent population of India. But only political will is not enough in solving the issue. There is a need of social will that begins with social consciousness and social concern of the society. It has been seen that the children belonging to the marginalised section of society or poor children are not in our social radar. Collective efforts are needed to protect these children. Therefore, social efforts are indispensable for long-term solutions to problems concerning marginalized children. Whosoever is the government, they cant do the policing to protect the children. We need to create safer environment for children in our houses, neighbourhood, schools, etc., which perhaps the police cannot do. Equally important is some sort of concerns from religious leaders belonging to all faiths. I have been making an appeal to them again and again that you have so much mass following, but you hardly speak on childrens issues. When a message comes from religious leaders, it generates much more impact. So I would again call upon them to speak out on these issues. Though these children cant give you anything now, they will certainly help in shaping the future of the country. Launching a moral platform of Nobel laureates and noble leaders that I called Laureates and Leaders for Children, which would be inaugurated by the President on December 10 at Rashtrapati Bhawan, will be the strongest moral voice on behalf of the worlds deprived children. Then it would be followed the next day (December 11) by launching 100 Million for 100 Million campaign, a kind of youth-for-youth initiative where the young people who are better off in schools, colleges, universities and professions can be the change-makers for another millions of children who are left out. This is also like harnessing the power of youth and giving them a better objective in life to engage themselves and help others. Education is essential for children like us to recover from our problems - Ravi D, 16, rescued from a construction site in Bengaluru, Karnataka Ravi worked as a construction labourer. He didnt want to do manual labour, but didnt have any other option. If children are allowed to work, they will be subservient to their masters, he says. Even when children are employed as labourers, they do not enjoy the work. All I thought about when I was forced to do physical labour was to run away. It was torture. He wants the government to stop children from working and offer assistance to let them study. I want to fly. I dont want to work, but I have to.- Rintu Kumari, 8, brick kiln labourer in Midnapore, West Bengal Rintu and his family are caught in a debt circle in a brick kiln of West Bengal, for which they have to return every year for five months to work. I want to fly, says Rintu, pointing at a Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet zooming over her work place. I dont want to work, but I have to. Says her father Raju Prasad, I cant leave my family in the village. The more hands I have, the faster I can pay off the debts. His wife Devika and three children, aged 8 to 11, work with him in the brick kiln. Back home, they work as farm labourers and earn between Rs 120-150 a day. Supporting my family is my goal - Mohammed Illyas, 13, works in a graveyard in New Delhi I have been working here since my father died six months ago. I was the replacement for him; my elder brother also works here, says Illyas, who gets Rs 2,000 per month for maintaining the graveyard and helping dig graves. Illyas lives in Bawana Police colony with four siblings, of whom one is sick. He was in Class VIII in a government school when his family asked him to start earning. Some of my friends go to school. I have no interest in going to school now. What I had to learn I have learnt, now supporting my family is my goal, he says. Me and many others from my caste want to study, but we are not allowed to - Sonu, 12, brick kiln labourer in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh There is a huge playground adjacent to the brick kiln in Lakhapur in Varanasi. On the other side is a school. A Musahar by caste, Sonu works at the kiln. He has never been to school. He earns Rs 250 a day for casting 1,000 bricks. Me and many others from my caste want to study, but we are not allowed to. Our family responsibilities, and beating and bullying by upper caste children turn us away from schools. Even the teachers dont stop this harassment, he says. His meagre earning is not enough for his family. He is the only earning member to support his sister and widowed mother. There is hardly any money left for books, a school uniform or even clean clothes. So, no studies and no school. I worked with my father in the fields and never wanted to go to school - Rahul Kumar, 15, paan shop worker in Mumbai, Maharashtra Rahul came to Mumbai from Muzaffarpur in Bihar a month ago, and works at one of the many paan shops owned by his uncle. He has never gone to school, even though his younger siblings do. He helped his father at their ancestral tobacco farm. Many people in our village have made fortunes by growing tobacco. I worked with my father in the fields and never felt like going to school, he says. We are used to tobacco ever since we started knowing the world around us. We can make all kinds of paan and mawa. My uncle trusts me with all operations of this shop. Rahul wants his own paan shop in a couple of years. Three of his friends from Muzzaffarpur also work in paan shops in Mumbai. I would like to study, but that is not possible as I need money for my family - Gautam Kumar, 13, plastic cartoon characters seller in Patna, Bihar In a makeshift shop near Patna Junction railway station, Gautam sells glitzy plastic frames of cartoon characters. His demeanour reflects the quiet anguish of a normal childhood snatched away. Gautam is a farmers son from Gaya. His family: parents, two younger sisters, and himself. There was a crop failure due to lack of water. My father was unwell for long, he says. He earns Rs 3,000 a month and the shop owner provides him meals and a corner of his house to live. I would like to study, but that is not possible for me as I need money for my family, he says. I want to complete my education some day. I wanted to study, but my father wanted me to work - Suraj, 15, grocery shop worker in Guwahati, Assam Suraj was studying in Class V in a Bihar government school when his father, Dinesh Kumar, brought him to Guwahati in 2013. Dinesh, a daily-wage earner, wanted his son to earn some money for the family of five. Suraj started working at a grocery shop, and now earns Rs 3,000 a month. I wanted to study, but my father wanted me to work. Before I dropped out to work in the grocery shop, my father was finding it very tough to run the family. Things have improved now. I stay at the house of my shop owner and eat there. My salary is doing my father a world of good, says Suraj. I wanted to go to school, but our poverty didnt let it happen - Imran Ahmad, 13, helper at a roadside tea stall in Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir Son of a poor labourer, Imran has three brothers and two younger sisters. He has never gone to school. I wanted to study to earn a decent and honourable livelihood, but our poverty did not let it happen. I have been working as helper in tea stalls for many years to help my family meet the two ends, he says. Imrans elder brother is a mechanic at an automobile workshop. By working as a helper and earning Rs 2,000 per month, I am helping my family to survive, says Imran. My sisters go to school. I want them to study so that they can achieve their goals. Ill ensure they dont end up as illiterates. Children shouldnt work in family business because it is forced. It is more important in todays competitive world for them to study to cope with the pressures of school. They also need time to play, for their physical and mental well-being. - Manvi Teki, 15, Student, daughter of Vishy Teki and Manisha Agarwal in Hyderabad MANVIS SOLUTIONS: * As the provision in law says children can work in family business, it is important that the government helps parents and families market their businesses so that there is sufficient earning and the child does not have to work. * Government should ensure better employment opportunities to their families. If parents earn sufficiently, then there is no need for the children to work. * Parents need to be made aware how important education is for their children. * Schools should encourage learning for children in a particular skill besides studies to ensure that they can be self-employed.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: In a sensational jailbreak in the early hours of Sunday, a major pro-separatist Khalistan leader, another terrorist and three gangsters escaped from the high-security Nabha jail in Punjab.



The fugitives have been identified as Harminder Singh alias Mintoo, leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Kashmir Galhari, a militant, and gangsters Vicky Gondar, Neeta Johak, GurpreetSingh and Bikramjit Bika.



Sources said they were sprung by about a dozen men who drove up to the jail in two vehicles, a Toyota Fortuner and a Hyundai Verna. While it was not immediately clear how they gained entry into the jail, sources said they were dressed in police uniforms and claimed to have two handcuffed prisoners to be handed over to the authorities.



Once inside, they opened fire on the guards and made their way up to cell number 3 where the escapees were lodged. Handing over a weapon to Harminder Singh Mintoo, they sprayed over 100 rounds on the security personnel, emerging from the jail as they did so. Jail guards retaliated but could not stop the escape.

Surprisingly, nobody was reported injured in the shootout.



One eyewitness said, I saw more than a dozen people coining out of the jail firing guns. It seemed as if a Diwali was going on. They drove away with the fugitives. The railway crossing was closed at the time but they went round it.



Confirming the flight of the prisoners, Punjab director-general of police (law and order) H S Dhillon said the area around the Nabha jail has been cordoned off and a high alert has been sounded. The Punjab Police have alerted the neighboring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.



According to sources, intelligence agencies had alerted the police to a possible jailbreak. Harminder Singh Mintoo was wanted in ten terrorist cases. He and a fellow KLF operative Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi were deported to India from Thailand and were arrested at the New Delhi airport on November 7, 2014. Gopi was said to have been tasked with assassinating some Hindu leaders in 2013, which the police foiled.



Gangster Vicky Gondar hails from Sarawan Bodla village in Lambi Assembly segment and is a prime suspect in the murder of fellow gangster Sukha Kahlwan. He was arrested in December last year and escaped from the custody of the Ropar police before being recaptured. His gang is primarily involved in highway robberies and murders.



The Nabha jail is a high-security facility lodging top terrorists and gangsters. It has three rings of security apart from electronic surveillance.



The sensational jailbreak of terrorists and gangsters is certain to become an election issue in Punjab, which is due for a general election two months from now. Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh said the incident has exposed a complete breakdown of law and order in the state, while triggering fears of revival of terrorism ahead of the elections.



The manner in which the gangsters walked into the high-security jail and freed a dreaded KLF terrorist along with other convicts clearly shows complicity at the highest level, he said.



Acting swiftly after the jailbreak, the Punjab government has suspended additional director-general of police (prisons) M K Tiwari and dismissed Nabha jail superintendent Paramjit Singh Sandhu and deputy superintendent Karanjit Singh Sandhu from service.

Punjab home secretary Jagpal Singh Sandhu has been told to inquire into the incident. We will have a report in three days, said deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked for a report on the incident from the state government.

CHANDIGARH: In a sensational jailbreak in the early hours of Sunday, a major pro-separatist Khalistan leader, another terrorist and three gangsters escaped from the high-security Nabha jail in Punjab. The fugitives have been identified as Harminder Singh alias Mintoo, leader of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), Kashmir Galhari, a militant, and gangsters Vicky Gondar, Neeta Johak, GurpreetSingh and Bikramjit Bika. Sources said they were sprung by about a dozen men who drove up to the jail in two vehicles, a Toyota Fortuner and a Hyundai Verna. While it was not immediately clear how they gained entry into the jail, sources said they were dressed in police uniforms and claimed to have two handcuffed prisoners to be handed over to the authorities. Once inside, they opened fire on the guards and made their way up to cell number 3 where the escapees were lodged. Handing over a weapon to Harminder Singh Mintoo, they sprayed over 100 rounds on the security personnel, emerging from the jail as they did so. Jail guards retaliated but could not stop the escape. Surprisingly, nobody was reported injured in the shootout. One eyewitness said, I saw more than a dozen people coining out of the jail firing guns. It seemed as if a Diwali was going on. They drove away with the fugitives. The railway crossing was closed at the time but they went round it. Confirming the flight of the prisoners, Punjab director-general of police (law and order) H S Dhillon said the area around the Nabha jail has been cordoned off and a high alert has been sounded. The Punjab Police have alerted the neighboring states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. According to sources, intelligence agencies had alerted the police to a possible jailbreak. Harminder Singh Mintoo was wanted in ten terrorist cases. He and a fellow KLF operative Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi were deported to India from Thailand and were arrested at the New Delhi airport on November 7, 2014. Gopi was said to have been tasked with assassinating some Hindu leaders in 2013, which the police foiled. Gangster Vicky Gondar hails from Sarawan Bodla village in Lambi Assembly segment and is a prime suspect in the murder of fellow gangster Sukha Kahlwan. He was arrested in December last year and escaped from the custody of the Ropar police before being recaptured. His gang is primarily involved in highway robberies and murders. The Nabha jail is a high-security facility lodging top terrorists and gangsters. It has three rings of security apart from electronic surveillance. The sensational jailbreak of terrorists and gangsters is certain to become an election issue in Punjab, which is due for a general election two months from now. Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh said the incident has exposed a complete breakdown of law and order in the state, while triggering fears of revival of terrorism ahead of the elections. The manner in which the gangsters walked into the high-security jail and freed a dreaded KLF terrorist along with other convicts clearly shows complicity at the highest level, he said. Acting swiftly after the jailbreak, the Punjab government has suspended additional director-general of police (prisons) M K Tiwari and dismissed Nabha jail superintendent Paramjit Singh Sandhu and deputy superintendent Karanjit Singh Sandhu from service. Punjab home secretary Jagpal Singh Sandhu has been told to inquire into the incident. We will have a report in three days, said deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked for a report on the incident from the state government.
Central Elementary School is back on the Helena Public Schools Board of Trustees' agenda when it meets 5:30 p.m. Dec. 13, at the Ray Bjork Learning Center, 1600 8th Ave.

The fate of the historic school could be decided in December, said board chair Aidan Myhre.

Central School, which overlooks the downtown, has stood empty since it was evacuated March 15, 2013, because of seismic safety concerns.

The students were relocated to Lincoln School on Poplar Street.

However, the move, which was meant to be temporary, has dragged on indefinitely, since the districts $70 million facility bond failed in June 2015.

The delay in resolving Central Schools fate has proven trying for Central parents and staff. Its also a concern to downtown businesses and neighborhood residents.

So far, consensus on the future of Central School has been elusive. In the meantime, the building has suffered damages.

Vandals broke into it several times; the most recent incident was reported in October. Transients had taken up residence there in the past.

In recent weeks, the district installed boards over all the windows to thwart any new break-ins.

Options on the table

Three alternatives will likely be on the board table at the Dec. 13 meeting, said board chairman Aidan Myhre.

A fourth option will likely be promoted by historic preservation advocates.

Myhre was uncertain whether the board will make a final decision Dec. 13.

If no decision is made at that meeting, it will need to be made shortly thereafter, she said. Before we can talk about planning for a bond, we have to figure out how Central School will play into that discussion.

The school board is moving forward with plans for a school facilities bond election in May and is on a very tight timeline to accomplish this.

One Central School option is status quo, Myhre said. It remains this closed-up, boarded-up school.

Option two is that we work with the city to be allowed to deconstruct it and reconstruct a state-of-the art school on that campus. We made the pledge in the past that we would do that with a historical look. ...We would preserve as much as we could, but it would be tearing down and reconstructing.

Option three is to spend anywhere from $5-$8 million... to stabilize it, but keep it as is and open it up for kids.

The building would not have any additions, all we would do is stabilize it. Its still a very, very old school, Myhre said.

An option four to stabilize and restore the building as well as expand it is being proposed by Montana Preservation Alliance executive director Chere Jiusto.

That option, however, was not on the table before, said Myhre. Im not sure why we would add that now.

I think its absolutely imperative that if were going to move forward, said Myhre. Its the board that has to make the ultimate decision about Central School, regarding which direction we go, after hearing from the community.

What Ive heard (from both community and board members) is its time to build new schools and plan for the future -- not keep Band-Aiding things, she said. If that is the direction we go, it will be hard to justify putting Band-Aids -- expensive Band-Aids -- on a 100-year-old school.

Abandoning Central School -- if no consensus

I know this is completely counter to what the historic preservation focus is. Thats why  we have to start with Central because it indicates how we go forward with ... other proposals for the bond, said Myhre. If theres no consensus on Central School, it has the potential to sit there for another decade. Its certainly scary to me -- but a possibility.

If we cant coalesce around what we need to do, we have to move forward with other plans -- and we end up having to abandon Central School again, she said. The board needs to be decisive and give the community a clear understanding of the direction the district needs to go for our facilities.

I will certainly do my best to seek a decision in December. I do believe that is in the best interest of the community to know and figure out where we go next, she added.

Myhre said she personally supports building a new historic-looking building at the Central location.

I believe its in the best interest of the community to have a great state-of-the-art school in the downtown. Its great for downtown vitality. ... And that neighborhood will benefit dramatically ... from having a school.

I do not believe that spending the millions of dollars its going to take to structurally secure it is the best decision with our limited resources.

Historic preservationist view

There is a wonderful solution thats right straight looking us in the face, said Jiusto.

We look forward to an opportunity to talk with members of the school board, she said, and bring members of the community around the table to have a serious conversation about what truly is possible for Central --- in the hopes we can find a solution everyone can be happy about and that we can all support.

Weve been willing to make a lot of compromises, she said. In the past, a lot of misinformation about the building has been put out.

We showed a path to preserve Central School and have it be a 21st century school, said Jiusto. We worked really hard to provide the district with information on how they could repair Central School and how they could creatively finance the repairs.

Several Montana architectural firms indicated repairs could be made, seismic safety could be addressed and the building could be brought back into use and would be good for 50 years, she said.

Theyve paid for all the studies that say that, she said. The district would be remiss if it overlooked all this work.

Central School is an anchor building in the downtown historic district, she said. It was designed by a prominent architect (George H. Carsley).

Some of the buildings architectural features are quite beautiful and could be enhanced if the building were restored, she said.

Jack Copps' likely recommendation

However, interim Superintendent Jack Copps is not personally convinced this is the route the district should go.

If the board asks him for his opinion, he is willing to give it at the meeting, he said.

First off, he would recommend that the board go forward with a bond of $63 million instead of the original $70 million it requested in the last election. This would reserve bonding capacity if the district wants to build a new middle school a few years down the road.

This bond issue needs to focus on long-term investments, said Copps. It needs to ... target facilities that will be good for 50 years. With that in mind, I recommend that we build three new schools, at a cost of $15-$17 million apiece.

My recommendation would include Central as a new school. That would require that the district approach the Historic Preservation Commission and request a preapplication meeting for a demolition permit.

If the school district proceeds with a demolition permit request, there is a review procedure, he said, and a public hearing by the City Commission.

The City Commission would decide to approve it or not.

When I think of a real investment for 50 years, the investment ought to be a new school at Central, said Copps. There is no assurance that after a retrofit Central would withstand a significant earthquake.

Structural engineers and architects could argue they can restore the building to withstand an earthquake and that it would complement current educational practices, he said. You virtually build a building inside of a building.

All the engineering reports indicate the structure is in poor condition, he said, not only seismically but all of the structure. The building would also have to be made ADA compliant and meet all building codes.

If the demolition application is stalled, he said, it is probable a new school cannot be built at that site.

However, the greater downtown area clearly needs to have a downtown school.

I suspect the easier choice is to restore the building, he said. However, I think personally its best to invest in a building that is structurally sound for 50 years.

There are ways to preserve the historic look of the building and even parts of it, such as stonework and parts of the facade, he said.

Caught in the middle are the Central School students, parents and staff.

Well, the parents of Central School students know the high human cost of doing nothing, said Parent Council co-president Jennifer McKee.

We hope they can come up with something the community can get behind, she said. We want real action."

For us, we cant stay where we are.

Watch the Independent Record in coming weeks, for a more in-depth look at the Central School options.
Harpreet Bajwa By

Express News Service

CHANDIGARH: Hours after a movie-style jail break in a high-security prison in Punjab, one of the conspirators, Parvinder Singh of Jalandhar, who is said to have provided logistics for the escape was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police in Shamli district of that state.



He was travelling in the Fortuner used in the escape, and a lot of arms and ammunition has been recovered from him, said sources.

One of the cars suspected to have been used in the escape from prison, a Hyundai Verna, has also been found abandoned in Sohlu Majra village in Kaithal district of Haryana. It had two number plates.

Six prisoners including dreaded Sikh militant, 49-year old Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo, had escaped from the high security Nabha jail this morning.

Besides Mintoo, another militant Kashmir Singh and four gangsters -- Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gondar, Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon and Amanpreet Tonda -- made good their escape.

Sources said about a dozen people dressed in police uniforms came in four vehicles -- a Toyota Fortuner, Hyundai I-20, Maruti Swift and Hyundai Verna -- to the prison. The culprits claimed to be police officers and said they had brought two handcuffed prisoners to be handed over to the jail authorities. Allowed inside past the outer gate of the jail, they overpowered the guards inside, proceeding to batter one of them and asking to be given the keys to the interior door. The keys gave them entry into the interior of the jail, where the six prisoners were ready, waiting in a corridor.

The culprits, who had automatic weapons, opened fire as cover for the escape, letting loose more 200 rounds. They bundled the prisoners into the four vehicles, with blankets as shrouds and drove away. It was over in half an hour, from 8.30 am to 9.00 am. Nobody was reported injured.

It is suspected that the attackers had help from inside.

Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal visiting Nabha Jail. | EPS

Police have obtained CCTV footage from the jail and other nearby establishments of these vehicles fleeing withthe accused.

An eyewitness said, "More than a dozen people came out of the jail premises firing. It sounded like Diwali. They drove down, and on seeing that the railway crossing was closed, they turned around their vehicles and went on to the other side.

"They came in cars and had brought blankets with them in which there were weapons. The prisoners were hid under the blankets, said another eyewitness Sukhwinder Singh.

While confirming that the prisoners had escaped, Punjab Director General of Police (Law and Order) HS Dhillon said, "Police have cordoned off the area and high alert has been sounded in the state.

Suresh Arora, Director General of Police, Punjab, did not rule out the connivance of jail staff and said that their role was being investigated.

Sources said intelligence reports had alerted the police of a possible jail break.

A massive search operation is going through the state to nab the accused on the run; borders with neighbouring states Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan have been sealed, all vehicles are being checked and these states have also been alerted.

Militant Mintoo had beeb involved in several cases of militancy and was wanted in 10 terrorist cases he and his operative Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi were arrested from Delhi airport on November 7, 2014 as the duo was deported from Thailand. Gopi was tasked with executing the targeted killings of Hindu leaders in 2013, which the Police foiled.

Gangster Gondar hails from Sarawan Bodla village in Lambi assembly segment and is a prime suspect in the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan. He was arrested in December last year but later escaped from the custody of Ropar police. But he was arrested once more by the state police. His gang was primarily involved in highway robberies and murders, said police.

The Nabha jail is a high security jail and houses only top terrorists and gangsters. It has three layers of security besides electronic surveillance.



With assembly elections just two months away, the security breach assumes bigger proportions.

The Punjab Government has suspended Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) MK Tiwari, a 1987 batch IPS officer, and dismissed Nabha jail superintendent Paramjit Singh Sandhu and deputy superintendent Karanjit Singh Sandhu from service.

State home secretary Jagpal Singh Sandhu has been told to inquire into the incident besides a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed under the intelligence department. "We have suspended the ADGP and dismissed two jail department officials. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident which will be done by home secretary and he will submit the report within three days, said Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Ropar Police have been asked to grill another gangster moved there last week from New Nabha jail

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked for a report of the incident from the state government.

Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh has charged the Badal Government with connivance in the Nabha jail break, saying the Khalistani militants and other dreaded gangsters had been deliberately freed from prison for use by the Akalis during the Assembly elections.

Alleging that the brazen daylight jail break would not have been possible without government complicity, Amarinder said the Badal-led Akalis were setting the stage for large-scale violence, even terror attacks, in the state ahead of the polls.

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Spokesman and in-charge of partys affairs in Punjab, Sanjay Singh demanded that Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and Jail Minister Sohan Singh Thandal should resign from their posts at once owning direct responsibility for the Nabha jail break.

Singh said that Sukhbir Badal, being the Home Minister of Punjab, had no moral right to keep the Home portfolio even for a day as under him the state is being driven towards anarchy day by day.

Meanwhile Sukhbir Singh Badal visited Nabha jail in the afternoon to get first-hand information about the sensational jail escape.

Also, Haryana Police has been put on high alert and security beefed up at crucial points.

Details of all 6 Escapees:

1: Harminder Singh alias Mintoo, chief of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), was booked by the Punjab Police in 10 cases of terror. He was born in 1967 at Dalli village of Jalandhar district and his family shifted to Goa in 1980s. He travelled to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar using a fake Malaysian passport and documents to travel. He had set-up his base in Thailand before being deported in 2014.

2: Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder is a gangster and prime suspect in the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan and was arrested in December 2015. He was moved to Nabha jail after a clash with a rival gang in Ropar jail.

3: Gurpreet Singh Sekhon alias Sonu Mudki is a suspected accomplice in a murder case during 2012 elections and belongs to a family of brick-kiln owners. He faces 13 criminal cases in Ferozepur, Faridkot, Moga, Bathinda and Chandigarh.

4: Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol is a Dubai-based NRI who owns a transport business and is the prime suspect in the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan and is facing six criminal cases. He is the son of a former deputy director of animal husbandry Department and is originally from Moga district.

5: Amandeep Dhotian, a gangster, was arrested last year by Amritsar Police as he was involved in theft cases including carjacking and belongs to the Dhotian gang.

6: Kashmir Singh, who hails from Galwandi village under Khanna police district is a militant. He had shot at Punjab Shiv Sena leader Harvinder Soni in Gurdaspur last year, and was booked for attempt to murder.

CHANDIGARH: Hours after a movie-style jail break in a high-security prison in Punjab, one of the conspirators, Parvinder Singh of Jalandhar, who is said to have provided logistics for the escape was arrested by Uttar Pradesh police in Shamli district of that state. He was travelling in the Fortuner used in the escape, and a lot of arms and ammunition has been recovered from him, said sources. One of the cars suspected to have been used in the escape from prison, a Hyundai Verna, has also been found abandoned in Sohlu Majra village in Kaithal district of Haryana. It had two number plates. Six prisoners including dreaded Sikh militant, 49-year old Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo, had escaped from the high security Nabha jail this morning. Besides Mintoo, another militant Kashmir Singh and four gangsters -- Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gondar, Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol, Gurpreet Singh Sekhon and Amanpreet Tonda -- made good their escape. Sources said about a dozen people dressed in police uniforms came in four vehicles -- a Toyota Fortuner, Hyundai I-20, Maruti Swift and Hyundai Verna -- to the prison. The culprits claimed to be police officers and said they had brought two handcuffed prisoners to be handed over to the jail authorities. Allowed inside past the outer gate of the jail, they overpowered the guards inside, proceeding to batter one of them and asking to be given the keys to the interior door. The keys gave them entry into the interior of the jail, where the six prisoners were ready, waiting in a corridor. The culprits, who had automatic weapons, opened fire as cover for the escape, letting loose more 200 rounds. They bundled the prisoners into the four vehicles, with blankets as shrouds and drove away. It was over in half an hour, from 8.30 am to 9.00 am. Nobody was reported injured. It is suspected that the attackers had help from inside. Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Badal visiting Nabha Jail. | EPS Police have obtained CCTV footage from the jail and other nearby establishments of these vehicles fleeing withthe accused. An eyewitness said, "More than a dozen people came out of the jail premises firing. It sounded like Diwali. They drove down, and on seeing that the railway crossing was closed, they turned around their vehicles and went on to the other side. "They came in cars and had brought blankets with them in which there were weapons. The prisoners were hid under the blankets, said another eyewitness Sukhwinder Singh. While confirming that the prisoners had escaped, Punjab Director General of Police (Law and Order) HS Dhillon said, "Police have cordoned off the area and high alert has been sounded in the state. Suresh Arora, Director General of Police, Punjab, did not rule out the connivance of jail staff and said that their role was being investigated. Sources said intelligence reports had alerted the police of a possible jail break. A massive search operation is going through the state to nab the accused on the run; borders with neighbouring states Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan have been sealed, all vehicles are being checked and these states have also been alerted. Militant Mintoo had beeb involved in several cases of militancy and was wanted in 10 terrorist cases he and his operative Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi were arrested from Delhi airport on November 7, 2014 as the duo was deported from Thailand. Gopi was tasked with executing the targeted killings of Hindu leaders in 2013, which the Police foiled. Gangster Gondar hails from Sarawan Bodla village in Lambi assembly segment and is a prime suspect in the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan. He was arrested in December last year but later escaped from the custody of Ropar police. But he was arrested once more by the state police. His gang was primarily involved in highway robberies and murders, said police. The Nabha jail is a high security jail and houses only top terrorists and gangsters. It has three layers of security besides electronic surveillance. With assembly elections just two months away, the security breach assumes bigger proportions. The Punjab Government has suspended Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) MK Tiwari, a 1987 batch IPS officer, and dismissed Nabha jail superintendent Paramjit Singh Sandhu and deputy superintendent Karanjit Singh Sandhu from service. State home secretary Jagpal Singh Sandhu has been told to inquire into the incident besides a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed under the intelligence department. "We have suspended the ADGP and dismissed two jail department officials. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident which will be done by home secretary and he will submit the report within three days, said Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. Ropar Police have been asked to grill another gangster moved there last week from New Nabha jail Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked for a report of the incident from the state government. Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh has charged the Badal Government with connivance in the Nabha jail break, saying the Khalistani militants and other dreaded gangsters had been deliberately freed from prison for use by the Akalis during the Assembly elections. Alleging that the brazen daylight jail break would not have been possible without government complicity, Amarinder said the Badal-led Akalis were setting the stage for large-scale violence, even terror attacks, in the state ahead of the polls. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) National Spokesman and in-charge of partys affairs in Punjab, Sanjay Singh demanded that Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal and Jail Minister Sohan Singh Thandal should resign from their posts at once owning direct responsibility for the Nabha jail break. Singh said that Sukhbir Badal, being the Home Minister of Punjab, had no moral right to keep the Home portfolio even for a day as under him the state is being driven towards anarchy day by day. Meanwhile Sukhbir Singh Badal visited Nabha jail in the afternoon to get first-hand information about the sensational jail escape. Also, Haryana Police has been put on high alert and security beefed up at crucial points. Details of all 6 Escapees: 1: Harminder Singh alias Mintoo, chief of Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF), was booked by the Punjab Police in 10 cases of terror. He was born in 1967 at Dalli village of Jalandhar district and his family shifted to Goa in 1980s. He travelled to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar using a fake Malaysian passport and documents to travel. He had set-up his base in Thailand before being deported in 2014. 2: Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder is a gangster and prime suspect in the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan and was arrested in December 2015. He was moved to Nabha jail after a clash with a rival gang in Ropar jail. 3: Gurpreet Singh Sekhon alias Sonu Mudki is a suspected accomplice in a murder case during 2012 elections and belongs to a family of brick-kiln owners. He faces 13 criminal cases in Ferozepur, Faridkot, Moga, Bathinda and Chandigarh. 4: Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol is a Dubai-based NRI who owns a transport business and is the prime suspect in the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan and is facing six criminal cases. He is the son of a former deputy director of animal husbandry Department and is originally from Moga district. 5: Amandeep Dhotian, a gangster, was arrested last year by Amritsar Police as he was involved in theft cases including carjacking and belongs to the Dhotian gang. 6: Kashmir Singh, who hails from Galwandi village under Khanna police district is a militant. He had shot at Punjab Shiv Sena leader Harvinder Soni in Gurdaspur last year, and was booked for attempt to murder.
Namita bajpai By

Express News Service

LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday turned educator, teaching a mammoth crowd in Kushinagar, largely consisting of rural masses from eastern UP, how easy it was to do the cashless transaction through smartphone apps to minimise the scope for black money and corruption. It was as easy as sending a WhatsApp message, he said.

Addressing a parivartan maharally in the land of Buddhas parinirvana, the PM sought 50 days time and peoples support in ridding the country of black money through demonetisation.

He exhorted the educated sections of the society, especially the youth, to teach people the use of apps on smartphones to encourage transactions without currency notes.

Saying that the country was ready for the much-needed change, the Prime Minister reiterated his governments resolve to root out corruption completely. I knew it was a difficult decision. I was aware of the hardships you all will go through but could take such a step just because of your unflinching support, he told the audience, adding We are late. Other countries had embarked up on this road much earlier. Now time is here to act and wipe out corruption from the country once and for all.

Attacking the opposition for its stand over demonetisation, the Prime Minister said: Were talking about stopping black money and corruption, they (Opposition) are talking about stopping the country. Is it logical? he asked the gathering, which replied with a resound No.

Targeting the Samajwadi Party government in UP, Modi accused it of ignoring the farmers of the state. If they have resolved their internal feud, now they should pay some attention to the issues plaguing the farming community. I dont think this UP government will be able to do any work. Theyre not even interested in this, he observed.

I want to tell the state government that if they have time and are concerned about the farmers of the state, implement the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana tp protect their crop against natural and other calamities, said the Prime Minister.

Earlier, starting his speech in Bhojpuri, the Prime Minister reiterated his conviction to serve all the sections of society, including poor, deprived and downtrodden.

My government is committed to serve you. I am your servant and determined to bring about conspicuous improvement in your life, said the PM at the rally attended by top party leaders, including Union Minister Kalraj Mishra, MPs Yogi Adityanath and Rajesh Pandey along with Reeta Bahuhuna Joshi the senior member and local MLA Swami Prasad Maurya. BJP state in-charge Om Mathur and state chief Keshav Maurya were also present.

Modi said that he owed a lot to Uttar Pradesh. I am grateful to the people of UP.

They strengthened my hands by sending me and my party men to Parliament with an overwhelming support. I am here to solve all your problems, he adding development of UP cant be done without the progress of eastern UP.

Asking the state government to implement all the development scheme with due honesty and resolve, the Prime Minister said that the Centre was ready to bear all the expenses on the development but the state government too would have to come forward for execution.

LUCKNOW: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday turned educator, teaching a mammoth crowd in Kushinagar, largely consisting of rural masses from eastern UP, how easy it was to do the cashless transaction through smartphone apps to minimise the scope for black money and corruption. It was as easy as sending a WhatsApp message, he said. Addressing a parivartan maharally in the land of Buddhas parinirvana, the PM sought 50 days time and peoples support in ridding the country of black money through demonetisation. He exhorted the educated sections of the society, especially the youth, to teach people the use of apps on smartphones to encourage transactions without currency notes. Saying that the country was ready for the much-needed change, the Prime Minister reiterated his governments resolve to root out corruption completely. I knew it was a difficult decision. I was aware of the hardships you all will go through but could take such a step just because of your unflinching support, he told the audience, adding We are late. Other countries had embarked up on this road much earlier. Now time is here to act and wipe out corruption from the country once and for all. Attacking the opposition for its stand over demonetisation, the Prime Minister said: Were talking about stopping black money and corruption, they (Opposition) are talking about stopping the country. Is it logical? he asked the gathering, which replied with a resound No. Targeting the Samajwadi Party government in UP, Modi accused it of ignoring the farmers of the state. If they have resolved their internal feud, now they should pay some attention to the issues plaguing the farming community. I dont think this UP government will be able to do any work. Theyre not even interested in this, he observed. I want to tell the state government that if they have time and are concerned about the farmers of the state, implement the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana tp protect their crop against natural and other calamities, said the Prime Minister. Earlier, starting his speech in Bhojpuri, the Prime Minister reiterated his conviction to serve all the sections of society, including poor, deprived and downtrodden. My government is committed to serve you. I am your servant and determined to bring about conspicuous improvement in your life, said the PM at the rally attended by top party leaders, including Union Minister Kalraj Mishra, MPs Yogi Adityanath and Rajesh Pandey along with Reeta Bahuhuna Joshi the senior member and local MLA Swami Prasad Maurya. BJP state in-charge Om Mathur and state chief Keshav Maurya were also present. Modi said that he owed a lot to Uttar Pradesh. I am grateful to the people of UP. They strengthened my hands by sending me and my party men to Parliament with an overwhelming support. I am here to solve all your problems, he adding development of UP cant be done without the progress of eastern UP. Asking the state government to implement all the development scheme with due honesty and resolve, the Prime Minister said that the Centre was ready to bear all the expenses on the development but the state government too would have to come forward for execution.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: BJP national president Amit Shah likened demonetisation to a giant flood that would rid the country of black money and corruption. He was speaking at the Ekta Morcha, organised by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Morcha.

He said that opposition parties that often behave like a snake and mongoose, have united against Notebandi' because of their vested interests. Noting that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had supported demonetisation, Shah congratulated the leader for supporting the Central governments move against black-money.

"Is there black money with the poor? The only people who have been affected by the move are those who have lost black money. Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal have lost sleep because of the governments' move," he added.

He said BJP had come to power promising to curb corruption. For the past two-and-a-half years, there hasnt been any instance of corruption by the government. It has provided a transparent administration during the period.



Of all the state governments in the country, Karnataka is the most corrupt, he said. All the schemes that were introduced by the Centre were for the benefit of the poor. However, none of the schemes have reached the poor due to inaction of the state government, he added.

BENGALURU: BJP national president Amit Shah likened demonetisation to a giant flood that would rid the country of black money and corruption. He was speaking at the Ekta Morcha, organised by the Karnataka State Backward Classes Morcha. He said that opposition parties that often behave like a snake and mongoose, have united against Notebandi' because of their vested interests. Noting that Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had supported demonetisation, Shah congratulated the leader for supporting the Central governments move against black-money. "Is there black money with the poor? The only people who have been affected by the move are those who have lost black money. Opposition leaders like Rahul Gandhi and Arvind Kejriwal have lost sleep because of the governments' move," he added. He said BJP had come to power promising to curb corruption. For the past two-and-a-half years, there hasnt been any instance of corruption by the government. It has provided a transparent administration during the period. Of all the state governments in the country, Karnataka is the most corrupt, he said. All the schemes that were introduced by the Centre were for the benefit of the poor. However, none of the schemes have reached the poor due to inaction of the state government, he added.
By Express News Service

On January 2 this year, suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in army fatigues attacked the high security Pathankot Air Force base. All the militants were killed in the attack in which seven defence personnel also lost their lives.

That is an incident not likely to be forgotten easily. But there have been other incidents in Punjab, most of them political murders, that have kept citizens in a state of fear. Here are five such instances.

On January 18, two unidentified assailants fired on RSS leader Naresh Kumar in Ludhiana. he was injured in the attack.

On February 16, Deepak, son of Shiv Sena leader Vinay Jalandhari was shot and injured in Jalandhar.

On April 4, Chand Kaur, wife of former head of the Namdhari sect late Satguru Jagjit Singh was shot dead by two unidentified bike-borne assailants at the Bhaini Sahib Gurdwara complex near Ludhiana.

On April 23, two unidentified motorcycle borne assailants gunned down Punjab Shiv Sena Leader Durga Parsad Gupta in Khanna.

On August 7, two motorcycle borne assailants shot at vice-president of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Punjab, Brig Jagdish Gagneja (Retd), in Jalandhar. He died in hospital after a month.

On January 2 this year, suspected Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists in army fatigues attacked the high security Pathankot Air Force base. All the militants were killed in the attack in which seven defence personnel also lost their lives. That is an incident not likely to be forgotten easily. But there have been other incidents in Punjab, most of them political murders, that have kept citizens in a state of fear. Here are five such instances. On January 18, two unidentified assailants fired on RSS leader Naresh Kumar in Ludhiana. he was injured in the attack. On February 16, Deepak, son of Shiv Sena leader Vinay Jalandhari was shot and injured in Jalandhar. On April 4, Chand Kaur, wife of former head of the Namdhari sect late Satguru Jagjit Singh was shot dead by two unidentified bike-borne assailants at the Bhaini Sahib Gurdwara complex near Ludhiana. On April 23, two unidentified motorcycle borne assailants gunned down Punjab Shiv Sena Leader Durga Parsad Gupta in Khanna. On August 7, two motorcycle borne assailants shot at vice-president of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Punjab, Brig Jagdish Gagneja (Retd), in Jalandhar. He died in hospital after a month.
By Express News Service

PATNA: Bihars ruling JD(U) on Sunday continued to attack BJP over the purchase of several parcels of land in the state by the saffron partys leaders, accusing them of paying by cash for the land and even providing more than one PAN number for some leaders in whose name the land parcels were purchased.

BJP leaders, however, rubbished the charges and insisted that the purchase of land parcels in 25 districts of the state was done entirely in accordance to the law.

While BJP claims to have paid for the land parcels through RTGS, a look at documents such as sale deeds reveals that cash payments were made for at least seven land parcels in the districts of Araria, Arwal, Bagaha, Kaimur, Shekhpura and Sitamarhi, said JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar.

Stating that these purchases were made in September and October, he wanted BJP to reveal where it found such large sums of cash. He also said in several other districts, it is not clear whether the payments were made by cash or cheque or through RTGS.

All documents bear the name of BJP national president Amit Shah as the buyer, but in at least one case, the buyers name is mentioned as state BJP leader Lalbabu Prasad. Photos and fingerprints of Prasad are also placed on this sale deed, said Neeraj, demanding explanation from BJP.

Sanjay Singh, another JD(U) spokesperson, accused BJP leaders of providing more than one PAN number of the buyers in the land purchase documents. In four sale deeds, the personal PAN of (state BJP leader) Dilip Jaiswal has been mentioned and BJPs PAN is mentioned on one sale deed. BJP must reveal why personal PAN numbers of its leaders were mentioned in these documents if the land was purchased for the partys offices, he said.

Whereas BJP national president Amit Shah authorised the partys Bihar unit on February 16 to buy land in the state, only 11 of the 31 sale deeds have this authorisation letter attached. BJP must disclose the reason and also tell the people from which account in which bank the money came for purchase of all these land parcels in Bihar, said Neeraj Kumar.

PATNA: Bihars ruling JD(U) on Sunday continued to attack BJP over the purchase of several parcels of land in the state by the saffron partys leaders, accusing them of paying by cash for the land and even providing more than one PAN number for some leaders in whose name the land parcels were purchased. BJP leaders, however, rubbished the charges and insisted that the purchase of land parcels in 25 districts of the state was done entirely in accordance to the law. While BJP claims to have paid for the land parcels through RTGS, a look at documents such as sale deeds reveals that cash payments were made for at least seven land parcels in the districts of Araria, Arwal, Bagaha, Kaimur, Shekhpura and Sitamarhi, said JD(U) spokesperson Neeraj Kumar. Stating that these purchases were made in September and October, he wanted BJP to reveal where it found such large sums of cash. He also said in several other districts, it is not clear whether the payments were made by cash or cheque or through RTGS. All documents bear the name of BJP national president Amit Shah as the buyer, but in at least one case, the buyers name is mentioned as state BJP leader Lalbabu Prasad. Photos and fingerprints of Prasad are also placed on this sale deed, said Neeraj, demanding explanation from BJP. Sanjay Singh, another JD(U) spokesperson, accused BJP leaders of providing more than one PAN number of the buyers in the land purchase documents. In four sale deeds, the personal PAN of (state BJP leader) Dilip Jaiswal has been mentioned and BJPs PAN is mentioned on one sale deed. BJP must reveal why personal PAN numbers of its leaders were mentioned in these documents if the land was purchased for the partys offices, he said. Whereas BJP national president Amit Shah authorised the partys Bihar unit on February 16 to buy land in the state, only 11 of the 31 sale deeds have this authorisation letter attached. BJP must disclose the reason and also tell the people from which account in which bank the money came for purchase of all these land parcels in Bihar, said Neeraj Kumar.
By PTI

CHANDIGARH: Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' who along with five others escaped from the high-security jail in Nabha, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014.



The KLF chief was brought to India along with his key aide Gurpeet Singh 'Gopi' after Punjab Police, in coordination with central agencies, traced them in Thailand, a senior police official said.



Mintoo was wanted in ten terror offences while Gopi was tasked to target Hindu outfit leaders in 2013, which were foiled by Punjab Police, in a bid to disturb the peace in the state.



The then Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini had then claimed that Pakistan's spy agency ISI was "making concerted efforts" to use terror outfits like KLF and Babbar Khalsa to revive terrorism in Punjab, with a focus on carrying out killings of prominent leaders belonging to a particular community.



To strengthen KLF, he had developed independent contacts with the foreign-based supporters and fundraisers of terrorism, the official said.



When he was in Pakistan, Mintoo worked with Babbar Khalsa International. But, but being ambitious and a good organiser, he developed independent contacts with Pakistan's ISI and Europe and North America-based terrorist sympathisers and fund raisers and had planned to raise his own outfit, police had then said.



During his stay in Pakistan, he had visited Europe in 2010 to establish contacts and in June 2013, he left Pakistan for an extensive tour of Europe lasting 11 months, police had then said.



In South East Asia, the KLF chief had travelled to Laos, Cambodia, Burma, besides Thailand where he had established a base, police had said.



The counter-intelligence wing of Punjab police had been tracking them and shared intelligence inputs with the Central agencies. It was found that Mintoo was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of one Gurdeep Singh.



A two-member team of counter intelligence wing of Punjab police had camped in Thailand for three weeks.



Harminder had been influenced by the radical ideology and had developed contacts with Pakistan-based terrorist leaders particularly Wadhawa Singh, the chief of Babbar Khalsa International-another militant outfit, police had then said.

CHANDIGARH: Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' who along with five others escaped from the high-security jail in Nabha, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014. The KLF chief was brought to India along with his key aide Gurpeet Singh 'Gopi' after Punjab Police, in coordination with central agencies, traced them in Thailand, a senior police official said. Mintoo was wanted in ten terror offences while Gopi was tasked to target Hindu outfit leaders in 2013, which were foiled by Punjab Police, in a bid to disturb the peace in the state. The then Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini had then claimed that Pakistan's spy agency ISI was "making concerted efforts" to use terror outfits like KLF and Babbar Khalsa to revive terrorism in Punjab, with a focus on carrying out killings of prominent leaders belonging to a particular community. To strengthen KLF, he had developed independent contacts with the foreign-based supporters and fundraisers of terrorism, the official said. When he was in Pakistan, Mintoo worked with Babbar Khalsa International. But, but being ambitious and a good organiser, he developed independent contacts with Pakistan's ISI and Europe and North America-based terrorist sympathisers and fund raisers and had planned to raise his own outfit, police had then said. During his stay in Pakistan, he had visited Europe in 2010 to establish contacts and in June 2013, he left Pakistan for an extensive tour of Europe lasting 11 months, police had then said. In South East Asia, the KLF chief had travelled to Laos, Cambodia, Burma, besides Thailand where he had established a base, police had said. The counter-intelligence wing of Punjab police had been tracking them and shared intelligence inputs with the Central agencies. It was found that Mintoo was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of one Gurdeep Singh. A two-member team of counter intelligence wing of Punjab police had camped in Thailand for three weeks. Harminder had been influenced by the radical ideology and had developed contacts with Pakistan-based terrorist leaders particularly Wadhawa Singh, the chief of Babbar Khalsa International-another militant outfit, police had then said.
By Express News Service

PATNA: A gang of liquor smugglers operating in a village near Bihar capital Patna fired at a police team soon after it arrived to raid the site on Sunday. The policeman also fired back at the smugglers, who managed to flee.

No policeman was hurt in this exchange of fire. Two liquor traders were arrested for violation of the prohibition law. Two rifles were also recovered at the site. A combing operation is on to arrest the smugglers who escaped, said Patna Senior SP Manu Maharaj.

Nearly 50 rounds of fire were set off by the policeman at the smugglers in retaliation in the incident near Nanuara village in Masaurhi block, said Rohan Kumar, the station house officer of Dhanrua police station.

The smugglers, he said, had fired as many rounds at the policemen. The raiding police team had arrived in the village after getting tip-off about gathering of the liquor smugglers there.

It is believed that local villagers had been cooperating with the liquor smugglers to continue and spread their business in the locality even after total prohibition was implemented in the state. Police are investigating to identify such villagers, said Maharaj.

Police personnel from eight police stations in the area have been deployed in the combing operation to nab the absconding smugglers, said officials.

In Barachatti in Gaya district, a liquor smuggler was arrested on Sunday and at least 1,000 pouches of country liquor were recovered from his possession.

Prohibition Day was observed statewide on Saturday with seminars and awareness marches organised in every district by women, schoolchildren, politicians and academicians. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in his address at a function in Patna that there was no possibility of a rollback of the prohibition decision.

PATNA: A gang of liquor smugglers operating in a village near Bihar capital Patna fired at a police team soon after it arrived to raid the site on Sunday. The policeman also fired back at the smugglers, who managed to flee. No policeman was hurt in this exchange of fire. Two liquor traders were arrested for violation of the prohibition law. Two rifles were also recovered at the site. A combing operation is on to arrest the smugglers who escaped, said Patna Senior SP Manu Maharaj. Nearly 50 rounds of fire were set off by the policeman at the smugglers in retaliation in the incident near Nanuara village in Masaurhi block, said Rohan Kumar, the station house officer of Dhanrua police station. The smugglers, he said, had fired as many rounds at the policemen. The raiding police team had arrived in the village after getting tip-off about gathering of the liquor smugglers there. It is believed that local villagers had been cooperating with the liquor smugglers to continue and spread their business in the locality even after total prohibition was implemented in the state. Police are investigating to identify such villagers, said Maharaj. Police personnel from eight police stations in the area have been deployed in the combing operation to nab the absconding smugglers, said officials. In Barachatti in Gaya district, a liquor smuggler was arrested on Sunday and at least 1,000 pouches of country liquor were recovered from his possession. Prohibition Day was observed statewide on Saturday with seminars and awareness marches organised in every district by women, schoolchildren, politicians and academicians. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in his address at a function in Patna that there was no possibility of a rollback of the prohibition decision.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said had he been the Finance Minister, he would have resigned from the post if the Prime Minister insisted on demonetisation. "Had the Prime Minister told me 'I have decided to declare as illegal tenders Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes', my advice to him would have been not to do it. Don't take the decision. "I would have given him facts and figures. But, had he still said 'Sorry, this is my decision and I will do it', let me tell you quite candidly, I would have resigned," said the former Union finance minister.

He was replying to a question at the Delhi Literature Festival on what would he have done had he been in Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's place. Attacking the government over demonetisation, Chidambaram claimed that the move will not meet the objectives of curbing corruption, counterfeit currencies and black marketeering as spelt out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, he added that the "only short-term benefits" of it would result in people shifting towards digital transactions in the urban areas.

Criticising the Centre, Chidambaram claimed that sufficient information on the ramifications of demonetisation was not provided to the Prime Minister and added that even the Chief Economic Advisor was not aware of the move. He said when he held the office of the Finance Minister, it came to his knowledge that one of his predecessors had constituted a committee on demonetisation, but did not name the predecessor or specify the period.

Chidambaram has presented nine Union budgets. "The report of the CBDT was against demonetisation. No one considered demonetisation," he said, adding that similar steps were taken in 1946 and again, in 1978 during Morarji Desai's regime.

Chidambaram said while the demonetisation decision was taken in utmost secrecy, it would be wrong to assume that no one in the opposition could have been taken into confidence. "If you can't consult the opposition, the government should have consulted its own former finance minister Yashwant Sinha. It should have asked former prime minister Manmohan Singh.

A decision of this magnitude ought to be taken at least (in consultation) with Sinha and Singh," he said. The Congress leader said although the Prime Minister has asked for 50 days for the situation to ease out, "putting the poor under this for 50 days is torture".

"If you take away the livelihood of the poor for 50 days...there is a dimension to every economic decision the government takes as well as ethical and political dimensions. "Some decisions may be inherently good, but if they are ethically or morally sad, then the governments oblige by not taking such decisions. "If you have taken a decision, which has virtually driven a large number of people to borrow money, then it's completely unethical, immoral," Chidambaram said.

The Congress leader said merely opposing the government's demonetisation decision did not make him or his party "supporters of black money". He said somebody should have told the Prime Minister that you cannot withdraw 86 per cent of the currency notes (from circulation) overnight and not infuse the number of notes in a few days.

"I don't think the Prime Minister was told that the two high denomination notes accounted for 86 per cent of the cash in circulation. I don't think he was told that you would be withdrawing 2,300 crore notes, but the capacity of the printing press is 300 crore per month and it will take seven months to match up to that figure," said the former Union finance minister.

NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram today said had he been the Finance Minister, he would have resigned from the post if the Prime Minister insisted on demonetisation. "Had the Prime Minister told me 'I have decided to declare as illegal tenders Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes', my advice to him would have been not to do it. Don't take the decision. "I would have given him facts and figures. But, had he still said 'Sorry, this is my decision and I will do it', let me tell you quite candidly, I would have resigned," said the former Union finance minister. He was replying to a question at the Delhi Literature Festival on what would he have done had he been in Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's place. Attacking the government over demonetisation, Chidambaram claimed that the move will not meet the objectives of curbing corruption, counterfeit currencies and black marketeering as spelt out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, he added that the "only short-term benefits" of it would result in people shifting towards digital transactions in the urban areas. Criticising the Centre, Chidambaram claimed that sufficient information on the ramifications of demonetisation was not provided to the Prime Minister and added that even the Chief Economic Advisor was not aware of the move. He said when he held the office of the Finance Minister, it came to his knowledge that one of his predecessors had constituted a committee on demonetisation, but did not name the predecessor or specify the period. Chidambaram has presented nine Union budgets. "The report of the CBDT was against demonetisation. No one considered demonetisation," he said, adding that similar steps were taken in 1946 and again, in 1978 during Morarji Desai's regime. Chidambaram said while the demonetisation decision was taken in utmost secrecy, it would be wrong to assume that no one in the opposition could have been taken into confidence. "If you can't consult the opposition, the government should have consulted its own former finance minister Yashwant Sinha. It should have asked former prime minister Manmohan Singh. A decision of this magnitude ought to be taken at least (in consultation) with Sinha and Singh," he said. The Congress leader said although the Prime Minister has asked for 50 days for the situation to ease out, "putting the poor under this for 50 days is torture". "If you take away the livelihood of the poor for 50 days...there is a dimension to every economic decision the government takes as well as ethical and political dimensions. "Some decisions may be inherently good, but if they are ethically or morally sad, then the governments oblige by not taking such decisions. "If you have taken a decision, which has virtually driven a large number of people to borrow money, then it's completely unethical, immoral," Chidambaram said. The Congress leader said merely opposing the government's demonetisation decision did not make him or his party "supporters of black money". He said somebody should have told the Prime Minister that you cannot withdraw 86 per cent of the currency notes (from circulation) overnight and not infuse the number of notes in a few days. "I don't think the Prime Minister was told that the two high denomination notes accounted for 86 per cent of the cash in circulation. I don't think he was told that you would be withdrawing 2,300 crore notes, but the capacity of the printing press is 300 crore per month and it will take seven months to match up to that figure," said the former Union finance minister.
A grandfathers caring, carpentry and mentors later in life helped Roger Pedersen build a career that allowed him to salvage historic buildings and rebuild lives.

Roger, now 71, began his path on a Nebraska farm before his lifes journey would eventually take him to what became the Montana Department of Commerce for nearly 30 years and an array of volunteer service built upon a childhood interest sparked by his grandfather.

Soft spoken, he explained that his mother, Kathryn, and his sister Marilyn lived on his fathers parents farm outside of Grand Island, Nebraska. His father, Raymond, was in the South Pacific during World War II and served aboard a Navy destroyer as a gunner.

Raymond enjoyed cabinetry work, but Roger credits his grandfather, Carl, for his interest in construction.

Carl would build sheds, a barn that still stands, chicken coops, dog houses and worked on the farmhouse -- projects that showed Roger what could be done and the sense of accomplishment that came from those projects.

Once you start doing those things, it gives you satisfaction, Roger said.

Repairing the Model A Ford that his grandmother, Anna, used was what taught him about mechanical work, he said.

Raymond rejoined his family on the farm after the war. A civil service test opened the door to a career with the Social Security Administration that started in Island Park before it would take Kathryn and their children across Nebraska and then to Idaho and Colorado.

Roger was of high school age by 1960 and the oldest boy among the familys nine children when his father was transferred to Social Securitys Great Falls office.

His mother didnt work outside of the home. Nine children, Roger said, didnt allow her much time for that.

She was pretty strict on cleaning the house every Saturday, a lesson that didnt stick with him.

But Raymond and Kathryn sent their children to parochial grade school and high school. Her devotion to the Catholic Church, Roger said, is why he still attends church today.

Big house on the hill. Its tough to beat the cathedral. If youre having a bad day its a good place to go.

Raymonds and Kathryns work ethic helped guide their children through life.

I did everything when it came to jobs, Roger said.

Delivering newspapers, working for a tent and awning company were part of what shaped him as did driving truck for Cascade Countys road department and laboring at the former Anaconda Mining Co. copper smelter in Great Falls.

He worked construction while in college and was both a laborer and a hod-carrier, a job where he brought bricks and mortar to bricklayers.

His was a natural progression to carpentry. He built houses for Egbert Construction in Bozeman. It was also a great learning experience, he said, that got him interested in housing.

Everett Egberts work ethic, attention to detail and knowledge inspired Roger. Being promoted to foreman in his mid-20s was yet another step in building the man that communities, organizations and individuals in dire need of housing would benefit from in later years.

Roger held many jobs with the state agency that became the Department of Commerce. He used his academic skills from a masters degree at Montana State University on behalf of planners in Western Montana. His participation in the states Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation Housing Program, saved a lot of buildings, he said.

Money the state invested in those restoration projects allowed people and families with low incomes to have safe and affordable housing -- better housing than they could have afforded on their own in the market, he said.

The Atlas Block on the Downtown Walking Mall is an example of an old building that was saved and provided people with affordable housing, Roger said.

While what he learned from carpentry and construction served him at the Department of Commerce, he put that knowledge to work as a volunteer for government and private organizations.

Its the reason why Pam Attardo (the historic preservation officer for Lewis and Clark County and the city of Helena) likes to put me to work on anything old she gets her hands on because I enjoy it, and we can fix the buildings to her specifications, he said.

The one-room school with its vestibule in Unionville from Montanas frontier days showcases his skills and those of other volunteers who joined Attardo for this historic preservation project.

Basically anything that needs to be fixed, she likes me to help do it, Roger said and added that he and others who volunteer with Lewis and Clark County Heritage Tourism Council would like to try to rehabilitate the trolley shop at the countys fairgrounds.

Volunteer work on behalf of historic preservation, he explained, was a combination of housing rehabilitation of beautiful, old buildings  and seeing what it did for the community and seeing what it did for the downtown and seeing what it did for the area.

Before his volunteer service on behalf of historic preservation, Roger was among those the Helena YWCA could count on to lend a hand.

He did carpentry and construction work on the 1918 three-story brick building that recently benefited from a roughly $2.5 million renovation, funded in part by two Community Development Block Grants -- one for housing and another for public facilities.

A walk past the Atlas Block reminds him of what hes accomplished as does passing by the two Helena homes he built and another he helped construct.

Rogers skills in construction led him to join those who wanted a Habitat for Humanity chapter in Helena. Hes one of the Helena Area Habitat for Humanitys founding members. He was also its first president and laughs as he recounts using a carpenters hammer at one of the meetings when no gavel was available.

Those were the good old days, he said.

He sees his work now on behalf of historic preservation as part of an effort aimed at urban renewal. But instead of demolishing old buildings as was done in the 1960s, this new focus on urban renewal restores and preserves the past.

It makes me feel like I did something that helps the community retain its character, he said.

If the buildings gone, a lot of the history goes with it.

All I have to do is walk around Helena and see that it still stands. Not only the building still stands, but the history that we saved still stands.

And this willingness to stand back and take into perspective what was accomplished from a days work is another of the lifes lessons learned from one of the foremen he worked for as a carpenter.

He and Attardo have done the same thing. On their last day of work to restore the Unionville school, they took measure of what had been achieved.

We stood back and we looked at it, and she said, Rog, I think we did it.

He paused in this reflection and smiled. That building will probably stand another 100 years, he said.
Prabhu Chawla By

Mystery is the imprimatur of any mass leaders mystique. This theory was borne out when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made 85 per cent of his nations currency worthless in a single strokethe first leader of any democratic country to do so. His administrative decision caused tremors both in the cosy bedrooms of palatial homes and the paved earth floors of jhuggis. Even after three weeks of the cash crisis, none of the know-all pundits, self -acclaimed Modi confidants and party functionaries are able to explain the logic or reason behind the PMs big gamble when his authority and popularity were never in doubt. The reason lies in his enigmatic personalityModi is a man in search of headlines and ideas. He realises that a mass leader has to stay on in big point size and survive with giant life size, with the mantra, Hate my government, but dont ignore me.

No survey was needed to reassure Modi that he is Indias most popular PM. He has once again proved only he knows how to market Brand Modi using a new wrapper and tag line at frequent intervals. Modi is not just the PM. He is a Fast Moving Political Product (FMPP), which needs periodic reviews of marketing strategy; to not just retain his old base but also to expand it into new and unexplored markets. Modi is his own brand creator, manager and marketer. As multinational companies open more outlets in rural areas, the PM chose to target traditional supporters of other parties.

The BJP has always enjoyed the nationwide support of the middle class. Modi expanded the partys base during the 2014 elections by shattering caste and regional coalitions. He turned corruption and nationalism into twin weapons to mobilise all of India and won a majority for his party. Since then, he has been taking his opponents by surprise with a series of effective ideas like Swachch Bharat, Digital India, Stand Up India, Make in India, Income Disclosure Scheme, Jan Dhan Yojna, the dismantling of Planning Commission etc., which made it impossible for his opponents to pin him down. Those who know Modis style are used to him thinking out of the box and come up with a grand gesture, which will make him the fulcrum around which, revolves not just India but the global narrative as well. Demonetisation shook awake many international institutions, think tanks and media houses to take note of the Indian PM as a leader who always walks the talk.

It was for the second time in a century that almost every Indian hit the streets for a cause. The leaders of the freedom struggle brought India on the streets to expel the British and wrest political freedom. Modi created a new freedom struggleagainst black money. The move forced Indians to queue up at banks and ATMs to withdraw or deposit their money. The national conversation is now about Modi, even in the remote areas of the Northeast. The vital question is whether he can cleanse the Indian economy of tainted money. If the black money battle was simply to win the war of perception, Modi has won decisively. There is hardly a survey or an opinion poll that hasnt given him the thumbs up for his surgical strike on black money. There is hardly any leader from any party who has questioned his intent. His admirers have found a new messiaha modern Robin Hood who takes from the rich and gives to the poor. His detractors, however, consider him a leader lacking a long-term perspective and administrative skills.

Predictably, the national discourse is less on the economics of demonetisation and more about the politics of the PM. Hardly any speaker in Parliament questioned the government on demonitisations economic philosophy. All they wanted was for Modi to be present in both the Houses to be at the receiving end of vicious personal attacks. On the other hand, the Treasury benches converted the debate into nationalism vs. anti-nationalism. Those who were speaking against the pathetic implementation of the move were termed sponsors of terrorism and black marketers. In doing so, they themselves fell into the trap laid by the Opposition parties who wanted Modi and not the currency crackdown to become the subject of discussion and a target of bile.

Little doubt exists that all the institutions and individuals, from the Reserve Bank of India, Finance Ministry to other agencies, failed miserably to anticipate the problems rising from the unavailability of new currency. Since none of the esteemed personalities who are stewards of the financial establishment have ever felt the pulse of rural economy and customs, they believed the entire country would use technology and the medium of business to make demonetisation a success. None of them grasped the impact of the withdrawal of 85 per cent of the total currency on the poor and those who lack access to banking institutions. Even the 25 amendments issued later to make daily living easy have complicated the life of the common man, who depends more on hard cash than plastic money. In fact, it is the Finance Ministry, which has provided enough ammunition to the Opposition to paint the PM as a person who hardly ever consults his colleagues or is knowledgeable about practical economics. They are predicting that the economy, currently growing at over 7 per cent, will be hit badly. They argue that delay in disbursing cash to farmers for sowing will adversely affect foodgrain production and excessive interest-bearing deposits with banks will make them unprofitable in the long run.

But Modi has to be careful about the team, which is expected to assist him to market Brand Modi. On the face of it, most of them lack the knowledge and outreach tools to connect with the masses. Above all, Modi needs to engage with grassroots workers by way of personal interaction and not through apps. He should avoid those who are well-connected with the media but fare poorly with the people. Since he has completed half his term, Modi has to think of a much bigger idea than demonetisation to stay ahead of his detractors. Brand Modi is not a static label; expect more unexpected decisions in the run up to 2019. His philosophy of creating fear among the rich and hope in the poor will ensure handsome political dividends ahead only if it moves from the desks of file pushers and political schemers sitting in North Block and reaches We the People.



Prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com

Follow him on Twitter@PrabhuChawla

Mystery is the imprimatur of any mass leaders mystique. This theory was borne out when Prime Minister Narendra Modi made 85 per cent of his nations currency worthless in a single strokethe first leader of any democratic country to do so. His administrative decision caused tremors both in the cosy bedrooms of palatial homes and the paved earth floors of jhuggis. Even after three weeks of the cash crisis, none of the know-all pundits, self -acclaimed Modi confidants and party functionaries are able to explain the logic or reason behind the PMs big gamble when his authority and popularity were never in doubt. The reason lies in his enigmatic personalityModi is a man in search of headlines and ideas. He realises that a mass leader has to stay on in big point size and survive with giant life size, with the mantra, Hate my government, but dont ignore me. No survey was needed to reassure Modi that he is Indias most popular PM. He has once again proved only he knows how to market Brand Modi using a new wrapper and tag line at frequent intervals. Modi is not just the PM. He is a Fast Moving Political Product (FMPP), which needs periodic reviews of marketing strategy; to not just retain his old base but also to expand it into new and unexplored markets. Modi is his own brand creator, manager and marketer. As multinational companies open more outlets in rural areas, the PM chose to target traditional supporters of other parties. The BJP has always enjoyed the nationwide support of the middle class. Modi expanded the partys base during the 2014 elections by shattering caste and regional coalitions. He turned corruption and nationalism into twin weapons to mobilise all of India and won a majority for his party. Since then, he has been taking his opponents by surprise with a series of effective ideas like Swachch Bharat, Digital India, Stand Up India, Make in India, Income Disclosure Scheme, Jan Dhan Yojna, the dismantling of Planning Commission etc., which made it impossible for his opponents to pin him down. Those who know Modis style are used to him thinking out of the box and come up with a grand gesture, which will make him the fulcrum around which, revolves not just India but the global narrative as well. Demonetisation shook awake many international institutions, think tanks and media houses to take note of the Indian PM as a leader who always walks the talk. It was for the second time in a century that almost every Indian hit the streets for a cause. The leaders of the freedom struggle brought India on the streets to expel the British and wrest political freedom. Modi created a new freedom struggleagainst black money. The move forced Indians to queue up at banks and ATMs to withdraw or deposit their money. The national conversation is now about Modi, even in the remote areas of the Northeast. The vital question is whether he can cleanse the Indian economy of tainted money. If the black money battle was simply to win the war of perception, Modi has won decisively. There is hardly a survey or an opinion poll that hasnt given him the thumbs up for his surgical strike on black money. There is hardly any leader from any party who has questioned his intent. His admirers have found a new messiaha modern Robin Hood who takes from the rich and gives to the poor. His detractors, however, consider him a leader lacking a long-term perspective and administrative skills. Predictably, the national discourse is less on the economics of demonetisation and more about the politics of the PM. Hardly any speaker in Parliament questioned the government on demonitisations economic philosophy. All they wanted was for Modi to be present in both the Houses to be at the receiving end of vicious personal attacks. On the other hand, the Treasury benches converted the debate into nationalism vs. anti-nationalism. Those who were speaking against the pathetic implementation of the move were termed sponsors of terrorism and black marketers. In doing so, they themselves fell into the trap laid by the Opposition parties who wanted Modi and not the currency crackdown to become the subject of discussion and a target of bile. Little doubt exists that all the institutions and individuals, from the Reserve Bank of India, Finance Ministry to other agencies, failed miserably to anticipate the problems rising from the unavailability of new currency. Since none of the esteemed personalities who are stewards of the financial establishment have ever felt the pulse of rural economy and customs, they believed the entire country would use technology and the medium of business to make demonetisation a success. None of them grasped the impact of the withdrawal of 85 per cent of the total currency on the poor and those who lack access to banking institutions. Even the 25 amendments issued later to make daily living easy have complicated the life of the common man, who depends more on hard cash than plastic money. In fact, it is the Finance Ministry, which has provided enough ammunition to the Opposition to paint the PM as a person who hardly ever consults his colleagues or is knowledgeable about practical economics. They are predicting that the economy, currently growing at over 7 per cent, will be hit badly. They argue that delay in disbursing cash to farmers for sowing will adversely affect foodgrain production and excessive interest-bearing deposits with banks will make them unprofitable in the long run. But Modi has to be careful about the team, which is expected to assist him to market Brand Modi. On the face of it, most of them lack the knowledge and outreach tools to connect with the masses. Above all, Modi needs to engage with grassroots workers by way of personal interaction and not through apps. He should avoid those who are well-connected with the media but fare poorly with the people. Since he has completed half his term, Modi has to think of a much bigger idea than demonetisation to stay ahead of his detractors. Brand Modi is not a static label; expect more unexpected decisions in the run up to 2019. His philosophy of creating fear among the rich and hope in the poor will ensure handsome political dividends ahead only if it moves from the desks of file pushers and political schemers sitting in North Block and reaches We the People. Prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com Follow him on Twitter@PrabhuChawla
Chandrakanth Viswanath By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Eleven-year-old Deepak posed a rather curious question to E R Joshi during a visit to his house in Muscat, Oman. Uncle, are you a Communist? Joshi, hailing from a Communist family at Kaippamangalam, Thrissur, though startled, wasted little time in acknowledging his political leanings.

So thats why youve named your son Fidel, Deepak told Joshi, a lecturer at the business department of the Higher College of Technology . A fifth grade student, Joshis 11-year-old son, is not the only Fidel from Kerala.

For Keralas socialist populace, the leader of the Cuban Revolution was a symbol of resistance. A shining beacon of hope. The name bridged two remote shores of Communism - one in the Arabian Sea and the other on the Caribbean isles. Cuba may be a small nation. But under Fidel Castro, it showed that a small country can defy US - a super power. Cuba survived right under its nose and emerged as a symbol of resistance. We knew many people for whom Cuba is a passion. So, when Iqbal Kuttippuram penned the story of a virtuous hardcore Communist in Arabikkatha, Cuba was the finest prefix for the protagonist. Hence was born Cuba Mukundan, said Lal Jose who directed the movie which critically narrated the transition of the Communist party.

Our leaders used to draw parallels with the Latin American country even when we discussed issues in Kerala. Curiously, many of them never had visited the country. But it showed their love for the country and their belief in Fidel, he said.

The name is glued to the psyche of Malayalis as evidenced by an incident after the election to the Kerala Assembly. A section was peeved over the selection of Pinarayi Vijayan as the Chief Minister. However, a surgical strike by CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury cleared the air. Comrade VS is like Fidel Castro for the party. What Fidel Castro is to Cuba, Comrade VS is to India, he said. Arguments vanished instantly. Whats in a name wrote the great English bard once. Everything, if one goes by the name - Fidel Castro.

KOCHI: Eleven-year-old Deepak posed a rather curious question to E R Joshi during a visit to his house in Muscat, Oman. Uncle, are you a Communist? Joshi, hailing from a Communist family at Kaippamangalam, Thrissur, though startled, wasted little time in acknowledging his political leanings. So thats why youve named your son Fidel, Deepak told Joshi, a lecturer at the business department of the Higher College of Technology . A fifth grade student, Joshis 11-year-old son, is not the only Fidel from Kerala. For Keralas socialist populace, the leader of the Cuban Revolution was a symbol of resistance. A shining beacon of hope. The name bridged two remote shores of Communism - one in the Arabian Sea and the other on the Caribbean isles. Cuba may be a small nation. But under Fidel Castro, it showed that a small country can defy US - a super power. Cuba survived right under its nose and emerged as a symbol of resistance. We knew many people for whom Cuba is a passion. So, when Iqbal Kuttippuram penned the story of a virtuous hardcore Communist in Arabikkatha, Cuba was the finest prefix for the protagonist. Hence was born Cuba Mukundan, said Lal Jose who directed the movie which critically narrated the transition of the Communist party. Our leaders used to draw parallels with the Latin American country even when we discussed issues in Kerala. Curiously, many of them never had visited the country. But it showed their love for the country and their belief in Fidel, he said. The name is glued to the psyche of Malayalis as evidenced by an incident after the election to the Kerala Assembly. A section was peeved over the selection of Pinarayi Vijayan as the Chief Minister. However, a surgical strike by CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury cleared the air. Comrade VS is like Fidel Castro for the party. What Fidel Castro is to Cuba, Comrade VS is to India, he said. Arguments vanished instantly. Whats in a name wrote the great English bard once. Everything, if one goes by the name - Fidel Castro.
By PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala today ordered a magisterial probe into the recent encounter of two Maoists at Nilambur forests in Malappuram district. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed Perinthalmanna Sub-Collector to conduct a comprehensive probe into the incident and submit a report.

The case, registered in connection with the encounter killing, was handed over to the Crime Branch, the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement. The government's decision came in the wake of CPI, a major partner in ruling LDF, and human rights activists coming out against the encounter of the Left rebels. Two Maoists- Kuppuswamy Devaraj (65), a central committee member of the outlawed outfit and Ajitha (45), were killed in an encounter with police in Nilambur forests on November 24.

The Crime Branch probe was ordered late last night by DGP Loknath Behara as the Supreme Court had in September 2014 laid down guidelines as per which in all cases of encounter deaths a mandatory registration of FIR and investigation by CID or any other independent agency was necessary. According to police, the Maoists had opened fire at a patrolling party following which police retaliated, killing the two.

The attack took place in a 500-acre forest area in the Western Ghats, they said. Improvised explosive devices, materials used to make explosives and explosive materials, solar panels, some battery chargers, a set of pen drives, a modem, an electronic tab, a pistol and 40 sacks of rice were also recovered from the hideout of the Maoists, police said.

Police also said the ultras fired at a police party on a combing operation in Nilambur area and two of them were killed in retaliatory firing. The search operations were undertaken by a 60-member elite team of the Thunderbolt Force, based on a tip-off that Maoists were camping in the area.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala today ordered a magisterial probe into the recent encounter of two Maoists at Nilambur forests in Malappuram district. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed Perinthalmanna Sub-Collector to conduct a comprehensive probe into the incident and submit a report. The case, registered in connection with the encounter killing, was handed over to the Crime Branch, the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement. The government's decision came in the wake of CPI, a major partner in ruling LDF, and human rights activists coming out against the encounter of the Left rebels. Two Maoists- Kuppuswamy Devaraj (65), a central committee member of the outlawed outfit and Ajitha (45), were killed in an encounter with police in Nilambur forests on November 24. The Crime Branch probe was ordered late last night by DGP Loknath Behara as the Supreme Court had in September 2014 laid down guidelines as per which in all cases of encounter deaths a mandatory registration of FIR and investigation by CID or any other independent agency was necessary. According to police, the Maoists had opened fire at a patrolling party following which police retaliated, killing the two. The attack took place in a 500-acre forest area in the Western Ghats, they said. Improvised explosive devices, materials used to make explosives and explosive materials, solar panels, some battery chargers, a set of pen drives, a modem, an electronic tab, a pistol and 40 sacks of rice were also recovered from the hideout of the Maoists, police said. Police also said the ultras fired at a police party on a combing operation in Nilambur area and two of them were killed in retaliatory firing. The search operations were undertaken by a 60-member elite team of the Thunderbolt Force, based on a tip-off that Maoists were camping in the area.
By Express News Service

KOCHI: A 48-year-old man committed suicide by shooting himself from below the neck, moments after his gun went-off accidentally at his son, police said. The incident happened around 9 AM on Sunday at Ayyampuzha in Angamaly, near here.

The deceased has been identified as Mathew K P, Kavunkal, Ayyampuzha, a security employee with a private firm. His son, Manu Mathew, 21, who sustained a minor injury on the head, is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Angamaly.

Police officers said, "We received information this morning (Sunday) from the local residents that the father shot his son allegedly following family feud and we reached the spot. The duo was lying in a pool of blood at their residence. Subsequently, we rushed Mathew to a hospital in our vehicle," said an officer with Ayyampuzha police station.

According to the officers, the locals stated that the duo engaged in a verbal duel and an irate Mathew, in a fit of rage took his gun, which he carries for his job at the security agency, and shot his son. Apparently, fearing that his son was dead, he fired himself to end his life too.

However, Ayyampuzha sub-inspector Joseph Thomas said, in his statement to police, son Manu told them that his father ended his life due to the mental trauma after his gun went-off accidentally while cleaning it, injuring his (Maus) head.

Fearing he may have killed his son, Mathew may have killed himself, said Manu to the police. Anyway we are conducting a detailed inquiry. A case has been registered on charges of careless handling of gun and unnatural death, he added.

Police recovered the gun from the spot. According to the hospital authorities, Mathew was brought dead. The condition of Manu, who sustained only a minor wound having a depth of 0.5 cm on his head, is stable. He is under observation for the next 24 hours.

Mathew is survived by wife Rosly and a daughter besides Manu.

KOCHI: A 48-year-old man committed suicide by shooting himself from below the neck, moments after his gun went-off accidentally at his son, police said. The incident happened around 9 AM on Sunday at Ayyampuzha in Angamaly, near here. The deceased has been identified as Mathew K P, Kavunkal, Ayyampuzha, a security employee with a private firm. His son, Manu Mathew, 21, who sustained a minor injury on the head, is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Angamaly. Police officers said, "We received information this morning (Sunday) from the local residents that the father shot his son allegedly following family feud and we reached the spot. The duo was lying in a pool of blood at their residence. Subsequently, we rushed Mathew to a hospital in our vehicle," said an officer with Ayyampuzha police station. According to the officers, the locals stated that the duo engaged in a verbal duel and an irate Mathew, in a fit of rage took his gun, which he carries for his job at the security agency, and shot his son. Apparently, fearing that his son was dead, he fired himself to end his life too. However, Ayyampuzha sub-inspector Joseph Thomas said, in his statement to police, son Manu told them that his father ended his life due to the mental trauma after his gun went-off accidentally while cleaning it, injuring his (Maus) head. Fearing he may have killed his son, Mathew may have killed himself, said Manu to the police. Anyway we are conducting a detailed inquiry. A case has been registered on charges of careless handling of gun and unnatural death, he added. Police recovered the gun from the spot. According to the hospital authorities, Mathew was brought dead. The condition of Manu, who sustained only a minor wound having a depth of 0.5 cm on his head, is stable. He is under observation for the next 24 hours. Mathew is survived by wife Rosly and a daughter besides Manu.
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said steps have been initiated to increase cashless transaction and reduce dependence on cash in day to day activities.

The Union Minister reviewed the situation after the demonetisation decision of the Centre at a high-level meeting of Central Government agencies here. Pradhan said 6,916 active Common Service Centres (CSCs) of the Union Information Technology Department working for financial inclusion will play a key role in increasing cashless transaction in Odisha. Officials from National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), Paradip Port Trust (PPT), Department of Posts and Telegraph, Food Corporation of India (FCI), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), East Coast Railway (ECoR), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) attended the meeting.

BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said steps have been initiated to increase cashless transaction and reduce dependence on cash in day to day activities. The Union Minister reviewed the situation after the demonetisation decision of the Centre at a high-level meeting of Central Government agencies here. Pradhan said 6,916 active Common Service Centres (CSCs) of the Union Information Technology Department working for financial inclusion will play a key role in increasing cashless transaction in Odisha. Officials from National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco), Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL), Paradip Port Trust (PPT), Department of Posts and Telegraph, Food Corporation of India (FCI), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), East Coast Railway (ECoR), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) attended the meeting.
By Express News Service

NIMAPARA : Prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been clamped at Chari Chowk here on Saturday after a group of agitators on hunger strike for the last nine days torched a police van and clashed with the cops.

On Saturday morning, agitators assembled near the Chowk in large numbers and when police reached the spot and tried to persuade them to withdraw the stir, a clash ensued.

Executive Magistrate, Nimapara promulgated Section 144 to maintain law and order.

A group of villagers, led by a social activist Santosh Pradhan, were on hunger strike infront of Chari Chowk hospital from November 18 demanding posting of specialist doctors in medicine, surgery and gynaecology department, increasing bed strength from 30 to 60, opening of rabies vaccination centre and blood storage unit in the CHC.

The irate mob engaged in an hot exchange of words with the police and pelted stones at them. Police retaliated by throwing bottles at the mob, said eyewitnesses.

To escape the mob wrath, police team led by IIC N Padhi entered a nearby shop and pulled down the shutter. Taking advantange, some miscreants threw petrol at the shop and were about to torch it when other police officials present at the spot overpowered the mob and rescued the police officers.

The agitators also blockade road at four places by burning tyres, disrupting movement of traffic for more than six hours.

On the other hand, some miscreants set the police van on fire. Nearly eight police officials were injured and more than 20 persons, including two women, have been detained for the attack.

Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi, Additional SP Banabihari Sahoo, Sub Collector Mudhusudan Das, SDPOs of Nimapara, Pipili and senior police officials of the district present during the attack brought the situation under control.

Out of eight demands, six were fulfilled by the administration, said Tehsildar SS Mohapatra.

Seven platoons of armed police are camping at Chari Chowk to prevent the incident from flaring up.

NIMAPARA : Prohibitory orders under Section 144 have been clamped at Chari Chowk here on Saturday after a group of agitators on hunger strike for the last nine days torched a police van and clashed with the cops. On Saturday morning, agitators assembled near the Chowk in large numbers and when police reached the spot and tried to persuade them to withdraw the stir, a clash ensued. Executive Magistrate, Nimapara promulgated Section 144 to maintain law and order. A group of villagers, led by a social activist Santosh Pradhan, were on hunger strike infront of Chari Chowk hospital from November 18 demanding posting of specialist doctors in medicine, surgery and gynaecology department, increasing bed strength from 30 to 60, opening of rabies vaccination centre and blood storage unit in the CHC. The irate mob engaged in an hot exchange of words with the police and pelted stones at them. Police retaliated by throwing bottles at the mob, said eyewitnesses. To escape the mob wrath, police team led by IIC N Padhi entered a nearby shop and pulled down the shutter. Taking advantange, some miscreants threw petrol at the shop and were about to torch it when other police officials present at the spot overpowered the mob and rescued the police officers. The agitators also blockade road at four places by burning tyres, disrupting movement of traffic for more than six hours. On the other hand, some miscreants set the police van on fire. Nearly eight police officials were injured and more than 20 persons, including two women, have been detained for the attack. Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi, Additional SP Banabihari Sahoo, Sub Collector Mudhusudan Das, SDPOs of Nimapara, Pipili and senior police officials of the district present during the attack brought the situation under control. Out of eight demands, six were fulfilled by the administration, said Tehsildar SS Mohapatra. Seven platoons of armed police are camping at Chari Chowk to prevent the incident from flaring up.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: When doctors suggested Radha Ethirajulu to donate her sons organs, the lady refused as she was too engulfed by grief. Then my daughter told me that instead of being consumed by earth, my son could live in another persons body. That was when I decided to donate, she recalled.

She was among the many donors and family members of donors, honoured at an organ donation awareness programme of Apollo Specialty Hospitals in Perungudi on Friday.

Chennai continues to be the at top in organ transplant, with a donation rate of 1.8 per million, three times the national average.

Speaking at the event, Health Minister Dr C Vijay Bhasker, said the State was the first to set up a Transplant Authority (TRANSTAN). Tamil Nadu stands first in Cadaver transplantation with a harvest of 4,992 organs from 893 donors. Even Maharashtra, which is right next to our State in numbers, has harvested only 1,590 organs from 298 donors, he explained. Poor people approaching private hospitals for organ transplants are also taken care of under the CMs comprehensive health insurance scheme, he said.

CHENNAI: When doctors suggested Radha Ethirajulu to donate her sons organs, the lady refused as she was too engulfed by grief. Then my daughter told me that instead of being consumed by earth, my son could live in another persons body. That was when I decided to donate, she recalled. She was among the many donors and family members of donors, honoured at an organ donation awareness programme of Apollo Specialty Hospitals in Perungudi on Friday. Chennai continues to be the at top in organ transplant, with a donation rate of 1.8 per million, three times the national average. Speaking at the event, Health Minister Dr C Vijay Bhasker, said the State was the first to set up a Transplant Authority (TRANSTAN). Tamil Nadu stands first in Cadaver transplantation with a harvest of 4,992 organs from 893 donors. Even Maharashtra, which is right next to our State in numbers, has harvested only 1,590 organs from 298 donors, he explained. Poor people approaching private hospitals for organ transplants are also taken care of under the CMs comprehensive health insurance scheme, he said.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: A sub-inspector of police, who had been drawn for bandobast duty as part of security arrangements in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Hyderabad, allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself while standing guard on a high-rise building.

Sridhar

The SI shot himself to death late Friday night and was found dead with a bullet injury on his chest on Saturday morning. He used his service revolver to shoot himself in an apartment at Mylardevpally near PVNR Expressway, two km from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, where Modi addressed the annual conference of DGPs of the country.

We suspect that family issues could have forced him to take his life, Rajendranagar ACP Ganga Reddy said.

Sridhar was working at Penchikalpet police station in Asifabad district. He was one of the personnel deployed on high-rise buildings in areas surrounding the Police Academy. Sridhar and another home guard Deepak along with three other constables were posted at Happy Home Apartments.

Speaking to newsmen, Deepak said the SI was not happy with his posting and he also had some family problems. I knew Sridhar for the past one-and-half years. He expressed dissatisfaction over his posting. Yesterday also he told me that he wanted to marry a girl but his family was opposing the alliance. He was very upset over this, Deepak said.

Rajendranagar police found that the last call from the SI phone was made to one Bhagya Lakshmi. The police booked a case of suspicious death and are investigating.

HYDERABAD: A sub-inspector of police, who had been drawn for bandobast duty as part of security arrangements in view of Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Hyderabad, allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself while standing guard on a high-rise building. SridharThe SI shot himself to death late Friday night and was found dead with a bullet injury on his chest on Saturday morning. He used his service revolver to shoot himself in an apartment at Mylardevpally near PVNR Expressway, two km from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, where Modi addressed the annual conference of DGPs of the country. We suspect that family issues could have forced him to take his life, Rajendranagar ACP Ganga Reddy said. Sridhar was working at Penchikalpet police station in Asifabad district. He was one of the personnel deployed on high-rise buildings in areas surrounding the Police Academy. Sridhar and another home guard Deepak along with three other constables were posted at Happy Home Apartments. Speaking to newsmen, Deepak said the SI was not happy with his posting and he also had some family problems. I knew Sridhar for the past one-and-half years. He expressed dissatisfaction over his posting. Yesterday also he told me that he wanted to marry a girl but his family was opposing the alliance. He was very upset over this, Deepak said. Rajendranagar police found that the last call from the SI phone was made to one Bhagya Lakshmi. The police booked a case of suspicious death and are investigating.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: As a part of the eighth edition of vibrant Gujarat, the state will facilitate incubation for 100 start-ups in their state, said Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, revenue minister of Gujarat. Chudasama led a high level delegation to meet with the business community of the two Telugu states on Saturday.

We will be incubating 100 start ups in Gujarat, Chudasama said. The state will try help the start-ups find investors and so far have seen a positive response from start-up entrepreneurs from across India, he added. The delegation sought active participation by the business community of two states in the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global summit 2017.

Chudasama and Gujarats industries minister Rohit Patel met 22 industrialists from AP and Telangana. The meetings are a part of the Gujarat states marketing efforts to make the global summit a success, said an official.

Telangana and AP both stand tied in the Ease of Doing Business index while Gujarat slipped to third position in 2016. Gujarat was at the top of the index in 2015. The state expects to get back to the top position in due time, he added.

The difference in points between the states in the index is in decimal points. There is only little difference, Chudasama said.

The state had received `6 billion investments between 2000 to 2010 but between 2010 to 2016 the state has received `7.2 billion, that is more than what we got in a decade, the minister said. The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit will also witness the presence of close to 10 nobel laureates.

We have received confirmation from 9 of them and will be making an official announcement shortly, a spokesperson for Vibrant Gujarat said.

HYDERABAD: As a part of the eighth edition of vibrant Gujarat, the state will facilitate incubation for 100 start-ups in their state, said Bhupendrasinh Chudasama, revenue minister of Gujarat. Chudasama led a high level delegation to meet with the business community of the two Telugu states on Saturday. We will be incubating 100 start ups in Gujarat, Chudasama said. The state will try help the start-ups find investors and so far have seen a positive response from start-up entrepreneurs from across India, he added. The delegation sought active participation by the business community of two states in the biennial Vibrant Gujarat Global summit 2017. Chudasama and Gujarats industries minister Rohit Patel met 22 industrialists from AP and Telangana. The meetings are a part of the Gujarat states marketing efforts to make the global summit a success, said an official. Telangana and AP both stand tied in the Ease of Doing Business index while Gujarat slipped to third position in 2016. Gujarat was at the top of the index in 2015. The state expects to get back to the top position in due time, he added. The difference in points between the states in the index is in decimal points. There is only little difference, Chudasama said. The state had received `6 billion investments between 2000 to 2010 but between 2010 to 2016 the state has received `7.2 billion, that is more than what we got in a decade, the minister said. The Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit will also witness the presence of close to 10 nobel laureates. We have received confirmation from 9 of them and will be making an official announcement shortly, a spokesperson for Vibrant Gujarat said.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who totally backed Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation move at first and later gradually began picking holes in the execution of this historical decision, felt that the move even affected the ongoing membership enrolment drive of the party in both the Telugu-speaking states.

So far only 32.47 lakh people took membership of the party in both the states as against 54 lakh members enrolled during the party membership drive conducted in 2014, Naidu said.



However, he exuded confidence that the impact of cancellation of high currency notes on TDPs membership drive would be a temporary one.

Demonetisations effect on various sectors will be temporary. Hence, all of you take steps to strengthen the party at organisational level as general elections are just two years away, Naidu told his party leaders, during TDPs TS unit general body meeting, held at NTR Bhavan here on Sunday.

Naidu, who held a wide-ranging meeting with his party leaders from Telangana after several months in Hyderabad, stuck to his existing stand of not making any adverse comments on the TRS regime in the state.

During his lengthy pep talk, delivered to boost the morale of party cadre in the new state where TDP appears to be losing its ground.

Emphasising the need to continue TDPs ongoing friendship with BJP in both the Telugu-speaking states, Naidu expressed happiness over the way the TDP leaders in Telangana are undertaking agitations against the governments failures.

Against all odds, you are able to organise protests and dharnas to highlight the sufferings of common man in Telangana. You should further intensify your fight against the government over peoples issues, he called upon TS unit party leaders.

Naidu asked the party seniors to strengthen the party from the grassrootslevel by appointing efficient leaders as the heads of party wings from village level, mandal level to district level in all the newly created districts.

HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who totally backed Prime Minister Narendra Modis demonetisation move at first and later gradually began picking holes in the execution of this historical decision, felt that the move even affected the ongoing membership enrolment drive of the party in both the Telugu-speaking states. So far only 32.47 lakh people took membership of the party in both the states as against 54 lakh members enrolled during the party membership drive conducted in 2014, Naidu said. However, he exuded confidence that the impact of cancellation of high currency notes on TDPs membership drive would be a temporary one. Demonetisations effect on various sectors will be temporary. Hence, all of you take steps to strengthen the party at organisational level as general elections are just two years away, Naidu told his party leaders, during TDPs TS unit general body meeting, held at NTR Bhavan here on Sunday. Naidu, who held a wide-ranging meeting with his party leaders from Telangana after several months in Hyderabad, stuck to his existing stand of not making any adverse comments on the TRS regime in the state. During his lengthy pep talk, delivered to boost the morale of party cadre in the new state where TDP appears to be losing its ground. Emphasising the need to continue TDPs ongoing friendship with BJP in both the Telugu-speaking states, Naidu expressed happiness over the way the TDP leaders in Telangana are undertaking agitations against the governments failures. Against all odds, you are able to organise protests and dharnas to highlight the sufferings of common man in Telangana. You should further intensify your fight against the government over peoples issues, he called upon TS unit party leaders. Naidu asked the party seniors to strengthen the party from the grassrootslevel by appointing efficient leaders as the heads of party wings from village level, mandal level to district level in all the newly created districts.
Namita Bajpai By

LUCKNOW: Noted economist Jean Dreze has compared Modi governments demonetisation move to shooting the tyres of a racing car. While this could be debatable, there is one impact of the ban which is beyond debateIt has punctured the election juggernaut of UP political parties.

While the poll campaign of parties such as SP, BSP and Congress has hit the retardation button, the BJP seems to be taking a head start. Its leaders, PM Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah are holding rallies with vengeance and its Parivartan Yatras with catchy Kailsah Kher ditties having covered half the state. So far so good.

Despite a positive outcome in the recently held bypolls under the shadow of demonetisation aftermath and Modi App survey giving 90 per cent feedback in favour of the Centres move, the BJP cadre in the state faces the real challenge now as initial zeal of lets do it for our country fades and the cash crunch now has started pinching the common man, especially BJPs core votersbusinessmen, working class and rural voter who extended their support to Modi in 2014.

Farmers are facing the cash crunch at the onset of rabi season. They dont have money to buy seeds and fertilisers with just 10 days of sowing period left. Their plight has compounded with cooperative banks being disallowed by the RBI to carry out transactions. Besides, the queues before ATMs and banks, especially, in rural areas are not shortening. Spirits in the wedding season are as such dampened.

People have money but cant spend. So either the dates are being rescheduled or the show is being managed on credit. The move is exemplary. But the execution is faulty as it has put the common man in a tricky situation. Even after over a fortnight, the situation continues to be grim with people grappling

to manage the daily grind with limited amounts withdrawn, says political commentator J P Shukla.

In such a scenario, the main concern of the BJP, which is aware of the peoples pain and agony, is to pacify the restless voters and stop the negative sentiment gaining ground over the issue. There may be some initial negative fallout of the step. But even the public is cooperating. They are bearing the initial pain to reap the long-run benefit. Demonetisation will whip out black money and tab fake currency, said senior BJP leader Dr Rita Bahuguna Joshi. In six months from now, the positive impact of the move would be seen on the Indian economy, she added.

While getting itself ready to tackle some stingy questions from the electorate, the BJP cadre just hopes that the disarray in rivals houses will come to help it. Samajwadi Party is still grappling with its ongoing battle of nerves in the family, BSP chief Mayawati, who is holding the command herself, has yet to intensify partys campaign. Left with only S C Mishra and Naseemuddin Siddiqui as senior leaders, BSP is treading a steady path with only small caste-based meetings. Congress on the other hand has been left far behind. Even though Congress leaders are sharpening their attacks on the Modi government in Parliament, the partys presence on the ground is negligible. After Rahuls Sandesh Yatra, there is no buzz. State BJP leaders on the other hand are preparing to play up demonetisation move as a major poll plank and seeking peoples support in the war on black money. They are trying to convince people for the far reaching positive impact of sudden currency scrapping. This all, needless to say, is now part of the discourse of the Parivartan Yatra.

BJPs chief spokesperson Hriday Narain Dixit said, Partys Parivartan Yatra has already covered 7,169 km across 34 districts and 164 assembly constituencies. As part of our mass contact programme, party leaders have connected with over 35-40 lakh people through meetings exhorting the people to bring about social, political and economic change in the state through their vote, he added. However, the party is reworking its strategy vis-a-vis situation which has cropped up after demonetisation. Reports say, thanks to cash crunch, preparations for Modis Agra rally on November 20 had been done on credit.

Besides, his rally in the state capital on December 24 on the culmination of first leg of Parivartan Yatras has been put off, he may now hold a maha rally on January 3, 2017 after deposition deadline of high value currency notes ends on December 30. He is expected to make some bigger announcements in Lucknow, a party leader said.

LUCKNOW: Noted economist Jean Dreze has compared Modi governments demonetisation move to shooting the tyres of a racing car. While this could be debatable, there is one impact of the ban which is beyond debateIt has punctured the election juggernaut of UP political parties. While the poll campaign of parties such as SP, BSP and Congress has hit the retardation button, the BJP seems to be taking a head start. Its leaders, PM Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah are holding rallies with vengeance and its Parivartan Yatras with catchy Kailsah Kher ditties having covered half the state. So far so good. Despite a positive outcome in the recently held bypolls under the shadow of demonetisation aftermath and Modi App survey giving 90 per cent feedback in favour of the Centres move, the BJP cadre in the state faces the real challenge now as initial zeal of lets do it for our country fades and the cash crunch now has started pinching the common man, especially BJPs core votersbusinessmen, working class and rural voter who extended their support to Modi in 2014. Farmers are facing the cash crunch at the onset of rabi season. They dont have money to buy seeds and fertilisers with just 10 days of sowing period left. Their plight has compounded with cooperative banks being disallowed by the RBI to carry out transactions. Besides, the queues before ATMs and banks, especially, in rural areas are not shortening. Spirits in the wedding season are as such dampened. People have money but cant spend. So either the dates are being rescheduled or the show is being managed on credit. The move is exemplary. But the execution is faulty as it has put the common man in a tricky situation. Even after over a fortnight, the situation continues to be grim with people grappling to manage the daily grind with limited amounts withdrawn, says political commentator J P Shukla. In such a scenario, the main concern of the BJP, which is aware of the peoples pain and agony, is to pacify the restless voters and stop the negative sentiment gaining ground over the issue. There may be some initial negative fallout of the step. But even the public is cooperating. They are bearing the initial pain to reap the long-run benefit. Demonetisation will whip out black money and tab fake currency, said senior BJP leader Dr Rita Bahuguna Joshi. In six months from now, the positive impact of the move would be seen on the Indian economy, she added. While getting itself ready to tackle some stingy questions from the electorate, the BJP cadre just hopes that the disarray in rivals houses will come to help it. Samajwadi Party is still grappling with its ongoing battle of nerves in the family, BSP chief Mayawati, who is holding the command herself, has yet to intensify partys campaign. Left with only S C Mishra and Naseemuddin Siddiqui as senior leaders, BSP is treading a steady path with only small caste-based meetings. Congress on the other hand has been left far behind. Even though Congress leaders are sharpening their attacks on the Modi government in Parliament, the partys presence on the ground is negligible. After Rahuls Sandesh Yatra, there is no buzz. State BJP leaders on the other hand are preparing to play up demonetisation move as a major poll plank and seeking peoples support in the war on black money. They are trying to convince people for the far reaching positive impact of sudden currency scrapping. This all, needless to say, is now part of the discourse of the Parivartan Yatra. BJPs chief spokesperson Hriday Narain Dixit said, Partys Parivartan Yatra has already covered 7,169 km across 34 districts and 164 assembly constituencies. As part of our mass contact programme, party leaders have connected with over 35-40 lakh people through meetings exhorting the people to bring about social, political and economic change in the state through their vote, he added. However, the party is reworking its strategy vis-a-vis situation which has cropped up after demonetisation. Reports say, thanks to cash crunch, preparations for Modis Agra rally on November 20 had been done on credit. Besides, his rally in the state capital on December 24 on the culmination of first leg of Parivartan Yatras has been put off, he may now hold a maha rally on January 3, 2017 after deposition deadline of high value currency notes ends on December 30. He is expected to make some bigger announcements in Lucknow, a party leader said.
Ritu Sharma By

NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is likely to get an extension when his term ends in January 28 next year, say sources in the Ministry of External Affairs. The only doubt in South Block is whether it is for one year or two. The 1977-batch IFS officer was appointed on January 29, 2015just two days before he was to retire.

The 61-year-old Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is likely to get an extension at his desk. He enjoys the full confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. If he gets an additional two years, he will last the full term of the NDA government. He will also be the first Foreign Secretary to get such an extension.

MEA sources told The Sunday Standard, It (Foreign Secretary) is a political appointment. An extension of service can only be on contract. As per the rule of appointments, this is for a two-year term. However,

it is up to the government to decide the tenure.

Jaishankar has ably executed the PMOs mandate of Neighbourhood First. Modis diplomacy also stresses on leveraging international partnerships to fuel Indias growth, strengthen its foothold in the Indo-Pacific region through the Act East policy and isolate Pakistan on terrorism.

Dr Jaishankar, with invaluable experience on America and China under his belt, was the first choice of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for Foreign Secretary. But Singh was advised by senior Congressmen to ignore seniority and Sujatha Singh got the job. However, the present NDA government removed her seven months before her tenure expired. She was the second Foreign Secretary to be sacked after Rajiv Gandhi dropped A P Venkateswaran 28 years ago.

Going by the seniority, the next senior-most IFS officer after Jaishankar is Anil Wadhwa, (1979-batch), Indias ambassador to Italy. He arrived in Rome when ties between India and Italy were tense following the Italian Marines issue. Sources said Indo-Italian relations are getting back on track after he moved in. Wadhwas experience in Beijing also makes him a preferred candidate for the post, since the Foreign Secretary directly handles ties with the US, China and Pakistan.

Another contender is Wadhwas batchmate Saravjit Chakravarti, at present, Indias Ambassador to Slovenia. Closer home, Secretary (West) Sujata Mehta (1980 batch) is said to be eligible to take charge from Jaishankar, if he retires as scheduled. Navtej Sarna (1980 batch), ambassador to the US is another name doing the rounds.

A Foreign Secretary has a fixed tenure of two years; a rule put in place by the UPA-II government in 2010.

NEW DELHI: Foreign Secretary Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar is likely to get an extension when his term ends in January 28 next year, say sources in the Ministry of External Affairs. The only doubt in South Block is whether it is for one year or two. The 1977-batch IFS officer was appointed on January 29, 2015just two days before he was to retire. The 61-year-old Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar is likely to get an extension at his desk. He enjoys the full confidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval. If he gets an additional two years, he will last the full term of the NDA government. He will also be the first Foreign Secretary to get such an extension. MEA sources told The Sunday Standard, It (Foreign Secretary) is a political appointment. An extension of service can only be on contract. As per the rule of appointments, this is for a two-year term. However, it is up to the government to decide the tenure. Jaishankar has ably executed the PMOs mandate of Neighbourhood First. Modis diplomacy also stresses on leveraging international partnerships to fuel Indias growth, strengthen its foothold in the Indo-Pacific region through the Act East policy and isolate Pakistan on terrorism. Dr Jaishankar, with invaluable experience on America and China under his belt, was the first choice of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for Foreign Secretary. But Singh was advised by senior Congressmen to ignore seniority and Sujatha Singh got the job. However, the present NDA government removed her seven months before her tenure expired. She was the second Foreign Secretary to be sacked after Rajiv Gandhi dropped A P Venkateswaran 28 years ago. Going by the seniority, the next senior-most IFS officer after Jaishankar is Anil Wadhwa, (1979-batch), Indias ambassador to Italy. He arrived in Rome when ties between India and Italy were tense following the Italian Marines issue. Sources said Indo-Italian relations are getting back on track after he moved in. Wadhwas experience in Beijing also makes him a preferred candidate for the post, since the Foreign Secretary directly handles ties with the US, China and Pakistan. Another contender is Wadhwas batchmate Saravjit Chakravarti, at present, Indias Ambassador to Slovenia. Closer home, Secretary (West) Sujata Mehta (1980 batch) is said to be eligible to take charge from Jaishankar, if he retires as scheduled. Navtej Sarna (1980 batch), ambassador to the US is another name doing the rounds. A Foreign Secretary has a fixed tenure of two years; a rule put in place by the UPA-II government in 2010.
Rakesh K Singh By

NEW DELHI: There is never a dull moment for accused terror preacher Zakir Naik. Searches by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the Islamic International School premises in Bhaucha Dhakka near Mazgon dock in Mumbai during a crackdown against the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and its founder Naik yielded 500 DVDs and CDs containing instructions on how to radicalise and indoctrinate students into hardline Salafist Islam. While the school was affiliated to the Cambridge IGCSE curriculum, only students from the conservative section of the Muslim community were admitted. NIA sources said this was aimed at brainwashing them into following the IRF agenda of radicalisation and terror. It was mandatory for school boys to wear skullcaps and girls to don veils. Despite the schools co-ed nature, strict Islamic codes were the norm. Boys and girls used separate entry and exit gates. Boys were also forbidden from seeing the face of any girl on campus and vice versa. Even the classrooms were separate, according to preliminary findings by the NIA, which is analysing the seized material.

Zakir Naik

The NIA found a mass of radical material after raiding the Islamic International School premises in, Mumbai run by the Islamic Research Foundation and its founder Zakir Naik. Students were made to learn the Quran by heart. The focus of the school curriculum was on religious teaching and not the modern syllabus approved by the government. At the time of admission, school officials asked children if they watched cable television and wore non-Islamic clothing. Admission was not granted to those whose parents answered in the affirmative.

Even as the agency is analysing seized material including electronic storage devices, CDs and DVDs, investigators also suspect Islamic Research Foundation of supplying radical mind control material to other schools across the country, which are influenced by Naiks extremist views.

A Chennai-based school is also under the NIA radar. It is likely to face action shortly. The name of the school is being withheld so as to not hamper the ongoing investigations. Police had raided an IRF-run school in Kochi, Kerala earlier in the year after NIA discovered some of its students had travelled to Syria to fight the IS.

The NIA has booked IRF, Naik and others under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and some sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to promoting religious enmity between communities and

for committing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of peace and harmony.

NEW DELHI: There is never a dull moment for accused terror preacher Zakir Naik. Searches by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the Islamic International School premises in Bhaucha Dhakka near Mazgon dock in Mumbai during a crackdown against the Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) and its founder Naik yielded 500 DVDs and CDs containing instructions on how to radicalise and indoctrinate students into hardline Salafist Islam. While the school was affiliated to the Cambridge IGCSE curriculum, only students from the conservative section of the Muslim community were admitted. NIA sources said this was aimed at brainwashing them into following the IRF agenda of radicalisation and terror. It was mandatory for school boys to wear skullcaps and girls to don veils. Despite the schools co-ed nature, strict Islamic codes were the norm. Boys and girls used separate entry and exit gates. Boys were also forbidden from seeing the face of any girl on campus and vice versa. Even the classrooms were separate, according to preliminary findings by the NIA, which is analysing the seized material. Zakir NaikThe NIA found a mass of radical material after raiding the Islamic International School premises in, Mumbai run by the Islamic Research Foundation and its founder Zakir Naik. Students were made to learn the Quran by heart. The focus of the school curriculum was on religious teaching and not the modern syllabus approved by the government. At the time of admission, school officials asked children if they watched cable television and wore non-Islamic clothing. Admission was not granted to those whose parents answered in the affirmative. Even as the agency is analysing seized material including electronic storage devices, CDs and DVDs, investigators also suspect Islamic Research Foundation of supplying radical mind control material to other schools across the country, which are influenced by Naiks extremist views. A Chennai-based school is also under the NIA radar. It is likely to face action shortly. The name of the school is being withheld so as to not hamper the ongoing investigations. Police had raided an IRF-run school in Kochi, Kerala earlier in the year after NIA discovered some of its students had travelled to Syria to fight the IS. The NIA has booked IRF, Naik and others under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and some sections of the Indian Penal Code relating to promoting religious enmity between communities and for committing acts prejudicial to the maintenance of peace and harmony.
Abhijit Mulye By

MUMBAI: Will Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil become the face-saver for the Devendra Fadnavis government? This is the question everybody is asking after Patils elevation to the Number 2 position in cabinet.

This years Monsoon Session was the worst for the government that completed two years in office last month. The aggressive Opposition had cornered the government. Ally Shiv Sena was also against the government in the House. The Winter Session in Nagpur is expected to be an extended version of the Monsoon Session.

The Opposition is likely to confront the government over corruption charges against ministers, deteriorating law and order, corruption in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, loan waiver for farmers, Vidarbha statehood and Maratha reservation etc. Pro-Vidarbha activists and the Maratha community have planned rallies at Nagpur during the session. The High Court too is scheduled to hear cases regarding Maratha reservation around the same time. The demonetisation issue will also add fuel to the fire.

Meanwhile, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil was elevated to Number 2 in the Cabinet last week. Reports state, Devgirithe bungalow meant for deputy CM is being prepared for Patils stay during the Winter Session. Interestingly, Eknath Khadse, when he was the revenue minister and senior-most BJP minister, was never allotted the bungalow even after requests.

Patil has played a major role in winning over prominent Maratha personalities in southern Maharashtra to the party fold. He also has a good rapport with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. Government is likely to bank on him to ensure calm on both the fronts.

However, his elevation didnt go well with some partymen. According to a BJP leader from Patils own Kolhapur district, Patil might have been handling weighty portfolios, but there are several ministers in the cabinet who are senior to him in sheer experience, political clout and public perception. Prakash Mehta, Vishnu Savara, Sudhir Mungantiwar, were ministers in Sena-BJP government between 1995-98. Pandurang Pundalik Fundkar was chairman of legislative council during that period. And all of them have good mass base. Vinod Tawde is also senior to Patil in legislature. Pankaja Munde too has mass following due to her family background. But, many of them are below him on protocol list. This might affect the governments performance in the house, the leader said.

However, finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has something else to say. Rank is decided primarily on our seating positions in the Assembly. Since Patil is the member of the legislative council, he has become leader of the house.

That means, Patil would be responsible for the governments performance in the upper house where the opposition is stronger. However, Patil seems confident. And I am sure, I will be able to handle Opposition onslaught.

Who is Chandrakant Patil?

Son of a Mumbai dockyard worker, Chandrakant Patil started as a student leader in 1980 with ABVP. He was national general secretary of the students movement in 1993 after which he moved to Kolhapur and started his own business. Patil has worked to strengthen the RSS in the region.

His organisational skills are highly appreciated. He also enjoys a good rapport with BJP president Amit Shah. Apart from handling cooperatives and textile departments, he has also been the guardian minister of Kolhapur and Sangli districts for the past two years. He also played crucial role in building Mahayuti by bringing smaller sub-regional parties into the NDA fold.

MUMBAI: Will Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil become the face-saver for the Devendra Fadnavis government? This is the question everybody is asking after Patils elevation to the Number 2 position in cabinet. This years Monsoon Session was the worst for the government that completed two years in office last month. The aggressive Opposition had cornered the government. Ally Shiv Sena was also against the government in the House. The Winter Session in Nagpur is expected to be an extended version of the Monsoon Session. The Opposition is likely to confront the government over corruption charges against ministers, deteriorating law and order, corruption in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, loan waiver for farmers, Vidarbha statehood and Maratha reservation etc. Pro-Vidarbha activists and the Maratha community have planned rallies at Nagpur during the session. The High Court too is scheduled to hear cases regarding Maratha reservation around the same time. The demonetisation issue will also add fuel to the fire. Meanwhile, Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil was elevated to Number 2 in the Cabinet last week. Reports state, Devgirithe bungalow meant for deputy CM is being prepared for Patils stay during the Winter Session. Interestingly, Eknath Khadse, when he was the revenue minister and senior-most BJP minister, was never allotted the bungalow even after requests. Patil has played a major role in winning over prominent Maratha personalities in southern Maharashtra to the party fold. He also has a good rapport with Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. Government is likely to bank on him to ensure calm on both the fronts. However, his elevation didnt go well with some partymen. According to a BJP leader from Patils own Kolhapur district, Patil might have been handling weighty portfolios, but there are several ministers in the cabinet who are senior to him in sheer experience, political clout and public perception. Prakash Mehta, Vishnu Savara, Sudhir Mungantiwar, were ministers in Sena-BJP government between 1995-98. Pandurang Pundalik Fundkar was chairman of legislative council during that period. And all of them have good mass base. Vinod Tawde is also senior to Patil in legislature. Pankaja Munde too has mass following due to her family background. But, many of them are below him on protocol list. This might affect the governments performance in the house, the leader said. However, finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar has something else to say. Rank is decided primarily on our seating positions in the Assembly. Since Patil is the member of the legislative council, he has become leader of the house. That means, Patil would be responsible for the governments performance in the upper house where the opposition is stronger. However, Patil seems confident. And I am sure, I will be able to handle Opposition onslaught. Who is Chandrakant Patil? Son of a Mumbai dockyard worker, Chandrakant Patil started as a student leader in 1980 with ABVP. He was national general secretary of the students movement in 1993 after which he moved to Kolhapur and started his own business. Patil has worked to strengthen the RSS in the region. His organisational skills are highly appreciated. He also enjoys a good rapport with BJP president Amit Shah. Apart from handling cooperatives and textile departments, he has also been the guardian minister of Kolhapur and Sangli districts for the past two years. He also played crucial role in building Mahayuti by bringing smaller sub-regional parties into the NDA fold.
Ramkrishna Badseshi By

KALABURAGI: The Tinthini shrine on the banks of the Krishna river, 20 km from Surpur, looks both like a temple and a mosque. The building is a blend of Islamic and Hindu styles and motifs. The frontage is a typical masjid, but as you walk up, four huge temple bells greet you.

Beyond the courtyard, a short flight of steps leads to the sanctum sanctorum. A picture of Mouneshwara Baba hangs there; he is dressed like a sadhu and sits with his legs crossed, in a yogic posture. All the paraphernalia necessary for puja is kept before the image.

Just above the image is a small wooden door. Open it and you see a tomb covered with a chaddar and a picture of Mecca-Madina. A board in Kannada describes incidents from Mouneshwaras life. His parents were Seshappa and Seshamma, and they were a family of goldsmiths from Gonal, about 8 km north of Surpur. Mouneshwara was born in Gonal in the 12th century.

In his childhood, Mouneshwara brought alive the dead son of the king of Surpur, or so the story goes. His miracles were seen in Vijayapura, Bagalakote, Haveri and even outside Karnataka, says the board.

Since Mouneshwara had both Hindu and Muslim devotees, it is possible the latter called him by the name of Moinuddin.

Devotees throng to Tinthini jatra in February. The temple celebrates Bharat Hunnime for five days, and later Moharram is marked, when devotees take part in the Ali-Peer procession.

The cult of Mouneshwara is one of the best examples of a popular composite culture thriving at the grassroots in northern Karnataka, academics say.

KALABURAGI: The Tinthini shrine on the banks of the Krishna river, 20 km from Surpur, looks both like a temple and a mosque. The building is a blend of Islamic and Hindu styles and motifs. The frontage is a typical masjid, but as you walk up, four huge temple bells greet you. Beyond the courtyard, a short flight of steps leads to the sanctum sanctorum. A picture of Mouneshwara Baba hangs there; he is dressed like a sadhu and sits with his legs crossed, in a yogic posture. All the paraphernalia necessary for puja is kept before the image. Just above the image is a small wooden door. Open it and you see a tomb covered with a chaddar and a picture of Mecca-Madina. A board in Kannada describes incidents from Mouneshwaras life. His parents were Seshappa and Seshamma, and they were a family of goldsmiths from Gonal, about 8 km north of Surpur. Mouneshwara was born in Gonal in the 12th century. In his childhood, Mouneshwara brought alive the dead son of the king of Surpur, or so the story goes. His miracles were seen in Vijayapura, Bagalakote, Haveri and even outside Karnataka, says the board. Since Mouneshwara had both Hindu and Muslim devotees, it is possible the latter called him by the name of Moinuddin. Devotees throng to Tinthini jatra in February. The temple celebrates Bharat Hunnime for five days, and later Moharram is marked, when devotees take part in the Ali-Peer procession. The cult of Mouneshwara is one of the best examples of a popular composite culture thriving at the grassroots in northern Karnataka, academics say.
Arunkumar Huralimath By

GOKARNA (KARNATAKA): If Indians have a fad for liking anything that comes with a western tag, here is a foreigner who found solace in India and its spirituality. Paris-born Swami Yogaratna Saraswati has made India her home for the past 30 years, and has been teaching yoga to Indians and foreigners. For four years, Swami Yogaratna Saraswati has been running Yoga Meditation Centre with the help of Shankar Prasad Foundation in Bankikodla village near the beach town Gokarna.

She was born to Australian parents, raised in Mumbai. Her job took her to Australia but for a stress-free life, she returned to India and joined a two-week course at Bihar School of Yoga in Bengaluru in 1984.

Swami Yogaratna Saraswati (left); participants prepare

meals at the yoga centre

She received sanyas and served in the ashram, learning and teaching yoga, meditation and philosophy. Between 2004 and 2012, she travelled across the globe and taught yoga and meditation in Bengaluru, Kerala, Ghataprabha (Karnataka), Paris, New Zealand and several other places. In 2012, she started a yoga centre in Bankikodla, Karnataka.

Yoga provided me the much-needed relief when my job became too taxing.

It was then I decided to help others find peace through yoga. Many in the IT sector find their job stressful and ultimately the work pressure takes a toll on both their physical and mental health.

My centre helps them get rid of stress, says the swamini. The centre is located on two-and-a-half acres, which also houses an organic farm and a playschool. Free classes on meditation and yoga are conducted twice a day for both Indians and foreigners. Apart from these classes, a special two-week yoga and spiritual course is held.

Many foreigners reside here and take this course. They even conduct havan (fire ritual) every Saturday. During their course, they are supposed to cook food and keep houses and fields clean. As a part of Karmayoga, they also have to work in fields.

Ive been here for the past one month. I love the village and its natural beauty and enjoy yoga and reciting mantras, says Nienke Keeselperg of Holland.

At present, there are 10 foreigners from the USA, Australia, New Zealand and other countries pursuing course here. They are also involved in several social awareness programmes, including clean India campaign.

GOKARNA (KARNATAKA): If Indians have a fad for liking anything that comes with a western tag, here is a foreigner who found solace in India and its spirituality. Paris-born Swami Yogaratna Saraswati has made India her home for the past 30 years, and has been teaching yoga to Indians and foreigners. For four years, Swami Yogaratna Saraswati has been running Yoga Meditation Centre with the help of Shankar Prasad Foundation in Bankikodla village near the beach town Gokarna. She was born to Australian parents, raised in Mumbai. Her job took her to Australia but for a stress-free life, she returned to India and joined a two-week course at Bihar School of Yoga in Bengaluru in 1984. Swami Yogaratna Saraswati (left); participants prepare meals at the yoga centreShe received sanyas and served in the ashram, learning and teaching yoga, meditation and philosophy. Between 2004 and 2012, she travelled across the globe and taught yoga and meditation in Bengaluru, Kerala, Ghataprabha (Karnataka), Paris, New Zealand and several other places. In 2012, she started a yoga centre in Bankikodla, Karnataka. Yoga provided me the much-needed relief when my job became too taxing. It was then I decided to help others find peace through yoga. Many in the IT sector find their job stressful and ultimately the work pressure takes a toll on both their physical and mental health. My centre helps them get rid of stress, says the swamini. The centre is located on two-and-a-half acres, which also houses an organic farm and a playschool. Free classes on meditation and yoga are conducted twice a day for both Indians and foreigners. Apart from these classes, a special two-week yoga and spiritual course is held. Many foreigners reside here and take this course. They even conduct havan (fire ritual) every Saturday. During their course, they are supposed to cook food and keep houses and fields clean. As a part of Karmayoga, they also have to work in fields. Ive been here for the past one month. I love the village and its natural beauty and enjoy yoga and reciting mantras, says Nienke Keeselperg of Holland. At present, there are 10 foreigners from the USA, Australia, New Zealand and other countries pursuing course here. They are also involved in several social awareness programmes, including clean India campaign.
By AFP

KAMPALA: At least 55 people have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia linked to a tribal king, the police said on Sunday.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said 14 police officers and 41 militants had died in the clashes in the town of Kasese on Saturday, when fighters linked to the royal guard of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces.

"Yesterday, a joint Uganda police and UPDF (army) operation, patrolling in Kasese town came under attack by Royal Guards of the kingdom. The attackers threw an improvised grenade which exploded and injured one soldier. Security forces reacted and shot in self-defence, killing four attackers," said Kaweesi.

"That incident set of an explosion in all local sub-counties. Fighting continued from morning to late evening."

Kaweesi said the attackers -- not all of whom were royal guards -- had guns, spears and improvised explosive devices.

KAMPALA: At least 55 people have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia linked to a tribal king, the police said on Sunday. Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said 14 police officers and 41 militants had died in the clashes in the town of Kasese on Saturday, when fighters linked to the royal guard of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces. "Yesterday, a joint Uganda police and UPDF (army) operation, patrolling in Kasese town came under attack by Royal Guards of the kingdom. The attackers threw an improvised grenade which exploded and injured one soldier. Security forces reacted and shot in self-defence, killing four attackers," said Kaweesi. "That incident set of an explosion in all local sub-counties. Fighting continued from morning to late evening." Kaweesi said the attackers -- not all of whom were royal guards -- had guns, spears and improvised explosive devices.
P K Balachandran By

Express News Service

COLOMBO: North Sri Lankan Tamils on Sunday observed Great Heroes Day (Maaveerar Naal) in memory of cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who had laid down their lives for the cause of establishing an independent Tamil Eelam.

Northern Provincial Council members M.K.Shivajilingam and Ananthy Sasitharan, and provincial Agriculture Minister P.Aingaranesan were among many who gathered at the Thileepan memorial in Nallur, Jaffna, to pay homage to the dead fighters.

Thileepan had fasted unto death to force India to side with the LTTE in its confrontation with the Sri Lankan government in 1987. He is hailed as Thyagi Thileepan and touted as the non-violent face of the LTTEs struggle. A Thayaga Sudar or Torch of Sacrifice was lit. A blood donation camp was also organized.

Shivajilingam said that Heroes Day observance is meant to remember not just the dead of the LTTE but all the dead of all militant groups, including those who had lost their lives in internecine warfare. He put the total number of dead in the armed struggle at 50,000.

The provincial councilor who is related to Prabhakaran but belongs to a rival group said that observance of the Heroes Day symbolizes the continuing struggle for a just political solution to the Tamil question. Those who oppose the observance lose the right to speak on behalf of the Tamils he said.

The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP.E.Saravanapavan lit the torch at a former graveyard (Thuyilum Illam) for LTTE cadre in one of the islands off Jaffna. Similar observances were held in other parts of the Northern Province like the districts of the Wanni which had borne the brunt of the last phase of Eelam War IV.

To mark LTTE chief Prabhakarans birth anniversary (November 26) students and faculty of Jaffna University lit candles and planted tree saplings in the campus. A memorial service was held in which the object of veneration was a picture of the flower Gloriosa Lily (Karthigai Poo) which is deemed the national flower of Tamil Eelam.

In contrast to the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government allowed the observance of Heroes Day without getting the police and army to disrupt it. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne had both said that it is the right of the Tamils to commemorate their dead.

To make it acceptable to the powers-that-be in Colombo, the observances generally avoided references to Prabhakaran or the display of his pictures. Everywhere it was a solemn occasion to remember the dead by observing silence, lighting torches and candles, planting trees and donating blood.

COLOMBO: North Sri Lankan Tamils on Sunday observed Great Heroes Day (Maaveerar Naal) in memory of cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) who had laid down their lives for the cause of establishing an independent Tamil Eelam. Northern Provincial Council members M.K.Shivajilingam and Ananthy Sasitharan, and provincial Agriculture Minister P.Aingaranesan were among many who gathered at the Thileepan memorial in Nallur, Jaffna, to pay homage to the dead fighters. Thileepan had fasted unto death to force India to side with the LTTE in its confrontation with the Sri Lankan government in 1987. He is hailed as Thyagi Thileepan and touted as the non-violent face of the LTTEs struggle. A Thayaga Sudar or Torch of Sacrifice was lit. A blood donation camp was also organized. Shivajilingam said that Heroes Day observance is meant to remember not just the dead of the LTTE but all the dead of all militant groups, including those who had lost their lives in internecine warfare. He put the total number of dead in the armed struggle at 50,000. The provincial councilor who is related to Prabhakaran but belongs to a rival group said that observance of the Heroes Day symbolizes the continuing struggle for a just political solution to the Tamil question. Those who oppose the observance lose the right to speak on behalf of the Tamils he said. The Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MP.E.Saravanapavan lit the torch at a former graveyard (Thuyilum Illam) for LTTE cadre in one of the islands off Jaffna. Similar observances were held in other parts of the Northern Province like the districts of the Wanni which had borne the brunt of the last phase of Eelam War IV. To mark LTTE chief Prabhakarans birth anniversary (November 26) students and faculty of Jaffna University lit candles and planted tree saplings in the campus. A memorial service was held in which the object of veneration was a picture of the flower Gloriosa Lily (Karthigai Poo) which is deemed the national flower of Tamil Eelam. In contrast to the Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government allowed the observance of Heroes Day without getting the police and army to disrupt it. Foreign Minister Mangala Samaraweera and Cabinet Spokesman Rajitha Senaratne had both said that it is the right of the Tamils to commemorate their dead. To make it acceptable to the powers-that-be in Colombo, the observances generally avoided references to Prabhakaran or the display of his pictures. Everywhere it was a solemn occasion to remember the dead by observing silence, lighting torches and candles, planting trees and donating blood.
By PTI

COLOMBO: President Maithripala Sirisena-led Sri Lanka Freedom Party would not agree to a federal set up in the new Constitution, a senior minister said today amid calls by Tamil groups in favour of a federal system.

"There are three things that our party believe very strongly in the current constitution reform process," Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Minister of Transport, said while addressing reporters in the central town of Kandy.

"The position for Buddhism must not be diluted, the unitary character of the state must be preserved and there cannot be a federal system," de Silva asserted.

The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is a partner in the unity government with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP). The process to replace the existing 1978 Constitution got underway in January this year when parliament was converted into a Constitutional Assembly.

The Constitutional Assembly is to meet in December again to consider the reports of six sub committees. De Silva said Parliament would evolve a draft Constitution with the participation of all political parties. Tamil groups have been articulating a federal system would be welcome.

However the Sinhala majority is averse to a federal solution being granted. The government expects the new Constitution to address the demand of Tamil minorities for political recognition.

With the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009 the Tamil groups have opted for maximum devolution as opposed to LTTE's goal of a separate Tamil homeland.

COLOMBO: President Maithripala Sirisena-led Sri Lanka Freedom Party would not agree to a federal set up in the new Constitution, a senior minister said today amid calls by Tamil groups in favour of a federal system. "There are three things that our party believe very strongly in the current constitution reform process," Nimal Siripala de Silva, the Minister of Transport, said while addressing reporters in the central town of Kandy. "The position for Buddhism must not be diluted, the unitary character of the state must be preserved and there cannot be a federal system," de Silva asserted. The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) is a partner in the unity government with Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP). The process to replace the existing 1978 Constitution got underway in January this year when parliament was converted into a Constitutional Assembly. The Constitutional Assembly is to meet in December again to consider the reports of six sub committees. De Silva said Parliament would evolve a draft Constitution with the participation of all political parties. Tamil groups have been articulating a federal system would be welcome. However the Sinhala majority is averse to a federal solution being granted. The government expects the new Constitution to address the demand of Tamil minorities for political recognition. With the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009 the Tamil groups have opted for maximum devolution as opposed to LTTE's goal of a separate Tamil homeland.
Heres my hope for the next four years  one of my hopes, anyway.

That we take the proverbial pendulum  the one that swings this way or that way every time theres a major upset in Washington  and we push it toward kindness.

That we actively look around for kindness, and when we dont see enough of it, we get resourceful and create more.

That we find ourselves in situations (on a city sidewalk, at the keyboard) where we think about what the world needs right now  hostility or hope  and we recognize that the latter is the one in short supply.

And that we generate some.

I see signs of this happening all around me. A reader named Dace Kezbers emailed me a photo last week of a sign posted in the art department at her grandchildrens school.

Dear undocumented students, it begins. In this classroom, there are no walls. You belong here. You are loved.

Dear black students, it continues. In this classroom, YOUR life matters. You are loved.

Dear Muslim students and students of Middle Eastern descent, it reads. We know you are not terrorists. You are loved.

On Facebook  land of the free-floating anger, home of the brave souls standing up to that one friend from high school  a group of people has dedicated itself to committing 60 million acts of kindness.

Its a public group, started shortly after the presidential election, to share ideas and examples for helping others. The 60 million is a reference to the number of votes Hillary Clinton received, but the page is largely apolitical.

From Melissa Atkins Wardy: My family is traveling to Disney World on Thanksgiving day so today my kids are making little paper leaves that say Thank you for working hard on this holiday. Happy Thanksgiving to you! to give to the gas station attendants, hotel workers and restaurant servers we encounter on the drive there.

From Lorraine Pastore: Today I gave my $10 supermarket coupon to the young mother ahead of me and wished her a happy Thanksgiving. It felt great.

From Karen Gilmore Gilgert: My daughter practiced her holiday music at the local assisted living residence instead of at home so others could enjoy it.

From Guillermo Valverde: I have driven an hour in traffic and back to help a friend. I forgave someone who hurt me and called her to say hello. I wrote a letter commending an employee at Target. I bought the lady behind me coffee. I wrote a hand written note to my coffee girl at Starbucks. I promoted a trainer on FB and invited 50 people to like his class. And for the past two days, Ive been doing hard labor at my sisters front yard replanting trees and flowers so that when she gets home from her trip tomorrow its all done!

Camden Lilley-Hall posted a photo of a purse with the following caption: Have a spare bag at home you dont want? Fill it with snacks, sanitary and hygiene products. Next time you see a homeless woman, give it to her.

The posts are tiny steps. They dont get the attention of legislators. They dont agitate for specific presidential appointments, or against them. Theyre quiet.

But that doesnt mean theyre powerless.

In August, I wrote about Kristina Lancasters campaign to spread random acts of kindness around her Fox Lake, Illinois, community in honor of her son Alex, who died when he was 12.

On what should have been Alexs 16th birthday, the Lancasters and their friends went around buying doughnuts for firefighters, haircuts for strangers, coffee for mail carriers.

Every time someone spread kindness in Alexs memory, someone said his name and someone thought of him with a smile, Lancaster told me at the time. For me, as a grieving parent, that is one of the things I pray for most  that my boy is remembered because his presence mattered.

Is kindness going to run a country? No. Will it create jobs? Not directly, no. Will it protect our natural resources? It wont.

But does it make a difference? It absolutely does.

Ask the Lancasters.

Heidi Stevens is a columnist for the Chicago Tribune.
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."  Martin Luther King Jr.

"If I am not for me, who is for me; and if I am (only) for myself, what am I. And if not now, when?"  Hillel

Late in the day on Saturday, Nov. 19, in Washington, D.C., the cleanup hitter for Americas neo-Nazi movement, Whitefish resident Richard Spencer, took the stage at the most highly publicized gathering of white supremacists in years.

Emboldened by Donald Trumps violent rhetoric and his appointment of the sexist, racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic Steve Bannon as White House chief strategist, Spencer railed against the press and Jews. Nazi salutes and chants of Heil Trump! reverberated through the room.

Lets pause for a moment and reflect. It is not normal for violent hate-mongers to be paid attention and legitimized by the national media, or for presidents to welcome these people into their political folds. In fact, its downright horrifying.

In the span of an election cycle, simple decency has been tossed out and the norms for political discourse have been rewritten. Our president-elect was endorsed by the KKK and has promoted violence toward peaceful protesters. His name was turned into a grotesque verb, proudly displayed on T-shirts and spray-painted onto buildings to instill fear and terror.

Every time Trump walks back a statement or disavows an egregious endorsement, leaders and commentators of all persuasions rush to call for patience. Wait and see, they say. But if we know one thing about Trump, its that he will say anything to boost his ego and appease his audience.

Instead of hanging on every word, lets review his first decisions as president-elect. Trump nominated a chief strategist who thinks women are less intelligent than men (Bannon), a national security adviser who called Islam a cancer (Michael Flynn), and an attorney general who pardoned Trumps sexual assaults on women and once called a black lawyer boy (Jeff Sessions). Shall we wait and see some more?

Our democracy is under attack by a threat more sinister than ISIS. Churning out an endless stream of Orwellian doublespeak in Breitbart News and other outlets, Bannon and friends are methodically radicalizing Americans and undermining democracy through propaganda masquerading as news. The White House is now their pulpit.

Have you ever wondered how Adolf Hitler rose to power? You are witnessing history repeating itself. What are you going to do about it?

Perhaps you are among the Trump voters who are not racists, misogynists or homophobes. You are now complicit in the actions of our president elect. It is your moral responsibility to demonstrate your convictions and hold his administration accountable. This is especially true for elected officials like Congressman Ryan Zinke, who not only endorsed Trump but worked as his surrogate. Silence is incriminating.

Less than a lifetime ago, my Jewish heritage was wiped off the face of a continent. Never again.

How do we get back to the America chosen by a majority of voters in Nov. 8's election, 1.7 million more than voted for Trump at last count?

It starts by refusing to accept todays twisted reality as the new normal. Violence of any kind has no place in our society. Its time to stay together, build a movement and hold the line.

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, we will elect a president who believes in an America that embraces inclusivity and morality and who champions working women and men.

There is a daunting amount of work ahead. Keep the fire burning inside of you and get busy.

Your life and country depend on it.

Zack Porter is a patriot who lives and works in western Montana.
BILLINGS -- Despite a recent uptick, Montana coal production is on track to be down a quarter or more in 2016.

Through mid-November, 12 million fewer tons of Montana coal were mined compared to the same period in 2015, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Coal production was poised to be off as much as a third until market conditions in the Asian Pacific began improving in September. The slump is now 26 percent, a loss of nearly three months of production.

The main reason for the decline is natural gas, particularly in the Midwest, where power plants burn both natural gas and coal. Once used as a spot fuel to generate electricity during peak demand, gas is now used more often because of its affordability.

In August, the blend of gas to coal at Sherburne Power Plant in Minnesota was cutting into production at Absaloka Mine, which includes Crow Indian coal.

Crow Tribal officials agreed to a tax cut last summer after Westmoreland, citing slimming profit margins, threatened to stop mining by October.

More than 40 percent of the nations electricity came from coal power 8 years ago. Coal powers market share slipped below 30 percent this year as natural gas became the energy leader, according the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

The nations ability to generate power using coal has declined 15 percent since 2011.

Natural gas has been cheaper than coal for 20 straight months, according EIA.

Late-year market improvements have been showing up in coal company reports.

From now to February, Cloud Peak Energy will ship 1 million tons of coal, the company told shareholders this month. A year ago, the company was notifying ports it would be shipping nothing in the foreseeable future. It agreed to pay Westshore Terminals, a deep-water coal shipping port in British Columbia, to reserve the space.

Recent turnaround in international thermal coal pricing has been significant, Cloud Peak said in its latest investor presentation.

In the second half of the year, China cut its coal production and turned to foreign coal. The move pulled sellers out of a glutted Asian Pacific market where most of Montanas exported coal is sold.

Cloud Peaks Spring Creek mine in Montana is a primary supply for the Companys Asian Pacific sales. Cloud Peak also has a $1.4 billion deal, signed with the Crow Tribe, to develop the Big Metal Mine. Big Metal Mine has been slow to develop since it was agreed to in 2013.

State coal taxes are taking a hit because production is down. The 2016 fiscal year, which wrapped up in June, was $7.3 million lower in coal tax collections than the previous year, according to Montanas Department of Revenue. Losses started accelerating in January. On average, a train load of Montana coal produces $30,800 in federal and state taxes, according to the Coal Council.

Montana coal severance taxes, which amounted to $54 million in the fiscal year that ended in June, are split between the state coal trust and several government programs directly funded with coal money. Montana libraries receive roughly $500,000 a year in coal taxes and will cut spending on online research databases to cover losses.

The state coal trust is worth roughly $1 billion. Its interest pays for infrastructure and economic development programs.

While sizable, coal revenue is a small percentage of the $1.75 billion in state taxes collected last year.
DECATUR  In the last 11-plus months, Karen Anderson has looked through more files in the basement of the Macon County Historical Museum than she can count.

The museum has spent much of three years combing through its archives and collections in an attempt to organize them since Nathan Pierce became museum director. Its interesting stuff  business transactions and receipts from the late 1800s, early plans for the formation of Lake Decatur, plans for a celebration at the lake  but in most cases, not significant.

But every once in awhile, volunteers will find something that stands out  like a presidents 185-year-old signature.

Anderson has been on the Macon County Historical Society Board since 2005 and is its current president, but also volunteers her time to go through the archives. Last month, she opened a file envelope and found a land grant from May 3, 1831 signed by then-President Andrew Jackson.

Mostly, were just trying to get some order down here, Anderson said. I go through the files, look in them to see that whats in them matches what it says, and then label them.

I dont even remember what this particular file folder said on it, but when I saw the name on it, I thought it might be something good.

Anderson had seen a presidents signature before  she also found the Spangler Mill land grant that had Martin Van Burens signature. But in that case, the Van Buren signature wasnt authentic  in 1833, Congress began allowing the presidents signature to be signed by a secretary because of the sheer volume of items that needed a presidents signature. Van Buren was president between 1837 and 1841, and the signature wasnt his.

When she found the land grant with Jacksons signature, she was naturally skeptical  Id been disappointed before, Anderson said.

She showed Pierce, who studied the signature and established that it at least looked like Jacksons.

I wasnt sure what the exact cutoff was for when presidents stopped signing land grants themselves, but I knew 1831 was early enough to check into it, Pierce said. I compared it to some Jackson signatures online, but you cant necessarily go by that because secretaries made it a point to practice the signatures.

What I found was that rule went into effect in March 1833, and was commissioned by Jackson himself. We have a board member, Ed Walker, who is an accredited antique appraiser and can authenticate signatures. I took it to his office and he authenticated it.

Pierce said it's the only authentic presidential signature he's aware of in Macon County. The land grant is on display at the museum, along with two other old land grants with the signatures of Van Buren and Franklin Pierce that were signed by secretaries.

The land granted by Jackson in 1831 was the first assigned by the government in the Mount Zion Township. It was granted to Henry Traughber  himself an important figure in Macon County history  after hed settled there and put a claim on it, according to the July 23, 1943 Decatur Daily Review.

Records show hed been living on that land at least two years before it was granted to him. According to the Jan. 10, 1924 Decatur Daily Review, the Smith family from Tennessee settled near Mount Zion in 1829, and Traughber, of Kentucky, put roots down nearby the same year. According to the Daily Review, (Traughber) was promptly impressed with the qualifications possessed by Nancy Smith as a pioneer girl. He asked her to marry him and she consented.

According to History of Macon County, by O.T. Banton, Traughber was the third person to be issued a marriage license in Macon County. On Nov. 17, 1829, he and Smith married.

The Traughbers had six children, one of whom  A.C. Traughber  stayed in Macon County and continued farming the land. Henry died at his Mount Zion home on Oct. 3, 1892 at age 89. The obituary in the Decatur Herald said Nancy had died, "about 25 years ago."

A.C. was successful in expanding the operation, accumulating 840 acres and raising stock. A.C.'s son Judd Traughber continued the family tradition

Judd continued to run the farm through the 1940s and still used the original log house and barn built by his grandfather 90 years earlier. The log barn was in the center of a larger barn built over it, and the house was used as an implement shed.

Eventually, the house was destroyed, but the barn was donated to the Macon County Historical Museum in 1976 by Mrs. John Traughber. Members of the Macon County Historical Society had planned to dismantle the barn and reassemble it on the grounds, but that never happened.

In fact, no one involved with the museum today has any idea what happened to that barn. Anderson said she's talked to several people, and no one was able to give her an answer. Both she and Pierce believe rails from the barn may have been used to replace damaged logs from the original Macon County Courthouse, which is on the grounds of the Macon County Historical Museum.

"It sure looks like it," Pierce said, when looking at an old photo of the Traughber barn.

Though some of the land has been sold off, descendants of Traughber still live on the site of the land grant  on Traughber Road, south of County Highway 30 and west of Mount Zion. In 2000, the lllinois Department of Agriculture designated the Traughber farm as an Illinois Sesquicentennial farm, the first in Macon County to receive the designation for farms that have remained in the same family for 150 years.

Meanwhile, Anderson and Pierce continue to comb through the museum's archives for historical documents. Anderson said the Jackson signature renewed her vigor.

"That's what keeps me going back," Anderson said, laughing. "But I tend to find something neat every time I go."

Pierce said he wouldn't be surprised if more land grants pop up, but finding one with an authentic presidential signature isn't likely. Pierce's hopes, though, remain high.

"We also have some old court documents we have a file on down there, too, that we havent had a chance to go through yet," Pierce said. "Were hoping theres a Lincoln signature in there. Its not likely, but you never know."
DECATUR  When Lt. Jeff Scheibly jumped into Lake Decatur during the first Polar Plunge 15 years ago, he and his co-workers at the Macon County Sheriff's Office wore inmate jumpsuits.

The group quickly learned they were overdressed for the occasion.

The less you have to take off afterwards the better, he said. Swim trunks and a T-shirt work best.

Scheibly and other plungers will be participating again in the 2017 Decatur Polar Plunge on March 4 at Lake Decatur near the Beach House restaurant in Nelson Park. The event is presented by Law Enforcement Torch Run and GEICO in support of Special Olympics.

Registration for the Polar Plunge opened Nov. 1. Within the first few weeks, the event has had more than 20 participants sign up, including individuals, groups and corporate teams. The cost to plunge is $100 per person.

"We give awards for the most money raised, said Joanie Keyes, Special Olympics area director.

The awards are divided into three participation categories, 15 or less, 15 to 30, and 31 or more.

Although they will be allowed to register until the day of the event, Keyes advises participants register as early as possible. She suggested teams discuss original and creative ideas while meeting during the holidays.

They can also set up their own website (for their team)," Keyes said. "They will also be sent updates this way."

As the Polar Plunge date approaches, the participants will be informed of the order in which they will plunge.

"We allow a plunge of 15 people at a time," Keyes said.

Since the first plunge in Decatur 15 years ago, the event has grown quickly. Approximately 40 plungers jumped into the water the first year. Last year's event brought almost 400 to Lake Decatur. Participants have also gotten more elaborate, adding costumes and decorations.

After the plunge, participants can remove the swimming attire in heated changing tents.

Keyes encouraged area high school to join the Polar Plunge challenge, called Cool School Challenge. In the past, the schools' principals and mascots have dove into the lake. The winner of this challenge will receive a $500 check for their school.

"This gives them an incentive," she said.

The organizers provide safety measures to assure the short dip in the water is still fun. During past plunges, ice had to cleared away. The park district works hard to prepare the water," Keyes said. "We make every effort to get it ready."

Scheibly has watched plungers approach the cold water in various forms. Some will go into the water, get their toes wet and come out, he said. Our guys dive underwater and go out to the dive team.

The underwater rescue team is placed about four feet into the lake for security measures.

"It's up to the plunger how far they go in," Keyes said. "A lot want to go to the rope and high-five the scuba divers."
Take an up-close look at the big surprise from Champaign Urbana Ballet's 2015 run of "The Nutcracker," a large snow owl that takes flight. It's back for the 2016 show, which kicks off this weekend.
HAVANA  Fidel Castro, who led his Cuban rebels to revolution in 1959, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 U.S. presidents during his half-century of rule, has died at age 90.

With a shaking voice, President Raul Castro said on state television that his older brother died at 10:29 p.m. Friday. He ended the announcement by shouting the revolutionary slogan: "Toward victory, always!"

Castro's reign over the island nation 90 miles from Florida was marked by the U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. Castro, who outlasted a crippling U.S. trade embargo as well as dozens of assassination plots, died 10 years after a life-threatening illness led him to turn over power to his brother.

Castro overcame imprisonment at the hands of dictator Fulgencio Batista, exile in Mexico and a disastrous start to his rebellion before triumphantly riding into Havana in January 1959 to become, at age 32, the youngest leader in Latin America. For decades he was a source of inspiration and support to revolutionaries from Latin America to Africa, even as Cubans who fled to exile loathed him.

His power began to fade in mid-2006 when a gastrointestinal ailment forced him to hand over the presidency to Raul in 2008. Castro's defiant image lingered long after he gave up his trademark Cohiba cigars for health reasons and his tall frame grew stooped.

"Socialism or death" remained Castro's rallying cry even as Western-style democracy swept the globe, leaving the nation of 11 million people an economically crippled Marxist curiosity.

He survived long enough to see his brother negotiate an opening with U.S. President Barack Obama in 2014, when Washington and Havana announced they would move to restore diplomatic ties for the first time since 1961. He cautiously blessed the historic deal with his lifelong enemy in a letter published after a monthlong silence.

Raul has announced plans to retire as president when his current term ends in 2018. Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel, a relatively younger leader, is seen as a possible successor, although Raul has said he would stay on as head of the Communist Party.

Havana's 23rd Street commercial center bustled with shoppers toting plastic bags and youngsters checking the internet on their smartphones like a normal weekend afternoon. But there was a notable lack of amplified music in this usually sonorous capital.

Carlos Rodriguez, 15, was sitting in Havana's Miramar neighborhood when he heard that Fidel Castro had died.

"Fidel? Fidel?" he said, slapping his head in shock. "That's not what I was expecting. One always thought that he would last forever."

"It's a tragedy," said 22-year-old nurse Dayan Montalvo. "We all grew up with him."

But the news cheered the community of Cuban exiles in Florida who had fled Castro's government. Thousands gathered in the streets in Miami's Little Havana to whoop.

Obama said that in the coming days, Cubans "will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner" in America.

President-elect Donald Trump called Castro "a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades." He said he hoped the death would clear the way "toward a future in which the wonderful Cuban people finally live in the freedom they so richly deserve."

Fidel Castro Ruz was born Aug. 13, 1926, in eastern Cuba's sugar country, where his Spanish immigrant father first worked recruiting labor for U.S. sugar companies and later built up a prosperous plantation of his own.

Castro attended Jesuit schools and then the University of Havana, where he received law and social science degrees. His life as a rebel began in 1953 with a reckless attack on the Moncada military barracks in the eastern city of Santiago. Most of his comrades were killed, and Fidel and his brother Raul went to prison.

Freed under a pardon, Castro fled to Mexico and organized a rebel band that returned in 1956, sailing across the Gulf of Mexico to Cuba on a yacht named Granma. After losing most of his group in a bungled landing, he rallied support in Cuba's eastern Sierra Maestra mountains.

Three years later, tens of thousands spilled into the streets of Havana to celebrate Batista's downfall and catch a glimpse of Castro as his rebel caravan arrived in the capital on Jan. 8, 1959.

The U.S. was among the first to formally recognize his government, cautiously trusting Castro's early assurances he merely wanted to restore democracy, not install socialism.

Within months, Castro was imposing radical economic reforms. Members of the old government went before summary courts, and at least 582 were shot by firing squads over two years. Independent newspapers were closed and in the early years, homosexuals were herded into camps for "re-education."

In 1964, Castro acknowledged holding 15,000 political prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled, including Castro's daughter Alina Fernandez Revuelta and his younger sister Juana.

Still, the revolution thrilled millions in Cuba and across Latin America who saw it as an example of how the seemingly arrogant Yankees could be defied. And many on the island were happy to see the seizure of property of the landed class, the expulsion of American gangsters and the closure of their casinos.

Castro's speeches, lasting up to six hours, became the soundtrack of Cuban life and his 269-minute speech to the U.N. General Assembly in 1960 set the world body's record for length.

As Castro moved into the Soviet bloc, Washington began working to oust him, cutting U.S. purchases of sugar, the island's economic mainstay. Castro, in turn, confiscated $1 billion in U.S. assets.

The American government imposed a trade embargo, banning virtually all U.S. exports to the island except for food and medicine, and it severed diplomatic ties in 1961.

On April 16 of that year, Castro declared his revolution to be socialist, and the next day, about 1,400 Cuban exiles stormed the beach at the Bay of Pigs on Cuba's south coast. But the CIA-backed invasion failed.

By Cuban count, he was the target of more than 630 assassination plots by militant Cuban exiles or the U.S. government.

The biggest crisis of the Cold War between Washington and Moscow exploded on Oct. 22, 1962, when President John F. Kennedy announced there were Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba and imposed a naval blockade of the island. Humankind held its breath, and after a tense week of diplomacy, Soviet leader Nikita Krushchev removed them. Never had the world felt so close to nuclear war.

Castro cobbled revolutionary groups together into the new Cuban Communist Party, with him as first secretary. Labor unions lost the right to strike. The Catholic Church and other religious institutions were harassed. Neighborhood "revolutionary defense committees" kept an eye on everyone.

Castro exported revolution to Latin American countries in the 1960s, and dispatched Cuban troops to Africa to fight Western-backed regimes in the 1970s. Over the decades, he sent Cuban doctors abroad to tend to the poor, and gave sanctuary to fugitive Black Panther leaders from the U.S.

But the collapse of the Soviet bloc ended billions in preferential trade and subsidies for Cuba, sending its economy into a tailspin.

As the end of the Cold War eased global tensions, many Latin American and European countries re-established relations with Cuba. In January 1998, Pope John Paul II visited a nation that had been officially atheist until the early 1990s.

Aided by a tourism boom, the economy slowly recovered and Castro steadily reasserted government control, stifling much of the limited free enterprise tolerated during harder times.

By the time Castro resigned 49 years after his triumphant arrival in Havana, he was the world's longest ruling head of government, aside from monarchs.

In retirement, Castro voiced unwavering support as Raul slowly but deliberately enacted sweeping changes to the Marxist system he had built.

His longevity allowed the younger brother to consolidate control, perhaps lengthening the revolution well past both men's lives.

"I'll be 90 years old soon," Fidel Castro said at an April 2016 Communist Party congress where he made his most extensive public appearance in years. "Soon I'll be like all the others. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban Communists will remain as proof that on this planet, if one works with fervor and dignity, they can produce the material and cultural goods that human beings need and that need to be fought for without ever giving up."

Cuba's government announced that Castro's ashes would be interred on Dec. 4 in the eastern city of Santiago that was a birthplace of his revolution. That will follow more than a week of honors, including a nearly nationwide caravan retracing, in reverse, his tour from Santiago to Havana with the triumph of the revolution in 1959.
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Tom Kacich is a columnist and the author of Tom's Mailbag at The News-Gazette. His column appears Sundays. His email is tkacich@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@tkacich).


#FirstVisuals from outside Nabha Jail(Punjab) where 10 armed men freed Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo & 4 gangsters pic.twitter.com/k2Bc7uLq9K

 ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

Punjab: Visuals from outside Nabha Jail, where 10 armed men freed Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo & 4 gangsters. pic.twitter.com/F1q6VK8eS3  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

Ten armed men raided the high security Nabha Jail in Punjab on Sunday morning, rained bullets at security guards, and managed to free Khalistan Liberation Force (KLO) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and four others.The incident took place around 9 am and the attackers came in police uniforms. They sprayed more than 100 rounds of ammunitions before our security guards could react to the situation, police sources said.A team of senior police officers rushed to the spot and a high alert has been issued across the state.Those who escaped include gangster Vicky Gondar, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol, Vikramjeet, and terrorist Mintoo, police said.Mintoo was arrested by Punjab Police from Delhi's IGI Airport in 2014.He was arrested in connection with 10 cases including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station in 2010.Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal said, A special task force has been set up to track down escaped convicts. We have suspended Nabha jail DGP and the superintendent of jail was dismissed. A team under ADGP has been formed to investigate the incident; strict action will be taken against whoever responsible.Meanwhile, Home Ministry seeks report from Punjab Government over the incident.An alert was sounded in the neighbouring states of Haryana, Rajasthan and special check posts were set up to arrest them. Punjab govt announces reward of Rs 25 lakh to any person providing information leading to arrest of escaped prisoners.According to police, six to eight persons in police uniforms came on four vehicles Toyota Fortuner, Hyundai Verna, Honda City and Hyundai i20 and fired several shots before escaping with the six inmates.(With PTI inputs)
Vadodara: Ruing that their business has virtually come to a standstill post currency ban, traders in Gujarat have sought intervention of the Centre, the state and RBI to tide over the liquidity shortage.



The Gujarat chapter of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and RBI should intervene more to resolve the issue of cash crunch.



"Traders have been forced to shut down their business following the government's surprise move to demonetise

high-value currency notes, which has resulted in a shortage of valid bank bills," Pramod Bhagat, President of Gujarat chapter of CAIT, told PTI.



Situation is becoming "grim day by day" as traders are facing liquidity squeeze due to restrictions on withdrawals of cash from their bank accounts.



"Also, traders want limits on withdrawal from the current account to be lifted. The shortage of Rs 50 and Rs 100 notes is also hurting their business," he said.



"We cannot do much business with a weekly withdrawal limit of Rs 50,000 from current account and monthly limit of Rs 2 lakh. This amount is not enough to meet our basic monthly expenses like rent, wages and daily incidental expenses."



Nilesh Shukla, President of the Vadodara Chamber of Commerce and Industries (VCCI), claimed that lack of required cash is affecting over 18,000 small-scale industrial units in the city, Gujarat's commercial hub.



Naranbhai Rathwa, Congress leader and a former Union minister said Agricultural Produce Market Committee-run yards in Chhotaudepur district had to remain mostly closed after the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, which has led to shortage of low-denomination currencies.
New Delhi: Dozens of Pakistani refugees living in a slum settlement were rendered homeless as nearly 30 shanties were gutted in fire at north Delhi's Majnu ka Tila in the afternoon on Sunday.



A senior Delhi Fire Service Officer said the fire incident was reported around 12.45 PM.



He said nine fire tenders were rushed to the spot and it was brought under control soon and no casualty was reported.



The affected families have taken shelter at their relatives in the settlement, having around 100 temporary shanties, police said.
New Delhi: More BSF personnel have died of heart attack and other illnesses than in action on the borders and anti-Naxal operations in the past two years, according to official data.



While men and women of the country's largest border guarding force BSF face enemy bullets and mortars amid recent hostilities with Pakistan, data reveals that only 25 of total 774 deaths in the period between January 2015 and September 2016 were battle casualties.



Data showed that while a total of 25 personnel were killed in action, 316 died due to a variety of diseases and illnesses and 117 suffered fatal cardiac arrest.



While the cases of deaths due to HIV/AIDS and malaria have gone down in the paramilitary force during the period, fatal casualties of personnel in rail, road and bike accidents continue. Officials said these remained a "cause of worry".



Amongst the other causes of death in the force during the period are: 192 deaths took place due to road or Railway accidents, 18 lost their lives due to HIV/AIDS, 38 due to cancer and five owing to malaria.



"The force lost 774 personnel during the period, out of which only 25 were battle casualties. This is a cause of worry and these numbers need to be brought down. A number of initiatives are being taken to ensure a healthy lifestyle and safe driving habits amongst the personnel," a senior official said.



Last year, former BSF Director General D K Pathak had told PTI that the about 2.5-lakh personnel strong force was witnessing a worrying trend in its ranks, as it was losing four times more troops in off-duty bike accidents, than at the borders or other conflict theatres in the hinterland in the recent past.



The Border Security Force (BSF) is tasked to secure the two most important borders of India with Pakistan and Bangladesh, besides being deployed for a variety of internal security duties including anti-Maoist operations.






Thiruvananthapuram: A 25-year-old Japanese tourist was allegedly sexually assaulted by a shop owner at Kovalam in Kerala.



The shop owner has been identified as Teja. He was arrested and taken to the local police station for further investigation.



The woman was found bleeding in her room late on Friday night. She alleged that a man, identified as Teja, befriended her and took her to his room where he raped her.

She later escaped and sought help from staff at her hotel.
In one respect, Donald Trump is the true hope and change president; many who voted for him must hope that he will change his mind about some of the things that he promised to do once he assumes office.

Indeed, daylight is already developing between Trumps most preposterous campaign promises and the actions that he will actually take as president. His trademark promise, to build a great, great wall, 50 feet or higher, on the southern border and make Mexico pay for it, is a good example.

Among many others, here are three more Trump promises that I hope fall by the wayside, as well:

The first is likely to be quickly forgotten: On Oct. 22, Trump threatened to sue all of the 17 or so women who confirmed what he admitted and bragged about in the notorious Access Hollywood tape, his sexual predation. He said, All of these liars will be sued after the election is over.

Trump denies the womens allegations, and in our country he is innocent until proven guilty. But he has accused the women of lying in the pursuit of fame and money, and they have an equal right to the presumption of innocence. The truth would come to light in a lawsuit and so would considerable insight into Trumps character. Trump would probably lose; either way, the nation would lose, as well.

Heres a campaign promise that Trump is much more likely to fulfill: He has asserted emphatically and repeatedly that when he becomes president he will withdraw U.S. participation from the Paris Agreement on climate change, an effort negotiated by 195 nations to slow down the worst effects of our addiction to energy derived from hydrocarbons.

Trump and many of the Republicans who support him have invested a lot in denying the science of climate change, and they will have a hard time backtracking. In fact, Trump has promised to make more land available for drilling and to revive the coal industry, policies that will increase rather than reduce greenhouse gases.

Many think that the Paris Agreement is already too little, too late. But if the U.S. relinquishes leadership in the worlds response to the biggest threat it faces, it will also relinquish considerable moral high ground to nations who believe that the climate is still worth fighting to save. This isnt going to make America great again.

Finally, heres a promise that we can only hope Trump doesnt keep: A prominent theme of Trumps campaign has been contempt for the media. At his rallies he has called them scum and encouraged his supporters to jeer them. In February, he said, One of the things Im going to do if I win  Im going to open up our libel lawsso we can sue them and win lots of money.

This is particularly worrisome because free countries have free presses. A hallmark of all authoritarian regimes is control and repression of the media. Russia is a good example. And in the current issue of The Atlantic, journalist James Fallows considers several ways in which China might be going bad. The first way, he reports, is renewed state censorship of all media, including the internet, print and broadcast.

A decade ago, reasonable criticism of the Chinese government by the press was allowed, but now the media is constantly reminded that dissent is not permissible and the partys interests come first.

A free, unencumbered press is essential to the very idea of America in ways that are meaningless in China and Russia. Any effort to inhibit the lawful exercise of a free press must be vigorously resisted.

By virtue of his election, Trump deserves a chance to govern. Certainly, he isnt the first president to ignore facts or to tell a lie. But only a free press can call him out when he makes promises that he cant keep, wont keep or that would serve our nation ill if he does keep.
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the people to adopt e-transaction and mobile banking in order to make India a cashless economy.

While addressing a rally in Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, Modi stressed that the youth should take the charge of educating people on cashless transaction.

I need your support, Modi said during his rally and asked young men and women of the country to teach at least 10 families everyday how to go cashless and make electronic payments.

While slamming the opposition for raising voice against demonetisation, he said, I can understand the inconvenience that people are going through but the problem will be over soon.

Our nation is suffering for 70 years due to the menace of black money and we are committed to eradicate this menace, he added.

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One person (Parminder) arrested in connection with Punjab jailbreak, huge cache of arms recovered from his car in Shamli, UP pic.twitter.com/zNKHK5LweU  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

Car with Punjab number plate found in Sonu Majra village in Kaithal (Haryana), suspected to be in connection with #PunjabJailBreak pic.twitter.com/QLiA8KWMps  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

Uttar Pradesh (UP) Police claimed to have arrested one of the armed men involved in the sensational jailbreak in Patiala in which a Khalistani militant outfit chief and five other prisoners escaped on Sunday morning.Parminder alias Penda was travelling in a Toyota Fortuner when his vehicle was intercepted by police at a check post in Kairana in Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh, police said.Uttar Pradesh ADG DS Chaudhary (Law and Order) told CNN-News18 that arrested Parminder was one of the 10 attackers and he admitted to his crime during interrogation.Choudhary told CNN-News18, "Parminder, a resident of Punjab's Jalandhar district, had allegedly killed a policeman in Punjab. He escaped from jail in March this year. Parminder confessed that he was one of the persons who organised and helped Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo escape from Nabha Jail on Sunday".Choudhary said, "Parminder was nabbed alone at a police check post in Shamli while two other suspects were spotted wearing police uniforms. The criminals had four vehicles with them and their initial plan was to go to Delhi but they entered Shamli.The UP ADG said that police had heightened security as it had apprehensions that the accused in the jailbreak may try to flee to Nepal.High alert was sounded in Northern states after KLF terrorist Mintoo along with five others escaped from a Punjab jail and UP cops launched a massive manhunt to nab them.Meanwhile, Haryana Police spotted an abandoned car at Sonu Majra village in Kahtial district. Police suspect criminals used the vehicle to flee from Nabha (in Punjab) with a Punjab number plate on it.Armed men attacked the Nabha Jail on Sunday morning and fired over 100 rounds to help KLF chief Mintoo and four dreaded gangsters to escape without any retaliation from the jail security and Punjab Police.Mintoo escaped along with five other prisoners Nabha prison which isabout 175 km from Kairana. The others who fled were gangster Vicky Gaundar, Amandeep Dhotian, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol and Kashmira Singh, who is also a terrorist.Following the incident Punjab government formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe Nabha Jailbreak and announced Rs 25 lakh cash reward to any person providing information leading to arrest of escaped prisoners.
#PunjabJailBreak: Punjab Dy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal reaches Nabha jail, where 10 armed men freed Khalistan terrorist Harminder Mintoo&5others pic.twitter.com/HgXqyJ6J9N  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

Punjab government on Sunday formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe Nabha Jailbreak and announced Rs 25 lakh cash reward to any person providing information leading to arrest of escaped prisoners.The state government ordered constitution of an Enquiry Committee headed by Addl Chief Secy (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to look into security lapses at high-security Nabha Jail in Punjab's Patiala district from where six prisoners including two terrorists, three gangsters and Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo escaped in the wee hours on Sunday. The jail guards retaliated but could not stop the escape.Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh alias Mintoo.Punjab Police DGP Suresh Arora and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal reached Nabha jail on Sunday to take stock of the situation.Following the incident, Punjab government suspended additional director general of police (ADGP) (Prisons) MK Tiwari and dismissed Nabha jail superintendent Paramjit Singh Sandhu and Deputy Superintendent of Police Karanjit Singh Sandhu from service.Launching a scathing attack on the state government, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said Sukhbir Singh Badal must take responsibility for jailbreak and the state's home minister must resign over the issue.Mintoo, an erstwhile member of Babbar Khalsa, was wanted in 10 terror related cases.Concerned over the jailbreak in Punjab, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured all help to Badal government. Rajnath said, "Punjab government will be provided every help from the Centre, this is a serious issue."ALSO READ: Gunmen Free Khalistan Liberation Force Chief From Punjab Jail; MHA Seeks Report Earlier, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi had spoken to the Punjab DGP and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in the state.An eyewitness told CNN-News18, "At around 8 am, ten armed men came to the jail gate in a Verna and a Fortuner car. They were wearing police uniforms and went inside the jail premises without any checking. Later, they sprayed more than 100 rounds of ammunitions at jail security guards and managed to free Khalistan Liberation Force (KLO) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and four others".Mintoo, an earstwhile member of Babbar Khalsa, was Wanted in 10 terror related cases.ALSO READ:
Hyderabad: The Telangana state Cabinet will meet in state Secretariat in Hyderabad on Monday at 2.30 pm to discuss the impact of demonetisation drive on the state and its people. The Cabinet will also discuss several measures to be taken to overcome problems faced by people due the ban imposed on old Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes.



On Sunday, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao held a review meeting on the eve of the Cabinet meeting. The chief minister said the government couldnt be a mere spectator to the situation. There cannot be any stalemate in transactions since it is concerned to lakhs of people in the state, he said.



The CM also elicited the opinions and suggestions of the participants on the issue.



Rao asked the Chief Secretary of the state to instruct Collectors to hold talks with bankers on cashless transactions and educate people about the move so that they can adapt themselves to the change in near future.



The chief minister also reiterated the need to help people. The finance department should work out on what they would do and what the government do as a whole? In this regard, a five-member committee was constituted to work out modalities for preparing a policy towards cashless e-payment system. The five-member committee included Senior IAS Officers Suresh Chanda, Navin Mittal, Jayesh Ranjan and Collectors Raghunandan and Surendra Mohan. Santi Kumari, Principal Secretary to CM, will be in the committee representing CMO. The Committee will also prepare a job chart to the Collectors to face any grave situation like the present demonetization and place before the Cabinet.



Rao also asked Finance Secretary Ramakrishna Rao to prepare a detailed note on the impact, implications and other aspects of demonetisation of high denomination notes on the State to be tabled before the State cabinet on Monday. This would help the cabinet to take a view on issue.
New Delhi: Actress Athiya Shetty is excited to start shooting for her second film Mubarakan, but she says she is nervous about working in the comedy genre for the first time.



"I am very excited (about the film), but I am also a bit nervous because it is a genre I have never tapped into. It is a second film and it is comedy so I am kind of nervous," Athiya said over phone from Mumbai.



Mubarakan brings Arjun Kapoor and Anil Kapoor together. The first look of the film was revealed in a very traditional manner with a wedding invitation asking everyone to join in. Arjun will be seen in double role in the Anees Bazmee directorial.



The film - also starring Ileana D'Cruz - is slated to the hit the screens on July 28 next year.



The actress might be nervous about the genre, but she is eager to go in front of the camera and join the gang'.



"They have started their first schedule and they seem to be having a blast. So, I'm really excited to join the gang, said Athiya, who made her Bollywood debut with 2015 film "Hero", which was co-produced by Salman Khan.



She added: "I am excited to be on the set more than anything else, to be in front of the camera. I feel happiest when I am in front of the camera."



Talking about her role, the actress said: "I play role of a Punjabi girl who is simple, but she adds fun, chaos and madness in 'Mubarakan'. I think it is going to be the wedding of the year and everybody is invited."



The daughter of Suniel Shetty has associated with an NGO -Save the Children. Now, its fifth anniversary is being celebrated at Phoenix Marketcity, Kurla, Mumbai on Saturday.



And she says she has been connected to the cause from childhood.



"The cause has been with me ever since I was born. It was formed by my nani and when she passed away she passed it to mum. I have been associated with the children since I was young. I used to visit the school almost every day because it was opposite my school.



"So, I have spent a lot of time with these children, I actually know them personally. I have seen them pass their 10 standard exam and all of that so it is a very very close bond," she said.




I welcome Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's support for PM Narendra Modi's fight against black money: Amit Shah pic.twitter.com/VvDMZyGLZ1  ANI (@ANI_news) 27 November 2016

BJP President Amit Shah on Sunday welcomed Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's support for demonetisation.While addressing a public gathering in Bengaluru, he said, "I would like to thank Nitish Kumar that he stood by our Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this move."The demonetisation decision taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is aimed at curbing black money and it will not harm farmers or the common man or woman, he asserted.Taking a dig at the opposition unity against demonetisation, he said leaders such as Manmohan Singh, Mamata Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal, Mulayam Singh have lost their sleep as their parties were hit hard by the Centre's move.Meanwhile, Nitish Kumar had earlier said that his support to demonetisation has nothing to do with politics.He has urged PM Modi to act against people holding 'benami' (held by proxy) properties. "After demonetisation, the central government should take action against 'benami' properties," he said.Nitish is the only senior leader in the opposition who has openly backed PM Modi on demonetisation.Though he denied meeting Bharatiya Amit Shah and his alleged efforts to get close to the party.
New Delhi: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu have a history of bitter political rivalry. But events over the past few months raise questions whether the two bitter rivals are coming together.



It began with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) special court in Hyderabad directing the Telangana police to re-investigate the case of Telangana TDP MLA Revanth Reddys Cash for Vote scam of June 2015. It also ordered the ACB to submit its report by September 29.



The forgotten scam returned to haunt Naidu. His Telangana counterpart KCR was baying for Naidus blood just a year ago and people were expecting him to swing into action armed with the court order to fix Naidu whom he derisively called an outsider with no business to be in Hyderabad. But he remained silent sending out confusing signals across political circles in both the states.



He followed that up a week later when he transferred his trusted intelligence chief and top police officer B Shiva Dhar Reddy to an insignificant post at the state police headquarters. A promotee IPS officer, V Naveen Chand, was made the new chief of state intelligence.



According to inner circle members of KCR, the officer's transfer was not as routine and regular as the government maintained it was. Shiva Dhar played an important role in tapping the alleged telephonic conversations between Naidu and TRS nominated Anglo-Indian MLA Elvis Stephenson who was allegedly offered Rs 5 crore to vote for a TDP candidate in the MLC elections. Stephenson played along and helped his party to catch the alleged bribe giver, Revanth, who the TRS believed was working at the behest of Naidu.



After this incident, KCR had thundered that he was not going to spare Naidu and they were at each others throats, hurling abuses and making allegations. The already strained relationship between KCR and Naidu worsened and they had even stopped talking to each other. With Revanth being sent to jail, Naidu seemed cornered. Sensing an opportunity, his main opponent in the state, YS Jaganmohan Reddy, started moving closer to KCR. But by August 2015, everything went quiet and KCR completely stopped talking about the high profile case.



According to a private complainant in the case, YSRCP MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddys advocate, the investigation slowed and stopped completely after a certain point as the role of Naidu emerged. The investigating agency wanted to protect the accused for reasons best known to itself, despite the fact that the voice sample it had of the accused matched with that of Naidu. The forensic lab confirmed that the voice in the telephonic conversation was Naidus, he said.



The ACB officials had categorically stated that the voice recorded in the alleged telephonic conversation between Naidu and Elvis Stephenson during the course of the investigation matched with the voice samples of Andhra Pradesh chief minister. According to some IPS officers, Shiv Dhar was transferred to save Naidu. His successor Chand was considered close Naidu before the state was bifurcated in 2014. He is also the son-in-law of one of KCRs closest friends and Rajya Sabha member Captain Lakshmikantha Rao. Instead of reopening the case and taking Naidus voice samples the ACB is now trying to hush-up the case, the Congress has alleged.



An Alliance On The Cards?



According to political observers in Hyderabad, KCR and Naidu have now buried the hatchet and are no longer interested in an open war with each other. They said that a fight between the two actually benefits their opponents and after realising it, they decided to call a truce.



Besides political interests, there are also many other considerations. To the surprise of everyone. Naidu had invited KCR to the foundation laying ceremony of the new AP capital Amaravati last year. KCR had accepted it and shared the dais with Naidu and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the ceremony. After two months, KCR reciprocated the gesture by inviting Naidu to his native district, Medak, to participate in a huge Yagna  Ayutha Chandi Yaaga  which Naidu attended.



Then, both of them came to New Delhi to hold a joint meeting with the Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti to discuss Krishna water sharing between two states. They displayed a rare bonhomie at that meeting. An IAS officer who was present in the same meeting said, Both KCR and Naidu displayed statesmanship. They spoke like highly mature leaders. I was surprised to see that after witnessing the drama during the Telangana agitation and even after that.



It is a well-known that the rivalry between the two leaders played a big part in the founding of the TRS in 2000 which led the agitation for a creation of Telangana as a separate state. KCR was a follower of Naidus father-in-law and the TDP founder, the late N T Rama Rao. But he left the party after he was denied a Cabinet berth and made the deputy Speaker of the Assembly in 1999. He had vowed to break up AP to take revenge on Naidu whom he described as a betrayer and a megalomaniac.



Bound Together By Common Interests



Political parties, who are in the Opposition, allege that both of the leaders have joined hands to finish them and protect each others business interests. They claim that Naidu has huge commercial interests in and around Hyderabad  Secunderabad and he does not want KCR to trouble them. Sources said that a mentor of Naidu, an old and highly influential business tycoon, has played the role of a mediator to bring them together. This businessman has properties worth tens of thousands of crores in Telangana and he has also patched up with KCR after some initial fight.



Senior Telangana Congress MLA and former minister D K Aruna said that KCR and Naidu had been fooling the people for a long time. Speaking to News18, she said, They have common political interests. KCR wants to use Naidu to take on Reddys in Telangana. Naidu is worried that Jaganmohan Reddy might get stronger in Telangana. He thinks that helping KCR is always better for him because he is their common rival. They also have so many other interests. Because of that both are keeping quiet on telephone tapping and cash for vote (sic).



Dismissing these charges, senior TDP leader and former AP home minister Dr. Mysoora Reddy said, AP and Telangana share a lot of resources. We have common assets and common interests. There is no point in KCR and Naidu trading charges against each other on a daily basis. Whatever has happened has happened. Thats now past. They want to look forward and behave like true leaders in the larger interests of AP and Telangana.



Downplaying this new-found bonhomie, Naidu told media that as chief minister of AP, his relationship with neighbouring state chief minister KCR would continue. He said, Though we cooperate on issues being chief ministers, politically we continue to be adversaries.



Telangana Health Minister Laxma Reddy dismissed reports of bonhomie. He even accuses Naidu of trying to stall irrigation projects in Telangana.



A Political Truce



According to the political analysts, political realities in both Telangana and AP have also played a big role in bringing them together. Naidu is engaged in a big fight with his arch rival Jaganmohan in AP. He does not want an angry KCR to throw his weight behind Jagan to unseat Naidu. At the same time, KCR also needs Naidu in Telangana to keep BJP, Congress and YSRCP out of power. Even though YSRCP is not currently focusing on Telangana, if it comes to power in AP it will be in a position to mount a challenge.



The caste calculations in Telangana also favour the YSRCP as the Reddy community is dominant there. Being a Velama whose population is very small, KCR has to keep Reddys happy to stay in power. It can happen only if the YSRCP stays away. KCR knows that Jagan is a bigger threat than Naidu in the long run.



To this end, the TDP can divide the anti TRS votes, helping KCR to stay in power. Besides TDP, there are four other big players  Congress, BJP, MIM and YSRCP. The Communists also have some influence left in certain districts. A multi-corner contest with some help from TDP is likely to benefit TRS.



High level sources also said that KCR, who almost decimated MIM in Hyderabad  Secundarabad municipal elections, has now reportedly decided to go slow on the party. He reportedly told top leaders that MIM could eat into TRSs Muslim votes in 30-35 assembly seats across Telangana and it would be wiser to not to disturb the Owaisi brothers-led party for just seven seats in the state capital.



According to some top level TDP sources, Naidu has asked his party unit in Telangana to take on the KCR government at a closed door meeting a week ago. He told them he would also hold a monthly brainstorming session with them in Hyderabad. During our regime in the erstwhile united AP, we kept Hyderabad city on the global map by developing infrastructure. But now, the citys infrastructure is being neglected by the TRS government. Pathetic condition of roads in the city is a classic example for this, Naidu was quoted saying in the media. When contacted, TDP leaders refused to confirm it, saying that internal meetings cant be discussed in public.



TDP MLA Revanth and others were caught-red handed while offering a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to nominated MLA Elvis Stephenson as advance of a total Rs 5 crore promised to him in return for support to a party candidate in MLC elections.



Stephenson, who represents the Anglo-Indians in the Telangana Assembly, had lodged a complaint with the police stating that an individual called Mithiyas Jerusalam had approached him and offered Rs 2 crore and an air ticket to leave the country or vote in favour of the TDP in the MLC elections. On May 31, 2015, the ACB officials had registered cases against Revanth, Bishop Harry Sebastian, Pastor Rudra Udayasimha and Jerusalam.
Shimla: Himachal Pradesh government is committed to promote Ayurveda and would open ayurvedic hospitals across the state, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on Sunday said.



Inaugurating the health fair 'Arogya' organised by the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India, the Department of Ayurveda, Government of Himachal Pradesh, in partnership with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), the Chief Minister said, "My government is committed to promote Ayurveda in the state and would open Ayurvedic hospitals here."



Himachal Pradesh is bestowed with rare medicinal herbs and plants used in alternate systems of medicine which would immensely benefit, both the farmers as well as the industry in the state, he said.



Farmers can earn rich profits by diversifying to the cultivation of medicinal herbs and the Industry can also tap the potential of the state, he added.



The state Ayurveda minister, Karan Singh said, "It is the right of every citizen to be disease-free and adopting a lifestyle based on the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda can help citizens live a better and healthier life."



Nisha Singh, Principal Secretary, Ayurveda said that "Himachal is gifted with the rich variety of medicinal herbs which grow here. This provides us a vast potential to nurture the industry to produce Ayurvedic medicines and we must harness this potential to boost the growth of farmers and the industry."



Chairman, CII Himachal Pradesh State Council, Sanjay Khurana, said, "Himachal Pradesh is an ideal destination to learn, practice and master the ways of life. The state is endowed with scenic beauty, peaceful valleys and is also home to a number of ashrams, health centers, retreats, etc.



"These institutions have retained the essence of an age-old wisdom of the land in order to cater to the novel needs of an ever-evolving society."



The fair has 26 exhibitors, 20 from AYUSH Industry; one from Government of Himachal Pradesh and five from the Ministry of AYUSH, Government of India.


Kushinagar (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday attacked the SP government in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh for being "unconcerned" to the hardships of the people and asked if its family feud was over to allow it to concentrate on implementing central schemes for farmers.



Modi criticised the Akhilesh Yadav government for not implementing the schemes to benefit farmers though the Centre was paying for them.



"I want to ask UP government if you have settled your dispute, implement crop insurance scheme in UP. I don't think they (UP government) can do that... They don't have interest in solving problems," he said at BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' rally here.



He was apparently referring to the crisis within the Yadav family that pitted Akhilesh against his father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal months ahead of the UP elections.



Modi said had previous governments thought of changing lives in villages, farmers and poor would not have been facing problems as he tried to strike an emotional chord with farmers by beginning his speech in Bhojpuri and devoted a considerable part of his speech to problems of cane growers.



"The time has gone when those in government called themselves rulers. I am your 'sewak' (I am at your service)... It's my responsibility to work for you. You have given me a lot. I am indebted to you," he added.



Stating that cane dues amounted to a whopping Rs 22,000 crore in 2014-15, he said people had got "used to" it, so much so that they did not even complain.



"The UP government was also unconcerned. When we formed government at the Centre, we decided to take care of cane growers. Now only very little payment is pending," he said.



Highlighting his government's initiatives, Modi said, "Sugar mill owners wanted package when they met me. I asked them your habit to take packages is old. I will give you whatever you want and I later sent officers to seek list of those whose dues were pending."



"I later said package will be given but not to sugar mills but to farmers and their dues will be transferred to

their account directly" to ensure there are no middlemen, he said.



Modi said that in order to remove worries of sugarcane growers, he also asked sugar mills to install machinery to produce ethanol, which could be used as an alternative to petrol and diesel.



"If sugar prices fall, produce ethanol. We won't let cane growers die.



"The sugar mills have produced 100 crore litre of ethanol that is a record for the country. This is used in vehicles and saved on import of fuel," he said.
Uttar Pradesh chief secretary Deepak Singhal was on his way to the Noida Development Authority office to preside over the signing of an MoU when his mobile phone rang. The caller from Lucknow delivered a terse message to the 1982 batch IAS officer. That the chief secretary has been sacked with immediate effect by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.Within two months of being appointed to the top post in the CM secretariat, Singhal who has earlier worked closely with Irrigation Minister and Mulayam Singh Yadavs younger brother Shivpal Yadav had been summarily shown the door.The battle for succession in the Samajwadi Party had begun.Over the next two months, in Lucknow and outside, one of the most bitterly contested political battles for inheritance would be fought between chacha Shivpal Yadav and bhateeja Akhilesh.A battle in realpolitik where winner takes all.At the Samajwadi Party parliamentary board earlier this year, Mulayam Singh Yadav walked in with an A4 sheet in hand. Scribbled on it were names of partys nominees for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls. Putting on his reading glasses, Mulayam slowly read out from the paper. Beni Prasad Verma, Reoti Raman Singh....and then the patriarch dropped the bombshell. Amar Singh.Senior leader and partys Muslim face Azam Khan walked out of the meeting. Mulayams cousin and party leader in Rajya Sabha Ram Gopal Yadav was the only one to raise objections. But Mulayam stood firm. He had taken the call, and there will be no changes. The other three present in the room, Shivpal Yadav, CM Akhilesh Yadav and General Secretary Kironmoy Nanda remained silent.Minutes later a beaming Shivpal Yadav in a crowded press conference at party headquarters in Lucknow read out the list prepared by netaji.Amar Singh had returned to SP after six years in exile.Shivpal had drawn first blood.But the uneasy power balance, both in party and government had been disturbed.While carefully crafting the political career of Akhilesh since 1999, Mulayam Singh Yadav has followed a thumb rule: never appear to be pushing for his son. When he made Akhilesh enter electoral politics, Mulayam got senior SP leader Janeshwar Mishra to propose Akhileshs candidature for Kannauj by-polls in 1999. In 2012, when SP won a full majority government for the first time, the pehelwan from Etawah instead got cousin Ram Gopal to propose Akhileshs name for the CMs post while Shivpal wanted Mulayam to take charge and mentor the son. It is another matter that the younger brother was himself a contender.But Mulayam Singh Yadav compensated brother Shivpal for the loss his comrade in the rough and tumble of state politics- with 12 portfolios. All cash-rich ministries from PWD to Irrigation went to Shivpal. And over the next four years, Shivpal used his office to build a powerful group of loyalists in every district; and also in the legislature party. To his supporters and even otherwise, he was accessible, and he delivered. Even opposition leaders in Lucknow would vouch for that.Then there were other senior ministers and contemporaries of Mulayam in Akhilesh cabinet, like Azam Khan, who were independent islands in a complicated power matrix. Within bureaucracy, those loyal to Mulayam and occupying key positions like Anita Singh held their own sway.Slowly the chief minister of politically most significant state started acquiring an image of being a pushover. The joke in Lucknow was that UP had four and a half CMs: Mulayam Singh, Shivpal, Ram Gopal and Secretary to CM Anita Singh; with Akhilesh just managing to get himself squeezed into the remaining space.In June this year, Amar Singhs entry further complicated the matter.The second coup which Shivpal could manage after Amar Singhs return was getting Deepak Singhal appointed as chief secretary of the state. Singhal had worked closely with Shivpal in the Irrigation department as principal secretary for nearly four years.Akhilesh had reservations about Singhal, but he did not make his opposition public.Just two days before his sacking in September, there was a grand party at a five star hotel in Delhi. Amar Singh was the host, and the reception was to felicitate media magnate Subhash Chandra on his victory in the Rajya Sabha polls.Both Mulayam Singh and Shivpal attended the gala event. Akhilesh gave it a miss. But his chief secretary, Deepak Singhal did not.It is said that a conversation, and what transpired that evening, was reported to the CM in Lucknow.The first to face Akhileshs wrath were Gayatri Prajapati and Rajkishore- the two ministers facing allegations of corruption.The next day, the chief minister issued the marching orders to his chief secretary.Akhilesh Yadav has all along maintained that all these decisions were taken with due consent from Mulayam Singh Yadav!Mulayam Singh Yadav was in Delhi when Deepak Singhal was sacked. By evening Amar Singh was at Netajis residence and he was closeted with the SP chief for over two hours. It was argued before Mulayam that sacking of Singhal had sent a wrong message to the cadre that Shivpal, the organisation man has been weakened; and that did not augur well for the party in election year.The situation, it was suggested, could be redeemed if Shivpal was made the UP state president, a position held by Akhilesh Yadav.Ram Gopal Yadav was called to issue the statement to this effect. Aware of its political implications, he informed Akhilesh of what has transpired.Within an hour of his removal as state president of SP, chief minister Akhilesh Yadav sent a formal letter to Governor Ram Naik stripping Shivpal Yadav of key ministerial portfolios.Tipu aka Akhilesh had taken the first step to become the Sultan of SP.Humiliated, Shivpal resigned both as state president and minister in the state council.Mulayam rejected the resignation. Intervened. Akhilesh returned all the portfolios except one.Public Works Department. There was a message in it as well. For Shivpal in UP and among his supporters is popularly known as the PWD mantriA temporary truce was called. Both sides re-grouped over the next one month amid minor skirmishes here and there. Shivpal as state president sacked some of Akhileshs close aides for indiscipline.He went ahead with the merger of Mukhtar Ansaris Qaumi Ekta Dal, something which was opposed tooth and nail by Akhilesh. Shivpal even announced candidature of Amanmani Tripathi from Maharajgunj district against whom CM had ordered CBI probe for alleged murder of his wife.The last straw in this game of oneupmanship was the announcement of a mega event in Lucknow in the first week of November to mark silver jublee of SPs foundation. In other words, it was to be Shivpals show of strength.Akhilesh read through the fineprint. He shot off a letter to his father informing him about his decision to embark on statewide yatra to mobilise people before the elections. And he would do that just two days ahead of the foundation day function.Now the two camps were operating from different offices. Shivpal being the state president was in-charge of the party office on Vikramaditya Road in Lucknow. Less than one hundred meters away, Akhilesh supporters planned from the Janeshwar Mishra trust.To mobilise workers ahead of the grand rally in Lucknow, Shivpal called a meeting of all elected representatives including MLAs, MLCs, MPs and former MPs at the party office on October 24.These were ominous signs. And things were getting out of control. Was Shivpal Yadav preparing for the final push?Pre-empting any possibility, a day ahead of this meeting of elected representatives, Akhilesh called all MLAs and MLCs to his residence. All except those who were seen to be overtly associated with Shivpal were invited.He met his father Mulayam before proceeding for the meeting at CMs residence. It is said more than 180 legislators turned up. Having summoned and got the support of the majority in the legislature party, he sacked Shivpal and three other ministers from his uncles camp.Hours later, Shivpal at a press conference read out a statement by Mulayam Singh sacking Ram Gopal Yadav from the party for colluding with the BJP.The two sides had drawn level.Mulayam, they said, was miffed with his son and was firmly standing by his brother Shivpal!But the turning point in this family soap spanning over two months was the showdown on the 24th of October at the party office. The stage was set. Shivpal and his supporters in the cabinet had been sacked. The question was - will Shivpal take all this lying down?Sources say that on the eve of the meeting it was discreetly communicated to the CM camp that matters may reach a flashpoint if Akhilesh attended the October 24 meet. With tempers running high, the two warring groups might clash in full media glare.It was then the CM re-calibrated his strategy. It was felt that skipping the meeting would be seen as a sign of weakness and would give the opposite camp a walkover.So, at the crack of dawn, the moment gates at the party headquarters were unlocked for staff to enter the premises, Akhilesh supporters rushed in to occupy front rows and vantage positions.Akhilesh, drove in to address the meeting well before time. He spoke first, followed by Shivpal and then Mulayam.It was an emotional speech. Of a son talking to his father, of a politician to his mentor, and of the chief minister attempting to assert his authority.This was followed by Shivpals outburst. And what did Shivpal say? He spoke about his contribution to the party; his unwavering loyalty to Netaji; his achievements as a minister holding 12 portfolios. And then he came to the operative part: he said the CM was trying to break the party and sought strength from Mulayam to inculcate discipline in the party rank and file. Making these allegations, Shivpal, swore by his son, and by Gangajal.When the patriarch stood up to adjudicate, everyone listened in with rapt attention. Mulayam berated Akhilesh. Tumhari haisiyat kya hai; he asked. He sung paeans to Shivpal and all the hard work his brother had done in building the party. He reminisced how Shivpal would come home late from campaigning and leave early morning.Mulayam did not stop at that. He showered praise on Amar Singh. He publically accepted that had it not been for Singh, he would have been behind bars in the DA case.But Mulayam - and this is important - remained silent on two critical issues raised by his brother. That the CM was trying to break the party, even as Shivpal sought authority and strength from the patriarch to set the house in order.Can there be a graver allegation than this - that someone was trying to split the party. And what can be construed of the party presidents silence on the issue?For those, especially the netas on the stage who have the capacity and understanding to sift optics from politics, this was an indication enough where Mulayam stood in this intra-party wrangling.The final confirmation came two days later. Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters in Lucknow, Mulayam was asked if he would like to take over as the CM from Akhilesh. For what, he retorted? With elections just a few months away should he take charge merely to preside over salary distribution.Another scribe wanted to know if Shivpal Yadav be reinducted in the cabinet.That Netaji said emphatically, is the prerogative of the CM.Shivpal Yadav, who was seated next to Mulayam Singh Yadav all this while, looked up at the ceiling of the auditorium as if seeking some divine intervention.In the last one month, MSY has not only flagged off his sons yatra, but also called him a performing CM at the inauguration of the Lucknow-Agra expressway. Ram Gopal Yadav, who was sacked by MSY for allegedly hobnobbing with the BJP is back in the party.Earlier this week, Akhilesh recently another rally organised by Shivpal in Ghazipur, the stronghold of Mukhtar Ansari.MSY attended and made a long winding speech and compared his son with Prime Minister Modi.If Modi is haughty, he said, Akhilesh is stubborn.
Everyone seems to be weighing in on the new energy bill that, if approved, would save the the Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants  and the hundreds of jobs that go with them.

The plants, owned by Exelon Corp., are scheduled to close next year in Clinton and a year later in the Quad Cities. For months, the company has been telling anyone who will listen that the plants lose millions and, to remain open, Exelon needs a financial incentive plan for low-carbon-emission energy production that would include nuclear power.

The latest proposal, also supported by Commonwealth Edison, which serves northern Illinois, would create new rate structures for consumers and increase investments in energy-efficient programs and renewable energy.

Obviously, communities in the affected areas  like Clinton  want to see passage of the bill that is the latest in a series of proposals that continue to grow in scope, apparently in an effort to appease as many constituencies as possible.

Competitor Ameren Illinois doesn't support the measure, basing most of its opposition on the potential impact on the bills of its 1.2 million customers.

That impact continues to be debated, but make no mistake, electric bills would be higher if the bill passes.

The focus of that concern is on a part of the plan to shift to a so-called "demand charge" that consumer advocates warn could lead to unpredictable energy bills.

Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club and the Environmental Defense Fund, support many of the bills provisions, including the extension of subsidies to nuclear power.

There are other aspects of the bill that complicate the situation further  notably its intent on subsidizing coal plants, which also are facing shutdowns, that these same environmental groups don't like.

But the bottom line is what we have stated in past editorials.

Allowing the Clinton plant to close is not the answer.

At stake in Clinton and Central Illinois are about 700 direct jobs, another 1,200 support jobs, 50 percent of DeWitt County's tax base and more than $13 million in local tax revenue to area schools and local governments.

And, yes, time is running out. For months, Exelon has been taking the necessary steps to mothball the plant, so a legislative remedy needs to be found.

The company wants to see action during the Legislature's fall veto session, but little was done during the first half of that session; lawmakers return to Springfield on Tuesday.

Some movement was achieved last week when Exelon and ComEd agreed to drop proposals to change the way customers are charged for their electricity, and to create subsidies for Dynegy-owned coal plants in southern Illinois.

So there is room for compromise. Clearly, the debate is intensifying and has widened since the initial hand-wringing over the threat that the nuclear plants might close.

But that remains the central question and we, again, urge the General Assembly to find a way to keep the plants open, keep people employed and send a message that Illinois wants to keep, not lose, any more good jobs.

That is vital for the long-term interests of the region, and the state.
Algiers: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared on Saturday eight days of national mourning for the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.



"President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on Saturday has declared eight days of national mourning as from Sunday, following the death of Cuba's former Head of State, Fidel Castro Ruz, the leader of the Cuban Revolution," APS news agency quoted the President Office as saying in a statement.



Bouteflika has also sent a message of condolence to Raul Castro Ruz, the current President of Cuba, in which he affirmed that the death of Fidel Castro is a "great loss" for the Algerian people, Xinhua news agency reported.



He stressed that Castro played a key role in the Algerian Liberation War (1954-1962) against the French occupation and provided "solidarity and support to the reconstruction of our country ruined by a devastating colonial war" after Algeria gained independence.



"I salute him as an authentic defender of the values of peace, respect and national sovereignty, and of his uncompromising struggle for the rights of people to self-determination," concludes the message.



Fidel Castro died aged 90 on Friday. He governed Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.
Beijing: China has asked Muslim citizens to resolutely oppose religious extremism and stick to socialism with Chinese characteristics as it tightened security in the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province with stern measures.



Chinese Muslims should resolutely oppose religious extremism, Wang Zuo'an, chief of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, said.



In his address at the 10th National Congress of Chinese Muslims on Saturday, Wang said the development of Islam in China should stick to socialism with Chinese characteristics, state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.



While respecting Muslims' beliefs and customs, religious interference in the fields of politics, justice and education is intolerable, Wang said.



It is strongly advocated that new mosques should demonstrate Chinese characteristics and national features, instead of deliberate copying foreign architectural styles, Wang said.



He also said he appreciated the work of the Islamic Association of China (IAC) during the past five years.



The IAC should foster Islamic clergy and actively carry out friendly exchange with foreign countries, Wang said.



His comments came as China has tightened rules for religious ceremonies and directed residents in Xinjiang province to surrender their passports in a bid to restrict their attempts to migrate abroad.



People of the province have been told to surrender their passports to local police stations for examination and management.



"Those who refuse to hand in their passports should bear the responsibility themselves if they are forbidden from going abroad," the local government directive said last week.



Also Xinjiang has established religious committees and residential communities to manage religious practices since September, requiring local residents to report their religious activities or activities attended by religious people, including circumcision, weddings and funerals, La Disheng, a professor at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Xinjiang regional committee, said.



Getting a passport is often complicated and takes more time in Xinjiang than in other provinces, given the rising threat of terrorism in the region and the government's ongoing anti-terrorism campaign, an official in the province said.



The new passport followed steady migration of Uyghurs, Turkik speaking Muslims to Turkey and several other countries.



According to reports, several hundred Uyghur youth have been fighting along with Islamic State in Syria and China apprehends that the battle-hardened militants may return to cause more violence in the troubled province.



Resource-rich Xinjiang, bordering PoK and Afghanistan was on the boil for over six years following unrest among Uyghur Muslims over the increasing settlements of Han Chinese from other provinces.



The province has witnessed some deadly terror attacks in recent years which also spread to Beijing and other parts of China. The attacks were officially blamed on the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) which is linked to al-Qaeda in the past and now Islamic State.
Dubai: In a heartwarming gesture, a 50-year-old Indian tea seller in the UAE was made guest of honour at the inauguration of a new branch of an electronic shop owned by an expatriate here.



Mohammed Shafi from Kerala was a happy man after being invited to cut the ribbon and open the new branch of the shop where he has been selling tea for the last 20 years on Al Musalla Road in Deira area.



Neelesh Bhatia, the chairman of Key Fashion Electronics Trading, draped a shawl around Shafi as a gesture of honouring him amid applause of dozens of people, including employees and guests, Gulf News reported.



Shafi, who works with Dream Way cafeteria in the neighbourhood, also became the first customer of the newly-opened shop after purchasing a mobile headphone set.



Even as the guests clapped for him, he served sweets and savouries for the guests.



"I never expected anything like this. It is so sweet of him to do this. I have not heard about people doing such nice gestures. I just want him to get more business and prosper in life," Shafi said.



He said that once he was given 15,000 dirham (Rs 2.7 lakh) for continuing the education of his son who is now an IT

engineer in the UAE.



Sometimes, it is Shafi who keeps a watch on the shop and keeps the keys with him if the employees are late.
New York: At least three mosques in California have received letters threatening Muslims and praising President-elect Donald Trump, media reports said.



The hate-filled letters were discovered at the Islamic centres of Long Beach and Claremont as well as a mosque in San Jose.



The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) released a copy of the handwritten and photocopied letters, received over the course of the week, CBS News reported.



Calling the Muslims "vile and filthy people", the letter said that their "day of reckoning has arrived".



"There's a new sheriff in town -- President Donald Trump. He's going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And he's going to start with you Muslims," the letter, signed by 'American for A Better Way', read. "He's going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews."



The council has called for an increased police protection and a proper response from authorities in such cases.



"We urge local law enforcement authorities to work with Muslim community leaders to ensure the safety of all houses of worship," said CAIR Executive Director of CAIR in San Francisco, Zahra Billoo, in a statement on Saturday.



Though Trump has said he is not aware of such attacks, more than 700 acts of such bias targeting Muslims, blacks, Latinos, immigrants and LGBTQ people have occurred since Election Day (November 8).
Miami: Cuban-Americans poured onto the streets of Miami early today to cries of "Cuba Libre!" and "Freedom! Freedom!" celebrating the death of their nemesis Fidel Castro.



Revelers -- many exiled by Havana's communist regime -- honked car horns, banged on pots and drums, and danced, cried, and waved Cuban flags in a crush of communal euphoria.



Castro died late on Saturday, his brother Cuban President Raul Castro announced on national television around midnight.



In Miami -- home to the largest concentration of Cuban-Americans in the US -- the news spread quickly and with fervour.



"It's sad that one finds joy in the death of a person -- but that person should never have been born," said Pablo Arencibia, 67, a teacher who fled Cuba 20 years ago.



"Satan is now the one who has to worry," because "Fidel is heading there and is going to try to get his job," joked Arencibia amid the loud party-like atmosphere.



Sensing the historic moment, younger revelers streamed the event on Facebook Live, posted pictures on Instagram, and broadcast the celebrations on FaceTime and Skype to friends and relatives on the island.



Little Havana and Hialeah -- Miami neighborhoods where many Cuban exiles settled -- saw people dance, hug, and exchange comments like "it took so long," and "now only Raul is missing."



"Cuba Libre" -- Free Cuba -- has been a rallying cry for exiles ever since the Castro brothers took over Cuba in 1959. The rum and Coke drink of the same name, however, predates the Castro regime.



Some two million Cubans live in the US, nearly 70 per cent of them in Florida.



The late-breaking news roused some out of bed to join the street party in pajamas.



Some sang the Cuban national anthem. Others shook up bottles of champagne and sprayed fizz among the revelers.



People of all ages gathered, mostly of Cuban descent, but also some Americans.



"It's a major moment for the Cuban community and I'm with them," said a retired Florida native named Debbie. "I live in Little Havana and this is a big part of our lives. The community always comes together here."



Debbie and her friend Cuban-American Aymara celebrated outside the Cafe Versailles, where exiles met for decades to plot their return to the island and strategies to protest the Castro regime.



"He should have died a long time ago! He's a criminal, a murderer and a wretched being!" screamed 78-year-old retiree Hugo Ribas in a voice full of rage mixed with euphoria.



"The brother should have died too -- in that family they're all criminals!" added Ribas, who has been in Miami for four years.



"It took too long," said Cuban immigrant Analia Rodriguez, 23, who has lived in Miami for a decade.










Many who voted for Hillary Clinton on Nov. 8 havent recovered from the shock of Donald Trump winning the White House, even though she won in the popular vote. Protests continue in many cities and some even declared themselves sanctuaries for illegal residents.

What happened in 2016 resembles what occurred in the 1952 election when voters decided they wanted change in Washington and brought Republicans back to power after 20 years of Democratic rule. This year, enough voters in Midwestern states who wanted change in Washington decided that Clinton would continue President Obamas policies for another four years.

1952 election. Those of us old enough to vote in 1952 recall the major foreign and fiscal policy changes the Republicans campaigned on. The election result was not close, primarily because the party chose a war hero, Dwight Eisenhower, to be their candidate. Democrats picked Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois who, like Barack Obama, was a fine orator and intellectual who appealed to educated voters. He was no match, however, for Eisenhower, who commanded allied forces that defeated Nazi Germany in 1945.

In 1952 the Republican Party was deeply split between conservatives who wanted to roll back Franklin Roosevelts New Deal programs (including Social Security) and adopt an isolationist foreign policy, and moderates who wanted to defend Americas commitments to Western Europe in the face of Soviet threats to undermine their governments. Eisenhower won nomination in the hotly contested Republican convention that summer over Senator Robert Taft of Ohio.

When Republicans took over Washington in January 1953, few Americans had any doubts that major changes in policy were on the way.

In 1953, I had worked for a year in the State Department when its secretary, Dean Acheson, managed the countrys foreign policy despite wild charges by Wisconsin Sen. Joseph McCarthy that the department was riddled with Communists.

Acheson was replaced as secretary by John Foster Dulles, a serious hard-liner who had been an adviser to both Democratic and Republican leaders and favored a robust foreign policy to counter Moscows political and military pressure on Western Europe, including Berlin.

I recall a cold February morning in Washington in 1953 when department employees gathered in a parking lot adjacent to State Department headquarters to hear what our new boss had to say. Dulles soon appeared at the podium and spoke into a microphone. Paraphrasing his remarks, he declared: The new administration will bring about major changes in our foreign policy, and I expect all of our employees to show positive loyalty in carrying out your responsibilities. A colleague looked stunned and blurted out: Hes questioning my loyalty?

There were certainly major changes in foreign policy, including harsh anti-Communist and anti-Soviet propaganda, and a major strengthening of U.S. strategic forces to cope with Moscows development of nuclear weapons. Eisenhower also threatened Moscow with a major escalation of war in Korea unless it forced North Korea to agree on a permanent cease-fire. He later negotiated a detente relationship with new Soviet leaders who had succeeded Joseph Stalin, and this greatly reduced Cold War tensions.

2017 realities. Donald Trump faces foreign policy challenges similar to those Eisenhower and Dulles dealt with, for example: how to deal with an aggressive Moscow, how to confront a nuclear North Korea, how to counter an Iranian regime that tries to expand its influence over the entire Persian Gulf area. In addition, Trump must deal with a resurgent China that aims to establish its hegemony over East Asia at the expense of American power and influence in the region.

Its too early, in my view, to judge how Donald Trump will conduct his foreign policy. His appointments of secretaries of state, defense, and treasury will give us a clearer idea of where his policy is headed. We should also appreciate that the Senate must approve all of Trumps cabinet choices, and its doubtful that Republican senators will simply rubber-stamp his selections. In the meantime, especially before Jan. 20, it would be prudent for us to stay calm and let the democratic process of its checks-and-balances do its job.

Nuechterlein is a political scientist and author who resides near Charlottesville. Contact him at nuechtd@cstone.net.
On November 27, the XVI Summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie being held in Antananarivo adopted Final Resolution on the Settlement of Crisis Situations and Enhancement of Peace.

On Armenias initiative, the full support of the member states of the Organization to the efforts being exerted by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs towards the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict was enshrined in that document.



We urge all the parties to the conflict to refrain from the threat or use of force, which can undermine the peaceful settlement process, to continue negotiations on the basis of proposals presented by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs as an integrated whole, particularly, non-use of force or threat of use of force, territorial integrity and the equal rights and self-determination of peoples, reads the Final Resolution of the XVI Summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie.
It took the very public fiasco of the failed effort to lure Lindenburg Industries, LLC, to the old Thomasville plant in Appomattox to expose the Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP) as a state agency in absolute chaos. Our take? Better late than never.

The VEDP, chartered by the General Assembly in 1995 at the behest of then-Gov. George Allen, has one mission: provide incentives, primarily financial, to lure job-creating businesses to the commonwealth. In just the last decade, it has disbursed more than $400 million, practically all of it taxpayer dollars.

But it was a relatively small $1.4 million awarded to Lindenburg Industries, a Chinese company, that revealed a laundry list of deficiencies within the agency.

VEDP made the award back in 2014. In return. Lindenburg promised to invest $113 million at the Thomasville site and create 350 jobs manufacturing high-tech air moving equipment. Gov. Terry McAuliffe came to Appomattox to announce the deal, and local officials praised it as an economic turning point for the town and the county after the blow of Thomasvilles closing and the loss of hundreds of jobs.

Except Lindenburg was all a sham, or so it would appear. No work was ever done at the site. Bills to public and private entities went unpaid, liens began to pile up. And most important of all, not a single job ever materialized.

Officials of the so-called company stopped responding to any and all attempts at contact.

In mid-March of this year, VEDPs executive director quit, and the Virginia State Police launched a criminal investigation into how the agency awarded the $1.4 million grant. An investigation by the Roanoke Times revealed VEDP had relied primarily on Lindenburgs corporate website, which was replete with false information, in deciding to make the grant.

As a result, General Assembly leaders directed their watchdog agency, the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission (JLARC), to undertake an investigation of VEDP to determine what went wrong and whether it was a one-time slip up or something systemic.

What JLARC uncovered was devastating.

Vetting of companies to determine if they were viable entities capable of living up to the terms of an incentives grant was virtually nonexistent. Even after a grant was awarded, JLARC found little follow-up by VEDP to determine if the company lived up to the terms of its agreement with the state.

The agency itself, JLARC said, is poorly managed from a staffing perspective, has a marketing strategy that is inefficient, badly managed and totally uncoordinated with any other state or local agencies and is so lax in oversight that the state [is] exposed to avoidable risk of fraud and poor use of limited resources.

Though it was on McAuliffes watch that VEDP was caught in the spotlight, JLARC reports the problems go back at least to the administration of Democrat Tim Kaine and continued under Republican Bob McDonnell. And both Democrats and Republicans, controlling one or both houses of the General Assembly, sat by and did nothing.

McAuliffe and the Assembly likely will have VEDP squarely in the crosshairs in the 2017 session set to begin in January.

Some of the reforms suggested in the JLARC review could be accomplished by executive orders, but some will require action by the Assembly. VEDP is set to receive $27 million in the two-year budget legislators will be considering; JLARC said the Assembly should approve that appropriation only if the agency has completed or will complete a laundry list of almost three dozen reforms, including regular performance and financial audits and stringent outside oversight.

Perhaps the most significant reform suggested by JLARC would be for the

Assembly to create a board of economic development, complete with its own staff independent of any state economic development entity, to oversee the entirety of Virginias economic development activities.

The turmoil uncovered in the VEDP comes at the most inopportune time for Virginia.

The states economy is overly dependent on federal spending, both in Northern Virginia and in Tidewater. Past cutbacks and slowdowns in federal spending have resulted in a decreased revenue stream to Richmond, driving home to elected officials the need to diversify the Virginia economy.

Attracting new types of business and employers to the commonwealth has been of the utmost importance in recent years. However, in January when Republicans take over control of both the White House and Congress, increasing the likelihood of major budgetary changes, Virginia can ill afford to have its economic development activities hampered by having its lead recruitment agency mired in scandal.

We hope the governor and Assembly leaders will take note of the need to reform the VEDP and craft an agency that functions transparently and efficiently as quickly as possible and act accordingly. Time is of the essence.
The New Musician

The reality is that we do have to eat as well, he states.

Still caught in the era of the stage performer, the music industry in Trinidad and Tobago has

now formed a bottleneck - many people vying for one ground - the stage. But Navid Lancaster many years before, recognised that music simply didnt mean just stage performances.

See, I quickly realised that you can put music in anything. So I started attending conferences

that had nothing to do with music. And thats how I got into Anime Caribe. I had just

gone to market myself. Its as simple as that. The business of music is an infant field here

in Trinidad and Navid Lancaster can very well be one of its pioneers. Lancasters early love of music manifested itself at age five when he remembered listening to the songs of Styx, particularly Babe and George Bensons version of The Greatest Love of All, both songs that he learnt by heart. His ear caught the sounds of instruments as well that captivated him. The

violin remains one such.

It was entirely by chance that I ended up in film, Lancaster said.

Highly doubtful, Lancasters career thus far had shown evidence of his drive to follow his musical calling. It was one that had allowed him to identify areas which needed to be tapped into.

People say its difficult to make a living through music. While in this economy it is, it isnt impossible. What follows after Buck, would be a series of films that won numerous awards for which Lancaster served in the capacities of music producer, music editor and composer.

Among them Jab In The Dark (2013) - Winner of Peoples Choice Award. Best Short.

TT FF - Navid Lancaster (Film Composer).

Pan: Our Music Odyssey (2014) - Multiple Award Winning Feature Film / PBS Broadcasted - Navid Lancaster (Technical Assistance).

Pan: Our African Odyssey (2015) - Winner of Best T&T Feature Length Documentary.

TT FF - Navid Lancaster (Music Editor / Sound Mixer).Tomb (2016) - First ever feature length Science Fiction film shot entirely in T&T - Navid Lancaster (Music composer of the launch sequence in the film) and The Old Higue Trailer (2016) - Collaboration of three countries.

(GAN - Guyana Animation Network / SAN - Suriname Animation Network and music composed by Navid Lancaster).

Its no surprise that he can say with conviction that If you want your film to win an award, it has to pass through my hands first. Lancasters drive to tap into markets that others are not focussing on has led him from genre to genre, from recording pan, to music for mobile apps and video games.

His latest is Banana Boat - currently seeking crowd-funding - an animation film for children where he will work as music producer and sound designer.

If he were to advise young producers, Lancaster says, Listen to a lot of music from different cultures. Its the only way to expand your brain. Once you start doing that, your brain will climb out of that box of 4/4 rhythms, bacchanal music, dead on Ash Wednesday kind of music. Go to musicians who actually play their instruments and question them about the instrument. Get some grounding in the actual reality of it. Even if you work with samples, instead of downloading sample packs, you can record the actual instruments so you can do your own samples.

At least you then have some connection with what you are creating.

You are trying to create something out of nothing.

And truth be told, all of us borrow from the past anyway. Nothing works in a vacuum. Navid Lancasters work is evidence of his openness to various genres and constant interaction with the latest happenings in the music industry. He exemplifies the new, technology- age musician, one who moves between stage and technology, between the real world and the virtual world.

Even in the Internet, social media age, to be a producer, if you cant relate to people, your music is not going to be heard. It takes a lot of practice and a lot of failure. But it is still the end user, the listener, who puts value to your work. Navid Lancasters work can be viewed and heard on his website www.lancastltd.com.

Search for it and enjoy the layers of music from this very versatile music producer/sound designer.
Her fathers ghost

But not the things people normally hoard like old documents, haberdashery and knick-knacks. No, she has been hoarding memories.

I am normally the type of person who gets rid of things quickly.

But after my dad died, I find that in my work I hoard all these sentimental things, Huggins says as we chat on a British Airways flight from Trinidad and Tobago bound for Northern Ireland.

I am always looking for a memory of something, a feeling, something I would have felt once. It feels like you are always trying to chase an impossible memory. There is always some baggage from the past attached to it. Huggins is one of the artists whose work was featured in the ground-breaking exhibition Caribbean Queer Visualities staged at Belfast, Ireland in early November as part of Outburst, the queer arts festival which has been making strides. One online poster for the show featured Huggins photographic diptych Is that a buoy? The eye is drawn to two floating objects. But one of these is a human head, barely discernable, rising from the water. The other is a buoy, floating like a serene planet between sea and sky. We are given little to signal gender, race or anything that might mark the human figure: the artist has muted colour, submerged the form and rendered the face as a silhouette, with the slightest suggestion of eyelashes.

We are made to question what we see. Its a work that challenges us to cross boundaries, something that seems to resonate with Huggins own life.

Of her father, who was an architect among many other things, Huggins says, He was a strange person, he had very unusual habits and ideas. He was very counter to the norms, against what a small island would expect of a person. He used to design his own Carnival bands.

He passed away in 2006, he was an alcoholic. He suffered from depression as well. It tied into his feeling of not being accepted.

Which is funny because that is something I also battle with: feeling like an outsider, not feeling a sense of belonging in your own home, in your own country. QUEER DISAPORA Huggins was born in Trinidad on January 28, 1984. But her parents moved around a lot, including to countries like the UK and Barbados.

Eventually, they returned to St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Years later, she moved back to Trinidad (which she calls the New York of the Caribbean) on her own.

So where is home? Thats a very difficult question, Huggins says. St Vincent and the Grenadines still feels like home. Its where all the nostalgia exists right now. Mom is in St Vincent. You never realise a place is home until you leave it. Home is a concept that many members of the LGBTI community in the Caribbean  like the rest of the world  grapple with given the economic, social and political barriers to equality there.

Caribbean Queer Visualities deals with this question of belonging.

It was curated and co-ordinated by: David Scott, Erica James, and Nijah Cunningham, with assistance from Colette Norwood of the British Council Northern Ireland and Annalee Davis of British Council Caribbean. The show was put on at the Golden Thread Gallery and supported by Ruth McCarthy, director of the Outburst festival in Belfast.

I am blown away that weve got something of this quality in Outburst, McCarthy says in a Skype interview, taking a break from her busy festival responsibilities. This is an important exhibition.

We really wanted to create a space where there could be LG BTI persons having a voice; a self-determining space. The theme of our festival is home which is fitting as I think that a queer diaspora is really important. So many people leave home in order to be themselves. Many in the UK move to London, for instance. I think queer people leave home at rates much higher than straight people. Huggins certainly identifies with the perspective of the outsider. Even if she does not consciously set out to explore questions relating to gender, sex and sexuality, her work implicitly challenges us to ask questions on that level, whether through her stunning self-portraits to her photography work more generally (which often features human forms submerged in yet apart from their landscape).

FREEDIVER

Huggins is ready to free dive. As our flight progresses, she looks admiringly at the cover of an in-flight magazine which bears a photograph of Chizuko Nakamura, 63, one of the last members of Japans elite group of tough female divers who, year-round, plumb depths as deep a 65 feet, holding their breath for up to two minutes.

Id like to do that, she says.

The idea of free diving might seem a strange thing for her to discuss while we are seated thousands of miles up in the air. But in many ways what Huggins does in her art is just as daring as anything the Japanese ama do.

Melanie Archer, writing in Caribbean Beat, says her work shows, a keen observational eye, a mastery of composition that heightens the drama of a moment, and atmospheric tones that hint always at an extra layer  something present but not quite said. Hugo Howey describes her work as gritty and primal; young and mature; dirty and innocent.

The Designer Island website says the work is, sometimes dreamy sometimes gritty but always uniquely Caribbean. Is that a buoy? has something most in common with three of Huggins series of photographs: Black and Blue; Circa no Future and Fighting the Currents.

In Black and Blue, boys are pictured on a beach at Canaries, Saint Lucia. They are placed out of focus, rendered as shapes, forms, silhouettes. So rendered, they seem to have been painted by El Greco or sculpted by Alberto Giacometti. The seeming distortion of the human body is a tool used to get us to project our own questions into the frame.

What makes us one thing or another? Huggins is at once asking what is distinctive about our own roles and also challenging that idea of the human spirit being boxed into performing the same functions.

In Circa no Future the boys are brought back into focus and the terrain of the coast  that liminal space where earth and water meet  is rendered more clearly.

Yet, all distinctive Huggins erasures are still there, be it bubbles that block a face, or shots taken in a perspective that renders the human body distant or anonymous  the human face is sometimes just out of the frame. This time, though, this process of masking is balanced with an epic sense of adventure, as though the heady thrill of having fun in the sea is what matters most: joy that renders individuality irrelevant.

In a sense it was only natural that the artist would next place herself into the frame within this coastal environment that she is so evidently drawn to.

It is a space that embodies the pull and tug of currents, both within and without, that she has had to fight. Even in works that look at seemingly tangential aspects of the sea terrain (like The fishermen; Vendors and Pulling the net) there is a sense that what we are looking at is not just what we are looking at. These are remnants of a childhood feast  part of a landscape of freedom.

Along with Fighting the Currents, Is that a buoy? is an important moment in Huggins body of work, the point at which she presents herself most vulnerably, even if mediated through shadow, water and coastal masque.

I am trying to come to terms with not being accepted growing up in a place like St Vincent, a small island, Huggins says of Is that a buoy? as our flight to Belfast continues over the Atlantic. I have always felt a little bit of resentment for small island society. Growing up I was a tomboy. Going to the beach people would come to me and ask me: are you a boy or girl? Its this idea of not understanding what you are looking at, who you are looking at.

When looking at something at a distance it looks exactly the same. I think of her side-project, Every horizon looks the same  a website where she invites people to submit photos of the horizon.

While she seeks to assert the universal within, she also places emphasis on the individuals uniqueness. She adds, Its a discrimination that happens.

Thats what its about people not spending time to look at you and understand. Our conversation is interrupted when a flight attendant comes back to give us an update on the US presidential election (our flight had left Port-of-Spain before the first results became known, signaling Donald Trumps victory).

Huggins takes in the information silently and we continue our conversation. She recalls making the empowering decision to shave her head when she was 17-years-old, just as she had been diagnosed with alopecia or chronic hair loss.

Those years were super difficult.

I used to get teased a lot, called a zammie or lesbian. At the same time this all came as I was dealing with the fact of being bisexual. With the hair loss, even if I could conceal one thing about me I could not conceal that. Ive always felt nature had a different idea for me. It kinda forced me into this box of being perceived as wanting to be masculine. I always wanted to be a woman. Whatever that is.

I didnt want to be tied down with labels. I never wanted to meet anybodys expectations.
It Took Heidi Klum

2 Years to Look Like This
(Newser)  The tiny eastern mosquitofish, indigenous to the southern and eastern US, is unlike much of the rest of the animal kingdom when it comes to reproduction, starting with the differing objectives of the females and males of the species. Because they have to bear the burden of actually carrying the offspring, the females are typically picky about potential partners. But since the males don't have that problem, they're out to get busy as often as possibleexcept instead of trying to seduce females, the males attack, sometimes up to 1,000 times a day, reports Live Science. Each male uses its gonopodium, an anal fin that's the fish version of a penis and which is inserted into the female to fertilize the eggs inside her body (most other fish use an external fertilization process called spawning, releasing eggs and sperm into the water). Now researchers report in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B that when faced with males whose gonopodia are large, the brains of females get bigger.

It's all part of what's known in evolutionary biology circles as "sexual conflict," where one sex has evolved a feature that's not mutually beneficial, so the other sex evolves some countermeasure, reports Phys.org. In the case of mosquitofish, when scientists artificially selected for males with larger genitalia, females responded by getting smarter as they worked to avoid the attacking males and maintain some semblance of selectionso much so that in just nine generations their brains were 6.5% heavier than females thrown in with males sporting smaller genitals. Male brains, meanwhile, didn't change in size, which surprised the researchers, who thought chasing the females would be similarly "cognitively demanding." The findings hint at the possibility that sexual conflict can in fact lead to the evolution of bigger brains, though whether this applies to other species is for future research. (Our brains appear to be part male and part female.)
(Newser)  Somewhere in America, a large, pointless hole has been dug, and people chipped in more than $100,000 to make sure it happened. As CNET explains, the Holiday Hole is another stunt from the creators of the popular game Cards Against Humanity as a statement of sorts against the commercialism of Black Friday. Through the weekend, the Holiday Hole website featured a livestream of an excavator digging a good-sized hole in an undisclosed spot, and it invited people to contribute to keep the project going. The digging has now stopped, with the final tally at $100,573. "It is, in the truest, most literal sense of the phrase, a money pit," notes a post at McClatchy News.

That's because those who contributed will get nothing for their donation, save for the satisfaction of paying for part of a meaningless hole. The creators said as much in a Q&A: "What do I get for contributing money to the hole," reads one question. "A deeper hole," is the answer. "What else are you going to buy, an iPod?" For anyone wondering why people weren't giving their money to a better causecritics on social media faulted the "waste," notes CNNpeople behind the Holiday Hole have the same question. But they're confident that "some time next year youll chuckle quietly to yourself and remember all this business about the hole." (A previous Black Friday stunt by the company asked people to pay $5, for nothing. And they did.)
(Newser)  Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says "there's nothing wrong with" pursuing recounts to ensure the legitimacy of President-elect Donald Trump's Nov. 8 victory. The former Democratic presidential candidate addressed the looming recount in Wisconsinand the prospect of others in Michigan and PennsylvaniaSunday morning on CNN's State of the Union, reports the AP. "No one expects there to be profound change, but there's nothing wrong with going through the process." Green Party nominee Jill Stein is fighting for recounts in the three states critical to Trump's win. Hillary Clinton's team said Saturday it would join the effort. Sanders also said he would support changing the electoral college system, which allowed Trump to win the presidency even though he trails Clinton by roughly 2 million votes.

Trump rep Kellyanne Conway is calling Clinton's decision "incredible" and noting that Trump has not ruled out a criminal investigation. "He's been incredibly gracious and magnanimous to Secretary Clinton at a time when, for whatever reason, her folks are saying they will join in a recount to try to somehow undo the 70-plus electoral votes that he beat her by." She adds, "The idea that we are going to drag this out now where the president-elect has been incredibly magnanimous to the Clintons and to the Obamas is pretty incredible."

Conway has concerns with the prospect of Mitt Romney as secretary of state. Conway said, "I'm all for party unity, but I'm not sure we have to pay for that with the secretary of state position."

Reince Priebus says the president-elect will reverse President Obama's opening to Cuba absent any change of direction by the Cuban government. He says Trump will want some movement in the "right direction" from Cuba to continue the diplomatic relationship. Priebus cited respect for freedom of religion as an example.

Trump and Obama spoke for about 45 minutes on Saturday after it was announced that Fidel Castro had died, says Conway. She says the two men "talk regularly" and "get along nicely" despite strong policy disagreements. "There's a respect there."

(Read more Donald Trump stories.)
The past few months had been very fruitful for Japanese gaming company Nintendo. After the commercial failure of the Nintendo Wii U console whose production is coming to an end, the company's future looks rosier with the Nintendo Switch on the horizon and the unexpected successes of the Nintendo 3DS and Classic NES Mini consoles.

As Nintendo's better than expected performance continues, let's round up this week's developments that will bode well to the company's goal put on new business ideas and surprise Nintendo fans with new ideas and not build on old ones. Everything looks bright for one of the pioneers of the cartridge-based consoles.

This week, Express reported on the Black Friday deals for Nintendo 3DS consoles. A Nintendo 3DS XL Pokemon Sun and Moon Edition Console will sell at $222.99 while a new Nintendo 3DS Console White is marked with a price tag of $185.99. The Nintendo 3DS XL Metallic Black will go for $221.99.

The high-demand for the NES Classic Mini is a challenge that Nintendo tries to address. The NES Mini is one of the hottest gifts this holiday season, according to Forbes magazine. The company assured that it is working to resolve the backlog by restocking more items for NES Classic Mini fans.

As reported in various gadget-centric websites such as Tech Radar, the basic Nintendo Switch console will have a 2017 launch price of $249.99. This price matches the direct price conversion for the rumored UK launch price. Another pricing tier is set for a more premium model that has higher storage.

Nintendo aims to bring profits to $1B in several years. With 2016 shaping up as one the biggest years in the company's history, Nintendo found a gold mine in NES Classic Mini and Nintendo 3Ds consoles. The impending release of the Nintendo Switch is another potential to further the company's future.
AMC recently released a new trailer for The Walking Dead season 7, episode 6 which showed Tara (Alana Masterson) and Heath (Corey Antonio Hawkins) out on their supply run. Another clip from a different trailer for the same episode showed new characters.

Warning: potential spoilers for The Walking Dead. Fans are warned to read at their own risk.

The Walking Dead season 7, episode 6 titled "Swear" is rumored to be 70 minutes long. The synopsis for the episode reads:

"Someone stumbles upon a brand new society. And this society is unlike anything seen before." Now, fans obviously know that "someone" is Tara, based on the trailer.

The brand new society will be the "Oceanside". Fans of the comic series of The Walking Dead will remember that the Oceanside is another community of survivors living on the east coast of the United States.

The Oceanside is located near the state of Virginia. In the comics, people from this community began trading with Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom and Sanctuary after the end of "All Out War" with Negan.

Now, it seems like The Walking Dead showrunners are bringing in the people from the Oceanside early to help all the other communities. Fans will meet the fierce women of this group who have also dealt with significant loss within their community, much like everyone else.

Here are some of the characters fans will meet on "Swear".

Cyndie

Cyndie will be played by Sydney Park. In the trailer, fans can see Sydney help out Tara, as she seemed to be washed away by the ocean.

Her casting call described the character as kind, but with a "world-weary toughness." Cyndie also knows her way around weapons but is reluctant to use them unless necessary.

Rachel

Rachel is another character that fans can see from the teaser trailer. The character is played by Mimi Kirkland. Rachel is a fearless little girl who knows how to kill walkers.

Natania

The character Natania is rumored to be the group's leader. "She's a grandmother whose softer edges have been scraped away by the harshness of her experiences," the casting call for the character says. The character will be played by Deborah May.

Beatrice

As expected, there will always be that someone who won't be as welcoming as the others. In this case, it would be Beatrice, and her friend Kathy. Beatrice will be played Briana Venskus.

Kathy

Nicole Barre will be playing the character of Kathy on the show.

People have also been freaking out due to rumors spreading that The Walking Dead season 7 episode 6 will feature "The Whisperers". The Whisperers are another group in the comics who uses walker skin as to camouflage.

However, the Whisperers doesn't appear in the comics until much later after All Out War. Some spoilers suggest that these Whisperers' look alike are just Easter eggs planted by the show to foreshadow their arrival later on.

Another big question fans have is whether or not Heath will make it out alive. Spoilers suggest that this is the only episode Corey Antonio Hawkins filmed, which could mean Heath's dead.

Watch The Walking Dead on AMC this Sunday.
One Piece Chapter 847 and 848 probably will conclude the Big Mom's Arc. Multiple reports have circulated the interview about the early spoilers for One Piece Chapter 847 and 848. These rumors about to be revealed may not be in favor to some fan theories and predictions.

Previously, reports about One Piece Chapter 847 and 848 embarks the challenges Luffy and Nami encountered in Big Mom's Island. Prediction states that Big Mom will die at the hands of Luffy. But, there is no further information about how Luffy defeated Big Mom.

Also, it has been revealed as well that Sanji had some serious issues, and it involves his change of heart towards the Straw Hat Pirates on One Piece Chapter 847 and 848. According to the report from GameNGuide, Sanji will ultimately lose his mind that has caused changes towards his dealings. But, according to some fans' theory, the issue Sanji was encountering is his dealings with Big Mom. To recall, Sanji and Pudding have been tagged for serious Wedding Controversy.

Meanwhile, the battle of Nami and Luffy towards Big Mom's army was deeply discussed from the previous report. It was stated that Luffy and Nami were able to survive, thanks to the Vivre Card of Lola. Also, Oro Jackson was introduced to play some serious roles and the battle of Smoothie and Pedro.

Although the stated facts are rumors and are based on fan predictions, fans should still keep in mind that nothing is confirmed until One Piece Chapter 847 and 848 will be released. Furthermore, all spoilers are debunked and are based on fans ideas and theories.

On the bright side, One Piece Manga Series have reached another milestone. A report from Crunchyroll states that the manga series dominated Japan's Manga Sales Ranking for three straight weeks. For more news about your favorite anime series, follow Anime Access on Facebook.
British physicist Stephen Hawking has made another apocalyptic warning predicting the possibility of an asteroid hitting the Earth and wiping out all humans in 1000 years. The famous theoretical physicist's predictions warn of an apocalyptic scenario of humanity's future on Earth.

According to the "Christian Science Monitor", Stephen Hawking discussed this apocalyptic doomsday scenario in a speech delivered at the Oxford University Union. Hawking hinted at an asteroid colliding with the Earth causing another mass extinction event, which previously wiped out dinosaurs.

The "Washington Post" reported that Stephen Hawking gave humanity a due date for finding another planet. In his speech at Oxford, Hawking revealed that humanity may face extinction and stressed the need for humans to leave the Earth and find another exoplanet.

Excerpts from that Stephen Hawking statement were published by several publications including "The Independent".

"Although the chance of a disaster to planet Earth in a given year may be quite low, it adds up over time, and becomes a near certainty in the next 1,000 or 10,000 years. By that time we should have spread out into space, and to other stars, so a disaster on Earth would not mean the end of the human race."

The "A Brief History of Time" author's talk delved on various topics including the origins of the universe, Einstein's theory or relativity, and humanity's creations of myths and God. Stephen Hawking pushed for finding ways to prevent asteroids from colliding to Earth.

"One of the major threats to intelligent life in our universe is the high probability of an asteroid colliding with inhabited planets."

NASA and its partner space agencies regularly track asteroids that might have a close encounter with Earth. There are over 600,000 known asteroids in the solar system. Most of them are located in the Asteroid Belt, which is between Mars and Jupiter's orbits.
The Blazing apostle Fidel Castro, the iconic world leader of the 20th century, peacefully departed at the age of 90 last November 25. Entire Cuba is in the State of Mourning in the next nine days in respect to the late dictator.

Fidel Castro suffered from several illnesses which leads to his declining health. The Cuban government issued no particular disclosure to the exact reason of his death. President Raul Castro, his younger Brother said in a brief statement that his brother died at 10:29 PM, said on BBC News.

Cremation of his remains will due this coming Saturday in Havana at a private ceremony and his ashes sent back to Santiago de Cuba. "I always said it couldn't be. Even though they said it now, I say it can't be," a statement given by one Cuban Government Employee.

In USA Today, it reported that the late Commander-in-Chief became an inspiration among Cuban in his stand defying the United States starting from 1961 with the embargo crisis during the Presidency of US President Dwight Eisenhower. The defiance lasted to nine more administration until 2009 making the historic 48 years against the US.

Warm ties and relationship restored during the time of President Barack Obama. Hearing the fall of Fidel Castro, Obama immediately sent his condolences with the statement, "History will record and judge the enormous impact."

President-Elect Donald Trump said on his Twitter account, "Fidel Castro is Dead" and later said that the late President is a "Brutal Dictator". Cuba and the United States are again having a whirlwind relationship in terms of international economic ties.

Generation gap bared in Cuba after the official announcement of his death as published by the Guardian. The older generation mourned and felt devastated with the news but it was unlikely for the younger generation. They expressed that politics in Cuba lead to nothing but slow economic growth.
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Panaji:

Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday said India did not seek war, but would gouge out eyes of the enemy if provoked.



We dont itch for a fight, but if someone looks at the country with evil eye, we will gouge his eyes out and put them back in his hand, we have that much power, he said while addressing a rally in Aldona Assembly constituency in Goa.



Goans can tell the world that they had sent a man to the Centre who had slapped the enemy across the face, he said.



There was no firing on the border for the last three days because if they (Pakistan) fire once, we fire twice at them. We are giving tit-for-tat response, and when they realised it, they approached us, seeking to stop it, Parrikar said in an apparent referrence to the request by Pakistan for DGMO-level talks three days ago.



Asserting that, Armed Forces were fully prepared, Parrikar said his mother had taught him that even if you are going to hunt a rabbit, be prepared to kill a tiger.

Also read | Manohar Parrikar claims crime rate has reduced in Mumbai due to demonetisation

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Greater Noida:

A minor fire broke out at United Bank of India branch at Alpha Commercial Belt on Saturday evening.



Fire Station Officer Matloob Hussain said furniture, computer and records were burnt in the fire but cash in the chest was intact.



He said the department received the calls about the fire around 6.30 pm.



Immediately two fire tenders were rushed to Alpha Commercial Belt. Fire had broken out at United Bank of India. Within half-an-hour it was extinguished by firemen, he said.
Washington:

US president-elect Donald Trump has termed the Green party-initiated move to recount votes in the state of Wisconsin as a scam, asserting that the people have spoken and the election is over.



The push to recount the votes was spearheaded by Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein, who is also seeking recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.



Trump won unexpected and narrow victories against Hillary Clinton in the November 8 presidential elections in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with Michigan still too close to call.



The billionaire from New York, who continually claimed that the election was rigged before his victory, insisted in a statement that the results should be respected, instead of being challenged and abused.



The president-elect alleged it was a way for Steinwho has raised USD 5.9 million toward a USD 7 million target for the recount pushto fill her coffers with money.



The people have spoken and the election is over, as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night in addition to her conceding, Trump said, a day after the Green Party candidate moved a petition for the recounting of votes in Wisconsin which was accepted by the State Election Commission.



On Friday morning, the Hillary Clinton Campaign said that it is joining the Green Party in the recounting move. It said it will also support the recounting of votes in Michigan and Pennsylvania.



Trump said: This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing.



While Trump has convincingly won the electoral college votes, the counting of votes has indicated that Clinton leads by more than two million popular votes.



This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasnt even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount. All three states were won by large numbers of voters, especially Pennsylvania, which was won by more than 70,000 votes, said the US president-elect.



The Green Party meanwhile dismissed Trumps allegations that it will not use the money raised for the purpose recounting of votes.



For his information, this is all going into a dedicated and segregated account so that it can only be spent on the recount, Stein told CNN in an interview.



He may be creating his own facts here as hes been known to do some times in the past. He himself said it was a rigged election unless he won it, she said.

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Thiruvananthapuram:

A Crime Branch probe was ordered into the encounter killing of two Maoists at Nilambur forests in Malappuram district in Kerala.

The crime branch probe was ordered on Saturday night by DGP Loknath Behara as Supreme Court had in September, 2014, laid down guidelines as per which in all cases of encounter deaths a mandatory registration of FIR and investigation by CID or any other independent agency was necessary.

A bench headed by then Chief Justice R M Lodha had issued the guidelines in this regard. Two Maoists Kuppuswamy Devaraj (65), a central committee member of the outlawed outfit, and Ajitha (45), had been killed in an encounter with police in Nilambur forests on November 24.

Malappuram Superintendent of Police Debesh Kumar Behara said the case will be handed over to crime branch on Sunday. According to police, the Maoists had opened fire at a patrolling party following which police retaliated, killing the two Maoists.

Maoist leader Vikram Gowda, wanted in various cases since the past 20 years, was among those who had escaped, police said. The attack had taken place in a 500-acre forest area in the Western Ghats.

Improvised explosive devices, materials used in making explosives and explosive materials, solar panels, some battery chargers, a set of pen drives, a modem, an electronic tab, a pistol and 40 sacks of rice were also recovered from the hideout of the Maoists.

According to police, Maoists fired at a police party on a combing operation in Nilambur area and two of the ultras were killed in retaliatory firing.

The search operations were undertaken by a 60-member elite team of the Thunderbolt Force, based on a tip-off that Maoists were camping in the area.
New Delhi:

Around 150 people have been detained after they tried to proceed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence to protest against the Centre's demonetisation move on Saturday.

Students from various universities, workers and women from different parts of the city participated in the protest rally against note ban.

Students from varsities like Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University, Jamia Milia Islamia and Ambedkar University participated in the rally.

Left-leaning All India Students' Association (AISA) organised Saturday's march and claimed that workers from Wazirpur, Noida, Narela and other industrial areas of the city had come to lend their support for the march.

On Saturday, the march started from Mandi House and proceeded towards Janpath. "We are all demanding that the move of demonetisation be rolled back. This move has created an emergency-like situation in the country and it is becoming clear that the net gainers from this exercise are the corporate houses whose loans are being waived off," said AISA National President Sucheta De.

They said that Delhi Police did not allow them to march or proceed towards the Prime Minister's residence and they were detained instead. "It has become a nightmare for the common people of the country. By spending hours outside banks and ATMs, workers are losing a day's work and are obviously not being compensated for their loss of hard earned income by the government.

"Those who have money stashed in Swiss and Panama accounts are sleeping soundly nevertheless even as the rest of the population is standing in queues," said Kavita Krishnan of All National Secretary of India Progressive Women's Association (AIPWA)

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Dane County Regional Airport is as familiar to Jerry Moors as his own home or office.

As senior vice president of sales for Springs Window Fashions in Middleton, Moors travels around the country throughout the year to meet with customers and attend trade shows. He flies between 30 and 35 times a year, and nearly all of those trips begin at Madisons airport.

I know most of the American (Airlines) gate agents by name, even some of the baggage handlers, said Moors, who has worked for Springs Window Fashions for 16 years. Easy access to an airport is essential for Moors job.

Obviously, I love the convenience and its very close to my office, he said.

Moors story is what Dane County Regional Airport officials enjoy hearing and want to hear more often. With the economy on seemingly on stable ground, business and leisure travel out of Madisons airport is growing.

A total of 691,118 people flew out of Dane County through the end of September, according to the latest airport passenger data, which is 9.5 percent more than the 630,951 departures through the same time last year.

Steady passenger growth is good for Dane County if it hopes to land another commercial carrier to serve Madison and offer more direct destinations to travelers. The airport currently is served by American, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines and United Airlines.

Over the next three to five years, we are working to obtain an additional low/ultra low-cost carrier to serve the market, though nothing is imminent, airport spokesman Brent McHenry said.

Currently travelers from Madison can fly directly to Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Newark, Orlando (seasonally), Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C. Frontier will offer a regular flight to Orlando Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays beginning in January.

We are continually working with Frontier to add additional destinations, McHenry said. The top final destinations for fliers originating from Madison in order are Denver, New York, Washington, Atlanta, Dallas and Newark.

Whether its through Frontier, a new airline or through one of the carriers now serving Dane County, additional direct flights from Madison would be welcome news to Paul Jadin, president of the Madison Region Economic Partnership.

Jadin said Madisons burgeoning tech industry is feeding more interest from local business travelers to reach other tech hubs around the country including Boston and San Francisco.

Businesses want access to their customers, he said. When site selectors look for locations for a business headquarters or regional office, transportation and access to a quality air airport are among the top priorities, Jadin said.

But he concedes that adding additional direct destinations is no easy task.

Commercial airlines take many factors into account when deciding where to fly and from what starting point.

Theres no question that airlines always are looking for locations that give them the highest load factor in every plane, Jadin said. Madison has to show a specific number of travelers take connecting flights to the same end destination on a regular basis over time before a carrier decides its financially feasible to add a direct flight to that destination.

The risk to that, however, is losing one city to gain another, Jadin said. If this happens, a competing regional airport nearby could pick up that destination and those fliers.

Spreading the word

McHenry said in the past 10 years, more than $260 million has been invested in several major capital projects at the airport.

A major terminal renovation was completed in 2006, while other projects have included parking ramp expansion and a new airport maintenance facility. The airports gift store also was upgraded and many restaurants were renovated and feature new menus.

Frequent airport users have noticed the changes and upgrades.

Mike Caravello is corporate travel manager for Madison-based American Family Insurance. He flies between 15 and 18 times annually for work.

I like what theyve done with the restaurants, he said. It seems like every time I fly out of Madison, I notice something different or new every time.

Moors said he enjoys the increased food options and how the airport stays on top of renovations to keep it looking fresh.

I appreciate how theyve stepped it up, he said.

In fall 2015, Dane County airport launched its Who Knew?! advertising campaign, which featured public radio personality Michael Feldman, asking travelers random questions about the airport.

The 30-second spots appeared on many websites the past year, including Madison.com, Facebook, Yahoo, Forbes and Travel.com.

McHenry said the spots were geo-targeted so the ads were seen by people around south central Wisconsin, the airports target market.

The upbeat ads, part of the airports larger brand awareness campaign, received seven industry awards including a Telly Award, which honors outstanding content for TV and cable, digital and streaming, and non-broadcast distribution.

The goal is to get Madison area travelers to fly local.

Current passenger traffic is near record levels, McHenry said. DCRA has a robust business traveler base and continues to see expansion in leisure travelers.

He said the airport continues to develop targeted marketing programs to expand leisure passenger traffic surrounding south central Wisconsin.

Wish list

Tori Ann Dexter recalls her once hectic traveling life. Dexter worked for Verona-based tech giant Epic Systems between fall 2015 and fall 2016 and in her role as project manager traveled from Madison to Louisiana about 30 times.

It was a pretty grueling lifestyle, but I recognized that travel would be a part of my role there, Dexter said of her time at Epic.

Madisons airport was a great convenience for Dexter and the thousands of other Epic employees who must regularly travel as part of their job.

It was pretty common to see many Epic employees at the airport, especially during the beginning of the week, Dexter said, who now works for UW-Madison.

Dexter said air travel for her these days is more on the leisure side than for work. Whether she will fly out of Madison for her next trip will depend on the cost of a plane ticket.

When youre not paying for your own travel and you needed to get somewhere fast, its worth it to fly out of Madison, she said.

I have flown from Madison for personal travel before and it is significantly more expensive (for a plane ticket) than from Milwaukee or Chicago.

Airlines consider many factors including demand for seats when setting ticket prices that have nothing to do with an airport itself. Competition also plays a role in fares.

Caravello said hed like to see more discount carriers, such as Southwest, serving Madison.

I feel (Southwest) offers good value and they have a reputation for being a good airline, he said.
Aleppo:

Syrian state media said government forces on Saturday captured the largest rebel-held district of Aleppo, in what would be a major breakthrough in its offensive to retake the entire second city.



Masaken Hanano was the first district the rebels took in the summer of 2012 in a move that divided Aleppo into an eastern area held by the insurgents and a western district controlled by government forces.



Since then, more than 250,000 civilians have been trapped under government siege for months in the rebel-held east, with dwindling food and fuel supplies.The capture of Masaken Hanano in northeastern Aleppo is part of a major government offensive now in its 12th day that could isolate that part of the city from rebel-held areas in the south.



Since November 15, regime bombardment of eastern Aleppo has killed 212 civilians, including 27 children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Also read | Rebels in Syria using refugees as human sheilds from fleeing Aleppo



Regime forces had been advancing inside Masaken Hanano for several days, and yesterday state television said they were progressing from three axes.



Today, the state broadcaster and the official SANA news agency said President Bashar al-Assads armed forces, backed by their allies, had taken full control of the district.



The armed forces retook full control of Masaken Hanano after having put an end to the presence of terrorists there, the state broadcaster said, referring to the rebels.



SANA said government forces also recaptured the area around the district and army engineers are clearing it of bombs and explosives planted by the terrorists in the streets and squares.

Also read | Watch: Will I die, miss? Syrian boy injured in chemical attack asks nurse



But Yasser al-Youssef, from the rebel group Nureddin al-Zinki, said fighting was still under way on the southern edges of Masaken Hanano, which he called a district of strategic importance.



Youssef warned that if regime forces can advance to the adjacent neighbourhood of Sakhur, then eastern Aleppo will be split in two.



Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said that 80 per cent of Masaken Hanano was under the control of government forces who have the rest in their line of fire.They are just hundreds of metres (yards) away from isolating the northern districts of east Aleppo from the southern ones, he said.



The latest regime push comes after days of intense bombardment on the rebel-held east, which was pounded with air strikes, shells and barrel bombs.

Also read | Syrian girl gets special gift from Harry Potter author JK Rowling

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New Delhi:

In a shocking incident 10 armed men on Sunday broke into Nabha jail near Patiala in Punjab and helped Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and 4 others escape.

According to initial reports the armed men who broke into the jail were wearing police uniforms and fired over 100 rounds on stationed security.

Police has reached the spot and probe is underway, reports said.

Four escaped gangsters apart from KLF chief Mintoo include Gurpreet Singh, Vicky Gondra, Nitin Deol and Vikramjeet Singh Vicky.

It all occurred around 9.30 AM, when two luxury cars including a Fortuner and Endeavor reached at the entrance on Nabha Central jail and occupants of the car starting firing on the guards of jail, sources said.

Five inmates who were there near the entrance gate came out to jumped into the cars and fled away, they said.

It seems that it was a pre-planned jail break and involvement of jail officials in it cannot be ruled out.

All of the escaped were dreaded criminals and high alert has been sounded in entire Punjab.

Also Read: High alert in Northern states after Punjab jail-break

Also read | Know more about Khalistan Liberation Force

The incident comes only a few days after 8 SIMI activisits escaped the Bhopal Central Jail and were subsequently killed in a controversial encounter by the local police.

Also read | Bhopal encounter: SIMI terrorists' jailbreak, unverified videos and politics; here is what all happened

Here are the updates:

# Car with Punjab number plate found in Sonu Majra village in Kaithal (Haryana), suspected to be in connection with #Punjab jail-break

Car with Punjab number plate found in Sonu Majra village in Kaithal (Haryana), suspected to be in connection with #PunjabJailBreak pic.twitter.com/QLiA8KWMps  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

# Car with Punjab number plate found in Sonu Majra village in Kaithal (Haryana), suspected to be in connection with Punjab Jail-break: IG Karnal

# Parminder also known as Paida is arrested by UP police from Shamil in Uttar Pradesh in connection with attack on Nabha jail near Patiala

# Police say one person arrested in connection with Punjab jailbreak, huge cache of arms recovered from his car in Shamli, UP

One person (Parminder) arrested in connection with Punjab jailbreak, huge cache of arms recovered from his car in Shamli, UP pic.twitter.com/zNKHK5LweU  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

# 5 criminals dressed as police came in a car with an excuse that they were here to lodge a criminal; they were carrying small arms, says Punjab DGP

#Punjab Dy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal reaches Nabha jail, where 10 armed men freed Khalistan terrorist Harminder Mintoo and 5 others

#Ready to provide whatever assistance required, have asked Home secretary to ask for a report from Punjab Govt, says Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Nabha jail break

# SIT has been formed by the Punjab Police to investigate the escape of six under-trials in Nabha Jail break

#Punjab Govt announced a reward of Rs 25 lakhs to any person providing information leading to the arrest of six escaped under-trial prisoners

#Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal calls for an emergency meeting as Centre seeks for report. ( Read Full Story)

#Manner in which gangsters walked into high-security jail and freed dreaded Khalistani terrorist clearly shows complicity at highest levels: Amarinder Singh, Congress

#Jail break incident had exposed a complete breakdown of law and order in the state: Captain Amarinder Singh, Congress. (Read Full Story)



#A team under ADGP has been formed to investigate the incident; strict action will be taken against whoever responsible: Sukhbir Singh Badal



#State is on high alert after Punjab JailBreak. We are checking suspicious vehicles and are on strict vigil: Policemen on duty



#Police is on duty, ek jagah thoda encounter bhi hua. We will catch them: Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal



#High alert sounded across the state after Punjab JailBreak, check-posts erected; Police on vigil.



#Special Task force under the intelligence have been set up to track these criminals: Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal



#Jail superintendent and Jail deputy superintendent dismissed: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal . (Read Full Story)



#We've suspended Nabha jail DG after this Punjab Jail Break incident: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal

#Home Ministry seeks report from Punjab Government. (Woman dies in firing)

#Home Secretary speaks to Punjab DGP over Punjab Jail Break issue, apprises Home Minister on the same



#Points out lack of lawaIf a high-security prison can be attacked like this,it's an alarming development-Manish Tewari



#I am leaving for Nabha now; will take stock of situation there; 6 inmates fled from the jail: Punjab DGP

#The arrangement of security all fine; Questions will be obviously raised, but let's see: Suresh Arora, Punjab DGP



#Concerned agencies will take cognizance of this and do what is appropriate: Jitendra Singh, MoS PMO

#We have been given to understand that the Govt is in full control: Jitendra Singh, MoS PMO on security situation in Punjab

#There were at least 20 men- one dressed in ASI uniform, others dressed in police uniforms; they opened indiscriminate fire: Eyewitness

Punjab: Visuals from outside Nabha Jail, where 10 armed men freed Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo & 4 gangsters. pic.twitter.com/F1q6VK8eS3  ANI (@ANI_news) November 27, 2016

#Amritsar: Meeting between Punjab DGP and Punjab Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal underway after Punjab Jail Break incident

#NabhaJailbreak One of the escapees Vicky Gondra is head of the famous Gonder Gang)https://t.co/BYZFBVjPFY pic.twitter.com/aGAdAYbjlF  News Nation (@NewsNationTV) November 27, 2016

#FirstVisuals from outside Nabha Jail(Punjab) where 10 armed men freed Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo & 4 gangsters pic.twitter.com/k2Bc7uLq9K  ANI (@ANI_news)

#High alert sounded in Punjab after Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo & 4 gangsters escape Nabha Jail

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

The Khalistan Liberation Force is an insurgent group which was formed as part of the Khalistan movement to create a Sikh homeland called Khalistan via armed struggle. Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) is a leading Sikh freedom fighting organisations that was especially active in the Indian state of Punjab throughout the 1980s and early 1990s.

Objective behind formation of KLF

Its aim was the formation of Khalistan (Land of the Pure), encompassing the state of Punjab, and adjoining districts in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The KLF, along with the Babbar Khalsa, the Khalistan Commando Force and the Bhindranwale Tiger Force of Khalistan, made up the four largest and most prominent armed oppositions groups throughout the period of militancy in Punjab.

Foundation and History

The KLF was founded by Shaheed Aroor Singh in 1986. His martyrdom led to the leadership of Shaheed Avtar Singh Brahma, under whose expert guidance the KLF really came into its own. Born in 1951, Brahma Sahib became an Amritdhari at the tender age of 15, having witnessed a gatka demonstration at his village.

The attack on holy Sri Darbar Sahib by the Indian Army, under the orders incidentally of a Sikh, polarised the opinions and mindsets of many Sikhs. Brahma Sahib was no exception and he formulated a plan to strike back at the heart of the enemy.

Freedom Struggle for Khalistan throughout the 1980s and early 1990s

Throughout the years of the freedom struggle, the KLF played a pivotal role in the liberation of the Sikh homeland. This advancement of Sikh rights however took a massive setback when Brahma Sahib was cornered by Punjab Police on the Punjab-Rajasthan border.

Punjab Police analogues show that Brahma Sahib kept the police at bay for hours, fighting by himself, but never forgetting who his father was, our eternal guru and guide, Shri Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

He held proud to the beliefs of the Khalsa Panth that he had sworn to protect. Shaheed Avtar Singh Brahma attained martyrdom on 21st May 1988.

In October 1991, KLF kidnapped a Romanian diplomat, Liviu Radu to barter the release of two top militants, Harjinder Singh Jinda and Sukhjinder Singh Sukha.

On July 29, 1992, Punjab Police killed chief of Khalistan Liberation Force Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala in Ludhiana, Punjab.On August 4, 1992, Indian police claimed to have killed Khalistan Liberation Force's new chief Navroop Singh Dhotian and four other Sikhs in a 20-hour gun battle but later on August 29, 1992 declared that Mr Navrup Singh Dhotian is still alive.

KLF at present

The Khalistan Liberation Force at the present time is a shell of its former self. The days of Avtar Singh Brahma and Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala are long gone. However, the KLF is still active and enjoys considerable support in rural areas of Punjab, albeit on a much more covert scale than before.

The popularity of its leaders, particularly Shaheed Avtar Singh Brahma and Shaheed Gurjant Singh Budhsinghwala, ensure its continuing portrayal amongst the Sikh community.

Also Read: Armed men attack Nabha jail to aide escape of Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, 4 others

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday addressed the Parivartan Rally in poll bound Uttar Pardeshas Kushinagar.A



In the previous Parivartan Rally in Ghazipur on November 20, PM Modi had launched a sharp attack against opposition for protesting against his demonetisation decision. His speech had also focused on the lack of infrastructural development in the region.A



PM Narendra Modi is doing these rallies as a part of Bhartiya Janta Partyas assembly polls campaign Parivartan Yatra.A

Here are the updates from rally:A

#India has been looted for 70 years, now it's time to use that money for nation building

# What should be close down: nation or means to corruption?A

PM @narendramodi urges people to read the ad published in newspaper this morning to understand #mobilebanking pic.twitter.com/qGn9tWWgLC a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) November 27, 2016

#PM Modi urges people to use mobile banking to participate in cashless societyA

Massive Crowd at PM @narendramodi Parivartan Rally in Kushinagar pic.twitter.com/YQAqQrZReu a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) November 27, 2016

#Modi takes a jibe at state govt, asks it to act on Centre's scheme

#This crop insurance even covers situation in which crop is not even sowed due to natural clamaties

#Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme protects farmers against all adversities

#We have ensured fair access of Urea to farmers directly from fertiliser factories



#We decided to set up AIIMS at Gorakhpur to provide Arogya services to Eastern Uttar Pradesh



#Development of rail and road access is crucial for Eastern Uttar Pradesh

#We introduced ethanol to sugar factories to protect sugarcane farmers against market risks

#When my Govt took charge, cane farmers were owed Rs 12,000 cr. We made efforts to ensure they got paid in time; dues cleared to extent

#If we would've brought change in lives of farmers,India wouldn't have been facing problems.Strong farmers&villages add strength to India

#Govt in Centre dedicated to poor, marginalised, Dalits, exploited people in India

#PM Modi thanks people for massive turn out at his rallyA

#Republic was born on this land for the first time

#PM Modi opens speech with greeting Purvanchali dialectA

#PM reaches stage, greets public

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

An unarmed woman was killed in police firing on Sunday after the car she was travelling in refused to stop at a picket set up by Punjab Police in Samana, Punjab.

The police have been stopping cars for additional checks after high alert was sounded in the state. After the Nabha jailbreak incident on Sunday morning, the Punjab Police had set up pickets to beef up the security and nab the escapees who had fled the jail with the armed men.

In a shocking incident 10 armed men on Sunday broke into Nabha jail near Patiala in Punjab and helped Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and 4 others escape. According to initial reports the armed men who broke into the jail were wearing police uniforms and fired over 100 rounds on stationed security.

Police has reached the spot and probe is underway, reports said. Four escaped gangsters apart from KLF chief Mintoo include Gurpreet Singh, Vicky Gondra, Nitin Deol and Vikramjeet Singh Vicky.

Also read | Punjab jailbreak: Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal calls for an emergency meeting

Also read | Nabha Jailbreak: Centre seeks report from Punjab govt



For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Australia registered a seven-wicket victory over South Africa to end a run of five Test defeats in the day-night third Test in Adelaide on Sunday.

The Australians, boosted by five team changes in response to two humiliating defeats to the Proteas to lose the series, chased down 127 runs for victory after dismissing the tourists for 250 on the fourth day of the pink-ball Test.

Debutant Peter Handscomb hit the winning run to finish one not out with fellow newcomer Matthew Renshaw on 34 in Australia's 127 for three.

Handscomb came to the wicket after skipper Steve Smith was caught behind for 40 off Kyle Abbott with two runs to win.

The home side also lost the wickets of David Warner and epic first-innings centurion Usman Khawaja along the way.

Warner blazed 47 off 51 balls before he was run out in a mix-up and Khawaja, who batted for almost eight hours in the first innings, lasted just two balls before he was leg before wicket to a Tabraiz Shamsi wrong'un.

Australia's victory saw off the threat of South Africa taking an unprecedented series clean sweep Down Under and was just the tonic after recrimination over the team's abject form.

But after seizing a 124-run innings lead, Steve Smith's team broke down the Proteas resistance for their first Test victory since beating New Zealand by seven wickets in Christchurch in February.

Once the dangerous Quinton de Kock was removed for five early on the fourth day, South Africa were always under pressure to build a defendable target to bowl at the Australians.

The South Africans thought they had taken the wicket of Renshaw in the second over when they claimed a slips catch by Hashim Amla off Vernon Philander.But umpire Richard Kettleborough was unmoved and a review showed no contact with Renshaw's bat.

In 10 reviews in the series involving Kettleborough the Englishman has a 100 percent success rate. South Africa held outside hopes of repeating their predecessors' famous five-run victory in Sydney 22 years ago when they bowled out Australia for 111.
New Delhi:

After a huge increase of deposits in Jan Dhan accounts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned people not to trick the poor by depositing illegal money in their accounts.

He further said that a strict 'benami' law would be implemented to deal with such transactions.

Moreover, he appealed to the people to shift to cashless system of transactions and asked the youth to help in this process by educating the elders and those not literate.

In his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', first after the demonetisation decision, Modi devoted substantial part of the 37-minute broadcast to the issue over which he is under opposition attack.

He also spoke about the Kashmir situation and particularly hailed the massive attendance of students in board exams recently.

Also Read: Deposits in Jan Dhan accounts rise to Rs 64,250 crore post demonetisation

Focussing on demonetisation, the Prime Minister said "even now, some people think they can bring their black money, the money earned through corruption or the one which is unaccounted for, back into the system through illegal means.

"Unfortunately, they are misusing the poor for this purpose by misleading, luring or tempting them by putting money into their accounts."

He said "a very stringent law to deal with 'benami' transactions is being implemented, that will make such things (transactions) very difficult. Government does not want the people to face such difficulties."

Also Read: PM at Parivartan Rally in Kushinagar: India has been looted for 70 years, now it's time to use that money for nation building

"I would tell such (unscrupulous) people that to reform or not reform is your wish. Following the law or not is your wish - that the law will take care of. But please don't play with the life of the poor. Don't do anything due to which, when there is an investigation, the name of the poor comes on record and he gets into trouble because of you."

However, wrong practices have become so entrenched that some people were still not mending their ways, he said, adding "these people are trying to find ways to again bring their ill-gotten wealth, black money, benami and unaccounted cash back in to the system. They are scouting for illegal ways to save their black money and unfortunately even in this pursuit they are looking to misuse the poor."

Also Read: PM Narendra Modi criticises opposition for bandh call, urges people to use e-wallet

The Prime Minister congratulated the people for facing difficulties but supporting demonetisation to fight graft and black money.

Efforts are being made to mislead the people against demonetisation, but they were making sacrifices for a better India, he said while appealing to the youth, "the true soldiers", to lead the battle against corruption.

Modi said "our dream is for a cashless society.

It is correct that we cannot achieve it immediately. But India can definitely move towards a less-cash society.

Once we start the move towards a less-cash society, the goal of a cashless society will not be far away."

FULL COVERAGE: BLACK MONEY CRACKDOWN

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Allahabad:

A PIL filed in the Allahabad High Court has sought crackdown on alleged hoarding of black money since scrapping of high value currency notes.

The PIL has claimed that black money is being given as cash donations to religious institutions and charitable trusts, most of these run by political leaders.

The PIL filed by advocate Avinash Mani Tripathi, which is likely to come up for hearing before a bench later this week, alleges that there has been emergence of a "menace of converting black money into white through donation in cash" of "old high denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in the accounts of religious and charitable trusts running across the country".

Further, the petitioner has contended that this would result in "failure" of government's attempt to "eliminate black money" since donations made to religious institutions and trusts became a part of their income which was "exempt from tax".

He has also alleged "inaction on part of Government of India to make any declaration regarding monetary effect of specified bank notes received in donation box or directly at religious institutions or trusts".

It alleged that many of these were being "run by political leaders," including those belonging to the ruling parties at the Centre and in the state.

The petitioner has mentioned the names of institutions or trusts run by BJP MPs, an Uttar Pradesh cabinet minister, a former Union Minister from Congress and an AIMIM leader.

Also Read: Strict law to be implemented for dealing with 'benami' transactions: PM Modi on illegal cash deposits

The petitioner, who has named the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India as parties, has prayed for "directions to respondent authorities to declare that value of the old high denomination notes deposited in the accounts of religious institutions and trusts after November 08, 2016 would neither be credited nor exchanged".

As an interim measure, pending hearing on the PIL, the petitioner has prayed for directions for "constitution of a high-level committee for taking appropriate action against the menace of converting black money into white through donation in cash of old denomination notes in the accounts of religious institutions and trusts across the country".

Full coverage: Black Money Crackdown

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Ahmedabad:

Two businessmen have been detained and Rs 22.75 lakh in scrapped currency notes was seized from them near Ahmedabad on Sunday, said police.

During a routine checking, we seized the money from a four-wheeler and detained Hitesh Kargathra and Mukesh Khoglavadra, when they were on their way to Morbi, J H Sarvaiya, Inspector at Vatva Police Station said.

The seized money include 2,898 pieces in the denomination of old Rs 500 currency notes and 826 pieces in Rs 1,000 banknotes he said, adding those detained are associated with ceramic business at Morbi in Saurashtra region.

Asked about the source of the cash, Kargathra said he had come there to collect money which he had lent to his relative, Sarvaiya said.

The notes, seized under section 102 of CrPC, were handed over to Income Tax department for investigation.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
MADISON  Rural America was thrown a Depression lifeline in the 1930s when the federal government rallied to spread electric power across farm country.

Not long after came affordable rural telephone service, even if it was delivered through a black party line phone hanging on the kitchen wall.

The modern equivalent is broadband, generally described as high-speed connections to the internet. After lagging in broadband capacity for years, rural Wisconsin may finally be poised to catch up.

The breakthrough is largely a result of the second Connect America Fund, which tasked the Federal Communications Commission to work directly with major providers who promised to deliver high-quality service in underserved  mostly rural  areas.

For the latest CAF program to work, however, communities and governments must collaborate on the technically gritty details of deployment, staging and cost.

That is happening in Vilas County, a northern Wisconsin vacation hub that aims to boost its economy, its schools and its quality of life through a stubbornly conceived plan to deliver high-quality broadband over the next 18 months.

The Vilas County story combines persistent leadership, local buy-in and enough guidance from state government to provide some necessary glue.

That story also begins with the CAF2 money. Only California among the 50 states will receive more federal dollars than Wisconsin between now and 2020 to enhance broadband downloads and uploads in places that are isolated and otherwise underserved. About $570 million will be allotted over six years to three providers  CenturyLink, Frontier and AT&T, in order of competitive grant size  to augment private investments in broadband by those same companies.

About 40 percent of the money must be spent by the end of 2017 and 20 percent per year must be put to work in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The goal is to efficiently bring broadband at a market price to about 230,000 Wisconsin homes that dont have solid access today.

The federal rules lay down minimum download and upload speeds  essentially, how fast a computer receives and sends data  as well as price points for service that must include reasonable data caps, or limits on monthly use that can force people to ration how much they use the internet.

Led by Carl Ruedebusch, a long-time Wisconsin businessman and chairman of the Vilas County Economic Development Corp., a group of educators, state technology experts and legislators such as Sen. Tom Tiffany, R-Hazelhurst, and Rep. Rob Swearingen, R-Rhinelander, met with Frontiers tech team in May to map a plan to provide broadband to about 5,000 new locations.

The staged plan will weigh a number of factors, including how to reach homes most likely to have school-aged children or other students. That demographic data came from three Vilas County school districts and Nicolet Technical College. At the May meeting, Vilas County educators agreed connected schools and laptops dont do as much good if a child cant work at home.

In Vilas County and elsewhere, a likely result of the CAF2 buildout in Wisconsin will be more fixed wireless broadband. Thats an alternative to much more expensive optical fiber systems.

The costs of installing optical fiber over large geographic areas has given pause even to companies such as Google, which is rethinking several of its U.S. broadband initiatives or trials. Those costs are more daunting in rural communities, where fixed wireless systems offer tower-to-building connections that meet standards set by the Federal Communications Commission as a part of CAF2. For the most part, fixed wireless can use existing towers.

Whatever the delivery mode, broadband is essential to the economic and cultural health of rural Wisconsin.

Adequate broadband connections can help stem the loss of rural population and jobs. It can enhance e-commerce for businesses large and small, bolster public safety, improve health through telemedicine, boost tourism by encouraging visitors to stay longer, entice millennials to stay put and connected, and improve education for kids who otherwise lose their internet connections once they leave the school grounds.

State officials say the Vilas County template should help other communities work with providers to speed deployment of the CAF2 dollars. With accurate data from local sources, providers can better engineer broadband rollouts  and with more local champions such as Ruedebusch, rural Wisconsin can better leverage CAF2 to its advantage.
The new Sun Prairie Salvatore's Tomato Pies had a soft opening Saturday night and officially opens Sunday night at 121 E. Main St.

Owner Patrick DePula moved his original Salvatore's about a half a mile down Main Street into a location three times as big. He bought the building that had previously held the Mexican restaurant La Tolteca.

"Last night went really well for our first day in this beautiful building," DePula said. "The support from the Sun Prairie community has been amazing. We're proud of our new menu, and we're excited to bring this type of restaurant to Downtown Sun Prairie."

DePula started renovations on the 116-year-old, three-story brick building in March. The building has more personality and character than his original space, including a separate bar area and much more storage space, he said.

He's still waiting on a couple of contractor fixes this week, but mostly for minor stuff, DePula said.

The extra space is allowing him to do more in the kitchen than he had done before. The new Salvatore's has an expanded menu that along with his signature Trenton, New Jersey-style pizzas, offers homemade pasta dishes, seafood, roasted meats and local vegetables. The menu is available on the restaurant's website.

DePula grew up outside of Trenton, where pizzas are put together in reverse with the sauce on the top.

The original Salvatore's opened at 503 W Main St., in Sun Prairie in 2011. DePula added a Madison location, 912 E. Johnson St., in December 2014. The Madison location also has entrees and small plates besides pizza.

DePula calls it "rustic Italian with some international influences."

For the new restaurant, DePula brought in John Jerabek, the former executive chef at Fresco on State Street and later Johnny Delmonico's Steakhouse. Jerabek, who lives in Sun Prairie, has a background that includes L'Etoile and Sundara Inn & Spa in the Dells.

Matt Tills of Tills Architecture is responsible for the new look of the space. Tills recently did RED Dine Lounge, and the Robinia entities, including Julep. Ryan Schultz of Opening Design collaborated.

DePula said it was a "total renovation," but that he's proud that they salvaged as much from the original structure as possible, including restoring the hardwood floors they found under 12 layers of flooring.

They added floor-to-ceiling glass in the front and raised the ceilings four feet. DePula also brought in a "total beast" of a brick hearth oven from New York.
BETHEL - A college student from Bethel was killed in Texas last week in a bicycle crash.

Casey Ellis, 21, was riding a bike in Abilene, Texas, where she attends college at Abilene Christian University, late Wednesday night when she was hit by a car, according to KTXS News.

Ellis rode through an intersection without yielding to a red light and was then struck by a car, which police said had the right-of-way, according to KTXS News.

She was pronounced dead after being taken to Hendrick Medical Center. Ellis was wearing a helmet.

She graduated from Bethel High School in 2013. She started a blog earlier this year to help find a liver transplant donor for her mother. The doctors found a match in July, after a donor requested her liver go to Ellis mother, according to the blog.
Japan sends fighters as Chinese jets pass Miyako Strait

Japan,Defence/Security, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Tokyo, Nov 27 (IANS) Japan scrambled its fighter jets as Chinese air force planes passed the Miyako Strait in Okinawa prefecture, the Defence Ministry said.

Six Chinese airplanes, including two fighters, flew over the Miyako Strait between Okinawa's main island and Miyako Island, ABS-CBN news reported on Saturday, citing the ministry statement.

However, there was no actual infringement of Japanese territorial air space, it said.

A similar incident occurred in September in the area when eight Chinese airplanes, including fighters, passed over the strait, prompting an alert by the ministry. It was the first such passage through the area by Chinese military aircraft.

According to the Japanese Defence Ministry's Joint Staff Office, four airplanes, including H-6 bombers and intelligence-gathering aircraft, flew in the Pacific Ocean toward East China Sea, passing over the Miyako Strait.

Two Su-30 fighter jets that passed the strait from the opposite direction made u-turns to join the four other aircraft before flying to the East China Sea, the ministry added.

--IANS

sm/vt
Opposition disinclined towards Nepal PM's statute changes

Nepal,Immigration/Law/Rights,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Politics, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Kathmandu, Nov 27 (IANS) Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" is in a tight spot as he prepares to table in Parliament the second Amendment to the Constitution in the next few days but the opposition seems not to be supporting him, the media reported on Sunday.

As the country marks the tenth anniversary of the peace accord this week, Prachanda assured the Madhesi parties that he would deliver this time, but they are not satisfied with his promise, the Nepali Times reported.

The Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), the second largest party in the Nepali Parliament, has told the Prime Minister that it will not support the bill.

The Nepali Congress, the coalition partner of Prachanda's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), is letting him stew.

But Prachanda told the Nepali Times this week that he does not feel burdened by his work.

CPN-Maoist-Centre politburo member Bodh Raj Upadhyay said: "The chairman (Prachanda) has lost his charisma, the cadre are frustrated and our party is on the verge of collapse. He needs to make a bold and quick move. If he succeeds, it will revive our party and his political career."

Prachanda is trying to make the Constitution "broadly acceptable" to all by pushing four amendments -- tinkering with federal boundaries, easing restrictions on the rights of naturalised citizens, ensuring proportional representation in Parliament and recognising more official languages.

But the CPN-UML is opposing the Prime Minister's proposals, saying these are not in the interest of Nepalis and are directed by a foreign hand.

The Federal Alliance has rejected the amendment bill, and even the Madhesi Front is lukewarm towards it.

--IANS

sm/py/vt
Algeria declares 8 days of national mourning for Castro's death

Algeria,Politics, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Algiers, Nov 27 (IANS) Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared on Saturday eight days of national mourning for the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

"President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on Saturday has declared eight days of national mourning as from Sunday, following the death of Cuba's former Head of State, Fidel Castro Ruz, the leader of the Cuban Revolution," APS news agency quoted the President Office as saying in a statement.

Bouteflika has also sent a message of condolence to Raul Castro Ruz, the current President of Cuba, in which he affirmed that the death of Fidel Castro is a "great loss" for the Algerian people, Xinhua news agency reported.

He stressed that Castro played a key role in the Algerian Liberation War (1954-1962) against the French occupation and provided "solidarity and support to the reconstruction of our country ruined by a devastating colonial war" after Algeria gained independence.

"I salute him as an authentic defender of the values of peace, respect and national sovereignty, and of his uncompromising struggle for the rights of people to self-determination," concludes the message.

Fidel Castro died aged 90 on Friday. He governed Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.

--IANS

lok/
Suu Kyi to visit Singapore

Myanmar,Politics,Diplomacy, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Nay Pyi Taw, Nov 27 (IANS) Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will visit Singapore next week, a statement said on Sunday.

Suu Kyi's trip at the invitation of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is expected on December 1, Xinhua news agency quoted a source as saying.

Relations and cooperation between Myanmar and Singapore have opened a new chapter after Lee visited Myanmar in June as the first leader of Asian countries after the National League for Democracy government assumed office on April 1.

During Lee's visit, the two countries signed an agreement on 30-day mutual exemption of visa for ordinary passport holders, which will take effect on December 1.

Singapore is Myanmar's second largest investor after China with an accumulative investment of $15.596 billion as of October 2016.

Myanmar-Singapore bilateral relations dated back to the year 1966 when the two countries established diplomatic ties.

--IANS

py/
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, Nov. 27, 2016 /CNW/ - While attending the XVI Summit of La Francophonie in Madagascar, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced that the Government of Canada will provide $112.8 million for international aid projects that will benefit several African countries and Haiti.

This funding will contribute to projects that aim to fight climate change, empower women, and protect their rights. It will also be used to stimulate economic growth, which will create job opportunities for young people and women, and to counter terrorism and prevent radicalization.

During the Summit, the Prime Minister held discussions with his counterparts from countries of La Francophonie on issues related to the Summit's theme  Shared Growth and Responsible Development: Conditions for Stability Around the World and Within La Francophonie.

The Prime Minister also highlighted that Ontario has been granted observer status in the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF). This bolsters Canadian representation in the OIF and will provide greater exposure for Franco-Ontarian communities on a global scale.

Quote

"Canada's participation in the Summit is in keeping with our desire to revitalize our commitment to La Francophonie and Africa. Working together with other member and observer States and governments, we can better address the numerous challenges that face members of La Francophonie, from climate change, to gender inequality, to human rights  including LGBTQ2 issues. Canada congratulates Madagascar on a successful Summit of La Francophonie."

Rt. Honourable Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

Quick Facts

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. In addition to Ontario , La Francophonie also welcomed Argentina and South Korea as observers, and New Caledonia as an associate member.

, La Francophonie also welcomed and as observers, and as an associate member. The governments of Quebec , New Brunswick and Ontario are represented at the XVI Summit of La Francophonie respectively by premiers Philippe Couillard and Brian Gallant , as well as by Marie-France Lalonde , Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs ( Ontario ).

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This document is also available at http://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

For further information: PMO Media Relations: 613-957-5555
A three-year federal grant will boost drug treatment court programs in Grant and Iowa counties, allowing them to offer new services and expand others that were held back by a lack of funding.

The $325,000-per-year grant, awarded to Unified Community Services by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, will allow the agency serving Grant and Iowa counties to expand the availability of inpatient drug and alcohol treatment, start intensive outpatient services and provide money to create better transportation to services and court than currently exist, said Kathy Shannon-Rink, the agency director.

This grant was a real opportunity when we applied for it to do the things we wanted to do, said Shannon-Rink.

SAMHSA, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, was offering enough money for just 50 of these grants throughout the U.S. We feel really lucky that we received the grant.

Milwaukee County was the only other grant recipient in Wisconsin, according to SAMHSA, and was also awarded about $325,000 per year for three years.

Providing needed treatment services for people with substance use disorders and co-occurring mental and substance use disorders who are involved with the criminal justice system benefits everyone, SAMHSA deputy administrator Kana Enomoto said in a statement. Drug treatment courts improve health and recovery outcomes, reduce the burden on the criminal justice system and help people recover in their communities.

With a $4.6 million annual budget, UCS serves the substance abuse treatment and mental health needs of Iowa and Grant counties, and also provides treatment services and support for drug and drunken driving courts in both counties.

Kristin Schier, coordinator of the drug treatment and drunken driving courts in Grant County, said that of those who have been accepted into the drug court, six are still in the program and two have graduated. But nine others have been terminated from the program, and limited treatment options may have been to blame.

I think its going to help our program quite a lot, Schier said. The reason for the struggle with some of our participants is a lack of treatment thats been available to them. With the grant, well be able to send them to residential and intensive outpatient treatment more than what weve been able to offer them in the past.

Grant Countys drug court started in August 2014, and its drunken driving court has been running since 2009. The drug court in Iowa County started in 2015.

Schier said that heroin addiction has been the issue for many admitted into the Grant County drug court program, though methamphetamine use is rising.

Shannon-Rink said the SAMHSA grant will be used in three ways to assist the drug courts.

The first is the creation of intensive outpatient services, involving frequent meetings with therapists and participation of UCS staff at each stage of the drug court program.

The second is residential drug treatment. There are no such facilities in Grant and Iowa counties, Shannon-Rink said, so its generally done in the Madison area. But its expensive, so the number accepted into residential treatment is limited.

The grant will allow UCS to be less restrictive in the number allowed into residential treatment, which is important because it gets drug users at least temporarily away from their current lifestyle.

And because the counties are large and rural, transportation is a need, and the grant will help address that. Drug court participants have to be able to get to court dates in Lancaster and Dodgeville, treatment appointments or drug testing, and for many who dont drive, it can be hard to do, Shannon-Rink said.

Aside from the services UCS provides to substance abuse courts in Grant and Iowa counties, the agency also provides outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment, community support for those with mental illness, medication management, emergency and crisis services and programs for children, Shannon-Rink said.
A Chinese J-16 strike fighter recently test-fired a mach 6 hypersonic missiles to successfully destroying the target drone at a very long range. The hypersonic missile has a range of between 200-310 miles.

The U.S. militarys own longest-range air-to-air missile, the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile. The AMRAAM is just 12 feet long and seven inches in diameter. The latest version of the American missile, the AIM-120D, reportedly boasts a maximum range in excess of 90 miles.

Launched by a fighter flying as high as 50,000 feet, the Chinese missile could climb to an altitude of around 100,000 feet and glide in the thin air for more than a hundred miles before descending to strike its target

Beijings VLRAAM reportedly features an active electronically-scanned array seeker with optical back-up and mid-course satellite guidance  truly state of the art for an air-to-air missile. The AIM-120D makes do with an older-style, and less effective, mechanically-steered radar.

VLRAAM missile on J-16

The Chinese military is apparently working on a solution to the identification problem, and has proposed building a targeting network around the high-flying Divine Eagle sensor drone. A Divine Eagle could pass targeting data to a VLRAAM-armed fighter  and potentially even to the missile itself, provided any operational version of the munition incorporates a datalink.

Divine eagle drones

The Divine Eagle is a low observable, high altitude UAV meant detect stealth aircraft at long ranges, using special purpose radars.

Chinas giant UAV has been getting a lots of international attention. With its giant, double bodied design, carrying high performance anti-stealth radars, the drones are a potential key part of Chinas offensive and defensive military strategy in the coming years. Formations of Divine Eagle UAVs are expected to provide an early warning line to detect threats to Chinas airspace, like cruise missiles and stealth bombers, as well as be able to take on such missions as hunting for aircraft carriers in the open waters of the Pacific.

By using the single deck bus in the background (probably 3.2 meters tall, like most buses of its type) as a very crude visual yardstick, a very rough comparison suggests that the Divine Eagle is about 6 meters tall, and 15 meters long (since most high altitude large UAVs have a wingspan to body length ratio of 2.5:1 to 3:1, the wingspan of the Divine Eagle is likely its be 35 to 45 meters across). With a maximum take off weight of at least 15 tons, the Divine Eagle is the worlds largest UAV, edging out the RQ-4 Global Hawk.


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 ...
Barcelonas Brazilian forward, Neymar, was involved in a car accident on Sunday morning while on his way to the clubs training ground.

Barcelonas Brazilian forward, Neymar, was involved in a car accident on Sunday morning while on his way to the clubs training ground.Reports from Spain said the 24-year-old was on his way to join team-mates ahead of their La Liga clash with Real Sociedad when he spun his Ferrari 458 Spider.No one was hurt in the incident and Neymar joined the squad for the flight to San Sebastian.
Many Nigerians would have thought that filmmaker, Seun Egbegbe, was perhaps, directing a movie when the news and pictures hit the inter...

Although Egbegbe has denied the story describing it as laughable and better left in the court of public opinion, Investigation revealed otherwise.The shop, Kaaltech Innovations, has been under lock and key since the incident but when newsmen spoke to the owner of the shop, Kolawole Aleshinloye on telephone, he said he was out of town but the matter was with the police.At this point, I am out of town and I told them to lock my store. I came around yesterday and witnessed everything. I put down my statement at Area F Police Command. The case is with the police. I told them to lock my store because my boy was wounded and he is currently at the hospital. My secretary has gone to the police station upon invitation. Anything you want, just go to Area F police command and ask for the IPO in charge.My boy was injured because he was being dragged by the car when they were trying to get away with the phones. The guy has written his statement and there is a formal petition from the Nigerian Police. The guy (Egbegbe) had never come to buy anything from my store before now and I dont know him. I did not see him because I was not at the office but my staff attended to him. They were the one that took him to the police station. I just showed up at the police station but I am not an eye witness.I have never been involved in a robbery or theft case and sincerely I dont know what to do and that is why the police is handling everything. I dont have the time to handle this type of case. As I speak with you, I am about travelling out of the country. I missed my flight yesterday because of this issue. I was on my way to the airport when this incident happened so if there is anything I need to do, my lawyers would handle the matter. We have an association in Computer Village; Computer and Allied Products Dealers Association of Nigeria; the members of the association were the ones that took him to the police station.But then, a shop owner who identified himself as Onyeka, said he witnessed what happened since his shop is directly opposite the scene of the incident.Onyeka described Egbegbe as a bloody liar for denying that he was involved in the theft.I was around when it happened and the man cannot deny it. It happened and the man stole the phones. If it did not happen, why did he have a bloodied mouth? Those guys outside were the ones that beat him but they did not beat him up to stupor, they just touched him small. At about 11am, the man came to the store claiming that he wanted to buy some phones. He had spoken to the sales girl but all of a sudden, he told them to pack the phones for him and that he would give them the money in his vehicle. As he got to his vehicle, he put the phones in the car and instead of him to bring out the money; he entered the vehicle which was already in motion. He was not alone in the car.The sales rep had to raise the alarm that the man was leaving with the goods. An SUV that was in front of his car had to stop to ensure that he did not run away with the phones and that was how they caught up with him and those with him in the vehicle. If the SUV was not there, they would have absconded with the phones because the road was very free. He was already inside the car and the car was in motion. I think there were about two other people in the car with him. The vehicle was in motion and ready to zoom off, yet he claimed that he wanted to give someone money. The police came around and he was handed over to them, Onyeka said.Another shop owner who didnt want his name in print, insisted he saw how Egbegbe rushed to his car with the phones and would have zoomed off.This guy is a liar. So is he saying he had over N2m in his car and he was going to bring the money from the car? Why didnt he bring the money when he entered the shop or even tell the shop attendant to hold the phones while he got the money? The guy really wanted to outsmart the shop attendant but his luck ran out. That way why we beat him silly, he said.Meanwhile, in a release he pushed out after the incident, Egbegbe said, To say the least, the news did not only grossly misinform unsuspecting public; it also portrays traces of campaign of calumny by some mercenary hirelings hell bent on destroying my name, for reasons best known to them.Having read with keen interest the completely self-serving spirited attempt to destroy my person, it has become imperative and timely that a rejoinder is written to state the fact clearly. I want to state here categorically and emphatically that though I was at Computer Village to address some issues, I was never arrested for stealing 10 iphone 7, as stated by the writer of the story, the matter has since been resolved by the Nigeria Police; and the issue of me stealing phone is devilish.It was also learnt that Egbegbe was arrainged on Thursday at a the Magistrate Court in Ikeja on a one count charge of theft but he has since met his one million naira bail condition. His publicist further emphasised that Egbegbe is not in prison but resting somewhere in Ikeja, Lagos.
An unknown militant group in the Niger Delta region has reportedly blown up the Abura oil pipeline, a major oil trunk-line operated by t...

An unknown militant group in the Niger Delta region has reportedly blown up the Abura oil pipeline, a major oil trunk-line operated by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company around Osieta Avenue near Otu-Jeremi in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.Sources gathered that the trunk-line was reportedly bombed on Sunday morning about 6:40am by the militants causing serious fire outbreak in the area.The incident occurred a kilometre near the West African biggest Otorogu Gas Plant, hosted by Otu-Jeremi, Iwhrekan and Otor-Udu communities across Ughelli South and Udu council areas of the state.Local residents confirmed the incident.A source said it was the swift intervention of fire service men from the Otorogu Gas Plant that stopped the fire from spreading to residential buildings.There was no casualty in the fire incident that lasted for over five before it was put off, another source added.The Abura oil pipeline is one the major trunk-lines that supplies crude to the Otu-Jeremi Flow Station and the Otorogu Gas Plant.The Chairman of Ughelli South Local Government Area, Mr Paul Etaga, who had earlier visited the scene of the attack along with Lt. Col. U Abdusalam, Commander, 222 Battalion, Agbarha-Otor, Ughelli North council, confirmed the incident.
A major educational restructuring is underway in the Madison School District with the potential to fundamentally change the high school experience for all district students.

Beginning next fall, the district will start phasing in personalized pathways, described as a way for students to explore college and career options and to learn more about their passions.

The concept will start relatively small the first year, with 120 to 150 freshmen at each of the districts four main high schools voluntarily opting into a health services pathway.

Eventually, the approach could become the new reality for all high school students. District administrators say their current vision is for the initiative to become compulsory by school year 2022-23, when it would be fully built out. There would be four to six pathways by then.

Before that happens, though, there is expected to be a crucial trigger point  probably midway through the second year  where administrators and School Board members will take whats been learned and decide whether to keep moving toward full implementation.

Meanwhile, all 1,718 Madison eighth-graders are to receive in the mail this week an invitation to apply for next falls first pathway group. And parents and students are learning about pathways at a raft of meetings, generating excitement but also intense skepticism.

The concern among parents is palpable, said Michelle Mouton, a district parent with one child at Hamilton Middle School and another at West High School, where pushback has been the most vigorous. It seems that a good deal of detail is being made up on the fly and some hard questions are being avoided at times.

Some parents say they welcome the approach as a pivotal way to address longstanding racial and economic achievement gaps and to help all students focus more deliberately on what inspires them. Others bristle at the idea that students as young as 13 have any idea  or should have any idea  what they want to do after high school, and that forcing them into a pathway locks them into courses that will detract from the richness of a broad high school education.

What it is

Superintendent Jennifer Cheatham, hired in 2013, said shes trying to create a culture where every student walks out the door with a post-high school plan, whether thats college or something else.

This is new, and its incredibly important if every child is to be successful, she said. We want students to be in the drivers seat, to set their own goals for after high school and to do it in a systematic way.

The pathways idea, she said, addresses a problem repeatedly voiced at community forums and in student focus groups.

Students and families said they could not see the relevancy of the coursework, she said. Students were going from one class to the next in a disconnected way. And because of this lack of relevancy, they were not making it to the finish line.

The initiative is to have five key components:

Small learning clusters that create family-like structures;

Rigorous and linked courses;

Academic and career planning;

Support tailored to a students needs;

Real-world learning opportunities through community partnerships.

Cindy Green, who oversees curriculum and instruction, said a freshman in the pathway next year at a high school with a seven-period day will take the usual four core classes  English, social studies, science and math  plus a health services class. For the health services class and for three of the four core classes (math might be the exception), the 120 to 150 students in the pathway will be together in some configuration, though the makeup of each class will vary depending on schedules.

Instructors in the core classes still will teach the traditional curriculum, but they also will collaborate to provide occasional opportunities for interdisciplinary projects or assignments that relate to health services, Green said. This will provide the thematic tie.

Additionally, each pathway student will be able to pick two electives, such as music, art or foreign language. In these classes, pathway students will mix with peers from outside the pathway.

Cheatham said the approach should be seen as adding to the richness of the high school experience, not taking anything away. For students already succeeding, the approach will serve them even better, she said. For those not succeeding, the switch is essential, she said.

This is an equity strategy, no doubt about it, she said. Students with strong support networks and with families who have gone to college have more information about what their options are. Others are left to themselves to figure it out, and thats not OK.

What its not

This isnt tracking, said Alex Fralin, a district administrator who oversees middle and high schools. The term, in its most extreme and now rarely used form, refers to students being placed in courses based on perceived intellect or ability  some groomed for college, others relegated to less-challenging curriculum.

I hear that term and I think of some adult somewhere making a decision for a student, he said.

With pathways, students will choose where they go; nothing will be predetermined for them, Fralin said. We want kids to develop a strong sense of self.

As for supposedly forcing 13-year-olds to choose careers, Fralin said it wont be like that. Its really about deep reflection of who they are  What do I like? What are my passions? What are my interests? How do I learn best? How do I set a goal to be a better leader or to think better?

Why eventually make participation compulsory?

We think all kids will thrive in this new way of teaching and learning, Fralin said. And having studied other schools and districts, we know that once a school gets close to 50 percent of its freshman class in a pathway, it creates a strain on the scheduling of classes.

Current high school students will not have the option of participating, so little if anything should change for them, Fralin said.

Within the health services theme, each high school gets to pick a focus for its approach. At West High School, the theme will be health equity for social justice. School officials say this approach will make the pathway applicable to not just future doctors and nurses but to dozens of other careers, from an art therapist at a hospice organization to a hospital architect or an attorney fighting for the uninsured.

A second pathway option is scheduled to be added in 2018-19 for incoming freshmen. Its theme hasnt been announced.

Major funding to plan for pathways is coming from the private Joyce Foundation in Chicago, which provided $400,000.

Mouton was among several dozen parents at a meeting earlier this month on pathways at West High.

A history professor at UW-Oshkosh, she said the achievement gap is undeniable but that it is unclear whether the pathways initiative is suited to address it. Many parents are concerned that in trying to help students who arent succeeding, the district will dilute the diverse electives that have served West students so well for decades.

I think if you have a 91 percent graduation rate (like at West), then theres probably a better way to help the other 9 percent than reorganizing the entire high school, she said.

Hope, concerns

By pushing pathways so hard and so rapidly in the face of such uncertainty, Mouton said, administrators run the risk of losing highly skilled teachers, narrowing the educational focus away from a broad liberal arts curriculum, and eroding parent support for the school.

Susanne Treiber, another parent at the West meeting, said that while many of the concerns being raised are valid, she is very hopeful about pathways and would not have qualms about enrolling her son, a seventh-grader at Hamilton Middle School. Another son attends West and a daughter graduated from there.

Treiber said both of her older children have had powerful experiences at West in classes with a thematic approach. She views the pathways model as extending that approach across disciplines.

I like the collaborative element of this, of themes being interwoven across content areas, said Treiber, who coordinates the writing center at the Truax campus of Madison Area Technical College. It helps students realize how concepts relate to various subject areas and to the real world.

Shannon Kunstman, a physical therapist and the mother of three children in the district, including a daughter in seventh grade at Cherokee Heights Middle School, said shes intrigued and excited by the concept but needs more specifics.

I think theres a lot of speculation and rumor out there, so what Im trying to do is stay really open to the idea and learn about it, she said.
Great meetings will take place today at Trump Tower concerning the formation of the people who will run our government for the next 8 y...

Great meetings will take place today at Trump Tower concerning the formation of the people who will run our government for the next 8 years.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 22, 2016

In a tweet about the activities of his transition team, the 70-year-old billionaire had tweeted: Great meetings will take place today at Trump Tower concerning the formation of the people who will run our government for the next 8 years.Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Elections Commission has expressed readiness to recount the votes cast in the state during the presidential elections that brought Trump to power, after some people raised concerns that the voting systems might have been hacked.A candidate of the Green Party for the U.S. presidential election, Jill Stein; and another candidate, Rocky Roque De La Fuente, requested for the recount.Citing the hack of the Democratic National Committee of the Democratic Party in the run-up to the election and reports of breaches of voter registration databases in at least two states, Stein in her petition for recount wrote that Wisconsin uses both the optical scan and direct-recording electronic types of electronic voting machines, which are both susceptible to compromise.For the last decade, computer scientists have warned about the vulnerabilities of these machines, including that they can be breached without detection and even after certain security measures are put in place, Stein wrote.She added that in Wisconsin, there is evidence of voting irregularity; suggesting potential tampering of the voting machines in the 2016 presidential elections, as well as an increase in the number of absentee voters, which could be attributed to a breach of the states voter database.Stein asked for a hand count of all paper ballots in Wisconsin.In response, the Elections Commission said the recount may begin late next week.The Commission is preparing to move forward with a state-wide recount of votes for President of the United States, as requested by these candidates, administrator Michael Haas said in a statement on Friday.The Elections Commission said it is working towards a deadline of December 13 to compete the recount.
PITTSBURGH, Pa. - The Devils begin a four-game road trip when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins at 7 on Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena.

Both teams are coming off losses on Friday, when the Devils fell to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-4, in overtime, and the Penguins lost to the Minnesota Wild, 6-2.

Both teams will role with different goalies in the second leg of back-to-backs, with Keith Kinkaid (2-2-1, .931 SV%, 2.24 GAA) going for the Devils against Matt Murray (6-1-0, .945 SV%, 1.57 GAA) for the Penguins.

The Devils will also be playing seven defensemen for the first time this season, with forwards Reid Boucher and Jacob Josefson scratched.

As the Devils hit the ice in Pittsburgh, join NJ.com's live chat in the comments section below. You can also follow along with live score updates and stats above.

Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.
NEWARK -- If Gerard Adams didn't exist, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka might have to invent him.

Adams is a 31-year-old Belleville High School grad and Caldwell University dropout, whose father grew up in Newark and worked as a manager at Prudential. He made his name by cofounding EliteDaily.com, the self-described "Voice of Generation Y," then selling it to the Daily Mail last year for $50 million.

Adams, who recently moved back to New Jersey from Manhattan, used part of the sales' proceeds to launch Fownders, a tech incubator, training and mentorship center, cafe, and all-purpose gathering place for aspiring young entrepreneurs in his father's home town.

Described on its website as a "Seed2Scale Accellerator," Fownders opened last Spring at the base of a 20,000-square-foot building on Norfolk Street in Newark's University Heights section.

The building, which has 17 market-rate apartments upstairs, was built by Adams and his longtime friend and collaborator, Pedro Gomes, a young real estate developer and Ironbound native. The two are already planning another building a block away with more apartments and additional Fownders space.

Adams, whose father is European-American and mother is of Colombian descent, is precisely the kind of private-sector ally Baraka looks to cultivate in his "Newark 3.0" campaign to transform Brick City into a technology mecca. Along those lines, Fownders is pushing the name "Silicon City" to place Newark among the established "Valley" and "Alley" tech centers in California and New York.



One morning last week, would-be economic disrupters hacked away on MacBooks and brainstormed over coffee and empanadas, with portraits of Albert Einstein, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs and Newark native Shaquile O'Neil, painted by artist Sebastian Ferreira, hanging on Fownders' white walls.

Sitting below was 35-year-old Jade Jordan of Newark. Not a morning person, Jordan conceived of the Arize Alarm app to help people like her get up and start their day. She stumbled into what she thought was an art gallery a couple of months ago, and now Adams said Jordan's app will soon be one of Fownders' first products to go to market.

"This has been my second home ever since," Jordan said.

Dressed in a Fownders T-shirt, skinny jeans and black Vans sneakers, Adams, a former skate punk, balanced on a hover board and donned a virtual reality headset while he talked to NJ Advance Media about who he is and what he's trying to do.



NJ Advance Media: You published a must-read news site for Gen-Y. You do real estate investment. You build affordable housing. What are you?



Gerard Adams: (Laughs) I'm an entrepreneur. I'm a true form of an entrepreneur. I know that word is so thrown around now, its like the cool thing nowadays. But that's who I've been even when I was a young teenager. I mean, I remember being in elementary school selling lollipops, selling T-shirts in high school, car parts. My dad used to make a joke of it, too. He used to say I was -- what was that character's name? Not Huckleberry Finn. Tom Sawyer. Because I used to figure out ways to get a little team of my neighbors together.



NJAM: To get them to paint the fence for you.



GA: Exactly. So, I would start shoveling my block when it would snow, and I would say to other kids, "Alright, let's divide and conquer. Let's get the whole neighborhood and split the money." It was just in my blood.



NJAM: (Gesturing toward the Fownders crowd) Are these your snow shovelers?



GA: But together. Every day we're all shoveling together.



NJAM: Just what goes on here? This used to be my route home, and I would drive by and think, "What is that place? Is it a cafe? Is it a gallery?"



GA: A lot of people end up thinking it's a gallery. Believe it or not, it's worked in our favor. First of all, being ingrained in a residential community is important to me. We really want to get ourselves involved with the community, with parents, with the youth, because we're going to have a thing called Future Fownders, where we're going to offer a mentorship to teenagers and to younger kids, to learn some skills that I think they should be teaching in school: leadership; business; how to do your taxes and what that means.

And also, we're right next to Newark Renaissance House, where a lot of kids go who got involved with violence or drugs, or are having trouble in school because a lot of times they're traumatized. I've had one kid in particular, Shakur, his parents got murdered, and he had a lot of negativity at home. He feels he has nobody he can trust.



And we have this foot traffic all day long with students, and they'll stop by and ask, "What is this place?" And I'll say to them, "Well, we help young entrepreneurs learn about business and how to launch businesses." And once you say to them, "business," they say, "Wait. I'm interested in that. How do I learn about business?"



And I'll say to them, "Well, come on inside. Let me talk to you a little bit, let me get to know you, let me see what your passions are, let me see what your dreams are. Let me see if this is something for you."



I've sat with Shakur, and he told me what he's been through. And I related to that somewhat. I actually had really good parenting, but I got involved with gang culture when I was in high school. I got involved with drinking and I got into fights.



But I made a choice that I didn't want to go down that path. And I started teaching myself business. But it took me 13 years. My goal is to cut that learning curve in half by having a place I wish I had when I was 18.

So, when I talk and I relate to Shakur, I say "I'm going to be here every single day, I was able to overcome those obstacles, you can too. But you have to be committed. If you start showing up here after school, you'll get mentorship, you'll learn about the things that I learned in my life."



And now, it's become a place of hope for them. They come in, they put on a virtual reality headset, they get mentorhsip, they learn to be entrepreneurs. It gives them inspiration.

I challenge everybody out there to get more into their community, step up more as a leader. Whether a teacher, CEO, investor, athlete, celebrity, whatever, we all can make a difference. It's about educating more, listening more, providing resources to our community. I'm just trying to do my part, where I can, in Newark, right now.



Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.


HOBOKEN -- As the 100th anniversary of the United States declaring War on Germany approaches, dozens gathered at the Hoboken Historical Museum to learn about the local impacts of the war.

Christina Ziegler-McPherson, historian and author of "Immigrants in Hoboken: One-Way Ticket", described an almost desolated city with empty shops. Wages were cut and the busiest workers in the city were newsboys delivering papers.

The United States entered World War I in April 1917 against Germany, nearly three years after the starts of the war.

Ziegler-McPherson, a Fulbright scholar, said people in Hoboken tried to sell their birth certificates to Germans living in the city, citing court documents she researched.

Sunday's event is part of the museum's "Heaven, Hell, or Hoboken" 10 part series commemorating the United State's involvement in the war.

The next part of the series is scheduled for Dec. 11 at 4 p.m. with author Richard Striner's lecture "Woodrow Wilson's Failure of Wartime Leadership."

Caitlin Mota may be reached at cmota@jjournal.com. Follow her on Twitter @caitlin_mota. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.
JERSEY CITY - Many small stores in Hudson County participated in Small Business Saturday today by handing out free tote bags to customers.

"We appreciate the support of our customers," said Andrew Saputo of Gino's Pizzeria & Restaurant on Central Avenue in Jersey City as he held up one of the tote bags behind the counter this afternoon.

Also participating is Maria Provenzano-Upenieks of Herbert's Army & Navy which has been in business 86 years and is located on Broadway in Bayonne.

"We hope the totes help our customers and we thank them for all the support over the years," said Provenzano-Upenieks. "We appreciate it."

The Central Avenue Special Improvement District distributed 2,000 of the reusable bags at participating businesses.
So... you want to open up your own sub/hoagie shop. It's just a matter of finding the right location and bread, both the cash and roll variety.

If only it were that easy.

Bob Frank, owner of WonderSub in Old Bridge, had a different challenge soon after opening. Some locals made it known they were against WonderSub; they didn't want a chain in town.

The only problem with that: WonderSub is not a chain; the Old Bridge store, on Route 516, is the only location, and Frank is not about to go nationwide.

"They were coming to my register and saying, " 'Old Bridge doesn't need a franchise,' '' Frank recalled.

Thus the necessity to put up this sign outside:

Did U Know WonderSub Is Not A Franchise We Are Family Owned With One Location.

That seemed to do the trick, and the store's customers were among the most active when we asked readers last month to nominate their favorite places in our epic search for N.J.'s best sub/hoagie shop.

A total of 350-plus shops were nominated, and all were put on the ballot. The top five vote-getters in each region became 20 of our semifinalists; I picked the other 20.

This is the last of five trip reports; it is not a listing of the eight best sub/hoagie shops. In each report, we have featured one shop, with capsules on the others; being featured does not mean that shop has an inside track to being one of our ten finalists.

On Monday, Nov. 28, I will name the ten finalists. From Tuesday, Nov. 29 through Saturday, Dec. 3, I will visit two shops each day, accompanied by assistant judges. I will then pick the winner, to be revealed live on nj.com Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Back to WonderSub. Frank was a former hot dog truck owner - perfect name, right? - who ditched that job after two years to work construction. The space, a former Manhattan Bagel, became available, and Frank opened WonderSub in March. Inspiration came from his dad, who sold what he called ''heaters'' - cold subs warmed up in the oven - at his Plainfield deli.

Walk into WonderSub, and you'll see signs for "sub,'' "hoagie,'' "hero,'' "grinder'' and "heater.'' Frank has all his sandwich bases covered.

You can get a regular cold sub, that same sub as a heater, or one of the specialty subs. There are seven kinds of bread, five kinds of cheese, 15 kinds of condiments and dressings, eight kinds of spice blends, and more. A math whiz friend of Frank's calculated there are 585,000 different combinations of subs at WonderSub.

Another difference here: bread is made from scratch in the kitchen. The meat's from Thumann's; Frank and his family/friends did blind testing of eight brands, finding one's meats "ridiculously salty,'' while another brand's roast beef "tasted like shoe leather.'' Thumann's was the clear-cut winner.



I've tried two subs at each of our semifinalists; here I had the #8 Italian as a heater, and the Smoke n Olives, with smoked turkey, provolone and an olive tapenade.

OTHER PLACES VISITED

Ye Olde Sub Base, Clinton. It was old home week for me here. I once lived across the street from the sub shop, and Clinton will always be one of my favorite Jersey towns. The shop opened in 1973; Scott Rosso has owned it for eight years. The meats are from Thumann's and Kohler; the bread comes from Victoriana in Newark.

My subs here: the Red Mill Italian, with mozzarella, capicola, boiled ham, salami and roasted red peppers; and the roast beef sub.

Tastee Sub Shop, Edison. One of the state's best-known sub shops, Tastee entered rarified sandwich air when President Obama paid a visit in 2010 as part of a small business roundtable discussion (he ordered the #5, no oil). Parking is tricky at the Edison location, but once you're inside you get out pretty quick. One employee takes your order and slices meats, another adds toppings, a third wraps up the sub, a fourth rings you up. There's a five percent discount if you pay in cash.

My subs here: oven-roasted turkey and tuna.

Joe Leone's Italian Specialties, Point Pleasant Beach. Anyone who remembers the old Joe Leone's will gasp when walking inside the new location, a shiny glistening emporium of meats, cheeses, breads, pastas, prepared foods and more.

All the bread is made here with the exception of the giuten-free kind. The meat's from Hormel, Boar's Head, Licini Brothers and others. Ordinary lettuce is replaced by arugula. I tried the Joe's Italian Combo and the roast beef sub (I've eaten a lot of roast beef on this mission; store owners and staff keep recommending it!).

Longfellow's Sandwich Deli, Morristown. Three brothers run this small, lively neighborhood shop, open 31 years. The original owner boasted that he was "poetry in motion'' making subs, according to Mike Fahmie, one of the three brothers. The meats are from Thumann's, Boar's Head and Hormel. The bread is a custom-made 16-inch roll from Anthony & Sons in Denville.

My subs here: the Daredevil, with ham, salami, bologna and capicola; and the roast beef.

Sergio & Co., Denville. Hurricane Irene deluged Denville; Sergio's was closed three months. "We came back and we came back strong,'' says owner Sergio Sciancalepore.

Sandwiches, salads, soups and such specialty items as lobster rice balls are available. The meats are Thumann's, Hormel, Daniele and Columbus Craft Meats. The bread is from Sullivan Street Bakery, Tribeca Oven and Bel Pane Bakery. I tried the #4, with ham, salami, provolone, oil and vinegar on a semolina roll, and the #7, breaded chicken cutlet with mozzarella and roasted red peppers on semolina.

Hayek's Market, Newton. "I've been following you!'' said an excited woman, walking up to me at the sandwich counter. Wait, a NJ's best stalker? No, just Denise Hayek, wife of owner Dan Hayek. Following as in following my month-long journey to sub enlightenment on Twitter (@petegenovese).

The store underwent renovation three years ago, and it's well-stocked, with a bakery, deli counter, produce, fruit, prepared foods and more. Hayek's grandfather opened the store at another location in town in 1939. The meats are Boar's Head, the bread Anthony & Sons and Calandra's. I tried the Italian sub, and another with Black Forest ham, smoked gouda, mixed greens and caramelized apples.

The Sub Shack, Hackettstown. Our N.J.'s best sub/hoagie shop showdown has been a celebration of independently-owned, mom-and-pop type places, and the Sub Shack, also known as Perry's, is no different. Janice Nordquist's first husband - he was the Perry - opened it in 1972. She and her current husband, Dave, run it now. It's a narrow-aisled shop with giant yellow menu board and a window ledge.

The meats are from Boar's Head, Glen Rock Hams and other suppliers; Anthony & Sons makes the bread. My subs here: the #4 Super, with prosciuttini, salami, pressed ham, capicola and provolone, and a pulled pork sub, a special.

Peter Genovese may be reached at pgenovese@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteGenovese or via The Munchmobile @NJ_Munchmobile. Find the Munchmobile on Facebook and Instagram.
Chuck Monjoy couldn't find a Donald Trump sign, so he made one.

He took a cardboard box, drew the word "TRUMP" with a heavy black felt-tip pen, then propped it up outside his commercial property on Route 9 in the Forked River section of Lacey Township.

The fact that he couldn't find a Trump sign struck him as unusual. Lacey is a large municipality in Ocean County, one of the reddest regions of New Jersey.

And in this election, Lacey was the second reddest of the red.

In New Jersey towns with more than 10,000 people, only nearby Lakewood had a greater percentage of voters (74.4) who pulled the lever for president-elect Donald Trump.

This was not surprising. Seventy-two percent of Lakewood, with its high population of very conservative Hasidic Jews, voted for Mitt Romney in the last election.

But while Lacey voters also went overwhelmingly for Trump (70.1 percent) they are not quite as historically red as Lakewood. In the last election, 59.1 percent voted for Romney.

So why couldn't Chuck Monjoy find a sign?

What happened in Lacey is very typical of the national results. Call it the stealth Trump support.

"Every year, people come and put campaign signs on my property. I get inundated with them," said Monjoy, 76, who owns Custom Auto Radiator and whose property is across the street from Caffrey's Tavern, one of the most popular restaurants in town.

"This year, I was hoping they'd come by with Trump signs, but nobody did," he said. "There wasn't an organized effort by anybody to put up Trump signs. There was no local effort for Trump."

True enough. In the days after Donald Trump was elected president, campaign signs for Republican Mayor Steven Kennis and Deputy Mayor Peter Curatolo still lined the streets of Lacey. The dearth of Trump signs, especially in light of the election results, was surprising.

MORE: Recent Mark Di Ionno columns

The underground Trump support that got unleashed on Election Day was only one way Lacey is a microcosm of the national election results. Millions of Americans who didn't want to be labeled as angry or scared racists, homophobes, xenophobes or misogynists but simply wanted change were quiet about their candidate of choice until the curtain was pulled on the voting booth. Hence, the stunned pollsters and pundits.

Lacey, like much of Trumpland, is 94 percent white and its median household income of $71,835 average for the state. Like many Ocean County towns, its population of people over age 65 (16 percent) is higher than the state average (14 percent). But like other places that voted for Trump, it's a place of great economic diversity.

In the 99-square-mile township of just fewer than 30,000 residents, there are yacht clubs and marinas along Barnegat Bay, surrounded by modern homes that sell north of $750,000. But interspersed within these lagoons and boating developments are square, tiny bungalows -- old beach houses now converted to year-rounders that can be bought for about $100,000 or less.

In those neighborhoods, the residual impact of Hurricane Sandy can still be seen. There are homes that are still vacant, under construction or in foreclosure.

One of those homes belonged to Nancy Wirtz, who voted for Trump because of the bureaucratic mess encountered with FEMA and state government after her house was damaged by the storm. She got an insufficient insurance payout, then had a state-approved contractor disappear with her money. Foreclosure followed.

"It is absolutely why (she voted for Trump)," she said. "I lost my home, I was foreclosed on, because I got screwed at every turn. We need some change."

George Kasimos, founder of Stop FEMA Now, also said a "Sandy effect" was seen in support for Trump along the coast. In Union Beach, for example, where 85 percent of the homes were damaged, Trump won 60.3 percent of the vote, compared to the 46.3 percent who voted Republican in 2012. Other storm-ravaged Raritan Bay-area towns that flipped from Democrat in the 2012 election to Republican this year were Atlantic Highlands, Highlands, Keansburg, Keyport, Old Bridge and Sayreville. In Ocean and Monmouth counties, traditionally red towns got redder, with Trump receiving up to 10 percent more votes than Romney did in 2012.

"People want to see this process streamlined," Kasimos said. "There's a lot of bitterness over the insurance fraud, the paperwork, the (new FEMA) flood maps. Four years after the storm, we still have people fighting the NFIP (FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program) carriers for fair settlements and we still have people out of their homes."

Kennis, the mayor, said Sandy frustrations played a role in the Lacey vote, but he felt the biggest factors were the economy and regulation.

"Between developers, builders and people who do home improvement work, much of our economy is real-estate based," he said. "But two-thirds of our town is in the Pinelands National Reserve, and east of the Parkway, we fall under CAFRA (the Coastal Area Facility Review Act, a 511-page piece of legislation that guides development and land use along the sensitive coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean and Delaware Bay.)

"So I think when Donald Trump spoke about deregulation, it resonated here," Kennis said.

Like the industrial states of Ohio and Michigan that swung for Trump, Lacey is facing an economic hit with the looming closure of Exelon's Oyster Creek Generating Station, the oldest continuously operating nuclear power plant in the country.

"I think the closure of the plant had a lot to do with it (the election result). There is almost a Rust Belt element to it," said Amanda Devecka-Rinear, executive director of the New Jersey Organizing Project, which has pushed for better Sandy recovery response and better environmental protection of the shore and Barnegat Bay.

Exelon is closing the aging plant, which employs 700 people, in 2019, after a controversial agreement with the state in 2010 that allowed it to operate for another decade without building federally-mandated cooling towers.

"I think that's a big hit for the community," said Forked River Diner owner Rob Moody. "People are worried about the economic impact."

Moody said the pre-election talk in the diner was subdued.

"People were pretty low-key," he said. "It's a pretty Republican town, but not everybody was advertising their vote. I do remember one lady saying, 'Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I'm voting for Hillary.' "

Moody's diner is a classic stainless-steel railcar type, a sharp contrast to the new strip malls anchored by box stores along Route 9. But, just like the housing diversity, there is a wide swath of commercial properties. A new hardware store, a storefront palm reader. Chain auto parts stores and mom-and-pop suppliers like Monjoy.

"We're a middle-class town," Monjoy said. "All my neighbors are middle-class people. Teachers, mechanics, small business owners. I think Trump's promise to put America first again appealed to them."

Mark Di Ionno may be reached at mdiionno@starledger.com. Follow The Star-Ledger on Twitter @StarLedger and find us on Facebook.
NH GOP's 'First in the Nation' Republican Leadership Summit

ACLU-NJ: Our state has long been a civil rights leader and, with racist and white nationalist movements emboldened, we have a duty to both defend vulnerable communities and march on toward a more fair and just state. Here's our proposal, brick by brick. (Aristide Economopoulos | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

By Ari Rosmarin

The election of Donald Trump understandably has many New Jerseyans afraid. ACLU of New Jersey staff and supporters were scared too -- and then we got to work.

The ACLU has spent nearly 100 years defending our fundamental rights and liberties. We don't kid ourselves about the challenges ahead.

Every new appointment by Team Trump signals new, serious threats to freedom and equality. U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trump's nominee for attorney general, has called the ACLU and NAACP "un-American" for "trying to force civil rights down people's throats."

If Trump thinks name-calling will deter us, he has no idea what's coming.

In Congress, the courts, state legislatures, towns, and in the streets -- all across the country -- the ACLU is gearing up to fight like hell for your rights.

The focus of that fight in New Jersey is building a wall.

No, not on the U.S.-Mexico border. New Jersey must build a protective wall for our rights and freedoms.

Our state has long been a civil rights leader and, with racist and white nationalist movements emboldened, we have a duty to both defend vulnerable communities and march on toward a more fair and just state. Here's our proposal, brick by brick.

To start where Trump's campaign began, New Jersey has a duty to protect immigrant families. Trump has promised mass deportations and crackdowns on sanctuary cities, among other threats.

New Jersey, a leading example of the diversity that truly makes America great, must stop local law enforcement from assisting in deportations. Counties should refuse to rent out jail beds to the Trump administration. The state can support towns and campuses that give refuge to immigrants. The Legislature must expand access to driver's licenses for undocumented New Jerseyans and provide lawyers to community members facing deportation. We can build a wall to keep our immigrant communities safe.

Amid this nativist atmosphere, Muslims face serious threats - to their safety, their ability to worship freely, and their right to live free from discrimination and surveillance. New Jersey must reject unconstitutional targeting of Muslim communities, whether it rears its head through federal registries or zoning aimed at stopping mosque construction. Our wall must insulate our Muslim communities from hatred.

Trump's administration poses unprecedented threats to privacy on at least two fronts. First, women could face restrictions on some of their most intimate reproductive health decisions. New Jersey must expand access to contraception and abortion services. Second, we should expect expanded domestic surveillance. Our state needs twenty-first century privacy laws. Police should need a warrant before getting our phone records, flying surveillance drones, stockpiling data about our travels from license plate readers, or deploying new ways to spy on us. Our wall must shield privacy.

Trump has proposed expanding stop-and-frisk and mocked calls from Black Lives Matter and others for police reform. With a Justice Department possibly hostile to civil rights, New Jersey must take up the mission of ensuring fair, constitutional policing. Stronger oversight from lawmakers, the attorney general, and the public must lead to more accountable and transparent police departments.

The path to ending mass incarceration also goes through the states. Despite Trump, New Jersey has an opportunity to lead nationally on bail reform, ending mandatory minimum sentences and banning solitary confinement abuse. We can fix parole, wind down the drug war, and help people return home after incarceration. With racial justice in mind, our wall can fortify a fairer criminal justice system.

Trump, Congress, and a future U.S. Supreme Court could unravel federal protections for LGBTQ people. Much discrimination is illegal under New Jersey law. But we must affirm marriage equality, prevent unlawful bigotry disguised as religious expression, and provide transgender New Jerseyans access to health care and birth certificates. Our wall must secure the LGBTQ community's rights and expand protections.

The right to protest is fundamental. We've already seen attempts to silence opposition. Our wall must also block any crackdown on dissent and prevent suppression of free speech.

The ACLU cannot build this wall alone. New Jerseyans from all communities, faiths, and political persuasions must band together to cement the promises of our Bill of Rights and renew our shared vision for a fair, equal, and just society.

The threats to our freedoms are real. Let's get to work - we've got a huge wall to build.

Ari Rosmarin is the public policy director of the ACLU of New Jersey.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.
Donald Trump

Donald Trump: After the way the mainstream media ganged up on him it's a little late for them to be complaining about 'fake news.'

(AP Photo)

When I read that Washington Post article about "fake news" last week, I at first thought it might be an apology for the paper's coverage of the recent presidential campaign.

That coverage was almost entirely anti-Donald Trump. That's fine for the opinion pages, but the slant leaked over to the news side.

Back in June, for example, the paper ran this headline on an article on Donald Trump's reaction to the Orlando nightclub shooting: "Donald Trump Suggests President Obama Was Involved with Orlando Shooting."

Trump had suggested nothing of the sort. The comments from Trump cited in the article consisted of one of his routine tirades against President Obama and Hillary Clinton for failing to use the term "radical Islamic terrorism" to describe such incidents.

So that certainly seemed to fall into the same category of sensationalist headline-writing that was covered in the article.

But it wasn't mentioned. Instead the writers talked about a couple of California guys in their 20s who are making a fortune cranking out click bait disguised as news.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Back in 2008, I wrote a column for the Wall Street Journal headlined "Bloggers Are No Replacement for Real Journalists" on the effect the internet would have on journalistic quality.

"Every time a new medium arises, a new group of avatars arises with it, assuring us of the wondrous effects it will produce for our democracy," I wrote.

That was what happened at the beginning of the blogosphere. We were told that we were entering a new era when "citizen journalists" would take on such tasks as reporting on the local town councils and school boards.

Nonsense, I said. People want to be paid for such tedious tasks. And if you want to get paid on the internet, there are a lot of easier ways to do it. The example of Paris Wade and Ben Goldman proves my point.

The article reported how those two guys sit around an apartment thinking up headlines that will entice people to click on the stories in question. "THE TRUTH IS OUT! The Media Doesn't Want You to See What Hillary Did After Losing ..."

In fact, the members of the media would have liked nothing more. But they didn't get to observe her actions that evening. That left Wade and Goldman felt free to imagine that "she supposedly spent the night crying."

Or supposedly not. Never mind. Check out the adjacent photo of a gorgeous blonde and an invitation to click through to photos of "The 13 sexiest and most naked celebrity selfies."

Keeping you clicking was the point of the exercise - even though the site is aimed at a conservative audience.

Things are not any better at the leading news site for liberals, the Huffington Post.

"Alicia Silverstone isn't clueless - she's clothes-less!" said the headline over a photo of the actress when I went to the site the other day.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. But there was plenty wrong with the HuffPo's coverage of the presidential campaign.

Throughout the campaign every article mentioning Trump was followed by this:

"Editor's note: Donald Trump regularly incites political violence, and is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, misogynist and birther ..." replete with click-throughs to more money-making opportunities for owner AOL.COM.

Keep in mind that HuffPo bills itself as a major news-gathering organization and you can see how far we've fallen in the internet era.

The example of the Post proves that point as well. Newspapers find it increasingly difficult to turn a profit now that the revenue base has migrated to the internet.

Websites sell all sorts of things that used to be sold in local stores, which in turn bought advertisements in the papers. But Jeff Bezos of Amazon made so much money selling directly to the consumer that he could acquire one of the papers he was helping to put out of business.

During the recent campaign, Bezos got into a spitting match with Trump in which the Donald accused Bezos of buying the paper so he could agitate against taxing internet sales.

Maybe he did and maybe he didn't. But it certainly looks like the bright future of the internet is bringing back the not-so-bright past.

In the 19th century newspapers were blatantly slanted, a practice you can see in the names of newspaper that still have the terms "Republican" and "Democrat" in them.

Meanwhile the yellow journalism that seemed to be so outrageous a century ago now looks tame compared to the click-bait that passes for news these days.

I suppose things could have worked out worse.

But I can't see how.

ADD: By the way, if you want an example of true fake news, look at how the Washington Post softened the original headline on that article about Orlando to "Donald Trump seems to connect Obama to Orlando shooting" without apologizing to Trump for the false attack, yet kept the original headline in the URL.

The mainstream media coverage of the recent campaign was slanted in more ways than I could begin to state here. And I'm not talking about my fellow opinion writers. We're supposed to put our views into our writing.

I'm talking about the supposedly objective reporting in the Post and similar papers. The first paragraph of that Post article cited above tells it all:

"Donald Trump seemed to repeatedly accuse President Obama on Monday of identifying with radicalized Muslims who have carried out terrorist attacks in the United States and being complicit in the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando over the weekend ..."

To the untrained eye, that may sound like objective reporting. But the job of a reporter is to convey what a political figure actually said, not what he "seemed to" say.

In my early years I was a city editor at two newspapers and a copy editor at one. If ever came across such an article I would have sent it back to the reporter and told her to take her subjective views out of it.

Even worse was all of the supposed "fact-checking" reporters were doing on Trump's statements. If the reporter comes across something he finds dubious, then he can ask the other side to comment on it. The reader can then make his own decision about its veracity.

But it's not the reporter's job to start an argument with the subject.

Nonetheless the entire mainstream media seemed to be having an argument with Trump during this campaign.

Guess who won.

NOTE: There have been some glitches with the site over the Thanksgiving weekend and certain features may not be working. It appears comments are not working at the moment, at least for some readers. Sorry for the technical difficulty.

(Below: This is why they called them "talking heads" and not "thinking heads.")
Christie

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he will serve out his full term, which ends in 2018.

(AP Photo)

He's says he's back. To stay.

Till January 2018, although many suspect he's sitting by the phone, hoping for a call from Trump Tower offering him a job. He may have already begun packing. If he hasn't started yet, right across the hall the Lieutenant Governor, who's not allowed to be busy these days, has enough time and more than enough energy to shove his stuff into a suitcase and walk him to the Amtrak station.

But just in case the call doesn't come, the suitcase doesn't get packed, and he has to stay here as Governor, the Legislature has plenty of work for Chris Christie to do. They're back in action, too.

They began last week by dusting off a bill Christie has already vetoed twice, tweaking it a bit, and crossing their fingers that it won't get the knee-jerk "no" from the presidential contender Christie was the last two times. The bill would require the state to make quarterly payments into its pension fund.

It's certainly a good idea. Both houses of the Legislature passed it unanimously this time, and reports are that some of the tweaks were suggested by the Governor's staff to make it more palatable to him. With only a year at most left in his term, he can make the required payments and let the next governor deal with any shortfalls.

Of course, the new bill won't go very far in resolving the pension crisis, but every little bit helps. That's because the "required" amount isn't necessarily the amount actuaries say should be paid each year. It's the amount the Governor proposes and the Legislature approves in each annual budget. It could be anywhere from 10 percent to 100 percent of the needed amount. What do you want to bet it's a pretty low number next year?

Paying quarterly is what most of us do with our major bills most of the time. We pay rent, mortgages, utility bills and credit cards even more often. But taxes, heating bills, school tuition and other biggies are usually paid off in quarterly increments.

If the State does that, money can accrue some interest before it's paid out to retirees, and it minimizes the risk that the State has to borrow money to pay its pensioners mid year.

Like other states, New Jersey must comply with rules set by the Federal Government Accounting Standards Board, which require actuarial reports projecting future assets and liabilities based on demographic and economic assumptions. That means all of us get to know how bad the pension situation is. But no federal rules demand states actually do anything about the situation.

Christine Whitman, when she was governor and times were good, ceased making payments into the state pension system, although employees continued to do so. Then when the economy sagged, her successors of both parties made only wimpy efforts to catch up. There were always other priorities. Only partial payments were made while obligations continued to grow. And even the small payments were delayed as long as possible, with a lump sum sent to the pension fund at the end of each fiscal year.

At the rate we've been going, we'll never catch up. Even if new state employees were denied entry into the pension system and had only 401 savings accounts for retirement, the fund may not have enough money to support current and future retirees.

Maybe, while he's waiting for the phone to ring, the Governor could think about that. Then at least sign the quarterly payment legislation.

EDITOR'S NOTE: A former assemblywoman from Jersey City, Joan Quigley is the president and CEO of the North Hudson Community Action Corp.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources leaders are seeking new ways to ensure that they retain crucial institutional knowledge as they unveil a reorganization to wary employees amid a wave of retirements that now includes high-profile managers.

DNR shortcomings in hiring and training new workers came to light in June when a state audit linked them to flaws in DNR enforcement of laws aimed at preventing pollution of lakes, streams and drinking water.

"We have assigned a team of leaders within the agency to develop recommendations with an eye toward improving the knowledge transfer and succession process," DNR spokeswoman Jennifer Sereno said.

On Wednesday, the department will announce a reorganization that was demanded by conservatives who control state government.

Employees are worried because Republican elected officials have already buffeted the department with loosened environmental regulations and budget cuts targeting scientists because they researched climate change, mine pollution and deer herd management measures that were sometimes unpopular, said former DNR secretary Scott Hassett.

As more baby boomers reach retirement age, employers everywhere are losing older workers, but the trend accelerated in Wisconsin state government after 2010 when Gov. Scott Walker and Republican legislative majorities were elected and they all but eliminated public sector union rights.

A record number of state employees retired in 2011. From 2011 through 2015, there were nearly 30 percent more retirements than from 2006 to 2010.

At the DNR, there were almost 40 percent more retirements from 2011 to 2015 compared to 2006-2010. In the latter five years, there were 806 retirements in a department with about 2,500 full-time employees.

Three months after the audit findings were released, attention focused again on departures of DNR personnel when a respected top manager, chief state forester Paul DeLong, announced in September that he was leavingto become senior vice president for conservation of the American Forest Foundation.

DeLong offered no public comment about the DNR or the looming reorganization, but he left as the department, under a mandate from the Legislature, studied moving the DNR forestry headquarters from Madisonto northern Wisconsin and as other statutes loosened state oversight of timber cutting.

At least eight other DNR bureau- and division-level managers retired or took other jobs over the last two years, according to DNR records and interviews with former employees.

They include fisheries bureau chief Ron Bruch, facilities and land bureau director Steven Miller, chief legal counsel Tim Andryk, state parks and recreation director Dan Schuller, drinking water and ground water chief Jill Jonas, and deputy administrator for environmental management Eric Ebersberger.

None of them commented publicly about the large-scale changes that have swept through state government and the DNR.

When two other managers retired, though, they criticized political influence that has grown stronger in the department since 1995, when hiring of the DNR secretary was taken away from a semi-independent policy board and given to the governor.

Political winds blowing harder

Jack Sullivan, who was 62 when he retired in 2015, said he had been told not to talk about budget cutsthat eliminated more than half of the senior scientists from the science services bureau he directed. But he said the cuts played a role in his decision to leave.

One problem with political control of the DNR is that a change in governors can mean scientific research that takes years to develop is cut off prematurely, Sullivan said.

In October, longtime wildlife management bureau chief Tom Hauge, 63, retired after being told he would be demoted because officials wanted someone with "a strong customer focus and the ability to engage on high-profile issues."

The final reorganization plan has been a closely guarded secret of DNR secretary Cathy Stepp and her lieutenants, but Hauge said he had seen enough of the proposals for his bureau to believe there would be major changes in managing deer and other wildlife.

Hauge said he accepted Stepp's authority to pick and choose managers, but he was a little unhappy about the way he was handled. In September, as he was about to undergo back surgery, he was given two weeks' notice of the demotion after 25 years as bureau director.

In government, politics will always play a role, Hauge said, but since the DNR secretary became a gubernatorial appointee, the political winds have blown harder.

And since Republicans took power, employees have felt more vulnerable because of budget cuts, changes to the union law, and DNR policies threatening discipline for public discussion of information considered sensitive by agency executives, Hauge said.

Like Sullivan, Hauge said that in the last few years DNR leaders gave less support for efforts to adapt wildlife management practices in light of climate change.

Anyone looking for reasons DNR employees are retiring could also view a videotaped talk Stepp gave at a 2015 management seminar in Florida, Hauge said.

Stepp told the group she had wanted to crawl in a hole after Walker appointed her in 2011 and she realized DNR employees were burned out, steeped in Earth Day values "and frankly weren't real politically aligned with our new administration, most of them."

The tape circulated among employees, adding to the weight of demoralization, Hauge said.

The reorganization being announced Wednesday was launched in July 2015 and driven by warnings from elected officials who said they would cut the department further if it didn't propose reductions of its own.

Stepp and other top administrators have maintained that the reorganized DNR will be able to perform its core mission of protecting the quality of air, water and wildlife.

Changes in hiring practices

A major rewrite of the civil service systemtook effect in Julyaimed at making hiring easier by eliminating requirements that employees be hired based on their performance on exams.

Sereno, the DNR spokeswoman, said the department hadn't yet compiled enough data to see if new recruits were coming on board more quickly.

To prevent the loss of institutional knowledge, the DNR encourages training opportunities for future leaders, written documentation of management practices, and sharing of information and decision making, Sereno said.

"For some positions, particularly those with strong internal candidates, overlap hiring may be used so that an outgoing leader can mentor others," Sereno said.

But Hauge's departure raised red flags for George Meyer, a former DNR secretary who now directs the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation.

"I worry about how they are able to get applicants to replace people in this much more political environment," Meyer said.

Sereno said human resources employees have reported receiving much higher numbers of applicants for at least three positions  an administrative policy coordinator, a payroll and benefits specialist and an environmental analysis specialist  since the civil service law changed compared to previous years.
TRENTON -- Nearly three weeks after Donald Trump celebrated a stunning victory on Election Day, the rancorous 2016 presidential race has suddenly been resurrected.

On Friday, Green Party nominee Jill Stein filed for a recount of the election results in Wisconsin -- one of the key states that helped Trump, a Republican, score an upset over Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Stein, a third-party candidate who received less than 1 percent of the vote across the nation, is also considering seeking recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania, two other traditionally Democratic states that Trump carried.

On Saturday, Clinton's top campaign lawyer said it will aid in the effort, even though Clinton conceded the race to Trump on election night.

Trump -- who refused to agree to accept election results if he lost and spent a potion of his campaign warning about the possibility of a rigged election -- released a statement Saturday calling the recount a "scam" to help Stein "fill her coffers with money."

Stein has so far raised more than $6 million to help cover the costs of the recount.

"The people have spoken, and the election is over," Trump added.

INBOX: Statement From President-Elect Donald J. Trump on the Ridiculous

Green Party Recount Request pic.twitter.com/Dz2q4Fnytq  Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) November 26, 2016

Then, just after 4 a.m. Sunday, the president-elect unleashed a series of tweets lashing out in the wake of the unexpected development.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

But could the recount actually alter the outcome of the race? It seems unlikely.

An analysis of the Electoral College map shows Clinton would need to take all three states to overturn the results.

Though Clinton leads the national popular vote by nearly 2 million votes, Trump won 290 electoral votes to Clinton's 232. It takes 270 to win the White House. Michigan is still too close to call.

Trump leads Michigan by about 11,000 votes, and won Pennsylvania by about 68,000 and Wisconsin by about 27,000.

New York magazine published a report Tuesday in which a group of computer scientists and election lawyers called for a recount in those states, arguing that the results may have been manipulated or hacked.

Marc Elias, Clinton's general counsel, wrote Saturday in a piece on the website Medium that the Clinton campaign did not plan to initiate a recount itself "because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology."

"But now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides," Elias added.

Still, Elias noted that the deficit in even Michigan "exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount."

President Obama's administration told Politico it has seen no evidence of hackers tampering with the results.

Larry Sabato, director of the Institute for Politics at the University of Virginia, said "the chances of this election being overturned are near zero, if not zero."

"The Greens have obvious motives," Sabato said. "They are raising big money and getting a golden mail list of donors, too. Maybe this enables the Greens from getting a share of the blame for Clinton's defeat; Stein cost Clinton Michigan, and maybe Wisconsin."

"For the Democrats, maybe this is an outlet for the deep anger and frustration that the grassroots feels about Clinton's defeat even though she won the popular vote by a record amount," he added.

Statistics guru Nate Silver also dismissed the idea that the recount could change things:

To be clear, the recount is **very** unlikely to overturn the results, unless there's been massive, coordinated manipulation of results. (2/  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 27, 2016

Matthew Hale, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, said "the other question to consider is what might actually happen if the outcome flipped."

"Imagining both sides taking to the streets is fairly frightening," Hale said.

Critics berated Trump when in the final presidential debate he refused to say whether he would accept the race's results.

During an interview Sunday morning on ABC's "This Week," Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, suggested Democrats are now being hypocritical.

"All they did was ask people like me and Mr. Trump himself six ways to Sunday, a million times plus: 'Will you accept the election results?'" Conway said. "So the question for the Democrats is: Why are you doing this?"

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
2 arrested after Bourbon Street shooting on charges of illegal carrying of weapons, NOPD says
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, left, walks stands next to NOPD Superintendent Michael Harrison, center, as he talks about the shooting on Bourbon and Iberville streets in New Orleans on Sunday, November 27, 2016. (Photo by Chris Granger, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune)
Domestic abuse victims are still being left to fend for themselves in Louisiana
Amy Matthews was 21 when she was shot through her right cheek, mouth and lip while running as an innocent bystander to the Bourbon Street mass shooting initiated by Trung Le on June 29, 2014.
ADAMS  In the end, Doreen Putzkie did the only thing that made sense to her in this presidential election.

She gave up.

Putzkie, 49, waits tables at Country Skillet, a diner on the main street of this small central Wisconsin town. On TV and in her diner, Putzkie heard nonstop chatter about the election.

She grew weary of the claims and counter-claims, the mudslinging, and perhaps most of all, the confusion about what to believe.

Putzkie, of Adams, said she votes for Democrats in most elections, including for President Barack Obama in 2012.

This time, Putzkie said she knew she would not support Republican nominee Donald Trump.

But Democrat Hillary Clinton never closed the sale. Disgusted by the campaign's tone and nagged by questions about Clinton's emails when she was Secretary of State, Putzkie decided not to vote. Her husband, who she said usually votes at her behest, didn't either.

"The important stuff didn't get brought up in this campaign," Putzkie said. "I said: 'This time, I'm not gonna do it.'"

Putzkie was part of something brewing beneath the surface in Wisconsin's farm fields and small towns. On Nov. 8 it would shock the world, making Wisconsin one of three Great Lakes states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, to defy polls and their recent voting history by electing Trump president.

Rural Wisconsin was decisive in making Trump the first Republican to carry the Badger State in more than three decades. Thanks in part to a weak showing by Clinton, Trump won 18 rural counties that went for Obama four years ago.

Angry electorate

Adams County stretches north-to-south from Wisconsin Dells nearly up to Wisconsin Rapids, bordered to the west by Castle Rock and Petenwell lakes. Its population center is the twin cities of Adams and Friendship, which together have less than 3,000 residents.

The county has undergone recent demographic change and economic uncertainty. Supporters of both parties in Adams County described a local electorate that was overwhelmingly angry  and ready to break from the status quo, even if the direction of change is unclear.

Now local residents say they're eyeing a Trump presidency with long-odds hope, deep anxiety or both.

Local Democrats, demoralized by a string of crippling election losses, say they're frightened for what the future holds under a President Trump.

Local Republicans hailed Trump's win as a "last-ditch effort" to save their country, while admitting concerns about Trump's style. Some expect Trump to dig in and defend conservative principles as president; others say he must work with opponents.

Jody Quinnell, a local GOP activist, criss-crossed Adams County during this campaign in her vintage red pickup truck, distributing yard signs for Trump and Republican state Senate candidate Patrick Testin. Testin became the only Republican state senator in this election to defeat an incumbent Democrat, Sen. Julie Lassa of Stevens Point.

In the campaign's final weeks, Quinnell saw a contradiction. Polls predicted Wisconsin would vote solidly for Clinton. But what Quinnell saw and heard in her community was totally different.

"The polls were saying 'No, no, no.' But then I saw that enthusiasm building," Quinnell said. "I said, 'I don't know what the whole United States is doing. But I know what Adams County is doing.'"

In Adams County, a nearly 30-point swing

Harry Davis had a bottle of champagne ready to uncork at what he expected would be a Clinton victory party on election night.

But when results came in, Davis, chairman of the Adams County Democratic Party, was left wondering what changed so dramatically in his state and in his county in just four years.

Wisconsin Democrats had hoped to build off the last two presidential elections, when Obama carried the Badger State by sizable margins.

Rural Wisconsin, in large part, made that possible. Throughout rural Wisconsin, Obama fought 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney to a draw  enabling Obama to run up the vote count in the state's urban centers, Madison and Milwaukee.

This election was different. Rural Wisconsin counties swung dramatically toward the Republican nominee, and Trump crushed Clinton in rural Wisconsin by nearly 19 points. Trump ultimately carried Wisconsin by a little more than 27,000 votes.

Trump won Wisconsin's 46 rural counties, those outside the metropolitan areas defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, by more than 142,000 votes.

Adams County saw one of the biggest swings of any Wisconsin county from 2012 to 2016: a 30-point change in the margin for the Republican candidate. It went for Obama in 2012, 54 percent to 45 percent. This time it went Trump, 59-37.

The local economy, rooted in agriculture, tourism and logging, has failed for decades to yield enough good jobs, residents said.

The county's population is much older and less educated than the state as a whole, U.S. Census data show. Its unemployment rate was among the highest of any Wisconsin county in 2015.

While still overwhelmingly white, the county has become more diverse in recent years. In 2000, black or Hispanic residents made up less than 2 percent of the county's population. By 2015, that had reached 7 percent.

Quinnell said Trump's strong stances against immigrants and refugees coming into the U.S were central to his appeal. She dismisses what she describes as the liberal vision  "one big happy family all over the world"  as wishful thinking, especially while the U.S. fights terrorism.

"When you are at war  and I feel we're at war  you close your borders," Quinnell said. "There's no way to tell the good people from the bad people.

"You can't just dump them into our society and think that we've got to take care of them now."

'Trump talked, felt like them'

The turnabout in Adams County, as in many other rural counties, involved a Trump surge and an even bigger Clinton letdown.

Trump got more than 1,300 more votes in the county than Romney in 2012, while Clinton got more than 1,700 votes less than Obama  out of a total of more than 10,100 votes cast, according to unofficial results.

Some voters, including Mark Beda of rural Adams, backed Obama four years ago and Trump this time.

A self-described moderate, Beda, a 47-year-old IT worker, voted for Obama in 2012. Beda said he was encouraged by Obama's efforts to overhaul the U.S. health care system.

But years later, Beda said Obama's signature law has not made care more affordable and accessible for most people he knows. Part-way through Obama's second term, Beda said he felt it was likely he would vote for the Republican nominee in 2016.

Trump repeatedly pledged during the campaign to repeal Obama's health care law. But Beda said Trump instead should "fix" the law "to make it something that people can use ... something that is affordable."

"I think that would just be detrimental," Beda said of a full repeal. "You're not going to take it away. You just can't do that."

State Rep. Joan Ballweg, a Markesan Republican whose district includes Adams-Friendship, credited the Republican Party of Wisconsin for ramping up its visibility and campaign efforts in the county in recent years.

Ballweg described Adams County as home to many people who "have been hit harder by the stagnant economy."

"A lot of those folks feel like Mr. Trump talked like them and felt like them," Ballweg said.

Ballweg said a perception that Obama's health care law wasn't working may also have aided Trump.

But Ballweg predicted that, while Trump has a devout base of supporters, some of his voters won't follow him blindly.

"He needs to keep his promises and show how he's going to do that," Ballweg said. "People want to see the proof."

'You take it to the streets'

Steve Pollina, a longtime Democratic activist in Adams County, watched this campaign play out through the discussions between fellow veterans inside the Adams VFW hall.

Many said they were voting Trump  not out of enthusiasm for Trump but because "they thought Hillary was a crook," said Pollina, 72, a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War.

Pollina, a retired tool and die maker, is a longtime resident of Adams who grew up in Chicago. He said some local residents' political views are affected by "a lot of resentment" about government programs, based on perceptions of who they believe the programs help.

"They thought that somebody else was getting something they should get," Pollina said.

Asked who "somebody else" refers to, Pollina said: "Minorities, mostly."

Still, Pollina said many local people voted for Obama in past years, hoping he would shake things up.

"They waited for all this change from Obama and it didn't materialize," Pollina said. "The change didn't come to them."

To some degree, Pollina faults Wisconsin Democrats and the Clinton campaign for this year's results. He said Badger State Democrats increasingly have overlooked rural areas in favor of turning out voters in Madison and Milwaukee.

Pollina said he rarely saw Clinton staffers in Adams during this campaign. In 2008 and 2012, he said an Obama campaign staffer was a frequent presence in the community.

Now Pollina admits to a pervasive anxiety about the future of the country for which he fought. Its next president, he believes, is deeply unprepared for the job.

"I've never felt this uneasy about a new president," Pollina said.

Davis was an activist in the peace movement, most recently in opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now Davis wonders if President Trump may usher in a wave of anti-government protests  perhaps even rivaling what he witnessed in the 1960s as a college student at UW-Whitewater.

"When you can't make your voice heard, you take it to the streets," Davis said. "That's what may have to happen here."
A panel of judges stated the obvious last week in striking down Wisconsins voting district maps as unconstitutional.

The rigged legislative maps, drawn by top Republican lawmakers and their high-priced attorneys in 2011, were a partisan gerrymander that favored the GOP in swing seats while packing Democratic voters into a minority of seats they were likely to win anyway.

Its clear the drafters got what they intended to get, wrote Judge Kenneth Ripple, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals senior judge appointed by Republican President Ronald Reagan. There is no question (the legislative maps were) designed to make it more difficult for Democrats, compared to Republicans, to translate their votes into seats.

In 2012, the GOP got 48.6 percent of the statewide vote yet won 60 of 99 seats in the state Assembly. In 2014, the Republicans collected 52 percent of the vote and won 63 Assembly seats.

Democrats received 51.4 percent of the vote in 2012 but only won 39 Assembly seats, and two years later the Democrats won just 36 seats despite receiving 48 percent of the vote.

Some of the disparity for Democrats results from the high concentration of Democratic-leaning voters living in Madison and Milwaukee. But that doesnt explain the highly partisan and unconstitutional effect of Wisconsins Republican-drawn maps, Ripple wrote.

Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and other Republican leaders still feign innocence, as if they didnt skew key districts to their partys favor. Thats a joke. They specifically calculated how their candidates would do under various versions of the maps, picking the option that was best for their party.

We wouldnt trust the Democrats to draw the lines fairly, either. Thats why a nonpartisan process is needed so neither party can thwart the will of voters.

The judges did not say what should happen because of their ruling. Instead, the court ordered both sides in the legal case to suggest an appropriate remedy within 30 days.

The obvious fix is for Wisconsin to adopt a fair process for redrawing voting districts similar to Iowas neutral system. Rather than letting the politicians scheme in secret with historical voting data and elaborate computer software to draw maps to their partisan advantage, Iowa assigns the once-every-decade task of redrawing lines based on population changes to a nonpartisan state agency. The agency is required to draw legislative districts as compact as possible, respecting communities of interest while ignoring the fate of politicians. Yet lawmakers still must vote to approve the maps, without making changes.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers in Iowa both support this nonpartisan process. Iowa avoids spending millions in taxpayer dollars defending their maps in court  money Fitzgerald and the GOP have been liberally spending in Wisconsin for years.

Most important, Iowa voters enjoy much more competition for legislative seats. Voters get more choice on ballots, which lets them hold lawmakers more accountable for state decisions.

The only people hurt by a nonpartisan process are the entrenched politicians of both political parties, most of whom now enjoy easy re-elections in Wisconsin.

Top lawmakers should finally agree to a neutral process thats constitutional and treats all voters fairly.
An overview of Indiana's cybersecurity efforts will be the focus of a workshop open to the public on Dec. 8 at the Northwest Indiana Forum, 6100 Southport Road, Portage.

The 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Cybersecurity Town Hall will update attendees on the latest initiatives during an event hosted by the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and cybersecurity planner Douglas Rapp.

The session will include information on how the state of Indiana is positioning itself to lead the way on cybersecurity. It is part of IEDC and Gov. Mike Pence's plan to invest $1 billion during the next 10 years to advance innovation and entrepreneurship in Indiana.

People who cannot attend the Dec. 8 session are asked to help the state with its cybersecurity efforts by filling out an online survey available at https://iedc.formstack.com/forms/cybersecuritysurvey.

Registration is required and is limited to the first 80 registrants. More info can be obtained by e-mailing Douglas Rapp at DRapp@iedc.in.gov.
Charles III won British theaters 2015 Olivier Award for best new play, and its easy to see why.

Playwright Mike Bartletts captivating focus on the interplay among English royalty, the government, the press, and ordinary people in a changing world is a political feast: concerns for, and of, the common person get obscured in messy power plays. The play begins with Prince Charles becoming king after his mother, Englands longest-reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, dies unexpectedly.

It is a fast-moving, fascinating look at what happens when a British monarch asserts his right  dormant and unused since the early 1700s  to refuse to approve a new law, in this case, one limiting freedom of the press.

That Prince William and Princess Catherine have usurping eyes on the throne and the social media-obsessed contribution they are certain they can make to secure the monarchys future, provides a tense undercurrent to the crisis the king unleashes.

Charles has been long known in real life as an odd mix of worldly progressive and pottering recluse. The play capitalizes on these traits to create a fresh look at the age-old theme of the new order pressing to oust the establishment, yet, ironically, preserve tradition with new tools and rules.

Given how the press hounded and humiliated Charles, Camilla and the late Princess Diana over the years, its a surprising, somewhat noble cause the fictional new king embraces  insisting the law be scrapped in defense of a free, robust press. His shockingly modern refusal to behave as expected upends daily life and plunges the country into upheaval.

Lest this high-sounding talk of law-making and societal turmoil turns you off, rest assured the government machinations unfold at a rapid pace, requiring the audience to quickly appraise each argument as its made, measure its merits, and ponder the cultures evolving values. The play is deeply relevant across the pond, too, given current political events in the U.S.

And all the characters  the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader, the new king and his advisers, as well as his two beloved sons, upstart daughter-in-law and punk girlfriend-at-large  emerge as fully formed, complex people, constantly weighing their options, and angling for a voice and place in an uncharted landscape ripe for the reshaping.

Though this aspect imparts a deliciously voyeuristic flavor of reality TV, it is complemented by the characters careful, poetic language, infusing this juicy drama with an eloquence and gravitas that reminds viewers this is a play about ideas, as well as people.

PBS and Brit TV fans take note: Charles III is played by the really tall and mesmerizing Robert Bathurst, who played Sir Anthony Strallan, Lady Edith Crawleys doomed suitor, in two seasons of Downton Abbey.

FYI: Charles III runs at 7:30 p.m. varying weekdays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, 1 p.m. Nov. 30, and 6:30 p.m. Jan. 8 and 15, through Jan. 15, at Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier, Chicago. Tickets are $58 to $88, with some available for $20 to those younger than 35. Call (312) 595-5600 or visit www.chicagoshakes.com.
CROWN POINT  Once upon a time, Lake County had a sheriff indicted for mail fraud.

Last week, it was Sheriff John Buncich, who has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial in January on allegations he solicited and received bribes from towing firms doing business with his department.

Three decades ago, it was Rudy Bartolomei, for wide-ranging bribery solicitation.

Bartolomei, better known to his friends as Rudy Bart, cooperated with federal investigators who sent many other high-ranking county government officials to prison under Operation Lights Out.

Bartolomeis whereabouts have been unknown since he entered the federal witness protection program in 1986 at age 62, although the rumor among political circles is that he died years ago.

But between 1976 when he was first elected a Lake County commissioner and 1985 when he resigned as sheriff following a guilty plea in U.S. District Court, he was one of the best known and most powerful politicians in Lake County.

In his younger days, he helped his mother run the familys grocery store in Garys Glen Park section. He became a Democratic precinct committeeman and worked eight years in the county assessors office.

Helping people

A Times story about the new commissioner portrayed him as having a handshake and a warm greeting for the common man. He told a Times reporter, Im really excited about helping people, now. Most of the time, it is people asking for help, and you do your best to help them.

He had a jar of licorice on his desk for his many visitors.

Years later, his other side was revealed in court testimony about forcing county employees to buy political fundraising tickets and shaking down those who wanted business with the county.

A federal court document recounts Bartolomei meeting a then-up-and-coming politician, Frank A. J. Stodola, who had just been elected county commissioner in 1980 and wanted to know if rumors about county government graft were true.

It states, Stodola approached Commissioner Rudy Bartolomei on several occasions and asked Bartolomei where the commissioners made their money.

Bartolomei answered that the cleaning service for the Lake County Government Center in Crown Point inflated its bills to the county to cover the bribes paid all three members of the Board of Commissioners at that time.

Moving up







Bartolomei saw his opportunity to become the countys chief law enforcement officer in 1983 when Sheriff Chris Anton died in office. A caucus of the countys Democratic precinct committee members picked Bartolomei over Antons widow, Anna, to replace him.

A Times reporter asked him after his victory celebration about reports the FBI was looking into him. Bartolomei denied knowing anything about it.

Shortly after becoming sheriff, court documents state Bartolomei began offering protection to the owners of video poker machines, which were illegal at the time, but popping up at local taverns.

Bartolomei and other county police officials promised protection for those willing to pay, not knowing one of their petitioners was wearing a wire and recording conversations for the FBI.

A second federal investigation focused on Bartolomeis stolen gun collection. U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided a safe in the Sheriffs Department and seized 50 weapons and an unregistered .38-caliber handgun silencer.

After months of speculation, a federal grand jury returned a 15-count indictment against Bartolomei March 1, 1985, accusing him of:

Ordering five county employees in 1980 to assemble political signs for his re-election at public expense

Ordering three county employees in 1981 to do repair work on his summer cottage on Lake Michigan

Paying his housemaid with $2,300 from federal revenue sharing funds belonging to the county

Extorting political contributions from employees, including $650 from a heavy-equipment operator who asked Bartolomei for a raise

Bartolomei pleaded not guilty, blamed the allegations on political enemies and disgruntled county employees and wouldnt compromise his ability to remain sheriff.

Six months later, he pleaded guilty to two felony counts, received a 28-month sentence, and was shackled and marched out of a federal courtroom.

Two months later, he was briefing federal investigators and a grand jury on the web of public corruption over which he and his fellow county officials had presided.

He would return to the federal courthouse over the years to testify as the governments star witness, helping win convictions against a number of officials, including: County Assessor Michael Jankovich, county Commissioners Noah Atterson Spann and Frank A.J. Stodola and Michael Mokol Sr., chief of police under Bartolomei.

To protect his new identity outside the courthouse, he wore a Halloween mask resembling Skeletor, a character from the Masters of the Universe cartoons.
"Not only does the pain from the accident still sit with him, he's in pain every day. They say it will be that way for a long time and will probably never change."
LAPORTE  Theres movement on a proposal for LaPorte County to gain total control over plans to expand rail service at Kingsbury Industrial Park.

Assuming such control would eliminate barriers that have held back the project viewed as a potential major jobs creator for several years, according to the LaPorte County Board of Commissioners. The board unanimously approved the measure recently.

Under the proposal, the current landowners, the Halfwassen Group and Midwest Warehousing, would be released from a commitment to repay a $6 million loan from the county in the event the development continued to lag or never transpired, officials said.

Calls to the property owners were not returned.

The county is still guaranteed its money back from the rail spur by being in a tax increment financing district, which allows property tax dollars generated from development to be captured and used for repayment of the loan, officials said.

The proposal is scheduled to go before LaPorte County Council on Monday and the LaPorte County Redevelopment Commission on Wednesday for final approval, LaPorte County Attorney Shaw Friedman said.

LaPorte County Commissioner Mike Bohacek said the barriers for attracting rail spur development are lowered by transferring ownership of the easements and access rights to the new tracks from the current landowners to the county.

Developers interested in the site have been reluctant to step forward because of the potential for high fees and other demands from private landowners involved in any large project involving use of the rails, Bohacek said.

Quite frankly, that just doesnt work. Its a marketable project now, Bohacek said.

The risk for developers is eliminated by having the easements and rail access rights in the hands of the county, whose interest is strictly getting the rail spur developed for the public good, he said.

The goal with regard to this transaction would be to promote additional growth and have the current property owners that are there to no longer serve as a roadblock to additional growth, said Phil Faccenda, managing partner at Barnes & Thornburg law firm in South Bend.

If completed, rail access would be provided to the entire industrial park by CSX, Canadian National Railroad and the South Shore Freight Railroad.

Dave Christian, director of LaPorte Countys office of Economic Development, said a fourth railroad also could enter the picture.

Christian also said the agreement should open the door for the Indiana Economic Development Corp. to actively promote Kingsbury as a viable rail option.

IEDC has refused to help spread word to prospective developers because of the bickering among the current landowners, he said.

An IEDC spokesman said the agency is looking into the Kingsbury situation.

It allows for development better than what was happening before, Christian said. Several developers, even from other countries like Japan and Korea, are interested in the Kingsbury site, he said.

The vision is for warehousing and other businesses to locate there because of the availability of rail throughout the park.

CSX already has extended a rail line to the park in hope of expanding that line once businesses that need its services begin operating there.
Seven members of the Michigan City Men's Exchange Club delivered 75 turkeys to the Michigan City Salvation Army and another 75 turkeys to the Catholic Charities organization. This is an annual event for the club which supports many local charities with their fundraising efforts.
LAPORTE  Nick Surowiec and Greg Cotter have made a tradition making sure their children and grandchildren are first to share their Christmas wish lists with Santa Claus.

They showed up at Santas Chalet about one hour prior to the noon start Saturday of LaPortes annual the Santa Parade, which had its usual nice turnout.

The good friends were first in line just as they have been each year for about the past decade.

Their children and grandchildren watched the 30-unit parade on Lincolnway then like hundreds of others made the short walk to the chalet on Washington Street where Surowiec and Cotter stepped aside for them to be first to sit on Santas lap after the man wearing his familiar red suit climbed down from a firetruck.

Santa marched to the chalet through what seemed like an army of children with many giving hugs in front of smiling parents as Christmas music played in the background.

I stand in line for the grandkids every year. Its just LaPorte but its still a good time, Cotter said.

Quickly, the line to see Santa grew to about 200 feet long as people enjoyed free cups of hot chocolate handed out by members of the Greater LaPorte Chamber of Commerce.

Mayor Blair Milo, who accompanied Santa and Mrs. Claus on their ride on the firetruck, said most special about the parade is the atmosphere she described as something out of a Hallmark movie.

It sounds cheesy but truly the smiles on all of the kids faces. Its pure holiday magic and happiness, Milo said.

Among the other units was a large sleigh on a float assembled by Crossroads Christian Center and members of the LaPorte County Small Animal Shelter on foot greeting paradegoers.

Frosty The Snowman and The Grinch were among the traditional holiday characters in the route.

Heather Gloe brought her sons Zachary and Isaac, 7 and 13, and her 15-year old daughter, Jordan, not only to see Santa Claus but watch her other daughter, Tatum, 9, go by on a float put together by the Girl Scouts.

We enjoy seeing everybody else that participates and just meeting new faces that are around here watching, Heather said.

Thaddeus Cutler, the citys downtown director, said the weather was perfect with just enough of a chill in the air and very little wind to start getting people into the holiday spirit.

You couldnt ask for a better day for this to happen, he said.
Long before a federal indictment rattled the political power structure in Lake County a week ago, the 2018 campaign for sheriff was well under way.

The indictment of Sheriff John Buncich shocked many, including myself. He has been a strong sheriff since starting his second stint as the countys top cop in 2011.

But the very sound of the word indictment does crazy things to those in political circles. Its like a shark sensing blood in the water.

Lake County Auditor John Petalas was a calming voice last week when he said, Everybody who knows him is holding back to see what has really happened.

When it comes to the 2018 Democratic primary for sheriff, no one is holding back  at least privately.

The indictment has jump-started the inevitable. There are two possible paths for who becomes the next sheriff.

If a vacancy occurs, the countys precinct committeemen and vice committeemen will select the next sheriff.

If nothing happens until the 2018 primary, Democratic voters will decide. Republicans, who havent won a countywide office for almost 70 years, need not apply.

Speculation is all over the board, including the return of former Sheriff Roy Dominguez.

Thats not going to happen in that Dominguez left office under a cloud when his second in command, Joe Kumstar, and other cops were indicted and convicted on gun-dealing charges.

There are two guys wishing the best for Buncich but are in the midst of running sheriff campaigns for 2018.

One is former county Councilman Thomas ODonnell, who was planning to run for sheriff. But those plans were derailed earlier this year.

In its quest to win back the Indiana House, state Democrats convinced ODonnell, a Dyer resident, to make a second bid for state representative against Rep. Hal Slager.

ODonnell narrowly lost to Slager in 2012. With a loose cannon like Donald Trump heading the ballot, Democrats thought down-ballot races were ripe for picking. It was pretty good logic at the time.

O'Donnell lost, and there is a feeling now on the part of some that the party owes him its backing if he runs for sheriff. He told some that if he lost to Slager, he would be a sheriff candidate.

Then there is Schererville Police Chief David Dowling, who has been campaigning for sheriff for a good while.

He has campaign cards that read, Responsible leadership. Quality policing. Its hard to argue with that. Dowling is a solid guy.

Whether its ODonnell or Dowling, it would be the first time the county has picked a sheriff with roots in south county. It would signal a shift in the political power structure.
Marc Chase Editor Marc Chase is a veteran investigative reporter, columnist and editor of more than two decades. He currently leads The Times news staff as local news editor. He can be reached at 219-933-3327. Follow Marc Chase Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

Voters decreed earlier this month that Julia Jent, of Portage, and Marissa McDermott, of Hammond, both will wear the black robes of the judiciary heading into the new year.

Their common threads don't end there.

Spun into the lives of both Region judges are separate narratives, from their European births to their adoptions by American families.

The details of their life tapestries are equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking.

As National Adoption Month draws to a close, their stories provide lessons of love and opportunity that can arise from parents taking children, of no blood relation, into their families.

But their two stories  so similar in their beginnings and ends, but quite different in the middle  also remind us of the unfortunate need for the human spirit to adjust to uncertainty, tragedy or evil, sometimes at a very young age.

I first learned of the two strikingly similar circumstances of Porter County Superior Court Judge Julia Jent and Lake County Circuit Court Judge-elect Marissa McDermott earlier this fall when The Times Editorial Board interviewed the women for election endorsements.

Each woman earned a Times endorsement, in part by expressing a deep desire for effectively and compassionately presiding over cases of people, many of whom enter those courtrooms on the worst days of their lives.

Jent and McDermott both have the deep respect and esteem of their peers in the Region legal community.

However, the experiences arising from their compelling adoption stories, often wrought with raw emotion, uniquely position both women to sit on the bench.

Consider their stories.

Traced in cardboard

The adoption memories of 4-year-old Marissa still live inside the 41-year-old woman and judge-elect she's become.

She remembers lying down in a Polish orphanage with her twin brother while a blonde-haired American woman traced the children's bodies on pieces of cardboard.

The woman  Long Island, New Yorker Lynn Kelly  was preparing to adopt the twins.

"I owned nothing at the time, not even the clothing I wore at the orphanage," McDermott explained recently from her Merrillville law office.

So when her adoptive parents journeyed from New York to pick up Marissa and her twin brother, Jim, they quickly traced their bodies in cardboard as a guide for purchasing clothing.

It was 1979, and the Polish orphanage Marissa and Jim had known since shortly after birth was about to become a thing of the past.

Lynn and her husband, Patrick Kelly, a New York police officer, weren't able to conceive children in a traditional sense.

Lynn's Polish heritage led her to the Warsaw orphanage where she found two towheaded toddlers to call her own.

It was a turn of events that would lead to a life of wonder and opportunity, not the least of which was Marissa's first Christmas spent with her new family.

"I went from an orphanage where we literally owned nothing to this living room full of toys," she said.

Christmas 1979 included a family tree adorned in lights and gifts "everywhere," McDermott said.

The smiles of joy captured in photos of that Christmas say it all. She particularly remembers a Sesame Street Ernie doll and toy crib as favorite treasures.

That holiday would lead to many more life gifts as Marissa grew up in the embrace of a loving family.

Lynn nurtured an artistic side in Marissa, buying the little girl a violin when she expressed an interest and paying for regular music lessons on the meager salary of a cop and stay-at-home mother.

Patrick, loving but tough, taught Marissa there was no "man's work" she couldn't do just as well.

"If he was swinging a hammer, so was I," she said. "If we were drywalling the house, I was part of it, too.

"He didn't treat me like a princess. He treated my brother and I exactly the same."

McDermott teared up as we spoke earlier this month, recalling her kindergarten self, dressed up in her "Sunday finest" to take the oath of an American citizen.

It was her first time in an American courtroom, but it wouldn't be her last.

Through it all, Marissa continued to thrive in her new life, along pathways that would lead to law school at the University of Notre Dame.

She met her future husband, now Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., while completing her law degree.

That marriage led her to Hammond, a law practice of her own and motherhood to step-children Lindsey, now 24, and Chase, 22, and children Tommy, 16, and Patrick, 10.

The law practice and life in a prominent Region political family would lead to McDermott's pursuit of the Lake County Circuit Court judge seat.

In May, she defeated the incumbent judge in the Democratic primary after earning the highest overall marks for judicial aptitude from her Lake County Bar Association peers.

Earlier this month, she won the general election. She's scheduled to begin presiding over circuit court cases in January.

McDermott hails adoption by loving parents as one of the keys to her life success.

So does her Porter County colleague, Judge Julia Jent, though without many of the happy accounts told between initial adoption and rise to the judiciary.

Nightmare before dreams

Nine-year-old Julia remembers her excitement in 1956 when she learned she was to be adopted  along with her 7-year-old sister, Edith  by an American family.

The girls were living in a post-World War II orphanage run by Carmelite nuns in Germany. America, at the time, was a place of aspirations and dreams.

It had all the earmarks of a storybook tale, the now 69-year-old judge recalled from her Portage chambers earlier this month.

"I was so very excited initially," Jent said. "We worshiped the Americans."

Julia and Edith moved to Texas as the adopted daughters of a U.S. Army captain, a veteran of World War II and Korea, and his wife.

But the realities of their lives in a new family didn't match the wondrous image of the American dream, Jent recalled.

The girls' new mother was frequently physically abusive, and their father "liked little girls," Jent said, noting that sexual abuse haunted their childhood.

Despite living through real-life childhood nightmares, "God had a plan," Jent said.

It began with an escape plan.

When she turned 18, Julia left her family to enlist in the U.S. Army, ultimately serving as a medic for about a year.

It's how she met the man who would become her husband, also an Army medic and Northwest Indiana native.

Julia moved to the Region in 1966. She became the mother of four children  three daughters and a son  and is now grandmother to 14 grandchildren. Two of her children also served in the military.

Jent's time in the Army afforded her the educational opportunities that ultimately would lead to a career in law and a 20-years-and-counting tenure as a Porter County Superior Court judge. She was re-elected to the post earlier this month.

Forging identities

Despite the differences in their circumstances, both Jent and McDermott credit adoption with forging the identities of who they are and shaping the judges they either are or hope to be.

Jent believes the abuse she experienced as a child molded her into a more compassionate judge, able to more fully relate to many of the people who come through her courtroom.

"I get it when kids don't want to tell" when they've been abused, Jent said.

"When you go through these things, you have a choice. You can either nosedive and lay blame, or you can do something with your life. I chose to do something."

Even with the loving upbringing Judge-elect McDermott experienced, she can relate to Jent's words.

Four years ago, burgeoning with curiosity about her roots, McDermott tracked down her birth mother in Poland.

A meaningful relationship has formed, including with three of her biological siblings.

However, some questions continue to haunt her.

Chief among those questions is why Marissa and her brother were left at a Polish orphanage to begin with.

"I don't think I'll ever fully know that answer," McDermott said.

"But my parents will always be my parents, regardless of anything that happened," McDermott added, referring to the Irish-Catholic New Yorkers who traced her body in cardboard in 1979 before adopting her.

Jent notes that though her experience was raw and difficult, she remains a staunch supporter of adoption and the love and joy it can bring into the lives of prospective parents and children.

"There are so many more safeguards and regulations these days  so much more oversight," she said.

As they prepare for new terms on Region judicial benches, both women believe adoption is a selfless choice, often made by birth mothers who desire better lives and opportunities for their children.

"It's all made me part of who I am," Jent said. "I believe God truly does have a plan."
A man is arrested for allegedly forcibly touching a woman and pointing a gun at her while on the subway.

The incident happened around 3 a.m. Saturday on a northbound 2 train.

Police say 29-year-old Sharif Mitchel boarded the train at 72nd Street and sat next to the 23-year-old victim.

He then allegedly started to grab her leg.

When she asked him to stop, police say he pulled out this gun and pointed it at her.

When they reached the 3rd Avenue-149th Street station, he told her to get off with him, but she refused.

She got out at the Intervale Avenue station along with two other women who saw what happened and called police on her behalf.

Police were able to find Mitchel based on the description and arrest him without incident.

He faces several charges, including criminal possession of a weapon and harassment.
HONG KONG  Gretchen Smelter wanted to surprise her husband, Frederic Lagrange, when he returned after a monthlong assignment in the remote northern reaches of Afghanistan  and to make the most of their time together before his next trip.

So when Mr. Lagrange, a travel photographer, arrived home, frostbitten, longhaired and malodorous, he learned his wife had booked two nights at the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong.

For the Hong Kong residents, the 2012 experience wasnt a vacation but a staycation  a getaway just a short drive from their apartment. Together, they enjoyed a luxurious weekend with plush surroundings, fine dining and spa treatments.

Frederic was so happy, Ms. Smelter recalled, grinning. So happy. He still talks about it now.

Like Ms. Smelter and Mr. Lagrange, many people are choosing to spend their disposable income on experiences over material goods, overhauling the ritual of gift giving. If youre still wrapping presents this holiday season, you might be behind the times.
The German luggage giant follows the lead taken by a new generation of luggage start-ups shaking up the industry, aiming squarely at Airbnb-bound millennial travelers. These companies recognize the need to combine sleek no-nonsense design, smart functionality and Instagram-worthy branding that taps the romance long associated with travel.

When we looked at the market we couldnt believe it. The last real innovation was adding wheels, and that was in 1970, said Tomi Pierucci, an entrepreneur and one of the founders of the luggage company Bluesmart. The company was introduced in November 2014 through an Indiegogo appeal that raised $2.2 million.

Bluesmarts most recent model, the Black Edition ($599), allows its owners to charge their smartphones multiple times, has a smartphone-activated digital lock and GPS tracking and even weighs its own contents.

For Mr. Pierucci, creating a brand that meshed with the values of experience-hungry millennials was the priority: You can make the mistake of adding in technology for the sake of it with a product like this. We wanted to create a cool, useful product for people who love travel. The first retailer to stock the luggage was the MoMA Design Store; it now is sold at 200 stores, including Isetan in Tokyo, Lane Crawford in Hong Kong and Saks Fifth Avenue in New York.

Away, a company started in November 2015 by Jen Rubio and Steph Korey, two alumni of the fashionable glasses label Warby Parker, created a minimalist suitcase design with an embedded smartphone charger. Aways first year has brought almost breakneck global expansion, including pop-up stores in London and Los Angeles and a permanent store in New York. When we started doing research we found there were two options: cheap junk that easily breaks, or high-quality products that are very expensive, Ms. Korey said, adding that Aways aim was to create a thoughtful, simple, exactly-what-you-need version. The company is on track to sell 50,000 suitcases this year; for its holiday collection, it has introduced two special edition colors, a stark matte white and a slate gray. The cases are available in four sizes, from $255 for a carry-on to $295 for the largest size.

Image The Away sotre in London. The company was started in November 2015 by Jen Rubio and Steph Korey.

Billie Faricy-Hyett, senior buyer for bags and accessories at the online retailer Net-a-Porter, said, I believe this is just the start of the tech journey for luggage and we are excited to see how the category develops. The company will be selling Raden in late November, another new brand that offers embedded smart technology. Raden, which sells just two sizes of luggage for $295 and $395, in a range of colors, is expected to meet its target of $12 million in sales in its first financial year, according Josh Udashkin , its founder, a former lawyer and director for the shoe retailer Aldo.
LONDON  Nearly five years ago, the textile designer Helen Chatterton was searching for a way to celebrate London. She had been fashioning mens and womens scarves with materials like tweed from Scotland and velvet from France but needed a way to create pieces with more of a London DNA for an exhibition of handmade British crafts that the OXO Tower gallery planned.

Then she remembered the maps that she and her husband, Mark, had collected over the years.

When we got married in 1983, we had no money and we used this 1949 street atlas of London to go and look at flats, she said recently during a telephone interview from Liverpool, where they now live. Of course, half of London had been knocked down by then, and we got lost a lot.

But I wanted to use that map because, in the work I do, I am more or less driven by color, and the maps in this book were absolutely stunning, she said. It wasnt just a black and white map. The Thames was a beautiful turquoise and I thought these colors would work very well on a scarf.

After consulting the publisher and investigating copyright restrictions, we eventually had to use an even older map, from 1929, instead, she said.
Image From The Golden Menagerie, 18-karat gold Fantasy Bird Earrings with diamonds and topaz. Credit... Rene Cervantes

I wanted to communicate exactly what I was doing  the creative process, the thought process and the anthropological to environmental context, Ms. St. Clair said, adding that each chapter mirrors a part of the trilogy, exploring our visceral relationship to the natural world and what it means to us. There are the mythical creatures like flying fish bracelets in seacolored sparkling stones; winged creatures from bejeweled nesting falcons to fantasy bird earrings; and the last piece, completed in August after about 11 months work by seven craftsmen, a glittering sapphire and diamond bracelet depicting a bee with emerald leaves and topaz honey.

The pages of the clothbound book are adorned with Ms. St. Clairs original sketches. There is a lot of hand finishing and artisanship in the work and I wanted to reflect this in the books production, she said. Photographs of the artisans handmade tools are featured, too, as, she said, no one works like this anymore so it is important to show the work of these artisans and draw out their craft.

The Golden Menagerie by Temple St. Clair, Assouline, published Dec. 5, $195.

The piece

As pearls are shimmering back into fashion, thanks to Lady Cora of Downton Abbey and Betty Draper of Mad Men, the pearl necklace is the subject  and title  of a new picture-packed volume.

Image Mikimoto Akoya and South Sea white and golden cultured pearl necklace with diamonds, 2011. From The Pearl Necklace, by Vivienne Becker published by Assouline.

Through fabled fans like Elizabeth I, Coco Chanel and Grace Kelly, the book charts how the pearl necklace has changed through time  from its symbolism (pure to sensual) to how the piece was worn showing the wearers individuality, said the author, Vivienne Becker. Marie Antoinette, for example, wore two strands around her neck, her wrist and woven loosely through her hair, while today, Sarah Jessica Parker mixes an opera-length strand with other necklaces. This social and fashion context gives both the piece and the book a different twist, Ms. Becker said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada would like the world to know that he was rather fond of Fidel Castro. Or at least, that is the message that many people took from his unusually warm statement on the death of the Cuban dictator, whom he hailed on Saturday as a remarkable leader.

Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century, Mr. Trudeau said in the statement, which was issued while he attended a summit meeting in Madagascar. He described Mr. Castro, who ruled as a Communist autocrat for almost 50 years, as Cubas longest serving President.

While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castros supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for el Comandante, Mr. Trudeau continued. He added that Mr. Castro was a legendary revolutionary and orator whose death had brought him deep sorrow.

I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away, Mr. Trudeau said. (His father, Pierre Trudeau, served as prime minister for over 15 years.) It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raul Castro during my recent visit to Cuba.
With violence escalating in Aleppo and elsewhere across war-ravaged Syria, the United Nations said Saturday that the number of children trapped in besieged areas had doubled in less than a year to half a million.

A report by Unicef, the United Nations Childrens Fund, said the children were among hundreds of thousands of civilians in 16 areas under siege across the country who had been almost completely cut off from sustained humanitarian aid and basic services.

The report said some of these areas had received little or no aid in nearly two years, despite repeated efforts by international relief agencies to provide food and medicine. This is no way to live, Unicefs executive director, Anthony Lake, said in the report.

The report estimated that 100,000 of the trapped children were among the civilians pinned down in eastern Aleppo, the insurgent-held portion of what had been prewar Syrias commercial epicenter.
MIAMI  As the art worlds eyes turn toward this weeks Art Basel Miami Beach fair, you might imagine its homegrown artists relishing the moment. Yet more than a little grumbling can be heard here, much of it over the recent announcement of the 63 artists selected for the Whitney Museum of American Arts 2017 Biennial.

For the fourth Biennial in a row, not a single Miami artist was chosen.

Its a sharp contrast to the previous decade. Buoyed by the attention-sparking catalyst of Art Basel, Miami began to think of itself as a vital new cultural hub, behind only New York and Los Angeles. Maybe were in an ebb moment, mused Adler Guerrier, one of three Miami artists picked for the 2008 Biennial, the last time Miami made the cut. It seems like the larger art world comes here for Basel and then they just leave.

At stake are more than just bragging rights for inclusion in a show described by the museum as the countrys pre-eminent survey of the current state of American art. It gives you resume-worthiness, said Mr. Guerrier, pointing to his own experience. Without any gallery representation at the time of his Biennial appearance, he soon after joined the stable of the David Castillo Gallery, one of only two Miami exhibitors in this years Basel.

Adding insult, this years curators, Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks, enlisted a Miami-based adviser, Gean Moreno, curator of programs at the Institute of Contemporary Art Miami. Mr. Moreno said he suggested several local artists whose studios were personally visited by the Biennial curators. Yet none were ultimately chosen. The reason? Politics  or the lack thereof.
The night that Eugene ONeills five-hour drama Strange Interlude opened on Broadway in 1928, the anxious playwright stayed away. He sent in his stead not his wife, Agnes, but a woman with whom he had lately grown obsessed and for whom he would soon abandon Agnes  the glamorous actress Carlotta Monterey.

And Carlotta, in turn, brought a date: the wealthy, much older man who was the source of her generous private income. To ONeill she attributes the money to a bequest from a childless aunt who raised her, Arthur and Barbara Gelb write in the early pages of By Women Possessed, their third and final ONeill biography, a juicy and entertaining volume that brims with such offstage theatrics.

But the tempestuous relationships and emotional outrages are harrowing, too. Ostensibly an examination of the impact that ONeills morphine-addicted mother, Ella, had on his life and work, the Gelbs book is most forcefully an investigation of ONeill as a disastrous husband and even worse father.

Brilliant and in many ways admirable, he was also a vindictive and self-pitying man personally and artistically obsessed with his alcohol-sodden familys past  traced most clearly, of course, in his autobiographical masterpiece, Long Days Journey Into Night. Yet even as he tended a catalog of wrongs perpetrated against him as a child, he did much worse to his own wives and children, and channeled those hostilities into his writing as well.
 A recount effort in the United States presidential election that began in Wisconsin may extend this week to two more states narrowly lost by Hillary Clinton.

President-elect Donald J. Trump dismissed the effort as a scam and unleashed a daylong storm of Twitter posts, including asserting without evidence that his shortfall in the popular vote was due to millions of people voting illegally.

A Trump adviser assailed Mitt Romney, one the top candidates for secretary of state, as having gone out of his way to hurt Mr. Trump in the primaries.
Sam Sifton emails readers of Cooking five days a week to talk about food and suggest recipes. That email also appears here. To receive it in your inbox, register here.

Good morning. Ill be stripping the last shreds of meat off my turkey carcass this afternoon and preparing stock for what may be the best meal of the holiday rush: turkey gumbo, which Ill build freehand this year off the recipe for Creole gumbo that Leah Chase gave The Times a long time ago in an interview with Matt Lee and Ted Lee.

Ms. Chases husband, Dooky Chase, died last week at 88, so well cook in his honor, with a heartfelt nod toward turkey gumbos fiercest champion, the New Orleans raconteur Pableaux Johnson. Read our gumbo recipes, then make your own version, let it cure in the refrigerator overnight and serve it on Monday with big bowls of steaming white rice.

Gumbo-making is serial labor, and it may take up a lot of the afternoon. For Sunday dinner, then, how about making Melissa Clarks simple and easy recipe for pasta with parsnips and bacon?
WENGEN, Switzerland  My husband, Paul, surprised me with a special gift this year: a handmade Swiss Scherenschnitt, or scissors cut.

Amid the lace-like silhouettes of mountains, fir trees and cows often featured in this traditional folk art, the artist Erika Hager tucked in our daughters Sarah and Claire; the flags of the United States and Singapore, where we were born and where we live now; and symbols of our holiday life in the Bernese Oberland. There is the Wengernalp cog train, the village chapel and, in the center, our chalet with its distinctive arched window. Also included: Lucy, our golden retriever, even though she lives full time in Singapore and only romps in Wengen in our dreams.

We first admired Ms. Hagers artwork in 2013 at Cafe Haueter in Adelboden  a favorite lunch spot in the region, where she regularly exhibits. Her prices range from 50 to 1,500 Swiss francs, roughly the same amount in dollars. Also on sale, reproduction cards of her work to send to friends.

The following year we tracked Ms. Hager to Einigen, a small village between Thun and Interlaken. Herzlich willkommen, she said, ushering us into her home workshop that overlooks the Thunersee. She spends her morning hours  while the light is good  at a table near the window cutting patterns into special Scherenschnitt paper, which is black on one side, white on the other. Her small box of tools includes a pencil, ruler, eraser, diluted glue, a craft knife and tiny Scherenschnitt scissors. (Ms. Hager buys these very sharp, pointy scissors  she uses straight rather than curved tips  from Klotzli, a knife smith near Bern.)
For decades, Patricia Lewis toiled as a security guard for NYC Health & Hospitals, a duty she performed along with a second, and sometimes a third, job.

I showered in the hospitals, I slept on gurneys and hardly came home, Ms. Lewis, 68, recalled. All that work was to ensure her childrens potential would be realized. Ms. Lewis raised them by herself after a divorce in 1984, motivated by her vow to keep them safe and pay for their college educations.

These children, I cannot lose them to drugs, I cannot lose them to crime, she said. And today, my children, all three of them, are successful. But their success, the way the world is, they cannot help me.
EDGEWATER, N.J.  The ferryboat Binghamton, a workhorse that served on the Hudson River for more than a century, will soon make its final departure.

The Binghamton carried passengers between Hoboken, N.J., and Lower Manhattan for just over 60 years, then thrived for more than 40 as Binghamtons, a floating, riverboat-style restaurant that became a beloved local landmark visible from the George Washington Bridge to the north and Upper Manhattan across the river.

But the restaurant closed in 2007, and attempts to reopen it have been tied up in litigation. The last double-ended steam ferry on the Hudson has grown more dilapidated with each passing year and each major storm, including Hurricanes Irene and Sandy.

Today the Binghamton is an eyesore damaged beyond repair, and leans lamely to one side on the muddy river bottom here, across the Hudson from Grants Tomb near 125th Street.
The tug between past and present, personal and political, propels Party People, a production of the Universes ensemble that is playing at the Public Theater through Dec. 11. The play, which blends music, poetry and drama, was booked last year for New York. It was never meant to be a nostalgia trip, but a way to reflect on the gains and losses in the fight for racial and social justice almost a half-century ago. But soon after the show went into previews, the election of Donald J. Trump as president gave the production a sense of urgency as a protest piece.

Hamilton, it is not.

It was interesting to see the energy in the room change, said Steven Sapp, who is a member of Universes, along with his wife, Mildred Ruiz-Sapp, and her brother William Ruiz. White people came up to us saying, Thank you for this. I need this at this time. But the three of us are saying, this is a reality we have been living for a long time.

Commissioned in 2012 by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where Universes is now an ensemble in residence, Party People was the groups attempt to highlight the people and movements that shaped the members worldviews as they grew up in the South Bronx and on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. They knew former Lords and Panthers from their music and poetry, as well as through the legacy of their community-oriented health and food programs, which would eventually help push New York City officials to address those needs in poor neighborhoods.

They did their homework, meeting with former Lords like Panama Alba, Mickey Melendez, Iris Morales and Cha-Cha Jimenez, whose political awakening transformed the Chicago street gang into a radical organization. Among the Panthers, they met the mother and brother of Fred Hampton, a leader killed by the police; Emory Douglas, who designed the groups visual work; and Bobby Seale, a Panther founder who offered to meet the Universes members for an hour and then spent three days with them. All urged the ensemble not to sugarcoat history: There were accomplishments among the groups, but there were also lows like infighting, sexism and the damage wrought by informers and agents provocateurs.

During the presidential campaign, Mr. Trump, a Republican, insulted Mexicans, compared minority communities to war zones and vowed to build a wall between the United States and Mexico, making ensemble members aware of how they themselves might be seen by his supporters.
To the Editor:

Re Fidel Castro, 1926-2016: A Revolutionary Who Defied the U.S. and Held Cuba in His Thrall (front page, Nov. 27):

One of the more charismatic leaders of the 20th century, Fidel Castro had an enormous impact on relations among the United States, Cuba and the Soviet Union. As important, he and his fellow revolutionaries drove a hated Cuban dictator from power and used that success to charm the left and sway liberal opinion to their side by successfully standing against an American military invasion and embargo and excising Americas domination of Cuba.

Although many Cuban exiles in Miami gleefully welcomed Mr. Castros death (Miamis Streets Fill With Songs and Reflection, front page, Nov. 27), his impact on politics in the third world was positive, while the model health care system his government developed and the educational opportunities he provided all Cubans will remain as among his greatest domestic achievements.

Although the right detested him, those of us on the left respected his standing up for the poor, the downtrodden and the desperate masses of the developing world. A controversial figure for sure, he could not be pushed around by Washington, offending it by his very impudence and survival. In his time, there was no one like him.

PETER SCHWAB

New York

The writer is a professor of political science at Purchase College, SUNY, and the author of Cuba: Confronting the U.S. Embargo.
METROPOLITAN

Because of an editing error, an article this Sunday about the life and career of Robert. M. Morgenthau misstates the job that Mr. Morgenthau held when he indicted more than 100 Mafia figures. He was a United States attorney, not a district attorney.

ARTS

An article on Nov. 13 about a concert at Flushing Town Hall featuring five National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters misstated the age of one, the trumpeter Jimmy Owens. He is 72, not in his 80s.

BOOK REVIEW

A review on Nov. 13 about four childrens picture books referred incorrectly to the author of one, A Small Thing . . . but Big. The author, Tony Johnston, is a woman.



The Critics Take feature on Nov. 13 about Tolstoys Anna Karenina misidentified the character who, near the end of the novel, declares his desire to express knowledge in reason and words. It is Konstantin Levin  not Nikolai, his brother, who died earlier in the book.
Chico Mendes was hard to kill. No one knew that better than his enemies in Brazils Amazon rain forest. They had failed in half a dozen assassination attempts.

But on a December night in 1988, Mr. Mendess luck ran out. A shotgun blast ripped into him as he stepped outside his wood-frame house in the western Brazilian state of Acre. It was the end of a man who had won global acclaim for championing the sanctity of the forest and the rights of compatriots who eked out a living by extracting latex from rubber trees.

Retro Report, a series of video documentaries that explore the enduring impact of major news events of the past, harks back to the eco-martyrdom of Francisco Alves Mendes Filho: Chico to everyone. More broadly, this episode looks at the perilous state of tropical forests  notably the Amazon, the biggest of all at 2.1 million square miles  and the threat that persists for indigenous peoples and for the environmental balance of the planet.

Over the last half-century, roughly 20 percent of the Brazilian Amazon has disappeared as a result of deliberately set fires and relentless bulldozing to make room for cattle ranchers and to clear paths for loggers, road builders and other developers. Mindful of the international outcry over looming ecological disaster, Brazil has tried to slow the pace of this deforestation, with a commitment to bring it down to zero by 2030. But steady progress has proved elusive; of late, there has been some backsliding. Environmentalists warn that in another 15 years or so, little of the rain forest may be left to be saved.
WASHINGTON  The escalating American military engagement in Somalia has led the Obama administration to expand the legal scope of the war against Al Qaeda, a move that will strengthen President-elect Donald J. Trumps authority to combat thousands of Islamist fighters in the chaotic Horn of Africa nation.

The administration has decided to deem the Shabab, the Islamist militant group in Somalia, to be part of the armed conflict that Congress authorized against the perpetrators of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to senior American officials. The move is intended to shore up the legal basis for an intensifying campaign of airstrikes and other counterterrorism operations, carried out largely in support of African Union and Somali government forces.

The executive branchs stretching of the 2001 war authorization against the original Al Qaeda to cover other Islamist groups in countries far from Afghanistan  even ones, like the Shabab, that did not exist at the time  has prompted recurring objections from some legal and foreign policy experts.

The Shabab decision is expected to be publicly disclosed next month in a letter to Congress listing global deployments. It is part of the Obama administrations pattern of relaxing various self-imposed rules for airstrikes against Islamist militants as it tries to help its partner forces in several conflicts.
WASHINGTON  President-elect Donald J. Trump said on Sunday that he had fallen short in the popular vote in the general election only because millions of people had voted illegally, leveling the baseless claim as part of a daylong storm of Twitter posts voicing anger about a three-state recount push.

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, Mr. Trump wrote Sunday afternoon.

The series of posts came one day after Hillary Clintons campaign said it would participate in a recount effort being undertaken in Wisconsin, and potentially in similar pushes in Michigan and Pennsylvania, by Jill Stein, who was the Green Party candidate. Mr. Trumps statements revived claims he made during the campaign, as polls suggested he was losing to Mrs. Clinton, about a rigged and corrupt system.

The Twitter outburst also came as Mr. Trump is laboring to fill crucial positions in his cabinet, with his advisers enmeshed in a rift over whom he should select as secretary of state. On Sunday morning, Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser, extended a public campaign to undermine one contender, Mitt Romney  a remarkable display by a member of a president-elects team. In television appearances, she accused Mr. Romney of having gone out of his way to hurt Mr. Trump during the Republican primary contests.
Best Practices for Time Travelers

When John Titor first showed up on IRC chat in October of 2000, he was enjoying a neat kind of double billing - as his 38-year-old self sat downstairs in the kitchen, typing away, a two-year-old version of himself lay sound asleep upstairs in bed. The elder Titor had been sent back in time by the U.S. Army, which needed him to fetch some legacy computer hardware from the 1970's, and he had a sort of layover in the year 2000. So like anyone with time to kill, he went online.

Titor arrived in Florida in a 2036 model Corvette (later sold off) outfitted with a 500 pound military-grade time travel device that he photographed and posted online, complete with manual. The reason for his visit was utilitarian - he had been sent back to the 1970's to fetch a model IBM 5100 computer, "because Unix has problems in 2038", and the 5100 had an undocumented feature that made it highly desirable to programmers working on the Unix bug. Apparently the Army of 2036 knew enough to build a time machine, but wasn't able to fix a word-size error in a legacy operating system.

That bit actually made the whole story sound plausible to me.

While waiting for his connection to the 1970's, Titor paid a number of visits to IRC and message boards, answering questions and giving people an idea of what the future held in store. Because he kept his story internally consistent, offered a high level of detail, and didn't much seem to care if anyone believed him, Titor naturally convinced boatloads of people that he was the real deal.

The world of 2036, as Titor describes it, will be a strange place (and you don't want to drink the water). The capital of the United States is in Omaha. The whole world has been through a nuclear war, part of an agrarian/urban conflict that dates all the way back to 2004 (Titor calls it the Second Civil War). People are living in smaller communities, and have moved back to the land. Today's libertarians are all proven right. In many respects, the pace of technological change has regressed. Except, of course, for the bit about the time machine.

Titor moved along in his travels in 2001, leaving behind a videotape of his departure that is regrettably lost, as well as a thriving communitiy of true believers who are eagerly waiting for 2004 to see if his prophecy of a string of Waco-like crises pans out. There's presumably a five-year-old John Titor growing up somewhere in Florida, and some deliriously happy car nut tooling around in a used 2036 Corvette.

Titor's courage in telling his story seems to have opened the floodgates, encouraging other time travellers to come forward and tell their own stories. This makes sense - after all, if time travel is possible, then the present should be roiling with visitors from the future. Their silence suggests a certain bashfulness and a lack of certainty about how to reveal themselves online. So taking inspiration from John Titor, I would suggest the following set of best practices for the online time traveller. (If you've already made your Internet debut before reading these guidelines, don't fret - simply travel back in time and make the appropriate changes!):

Act like you don't care whether people believe you



A real time traveler would be crazy to try and prove his identity - you'll either end up somewhere in a Pentagon sub-sub-basement, or drugged out of your gourd in a mental health facility. Much better to say you've come to a paranormal discussion board because you know there's no risk of people taking you seriously. Play hard to get!

Don't be afraid to make wooly predictions



So maybe you don't remember your early 21st century history too well. Or maybe you've ended up in a parallel universe that doesn't quite match what you know of your own world's past. You can still make predictions - just don't tie yourself down! For example, Titor predicted that something interesting was about to happen at CERN: "The breakthrough that will allow for [time travel] technology will occur within a year or so [2001] when CERN brings their larger facility online". But when a giddy speculative article about miniature black holes appeared in 2001, did people nitpick and point out that no breakthrough had actually occurred? Of course not - they were impressed by Titor's spooky prescience. That's the effect you want.

Read up on your physics



Tensors, closed time-like curves, manifolds, shmanifolds - it's a lot to keep straight. After all, you just push the button, why should you know how the thing works? But if you want to be believed, you'll have to sound convincing about the underlying physics. Here again, Titor is your model. Instead of spouting voodoo about flux capacitors, tachyons, or the fifth dimension, he grounds himself firmly in general relativity with talk about electrically charged microsingularities (mini-black holes). Don't forget that quantum gravity isn't understood until... well, you know when. In the early 21st century, time travel through black holes is still an open question.



But do be careful if you start offering too many specifics. Not only might someone steal your plans and build a time machine decades too soon, but you might even slip up and end up with egg on your face. Just look at John Titor, who completely forgot to read up on Hawking radiation. His two-black-hole time machine was supposed to weigh 500 pounds. But even assuming that each of the black holes weighed 100 kg (220 lbs) - leaving only 60 lbs for the rest of the device - both of those puppies would have had to have been radiating energy at about 3 x 10e29 Watts (the equivalent of over a thousand suns), at a temperature of 1.2 x 10e21 Kelvin (twelve orders of magnitude more than the core of a supernova). And their lifetime would have been just eight trillionths of a second.



Whoops! Not a lot of time to hit the big red button.



So don't go all crazy on the details, or you're bound to misremember something. "Black holes" is plenty, you don't get hung up on weights and measures.

Cover Your Ass



What do you do when the harmonic convergence of 2004 turns out to be a wash? Or when Clark fails to win the nomination, as you predicted?



Well, the first rule of making non-wooly predictions is not to make predictions if you can help it. "I can't tell you, because it would change the future" is always a useful old standby. So is "telling you would take away your free will".



If you do have to get all specific, take your lead from Titor and insist on an infinite number of near-identical, parallel universes, so you can never travel quite to the same universe you came from. In Titor's case, our 'worldline' is within 2% of his own worldline, so things like sports scores or stock prices might not match up, even if major historical events do. Nicely done!



Whether or not the many-worlds theory corresponds to what you know of physical reality, it will make a good cover for accidentally leaving those 2003 stock quotes at the library.

Apocalypse, baby!



No one wants to hear about the Social Security Reform Act of 2027, or Byelorussia's triumphal entry into the European Union. We want nukes! We want plague! We want civil war! If the real future is boring, we'll find out about it soon enough without you.

Dazzle 'em with details



Every moment people devote to arguing an obscure part of your story is a moment they're not thinking "wait a minute, why should I believe that a bozo on the Internet is a time traveller?". Be sure to pepper your story with verifiable details to help establish your credibility. If possible, allude to things in passing, so readers can do their own sleuth work and create an illusion of corroborated evidence.



Here again John Titor leads by example. To take one example, he alludes to a "problem with Unix in 2038", which a little investigation will show is real. All Unix clocks on 32-bit architectures roll over in 2038, when the number of seconds since 1970 (Year One for all Unix clocks) exceeds 2^32. Some of us estimate that this Y2K38 problem will cause global devastation of the same magnitude as Y2K.



Entire megabytes of Titor discussion thread are devoted to parsing out the plausibility of the Unix motive - is an ancient IBM computer really so hard to emulate in 2036? Is Titor lying about the real reason for his return? People get so caught up in the fine points that they forget to question the original premise. And someone out there is bound to think "This Unix thing checks out - so he MUST be telling the truth!".



Don't skimp on the details!

Know your audience



Do you really want to face down a discussion board full of paranoid libertarians and tell them that 2025 will see the birth of world government, universal health care for everyone, clean energy and a reduction in Third World debt? Zzzz... Or do you want to tell them to stockpile water, learn to clean their guns, not trust the government, and stay away from cities?

Watch out for paradox



We all know that the first thing people think of when you say "time travel" is going back in time to kill their grandparents. So be prepared - the theory of multiple universes (or worldlines) will help you there. But do you have a good rebuttal to Hawking's empirical argument? Are you comfortable with violations of causality? Have you been adequately briefed by your commanding officer, pan-Galactic Intelligence, hive mind of Excedrin Theta, or whatever other entity sent you hurtling back into the past? If not, a good place to start is the University of Tasmania's excellent online lecture series on time travel, which helps you deal with those pesky paradoxes and the annoying skeptics who ask about them.

If you're not a temporal visitor, but still find yourself inspired by these best practices, why not pick up a copy of Time Travel: A How-To Insider's Guide to help you with all the technical bits? Or better yet, avoid all the hassle by ordering a ready-made Hyper Dimensional Resonator?

THIS IS A TWO DIAL, ONE BANK TREATMENT INSTRUMENT, WHICH PLUGS INTO A NORMAL 110V OUTLET. THIS DEVICE GENERATES AN AC/DC, 60-CYCLE, ALTERNATING FREQUENCY WHICH GENERATES AN UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF PURE TECYON ENERGY. THIS DEVICE COMES EQUIPPED WITH A WITNESS WELL, PHENOLIC RUBBING PLATE, MULTI- DIMENSIONAL STABILIZER, CLEAR SWITCH, POWER SWITCH, TIME COILS, AND ONE ELECTROMAGNET.

Aailable in navy, chrome, or midnight blue; a steal at $360. European readers may need an adapter.

You too can become a time traveller!

Incidentally, that link to the book above is worth following just to read the reader reviews, which include this gem:

I wish this book really taught me how to travel through time because if it did, I would go back in time and tell myself not to buy this book.

So I would go with the Hyper Dimensional Resonator. Bon Voyage!
But mostly, as she has grown from adolescence to adulthood, she has wanted to leave. Her older sister already lives in Spain. Her best friend went to Miami for a vacation one summer and stayed, telling Rocio about the crowded shopping malls and the impressive facilities at her new school. Most of Rocios friends, she said, hope to get out of Cuba as soon as they can.

My generation, were not worried about politics or ideals, she said. We just want to get out. Abroad you can achieve so much more. You can be recognized for your work, internationally, by the world.

Fidel Castros era of speeches, ideology and Cold War standoffs is not what todays ambitious young people want. Like many young Cubans, Rocio mostly wants Cuba to catch up. Why is there no open and affordable access to the internet? Why cant she easily get on Facebook to say hi to her sister in Barcelona? Why is it so hard to visit the Louvre, in person or virtually?

I think everyone has a right to get the information they want to think and study, she said.

She said that the American trade embargo clearly did not help, but that most young people considered their own government responsible for creating a society of limits.

Fidel and Raul started out with a good idea, she said. They just didnt achieve what they said they would achieve.

She wants the same thing her grandfather and Fidel Castro wanted when they were young: radical change and a fair shot at making a life for herself on her terms. The changes of the past few years under Raul Castro, allowing more private enterprise and travel, offer some hope, she said, but its not changing at the pace it needs to.

Fidel Castro is gone  He was a man of the 20th century, Mr. Montes said in an interview on Saturday night  and his granddaughter has long been ready to move on. We dont have time to wait, she said.
JERUSALEM  The Israeli military said it killed four militants linked to the Islamic State on Sunday after they attacked Israeli forces in the Golan Heights.

The confrontation appeared to be the first of its kind between Israel and Islamic State-affiliated forces based in Syria. It was not immediately clear if the militants attack had been spontaneous or if it signaled a possible change of policy by extremist groups.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, a spokesman for the Israeli military, described the exchange as unique in magnitude. He said jihadist fighters, riding in a vehicle with a machine gun mounted on its roof, had assaulted an Israeli reconnaissance unit with gunfire and mortars on the Israeli-controlled side of the contested territory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said the soldiers had successfully repelled an attempted attack on the triangle of borders, or the point where Israel, Syria and Jordan converge. Using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State, he added, We will not let Daesh elements or other hostile elements use the cover of the war in Syria to establish themselves next to our borders.
WASHINGTON  The top lawyer for Hillary Clintons presidential bid said Saturday that the campaign would join a third-party candidates effort to seek a full recount in Wisconsin, and potentially two other states, though he said the campaign had seen no actionable evidence of vote hacking.

In a post on Medium, Marc Elias, the campaigns general counsel, suggested that the campaign was joining the recount effort with little expectation that it would change the result. But many of the campaigns supporters have enthusiastically backed the recount effort led by Jill Stein, who was the Green Party candidate.

Stein filed for a recount in Wisconsin on Friday afternoon. She has raised more than $5 million for the effort, which now will turn to Michigan and Pennsylvania, where there are deadlines this week.

The Clinton campaign will not contribute financially to the effort. But it will pay to have its own lawyers present at the recount, campaign officials said.

Trump issued a statement Saturday calling the recount push ridiculous and a scam by the Green Party.

Trump himself suggested in the weeks before the election that the vote could be rigged.

In Wisconsin, Trump leads by 22,177 votes. In Michigan, he has a lead of 10,704 votes, and in Pennsylvania his advantage is 70,638 votes.

The Obama administration issued a statement Saturday saying, As we have noted before, we remained confident in the overall integrity of electoral infrastructure, a confidence that was borne out on Election Day. As a result, we believe our elections were free and fair from a cybersecurity perspective.

Clinton conceded the race to Trump early Nov. 9, when it became clear that he would have a large margin of victory in the Electoral College. But as her lead in the popular vote has grown  it now exceeds 2 million votes  her base has increasingly pressured her to challenge the results.

That has been fueled in part by how aggressively the Clinton campaign spread the word of Russian involvement in the theft of emails from the Democratic National Committee and the campaigns chairman. The campaign also charged that the Russians were behind fake news about Clintons health, among other stories  a claim supported to some extent by recent studies.
HAVANA  Fidel Castro once called George W. Bush a functional illiterate. President Reagan was the worst terrorist in the history of mankind, Castro said, with ideas from the Buffalo Bill era.

Castro thrived on confrontation with U.S. leaders, and he almost surely would have enjoyed facing off against Americas next one. In his statement Saturday on Castros death, President-elect Donald Trump denounced him as a brutal dictator, and thats the sort of dig that wouldnt have gone unanswered in the past.

But brinkmanship and barb-throwing are not the forte of his successor, Raul Castro, who replaced his elder sibling as president a decade ago. Raul Castro, 85, has refrained from criticizing Trump and even sent congratulations after his win.

Raul Castros plans to secure the legacy of his brothers 1959 Cuban Revolution appear to be on a collision course with the incoming Trump administration, whose top members said Sunday that Cuba would have to make significant changes in order for the normalization path charted by President Barack Obama to continue. Both Castros long insisted they would never kneel to American pressure.

If tensions between Cuba and the United States ratchet up again under a Trump presidency, it would be a new stress test for Raul Castro and his quieter, more austere leadership style. Cuba will enter the Trump era with Fidel Castros one-party socialist state firmly in command but without the super-charged politics and nationalist fervor he relied on to sustain it.

A return to more hostile relations with the United States could also bring a new crackdown in Cuba and further slow the pace of Raul Castros modest liberalization measures at a time of stalling economic growth. Hardliners in Cubas Communist Party would gladly take the country back to a simpler time, when the antagonism of the United States  not the failure of government policies  was to blame for the islands problems, and the threat of attack, real or imagined, was used to justify authoritarian political control.

On Fox News Sunday, Reince Priebus, Trumps incoming chief of staff, said, Theres going to have to be some movement from Cuba in order to have a relationship with the United States.

Castro would have to take steps to allow more political, economic and religious freedoms, Priebus said. These things need to change in order to have open and free relationships, and thats what President-elect Trump believes.

Obama announced in December 2014 that the United States would re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, which were severed by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1961. Obama insisted that engagement with Cuba, including fewer restrictions on U.S. travel and trade, would facilitate the type of long-term democratic changes Washington had failed to bring about during a half-century of punitive sanctions.

But Trump said during his campaign that Obama didnt get a good deal, and Cuba must do more.

While only the U.S. Congress can lift the Cuba embargo, Trump could reverse many of the executive orders that have brought a surge of U.S. visitors here and a rush of new interest from American companies.

If Trump moves to roll back those measures and attempts to apply more economic pressure, the Castro government could dig in. During the last major peak in U.S.-Cuba tensions in March 2003, when Fidel Castro was still in charge, he ordered the roundup of 75 dissidents, sentencing them to harsh prison terms.

A few weeks later, Castro crushed a spate of boat and airplane hijackings by Cubans trying to get to the United States, executing three men who commandeered a Havana passenger ferry and tried to steer it to Florida.

But Cuba was a tighter-run ship then, where few dared to criticize the government in public. The governments security services are still pervasive, allowing no organized opposition, but the constant marching and mass rallies of Fidel Castros Cuba have mostly disappeared under the rule of his younger brother.

Also, the governments monopoly on information has been broken. Millions of Cubans have cellphones, and more than 100 new WiFi hotspots across the island allow Cubans to go online and chat with friends and relative abroad. Foreign television shows and news programming circulate widely on portable memory sticks.

Fidel Castros soaring rhetoric is no longer the soundtrack of Cuban public life. Raul Castro delivers a speech every few months, choosing his words carefully and reading from a prepared text. A lifelong military man, he praises planning, modesty and preparation, and uses the word improvisation as a pejorative.

Those qualities helped facilitate the secret negotiations with the Obama administration on restoring relations, but they may not help him counter more aggressive language from President Trump. Raul Castro doesnt tweet, doesnt give media interviews and shows no enthusiasm, unlike Fidel, for being in the spotlight. He could have a hard time leading younger Cubans back into the trenches of his older brothers anti-imperialism with calls for more sacrifice and obedience.

Then again, Cuban national pride remains a powerful force on the island, and nothing stirs it like a perceived threat from a swaggering American leader, said Arturo Lopez-Levy, a former Cuban intelligence analyst who teaches at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley.

Even if there is no Fidel, do not underestimate the power of mobilization of Cuban nationalism, Lopez-Levy said. Intense Cuban nationalism preceded Fidel, he said, and it will survive as a major actor in Cuban politics well beyond his passing.

At a small snack bar called Los Afortunados (the Lucky Ones) a group of young Cubans said Sunday that they feared Trump would take U.S.-Cuba relations into the past just as it seemed as though their lives were getting easier. If he restricted travel and the ability of Cubans in the United States to visit their relatives, it would be terrible for our families, said Yosbel Benitez, 30.

His friend Ricardo Marrero, 28, who emigrated to the United States in 2013, was back for a visit. Marrero hadnt seen his wife and 4-year-old daughter in a year. But with the WiFi hotspots, he now sees them every day using the popular video chat app IMO. Two years earlier, it would have cost him $2 a minute to talk to them on the phone.

Its what gives me the strength to keep working hard to bring them over, Marrero said.

Air travel is easier, too. On Monday the first commercial flight from Miami in 50 years will land in Havana, and fares are less than half the price they are on the restrictive charter flights that have been the only option until now.

Marrero wasnt eligible to vote in Florida, but he said he liked Trump and told his friends and family members not to fear the president-elects plans for Cuba. Hes a businessman, he said. He understands.

The snack bar, one of the types of privately run business permitted under Raul Castro, is directly across from the U.S. diplomatic compound, which Obama restored to full embassy status last year.

Canada, Mexico and other nations had lowered the flags Sunday at their embassies in Havana in tribute to Fidel Castro, but the U.S. flag was snapping in the wind at the top of the pole.
BEIJING  Pope Francis has spoken of his admiration for Chinese culture. He has greeted a delegation from China, accepting a silk imprint of an ancient inscription about Christianity.

Now, he appears to be considering a compromise with Chinas Communist leaders to heal the bitter, decades-old rift that has divided generations of Chinese Catholics and prevented the pope from openly exercising authority in the worlds most populous country.

The Vatican says talks are continuing, and work remains before a deal is done. But Francis apparent determination to see a rapprochement with Beijing has caused unease among some who are worried that he might give too much away to the hard-line Chinese president, Xi Jinping.

The Communist Party expelled Catholic missionaries after taking power in 1949, condemning them as tools of Western imperialists, and has required Catholics to worship in patriotic churches under state oversight. But a third or more of Chinas estimated 9 million to 12million Catholics worship in underground congregations that are loyal to the pope and have resisted state control, sometimes enduring persecution and imprisonment.

The Vatican has long dreamed of returning to China, bringing the underground church out of the shadows and healing divisions among Chinese Catholics. Under Francis, negotiations with Beijing over reconciliation have gained momentum.

The central dispute is over the power to name new bishops and the fate of existing bishops in China. For the Catholic Church, bishops are divine successors of the apostles, to be appointed by the pope. But China has long insisted on controlling ordinations, arguing that anything else amounts to interference in its internal affairs.

Most Chinese bishops are recognized by the Vatican and the Chinese authorities, but there are several in the state-backed church who are excommunicated and working without papal approval, including some rumored to have broken their vows of chastity and fathered children.

There are also more than two dozen underground bishops, many of whom are viewed with suspicion by the government and a few of whom are believed to be in prison.

Any deal would have to decide what happens to both groups.
SAN DIEGO  Smoking has dropped to historic lows nationwide, dramatically decreasing revenue from tobacco taxes. In search of funds, a growing number of states are taxing electronic cigarettes  a trend that is sparking a fierce public health debate over whether it will deter smokers from switching to a safer alternative.

California became the seventh state to tax e-cigarettes with the overwhelming approval of a Nov. 8 ballot measure. Proposition 56 also will add a $2 per pack state tax to cigarettes onto the already existing 87 cents per pack tax.

State officials are still calculating the new tax structure. The vaping industry estimates the tax could hike up the price of the battery-operated devices and liquids by more than 60 percent, making it more expensive to vape than smoke, even with the additional per-pack tobacco tax.

California just made the most attractive option unattractive for many smokers, and unaffordable, said Gregory Conley of the American Vaping Association, which advocates for electronic cigarettes as an alternative to tobacco. Some may never make an attempt to quit.

The taxation of e-cigarettes has split the public health community between those who support e-cigarettes being treated the same as tobacco and those who see them as an important tool in the fight against smoking, the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States.

Theres no scientific consensus on the risks or advantages of vaping.

Its one of the nastiest debates Ive ever seen in the public health community, and Ive been researching tobacco control policies for 40 years, University of Michigan public health professor Kenneth Warner said. The momentum, if you will, is in the direction against e-cigarettes, for sure, and it is unfortunate in a big way, because we may be missing out on a potential intervention that could reduce the toll of smoking by a lot.

E-cigarettes heat a nicotine liquid into a vapor, delivering the chemical that smokers crave without the harmful tar generated from burning tobacco.

Britain promotes the devices for smokers. Its leading physicians organization said it found the devices were 95 percent safer than cigarettes, but some U.S. researchers dispute that.

E-cigarettes emit chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects or other harm, and there is concern over the long-term impact that nicotine has on adolescent brain development, according to Californias Public Health Department. Use among young adults ages 18 to 29 has tripled in the state.

The evidence is piling up very fast that e-cigarettes are more dangerous than people thought, said Stanton A. Glantz, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California San Francisco.

Stanton said the universitys analysis of more than three dozen studies also found only a fraction of smokers quit after switching to e-cigarettes and that many end up smoking and vaping, which could be worse.

Concern over the jump in youth users was a driving force behind taxing e-cigarettes, Stanton said.

If we could snap our fingers and have all smokers become e-cigarette users  and not change anything else  that would be better, he said. The problem is all the other complicated things going on.

Representatives from around 180 countries participating in the World Health Organizations global tobacco control treaty negotiations, including the United States, adopted a declaration earlier this month in which they vowed to prohibit or regulate the sale of e-cigarettes. The declaration comes months after the U.S. announced its first federal regulations of e-cigarettes.

The $3 billion vaping industry fears taxes coupled with regulations will shut down many small shops.

Scott Drenkard of the nonpartisan Tax Foundation said the products potential to help smokers is losing out to the rush to recover eroding tobacco tax revenues, which make up as much as 2 percent of state budgets. More than two dozen states have considered taxing e-cigarettes since 2015.

In California, tobacco tax revenue dropped by 44 percent between 1989 and last year, from $1.6 billion to roughly $830 million. The state has the nations second-lowest smoking rate, behind Utah.

State officials estimate Prop. 56 will raise more than $1 billion in the first year for California, with much of the money earmarked for health care for the poor.

Public health experts, like Warner, favor a staggered system that applies a heavy tax on tobacco cigarettes, a lighter tax on e-cigarettes and keeping no tax on nicotine replacement therapies that have been determined to be relatively risk-free. That would deter young people from vaping the liquids that come in candy flavors and provide a financial incentive for smokers to switch, they say.

North Carolina adds a tax of 5 cents to each milliliter of nicotine liquid compared with 45 cents per pack for traditional cigarettes.

With no consensus on the health impact, some say it makes sense for states to follow Californias lead and not tax them differently.
The California Supreme Court last week affirmed an appeals court ruling that a real estate agent owed fiduciary duties to the buyer  not just the seller  in a case in which one brokerage represented both sides of the deal.

The case, involving the issue of dual agents, has been of widespread interest in the real estate industry. Those for and against brokers double-ending a transaction wondered how broadly the court would rule and if it might curtail the practice.

Here are six questions about the case and what happens next.

What is the dispute about?

It began after Hong Kong multimillionaire Hiroshi Horiike bought a Tuscan-style Malibu mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean for $12.25 million in cash in 2007. The listing agent, celebrity real estate agent Chris Cortazzo, gave him a flier that said the home had 15,000 square feet of living space as well as an MLS listing that did not specify the square footage.

But a building permit indicated there was a total of 11,050 square feet, including a guest house and a garage, while the tax assessors records showed it was less than 9,500 square feet.

The square footage question is complicated because Malibu uses a different metric than elsewhere, extending the measurements to garages and other spaces beyond the primary residence.

But Horiike, who signed an advisory saying the broker was not responsible for verifying square footage, bought the property without further investigating its size, court records say.

A couple of years later, seeking a permit to remodel a room, Horiike found out the house wasnt as large as he thought.

What happened in court?

Both Horiikes agent and Cortazzo worked for Coldwell Banker, so the firm was the dual agent for the buyer and seller. In 2010, Horiike sued Cortazzo and Coldwell Banker, stating they violated their fiduciary duty to him.

The defense argued that Cortazzo was the exclusive agent of the seller and didnt have a fiduciary duty to Horiike. The trial court agreed and dismissed Cortazzo from the case. A jury then ruled in Coldwell Bankers favor.

After the trial, the case went to the 2nd District Court of Appeal. There, Horiike prevailed. The appellate justices found that Cortazzo did not add a handwritten note of advice to hire a qualified specialist to verify the square footage of the home to a visual inspection disclosure, as he had done with a previous prospective buyer.

A trier of fact could conclude that although Cortazzo did not intentionally conceal the information, Cortazzo breached his fiduciary duty by failing to communicate all of the material information he knew about the square footage, the justices wrote.

Coldwell Banker appealed.

How will the ruling affect consumers?

The ruling is a victory for homebuyers, said attorney Frederic D. Cohen, who represented Horiike before the state Supreme Court.

The opinion will benefit consumers by ensuring that the homebuying public has better and more complete information about the property they are planning to purchase, he said.

Agents in dual agency cases, he said, should be asking themselves, Is this something that should have been disclosed in a clearer way?

Cortazzo sent Horiike multiple documents pertaining to the square footage discrepancies, court records show, including an advisory that the broker had not verified the square footage.

The California Association of Realtors, in a public statement about the case in September, said, At its core, the Horiike case is an issue of a buyer not reading all of the information that was presented to him.

But, Cohen said last week, Real estate transactions are very paper intensive. There are literally dozens of things you sign. Its almost impossible (for a buyer) to distinguish in those documents what is and what isnt important.

See also: Double agent? A rift over how real estate is bought and sold reaches the California Supreme Court

How will the ruling affect agents?

An agent representing a seller in a deal with a buyers agent at the same brokerage may have to do a bit more, Cohen said.

It just requires brokers to exercise their common sense, put themselves in the buyers position, and to disclose the relevant facts in a way that is sufficiently clear (and) that youre satisfied the buyer actually understands the information, he said.

This should not be an onerous burden, he said. I dont think this requires a wholesale change in how business is done.

June Barlow, general counsel to the California Association of Realtors, said agents know they are required to disclose all material facts about a property and noted the courts ruling was narrow.

Cohen referred to the handwritten note that Cortazzo provided to a previous buyer  who later canceled the sale  advising that a specialist should be hired to verify the homes square footage.

His own conduct is the best evidence of what a careful broker would do, Cohen said.

Will double-ended deals be restricted?

The law permitting double-agent transactions was not changed by the courts recent ruling.

It certainly doesnt end dual agency, though it may take some time and adjustments to comply with the ruling, said Bob Hunt, associate broker at Keller Williams OC Coastal Realty and a director of the Realtors association. I think many agents will not understand it and/or wont believe it.

Opponents of dual agency, meanwhile, said the case points up a problem with the practice.

We are pleased at the Supreme Courts decision, said Kimberly Kahl, executive director of the National Association of Exclusive Buyer Agents. Dual agency has long been problematic for consumers, leaving them without full representation in what is one of the largest monetary transactions of their lives.

This case simply highlighted the pitfalls for consumers and agents alike, she said.

Dual agency advocates have said it can streamline the homebuying process and that an individual agent privy to whats motivating each side is in a position to more swiftly and efficiently get a deal done.

What are the next steps?

The case goes back to Superior Court, where a jury can decide if Cortazzo and Coldwell Banker breached their fiduciary duty.

On the legislative front, the Realtors association may seek a change in the language of the state civil code.

While the ruling kept the focus on disclosure about the property, Hunt said, The concern that many in the brokerage community have is that the same principles could lead to an agent being obligated to give up the private, confidential information of one party to the other party.

I would expect that some kind of legislative solution to that concern will be sought by the real estate community.

Barlow said its too early to say, but, Were going to keep an eye on this.
SANTA ANA  As far as Anaivett Araoz knew when she left the relatives she was visiting in Havana at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, Fidel Castro still had a grip on Cuba.

Eight hours later, when her plane touched down at Los Angeles International Airport, the dictator was dead.

I started getting about one hundred texts while on the plane as it was landing, said Araoz, a 61-year-old Cuban-American from Mission Viejo.

I was absolutely, joyfully happy about the news.

Throughout Southern California on Saturday, Cuban-Americans hoisted glasses of champagne and waved Cuban and American flags in celebration of Castros death.

Castro is the head of the snake and the symbolic leader of the Communist dictatorship, said Santiago Martin, an attorney who hosted about a dozen expats at his Santa Ana home. We are one step closer to democracy in Cuba.

Fidel Castros younger brother, Raul Castro, announced on state television that his brother died at 10:29 p.m. Friday. The 90-year-old dictator was to be cremated early Saturday and a funeral is slated for Friday in Santiago de Cuba after several days of national mourning, according to government officials in Cuba.

Sitting on a tan sofa in Martins living room next to a Cuban flag, several Santa Ana residents who fled the island nation at the height of Castros power recounted the hardships they endured to escape.

Magaly Bertran, 71, said she will never forget the day Castros oppressive regime labeled her and her husband, Jaime Bertran, 74, gusanos, a slur meaning worms and directed at those trying to depart the country.

It was 1967 and the couple had just left a passport office in Havana where they filled out an application to leave Cuba.

Almost immediately, Jaime Bertran was stripped of his job as a railroad mechanic and shipped off to a labor camp in the province of Camaguey, where for the next two years he cut sugar cane for the government without pay.

Magaly Bertran made sandals to survive until the couple was able to flee Cuba in 1969, first to Spain and later, to Santa Ana.

I couldnt live in that country, she said of Cuba. I was ready to do whatever was needed to get out.

She was overcome with emotion after learning Castro was dead.

I cried when I heard the news, she said, while wiping away tears. I cried for me, my mother and my family.

Castros government made his father a political prisoner, said 55-year-old Martin. His mother was taken out of their home and he was forced to live with an aunt until the family was permitted to immigrate to Spain in 1968.

Cuban-Americans prayed for the day when Castro would no longer be in power. But its emotional because so many people from Cuba didnt live to see this moment, Martin said.

Santa Ana resident Cesar Hernandez was a judge in Cuba before he was forced by the government to become a gas station attendant. He fled the country in 1967.

I made sacrifices to get freedom, said Hernandez, 80.

Connie Rodriguez Motasas said she was part of Operation Pedro Pan, the largest recorded exodus of unaccompanied minors in the Western Hemisphere. Motasas, now 70, left Cuba in 1961 at age 15.

The Catholic Welfare Bureau of Miami created Pedro Pan in 1960 at the request of Cuban parents who wanted to send their children to Miami to avoid Marxist-Leninist indoctrination.

The passing of this man, now more than anything, is symbolic, Motasas said. The pain he created for the whole nation and the thousands of people who died in his regime is horrendous, she said. You can compare him to Hitler.

Earlier Saturday, Nilo Lipiz, who fled Cuba with his family in 1968 at age 14, monitored the news out of Havana from his home in Anaheim Hills.

Lipiz, a dean at Santa Ana College, said Castros death doesnt signal an end to his familys rule of the island nation.

Nothing really changes until his brother and the thugs ruling the country are out, Lipiz said.

Araoz, who was in Cuba visiting extended family members for eight days, said she spoke with some of them by phone Saturday to ask how the country was reacting.

They said its a regular day like nothing had happened, she said. Everybody going about their business. There is no military action. The government doesnt like to call attention to things of importance that are negative.

However, Araoz acknowledged it is hard for Cubans to be candid about the possible impact of Castros death.

There is no way of knowing their sentiments because they never take the chance of saying whats going on over there because there could be repercussions, she said

Araoz also isnt overly optimistic that Castros death will signal political change in Cuba.

He was the leader and hes dead, but still, Cuba is Communist-controlled no matter what, she said.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7767 or sschwebke@scng.com
Mariza Ruelas, a single mother in Stockton, California, is facing possible jail time for offering to sell her homemade ceviche, a Latin American seafood dish, through a Facebook group in which users swap recipes and occasionally swap meals. A man took her up on her offer, but unbeknownst to Ms. Ruelas, he was a government agent working on an undercover sting operation targeting those who sell food without a license.

Ms. Ruelass case is part of a trend of overcriminalization, a term describing the rapid expansion, and increased complexity, of criminally enforceable rules and regulations regarding conduct that is not intuitively wrong.

At the federal level alone, there are an estimated 300,000 criminally enforceable rules and regulations. The five states we have studied to date in our Overcriminalizing America research project average more than 570 percent more sections in their criminal codes than in the Model Penal Code, the template established by leading legal scholars that forms the criminal-law basis for most states, and they are enacting, on average, more than 42 new crimes on the books, each and every year. More than three-fourths of these new crimes have been scattered around state statutes outside the criminal codes themselves. States also regularly outsource the creation of crimes to unelected commissioners, administrative agencies and even private licensing associations.

In 2013, California enacted the California Homemade Food Act, intended to help what the law called cottage food operations but still ensnared Ms. Ruelas. Any violation of the laws multiple provisions  it numbers almost 7,000 words  is a misdemeanor. The law criminalizes food sales for anyone who has not registered paperwork with government authorities, and it prohibits such operations in kitchens that are also used to prepare family meals or wash dishes.

Clearly, Ms. Ruelas violated the express provisions of the act  even though she claims she meant to do nothing wrong. Traditionally, under American law and the British law upon which it is based, the state had to prove a guilty mind to prosecute an individual of a crime. Today, however, states regularly prosecute individuals for crimes that specify no necessary criminal intent. Fifteen states follow the Model Penal Code in mandating a default criminal-intent requirement where statutes are silent, but others, including California, assume that if the legislature fails to specify any level of criminal intent, no showing of intent is required.

Individuals acting in good faith like Mariza Ruelas should be able to go through daily life without having to worry about ending up behind bars. California could pursue steps to make its criminal law more manageable by enacting a criminal-intent default standard, requiring legislative votes on any regulatory crimes, or following the lead of other states that have held special legislative sessions or creating commissions to repeal outdated crimes and reform the criminal law. Special attention should be paid to the occupational licensing space.

While not entirely curative, adopting these reforms would represent a meaningful first step toward addressing the overcriminalization problem. Until then, well-meaning citizens like Mariza Ruelas will remain at risk of imprisonment for conduct as seemingly innocent as selling some homemade food for a few extra bucks.

James R. Copland is a senior fellow and Rafael A. Mangual a legal-policy project manager for the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
The Democratic Partys current festival of re-examination is both necessary and justified. They have just lost to the most unpopular presidential candidate in recent memory. Lockstep media support and a much larger war chest were not enough to save them from losing not only the presidency, but also in state races across the country.

Since President Obamas first election, Democrats have lost control of the House and Senate, as well as a dozen governors houses and roughly 900 state legislative seats. Republicans have control of all levels of government in 24 states, while Democrats have total control over six. Overall, the party seems incapable of reaching out to the middle part of the country, white and middle-class voters.

This contrasts with the 1990s, when a group of party activists consciously rebuilt the party to appeal to middle-class Americans. Groups like the Democratic Leadership Council  for whose think tank, the Progressive Policy Institute, I worked for several years  pushed notions of personal responsibility, welfare reform, tough crime policies and economic growth that, embraced by Bill Clinton, expanded the partys base in the Midwest, the Appalachians and even the Southeast.

Leftward Ho!

Such a shift to the middle is unlikely today. Progressives generally see Hillary Clintons loss as largely a rejection of her husbands neoliberal policies and want to push the party further to the left.

This parallels developments in the United Kingdom, where, following their defeat in 2015, the Labour Party promoted a far-left figure, Jeremy Corbyn, as its leader. This was driven by grassroots progressives  deeply green, multiculturalist and openly socialist. Many, including several high up in Labours parliamentary party, believe the party has little chance to win under such leadership.

Democrats face a similar dilemma. Driven by their dominant academic and media thought police, any shift to the middle on issues like crime, climate change or regulation now seems unimaginable. Self-described progressives who now dominate the party generally adhere to a series of policies  from open borders to draconian climate change policies  that are unlikely to play well outside the coastal enclaves.

Some of the criticism of Clintonian neoliberalism is somewhat justified. As the emergence of both Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump suggests, support for globalization and free trade has weakened in both parties. This reflects the fact that economic gains have become increasingly concentrated since Clinton left office, and even under the progressive hero, Barack Obama. Its hard to argue, as the DLC did 25 years ago, for a more market-based system when the vast majority fail to benefit while the upper echelons do much better.

So it is no surprise, then, that the hyperregulatory and redistributionist agendas epitomized by Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are now ascendant. This pattern is exacerbated by the partys increasing indifference to economic growth, in large part, due to their embrace of draconian climate change policies. Climate change policies, as now constituted, tend to suppress higher-wage, blue-collar employment. If you give up on growth to save the planet, the only real solution remaining is massive redistribution, including a web of subsidies to make up for the lack of income growth, affordable housing and economic opportunity.

The multiculti trap

The Corbynization of the Democratic Party also turns on militant multiculturalism. This agenda is shaped, as in Britain, by a disjointed concert of grievance groups, ranging from gender activists to those who claim to represent Latinos, African Americans, Asians, Muslims and others, whose alienation has been exacerbated by Trumps triumph. Trumps nationalist rhetoric is particularly disliked by progressives who, as author and New America fellow Michael Lind notes in a recent National Review column, find the very idea of borders and national interests reactionary and inherently racist.

This identity politics, some liberals note, has driven many whites into a defensive crouch and pushed them toward the Republicans. Yet, there is little sign that the party will move in their direction. After all, Hillary labeled them deplorables  not much of a sales pitch. After the election, progressive journalists have portrayed Trump voters as irredeemably racist, misogynist, stupid and even too fat. Summing up, suggests Slates Jamelle Bouie, theres no such thing as a good Trump voter.

Inside the progressive echo chamber, many still believe that an alliance of minorities, gender activists and millennials will make their victory inevitable. This can be seen in the tendency of Democrats, just as there is a palpable rise in crime, to invite the militant Black Lives Matter movement into their tent.

Perhaps nothing more illustrates the Corbynite trend than the proposal to make Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Ellison does check off the diversity boxes, but also would place in party leadership someone who has embraced the Nation of Islam, supports the boycott of Israeli products and has compared 9-11 to the Reichstag fire that facilitated the Nazi dictatorship.

Going left may be emotionally satisfying to Democrats who feel abandoned by their less progressive fellow citizens. But abandoning the middle of the spectrum does not seem an effective way to get back into power.

Joel Kotkin is the R.C. Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange and executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism (www.opportunityurbanism.org).
Cushman & Wakefield has closed the sale of 3 Hutton Centre in Santa Ana. Cypress Office Properties, with joint venture partner Harbert United States Real Estate Fund, acquired the 198,161-square-foot office tower in the airport district from TH Real Estate, a division of TIAA Global Asset Management. Terms were not disclosed.

Cypress Office Properties plans to modernize the buildings common areas.

Jeffrey Cole, Ed Hernandez, Nico Napolitano, Robert Lambert and Rick Reeder at Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction along with John Weiner from CBRE. The 10-story office building was 90 percent leased at the time of the sale, with more than half of the property occupied by tenants Yardi Systems, Compwest Insurance, the U.S. Department of Defense, PSOMAS and USA Social Security.

NEW VENTURES

Faris Lee Investments in Irvine is expanding into Los Angeles under the leadership of broker Patrick Toomey. Toomey joins Faris Lee from Matthews Retail Advisors, where he served as first vice president and national director. Toomey also spent 10 years with CBREs National Retail Investment Group-West.

United Capital Financial Advisers has opened a Newport Beach office not far from the companys headquarters. The new office, at 120 Newport Center Drive, is headed by Bruce Lacey.

PEOPLE IN REAL ESTATE

David Saleh has joined Mason-McDuffie Mortgage as a senior loan officer in its Irvine office. Saleh has worked in the financial services industry for 10 years and has specialized in banking and lending.

COMING UP

Nominations are open for the sixth annual commercial real estate SPIRE awards, presented by the Orange County chapter of Commercial Real Estate Women. This years CREW-OC SPIRE awards will recognize individuals or teams in the following categories: women in commercial real estate, new construction, building renovations, tenant improvements, leasing sales, lending and philanthropy. Nominations for the awards are due by Feb. 3. Go to: crewocspireawards .com/nominate-today
As the nephew of folk icon Woody Guthrie, protesting projects that he believes favor corporations over the environment and everyday people comes naturally to Karl Greenblatt.

The Orange resident was among a couple dozen people waving signs at a Santa Ana intersection Saturday in hopes of pressuring Energy Transfer Partners to halt construction of its $3.7 billion pipeline project in North Dakota.

We see whos in charge, said Greenblatt, who rode his bike to join the protest. They are calling the shots and our government isnt.

The Texas company is in the process of building a 1,172-mile pipeline to transport crude oil from North Dakota through to a river port in Illinois. Energy Transfer Partners says the Dakota Access Pipeline will be safer and more cost-effective than current methods, helping to make the United States less dependent on foreign oil.

But the Standing Rock Sioux, whose reservation abuts the project, say the pipeline threatens their water supply since it runs under the Missouri River. And they say it cuts through sacred lands and burial sites, violating 150-year-old federal treaties.

A small group of Sioux began camping out in protest of the project back in April. Now there are several thousand people known as water protectors at the North Dakota site, with celebrities including Jane Fonda, Mark Ruffalo and Shailene Woodley standing beside them.

There are also hundreds of local protests taking place throughout the country. That includes the one staged Saturday afternoon at the corner of 4th and Main streets, in front of two banks included in a list of 17 that, according to the New York Times, helped to finance the latest round of pipeline construction.

We have a responsibility to keep our promises to the Native American people, as we havent done throughout history, said Claire Offenberger, an 18-year-old freshmen at Orange Coast College.

Offenberger has been following the pipeline controversy largely by listening to NPR. She learned about the local protest on Facebook and came out carrying a sign that read Water is life.

The protestors chanted that phrase throughout the afternoon, occasionally switching to You cant drink oil, keep it in the soil or Hey hey, ho ho, this pipeline has got to go.

Activist Naui Ocelotl Huitzilopochtli, whos a descendant of the indigenous Mexican people of Nahuas, has been helping coordinate protests in Santa Ana every Saturday. But the 39-year-old missed this weeks local demonstration because he traveled to North Dakota to join whats now called the Sacred Stone Camp.

I just want to let them know that there are people out there who support them in California, he said.

Just as he arrived, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers  which issued permits for the project  said the thousands of people camped along the pipeline route must clear out before Dec. 5.

That news came days after reports of police hitting protestors with rubber bullets and icy water cannons, injuring some activists.

Irvines Goddess Temple of Orange County joined in a synchronized prayer circle for Standing Rock that took place around the world from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday.

As we stay warm, safe and dry and well-fed after Thanksgiving, the very least we people with prayerful hearts can do is come together for an hour to pray, said a woman who goes only by Ava and serves as priestess for the temple.

Rain started rolling in as Santa Ana protestors passed out fliers in English and Spanish with information about the pipeline project.

Demonstrators encouraged people to close accounts at banks that are helping to finance the project. They offered details on how to contact the Army Corps to ask the agency to revoke permits. They collected supplies to send to Sacred Stone Camp. And they invited people to an open mic event Saturday evening at El Centro Cultural de Mexico, where poets, artists, musicians and others planned to reflect on Standing Rock.

Dionne Lyburtus, 45, of Santa Ana flagged down passersby to chat with them about the pipeline.

I dont want to sit at home and do nothing, Lyburtus said. Hopefully, if enough people join in and raise their voices, we might make a difference.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7963 or bstaggs@ocregister.comTwitter: @JournoBrooke
Scattered showers that continued Sunday across Orange County were expected to end by Sunday evening. But cool temperatures should continue into Monday, according to the National Weather Service.

Numerous scattered showers and one-tenth to three-tenths of an inch of rain were expected across Orange County Sunday, especially in the afternoon, said National Weather Service Meteorologist Stephen Harrison.

Winds of 30 to 40 miles per hour, strongest along the coast, also were expected.

The rain should taper off after sunset, Harrison said.

Monday and Tuesday are forecast to be dry, but cool. Temperatures could stay in the low 60s on Monday and rise to the upper 60s on Tuesday, Harrison said.

The Orange County Health Care Agency issued a rain advisory at 8 p.m. Saturday night, reminding swimmers that bacteria levels can rise significantly for three days from runoff after a rain at beaches adjacent to storm drains, creeks and rivers. The advisory applied to beaches down the coast from Seal Beach down to San Clemente State Beach.

The weekend deluge made things especially difficult for homeless people living by the riverbed and under bridges.

Volunteers from the homeless advocacy organization Omas Angels helped people at Katella Avenue, Highway 57 and West Chapman Avenue move themselves and their belongings out of the riverbed Saturday, said Heidi Zimmermann, the organizations president.

Authorities said they had no water-related rescues.

The rain was the possible cause of a handful of power outages in Orange County. Southern California Edison was working to restore power to 111 customers in Huntington Beach and 22 customers in Seal Beach on Sunday, said Mary Ann Milbourn, a spokeswoman for the power company.

It wasnt certain if the rain was to blame for the outages, she said.

Sometimes things just break, she said. Power was expected to be restored by early afternoon in Huntington Beach and by late afternoon in Seal Beach.

Milbourn reminded customers to call 911 if they see any downed power lines and to stay away from them.

Contact the writer: aboessenkool@ocregister.com
PODGORICA, Montenegro  After multiple but unproven accusations that President Vladimir Putin of Russia is working hard to destabilize Americas friends in Europe, a pro-Russian mercenary detained in Montenegro is slowly spilling his guts  and providing the first insiders account of what authorities in this tiny Balkan nation say were Russian efforts to sow mayhem.

The man, Aleksandar Sindjelic, a veteran anti-Western activist from neighboring Serbia, has become a key informant  and a suspect  in a sprawling investigation into an alleged plot orchestrated by two Russians to seize Montenegros parliament building last month, kill the prime minister and install a new government hostile to NATO.

Sindjelics account of the events includes a visit to Moscow in September to plan the operation and details of the encrypted phones he was asked to use to avoid eavesdropping. He has not directly implicated any Russian officials but has raised questions about the links between state agencies and a murky network of Russian nationalists active in the Balkans and in eastern Ukraine.

Montenegrin authorities say two Russians carrying passports in the names of Eduard Shirikov and Vladimir Popov commanded the botched plot. But both men, who oversaw preparations for the operation from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, are back in Moscow, and it is unclear whether they were traveling under real or fake identities and for whom exactly they were working.

The Montenegrin news media has reported that they are agents of Russias military intelligence service, known as the GRU. People close to the investigation said that they were Russian intelligence officers but that their precise affiliation was unclear.

The prosecutors office, in a statement this month, said the Russian pair had orchestrated plans in Montenegro, Serbia and Russia to carry out an undetermined number of criminal acts of terrorism and the murder of highest-ranking representatives of Montenegro.

In public, Montenegrin officials have avoided accusing the Russian state directly of directing the actions of Popov and Shirikov.

Obviously, there are people with more power who are behind them, Montenegros minister of justice, Zoran Pazin, said this month in an interview in Podgorica, the capital. Is it the Russian state or Russian nationalist groups? We dont know yet.

After the early-1990s breakup of Yugoslavia, of which Serbia and Montenegro were parts, the Balkan region has been a zone of dark and often lethal intrigue.

To Moscows dismay, Serbia and Montenegro, both traditionally close to Russia, have increasingly tilted toward the West, applying to join the EU and, in Montenegros case, even NATO.

With a few thousand soldiers, a handful of tanks and only 600,000 residents, Montenegro  whose application to join NATO was accepted in May and now awaits ratification  is hardly a military powerhouse. But it controls the only stretch of coastline where warships can dock between Gibraltar and eastern Turkey not already in the hands of the alliance.

There is a big struggle going on, said Ranko Krivokapic, an opposition leader who has lobbied for years for Montenegro to join NATO. We are the last piece of the Mediterranean that is not already in NATO, the last piece in a big puzzle.

Russia has campaigned furiously to keep Montenegro out of the alliance, supporting pro-Moscow political groups in the country and Orthodox priests who view NATO as a threat to Slavic fraternity and faith.

NATO is an occupying force, and I am absolutely against it, said Momcilo Krivokapic, an Orthodox priest and an estranged relative of the pro-NATO politician. His church in Kotor, an ancient fortress town, is just a few yards from Kotor Bay, a deepwater haven long coveted by both Russia and the West for its strategic location.

In early October, Momcilo Krivokapic presided over a ceremony in Kotor for the foundation of the Balkan Cossack Army, a Russian-led grouping of Pan-Slavic nationalists bitterly hostile to NATO. The priest described the gathering as just folklore, featuring men in fur hats and imperial-era costumes.

Yet it was also attended by members of the Night Wolves, a Russian motorcycle gang whose leader is a friend of Putins, and mercenaries who have fought in eastern Ukraine on the side of Russian-backed separatists.

The anti-NATO clamor has succeeded in weakening already lukewarm public support for the alliance, which even some pro-Western voices view as a needless provocation of Russia and a ploy by Milo Djukanovic, Montenegros longtime and notoriously devious leader, to cement his power with help from the U.S.

So when Djukanovic announced that his government was the target of a Russian-backed plot in October, opposition politicians  both pro- and anti-NATO  as well as much of the news media and many independent observers dismissed the claim as a fairy tale.

Djukanovic and his officials initially provided no evidence to support their allegation of a foiled coup attempt on Oct. 16, the day of national elections. They said only that 20 Serbs  some of whom turned out to be elderly and in ill health  had been detained just hours before they were to launch the alleged putsch. Nonetheless, Djukanovic insisted it is more than obvious that unnamed Russian structures were working with pro-Moscow politicians to derail the countrys efforts to join NATO.

Since then, however, Sindjelic, has begun talking. He was held for three weeks in the Spuz Correctional Facility, a red brick detention center north of Podgorica, and then released last week as a protected witness. He has told investigators about his visit to Moscow, about sophisticated encrypted telephones and about the more than $200,000 he says he was given as a down payment for his role as a recruiter of muscle for the operation, people close to the investigation said.

Also talking is another central figure in the alleged plot, a former Serbian gendarmerie commander named Bratislav Dikic. He initially denied any involvement after his arrest on Oct. 16 shortly before polling began in an election that the pro-Russian opposition politicians had hoped to win. The results were inconclusive.

Both Sindjelic, a former convict who fought for a time with Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, and Dikic have long ties with Serbian nationalist groups and militant supporters of Slavic solidarity, a cause that many Russian nationalists also embrace and that has murky links to Serbian and Russian secret services.

Russias Foreign Ministry, which warned of unspecified negative consequences when Montenegro announced it wanted to join NATO, has strongly denied any Russian role in fomenting trouble. Accusing Montenegrin leader Milo Djukanovic of fanning anti-Russian hysteria, Moscow has called for a referendum on NATO membership, a vote that opinion polls indicate could easily reject the alliance.

Milivoje Katnic, the Montenegrin prosecutor handling the coup case, told reporters in early November that there was no solid proof yet that the Russian state had been involved. He blamed Russian nationalists who wanted to stop Montenegro on its Euro-Atlantic path, especially to prevent its accession to NATO.

But Russian nationalist groups in Moscow say they had no knowledge of any men named Popov and Shirikov.

The official version of what happened in October still contains many holes, including the failure by the authorities in Montenegro to produce any of the weapons they say were to be used in an Election Day attack on parliament in Podgorica by conspirators disguised as police officers.

The release of the prime suspect, Sindjelic, also raised eyebrows. The main pro-Russian opposition party, the Democratic Front, denounced it as proof that all the masks have finally dropped in that cheap, staged and performed vaudeville coup.

Probably the only people who know the full story of what was planned and by whom exactly are the two Russians, Popov and Shirikov. But they have vanished. They had been in Belgrade but were allowed to return to Moscow after a visit to the Serbian capital late last month by Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Putins security council and a former head of Russias FSB security service.

Moscow has insisted that Patrushevs visit had been planned long before news of the Montenegro plot broke, but it was announced only shortly before his arrival. This prompted speculation in the Serbian and Russian news media that he had rushed to Belgrade to try to contain the fallout from the unraveling of the plan.

Serbias prime minister, Aleksandar Vucic, who has struggled to balance strong pro-Russian sentiment in his country with his own policy of shifting cautiously toward the West, was outraged to hear that Russian citizens and Serbian nationalists had been working together under his nose in Belgrade to stage a coup in Montenegro.

He swiftly announced a shake-up of Serbias intelligence services, many of whose members have traditionally leaned toward Russia and view the West as an enemy, a feeling that intensified with NATOs 1999 bombing campaign.

There has also been a small shake-up in Moscow with Putins abrupt and unexplained dismissal of Leonid Reshetnikov, a former Soviet intelligence officer, as head of the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies, a research group that works for the Kremlin. The institute had been in the forefront of Russian efforts to derail Montenegros NATO membership and has extensive links to pro-Russian groups in the Balkans.

After initially dismissing Montenegros claim of a coup plot, Vucic, Serbias prime minister, announced that there was incontrovertible evidence that certain people had placed Djukanovic, Montenegros leader, under close surveillance using the most modern equipment and were reporting to co-conspirators who were supposed to act in accordance with their instructions.

Several people who were acting in coordination with foreigners had been arrested in Serbia, he said.

Among those arrested was Sindjelic, who was swiftly transferred to the Spuz detention center in Montenegro.

Adding to a fog of fearful foreboding, Serbian authorities then announced they had uncovered a cache of arms near Vucics family home in Belgrade, a stash that Serbian news media outlets said had been put there in preparation for an assassination attempt against the Serbian leader, too.

Sindjelic has told investigators that he is uncertain about the exact affiliations of Popov and Shirikov. He said only that when he visited Moscow in September to discuss the Montenegro plot, he was hosted in a luxury apartment and was warned that he was dealing with dangerous people and should take care not to step out of line.

But there are now so many Russians who have a stake in Montenegros future  including tens of thousands who vacation each year on its glorious coast, anti-Kremlin figures who have sought refuge in its proximity to the West, shady investors looking for a place to stash their money, and a murky cast of intelligence operatives and nationalists who want to keep NATO out  the country, too, has to tread carefully.

Montenegro, said Ljubomir Filipovic, a former deputy mayor of Budva, a coastal town that is particularly popular with Russians, is the new Casablanca.
Homebuying in Lake Forest and Foothill Ranch in the third quarter fell as 266 residences sold vs. 280 a year ago, according to CoreLogic. Thats a sales loss of 5 percent. (Note: Portola Hills is tracked in the 92679 ZIP code.)

Here are nine trends in and around Lake Forest and Foothill Ranch from the report:

1. Foothill Ranch ZIP code 92833  154 homes sold in the period vs. 186 a year ago. Thats a sales loss of 17.2 percent. Median selling price of $550,000 vs. $480,000 a year ago, a gain of 14.6 percent.

2. Lake Forest ZIP 92835  112 homes sold vs. 94 a year ago. Thats a sales gain of 19.1 percent. Median of $732,000 vs. $609,000 a year ago, a gain of 20.2 percent.

And heres some countywide trends of note for the July-to-September period:

3. Orange County median price for the quarter was $643,000  up 4.9 percent or $30,000 in a year!

4. Countywide sales were 10,077  up 0.2 percent in a year!

5. Local single-family home sales totaled 6,111  down 3.9 percent from a year ago. Median selling price was $705,000  up 3.7 percent from a year ago.

6. Resales of O.C. condos were 2,920  down 0.7 percent from a year ago. Median selling price was $450,000  up 5.4 percent from a year ago.

7. Builder sales in the county were 1,046  up 38 percent from a year ago. Median selling price was $820,000  down 0.6 percent from a year ago.

8. In Orange Countys 27 least expensive ZIPs  median sales price at $568,750 and below  2,754 homes sold. Thats down 5.6 percent compared to a year ago.

9. In the 27 priciest ZIPs  median sales price beginning at $705,000  3,147 homes sold. Thats up 8.9 percent compared to a year ago.

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BAGHDAD  Rekindling sectarian rivalries at a sensitive time, Iraqs parliament on Saturday voted to fully legalize state-sanctioned Shiite militias long accused of abuses against minority Sunnis, adopting a legislation that promoted them to a government force empowered to deter security and terror threats facing the country, such as Islamic State.

The legislation, supported by 208 of the chambers 327 members, was quickly rejected by Sunni Arab politicians and lawmakers as proof of the dictatorship of the countrys Shiite majority and evidence of its failure to honor promises of inclusion.

The majority does not have the right to determine the fate of everyone else, Osama al-Nujaifi, one of Iraqs three vice presidents and a senior Sunni politician, told reporters after the vote, which was boycotted by many Sunni lawmakers.

There should be genuine political inclusion. This law must be revised.

Another Sunni politician, legislator Ahmed al-Masary, said the law cast doubt on the participation in the political process by all of Iraqs religious and ethnic factions.

The legislation aborts nation building, he said, adding it would pave the way for a dangerous parallel to the military and police.

A spokesman for one of the larger Shiite militias welcomed the legislation as a well-deserved victory. Those who reject it are engaging in political bargaining, said Jaafar al-Husseini of the Hezbollah Brigades.

It is not the Sunnis who reject the law, it is the Sunni politicians following foreign agendas, said Shiite lawmaker Mohammed Saadoun.

The law, tabled by parliaments largest Shiite bloc, applies to the Shiite militias fighting Islamic State as well as the much smaller and weaker anti-Islamic State Sunni Arab groups. Militias to fight Islamic State set up by tiny minorities, such as Christians and Turkmen, are also covered.

According to a text released by parliament, the militias have now become an independent force that is part of the armed forces and report to the prime minister, who is also the commander in chief.

The new force would be subject to military regulations, except for age and education requirements  provisions designed to prevent the exclusion of the elderly and uneducated Iraqis who joined the militias. The militiamen would benefit from salaries and pensions identical to those of the military and police, but are required to severe all links to political parties and refrain from political activism.

The legislation came at a critical stage in Iraqs two-year-long fight against Islamic State, a conflict underscored by heavy sectarian tensions given that the group follows an extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam and the security forces are predominantly Shiite. The Shiite-led government last month launched a massive campaign to dislodge Islamic State from predominantly Sunni Mosul, Iraqs second largest city and the last major urban center still held by the extremist group.

Through the military, the government has used the campaign to project an image of even-handedness, reaching out to the citys residents and promising them a life free of the atrocities and excesses committed by Islamic State. It has also excluded the Shiite militias from the battle, winning a measure of goodwill from the Sunnis. But Saturdays legislation may stoke the simmering doubts of many Sunnis about the intentions of the government.

The Shiite militias, most of which are backed by Iran, have been bankrolled and equipped by the government since shortly after Islamic State swept across much of northern and western Iraq two years ago. Many of them existed long before Islamic State emerged, fighting American troops in major street battles during the U.S. military presence in Iraq between 2003 and 2011. Their ranks, however, significantly swelled after Iraqs top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, called for jihad, or holy struggle, against Islamic State in June 2014.

They now number over 100,000 men and fight with heavy weaponry, including tanks, artillery and rocket launchers. The larger militias have intelligence agencies and run their own jails. Since 2014 they have played a key role in the fight against Islamic State, checking its advance on Baghdad and the Shiite holy cities of Samarra and Karbala and later driving the militants from areas to the south, northeast and north of Baghdad.

Their heavy battlefield involvement followed the collapse of security forces in the face of the 2014 Islamic State blitz, but their role has somewhat diminished in recent months as more and more of Iraqs military units regained their strength and chose to distance themselves from the occasionally unruly militiamen.

Iraqs Sunni Arabs and rights groups have long complained that the militiamen have been involved in extrajudicial killings, abuse and the theft or destruction of property in Sunni areas. They viewed them as the Trojan Horse of Shiite, non-Arab Iran because of their close links to Tehran and their reliance on military advisers from Iran and Lebanons Hezbollah.

Many in the Sunni Arab community wanted them integrated into the military and police, a proposition long rejected by Shiite militia leaders, some of whom have on occasion spoken of their aspiration of evolving into a force akin to Irans Revolutionary Guards or the Iranian-backed Hezbollah  both well-armed military groups with substantial political leverage and large economic interests.

Senior Shiite politician Amar al-Hakim sought to reassure Sunnis on Saturday, saying several laws to be issued by the prime minister to regulate the work of the militias would allay many of their fears. He did not elaborate, but added The law creates a suitable climate for national unity.

In a statement, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi welcomed the legislation and said the Popular Mobilization Forces  the formal name of the militias  would cover all Iraqi sects.

We must show gratitude for the sacrifices offered by those heroic fighters, young and elderly. It is the least we can offer them, said the statement. The Popular Mobilization will represent and defend all Iraqis wherever they are.

But Sunni lawmaker Mohammed al-Karbooly said the law ignored pleas by Sunni politicians for the expulsion and prosecution of Shiite militiamen accused of abuses.

The law, as is, provides them with a cover, he said.
Goodwill Omaha has awarded over the past decade more than $5 million in no-bid contracts to two major Omaha companies whose executives sit on the nonprofits board  arrangements that experts call eyebrow-raising and ill-advised.

The nonprofit also gave smaller no-bid contracts to the family members and friends of Goodwill Omaha leaders, ex-employees say, a practice the nonprofit last week blamed on executives who no longer work for the charity.

Those contracts stood out during a World-Herald look into the web of potential conflicts at Goodwill Omaha, conflicts that also include contracts granted to a company employing the ex-CEOs daughter and the fact that the charity has done business with eight of its recent board members companies.

One of the two major companies to receive contracts, Peter Kiewit Sons Inc., hasnt gone through a competitive bidding process to win a Goodwill Omaha project since 1995, according to Joe Lempka, a Kiewit executive and Goodwill Omahas current board chairman.

Since 2006, Kiewit has been awarded $4.1 million in no-bid contracts to build the new Goodwill headquarters and several retail stores as another Kiewit executive and later Lempka sat on the nonprofits board. Lempka also confirmed that hes close friends with ex-Goodwill Omaha CEO Frank McGree and took a recent European vacation with McGree and their spouses.

The other company, the architecture firm RDG Planning & Design, has received $903,000 in no-bid contracts in the past decade to design the Goodwill headquarters and several retail stores. Joe Lang, RDGs principal architect and a Goodwill board member, confirmed that Meg McGree Krause, a daughter of the ex-Goodwill Omaha CEO, works for RDG and helped design the Goodwill headquarters.

Both board members defended the contracts, arguing that their companies are able to design and build Goodwill projects quickly and affordably. Lempka and Goodwill executives both pointed out that the nonprofits business relationship with Kiewit began years before a company executive joined the board.

And both board members and Goodwill leaders said the construction and design projects were similar over the years, making it sensible that the nonprofit stick with the same companies that had satisfied them in the past.

The board members said that the friendships, family ties and business relationships had no impact on their thinking as they annually debated and set Frank McGrees salary as members of the nonprofits board.

We think this is a great relationship, said Lempka, a Goodwill board member since 2009 and president of the Kiewit Building Group. We (Kiewit) have multiple people serving on (multiple nonprofit) boards. We dont do work for all those organizations, and thats not why we are on the boards. But when we can help and bring our experience to bear, we think its a great opportunity. And, again, its done aboveboard so everyone knows whats going on.

But outside experts in nonprofit management had a starkly different view of these arrangements, describing them as highly questionable.

A nonprofit should generally bid out contracts to ensure they get the best deal, and should always bid out contracts that involve a board members company or other potential conflicts of interest, they said.

In this way, the leaders of a nonprofit like Goodwill Omaha  a nonprofit that receives public donations, government grants and tax breaks  can avoid either the appearance or the reality that they are getting too chummy with the business interests of their board members, their relatives and their friends.

My first reaction is just sadness, said Dave Renz, a University of Missouri-Kansas City professor and nonprofit expert who has advised nearly 200 nonprofit boards during his career.

What you are describing here is a process that seems to undermine the trust that is essential for a nonprofits donors, its constituents, its community. Its not all that unusual. But it is unacceptable.

In an interview this month, Pauli Bishop, Goodwill Omahas interim CEO, described a three-step process she said is the typical way the nonprofit awards contracts. Step one: Get three bids for the work from three different companies. Step two: Discuss those bids with the nonprofits leadership group and other executive staff. Step three: Pick the best company for the job.

But the awarding of major design and construction contracts deviated from this three-step process. Why?

In a follow-up email, the nonprofit said that Goodwill Omaha policy doesnt call for projects to be bid out if they are ongoing services, which the nonprofit considered construction and design contracts to be. The email statement also cited the good work of RDG and Kiewit as reason to continue using them on no-bid contracts.

There are obvious benefits of efficiency and cost-effectiveness when utilizing the services of an established vendor who has performed the same or similar work in the past, the statement said.

But Goodwill Omaha appears to have deviated from its own rules in at least four other cases as it decided whom to hire and whom to pay.

Four ex-employees told The World-Herald that the nonprofit awarded no-bid contracts for things like janitorial supplies, bug extermination, T-shirts and signage. All of these contracts went to family members and friends of the nonprofits leadership team, they said. Two of the ex-employees say they were specifically instructed by their bosses not to bid out contracts.

These decisions were made by people who are no longer employed by Goodwill, the Goodwill statement said in reply to a question about these contracts. It said the nonprofit will address the bidding guidelines as part of our evaluation of how to move forward.

State law does allow for business between a nonprofit and the company of a board member or family member, but only if the board believes that transaction is fair to the nonprofit. Federal rules require nonprofits to list all potential conflicts in their annual disclosure forms.

Goodwill has disclosed its business relationships with Kiewit, RDG, the insurance company Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., First National Bank and the Omaha law firm Baird Holm in federal 990 forms that The World-Herald reviewed. The nonprofit also confirmed that it has done or does business with Investors Realty, the Omaha law firm Fraser Stryker and American National Bank.

Goodwills 21-person volunteer board includes seven current members employed by those companies. An eighth member, Daniel Padilla of First National Bank, recently resigned from the board.

Board member Mark Stokes, an executive vice president at Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., told The World-Herald that while his insurance company has done business with Goodwill Omaha for the past few years, that business had been won annually through a competitive bidding process.

Goodwill declined to provide proof of that bidding process, calling it proprietary and confidential.

Goodwill said that First National and American National Bank went through a competitive bidding process to get the nonprofits business, while Investors Realty was selected as a real-estate agent after an interview. Fraser Stryker and Baird Holm are two of four Omaha law firms that the charity uses because of their specific legal expertise, Goodwill Omaha said.

State guidelines require nonprofits to save board minutes and records of discussions and votes so they can illustrate how the deals between the charity and its board members companies is in the nonprofits best interests. But neither state nor federal law explicitly requires that those contracts be competitively bid.

Board members said they followed applicable laws and Goodwill Omaha policy on these conflict-of-interest dealings, for example recusing themselves if the board was voting on a contract with their company.

Outside experts say theres an easy way to prove that a deal is in the best interests of a nonprofit: competitively bid out the work so that executives and board members can judge it against other offers. And have open, transparent conversations as a board about any and all perceived conflicts.

We would recommend that you go out to bid, said Anne Hindery, CEO of the Nonprofit Association of the Midlands. It doesnt mean you wouldnt use the same company. But you want to have that process to let sunshine in.

Angela Eikenberry, a University of Nebraska at Omaha professor and nonprofit expert, pointed out that a boards duty goes beyond whats legal.

Theres an ethical duty here ... a duty to avoid the appearance of anything strange or anything that seems like a conflict, Eikenberry said. So, yeah, this kind of raises the eyebrows, doesnt it?

Lang, the RDG principal architect and longtime board member, said the Goodwill Omaha board never discussed the fact that the nonprofit CEOs daughter would be working on the headquarters project for RDG after Goodwill Omaha awarded that project to the design firm without a competitive bidding process.

We hire based on merit, Lang said. Meg is an outstanding employee. Shes been with us for a while and done a great job.

Lempka, the Goodwill Omaha board president and Kiewit executive, was asked if he had thought about how to separate his duties as board president from his companys business relationship with Goodwill Omaha and his own friendship with McGree.

Sure, it does require some thought, he said. But I take it even more seriously because I have a fiduciary duty to the board, and I take a board position very seriously.

I would hope that anybody who works around people very closely for a number of years would develop some level of friendship and you get along and its an efficient relationship. But this is also why we have a board of the size we do. ... All the things we are talking about are taken to the full board. Im just one vote for the board.

During the interview, the board members argued that their companies, and the companies of other board members, have volunteered their time and money to Goodwill programs like YouthBuild, which helps high school dropouts learn construction skills while earning their GEDs.

Lyn Wallin Ziegenbein, who resigned from the Goodwill board last week, joined in defense of the pro bono work that Kiewit, RDG and Investors Realty have done in the nonprofit world. In a separate interview, the director emerita of the Peter Kiewit Foundation said she had seen countless occasions of those firms providing free cost estimates, advice and other expertise on community betterment projects.

They have done many good things for nothing, Ziegenbein said.

Renz, the nonprofit board expert, said the Goodwill Omaha conflicts of interest remind him of old-style practices he saw more often earlier in his career. He cautioned generally against what he called the perception of quid pro quos  any whiff of belief that any large gift results in a nonprofit pushing business that donors way.

He said that in the past decade, many boards have moved to tighter controls on conflicts of interest, spurred largely by the publics growing desire to know how their donations are being used.

He said he could imagine how Goodwill Omahas business and family conflicts of interest developed slowly, over years, and likely for reasons that seemed logical to the board and the nonprofits leadership.

But he also said that organizations in Goodwill Omahas situation often fail to take a step back and see the full picture, including the nonprofits need for transparency and accountability to the public.

Its a boards job to ensure that the brand of the organization isnt sullied by the practices of that organization, he said. Quite frankly, the cleanest way for an organization thats taking great care is to just not engage in these kind of relationships.

Boards (around the country) are recognizing that there needs to be more care taken ... to keep these processes clean.

World-Herald staff writer Henry J. Cordes contributed to this report.
With each puff of his Montecristo Cuban cigar and each sip of his Cuban coffee Saturday, Gerardo Machado felt a long-carried weight grow lighter.

Painful memories of life in Fidel Castros Cuba were finally beginning to fade. In the wake of Castros death, as Cubans began nine days of mourning, the Omahan was celebrating.

Machado, 85, celebrated a day he said he will always remember, because now he can start to forget.

The devil is gone, he said.

Erasing memories also means revisiting them. So between the many phone calls Saturday from cousins and old comrades, Machado recalled the 22 months he spent trudging through the islands mountains, fighting against Castros Communist revolution.

He recalled his capture, the jail cell and the bloody lashings, the day they yanked out his fingernail when he wouldnt give up the names of other soldiers. He recalled the stamped and sealed order for his execution, scheduled just five days from when he was released. That was 1959; he wasnt even 30 years old.

Machado left Cuba that year, going first to Mexico City, then Miami, then coming to Omaha, where he taught Spanish at Creighton Prep and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

He said he thinks God didnt let him die in 1959 because He wanted him to teach students about what happened in Cuba.

I almost wish he would have lived a little longer, Machado said of Castro, because maybe then he could have done something good. He died for nothing. He lived only for communism.

Machado was just one of many Omahans reflecting on Castros death.

Vivienne Cuadrado, 73, said the news did not surprise her. Its been coming for the last several years. He was going to meet his Maker. Hopefully he had a moment to repent first.

She was mostly saddened at the thought of how Castros life and influence shaped her home country. What he did to what was once such a happy country, its just so sad, she said.

After losing property in the revolution, Cuadrados family left for the United States when she was a teenager. She moved to Omaha and enrolled in Duchesne College in 1961. She earned her masters degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and spent decades teaching Spanish in Omaha high schools.

For 75-year-old Luis Canal, Castros death stirred up anger.

Honestly, a man like that should not have died in his own bed, Canal said. Many people my age would tell you that they wished they could have killed him themselves. So do I.

Canal left Cuba in 1958 after graduating from high school. He attended the University of Texas and went back to visit during the first couple of years away, but his father told him to never return. The last time he saw his beautiful, beautiful country was in 1960.

Neither Machado nor Cuadrado believes Castros death will bring immediate change to Cuba; his younger brother, President Raul Castro, will continue to lead as he has done officially since 2008.

I dont think this means freedom for the country, Cuadrado said.

Though Machado called Castros death the best news of the year, he agreed with Cuadrado. Before I go, I want to see Raul gone  that will be a whole new celebration.

Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado is not Cuban but understands the mix of emotions. He agrees that not much will immediately change for Cuba.

The assistant vice chancellor for student affairs at UNO has been to Cuba 29 times and will leave for his 30th visit next month. Hes written books and dozens of articles on the country.

In 2006, shortly before Fidel Castro handed power temporarily to Raul, Benjamin-Alvarado had an eight-hour dinner and conversation with Fidel. He remembers being in awe, scribbling 35 pages of notes from the meeting and coming away impressed by the leaders intelligence and by the respect he commanded.

Late into the night, he and Castro chatted about the Cuban missile crisis, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, even how he ate fish instead of red meat.

Though Benjamin-Alvarado acknowledges never personally feeling the losses of what many Cubans experienced under Castro, he said its morose to celebrate his, or anyones, death.

He believes Castros legacy will be one of fervent nationalism.

The revolution solidified what it meant to be Cuban, he said. He certainly wasnt a saint by any stretch of the imagination, but that sense of nation is perhaps what has kept Cuba together.

For the future of Cuban-American relations, Benjamin-Alvarado is hopeful. He hopes the Trump administration will continue what the Obama administration began in the final weeks of 2014 with the restoration of diplomatic relations with Cuba. He called those efforts mostly cosmetic changes, but said they represented a start.

For so long weve had a Fidel policy and not a Cuba policy, Benjamin-Alvarado said, clarifying that a Cuba policy would focus on bringing stability and fostering self-determination in the country rather than just ousting a regime. I hope now we can put that defeat Fidel policy to bed and focus on a true country policy.

But for now, in these first few days without Fidel Castro, Cubans will struggle with what Benjamin-Alvarado calls a double-edged sword of emotion, the tangle of joy and sadness felt by Machado and Cuadrado.

At 1 a.m. Saturday, Benjamin-Alvarado turned on the radio, tuning in to National Public Radio. Reports from the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami told of Cuban-Americans rushing into the streets, yelling The dictator is dead.

From many friends, Machado heard of the Miami celebrations, too. Part of him wished he could be there, proudly waving his Cuban flag alongside other Cuban-Americans who understand the complicated emotions of loving and grieving for a country they left years ago.

But the celebrations may be short-lived, Benjamin-Alvarado said.

All that joy will be tinged with a dose of reality, he said. Soon I think (Cubans) may realize that this doesnt really matter. Life in Cuba will likely not change soon.
Omaha businessman Walter Scott Jr. has donated $53.3 million to Colorado State University, the largest contribution in the schools history.

The money will go toward scholarships, faculty support and research, said the university, which will name its engineering college the Walter Scott Jr. College of Engineering.

Scott earned a bachelors degree in civil engineering from the college in 1953 and began his career at Peter Kiewit Sons Inc., becoming its chairman and CEO and now chairman emeritus.

As we get older, I think its natural to think about the generations that will follow, Scott, 85, said in a press release. And in a technological age, its important that our top students have the opportunity to study at strong research universities.

We are humbled and incredibly grateful for this remarkable gift from Walter Scott, Colorado State President Tony Frank said in the press release. Walter has been a passionate

and generous supporter of CSU since he graduated more than 60 years ago, and this gift is truly transformational.

Scott has donated more than $220 million to the University of Nebraska at Omaha, which recently named its south campus after him. His UNO support includes scholarships for 130 to 150 students per year and donations to establish the Peter Kiewit Institute, residence halls and other facilities.

At Colorado State, his money also helped build the newly completed Suzanne and Walter Scott Jr. Bioengineering Building and provide support for more than 30 faculty members and 120 graduate students who conduct research there into water, energy, health and environmental challenges.

The latest gift will expand Scotts scholarship program at Colorado State to as many as 80 undergraduates and 30 graduate students.

It will create presidential chair faculty positions in water, health, energy and the environment, the colleges four areas of excellence, with laboratories and other infrastructure to support teaching and research. The donation also provides discretionary funds for innovative and leadership programs.

Kiewit Corp.s office in Englewood, Colorado, employs more than 100 of the universitys alumni.

Engineering Dean David McLean said the gift will help the college attract top students and faculty members and become one of the best engineering programs in the country.
LINCOLN  Students and others rallied at the State Capitol on Sunday morning to call for abolishing of the Electoral College and express disappointment in the election of Donald Trump as president.

The protest was organized by a group of students from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Nebraska Wesleyan University, according to one of the organizers, Josiah Johnson of Lincoln.

Johnson, a 19-year-old UNL student, said the protest was not about seeking a reversal of Trumps election but to call for a reconsideration of using the Electoral College to elect a president, as well as to express displeasure with Trumps hateful rhetoric during the campaign.

Johnson noted that the protest was held below a saying on the State Capitol: The salvation of the state is the watchfulness in the citizen.

The message to the Trump administration is that we are watchful and will remain watchful, Johnson said.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee, won the popular vote against Trump, but the New York billionaire claimed wins in enough states to handily claim victory through the Electoral College. Under the Electoral College system, each state is awarded one vote for each of its congressional representatives. Electors then vote for president based on how the popular vote went in their state.

Johnson estimated the crowd at about 200 at its peak.
Omaha-area residents respond with impressive generosity to The World-Heralds annual Goodfellows campaign, which helps disadvantaged children and adults.

Donations in 2015 to the charitable fund, managed by The World-Herald, totaled $699,694.12. That was a 6.2 percent increase from 2014.

The number of donors, at 1,697, also was a record, up 13.1 percent from 2014.

Lets continue to set our sights high as a community as the 2016 campaign gets underway.

The World-Herald pays all administrative costs for the Goodfellows program, so every dollar donated goes directly to people in need.

Contributions of any size are appreciated. Last year, donations ranged from a $1 bill stuffed into the hand of a World-Herald employee to a $39,000 distribution by a local charitable trust.

The donations support important help for Omaha-area residents in need, in coordination with a wide array of local nonprofits and businesses:

 One-time emergency aid to someone in crisis through direct payment of a bill. The money goes to the landlord, utility, doctor or other entities.

 Clothing vouchers. Late each summer, the families of 1,000 children receive a $20 voucher per child to purchase underclothes and socks for the new school year.

 A shoe and clothing fund for students in need. The new coat or shoes that Goodfellows donations provide to a disadvantaged child or teen is a big help on a cold winter day.

 Food vouchers. Needy households can enjoy a holiday meal thanks to these charitable vouchers.

Recent World-Herald reporting has highlighted how some families and businesses came donate to Goodfellows.

One example is Kristen Wehner Jacobsen, an Omaha real estate agent. For every client who has closed on a home in 2016, she has made a donation in their name to one of two local nonprofits: Goodfellows or Hands, Hearts and Paws, a dog rescue.

Goodfellows is among the local charities that Sandy Viner and her husband, Gordy, contribute to each winter. Last year, their donation was in memory of Char and Howard McClain, Sandys sister and brother-in-law. In previous years, they have donated in memory of their parents.

Imperial Tile Co. has a jar in which employees and subcontractors drop in money as they pass by throughout the day, in memory of past employees who have died. In 2015, Imperial Tile donated $2,585 to Goodfellows in memory of William Jansa and Robert and Nancy Rutar.

The World-Heralds charitable efforts began in the 1890s, when Nebraska and the Plains region were in the grip of a major economic downturn. The program was renamed Goodfellows in 1910. In 1945, World-Herald Goodfellows Charities was chartered as a nonprofit charitable corporation.

Donations can be sent to World-Herald Goodfellows Charities, 1314 Douglas St., Suite 125, Omaha, NE 68102 or made online at omaha.com or at www.goodfellowsomaha.org.

Goodfellows donations provide support for our fellow citizens  children, teens, parents, seniors  at a time its much needed. Year after year, its an encouraging demonstration of our areas spirit of generosity.
Bharat bandh: Bangalore University postpones exams

Bengaluru

oi-Anusha

With the state government supporting the call for Aakrosh diwas over Demonetisation on Monday, semester exams of Bangalore university have been postponed.

The Bangalore University in a notification declared that the exams that were to be held on November 28 were rescheduled to December 8. Exams were scheduled for students of 3rd and 5th semester BA/B.Com/BBM/Bhm students on Monday.

The notification came hours after the state government issued a circular asking district commissioners to take a call on holidays for schools anc colleges on Monday. The circular asked for DCs to decide on functioning of schools and colleges depending on the situation.

[Also Read: Bharat Bandh: Karnataka, Kerala, WB to be worst hit ]

With the government extending its support to the bandh, transportation is likely to be worst hit. Emergency and essential services will not be affected by the 12 hour bandh.

OneIndia News
Eyes on 2018 polls Karnataka BJP organises OBC Rally

Bengaluru

oi-Anusha

With its eyes set on the 2018 assembly polls, Karnataka BJP has started expanding and boosting its vote bank. Amit Shah's participation in the state BJP organised OBC rally was a part of its mission 2018 plan.

BJP's National President Amit Shah inaugurated the 'Ekata rally' by beating drums in Bengaluru on Monday. The rally saw prominent faces from backward classes including leaders like K S Eshwarappa and Sriramulu in attendance apart from Union Ministers Sadananda Gowda, Anath Kumar and Nirmala Seetharaman. The event was preceded by a bike rally by BJP workers near Palace Grounds.

While BJP claimed that the rally was aimed at exposing Congress' double standards on backward class upliftment and highlight failed promises by the Chief Minister, it was largely to negate the impression on BJP being an anti-dalit party among voters.

The rally was also masterminded to quell dissent within the party. With its SC/ST rally earlier in October, this was the second event aimed at garnering support of backward classes. B S Yeddyurappa's masterstroke to counter a brewing rebellion within the party became fruitful with this mega rally. Both these rallies came as checkmate to K S Eshwarappa who, with his show of strength with Sangolli Rayanna Brigade, had given B S Yeddyurappa jitters.

OneIndia News
Karnataka- Confusion prevails over school operations for Monday

Bengaluru

oi-Anusha

Schools and colleges in some districts of Karnataka will be closed while many others will remain open on Monday during Bharat Bandh. The respective district collectors have been given the power to decide as they deem fit.

The Karnataka government on Saturday asked District commissioners to take a call on declaring holiday to schools and colleges for Monday. While DCs of Haveri and Ramanagar have declared holiday for students, schools and colleges in Mysuru, Koppal, Shimogga, Kodagu will remain open.

With the private school association deciding to not support the bandh and government schools not coming out with a clear decision on Monday being a holiday, the DCs have been asked to assess the situation and act accordingly.

[Also Read: Bharat Bandh: What to expect on Monday]

The Karnatak University in Dharwad has declared a holiday over the bandh while other institutions are yet to take a call on the same. Even as it extended support to protest against note ban, the Karnataka Congress claims that the support doesn't extend to the bandh. "We haven't called for a bandh nor are we supporting it. We will protest against note ban as part of Akrosh Diwas that has been planned. Inconveniencing people is not ideal", said KPCC's Working President Dinesh Gundu Rao

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, November 27, 2016, 17:22 [IST]
10 armed men break into Punjab jail, free KLF chief Mintoo, four others

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

Chandigarh, Nov 27: In a major security lapse ten armed men stormed into the Nabha jail in Punjab and took away with them dreaded terrorist and Khalistan Liberation Force Chief, Harminder Singh Mintoo and four others.

The ten armed men wearing police uniforms fired 100 rounds before taking away Mintoo and four others with them. The other gangsters who were freed by the armed men have been identified as Gurpreet Singh, Vicky Gondhra, Nitin Deol and Vikramjeet Singh Vicky.

The police have reached the spot and investigations are on. An officer in the Punjab police say that this was a pre-planned operation. There were inputs suggesting that KLF terrorists are likely to free their chief. It is a major security lapse the officer also said.

Mintoo who was wanted in 10 different terror cases was arrested on November 8 2014 at the IGI airport in Delhi. He was arrested while he was returning from Thailand. He is wanted in several cases including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and 2010 recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station.

Mintoo, 47 had deflected from the Wadhawa Singh-led Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) to take over its splinter outfit KLF in 2009. His arrest was dubbed as a major catch by the Punjab police.

According to the intelligence bureau, Mintoo had been tasked by the ISI to carry out an Independence Day attack in 2014.

OneIndia News
Bharat Bandh: What to expect on Monday

India

oi-Anusha

While opposition parties have attempted to corner the BJP in the parliament over demonetisation, they seem to be divided over their stand on Bharath Bandh. While non-BJP governed states have called for protests, many leaders have chosen to oppose bandh.

West Bengal

Left parties in West Bengal have given a call for 12-hour shut down after their counterparts in Tripura and Kerala announced the same. While the state government had already planned for a rally in protest of demonetisation, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee opposed the bandh call.

[Also Read: TMC to oppose Left's strike against demonetisation]

With Mamata Banerjee being in the forefront of protests against demonetisation, it was expected of her to support the bandh. However, calling the shut down nothing but another inconvenience to people, the WB CM has opposed the bandh.

All state government staff have been asked to report to work on Monday. No official holiday has been declared to schools and colleges. Transport, business and establishments are likely to be hit due to the left parties' strike.

Mamata Banerjee and TMC will however, go ahead with her rally against demonetisation as planned. Left parties have called for a complete shut down including banks.

Karnataka

While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed to not support the bandh but will protest against demonetisation, the same doesn't seem to reflect in the state. The State's assembly session was rescheduled from Monday to December 3 in the wake of Bharat bandh.

[Also Read: Bharat bandh: Bangalore University postpones exams]

Transportation is likely to be hit including KSRTC and BMTC buses. District Commissioners have been asked to take a call on functioning of schools and colleges depending on the prevailing situation. Bangalore University, however, has postponed exams that were scheduled on Monday to another date citing Bharath Bandh. Private schools association has not declared a holiday for schools.

The Youth wing of the congress is organising a massive protest in Bengaluru's Town Hall and district headquarters across the state. Emergency services will not be affected. Banks will remain open. Petrol bunks and hotels will function as usual. Malls and establishments, cinema halls, Metro services unlikely to be hit. Associations like CITU have opposed the bandh but will sit in protest in Bengaluru.

Kerala

The strongest reaction to Bharath Bandh is expected from Kerala with the ruling LDF unabashedly calling for a Hartal. The 12-hour hartal from 6 AM to 6 PM is expected to bring Kerala to a standstill. All universities have cancelled or rescheduled their exams. The Kerala Public Service Commission, however, will go ahead with online examinations, Many universities in Kerala have even postponed admission processes.

Interviews and training modules by Kerala government run boards and departments have been rescheduled. Transportation, business is expected to come to a halt and private as well as government offices are likely to remain shut. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan however, has announced that banks and emergency services will remain unaffected.

[Also Read: Bharat Bandh: Karnataka, Kerala, WB to be worst hit]

With many political leaders like Nitesh Kumar, H D Devegowda refusing to support the bandh, Monday is likely to be a day of protests in larger parts of the country than a day of shut downs.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, November 27, 2016, 13:35 [IST]
Celebration, sorrow and slights greet news of Fidel Castro's death

India

oi-PTI

Miami, Nov 27 While the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro prompted cheers from the country's exiles in Miami, the 90-year-old revolutionary leader's passing produced expressions of respect in other parts of the world and measured responses from governments that saw the devoted socialist as a threat.

US President Barack Obama noted that while "discord and profound political disagreements" marked the relationship between the US and Cuba for nearly six decades, Americans were extending "a hand of friendship to the Cuban people" during their time of grief.

"History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him," Obama said.

While spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, where the announcement of Castro's death early yesterday brought Cuban exiles into the streets to celebrate, US President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to share a thought that proved pithy even for the medium: "Fidel Castro is dead!"

Elsewhere in world, Castro was honored and mourned by many present and former national leaders. In a telegram to Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel's 85-year-old brother, Pope Francis offered "my sense of grief to your excellency and family." Francis broke from the Vatican's usual practice of having the secretary of state send official condolences.

In a mark of the esteem the pope held for Castro, whom he met during a visit to Cuba last year, Francis signed the telegram himself.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country was Cuba's main ally and supporter during the Soviet era, called Castro "a sincere and reliable friend of Russia" who had built "an inspiring example for many countries and nations." Chinese President Xi Jinping said Castro "made immortal historical contributions to the development of socialism around the world."

"With his death, the Chinese people have lost a close comrade and a sincere friend," Xi said in a telegram to Raul Castro, state broadcaster CCTV reported. "His glorious image and great achievements will be recorded in history forever."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had vivid memories of meeting Castro in January 2014 and having "a lively discussion that covered developments around the world as well as sustainable development and climate change."

"Under former President Castro, Cuba made advances in the fields of education, literacy and health," Ban said. "I hope Cuba will continue to advance on a path of reform and greater prosperity.

Castro's death was felt especially keenly in Latin America, where his success in overthrowing a military regime inspired leftist activists in other countries.

AP
Demonetisation will make Indian Economy stronger: PM Modi

India

oi-Madhuri

By Madhuri

New Delhi, November 27: The decision on demonetisation was a tough one, but it was aimed at making the Indian economy stronger said Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing in his 26th edition of Mann Ki Baat on Sunday.

While slamming the opposition for raising their voice against demonetisation, he said, "I can understand the inconvenience that people are going through but the problem will be over soon."

"Our nation is suffering for 70 years due to the menace of black money and we are committed to eradicate this menace," he added. He also said that few people are still trying to convert black money into white money by using poor people. ''Their are strict laws in place which will take care of those using the poor as as shield'', Modi added.

Giving a push for the country to go digital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed the people, particularly the youths, to embrace e-banking and mobile banking for cashless transactions. PM Modi also urged people to end their complete dependence on cash.

Modi further talks about the Surat couple who choose a simple way to get marriage due to demonetisation. ''There has been 300% increase in the use of Rupay card after poor started using it'', says Narendra Modi.

OneIndia News
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Mehbooba Mufti offers prayers at dargah of Moinuddin Chisti

India

oi-PTI

Jaipur, Nov 27 Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today offered prayers at the dargah of Sufi Saint Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer.

The Chief Minister arrived in Jaipur this morning and left for Ajmer where she paid obeisance to the Saint after noon.

"Mufti offered prayers in the Dargah and stayed there for nearly half-an-hour," SHO of Dargah police station Mahaveer Singh said.

PTI
Paswan welcomes Nitish Kumar's decision to support demonetisation

India

oi-PTI

Patna, Nov 27 Union Minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan today welcomed Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) president Nitish Kumar's decision of supporting the Centre's demonetisation move and dared RJD and Congress to come out of the grand alliance government if they have problem with it.

"The Chief Minister has shown courage in supporting the Central government's drive against black money. Nitish Kumar has done a commendable job by supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move. I thank him for supporting the Centre's decision," he told PTI.

"If the RJD and Congress have problems with Nitish Kumar, the man who is leading the coalition government of three parties, and praising the Centre on demonetisation, then they should come out of the coalition government," the Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister said.

All progressive thinking and honest people are supporting the Centre's demonetisation move and they will not forgive those who are opposing it, Paswan said.

"Both RJD and Congress are trying to run with the hare and hunt with hound. On the one hand, they are not in agreement with Kumar on the issue while on the other hand, both parties are very much part of the ruling alliance led by him," he said.

PTI
Protest over demonetisation tomorrow, no Bharat bandh: Cong

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Nov 27: Congress today made it clear it has not called for a 'Bharat bandh' tomorrow, but will hold protests across the country against demonetisation, which it alleged "was a political move being sold as a fight against corruption".

Speaking to reporters here, party leader Jairam Ramesh said Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in "dhamaka" politics and the decision to scrap high-value currency notes was taken because he had seen the "writing on the wall" in Uttar Pradesh, where polls are due next year.

He claimed that Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes were scrapped to cover up the government's failure to deliver on the Prime Minister's big electoral promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad and Modi wanted to do something "dramatic". "It is a political move which is being sold as a fight against corruption," Ramesh said hitting out at the Centre.

He said people who have amassed wealth by illegal means are not suffering, but those who do not have black money are facing hardships.

"Unfortunately, people who needed to be attacked have gone scot-free," he said, adding that one section of "suited-booted" people was still leading a life of luxury. Ramesh, a former Union Cabinet minister, claimed that BJP was spreading misinformation that Congress and other parties have called for a 'Bharat bandh'.

The Opposition parties will hold protests across the country by observing "Jan Aakrosh Diwas", he said.

Taking a swipe at the Modi government, he said economic activity has anyway come to a standstill since November 9. Asked what will be the Opposition's strategy in Parliament, Ramesh said a debate will happen if the Prime Minister participates in it.

The Congress leader also questioned government's preparedness to bring in new currency notes, saying that according to estimates, it may take up to 250 days to print new notes and bring economy back on the track. He also criticised the Prime Minister's call for a "cashless" or "lesscash" society, saying that in India, a majority of people use cash for daily transactions."

"Such things take time and cannot be forced by giving shocks," Ramesh said.

PTI
Induction of Congress MLAs into BJP is death of Parrikar's legacy, says outgoing Goa deputy CM

Will write about Defence Ministry stint in memoirs: Manohar Parrikar

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Panaji, Nov 27 Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday said that his post-retirement memoirs will include detailed and specific accounts of the goings-on in his ministry, whose charge he took over two years back.

"I will not spell out everything now. After retiring, when I write my memoirs, I will be more specific..." he told a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party women workers here.

Parrikar also said that the Narendra Modi government had empowered army commanders to retaliate if the enemy attacked.

"When our soldiers were attacked, our armed forces have responded appropriately. The government has empowered army commanders and has given them power to retaliate if attacked. As a result country's border is safe," he said.

Parrikar said that along with powers, the central government has fiven the soldiers better arms, as a result boosting their morale as well as strength.

IANS
Algeria declares 8 days of national mourning for Castro's death

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Algiers, Nov 27: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared on Saturday eight days of national mourning for the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

"President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on Saturday has declared eight days of national mourning as from Sunday, following the death of Cuba's former Head of State, Fidel Castro Ruz, the leader of the Cuban Revolution," APS news agency quoted the President Office as saying in a statement.

Bouteflika has also sent a message of condolence to Raul Castro Ruz, the current President of Cuba, in which he affirmed that the death of Fidel Castro is a "great loss" for the Algerian people, Xinhua news agency reported.

He stressed that Castro played a key role in the Algerian Liberation War (1954-1962) against the French occupation and provided "solidarity and support to the reconstruction of our country ruined by a devastating colonial war" after Algeria gained independence.

"I salute him as an authentic defender of the values of peace, respect and national sovereignty, and of his uncompromising struggle for the rights of people to self-determination," concludes the message.

Fidel Castro died aged 90 on Friday. He governed Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.

IANS
British PM admits Brexit keeps her awake

International

oi-PTI

London, Nov 27 Prime Minister Theresa May has admitted that the challenge of securing "the best deal possible" for the UK on Brexit keeps her awake at night, a media report said today.

In an interview with 'The Sunday Times' magazine, she said that the negotiations with the European Union (EU) over Britain's exit from the economic bloc had contributed to her working long into the night.

"In this job you don't get much time to sleep," the 60-year-old prime minister said. May became UK's second female Prime Minister on July 13 after Margaret Thatcher.

Asked about her "biggest anxieties" and what kept her awake at night, May said: "It's a moment of change. It's a hugely challenging time. And we need to get on with the terms of Brexit. And I'm very conscious of that."

"I want to make sure that everything we do does ensure Britain is a country that works for everyone. And that we really get out there and forge a new role in the world post-Brexit."

"We can make a success of it, we will make a success of it but these are really complex issues. We need to get on with the deal in terms of Brexit. We need to get the best deal possible for the UK," she said.

In one of her most personal interviews so far, May said that that her husband Philip John May gave her advice on her wardrobe and accessories.

"It's taken a bit of adjusting for him to see people writing about what he wears and taking selfies of him, but he's getting used to it! He's been surprised by how much interest he's had. Philip says he gets 90 per cent of the fun for only 10 per cent of the effort," she said of her husband of 36 years.

Opening up about her own childhood as the only child of a clergyman, May also said some of what drives her - her Christian faith, her self-belief and her sense of duty.

She said: "There was never any suggestion that because I was a girl there were things I couldn't do. My parents' approach was very much: whatever you do, do your best. There was never any suggestion that because I was a girl there were things I couldn't do."

PTI
Afghan terror: Civilian deaths at near-record level in 2018, says UN report

Pakistan elections: US worried over people affiliated to LeT

Denmark: 2 held for attempting procurement of drones for IS

Days before Trump announced Syria withdrawal, a sinister report came out on IS in Iraq

US Syria pull-out plan delay frustrates Turkey; will launch attack, says Ankara

New Zealand man who had joined IS to return

IS launches chemical attack in Syria, 22 injured

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Ankara, Nov 27: The Islamic State (IS) error outfit carried out a chemical attack in northern Syria, leaving 22 opposition fighters wounded, officials from the Turkish army said on Sunday.

The General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces said the 22 opposition combatants had symptoms of chemical gas exposure following a missile attack by IS jihadists, Efe news agency reported.

IANS
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Bob Fitrakis

(Image by Suzanne Patzer) Details DMCA



My guest today is Bob Fitrakis, college professor, author, editor of the Columbus Free Press, and student of our elections, past and present.

Joan Brunwasser: Welcome to OpEdNews, Bob. The 2016 election has come and gone. What, if anything, is there to talk about now?

Bob Fitrakis: The big news is that Jill Stein's Green Party presidential campaign is asking for a recount of the votes in three states, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. All of these states are significantly outside the margin of error from the unadjusted exit poll numbers contrasted to the reported vote count. I am acting as an of-counsel attorney, pro bono, for the Stein campaign. I believe this is a historically important effort due to the lack of transparency in our elections, that allow private, for-profit, partisan companies to program our computerized voting machines and central tabulators.

JB: Agreed. How did Stein decide to do this action? It's unusual, to say the least. Can you give us some background, please?

BF: Actually, in this case, it's not that unusual. David Cobb, Stein's campaign manager, asked for a recount in Ohio after he ran for president with the Green Party in 2004. Both the Green Party and Libertarian Party endorsed that effort. Later research, much of it published at the freepress.org and at OpEdNews indicated that the 2004 election was in fact stolen by electronically moving the vote count from Ohio to a company called Smarttech in Chattanooga, Tennessee to flip the vote from Kerry to Bush.

When Jill ran for president in 2012, she called a press conference the day of the election and questioned the "secret experimental patches" placed on county central tabulators in 40 or so Ohio counties. She is a supporter of election transparency. The three states chosen for the recount all have statistical red flags and were very close in the votes between the two major presidential candidates. Stein believes the voters of the United States have the right to a fair and accurate count.

JB: Once the decision was made, how do you move forward? I imagine that the cost of recounting is quite expensive. Who's going to pay for this?

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Rome, November 25, 2016

(The author of this submission is a retired senior Italian diplomatic officer)

ITALY AND THE MYTH OF "POLITICAL STABILITY"

Summary: The Italian Government is staking its future on a popular referendum on very controversial constitutional amendments. Should the referendum succeed, it will enhance the risk of an authoritarian drift, in the name of "Stability".-

The year 2016 may well be remembered not only for the triumph of populism, but also as the "year of the referendums". This mode of consultation, rather frequently employed in some countries (e.g. Switzerland and Italy), but more rarely seen elsewhere, was brought to the world's attention by becoming a prime political issue in countries as disparate as the United Kingdom, Hungary and Colombia. Indeed, even the controversial outcome of the U.S. presidential elections has been seen by some as a "plebiscite" in favour of populist positions, giving renewed impetus to some of the most active populist movements in Europe, and acting, therefore, as an unofficial "super-referendum" which has cut across national borders.

Italy itself is in anxious expectation for a referendum on "Constitutional Reform" scheduled to take place on December 4. This episode appeared unlikely to attract international attention, but has, instead, unexpectedly become a major issue with a number of western leaders, especially in the European Union. Even president Obama, in one of his last international acts, a formal meeting with Prime Minister Renzi, urged Italians to vote "yes", thus endorsing a basically unpopular government which has most unwisely wagered its continued existence on the success of the referendum. To many of its critics, the referendum itself appears as a planned instrument to give sweeping powers to the Government, weakening parliamentary control and thus opening the door to a possible authoritarian drift, all in the name of "political stability", a recurring theme in most discussions concerning Italy, even though the few Governments which have, in the past, shown signs of durability have certainly not worked to the country's advantage.

Nevertheless, like a baton in relay race, for the past two decades or so the mantra of "political stability" has been passed on from one Italian Government to the next without achieving any appreciable result except for the gradual erosion of democratic principles and the ever more constant and visible drift towards more authoritarian, and not for this any more "efficient", forms of Government, with the pusillanimous, guilty acquiescence of the leading Italian and International media.

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Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) November 27, 2016: A consortium of news-media outlets that includes ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox, NBC, and the Associated Press pays a company to conduct exit polls. The company is Edison Research. Larry Rosin, a graduate of Princeton University and the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, is the company's co-founder and president.

After the election Rosin published a remarkable piece at Edison Research's blog titled "The hidden group that won the election for Trump: Exit poll analysis from Edison Research" (dated November 15, 2016).

http://www.edisonresearch.com/category/election-polling/

Rosin says, "While most voters did have a favorable view of one of the two major candidates, an astonishing 18% of the electorate told us they had an unfavorable opinion of Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. And this is the group that won the election for Trump."

Rosin notes that "had those [voters] with a negative view of both candidates split evenly, Clinton would have won rather easily. However, . . . this 'Neithers' group broke strongly to Trump 49% to 29%."

According to Rosin, the "Neithers" group pushed Trump over Hillary in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Florida, and North Carolina, providing him with his margin of victory in the battleground states.

As you may have surmised by now, Rosin says, "The 'Neithers' are more likely to be men (61%)" and white (78%).

But the exit polls also revealed something else about the "Neithers" group. Rosin says, "One of the most intriguing aspects of the "Neithers" is that a significant portion of those who were unfavorable to both Clinton and Trump were favorable to President Obama. Nearly half of those who didn't like either of this year's two major candidates do have a favorable view of President Obama -- and a significant portion of this group voted for Trump."

Unfortunately, the exit poll responses do not tell us how the "Neithers" voted in the 2012 presidential election.

Disclosure: No, I was not interviewed in an exit poll. But I had and still have unfavorable views of both Hillary and Trump, and a favorable view of President Obama. However, in my case, I viewed Hillary as the lesser of two evils, and so I voted for her.

Evidently, the "Neithers" did not like either Hillary or Trump much, but they tended to view Trump as the lesser of two evils.

Of course President Trump may shortly disabuse them of that impression.

However, because the "Neithers" didn't like him much, they may not be unhappy to be disabused of that impression about him.

In the meantime, we should note that Rosin's careful analysis of the exit-poll interviews has not received much attention from the news-media outlets who pooled their money to pay his company to conduct the exit interviews.

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Joe McCarthy

(Image by DonkeyHotey) Details DMCA



The Washington Post is promoting a murky group's calls for a government crackdown on political dissent under the pretense of crushing Russian influence in the alternative media. In a widely circulated Thanksgiving Day column, the WAPO gave legitimacy to a chilling effort to stifle critics of U.S. foreign policy as well as foes of Hillary Clinton. The story included an advance copy of what can only be referred to as a neo-McCarthyist blacklist of alternative media outlets that have been singled out for political persecution and harassment.

Included on the list of 200 + websites tabbed out as megaphones for Putin's propaganda is our very own OpEdNews. The blacklist was provided to the WAPO by a shadowy entity that calls itself PropOrNot which the paper identifies as "a nonpartisan collection of researchers with foreign policy, military and technology backgrounds" although the WAPO goes to great lengths to provide few actual details.

According to the WAPO piece entitled "Russian propaganda effort helped spread 'fake news' during election, experts say":

Another group, called PropOrNot, a nonpartisan collection of researchers with foreign policy, military and technology backgrounds, planned to release its own findings Friday showing the startling reach and effectiveness of Russian propaganda campaigns. The researchers used Internet analytics tools to trace the origins of particular tweets and mapped the connections among social-media accounts that consistently delivered synchronized messages. Identifying website codes sometimes revealed common ownership. In other cases, exact phrases or sentences were echoed by sites and social-media accounts in rapid succession, signaling membership in connected networks controlled by a single entity. PropOrNot's monitoring report, which was provided to The Washington Post in advance of its public release, identifies more than 200 websites as routine peddlers of Russian propaganda during the election season, with combined audiences of at least 15 million Americans. On Facebook, PropOrNot estimates that stories planted or promoted by the disinformation campaign were viewed more than 213 million times. Some players in this online echo chamber were knowingly part of the propaganda campaign, the researchers concluded, while others were "useful idiots" -- a term born of the Cold War to describe people or institutions that unknowingly assisted Soviet Union propaganda efforts.

The list indeed has many sites that feature dubious content and traffic in conspiracy theories but OEN is lumped in without any explanation as to why it would be included. There are also many libertarian and conservative websites listed including the hugely popular Drudge Report, Infowars, Zero Hedge, Antiwar.com, Lew Rockwell.com and the Ron Paul Institute.

In addition to OpEdNews, other progressive websites that have been critical of U.S. foreign policy -- especially in regard to the 2014 overthrow of the legitimate government in Ukraine by American backed neo-Nazi elements -- were included. Most notably, Robert Parry's outstanding Consortium News, the personal website of frequent OEN columnist Dr. Paul Craig Roberts, RINF.com, Truthdig.com, the Black Agenda Report, ThisCantBeHappening.net and Information Clearinghouse among others. Wikileaks is also on the list which comes as no surprise given the shrill accusations from Democrats that the whistleblower organization was acting on Putin's behalf to swing the election to Donald Trump.

Following an acrimonious election season which still isn't over, many liberals and progressives have cheered the establishment's attack on "fake news" and the so-called "alt-right" but soon may find themselves hoisted upon their own petards. To groups like PropOrNot it matters little whether one is a right-winger or a left-winger because ANY deviation from the official state media propaganda machine is strictly taboo.

That a diverse collection of writers such as the OEN community is being officially targeted as agents of a foreign power should scare the hell out of regular contributors. This radical escalation in the war on dissent should also serve as a call to arms that there are more important matters than partisan politics and hewing to dogmatic ideology. The Washington Post's promotion of a return to the dark days of McCarthyism represents an existential threat to not only liberal and progressive ideals but to free speech itself.

The WAPO piece quotes PropOrNot's "executive director" but goes to lengths to protect his identity.

"The way that this propaganda apparatus supported Trump was equivalent to some massive amount of a media buy," said the executive director of PropOrNot, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid being targeted by Russia's legions of skilled hackers. "It was like Russia was running a super PAC for Trump's campaign. .".". It worked."

While blaming the Russians for Trump's election has become a knee-jerk response for the establishment types, it's inexplicable that OpEdNews would be included on the list because let's face it, OEN hasn't exactly been a bastion of pro-Trump sentiment. However, OEN has consistently been a critic of interventionist foreign policy and especially when it comes to Ukraine. It's pretty damned hard to find honest reporting on Ukraine but many at OEN have done their part to circumvent the lies that are routinely spewed out by Big Media.

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From Consortium News

While much media attention has focused on President-elect Donald Trump's fringe supporters in the "alt-right" and white-nationalist movements, there's been less press alarm about his appointment of Sen. Jeff Sessions to lead the U.S. Justice Department despite the senator's long record of hostility toward civil rights.

Yet the Sessions appointment may have much more ominous implications. As a legal official in Alabama last century, Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III conducted phony voter fraud investigations aimed at African-Americans and denounced leading organizations in the fight against racial segregation, telling aides that he considered the NAACP and the ACLU to be "un-American" and "Communist-inspired." Sessions also is anti-LGBT rights, pro-capital punishment and hostile to abortion rights.

Responding to Trump's nomination of Sessions to be Attorney General, the ACLU said, "as the nation's highest-ranking law enforcement official, the attorney general is charged with protecting the rights of all Americans, yet Sessions has a reported history of making racist comments."

But Sessions's record goes far beyond racially insensitive remarks. In 1996, I traveled through Alabama and Mississippi with fellow journalist Ron Nixon as we investigated a wave of arson against black churches.

President Bill Clinton had said, "It is clear that racial hostility is the driving force behind a number of these incidents." Then-U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, Deval Patrick, launched what he called "the largest federal civil rights investigation that we have had in some time. This is not a lightly taken investigation."

However, Alabama's Attorney General at the time was Sessions, who was in a close race for the U.S. Senate. Sessions's approach to the burning of some 40 black churches over 18 months from late 1994 into 1996 was to turn the investigation into a joint probe linking the church burnings to an investigation of black voter fraud through alleged misuse of absentee ballots. The connection supposedly was that black voting-rights activists tried to cover up the fraud by burning down their own churches.

In hearings held at the time by the House Judiciary Committee, one minister told Congress that he had been asked to take a lie-detector test regarding voter fraud. Another testified that the financial records from his church were subpoenaed.

"Why are they harassing members of the church instead of these redneck terrorists who are burning down black churches," asked the Reverend Joseph Lowery, then President of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). "It's hard for me to believe we can find terrorists all over the world with our sophisticated equipment, but we can't find a bunch of amateur terrorists here in America."

Despite the long history of white racists burning down black churches as a means of political intimidation, state and federal investigators found nothing to suggest a racial motivation to the dozens of church burnings. Thomas Figures, a black former Assistant U.S. Attorney who had worked under Sessions before quitting and accusing Sessions of calling him "boy," said it was highly unusual to combine two investigations, the church burnings with the voter-fraud suspicions.

Figures blamed the lack of any positive breakthrough in the church fires on "the recalcitrance and the reluctance and the outright hostility of some Southern law enforcement agencies and officials, like Sessions, toward enforcing civil rights."

But the Clinton administration also appeared hesitant to move too aggressively on such a politically sensitive topic. Barrown Lankster, Alabama's first elected black district attorney, unsuccessfully petitioned the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into the vandalism of three churches in Sumter County and a shooting into the house of a Circuit judge who had ruled against two white youths in a church arson case.

"I even wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno personally asking that these actions be pursued as civil rights violations," Lankster said in a 1996 interview. "The criminal division in Washington told me they were going to make a determination. But after a long wait I was told that they were not inclined to view this as a civil rights violation for prosecutorial purposes."

Sessions for U.S. Senate

At the same time of the church burnings, Sessions was in a close race to become the next U.S. Senator from Alabama to replace retiring Democrat Howell Heflin, who had cast a deciding vote to block Sessions's appointment in the 1980s to be a federal judge.

A runoff was scheduled and many in the black community felt that Sessions was using the joint voter-fraud-church-burning investigation to get an edge.

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smoking gun

(Image by Caza_No_7) Details DMCA



103, 20, 70, 0.

One hundred and three individuals killed or injured in the U.S.'s deadliest mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, FL this past June. Twenty first graders shot to death in the Sandy Hook shooting in Newton, CT December of 2012. Seventy casualties resulting from a man opening fire at a movie theatre in Aurora, CO during a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in July of 2012. Zero pieces of gun control legislation passed since 2007.

It's simple numbers, yet something doesn't add up.

As a college student, this data is unsettling. I still remember when, in 2007, a senior at Virginia Tech opened fire on campus in what turned out to be the second deadliest shooting rampage in U.S. history. At the time, I was in elementary school, and I remember being terrified -- scared of college, scared of the real world, scared of being shot. We should not live in a world where children, instead of dreaming about their future, are afraid of growing up. During my college years, I have been fortunate enough to live on a campus void of mass shootings, but I am constantly aware of the possibility, and incidents such as the shooting at USC during the fall of 2014 remind me of the eminent danger.

There is, of course, a simple solution -- gun reform. More specifically, we need to ban the sale of automatic weapons and high-capacity magazines to individuals. Twenty years ago, Australia tightened its gun control laws, restricting the types of guns people could legally own. Since the enactment of this reform, Australia has suffered zero mass shootings. Given the effectiveness of Australia's gun control measures, we must ask ourselves how many innocent lives must be lost before America adopts the necessary reforms?

A partisan gridlock has thwarted gun reform for years. Although lawmakers have introduced over 100 gun control proposals in Congress over the past five years, not a single piece of legislation has been passed into law. In fact, most of these proposals haven't even made it to the House or Senate floor. Most recently, following the shooting in Orlando, a series of gun control measures that would have strengthened background checks and prevented suspected terrorists from obtaining weapons were rejected.

Some blame the iron grip the National Rifle Association holds over Congress coupled with efforts by gun lobbyists while others blame politicians' desire to be re-elected, but regardless, legal reform does not appear to be coming any time soon. In the wake of each mass shooting, Democrats tend to spark discussion on reviving gun control with legislation proposed and subsequently rejected, but why does the dialogue end when we are in a lull between shootings? Why is the push for Congress to tighten gun control dependent on the loss of innocent lives? Clearly the amount of money that the NRA donates to various Senators and Representatives has some effect on vote outcomes. However, it is more likely that debate is simply focused on the wrong topic. The issue is not the Second Amendment; the issue is gun violence and the proliferation of mass shootings. Whether you believe the Second Amendment was intended for militias or to protect an individual's right to own a gun, our Second Amendment rights can be protected even if we enact greater restrictions on the purchase and usage of guns.

America has almost as many guns as it has people, far exceeding any other country. Although our Constitution protects the right to bear arms, it does not protect the right to bear specific arms. No citizen needs an automatic weapon with a high-capacity magazine that can fire off excessive rounds and kill a significant number of innocent people in a matter of seconds. Several states, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, have enacted gun control laws that ban the possession of semi-automatic weapons, while other states have put into place expanded background checks. If the federal government would only follow suit, America would have the potential to become a country where all of its citizens can feel secure, while maintaining their Constitutional rights in a way the founders likely intended.
From Paul Craig Roberts Website

The "war on terror" has simultaneously been a war on truth. For 15 years -- from 9/11 to Saddam Hussein's "weapons of mass destruction" and "al Qaeda connections," "Iranian nukes," "Assad's use of chemical weapons," endless lies about Gadaffi, "Russian invasion of Ukraine" -- the governments of the so-called Western democracies have found it essential to align themselves firmly with lies in order to pursue their agendas. Now these Western governments are attempting to discredit the truthtellers who challenge their lies.

Russian news services are under attack from the EU and Western presstitutes as purveyors of "fake news." Abiding by its Washington master's orders, the EU actually passed a resolution against Russian media for not following Washington's line. Russian President Putin said that the resolution is a "visible sign of degradation of Western society's idea of democracy."

As George Orwell predicted, telling the truth is now regarded by Western "democratic" governments as a hostile act. A brand new website, propornot.com, has just made its appearance condemning a list of 200 Internet websites that provide news and views at variance with the presstitute media that serves the governments' agendas. Does propornot.com's funding come from the CIA, the National Endowment for Democracy, George Soros?

I am proud to say that paulcraigroberts.org is on the list.

What we see here is the West adopting Zionist Israel's way of dealing with critics. Anyone who objects to Israel's cruel and inhuman treatment of Palestinians is demonized as "anti-semitic." In the West those who disagree with the murderous and reckless policies of public officials are demonized as "Russian agents." The president-elect of the United States himself has been designated a "Russian agent."

This scheme to redefine truthtellers as propagandists has backfired. The effort to discredit truthtellers has instead produced a catalogue of websites where reliable information can be found, and readers are flocking to the sites on the list. Moreover, the effort to discredit truthtellers shows that Western governments and their presstitutes are intolerant of truth and diverse opinion and are committed to forcing people to accept self-serving government lies as truth.

Clearly, Western governments and Western media have no respect for truth, so how can the West possibly be democratic?

The presstitute Washington Post played its assigned role in the claim promoted by Washington that the alternative media consists of Russian agents. Craig Timberg, who appears devoid of integrity or intelligence, and perhaps both, is the WaPo stooge who reported the fake news that "two teams of independent researchers"--none of whom are identified--found that the Russians exploited my gullibility, that of CounterPunch, Professor Michel Chossudosky of Global Researh, Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell, Justin Raimondo and that of 194 other websites to help "an insurgent candidate" (Trump) "claim the White House."

Note the term applied to Trump -- "insurgent candidate." That tells you all you need to know.

You can read here what passes as "reliable reporting" in the presstitute Washington Post.

See also here.

Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept, which somehow escaped inclusion in The 200, unloads on Timberg and the Washington Post here.

Western governments are running out of excuses. Since the Clinton regime, the accumulation of war crimes committed by Western governments exceed those of Nazi Germany. Millions of Muslims have been slaughtered, dislocated, and dispossessed in seven countries. Not a single Western war criminal has been held accountable.

The despicable Washington Post is a prime apologist for these war criminals. The entire Western print and TV media is so heavily implicated in the worst war crimes in human history that, if justice ever happens, the presstitutes will stand in the dock with the Clintons, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, Obama and their neocon operatives or handlers as the case may be.
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Business Prospects of Global Full-Service Carrier Industry 2021 by its Market Services, Ratings & Operation Models

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The research study on the global Full-Service Carrier market is a top-level analysis of the market, and includes a regional breakdown and the competitive landscape as well. The report uses effective analytical tools such as market a competitive analysis and market attractiveness analysis to assess key indicators about the Full-Service Carrier market. The results obtained using analytical tools help to delineate an accurate picture of the markets development in the historical years and help uncover winning strategies to be implemented in the future.The report is divided into sections, each section discussing a few aspects of the Full-Service Carrier market. These include industry chain and policies, investment return and feasibility, relevant market criteria and major segments, etc. Included in the report are pricing structure, manufacturing processes, production capacity, and demand and supply dynamics of major segments of the global market for Full-Service Carrier.To Book a Sample Copy of Report visit @The report also scrutinizes the market hierarchy by carrying out a SWOT analysis of the top players in the Full-Service Carrier market. As a result, a 360-degree overview of the competitive landscape of the market is obtained; the report also presents a know-how for modifying market strategies that can alter established market hierarchy.The report examines regional segments of the Full-Service Carrier market separately for a much detailed understanding of the market; strategies that are suggestive of growth in regional segments of the Full-Service Carrier market are discussed in the section, which may or may not work at every level in the overall market.The report profiles major players operating ion the global Full-Service Carrier market to provide a thorough understanding of the competitive structure of the market. This includes an overview of business operations and market position of these players, which is carried out in conjunction with SWOT analysis for more intricate details about their development strategies.Explore Research Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Company (Top Players) Profiles1.1 American Airlines1.1.1 Company Profile1.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview1.1.1 Products, Services and Solutions1.1.4 Full-Service Carrier Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)1.1.5 Recent Developments1.2 China Eastern Airlines1.2.1 Company Profile1.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview1.2.1 Products, Services and Solutions1.2.4 Full-Service Carrier Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)1.2.5 Recent Developments1.3 China Southern Airlines1.3.1 Company Profile1.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview1.3.1 Products, Services and Solutions1.3.4 Full-Service Carrier Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)1.3.5 Recent Developments1.4 Delta Airlines1.4.1 Company Profile1.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview1.4.1 Products, Services and Solutions1.4.4 Full-Service Carrier Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)1.4.5 Recent Developments1.5 United Airlines1.5.1 Company Profile1.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview1.5.1 Products, Services and Solutions1.5.4 Full-Service Carrier Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)1.5.5 Recent DevelopmentsExplore Latest Company Press @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
Global Environmental Remediation Industry 2016 Market Application for Reducing Radiation Exposure & Ionizing Radiation

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The report offers a detailed overview of the global Environmental Remediation market. The global Environmental Remediation market is vast, thereby making it difficult for organizations to analyze the market dynamics. Addressing this issue, the report compiles insightful data regarding the growth of the market with the aid of primary and secondary research methods. The key factors affecting the growth of the global Environmental Remediation market have been studied and the size of the market in the near future has been projected in the report. Market references and case studies make the report helpful for established as well as new players in the market.The global Environmental Remediation market has been studied on the basis of product type and application. The demand for each of the product types has been studied and growth of each of the application segments has been analyzed in the report. The entire supply chain of the global Environmental Remediation market has been described in the report, including the upstream and downstream components. The present demand and supply trends in the market and recent industry developments have been mentioned to offer a complete overview of the market.To Book a Sample Copy of Report visit @This report studies Environmental Remediation 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, coveringClean HarborsDeme GroupGolder Associates CorporationBrisea GroupEntactTerra SystemsDescribing the competitive hierarchy, the report profiles some of the key players operating in the global Environmental Remediation market. Detailed information about the key players, including their business overview, financial overview, product specification, business segmentation, revenue segmentation, product portfolio, and recent developments, has been included in the report. By analyzing the markets competitive landscape, the report serves as a helpful guide for new entrants to formulate strategies. By examining the global Environmental Remediation market and compiling historical statistics, the future outlook of the market has been projected. This would be useful for players to understand the market dynamics in the near future.Explore Research Report with TOC @Table of Contents1 Global Environmental Remediation Manufacturers Profiles/Analysis1.1 Clean Harbors1.1.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors1.1.2 Environmental Remediation Product Type, Application and Specification1.1.2.1 Type I1.1.2.2 Type II1.1.3 Clean Harbors Environmental Remediation Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)1.1.4 Main Business/Business Overview1.2 Deme Group1.2.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors1.2.2 Environmental Remediation Product Type, Application and Specification1.2.2.1 Type I1.2.2.2 Type II1.2.3 Deme Group Environmental Remediation Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)1.2.4 Main Business/Business Overview1.3 Golder Associates Corporation1.3.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors1.3.2 Environmental Remediation Product Type, Application and Specification1.3.2.1 Type I1.3.2.2 Type II1.3.3 Golder Associates Corporation Environmental Remediation Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)1.3.4 Main Business/Business Overview1.4 Brisea Group1.4.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors1.4.2 Environmental Remediation Product Type, Application and Specification1.4.2.1 Type I1.4.2.2 Type II1.4.3 Brisea Group Environmental Remediation Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)1.4.4 Main Business/Business Overview1.5 Entact1.5.1 Company Basic Information, Manufacturing Base and Its Competitors1.5.2 Environmental Remediation Product Type, Application and Specification1.5.2.1 Type I1.5.2.2 Type II1.5.3 Entact Environmental Remediation Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2015 and 2016)1.5.4 Main Business/Business OverviewExplore Latest Company Press @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
John Bruning.Indestructible.jpg

John R. Bruning, a noted war correspondent, will be in Portland Dec. 8 to read from his new biography of Paul Irvin "Pappy Gunn," who served in the Air Force and flew combat missions in the Southwest Pacific during World War II.

(Author photo: Renee Bruning; book cover: Hachette)

By Allen D. Boyer

"Indestructible" is a memorable biography from the Second World War in the Southwest Pacific. Fast-paced, sweeping, and often haunting, it is the story of Paul Irvin "Pappy" Gunn, a combat flyer whom air-war historians call the legendary Pappy Gunn.

The legend is that Fifth Air Force colonel P.I. Gunn, nicknamed Pappy by young pilots who thought him elderly at the age of 42, was a hot-tempered, hard-living, rule-breaking Arkansas wild man. John R. Bruning, a veteran war correspondent, sketches in the tall-tale side of the legend by suggesting a chorus of GI voices.

"Hear about Pappy? Stuck a 75mm cannon in a P-38 and sank a cruiser with it." "That's Pappy Gunn. He shot down sixty Japanese planes over Rabaul." "Pappy went behind enemy lines. Stole a Japanese bulldozer and got it working." "Looked at that staff guy and said, 'How the hell would you know anything about flying? You've never been higher than a flight of stairs!' "

In "Indestructible: One Man's Rescue Mission That Changed the Course of WWII" (Hachette, 523 pages, $28), Bruning looks carefully at the facts behind the legend, for Pappy Gunn was also a superb pilot and a gifted, self-taught, troubleshooting engineer. In New Guinea, the Fifth Air Force pioneered "attack aviation," low-level strikes against Japanese ships and airstrips. Pappy built the planes that won that war. He had a genius for packing the noses of warplanes with machine guns and cannon, turning lightweight bombers into lethal strafer planes.

Bruning finds somber depths in the wild-man stories. If Pappy flew solo, stripped to a loincloth, it was because he had agonizing skin rashes. He hated the Japanese because his wife and four children were their prisoners, and he hated the Army because he had been ordered to fly staff officers to safety while his own family was trapped in Manila. When Pappy drank or worked around the clock, it was because he feared what his loved ones might be suffering.

Readers who know Richard Flanagan's Man Booker Prize-winning novel "The Narrow Road to the Deep North" may be prepared for the brutality and privation that Polly Gunn and her children endured, and yet still be shocked by how prisoners ratted out and bullied each other. When Red Cross parcels arrived, Polly guarded them, breaking chocolate bars into squares and serving each square in five tiny slices. The Gunn brothers stole dried fish and tore pages out of Bibles to sell as cigarette rolling papers. The chapters that tell their story, drawing on Polly Gunn's diary and her son Nathaniel's recollections, are harrowing.

Pappy tried to make his way back to Manila; events and orders thwarted him. Not until the Philippines were liberated did he know that his family had survived, or his family learn of his fierce personal war to free them. "For all that it inflicted on them, the war never demolished the love they held for each other," Bruning writes, in his final paragraph. "That was indestructible."

Bruning will read from his book at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 8, at Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
Managers of a Roseburg sawmill say investigators hired to audit Oregon's controversial business energy tax credit program made a negligent mistake that harmed its reputation.

The audit, undertaken in part to find problem tax credits among the more than 14,000 processed by the Department of Energy from 2006 to 2014, flagged $5.1 million in tax credits the mill received in 2006 and 2012 as "illogical projects with contradictory benefits."

Richard Mathews, general manager at Douglas County Forest Products, wrote to the private investigative audit firm last week. He demanded that Marsh Minick deliver a written apology claiming full responsibility for the alleged error, arrange for corrections by news media that reported the information, inform all government agencies involved of the purported inaccuracies, and provide contact information for the insurance company that provides its malpractice coverage.

"We have no reason to believe that your firm intentionally libeled our company's good name and reputation," the letter said, "but it is obvious that your conduct was clearly negligent and probably even reckless since you failed to even contact the management of this company to give them an opportunity to correct your obvious erroneous findings."

Marsh Minick, the Portland firm hired last spring by Oregon Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins to conduct the forensic audit, said it stands by its findings. The company said it responded to Mathews' letter by urging him to review the documentation on file at the Energy Department.

"We stand by our findings; we relied upon the ODOE's documentation contained in the project files."

The demand letter from Mathews is the latest twist in a tax credit saga that seems to have no end.

The Energy Department released the documentation behind the two tax credits this week but redacted all relevant information. It did not cite any exemption in the public records law for doing so and could not be reached for comment late in the week.

Michael Kaplan, the agency's director, was also critical of the Marsh Minick audit when he received it in August. He found the report contained errors and inaccuracies, according to meeting notes released to The Oregonian/OregonLive under a public records request. Kaplan did not respond to a request for comment this week.

Mathews said he will be going to the Department of Energy Monday to review the paperwork.

Atkins launched a $280,000 investigation in February after Gov. Kate Brown's office undertook a management review of the energy agency and legislative leaders formed an oversight committee to look at restructuring or dissolving it. Those efforts came in response to ongoing media reports questioning the department's management of the controversial tax credit program, which is on track to cost Oregon taxpayers some $1 billion.

Kaplan had actually proposed an audit of the tax credit program nearly a year earlier after an investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive found that backers of a university solar project had submitted phony documents to qualify for nearly $12 million in state tax credits.

A Marion County grand jury has since indicted a consultant who worked on the university project on two counts of forgery, and the state has filed a separate civil suit looking to recover the $11.8 million.

At the time, Kaplan was worried there was more potential fraud buried in the program's project files, according to emails released to The Oregonian/OregonLive. He proposed a comprehensive, forensic audit with a budget of up to $1.9 million. The governor's office entertained the proposal, but never acted on it.

Eleven months later, Atkins' office announced the more streamlined effort, saying it was confident the scope of the work would "ensure that our review is both cost-effective and focused on high-risk credits."

Marsh Minick delivered its report in August. The audit wasn't exhaustive, and its authors warned that the findings weren't definitive. But it said more than a quarter of the large tax credits issued by the Energy Department from 2006 to 2014 exhibited "at least one characteristic of concern." In total, it flagged 165 tax credits worth $347 million as potentially questionable.

Separately, Marsh Minick forwarded a report to the Oregon Department of Justice detailing specific "projects of concern" identified during its investigation.

Two of those tax credits went to Douglas County Forest Products. On Tuesday night, the Secretary of State's office released a document that shows the purpose of the mill's first project was to reduce natural gas and electricity use by burning 68,000 tons of wood waste. It also said the mill was installing dry storage to reduce its use of hog fuel

by 92,400 tons per year.

Marsh Minick's report said the description of the second $3 million project at the mill was to increase the use of hog fuel at the mill. Investigators thus concluded that the projects had "competing objectives."

Mathews says Marsh Minick misread the files, didn't understand the projects it was auditing, and made a fundamental error by not checking with the company.

"I don't doubt that there were problems overseeing this program, but we didn't happen to be one of their problems," Mathews said. "The way it was phrased (in the report to the Justice Department), it looked like we were trying to put something over on them, and that's not what we do."

Lawmakers on the Energy Department oversight committee are readying their restructuring recommendations for the 2017 legislative session. Several members have expressed hope that Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum will follow up aggressively on Marsh Minick's report and recover money from recipients of improper tax credits.

Kristina Edmunson, a spokeswoman for the Oregon Department of Justice, said the agency's criminal justice team has already reviewed projects identified by Marsh Minick that fell within the applicable statute of limitations. "We determined there was no basis for criminal sanctions for those projects that fell within the six-year time frame," she said.

The agency is still reviewing the files to determine whether there is any basis for civil damages, she said.

Mathews is not the only one to criticize Marsh Minick's work. Meeting notes and draft responses to the audit released under a public records request show that Kaplan, the energy department director, felt there were "factual errors," "unclear terms" "inaccuracies" and "inflammatory language" in the report.

He questioned the report's reliance on a one-sided account from a former director of the department. He also wrote that the report didn't deliver offer any "real, actionable results," and said Marsh Minick may have actually underestimated the number of problem tax credits.

On the other hand, Kaplan felt the report let management at the Energy Department off the hook, as it seemed to conclude that the only remedies to the program's problems were legislative fixes.

"The administrative problems identified by Marsh Minick could have been solved by management and staff, even without legislative changes, at the time the program was expanded or at any point over the next seven years," Kaplan wrote in his final written response to the secretary of state's office.

"We take full responsibility for BETC's problems in light of the glaring and years-long evidence that shows unequivocally that ODOE simply did not manage BETC well."

- Ted Sickinger

tsickinger@oregonian.com

503-221-8505;@tedsickinger
Last week, Chloe Eudaly stood outside Portland's City Hall and urged the council to enact a rent freeze - a move prohibited by state law except in rare instances - even if it "requires an act of municipal disobedience" and would result in the city being sued.

It was the kind of call to action you'd expect from a housing and renters' rights activist, as Eudaly has been. But Eudaly, who won a stunning victory over incumbent Portland City Commissioner Steve Novick, is not an activist anymore.

Eudaly is about to become one of the five elected officials to set policy for the city. She will receive an annual salary of $115,000 with the expectation that she will not only help craft solutions to address problems, such as the affordable housing crunch, but also uphold the law and spend taxpayer money wisely. Having the city break state laws that she disagrees with won't solve the housing crunch. It will, however, likely alienate potential allies and waste time, attention and money that the city can't afford to lose on quixotic stands.

http://media.oregonlive.com/opinion_impact/photo/agenda-2013jpg-da8a3522a991b9c6.jpg

Editorial Agenda 2016



Get Oregon centered

Better leadership in education

Make Portland a city that works

Build Oregon prosperity

Protect and expand personal freedom

Get pot right

_______________________________

Certainly, Eudaly can and should signal to Portland voters that she remains committed to the cause that fueled her victory. But she also needs to show them - as well as those who did not support her candidacy - that she can build coalitions, act responsibly and remain open to the possibility that her pet solution is the wrong one.

Rent control, as economists from across the political spectrum have said for years, doesn't fix the underlying problem that drives up rent - a lack of housing. But even if you do believe it's the solution, rushing to declare a rent freeze ignores that state legislators in January will take up various ideas for relieving the housing crisis, including consideration of lifting the statewide ban on local rent-control ordinances.

Cities like Portland have a large toolbox with which to improve housing affordability, including decreasing development fees and easing building requirements that provide minimal added value while driving up costs. Already, city commissioners have wisely pulled back on parking minimums which contribute to higher costs. But elected officials must lead an honest conversation about housing affordability as a city priority where the public at large- not just landlords - shoulders the consequences of changing policy.

There's another issue for Eudaly to keep in mind, and it's directly related to her victory over Novick. While Novick brought vision, smarts and experience to the job, he also showed up to council with an impatience for those who didn't move as fast as he wanted or who disagreed with his solution. He turned ideas into crusades and vilified those who raised legitimate concerns for failing to recognize the rightness and morality of his chosen path.

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That turned off many in the community who shared his objectives, if not his strategy.

There's already some of that going on. In her brief comments earlier this month, Eudaly painted landlords with a broad brush as she warned that the days of treating tenants as "used furniture" and "human ATMs" are numbered. While there may well be those who are capitalizing off the tight rental market to impose huge rent hikes on tenants, she risks driving off potential allies who have a different perspective on how the city can help renters, preserve affordable housing and alleviate the regulatory requirements that can discourage new development completely.

Transitions, even for the most practiced of politicians, are never flawless. Making the switch from activism to administration is even more challenging. But voters are putting their faith in Eudaly to be effective in a way that evaded Novick until it was too late. Advocating for meaningless action that will only trigger lawsuits isn't the right start.

- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
ELLIOTT.JPG

The broader value of the Elliott State Forest to all Oregonians over the next century is yet to be calculated.

(Oregon Deptartment of Forestry)

The terrain near Coos Bay, in Oregon's Coast Range, is steeply sloped, densely forested, and abundant in fish-bearing rivers and other wildlife. An 82,500-acre patch of it constitutes the Elliott State Forest, created on consolidated lands transferred to Oregon by the federal government with the mandate its riches be turned to money so children could go to school and build a life.

Things went well for decades. Oregon's Common School Fund, the repository for logging revenues from the Elliott and other such state-owned lands, funneled money annually to school districts statewide. The many sources of earnings in the fund this year will throw off $66 million for Oregon's 197 districts - a not insignificant sum in a time when schools stretch dollars.

But the Elliott's contribution fell sharply following the decline of logging and the sting of lawsuits over the state's failure to properly manage habitat for protected species depending on the Elliott. The Elliott once generated more than $10 million a year for the school fund. But it's been in the red or netted less than $1 million in recent years, Andrew Theen of The Oregonian/OregonLive reported.

Not unreasonably, state officials panicked. Bound by the state's Constitution to eke money from the forest for schools but unable to do so for so long, they decided last year to find a way out and put a For Sale sign on the forest. The Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians joined Lone Rock Timber Management Partners recently in offering $220.8 million, most of it Lone Rock's money, and pledged to sustainably log the forest while boosting public access and properly steward its many environmental values. The bid was under review last week, and the Oregon Land Board - comprising Gov. Kate Brown, Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins and Treasurer Ted Wheeler - meets Dec. 13 to consider it.

This proposition should stop cold in its tracks - at least until the Legislature can probe and articulate the value of Oregon lands held in the public trust. Once covering more than 3 million acres, Oregon's Common School Trust lands now comprise just 780,000 acres. Should the Elliott, the most abundant of the state's forestlands held in trust, be next to go? Not yet, if at all.

It is gratifying that the Cow Creek would reclaim once-tribal lands and a growing stake in the forest's management. Lone Rock is persuasive, too, in its capacity to ramp up logging while honoring environmental codes and maintaining profitable timber output. But land management has changed since federal turf was deeded to a state with few people, little industry and modest schoolhouses.

Resource extraction and development stressed natural systems. Lawsuits and environmental regulation worked to limit timber harvests, hobbling Oregon's timber-dependent communities. Forests are now credited with air-cleaning properties: Portland-based EcoTrust in 2011 calculated that an unlogged Elliott would store 46.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide by 2050 - more than two thirds the amount of greenhouse gases emitted statewide in 2007. While that puts no money in the school bank, climate regulation is expensive, and likely to become more so, even with political uncertainty ahead. Separately, the Elliott is valued as prime habitat for the marbled murrelet, a sea bird under endangered species protection.

The question isn't whether the Cow Creek proposal is good; it may be, given the parameters of the state's invitation for bids. Instead the question is whether Oregon should divest itself of such prime land, rich in resource and environmental value, because it fails to meet a narrow mandate conceived long ago.

Lawmakers must engage the question and explore all possibilities, among them ownership by conservation groups and state land transfer arrangements as seen in neighboring Washington state. Brown, Atkins and Wheeler will hear testimony next month but should defer to the Legislature on the core question of divestiture. Wheeler, in an interview with The Oregonian/OregonLive, wisely said the Elliott was not a "hair-on-fire" problem whose solution should be rushed and that "this is an opportunity for leadership in Oregon."

Indeed. Let's see it: from Brown, most of all. Wheeler and Atkins have worked diligently on the Land Board but will be replaced soon by Tobias Reed and Dennis Richardson. What's needed from them and lawmakers is a new definition of how the Elliot State Forest can truly benefit Oregonians over the next century - and a plan to achieve it that can be executed in 2017.

-The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board
Hillary Clinton,Cecile Richards

A week after Donald Trump was elected president of the United States, Planned Parenthood reported an unprecedented outpouring of support, with more than 128,000 people making donations. (AP file photo/Alex Brandon)

(Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON -- The phone has been ringing off the hook at Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho, with women rushing to make appointments to get long-acting birth control.

In the two weeks since Donald Trump won the presidency, the number of appointments at the organization's 12 clinics has jumped by 81 percent, according to spokeswoman Tiffany Harms.

The most popular requests: intrauterine devices, or IUDs, small plastic devices that are inserted into the uterus and left in place, and hormonal implants.

Planned Parenthood officials say it's a similar situation across the country, with many women braced for the worst. They fear that Trump will try to follow through on his promises to outlaw abortion and scrap the Affordable Care Act, which helps many poor women by providing birth control with no co-pays.

Trump stoked fears on the subject during an MSNBC town hall forum last March, when he said women who got abortions should face "some form of punishment" if the procedure were banned.

And in an interview with CBS' "60 Minutes" on Nov. 13, Trump said he would appoint conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which affirmed a woman's constitutional right to an abortion.

Trump said the abortion issue then could be decided by individual states. And if a state decided to ban abortion, he said, women would "have to go to another state" to terminate pregnancies.

On Capitol Hill, backers of abortion rights are geared up for a full-scale assault in 2017.

"Women's access to reproductive health care shouldn't be dependent on their income or their ZIP code," said Washington state Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene.

"It puts women's health at risk, and these are also women's constitutional rights. ... President-elect Trump has said he'd punish women for exercising their constitutional rights. That is unacceptable and extremely concerning."

While it could take Trump years to get the Supreme Court to overturn the law, Harms said the more immediate worry in Idaho and Washington state was the prospect of him moving quickly to get rid of the Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

Harms said many women would suffer a big financial hit if Trump tried to junk the national health insurance plan in the first 100 days of his presidency, as he has promised.

Raegan McDonald-Mosley, Planned Parenthood's chief medical officer, said out-of-pocket costs for an IUD could range from $500 to $1,000 for a woman without health insurance, creating "a major barrier," for many, especially poor women.

Harms said that was what was driving all the phone calls: Since Nov. 8, requests for appointments for long-acting methods of birth control have increased from 132 to 239.

With Trump and Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin both saying they want to stop funding Planned Parenthood next year, abortion rights will be in the spotlight as soon as the president-elect takes the oath at noon on Jan. 20.

The Women's March on Washington is scheduled for the very next morning.

Organizers say that more than 200,000 people from across the country have already signed up for the march from the Lincoln Memorial to the White House.

And Jan. 22 will mark 44 years since the Roe v. Wade decision, an anniversary that's sure to draw heightened attention. Thousands of abortion-rights opponents are expected to turn out for the annual "March for Life," set for Jan. 27, while supporters of abortion rights are planning a counterdemonstration.

Abortion rights supporters worry that Trump will have plenty of abortion opponents in his administration, including Vice President-elect Mike Pence and his nominee for attorney general, Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions.

On Wednesday, Trump named two women, both opponents of abortion rights, to key Cabinet posts: Betsy DeVos, for education secretary, and South Carolina Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, as ambassador to the United Nations. Earlier this year, Haley signed a bill banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, and if confirmed she would have a high-profile plank to oppose nations that promote abortion rights.

-- Rob Hotakainen | McClatchy Washington Bureau



(c)2016 McClatchy Washington Bureau

Visit the McClatchy Washington Bureau at www.mcclatchydc.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
US-VOTE-CLINTON

Former Democratic US Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks to staff and supporters at the New Yorker hotel after her defeat in the presidential election Nov. 9, 2016 in New York.

(Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images )

As Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein pushes for recounts in key battleground states won by President-elect Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton's campaign has said it will also join efforts to audit the vote in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Marc Elias, the Clinton campaign's legal counsel, wrote on Medium that the former secretary of state plans to "participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides."

According to Elias, the campaign has ruled out "any possibility of outside interference," but intends to monitor the audit process nonetheless.

Meanwhile, Trump called the audit a "scam," urging voters to "accept this result and look to the future."

"This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing," Trump said in a statement.

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, Trump repeatedly told his supporters that a loss on Nov. 9 would be an indicator of widespread voter fraud. The president-elect at times said he wouldn't concede, fueling speculation of what happens in presidential elections when there's no concession.

(The short answer: Nothing.)

Stein mounted a fundraising campaign to raise the $7 million necessary to pay for recounts in the three battleground states. Shortly after midnight on the first day, the Green Party nominee had raised enough to audit the results in Wisconsin, which had the earliest deadline to start the process.

Stein on Saturday criticized Clinton for the former secretary of state's decision to participate in the recount process.

"You cannot be on-again, off-again about democracy," Stein tweeted.

Why would Hillary Clintonwho conceded the election to Donald Trumpwant #Recount2016? You cannot be on-again, off-again about democracy.  Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 26, 2016

Should audits overturn the results in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, Clinton's electoral votes would total 278, handing her the keys to the White House. Experts -- and even the Clinton campaign -- expect that won't be the case.

Audit proponents are meeting the initiative with a collective shrug, a "Why not?" attitude and citing Clinton's popular vote lead -- which is moving past 2 million -- as a sign of hope.

Meanwhile, Trump backers including senior adviser Kellyanne Conway have taken to calling Clinton and Stein "sore losers."

First comment from Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway on Clinton joining Wisconsin recount: "What a pack of sore losers." pic.twitter.com/fFAGRMn4FH  Kevin Cirilli (@kevcirilli) November 26, 2016

--Eder Campuzano

503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
Dump Tower.png

For the last few hours, Google Maps has labeled Donald Trump's Midtown Manhattan building as "Dump Tower" instead of Trump Tower.

(Google Maps screenshot)

Trump Tower is no more.

Instead, it's been replaced by a fairly new addition to New York City, the similarly named "Dump Tower." Okay, so President-elect Donald Trump's Midtown Manhattan digs haven't been renamed.

Instead, it appears as though Google Maps has been mislabeling Trump's headquarters for the better part of Saturday. Various media outlets have been reporting the change over the last few hours.

And after a quick search at 9:15 p.m. PST, it's still there: Dump Tower.

We here in Portland are familiar with these sorts of shenanigans. It was earlier this year that some prankster labeled Tilikum Crossing as the "Jean-Luc Picard Wunder Crossing" after the beloved "Star Trek: The Next Generation" character.

Now, as then, the internet is rife with jokes and complaints about the temporary re-naming of Trump Tower. Here are some of the best:

A search on Google Maps for Trump Tower comes up as Dump Tower...

cause google is passive-aggressively awesome. #NotMyPresident pic.twitter.com/gETxgdXSIb  Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) November 27, 2016

Now Trump Tower is labeled Dump Tower AND is in Russian. EPIC. #NotMyPresident pic.twitter.com/ddqm344p1X  Amee Vanderpool (@girlsreallyrule) November 27, 2016

#Trump's 3am twitter melt down over Dump Tower will start soon. #DumpTower  alpal (@OrangeLimonata) November 27, 2016

Will #DumpGoogle go anywhere from here? We'll keep you posted if it does.

--Eder Campuzano

503.221.4344

@edercampuzano

ecampuzano@oregonian.com
This week's installment takes readers back to the late 1880s and early 1900s in Midland.

The gallery includes the first schoolhouse in Larkin Township, a photo of the Hotel Madill on Main Street, a river baptism in Hope, a church at Ashman and Ellsworth, a new city fire truck in 1917, and the Midland High School graduating class of 1899.
A quote in a front page story about smoking by pregnant mothers in Fridays Midland Daily News told the story.

With all of the information out there on the risks of smoking, the increase in pregnant women who are smoking in this day and age is particularly startling. With these numbers, you would think it is 1986, not 2016, said Alicia Guevara Warren, Kids Count in Michigan project director at the Michigan League for Public Policy.

The Michigan League for Public Policys Right Start: 2016 annual report on maternal and child health reviewed eight indicators on maternal and child health from 2008 to 2014 for the state, by race, by county and for 22 of the states larger cities and townships.

In Midland County, the number of expectant mothers who reported smoking while pregnant increased by 13 percent between 2008 and 2014. In 2008, 177 Midland County mothers, or 21 percent of all births, reported smoking during pregnancy. That number increased to 204 and 24 percent of births in 2014. The rate of women who reported smoking while pregnant spiked by 18 percent statewide. Smoking during pregnancy is associated with preterm births, babies with low birthweight, infant deaths and other complications.

Guevara Warren blamed the increase in smoking by expectant mothers on budget cuts at the state level.

Funding and programming cuts clearly have consequences, and the state urgently needs to reinvest in evidenced-based smoking prevention and cessation efforts for pregnant women, she said.

The Michigan League reported that in the 2017 budget, including state and federal funds (excluding Medicaid dollars), smoking prevention and cessation initiatives were funded at $3.78 million, which is down 34 percent from budget year 2008.

Certainly this report should get the attention of state lawmakers in Lansing, and they should look at whether cuts that have been made in the budget are now reaping negative consequences. Midland County health officials also should be concerned by this report and begin exploring what more can be done locally. As Guevara Warren said, these smoking numbers seem more consistent with a time long ago when the habit was more socially acceptable and the health effects were still being debated. Going backwards on this critical health issue simply is not acceptable.
There appears to be a double standard when it comes to the enforcement of environmental law. When a private individual or business harms the environment, regulators rush to identify perpetrators, begin enforcement proceedings and fine or jail those responsible. Policymakers and the media often seize the opportunity to call for tighter government controls. But when the government itself damages the environment, regulators, politicians, the media and the public show much less interest in holding anyone accountable. They tend to just shrug their shoulders and move on.

If we want to maintain and protect the amazingly beautiful and fruitful Michigan environment, we must enforce environmental standards equally for private individuals, businesses and government alike.

But government regularly harms Michigans natural environment and what follows are several examples of these incidences  just from the past few months. In each case, the government agencies or employees responsible for the damage faced little to no consequence for their actions. Our reluctance to address government-caused environmental impacts must end.

On Sept. 30, 2016, a tunnel on the northbound M-10 Lodge Freeway in Detroit was closed, as it was flooded with a mixture of rainwater and sewage. The Free Press headline described the road being flooded with poop water. Other than general complaints from motorists, no one seemed all that concerned that the citys sewage system failed and spewed toxic waste into the environment.

On Sept. 19, 2016, Ann Arbor officials reported that 600,000 gallons of sewage spilled into the Huron River. This incident followed two other similar sewage overflows in the area  one in May that resulted in 36,000 gallons of sewage pouring into Huron River and another in April, where approximately 400,000 gallons of raw sewage flowed into Malletts Creek. A city administrator promised not to let this happen again, but no ramifications stemming from these spills were mentioned in media reports.

On Aug. 16, 2016, the Kalamazoo Department of Public Services allowed 572,222 gallons of partially treated sewage to flow into the Kalamazoo River. City officials advised residents to avoid any contact with the river for two days, but did not express interest in holding anyone accountable for this failure.

In each of these cases, a government failure caused a significant impact to Michigans environment and water resources. In each case, government officials escaped any serious accountability.

Contrast these examples with what happened when an Enbridge Energy oil pipeline ruptured in 2010. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice launched a multiyear investigation and eventually  and appropriately  imposed a $177 million fine on the company.

But in the case of government-caused environmental damage, you need to search far and wide for examples of vigorous enforcement of environmental laws. Part of the problem is that when the government is at fault, we need to rely on that same government to hold itself accountable. Its much like when you watch a police officer speeding on the highway. You see the infraction and you can complain to whomever will listen, but who really can hold that officer accountable for violating the speed limit? In the same vein, who will hold governments accountable for their environmental failures?

Unfortunately, a lot people view government failures as inevitable, naturally occurring events. They accept that there is no realistic method of ensuring government officials are held responsible for the environmental damages they cause. To them, it must be reassuring enough that the government theyre paying for is supposedly trying its best.

That type of attitude does a disservice to the public and our environment. If we want to maintain and protect the amazingly beautiful and fruitful Michigan environment, we must enforce environmental standards equally for private individuals, businesses and government alike.

Jason Hayes is the director of environmental policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute dedicated to improving the quality of life for all Michigan citizens by promoting sound solutions to state and local policy questions. He holds a Master of Environmental Design (Environmental Science) degree from the University of Calgary, a B.Sc. in Natural Resource Conservation from the University of British Columbia and a Technical Diploma in Renewable Resource Management from Selkirk College.
Dwayne Orville Andreas, the pocket-sized hurricane that built a sleepy soybean processor, Archer Daniels Midland Co., into a global giant, died Nov. 16 in a Decatur hospital. He was 98.

Andreass career was as long and profitable as it was remarkable and jaded. Just last week, someone again asked me if it was true that the ADM corporate jet was the only unescorted American aircraft permitted in Soviet airspace during the Cold War because it carried Andreas and his grocery sack of needed American farm goods.

True or not, the story captures the legend of the worlds soybean king. On his way to the throne, however, the federal government twice caught ADM breaking the law.

The first time, in 1978, according to The New York Times, was for fixing prices on grain sold to the Food for Peace Program. The second, in 1996, led to ADM pleading guilty to criminal charges of price fixing.

Both scandals stopped short of charging Andreas directly but the second delivered his son, Michael, to federal prison while dear old dad accepted an offer of immunity.

Thats the ADM-Andreas history most farmers know: ADM copping to criminal price-fixing charges based on secret recordings made by a company insider, later identified as Mark Whitacre, an ADM division vice president. Heres some history many may not know.

Not long after the June 1995 Federal Bureau of Investigation raid on ADMs headquarters, the Department of Justice began to see their star witness, Whitacre, dim.

The problem was that Whitacre, now an accused embezzler, had been talking  to everyone. He talked to Scott Kilman of The Wall Street Journal, Nancy Millman of the Chicago Tribune, Sharon Walsh of the Washington Post, Ron Henkoff of Fortune magazine, John Stebbins of Bloomberg News, Kurt Eichenwald of The New York Times, and, beginning in July 1996, me.

He wasnt the only one talking. In mid-1996, my fax machine began spitting out unedited FBI interview notes, yet-to-be published news stories, and something called The Watch Letter, a multi-page effort filled with insider information, gossip, and tips on the ADM case.

The Letter was written by David and Carol Hoech, owners of Global Consultants, a small Florida-based firm with deep ties to international ag markets. David, too, talked endlessly, mostly off-the-record, to journalists about ADM and Dwayne Andreas. He openly despised both.

Still, journalists talked to Hoech because he seemed to have friends, sources, and tipsters everywhere. If you wanted the number of Dwayne Andreass bedside telephone, Hoech had it. Raw transcripts of FBI interviews conducted yesterday? Hoech was your guy. Need to talk to Whitacre? Call Hoech and Mark would be on the line a minute later.

Who was this rainmaker?

After two decades of talking to Hoech, its still hard to say. He did know Whitacre, ADM, and global ag products like no one else. ADM, he preached, embodied everything wrong with American business  rigged prices, dishonest dealings, phony front groups, and contempt for customers.

Dealing with Hoech, however, was not easy. He was loud, pushy, and fearless. Shortly after we met I began to receive anonymous, threatening telephone calls.

Relax, man, Hoech would advise, thats just ADM.

A second later hed ask, Hey, man, you own a gun? He wasnt joking.

Then, on Labor Day 1996, no matter who I dialed on any of my three office lines, I always got the same person at the same place: ADM Security, this is Betty. Hoechs phones had the same problem.

Was I scared? Top to bottom. I used a neighbors telephone to call the FBI, the same FBI that had raided ADM a year earlier. No one ever called back.

Hoech, however, did. And he kept calling  for 20 years. Often Id pick up the phone to hear, Hey, brother, you OK?

David Hoech died Aug. 8, 2015, not quite two months after my family and I saw him in his comfortable home west of St. Louis. We had a lengthy, laugh-filled visit before his ailment, pulmonary disease, drained him of all color and energy. It was time to say that good-bye.

Dont worry about me, Hoech growled in my ear as he leaned heavily on me to steady himself; Im gonna outlive that little (expletive) in Decatur.
BLOOMINGTON  Earlier this year, 12-year-old Raji More came away from a workshop with a statistic stuck in her brain and lodged in her heart.

"I learned that 100 kids in McLean County go to bed every day hungry," said the Kingsley Junior High seventh grader.

A couple of days later, while researching the topic of hunger on the internet, she came across a video about a Fayetteville, Ark., woman who was inspired to create a little free pantry cupboard stocked with food.

The pantry was modeled after Little Free Libraries that are gaining popularity and popping up in the Twin Cities and communities nationwide to nourish reading with free books.

With the help of several elected officials, some friends, parents and the West Bloomington Revitalization Project (WBRP), Raji has started the first neighborhood Little Free Pantry in Bloomington.

Raji and her friends raised more than $300 at a bake sale last summer to buy nonperishable foods to stock three old newspaper boxes that they transformed into the pantry.

The boxes, which were donated by Arthur Haynes of WBRP's Tool Library, are located in front of Preston Community Plaza, 502 S. Morris Ave., in west Bloomington, where many of the city's low-income and needy residents live.

"We think that once we get one up and running that they will begin to pop up all over in the same way Little Free Libraries have," said Ward 4 Alderman Karen Schmidt.

"(Raji) was at an event at City Hall with her parents and said something about a little free pantry to Mayor (Tari) Renner," said Schmidt. "He brought her over to me because I work with the Book Bike and Little Free Libraries and he knew I would know what she meant."

Schmidt contacted Scott Preston about the efforts of Raji and others to create a Little Free Pantry and find a location for it.

The plaza is owned by Preston, who is a Normal City Council member. He said it is "meant to serve as an asset where different human services and nonprofits can work together to serve the people of this neighborhood and community."

"And working off that vision, this Little Free Pantry feeds perfectly into it," Preston added. "As someone who values community service, especially at a young age, I was inspired, like so many others, and wanted to do what I could to help Raji and the others."

Raji's friend, Allison Henrichsmeyer, 13, of Bloomington came up with the idea of having a bake sale as a fundraiser.

"We made chocolate chip cookies and Rice Krispie treats," said Allison. "That day when we were selling them, the (Normal) firefighters came by and they bought all of cookies and we took a picture with them and their fire truck."

Schmidt praised Raji's planning and foresight about how she is going to keep the pantry stocked and get input from people who use it.

People can take food from the pantry for free, but those who use it are asked to donate food items as their situations improve. Pantry users can jot down what their food needs are in a notebook located inside the boxes.

Raji also is asking help from the community to keep the pantry stocked.

Anyone wanting to donate items can send an email to littlefreepantry@gmail.com, and volunteers will coordinate pickups and drop-offs of food items for the pantry.

Raji also has come up with a schedule of volunteers to help monitor the pantry's supplies and is formulating sites where supplies can be dropped off.

"Raji has brought her head and heart right into this. I am really moved by it," said Schmidt. "She has a servant's heart. I wanted to do everything I could to nurture that."

Raji's father, Madhu More, said he is "thrilled" to see how his daughter is finding a way to fill a community need.

More and his wife came from India to Bloomington in 1998 for his job with State Farm.

"Our daughter was born here," More said. "America is a great country, but it's sad to know that some of the children go without food on a daily basis. So this is an opportunity for us to share our good fortune, and that always is the greatest feeling."

Raji calls the pantry a group project, with her friends  Ritul Nagamanickam, Manasa Chenna, Siri Harish, Sankalp Amaravadi, Sharanya Rotte, Avani Rai and Allison  helping to spread the word and involve their parents and others.
BLOOMINGTON  The city of Bloomington will have to pay the state nearly $59,000 because its payroll and benefits manager is in line for a major pay and pension bump as she heads into retirement next year.

Assuming Laurie Wollrab does not use any sick leave before she retires on March 17, she will be paid $53,196, spread over three months, for unused sick days she accumulated during her 16 years with the city. That higher salary in turn will add $370.55 per month to her retirement annuity.

To cover the higher pension resulting from the higher career-end salary, the city also will have to make an accelerated payment of $58,758 to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF). Such lump-sum payments are required under a 2012 law whenever an employee under IMRF has an end-of-career compensation spike of more than 6 percent in a 12-month period.

Under the Local Government Wage Increase Transparency Act, which took effect in July, the accelerated payment must be presented to the City Council for disclosure. It is on the agenda for the 7 p.m. Monday meeting at City Hall, but no vote will be required.

"This law is designed to require public discussion before these accelerated payments are made so that everyone knows about them," said city attorney Jeff Jurgens.

Wollrab's is the first retirement in Bloomington to trigger the new disclosure law, but it is far from the first requiring an accelerated IMRF payment. Since the start of 2012, the city has had to make more than $1.6 million in extra pension payments to IMRF for 25 former employees who legally used their unused sick leave to increase their pensions.

The city stopped offering sick-leave buyback to employees hired after May 1, 2012.

Wollrab, who also is a member of the McLean County Board, was allowed under a 1995 policy to elect to spread the $53,196 pay increase for unused sick leave over three months to avoid triggering an IMRF cap.

Under IMRF rules, a retiree's end-of-career compensation cannot be higher than 125 percent of the retiree's highest monthly pay in the last four years of employment. Spreading out the payment allows an employee to raise his or her monthly income without crossing the limit.

Because she manages the city's payroll and benefits, Wollrab said she had other staff members review her own pension information before submitting her retirement request.

"I am in a funny position because I may end up having a question come up about my duties in my role as somebody who works with retirees and pays out their sick leave, and that I will be someone who is going to get (that benefit)," she said.

When asked if there was another payout structure that she could have opted for that would have prevented the city's accelerated IMRF payment, Wollrab said, "This is the standard procedure that has been given to employees in my position and other positions essentially for the 16 years that I have been here."

Wollrab's current salary and her total pension were not included in documents provided to the City Council in advance of the meeting.

Other municipalities throughout the state face similar accelerated pension fund payments, but Bloomington holds the record for the highest individual payment statewide: $358,000 tor former Human Resources Director Emily Bell, who saw her pension increase from $92,000 to nearly $113,000 because of a sick-leave salary increase when she retired in 2014.

In October 2015, the council decided to leave the city's sick-leave buyback program for grandfathered employees intact while awaiting the outcome of a lawsuit filed by five unions over the city of Springfield's elimination of a benefit related to its municipal workers' unused vacation time.

"This case is now at the appellate court level and may lead to future recommendations on how the city structures its policies on benefit payouts," said Jurgens.

The council also wanted to see if the state Legislature would provide some relief from the 2012 law requiring accelerated payments, but it has not, apart from the transparency law.
Editor's note: With Heartland Community College (HCC) celebrating its 25th year of operation, President Rob Widmer is writing a series of guest commentaries to highlight how Illinois community colleges serve their districts and address the needs of students.

A core component of community colleges is open access, which means at Heartland Community College we accept anyone who wants to learn. This gives us a population of students who have a wide variety of readiness levels, needs and goals.

For some, it takes extra determination to finish what they set out to accomplish. After enrolling, family obligations, learning issues or financial challenges can hinder progress.

At Heartland, our top priority is ensuring students persist and ultimately succeed. We offer deeply intentional supports like special library services, financial aid, scholarships, tutoring, counseling, a fitness center and more. Each is a different way to foster student persistence.

As we continue improving our services at Heartland, its essential we examine which supports matter and contribute most to student success.

We first have to know what each student hopes to accomplish.

When applying at Heartland, we ask students to indicate their intent, such as whether they are working toward a degree, or simply wanting to take one or two classes. They also can volunteer information such as being a first-generation college student or someone transitioning out of the workforce.

These insights give us data to target our support efforts and ensure that students know about all the resources available to them.

While enrolled, students continue to get personalized support. We closely monitor academic progress. If at-risk students are identified, our advisers quickly communicate and connect them with appropriate resources to help them overcome their challenges.

Data also provides insight on academic areas.

Programs are reviewed every five years. The information gathered helps us identify success rates in courses and determine whether we need to change a course sequence or add a component to a prerequisite class so students enter the next course better prepared.

For example, data recently indicated our online courses had a higher withdrawal rate. To ensure stronger persistence levels, more information was provided to students prior to enrollment so they could determine if online learning was a good fit for them as a learner.

Our intentional efforts are paying off. Since fall 2013, Heartland has seen a steady increase of students persisting from fall to spring  returning to school and continuing progress toward their academic goal. Its exactly the outcome we hope for because when our students succeed, the community benefits.
JetBlue launched a campaign last May that addressed crying babies on flights. The brainchild of its marketing head Elizabeth Windram, the idea helped change the attitude of its flyers towards screaming babies. The campaign consequently became a viral video that also helped change public perception.

On a typically long trip to New York from Long Beach in California, a number of mothers were on the plane with their babies. The passengers expected that this will be an inconvenience knowing how babies tend to be uncomfortable and act out inside an airplane.

JetBlue handled the situation by doing something unexpected, Pop Sugar reports. To make the best out of a bad situation, the airline told the passengers of Flight 213 that each time a baby cries, they will be getting a 25 percent discount when they book their next trip with the airline.

Four babies were on that flight and as expected, all of them screamed and wailed during the trip. But instead of the passengers becoming grumpy or irritated, they cheered and clapped during a long flight with crying babies.

"Four cries is equivalent to a free round-trip ticket," the stewardess told the passengers. Everything was documented in a video entitled FlyBabies, which the company launched on social media. Watch it below.

According to AdWeek, Elizabeth Windram's campaign became a success for JetBlue with 5.5 million views and 640 million impressions. It also raised awareness to how it's tough for families with crying babies on flight, so they deserve compassion and understanding from other passengers.

Shawna Kaszer of Huffington Post, however, disagreed with the commendations the campaign has generated. She saw that people were more encouraged by the discounts. They were not actually inspried to be compassionate towards the cying babies on flights and their family. "JetBlue, you showed me that we need to be paid to be compassionate in moments of inconvenience," she wrote.

What do you think parents, especially with those flying with babies? Has the campaign been effective or did it miss the whole point? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Children are naive, they often forget things while playing, what time they start playing or how long have they not eaten anything or how far they have gone from where they were. But when children went missing, parents get devastated. They keep on looking for them until they can hold them in their arms again.

In a recent incident, three children went missing in Perth, Australia. According to Herald Sun, three children from Thornlie went missing from their grandmother's house for 24 hours where they lived.

Fortunately, the three Perth children were found safe and sound. The authorities said that the children were found, all thanks to the help of local people. The children were aged five, nine and twelve.

Another missing child case was reported in International Business Times where a 14-year-old girl went missing in Pennsylvania. The media was speculating that 14-year-old Lennon Marcum may have run away from home. The National Conference of State Legislature reported that in children between the ages of ten and eighteen who run away from their homes, 75 percent are girls.

The reasons behind running could vary from social, ethical to economic. Missing person reports are very common and the number of children in these reports is terrifying. Psychologists and experts say that these incidents could indicate a problem. A child may be facing some kind of stress when they want to leave their homes behind and look for other options.

In another report by Indiana Gazette, missing children were found by Baltimore county Police Department. Gianna Smith, 15, and Mitchell Smith,12, are both boys with autism who went missing from their foster home on Elm street.

According to the police, the teens are safe and in the custody of Baltimore County Child Services. It is a big relief that the boys were found as their mental disability could make things difficult otherwise.

What do you think are the reasons why some kids go missing? Sound off below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
Parents were placed in a state of shock after one of the biggest accidents involving a school bus took place. Five children were killed after their bus crashed into a tree.

The driver is charged with vehicular homicide, he is arrested by the police and is being investigated. Many question marks are left on the faces of the concerned authorities. People are apprehending that if the school bus had seat belts in it and children were instructed to wear seat belts then the casualties could have been avoided.

According to Edition, only six states of USA have laws that ensure strict abiding of wearing seat belts in the buses otherwise there is no definite rule. The authorities are suggesting to employ newly manufactured buses equipped with seat belts,to provide the best possible security to children. Schools buses are a safe mode of transportation but seat belts are yet another step to ensure security as it is the elders' prime responsibility.

As five hundred children die every year from car accidents and only five through using school buses, News Today says as well. However, many experts still are of the opinion that buses are a safer mode of transportation. According to experts, employing seatbelts would be costly and a total waste of money.

Many others still are saying that they should not worry about money but it is the safety of children that needs to be taken care of. Employing three-pointer seat belts in school buses is a potential step to make seat belts more safe. In an another similar incident a bus turned over but it was equipped with seat belts and their were no casualties encountered.

This incident justifies the stance of employing seat belts to provide better security. Safety is a critical issue and need to be brought into the limelight.Every possible step should be taken to provide the best protection to children traveling in buses.
Food banks have taken an initiative to boycott junk foods and the food with high sugars as they are risking life. The food banks are of the opinion that their job is not only to provide the food to needy but it is their prime responsibility that they provide the right type of food. So they have announced a ban on supplying sheet cakes, holiday candy, and other processed items.

These foods have less nutritional values and are a sort of poison people stuff their stomachs with. There has been an epidemic rise in diabetes, cardiovascular problems.

All this increase is due to intake of more sugary calories present in the junk food, NPR org says. The food pantries are saying no to every call of restaurants, grocery stores and bakeries for the orders of things like cakes and cupcakes. The aim is to limit the use of food with more sugars and calories. The effort is to shift the preferences to healthier options.

Food pantries are being helped in their initiative by various schools. Healthier food items orders are given to these food banks from the school cafeteria.These donations are inculcating a sense of helping others in children's young minds. Almost all the leftovers are donated to these food banks, these include items of milk yogurt, hummus, fresh fruit, according to Capital Area Food Bank.

It has been found out that this strategy makes no food to go to waste and it is a big improvement. Children often do not consume all of the food on their tray and usually a mountain of food used to go to waste.

But now, the unused food is donated and needy are helped to get an access to healthy nutritional food. The food banks are happy to supply right type of food and are grateful to children for these donations.The clients are satisfied too.
As Thanksgiving ended in Philadelphia, a couple was charged when their four year old son shot his cousin who was just two years of age with a .40 caliber pistol. The boy is severely injured and is hospitalized in critical condition.

The family lives in North Philadelphia and the two kids were playing in the living room of the house when this tragic incident unfolded shortly before dinner for Thanksgiving was served. The Chief Inspector, Scott Small informed reporters that while the mother was preparing Thanksgiving dinner, the two kids were playing with the gun and that's how things had gotten out of hand.

Sonia Pizarro, a neighbor spotted numerous police cars outside the house at around 5:00pm and hurried to inform the others. According to RT, the father ran outside screaming, "my baby, my baby, my baby."

The two-year-old cousin was immediately taken to Temple University Hospital but was then transferred to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children where it was notified that he was in a critical but stable condition.

The parents Rachel Santiago and Omar Vega, both of the age 34, were shell shocked after the incident unfolded. Reportedly, the couple has three children according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The landlord of the house where the family was living reported that he had rented the place for around two years, however, refused to give out further details and said that he did not hear about the shooting, according to ITV.

Both of the parents were charged for endangering the welfare of a child while the father is now also facing charges on illegally possessing a weapon. In fact, the police found two unregistered guns from the house. According to Gun Violence Archive, a U.S website that keeps track of the number of shootings occurring in the U.S, a total of 620 children have been killed or injured in similar situations and the number of such cases has surged up to 51,000 this year only.

There must be measures adopted to curtail these kinds of incidents as they're not only jeopardizing the lives of innocent children but are also messing up the social environment overall. Small ghettos and cities must be paid special attention since it's people living in these areas that possess unlicensed guns.
A couple from St. Petersburg, Florida, first met when they were toddlers at Sunshine Pre-K, a pre-school center, 30 years ago and now they are finally getting married. On November 21, their story of fate became an Internet sensation because of the unlikely way that they saw each other again.

Two words made Amy Giberson, and Justin Pounders meet each other again after knowing each other back in pre-school, online dating. In an article published by People Magazine, the couple completely lost touch after their toddler years. But thanks to modern technology, they were able to meet again through an online dating service. The interesting part is that it took them a year of dating when they found out that they have already met back in kindergarten. This is something that many would say is fate.

It all started when 34-year-old Pounders found 34-year-old Giberson on a dating website. The couple dated for two years and now decided to finally tie the knot on November 26 with 200 guests that include their family and friends in St. Petersburg. Their love story was also shared on "The View," as posted by People. It is where Pounders decided to pop the question to Giberson on national TV along with some toddlers from their previous kindergarten school. The kids were holding a sign asking Amy to marry him.

It was indeed a romantic gesture, and it is something that a lot of people could only dream of having. Giberson still couldn't believe how they end up being with each other after the only meeting when they were three years old. It is crazy how fate could work for two people who are meant to be together.

Do you have a love story like Pounders and Giberson? Share how you met you are significant other using the box below.


An Indianan mother is filed with multiple charges after she admitted to injecting fecal matter into her son's IV. The 41-year-old mom who hails from Wolcott explained that she wants a better shot for his son's recovery and only aimed for him to get transferred to another unit.

According to CNN, Tiffany Alberts was found guilty of contaminating her son's IV fluid with his own feces while the teen is battling leukemia. Alberts' 15-year-old son is confined at Riley Hospital for Children in Indiapolis when the mother was monitored and caught in the act by surveilling hospital staff.

In September, Alberts' son had finished his first round of chemotherapy and was ordered released. However, the teen had fever, vomiting and diarrhea days after and the doctors found no medical reason possibly explaining the cause, except for an infected blood.

The teenager's blood was found out to contain organisms that were normally seen in feces. This baffled the doctors of what could be his condition's probable cause. As Alberts' son was admitted back to the hospital, the doctors suspected that someone might be contaminating the teenager's IV line.

True enough, the speculation was right and the mother was caught under surveillance of injecting a substance in his son's IV. Initially, Alberts' explained that it was just water to flush his IV line. She claimed that her son is complaining about his IV fluids inducing a burning sensation.

Mom injects feces into IV line of son with cancer, according to documents https://t.co/P8QySU7Cyi pic.twitter.com/VAzyX4l3Nc  CBS News (@CBSNews) November 25, 2016

However, the mother eventually admitted that the substance is, in fact, fecal matter. She further revealed that she collected it from his son and stored in a gift bag. Alberts also admitted to doing the act twice.

The mother was charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily condition. She was also charged with six counts of aggravated battery.

Per WishTV, the 15-year-old could have been better if not for the mother's repulsive act. Doctors said that because of this, the teenager has missed his best time to treat his leukemia as he was treated from the infection.

Luckily, Alberts' son was able to survive possible septic shock that her mother knowingly initiated. However, he may have lesser chance of surviving due to prolonged leukemia therapy.
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
Iran awards key oil deal to Schlumberger

11/27/16

Source: Press TV

Iran says it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Schlumberger - the world's largest oil field services company - over the development of several southern oil fields. The MOU was signed between Schlumberger and the National Iranian South Oil Company (NISOC) - a subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) - which is mostly in charge of the developments of prospects in Iran's oil-rich Khouzestan province.



(Photo by Shana)



Accordingly, the French company would be required to study the formations of Shadegan, Parsi and Rag-e Sefid oil fields in Khouzestan.



The projects would be carried out within the framework of Iran's new generation of oil contracts, Shana news agency reported.



Schlumberger would be the second giant energy corporation to win a deal in Iran's oil industry. Earlier this month, Total signed a contract to develop a major gas project in Iran's South Pars gas field. Total and Schlumberger now appear to have provided France with a strong foothold in Iran's oil industry given that both companies are headquartered in Paris.



Italy's Eni also announced late last week that it is looking into Iran's post-sanctions investment prospects, but emphasized that it had to first wait for Iran's outstanding payments over its previous investments in the country's oil industry to be settled.



The southwestern province of Khouzestan which borders Iraq is generally considered as the heartland of Iran's oil industry. A province in which the world's first commercial oil field was brought on stream back in the 19th century today hosts over 45 major oil fields and is responsible for around 80 percent of Iran's total crude production.
Iran non-oil exports to Iraq stand at $6.2B, including $2.2B of agricultural products

11/27/16

Source: Mehr News Agency, Tehran

Iran's Commercial Counselor in Iraq said the country's non-oil exports to Iraq amounts to $6.2bn, of which $2.2bn are agricultural products and foodstuff.



Trucks at the Iran-Iraq border crossing

(2013 file photo by Islamic Republic News Agency)



Ebrahim Rezazadeh on Sunday highlighted the importance of Iraq's market for exporting Iranian products, adding "since 2005, our exports to Iraq has increased 17 times, which is three times more than the four continents of America, Africa, Europe and Oceania in total."



He went on to add, "70 per cent of our exports in 2015 were destined for China, Iraq, UAE, Afghanistan, India and Turkey."



Rezazadeh maintained that the highest number of Iranian agencies in Iraq, exchange of highest volvume of tourists between the two countries, over 90% imports to Iraq, reduction of rival countries' shares in Iraqi market, as well as Iraqi people's preference for Iranian products have created ample opportunities for Iran to expand its presence in the country's market.



He then noted that the date of holding Iran's specialized exhibition in Iraq has been changed from 17 Feb. to 15 Jan. 2017.



He further announced the signing of a memorandum between the two countries for resolving the current obstacles in the issuance of certificate of conformity for products to meet Iraqi safety requirements, saying under the MoU, Iran will soon export 51 domestically-produced items to Iraq.
Germany OKs 1.2 Billion Euro Loan For Iran Rail Plan

11/27/16

Source: Press TV

Germany has reportedly agreed to provide Iran with a 1.2 billion Euro ($1.27 billion) credit line to help finance a key rail project in what is seen as the biggest foreign financing the country has been able to secure after the removal of sanctions.









Bloomberg has quoted an unnamed official from the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) as saying that the financing will be provided to the Islamic Republic through Germany's state-run lender KfW IPEX. The official added that it would be used for the development of the railway from Tehran to Mashhad.



The funding has been agreed in principle and is close to being finalized, Bloomberg quoted Michael Tockuss, chairman of the Germany-Iran Chamber of Commerce, as saying. It would be the biggest credit line Iran has secured from foreign sources since the easing of sanctions in January, he added.



The announcement comes only a few days after the tragic crash of two trains on Tehran-Mashhad railway left dozens dead and many wounded. The crash was blamed on human error but nonetheless revived a debate at home that the country's ageing rail fleet needs to be renovated.



Germany's Siemens has already announced serious plans to help develop Iran's railway system. Local media reported earlier this year that the company had signed several agreements with Iran to develop its railway network, including the electrification of the Tehran to Mashhad line. Also, officials in Tehran said earlier this month that talks were underway with Siemens to acquire high-speed trains from the company through 30-year leasing deals.
The White House Correspondents Association is famous for hosting an annual dinner, but its main job is negotiating to get reporters close to the president at all times in order to keep the public informed.

Annoyed at a lack of access, and frustrated at the use of social media tools to get around the press, the WHCA put out a draft of proposed principles and practices for covering the president.

That was on April 22, 2015.

Then it was President Obama who was aggravating reporters by keeping the press pool out of some of his events and using social media to distribute news produced by the White House staff.

Thats still going on. No news photographers were allowed into the recent meeting between Michelle Obama and Melania Trump at the White House. The administration released an official photo of the get-together, taken by a staff photographer, on social media. The Associated Press refused to distribute it.

Donald Trump will not be the first president to have a testy relationship with the press, but hell be the first one to come to the job with 40 years of experience in publicity and no experience in governing.

It has worked for him so far.

In June, Trump told The Washington Post that he watched the bank of TV cameras covering his rallies to see if the red lights were on, indicating that he was on live television. He said hed say something new to keep the red lights on.

Trump sometimes tricked the cable news networks into covering his entire speeches by promising to address a controversial issue and then waiting until the end of the speech to mention it. He always found a way to deliver his message when the red lights were on.

After the election, Trumps statements were subdued as he held a series of quiet meetings with a roster of political heavyweights. But then, with the instincts of a showman, he launched another round of red-light baiting.

He feuded on Twitter with the cast of the Broadway musical Hamilton and with the actor who plays him on Saturday Night Live. He berated a roomful of TV news anchors and executives for dishonesty. He faced off against The New York Times, a paper hes called failing and threatened to sue for libel.

Meanwhile at the White House, the official Twitter feed had photos of Obamas trip to Greece and a picture of the 2016 National Thanksgiving Turkeys.

Thats what you get when the president doesnt have 40 years of experience in publicity.

Trumps attacks seemed carefully calculated. He flattered The New York Times as a great, great American jewel but told TV news executives they were liars who had missed the story. He called Saturday Night Live unfunny and biased and asked for equal time. He said the cast of Hamilton owed Vice President-elect Mike Pence an apology for the way he was booed and lectured when he came to see the overrated show.

Now, watch to see if he gets more favorable news coverage, another appearance on Saturday Night Live to reach younger voters, and stronger political support from conservatives who appreciate Trump defending Pence against liberal attacks.

Trumps skills may turn out to be very well-suited to the presidency. He can communicate, hes persuasive, and he knows how to break through the clutter to get his message out.

Thats how he won the White House. It looks like thats the way hell run it.

Susan Shelley is a columnist for the Southern California News Group. Reach her at Susan@SusanShelley.com and follow her on Twitter: @Susan_Shelley.
In the aftermath of the San Bernardino attack, lawmakers seized the moment.

They proposed a flurry of legislation to take assault weapons out of shooters hands, spur better reporting of suspected terrorist activity and reimburse first responders for their exhaustive  and expensive  efforts.

Bills were introduced in Sacramento and Washington. Some were signed into law; others never saw the light of day.

More bills may be introduced in 2017.

Inland Southern California officials were disappointed with Democratic Gov. Jerry Browns September veto of a bill sponsored by Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, that had passed unanimously through the state Senate and Assembly.

San Bernardino County agencies spent an estimated $20 million responding to the mass shooting that took 14 lives and injured 22 people. Leyvas bill would have fully reimbursed them.

But Brown, in a veto message, said approval would have set a precedent of the state assuming all financial responsibility for future emergency costs.

In July, Brown did sign a package of half a dozen bills that strengthened Californias already-strict gun laws. In introducing earlier this year bills that ended up getting Browns signature, sponsors cited the Dec. 2 attack.

One of those, Senate Bill 1446, bans possession of magazines with the capacity to hold more than 10 rounds. It also requires people who have them to eventually turn them in.

High-capacity magazines have been used in every single one of the mass shootings that have horrified this country, Sen. Loni Hancock, D-Oakland, said in a video promoting the bill after it passed the Legislature in the summer. And I think after Orlando and after San Bernardino, this Legislature has said, Enough is enough.

Hancock said she sought to close what she termed a loophole in California law about such magazines.

For years we have said you cant bring them into the state, you cant sell them in the state, you cant manufacture them in the state, but if you own one you can have one, she said.

Brown also signed Assembly Bill 1695, by Assemblyman Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, that targeted straw purchasers  people who buy weapons on behalf of those who legally cannot.

Most recently, a straw purchase was what led to the shooters in San Bernardino to get the guns that they had and create the tragedy, the murders and terror in San Bernardino, Bonta said.

There was talk of passing a law in honor of Sierra Clayborn, one of the Dec. 2 victims.

In the aftermath of the massacre, members of her family said they wanted to create a legacy for the Moreno Valley resident by pursuing legislation named Sierras Law. So far no legislation has passed.

Family attorney Theida Salazar of Burbank said recently that Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Redlands, has agreed to sponsor legislation next year.

According to Aguilars office, his bill may seek to require that multiple agencies  law enforcement, intelligence, Homeland Security  collaborate on an after-action report to examine why a mass shooting happened and how to prevent future attacks.

Other legislative proposals include:

 A bill by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-San Francisco, to require social media outlets to report terrorism-related activity  the Requiring Reporting of Online Terrorist Activity Act. According to Feinsteins office, the bill has yet to be considered in committee, but tech companies such as Twitter and Facebook have voluntarily taken steps to more actively monitor potential terrorist content.

 Feinsteins bill to authorize the attorney general to block gun sales to known or suspected terrorists already was in the works, having been introduced in February 2015. The Senate killed the bill in a vote the day after the attack. She later offered a similar measure in a spending-bill amendment, but the Senate rejected it in June.

Another chance for Congress to take meaningful action, Feinstein said then. Another missed opportunity.

 A bill by Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Corona, to mandate stricter screening of visa applicants. His Secure Accountability for Emigres and Refugees Act sought to tighten the Syrian and Iraqi refugee security-vetting process. That bill has not been voted on by the House.

Also in connection to the Dec. 2 attack, Reps. Calvert and Aguilar have pushed for federal reimbursement of first responder costs. To date, a Calvert spokesman said, $1 million has been provided.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9699 orddowney@scng.comTwitter: PE_DavidDowney
Updates with power restored, road reopened

Power went out to more than 5,000 customers in Temescal Valley on Sunday morning, Nov. 27, following a crash late Saturday.

A power pole was downed near Lake Street, Riverside County sheriffs officials said in a traffic advisory sent at 11 p.m. Sunday. A section of Lake Street south of Temescal Canyon Road was closed while repairs were made.

Sheriffs spokesman Deputy Armando Munoz didnt have specifics about the crash, but he said it was not serious enough to send anyone to the hospital. He said Lake Street reopened sometime Sunday morning  in less time than the 16 hours that the initial advisory had warned it might be closed.

The crash also cut power to 5,096 Southern California Edison customers in the area, according to the utilitys website. Power, which went out about 6 a.m., was restored by 10 a.m., the website showed.

Because of the power outage, traffic signals at Temescal Canyon Road and northbound Interstate 15 also went out, according to a CHP incident log.
Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz, who came to the United States from Cuba as a young boy in 1962, said he hopes that Fidel Castros death might mean more human rights for the Cuban people, but he said he is not very optimistic.

He said he doesnt anticipate that things will change under Fidels brother, Raul, who he described as part of the same group that took power more than 50 years ago.

While there are some people in the Cuban government who want to see some liberalization, pretty much the same hands are in power, he said.

Fidel Castro died Friday at 90 years old. Ill health eight years ago forced him to formally hand power over to Raul.

Photos: World reacts to death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro

Diaz pointed to the former Soviet Union as an example that regimes dont change overnight.

There was really no perestroika or liberation in that empire until the original people that were around in 1917, until they all died, he said.

Diaz, who still has family in Cuba, said he doesnt plan to go to there anytime soon.

I dont plan to until its a normal country with the usual freedoms that we enjoy in most of the world, he said.

Related: How social media reacted to former Cuban President Fidel Castros death
It was at the time the worst terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11. The Dec. 2 shooting at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, which left 14 dead and 22 wounded, saw a massive response from law enforcement agencies from throughout the region, along with the FBI.

Nearly a year later, FBI agents remain on the case. Heres a look at where the investigation has led:

QUICKLY IDENTIFIED

Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, both of Redlands, were identified as the shooters shortly after the attack and died in a gunfight with law enforcement near San Bernardino Avenue and Richardson Street about five hours after the massacre.

Malik, a Pakistani who came to the United States in 2014 to marry Chicago-born Farook, made a Facebook statement in support of terrorist organization Islamic State around the time of the shootings.

It appeared the couple otherwise kept their radicalized views off open social media. They also destroyed some of their mobile phones before the attack. But at least one was left intact.

The couple had drawn a flat line with only a violent spike at the end for investigators to pick apart.

AT THE SCENE OF THE ATTACK

The attack with semi-automatic, military-style rifles took place during a combination training session and holiday party for Farooks co-workers at the San Bernardino County Environmental Health Department, where he worked as a health inspector.

A bag Farook had placed on a table in the meeting room at the IRC where about 80 of his colleagues had gathered was later found to contain explosive devices, wired for remote detonation.

In the weeks that followed the massacre, the FBIs investigation would reach to the bottom of a local lake to look for possible ditched evidence and into unmapped areas of constitutional law as it tried to pry information from an encrypted Apple iPhone during a world-watched court case.

Agents used shoe leather, witness interviews, and private and public outdoor closed-circuit video cameras to account for all but 18 minutes of where Farook and Malik aimlessly traveled in their rented black SUV in the hours after the shooting.

That gap still has not been filled, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said in an email on Nov. 10.

But we continue to evaluate any new information that comes to our attention.

MARQUEZS ALLEGED DISCLOSURES

Agents went into Inland neighborhoods and overseas through their legal attaches and interviewed at least 500 people  among them witnesses, associates, and friends of Farook and Malik.

One them, Enrique Marquez Jr., 24, of Riverside allegedly described during several days of interviews with agents a shocking account of earlier, unfulfilled gun-and-bomb attack plans he made with Farook that could have killed untold numbers of victims.

DETAILS OF ATTACK PLANS

The two wanted to open fire on people at Riverside City College and attack motorists at an inescapable chokepoint along the 91 freeway, Marquez said.

The plans were halted in 2012 when FBI agents coincidentally arrested a group of Inland men who planned to join Al-Qaida overseas and attack American service personnel there, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court.

Marquez also unspooled a soap-opera style scheme in which authorities said he married the Russian sister of Farooks brothers wife, but lived apart from her. It was allegedly done in exchange for payments to Marquez because the marriage allowed his bride to change the status of her expired visa, the affidavit said.

Marquez is accused in Riverside federal court of supplying rifles and explosive powder used in the attack, which he originally purchased for the 2012 schemes, as well as one count of conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, two counts of lying on federal forms for gun purchases and two counts of marriage fraud.

Marquez pleaded not guilty to the charges in January and faces up to 50 years in federal prison if convicted on all of them. He faces trial Sept. 26.

Marquez is the only person charged in the attack. He told agents he was radicalized and converted to Islam by Farook when they were neighbors in Riverside.

Eimiller said the investigation remains open.

THE IPHONE CASE

When FBI agents conducted warranted searches of the Redlands townhouse that Farook and Malik shared with their then-6-month-old daughter and Farooks mother, Rafia, they seized pipe bombs, bomb-making materials and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

In late December, divers from the FBI and San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department checked the bottom of Seccombe Lake in San Bernardino, reportedly looking for a hard drive the couple may have tossed into the water. They found nothing but said due diligence required the search.

Agents also found Farooks undamaged San Bernardino County-issued iPhone in his mothers black Lexus.

Farook had entered a private pass code for the iPhone 5c that was not shared with the county, and agents were concerned they would permanently lose any data on it if they failed too many times to open it.

Instead, they got a federal magistrate in Riverside to issue an order in February for Apple engineers to develop software for a backdoor entry to the phone.

Apple, which had cooperated with the FBI in other efforts to get the information from the Farook iPhone, drew the line.

Creation of such a brute force program could threaten the encryption security of all Apple devices using a pass code, the tech giant argued.

Apple filed in court to block the order, and CEO Tim Cook personally took up the cause as the media covered every move in the case, in and out of court.

Heated court documents were traded exploring where the law stood on the right to privacy and public safety and whether the 18th-century All Writs Act and 20th-century rulings on government access to telephone records could apply to the 21st-century device at the center of the case.

Then, on the eve of a March court hearing to decide the issues, the FBI announced it had found a third party that could hack the phone. The hearing was taken off calendar, the FBI reported the phone was successfully entered  and the case ended unresolved.

FBI spokeswoman Eimiller declined to comment Nov. 10 on whether the phone yielded anything.

THIRD SHOOTER REPORTS

Reports of a third person involved in the IRC attack or afterward in the shootout with law enforcement officers have not been substantiated beyond anecdotes.

Investigative efforts (which were exhaustive) and data all indicated there were two shooters, Eimiller said in her email.

A 162-page report, Bringing Calm to Chaos, written by Community Oriented Policing Services and the Police Foundation, written with a grant and the cooperation of the Justice Department, identified only Farook and Malik as the shooters at the IRC.

The report also looked at similar reports from the shootout and concluded authorities determined that there was not a third suspect at that scene.

Among the listed sources for the report were the FBI, the San Bernardino Police Department, and the spectrum of local law enforcement involved in the attack and its aftermath, as well as the attack victims and their families and audio and video files.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9573rdeatley@scng.comTwitter: @RKDeAtley
Seven people were displaced by a midnight fire in San Jacinto. The fire occurred at a multi-family home on the 300 block of East Main Street, according to the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department

The fire was reported at 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 27, and crews reported a two-story Victorian-style home was on fire.

The fire was contained by 1:15 a.m., according to county fire. Twenty nine firefighters from the county and Soboba and Hemet fire departments battled the blaze.

The American Red Cross assisted six adults and one minor who were displaced due to extensive fire damage.
Local Islamic leaders are asking for increased police protection after at least three California mosques received a letter that threatens Muslims and praises President-Elect Donald Trump.

Over the past several days, Islamic centers in Long Beach, Claremont and San Jose all received the same photocopy of a handwritten letter addressed to the Children of Satan. The letter calls Muslims vile, filthy and evil. It then states that Trump  who, during his campaign, proposed making Muslims register and blocking people of faith from entering the country  is going to cleanse America.

Hes going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the Jews, the letter reads. You Muslims would be wise to pack your bags and get out of Dodge.

Related: Inland Muslims live, worship in shadow of terrorism after Dec. 2 terrorist attack

The letter is signed Americans for a Better Way.

Its the latest in a series of incidents targeting Muslims and other minority groups since the Nov. 8 election.

More than 100 anti-Muslim incidents have occurred across the country over the past few weeks, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, which is a Washington, D.C.-based civil rights organization. And FBI statistics show a 67 percent jump in incidents against Muslims in 2015.

This hate campaign targeting California houses of worship must be investigated as an act of religious intimidation, and our states leaders should speak out against the growing anti-Muslim bigotry that leads to such incidents, said Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIRs greater Los Angeles area chapter.

The organization called for stepped-up police presence around mosques. It also urged American Muslims and Islamic institutions to take extra security precautions and report any incidents.

Hasan Z. Rahim, a spokesman for the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, said the center has received anti-Muslim phone calls in the wake of high-profile terrorist attacks, but never a letter.

We are not going to be alarmist. It is just one letter, Rahim said. But we also are going to have to be vigilant.

In Long Beach, it was a reminder for a community seeking ways to promote support for its Muslim community.

Earlier this month, the mayors of Long Beach and Signal Hill and about 100 others assembled outside the Long Beach Islamic Center to express friendship to congregants as they emerged from Friday prayers.

Its terrible that these hateful letters and acts are happening across the country and here locally, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said in a statement Saturday. Our community continues to reaffirm our support for our Muslim American neighbors. We will always treat all people equally and with respect.

CAIR-LA is asking Muslim community members to report any bias incidents to police and to CAIR-LAs Civil Rights Department at (714) 776-1847 or by filing a report here.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7963 or bstaggs@ocregister.comTwitter: @JournoBrooke
Name: Debbie English

Residence: Mentone

Notable: English works at the Inland Regional Center and was there on Dec. 2, on the third floor of Building 2.

Quote: The alarms went off and we had all gone into the conference room, where we barricaded ourselves. As we all were on the conference room, we were calling/texting our loved ones and trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Most of us were finding out what was going on by our families that lived close or across the country. I know I was texting my sons in Texas and the other in North Carolina. I told them Dont call me! Only Text Me! There is an active shooter here at my work! They were able to text me what was going on along my family and friends that live in the area  I will never forget that day.



Name: Mary Godoy

Residence: Perris

Notable: She is the cousin-in-law of Aurora Godoy, who was killed in the attack.

Quote: This tragedy changed my perspective about life itself. It left me wondering about our existence and mission in life. On Dec 2, the Godoy and Banales families also became victims of this tragedy. We lost the one person who always brought that spark to the party. She touched so many hearts and built relationships with just about anyone she met.

Today, I dont just fear the unknown, I fear that those I love will no longer be here. I can no longer say with confidence that something like this wont ever happen. I often wonder about the places I go and I find myself thinking, Is it worth the risk?

However, we do not let it define our path in life. We are a strong family and we cannot live in fear. We only hope to spend every moment building memories.



Name: Sheryl Neubauer

Residence: Menifee

Notable: She was was at work in Fallbrook on Dec. 2.

Quote: I will never forget being glued to my computer screen from the moment the news broke. I was sick to my stomach as the day grew longer and more tragedy was being reported. I just could not understand how this could happen. In San Bernardino. Little San Bernardino. Innocent people going about their daily business.

Honestly, we do not go out much now. I do not shop at the malls; I shop online. I do not go out to dinner in a restaurant, just fast food and take it home! We canceled our Disney passes. Last time we went to the movies I remember (being) startled every time I saw someone enter the theater during the movie.



Name: Cynthia White

Residence: Eastvale

Notable: She is a member of San Bernardino Countys behavioral health crisis unit and was working Dec. 2.

Quote: I felt like we had so much to do, so many impacted. Our own staff were struggling. We had to be tough, but we did it.



Name: Rusty Palmer

Residence: San Bernardino

Quote: It made me want to stand up and do more, create opportunities to bring the community together, encouraging others to come together.



Name: Alice Ochoa

Residence: San Bernardino

Notable: She was at work Dec. 2 at a nearby school in San Bernardino that was placed on lock down.

Quote: One thing Ill never forget is when a student asked me if they were going to be here throughout the night and have to stay the night because they were scared.

My mind raced through so many scenarios. What if they came our way and what I would need to do to protect these students in our one classroom and already looking around for different places that I could hide them if needed be. I know that may sound a little extreme, but like I said, I had no idea if these shooters were on the loose and nothing like this has ever happened so close to home and I felt that I needed to be prepared for anything at that point. These students were my responsibility and their lives were in my hands.

I try to live life as normal as possible. Things like this cannot stop us from living life.
When Vista Murrieta High School counselor Shonda Burrus proposed taking what she fondly calls her cherubs into the heart of Skid Row to deliver toiletries to the homeless five years ago, her colleagues were like, Is it safe?

Yes, and yes, it has been an eye-opening experience for students like Makayla James.

In safe Murrieta, James says she knows where her next meal is coming from and where shes going to sleep that night. Not so with the needy she came across in Skid Row while she distributed the donations in January.

It made her realize the life of privilege she lives, and if youre thinking that seems far-fetched given how no one is going to confuse Murrieta with Beverly Hills, think of the perspective she has learned, that even having basic necessities covered is indeed something to appreciate.

Toiletry donations to Vistas Black Coal and Roses Society mentoring program can be dropped off at the school until Dec. 16. A group of about 20 is planning the next trip to Skid Row in January.

The group travels with parents and men from the Light of Faith Christian Center in Temecula, the church Burrus attends. Essentially, theyre security. Lets not be naive.

Heres how Burrus puts the trips intent: Our Murrieta cherubs have an opportunity to see some things they dont see in Murrieta.

She tried to find the needy closer to home, such as in a shelter in Vista. But there were just a handful of people, and Burrus realized she needed to find a place with a greater need. Skid Row certainly fit that.

They show up in their color-coordinated Vista garb, and Burrus says her girls look out of place. Their approximately 300 boxes of toiletries are distributed in just an hour, a few always politely refusing the donations.

They are done by about 9 a.m. Why? Thats when the homeless start moving on while businesses open on streets they call home.

Marguerite Rucker, a Murrieta elementary school teacher, grew up about 5 miles from Skid Row and traveled there with the Murrieta girls and her daughter Elleyse. Ruckers parents split up when she was young, and her mom ended up on Skid Row for almost two years.

Very hard time for all of us, she says. But I didnt know about it until later because I was 7 and living with my dad. So Skid Row is very special to our family.

Returning there was intense for Rucker.

She says her daughter, removed from the cocoon that is Murrieta for a few hours, was overwhelmed by how many people there were, their sleeping arrangements, and there were some people that looked like families.

There are homeless in southwest Riverside County, but it isnt as obvious compared with a big city. Kids live on Skid Row, too, as unfair as that may seem.

The local girls learn something else. In this holiday season, when kids typically focus on the temporary high of receiving presents, James says she now appreciates the more permanent joy of giving.

May we all be blessed with such perspective.

Contact the writer: carllove4@yahoo.com
The United States (US) Embassy in Accra has warned US citizens domiciled in Ghana to be cautious of their movements around the country as the December 7 presidential and parliamentary elections draw nearer.



A statement issued by the embassy on Friday November 25 titled: Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Safety Considerations and the Upcoming Elections said although the Embassy had no information regarding planned protests, it wanted to make Americans aware that social disruptions or protests could occur with little or no warning throughout Ghana.



The statement further said: Exercise caution during the election process, particularly around polling locations in the weeks before and after the elections. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.



Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security and follow instructions of local authorities.



The Embassy added that it identified the following locations in Accra as key areas where people converge to hold spontaneous political rallies and demonstrations: State House, the Ministries, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, Independence Square, Mantse Agbona (James Town), Kawokudi Park, Nima Police Station Park.



It added: Embassy personnel are not permitted to travel at night outside of major cities and are encouraged to avoid the following areas outside of Accra: Upper West: Lawra, Wa Central, Upper East: Bawku, Northern: Tolon, Sagnarigu, Yendi, Volta: Nkwanta South, Hohoe, Ho Central, Adaklu, Ketu South, Western: Jomoro, Bia West, Brong Ahafo: Techiman South, Tain, Berekum West, Berekum East, and Ashanti: Bantama, Asokwa, Nhyiaeso, Manhyia North, Manhyia South, Suame, Oforikrom, and Asawase.



We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens travelling to or residing in Ghana enrol in the Department of State's Smart Traveller Enrolment Program (STEP). STEP enrolment gives you the latest security updates and makes it easier for the U.S. Embassy to contact you in an emergency. If you do not have internet access, enrol directly with the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana...

Source: classfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Victoria Police say that they have arrested a 45-year-old man after an alleged knife attack at Glenhuntly train station in Melbournes south-east.

Four women have been hospitalised in the wake of the incident. Police say that the man approached the women at around 11am, and stabbed a handbag one of them was carrying.

Reports indicate that the knife broke in half, after which the man assaulted the women. Channel 7 spoke to witnesses who claim that he pushed three of the women onto train tracks, and punched another in the head.

Witnesses speak with police after a man attacked 4 people at #Glenhuntly, including a woman in her 80s.. #7NewsMelb pic.twitter.com/MKOBpRXRMU  Kristy Mayr (@KristyMayr7) November 27, 2016

The women, one of whom is understood to be in her 80s, have all been taken to hospital with non-life threatening head and leg injuries.

Witnesses say that the alleged attacker appeared calm as he pushed the women on to the tracks. The 45-year-old, reportedly from Carnegie, is currently speaking to police.

Source: News Corp.

Photo: Krity Mayr / Twitter.
A 24-year-old woman has been arrested for biting and kicking police officers, and a 22-year-old man has been hospitalised for a suspected overdose after yesterdays EarthCore trance festival in Sydney.





NSW Police say that they were alarmed at the number of drug dections made during an on-site operation at the festival, which drew approximately 2100 punters to Western Sydney Parklands on Saturday.

Over the course of the day, police charged three people with supplying a prohibited drug (cannabis and ecstasy). Six more were charged with drug possession and a further seven were issued cannabis cautions.

A 22-year-old man was taken to hospital at around 5pm after suffering a suspected overdose, and police say that his condition was serious but stable. There have not since been any updates.

A 24-year-old woman was charged with assaulting police resulting in actual bodily harm, after she allegely bit an officer and kicked another in the face while being ejected from the grounds.

A Senior Constable was taken to Fairfield Hospital fortreatment and subsequently released.

Superindentent Peter Lennon said that police were alarmed at the number of drug detections, telling media:

The majority of the festival goers were well behaved and supported police efforts in making the event safer. However, a small number choose to break the law, and attempt to bring illegal drugs into the event, which is disappointing. We are frustrated with the actions of several festival attendees, who despite all the warnings, attempted to bring illegal drugs into the event. Not only are these substances illegal but they can have dangerous, even deadly consequences.

Harm Reduction Australia announced last week that they plan to hand out thousands of free pill testing kids at festivals over the summer, in defiance of the NSW state governments position on pill-testing trials.

Source: NSW Police.

Photo: EarthCore / Instagram.
The precious baby monkey stolen from a New South Wales wildlife park has been located, but NSW Police say the whereabouts of two others remains unknown.

In a cheekily-titled statement, police confirmed they had located the unnamed month-old Pygmy Marmoset stolen from Symbio Wildlife Park on Saturday.

A call to Crimestoppers (good job, whoever you are) gave police enough info to track down and pull over a car in Appin this afternoon.

Police spoke to the two male occupants before searching the vehicle and finding the young marmoset. Both men were arrested before being taken to Campbelltown Police Station.

The infant, which staff feared would die if it didnt receive immediate care, is on its way back to the park.

The whereabouts of the other two monkeys  named Gomez and Sophia, as if this couldnt be any more heart-breaking  is yet to be determined.

Police are still asking anyone with information to contact Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000. If a call could locate the bebe, it might just help out the older ones too.

Source: NSW Police.

Photo: Symbio Wildlife Park / Facebook.
Because we dont actually get President Trump until he is inaugurated in January, what we do get is endless speculation about his Cabinet picks and a little bit more of the Don dancing on the grave of the Democrats. His latest thing to yell about is the Hillary Clinton camps backing of Green Party candidate Jill Steins attempt to secure a vote recount in various battleground states.

Basically Stein has been raising money to force a recount in three states  Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. There will be a recount in Wisconsin, with the other two pending. To flip the result of the election, a recount would have to hand all three states to Clinton, and quite frankly that is not going to happen. Sorry.

The Clinton campaigns choice to join the recount was a curious one, given that even the Obama admin considers Trumps victory as a fair one and representative of the will of the American people.

So theyre careful about the reasoning. In a statement, they skirted around saying theyre looking for an actual result here:

Regardless of the potential to change the outcome in any of the states, we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself.

As you might expect, Trumps means of prodding Hillary happens to be on Twitter. Apologies for the block of Tweets here, but the man has spun a multi-post yarn. Not the most efficient way of conveying information, but hes President now.

The Green Party scam to fill up their coffers by asking for impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated & demoralized Dems  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Hillarys debate answer on delay: That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. Weve had free   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

and fair elections. Weve accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

of position. Then, separately she stated, He said something truly horrifying  he refused to say that he would respect the results of   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

this election. That is a direct threat to our democracy. She then said, We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. So much time and money will be spent  same result! Sad  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

For her part, Stein is denying that the Clinton camp has much of a role in the recount at all:

We are not working with Clinton. Our lawyers have made courtesy calls to the Clinton, Johnson + Trump campaigns. https://t.co/hjQkhgILMX  Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 27, 2016

Source: The Guardian / Twitter.

Photo: Getty Images.
Its been two decades since Crowded House performed their era-defining set on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, but Neil Finns voice hasnt aged a bloody day.

The nation knows as much, cause the Kiwi band have been emulating that gig on the same hallowed grounds over the past few nights, and the ABC had the good sense to broadcast tonights Encore in its entirety.

A photo posted by Darryl Sando (@darrylsandogolf) on Nov 27, 2016 at 1:30am PST

In a display that proved your uncle wasnt actually making shit up when he gushed about New Zealand natives, the band very nearly united Australia in one of the least-crap moments of 2016.

Its unAustralian to avoid watching #crowdedhouselive right now on @ABCTV surely.  Matt Esterman (@mesterman) November 27, 2016

Amazing concert- three of us watching from London, Auckland &Sydney all sharing our memories #CrowdedHouseLive  Sandra Boswell (@boswell_sandra) November 27, 2016

Crowded house are grouse cos they bring people together in song & in full voice. The world needs more of this. ? #CrowdedHouseLive  Maree Fewster (@mareeeeeef) November 27, 2016

Wouldnt mind seeing live music on TV much more often  feels like we have a national singalong happening at the moment #CrowdedHouseLive  Dr Kirstin Ferguson (@kirstinferguson) November 27, 2016

The world doesnt seem so bad when you realise hundreds of thousands of people are currently singing along to #CrowdedHouseLive  Dan Condon (@doncandon) November 27, 2016

Hearing Finn max out the top of his vocal chords during the outro to Private Universe, and watching him lead the crowd in a full-throated Fall At Your Feet wasnt just a throwback, either  it was a demonstration of Finns dim view of the citys lockout laws, and tacit support of the citys musical future.

Earlier in the week, hed asked the crowd to wake up Alan Jones, a prominent resident of the nearby Toaster apartment block. Residents of that building had called for Crowdies concert to be nixed over noise concerns, which seems to be an all-too-common theme around Sydney rn.

At the time, he said lets wake up Alan Jones For the public good, for the sake of keeping Sydney open. Having the performers of such a prominent and bonza cultural event (even within kosher hours) support the movement? Well, damn. Thats gotta count for something.

Outside of any political insights to be wrenched from the show, the recent ARIA Hall Of Fame inductees absolutely goddamn slayed. As final proof: a heckler called out end of an era, to which Finn replied nope, start of a new one. They then kicked right into Dont Dream Its Over.

See you in 2036, lads.

A photo posted by ABC TV Australia (@abctv) on Nov 27, 2016 at 12:57am PST

Source: ABC.

Photo: Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images.
650x366_11251514_hd27-1.jpg

(Accuweather)

The sun will break through the clouds above central Pennsylvania for the next two days, before rain moves into the area late Monday night.

The National Weather Service in State College is forecasting periods of rain from Monday night through Thursday, with highs in the upper 50s and lows in the mid-40s.
PITTSBURGH -- A man is dead and three others injured Saturday after assailants emerged from a wooded area and sprayed a Pittsburgh street with bullets.

Authorities identified the dead man as Niles Young, 22, with no address given. The attackers fired at least 15 shots outside an East Hills apartment building, police said.

A 29-year-old woman was shot in the arm, an 11-year-old girl was grazed in the foot and an 8-year-old boy was cut when he was struck by glass from a window shattered by a stray bullet, police said.

Young was working on a car in a parking lot while the woman and girl were seated in a different car. Young, who was shot three times in the back, died at a local hospital about an hour after the shooting, authorities said.

"We believe some shooters - we do not know how many, we do believe there were more than one - came out of the wooded area and began shooting at the male from there," said city police spokeswoman Sonya Toler, reported the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Gary Lininger

A Lebanon man who went hunting last week in Potter County bagged such a big bear, he had to rent a U-Haul truck to transport the bear home.

(PennLive file photo)

A Lebanon man who went hunting last week in Potter County bagged such a big bear, he had to rent a U-Haul truck to transport the bear home.

Grant 'Matt' Ruhl's story, first reported by the Lebanon Daily News, played out last week when set off in the woods with his father on the morning of Nov. 21 on the heels of a snowstorm. At around 8 a.m., after having spotted tracks in the snow, Ruhl came face to face with the 662-pound male bear.

Here's the account according to the LDN:

"Around 8 a.m., Ruhl was in for his first surprise of the day - the bear was just five yards away, using a tree line to protect himself from the cold wind.

"I was actually a little bit shocked," he said. "I kind of expected the bear to hear me or see me coming before I got that close to it."

So Ruhl backed up to about 25-30 yards and landed a shot with his .300 Weatherby Magnum rifle, he said. Some follow-up shots missed, and a waiting game ensued. Ruhl hoped the bear would die without the need for any additional shots, but he delivered the final bullets and completed the kill at about 11 a.m.

The bear is the third-largest statewide during the first three days of bear hunting season.

Apparently, Ruhl's SUV could not take the weight of the bear, so he had to rent a U-Haul truck to transport him to Lebanon.

Last Monday, midway through Pennsylvania's 2016 rifle hunting season for bear, hunters had brought 1,884 bears to the Pennsylvania Game Commission's bear check stations across the state.

The hunting season, which began last Saturday and ended Wednesday, was not on track to set a bear harvest record.

Last year's tally from the first two days of the rifle season was 2,224. The final harvest total for 2015 was 3,366, far below the state's largest bear harvest of 4,350 bruins in 2011.

If you bagged a bear this year and want to share a photo of yourself with that trophy, send it to Marcus Schneck at mschneck@pennlive.com. Include your name, your town, the weight and sex of the bear, and when and where you harvested the bear.
Alain Juppe, left behind, watches Francois Fillon leaving after the conservative presidential primary in Paris, Sunday, Nov. 27, 2016. Fillon won France's first-ever conservative presidential primary after promising drastic free-market reforms and a crackdown on immigration and Islamic extremism, beating a more moderate rival who had warned of encroaching populism. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
More days of rain, snow predicted for this winter

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently predicted that the Great Lakes region will have more frequent precipitation than usual this winter.
Trump's views on Cuba show an opposite view from Obama

WASHINGTON

Petroleumworld.com 11 28 2016

Donald Trump started to put his stamp on a more muscular foreign policy Saturday with a toughly-worded statement following the death of Cuba's Fidel Castro.

The president-elect eschewed the diplomat-speak of President Barack Obama, who offered his condolences to the Castro family in an anodyne statement. Instead, Trump tore into the newly-deceased dictator in perhaps the clearest example since this month's election of the two men's sharply different world views.

Castro, who established a communist regime in Cuba that survived the collapse of the Soviet Union, inspired revolutionary movements and brought two superpowers close to nuclear war before stepping down after 49 years in power, died late Friday night local time. He was 90. His funeral will be held Dec. 4.

Crowds of exiled Cubans and their supporters gathered on the streets of Miami to celebrate the passing of a sometimes unyielding ruler who divided families and ruled with an iron fist. Havana, meanwhile, remained quiet, and in both countries it was unclear how Castro's death will impact the detente that has developed in the past two years.

Trump said weeks before the Nov. 8 president election that Obama has propped up Cuba economically and politically in exchange for nothing, and said that if elected he wanted to cut a better deal both for the Cuban people and the U.S.

Trump's reaction started early Saturday with a seemingly celebratory tweet -- Fidel Castro is dead! -- to his 16 million Twitter followers.

A formal statement followed, blasting Castro. Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights, Trump said.

Still, Trump didn't repeat a vow made during the campaign to reverse Obama's normalization process, saying that his administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty.

It's unclear what that means in terms of potential policy, however, and the Trump campaign didn't offer any additional clarity.

While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, 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, Trump said.

Read more: U.S.-Cuba relations -- a QuickTake

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who advocates a continued tough anti-Cuba policy, said Obama's statement was pathetic. No mention of thousands he killed & imprisoned, Rubio said on Twitter. The Republican told Fox News he hoped the administration would not send anyone to Castro's funeral.

Rubio and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, both of Cuban descent, will appear on morning political talk shows on Sunday to discuss the outlook for U.S. policy.

Trump, meanwhile, said during the presidential campaign that he disagreed with Obama's strategy, which so far has included the two nations reopening their respective embassies after more than 50 years.

Obama last month lifted restrictions on importing Cuban cigars to the U.S. for personal use, part of the sixth round of eased sanctions since December 2014. U.S. cruise ships can now dock in Cuba, and U.S. airlines can fly to the island.

The president visited Havana in March, the first sitting U.S. president to visit since Calvin Coolidge in 1928. I have come here to bury the last remnant of the Cold War in the Americas, Obama said.

Willing to Negotiate

The United States should not prop up the Cuban regime economically and politically, as President Obama has done and Hillary Clinton would continue to do, in exchange for nothing, Trump said in Miami on Oct. 25.

He told CBS' Miami reporter Jim DeFede last month that he would wait before appointing an ambassador but was willing to negotiate with Cuba in the meantime. We can wait a little bit longer and get the kind of agreement we want, Trump said.

But the property developer turned politician has said repeatedly that he'd like to cut a deal.

I'm all for Cuba opening it up, he told Fox News in January. But I do think -- I do think, if it's gonna open up, we should make at least a reasonably sane deal, not the deal that we're making right now.

Some, however, hope Castro's death could build momentum for lifting the embargo, something that has bipartisan support in Congress, particularly from lawmakers who represent export-heavy states keen to sell goods to the island nation's 11 million people.

New Chapter'

We need a new chapter here, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, a Democrat who has introduced bipartisan legislation to lift the embargo, said in an interview.

Klobuchar said she hopes Trump now takes a new look at the issue. For a long time U.S.-Cuban policy hasn't been based on reason, it's been based on the ghosts of the past, said Klobuchar. It's been 50-some years of a failed policy on both sides. It's time to change it.

But while the administration has talked up its efforts to open up Cuba, the country remains under the control of President Raul Castro, 85, Fidel's brother, with sharply limited freedoms for its people.

Progress Uneven

Jorge Perez , a billionaire real state developer, said the elder Castro hasn't had real power in the last couple of years and that his brother has seemed more willing to promote relations with the U.S.

But it seems that every time a forward step is taken, more restrictions seem to be applied, Perez said. The high hopes from Obama's visit have not materialized in either increased freedoms or trade. With the collapse of the Venezuelan economy, I would have thought that Cuba would have moved to open the economy to foreign investments, particularly from the US. This has not happened in any meaningful way.

An Iron Fist'

Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey, standing with Cuban exiles Saturday in Union City, New Jersey, said Cuba is still ruled with an iron fist by Raul Castro. Menendez, a Democrat, has been a leading critic of Obama's policy, saying repression has soared and more are seeking to leave Cuba.

Like Menendez, Rubio has been a key part of the opposition among lawmakers to lifting the embargo. He won re-election to the Senate this month after being one of more than a dozen Republicans beaten by Trump in the party's primary.

Menendez, sounding somewhat like Trump, said the U.S. needs to stop the economic lifeline the Obama administration has given the Castro regime. Instead it must demand free elections, a free press and a release of political prisoners before Cuba can have a relationship with the United States, he said. Raul Castro has more blood on his hands than Fidel did.






New Brazil scandal poses risk for Temer, could escalate



Brazil's real posted the biggest loss in emerging markets and stocks fell amid speculation that economic reforms may be derailed by fresh political turmoil.

BRASILIA/SAO PAULO

Petroleumworld.com 11 28 2016

Brazilian President Michel Temer lost a key aide on Friday after being dragged into an influence-trafficking scandal that threatens to revive political uncertainty in Latin America's largest economy.

Geddel Vieira Lima, Temer's top congressional liaison, stepped down after he and the president were accused of exerting undue pressure to construct a building in which Lima has a stake. Former Culture Minister Marcelo Calero told police that Temer urged him to settle an impasse over the construction project, according to a copy of his testimony that leaked to the press. O Estado de S.Paulo and other newspapers reported that Calero recorded his conversation with the president, but no such tapes have emerged yet.

Brazil's real fell the most among the world's major currencies earlier on Friday over speculation that Temer's possible involvement may derail his government's reform agenda. The currency weakened as much as 2 percent but trimmed losses after Lima's resignation.

The ethics scandal comes at a delicate time for the government, which is pushing for final approval of a key spending cap bill in the Senate. Legislators are already on edge as executives of a leading construction company finalize plea bargains with prosecutors with details on kickbacks from state-run oil company Petrobras to politicians. Leaked tapes and testimonies surrounding the scandal earlier this year heightened political instability that culminated in the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff in August.

It all depends on whether a recording will emerge confirming whether Temer really pressured the former minister, said Luciano Rostagno, chief strategist at Banco Mizuho do Brasil. The situation would become tough for the debate of reforms.

Presidential spokesman Alexandre Parola confirmed on Thursday evening that Temer spoke with Calero twice in an attempt to avoid conflict over the construction project. But Parola said that the president never induced any of his ministers to take a decision that breaches internal rules or convictions.

Temer's approval rating stood at 28 percent in September, according to an Ibope poll commissioned by the National Industry Confederation. Since assuming the presidency on an interim basis in May, Temer has also lost three ministers over alleged cover ups surrounding a corruption probe.

Political Quicksand

Lima's departure may give Temer a momentary respite, but the whole episode has put the government back on the defensive, said Andre Cesar, a political analyst at Hold Consultoria. It's like quicksand, everyone is looking carefully where to step, said Cesar.

While it's still hard to know the extent of the political crisis, fiscal reforms will most likely still be approved, said Mauricio Oreng, an strategist with Rabobank in Brazil.

Temer's main ally, the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, known as the PSDB, continues to stand behind the president, said Joao Doria Junior, Sao Paulo city's mayor-elect. This moment of transition with Temer's government should be preserved for the country to be pacified, said Doria. We'll only have social calm in the country with economic growth.

Temer has been in talks with the PSDB regarding Lima's replacement, and is considering party Deputy Antonio Imbassahy as an option, according to a government member with knowledge of the discussions. The government wants to tap an ally who is capable of securing votes for bills in Congress, the official said.

Opposition lawmakers plan to file a request for an impeachment process against Temer, said Senator Lindbergh Farias of Rousseff's Workers' Party. With an overwhelming majority in Congress, Temer's coalition is likely to reject the request and several congressional leaders said they saw no grounds for it.

Protests against the president could arise but it's not this scandal that will remove him from the presidency," said Roberto Padovani, chief economist at Banco Votorantim.






The worlds first smartphone with Googles Tango augmented reality technology is now in the Philippines  the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro.

Tango enables the smartphone to overlay information on real world objects. For example, users can view details about paintings and sculptures, measure things on the screen and play with virtual objects as if they are present in the room.

Lenovo Phab 2 Pro  Smartphone Specifications

6.4 Inch Quad HD IPS Display (1440 x 2560 Pixels, 459 ppi)

2.5D Arc Glass

Qualcomm MSM8976 Snapdragon 652 Chipset

1.8GHz Quad Core Cortex-A72 + 1.4GHz Quad Core Cortex-A53 CPUs

Adreno 510 GPU

4GB of RAM

16.0 MP Main Camera with PDAF & Dual LED Flash

1080p Video Recording

8.0 MP Front Camera

64GB Internal Storage

Expandable Up to 256GB via microSD

Dual nano-SIM

4G LTE, 3G HSPA+, 2G EDGE and GPRS Networks

Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n/ac (Dual Band)

Bluetooth 4.0

A-GPS

FM Radio

USB On-the-Go

MicroUSB 2.0

3.5mm Audio Jack

Dolby Atmos Audio (Output)

Dolby Atmos Audio Recording

Depth Sensor for Tango

Motion Tracking Sensor for Tango

Fingerprint Sensor

Gyroscope

Compass

Accelerometer

Proximity Sensor

Ambient Light Sensor

179.8 x 88.6 x 10.7 mm @ 259 g

4050mAh Battery (Non-removable)

24,999.00 Official Price in the Philippines Buy on Lazada 












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*The following is an opinion column by R Muse*

It is questionable how many Americans have heard that crucial to a democracy is a well-informed and well-educated populace; many world leaders have expressed that sentiment quite often over the centuries, including Founding Father Thomas Jefferson. Republicans hold a contrary belief and opinion founded on their real-world experience that the less-informed and less-educated the population is, the better conservatives chances are of racking up consistent electoral victories. As this column has proffered far too many times than should be necessary, without stupid people Republicans would go extinct.

Now that Republicans look to never go extinct and only grow more prosperous, their choice to run the country is making moves to not only increase the level of stupid in the population but to make corporations a lot richer at taxpayers expense; and make education one Hell of a lot more theocratic, also at the taxpayers expense. There was some consternation that Donald Trump broke a campaign promise to eliminate the Department of Education only to nominate a woman to run the cabinet-level agency as if he had any interest whatsoever in allowing the agency to continue. Well, there will still be an Education Department in Trumps America, but it will exist to serve the interests of corporate and religious private schools and primarily function as a transfer point from the taxpayers directly to corporations and churches embracing evangelical dogmata.

Trumps choice for education secretary is Betsy DeVos. She is a filthy rich conservative whose only efforts in education in her home state of Michigan and nationwide have focused entirely on establishing corporate education models to compete with traditional schools for taxpayer dollars; she has no use whatsoever for public schools, public school teachers, or taxpayer dollars not flowing directly to corporations and evangelical madrasas. As education secretary, DeVos will do whatever is necessary to put an end to public education by diverting whatever money is allotted for public schools to for-profit charter and religious schools; it is what many Republican-led states have been doing to the detriment of public education.

Anti-union, school privatization, and forced-theocratic education activists hailed Trumps selection of DeVos as someone who would block federal intrusion (read federal funding) in local schools. For the record, each individual state controls its own public schools; NOT the federal government. The school privatization advocates ALL know that to be the case. It is precisely why some states reject implementation of the Common Core standards that were first envisioned and created under Bush by a consortium of state governors; NOT the federal government. It is that popular government intrusion misconception that Republicans, and DeVos, use to push for school privatization under the guise of school choice and their dirty lying claim that public schools have failed.

It is important to note, yet again, that when public schools are properly funded, and privatization thieves are prevented from raiding and diverting money to their churches and businesses, Americas public school students outperform their peers and are among the highest achievers on the planet. Still, anti-public school cretins such as Republican Jeb Bush hailed DeVos as an outstanding pick, and a passionate change agent to press for a new education vision. Her allegiance is to families, not to an outdated public education model that has failed.

Remember, that public education model outperforms the rest of the world as well as the abject failures known as for-profit charters, and it has served the population well until Republicans made destroying it their top priority and a major goal. DeVos will do her part to ensure that the Koch brothers call for the abolition of public education, expansion of for-profit corporate charters, and greedy evangelical churches will get to witness Republicans achieve their goal.

The New York Times noted that the new education vision the passionate change agent DeVos will impose on the nation has already produced devastating results in her native Michigan. But that is what Republicans do best; implement a policy everyone and their pet rat knows will fail at the state level, watch it fail as expected for twenty years, and then go on a crusade to spread that failure nationwide. Now with a Koch Congress, a corrupt rubber-stamp fascist in the White House, and an incoming education secretary with a two-decade record of failure and longing to destroy public schools, this time it appears that another decades-long Republican goal will reach fruition with the advice and consent of 60 million moronic American voters; probably the kind of yokels that eschew education as a terrible waste of time.

The Times reported that If Michigan is a center of school choice [vouchers, Christian madrasas, corporate charters], it is among the worst places to argue that choice has made schools better. The Times reported the truth about privatization and charters nationwide of which Michigan is just a glaring example. They reported that,

As the state embraced and then expanded charters over the past two decades, its rank has fallen on national reading and math tests. Most charter schools perform below the state average. And a federal review in 2015 found an unreasonably high percentage of charter schools on the list of the states lowest-performing schools. The number of charter schools on that list had doubled since 2010, after the passage of a law financed by Ms. DeVos pushed to expand the [failed] schools. The [DeVos] group blocked a provision in that law that would have prevented failing schools from expanding or replicating.

According to Amber Arellano, the executive director of the Education Trust-Midwest, DeVos is a horrible choice and a serious threat to education nationwide; particularly for transferring public school funding to corporate charters and churches. She was particularly irked about a Michigan charter school law that DeVos spent millions to defend. Ms. Arellano said that Trumps choice of Education Secretary had the potential to undermine the nations hard-won progress by diverting resources from the young people who most need them, or by failing to uphold the federal governments responsibility to protecting the needs and interests of all students  especially the most vulnerable.

Michigan has one of the nations largest charter school problems, with the Detroit, Flint, and Grand Rapids school districts among the nations 10 largest shares of students in failed charters; charters that have robbed Michigans public schools of over $1 billion annually. And it should come as no surprise to anyone that of those $1 billion charter schools, over 80 percent are run by for-profit organizations; a far higher share than anywhere else in the nation. It is unclear how many of those for-profit organizations are affiliated with religion, but it is certainly no small number. Anywhere there is taxpayer money to pilfer, religious organizations are typically in very close proximity and Trump did promise evangelicals they would get a very significant share of public school money.

What is clear, especially among public school advocates, is that Trump knows the DeVos family is the most prominent name in state Republican politics, and has been the biggest financial and political backers of the effort to undermine public education. They have spent over twenty years pushing for school privatization (vouchers) and funded campaigns across the country to see DeVos new education model implemented in all 50 states. Something an overwhelming majority of the American people do not want.

Look, it may appear that Trump is breaking his promise to abolish the Department of Education, and technically that may be true. But he is accomplishing the next best thing by appointing public school enemy number one to transform the agency into a taxpayer-funded distribution hub to transfer money for public schools directly to corporations and churches. What is curious, is why anyone ever believed dirty Don was going to eliminate the Education Department when he laid out his education plan that included everything DeVos wanted; more corporate charters, nationwide privatization (vouchers), and a healthy dose of taxpayer dollars for private religious instruction. Now that he has made his choice to dismantle public education according to the Koch vision, everything DeVos, evangelicals, and corporations want will come to pass, and if Americans are even allowed to get an education, it will be as a result of a failed experiment to produce another generation of stupid people to elect Republicans.
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When ABC Newss Martha Raddatz pushed a Trump lie about the recount to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Sanders shot back with the facts and set the mainstream media straight.

Video:



ABC Breaking News | Latest News Videos

Transcript via ABCs This Week:



RADDATZ: I want to talk about this recount thats going to go on.

You said right after the election that its over, Mr. Trump will be the next president and Democrats must focus on the realities of where we are.

So are they wrong to do this recent and question the elections results?

SANDERS: The Democrats, Martha, are not doing the recount. I trust that you know that was initiated by the Green Party, who has every right in the world to do it

RADDATZ: Im aware of that, but Hillary Clinton has joined in.

SANDERS: Well, of course they joined in. Its taking a (INAUDIBLE). We will see what happens. Its a legal right. Its not a big deal. I dont think anybody, Secretary Clinton or anybody else, thinks that theres going to be profound changes. And we will see what happens.

But the focus right now has got to be doing everything that we can to address the real issues facing the working families of this country.

Mr. Trump talked about dissolving, doing away with The Affordable Care Act, throwing 20 million Americans off of health insurance.

What happens to those people?

He talked about the need to make college more affordable.

Is he serious about doing that?

Donald Trump tweeted earlier in the morning that Hillary Clinton was behind the recount. Less than two hours later, ABCs Martha Raddatz used Trumps lie as the basis for a question to Sen. Sanders.

The mainstream press is legitimizing Trumps lies by reporting them as truth. Hillary Clinton is not behind the recount. The Democratic Party is not behind the recount. Sen. Sanders answer on the recount was in lockstep with the official answer given by the Clinton campaign.

Martha Raddatz was one of the media attendees at the off the record meeting with Trump in Trump Tower. According to reports, Trump used the session to yell at the press. That bullying appears to have paid dividends, as journalists like Martha Raddatz are using Trumps tweets as a factual basis for their questions.

The corporate media is not going to stand up to Donald Trump. They are already acting like state-run press for the incoming Trump administration.

Democrats need to do what Sen. Sanders did in every single interview. When dealing the Trump fawning press, challenge the basis for their questions, and when they are wrong, correct them.

The mainstream press cant be trusted, so it will be up to Democrats and the left to check Donald Trump.
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Trump Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway delivered a threat to prosecute Hillary Clinton if she pursues the recount during an interview on CNNs State Of The Union.

Video:

On #CNNSOTU Kellyanne Conway says Trump has been "gracious" by not prosecuting Clinton while recount underway https://t.co/HqwIHYGUis  State of the Union (@CNNSotu) November 27, 2016

Full transcript via CNNs State Of The Union:

And so he said he wouldnt rule it out. He said its just not his focus right now. I think hes being quite magnanimous and at the same time hes not undercutting at all the authority and the autonomy of the Department of Justice, of the FBI, of the House Committees, who knows where the evidence may lead if, in fact, it were  if the investigation were re-opened somewhere.

But this is the president-elects position right now and I would say he has been incredibly gracious and magnanimous to Secretary Clinton at a time when for whatever reason her folks are saying they will join in a recount to try to somehow undo the 70 plus electoral votes that he beat her by. I mean this  you know, I was asked on CNN and elsewhere, goodness a thousand times, will Donald Trump accept the election results? And now youve got the Democrats and Jill Stein saying they do not accept the election results. She congratulated him and conceded to him on election night. I was right there. And the idea that we are going to drag this out now where the president-elect has been incredible y magnanimous to the Clintons and to the Obamas is incredible.

The president doesnt make decisions on who gets prosecuted and who doesnt. That is not how our system works. Secondly, Donald Trump isnt the president yet, so he has no say on what happens. What comes out of Kellyanne Conways mouth is usually a direct message from Trump Tower.

Conway was issuing a not so thinly veiled threat to Hillary Clinton. If Clintons team continues to assist with the recount, the former Secretary of State may face prosecution. The incoming administration is expressing their willingness to punish anyone who questions or expresses dissent.

If Trump is so confident in the election results, why is he so rattled by this recount?

The overblown reaction coming from Trump and his staff towards the recount might lead one to suspect that they are not as confident in the election results as is being projected publicly. Incoming presidents do not use their staff to issue veiled threats against their political opponents on national television.

Trumps reaction to the recount and threat to prosecute Hillary Clinton is not normal, and a sign that the incoming administration has an expansive and authoritarian view of executive powers that could represent a grave danger to the civil liberties and freedoms of the American people.
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President-elect Donald Trump is enraged and viewing the recount as a personal insult. The problem is that it was Trump himself who raised doubts about the integrity of US elections by complaining that the election was going to be stolen from him.

Trump went on a Twitter bender on Sunday morning concerning the recount:

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Hillary's debate answer on delay: "That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

of position." Then, separately she stated, "He said something truly horrifying  he refused to say that he would respect the results of   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

of position." Then, separately she stated, "He said something truly horrifying  he refused to say that he would respect the results of   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead." So much time and money will be spent  same result! Sad  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump spent the last month of the presidential election claiming that the election was going to be stolen from him. In Colorado, Trump claimed mail in ballots supporting him would be thrown away.

In October, Trump tweeted that the election was being stolen from him:

The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media pushing Crooked Hillary  but also at many polling places  SAD  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 16, 2016

A Politico/Morning Consult poll found that 41% of registered voters believed that the election could be stolen from Trump.

Donald Trump is the person who sowed the seeds of doubt about this election. Those doubts dont vanish because he won. The Hillary Clinton campaign has made it crystal clear that they dont think the recount will change the results of the election, but they are participating because they feel like they owe it to their supporters.

It is troubling that the president-elect said nothing in his tweets to defend the integrity of our electoral system. In Donald Trumps view, elections that he loses are rigged, and elections that he wins are fair.

Trumps ranting about Hillary Clinton is misguided and out of touch with reality. Trump told the voters that the election was rigged, and as a consequence, voters are questioning the legitimacy of his win.

The president-elect created the climate for this recount. If he wants to blame someone for its existence, he needs to look in the mirror.

Because Donald Trump, you built this.
You are the owner of this article.
The Standard apartment complex on James Island's Maybank Highway was fought by residents, some of whom are now taking aim at another new apartment project planned next door. Across the city, some are voicing concerns about how such developments may change their neighborhoods.
All of us have local and national issues that we worry about: gender-related and race-related issues, education and social welfare issues, pump prices and what to do about Confederate monuments. Thats usually how we vote  whats worrying us at the moment. But older adults, of all people, may be capable of standing back from whats in our face to take a longer perspective on politics. Read moreAging for Amateurs: Elections make us get clear on priorities
Local writer Nicole Seitz, author of the young adult Christian series House of Heaventree, is marking the Nov. 1 release of her novel The Virus with public book events in the area. Read moreHappening: Local author Nicole Seitz offers second novel in YA Christian trilogy
Mike Taylor said Awendaw is wasting postage in continuing to send water bills to him, because he cannot afford the fee to hook up to it or to pay the monthly fee. He also prefers to continue to use the water from his well (background) and bottled water since his kidney transplant a few months ago.
The California man who was fatally shot outside Summerville's Hampton Inn off I-26 did not know his alleged killer, police say. The FBI estimates that 10 percent of people murdered in 2021 in the U.S. were killed by a stranger, though the relationship between the victim and defendant was unknown in roughly half of the crimes, according to data.

. Read moreFatal shooting of California man at Summerville hotel 'random act of violence,' police say
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
ST. CHARLES  Ralph Kaehler remembers somewhat fondly the time he spent with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, who died Friday night at the age of 90.

After first meeting in 2002 as part of a U.S. Food and Agribusiness expo that promoted the sale of American food products in Cuba, Kaehler over time spoke with Castro on multiple occasions.

It was mostly business, though: Don't expect Kaehler to make the trip to the Latin American island nation for any memorial services.

"I was pretty low on the food chain," he laughed.

The St. Charles farmer for years championed trade with Cuba the delegation led by then-Gov. Jesse Ventura in 2002. Kaehler brought what he called the "Cuban Ark"  two beef cattle, two bison, two sheep, two pigs and two dairy cattle.

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They were the first livestock purchased by Cuba from the United States since before 1959, according to the U.S. Cuba Trade and Economic Council.

Kaehler's sons, Cliff and Seth, were 13 and 11 when Castro initialed the first contract with Kaehler's Homedale Farms for the $75,000 purchase of 50 beef cattle and three bulls from breeding.

The boys also initialed the contract and toasted its signing with soda while the adults sipped on champagne.

In about a dozen subsequent trips, Kaehler was involved in deals that included more dairy cattle shipments and expanded to livestock feed, milk replacer and powdered milk.

"Castro was quite focused on education, agriculture and kids," Kaehler said Saturday. "Our boys represented the next generation of agriculture. He had his hands on our boys' shoulders when he signed the contract.''

The bitter feelings between countries, Kaehler said, are typical of what happens when governments are at odds.

In 2008, the peak year for U.S. agricultural exports to Cuba, Fidel Castro stepped down and was succeeded by his brother Raul as the country's leader. Nearly two years ago, the trading rules between the two countries eased.

The embargo remains in place, requiring Congressional approval to officially end.

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RED WING  The holidays got an extension this year in Red Wing, and business owners like the change.

Leon Nesbitt, who runs Red Wing Confectionery along with his wife, said he is hoping for a little more business with the inaugural Yuletide Villagefest and European Market, which began Friday in conjunction with Red Wing's traditional one-day Holiday Stroll, and runs through Sunday.

"We're just looking at it as a good thing for the small business community," Nesbitt said. "I think we'll draw more and more people. As time goes on, the more we become a nice destination community."

For 14 years, the city's signature holiday event has been the Holiday Stroll, organized by the Red Wing Downtown Main Street Association. But the plan, said city council member Peggy Rehder, always was to add another event to help bring in visitors, drive business and put Red Wing's best foot forward.

"The Holiday Stroll was originally meant to be expanded," she said; adding events to the city's calendar has long been a part of Red Wing's strategic plan. "We decided to do this in conjunction with the Holiday Stroll, that way we wouldn't be starting from ground zero."

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So began Red Wing's Yuletide Villagefest and European Market. The three-day event focuses on small businesses in town with vendors selling goods and German-style foods in Central Park. But events throughout the city  most concentrated in and around downtown  should take the crowds of the Holiday Stroll and keep them wandering the streets and shops of Red Wing all weekend, she said.

Rehder, who saw similar events during a holiday trip to Germany two years ago, said the idea of bringing a business-themed holiday celebration downtown looked like a good fit for Red Wing.

Building an event

The plan for the new holiday celebration started in May with commitment from the Red Wing Port Authority to pay for marketing the new Yuletide event and developing a marketing plan, Rehder said. The port authority committed $7,500 to the project. The city kicked in with $2,500, the waiver of a standard fee for the private use of public property and the in-kind donation of work by city employees, mainly to build six huts for vendors in the park.

The city's contribution, however, did not come without some pushback. "I'm not in favor of spending $10,000 on this," councilman Dean Hove said during an Oct. 10 meeting.

At that same meeting, Rehder said many costs for the first year  such as building the huts  were a one-time cost that would not be repeated annually. "Realistically, it'll cost $25,000 this first year," she said.

Being the same weekend as Holiday Stroll, Rehder said the hardest part was getting sponsors  or rather, waiting to solicit for sponsors. She and her team for Yuletide Villagefest waited until Holiday Stroll had its sponsors before looking for its own. "We were very conscious of not stepping on Holiday Stroll's toes," she said.

After the event, Rehder said, she and her volunteer staff will send letters to current and potential sponsors for next year, asking them to include the event in their budgets for 2017. "Next year, maybe we'll do two weekends," she said.

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Holiday business

Colt Ekblad, chairman of the Holiday Stroll committee for Downtown Main Street, said having another event in conjunction with his should help businesses in Red Wing throughout the weekend. "(Yuletide Villagefest) should get people to stay in the community through the entire weekend," he said.

That would make the effort worthwhile, Nesbitt said. Staffing one of the huts in the band shell in Central Park means more labor costs and more work to haul product a few blocks to the park. "We're taking a dozen products we make or are grown locally," he said. "If people like them, we'll tell them there's more selection at the store."

One of the questions organizers had when developing the plans for Yuletide Villagefest was whether the downtown brick-and-mortar merchants would like things sold in Central Park near their businesses. "It's all about foot traffic," Rehder said. "The brick-and-mortar businesses are behind it."

That includes some businesses that are not within easy walking distance of the downtown park. Robin Wipperling, museum manager of the Pottery Museum of Red Wing, said the event is another way for the museum to brand itself for visitors in Red Wing for the weekend. "I was looking at another opportunity to make people aware of what we have at the Pottery Museum," she said. "It's a great place for people to bring their families during the holidays."

Getting word out about the museum and its gift shop helps keep the museum running, she said, so any way the company can get out the word on its brand is an opportunity that needs to be taken. The museum gets its name out there during everything from Holiday Stroll to River City Days. "I'm hoping it builds on Holiday Stroll and brings more people out," she said.

In the end, the goal of events such as Holiday Stroll or the new Yuletide Villagefest is to brand Red Wing itself. "It helps draw new people into our community," Ekblad said. "Whether they think, 'Gosh, I want to move here or start a business here,' it gets them to take an interest in our downtown."
In my post about Fidel Castros death I wrote: It has never been clear to me whether Castro asked the Soviets for missiles or whether the Soviets initiated the idea and Castro agreed (as the New York Times says). But wherever that idea originated, the evidence is that Castro advocated striking the U.S. with Soviet nukes. In other words, he called for thermonuclear war.

Here, via Andrew Stuttaford, is an excerpt from a letter Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev sent to Castro after the Cuban missile crisis:

In your cable of October 27 you proposed that we be the first to carry out a nuclear strike against the enemys territory. Naturally you understand where that would lead us. It would not be a simple strike, but the start of a thermonuclear world war. Dear Comrade Fidel Castro, I find your proposal to be wrong, even though I understand your reasons. We have lived through a very grave moment, a global thermonuclear war could have broken out. Of course the United States would have suffered enormous losses, but the Soviet Union and the whole socialist bloc would have also suffered greatly. It is even difficult to say how things would have ended for the Cuban people. First of all, Cuba would have burned in the fires of war. Without a doubt the Cuban people would have fought courageously but, also without a doubt, the Cuban people would have perished heroically. We struggle against imperialism, not in order to die, but to draw on all of our potential, to lose as little as possible, and later to win more, so as to be a victor and make communism triumph.

Thus, as Stuttaford concludes:

Castro, the internationalist, mourned by a pope, presidents and the leadership of an ever closer Europe, wanted to start a nuclear war. Castro, the patriot, was willing to consign his own country to the flames.

The hard lefts affinity for Castro demonstrates that it shares the dictators hatred of America. I assume it does not share his desire to destroy America at any cost, but sometimes you have to wonder.

UPDATE: Che Guevara, hero to a whole new generation of leftist imbeciles, had this to say about the Cuban missile crisis:

Here is the electrifying example of a people prepared to suffer nuclear immolation so that its ashes may serve as a foundation for new societies. When an agreement was reached by which the atomic missiles were removed, without asking our people, we were not relieved or thankful for the truce; instead we denounced the move with our own voice.

Guevaras words can perhaps be dismissed as rhetoric after the fact. However, its clear from Khrushchevs letter that Castro advocated a nuclear strike on October 27, 1962, before crisis had been resolved.
For our DC area readers, Ill be back in Washington Tuesday afternoon participating in a conference about the election and its aftermath at the National Press Club, sponsored by my host organization at Berkeley, the Institute of Governmental Studies. Heres the link with the complete rundown of people on the panels, and the EventBrite link to RSVP if you want to attend this free event.

Im pretty sure there will be some fireworks on my panel between me and Tom Mann, who with his collaborator Norm Ornstein likes to argue that the problem with America is that the Republican Party has become too extreme. I usually argue back that the GOP isnt extreme enough, and in any case the empirical evidence would seem to be. . . problematic, given that the GOP is now at its highest water mark in nearly 100 years, so if the GOP is too extreme, what does that say about the majority of our fellow citizens?
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus eulogy of Fidel Castro illustrates the repulsive relativism of the left. Trudeau is proud of the eulogy. He seeks to publicize it.

Mamas, dont let your babies grow up to be liberals. They become cretins. This is the way it ends:

It is with deep sorrow that I learned today of the death of Cubas longest serving President. Fidel Castro was a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century. A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation. While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castros supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for el Comandante. I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away. It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raul Castro during my recent visit to Cuba. On behalf of all Canadians, Sophie and I offer our deepest condolences to the family, friends and many, many supporters of Mr. Castro. We join the people of Cuba today in mourning the loss of this remarkable leader.

President Obamas statement is almost equally pathetic. It is the work of a moral eunuch. Obama doesnt quite have Trudeaus courage, though he too pines to be a fool for Castro. This is what Obama had to say:

At this time of Fidel Castros passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans  in Cuba and in the United States  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. For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends  bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba. Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castros family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.

At IJR Kyle Becker retrieves response to Trudeau and Obama here. Twitter has compiled responses to Trudeaus eulogy of Castro under the hashtag TrudeauEulogies. Its almost too easy. Anyone can play this game. Still, I want to say that you shouldnt miss a single one. The mockery is so deserved. Let us take a moment to revel in it. Here are a few of the tweets taking off on Trudeau.

Ted Bundy was a controversial man, but he will be remembered for his charisma and great love of women #trudeaueulogy  Shadow of a Doubt (@Shadow_ofaDoubt) November 26, 2016

Today we mourn the loss of Norman Bates, a family man who was truly defined by his devotion to his mother. #trudeaueulogies  Mike Hogan (@tsnmikehogan) November 26, 2016

#trudeaueulogy Today we mark the passing of a great doctor, chef, and cannibal. His love for music is only outweighed by his love for liver. pic.twitter.com/Ix0dLzEiW8  DTMAGA (@DTMAGA1) November 26, 2016

Freddie loved the company of children & made sure the dreams of every child on Elm Street came true. #TrudeauEulogy  Justice Don Willett (@JusticeWillett) November 27, 2016

Torquemada: nobody cared as much for truth or worked so hard or relentlessly to uncover it. #Trudeaueulogies  Walter Russell Mead (@wrmead) November 26, 2016

Mr. Stalin will be fondly remembered for increasing tourism to the otherwise unwelcoming Siberia. #TrudeauEulogies  Llama 3X (@cuckwatch3000) November 26, 2016

"Pol Pot has given so much to the world of agriculture with his bold ideas on fertilizer. He will be mourned." #trudeaueulogy  Doc Frenchy (@docfrenchy) November 26, 2016

As Steve would say: And finally
The rash of bomb attacks in the Niger Delta is a living book in want of a suitable title because the issues are unclear. It could have been titled Oil War 2, but unlike the First Oil War (there if a book of that title), waged by the Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta, the motive for recent attacks of oil facilities is confounding.

Even eminent former Minister, Edwin Clark, an authority in Niger Delta issues and active participant of peace moves over the years, showed his frustration last week when he said Niger Delta elders will revolt against the militants.

Are you telling me now that the Niger Delta region has gone so bad that people no longer have a sense of reasoning? Mr. Clark asked in an interview with the Sun Newspaper.

Oil Production and Conflicts

Oil and gas production would always leave footprints and depending on handling, they often lead to conflicts. The Niger Delta has not been an exception, but protests by the communities had been largely peaceful, and easily resolved. However, over time, conflicts took a violent turn with growing tension between foreign oil companies and minority ethnic groups, championed by community elites who felt exploited.

Arms build-up from inter-ethnic clashes and political militias from the 1990s worsened at a fast pace, leading to the militarisation of the entire region. By the early 2000s, widespread violence hit the oil industry. Governments military solution to it yielded no tangible results.

The militants were well-armed and had an advantage of better knowledge of the maze of creeks and the leafy landscape. Eventually, common interest unified the various groups, under an experienced leadership, with the resolve to fight to the finish for justice

The First Oil War

Although there had been protests and sporadic attacks on oil facilities, it was clear to close watchers that the grounds had been prepared for something bigger.

The United States, a major importer of Nigerias oil, was watching the development closely. Sensitive to any situation that disrupted oil supply and left the country vulnerable, in 2005, it conducted a war gaming exercise called the Oil Shockwavethat almost accurately predicted The First Oil War in the Niger Delta.

The Oil Shockwave 2005 event was a policywar-gaming scenario created by the joint effort of several energy policy think tanks, the National Commission on Energy Policy and Securing Americas Future Energy.

It outlined a series of hypothetical international events taking place in December 2005, all related to the worlds supply of and demand for petroleum. Participants in the scenario role-played presidential cabinet officials, who were asked to discuss and respond to the events.

The hypothetical events included civil unrest in the OPEC country of Nigeria, and coordinated terrorist attacks on ports in Saudi Arabia and Alaska. In the original simulation, the participants had all previously held jobs closely related to their roles in the exercise.

The original event was performed June 23, 2005 and was a simulation of December 2005, six months into the future. In the simulation, a decrease in oil supply and price spikes caused a variety of negative effects on the United States economy.

More events followed as the scenario progressed, including a very cold winter in the Northern hemisphere, terrorist attacks on Saudi Arabian and Alaskan oil ports, and Al-Qaeda cells hijacking oil tankers and crashing them into the docking facilities at the ports (which might effectively shut down such port for weeks, if not months).

The scenarios were set up with pre-produced scripted news clips. Participants were also given briefing memos with background information related to their specific cabinet positions. The participants discussed and prepared policy recommendations for an unseen Chief Executive after each part of the scenario.

Specifically, the first scenario involved the outbreak of violence in the oil-producing area of Nigeria that would lead to evacuation of expatriates, including US citizens, and hike in oil prices. Nigeria was the eighth largest oil exporter in the world and the fourth largest exporter of crude oil to the US.

About six months after the Oil Shockwave exercise, massive bomb explosions at major oil facilities announced the commencement of oil industry violence in Nigeria and resonated around the world.

First Major Bomb Attack

An industry press release to the world read:An explosion has occurred on a crude oil pipeline at the Manifold across the Opobo Channel, some 75 kilometres east of Port Harcourt in River State. This has resulted in a major oil spill and fire. Preliminary investigations reveal that the fire, reported in the early hours, may have been caused by a dynamite attack. To help starve the fire of crude oil, production in the affected areas has been discontinued. Some 190 barrels per day of oil have been deferred.

Shortly after that, some oil workers were taken hostage, and more threats and demands were issued. The oil industry was in panic, with oil companies devising best security strategies and withdrawing workers from flash points. Expatriate staff members became endangered species in the fields.

The crisis escalated, taking a heavy toll on lives, property, and the environment, which was devastated by oil spills. Over half of the countrys production of oil and gas was shut in, leading to a drastic reduction in government revenue. Resource control became a popular phrase, and the international oil market was on edgejust as was predicted by the American war-gaming exercise.

But somehow the militants drew understanding and sympathy from many quarters. The crisis was seen through the eyes of the militants, who argued that: Conventional justice did not come about. Peaceful demonstrations were mocked and ignored. We decided it was time to stop begging and to take matters into our own hands. As the old adage goes, If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Put under pressure, the Federal Government tried to address the developmental imbalance suffered by the Niger Delta with many we care gestures.

However, like in all conflicts, it all ended at talks, leading to this January 26, 2009 story in the media, Government Amnesty Declared for Niger Delta Militants: In a live press briefing this morning, Nigerian leader, Umaru Musa YarAdua has declared a 60-day amnesty for militants involved in anti-government activities in the Niger Delta. The President made the declaration in Abuja after a meeting with the Council of States in which the motion was approved. The Council of States is comprised of the 36 state governors and former heads of state, as well as the Chief Justice of the Federation.

Details of the amnesty agreement have not yet been announced. Unconfirmed reports state that the plan will include a presidential pardon and entrance into a rehabilitation programme that provides education and training for those militants willing to accept it. The amnesty proclamation, which has already been signed by the President, will be sent to the Minister of the Interior, who will announce it before it is sent to the National Assembly.

Following this, a federal government amnesty programme was initiated, and it is still running. It involves payment of stipends, vocational training and sponsorship for higher education. About 17,322 former agitators in the programme have so far received vocational and technical trainings in welding, aviation, computer technology, leadership, marine technology, entrepreneurship and seamanship, among others, both within and outside the country.

Mr. Clark describes the programme as one of the best things to happen to the Niger Delta. He says, I can tell you categorically that there is nothing about the Niger Delta question that I do not understand. One good thing the federal government had done for our people is the amnesty program. I can confidently tell you that the program has done a lot for our people. Twenty-three (23) of the boys who went on scholarship to Britain made 2nd Class Upper, 4 of them 1st Class; these were the boys that had nowhere to go but were recently celebrated.

All the arrangements for the development of the Niger Delta were retained during the President Jonathan administration and have been largely kept unchanged by his successor, President Buhari.

So with the renewed attacks of vital oil facilities the obvious scientific motive question is, what variable has changed overnight to make any group want to reduce Nigerias crude oil export to zero?

Also, if the First Oil War, ended at the peace table, with a clear template to use, why did the new crop of militants reject the recent peace of the President and Niger Delta Stakeholders?

What may have changed are the occupants of the Aso Rock Villa, and perhaps the early rhetoric of government, but the latter has since changed to pleas for peace. The federal government acknowledges that, oil caused the countrys push into an economic hole, and it will take oil to climb out.

Mr. Clark was the person many oil companies ran to in difficult situations during the First World War. (Not all Niger Delta Governors had that much clout). And industry sources say he could pick his phone any time of the day to intervene in such situations, no matter how deep in the creeks. In street parlance, he was called an oracle on Niger Delta issues.

He is still held in high esteem, as are many Niger Delta elders, by most people, but it doesnt seem like this crop of militants are in this group.

So, it leaves the true motive of the recent attacks as the proverbial needle in the haystack.

The latest stakeholders meeting

The fact that the First Oil War ended at the peace table was a major reason to applaud the recent stakeholders meeting with the Federal Government. That kind of meeting is far more difficult to convene than a staff meeting of a company, a community meeting, or even a government house cabinet meeting.

Yet, very hopeful of a positive outcome, Minister of State, Petroleum Recourses and the Federal Government team worked tirelessly with elders of the Niger Delta to make November 1st a realistic date.

After the initial opposition of some militant groups on the composition of the stakeholders team, some of them supported it, while others worried about a free and conducive atmosphere for the stakeholders to talk.

It is still not clear, who among the prominent chiefs and elders could have been cowed.

At the meeting, both sides  FG and the Stakeholders  made clear their concerns and demands. As one oil industry executive put it, the only demand that was not made across the aisle was perhaps the demand for the head of John the Baptist.

The 16-point demand of the elders centered on:

Implementation of all the components of the presidential Amnesty Programme

Law and Justice issues

The effect of increased military presence in the Niger Delta

Plight of internally displaced persons in the Niger Delta

The Ogoni clean-up and environmental remediation

The Maritime University Issue: a prompt take off of the university

Key regional critical infrastructure:

Security surveillance and protection of oil and gas infrastructure.

Relocation of Administrative and Operational Headquarters of IOCs

Power supply: they advocate a power plan that strongly ties power supply in the region to gas supplies, thereby giving all sides a stake in proved stability.

Economic development and empowerment

Inclusive participation in oil industry and ownership of oil blocs. They want federal government to enunciate policies and actions that will address the lack of participation as well as imbalance in the ownership of oil and gas assets.

Restructuring and funding of the NDDC

Strengthening the Niger Delta Ministry

The Bakassi Question: a comprehensive resettlement plan including development for the host communities and displaced population to reduce the risk of making them into a stateless people.

Fiscal federalism: supports the call for true federalism and urged that federal government should treat the matter expeditiously.

But to the shock of many industry and international stakeholders, shortly after the meeting, the militants responded with fresh attacks and threats of more attacks.

Are you telling me now that the Niger Delta region has gone so bad that people no longer have a sense of reasoning? How does one explain that in less than 24 hours after the meeting with Mr. President, these boys had struck again by attacking the Forcados pipeline? Chief Clark says.

Our boys were still boasting on the social media that they would carry out more devastating attacks on some critical national assets; threatening that they will do this and they will do that, and you begin to ask; what do the militants want? What really is their problem?

Effects of Attacks

The September attack on the Forcados export facility led to huge production shut-in, a drop in oil exports and a sharp decline in power generation, throwing many homes into prolonged blackout, and turning gas- dependent industries and others to alternative power sources. Estimated loss of revenue was put at $3 billion.

Yet, as Vice President Osinbajo told visiting Urhobo Leaders of Thought during the week, the destruction of oil facilities will ultimately destroy livelihoods, aspirations and future of the generality of the Niger Delta people.

The attacks and resultant oil spills cause massive pollution of the environment  in the same Niger Delta. But in the end, militants are likely to blame the oil companies for the pollution and demand they clean it up, resulting in another round of conflict.

According to Nigerian National Petroleum Corporations Group General Managing Director, Maikanti Baru, as at July 2016 the corporation had recorded 1,447 incidences of pipeline vandalism resulting to the loss of millions of litres of products worth billions of naira in 2016 alone. That is a lot to cause pollution!

He added that in 2015, Nigeria lost 643 million litres of Premium Motor Spirit valued at N51.3 billion through pipeline vandalism alone. Like, President Buhari, and like Niger Delta stakeholders, Baru believes a resolution of the crisis will be a win-win situation.

All of the federal government is on the same page with the president, said a Presidency source.

An African problem translates literally that if the child who cries all night does so to keep the mother awake, he also does not sleep. Unknown to the militants or perhaps ignored, their action directly affects the oil revenue of their states.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, recently, decried the continued attack on oil and gas installations by militants, expressing regret that the revenue accruing to the state had dropped to below 20 percent of what it used to be two years ago.

It is also curious that some militants would mistrust Dr. Kachikwu, who last year disagreed publicly with the Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi over the Maritime University. And to show the urgency of the issue, recently the bill on the institution passed a second reading at the Senate.

Sadly, if the militants seek to draw the attention and sympathy of the international community as the case was in the First Oil War, oil has long ceased to be a hot commodity, with producers falling on each other for better market share.

As far back as 2014, the Petroleum Ministry acknowledged that Nigeria no longer has any tangible trade in crude oil with the United States of America, following the shale oil boom in the country. The shale oil revolution has turned the long run declining oil production trends in the United States into rises of 73 per cent between 2008 and 2014.

Motives

The scary reality of the effects of the attacks makes the search for motives even more difficult. According to Mr. Clark, there are different motives behind some of these actions. One, it is unlikely that these criminals are the youths who are fighting themselves for political relevancy in the region and they are in control of so much money to engage the youths who are involved in these dastardly acts for the purpose of indicting one another. Ive also mentioned that some people are out there to make money out of it as contractors who would be assigned to carry out the repair works on these damaged oil installations.

We also have some of them that are rascals, unpatriotic fellows who think they can just go and destroy things anyhow. We are going to investigate them one by one and when we finish investigating, we will come out with a position.

Some industry and government sources suspect some past political office holders under probe are the masterminds, but that is for security operatives to determine.

But whatever the motive of the attacks is, the Niger Delta region will, in the end, turn out to be the major victim for a future compromised. Apart from the few militants, all national and international stakeholders see only one option for the development of the Niger Delta  peace at the table, where all major conflicts, including World Wars, end. The First Oil War left a good template for this.

Mr. Clark knows that all too well. We are not going to sit down and allow our hope to be destroyed by those people who have shown their true identity as enemies of the Niger Delta region, he says.
The electoral commission, INEC, has formally declared Rotimi Akeredolu the governor-elect of Ondo State.

Mr. Akeredolu of Nigerias ruling APC scored 244,842 votes to defeat 27 others in the governorship election held on Saturday.

Eyitatyo Jegede of the PDP came second with 150,380 votes while Olusola Oke of the AD scored 126,889 votes to come third, the INEC returning officer, Abdul-Ganiyu Ambali, said.

Mr. Akeredolu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, will take over office from the outgoing governor of the state, Olusegun Mimiko of the PDP.

Mr. Akeredolu is a former president of the Nigeria Bar Association and enjoyed the support of President Muhammadu Buhari and majority of the members of his party during his campaign.

The lawyer won the election despite not enjoying the full support of some leaders of his party, including ex-governor Bola Tinubu of Lagos and his loyalists. Mr. Tinubu, as well as Governors Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos and Rauf Aregbesola of Osun boycotted all the campaign rallies of Mr. Akeredolu.

Mr. Akeredolu won in 14 of Ondos 18 local governments to clinch victory including surprise victories in the two local governments of Akure, the state capital, considered a stronghold of the PDP.

The first runner-up, Mr. Jegede, had a troubled campaign and was not officially declared candidate by INEC until Wednesday, less than three days to the election. He and his partys call for postponement of the election was rejected by the electoral commission. He won in two local governments, both in Ondo town.

The second runner-up, Mr. Oke, was a member of the APC until he lost the partys primaries to Mr. Akeredolu. He alleged fraud in the primaries and subsequently joined the AD. He also won in two local governments, Ilaje and Okitipupa.
At least six soldiers were injured on Saturday when they ran into an ambush by Boko Haram insurgents while escorting a convoy of Gwoza Local Government Area officials.

The ambush occurred along Maiduguri-Bama road, close to Bama, sources told PREMIUM TIMES.

A gang of about 40 Boko Haram members opened fire on the convoy that was being escorted by soldiers of the 121 Task Force Battalion, Pulka, our sources said.

Confirming the incident, the caretaker council chairman of Gwoza, Saeed Sambo, told journalists that the soldiers fought back fiercely, killing about 20 of the attackers.

He said they came under attack at about 10 a.m. when they were heading for Gwoza from Maiduguri.

The insurgents first detonated an IED when the convoy was about 5km away from Bama, before they began to fire on us, said the chairman who escaped unhurt.

A military source who sought anonymity in this report confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES on phone that the injured soldiers are currently receiving treatment at the military clinic in Brigadier Maimalari Barracks, Maiduguri, which is the headquarters of the 7 Division of the Nigeria army.

The army has not made any official statement on the attack.

Several soldiers have been killed in recent weeks in similar ambush by Boko Haram on soldiers. The Army has also announced killing scores of Boko Haram fighters in such incidents.

Boko Haram attacks have caused the death of over 20,000 people since the insurgency began in 2009.


One sunny afternoon in April 2015, a Human Resource attache escorted Folarin Shamsudeen from his office to the gate of the British American Tobacco company in Ibadan, Oyo State.

It was Mr. Shamsudeens last day at work.

It was also the beginning of a long drawn battle for justice with the tobacco company where he had worked for 12 years before he was shown the door that April.

Joining the British American Tobacco Nigeria Ltd in 2003 after being certified medically fit for the job, Mr. Shamsudeen, 35, said he left the company diagnosed with chronic sinusitis, chronic high blood pressure, and ingrown toenails  medical conditions he never had before his recruitment.

At a meeting with the HR on April 31st, 2015, they told me that the company has the right to engage and disengage at any time, therefore my services will no longer be needed and I should submit the company properties in my care, Mr. Shamsudeen said he was told after his health conditions began to affect his output.

Mr. Shamsudeen was among the several ex-staff of the British American Tobacco Nigeria who addressed journalists on Wednesday, in Lagos, seeking justice after being dismissed by the company for poor performance and health-related redundancy.

Poor working environment, recurrent infections

Mr. Shamsudeen began working at BATN, Ibadan, on May 5, 2003, in the Primary Manufacturing Department. The department receives tobacco leaves, conditions them, cuts them into cut rags, re-dries them, before sending them to the Senior Manufacturing Department where they are packaged into real cigarettes.

He said the machines used for those tasks were obsolete and most of their operations were manual.

In the Conditioning Department where I worked, we were to decase tobacco bales weighing 200 kilogrammes with our arms, he said.

The cartons are of two layers  the inner and outer layers. In the process of removing the case, dusts are usually dissipated from the dried tobacco of about 8  9 per cent moisture, when you open such therell be some cracks and dusts.

Its part of the procedure that we evaluate the tobacco bale very well. We are to smell it to perceive if it is mouldy, do some physical tests to see if it is infested with beetles, and if there is any foreign material, because sometimes in the farm they put slippers, stones, and all that.

So we look around it, if it is mouldy, the product will be very irritating. So those ones that are mouldy, we reject them.

After decasing the tobacco bale, Mr. Shamsudeen said, it goes into the conditioning silo, the Direct Conditioning and Casing (DCC) cylinder where the tobacco is boiled to a temperature of about 120  130 degrees Celsius so it can absorb water, and become pliable before it is cut.

When it is coming out of the DCC, part of the procedure is that we have to do hand-feeling, to ensure that the tobacco is pliable and there is no paddy tobacco coming out.

Paddy is the one that has not really absorbed water. So well be doing hand-feeling to ensure the tobacco is well conditioned. In the process, some of us that are allergic to tobacco substance develop skin disease.

Sometime in 2006, Mr. Shamsudeen said he began having a perception of something rolling in his ear. At the company clinic, an ENT surgeon advised him to carry out a simple procedure  put lukewarm water in a balloon and shoot it in the affected ear.

Tobacco balls actually came out of my ear, Mr. Shamsudeen recalled.

I wonder how it got there. And if such things got into the ear, I wonder how much is in our system.

When its time for an inspection by a government agency, according to Mr. Shamsudeen, work would be stopped for half a day to enable them clean the machines and the floor of the factory.

People will be positioned at the door so that when the inspectors are coming, they will say Start the machine, so that there will be less dust and steam. So that people will not see what we are actually going through, thats the way they manage it.

In 2008, Mr. Shamsudeen said he was diagnosed with chronic sinusitis at the University College Hospital, Ibadan.

I was scheduled for treatment and placed on antibiotics and vitamin c and what they called steam aeration, to be managing it before my second visit.

Unfortunately, before my second visit, BATN stopped their relationship with UCH, they said they want to cut costs. They arranged a doctor, they said hes one of the consultants in UCH, just to see me in one corner. The man told me I would either do a procedure or continue with the palliative measure of steam aeration, taking antibiotics, vitamin c and all that.

Some people had done that procedure and when they came back to the factory, their situation worsened. So I told the medical doctor that I would rather continue with the palliative measure until Im confident of the procedure. I continued with the palliative measure until now.

Sometime in 2011, Mr. Shamsudeen developed another medical condition called ingrown toenail, a condition when the side of the toenail grows into the flesh.

He said he did a Zadek Procedure  to remove the nail from the toes nail bed  at Bamby Specialist Hospital, Ibadan.

After the procedure, the second big toe developed the same infection, I did the procedure again at Oluyoro Catholic Hospital. There, after the procedure, the doctor gave me the medical report where he stated that the ingrown toenail was as a result of chronic wearing of factory boots in a hot environment.

In 2012, the ingrown toenail surfaced again, and Mr. Shamsudeen said he repeated the same procedure at Oluyoro Catholic Hospital.

The same condition returned in 2014.

In fact, the fourth one, I didnt want to go for the procedure again, he said.

But a resident doctor in the factory advised me to for it to avoid infection, so that the toe will not be finally cut off.

A stiff neck incident

For Taofeek Alabi, in his ninth year of working with BATN as a Manufacturing Executive, he was diagnosed with cervical spondylosis, a form of neck-pain caused by age-related wear and tear to bones and tissues. He began using a cervical collar, and later added a lumbar corset to it.

Around 2013, I was going inside our office to drop a document, Mr. Alabi, 40, recalled.

On getting there, I noticed I couldnt turn my neck to the left side again.

Several visits to different hospitals in Ibadan only seemed to worsen Mr. Alabis condition.

At Oluyoro Catholic Hospital, the last of the hospitals he visited, the doctor gave him a letter advising the company that it would be beneficial for the employee if hes moved from Production to another department.

In January this year, Mr. Alabi and his colleagues in the Production department were asked to report for medical evaluation. He went with the medical report advising that he be redeployed out of the department.

At the meeting, Mr. Alabi said his Head of Department asked him to go home, think, and make a choice if he still wants to work at the company because theres no vacancy in any department that they can take me to.

On Monday, when we were asked to come back, I went, he continued.

To my surprise, they came out with another thing. They wrote this letter on our behalf. It read: Dear sir, Declaration of medical redundancy. I (I should fill my name), on my own behalf hereby confirm to British American Tobacco Nig. Ltd that I believe myself to be medically unfit for optimal performance of my role as a technician at BATN. I therefore request that BAT recognise me as being medically redundant, notwithstanding the details of all medical reports regarding my fitness for work which have been made available to me and to BATN by independent medical experts.

They wrote this and gave to me. I said Ok, let me go with this and think about it. The HR manager said I cant go with it. But I eventually snapped it. It was dated 25th January 2016. I refused to sign it. By February, they stopped my salary.

Inhaler, nebuliser, ventolin, drugs

Before he joined the British American Tobacco Nigeria in 2003, Ayodele Awe was mandated to go for pre-work medical check-up at Teju Specialist Hospital, Ring Road, Ibadan.

He did, was certified medically fit, and was employed into the companys Secondary Manufacturing Department, where cigarettes are packed into cases before they are sold.

Some people were not employed because they were not certified medically fit, Mr. Awe, 40, said.

However, four years into his job, a problem arose.

One day, I discovered I had a tight chest  I had problems breathing, I was sweating profusely. The companys ambulance was used to rush me down to Molly Specialist hospital, Idi-Ape, I was there for three days, said Mr. Awe.

On the third day, when I was discharged, I was talking to the doctor. I asked him what the cause was because all my life I had never had that kind of ailment before. He was asking me if my parents were asthmatic, or anybody in my family, I said Im hearing that kind of ailment for the first time in my life. So since then Ive been a canister-carrier.

Five weeks after he was discharged from the hospital, Mr. Awe was rushed back there for the same ailment.

The condition of the work  heat and a dusty environment are the things that trigger the ailment in me, he said.

They referred me to a specialist at UCH. There the guy said if they dont want to pay me off, on medical grounds, they should change my department.

In 2008, Mr. Awes job was changed from a machine operator to a quality inspector.

He said his new role exposed him further to the tobacco dust that triggers his attack.

The company doctor called me, that do I want to go home or I still want to work? I said I want to work. He said theyre going to give me gadgets  nose mask, eye glass, all the thing that would shield me against dust and heat. Up till now, I never saw those things.

After 12 years at BATN, Mr. Awe is now always equipped with an inhaler, nebuliser, canister of ventolin, and a cocktail of drugs.

I was in BATN for 12 years under that condition. I kept having a series of attacks. At a point in time, the doctor called me and asked if I was in BAT, I said yes. He said its better for me to leave there because of my condition.

They diagnosed me, about three years ago, of having high blood pressure, he said.

How long will I continue like this? I find it hard to practise my profession again.

My lawyer wrote to BATN to compensate me on the basis of my ailment, they wrote back that I had a pre-existing sickness before I joined the company. A company that before I joined, I was subjected to a rigorous medical test.

A crushed cruciate

Unlike his colleagues, Ayodeji DaSilvas ordeal at BATN began outside the companys factory.

In 2010, during a periodic sporting activity organised for company staff, he tore his cruciate ligament.

I went to Teju Hospital at Ring Road, Ibadan, I was diagnosed that I was going to be on a nine-month vigorous physiotherapy, said Mr. DaSilva, 36, who joined BATN in 2007.

When I went back to the office, my supervisor said I cant go out of work for that long. Due to fear of losing my job, I had to continue work. But the pains were too much.

Mr. DaSilvas department runs 12-hour shifts, and he began wearing a knee support because he gets to stand for most of those hours.

One day, as he was descending a staircase at the office, his knee gave way. He rolled down the stairs, and passed out.

That was his last day at work.

They abandoned me. They didnt treat me. I went to different hospitals they said I need a knee filling, otherwise in the next five or ten years, my leg might be amputated. The two knees, Im having cruciate ligament tear, both the anterior and posterior.

After a series of letters from Mr. DaSilvas lawyer to BATN demanding money for his treatment; in 2014, the company sent him a letter of disengagement.

I have been cheated by BAT and abandoned, Mr. DaSilva said.

I cant walk 10 metres without my knees giving in. I go everywhere with my knee support.

BATNs two-fold response

Barely three hours after their former staff finished laying out their grievances before journalists, BATN issued a scathing 530-word response accusing the employees of making demands that were unacceptable under Nigerian laws and ganging up with anti-tobacco NGOs.

In the statement, Oluwaseyi Ashade, Head of Corporate Affairs at BATN, said the company would not comment on the specifics of the case because one of the ex-employees had instituted a legal action against them.

Our expectations will be that if there are any grievances with the process and procedures for disengagement, such grievance will be heard and determined under existing employee/employers dispute resolution mechanism including taking such grievances to the relevant Court and trusting the judicial system to hear both sides before making a judicial pronouncement, Ms. Ashade said.

We therefore note with bewilderment that the former employees involved anti-tobacco NGOs who have over the years openly advocated for the closure of the legal tobacco industry in Nigeria to suddenly become the vanguard for tobacco employees.

About 24 hours later, the tobacco company issued a second statement, this time a 216 word response that adopted a conciliatory tone.

The company said it is committed to providing a great and safe work environment because it understands the importance of its workers and their welfare in the continued growth and sustainability of BATN.

These new allegations have been made by a group of former employees who left BAT Nigeria between 2015 and 2016, said Freddy Messanvi, Legal and External Affairs Director at BATN.

We take these kinds of allegations seriously and are currently investigating them as part of our strict adherence and commitment to workplace safety, which has resulted in us maintaining a zero incidence of work place injuries for the past eight years.

We adhere strictly to our Environment, Health & Safety policy implementation, which applies to employees, contractors, visitors and suppliers in our Factories and our offices.

We also abide by the local laws and are compliant with not just the local regulations as required by all relevant local agencies but we also benchmark ourselves against the requirements for labour practices globally, such as the OECD guidelines for Multinational Enterprises as provided for by our parent company.

But the former employees maintained that BATNs work environment fall below the accepted standard and called on the government to help them get a just compensation from the company.

We want the government to call this BAT to order, Mr. Shamsudeen said.

They are not operating as a responsible organisation in Nigeria. How can they be using nose-masks that are used in banks and eateries in a tobacco factory?
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says less than one per cent of the card readers deployed for the conduct of Ondo State governorship election malfunctioned.

INEC Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Nick Dazang, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Saturday in Abuja.

Mr. Dazang said that only 11 out of the over 3,000 card readers deployed for Saturdays election malfunctioned.

The election is generally peaceful. We were able to open at all the polling units, even in places that have challenges of terrain including Ilaje.

The election was peaceful, courtesy of the security agencies; even though we had some smart card readers failure, they were only 11, not up to one per cent of the total number deployed.

The percentage is infinitesimal, he said.

Mr. Dazang said that though there were few cases where the card readers malfunctioned, the commission acted immediately to resolve the problem.

According to him, the card reader at the polling unit where the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, voted failed and it was replaced immediately.

He also pledged that the collation process would be done in a transparent manner.

Mr. Dazang also dismissed the insinuation that the election results would be manipulated, saying INEC had already put in place measures to check this.

The measures, according to him, include early commencement of the collation process and thorough monitoring of the process.

The results collation right from the ward level to the local government and state level are being monitored by stakeholders, including journalists, observers and political party agents among others.

It is not possible for anybody to manipulate election results with the way we have articulated the process.

People and stakeholders who are there were also given the copies of the results as they are collated; they can use that against what is finally declared.

The times when election results are being manipulated are over. It is not possible again because you can now trail the process, he said.

He called on all stakeholders to continue to support INEC to conclude the election peacefully.

(NAN)
The Nigerian Army Council has approved the establishment of its 8th Division in Sokoto.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the Chief of Army Staff, Yusuf Buratai, disclosed this in Sokoto on Sunday.

Mr. Buratai spoke during a condolence visit to Governor Aminu Tambuwal over the recent demise of the 18th Sultan of Sokoto, Ibrahim Dasuki.

The army chief said that officers and men of the new Division were, however, currently operating in the North East.

As soon the security situation in that region is fully stabilized, the Division would move to Sokoto.

The move is part of efforts to provide sustainable peace and unity in Nigeria and the Nigerian Army is fully committed to ensuring this, the lieutenant general added.

Mr. Buratai commended Mr. Tambuwal for his routine support to the 1 Brigade of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies in Sokoto State.

He also commended Tambuwal for the existing excellent relationship between the Nigerian Army and the people of the state.

He reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian Army and the Federal Government at ensuring sustainable national security, peace and unity.

He described the late Sultan Ibrahim Dasuki as a national icon, whose legacies would remain indelible.

Responding, Mr. Tambuwal commended the Army for establishing the Army Division as well as two command secondary schools in Sokoto State.

Mr. Tambuwal further commended the Nigerian Army for its efforts at restoring peace in the North East and other parts of Nigeria.

On the Late Sultan, Mr. Tambuwal said that Mr. Dasuki was a fountain of wisdom.

He contributed immensely to the stability of Nigeria and he lived a life of service to the community, Islam and Nigeria as a whole.

(NAN)
The triumph of Rotimi Akeredolu in the gubernatorial election conducted in Ondo Stateyesterday shows that the ruling All Progressives Congress remains popular, Speaker Yakubu Dogara said on Sunday.

In a congratulatory statement signed by his media adviser, Turaki Hassan, Mr. Dogara hailed Mr. Akeredolus victory as one for democracy.

The election of Barrister Akeredolu and the APC in Ondo state is a clear indication of the popularity of our political party, Mr. Dogara said. I would like to congratulate my learned colleague on his victory at the poll, and also commend our great party, the All Progressives Congress, for a thorough and successful campaign.

The APC seized power at the centre for the first time in the 2015 general election. However, Nigerians blamed the lingering economic crisis on the party, with many suggesting that the its popularity was waning.

Mr. Akeredolu scored 244,842 votes to defeat 27 others in the governorship election held on Saturday.

Eyitatyo Jegede of the PDP came second with 150,380 votes while Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy scored 126,889 votes to book third place, figures released by INEC returning officer, Abdul-Ganiyu Ambali, showed.

Mr. Dogara, however, noted that the victory should be seen as a call to service that both the candidate and the party must render to the residents of the state.

As a party, we must take our victory in Ondo seriously since the people have placed trust in us. We must, therefore, deliver on policies that will improve their standard of living.

The Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun, also distributed a congratulatory message to the media on Sunday, expressing optimism that Mr. Akeredolus victory will usher in an unprecedented progress for Ondo State.

This is one choice that will bring unprecedented progress, infrastructural development as well as social and economic growth to the Sunshine State, Mr. Amosun said. The victory of Akeredolu in the Ondo polls also portends a good omen for the collective development and progress of the South-West geopolitical zone under the progressive socio-political and economic ideals of the APC.

The congratulatory messages came as civic groups that monitored the election gave INEC a pass mark for its overall performance.

The Situation Room, which is a coalition of several civil society organisations, said INEC recognised the task it was faced with in the run up to the polls and made adequate preparation.

There were early distribution and deployment of personnel and materials, which led to the commencement of voting at the scheduled time of 8:00am across the state, taking cognisance of the peculiar terrain of the riverine areas of the state, the Situation Room said in a statement signed by its director, Clement Nwankwo.

But the group also highlighted a few grey areas where INEC failed to live up to expectation, especially as concerned the use of card readers.

However, the inability of the smart card readers to authenticate fingerprints in a large number of instances is still a sore point in election management.

We also observed that some of the SCRs were not fully powered and lacked back up where it became necessary, Mr. Nwankwo said.

Mr. Nwankwo praised the professionalism of security personnel deployed for the exercise, but expressed reservations about alleged failure of police leadership to provide adequate welfare for them.

The poor welfare condition of security personnel deployed for elections has become recurring. Situation Room is again concerned that many security personnel still complained of a lack of support and welfare package, especially for those who were deployed from distant states of the federation for the election.

Despite assurances given by the police that all police personnel had been given their entitlements while commenting on deployment for the election at the stakeholders meeting and observers briefing held in Akure, deployed police personnel lamented that this was not the case.

We are constrained to raise concern about the minimum standards of welfare for this assignment, Mr. Nwankwo said.
Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has lamented the outcome of the Ondo State Governorship election, saying the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) connived with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and its collaborators in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to rig the election before it was conducted.

He said, Just as I would have loved to congratulate the winner, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), because in every contest, there must be a winner and a loser, the role of INEC in awarding victory to him in the election left much to be desired.

The governor, who reacted to the outcome of the election in a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said INEC gave the APC victory by deliberately replacing the name of Eyitayo Jegede, the PDP candidate, thereby creating legal logjam that lasted till three days to the election.

He said the PDP went to the election with its hands tied to the back because of the actions of INEC.

He said political parties, except APC, are now contesting elections against INEC.

Mr. Fayose lamented that to sustain the see and buy strategy and legalise money politics, the APC-led federal government deliberately created poverty in the country so as to continue to enslave the minds of Nigerians with peanuts to get their votes on election day, saying; Dibo ko sebe (vote and collect money to cook soup) was the slang used by the APC in the Ondo State election and that only worked because the APC federal government have put Nigerians in abject poverty.

He said, Even though INEC allowed what appeared like a free and fair atmosphere on the Election Day, the election had been won and lost before it was held.

For instance, INEC that witnessed the PDP primary election that produced Mr Eyitayo Jegede succumbed to pressure from the APC cabal to replace him with Jimoh Ibrahim, who did not take part in any primary election known to the Electoral Act.

What could anyone have done under 72 hours in an election that was heavily monetised by the APC?

The whole process was a deliberate sabotage by INEC, which has totally bastardised the electoral process.

Obviously, all these shenanigans are geared towards turning Nigeria to a one part state by weakening all opposition parties ahead of the 2019 general elections but I can assure Nigerians that this will not last because the people will always be defeat tyranny.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has declined to accept the outcome of the result of the just concluded Ondo State governorship election, saying the exercise was rigged before it was conducted.

The Publicity Director of the party in the state, Ayodele Fadaka, who was reacting to the results on Sunday, said INEC connived with some powerful persons in the country to rig election.

The Returning Officer of the election and Vice Chancellor of the University of Ilorin, Abdul-Ganiyu Ambali, had declared the All Progressives Congress candidate, Rotimi Akeredolu, as winner of the governorship election.

Mr. Akeredolu polled a total of 244, 842, to defeat the PDP candidate, Eyitayo Jegede, who rallied 150, 380 votes to place second in the race.

In spite of the national orientation of the Federal Government, buying voters is the highest form of corruption that this government portends to be fighting day in day out and we see that corruption is getting entrenched by the day more and more, Mr. Fadaka said.

The PDP failed this election simply because INEC and some other interest groups decided it will fail.

He alleged that the processes that led to the election amounted to rigging, saying INEC need not hold the election when it knew that the name of the PDP candidate was unjustifiably removed from the list of candidates.

According to him, INEC had up till January to hold the election, and should have postponed it, but chose to go ahead with it because it planned to ensure the PDP failed in the election.

I will say that powerful interest in this country, working hand in gloves with INEC decided to do us in this election, they decided and desired and they have achieved their aim to hand over our party to PAC, he said.

Asked if his party accepted the results, Mr. Fadaka said,  My answer is neither here nor there, stressing that the election came hastily despite the travails of the party in court.

There is no democracy in this game, there is no fairness and there is no equity in what we have see and what has just happened here, he said.

But the representative of the candidate of the APC, Benson Enikuomehim, said the party praised the effort of INEC in the conduct of the election.

He said Mr. Akeredolu would use the mandate judiciously to serve the people of Ondo State.

He said although the election had some issues, it substantially complied with the electoral laws.

He said Mr. Akeredolu expressed his satisfaction with the election and extended his hands of fellowship to other candidates who contested against him.

Also, the APC Publicity Secretary in Ondo State, said in a statement made available on Sunday in Akure that there was prompt arrival and delivery of electoral materials to the 3,009 polling units across the state.

He applauded the simultaneous accreditation and voting system adopted by INEC as landmark, saying it was largely responsible for the absence of electoral malpractice and violence.

Mr. Adesanya said that the election was unprecedentedly peaceful, free and fair in the history of the state.

The publicity secretary, therefore, commended the good people of Ondo State for their peaceful conduct before, during and after the election.

According to him, the electorate remained calm in the face of provocations, intimidation, harassment and the clamour for the repeat of the 1983 violence in the state, where scores of people were killed.

He praised the professionalism of all security agencies before, during and after the poll.

We specially commend the sacrifices of the security agents that were deployed to various parts of Ondo State and therefore wish them journey mercies to their various states, he said.

Mr. Adesanya assured the people of the state that the government of Ondo State under the leadership of the governor-elect would be a regime of a new dawn where indices and traces of dictatorship, tyranny and corruption shall have no breathing space.

(NAN)
A former Minister of Transport, Abdullahi Idris, and other chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Gombe State, have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The News Agency of Nigeria [NAN] reports that among the defectors are a former deputy governor of the state, Lazerus Yoriyo, ex-House of Representative member, Saidu Alkali, and a former PDP Youth Leader, Habu Muazu.

Mr. Idris said on Sunday in Dadin Kowa, during a rally to receive them into the APC, that their decision was to bring about positive development to the state.

He said they would collaborate with other APC leaders to contribute positively to the success of the party in the state and across the country.

The former minister urged officials of the APC in the state to operate an open door policy, so as to attract more entrants into the party.

Adamu Pata, the APC Zonal Vice Chairman for Gombe Central, assured the defectors that they would be treated equally with those they met in the party.

According to him, their defection was a good omen for the APC ahead of future elections in the state.

Also, Kabiru Kukan-Daka, another party leader, assured the former minister and other new entrants of full support at all the times, adding that the party would tap from their experiences to advance its cause.

Mr. Kukan-Daka urged Nigerians to continue to pray for the success of President Muhammadu Buhari in the efforts to make Nigeria great and end security challenges in the Northeast.

Sule Makaniki, Chairman of APC in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area, called on party supporters to unite for the good of the party.

He assured the defectors that the APC would not discriminate against them nor prevent them from aspiring for any position or making tangible contributions to its growth.

NAN reports that Mr. Idris obtained his APC membership card at Hinna Ward in Yamatu/Deba LGA.

(NAN)
The Independent National Electoral Commission has earned high ratings for its conduct of the just concluded Ondo State governorship election won by the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Rotimi Akeredolu, according to separate reports by two civil society organisations  Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement, YIAGA, and Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room  that observed the election

But the reports also indicted politicians, without mentioning names though, for bribing voters with monetary inducement in some areas in the course of the election.

In its preliminary report on the Saturday election, YIAGA scored the electoral commission according to processes of setting up polling units, accreditation, voting, counting and posting of results at polling units.

According to the report signed by the bodys director, Samson Itodo, the polling process afforded the Ondo electorate a largely credible opportunity to exercise their right to vote.

The report read: YIAGA noted an improved deployment of INEC poll officials and materials as compared to recent off-cycle gubernatorial elections, which saw 65 per cent of polling units open by 7:30 a.m., and accreditation and voting begun by 10:00 a.m. at 95 per cent of polling units. Our observation also revealed that card readers were used throughout accreditation in 96 per cent of polling units.

Describing its methodology, YIAGA said it deployed 340 stationary and 23 mobile citizen observers to a representative random sample of 300 polling units.

On adherence to electoral rules, YIAGAA said, perhaps most significantly, no voter at nearly 100 per cent of sampled polling unit was accredited to vote without a permanent voter card (PVC).

Starting with the Benue South senatorial rerun poll held early 2016, INEC switched to accrediting voters and allowing them cast their votes simultaneously.

Reporting on this recently adopted policy, YIAGA said polls ended swiftly, noting that At 23 per cent of polling units, accreditation and voting ended before 2 p.m., and by 3 p.m., 89 per cent of polling units had completed.

As for the counting process, by 4 p.m., 85 per cent of polling units had completed, and by 6 p.m., another 14 per cent of polling units had completed.

Issues still remain with the PVC and card readers use, said YIAGA.

While only 4 per cent of polling units had card readers that were not used throughout accreditation, some areas of the state were particularly problematic around completing two-step verification.

Perhaps the major downside reported by YIAGAA, secrecy of the ballot was a challenge in some areas. In 14 per cent of the polling units, the report said, voters could not vote in secret.

Also, 12 critical incident reports described voters to have displayed their ballots before placing in the ballot box, the report added. This may give some credence to allegations that voters were induced monetarily.

The interim report did not include areas were voters could not exercise their voting right secretly.

Secrecy of the ballot is a fundamental dimension of democratic elections and INEC should continue to review its material deployment and voting procedures to allow voters to cast their ballots freely and without exposing their voting preference, the report noted.

YIAGA also reported 61 critical incidents, including cases of buying votes, confirmed through its Critical Incident desk as part of its State Information Centre to receive urgent messages from its 340 stationary observers.

The most frequent incident reports recorded by #WatchingTheVote citizen observers related to vote buying and bribery (17), card reader malfunction (13), voters publicly displaying their ballots before placing in the ballot box (12), and intimidation or harassment of voters, poll officials or party agents, said the report.

Similar concern over inducement of voters was raised by the Situation Room.

According to its convener, the practice of paying voters to induce support posed threat to Nigerias democracy.

He noted that the Situation Room observed in Polling Unit 005, Ward 01, Akoko South East and Polling Unit 005 Ward 03 in Idanre councils respectively, report of police officer found collecting envelope from party agents.

But like YIAGA, Situation Room also commended INEC for the professionalism displayed.

The candidate of APC, Mr. Akeredolu, scored 244,882 votes to emerge winner in the election, coming ahead of Eyitayo Jegede of Peoples Democratic Party who polled 150,380 votes.

Olusola Oke of Alliance for Democracy came third with 126,889 votes.
Eight staff of Yobe College of Education, Gashua, died on Saturday in a motor accident along Bayamari-Dapchi federal highway, the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports.

NAN gathered that the eight non-academic staff, including the driver, were travelling from Gashua to Damaturu in the college bus to attend a promotion examination.

The survivors of the accident said the vehicle had a burst tyre, which forced it to somersault several times, thereby killing eight people while five others sustained injuries.

The provost of the college, Muhammad Gishiwari, who confirmed the accident, said it was a huge loss to the college.

Meanwhile, Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe has described the death of the staff as a great loss to the state, their families and the country.

Mr. Gaidam prayed for the repose of the departed souls and a quick recovery for the injured people.

(NAN)
A policeman, who allegedly killed a driver and injured another on Tegina  Lagos road, has been arrested by the Niger State Police Command.

The commands spokesman, Bala Elkana, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna that investigation into the incident had commenced.

The policeman in question has been arrested and detained as the Commissioner of Police, Zubairu Muazu, has ordered for an in-depth investigation into the case.

The policeman will be tried in police orderly room, said the police spokesman.

He re-assured that anyone found culpable would be prosecuted according to the law and urged residents to remain calm as investigation continued into the incident.

(NAN)
Gov. Badaru Abubakar of Jigawa on Sunday said the Islamic Development Bank has concluded plans to invest about $35 million to promote agriculture in the state.

Mr. Abubakar made the disclosure at Kwalge Dam in Auyo Local Government during the Hadejia Zonal Fishing Festival.

He said the investment would largely be in the area of accelerated crop production across the state.

The governor said the investment would enhance agricultural financing, mechanisation, processing and enterprise.

He disclosed that the government was collaborating with the World Bank and African Development Bank, to clear typha grass on Hadejia River, which had inhibited fishing and effective utilisation of the water for consumption and irrigation.

According to him, the state government with support from the Federal Government and Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had initiated Anchor Borrower Scheme to support farmers transform agriculture and attain food sufficiency.

The governor noted that the programme was designed to support rural farmers, build their capacity, increase crop production, encourage modern processing and add value to the produce.

Mr. Abubakar reiterated the governments commitment to reduce poverty, provide job opportunities and enhance wealth through effective utilisation of agricultural resources.

Also commenting, Kabir Ali, the Commissioner for Agriculture, said the fishing festival was re-introduced to encourage fishery development in the state.

Mr. Ali said the state government had expended about N4 million to support fishery development programmes, adding that similar fishing festivals would be held in Birnin-Kudu and Kirikasamma Local Government Areas.

The fishing festival is to motivate fishermen and encourage production, he added.

Mr. Ali disclosed that the state government had stocked about 150, 000 fingerlings at Warwade Dam in Dutse Local Government, to enhance fish production.

The commissioner, therefore, called on farmers to support government policies and programmes to reinvigorate agriculture and make it the mainstay of the states economy.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 36, 250 farmers groups were registered under the Anchor Borrower programme in the state.

The state government had also spent about N439 million on the programme and distributed fertilisers, seeds, chemicals and equipment to rice and wheat farmers, to raise their production output.

(NAN)
A former Inspector-General of Police, Etim Inyang, was buried, Saturday, in Enwang, Mbo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

Mr. Inyang died on September 26, at the age of 85. He served as Nigerias police boss from 1983 to 1986.

The governor of Akwa Ibom, Udom Emmanuel, and the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, were among the dignitaries who attended the burial ceremony.

Mr. Emmanuel, in his eulogy at the Enwang Stadium where the funeral took place, said the late police chief epitomized the Can-do spirit which forms the definitional layers of the Akwa Ibom identity.

Mr. Emmanuel said when the late Mr. Inyang lost his father early in life which affected his academic pursuit, that didnt stop him from following his path to success  joining the police as a recruit in October, 1949, and rising steadily till he got to the top.

Its not too often that one gets to such heights having started from the lowest rung of the ladder, the governor said.

There must have been something in our late IGP that others whom God had positioned as his destiny helpers saw in him, and those values are not far-fetched.

Here lies a man who was honest, trustworthy, dependable and imbued with deep Christian values of love and goodwill towards all  a man who harboured no ill-will towards his compatriots or others who came in contact with him, a thorough-bred professional who fought crime with a human face, a community leader who realized that even though his constituency was national, he was first and foremost a proud son of Enwang, and had an abiding responsibility to affect and effect developmental strides within the community.

Mr. Emmanuel said the late Mr. Inyangs family, the Oro ethnic nationality where he belonged, and the Akwa Ibom people should be consoled by the fact that the former police chief brought glory and honour through his service to the country.

As we wish him eternal farewell today, let us all be inspired by his life of selfless service, his compassion, his innate belief in the capacity to rise and shine even in the face of great odds, his deep love for his nation and his state, the humility he exuded and his faith and belief in the goodness inherent in the human nature, the governor said.
A former military governor of Akwa Ibom, Idongesit Nkanga, has said that the state was yet to show enough appreciation to Ibrahim Babangida, the former military president who created it, alongside Katsina State, in 1987.

Mr. Nkanga, a retired air commodore, said Mr. Babangida, apart from creating the oil-rich state, also supported it to grow at a faster pace when he (Babangida) was in power.

Mr. Nkanga governed Akwa Ibom between 1990 and 1992, during the Babangida era. He built and named a road  IBB Avenue  after Mr. Babangida; but says the former president deserves more than that from the state, and that it was left for subsequent governors to do something about it.

A lot of times when I went (as governor) to talk about the problem of the state with him, he was always having sympathy. (And) I exploited that, Mr. Nkanga told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview in Uyo.

I cant remember any problem I went to him, which he refused, he said, adding that he had a personal relationship with the former military ruler.

Mr. Nkanga admitted that Akwa Ibom hardly gave invitation to Mr. Babangida during official state functions.

He mentioned a particular instance where he said the former president got embarrassed, when he wanted to honour an invitation from a traditional ruler in the state.

Some years back he (Babangida) was invited by the Oku Ibom Ibibio during the anniversary of his coronation. The Oku Ibom had told Babangida that he was going to honour him with a traditional title, for what he did for the state. The man (Babangida) was very excited and enthusiastic.

He called me and said he was coming. But somewhere down the line, the man was told that they couldnt guarantee his safety in Akwa Ibom, and he sent Col. Lawan Gwadabe to represent him.

When they went to the venue (Ibom Hall) it was locked, they had to do that function in a school opposite it.

Mr. Nkanga said Akwa Ibom still needed to invite the former president, no matter what.

The former governor, who is a leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, also said that disunity, lack of respect and in-fighting among the leaders and ordinary people was hindering development and progress in the state.

There are some people that fought for this state, some of them are dead today, and some of us are still showing animosity against people that are even dead.

I do sit down inside my closet, and feel so emotional about this problem.

Few days ago, I watched on the television the coronation of the Oba of Benin, it was like a god. (But) here (in Akwa Ibom), you dont find that.

I have gone to a function before at Ibom Hall. You know they label seats? There was a seat just behind where I was sitting. They labelled that seat Ntisong Ibibio. A lady came and saw it, and remove it (the label) and said me too I am somebody, and sat down on the seat. I saw it with my two eyes.

These are things you see and you feel hurt inside.

Mr. Nkanga said he couldnt trace the origin of the disunity, which he said was the greatest problem affecting the state. The problem, he said, manifested terribly among the people even during the Nigerian civil war, when the area that is known today as Akwa Ibom was part of the then Biafra.

There was a civil war in this country. A lot of it was fought around this area. We did not do well, in terms of the relationship with our brothers.

Then whether it was the Nigerian troops or the Biafran troops, each person was ready to bring out his own brother to be killed. When it was the Biafrans, they were pointing to their brothers as saboteurs. When the Nigerian troops came, they did the same thing. It was pathetic sights how our people were killed here, because brothers brought out brothers.

They were not decently buried, that was why the then governor Godswill Akpabio said let us see how we could bury them properly.

It is easy for us to blame someone else, but the problem of Akwa Ibom starts from inside. Weve not done well.

I am praying to God to take this problem away, so that the next generation would not be saddled with it, Mr. Nkanga said.
The Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, has congratulated Ondo State people for their faith in democracy and using the opportunity it presents to determine the direction of their future as a people.

In a statement signed by its chairman, Olawale Oshun, ARG also praised the recipient of the peoples mandate, Rotimi Akeredolu, and other candidates for pursuing their ambitions within the ambit of the rule of law. Such maturity and statesmanship, the group said, is needed to restore the pride of Yoruba land.

We charge Akeredolu, as the guardian of the peoples mandate, to continuously and consistently prove himself a leader worthy of his peoples trust, by constantly communicating his vision and managing the resources of the state towards the development and wellbeing of Ondo State. We also charge the people to cooperate with the governor-elect, be alert to their civic duties and keep the government on that path of straight and narrow, the statement said.

We trust that Akeredolus administration will prioritise good governance over partisanship, in the noble and progressive tradition of Awolowo and Ajasin, which is the main reason he earned our endorsement.

Most importantly, we are hopeful that in active collaboration with the governors of other Southwest states, Akeredolus emergence will make easier the pursuit of regional integration, which has already gained credible momentum in our region. We therefore call on other Yoruba governors to embrace him into their fold, in the renewed spirit of brotherhood and reconciliation in Southwest.

As a pan-Yoruba socio-political group, ARG will continue to stand for and protect the interest of Yoruba people.
The Interview with Polish President Andrzej Duda for 77 WABC Radio has been published on audioboom.com.

Rita Cosby: President Duda, thank you so much for joining us.

President Andrzej Duda: Hello.

This is your first interview in English, so I think you're going to do fantastic.

(laughs) Thank you, I'll try to do my best.

You've had a very high profile conversation with President Elect Donald Trump. I want to have you describe that conversation: how did that go?

Yes, we've had that conversation and I can say that we talked as old good friends. It was really really very pleasant for me. Of course I have congratulated Mr President Elect on his winning in the election, on his victory I can say. I thanked him that he met Polish Americans during the campaign. He was the only really serious candidate in that election, who met Polish community in the United States, and he had a very good meeting with them, so I was very glad that that meeting took place, and I said to Mr President: "Thank you. Thank you so much because it was really important .

What did he say to you?

He said to me that he was very glad that the meeting with Polish people was so interesting and so productive and he told me that most of Polish voters in the USA trusted him, so it is very good information for me that they were right (laughs) when they voted for Mr Trump, because he won the election. And we talked about the campaign, because I remember my campaign, the presidential campaign, which was really difficult, and not very pleasant for my family, so we had the same feelings (laughs)

You were sympathizing with each other?

Yes, yes, yes. We understood each other perfectly (laughs) in that matter. So we had a very good conversation and Mr President assured me that the relations between the United States of America and Poland will continue to be very good, and maybe better than it was the case until now. And we invited each other to our states: yes, I invited Mr President Donald Trump to Poland. His Excellency the President invited me to the USA and I hope we will meet, I don't know, maybe here in Poland, maybe in the USA. It will be discussed between our administrations - the dates and all the details. But what was most important for me? I told the President Elect that Poland is and I believe will be an absolutely reliable ally of the United States. We have a strong alliance and I think it is very important for the security environment and for our good relations in business, in economy. So I believe that this term will be very good for President Donald Trump, and very good and very productive for our relations.

What where your impressions of him as a man? Did you enjoy talking to him? How did you get along and do you think you will be friends on top of, obviously, allies?

Of course it's very difficult to say now. I have never talked with President Trump before: that was our first conversation. But I can say it was a really, really nice conversation in a very warm atmosphere and I am very glad.

You talked about national security and some people, Polish Americans, have expressed to me concerns about comments about Vladimir Putin being, you know, cordial to Trump, as he has said. What are your thoughts, as the President of Poland? Are you concerned about that and do you believe that he will always be there for Poland? Are you concerned of him being friendly or too friendly with Putin?

I always say that as a President of my country, President of Poland, I would like to have the best relations with all our neighbors. The best possible. And I understand that President Elect Donald Trump, he thinks the same way. He wants to have the best possible relations with all neighbors, but what is the difference between the USA and Poland? The USA is a global, I can say, an imperial country. One of the most important elements of stability in the world. So if President Donald Trump says: I want to have good relations with Russia, he who will be President of the United States in two months, it means that he wants to have the best possible relations with all neighbors, the same as myself. So I understand it. But the second problem is how to keep peace in the world and how to make the United States of America and, of course, all NATO allies, stronger and safer. In my opinion, of course, we have to stand together, we have to strengthen our capabilities in defense, but we also have to speak one voice in a matter of respect for international law. And if we discuss about Russia, and what Russia did, we have to remember that the respect for international law is a crucial thing. And here is a problem. And I am sure that the President Elect understands this problem very well.

You felt he appreciated Poland and appreciated the national security concerns Poland has.

Of course. We are a member of NATO alliance, so it is one of the crucial things for us and, as I said before, we are a reliable ally of the United States, and a reliable member of NATO. And during the NATIO Summit in Warsaw, we made the decision together, because that was a common decision, that we will increase NATO presence: the enhanced forward presence in our part of Europe, in Central Europe. Im very glad that the United States decided to be a framework county in Poland. We also have a bilateral agreement on the subject of presence of American troops in Poland, and for me it is very important to keep these decisions, to fulfil these decisions, this is the first thing. And the second thing, I understand very much, and I agree with Mr President Donald Trump, we have to spend 2 or more percent of our GDP for our defense. And it is nothing unusual for me. We have to strengthen our military capabilities and we have to modernize our army so I think and I hope we will buy some military equipment from the United States. We have F16 now, and I hope we will buy some helicopters and other weapons, we have JASSM missiles and other devices, so I think it is a good direction of modernizing Polish army, and we have to do that.

And very quick last question, Mr President Duda. What is your sort of hope or a wish for Donald Trump you would have for him?... Not necessary advice, but as a leader in a very difficult time in the world, and I think to be the President of the United States, the 45th President, it is a very difficult time in the world with ISIS, and so many issues. Is there a hope or a wish that you would have for him?

Good luck, Mr President. And God bless you. And God bless America. And God bless Poland.

Thank you very much. It was great to have you here. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much.
ATLANTIC CITY  Just a few days before Thanksgiving, 125 families in need got to pick up their meal in a box Monday courtesy of a city school and State Police efforts.

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Pennsylvania Avenue School opened its doors to the families. It was the 12th annual turkey drive troopers helped sponsor in the city.

Samantha Sickler, a social studies teacher for seventh and eighth grades at the school, helped lead the event. She said each grade level in the pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school collected a different type of food to fill in the boxes.

We try to make the kids come into running it and not just side step, Sickler said. We try to teach them that this is our community, and we take care of our community.

The members of the State Police Casino Gaming Bureau teamed up with the school educators and other organizations to pack more than 125 boxes full of food, including a frozen turkey and Thanksgiving trimmings such as canned and boxed goods like stuffing, mashed potatoes and biscuits.

State Police Detective Sgt. Richard Wheeler said this kind of event helps establish a good relationships for a good cause. When the drive started, there were 50 turkeys, and now theyve almost tripled it.

Contributing organizations to the food drive also included the New Jersey State Troopers Non-Commissioned Officers Association, Egg Harbor Township ShopRite, TD Bank Corp., Local 356 Gaming Enforcement PBA, New Jersey Homicide Investigators Association and Wayne Lobascio from Transtar Moving Systems of Moorestown.
British musician Peter Noone began his career in show business as a child actor on such British television shows as Coronation Street. But he has been known for more than 50 years as the Herman fronting the U.K. pop group Hermans Hermits, which churned out nearly a dozen top-10 hits from 1964 to 1967, briefly knocking the Beatles off the charts.

At 69, Noone continues singing those popular songs, including Im Into Something Good, Wonderful World, A Must to Avoid and Listen People, and hes now touring with a new group of Hermits.

We spoke to Noone recently from his home in California about the bands secret ingredients.

Q: Amid the blizzard of British bands in the 1960s, how did Hermans Hermits build a following?

A: We did odd songs. Every band was playing the same songs. We had these weird, outside songs, so we were kind of a novelty.

Q: By odd things, does that include those old British music-hall songs you revived like Im Henry VIII, I Am?

A: Yeah, those kind of things. Like, wed do Mrs. Brown, Youve Got a Lovely Daughter. We did Mashed Potato; nobody did that.  We had this fun, amusing, dont-take-ourselves-serious (attitude). It was like self-deprecation music. We knew that we were not sexy, so we couldnt go Since my baby left me, so we did My Boy Lollipop. People got the joke. And wed sing Mother-in-Law, because a 15-year-old singing Mother-in-Law is a really great joke.

Q: But those old music-hall songs, which date to 1910 

A: Well, if youre from a musical family, you got access to those songs. They werent recordings, they were songs. So they werent exactly the same. If you listen to the original Henry the VIII, its nothing like my version.

When I do a concert in England, there isnt a single person in the audience who doesnt know every single word to Mrs. Brown, Youve Got a Lovely Daughter.  Its overplayed in England, but I always sing it there because the audience likes it. And Henry the VIII, its just part of everybody. Everybody in England knows that song, so I always do that one. I cut it short, because I think people in England are sick of going H-E-N-R-Y. Theyre just sick of it. Because it has been going for 100 years now.

Q: When you were discovered by producer Mickie Most, things went rather quickly, right?

A: We went into the studio and we recorded this song called Im Into Something Good. Two of us were 16, one was 17, one was 18, and we had this old guy in the band who was 20. We thought we were in the competition.

If the music business was competition, we didnt think it was ridiculous to try and compete with people like the Beatles and the Shadows.

We were all in, and you could hear it on the record.

Q: What happened once it became a hit?

A: When it gets on the radio, then you connect to all the people who have never heard of you. We had a following, but immediately it became 1,000 times bigger just overnight. So now we were on tour with Dusty Springfield and played to 2,800 people every night, and then we went to America and played to 28,000 people a night  whoosh, just like that. We never thought about it, we just said yes to everything.

Q: Was part of your appeal just being so British at a time when British music and fashion were so popular?

A: Oh, we played on that. Because right from the beginning I said I refuse to sing with an American accent, like all of the others. Weve got to be different. Im always going to sing with my accent. And sometimes Ill change accents.

English people will know Mrs. Brown, Youve Got a Lovely Daughter is from Yorkshire or maybe Manchester. Leaning on the Lamppost, Im definitely from Yorkshire. Henry the VIII, Im from London.

Q: What were the other factors to your success?

A: We were the biggest act in America in 1965 because the Beatles were deciding not to tour, and they were going to go into the studio and make Sgt. Pepper and whatever they were doing. We would see them in the studio, we didnt know what they were up to, we just knew that they werent touring.

Q: In addition to covering songs by Sam Cooke and the Rays, you had hits from a lot of great songwriters of the day. Were they all pitched to you?

A: Thats what happens. And then the Monkees came along, and they got all the songs pitched to them that would have come to us. But we knew that would be the case. We knew right behind Bobby Rydell would be Fabian, and right behind Fabian would be someone else. We knew there was an order to things. We had a good run. I think we had about 20 hits when we got to Theres a Kind of Hush.

Q: Why do you close your set with Theres a Kind of Hush?

A: You know, for some reason it touches people. I say, Theres a kind of hush, and they all sing, all over the world. And we do Ferry Cross the Mersey (by Gerry and the Pacemakers), and for some reason that touches people. Theres this line in it  we dont care what your name is boy, well never turn you away. Because in Liverpool they have the Liver Building, which is like the Statue of Liberty, which says welcome. So you know, thats pretty poignant right now.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  The Boy Scouts of Troop 634 set up their wreaths and trees over the weekend at Pomona Road and Route 30, as the troop has done for more than 10 years.

They hope to sell about 120 Christmas trees this season to send the 25 Scouts to summer camp.

Scoutmaster Jon Bell said it is the troops biggest fundraiser of the year.

Its the time of year when people want to help out various organizations. Its a time of giving, said Bell, who with other volunteers helped to establish the holiday tree sale.

Many local nonprofit organizations begin major fundraising efforts after Thanksgiving. Toy drives including the Marine Corps Toys for Tots program in Atlantic County and Waves of Caring in Ocean City are underway.

Maj. Lynne Wittenberg, of the Salvation Army in Atlantic City, said her organizations bell-ringing campaign has begun and will continue through Dec. 24 outside more than 20 stores, from Mays Landing to Cape May.

Its an easy way to help support others in need with just whatever change or a couple bills you have in your pocket, Wittenberg said.

She said the fundraising goal has increased from $90,000 in 2015 to $105,000 this year due to increased need.

Were running out of food in our food pantry before the month is up, she said.

The Salvation Armys food bank feeds residents of Atlantic City through the Community FoodBank of New Jersey. In addition, it operates a soup kitchen five days a week all year long, feeding about 500 people for Thanksgiving.

Wittenberg said 300 families have signed up for the charitys Christmas gift and food program.

Despite the cold weather, the holiday season is a lucrative time for charities.

I think more people are out Christmas shopping, more people are at the stores for food purchases for the holidays. Its just a busier time of year, Wittenberg said.

Bell said the Scouts tree sale, which mirrors a sale by a troop in Northfield, will be seven days a week through Dec. 23.

He said having the Scouts actively participating in the sale, helping to trim branches and move trees, is in line with the mission of the Boy Scouts.

Its a very hands-on operation. The people can come out and see where their donations are going, he said.
VINELAND  Eileen Schrandt walked her little dog Lucas across Landis Avenue, right in the middle of the 600 block of the citys business district.

That would normally be, on a busy traffic day, something requiring speed of foot and dodging cars and trucks.

But Schrandt and Lucas used a new walkway, recently installed to help pedestrians cross the wide avenue. And it was appreciated.

We walk this street a lot, said Schrandt, a local resident. Its a lot safer.

The work was part of a $2.4 million upgrade of Landis Avenue from Myrtle Street to the Boulevard. Its also the first phase of a federally funded project that will run until 2020, resulting in an im-proved Landis Avenue all the way to the Route 55 interchange. The final price of the project, of which five phases remain, is still to be determined, city officials said.

$18 million Landis Square senior complex gets underway VINELAND  The $18 million Landis Square development project at the corner of Landis and Eas

For now, Landis Avenue between Myrtle and the Boulevard is repaved. The two lanes of traffic and parking spaces are clearly marked. Motorists have a safety zone that gives them more room to back out of parking spaces. There are new sidewalk bump-outs at intersections, giving pedestrians a shorter walk across Landis Avenue. New pedestrian walkways cross the middle of the 600 and 700 blocks, and both lead to municipal parking lots.

While the work makes Landis Avenue more attractive, city engineer Brian Myers said the projects main goal is safety.

The work should prevent motorists from passing on Landis Avenue, he said. And he expects a study of accident reports to show, in a few years, a reduction in the number of sideswipe and backup collisions.

It helps keep traffic flowing, Myers said.

There is still some work to be done to improve traffic flow, he said.

The reduction in the time it takes pedestrians to cross Landis Avenue at the sidewalk bump-outs also reduces the time motorists wait at red lights, Myers said. That will be accomplished with the installation of new traffic signals that will allow the city to better synchronize green, yellow and red lights. That cant be done with the current batch of out-of-date traffic signals.

Merchants on Landis Avenue seem pleased with the work.

It looks better than it was before, said Michelle McDonald, who owns Michelles Kitchen & Catering.

McDonald said the work is one way to attract more customers to the business district.

Robin Hope, who manages The Spot, a mixed retail outlet, said the work shows the city is trying to help local businesses.

It looks like theyre trying to make the avenue all that it could be, she said. I think things are going to be better in the next few years.

The rest of the project includes:

 Phase 2, which runs between the Boulevard and West Avenue

 Phase 3, which runs between West and Coney avenues

 Phase 4, which runs between Moyer Street and Orchard Road

 Phase 5, which runs between Orchard and Mill roads

 Phase 6, which runs between Mill Road and the Route 55 interchange

Meanwhile, the city is investing an additional $5.5 million in projects to bolster local government operations. The projects, approved recently by City Council, include:

 City Hall security enhancements such as a full-time security guard, mandatory visitor sign-in and bulletproof glass at the customer-service window

 More parking and building improvements to the Vineland Public Library

 New vehicles for the Engineering Department

 Two new trucks for the Vineland Fire Department

 New equipment for the Public Works Department
ATLANTIC CITY  The resorts seven remaining casinos may have dodged a bullet when voters rejected a plan to allow North Jersey casinos, but the fight to expand gambling in the state is set to continue.

Some state lawmakers are developing a plan that would allow video lottery terminals at the Monmouth Park and Meadowlands racetracks without a public vote as a way of increasing revenue to help the struggling horse-racing industry.

Assemblyman Ralph Caputo, D-Essex, has said he is exploring options to boost revenue at horse-racing tracks without a public referendum. According to a 1982 ruling by former Attorney General Irwin Kimmelman, the lottery terminals do not require a public referendum.

Video lottery terminals, or VLTs, are machines that allow gamblers to bet on the outcome of a video game. The terminals are similar to slot machines in that each is a stand-alone device containing a random-number generator.

During the November election, voters overwhelming rejected a plan that would have cleared the way for two casinos to be built at least 72 miles from Atlantic City and in different counties.

Assemblyman Chris Brown, R-Atlantic, called the VLT idea a backdoor method to try to expand gambling.

While Im thrilled that by putting middle-class families first and standing up to political bosses and special interests we were able to defeat North Jersey casinos, it is frustrating these political bosses and special interests are ignoring the will of the people and now saying voters be damned in trying to force North Jersey casinos on our families, Brown said.

The issue of introducing video lottery machines at racetracks has been talked about for more than two decades, said former Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, who spent more than 30 years in the state Legislature.

At the recent League of Municipalities Convention in Atlantic City, DiFrancesco said, Of course they should have them. If people want to go and play the slots at the racetrack, then go ahead.

Former Gov. Jim McGreevey said the installation of lottery machines would benefit both the horse racing industry and Atlantic City.

It will not continue to exist if we dont do something about it, McGreevey said of the horse racing industry. I think that its a rational way to do it, which also balances the long-term interest of Atlantic City.

While having an effect on the citys gambling market, VLTs wouldnt have as large an impact as additional casinos in North Jersey, said Colin Mansfield, a casino analyst with Fitch Ratings.

Expanding casino gambling to North Jersey could have forced three to five Atlantic City casinos to close, leaving 20,000 to 30,000 more people out of work, city casino officials have said.

It would take some of the revenue, but how much we dont know yet because we havent looked at it yet, Mansfield said. It wouldnt be as much as, say, a resort type of casino, which was proposed during the referendum.
The most persistent public policy issue, and most resistant to long term resolution, is how New Jersey finances K-12 public education.

The issue is tightly bound up with one consistently identified as most troubling to the states citizens: the ever-increasing property tax burden, which has driven the average annual property tax to $8,353 and well in excess of $10,000 in many municipalities.

With upwards of 60 per cent of property tax revenue devoted to education, the two issues are inextricably intertwined.

Supreme Court opinions spanning more than 40 years have largely driven executive and legislative action on education funding, despite a general unhappiness with judicial involvement (critics say meddling) in establishing funding imperatives and ordering legislative compliance.

At just over $9 billion a year supplemented by another $20 billion raised locally, public education is easily New Jerseys most expensive government program.

Gov. Chris Christie, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto all have submitted proposals to restructure the funding system, assuring its dominance in what remains of the current legislative year and as a campaign issue in the coming year.

Christies recommendation to scrap the current system and replace it with one appropriating an identical sum per pupil  $6,599  to each district regardless of size or economic circumstance is easily the most controversial.

While the proposals by Sweeny and Prieto are similar  both would establish study commissions to develop recommendations for changing the funding mechanism  there are crucial differences.

Sweenys legislation, already approved in the Senate, establishes a four-member commission to identify funding disparities in which some districts benefit from overfunding while others are penalized by underfunding.

The key component of the Senate presidents plan  one which Prieto has called unacceptable  would subject the commissions recommendations to legislative approval without amendment. Its a buy all or buy none approach that recognizes the legislative history on the issue and seeks to prevent repeating it.

Sweeney contends that years of piecemeal amending, tinkering and tweaking led to the disparities and unequal treatment that now demand a remedy.

Restoring fairness can only be accomplished, in Sweeneys view, through an objective outside review that the Legislature should either accept or reject.

Prieto has suggested a six-member legislative commission (three from each house) to submit its findings to the Legislature and open to change.

The speaker touted his proposal as one free of politics and ideology by allowing those with political or ideological motives to alter the findings.

If history is any guide, opening the process to unlimited amendments would be a lobbyists delight and a private interest dream.

The New Jersey Education Association would play a central role in influencing the eventual finished product while local officials would work diligently to persuade legislators that averting any loss of state aid is paramount.

Amending language would fly thick and fast and lead inevitably to side deals and accommodations among legislative delegations seeking support for changes requested by one group in return for favorable consideration of changes desired by another.

Sweeney is convinced that without his up or down vote idea, the study commissions work would be wasted.

While some may chafe at the notion that prohibiting amendments is a desirable approach, Sweeney has sufficient history to support his view that there is considerable risk of winding up with a funding formula that perpetuates inequities and requires further legislative action.

Conventional wisdom holds that Christies equal distribution plan is a non-starter and the funding formula drama will play out between Sweeney and Prieto.

Theyve differed before on major issues  replenishing the Transportation Trust Fund, rescuing Atlantic City from bankruptcy, restoring stability to the public pension system  only to reach some accommodation.

The stakes are enormous in the education funding debate, not the least of which is a reassertion of legislative dominance rather than judicial directives.

At the same time and more impactful to individual taxpayers is the quality of their schools and an easing of the property tax load.

If the two leaders can compromise on a credible approach, progress is likely. If not, it will become one more well-intentioned idea that crashed on the rocks of political hard-headedness.

Carl Golden is a senior contributing analyst with the William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy at Stockton University.
New Jersey looks like it soon will streamline the permitting process for fish farmers, which would boost the young Delaware Bay oyster industry. A bill to do so, sponsored by Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland, Atlantic, passed the Legislature unanimously this month. Now the question is which is best  a simple signature from Gov. Chris Christie or sending the bill back for revisions to reflect Agriculture Department concerns.

There is broad agreement that New Jersey aquaculture has significant growth potential. Rutgers University estimates that 160 aquaculture businesses contribute $36 million to the state economy, NJ Spotlight said this month, and surrounding states have aquaculture operations 30 times the size of New Jerseys.

Oyster farmers along the bay, using two varieties of the shellfish bred by Rutgers to be more disease resistant, have found strong demand for their product in East Coast cities. The value of oysters sold jumped 14 percent from 2013 to 2014.

And oyster farming is just about the greenest industry there is, according to Mike DeLuca, director of Rutgers N.J. Aquaculture Innovation Center. The shellfish provide habitat for other marine organisms and clean the water in which they live by filtering it.

But since the businesses operate in tidal waters, they must comply with 10 different legislative acts and get approvals from multiple state departments.

The bill awaiting Christies signature would create a single application packet for an aquaculture business, which would be distributed among the departments for consideration. So far so good.

But Monique Purcell, director of agricultural and natural resources in the Agriculture Department, thinks the regulatory reform tries to do too much too soon. It would require a process suitable for all forms of aquaculture  including such possibilities as farming trout, bass, koi, shrimp, baitfish and aquatic plants.

The states growing aquaculture, however, is producing mainly of two kinds of shellfish, clams and oysters. Clams have been raised for two decades and clam businesses outnumber oyster businesses 3 to 1.

Purcell has worked on streamlining shellfish aquaculture permitting for three years, and in September the department released a consolidated application form. She thinks the bills broad mission to address all aquaculture would undermine the effort to help the two segments that matter at this time  oysters and clams.

The Christie administration should look closely at whether focusing the reforms on shellfish aquaculture would be more productive for now. If so, maybe a conditional veto that asks the Legislature to optimize oyster and clam farming would be appropriate. Future, much different forms of aquaculture could be addressed in subsequent legislation.

Or, if the review of how administrators would implement the bill as written suggests it would work about as well for shellfish farmers, then simply signing the bill is all thats required.

Either way, the state should remove the unnecessary barriers to oyster farming soon.
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.




DUBAI, UAE, November 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

ArabiaWeather Inc. - the leading provider of weather products, services and solutions to consumers and businesses in the Middle East - has signed an agreement with the United Kingdom's national weather service, the Met Office, to promote its training products to organizations and governments in the Arab World and across the region. Under the five-year agreement, ArabiaWeather will present the Met Office's extensive training products to prospective customers and third parties, thereby offering meteorological institutions in the Middle East and Africa the chance to benefit from the Met Office's expertise.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151117/288090LOGO )



(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161124/442778 )



According to the terms of the agreement, ArabiaWeather will endeavor to promote Met Office products and training materials across the region. The agreement covers nations across the Middle East and Africa.

On his part, Mohammed Al-Shaker, CEO of ArabiaWeather Inc. said, "This is yet another partnership that is aligned with ArabiaWeather's strategy to bring world class meteorological services to the region. We strive to bring the best weather products into the MENA region, which is suffering from adverse weather effects, costing the economy considerable losses."

In turn, Sally Wolkowski, Head of the Met Office College, said, "The Met Office is delighted to be working with ArabiaWeather on this venture and has been at the forefront of global weather and climate science for 160 years. We combine the latest science with ground-breaking advances in technology and local understanding to deliver operational advantage to our customers. Our knowledge, experience and flexibility allow us to apply our science across business and government, managing the risks and opportunities presented by our weather as they arise."

ArabiaWeather is the leading provider of weather products, services and solutions to consumers and businesses in the Middle East. It provides weather decision-support solutions to businesses across the region, including sectors that are enormously affected by weather conditions such as Media, Aviation, Oil/Gas, Agriculture, Insurance and Retail, in addition to other fields that benefit from weather information. These solutions help businesses reduce costs, enhance safety and drive efficiency in their operations.

For more details, please visit corporate.arabiaweather.com.

Editors' notes:

The Met Office is the UK's National Meteorological Service, providing 24/7 world-renowned scientific excellence in weather, climate and environmental forecasts and severe weather warnings for the protection of life and property. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk

https://twitter.com/metofficeb2b?lang=en-gb https://www.linkedin.com/company/met-office

Contact: Bader Qutteineh, +971504683562

SOURCE ArabiaWeather INC.
Radiology is at the center of the majority of healthcare decisions, driving the timely detection and accurate diagnosis and treatment of disease at its earliest stages. As health organizations continue to move toward value-based care, they need intelligent solutions to meet the challenges they face in improving outcomes, lowering cost of healthcare delivery and enhancing patient satisfaction.

"Radiologists are playing a pivotal role in determining the right path to the right treatment," said Robert Cascella, CEO, Diagnosis and Treatment, Philips. "More than ever before, the identification and effective treatment of disease is dependent upon advanced diagnostics. Philips is delivering the most innovative digital imaging systems combined with intelligent informatics for decision support, to enable a first-time-right approach to definitive diagnoses."

At this year's RSNA, Philips will unveil new technologies and showcase its full suite of integrated radiology solutions.

Enhancing Diagnostic Confidence

Philips' solutions enable faster and more definitive diagnoses the first time, to help enhance patient care and improve financial outcomes. In addition to its recently unveiled suite of magnetic resonance (MR)-based applications, dedicated to resolving complex neurological questions with greater certainty, Philips will highlight digital imaging systems including:

IQon Spectral CT , the industry's first and only detector-based spectral CT scanner that delivers spectral results 100 percent of the time in a single scan.

, the industry's first and only detector-based spectral CT scanner that delivers spectral results 100 percent of the time in a single scan. Vereos , the world's first and only fully digital PET/CT system featuring Philips proprietary Digital Photon Counting (DPC) technology, which offers approximately twice the volumetric resolution, sensitivity gain and quantitative accuracy compared to analog 1 systems.

, the world's first and only fully digital PET/CT system featuring Philips proprietary Digital Photon Counting (DPC) technology, which offers approximately twice the volumetric resolution, sensitivity gain and quantitative accuracy compared to analog systems. Attendees will also experience Philips' Best in KLAS Ultrasound solutions including Lumify ultra-mobile solution, which expands the use of ultrasound at the clinician level from any compatible Android smart device, helping to enable an earlier diagnosis.

Advanced Informatics to Deliver Actionable Insights and Enhance Productivity

Critical radiology decision support depends on clinical informatics and advanced cloud-based solutions to improve clinical decision making and operational performance management. From new adaptive intelligence and advanced visualization capabilities, to its new universal data management and continuous improvement solutions, Philips' integrated software, solutions and services, powered by Philips HealthSuite, are designed to extend and enhance decision support for radiologists and administrators alike, including:

IntelliSpace Portal 9.0 , the latest edition of Philips comprehensive, advanced visual analysis and quantification platform, featuring a suite of multi-modality functions and expanded neurological tools. IntelliSpace Portal 9.0 helps radiologists detect, diagnose and follow-up on treatment of diseases, while using new machine learning capabilities to support the physician.

, the latest edition of Philips comprehensive, advanced visual analysis and quantification platform, featuring a suite of multi-modality functions and expanded neurological tools. IntelliSpace Portal 9.0 helps radiologists detect, diagnose and follow-up on treatment of diseases, while using new machine learning capabilities to support the physician. Philips' new high-performance IntelliSpace Universal Data Manager is a scalable, secure, interoperable data management solution that supports healthcare enterprises in organizing large data sets, including millions of images and other data from multiple sources, and quickly delivering them to virtually any clinician throughout their health network.

is a scalable, secure, interoperable data management solution that supports healthcare enterprises in organizing large data sets, including millions of images and other data from multiple sources, and quickly delivering them to virtually any clinician throughout their health network. Philips Illumeo is a new imaging and informatics technology with adaptive intelligence 2 that redefines and enhances how radiologists work with medical images. Its built-in intelligence records the radiologists' preferences and adapts the user interface to assists the clinician by offering tool sets and measurements driven by the understanding of the clinical context.

is a new imaging and informatics technology with adaptive intelligence that redefines and enhances how radiologists work with medical images. Its built-in intelligence records the radiologists' preferences and adapts the user interface to assists the clinician by offering tool sets and measurements driven by the understanding of the clinical context. Making its debut at RSNA 2016 is Philips PerformanceBridge, a new suite of performance management software and services to assist radiology departments in enhancing productivity, improving the patient experience and delivering better value-based care. 'Powered' by HealthSuite, PerformanceBridge supports radiology department administrators in prioritizing operational improvements in asset management, equipment uptime and utilization, peer-to-peer collaboration, accreditation compliance and practice management.

Improving the Patient Experience

Philips' technologies are designed to speed the time between diagnosis and treatment to enable faster administration of treatment plans with greater accuracy and fewer scans. Patient anxiety and motion can prohibit successful scans the first time. Philips' state-of-the art clinical MR suite offers a soothing experience with imagery, sound and light, helping to keep patients at ease. Philips' advanced technologies include:

Philips Ingenia 1.5 T In Bore with Ambient Experience, offering enhanced workflow, high quality images and a fast, comfortable patient set-up.

Philips will also host and participate in several events and research presentations throughout the week, including:

Reinventing Radiology Forum Talks, throughout the show, at Philips Booth #6735  Philips experts and guest speakers will deliver brief sessions highlighting the role, impact and evolution of radiology. For a full schedule of forum talks, visit www.philips.com/rsna .

 Philips experts and guest speakers will deliver brief sessions highlighting the role, impact and evolution of radiology. For a full schedule of forum talks, visit www.philips.com/rsna . Insight Night, Tuesday, November 29 , 6:00-7:30 p.m. , at McCormick Place  Moderated by noted tech journalist and author David Kirkpatrick of Techonomy Media, this session will explore "The Facebook Effect on Radiology: How digital health, connected care and social media will impact you, your patients and your specialty." The event will include discussions featuring Royal Philips CEO Frans van Houten , guest speakers Dave deBronkart ("ePatient Dave"), and Dr. James Rawson , Chair of the Department of Radiology & Imaging at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. The event is open to all RSNA attendees. Register at http://techonomy.com/RSNA .

For more information on Philips' presence at the 2016 Radiological Society of North America Annual Meeting, visit www.philips.com/rsna and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for #RSNA16 updates throughout the event.

For further information, please contact:

Kathy O'Reilly

Philips Group Communications

Tel: +1 978-221-8919

E-mail: [email protected]

Twitter: @kathyoreilly

Alicia Cafardi

Philips Group Communications

Tel: + 1 412-523-9616

E-mail: [email protected]

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and enabling better outcomes across the health continuum from healthy living and prevention, to diagnosis, treatment and home care. Philips leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver integrated solutions. The company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, image-guided therapy, patient monitoring and health informatics, as well as in consumer health and home care. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips' health technology portfolio generated 2015 sales of EUR 16.8 billion and employs approximately 70,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter.

1 GEMINI TF 16

2 Adaptive intelligence is seen as an emerging concept of combining domain specific models and knowledge (e.g. in the field of Radiology) and Artificial Intelligence to create an adaptive and contextual experience, anticipating users and augmenting their work. The current release of Philips Illumeo exhibits the first step into Adaptive Intelligence.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161123/442563

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SOURCE Royal Philips

Related Links

http://www.philips.com


Designed as a secure, cloud-based or on-premise software solution, Philips' PerformanceBridge gives healthcare professionals access to near real-time data on departmental performance through an easy-to-use interactive dashboard. Vendor agnostic, PerformanceBridge unifies information across different imaging modalities and existing information systems. To further support continuous improvement management, Philips offers a dedicated team of application specialists to help PerformanceBridge users leverage its tools and implement performance improvement strategies based on meaningful insights provided by PerformanceBridge.

"As the role of the radiologist continues to evolve, we are committed to delivering next-generation software and services to bring the power of informatics and decision support to radiology," said Rob Cascella, CEO of the Diagnosis and Treatment businesses at Philips. "Radiology departments have access to a goldmine of data that can positively impact the entire enterprise. PerformanceBridge leverages intelligent software and analytics, blended with deep expertise, to deliver actionable information to make everything more streamlined in support of a first-time-right approach."

Lahey Hospital & Medical Center based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a co-development site and early adopter of one of the services of Philips' PerformanceBridge, namely PerformanceBridge Practice.

"PerformanceBridge Practice has incredible promise for data-driven practice management, including exciting things such as a real local market referral pattern analysis, as well as asset and technologist utilization insights," said Christoph Wald, M.D., Ph.D, MBA, FACR, Chairman, Department of Radiology at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and Professor of Radiology at Tufts University Medical School. "It gives us the intelligence we need to be a data-driven enterprise."





The PerformanceBridge suite includes intelligent tools and personalized service options to enable health systems to drive the value of imaging:

Understanding and improving imaging performance  PerformanceBridge Practice offers vendor-agnostic, deep, data-backed insights to identify opportunities and gaps within a health system. Following this assessment, Philips acts as a partner in on-going continuous improvement, providing detailed benchmarking and insights to help achieve productivity gains.

 PerformanceBridge Practice offers vendor-agnostic, deep, data-backed insights to identify opportunities and gaps within a health system. Following this assessment, Philips acts as a partner in on-going continuous improvement, providing detailed benchmarking and insights to help achieve productivity gains. Managing radiation dose  Philips' dose management software platform, DoseWise Portal, enables healthcare providers to record, track and analyze the radiation exposure of patients and clinicians. Imaging managers have access to information about patient radiation exposure to make data-informed decisions to ensure safe optimized levels and adherence to industry regulations.

 Philips' dose management software platform, DoseWise Portal, enables healthcare providers to record, track and analyze the radiation exposure of patients and clinicians. Imaging managers have access to information about patient radiation exposure to make data-informed decisions to ensure safe optimized levels and adherence to industry regulations. Participating in knowledge sharing  Through Philips' NetForum community, clinicians have access to a cloud-based peer-to-peer network, where members can access benchmarking data, case studies and educational information to aid in knowledge sharing and facilitate learning.

 Through Philips' NetForum community, clinicians have access to a cloud-based peer-to-peer network, where members can access benchmarking data, case studies and educational information to aid in knowledge sharing and facilitate learning. Proactively addressing equipment issues  PerformanceBridge's services analytics infrastructure integrates input from 24 different data sources into one consolidated database with more than 40 proactive data analytics algorithms, which analyze system log files on a daily basis to recognize patterns that identify the need for proactive equipment maintenance.

PerformanceBridge builds on Philips' existing expertise in imaging, clinical informatics, healthcare consulting services, remote services, dose management services and education services. It complements Philips' Rightfit suite of maintenance services and its SmartPath suite of upgrade services. Philips has an installed base of over 300,000 imaging systems in more than 100 countries, and 7,000 field service engineers to support Philips customers.

Philips is showcasing PerformanceBridge at RSNA 2016 at booth #6735 in Hall B at McCormick Place. PerformanceBridge will be commercially available in the US, Benelux, UK, Australia and New Zealand in 2017.

For more information about Philips' presence at RSNA, including the full suite of Philips' solutions for diagnosis and treatment, please visit Philips' RSNA event website, and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for more information on Philips' presence at #RSNA16.

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]

Twitter: @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.

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Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140122/NE50581LOGO

SOURCE Royal Philips

Related Links

http://www.philips.com


PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR), today announced its Imaging Components business will exhibit its latest products and dedicated software solutions for planning, acquisition and analysis of X-ray images at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago. Varian's products will be on exhibit Nov. 27 - Dec. 1 in Booth #4301 in the South Hall of the McCormick Convention Center. Products will include:

Low Dose, Low Cost RF/Surgical/Vascular Detectors: The PaxScan DXV family of flat panel detectors offer the latest generation of electronics with a new x-ray conversion layer for best-in-class low dose performance. Designed for cost-sensitive portions of the surgical, vascular and RF markets, this family of panels consume approximately half the power of previous generations, simplifying cooling requirements and reducing overall system costs.

The PaxScan DXV family of flat panel detectors offer the latest generation of electronics with a new x-ray conversion layer for best-in-class low dose performance. Designed for cost-sensitive portions of the surgical, vascular and RF markets, this family of panels consume approximately half the power of previous generations, simplifying cooling requirements and reducing overall system costs. Analog to Digital Conversion Solutions for Radiography: The FDA-approved Nexus DR, with 4336Wv4 wireless radiography detector, is a high resolution digital imaging system designed to replace conventional film and CR, in both new and existing radiography equipment. The combination of the Nexus DR and the 4336Wv4 is ideally suited to both multipurpose and dedicated applications.

The FDA-approved Nexus DR, with 4336Wv4 wireless radiography detector, is a high resolution digital imaging system designed to replace conventional film and CR, in both new and existing radiography equipment. The combination of the Nexus DR and the 4336Wv4 is ideally suited to both multipurpose and dedicated applications. Dose Efficient X-ray Collimators: The Claymount Optica 40 collimator is intended for integration into human radiography and fluoroscopy imaging systems. The Optica collimators feature a robust, lightweight design with a range of filtration options, including the ability to prevent patients from being exposed to useless low-energy X-ray spectrums and to meet requirements for pediatric imaging.

The Claymount Optica 40 collimator is intended for integration into human radiography and fluoroscopy imaging systems. The Optica collimators feature a robust, lightweight design with a range of filtration options, including the ability to prevent patients from being exposed to useless low-energy X-ray spectrums and to meet requirements for pediatric imaging. Aftermarket Tube for Lightspeed VCT Scanners: The MCS 8064 Computerized Tomography (CT) replacement tube for Lightspeed  VCT series scanners is an anode end grounded (AEG) replacement X-ray tube and offers lower life cycle costs. The MCS-8064 installs and calibrates on the LightSpeed VCT like the original OEM tube, and Varian offers a full 12-month warranty.

The MCS 8064 Computerized Tomography (CT) replacement tube for Lightspeed VCT series scanners is an anode end grounded (AEG) replacement X-ray tube and offers lower life cycle costs. The MCS-8064 installs and calibrates on the LightSpeed VCT like the original OEM tube, and Varian offers a full 12-month warranty. FDA Approved Lung CAD and Lung Screening Solution: The MeVis Veolity software analyzes radiological image data, measures and segments lung nodules, and documents reproducibly for efficient interpretation and diagnosis of chest CT images.

Exhibition hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Nov. 27-30 and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Dec. 1.

About Varian Medical Systems

Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, focuses energy on saving lives by equipping the world with advanced technology for treating and managing cancer and for X-ray imaging. Varian supplies X-ray equipment manufacturers with imaging components, including tubes, digital detectors, cables and connectors as well as image processing software and workstations for medical and industrial applications. The company is also the world's leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating and managing cancer. The company provides comprehensive solutions for radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy and brachytherapy. Varian employs approximately 7,800 people at manufacturing sites in North America, Europe, and China and sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com or follow us on Twitter.

Press Contact

Howard Goldman

Varian Medical Systems

+1 (801) 978-5274

[email protected]

Elaine Rebele

Varian Medical Systems

+1 (801) 978-5715

[email protected]

SOURCE Varian Medical Systems

Related Links

http://www.varian.com


CHICAGO and NUREMBERG, Germany, Nov. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- At this year's RSNA annual meeting, Ziehm Imaging presents its latest generation of C-arms: Ziehm Solo FD and Ziehm Vision RFD*, both with CMOS flat-panel (FD) will be the first full-size C-arms equipped with this new technology. Further highlights are the new Ziehm NaviPort 3D interface for image-guided navigation to improve reliability and precision during surgical procedures, and the Ziehm Vision RFD Hybrid Edition  a comprehensive mobile hybrid solution for cardiovascular procedures.

10 years of flat-panel technology

Based on 10 years of experience in flat-panel technology, Ziehm Imaging presents its latest C-arm generation that delivers superior image quality while minimizing dose. The new flat-panels feature CMOS technology as an alternative to amorphous silicon detectors and enable higher image resolution at the same dose, closing the gap between the image quality of flat-panel technologies and the cost efficiency of image intensifiers. The new CMOS detectors will be at display on two systems: The Ziehm Vision RFD* and the Ziehm Solo FD. The Ziehm Solo FD is already commercially available. Due to its versatile design, the Ziehm Solo FD ensures maximum flexibility. The mobile C-arm provides optimal soft tissue and bone contrast especially in orthopedic, trauma and pain management procedures. The Ziehm Vision RFD* comes with a 25 kW power generator for demanding vascular procedures and will become commercially available with CMOS technology in early 2017.

OrthoScan, the specialist for mini C-arms, will present its portfolio of powerful mini C-arms at RSNA and will showcase a Ziehm Solo FD on their booth as well. Ziehm Imaging's sister company is known for its great value in orthopedic surgical procedures for extremities.

Increased confidence in the OR

The new Ziehm NaviPort interface for image-guided navigation connects the Ziehm Vision RFD 3D seamlessly with systems of leading navigation companies. The combination of intraoperative 3D imaging and navigation systems enables clinicians to ideally manage less-invasive approaches for shorter hospital stays and improved patient outcomes.

The Ziehm Vision RFD Hybrid Edition is the first fully motorized mobile C-arm. The system is a space and cost saving alternative to fix installed systems as it does not require any room preparation. Due to its low installation and operating costs, the Ziehm Vision RFD Hybrid Edition is a comprehensive mobile hybrid solution for highly demanding cardiovascular procedures.

Visit Ziehm Imaging at booth # 6119, Expo Hall B, North Building.

Visit OrthoScan at booth # 6336, Expo Hall B, North Building.

About Ziehm Imaging

Founded in 1972, Ziehm Imaging has stood for the development, manufacturing and worldwide marketing of mobile X-ray-based imaging solutions for more than 40 years. Employing approx. 500 people worldwide, the company is the recognized innovation leader in the mobile C-arm industry and a market leader in Germany and other European countries. The Nuremberg-based manufacturer has received several awards for its ground-breaking technologies and achievements, including the Frost & Sullivan Award (various years), the iF Design Award 2011 and 2016, the Top100 award for innovative mid-size companies 2012, the Stevie Awards 2013, 2014 and 2015, the German Stevie Award and the IAIR Global Awards 2014 as "Best Company for Innovation & Leadership". For more information, please visit: www.ziehm.com.

*The product mentioned herein is currently under development. Its future availability cannot be guaranteed.

SOURCE Ziehm Imaging

Related Links

http://www.ziehm.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
Volkswagen and Audi vehicle owners in Rhode Island will receive between $5,100 and $10,000 in restitution based on the make of the car. Owners also can opt to have Volkswagen buy back the vehicle or the can keep their car and have the exhaust system modified to meet emission standards. If so, the new emission system receives an extended warranty.
Jammu, Nov 23 : Three Border Security Force (BSF) troopers were injured on Wednesday when the Pakistan Army opened heavy fire at Indian posts on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The troopers, wounded in the border district of Rajouri, were taken to a hospital, a police officer said.

"Doctors described their condition as stable," the police officer said.

Defence sources told IANS here that the Pakistan Army resorted to heavy shelling and firing since morning along the LoC -- the de facto border that divides Jammu and Kashmir between the two countries.

"Pakistan Army initiated indiscriminate ceasefire violation since 9 a.m. on Indian Army posts along the LoC in Bhimber Gali, Krishna Ghati and Naushera sectors of Poonch and Rajouri districts," defence spokesman Lt. Col. Manish Mehta told IANS.

"They are using 120 mm mortars and automatics to target our positions. Our posts are responding strongly and giving a befitting reply."

It was the latest violation of a 2003 ceasefire agreement and came a day after three Indian Army soldiers were killed on the LoC in Machil sector of the LoC. The body of one of the three slain soldiers was mutilated.

The Indian Army has vowed retribution against the "cowardly act by Pakistan Army".
Jerusalem, Nov 24 : Fires on Thursday forced a widespread evacuation in Haifa and foreign countries sent in firefighting planes to help put out a three-day wave of forest fires across Israel.

Tens of thousands of residents from around 11 neighbourhoods were forced to evacuate the areas immediately, along with Haifa University and many businesses, Xinhua news agency reported.

In addition, the municipality transferred hundreds of pupils from nearby kindergartens and schools to alternative schools.

"We have no control on the fire... we are in a state of war," a police official said.

Firefighting teams and planes struggled with multiple blazes in the area from the Carmel ridge to the Mediterranean coast.

Other teams fought fires near the coastal city of Caesarea, Rishon LeZion city south of Tel Aviv, the Wadi Ara region in northern Israel, and in Jerusalem.

The fires spread quickly amidst exceptionally dry and windy weather.

Heavy smoke spread to nearby neighbourhoods as residents ran out of their homes carrying bags or their pets.

The Fire and Rescue Service declared "a state of emergency", and 300 firefighter reservists from the Homefront Command were called to duty.

The Homefront Command also deployed two Search and Rescue battalions in Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, a military spokesperson said.

Three Greek firefighting planes, capable of refilling their water tanks at sea, arrived in Haifa, to help hundreds of local firefighters put out the fires.

Three more planes are expected from Turkey, which renewed its diplomatic relations with Israel in June.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke over phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin for assistance.

Putin told Netanyahu he will send two B-200 planes, each capable of carrying 13,000 liters of water and flame retardants.

Firefighting planes from Croatia, Cyprus, and Italy are also expected to land at a military base in Israel on Thursday, following the government's request for international help.

Uri Chibotero, Haifa district's Fire Service spokesman, said the fires erupted simultaneously in at least four areas in the coastal city of Haifa, reinforcing suspicions that arson was involved.

However, Luba Samri, police spokeswoman said that police forces are still investigating if arson caused the fires.

A rain deficit since the beginning of the winter season, combined with days of dry air and strong easterly winds, stoked the fire, spreading it across central and northern Israel.

The fires started on Tuesday near Neve Shalom, a community between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, forcing the evacuation of the entire community.

Further forest fires caught dozens of other regions from Jerusalem to Nahariya, Israel's northernmost coastal city.

According to Magen David Adom, Israel's medical emergency service, at least 21 people, including five toddlers, needed medical care for smoke inhalation. However, there were no reports of serious injuries.

MetaoTech weather service said the dry and windy weather conditions are expected to last until the start of next week.

In 2010, a massive forest fire in the Carmel ridge in northern Israel, which erupted under similar weather conditions, raged for days, killing 42 people.

The media harshly criticised Netanyahu back then for procrastinating in asking help from the international community.

The incident led to reforming firefighting services, including establishing an airborne firefighting squadron.
New Delhi, Nov 24 : Two persons were apprehended with Rs 27 lakh in new currency notes at Nizamuddin Railkway Station, the city police said on Thursday evening.

Ajit Pal Singh and Rajender Singh, both residents of Pitampura in Delhi, were arrested by a team of Delhi Police Crime Branch.

"They were carrying Rs 27 lakh in new currency notes from Nizammudin Railway Station," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav said.

They were nabbed at the station with the cash, which they had brought with them from Mumbai, the police officer said.

The Income Tax Department and Intelligence Bureau officials, along with a team of the Crime Branch personnel are jointly interrogating them, Yadav added.
Kolkata, Nov 24 : A nursing home's owner and a doctor were arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department of West Bengal Police in relation with the inter-state child smuggling racket that was busted two days back here, a senior CID official said on Thursday.

"The owner of Sri Krishna Nursing Home on College Street have been arrested along with Dr Santosh Kumar Samanta for their involvement in the racket," Deputy Inspector General of Police (Criminal Investigation Department of West Bengal Police) Bharatlal Meena said.

With these arrests, the total number of people nabbed in the sensational case involving several nursing homes in Kolkata and adjacent districts has shot up to 13.

Eight persons, including a doctor, two quacks and an owner of Sohan Nursing Home - suspected to be the centre of the crime - were arrested from Baduria in West Bengal's North 24 Parganas district on Tuesday for allegedly running the racket.

CID sleuths detained one woman from the same nursing home and two more from Behala based South View Nursing Home on Wednesday. They were arrested later.

The arrested people were connected to three nursing homes, a health clinic and a North 24 Parganas-based non government organisation. The number of arrests may go up with the investigators suspecting the involvement of more city based health facilities in the racket.

The matter came to light on Tuesday, when acting on a tip off, CID personnel raided Sohan Nursing Home and Polyclinic in North 24 Parganas district's Baduria on Monday night and recovered three infants who were about to be smuggled out, the officer said.

The culprits used to tell the parents that the newborns have died and then smuggle the infants inside biscuit packages via the NGO, Meena said.

The racket was going on for almost three years and police fear they trafficked around 25-30 infants in that period. Some of the infants were trafficked to other states as well, he said.

The arrested people have been slapped with various charges like kidnapping (IPC 369), exploitation (IPC 370) and criminal conspiracy (IPC 120B).
Kolkata, Nov 25 : Ten newborn baby girls were recovered from a private mental asylum in south Kolkata, as the probe into the sensational child smuggling racket in West Bengal unearthed two skeletons and murkier details on Friday. A top sleuth said over 50 children could have been victims of the network.

"It seems over 50 babies could have been smuggled," Criminal Investigation Department Additional Director General Rajesh Kumar told the media.

Acting on a tip off, the CID officials raided Purbasha - an old age home for mentally challenged patients at Thakurpukur in Kolkata's southern outskirts - and rescued the 10 infants.

"We have recovered 10 girls, all of them aged between one year to 10 months, from the third floor of Purbasha. Two women, who reportedly rented the third floor of the building, had kept these infants here. We are looking for them." Kumar said on Friday.

The kids have been admitted to hospital.

Meanwhile, CID sleuths also recovered two skeletons of newborn babies from the campus of Sujit Dutta Memorial Trust, a North 24 Parganas based NGO, that came under the scanner last Monday for its alleged involvement in the child smuggling racket.

"We got the information that some of the new born babies, who died during smuggling, were buried in the Sujit Memorial Trust ground. We conducted a raid there and exhumed two dead bodies from the campus," Kumar said.

Two women, including Reena Banerjee, said to be the head of the asylum, have been arrested.

Reena is the daughter of Putul Banerjee, who was arrested from south Kolkata's Sree Krishna Nursing Home earlier this week for her alleged involvement in child smuggling.

"We have detained three women from the asylum in this case. Two of them including Reena Banerjee, the owner of the asylum, have been arrested. All three are being interrogated," Kumar said.

"Occasionally we saw infants being brought in. Everything was done at night. We never realised they are running a child smuggling racket here," a local resident said.

The CID busted the smuggling racket when they conducted a raid in Baduria-based Sohan Nursing Home in North 24 Parganas district on Monday and recovered three babies.

The officials also arrested eight persons from the nursing home, the NGO and a nearby health clinic named Baidya clinic.

Five more persons were arrested since then in two separate raids in two city nursing homes -- Sree Krishna Nursing home in college street and South View Nursing Home in Behala -- in connection with the case.

Indicating international dealings, foreign currencies were also seized from the house of the owner of one of the nursing homes.

"We have also recovered Rs 15,000 in cash, foreign currency such as US dollars, Euro and Hong Kong dollars and gold ornaments from the house of Partha Chatterjee, owner of College Street-based Sri Krishna Nursing Home."
Nay Pyi Taw, Nov 27 : Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi will visit Singapore next week, a statement said on Sunday.

Suu Kyi's trip at the invitation of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is expected on December 1, Xinhua news agency quoted a source as saying.

Relations and cooperation between Myanmar and Singapore have opened a new chapter after Lee visited Myanmar in June as the first leader of Asian countries after the National League for Democracy government assumed office on April 1.

During Lee's visit, the two countries signed an agreement on 30-day mutual exemption of visa for ordinary passport holders, which will take effect on December 1.

Singapore is Myanmar's second largest investor after China with an accumulative investment of $15.596 billion as of October 2016.

Myanmar-Singapore bilateral relations dated back to the year 1966 when the two countries established diplomatic ties.
New Delhi : Exuberant Americans, reserved Englishmen, orderly Germans, fatalistic Russians, unorganised Italians, charming and chic French, impenetrable Japanese, laidback Australians, gregarious and feckless Irish... are these descriptions a valid guide to these nationalities, and are there any such universal national characteristics at all? Do they just stem from personal, subjective experience or are mere ethnic stereotypes.

There may be protests or academic condemnation, aggrieved parties may move courts or complain to the government but the human tendency to seek classify people, situations and other information in existing slots ensure that stereotyping, ethnic or otherwise, will remain a feature of our mental landscapes -- and so will such jokes.

The problem arises when such thinking starts to guide action or decision, excluding any other consideration, thus mutating into xenophobia. But equally to blame is a lack of knowledge of other cultures and peoples or misconceptions, and one easy, entertainingly funny, yet useful way, to remedy this is to peruse this series of books, ironically named "The Xenophobe's Guides".

Terming its mission to highlight the unique character and behaviour of various nationalities -- in a manner that is "almost guaranteed to cure xenophobia" through judicious dose of humour and the irrepressible laughter it engenders, the series was started in 1993 by Anne Taute "as a humorous take on the UK being an island nation and its prevailing attitude being 'us' (the British) and 'foreigners' (everyone else)".

The humour is typically British -- wittily irreverent, deprecating (self-deprecating when needed) and uproariously hyperbolic at some points, though the writers are not necessarily only British, but, in many cases, hail from the country they seek to profile or have lived there extensively.

Among them is Zhu Song, author of "The Xenophobe's Guide to the Chinese" (2010), who confesses she dislikes three phrases: "Where are you from?", "Why, you speak perfect English!", and "You're so lucky to be able to speak Chinese!" and responds: "How much time do you have?," "Why yes, I speak it better than you," and "That's because I am Chinese. Fancy that." She goes on to note the "Chinese expect rusty Mandarin, the English an Asian accent, and the Americans an American one" but "she routinely confounds them all".

That sets the tone for the series, which presently comprises 32 installments, with all, except three, dealing with a specific nationality (the exceptions are the Scots, the Welsh and the Californians, who differ from the rest of their countrymen in taking "their beliefs so seriously that many lose touch with what doesn't need to be believed").

Almost two-thirds deal with Europe, with its entire western and central parts, Scandinavian/Nordic part and some of southern part (Italians and Greeks) covered. Non-European nationalities comprise the Americans, Canadians, Australians, and New Zealanders, while Asia is presently represented by the Chinese, Japanese and the Israelis. One on the Brazilians is expected next year.

The format is more less the same with most of the small-sized books, all less than a 100 pages in length, divided into sections on nationalism and identity (including how they perceive themselves and others, usually neighbours, perceive them), character, attitude and values, manners and etiquette, obsessions, behaviour, sense of humour, leisure and pleasure activities, customs and traditions, the family, health and hygiene, culture, eating and drinking, government and bureaucracy, systems, law, crime and punishment, business, language and ideas, and conversations and gestures.

In the process, there are witty observations aplenty. We learn that "a wise traveller realises that a few happy moments with an American do not translate into a permanent commitment of any kind. Indeed, permanent commitments are what Americans fear the most. This is a nation whose fundamental social relationship is the casual acquaintance" or that for "many English people, pet-owning is the closest they ever get to an emotional relationship with another being".

Furthermore, for Germans, "a car or a washing machine which breaks down six months after purchase is not a nuisance, it's a breach of the social contract", the French "insist that everything is done comme il faut (properly), an expression that applies to addressing an envelope or addressing a teacher, filling in a form or stuffing a duck", and the Swiss are the only nation to "make the Germans appear inefficient, the French undiplomatic and the Texans poor".

Nothing is taboo. We learn that among the Swedes, who "indulge in sport for leisure and sex for pleasure, some people treat sex as a sport in order to combine leisure with pleasure, and thus save time and energy".

But beneath the light-hearted is a serious point -- that all cultures have their plus and minus points, have, in their own way, contributed to civilisation, and no one should take themselves too seriously. We need more of these series -- anyone keen to profile the Indians?

(Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)
Moscow, Nov 27 : Despite some acknowledgement of the necessity of nuclear power to fulfil energy needs, people will continue in the short term to view nuclear technologies with apprehension, according to an official of the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation.

"In the near future, people won't feel totally safe about nuclear energy. It is because of the emotional fear. After Chernobyl happened, people started forgetting, and then Fukushima happened so the fear came back," said Alexander Nikitin, who heads the Public Council Working Group for interaction with the public and environmental organisations on radioactive waste (RAW).

He was participating in a discussion on constructive interaction with the public in decision-making when implementing nuclear projects at the 11th International Public Forum -- Dialogue on Nuclear Energy, Environment, Safety-2016.

Nikitin pointed out even experts in the nuclear energy sector believe that though not actual threats, nuclear technologies are "potential threats". "Nuclear incidents are more dangerous than industrial accidents because of the inter-generational problem. It can take generations to get rid of things that can happen."

Speaking of the Russian experience, Nikitin said the word "atom" elicits a reaction every time it is uttered. "Concepts like nuclear weapons, nuclear power plants, plutonium technologies and reprocessing are socially unacceptable to the broad public. On the other hand, we can easily talk about the medicine and science aspects with the public.

"The areas of nuclear radiation, remediation, legacy and decommissioning need the understanding of the public. Public participation is needed in RAW disposal," he elaborated.

Highlighting the Indian experience, Swapnesh Malhotra of the Department of Atomic Energy, conceded the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant was delayed by two years owing to protests from locals in the absence of a public outreach by the government.

Adding to the fear psychosis is the trepidation over nuclear waste, particularly spent nuclear fuel, which is highly radioactive.

"Waste is seen as an inter-generational problem and one of the lessons learnt from Germany's experience is that interaction between politics and civil society is not enough as citizens want to influence political decisions," said Daniel Hafner, of Free University Berlin, Environmental Policy Research Centre, Germany.

Incidentally, Germany's decision to phase out nuclear energy by 2021/2022 opened a window of opportunity to negotiate waste issues, observed Hafner.

"The actual cost for decommissioning plus dealing with waste is 23 billion euros which will be paid by energy companies. The state will pay additional costs. So, till 2099, overall 170 billion euros will be spent," Hafner said, adding Germans now see nuclear energy is not feasible as costs are so high.

As countries continue to wrestle with the responsibility of dealing with dangerous nuclear byproducts, Belgian researcher Gaston Meskens argued adequate time should be given to explore technical possibilities and social solutions in the management of waste instead of rushing in and giving in to the political pressure of doing something immediately.

"We should take our time to explore all technical possibilities as well as social solutions. There is time for waste because you should not give in to political pressure to start doing something now and not exploring more options. In that sense, one of the most important possibilities is that of international cooperation," said Meskens, researcher at the Centre For Ethics and Value Enquiry, Faculty of Arts and Philosophy, University of Ghent.

But people should be involved immediately, reasoned Thomas Kaiserfeld, commissioner of the Swedish National Council for Nuclear Waste. "Because if you don't, the process starts to solidify and it gets locked in," cautioned Kaiserfeld, alluding to Sweden's way.

The International Panel on Fissile Materials states that spent nuclear fuel and high-level reprocessing and plutonium wastes require well-designed storage for periods ranging from tens of thousands to a million years, to minimise releases of the contained radioactivity into the environment. Safeguards are also required to ensure that neither plutonium nor highly enriched uranium is diverted to weapons use.

There is general agreement that placing spent nuclear fuel in repositories hundreds of metres below the surface would be safer than indefinite storage of spent fuel on the surface.

In 2015, Finland became the first country to approve construction of such a store -- a deep underground repository -- after more than 30 years of efforts to find a suitable site.

(Sahana Ghosh was in Moscow at the invitation of Rosatom to cover The 11th International Public Forum-Dialogue "Nuclear Energy, Environment, Safety 2016")
London, Nov 27 : In partnership with Britain's air traffic control body NATS, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in Britain has launched a website containing a revised version of "Dronecode" to help people fly drones safely and responsibly.

The authority has also warned that the offenders could be prosecuted, the International Business Times (UK) reported.

"Dronecode is a set of guidelines, which outline the procedures of drone flying within the law in Britain. The rules, posted on the new Dronesafe.uk website, are based on the suggestions from leading aviation players, drone retailers and manufacturers and the Department of Transport," the report pointed out.

According to the new guidelines, people are not allowed to fly drones near airports or airfields. Users are allowed to fly drones below 400ft (120m) and at least 150ft (50m) away from buildings and people.

The report noted that the new set of rules is based on a key finding that mentions 61 per cent respondents agree that drones would be useful for traffic monitoring and power line inspection.

"Nearly 58 per cent agree with the fact that drones would be useful for agriculture and 56 per cent state drones could be used for emergency health services," the report added.

Tim Johnson, Policy Director at the CAA, said the new Dronecode will help to protect the safety of the wider aviation industry.

"It will also help those expected to use drones to improve current operations, from farming to traffic, from healthcare to logistics. Ultimately, people must use their drones safely and responsibly," Johnson was quoted as saying.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday warned people who he said were using the poor to convert their black money into white.

"Some people think they can convert their black money into white. And are looking at unlawful ways. It's unfortunate they have chosen to use poor people for this," Modi said in his 26th edition of his radio talk "Mann ki Baat".

"I want to say that it is up to them to abide by the law or break it, it is up to them if they want to correct themselves. The law will deal with them. But please don't play with the lives of poor."

He warned that people should not convert their black money into white by using the poor people and put them into trouble.

The Prime Minister's remarks came amid reports that many people were trying to convert their black money into white by using the bank accounts, including Jan Dhan accounts, of the poor.

Aggregate deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have increased to Rs 64,252 crore in the first week after the government's November 8 demonetisation of high-value currency.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : With support from the state government, Guwahati, Assam's main city and the gateway to India's northeast, has the potential to become a major airline hub, says budget carrier SpiceJet's Chairman and Managing Director Ajay Singh.

Singh feels that because of the northeast's strategic location, it can also become a major airline cargo hub and generate hundreds of jobs.

"The northeast can be made a cargo hub which will create hundreds of jobs if training institutes can be started with government support," Singh said at a seminar on "Assam's Trilemma: Create jobs, Enhance skills, Promote entrepreneurship" here late on Saturday evening.

The seminar was organised by the Delhi Alumni Association, Assam, a group of people across multiple professions hailing from the state who have spent a part of their life as students in the national capital.

Singh stressed that jobs get created when GDP grows and connectivity was a major source of such growth.

In this connection, tourism has "absolutely beautiful potential" in the region, he said.

Stating that SpiceJet had a lot of employees from the northeast, he said people from the region were courteous and spoke well.

Though Guwahati is one of the busiest airports in the country, Singh is of the view that it is time to look at other airports in Assam like Jorhat and Lakhimpur.

Speaking to IANS, he said his company was in talks with the Assam government to make Guwahati a hub for SpiceJet.

He stressed two things - a hangar for his airline at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi (LGB) International Airport in Guwahati and lower sales tax on aviation fuel.

Singh said if SpiceJet got a hangar, it can keep planes there overnight and "we can have first flights out from Guwahati in the morning to major cities across India".

He said the West Bengal government had been very pro-active and had cut sales tax on aviation fuel. This helped SpiceJet in making Kolkata a hub.

"We have flights from Kolkata to Guwahati and Silchar and we are now looking at flights to Jorhat and Lakhimpur."

Saying Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal had a positive attitude towards business, Singh said if his government reduced sales tax on aviation fuel, SpiceJet could make Guwahati one of its hubs.

With the Centre's stress on Act East, connectivity to Southeast Asia also cropped up.

Though India was working on a trilateral highway connecting with Myanmar and Thailand, Singh felt such infrastructure projects take time to be completed.

But if Guwahati becomes an airline hub, flights to Southeast Asia "can be made from tomorrow".

SpiceJet on Friday reported a rise of 103 per cent in net profit for the second quarter of 2016-17.

The company's Q2 net profit stood at Rs 58.9 crore, up from Rs 29 crore in the corresponding quarter of 2015-16.

(Aroonim Bhuyan can be contacted at aroonim.b@ians.in)
Imphal, Nov 27 : The legalised border trade among tribals on the India-Myanmar international border continues to be hit by the blockade the United Naga Council has imposed since November 1 against Manipur, as well as the demonetisation by India.

The Naga Council protesters are agitated over the Manipur government's move to create a Sadar Hills district, fearing that some Naga-dominant lands might be included in the proposed district.

The traditional trade worth crores of rupees among tribals on either side of the international border was legalised in 1995, bringing in considerable revenue to the exchequer.

The border trade centres are at Moreh in Manipur and Namphalong and Tamu in Myanmar.

The Centre's November 8 decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes has only added to the border traders' woes.

Ibopishak, a trader, said: "Myanmarese traders earlier freely accepted Indian rupees for transactions at Namphalong and Tamu (in Myanmar), at the locally fixed (illegal) foreign exchange rate of Rs 100 for 1,900 kyat (Myanmar currency). However, after the demonetisation, it has fallen to Rs 100 for 800 kyat."

The banks and the only two automated teller machines at Moreh are dry of cash for the last few days.

A south Indian who has set up his business at Moreh told IANS that he is seriously thinking of shifting out to the Mizoram-Myanmar border as there are no disruptions in business in Mizoram as in Manipur by the Nagas.

He rued that some tribal groups in Manipur are in the habit of imposing blockades and general strikes along the highways to choke the northeastern state.

Another businessman, Lakshman, said: "The border markets are shut down. Apart from shortage of high-denomination notes, one cannot take anything from Moreh to other parts of India due to the Naga economic blockade."

Shamir Hussain, a businessman, said of the over 60,000 non-local businessmen at Moreh at one point of time, hardly 10,000 are left behind now. The remaining have gone elsewhere to conduct their trade and business.

A small trader, Rashmi Bib, said: "Extortion is also responsible for declining business. There are over 14 checkposts and police stations on 60-km Moreh-Pallel route, where traders have to pay a percentage of the goods bought from Myanmar. There are some more checkpoints on the remaining 40 km between Pallel and Imphal."
Kathmandu, Nov 27 : Nepali Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal "Prachanda" is in a tight spot as he prepares to table in Parliament the second Amendment to the Constitution in the next few days but the opposition seems not to be supporting him, the media reported on Sunday.

As the country marks the tenth anniversary of the peace accord this week, Prachanda assured the Madhesi parties that he would deliver this time, but they are not satisfied with his promise, the Nepali Times reported.

The Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist), the second largest party in the Nepali Parliament, has told the Prime Minister that it will not support the bill.

The Nepali Congress, the coalition partner of Prachanda's Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), is letting him stew.

But Prachanda told the Nepali Times this week that he does not feel burdened by his work.

CPN-Maoist-Centre politburo member Bodh Raj Upadhyay said: "The chairman (Prachanda) has lost his charisma, the cadre are frustrated and our party is on the verge of collapse. He needs to make a bold and quick move. If he succeeds, it will revive our party and his political career."

Prachanda is trying to make the Constitution "broadly acceptable" to all by pushing four amendments -- tinkering with federal boundaries, easing restrictions on the rights of naturalised citizens, ensuring proportional representation in Parliament and recognising more official languages.

But the CPN-UML is opposing the Prime Minister's proposals, saying these are not in the interest of Nepalis and are directed by a foreign hand.

The Federal Alliance has rejected the amendment bill, and even the Madhesi Front is lukewarm towards it.
Kolkata, Nov 27 : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of destabilising the country's economy with the demonetisation move.

"Modiji, you have finished India's economy and growth," Banerjee tweeted. She also said that women would give him a "befitting reply" for scrapping the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8.

"The women of our country will give you a befitting reply."

The Trinamool Congress supremo also accused the Prime Minister of misusing the government machinery for the sake of own publicity at the time of a national crisis.

"'Maan Ki Baat' has become 'Modi Ki Baat'. Misusing government machinery. Instead of finding solutions to the suffering and pain of millions, he is doing personal vendetta, personal publicity and business," she said.

Earlier on Sunday, Modi made a strong push towards cashless economy and said demonetisation of high value currency notes was a step forward to rid the country of unaccounted hidden wealth and corruption.

Banerjee strongly rebuffed his suggestions for using online apps for money transaction.

"We don't trust you or your mismatched wrong technology which you are advertising for," Banerjee added.
Patna, Nov 27 : Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Sunday thanked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes to fight the black money menace.

"We welcome and thank Nitish Kumar for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision," Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), told media persons here.

He also targeted Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar's allies Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress in Bihar.

"RJD and Congress should withdraw from the alliance if they disagree with Nitish Kumar's stand to support Modi's decision to demonetise the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes," he said.

Besides supporting Modi's demonetisation decision, Nitish Kumar also urged the Prime Minister to act against people having 'benami' (by proxy) properties.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : A Delhi Police officer has been arrested for snatching Rs 18 lakh in demonetised currency notes from a cloth merchant in Tilak Nagar area of west Delhi, police said on Sunday.

The accused has been identified as Sub-Inspector Sudhir Rathi, who was posted in Kalyanpuri Police Station.

According to police, a complaint was received from cloth merchant Amantullah Wasim on November 22. Wasim, who hails from Bihar, came to Delhi on November 7 for a business deal.

However, he could not strike the deal as the government ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes was announced the very next day.

Suffering acute lack of liquidity, Wasim approached one of his friends, Shailender Singh, who assured him that his sisters -- Payal and Monu, working in a city-based bank as Managers -- would help him. He also said they would exchange his Rs 18-lakh worth old currency notes, a police officer said.

Wasim handed over Rs 18 lakh to Shailender Singh, Monu and Payal at Tilak Nagar Metro Station during a meeting with them on November 17.

Later, Shailender Singh told Wasim that he had been able to exchange only Rs 3 lakh and that he needed more time to exchange the entire cash.

When he did not exchange the cash, Wasim complained against Shailender Singh, Payal and Monu to police.

However, during investigation, Payal and Shailender Singh told police that Sudhir Rathi had snatched the cash bag from them on November 21 when they were going to exchange the money in a car, he said.

They said in their statement that SI Rathi also threatened to arrest them for keeping such a huge amount of old currency in a car, the officer said.

Police arrested Rathi, who was presented in Tis Hazari Court on Sunday, where Duty Magistrate Deepika Singh remanded him to a day's police custody. Opposing the custody remand, Rathi's counsel Pradeep Rana pleaded that his client had been implicated in the case.
Agra, Nov 27 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday accused the Centre of messing up the Indian economy and causing hardships to farmers, labourers and traders by demonetising Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

He said neither corruption nor black money will end with demonetisation, which will, on the other hand, inconvenience all sections of society due to lack of planning.

Speaking after launching 25-odd projects in Agra, the Chief Minister said: "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi-ji talks of Digital India and banking through mobile phones, but it is our party (Samajwadi Party that distributes laptops and have now announced smartphones. Already one crore people have registered for the devices."

Taking a dig at Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Chief Minister Mayawati, Akhilesh said: "The expressway we built is good enough for fighter planes to land and take off. The one built by her landed a whole lot of farmers in jails and led to lathi-charges."

Claiming that his government was firmly committed to protect the environment, Akhilesh Yadav said the Prime Minister had done nothing for protecting rivers.

The Chief Minister released a book on Taj Mahal -- A Romance in Verse by Dr Ram Singh -- and a coffee table book on the occasion.

A Vision Document 'Green Path' listing the green initiatives of the Samajwadi Party government was also released.
Colombo, Nov 27 : Indian Navy chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba on Sunday began a five-day visit to Sri Lanka, aimed at consolidating and enhancing bilateral maritime relations, an official statement said.

"The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the bilateral maritime relations between India and Sri Lanka," it said.

During his visit which will last till December 1, Admiral Lanba will call on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and various senior dignitaries including the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs.A

Lanba will also attend the 'Galle Dialogue', an annual conference hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of aritime Security and cooperation between international navies. Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event.

The Indian navy chief would be delivering the keynote address on 'India's perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships', during the event.

Naval cooperation between India and Sri Lanka includes operational interactions through bilateral exercises, coordinated patrolling along the common maritime border, training, port calls, capacity building and augmentation initiatives.

Lanba will also lay a wreath at the Indian Peace Keeping Force memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka.
Kolkata, Nov 27 : The body of Jadavpur University's engineering student, who fell into the river during a boat ride three days ago and drowned, was recovered on Sunday, police said.

Raunak Saha, a second year engineering student, fell into the Hooghly river during a boat ride with four of his friends near the Pani Ghat region on Thursday afternoon. His body could not be traced in spite of a thorough search operation by the Kolkata river traffic guard.

On Sunday, Saha's mortal remains were recovered from underneath the jetty at Fairlie Place Ghat, police said.

The body was identified by his father, who has lodged a police complaint against his son's friends alleging murder.

"The friends are involved in it. Their families have approached me with cash to settle the matter," he said.

Police interrogated the boatman and the four friends of the victim including two girls, in South Port police station on Thursday evening. The boatman was later arrested.

"We are investigating the matter. A post mortem would be done to find out the real reason behind the youth's death," police said.
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DAVENPORT -- Police are investigating two shooting incidents early Saturday morning they believe might be related, according to a news release.

The male victims in both incidents were taken to Genesis Medical Center, Davenport, with non-life-threatening injuries. One was transferred to a hospital in Iowa City.

About 2:43 a.m. Saturday, police responded to the area of 1600 W. 3rd St. An adult male told police he was robbed by three individuals and was shot during the robbery. He was taken to Genesis, and then to Iowa City.

About 4:17 a.m., a man arrived at Genesis, also with gunshot wounds. Detectives are investigating to determine the exact location of the second incident.

Anyone with information regarding these incidents is encouraged to call the Davenport Police Department at 563-326-6125 or submit an anonymous tip via the mobile app, CityConnect Davenport, IA."
Usually, John said it's through writing, but a project he has been taking part in is a new experience for him and other members of a Decatur 4-H club. They have put the finishing touches on painting a mural on the front of the former Newsstand building, next to the Northeast Community Fund in Decatur.

After seeing the painting come together, John is among those who see why murals are becoming an increasingly popular form of expression, particularly on the sides of older buildings in Decatur.

"It's outside of my artistic comfort zone," said John, 16. "It's something we could potentially do more of in the future."

The mural came together in recent weeks with the help of 16 children ranging in age from 9 to 17 years old. Their ideas were incorporated into planning for the project, which John said was based on a Bible verse intended to inspire helping others in need.

He said the verse relates to the "what you do for the least of these, you do for me" passage from Matthew.

The project is a bigger endeavor than the group would typically take on, said Sonya Jefson, one of the parents helping with the work along with two of her children, Benny, 13, and Sammi, 16.

"To get it all organized takes three times longer than you think it would," Jefson said.

Following the advice of Jerry Johnson from the Decatur Area Arts Council who has painted other murals in downtown Decatur, Jefson said the group needed to make sure they had enough high quality paint to make it all work. She said Sherwin Williams was helpful in making that happen.

Funding for the project came from a Farm Credit Illinois community improvement grant, which are usually targeted to 4-H Clubs and FFA chapters to be used toward smaller rural towns. Sara Foley, a Farm Credit sales and service specialist, said the project stood out because of its ability to brighten up an area of the city.

Applications for 2017 grants are due Feb. 27 and are open to groups in 60 Illinois counties.

A grid design pattern was followed with the parents and children working together to make sure colors were added as intended.

"A project this size doesn't happen instantly," said Jodi Haskins, who was working on it with her children Elijah, 14, Isabelle, 11, and Annabelle, 9, along with Connie Brewster and her daughter, Grace, 16. "A lot comes into play. It's not just something we did one afternoon."

The painting of the mural is in addition to flowers that were planted last spring. It all brightens the area outside the Northeast Community Fund building, which Executive Director Jerry Pelz appreciates as he has been supportive of the project and enjoys seeing other murals being completed in other nearby parts of town.

"It's going to bring more color and something nice for people from the overpass to look at," Pelz said. "It helps to identify the mission and our ministry. It gives a fresh, clean look."

Pelz said the group ran with the project and has dependably followed through with its plans.
Leaving the sleigh behind, Santa Claus pulled up in a Porsche convertible for the annual lighting of East Moline's 9th Street Commons Christmas tree on Saturday.

"The only way to travel this time of the year, when there's not enough snow on the ground," the Jolly One said. "A few more reindeer power than the sleigh has."

The Annual Christmas Lighted Parade & 9th Street Commons Lighting brought out East Moliners as well as folks from surrounding communities for photos with Santa, a parade along 15th Avenue followed by a chili dinner, the colorful tree lighting and some shop-local sensibility.

The day after Black Friday is Shop Local Saturday, and that was in evidence at some downtown shops, including Respect Abilities Inc., 834 15th Ave., a shop that gives those of all abilities a place to make, display and sell handmade items.

"Shop small -- we're all part of that, said Bryan Horton, husband of Respect Abilities founder Michelle Horton. "We're all trying to bring more business into downtown and try to get more people involved and try to get the community together."

The event also helps kick off the Christmas spirit.

"It always feels like Christmas when the trees are lit," said Mrs. Claus -- aka Staci Anderton, of Davenport.

Her husband, Nick Anderton, played the role of his namesake, St. Nick, for the first time, but it won't be the last, she said. He did well enough to bring solicitations to play the role at upcoming season events, she said, adding "he was real good at it -- the kids had a blast." The gig included meeting with kids at Triumph Community Bank to take requests and hand out candy before the tree lighting.

The trick on Saturday was ensuring that their daughter Symphony, 5, wouldn't inadvertently call Santa "Daddy," Nick said.

Lilyan Powell, 7, played an even more prestigious seasonal role, that of Mary in a small Nativity scene in the parade, for East Moline's Christ United Methodist Church.

"She does a lot at the food pantry," said Lilyan's father, Alex Powell, of her charitable spirit. "Every Wednesday we have a free meal we serve to the community. It's nice to get the kids involved."

The parade entry for The Dance Connection, 1018 15th Ave., featured about 50 dancing "reindeer."

Among those taking it all in were Mike and Missy Housenga and their kids Mia, 11, and Mitchell, 8, of Rapids City.

"It's nice to support local businesses," Mr. Housenga said. "We try to do something every weekend, family stuff."
In this space two weeks ago, I stated that when President Trump takes courses of action that contribute to the common good of people in this country and other parts of the world, I will support him. I also stated that when he says and does things that are hurtful to other people, I will express concern and speak up on behalf of those he has hurt. Unfortunately it is already time for some words of concern.

In particular, I am concerned that the president-elect has chosen to give Steve Bannon, former executive chairman of Breitbart News, a prominent position in his administration, naming him as chief strategist and senior counselor.

Under Mr. Bannons leadership, Breitbart News, gave voice to white nationalists and other far-right voices. For example, Breitbart ran an article entitled Hoist It High and Proud: The Confederate Flag Proclaims a Glorious Heritage in the wake of the horrific murder of the pastor and eight parishioners at Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17 of this year.

The U.S. Department of Justice has indicted Dylann S. Roof, an avowed white supremacist, on 33 counts, including hate crimes resulting in death. His trial begins later this month. South Carolina state prosecutors are also planning to try him on murder charges once the federal trial is completed.

The Breitbart article states with respect to the shootings that the American left is in a feeding frenzy, cynically exploiting the tragic murders of nine black worshippers in a Charleston church to promote its agenda of cultural genocide against conservatism, tradition and the South.

As do many white nationalists, the Breitbart article propagates the myth that the Civil War was about states rights, not about slavery. John Singleton Mosby, who commanded the 43rd Battalion of the Virginia Cavalry, often operating behind Union lines, saw through that myth.

In a letter he wrote in 1894, he stated, Ive always understood that we went to war on account of the thing we quarreled with the North about. Ive never heard of any cause other than slavery. (After the war, Mosby became a Republican and supported Ulysses S. Grant when he ran for President of the United States.)

Notwithstanding the historical facts, white nationalists today continue to insist that the Civil War was about states rights, not about slavery, and that the Confederate flag is a symbol of states rights, not of slavery. The Breitbart article asserts that those who, like President Obama, believe that the Confederate flag should be taken down and placed in a museum where it belongs are attempting to obliterate the Southern identity. The article concludes, There is only one response: Defiance. Every tree, every rooftop, every picket fence, every telegraph pole in the South should be festooned with the Confederate battle flag. Hoist it high and fly it with pride, it proclaims a glorious heritage.

Ben Shapiro, a former Breitbart writer, contends that the site had come to embody an alt right (alternative right) movement shot through with racism and anti-Semitism. Thomas J. Main, a Baruch College professor who is writing a book on the movement, states, The alt-right supports the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants and protectionist trade policies. It opposes feminism, diversity, gay rights, globalism, gun control and civil rights.

Defenders of Mr. Bannon paint a different picture. Scot Vorse, a former business partner, says of Mr. Bannon, Hes not perfect. But is he a racist, a sexist, and anti-Semitic? The answer is no. Thats not the guy I know.

It is probably beyond the realm of the possible to make a definitive analysis of Mr. Bannons character. However, an analysis of articles published in Breitbart under Mr. Bannons leadership is possible. That is reason enough to question the appropriateness of his playing a significant role in the Trump administration.

President-elect Trump has stated that he wants to the president of all Americans and that he hopes to bring the country back together again. A first step toward making that a reality would be rescinding the appointment of Mr. Bannon as chief strategists and senior counselor.
Yesterday for the 32nd consecutive year, Stan Frebergs holiday classic, Green Chri$tma$ was broadcast on WVIK (90.3 FM) as the featured work on Saturday Morning Live! ... (portions recorded)

I dont think youll hear it again this year; indeed, not until Nov. 25, 2017. Thats assuming that Bill Hannan and I will still be around and the program remains on the public radio stations schedule.

I started airing Frebergs humorous attack on the over-commercialization of Christmas because its one of his best works and because you wont hear it on commercial radio.

Theres a good reason for that: advertisers hate it. But WVIK is a public radio station, so why not?

When the station first signed on 36 years ago, the Monday through Friday program schedule was roughly two-thirds classical music, one-third news and public affairs. Sunday was almost wholly classical and Saturday was a bit of a question mark.

Afternoon opera seemed appropriate, but what to do for the rest of the day? In those palmy times, National Public Radio hadnt settled into a purely news and discussion mode. A number of different programs were on offer, so I thought it would be useful to make a Saturday salad of them.

The evening hours were devoted to folk music and jazz: two forms which can sit comfortably next to Mozart and Beethoven. Folk themes were often a subject for classical treatment and the improvisations which constitute great jazz were born of the same impulse that drove Bach.

But Saturday morning was a bit of a problem. After filling most of the day, we were left with a four-hour hole from 8 a.m. till noon. We had at our disposal four half-hour programs from the BBC: My Word, My Music, and a collection of dramatizations which included The Hitchhikers Guide To the Galaxy.

We also had contacted the BBC directly about acquiring The Goon Show, a seminal comedy which gave rise to Monty Python and what came to be identified as British humor. The program featured a rising star, Peter Sellers, a fun-loving tenor, Harry Secombe, and Britains half-crazed comic genius, Spike Milligan who wrote the scripts.

The Goon Show became a British national phenomenon; their popularity has never been equaled in Old Blighty. The Beatles commanded a wide audience in their day, but the Goons were a national obsession, followed by everyone from the royal family to their subjects.

Our program director, Lowell Dorman, contacted the retiring head of BBCs transcription department and talked him into selling us over 100 Goon programs, without bothering to limit their use.

Thus it was that we launched a four hour program which featured four half-hour comedies.

The times in between were taken up by our news director, Pat Stout and yours truly. Pat would troll the news services for offbeat stories and I started collecting comedy recordings.

In addition to Stan Frebergs delightful satires, we had the telephone improvisations of Mort Sahl and Bob Newhart, Mike Nichols and Elaine May improvs, Spike Jones take-downs of popular music, comedy turns by Rodney Dangerfield and other stand-ups. We filled the time.

But nothing lasts in radio. Over time, the BBC programs we had been repeating over and over were withdrawn from circulation.

We owned the Goon Shows, but questions about who actually had control of broadcast rights prompted their withdrawal.

Providentially, NPR features began to be offered that we couldnt pass up. First came Scott Simons Saturday morning news, which ran until 9 a.m.

Then Car Talk, something we had to have from 9 to 10. Last year, the popular Wait, Wait, Dont Tell me was added, which reduced the four-hour stretch to a single hour.

Pat Stout moved on, to be followed by John Dombek, then a series of visits from friends and interesting conversationalists.

What remains of the original morning-long slog is Green Chri$tma$.

Lets see if it shows up next year.
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) As many as 360 people have been arrested in three weeks by the Delhi governments Excise Department during the ongoing drive against consumption of liquor in public places.

The drive was launched on November 7 and action has been taken against the violators under Section 40 of the Delhi Excise Act and they are handed over to Delhi Police for further action as per law.

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"Deputy Chief Minister and Excise Minister Manish Sisodia had earlier this month announced a three-fold action plan for crackdown on illegal consumption of liquor in the open," an official said.

Prior to the launch of the drive, a week-long awareness campaign was held in this regard.

"Anyone caught drinking publicly will now have to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 and anyone creating nuisance in public will be fined Rs 10,000 and face arrest," the official said.

Sisodia has earlier said that the intention of the government is not to put people behind bars but to reform them and curb the menace which is taking a toll on families and to ensure the safety of women. PTI BUN MNL SMN

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The HarrisX  Ragan CEO/Communicators Perceptions Survey needs CEOs, CCOs and senior-level communicators to share their opinions on variety of topics including ESG, CSR and purpose, DE&I, and whether organizations should take a stand on political and social issues. Well share the preliminary findings, including how CEOs and communicators differed in their responses, during Ragans communications Week, Nov. 1-7. Full results will be shared in a special report this winter.

Take the survey here.

For those who take the time to share their insights and who provide us their email, we will send a copy of the final, aggregated findings and executive report.

Your views are important to us and your answers will be kept anonymous.
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The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has ruled for the innocence and exoneration on Wednesday of the four women known as the San Antonio Four.

Filmmaker Deborah S. Esquenazis documentary film, Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four captures the nightmarish persecution and devastating impact on the San Antonio Four and their families.In 1994, the women were wrongfully convicted of aggravated sexual assault and indecency against two young girls in San Antonio. In 2012 and 2013, after one of the accusers recanted and the forensic evidence used in the trial was debunked, Elizabeth Ramirez, Anna Vasquez, Kristie Mayhugh and Cassandra Rivera were released from prison, but remained without their freedom. Winner of the Critics Choice Award for Best First Feature, and critically-acclaimed and lauded at Tribeca, Hot Docs, Outfest, Frameline, and many others, Southwest of Salem presents an intense and maddening reinvestigation into the bizarre allegations waged against the women during the Satanic Panic of the 1980-90s, and examines the disturbing injustices by which they were targeted for their sexual identities."They are innocent. And they are exonerated. This court grants them the relief they seek," said the court ruling.On behalf of my colleagues at Investigation Discovery , and all of our impassioned viewers who took action in this exoneration battle, we say congratulations to the San Antonio Four! said Henry Schleiff, group president, Investigation Discovery, American Heroes Channel and Destination America.At this holiday, let us all be thankful for our media  be it print, TV, film or the internet  and its collective ability to make a difference, to seek justice and to reveal the truth. Indeed, ID is honoured to have been chosen to work with The Innocence Project of Texas, and filmmaker Deborah S. Esquenazi to amplify this story, and were humbled by the strength and perseverance of the San Antonio Four throughout this fight.
RFE/RL, November 25, 2016



A woman struggles to make her way through the snow covered streets of Kabul as the snow keeps falling. (Photo: AFP) A woman struggles to make her way through the snow covered streets of Kabul as the snow keeps falling. (Photo: AFP)

Freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall have killed at least 20 people, mostly children, this week in a remote northern province in Afghanistan, local officials say.

The deaths occurred in the rural Darzab district of the Jawzjan Province, district Governor Rahmatullah Hashar told RFE/RL on November 25.

Hashar said all the victims were internally displaced people who had left their villages in neighboring regions due to violence and a lack of security.

Hashar and local officials said some 100 families were currently living in harsh conditions in "mosques and open spaces" in remote mountainous areas, with no access to medical facilities.

Darzab officials say the road linking the area with the provincial capital, Sheberghan, has been cut off by the Taliban. Authorities say they are waiting for the weather to clear up before delivering aid by air.

Provincial Governor Lutfullah Azizi has called on the local residents to offer shelter to the displaced in Jawzjan.

With reporting by AP
Whereas Marine Le Pen has been greatly encouraged by the populist surge in the United States, the French electorate is not normally influenced by events across the Atlantic. Donald Trump has no champions in France  even those encouraged by his success routinely describe his performance in the US Republican primary as uncouth, and 75 per cent of the French electorate (according to, yes, another opinion poll) dislike' him. Trump is sometimes described as the modern Jean-Marie Le Pen' by voters who loathed Marine Le Pen's sulphurous father but might well vote for her.
The accident took place yesterday when the jeep slipped off a mountain highway in Nepal's Nawalparasi district.

By Press Trust of India: At least seven persons were killed and 16 other injured, when a jeep they were travelling in plunged into a 300-metre gorge in Nepal's Nawalparasi district.

The accident took place yesterday when the jeep was heading towards Charchare of Dandajheri from Balungtar in the district, slipped off a mountain highway, about 170 km from the capital city of Kathmandu, police said.

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"The condition of three injured, including the driver, was critical," 'district police officer was quoted as saying by the Himalayan Times.

Police suspects that the casualties occurred when the jeep hit a crowd of people. The jeep fell some 300 metres from the road, that killed 7 and injured 16, after hitting the people.

Rescue operations have been difficult due to the terrain.

Road accidents are very common in Nepal and occur mainly due to poorly maintained roads and vehicles.

Also read: Nepal bars exchange of new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes, calls them 'illegal'

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Mark Ballas is now a married man.

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The "Dancing with the Stars" professional dancer married musician B.C. Jean this weekend

People magazine reported about 160 guests attended Friday's ceremony at a venue north of Los Angeles.

"It's a wild feeling," Ballas told the publication.

"Your wedding is something you subconsciously prepare for your entire life. You wonder who it's going to be with, where it is going to be and how the ceremony and reception are going to be. Now it's finally here and happening. It's surreal. I just want to soak it all up because I just know I'm going to click my fingers and the whole evening will be over and I want to make sure I enjoy it."

Ballas, 30, and Jean, 29, got engaged a day before Thanksgiving last year.

Ballas' best man -- and fellow "Dancing with the Stars" pro -- Derek Hough shared a wedding-related photo on Instagram.

"It's Time! #BCandMARKWedding #bestman," Hough captioned the black-and-white photo of a pocket watch in his hand.
Posted by Jeremy on at 03:11 PM CST

Stormtrooper 3D Glasses

Death Trooper 3D Glasses

Over the yearslicensing has had its up (Master Replicas Force FX lightsabers) and downs (Episode I Koosh) but I think it's fair to say that a new benchmark has been set with the official3D glasses.Designed by pioneering Australian 3D glasses manufacturer Look3D , who have been creating specialist digital cinema eye wear for nearly a decade, theseglasses are a big step forward in detail and screen accuracy from the ones released for the North American release ofin 2015.Look3D has a long and impressive history with some of the biggest movie studios in the the industry - DreamWorks Animations, LucasFilm, Warner Brothers, Disney, Paramount, Fox and Sony Pictures. In addition to the lastmovie Look3D has produced character glasses for Finding Dory, Trolls, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Angry Birds, Hotel Transylvania 2 and the last Spongebob Squarepants movie.With such an impressive list of clients it's not surprising that Look3D is the leader in themed glasses. They work with all the studios on multiple 3D movies throughout the year and select the best upcoming 3D releases. Consulting closely with the studio - in this instance Disney/Lucasfilm - they work from the basic brief that the frame that will help the viewer immerse the viewer into one of the the charactersFor the release ofit was Look3D who approached Disney, who provided them with a style guide to work from. The head designer at Look3D carefully developed a wire frame model in a CAD software suite which was then rendered with surfaces and textures. Once a few designs had been approved they were submitted to Disney/Lucasfilm for final approval, and the ones that made the cut were prototyped on a 3D printer for final testing. With all the design phases complete the finished glasses then went into production just prior to the release of the movie.Three dimensional projection system provider MasterImages has kindly supplied Rebelscum with an advance pair. The two glasses shipped from the US on Tuesday and arrived two days later here in Australia. I was amazed at how quickly they arrived but then I opened the package and my amazement doubled when I took the glasses out. Stupendous!Modelled on the visor portion of an Imperial Stormtrooper and the new Death Trooper helmets, they are distinctly different in design. While the classic Stormtrooper helmet design retains the white, smooth and rounded appearance that most movie goers will regonise, the Deathtrooper's plastic has a dark, ominous gleam and a slightly angular - almost insectile - appearance. Suddenly the shock troopers of the Empire become a comforting site in light of the alien visage presented by the elite soldiers of Imperial Intelligence.As with any piece of one-size-fits-all apparel there is a certain amount of forgiveness the wearer has to extend since the size is halfway between an adult and a child. They aren't uncomfortable though, as the temples are made of a bendable plastic. But you certainly wouldn't want to wear them for more than a couple of hours.Are they necessary though? The design aesthetic certainly won't add to the 3D experience but it will level you up in the eyes of fellowfans and other members of the audience. (Here's hoping it'll become cooler to wear these than wave around plastic lightsabers during the showing.) But what of the tech that goes into these?The short answer is that the glasses, coupled with the projector and the screen are magic but the truth is a little less fantastical. A special LCD lens is placed in front of the projector to alternately polarise each frame which effectively rotates the light from image (it gets complicated because images are light) but not the image so that when the light reaches the glass's lens the image can only be captured by the retina behind it. As there are two lenses, each of the the viewer's eyes can only see a particular image. This has the effect that each eye sees an image that is slightly out of phase (or offset) with the other. The brain won't allow itself to mis-interpret this and - because of a million years of evolution - the brain synthesises the two images into a single image, creating the perception of depth.Though they are being produced by MasterImage 3D the glasses will work with in competing RealD certified cinemas as well. However they won't work with active-based 3D systems, such as Dolby, IMAX or Xpand, as these companies use shutter glasses with active electronics. On the plus side they will work with 3D TVs that use passive 3D technology, which is most of them.Both pairs will be available at North American and European cinemas, and possibly Australia and New Zealand, where the appropriate projection system is available. There is no set distribution method - it may be that some theatres will include them as part of general admission or at special screenings tickets, or as an extra purchase at point of entry. Certainly in Australia these will most likely only be available through Look3D vending machines installed in the foyer. Prices haven't been determined yet but expect to pay between US$10 to $12.On a final note, despite their dark tint these glasses cannot be used as sunglasses. Because of the structure of the lens, 3D glasses might expose the retina to a higher dose of light radiation (ultraviolet and infrared) than normal exposure to sunlight generally causes. So if any one figures out a mod to swap out the 3D lenses to make UV protective sunglasses please feel to post in the Rebelscum Props and Prop Replicas section in our forums.
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) To enhance bilateral maritime relations, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba, today embarked on a five-day visit to Sri Lanka.

During his visit, Lanba will hold bilateral discussions with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs.

Lanba will also hold Galle Dialogue at Colombo, hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of Maritime Security and Cooperation between international navies.

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Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event.

Lanba would also be delivering Key-Note address on Indias perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships, during the event.

He will also lay a wreath at the IPKF memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka to honour Indian Martyrs, during his visit. PTI PR IKA

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By PTI: Kolkata, Nov 27 (PTI) A panel of speakers at the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCC&I) has emphasised the need to spread awareness on the Deceased Donor Programme Cadaver Daan, which is aimed at organ donation and transplantation.

The chamber will set up a task force to raise awareness towards organ donation and transplantation, in which West Bengal is lagging behind as compared to several other states, Chairperson Emeritus of Health Committee, BCC&I, Amit Ghose said.

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While thousands of patients are anxiously waiting for organ transplant, it has not been generally possible for want of right donors, he said.

Ghose, also a consultant Urologist at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals Kolkata, said the chamber has already started registering the names of donors, who made the pledge.

The names registered as donors included -- R N Lahiri (Chairperson Emeritus, IT Committee of BCC&I), S Radhakrishnan (former chief of BCC&I), Dipak Dutta (member of BCC&I), Arun Kumar Mukherjee (Chairperson of Energy and Environment Committee of BCC&I), Subhodip Ghosh (Director General of BCC&I) and Ghose himself.

V V Lakshminarayanan, Chief Nephrologist at Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals, described the initiative by as most appropriate in the present situation.

Admitting that the state is lagging behind in this regard, states Additional Director of Health Service (DHS) Aditi Kishore Sarkar said steps are being taken by the state government to boost awareness on the issue and some donors have come forward in the last five months.

Speaking on the occasion, doctor Vivek Jha touched upon various legal and ethical problems and discussed how to overcome those hurdles to enhance peoples awareness on the issue.

Senior Consultant Urologist and Managing Trustee of Mohan Foundation, Sunil Shroff also called upon people to come forward and help promote the number of donors to save lives through organ transplantation.

Since passing of the Transplantation of Human Organ (THO) Act in 1994, it has been possible to undertake multi-organ transplant activity from brain-dead donors.

However, people should develop positive attitude towards organ donation and consent by relatives should be available for organ donation in the event of brain death, the speakers observed. (More) PTI AKB SUS DKB ASV

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A 30-year-old man was fatally shot and a 31-year-old man was wounded just before 2:40 a.m. Nov. 27, 2016, in the 3400 block of West Harrison Street in the Homan Square neighborhood, police said. (Elvia Malagon / Chicago Tribune)

Two men were killed and 15 other people, including two 15-year-old boys, were wounded in shootings between Saturday afternoon and early Sunday, police said.

In the Homan Square neighborhood, a 30-year-old man was killed and a 31-year-old man was wounded in a shooting just before 2:40 a.m. in the 3400 block of West Harrison Street, police said.

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They were in a parked car when a silver car parked in front of them. Two men, wearing sweatshirts, got out of the silver car and began shooting at the 30-year-old man and 31-year-old man.

The 30-year-old man was shot in the head and body. He was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The older man was shot in the right arm, and his condition was stabilized at Mount Sinai Hospital.

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The slain man was identified as Erik Peoples, of the 5900 block of North Sheridan Road, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office. He was pronounced dead at 2:53 a.m., accordingt to the office.

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Early Sunday, an officer searched the area around a silver Jeep that was parked in front of the Spirit of Truth M.B. Church. Three evidence markers could be seen nearby on the sidewalk.

In a separate attack on the South Side, about 3:40 p.m. Saturday, a 56-year-old man was shot while fighting with another man in the Woodlawn neighborhood in the 6600 block of South Kenwood Avenue, said Officer Kevin Quaid, a Chicago police spokesman.

According to preliminary reports, witnesses saw a 56-year-old man fighting with another man when a gunshot was heard about 3:40 p.m., Quaid said.

He was shot in the head and pronounced dead on the scene.

One of the 15-year-old boys shot himself in the left leg about 12:45 a.m. Sunday while he was in the 4500 block of West Congress Parkway in the West Garfield Park neighborhood, police said. He was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

Another 15-year-old boy was shot in the left leg while he was walking in the 11700 block of South Justine Street in the West Pullman neighborhood about 10:20 p.m. Saturday, police said. His condition was stabilized at Roseland Community Hospital.

In other shootings:
Florence Henderson, whose portrayal of Carol Brady on "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.

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"The Brady Bunch" ran from 1969 to 1974. But the sitcom about a blended family of three girls and three boys growing up under one roof in Los Angeles became a cultural icon, the subject of countless sequels, movies, plays, books, satires, spoofs and memes. Its 1970s fashion has been celebrated and mocked. The Studio City home that served as the exterior for the Brady home has become something of a landmark.

And to many, Henderson's perennially upbeat, smiling Carol Brady was the center of the show, cheerfully mothering her brood in an era when divorce was becoming more common.

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Henderson later marveled at the influence of the show and how it changed the lives of the cast. "We had to have security guards with us. Fans were hanging on our doors. We couldn't go out by ourselves. We were like the Beatles," she told the Associated Press.

While Henderson continued to act regularly after the series ended, she said to much of the world, she always was going to be Carol Brady. In a 2010 interview with The Times, Henderson said she still was overwhelmed by the interest in the show.

"I get so much mail from Russia, Poland and from all parts of the world, it's astounding," she said.

Pressman, who had worked with Henderson for 43 years  starting as her personal assistant  said the actress was "the most vibrant, beautiful inside and out person I've ever known in my entire life. We just never left each other. She was so wonderful to be with, and she was most loyal."

Fidelity proved to be one of Henderson's trademarks, she said, adding that the actress stayed with the same business manager from the time she was 18 until he died and then worked with his son. Henderson also had the same agent for more than 30 years. "She keeps long relationships," Pressman said. "I can't say enough about the remarkable person she is."

Henderson was a well-known nightclub entertainer performing in Texas when she was asked to audition for the role that would change her life.

Hoping to jet into Los Angeles, have a screen test for "Brady Bunch" creator Sherwood Schwartz and then get back in time for the evening's shows in Texas, Henderson was delayed by L.A. traffic and rushed onto the Paramount lot two hours late, frantically looking for a makeup artist to get her ready for the test. Finally, she found someone with a few spare minutes  on the set of "Star Trek."

"I was sitting in a makeup chair between William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy and like six or eight space monsters. None of them had any idea who I was or made any attempt to be friendly, which really bugged me," she recalled in TV son Barry Williams' 1992 memoir, "Growing Up Brady."

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Bothered by what she believed to be a shoddy makeup job, Henderson joked through the screen test about how bad she looked, and Schwartz, impressed with her comic timing, gave her the role.

"Maybe I should thank that terrible makeup man because in a way, his botch job helped me get the part," she said in the book.

Henderson's work as Carol Brady on the series, which ran from 1969 to 1974, and her slyly sexy chemistry with co-star Robert Reed made the show thrive. The pair helped broaden acceptance of blended families. Carol, a single mother of three daughters, was married to Mike Brady, a single father of three sons.

Born in 1934 on Valentine's Day, in Dale, Ind., Henderson was the youngest of 10 children of a homemaker and a tobacco sharecropper.

She later joked in a 2010 interview with The Times that she came out of the womb singing. By age 2, she knew 50 songs by heart.

"I don't remember ever not singing," she says. "My mother loved music, and she taught me songs, country music, spirituals. I would sing for people and pass the hat when I was 4."

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She began her show business career at 17, when she attended New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Henderson left the school after her first year because she got a job in the chorus of the Broadway musical "Wish You Were Here," directed by Josh Logan. She segued from the chorus to the lead role in the final national touring company of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Oklahoma!"

Logan remembered her from "Wish You Were Here" and cast her in the lead role of the 1954 musical "Fanny" with Ezio Pinza and Walter Slezak.

She appeared in other Broadway musicals, including Noel Coward's final musical effort, 1963's "The Girl Who Came to Supper." From 1959 to 1960, she was the "Today Girl" on the "Today" show, presenting weather and light news stories. Later, she was the first female guest host of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" in the 1970s.

After her years on "The Brady Bunch," Henderson became a commercial spokeswoman and co-produced "Country Kitchen," a Nashville Network series.

Besides her Brady clan, Henderson had children of her own. In the 2010 Times interview, she said she still kept up regularly with members of her TV family.

"When I was in New York, I spent time with Eve Plumb [who played Jan]. I am always in touch with Susan Olsen [Cindy], the youngest, and Chris Knight [Peter]."

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Friends and fans marked her passing on Twitter. The actress who played daughter Marcia on the show, Maureen McCormick, said: "You are in my heart forever Florence."

Henderson was also known as an advocate for gay rights. The actor who played her husband on the "Brady Bunch," Robert Reed, was gay and suffered from AIDS when he died of cancer in 1992.

Henderson said in a 2014 interview with Gay Star News that if the show were being made today, she hoped the Mike Brady character would be openly gay.

"At the time that we actually did the show, they wouldn't have addressed that," she said. "But if the show were on today, I think it would definitely be addressed. After all, their father was gay."

Susan King and Todd VanDerWerff contributed to this report.

anh.do@latimes.com

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For more Southern California news, follow me on Twitter: @newsterrier.

ALSO

Paul Sylbert, Oscar-winning production designer for 'Heaven Can Wait,' dies at 88

Ralph Branca, Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher who gave up 'the shot heard round the world,' dead at 90

Los Angeles music writer, proto-punker and sharp dresser Don Waller has died

UPDATES:

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1:26 p.m: This article was updated with information about Henderson's gay-rights activism.

8 a.m. Nov. 25: This story was updated with more details, context.

11:35 p.m.: This article was updated with staff reporting.

10:40 p.m.: This article was updated with background information on Henderson's career.

This article was originally published at 10:05 p.m. Nov. 26.
A senior finance ministry source said making the use of debit cards and e-wallets compulsory across the board is legally untenable, but banks have been asked to insist their account holders use these instruments.

Sanjeeb Mukherjee and Archis Mohan report.

A number of ministries and departments in the central government, especially those that have a direct interface with the public, have gotten down to chalking out their strategies to go cashless after Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed them to switch from currency-based transactions to online and cheque payments.

The cashless initiative will embrace a wide range of dealings, including those related to downstream payments such as payment to labourers.

The directives were issued by Prime Minister Modi on Friday night in a special Cabinet meeting held to review the demonetisation drive.

The steps to go cashless would be reviewed in a follow-up cabinet meeting likely to be held next week.

On its part, the labour ministry, along with the finance ministry, has decided to hold special camps in specific locations in all the over 640 districts in the country to facilitate opening of bank accounts for labourers in the organised and unorganised sectors.

Communications have been sent to all state governments for cooperation to hold such camps, while a team consisting of district magistrates, lead district manager of the bank and labour officer would decide on modalities of holding such camps .

A senior finance ministry source said making the use of debit cards and e-wallets compulsory across the board is legally untenable, but banks have been asked to insist their account holders use these instruments.

On Thursday, the finance minister held a video-conference with senior bank officials.

Officials bemoaned that politicians, the judiciary and the media were unaware of the extent to which plastic money has penetrated, and claimed that its use is growing not just in urban areas, but also in semi-urban and rural areas for ATM withdrawals.

Quoting Reserve Bank of India data, a source claimed there are nearly 720 million ATM cards in the country.

Of these, as many as 450 million debit cards, he claimed, are used routinely, or intermittently, for cash withdrawals from ATMs.

In food and agriculture ministries, meetings were held to chalk out a strategy to go cashless. Food Minister Ramvilas Paswan directed his officials to achieve 100 per cent cashless working within the next 15 days.

All payments made for purchasing foodgrains by the Food Corporation of India and others would have to be mandatorily done through Real Time Gross Settlement or cheques, while advisories have been issued to states to install card readers alongside point-of-sale devices.

At present, these devices have been installed at about a fifth of the 500,000-plus ration shops across the country.

For FCI labour payments too, the Centre has directed that all payments made henceforth should in bank accounts.

'The prime minister is very serious on the issue of going cashless. Our officials have been told to go comply as far as possible,' Paswan was quoted as saying by PTI after the meeting.

Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh also held a meeting with officials from fertiliser companies to see if fertiliser sales could be done entirely on the online payment systems.

The government also constituted a high-powered committee under NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant to look into digital payments for all government-citizen transactions.

The Aayog, in a presentation made to government some time ago, had in fact pitched for promoting e-payments in a big way.

The route it suggested included direct integration of e-wallets such as Paytm with the Unified Payment Interface, increasing wallet transaction limits from Rs 10,000 on presentation of additional KYCs, encouraging digital payments for all government services and surcharge on cash handling beyond a certain limit to discourage cash.

The new committee under Kant will identify and operationalise in the earliest possible timeframe user-friendly digital payment options in all sectors of the economy, an official statement said.
'General Bajwa is believed to consider the internal threats to Pakistan's security as far more serious than the bogey of the Indian threat.'

'This doesn't mean that he is soft on India, only that he is more rational and sensible than his predecessor who had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about India,' points out Pakistan expert Sushant Sareen.

In all the anticipation and excitement surrounding the announcement of the appointment of Pakistan's next army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa, the lines from an old The Who song, appropriately titled (when seen in the context of India-Pakistan relations in general and the Pakistan army in particular) 'Won't get fooled again,' immediately come to mind: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif would be keeping his fingers crossed while picking General Bajwa as General Raheel Sharif's successor.

The primary reason for the choice is, of course, the new army chief's perceived political reliability. Nawaz Sharif hasn't had a very good experience with almost all the other seven army chiefs he has dealt with as prime minister.

In Nawaz Sharif's first term as prime minister, Aslam Beg openly defied the civilian government during the first Gulf War and was reduced to a lame duck when his successor was nominated six months in advance.

The successor, Asif Nawaz Janjua had a very strained relationship with Nawaz Sharif on Karachi operations. The relations worsened after Nawaz Sharif apparently tried to bribe Janjua with a BMW car. Janjua died in office and the next man Abdul Wahid Kakar forced both Nawaz Sharif and the then president to resign to end the political tussle between them.

In his second term as PM, Nawaz Sharif forced Jehangir Karamat to resign after the latter called for the formation of a National Security Council.

The next man in, Pervez Musharraf, ousted Nawaz Sharif in a coup, put him in jail and then exiled him to Saudi Arabia.

In his current term time as PM, Nawaz Sharif had a working relationship with Ashfaq Kayani, who in any case had lost a lot of goodwill after having accepted a second tenure as army chief.

With Raheel Sharif again, things remained pretty uneasy and there were times when it seemed as though civil-military relations had reached breaking point.

But although there was no coup, the military pretty much dictated terms to the civilian government, which almost always gave in to what the military dictated, demanded or desired.

The question now is whether Nawaz Sharif will be lucky the eighth time?

Even though he was number four on the seniority list, General Bajwa's selection doesn't really violate the order of merit or seniority.

The top three on the seniority list were General Bajwa's batch mates, so no serious violation of the seniority principle there, even less so considering that the names sent to the PM from the defence ministry included five names and it was the PM's discretion who he would pick.

The top most general has been kicked upstairs and made Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, a largely ceremonial post but technically senior to the army chief.

The next two generals have been superceded and the fourth on the list picked.

In terms of appointments, while General Bajwa has ticked all the check boxes that make him eligible for heading the army, one of the superceded officers, Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed, has held far more high profile and critical positions -- Director General of Military Operations, Chief of General Staff, Commander of a strike corps etc -- than the new chief.

In fact, as CGS, General Ishfaq is believed to have made the battle plans for Operation Zarb-e-Azb, which General Raheel Sharif has treated as his singular achievement.

The number three on the list, General Ramday, was a low profile officer but about whom it was said that his family's close connections with Nawaz Sharif would make him look like a lackey of the PM and would as such reduce his acceptability in the military, as also his effectiveness.

At the time of his elevation as army chief, General Bajwa was serving as the Inspector General Training and Evaluation, a position that is generally regarded as being sidelined, but which over the last two times seems to be have become the most important position for becoming the army chief.

General Raheel Sharif was also IG, T&E, before he replaced General Kayani as Pakistan's 15th army chief.

Earlier, General Bajwa has served as chief of FCNA and Corps Commander 10 Corps (Rawalpindi). Both these positions are believed to have been crucial in his selection.

The reasons for picking General Bajwa over the other contenders are not very complicated. The most important reason is that he is regarded (whether rightly or wrongly, only time will tell) as someone who doesn't believe in the military interfering in the political process, much less undermining and destabilising the civilian government.

What is often forgotten is that he served as Corps Commander Rawalpindi -- the coup corps -- during the critical period of 2014 when Imran Khan's dharna in Islamabad had created a situation in which it appeared at one time that a military intervention was inevitable.

It was at that time that General Bajwa is believed to have weighed in favour of the civilian government and dissuaded or backed or even advised General Raheel Sharif from any action against the Nawaz Sharif government.

While it is true that despite being pushed by some senior officers, General Sharif probably was also not keen on any precipitate action against Nawaz Sharif, the grapevine is that General Bajwa played an important role in ensuring the civilian government's survival.

For a civilian dispensation, perpetually under siege from the army, this role would make General Bajwa an ideal choice as the next army chief.

The second reason for picking him has probably to do with his experience dealing with India, especially in Kashmir.

He is believed to consider the internal threats to Pakistan's security as far more serious and existential in nature than the bogey of the Indian threat that many in Pakistan's security establishment keep bandying.

This doesn't mean that he is soft on India or is some kind of an Indophile, only that he is more rational and sensible than his predecessor who had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about India.

If indeed this is the case, then it is possible that the tensions along the LoC that have spiked in recent months will be tampered down.

Of course, what happens along the LoC in the months ahead will depend to a great extent on whether the new chief also prevents the jihadists from infiltrating and striking in Kashmir.

If Pakistan stops the flow of terrorists into Kashmir, tensions along the LoC will come down, but if the Pakistanis continue to push in terrorists, then the LoC will heat up very fast.

The third reason for General Bajwa's elevation is that he is seen as a relaxed and easy going sort of guy, professionally competent but not someone with the arrogance and stiff-upper collar, snootiness and contempt that many uniformed men display towards the 'bloody civilians.'

He is believed to be socially liberal and not an Islamist in orientation. At a time when Pakistan is at least making a show of combating extremism in society, a man with General Bajwa's attributes might just work better than someone with Islamist inclinations.

Of course, since General Bajwa will be the chief of not some normal army, but the Pakistan army, there is no money-back guarantee that he will turn out quite like what is being expected of him by the civilian leadership.

The simple fact of the matter is that just because you select an army chief doesn't make him beholden to you, and if the time and situation demands, your own appointee will become your nemesis.

That is the immutable law of Pakistani politics and only the very brave or the very foolish can assert that General Bajwa will remain subservient to civilian authority on everything and throughout his tenure.

While it is entirely possible that General Bajwa might want to lower tensions with India so he can concentrate on the internal threat and also the emerging threat from a severely destabilised Afghanistan (General Raheel Sharif's gift to Pakistan's western neighbour), he could end up trampling on the feet of the civilian government in attempting to clean up terror nests inside the country, particularly in Punjab.

This was a point of friction between the Nawaz Sharif government and General Raheel Sharif and could remain a sticking point if General Bajwa wants to crack down hard on the terror networks, especially in Punjab.

Cooling things down with India will also hinge on how seriously the Pakistan army moves against the terrorists operating from inside the country and whether it junks the distinction between 'bad' jihadists (those who attack Pakistan) and 'good' jihadists (those who attack India and Afghanistan).

If that distinction continues to be made, then clearly the border with India will remain heated.

How much General Bajwa is able to change the strategic orientation of the Pakistan army will become clear not immediately, but in about six months.

In the first six months, he will be hemmed in a little by the fact that most of his corps commanders and principal staff officers will be more or less his contemporaries, and his ability to make any big change will be limited.

But in about six months, he will be in a position to put his own men in the various pivotal positions.

Even then, for any army chief to change the institutions ethos and orientation is easier said than done because of resistance from within the institution.

What is more, he cannot completely ignore the institutions' corporate and other interests that could often run counter to the principle of civilian supremacy. Nor can he adopt a cavalier approach on strongly held and deeply ingrained views in the military on Islam, India and other such issues.

At best what can be done by an army chief, even one as powerful as the Pakistan army chief is to work on the margins, chip away at some of the conventionally held views and gradually try and shift things in a different direction.

It would be foolish on anyone's part to expect a new army chief to bring in revolutionary changes in as conservative a force as the Pakistan army, especially on the issue of India.

Remember that both Generals Kayani and Raheel Sharif had spoken about the internal threat being the most important threat facing Pakistan, and yet they did stuff that ratcheted up tensions with India.

As far as India is concerned, even though things may cool down on the LoC, it would take a leap of faith for anyone to think that it will be all milk and honey between India and Pakistan just because a new man is sitting in the Pakistan army chief's chair.

Sushant Sareen is Senior Fellow, Vivekananda International Foundation.
'The BJP gets most of its contributions in cash.'

'Now they may show that donations are made in small amounts, less that Rs 20,000, but everyone knows this is just absurd.'

While the government's move to demonetise high value currency notes has been hailed as a 'surgical strike' on black money, the question of political funding still remains open.

Most political parties accept contributions in cash and it creates a mechanism that will not prevent the consequent generation of black money.

Prashant Bhushan, Supreme Court advocate and activist, speaks to Manavi Kapur/Business Standard about how the government missed an important opportunity.

Demonetisation has been carried out to curb black money. How does this impact political funding?

This move is unlikely to impact political funding at all.

This only means that those political parties and politicians who have unaccounted cash and have been unable to launder it will be affected.

That is a very small number, considering the various routes -- agricultural income, the Northeast route, Jan Dhan Yojana accounts -- available to divert funds.

Only those unable to use these routes would lose some money, but in the long run, it will remain unchanged.

The donations made to political parties are largely in cash and this is the large chunk of black money that is rarely talked about.

The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), for example, gets most of its contributions in cash.

Now they may show that donations are made in small amounts, less that Rs 20,000, but everyone knows this is just absurd.

This is the reason why the Sahara and Birla diary entries are important.

There have been no measures to curb this black money avenue.

If the government was serious, it would bring all political parties under the Right to Information Act.

Demonetisation will only lead to a very tiny hit to politicians.

Currently, how do political parties collect and report funds? Where is this money then spent?

The flow is very clear if you look closely at the diary entries currently in the news.

All bribes are paid in cash and there is a thriving system much beyond what has been highlighted since the currency ban was announced.

The Sahara diary alone shows how Rs 113 crore (Rs 1.13 billion) has been paid in cash to various politicians.

Historically, how have the laws pertaining to political funding changed?

One significant law was the Foreign Contribution (regulation) Act, or FCRA.

The main objective of this was to prevent political parties from receiving foreign funding.

The government is now changing that legislation to allow foreign companies to make donations to political parties in India.

And this amendment was made with retrospective effect.

It is strange how the government wants to prevent NGOs, which are actually doing some good work for the country, from receiving foreign funds, but is allowing political parties to do so.

Other than FCRA, the Supreme Court had ordered political parties to send a tally of their accounts for audit by the Election Commission of India.

Only a few parties furnish these accounts and they face no repercussions if they don't.

Even if they do share these accounts, what is the point when these details are not available to the people of India under the RTI?

What could have been done in order to make demonetisation more meaningful with respect to dubious political donations?

The government could have carried out a real 'surgical strike' on black money by targeting people who really held this money.

They should have gone after the foreign direct investment tax havens, people who held participatory notes, or even those whose names came out in the Panama Paper leaks.

There are so many people who are known to have laundered money and these are all well documented cases.

In fact, I made several complaints to relevant authorities with supporting documents, but no action was ever taken.

The government could have simultaneously stopped cash donations when the demonetisation move was announced.

It is increasingly clear that the BJP has already taken care of its funds, whether in real estate deals or otherwise.

This is all just being done for a show and there is no real intent to curb black money.
Even as the Maharashtra government claims that it is implementing in phases the Ram Pradhan committee report, which examined the government's response to the 26/11 terror attacks, gaping holes still exist in the security apparatus.

Sanjay Jog reports.

Eight years after the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, in which 164 people were killed and about 308 injured, the railways and coastal areas remain vulnerable.

The strengthening of the intelligence and counter-intelligence apparatus and training of police personnel, especially constables attached to the anti-terrorism cells, is yet to gather momentum.

The cells were set up in over 100 police stations across Greater Mumbai. The nation observed the 8th anniversary of the attacks on Saturday.

A two-member committee headed by former home secretary R D Pradhan had been appointed to examine the government's response to terror attacks.

Among other things, the committee had suggested steps to strengthen coastal security through better monitoring and modernisation of police with automatic arms and ammunition.

While the government has undertaken to set up 12 coastal police stations, in a bid to strengthen the coastal security, as on date only two are operational -- one in the island city the other in the western suburbs.

However, both lack infrastructure. Besides, the establishment of police chowkies still remains on the paper while the development of a jetty has been caught in red tape.

Of the 30-plus speed boats, some are either anchored at the bay and or can otherwise not be used by security personnel to conduct vigils, for want of adequate fuel.

Security at the Mumbai railway stations and key junctions have been caught in administrative and policy logjams.

More than seven million commuters travel on the Central, Western and Harbour railway lines, but deployment of adequate security personnel has yet to happen.

State Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Atulchandra Kulkarni informs that the implementation of the Ram Pradhan committee report is being made in phases.

"A lot of changes have been made in the functioning of the ATS and its jurisdiction. ATS units are functional in all key regions of the state. The police force is equipped with modern arms and weapons," he says.

Further, a state home department official said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently launched Mumbai's city-wide CCTV network, which is expected to strengthen the surveillance system stronger.

A total of 4,717 CCTV cameras across 1,510 locations, covering almost 80 per cent of the city have been installed.

Apart from fixed cameras, five mobile surveillance vans will also start patrolling the city.

The project had been proposed during the NCP-Congress regime, on a recommendation of the Ram Pradhan Committee report, but it was delayed because private sector companies did not submit tenders despite bids being invited four times.

Security expert Shirish Inamdar says the installation of CCTV cameras is not adequate and upgradation of intelligence machinery is need of the hour.

"Higher level and lower level police personnel should interact with each other on a regular basis and those assigned with the job of intelligence gathering should be further trained. Though anti-terror cells have been established in every police station in Greater Mumbai, the personnel deployed there lack adequate training in intelligence and counter-terrorism. Adequate attention needs to be paid on this aspect," he says.

According to Inamdar, the registration of trawlers and fishing boats has been completed in the city but there have been no periodical checks and counter-checks.

"In the absence of such periodical review, there is a possibility that some trawlers and boats may been transferred or there could be duplication of names. Checks and counter-checks will work as deterrent," he says.

Inamdar objects to the government's move to develop beaches and coastal area as tourist centres, saying it will make intelligence gathering difficult.

IMAGE: Commuters disembark from crowded suburban trains during the morning rush hour at the Churchgate railway station in Mumbai. Photograph: Reuters
In a sensational jailbreak, chief of Khalistan Liberation Front terrorist outfit Harminder Mintoo on Sunday escaped along with five other prisoners after armed men in police uniform stormed the high-security Nabha prison in Patiala, exposing "lapses" and raising doubts of possible collusion of insiders, with the Centre seeking an immediate report.

IMAGE: Rapid Action Force men at Nabha Central Jail, which was stormed by armed men who helped in escaping five terrorists, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo, in Nabha on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Punjab DGP Suresh Arora said that "the unidentified assailants came in police fatigues and were carrying small firearms." He said that they told police personnel deployed on jail premises that they were bringing a prisoner.

"Later, they fired indiscriminately and fled with six criminals, including a terrorist," he said, adding over 35 rounds were fire and there was no casualty among the jail personnel, who were allegedly taken offguard and did not offer any strong resistance.

"The firing was also done from inside the jail. We will see why the firing was not effective," the DGP said and added there is a "conspiracy somewhere".

"Had there been effective firing, it would have been the other way round," he said.

"There are two aspects. One is that the jailbreak will be probed and the second thing is lapses. Who is responsible, if there is any connivance?" the DGP said.

Those who escaped from the high-security prison included hardcore Khalistani terrorist Mintoo, who was arrested by Punjab police in November 2014 after he was deported from Thailand and was wanted in 10 terror cases. After the jailbreak, security agencies in northern states were sent into high alert and Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. He sought an immediate report on the incident, besides directing the state to step up security in jails.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal who apprised him of the details of the incident and steps being taken to apprehend the six absconders.

Sukhbir said Pakistan could be behind the incident as it was desperate to revive terrorism in the state post-surgical strike across LoC and vowed that the "conspiracy" will be unravelled soon.

The others who fled were gangster Vicky Gaundar, Amandeep Dhotian, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol and Kashmira Singh, who is also a terrorist.

The DGP said that the prisoners had fled towards Haryana.

Heads begin to roll; Rs 25 lakh reward announced

The Punjab government sacked the Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent of Nabha jail and suspended the ADGP (Prisons) after the jailbreak incident, and announced a reward of Rs 25 lakh for information leading to the arrest of the escapees.

The state government has issued orders to set up an inquiry committee to look into any lapse in security that led to the incident. It will be headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu.

A special investigation team under an ADGP-rank officer has also been constituted which will look into lapses as well as any conspiracy theories surrounding the incident.

"ADGP (Jails) has been suspended and Jail Superintendent and Deputy Jail Superintendent have been dismissed," Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, told reporters.

ADGP (Railways) Rohit Chaudhary has been appointed as the new ADGP (Jails) in place of M K Tiwari and IPS officer S Bhupati is the new Superintendent of Nabha jail.

Sukhbir rushed to the jail for an on-the-spot review of the situation. Punjab Director General of Police Suresh Arora is already in Nabha following the incident, a spokesman said.

Additional Director General of Police, Internal Vigilance Cell, Prabodh Kumar will head the SIT comprising IGP (Patiala Zone) Paramraj Singh, IGP Ishwar Singh, IGP (Counter Intelligence) Nilabh Kishore, DIG (Patiala Range) Amar Singh Chahal and SSP (Patiala) Gurmeet Chouhan.

"Special Investigation team has been asked to submit a report within three days in this regard," Sukhbir said.

IMAGE: Police officials investigate at Nabha Jail. Photograph: PTI Photo

Centre seeks report from Punjab govt

Concerned over the jailbreak in Punjab, the Centre today sought a report from the state government asking it provide details of the incident.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to the Punjab DGP and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in the state.

The home ministry asked the Punjab government to send the report about the jailbreak as early as possible and the steps taken to ensure security in the jails.

The incident came two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces to guard against attempts to disturb peace through "vicious" political campaign or by external extremist forces during the election process in Punjab and four other states.

"We have to keep strict vigil against external extremist elements who may try to create disturbance in Punjab. There have been increased activities of Sikh terrorists in recent months.

"Similarly in Manipur, we have to ensure peace keeping in mind the ethnic divide. In Uttar Pradesh too, there may be attempts to disturb law and order through vicious political campaigning. We have to keep strict vigil and take proper steps to ensure peace during election," the home minister said at the conference of Director Generals of Police (DGPs) in Hyderabad on Friday.

Suspect headed for Nepal arrested in UP

UP Police claimed to have arrested one of the armed men involved in the sensational jailbreak.

Parminder alias Penda was travelling in an SUV when his vehicle was intercepted by police at a check post in Kairana in Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh, police said.

He tried to flee but was apprehended. Police said it has recovered an SLR and three other rifles from his possession.

ADG (law and order) Daljeet Choudhury said that police had heightened security as it had apprehensions that the accused in the jailbreak may try to flee to Nepal.

The ADG said that Parminder "confessed" to his involvement during questioning. He was also allegedly wanted in connection with the murder of a policeman.

In another development, a woman was killed when police opened fire at a vehicle which had jumped a barrier.

The incident occurred at a 'naka' on Patiala-Gulha Cheeka road. Police tried to stop the car, but its driver did not stop despite being asked to and when police opened fire, a woman who received the gunshot wounds was killed.

Police sources said that it could not be immediately ascertained whether the woman, who was not travelling in the car which jumped the barrier, was travelling in some other vehicle or was walking on the road when she got hit by the bullet.
A day ahead of the nationwide protests planned by the opposition against demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi defended the move and warned unscrupulous people using the Jan Dhan accounts of the poor to launder their black money of strict action.

Lead opposition party Congress continued to target Modi over demonetising old high-denomination currency notes, terming it a "political move made without preparation" that stemmed from his propensity for "dhamaka politics" (politics aimed at seeking publicity).

The Janata Dal-United will, however, not be a part of the proposed protests as its leader and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has supported demonetisation of old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

With Jan Dhan accounts witnessing a surge in deposits, Modi issued a warning to those using poor people to park their illegal money, saying the strict 'benami' law would be implemented against such transactions.

He appealed to the people to shift to cashless system of transactions like mobile banking and asked the youth to help in this process by educating the elders and those not literate.

In his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', first after the demonetisation decision, Modi devoted substantial part of the 37-minute broadcast to the issue over which he is under opposition attack.

The Prime Minister said, "Even now, some people think they can bring their black money, the money earned through corruption or the one which is unaccounted for, back into the system through illegal means.

"Unfortunately, they are misusing the poor for this purpose by misleading, luring or tempting them by putting money into their accounts."

He said "a very stringent law to deal with 'benami' transactions is being implemented, that will make such things (transactions) very difficult. Government does not want the people to face such difficulties."

"I would tell such (unscrupulous) people that to reform or not reform is your wish. Following the law or not is your wish -- that the law will take care of. But please don't play with the life of the poor. Don't do anything due to which, when there is an investigation, the name of the poor comes on record and he gets into trouble because of you."

Later, addressing BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' in UP's Kushinagar, Modi repeatedly attacked his rivals for calling a 'Bharat Bandh' on Monday.

"We are trying to check black money and they are busy calling a Bharat Bandh. Tell me, what should be stopped? Should black money be stopped or a Bharat Bandh be called?"

Speaking to reporters in Delhi, senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, however, said no 'Bharat Bandh' has been called and that opposition parties will only hold protests across the country against demonetisation.

Calling demonetisation a political move, Ramesh said it had brought all economic activity to a standstill.

"It is a political decision for three reasons. Prime Minister Narendra Modi believes in 'dhamaka' (publicity oriented) approach to politics. This is a dhamaka which has changed the narrative. From November 8 there is no other talk but of demonetisation," he said.

Ramesh said demonetisation decision was also taken as Modi had seen the writing on the wall in UP, which is due for elections next year and wanted to do something dramatic. The third reason was to cover up his failure to bring back illegal money stashed abroad, he said.

"Does the Prime Minister want to have cash-less mandi? Does the PM want to have the unorganized sector working cashless? I am sorry to say it's a ridiculous proposition, to say that India will become cashless and all these economic sectors will become cash-less," he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has been at the forefront of the agitation against demonetisation, attacked Modi for his advice to people to shift to cashless transactions.

"Modiji, you have finished India's economy and growth. We don't trust you or your mismatched wrong technology which you are advertising for. We want technology and progress. But no section of society is to be left out and tortured while doing this (demonetisation)," Banerjee said in a statement.

"The women of our country will give you a befitting reply. They are the mothers of India. They are the mothers of all, Mr Today's PM," the Trinamool Congress chief said.

Claiming that the masses were with the government on demonetisation, BJP voiced confidence that the protest called by certain opposition parties on Monday will not be successful and said parties like Congress were already retreating and not calling it a 'Bharat bandh'.

"It is quite evident that the country is united and is with us on demonetisation. There are only a few parties which have supported the call for 'Bharat bandh'. Those who were raising their voices earlier are also stepping back in fear now," Union minister Babul Supriyo told reporters at the BJP headquarters.

Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu took a jibe at the Congress for planning to stage protests.

"Congress is clearly rattled by certain transformational results... this is the clear reason for it being angry," he said.

"Realising the popular support to remonetisation, it is now calling its countrywide bandh 'akrosh' rallies. From this, it is clear that all of this is aimed at finding some space in the media as it has clearly lost its space at the debating forum of Parliament and in the minds of the people," Naidu said.

The Janata Dal-United, meanwhile, said it will not participate in the nation-wide protests on Monday of Mamata Banerjee's dharna in Patna on November 30.

"We have supported he Centre's demonetisation move. How can we oppose or be the part of activity like bandh which is meant to protest the issue which our party has strongly supported," Bihar unit JD(U) President Bashishtha Narayan Singh said.

"JD(U) will not be part of any agitation against demonetisation including the dharna by Mamata Banerjee on November 30 in Patna," party Secretary General K C Tyagi said.

"We have taken an ideological position in favour of demonetisation so how can we be part of any agitation seeking its roll back," Tyagi said.

The ruling Samajwadi Party in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh said the demonetisation drive smacked of an attempt at "financially harming" rival political parties ahead of elections.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move is aimed at financial harming rival political parties in 2017 UP Assembly polls. This poll is a do or die for BJP. BJP thought that due to impact of demonetisation, rival parties in the state will not be able to withdraw money for polls," SP national vice president Kironmay Nanda said.

"BJP does not know that this step is going to be 'atmghati' (suicidal) for the party. People who are standing in long queues for getting their own money will vote against BJP to vent their ire," he said.

The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam attacked Modi for speaking about demonetisation only outside Parliament, saying he was "slighting Constitution and democracy".

Listing a set of questions over demonetisation and its implications, AIADMK said, "The Prime Minister who is supposed to answer all these questions is slighting the Constitution and democracy by seeking to explain about it only in places other than the Parliament".

"..Having many loopholes (in demonetisation), the BJP's claim to root out black money is like cultivation of desert by drawing water using a bucket that has a sieve for its bottom," the Tamil Nadu's ruling party said in its mouthpiece, Dr Namadhu MGR.

Image: Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing BJP's Parivartan Rally in Kushinagar in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo
Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' who along with five others escaped from the high security jail in Nabha on Sunday, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014.

The KLF chief was brought to India along with his key aide Gurpeet Singh 'Gopi' after Punjab Police, in coordination with central agencies, traced them in Thailand, a senior police official said.

Mintoo was wanted in ten terror offences while Gopi was tasked to target Hindu outfit leaders in 2013, which were foiled by Punjab Police, in a bid to disturb the peace in the state.

The then Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini had then claimed that Pakistan's spy agency ISI was "making concerted efforts" to use terror outfits like KLF and Babbar Khalsa to revive terrorism in Punjab, with focus on carrying out killings of prominent leaders belonging to a particular community.

To strengthen KLF, he had developed independent contacts with the foreign-based supporters and fund raisers of terrorism, the official said.

When he was in Pakistan, Mintoo worked with Babbar Khalsa International. But, but being ambitious and a good organiser, he developed independent contacts with Pakistan's ISI and Europe and North America-based terrorist sympathisers and fund raisers and had planned to raise his own outfit, police had then said.

During his stay in Pakistan, he had visited Europe in 2010 to establish contacts and in June 2013, he left Pakistan for an extensive tour of Europe lasting 11 months, police had then said.

In South East Asia, the KLF chief had travelled to Laos, Cambodia, Burma, besides Thailand where he had established a base, police had said.

The counter-intelligence wing of Punjab police had been tracking them and shared intelligence inputs with the Central agencies. It was found that Mintoo was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of one Gurdeep Singh.

A two-member team of counter intelligence wing of Punjab police had camped in Thailand for three weeks.

Harminder had been influenced by the radical ideology and had developed contacts with Pakistan based terrorist leaders particularly Wadhawa Singh, the chief of Babbar Khalsa International-another militant outfit, police had then said.

Photograph: Courtesy Sikh24dotcom
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at opposition parties for their 'Bharat Bandh' call against demonetisaion, saying they are organising the strike at a time when he is trying to root out corruption and black money.

"I am stopping black money and corruption and some are giving call for Bharat Bandh," he said at BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' rally in Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Without naming any opposition party, Modi said, "We are trying to curb corruption and they are organising 'Bharat Bandh'. Should there be 'Bharat Bandh' or should the route of corruption be blocked?"

Several opposition parties have given a call for 'Akrosh Diwas' on Monday to protest against the Centre's demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

The prime minister said the decision on demonetisation was tough, "but (the) future will be bright".

Referring to the problems being faced by the common man including villagers in withdrawing money, he advised them to take the e-wallet route.

"Era of wallet has gone, you can use your mobile phone as your bank branch with the same ease with which you take snaps and send them to friends," Modi said.

Modi said just as people did not have to attend classes to learn how to use mobile phones, they can now use the device in the same way to carry out monetary transactions.

"I have already said problems do come. I have sought 50 days from you. Of these, 30 days are still left and the government is taking all efforts to assuage the sufferings of people," he said.

"Have you learnt how to charge your mobile by going to school? You have learnt to operate WhatsApp. Technology has become easy. If you have (a) bank account, you can purchase whatever you want," he added.

Amid the opposition parties creating uproar over poor implementation of demonetisation and stalling Parliament for days, Modi said he is aware that people are facing inconvenience.

"The NDA govt at the Centre is fully dedicated to the poor, farmers, villagers and dalits," he said amid applause from the crowd.

A united opposition has been attacking the Centre in Parliament over the demonetisation issue, with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh terming the move a "monumental management failure" and a case of "organised loot and legalised plunder" which would lead to dip in GDP growth by at least 2 per cent.

Modi also attacked the Samajwadi Party government in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, saying it was not interested in implementing central schemes for farmers.

Thanking the people attending his rally, he said that in 2014 elections when he was himself contesting from Varanasi, he visited many areas of the state but the crowd was not as big.

"As compared to today, only half of people used to come. Now a huge crowd, including women, has come to give me blessings," he said, adding, "I bow before you for the trust you have on me... I will not betray you."
A senior spine surgeon from the Apollo Hospital has written to Delhi Health Minister seeking approval that below poverty line segment at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital may undergo complex surgeries at Delhi government's Lok Nayak Hospital.

By Priyanka Sharma: The patients from below poverty line segment at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital may undergo complex surgeries at Delhi government's Lok Nayak Hospital, as per a proposal. However, the move has annoyed the faculty members of the government hospital when it is overburdened with its own patients.

Besides, the hospital is not equipped to provide optimum healthcare services to its patients, which is a major reason to worry for the doctors there.

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The proposal in this regard was moved by a senior spine surgeon from the Apollo Hospital who has written to Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain. In his letter, the surgeon has expressed his willingness to perform complex spine surgeries along with the professors of Lok Nayak Hospital.

But this has triggered an outrage among the senior faculty members of the hospital who questioned whether a doctor from private set-up could be allowed to conduct surgeries for its BPL patients at a government hospital.

Also read: 19 schools in Gurgaon refuse to admit Below Poverty Line students

WHAT THE SURGEON SAID

A copy of a letter is with Mail Today in which the senior spine surgeon wrote: "I have many patients who cannot afford treatment in Apollo due to the huge cost involved. I cannot do them all in the Free Ward either because they don't have BPL card or they are too poor to pay for the hospital charges on Free Ward, in which case we try for donations. But I cannot do this all the time and my team can only do so much. Should not these patients be treated in government hospitals as they exist to serve such patients who cannot afford the hugely expensive corporate hospitals? Often even corporate hospitals don't have the necessary equipment".

"Is there not some way in which I could go to the LNJP Hospital officially in honourary capacity? I would be perfectly happy to devote some time to MAMC in the honourary role both to teach the students and to operate upon spine cases along with MAMC faculty," read the letter.

"May I ask if this artificial dichotomy between state and private doctors can be changed when it comes to teaching, training and surgery? Is there any way I can share a lifetime of experience with government hospitals whereby we can operate jointly upon complex cases?"

Also read: Apollo Hospitals in expansion mode; to invest Rs 1,400-crore

NO COMMENTS FROM HOSPITAL

When contacted, officials of the Apollo Hospital said it has no role in the matter. Repeated phone calls to the Delhi health minister went unanswered.

But a senior doctor at Lok Nayak Hospital on the condition of anonymity told Mail Today, "If this is allowed to take place then it will have far-reaching implications when Lok Nayak Hospital is already ill-equipped in terms of hospital resources, infrastructure and vital medical equipment."

He further said: "BPL patients are from Apollo Hospital, resources would be used from Lok Nayak Hospital and then who would take care of the patients after operation?"

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Criticising the proposal, another senior faculty of the Lok Nayak Hospital said: "We have adequate number of trained and experienced professors required for complex spine operation. At this time, what is most needed is the improvement in the orthopaedic department with latest medical equipment. We are always overburdened with our own indoor patients." Sources said that there was a verbal instruction to the head of orthopaedic department to reply within 24 hours from the director's office of Lok Nayak Hospital. In this regard, an urgent meeting was held last Friday to know the opinions of all faculty members. "But the meeting was attended by only three faculty members," said a source.

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General Qamar Bajwa, his colleagues say, is a firm opponent of extremism and terrorism. He may prove even more forceful in the fight against terrorism than his predecessor, who is credited with launching Operation Zarb-i-Azb, which helped lower the frequency of terrorist attacks.

General Qamar Bajwa's "pro-democracy credentials" and his low-profile influenced Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appoint him to the powerful post of army chief superseding four top generals, Pakistani media and experts have said.

"A careful review of General Bajwa's profile clearly reflects that his pro-democracy credentials earned him the post of Chief of Army Staff," leading Pakistani newspaper The News commented, a day after Prime Minister Sharif appointed Gen Bajwa to succeed Gen Raheel Sharif as the army chief.

The media commented that Prime Minister Sharif wanted to appoint an army chief who should be military expert as well as backing democracy in the Islamic nation.

The military has been in charge of the country for more than half of Pakistan's nearly 70-year history since independence from Britain.

"All the four generals being considered for the post of COAS were passed out from military academy on the same day, but undoubtedly General Bajwa has an experience more diversified than all others. General Bajwa's caliber, credentials, experience and holding the biggest core also helped him to be appointed the Chief of Army Staff," the report said.

Another leading daily, Dawn said, "Gen Bajwa's relatively more moderate view of the relationship with the civilian government, it is said, proved to be the decisive factor in Prime Minister Sharif's decision."

One of Gen Bajwa's former commanding officers told the paper that the COAS-designate is a "strong proponent of the army not intruding into civilian space."

Under the watch of the outgoing army chief Sharif, the civil-military balance of power had titled more in military's favour, the report said.

With his elevation as army chief, Gen Bajwa has now superseded Lt Gen Syed Wajid Hussain (chairman of Heavy Industries Taxila), Lt Gen Najibullah Khan (DG Joint Staff

Headquarters), Lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed (Corps Commander Multan) and Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday (Corps Commander Bahawalpur).

Dawn also said that Prime Minister Sharif named the new military command, appointing Gen Bajwa and Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat as the Chief of Army Staff and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, respectively, in the hope of stabilising the fragile civil-military balance.

While the office of CJCSC is technically the more senior position -- as he serves as the principal military adviser to the prime minister and the National Command Authority -- the office of army chief is the most prized and arguably the most powerful position in the country, the paper said.

Bajwa, an infantry officer, has commanded the famed 10 Corps, the army's largest, which is responsible for guarding the area along the Line of Control with India.

On a personal level, Gen Bajwa is said to be witty, accessible, well-connected with the troops and not fond of the limelight.

Bajwa is the fourth officer from the infantry's Baloch Regiment to become the army chief. Before him, Gen Yahya Khan, Gen Aslam Beg and Gen Kayani rose to that position.

Meanwhile, PML-N Senator, Lt General (Retired) Abdul Qayyum said there was no difference in the credentials of all the four generals who were considered for the top slot in army. However it was prime minister's discretion to appoint anyone among the four candidates.

"Prime Minister definitely wanted an army chief who is supportive of democratic system in the country, who believes in the supremacy of Parliament and who could work for the betterment of the country.

"These were the major points what I believe the prime minister would have taken into consideration before appointing the COAS. I believe General Qamar Bajwa possesses all these elements due to which he has been given the top slot in Pakistan Army," Gen Qayyum told The News.

To a question about General Bajwa's positive role in the 2014 anti-government sit in, he said he was not sure about any such information however if he had played a positive role, it was his duty as they took oath to protect the Constitution of Pakistan.

On Prime Minister Sharif's decision to supersede four generals, Gen Qayyum said it was prime minister's prerogative.

"The premier wanted an all rounder for the top slot in Pakistan Army who could not only run the institution of Pak Army but his relation with the civil government was also important," he said.

Former Corp Commander Karachi Lieutenant General (Retired) Sajjad Ghani said there was no major difference in the credentials of the four candidates for the top slot.

However it was up to the prime minister's discretion who saw his suitability in terms of working relations with the civilian government. Therefore, he said this was not a surprise for those who were aware of the system of Pakistan Army.

Bajwa will take charge of the world's sixth-largest army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when General Raheel formally retires.

Later, the army chief designate called on the prime minister and discussed various issues with him.

There is an unwritten tradition in the Pakistan army that superseded officers retire, but there have been exceptions. However, the decision to supersede four generals -- particularly the battle-hardened Gen Ishfaq and Gen Javed Ramday -- is bound to set tongues wagging among the military's ranks.

The seniority list has almost never been strictly followed in appointing army chiefs. The list was followed most closely in 2007, when Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani -- the senior-most officer -- was appointed army chief after Gen Pervez Musharraf doffed his uniform.

"The succession may not immediately bring about a major change in policies, but it could still have important implications for ties with India and Afghanistan, and domestically for the civil-military equation and the ongoing fight against terrorism," Dawn commented.

The fight against terrorism, it is believed, would remain unaffected. Gen Bajwa, his colleagues say, is a firm opponent of extremism and terrorism.

According to an insider, he may prove even more forceful in the fight against terrorism than his predecessor, who is credited with launching Operation Zarb-i-Azb, which helped lower the frequency of terrorist attacks.

In addition, the supersession of four generals could force a major reshuffle within the top brass if they decide to step down, the paper added.
'No other Communist leader after Lenin had such an internationalist vision as Fidel,' says Prakash Karat, the CPI-M leader in this eloquent tribute to Fidel Castro who passed into the ages on Friday.

IMAGE: With Nelson Mandela in Houghton, Johannesburg, in 2001.

'Nelson Mandela, after the liberation of South Africa, publicly expressed his gratitude to Fidel Castro,' says Prakash Karat.

Photograph: Chris Kotze/Reuters

Fidel Castro was a towering revolutionary figure of the 20th century. The revolution he led in tiny Cuba had an impact over time which was magnified manifold.

The overthrow of the hated Batista regime led to the first Socialist revolution in the Western hemisphere. Under Fidels dynamic leadership, Cuba emerged from the shackles of semi-colonialism and of being a playground for the mafia and the wealthy from the United States.

At the age of 33, Fidel became the leader of the revolutionary government and under his leadership, Cuba made remarkable strides in creating a socially just society.

Castro and his revolutionary government was able to show what Socialism is capable of -- abolition of illiteracy, universal education, a health care system which compares with the best in the advanced countries, equal rights for women in all spheres and racial equality in a country which used to have slave plantation labour.

Ninety miles away loomed the shadow of the United States, the world's most powerful imperialist power. For five decades, Fidel Castro led Cuba in fighting off various conspiracies to destroy Socialist Cuba.

As it was later revealed, the CIA had organised hundreds of attempts to assassinate him. Fidel survived 10 American presidents who tried unsuccessfully to topple him, starting with the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 by President Kennedy.

Fidel was the David who challenged the imperialist Goliath and won.

The Cuban revolution became a beacon light for all revolutionary and progressive movements in Latin America and inspired the Left advances there.

Fidel Castro, along with his close comrade-in-arms Che Guevara, became revolutionary icons for generations of young people. No other Communist leader after Lenin had such an internationalist vision as Fidel. He dispatched the Cuban armed forces to help Angola and Mozambique from the depredations of the counter-revolutionary forces backed by the racist South African regime.

Little is known in India about the signal contribution of Fidel and the Cuban revolutionaries to the liberation of Southern Africa. It was Fidel's decision to dispatch Cuban troops to Angola which saved the national liberation struggle there.

In the decisive battle in Cuito Carnivale, the Cuban forces defeated the South African army which had intervened to back the CIA-funded UNITA forces. This defeat led to the withdrawal of the army of the South African apartheid regime from Angola.

It also had to withdraw its troops from Namibia paving the way for its liberation. Cuito Carnivale destroyed the myth of invincibility of the army of racist South Africa and hastened the end of the apartheid regime.

Nelson Mandela, after the liberation of South Africa, publicly expressed his gratitude to Fidel Castro.

Fidel was a revolutionary who used Marxism creatively. He applied Marxism to the concrete conditions of an underdeveloped country, drew on its national-cultural resources and pioneered a path to Socialism which had an enormous impact on the Third World.

For people of my generation, Fidel was the living embodiment of revolution.

I first saw him at the World Youth Festival in Havana in 1978. 20,000 young people had assembled for the international event. When he appeared unannounced at the Lenin Park where the concluding festivities were being held, there was a thrill that ran through the assembled participants and a scramble to shake his hand.

Many of those young men and women, particularly from Latin America, went on to become leaders and activists of revolutionary movement and some became government leaders.

Twenty years later, in 1998, I attended a programme to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Che Guevara's martyrdom. The speech Fidel made on this occasion at Santa Clara remains still vivid in my memory. It was a magisterial survey of the Cuban revolution and the worldwide struggle against imperialism.

Cuba has survived despite the longest economic blockade faced by any country in the world. In the face of unrelenting US hostility, it has maintained its unique social system and refused to subject itself to the depredations of neo-liberal capitalism.

This is the legacy of an eternal revolutionary.
By PTI: London, Nov 27 (PTI) A 38-year-old cab driver, who pretended to be a doctor to impress Muslim women including from Pakistan and secretly filmed himself having sex with them to extort money besides threatening to shame them, has been jailed for eight and a half years in the UK.

He was convicted on charges of sexual assault, blackmail, voyeurism, theft and fraud against three victims at Cardiff Crown Court, where Judge Tom Crowther described his actions as "pure misogyny".

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Farhan Mirza, from Abertillery, South Wales, met the women, who were looking for long-term relationships, using a false profile on a dating website. To impress and manipulate them into sex, he would hang surgical scrubs in his wardrobe and also carry a stethoscope, The Independent reported today.

In reality, he worked as a taxi driver and IT worker and lived with his mother, the report said.

He also falsely told one woman he was an IT manager and his family were all in successful jobs, such as that his father was a company director in Pakistan and his sister was a doctor.

Mirza used the videos to blackmail his victims, who were all Muslim women, the report said, adding that they were targeted because of the acute shame they would suffer if the films were made public.

He also threatened to send the videos to one of his victims relatives in Pakistan, where she feared they could be targeted by extremist religious groups, it said.

A victim went to the police after she discovered 70,000 pounds in cash at his house and intimate images of herself and other women.

"It is the prosecutions case that Mr Mirza is a particular kind of sexual predator and he chooses his victims carefully," the Guardian quoted prosecutor Timothy Evans as telling the court.

"Because of their religious and ethnic backgrounds, he targeted them because of the terror, embarrassment and humiliation that each of these ladies would have felt in their minds by what this defendant did to them," Evans said. PTI SAI AKJ SAI

--- ENDS ---
Once overlooked, Arjun Lothe seizes opportunity at Indian Creek

Indian Creek QB Arjun Lothe has all the intangibles a coach could dream of, but it took until his senior season to get his shot. He seized it.
Fidel Castro portrayed himself as a champion of the poor against repressive regimes.

But to stay in power for nearly 50 years, Castro created a tyrannical one-party state that jailed thousands of dissidents and suppressed freedom of expression, human rights groups say.

The former Cuban president, who died at age 90 on November 25, often won praise from socialists for leading a revolution in 1959 that toppled a corrupt government which ignored the dismal poverty in which many of its citizens lived.

After seizing power, Castro sought to improve social conditions by increasing ordinary Cubans' access to health services, housing, and education.

But those achievements came at the cost of crushing his fellow citizens' right to voice criticism or form political parties, according to activist groups and Cuban exiles. Human rights campaigners say the system he built continues suppressing human rights in Cuba today, despite Fidel's handing of power to his brother Raul in 2008 and increasing economic liberalization.

"Despite these achievements in areas of social policy, Fidel Castro's 49-year reign was characterized by a ruthless suppression of freedom of expression," Erika Guevara-Rosas, Americas Director at Amnesty International, said after his death. "The state of freedom of expression in Cuba, where activists continue to face arrest and harassment for speaking out against the government, is Fidel Castro's darkest legacy."

'Draconian Rule'

Many other human rights experts agree. Even as Castro launched drives that were unprecedented in Latin America to rapidly improve literacy and to train thousands of doctors, his rule distinguished itself as a repressive system that punished virtually all forms of opposition, they say.

"As other countries in the region turned away from authoritarian rule, only Fidel Castro's Cuba continued to repress virtually all civil and political rights," said Jose Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch (HRW). "Castro's draconian rule and the harsh punishments he meted out to dissidents kept his repressive system rooted firmly in place for decades."

Castro signaled his determination to brook no dissent almost immediately after taking power in 1959. He eliminated hundreds of members of the toppled government of Fulgencio Batista in a series of show trials and summary executions.

When faced with an international outcry over the executions, Castro gave an uncompromising public answer.

"Revolutionary justice is not based on legal precepts, but on moral conviction...we are not executing innocent people or political opponents," he said. We are executing murderers and they deserve it."

Over the following decades, Castro devised a system in which executions for political activity were rare but imprisonment, harassment, and intimidation were commonplace.

HRW says that in 2003, during a period of heightened repression, 75 human rights activists and other critics of the government were tried behind closed doors and accused of being "mercenaries" of the United States -- Castro's declared archenemy.

"Many served years in inhumane prisons, where they were subjected to extended solitary confinement and beatings, and denied basic medical care for serious ailments," HRW said in a statement on November 26 regarding Castro's record.

"More than 50 of the remaining prisoners were released after Fidel Castro handed over power to his brother, most on the condition that they accept exile to Spain," it said.

According to a 2016 report by HRW, thousands of dissidents continue to be jailed in Cuba each year. The report says that the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, an independent human rights group that the government views as illegal, received more than 6,200 reports of arbitrary detentions from January through October 2015.

The large number of dissidents who are routinely detained or jailed comes despite some highly visible prisoner releases in recent years.

'Deaths, Pain, And Sacrifices'

One notable release was agreed in December 2014, when a detente was announced between Havana and Washington. In response to U.S. President Barack Obama's call for greater political freedom on Cuba, Raul Castro gave conditional release to 53 dissidents. Obama later made a landmark trip to the Caribbean island in March 2016 after the two governments restored diplomatic relations in July 2015. Ties had been severed between them since Cuba's 1959 revolution.

Even with such gestures, many observers say that intolerance of opposition is such a fundamental part of Fidel Castro's legacy that there is little likelihood the government will change direction now that he is dead.

"The primary objective of the Cuban regime today is the preservation of power as long as possible and while dissidents still have the potential to create the kind of unrest that might unsettle a Cuban leadership, they'll continue to repress," Brian Fonseca, director at Florida International University's Public Policy Institute, told Voice of America on November 26.

The Cuban government controls virtually all media in Cuba while tolerating a small number of independent bloggers who write on websites or publish tweets. Authorities routinely use preventive detention to keep activists from participating in peaceful marches or meetings. Artists and academics who demand greater freedom outside of closely controlled government organizations are routinely subjected to arrest or smear campaigns in the state press to discredit them.

Many who have suffered as a result of Castro's policies will not miss him.

"He is responsible for a huge number of deaths, pain, and sacrifices," Carlos Paya, brother of the late Cuban activist Oswaldo Paya, told the dpa news agency on August 26 from Madrid. "Those of us who have loved ones who have been victims of Castroism will not mourn this person."

Oswaldo Paya, who led Cuba's Christian Liberation Movement and received the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2002, died in a car crash in 2012 that his family believes was not an accident.
Pakistan's Defense Minister says there will be no immediate shift in the country's military policy under the newly appointed army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

Defense Minister Khawaja Asif made the remarks to Pakistan's Geo News TV on November 27, a day after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed Bajwa to replace the outgoing army chief, General Raheel Sharif.

The army chief of staff is arguably the most powerful person in Pakistan, and Bajwa's appointment was expected to reset tense relations that have developed between the government and the military under General Sharif's command.

But Asif dampened expectations that Bajwa would immediately push for radical policy changes, saying "the military policy will continue and there will be no immediate change in it."

Little is publicly known about General Bajwa or his ideological stance on key issues such as relations with India or how to combat homegrown Islamist militants.

Based on reporting by Reuters and Geo News TV
By PTI: Los Angeles, Nov 27 (PTI) Hateful letters calling for the genocide of Muslims and praising President-elect Donald Trump have been received by several mosques in the US state of California, raising concerns among the community members for their safety.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has called for increased police protection of local mosques after the letters were sent to multiple California mosques this week.

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The letters were sent to the Islamic Center of Long Beach and the Islamic Center of Claremont, CAIR?s greater Los Angeles chapter said in a statement. The same letter also was sent to the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, according to CAIR?s San Francisco Bay Area chapter.

The handwritten letter, which was photocopied, was addressed to "the children of Satan" and called Muslims a "vile and filthy people", Los Angeles Times reported.

"Your day of reckoning has arrived," the letter states, according to CAIR-LA.

"Theres a new sheriff in town ? President Donald Trump. He?s going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, hes going to start with you Muslims."

The letter, signed only by "Americans for a Better Way", said Trump was "going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews [sic].?"

Both the Los Angeles and Bay Area chapters of CAIR have called for increased cooperation with law enforcement agencies to protect mosques.

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA, said in an interview that the Claremont and Long Beach Islamic centers received the letters Wednesday.

The groups were debating whether to go public with the letters, he said, because they did not want to encourage copycats or create panic. But once they learned of the letter sent in Northern California, they wanted to inform the public and encourage police to look into the matter, Ayloush said.

Ayloush said people at the county mosques were "disheartened that anyone would address fellow Americans, fellow human beings, in such a hateful, dehumanising way."

Ayloush said the "irresponsible, hateful rhetoric" of the Trump campaign has fueled ?a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters."

"Im not saying [Trump] created racist people," he said. "He normalized it. While he might say he?s not responsible, and I respect that, I remind President-elect Trump that he has a responsibility to act as a president for all Americans.?

Los Angeles law enforcement leaders this week vowed to crack down on hate crimes, which surged in California and across the nation last year.

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Anti-Muslim incidents jumped 67% in 2015, according to newly released FBI hate crime statistics. There were 257 reported bias crimes against Muslims last year, compared with 154 in 2014.

A spate of bias incidents that followed Trumps presidential election victory has drawn serious concerns from police and human rights activists. PTI NSA

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Those who run afoul of the authorities in Central Asia face two choices: wait until they come for you, or run.

Among the political or religious opposition figures, rights activists, independent journalists, and others who have found themselves "wanted" by local authorities, some have chosen to flee.

For about a decade after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union, running could mean simply traveling to Russia, or another country from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), to live in relative safety. But the reach of Central Asian authorities has grown longer and now extends outside the CIS.

A recently released report from the London-based Foreign Policy Center entitled "No Shelter: The Harassment Of Activists Abroad By Intelligence Services From The Former Soviet Union," examines the cooperation in extraterritorial practices of security services, including those from Central Asia.

To discuss the report, RFE/RL arranged a Majlis, or panel, to talk about how security services are able to operate outside their countries, harass those wanted back home, often on questionable charges, and carry out kidnappings, and even assassinations.

Moderating the discussion was RFE/RL Media Relations Manager Muhammad Tahir. From the United Kingdom, two of the authors of the report -- Adam Hug (@AdamHug ), policy director at the Foreign Policy Centre, and Dr. John Heathershaw (@HeathershawJ) of Exeter University, who is an associate professor of International Studies with a particular focus on Central Asia and peace and conflict studies  took part. Ruslan Myatiev (@adalatseeker), the editor at the Alternative News of Turkmenistan website joined the discussion from Europe, as did Kyrgyzbek Konunov, a Tajik journalist and cofounder of the Coalition for Democracy and Civil Society in Tajikistan. Both Myatiev and Konunov fled their countries to escape persecution. I had a few things to say as well.

Fortunate To Flee

Myatiev said he was fortunate that both he and his immediate family were able to flee Turkmenistan. But he explained that, although they were out, there were still relatives back home.

"One of the tactics the Turkmen security service uses is intimidation, [putting] pressure on relatives, intimidating them with all different things -- issues at work, problems at work, problems with being enrolled in a university, all different threats, after which they [the relatives] prefer not to communicate with me, or with my family members. and they see us as the source of these problems."

Konunov's description of Tajikistan suggests that Dushanbe employs similar tactics. "Of course most of us have families left behind and friends, etc." Konunov said, "And, of course, they become the target of persecution and harassment from the government side because, even from my personal experience, there were cases when my friends were harassed by the authorities and eventually I had to stop communicating with almost all of my contacts back home."

This is an old tactic, which has not lost any of its effectiveness in trying to coax exiles back home.

But authorities no longer wait for some exiles to be pressured into returning after hearing tales of abuse of family members and friends.

Heathershaw noted that part of the report deals with "a great deal of continuity from the Soviet era, particularly in terms of the connections between the security services' offices, the culture of the KGB essentially."

Renditions, Disappearances

In some cases, such cooperation between Central Asian security services and Russia's security service has led to "rendition or disappearance," Heathershaw said. He explained wanted nationals are sometimes detained, for example, in Russia but when it becomes apparent that the process of legally extraditing people back to their homelands will be arduous or impossible, "persons are released onto the street and then taken off of the street."

Such people usually resurface in courtrooms or prison cells back in their home countries. The report details some of these cases of disappearance or rendition.

As the Foreign Policy Center report, and many other reports, say, in many cases those dissidents or perceived enemies of Central Asian governments who are sent back home face torture or death.

The report also points that out one of the more recent changes facilitating the work of Central Asian security services abroad is the appearance of diasporas. Security services are able to plant their people in these communities abroad so that, as Hug put it, "traditional surveillance is being done by people within the diaspora community."

Central Asian communities abroad have grown during the 25 years of independence. This is true in Russia, where several million migrant laborers from Central Asia are located, but also in places like Turkey, where the leader of Tajikistan's opposition Group 24, Umarali Kuvvatov was assassinated in March 2015.

"The Umarali Kuvvatov case seems to be one where, amongst the Tajik diaspora in Turkey, we see some infiltration of his group, his associates, by those who sought to remove him and eradicate him, to assassinate him," Heathershaw explained.

Recurrent Patterns

The report also looks at how even groups like Interpol can be used by governments, such as those in Central Asia. "Interpol is being used as a tool to pressure people even when there is no realistic chance that they will be extradited to those countries," Shaw said. He said issuing Red Notices for people wanted in their homelands "is a tool to put pressure on those activists and stop them going about their business, stop them traveling, putting them on edge."

Heathershaw noted that this was part of the reason for publishing this recent report, so that "you can see recurrent patterns of politically-motivated requests through Interpol, recurrent patterns of abusing these systems."

The Foreign Policy Center report comes out as Interpol is working on reforms that should be unveiled in 2017.

Hug conceded that for now "there are definite capacity issues in Interpol and a definite lack of specialist knowledge." Some of the figures who fled Central Asia were sufficiently well-known and when they were detained by Interpol, they were released fairly quickly.

But for many hundreds of people who have fled Central Asia seeking asylum far away "there's going to be lots of people within that who don't have access to the resources and networks that some of these more high-profile figures have."

The panel discussed these issues and others in greater detail. An audio recording of the Majlis can be heard here:

Listen to or download the Majlis podcast above or subscribe to Majlis on iTunes.
About 1,000 Serbian army soldiers and supporters have taken to the streets of Belgrade to demonstrate against low wages and poor working conditions in Serbia's military.

The demonstration in front of Serbia's Defense Ministry on November 27 was the first-ever public protest of its kind.

The protesters also delivered a letter to the office of President Tomislav Nikolic, who is the supreme commander of the country's armed forces, calling on him to "protect" them.

The state-run Tanjug news agency reported that the protest was organized by the military trade union and backed by their police counterparts.

Union leader Novica Antic told the rally that "if a Serbian soldier cannot feed his family... it is a problem."

The union says more than three-quarters of the army's employees have monthly wages lower than Serbia's national average, which is about $389.

Antic said about 1,000 people left the armed forces in 2016 because of low salaries and poor working conditions.

Based on reporting by AFP and Tanjug
A Russian hacker who was convicted for his leading role in one of the largest data thefts in U.S. history has been released from prison after serving most of his 12-year sentence.

Vladimir Drinkman was released from a Pennsylvania jail on October 28, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons told RFE/RL.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) did not respond to an RFE/RL request for comment on whether Drinkman had been turned over for deportation, a process that can take up to several months. Drinkman's lawyer, Igor Litvak, declined to comment. RFE/RL could not immediately reach Drinkman.

Drinkman was a key member of a criminal hacking group that penetrated major U.S. corporations, including Heartland Payment Systems, which at the time it was breached in 2008 was one of the biggest U.S. payment-processing firms. The Heartland attack -- the largest breach in history at the time -- cost the payment company more than $200 million in losses.

Varonis, a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm, ranks the attack on Heartland among the 10 largest data breaches of all time.

Chuck Brooks, a cybersecurity expert and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, said the Heartland hack was a "wake-up call" for the payments and financial industries to enhance their cyberdefenses.



He said the breach led to stronger security policies, including a better understanding by CEOs and CFOs of the threats to business sustainability and reputation.

"After the breach, many companies added more stringent data and security policies, including encryption, multifactor authentication, and monitoring of systems and networks," Brooks told RFE/RL.

Heartland also later established the Payments Processing Information Sharing Council (PPISC), which serves as a forum for banks and payment processors to share information about breaches and compliance issues, he noted.

In addition to breaking into Heartland, the hacking gang also breached Nasdaq OMX Group, 7-Eleven, JC Penney, JetBlue Airways, and others, according to prosecutors. In total, they stole the data of more than 160 million credit cards, leading to more than $300 million in damages.

Greg Hunter, a Virginia-based lawyer who has represented cybercriminals from the former Soviet Union, said the Heartland case demonstrated the sophisticated evolution of Russian-speaking hackers.

"This was the beginning of specialization," Hunter told RFE/RL. "Rather than an individual hacker spending a lot of time stealing credit card data and then trying to monetize it, you had guys specializing in breaching the security apparatus of a site, others selling the data."

The appearance of hacker forums was critical to the phenomenon of a division of labor, he said.

Hacker sites "allowed these guys to find each other and work together. A guy who breaches banks could just focus on that, knowing he could find others to either help him know what to get and how to use it, or just buy his services outright," Hunter said.

Several of the most commonly used forums where hackers bought and sold stolen credit card data and traded tips included Cardplanet and Direct Connection. A Russian man, Aleksei Burkov, was extradited from Israel to the United States and later pleaded guilty in 2020 to U.S. charges related to his oversight of those forums.

He was deported to Russia last year.

According to U.S. court filings, Drinkman and another co-conspirator, Alexandr Kalinin, specialized in penetrating network security and gaining access to the corporate data systems. Drinkman along with a third man, Roman Kotov, also focused on mining the networks to steal valuable data.

Another Russian man, Dmitry Smilyanets, then sold the stolen credit card information on forums for $10 to $50 each and distributed the proceeds of the scheme to the others, according to prosecutors.

Kalinin and Kotov, both of whom are Russian citizens, are believed to still be in Russia.

Drinkman was arrested in the Netherlands in June 2012 at the request of the United States, along with Smilyanets.

While Smilyanets cooperated with U.S. authorities and arrived in the United States a few months after his arrest, Drinkman fought his extradition for more than a year.

Ultimately, Drinkman pleaded guilty in 2015 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, including time served since his arrest. It is one of the harshest sentences given to a Russian hacker.

Drinkman served a total of 10 years and four months, or 86 percent of his sentence. U.S. federal prisoners earn credit each year for good behavior and typically serve 85 percent of their sentence.

Smilyanets was sentenced to just time served, or less than six years, and currently resides in the United States, where he works as a cyberthreat intelligence analyst.

He declined to comment when contacted by RFE/RL.
A Czech-based humanitarian organization, People In Need, says it has been banned from operating in the Donetsk area of eastern Ukraine by Russia-backed separatists there.

In a November 26 statement, the nongovernmental aid group said it was one of two international organizations that has been helping residents with home repairs, and with supplies of water and food, ahead of the coming winter.

The statement said "local authorities have taken immediate actions" to close the Donetsk region office of People In Need and have sealed off the warehouse where the group stores humanitarian aid there.

It said the separatists have also ordered all international aid workers to leave areas under their control within 24 hours.

The aid group said the banning order had been delivered to them on November 25.

It said a reason for the decision was not given.

People In Need says it has provided food to nearly 470,000 people in separatist-controlled areas of eastern Ukraine so far in 2016.

It says it has also provided material help or home repairs for more than 100,000 people.

The aid group said it is continuing to operate in the Luhansk separatist area of Ukraine as well as on government-controlled territory.

With reporting by Reuters
KYIV -- A diverse crowd of about 1,000 people turned out in central Kyiv for a rally in support of a new political movement headed by Mikheil Saakashvili, the reformist former Georgian president who has launched a second political career in Ukraine.

Saakashvili launched the New Forces movement and called for early parliamentary elections, days after he quit his job of governor of the Odesa region on November 7 and accused President Petro Poroshenko of coddling a corrupt elite.

Poroshenko had brought Saakashvili in to govern Odesa as part of an effort to conduct reforms in Ukraine, where entrenched graft and a costly conflict with Russia-backed separatists who hold part of the eastern Donbas region is hobbling progress following the pro-European protests that pushed Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych from power in 2014.

The rally on November 27 brought a mix of young and older people, many waving Ukrainian flags and some holding flags of the European Union -- one of the symbols of the Euromaidan protests.

Saakashvili repeated his call for early elections and promised, ""We will win, we will return Ukraine's wealth to its people and will recover its potential."

He told supporters he knows how to "make Ukraine great...and we will do it together."

Saakashvili vaulted to power in Georgia's peaceful 2003 Rose Revolution and led the country for almost a decade, but his party was defeated by an opposition coalition in 2012 parliamentary vote.

He is now sought in Georgia on criminal charges related to his 2004-2013 presidency that he says are politically motivated.

With reporting by Christopher Miller in Kyiv
Whenever Uzbek national holidays roll around these days, "Gulnora" knows they're coming. The only real mystery, she says, is whether or not they'll be in balaclavas.

"Police...raid my home before every major public celebration," says the recently widowed 55-year-old resident of rural Uzbekistan. "There have been raids by masked men and by ordinary police. They embarrass me in front of the neighborhood."

Gulnora, who does not want her real name disclosed, says the men raiding her home are looking for her sons, aged 31 and 36. She blames the perceived harassment, which has also included police questioning and pressure to locate her sons, for the downturn in her husband's lifestyle and health before his death in April.

The young men are among a growing number of citizens thought to be living abroad and blacklisted as extremists by authorities in Uzbekistan, according to a police source who provided one such district list to RFE/RL's Uzbek Service.

"We do indeed have an instruction according to which we put on the wanted list those who were absent from Uzbekistan for a long time. This is a question of security," says the same source.

The suspects face immediate arrest on their return, the source says, adding that police and security services across the country have hundreds of similar lists of suspected members of "religious-extremist organizations."

It is all but impossible to verify the claim. But locals contacted via details on one such list and interviewed for this story have expressed concern at their own or family members' presence on the blacklist.

'Harsh Repression'

Uzbekistan's government has long warned of the dangers of militant Islam in a region where religious expression was routinely suppressed under Soviet rule. The emergence this decade of Islamic State (IS) and its particularly brutal ideology, along with its global recruitment efforts, has lent greater urgency to Tashkent's and other governments' efforts to combat religious and other forms of extremism.

A new report by the British-based Foreign Policy Center (FPC), a think tank, criticizes Uzbekistan and several other former Soviet states for the "harsh repression of political opponents and independent religious movements that has forced thousands to flee abroad."

The FPC says the Uzbek government already engaged in "extra-territorial repression," but adds that "over the past one and a half years, the situation of Uzbek refugees has considerable (sic) worsened." It cites "formal tactics [that] include the use and misuse of legal and policing agreements, while informal mechanisms include surveillance, threats and attacks, abductions, forcible renditions and even assassinations."

Contacted via the police list, "Shavkat," a 33-year-old Uzbek migrant in Cairo who agreed to speak if RFE/RL didn't use his real name, says he and his Russian wife have been living in the Egyptian capital for nearly four years. Before coming to Egypt, Shavkat says, he left a construction job in Vladivostok, home to a sizable community of Uzbek migrant laborers on Russia's Pacific coast.

'Bogus' Charges

Shavkat describes himself as a practicing Muslim, but he insists he has never had any links to religious extremist groups.

He says he left Russia after his brother -- whom he describes as a non-practicing Muslim -- was deported by Russian authorities to Uzbekistan along with two fellow villagers. His brother is serving a nine-year jail sentence, he says, for charges of Islamic extremism that he calls bogus.

There are at least 16 other names, including four women, on the district police's fugitives list from Shavkat's native village of around 25,000 inhabitants.

Contacted by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service, relatives of blacklisted individuals complain of pressure by authorities seeking information about their family members.

A woman whose 29-year-old son is on the wanted list says "men in black masks" raided her home in late August amid preparations to mark the country's 25th independence anniversary.

"They took away [the equivalent of $900] that my son-in-law had sent for my medical treatment," she says, adding that authorities have never returned the money.

Some relatives were surprised to learn that their family members were being sought by authorities.

'Security And Stability'

A 57-year-old man whose name and phone number are listed as the father of a "suspect" says his daughter and her husband have worked in Turkey for nearly four years. She "frequently calls home," he says, and has no idea that she has been blacklisted.

Uzbekistan has a history of extremist activity, including a series of explosions in the capital, Tashkent, in 1999 blamed on the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU). Included on the U.S. list of foreign terrorist organizations, the IMU group pledged allegiance to IS in 2015.

There is ample evidence that Uzbeks fight alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and social media posts and other evidence point to hundreds of Uzbek nationals having joined IS militants in Syria and Iraq.

Uzbek officials insist their measures are justified in pursuit of security and stability, and they cite security successes.

The government has taken tough steps to target religious extremism by arresting and persecuting suspected followers and supporters of radical movements.

But it has also come under widespread criticism for crackdowns on political opponents and innocent Muslims in the process.

The authorities opened fire on antigovernment protesters in the eastern city of Andijon in May 2005, blaming the unrest on alleged supporters of Akramiya, a religious group that Tashkent has banned as a terrorist group.

Written by Farangis Najibullah based on reporting by RFE/RL's Uzbek Service correspondent Mehribon Bekieva
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Police officials spotted six persons inside the SUV, used in Nabha jailbreak, in Haryana's Kaithal speeding towards Kurukshetra

By India Today Web Desk: Haryana has been put on high alert after the car suspected to have been used in Nabha jailbreak to free a hardened Khalistani terrorist and five gangsters was spotted in Kaithal.



The suspected Fortuner was noticed when it broke a police naka at Keorak in Kaithal district of Haryana. The SUV was seen speeding towards Kurukshetra.

READ| How Nabha jailbreak unfolded: They used automatic rifles in attack that lasted for 10 minutes

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According to police officials, who spotted the SUV, there were six occupants in the car. Driver of the car was a Sikh youth.

Police suspect that the escaped prisoners could be in the SUV.

Unconfirmed reports also suggested that the suspected SUV bears number 7659, which could be fake.

READ| Nabha jailbreak: Pakistan desperate to revive terror, could be behind armed attack, says Sukhbir Badal

Meanwhile, police have found a second car abandoned in Kaithal. The Verna car was parked at a deserted location in the Haryana town.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said that security agencies were on alert. He said, "There will be no compromise with security in the state. The agencies have been put on alert."

WATCH:



TERRORIST, GANGSTERS ESCAPE

Earlier in the day, Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' who along with five others escaped from the high security jail in Nabha, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014.

The KLF chief was brought to India along with his key aide Gurpeet Singh 'Gopi' after Punjab Police, in coordination with central agencies, traced them in Thailand.

READ| After Nabha jailbreak woman killed in police firing in Patiala, DG Prisons suspended

A two-member team of counter intelligence wing of Punjab police had camped in Thailand for three weeks, after which they achieved success.

Harminder had been influenced by the radical ideology and had developed contacts with Pakistan based terrorist leaders particularly Wadhawa Singh, the chief of Babbar Khalsa International-another militant outfit, police had then said.

ALSO READ:

Nabha jailbreak: Who is Harminder Singh Mintoo



--- ENDS ---
By any measure, the educational climate at Richmonds Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School is nothing to cheer about.

The schools enrollment is overwhelmingly impoverished, with 93 percent qualifying for free or reduced-price lunch in 2014.

The Church Hill middle school has been denied accreditation because of abysmal test scores, with pass rates below 25 percent in reading, math, writing and science.

MLK has experienced constant staff turnover  four principals in six years  incidents of violence and complaints of an unsafe working environment.

But cheer Toniyah Ross does, as the 12-year-old sidesteps the potential pitfalls at her school and within her troubled public housing community.

Toniyah, nicknamed Butter, is a seventh-grader at Martin Luther King, a gleaming $40 million school that opened in January 2014. It replaced a facility that opened in 1964 as Mosby School.

Shes the co-captain of the MLK Titan cheering squad, aka Kings Queens. Her leadership role is a rare distinction for a seventh-grader.

At our banquet, (cheerleader coach Loretta Watson) said I can cheer, I can dance. ... Im always there no matter what. It can be snowing outside, and Im at practice. She said Im dedicated to the squad, Toniyah said.

For Toniyahs mother, Simone Sapp, the honor is a validation.

I always tell you when yall work hard and you do what youre supposed to do, people see that and they recognize the drive that you have, she said.

Asked what she likes about being a cheerleader, Toniyah smiled and paused during an interview in her familys apartment.

I like attention, she said  perhaps even as much as her beloved sushi and cheesecake.

She likes to be the star, her mom said. She likes to dance. She wants people to see her.

***

Toniyah is small in stature and quiet of demeanor. But she lights up when she dons her blue and white uniform and leads a cheer.

At that moment, the shy youngster flashes a high-wattage smile, exuding take-charge confidence and a bit of swagger.

Shes got that special spark, said Page Luxmoore, a Richmond Public Schools volunteer who has known Toniyah since she was a rising first-grader.

So, apparently, do Kings Queens. The squad won the citywide middle school cheering competition in 2014 and 2016.

In August, it participated in Macys Shop for a Cause, selling discount shopping passes and performing before an appreciative audience at the Short Pump Town Center store. The event is among the fundraisers required for the squad to be self-sufficient.

The girls do more than cheer. They perform community service, take local field trips to such places as the Science Museum of Virginia, and travel to the CIAA basketball tournament in Charlotte, N.C., to see college cheerleaders.

The CIAA event involved a larger crowd and venue than Toniyah previously had experienced, But once I started cheering, I wasnt scared anymore.

Toniyah found her fears harder to contain during an incident this past school year, when a transfer student was attacked and bloodied as students ran screaming.

I was scared, Toniyah said. I just didnt know. I just ran to my cheerleading coachs room.

Her mother said students at MLK are targeted for having nice things or doing the right thing. But neither she nor her daughter see Toniyah as a victim.

Uh-uh, said Toniyah, shaking her head. Not me.

Shes not going to take that, her mom said. I know her will is strong. Youre not going to back her in a corner.

***

Toniyah lives in Mosby Court, in an apartment one block from MLK, with her single mom and six siblings ranging in age from 17 years to 8 months. She spends her summer with her father in another section of Mosby.

Sapp, who is unemployed, moved the family to Gilpin Court, another public housing community  where Sapp lived growing up  in search of a better life. They fled back to Mosby after bullets twice pierced their apartment.

But danger is difficult to escape. Last month, an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old girl were caught in crossfire and shot in Mosby Court.

Toniyahs family knows such violence firsthand.

My cousin was gunned down in Whitcomb Court with my son, who was 2 years old, her mother said.

Latonio Bratton, 22, was shot and killed in Whitcomb Court as he sat in a car on the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2011.

Toniyahs younger brother, Tamon, was in the backseat of the car  which his mother just had exited  when a man fired numerous gunshots into the car.

The medical examiner said if I was sitting in the car, I would be dead, Sapp said.

Tamon was traumatized and required counseling. For a while, he assumed that the police officers who arrived at the scene were responsible for Brattons death.

Spotting an officer at a carnival, the youngster kicked him in the shin. He said, You killed my cousin, you killed my Uncle Tony. I apologized to the officer and told him the situation, his mother recalled.

Thats another reason why I try to stay on them to be on the right path, she said. Its so many little cracks that you can fall in and get into so much trouble. And its so hard to get out of trouble.

Luxmoore got to know Toniyah and her siblings through the Micah Initiative, an interfaith program that has placed about 1,500 volunteers in nearly two dozen Richmond elementary schools.

Sapp credits the volunteer and several teachers with helping to keep her children on track.

Luxmoore describes Toniyah as a natural leader.

Ive never really met a child who didnt seem to like Toniyah. Shes smart ... but she never looks down on others. She gets along with everybody, and shes nice to people. ... So it doesnt surprise me in the least that they would pick her as cheerleader co-captain.

Luxmoore, through her St. Pauls Episcopal Church, started day field trips for scholar roll students at Woodville Elementary School, where she is a teachers assistant. Toniyah was a strong student at Woodville, so she was always part of those activities, she said.

Theyre all great kids. (Sapp) has done something tremendously right with her children, Luxmoore said. She finds their resilience remarkable.

Really, I think all of them could go to college if they were coming out of a family where the finances and everything were in place, she said. There are a lot of different hurdles that Toniyah will have to get over.

***

One hurdle, perhaps, is Toniyahs constricted horizons.

Toniyah mentions that she wants to study cosmetology in college.

Thats what you want to do  peoples makeup? her mom asks. She tells her daughter she can go to trade school for that.

Toniyah mentions that math is her favorite subject among the honors courses she takes at MLK. The only thing I kind of thought of doing was being a teacher, she said.

Through much of this particular afternoon, Toniyah dotes on her infant brother, DMani, frequently holding him.

Butter is the nurturing type when theyre this small, her mom said. This age right here. She does not have a tolerance for bigger kids. So shes definitely going to have to teach kindergarten.

Teachers have had a profound influence on Toniyah. The youngster and her mom list their favorites, such as Noreen Walsh and LeChaune Perry, who taught her at Woodville, and Evette Cartwright, who taught her at Carver Elementary.

She always said there were no stupid answers, Toniyah said of Cartwright.

And then theres Jonathan Metcalf, her Spanish teacher at Woodville.

He still is involved in their life, Sapp said. Hes still hands-on with them, at the library, taking them to do things, taking them places, showing them things. He was here yesterday.

He takes us to the library, he buys us books, he takes us out to eat, Toniyah said.

He also helped an older sister apply to Richmonds Franklin Military Academy and assisted an older brother in his transition from Armstrong High School to a private school, Elijah House Academy.

Metcalf, who now teaches history at Franklin Military, taught Toniyah and her brother, Antonio, at Woodville.

He would accompany Toniyah to give the school announcements over the intercom, coaching her as she gave the greetings and the date in Spanish.

Every morning, for 10 minutes, I was hanging out with one kid, one student. And that builds a rapport, Metcalf said.

He lost track of Toniyah and her siblings when the family moved to Gilpin Court but reconnected when they returned to Mosby Court. With Simones blessing, he began dropping by their apartment regularly.

Shes family now. Her and all her siblings, theyre family, Metcalf said. I call Simone sis. And its kind of like theyre my nieces and nephews.

Metcalf, 33, has Toniyah and her siblings visit his house  two blocks from her apartment  for regular dinners of spaghetti or tacos, mostly prepared by the siblings.

If its an environment where she can learn, and its organic and natural; she wants to be a part of it, he said, whether they are watching a bicycle race, exploring the Virginia Commonwealth University campus, or sampling exotic foods such as kimchi.

Shes down with trying anything. And she has an energy, an energy that can learn and adapt and be successful in life.

That is, if she can stay on track.

She gets what the right idea is, but the environment can be too strong, Metcalf said. The knowledge can be outweighed ... by the cultural pressures. Shes aware; shes very aware.

Hed love to see Toniyah pursue a career in education. He said shed be a natural teaching younger children, such as those who follow her around her neighborhood.

***

Woodville Elementary occupies a special place with the family. Sapp said her children were perennial spelling bee champions there.

The teachers pick up on the little vibes of the kids, and theyre just so warm, Sapp said. Theyre open to trying a lot of things. Theyre never disrespectful.

She cant summon similarly fuzzy feelings about MLK.

She has seen students walking the halls cursing. Theyre supposed to be in a class somewhere. But as long as theyre not fighting nobody and flipping desks over, you just let them roam around, she said.

She wonders about the examples being set at the school, particularly in light of the arrest of a security officer who was charged with felony and misdemeanor drug possession last January.

Its a nice school, pretty school. But inside that pretty school is ugly problems. And building a new school is not going to change the problems inside the school. Its not going to make those kids automatically straighten up, she said.

Sapp appears determined to use education to keep her children on the straight and narrow. They know when its school time, thats serious time. Thats serious business, she said.

She lost her parents to cancer. But even before their deaths, her home life was far from stable.

My mother was on drugs ... father on drugs, Im still a scholar roll student  studying by myself, she said.

She ultimately went to live with an aunt and finished at Meadowbrook High School in Chesterfield County. She wanted to go to college, but her siblings needed her, she said.

I went to take care of them. And thats who I continue to be  the nurturer.

The things that went on, Im supposed to be off the deep end, really. But the only thing it made me do is be on them more ... push them to do what theyre supposed to do, she said of her children.

So they dont have to be in this environment, in this neighborhood. They can be anywhere in the world they want to be, just as long as I keep them on the path theyre on now.

Her love of learning came natural, because it was so much drama and bullcrap at home, so school for me was kind of a release. It was where I can go and be a kid, I can go and be myself.

Today, shes revisiting her education through her children and trying to keep the drama at bay.

I was her, she said of Toniyah. That was me.

For Toniyah, learning is easy if you block out all the rest of the stuff. ... People trying to distract me, I ignore them, the daughter said.

Its a lesson her mother constantly preaches.

They go to school, theres nobody there but them, Sapp said. They go do what theyre supposed to do, and they dont care what everybody else is doing.

And thats the only thing I try to teach them: Dont let all of these obstacles and all of this foolishness defer you from your path.
For Martin Bannon, a former telephone company lineman and splicer who worked his way into management without a college degree, the AT&T stock was sacrosanct.

That all changed during the panicked days of the 2008 financial crisis. As the market plummeted, Bannon, who raised five children on Richmonds North Side, cashed out the stock that held virtually his entire net worth.

When Steve Bannon saw Wall Streets recklessness hit home and the impact on his father, it fueled his rage against a system he now describes as socialism for the wealthy, where benefits accrue to those at the top while the downside is spread among the masses.

As overleveraged financial institutions ran into trouble, Steve Bannon said, they wanted the Marty Bannons of the world to bail them out.

The events of 2008 pushed Steve Bannon, a former investment banker and filmmaker, further into the world of politics and conservative media, setting him on a path to become chairman of the provocative right-wing website Breitbart News.

From there, he gained the ear of Donald Trump, got hired by Trumps presidential campaign, and followed Trump to the White House as one of the chief architects of Trumps new brand of Republican populism.

I do believe that this populist movement that you saw Donald Trump take to the next level in 2016 started with the financial crash in 2008, Bannon said. Quite frankly, nobodys been held accountable for that.

With pundits and polls predicting a Hillary Clinton victory, many Richmonders expected U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., with his friendly image built on dad jokes and harmonica riffs, to be the hometown guy moving up the rungs of power in Washington.

Instead, its Bannon, a graduate of Benedictine High School and Virginia Tech, who has become an enigmatic part of Trumps inner circle and, fairly or not, the embodiment of Trump critics darkest fears of racism unleashed.

Richmond roots

In an hourlong phone interview Wednesday from Trump Tower, Bannon said that as he worked his way into Americas elite institutions, he felt his Richmond roots set him apart from a cosmopolitan attitude that sees working-class people as just idiots or morons.

Going to places like Harvard or Hollywood, I started to really appreciate the experience of being raised in a place like the North Side of Richmond, said Bannon, 62, whose career took him from the U.S. Navy to Harvard Business School, Goldman Sachs and Los Angeles.

It had a very strong imprint on me. ... Ginter Park is a lovely place. But its a very middle-class place.

In his description, the Ginter Park of his youth had a Rockwellian feel, populated by patriotic, blue-collar Democrats. The Bannon children were expected to work, and Bannon started by delivering newspapers and mowing lawns before taking on tougher assignments at construction sites and a local junkyard.

Mary Beth Meredith, the youngest of the Bannon children who now lives in the Roanoke area, called her brothers rise an American dream.

We didnt belong to country clubs. We didnt have contacts, Meredith said. Hes really a self-made man.

The close-knit Catholic family revered President John F. Kennedy, and Bannon remembers his mother being fascinated by the political rise of former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, another Ginter Park resident who became the first African-American to be elected governor of any state.

During the white flight of the 1960s and 1970s, Bannon said, his parents were adamant about staying in the city rather than moving to the suburbs as the neighborhood became racially integrated, a decision made easier by the availability of private Catholic schools.

As an adult, Bannon recently fought to keep Benedictine, an all-boys military school, at its longtime location in the city as officials considered moving the school to rural Goochland County for financial reasons.

Bannon said he wanted the school to keep a city flavor and diverse student body that he feared would be lost in a move away from the city.

I just think its very important for institutions that are in these cities to thrive, and you dont just pull up the roots and move out to the counties, Bannon said. Im a huge advocate of the inner cities and the vibrancy of the city. I think Richmonds an example of that.

The decision to go to Virginia Tech, which he emphasized was a land grant university, was easy, Bannon said, because he was a fan of Hokie football and lots of his friends were going there.

That was very much like Richmond. I dont want to say its not a challenging environment. But when youre up at Tech, it feels like almost home, said Bannon, who served as president of the Student Government Association while studying environmental and urban systems, graduating in 1976. People are from similar backgrounds.

Though Bannon calls himself a son of Richmond, his heavily Democratic hometown voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, who received more than 78 percent of the citys votes. Virginia looked pretty close on election night, Bannon said, but the numbers in Northern Virginia put the state out of Trumps reach.

Though Bannons family members joined him in New York for Trumps victory party, the moment has been bittersweet, as Bannons past has dominated post-election headlines.

An ominous signal?

A chorus of Democratic officeholders has called on Trump to rescind Bannons appointment, saying his elevation to a powerful White House role sends an ominous signal to many Americans  particularly minorities  already worried about Trumps ascendancy.

Pointing mainly to inflammatory Breitbart headlines and Bannons own description of Breitbart as a platform for the alt-right, a loosely defined political faction with racist elements, critics have widely labeled Bannon as a white nationalist and anti-Semite.

Kaine, who has taken a largely conciliatory tone after his loss as Clintons vice presidential running mate, said he was disturbed by the Bannon pick. Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, running to be the next chairman of the Democratic National Committee, went as far as to call Bannon a Nazi.

Bannon rejects that characterization as untrue. Many on the left are thunderstruck by what hit em, Bannon said, and are trying to strike back with name-calling and accusations of racism.

People are not going to buy this, Bannon said. The deplorables are not racist.

Trump can win support among African-Americans and Hispanics, he said, if the new administration can deliver on a unifying message of strong schools, safe streets and jobs.

And condemning any kind of form of racism or hatred thats out there, Bannon said.

The fears of those who think racist groups have been energized by Trumps hard-line campaign stances against immigrants and Muslim refugees were heightened last weekend when the National Policy Institute, led by alt-right figure Richard Spencer, held a gathering in Washington that included Nazi salutes and shouts of Hail Trump!

In a Breitbart post titled An Establishment Conservatives Guide to the Alt-Right, written by openly gay right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, Spencer was included in a rundown of dangerously bright alt-right intellectuals.

When asked about the scenes from the alt-right conference, Bannon said he does not follow Spencers group and does not know much about it.

Breitbarts mission, he said, calls for more voices, not less, with no single line of thought dominating the site. Race-based nationalism, he said, is a non-starter.

I dont think it stands the test of logic, and there is no future for that, really, in America, Bannon said.

Though Bannon denied that Breitbart has published anything racially charged, those who see the site as dangerous and divisive have pointed to numerous headlines, including the sites treatment of the August 2015 on-air slayings of two Roanoke-area TV journalists.

Breitbarts initial headline read: RACE MURDER IN VIRGINIA: BLACK REPORTER SUSPECTED OF EXECUTING WHITE COLLEAGUES  ON LIVE TELEVISION!

Though some see little distinction between Bannons personal views and the tone of the website under his control, Trump and others have come to his defense, saying the anti-Bannon attacks are unfounded.

Maureen Bannon, a West Point graduate and Bannons oldest daughter from the first of his three marriages, said shes nothing but proud of her father.

It disappoints me to see him being tainted as something that hes not, Maureen Bannon said. And its a disservice to everyone reading or watching whats being said.

Beyond the backlash

Steve Bannon suggested the backlash shows that Democrats havent really addressed the issues of why they got beaten.

When he was hired by the campaign in August, Bannon said he told Trump he had a 100 percent chance to win if he could execute, because Trump had completely articulated what the countrys problems were.

People wanted change. And they wanted real change this time, Bannon said. All we needed to do was to focus on that message. And as I said, just give people permission to vote for you.

Clinton, he said, was seen as the guardian of an incompetent and corrupt status quo and elite.

As observers portrayed the Trump campaign as disorganized and unprofessional, he said, the campaign focused on highly targeted rallies in critical areas.

Asked if he had any advice for Republicans running for governor next year in Virginia, which will be closely watched as one of the first major electoral contests during Trumps presidency, Bannons recommendation was simple: Run like Trump.
Sankalp Yatra in Delhi claimed that banking staff needed more protection and support from the Centre as well as the state governments

By Siddhartha Rai: Though the cash crisis following demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has hit the people badly, the banking staff too have suffered great hardships to make the transition to the new legal tender. They have been threatened by local goons, manhandled at times by impatient crowds and even faced the ire of non-BJP governments.

The right-wing National Organisation of Bank Workers (NOBW) claimed that banking staff needed more protection and support from the Centre as well as the state governments even in the coming days to make the transition to the new legal tender. The banking staff, it said, is wearing out fast due to the initial rush to the banks and then the cash crunch.

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The NOBW is an affiliate of the right-wing workers' union, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) founded by RSS pracharak and economic thinker Dattopant Bapurao Thengadi, who also founded the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) and Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS).

Also Read: Modi hits back at note ban critics: They accuse us of being unprepared, we gave them no time to prepare

"Bankers had to face a lot of trouble even as we support the move. While the logic behind demonetisation is clear, the preparation was not up to the mark. We understand that prior announcement could have benefitted undesirable elements, but it has been extremely difficult to deal with the crisis. We believe the worst phase has passed, but bankers too are at their wits' ends and need to be pacified with better facilities," Ashwani Rana, vice president of NOBW, told Mail Today.



BANK STAFF MANHANDLED

The NOBW also claimed that several complaints of manhandling and having been held at gun point too were received by it from different parts of pollbound Uttar Pradesh.

"Non-BJP governments are not cooperating with the banks. Bankers need to be protected against goons who have forced branch managers to exchange old notes at gun point. Moreover, cash chests could not be moved freely in the hinterland as police did not provide guards," Rana said.



Also Read: Nepal bars exchange of new Rs 2,000 and Rs 500 notes, calls them 'illegal'

Rana attacked politicians who have only been 'making noise' over the issue and did nothing to help solve the problem. "Political leaders are busy shouting slogans against demonetisation in the name of the poor and farmers, but I wonder how many of them went to their constituencies and tried to help the people. How many parties pressed in their volunteers to help manage, for instance, people in queues?" he asked.

The organisation also criticised the directive to open accounts for all workers, including daily-wagers and contractual, so that their salaries could be transferred directly into the accounts. "It is a good move. No more will businessmen be able to hide the actual wages being paid, which are many a time less than minimum wages. But we have been burdened with it when we are already reeling under the cash crisis. The labour department should take the lead in this," Rana said.

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Also read: Sorry for inconvenience, but note ban a 'surgery' good for future: Amit Shah at youth town hall in Lucknow





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A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
FANCY GAP  Gold coins did not come spilling out of the walls when Sidna Allens old house was lifted off the ground.

Nobody found any hidden passageways or buried vaults, either.

The Sidna Allen House, as its been called for 105 years, has long been a source of curiosity for visitors who know the sad story that envelops the grand Queen Anne-style house like Fancy Gap fog.

Its builder and original owner was a businessman, farmer, store owner and, if you believe the stories, maybe even a counterfeiter and moonshiner who hid his illicit fortune in secret places tucked away inside. Sidna Allen also happened to be a party to one of the most infamous tragedies in Southwest Virginia history  the shootout at the Carroll County Court House in Hillsville on March 14, 1912. More about that awful story later.

No hidden stash or secret vaults were discovered when workers recently started the long-awaited repairs to the 1911 house. Just rotting wood and sagging timbers. The Carroll County Historical Society, which was given the deed to the house two years ago, hopes to restore the famous home to its former grandeur.

Jacked up more than 4 feet off the ground and sitting upon wooden supports called cribs, the old house looks like its floating. Construction crews are working to stabilize the foundation and make the house level so that other repairs can begin. Windows, including many stained-glass panes, have been removed and are stored away while the work continues.

The initial repairs will cost more than $100,000, effectively draining the historical societys construction budget. Most of the money raised so far came from donations and from the proceeds from the play Thunder in the Hills, playwright Frank Leverings drama about the shootout that has played before sellout audiences at the courthouse.

This is the big thing we had to do, Ed Stanley, president of the historical society, said about the work so far. We can do smaller amounts of repairs when we get a little money built up. But we cant do any of that until the house is level and stabilized. Then well need some major fundraising.

Over the years, some local historians have guessed that renovation costs could run as much as $1 million, although Stanley doesnt think the amount will be quite that high.

If the money comes in, visitors might someday be able to step inside the eight-room Allen house and take a tour like the kind Marlene Widener used to give when her family owned the home for more than 70 years.

The houses irregular roofline and decorative woodwork around the eaves give it the look of a gingerbread house. The inside has eight rooms, several of them with angled walls. The front parlor features a fireplace laced with flowering vines of gold filigree. Across the hall, the living room has its own fireplace, topped by a cherry mantel. Sunlight pours through upstairs windows and down a curved staircase. Several windows are enclosed with original wooden shutters.

The house, outfitted with the at-the-time modern conveniences of gas lights and running water, was a showpiece when it was completed in 1911. Unfortunately for Allen and his wife, Bettie, their residence there was brief, cut short by bullets and blood on the terrible morning of March 14, 1912.

That raw, muddy day, members of the Allen family, including Sidna Allen, shot it out with courtroom officers after the conviction of Floyd Allen, Sidnas older brother. The judge, the prosecutor, the sheriff, a jury member and a witness all died from gunshots. The Allens escaped, but most were captured within a few days by the hired guns of the Baldwin-Felts Detective Agency.

Sidna Allen and one of his nephews made it all the way to Des Moines, Iowa, before they were captured six months later.

Allen was tried, convicted, imprisoned and eventually pardoned for his role in the shootout, but he never set foot in his beautiful house again. After being released from prison, he lived in North Carolina, made and sold furniture, and told anybody who would listen that the Allens did not fire the first shot that day in the courthouse. He died in Hillsville in 1944.

The house changed hands several times. Civil lawsuits filed by families of the shooting victims forced the house and its furnishings to be auctioned, forever removing it from the Allen family. Noah Rawdon Weddle bought the house in 1946 for $13,000 and then willed it to his daughter, Marlene.

Marlene and her husband, Bert Widener, and their son and daughter lived in the house until about 1980. Even after moving to a new home just a few hundred yards away, Marlene Widener continued to open the Allen house for tourists who wanted a peek inside the famous abode.

Bonnie Widener Wood, Marlene and Berts daughter, lived in the Allen home until she was about 12. Her memories were not of shootings and mythical passages, but of growing up wondering why so many people knocked on her front door in hopes of stepping inside.

She and her husband, Skip Wood, got married beneath the peaked roof of the front porch gazebo.

She and her brother, Stanley, Widener gave the house to the historical society in 2014. Seeing pictures of the renovation, which actually includes quite a bit of demolition work on the porch and the flimsy foundation, has been bittersweet.

The porch where I got married is gone, Widener said during a telephone interview from Arlington, where she works as promotions manager for WJLA-TV.

Part of my childhood is disappearing. I probably would have cried had I been there. Its better to see it from a distance. But its all going to be good. Its amazing that its finally happening after all these years.

Stanley, the historical society president, said that he, too, wasnt ready to see some of the creative destruction necessary to save the house, such as when workers had to hammer away at old bricks in order to lift the house.

It was a little painful when I saw the lifting crew taking a sledgehammer to the foundation of the gazebo, he said. It bothered me when they had to tear off the porches. I didnt really think it through!

Then again, the excavation work under the house did provide a few lighthearted moments for locals hoping to find all that hidden gold.

The whole time they were digging, I said, Dig a little deeper and hit that vault!  Stanley said. Didnt happen, of course.

The houses condition was precarious, to say the least. In fact, the house barely had any foundation at all. It was built nearly flat on the ground. The chimneys sat on piles of field stone.

The house was basically sitting on dirt, said Todd Griffin, co-owner of Bowman-Griffin General Contractors, the company thats stabilizing the foundation.

Wolfe House Movers of Pennsylvania performed the incredible feat of lifting the house with hydraulic equipment and setting the structure on the cribs, wooden support structures that look like giant Jenga pieces. Extensive termite damage was visible underneath the house, which even a tall person can walk under at present.

Bowman-Griffin workers are replacing and securing beams, as well as making fixes to some of the downstairs flooring. When the house has been made level, Wolfe House Movers will return to lower it. Then, more extensive interior work awaits, such as resetting crooked windows and doors and leveling floors.

Even 25 years ago, the floors were somewhat uneven, said Griffin, a Carroll County native who first toured the house when he was a student at Hillsville Elementary School more than two decades ago.

When youre dealing with a historical home in your own county, it means more to you. Its a place youve laid eyes on every day for 35 years.

And for folks who lived there, the renovation is even more meaningful.

Seeing the reality of it, that were really going to save this house, is amazing, said Widener, who will get her first look at the work this weekend when she visits Carroll County. Its exciting to see this dream coming true.
By PTI: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Nov 27 (PTI) China has asked Muslim citizens to resolutely oppose religious extremism and stick to socialism with Chinese characteristics as it tightened security in the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province with stern measures.

Chinese Muslims should resolutely oppose religious extremism, Wang Zuoan, chief of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, said.

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In his address at the 10th National Congress of Chinese Muslims yesterday, Wang said the development of Islam in China should stick to socialism with Chinese characteristics, state-run Xinhua news agency reported today.

While respecting Muslims beliefs and customs, religious interference in the fields of politics, justice and education is intolerable, Wang said.

It is strongly advocated that new mosques should demonstrate Chinese characteristics and national features, instead of deliberate copying foreign architectural styles, Wang said.

He also said he appreciated the work of the Islamic Association of China (IAC) during the past five years.

The IAC should foster Islamic clergy and actively carry out friendly exchange with foreign countries, Wang said.

His comments came as China has tightened rules for religious ceremonies and directed residents in Xinjiang province to surrender their passports in a bid to restrict their attempts to migrate abroad.

People of the province have been told to surrendertheir passports to local police stations for examination and management.

"Those who refuse to hand in their passports should bear the responsibility themselves if they are forbidden from going abroad," the local government directive said last week.

AlsoXinjianghas established religious committees and residential communities to manage religious practices since September, requiring local residents to report their religious activities or activities attended by religious people, including circumcision, weddings and funerals, La Disheng, a professor at the Party School of the Communist Party of ChinaXinjiangregional committee, said.

Getting a passport is often complicated and takes more time inXinjiangthan in other provinces, given the rising threat of terrorism in the region and the governments ongoing anti-terrorism campaign, an official in the province said.

The new passport followed steady migration of Uyghurs, Turkik speaking Muslims to Turkey and several other countries.

According to reports, several hundred Uyghur youth have been fighting along with Islamic State in Syria and China apprehends that the battle-hardened militants may return to cause more violence in the troubled province.

Resource-richXinjiang, bordering PoK and Afghanistan was on the boil for over six years following unrest among Uyghur Muslims over theincreasing settlements of Han Chinese from other provinces.

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The province has witnessed some deadly terror attacks in recent years which also spread to Beijing and other parts of China. The attacks were officially blamed on the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM) which is linked to al-Qaeda in the past and now Islamic State. PTI KJV ASK AKJ ASK

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The Supreme Court of the State of New York passed a judgment last March against Madison Avenue Diamonds  the company behind the Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry brand  and company principal Shaindy Lax of $3,06 million, plus interest payable to an Indian De Beers sightholder KGK Jewelry for breach of contract.

Under the contract contested, Madison was required to make a series of payments totaling $3 million for jewelry delivered by KGK and subsequently sold under the Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry brand.

Although Madison made the first specified payment, it later declined to make all subsequent payments to KGK as required.

It argued that it was relieved of its obligation to make the additional payments as KGK had been one day late in returning certain computer design (CAD) files as specified under the agreement.

Dismissing Madison's defenses to payment in their entirety, Judge Charles Ramos ruled that "Madison was never released from its further payment obligations to KGK" under the contract. He also said that, "KGK had complied fully with all of its delivery obligations to Madison, and Madison not only received the benefit under the agreement but has also failed to show any damages.

Therefore, Madison was compelled to make all of the agreed payments to KGK for the jewelry provided.

Furthermore, the court rejected Madison's belated attempt to amend its claims and defenses to payment by arguing that the jewelry provided by KGK was of "substandard quality".

KGK argued that these allegations had no basis in the lawsuit.

"As KGK has maintained throughout the course of this unfortunate lawsuit, Madison never had any basis for withholding the contractual payments to which it had agreed, said KGK vice chairperson Sanjay Kothari.

As it has done throughout its 110-year history, KGK complied with all obligations to its customer here. We are pleased that the Court saw the matter exactly as we had, and that now we can return our attention to supplying the industry with beautiful gemstones and jewelry."

Although the court rejected Madison's belated attempt to amend its claims and defenses to payment, allegations of substandard quality" jewellery were serious.

If true, that Ivanka was a victim of this chicanery, one might be tempted to say that she was not so fortunate unlike her father, Donald Trump, who surprised all and sundry by winning the U.S presidential race.

A report published by Diamond Intelligence Briefing (DIB) in March 2015 claimed that Ivankas own necklace fell apart during a board meeting.

I was just in a very important meeting and the moonstone from my necklace fell onto the floor, she was quoted as saying.

It looks as though it was simply glued to the mounting. This is totally unacceptableI am embarrassed to think that we are selling pieces with such flagrant disregard to quality considerations.

That was not the only incident she had with the jewelry from KGK.

She also revealed in July 2010 that the rose gold chandelier earrings made her ears and neck green, so was her brothers girlfriend who got the same earrings.

I am very concerned as it cannot simply be the two of us that are adversely affected, she was quoted as saying in the DIB report.

I continue to have the issue even on the new pieces.

An attempt by Rough & Polished to find out whether Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry had had any encounter with synthetic diamonds was not successful.

However, with Ivanka Trumps global profile having grown since her fathers poll victory in the United States, there is no doubt that she can be a strong voice against the presentation of synthetic diamonds as natural stones.

In 2015, a package containing 110 man-made diamonds being passed off as natural stones was intercepted in India, according to the Times of India.

In May 2012, the International Gemological Institute (IGI) received 1,000 stones at its labs in Antwerp and Mumbai to be certified as natural diamonds.

Of these stones, only 400 were natural diamonds, while the rest turned out to be synthetics.

Some synthetics were induced impurities that made them appear natural upon first inspection.

De Beers Diamond Trading Company Research Center also reported several cases of undisclosed submissions of synthetic diamonds to grading labs in China and India.

It said such mixed parcels were mainly prevalent in Asia.

Rapaport chairperson Martin Rapaport also said in 2013 that there were mixed parcels in India and China.

This is not make-believe. I dont believe people should think all is well. There is a real problem out there, he said.

This creates a very dangerous situation for the structure of the industry in terms of the smaller- and medium-sized dealers.

He argued that there was need for the diamond industry players to have better control of their supply chains.

I hope the solution is that we will pay more attention to who we buy from, Rapaport said. You need to know your suppliers. How much do you trust your people?"

The Wall Street Journal reports that a small team of scientists working for De Beers was busy finding ways to fend off an imminent threat that could tarnish the luster of natural-mined diamonds.

The diamond giant, itself a producer of synthetic diamonds, started marketing a new, cheap detector called PhosView last year, which quickly screens tiny synthetic diamonds.

Synthetic diamonds sparkle like mined stones and they are hard and durable enough for intense industrial purposes.

Its not easy for an ordinary consumer to tell any difference between natural stones and synthetics.

De Beers helped launch a trade association with other producers last year to market the attraction of natural diamonds in a bid to counter the threat of synthetic diamonds.

Whether the campaign had been successful or not to date, one person who can help this cause is no doubt, Ivanka Trump, whose life testimonies and assumed high global profile would be convincing.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished




By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) A criminal complaint was today filed before a city court against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his West Bengal counterpart Mamata Banerjee seeking an FIR against them for their recent protest against demonetisation, claiming it has created law and order problems across the country.

Metropolitan Magistrate Harvinder Singh put up for consideration on December 15 the complaint which claimed that they were themselves facing serious allegations and "by way of protest", they were trying to provoke masses against the demonetisation, which was "aimed at strengthening Indias economy".

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The complaint, filed by Hyderabad resident P N Arunkumar, has sought a direction to Delhi police for filing an FIR against both politicians under several sections of Indian Penal Code, including 153 (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, residence, language etc), 420 (cheating) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating). PTI UK PKS VSC

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By Sneha Agrawal: While demonetisation has formed several business models, it has also provided conmen an opportunity to dupe people in the garb of currency exchange. One such incident in Delhi has led to the arrest of a sub-inspector of Kalyanpuri police station, Sudhir Rathi, who has been accused of being in possession of Rs 18 lakh in old currency notes.

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Rathi reportedly obtained these from three conmen who duped a textile trader in the guise of exchanging the old notes with the new. Rathi and three other accused were produced before the Delhi court on Sunday and sent to one-day police custody. The court was told that some part of the amount has also been recovered.

Also read: Demonetisation: Taxmen cannot impose 200 per cent penalty as IT Act lacks provision

Also read: Demonetisation: Delhi sees no major rush on last day of old currency exchange



CONMEN CONNED?

Saiffudin, 42-year-old textile trader had come to Delhi on November 7 with Rs 18 lakh to make the payment for a business deal. However, following the announcement of demonetisation, his payment was refused by the dealer. A relative of Saiffudin introduced him to Shailender Singh who had promised him of getting his notes exchanged.

"Shailender Singh told me that two of his sisters, Monu and Payal, work as bank managers and would exchange the notes. On November 17, he called me near Tilak Nagar with the money and introduced me to his sisters. They collected the money and went away asking me to wait for them at Tilak Nagar police station.," Saiffudin told police.

However, the three of them did not turn up the same day and asked Saiffudin to meet them in Connaught Place on the next day. "I was told that they had exchanged Rs 3 lakh and would exchange the rest of the amount on the next day. Days passed but I was never handed over the rest of the amount. Feeling cheated, I decided to report it to the police," he told in the FIR.

WHAT NOW

Police registered the case under relevant sections for cheating, criminal breach of trust and common intention on November 21. Interestingly, according to the prosecution, Rathi usurped Rs 18 lakh from the three conmen while they were on their way after collecting the cash from Saiffudin.

Pradeep Rana, advocate for Sudhir Rathi told Mail Today,"The prosecution told court that during the investigation, when the three accused, named in the FIR, were questioned they revealed that after collecting the old notes from Saiffudin, they were stopped by Rathi. He with other men asked them to get off the car for carrying out searches. Finding the money in the car, he asked the three of them to go away and threatened action against them for being found in possession with the money. Fearing their lives they fled the spot."

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Rana said that the case is not made out against his client as he has not been named in the FIR as the sections were not registered against Rathi.

Also read: Demonetisation woes: Army seeks relaxation on cash deposit deadlines for jawans



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A first-of-its-kind journey along India and Pakistan border

What binds the two most talked about nations - India and Pakistan together? What makes the
Kansas announces 4-game suspensions for Bill Self, Kurtis Townsend

There's news in the NCAA infractions case concerning Kansas men's basketball: Bill Self and Kurtis Townsend have been suspended.
After a detailed study, the PWD has termed a plan to install outdoor purification units and mist fountains to combat the city's choking smog "unreliable"

By Shashank Shekhar: The AAP government's Public Works Department (PWD) has seemingly come to the conclusion that a plan to install outdoor purification units and mist fountains to combat the city's choking smog is just a lot of hot air.

After a detailed study, the PWD has termed the project "unreliable", putting a question mark over the technological measures the Delhi government was proposing to curb air pollution. The department was exploring the possibility of installing air purifiers at traffic intersections and mist fountains at five chokepoints, including Mukarba Chowk and Anand Vihar - the most-polluted area of the city.

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According to a senior officer in Delhi government, a team of PWD engineers carried out a research, consulted experts and read literature but didn't find anything to establish significant positive results from such projects.

NOT FEASIBLE

"After a detailed study the department has submitted its report and has found the proposal not-feasible. It is so far unreliable and un-trusted as it has not yielded any positive result anywhere in the world and looking at Delhi's demography and air quality condition, a long-term solution should be made," said a senior official, adding that no final decision on the installation has been taken so far.

Also Read: What caused Delhi smog? No one knows as Kejriwal, Centre, scientists differ

The AAP government announced in a press conference last month that it was planning to launch the project as a test run from January when the air quality in the Capital is the worst. "Not that the idea has zero value, but so far no results have been seen in any of the active outdoor projects across the globe. Purifiers and mist fountains have given results only in indoor projects under strict monitoring," the officer said. More research and consultation is being carried out by departments to explore the options.

NOT FIRST OF ITS KIND

The only such model found was in China, which cannot be replicated in India because of climatic and social differences, say sources. The officer explained that instead of immediate short-term measures, the government is acting on long- term steps such as controlling burning of waste, high-polluting vehicles, construction dust and industrial pollution.

Also Read: Delhi pollution crisis is the new capital punishment

However, another officer in the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) told MAIL TODAY that after the city government's announcement, a few air purifier manufacturing companies had approached them. But they were turned down after the department asked them to sign a contract saying the payment would be made only when the project starts giving desired results.

The move by the Delhi government received a mixed response from environmentalists, but many were critical.

"Installing air purifiers and mist fountains is an ill-conceived plan and not feasible in a city like Delhi," said green activist Vimlendu Jha. "The project may give some results indoor, but not when installed on the streets. The real concern is if the plan made by government to fight pollution is not working, what is the government doing?"

Jha pointed out that the city administration imposed a ban on construction activity because of the dust created, but soon lifted it. "It's a sorry state of affairs in Delhi as the air-quality index is still severe," he said, suggesting that government should look at long-term solutions.

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AAP WITH NERI

The AAP government has collaborated with the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) and IIT (Bombay) to set up the entire system within 45 days.

However, the government said while announcing the step that the new pilot project of air treatment system has the potential to reduce carbon monoxide and particulate emission by 40%-60% in a 20-30 m radius during peak hours of traffic.

In January 2016, the Delhi government observed the odd-even car rationing scheme for 15 days, which managed to control road congestion but had very little impact on pollution. The scheme was again repeated in April, but received a lukewarm response.

A senior officer told MAIL TODAY that a third spell of the odd-even scheme is not on the agenda. The latest experiment by the Delhi government comes after the National Green Tribunal (NGT) directed it to convene a meeting of concerned authorities to come up with a solution to tackle the worsening air quality.

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The order came after the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) told NGT there was no improvement in the Capital's air quality during odd-even scheme.



Also Watch:



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Stop and slow down. Treasure every moment you have with the people you love, weave out all the rubbish but focus on what really matters.

Thats the message Seiuli Tuilagi Allan Alo Vaai wants to tell the people of Samoa following a life-changing trip to New Zealand where he was diagnosed with stage 4 Metastasis Lung Cancer and Brain Cancer.

Speaking to the Sunday Samoan, the President of the Samoa Arts Council (S.A.C) and prominent choreographer said the diagnosis came as a shock to him. He was active, living a healthy lifestyle and being told about such a situation was the last thing on his mind.

As the President of S.A.C, it was the end of a massive week for the Arts and Fashion Industry that Seiuli received the grim news.

We had that show for the whole week and on the night of the show, it was raining and I was the MC so I actually got sick and it was pneumonia, he said.

It was from pneumonia that the doctor said they had to scan me. After the fourth day of being hospitalised, they found there was a tumour inside my right lung but they said there was nothing they could do here. It can only be done in New Zealand.

He was evacuated to New Zealand only to find he had a condition called metastasis lung cancer.

The tumour that was in my right lung had spread around my whole organs and it spread to my liver and to my lymph nodes which causes it to swell up and then to the brain. So the whole thing went around and thats when they told me its stage 4 which is the final stage of cancer.

As if being told he had cancer was not bad enough, Seiuli said he was then told that he had three months to live. This was in September.

They gave me one month to live if I wasnt to be treated but three months if I was to start the treatment straight away, he said.

It was a shock in New Zealand with the doctor telling me my fate and I was like okay. I was numbed, I was in a state of shock and I couldnt believe my life was on hold and especially when I have already had it all planned out from now until twenty years time.

Seiuli said it was a very difficult time.

I was told I had to go through radiotherapy but first I had to go through radiation in order to contain the brain cancer first because the tumour is already inside my brain and after that then they will treat the rest of my body.

And being the active person he is, Seiuli said it took a while for the actuality of the situation to sink in.

While the doctor was telling me all this, I was thinking oh my goodness I still have the launch of the project we have been working on since the beginning of this year which I thought we were going to launch it next year but now I only have until December, said Seiuli. I quickly contacted all my dancers and my students in Fiji and my whole family to start helping out in getting this project done so it can be to be launched in December and it will be open next week Saturday.

Asked if the news had changed him in anyways or his plans and goals in future, Seiuli said no.

It hasnt really changed how I feel about my life and my passion about the development of arts knowing that I am the President, he said. We are all about the development of arts for the people in Samoa and when we talk about the arts here, were not just talking about dance, music or storytelling its about everything. Its a passion and I still feel very passionate about the developments of art here in Samoa because its not given priority,

Even if you look around the curriculum in schools, we still need to focus more on it and government needs to put more money into these programmes.

Back to his condition, Seiuli said the stress of a number of projects he had been working on did not help him.

I think with my condition I was so stressed out with so much work that I was doing and it didnt really help. So the stress of the work that I was doing kind of enhanced and sped up this tumour to go around and again the life style that I have from the pressure.

Today, Seiuli said its important for everyone to make the most of life, live happy and stress-free.

A lot of people when they are told that they have cancer they say they are going to die, he said. I can never curl up or pull down and say Im gonna die as a matter of fact when the doctor told me that I have one to three months to live, I wanted to get up and punch his face. I was thinking who the heck do you think you are?

O oe o se Atua e ke kaua mai ai aso ou ke ola ai? (Are you a God to tell me how long I have left to live?) Thats just not me I mean I got cancer, I got the sickness okay fine Ill deal with it.

Its about changing your whole outlook and your mind and thats one of the things that I have learnt now is to forget about all the stress and everything else so worry less.

No more stress, but think of the positive things that can make a difference in peoples lives. [And] I think I have always been trying to do that but now its time to just weave out all the rubbish and focus on what really matters.

So positivity and perseverance and just being charitable and forgiving.

Today, Seiuli said he has learnt to slow down a bit.

This condition is a lifelong challenge and its a life changing experience for me and with that I now realise that I need to slow down from doing too much, he said.

I think in Samoa we are all like that, we always rush into things and we want to do everything all by ourselves but no we need to stop and say no to some things.

He also stresses the importance of having a close relationship with the people you love.

What really made me value more right now is my relationship with my family, my mother my sister and those who really love me and everyone in my family, said Seiuli. Its a treasure and we need to atone with that a little bit more and appreciate that because we are so busy all the time.

Even in Samoa we are so small but we have a lot of faalavelaves, church commitments, and all those things but not enough time to spend with our loved ones and our family. We just go home after work and say hello had dinner and then sleep or watch movies but never have that quality time to come together.

When I went to New Zealand I went with my sister Dr. Saine Vaai and also my mother and they were very supportive.

We spent eight weeks there and it was the most beautiful eight weeks and thats when I realised that we needed to slow down and stop.

As for the future, Seiuli said his focus is to get healthier.

If they review it in December and the medication is working then I have a chance of going back to New Zealand to review it again and go through a scan again.

In the meantime, he acknowledges the support from everyone who has helped him through the tough times.

I want to acknowledge our sources of inspiration and first is our culture and all these things that we believe in, he said. The support for me from my University of the South Pacific and also the Government of Samoa for using me to work and do a lot of things.

It has been a pleasure and an honour to be selected to direct and conceptualise all these big things the government wants me to do.

He acknowledges Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi and Deputy Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mataafa.

It is also my faith in God through Jesus Christ that allowed me to be positive in my entire outlook on the cancer journey.

Holding on to that faith and being reassured by prayers of many families, friends and churches like the Carmelite sisters, the various church groups in New Zealand such as the Samoan EFKS and various denominations who came to say their prayers.

As well as the Universal Church of Jesus Christ had really maintained and affirmed my faith to fight through despite the pain each moment. So Cancer bring it on.
Developing grass roots rugby and discovering future rugby players is the main drive behind the Peter Fatialofa (FATs) Cup U20s tournament.

In its second year, the tournament is in honour of the memory of the late Papalii Peter Fatialofa.

A small cocktail function was held at the Rugby Academy of Samoas new gym at Lotopa on Thursday night to officially launch the tournament for this year.

But the first games were played on Saturday at St. Josephs College Grounds at Alafua.

This year, the tournament is a lot stronger than last year with a number of sponsors stepping in to help and most importantly, with the Samoa Rugby Union coming forward to support the tournament.

The manager of R.A.S., Leituala Joe Chan Ting said: The Peter Fatialofa Cup U20 tournament was born out of the need to grow the local grassroots rugby talents in the outer villages in Upolu and Savaii.

The tournament is part of the R.A.S. development tool to up skill and discover local talents. It is also a pathway for young players from the villages to showcase their skills and be selected in the elite squad for further academic and rugby opportunities both locally and overseas.

The Peter Fatialofa Cup was a fitting tournament title for Papalii Fats who was well known throughout the Rugby World and was all about developing young players especially in Samoa.

Fats family, Mrs. Anne Fatialofa did not hesitate to give her blessings when she was approached for her permission and the concept was explained to her.

Peter Fatialofa is a great name to carry and R.A.S. will continue to honor his legacy and to be the flag bearer for many years promoting young, local, rugby players.

This year, the number of teams competing has increased from 8 to 12 teams. The main prize will be the FATs Cup and the prize money of $3,500.

The other exciting news for this tournament is that Taula Beverages has joined forces with R.A.S. under the guidance and support of the Samoa Rugby Union, to introduce an international focus to the Fats Cup in 2017.

The top six local teams from the tournament will compete with six U20s international teams from overseas.

The management team at R.A.S. has started working on this already and the idea has drawn a lot of interest to be part of the Fats Cup 2017.

The 12 teams competing for this years tournament are :

1) Moataa

2) SCOPA

3) Vailuutai

4) Saanapu

5) Lepa

6) Marist Team

7) Saleaumua

8) Samusu

9) Falefa

10) Satalo

11) Lalomalava

12) Tanoa Samoa (Tufulele)
The Congregational Christian Church at Vaoala received 42 computers worth $35,000 last week.

The donation was made possible by the assistance of the Information Technology department at the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane.

The Universitys representative, Tagaloa Europa said the donation will assist the children of the church in many ways.

Rev. Ioane Petaia of the C.C.C.S. at Vaoala thanked the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane for the computers particularly Tagaloas family for putting together the donation for their church.

Thank you for your interest in supporting our church, especially our children.

Your support will ensure and continue to attract the brightest minds of our young ones in the future.

This equipment will also contribute a lot in their learning.

Faafetai tele lava!
Think a minuteDuring World War II, an uneducated man who lived out in the hills brought this letter to the city to hand deliver it to the United States Army.

Since he could not read or write, his wife had written it for him. The letter said this: Dear United States Army: My husband asked me to write a recommendation that he supports his family.

He cannot read. Please take him. He aint no good to me. He aint done nothing but make trouble and drink beer since I married him 8 years ago. And I got to feed his 7 kids.

Maybe you can get him to carry a gun. Hes good at huttin squirrels and eatin.

Take him. I need his food and bed for the kids. Dont tell him I said this, just take him. Well, I suppose its safe to say that husbands ignorance was not bliss! What he didnt know did hurt him!

A story is told of a thief in ancient times who stole a very valuable coat.

The coat was made of the finest materials, including buttons of pure silver and gold.

When he returned to his friends after selling the coat in the market, they asked him how much money hed got for the coat. He answered, A hundred pieces of silver.

His friends were shocked and upset.

They said: You only got a hundred pieces of silver for that rare, valuable coat! The thief looked surprised and asked: Why? Is there a number higher than 100? You see, if you dont know theres more, you wont ever get it.

Theres so much in life for us to enjoy, just waiting for us to get it. If all youre used to eating is bread and water, then you dont know you could be eating steak and lobster!

Theres one person who can show you everything there is to be enjoyed in life. Naturally, that is the one who created life.

Jesus Christ came to show us what it means to be fully human and fully alive, so we can live our lives to the fullest! He also knows the dangers that can trick and trap us.

Hell protect you from the pain you and your family will have if you dont live your Makers way that

He designed for your happiness. So why not ask Jesus to forgive you for living your own way, and ask Him to take charge and start showing you how to live His satisfying way?

Its the only way you wont miss out on every exciting, good thing He has planned for your life. Just Think a Minute
Elbowing their way between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, San Diego shop owners have laid claim to Small Business Saturday as a way to woo holiday shoppers.

Invented in 2010 by credit card titan American Express to draw more customers to independently-owned stores and restaurants, Small Business Saturday has become an annual event for hundreds of enterprises across San Diego County.

Their strategy isnt just to seize seasonal sales from big box and online competitors but to spark a yearlong habit of buying locally from retailers who preserve neighborhoods and hire neighbors.

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If you ask me why it caught on, its because local businesses build local economies. You have large stores and large corporate entities, but they dont push local economies, said Brian Beevers, owner of North Parks Simply Local, a hybrid consignment storefront for area artists and craftsmen.

Last year, more than 95 million customers nationwide shopped at small businesses on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving  an 8 percent increase from 2014, according to the nonprofit National Federation of Independent Businesses.

A third of holiday shopping occurs at small retailers and restaurants and 76 percent of American consumers will visit an independently-owned store to buy Christmas gifts, a 2015 survey by the independent business group found.

Rachel Webb, left, and Shelby Peters started their holiday shopping at Simply Local, as they and other shoppers filled boutique stores in North Park on Small Business Saturday. (Nancee E. Lewis/Nancee Lewis Photography )

Beevers predicted that Small Business Saturday will generate more sales for Simply Local than a typical three-day weekend during the bustling Christmas season.

Its my favorite day of the year, Beevers said.

Angela Landsberg, executive director of North Park Main Street, a chamber of commerce for nearly 700 small businesses, said Beevers success isnt unusual. She pointed to a recent economic study for the city that found tax revenues generated by North Parks small business corridor skyrocketed 41 percent over the past decade.

Citywide, tax revenue went down 4 percent, said Landsberg.

From a stand pitched along University Avenue, Landsbergs organization handed out nearly 300 free canvas shopping bags every hour throughout the morning.

Designed by Manhattan handbag icon Rebecca Minkoff, the polka-dotted totes peppered a business corridor already decked with American Express bunting  blue and white Small Business Saturday balloons and ribbons pinned to storefront doors and tied to doorknobs and lampposts.

North Park resident Dang Nguyen grabbed a sack to carry his key chain holders  with a picture of Lionel Richie above the phrase Is it keys youre looking for?  fetched from Beevers Simply Local.

I shop here because North Park is where you go in San Diego to buy specialty items, for unique gifts, said Nguyen, owner of the North Park cocktail tavern Bar Pink.

But if you want culture to go with your tchotchkes, come to Mission Hills, said Rebecca Farrant, an antiques dealer and martial arts instructor who discovered an abandoned ballroom dance studio two stories above Washington Street and turned it into a gallery, yoga salon and community center.

To bring La Vie Dance & Culture back to life, she restored the white oak floors, lined the walls with rare Amazonian feathered head dresses and began renting space to artists and dance instructors.

To her, Small Business Saturday is a chance to thank the merchants, yoga teachers and dance troupes who made her studio a hit.

Were bringing the culture back to Mission Hills, said Farrant. Were art. Were culture. Were dance. And were back.

cprine@sduniontribune.com
Back in the mid-1940s, famed L.A. ceramicist Glen Lukens noticed young men returning from war with nervous disorders that left them unable to work or cope, so Lukens invited those veterans to come and take his art classes at the University of Southern California for free. Quietly immersed in their labor-intensive craft, the soldiers once-obscured personalities gradually surfaced, just like the shiny glaze on the ceramic pots they fired in the university kilns.

Sixty years later, Encinitas ceramicist Steve Dilley had a similar experience. In the years after 9/11, he began noticing Marines returning to San Diego from Iraq and Afghanistan with anger issues, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. An art teacher who studied Lukens innovative glazes in college, Dilley decided it was his turn to use his skills to help wounded veterans through art therapy.

I never served, but my parents met in the Navy and I was always raised to respect and appreciate veterans, Dilley said. I was noticing all these young Marines coming back and having troubles. You know, a lot of bad choices mixed with beer and a fast motorcycle.

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Veterans Art Project student Mick McCamm points out a detail in his wood-and-metal self-portrait sculpture, which will serve as the urn for his ashes when he dies. (Don Boomer / San Diego Union-Tribune )

So, with the support of the art staff at Grossmont College in La Mesa in 2009, Dilley offered military veterans free classes in ceramics and, later, bronze casting. Eighteen months later, he left Grossmont and established the Veterans Art Project, which since 2011 has helped more than 200 veterans, free of charge, at five locations in San Diego and Arizona. The entire program is underwritten by an anonymous donor who Dilley said is committed to helping other military vets like himself.

On Nov. 19, student and 15-year Navy veteran Reginald Green of San Diego was in the final stages of a bronze casting project at the California Sculpture Academy in Fallbrook. Under Dilleys instruction over the past few months, Green created a mold from a bust of his head that he embellished with the fanciful headdress, beard and eyeliner of an Egyptian pharaoh. Dressed in a heat protective suit, he poured 2,200-degree molten bronze into the mold, then waited for it to cool.

I think its a fine class, Green said. I struggle with a little depression and a lot of chronic pain. Art is part of my method for helping me with that. Its a good outlet and a good program that more veterans should take advantage of.

Art therapy is not a new treatment for veterans, but Dilley said that the detailed technique of working with ceramics and bronze is especially good for troubled veterans.

First, its nonverbal, so you dont have to talk to anyone and tell them how youre feeling. Your work shows me how you feel, Dilley said. Also, its very process-oriented. It requires you to make a lot of choices and decisions every step of the way, so it keeps your brain focused. Also, theres an ambiguity to art. You never know how it will come out, and thats the same with the military. Making new discoveries as you go along is a way to find something within yourself.

Navy veteran Reginald Green, left, and Brandon Roy, director of the California Sculpture Academy in Fallbrook, make a pour of several molds on Nov. 19 as part of the Veterans Art Project. (Don Boomer / San Diego Union-Tribune )

Dilley  who has supported his art vocation over the years through teaching and running a drywall installation business  said hes seen miraculous transformations among his students, who have included veterans of World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars and more recent conflicts. No matter their age and time away from combat, Dilley said some of them are still struggling.

Even if theyve been back for a long time, we get a lot of guys who havent unlocked their foot lockers yet, both figuratively and literally, he said.

One of his recent students was a female veteran whose PTSD was so severe, she was taking 17 medications and would only come to class when the room was empty and she was accompanied by both her husband and her service dog. But as her visits continued, she began leaving her husband, and then the dog, at home. Eventually she weaned herself off most of her medications and began attending class with all the other veterans.

Winchester resident Kevin Larsen, a 38-year-old Marine veteran who has attended Veterans Art classes for three years, said hes found release from depression while creating bronze sculptures at the Fallbrook studio. On Nov. 19, he was starting on a bronze bust of his wife by first covering her head in a plaster mold.

Pat Russell, wife of the late Marine Capt. Hayden Russell, works on a wax mold of her hands at the California Sculpture Academy in Fallbrook on Nov. 19. Russell is a student in the therapeutic Veterans Art Project. (Don Boomer / San Diego Union-Tribune )

By the end of the course, its not really an art class, its a whole process that allows you to focus on your art piece and not yourself, he said. Everyone that has come into the class has experienced the same thing. Ive seen fabulous transformations. Even guys from Vietnam who dont talk about their time in service have been able to let go of some things.

Dilley said his training is in art, not psychology, but he has seen a common thread in the emotional journey his students take in the classes.

For many of these veterans, this class is like their first re-entry to society. Its the best time for them to have a good experience around other people, Dilley said. Post-traumatic stress carves a road through the middle of your brain and doing art helps your brain regrow the passageways across that road.

The Veterans Art Project is now offering free classes at the California Sculpture Academy, Saddleback and Grossmont colleges, the VAs Aspire Center in San Diego and in Yuma, Ariz. In January, Dilley will add classes in Bisbee, Ariz., and at Lonestar College in Woodlands, Texas. In March, Dilley said he will expand the program to seven more campuses nationwide thanks to grants from the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts. Course and registration information is available on the organizations website (vetart.org) or by calling Dilley at (760) 815-8868.

Dilley said running the Veterans Art Project has been spiritually and artistically fulfilling and hes grateful for the opportunity.

Im really fortunate, he said. I get to use my degree, do art and talk to people all day.

pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
Growing up in San Diego, Nancy Robbins found a passion for photography that eventually took her to Yosemite. An early eye for peoplescapes, shots of visitors enjoying the outdoors, is now trained mostly on the natural surroundings in one of Americas most beloved national parks.

Her pictures have been featured in magazines, calendars, art galleries and now A Sense of Yosemite, a new coffee-table book published by the Yosemite Conservancy. She lives in Wawona, a private enclave inside the park.

Q: How did you get interested in photography?

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A: My family was always big into photography. There was always something going on around the house, making projects or having parties. So we were always going to the drive-through Fotomat, the one on Fletcher Parkway, to drop off the film. One time when I was 11, the lady handed me an entry form to win a camera. I asked, How many entries can I put in? and it was one each day. I rode my bicycle every day and put in an entry for this contest that was a month away. I guess you could say I stuffed the ballot box.

I won the camera, a Kodak Instamatic 124, with the little square bulbs for night shots. Winning the camera put me on the path that I follow today. The camera went everywhere, photographing my friends, documenting whatever was going on at my school.

Q: Did you shoot photos for the (University High School) newspaper or yearbook?

A: My high school didnt have a photography program but it had a really great art program, so I took every class available. When I went into college (San Diego State), I was a fine art major and I really thought I wanted to go into furniture design and woodworking. As a freshman, I enrolled in a furniture design class and the professor wouldnt let me in. Freshmen werent allowed. So I took a photography class and the first time I saw that film come up in the developer, I knew that I was in the right place. I should thank that professor. It was like an Aha moment, that this is where I was supposed to be. I never turned back.

Q: What brought you to Yosemite?

A: I would visit Yosemite on occasion, enjoying the beauty, and I had a client who had a place there. On one of the visits, I was talking to people in the Ansel Adams Gallery and they said there was a need for people photography in the park, that there would be work for me. And I heard about a little cabin that was available. It all happened on the same day. This was 12 years ago, and it just opened my ideas to the possibilities.

I had work going on in San Diego. I was doing primarily weddings, and I was booked a year out. I was going back and forth and establishing some work in Yosemite. It was crazy. The work was coming and I didnt say no. I finally had to whittle down my wedding work in San Diego. People said, How can you leave San Diego? And I said, I know, I know. But have you been to Yosemite?

Q: While you were doing commercial work in Yosemite, were you also taking nature photos?

A: It just kind of developed out of the beauty of the landscape. I would have a bride and groom in front of me and it would be the most beautiful day of the year, and I found myself making excuses to step aside and take a picture without them in it. Um, I have to get something out of my car. But what you learn is, if you think today is nice, wait until tomorrow. Theres always something to photograph.

Q: What are the challenges for you taking pictures in one of the most-photographed places in the country?

A: Theres the obvious of trying to get something unique or unusual from a different spot. And while its nice to see so many people who have gotten into photography, I have to get up earlier now to get to a good spot.

I think the bigger challenge, what photographers have to take into consideration in a place so beautiful, so busy, so popular, is that we have to be stewards of the land. Watch where youre going. Were trying to get pictures at all costs, and there is a cost  the beauty there is really priceless, and we have to protect and preserve that for the generations to come. Thats what early photographs were about in Yosemite: They were documenting the beauty so people were aware of it and would want to protect it as a national park. Its our duty to take care of it.

Q: How did you decide which photos to use in the book?

A: I narrowed my photographs to about 600 that the designer and publisher were able to look at, and I picked my favorites. But at the beginning, we didnt even really know what the book was going to be about. It came together when (essayist and farmer David Mas Masumoto) was asked to do the writing. He looked at 50 or so photos and wrote his essays, and I would look at what he wrote and think, Wait I have something else that is exactly what hes talking about. On a couple of occasions I said, You know, I could go shoot something tonight.

Some of the pictures were planned months in advance around certain events, like full moons or flowers blooming. But sometimes its the ones that just unfold unexpectedly that come out the best.

Q: Can you share an example?

A: Theres a lunar halo shot on Sentinel Dome. An eclipse was coming, so Id taken a few students and we had scouted it out a few days before, finding a little Jeffrey Pine to put in the foreground and watching how the moon came up. We calculated where we were going to put our tripods. The moon came up, and it was in full lunar eclipse as it rose. We got those shots and we were just hanging out and a big fog rolled in. There were probably 350 other people on Sentinel Dome for the eclipse, busloads of people. They all left. We were just sitting there and the fog cleared and this huge lunar halo was around the moon. We shot for another 45 minutes or an hour. It was something we never expected, a magical moment.

Q: What do you think of the future of photography in this digital age when everyone has a phone camera? Do images stand out any more or do our eyes glaze over because photos are everywhere?

A: They are everywhere, and its exciting to see different peoples takes on Yosemite. But I also see some people who are not really experiencing Yosemite in the moment. They walk up and do a selfie, and they dont really look at the scene at all. And then they walk back to the car. And Im thinking, Wow. I guess theyll look at it later. I see that a lot.

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Tiffany Gullberg went to her first yoga class when she was 22. It was her first class, and she fell in love with the practice. Fourteen years later, shes the founder and owner of If I Was A Bird Yoga, a studio solely focused on guiding children through the practice.

I fell in love with yoga and started taking trainings, education courses and certifications. I never could have imagined that I would be doing what Im doing today, she says. When I was little, I always knew I wanted to work with children or write childrens books, so its really neat to see how that has come full circle. I am working with children, and I write the kids yoga stories and sequences.

Gullberg, 36, is married with two daughters and her classes focus on birds from different countries, incorporating dance and song, an art activity and relaxation and affirmation techniques. Gullberg, whose latest studio recently opened in Del Mar, took some time to talk about what led her to focus on yoga for kids, the improvements shes seen in her students development and the after-school program she offers.

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Q: What led you to open a studio for kids?

A: Well, the very first kids yoga class that I taught was at my first daughters day-care center. They asked me to come in since they knew that I taught adults yoga. I went in not really knowing what to expect since I had never taught yoga to kids, just to adults. As I was teaching the class, I got a rush of joy and happiness and had goosebumps all over my body from the joy and love I felt. It was that moment when I knew what I wanted to do with my life. The very next day, I started my business. My kids yoga classes were mobile at first, bringing them to parks, other yoga studios, anywhere I could. After a while, I had numerous people and friends tell me I should open up a studio.

Q: What is your goal for your child-centered studios?

A: To provide a kids yoga community where kids can receive all the mental and physical benefits that yoga offers, a place where the kids can flourish and thrive in their yoga practice and also build friendships, and a place that supports playfulness and creativity but also has a good balance of yoga, peace and stillness.

Q: Why focus on birds?

A: Children love birds. They love flying around or feeling graceful or balancing. For every class, we (pick) a different place in the world so we can make the classes educational for the children and keep them engaged in the practice. So for every place we go, we learn the national bird of that place. We use feathers to fly around and do special poses.

What I love about Del Mar ...

I love the families and how passionate they are about wellness for their children. I love the calmness of Del Mar. It feels calm to me. Even though its busy, it feels peaceful.

Q: What do you notice about the changes in kids at your studio?

A: They are always  calmer and more peaceful after every class. When we go around after class and share how we feel, the most common answer from the children are I feel calm, I feel happy, I feel relaxed, I feel good. Its great to see the transition with the child after they have been practicing for a while. They understand the structure, the poses and even start to understand the breathing, which is so important. Its so cute how they come in and know exactly what to do. They take their shoes off, roll out their yoga mat and are ready.

Q: What do their parents notice?

A: Parents will often mention to me that they see yoga benefiting their child. Sometimes the parent is bringing the child in because their doctor has recommended yoga for different reasons: emotional or physical, like balance, strength or coordination. Parents will share with me that their doctor sees improvements in these challenges after yoga. I have had some parents use yoga as therapy for their child rather than taking them to a therapist. They will say, The yoga has really helped with his anxiety and he will stop and take a deep breath or close his eyes or My child will tell me to relax and take a breath. Parents with children with different abilities, special needs and/or behavioral challenges constantly mention that yoga is  helping them relax, with balance, muscle strength, coordination and to just feel peaceful. After class, we focus on three affirmations. For example, I am kind, I am thankful, I am loving and we repeat them. Parents tell me the affirmations are life-changing.

Q: Tell us about your after-school program.

A: I started doing after-school programs three years ago. We go into schools and offer the after school yoga enrichment program. This is convenient for parents since we come to them and its right after school. The purpose is to just share yoga with as many kids as possible and get them exposed and then hopefully they will want to deepen and grow their yoga practice at the studio.

Q: Take us through what one of your kids classes is like.

A: Our program is one hour and 15 minutes. We start with a themed, educational art project. For example, if our class is visiting Hawaii during yoga, we will paint and make palm trees and do coconut stamping. The actual yoga part of the program is 45 minutes with relaxation. The yoga class is structured through a set sequence where we do all the same yoga poses we do as adults but sprinkled with playful elements to keep the kids engaged. We start with a fun song, we stretch and warm up, we do a series of poses and movements, we dance, we balance, cool down and then relax. Each child gets a cold lavender towel, face massage and foot massage, and covered with a blanket. Our relaxation therapies are always optional and we ask the child first. They love this part of the class. After the yoga portion, we end with a healthy snack and cold water.

Q: Whats been challenging about your work?

A: I think the greatest challenge has been to educate the community and parents about how beneficial (yoga) is and that it is just as important as going to gymnastics or ballet or swimming each week, if not more. But I feel Im at a really good place now and have done a good job with this. There is a lot more awareness about it now that even pediatricians are recommending yoga to their patients.

Q: Whats been rewarding about it?

A: To see how the community has really grown, to see how happy the kids are coming to the studio.

Q: What have you learned about yourself as a result?

A: I have learned how strong I am and how much drive and passion I have. There were times when I struggled. Its hard to start a business and keep it going, especially with a family. Ive struggled in ways I couldnt have imagined but I always got through those struggles. When I asked myself should I go on, the universe always somehow showed me that I was right where I was supposed to be. It somehow provided for me and showed up for me. My mom calls me Mighty Mouse  little, but so strong.

Q: What is the best advice youve ever received?

A: To make sure I got outside every day no matter what.

Q: What is one thing people would be surprised to find out about you?

A: My memory and the way my brain works. I remember everything and I am very very detail-orientated.

Q: Describe your ideal San Diego weekend.

A: Sleeping in on Saturday morning. My husband always makes us Swedish pancakes. We have breakfast together and coffee, of course. Relaxing at home for most of the morning. Going to the beach with a picnic for lunch and relaxing. On Sunday, taking a yoga class for myself, going for a walk and just being with my family. Always a nice family dinner on Sunday and my brother (who is my husbands best friend, which is how we met) and his wife come over.

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 Jaysea DeVoe, 12, teaches yoga at the Bergamot Spa & Boutique in Encinitas.

Email: lisa.deaderick@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @lisadeaderick
The cabinet meet is called by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to discuss the post-demonetisation scenario affecting the state and its population.

By Ashish Pandey: Facing a financial crunch post demonetisation announcement, the Telangana State Cabinet will meet in the State Secretariat in Hyderabad on Monday.

The cabinet meet is called by chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao to discuss the post-demonetisation scenario affecting the state and its population.

The cabinet will also discuss measures to be taken to overcome problems faced by people due to demonetisation of the high denomination currency notes.

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CM K Chandrashekhar Rao held a review meeting today on the eve of the cabinet meeting.

During the review meeting, Chief Minister said that the government couldn't be a mere spectator to the situation arising out of the demonetisation. "There cannot be any stalemate in transactions, since it is concerned to lakhs of people in the state," he said.

Also read:

Demonetisation: Modi fights Opposition's inconvenience barb with cashless economy benefits



Chief Minister also asked the Chief Secretary Rajeev Sharma to gear up the collectors and instruct them to discuss with the bankers to educate people to move towards cashless transactions in future.

FIVE-MEMBER PANEL CONSTITUTED



He also instructed the state finance department to work out on what they would do and what the government do as a whole. The government also constituted a five-member committee to work out modalities for preparing a policy towards cashless e-payment system in the state.

Also read:

PM Modi pitches for mobile banking, says will help curb black money



The Committee will also prepare a job chart for the collectors to face any grave situation like the present demonetisation and place before the cabinet.

KCR ASKS FINANCE SECRETARY RAO TO PREPARE DETAILED NOTE

Chief Minister also asked the Finance Secretary Ramakrishna Rao to prepare a detailed note on the impact, implications and other aspects of demonetisation of high denomination notes on the state to be tabled before the State cabinet tomorrow.

The review meeting was held at newly inaugurated Pragathi Bhavan at CM Camp office complex at Begumpet, Hyderabad where Deputy CM Mahmood Ali, Ministers Sri T Harish Rao, Sri Jagadeeshwar Reddy and other senior bureaucrats participated in the meeting.

Also read:

Centre's demonetisation decision a hasty one, has triggered chaos across the country: Mayawati



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Whether it be an injured back, mental illness, or agonizing disease, scores of Americans are suffering from ailments so debilitating that they cant work.

But when they apply for Social Security disability for financial relief  money to pay for housing, food and medical bills  they find they are in for a long wait.

In San Diego, the average wait to see an administrative law judge for a disability hearing is 18 months  or about 540 days.

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That is a bit more than the national average of 17 months but less than some other regions. Buffalo, N.Y., has the highest wait time of 25 months, according to data released for September.

That is a long time if you believe youre disabled and not working. You dont really have an income, you may need medical care and you may not have access to medical care, said Marilyn Zahm, president of the Association of Administrative Law Judges. I think the American public deserves better than that.

About 1.1 million Americans are currently waiting for a disability hearing  a backlog that is largely the product of budget cuts and understaffing at the Social Security Administration.

In San Diego, 8,853 hearings were pending as of the end of October.

The backlog has always been with us, but it is bigger than ever, Zahm, a judge in Buffalo, said in an interview.

The issue was a recurring theme discussed at the annual meeting of judges who hear such cases, held in downtown San Diego this year.

The Social Security judges represent the largest judiciary in the nation, responsible for doling out millions of dollars each year in disability benefits to eligible Americans. In 2015, Social Security paid out $143 billion in payments to some 11 million disabled workers and their dependents, according to the board of trustees annual report.

Yet much of what these judges do they do in secret. Hearings by the Social Security Administrations Office of Administrative Review are not open to the public or media, nor are case decisions public record. No judges are permitted to speak with the news media except for Zahm in her role as labor association president.

There are about 1,500 administrative law judges nationwide. In San Diego, there are 11.

Thats not near enough to deal with the enormous caseload, which grew during the economic recession and continues to spike with the aging of baby boomers, according to Social Security officials.

The process to get before an administrative law judge typically goes like this: A person believes he is disabled for at least a year and cannot work. He first applies for disability though the state, which is denied. He appeals the state decision and is again denied. He can then request a hearing in front of a Social Security administrative law judge to determine if he meets disability requirements.

To prepare for the hearing, the judge will review medical records and other evidence  sometimes more than 1,000 pages  submitted by the claimant, state doctors, workers compensation doctors and vocational experts. At the long-awaited hearing, which usually lasts an hour or two, the judge questions the claimant and possibly experts to fill in any gaps, and then authors a decision.

The claimant, if unhappy with the decision, can take it up with an appeals council, and lastly can bring it to the federal courts as a final measure.

In fiscal 2015, Social Security received about 746,000 hearing requests and issued approximately 663,000 decisions.

The number of disability claims has jumped from 2.5 million to nearly 3 million from fiscal 2007 to fiscal 2013, according to the Social Security Administration. Thats an increase of about 20 percent in initial disability claims. Appeals hearings before administrative law judges have also spiked during that same period by 40 percent, the administration reports.

In the meantime, budget cuts and a small pool of qualified judge applicants to hire from have made it hard to fully staff the bench.

The administration as a whole was down some 11,000 employees since fiscal 2011, and more than 21,000 employees are expected to retire by 2022, according to officials.

From fiscal 2011 to fiscal 2013, the administration received nearly a billion dollars less each year than the president requested in his budget, according to testimony from Social Security Deputy Commissioner Theresa Gruber to the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs in May.

The reduction in services that resulted included scrapping plans to open eight additional hearing offices in the country.

Short of the obvious solutions of hiring more judges and staff and increasing the budget, Zahm and Social Security officials said there are ways to make the process more efficient that would help with the backlog.

The administration has laid out a plan to help reduce the backlog, with the goal of reducing waiting times for a hearing to no more than 270 days and to decrease the number of pending cases by half by fiscal 2020.

That includes using technology to streamline medical records evidence and using video hearings to expedite decisions. Other programs offer administrative help for claimants who arent using attorneys to keep the process running smoothly and provide summaries and analysis in cases with massive medical files.

The backlog has also been the subject of audits by the U.S. Office of the Inspector General.

To us 1.1 million is not just a number; it is a line of people and their families  many of whom are in desperate circumstances, Gruber testified. For many of them, long wait times can mean catastrophic consequences, such as losing a home or making agonizing choices between other basic needs.

San Diego attorney John B. Martin, who handles such cases, agrees the effects can be dire for some people.

Some become homeless. Theyre just without income for a very, very long time, Martin said.

He said the people who become homeless get priority for a hearing, but even that is a long wait.

You can imagine people had a good salary  Ive had clients making low six figures  and one day become disabled. Because they didnt have a nest egg, they end up on the streets. Its happened several times.

Health conditions can also worsen during the wait, officials said. Our judges have shared with us having to dismiss cases, or substitute a party, because claimants have died while waiting for a hearing and decision, Gruber testified.

Among those who start receiving disability benefits at the age of 55, one in five men and one in seven women die within five years of the onset of their disabilities, officials said.

The toll it takes on somebody when you have to wait that long, that is not right, Zahm said. That is not good public service.

Judges have also seen an increase in Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans who are suffering from traumatic brain injury and PTSD and claiming disability.

We are adjudicating more claims than ever for veterans, Zahm said. She said those claimants are moved to the head of the list. They put their lives on the line for the American public and we owe them that.

kristina.davis@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @kristinadavis
One of the partners in a development company negotiating with the San Diego Unified School District to build a 264-unit apartment complex at a former Scripps Ranch elementary school paid a $500,000 fine to state gambling regulators this year.

Ryan E. Stone, a licensed card room owner, is one of the senior partners in the The Monarch Group development firm based in La Jolla. In January, the school district approved a term sheet to lease a 6-acre site at Scripps Poway Parkway and Spring Canyon Road to the company to develop the apartment complex.

Under the proposed deal, the district would get annual lease payments over the next 66 years totaling an estimated $37 million.

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Stone is also the licensed owner of two card rooms outside of Sacramento and is in the process of becoming an owner of Seven Mile Casino in Chula Vista.

In September, he and two partners in his card room business agreed to pay a $500,000 fine to settle an accusation from the California Bureau of Gambling Control that they had loaned $3 million to the then-owner of Seven Mile Casino and were involved in managing the card room without getting approval from state gambling regulators in advance.

Stone, the son of Monarch Group co-founder Rodney Stone, has been involved in legal gaming since 2014, when he was licensed to operate two card rooms in Citrus Heights, outside Sacramento.

His involvement in gaming was not discussed when Monarch began negotiating with the school district in 2014 to lease the 6-acre property on Spring Canyon Road. It is the former site of the Ellen Browning Scripps Elementary School. After that school moved to another location in 2008, the site has been used by the Innovations Academy charter school.

Some Scripps Ranch residents have opposed the apartment project, objecting to traffic impacts, the size of some of the proposed buildings and the relocation of the charter school. A leader of the opposition said he was unaware of Stones gambling interests.

The issue of Mr. Ryan Stone and his relationship with gambling never came up at any meetings, correspondence or conversation with board members in relation to this project,  resident Frank Tsimboukakis said.

In a statement, Monarch said there is no connection between the firms development work and Stones gaming interests, and that he has a minority interest in the Scripps Ranch development.

The statement also said Monarch did not believe it had to disclose Stones gaming interests to the school board, and noted the company has a 40-year history of developing successful high-quality real estate projects throughout California.

The school district also did not know Stone, identified as a project lead on the Monarch Groups proposal for the site submitted in February, was involved in gaming.

In doing some due diligence on Monarch Group LLC, the district did not find any issues at the time the proposal was received, district spokeswoman Cynthia Reed-Porter said in an email response to questions. San Diego Unified only has a term sheet with Monarch, no formal agreement. The district will review this new information and any subsequent information that comes to light.

The Bureau of Gambling Control, the enforcement arm of the states gambling regulatory structure, filed the accusation against Stone and his card room partners in June. That was six months after the school board had approved the term sheet for the apartment project and authorized district staff to negotiate a final agreement.

Stones gaming interests are the latest development in the Scripps Ranch development plan, which is being closely followed by some area residents.

As part of a plan to maximize the value of some it its real estate holdings, the school district decided to solicit proposals for joint-occupancy projects for several district-owned properties.

In February, Monarch submitted its proposal  the only one the district received for the site  to build apartments and a state-of-the-art lab for local students that promotes STEAM subjects (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics).

The proposed joint-occupancy deal in Scripps Ranch is not the first time the district and Monarch Group have done business. Monarch bought the site of the former Barnard Elementary School in Ocean Beach in 2012 for $16.5 million at an auction and later developed apartments at the site.

After former board member Scott Barnett criticized the district for selling off property, the district changed its policy to seek out leasing and joint-occupancy deals while retaining the property and earning revenue.

Emily Dresslar, a resident active in opposing the Scripps Ranch project, said she was unaware a partner in the development company was also involved in gaming and had been fined.

It doesnt surprise me it did not come up, Dresslar said, because I think there has been so much obfuscation by the district in this process.

Michael Lipman, the attorney for Stone, said state regulators were satisfied with the settlement of the accusation against his client. We made a determination to settle with regulators, rather than litigate it, he said.

On Nov. 18, when the California Gambling Control Commission approved the transfer of ownership of the Seven Mile Casino in Chula Vista to Stones gaming group, Deputy Attorney General William Torngren told commissioners the group had fully cooperated with regulators and was committed to following regulations and running a totally transparent operation, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Seven Mile was formerly known as the Village Club and was owned by Harvey Souza for decades.

Last year, the club and Souza were named in a federal indictment charging 25 people with illegal gambling, money-laundering conspiracy and other charges. The indictment said card clubs, including Souzas, were used to launder profits from a $10 million gambling ring that stretched across the country and into Canada and Mexico. Souza was charged with not having proper internal controls at the club to prevent the money laundering.

In September, Souza settled the charges in a deferred prosecution agreement. He agreed to pay a $200,000 fine, give up management of the club and hire a new manager. If he complies with those conditions over the next three years, the charges will be dismissed.

Twitter: @gregmoran

greg.moran@sduniontribune.com
The death of Fidel Castro was long in coming, so world reaction was somber and introspective from foes and friends alike.

One exception came from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who cited the passing of a brutal dictator and added that Cuba remains a totalitarian island.

He described Castros legacy as one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.

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Trumps future policies toward Cuba, and whether he continues with diplomatic normalization with the Communist-led government, are a matter of much speculation. He has said he would toss out Obama administration reforms that opened economic and diplomatic ties with Havana as well as saying he would merely modify them. He suggested Saturday he was open to a journey towards prosperity and liberty.

President Obama alluded to both the history of animosity between the United States and Cuba and the advent of landmark change in those relations. Obama said he extended a hand of friendship to the Cuban people.

For more than half a century, Obama recalled, the relationship was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. But, he said, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing instead a future based on shared familial, cultural and commercial bonds.

We know that this moment fills Cubans  in Cuba and in the United States  with powerful emotions, Obama said. History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him.

1 / 9 Antonio Nico Lopez, left, Abel Santamaria, Fidel Castro, Jose Luis Tasende and Ernesto Tizol stand with comrades in Los Palos, Havana province, during the preparation of the attack on the Moncada Garrison. (Prensa Latina / AFP/Getty Images) 2 / 9 Castro with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev at the United Nations. (Marty Lederhandler / Associated Press) 3 / 9 Castro enjoys a Cohiba cigar during a ceremony at the Palace of Receptions in Havana. (Phil Sandlin / Associated Press) 4 / 9 Castro addresses the United Nations General Assembly. (Marty Lederhandler / Associated Press) 5 / 9 Castro with Nicaraguas President Daniel Ortega at the opening of a sugar processing plant in the Central American country. Cuban workers built the project. (Arturo Robles / Associated Press) 6 / 9 Castro during an interview at his presidential palace in Havana. (Charles Tasnadi / Associated Press) 7 / 9 Castro and former President Carter attend funeral services for former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Montreal. (Jacques Boissinot / Associated Press) 8 / 9 Castro consults with his brother Raul during a meeting of the Cuban parliament. Castro, the only leader Cuba had known for nearly five decades, would hand the reins of power to his brother after undergoing intestinal surgery in July 2006. (Adalberto Roque / AFP/Getty Images) 9 / 9 2011: Castro at the Cuban Communist Party Congress in Havana, during which he officially relinquished his position as head of the party. (Adalberto Roque / AFP/Getty Images)

Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who raised a U.S. flag over the American Embassy in Havana last year for the first time in nearly five decades, said the U.S. had an earnest desire not to ignore history but to write a new and better future for our two peoples.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Castro as a sincere and reliable friend of Russia.

The name of this distinguished statesman is rightly considered the symbol of an era in modern world history, Putin said in a telegram to Fidels brother, President Raul Castro, according to the Kremlin.

The Soviet Union for decades was Cubas main Cold War supporter and financial patron. When the Soviet Union collapsed, so did Cubas economy, plunging the country into what Cuba called a special period of hardship that derailed many of the social reforms of the revolution.

The last leader of the U.S.S.R., Mikhail Gorbachev, praised Castro for standing up to the U.S., even though it brought the planet to the brink of another world war.

Fidel held his ground and strengthened his country at the time of the harshest American blockade, at the time of massive pressure on him, Gorbachev was quoted as saying by Russias Interfax news agency.

Nevertheless, he led out his country from the blockade to the path of self-sustained and independent development.

Not surprisingly, the warmest words of condolence came from leftist governments and nations were Cuba once participated in so-called liberation struggles.

Recalling Castros close relationship with South Africas late president, Nelson Mandela, and support for the fight against apartheid, the countrys current leader, Jacob Zuma, thanked Castro for inspiring his people to join us in our own struggle.

Chinese President Xi Jinping hailed Castros role in spreading communism in the world and lamented the loss of a close comrade.

No Latin American government revered Castro more than that of socialist Venezuela. Its previous president, the late Hugo Chavez, was an apprentice of Castros, and current President Nicolas Maduro has exhibited the same dedication.

We will keep on winning and keep fighting, Maduro said on Venezuelas Telesur television. Fidel Castro is an example of the fight for all the people of the world. We will go forward with his legacy.

Before the devastating economic crisis that hit Venezuela, the oil-rich country routinely provided billions of barrels of petroleum to Cuba and other friendly nations at cheap rates. Cuba, in exchange, sent doctors and teachers, as well as intelligence agents, to work in Venezuela.

Latin American leftists leaders such as Maduro, but also the presidents of Ecuador, Bolivia and El Salvador, are in many ways one of Castros most tangible legacies. Their ascension to power through democratic means might not have happened were it not for political movements against the right-wing dictators who had long held sway in the region.

One of the greats has left us, Ecuadors president, Rafael Correa, said. Fidel has died. Long live Cuba! Long live Latin America!

In El Salvador, the fight was an armed one. The tiny Central American country was engulfed in one of the Cold Wars most important proxy wars in the 1980s, when Cuban and Soviet-backed leftist guerrillas of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) battled security forces loyal to the rightist, U.S.-backed government.

A U.N.nited Nations-brokered peace agreement eventually ended that war, which killed tens of thousands and sent millions of refugees to California and other parts of the U.S. Today the FMLN holds the presidency.

The Salvadoran government Saturday expressed eternal gratitude to Castro and the Cuban people for their help.

Elsewhere in the West, where Cuba has long enjoyed better relations than with Washington, reaction was tempered.

Castro embodied Cubas revolution in both its hopes and its later disappointments, French President Francois Hollande said.

Boris Johnson, Britains foreign minister, said Castro was historic if controversial. His death marks the end of an era for Cuba and the start of a new one for Cubas people that Johnson said should include improvement of human rights.

In Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recalled his fathers friendship with Castro. Pierre Trudeau, prime minister from 1968 to 1984, was the first Western leader to visit revolutionary Cuba, in 1976, and Castro served as an honorary pallbearer at the elder Trudeaus funeral in 2000.

While a controversial figure, Justin Trudeau said, both Mr. Castros supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for El Comandante. 

For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter

Special correspondent Christopher Guly in Ottawa contributed to this report.

Also:

Fidel Castro dead at 90: The revolutionary icons influence was felt far beyond Cuba

Trump promised to be unpredictable in foreign policy. How will that work?

For first time, U.S. abstains in U.N. vote to lift Cuba embargo
A study released last week that examined San Diego police traffic stops for evidence of racial profiling is being greeted cautiously by community members and activists who say some of the findings dont square with their own experiences and question the methods used to analyze the data.

The 140-page report by San Diego State University researchers concluded that race and ethnicity werent significant factors in determining who gets pulled over by police, but that blacks and Hispanics were more likely to be searched and questioned after they are stopped.

The findings were based on data from 260,000 traffic stops by the San Diego Police Department in 2014 and 2015.

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Some San Diego community leaders say they are not yet convinced the study, released the day before Thanksgiving, fully addressed what they described as a long-standing problem of racial bias in local policing.

Were still digesting it and we obviously want to be responsible and make sure we review all of it, said Norma Chavez-Peterson, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union for San Diego and Imperial Counties.

She said the ACLU plans to make a formal statement on the study when SDSU researchers discuss the report on Wednesday at the City Councils Public Safety and Livable Neighborhoods Committee meeting.

Chavez-Peterson said she wanted more information about the methods used in the study, including why researchers chose a technique known as the veil of darkness, which she called relatively untested, to help isolate the effect of race in traffic stops.

Does it provide an accurate profile of drivers in San Diego? she said.

According to the report, the approach is based on a hypothesis that if officers are relying on a drivers race or ethnicity when deciding whether to make a traffic stop, that type of bias would be more apparent in daylight hours when the officers would likely be able to see the motorists more clearly.

By comparing data for traffic stops during daylight and at night in a given area  during a three-hour time frame referred to as the inter-twilight period  researchers say they can be confident that any differences they find are likely attributed to race or ethnicity instead of other factors.

The veil-of-darkness method was introduced in 2006 by Jeffrey Grogger, a University of Chicago professor of urban policy, and Greg Ridgeway, a statistician at the RAND Corp. in Santa Monica. It has since been used in studies of racial bias in several U.S. cities, including Oakland, Cincinnati, Minneapolis, Syracuse, N.Y., and Durham, N.C.

The state of Connecticut used the approach to analyze more than 586,000 traffic stops by law enforcement agencies in a statewide study released this year. The stops were conducted between October 2013 and September 2014.

When the SDSU report was released, San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman said she was optimistic that the local studys findings  particularly those that showed race wasnt a factor in traffic stops or arrests  indicate enhanced officer training has made a difference in relations between law enforcement and the citys minority communities.

Zimmerman acknowledged that a perception remains among some San Diego residents that minorities are more likely to be stopped and mistreated by police but said she believes most officers in the department are caring, compassionate and do the right thing.

But some community leaders say the department needs to be more conscious of its flaws.

As of today, there is no acknowledgement that racial profiling exists, and it exists in the San Diego Police Department, said Bishop Cornelius Bowser from the Charity Apostolic Church. And the first step would be to acknowledge it.

The SDSU report focused only on traffic stops for equipment or moving violations, not those prompted by searches for a suspect or stops made in conjunction with code enforcement efforts. The city paid $62,500 for the study.

Bowser, a member of the citys Commission on Gang Prevention and Intervention, said he would have liked the report to take a more thorough evaluation of pretext stops, where a police officer pulls a driver over ostensibly for a minor traffic offense, in order to investigate who is driving the vehicle, who they are with, and what they are up to. He said the stops tend to be harassing and intrusive.

That most definitely is an issue, Bowser said. If they would look into it, they would find there are a lot of pretext stops for blacks and Latinos.

Among other findings, the researchers concluded from the data:

 Black drivers in 2014 were nearly 20 percent more likely to be pulled over than white drivers, but the disparity was not seen in the 2015 data or over the two years combined.

 In the neighborhoods covered by the Police Departments Northeastern Division  including Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos, Mira Mesa and Scripps Ranch  black and Hispanic drivers were more likely to be stopped than their white counterparts by 60 percent and nearly 33 percent respectively.

 In neighborhoods south of Interstate 8, which are more racially and ethnically diverse, blacks were almost 21 percent less likely to be stopped than white drivers.

 Across the city, blacks and Hispanics were searched by San Diego police more often than whites but were less likely to be found with contraband.

 Black drivers were more than twice as likely to be interviewed in the field after being stopped than whites.

San Diego State researchers, led by Joshua Chanin, noted in the report that differences found in the treatment of black and Hispanic drivers as compared to whites were not unique to the San Diego Police Department and that studies in other jurisdictions had identified similar disparities in rates involving stops, searches and arrests.

The researchers also noted they did not find evidence that the disparities were the result of deliberate discrimination or racism on the part of officers.

The report made several recommendations, including that the department improve data collection and oversight. Much of the data the researchers analyzed for this study was found on vehicle stop cards, which officers are required to fill out per department policy.

The cards contained basic information about the drivers who were pulled over, including race, gender, age and city of residency, as well as the date, time, location (by department division) and reason for the stop. They also included information about whether a citation was issued, whether the driver or passengers were searched and whether any contraband was found.

Researchers called the cards a solid tool, compared to some used in other cities, but acknowledged that 19 percent of the records they analyzed were missing at least one piece of information, which made creating a reliable data set challenging.

To supplement that data, researchers held focus groups in four San Diego police patrol divisions  Central, Mid-City, Southern and Southeastern  to gather information about drivers experiences and perceptions about traffic stops.

Fifty people took part in 10 focus groups held in the spring and summer. They were asked questions about community safety, their experiences during traffic stops and what improvements in police-community relationships might look like.

Mario Lewis, president of the community group 100 Strong San Diego, was not involved in any of the focus groups but said he wasnt surprised by the studys findings. He said he hesitates to say police officers are targeting people based on race, but he thinks the department can change its techniques to better serve the community.

He suggested that officers spend more time in barber shops, restaurants and stores to get to know people on a personal level. A better rapport and understanding of peoples circumstances would likely stop situations where people are unfairly pulled over, searched or otherwise bothered, he said.

That could shift peoples perceptions of police officers from watchdogs to allies.

I believe, unconsciously, the culture is to be kind of the upper hand, the iron fist of the community. And when you have that, you have these traffic stops, Lewis said.

The SDSU research team completed one-on-one interviews with 52 officers from throughout the department, including the traffic division, and conducted a survey sent electronically to all of San Diegos active police officers.

The survey included questions about whether events like the 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.  and the protests that followed  had made their jobs more difficult, and how race and ethnicity shape law enforcement interactions with the public.

Just under 20 percent of San Diegos more than 1,800 officers responded.

Staff writer Pauline Repard contributed to this report.

dana.littlefield@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @danalittlefield
Three hikers stranded near Dehesa were helped to safety early Sunday morning after a slow and wet rescue that was hampered by rain and tough terrain, sheriffs officials said.

On Saturday, the three men, who routinely hike the area, ended up stuck on a mountainside rock about a mile from Sloan Canyon and Dehesa roads after one of them fell several feet and injured his head and arm, authorities said.

Poor weather foiled initial attempts to rescue the trio by helicopter.

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Using ropes and pulleys, Sheriffs Search and Rescue and Cal Fire crews eventually helped the men down the hill.

The last of the hikers  who range in age from 19 to 22  was bought down about 1:30 a.m.

Isaac Sanchez, a Cal Fire spokesman, said Saturday night that the injured hikers injuries were not life-threatening. Sheriffs officials said all three men refused medical attention.
One of the few good things to come out of the nations recent financial crisis was an end to wasteful redevelopment agencies in California that had for decades been violating property rights by abusing the power of eminent domain. Unfortunately, step-by-step, California legislators are intent on rolling back that victory.

Eminent domain is the governments power to take land, homes, businesses or other property for public use, when the government pays the owner just compensation. In California, until 2012, the power was frequently used by local governments and state-subsidized redevelopment agencies to take property not to build a school, or a road or a firehouse  but merely to transfer the property from one owner to another private owner in the hope that the new owner would use the property in a way that would generate more taxes or jobs.

In 2012, facing a budget crisis, Gov. Jerry Brown and the Legislature dissolved the hundreds of state agencies responsible for ill-conceived redevelopment projects that created losses for the state. However, last year, California government officials lost their memory and enacted a new law that resuscitated redevelopment agencies with eminent domain authority.

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A new bill, AB 2492, is now being pushed by some legislators to increase funding for government-led redevelopment schemes. It also makes it easier to declare private property blighted, in some cases only because the median income of the occupants is lower than city or county medians.

Commenting on this kind of eminent domain, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day OConnor wrote in the 2005 case Kelo v. New London, The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.

This is a story I know not only from my experience as a property rights lawyer, but from my own family history. My familys business, a tire and brake repair shop in La Mesa, was taken through eminent domain to make way for a Costco about 20 years ago.

Costco presumably did and continues to generate more in taxes than the family business. Some lawyers and developers probably did pretty well, too.

But my parents livelihood was destroyed, along with their retirement savings, which consisted mainly of the equity in their business. Dozens of employees were out of work.

The just compensation offered to them by the city was laughably inadequate and the litigation about the matter dragged on for years, forcing my parents  who had never paid a single bill late in 30 years  into bankruptcy.

Thankfully, they managed to start a new business during the years that most people retire, and to create a little financial security in the ensuing decade.

Ours was not the only family whose American Dream was upended by a redevelopment agency because members of a local city council thought some other business might took prettier from the roadway or that a different business might generate more taxes for city coffers. Redevelopment agencies used their power of eminent domain hundreds of times in the decade prior to reform.

And for what? As the California Legislative Analysts Office wrote in 2011, The states costs associated with redevelopment have grown markedly over the last couple decades, yet we find no reliable evidence that this program improves overall economic development, concluding that the alleged gains in jobs from redevelopment would have occurred independently of the redevelopment agency.

The right to keep and use the property one has earned is among our most important civil rights. There are no good reasons to double down on a bad idea by expanding local governments power to abuse eminent domain.

Salzman is an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation and director of PLFs Liberty Clinic Project.
The state Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the death sentence issued 25 years ago for David Allen Lucas, who was convicted of the throat-slashing murders of two women and a 3-year-old boy, and attempted murder of another woman, cases that sent terror through the county at the time.

Lucas, a carpet cleaner from Spring Valley, originally was charged with the murders of two other women and another child between 1979 and 1984. All the victims throats were slashed. Some were nearly decapitated.

The high court issued a 231-page ruling addressing what the defense said were errors in both the trial and penalty phases of the case. The collective impact of errors deprived Lucas of his rights to due process and a fair trial, the defense said.

The high court disagreed.

We have concluded that any errors or assumed errors were not prejudicial. Viewing them cumulatively, we conclude defendant is not entitled to reversal of his judgment, the ruling said.

In California, all death penalty cases are automatically appealed to the state Supreme Court. The court must find at least one new attorney to represent the defendant. If the court upholds the ruling, defendants have the option to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, although the high court could decline to hear the case.

Prosecutor Daniel Williams said at the time that the killings were the most vicious and coldblooded murders San Diego has ever had to suffer.

The ruling noted that the victims wounds all shared characteristics that were unlike anything the San Diego coroner had observed in the more than 20 years preceding the defendants trial.

There was no apparent motive for the murders and no evidence of sex assault, the ruling noted.

In June 1989, a San Diego Superior Court jury convicted Lucas, then 34 years old, of murder in the 1979 slayings of Suzanne Jacobs, 31, and her toddler son, Colin, in Normal Heights; the 1984 slaying of University of San Diego student Anne Catherine Swanke, 22, who was last seen when her car ran out of gas in La Mesa; and the 1984 attempted murder of Jodie Santiago Robertson, 35, of Seattle, who had been visiting a relative in East County. Robertson testified in the trial that Lucas had left her for dead after slashing her throat.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict in the 1984 slayings of Rhonda Strang, 23, and Amber Fisher, a 3-year-old girl that Strang was baby-sitting in her Lakeside home. Jurors deadlocked 11-1 in favor of conviction.

The panel acquitted Lucas of the 1981 killing of real estate agent Gayle Garcia, 29, who was slain in a Spring Valley home she was showing to prospective buyers.

Lucas was sentenced to death in September 1989.

During the trials penalty phase, defense witness Dr. Alvin Marks, a clinical and forensic psychologist, testified that Lucas had mixed personality disorder. He said Lucas came from a severely dysfunctional family, had a father who had physically and emotionally abused him, and that Lucas had picked up his fathers hatred of women.

In 1973, when he was 18 years old, Lucas was incarcerated after being convicted of raping a 21-year-old maid who had worked for a family friend.

In an unrelated development on Thursday, state Attorney General Kamala Harris said she will appeal a federal judge's ruling last month that the state's cumbersome administration of the death penalty violates the constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

Since the current death penalty system was adopted 35 years ago, the judge noted, more than 900 people have been sentenced to death but only 13 have been executed.

He noted that death penalty appeals can last decades and, as a result, most condemned inmates are likely to die of natural causes before their executions are carried out.

California has had an unofficial moratorium on executions since 2006, with an appeals-court ruling that the state must adopt a new lethal injection protocol.

The last San Diego inmate to be put to death was Robert Alton Harris in 1992. Harris murdered two teenage boys in 1978.
More than 20 post office officials themselves went to the paddy fields and gave the new currency notes of Rs 2000 denomination to these farmers against presentation of valid documents.

By Anil Giri, Manogya Loiwal : Staying true to the saying, 'a friend in need is a friend indeed', the post office is assisting farmers in Purulia district of West Bengal deal with the government's demonetisation drive.

HELPFUL INITIATIVE

Known for its static and dilapidated operational system, the main post office of Purulia district has decided to go to its customers rather than waiting for people to make their way to the branch. The demonetisation drive of the Central Government has had a considerable impact on the sowing process during the winter season. This has adversely affected the harvesting of the crops as it takes time to go to the post office to get the currency notes exchanged.

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In an initiative that was spear-headed by Tapan Chakraborty, Superintendent of post office of Purulia district, around 70 farmers in the district didn't have to rush to the post office several kilometres away from their fields in order to exchange currency notes. Instead more than 20 post office officials themselves went to the paddy fields and gave the new currency notes of Rs 2000 denomination to these farmers against presentation of valid documents.

FARMERS ECSTATIC

Amrit Kumar, a farmer from the area expressed his delight at initiative saying, "This has really saved us. We cannot spend the entire day travelling to the banks or post office for getting the new currency notes and depositing the old. With this effort by the post office officials we feel it will help us focus on farming for a good yield instead of worrying about the cash crunch."

It has not only saved time but also saved these farmers from harassment especially when they are in a race against time during the harvesting season. Interestingly there are around a dozen vacancies that need to be filled in the main post office but the lack of man power has not been a hindrance in delivering the desired results of reaching out to the people in their hour of need.

The idea and effort of Tapan Chakraborty was appreciated by SS Kujur, Post Master General of South Bengal Circle and Chief Post Master General of West Bengal Circle, Arundhati Ghosh too.

The initiative is soon expected to be implemented by post offices in other regions as well as a few hospitals.

Interestingly, the reach and expanse of the post offices in India is bigger and better than any private organisation and thus the Post Offices which have almost been forgotten by most Indians after the advent of cheaper and better alternatives, have proven to be the real friend in need.

ALSO READ:

Just like gold, India will come out shining from this demonetisation fire: Prime Minister Modi

'We cannot imagine China carrying out demonetisation' says Chinese media

--- ENDS ---

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I would never recommend just one day on Ambergris Caye. I really think that you need at least 4 or 5 days and ideally a week to get the feel of the place, to do many of the great activities, to visit some of our restaurants and then visit your favorite ones again, to get to know the people and to feel like you never want to go home.

Isnt that what vacation is all about?

But there are circumstance where you have just one day. If you are staying on Caye Caulker, our smaller neighboring island, you can take the 20 minute boat ride over and enjoy the day or perhaps from Belize City or Corozal  two towns with regular boats to Ambergris Caye.

Heres my proposed itinerary for you on a quick visit to San Pedro.

Belizean Breakfast: Local breakfast is often grabbed on the run. A few meat pies purchased from your meat-pie-guy on the way to workor a johnny cake eaten on the way to school.

Since you are on vacation, you have time to be a bit more leisurely. To get a cup of coffee and eat the FULL breakfast.

There are so many great restaurants in San Pedro but since you are in town  just for the day, let me suggest to breakfast favorites. Estels Dine By the Sea for eggs, beans and fry jacks or their delicious pancakes and fry jacks. The second is carb loading but fry jacks are just TOO good to skip. Andyou have a full day!

Deep fried flour tortilla dough that ends up a little pillow of deliciousness. A savory donut. And the views not bad either.

Or try Boogies Belly in the midst of town. These guys KNOW breakfast. Not only can you get a cappuccino or a real coffeebut they make the very best meatpies in town. And, if you happen to be here on Wednesday or Saturday, you can try the best of the best  the lobster meat pie.

Try the waffles, the Saturday special, the chicken and waffles, pretty much anything they have to offer. And dont wait until 10 or 11this spot sells out.

Filled with fuel and caffeine you are ready for

A Walk Around Town

If you are staying on tiny Caye Caulker, San Pedro will seem BUSY! But thats not a bad thing. There is no better way to get a feel for the place than a walk around. Plus, its a good way to gather a few souvenirs.

I wont go into great detail but here are the spots unique to our town.

Front Street, Belize Chocolate Company, RubiMoon for beautiful jewelry and accessories and Belizean Art (in Fidos Courtyard) for just about anything

See if you can time it right so that you can try the chocolate making class at Belize Chocolate.

Middle Street, Graniels Dreamland and The Rum, Cigar and Coffee Shop

Graniels is a favorite FAVORITE and I always take visitors here. They showcase the beautiful hardwoods of Belize. We were just there last week and purchased and were gifted a selection of beautiful hand carved bowls in dark, glossy zericote, pink rosewood and burly sapodilla.

We provided the rock collections.

If you have chosen to relax, lounge in the water and get some sun in the morning, may I suggest a slightly different morning itinerary. After breakfast, float in the inner tubes at the newly opened Palapa Bar and take the Belize Food Tour! Which leads me to

Lunch & a Belikin or Belize Food Tours

Belize Food Tours is an amazing way to eat (I MEAN EAT) while getting a tour of town. Take a look at my post. Such a great way to see and taste San Pedro  from ceviche to rum to a refreshing lime paleta.

But if you already did your own tour, maybe I suggest a few restaurants  Elvis Kitchen, one of San Pedros original restaurants, does such great food and the best caye lime pie in the world.

Brianas Deli on Back Street is a local lunch favorite  they have a daily special. Sometimes pig tail with split peas (my favorite) or chilmole (Belizean black soup) or beef soup, but if you are looking for a TRUE taste of Belize  the $10bzd rice & beans with stew chicken is the best in town.

Snorkeling Hol Chan Marine Reserve & Shark Ray

If you visit San Pedro and do not visit Hol Chan Marine Reserve wellshame on you! This area has been protected for years and is home to beautiful corals, practically every kind of fish, TURTLES and sharks. Lots of sharks.

The first time you dangle your feet in with these beauties isgood times. So that should keep you busy from about 2pm to 4:30. Lets imagine that you have a place to shower offyou have only one day! Snorkeling is surprisingly tiring, TIME TO EAT.

Dinner

Hard to pick just one  but here is a selection of beloved San Pedro eateries. Grab some pupusas at the El Salvadorean spot on Middle Street and split an enormous lobster burrito. Blue Water Grill is a huge favorite with visitors and those who live here  great food, service and view over the ocean. Or try Finn & Martinis for the ridiculously good Chaya Cheese Dip and the Seafood Wontonsyum.

Like I said, I would never suggest one day on Ambergris Cayeyouve missed so much! Some of the things JUST outside of townlike the Tasting Menu at Casa Picasso or lunch and Ice Cream at the Truck Stop.

And some, a bit farther awaylike day of snorkeling or diving OR FLYING OVER the Blue Hole. Or a trip to Secret Beach or one of the Sandbars on the leeward side of the island.

Or live music at Fidos or the Sunday BBQ at Carlo and Ernies or Estels or

I could go on. But thats my one day Itinerary.

Please let me know what you would suggest or what you did with your day on Ambergris Caye.

And if you are visiting soon, please PIN it. See you soon 

For more ideas for Ambergris Caye and around all of Belize, please check out my Belize Bucket list.
Dr. Naseer Hussain, Congress spokesperson said that the Congress party is protesting against the inconvenience, suffering and agony caused by demonetisation to the common man, small traders, farmers and daily wage workers.

By Nolan Pinto:

The Karnataka state Congress will organize protests against demonetisation in all the district headquarters on November 28 as part of Aakrosh Divas. Party leaders have been directed to lead protest marches and then submit a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioners in their respective districts. All District-in-Charge ministers have been given responsibility to organize these protests in their respective districts.

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PROTESTING AGAINST INCONVENIENCE AND SUFFERING

In Bengaluru, KPCC President Dr. G Parameshwara will lead the protests from Town Hall at around 11am. Ministers from the city, legislators and other leaders will also take part in the protest. Dr. Naseer Hussain, Congress spokesperson said that the Congress party is protesting against the inconvenience, suffering and agony caused by demonetisation to the common man, small traders, farmers and daily wage workers.

He further added that this is precisely why the Congress has been requesting PM Modi to come to Parliament and address these issues but the Prime Minister chooses to address Parliament through public rallies and party meetings instead.

OTHER PARTIES

The JD(S) has decided not to take part in the Aakrosh Divas but has slammed the government over the implementation of the demonetisation. The party said that the lack of preparation on part of the central government has caused a lot of hardship to the people. But the party said it is against black money and will not support the agitation call on Monday.

The BJP in the state is taking a stand against the Aakrosh Divas. In fact, BJP MP Shobha Karandlaje says the party workers will continue working on Monday and are against the planned agitation. According to her what the PM is doing now is good for the nation. She added that all along the Congress kept questioning the PM Modi on when he will act against black money and now that he has acted, they are asking him to stop.

The Police will deploy extra personnel in the city to maintain law and order. Senior police officials say that KSRP and CAR platoons will be deployed to make sure no untoward incidents take place in the city and throughout the state as well.



SERVICES THAT WILL REMAIN SHUT AND THOSE TO OPEN

The call on school, college closure is expected to be taken tomorrow. While private schools and college have left the decision to school managements. Meanwhile, Bangalore University has postponed exams that were initially scheduled to take place on Monday. These exams will now be held on December 8th.

The Transportation sector is expected operate normally but people have been warned that buses might be taken off the roads if there are incidents of stone pelting observed. There is no glitch expected in the running of trains as the Indian railways has confirmed that trains will run according to their schedules. While Cab aggregators like Ola and Uber will go ahead with business as usual, Autos will remain off the roads for the foreseeable future.

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Hotels across the city will remain open. The sizeable number of tech companies in the city are making arrangements to operate as per schedule on Monday and are also offering work from home options for their employees.



ALSO READ:

Demonetisation: Modi fights Opposition's inconvenience barb with cashless economy benefits

How has demonetisation affected box office collection





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It is so refreshing to find out just what so many people think of our newly elected leader. The hyperbole from the left is we have elected the devil himself. I suppose these same people would have been very happy to have someone that perhaps put Americas secrets into the hands of enemies far and wide. Why did the Justice Department not appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Hillary Clinton? Does anyone remember Scooter Libby? I guess its hard to get the mold out of your brain after eight years of believing everything is great because of socialism. I really feel sorry for academia and the liberal press; hurry up to your safe space, the world will go on just as it has for the last two-hundred-plus years. When you come up for fresh air, you just may find out that the world did not end when jobs starting coming back to America and our reputation of being the leader in the world instead of just another follower helps everyone, including you.

It's true that Hillary Clinton did get the popular vote. When you rely on Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen and J-Zee to get out the vote, though, it may not help in the rural areas that are struggling for jobs. I do think the Electoral College should be revamped, but looking back, it is a good system. Perhaps each state should only get ten electors to be split on a percentage of votes; if the Democrat gets 50 percent of the vote, they would get five5 electors. A Republican who gets 40 percent would get four electors and a third-party candidate who gets 10 percent would acquire one elector. Once all votes are tallied the candidate with the most electors wins. Yes, there would still be whining from the losing party, but there would be more than seven states in play for national elections.

This past election did prove that hard work does pay off. While Mrs. Clinton did very little campaigning, she preferred to hold numerous fundraisers with her Hollywood friends. Mr. Trump traveled to several states and held rallies and spent less money than the Clinton campaign. In closing, we all need to pray for President-elect Trump to do a good job, just as we did for President Obama.

LARRY DONALDSON

Darlington
PM Narendra Modi's fifth visit in the last seven months to eastern UP is the proof how much the party has placed its hopes in the region.

By Prabhash K Dutta: BJP think tank believes that if the party has to unseat the Akhilesh Yadav government and prevent BSP's Mayawati staging a comeback in UP, eastern UP must be under its belt.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's fifth visit in the last seven months to eastern UP is the proof how much the party has placed its hopes in the region.

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The fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency, Varanasi is also in the eastern UP has doubled the BJP's stake in the region.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP did exceedingly well winning 73 of the 80 constituencies with its alliance partner Apna Dal. In the eastern UP, BJP won all 18 but Azamgarh, where Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav.

117 CONSTITUENCIES AT STAKE

UP has 403 assembly constituencies, of which 117 fall in the eastern UP. But, in 2012 assembly elections, BJP had won only 12 of those seats. SP was the leading party followed by BSP in the last state polls.

Kushinagar, where PM Modi addressed the election rally on Sunday, falls in the Gorakhpur zone of the eastern UP. Gorakhpur zone has 62 assembly segments. But, in 2012 BJP could win only 8 of those seats.

Also read: Parivartan Yatra at Kushinagar: End corruption or endorse Bharat Bandh, says PM Modi

The Lok Sabha elections miraculously lifted the BJP's morale. As a result, the party is hoping to register a win even in those more than a dozen assembly segments, where the party has never achieved success in the electoral history.

BJP launched two of its Parivartan Yatras from Ballia and Sonbhadra in eastern UP. There are six assembly seats in Ballia, of which BJP has one seat while SP has five. The party hopes to clean sweep the district in the upcoming assembly polls.

NITISH'S INFLUENCE IN EASTERN UP

Eastern UP is adjacent to Bihar, where the BJP had to suffer a major setback in the 2015-assembly elections despite PM Modi's best efforts by addressing a whirlwind of public rallies.

Bihar Chief Minister and Janata Dal-United president Nitish Kumar has substantial support base in eastern UP. He already has addressed a couple of rallies in region.

On May 12, Nitish Kumar addressed a state level convention of his party workers at Varanasi, where he asked them to work towards strengthening JDU's base in the state ahead of assembly polls.

Also read: Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi seeks support on demonetisation, urges farmers, small traders to go cashless

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Earlier in February, Nitish had addressed a rally of backward castes and Dalits in neighbouring Ghazipur district. Nitish has a strong support base among Dalit and Mahadalits in Bihar.

The BJP hopes to counter Nitish Kumar's challenge by striking an alliance with Apna Dal and Suheldeo Bharatiaya Samaj Party. Both parties have regional support among OBC and Dalit voters.

EASTERN UP IN MODI CABINET

Modi inducted two more MPs from eastern UP in the July cabinet expansion. Apna Dal MP from Mirzapur Anupriya Patel and BJP MP from Chandauli Mahendra Nath were inducted in the government.

Kalraj Mishra, Deoria MP and Manoj Sinha, who represents Ghazipur in the Lok Sabha, are the other ministers in the Modi cabinet from eastern Uttar Pradesh.

MODI'S FIFTH VISIT IN 7 MONTHS

Before the public meeting at Kushinagar, PM Modi had addressed a rally on November 14 in Ghazipur.

On October 24, Modi visited his own constituency, Varanasi, where he laid foundation of a gas distribution project. On July 22, Modi addressed a rally in Gorakhpur, next to Kushinagar while laying foundation of reopening of a fertilizer factory and an AIIMS. He also announced four national highways going through Uttar Pradesh.

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Also read: In dire need of money, UP man claims to have undergone sterilisation in exchange of Rs 2,000

On May 1, Modi had launched Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana from Ballia with a promise to provide LPG connections to every household.

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: From Aditi Khanna

London, Nov 27 (PTI) The UKs equalities watchdog today asked politicians to tone down their Brexit related rhetoric that has "polarised" the country and instead engage in "respectful debate" on the countrys historic referendum to leave the European Union.

UKs Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in a letter called for "accurate information and respectful debate" from politicians in the wake of Britains referendum to leave the European Union (EU).

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"We are concerned that attacks on supporters of both sides of the Brexit debate have polarised many parts of the country," the EHRC letter said.

"There are those who used, and continue to use, public concern about immigration policy and the economy to legitimise hate. The vast majority of people who voted to leave the EU did so because they believe it is best for Britain and not because they are intolerant of others," it said.

The letter calls on the government to do more to combat hate peddled by a "small minority", as it also suggests there should be a review of the effectiveness of sentencing for hate crimes in England and Wales, including the ability to increase sentencing for hate crimes.

The EHRC, an independent statutory body which advises on equality and human rights law, states that "politicians of all sides should be aware of the effect on national mood of their words and policies" even when those policies are not acted upon ? like the governments now-abandoned proposal for companies to list foreign workers.

"Your offices bring with them a responsibility to ensure that policy debate is conducted in a way that brings the country together and moves it forward," the EHRC stated.

"Robust discussion is a central pillar of our democracy and nothing should be done to undermine freedom of expression. The right to free and fair elections supported by accurate information and respectful debate is also essential to our democratic process," the letter said.

"Our elected representatives and the media should reflect and foster the best values in our society and engage people on contentious issues in a responsible and considered way," it added.

UK Home Office figures released in October showed racist or religious abuse incidents recorded by police in England and Wales jumped 41 per cent in the month after the UK voted to quit the EU. PTI AK AJR AKJ AJR

--- ENDS ---
By PTI: Srinagar, Nov 27 (PTI) Many areas in the higher reaches of Kashmir division received fresh snowfall as the night temperature went down by several degrees across the Valley and Ladakh region.

Fresh snowfall occurred in the higher reaches of Drass, Kargil and Zanskar areas in Ladakh region and in Gurez and other areas in upper reaches of the Valley last night, an official of the Meteorological Department here said.

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The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir received rain during the night.

The night temperature across the Valley and Ladkah region went down by several degrees, the official said.

He said Srinagar ? the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir ? recorded the minimum temperature of zero degree Celsius, down by over four notches from the previous nights 4.3 degrees Celsius.

Kupwara, in north Kashmir, registered the low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius ? a drop of over four degrees from the previous nights 2.7 degrees Celsius, he said.

The minimum in Kokernag town in south settled at 2.9 degrees Celsius as compared to the previous nights 3.4 degrees Celsius, the official said.

He said Qazigund ? the gateway town to Kashmir Valley - recorded the low of 1.2 degrees Celsius against yesterdays 1.8 degrees.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg in north Kashmir registered the low of minus 0.8 degree Celsius down from the previous nights 1.6 degrees Celsius, the official said.

Pahalgam hill resort in south Kashmir registered the minimum of minus 1.0 degree Celsius -? a decrease of nearly five degrees from 3.8 degrees Celsius yesterday.

The official said the night temperature in Leh town in Ladakh region went down by over a degree from minus 2.0 degrees Celsius to settle at minus 3.3 degrees Celsius.

Leh was the coldest recorded place in the state.

The temperature in the nearby Kargil town settled at the low of minus 1.8 degrees Celsius.

While a thick layer of fog continued to engulf many areas in the Valley, including the summer capital, the MeT Department has forecast light rain or snow at isolated places over the higher reaches of Kashmir and Ladakh over the next 24 hours. PTI SSB SMN

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North Korea has been shrouded in secrecy since its formation in 1948, thanks in large part to the Kim dynasty. Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-Il and today, Kim Jong-Un, have each contributed to North Korea becoming the most repressive country in the world.

Much of the Kim government is based on the philosphy of "Juche" meaning "self-reliance." This is the idea that a country can succeed without any military or economic help from foreign powers, and it's been North Korea's defining policy since 1972.

What else do we know about North Korea's Kim dynasty and the way they run the country? Watch today's Seeker Daily video to find out.

Learn More:

The Guardian: North Korea's Kim Dynasty: the Making of a Personality Cult

PBS: In the Land of the Dear Leader

ABC: The Kims of North Korea: How Myth and Propaganda Sustain a Family Dynasty
Saleemul Huq, director of the Dhaka-based International Centre for Climate Change and Development, said the CVF had played a key role in ensuring the Paris climate accord included a goal to strive for a global warming limit of 1.5 degrees, alongside a promise to keep temperature rise "well below" 2 degrees above pre-industrial times.

"There is no prosperity, justice and peace on a planet that is on fire," he told a forum meeting at the U.N. climate talks in Morocco.

Mattlan Zackhras, minister in assistance to the president of the Marshall Islands , said his Pacific island country was "pioneering" the transformation towards 100 percent renewable energy and wanted other countries to follow.

"Today's commitment by the member countries of the Climate Vulnerable Forum to move toward powering their economies entirely with renewable energy is a bold vision that sets the pace for the world's efforts to implement the Paris Agreement and move even more quickly to solve the climate crisis," former U.S. Vice President Al Gore said in a statement.

But they emphasized they would need additional funding for more ambitious steps to reduce emissions and protect their people from extreme weather and rising seas.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), which numbers 48 nations, also committed to update their climate action plans submitted as part of the U.N. climate pact agreed in Paris last year and prepare low-carbon development strategies for mid-century, both before 2020.

A group of the countries most at risk from climate change said they would strive to make their energy production 100 percent renewable "as rapidly as possible," as part of efforts to limit global warming to below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Huq, who advises the forum, urged developing states to focus on providing help to one another - a call echoed by China, which said it had much expertise to offer CVF countries on moving to a low-carbon economy.

Edgar Gutierrez, environment and energy minister of Costa Rica - which is aiming to be a carbon-neutral economy from 2021 - said all countries should start moving towards 100 percent renewable energy and becoming carbon neutral, "otherwise we will all suffer."

Evelyn Cruzada, of the office of the Philippines' cabinet secretary, said CVF countries - which span Africa, Asia-Pacific, Central America, the Caribbean and the Middle East - should have the courage to "change the way we do things."

"More than 1.5 degrees will destroy possibilities for a decent quality of life," she warned. "We must not build an economy based on suffering."

Miguel Arias Canete, European Union Climate Action and Energy Commissioner, said the CVF countries had shown "moral leadership... with real-world commitments to action."

RELATED: U.S. Could Have 100 Percent Renewable Energy by 2050

But some of the CVF nations will face a significant challenge to wean their economies off fossil fuels by 2030 to 2050, as they pledged on Friday.

In the Philippines, for example, coal accounted for nearly 45 percent of power generation in 2015, and the country plans to build more than 20 new coal-power plants.

In July the new environment secretary said the government would prioritize renewable energy over fossil fuels in approving permits for power plants. But Philippines media reported this week that Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi told a coal industry forum the dirty fuel "is here to stay."

Cruzada said on Friday the energy department was still studying how to transition to cleaner energy, adding that two areas of the Southeast Asian nation are now using wind power, and solar energy is starting to take off.

Some of the investment needed to shift to renewable energy would come from the private sector but international support would also would be required, both for the energy shift and to enable the Philippines to deal with worsening climate extremes, she said.

RELATED: Solar Power Turns Water and Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

"We need help from outside because we are beset by at least 20 typhoons a year that are destroying much of our infrastructure and our agriculture," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

The scarcity of funding for developing countries to adapt to climate change has been a thorny issue at the Morocco climate talks, with richer nations ducking pressure to set specific targets to increase their contributions.

The CVF countries said they would do their best to find resources at home to tackle climate change and to eliminate "harmful subsidies" for high-carbon activities.

But they viewed the annual $100 billion in climate finance rich countries have promised to mobilize by 2020 as "a minimum that can be surpassed through concerted international collaboration", they added.

Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, a young Marshallese poet who has performed her work at the United Nations, read out the main messages from the CVF's vision, approved on Friday, which stated: "Our resilience is a humanitarian priority."

"This communique... is a first step towards turning the tides and saving our world," she said.

Reporting by Megan Rowling; editing by Laurie Goering

Get more from Climate Central

This article originally appeared on Climate Central; all rights reserved.
Data showed that while a total of 25 personnel were killed in action, 316 died due to a variety of diseases and illnesses and 117 suffered fatal cardiac arrest.

By Press Trust of India: More BSF personnel have died of heart attack and other illnesses than in action on the borders and anti-Naxal operations in the past two years, according to official data.

While men and women of the country's largest border guarding force BSF face enemy bullets and mortars amid recent hostilities with Pakistan, data reveals that only 25 of total 774 deaths in the period between January 2015 and September 2016 were battle casualties.

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Data showed that while a total of 25 personnel were killed in action, 316 died due to a variety of diseases and illnesses and 117 suffered fatal cardiac arrest.

While the cases of deaths due to HIV/AIDS and malaria have gone down in the paramilitary force during the period, fatal casualties of personnel in rail, road and bike accidents continue. Officials said these remained a "cause of worry".

Amongst the other causes of death in the force during the period are: 192 deaths took place due to road or Railway accidents, 18 lost their lives due to HIV/AIDS, 38 due to cancer and five owing to malaria.

"The force lost 774 personnel during the period, out of which only 25 were battle casualties. This is a cause of worry and these numbers need to be brought down. A number of initiatives are being taken to ensure a healthy lifestyle and safe driving habits amongst the personnel," a senior official said.

Last year, former BSF Director General D K Pathak had told PTI that the about 2.5-lakh personnel strong force was witnessing a worrying trend in its ranks, as it was losing four times more troops in off-duty bike accidents, than at the borders or other conflict theatres in the hinterland in the recent past.

The Border Security Force (BSF) is tasked to secure the two most important borders of India with Pakistan and Bangladesh, besides being deployed for a variety of internal security duties including anti-Maoist operations.

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They Cant Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in Americas Racial Justice Movement is more than just a compilation of the circumstances that sparked a racial justice movement that was broadcast on social media before it hit TV screens and the front pages of newspapers.

The 2014 police shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black man, in Ferguson, Mo., is where it all began. And Wesley Lowery, a national reporter for the Washington Post, went there to cover the aftermath. In the book, his first, he allows the reader to parachute on his back into city after city as he chronicles black death after black death.

Lowery was on the streets filled with people demanding to be acknowledged, where he captured the distrust and fear of police. All of those dispatches culminated in a bulletproof argument for why black lives matter.

Lowery provides an anthropological examination of the movement, how civil rights protesting, long dormant, has been revived. He traces the wave of protests from Ferguson to Baltimore to Cleveland, with many stops in between.

The result is a vivid timeline of the movement from its origins to present day. And Lowery allows the voices of the new generation of activists, who have democratized reporting on unrest through real-time social media updates, to tell their stories.

They Cant Kill Us All is a documentary on the awakening of young black Americans  no, all Americans  to the systemic injustices that werent erased with the election of President Obama.

Any facade of a post-racial reality was soon melted away amid the all-consuming eight-year flame of racial reckoning that Obamas election sparked, Lowery writes.

There are vignettes on popular figures such as Johnetta Elzie, DeRay Mckesson and Shaun King, who rose to prominence in the wake of Ferguson. But its the lesser-known stories, like that of Oaklands Alicia Garza, one of the founders of Black Lives Matter, that make the book captivating.

Lowery interviews students who have triggered protests. He talks to the families of the slain. He shares reporting tips. He reports on the struggles of activists to create a cogent message, and the infighting that accompanied newfound fame. Lowery even questions his role, and the mistakes hes made.

Lowerys clear-eyed reporting is exceeded only by his thoughtful, sharp sentences. He allows pain to seep into the prose, not hiding the anguish of a black man reporting on so much black death while pointing out connections that cant be ignored.

The tie that binds Trayvon Martin to Jordan Davis to Michael Brown to Tamir Rice to Clementa Pinckney is the hazard of black skin, he writes.

The book is a reminder that police killings of black men and women are a national crisis. It is also a reminder of the lack of law enforcement accountability. In 2015, in only six of 248 cases of fatal shootings by police of black men were charges brought.

How do you cope with reporting such a disturbing statistic?

Often we all have an urge to do something, Lowery writes. For me, reporting is that something.

Thats why he is one of the best on the national beat.

Otis R. Taylor Jr. is the East Bay columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: books@sfchronicle.com

They Cant Kill Us All

Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in Americas Racial Justice Movement

By Wesley Lowery

(Little, Brown; 248 pages; $27)
Robert Zemeckis, whose Allied opened this weekend, heard plenty during the election season about similarities between bully Biff Tannens journey in Back to the Future II and Donald Trump.

It was kind of funny, says Zemeckis with a laugh. They look similar, dont they? They act similar, dont they? Even Bob Gale and I, we never, we never were audacious enough to suggest Biff would run for president.

He laughs harder. Remember, the same film predicted a Chicago Cubs World Series win in 2015  off by just one year. But a Biff presidency?

No one would believe that if we put it in the movie! Everyone would groan, Now you guys have gone too far.

Some waggish type took the Tannen-Trump analog a little farther: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOrhnWgOFGg

Trivia question

What United States president who was the butt of a joke in the first Back to the Future movie later quoted the film in a State of the Union address?

Back on track

Turns out its not just three-time Oscar-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki or cineaste favorite Paul Thomas Anderson or cinematic legend Martin Scorsese who can pull off mind-blowing, incredibly intricate, single-take tracking shots. Whiplash auteur Damien Chazelle lays his claim to glory in the upcoming La La Land.

The opening scene in the modern/old-fashioned musical takes place in the midst of a typical Los Angeles event: a dead-stop traffic jam on the freeway. Eventually, the prisoners of the Sig Alert express their feelings through the magic of song  and dance. The proceedings erupt into an dazzlingly choreographed musical number  apparently captured in one unbroken take.

And just think, in early cuts of the movie shown to test audiences, that sequence had been excised.

La La Land opens in the Bay Area on Dec. 16. To see the Audition trailer: https://youtu.be/DBUXcNTjviI

This girl was on fire

Sean Durkin has finally announced his feature follow-up to the acclaimed Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011): Its Janis, a rock biopic based on the book Love, Janis by Janis Joplins sister, Laura Joplin. Janis Joplins complex life, including her journey from Texas to the Haight at the height of the counterculture movement, should be rich fodder for a film.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and San Francisco favorite will be played by Michelle Williams, whose performances include Oscar nominations for Brokeback Mountain, Blue Valentine and My Week With Marilyn. Williams co-stars in the just-opened awards favorite Manchester by the Sea.

Heres Janis Joplin setting the stage on fire with Big Brother and the Holding Company at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967: https://youtu.be/Bld_-7gzJ-o

To see a trailer for Manchester by the Sea: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsVoD0pTge0

In the hunt

That writer-director Shane Black (The Nice Guys, Iron Man 3, many others) was working on the Predator reboot was intriguing enough  then Olivia Munn was added to the cast. Its not due until 2018.

Creative differences

Deadpools Tim Miller has departed from Deadpool 2, which apparently will not start filming in January as previously reported (March is now the expected start date). The writers and star Ryan Reynolds will be back.

Trivia answer

That would be Ronald Reagan. In the first film, Christopher Lloyds Doc Brown asks Michael J. Foxs Marty in 1955 who is president in 1985. When Marty says its Reagan, Brown scoffs: The actor? Whos the vice president? Jerry Lewis? I suppose Jane Wyman is the first lady! Its widely reported that Reagan enjoyed that line so much, he had the projectionist rewind it so he could hear it again.

Here is Reagan quoting Back to the Futures final lines in his 1986 State of the Union address: https://youtu.be/10NSIp2g-xc

Michael Ordona is a Los Angeles freelance writer. Twitter: @michaelordona
At a Silicon Valley party last week for Larry Brilliant, whose new memoir is Sometimes Brilliant: The Impossible Adventure of a Spiritual Seeker and Visionary Physician Who Helped Conquer the Worst Disease in History, it was said that there was a time that Brilliant couldnt give a talk without mentioning smallpox.

Brilliant, co-founder of the Well online community and the first leader of Google.org, is now deeply involved in philanthropy as chair of the Skoll Global Threats Fund. But he took his first steps into the international arena as a doctor, where his work led to the eradication of the pandemic of smallpox. Later, with Wavy Gravy , his best friend, Brilliant founded the Seva Foundation, to provide cataract surgery to people in Third World countries.

Brilliant describes himself as a hippie seeking enlightenment in Asia at the start of his medical journey. The inscription in the front of his 1974 diary, pictured in the book, is in Hindi: Until I have completed Gods assigned work, I cannot rest. In recent years, his work has been with foundations harnessing the profits of tech.

So hes a rare figure who bridges generations  Boomers to Millennials  that often seem far apart. And that bridge was on his mind when he talked to guests at the book party. (Sorry to anyone tired about reading about the election, but its all thats on peoples minds at most public events nowadays.)

Brilliant said hed been thinking about the 60s, trying to recount the feelings that we had during those times. They werent mistake-free, said Brilliant, regretting, for example, war protesters disdain for returning Vietnam veterans. But a list of the things we did right was long. We had this feeling that as bad as things were ... that right around the corner was a better world.

Brilliant referred to times when things were worse than they are now, when, during World War II, you didnt have to say that guy is like Hitler; during the Cold War, when we were close to nuclear annihilation. ... Were not there. You have to remember how bad things were.

Brilliant recalled going to the U.N. to speak about smallpox, coming into a room filled with people of every hue, all the faces in the world. Call it psychedelic or messianic or crazy. Thats what it was like for me to work on eradicating smallpox.

He talked about a girl who was the last patient with the disease, the end of an unbroken chain of transmission that killed billions of people. ... Even with Trump in the White House, I can never again think that we cant conquer evil. Were going to get through this.

Brilliant will be on TedMed on Thursday, Dec. 1, and at the San Francisco Jewish Community Center at 7 p.m. Feb. 6.

With marijuana now legal in California, an offer was emailed: Get $60 of free marijuana delivered. Enjoy $30 off your first three on-demand deliveries at eazeup.com. The pitch says its faster than pizza (and probably a better high than pepperoni).

And if you have just used the services offered in the item above, perhaps this is something to set your high-minded self to thinking about:

A survey reported by Meow Mix (which definitely has a dog in the race) has found that 28 percent of cat parents say they can tell their kitties secrets theyve never told anyone else.

Once again, its Christmas season, which, according to an email flood of warnings and bad forecasts, brings the annual Days of Dismal Dysfunction. And once again, we report herewith  sporadically, as gloomy clouds loom on the horizon  on reasons to feel bad.

Todays first installment, results of a survey taken by academics at Niagara University College of Business Administration, is directed to middle-aged parents. Perhaps they were on the verge of rejoicing that their offspring, in their 20s and 30s, are finally making it on their own.

Millennials between the ages of 20 and 25 will spend less on gifts than your average holiday shopper. However they plan to spend money on themselves this holiday season. Cnet.com said a whopping 75 percent of shoppers under 35 plan to buy presents for themselves.

Leah Garchik is open for business in San Francisco, (415) 777-8426. Email: lgarchik@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @leahgarchik

Public Eavesdropping

Dude, they dont have any Folgers. These are all

f organic.

Man on cell phone in coffee section at Trader Joes

in Castro Valley, overheard
Mob rule and blood thirst took control in the Valley of Hearts Delight that night.

The Chronicles front page from Nov. 27, 1933, covers the lynching of two kidnapping and murder suspects in San Jose.

Lynch law wrote the last grim chapter in the Brooke Hart kidnapping here tonight, the story read. Twelve hours after the mutilated body of the son of Alex J. Hart, wealthy San Jose merchant, was recovered from San Francisco Bay a mob of 10,000 infuriated men and women stormed the Santa Clara County Jail, dragged John M. Holmes and Thomas H. Thurmond from their cells and hanged them in historic St. James Park.

It was a shocking scene, even 83 years ago. The Chronicles Royce Brier was there, and he would win the Pulitzer Prize for his reporting that night. The headline read Kidnapers lynched! using the accepted spelling of the time, and the size of the headline reflected the hangings impact in the Bay Area and beyond.

Swift, and terrible to behold, was the retribution meted out to the confessed kidnappers and slayers, Brier wrote. As the pair were drawn up, thrashing in the throes of death, a mob of thousands of men and women and children screamed anathemas at them.

The siege of the County Jail, a three-hour whirling, howling drama of lynch law, was accomplished without serious injury either to the seizers of the 35 officers who vainly sought to defend the citadel.

The defense of the jail failed because Sheriff Emig and his forces ran out of tear gas bombs, Brier continued. Bombs kept the determined mob off for several hours.

Help from San Francisco and Oakland officers arrived too late to save the Hart slayers.

See more front pages: Go to SFChronicle.com/covers to search a database of hundreds of Chronicle Covers articles that showcase the newspapers history.

More from the Archive The Vault Home of the San Francisco Chronicle's archive and more than 150 years of journalism covering the Bay Area and beyond.

Chronicle Covers highlights one classic Chronicle newspaper page from our archive every day for 366 days. Library director Bill Van Niekerken and producers Kimberly Chua, Michelle Devera and Jillian Sullivan contributed to the project. Tim ORourke is the executive producer and editor of SFChronicle.com. Email: torourke@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @TimothyORourke

(Click to enlarge)




By PTI: From M Zulqernain

Lahore, Nov 27 (PTI) For the first time, an Indian Sikh has held an exhibition at Guru Nanaks birthplace displaying the images of sacred trees in Sikhism after which nearly 60 Gurudwaras have been named in India and Pakistan.

The exhibition has been put up in the main parikrama of the Nankana Sahib Gurudwara, the birthplace of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh religion.

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The exhibition, inaugurated last Friday by retired Indian IAS officer DS Jaspal, comprises 21 panels.

Each panel has an image of the sacred tree from Jaspals book Tryst with Trees, along with a brief description of its botanical features, its health status, as well as the relationship between the tree and the historical and religious background of the shrine.

Prominent Sikhs, including members of the Pakistan Sigh Gurdwara Parbhandik Committee, attended the inauguration ceremony.

Speaking on the occasion, Khalid Ali, Additional Secretary, Evacuee Property Trust Board Pakistan, said that the exhibition "sends a strong message not only for peace and religious harmony but also for nature and environment and, in particular, of the relevance of religion in promoting conservation efforts."

Complimenting Jaspal for his pioneering research in documenting, with beautiful photographs, sacred Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan which are named after trees, Khalid said the exhibition will be of interest not only to Sikhs, but also to all nature lovers.

In his pictorial book, Jaspal has documented with photographs 58 sacred Sikh shrines in India and Pakistan which are named after 19 species of trees, like Gurudwara Babe-di-Ber in Sialkot; Gurudwara Nim Sahib in Patiala; Gurudwara Tahli Sahib; Gurudwara Ritha Sahib; Gurudwara Amb Sahib; Gurudwara Imli Sahib; Gurudwara Pipli Sahib; Gurudwara Jand Sahib; Gurudwara Phalahi Sahib.

According to Jaspal, although love and respect for nature and environment are common to every religious faith, the naming of sacred shrines after trees is unique to the Sikh religion.

He pointed out that during the time of Guru Nanak, Nankana Sahib and its environs were thickly forested with hardy species like the Van, Jand and Phalahi which are now almost extinct.

Guru Nanak would often retreat into the forest for meditation and to be in the company of saints and seers, he said.

Jaspal, who has held exhibitions in New York, Washington, Oslo, Delhi, Chandigarh and Lahore travelled extensively in India and Pakistan over a period of three years to compile the material and photographs for his book. PTI MZ MRJ AKJ MRJ

--- ENDS ---
A rustling in the brush snapped us to attention. Just 30 yards away, the outline of a black-tailed deer, a healthy doe ready to breed, emerged for a moment in a gap between the branches.

On my left, my 15-year-old pal, Jack Borden, raised his rifle and fired, but could not get a clean shot.

A few minutes later, two other does appeared, but for only a second. They seemed to vanish in the thicket. Earlier, wed a seen a young buck, and now with the does here, the scene all made sense.

Deer are now in the rut  that is, the mating season, when they throw caution to the wind in their DNA-imprinted mission to pass on their genetics. They need food, water and places to hide from predators, Jack has learned, the habitat that must be protected to support high wildlife numbers.

One of the deer appeared again and Jack fired once more. But just as before, it wasnt a clean shot. He learned how hard it can be to get wildlife in your scope, clear and close.

In this case, the rifle was a camera with a long lens mounted on a rifle stock. For long-distance telescope-like views, we also mounted a spotting scope on the stock.

With a camera instead of a firearm on a rifle stock, this is how you can parlay catch-and-release hunting into a wildlife adventure with an educational mission.

The past few weeks, I tinkered with a homemade, shoulder-fit gun stock as a mount for a camera, spotting scope and video camera. We finally got it right this past week.

In a coming era where few youth and Millennials are connected to nature, this is one way educators can break the barrier to outdoor education, and with it teach the protection of habitat and wildlife.

According to U.S. census data, 95 percent of Californians live in an area classified as urban, with little connection to wildlife, wild places and the need to protect them. Nationally, the number is 81 percent. Youth and Millennials from urban areas are instead connected to their cell phones, tablets, computers and televisions, and many seem to walk around with their phones in front of their faces as if the phenomenon were a new permanent genetic mutation.

And yet there is a fascination with wild animals and birds. Ive met with students from age 7 up this past year in their classrooms and they talk of their wildlife sightings, like seeing a bear or bald eagle, as if they have received a special Christmas gift. You learn that many have never seen a bear, a bald eagle, a bobcat, fox or many other species of wildlife that are common in California.

At 15, my friend Jack has never hunted, and like 99 percent of youth and Millennials, he probably never will. But with a camera on a rifle, the idea of catch-and-release hunting is compelling, provocative and satisfying for a teenager  a situation where after a good shot, the hunt ends with the animal walking away unharmed.

Because there is no season on photography, it means the chance of seeing wildlife is much higher than during a hunting season.

In the past year or so, Ive done catch-and-release hunting to get closeup photos of deer in a variety of situations, plus bear, elk, fox, turkey, bald eagles, whales and many other wildlife species. When I show these photos in classroom seminars to youngsters, the outbursts, laughter and oohs and aahs are unforgettable. The teachers often say their students rapt attention is beyond what they exhibit for any other subject.

If you want to see wildlife, you learn that you have to find habitat that will support high wildlife numbers. A wetlands that has been bulldozed for a shopping mall, for instance, does not have the food, water and protective areas from predators that wildlife require.

The first rewards of catch-and-release hunting, youngsters can discover, are exploring wild, beautiful places in nature. For a successful trip, you often end up visiting some of the most beautiful places on Earth.

Then, to get a clean shot, you need the combined skills of a technician, athlete and detective: You have to be technically competent to operate your equipment smoothly under time pressure; your body has to be fit to stand up to hiking, tracking and spot-and-stalking; and you have to be a detective to find wildlife and get close enough for a shot without being detected.

I believe this is the best way to teach youth and Millennials about wildlife. When you fall in love with something, this is when you are most apt to want to protect it.

Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoor writer. E-mail tstienstra@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @StienstraTom

California wildlife list (major species)

Predators: bear, bobcat, coyote, fox, mountain lion.

Major mammals: beaver, bighorn sheep, deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, wild pig.

Common mammals: chickaree, chipmunk, marmot, opossum, river otter, porcupine, raccoon, skunk, squirrel.

Rare mammals: badger, fisher, pine marten, mink, wolverine.

Raptors: bald eagle, golden eagle, peregrine falcon, red-tailed hawk, kestrel, great horned owl, barn owl.

Upland game birds: chukar, dove, grouse, pheasant, pigeon, quail, wild turkey.

Waterfowl: coot, ducks (pintail, wigeon, mallard, teal, shoveler, wood, gadwall, bufflehead, canvasback, merganser; many others), geese (snow, Ross, white-fronted, Canada).

Shorebirds (often multiple species of each): Herons, egrets, grebe, curlew, avocet, plovers, dowitcher, stilt, killdeer, willet, sandpiper, many others.

Contact: Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Area regional office, (707) 944-5500, www.wildlife.ca.gov.
Authenticity is at the heart of everything in the Mission.

The historically vibrant swath of San Francisco has long been a patchwork of cultural enclaves. It remains, for the most part, the epicenter of the citys Latin culture.

But in a time when the Missions populace seems more transplant than native, discerning the neighborhoods new authenticity has become a difficult task, especially for the legacy businesses trying to tactfully balance their rich history with the desires of a new population.

A handful of longtime haunts along 24th Street serve as barometers of the tension. La Victoria Bakery, Pops Bar and the Roosevelt Sip N Eat  formerly the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor  are adjusting to a new neighborhood audience. All have been open for at least six decades; all are now trying to modernize their businesses in a quest for long-term financial sustainability.

Theres a lot of people in this neighborhood who have been here for 20, 30, 40, 50 years, said Jaime Maldonado, owner of La Victoria Bakery, who is planning to add a bistro to his 65-year-old business in a bid to expand his customer base. This is one of those spaces thats owner- and concept-driven. What I mean by that is if Im here and I let people know how I want it to run, itll have that certain spirit.

Aaron Presbrey and Barry Moore reopened the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor this month as the Roosevelt Sip N Eat. For the first time in nearly a century, the restaurant no longer serves Mexican fare. The new menu features California cuisine with an emphasis placed on locally sourced products, like a salad of organic winter greens, pears and melons, or half a roasted free-range chicken.

The Roosevelt Tamale Parlor left a neighborhood with a rapidly decreasing Latino population. In 2000, 60 percent of the communitys residents were Latino. As of 2015, it was closer to 48 percent, and, if trends continue, the numbers could drop to around 30 percent by 2025, according to a recent report by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Meanwhile, median household incomes climbed from around $71,083 in 2010 to $93,750 in 2014, according to census data.

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

Yet thriving, or even surviving, as a restaurant along 24th Street requires a more intricate formula than just opening an upscale place that caters to the new influx. Local Mission Eatery and Sous Beurre Kitchen  two of the strips most expensive restaurants  both closed in the past year, the latter lasting only 15 months.

When news broke of their new management roles at the Roosevelt Tamale Parlor in 2012, Presbrey said the reaction on social media was mixed. Some accused the duo of being tech bros only concerned with accelerating the areas gentrification.

Neither Presbrey nor Moore has a tech backgrounds. And both have been residents of the Bay Area for more than two decades. To ease concerns, the pair listened to the feedback and left the restaurant primarily unchanged.

However, they said the business model eventually became untenable, because of elevated operating costs, rising minimum wage and a labor shortage. The restaurant closed in December 2015. They tried to sell it; when no buyers appeared, they decided to reopen it.

Yes, the food has changed, but we still want it to be a place thats accessible for the neighborhood and to people in general, he said.

The litmus test will be the communitys response, and Presbrey said the input, including on social media, is something that has to be taken into account, for better or for worse.

More by Justin Phillips 10 last-minute Thanksgiving restaurant options in San Francisco

Between Yelp and Facebook, you get this immediate response to everything, he said. The immediacy of it for us, as business owners, allows us to constantly keep track of what were doing and how what were doing is impacting people.

While the path forward for the newly minted Roosevelt Sip N Eat remains uncharted, he said cultivating an authenticity rooted in the past needs a simple approach. We just have to have faith.

Like the owners of the Roosevelt Sip N Eat, Pops Bar owners Tom Tierney and Michael Krouse faced resistance when news spread that they had bought the decades-old dive bar in 2013. Tierney said he was labeled a tech guy, like Presbrey, even though he also didnt have connections to big-name tech companies.

Comments on Facebook and blogs disparaged the direction of the bar, even before any vision for the future had taken shape.

People thought we were some rich guys. Im the son of a cop and a hairdresser. Were just two dudes who are trying to create something people liked, he said. The fear of change is always worse than actual change.

After renovations, Tierney and Krouse changed relatively little, namely just keeping it a straightforward bar. The efforts to listen to the public seem to be working. On a recent Wednesday afternoon, the bar had about eight patrons inside and a few more milling about near the entrance. The bar has consistent regulars, Tierney said, and most nights new customers seem to find their way to the building.

Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Less than three blocks away at La Victoria Bakery, Jaime Maldonado is all too familiar with the balancing act between old and new on 24th Street.

La Victoria, on the corner of Alabama, has been a staple of the community for more than 60 years. Led by Maldonado  a man some nearby business owners consider a showman, or cook, or neighborhood iconoclast  the traditional Mexican bakery has made continual tweaks to stay relevant over the years. Everything from experimenting with pop-ups to adding beignets to the menu have helped spur new business over the years.

Santo at La Victoria, described as a Latin-inspired bistro, is his latest project. The restaurant will be a turn for the modern, featuring an expanded seasonal menu with 12 small plates for less than $10.

Look, weve been a hole in the wall for 70 years. I think we cannot be a hole in the wall for a while, Maldonado said recently when discussing the locations pending renovations.

Similar to what Presbrey and Moore are trying at the Roosevelt, Maldonado said he wants to preserve the spirit and authenticity of La Victoria. Still, if Santo is able to gain traction within the neighborhood, new and future residents may one day know the place more for its seasonal menu and libations than its baked goods and fresh coffee.

When word of Maldonados idea spread, he said some resistance came from various directions. He said community members, warranted or not, were concerned about late-night drinking in the neighborhood and the elements it could attract.

Still, Maldonado is moving forward with Santo, backed by the same mantra hes had in past efforts: Keep it simple, keep it friendly to the community, and remain authentic to his Latin culture.

Santiago Mejia/The Chronicle

All of the really high-end taquerias in the Mission and Valencia arent even owned by Latinos. Theyre owned by good businessmen  and thats totally fine. I respect them for it, Maldonado said. But at some point there has to be a Latino that does it right and does it elegantly and has respect for the community. I dont think there has been anyone who has true respect, businesswise, for the community.

Tierney echoes Maldonados sentiments, noting that the respect earned over time is an integral part of their continued existence in the Mission. And the respect stems from being a genuine part of the community, he said.

The neighborhood decides what we are, he said. And as far as all the things that are happening here, well roll with whatever comes our way.

Justin Phillips is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email jphillips@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @JustMrPhillips
Jacom Stephens / Getty Images

Two men died Saturday night after their two-door coupe crashed into a tree on the Central Expressway in Sunnyvale, shutting off traffic in both directions between Bernardo and Mary avenues.

The crash happened about 5:35 p.m., said Capt. Vince Chetcuti, a spokesman for the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety. The car was heading east on the freeway when it spun into the median and hit the tree, he said.
In an election year in which we have heard so much about winning, David Szalays odd and eloquent novel, All That Man Is, is a testament to the pervasiveness of loss. Not so much the loss of a loved one or marriage, though Szalays characters at points encounter both, but rather all the other losses that color the anxieties of our times: losses of power and wealth, status and job security, not to mention the ability, when going out at night, to pull. The characters in Szalays powerfully melancholic fiction struggle with one or a combination of these diminishments.

They are also all men. Szalays interesting conceit, in a hybrid work short-listed for this years Man Booker Prize, is to string nine separate stories together about men at different ages, climbing up from 17 to 73, to form a composite portrait of white European manhood. In creating characters from a wide range of classes and nationalities, among them English, Polish, Scottish and Danish, Szalay, himself Canadian, provides a curiously unified portrait of All that Man Is.

The fundamental state of each protagonist is one of displacement. In every piece, men are traveling, whether a casual tourist, teenagers roughing it across Europe, an aimless college dropout on a package holiday in Cyprus, or on business, sometimes legitimate (the potential development of Alpine holiday chalets), sometimes shady (a couple of Hungarians organizing high-end prostitution gigs in London).

Searching for meaning, or at least satisfaction and the closing of some kind of deal, these mens relations with each other and with the women they hit on are frequently fueled by large amounts of alcohol and regular infusions of fast food.

If this sounds bleak, well  the settings often are, and yet these closely observed, untitled accounts are unnerving and compelling, and have a haunting cumulative effect.

In careful, spare prose reminiscent of Ian McEwans, Szalay captures landscapes urban (Londons little mazy streets of pinched, identical houses), rural (the lagoon, when he arrives at it, shines like a sheet of metal in northern Italy), and frequently a suburban in-between: Cluses is prosaic, a series of small roundabouts. Flower baskets hanging from streetlights. Midget plane trees brutally pollarded in the French fashion. His chapters cover hundreds of miles of vivid motorway, air travel and the occasional sea crossing.

Though we know them each briefly, these men are so authentic  and, frequently, so hapless  that they earn our sympathy. Szalays nicely specific details ground these characterizations: the underemployed security guard Balazs, not fully in control of his own violent urges, tries after his long night shifts to finish reading Harry Potter es a Titkok Kamraja; a bitter, lost Scot named Murray, after pursuing a doomed purchase of a minibus fleet in Croatia, chats up a middle-aged woman he is only faintly attracted to by talking to her for a full half hour about the entire Mercedes range.

Szalays method does not so much show his characters reaching a definite destination as allow us to accompany them on one part of their (existential) journeys. Simon, the brainy but somewhat sullen schoolboy traveling through Germany and Prague with the more gregarious Ferdinand, reflects soulfully on the girl he is in love with back in Didcot, the only where I want to be, as he writes in his diary. (Simon is the only character who reappears in later pages, as an offstage presence in the last story, about his aging grandfather Tony.)

James, the English deal maker assessing the low-end chalets, keeps reminding himself of a stark midlife truth: Its not a joke. Life is not a joke. Tony, visited in a Ravenna hospital by his near-indifferent wife of 45 years, tries to hold onto a Latin inscription he found in the monastery he had driven to, the day of the car accident. Amemus eternal et non peritura. Let us love what is eternal and not what is transient.

Dark though it is, Szalays work is paradoxically consoling, as he allows his characters, even in the midst of their failure and alienation, unexpected moments of connection  of light, both literal and metaphorical. After getting fired, a young Frenchman goes on a pre-booked holiday to Cyprus  alone, though this makes him feel loserish  yet at his shabby, disappointing hotel he encounters an English mother-daughter pair with whom he enjoys an erotic adventure.

In a later piece, a Russian oligarch in his 60s, facing unprecedented material loss after the failure of an ill-advised lawsuit, spends a moody night aboard his mega-yacht, contemplating suicide; a series of shared meals sees him trying to engage with his lawyer, an English acquaintance, and finally one of his bodyguards.

In this remarkable book, Szalay pursues an essential truth, important to recognize in our globalizing times: The geographies change, yet the self remains. Whoever and however old a man is, he must face his life. And live it.

Sylvia Brownrigg is the author of five novels, including a book for children, Keplers Dream, published under the name Juliet Bell. Email: books@sfchronicle.com

All That Man Is

By David Szalay

(Graywolf Press; 358 pages; $26)
Most of the cast of the frenetic childrens musical in Francine Proses new novel, Mister Monkey, loathe the eponymous play and its ludicrous dance numbers. The author of the childrens book the play is based on loathes it. Even Mario, the theater-loving waiter whos seen the show multiple times, has to admit to himself that the plot  a love story arising from a court case to defend an unjustly accused chimpanzee  is imbecilic. In fact, one of the books most appealing characters, dinosaur-loving kindergartner Edward, asks at an unfortunately quiet moment in the performance, Grandpa, are you interested in this?

Prose said in an NPR interview that her own granddaughter asked her this question at a different childrens play. Having answered, Yes, I am, she then felt the need to write the novel so as not to have been lying.

The author of more than two dozen works of fiction and nonfiction, including the novel Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, Prose has expanded this one moment into an imaginative, satirical and melancholy portrait of a group of New Yorkers loosely connected through the play.

Prose pursues the idea of what it means to be interested in various forms through the books intersecting chapters, which move from character to character, intimately inhabiting each persons consciousness and concerns.

Margot, who plays the chimpanzees lawyer, Portia, mourns the shame and waste of her once-promising career. Adam, the adolescent playing Mister Monkey, finds himself possessed by mischievous urges that lead to the unraveling of the other actors performances. Eleanor, the villain of the musical  an emergency-room nurse in her day job  prays constantly, trying to keep from giving way to irritation and judgment even as she performs surprising acts of charity.

On the surface, the novel makes highly entertaining theater out of the characters lives and the increasingly disastrous performances of the play. Underneath, the book is as serious as the characters are about their obsessive concerns: climate change, evolution and disintegration, failure and loneliness. The characters grapple with mortality  their own prospective deaths, the imagined or actual deaths of their parents, and the even more dire sense of the oncoming end of the world.

Uncle Vanya, the Chekhov play that unites environmental despair with failures of love and connection, threads through the novel, though ironically the main plot twist arising from its inclusion in Mister Monkey leads to love rather than patient acquiescence. As in Uncle Vanya, Mister Monkeys central characters find themselves drawn into extended agonizing moments, awkward, wonderfully funny, theatrical and sometimes life-changing eruptions.

The books language slides easily from highly readable vernacular into prose poetry, as when Adam, looking out of his Battery Park window, moves from reality into fantasy: Marionette strings of moonbeams yank at the waves until the current boils up, splashing over the sidewalk, licking the trees. Now only the points of the Statue of Libertys crown are visible, poking holes in the clouds through which the rain sheets down. Fish ride the swollen river, which dumps them on the rooftops, where they flop around, gasping and dying, until swarms of hungry seagulls swoop down, and a red curtain of fish blood and guts slicks Adams window.

He has a brief, hopeful vision of Noahs ark but immediately reminds himself that hes read his Darwin. The earths inhabitants will undergo a change. Species will become extinct. Humans will be the first to go.

His imagined boat floats by, luxurious but emptied of people, and grief wells up inside him. It is so unfair! Hes still a kid. He hasnt had his life yet. Let this happen to the selfish shead grown-ups who caused the problems in the first place.

In each chapter, some bewildering moment or remark raises the question, What could he/she have been thinking? Then, in the next chapter, the point of view changes so that we discover the answers. Prose turns a fiercely satirical gaze on many of the minor characters and even some of the central ones. As we step inside the roles and minds of the character currently in the spotlight, though, the narrative considers each one with a sharp but enveloping sympathy, as if the book felt the kind of semi-hopeless love for its characters that Edwards grandfather feels for his grandson.

The cruelest characters here turn out to be driven by despair, but then so are some of the most loving. The characters choices are limited: They can choose love, theater, curiosity and the hurdy-gurdy, despite despair, or they can give way to destructiveness, since what does it matter, if were all doomed? Neither the characters nor the book allow for the possibility of survival or adaptation.

In this novel, the imminent end of the world feels as inevitable as the end of a particular life. Mister Monkey itself, though, is gripping and engaging all the way through, the characters miseries as moving as their fierce attachments to hope and the possibility of unexpected mercies.

Sarah Stone is the author of the novel The True Sources of the Nile. Email: books@sfchronicle.com

Mister Monkey

By Francine Prose

(Harper; 285 pages; $26.99)
"Twenty-two rebels were observed to have symptoms of being exposed to chemical gas in their eyes and bodies as a result of the rocket fired by Daesh," media reports quoted the army statement as saying.

Rebel fighters gather during their advance towards the ISIS-held city of al-Bab, northern Syria. (Image: Reuters)

By Reuters:

ISIS militants have fired a rocket in northern Syria that caused symptoms of "chemical gas" exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited Turkey's military as saying on Sunday.

ATTACK

The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have for days been besieging the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab, a major goal in Ankara's "Euphrates Shield" operation to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

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According to the state-run Anadolu agency, the ISIS rocket attack occurred in the Haliliye area. The army did not specify where the attack had taken place.

"Twenty-two rebels were observed to have symptoms of being exposed to chemical gas in their eyes and bodies as a result of the rocket fired by Daesh," media reports quoted the army statement as saying, using an Arabic acronym for ISIS.

The rebels were transferred to a hospital in Turkey's border province of Kilis on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches, Hurriyet newspaper reported on its website.

Turkish AFAD emergency relief teams conducted various tests on them to check for traces of chemical, other media reported.

TURKISH AIR STRIKES

In the last 24 hours around al-Bab, Turkish jets have destroyed four ISIS targets in the Anifah region, and one Turkey-backed Syrian rebel has been killed and 14 wounded in clashes, the military said.

On Thursday, three Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike in Syria which the army said it believed was carried out by the Syrian air force. It happened on the first anniversary of Turkey's downing of a Russian jet over Syria and raised fears of an escalation in the conflict.

After the air strike, Dogan news agency said on Saturday Turkey deployed low-altitude air defense systems with Stinger missiles to Gaziantep province on its Syrian border.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the air strike with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. They spoke again late on Saturday about "Syria and efforts to resolve the humanitarian drama in Aleppo", sources in Erdogan's office said.

Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main military backer. Turkey backs rebels fighting to oust him.

Ankara and Moscow only restored ties, which had been damaged by November's jet incident, in August. While they continue to pursue conflicting goals in Syria, Turkey has of late been less openly critical of Assad than in the past.

ALSO READ:

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--- ENDS ---
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We live in time, but not confined to it; past and present blur into an unnameable future. It is in this realm that the great American poet Philip Levine walked, from the streets of Detroit to the fields of Fresno, trying to make sense of the seemingly senseless, celebrating the truly forgotten men and women of our society, in sharp contrast to the cheap slogans, dog whistles and empty rhetoric of the day.

In two new posthumous collections, The Last Shift and My Lost Poets, scrupulously edited by Levines devoted friend and fellow poet Edward Hirsch, we see the range and depth of his emotions, literary scope and political passions.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning poets tone is always deliberate, conversational, in the tradition of William Carlos Williams, and attentive to detail. A champion of the working class, Levine, who died last year at 87, can bring to mind the sardonic, street-smart ear of fellow Michiganders Elmore Leonard, Jim Harrison and even (dare I say it?) Eminem.

Slow learner though I am, it took me one night/ to discover that rain in New York City/ is just like rain in Detroit. It gets you wet, he writes in the (fittingly titled) Urban Myths.

More Than You Gave depicts past memories:

We have

our curses, our gripes, our lies all on the stale breath

of 6:37 a.m. in the city no one dreams ... Where are our angels?

... Instead, at 6:43 am, we have Vartan Baghosian with a face seamed like a softball and Minky Schantz, who pitched three games for the Toledo Mud Hens in 39 and lost them all.

In My Lost Poets, which serves as a coda to his earlier memoir, The Bread of Time, the former U.S. poet laureate fondly recalls youthful friends like Bernard Strempek, a tall, loose-limbed boy with the hurt face of a fallen angel  he looked no older than fifteen. Whispering words in the Miles Poetry Room at Wayne College (later renamed Wayne State), he bonds with others  Dudley Randall, Paul Petrie, Ulysses Wardlaw, Ruby Teague.

These are not names you will find in poetry journals, but its abundantly clear that Levine could care less about false fame.

Where would I have been without ... my comrades, whose words inspired me, whose belief in me kept me going, he writes. Where would I have been without all of them ... without the dreams of all my lost or forgotten poets, my brothers and sisters in madness and glory who shared with me their faith in the power of the perfect words, the words we knew as children and then forgot.

Its an occasional book in the best sense  you never get the sense that the poet, despite advancing years, is looking over his shoulder to posterity. Instead, he looks directly at you, the world and the mysteries of his soul.

Theres some delicious gossip about a Los Angeles expedition with his mentor, a very inebriated John Berryman, which culminates in a bemused account of Robert Lowells aristocratic hauteur (only unbent, in this telling, when the Boston Brahmin is taken to a film set by Christopher Isherwood and catches a fascinated glimpse of the half-clad Jayne Mansfield).

His deeply sympathetic reading of the poets  Lorca, Rafael Alberti, Cesar Vallejo and Antonio Machado  whose work soared in response to the Spanish Civil War  resonates, as does his disdain for others (Auden, Stephen Spender) who in his view only scraped the surface of this world-historical tragedy.

The collections final essay, Getting and Spending, rebukes Wordsworths dogged self-regard (he once snubbed Keats, an unforgivable sin), and elegizes Larry Levis, a Central Valley poet who died too young. Levis poem Whitman disgustedly recounts how a shopping center was renamed in honor of the bards torn-down Long Island house, and quotes the telling epigraph of Democratic Vistas: I say we had better look our nation searchingly in the face, like a physician diagnosing a deep disease.

Levine, just as angry, takes it a step further:

The Walt Whitman shopping center does exist. You enter it from an eight-lane freeway on which no one  hopefully  is reading Song of Myself. Once the poets house was gone, the next thing America set about was the murder of the poets words, and that was simple: they made him assigned reading.

The Last Shift ends, appropriately, with the title poem, which displays a sense of melancholy no less deeply felt than, say, Robert Frost or Wallace Stevens, but has considerably more urban bite.

The narrator is on his way to work as usual when traffic stalls. He hears the radio playing the same violins and voices I didnt listen to each morning, and passes an alley where guys in greasy jackets were keeping warm by a little fire made from fence posts and garage doors/ and tossing their empty wine bottles into the street. The car stalls, as he sits in frozen silence. It was strangely quiet, another town or maybe another world.

These places where I had lived

all the days of my life were giving up

their hold on me and not a moment too soon.

Philip Levine, poet, polemicist, teacher, truth teller, is neither lost, nor last. His words are here to guide us. Will we listen?

Paul Wilner is a Bay Area writer and teacher. Email: books@sfchronicle.com

The Last Shift

Poems

By Philip Levine

(Knopf; 79 pages; $26.95)

My Lost Poets

A Life in Poetry

By Philip Levine

(Knopf; 210 pages; $26.95)
Shortly before 5 a.m., a party of eighteen men  most of them officers of the French army  climbed to the second floor of Saint-Lazare, the womens prison in Paris.

The Spy, a novel by Paulo Coelho

One afternoon, when Bruno came home from school, he was surprised to find Maria, the familys maid  who always kept her head bowed and never looked up from the carpet  standing in his bedroom, pulling all his belongings out of the wardrobe and packing them in four large wooden crates, even the things hed hidden at the back that belonged to him and were nobody elses business.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a novel, now in a new edition, by John Boyne

I remember stopping short midmovement.
Two forms of arts  ballet and photography  combined last month in an effort to disprove the controversial immigration rhetoric provided by President-elect Donald Trump, the artist behind the project said.

Omar Z Robles, an official Fujifilm X-Photographer, often uses bustling New York City streets as his photography studios. After completing a similar series in Cuba, Robles set his focus on Mexico City, while Trump's words from a June 2015 speech "echoed" in his mind, he said on his blog.
Dialed in. Thats the musical term for it. Its not so much about sheer virtuosity as it is a natural and intuitive connection with ones instrument, which seems to be just about any musical instrument in the hands of Jackie Greene.

To mark his 36th birthday, the reigning prince, wandering minstrel and, in Bob Weirs words, cowboy poet of Americana blues rock returned home, not far from his Salinas stomping grounds, and brought with him an all-star lineup of the North Bay jam elite.

Mildly delayed by security  you cant be too careful with a crowd of well-heeled, middle-aged Marin post-hippies  the first set featured Greene in his comfort zone backed by his own four-piece electric touring band and joined by fellow multi-instrumentalist Jason Crosby on organ and electric piano.

Crosby is a relatively recent New York transplant who has been musically ubiquitous in the clubs of the Bay Area since his arrival in 2013. Hes one of those sickening people who can play any instrument he picks up better than anyone else in the room, not unlike Greene himself. And to make matters worse, like Greene hes also humble and just a generally nice guy. He mostly stuck to the keys this evening, bringing out his fiddle only once during a mostly acoustic middle set. Crosbys musical instincts are on point with an even combination of taste, melodic creativity and chops, rarely playing a note out of place.

The band grew over the course of the set and throughout the evening with versatile guitarist Mark Karan of Fairfax taking the stage next for a cover of Traffics Medicated Goo. Karan is best known for his work with post-Grateful Dead the Other Ones as well as several years in support of Weir in Rat Dog, and he draws from a vast reservoir of licks earned from decades of session work in the blues, rock and country idioms. Karans melodic sensibility was a pleasing contrast to Greene and guitarist Nathan Dales more bombastic, blues-steeped approach.

Session drummer and producer Bruce Spencer joined Greene drummer Fitz Harris for the remainder of the first set, and while both drummers played with skill, taste and sensitivity, the overall sound space was beginning to get a bit cluttered, which was an increasing challenge throughout the night. As more musicians took the stage, it became more and more challenging to hear anyones individual playing in a nuanced way. Nuance aside, Spencers chops were on full display in a punishing cover of the Allman Brothers Hot Lanta.

Weir, an unannounced special guest, led the band through two songs from his new solo album, Blue Mountain, to kick off a brief acoustic tweener set that provided some sonic relief. Weirs weathered but still-improving-with-age lead vocals carried Gonesville, Lay My Lily Down and the set closing sing-along Ripple.

A crowd evenly mixed between fans of Greene and those of the Grateful Dead had already had a satisfying night of music before the third-set payoff featuring both Weir and Phil Lesh playing through a set of Dead classics. Greene bassist Jon Cornell began the set backing Weir on Jack Straw and a free-for-all rendition of the Temptations barroom standard Shakey Ground before graciously ceding the low end to Lesh for the remainder of the evening.

Cornell is an excellent, solid, soulful bassist, but it was striking how much Lesh elevated the overall ensemble sound by virtue of his unique melodic style and incredible clarity of tone. Lesh was in top form, and as the first notes of Scarlet Begonias rang out, the celebration was on for a set of crowd-pleasing favorites, including Fire on the Mountain featuring Nicki Bluhm on lead vocals, Dark Star, Im So Gone, Shakedown Street segueing (clumsily) into Pink Floyds Another Brick in the Wall and back, China Cat Sunflower and I Know You Rider.

The band grew to as many as 12 players  five guitarists, two drummers, two bassists, two keyboardists and a vocalist  when Greenes brother Alex Nelson joined Crosby on keys and Ross James stepped in on guitar. In those moments it was a bit overblown and difficult to discern any meaningful interplay, but the energy and love for the players and this musical catalog overshadowed what may have been a slightly under-rehearsed large ensemble.

To begin the encore, Bluhm led a rambunctious chorus of Happy Birthday before sharing an anecdote that shed known Greene since childhood and that all he ever wanted to be was an old man. Weir gave a wink and one more nod to Salinas favorite cowboy poet and closed the evening with an encore of Sugaree, every word supported by a satisfied capacity crowd.

Joshua Zucker is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jzucker@sfchronicle.com
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Nick Valensi is the latest and last member of the Strokes to strike out with a side project. His band CRX, named after an old Honda sport compact car, is on tour in support of its debut album, New Skin, which was produced by Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age. While working on the music  heavier and darker than what he makes in his day job  Valensi continued to play with the Strokes and raise his 10-year-old twins with British photographer Amanda de Cadenet. We spoke to him from his home in Los Angeles.

Q: You started writing these songs three years ago  did you know where they were going to end up?

A: I didnt really have any preconceptions about what the end result would be. I just wrote a bunch and pursued the things that turned me on the most. I think when youre in the early stages of writing, its important to shut off the part of your brain that tries to edit or criticize. That function comes in handy later, but if you let it in too early, you can trip yourself up.

Q: Youre the last member of the Strokes to put out an album on your own. Why didnt you do it earlier?

A: I started a family and moved to L.A. in 2008. At that time, I was actually pretty psyched to be touring less because it gave me the opportunity to be around for my kids and do dad stuff for a few years.

Q: How has fatherhood changed you as a person?

A: My wife says Im softer.

Q: Do the people on the schoolyard know or care who you are?

A: I dont think so. Sometimes when Im with my kids at the park, the moms will give me a dirty look, like, Who left those cute kids with that homeless man?

Q: You started this whole thing at home. Do you define it as a solo project or is it truly a band?

A: I started it by myself, but after about a year of writing, demoing and figuring out how to sing, I completely hit a wall. I reached out to some friends for help, and thats kind of how the band came together. They helped me finish up lyrics, and we co-wrote some music together, so the band just kind of happened naturally.

Q: You turned to Trent Reznors music for lyrical inspiration when you had writers block. Why him?

A: I wasnt always into Nine Inch Nails, so Im kind of late to the party with them, but now I really love them. Something about the simplicity in the lyrics spoke to me and would kind of get me unstuck.

Q: Is it weird to look up on onstage and see a bunch of different guys?

A: The first few shows it was kind of unusual. Not unusual, but just novel. Learning the movements and dynamics of other people when youve been performing one way for so long, I guess it takes a minute.

Aidin Vaziri is The San Francisco Chronicles pop music critic. E-mail: avaziri@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MusicSF

CRX: 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3. $16. Slims, 333 11th St., S.F. www.slimspresents.com
MIAMI  Fidel Castros death triggered an emotional and long-awaited celebration in Miamis large Cuban-American community Saturday as peaceful demonstrators waved flags and honked car horns, many cheering with joy and others weeping for family members who didnt live to see this day.

Yet it was also a bittersweet time as most realize Castros passing will not immediately translate into freedom or democracy on the oppressive communist island and that much work remains to enact change in Cuba.

We need for the people of Cuba to have the freedom we have in the U.S., but this changes nothing. There wont be change until the people revolt, said Juan Cobas, 50, who came to the U.S. from Cuba at age 13.

Others saw Castros death as a sign that a generation that has ruled Cuba for nearly 60 years is passing from the world stage, with many noting that his brother, current President Raul Castro, is 85.

Im feeling this is the beginning of the end, said Alex Pineiro, 32. Fidel was the architect of whats going on. Its a mix of emotions. Im happy hes dead, but Im celebrating hope.

Within hours of the announcement early Saturday of Castros death at age 90, thousands of people banged pots with spoons, waved Cuban and U.S. flags in the air and whooped in jubilation on Calle Ocho  Eighth Street, and the heart of Little Havana. Honking horns and strains of salsa music from car stereos echoed, and fireworks lit up the night sky.

Police blocked off streets leading to Cafe Versailles, the quintessential Cuban-American hotspot where strong cafecitos  sweetened espresso  were as common as a harsh word about Fidel Castro.

Cuba si! Castro no! they chanted, while others screamed Cuba libre!

Celebration, not grief, permeated the atmosphere. Castro has cast a shadow over Miami for decades, and in many ways, his policy and his power have shaped the city and its inhabitants.

Were not celebrating that someone died, but that this is finished, said 30-year-old Erick Martinez, who emigrated from Cuba four years ago.

There were no reports of violence or any arrests during the demonstrations, Miami police spokeswoman Kenia Fallat said Saturday.

News of Castros death was long anticipated by the exiles. Rumors have come and gone for decades, and Castros death had become something of a joke. This time, though, it was real.

Were all celebrating. This is like a carnival, said 72-year-old Jay Fernandez, who came to Miami when he was 18.
1 Murder-suicide: Preliminary evidence points to 22-year-old McKay Hutton as the gunman in a murder-suicide that left four dead  including an infant  at an Alaska hotel, police said Saturday. A motive is unknown in the deaths of Linda Hutton, 54, Emily McDonald, 22, and 2-month-old Teagan Hutton, according to Fairbanks police. Hotel staff called police Friday afternoon. When officers arrived, a man found crying in a second-floor hallway directed police to a nearby room, where they found the bodies. The man is a family member and is not a suspect.

2 Flight noise: Orange County, concerned that proposed changes in flight paths at its John Wayne Airport could inundate surrounding communities with noise, has joined the city of Newport Beach in suing the Federal Aviation Administration. The county filed a petition in federal court to join the suit that seeks to prevent the FAA from changing the paths of arriving and departing flights. The petition argues the proposed changes could lead to a significant increase in jet noise for the areas surrounding the county-owned-and-operated facility.
By Srijani Ganguly/Mail Today: Jeffrey Archer has written several plot twists over the years but there is one very real twist of fate that even he couldn't have thought of. "What Donald Trump did was stranger than fiction," he says, "You couldn't write that. What's happening in world politics right now is bizarre. If I had written in a book, a year ago, that the UK would have come out of Europe, Trump would be President and Le Pen would have a chance winning in France, people would have laughed at me."

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As these developments were taking shape in the world, the British writer was preparing himself to say goodbye to the seven-year-long enterprise called 'Clifton Chronicles'. The series, which began with Only Time Will Tell at the conclusion of World War I and followed the adventurous life of Harry Clifton, met its end in the form of This Was A Man this month.

"It's a strange feeling, now that it's all over," says the author, "When you have been writing something for seven years - nearly a million words - it's weird to finally end it. I remember when I wrote the words 'The End', I felt very strange. In a way, I'm also relieved that it's finished. It's probably the best work I've ever done."

Each key character of the series, those who have managed to survive the seven-year journey that is, is embroiled in precarious situations. Some learn the truth about their spouse, while others discover that they have only a few months to live. On top of it all is the antagonist, in the form of Lady Virginia, who is hell-bent on complicating the lives of Harry and his family. It's been a challenging ordeal, plotting out all these twists and turns. Archer says, "You set out with the family, who are all going in their different directions, and along comes Lady Virginia who changes everything. When I'm writing, I never know more than a few pages ahead so it can go in a totally different direction by the end."

Now that the 'Clifton Chronicles' has no other direction to go, other than a potential TV series, Archer is busy working on two other literary avenues. The first, which will be released next March, will be a short story collection. He adds, "It will be a collection of 12 stories. A big novel that I'll be working on a year later will be called Heads You Win. It will be about one man, and his life in both the US and the UK."

Currently, this particular man is in India on a promotional tour for This Was A Man. Archer, who has a massive fan following in this country, has been hopping from one city to another interacting with fans. Over the years, says Archer, he has received amazing emails, letters and gifts from his readers in India. "It's quite flattering that an Englishman comes over here," he says, "and is greeted by crowds wherever he goes. It's very touching because I'm nothing more than a simple storyteller."

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WASHINGTON  President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that he had fallen short in the popular vote in the general election only because millions of people had voted illegally, leveling the baseless claim as part of a daylong storm of Twitter posts voicing anger about a three-state recount push.

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.

The series of posts came one day after Hillary Clintons campaign said it would participate in a recount effort being undertaken in Wisconsin, and potentially in similar drives in Michigan and Pennsylvania, by Jill Stein, who was the Green Party candidate. Trumps statements revived claims he made during the campaign about a rigged and corrupt system.

Claims of wide-scale voter fraud have been advanced for years by Republicans, though virtually no evidence of such improprieties has been discovered  especially on the scale of millions that Trump claimed. Late Sunday, again without providing evidence, he referred in a Twitter post to serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California.

Alex Padilla, Californias secretary of state, scoffed as Trumps assertion.

His unsubstantiated allegations of voter fraud in California and elsewhere are absurd, he said in a statement Sunday. His reckless tweets are inappropriate and unbecoming of a president-elect.

ALSO Trump aides set tough tone on Cuba relations

Kim Alexander, president of the nonpartisan California Voter Foundation, a nonprofit promoting the responsible use of elections technology, said she had no idea what Trump based his fraud assertion on, but added: I can tell you that California has the most robust voting technology of any state in the country.

As for the possibility of scores of noncitizens casting votes  a notion that has gained some currency among conservatives  We know historically that this almost never happens, David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation & Research, told Politico.

Youre more likely to get eaten by a shark that simultaneously gets hit by lightning than to find a noncitizen voting, he said.

But Harmeet Dhillon, a California Committeewoman for the Republican National Committee, defended Trumps fraud claim, even as she acknowledged she was unable to quantify the extent of the problem.

There have been many episodes of voter fraud and lack of ballot integrity in California, Dhillon said, resulting from what she described as a nonsecure secretary of state website and poor verification processes at the county level. Its very Third World here in California, and election integrity seems to be a low priority in many respects.

On Saturday, Trumps transition team lambasted the idea that recounts were needed. This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, it said in a statement, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused.

That message runs counter to the one Trump sent Sunday with his fraud claims: If millions of people voted illegally, presumably officials across the country would want to pursue large-scale ballot recounts and fraud investigations.

But the Twitter posts could energize some of his supporters, who have claimed online that Clintons 2 million-vote lead in the popular vote has been faked. Trump at times promoted other conspiracy theories during the campaign, including claiming that Sen. Ted Cruzs father was somehow tied to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Many of Clintons supporters have been galvanized by the notion that vote recounts in the three states  where Trump leads by a combined total of about 100,000 votes  could somehow overturn Trumps commanding Electoral College victory. By announcing, three weeks after Clinton conceded the race, that it would participate in the Wisconsin recount, her team has helped reignite the contentious atmosphere of the campaign, of which Trumps Twitter barrages were a fixture.

Trump appeared fixated Sunday on the recount and his electoral performance. In a series of midafternoon Twitter posts, he boasted that he could have easily won the so-called popular vote if he had campaigned only in 3 or 4 states, presumably populous ones.

I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)! he wrote.

The afternoon messages followed a string of early morning posts in which the president-elect railed against the recount efforts. In an initial post, Trump wrote: Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change.

He went on to quote a comment by Clinton during one of their debates, in which she said she was horrified by Trumps refusal to say that he would accept the outcome of the election. And he noted that in her concession speech, she had urged people to respect the vote results.

We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald Trump is going to be our President, Trump wrote on Twitter, quoting Clinton. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. So much time and money will be spent  same result! Sad.

One person who spoke with Trump over the holiday weekend said the president-elect had appeared to be preoccupied by suggestions that a recount might be started, even as his aides played down any concerns. Another friend said Trump felt crossed by Clinton, who he believed had conceded the race and accepted the results.

In a post on Medium, Marc Elias, the Clinton teams general counsel, said the campaign would participate in Steins recount effort with little expectation that it would change the result, partly out of a sense of duty to the millions who voted for Clinton.

We do so fully aware that the number of votes separating Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the closest of these states  Michigan  well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount, Elias said, noting that Clinton campaign officials had found no actionable evidence of hacking or attempts to tamper with the vote.

In Wisconsin, Trump leads by 22,177 votes. In Michigan, he has a lead of 10,704 votes, and in Pennsylvania, his advantage is 70,638 votes.

Trumps aides echoed his concerns about the recount effort in appearances on Sunday morning television news programs. Kellyanne Conway, who was his campaign manager, said on NBCs Meet the Press that Clinton and her campaign advisers would have to decide whether theyre going to be a bunch of crybabies.

Trumps Twitter outburst also came as he is laboring to fill crucial positions in his Cabinet, with his advisers enmeshed in a rift over whom he should select as secretary of state. Conway on Sunday extended a public campaign to undermine one contender, Mitt Romney  a remarkable display by a member of a president-elects team. In her television appearances, she accused Romney of having gone out of his way to hurt Trump during the Republican primary contests.

Conway, echoing comments she posted last week on Twitter, made clear that she opposed choosing Romney as secretary of state.

There was the Never Trump movement, and then there was Gov. Mitt Romney, she said on ABC, adding later, I only wish Gov. Romney had been as critical of Hillary Clinton during the general election. During the primaries, Romney called Trump a fraud and a phony.

Chronicle staff writer Karen de Sa contributed to this report.
Lt Colonel (Retd.) Darshan Dhillon destroyed all those who drag Indian Army soldiers, who brave harsh conditions at the border, to defend the inconveniences caused by millions across the country after the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes was announced, in a single Facebook post.

Lt Colonel Darshan Dhillon lashed out at all those who compare people standing in ATM queues to soldiers at the border. Photo: Facebook\DarshanDhillon

By India Today Web Desk: Post May 2014 general elections, since the BJP government assumed power with Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India, Indian Army soldiers have been time and again dragged into controversies, often by people who compare the sincerity and the courage with which they brave the harsh conditions at the borders, to normal Indian citizens, in an attempt to weigh their nationalism against that of the soldiers'.

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For instance, if an Indian citizen is of the opinion that there is rising intolerance in the country, there are many who are quick to bring in our soldiers to defend their opposing argument, saying, "how dare you say there is rising intolerance in India? Our brave soldiers are sacrificing their lives and sleep so that you can sleep peacefully and raise such arguments, why not become patriotic like them? Shame on you." Such people are also the ones to ask the former to "go to Pakistan if you have a problem with India".

Since PM Narendra Modi announced the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 bank notes on November 8, millions across India have been finding it hard to get some cash in their hands to meet daily expenses. Due to the inadequate supply of lower denomination currency notes in banks, especially Rs 100, people have been standing in queues, often for hours straight, and many complained. If not all the 65 to 70 people who the media claim to have died waiting in the queues, there have been deaths because of this. People, lower income class especially, have been inconvenienced due to the demonetisation drive.

But then, the argument is, "Aren't you ashamed of complaining about the minor inconveniences we face for the GREATER GOOD of the nation? Think about our brave soldiers who stand for hours at the border every single day to save us from attacks. Have you ever heard them complain?"

A retired Indian Army veteran has something to say about this. And what he has to say is a tight slap on all those who drag our soldiers to defend their lame arguments to hide truth.



Lieutenant Colonel Darshan Dhillon retired from the Indian Army in 2006. Currently living in Punjab's Ludhiana, Colonel Dhillon went to an ATM in the city to withdraw some cash.

In a Facebook post, Dhillon said, "I was standing in long ATM queue and getting irritated on mismanagement on a good issue. The fellow Modi bhakt [SIC] behind gave me a quick reaction by saying, why are you perturbed think about about army persons standing 20 hrs in day on border. [SIC]".

Narrating how his reply removed the man's "nationalism with a jolt," he wrote, "my curt reply removed his deshbhagti with a jolt when I told him that I did that on border for 20 years and standing here to withdraw my pension on that account. He should show his deshbhagti in getting us actual OROP and CPC from Modi ji rather than issuing certificates in ATM lines [SIC]."

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Lt Colonel Dhillon's Facebook post made around 21 hours ago, has already been shared by nearly 6,000 people.

Here is his post:

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been exhorting the nation to adopt cashless economy to weed out corruption, but among the political class there are few takers.

By Manogya Loiwal : Moments after Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked people to go cashless to root out corruption, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee charged him of 'misusing government machinery'.

Mamata Banerjee took to twitter to continue her opposition to demonetisation by launching a scathing attack on PM Modi. She said that the PM has converted the monthly radio programme Mann Ki Baat into Modi Ki Baat.

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READ| Demonetisation: Modi fights Opposition's inconvenience barb with cashless economy benefits



"Maan Ki Baat has now become Modi Ki Baat. Misusing government machinery. Instead of finding solutions to the suffering and pain of millions of people, he is doing personal vendetta, personal publicity and business," Mamata said.



Maan Ki Baat has now become Modi Ki Baat. Misusing government machinery 1/7 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 27, 2016

Instead of finding solutions to the suffering & pain of millions of people he is doing personal vendetta personal publicity and business 2/7 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 27, 2016

In a series of tweets, Mamata said, "Modiji, you have finished India's economy and growth. We don't trust you or your mismatched wrong technology, which you are advertising for. We want technology and progress. But no section of society is to be left out and tortured while doing this."



Modiji, you have finished India's economy and growth 3/7 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 27, 2016

We want technology and progress. But no section of society is to be left out and tortured while doing this 5/7 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 27, 2016

"The women of our country will give you a befitting reply. They are the mother of India. They are the mother of all, Mr Today's PM," Mamata Banerjee said.



The women of our country will give you a befitting reply 6/7 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 27, 2016

They are the mother of India. They are the mother of all, Mr Today's PM 7/7 Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) November 27, 2016

READ| Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi seeks support on demonetisation, urges farmers, small traders to go cashless

OMAR ABDULLAH REJECTS MODI'S APPEAL

Just like Mamata Banerjee, former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah too rejected the idea of cashless economy in India.

Omar Abdullah termed the idea of a cashless economy as floated by Prime Minister Narendra as 'unrealistic'.

Reacting to Modi's 'Mann Ki Baat' radio address, Omar Abdullah said that internet connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir was unreliable.

"I'd love to move to a cashless economy but given the reliability of connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir and the absence of points of sale I fear I'd starve," Omar Abdullah tweeted.



I'd love to move to a cashless economy but given the reliability of connectivity in J&K & the absence of points of sale I fear I'd starve. Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) November 27, 2016

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The National Conference (NC) working president said that it was an unrealistic idea especially for the people living in remote areas of the state.



"And I live in Srinagar. Imagine asking people in Gurez, Karnah, Keran and other remote areas to dispense with cash!!! Totally unrealistic idea," he said.



And I live in Srinagar. Imagine asking people in Gurez, Karnah, Keran & other remote areas to dispense with cash!!! Totally unrealistic idea Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) November 27, 2016

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After a damp holiday weekend, the Bay Area is expected to dry out this week with days of sun and clear skies following possible showers early Monday morning, forecasters said.

On the heels of a rainy October, the fifth-wettest in more than a century, November has been another wetter-than-average month throughout much of Northern California, with parts of Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Lake, Shasta and Trinity counties seeing twice as much rain as usual in recent weeks.

But in the Bay Area, the month is expected to end on a sunny and dry note, with highs in the mid- to upper 50s in San Francisco and low 60s in most of the East Bay through Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

Things will get off to a gusty start, with high winds in the bay posing a hazard to small boats through early Tuesday. A wind advisory is also in effect through Monday morning for Lake Tahoe.

Over the weekend, travelers flying out of or landing at San Francisco International Airport got a lucky break from the rain Sunday morning when clouds parted around sunrise, clearing the way for an estimated 160,000 people expected to move through the airport during the day.

Snow and ice caused road closures on sections of several highways in Mono County, in Yosemite National Park, and elsewhere in eastern California. Chain controls were ordered on Interstate 80 in both directions near the Nevada line, on Highway 50 from Kyburz to Meyers, and on Highway 89 between Markleeville and Woodfords.

While the snow may be bad news for drivers, it was certainly welcome at the mountain resorts around Lake Tahoe, many of which opened for the ski season over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Two feet of snow buried Sierra-at-Tahoe on Sunday. Squaw Valley and Kirkwood had close to 16 inches, forecasters said. On the other side of the Sierra, close to 20 inches fell at Mammoth Mountain.

Nine inches fell at Heavenly and Mount Rose and in the city of Truckee. The snow should taper off early in the week, but a light round of snow may come Wednesday night and Thursday.

That snow should mean more midweek rain at lower elevations. Some passing showers may be on deck for Wednesday, but National Weather Service meteorologist Anna Schneider said the storm system is weakening as it approaches.

Evan Sernoffsky and Filipa A Ioannou are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com, fioannou@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky, @obioannoukenobi
BENICIA (BCN)

Police are seeking a man who allegedly fired shots inside a Benicia bar early this morning, injuring two patrons, according to police.

At around 1:30 a.m., a 911 caller said a man armed with a gun was inside the Bottom of the Fifth bar at 498 Military E., according to police.

As officers were en route to the scene, they received additional reports of shots fired inside the bar with two people were injured.

Once at the scene, officers found a Benicia man and a Texas man, both 45 years old, suffering from gunshot wounds. Both victims were taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, police said.

Witnesses told officers a verbal argument had occurred at the bar before the man brandished a gun and fired it. The suspect then left the bar, running north, according to police.

Officers were unable to locate the suspect, but they did recover shell casings from the scene as well as video of the shooting, police said.

The gunman was described as a Hispanic man with a short, heavy build, wearing a dark beanie, a dark hooded sweatshirt and baggy gray sweatpants, according to police.

Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to contact Benicia police at (707) 745-4311 or the Solano Crime Stoppers at (770) 644-7867. Callers have the option to remain anonymous.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi shares his thoughts on the 26th edition of his radio show Mann Ki Baat.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday in his Mann Ki Baat address asked the youth of India to take a pledge and make the country a cashless society that would curb rampant black money and corruption.

"I need your support," Modi said in his monthly radio broadcast and asked young men and women of the the country to teach at least 10 families everyday how to go cashless and make electronic payments.

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"Take pledge to be a part of a cashless society from today. Not only this, you will also have to take time to educate at least 10 families everyday. Educate them on how to download apps, how to spend money using mobile phones , how to make payments. How to do business."

Modi said that he needed the youth of the country to lead the campaign so that "common people will be trouble fee" after learning cashless transactions.

SEE A MODERN INDIA

"All youth of India can do it very quickly and within a month the world can see a modern India. Be a soldier of change and bring it on. We will fight the black money and corruption. We know it is you who can bring the change and revolution."

The Prime Minister was speaking in the backdrop of his government's decision to scrap high value currency notes of 500 and 1,000 rupees aimed to curb graft and unaccounted wealth amassed by tax evaders in the country.

The nation witnessed serpentine queues outside ATMs and banks after the decision. While the nation is gripped by cash crunch, operations across several sectors came to a standstill.

CRITICISM GALORE

The Modi government has attracted criticism from all the quarters. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh termed the move as 'organized loot' and a monumental mismanagement.

Following the radio show, PM Modi will address the BJP's Parivartan Yatra rally at Kushinagar district of poll-bound Uttar Pradesh. This is his fifth visit to eastern UP in the last seven months.

Here are the highlights:

Amitabh Bachchan wrote to me - 'Swachh tan, swachh mann, Swachh Bharat, mera parichay': PM Modi

Common man will be trouble free if they are made aware of the digital financial transaction options; youths can do this quickly: PM Modi

I reiterate that I need your support; I am positive that you will help me in this; take a pledge that you'll b a part of cashless economy: PM Modi

I took this decision for the country's poor, farmer, labour, deprived and for those who are suffering : PM Modi

: PM Modi I want to urge men and women in small businesses that the time is right, you too enter the digital world: PM Modi

There has been a 300 per cent increase in the use of Rupay card since poor people started using it; it is as simple as sending a Whatsapp: PM Modi

Those trying to convert black into white, please don't use names of poor to deposit your black money : PM Modi

: PM Modi I invite small traders to adopt cashless economy as it will bring about a huge transformation in the country: PM Modi

I am confident that India will succeed in the demonetisation move: PM Modi

Your mobile is an e-wallet ; want my farmer brothers to get the benefits of online banking: PM Modi

; want my farmer brothers to get the benefits of online banking: PM Modi I invite small traders to adopt cashless economy as it will bring about a huge transformation in the country: PM Modi

as it will bring about a huge transformation in the country: PM Modi You can contribute towards making a cashless society: PM Modi

Want to salute the farmers who are standing tall in difficult times: PM Modi

Sowing of crops has increased manifold: PM Modi

A hotel in Maha's Akola has put up hoardings allowing ppl to avail food even if they don't have money post: PM Modi

I used to talk abt 'Chai ka charcha' during elections;never knew this will reach marriage halls; couple in Surat got married offering tea: PM Modi

I assure you action will be taken against benami assets: PM Modi

Attempts are being made to mislead people: PM Modi

Don't exploit poor and their Jan Dhan accounts: PM Modi

A few people are still looking for ways to convert their black money into white; they are using poor people for this: PM Modi

into white; they are using poor people for this: PM Modi Governments, post offices, banks, they are all working very hard and are working with dedication: PM Modi

I can see the hard work of our bank employees and others who are working to help people post demonetisation; thank them all: PM Modi

Youth of Jammu and Kashmir aspires to rise in life through education, I commend them for their enthusiasm: PM Modi

I understand your problems but for a disease which has infected our country for 70 years , treatment can't be simple: PM Modi

, treatment can't be simple: PM Modi I asked them to concentrate on their children's future: PM Modi

I had told even then this demonetisation decision is huge and it will take minimum 50 days to overcome from it: PM Modi

I had urged them they must return and pay attention to build bright future for the children in Valley; glad to see results: PM Modi

I had met a few representatives from Kashmir, a few days back. We discussed about the unrest in the Valley: PM Modi

When the entire nation stand with our jawans, their strength increases 125 crore times: PM Modi

One of the jawans wrote to me that this year they did not feel alone while celebrating Diwali at the borders: PM Modi

This year Diwali was different, the way people of our country sent their messages to our jawans was amazing: PM Modi

When the entire nation stand with our jawans, their strength increases 125 crore times: PM Modi

Last month we all celebrated Diwali. Like always, I celebrated this festival with our Jawans: PM Modi

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Two Maoists were shot dead on Thursday, after they encountered the police in Karulai, Nilambur in Malappuram district.

By Revathi Rajeevan: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has ordered a magesterial probe into the death of two Maoists in the alleged encounter in Malappuram of Kerala that took place on Thursday. The Perinthalmanna district sub collector has been asked to submit a comprehensive report about the encounter.

Two Maoists - Kuppuswamy and Ajitha - were shot dead on Thursday, after they encountered the police in Karulai of Nilambur in Malappuram district. Initial reports and Nilambur MLA PV Anvar had said that three Maoists were killed, of which one person was not identified. However, later it was reported that only two were killed.

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The absence of any weapons from the Maoists when they were killed, absence of injuries to police/thunderbolt personnel had raised questions about the encounter in the following days, with demands from various political parties and human rights activists for a judicial probe.

Also read: Maoists trying to convert old notes desperately: CRPF DG

Also read: Kerala: 35-year-old Japanese woman raped in Kovalam

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By PTI: Chandigarh, Nov 27 (PTI) Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo who along with five others escaped from the high security jail in Nabha, was arrested by Punjab Police after he was deported from Thailand in November 2014.

The KLF chief was brought to India along with his key aide Gurpeet Singh Gopi after Punjab Police, in coordination with central agencies, traced them in Thailand, a senior police official said.

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Mintoo was wanted in ten terror offences while Gopi was tasked to target Hindu outfit leaders in 2013, which were foiled by Punjab Police, in a bid to disturb the peace in the state.

The then Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini had then claimed that Pakistans spy agency ISI was "making concerted efforts" to use terror outfits like KLF and Babbar Khalsa to revive terrorism in Punjab, with focus on carrying out killings of prominent leaders belonging to a particular community.

To strengthen KLF, he had developed independent contacts with the foreign-based supporters and fund raisers of terrorism, the official said.

When he was in Pakistan, Mintoo worked with Babbar Khalsa International. But, but being ambitious and a good organiser, he developed independent contacts with Pakistans ISI and Europe and North America-based terrorist sympathisers and fund raisers and had planned to raise his own outfit, police had then said.

During his stay in Pakistan, he had visited Europe in 2010 to establish contacts and in June 2013, he left Pakistan for an extensive tour of Europe lasting 11 months, police had then said.

In South East Asia, the KLF chief had travelled to Laos, Cambodia, Burma, besides Thailand where he had established a base, police had said.

The counter-intelligence wing of Punjab police had been tracking them and shared intelligence inputs with the Central agencies. It was found that Mintoo was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of one Gurdeep Singh.

A two-member team of counter intelligence wing of Punjab police had camped in Thailand for three weeks.

Harminder had been influenced by the radical ideology and had developed contacts with Pakistan based terrorist leaders particularly Wadhawa Singh, the chief of Babbar Khalsa International-another militant outfit, police had then said. PTI CHS VJ ATS SMJ

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The pro-Khalistan leader and five others were freed by armed men in a perfectly-planned attack on the highly-secure Nabha Jail.

By India Today Web Desk: The daring attack on the highly-secure Nabha Jail by 10 armed men was meticulously planned and perfectly executed on Sunday morning. Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and five others were freed by the men, who were dressed in police uniform. The KLF chief is an accused in 10 terror-related cases, and was a prized catch for the Punjab Police.

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The blow-by-blow account of how the daring escape unfolded:



All you need to know in five points: According to jail officials, the armed men entered the prison by telling the security personnel that they have brought a prisoner for verification. Two of them reportedly reached the jail's main gate with a person in handcuffs. As a result, their vehicles were allowed to enter the prison. The men entered the prison premises in two cars, including a Toyota Fortuner SUV, and breached the three-tier security of the Nabha Jail. The attackers, all dressed in police uniform, breached the prison security around 9 am and fired more than 100 rounds, said jail officials. The attack, said sources in the prison, lasted for less than 10 minutes as the jail security failed to put up a fight. The men used automatic rifles and fired indiscriminately. They also took away a self-loading rifle of the jail security staff. The attack took place when the prisoners were brought out of their barracks for breakfast and other morning chores. The timing was perfect for the men to attack. The prisoners, including Mintoo who seemed aware of the plan, were taken away in the SUV even as firing continued, said sources.

(with inputs from IANS)



ALSO READ: Nabha jailbreak: Pakistan desperate to revive terror, could be behind armed attack, says Sukhbir Badal



ALSO READ: After Nabha jailbreak woman killed in police firing in Patiala, DG Prisons suspended

ALSO READ: Nabha jailbreak: When 2 officers camped in Thailand for 3 weeks to track pro-Khalistan leader

ALSO READ: Nabha jailbreak: Who is Harminder Singh Mintoo

ALSO WATCH



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This op-ed piece is a special To The Washington Post from Eric Chenoweth, the co-director of the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe.

In assessing Donald Trump's presidential victory, Americans continue to look away from this election's most alarming story: the successful effort by a hostile foreign power to manipulate public opinion before the vote.

U.S. intelligence agencies determined that the Russian government actively interfered in our elections. Russian state propaganda gave little doubt that this was done to support President-elect Trump, who repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin and excused the Russian president's foreign aggression and domestic repression. Most significantly, U.S. intelligence agencies have affirmed that the Russian government directed the illegal hacking of private email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and prominent individuals. The emails were then released by WikiLeaks, which has benefited financially from a Russian state propaganda arm, used Russian operatives for security and made clear an intent to harm the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

From the Russian perspective, the success of this operation can hardly be overstated. News stories on the DNC emails released in July served to disrupt the Democratic National Convention, instigate political infighting and suggest for some supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) - without any real proof - that the Democratic primary had been "rigged" against their candidate. On Oct. 7, WikiLeaks began near daily dumps from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's email account, generating a month of largely negative reporting on Clinton, her campaign staff, her husband and their foundation. With some exceptions, there was little news in the email beyond political gossip and things the media had covered before, now revisited from a seemingly "hidden" viewpoint.

Russian (and former communist) propaganda has traditionally worked exactly this way: The more you "report" something negatively, the more the negative is true. Trump and supportive media outlets adopted the technique and reveled in information gained from the illegal Russian hacking (as well as many "fake news" stories that evidencesuggests were generated by Russian intelligence operations) to make exaggerated claims ("Hillary wants to open borders to 600 million people!") or to accuse Clinton of illegality, corruption and, ironically, treasonous behavior.

Part of the Russian operation's success is that we cannot measure the effect. Did the DNC emails depress the Sanders vote for Clinton? Did the Podesta emails turn off independents? Would voters have responded differently if major media had reported the email releases not as legitimate news but as an intelligence operation by a hostile foreign power aimed at undermining the integrity of U.S. elections? There are no clear answers. But there are certainties: The email operation increased negative stories about Clinton, fueled an immense propaganda attack and diminished coverage of actual issues. The large polling lead Clinton gained after the debates slipped significantly under this barrage of negativity - even before FBI Director James B. Comey's bombshell.

Again, was there coordination with this foreign intervention? Russia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei A. Ryabkov,boasted that government representatives maintained multiple "contacts" during the campaign with Trump's "immediate entourage." (Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks issued a denial.) This is on top of reported U.S. government suspicions that a Trump adviser met with the intelligence operative directing the hacking. Where are the committee chairmen in Congress demanding an investigation? How is it that Republican Party leaders accept the intervention of a foreign power in the election of their party's presidential candidate?

Putin is pursuing large strategic goals: recognition of the annexation of Crimea and international acceptance of foreign aggression to change state borders; Russian control of Ukraine; weakening or even dissolution of the European Union and NATO; restoration of Russia as a great power; and restored dominance over the former Soviet bloc and its environs. In pursuing these aims, Putin is engaged in a disciplined effort to influence democratic politics in the West, including financial and propaganda support for the narrow Brexit victory and for a network of far-right (and pro-Russian) nationalist political parties and groups throughout Europe. Now he has achieved what had to have been his most improbable goal: helping elect a sympathetic U.S. president who wants to form an alliance against terrorism. What will Trump give in exchange? He has already reaffirmed his intention to end support for pro-Western rebels in Syria, which effectively gives Russia a free hand to make President Bashar al-Assad its satrap. The greater danger is Trump's attitude toward NATO as a "soft" alliance that, like the Western powers in 1939, won't "die for Danzig." It would mean the alliance's end.

In his book "Putinism," Soviet and Russian historian Walter Laqueur describes the varied ideological strains that animate the former KGB agent. The "Russian national idea" that has emerged is to defend Russia, Eurasia and the world from the anti- civilizational corruption of Western liberal democracy. Frighteningly, Putin's worldview has resonance in the populist and nationalist fixations of Stephen K. Bannon, the president-elect's senior counselor, whose stated mission is to "destroy" the "establishment" and end the domination of the "donor class." Bannon's "closing argument" ad for Trump, redolent of Russian propaganda, described the United States as a corrupt and failing state because of nefarious "global special interests." It all points to grave danger for democracy and a world order that has kept the peace for 70 years. Is this what America voted for?

- - -

Chenoweth is co-director of the Institute for Democracy in Eastern Europe.
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The mood among guests mingling at the elegant City Hall Rotunda, where Human Rights Watch hosted its annual Voices for Justice dinner on Nov. 17 was decidedly subdued.

When we look at parts of the world, its easy to feel devoid of hope, noted event co-chair Joy Alferness, seeking to soothe troubled souls who ruminated on recent political events. Humanity and human dignity are HRW bedrocks. In that commitment to equity and justice, hope does burn bright.

The event was founded 15 years ago by human rights advocate and HRW trustee Darian Swig. This year supporters included co-chair Tina Bou-Saba; honorary chairs Carla Emil and Rich Silverstein; Linda and Jon Gruber; Nion McEvoy and Leslie Berriman; as well as sponsors Dagmar Dolby; Mark and Susie Tompkins Buell; Stephen Silberstein; Amy Rao and Harry Plant; JaMel and Tom Perkins; and new SF HRW director Jen Haile.

Sans government funding, this international organization investigates, exposes and works to change abuses while bringing perpetrators to justice. And guests raised more than $500K for those efforts.

The evening included a documentary screening of, The Investigators and honored Yonous Muhammadi, a leading defender of refugee rights in Greece.

Even caterer Paula LeDuc got into this groove, creating a delish dinner (chickpea Kofta lettuce cups, Moroccan chicken and couscous) inspired by global cuisine.

It doesnt matter if youre Muslim, Mexican or a migrant, exclaimed keynote speaker Bruno Stagno Ugarte, HRW deputy executive director of advocacy. We must ensure the toxic promise of President-elect Trump does not become true.

Ring my bell: To launch its Red Kettle season, the Salvation Army hosted the 13th Holiday Lunch at its Turk Street HQ with Protocol Chief Charlotte Shultz.

Dubbed, Honoring Charlotte and Her Mayors, 320 supporters gave a standing ovation to this beloved civic cheerleader who has devotedly volunteered for mayors John Shelley, Joe Alioto, George Moscone, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Art Agnos, Frank Jordan, Willie Brown, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Ed Lee.

Led by S.A. Divisional Leaders, Lt. Colonels Cindy and Tim Foley and a stellar committee (including Ellen Magnin Newman; Jeanne and Sandy Robertson; Reena Evers-Everette; Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz; Mary and C.W. Nevius), the festive fete featured a roast turkey feast that netted $520K for S.A. holiday programs and general fund that provides meals, assistance, clothing, rehab, school supplies and wellness programs to tens of thousands Bay Area children, families, homeless and seniors.

35 years ago, Shultz, dreamed up the Union Square Celebrity Bell Ringing Contest (which happens Dec. 9 at 10 a.m. ) where stars ring in S.A. Kettle Campaign cash.

Charlotte is terrific and so creative. But her efforts arent about about her, its about who shes trying to help, toasted her husband, former Secretary of State George Shultz. Thats the Salvation Armys theme. And its the theme of my wonderful wife.

Joining that chorus was Beach Blanket Babylon cast member Shawna Ferris McNulty, singing a surprise tribute written by Shultz pal, BBB producer Jo Schuman Silver. Not surprisingly, the hand-crafted lyrics were set to the tune of, Ring dem Bells.

Cindy Foley recalled a few of Shultzs madcap civic events: the Golden Gate Bridge 50th anniversary; hosting Queen Elizabeth II and chasing down cable cars, in high heeled Ferragamos, while ringing her red bell to ask tourists for money.

I love ringing that bell because the Salvation Army wraps its arms around people-in-need, enthused Shultz. I like asking people for money. Especially when I stand outside Saks Fifth Avenue and ask shoppers how much they spent. Then Ill ask them to donate 10 percent of that to the Salvation Army. But this year, Im increasing it to 20!

Stella-tacular: Renowned artist Frank Stella drew interesting art-fellows to recent celebrations at the de Young Museum where fans of all stripes were wowed by the recently opened Frank Stella: A Retrospective.

Storied vintner Donald Hess, an early collector, hied over from Switzerland to salute his pal whose works adorn many walls at Hess Collection Winery. And fashion house Max Mara hosted a gallery tour and McCalls dinner for the artist.

This show is so exciting, enthused Maria Giulia Maramotti, a scion of the Italian luxury company and U.S. retail director. Even at 80, Stella continues to reinvent himself. Seeing his new works in this exhibition gives me goosebumps.

Among fans: Fine Arts Museums Director Max Hollein and his wife, Nina; FAM board chair Dede Wilsey; Janet Barnes and Thomas Weisel; collector Frances Bowes; Dagmar Dolby; Whitney Museum director Adam Weinberg; Ray and Giselle Farris; Dorothy and David Saxe and FAM curator Timothy Burgard.

During our 1,000-person Stella opening party, I thought the party was a big failure: Nobody was upstairs having cocktails. I wondered, Where is everybody? recalled Hollein, with a laugh. I was told, Everyones in the exhibition. Which speaks so highly about Frank Stella, a living legend and his art.

Stella P.S.: The next day, Max Mara saluted Stella at a luncheon and Resort 2017 show hosted by Katie Traina. And Matthew Goldman and his brother, Jason Goldman, hosted a private tour and McCalls dinner inside the spectacular de Young tower. Theyd won a Night at the Museum auction item two years ago at the Mid-Winter Gala. The wait was worth it: Stella was the perfect palette for their artful posse of pals.

Catherine Bigelow is The San Francisco Chronicles society correspondent. Email: missbigelow@sfgate.com Instagram: @missbigelow
Q: I recently was scheduled to fly from Washington to Chicago on American Airlines. The night before my Friday flight, I went online to check in and noticed that my flight had been canceled. During the next five hours, I tried repeatedly to get hold of customer service, and finally was told that the flight had been canceled because of bad weather, and so I would need to pay for the extra nights stay at a hotel and any other expenses.

American rebooked me one day later on a Saturday flight. Imagine my surprise Friday afternoon when I started receiving notices from Google calendar that the original flight was delayed (it was still on my calendar). I called American and was told that the flight had been reinstated.

At this point, it was too late for me to make it to the airport to try to make that flight. I wrote to customer service and requested that American give me a $500 travel voucher to cover my time and additional expenses, including my $193 hotel bill for the extra night. American said it would provide no compensation. Can you help?

Dale Reed, Chicago

A: This is a curious case. If American Airlines canceled your flight because of the weather, then it owes you nothing. It is, in legal-speak, an act of God outside the companys control. If, however, the flight was canceled for operational reasons  whats referred to as a mechanical delay  then it does indeed have to provide for an overnight hotel stay and meal vouchers.

Details can be found at Americans contract of carriage: www.aa.com/i18n/customer-service/support/conditions-of-carriage.jsp.

Technically, American is both right and wrong. Right, in the sense that it owes you nothing for a weather-related cancellation. But wrong, in the sense that it has completely let itself off the hook.

I wouldnt necessarily blame American for failing to rebook you. Airline reservation systems can automatically rebook you on a reinstated flight, but youd already made plans to fly the next day, so it wouldnt have recognized your reservation as one that needed to be rebooked.

In the unlikely chance we do reinstate a flight, we do try to contact the traveler to let them know about the change, an airline spokesman told me. Most times, travelers are already booked on other flights with different connections, if they are connecting.

Question is, should this extra overnight stay be treated like a weather delay or a mechanical delay? American wants to treat it like a weather delay. My inner consumer-advocate says: mechanical delay.

This is definitely the kind of question you should bring up with American in writing, and if it cant help, appeal to a customer-service executive. I list the names, numbers and email addresses of Americans executives on my advocacy site: http://elliott.org/company-contacts/american-airlines.

I contacted American on your behalf. The airline agreed to reimburse you for your hotel and offered a $200 voucher due to the circumstances.

Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine. Find travel tips at www.elliott.org. Email: chris@elliott.org Twitter: @elliottdotorg
Known for its aquarium, jazz festival, literary history and spectacular landscapes, Monterey has recently added the second-largest collection of works by Salvador Dali in the United States to its major tourist draws.

This past summer, the 15,148-square-foot former Museum of Monterey, across the plaza from Californias oldest government building, morphed into Dali17  a museum housing more than 550 works including original etchings, mixed media, lithographs, sculptures and tapestries by Surrealist icon Salvador Dali.

The owner of the collection, Dmitry Piterman, and the Monterey History and Art Association entered into a joint venture that has Piterman managing the daily operations of the new museum. Piterman, a Pebble Beach businessman, began building his collection in the late 1980s just after his graduation from UC Berkeley and has been looking for a permanent home for the collection after holding exhibitions in Spain and Belgium. He believes that Monterey is a natural choice, as its the only place outside of Spain where Dali lived and painted.

Dali17 commemorates Dalis presence in Monterey, and his price in being part of the community, says Piterman. It adds a new dimension to the art world here  a place that already embraces art. During his lifetime, Dali created 1,500 lithographs and etchings, which arent depicted in any of his paintings.

While the works comprise the second-largest private collection of original Dali art in the country, the museum is the largest on the West Coast. Named for the original 17 Mile Drive, which began at Montereys Hotel Del Monte, Dali17 showcases Dali works that have been authenticated by the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation. Other museums focused on the artist are the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Fla., and the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueres, Spain  the artists hometown.

Dalis history with Monterey isnt widely known outside the region and Dali enthusiasts. While living there in the 1940s, the artist was involved in the local art scene, was an early member of the Carmel Art Association and participated as a juror for the local high school arts competition. He and his wife stayed at the Hotel Del Monte before moving to Cottage Row at the Del Monte Lodge, now known as the Lodge at Pebble Beach.

The Hotel Del Monte figures prominently in Dalis history with Monterey. Dali and his wife, Gala, held a party in 1941 at the hotel, called A Surrealistic Night in an Enchanted Forest, which was a fundraiser to aid refugee artists in Europe during World War II, much like himself. Stars from Dalis Hollywood circle like Clark Gable, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were reportedly in attendance, as well as a number of lions and monkeys. The museums collection includes images from the extravagant soiree. In late October, Dali17 celebrated the 75th anniversary of the party with a modern-day version, as a benefit for the Monterey Zoo. No lions were present, but the animal attendance list included a bearcat, alligator and capuchin monkey.

Sometimes his outrageous eccentricities made more of a splash than his art did, but Dali tackled serious topics, as well. He was a provocateur, says Piterman. He thought and painted outside the box. Some of the brushes he used had only one hair, so imagine the meticulousness with which he painted and created his art.

The museum has also launched a speaker series in its theater, so that devotees of surrealism can both view the museums collection and dive into the topic more deeply. And soon, youll be able to study up on Dali17 through an online surrealistic virtual experience. In the meantime, add the museum to your Monterey visit list, because the city is now a major art destination.

This location for the collection will revolutionize what art is about in the community, says Piterman. To have the memory of his history in Monterey is one thing, but to also have his work here makes the experience with Dali much richer.

Dali17: 5 Custom House Plaza, Monterey. (831) 372-2608; www.dali17.com. Admission: $20 adult; $16 seniors, military and students with ID; $10 children 6-17; free for children 5 and under.

Jill K. Robinson is a freelance writer. Email: travel@sfchronicle.com

5 must-see Dalis

From Hilary Roberts, art and exhibit coordinator at the Dali17 museum in Monterey.

Les Caprices de Goya de Dali, a metamorphosis of Goyas original Los Caprichos suite. Original etchings.

For the 227th commemoration of Goyas birth, Dali had the idea to transform Francisco Goyas Los Caprichos into his own colorful and surrealistic renditions. While Goyas illustrations depict social themes in 1799, Dalis versions represent the spirit of a new modern age. Driven by his paranoiac-critical method, Dali added color and Freudian elements (spoons, flies, soft watches, excrement, drawers, copulating beans, cutlets and other elements) to bring his renditions alive.

Changes in Great Masterpieces  The Persistence of Memory. Original lithograph.

One of Dalis most famous works, the painting of  The Persistence of Memory is a masterpiece that embodies Surrealism and Dalis use of the paranoiac-critical method. His lithographic reproductions of these great works and his own iconic painting juxtapose their significance in inspiring Dalis artistic career. It is also a declaration that Dali himself was a great master.

Alchimie des Philosophers. Original lithographs.

This series of graphic works accompanies an artist book containing alchemical texts from the third to the 17th centuries. Combining Dalis personal motifs with the symbolism of thousands of years of alchemy, each graphic work represents a particular theme relating to the ancient text.

Space Elephant. Bronze sculpture.

The elephant is a recurring theme that appears in several of Dalis paintings, such as The Temptation of Saint Anthony. In many cultures, the elephants enormous size is depicted as a symbol of strength and power. While Dalis elephants similarly represent strength, they challenge how it is perceived. Space Elephant appears small and fragile, yet its frail and skeletal legs inexplicably support the crushing weight of the obelisk. The contrast between weight and size is realistically impossible, but Dalis physical depiction makes it appear weightless and powerful, as if spiritually reaching for the heavens.

The Divine Comedy. Woodcuts.

Dali was commissioned by the Italian government to illustrate this special edition of The Divine Comedy to commemorate the 700th anniversary of Dante Alighieris birth. Dalis grotesque and sublime images capture Dantes mysterious verbal imagery. The illustrations and text mirror the search for meaning through the exploration of dreams and mystical worlds.
KAMPALA, Uganda  More than four dozen people have been killed in fighting between Ugandan forces and a tribal militia in a remote district near the border with Congo, officials said Sunday as security forces battled armed men protecting a tribal king who is accused of leading the rebels.

At least 55 people, including 41 rebels and 14 police officers, have been killed in clashes in Ugandas Rwenzori region, said police spokesman Felix Kaweesi. Four police officers and four soldiers have been wounded.

The killings are an escalation of a long-running conflict between Uganda and rebels who are believed to be loyal to a tribal king, Charles Wesley Mumbere, a critic of the countrys president.

Gunfire rang out outside the kings palace in the western district of Kasese on Sunday as Ugandan troops tried to disarm Mumberes guards and arrest him. Ugandan security forces overwhelmed the guards, broke into the palace and transferred Mumbere to a police post for questioning.

Capt. Arthur Timbaganya, a spokesman for Ugandan troops in the area, said Mumbere was not under arrest but had been rescued from the palace for his own safety. Timbaganyas account was disputed by the police, who said the king was now in detention.

Mumbere is king of Ugandas Bakonzo people, and some of his supporters have been calling for secession from Uganda, according to government spokesman Col. Shaban Bantariza.

Mumbere has denied any role in the attacks on police posts.

Kasese, where Mumbere is based and part of the mountainous Rwenzori region, is about 210 miles west of the Ugandan capital of Kampala. The area is a hotbed of opposition to President Yoweri Museveni, who lost there in the last presidential polls.

Some of the rebels had climbed high up the Rwenzori mountains and set up military camps from which they were said to run a small government, even collecting taxes from the people they control. The rebels are armed with modern weapons and improvised explosive devices, according to Bantariza.
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WASHINGTON  President Obama said Saturday that the death of Fidel Castro was an occasion for Americans to extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people and acknowledge the powerful emotions the revolutionary leader had evoked in both countries, seeking to use Castros fraught legacy to underscore his own efforts to bury decades of bitterness between the United States and Cuba.

History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him, Obama said in a statement that neither criticized nor praised Castro. The Cuban people, he added, must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.

The death of Castro, the embodiment of decades of suspicion and enmity between the two countries, has the potential to hasten Obamas goal of cementing the historic rapprochement he hopes will be a signature part of his legacy.

But with Donald Trump, who has been critical of the detente, set to succeed Obama, the fate of the thaw between the United States and Cuba is far from clear. Trumps initial response on the matter Saturday morning was a four-word post on Twitter. Fidel Castro is dead! he wrote.

A few hours later, in a statement issued by his transition team, Trump called Castro a brutal dictator who had oppressed his own people for decades and left a legacy of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights.

During the campaign, Trump sent mixed signals about how he intended to approach U.S. policy toward Cuba, even as Obama was using the final months of his presidency to try to codify as much of the opening as possible.

While Trump said during the Republican primary race that restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba  a step the Obama administration took last summer  was fine, he called Obamas December 2014 agreement with President Raul Castro of Cuba, Castros younger brother, a very weak agreement that provided too many concessions to the Cubans.

He said in an interview at the time that he might not accept the changes Obama had made.

To Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, who has led American delegations to Cuba since the late 1970s, Castro was a complex and misunderstood figure.

Given his reputation, the embargo, and all the hostility, I was surprised to see he was a very kind person, Lee said Saturday, recalling how she met the Cuban leader several times at the National Capitol Building in Havana and once at his house.

Chronicle staff writer Rachel Swan contributed to this report.
HAVANA  Music fell silent, weddings were canceled and people wept in the streets Saturday as Cubans faced their first day without the leader who steered their island to both greater social equality and years of economic ruin.

Across a hushed capital, dozens of Cubans said they felt genuine pain at the death of Fidel Castro, whose words and image had filled schoolbooks, airwaves and front pages since before many were born. And in private conversations, they expressed hope that Castros passing will allow Cuba to move faster toward a more open, prosperous future under his younger brother and successor, President Raul Castro.

Both brothers led bands of bearded rebels out of the eastern Sierra Maestra mountains to create a communist government 90 miles from the United States. But since taking over from his ailing brother in 2006, the 85-year-old Raul Castro has allowed an explosion of private enterprise and, last year, restored diplomatic relations with Washington.

Raul wants the country to advance, said Belkis Bejarano, a 65-year-old homemaker in central Havana. Raul wants to do business, thats it. Fidel was still holed up in the Sierra Maestra.

On Saturday, many Cubans on the island described Fidel Castro as a towering figure who brought Cuba free health care, education and true independence from the United States, while saddling the country with an ossified political and economic system that has left streets and buildings crumbling and young, educated elites fleeing in search of greater prosperity abroad.

Fidel was a father for everyone in my generation, said Jorge Luis Hernandez, a 45-year-old electrician. I hope that we keep moving forward because we are truly a great, strong, intelligent people. There are a lot of transformations, a lot of changes, but I think that the revolution will keep on in the same way and always keep moving forward.

In 2013, Raul Castro announced that he would step aside by the time his current presidential term ends in 2018, and for the first time named an heir-apparent not from the Castros revolutionary generation  Miguel Diaz-Canel, 56.

The Cuban government declared nine days of mourning for Castro, whose ashes will be carried across the island from Havana to the eastern city of Santiago in a procession retracing his rebel armys victorious sweep from the Sierra Maestra to Havana. State radio and television were filled with non-stop tributes to Castro, playing hours of footage of his time in power and interviews with prominent Cubans affectionately remembering him.
NZX, the stock market operator, is seeking feedback on plans to tweak rules for market participants such as brokers and advisers.

Wellington-based NZX released a consultation paper outlining proposed changes in August, following a discussion document circulated late last year. It's now seeking further feedback on proposed amendments to the participant rules based on feedback from nine submissions on the consultation paper, it said in a statement.

Changes proposed include removing the NZX Associate Adviser status and retaining only the NZX Adviser status, clarifying the information participants should know about their clients for the purpose of monitoring compliance, and ensuring adequate arrangements are in place for the control of all broking offices.

Submissions close at the end of trading on Dec. 23.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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New Zealand's news media is already more concentrated in its ownership than many comparable countries even before the proposed merger between NZME and Fairfax's New Zealand news assets, says a paper commissioned by the Commerce Commission from two UK-based specialists on media diversity.

"Pre-merger, the current situation in New Zealand is different to any of these comparator countries," David Levy, director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University and Robin Foster, media policy adviser and founder of the Communications Chambers consultancy said in a report dated Nov. 16 and published on the commission's website.

They compared the range of news sources available to New Zealanders compared to similar countries by size or geography: Finland, Denmark, Norway, Ireland, and Australia.

"Judged by the news of major providers, the New Zealand news market is already more concentrated, there is relatively little routine use of news sources from outside New Zealand ... and ... the level of public service provision in New Zealand is relatively low," he said. "The bulk of consumption of news in New Zealand is distributed across a limited number of major brands, the number of which will be even more limited should the merger take place."

The commission has shocked NZME and Fairfax by issuing a strongly negative draft determination opposing their proposal to merge the country's two largest newspaper and online news publishers, whose major brands are the New Zealand Herald, the Stuff website, and a string of regional newspapers, including The Dominion Post in Wellington and The Press in Christchurch.

The companies argue the merger is essential for the commercial survival of the country's largest producers of local news content, who face declining advertising revenues from traditional print publications and ferocious competition from global platforms such as Google and Facebook, which command the bulk of online ad revenue in New Zealand.

The researchers did find that Australia showed an even higher level of media concentration than the current New Zealand situation, with 57.5 percent of the Australian newspaper market owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Ltd.

However, "if this merger were concluded, New Zealand would have an even higher degree of print media concentration than its nearest neighbour or indeed any long established liberal democratic country of which we are aware" at around 90 percent ownership of traditional daily newspaper output.

The research paper discusses at length attempts both to define and to regulate for media 'plurality" - the provision of a wide range of points of view, opinions and media voices in the interests of well-functioning democracies - but found that many such efforts had been difficult to implement.

The authors reject the idea that a growing array of online news sources make the concept of plurality obsolete, "at least at present".

While bloggers and niche publishers might improve plurality, "it is the authority, reach and sustained, consistent and comprehensive activity of the larger established players which often gives those stories national prominence and currency". While more people were finding their news through social media platforms, "they do not, as yet, contribute materially to the supply of New Zealand news through their own investment".

However, the authors are less concerned than the commission about the potential for the merger to allow the introduction of paywalls for news, which competition between Fairfax NZ and NZME has so far prevented.

"Competition between the parties which holds back the introduction of a paywall could ultimately result in lower investment in news provision across the board and less innovation in news services. We do not think the prospect or otherwise of a paywall being introduced should be seen as a significant plurality concern in itself."

They were more sceptical about the publishers' claims that existing editorial practices that are intended to ensure a wide range of voices and opinions are aired would be maintained in the merged entity.

"In the absence of any form of tough and independent behavioural regulation, the delivery of such promises could not be guaranteed."

While the evidence from other countries with populations similar to New Zealand similar suggest that "a scenario without a merger is (commercially) sustainable", the researchers hedge their bets about the longer term.

"Although the current plurality assessment is robust and appropriate, rapid changes in new markets could before long raise further questions around long term sustainability of high-quality news in New Zealand, and the most effective structures and regulatory framework to secure it."

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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A woman was killed in police firing in Punjab's Patiala town as a speeding car broke barricades hours after Nabha jailbreak on Sunday morning.

By India Today Web Desk: Hours after 10 armed men broke into Nabha jail in Patiala to free Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, firing was reported from a site of police barricades.

A woman was killed in police firing.



The incident occurred when a speeding car broke the police barricades and tried to escape search. Initial reports suggest that when police tried to stop the car, occupants fired at the officials.

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Police returned the fire, in which a woman was reported injured and later succumbed to injuries.



READ| 10 armed men break into Nabha jail in Punjab; free Khalistan Liberation Force chief, four others

Meanwhile, red alert has been sounded across Punjab in the wake of the escape of Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and four gangsters from Nabha jail in Patiala.

Security was beefed up at all important installations and offices. Additional police forces were rushed to the Nabha jail and also to the spot of firing in Patiala.

Ten armed men, dressed as cops broke into the high security jail, where Mintoo had been kept after his arrest in 2014. The armed men fired around 100 rounds.

Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal chaired a high-level meeting to take stock of the situation in the state. Top officials of Punjab Police including Director-General of prisons attended the meeting.

The DG prisons was suspended following the prison break.

ALSO READ:

Nabha jailbreak: Who is Harminder Singh Mintoo



--- ENDS ---
The prisoners who escaped the Nabha Central Jail today were a prized catch.

By Indo-Asian News Service: The Punjab Police and security agencies are investigating the recent activities of the six prisoners who escaped from the maximum-security Nabha Jail premises today following a well-planned attack by unidentified armed men.

Police sources said CCTV footage of the jail, call records of jail officials and others and posts on social media sites were being studied to know the involvement of people in the sensational jailbreak.

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MINTOO WAS PLANNING TERRORIST STRIKES

Of the prisoners who escaped, Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo was arrested in November 2014 as he returned to India from Thailand after being deported from there.

He was nabbed from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in New Delhi along with an aide after security and intelligence agencies tracked him.

Mintoo's aide Gurpreet Singh, also deported from Thailand, was also arrested.

ALSO WATCH



Mintoo is wanted in several terror cases in Punjab. Police had claimed that Mintoo was planning terrorist strikes in the region.

"The KLF chief was wanted in 10 terrorist offences and his key aide Gurpreet Singh had been tasked to execute a conspiracy of assassinating Hindu leaders in 2013 which was foiled by Punjab Police," Punjab Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) Hardeep Singh Dhillon had said then.

WHEN OFFICERS CAMPED IN THAILAND

Punjab Police traced and located them in Thailand in co-ordination with central agencies. On November 7, they were brought from Thailand to New Delhi in co-ordination with Thai authorities and arrested.

Two Punjab police officers camped in Thailand for three weeks while tracking the terrorists there.

"It was established that Harminder Singh was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of Gurdeep Singh (Passport A-22967012 issued in Ipoh, Malaysia) and a fake Malaysian ID Card No. 610320086949," Dhillon said.

Mintoo was trying to revive and strengthen the KLF with foreign based supporters. He visited Pakistan and later travelled to Italy, Belgium, Germany, France and other European countries for 11 months (June 2013 to May 2014) before coming to Southeast Asia.

The Punjab Police came to know about the conspiracy to eliminate Hindu leaders after sleeper cells were busted by the police in 2013-14.

Mintoo had close contact with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers.

GANGSTERS USED SOCIAL MEDIA

Another terrorist, Kashmir Singh Galwadi, who was involved in an attack on a Punjab Hindu leader in Gurdaspur in 2013, also escaped. He was also associated with the pro-Khalistan movement.

Gangster Vicky Gonder, arrested in December last year, was suspected to be behind the murderous attack on another gangster, Sukha Kahlwan, near Jalandhar in January 2015. Kahlwan was in police protection and was being taken for a court hearing when the attack took place at Phagwara town.

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Kahlwan was gunned down while the police personnel accompanying him failed to repulse the attack.

Gonder and other gangsters had been in the news for running the affairs of their gangs from inside Punjab jails and also using social media.

Gangster Gurpreet Sekhon, who also escaped today, led another gang which was involved in murder, kidnappings, extortion and highway robberies.

The other two gangsters, Neeta Deol and Vikramjit, were also involved in various crimes in Punjab and other places.

ALSO READ: Nabha jailbreak: Heads start rolling, special task force set up to probe how pro-Khalistan leader fled

ALSO READ: After Nabha jailbreak woman killed in police firing in Patiala, DG Prisons suspended

ALSO READ: Nabha jailbreak: Who is Harminder Singh Mintoo



--- ENDS ---
"There are lapses. There is a conspiracy, as we can see. We will investigate everything. We will look into connivance (angle too)," Arora told media persons outside the maximum security jail where 10-12 armed men barged in earlier on Sunday to free the six high-profile prisoners after firing indiscriminately.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora on Sunday admitted that "conspiracy, connivance and lapses" led to the sensational Nabha jail-break, in which two suspected Khalistani terrorists and four dreaded gangsters escaped.

CONSPIRACY?

"There are lapses. There is a conspiracy, as we can see. We will investigate everything. We will look into connivance (angle too)," Arora told media persons outside the maximum security jail where 10-12 armed men barged in earlier on Sunday to free the six high-profile prisoners after firing indiscriminately.

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As jail security failed to respond to the attack, the DGP said: "We will look into why our firing was not effective."

He said the escapees as well as those who helped them break free drove towards Haryana, about 30 km away.

"Their location is being traced," Arora said.

The DGP said that 30-35 rounds were fired during the jail-break even as eyewitnesses claimed at least 100 rounds were fired.

"They (attackers) made the excuse that they have come to drop a prisoner. The sentry opened the gate. They were carrying small firearms. Six criminals, namely Harminder Mintoo and Kashmir Singh (both terrorists), and Gurpreet Sekhon, Vicky Gounder, Amandeep Dhotian and Neeta Deol (all gangsters) escaped," the DGP said.

PAKISTAN INFLUENCE?

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who also holds the Home portfolio, tweeted: "Pak(istan) desperate to revive terror post-surgical strike. Could be behind jail-break."

"We will uncover the conspiracy behind terrorist-gangster Nabha jail-break at all costs," he said in another tweet.

The jail-break has put a question mark on security in Punjab ahead of the 'Heart of Asia' conference in Amritsar on December 2 and 3, in which top leaders from various countries are expected to participate.

ALSO READ:

How Nabha jailbreak unfolded: They used automatic rifles in attack that lasted for 10 minutes

Nabha jailbreak: When 2 officers camped in Thailand for 3 weeks to track pro-Khalistan leader

--- ENDS ---
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Today's archive page is from Dec. 6, 1970.

Native of New Brighton, Sonny Collins, leads a community organization known as the "New People" to help improve the neighborhood and the lives of New Brighton residents.

The organization offers tutoring for local high school students, works on anti-drug initiatives, and hosts cultural community events.

Collins is a former member of the Black Panther Party and took inspiration from that organization when crafting the New People.

Collins stresses the need to get community members more involved, which would in turn make them more invested in bettering their community.

Some New Brighton residents are quoted as saying that Collins had done more for their neighborhood than any politician had in the past 10 years.
pedestrian

A pedestrian was struck by a vehicle near the intersection of Hylan Boulevard and New Dorp Lane Saturday. (Staten Island Advance)

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A pedestrian was taken to the hospital after being hit by a car in New Dorp Saturday afternoon, according to a spokesman for the FDNY.

At approximately 3:37 p.m., emergency units responded to a call that a pedestrian was injured while crossing the street near the intersection of Hylan Boulevard and New Dorp Lane, the spokesman said.

The person reportedly injured his or her leg, and was transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Ocean Breeze, the spokesman added.

The spokesman said the pedestrian was in stable condition upon arrival at Staten Island University Hospital, Ocean Breeze.

It is unclear at this time if the driver of the vehicle is facing any criminal charges.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.--Police are asking for the public's help identifying a man sought for questioning in connection with a grand larceny incident in Stapleton.

An unidentified male stole a wallet from inside a 41-year-old man's car located at 210 Broad Street at 7:45 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7, according to police.

The wallet contained a TD Bank debit card, which was used to make unauthorized purchases totaling $565. The transactions were made at Finish Line, H & M, and Macy's located in the Staten Island Mall, according to police.

The individual is described as a black male wearing a multi-colored Nike hooded shirt.

A photo of the individual sought for questioning taken from surveillance footage at Macy's was provided by the NYPD.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hot line at 800-577-TIPS (8477) or 888-57-PISTA (74782) for Spanish; visit nypdcrimestoppers.com or send text tips to CRIMES (274637), then enter TIP577.

All calls are strictly confidential.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Local businesses offered great deals for Staten Island shoppers looking to buy gifts during the holiday season on Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday was created seven years ago by American Express to encourage customers to shop small during the busy holiday season. The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce kicked off the all-day event and encouraged small businesses in the borough to join in on the event.

Here are a few local businesses that took part in today's event:

Alice Austen House Craft Fair

The Alice Austen House in Rosebank hosted a craft fair from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and it continues Sunday during the same hours.

More than 15 local businesses set up tables with their products on display including jewelry, food, souvenirs and beauty products.

Shoppers said they were looking for unique and fun items to give as gifts for the holidays.

"I'm shopping here because I love the Alice Austen House and I'm looking for something unique for Christmas gifts," said Port Richmond resident Catherine Olsen. "I'm an advocate for supporting small businesses. We want to keep the economy alive on Staten Island."

Wicked Stitches

Wicked Stitches in West Brighton offered a special deal on Saturday: bogo on monograms.

The local shop offered free monogramming for a second item with the same monogram. Customers were able to bring in their own items or buy items to be monogrammed, and could mix-and-match.

"Shop Small is our kick-off to the holiday season," said co-owner Nancy Nix. "If you like beautiful stores in your neighborhood, keep them in business."

Wicked Stitches is located at 840 Castleton Ave.

Richmond Hood Company

The West Brighton retail store offered a 20 percent off sale for Small Business Saturday. One of the owners, Tariq Zaid, explained that the shop tries to participate in as many events as they can.

"We encourage people to come in and save some money," Zaid said. "Small businesses are more invested in the community than other big-box stores."

Erica Santiago of St. George bought a sweatshirt at Richmond Hood Company that she said she'd had her eye on for a while. "I think with how much money big businesses make, it's important to support businesses here," she said.

Richmond Hood Company is located at 827 Castleton Avenue.

Casale Jewelers

Casale Jewelers in Dongan Hills offered a free Apple Watch with every purchase of $1,000 or more, and the Amazon Fire HD with a purchase of $500 or more. If a customer spent $100 or more, they received a key to open a treasure chest and be one of the lucky 10 winners to receive an item of jewelry.

Owner Cory Schifter explained that the Apple Watch and the Amazon Fire HD are the most requested items for the holiday season. The offers are also available on Sunday, Nov. 27.

"When you spend money on Staten Island, it goes back to Staten Island," Schifter said. "We all give back; we all participate. It's important to shop small."

Casale Jewelers is located at 1639 Richmond Road.

Hall of Frames

Custom picture frame store, Hall of Frames in Grasmere, served as the kick-off point for Small Business Saturday.

According to owner Janice Giacalone-Stoffers, select ready-made frames were on sale and many were under $20. Other gift items the store offered were from local artists, including handmade soaps, paintings and jewelry.

Giacolone-Stoffers explained it's important to support and buy from local businesses "because small businesses are the backbone of our society and it's personal."

Hall of Frames is located at 2112 Clove Road.
By PTI: Indore, Nov 25 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Congress today claimed that the Centres demonetisation decision had nothing to do with the BJPs victory in Shahdol Lok Sabha and Nepanagar Assembly by-polls in the state.

Speaking to reporters here, state Congress chief Arun Yadav said, "Polling in Shahdol and Nepanagar was held only 11 days after the announcement of demonetisation."

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"Both were scheduled tribe-dominated seats and there was no talk of demonetisation among the common people...So, to link the poll results with the demonetisation decision is not correct," he said, adding that the ruling party always had an advantage in the by-polls.

"We will review the results and take corrective measures soon," the Congress leader said.

Yadav, however, claimed that demonetisation will have its impact in the 2018 Assembly election in Madhya Pradesh.

Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the decision, he said the people, especially housewives, farmers and labourers, were facing the brunt of it.

Asked about the controversial writings on the graves of the SIMI activists who were killed in an alleged police encounter after a jailbreak, Yadav said the state government should probe the entire issue in detail. PTI HWP MAS KRK RC RDS

--- ENDS ---
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Without the ability to sock away rainy day funds, 60 percent of New Yorkers are a paycheck away from homelessness, according to a new study.

More than half of all New Yorkers could end up homeless if they lose their job, are unable to work because of illness, or fall victim to a natural disaster, like a hurricane, that leaves them with nothing.

"It's (homelessness) happening more and more to what we would call the middle or working class," said Rev. Terry Troia, executive director of Project Hospitality.

"A lot of older houses are being sold for development here. People who were living in these homes or renting rooms, lose their place. And there's no place they can go for what they were paying. They might have been paying $1,000 for a one bedroom, and that doesn't work anymore ... What the borough needs is more affordable housing," she added.

NO EMERGENCY FUNDS

A recent Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development report revealed that 60 percent of New Yorkers lack sufficient emergency funds.

Staten Island's area with the highest rate of residents without emergency funds was St. George/Stapleton. A total of 52 percent of residents in the area lack a savings that can help them through hard times.

In the South Beach/Willowbrook area, 43 percent of residents are without emergency funds, the study says. And the area from Tottenvile to Great Kills -- often considered more affluent with higher rates of income -- still had 41 percent of its residents without a stash of emergency funds.

"People don't understand poverty. They think it's only people on public assistance or welfare. And that's not true. The overwhelming majority of people in our food pantries are working people," she added.

HOMELESS POPULATION GROWING HERE

As the cost of living -- with everything from food costs to rents rising -- Staten Island's homeless population continues to grow.

According to Department of Homeless Services' data there are more than 60,500 adults and children who frequent the city's homeless shelters.

On Staten Island there are 52 filled homeless shelter beds, and 1,300 Islanders living in shelters in other areas of the city, said Troia. She noted that the borough lost 60 homeless shelter beds this year.

MANY WORKING CLASS ARE NOT 'FOOD SECURE'



Another study conducted by Hunger Free America, formerly the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, found that half of all working-age New York City residents can't afford enough food.

"As rents rise, the cupboards grow bare. We need to find a path to livable wages and affordable housing before we can end hunger," said Troia.

According to the Hunger Free America report, from 2013 to 2015, 864,053 New York State residents lived in households that included at least one person working, but were still "food insecure" and unable to consistently afford enough food. Statewide, out of adults who were food insecure, 46 percent were working.

"Despite a slight hike in wages in the last year, New York state and city face an epidemic of hunger among workers," said Joel Berg, CEO of Hunger Free America.

"This shameful data is the latest evidence that the American dream is seriously at risk unless we change our current economic and political policies nationwide. Low wages are still the top cause of U.S. hunger and malnutrition. The good news is that New York wage hikes will soon provide food life preservers to New Yorkers drowning in hunger," he added.

Hunger Free America is calling on President-Elect Donald Trump to commit to ending U.S. hunger by creating jobs, raising wages, and ensuring an adequate federal nutrition assistance safety net. They also called on Trump to oppose House Speaker Paul Ryan's proposals to slash the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly called the Food Stamps Program.

FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK
By PTI: By Murtuza Merchant

Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) Controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik today claimed that there has been no misuse of funds by his banned NGO and rejected all allegations of involvement in terror-related activities.

Remaining non-committal on returning to India, where he has been booked for hate speech and under anti-terror law UAPA, the 51-year-old televangelist, who is currently abroad, said he has repeatedly offered his cooperation to NIA.

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Facing heat over charge of inspiring some of the Dhaka attackers through his speeches, he said the moment someone resorts to violence, he ceases to be Islamic and loses his support.

"It is wrong to imply that a few miscreants who joined terror groups were influenced by me. So if I was really spreading terror, wouldnt I have made a few lakh terrorists by now? Not just a handful.

"In a fan following of millions, there may be a handful of anti-social elements who will go astray and take up violence. But they are surely not following what Ive told them. The moment they pick up senseless violence, they cease to be Islamic and they surely lose my support," Naik told PTI in an e-mail interview.

Asked about the legal steps he would take to challenge the ban on his NGO Islamic Research Foundation (IRF), he said his legal teams in Mumbai and Delhi were looking into the issue and would move the Court soon.

The Centre recently banned the IRF for five years and declared it as an unlawful association.

Naik said the ban on IRF was politically motivated.

On allegations of money laundering by IRF in the funds received from abroad, he said the Rs 47 crore in question came from his personal account in Dubai to his personal account in Mumbai in the last six plus years.

"It was duly declared by me in the returns and used for lawful activities, including giving gifts and loans to my family members. I dont know where is the problem in that.

"IRF received about Rs 14 crore in the FCRA account over the past 15 years. Of this, about Rs 4 crore was from NRIs living abroad. Only about Rs 10 crore was received from foreign donors in the last about 15 years. All of this was duly declared to the MHA, including the amounts, the names and the addresses of the donors. So, where is the question of money laundering?" Naik asked.

Asked why was he not returning to India, Naik said he has repeatedly offered his co-operation to government agencies in their investigations but till date, no agency bothered to contact him, ask him questions, or send him any notice. PTI MM NM RSY SUA

--- ENDS ---

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"We tried for more than 50 years but couldn't do it. Now he's dead, and maybe things can change," Torre said. "It might take three or four years. Maybe the revolution will be on the streets in three or four months."
It is a shame that the ACT government continues to reject calls for a pill-testing trial in the territory when doing so could save lives.

A focus on harm minimisation is noble and indeed educating people about the risk of drug taking is part of a successful strategy.

But not promoting a scheme where tests will indicate whether a drug is potentially lethal or not is a missed opportunity to contribute to harm minimisation.

While there are methods for people to easily obtain drugs such as ecstasy and MDMA, there should also be methods for them to test the quality.
It's 40 years since Norm, a pot-bellied middle-aged cartoon character, spearheaded the "Life. Be In It" advertising blitz urging Australians to be more active.

That campaign, launched in the mid-1970s, became one of our most widely recognised lifestyle messages. It's also testament to how long authorities have been telling us to get off the couch.

And yet the social and economic cost of fat is rising. The Fairfax-Lateral Economics wellbeing index calculates obesity has become a $130 billion-a-year drag on Australia's collective welfare.

Now behavioural economists are experimenting with ways to use human nature rather than TV commercials to get us moving. Research has shown how people can often be "nudged" towards making better decisions for themselves  and society  with low-cost, low-profile interventions. Behavioural economists have also shown that our peer groups and social networks have a powerful influence over how we behave. Why not harness that collective trait to encourage more exercise, especially in sedentary workplaces?
Sometimes the news reaches out and slaps you in the face. The suicide of a young Queensland boy last week, Tyrone Unsworth, did that to me last week.

He was reported to be all of 13 years old when he died last Monday, and said to be just 12 on a friend's fundraising page for his funeral. He took his own life after intolerable bullying for being gay.

It physically hurt to read of his death, despite knowing neither him nor his family. It hurt to hear his mother's anguish, courageously told to The Courier-Mail, about him suffering years of abuse. To hear of a vicious assault with a fence paling a month before his death, a criminal act which put him off school. To see the photos of a beautiful, freckled young boy with an enormous smile and two big front teeth, proudly clutching two trophies, cuddling his mother with a hi-vis shirt, smiling a smile never to be smiled again.

He'd been called a gay boy and a faggot. His mother knew he'd been dealt that kind of horror, for years, even though he was only in year 7. He's not the first to be called those names, and he won't be the last. And his mother knows those words killed him.
The import of agri items from India through the Wagah border crossing and Karachi port and issuing permits for future imports has been halted.

By Press Trust of India: Pakistan has suspended the import of cotton and other agriculture commodities, including vegetables, from India due to rising tensions between the two countries along the LoC, a media report here said.

Officials of Department of Plant Protection (DPP) said that import of agri items from India through the Wagah border crossing and Karachi port and issuing permits for future imports has been halted, the Dawn reported.

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Cotton importers and customs clearing agents claimed that the department had stopped the import of agriculture commodities from India without a warning or written order because of increase in tensions across the LoC.

Imran Shami, chief of DPP which is a subordinate department of the national food security and research ministry, however, sought to dispel the impression. "We have stopped import of tomatoes and other fresh vegetables in order to protect our farmers. We have enough tomato and other vegetables stocks, which we import from India only in case of shortages in the domestic market," he said.

BIO-SECURITY CONDITIONS



The reason behind the "suspension" of cotton imports from India was, nevertheless, different, he said.

"No. We have not stopped cotton imports from India. It has just been halted over reports that the Indian exporters are not meeting our bio-security conditions. We are looking into these reports and will lift restriction on cotton imports, if our apprehensions are proved wrong," Shami said.

He said only those cotton consignments would be allowed to enter Pakistan through surface or sea routes where importers had already secured permits from their department and carried phyto-sanitary certificates.

"Our cotton consignments are not being allowed to enter Pakistan through Wagah and Karachi for reasons known to the ministry but cheaper, subsidised Indian yarn is being brought in without any let or hindrance. At least 11 trucks of Indian yarn entered Pakistan on Thursday when the department stopped cotton consignments from coming to this side of the border," a textile factory owner told Dawn.

TEXTILE EXPORTERS SUFFER



He said the suspension of cotton import from India would create a huge problem for the textile exporters as the truncated domestic crop target of 11.25 million bales for this year appeared difficult if not impossible to meet.

"The industry requires 14 million bales. We will still be short by three million bales of cotton even if the crop target is achieved," he said.

He said cotton shortages after the ban on Indian imports would make domestic prices shoot up at the expense of exports.

Pakistan had imported 2.7 million bales of cotton (1 bale is 170 kgs) - about 40 per cent of India's total cotton exports in 2015-16 - due to crop failure that wiped off 0.5 per cent of GDP growth. The industry is expecting to import 2 million bales this year.

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--- ENDS ---
A healthy country is a wealthy country. The link between health and a productive economy mustn't be forgotten. A central role of government is to protect us. Once it was from infectious diseases. Now it's pervasive harmful food and beverages that require the same approach  regulation and legislation  as experience from tobacco control has shown.

Governments' efforts are failing us despite at least a decade of sound evidence of what needs to be done. National leaders are yet to heed the calls for protective policies. As with the hard road to reduce smoking, industry opposes the experts. They cry, "nanny state" and infringement of the free market and argue for people's rights to make harmful choices as well as healthy ones.

Expecting individuals to keep themselves healthy in a world where there is a vast array of unhealthy products and barriers against making the right choice is unrealistic. Credit:Dallas Kilponen

Expecting individuals to keep themselves healthy in a world where there is a vast array of unhealthy products and barriers against making the right choice is unrealistic.

What is starkly obvious is that where people live influences their health  wealthier suburbs are healthier suburbs but chronic diseases affect all of us, rich and poor.
All Australian schools would reach their appropriate funding levels within seven years under a bold plan to cut taxpayer support for over-funded schools and ramp up support for disadvantaged schools.

The report from the respected Grattan Institute says that, five years after the Gonski review was completed, Australia's school funding system remains a "mess" with big disparities between different states, schools and sectors.

The Grattan Institute says its "radical but achievable" solution would see all schools receive appropriate funding by 2023 while not costing the federal government any extra money. Under the current timeline, many needy schools are decades away from receiving the funding they require under the needs-based Gonski funding formula.

The report also calls for the creation of new high-level teaching positions with higher salaries to boost teacher quality because increased funding alone cannot fix the problems in Australian schools.
The Australian Medical Association has distanced itself from a new relaxed drugs approach being pushed by the Greens, saying it underestimates the harm illicit drugs do to the community.

Association president Michael Gannon told Fairfax Media he welcomed any initiative that shifted the public conversation about illicit drugs towards rehabilitation and treatment instead of policing and the justice system.

But he said he was "wary" of any push towards decriminalising illicit drugs, including cannabis.

"We should not underestimate the harm that illicit drugs do everyday in our community," Dr Gannon said on Sunday.
Tony Abbott has urged Malcolm Turnbull to revisit some of the aspects of the infamous 2014 budget and toughen up his message on power prices in some end-of-year advice that will hover over the Turnbull government as it enters into the final parliamentary week for the year.

The former prime minister also made it clear he would like to return to the frontbench, suggesting he would be less able to free range on policy ideas if he was bound by the discipline of cabinet.

Mr Abbott said the Coalition needed to be a "sensible centre right government" if it wanted to fend off the inroads One Nation was making into its voter base and improve its position against Labor in the opinion polls.

"We have to sharpen the differences, not minimise them," Mr Abbott told Sky News on Sunday morning, "with a whole hearted and single minded focus."
And there I am going to draw a line under the day. What happened?

there was bad news for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in this morning's opinion polls ;

in this morning's ; but the backpacker tax will get through Parliament after the Coalition cut a deal with One Nation and others;

will get through Parliament after the with and others; less clear is the fate of the government's building industry watchdog legislation ;

; Attorney-General George Brandis explain his role in the Bell Group saga;

explain his role in the Bell Group saga; the opposition smells a rat and pursued the matter in question time ; and

; and there was a rare moment of bipartisanship when MPs united to take a stand against Indigenous family violence.

Thanks so much for your company today. My special thanks, as usual, to Alex Ellinghausen and Andrew Meares.

You can follow me on Facebook.

Alex, Andrew and I will be back in the morning. Until then, good night.
As the reefs water quality drops from a man-made assault of chemicals and sediment, an encouraging solution rises to the surface.

Vince Papale is an environmentalist, but wouldnt dream of describing himself that way, and the green movement wouldnt recognise him as one of their own.

His family has farmed sugar cane on the table-flat fields of the Burdekin, about an hour south of Townsville, since his great-grandfather emigrated from Sicily almost a century ago.

Nearly a decade ago, Papale and his wife Rita made a decision that dramatically changed how they and their three children ran their Home Hill farm, and how they thought about themselves.

Frustrated to breaking point by poor drainage on their property that constantly flooded the cane fields, they signed on for a $195,000 federal government grant and poured in another $270,000 of their own.

With it, they reconfigured the four hectares at the heart of the problem into a wetland that traps and filters water running off the property, removing nutrients and pollution before it drains into the sea.

The result is a thriving hub of aquatic life. Lined by more than 1000 trees, it is home to fish including a school of barramundi, seabirds of all shapes, sometimes a crocodile.

Papale says building it was a big deal; not just the financial investment, but also the cultural change.

I had neighbours and family say What are you doing getting in bed with the greenies? he says.

The wetland brought with it a significant side effect  its good for the Great Barrier Reef, and is part of a suite of changes that have reduced the nitrogen runoff from the property by more than 20 per cent, while improving productivity by up to 25 per cent.

Papale says, I didnt set out to do something for the reef, but it makes me feel proud that if my kids get challenged about farming they can say, My parents did something good for the environment.

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After climate change, poor water quality  largely caused by agricultural run-off and dumped sediment  is the biggest threat facing the reef. Dealing with it wont save the reef in a warming world, but gives it the best chance of putting up a fight. While measures like those being taken by the Papales are steps in the right direction, the evidence across the length of the reef suggests we are failing, badly.

A Commonwealth report card released in October based on 2015 data found the inshore marine area was in poor condition, grading it a D on a scale of A-to-E. Where it should be clear, pollution has made the water cloudy in some areas, affecting the health of coral and seagrasses. Scientists say little has changed in the past year.

Environmental scientist and former marine park manager Jon Brodie published a paper earlier this year setting out what it would cost to fix: $10 billion over a decade. A Queensland government water science taskforce later put the price at $8.2 billion by 2025, most of it to be spent in the Fitzroy Basin around Rockhampton. While governments agree the problem is serious, to date they have offered less than a $1 billion over the next five years. The spending is totally inadequate, says Brodie, now a professorial fellow at the ARC Centre for Excellence for Coral Reef Studies. At the moment the reef is in terrible condition and continuing to deteriorate, and were not really arresting the decline with anything were doing now. Jon Day, a former director with the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, says the government is failing to live up to the commitment it made to UNESCO in 2015, when the reef was threatened with having its world heritage listing categorised as in danger. At this rate, Australia will not meet the water-quality targets committed to in the [federal and Queensland governments] 2050 reef plan, he says. Advertisement

Agricultural runoff from the nitrogen used in fertiliser and pesticides is one of the biggest threats to water quality on the reef. Nitrogen is linked to outbreaks of crown-of-thorns, the deadly starfish that feed on coral and spawn at a rate that makes them difficult to tackle once they take hold. Females produce up to 65 million eggs in the five-month annual spawning season. The impact of the starfish is difficult to overstate. The Australian Institute of Marine Science found coral cover on reefs that it surveyed had been cut in half over the past three decades; if not for the crown-of-thorns it is estimated it would have increased. There have been four major outbreaks of the starfish since the 1960s, including a current episode on the mid-shelf of the reef between Cairns and Townsville, which is heading south. Steps are being taken to kill the starfish, most notably divers collecting them and killing them with an injection of ox bile. James Cook University PhD student Lisa Bostrom Einarsson discovered injecting crown-of-thorns with homebrand vinegar was just as effective and is overseeing a wider trial. But all agree these are only piecemeal solutions, and the threat must be dealt with at the source on the land. The 2050 reef plan set goals of a 50 per cent cut in nitrogen run-off by 2018, increasing to 80 per cent by 2025. Besides nitrogen, a primary threat to water quality is sediment dumped in the marine park, washed into the ocean from grazing properties and churned up during dredging. The sediment deprives coral and seagrass of the light and oxygen they need, effectively smothering them. Former environment minister Greg Hunt won praise in 2015 for banning the dumping of spoil from dredging for capital works in the marine park, but the dumping of about 1 million cubic metres a year from maintenance dredging continues. There is also a looming issue with what we flush into the sea  microplastics from clothes and other products, but also the growing number of prescription drugs we wash through our bodies. They can accumulate in the food chain and disrupt animals endocrine systems. Advertisement

To date, sugar cane is the main focus of government-funded programs to save the reef. Cane is king along the Queensland coast, the basis for an export industry worth $2 billion. The fertiliser applied is overwhelmingly nitrogen-based. When it floods, a plume dumps on the reef. Papale gets emotional talking about the changes on his property. He and Rita won a Premiers Sustainability Award in 2013 and have hosted student groups to show what better practice can achieve. While his experience has been positive, he has been affronted by the extent to which cane farmers have copped the blame for the reefs woes.

I think the industry Im in is doing a lot of the heavy lifting and bearing the brunt of bad media unfairly, Papale says. Do I think there are issues going on with the environment and the reef? Absolutely, beyond doubt. But good stories coming out of agriculture regarding the environment dont get a lot of mileage  I dont think they fit the story the green industry want to tell. His stance on the benefits of better environmental practice is not universally shared. Some farmers have been openly aggressive towards other farmers taking steps to reduce pollution. There is deep scepticism about regulations introduced in the Queensland Parliament six years ago, but only now being enforced. Queensland Environment Minister Steven Miles agrees more funding is needed to improve water quality, and says his government is in the process of working out how it can most effectively be spent.Its answer has been two pilot projects  one in the Burdekin and the other in the wet tropics  to see new techniques to limit run-off can work. Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg says a reef ministerial forum is considering an investment framework that will identify funding priorities and strategies to boost the money available. The reef's challenges can only be addressed through cooperation between all sectors, and scientifically based adaptive management. Jon Brodie is pessimistic, but believes water quality is fixable within a decade if the will exists. He says it will require funding, the use of largely ignored federal legislation that demands better care of the marine park, and the government possibly buying some farms  those that are not economically viable  to improve land use. If we did all of those things, we could do it.
NSW will face an influx of less-qualified teachers from other states, the NSW government has warned, unless national minimum standards are adopted to prevent students from flooding into university degrees.

Last week Victoria became the second state to adopt a minimum entry standard, an ATAR of 65, for students wanting to study teaching, in order to stem an oversupply of graduates entering the profession and boost teacher quality.

It prompted Australian Catholic University vice-chancellor Greg Craven, who chaired the federal government's teacher education advisory group, to warn limiting the teacher intake risked "annihilating the teacher workforce".

"The end result will be teacher shortages and enormous class sizes," he said.
Family and friends of former NRL player Chad Robinson have appealed for public help to find the 36-year-old, who disappeared from Sydney's north-west at the weekend.

Robinson, a former Parramatta Eels and Sydney Roosters player, has not been seen since about 7.30pm on Saturday, when he left his house on Crestview Avenue in Kellyville in his silver Subaru Outback, police said.

Police said there were "grave concerns for his welfare, and police urge anyone who sees him to contact them immediately".

Robinson's sister, Monique Brennan, said her brother did not have his phone or wallet with him.
Social housing tenants could be forced to pay more in rent depending on the location and size of their house or apartment under options being examined by the state's pricing regulator.

The Baird government has asked the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal to examine rents paid by tenants in social and affordable housing.

The chair of IPART, Peter Boxall, said the system of setting rents for public housing in Sydney had remained largely unchanged despite significant developments in the housing system.

"In general the whole thing is ready for reform," Dr Boxall said in an interview.
Some of the state's lowest income rural electorates will be hit hardest when generous subsidies for rooftop solar energy are withdrawn at the end of next month.

In a potential political headache for the Nationals, eight of the 10 NSW seats with the highest proportion of households with solar installations are all held by the party.

In the National Party-held seats of Barwon and Lismore 36 per cent of voters live under rooftops with solar installations, the highest share in the state. In the electorate of Tweed the proportion is 30 per cent and in Port Macquarie 28 per cent, analysis by solar advocacy group Solar Citizens shows.

State-based solar bonus schemes for energy fed into the power grid from small-scale rooftop systems underpinned the strong household take-up of solar power, especially in regional NSW. But these schemes will expire on January 1, leaving many households with rooftop solar panels out of pocket.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Parivartan Yatra rally at Kushinagar is his fifth visit to eastern UP in the last seven months.

By India Today Web Desk: Eastern Uttar Pradesh is crucial for BJP's UP-2017 mission and the party is putting all efforts to spread its support base here.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Parivartan Yatra rally at Kushinagar on Sunday is a testimony to that.

This is PM Modi's fifth visit to eastern UP in the last seven months in this poll-bound state.

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READ | Just like gold, India will come out shining from this demonetisation fire: Prime Minister Modi



The BJP is facing flak from a seemingly united opposition camp after the Modi government demonetised high value currency notes on November 9. The opposition parties have given a call for observing Akrosh Diwas across the country on November 28 against demonetisation.

READ: PM Modi pitches for mobile banking, says will help curb black money



PM Modi has been rebutting leveled by the opposition parties, who have alleged that demonetisation has put the general masses at huge trouble.

READ: 20 provisions of demonetisation modified by Modi sarkar in 15 days



The decision has taken a huge political turn in the view of upcoming assembly elections in four states including UP, where PM Modi has high stakes as he represents Varanasi constituency from this most populous province.

READ | Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi seeks support on demonetisation, urges farmers, small traders to go cashless



In the backdrop of such political rumblings, Prime Minster Narendra Modi is addressing the people at Kushinagar.

Here are the highlights:

I seek your blessings to end corruption and work towards development: PM Modi

PM Modi asks the gathering if they want to end corruption or support Bharat Bandh.

I don't think the Uttar Pradesh government will do anything, they lack the will to do: PM Modi



Today mobile phones have become your wallet: PM Modi

The government is working hard to help its people: PM Modi

I have asked only 50 days, no there are only 30 days left: PM Modi

I warned there will be trouble. For some the troubles would be manifolds, but common man will have little trouble: PM Modi

Centre has paid off the debts of sugarcane farmers worth Rs 20,000 crore: PM Modi



Strong farmers and villages add strength to India: PM Modi

My government is dedicated to the poor, to the farmers and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes: PM Modi

We did not let the farmers cultivating sugarcane die: PM Modi

Now there is no need to queue up for sourcing Urea: PM Modi

Urea meant for farmers have been illegally used by industrialists: PM Modi



Prime Minister Narendra Modi evokes the problems faced by farmers in procuring urea.

When my Govt took charge, sugar cane farmers were owed Rs 12,000 crore. We made efforts to ensure they got paid in time; dues cleared to extent: PM Modi



My government believes in representing the people and fighting for them: PM Modi

We have helped the sugarcane farmers, and have replenished their bank accounts: PM Modi



My government is dedicated to the poor, to the farmers and scheduled castes and scheduled tribes: PM Modi

If change would have been brought to the lives of farmers, India would not have faced difficulties: PM Modi



If we would've brought change in lives of farmers,India wouldn't have been facing problems.Strong farmers and villages add strength to India: PM Modi

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--- ENDS ---
Catholic Archbishop Denis Hart called for Father John Walshe's resignation long before the controversial priest stepped down, a spokesman for the Melbourne archdiocese has confirmed.

Archbishop Hart had for weeks been pressuring Father Walshe to resign from his position as Mentone-Parkdale parish priest due to a "lack of unity in the parish", archdiocese spokesman Shane Healy said.

Father John Walshe addressing parents at St Patrick's school in Mentone in 2010.

Mr Healy said the resignation, which was announced last week, followed a "long and complex process", but he would not elaborate on the reason for the delay.

"It was his [Archbishop Hart's] judgment that the parish was not running as it should," Mr Healy said at the weekend.
A smoke alert has been issued for the Perth metro and areas of the south west, as bushfires continue to pop up across the state.

Bushfire alerts have been issued for parts of Mount Barker, Meekatharra, Wiluna, and Dumberton over the last five hours.

The all-clear signal has been given to Toodyay, Goomalling, Newman and Mariginiup.

A bushfire north of Nannup has caused a smoke alert to be issued for Kirup, Balingup and Donnybrook.
In America, President-elect Donald Trump and Cuban American senators all but cheered Fidel Castro's death.

A little farther north, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was mourning "a larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century."

"While a controversial figure, both Mr Castro's supporters and detractors recognised his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for 'el Comandante,' " Trudeau's statement said.

"I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away. It was also a real honour to meet his three sons and his brother President Raul Castro during my recent visit to Cuba."
HAVANA: From the Bay of Pigs invasion to a historic visit by President Barack Obama to Havana, Cubans have known for generations that whenever the United States turns its face to Cuba, Fidel Castro would be staring right back.

But the death of "El Comandante" has added to worries among Cubans that U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump will slam the door shut on nascent trade and travel ties, undoing two years of detente between the estranged neighbors.

Trump has struck a very different tone from Obama, who reached an agreement two years ago with Castro's younger brother President Raul Castro to end half a century of hostilities.

Late in his election campaign, Trump sought to reassure the Cuban-American vote in Florida that he was firm in his opposition to the Castros, and pledged that, if elected, he would close down the newly re-opened U.S. embassy in Havana.
Erbil, Iraq: The Iraqi parliament has passed a law making militia units, including Iranian-backed groups accused of human rights abuses, an official part of the country's security forces.

MPs passed the controversial measure by a vote of 208 to zero in a session that was boycotted by most Sunni Arab politicians, who opposed an initiative that extends the influence of powerful Shiite groups that many Iraqi Sunnis view with suspicion.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi praised the new law, saying that it gave due to fighters who had proven themselves a key part of Iraqi defences since the onslaught by Islamic State militants in 2014.

"Those heroic fighters, young and old, need our loyalty for the sacrifices they have made," a statement issued by Mr Abadi's office said. "This is the least we can do."
In assessing Donald Trump's presidential victory, Americans continue to look away from this election's most alarming story: the successful effort by a hostile foreign power to manipulate public opinion before the vote.

US intelligence agencies determined that the Russian government actively interfered in our elections. Russian state propaganda gave little doubt that this was done to support President-elect Trump, who repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin and excused the Russian president's foreign aggression and domestic repression. Most significantly, US intelligence agencies have affirmed that the Russian government directed the illegal hacking of private email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and prominent individuals. The emails were then released by WikiLeaks, which has benefited financially from a Russian state propaganda arm, used Russian operatives for security and made clear an intent to harm the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

From the Russian perspective, the success of this operation can hardly be overstated. News stories on the DNC emails released in July served to disrupt the Democratic National Convention, instigate political infighting and suggest for some supporters of independent Senator Bernie Sanders - without any real proof - that the Democratic primary had been "rigged" against their candidate.

On October 7, WikiLeaks began near daily dumps from Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta's email account, generating a month of largely negative reporting on Clinton, her campaign staff, her husband and their foundation. With some exceptions, there was little news in the email beyond political gossip and things the media had covered before, now revisited from a seemingly "hidden" viewpoint.
The government will have to compensate INSO if they lose completely.

PHILIPSBURG:--- The Court of First Instance in its ruling on Friday, November 25th in the injunction filed by VAMED against USZV, slammed USZV, KMPG SMMC and the Minister of VSA Emil Lee with the way the bidding procedure was conducted for the construction of the New Hospital. Judge Van Rijen clearly pointed out in his ruling that the bid submitted by INSO was abnormally low, and that USZV and the committee that evaluated the bids went against their own tender instructions and the general principles of law regarding bidding procedures and totally disregarded good governance. The judge stated that the DBM bidding requirements for INSO were much lower than mentioned in the tender instructions as were the requirements for the medical equipment.

The judge also stated in his ruling that USZV did not respect the tender instructions regarding the transfer of medical equipments to SMMC, but instead USZV transferred the entire project to SMMC. While they made the transfer to SMMC, USZV did not notify the other two bidders especially VAMED, even though they had submitted an appeal and got a late response from USZV. The judge further stated that USZV knowingly and willfully neglected (disregarded) the appeal until the day the contract was signed with INSO.

During the court procedure USZV denied the court the transfer agreement between USZV and SMMC and also the contract SMMC and INSO signed, therefore it is not clear to the court whether USZV had taken the necessary precautions in the event VAMED had won the appeal procedure and any other legal procedure. The court also does not know if there is anything in the contract that will allow USZV to annul the contract with INSO, all of which according to the judge are risks and accounts taken by USZV.

The court prohibits USZV to directly or indirectly close any agreement with INSO for the construction of the New Hospital. The judge also prohibited the execution of the signed agreement while also banning USZV from cooperating in the execution of the signed agreements. Should USZV violate any of the conditions set by the court in its ruling they have a penalty of $1M for each violation which can go up to a maximum of $25M.

The Minister of VSA, Emil Lee said in a press conference back then when asked by SMN News if government was protected from liability should the INSO contract be cancelled, that there was a clause in the contract that will protect the government of St. Maarten since there is no financing in place, however, SMN News learned from well-placed sources that the government of St. Maarten will have to pay INSO a huge sum of money if the DBM contract for the New Hospital has to be annulled

Based on the judgment rendered on Friday it is clear that the bidding committee ((KMPG, Jeroen Veen, Ministry VSA, SMMC and Royal Haskoning) manipulated the bidding procedures in order to favor INSO while the scoring in the bidding procedures was incorrect. SMN News highlighted some of these in a previous article, which has been sanctioned by Judge Van Rijen. (http://www.smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/23651-vamed-asking-court-to-impose-10m-on-uszv-in-the-event-they-does-not-comply-with-court-verdict.html?highlight=WyJ2YW1lZCIsInZhbWVkJ3MiXQ==)

Clearly, the contract that was signed late at night at SMMC without any reporters present to ask questions was just a political stunt pulled by the Minister of VSA Emil Lee days before the September 26th elections at the expense of USZV and government.

It should be noted that the Director of USZV went to Austria to meet with the CEO of VAMED even though USZV did not follow the law by holding a tender process to construct the New Hospital. Due to that trip the CEO of VAMED boarded a private jet and shook hands when they signed off on a gentlemens agreement, all of which was overlooked when the current Minister took office and decided to halt the negotiations with VAMED and to hold a tender process, but instead of following the letter of the law, they all manipulated the procedure in the interest of INSO.

Click here to read the verdict rendered on Friday, November 25th.
By Indo-Asian News Service: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he was confident that India would shine like gold after the government's decision to demonetise high value currency notes that would curb unaccounted wealth in the country.

"Just like gold we will come out shining from this fire. The main reason behind this confidence is our people," said the Prime Minister, defending the demonetisation decision in his monthly radio broadcast Mann ki Baat.



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The Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre has been under fire from the Opposition for causing inconvenience to the common man. Addressing his listeners, Modi said that he had cautioned against inconveniences that will be caused by the move, and that "we would face new problems".

ALSO READ: PM Modi pitches for mobile banking, says will help curb black money

"I had said it will take about 50 days for the situation to normalise. It is not easy to get rid of the 70-year-old problem" of corruption and black money, he said.

The Prime Minister had made an impassioned speech in Goa on November 13 asking his "honest countrymen" to give him 50 days to end the menace of black money. "If I commit any mistake, I am ready to face any punishment the country will give me. But I promise to deliver a corruption-free India," Modi has said and promised to take more steps in the coming days to fight corruption.

ALSO READ: Lalu Yadav compares Modi with 'Uncle Podger' over demonetisation chaos



On Sunday, seeking the support of everyone towards building a cashless society, Modi said, "Your support despite severe problems touched me. You have not wavered despite efforts to misguide you". The November 8 announcement to demonetise high-denomination currency has led to massive cash crunch in the country.

ALSO READ: PM Modi to BJP MPs: Don't call demonetisation surgical strike, only soldiers do that

ALSO READ: 20 provisions of demonetisation modified by Modi sarkar in 15 days

ALSO READ: Modi hits back at note ban critics: They accuse us of being unprepared, we gave them no time to prepare

ALSO WATCH



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A guide to voter rights in Indiana. What you need to know before you cast a ballot
Addressing the nation first through his monthly raido programme and then at an election rally at Kushinagar in UP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought people's support for a cashless society.

By India Today Web Desk: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a strong push to turn India into a cashless economy and said demonetisation of high value currency notes was a step forward that would rid the country of unaccounted hidden wealth and corruption.

In his monthly radio talk "Mann Ki Baat", Modi, however, acknowledged that the ambition was too big to happen immediately but people "can work towards a less-cash society".

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While the Opposition has been trying to corner the government in Parliament over its decision to demonetise high value currency notes citing public inconvenience, PM Modi urged people to start learning how the digital economy works wherein one can use mobile phones as banking devices and make payments.

"Learn the different ways you can use your bank accounts and internet banking. Learn how to effectively use the apps of various banks on your phones. Learn how to run your business without cash. Learn about card payments and other electronic modes of payment," Modi said.

"A cashless economy is secure, it is clean," said the prime minister.

Also read: PM Modi pitches for mobile banking, says will help curb black money



Modi asked the youth of India to take a pledge to make this initiative a success and urged them to teach their families, neighbours and small business owners how to go cashless and make electronic payments.

Almost an hour later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Parivartan Rally in poll-bound UP's Kushinagar. Modi laid emphasis on the significance of going cashless to end corruption. This was PM Modi's fifth visit to eastern UP in the last seven months in this poll-bound state.

"You have a leadership role to play in taking India towards an increasingly digital economy. Your father or mother or even elder brother at home may not know. But you know how to book train tickets online, you know how to buy things online," said PM Modi.

PUSH FOR E-BANKING

Addressing the large gathering at the rally in Kushinagar, PM Modi said that now mobile phones have replaced banks and that citizens can make transactions with ease using their mobile phones. The prime minister asked citizens to make the most of the mobile banking applications.

Defending the November 8 demonetisation move that has sparked an unprecedented cash crisis in the country, with people struggling to meet their basic needs, Modi said he was confident that India, "like gold", would "emerge glowing from this fire".

Also read: Mann Ki Baat: PM Modi seeks support on demonetisation, urges farmers, small traders to go cashless



He said people's support was the fountainhead of his confidence even if they were inconvenienced by the move.

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"I had said it will take about 50 days for the situation to normalise. It is not easy to get rid of the 70-year-old problem" of corruption and black money so easily, he said in his first radio talk since the ban on old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes," he said.

"Your support despite severe problems touched me. You have not wavered despite efforts to misguide you," PM Modi added.

DEMONETISATION BEING CLOSELY OBSERVED

The Prime Minister said the entire world was watching and economists were analyzing the impact of the demonetisation.

"They are curious to know how it is being rolled out and how we will emerge from the situation. The world may have doubts but India is confident," said Modi.

Modi said despite being warned some people were still trying to convert their ill gotten cash into white by using bank accounts of poor people and putting their lives into trouble.

Also read: Parivartan Yatra at Kushinagar: End corruption or endorse Bharat Bandh, says PM Modi



"They are looking at unlawful ways. It's unfortunate they have chosen to use poor people for this," said Modi.

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"I want to say that it is up to them to abide by the law or break it, it is up to them if they want to correct themselves. The law will deal with them. But please don't play with the lives of poor," he added.

Also read: Just like gold, India will come out shining from this demonetisation fire: Prime Minister Modi



With inputs from IANS



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Algiers, Nov. 27, 2016 (SPS) - Sahrawi Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Salem Ould Salek affirmed Saturday that Moroccos withdrawal from the Arab-African Summit shows clearly the isolation of the Moroccan occupation at the African and Arab levels, underlining that the Moroccan behaviour didnt serve at all the Arab-African rapprochement.

In a press conference at the embassy of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) in Algiers, Mohamed Salem Ould Salek, also member of the national secretariat of the Polisario Front, said that the withdrawal of Morocco from the Arab-Africa Summit shows, without the shadow of a doubt, the isolation of the Moroccan occupation at the Africa and Arab plans.

He said that the novelty, in the Malabo Summit held last Wednesday, was Moroccos isolation at the Arab level, underlining that Moroccos behaviour serves neither the cohesion nor the cooperation between the two continental organizations as it is part of an agenda which aims at spreading contradiction and inconsistency within the African Union.

Sahrawi minister said also that if Africa has once again reiterated, in Malabo, its commitment to the values and principles on which the organization was founded, nearly all the Arab Leagues countries didnt pay any attention to the decision of the Moroccan Kingdom, described by several delegations as infantile and arrogant.

On this occasion, he lamented the fact that some Arab countries repeat, concerning Western Sahara, the same mistake that they made when they opposed the independence of the Mauritanian people who were greatly supported by Africa in the face of the Moroccan expansionist ambitions. (SPS)

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PV Sindhu and Sammer Verma's quest for the title ended in disappointment as they went down to Chinese Taipei's Tai Tzu Ying and Hong Kong's Ng Ka Long Angus respectively in the Hong Kong Open Super Series final.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Rio Olympics Silver medallist PV Sindhu and rookie shuttler Sameer Verma were beaten in their respective finals of the Hong Kong Open tournament on Sunday.

India's star women shuttler Sindhu lost to Tai Tzu-Ying of Chinese Taipei 15-21, 17-21 in 41 minutes.

Verma, in his maiden Super Series final, lost to local Ng Ka Long Angus 14-21, 21-10, 11-21 at the Hong Kong Coliseum in a 50-minute battle.

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Verma defeated third ranked Dane Jan O Jorgensen in the semi-final.

This was Sindhu's third appearance in a Super Series summit clash. She lost the 2015 Denmark Open final, then claimed the 2016 China Open crown just a week ago.

Tzu-Ying, the fourth seed who has beaten World No.1 Carolina Marin twice in two weeks, dominated the proceedings right from the start.

Sindhu, who is in her prime form after winning silver in Rio Olympics, bounced back in style to make it 8-8. But soon Ying went on a roll to win the next seven consecutive points to reach 15-8.

And from then onwards, Sindhu couldn't find her feet, the Hyderabadi relinquishing the first game 15-21.

In the second, World No.9 Sindhu regained her composure and changed her strategy to overpower the Chinese Taipei shuttler.

But Ting used her cross-court smashes and sliced drops to maximum effect to prevail over the Indian.

In the last few points of the match, Sindhu put up a tough fight but it wasn't enough. She failed to match the pace of her opponent and lost the the second game 17-21.

Commenting on the match, Sindhu said she is pleased with her performance at the tournament despite losing in the final.

"It was a good game overall. It was her day. I played well but she played well at the net, she didn't make any mistakes. There were good rallies. I'm happy with my performance. It's okay, I'll go back and train hard. A bit upset, but overall it went well. I congratulate her for the win," Sindhu said after the match.

"I've played her many times. She's a tricky player, has good strokes and deception. I was prepared for everything. But then one has to win and one has to lose. I was confident because of that. I played the final here. It was anybody's game. It was her day, she played well," she added.

Men's World No.43 Sameer Verma said that he will now target a place in the top 10.

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"I am happy to reach final, didn't expect to. While playing him, in second game I was ready to move him around the court. I got a bit tired in the third game after 11 points. Before the final, I was a bit nervous," he said.

"I felt a bit of pressure today, but now now I'm confident of making the top 10. I felt tensed because it's my first final. I talked to (brother) Saurabh yesterday."

"I won the national title in April. I was very confident then of playing at top level. After nationals I got a shoulder injury and had to take a break of 2-3 months. It was a shoulder muscle tear. The shoulder injury affected me. After my comeback I played Thailand and Chinese Taipei," he added.



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STAMFORD  Every Saturday for the last 50 years, Haydee de La Rivera and Beverly Preusser have followed the same routine: breakfast at 8 a.m., followed by a hairstyling appointment.

Preusser was one of de La Riveras first clients in 1967 when she opened her salon, Haydee Coiffures. The business venture seemed far less certain 10 years earlier when de La Rivera emigrated from Chile and came to Stamford where she didnt know anyone and couldnt speak a word of English.

I came to America for a better life, de La Rivera said. I wanted to do something for myself, and I wanted to develop something of my own.

The now 82-year-old recently celebrated the salons 50th anniversary. The Springdale salon is comprised of just three people: de La Rivera, her son, Bernard, and another hairdresser, Cindy Apabalza, who has worked with the family for 10 years.

Brightly colored flowers decorate the Hope Street salons interior, adorned with cards from customers congratulating de La Rivera on the anniversary. The hairdressers and their clients share an apparent intimacy, with the salon over the years becoming an anchor for the close-knit neighborhood.

Its just like family here, said 87-year-old Clemy Dademo, a regular customer. Its like youre home.

When she arrived in Stamford, de La Rivera began working at an audiotape factory, where she was one of the only Spanish-speaking employees. But she wanted to start her own business so she attended hairdressing school at night. She learned the skills of the trade, worked at several salons and eventually opened her own shop when she was 34.

Over the decades, many of her original customers, including Preusser, have remained loyal.

On a recent Saturday morning, Haydees Coiffures was fairly busy. Four women were already seated as de La Rivera and her son styled their hair. The salon was filled with warm laughter and chatter. de La Riveras accent was often the loudest in the room.

After slicing a bagel in the back room and spreading cream cheese across its surface, de La Rivera offered it to a customer waiting for her highlights to set.

Eat! she said. Arent you hungry?

The customer obliged, taking the bagel from de La Riveras outstretched hand.

de La Rivera has always been comfortable in her surroundings, even when she first came from Chile. She was sponsored through the Stamford German Club, and felt welcomed by the community.

My mom is a trailblazer for her time, said Bernard de La Rivera, 52.

Bernard began working with his mother in his 20s  and he has remained not just for the hairdressing, but for the customers he interacts with on a daily basis.

Like her son, de La Rivera has a profound affinity with her salon and her neighborhood: she has lived on the same street since she arrived in Stamford in 1957.

Its less like a business and more like a family, she said. Its not fancy. But its home.
A man and a woman have been charged with attempted murder after the stabbing of a police officer in Bow.

Andrew Beadie, 20, of Claremont Road, Basildon, and Janine Morris, 34, of Rainhill Way, Bow, were charged on Saturday with attempted murder and two counts of affray.

Morris was also charged with assisting an offender.

Police said the officer remained in hospital on Sunday with non life-threatening injuries.

Police at the scene in Bow / Nigel Howard

The pair will appear in custody at Barkingside Magistrates Court on Monday.

A 17-year-old man who was also arrested on suspicion of attempted murder remains on bail until late January next year.

The plain clothes policeman, aged in his 40s, was allegedly stabbed repeatedly in the stomach last week.

He was knifed at least three times while on a covert operation targeting gangs in Bow.

The officer underwent major surgery but is said to be recovering well.
The stickers with the tagline "Gotta catch and deport them all", have been put up by unidentified persons on bus stops, cashpoints and at tube stations in London.

By Press Trust of India: Racist mock Pakemon stickers featuring London Mayor Sadiq Khan and US President Barack Obama have appeared in London with a tagline urging people to "deport them all", prompting police to probe the "hate crime", media reports said today.

The stickers with the tagline "Gotta catch and deport them all", have been put up by unidentified persons on bus stops, cashpoints and at tube stations in London.

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Police are investigating the hate crime after the stickers, mock-up versions of Pokemon cards mimicking the real games slogan "Gotta catchem all", appeared, Metro.co.uk reported.

WHAT THE STICKERS SHOW

One such poster has given the name Hamaskhan to Mayor Khan, an an apparent attempt to link him to Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, it reported.

It states, "Description: Probably the most dangerous Pakemon, Hamaskhan believes that Londoners should learn to accept Islamic terrorism whilst he is mayor. Weaknesses: Hamaskhans hatred of Christians and Jews will result in him losing power and a long prison sentence".

One sticker features Obama, describing him as "the USAs Muslim in Chief", the report said.

Another shows white Muslim convert Jordan Horner, who had called for Shariah Law in London, stating, "Gingermo is not a true Pakemon, having converted to Islam believing he might make some friends who are as angry and weak-minded as himself", it reported.

POLICE INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY

Stickers have been reported all over the capital, including Bromley, Surbiton and Waterloo.

Some Twitter accounts have been sharing the photos of the stickers, urging people to swap and collect them.

Meanwhile, British Transport Police (BTP) has urged people to report any sightings of the stickers.

"British Transport Police is committed to preventing incidents of hate crime and prejudice and all incidents of this nature are investigated thoroughly.

"Everyone has the right to travel on the rail network without fear or intimidation. Racially or religiously motivated crime will simply not be tolerated," a BTP spokesman said.

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A teenage girl allegedly attacked police officers as they dealt with a motorbike crash which saw a man rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

The officers had been called to Camden Road, near the junction of Hilldrop Road in Holloway, after a crash between the motorcycle and a car.

It saw the road cordoned off for several hours from 1.15am on Sunday as paramedics and police carried out their work.

The motorcyclist, a man aged 39, was rushed to hospital with serious pelvis and leg injuries.

But police claimed, as they were working, a 17-year-old girl tried to get through the cordon shortly after 2.20am.

When they stopped her, she allegedly spat at, clawed and punched two police officers.

Crime scene: A teenager allegedly attacked two police officers / @LAS_JRU

A spokesman for Islington police said she had been arrested on suspicion of Actual Bodily Harm, criminal damage and possession of Class B drugs.

The girl was being quizzed by police at a north London station on Sunday morning.

No one has been arrested following the road accident.

Photos from the scene showed the damaged bike lying on its side on the pavement with a string of police vehicles parked nearby.
A survivors' group for victims of child sex abuse in Lambeth are releasing a charity song to mark the end of their investigation into historic allegations.

The song, raising funds for the Shirley Oaks Survivors Association (Sosa), will be launched in early December to coincide with the publication of the group's report.

The association represents victims affected by abuse at children's homes run by Lambeth Council in south London.

Almost 200 former residents held a candlelit vigil in Shirley Oaks, Croydon, on Saturday, which will feature in a music video for the single.

The reunion was "an important part of the healing process" for victims, Sosa spokesman Raymond Stevenson said.

Sosa withdrew its support for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) on November 18, branding it an "unpalatable circus" which has "lurched from crisis to crisis".

The association has compiled its own report on abuse, including testimony from around 400 of its members, which will be unveiled at a press conference along with the music video.

The single, called Looking For A Place Called Home, has been coordinated by Mr Stevenson - who discovered and mentored pop star Jessie J.

Mr Stevenson said the reunion was a chance "to right the evils that were committed".

"The memories of friendships formed and now reunited have also been an important part of the healing process," he added.

The song will be released on iTunes and all funds raised will go to Sosa.
H istorian and TV presenter Dan Cruickshank has called on Sainsburys to withdraw its plans to build a 28-storey apartment block within yards of central Londons oldest almshouses.

In an eleventh-hour bid to protect the Grade I listed Trinity Green almshouses in Whitechapel the BBC presenter has produced a campaign video arguing Sainsburys proposal is just wrong.

Speaking to the Standard he said: By law the character of these buildings has to be protected not diminished or seriously changed.

I dont know why Sainsburys wants to go forward with the proposal, apart from obviously the money.

Dan Cruickshank - Save the Trinity Almshouses in Whitechapel

But they cannot be surprised that there will be an outrage if they build a tower that seriously compromises an east London monument.

The proposed skyscraper would stand only 80 yards from the historic almshouses, built in 1695 under the supervision of architect Sir Christopher Wren for decayd Masters and Commanders.

The proposal, which is part of the Whitechapel regeneration project after Crossrail opens in 2018, was due to go before Tower Hamlets council next week, but has been postponed due to next months Whitechapel by-election.

Thomas Antoniw, 30, leader of campaign group Friends of Trinity Green - which supported by more than 300 residents - described the challenge as a David vs Goliath struggle.

The proposed Sainsbury's tower block which could be built yards from the almshouses / Tower Hamlets Council

He said: This tower will harm the setting not only of Trinity Green but also 15 conservation areas and 212 heritage assets in the surrounding area.

Every historic conservation group has come out against the proposal but Sainsburys is still pushing ahead.

A spokesperson for Sainsburys said: We have listened to local people and have reduced the height of the scheme so it is in keeping with surrounding buildings, while still delivering much needed affordable housing.

Our plans will help hundreds of local families onto the property ladder, create over 400 new local jobs, and deliver millions of pounds of investment to the Whitechapel Market and surrounding public area.

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets council said: The planning application for the redevelopment of the Sainsburys Whitechapel food store was due to be reported to the Strategic Development Committee (SDC) at its next meeting on Tuesday 29 November.

Sainsbury's say they have reduced the height of the proposed tower at residents' request / Tower Hamlets Council

Following advice from the Monitoring Officer it was decided to take this item off the agenda due to the forthcoming Whitechapel by-election taking place on Thursday 1 December.

The application is now scheduled for Thursday 19 January 2017 but it could be determined earlier than that, full details will be published on the website.

Anyone who has made comments on the application will be notified in writing.
A n ally of Boris Johnson has pleaded with senior Tories to stop making jokes about the Foreign Secretary

Tory MP Jake Berry told critics of the former Mayor of London to stop "sniping from the comfort of Whitehall" and back the Cabinet minister.

He spoke out about the attacks on Mr Johnson, amid concerns among they are damaging the reputation of the Foreign Secretary around the world.

In recent weeks Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond have publicly poked fun at the former London mayor.

Rossendale and Darwen MP Mr Berry's defence of Mr Johnson came after the Foreign Secretary visited Afghanistan for the first time.

Mr Berry told the Mail on Sunday: "Boris has spent this weekend in Afghanistan, one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

"And what are his armchair critics doing? Sniping from the comfort of Whitehall.

"They need to get behind him if Britain is going to succeed with Brexit."

His comments echo those of Paul Goodman, the former Tory MP who is now editor of the ConservativeHome website.

He wrote in the Daily Telegraph last week: "Mr Johnson is used to being asked to knock off the jokes. But the same request should now be made of the Prime Minister, at least as far as those at his expense are concerned."

The Prime Minister used her Conservative Party conference speech to joke "can Boris Johnson stay on message for a full four days? Just about".

At a recent awards ceremony the Prime Minister also teased him after he had joked about Lord Heseltine "throttling" his dog.

Mrs May said: "Boris, the dog was put down ... when its master decided it wasn't needed any more."

Mr Hammond made a barbed reference to Mr Johnson's aborted leadership campaign as he delivered his Autumn Statement in the Commons.

"I suspect that I will prove no more adept at pulling rabbits from hats than my successor as Foreign Secretary has been at retrieving balls from the back of scrums," Mr Hammond said - a reference to Mr Johnson's previous comments about his leadership ambitions that "if the ball came loose at the back of the scrum" he would pick it up.

On his visit to Afghanistan, the Foreign Secretary held talks with president Ashraf Ghani and chief executive Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul and praised the work of British military and civilian staff helping to rebuild and stabilise the country.

Mr Johnson said: "Afghanistan is an amazing country and I'm incredibly proud of the work that the UK is doing here to challenge extremism and terrorism, promote democracy and human rights and support the Afghan government's reform plans.

"British military trainers are improving the ability of the Afghan military to stabilise the country and respond to extremism, and our development works means girls are defying extremists by going to school and university. Our work also means that terrorism is increasingly tackled at source.

"Hundreds of British men and women continue to work here for noble reasons, in often highly dangerous circumstances, and we continue to owe them a huge debt of gratitude for the vital contribution that they are making."

Mr Johnson also went to the British Cemetery in Kabul to pay tribute at a memorial to the 456 UK servicemen and women who lost have their lives in Afghanistan since 2001.


Z ac Goldsmith has refused to rule out a return to the Conservative party.

In an interview with Sky News the former mayoral candidate said he was not thinking ahead that far.

Mr Goldsmith quit as a Tory MP in protest at the Governments decision to back a third runway at Heathrow.

He tendered his resignation in October triggering a by-election in the south-west London seat.

The Conservative Party said it would not contest the seat, amid claims it did not want to divide the Tory vote, risking a Liberal Democrat victory.

The Liberal Democrats have fielded Sarah Olney in the by-election, which will take place on December 1.

Zac Goldsmith on Heathrow airport decision

Speaking to Sky News on Sunday Mr Goldsmith refused to be drawn on whether he would consider re-joining the Conservative party, saying his sole focus was winning the by-election.

He said: "Who knows if I will even stand in the next election. It would be the height of arrogance to start putting this one in the bag."

"I could join the Monster Raving Loony Party in five year's time.

"I am not thinking ahead that far.

Mrs Olney has tried to shift the focus of the debate away from Heathrow and onto Brexit pledging to vote against triggering Article 50, the formal process for leaving the EU, if she is elected.

Mrs Olney also said she would fight for another referendum on the terms of Brexit.

She said: Its a second referendum but its not re-running the first referendum, its very much the next step.

Other contendents in the Richmond by-election are Howling Laud Hope, Monster Raving Loony Party; Maharaja Jammu and Kashmir, One Love Party; David Powell, independent; Dominic Stockford, Christian Peoples Alliance; Fiona Syms, independent; Christian Wolmar, Labour.
E d Balls came out bottom during Strictly Come Dancings first ever Cha Cha Challenge.

The former Shadow Chancellor received just one point from the judges after his performance was dubbed the worst during the new dance-off on Saturday night.

While the politician didnt seem surprised that he was bottom of the pile, Judge Rinder looked shocked as he came second to last.

Louise Redknapp was given six points after coming out on top, followed by Danny Mac and Ore Oduba.

Balls came bottom of this weeks leaderboard after his modelling-inspired tango got a mixed reaction from the judges.

Youre like junk food. You know you shouldn't have it but you cant help wanting more, said Bruno Tonioli.

Youre constantly hunched over, splayed hands, all the things I cant stand. It was committed and I think after that you could be committed, said Craig Revel Horwood.

Len Goodman went on to say that while Balls wasnt the judges first choice, he is the peoples champion.

Strictly Come Dancing 2016 - who's been eliminated so far? 1 /10 Strictly Come Dancing 2016 - who's been eliminated so far? Week Seven Daisy Lowe and Aljaz Skorjanec failed to win over the judges in a dance-off against Greg Rutherford BBC Week Six Laura Whitmore and Giovanni Pernice left the competition after losing out in a dance-off to Ore Oduba hours after slipping up on her samba BBC Week Five Anastacia and Brendan Cole left the competition during the Fright Night special after judges voted to save Daisy Lowe Guy Levy/BBC Week Three Naga Munchetty was axed with dance partner Pasha Kovalev after losing a dance-off to Anastacia Guy Levy/BBC Week Four Lesley Joseph was pitted against Daisy Lowe when she was eliminated Guy Levy/BBC Quit Will Young quit the competition after the second live show due to "personal reasons" Guy Levy/BBC Week Two Tameka Empson was voted off after losing a dance-off to Laura Whitmore Guy Levy/BBC Week One Melvin Odoom was the first casualty of the ballroom after being booted out on the public vote Guy Levy/BBC

Viewers were split over Balls performance, with some dubbing his Blue Steel the best thing about this weeks show and others calling for him to leave.

The worst bit about Strictly is when people dance competently. The best bit is when Ed Balls is on. #Strictly #edballs, wrote one person on Twitter.

"Best dance of the night as usual!!! Hilarious!! Go Ed!!! #EdBalls #SCD #Strictly," wrote another.

Seriously get him out. #edballs #Strictly, someone else posted.

Some viewers thought that the introduction of the Cha Cha Challenge was a way to get Balls booted off the show.

Chacha challenge just a way to get rid of #edballs #Strictly scared he might actually win, one person posted.
By PTI: Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) The Federation of Overseas Recruitment Associations of India (Forai) has urged the government to scrap the minimum referral wages (MRWs) directive to foreign employers as it has hit manpower export industry very badly.

The foreign ministry had recently finalised MRWs for different countries in the Gulf and others. It also wants the host country employers to provide free accommodation, food, transportation, medical facilities and applicable overtime wages.

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"Though well-intentioned, the MRWs are totally at gross variance with the ground reality in the Gulf region and it needs to be scrapped forthwith," Forai Chairman V S Abdul Kareem said.

He said following this, recruitment of Indians in the Gulf region has come down by more 50 per cent, while the number of emigration clearances issued by India for the region has halved to 4,62,312 in October 2016 from a high 8,04,878 in 2014.

Noting that the MRWs were finalised by the government without consulting the manpower recruiting industry, labour ministries and chambers of commerce in the host countries, Kareem said there is 30-40 per cent difference between the MRWs prescribed by India and wage structure prevailing in the Gulf now.

"It is not clear on what basis these MRWs were determined," Kareem wondered.

He also pointed out that these MRWs and other facilities are far higher than the minimum wages prevailing in these countries and local employers are averse to increase them as per the MRWs determined by India. (MORE) PTI BEN ARS ABM

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By PTI: Under Swiss law, a prescribed procedure is followed for

Under Swiss law, a prescribed procedure is followed for any administration assistance or information exchange by the FTA (Federal Tax Administration of Switzerland) with India or any other country with which the Alpine nation has tax treaties about their respective nationals.

Among other provisions, this procedure also seeks to safeguard "the right to be heard" of the person about whom information is sought by a foreign country.

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"If the person concerned has not designated a person authorised to receive the notifications, the FTA shall inform this person about the pending administrative assistance procedure through the requesting authority.

"Simultaneously, the FTA shall set a period of time for the person concerned to designate a person authorised to receive notifications. The FTA may inform the concerned person directly provided that the requesting authority expressly consents to this procedure in that case," the rules say.

If the person concerned is found to be entitled to appeal, he or she may participate in the procedure and inspect the files. The information can be shared with the foreign authorities after the appeal is rejected.

As per the latest data by Swiss National Bank, money held by Indians in Swiss banks fell to to a record low of 1.2 billion franc (about Rs 8,392 crore) at the end of 2015.

The funds held by Indians with Swiss banks stood at a record high of CHF 6.5 billion (Rs 23,000 crore) at 2006-end.

However, the quantum of these funds has been falling since then, except for in 2011 and in 2013 when Indians money had risen by over 12 per cent and 42 per cent, respectively.

The funds, described by SNB as liabilities of Swiss banks or amounts due to their clients, are the official figures disclosed by the Swiss authorities and do not indicate the quantum of the much-debated alleged black money held by Indians in the safe havens of Switzerland.

SNBs official figures also do not include the money that Indians or others might have in Swiss banks in the names of entities from different countries.

There are more than 250 banks in Switzerland and they together have an estimated 1.24 lakh full-time employees.

Last week, Switzerland agreed to automatic sharing of information with India on Swiss bank accounts of Indians.

The Joint Declaration in this regard provides that both countries will start collecting data in accordance with the global standards in 2018 and exchange it from 2019 onwards.

While Switzerland has conformed to the global standards on automatic exchange of information with the signing of the declaration, India, on its part, has promised to safeguard the confidentiality of the data. PTI BJ ABM

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Are you happy with the way the presidential election turned out? Are you unhappy? Or, does it matter if you are happy or not? The presidential election is not about making us happy; it is about choosing our next leader. Happy or not, one thing we may agree on is that electing a president is messy.

Once you get by the primary election, which in itself is probably more messy than any general election and is in need of reform more than any other segment of our election process, we are off and running, right?

If you said yes, then you would be right if we were talking about electing a governor or a mayor. Candidates would campaign; we would go to the polls, count the votes and the person with the most votes would win. Easy. Fair.

If you said no, then you would also be right if we were talking about the presidential election. It is a mess. Let me use the example of Hillary Clinton running for president, and you were a democrat in Nebraska. To start off with, in the primary the democrats decided to have a caucus in March 2016. Bernie Sanders won that caucus 57 percent to Clintons 42 percent; therefore he gets Nebraskas delegates votes. Then in the May primary election, Clinton wins over Sanders in 59 percent to 40 percent. What does she get? Nothing, those votes didnt count. Did I say electing a president is messy?

Now look at Donald Trump running for president in Nebraska. By the time the May primary rolled around, most of the 17 republican candidates were already gone. Trump had ground them up one by one, except for Cruz and Kasich. Trump wins getting 61 percent of the vote. And of course, in the November election, Trump wins Nebraska easily, getting 60 percent or nearly 500,000 Nebraska votes to Clintons 34 percent or 285,000 votes. So, those 500,000 Trump votes go directly to Trump, right? No, not exactly. The only thing those votes do is tell the state of Nebraska how to cast their 5 Electoral College votes in December. Messy, of course it is.

So, why not just have one person, one vote, presidential candidate with the most votes wins? The easiest way for me to explain why I support the Electoral College is this. Nebraska has about 1.8 million people. Metro Los Angeles has nearly 19 million people. The metro area of Los Angeles would be five times more important than the entire state of Nebraska! Just one city, five times more powerful than our state.

Without the Electoral College, elections would focus on and cater to city voters in California, New York, Texas and Florida, and if they needed to go further they would include Illinois, but only Chicago. Election over! At least it would be over for all the other Americans not living in cities in those five states. Our voices would be mere whispers in a presidential election. Inaudible whispers at that.

And just look at the recent map showing where Democrats and Republicans won. It is easy to see the Democrats carried the major cities overwhelmingly. Without the Electoral College and with most voters living in cities, it would seem near impossible we could ever elect a republican president again.

The Electoral College, as messy as it seems, worked exactly as it was intended. It was designed by our Founding Fathers to prevent the populous states from overpowering the smaller states. Remember back then communication, even travel between the states was difficult. Running a national campaign was near impossible. A popular vote would have resulted in maybe thirteen winners, none with a majority, and the candidate with the most votes would most likely have been from the state with the most voters.

So, as much as the idealist in me says one person one vote is the fairest way, we must remember we are 50 states joined in a union, each with stake in choosing our next leader. Seems to me the Founding Fathers had it right, again!

Electoral College, keep it or can it? Let me know at greg.awtry@starherald.com
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YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Hermine Naghdalyan on November 24 had a meeting with Chairperson of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Valentina Matviyenko within the framework of the CIS IPA autumn session in St. Petersburg, press service of the Parliament told Armenpress.

At the meeting issues related to intensifying and strengthening the inter-parliamentary ties were discussed.

They appreciated the active and consistent work of the Inter-parliamentary commission. Valentina Matviyenko attached importance to the close cooperation with Armenian partners during the preparation of the 137th conference of the Inter-parliamentary union to be held in St. Petersburg in 2017.

Issues related to cooperation in trade-economic, energy, humanitarian and cultural sectors were discussed. Valentina Matviyenko highlighted the importance of allied cooperation, constructive dialogue and close contacts between Russia and Armenia in the CIS, EAEU and CSTO platforms. The topics of the Eurasian Womens Summit were covered at the meeting. Hermine Naghdalyan suggested to pay attention on the implementation of constructive ideas raised at the Womens Summit in St. Petersburg last year. Taking into account this, it is necessary to get prepared for holding the upcoming second summit in 2018, Matviyenko said.

During the talk Deputy Speaker Naghdalyan expressed her gratitude to Valentina Matviyenko for the message addressed to the RPA Womens Summit and for the active participation of the representatives of Russias Federation Council.

Armenian Parliaments representative to the CIS IPA Hayk Chilingaryan and Chairperson of the Federation Councils Committee on Foreign Affairs of Russia, Deputy Chairman of the Inter-parliamentary Union Konstantin Kosachev were present at the meeting.
By PTI: for about 20 per cent of GDP and 40 per cent of overall exports. Paper mills, leather, apparel, re-rolling of steel mills, pottery, woollen and brass units are among those that have been severely affected after the note ban decision. "SMEs are already struggling with multiple problems -- there was cash crunch as banks were reluctant to lend and the cost of loans was high, exports have been down and even Brexit (Britains exit from the European Union) had its own impact...," said Anil Bhardwaj, General Secretary, Federation of Indian Micro and Small and Medium Enterprises (FISME). "Now, with the announcement of the demonetisation drive, small businesses are left with very limited money and there could be many who may lose their jobs."

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The Reserve Bank of India has allowed small businesses to withdraw up to Rs 50,000 in cash every week from their overdraft and cash-credit accounts, besides current accounts. However, the MSME units feel that the amount is "grossly insufficient", especially since most transactions happen through cash. The central bank has also given an additional 60-day repayment window for loans. It applies to dues payable between November 1 and December 31, 2016. PTI ABN SMI ARD

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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.  Nearly a third of the $373 billion that Americans donated to charity last year went to religious organizations.

The $119 billion that was given to churches, religious charities and parachurch ministries is more than went to groups that specialize in education, human services or any other category, according to a report by Giving USA.

But the cost-effectiveness of the religious recipients varies greatly, as does the transparency of their finances.

Donors should recognize they have a serious responsibility to give as wisely as they can, as it is not their money they are giving but the Lords, said Rusty Leonard, founder and CEO of MinistryWatch, an accountability group.

The final months of the year can generate a quarter or more of a ministrys annual donations. So how can prospective donors looking to support Christian organizations figure out which ones deliver the most ministry per dollar?

Expenses and overhead costs can vary, depending on the organizations mission, administrative expenses and the cost of doing business in the areas where they work.

Leonard says donors should do research and ask tough questions.

The world of Christian ministry is lightly regulated, he said, noting that the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability exists primarily to help the ministries, not donors. So, without active donor involvement, it is easy for a ministry to go astray.

With support from the Fund for Investigative Journalism, RNS looked at 33 major nonprofit Christian ministries to find out:

 What percentage of their budgets do ministries spend on their core ministry programs?

 How transparent are ministries in sharing their financial information?

 And how do charity watchdog agencies rate various ministries?

Some ministries make it easy for donors to access their audited financial statements online. Compassion International, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Prison Fellowship all offer many financial reports on their websites.

Others offer websites and annual reports that lack detailed financial data or conflict with actual spending.

Some charities, including the nearly $3 billion Salvation Army USA, declined to provide detailed financial information for this article.

transparency

Not all of Americas million-plus charities and foundations are created equal, as reporters for CBS News and The New York Times discovered last year when they investigated the Wounded Warrior Project.

That nonprofit spent only 60 percent of its income caring for military veterans; the rest went to overhead, salaries, marketing and fundraising.

In the world of Christian ministries, the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability was founded in 1979 after a series of religious fundraising scandals involving high-rolling televangelists and a Catholic group, the Pallotine Fathers, who spent only two-and-a-half cents per donor dollar on ministry programs.

ECFAs members include more than 2,100 church and parachurch ministries that receive about $16 billion a year.

The councils transparency guidelines require member organizations to provide audited financial statements upon written request. ECFA says such financial transparency is both a matter of moral integrity and a condition of continued ECFA accreditation in good standing.

However, four of ECFAs accredited members  The Navigators, David C Cook, Reach Beyond and Dr. James Dobsons Family Talk  declined initially to provide audited financial statements despite multiple requests.

They did only after the EFCA, contacted for this article, stepped in and urged them to be forthcoming.

Watchdogs

So how do donors decide which charity deserves their money? In addition to MinistryWatch, which focuses on evangelical nonprofits, Consumer Reports recently highlighted three of the most popular and reliable watchdogs: Charity Navigator; Charity Watch; and the BBB Wise Giving Alliance.

Charity Navigator (whose rankings are used on the accompanying chart) provides independent analysis of more than 8,000 charities, using its own unique criteria.

Donors need to take the time to kick the tires and look under the hood before they turn over their hard-earned money, said Charity Navigator Vice President Sandra Miniutti.

The watchdog gave InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Young Life its coveted 4-star rating.

MinistryWatch uses its own metrics to analyze ministries, some of which are not ranked by Charity Navigator. MinistryWatch gave its highest award, 5 stars, to Pat Robertsons Operation Blessing and Every Home for Christ, and gave its lowest rating, 1 star, to MOPS International and Prison Fellowship.

Taxing issues

Transparency may be even harder to come by as ministries and parachurch groups look to be classified as churches. Miniutti said that if a charity qualifies as one, then it is even more challenging for the donor to access financial and governance information.

Thats because such groups are exempt from filing IRS Form 990, a disclosure form that is often the only source of information on tax-exempt organizations.

Last year, the IRS approved the Billy Graham Evangelistic Associations request to change the 66-year-old ministrys tax status, from a nonprofit required to file annual 990 reports with the IRS to an association of churches that is not required to file 990s.

Franklin Graham, who runs both BGEA (annual income of $107 million) and Samaritans Purse ($599 million), cited two factors in the change: the onerous work required to prepare the 990; and religious liberty concerns about the IRS overstepping its bounds.

I believe that someone in the (Obama) administration was targeting and attempting to intimidate us, Graham claimed, after the ministries were audited in 2013. This is morally wrong and unethical.

Ministries including the Navigators, Pioneers USA and Every Home for Christ qualify as associations of churches and are not required to file 990s.

Leonard, of Ministry Watch, does not support ministries changing their tax status. I see no reason for ministries to be listed as churches when they are clearly not a church, as the only incentive for doing so is to be less transparent with donors, he said.

Meanwhile, new legislation seeks to overturn the decades-old restrictions on churches participating in politics, such as the Johnson Amendment, which Donald Trump pledged to overturn during his campaign.

The deductions the IRS gives to Americas churches, religious charities and donors total more than $71 billion a year, according to a 2012 estimate in Free Inquiry magazine. The legal status of these deductions may be a hot political issue for years to come.
OLNEY, Ill.  An 8-year-old missing girl was found dead in a Southern Illinois town, and authorities said early Sunday they arrested a man in her death.

Glen R. Ramey, 53, of Olney, was arrested on charges of first-degree murder and sexual assault in the death of Sabrina Stauffenberg.

The little girl was found dead on the south side of Olney, about 120 miles east of St. Louis, on Wednesday night. The property owner where the girl was found told WTHI-TV that police came to the property near South Camp Avenue around 9 p.m. Wednesday and asked the property owner to sign releases so they could search any buildings. The girl's body was found a short time later.

The Illinois State Police announced Ramey's arrest Sunday morning and said it was the result of work by the Southern Illinois Child Death Task Force. Involved agencies were the Olney Police Department; Richland County Sheriffs Department; Flora Police Department; Salem Police Department; Centralia Police Department; Effingham County Sheriffs Department; Effingham County Coroners Office; Vandalia Police Department; and the Illinois State Police.

Ramey was being held in the Richland County Jail pending formal arraignment. Police arrested him at 2:21 a.m.

Police declined to say who reported Sabrina missing, or when.
FRONTENAC  Eight of 12 people suspected of a smash-and-grab theft at Plaza Frontenac were arrested south of Farmersville, Ill., on Saturday morning after about a 60-mile chase involving several police departments.

Frontenac Police Chief Tom Becker said the incident began shortly after 10 a.m. when the thieves entered Saks Fifth Avenue, went directly to the Chanel handbag area and grabbed multiple purses. Some glass shelving was broken in the process, and bystanders mistook the sound of glass breaking for gunshots, Becker said.

The suspects fled in two vehicles.

About 10:30 a.m., a Maryville police officer spotted one of the vehicles in Illinois on Interstate 55.

The officer tried unsuccessfully to stop the vehicle, triggering the high-speed pursuit northbound on I-55.

Officers from the Illinois State Police, Hamel Police Department, Macoupin County Sheriffs Department, Montgomery County Sheriffs Department, Litchfield Police Department and Taylor Springs Police Department assisted in the pursuit, which ended when the vehicle blew a tire after running over spike strips near Mount Olive.

The vehicle then exited into Litchfield before re-entering northbound I-55.

About 11:10 a.m., the vehicle went into the center median south of Farmersville  about 85 miles from Plaza Frontenac  and came to a stop. Eight people ran off, but all were caught and arrested.

Some of the store property taken from the store was recovered in the vehicle.

Becker said no shots were fired during the theft or arrests, and no injuries were reported. Police did not release the names of the suspects on Saturday, but Becker speculated they might be from the Chicago area based on their direction of travel.

He did not have a description of the second vehicle nor the suspects still at large but said police might have more information after consulting with prosecutors Monday.

Christine Byers of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.

Editor's note: This story was updated at 4:30 p.m. Sunday to reflect new information from the Frontenac Police Department, including the number of suspects apprehended on Saturday.
By PTI: New York, Nov 27 (PTI) In a tragic incident, a 24-year-old man shot and killed his father after mistaking him for a deer on a hunting expedition near here.

Kristopher D Paro, shot and killed his father, Kevin D Paro, 58, in the woods behind his house in Sandy Creek, New York.

According to police, Kristopher was hunting alone in the area behind his house. He was in a tree stand when he heard what he thought was a deer about 100 yards away.

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The sound was actually of his father, Kevin, who had gone into the woods to hunt as well.

Kristopher fired with a .270 rifle and struck his father in the chest. Kevin was transported to Oswego Hospital where he was pronounced dead, syracuse.com reported.

State Police are investigating the incident with officers from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the State Police Forensic Identification Unit. Kristopher has not been charged. PTI ASK AKJ ASK

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CINCINNATI  A prosecutor's widely expected decision to retry a white former police officer on a murder charge in the traffic-stop shooting of a black man came with the surprise that he wants to move the next trial out of the Cincinnati area.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced plans for the request on Tuesday as he said he would try fired University of Cincinnati officer Ray Tensing on the same charges on which jurors deadlocked. A judge declared a mistrial Nov. 12 after jurors remained hung after 25 hours of deliberations. The charges are murder and voluntary manslaughter in the July 19, 2015, fatal shooting of Sam DuBose.

Deters says he wants a jury in another Ohio county, away from intense local attention.

It's very rare for a prosecutor to ask for a change of venue, usually sought by defense attorneys who think a fair and impartial jury can't be seated, legal experts say.

One veteran Cincinnati attorney called it "a blockbuster move" by Deters.

"I've been practicing law since 1989, and I've never, ever, had a prosecutor request a change of venue," said attorney Carl Lewis.

Jurors in the racially charged case were scared of being identified, even revolting and refusing to come out of the jury room at one point, Deters said. Prosecutors talked to some of the jurors after the mistrial, and Deters said prosecutors think the intense local attention could have "seeped into the jury room."

Martin Pinales, a Cincinnati attorney and a former president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, said he expected Deters to retry Tensing on murder charges because of local political pressure, but was "a little surprised at the change of venue."

Pinales said changes of venue are meant for when "a defendant cannot get a fair trial." Judges often will try to seat a jury before agreeing to move a trial.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan has scheduled a hearing Monday morning. Shanahan might ask Deters what has changed since the first jury selection, Lewis said.

"But I think what the prosecutor is going to say is that the change is that the jurors fear for their safety and the fact that it's been a hung jury, that changes the complexity of the case, and for that reason, those changes in circumstances warrant a change of venue," Lewis said.

Tensing's attorney, Stewart Mathews, said he didn't have an immediate position on the moving the trial but would lean against it for various reasons including logistical and financial hardship.

It was Mathews who unsuccessfully asked the judge to move the first trial because of prejudicial pretrial publicity, including comments by Deters and other local officials. He noted after Deters' announcement Tuesday that it was possible for a jury in Hamilton County to be seated for the first trial and doesn't see a reason why another fair and impartial panel couldn't be.

Tensing testified that he feared for his life when DuBose tried to drive away. Mathews said DuBose tried to use his car as a deadly weapon. Deters repeated last week that he believes the shooting wasn't justified and the evidence contradicts Tensing's story.

DuBose family members, the Cincinnati City Council and groups including faith leaders had called for a new murder trial.

City Councilwoman Yvette Simpson said that while a venue change would be logistically challenging, it could "provide a better opportunity for a fair and impartial trial, and hopefully, a unanimous verdict."

The case is among those across the country calling attention to how police deal with blacks. A trial is set to resume Monday in Charleston, South Carolina, for a since-fired white patrolman, Michael Slager, facing 30 years to life if convicted of murder in the death last year of a black man, Walter Scott, shot while running from a traffic stop.

___

Associated Press writer Lisa Cornwell contributed to this report. Follow Dan Sewell at http://www.twitter.com/dansewell. For some of his other recent stories: http://bigstory.ap.org/content/dan-sewell.
President-elect Donald Trumps flirtation with Mitt Romney as a possible pick for secretary of state has injected a sliver of hope and change into an evolving administration that could use some.

If ever there were a rarer pair  think Doberman and Labradoodle  I cant think of one. Then again, how better to present a bad cop/good cop dynamic to a dangerous and fragile world? If Trump is perceived as unstable and potentially volatile, Romney is the face of calm, a steady hand to help guide the next presidents foreign policies.

Concerns about the two mens pointed exchanges during the campaign season would seem less important than whether Romney can do the presidents bidding  renegotiating trade deals, for example  when Trumps views are in direct conflict with his own. Romney has been pro-open trade while Trump campaigned on either scrapping or reworking trade deals.

Having known Romney for a decade or so, Im pretty sure hed accept the job if offered, which I base on my understanding of his profound sense of duty to country. While true that Romney worked against Trump during the primaries, his personal values, including a humility rare in the political world, ultimately would prevail over self-regard.

And though Trump called Romney a choker, hardly a recommendation for the person charged with negotiating the nations foreign interests, Trump is Trump, meaning he moves easily from one position to another. And politics are politics. Things are said. Things are unsaid.

Indeed, just Tuesday, top aide Kellyanne Conway said that the president-elect wont pursue an investigation of Hillary Clinton, despite having vowed to put her in jail and presided over many a chant of lock her up.

More than anything else, Trump is a pragmatist and a businessman. Operative question: What works? As he begins to organize his board of directors, otherwise known as the Cabinet, hes surely aware that Romney, of those rumored to be under consideration, would be most effective on the world stage.

The pragmatist, by definition, is unemotional about such decisions. Romney may not be Trumps cup of tea on any number of fronts, including the impossibility of the two settling in for some locker room talk, but the presidency confers a broader view of the world, not to mention the burden of all that follows.

What would not work is Rudy Giuliani. Not only does the man formerly known as Americas mayor act like he may have plunged his finger into a live socket but his outspokenness in defense of Trump has often seemed like the mad ranting of a man angry at the moon.

We still love 9/11 Rudy, but that Rudy seems to be missing. Even if he were present, the fellow who performs best in a crisis isnt necessarily the one who performs best in preventing a crisis.

By stark contrast, Romney would help relax tensions abroad as well as at home. He has international credibility and a sophisticated understanding of complex global relationships. Remember, it was Romney who, during his final debate with President Obama in 2012, pointed to Russia as our greatest geopolitical foe.

Obama practically laughed him off the stage, but whos laughing now, not that Romney would gloat? Romney is also well versed in areas of international finance and economics  demonstrably superior to anyone else on Trumps list.

The fact that Trump has admired Vladimir Putins strength as a leader and has indicated a preference for working with Russia to defeat the Islamic State isnt precisely in conflict with Romneys recognition of Putin and Russia as threats to our national interests. In fact, they can be seen as complementing each others perspectives with a balance of respect and caution informed by history.

On China, Romney and Trump probably agree more than not. Again, during his own presidential run Romney spoke often of clamping down on Chinas currency manipulation. He is also the son of George Romney  who in addition to being governor of Michigan was president of American Motors Corp.  and likely agrees with Trump that the U.S. needs to create incentives for businesses to invest more in American jobs.

Further to Romneys qualifications, hes an experienced deal-maker, a skill Trump obviously admires. Super-articulate and fluent in policy (as well as French, for what its worth), Romney is a cool thinker and, not insignificantly, a non-imbiber, also like Trump. Not least, he is by all accounts a thoroughly decent human being.

A wise man would look no further.

Kathleen Parker

Copyright The Washington Post
By PTI: New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) Cellular operators association COAI today said governments decision to allow old Rs 500 notes to be used for pre-paid mobile recharges will address difficulties being faced by consumers, and allow them to continue using mobile services without disruption.

"We are delighted that government listened to our request in the interest of consumers, addressing the difficulties faced by ordinary citizens who can continue to top up and use mobile services, which are essential services," COAI Director General Rajan Mathews said.

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According to some industry estimates, the recharges and top ups for pre paid mobile services have fallen 30-50 percent as consumers struggle with less cash in hand in the aftermath of Governments move to scrap old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

In fact, COAI had written to Telecom Department last week flagging the "hardships being faced by ordinary citizens in obtaining such services due to difficulties of obtaining replacement currency..."

It had said that telecom service providers should be allowed to accept the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 demonetised currency notes until such time as replacement currency is available to ordinary citizens in adequate amounts to conduct their daily affairs.

"Given the increasing hardships being faced by ordinary citizens in ordering their normal daily activities, we believe this permission extended to TSPs will go a long way in ameliorating citizens difficulties relating to obtaining and using communication services," COAI had said.

This will also serve as an enabler to further drive banking transactions using mobile phones supporting the efforts of the Government and the banking eco systems, it had added.

Government tonight extended till December 15 the facility of using old Rs 500 notes in public utilities and included more services like mobile recharge but stopped the over-the-counter exchange of defunct currencies and use of Rs 1,000 note.

This means that old Rs 500 notes can be used to top up pre paid mobile phones, till December 15. The pre-paid segment accounts for over 90 per cent of the Indian mobile market. PTI MBI MR

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So my question is, if the department is defunded, and low pay continues, what will happen the next time the police are desperately needed and only a handful of them are available?
ARLINGTON, Va.  Arlington National Cemetery, final resting place for thousands of American soldiers and others who have served and sacrificed, isnt just about the history of war.

Yes, the rows and rows of white headstones tell war stories across the generations, honoring young soldiers killed in action as well as veterans who lived into old age long past their military service.

And yes, there are memorials here marking tragic moments in American history, including a tribute to the astronauts who perished when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded and the eternal flame at the grave of President John F. Kennedy.

But while tourists make up many of the 3 million to 4 million people who visit Arlington National Cemetery each year, there are plenty of mourners here, too. More than 25 funerals are held here each weekday and another half-dozen on Saturdays.

Here are some basics for planning a visit to see some of Arlingtons most notable sites while honoring those buried here.

Silence and respect

Chances are as you wander around, youll see some visitors kneeling by a grave or leaving a note or flower to remember a loved one. You may see a graveside service underway in the distance, hear a bugle playing taps or be startled by rifle shots, customary for military funerals. Or you may see six horses slowly and solemnly pulling a caisson bearing a flag-draped coffin for a full-honors funeral.

Signs around the cemetery bear the words Silence and Respect, to give mourners space and privacy.

Planning a visit

Arlington National Cemetery is open daily 8 a.m.-5 p.m., October-May (and until 7 p.m., April-September). Admission is free.

Stop in the welcome center for a free map and advice on finding sites of particular interest. The cemetery is a square mile, so allow several hours for your visit. Be prepared for hills and lots of walking.

Hop-on, hop-off trolleys with narrated tours offer an overview of the grounds with stops at some of the most-visited sites. Tickets are $12 (discounts for children, veterans, military personnel and seniors).

The Washington, D.C., Metrorail blue line has a stop at Arlington National Cemetery. If youre driving, an onsite parking garage is accessible from Memorial Avenue.

Robert E. Lee

and John F. Kennedy

Arlington House, also known as the Robert E. Lee Memorial, is on a hilltop overlooking the Kennedy gravesite. Standing in front of the house, you can see downtown Washington with the Washington Monuments white obelisk in the distance.

The Lee house, run by the National Park Service, has fascinating connections to George Washington and the Civil War. The land where the cemetery now sits was originally a 19th-century slave plantation owned by George Washingtons adopted grandson, George Washington Parke Custis. Custis daughter married Robert E. Lee, the leader of the Confederate Army. During the Civil War, Union troops occupied the estate and began burying soldiers there. Lees family never returned, and in 1882 the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the government to compensate them. Two cabins behind Arlington House tell the story of African-Americans  both enslaved and free  who lived and worked there.

The Kennedy gravesite has markers for the slain president, his widow, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and other family members. JFKs famous quote, Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country, is engraved nearby.

Also of interest

Arlington National Cemetery is dotted with memorials. They include monuments and markers honoring veterans of various battles and wars, victims of disasters like the sinking of the USS Maine and the downing of Pan Am Flight 103, and others who served or sacrificed, from Gold Star mothers to the Coast Guard.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded by a marching uniformed sentinel 24 hours a day, with a changing of the guard on the hour.

Many famous individuals are buried here, from Hollywood actors to U.S. senators. But one of the most asked-about sites in the last few months has been the grave of Capt. Humayun Khan, whose father spoke at the Democratic National Convention in August. Khan was killed during the Iraq War, and the story of his immigrant Muslim family and their loss became an issue in the presidential campaign. Welcome center staff are accustomed to giving directions to his gravesite, No. 7986 in section 60, where visitors often leave flowers and notes.

Most Arlington graves are marked with crosses, but other symbols, like the six-pointed Jewish star and a wheel representing the Buddhist faith, can be seen. Khans headstone bears a Muslim crescent and star.

IF YOU GO

Arlington National Cemetary: arlingtoncemetery.mil/Visit

Arlington House: Home of Robert E. Lee: nps.gov/arho/index.htm
By PTI: Umaria (MP), Nov 27 (PTI) A 42-year-old worker was killed when roof of a coal mine caved in near here, police said today.

Shivkumar Sahu was working in the mine, run by South Eastern Coalfields Ltd (SECL), when he got trapped following the collapse yesterday, a police official said.

The mine caved in when Sahu was making a hole overhead with a drilling machine, said Inspector R B Soni of Naurodabad Police Station, under whose jurisdiction the mishap took place.

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He was pulled out and rushed to a hospital where the doctors pronounced him brought dead, Soni said.

"We have registered a case and further investigations are on," the officer added. PTI CORR LAL RSY SAI

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Viv Morgan, chair of trustees at Northfield House School, with some of the Blythe Liggins working party, left to right, Eilidh Rose, Katie Farrell, Collin Trystman, Chris Bowen and Richard Moon. (Submitted photo)

A GROUP of volunteers have given up their time to redecorate rooms at a special school.

The working party from Blythe Liggins arrived at Northleigh House School in Hatton last week to give the premises a facelift, complete with paint, brushes and rollers.

Team leader Richard Moon, head of employment law, said: We have a long tradition of working for the local community and we were so impressed by the work done by the dedicated staff at Northleigh House that we wanted to do our bit to help.

Northleigh was established in 2012 in a country house and is dedicated to overcoming the effects of bullying.

Founders Viv and Fred Morgan, who set up the school in their own home, won a Pride of Britain Award in 2015.
Oakland, CA (PRWEB) November 26, 2016

Fidel Castro is gone, but his name still arouses passions over 60 years after his first appearance on the world political stage as a young rebel leader. In the debate swirling around his legacy, of two things there can be no doubt: while he was Cuban, he was also bigger than Cuba, the last of the larger-than-life giants of 20th century leadership.

And just as important, he was the driving force and main architect of universal health care in Cuba, a public health system responsible for making Cubans some of the healthiest people in the world. Built upon the notion of the right to health, he first outlined this vision in the program of the movement he led to victory on January 1, 1959.

As a result of his leadership, the new government dedicated itself first to health and education for all. In 1960-61, newly graduated doctors, backpacks in hand, headed for the countryside and mountains to take health care to people there for the first time, which coincided with a massive Literacy Campaign that taught some 700,000 Cubans to read and write.

Over the years, President Castro took an abiding interest in health and was at the forefront of promoting advances in health care, research and medical education: establishing rural hospitals and a national network of hundreds of community-based clinics, making prevention a cornerstone of training and service; generating extraordinary investments in biotechnology to develop novel vaccines and cancer therapies, and specialized services for Cuban newborns with heart disease. Finally, he considered the most significant "revolution within the revolution" to be the creation in the 1980s of the family doctor-and-nurse program, posting their offices on every block and farmland in Cuba.

The outcomes of these efforts were not achieved by one man, but by 500,000 Cuban health workers, who were able to count on health as a government priority. Together, they faced dengue and neuropathy epidemics; and the scarcity of medicines, including for HIV-AIDS patients, after the collapse of the socialist bloc and tightening of the US embargo on Cuba in the 1990s. Their dedication has won a healthier nation.

Under Fidel Castro's leadership, Cuban health professionals also began volunteering to serve abroad as early as 1960, responders to earthquake-devastated Chile; and in 1963, the first long-term service was offered by doctors sent to newly independent Algeria.

Despite invasions and attempts on his own life, Fidel Castro continually demonstrated an attitude of openness towards the US people. He offered thousands of specially trained Cuban doctors to help New Orleans recover after Hurricane Katrina, a medical team named after Brooklyn-born Henry Reeve, a hero of Cuba's independence war against Spain. He opened the scholarship doors of the Latin American School of Medicine to young, low-income US students, after a request from the Congressional Black Caucus. In his words, the school's goal: "The doctors trained here should be the kind needed [by people] in the countryside, villages, marginalized neighborhoods and cities in the Third World. And also in immensely wealthy countries, such as the United States, where millions of African-Americans, Native Americans, Latino immigrants, Haitians and others, lack health care." Since its opening in 1999, the Latin American School of Medicine has enrolled over 200 US students and graduated some 30,000 physicians from 100+ countries.

A MEDICC group of public health and medical educators was the last US delegation to meet with President Fidel Castro before his illness in July, 2006. As was customary, the gathering lasted for the whole night. But at the heart of our conversations was not global politics&but rather health, cochlear implants for blind-deaf Cuban children, a call to the Cuban medical team in East Timor, even the potential for US-Cuba cooperation in health and medicine. For 12 hours, health was at the top of our mutual agenda.

"We can only hope that, going forward, the US-Cuba cooperation in health envisioned during that long night--and later ratified by Presidents Barack Obama and Ral Castro--can endure and expand, to benefit people in both our countries," said Dr. Peter G. Bourne, Chair, MEDICC Board of Directors.

"To the Cuban people, to Fidel Castro's family, we extend our heartfelt condolences and appreciation for his life-long dedication to health worldwide," stated Dr. Nassim Assefi, MEDICC Executive Director.

About MEDICC

Since 1997, MEDICC has worked to disseminate the approaches and outcomes of Cuba's public health system, as a contribution to the global quest for universal health and greater health equity. MEDICC facilitates mutual learning opportunities in several ways: its documentary film Salud!; the open-access, MEDLINE-indexed English journal, MEDICC Review, that publishes research by Cuban and other scholars from the Global South whose work touches on health equity; insightful trips to Cuba for US health policymakers, educators and practitioners; a national network of US communities whose leaders have been inspired to innovate for better health, thanks to their MEDICC-organized experiences in Cuba; and by serving as an institutional bridge-builder between US, Cuban and global health institutions and organizations. MEDICC also assists US students and graduates of Havana's Latin American Medical School to return home to practice in provider-shortage areas, and supports US policies that facilitate greater health cooperation with Cuba for the benefit of people in both countries.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/11/prweb13880317.htm
AMSTERDAM, Nov. 27, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) today introduced PerformanceBridge, a new suite of performance management software and services to assist radiology departments in enhancing productivity, improving the patient experience and delivering better value-based care. PerformanceBridge supports radiology department administrators in prioritizing operational improvements in asset management, equipment uptime and utilization, peer-to-peer collaboration, accreditation compliance and practice management.

Designed as a secure, cloud-based or on-premise software solution, Philips' PerformanceBridge gives healthcare professionals access to near real-time data on departmental performance through an easy-to-use interactive dashboard. Vendor agnostic, PerformanceBridge unifies information across different imaging modalities and existing information systems. To further support continuous improvement management, Philips offers a dedicated team of application specialists to help PerformanceBridge users leverage its tools and implement performance improvement strategies based on meaningful insights provided by PerformanceBridge.

"As the role of the radiologist continues to evolve, we are committed to delivering next-generation software and services to bring the power of informatics and decision support to radiology," said Rob Cascella, CEO of the Diagnosis and Treatment businesses at Philips. "Radiology departments have access to a goldmine of data that can positively impact the entire enterprise. PerformanceBridge leverages intelligent software and analytics, blended with deep expertise, to deliver actionable information to make everything more streamlined in support of a first-time-right approach."

Lahey Hospital & Medical Center based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a co-development site and early adopter of one of the services of Philips' PerformanceBridge, namely PerformanceBridge Practice.

"PerformanceBridge Practice has incredible promise for data-driven practice management, including exciting things such as a real local market referral pattern analysis, as well as asset and technologist utilization insights," said Christoph Wald, M.D., Ph.D, MBA, FACR, Chairman, Department of Radiology at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and Professor of Radiology at Tufts University Medical School. "It gives us the intelligence we need to be a data-driven enterprise."

The PerformanceBridge suite includes intelligent tools and personalized service options to enable health systems to drive the value of imaging:

Understanding and improving imaging performance  PerformanceBridge Practice offers vendor-agnostic, deep, data-backed insights to identify opportunities and gaps within a health system. Following this assessment, Philips acts as a partner in on-going continuous improvement, providing detailed benchmarking and insights to help achieve productivity gains.

 PerformanceBridge Practice offers vendor-agnostic, deep, data-backed insights to identify opportunities and gaps within a health system. Following this assessment, Philips acts as a partner in on-going continuous improvement, providing detailed benchmarking and insights to help achieve productivity gains. Managing radiation dose  Philips' dose management software platform, DoseWise Portal, enables healthcare providers to record, track and analyze the radiation exposure of patients and clinicians. Imaging managers have access to information about patient radiation exposure to make data-informed decisions to ensure safe optimized levels and adherence to industry regulations.

 Philips' dose management software platform, DoseWise Portal, enables healthcare providers to record, track and analyze the radiation exposure of patients and clinicians. Imaging managers have access to information about patient radiation exposure to make data-informed decisions to ensure safe optimized levels and adherence to industry regulations. Participating in knowledge sharing  Through Philips' NetForum community, clinicians have access to a cloud-based peer-to-peer network, where members can access benchmarking data, case studies and educational information to aid in knowledge sharing and facilitate learning.

 Through Philips' NetForum community, clinicians have access to a cloud-based peer-to-peer network, where members can access benchmarking data, case studies and educational information to aid in knowledge sharing and facilitate learning. Proactively addressing equipment issues  PerformanceBridge's services analytics infrastructure integrates input from 24 different data sources into one consolidated database with more than 40 proactive data analytics algorithms, which analyze system log files on a daily basis to recognize patterns that identify the need for proactive equipment maintenance.

PerformanceBridge builds on Philips' existing expertise in imaging, clinical informatics, healthcare consulting services, remote services, dose management services and education services. It complements Philips' Rightfit suite of maintenance services and its SmartPath suite of upgrade services. Philips has an installed base of over 300,000 imaging systems in more than 100 countries, and 7,000 field service engineers to support Philips customers.

Philips is showcasing PerformanceBridge at RSNA 2016 at booth #6735 in Hall B at McCormick Place. PerformanceBridge will be commercially available in the US, Benelux, UK, Australia and New Zealand in 2017.

For more information about Philips' presence at RSNA, including the full suite of Philips' solutions for diagnosis and treatment, please visit Philips' RSNA event website, and follow @PhilipsLiveFrom for more information on Philips' presence at #RSNA16.

For further information, please contact:

Alicia CafardiPhilips Group Communications Tel: + 1 412-523-9616Email: [email protected]

Kathy O'Reilly Philips Group CommunicationsTel: +1 978-221-8919Email: [email protected] Twitter: @KathyOReilly

About Royal PhilipsRoyal 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/20161123/442539 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140122/NE50581LOGO

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/philips-introduces-performancebridge-suite-of-operational-performance-improvement-software-and-services-for-radiology-departments-300368236.html

SOURCE Royal Philips
By Terray Sylvester

CANNON BALL, N.D. (Reuters) - Activists protesting plans to run an oil pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota said on Saturday they have no intention of leaving a protest camp after U.S. authorities warned it must be vacated by Dec. 5.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the federal land where the main camp protesting the Dakota Access pipeline is located, said it would close public access to the area north of the Cannonball River, including to protesters. It said this was partly to protect the general public from violent confrontations between protesters and law enforcement that have occurred in the area.

Those who stay could face prosecution for trespassing, the Corps said in a letter to tribal leaders on Friday.

Organizers told a news conference on Saturday at the main protest site where about 5,000 people are camped that they had no intention of moving.

"We are staying here committed to our prayer," said Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network. "Forced removal and state oppression? This is nothing new to us as native people."

There are smaller camps on land not subject to the planned restrictions, including an area south of the Cannonball River where the Corps said it was establishing a free-speech zone.

North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple, a Republican, on Saturday said he supported the decision and the federal government, which allowed the protesters to become entrenched, must lead in the camp's peaceful closure.

Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault said he received notice on Friday about the decision in a letter from Colonel John Henderson, an Army Corps district commander.

Archambault said the best thing the federal government could do for safety is deny the easement for the pipeline. "We have an escalating situation where safety is a concern for everybody."

Archambault said he did not see the letter as a forced eviction and the tribe would continue to exercise its First Amendment rights to free speech. The tribe is working on a location on reservation land should people choose to go there, he said.

"I don't think it will ever be an eviction where forces just come in and push people out," Archambault said.

Demonstrators have protested for months against the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Energy Transfer Partners LP (NYSE: ETP), saying it poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites. The companies say the pipeline would carry Bakken shale oil more cheaply and safely from North Dakota to Illinois en route to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

The 1,172-mile (1,885-km) project is mostly complete except for the segment planned to run under Lake Oahe less than half a mile north of Standing Rock.

The Obama administration in September postponed final approval of a permit required to allow tunneling beneath the lake, a move intended to give federal officials more time to consult with tribal leaders. But the delay also led to escalating tensions over the project.

Last weekend, police used water hoses in subfreezing weather in an attempt to disperse about 400 activists near the proposed tunnel excavation site.

Demonstrators plan a march at noon Sunday in Washington, from the Department of Justice to the Washington Monument.

(Writing by David Bailey; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Andrew Hay)
Rebel fighters gather during their advance towards the Islamic State-held city of al-Bab, northern Syria October 26, 2016. REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi

By Daren Butler

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - A blast ripped through a street in the northern Syrian town of al-Rai on Sunday in what was believed to be an Islamic State suicide bombing, with several deaths reported and security and hospital sources saying 12 wounded, mostly children, were taken to a hospital in nearby Turkey.

The town of al-Rai, which is 2 km (1 mile) south of Turkey's Kilis border province, is in an area under the control of Turkey-backed rebels and was seized from Islamic State militants in Ankara's "Euphrates Shield" operation launched in August.

Local sources said the explosion was caused by a vehicle-borne bomb which killed several people, according to Turkey's Dogan news agency. The casualty toll could not be confirmed.

The Turkey-backed rebels have for days been besieging the IS-controlled town of al-Bab, around 30 km south of al-Rai, as part of the three-month-old offensive to drive the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

Turkey's army earlier said IS militants fired a rocket into the Haliliye area of the same region that caused symptoms of "chemical gas" exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency.

The rebels were transferred to a Turkish hospital on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches following the attack, the Hurriyet website reported.

But Anadolu said a subsequent analysis by Turkey's disaster and emergency organization AFAD did not detect chemical materials and the symptoms were regarded as having been caused by a tear gas-like substance.

Turkish jets on Saturday destroyed four Islamic State targets in the Anifah region, and one Turkey-backed Syrian rebel was killed and 14 wounded in clashes, the army said.

On Thursday, three Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike which the army believed was carried out by the Syrian air force. It happened on the first anniversary of Turkey's downing of a Russian jet over Syria and raised fears of an escalation in the conflict.

Turkey subsequently deployed low-altitude air defense systems with Stinger missiles to the border area, Dogan said.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the air strike with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. They spoke again late on Saturday about "Syria and efforts to resolve the humanitarian drama in Aleppo", sources in Erdogan's office said.

Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main military backer. Turkey backs rebels fighting to oust him.

Ankara and Moscow only restored ties, which had been damaged by last November's jet incident, in August. While they continue to pursue conflicting goals in Syria, Turkey has of late been less openly critical of Assad than in the past.

(Writing by Daren Butler; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
By Helen Murphy and Luis Jaime Acosta

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Colombia's Marxist FARC will support a presidential candidate in 2018 to prevent a peace accord being modified or scrapped, rebel leader Rodrigo Londono said on Friday, an apparent bid to block former President Alvaro Uribe's right-wing party taking office.

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia signed a peace agreement with the government on Thursday, converting it into a political party that will have some weight when President Juan Manuel Santos stands down.

Speaking to the international press, Londono, 57, said there is a struggle in Colombia between those who want peace and those who want the five-decade war to continue. He agreed there is a risk that a political opponent could seek to alter the accord once in office.

"This is a long-term project. To consolidate peace after over 50 years of confrontation won't be achieved in a few months or years. We think the next government, the next president, should guarantee the continuity of the process," said the veteran fighter, known by his nom de guerre Timochenko.

"It should be a transitional government."

The government and FARC worked for four years in Cuba to negotiate an end to the region's longest-running conflict, which killed more than 220,000 and displaced millions in the Andean nation.

An original draft was rejected in a plebiscite last month as too lenient on the rebels, forcing the two sides back to the negotiating table for a second, slightly modified document.

The still-popular and powerful Uribe spearheaded the push to reject the original accord and wants deeper changes to the new version. He has called for protests and may seek a new referendum to scrap the accord.

Despite widespread relief at an end to the conflict, many among Colombia's largely conservative residents are angry because the deal will not jail FARC leaders who committed crimes like kidnappings and massacres. It also allows them to hold political office.

Given such tense sentiment, Londono fears that violence against FARC members could increase in the coming months as they go through the disarmament process and become absorbed into society.

"It's very possible that there's an increase in attacks... in a bid to generate provocations in areas where we are concentrated. We have alerted our people to avoid provocations," said Londono.

The FARC, which began as a rebellion fighting rural poverty, has battled a dozen governments as well as right-wing paramilitary groups. It is considered a terrorist organization by the United States.

(Reporting by Helen Murphy; Editing by Dan Grebler)
FILE PHOTO: Iran's national flags are seen on a square in Tehran February 10, 2012, a day before the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. REUTERS/Morteza Nikoubazl/File Photo

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran may seek to set up naval bases in Yemen or Syria in the future, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces said in remarks published on Sunday.

His comments, likely to be of concern to Shi'ite Iran's Sunni regional rival Saudi Arabia and its allies, raised the prospect of distant footholds perhaps being more valuable militarily to Tehran than nuclear technology.

"We need distant bases, and it may become possible one day to have bases on the shores of Yemen or Syria, or bases on islands or floating (bases)," said General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, quoted by the Shargh daily newspaper.

"Is having distant bases less than nuclear technology? I say it is worth dozens of times more," added Baqeri, who was speaking at a gathering of naval commanders.

Iran and Saudi Arabia are on opposite sides in Middle East conflicts, with the Iranians a main ally of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war and of the armed Houthi movement fighting a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen.

In a rare rebuke for Iran, a Houthi official on Sunday criticized Baqeri's comments and urged Tehran to read about the history of failed attempts to occupy Yemen.

"Not one inch of Yemen's land or waters will be forfeited to any foreign party ... whether a friend or an enemy," said Saleh al-Samad, the Houthis' political council chief in a statement on Facebook.

(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
Kuwaiti men arrive to cast their votes during parliamentary election in a polling station in Kuwait City, Kuwait November 26, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

By Sami Aboudi and Ahmed Hagagy

KUWAIT (Reuters) - Kuwaitis voted on Saturday in an election energized by the participation of opposition candidates for the first time since 2012 and focused on recent government austerity measures aimed at tackling the oil-rich nation's deficit.

The parliament of Western-allied Kuwait was due to run until July 2017, but the emir, Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah, dissolved it in October, saying "security challenges" in the region - an apparent reference to wars in Iraq and Syria - should be met by consulting the popular will.

More than 290 candidates, including 14 women, are standing for 50 seats in an assembly that enjoys legislative powers but has often been at odds with the government of one of the world's wealthiest countries, thwarting attempts to strengthen fiscal discipline.

Turnout appeared to be low in the first few hours after polls opened but officials said they expected a pick up before they close at 2000 local (1700 GMT). Many of the voters who cast their ballot after polls opened at 0800 (0500 GMT) said they hoped the election would inject new blood into parliament.

"I hope we will have a better parliament than the previous one," said a 22-year-old Islamic Waqf Affairs ministry employee after she voted for the first time at a girls' school in the upper middle class al-Rawda district in southern Kuwait City.

"We want young men who can help turn Kuwait into a financial and commercial hub, and who can help give people their rights without the help of influential people," said Amal Abul, 45, a department head at the education ministry.

The opposition, comprising Islamists, liberals and pan-Arabists, won a majority in the February 2012 election but boycotted another in December that year over changes to voting rules that activists said favored pro-government candidates.

AUSTERITY MEASURES

Campaigning has focused mainly on austerity measures adopted in the past year after officials forecast a deficit of 9.5 billion dinars ($31 billion) for the 2016/17 fiscal year. The OPEC state relies on oil for about 90 percent of its revenues.

Although the deficit is likely to be smaller than forecast as it was based on an oil price of $25 a barrel, many Kuwaitis fear the government will try to raise prices further and cut many of the perks they have enjoyed for decades, including free health care, education, subsidized basic products, free housing or land plots and interest-free loans to many citizens.

The cabinet has approved economic reforms, including increasing gasoline prices by as much as 80 percent.

"The raising of fuel prices and electricity prices has severely hurt citizens," 23-year-old Abdallah, said after he cast his ballot at a public school in the upper middle class al-Rawda district in Kuwait City.

Kuwait, a U.S. ally occupied by Iraq in 1990-91, has relatively open politics by Gulf standards and has avoided the protests that have rocked several Arab states since 2011.

But a series of assemblies have been dissolved due to power struggles between the opposition and the cabinet, in which the ruling family holds top posts.

While the assembly can pass legislation and question ministers, the emir has the final say and picks a prime minister who selects a cabinet.

Amal al-Jarallah, a 50-year-old Education Department employee, said she wanted to see MPs try to improve health and education standards and help working mothers.

Asked if she wanted to see women in parliament, she said: "If they are qualified, yes. But that is not an issue."

(Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Alexander Smith)
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Qamar Zaman Kaira on Saturday threatened Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to topple the government if his party's demands were not met.

"Nawaz Sharif must accept the four points laid by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, if he wants to save his government," Kaira said, in his address to the party activists.

He claimed that in case the prime minister does not surrender to their demands, then his party will lead such a campaign that the government will not be able to stand it.

Kaira alleged that CM Punjab Shahbaz Sharif earned millions of rupees through kickbacks in Danish schools, Sasti roti scheme, and laptop scheme, further adding that the ruling party are allies of Narendar Modi hence they are reluctant to raise their voice against persistent Indian aggression.

Earlier, Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto Zardari warned the federal government to meet his four demands, passage of the draft Panama bill, immediate appointment of a permanent foreign minister, reconstitution of the parliamentary committee on national security and implementation of the resolution on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor passed by a multiparty conference, till December 27.
Disaster in the North of Israel, at least 40 dead as fire rages across the Carmel Mountains. A mass evacuation has begun. As I am writing these lines, Israeli Fire fighting crews are battling with the flames. They also express no hope of controlling the fire soon. "We lost all control of the fire," said the Haifa Fire fighting services spokesman. "There aren't enough fire fighting resources in Israel in order to put out the fire."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hurried to the scene of the fire on Thursday. He requested the help of the U.S, Greece, Italy, Russia, and Cyprus to send additional forces to aid the Israeli firemen. A normal country would probably ask for the help of its neighbours, but the Jewish state doesnt have neighbours. It made all its neighbours into enemies.

Israels rural landscape is saturated with pine trees. These trees are new to the region. The pine trees were introduced to the Palestinians landscape in the early 1930s by the Jewish National Fund (JNF) in an attempt to reclaim the land . By 1935, JNF had planted 1.7 million trees over a total area of 1,750 acres. Over fifty years, the JNF planted over 260 million trees largely on confiscated Palestinian land. It did it all in a desperate attempt to hide the ruins of the ethnically cleansed Palestinian villages and their history.

Along the years the JNF performed a crude attempt to eliminate Palestinian civilisation and past but it also tried to make Palestine look like Europe. The Palestinian natural forest was eradicated. Similarly the olive trees were uprooted. The pine trees took their place. On the southern part of mount Carmel the Israelis named an area as Little Switzerland. By now, there is no much left of Little Switzerland.

However, the facts on the ground were pretty devastating for the JNF. The pine tree didnt adapt to the Israeli climate as much as the Israelis failed to adapt to the Middle East. According to JNF statistics, six out of every 10 saplings planted did not survive. Those few trees that did survive formed nothing but a firetrap. By the end of each Israeli summer each of the Israeli pine forests become a potential deadly zone.

In spite of its nuclear ability, its criminal army, the occupation, the Mossad and its lobbies all over the world, Israel seems to be vulnerable. It is devastatingly alienated from the land it claims to own and care for. Like the pine tree, Zionism, Israel and the Israeli are foreign to the region.
* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati received the 2022 Adepi Award

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the World Intellectual Property Review's "Influential Women in IP" of 2020.

* PermaKat Eleonora Rosati listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2018.

* IPKat founder and Blogmeister Emeritus Jeremy Phillips listed as one of the Managing Intellectual Property magazine's "Fifty Most Influential People" of 2005, 2011, 2013, and 2014.

* Recommended by the European Patent Office as reading material for candidates for the European Qualifying Examinations, 2013.

* Listed as "Top Legal Blog" in The Times Online, March 2011.

2010 ABA Journal 100. * One of the only two non-US blogs listed in the Blawg100.

* Court Reporter Top Copyright Blog award winner, November 2010.

* Number 1 in the 2010 Top Copyright Blog list compiled by the Copyright Litigation Blog, July 2010.

* Selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in its historic collections of Internet materials related to Legal Blawgs as of 2010.

* Top Patent Blog poll 2009: 3rd out of 50 in the "Favourite Patent Blog" poll and 2nd out of 50 in the "Most-read" poll.

Blog of the Year, 20 August 2008. * ComputerWeekly IT Law and Governance, 20 August 2008.
A breezy start to the week is predicted for Tauranga as isobars bunch up across the country because of a low to the south of New Zealand.

Severe gusts that have plagued southern parts of the country are expected to ease this afternoon says MetService Meteorologist Claire Flynn.

Northwest winds could still be strong, though the gusts will no longer be severe.

Severe Weather Warnings were in force for gusts of 130 km/hr in Wellington and Wairarapa, and a Watch is in force for Kapiti Coast. Gusts of 126 km/hr had been recorded in the suburb of Kelburn, and 133 km/hr on the Rimutaka Hill Road on Sunday morning.

In Tauranga westerlies are expected to ease today, but resume in strength tomorrow morning.

A Severe Weather Watch is in force for the possibility that southwest gales could become severe for parts of Southland and Clutha through to Monday morning. The Watch also advises of large rainfall accumulations on the ranges of Buller and the Tararua Range through to Sunday evening.

Meanwhile, a cool west to southwest change has meant that late November snow has fallen on some of the higher roads in the South Island. Milford Road was closed on Sunday morning due to snow, and snow was also reported on the Crown Range Road.

Snow on these higher roads in late November isnt something that happens every year, but it isnt unheard of either, says Claire.

Looking ahead into next week, showers should be gradually easing or clearing on Monday, and temperatures will return to average down south. A front is expected to move up the South Island on Tuesday, bringing rain with some heavy falls to the west, and a few showers to the east. The front then gradually moves on to the North Island on Wednesday, bringing a period of rain to the west and a few showers to the east. However, a ridge of high pressure begins to build over the country, causing the front to weaken, and bringing largely settled weather later in the week.

Official Severe Weather Watches and Warnings are reviewed and re-issued by MetService at least every twelve hours, and more often if necessary. To get the most up to date information on severe weather around the country, or any other forecasts, see metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice and @MetServiceWARN on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com

MetService issues Warnings, Watches and Outlooks for severe weather over New Zealand.

Warnings are about taking action when severe weather is imminent or is occurring. They are issued only when required.

Recommendation: ACT

Watches are about being alert when severe weather is possible, but not sufficiently imminent or certain for a Warning to be issued. They are issued only when required.

Recommendation: BE READY

Outlooks are about looking ahead, providing advance information on possible future Watches and/or Warnings. They are issued routinely once or twice a day.

Recommendation: PLAN
Five local Lions clubs have pooled funds to buy a new automated external defibrillator for the Coastguard.

The vital piece of medical equipment was presented today at the Coastguards regional headquarters in Nikau Crescent, Mount Maunganui.

Papamoa Lions president Wayne Keereweer says this donation came about because one of their members volunteers for the Coastguard.

He says five coastal clubs  Mount Lions, Mount Lionesses, Welcome Bay Lions, Papamoa Lions, and Te Puke Kiwi Coast  contributed, although it was Papamoa who bought the defibrillator so it could be used immediately.

The overall Lions contribution was $2500 - $500 from each club.

The defibrillator will also be for public use, which means if there is an emergency nearby, people can come into the Coastguard offices between 6am and 9pm and grab the device. Its also registered with an AED locator app, so people can find it on their smartphones.

Coastguard regional manager Stuart Lowth says AEDs are easy to use, even for those without training.

A survey in the United States found 92 per cent of people off the street could successfully use this device.

He says the Coastguard is extremely grateful for the donation.

Were always very appreciative of our funders, who assist us in saving lives, whether on land or sea.

The next big fundraiser for the Papamoa Lions will be this weekends market at Gordon Spratt Reserve, from which all proceeds will be going to the Kaikoura Lions to help support them after the earthquake.
A 36-year-old Bay of Plenty woman was flown to hospital after collapsing of unknown causes.

The Tauranga-based Trustpower TECT Rescue Helicopter was dispatched to Waihau Bay at 3.30pm after the woman had collapsed.

Pilot and base manager Liam Brettkelly says the woman was visiting family in the area.

She was checked over by the helicopter medic before being flown to Whakatane Hospital in a moderate condition.
You have Santa appearing in town next month  so what do you build him to house his well-wishing ways with young and old ahead of December 25?

The answer in Taurangas CBD is a quintessential Kiwi bach. A miniature version of classic Kiwi bach is now in Taurangas Red Square  ready to house Santa and remind people of their them of the most iconic and enjoyable experiences of summer. Going to the bach.

Downtown Taurangas Sally Cooke says her organisation came up with the idea while trying to find a temporary home for the jolly red fellow this December.

Initially, we were looking at a Santas grotto  somewhere in the city. But then we thought  wouldnt it make sense if it was a Kiwi bach Santa happened to go to?

Then it will have a dual purpose of housing Santa also being a place-making initiative in the city centre. So we hope it becomes a landmark while its here.

Sally says the idea is people can celebrate the iconic Kiwi bach and everything it means.

Its summer and its that beautiful time of year where everyone goes to the bach  and the evocative images of a bach where theres family, fun, friends, playing cards and relaxing, and food. The quintessential Kiwi summer.

Weve got poems, definitions and Kiwi slang on the outside so tourists walking up to it understand that its showpiece of the Kiwi bach and for Kiwis walking past, it will put a smile on their face and theyll take some memories from it.

Inside the bach some basic Kiwiana items are on show. Some NZ family members  such as Billy T James  and things like pukeko ornaments, the orange Edmonds custard power box, and a teapot with a knitted tea cosy.

All those beautiful things that every bach has  and nothing matches, things are cobbled together, says Sally.

The little bach has been developed in partnership with Downtown Tauranga, Tauranga Rotary, Guthrie Bowron provided all of the paint and wallpapering because you if have a look at it the colours are supposed to be harking back to the Kiwi bach.

And Black Chilli constructed it. This morning Mediaworks will support the initiative by broadcasting its More FM breakfast radio show from the bach.

And for Christmas, Santa is coming to the Kiwi bach. Hell be making it his grotto from December 10 onwards.

Hell have lunch at the bach  and kids will be able to come down and see Santa at his bach.

And when Santa is not here its a classic Kiwi bach that will hopefully brighten peoples days.

And is there future plans for this little Kiwi bach?

Weve set it up in Red Square and we hope people enjoy it  and its very much a community project, so we want people to enjoy it and celebrate.

And it would be great if it had life beyond that, says Sally.
To many officers in the town of Gates, Victoria Brooks was the cheerful teen they got to know at their local Dunkin' Donuts.

On Friday morning, Rochester police found Brooks and her mother, Christie Brooks, fatally shot.

Now Gates police are collecting money to help the family pay for the funerals, WHAM reports.

"Every time we came here she was always such a joy, just so pleasant and always smiling," said Officer Jessica Skidmore of the Gates Police Department told the television station.

Police say officers were called to a house on Wellington Avenue around 7 a.m. Friday, the Associated Press reported. Officers said there were several children inside the home at the time of the shooting.
We love money. Money is great. Money makes the world go round. It can get us anywhere and give us anything. Using money alone, you can get the rights to the music of any promising new band of your choosing, mould them into the next big thing, and sell their output for more money. Then you can use that money to repeat the process, with any different promising new band of your choosing.

Occasionally, though, people care less for the money and more for these promising new bands. Perhaps these bands are made up of their friends, or perhaps it is just that a lot of these bands are really good. In any case, these people are good people, and these bands are good bands. Sometimes, it is not all about the money. So below is a list of my top four indie record labels in the UK (in no particular order):

Tasty Morsels  Loughborough

Tasty Morsels is the ultimate in independent labels. Their Facebook page about section immodestly and accurately reads, library of peng. That is precisely what it is. Their website is simply a collection of twenty different releases from over the last few years, all downloadable for free, and released by a increasingly wide-spanning group of friends. Their music is predominantly lo-fi off-kilter electronic pop, often inspired by the chorus-laden sounds of Connan Moccasin. This is perhaps no surprise, given that Infinite Bisous (the ringleader at Tasty Morsels) spends large chunks of his time touring the world as Connans bassist. Listen to their compilations and Laurie Holidays Dusted (a quirky take on instrumental hip-hop, with some expertly chosen documentary samples) for some of the best music youll never need to pay for.

Art is Hard  South of England

Unlike Tasty Morsels, Art is Hard specialise in physical releases. Theyve been around for six years and have put out plenty of material in the process. They released Black Tambourines debut album, a perfectly low-budget garage rock masterpiece, and Penelope Isles latest release for Cassette Story Day proves that reverb-drenched dream-pop is not quite dead yet  listen to Why Were Always Talking for one of the most gripping and beautiful tracks of the year. As the name suggests, the art is just as important for the music for Art is Hard. As a result, their records often come as coloured or patterned vinyl, with a few even printed on square Perspex. And theyve got great, cheap t-shirts. Definitely worth a look.

Sways  Manchester

Sways could well be my favourite label. The music theyve released is of astonishingly high quality. They released MONEYs first single, the visceral Whos Going to Love You Now, and Bernard + Ediths debut LP. Most recent signing, Blacklung, self-labelled kraut-disco, typify Manchesters industrial sound, with harsh distortion to rival My Bloody Valentine, but with a driving, almost danceable rhythm section. Its brilliant. But it was meant to be released about a year ago, and hasnt been yet. Sways, whilst probably the best label on the list in terms of quality of music, are undoubtedly the most unorganised. Twice now Ive ordered records from them and never received them. The same happened to a friend of mine, and he wasnt even refunded. Its a shame, but its pretty rock n roll, I suppose.

Warm Laundry  Cambridge x Manchester x Milton Keynes x London x Oxford

Warm Laundry spans across the country, and like Tasty Morsels currently only has free online releases. Some of the musicians and artists (Warm Laundry also puts a lot of onus on their art releases) hail from here in Cambridge. De Bondy, for example, offers an exciting take on dance-inspired melancholia, with her delicate, ethereal voice floating above the thick bass on Lesson. I spoke to Joe Taylor, based in Manchester and the brains behind the Warm Laundry operation, who told me, Warm Laundry was created as a platform for which we could release our friends' music in a slightly more official way. I mean for those that observe the way we do things, there's nothing official about it, it's mostly chaos, but we get by and have met some good people doing so.Warm Laundry is friends doing things for friends. They encourage people to make art and music who otherwise wouldnt have a platform. And first and foremost, they have released some great songs.
I sat down with writer and director of LILY, Isla Cowen, to find out why we should still make time to head down to Corpus Playroom this week.

Tell us a bit about the creative ideas which led to the show and the writing process. Has this been an idea of yours for a long time?

I wrote the first draft during the Christmas Vacaction last year, and then redrafted it three times during the next few months, and finally, the rehearsal process has also played a key part in developing the script. I had wanted to write about the way in which individuals are affected by death, and how often the death of a friend or loved one can make people consider death more generally, reflecting on their own mortality. Sometimes the death of one person makes us consider how weve lived and makes us want to embrace life that bit more or it can make us dwell on the past and our own regrets.I also wanted to look at the idea of how people are remembered after death. How can one woman be kept alive through memories, when her friends all have very different memories and opinions of her? Lily becomes fractured in memories and, throughout the play, she is absent and present all at once.

The play focuses on grief and mourning  how difficult has it been to portray the emotions and thoughts of characters sympathetically in light of this  both through writing and directorial decisions?

I think that silences are really important in the play. Much more is said in the awkward pauses and tense moments than in the actual dialogue. More importantly, they never really say much about Lily, they end up just talking about themselves, and even when they do talk about Lily, there is always a subtext that relates to themselves or other characters in the room. When they do express mourning, it often feels like theyre doing it just to have something to say, to fill in the silence. Though I want the audience to sympathise with each characters individual struggle, the play is also a critique of the characters middle-class attitudes and prejudices. It highlights their hypocrisy and gradually scratches away at the characters surface veneers, their performative selves, to expose the real. It is the tension between our sympathy for their problems and our disgust at their actions which gives the play its impact.

How have you balanced the sometimes conflicting demands of writer and director? Or do the two go naturally hand in hand for you?

I think that the two naturally go hand in hand when you have a vivid idea for a play, and in general, the play has remained how I imagined it when I wrote it. However, once we were in the rehearsal room I told all the actors that I wanted them to question the script  Ive never felt precious about it. Weve scored out and re-written a lot of the stage directions, discovering more effective blocking, and the cast have also been able to suggest changes to lines. I wanted them to feel comfortable doing this, I just reserved the right to say no sometimes. Weve also done a lot of character work and explorative improvisation which has transformed the play. The beauty of new writing is that weve been able to add new details into the script that reflect what weve discovered about the characters. A lot of the characters are not exactly how I originally imagined them, but I think thats a really good thing.

Also, I think whats been really helpful is having an Assistant Director (Josh McClure) working with me on this play. Its great to have new ideas in the room and it hopefully ensures Im not being a tyrannical writer/director! We agree on a lot of things, but also disagree at times  which is perfect, you need someone who has a different view on the play, especially when youve written it yourself. He has been essential to both the creative and rehearsal processes.All in all, I would say its been a really collaborative process: its more than just a play filled in by puppets: the actors and production team have all been a vital part in making this play what it is.

How important is the original score written by Bret Cameron for the piece? What does it add?

When Tom Bevan (Producer) and I first discussed the play, it was really important for us to use the play as a launch pad for other creatives. This is a piece of new writing and we wanted to use the play as an opportunity to promote other original work in Cambridge. Weve been releasing artwork (made in response to sections of the script) and Lily tracks (reflecting different characters) every week as part of our publicity campaign. Its amazing that Lily has become more than just a play: its a creative initiative. Weve also made extensive use of Bret Camerons music during rehearsals for warm-ups and character exercises. Im really into using music to intensify emotions during the rehearsal process, music just does something to us as humans  arouses feelings which we sometimes cant even name. Were now working on using these tracks in the play, too, finding points at which the music will work alongside the action.

Are there any moments in the play which exemplify your directorial aims that we should look out for?

I think theres a lot to be said by silences and eye contact: moments of nonverbal communication. Thats all Ill say. Come along and see for yourselves!

LILY plays at the Corpus Playroom Tuesday 29th November  Saturday 3rd December at 9:30pm
I arrived at this year's offering from the Footlights with trepidation and curiosity, unsure what to expect from the fusion of the rather formulaic pantomime and the zanier work of Cambridge's comedy institution. I needn't have worried: Rumpelstiltskin was an uproarious yuletide extravaganza that would coax a smile from even the most cynical of Scrooges.

The show opens with a backstory  well-executed through silhouettes  introducing Alpenberg, a village cursed to lovelessness with inhabitants most likely to be found in the local tavern. Here we meet Frieda, whose dreams of love and a life beyond barkeeping at her father's tavern lead her to solicit the magical help of Rumpelstiltskin. Eve Delaney played Frieda well, undercutting the character's naive damsel in distress role with several lines delivered with a comically strategic deadpan. Joe Sefton is suitably sappy as her smitten suitor Johannes and Henry Wilkinson as his father King Bruno plays the stock role of the greedy, despotic King, who can't even remember his own son's name, with all the hilariously overblown pomp it merits. The cast  even those who mainly functioned as recurring gags  had impeccable comic timing and an energy to make a punchline out of even the (admittedly rare) fluffed lines. As the play's purported villain, William Ashford was surprisingly endearing. Ashford struck the perfect balance between classic panto villain, eliciting many spontaneous audience boos, and attention-seeking outcast, making Rumpelstiltskin seem more misunderstood than malevolent.

Amongst these strong performances, Zak Ghazi-Torbati as the dame Connie Ferous was a particular highlight. His performance milked the ribaldry of the character, but never to the extent of gratuity. The innuendo was offset by much of the show's other comedy, which worked by acknowledging the ludicrous premises of pantomimes. Some of the strongest gags were hinged on self-consciously subverting the expectations the audience had of implausible plots and stock characters, such as Frieda's father Otto, whose exaggerated obliviousness was brilliantly captured by Robbin Franklin. The few topical, political jokes scattered throughout the show raised some of the louder laughs, as did the running gags involving both cast members and the audience.

Whilst the cast naturally deserve to be lauded, credit must be given the numerous others who were not on stage, but without whom the production would lack its lustre. Composer Oliver Vibrans' score, ranging from the ceremonial welcome to Alpenberg to the whimsical "Ich Liebe Dich", was perfect catchy panto fare and showcased the vocal talents of the cast. The quality of good costume, lighting and staging are often only noticeable by their absence, but in this show each contributed to making the performance visually dazzling. Jack Swanborough's ambitious set, featuring a revolving stage and a fully functioning maypole, was most obvious, but the attention to detail throughout the design and staging of the show  from costumes to explosions  was impressive. Though the set changes occasionally hindered the flow of the action, this in a minor gripe about an otherwise broadly entertaining production.

Panto tickets may be practically gone, but if you do get the chance, head down to the ADC for some belated Bridgemas cheer!

8/10
Microsoft has just decided that having the European Union to approve its LinkedIn acquisition is worth getting into healthy competitive attempts.

Microsoft has finally elected to allow LinkedIn's rivals some access to its software. More so, it would allow hardware manufacturers the choice of installing third-party apps and services.

Such concessions were already presented to the European Union for approval. The committee watching over the acquisition deal would give its final ruling by Dec. 6.

After rivals expressed concerns to EU regarding the $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn, which is also Microsoft's most expensive acquisition to date, the company has finally presented its concessions to the EU last week.

Is Microsoft Bribing The EU?

Microsoft has reportedly agreed to allow other professional social networks access to its Outlook application programming interface (APIs), which allows various programs to communicate with each other, and Outlook add-in programs after its union with LinkedIn.

Currently, some rival social networks already have access to these Outlook services and programs.

Additionally, Microsoft has promised to allow third-party manufactures including Hewlett Packard (HP) Enterprise Co. and Dell Inc. to disable the LinkedIn shortcut on its desktops and laptops. This resolution came after a European Union antitrust decision condemned Microsoft in 2004 for bundling unnecessary programs into its Windows operating systems.

However, none of these concessions would offer Microsoft's rivals direct access to LinkedIn's pool of data, which Salesforce.com Inc. publicly pressed for but lost to Microsoft on its bid to acquire LinkedIn. Furthermore, no third-party entities currently has unlimited access to LinkedIn's data trove other than Microsoft.

Could Microsoft Get EU's Approval?

Meanwhile, the European Union has been looking for feedback from LinkedIn's rivals and consumers before finalizing its decision on whether to deny or accept Microsoft's concessions, demand for more privileges or even begin an investigation.

If worst comes to worst and the EU commission would choose to investigate, this could stall the deal for almost five months. Notably, Microsoft has been fined at least $2.8 billion in the past decade for many infringements including tying products to Windows-operated computers that lead to stifled competition.

Experts believe that even though Microsoft acquires LinkedIn, other social networks that already have access to Microsoft's APIs could still keep on having this benefit. In addition, Microsoft's concession mentioned that computer hardware manufacturers would be free to install LinkedIn or its rival social apps on computers powered by a Windows operating system.

Microsoft currently has software contracts with third-party computer hardware makers including Huawei, Lenovo, Acer, HP, and Dell.

Currently, majority of LinkedIn's $3 billion annual profit comes from recruiters and job hunters paying monthly subscription fees to submit and post resumes connecting with people around the world. Tying this with Microsoft could increase the annual revenue for the company.

Microsoft has already received approval from the US, Brazil, South Africa, and Canada, and would be waiting for the EU's decision before the year ends.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A 3,800-year-old clay figurine of a seated person apparently deep in thought was recently discovered in Israel.

The Israel Antiquities Authority revealed on Wednesday, Nov. 23 that the small figurine wearing a hat and with its chin resting on its hand was unearthed during an excavation at Yehud, a city in the Central District in Israel, by IAA archaeologists and high school students in October.

Ceramic Vessel Ornament

Archaeologist Gilad Itach, who headed the dig, said that they found the 7-inch-tall figurine on the last day of the dig. Excavations were made prior to construction of residential buildings.

The figurine, which was found in a grave, ornamented the top of a ceramic vessel from the Middle Bronze Age, also known as the Canaanite period.

"The level of precision and attention to detail in creating this almost 4,000-year-old sculpture is extremely impressive," Itach said. "The neck of the jug served as a base for forming the upper portion of the figure, after which the arms, legs and a face were added to the sculpture."

Funerary Objects

The members of the group that unearthed the clay statuette also found other items such as daggers, other vessels, an ax head, arrowheads and sheep bones at the site. Itach said that the items served as funerary objects for an important member of the Canaanite community.

"Such a unique ceramic vessel, which is the first we've found, within the context of the grave, can indicate that an important person was buried there," Itach said.

The archaeologist, however, said that the creators of the objects and the person who was buried in the grave were not known since no writings were left on the scene. It also was not clear if the figure was made by the potter who made the ceramic jug or by another craftsman.

Auguste Rodin's 'The Thinker'

The ancient figurine has been compared to "The Thinker," the famous bronze sculpture made by the French sculptor Auguste Rodin. "The Thinker" is so popular people buy smaller duplicates to display in their homes.

Rodin's masterpiece was of a nude male figure sitting on a rock with his chin resting on one hand as though in deep thought. Unlike "The Thinker" though, it was not clear if the Bronze Age figurine depicts a male or a female.

The ancient clay figurine discovered in Israel is also 10 times smaller compared with Rodin's work, which was created in 1902 at the end of the 20th century.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A new potential drug could help reduce the number of brain cells destroyed after a stroke, while also repairing the damage produced by the medical condition. Strokes are currently one of the most common causes of death in the United States, which makes this possible new treatment a huge step in combatting preventable deaths.

The study, conducted at the University of Manchester, has found a drug that works in rodents when it comes both to limiting the death of the existing brain cells and helping the creation of new ones, a process named neurogenesis.

Stroke Brain Damage  Potential Medication

The results of this study support future development of a new anti-inflammatory drug, called interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra), as a potential treatment candidate when it comes to people suffering from this affection. There is already a license in force which allows some people to use it, assuming that they have a series of conditions, among which is rheumatoid arthritis.

A number of early stage clinical trials have already been conducted and completed in Manchester in relation to stroke, as part of the study. However, the drug is not yet licensed when it comes to treating this medical condition.

The study, published in the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity, also showed that the rodents have increased the numbers of neurons after the stroke when treated with the anti-inflammatory IL-1Ra. There have been other researches attempting to create a drug that could minimize brain damage as a result to strokes, but none of them were successful.

"The results lend further strong support to the use of IL-1Ra in the treatment of stroke, however further large trials are necessary," noted Professor Stuart Allan, lead author of the study.

Reparatory Medicine  New Directions Of Study

The new cells are believed to help the repairing process in areas of the brain that are damaged due to a stroke. Previous researches conducted by the same scientists have suggested that a possible treatment with the IL-1Ra formula does help rodents, especially when it comes to gaining the motor skills lost after suffering a heart attack. Consequent clinical trials conducted before the current research also confirmed this hypothesis.

The current research is all the more important as it opens new ways of researching the implications of this possible treatment, as well as it gives hope that this medical condition could be less invasive in the future. A more efficient treatment could help in the patients' recovery after a stroke, which could lead to a significant decrease in preventable deaths.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
LG is looking to redeem itself and win over consumers with its impending LG G6, the successor of the LG G5 flagship.

To ensure that the LG G6 does not meet the dismal fate of the modular LG G5 smartphone, the company is pulling out all stops for upcoming handset. LG is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the next-gen smartphone finds favor with consumers.

We have already heard rumors of the company opting for a 4K display for its LG G6 and discarding the modular design. Now the latest buzz is that the company is looking to up the ante by including an iris scanner in the impending device. It will also have a new mobile payment system, as well as a removable battery.

The news comes courtesy of publication Korea Herald.

"LG Electronics is rumored to adopt several new technologies, including iris recognition and mobile payment for its upcoming flagship smartphone, G6. Experts said the tech firm needs to blow the competition out of the water with the G6 in order to make up for the 800 billion won ($67 million) loss caused by the failure of the previous G5 model," notes the publication.

Iris Scanner

The Korea Herald report reveals that the all-in-one module, which LG gave a peek into at an electronics show in October, could act as the iris scanner and camera for the LG G6.

This is not the first time rumors of the LG G6 adopting the iris recognition tech have emerged online. Earlier in November, we reported on the possibility that the phablet will include an iris scanner, emulating the Samsung Galaxy Note 7.

The inclusion of this technology on the LG G6 will give a major push to the smartphone, which will compete with the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the iPhone 8.

Battery

LG G6 will mark the return of the removable battery for safety issues. Why the decision to get rid of non-removable batteries you wonder? LG is playing it safe after seeing the PR nightmare Samsung faced thanks to the exploding battery of its Galaxy Note 7.

LG Pay

LG is allegedly working on a new mobile payment system solution that could be deployed for its LG G6. We are all too familiar with Samsung Pay and Apple Pay and it seems LG, too, is looking to follow the same path as its rivals, as we could see LG Pay soon.

The Magnetic Secure Transmission or MST solution is along the lines of Samsung Pay, and will allow users to make payments seamlessly by simply tapping their smartphone to a magnetic card reader.

MST is said to be more versatile when compared to White Card, which is deployed by a majority of smartphones. More than 90 percent available card readers are said to be compatible with MST. LG will be using MST for its LG Pay solution, according to reports.

New Functions

The LG G6 may also bring "new functions" that have not yet been on any other LG handset. What these functions are, however, remain a mystery.

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YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Member of Armenian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Mikayel Melkumyan presented details on the sessions of security and economy of the Assembly. In an interview with reporters at the National Assembly on November 25 the MP noted Deputy Prime Minister and minister of economy of Turkey Mehmet Simsek also attended the session, during which the Armenian MP asked him a question. Melkumyan said that Simsek presented a report about economic reforms in Turkey.

I asked him how it happens that a country undergoes reforms but the Armenian Turkish border has been closed since 1993. I asked how they assess that and also spoke about the fact that Turkey not only did not give clear legal and political assessments after the 4-day April war of the current year, but also made provocative and biased statements. My third question was about that the Turkish economy is undergoing serious hardships. Only during the short Russian-Turkish confrontation the entire textile industry and agriculture appeared in a stressful situation, Armenpress reports Melkumyan saying.

The MP stated that in answer to his questions Simsek only mentioned that they hold a special position on Karabakh. Mikayel Melkumyan added that the next day he addressed the same questions to Turkish Minister of Science, Industry and Technology Faruk Ozlu who did not answer the wuestions either.
Cuba will not give up its fight against the blockade because it is illegal, unjust, and inhumane," President Diaz-Canel stressed. | Read More
MATTOON -- It was about 2:30 p.m. Thursday when Zach Ralph, a newer JCPenney employee who had never worked in retail on Black Friday, looked at the large mass of people that had crowded at the stores entrance waiting to participate in the traditional American shopping pastime.

Ralph said he initially was not nervous to work a Black Friday shift, but as he stared out at the large line of local area shoppers, which just 45 minutes before consisted of only a few people, some nerves had set in and all he could picture was a battle in Lord of the Rings.

I saw the line, and if you remember (The Battle of) Helms Deep from Lord of the Rings, it is a lot like that, he said.

Two groups on both sides of wall prepped for the whatever might happen next. Ralph said he was ready, though.

Im good, though, he said about Black Friday. I got water. I got Mountain Dew. I got (red and white striped) gloves on. Bring it on. Eye of the tiger.

A few others new to Black Friday had similar nerves in anticipation to the upcoming day. It is a little overwhelming, Morgan Roberts, another JCPenneys employee, said.

However, Jen Rolape, JCPenney general manager and veteran to Black Friday retail, said it is never as bad as it is made out to be. Rolape said she actually enjoyed Black Friday.

It is a lot of hard work getting ready for it, she said. But the next three days, today, Friday and Saturday, are just a blast. It goes by so fast and you get help and meet a ton of people. I think it is exciting.

Rolape said it is in some ways a Super Bowl-like experience. Rolape said we try to make the day fun for employees with giveaways and other things.

For her, even working on Thanksgiving had become a part of the norm. Others had the same sentiment. Julie Wolfe, Carsons store manager, said after her 22 years working in the business, working Black Friday, even working on Thanksgiving Day, had just become a way of life.

Wolfe said knowing she will always be working Black Friday, she has been celebrating Thanksgiving the Sunday before with her family. Nowadays, the traditional Thanksgiving celebrations for Wolfe and her family are on Sunday instead.

The faux holiday can be hectic, though, according to JCPenney employee Emily Whitkanack.

Its chaotic, but it's fun, Whitkanack said.

Tricia Murdock, JCPenney merchandise supervisor, said she enjoyed the holiday largely because it signified the start of the holiday season.

I feel like it helps usher in the holiday season, excitement and the hype of it all, Murdoch said.

Whitkanack noted customers are usually not as cranky as one might expect during Black Friday shopping. Rolape said customers are more often than not friendly during the holiday.

Rolape said she has in previous jobs seen some of the veracity that can be found during Black Friday mentioning an argument she saw a while back between two customers over an Elmo.

The day goes so fast, though, that employees largely don't think about the day itself, though, Whitkanack said.

You really don't have time to think about, she said.

Before the doors opened at JCPenney, the employees huddled together to get ready and hype themselves up for the day, using a speech made in the movie, Independence Day.

We will not go quietly into the night, Stace Gura, Effingham JCPenney merchandise supervisor, said quoting the movie.

Wolfe said these kinds of days builds an interesting sense of comradery amongst the staffs that work Black Friday.

At the end of the day, it is just retail, Rolape said.

Following Black Friday, shoppers will get another rush of sales at some of the small businesses in the area as part of Small Business Saturday.

Small Business Saturday was started by American Express back in 2010 as a way to encourage people across the country to support small, local businesses on the day after Black Friday.
Malcolm Turnbull faces a perilous final parliamentary week as voters turn against his leadership, key legislation teeters against Senate manoeuvring, and an emboldened Tony Abbott openly criticises the government while virtually demanding a ministry.

With the government facing new hurdles to pass its union-busting Australian Building and Construction Commission bill, revamped backpacker tax and controversial life-time refugee visa ban, the Prime Minister has been given a harsh critique by voters in the latest Fairfax-Ipsos poll.

The poll showed the government lagging behind the Labor opposition at 49 per cent to 51.

Formerly the Coalition's greatest asset, Mr Turnbull's falling personal standing appears to be leading the broader decline, dropping 8 percentage points since June and a colossal 53 percentage points over the last year.
Norway's biggest pension fund is under pressure to sell its interest in the Spanish company holding the biggest contract to run Australia's offshore detention centres on Manus Island and Nauru.

The Australia Institute claims the pension fund's investment in Ferrovial is at odds with its commitment to high ethical standards and is not widely known in Norway.

It is mounting a social media campaign in Australia and Norway to convince investors to sign an open letter imploring the pension fund, known as Oljefondet, to divest.

The campaign is proceeding despite the deal to resettle refugees from the two centres because the Nauru contract runs to October next year and the government plans to keep the centre open for decades.
MATTOON (JG-TC) -- Two local residents, Dr. Ron Miller of Mattoon's Quantum Vision Center and Eileen Preston, a nurse of Charleston, joined with 10 other health providers the first week of November on a medical mission trip to Central America. This was Miller's 13th medical mission trip to the country of Honduras.

The crew was made up of nurses and anesthetists and a medical student. They represented several major cities and several states, including Mobile, Ala.; Biloxi, Miss.; Tulsa, Okla.; and Tuscon, Ariz. The trip was organized by a nondenominational Christian ministry organization and was again in the small town of Sula in the western mountains of Honduras.

Three days of Mountain Ministry started off the trip, with health screenings, nutritional support and basic eye exams done, especially with eye drops and reading glasses given away, Miller said.

Patients who needed surgery were referred to the hospital in the valley and operated on at no charge later in the week.

Miller reported that about 300 patients were seen and about 20 surgeries were done during the week.

"We try to take a crew in each year, as these people have no medical care otherwise," he said.
Senator George Brandis. The Greens are leading the charge against Attorney-General George Brandis and will hope for a Senate inquiry into reports the AG ordered the Commonwealth to play dead in a major tax case which could have denied the Australian Tax Office $300 million in revenue. [Laura Tingle/Financial Review] Malcolm Turnbull has taken over personal negotiations with kingmaker crossbench Senator Nick Xenophon. [Michelle Grattan/The Conversation] Turnbull has agreed to deny government contracts to builders who don't pay their subcontractors in time as part of a deal to obtain Nick Xenophon's support for the bill to re-establish the watchdog for the construction industry. (The double dissolution trigger) [David Crowe/The Australian] Crowe, in a comment piece, canvasses who would be in and out in a pre-Christmas reshuffle. Christian Porter and Concetta Fierravanti-Wells could be in line to replace bumbling Brandis. [The Australian]

The reshuffle is rumoured to take place on Friday according to The New Daily. [Chris Johnson] Labor MP Terri Butler has apologised to the QUT student Callum Thwaites after he sued her for defamation. [AAP] [Geoff Chambers/The Australian] The Daily Telegraph takes a look at the "flood" of foreign workers Bill Shorten allowed in while he was Employment Minister to flip burgers at fast food outlets including McDonalds, KFC and Hungry Jacks. [Simon Benson] 2. Trump brands Clinton a hypocrite Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, centre, has asked for recounts, citing hacking concerns. Credit:AP

During the US election campaign the media was so preoccupied with what a sore-loser Donald Trump might be that not much attention was given to how Hillary Clinton might react if she lost. Of course, the prevailing media view, based on numerous polls, was that she would win. On election night Clinton called to concede as Trump took the stage. When she finally emerged the next day she graciously called for voters to give Trump a chance to unite the country. The Green candidate Jill Stein has raised millions to fund a recount in three states. Clinton's campaign is agreeing to participate in the process in one of those states - Wisconsin. Trump is furious and deftly used Clinton's own words against her in a string of tweets. [Politico] Even Bernie Sanders says no-one thinks there will be any "profound changes" as a result of the recount which he describes as "no big deal." [ABC News US]

Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway has further cast doubt on the idea of Mitt Romney as Secretary of State saying the base feels "betrayed" by the idea. [CNN] Former Obama strategist David Axelrod says he's never before seen an advisor attempt to box in their boss so publicly before. [Twitter] While over at Vox, Ezra Klein sees it as a deliberate Trump strategy. And for the US politics nerds - a really great piece on where to next for the group of Republicans including Ted Cruz, Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, who stood poised to lead the GOP if Trump had lost. [Politico]

3. UK politics The Sunday Times weekend magazine has a really great interview with the deeply private British Prime Minister Theresa May. One terrific quote in particular, (when asked about her childlessness) "what's important as a politician is that you are open to understanding issues from all sorts of  It's not so much about who you are, it's about what you do and are going to deliver for people." May is also a fan of Jerusalem-born, London-based chef Yotam Ottolenghi. [Eleanor Mills] Donald Trump and Nigel Farage. Credit:Twitter @Nigel_Farage Nigel Farage says he can't go out without security because of death threats he's received. "I've got no life  I can't do anything, I can't go anywhere," Farage complained. [Sunday Express] Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission has called on politicians to conduct a more "respectful" political debate and has called for MPs to tone down polarising and divisive campaigning that has "legitimised hate." [BBC]

4. Syrian troops make gains This photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets shows Civil Defense workers and Syrian citizens carrying a dead body in the neighbourhood of Seif al-Dawleh in Aleppo. The Syrian government is advancing in its efforts to retake Aleppo, regaining control of a second rebel-held district. [BBC] Australian intelligence and security expert Clive Williams writes that after Mosul in Iraq is recaptured from ISIS militants, it might be a good time for Australia to withdraw its ISIS-fighting mission. [Fairfax] 5. French conservative primary run-off

France's former Prime Minister and candidate for France's upcoming presidential primary election, Francois Fillon. Credit:THIBAULT CAMUS Keep an eye out for the result of the final primary for the French conservative Presidential nomination. Polls show Francois Fillon poised to beat Alain Juppe and take on the the far-right Front National Marine Le Pen in next April's election. [Reuters] 6. Crowded House has last laugh My social media feeds were flooded with moments from Crowded House's final performance at the Opera House on Sunday.

Frontman Neil Finn's dig at the well-to-do residents of the nearby Toaster building drew laughs. [Daily Mail] And there were epic sing-a-longs. And that's it from me today, you can follow me on Facebook for more.
It looked just like her baby. And yet the mother became convinced her daughter had been replaced.

The six-week-old child in her arms was not her own but "something else". Beset by a rare mental disorder known as Capgras delusion, the mother took a long knife from the kitchen last July.

The street in the Newcastle suburb of Wallsend where a six-week-old baby girl was found dead. Credit:Max Mason-Hubers

The 26-year-old had arrived from Senegal the year before with her elder daughter, joining her husband in Wallsend, Newcastle after years spent apart.

The mother  who cannot be named for legal reasons  suffered no mental illness during pregnancy or in the weeks after the birth, a court found in a September hearing.
Four people have died in separate crashes after a horror day on Queensland roads on Saturday.

A three-car crash at Landsborough, north of Brisbane, left one dead and two others in hospital.

A woman has died and two others injured after a three-car crash at Landsborough on Saturday evening. Credit:The Today Show - Twitter

Police said about 5.20pm a ute was travelling along Steve Irwin Way when it collided with the back of a stationary hatchback.

As a result of the initial impact, the hatchback was then involved in a collision with a car coming from the opposite direction.
Police are asking for public help to find a two-year-old girl and 24-year-old man missing near the Sunshine Coast since Saturday.

The pair were last seen by family at an Imbil Island Road residence in Imbil about 3.30pm and police hold concerns for their welfare due to the age of the child.

A two-year-old girl was last seen on Saturday afternoon at Imbil, near the Sunshine Coast, and is believed to be with a 24-year-old man. Credit:Queensland Police Service

A Queensland Police spokeswoman said both missing people knew each other.

Investigators believe the man and girl may be travelling in a white 2004 unregistered Holden Commodore sedan, which was last seen travelling north on Kandanga Imbil Road.
As politicians the world over ramp up anti-immigration rhetoric after Donald Trump, Silicon Valley is tearing itself into two camps. Will politics or pragmatism rule the next four years?

Influence war

Arielle Zuckerberg is a partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.

"It's not true that only Peter Thiel (the controversial PayPal founder and member of Trump's transition team) is excited for the new government. There's a silent group here who have been emboldened," said Elias Bizannes, an Australian entrepreneur living in Silicon Valley.

While the home of the technology industry is overwhelmingly progressive and Democratic, many who have previously not been interested or included in politics are joining Thiel with the hopes of influencing the new administration.
Mr Andrews confirmed on Sunday two staff members from the facility had been stood down over the incident.

Two people have been stood down from a Melbourne treatment facility after a child rapist escaped in an incident Premier Daniel Andrews has described as "appalling".

"What's gone on there is just appalling," he said.

"I won't offer any further comment because ... but yes, two people have been stood down and frankly so they should."

Austin was found guilty of the rape of a child in 2013 in and is serving a five-year sentence.

Minister for Housing, Disability and Ageing, Martin Foley, said Mr Austin had scaled a large fence when he left the centre about 11.30pm on Tuesday.

"Apparently he managed to get over a five-metre fence and did so by leaping over four metres from the roof of nearby facility onto that fence," Mr Foley said.
A third teenager has been charged over a high-speed chase involving a stolen BMW, while another youth remains on the run after police were forced to call off their pursuit on Friday afternoon.

A 15-year-old boy from Diamond Creek was charged with theft of a motor vehicle on Sunday after the stolen vehicle was found dumped in Thomastown just before 5pm on Saturday.

A BMW driver led police on a high-speed pursuit north of Melbourne for more than an hour. Credit:Nine News

A 17-year-old girl from Thomastown was arrested and charged on Friday with theft of a motor vehicle and released on bail. She was rearrested on Saturday and remanded after being charged with breach of bail.

On Friday, another teenager, a 14-year-old from Thomastown, was charged with car theft in relation to the dramatic chase that reached speeds of 150 km/h.
Police are searching for a quick-thinking tradie who attempted to assist at a fatal house fire in Melbourne's southeast on Saturday.

The man turned off the main gas supply to the property before ripping off the front security door in an attempt to enter the burning home on North Road at Hughesdale, a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.

The Hughesdale house where the fire occurred. Credit:Wayne Hawkins

"Unfortunately he was overcome by smoke and could not enter the residence," the spokeswoman said.

A 69-year-old woman died in the fire.
Looking for a new apartment in inner Melbourne that's close  as in really close  to public transport?

A love of footy wouldn't hurt either as the site on offer is right next door to the home of the mighty Western Bulldogs, reigning AFL premiers.

VicTrack is investigating the potential to develop an area of under-used land next to the northern entrance to West Footscray Station, opposite Whitten Oval. Supplied Credit:Ravensdale, James

A dusty patch of dormant rail land, wedged between West Footscray station, the Geelong Road overpass and Whitten Oval, is being offered to developers who might want to turn it into affordable inner-city housing.

It doesn't look like much now: two derelict rail buildings heavily tagged with graffiti, a few trees and a warehouse that is used by a Rotary charity that helps family violence victims, homeless people and refugees.
1. Comments must not be racist, misogynistic, homophobic, or otherwise bigoted.

2. Comments must not involve little more than name-calling and insulting remarks.

3. Comments must not be made by "anonymous" or "unknown".

4. Comments must not try to sneak in some free advertising for themselves (like spam).

I invite anyone who wishes to comment on this blog to do so. I enjoy the comments, whether you agree with what I have said or not. But some people want to abuse the right to comment, and since this is my blog, I have decided to lay down the following rules. If your comment violates these rules, it will not be published.
The air quality in Bunbury reached levels worse than Beijing on Sunday due to the large amount of smoke spread across WA's South West.

The real-time air quality index is used to determine the level of chemicals in the air, and determine if pollution poses any risk to people's health.

The air quality index reported a reading of 131 for Bunbury at 8am Sunday morning, which was 20 points higher than Beijing  a city notorious for its poor air quality  which recorded 111.

Anywhere over 100 AQI is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups - that is, people with asthma, pre-existing respiratory problems and cardiovascular conditions.
Amman, Jordan: Syrian government and allied forces have seized large parts of an important district in rebel-held east Aleppo, as civilians feared they would soon run out of food.

The 275,000 civilians in the city's east will face starvation within days unless convoys of lorries filled with aid are granted entry, the United Nations warned this week.

"There is no food left from the World Food Program or the UN in east Aleppo," UN humanitarian adviser Jan Egeland warned on Thursday. "Plan A that hundreds of standby aid trucks deliver medicine and food to east Aleppo must succeed. There is no Plan B, because that means starvation," he said on Twitter.
Monday 05 September, 2016 Reliable information reaching Biafra writers desk has it that the life of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indi...


Matthew Felsman, APP Securities

BUY RECOMMENDATIONS Westfield Corporation (WFD)



Caught up in a massive yield play sell off in the REIT sector, the share price is well below intrinsic value. Volume and momentum have returned to the stock after recent broker upgrades. Were positive about the US dollar and like Westfield as it generates 75 per cent earnings in US dollars. TPG Telecom (TPM)



It recorded a 52 week high of $12.93 on July 29. The shares were trading at $7.25 on November 24. The market wanted more than 2017 earnings growth guidance of 7 per cent. Fundamentally, theres nothing wrong with the company. It offers quality management and major shareholders are some of the most successful investors and businessmen in Australia. At recent levels, the stock is a bargain buy.

HOLD RECOMMENDATIONS Healthscope (HSO)



Approaching Christmas is historically the best time of the year for healthcare stocks, with the sector averaging a return of more than 4.5 per cent in November and December. Recently, in response to an average operational update, investors sold first and asked questions later. We bought when the stock was down more than 20 per cent. Lower than expected growth for three months in a year isnt the end of the world. Hold. CSL (CSL)



We bought this blood products company for clients on US election day for around $97 as the market plunged almost 4 per cent on the prospects of a Donald Trump win. Historically, CSL usually adds around $10 or 10 per cent in November, December and January when the healthcare sector traditionally rallies. One of Australias highest quality businesses. SELL RECOMMENDATIONS Whitehaven Coal (WHC)



Coal and related company share prices are euphoric at these levels. WHC recorded a 52 week low of 35.5 cents on February 11. The stock was trading at $2.78 on November 24. A director recently sold shares. After huge gains, take some profits. Betashares S&P/ASX 200 Financials Sector ETF (QFN)



I recommended QFN as a buy to The Bull readers on October 24. The ETF has rallied and we suggest taking profits. We suggest investors consider buying stocks that generate earnings in US dollars.



Michael Gable, Fairmont Equities

BUY RECOMMENDATIONS

Premier Investments (PMV)



We can see this investment vehicle, with a focus on retail, bouncing off the uptrend line with a lot of volume washed out at the low. Theres also an obvious correction against the spike up earlier this year. This price action is very bullish for the longer term and it now appears a good time to re-enter PMV.

Brambles (BXB)



This supply chain logistics company peaked in July this year and then formed a reversal on the weekly chart. The pullback into the November low was done in five waves. That now appears to be finished. We should now at least see a three wave advance to higher levels, possibly to retest the recent high near $13.50. The shares were trading at $12.19 on November 23.

HOLD RECOMMENDATIONS

Fisher and Paykel Healthcare Corporation (FPH)



Despite the volatility of the past few weeks, we can see FPH bouncing off these lower $8 levels and remaining within the longer term uptrend. We can also see a bullish reversal on the chart. Were confident FPH is likely to rise again to at least mid $9 levels. At that point, well assess the chart. The shares were trading at $7.74 on November 23.

IPH Limited (IPH)



IPH is the holding company for intellectual property and associated companies. Theres some support near $5 and IPH managed to bounce off that. We can see some more buying in IPH, as it seems very cheap at current levels. In terms of upside, we can see resistance between $7 and $7.50. The shares were trading at $5.30 on November 23.

SELL RECOMMENDATIONS

Wesfarmers (WES)



We previously warned about a threat from a resurgent Woolworths and increased competition. With the chart showing WES was unable to sustain a rally in good times, it was sold off heavily several weeks ago. Theres a little support at recent levels, providing an opportunity to sell into a short term bounce. Once support breaks here, were looking at WES hitting our previously mentioned downside target of $34. The shares were trading at $41.41 on November 23.

DuluxGroup (DLX)



DLX looked bullish several weeks ago as it once again retested resistance near $6.80. The ascending triangle was just waiting to break to the upside, but it went the other way. Now we can see DLX falling to low $5 levels before it gains any sort of support. The shares were trading at $5.875 on November 23.



Jeremy Hook, TMS Capital

BUY RECOMMENDATIONS REA Group (REA)



The recent result was strong despite lower levels of listings in response to the property market run entering a mature phase. A listings decline is seasonal and cyclical and we expect listings to resume longer term growth patterns in the New Year. The move into Asia and the US offers strong long term potential and we continue to recommend what we regard as Australias premier growth stock.

Amcor (AMC)



The shares have retreated from a 52 week high of $16.65 on May 27 to trade at $14.38 on November 23. But we continue to like this global packaging giant as its been a strong performer in recent years and we expect further growth in future. Trading on undemanding multiples, it should continue to rise towards $17. HOLD RECOMMENDATIONS Magellan Financial Group (MFG)



Generating a return on equity of about 60 per cent, its the best of a good group of fund management companies. Behind our recommendation is a strong track record of performance over many years and we believe the stock is fairly valued for now. Baby Bunting (BBN)



Its the leading player in the baby products segment and has a growing online presence. Guidance at its recent AGM confirmed our stance  that were happy holding this good performer and would look to add more if price weakness emerges.

SELL RECOMMENDATIONS South32 (S32)



Recent improvement in materials stocks on the back of rising commodity prices has resulted in upgrades to the outlook for this metals and mining company. However, we believe it represents less value and growth than BHP Billiton and recommend switching to BHP or Rio Tinto. AMP (AMP)



Simply, a chronic underperformer. It continues to represent less value than alternative stocks in the diversified financials sector. Its return on equity is lower than other listed fund managers by some margin. Move on, as theres better value elsewhere.

>> BACK TO THE NEWSLETTER: Click here to read other articles from this weeks newsletter

Please note that TheBull.com.au simply publishes broker recommendations on this page. The publication of these recommendations does not in any way constitute a recommendation on the part of TheBull.com.au. You should seek professional advice before making any investment decisions.
Research highlights the central importance of affordable, stable housing to economic and social wellbeing. Yet, in Sydney, the lack of affordable housing has reached crisis point. Everyone from community housing providers to Commonwealth Treasury secretary John Fraser is pointing out that rising house prices are creating massive social and economic problems.

Housing researchers and academic housing economists across Australia agree that an essential part of the policy mix is to mandate a significant percentage of affordable homes in all new housing developments. This is known as inclusionary zoning.

Other global cities such as New York and London have recognised the important role of housing in their economies and have inclusionary zoning policies. Other states in Australia have also set affordable housing targets. These have not had harmful impacts on housing investment.

Fighting to keep windfall profits

Predictably, parts of the property industry are already resisting any level of inclusionary zoning. Some developers claim that affordable housing targets will increase housing costs for the majority. They argue that profits lost on affordable housing will have to be recouped elsewhere.

While we can expect this line of argument from those who profit from the status quo, it is fundamentally wrong for a simple reason. Housing developers will not bear the burden of these targets. Rather, it will be borne by land holders who currently make large windfall gains from selling land for development.

When land has been zoned to enable higher-density development, landholders reap these windfall profits without actually delivering any new housing or infrastructure.

For example, the site of a recently completed development in Sydneys inner west was first purchased by a property company as industrial land for around A$8.5 million. Following a rezoning to higher-density residential, the site was sold again for A$48.5 million. In this case, the first buyer made a 471% windfall profit without building anything on the site.



If a fixed percentage of affordable housing becomes a condition of rezoning such sites, this will only affect the size of the landholders windfall gain. Developers will offer lower prices for the land, based on the mandated requirements for affordable housing.

Remember that the uplift in land value results from public policy changes that allow for housing development or higher-density housing. It is not unreasonable, then, that landowner windfalls should be limited to achieve the important public policy outcome of housing affordability.

This is why some property developers do not object to inclusionary zoning. Indeed, some have been part of the push for inclusionary zoning, through their membership of the Committee for Sydney. They recognise that so long as the playing field is level for all, mandatory targets for affordable housing can be achieved without making development unprofitable or housing more expensive.

Government is conflicted

The New South Wales government has been reluctant to set significant inclusionary zoning requirements for new developments in several important parts of the city. One possible reason is that the government itself stands to reap revenue from rezoning and/or redevelopment of government-owned land.

It is especially inappropriate that government-owned land should be exploited in this way. In big development schemes where government is the major landowner, such as Central-Eveleigh, the Bays Precinct and Olympic Park, public good should trump Treasury profits on land release. Government should not be in the business of extracting its own windfall at the cost of housing affordability.

Inclusionary zoning targets should therefore be much higher for housing developments on government-owned land, especially in major renewal precincts. Not only would developments on such sites still yield a profit for the taxpayer, they would deliver a social benefit to the wider community at no real cost and without impacting feasibility.

What targets should be set?

At least 15% of housing in new private developments should be affordable. On publicly owned land, at least 30% of new housing developments should be affordable.

Of course, the details of land zoning matter. If targets are set, we must ensure the definition of affordable actually achieves the goal of reducing housing stress for people on low and moderate incomes while maintaining housing quality.

Substantial inclusionary zoning requirements will not make development more expensive. They will make it harder for land speculators to make large profits while making no contribution to the social and economic future of New South Wales. It is high time the foxes in the henhouse were called to account. Originally published by The Conversation

Authors: Laurence Troy, Dallas Rogers, Emma Power, Hal Pawson, Kurt Iveson, Louise Crabtree, Michael Darcy, Peter Phibbs. >> BACK TO THE NEWSLETTER: Click here to read other articles from this weeks newsletter
For those struggling to cope with the fact that a former reality star who defrauded thousands of hard-working Americans, is on tape bragging about committing sexual assault, and is advised by a propagandist who caters to white nationalists will be the next president of the United States, Black Mirror isnt the likeliest pick-me-up destination. Charlie Brookers anthology series provides a disturbing glimpse into the future, satirizing the ways peoples lives may (will?) be upended by technology. Among its dystopian curiosities are a British PM blackmailed into shtupping a pig to death by hashtagoh, and the most feel-good hour of television this year.

Welcome to the world of San Junipero, a magical coastal town in California awash in neon lights, dance clubs, and sanguinity. There, in the year 1987, the reserved Yorkie (Mackenzie Davis) meets the vivacious Kelly (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) and falls head over Keds in love. But after losing her virginity to Kelly at a romantic oceanfront villa, the clock strikes midnight and she disappears, prompting the heartbroken Yorkie to embark on a time-hopping search for her lover, visiting the 90s and then 2002, where she spots her playing Dance Dance Revolution. They share another beautiful night together, and after, Yorkie confesses that she is dying, while Kelly convinces her they should meet in real life.

This brings us to the present, where we learn that San Junipero is a virtual reality simulation. The consciousnesses of the dead are uploaded to a cloud, allowing them to live in San Junipero as their younger, carefree selves forever and ever.

Its a version of the afterlife that I think is plausibleits what I can wrap my head around. I cant quite wrap my head around an actual afterlife, but a technologically-assisted afterlife I could, Brooker tells The Daily Beast. Its the first script Id written for season three, and I was keen to upend what I thought a Black Mirror episode was. Id read people saying, Oh no! Its going to get all American! so I said, fuck it, Im going to set it in California, fuck you, Ill choose protagonists that wouldnt necessarily leap into my head, and Ill explore a hopeful use of technology to shut up people who think its written by the Unabomber.

San Junipero is the fourth episode of Black Mirrors stellar third season, and its first to not only feature exclusively American-set stories (the series, like its visionary creator, is British), but also be produced by Netflix. Brooker says he was trying to think of a story to do about the afterlifewhich is something I might still return to, but initially envisioned the piece as a story about someone using technology to research whether there was an afterlife or not. But he became inspired by the practice of nostalgia therapy, as well as his desire to do a period episode of the show.

The forbidden love storyline of two gay lovers in 1987 America came later, too. In my initial thinking of the story it was a heterosexual couple, and then for this season I was keen to not always default to a guy, says Brooker. Because Im a bloke, quite often when Im picturing a scenario there will be a bloke in the middle of it, so I thought, What if it wasnt? It immediately became a much deeper story because they get married in 1987, which wasnt possible then.

When Kelly visits Yorkie in the present-day, shes comatose in a hospital. Kelly learns that Yorkie fell into a coma forty years earlier after getting into a car accident following a row with her parents when she came out to them. Since the living can only visit San Junipero for five hours a week, Yorkie wishes to be euthanized so she can stay there forever. And since her religious parents wont euthanize her, she wishes to get married so her spouse can sign off on it. Kelly agrees to marry Yorkie, and euthanizes her so she can remain in San Junipero.

The episode was directed by Owen Harris, who helmed the excellent Season 2 episode Be Right Back, and shot in just 14 days in Cape Town, South Africa.

Cape Town was so gorgeous, and it was really special for me because Im half South Africanmy Dad is from Pretoriaand it was the first time I got a chance to work in South Africa, says Mbatha-Raw. And actually Mackenzies mother is from South Africa, so both of us have a South African parent and we got to do this together.

There was one particular day where we were filming on the beach and this ostrichout of nowherewanders through the housing estate and sits down on the beach behind where we were shooting and has a sand bath. It was so surreal, she continues. For the concept of San Junipero, there is this unreality about how beautiful it is there which is pretty apt.

Mbatha-Raw, who was robbed of an Oscar nod for her turn as a troubled pop star in Beyond the Lights, is perfection as the kinetic Kelly, flaunting impressive dance moves to a series of 80s classics. Brooker even created a 42-song Spotify playlist for the episode.

There was so much inspiration from this episodecertainly Madonna, but also Janet Jackson with the shoulder pad jacket and Prince, with that original Versace purple jacket that our costume designer found, shares Mbatha-Raw. The music is so iconic and it really takes you to a certain place in time. For me, Ive always used music as a way in for the character and always make a playlist for a way into a certain scene, or to channel a certain energy for the character. For this, there was a built-in playlist that Charlie had already written into the script, so it was great.

Yorkie is bothered by how Kelly can only visit her in San Junipero for five hours a week, and confronts her about itonly to learn that Kelly has a past of her own: she was married to a man for 49 years and they had a daughter who, sadly, passed away before the VR afterlife was developed. So when her husband died, he chose to be with their daughter instead of San Junipero.

After some deliberation, Kelly, whos become very ill, decides to be euthanizedand chooses to spend the rest of her days in VR bliss with Yorkie in San Junipero. As the two young lovers ride off into the sunset, Belinda Carlisles 1987 hit Heaven Is a Place on Earth comes on, and cue waterworks.

It was weird because Id done a rough treatment of it and gotten to the scene where they meet in the hospital and I thought that was the end, but when I sat down to actually write it, I was enjoying it so much that I thought, No, Im going to keep going! says Brooker. The afterlife element came in quite late. At one point I heard the Belinda Carlisle song while out runningbecause Id made a playlist of music from 1987and I cant remember if thats what slightly gave me the afterlife idea, or if Id already had it. I was so worried about clearing that song but thank god we did.

Thanks to its uplifting ending, LGBT storyline, brilliant script, and committed performances, San Junipero has emerged as the crown jewel of Black Mirrors third season, receiving heaps of online praise from fans. The reaction hasnt been lost on Brooker, who says hes been so taken aback by all the love that hes now considering penning more positive Black Mirror episodes in the future.

Ive been really gratified by the response to it, he says. People are crying all the food out of their bodies, which is perfect, and what I really like is it seems to be resonating with people across the boardregardless of their orientation. People are seeing that its a love story about two humans.

It is, in many ways, the perfect TV antidote to President-elect Trump: an inclusive, poignant tale of love conquering all. A story that reminds us how, in the immortal words of Maya Angelou, Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
A week after Election Day, on the first Tuesday in Americas new, uncertain reality, the man who once symbolized a rebellions hope against a white supremacist empire is aghast.

Im in total denial, says Mark Hamill, Star Wars iconic Luke Skywalker, in a phone interview promoting his new hosting gig on Pop Culture Quest, a geekery-fueled Comic Con HQ showcase for fans, famous figures, and their massive memorabilia collections. Im glad I have [the show] to take my mind off whats going on. Because if you look at whats being assembled for our government its like, yikes. Its a whos-who of really despicable people.

That whos who is President-elect Trumps list of preferred White House staff and cabinet appointments, a list that has dredged up names associated with extreme anti-Semitism, racism, and homophobia. In the wake of the election, some fans have turned to Star Wars to grasp for comparisons, settling on figures like Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader as analogues for the new regime.

The comparison may seem childish, but at least one newly anointed White House strategist, ex-Breitbart editor Steve Bannon, relishes it: Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. Thats power, Bannon told The Hollywood Reporter earlier this month.

In the face of Sith Lord wannabes rising to power, Hamill says he understands the urge to despair. Its tempting to say, Well, Im moving to Canada, I cant stand it, he says. But in other ways, its a challenge to stay and defend your country and do what you think is right and not retreat and hide under the covers. Its not gonna be easy, thats for sure.

The son of a U.S. naval officer whom he describes as a big Nixon guy, Hamill, a card-carrying Democrat, sympathizes with those whose Thanksgiving gatherings turned into political dogfights this yearinevitable when half the people in the country are thrilled and delighted and half the people are disgusted, repulsed, and embarrassed. (His three now-grown kids, he notes, turned out alright. As for himself, like Stephanie Miller and Ronald Reagan Jr., I fell far from the tree.)

Still, in times of darkness and frightening uncertainty, theres momentary refuge in pop culture. Post-election, Hamills TV is as occupied these days by the slapstick of Laurel and Hardy as it is by MSNBC. Others, meanwhile, may be basking in the hopefulness of a story set in a galaxy far, far away.

It sounds corny, but the Star Wars films were incredibly optimistic films, Hamill says, earnestness seeping through the gravelly tone of his voice. They talked about doing good just because it helps others and being selfless and understanding your place in the universe. Beyond being entertaining, I hope thats a message that kids still respond to. Because I still believe that. I still believe all those tenets of treat others the way you want to be treated and so forth.

Besides his role as Skywalker, Hamill is renowned for his animated performances as Batmans archnemesis the Joker, a role hes reprised in countless DC animated films, TV series, and video games beginning with Batman: The Animated Series in 1992. Being the talent behind two of geekdoms most ardently beloved characters has afforded Hamill a unique position for observing the evolution of fandomthough his own nerd credentials predate his break into stardom.

He remembers genre fan conventions in the early 70s at Los Angeless Ambassador Hotel, when a 16mm showing of Metropolis and like, ten comic book dealers in the basement were the events main draws. He remembers marveling at word that thered be a thousand people there one year. And, chuckling, he remembers when you were thrilled to see any woman show up whatsoever.

Pop Culture Quest is both an expression of Hamills deep, abiding love for genre fare and a guilt-free way for him to vicariously continue his favorite hobby: collecting. His California home is cluttered wall-to-wall with everything from comic books to model kits to Beatles memorabiliathe latter was his first collectors passioneventually forcing him to kick the habit. (Im not gonna drive 90 minutes to visit some storage unit garage, he grumbles.)

Howard Kazanjian, a family friend and producer on Return of the Jedi and Raiders of the Lost Ark, was the first to suggest that Hamill turn his former hobby into a hosting gig. He delightedly accepted, eager to peek inside the collections of figures including legendary DC Comics artist Jim Lee. (Hamill ascends to peak nerd in the premiere episode when he agrees to record Lees voicemail as the Joker in exchange for an original piece of artwork.)

His infectious enthusiasm for every artifact he lays eyes on is palpable throughout the showmore than once, he buries his face in his hands and emerges wide-eyed in wonder at it all. I was one of seven kids in a middle-class family, he explains. We just didnt have the money to get all the things I wanted.

I remember my father throwing his shoe at the television when he heard that Action [Comics] No. 1 [in which Superman is introduced] had sold for $250. It just couldnt compute, he laughs, before roaring an imitation of his familys military patriarch. What kind of moron would buy a comic book for $250?! Of course, now its worth over a million if its in good condition.

Unprompted, Hamill dives into the origins of his life as a genre fan, pinpointing the moment he saw an airing of the 1933 version of King Kong on television as a kid. That, along with the lightbulb moment that came while watching Clarence Nash voice Donald Duck in a Disney documentary, convinced him he wanted to be in the business of bringing monsters and cartoons to life.

I had to keep it kind of a secret because my family would have thought I was insane, he says, laughing again. And look at where I am today! Awash in video games, cartoons, and space movies. And loving every minute of it.

Hamill will reprise his role as Luke Skywalker in next years fervently anticipated Star Wars: Episode VIII, following his wordless cameo as the self-exiled Jedi Master in Episode VII. While the newest installments have largely embraced diversity, with female leads and multicultural supporting players in both Episode VII and Rogue One, not every corner of fandom has embraced change.

Its a point Hamill considers while discussing how, earlier this year, he made headlines for insisting to an anguished fan over Twitter that Skywalker could be gay. He still stands by that positionhis sexuality isnt directly addressed in the film, he points outbut cites the incident while ruminating on the nature of intolerance.

These kids would write me and say, Im so scared because my fathers a preacher. If he finds out, Im going to hell, Hamill says, his voice darkening. Or: The kids down at school are treating me horribly. You just have to pinch yourself. You go, Arent we in 2016? I mean, gosh, I thought this was settled ages ago.

It is frightening, he adds. As the recent election showed us, you realize that youre probably in a minority when you thought you were in the majority in terms of what you consider normal and okayBut its like a drop in the ocean. You do what you can and keep your fingers crossed. I always say [to those kids], hang in there, it gets much better. You wont believe the difference when you move out of Oklahoma and to New York.

Its for reasons like these that Pop Culture Quest has become such a welcome distraction for Hamilland his fanssince the election. Suddenly you realize that being the court jester is an important job, he says, especially when there are such dire things going on in the world.
Arriving at the ramshackle camp of the Continental Army at Charlotte, North Carolina, on Dec. 2, 1781 to take up the reins of command, Major General Nathanael Greene wrote to his commander and confidante, George Washington, I cannot contemplate my own situation without the greatest degree of anxiety. I have to prosecute a war with almost insurmountable difficulties.

Greene, surely the most brilliant American strategist youve never heard of, was an unlikely general. Born in Rhode Island in 1742, he was the son of a prominent Quaker preacher. An anchorsmith and mill owner by trade, Greene was gifted with penetrating intelligence and stupendous energy. Seized by Revolutionary fervor in his late twenties, he forswore his Quaker faith, and read everything he could get his hands on about military history and science. Before the first shots were fired at Lexington, hed managed to teach himself a great deal about 18th century tactics and logistics. More importantly, he had begun to form a sophisticated understanding of the relationship between revolutionary politics and warfare.

Although he had no military experience beyond participation in a local militia unit, leaders of the Rhode Island General Assembly sensed his promise: they promoted him from militia private to brigadier general of the little army they sent to support the patriots in the siege of Boston in spring 1775. George Washington, too, recognized Greenes extraordinary potential, placing him in charge of the defense of Boston after the British departed. The two soldiers formed a mutual admiration society that would last until Greenes untimely death in 1786 at age 44.
This one goes to a special someone, Jerry Gill captioned the picture of himself holding what appeared to be a doll in a life sized noose. Hang in there babe theres still hope.

Gill, a 29-year-old resident of Jefferson City, Missouri, uploaded the picture to Facebook on November 10, the first in what appeared to be a weeklong series of misogynistic posts ending on Saturday, November 19. Thats when Gill kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and held her hostage in a car for days before eventually shooting her, the woman told police. The woman escaped with her life, while Gill went on the run, allegedly stealing a vehicle at gunpoint and hiding in the woods until his Saturday capture.

Bitchs out here are whores and if they say their not there just lieing whores [sic], Gill posted to Facebook on the evening of November 19. It was one of the latest in a series of inflammatory posts including images proclaiming I [heart] Being White, white lives matter, and a September declaration that he was feeling homicidal not suicidal.

But offline, Gills apparent rage had terrifying consequences. That same afternoon, Gill allegedly forced an ex-girlfriend into his car, the unnamed woman told police. There he allegedly held her captive for days, seizing her cell phone, and beating her with his fists and a stolen police baton, Jefferson Citys News Tribune reported.

Gill allegedly imprisoned the woman for three days, forcing her to urinate in her pants when he refused to let her out to use the bathroom. But when Gill finally relented and drove her to a bathroom in a public park on November 21, the woman saw her first chance at escape. After using the bathroom, she refused to reenter the car. Gill allegedly began shouting at her, witnesses told police.

Then he drew a gun, she said. Screaming that hed kill her, Gill allegedly fired multiple shots at the woman, striking her once in the arm before he fled. Witnesses took the woman to a nearby middle school for safety, where an ambulance transported her to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, Gill fled, vanishing completely until Wednesday, when a man in a rural corner of the heard an unusual noise on his property. Mike Hagen, who lives at the end of a rural street, heard the sound of an engine near his home, and drove his all-terrain vehicle down the road to investigate. There he ran across Gill, who had run out of gas on a different ATV, which Hagen recognized as having been stolen from a neighbor. The heavily armed Gill allegedly pulled a gun and demanded they trade ATVs.

"I told him, you can have it, brother, Hagen told the News Tribune. It's not worth getting shot over."

Gill drove off again, leading police on a Thanksgiving weekend chase through the rural area where he stole Hagens ATV. Lock your doors, locals in Hagens area were warned on Facebook. Then, on Saturday, police spotted Gill emerging from the woods in a sparsely populated stretch of forest and farmland southwest of Jefferson City. It is unclear how long he had hidden in the woods. Police managed to arrest Gill without incident, they announced in a statement, despite Gill carrying a small arsenal of firearms and knives.

He had a loaded shotgun, a handgun and several knives on his person, the Cole County Sheriffs Office said in a statement to The Daily Beast.

Gill was charged with armed criminal action, false imprisonment, and two counts of second-degree domestic assault.

While he awaits trial, his now-silent Facebook has taken on a grim new significance. Hang in there babe theres still hope, he captioned the picture of a doll in a noose. Damn spoke [too] soon flat lined.
PARIS  A new president had just been elected in the United States  a hard line president, who, it was said, had no patience with the vacillating, moralizing policies of his predecessor. Around the world thugs who would spit when they heard the phrase human rights suddenly took heart. With such a man in the White House, they thought, they had a license to kill.

This was November 1980, when the confused transition from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan opened the door to a bloodbath in the little Central American country of El Salvador; when, suddenly, anyone the military suspected of aiding the subversivos was liable to be tortured to death, and even Americanseven American nunswere fair game.

Now 36 years later, we will soon mark the anniversary of the death of four American churchwomen kidnapped, raped and murdered in El Salvador on the night of December 2, 1980.

It is not the first occasion for commemoration, nor will it be the last. The memories of Sister Maura Clarke, Sister Ita Ford, Sister Dorothy Kazel and young lay worker Jean Donovan have been brought back to us again and again in articles, tributes, on film, and most recently in the excellent just-published biography A Radical Faith: The Assassination of Sister Maura, by Eileen Markey.

But these worthy efforts do not capture, quite, the sense of lawlessness that existed among the most savage elements of the Salvadoran military after Reagan was elected and before he actually took responsibility for, well, for anything.

Its a cautionary example now as we look at the kind of Neo-Nazi crazies who claim to have found in President-elect Donald Trump a kindred soul, and the tyrants (Assad, Putin) who may think Trump will give them a pass on their ferocious repression.

In El Salvador in 1980 one learned the greatest danger was not only what American politicians say, but what others around the world think they hear.

***

A week after the churchwomen were murdered, Robert White, the embittered U.S. ambassador to El Salvador invited me and Raymond Bonner, correspondents for The Washington Post and the New York Times respectively, to talk on the record about what was dubbed a hit list leaked a few days earlier by someone on the Reagan transition team. It named so-called social reformers in the diplomatic corps slated for removal from their posts.

White, a distinguished career diplomat, had known the nuns personally. He dined with Kazel and Donovan the night before their murder, and he had seen them exhumed from their shallow grave in the Salvadoran countryside two days after that. He gripped the arms of his chair as he spoke about the incoming administrations putative representatives who were telling the Salvadoran military to ignore official denials of Reagan support for a coup.

When civil war breaks out in this country, I hope they get their chance to serve, said White.

The U.S. ambassador to Nicaragua, Lawrence Pezzullo, summed up the situation throughout the region. It's going to be our ideological blinders that may cause us to make mistakes," Pezzullo told me as he considered Central America policy under the incoming president. "This is a new administration, there are going to be tradeoffs, and you've got to feed your right-wing somewhere. Central America was tiny and proximate. Pezzullo paused and reflected for a moment. "That's the way I tend to think things will go," he said, "just feed it to the lions."

***

White had arrived in the capital San Salvador in the middle of March 1980, picked for the job because he believed in the Carter administrations defense of human rights, not as a sop to communists, but as a bulwark against them.

The previous year in nearby Nicaragua, the Somoza dynasty was overthrown in a popular uprising spearheaded by Marxist-led rebels who called themselves Sandinistas. Now the administration was concerned the rest of the region would fall to similar groups, picking off one country after another like ripe or, in fact, rotten fruit.

Whites thankless job in El Salvador was to try to create a center in a country already divided by a history of bloody violence dating back to the infamous matanza of 1932, when a peasant uprising lead by Farabundo Marti was crushed by a dictator named Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez  names adopted respectively by the guerrillas and the death squads of the 1980s.

Soon after White landed, he wrote a 27-page cable, recently uncovered by my old friend Bonner, that began, There is no stopping this revolution; no going back. In El Salvador the rich and powerful have systematically defrauded the poor and denied 80 percent of the people any voice in the affairs of their country.

There was nothing naive or sinister about this, although many Reagan supporters would say there was. Whites concern was that so few paths of moderation were open, an extremist Communist take-over here, and by that I mean something just this side of the Pol Pot episode, is unfortunately a real possibility due to the intense hatred that has been created in this country among the masses by the insensitivity, blindness and brutality of the ruling elite.

In the 1970s, much of the opposition to the government had been lead by priests and nuns organizing the poor into what were called base communities. One of the most outspoken clerics had been a Jesuit named Rutilio Grande who gave a famous homily in 1977 warning that very soon the Bible and the Gospel will not be able to come across our borders. We will get the covers, nothing more, because all the pages are subversive.

Grande told his flock that if Jesus of Nazareth came to El Salvador he would be crucified all over again. Shortly afterward, Grande, along with an aged campesino and a teenager, was slaughtered in a hail of automatic weapons fire.

The murder and persecution of religious figures grew so intense that the hitherto conservative archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero, began to speak out stridently against government oppression, becoming the voice of the poor and of opposition.

In March 1980, Romero called on El Salvadors soldiers to lay down their arms. The next evening, he was killed with a single bullet through his chest as he said mass in the chapel of the hospice where he lived.

Ambassador White had been in El Salvador less than two weeks.

At Romeros funeral, more than 40 people were killed, mostly crushed to death in a panicked stampede trying to find shelter when shooting broke out in the cathedral square.

In the weeks and months that followed, it was commonplace to see cadavers in the streets, sometimes horribly mutilated, sometimes looking as if they were merely sleeping off a long night drinking Tic-Tac, the alcoholic escape of the poor. But there were no vultures around the drunks. And one grew used to distinguishing the smell of death.

By then, the political campaigns were in full swing in the United States and Ronald Reagan was well on his way to sealing up the Republican nomination. Carter had been weakened and humiliated months before, when the Ayatollah Khomeinis minions took hostage most of the U.S. embassy staff in Tehran. Then, when a rescue mission ended in disaster in the Iranian desert, Carters presidency was doomed.

On election night, November 4, 1980, the embassy gave a party at the Hotel El Presidente in San Salvador, and the mood among the American diplomats was somber. But among members of the Salvadoran military officers and oligarchs who attended, there was outright jubilation. Some of the officers outside fired their guns in the air. A couple of American envoys, as they walked to their cars, had to run a gauntlet of high-heeled, bejeweled senoras shouting, Weve won! and Get out of here. Communistas! the women called them. Death to White! and Viva Reagan! they shouted.

To the extent there had been any limitation on the slaughter, those inhibitions were about to drop away.

***

Carl Gettinger, a young U.S. embassy political officer, was at the El Presidente that election night and still remembers the women and their curses.

The election of Ronald Reagan gave the right, whether civilians or the more or less right wing of the Salvadoran military, the signal that the gloves were off, says Gettinger.

He is retired now after a long career in the foreign services and happens to live in Paris, where we met at a cafe last week to talk about those grim old times.

They suddenly thought, We dont have to abide by all these regulations and restrictions and the Mother Hubbard advice from fuddy duddy Jimmy Carter, Gettinger recalls. They thought, Its a dream come true for us. Now we can really go after the communistas.'

In mid-November, as Markey writes in her exhaustively researched book on Sister Maura, Salvadoran Defense Minister Jose Guillermo Garcia called the civilian members of the civil-military junta to a meeting at the presidential palace. There he made a half-hour-long presentation meant to prove that the nuns and priests in Chalatenango were collaborating with the guerrillas.

That province north of the capital was where Sister Maura and Sister Ita worked, and they were indeed helping the guerrillas by smuggling their families to refugee camps and eventually bringing food and medicine to the war zone.

Although the guerrilla faction in the area, the Fuerzas Populares de Liberacion "Farabundo Marti" (FPL), probably was the one White had in mind as trending toward Pol Pot, by then, as Markey writes, the guerrillas were the people. Driven by conscience, people the whole country over were doing everything they could to protect themselves from a campaign of extermination.

In the deeply hierarchical culture of the Salvadoran military, Markey concludes, the minister of defenses making an accusation against individuals was tantamount to an execution order.



The Sandinistas and Fidel Castro were watching the U.S. presidential transition as well, and encouraging the Salvadoran guerrillas to make a bid for all-out insurrection, presenting Reagan with a fait accompli before he took the oath of office. A year earlier, in January 1980, hundreds of thousands of people had poured into the streets to protest against the government. Now, if they would do that with guns in their hands, they could take over the country.

The U.S. embassys last, frail hope for a political settlement that might avoid civil war involved negotiations with the Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR), a coalition of militant organizations and labor unions allied to the various guerrilla factions and presided over by Enrique Alvarez Cordova, one of the few members of the Salvadoran oligarchy whose conscience and political sense told him that the killing must stop and dialogue must prevail.

As the FDR leaders met in a Jesuit high school on November 27, 1980, a commando of heavily armed men in plain clothes broke in on them and marched them off to their deaths. Their mutilated bodies were found scattered around San Salvador the next day.

It was Thanksgiving weekend, but Reagan foreign policy advisor Jeane Kirkpatrick found time to offer her opinion, calling ita reminder that people who live by the sword die by the sword.

I am sure that was ordered by the high command, says Gettinger as we look out the Paris cafe window at a flower stall, so distant in time and space from those hideous days. If you can point to one act where they are saying we are immune now at the highest level, that was it.

The bodies of the FDR leaders were taken to the cathedral to lie in state, but even there they did not rest in peace. The group calling itself the Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez Brigade detonated a massive car bomb outside.

The FDR funeral was scheduled for December 3, and Sister Maura and Sister Ita, who had been at a retreat in Nicaragua, flew back to El Salvadors international airport the night before. Sister Dorothy and Jean Donovan went to pick them up.

Their murderers were watching.

In Chalatenango, writes Markey, someone approached the church sacristan in the movie theater not far from the parish house. He showed the sacristan a list: it named everyone on the parish staff. 'And tonight,' the man said, 'this very night, we will begin.'"



During the Reagan transition, There was an increased sense of impunity, says Gettinger, and a spike in the murders across the country recorded in what the embassy called its grim-grams back to Washington.

That word impunity is not one that you hear very often in English, but impunidad is in common usage in Spanish, and has long been a sordid fact of lifeand deathin Latin America. It is the trademark of tyranny, negating the rule of law, whether for politicians, soldiers, or, for that matter, todays drug cartels. And it is a kind of contagion. If the high command believes it can murder with impunity, subordinates on down the line come to believe the same thing.

The FDR funeral was attended by a fearful crowd much smaller than the one wed seen after the murder of Romero. The terror was working.

The next day the bodies of the churchwomen were discovered in the shallow grave where local peasants had buried them.

The signals out of the transition team just kept coming in language that killers could interpret as licenseand El Salvadors death squads understood them well.

Jeane Kirkpatrick, soon to be Reagans ambassador to the United Nations, told a reporter from the Tampa Tribune in December. The nuns were not just nuns, they were political activists. We ought to be a little more clear about this than we actually are. They were political activists on behalf of the Frente and someone who is using violence to oppose the Frente killed these nuns. She was asked if she thought the government was behind the murder. The answer is unequivocal. No, I dont think the government was responsible.

***

On January 3, 1981, some 17 days before Reagans inauguration, a pair of gunmen entered the restaurant of the San Salvador Sheraton Hotel and opened fire with automatic pistols. Rodolfo Viera and Michael Hammer, who had just arrived from Washington, were killed where they sat. Mark Pearlman struggled to get away but the bullets kept coming, about 40 shots in all, and he died there as well.

Hammer and Pearlman were American land reform experts working for the AFL-CIO's American Institute for Free Labor Development. Viera was head of the Salvadoran agency that oversaw the controversial land distribution that the United States had made a vital facet of its reform policy under the Carter administration.

American investigators eventually concluded the man who ordered the killings that night was Lt. Rodolfo Isidro Lopez Sibrian, known as el fosforito, the little match, because of his red hair and hot temper, but they were never able to win a conviction against him in that case.

Indeed, many human rights activists doubted, in the end, that the Reagan administration wanted to pursue investigations that might implicate the senior officers on whom it came to depend as the Salvadoran war erupted and raged on: men like Defense Minister Garcia and then-Guardia Nacional commander (later defense minister) Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova.

Only low-level enlisted men eventually were caught and brought to trial in the nuns case, and even they would have escaped with impunity were it not for Carl Gettinger.

***

In mid-November 1980, shortly after the American elections but before the murder of Americans began, a Salvadoran lieutenant contacted the embassy and Gettinger was assigned to talk to him. The conversation was eye opening. The lieutenant, who became known around the embassy as the Black Sheep and Killer, seemed to be that rare thing in El Salvador, a military officer with a conscience. He hated the left and the guerrillas, but he hated the right wing as well, feeling the military was exploited by the elites for their own selfish ends.

Over the next few days and weeks, Killer admitted to ordering summary executions, and to operating as part of the death squads organized by retired Salvadoran Major Roberto DAubuisson. He talked about the way officers had drawn straws for the privilege of murdering Archbishop Romero.

Although officers far senior to Killer were on the CIA payroll, they were providing no useful evidence, and simply lied about conducting an investigation into the murders of the churchwomen and the labor advisors.

Killer, at first, would not talk about those cases either.

Ten days before Reagans inauguration, the guerrillas launched their so-called final offensive the length and breadth of the country, but could not bring down the government. The death squads had done their jobs well, eliminating the urban infrastructure of the left and killing off the people who might have negotiated a settlement. So the final offensive proved to be just the first major offensive in the all-out war that went on into the next decade.

The incoming Reagan administration, now confronted with the likelihood the war would grow worse, wanted to push the murders of the Americans to the back burner, and off the stove if possible. What was needed for political cover in Washington was a statement from the embassy in San Salvador saying the Salvadoran government was conducting an investigation.

Ambassador White refused. I will have no part of any cover-up, he wrote in a very blunt cable to Washington. All the evidence we have, and that has been reported fully, is that the Salvadoran government has made no serious effort to investigate the killing of the murdered American churchwomen.

Two weeks after the inauguration, White was dismissed. Shortly thereafter, in March, newly sworn Secretary of State Alexander Haig put forth as the most prominent theory of the investigation that the women had been running a roadblock.

Gettinger kept pushing Killer for information on the murder of the nuns, and slowly the soldier revealed details. The Guardia Nacional sergeant who had lead the operation against them, and whom Killer had known personally for many years, was named Luis Antonio Colindres Aleman.

Not only did the high command not act on this information, it scrambled to cover up whatever evidence it could. So in April, Killer took a miniature tape recorder and went for a drive with Colindres Aleman, who confessed to the crime and many of the details.

But that tape, which ought to have been like a Rosetta stone exposing those higher up in the chain of command, was full of unintelligible gaps.

Again and again over the next two years, Gettinger would listen to this special embassy evidence, as it was called. Technicians and specialists would try to tease out the meaning of the static- and noise-filled passages, but to no avail.

On the basis of what he actually could hear, Gettinger concluded that Colindres Aleman was a psychopath who, believing he had impunity, took the initiative to kill the churchwomen without any explicit orders from higher officers.

This suited the new Reagan administration, which was not going to act against the generals it wanted running the Salvadoran show unless it had irrefutable evidence of direct orders.

In 1983 Gettinger wrote a memo explaining why Colindres suddenly thought he could kill American women with impunity. Colindres had been told by other guardsmen that they were guerrilla sympathizers, gun runners, carriers of subversive propaganda. (Much the same line pushed afterward by Jeane Kirkpatrick.)

The considerations about their nationality which had protected them up to that time seem to have occurred to him, wrote Gettinger, "but his reaction was merely a crude attempt to cover his tracks.

The decision to kill the American churchwomen was made by Colindres and no one else, Gettinger concluded, and to this day he maintains that the high command did not order the murder explicitly.

Would even such blockheaded people have thought it was okay to rape and kill four American nuns? he said as we talked here in Paris. They were not that stupid. None of the people at that level would say, Lets go kill some American nuns.

Unless, of course, they thought they too could act with impunitywhich is what they continued to think they had for the next 35 years.

The sergeant and his soldiers were convicted and jailed, but among the commanders the belief that they were given carte blanche by Reagan transition team lived on into the new administration.

The Salvadoran military grew from 11,000 men in 1979 to 57,000 in 1989, eventually underwritten by billions of dollars in U.S. aid. The toll of the war mounted: 75,000 people died. The Army was always said by Washington to be growing more professional, more conscious of human rights. Then, in November 1989nine full years after the nuns were murdereda group of elite, American-trained Salvadoran soldiers slaughtered six Jesuit priests deemed "subversive."

As a U.S. Embassy cable reported in January 1990, "if the system had brought to justice those responsible for the famous 'Sheraton murders' and for the killing of the nuns a few years ago, the signal that such crimes would not be tolerated would have been clear."

Human rights attorneys and investigators would not let the case drop, and slowly, as masses of relevant American documents were declassified, evidence accumulated. A 1984 CIA cablenow available in highly redacted form on the CIA website cited information from a source who claimed Col. Oscar Edgardo Casanova Vejar had ordered the murder of the nuns. He was the commander of the garrison responsible for the airport, and had information re the suspected involvement of the nuns in leftist activities. He also knew the date and time of their arrival in El Salvador on the day they were killed.  [Source claimed] that Casanova, who is the first cousin of Minister of Defense Vides Casanova, was transferred to Army HQs immediately after the murder of the nuns to shield him from the subsequent investigation.

* * *

In 1998, along with human rights attorneys Scott Greathead and Robert Weiner, I interviewed Casanova Vejar, who denied any connection to the murders.

As I wrote then, Greathead and Weiner were not convinced. To believe Casanova Vejar's contention that he knew nothing, one must assume that in a small command in rural El Salvador, a lowly sergeant like Colindres could take it into his head to deploy 14 men, disrupt traffic out of the airport, target, kidnap, rape and murder four American women religious workers, then leave behind their unburied bodies and their burned-out vehicle with no one the wiser at headquarters. Casanova Vejar shrugged. Something can be happening five kilometers away, he said, "and we wouldn't know it.

Casanova Vejar was never prosecuted, but Greathead and other lawyers, including those of the Center for Justice and Accountability, working with the families of the murder victims and Salvadoran torture survivors, tracked the former defense ministers Garcia and Vides Casanova to Florida, where they both lived in comfortable retirement.

After many years of court battles, in 2014, Immigration Judge Michael C. Horn determined that Garcia assisted or otherwise participated in some of the most heinous human rights crimes committed in El Salvador in the 1980s, including the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero, the killing of the four American churchwomen and the two U.S. labor advisors, as well as subsequent atrocities. By the beginning of this year, both Garcia and Vides Casanova had been deported back to El Salvador.

Going over the evidence, Horn wrote (PDF), Dead bodies bearing signs of torture were heaped in piles on the streets of the capital city, along well-traveled highways, in shopping centers, and in parking lots of prestigious hotels. Tortured corpses, some beheaded, some dismembered, were left to decay in the Playon Body Dump, accessible only with the consent of the military.

Horn noted that Garcia admitted that the Salvadoran Armed Forces, during his tenure as Minister of Defense, committed extrajudicial killings. Yet [he] rebuffed reform, protected death squad plotters, denied the existence of massacres, failed to adequately investigate assassinations and massacres, and failed to hold officers accountable for killing their fellow countrymen. [Garcia], as Minister of Defense of El Salvador, created an atmosphere of impunity in which members of the armed forces would not be investigated, prosecuted, sanctioned, or discharged for atrocities visited upon civilians.

There is that word again: impunity. As the Salvadoran killers listened to the Reagan transition team, whatever the language used, that was the word they heard.

One hopes the monsters among us today will not draw the same sorts of lessons from the men and women around Trump.
Last weekend, McKay Nielsen took his daily scroll through the Reddit page Exmormon, a forum meant in part for those who have cut ties with the Mormon Church.

He decided to post a hypothetical question: What might happen if the President of the Mormon Church, Thomas S. Monson, suddenly decided to tell the world that the religion is all a lie.

There would still be believers, Nielsen told the more than 35,000 members of the forum.

The post by the 22-year-old from South Jordan, Utah launched a nuanced discussion surrounding some Mormons seemingly unbreakable loyalty to their church.

One followed up by writing that perhaps the religion is more like its own country, providing members with an intimate, safe community for the price of worship and strict lifestyle rules.

Like many of the other members of the Reddit group, Nielsen recently left the Mormon Church. He had been raised in the faith, but resigned soon after he realized he was attracted to men.

He said he has relied on the forum and other online and in-person ex-Mormon groups to get him through the transition. I cant really express my feelings here at home with that because it would just cause drama, said Nielsen, who lives with his parents and younger siblings, all active members of the church. I have to have some way of communicating with people who feel the same way.

Nielsen is not alone.

This month marks one year since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) updated its stance on same-sex unions, threatening expulsion for adults in same-sex marriages and withholding baptism for their kids.

Although they updated that stance slightly last month by saying that members who are attracted to people of the same sex are not necessarily sinful, the effects on membership have had an impact.

The immediate result was a group-resignation that involved about one hundred members leaving the some 15-million-member church. Since then, thousands more have followed suit. The policy came out like a significant bombshell, said Philip Barlow, who directs religious studies at Utah State University.

But that policy decision is not the only reason people are choosing to leave, Barlow explained. At the same time that the Internets fountain of information on Mormonism--some true and some extremely misleading, said Barlow--is making some question what theyve been raised to believe, there is also an overall shift among young people in the U.S. who have opted to move away from organized religion altogether.

Undoubtedly this is a historic time, said Barlow, who is a member of the LDS Church.

Only about 64 percent of those raised Mormon continued to adhere to the faith when they entered adulthood, according to the 2014 Pew Religious Landscape Survey. That is six percent less than the numbers in 2007. This is especially true among Millennials, said Jana Riess, senior columnist for Religion News Service.

And for those who stay, only about 25-percent of the young, single members are actually active in the faith, she said.

The Mormon Church declined to provide a comment for this article.

No matter why someone decides to leave the church, the process can be fairly grueling. In order to no longer be considered a member, you must submit a letter that announces your official resignation, according to Mormon No More, an organization that is meant to help people leave Mormonism. WARNING: If you live with people who are members of the church, they will almost certainly be told about your resignation, stated the website.

Once the letter has been submitted, youll likely receive some follow-up messages attempting to change your mind, as well as a visit (through mail or sometimes even in-person) from a local bishop or branch president. The process can take a few months, so lately many members have started to resign through an attorney so that the church cant contact them.

Nielsen said he opted to go the attorney route. Doing it without an attorney is a long-winded process, he said.

There is also a substantial emotional toll that leaving Mormonism can take. The Mormon community is very close and reliant on one another, so breaking out of that group can be fairly traumatic. Mormonism as a whole is so knit together as a community, said Barlow.

Thats where support groups come in. From PostMormon.org, a website full of personal resignation stories, blogs and support groups that has more than 10,000 current members, to Postmormons and Friends, a 2,100-member group that meets in Salt Lake City every Sunday morning so attendees can talk about their experience leaving the church, Utah has a wide array of resources.

Im surprised at how many post-Mormon meet-ups there are, said Nielsen. And subscribers on the Reddit page just continue to grow.

Natalie Harris, a 24-year-old from Bluffdale, Utah, recently started work as an organizer for two Meetup groups for former Mormons, Non-LDS Single Parents and Non-LDS Singles. She was raised Mormon, and began questioning the faith when she was a teenager, but it took a few years for her to leave.

She said the groups allow her to be around other people who have gone through the same thing. Its nice because were all there to support each other, said Harris.

At some of her meetings, Harris said the Mormon Church never even enters into the conversation. While at the beginning of the transition, venting frustrations and grief can feel very necessary, at some point that begins to lessen.

Many start to adapt to their new life, sometimes with the support from their family and Mormon friends but sometimes not. In either case, this support group and many others like it then transforms--at least for one day--into simply a fun get-together for good friends.

Harris recalled being at a BBQ for Non-LDS Singles a few months ago and meeting a young woman who told her that her parents dont want anything to do with her now that she left Mormonism. Harris said she completely understood the womans pain. So she gave the woman a hug and told her what she thought would help: If your parents dont love you for who you are they dont deserve to be in your life.
Earlier this year, a 24-year-old unidentified American wanted the perfect vacation selfie, so he climbed to take a photo next to a famous statue of Dom Sebastiao, a former Portuguese king. The result was catastrophic. He accidentally knocked over the statue outside a Lisbon, Portugal, train station and it smashed to pieces.

In another Ugly American situation, a tourist accidentally snapped off the finger of a statue of the Virgin Mary at Museo dellOpera del Duomo in Florence, Italy. The statue was 600 years old. The tourist claimed he was trying to compare finger sizes.

Accidents happen, of course, but when you are visiting another country, you dont want to be labeled an Ugly American.

I think to avoid the stereotype of being an 'Ugly American' is just to realize that you are not in America and respect the customs, traditions and laws of the country you are in, said April Westerhold of Five Star Travel & Cruises.

Thats not always easy to do.

Some of the problems that tourists encounter are purely because of miscommunication. This can be avoided if Americans just learn a few words in the countrys native language.

Just a hello and thank you can make the locals light up, said Michelle Weller of the Travel Leaders in Houston. Then bring along your app that translates. If you cannot say the rest, just translate everything into the app. I used this on my latest trip to Paris and the locals loved it. We made a lot of new friends just by trying to speak the language.

Weller also encourages travelers to have patience, something she practiced once on a trip to Paris.

Not everything will be the way you are accustomed to in the States, she said. Just smile and be polite. In Paris, when I arrived at my hotel, they had made a mistake with my room. Parisians are very formal and so many people take that as being rude. I did not yell or get angry, just smiled and said No problem, I will rest in the lounge and have a coffee, when you are ready let me know. Merci. They not only comped my coffee, they gave me the Eiffel Tower view room  a huge upgrade.

Weller knew how to say thank you in French, something Tom Karnes suggests to his travelers as well.

Try to speak the language, if only please or thank you, said the president/owner of LaMacchia Travel in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Karnes also said that knowing what to expect in a foreign land can also prevent you from turning into an Ugly American.

I just got back from Italy with a group and one of the biggest issues was our guest trying to go into a cafe and getting coffee to go, he said. It doesnt work that way in Italy so dont push it. We explained it from the beginning and most people understood, but there are always those that dont. These people are also Ugly Americans in America.

Weller reminds Americans that not everything will be the way you want it.

I have seen Americans make horrible comments about why the macaroni and cheese they ordered in Istanbul was not macaroni and cheese, she said. Be prepared that a milkshake ordered in Paris is not going to be a milkshake like you expect! I had one American on a group trip say They dont even know how to make a milkshake. An attitude like this not only makes you look bad; it ruins the trip for everyone else.

She advises Americans to be patient, be flexible and remember that you might hate the milkshake but be happy you get to see the Eiffel Tower.

Most people will never get to enjoy that beauty their entire life, Weller said.

Oh yes, and dont climb or touch the statues.
Press Promotion

Sterklarna Hrastnik Innovation Day

Glass manufacturer Steklarna Hrastnik held an Innovation Day to bring together industry partners in design, decoration, closures and distribution, amongst others. In addition to exchanging knowledge and experience the day was dedicated to selecting new bottles for the Steklarna Hrastnik HighGlass collection.

Participating at the Innovation Day were Nude, a UK creative agency; the Polish company DekorGlass, a leader in the field of decoration; Vinolok, a producer of premium stoppers; Estal and Vetroelite, distribution companies; Rica Consulting & Design, a French consulting company; and Badel 1862, a Croatian spirits manufacturer.

Recognising the role of glass packaging part when it comes to consumer buying decisions, Steklarna Hrastnik is producing technically demanding bottles, as well as seeking further ways to expand the range of products and services available to customers.

Andrej Bozic, general director of Steklarna Hrastnik says: "The standard bottles of super premium quality in our HighGlass collection reflect the latest design trends. Since we are looking not just to maintain our position on the market, but also to co-create trends, we have organised Innovation Days, events dedicated to finding new opportunities in the glass industry, sharing knowledge and searching for innovative solutions that we can implement and use to shape new trends, thus placing ourselves and our partners ahead of the competition."

New bottles in Steklarna Hrastnik's HighGlass collection will aim to reflect the current craft trend.

According to creative agency Nude, 'craft' is the prevailing trend in the drinks industry. This is particularly due to the numerous small, independent distilleries, communicating different values to buyers than large, established brands.

Values, such as honesty and simplicity, also need to be communicated by the packaging, which is often the buyer's first point of contact with the product. The new bottles, aimed particularly at the gin segment, are aimed at appealing not just to smaller producers, but also to international, established brands looking to communicate in this segment.

Steklarna Hrastnik claims that it is able to establish partnerships with both small distilleries and multinationals, as a result of its emphasis on technology and staff welfare, motivation and development. Steklarna is able to produce smaller quantities, giving newer entrants to the market the potential to increase the order as they grow.

Steklarna Hrastnik states that its operations and the principle of sustainability, the company's social responsibility, respect for its employees and involvement in the local environment reflect the values that clients and buyers appreciate and expect.

Steklarna Hrastnik, DekorGlass and TheDrinksReport.com are seeking the best bottle design concepts in the spirits industry in their ongoing competition.

27 November 2016 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, editorial assistant
On Election Day, the American people sent a clear message. They no longer will stand for weaker national security, executive branch overreach, excessive regulation and the unbridled expansion of the federal government. After eight years of failed Washington policies, hardworking Americans rejected the status quo in Washington and they want to go a different direction.

Over the past several months, I have been working with my fellow House of Representatives colleagues to develop an agenda to change the status quo and restore confidence in our federal government.

We call this bold, conservative agenda "A Better Way," and it mirrors many of the solutions that President-elect Donald Trump put forth during his campaign.

It tackles our nation's six big challenges: national security, tax reform, the economy, health care, poverty and restoring constitutional authority.

Our constituents constantly tell me that the state of our national security is the top issue on their minds. The national security portion of our agenda spells out how we will protect our homeland, defeat terrorists and confront emerging threats worldwide. It emphasizes that we must take the fight to the terrorists and ensures our military has the resources necessary to meet this critical challenge. It works to counter new threats on the horizon and strengthens tools for local law enforcement. Most importantly, it protects our homeland by securing our borders and ending the waves of illegal immigrants entering our country.

The cost of complying with Washington's complicated and overly broad regulations is one of the biggest burdens on America's small businesses, manufacturers and, ultimately, consumers. The economy portion of our agenda works to lessen these burdens through smarter, sensible regulations that encourage efficiency and facilitate economic growth.

This includes delivering affordable and reliable energy, ending taxpayer bailouts and Washington's "too big to fail" mentality, preserving internet innovation and setting forth a regulatory system that works for small businesses - not against them. It promotes a stronger and more robust economy. Our federal government should work to encourage competition and put the interests of hardworking American families over government bureaucrats.

Obamacare's failures are hurting Americans' health care security. Premiums are continuing to skyrocket, co-ops are collapsing and insurers are abandoning the marketplace, leaving American families with fewer health care choices.

The health care portion of our agenda starts with the full repeal of Obamacare. Once that is complete, we will begin to implement reforms that continue to protect those with pre-existing conditions, expand access to the health care market by allowing people to purchase health care across state lines and increase the maximum contribution limit to health savings accounts. It clears out bureaucracy to accelerate the development of life-saving devices and therapies. It also works to protect Medicare for today's seniors and preserves the program for future generations.

All combined, these proposals work to lower costs, expand access, encourage innovation and put patients back in the drivers' seats for their own health care decisions.

At more than 70,000 pages long, the current tax code is overly complicated and nearly impossible for families to navigate. The tax reform portion of our agenda lays the groundwork for a new tax code that is flatter, fairer and simpler. It proposes a system that is so straightforward that families will be able to file their taxes on a postcard. As opposed to the current seven individual tax brackets, this plan proposes just three. It repeals the estate or death tax, reins in and restructures the out-of-control IRS and encourages investment and innovation for small businesses. These reforms promote economic growth and ultimately grow paychecks and economic opportunity. We also have corporate tax solutions to make American businesses among the most competitive in the world.

Our Constitution clearly states that Congress is in charge of writing our laws and that the president is in charge of enforcing them. Our agenda reclaims Congress's constitutional authority. We achieve this by protecting hardworking Americans against unnecessary government harassment; rein in unelected, out-of-control federal bureaucrats; limit executive discretion; use the appropriations process to keep regulators in check; and strengthen congressional oversight.

Americans should have confidence in our constitutional system of governance and know that their Constitutional liberties are protected.

Despite the expenditure of trillions of dollars on a wide range of ineffective and inefficient programs over the past five decades, millions of Americans continue to live in poverty. Our agenda includes proposals that would reduce poverty by working to lift Americans out of impoverished conditions and afford them an opportunity to pursue the American Dream. We emphasize rewarding work, tailoring benefits to people's needs, and encouraging people to plan and save for the future.

When it comes to results, success should not be measured by the number of people presently enrolled in welfare programs, but by the number of people who are able permanently to leave those programs because they have achieved a better life.

Our "A Better Way" agenda provides an excellent roadmap to restore America. Now that the American people have a White House that will work with House conservatives, we finally can deliver the change voters asked for in this most recent election.

I am eager to continue working on solutions to restore our national security, improve economic opportunity and protect our constitutional liberties. I have great expectations for what we can accomplish in the next Congress.

We can and we will deliver a promising future for hardworking American families in 2017 and beyond.

 Bill Flores, Republican of Bryan, represents Texas District 17 in the U.S. House of Representatives.
So important was freedom of speech to our Founders that they included it in the very first amendment to our Constitution.

The first president, George Washington, said, "If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."

Most of us aren't dumb and few of us are silent, but freedom of speech is under attack across America. Many of us are under the mistaken impression that only those with whom we agree are free to speak what's on their mind.

Those who so believe are wrong, so very wrong.

Noted attorney Alan Dershowitz said, "Freedom of speech means freedom for those who you despise, and freedom to express the most despicable views. It also means that the government cannot pick and choose which expressions to authorize and which to prevent."

Now, that concept is under attack at Texas A&M.

Richard Spencer, a white nationalist and president of the National Policy Institute, a white supremacist think tank in Arlington, Virginia, has been invited by a local resident to speak at A&M on Dec. 6. His scheduled appearance, rightfully, has been met with a storm of protest.

Like most Americans, we are appalled by Spencer's hate speech. He calls for a separate homeland for white Americans and calls for "peaceful ethnic cleansing."

In other words, he wants an America that isn't America. That some others share his misbegotten beliefs is sad and frightening.

That doesn't mean that Spencer isn't entitled to his beliefs and the right to express them publicly. Of course he is, just like the rest of us.

Spencer's planned A&M appearance has set off a storm of protest. Some writers of letters to The Eagle have urged A&M to disinvite the white nationalist. One writer, A&M class of '93 said, "This is not the Texas A&M I know and love.

"Nothing less than immediate action to prevent this from happening by the president of Texas A&M will suffice. If it takes litigation, so be it. If it costs him his job, so be it. There is no price too high for doing the right thing."

But "doing the right thing" does not include stomping on the First Amendment.

Plus, there really is nothing A&M officials can do. Because A&M is a public university, owned by the people of Texas, it is required to rent space available to the public to anyone who is willing to pay for the use of the facilities. It cannot take into account the nature of talks presented under those guidelines.

Be assured, however, that A&M President Michael K. Young and other administrators, along with most faculty, staff and students, are as upset with Spencer's appearance as the letter writers are.

"To be clear, Texas A&M University -- including faculty, staff, students and/or student groups -- did not invite this speaker to our campus, nor do we endorse his rhetoric in any way," said Amy Smith, A&M vice president for marketing and communications.

"In fact, our leadership finds his views as expressed to date in direct conflict with our core values."

There's another important issue involved. College, at least until recently, is supposed to be a place to learn, to grow, to be exposed to ideas different from a student's own. Students are free to accept or reject those ideas, adapt some and ignore others. It all is a part of becoming a thinking, mature adult.

While Texas A&M no doubt is a conservative university, it is home to a diverse student body, faculty and staff, all of whom are smart enough and tough enough to withstand different points of view -- even those that most of us abhor.

A&M doesn't have to welcome Spencer with open arms. People are free to protest his appearance, as long as those protests are peaceful and not disruptive.

And if Aggies don't want to hear Spencer's talk, they are free to stay away.

Somehow we'll all survive Spencer's hate speech -- and perhaps be a little bit stronger because of it.
Iowa among states benefiting in $11B settlement with retail pharmacies

CVS is expected to pay $5 billion over the next 10 years and Walgreens would provide $5.7 billion in payments over a 15-year period.
Dependent on federal aid for about $6 billion, nearly a third of the its annual budget, blue-state Connecticut may need to bend to the will of national Republicans in a variety of ways to maintain the flow of funding from Washington.

But, using tactics that date to the antebellum South of the mid-1800s and even the segregationists of the early 1960s, state officials, members of Congress and constitutional lawyers are already plotting strategies to assert states rights.

We have changes in administration on an ongoing basis, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said last week. Connecticut is going to have business to do in Washington and Washington is going to have business in Connecticut. We have a different president. I dont expect any administration to break the law.

Where state law conflicts with the campaign promises of Donald Trump  on immigrants, abortion, gay, lesbian and transsexual rights, gun safety and social service spending  Connecticut will stand firm. Malloy expects that state attorneys general throughout the nation will be watching out for the rights of their residents.

Its incumbent on every state to protect their citizens, Malloy said.

The 10th Amendment of the Constitution sets out states sovereign rights, particularly in areas where federal policies dont supercede, said Douglas Spencer, a University of Connecticut School of Law professor.

More Information Flow of federal money to Connecticut in 2016 Department of Social Services: $4 billion State Department of Education: $577 million Department of Public Health: $280 million Department of Emergency Management & Public Protection: $125 million Department of Energy and Environmental Protection: $90 million Department of Rehabilitation Services: $89.3 million Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services: $89 million Office of Early Childhood: $53.1 million Department of Aging: $29 million Department of Economic and Community Development: $26.5 million Military Department: $24.4 million Judicial Department: $23.2 million See More Collapse

A lot of the law is about allocating resources, said Spencer, who teaches constitutional law. That gives us a lot of power in Connecticut.

A quarter century ago, during the George H. W. Bush administration, Connecticut maintained progressive programming, including the states first ban on military-style weapons, as well as tougher insurance and banking regulations, said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who was state Attorney General at the time.

I was a vigorous advocate of state sovereign rights, Blumenthal said. I would argue that most federal laws dont pre-empt state action. I find tremendous irony that during the Bush years, I was championing states right against a Republican administration.

Points of divergence

If Congress pre-empts sanctuary city programs, New Haven and Hartford, in which mayors and police chiefs have ordered officers not to check the immigration status of residents, could face court battles or federal funding losses.

He can threaten people to do what he wants, but that will take time, Spencer, the UConn professor said of Trump. Its quite possible that cities can lose their funding, but it would take a year to 18 months at the soonest.

The states medical-marijuana program, too, could face challenges. State law conflicts with the a federal law that classifies cannabis as a dangerous drug and without medical efficacy. President Barack Obamas Justice Department decided it wasnt worth pursuing criminals charges against Connecticut marijuana growers, dispensaries and patients. A new administration could decide otherwise.

We can nullify the federal law if we do not think its constitutional, Spencer said.

Southern states used similar sovereign powers to continue slavery before and during the Civil War, and 100 years later to promote Jim Crow segregation policies of separate-but-unequal schools and public accommodations.

Blumenthal was a member of the General Assembly 30 years ago when lawmakers codified abortion rights into Connecticut law.

Our powers are very consequential and they offer, in some respects, a chance for us to become Fortress Connecticut, if the federal government becomes in effect insensitive or unwise in public policies or if it fails to protect individual rights and liberties, he said.

Anxiety turns to cash

David McGuire, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Connecticut, said that nationwide reaction to Trumps victory has resulted in an unprecedented $7 million in donations to the organization since the election.

Were looking to see what the national rhetoric has at the state level, McGuire said. It shows real concerns around the country. Immigration, criminal justice and police accountability are major areas in which the ACLU-CT will be vigilant.

The term make America safe again is a thinly veiled plan to crack down on inner cities, McGuire said, concerned that so-called stop-and-frisk tactic, which has been ruled by courts as racist, could be revived under Trumps administration. Connecticut is a leading state in criminal-justice reform, he said. In fact, Connecticuts prison population of about 14,900 is the lowest it has been in 20 years.

Spencer said that legal challenges could take years to settle.

Coming from the private sector, Trumps biggest challenge will come from the separation of powers and the courts, which follow due process, Spencer said. Those processes will thwart a lot of what he wants to do.
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NORWALK  Returning from New York, Traci Miller stepped off the train at the East Norwalk Train Station and asked why the parking lot next to the station platform isnt available to rail commuters.

It sits empty most of the time except when people pick up their dogs, said Miller, referring to the small parking lot between the New Haven-bound platform and the Pooch Hotel and other businesses. Theres a security guy who sits there, and will ticket cars and tow them.

Miller, an East Norwalk resident who often walks to the train station, describes the parking situation at the train station as ridiculous and finds no good options for commuters wishing to park there.

The aforementioned lot is off limits for commuters. The 50-space lot on the New York-bound side as well as the 101-space lot near the former Old Factory Outlet building at 230 East Ave. are filled with vehicles belonging to monthly permit holders. And the dearth of parking likely will remain despite upcoming improvements to the train station and surrounding neighborhood.

Parking shortage

Last Monday, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy toured the East Norwalk train station as part of his ongoing survey of Connecticuts infrastructure needs. The Democratic senator said he wants to be ready with a list of projects if President-elect Donald Trump moves forward with a national infrastructure improvement plan.

Norwalk officials told Murphy that the Connecticut Department of Transportation is gearing up to replace the Metro-North Railroad bridge at East Avenue and extend the train stations platform. A parking shortage, nevertheless, will remain afterward.

Kathryn A. Hebert, the citys administrative services manager and staff person to the Norwalk Parking Authority, has tallied the gains and losses in parking spaces at and near the train station.

More than a year ago, the Parking Authority lost access to 88 spaces provided by St. Thomas the Apostle School. The church, while gracious enough to provide the spaces for many years, now needs them back for its own use, Hebert said.

On Dec. 31, the lease between the state and the owner of 230 East Ave. will expire and take another 101 permitted spaces out of circulation.

Officials are optimistic that an arrangement can be worked out with the property owner to retain the spaces.

When the lease expires, we consummately will regain access to our state property that was included in the lease, said DOT spokesman Kevin J. Nursick. We will be losing the 100 spaces on private property, but will be gaining 125 spaces back on our property, thus, were actually gaining 25 spaces overall.

Hebert said 60 parking spaces flanking the New Haven-bound tracks  the area referenced by Miller  would become available on a temporary basis as the DOT gears up to work on the bridge and train station. Twenty-six additional temporary spaces will be created on the west side of East Avenue, immediately north of the bridge, on land acquired by the state for the bridgework.

Future solutions

At best, the additions and subtractions amount to a zero-sum game for the many commuters wishing to park at the East Norwalk Train Station. The waiting list for monthly parking permits is three years and motorists using the station already fill up neighboring residential streets, Hebert said.

It gets us back to where we were but it doesnt help with future capacity needs, Hebert said of the temporary spaces and potential lease extension.

For now, officials are advising motorists to be patient and seek other parking arrangement when possible.

Irma Morton parked in the lot adjacent to the tracks and waited for her daughter to arrive by train from New York. For picking up someone, the off-limits parking lot works. When Morton takes the train into the city, she goes to the South Norwalk Train Station.

Its gotten to the point where now I have to travel to South Norwalk and I live close to Stew Leonards so Im really going across town just to find decent parking, Morton said. I have to pay the full price when I do go there. Its not regular but often enough so its become pretty inconvenient.

Hebert recommends the Yankee Doodle Garage, which is located next to the Norwalk Transit District Wheels Bus hub on Burnell Boulevard. Buses fan out from the hub to the train stations and other destinations. The availability of spaces at the Yankee Doodle Garage is another reason to reactivate a train station in the Wall Street neighborhood, Hebert said.

Transit-Oriented Development

During Murphys visit, Mayor Harry W. Rilling described the former Old Factory Outlet as an ideal location for a transit-oriented development. Such development combines retail with residential development near transportation hubs to get people out of their cars and onto public transit.

That would be fine with Miller. Shed like to see retail, restaurants and condominiums sprout up around the train station.

Make it into condos and then that brings more money to the area, Miller said while leaving the train station.

Steve Kleppin, Norwalks new director of planning and zoning, isnt ruling out transit-oriented development for the area but he does distinguish between the neighborhoods surrounding the East Norwalk and South Norwalk Ttain stations.

This is a different neighborhood so density would be probably a major concern over here, Kleppin told Murphy last Monday. Maybe more of a TOD-light kind of thing would be something to talk about, but I dont know if were quite at that stage yet.

The former Factory Outlet building is owned by Norwalk Improvements, LLC, an affiliate of DLC Management Corp. of Tarrytown, N.Y. The company converted the four-story building into offices in 1998 and is now considering future uses.

We have a number of uses under consideration for the building and property but were not willing to discuss them at this time, said Adam Ifshin, DLC Management president and CEO.

Ifshin indicated DLC Management is willing to work with the state to continue providing parking to commuters. Under the current arrangement, the state leases a portion of the larger parking lot to the building owners and the building owners lease a portion of their properties to the state, according to Ifshin.

This last summer, the state notified us that they were unwilling to continue that business arrangement so all of this has very little to do with us but with the state, Ifshin said. They plan a long-term multi-year project to improve the East Norwalk Train Station and various bridges including the one at East Avenue.

Were happy to work with the city in any way that we can that works for all of us, Ifshin added.

rkoch@hearstmediact.com
WASHINGTON  One of the more salutary outcomes of the recent election is that Democrats are finally beginning to question the wisdom of basing their fortunes on identity politics.

Having counted on the allegiance of African-Americans, Hispanics, gays, unmarried women and the young  and winning the popular vote all but once since 1992  they were seduced into believing that they could ride this coalition of the ascendant into permanent command of the presidency.

Theyre reconsidering now not because identity politics balkanizes society, creates state-chosen favored groups and fosters communal strife. Theyre reconsidering because its not working.

Democrats read the 2008 and 2012 election results as a harbinger of the future. Then came 2016. They now realize that the huge turnout of their constituencies was attributable to Barack Obama, a uniquely gifted campaigner whose aura is not transferable.

And why assume that identity politics creates permanent allegiances? Take the Hispanic vote. Both Mitt Romney and Donald Trump won less than 30 percent, but in 2004 George W. Bush won 44 percent. Why assume that the GOP cannot be competitive again?

As these groups evolve socioeconomically, their political allegiances can easily change. This is particularly true for the phenomenally successful Asian-American community. There is no reason the more entrepreneurial party, the GOP, should continue to lose this vote by more than 2-to-1.

Moreover, the legitimation of identity politics by the Democrats has finally come back to bite them. Trump managed to read, then mobilize, the white working class, and to endow it with political self-consciousness. What he voiced on their behalf was the unspoken complaint of decades: Why not us? All these other groups, up to and including the relatively tiny population of transgender people, receive benefits, special attention and cultural approbation, yet we are left out in the cold, neglected and condescended to as both our social status and economic conditions decline.

For all the embrace of identity politics at home, abroad Obama has preached the opposite. Here is a man telling a black audience in September that he would consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy if they dont turn out for the Democratic candidate in November. Yet on his valedictory tour abroad just nine weeks later, he lectures anyone who will listen on the sins of parochialism. His urgent message for the nations of the world, including his own, is to eschew tribalism in the name of a common universalism.

This doctrine of global consciousness found its photographic expression just two weeks ago. There was parka-bundled John Kerry on a visit to the Antarctic, to which he had dropped in to make a point about global warming.

Three days later, Vladimir Putin, thinking tribally, renewed the savage bombing of Aleppo and then moved nuclear-capable missiles into Kaliningrad to remind Europeans of the perils of defying the regional strongman.

Putin is quite prepared to leave the Antarctic ice sheets to Kerry while he sets his sights on Eastern Europe and the Levant. Our allies, meanwhile, remain amazed that Obama still believes the kinds of things he said in his maiden U.N. address about the obsolescence of power politics and national domination  and acts accordingly as if his brave new world of shared universal values had already arrived.

Seven months ago, Obama went to Britain to urge them  with characteristic unsuccess  to remain in Europe. Now he returns to Europe to urge everyone to resist the siren song of a crude sort of nationalism, or ethnic identity, or tribalism.

This is rather ironic, given that what was meant as a swipe at both European and Trumpian ethno-nationalism is a fairly good description of the Democratic Partys domestic strategy of identity politics.

To be sure, ethnic appeal has been part of American politics forever. But the Hillary Clinton campaign was its reductio ad absurdum: all segmented group appeal, no message. Even Bernie Sanders is urging that we go beyond identity politics if Democrats are ever to appeal again to the working class.

As for foreign policy, there has always been and always should be an element of transcendent mission to American actions. But its reductio ad absurdum was the Obama doctrine of self-sacrificial subordination of U.S. interests to universal values. That doctrine is finished. The results, from Ukraine to Aleppo to the South China Sea, are simply too stark.

For the Democrats, the road back  from tribalism at home and universalism abroad  beckons.
Where was all this passion during the campaign?

Now, opponents of Donald Trump are incensed and outraged. Students are walking out of classrooms and campuses. Two protest marches will descend on the capital in January. A meeting of liberal activists was intense, angry and unforgiving, reports The New York Times.

This is a crisis of unparalleled dimension, warned Wade Henderson of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

His fears are certainly justified, but hey, folks  elections have consequences. Clinton faced a persistent enthusiasm gap throughout the campaign. If all the emotion and energy now being poured into agonizing had gone into organizing, the outcome might have been different.

Check out these telling statistics. With some ballots still outstanding, Clinton has about 63.7 million votes compared to Barack Obamas 65.4 million in 2012 and almost 67 million in 2008. In the three states that decided the election  Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan  Clinton lost by a combined total of only 100,000 votes.

The stay-at-homers and never-minders were especially damaging in critical components of the Obama coalition. The president won 60 percent of young voters four years ago; Clintons rate slumped to 56 percent. Clinton trailed Obamas performance by 5 points with African-Americans and by 6 points with Latinos.

But as Sen. Elizabeth Warren puts it: The time for whimpering, the time for whining, the time for crying is over. It is time to fight back. And if the whiners and whimperers want an issue to fight back on, heres a suggestion: the fate of the 11 million undocumented immigrants now in this county, especially the approximately 2 million young people who were brought here as children and who have grown up as Americans.

About 800,000 of these Dreamers qualified for DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), an Obama program that shielded the youngsters from deportation and allowed them to obtain work permits, drivers licenses and a sense of hope and safety.

All that is now in jeopardy. Donald Trumps choice for Attorney General, Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, boasts on his website that hes a leading opponent of President Obamas immigration policies. Dreamers are now petrified that Sessions and Trump could use the information provided on their DACA applications to track them down and toss them out.

That should not happen. These Dreamers, and their whole families, are an enormous asset to this country. They should be welcomed with a handshake, not threatened with a fist.

Fortunately, the campaign to defend them is already in gear.

Obama said he would tell Trump to think long and hard about endangering that status of what, for all practical purposes, are American kids. Democrats on Capitol Hill are preparing legislation to preserve the program, and they have public opinion behind them. In exit polls, 70 percent of voters said undocumented immigrants should be offered some form of legal status. Only 25 percent said they should be deported.

About 200 college presidents have signed a statement backing DACA that says, We have seen the critical benefits of this program for our students, and the highly positive impacts on our institutions and communities. DACA beneficiaries on our campuses have been exemplary student scholars and student leaders, working across campus and in the community.

One prime opportunity for leverage will be the Senate hearings on Sessions nomination. If he cannot be defeated  a small possibility  he should be pressed hard on DACA and presented with the real-world, real-life implications of his wrong-headed impulses.

Sessions should hear from people like 29-year-old Eli Oh, who emigrated from South Korea at age 11 and worked as a waiter until DACA gave him the chance to pursue a nursing career. Today hes a critical-care nurse at Stanford University Medical Center.

Oh told The Wall Street Journal he feels betrayed by the threat to the program: I thought that with DACA, I was finally safe.

Sessions should hear from Lili, a Mexican immigrant with five U.S.-born children ages 2 to 17, who lives in Oklahoma City. If DACA ends and shes forced to leave the country, her family would be ripped apart.

I wish Donald (Trump) would see what we have to go through, she told CNN, withholding her last name out of fear. He has kids. Would he like for his kids to be taken away from him?

If all those post-election protesters really want to make a contribution, preserving DACA and protecting the Dreamers is a winning and worthy cause.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. On November 23rd, a presentation titled A journey to Ani  the medieval capital of Armenia  a UNESCO heritage site was presented by the chair of the Hayastan All Armenian Fund Toronto, Migirdic Migirdicyan, at the Embassy of the Republic of Armenia to Canada, press service of the MFA told Armenpress.

Armenian and Canadian artists, politicians, diplomats, journalists, numerous representatives of the Canadian Armenian community, amongst many others, attended the event.

At the beginning of the event, Armen Yeganian, the Ambassador of Armenia to Canada, gave his opening remarks. Ambassador Yeganian thanked Mr. Migirdicyan for his presentation and spoke about the many years important work carried out by Mr. Migirdicyan to the benefit of Armenia and Artsakh. Ambassador Yeganian underlined the importance of the cultural heritage of the city of Ani.

During the presentation, Mr. Migirdicyan spoke in detail about the history and the architecture of the city and presented panoramic photos of churches and other architectural monuments from Ani and the surrounding area that he had taken personally over the course of his 5 visits to the site.

The presentation was covered by the Ottawa Armenian media.
Workers for one of Lincoln's largest employers started the holiday weekend without their paychecks.

Kawasaki Motors, which employs more than 1,900 people at its northwest Lincoln plant, notified staff Friday morning that the day's payroll deposits had been delayed.

Mike Boyle, vice president and plant manager, said the delay was due to an error by the contractor that processes paychecks for the plant. Kawasaki worked with the vendor to fix the problem, and some employees received their pay Saturday.

Timing of remaining deposits depends on when individual employees' banks process the payments, Boyle said. Everyone should be paid by Monday.

The issue affected all of the plant's employees, Boyle said.

"It's just terrible timing with this being the major holiday weekend for our employees to buy their Christmas gifts and so on. We just feel terrible about it."

Kawasaki will reimburse employees whose bank accounts are overdrawn because of automatic withdrawals that would be covered if their paychecks had been deposited on time, he said.

"We'll pay them back for that. They'll be made whole."

The Lincoln Kawasaki plant manufactures train cars for subway systems in Washington, D.C., and the New York City area. It also makes consumer products such as Jet Skis and ATVs, and will start manufacturing cargo doors for the new Boeing 777x plane next year.

The payroll hiccup came at the worst imaginable time for employees, said one woman whose husband works at the plant. She asked not to be named for fear her husband might lose his job.

Their family was ready to go shopping, visit family and buy a Christmas tree over the weekend  plans that were dashed when they woke up Friday to find his paycheck wasn't direct deposited in their bank account overnight.

They also had to scramble to make sure their utilities wouldn't be shut off, she said.

"I would pretty much venture to guess that most people who work out there  like us  live paycheck to paycheck."
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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post)  Sat, November 26 2016

Here are the four shortened versions of the articles published at Lifestyle channel on thejakartapost.com. If you are keen to read the full articles or want to look for more interesting lifestyle pieces, complete with photos and videos, swing by to the Lifestyle channel in our website. For a quick access, download QR scanner application in your smartphone and scan the codes display next to the articles.

Uber Indonesia rolls out new tourist-friendly feature



Getting lost in unfamiliar terrain can be quite a drag for most tourists, and online transportation company Uber is finally doing something to address this concern.



To accommodate the growing number of visitors in Bali, Indonesia, the company has launched UberTrip, which offers passengers the luxury to grab a car for five hours at a flat rate, and travel to whichever destination they please.



Furthermore, Uber guarantees to give out no limits on stops.



Its the first of its kind in the Uber world. Bali is the first city for the rollout, Uber Indonesia spokesperson Dian Safitri described the feature to Tech in Asia.

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Linkedin Tama Salim and Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, November 26 2016

Indonesia has no plans to call an emergency meeting of ASEAN member states following a UN statement accusing Myanmar of seeking the ethnic cleansing of Rohingyas from its territory.

The statement came from John McKissick of the UN refugee agency, who is based in the Bangladeshi border town of Coxs Bazar.

McKissick told the BBC that Myanmar troops were killing men, shooting them, slaughtering children, raping women, burning and looting houses, forcing these people to cross the river into Bangladesh.

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Linkedin Corry Elyda (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, November 26 2016

The government has said it will speed up construction of two double-track railway lines connecting Jakarta and Bekasi, which has been moving sluggishly since the project commenced in 2013.

Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said during a visit to the projects construction site at Manggarai Station in South Jakarta that the project, which will significantly ease train traffic entering the station, would be completed in early 2019.

I realize that the project is already behind schedule. Therefore, we want to ensure that the progress will be on track, he said. The government initially planned to conclude the project by the end of 2017.

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 27, 2016

The Foreign Ministry has expressed deep condolences over the passing of former Cuban president Fidel Castro on Friday night.

"Indonesia prays for the family, the government and the people of Cuba to be given strength on the passing away of the honorable Fidel Castro, the ministrys spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said in a statement on Sunday as repeated by kompas.com.

The Associated Press reported that Castro, who led a rebel army to improbable victory in Cuba, embraced Soviet-style communism and defied the power of 10 US presidents during his half-century rule, died at age 90.

With a shaking voice, his younger brother, Raul Castro, announced on state television that his brother had died at 10:29 p.m. local time on Nov. 25.

Castro's reign over the island nation 145 kilometers from Florida was marked by the US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The bearded revolutionary, who survived a crippling US trade embargo, as well as dozens, possibly hundreds, of assassination plots, died eight years after ill health forced him to formally hand power over to Raul.

Earlier, Vice President Jusuf Kalla also expressed condolences over the death of Castro, saying that he had been a good friend to Indonesia's first president and founding father, Sukarno.

Fidel Castro was Bung Karnos best friend who struggled for the non-aligned movement. Both were fighters, Kalla said. (jun)
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Linkedin Evi Mariani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 27, 2016

Dozens of people led by Islam Defenders Front (FPI) members barged into a Kalibata City apartment in South Jakarta on Saturday night, saying they went there to break up a sex party following a tip-off about the alleged event.

The Jakarta Posts source, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the mob came at about 11:30 p.m. to one of the towers in the apartment complex. Members of the mob were shouting Allahu Akbar!

The source said the police arrived slightly after midnight.

Escorted by the police and apartment security, the mob barged into an apartment unit and found the men inside, who the police took into custody.

FPIs public relations division said on their Twitter account @HumasFPI Sunday that they along with the police successfully broke up the alleged sex party. The tweet said they followed an invitation to the party.

Local newspaper Warta Kota said the police confiscated 17 cell phones, two packs of condoms and antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS.

None of the evidence was outlawed material.

The Posts source in the police said the men did not violate any laws. In Indonesia, homosexual sodomy is not outlawed except when it is done with an underaged individual.

Pancoran Police refused to comment on the matter.

--

Indra Budiari contributed to this story
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 27, 2016

Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo sent his condolences over the death of former Cuban president Fidel Castro via his official Twitter account on Sunday.

My condolences to the government and the people of Cuba for the passing of Y. M. [His Excellency] Fidel Castro, former Cuban president, on Saturday, Nov. 26, 2016-Jkw, the president wrote on his Twitter. Jkw is the Presidents initials.

Castro, who retired from the political world in 2008, died at the age of 90 on Friday evening Cuban time, or Saturday Indonesian time. His brother, Raul Castro, took over his position in 2006.

Castro was famous for leading a rebel army to an improbable victory in Cuba, embracing Soviet-style communism and defying the power of 10 US presidents during his half-century rule.

With a shaking voice, his younger brother, Raul Castro, announced on state television that his brother died at 10:29 p.m. on Friday night, the Associated Press reported.

Earlier on Sunday morning, the Indonesian Foreign Ministry expressed its deep condolences over the passing of Castro on Friday night.

"Indonesia prays for the family, the government and the people of Cuba to be given strength on the passing away of the honorable Fidel Castro, the ministrys spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir said in a statement on Sunday as quoted by kompas.com. (evi)
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Linkedin Jo He-rim (The Korea Herald/ANN) Seoul  Sun, November 27, 2016

Some 70 professors from Seoul National University joined the rally on Saturday calling for President Park Geun-hye to step down. This was the first time that the university professors as a group participated in any kind of protest since the massive democratic uprising in 1960.

All the professors have been taking part in the previous protests individually. This time, we decided to bring a stronger voice as a group, Professor Yoo Yong-tae from the university told The Korea Herald.

Yoo, who came with his wife, said he was ashamed to face students in classrooms. Many of the people involved in the scandal are or were professors. Most of those holding the government positions will come back to university when they finish their jobs there, and it makes me angry.

Professors for Democracy, among other groups, also came out to denounce the president who is accused of allowing her long-time friend to meddle in state affairs.

President Park should resign immediately and the ruling Saenuri Party should also back down, Seoul National University professor Choi Gap-soo said in his public speech in front of Jongno Tower. He vowed to give up on his vacation time and fight against the scandal.

The professors gathered there at 3 pm before joining the main candlelight vigil in the Gwanghwamun Square later in the evening.

Park Geun-hye used a secrete secretariat (to run the country) and has created a panic. If Park wants things to return as normal, she must step down and receive the peoples judgment, said Yang Hae-rim, a philosophy professor from Chungnam National University.

Recently Ewha Womans University President Choe Kyeong-hee resigned after she was accused of giving Chung Yoo-ra, daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the presidents long veiled confidante at the centre of the scandal, special treatment in the admissions process and for academic grades.

Yoo went on to criticise the recently-sealed military intelligence sharing agreement between Korea and Japan.

The Park government has no authority to handle diplomatic issues now. It was an absurd agreement, he said.

Many professors attending the rally also voiced their opposition against the state-designated history textbooks. The government was harshly hit by the public when they announced to publish history textbooks compiled by the state a year ago but pushed on with the project. A preliminary version of the books are to be released Monday.

The (state) textbooks should be discarded right away. It is only deceiving the growing youth of the country, Professor Yang of Chungnam National University said.

Yoo also echoed disagreement. The history textbooks are not something that the country can force on its citizens.

On November 7, 728 professors from Seoul National University released their official denunciation statement  the largest number of professors to do so from one university.

Professor Kim Young from Inha University in Incheon claimed that universities nowadays have become a subcontract factory under the current administration.

Productivity and quantity is more emphasised in our research and we are losing the core value of education. We should cut out the old practices and start anew, first by pushing Park out of office, Kim said.

After the professors group finished their speeches on state affairs, they marched a couple of hundred metres to Gwanghwamun Square where the main rally was being held. Citizens and students followed the group shouting. Park step down!

As of Sunday, some 2,330 professors signed in the denunciation statement and more are set to join, according to Professors for Democracy.
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 27, 2016

Police claim nine of the people they arrested during a massive Nov. 4 rally in Jakarta have links to the militant Islamic State (IS) group.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar claimed the nine were believed to have involved themselves in the rally to make it descent into chaos.

They intended to grab police guns during the rally, but failed since the officers were not equipped with guns, Boy said on Saturday as reported by kompas.com.

The rally in front of the State Palace in Jakarta, during which protesters demanded the government to prosecute Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama for blasphemy, ended in violence when two police cars were set on fire.

Boy said the nine people were identified as Saulihun alias Abu Musaibah, Alwandi alias Aseng, Reno Suharsono, Dimas Adi Syahputra, Wahyu Widada, Ibnu Aji Maulana, Fuad alias Abu Ibrohim, Zubair and Agus Setiawan.

Saulihun had reportedly been active in recruiting Indonesians to join IS in Syria, while Reno allegedly picked up those who returned from the conflict area in the Middle East.

The remaining seven members were allegedly involved in training volunteers who wanted to join the group, Boy claimed. (jun)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, November 27, 2016

A search and rescue team looking for a Bell-412 EP helicopter belonging to the Indonesian Army faced bad weather in Nasanrang village in Mentarang Hulu district in Malinau regency, North Kalimantan, on Sunday.

A spokesperson for the Malinau Disaster Mitigation Agency, Elisa, said the team set up a search post in Long Sulit village, which was considered close to the search target.

The helicopter was carrying supplies for a border security team in Tanjung Karya in Long Bawan village, Krayan district, Nunukan regency on Nov. 24.

Elisa said, as quoted by Antara news agency, that to reach the probable accident site, the team had to use rappelling techniques because the chopper was presumed to have fallen into a ravine. The dense jungle surrounding the site posed another challenge, he said. (evi)
WASHINGTON  President-elect Donald Trump's proposals would modestly cut income taxes for most middle-class Americans. But for nearly 8 million families  including a majority of single-parent households  the opposite would occur: They'd pay more.

Most married couples with three or more children would also pay higher taxes, an analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center found. And while middle-class families as a whole would receive tax cuts of about 2 percent, they'd be dwarfed by the windfalls averaging 13.5 percent for America's richest 1 percent.

Trump's campaign rhetoric had promoted the benefits of his proposals for middle-income Americans.

"The largest tax reductions are for the middle class," said Trump's "Contract With the American Voter," released last month.

The tax hikes that would hit single parents and large families would result from Trump's plan to eliminate the personal exemption and the head-of-household filing status. These features of the tax code have enabled many Americans to reduce their taxable income.

His other proposed tax changes would benefit middle- and lower-income Americans. But they wouldn't be enough to offset those modifications.

"If you're a low- or moderate-income single parent, you're going to get hurt," said Bob Williams, a fellow at the Tax Policy Center.

Unlike Trump's polarizing proposals on immigration and trade, his tax plan is in line with traditional Republican policy. His steep tax cuts in many ways resemble those carried out by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, and the Republican-run Congress is expected to welcome them.

During the campaign, Trump said his tax cuts  for individuals and companies  would energize the economy by boosting business investment in factories and equipment, while leaving consumers with more cash to spend. His proposals, he contended, would help create 25 million jobs over the next decade.

But Lily Batchelder, a visiting fellow at the Tax Policy Center and former deputy director of President Barack Obama's National Economic Council, estimates that roughly 7.9 million families with children would pay higher taxes under his proposals. About 5.8 million are led by single parents. An additional 2.1 million are married couples.

Other analysts, including economists at the conservative Tax Foundation and right-of-center American Enterprise Institute, have agreed with Batchelder's conclusions.

Here's what her analysis finds:

Right now, a single parent with $75,000 in income and two children can claim a head of household deduction of $9,300, plus three personal exemptions. Those steps would reduce the household's taxable income by $21,450, to $53,550.

Trump's plan would more than double the standard deduction to $15,000. But that change would be outweighed by his elimination of personal exemptions and head-of-household status. So the family's taxable income would be $60,000, and their tax bill would be $2,440 more than it is now.

A married couple with four children and income of $50,000 would absorb a tax increase of $1,090 because of their loss of personal exemptions.

Trump's advisers deny that he will raise taxes on middle-income Americans. Stephen Miller, his top policy adviser, said Trump would provide tax-free child care savings accounts and other provisions to enable some families to reduce taxes.

But Batchelder's analysis found that those provisions wouldn't be enough to offset the plan's other elements that would increase taxes for some middle income households.

More broadly, Miller said Trump would instruct Congress to avoid raising taxes on those families.

"We will cut taxes massively for the middle class and working class," Miller said.

Kelly Rodriguez, 47, who lives in Tampa, Florida, voted for Trump and is a single mother who claims two of her four children as dependents. (Her ex-husband claims the other two.) She made roughly $90,000 last year, including alimony payments. Her taxes would likely rise under Trump's plan, according to Batchelder's analysis.

"I would want him to explain that to me," she said. "Taxes have to make sense to the people paying them."
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Linkedin (Eleven Media Group/ANN) Yangon  Sun, November 27, 2016

The first hearing of the case involving Eleven Media Groups CEO Than Htut Aung and Chief Editor Wai Phyo versus the Yangon regional government took place at the Tamwe Township court on November 25.

The first ever trial in the case of Eleven Media Groups (EMG's) CEO Dr Than Htut Aung and Chief Editor Wai Phyo versus the Yangon Region Government began on November 25 at the Tamwe Township court.

The duo, detained without being allowed bail under section 66(d), submitted an appeal for bail through lawyers: Kyee Myint, Kyaw Lin, Soe Tint Yi, Kyaw Soe Moe and Moe Hein.

The presiding judge Kay Thi Hlaing will decide whether the bail will be allowed on November 30.

The lawyers argued that while the defendants were not allowed bail, there was nowhere in the law that explicitly stated that bail cannot be granted, especially since it was for health reasons.

They added that EMG had also paid over 2,200 million kyat in taxes as well as that both CEO and the chief editor have won numerous prestigious journalism awards, making them honourable citizens in good standing with the law.

They stated that since the maximum sentence is three years, it is supported by other laws to allow bail, and that the defendants are ready to provide any bail amount requested by the court.

Today I have the authority to speak and the number one thing today is that this is the first trial and charges are under 66(d). We submitted with plenty of evidence that 66(d), in fact, allows bail. Maung Maung Nyan Win from Pyay was allowed bail from 66(d) due to section 499 of the penal code. It is the same for the owner of Kawe Journal in Bago. When it comes to Dr Than Htut Aung, he is someone who has already been allowed absence from trials by the Pobbathiri court for health reasons and the same should be done here. We also submitted the doctors reports. The court will decide on it on November 30 and how the case will then proceed depending on the plaintiffs side. This is all I can say today, said lawyer Kyee Myint.

CEO Than Htut Aung and Chief Editor Wai Phyo were charged under section 66 (d) of Telecommunications Law by Yangon Chief Minister Phyo Min Thein over an editorial article 'A year after the Nov 8 polls' written by the CEO at the Tamwe Township Police Station on November 9.

On November 5, the article was featured on Asia News Network, a website managed by the 22 media outlets from 21 countries, including Myanmar. The article was thereafter featured again on The Daily Eleven Newspaper issued on November 6.

Also mentioned in the article, though not completely explicit, was an accusation of corruption over an expensive Patek Phillippe watch.

Regarding the November 6 article, the Yangon Region Government Committee sent a letter on November 7 in response to two questions. The letter sought a clarification regarding the published article.

In the afternoon of November 9, the Yangon Region Government Committee held a press conference regarding the watch in question and stated that he will be suing.

Later, police from the Tamwe Police Station arrived at the Office of Eleven Media Group at the night of November 9 and presented a summon.

The Yangon Region Government Committee not only took legal action against EMGs article but also registered a complaint with the Myanmar Press Council. However, the Council was unable to intervene, as the lawsuit that was filed snagged with section 37 of the Media law.

The Myanmar Press Council replied on November 10 that only after the current lawsuit is cancelled, it can take action.

Chief Editor Wai Phyo was awarded the 2011 Press Freedom Prize by the Reporters without Borders (RSF).

CEO Than Htut Aug was awarded the 2013 Golden Pen award from WAN-IFRA, an international organisation based in Paris, France, comprising newspaper owners and distributers across the globe.

Ever since both the top chiefs of EMG were detained, organisations, such as the WAN-IFRA, RSF, Amnesty International, Committee to Protect Journalists and Asia News Network have requested dropping all charges filed against CEO Than Htut Aung and Chief Editor Wai Phyo.
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Linkedin Pinaki Roy and Mohammad Ali Jinnat (The Daily Star/ANN) Cox's Bazar  Sun, November 27, 2016

Three brothers  Omar Farukh, Omar Khayer and Omar Sadeque  were still in school uniform which had the logo of their school in Myanmar. The white shirts of the boys, aged between 8 and 10, became quite dirty as they had been wearing them for over a week.

On Friday night, they along with their mother, Shamsunnahar, 34, and three younger siblings reached the Nazirartek dry fish processing zone in Cox's Bazar town.

Their father, Hossain Ahmed, a farmer from Bar Gazobil village in Myanmar, has been missing since the Myanmar police arrested him two weeks ago.

We crossed the Naf river on Thursday morning and reached the fisheries project area near Rongikhali. There, BGB men stopped us and gave us food. Later that evening, they sent us back in our boat, said Shamsunnahar.

However, they returned and managed to reach the unregistered Rohingya camp at Leda in Teknaf. Later, they went to Nazirartek where Shamsunnahar's mother Rahima Khatun has been living for the last eight years.

Four of my children used to go to school. Now, I will have to work here just to survive, Shamsunnahar told The Daily Star in front of her mother's rented house.

The rent for an eight feet by six feet hut in Nazirartek is only 400 taka ($5) and many of the Rohingyas who are crossing into Bangladesh from Myanmar have been living in the area.

Many Myanmar citizens, like Mariam Khatun, Fatema Begum, Khaleda Begum and Khurshida Begum, who have taken shelter there, are working as day labourers.

On the other hand, many were getting into different slums in Cox's Bazar town, Chittagong, Bandarban and other districts, due to the absence of proper monitoring.

Contacted, Ali Hossain, deputy commissioner of Cox's Bazar, claimed that different government intelligence agencies and law enforcers were monitoring the matter.

But still many of them (Rohingyas) are spreading to different places because they have relatives who have been living in Bangladesh for many years. Those relatives are helping them, he said.

However, Abu Morshed Chowdhury Khoka, president of Cox's Bazar Civil Society, a platform of citizens in the district, claimed that the spreading of Rohingyas to different places in Bangladesh would have a negative impact on the society. They (Rohingyas) are getting involved in crimes. he said.

It is necessary to keep all the Rohingyas at one place with the help of the UNHCR, said Khoka. He urged the government to take necessary steps in this regard.

However, the Rohingyas were still coming into Bangladesh through the Naf river despite increased vigilance by law enforcers.

Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) said they had to send back four boats full of Rohingyas on Saturday in the river.

Meanwhile, a five-month-old child died of cold-related disease early Saturday at the unregistered Rohingya camp at Leda in Teknaf. He along with family had reached the camp on Friday evening hours after crossing into Bangladesh.

He was having severe cold and cough, said Nur Begum, his mother.

Nur Begum said they came to the Leda camp on Friday along with 40 other Myanmar citizens.

Panic in Rakhine Village

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The Rakhine people in Teknaf have been living in panic since the Rohingyas started to cross into Bangladesh recently.

It is very natural that we are scared. Situation is bad in Myanmar. The wind may start blowing towards us here in Bangladesh, said Ching Cho Aung, president of New Chang Prue Keyang in Hnila Chowdhury Para in Teknaf.

However, the government has been taking initiatives to protect them from any untoward situation.

Every night, police are patrolling our village. The police have been deployed at the entrance of our village, he said.

Only 120 Rakhine families are living in Hnila Chowdhury Para which is just three kilometres off the Leda Rohingya camp.

Home Minister on Rohingyas

Rohingyas are coming to Bangladesh crossing the Naf river though the country is overburdened by them, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said on Saturday.

He was addressing a programme as chief guest in Naogaon, reports our correspondent in Dinajpur.

Later, Asaduzzaman told reporters that the Rohingyas were coming in despite the BGB working round-the-clock on the border to stop them. On the other hand, the government is also taking care of the Rohingyas and they are getting all kinds of support, including medical treatment, he added.

BNP on Rohingyas

The BNP on Saturday urged the government to stand beside the oppressed and displaced Rohingyas of Myanmar, reports our correspondent.

Every day we see news that Rohingya people are being brutally tortured and burnt to death in Myanmar. Though Bangladesh's 90 per cent population is Muslims, its government is least bother about it, senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said at a discussion at the party's Nayapaltan central office in the capital.

'I Dont Want to Die'

For heavily-pregnant Siru Bibu, who fled by boat with four children after her husband and other relatives were allegedly killed by an army operation, the situation that has greeted them was dire.

"If it goes on for another week, my children will starve," said Siru at the unregistered Rohingya camp at Teknaf.

"Anyone trying to help us is warned or being arrested. As a result, the newly arrived refugees are living in fear," a camp elder told AFP, requesting anonymity.

"The police have arrested some of our neighbours and we heard that they were sent back across the border," said Yasmin Akhter, a 25-year-old mother, who was only able to bring two of her six children to Bangladesh.

"I hope they won't do it to us... I don't want to die."
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Manila  Sun, November 27, 2016

Philippine troops backed by aircraft have assaulted local sympathizers of the Islamic State group, including dozens of militants who took cover in an unoccupied Islamic school in the country's south, military officials said.

Troops launched an assault on the Maute group militants in Butig on Thursday following intelligence reports that they were continuing to make explosives after being blamed for a Sept. 2 bomb attack that killed 15 people in southern Davao city, President Rodrigo Duterte's hometown, military spokesman Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said on Saturday.

Troops were also searching for two militant leaders, brothers Omarkhayam and Abdullah Maute.

Amid the military offensive, about 40 militants took cover in a madrassa  a Muslim school  in Butig's Bayabao village. Air force helicopters fired rockets and troops clashed with the militants in fighting that wounded two soldiers and killed or injured an undetermined number of guerrillas, military officials said.

The madrassa lies about a kilometer (half a mile) from the Butig town hall, which has been secured by government forces, officials said. More than 1,000 villagers fled in the predominantly Muslim region about 840 kilometers (520 miles) south of Manila.

The Maute militants initially were affiliated with an Indonesian terrorist suspect known only as Sanusi, who was killed in southern Marawi city, near Butig, in 2012. They later used black flags and arm and head bands with IS symbols in an attempt to capture the attention of the Middle East-based extremist group and possibly secure funding, military officials said.

The loosely organized group has more than 200 members with about 70 firearms, according to a government threat-assessment report.

The larger and main Muslim rebel group in the south, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, has a large camp in the hinterlands of Butig, but the insurgents, who signed a peace deal with the government in 2014, were not supporting the Maute militants, Padilla said.

In March, the military launched a major offensive involving about 2,000 military personnel that killed 24 Maute militants and six soldiers and wounded dozens of other combatants in Butig in Lanao del Sur province.
Time and again, Terry Taylor's parole officers in Texas ask him why they're still supervising a man who has steered clear of trouble since he stabbed his former lover to death in Lincoln more than 30 years ago.

Taylor, 53, killed Ben DeBaets Jr. on Dec. 21, 1984, and has been on parole for 20 years now.

And unless the Nebraska Board of Pardons grants his request for a commutation on Dec. 1, he'll likely be subject to state supervision until his dying breath.

Taylor hopes the Pardons Board sees in him what the Nebraska Board of Parole did in 1996, he said.

Inside prison and out, Taylor said, he has seized opportunities to prove himself and follow the guidance a judge gave him at sentencing.

"You have to prove yourself if you ever want to get out," he recalls Lancaster County District Judge Jeffre Cheuvront telling him.

Ive tried to put the past behind me and move on and live my life without being thought of as just a murderer, Taylor said in a phone interview from Houston. I think a person is much more than that.

Taylor met DeBaets, an 18-year-old Elm Creek native, in summer 1984, according to newspaper records. DeBaets was working at the Lincoln airport and planned to attend UNL, according to newspaper accounts.

The two became friends, then lovers, before moving in together that September. The relationship ended two months later, but they remained roommates.

Then, about 3 o'clock the morning of Dec. 21, Taylor called a friend from a restaurant downtown asking for a ride to the hospital, saying DeBaets had stabbed him in the hand with a knife.

But the friend called 911, and a detective took Taylor to the hospital, where he said DeBaets stabbed him after they argued over $400 DeBaets owed him, according to newspaper records. He said he hit DeBaets, who then left the apartment near 17th and J streets.

Police put out a broadcast for DeBaets, but later that day a third roommate found blood stains in the apartment and then found DeBaets' body in the trunk of his car in the parking lot. Police said he'd been stabbed 51 times.

Taylor fled to his mother's house in Wisconsin, where police arrested him the next day.

Prosecutors charged him with first-degree murder, and he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in August 1985.

At sentencing that November, Taylor told Cheuvront that anger over being rejected by DeBaets led to the killing, according to newspaper accounts.

"I take full responsibility," he told the judge. "At times, I wish I could take his place."

Taylor spent most of his decade in prison at Lincoln Correctional Center. Of the 12 men who lived in what they called the Lifer's Wing, eight were young and serving life sentences for second-degree murder, he said.

Taylor, who had been a sophomore at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said he decided he wouldn't allow his incarceration to simply become day care.

In addition to working prison jobs, he said, he took nearly every class Southeast Community College offered at the prison and eventually completed an associate's degree in business administration and marketing.

He later was transferred to the Omaha Correctional Center, where he got a certificate in microcomputer technology from Metropolitan Community College.

"You've gone beyond what you're expected to do," Nebraska Parole Board member Marlene Cupp told him when the board voted 4-1 to release him in 1996.

Taylor moved to Texas, where his father lived, and has held IT jobs since, working as a self-employed consultant since 2001, he said.

He also has started businesses in real estate, gold-buying and the energy sector, is a real estate mentor and has been in a stable relationship for 20 years, he said.

"I don't think I'm the same person," said Taylor, who continues to receive the same kind of psychological counseling he had while he was in prison.

In 1984, he said, he was emotionally disturbed, depressed and struggling. Prison forced him to grow up.

Taylor contends his clean record on parole shows he's not a threat to society and adds that his crime was one of passion, on a "dark night" in his life.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, Attorney General Doug Peterson and Secretary of State John Gale, meeting as the Pardons Board, will hear his case at the Capitol at 1 p.m. on Dec. 1. If they elect to commute his sentence to a definite term of years, it could end his parole.

Taylor said he doesn't believe he can achieve redemption for killing DeBaets, but he must go on.

"You can only show what kind of person you are," he said. "I feel really bad about hurting somebody I loved.

"And unfortunately theres nothing I can do to make it up."

DeBaets' sisters, Sherry Bott and Cathy Headlee, say they hate what Taylor did to their brother, but they don't hate Taylor and they wouldn't oppose a decision to end his parole if he's shown that he is a productive member of society.

"... we don't have any ill will towards Terry," said Bott. "Weve come to terms with our brothers death.

"To go on living, youve got to get to that point."
Lincoln police have arrested a 42-year-old woman after they say she stabbed a man Saturday at a homeless camp along Salt Creek in north Lincoln.

The man, Richard Farber, 45, suffered a life-threatening chest wound. Police said Sunday they arrested Ealene Quarles, 42, for first-degree assault and use of a deadly weapon to commit a felony.

Police got a call around 8 p.m. Saturday from the Kwik Shop at 23rd Street and Cornhusker Highway.

Someone who wasn't the victim ran there for help after the stabbing, said Lincoln Police Sgt. Derek Dittman. That person suffered a minor injury and was taken to police headquarters for questioning.

The stabbing happened about 100 yards north, along a tree line where homeless people stay, Dittman said. The victim was found between the tree line and the convenience store. Rescue workers took him to Bryan West Hospital.

Dittman said investigators didn't yet know what was used to stab the man.

Lee Carr, a night shift supervisor at the People's City Mission, said Farber hasn't been to the mission in three or four weeks but used to use their services from time to time -- sometimes with his son.

He and Farber sometimes talked about cars, one of Farber's interests, and Carr said he's never had any problems with Farber.

"Like many of our guests, he has struggles and personal issues he doesn't always know how to deal with," Carr said, "but he's a pretty down-to-earth, good guy. He's just had some bad luck with life. "

Carr said he has seen Farber and Quarles together a lot, but is unsure of their relationship.

Farber remained in critical condition Sunday evening.
Phuket Expat Finance: Trump  the economic pros and cons

From the time Donald Trump announced his candidacy, no one in the media or the general public really took him seriously. After all, that speech on the escalator at Trump Tower insulted immigrants in general, and Mexican immigrants specifically. Surely, such a person could never get elected to the most powerful job in the world?

economics

By Phuket Expat Finance

Sunday 27 November 2016, 02:00PM

What the fallout will be from US President-elect Donald Trumps economic policies is anyones guess. Photo: AFP

We all know the answer to that question, and the man known as The Donald now goes by the moniker President-Elect Trump.

Regardless of your political affiliation (or nationality), this regime change at the White House will affect you. Like it or not, major events in America tend to affect the global markets, as well as the world economy. So what are the possible economic ramifications of a Trump presidency?

TAXATION

Donald Trump (and most Republicans, for that matter) are proponents of Supply Side Economics  the theory that states when taxes on the wealthy are too high it curtails hiring, but if those taxes are cut the money magically trickles down to the rest of the economy.

In 1980, then candidate George H. W. Bush coined the phrase Voodoo Economics for this now fully discredited school of thought. When taxes are cut on the wealthy, the money simply never trickles down. This is not a political opinion, but an economic fact.

If the CEO of Wal-Mart or Apple were forced to pay a top personal tax rate of 50 per cent, or even 60%, would it impact the hiring decisions at those companies? No. In fact, during the period when Americas middle class was born (1930s-1960s) the top tax rate ranged between 74% and 91% and the economy thrived.

The enduring legacy of those tax cuts is the $20-trillion US National Debt (which was less than US$1 trillion when Reagan took office in 1981). Donald Trumps platform contains more tax cuts, so expect the debt to rise, but dont expect any of that money to trickle down

SPENDING

Donald Trump has proposed massive infrastructure spending to repair Americas roads and bridges, the maintenance of which have largely been ignored for years.

If Trump is successful at passing some kind of infrastructure program, it would likely be a big league success. After all, the federal government has already claimed a number of similar success stories in its history.

Roosevelts New Deal included massive infrastructure spending in the 1930s; government spending on WWII in the 1940s was another shot in the arm to the economy; and Eisenhowers federal highway system carried the policy of federal government-funded public works projects into the 1950s.

Back then, however, there was the aforementioned 91% top tax rates to help fund these endeavours. Infrastructure spending, combined with significant tax cuts, would further balloon the debt.

GLOBAL TRADE

It is common practice for presidential candidates to talk tough on trade, and Trump was no exception.

He vowed to build a wall on the border with Mexico (and make Mexico pay for it); bring China before the WTO for currency manipulation; renegotiate NAFTA; tear up the TPP; and improve relations with Vladimir Putin and Russia.

Trade Wars have never ended well for either side, the most famous example being the Smoot-Hawley Tariffs, signed into law by Herbert Hoover in June, 1930. In the words of former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke: Economists still agree that Smoot-Hawley and the ensuing tariff wars were highly counterproductive and contributed to the depth and length of the global Depression.

Tough talk by past candidates have come to naught once they took office; let us hope the same is true with Trump.

EQUITY MARKETS

Anyone who only looks at daily closing prices might think that equity markets responded well to his election, but as returns began pointing to a Trump victory, the S&P 500 Index futures were trading down as much as -5%, and Asian markets (open for business at the time) were in a tailspin.

Conciliatory words in his acceptance speech stabilized stock markets, but it was the uncertainty of what President Trump might bring which sent shares reeling.

There are many more speeches to come, but there will also be policies and actions. As he is not a conventional politician, what exactly a Trump Presidency might bring is still uncertain.

If there are no real surprises, then there is no reason to believe that the initial reaction of the futures markets will repeat itself. Any actions that spook the markets, however, will see investors punished.

COMMODITIES AND CURRENCIES

As much as equities dislike uncertainty, precious metals love chaos. As equity and futures markets around the world were plunging on November 8th, gold and silver were soaring.

Again, the moderate voice at the podium that night saw everything move in the other direction, but any trade war, international incident, economic crisis, stock market crash, etc. would be good news for metals.

Likewise, because uncertainty usually results in a flight to safety into US Treasuries, any of the above would normally be accompanied by a strengthening US dollar.

However things play out, the new Presidents policies will have a profound impact on the economies of every country in the world.

For more information and expert advice about investing in stock markets, email Phuket Expat Finance at chatwithus@phuketexpatfinance.com
Phuket Opinion: What goes around, comes around

PHUKET: The gathering of sea gypsies at Rawai Beach last Sunday (Nov 20) brought forward a rare moment of honesty among officials in Phuket, albeit by a lone admission that they simply did not know enough about issues the islands indigenous people were facing.

opinion

By The Phuket News

Sunday 27 November 2016, 10:00AM

Phuket Vice Governor Snith Sriwihok observes the modest Balai Shrine near the sea gypsy village in Rawai. Photo: PR Dept

The bare fact that Phuket Vice Governor Snith Sriwihok was honest enough to say that he was there only to learn, not offer his opinion, and he was to report what the sea gypsies had to say to Phuket Governor Chockchai Dejamornthan speaks greatly of both men. Rarely does Phuket witness such an admission from high-ranking officials, even about such a topic that has gained headlines around the world.

And to be truthful, it is not their fault. The annual transfers of Governors and other high-ranking officials around the country each October is aimed at ensuring that no high-ranking provincial officials are in one province long enough that they are effectively left to their own devices to develop their network of contacts, business or otherwise.

The downside side is that each October a new Governor lands in Phuket, along with new Vice Governors, who all very likely have no idea of the range of issues at play on the island, or the long history behind them. They simply do not know enough to come up with any sensible solution.

This is not to excuse them from attempting to resolve problems once they learn about them, but at least they are learning about the problems before forcing a solution that no-one wanted.

The same system of annual transfers is claimed to be used by the Royal Thai Police, but a little further investigation reveals that is not really the case. At least with Phuket, they rarely venture far from this profiteering isle  and if they do leave, they soon return.

Phuket native policeman Maj gen Chalit Tintanee, years ago promoted from Chalong Police Deputy to Superintendent to cheers from a mob of locals gathered outside the police station, was moved to Phuket Town Police then to Tukuapa District, which includes Khao Lak, then to head Phang Nga Provincial Police Chief. He is now back on the island as Region 8 Police Deputy Commander.

The list of Phuket police transferring out only to return again goes on and on.

Col Aroon Kaewwatee, who was once chief of the Thung Thong Police (now called Kathu Police), was moved to Phang Nga to serve as Takua Pa Police Chief, and is now back on the island as Deputy Commander of Investigation of the Region 8 Police.

Likewise, former Chalong Police Chief Col Krittapas Dechintarasorn was promoted to Superintendent of Takua Pa Police in his last transfer out of Phuket, while former Patong Police Chief Col Jirapat Pochanapan was promoted to Superintendent of Phang Nga Town Police.

Even Maj Gen Decha Budnampeth, who 10 years ago served as a Provincial Police Deputy Commander in Phuket, likewise moved to Phang Nga and then returned to Phuket to become the first Commander of the Region 8 Police headquarters  which used to be based in Surat Thani, but made the B169-million move to occupy its 185-rai site in Mai Khao because Phuket is a very busy tourism island.

How effective this has been for the police is a matter of public opinion.

But all this leads to one simple question: Whats worse? Keeping people in Phuket long enough that they might exploit their positions of power, or keep shifting them so they have little experience with the issues to be resolved, and likely wont be around to be held accountable for them after theyre long gone?

Looking at the effectiveness of the examples above, your guess is as good as ours.
Russians on the rise 1.15mn tourists from Russia forecast for 2016, up 31%

Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul has sounded an updated forecast on Russian arrivals to The Land of Smiles in 2016. In a recent interview for Russian TASS agency, Ms Kobkarn said that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) expects 31-per-cent growth year-on-year in arrivals.

tourismRussianeconomics

By Anton Makhrov

Sunday 27 November 2016, 11:00AM

The Russians are back, and the figures are looking good. Photo: The Phuket News

As for the forecasts, there is every reason to believe that by the years end tourist flow from Russia will reach 1.15 million visitors. Year-on-year growth is expected to exceed 31%, Minister Kobkarn told TASS.

Earlier this year the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) forecasted about one million Russian arrivals to the Kingdom in 2016, up 13% from last year.

Arrivals from most of other countries are also showing growth, but in the Russian market it turned out to be the most significant. We appreciate it. Russians are not only coming back, they are discovering new destinations for themselves, she added.

Talking about new trends in the Russian market, Ms Kobkarn pointed out an ongoing change in geographical preferences. According to Ms Kobkarn, the vector of interest has shifted from Pattaya towards the Southern provinces, with Phuket being one of the destinations of high demand.

Russians love beaches. Previously, Pattaya used to be the main destination for them. Now they are discovering the Southern provinces for themselves. Thus Phuket is highly popular, after visiting which, maybe, many would love to go to Krabi province, Ms Kobkarn said.

Russian arrivals to Thailand breached the one-million mark for the first time in 2011 and totalled 1.32mn in 2012. The historical maximum was reached in 2013 when Thailand welcomed over 1.74mn visitors from Russia. Since then arrivals had been on the decline, until the recovery began in February this year.

Last week, Russian Association of Tour Operators (ATOR) reported that Thailand lists high among the most popular New Year destinations for Russian tourists benefiting from zero competition from Egypt, flights to which were banned by the Russian government last year.

ATORs members include Russian tourism powerhouses Biblio Globus, Coral Travel, Intourist, Natalie Tours, Pegas Touristik and TUI Travel.

In recent years Egypt used to be number one on the list of the so-called winter sun destinations. Thus now the list is topped by destinations that can offer a relative alternative to Egypt, said ATOR Executive Director Maya Lomidze.
Vintage biplanes on cross-Africa trek land in Khartoum

SUDAN: A dozen biplanes taking part in a vintage air rally bound for Cape Town arrived in Sudans capital last weekend, with one participant walking away from a bad landing.

accidentstransport

By AFP

Sunday 27 November 2016, 02:00PM

People look at q vintage Boeing-Stearman Model 75 biplane as it sits on the runway at Khartoum airport during the Vintage Air Rally (VAR). Photo: Jiji/AFP

The aircraft dating from the 1920s and 1930s took off on November 12 from the Greek island of Crete on their 13,000 kilometre journey to Cape Town.

It is the largest group of vintage biplanes to attempt the journey across Africa, with teams from a dozen countries including Britain, Canada, France, Germany, South Africa and the United States.

British pilot Maurice Kirk, 72, known as the Flying Vet, walked away from a hard landing in his Piper Cub at Khartoum airport, organisers said.

He had only joined the rally early last Sunday, despite his Piper Cub not being a vintage biplane, and his plane had to be towed off the runway after the mishap.

He had a bad landing. His plane is little bit scratched, but he is absolutely fine, Vintage Air Rally spokesman Jeremy Martin said.

He missed the rally in Greece and Egypt... Today was the first day he had joined us.

Kirk has experienced several mishaps in the past, including in 2008 when he crashed in the Caribbean.

He was rescued then by US coastguards, and to express his gratitude he later dropped in on the Texas ranch of former US president George Bush.

Hes an adventurer... his plane needs a bit of repairing now, Martin said.

The vintage aircraft joined an air show in Khartoum on Monday (Nov 21), and after Sudan they flew to Ethiopia and other African states before the rally ends on December 17 in Cape Town.

Last week the biplanes became the first group of aircraft allowed to land at Egypts Giza pyramids in 80 years.
Wastewater streams onto Phukets Surin Beach

PHUKET: Officials this week vowed to take quick action to rectify a growing pool rancid, black wastewater from continuing to spill onto Surin Beach.

tourismenvironmentnatural-resourcespollution

By Yutthawat Lekmak

Sunday 27 November 2016, 09:00AM

Phuket Governor Chockchai Dejamornthan has vowed to personally look into the rancid wastewater spilling onto Surin Beach. Photo: Yutthawat Lekmak

The sepid wastewater was spotted by beach-goers last Wednesday (Nov 16), and reported to The Phuket News.

We will use a backhoe to fix that problem soon, MaAnn Samran, Chief of the Cherng Talay Tambon Administration Organisation (OrBorTor), told The Phuket News reporters he called to his office to respond in person to the issue.

Mr MaAnn did not elaborate on how a backhoe would stem the flow of wastewater onto beach.

He did, however, confirm that the B320-million project initiated in 2012 to expand the sewage system in the area and install a wastewater-treatment plant had yet to come onstream.

The project is about 80 per cent complete, we are now only waiting for the Phuket Governor to sign approval for Phase II of the project, he said.

As promised in January, Mr MaAnn confirmed that Cherng Talay OrBorTor trucks were pumping wastewater from Surin and Bang Tao beaches every day at 10am, 1pm and 2pm.

This is only a temporary measure. The wastewater will go through filtation treatment adn will be stored at a treatment plant until were ready to treat it fully and release it elsewhere, he said.

Chief MaAnn explained that Phase II of the sewage-system upgrade had been already approved by the Department of Environment Quality Promotion (DEQP).

We have already sent the relevant documents to the Phuket Governor to sign his approval so we can go ahead with the rest of this project, he said.

In the meantime, I have asked local officials, residents and business operators to help us keep drains free from rubbish. Please do not dump wastewater into the canal, he added.

Phuket Governor Chockchai Dejamornthan told The Phuket News on Wednesday (Nov 23) that improving the quality of the water at Phukets beaches was among his top priorities and that he would be looking into the issue personally.

Wastewater at Phukets beaches is on my list of issues that need to be resolved. My team will investigate and follow up on water quality this month, he said.

This issue is being tackled now, but first we need to check the Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) in the water then we will coordinate with local administration organisations in each area to let them know what needs to be done next, he added.

Affirming his personal role ni improving beach water in Phuket, Gov Chockchai said, Anything that happens on Phukets beaches or to our water sources that affects water quality, I must know. I will follow up on all information from officialss taking care of this issue.

Gov Chockchais promise might be music to local resident Darapron Sandeenasiris ears. She told The Phuket News that many people had complained to the Cherng Talay OrBorTor about wastewater being pumped onto Surin Beach over the past two years.

The issue has not yet been resolved despite the president of the OrBorTor telling residents that there is an ongoing project to solve the problem, she said.

I want to know whether the OrBorTor is really doing the project, or whether they just said they were as a way of addressing unrelenting complaints from local residents and business operators.
A crowd of roughly 300 people huddled near the north steps of the State Capitol Sunday morning.

They held cardboard signs with political slogans like, Im still with her, Not my president and Love trumps Hate.

The crowd stood below a passage where an inscription read: The salvation of the state is watchfulness of the citizen.

The message that we want to send, said event organizer Josiah Johnson, is epitomized in this passage engraved on the Capitol behind me.

The event was an opportunity for people to peacefully protest the election of Donald Trump and the Electoral College. This is the first of several protests, including one planned for Dec. 11, leading up to a final one on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20.

People spoke Sunday about immigration policy, lessons from the Holocaust, the Black Lives Matter movement and other topics.

Johnson said the gathering isnt about whining or being sore losers.

On Nov. 8, Americans went to their precincts and were faced with the choice between experience and immaturity, tolerance and hate, science and conspiracy, and simply put in many ways, right and wrong, he said. And voters chose right, he said, citing Hillary Clintons nearly 2 million popular vote lead.

After her sexual assault and rape, Chelsea Dappen said she prepared herself for going back to the campus where she was assaulted and being around people who didnt believe her.

I never thought Id have to prepare myself for the day that my PTSD would be triggered by a presidential candidate, she said.

She said it's important to call out Trumps past statements about women to ensure assault survivors dont feel re-traumatized.

My fear is that all the predatory men who are watching this (election) unfold will feel validated in their actions and behave in more daring manners, she said.

Aramara Quintos Tapis, a Lincoln Each High School student, held a sign that read, Im Trumps biggest fear -- an educated Mexican girl.

She says the disrespectful ways Trump referred to Mexicans and women during his campaign means she cant respect him, despite his election.

Across the street from the gathering, Jack Pietenpol, a 56-year-old retired Marine, held a Trump, Pence yard sign.

He said he came to protest the event because he wants people to know that not all Trump supporters fit the label of racists, bigots, homophobes, xenophobes, etc.

He said Trump wasnt his first choice in the Republican primary, but he supported him more because of Clintons role in Benghazi.

"Our four Americans came back from Libya and Hillary Clinton told their parents what she wanted to tell them about how they died, he said.
What to know about the Noem rallies in Sioux Falls Wednesday
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln added five more faculty members to the list of fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, UNL announced Wednesday.

A total of 391 fellows were selected to the global scientific society this year for their achievements in the areas of science and social science.

UNL's new fellows are:

* Patrick Dussault, Charles Bessey professor of chemistry, for contributions to the chemistry of organic peroxides, including peroxide natural product synthesis, mechanistic studies and peroxide-mediated oxidation transformations.

* Mary Anne Holmes, emeritus professor of earth and atmospheric sciences, for contributions to developing and disseminating strategies to address gender inequity in geoscience, and the advancement of science through teaching, administration, research and service.

* Gary Pickard, professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and in the Iowa State University/UNL Cooperative Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine, for contributions to neuroscience tied to describing neuroanatomical circuitry in the mammalian brain using viral probes for tracing circuitry within the circadian system.

* Robert Powers, professor of chemistry, for contributions to the fields of biological nuclear magnetic resonance and metabolomics, including methods with unique applications for biomarker discovery, structure analysis and disease diagnosis.

* Mary Willis, professor of nutrition and health sciences, for contributions to basic and applied anthropology, especially international health and nutrition and the advancement of science through teaching, mentoring and service.
For Blu Velvet Boutique, snuggled in University Place at 48th Street and St. Paul Avenue, Saturday was the day to prosper.

Blue Velvet was among the many stores across Lincoln and the United States participating in Small Business Saturday, the day after Black Friday when shoppers are invited to celebrate local businesses.

Other University Place establishments  Heart of Gold Jewelers, GuruHoney, Penguin Pit Stop, Urban Legends and Lux Center for the Arts  also opened their doors.

At Blu Velvet, a fall-spice aroma and wooden interior gave the shop a home-like feel.

The decade-old boutique hasnt always been so cozy. Before owner Kelly Merklein claimed its current spot in 2015, the store was where Heart of Gold Jewelers is now, a much more spacious location.

I wanted to make it a much more intimate shopping experience for my customers, Merklein said. So we switched to something smaller, more boutique-like. For me, its about customer service and being a part of my customers experience.

Merklein had four children before enrolling at Nebraska Wesleyan University and getting her accounting degree. The timing couldnt have been better, she said: Her ideal spot opened up in University Place a little after she graduated.

Brian Watkins owned the Uni Place area and was instrumental in helping us find a spot, she said. He was so easy to work with because he has a strong passion to make it a small, special part of Lincoln.

Merklein thinks shes contributed to Watkins' goal by combining her love for people and fashion.

What makes Blu Velvet unique compared to most big businesses or strip mall stores is its loose demographic, she said. It aims to serve girls and women of all ages.

Theres not really an age range, Merklein said. Its for all age ranges who want affordable, on-trend fashion. There are things for teenagers and college students to grandmas. I hear that a lot from moms. They say, I can find things here for me and for my daughter.

Merklein knows all about the mother-daughter shopping relationship. Her 15-year-old daughter, Grace, has watched Merklein run the business since she was a little girl.

On Saturday, wearing one of the mustard yellow, flowing dresses off the boutique's rack, Grace stood behind the register helping customers just like her mom.

It brings us closer together, Grace said. I help her choose clothing and I go to Chicago and Minneapolis with her for market. Its probably helped our relationship a lot.

Merklein said Grace has grown with the business.

Shes learned how to be careful with expenses, Merklein said. "But beyond making sales, shes learned how to work with people  how to really build connections and relationships.

Maybe Grace got her people-person attitude from her mom, who said shes stayed past closing time to ensure a customer got the outfits she needed to feel more confident.

For Merklein, its not a competition between boutiques and other small stores  its a support system.

We work together and run things by each other to make sure we never buy the same things, she said. We have things not a lot of other stores have. We work to get people to see our area as a destination.

Its the people and contributing to Lincolns economy that pushes Merklein to continue to own and support local.

With big stores, you dont know how they treat their employees, she said. All the people who own these small stores are your neighbors and friends. If we stay open, we create a better city.
With Donald Trump poised to assume power over the federal government, individual Republicans must decide whether they are on Team Trump, Team Conservative or Team America. The overwhelming majority will choose the first, and most expedient, category. They will use Trump, and be used by him, to advance their own ambition, trampling underfoot whatever conflicting principles they previously claimed to hold.

There will, however, be a few notables who align themselves either with conservative principles, or with the broader, less ideological cause of supporting democratic norms, pluralistic political culture and American cohesion. This small band, aided by Democratic allies, will determine how much damage Trump inflicts while making America great again.

Arizona Sen. John McCain, for example, has already raised concerns about Trump's crush on Vladimir Putin and about Trump's position on torturing suspected enemies. There's nothing uniquely conservative about either concern. Similarly, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham is not enthusiastic about Trump's plan to deport young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children. It's a humane position, but not an especially conservative one.

For a conservative perspective on Trump, it's worth viewing an eloquent and thoughtful speech that Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse delivered last week to a gathering of conservative lawyers. (His staff provided me with a transcript.) Sasse urged those preparing to join the Trump administration to put principle before power.

"What's glorious," he said, "is when people believe in limited government and restraint when we are the ones in power and we now have the opportunity to model that restraint."

"Restraint" would be high on any list of antonyms for Trumpism. Writing on Facebook in February, Sasse said, "Trump's relentless focus is on dividing Americans, and on tearing down rather than building back up this glorious nation." Sasse regarded Trump as not only a destructive political force but a threat to conservative governance in particular.

"The law is king, and the people are boss. But have you noticed how Mr. Trump uses the word 'Reign' -- like he thinks he's running for King? It's creepy, actually."

Can conservatism alone restrain the creepiness?

We'll soon see, as Trump proceeds to co-opt and compromise former opponents on the right. If conservatism falters, and Sasse doesn't, he'll need to find allies more determined to resist. An ill-considered tweet (of all the Trumpian things) the senator wrote last week suggests that his commitment to principle might benefit from a less narrow perspective.

"Why don't we have more reporting on paid rioting?" Sasse tweeted. He followed that with a series of who, where and why questions about "workers" being paid to protest against Trump.

Sasse later tweeted that he was suspicious of "astroturf" activities, in which powerful interests pay for the appearance of grassroots support.

But it seemed more likely that one of the Senate's best-educated members, bearing multiple degrees including a Ph.D in history from Yale, had been a sucker for fake news. Either way, Sasse's failure of imagination was troubling.

In his speech to the conservative Federalist Society, Sasse praised Tocqueville's observation that the dynamism of American politics and culture and economy resided not with bureaucrats in the nation's capital but in the hinterlands. Sasse's word for this web of provincial dynamism and virtue is "community."

Yet when he observed fellow Americans taking to the streets in communal protest, he misread the concept entirely. A conservative white man from Nebraska, Sasse perceives Trump as a threat to his philosophical values.

How does he think citizens in Austin or New York or Los Angeles feel? Trump hasn't demonized rural white men. But he has demeaned working women, threatened Hispanics, demonized blacks. His incoming vice president has supported crackpot "conversion" therapy for gays and lesbians.

Sasse is a talented and promising young politician. But he missed something painfully obvious: No one needs to be paid to protest against an existential threat.

Trump's aggression may not be a grave concern to most Nebraskans, who voted for him. But it is to much of cosmopolitan America, where far more Americans live. (The borough of Brooklyn contains more people than the state of Nebraska. So does Queens.)

Trump threatens cosmopolitan and multicultural values. He denigrates urban lives. Worse, after more than a century of urbanization, the American political system -- especially Sasse's Senate -- structurally discounts those values, and lives, making it harder for those communities to fight back. (That political imbalance is one reason why the loser of the popular vote is set to become president.)

Sasse doesn't represent Brooklyn or Austin. And he will face political trouble at home if he opposes Trump too openly. But if he's truly committed to restraining the "creepy" advance of authoritarianism, his most committed allies won't be found hiding in the Republican caucus. They are walking down a city street, feeling abused, angry and vulnerable. If Trump's presidency is anything like his campaign, it won't cost a penny to activate them.
WASHINGTON -- One of the more salutary outcomes of the recent election is that Democrats are finally beginning to question the wisdom of basing their fortunes on identity politics. Having counted on the allegiance of African-Americans, Hispanics, gays, unmarried women and the young -- and winning the popular vote all but once since 1992 -- they were seduced into believing that they could ride this "coalition of the ascendant" into permanent command of the presidency.

They're reconsidering now not because identity politics balkanizes society, creates state-chosen favored groups and fosters communal strife. They're reconsidering because it's not working.

Democrats read the 2008 and 2012 election results as a harbinger of the future. Then came 2016. They now realize that the huge turnout of their constituencies was attributable to Barack Obama, a uniquely gifted campaigner whose aura is not transferable.

And why assume that identity politics creates permanent allegiances? Take the Hispanic vote. Both Mitt Romney and Donald Trump won less than 30 percent, but in 2004 George W. Bush won 44 percent. Why assume that the GOP cannot be competitive again?

As these groups evolve socioeconomically, their political allegiances can easily change. This is particularly true for the phenomenally successful Asian-American community. There is no reason the more entrepreneurial party, the GOP, should continue to lose this vote by more than 2-to-1.

Moreover, the legitimation of identity politics by the Democrats has finally come back to bite them. Trump managed to read, then mobilize, the white working class, and to endow it with political self-consciousness. What he voiced on their behalf was the unspoken complaint of decades: Why not us? All these other groups, up to and including the relatively tiny population of transgender people, receive benefits, special attention and cultural approbation, yet we are left out in the cold, neglected and condescended to as both our social status and economic conditions decline.

For all the embrace of identity politics at home, abroad Obama has preached the opposite. Here is a man telling a black audience in September that he would "consider it a personal insult, an insult to my legacy" if they don't turn out for the Democratic candidate in November. Yet on his valedictory tour abroad just nine weeks later, he lectures anyone who will listen on the sins of parochialism. His urgent message for the nations of the world, including his own, is to eschew "tribalism" in the name of a common universalism.

This doctrine of global consciousness found its photographic expression just two weeks ago. There was parka-bundled John Kerry on a visit to the Antarctic, to which he had dropped in to make a point about global warming. Three days later, Vladimir Putin, thinking tribally, renewed the savage bombing of Aleppo and then moved nuclear-capable missiles into Kaliningrad to remind Europeans of the perils of defying the regional strongman.

Putin is quite prepared to leave the Antarctic ice sheets to Kerry while he sets his sights on Eastern Europe and the Levant. Our allies, meanwhile, remain amazed that Obama still believes the kinds of things he said in his maiden U.N. address about the obsolescence of power politics and national domination -- and acts accordingly as if his brave new world of shared universal values had already arrived.

Seven months ago, Obama went to Britain to urge them -- with characteristic unsuccess -- to remain in Europe. Now he returns to Europe to urge everyone to resist the siren song of "a crude sort of nationalism, or ethnic identity, or tribalism."

This is rather ironic, given that what was meant as a swipe at both European and Trumpian ethno-nationalism is a fairly good description of the Democratic Party's domestic strategy of identity politics.

To be sure, ethnic appeal has been part of American politics forever. But the Hillary Clinton campaign was its (BEG ITAL)reductio ad absurdum(END ITAL): all segmented group appeal, no message. Even Bernie Sanders is urging that "we go beyond identity politics" if Democrats are ever to appeal again to the working class.

As for foreign policy, there has always been and always should be an element of transcendent mission to American actions. But its (BEG ITAL)reductio ad absurdum(END ITAL) was the Obama doctrine of self-sacrificial subordination of U.S. interests to universal values. That doctrine is finished. The results, from Ukraine to Aleppo to the South China Sea, are simply too stark.

For the Democrats, the road back -- from tribalism at home and universalism abroad -- beckons.
WASHINGTON -- History has a sly sense of humor. It caused an epiphany regarding infrastructure projects -- roads, harbors, airports, etc. -- to occur on a bridge over Boston's Charles River, hard by Harvard Yard, where rarely is heard a discouraging word about government.

Last spring, Larry Summers, former treasury secretary and Harvard president, was mired in congealed traffic on the bridge, which is being repaired, and he suddenly understood "American sclerosis." Repairing the bridge, which was built in 11 months in 1912, will take about five years. The problem, he concluded in a blog post, is "a gaggle of regulators and veto players" -- Massachusetts' government, contractors, environmental agencies, the historical commission, etc. -- "each with the power to block or to delay, and each with their own parochial concerns." Summers' sunburst of understanding continued:

"I'm a progressive, but it seems plausible to wonder if government can build a nation abroad, fight social decay, run schools, mandate the design of cars, run health insurance exchanges or set proper sexual harassment policies on college campuses, if it can't even fix a 232-foot bridge competently. Waiting in traffic over the Anderson Bridge, I've empathized with the two-thirds of Americans who distrust government. ... We seem to be caught in a dismal cycle of low expectations, poor results and shared cynicism."

There is a trope for these times: "I'm a progressive, but ... ." Barack Obama should have understood this in 2009 when he serenely promised "shovel-ready projects," the scarcity of which was one reason his stimulus barely stimulated.

Groundbreaking for the Empire State Building was on March 17, 1930. Construction soon began and the building officially opened May 1, 1931 -- just 410 days, during the Great Depression. The Pentagon was built in just 16 months, during wartime. After seeing reconstruction of Manhattan's West Side Highway take 35 years (construction of the George Washington Bridge took 39 months), Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan despaired that whereas America once celebrated people who built things, it now honors those who block building.

Today's long lag between the conception and execution of infrastructure projects is one reason they are dubious as countercyclical economic stimulants, and as jobs programs for the unemployed. The economist Milton Friedman said that once, while he was taken to see a canal that was being dug, he expressed astonishment that there was no heavy earth-moving machinery, only men with shovels. A government official said that was because the project was a jobs program. Well, then, Friedman replied, shouldn't they use spoons rather than shovels?

New Deal public works gave the nation splendidly useful engineering marvels, including the Golden Gate Bridge and the Hoover Dam. It did not, however, significantly reduce unemployment, which never came below 14 percent until prewar military spending began.

Both presidential candidates endorsed huge increases in infrastructure spending, so we are about to relearn that bipartisanship, whatever its many merits, usually means a recklessly open spending spigot. Will there be wasteful projects? Indeed, boondoggles are transaction costs of democracy. As is the inclination to direct infrastructure spending to stagnant regions, where it is unlikely to stimulate growth, rather than to regions where economic dynamism is putting pressure on, and being dampened by, inadequate infrastructure.

Besides, the economic bang from every infrastructure buck is biggest in a society that is starting from a low base, as America did in the first half of the 19th century. Princeton historian James M. McPherson in "Battle Cry of Freedom" noted that before 1815 -- before all-weather macadamized roads -- the only efficient means of moving goods long distances was sailing ships and down-river floats. "The cost of transporting a ton of goods 30 miles inland from an American port equaled the cost of carrying the same goods across the Atlantic." So, "America's transatlantic trade exceeded internal commerce" and "the economy grew little if any faster than population."

Then came the Erie Canal and the frenzied funding of emulative projects, many of which failed, but the successes redeemed the rest. Next came railroads, and soon Americans regarded infrastructure -- then called "internal improvements" -- as emblems of national greatness. When the Marquis de Lafayette toured America in 1824, a couple of years before the 50th anniversary of the Revolution, his New York banquet table groaned beneath the weight of a 75-foot model of the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825.

Americans hoped that commerce, ignited by infrastructure, would weld the nation's sections, defusing the danger of disunion. Actually, this would require a railroad lawyer from Illinois.
Shoppers carry their purchases as they walk though the steam coming from the underground along Fifth Avenue on Black Friday in New York, Friday, Nov. 25, 2016. Shoppers were on the hunt for deals and were at the stores for entertainment Friday as malls opened for what is still one of the busiest days of the year, even as the start of the holiday season edges ever earlier. (AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
A group of armed men in police uniform on Sunday attacked the Nabha Jail in Patiala and fled with five prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.

Police said a group of youths dressed in police uniform stormed the jail and opened indiscriminate fire at the high-security jail.

Five prisoners, including a hardcore terrorist escaped, they said.

Those who escaped include gangster Vicky Gondar, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol, Vikramjeet, and terrorist Mintoo, police said.

Mintoo was arrested by Punjab Police from Delhi's IGI Airport in 201 in connection with 10 cases, including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force station in 2010.
Rotarys Murray Bladwell and Terry Shelley of Gorokas Nowek Ltd worked together to deliver the Books for Simbu Schools project, a shipping container of 11,000 books, linen and other health items.

SIMBU schools and rural health centres have celebrated an early Christmas with boxes of books and linen gifted by the Toowong Rotary Club in Brisbane.

The huge consignment reached Kundiawa on Sunday last week after its long journey from Brisbanes donation-in-kind yard by ship to Lae and along the Highlands Highway to be distributed at Kondom Agaundo Building in Kundiawa.



The gift comprised reading books, text books, teacher resource books, dictionaries, a set of encyclopedia donated by Bob Cleland, library shelving and trolleys, school desks and chairs, as well as the hospital supplies.

The project was initiated by one of true men of Simbu and Papua New Guinea, Murray Bladwell, and backed by Toowong Rotary supported by the Donation-In-Kind Brisbane Chapter.

Murray, together with his wife Joan, spent their young days in Papua New Guinea as teachers at various schools including Gon in Kundiawa, Chuave and Port Moresby.

Nowek Ltd, a company owned by Terry Shelley and his family, funded the containers shipment from Brisbane to Goroka at a cost of K21,200.

Winestar, a local brewing company owned by Terrys daughter Sarah, then met the cost of the freight from Goroka to Kundiawa at a cost of K4,800; in total, a magnificent gift of K26,000 by the Shelley family.

Although now based in Goroka and making his business there, Terry is another of those white skinned true men of Simbu.

He spent his young days in Simbu working as a cooperatives officer and fell in love with one of Simbus beautiful mountain orchids, Lynne from the Kamaneku tribe, and married her. Lynne became Terrys lifetime partner and they have beautiful children.

Charity work is not new to the Shelley family. Nowek Ltd is well known for sponsoring rugby league in the Eastern Highlands. In his youth, Terry was respected, and sometimes feared, as a tough and talented league combatant.

On a number of occasions, Nowek and Winestar have supported the Simbu Children Foundation in its charity work. Terry also supported me in cash and kind, including freighting the donations by PNG Attitude readers of a wheelchair, special mattress and vitamin supplements during my health problems.

Although hampered by bad weather and lack of funds, the SWA team worked tirelessly and successfully to ensure the books and other materials could be distributed last Thursday in the heart of Kundiawa.

The SWA team - comprising Jimmy Awagl, Arnold Mundua, Jimmy Drekore, Mathias Kin, Angela Kaupa and Philip Kai supported by a brigade of young boys - worked through Wednesday night in heavy rain and transferred boxes from Sir Joseph Nombri Memorial Hospital to the Simbu Provincial Governments events podium.

Here they were labelled with the names of the 62 primary schools, 20 high schools and 18 rural health centres.

On Friday, the boxes were distributed in a low key ceremony as limited funding meant we were unable to hire a singsing group, usually the big crowd attracters.

We had invited Governor Noah Kool and Provincial Administrator Joe Naur who did not make themselves available.

They gave no reason but we believe they were ashamed to take the stage because they had not honoured a K50,000 donation that the Simbu Provincial Government promised SWA a year ago.

SWA was delighted to welcome the presence of education head Essy Walkaima and health head Jerry Kubu who joined us in distributing the boxes preceded by expressions of appreciation by SWA President Jimmy Drekore and Essy Walkaima. Sarah Shelley was also able to join us.

The schools in attendance were overjoyed and thanked Towoong Rotary, Nowek, Winestar, SWA and the Simbu Division of Education.

Wara Sua and Kaliwai primary schools from the Nomane Karimui District showed their appreciation by donating K200 and K100 respectively to SWA which we used to offset some of the additional costs incurred.

The SWA and Simbu Division of Education will officially thank the Toowong Rotary Club, Nowek Ltd and Winestar with a certificate of appreciation.

SWA expresses its heartfelt gratitude and thanks to Murray Bladwell and the Rotary Club of Toowong, Nowek Ltd, Winestar, Essy Walkaima and the Division of Education, Eddie Wem of Haumex Architecture & Building Construction, Arnold Mundua, Mathias Kins sons, and the guardians from the hospital. We are very grateful to all of them.
I suppose I should commend you on printing two opposing letters regarding the Electoral College on Nov. 18 (" Electoral college protects minority ;" " End electoral college "). The two letters, however, are vastly different in quality. The letter written by Norman W. Schaefer refers to an important principle behind the Electoral College to make its point while that of Julie Wiese appeals only to a change in transportation technology in trying to make its point. It's a pity you could not have paired two letters of more even quality and improved your page but, then, perhaps critics of the Electoral College have difficulty finding principled arguments for their case.

Ironically, Hillary Clinton's bid for the White House succumbed to the Electoral College 16 years after she claimed she would work for its abolition. She said that shortly after the Electoral College settled the election in 2000 and shortly before she assumed her office of United States Senator. I remember her saying it once, and I don't remember her ever saying it again. I can't help but wonder if some other Senators took her aside and informed her that the commitment our Constitution has to the authority of the several states shows up both in the Electoral College and in the job she had just worked so hard to obtain. If one speaks against the Electoral College, one might as well speak against the United States Senate. I also can't help but wonder if they told her that the Electoral College served to ease the obtaining of the Presidency in 1992 and 1996 by a candidate who had only received a plurality of the popular vote, a candidate whose career she was deeply invested in.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday made a strong push to turn India into a cashless economy and said demonetisation of high value currency notes was a step forward that would rid the country of unaccounted hidden wealth and corruption.

In his monthly radio talk "Mann Ki Baat", Modi, however, acknowledged that the ambition was too big to happen immediately but people "can work towards a less-cash society".

He urged people to start learning how the digital economy works wherein one can use mobile phones as banking devices and make payments.

"Learn the different ways you can use your bank accounts and internet banking. Learn how to effectively use the apps of various banks on your phones. Learn how to run your business without cash. Learn about card payments and other electronic modes of payment," Modi said.

"A cashless economy is secure, it is clean."

Modi asked the youth of India to take a pledge to make this initiative a success and urged them to teach their families, neighbours and small business owners how to go cashless and make electronic payments.

"You have a leadership role to play in taking India towards an increasingly digital economy. Your father or mother or even elder brother at home may not know. But you know how to book train tickets online, you know how to buy things online.

"Educate them on how to download apps, how to spend money using mobile phones, how to make payments, how to do business.

"More importantly, if you could teach a push-cart vendor or your vegetable vendor, there is no reason we cannot move towards a cashless India."

Modi said the youth, by leading the campaign, can help so that "common people will be trouble fee".

"All youth of India can do it very quickly and within a month the world can see a modern India. Be a soldier of change and bring it on. We will fight the black money and corruption. We know it is you who can bring the change and revolution."

Defending the November 8 demonetisation move that has sparked an unprecedented cash crisis in the country, with people struggling to meet their basic needs, Modi said he was confident that India, "like gold", would "emerge glowing from this fire".

He said people's support was the fountainhead of his confidence even if they were inconvenienced by the move.

"I had said it will take about 50 days for the situation to normalise. It is not easy to get rid of the 70-year-old problem" of corruption and black money so easily, he said in his first radio talk since the ban on old 500 and 1,000 rupee notes.

"Your support despite severe problems touched me. You have not wavered despite efforts to misguide you."

The prime minister said the entire world was watching and economists were analysing the impact of the demonetisation.

"They are curious to know how it is being rolled out and how we will emerge from the situation. The world may have doubts but India is confident."

Modi said despite being warned some people were still trying to convert their ill gotten cash into white by using bank accounts of poor people and putting their lives into trouble.

"They are looking at unlawful ways. It's unfortunate they have chosen to use poor people for this.

"I want to say that it is up to them to abide by the law or break it, it is up to them if they want to correct themselves. The law will deal with them. But please don't play with the lives of poor."
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshiurged the government to immediately sever trade ties with India over the killing of ten of its civilians and three soldiers in firing along the Line of Control (LoC).



Defence minister Khawaja Asif, who should have been at the border to defend the country, has been defending the Prime Minister in the Panamagate case, Qureshi said on Saturday.



Qureshi told the media in Umerkot that despite cross-border firing along the LoC the Pakistani government had not broken trade ties with the neighbouring country.



Tension between India and Pakistan is again at a peak following Indian Army's "surgical strike" across the border, unrest in Kashmir and September 18 terror attack on the Uri army base.



Since then there have been repeated outbreaks of cross-border firing in Kashmir, with both sides reporting deaths and injuries, including of civilians.



"Indian forces are killing innocent civilians and our army personnel along the LoC but our Prime Minister is fondly eating bananas imported from the neighbouring nation. It is high time we sever trade ties with India and unite on one platform," Qureshi said.



The PTI leader lashed out at the ruling government saying it lacked a full-time foreign minister to highlight the Kashmir issue at world forums.




[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]

Sparks of Life Providing Crucial Support to Jewish Parkinsons Patients

By: Sandy Eller

Lakewood resident Rabbi Moshe Gruskin was in Detroit on a 2009 fundraising trip the first time someone suggested he might have Parkinsons disease.

The concerns were raised by a doctor friend who was worried by the way the then 58 year old Rabbi Gruskin was walking, but a neurological examination was inconclusive. Instead, the neurologist suggested that Rabbi Gruskin start taking medications given to Parkinsons patients and if the regimen provided relief it would prove that Rabbi Gruskin had Parkinsons.

Rabbi Gruskin took the neurologists advice with a healthy dose of skepticism and chose to avoid medication. But four years later, Rabbi Gruskins children intervened and insisted that he pay a visit to Dr. Stanley Fahn, a world class New Jersey neurologist and an expert in movement disorders.

He took one look at me and said right away, Yup, you got it, no question, recalled Rabbi Gruskin.

An incurable, neurodegenerative brain disorder that typically progresses slowly, Parkinsons affects more than 10 million people worldwide, according to the Parkinsons Disease Foundation. Those who suffer from Parkinsons can experience motor symptoms including tremors, stiffness, balance issues and slowness of movement as well as other non-motor issues such as mood swings and sleep disorders. More than 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinsons each year and because of its disproportionately high occurrence in Eastern European Jews, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinsons Research recently launched a study to investigate the high prevalence of Parkinsons in that demographic.

As luck would have it, Dr. Fahn was not just Rabbi Gruskins doctor but also the organizer of the World Parkinson Congress, an international conference held every three years that brings together scientists, physicians, health care professionals, caregivers and those with Parkinsons to discuss cures and best treatment practices for the disease. Rabbi Gruskin noticed a flyer for the upcoming 2013 conference to be held in Montreal while at Dr. Fahns office and the first spark for his future organization was kindled.

I used to go fundraising in Montreal so I decided I could hit two birds with one stone, said Rabbi Gruskin. My son and I could go to the congress and the rest of the time I could do fundraising.

The conference provided Rabbi Gruskin with a fountain of information on living with Parkinsons. He came home with a plan to incorporate a 50 minute exercise program into his weekly routine, which has been found to be beneficial to Parkinsons patients. Rabbi Gruskin enlisted his childrens help to make sure that he didnt slack off on days when his enthusiasm waned.

The exercise brings up my mood and I have a feeling of accomplishment, reported Rabbi Gruskin. When I finish I am ready to take on the day.

Hoping to make the most of the post-conference momentum, Rabbi Gruskin decided to contact support groups for Jewish Parkinsons patients and was stunned to discover that none existed. Undaunted, he elected to start his own.

Everyone seems to know a friend or a relative who has Parkinsons and there is no question that it is more prevalent than ever, said Rabbi Gruskin. It was crazy that no one was doing anything.

Sparks of Life, a non-profit organization to help Jewish community members with Parkinsons, was officially launched this past March with a watchful eye towards the September 2016 World Parkinson Congress in Portland, Oregon.

The congress only happens every three years and is an opportunity to see that there are things that you can do, that is research being done and that people are very passionate about it, explained Rabbi Gruskin. You leave there with a new burst of energy and I really wanted to get something going.

While Rabbi Gruskins main objective was making arrangements for Jewish participants at the congress, he also organized Sparks of Lifes first event in June, an evening of support in Lakewood for Parkinsons patients.

My board thought it was a pipe dream and expected maybe two or three or even five people, recalled Rabbi Gruskin. I was hoping for 20. But 100 people showed up.

Buoyed by the events success, Rabbi Gruskin turned his attention to the upcoming three day conference scheduled for the end of September. It took five weeks to make the necessary arrangements but Rabbi Gruskin was able to offer daily minyanim and kosher food for conference attendees.

At the 2013 congress there were three frum people, reported Rabbi Gruskin. Me, my son and a lady from

Teaneck. This time, out of 3,700 people, we had 28 people coming from Portland, Long Island, New York, Lakewood, Chicago, Israel and Australia.

Being able to make the conference accessible to the Jewish community was extremely gratifying to Rabbi Gruskin. What makes this conference unique is that so many people who have Parkinsons are there with their caregivers and they can talk to doctors and researchers who are the best in their field and speak to them and ask questions, noted Rabbi Gruskin. Everyone gains so much and gets a better understanding of what Parkinsons is because they are getting information straight from the source.

Currently, Rabbi Gruskin is busy planning more events for Sparks of Life in Lakewood and Brooklyn. Ultimately he hopes to create a gym with therapists, Parkinsons libraries, a 24 hour hotline, respite programs for caregivers and more.

We want to make a Chai Lifeline for the person who has Parkinsons and their caregiver, said Rabbi Gruskin. That is my goal.

Rabbi Gruskin has also been in communication with interested parties in Monsey and in Israel and hopes that like its name suggests, his organization will continue sending out even more life-giving sparks.

I would love down the road to have branches in Los Angeles in Chicago but Rome wasnt built in a day, said Rabbi Gruskin. I can only hope that the Ribono Shel Olam should give me the kochos and the health to be able to do it.

Sandy Eller is a freelance writer who writes for numerous websites, newspapers, magazines and many private clients. She can be contacted at [email protected]
At this time of Fidel Castros passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people. We know that this moment fills Cubans  in Cuba and in the United States  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.



For nearly six decades, the relationship between the United States and Cuba was marked by discord and profound political disagreements. During my presidency, we have worked hard to put the past behind us, pursuing a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbors and friends  bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity. This engagement includes the contributions of Cuban Americans, who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba.

Today, we offer condolences to Fidel Castros family, and our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people. In the days ahead, they will recall the past and also look to the future. As they do, the Cuban people must know that they have a friend and partner in the United States of America.
[VIDEO IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on erev Shabbos, toured the site of the fire at Beit Meir, accompanied by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, Jerusalem District Border Police commander Itzik Sabin, Mate Yehuda Area Fire and Rescue Service Commander Effie Peretz and Beit Shemesh Fire and Rescue Service Commander Reuven Yitzhak. The Prime Minister met with firefighters who briefed him on their work in taking control of the fires.

Prime Minister Netanyahu told the firefighters: The most important thing is to evacuate people, and also yourselves. Nobody needs to die here, nobody. This is before anything else. There are many other things but this takes precedence.

Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke with Arik Abulof, an officer with the aerial firefighting squadron, who told the Prime Minister: What you have done here, the this squadron certainly constitutes a significant force in assisting the units on the ground. Without it, I figure that the forces, and I belong to them, would have had to spend many more hours, long days, in order to achieve control. The damage to property and life, the damage to life, would have been much worse. There is no doubt that these planes, they are doing the work in order to assist in blocking the flames and giving respite to the ground forces.

Prime Minister Netanyahu said: I am pleased that you are saying this. There was a clear decision to do this during the Carmel fire, and afterwards we decided to establish the squadron even though it was not included in any report, not in the State Comptrollers report on the fire, nothing. Two words were lacking there: Firefighting planes. One cannot fight fire without firefighters like you. It is impossible. This is heroism; you stand in the line of fire. But there are no forest fires and fires on the ground, nowhere in the world, in which they are dealt with effectively without firefighting planes. And I am proud of the fact that today we have a large and good squadron.

Prime Minister Netanyahu is presently touring the Hatzor Air Base where a majority of the firefighting planes that are going out to fight the fires are currently based.

PM Netanyahu at a Haifa command center briefing:









(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon was interviewed by Channel 2 News on motzei Shabbos, asked if the persons waiting for government assistance following the fires will have to wait years as was the case for too many victims of Operation Protective Edge and other cases.

Kahlon stated the system is in place and he promises inspectors will be out in the field to meet with homeowners and assess the damage and the claims will be processed in a fair amount of time, referring to victims of fire if it is determined to have been the result of terrorist arson.

If there are fights to handle with insurance companies, we will handle it. We will fight the insurance companies and this will not be the job of the victims, who have been hit hard stated Finance Minister Kahlon. He stated that if investigations determine there was negligence or other causes, the government will be at the forefront to work with the insurance companies.

At present it is estimated at this time at least 700 homes have been damaged or destroyed.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
In Norman W. Schaefers letter to the editor (" Electoral college protects minority ," Nov. 18), he used the model where a three-state compact will never win the popular vote, but together they could win the Electoral College and put the money of the people back into their pockets. Ironically, this concept that the minority of the people can put their will over the majority was born in the founders ideas of the political process.

In 1787, it wasn't at all clear whether democracy would work. In fact, "democracy" was a bit of a dirty word in some people's minds: it raised fears of mob rule, as in fact had happened in a few places during and after the Revolutionary War. Consequently, America was intended as a republic. Most of the framers thought that the people couldn't be trusted to elect the president directly. Instead, they should elect electors, who would convene as a "college of electors" to consider the available candidates and pick the best man for the job. That may have been a good plan in 1787 but I think were now ready for a true democracy based on the majority opinion of those voting!
Authorities said a man is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation after he appeared at New Yorks Trump Tower claiming hed received a phone call from the president-elect and needed to speak to him immediately.

Police said the man was not armed when he went to Trump Tower around 10:30 p.m. Friday and underwent routine security screening.

The Secret Service determined he appeared to be emotionally disturbed and was not considered a threat. They turned him over to the New York Police Departments Trump Tower detail.

He was taken to a hospital after further questioning.

Police said there was a warrant out for the man because of an unanswered criminal court summons in Brooklyn. Details on that case were not available.

(AP)
Fidel Castros rule of Cuba began in 1959  when he became the island nations prime minister  until 2008, when he transferred power to his brother, Raul Castro.

Tensions between Cuba and the U.S. had been fraught for decades before Castros reign, however, and those tensions had a role in Castros political ascent.

Here are key milestones in U.S.-Cuba relations:

1897: U.S. President McKinley offers to buy Cuba from Spain for $300 million but Spain rejects the offer. Tensions are exacerbated after the U.S.S. Maine is blown up by unknown forces in Havanas harbor, killing more than 250 American sailors.

1898: Spain loses Spanish-American war and Cuba essentially becomes a U.S. territory.

1902: The U.S. grants Cuba independence, but dictates the establishment of the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay as part of the deal. Another detail worked into the deal was that the U.S. had the right to intervene in Cuba, and American forces were subsequently sent into the country repeatedly to protect U.S. interests, like sugar factories, if there were uprisings.

1934: Gen. Fulgencio Batista was assisted by the U.S. in leading an uprising called the Revolt of the Sergeants, which was part of the coup that overthrew the government of Gerardo Machado. He was later elected the president of Cuba from 1940 to 1944, and led the country as a dictator from 1952 to 1959.

During Batistas rule, Cuba saw widespread inequality and unemployment, but it became a playground for global elites  including wealthy Americans and members of the mafia  who frequented popular casinos and brothels. This atmosphere helped to sow the seeds of the Cuban Revolution.

1953 On July 26, 1953, Castro led a small group of revolutionaries in an attack against The Moncada Barracks, a military barracks in Santiago de Cuba. The armed attack is widely accepted as the beginning of the Cuban Revolution. The date on which the attack took place was eventually adopted by Castro as the name for his revolutionary movement, M 26-7, which upended Batistas reign in 1959.

1959: Castro, who was 32 years old at the time, announces that Manuel Urrutia Lleo will be the president of Cuba after the revolution topples Batista. Castro is cheered as he enters Havana, but many political opponents of the revolution, supporters of Batistas reign, are executed and dumped into mass graves. Castro assumes military and political power as Cubas prime minister. Lleo leaves for the U.S. after experiencing differences with Castro.

Castros takeover of the country means that Cuba becomes the first Communist state in the Western hemisphere. President Dwight Eisenhower institutes a ban on all exports to Cuba.

1961: Eisenhower breaks diplomatic ties with Cuba completely. The Bay of Pigs invasion, which is a led by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506, fails and ultimately is seen as having the opposite of its intended effect: Castros leadership is strengthened, and he becomes a national hero.

1962: On September 7, 1962, President Kennedy expands a preexisting Cuban embargo, which focused on the sale of arms, to include all Cuban trade, except for non-subsidized sale of food and medicines  a policy that is ultimately upheld for decades.

The placement of Soviet missiles on the island triggers the Cuban Missile Crisis one month later.

This sudden, clandestine decision is a deliberately provocative and unjustified change in the status quo, Kennedy said of the storage of Russian weapons in Cuba, prompting him to enforce a naval quarantine on the state.

The 13-day drama was the closest the Cold War got to turning kinetic.

Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev reached a deal wherein the Soviets withdrew their weapons from Cuba in return for the U.S. withdrawing its from Turkey.

1972 Castros Cuba joins the COMECON, an economic organization of states designed to create cooperation among the socialist planned economies. The group dominated by the largest economy of the group, the Soviet Union.

1979 Castro gives one of his most famous speeches in an address to the U.N. In it, he condemns the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and urges world leaders to fight against inequality.

Enough of the illusion that the worlds problems can be solved with nuclear weapons. Bombs might kill the hungry, the sick and the ignorant, but theycannot kill hunger, disease, ignorance and the peoples just rebellion. In the holocaust, the wealthy will also die. They are the ones that stand to lose the most in this world, he said.

1991: The fall of the Soviet Union, Cubas biggest patron and ally on the world stage, triggers an economic crisis in Cuba.

1996: Cuban jets shoot down two small planes operated by Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based activist group. The aircraft had been releasing leaflets over Cuban territory.

1998: U.S. authorities apprehend the Cuban Five  a group of five spies tasked with infiltrating American activist groups, including Brothers to the Rescue.

1999-2000: The custody battle between family members in Florida and Cuba over Elian Gonzalez, a young boy who was rescued when a boat ferrying him to the U.S. overturned, captivates the world. Gonzalez was ultimately returned to Cuba.

2008: Fidel Castro transfers power to his brother, Raul Castro.

2014: President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announce a diplomatic deal that features the release of 53 political prisoners being held in Cuba, including American Alan Gross.

2016: Obama becomes the first U.S. president to visit the island in 88 years.

We still have some work to do, Obama told ABC News David Muir. I think it is very important for the United States not to view ourselves as the agents of change here, but rather to encourage and facilitate Cubans themselves to bring about changes.  We want to make sure that whatever changes come about are empowering Cubans.

2016: Fidel Castro dies at age 90.

(Source: ABC News)
A school superintendent in Massachusetts has asked police to investigate after swastikas and other offensive graffiti were found on a rock outside of a school.

Harvard Public Schools Superintendent Linda Dwight sent an email to parents Friday saying that a rock in front of the Bromfield School had been vandalized with swastikas, homophobic symbols and racist words. One of the swastikas was placed over a Jewish Star of David.

Dwight says the school district condemns the graffiti. Police in the town of Harvard could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Bromfield School, located 30 miles west of Boston, has about 700 students in grades six through 12.

Last week, officials in nearby Billerica, Massachusetts, said a shuttered elementary school had been vandalized with a swastika.

(AP)
09:59AM IL: IDF Golani Brigade soldiers operating in the area of the southern Golan Heights reported hearing gunfire over an hour ago. Israel fired back across to Syria in response.

The response was followed by a Syrian response of the three mortar shells. The air force responded, taking out a vehicle carrying a heavy machinegun. Four terrorists were killed in this retaliatory fire.

It is stressed that this incident was not spill over from the Syrian civil war but intentional gunfire directed at the IDF force in the southern Golan Heights. Residents of Eliad were instructed to enter safe rooms in response to the incident.

Bchasdei Hashem there are no reports of injuries on the Israeli side of the border.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Israel is thankful to a number of countries in the international community for coming to Jerusalems aid amid unprecedented fires nationwide, with at least some feared to be the result of Arab arson terrorism.

Some nations sent firefighting planes, some firefighters and some firetrucks. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on motzei Shabbos phoned PA (Palestinian Authority) Chairman Abu Mazen to thank him for sending firefighters to assist in extinguishing the fires. The Prime Minister added he appreciates the fact that Jews and Arabs alike opened their homes to those affected by the fires.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
[PHOTOS IN EXTENDED ARTICLE]

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Sunday, 26 Cheshvan visited the Shomron community of Nvei Tzuf, which suffered serious damage over Shabbos due to Arab arson terror. Over a dozen homes were totally destroyed and many others damaged, as well as infrastructure and public areas of the community.

The senior minister stated We are dealing with 120 instances of fire. All of the security forces including police and the fire service are busy with these 120 instances. In 17 cases, it can already be stated without a doubt the fires were arson. Regarding the others, we are still uncertain.

The minister added We do not speak in terms of revenge but rather in terms of building and rehabilitating the community. This must be done as quickly as possible and certainly not just to restore, but to expand the community  the true response is expanding the settlements.

Lieberman thanks all the agencies involved in battling the fires but made special mention of the IDF, citing in the case of the community, soldiers were first on the scene and assumed control. He explained that in the recent wave of fires, the IDF sent 3,000 soldiers to the Public Security Ministrys authority to assist wherever needed including 700 reservists from the Homefront Command. The IDF also sent 33 firefighting units from air force bases, all taking part in the combined effort. He also praised the nations National Emergency Authority.

When asked if he would permit new construction in the community which is not part of a so-called settlement bloc, Lieberman explained We are speaking about rehabilitating the community and rebuilding that which was destroyed. I do not wish to mix one simcha with another. We are not speaking politics at present. The government is doing all it can to expedite a solution for Amona and I am confident that a solution will be found.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem/Photo Credit:  /  )
President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday its sad Hillary Clinton is joining an effort to force recounts of votes from the Nov. 8 election in up to three crucial states.

Trump tweeted part of Clintons concession speech, when she told supporters they must accept that Donald Trump is going to be our president, and snippets from her debate remarks, when she assailed the Republican nominee for refusing to say in advance that he would accept the Election Day verdict.

And it came on top of his saying it was a scam that Green Party nominee Jill Stein was revisiting the vote count in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Trump won Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and as of Wednesday, held a lead of almost 11,000 votes in Michigan, with the results awaiting state certification Monday.

Clinton leads the national popular vote by close to 2 million votes, but Trump won 290 electoral votes to Clintons 232, not counting Michigan. It takes 270 to win the presidency, and the three states in question could tip the electoral balance to Clinton in the remote event that all flipped to her in recounts.

Wisconsin officials said Friday they were moving forward with the first presidential recount in state history. Clinton joined the effort Saturday, with her campaign attorney Marc Elias saying, We intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides.

Elias said Clinton would take the same approach in Pennsylvania and Michigan if Stein were to follow through with recount requests in those states.

Trump had been paying little if any attention to the recount push by Stein, who has raised millions of dollars for the effort since drawing a mere 1 percent of the vote nationally. But Clintons stance changed his tune.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in, Trump tweeted on Sunday. Nothing will change.

He quoted from her concession speech  We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead  and he concluded: So much time and money will be spent  same result!

Trump, who repeatedly challenged the integrity of the U.S. election system before his win, earlier called the recount push a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded.

Trump was expected to return to New York on Sunday after spending the Thanksgiving holiday weekend at his West Palm Beach estate. His transition team said the president-elect had scheduled a series of meetings Monday with prospective administration hires.

(AP)
[By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times]

It is called Segulos haSofer and it is published by a Machon associated with Londons Etz Chaim Yeshiva. It lists twelve chapters of Segulos culled from the writings of the Chasam Sofer and his students.

Rav Moshe Sofer ztl, also known as the Chasam Sofer (1762-1839), was a leading gadol in his generation, the Rav of the city of Pressburg, a teacher to tens of thousands, and a staunch opponent of Reform Jewry. He also established a Yeshiva that still continues to this day, although it has been relocated to Yerushalayim. The Chasam Sofer was also a remarkably prolific writer, whose novella on Shas, Chumash and response are still used to this day.

His drashos and insights on Chumash are filled with Segulos as well. Each of the Segulos mentioned below are sourced at the bottom of the Sefer. They are mentioned here both to educate and to spark interest in the Sefer. Please be advised, of course, that generally speaking, there are no shortcuts in Yiddishkeit. These, however, may assist us while we daven and attempt to do the ratzon Hashem.



ILLNESS

Was someone very ill and saved from a great danger? He should immerse himself completely in tractate Krisus and Tmurah (p.48). Another possible Segulah for someone to receive a Refuah is to be careful in the recitation of Kiddush Levana (p.39).

Is someone ill and you want your Tefilos to be more effective? Daven for him in front of him, but do not mention his name (p.44).

Is someone having a difficult labor? On page 30 there is a Segulah that if the person who received Maftir on the first day of Rosh haShana visits the house, it will lead to an easier labor.

GROWING

Want to grow in Yiras Shamayim? From the Maharam Bennet ztl one should look at the handwritten Torah writings of the Chasam Sofer (p. 68). According to Rav Yaakov Landau it is effective to increase ones Ruach haKodesh (p.70).

Do you need to ensure that you are constantly in a state of Simcha, joy? Learning halachos every day is a Segulah for just that (p. 19).

Need a segulah that your Tefilos be answered more? Daven next to a great Tzaddik (p.12). More effectively perhaps is to be from the Mezakei haRabbim  bringing merit to the masses of people (p. 15).

PARNASAH

In need of a Segulah for Parnasah? The Chasam Sofer recommends a very simple one  making minyan (p. 36). Also, do not eat until you have learned Torah that day (p.33). Need a constant flow of sheaf  abundance? Learn Hilchos Shabbos in depth (p. 34) and daven in a Shul (p. 16). The best days to pursue Parnasah? Tuesdays and Wednesdays (p.35). Oh, and the Mitzvah of Sukkah prepares one for success in all food related ventures (p. 34).

How about help in avoiding strange and apikorsus thoughts? The Avnei Naizer says to learn the response of the Chasam Sofer (p. 65). Indeed, the Belzer Rebbe says that each line that one learns in the Chasam Sofer assists in bringing one toward Teshuvah and Yiras Shamayim (p.66).

Want a general Segulah for success? Recite Tehillim kepitlach 36, 121, 144 (p. 55).

The reviewer can be reached at [email protected]
Though the year is not quite over  and the stock market could yet go into meltdown  the managers of Kames UK Equity Income are already organising a quiet pre-New Year celebration in their home city of Edinburgh.

They will be raising their glasses to the fact that for the seventh consecutive year, they have managed to increase the funds annual dividend payout.

What joint managers Iain Wells and Douglas Scott have achieved since launching the fund in summer 2009 is no mean feat.

Unlike those running equity income investment trusts, they do not have the ability to squirrel away income in the good times to help bolster payments to investors in more difficult periods.

Instead, they must pay out the income received from the funds investments promptly, by way of quarterly dividends. This makes the task of keeping investors sweet with ever-growing dividends difficult.

Scott says the 1.7 per cent rise investors have received this year was touch and go.

He explains: Last year, some companies we held in the fund paid special one-off dividends, which in turn boosted the income we could pay out.

This meant that it was always going to be a battle this year to increase that. But helped in part by upping our exposure to the dividend friendly oil giant Royal Dutch Shell, we did it.

Douglas Scott, left and Ian Wells, right, have consistently lifted payouts

Yes, we could be hard on ourselves and say we did not hit our target of 4 per cent annual dividend growth. Yet, someone who invested 1,000 in the fund when it launched seven-and-a-half years ago is now receiving just over 72 of annual income. In other words, an income equivalent to 7.2 per cent.

Scott and Wells say the funds success is down to identifying well-run firms that are committed to growing their dividends. Its not racy what we do, concedes Wells. Its not exciting. We hold good companies and collect the cash. If a company cuts back on its dividends, we get out.

Though the 50-strong portfolio comprises a number of blue-chip firms renowned for growing their dividends  such as HSBC, British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco  it also includes holdings not traditionally linked with UK equity income funds.

Among them are AIM-listed Manx Telecom, greeting card specialist Card Factory and engineer Kier.

Scott says: Shares in Manx are yielding an attractive 5 per cent while Kier is perfectly positioned to benefit from the infrastructure commitments announced by Chancellor Philip Hammond in last Wednesdays Autumn Statement. Card Factory generates lots of cash and its shares yield 9 per cent.

Until 2012, investment house Kames Capital was known as Aegon Asset Management UK.

Though still 100 per cent owned by Aegon, the name change was in part driven by a desire to disassociate itself from the insurance giant and attract business from wealth managers and financial advisers.

The rebranding has worked. Of the 51 billion that Kames now manages, 46 per cent is on behalf of investors and other institutions besides Aegon.

Scott is determined that Kames will become renowned for everything that is good about active fund management, a form of investment increasingly under scrutiny from City regulators.
Small businesses are the engine of economic growth, a sentiment echoed in Chancellor Philip Hammonds Autumn Statement last week.

As such, he is determined to help them, particularly technology firms and those outside London and the South East.

Mercia Technologies is ideally placed to benefit from his good intentions. The group aims to help up-and-coming technology firms in the regions, primarily the Midlands, the North and Scotland. As they grow and their value rises, Mercias shares should follow suit.

> Midas update: Lavendon bid

Portfolio: Mercia has a stake in nDreams, which developed Danger Goat

Anyone investing in the group will be in good company as it has the support of highly respected institutional investors such as Woodford Investment Management, Invesco and Baillie Gifford.

Unfortunately, the company has had a disappointing time since it joined AIM in December 2014 at 50p, and the stock is now trading at 44p.

However, Mercia nurtures businesses over many years, so its shares should prove rewarding over the long term.

Co-founded by chief executive Dr Mark Payton in 2005, Mercia has one overriding strategy: to help small businesses grow by providing a blend of expertise and patient capital  money invested in companies for several years.

Evidence suggests that for many early-stage firms, the biggest challenge is to expand from one or two employees to 40 or 50, without going bankrupt or losing focus along the way.

This invariably comes down to a lack of funds at crucial moments or a lack of professional support and guidance when key decisions need to be made.

Mercia offers both. The group runs regional funds and Enterprise Investment Schemes that provide financial and business support to firms at an early stage in their development. It then chooses a select few each year, which receive more guidance and investment.

Slick: One Mercia holding makes Aston Martin parts

The money in the funds comes from a blend of individual wealthy investors and the Government, through its commitment to boost investment in the Midlands and the North. In other words, these funds are managed by Mercia but they do not use the companys own money.

Mercias own cash is only used to invest in a small number of firms each year  those deemed most likely to succeed.

Currently, there are about 150 companies in the managed funds part of Mercias business and 26 in the so-called direct investment portfolio  the group of firms into which Mercia has ploughed its own cash.

The two-stage process means Mercias capital is only used for the creme de la creme of the firms that it supports. These companies also benefit from receiving funding over many years, often up to a decade.

There have been some notable successes already, such as Concepta, which invented a simple kit to help women who find it hard to fall pregnant. Mercia nursed Concepta as it grew and helped to bring the company to AIM in July at 11p a share.

Midas recommended the stock in August at 12.63p and today the shares are 19.18p. The impressive performance over the past few months is not just good news for individual investors in Concepta  it is also highly beneficial for Mercia, which has retained an 18 per cent stake in the company.

There are several other businesses in Mercias portfolio that should provide value for the group over the coming years.

These include nDreams, which specialises in virtual reality experiences and games such as Lewis Hamilton: Secret Life.

Recently selected by Google to help develop its virtual reality offer, nDreams is highly ambitious and rightly so, as virtual reality is expected to explode in popularity over the next few years.

Other companies with real potential include Impression Technologies, which has devised a way to produce ultra-thin, lightweight metal sheets used to make the doors of the Aston Martin DB11, as well as a range of other car and plane components.

Ambitious: Recently selected by Google to help develop its virtual reality offer, nDreams is highly ambitious

Warwick Audio Technologies makes top-quality flat, flexible loudspeakers, primarily for use in cars, but also in headphones.

And Medherant, which has developed special patches, like large plasters, through which a wide range of drugs can be delivered.

Each of these companies  and the others in Mercias portfolio  will probably be either sold or floated in the next few years for a far higher sum than the groups original investment.

Initially, any money received is likely to be ploughed back into other companies in the portfolio. Over time however, this strategy should provide shareholders with special dividends.

In the interim too, Mercias share price should rise, as the market recognises the value of the companies in its portfolio.

Midas verdict: Mercia is working with some of the UKs most exciting new companies in regions that have traditionally received too little support.
This column has been updated from Sunday's Midas update after a second Lavendon bid from Loxam arrived today.

Equipment hire specialist Lavendon, which helped to install the Christmas lights in Londons Regent Street, has had an exciting week.

On November 21, the companys share price closed at 139p. The following day, the stock soared to 197p. The reason was a 205p-a-share cash bid from Belgian equipment and parts group TVH.

This morning, the price has soared even further to 218p, following news that French group Loxam is in talks with Lavendon about a possible rival offer. The news has injected fresh excitement into this saga  and substantial potential gains for shareholders.

> This week's Midas tip: Mercia

Lighing up: Equipment hire specialist Lavendon, which helped to install the Christmas lights in Londons Regent Street, has had an exciting week

Currently, the TVH bid is the only firm offer on the table. And it has not been recommended by the board, primarily because certain large shareholders think the price is too low.

These include investment manager M&G, which holds almost 19 per cent of the stock.

TVH does have support from two large investors, which own just over 12 per cent of the shares between them, and it bought a further 5 per cent in the market last week. But that still leaves an awful lot of shareholders to be persuaded.

Midas recommended the stock in April, when the price was 134p. The shares jogged along until last Mondays offer, but they have are now 62 per cent higher than they were six months ago.

TVH has said its offer is final unless a rival bid comes along. Now there is at least a sporting chance that it will, provided that Loxams preliminary talks turn into a firm approach.

So what should investors do now?

Should they sell straightaway or should they wait in the hope that a full bidding war erupts?

Until this morning, most observers believed the chances of a rescue bid emerging were relatively slim. The most obvious candidate was UK equipment hire group Ashtead, which launched a joint bid for Lavendon with TVH back in 2011.

Since then, Ashtead has become increasingly focused on its American division, so there seems little reason for it to bulk out its UK business now. Private equity firms have also been touted as potential white knights, but they are famously reluctant to enter into bidding wars.

And late last week, the share price was hovering just below the TVH offer price, suggesting the market believed the Belgians were the only game in town.

Now all bets are off and Lavendons days as an independent company seem numbered.

The Lavendon board was even minded to accept the TVH offer of 205p a share until its biggest shareholders said they felt the price was unacceptable. So the top team are clearly not wedded to independence and now two European companies seem keen to grab this British prize.
The founder of the New Look fashion empire, Tom Singh, is poised to launch his first business since he sold the fashion chain last year  banking a 100million fortune.

Singh, who built New Looks success by establishing close links with Far Eastern suppliers, secretly invested in tech start-up Fabacus in April.

But the firm, which links retailers with manufacturers and suppliers, is set to raise up to 10 million in the New Year, ahead of a formal launch later in 2017.

Onwards: Singh, who built New Looks success by establishing close links with Far Eastern suppliers, secretly invested in tech start-up Fabacus in April

Fabacuss technology helps groups manage their supply chain, giving them better knowledge of where goods are, what they cost and where they originate from.

Fabacus founder Andrew Xeni says it could cut prices of products by as much as 15 per cent and aid ethical sourcing.

The company is already operating with four major suppliers to test its system and is in talks with dozens of potential retailers, clients and brands ahead of the launch.

Singh and his private equity partners, Permira and Apax, sold New Look to South African investor Brait last year, netting him an estimated 100million.

He sold more than half of his stake, leaving him with 10 per cent of the chain.
Staff at a flight-comparison website could earn 166,000 each from its sale to the Chinese.

Skyscanner was sold last week for 1.4bn to Chinas biggest travel company Ctrip  15 years after it was dreamed up over a pint in a pub.

Flying high: Skyscanner was sold last week for 1.4bn to Chinas biggest travel company Ctrip

Companies House documents reportedly suggest the 674 employees combined stake in shares will be worth about 122m under the deal  or an average of 166,172 each.

Manchester University graduate Gareth Williams wrote the firms computer programme after he became fed up with battling to find cheap flights to visit his brother in the French Alps. It now has 50m global users a month.

Williams and co-founders Barry Smith and Bonamy Grimes would become multi-millionaires. They and their families own nearly 30 per cent of the firm, suggesting a 400m windfall.
Christmas is a time for giving  and you can start by donating money to charity when sending your greetings cards.

Here, we show you how to help a charitable cause with a Christmas card.

DIY: Making your own Christmas cards with children can be fun

BUY A CHARITY CARD

A billion Christmas cards will be posted between now and Christmas Day, with a third triggering a donation to a good cause.

But the amount given and the cause that is helped varies depending on where you buy the card.

Dame Hilary Blume, director of The Charities Advisory Trust, which helps charities raise money, says: High street shops and card companies boast about how wonderful they are at giving but are often just cynically linking their name to a charity as a marketing ploy.

If you really want to help a good cause, you are usually better off buying cards directly from the charity because any money after production costs goes straight to them  usually more than half the price you have paid.

This compares favourably with the scrooge-like behaviour of shops that cream off much of the money and hand as little as 10 per cent of the cards price to charity.

Other types of card can be even more miserly, giving as little as 3 per cent of the sale price.

The Charities Advisory Trust says card sellers must print the donation amount on the back of each packet of cards, so it is easy to find out how generous they are being with your money.

But company-branded cards are able to hide their lack of generosity.

Among the worst offenders of design-your-own card providers this year is Festive Collection, which will hand over a miserly 5p of every card to charity  2.7 per cent of the card price. CCA Occasions, Caring Greetings and Astra Imprint, are among others giving less than 3 per cent to charity.

Others, such as Moonpig, appear generous by giving 25 per cent of card sales proceeds to charity, but only donate to a charity of their choice.

On Friday, Tilly Clark, business manager at Festive Collection, said: Our company was taken over by Admiral Charity Cards in August this year.

'Our parent company gives 12 per cent of a cards price to charity. So our rate of 5p a card will be reviewed in the New Year.

I CHOSE A CHARITY CLOSE TO MY HEART AS I KNOW HOW MY MONEY WILL BE SPENT 'No brainer': Jackie West Jackie West buys Christmas cards directly from a charity. The online marketing manager has bought 20 cards from the International Otter Survival Fund for a total of 11.75 this year  comfortable in the knowledge that 70 per cent of this cash helps the charity. Jackie, 62, from Achnasheen, Ross-shire, says: It is a no-brainer. Why buy from a high street shop that might cream off some of your money as profit when you can purchase directly from a charity knowing 100 per cent of the money after costs goes directly to a good cause? I chose a small charity dear to my heart because I know exactly how the money will be spent. Unfortunately, if you donate to a bigger charity some money can be siphoned off to meet administration and management expenses rather than helping do the good for which it was intended. The International Otter Survival Fund, based on the Isle of Skye, is involved in helping otter species survive in their traditional habitats. It argues that the fish-eating mammal is vital to the natural food chain.

CONSIDER SENDING AN E-CARD

The rising price of postage stamps means that e-cards are becoming a popular option for those that wish to save money.

By sending a card electronically as an email attachment rather than an envelope through the post you can save up to 64p  the price of a first-class stamp  or 55p if sending mail second-class.

An e-card does not offer the same personal touch as a traditional message sent through the post but it does mean all your money goes to the charity of your choice  and not a high street shop.

A number of charities, including Marie Curie, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Friends of the Earth and the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, now sell e-cards. These charities ask for a minimum donation of between 1 and 5 to give you access to software that allows you to send their designs via email. Another is Card Aid, which helps charities sell greetings cards online. It allows you to choose from a wide range of illustrations and charities to send 50 personalised e-cards for 22.50.

MAKE YOUR OWN CHRISTMAS GREETING

Making your own Christmas cards will not result in any donation to a charity. But it provides a personal touch that is often more appreciated than a purchased greeting. It can also save you money  which you can then donate if you wish.

You can start with blank cards purchased from high street stationery shops or specialists, such as Hobbycraft, from as little as 5 for a packet of 50.

For families with young children, cards illustrated by children are always appreciated. But be wary of turning a fun activity into a chore.

If you have access to a colour photocopier it may be wise to focus on creating one picture to be copied and then stuck on all cards  but with personal handwritten messages.

If you are looking for ideas, a wealth of suggestions and practical advice can be found on websites such as Activity Village, Housetohome and Mum In The Madhouse.
The Chancellor has been accused of heaping red tape and higher bills on thousands of small businesses with changes to the VAT system.

The Flat Rate Scheme for VAT, designed to cut bills and red tape for small firms, is being overhauled in a measure the Chancellor said would stem abuse of the scheme.

But critics have warned it will penalise thousands of innocent companies unnecessarily.

Red tape: The Chancellor has been accused of heaping red tape and higher bills on thousands of small businesses with changes to the VAT system

Since 2004, firms with a turnover of less than 150,000 pay a lower rate of VAT than the usual 20 per cent, according to the sector they are in.

Clothes shops pay 7.5 per cent and food shops 4 per cent under the Flat Rate Scheme. But experts warn the replacement is too complex.

Michael Steed, of the Association of Taxation Technicians, said: We support action against aggressive abusers, but hope the Revenue will justify why after many years it wishes to complicate a very straightforward, practical scheme.
Peer-to-peer online finance platform MarketInvoice has now notched up more than 1billion in funding for high-growth UK firms since its launch in 2011.

The platform, which helps firms to release funds tied up in invoices with long payment terms, took 14 months to double the sum lent in the previous five years.

Thousands of firms have accessed funds via 20,000 transactions. Companies can draw down between 10,000 and 3million against invoices, licences and contracts to fund their working capital.

Success: MarketInvoce co-founder Anil Stocker

Chief executive and co-founder Anil Stocker said: This is a huge milestone as a funding platform.
The UK has come fifth in a study of which nations offer the best environment for entrepreneurs  beating the US and much of the European Union.

Singapore topped the study of 85 countries, conducted by the Mara Foundation and Opinium Research.

Each country was assessed against a set of criteria that spanned policy, infrastructure, education, entrepreneurial environment and finance.

Fifth place: The UK has come fifth in a study of which nations offer the best environment for entrepreneurs  beating the US and much of the European Union

The UK scored highly on finance, particularly in terms of its attractiveness to investors in venture capital and private equity, bettered only by the US.

But it got a low score for attitudes, which related to the lack of interest of the average citizen to start their own business.

Ashish Thakkar, founder of Mara Group and Mara Foundation  a social enterprise for African entrepreneurs  and a business partner of the former Barclays boss Bob Diamond, said: It has become more and more apparent that governments and the private sector are simply not doing enough to support entrepreneurs in their endeavours.

With this index, we hope to provide some solid policy recommendations that will help guide discussions and improve entrepreneurial environments globally.

Virgin Group founder Richard Branson said the new index will help identify opportunities for business, not-for-profits and government to work together to create the right environment for entrepreneurs to thrive and to create jobs.

Following last weeks Autumn Statement, Emma Jones, founder of small business network Enterprise Nation, said: Its absolutely the Governments responsibility to invest in the infrastructure and technology we need to boost our economy. We all benefit from that. Its also good news that the rural economy will benefit from business rates relief.

Top of the charts: Singapore topped the study of 85 countries, conducted by the Mara Foundation and Opinium Research

But for the only reference to small businesses and the self-employed to be in connection with tax avoidance is worrying. Is this a dawning of a dangerous new era for entrepreneurs in post-Brexit Britain?

Meanwhile, former Business Secretary Vince Cable said the short-term impact of Brexit is quite negative and this is severely constraining what the Chancellor can do in his Autumn Statement and beyond.

He said that there wasnt a great deal in it for small firms, and added: The one thing that really gets small businesses wound up is the business rate system, and there hasnt been radical reform there.

Unfortunately, a lot of expectations have been raised by the Brexit process that lots of red tape will somehow be abolished for small business, and I fear this isnt going to happen, because in the coalition we worked hard to get rid of unnecessary red tape and there isnt a lot that can easily be done.

Research by insurer AXA has found the number of small firms expecting to grow in 2017 is severely down on previous years. Just 42 per cent expect to grow in 2017, compared with 55 per cent last year.

Most stark is the effect on hiring plans. Just 10 per cent of small businesses aim to take on new employees next year, against 38 per cent three years ago. The numbers planning to invest in assets are also down from 52 per cent to 29 per cent.

And while the Government has announced an extra 400billion of funding through the British Business Bank, AXAs research suggested a low appetite for taking on finance.

Twenty-eight per cent of small firms said they would seek finance in the coming year, but for most it will be a survival mechanism in the form of overdrafts or loans from friends and family, rather than investment for growth.

Just four per cent of small businesses said they would seek finance through Government-backed schemes.
CALEDONIA  Many at Grace Church dont know Reince Priebus as the savvy operative and political heavyweight about to enter what some argue is the second-most powerful position in the country.

They know Priebus as a principled, devout Christian whose faith helps guide him. Church members say a strong work ethic and love for politics was evident long before his rise from Wisconsin state politics to the White House, where he is set to become President-elect Donald Trumps chief of staff.

I am not surprised at all that he has risen to a position of such influence in our country, said John Binkley, a longtime friend of Priebus. Im grateful for it. We need more men like him in positions of influence and impact in the world.

Faith very important

Fresh out of law school and newly married, Priebus came to Grace Church, 3626 Highway 31, in about 1999, Binkley said.

Binkley and Priebus, along with their wives, started a Bible study and prayer group for young married couples. The two also met weekly with another friend for a separate Bible study and prayer.

Priebus, who has Greek heritage, maintained dual participation with Kimissis Greek Orthodox Church in Racine, Binkley said. (Officials there could not be reached for comment.)

He was passionately focused on his marriage, on his career, on his faith, Binkley said. His faith was something very important to him.

In the small-group settings, Priebus often asked questions and absorbed information as he grew in his faith, Binkley said. Priebus wife, Sally, was also heavily involved in the church, particularly with music.

In interviews, church officials raved about how Priebus used his legal background to perform countless hours of pro bono work in areas such as real estate, church administration and liability releases.

He was a great asset, former church administrator Randy Due said. He was friendly. He was fun. He knew his stuff.

And Priebus political ambitions were apparent, officials said.

One of his early forays into politics was an unsuccessful run for state Senate in 2004 against Democratic Sen. Bob Wirch of Somers. In 2007, he became chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. He and his wife moved to Washington after Priebus won the Republican National Committee chairmanship in 2011, though the couple still maintain a residence in Somers.

As Priebus progressed in his career, my interactions were, as a pastor, to keep grounded and to keep focused on the Lord and values and integrity, former senior pastor Jerry Worsham said.

Worsham used to give Priebus stories to read about Abraham Lincoln and William Wilberforce, a member of the British Parliament and active evangelical Christian. They were not only politicians who were instrumental in ending slavery on their respective sides of the Atlantic Ocean, but men of character with a strong spiritual component, Worsham said.

Worshams wife, Jane, recalled that whenever her husband delivered a message on leadership, Priebus immediately sought him out afterward.

He knew thats what he was and what he was designed to do. He just wanted to do it in the right way, she said.

We saw the progression up close, so it wasnt a surprise going into leadership at all, with the party. And (were) just thrilled to see him be honored and respected as he is in the new role.

Gatekeeper to president

Priebus ascension to White House chief of staff capped a roller-coaster 2016. He stuck by Trumps side from the moment the New York billionaire became the presumptive nominee, through his controversial and turbulent campaign and all the way to his stunning Nov. 8 victory.

In his new role, Priebus will act as a gatekeeper of information and access to the president and play a big role in everything from policy making to political strategy.

Even though its a powerful position, I hope he remains humble and has a sense of integrity, Due said.

Binkley, who stays in touch with Priebus, believes Trump has a right-hand man who got into politics for the right reasons. It wasnt for power or prestige, but to try to make the world a better place, he said.

Reince has a keen intellect, unwavering integrity and a ferocious work ethic, said Binkley, who now owns a recruiting firm in North Carolina. Yet hes also extremely likable, very humble and incredibly down to earth with a hilarious sense of humor. Hes got this interesting combination of attributes that I think are the makings of a good leader.
RACINE COUNTY  What started as a fun way to welcome new homeowners has blossomed to a major initiative to help grow the local economy.

In 2009 Cindy Nicoletti founded Celebrate Our Town in Kenosha as a way to help struggling small businesses, and has since expanded into Racine County.

Were in the business to help small business, Nicoletti said. We do not want to work with Walmart  what we love is businesses with a story in the community.

Celebrate Our Town gathers gift certificates and other small gifts from area businesses and presents them to new homeowners. Each basket of gifts come with an informational presentation that can last between 30 minutes to an hour. But if the owners arent home, they dont get the basket which is worth roughly $3,500.

Each business pays $3 per basket to be included for one year and roughly 60 house visits are made each weekend between the two counties. Currently around 80 businesses are connected with Celebrate Our Town.

Nicoletti said not every business can be included.

We hand-pick and interview the businesses that are going to be in the basket, Nicoletti said. No matter what, they have to be family-owned.

Get new customers

The main goal of Celebrate Our Town is not only to welcome new people to the area, but also to recruit customers for businesses after they used the gift certificates.

Once they get in the door, then these family-owned businesses do the (selling), and theyre going to keep coming back, said Karen Johnson, a volunteer with the organization.

One of the latest businesses to be a part of Celebrate Our Town is O&H Danish Bakery.

There are generations of successful businesses in southeastern Wisconsin, Nicoletti said. Representing them is representing what small business is here in Wisconsin. Its being able to pass it on to the next generation.

Terri Mason, manager at the O&H Danish Bakery located on 5910 Washington Ave., said the company is happy to be a part of Celebrate Our Town and is looking forward to meeting new customers.

Anyone welcomed to Racine that way is going to find Racine a great town to live in, Mason said. Clearly weve got one of the best bakeries in town and our road to home is never long.

Non-profits included

Nonprofits can also be a part of the baskets for free. Nicoletti said about 25 nonprofits take advantage of the opportunity by including volunteer information and lists of items that need to be donated.

Whatever their list is, we go into these homes, we visit with the new homeowners that are unpacking and we share with them all the needs of the community, Nicoletti said.

Nicoletti said they started doing house visits for anyone who bought a house, but now only do visits for those moving into homes worth $250,000 or more.

The reason we left that is, like a landscaping company, they would get absolutely no jobs, Nicoletti said, adding that people would use the gift certificates and never follow up with the company. They would be in our basket for six months and get nothing.

Nicoletti said theyre not trying to be selective in choosing the highest end homes.

Why we do that is we want to infuse money into the community, Nicoletti said. Those are the people that are giving to the nonprofits.
Times' Game of the Week Preview: No. 7 Beaver Area vs. No. 10 Deer Lakes

Beaver enters the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs riding high after closing the regular season strong. Up next: Deer Lakes for had coach Cort Rowse's Bobcats.
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No information released in Albany club shooting

ALBANY  Three days after a shooting at an Albany nightclub, city police hadn't released the names of the victims or the potential suspect in the incident that left one man dead and three other people injured.

Early Thanksgiving morning, someone opened fire during an argument in Rocks, a Central Avenue LGBT club. One man was killed and two other men and a woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries during the incident.

While the shooting was not a hate crime and appears to be an isolated incident, police haven't announced a motive. Rocks reopened on Friday.

Albany Police spokesman Steve Smith said Sunday he couldn't provide a description of the suspect. He added police may release the names of the victims Monday.

Anyone with information is asked to contact detectives at 462-8039.

 Amanda Fries

Police investigating slew of vandalism to mailboxes

ROTTERDAM  Police are reporting that mailboxes were vandalized throughout the town and other nearby locations Friday and Saturday.

Rotterdam police said they are investigating mailboxes that were damaged sometime Friday into Saturday morning. More vandalism has been reported in Duanesburg, Princetown and Guilderland.

Anyone who had a mailbox vandalized is being asked to report it to Schenectady County Communications at 630-0911. Anyone with information about possible suspects is asked to call Rotterdam police at 355-7331.

 Lauren Stanforth

Sunday fire leaves Scotia home with heavy damage

SCOTIA  A home at 2 Wilmarth St. sustained heavy damage after a fire tore through its attic early Sunday morning.

Scotia Fire Department Chief Ken Almy said the attic of the one-story home was fully involved when crews arrived around 2:50 a.m.

The man who rents the home was in the doorway with smoke billowing around him when crews arrived. He escaped safely, and firefighters were able to rescue a cat.

Almy said fire investigators from Schenectady County determined that the blaze started when combustible material was left too close to a furnace on the first floor.

The fire was under control in about 45 minutes. Crews from Beukendaal, Thompson Corners, Stratton National Air Guard base and West Glenville assisted at the scene.

 Lauren Stanforth
Miami

It did not matter that it was the middle of the night, or that it began to drizzle. When Miami's Cuban-American residents heard the news, they sprinted to Little Havana. They banged pots and pans. They sang the Cuban national anthem and waved the Cuban flag. They danced and hugged, laughed and cried, shouted and rejoiced.

The seemingly eternal vigil for the death of Fidel Castro, a man who had profoundly changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Miami  dividing their families, taking their property, imprisoning and sometimes shooting their friends and relatives, wrenching them from their homes and their country  was over. Finally.

"I owe this to my dad  this going out and celebrating," said Isabel De Lara, 67, a former banker who came to Calle Ocho  Eighth Street  to join in the jubilation. She wished her father, who is dead, could have joined her.

More than five decades had passed since De Lara stepped off a plane alone, from Cuba, sent to Miami at age 12 by parents who feared for her future after the Castro revolution.

For her and so many others, Castro's death was a watershed, for he embodied the revolution and the heartbreak that followed.

"Him dying represents the end of something awful that happened to us," she said. "It's actually him  not anybody else  who caused this. It's because of him that we lost our opportunity to have a life in our country."

Waves of other Cubans also came, transforming not just their own lives but the city itself, gradually turning it into the unofficial bilingual capital of Latin America. With the goal of ousting Castro and establishing democracy in Cuba, early exiles built a degree of political and economic clout that outstripped their relatively small numbers.

Focusing first on local politics and business in the 1970s and 1980s, the exiles and their children, led by the powerful Cuban American National Foundation, catapulted into national politics and influence.

They gained the power to tilt presidential elections toward Republicans and sway U.S. foreign policy against appeasement with Castro.

"It was important to take the struggle outside of Eighth Street to Washington," said Jorge Mas Santos, the son of Jorge Mas Canosa, the man who spearheaded the foundation and was seen as the leader of Miami's exile community.

That influence remains. The U.S. trade embargo on Cuba is still in force, requiring the vote of a Congress that is reluctant to remove it. And this year's presidential campaign saw two Americans of Cuban descent  Sens. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz  run for the office.

But in the last decade, the pro-embargo, hard-line grip on the minds and votes of people in Miami and elsewhere has weakened, creating divisions among Cuban-Americans over how deeply to engage with Cuba and its people.

With Castro's death, some hard-liners are pushing for retrenchment and hope that President-elect Donald Trump will crack down now that the government has lost its father figure. Others say that this is the time to flood the zone with more people, ideas and goods.

Cuba's president, Raul Castro, has opened the window slightly to economic reform, travel and American influence. Now that his older brother is gone, they argue, he will be freer to make changes.

But Saturday was mostly a day to celebrate. Overnight thousands, including De Lara, joined an impromptu conga line of catharsis in front of Versailles Restaurant on Eighth Street, the unofficial headquarters of Miami's Cuban exiles.

So many people showed up, including scores of young people, that the police, at the mayor's request, closed off several blocks to accommodate the celebration.
Baghdad

Rekindling sectarian rivalries at a sensitive time, Iraq's parliament on Saturday voted to fully legalize state-sanctioned Shiite militias long accused of abuses against minority Sunnis, adopting a legislation that promoted them to a government force empowered to "deter" security and terror threats facing the country, like the Islamic State group.

The legislation, supported by 208 of the chamber's 327 members, was quickly rejected by Sunni Arab politicians and lawmakers as proof of the "dictatorship" of the country's Shiite majority and evidence of its failure to honor promises of inclusion.

"The majority does not have the right to determine the fate of everyone else," Osama al-Nujaifi, one of Iraq's three vice presidents and a senior Sunni politician, told reporters after the vote, which was boycotted by many Sunni lawmakers.

"There should be genuine political inclusion. This law must be revised."

Another Sunni politician, legislator Ahmed al-Masary, said the law cast doubt on the participation in the political process by all of Iraq's religious and ethnic factions.

"The legislation aborts nation building," he said, adding it would pave the way for a dangerous parallel to the military and police.

A spokesman for one of the larger Shiite militias welcomed the legislation as a well-deserved victory. "Those who reject it are engaging in political bargaining," said Jaafar al-Husseini of the Hezbollah Brigades. "It is not the Sunnis who reject the law, it is the Sunni politicians following foreign agendas," said Shiite lawmaker Mohammed Saadoun.

According to a text released by parliament, the militias have now become an "independent" force that is part of the armed forces and report to the prime minister, who is also the commander in chief.

The new force would be subject to military regulations, except for age and education requirements  provisions designed to prevent the exclusion of the elderly and uneducated Iraqis who joined the militias. The militiamen would benefit from salaries and pensions identical to those of the military and police, but are required to severe all links to political parties.

The legislation came at a critical stage in Iraq's two-year-long fight against IS, a conflict underscored by heavy sectarian tensions given that the group follows an extremist interpretation of Sunni Islam and the security forces are predominantly Shiite. The Shiite-led government last month launched a massive campaign to dislodge IS from predominantly Sunni Mosul, Iraq's second largest city.

Through the military, the government has used the campaign to project an image of even-handedness, reaching out to the city's residents and promising them a life free of the atrocities and excesses committed by IS. It has also excluded the Shiite militias from the battle, winning a measure of goodwill from the Sunnis. But Saturday's legislation may stoke the simmering doubts of many Sunnis about the intentions of the government.
A report card issued a year after the federal Environmental Protection Agency told Hoosick Falls residents not to drink the water because of industrial chemical contamination is deeply unflattering to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his state Health Department's efforts to address the crisis.

Are the failing and incomplete grades deserved?

Cuomo and his Health Department were graded by still-angry residents and advocates on four key issues: establishing advisory health levels of the contaminant, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), that reflect the latest public health science (fail); creating bio and medical monitoring for members of the affected community (incomplete); establishing a new primary water source that is contaminant-free (incomplete); and overall state government accountability and transparency observed over the past year (fail).

The governor himself took a lambasting from residents for his role.

"The fears are as raw today as they were one year ago, and the state's lumbering response continues to place the people I love in danger. New York has failed us, so our report card is our chance to draw attention to their actions and to fail them," said Michelle O'Leary.

The citizenry of Hoosick Falls has to be yet again commended for raising an alarm. While this report card is necessarily a look backward over familiar ground, it's also a solid indicator of what we can currently expect related to future water issues statewide. And you can bet the farm, there will be future issues. The way forward is not encouraging.

Hoosick falls residents continue to take the deeply distressing situation they live and breathe every day, even after media and governmental attention has drifted elsewhere, right to the doorstep of those they feel screwed it up in the first place. To the corridors of the state Capitol, and why not?

After all, it was the state Health Department that told residents there were no health consequences to PFOA levels in the Hoosick Falls drinking water, even as the feds were saying just the opposite. That grave disparity is undeniable.

Yet the Health Department, and the governor, have conspicuously refused to accept responsibility  call it accountability  for misinforming residents, or offered any meaningful form of apology. The opposite; they've dragged their heels in a number of areas with a sort of passive resistance to whatever stances or claims have been made by common sense, by the EPA and by developing science on resolving the problem.

Cuomo's deep dislike for the EPA involvement in his state seems to have gotten in the way of a collegial resolution. Instead it's become a political competition.

"What is the purpose of the Department of Health if not to at least warn residents when their health may be at risk?" said resident Jennifer Plouffe at the report card's unveiling. "When New York could have told us levels were dangerous, they failed to do so. When residents needed clear information, the state failed to provide it. When we needed the results of our blood tests, the state failed to move quickly. When we needed accountability, state legislators reneged. When we demanded answers from the polluters responsible, the state went silent. There is a pattern here."

Which brings us to the meat of the report card.

PFOA advisory levels: The state health department's Dr. Howard Zucker at legislative hearings made much of what he called confusing numbers from the EPA, after the federal agency dropped health advisory numbers to 70 parts per trillion. Cuomo has indicated the EPA's number is sufficient for long-term exposure, although other states like Vermont and New Jersey have dropped theirs lower, a position warranted by emerging science. Oddly enough, I am told our Health Department has yet to actually lower the state standard from the archaic 50,000 parts per trillion, the generic number associated with so-called unregulated contaminants, even though health officials testified they would.

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In any case, if New York is to be an environmentally progressive and proactive state as we go into the uncertainty of the EPA's future and TrumpWorld, setting more stringent benchmarks for water quality even for unregulated contaminants regardless of federal "guidance" is a no-brainer.

Bio and medical monitoring: Blood testing has been ongoing in Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh. But what the Health Department has been short on providing is information to those receiving test results on what they mean. It's been suggested that a letter from the Health Department alerting residents and their physicians what cancers and other conditions need to be watched for is also in order. The tricky part is getting insurance carriers to pay for the monitoring sought by residents. That would require the governor to use his bully pulpit to push for it, but neither he nor his Health Department seem motivated in that direction.

Finding new water sources: The governor's assertion that his administration has done all it could to resolve the Hoosick Falls water crisis is based on creating a temporary and, soon, a permanent carbon filtration system, for private wells and the existing municipal supply. What he claims has merit, to a point. However, these filtration systems are not a cost-effective long-term solution. An alternative, contaminant-free water source  such as Troy's Tomhannock reservoir  is the only way to go, and so far we're not hearing much about that. Which goes back to the transparency issue.

So does Cuomo deserve his failing grade?

Yes, mostly for failing to switch sides and come clean when he realized he was on the wrong side of a politically indefensible position. His health department? Absolutely and in spades. An arrogant lot, but you already knew that.

flebrun@timesunion.com  518-454-5453
[November 27, 2016] Siemens Healthineers Debuts Innovative, Robot-Supported ARTIS pheno Angiography System

RSNA 2016: South Building, Hall A, Booth 1936 At the 102nd Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), Nov. 27 to Dec. 2 at Chicago's McCormick Place, the separately managed healthcare business of Siemens AG (News - Alert) is presenting itself for the first time under its new brand name, Siemens Healthineers. The new name underlines the company's pioneering spirit and its engineering expertise in the healthcare industry. With a new strategic direction, Siemens Healthineers aims to enable healthcare providers around the world to meet their current challenges and to excel in their respective environments. Through products and solutions designed to increase efficiency and to reduce costs, Siemens Healthineers is setting new trends in healthcare together with its customers - working under the motto "Engineering Success. Pioneering Healthcare. Together." At RSNA 2016, Siemens Healthineers unveils the robot-supported ARTIS pheno angiography system, which was developed for use in interventional radiology, minimally invasive surgery, and interventional cardiology. In addition to possessing a zen40HDR flat panel detector and GIGALIX X-ray tube for outstanding image quality, the ARTIS pheno boasts new 2k recording technology capable of delivering 2D imaging resolution that is four times higher in all recording processes than prior Siemens Healthineers systems. The system's StructureScout feature can adapt and optimize imaging parameters to suit the X-rayed area, potentially resulting in less radiation dose than prior Siemens Healthineers systems. The ARTIS pheno also supports the treatment of multimorbid patients and can be fitted with a comprehensive range of optional software applications for complex cases. And to aid with infection control, the ARTIS pheno has large, sealed surfaces with fewer spaces, which are easy to clean and disinfect. One system for multimorbid patients Patients often suffer from multiple health issues that can complicate minimally invasive procedures or render them impossible. Older patients, in particular, face additional risks due to chronic disease. The ARTIS pheno angiography system helps facilities respond accordingly. Because it can scan up to 15 percent faster in the body area than prior Siemens Healthineers systems, the system's syngo DynaCT clinical software application can produce 3D images that use less contrast media, thus decreasing the load on the patient's kidneys. And to accommodate contrast-sensitive patients, ARTIS pheno supports CO 2 imaging of extremities. The system follows the tilted patient table and increases CO 2 visibility within the patient via its ew StructureScout feature.



The ARTIS pheno's C-arm is 5 inches wider than its predecessor system, the Artis zeego, and has a free inner diameter of 37.6 inches, which offers more space for handling adipose patients and enables use of longer instruments. The system's multi-tilt table is designed to accommodate patients up to 617 pounds. The end of the table can tilt up and down to stabilize patient blood pressure or facilitate breathing, for example. And like the Artis zeego, the ARTIS pheno's robotic construction provides a flexible isocenter, so it can follow all table positions while representing the patient's target area from virtually any angle. Benefiting surgeons

Surgeons must be able to work easily while standing so they can perform lengthy operations without fatigue. They also must maintain optimum access within the operating area. Recognizing these needs, Siemens Healthineers designed the easy-float tabletop of the ARTIS pheno multi-tilt table to be easily moveable, regardless of the tabletop's tilt or the patient's weight. The ARTIS pheno recognizes the tabletop's position at all times and automatically aligns to the tabletop. The memory positions allow the system to move the C-arm out of the operating area quickly and move it back to the same position for further imaging, so surgeons can check results directly during the operation. Support for spinal fusion procedures Optional application packages can be used with the ARTIS pheno to accommodate requirements in complex cases, including spinal fusion procedures. Up to 10 vertebrae can be visualized in 3D imaging using syngo DynaCT Large Volume. Syngo Needle Guidance then allows the user to plan extensive procedures using screws or needles. Clinicians can precisely plan screw paths, and the Automatic Path Alignment function automatically aligns the C-arm to follow those paths. The laser integrated with the system's image detector displays the planned surgical path, helping to improve accuracy and speed in the OR. Easier identification, attribution of arteries Several applications on the ARTIS pheno support transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) of tumors. With TACE, embolic particles coated with a chemotherapeutic drug are delivered via catheter directly into the arteries leading to the tumor. With syngo DynaCT 360, the ARTIS pheno can generate a large-volume liver or lung image, for example, including the tumor's anatomy and the vessels leading to it. Rapid rotation is vitally important in reducing movement artifacts, since TACE patients receive only local sedation. The syngo Embolization Guidance application renders arterial vessels visible and helps distinguish vessels and treatment paths via color coding. Graphic overlaying of the selected vessel paths with real-time X-ray images distinguishes the vessels that supply the tumor for simplified microcatheter navigation, which can reduce radiation and contrast dose. Tools to combat infection Siemens Healthineers developed the ARTIS pheno to help hospitals combat high infection rates. An antimicrobial coating prevents bacteria and viruses from multiplying on the system. Seamless surfaces with no recesses, as well as easy-to-access spaces, facilitate system cleaning. The ARTIS pheno's wiring is routed inside the system to prevent cables from becoming dirty and potentially transmitting bacteria. And since it is floor-mounted rather than ceiling-mounted, the system is not only easier to install in the operating suite, but the sterile air flow from the ceiling is interrupted during imaging only by the system's flat-panel detector.  510(k)-pending. Siemens Healthineers is the separately managed healthcare business of Siemens AG enabling healthcare providers worldwide to meet their current challenges and to excel in their respective environments. A leader in medical technology, Siemens Healthineers is constantly innovating its portfolio of products and services in its core areas of diagnostic and therapeutic imaging and in laboratory diagnostics and molecular medicine. Siemens Healthineers is also actively developing its digital health services and enterprise services. To help customers succeed in today's dynamic healthcare marketplace, Siemens Healthineers is championing new business models that maximize opportunity and minimize risk for healthcare providers. In fiscal 2016, which ended on September 30, 2016, Siemens Healthineers generated revenue of 13.5 billion and net income of over 2.3 billion and has about 46,000 employees worldwide. Further information is available at www.siemens.com/healthineers View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161127005005/en/

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A Republican-ordered investigation into Wisconsin's 2020 election could cost taxpayers at least $680,000, more than nine times the original cost of contracts signed earlier this summer, according to Reince Priebus.
[November 27, 2016] Tax Free Shopping Scheme for Foreign Visitors Launches in Shanghai

EYSINS, Switzerland, November 28, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Tax Free Shopping has been introduced to Shanghai , allowing foreign travellers to reclaim VAT on purchases

Global Blue and Bank of China have collaborated to offer the service

International shoppers can save with major brands and retailers including Chanel, Louis Vuitton , Marks and Spencer and Shanghai No. 1 Department Store Visitors to Shanghai from Australia can now save 9% on their purchases as the country has introduced its first Tax Free Shopping scheme for foreign visitors. From today, Global Blue, the world's leading Tax Free Shopping provider, has partnered with Bank of China to make the service in Shanghai widely available and help retailers to provide the best Tax Free Shopping service to their international customers. Almost 200 stores in Shanghai have already signed up to the TFS scheme, including major department stores [e.g. Takashimaya, Pacific, Parkson and Bailian (Group) Department Stores], luxury brands (e.g. Chanel, Hermes, Tiffany and Louis Vuitton), high street names (e.g. Zara, Bershka and Marks & Spencer) and local retailers (e.g. Silk King, Lao Feng Xiang Jewellery and Chow Tai Fook Jewellery). In a few simple steps, Australian shoppers from can make savings on both consumable and non-consumable goods that they will export in their personal baggage, including fashion and beauty ites, watches and jewellery, and alcohol.



To claim the VAT refund, shoppers simply need to follow these three steps: When paying for purchases request a Tax Free Form and VAT invoice from shop staff When departing the country, visit the Customs desk at the airport and present the completed Tax Free form and VAT invoice, passport, receipts and unused purchases for verification. Once verified, Customs will provide a stamp for the Tax Free form Claim the refund via the refund counter at the airport As part of the scheme Global Blue will also work with Bank of China to increase the number of retailers signed up to the scheme and will help participating retailers to better advise foreign visitors using the Tax Free Shopping service.

The minimum purchase amount to qualify for a Tax Refund is 500RMB (approximately 98AUD). The scheme is available to all foreign visitors and residents from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. To locate participating retailers in China visit: globalblue.com/storelocator. About Global Blue Global Blue pioneered the concept of Tax Free Shopping 35 years ago and is now the worldwide industry leader, delivering Globe Shoppers the best shopping experience and creating value for retailers and partners through a range of products and services: Global Blue's Tax Free Shopping solutions allow thousands of retailers, including most of the world's best luxury, fast fashion and department store brands, to quickly and safely offer Globe Shoppers savings of up to 19% when shopping in 300,000 stores around the world

Global Blue's Dynamic Currency Conversion solutions allow merchants in 75,000 outlets around the world to offer foreign customers a simple and cost efficient way to pay in their domestic currency

Global Blue's SHOP is a targeted print and online media platform, enabling merchants to speak directly to Globe Shoppers and attract more international visitors through their doors Global Blue operates in 51 countries, employing 1,800 people worldwide. From April 2015 to March 2016, Global Blue powered 30 million Tax Free Shopping and 12 million Dynamic Currency Conversion transactions. These totalled 21 billion worth of sales in store. In addition, through the publication of over 9 million SHOP magazines and maps, and the creation of a wide range of online content, Global Blue helps its retail partners reach and engage with 30 million Globe Shoppers annually. For more information visit corporate.globalblue.com.

Media contact

E: [email protected]

T: Duncan Skehens, AVP Communications (+44)-7909-513-301

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Three seek NLCS Board District 1 seat in upcoming election

Three candidates are seeking election to the district one seat on the NLCS board: Incumbent Kirsten Collier, Craig Godsey and Jason Johnson.
WIND LAKE  Wisconsin Halloweens can be cold and rainy, and 2011 was one of those. But for Jan Clements, a clerical volunteer for Wind Lake Volunteer Fire Department who that day was handing out candy to trick-or-treaters from the departments ambulance, it was a day filled with joy for how far shes come.

It was gut-wrenching to be back in the ambulance and to think that the last time I was in here was because of something bad, Clements said. But this time it was something good.

Two years before that, on Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009, Clements was working in her yard when her left leg began to feel numb.

It started with my leg not working, she said. Every step I had to take to get in the house I had to pull my pant leg.

She began to walk into her house, but every step was getting more and more difficult.

I thought I pinched something in my back bending over and doing yard work, she said. But it was worse than that.

When she got into the house, Clements yelled for her husband to help her.

By the time he came, my (left) arm didnt work, she said. So he called 911.

Clements remembers the Wind Lake Volunteer Fire Department arriving in about 5 minutes.

I didnt know it was a stroke until the Fire Department got there and said the word, she said. They said possible stroke, into their radios and then I started crying.

Capt. Debi Blazei remembers comforting Clements.

We always want to be honest with our patients to what is going on, Blazei said.

But there was a problem with what day of the week it was.

Not all hospitals have capabilities of handling a stroke on a weekend, Blazei said.

The Wind Lake EMTs transported Clements to Waukesha Memorial Hospital, which is about 30 minutes away.

When she arrived, Clements had a CT scan that revealed a bleed in the right side of her brain.

The neurosurgeon told my family I would probably never walk again, Clements said.

Long journey

After leaving the hospital, Clements was transferred to the Rehabilitation Hospital of Wisconsin in Waukesha to begin treatment.

When she got there, Clements couldnt use a walker because she still couldnt use her left arm. She mostly used a wheelchair, but had to be carried from her bed to her chair and to the bathroom, with two people helping her each time.

To be so dependent on someone else for everything you want was very hard, emotionally hard, Clements said. So many of your freedoms are taken away from you when youre bedridden.

But after almost five weeks of intensive rehab, what doctors initially thought couldnt be done was done. Walking out of the rehab hospital was the most wonderful feeling, Clements said, one she said shell never forget.

I worked very hard and I proved them wrong, she said. I was able to walk out of the rehab hospital. It wasnt a pretty sight, but I did walk out.

Despite her remarkable progress, Clements still had to keep working to improve her condition. She couldnt drive again until eight months after she left the hospital. Her job at FedEx was too difficult in her condition, so she retired.

I felt like I didnt have a purpose, she said.

Giving back

Then, by happenstance, while reading the Town of Norway newsletter in 2011 she saw an advertisement for volunteers at the Wind Lake Fire Department. The department is always looking for volunteers, then and today, and Clements thought it would be a good way to show them her appreciation.

She called the department, filled out an application, and after an interview was approved to be a clerical volunteer for the department that saved her years earlier.

Blazei said she was grateful to learn that Clements was going to be part of the department.

What a great way to thank us, Blazei said. By coming back to help.

Clements, who does not respond to emergency calls, started with data entry, transferring fire inspection reports into the departments computer system.

I couldnt type like I used to, but I could type with two fingers, Clements said.

Eventually, Clements began helping more by ordering office supplies, shopping and doing whatever work was needed around the firehouse.

Theres a lot of work to be done, Blazei said, adding a lot of hours are dedicated to keeping the place together and up to date. Its hard to get firefighters and EMT volunteers because of the amount of hours you have to dedicate per week.

Today, Clements is the co-chair of the departments event and fundraising committee and this past September she organized the annual pancake breakfast that served 600 people and raised over $10,000 for new fire equipment.

She does a great job and helps us tremendously, Blazei said. I wish I had six of her.
Social media is an unavoidable facet of modern life, and while well never make fun of people for using it (we wouldnt ask you to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube if that was the case) we do quite enjoy pointing out examples of objectively awful people getting a much deserved comeuppance because of it. For example, why not revel in the schadenfreude of

10. Drug Dealer Caught Taking Literal Baths with Money

In 2016 a British man by the name of Levi Watson came afoul of the constabulary when he was accused of being a big ol drug dealer. Watson vehemently denied the claims and told the authorities he clearly couldnt be a drug dealer, because drug deals have money, and he had only pennies to his name.

As you can probably tell by the title of this entry, Watson was indeed a dealer of drugs, and was caught when the police casually scrolled through his Instagram feed and found a picture of him sitting in a bathtub full of money. This unsurprising twist roused the suspicion of the fuzz as normal, non-drug dealing folk rarely have enough money to throw handfuls of it in the tub. After discovering more pictures of Watson posing next to bottles of champagne and other shockingly suspicious items like wads of cash and Lamborghinis, the police promptly arrested Watson and sentenced him to 7 years in jail.

Watson, apparently not learning his lesson, joked about the sentence using the same Instagram profile that had gotten him arrested, prompting the authorities to delete it forever and increase his sentence. Because screw him.

9. Theres a Starbucks Barista Ruining Spoiled Kids Photos

While theres nothing wrong with taking a picture of your pumpkin spice latte, everyone who doesnt do that likely finds you just all kinds of annoying. Its narcissistic, irritating, and most of all, kind of pointless given that there are literally millions of the exact same photo on Instagram. Clearly the world needed a hero to stem the tide of identically framed triple Frappuccinos out there. The world got one in the form of Reddit user, bemyfuse.

In short, all bemyfuse does is position the stickers for a particular order right over the iconic Starbucks logo on any cup belonging to a group of gaggling preteens who act rudely towards the staff. This impressive act of passive aggression accomplishes nothing, save for annoying the kids who just spent $5 on a coffee just to take a photo of it for Instagram by ruining that photo. Now if only we could find someone to dunk the phones out peoples hands when they try to take a picture of their lunch, wed be closer to a perfect world.

8. Woman Banned from Every National Park for Being an Awful Artist

Social media is a great place for artists to share their work and thanks to various social media platforms, thousands of people have found an outlet for their creativity that allows them to earn money pursuing their passion. There is, however, a time and a place for art. For example, we dont think anyone would disagree that millennia old rock formations probably shouldnt be used as a canvas to plug your Instagram page. Casey Nocket disagreed with that sentiment.

In 2016, Nocket was arrested and banned from half a billion acres of US land (every national park in the US) for defacing eons old, protected rock formations with her Instagram handles and a crappy self-portrait using acrylic paint. To make the whole thing doubly douchey, Nocket then took pictures of the vandalism and posted them to Instagram.

Initially Nocket remained staunchly defensive of defacing national treasures specifically protected by the government for the enjoyment of future generations by saying her childish daubs were art. Which, to be fair, they were. But art scrawled across protected landmarks is still a crime so Nocket was arrested, fined, and banned from every national park for causing damage to national treasures, and for generally being an idiot.

7. 50 Cent Called Out for Posing with Piles of Money After Claiming to be Broke

50 Cent, contrary to what you may think about the rapper, is actually a remarkably savvy businessman who has made a number of startlingly astute financial decisions over the years. For example, investing in and promoting Vitamin Water, which was eventually sold to Coke, earning him some $100 million. Money Mr. Cent then went right ahead and pissed up a wall.

Fiddy spent a significant portion of his earnings on a massive mansion and various other items to cement his baller status, forcing him to file for bankruptcy in 2015. In an effort to maintain his image as a straight G, Fiddy tried to quell the very accurate rumors of him being broke by posing for a photo of himself sitting next to a phat stack of cash arranged to spell out the word broke. Something were guessing made more sense in his head.

Although the photo was popular with his fans, the government was less amused and brought the rapper in for questioning about him apparently hiding undeclared assets. Hiding, in this case, meaning bragging about them on Instagram. 50 Cent claimed the money was simply a prop used for music videos, which prompted a further investigation from the Secret Service, who investigated him for counterfeiting. When the money was found to be a prop, 50 Cent was basically called an idiot by the government and then told his finances would be scrutinized even more carefully. Fiddy took the news poorly, claiming he was being treated unfairly by the government helping him pay off 32 million dollars worth of debts without going to jail.

6. Kids Brag About Smoking Weed; Immediately Get Arrested

Given the current political climate, its fairly likely that marijuana will be legalized to some extent throughout most of the States in the next few years. That said, people who smoke weed are still amongst the most irritating people in the world simply because they seem unable to talk about anything other than smoking weed. If you dont know a person like this, consider yourself very lucky because this person is invariably all of the annoying.

So it may be kind of satisfying for people who do know a person like this to know that in 2013, a 17 year old girl was promptly arrested for bragging about smoking what we assume was the dankest weed, complete with a picture on social media (the specific site was never identified). We know nothing about the girl in question, partly because she was underage and partly because she was never booked by officers, meaning the only thing we know about her for sure is that she was white.

5. Man Brags About Getting Away with Attacking Royal Marine; Gets Called Stupid by Judge

On Christmas eve 2015, an utter prick named Ben Scott brutally attacked a Royal Marine on leave from Afghanistan named Mark Jolly, punching him in the back of the head (unprovoked) like a big man. Scott was quickly arrested and later charged with assault in April the following year.

Scott was eventually given a suspended sentence (meaning he wouldnt go to jail) and a stern dressing down by the judge. Literally 45 minutes after avoiding jail time for assaulting a soldier, Scott posted a picture of a bottle of champagne on Facebook with the caption Time to celebrate!!! real decent people prevail in the end and that scum mark jolly can stay at the bottom of my shoe where he belongs, I WIN. Spelling and grammar mistakes aside, the post was an obnoxiously gloating tirade that caused a furor on social media.

The judge presiding over Scotts case later revised his leniency, noting that hed clearly not learned anything, and sent him straight to prison to carry out the rest of his sentence, being quoted as saying today you must accept the consequences of your stupid, arrogant behavior. Scott later profusely apologized for his actions, claiming that the whole thing had been twisted to make him the bad guy, because theres obviously a scenario in which attacking an unarmed man from behind, at Christmas time, is understandable.

4. Inmates Brag About Crimes, In Jail, Using Smuggled Phone; Get More Time Added

In 2015, workers in the British prison system got kind of annoyed when they began receiving links to a YouTube video of two men being held at Her Majestys leisure, rapping from inside prison.

The men, identified as Demehl Thomas and Moysha Shepherd, recorded a short video of themselves rapping about their crimes from inside HMP Birmingham using a smuggled cell phone, which they then decided to inexplicably post to YouTube.

It didnt take long for HMP Birmingham to notice the video and charge both men for making an unauthorized recording behind bars. Amazingly, despite there being literal timestamped video evidence of the crime, Moysha Shepherd pled not guilty to it. Something he had good reason to do, seeing as he posted it the day before he was set to be released. Instead of being released, Shepard was sentenced to an additional 2 years in prison and has the unusual honor of being the first person charged for recording something behind bars without permission since the law was introduced in 1952. All for the sake of the 10,000 views on YouTube the video eventually got before being taken down.

3. Identity Thief Caught Because he Kept Instagramming his Dinner

The digital age has made stealing a persons identity a lot easier. Thankfully though, it has also made catching the people who do this easier too, provided theyre narcissistic asses. As was the case with Nathaniel Troy Maye and Tiwanna Tenise Thomason, a pair of prolific identify thieves who were caught in a 2013 sting operation due to their crippling habit of Instagramming their food.

To make this whole thing deliciously ironic, the pair were caught after being identified by an IRS investigator while eating a restaurant called the YOLO Restaurant. After noting the couples tendency to take pictures of their food, the IRS had the investigator meet them at a Mortons, knowing the pair would be unable to resist taking a picture of one of the restaurants steaks.

After they did exactly that, the IRS simply searched Instagram for photos tagged Mortons from that day and had the informant identify the steak, then the couple from the other photos on their profile. From that point on it was simply a matter of identifying the pair from the profile, which was astonishingly easy given that Troy Mayes Instagram profile was @troymaye.

Yes, the most prolific identify thief in the United States was caught because his Instagram profile used his own name.

2. Thief Caught by Cameraman Whose Camera he Stole, Using his Stolen Gear

The 2016 Rio Olympics were among the most controversial in recent years, in part because of the amount of crime present. And were not just talking about the crimes committed by the athletes, Ryan Lochte.

One of the biggest thefts of the Olympics, at least money wise, was the theft of $40,000 worth of camera equipment from a News Corp photographer, Brett Costello. Costello was robbed while eating at a cafe and was obviously distraught, but was able to continue doing his job thanks to a generous equipment loan from Canon.

The thief would arguably have been able to get away with the theft if he hadnt have tried to use Costellos own jacket to go behind the scenes of the Olympics. Yes, the thief was so stupid he tried using the credentials of a famous photographer who looked nothing like him to wander around behind the scenes alongside people who knew Costello personally. The thief was almost immediately caught and arrested. Though Costellos equipment was never recovered, we have footage that quickly circulated social media of the criminals face the moment he realized how screwed he was. So well count it as a big win anyway.

1. Rich Kids are Getting Their Parents Arrested for Fraud by Showing Off

Theres an unusual and surprisingly popular trend online wherein the children of the super-wealthy post pretentious pictures showing off how much money they have. While these pictures certainly offer an astounding view into the lifestyles of the super-rich, they additionally provide the IRS with all the information they need to nail their parents for fraud.

Yes, the IRS and various governments around the world are using sites like Instagram, and specifically the posts of braggart, trust fund brats, to size up the parents assets and compare them to their declared earnings.

Because the parents of these kids often have no idea what the hell Snapchat, Facebook, and Twitter are, theyre often oblivious to the fact their kids are showing off assets theyd rather not have the government know about, leaving them open to prosecution.

Fraud investigators have managed to seize yachts and private planes, and stick rich fat-cats with huge bills for tax evasion, all because their kids couldnt resist posting about drinking champagne in the club, or photos of stacks of cash. As a final, amusing story for you to consider, theres even a story about an unnamed heiress losing nearly a million dollars of her daddys money after a thief hacked into her accounts because her password was the same as her dogs name. Money the thief got away with because the heiress was so ditzy, she didnt notice a million dollars fly out of her account.

Man, its almost like some people dont deserve money.

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Saturdays three and a half hours teleconference between Greece creditors and 5 key Greek Ministers involved in negotiations -Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, Economy and Development Minister Dimitris Papadimitriou, Labour Minister Efi Achtzoglou, Alternate Finance Minister Giorgos Chouliarakis, and Environment and Energy Minister Giorgos Stathakis- revealed the rift between the two sides on a number of major issues. The two sides convened in an effort to send a message of agreement before Mondays EuroWorking Group meeting, but failed to find common grounds on the matters of labour reforms, the non-performing loans, and energy and fiscal issues. The extent of disagreement can be highlighted by the fact that at one point Labour Minister Achtzoglou departed from the conference leaving the other participants to continue the discussion on the other matters of contention. A government source present during the teleconference said that no agreement would be reached before Monday, adding that although another teleconference would take place at a technical staff level on Sunday with the hope of making some progress, most matters would most probably close after Tuesday. According to government sources, the key areas of disagreement include:

1. Labour matters, with the creditors adopting a tough stance, especially the IMF, while the government is standing by its position that collective bargaining is within the best EU practices. The institutions are contemning to push for mass layoffs, with the IMF persisting for the adoption of a lockout clause, while the Greek side arguing the current status should remain unchanged.

2. Greeces creditors insist that the energy markets should open up, while they are demanding the sale of 49% of the Independent Power Transmission Operator (ADMIE) by September 2017. In addition to this, they are pushing for retail energy market to open up.

3. On the subject of pending bank loans, the two main issues of contention include whether the outstanding debts from VAT and compound interest on bank loans will be cut. The issue will be discussed during Sundays technical staff level teleconference.

Meanwhile, the European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, Taxation and Customs, Pierre Moscovici is expected to arrive in Athens on Monday for a 2-day visit, in an attempt to pave the way for a political agreement at the crucial December 5 EuroGroup meeting. However, judging from the views expressed to Austrian newspaper Der Standard by Klaus Regling, the managing director of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) -the largest loan contributor with 171 billion euros of the Greek bailout program- any hopes by the Greek side of receiving debt relief were shattered. Regling blasted the tactics used by the current SYRIZA-ANEL government ruling out any possibility of a debt restructuring. When the adjustment program comes to an end in 2018 we will analyse the debt sustainability. If necessary we will act, he stressed.

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 UN Secretary Generals Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide, arrives today who at 10:00 am tomorrow will be received by the President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasades

The UN Secretary Generals Special Adviser Espen Barth Eide, arrives today who at 10:00 am tomorrow will be received by the President of the Republic, Nicos Anastasades.

Eide returns to the island following the two days of intensive negotiations in Mont Pelerin.

The UN SGs Special Adviser is expected to assure the President on Monday that the UN is looking forward to a constructive future. Following, the meeting with Anastasiades, Eide is also expected to also have a meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci.

President Nicos Anastasiades has assured earlier that he is determined to take all necessary steps and continue his tireless efforts for the UN peace talks to resume, despite the disappointment following the negotiations in Mont Pelerin on territorial adjustment.

The latest UN-led effort to reunite Cyprus, divided since the 1974 Turkish invasion, between President Nicos Anastasiades and T/C leader Mustafa Akinci resumed in May last year. The aim is to find a negotiated settlement that would address the concerns of the islands two communities under a federal roof.

Source: Proto Thema

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
Capital Group Properties (CGP), an innovative community developer based in Egypt, UAE, is set to build a new smart village at its flagship Al Burouj development in east Cairo.



Dubbed as Smart Village East, the project is being implemented by CGP, a joint venture between UAE firms Abu Dhabi Capital Group and Al Ain Properties, with an initial investment of E1 billion ($56.7 million), reported Amwal Alghad.



The company has signed an agreement with Smart Villages Company, a high-technology business district in the city of 6th of October, Egypt in this regard.



CGP pointed out that the establishment of such smart cities and technology parks would give a major boost to Egypts economy, said the report.



Smart cities act as a stimulant to the creation of great job opportunities and new investments; the current Smart Village in West Cairo is a live proof, it added.
Savills, a leading consultancy firm, has been appointed real estate advisor to the Committee for the Settlement of Stalled Real Estate Projects in Bahrain.



Announcing the appointment, the Supreme Judicial Council of the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs and Waqf said Savills will also act as exclusive sales agent for the project.



Founded in 1855 in the UK, Savills, has over 700 property consultancy offices and 30,000 staff around the world.



Its office in Bahrain is headed by Donald Bradley a well-known figure in the regional property market and who has advised on a wide range of development projects during his 34 years in the Gulf region.



Savills advises clients in every aspect of the property life cycle from investment and development through to asset management and disposal of real estate.



On the unique appointment, Bradley said: "This is a really special appointment and shows the determination of the Judicial Committee to adopt a best practice solution to a range of strategies for the stalled real estate projects which are overhanging the market."



"We are now in a period of market consolidation where development projects will have to be properly organised and those which have issues are professionally handled and relaunched into the market. This is a really major step for the authorities and will provide a work out plan and perhaps a precedent for other projects," stated Bradley.



"We look forward to working with the Government and the Judicial Authorities on this matter and our top team is now fully committed to bringing about the best possible solution for all concerned," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Bahrains Injaz Al-Arab, a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide (JA), recently hosted an award ceremony to mark the 10th annual Injaz Al-Arab Young Arab Entrepreneurs Competition.



The ceremony was attended by His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Abdullah bin Hamad Al Khalifa, on behalf of His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa.



The event, which took place at the ART Rotana Hotel in Amwaj, saw 20 teams consisting of young Arab entrepreneurs from across the Mena region competing to obtain the prestigious titles of University Company of the Year and School Company of the Year, as well as several other awards.



 The University Company of the Year award was given to Watad from Saudi Arabia.

 The School Company of the Year award went to Roshena from the Kingdom of Bahrain.

 The University and High School Product of the Year awards were given to Ecoouifia from Morocco and Wasila from Egypt respectively.

 The Social Impact award was granted to Grow from Algeria for the University category and Jedmer from Tunisia for the High School category.

 The 2016 FedEx Access Award went to Bellora from Oman

 Citi Client Focus Award also went to Roshena from the Kingdom of Bahrain

 The MBC Al Amal Best PSA of the Year Award was also won by Watad from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.



HH Shaikha Hessa bint Khalifa Al Khalifa, executive director of Injaz Bahrain, said: We are extremely proud of all the participating students from across the region for their hard work, dedication and creativity in adapting business concepts to real-life applications. Their efforts over the last six months have taken them a long way and they have demonstrated their capabilities in their presentations. We are especially proud that Bahrain was able to host the annual competition, for the first time, in its remarkable 10th anniversary. The Injaz Al Arabs National Company Program Competition has set a high bar for next years participants, and we are excited to see what the future holds for Injazs students.



The chairman of Injaz Bahrain, Dr Abdulrahman Jawahery, added: It has been an incredible experience to see these young students present their ingenious products and business propositions. The Kingdom of Bahrain has excelled in hosting such a spectacular event for the region. When we realize that over 60% of the jobs these young leaders will be doing in the future don't even exist yet, you begin to understand the critical role Injaz has in building opportunities. I believe that through Injaz Bahrain, we have created a solid and valuable springboard that will equip young minds to take on the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow."



Akef Akarabwi, the president and CEO of JA said: At the end of each YEC we find ourselves overwhelmed with positivity & hope and this year was no exception. The enthusiasm, confidence, optimism, and youthful entrepreneurial abilities demonstrated at the event reassured us that our vision is flourishing and as alive as ever. Thank you to all who made our journey prosperous and enlightening, and to all of the thriving youth that dedicated their entrepreneurial wits towards inventing, revolutionising and advancing the future. May we continue to empower & educate our youth as we embrace and work towards our path to 1 million students annually by 2022.  TradeArabia News Service
US-based Johnson & Johnson (J&J), a global healthcare company said it was in preliminary talks with Actelion Pharmaceuticals about a potential takeover of Europe's largest biotech firm, currently valued at about $20 billion, a report said.

An acquisition of the Swiss company would boost J&J's drug pipeline and diversify its prospects, added the Reuters report.



There can be no assurance any transaction will result from these discussions, both Johnson & Johnson and Actelion said in separate statements.



Actelion is a leading biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of innovative drugs for diseases with significant unmet medical needs.



Its portfolio of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) treatments covers the spectrum of disease, from WHO Functional Class (FC) II through to FC IV, with oral, inhaled and intravenous medications. Although not available in all countries, Actelion has treatments approved by health authorities for a number of specialist diseases including Type 1 Gaucher disease, Niemann-Pick type C disease, Digital Ulcers in patients suffering from systemic sclerosis, and mycosis fungoides type cutaneous T-cell lymphoma.



Founded in late 1997, with now over 2,500 dedicated professionals covering all key markets around the world including Europe, the US, Japan, China, Russia and Mexico, Actelion has its corporate headquarters in Allschwil / Basel, Switzerland.
Funding, collaboration and innovation are the three elements that are essential for the success of China's 'One Belt One Road (OBOR)' iniative, said DP World Group chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.



He was speaking at the Asian Logistics & Maritime Conference in Hong Kong, highlighting the potential of One Belt One Road (OBOR) to be the worlds largest project for global and regional trade collaboration over the next few decades.



Reflecting on DP Worlds global network with over 77 marine and inland terminals in 40 countries, Bin Sulayem pinpointed three keys to OBORs success during a panel discussion entitled Chinas Grand Initiatives: Where are the Opportunities?"



Bin Sulayem said: We believe in Chinas One Belt One Road initiative and see huge potential in it, but it is essential that there is a focus on funding, collaboration between nations and innovation for it to be truly successful.



The resources required to develop OBOR are vast, with estimates between $2 trillion and $3 trillion per year. While government backed financial institutions have been created, there is a need to address the gap between public and private funding. At the same time, collaboration is key to harmonise customs processes, develop multimodal connectivity and remove complexities from the global supply chain with policies and procedures that promote cross-border trade and investment.



Finally, opening up the ancient trade routes of the Silk Road will require creativity, entrepreneurship and an open mind. Solutions to enable trade will push the boundaries of whats possible and this is why weve invested in the Hyperloop One, he said.



Following a multi-million dollar investment in US-based Hyperloop One for research and development of Hyperloop technology, Bin Sulayem was recently elected to its board of directors.



DP World and Hyperloop One are conducting a feasibility study on moving containers from ships docked at DP Worlds flagship Jebel Ali Port via the Hyperloop system to a new inland container depot in Dubai. The study will also focus on efficient handling of containers, costs, benefits, and demand and volume patterns of moving cargo using the new technology.



DP Worlds experience and expertise in markets across the OBOR region spans South Asia, China, Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan and throughout Europe. That multi-national and cultural understanding has enabled the company to become a knowledge exporter on trade issues, providing insight and advice to Governments involved.



Bin Sulayem added: OBOR is a global initiative, one from which we all stand to benefit. Done in the right way, the opportunities from it will be enormous and we look forward to working with China and other nations to realise its goals. China and the UAE are partners in this journey - we are on the same Belt and Road.



During his visit, Bin Sulayem met with senior Chinese government officials including Carrie Lam, chief secretary for administration of the Hong Kong SAR government, and Margaret Fong Shun-man, executive director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). - TradeArabia News Service
Whether it's unfinished business or a collection of new priorities, U.S. Rep. John Katko is hoping to achieve a lot in his second term.

Katko, R-Camillus, will continue representing the 24th Congressional District after defeating Democratic challenger Colleen Deacon earlier this month. His 22-point win over the Syracuse Democrat was slightly better than his 20-point win over then-incumbent Democratic Rep. Dan Maffei in 2014.

In Cayuga County, Katko won by a 2-to-1 margin over Deacon. Based on the unofficial vote tally, he won every election district in Auburn, which has traditionally been a Democratic stronghold.

"Two years ago it was a willingness to be independent and bipartisan and this time it was proving that I am independent and am bipartisan and I'm getting things done because of it," Katko said in an interview with The Citizen. "No matter what the attacks were, I just kept going back to that. I think it really resonated with people and they rewarded me for it."

During his first term in office, Katko established himself as a leading congressional voice on national security issues. As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he played a key role in securing an agreement on a long-term highway bill. The measure included a provision designating Interstate 81 as a high priority corridor.

On issues of local importance, Katko worked with groups to address the heroin epidemic and he advocated for the formal establishment of the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn.

In the next Congress, Katko has some new and old issues he wants to work on.

TAX REFORM: When Katko discusses jobs and the economy, he believes tax reform can help spur growth. A major tax reform package proved elusive during his first term, but he's hopeful that Congress can reach an agreement in 2017-18.

"I think that's a high priority this time. I think there's a real possibility," Katko said. "(Incoming Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer) has indicated a willingness to do that. That's a drum I've been beating for a long time and I think we're going to be able to get somewhere with that."

INFRASTRUCTURE: He called the highway bill a "great start," but acknowledged there's more that can be done to address the nation's  and central New York's  infrastructure needs.

Tax reform could play a role in that. If the tax package repatriates hundreds of billions of dollars being held overseas, the additional funds could be used to invest in infrastructure.

HEALTH CARE: He supports repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act with market-based solutions. It's possible that under President-elect Donald Trump's administration some of the Affordable Care Act's key components will remain in place. But others may be replaced.

Katko also stressed the importance of continuing to work on the heroin and synthetic drug epidemics.

"There's a lot more we can do," he said, adding that he will continue to work with the Heroin Epidemic Action League, a Cayuga County-based organization, and do his part to secure grants and other funding for local efforts.

NATIONAL SECURITY: Katko expects he'll remain a member of the House Homeland Security Committee and continue to chair the House Subcommittee on Transportation Security. Whether it's aviation security or addressing threats posed by the Islamic State, he wants to build off the work in his first term and continue that in the 2017-18 sessions.
16 idols stolen from Jumla's Chandannath temple

At least 16 idols, including that of the main deity Dattatreya, were stolen from the Chandannath Baba temple in Jumla in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The Bahrain International Federation for Business & Professional Women (BIFBPW), in partnership with FinMark Communications, will host a high-level panel of executives from legal sector to highlight the role of women in the industry.



The event will take place on November 28 from 4pm to 6pm. The discussion, taking place at the Federations headquarter at Jasra Craft Centre and open for media, is being held in support of a year-long campaign launched by the Supreme Council for Women (SCW) to celebrate Bahraini Womens Day under the patronage of HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ebrahim Al Khalifa, President of the Supreme Council for Women, and to highlight and promote the achievements of "Women in the legal Sector".



Also present at the event will be members of the BIFBPW and an audience comprised of media, young women working in the legal sector and others with related interests to the industry. Panelists will discuss the opportunities and obstacles facing women and their career progression in the field and female members of the panel their own stories of challenge and success.



Shaikha Hind bint Salman Al Khalifa, president of BIFBPW, said: As a Federation dedicated to promoting the role and activity of women in different professions, BPW is pleased to host this distinguished panel of legal industry experts committed to supporting the further development and advancement of women to leadership roles in their industry. Women have already made significant contributions to the development of Bahrains legal services sector and their further ascension will no doubt allow the sector to continue to growth, innovate and further diversity.



The Bahrain International Business & Professional Women Federation was established in December 2012, and it consists of three clubs around the Kingdom. These types of clubs are established worldwide in more than 95 countries, and its the first of its kind in the Gulf.  TradeArabia News Service
Hyundai Motor Company today confirmed Skyline Automotive as its official distributor for Qatar, underlining a determination to increase its share of the local car market.



Skyline Automotive has ambitious plans for growth, bringing together a leadership team with extensive experience working in the motor industry in Qatar, as well as across the wider GCC and Middle East.



Managing Director Paiman El Malla has previously held senior positions with BMW operations in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.



The new distributor is responsible for sales and service of the full Hyundai 2017 model range, from small hatchbacks and sedans to SUVs. It will also introduce the luxury Genesis brand to the Qatari market from this month. Its first showroom is now open on B-Ring Road, and more sales and service centers will open at convenient locations across Qatar in the coming months.



We are very impressed by Skyline Automotives dedication due to their understanding of the market and to their rapidity of establishing their sales and after sales facilities, said Mike Song, Hyundai head of operations for Africa and the Middle East. Hyundai has achieved success by setting high standards, and we look for partnerships that match those standards, and that will consistently deliver on the promise we make to our customers. We believe we have found the right partner in Qatar.



As Hyundais official distributor, Skyline Automotive will offer some of the safest, most innovative, stylish and reliable cars available, designed and built to the highest specifications and standards by the worlds fifth-largest car manufacturer.



We are proud to represent the Hyundai brand in Qatar and excited by the huge opportunity ahead of us, said Paiman El Malla, Managing Director of Skyline Automotive. The vision for Skyline Automotive is to be a truly service-led and customer-focused organization, which aligns perfectly with Hyundais brand ethos. We have a clear and focused plan for growth matched with the expertise, skills and ambition to succeed. We look forward to building a very strong partnership with Hyundai in the years to come.  TradeArabia News Service


The Egyptian government has signed an umbrella agreement with European Development Partners to secure 267 million ($296 million) funding for the development of a new large-scale windfarm in the Gulf of Suez area in Egypt.



With a capacity of at least 200 MW of renewable electricity generation the project is an integral part of the Egyptian long-term energy strategy to utilise the countrys enormous renewable energy potential, said a spokesman for European Development Partners.



The European Development Partners include the European Union (EU), KfW for German Development Cooperation, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Agence Francaise de Developpement (AFD).



On completion, the Gulf of Suez windfarm will generate 650 GWh of emissions-free electricity per year to cover the electricity needs of 370,000 Egyptians.



As per the deal, the EU will provide a grant of 30 million, while the Egyptian government will pump in 78 million for the project, said the spokesman.



As lead donor, German Development Cooperation through KfW will provide a soft loan of 72 million followed by EIB with a soft loan of 115 million and AFD with 50 million.



This agreement will pave the way for the implementation of the windfarm project, which is estimated to cost 343 million ($381 million), he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Cybercrime is on the rise today as more and more criminals are exploiting the speed, convenience and anonymity of the internet. And with the holidays nearing, cybercriminals usually target their victims using phishing emails scams that look like special offers.



James Lyne, global head of Security Research, Sophos - a leading security software and hardware company - cautions online shoppers: The holidays are a heightened time when cybercriminals are using clever phishing emails scams that look like special offers or shipping notices for gifts. When in reality, these are designed to snare clicks and make you hand over information."



Sophos is reminding consumers to pay extra attention to nine simple security steps to stay safe online during the holidays:



1. If an online deal or email offer with price discounts looks too good to be true, it probably is. Hit delete.



2. Be aware of untrusted wireless networks when youre out shopping with your mobile phone. Consider waiting to enter your credit card information when you get home.



3. Only use trusted merchants to make online payments. Use PayPal or your credit card, not bank debit cards to purchase gifts online.



4. Be on the lookout for Typosquatting. Cybercriminals take a popular online brand and change one letter or two to trick you into clicking and sharing personal information.



5. IoT devices are sure to be on everyones list this year, but they are vulnerable to cybercriminals. Before you start using your newfangled device, reset the password. Some, as weve recently see with Dyn DDoS attack, are vulnerable to criminal-hacker hijacking.



6. Be sensible about password security. Make account passwords different and difficult to guess. Include upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols to make passwords harder to crack - refer to the Sophos How to Pick a Proper Password video for creating stronger passwords.



7. Cybercriminals intercept data with spyware more than usual during the holidays. Protect against all malware, including spyware, which logs your financial data while you type it into your keyboard, with security software like Sophos Home. Of 1,250 consumers polled in the US, UK, Germany, Switzerland and Austria in a recent Sophos survey, 54 per cent perceive spyware as an extremely large cyber security threat. Thirty-one percent of those surveyed consider themselves unprotected, are not familiar with spyware or unsure if theyre protected.



8. Run up to date security software and check out the Sophos Home toolkit videos for tips on blocking spyware and all other malware, detecting and blocking malicious URLs and apps, which could contain ransomware, securing wifi, and ruling out phishy emails.



9. At a time of higher than normal e-commerce, criminals have a piqued interest in exploiting online activity. Consumers need to be extra vigilant to protect against cybercriminals who amp up their nefarious ways during the holidays. - TradeArabia News Service


Four Points by Sheraton, Bur Dubai, has appointed Alex Sebastianutti as head chef of its forthcoming Italian restaurant, Ricetta.



Sebastianutti brings international experience to Ricetta with a career spanning Abu Dhabi, Germany and Italy and roles ranging from chef de partie to chef de cuisine.



Sebastianutti, born in a city near Venice, has grown with the traditional cuisine of his grandmother. He has become an expert of Italian cuisine and fine dining over his 13 year career. His culinary skills have been savored in such renowned dining establishments such as Parco Ristorante Le Calandrine and Cipriani Restaurant. The polyglot chef takes delight in meeting new people, traveling and learning new cultures. He speaks Italian, English, German, Spanish and French.



I look forward to taking guests on a palatable journey of the senses with the menu Ive prepared for Ricetta. Italian food is absolutely international and delights diners around the globe. It will be a treat to produce exceptional meals for guests in a city as global as Dubai, said Sebastianutti.



Ricettas authentic ambience is complete with tables dressed by red and white checkered tablecloths and mustard yellow walls adorned by black and white images associated with Italy. The authenticity of the experience extends into the home-cooked, fine dining meals led by Italian Head Chef, Alex Sebastianutti. Menu offerings include such appetising options as Orata alle Erbe, Ossobuco alla Milanese, Costella Dagnello and a number of vegetarian dishes. A real stone oven will cook fresh Italian pizza for the customers of Ricetta.



Four Points by Sheraton, Bur Dubais current dining options include Antique Bazaar, Promenade, The Viceroy and La Terrace. Ricetta, meaning recipe in Italian, will be the fifth addition to the historic district of Dubai property and its only setting for fine Italian cuisine. - TradeArabia News Service
A decade has passed

If the remaining parts of the peace pact are not executed, new conflict may ensue
AIIB ready to finance 2 infra projects

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is interested in investing in two of the five infrastructure projects Nepal had proposed in the first phase, to be followed by other projects, government officials have said.
Broad anti-graft policy in the making

The government is considering introducing a comprehensive National Public Integrity Policy to promote good governance in public offices, the private sector and non-government organisations.
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 26

Coming down heavily on the Opposition parties for giving a nationwide Bharat Bandh call on November 28, the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said the move was politically motivated.

District BJP president Rajesh Honey said the parties, which have failed to take any step in the interests of the nation were now united against the United Governments demonetisation move just to mislead people for political gains. He urged the people, especially the businessmen and the shopkeepers, to keep their offices and establishments open on November 28 and strengthen the Prime Minister.

Honey pointed out that the Prime Minister had shown his strong political will and decisiveness to weed out black money, corruption, terrorism, drugs and the fake currency rackets. He said the citizens had supported this move with over 90 per cent respondents of the five lakh people who participated in the survey on Narendra Modi App in a mere half hour, backing the demonetisation drive.

The common man was happy over the decision while those who put politics above the nation were crying foul. He appealed to the citizens to support Modi if they wanted the country to get rid of corruption and terrorism and become self-dependent and developed.
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, November 26

Criticising the Opposition parties for giving a call of Bharat Bandh on November 28, the Punjab unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party today said the move was politically motivated.

Punjab BJP spokesperson Naveen Singla said the parties, which had failed to take any step in the interest of the nation were united against demonetisation just to mislead the people for political gains.

He urged the people, especially the businessmen and shopkeepers, to keep their offices and establishments open on November 28 to thwart the anti-national conspiracy and give strength to the Prime Ministers move.

Singla said, The Prime Minister has shown his strong political will and decisiveness to weed out black money and counter corruption, terrorism, drugs and fake currency racket. Post demonetisation, Rs 64,252.15 crore had been deposited in Jan Dhan Yojna accounts till November 16. Citizens have enormously supported this move with over 90 per cent respondents of the 5 lakh people who took the survey on the Narendra Modi App in mere half an hour, backing the drive.

Slamming the Opposition for opposing the move, he asked, What have the Opposition parties lost after demonetisation that they are raising such a hue and cry? Why has the glow vanished from their faces?

The state BJP spokesperson said, The decision of Prime Minister Modi is historic and in the interest of the nation. The common man is happy over the decision while those who put politics above the nation are crying foul. I hereby appeal to the citizens to back their Prime Minister if they want this country to be free of corruption and terrorism and become self-dependent and developed. I urge all to stay away from the Bandh and continue with their routine business on November 28. The BJP will expose the Opposition parties who have launched a false propaganda against demonetisation and will spread awareness among the citizens.
Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

Even before the official announcement of the list of candidates for the MC poll on December 18, a tussle has begun in the Congress as well over the distribution of ticket. Recently, the differences in the BJP had come to the fore regarding the same.

Senior Congress leader, general secretary and contender of the ticket from Ward No. 22 (Sectors 31, 47 and 48), Sandeep Bhardwaj, has opened front against its own party leaders after he was denied the ticket.

Upset over the development, Bhardwaj, who was party president Pardeep Chhabras loyalist, said former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal and Chhabra had told him a few days ago to start campaigning in Ward No. 22 as his ticket was final from there. But today, he was denied the party ticket, he said.

I, being a Brahmin, was denied the ticket only to adjust the Aggarwal Community. Now, the party is planning to give the ticket to Davinder Gupta from my ward, he said.

Earlier, the party was planning to give the ticket to the Aggarwal Community from Ward No. 16, but since Congress leader Subhash Chawla, who was eyeing the ticket from Ward No. 16, threatened to join the BJP, the party let Chawla take the ticket for Ward No.16 and denied me the ticket. A person like me who stood by Bansal in his tough days was denied the ticket, whereas people like Chawla and his supporter DD Jindal, who had targeted Bansal openly during Railgate, were being given the ticket. Is this the reward of loyality?, Bhardwaj asked.

Meanwhile, despite repeated attempts, former MP Pawan Kumar Bansal and Chandigarh Congress president Pardeep Chhabra could not be contacted.
Our Correspondent

Mohali, November 26

A Kashmiri student suffered injuries after he was allegedly attacked at the Doaba Group of Colleges, Kharar, yesterday.

According to reports, Haris Shakeel Khan was going to appear for an examination when he was thrashed by some students. He is reported to have been knocked down and punched. He received injuries in the attack.

He was later taken to the Civil Hospital, Kharar, from where he was referred to a Chandigarh hospital.

ASI Balbir Singh said when he went to record the statement of the injured student at GMCH-32, Chandigarh, he declined to give any statement The victim said he would do so only after discussing the matter with his friends.

The ASI said when he asked Haris why he was beaten up and who were the attackers, the student said he did not know anything. The ASI said a friend of the student told him on the phone today that Haris had been discharged from the hospital.
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

The local police today put former SAD MLA Jasjit Singh Bunny under preventive arrest for allegedly beating up an AAP worker at his Sector 9 residence on Friday evening.

He was held under Sections 107/151 of the CrPC. He was presented before the SDM and then released on bail.

The police said Bunnys medical examination was done and the report revealed that he was drunk at the time of the incident. Son of former Punjab minister late Capt Kanwaljit Singh, Bunny entered into an argument with the AAPworker at his house on Friday evening.

Bunny allegedly thrashed him. Later, the city police was called and he was arrested. Bunny denied charges of having beaten up the worker. No formal complaint was made against Bunny, so he was released, said a police official.

Bunnys mother Sarabjit Kaur is the APP candidate from Dera Bassi. Sources said the victim was an AAP worker and used to accompany his mother during political events.
Our Correspondent

Mohali, November 26

A person working at a tyre puncture shop was killed here today after a tyre burst.

According to reports, the deceased, was identified as Balbir Singh (35), a resident of Kurali.

He was working at a shop in Phase VII of the Industrial Area, near the ESI Hospital. Reports said he was filling air in a truck tyre after fixing a puncture when it suddenly burst. There was a loud sound and he fell some distance away. He was taken to a hospital where doctors declared him dead.
Akash Ghai

Tribune News Service

Mohali, November 27

Putting cards close to its chest, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) does not seem in mood to reveal anything about their choice of candidate for the Mohali constituency.

It is yet to be decided and we have not finalised whether he/she would be some local or an outsider, said the SAD supremo and Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on the sidelines of the foundation stone laying function of the Advanced Autism and Research Care Centre at Sector 79, here.

We are looking for a suitable candidate, added the Chief Minister.

The partys local leaders and their supporters have been pressing hard to consider the candidate among themselves for the upcoming Assembly elections. According to sources, a delegation of certain local leaders met SAD president and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal yesterday to recommend a name of a local municipal corporation councillor. It is learnt that Badal virtually snubbed them, saying that the party high command knew better what to do in this regard.

However, selection of a number of fresh faces in already released two lists of candidates by SAD gave hopes to a number of local leaders, here. We are hoping for the best, said an office-bearer of the local unit of SAD.

According to sources, the party was earlier interested in fielding Kulwant Singh, the Mohali Mayor, as its candidate from the area but the latter plainly refused to do so.

According to a senior Akali leader, the party was in no mood to take any chance so the high command was looking for a suitable candidate.

It is to be noted that in the last Assembly election in 2012, SAD had fielded Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, a parachute candidate, against Congress candidate Balbir Singh Sidhu. Then Sidhu was the MLA from the Kharar constituency (Mohali was then part of the Kharar constituency). Though Ramoowalia had failed to defeat Sidhu, the former continued to be the partys halqa in charge till last year.

Cong yet to announce candidate from Mohali

Congress is another party, which is yet to announce its candidate from Mohali. The two-time winner Balbir Singh Sidhu, currently the MLA of the area, is most likely the Congress candidate this time also. The announcement in this regard is likely to take place in the first week of December, said Sidhu.

AAP has already named Shergill as its candidate

The Aam Aadmi Party has already announced Himmat Singh Shergill, an advocate, as its candidate from Mohali. Shergill, who had unsuccessfully contested the recent Lok Sabha election from the Anandpur Sahib Constituency in 2014 against SAD senior Akali Dal leader Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra and Congress stalwart Ambika Soni, has already kicked off his election campaign in the area.
Arun Joshi

NEW DELHI is busy in its revelry under the masterstroke of demonetisation in the country, with an illusion-filled claim that all acts of terrorism in Kashmir have come to an end with the surgical strike on black money and counterfeit currency. Pakistan has been rendered penniless for sponsoring terrorism on this side of the border as its fake currency notes have no takers. It is wishful thinking that Kashmir has returned to days of peaceful paradise.

The bitter fact is that Kashmir is slipping out of India, psychologically. There is a drastic change in the mindset of the people who have seen the worst kind of atrocities being inflicted from both sides over the past four-and-a-half months. What has hurt them most more than the killings  is the blinding of young stone-throwers, some of them innocents caught in the shower of pellets, sitting in their homes, while watching the protests as curious onlookers. They do not go into the cause  the violent protests with stones and petrol bombs, but talk of the security forces excesses. They dont make any distinction between the local police, paramilitary force personnel or the Army. All these are clubbed together as the Indian forces or the

government forces.

Physically, more terrain has been occupied by the anti-India elements. There are more local militants and the ground swell for insurgency is overflowing. People empathise with the militants. Countless masses who attend the funerals of slain militants are volunteers  certainly not coerced men and women. By any stretch of imagination, it is a very serious situation, the repercussions of which would be felt in the next couple of years, unless there is a determined attempt at course-correction by the government.

What is being pointed out is that normalcy has fnally returned to the Valley. Schools open at weekends, examinations are on, public transport has started plying, more and more shops have started opening during daytime, and separatists have been forced to moderate their protest calendar. This welcome return to the unmistakable signs of normal day-to-day life needs to be analysed with clear glasses.

One part of it is that the people who had lent their support to the shutdowns and protests have developed a fatigue factor. Even normal life had become a dream for them. Daily clashes, torching of government property, particularly schools, and the stones that dented vehicles and injured travellers, deserted streets, and 24x7 gloom had caused depression to set in among the people. And they wanted to come out of this depression. What did they do? Knock the doors of separatists because the rulers told them that their efforts would yield no results unless separatists gave a green light.

The second part was a spree of arrests and raising the number of security personnel, mostly Army troops, to quell the disturbances. Stone-throwers had retreated more than six weeks ago to escape the arrests. Some of them had shifted outside the Valley, others were scared of violent clashes after having seen the consequences. The element of the use of force and heavy presence of soldiers cannot be overlooked. Today, there are more footprints of soldiers and paramilitary forces in the Valley than ever before.

Kashmiris want to live a normal life. They have natural instincts like any other race to generate economic activity and pursue fruitful careers, and live without any fear of midnight knock or stones shattering their houses and vehicles or boulders and timber log keeping them as besieged people. They wanted freedom from this suffocating atmosphere, which visited them this year following the killing of Burhan Wani, a militant leader, in July. Burhan Wani was a product of radicalism. He preached radicalism. He had called for the setting up of Caliphate in Kashmir in which the revolution was to be carried out by killing policemen and snatching their weapons. His social media face got the boost than his actual height and robust physique. That social media image was imprinted among young Kashmiris who trusted him with his face on Facebook profile or the words on Twitter. But now things have moved far beyond, where even if Burhan Wani was to take new birth, he would find himself overtaken by the events and radicalism among youth. He would look like a follower rather than the leader of the radical ideology.

And let it be put straight and clear that the Indian surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have shown that those were no game-changer really. Pakistan has not stopped terror activity nor was it in need to retaliate with surgical strikes. That would not have been a useful proposition for it. And so it is continuing with infiltration and terrorists are attacking police stations and police camps.

On November 25, the Indian Army lost a soldier in an encounter at Bandipore in north Kashmir and two policemen were killed in an ambush at Kulgam in south Kashmir. Pakistan has activated its sleeper cells. There are plenty of them in and outside the system. This is the real danger. Violence along the Line of Control can be responded with heavy gunfire and mortar shelling, as the Indian Army did on November 23 to unleash heavy retribution for Pakistans cowardly act (of mutilating the body of one of the three soldiers killed in the Macchil sector in Kupwara district in north-west Kashmir) on Tuesday.

The Indian assault left three Pakistani soldiers dead and also nine travellers. And Pakistan was quick to move the United Nations. The UN, which is the most disliked institution by India as far as its intervention in Kashmir is concerned, was ready with sermons that the Kashmir issue be resolved by India and Pakistan as per the peoples wishes. These kind of international statements on Kashmir strengthen those who believe that they can pin down India on Kashmir. They are losing faith in dialogue with New Delhi. This is a dangerous situation. The opening of markets and public transport ferrying commuters are not the signs of hearts having been conquered. Much more needs to be done.
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 26

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will lead an all-party delegation from the state to meet President Pranab Mukherjee on November 28 over the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal issue. This follows the Punjab Governments refusal to allow completion of the project for sharing the Ravi-Beas waters with Haryana.

The Haryana Government had sought time from Mukherjee following the opinion given by the Supreme Court in favour of Haryana on the SYL. Rashtrapati Bhawan informed the Chief Ministers Office today, confirming November 28 as the date for the appointment.

The delegation will seek Mukherjees intervention for speedy completion of the project, a top officer of the state government said. During a meeting with journalists here today, Khattar expressed satisfaction over the fact that Mukherjee had given time to meet the delegation.

In response to a question, he said Haryana was not against sharing the Yamuna waters with Delhi. The demand for water had increased in Haryana as in Delhi due to the burgeoning population, he said. Hence, it was the responsibility of other states to spare water for Delhi, he added.

Khattar stated that Mukherjee would inaugurate the upcoming five-day International Gita Festival at Brahma Sarovar in Kurukshetra on December 6. The President would lay the foundation stone of the proposed Krishna circuit, expected to increase tourist footfall in Kurukshetra, the same day, he said. The state government would declare urban and rural areas of Kurukshetra district open defecation free the same day, he added.

Dwelling on the state governments preparations for the mega event, Khattar said its salient feature would be a four-day international seminar on the Bhagavad Gita with the participation of saints, sages, scholars, artists and craftsmen, which would be inaugurated by Mukherjee.

On the concluding day, 18 shlokas of the Bhagavad Gita comprising its essence would be chanted at the bank of the Brahma Sarovar, he said. This would be followed by Draupadi, a dance drama by Hema Malini, he added.
Dalits demand additional budget

The Dalit Bikas Samiti has urged the government to increase budget to help the downtrodden community overcome their hardships.
Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has made it clear that the grant of retrospective regularisation to irregularly appointed employees as state largesse should not be of disadvantage of direct recruits.

The ruling by Justice Rajiv Narain Raina came in a case where doctors recruited directly through the Haryana Public Service Commission were placed junior to those appointed on ad hoc basis.

The developments took place on a petition by Dr Mohinder Pal and other petitioners against the state of Haryana and other respondents.

They were seeking proper fixation of their seniority as per Haryana Ayurvedic Department (Group B) Service Rules, 1989, in accordance with the merit determined by the Haryana Public Service Commission.

Taking up their plea, Justice Raina directed expeditious recasting of a fresh seniority list before its circulation among the staff.

Till then, further promotions, if any, involving the petitioners and the private respondents to the higher posts will be regulated by this order, Justice Raina added.

The selection process was initiated much before the orders regularising the services of those on ad hoc basis were passed.

The court was told that the names of the petitioners were recommended to the government before the services of those on ad hoc basis were regularised.

It was done with effect from the date prior to the joining of service by the direct recruits. In fact, the petitioners joined service in June, 1991, while private respondents were regularised under the 1992 policy with effect from January 1, 1991.

The respondents, on the other hand, pleaded that the petitioners were junior to the persons appointed on ad hoc basis regularised with effect from January 1, 1991, vide orders passed in 1992.

Referring to the rules, Justice Raina asserted that these prescribed determination of seniority by length of continuous service on any post.

In case of direct recruitment, the order of merit determined by the commission would not be disturbed in fixing the seniority.

Justice Raina added, I would find no legal justification in conferring on the private respondents the huge benefit of seniority over the petitioners which the respondents did not earn by dint of merit in an open selection but by a regularisation policy.
Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 26

Khaps and farmers have refused to support the bandh against demonetisation on November 28. Though they admit that they have been facing serious problems, they have demanded action to ensure the availability of required cash instead of organising a bandh.

Talking to The Tribune, some senior khap and farmer leaders said various political parties had given the call for a nationwide bandh on November 28 against demonetisation without holding any meeting or taking feedback from any section of society.

It is a fact that farmers are the worst affected by demonetisation. We neither get the required cash from banks nor have money to purchase seed and other things for sowing. Still, we will not support the bandh by political parties, said Billu Ram Khanda, vice-president of the state unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union.

Asked the reason for not backing the bandh, he said they would wait for 50 days since Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked for this period. If things did not improve thereafter, farmers would launch their own struggle, he asserted.

We do not want to play into the hands of politicians who always indulge in politics and are never serious about the welfare of farmers. If the need arises, we will launch our own agitation against demonetisation, said Khanda.

Khaps also refused to support the bandh in the state. They said they would not support any bandh as it would worsen the situation for the common man.

Daily wagers and farmers are the worst affected by demonetisation. But, there is no logic in supporting the bandh as we will not achieve anything. We request all political parties to help the Centre in tackling the situation arising from demonetisation, said Tek Ram Kandela, convener of the Sarv Khap Panchayat.
Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar, November 27

The police in Haryana and Nagaland seem to be dragging their feet in taking action in the case of flight of demonetised currency from Hisar to Dimapur.

Even six days after the cash was seized at the Dimapur airport, the police in both states have maintained that they have found no cognisable offence in the transportation of cash by a chartered aeroplane.

Though the Hisar police have initiated preliminary inquiry, they have found no evidence. A probe by the Income Tax Department is going on. I have asked the SP to submit a report on the incident, but there is no FIR in the case, said OP Singh, IGP, Hisar range.

Dimapur Police Commissioner Liremo Tsopoe Lotha stated that the matter pertained to the Income Tax Department and they had no reason to initiate any investigation. We will register a case if anyone lodges an FIR with evidence of criminal violation, he said.

The police and intelligence agencies had information about an Audi car bearing a fake registration number of Gurugram that was used in ferrying the cash and Amarjeet Singh to the Hisar airport to catch the flight to Dimapur on November 22.

An Innova MUV had also been used on November 13. The names of two Haryana residents who reportedly took this route to change their unaccounted money into accounted cash are known to the income tax authorities and police, sources said.

A probe established that two passengers, whose names were known to the police, took five bags of denometised currency in a chartered flight to Dimapur on November 13. They ferried around Rs 15 crore, with each bag carrying Rs 3 crore, claimed the sources.

Ramesh Kumar Yadav, Commissioner (Investigation), CBDT, said the probe was still going on. He added that more cash might not be seized besides Rs 10.5 crore and jewellery worth Rs 1 crore already in possession of the department.
Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 27

Punjabs Nabha jailbreak today triggered an alert in Haryana. The state sealed its borders with Punjab and the Haryana Police directed officers to hold a night domination exercise and step up security around prisons.

Yash Pal Singal, Haryanas Director General (Prisons), directed all prison officers and employees to step up security in and aroundall prisons in the state.He also directed themto enhance surveillance while carrying outcomprehensive search campaigns.

With the winter approaching and poor visibility, I have already warned the jail staff of a likely increase in the attempts of jailbreak. We will ask for more force and deployment of Home Guards to reinforce the arrangements already in place, Singal said.

Mohd. Akil, ADGP (Law and Order), too, said, the district police had been on alert since the jailbreak in Punjab. The field staff has been directed to hold a night domination exercise in all districts tonight. Also, this will send out a message to the public that the police are in complete control of the situation and keeping an eye on every movement, said the ADGP.

Akil said various other instructions, too, had been sent out to officers in the field. Earlier in the day, immediately after the news of the jailbreak and freeing of two terrorists and four criminals, the state responded by sealing its borders with Punjab.

We sealed the border from Sirsa to Panchkula and set up special nakas where armed personnel are deployed. Further, special teams of senior officers have been asked to keep a tab on developments and beef up security around places of weapon storage, said Akil, maintaining these arrangements would be in place for some time.

Meanwhile, Singal also directed all Superintendents of Jails to conduct meetings at their own level to review security measures in jails and ensure their effective implementation. He also directed them to maintainvigil regarding any kind of suspicious activity inthe vicinity of jails in collaboration with the district police.
Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, November 26

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe factory fire in Kurar village of the district yesterday. Eight persons, including three women, were charred to death in the incident.

Superintendent of Police Rajesh Duggal said a SIT comprising PS Sanoli, SHO, incharge CIA-1, Cyber cell, would inquire the case under the supervision of the Deputy Superintendent of Police (Headquarter). Ajay Gupta and Vijay Gupta, the factory owners, have been booked under sections 337 and 304 of the IPC. Both the accused are absconding and would be nabbed soon, the SP said. Meanwhile, another labourer, Shabnam (45), a resident of Baghpat, succumbed to her injuries at the PGIMS, Rohtak, taking the death toll to eight. Dr Sanjeev Gupta, medical officer, said most of the victims sustained 40-60 per cent burns and died of hypoxia due to inhalational burns. The SP said all bodies had been handed over to their families after postmortem at General Hospital.

Implement labour laws: CITU

Panipat: Factory workers under the banner of the Centre of Trade Unions (CITU) today submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner seeking Rs 10 lakh each for kin of the deceased. They also demanded stringent action against the owners of the spinning mill and stricter implementation of the labour laws.

Factory was unregistered: DC

Preliminary investigations on Saturday revealed the blanket factory, where the fire incident took place, was not registered under the Factories Act. Deputy Commissioner Dr Chander Shekhar Khare, who visited the factory site, said notices had been issued to the factory owners, adding that the process to compensate the victims kin had begun.
Shiv Kumar Sharma

Tribune News Service

Yamunanagar, November 26

Timber agents went on strike today after the plyboard manufacturers refused to pay them through cheques. They alleged the owners of plyboard factories forcibly paid them in old notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500.

Parmod Chauhan, president, Timber Arthiya Association, said, We want to do legal business. All payments should be made through cheque to the timber agents and farmers. But, the plyboard manufactures are not ready to do so.

On the other hand, Devinder Chawala, chairman, Haryana Plyboard Manufacturer Association, claimed the issue was resolved at a meeting held on November 22. He further said the manufacturers had no problem in making payment through cheque.
Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 27

The mood of the trading community, which is largely against the closure of their business establishments on the issue of demonetisation, is believed to have forced opposition parties to give up their call for Bharat bandh tomorrow.

Traders organisations in several districts of Haryana, which have been holding meetings during the past two days, have given clear hints that they will not respond to opposition parties bandh call.

Bajrang Dass Garg, state president of the Haryana Pradesh Vyapar Mandal, said he had left the decision to district units of the organisation.

He refused to take sides on the issue of demonetisation, but at the same time, demanded that the government should take immediate measures to ease the situation of currency shortage so that business did not suffer.

We have decided that we will not close our shops on the issue even if opposition parties pressurise us. A majority our members support scrapping of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes, said Atam Parkash Mehta, Fatehabad district president of the mandal.

He said reports from other districts suggested that traders were against closure of their shops. He said the middle class and small traders across the country were in favour of steps initiated against black money though they want an early end to the currency hardship.

Indian National Lok Dal state president Ashok Arora and state Congress chief Ashok Tanwar, who had earlier announced their respective parties participation in the Bharat bandh, today clarified that they would only protest tomorrow.

The social media was abuzz with messages against any attempt to close business establishments. The money that has sunk belonged to you and you want us to close our shops? We will open our shops for two hours more on Monday, said a message circulating in WhatsApp groups with traders as members.

Another message doing the rounds in a WhatsApp group of government doctors in Fatehabad said, Dont buy anything from a shop that remains closed on Monday. It could not be said whether the messages originated from traders or BJPs trolls, but these went viral and were being read with interest.
Our Correspondent

PALAMPUR, November 27

BJP leaders today criticised Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh for terming the BJP charge-sheet as waste paper.

Talking the media persons here today Bipan Singh Parmar, senior BJP leader along with three former MLAs of the BJP, said that the Chief Minister was frustrated which was evident from the fact that he had made these remarks even before reading the charge-sheet which was under preparation.

BJP leaders said the charge-sheet being prepared against the state government was an important document of the party which would carry all documents and proof of misuse of power and corruption of leaders of ruling Congress party.

They said the outburst of the Chief Minister against BJP leaders and its charge-sheet showed that Chief Minister was perturbed over the corrupt activities of his Cabinet colleagues who were beyond his control and amassing money by corrupt means.

They said the party was ready for the Assembly elections in the state due next year. They categorically stated party would give a united fight to Congress under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Tribune News Service

Kullu, November 27

To conserve the endangered but majestic pheasant bird monal, the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) authority will set up an advanced breeding centre at Manali.

Director of the GHNP SS Kataik said today that all preparations were underway and till December-end this year, the authority would make the breeding centre at Manali operational to conserve the endangered species monal.

According to Kataik, there was a number of Himalayan monal in the GHNP but there was need to make more efforts to conserve them and with the start of this centre, it would be great help in this direction.

To keep a constant watch on birds, cameras will be installed in cages and a stud book be maintained. Each bird will get a name and their complete case study data since birth will be prepared. Cages will be designed according to the weather conditions so that even heavy snowfall will not have any effect on them, he said.

According to official sources, poaching for its crest, human interference with nature and increasing pressure on jungles were some of the major causes for the dwindling of monal number.

A plan to construct a monal breeding centre in Manali was floated a few years back, but it failed to get materialised due to lack of funds.

The Director stated that the centre would be the second such in western Himalayas after Sarahan in Rampur. Monal is a relatively large-sized pheasant. The bird is about 70 centimetres long. The male weighs up to 2,380 grams and the female 2,150.

The birds natural range extends from eastern Afghanistan through the Himalayas in Pakistan and India (J&K, HP, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh), Nepal, southern Tibet, and Bhutan. There is also a report of its occurrence in parts of Burma.

It occupies upper temperate oak-conifer forests interspersed with open grassy slopes, cliffs and alpine meadows.
Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 26

The hotel and tourism industry  reeling under the impact of demonetisation and 80 per cent decline in business  today sought financial relief from the state government.

As many advance bookings have been cancelled and no new queries, the industry is keen to see tourist arrivals picking up around Christmas and New Year.

Another important development is the keenness of the hotel industry to switch over completely to plastic money.

Though most hotels and tourism-related units have point of sale (POS) machines, now, even small hotels are being encouraged to have this facility without which survival will be impossible in the changed scenario.

The Tourism Industry Stakeholders Association, in a letter to the Chief Secretary and Commissioner Tourism, today sought financial relief like waiving of loans EMI for the period between November 8 and December 31 as relief to hoteliers and others associated with the tourism industry in the state for the losses incurred in this period.

The fact that business in most tourist destinations, including Shimla, Kullu-Manali, Kasauli and Dharamsala-McLeodganj, that has been hit badly in November has left everyone worried.

Hoteliers, travel agents, restaurant owners, cab owners, guides and shopkeepers in these areas have suffered huge losses with people cutting down their travel plans drastically.

Moreover, the industry fears that this grim scenario might continue till March next year.

We have sought the assistance of the government to help the tourism industry tide over this crisis by extending financial relief and taking up with the Centre and Union Finance Ministry the issue of deferment of payment of loan EMI and exemption of interest on loans from November 8 to December 31, said MK Seth, president of the association. He also demanded that banks be directed to reload currency in ATMs regularly so that there was no cash crunch.

The hotel industry has been severely hit with huge cancellations of the earlier bookings and decline in business by almost 70 per cent in Manali, said Anup Thakur, former president of the Manali Hoteliers Association.

Another area that the tourism stakeholders are keen to get government help is to send a strong message to the people that debit and credit cards are accepted everywhere in the state and visitors will not face any problem without cash.

The tourism industry is keen that the state government launches an aggressive advertising campaign in national and state newspapers and electronic channels about Himachal being a plastic economy where POS machines are everywhere.
Donald Trump calls Fidel Castro 'brutal dictator'

Mr Trump, who takes office in January, said he hoped Cubans could move towards a freer future.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 26

A fresh batch of 190 recruits from Jammu and Kashmir participated in the passing out parade today at Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry (JAK LI) Regimental Centre, Rangreth, after completing a year of strenuous training.

Lt Gen Rakesh Sharma, Director General of Operational Logistics & Strategic Movement in the Army Headquarters, reviewed the passing out parade at the JAK LIs Bana Singh Parade Ground. The parade, depicting graduation of a recruit and his transformation into a soldier, was attended by over 1,500 parents and relatives of young soldiers from J&K along with a number of civil and military dignitaries, an Army spokesman said.

General Sharma congratulated the young soldiers for their immaculate parade and impressed upon selfless service towards the nation. He praised their contribution towards encouraging more and more youth from J&K to come forward to join security forces and also highlighted the vital role played by their parents in motivating their wards to join this noble profession.

The young soldiers who distinguished themselves in varied facets of training were felicitated by General Sharma. Recruit Mukesh Kumar received the Sher-e-Kashmir Sword of Honour and Triveni Singh Medal for being adjudged the Overall Best Recruit and Recruit Lal Hussain bagged the Chewang Rinchen medal for being the Best in Firing.

52 recruits begin career as soldiers

The highest-located drill square of Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre was stirred by precise drill movements and ankles digging into the parade ground as 52 recruits of Ladakh Scouts Regiment began their lifetime journey as soldiers. The passing out parade was on Saturday held at the regiment centre in Leh. The impressive ceremony, reviewed by Col TPS Consel, Deputy Commander, Headquarters, Chushul Brigade, was attended by civil and service dignitaries and parents of recruits. The young recruits, hailing from all regions of Ladakh, took oath in unison to serve the supreme cause of the nation. Colonel Consel congratulated the young soldiers for the march past and urged them to devote their life in the service of the country. The young soldiers are now ready to join their Battalions of Ladakh Scouts Regiment.
Tribune News Service

Srinagar, November 26

The separatists in the Kashmir valley today said its top leaders were not allowed to meet.

A statement issued by a faction of separatists said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who heads of faction of Hurriyat Conference, and Yasin Malik, the chairman of JKLF, were scheduled to meet Syed Ali Geelani, who heads the faction, today at the latters residence here.

The Geelani faction said Mirwaiz was allowed to step out of his residence but Malik was stopped at the entrance of Geelanis residence and asked to return.

The three separatist leaders are steering the ongoing unrest by issuing detailed week-long calendars, scheduling the shutdowns, work hours, protests and marches. It is for the fourth time during the five-month long unrest that the three separatists have attempted to meet.

Their first scheduled meeting in which they had planned to decide the future course of the unrest was foiled by the police, but they were allowed to meet twice earlier this month, including a meeting with hundreds of representatives of trade, education, civil societies, political and religious groups.

The separatist amalgam lashed out at the state government for foiling todays meeting and termed the action as cowardice and unlawful. These malicious acts are highly condemned and deplorable, the separatist faction said.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 26

Governor NN Vohra and First Lady Usha Vohra attended Jashn-E- Buniyad, the quasquicentennial celebrations, of the Alexander Memorial School here today.

Congratulating the school management, teachers, alumni, students and members of the staff on the occasion, the Governor observed that 125 years of functioning of the school was truly a historic occasion for an institution which has become known for its contribution to the promotion of education in the state. He described it as an occasion to look back, with rightful pride, on the achievements of the institution and to also think about the milestones to be covered in the coming years.

Observing that education was of vital importance, he said good school education laid a strong foundation for the establishment of a sound, wholesome and productive society. He said the Central government had been devoting high importance to school education and there were several Central schemes which provided assistance to the states for it.

While these schemes have led to significant advancement, a great deal still remains to be done to enlarge and upgrade the standards of teaching at the school level.

The Governor lauded the scintillating cultural programme based on the theme of peace and harmony and semi-classical dance Safarnama, on the history of the school, presented by the students.
Amir Karim Tantray

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 26

With no official word on the acceptance of Adviser to the Chief Minister Amitabh Mattoo resignation by the Chief Ministers office, grapevine suggests that he may continue to hold the highest office.

He had resigned on November 23 from the post after a senior bureaucrat had an argument with him. This irked Mattoo and he resigned from the post.

But the Chief Minister hasnt accepted his resignation. The final decision will be taken by the Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti once Mattoo is back from Australia.

Mattoo had resigned on November 23 after having an argument with the senior bureaucrat during a meeting at the civil secretariat here. His resignation shocked many and many PDP leaders back Mattoo and want him to continue.

Sources said after the argument with the senior bureaucrat, visibly upset Mattoo had informed Mehbooba Mufti about the incident, but at that time the Chief Minister had no idea of the gravity of the situation, which made Mattoo put up his resignation.

After this incident, Mattoo met Mehbooba Mufti again on Thursday morning and had a detailed discussion with her for around 25 minutes before leaving for Australia. Mattoo discussed the issue with the CM at length and both agreed that they belong to the same school of thought and have been nurtured by late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed politically, said a source.

In the meantime, the particular bureaucrat apologised to the CM and to Mattoo, the source added.

Mattoo, Padam Shri awardee, still holds the basic membership of the PDP and post of the Adviser to the CM. He has been very close to the late Mufti Sayeed and is a renowned intellectual whose work has been appreciated by Prime Ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh. He is an academician of international repute and before being appointed as Adviser to the CM, he was working as the Director, Australia India Institute, and Professor at the University of Melbourne.

Sources said when he would be back in the country, a new role would be crafted for him and he might continue as Adviser to the CM.
Sumit Hakhoo

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 27

If everything goes as planned, people in Jammu and Kashmir would soon be able to hear the roars of lions and tigers. For the first time, the state will become home to majestic creatures known for their ferocity and strength.

The Wildlife Department is in talks with their counterparts in Rajasthan and Gujarat to get a couple of animals for Jumbo Zoo being set up on 10,000 kanals near Nagrota on the outskirtsof the temple city.The zoo, named after founder of the city King Jumbo Lochan, will allow the visitors to enjoy safari rides, first of its kind in the state.

Official sources said the government was waiting for a nod from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for the transfer of animals after which the Wildlife Department would upgrade existing infrastructure at Manda Rescue Centre where they would be housed initially before the animals would be shifted to the proposed park whose construction is in progress.

The foundation stone of Rs 150-crore zoo-cum-safari project was laid in September this year near the Khanpur area of Nagrota. Its biggest attraction will be a 70-foot gate to be built at the entry on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.

The Centre has already approved Rs 70 crore to implement the first phase of the project, including the four-tier fencing around the park and creation of other infrastructure.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (Wildlife) VS Senthil Kumar said they were in talks with the wildlife authorities in Rajasthan and Gujarat and the entire process would take some months.

Till now J&K does not have a full-fledged zoo and it will be one of its kind. The decision to house lions and tigers will make the experience of visitors memorable. We hope to design it on as per the international benchmark, said Kumar.

The proposed safari will have visitor education facilities, besides making arrangements for civic amenities, service roads, administrative blocks, entry plaza and separate car parking for people.

At the moment Manda, which houses several species of birds and animals, is just a rescue centre for the wild animals, who survive the man-animal conflict. The new place will be a full-fledged zoo.

The project to establish modern zoos, one in Kashmir and in Jammu, was first announced in 2010 by the then National Conference-Congress government but the steps for giving practical shape took five years before the present government laid the foundation stone. In Kashmir, the land has been identified at Pahalgam but the project has received a setback due to continued turmoil.
Vikram Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jammu, November 27

The governments suspension of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes has hit the transport sector in Jammu and Kashmir hard as its entire business has come to a standstill.

The foremost reason is Article 370 of the state that impediments free flow of inter-state trade.

As per the excise and taxation officials at the Lakhanpur toll plaza, tax is levied upon all vehicles coming or leaving Jammu as per the taxation guidelines of the state. However, truckers allege that since all toll plazas across the country have gone tax-free after demonetisation, the state should have also followed the guidelines.

As the Lakhanpur toll plaza is not under the National Highway 1 obligations, it is the states tax that is levied upon the vehicles. We havent got any instructions to exempt the toll on the vehicles, said a toll plaza official.

The transporters said transportation of goods was done on cash only that had been hampered severely. Besides, the tax deducted at Lakhanpur is not accepted in banned denomination notes that add to the problems. The state government should have directed the Lakhanpur plaza to accept the defunct currency till the period it has decided for other essential services, said truck driver Jigar Singh from Udhampur.

Similarly, Nanak Singh, former chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Transport Union, said half of the business had already been dented due to financial crunch as transporters who ferry goods across the nation through trucks had been rendered cashless as many small expenditures which were borne en route could not be met through cheque and cash in hand did not suffice.

Ferrying petrol and diesel from the depot to different pumps and its loading and unloading is a tough job, which if not done on time, brings losses to the tankers and drivers who lose money in the process. There is a GPS system fitted in the circuit that connects the three viz depot, driver and receiver which remains active in the transit. Waiting in queue for ATMs or withdrawing small amounts from banks cannot keep the system running and hence the entire network is collapsing, said JS Rissam, former president of the Petrol Tankers Association, Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, Road Transport Officer (RTO), Kathua, Amarjeet Singh said since Lakhanpur toll plaza did not fall under the National Highway obligations, it could deduct tax for all vehicles entering or leaving the state.

There remains a misconception about Lakhanpur toll plaza. It is not like other toll plazas of the country which take toll meant for maintenance of the roads of the highway. This plaza is attached to the Excise Department and state tax is being levied since long, said Amarjeet Singh.

He also said the plaza did not accept old high denomination notes from the truckers and other private vehicles as no government order had been issued in this regard.

The RTO informed that a new mechanism had been established at the plaza where the owners could transfer the money online to the plaza without causing any problem to the all-India permit truckers.
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 27

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today complimented young students, their parents and others in Jammu and Kashmir for their effort to ensure high participation in the board examinations.

He said though the incidents of burning of schools in the Valley was a matter of concern, students participation in a big way in the exam process was an indication of their resolve to strive for a better future through education.

Lauding that 95 per cent of the students appeared in these examinations, the Prime Minister recounted his recent meeting with heads of village panchayats from the Valley. He said he had discussed the rise in the incidents of schools being burnt down to which the village heads had expressed the same concern as all other people of the country.

I had then urged them to go back to their areas and focus on the future of young lads. Today, I am happy to say that they kept their word and created awareness among the people about it, Modi said in his Mann ki Baat on the radio. He then went on to add: Such a massive participation in the board exams indicates that the students of Jammu and Kashmir are focusing on a bright future through studies and proceed on the path of development.

Modi said about 40-50 panchayat heads from the interiors of the Valley had met him and discussed a range of issues, including the situation in the Valley and development.

He also shared his experiences of this Diwali which he spent on the border with Army and ITBP jawans. He said the people from across the country had this time sent messages of greetings to the forces serving along the border.

Urging the people to keep sending such messages to the jawans standing guard on the borders throughout the year and not just on a few occasions, he said these were being compiled into a coffee-table book.

Stay in touch with jawans

In Mann ki Baat, the Prime Minister said people from across the country had sent Diwali messages of greetings to the forces serving along the border. Urging the people to keep sending such messages to the jawans standing guard on the borders throughout the year and not just on a few occasions, he said these were being compiled into a coffee-table book.
The world is a village, yet each culture is unique. And as a proof stands Phillip Lee, the hugely successful executive producer of Hollywood blockbusters like The Revenant, Crouching Tiger and The Dark Knight. Hailing from Hong-Kong, if you think all his money comes from China he sets you right with the assertion that he explores many more markets for finance. Eight years ago when he visited India and was suitably impressed by Priyanka Chopra, he was thinking of an Indo-Japanese production.

More recently, as he was in India for a master class at NFDCs Film Bazar he had no hesitation in admitting that he knew very little, rather nothing, at all about Indian films. All I know is that Indians like to watch their own films.

Competitive era

However, he is aware that Hollywood films are giving Bollywood a run for it money? He nods, Yes but then there is competition everywhere and content rules. Hollywood too is a very competitive industry. And though racists abound in all places, he thinks, Ultimately, Hollywood does recognise talent. And its as tough for Americans to make it in Hollywood as people of other nationalities. On the diversity debate that is now heating up enormously, he says, We must respect other cultures. Take the film Aloha. It became controversial as it was accused of whitewashing the cast; and many felt Emma Stone was not right for the character meant to be of one-quarter Chinese and one-quarter Hawaiian descent. No wonder the film bombed. Though personally he believes in self-censorship rather than dictates cast in stone he would rather not have white men play certain characters rooted in cultural specifics.

Universal language

Beyond cultural uniqueness, however, he deems that there is a universal language that could appeal to all. So even when he turns around the Chinese film Farewell My Concubine into a Broadway musical, its this chord he is trying to touch, he laughs, Imagine it took me seven years to get the rights.

Persistence pays? Sure but he can smell a project too and himself offered to raise money for Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer The Revenant. But of course when the film made it to Academy Awards he doesnt take the nominations or awards too seriously! As a young lad he learnt the lesson from none other than Alfred Hitchcock who had famously said My best film is the next one. So he is already looking ahead at mega-budget Inversion and Chinatown with director of Fearless, Ronny Yu.

India calling

As for India, with renowned director Bala as a personal friend, he would be back soon. Better prepared and well-versed in Indian cinema. Till then, Hollywood it is where the role of a producer is not just limited to pumping in money. Vision propels cinema and a producer is not just someone with money bags, but one who wears a thinking cap too.

One day he might don the directorial hat as well and drama it would be. Horror is not my forte for I get scared easily and comedy it cant be, for I am not funny enough. But quick on the wits, this man with the Midas touch sure is! And just by the way, his latest production and finance company formed along with Markus Barmettler is called Facing East. East is east and west is well he is determined to not only make the twain meet, but enjoyable too.

Simple take

Audiences at the International Film Festival of India, Goa, seem to like it simple and straight; at least, so proved the two gala screenings on Friday. The film from France, Two Birds One Stone, hit the mark as viewers were glad to view the hidden love story of 75-year-old mother of 11 children.

However, Juileta Ledesmas The Son of War, a film from Argentina and Uruguay, could not hold viewers, who were seen walking out every five minutes. Indeed, the surreal tale replete with metaphors and phantasmagorical elements that drew a parallel between the beastly quality of animals and savageness of human beings was not an easy watch! But then Ledesma, who doesnt believe in making films any other way, wanted to show how external situations transform our value system. Thus the very act of eating itself became an analogy for deeper refection in a film that essentially deals with drought- like conditions and humans rather inhuman response to it. Viewers here may not have had a stomach for such magical realism, but the film that took her 10 years to make will remain a blueprint for her future line of work.

nonikasingh@tribunemail.com
Manika Ahuja

Animated discussions, book launches, interactive author-reader sessions, and well, to top it all, celebration of the power of words - that is precisely the atmosphere that pervaded at the Chandigarh Lake Club, as the fourth edition of Literati-2016, Chandigarh Lit Fest, organised by Chandigarh Literary Society, kicked off on Saturday.

Spread over a period of two days, November 26 and 27, a haven for the admirers of literature brought with it a glorious opportunity for the avid readers to hear their beloved writers read quotable excerpts from their critically acclaimed works, and well, to get their books signed from them too!

Literary corner

Enlisting some of the benefits that literature festivals spell for one and all, Sumita Misra, Chairperson of the Chandigarh Literary Society (CLS), and the Festival Director, observed during her opening address, They give a fillip to the literary activities; the interactive sessions provide motivation to budding authors.

Whither reading culture?

Taking a cue from the powerful hold of the e-book and Kindle-culture on the modern generation, major chunk of the discussions centred around the far-reaching effects of technological advancements on the reading culture and the pertinent role that literature festivals play in sustaining the reading habit among millennials.

Face-to-face

While on one side, seeing their beloved authors in flesh and blood in front of them sent literature enthusiasts into a joyous state, authors admitted to sharing similar sentiments. And just like readers loved buying books and getting them signed from the authors, face-to-face interactions with their readers, left the authors overwhelmed, moreso in the era of the rise of the internet- and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, as author Shauna Singh Baldwin, one of the speakers for the day, says.

Deputy British High Commissioner David Lelliott also addressed the gathering.
New Delhi, November 27

Concerned over the jailbreak in Punjab, the Centre on Sunday sought a report from the state government asking it to provide details of the incident.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to the Punjab DGP and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in the state.

Armed men in police uniform today stormed the high-security Nabha Jail in Patiala district, opening indiscriminate fire and fleeing with five prisoners including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.

The Home Ministry asked the Punjab Government to send the report about the jailbreak as early as possible and the steps taken to ensure security in the jails.

The incident came two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces to guard against attempts to disturb peace through vicious political campaign or by external extremist forces during the election process in Punjab and four other states.

We have to keep strict vigil against external extremist elements who may try to create disturbance in Punjab. There have been increased activities of Sikh terrorists in recent months.

Similarly in Manipur, we have to ensure peace keeping in mind the ethnic divide. In Uttar Pradesh too, there may be attempts to disturb law and order through vicious political campaigning. We have to keep strict vigil and take proper steps to ensure peace during election, the Home Minister said at the conference of Director Generals of Police (DGPs) in Hyderabad on Friday.  PTI
Govt vacillates as Morcha remains non-committal

The government though has readied the constitution amendment proposal, it is dithering over its plan to register it in Parliament as the Madhes-based parties continue to remain non-committal about participating in the elections.
Our Correspondent

Jaipur, November 27

Claiming that all political parties accept donations in elections, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to honestly tell the nation if he was elected to the top office using white or black money?

Instead of blaming the opposition parties on black money row, PM should honestly tell the nation what kind of money, black or white, he used to win the 2014 general elections, Gehlot said in Bhilwara on Saturay.

If you earnestly confess that you won on white money, then what ever you say, we will accept that. Otherwise you (PM) shall follow Congress president Sonia Gandhis five point programme to contain corruption and black money prevailing in the system, Gehlot said.

All political parties accept donations to contest elections. This is from where the black money generates. Unless this system is not finished, it would not be easy to end black money. After December 30 (last date of changing old scrapped currency notes), new black money would be generated and accumulated again elsewhere, Gehlot admitted.

In this hour of crisis due to demonetisation, the prime minister should take into confidence the opposition parties instead of blaming them, he said. However Gehlot did not elaborate Sonia Gandhis five point agenda for eliminating corruption and black money.
Islamabad, November 26

Amid rising tensions between Pakistan and India, Hindu pilgrims have cancelled their visit to the revered Katasraj temple in Pakistan, officials said.

As many as 200 Hindu pilgrims from different parts of India were scheduled to visit the Katasraj temple complex, one of the holiest Hindu sites in Pakistan, on November 28. Pilgrims were supposed to perform religious rituals during the three-day visit.

Their scheduled visit has been cancelled, Siddiqueul Farooq, chairman of Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETPB), confirmed to Dawn. The ETPB had made comprehensive security arrangements for the Indian pilgrims, he added. Farooq cited the border tension as the reason behind the postponement of the visit. We had issued visas to the pilgrims but their government did not allow them to visit Pakistan, Dawn quoted him as saying.  IANS
New Delhi, November 26

Tensions between the judiciary and the government flared up once again today as both sides cautioned each other against crossing the lakshman rekha (line) with Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recalling that the Supreme Court had failed while the high courts had shown great courage during the Emergency.

Differences first showed up when Chief Justice of India TS Thakur said at a function in the morning that there is a shortage of judges in high courts and tribunals requiring government intervention, a view Prasad strongly disagreed with. Later, at another function, the CJI cautioned that no organs of government should cross the lakshman rekha and stressed the judiciary had been given the duty to watch that all remained within their limits.

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He was responding to Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, who in an apparent reference to the Emergency and other political scenarios, said: The delicate balance of the Constitution was disturbed in 1970s. That balance must be restored.

Hours later, Rohatgi said at another Law Day function in the presence of the CJI and his likely successor Justice JS Khehar that all including judiciary must recognise there is lakshman rekha and be ready for introspection.

While the CJI did not respond to it, Justice Khehar said: Judiciary has always kept to lakshman rekha by upholding the Constitution. Emergency brought out strengths and weaknesses of the Constitution, he said responding to the AGs remarks.

However, the Law Minister was very vocal in attacking the judiciary by saying the Supreme Court failed us during the Emergency and all HCs showed great courage.

Courts may quash the order of the government. Courts may set aside a legislation but the governance must remain with those who are elected to govern, he said, adding handling of the issues relating to Emergency in the ADM Jabalpur case in which the apex court held that even Fundamental Rights can be suspended was a monumental lapse.

He allayed apprehensions on curtailment of freedom by the present dispensation, saying not only he but also the Prime Minister suffered during the Emergency and it will preserve the freedom of all organs of the state.

Justice Khehar said: Judiciary is mandated to shield all persons, citizens and non-citizens alike, against discrimination and abuse of State power.

Liberty, equality and dignity of citizen have flourished substantially in India due to the pro-active role of judiciary in the country, he said, adding that a progressive civil society and a pulsating media have contributed to keeping the constitutional values on track.  PTI

QUOTES

Will ensure no one crosses limit: CJI

The Constitution tells us what works the government will do. It has fixed the duties and responsibilities for judiciary, executive and legislature. It has fixed their limits and lakshman rekha. The judiciary has been given the duty to keep a watch that nobody crosses that limit. TS Thakur, Chief Justice of India

Those elected must govern: Government

The Supreme Court failed us during the Emergency and all high courts showed great courage Courts may quash the order of the government. Courts may set aside a legislation, but the governance must remain with those who are elected to govern. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Law Minister
Patiala, November 27

The Punjab Police and Uttar Pradesh Police late this evening overpowered and arrested gangster Palwinder Singh Pinda, 27, believed to be the mastermind behind the Nabha jailbreak, at Kairana in western UP. He was in a Fortuner.

Insiders said Pinda was attired as an ASI when he entered the jail. His arrest is expected to shed more light on the audacious attack.

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An accused in the murder of ASI Gurdev Singh, who was shot dead in Jalandhar in April 2013, Pinda was arrested by the Patiala police later that year along with his accomplice, Satnam Satti. He is a resident of Nihaluwal village in Jalandhar.

He faces four more cases  two in Jalandhar and one each in Kapurthala and Patiala. Shifted from the Patiala Central Jail to the maximum-security Nabha Jail earlier this year, he had escaped from police custody at the Patiala Civil Hospital in March this year when unidentified gunmen opened fire at the police escort party.

Hence, he was well-aware of the jail barracks and the channels through which he could contact the inmates inside, sources said. TNS
Mumbai, November 26

The Maharashtra Government is upgrading Mumbai's CCTV network with face-recognition technology to enable police to nab criminals out on the loose, police sources said here on the eighth anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks.

Mumbai has nearly 5,000 CCTV cameras installed at more than 1,500 locations and the footage is monitored round the clock by personnel at the police control room. Sources said upgrading the computer servers at the control room would enable trackers to spot wanted criminals and those who have jumped parole in real time.

The software upgrade will also enable the control room to detect specific sounds like car crashes, gun shots, and explosions via the CCTV network, police said.  TNS
Tribune News Service

Lucknow/New Delhi, Nov 27

Providing a solution to the cash crunch following demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Mondi today urged people and shopkeepers to go cashless by opting for mobile apps for all transactions. Addressing his third Parivartan Rally at Kushinagar, the PM asked each one to teach at least 10-15 families to use such apps.

Displaying full-page advertisements in newspapers on banking mobile apps, he asked the people to read these carefully and learn how to download the app for cashless transactions. He said without waiting for currency notes, they could make purchases, both big and smal, through the mobile app.

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Modi asked the BJP cadre to paste newspaper advertisements in shops to help propagate the message.

Dont all of you recharge your mobiles? Did you attend any school to learn it? Dont you use WhatsApp? I can see many of you taking photos which you are going to post on WhatsApp. In the same manner, you can learn to use banking app, he pointed out.

Once you start using such apps, you will virtually be carrying your bank branch in your mobile. Earlier you needed a wallet to carry your currency notes. Now your wallet is in your mobile, he said.

Attacking the Opposition on its the proposed Bharat Bandh on Monday, the PM claimed: We are trying to stop corruption and black money and they (Opposition) are halting the nation. Choose between note-bandi and Bharat Bandh. He said while the world had adapted cashless transactions long ago, India was still lagging behind.

In his radio broadcast Mann Ki Baat, Modi warned all unscrupulous elements allegedly using the poor to park their ill-gotten wealth, saying the recently enacted strict "benami" law would catch them fast.

Some people think they can bring their black money back into the system. Unfortunately, they are misusing the poor by misleading or tempting them by putting money in their accounts a stringent law to deal with 'benami' transactions is being implemented to make such transactions very difficult, he said.

Reveal your funding

Prime Minister Narendra Modi must honestly tell the nation if he was elected to the top office using white money or black moneyAshok Gehlot, congress

Its just Modi ki Baat

"Mann ki Baat has now become Modi ki Baat. The Prime Minister is misusing government machinery. Instead of finding solutions to the suffering of millions of people, he is doing personal publicity."  Mamata Banerjee, west bengal CM

Banking system destroyed

In a poor country like India, those who dont have bank accounts are suffering. He (Modi) has destroyed the banking system and is now giving sermons to others  Anand Sharma, Congress

With centre, Wont join bandh

We have welcomed the demonetisation move. Then how can we oppose or be part of activity like bandh, which is meant to protest the issue which our party has supported  KC Tyagi, JD-U Gen Secy
Shahira Naim

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, November 27

Providing a technological solution to the cash crunch following demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged common people and shopkeepers to go cashless by using mobile apps for transactions.

Addressing his third Parivartan rally at the Kasya airstrip in Kushinagar in eastern UP on Sunday, Modi urged each one to teach at least 10 to 15 families to use such mobile apps.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Advocating for a cashless economy, Modi displaying full page advertisements appearing in newspapers about banking mobile apps, asked people to read them carefully and learn how to download the app and make cashless transactions.

He said that without waiting for currency notes people could buy anything even for as little as Rs 20 at shops and the shopkeeper would accept the money through the mobile app.

He even asked the BJP cadres to cut the full-page advertisements and paste it at shops and help propagate it.

Dont all of you recharge your mobiles? Did you attend any school to learn it? Dont you use WhatsApp? I can see many of you taking photos which they are going to post on WhatsApp. In the same manner you can learn to use banking app, Modi said.

He said that once people started using such apps they would virtually be carrying their bank branch in their mobile.

Earlier you needed a wallet to carry your currency notes. Now your wallet is in your mobile, said Modi batting for cashless transactions.

Attacking the opposition parties for the proposed Bharat Bandh on Monday Modi declared that sarkar bhrashtachar aur kala dhan bandh kar rahi hai and woh Bharat Bandh kar rahe hain. (The government is trying to stop corruption and black money and they are bringing the nation to a halt).

Modi said that while the world had adapted to cashless transaction long ago, India was still lagging behind.

In poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Modi launched a frontal attack at the Samajwadi Party-led state government charging them of ignoring the interests of farmers.

If the Samajwadi Party has time to spare from their family feuds they should focus on implementing pro-farmer schemes like the Prime Minister Crop Insurance Scheme as well as getting canals cleaned under MNREGA so that the farmer can irrigate their fields, Modi said.
Aparna Banerji

Tribune News Service

Shahkot, November 26

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal today claimed the future of as many as 40 lakh youths had been destroyed by the ruling Badals in the state due to drug addiction.

Speaking at a rally in Mehatpur today, Kejriwal said, as per the RTI information received by a government officer (who lost his son to drugs), as many as 5 lakh youths suffering from drug addiction had been admitted to government hospitals in the past two years.

Kejrwal said, He said if 10 youths are drug addicts, then two go to the government hospital but eight dont report to hospitals. So as per official record of 5 lakh youths with government, it means at least 40 lakh youths in Punjab are addicts.

Badal kehte hain Punjab mein nasha nahi hai? 40 lakh bacchon ko barbaad kar diya Badlon ne... 40 lakh parivaron ko... Bhagwan bhi inko maaf nahi karega (Badals say there are no drugs in Punjab? Badals have ruined 40 lakh youths and their families. Even God wont forgive them), he said.

Kejriwal also said this father, who came to him last night, is a government officer. He gave his sons shroud (kafan) and body to the government and asked them to send these to Modi so that he might know Punjab has drugs and boys are dying. This man sought RTI from all Punjab hospitals regarding the number of youths admitted due to drug addiction.

Alleging that the Captain-Badal collusion had prevented action against those responsible for drug trafficking in the state, he said his government shall ensure the stalling of drug supply and action against leaders responsible within a month of coming to power.

He said, For the past 10 years, its the government of the Badals then why didnt they take action against Captain? Rather they closed all cases against him a month ago. They have booked AAP volunteers in 307 cases; nurses and aganwari workers have false cases registered against them. But Captain has been let off.
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 26

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal today said of all promises in kisan manifesto or Dalit manifesto of AAP, Arvind Kejriwal had not implemented even one initiative in Delhi. He should make a Dalit CM in Delhi before making promising to make a Dalit Deputy CM in Punjab, he said.

Sukhbir was in the city to lay the foundation stone of industrial focal point and cycle valley at Dhanansu village here.

He said Kejriwal must make his stand clear whether he would allow the construction of the SYL canal or not if his government was formed. Kejriwal has been in Punjab for the past six days, but he hasnt spoken even once over issue, he said.

He said of all promises in kisan manifesto or Dalit manifesto of AAP, Kejriwal had not implemented even one initiative in Delhi.

He said: Kejriwal is making false promises to people that he would get funds for Punjab from (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi, as he hasnt even asked funds for Delhi.

During his address, he promised BC status for the Rajput community.

Taking on the Congress, he said Captain Amarinder Singh should concede defeat before the election. On the cycle valley, he said it would be the biggest cycle manufacturing hub in the world, where 90 per cent of the cycle production in India would be done.
Aman Sood

Tribune News Service

Nabha, November 27

In a first-of-its kind attack in Punjab, six men, five of them in police uniform, made their way into the maximum-security Nabha Jail this morning and freed two terrorists, one of them Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, and four gangsters, firing over 50 rounds.

The attackers came in four vehicles. One of the cars, a black Verna, was found abandoned near the Haryana village of Dhand later in the day. Perturbed at the attack barely months before the Assembly poll, the Punjab Government was quick to suspend Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) MK Tiwari and appointed Rohit Chaudhary, ADGP (Railways), in his place. With the Union Home Ministry seeking a detailed report, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed and a Rs 25-lakh reward announced for any information on the escapees.

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Two vehicles, including a Honda City and a Verna, approached the jail gate. A head constable got off and told the jail staff they had brought a convict. The staff saw an ASI seated in the front and opened the gate, recalled an eyewitness.

A jail official said the Verna had three occupants in police uniform and a prisoner. Another car had two men in khaki. On being told they had brought an undertrial, sentry Gurpreet Singh opened the gate without asking for ID proof. He was hit in the face with a revolver, the official said. The attackers then opened indiscriminate fire. Taking another sentry hostage, they ordered him to open the inner gate even as one of them snatched a rifle from a guard and fired more than 20 shots, claimed sources. As this happened, two more vehicles  a Fortuner and an i20  made their way inside. The attackers were quick to spot Mintoo, Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder and four others. They shoved them into the Fortuner and fled, firing indiscriminately, said a senior police officer.

Once out, the four vehicles turned towards a rail crossing, 500 metres away. Finding it closed, the vehicles turned back and speeded towards Samana via Nabha.

Read:

They kept firing into the air to create panic and threw the snatched rifle on the road. This was recorded by a CCTV camera of a flour mill opposite the jail, said a police source.

What is worrying the police and probe agencies is the fact that the jail is spread across acres of land and it is well-nigh impossible to locate anyone without an announcement. However, the escapees were waiting near the inside gate, hinting at collusion by somebody inside the jail. The audacious operation took about 20 minutes.

Also read : The gangs of prosperous Punjab

The jail staff did not retaliate. Eleven shots were fired from a light machine gun (LMG) atop the jail roof when the attackers had already escaped. The staff did not chase the attackers vehicles.

Jail Superintendent Paramjit Singh and deputy Karanjit Singh were not present during the attack. They have been dismissed. S Bhupati is the new Jail Superintendent. A case has been registered against 36 persons.

Harminder Mintoo (49)

Khalistan Liberation Force chief and an aide were arrested by Punjab Police, central agencies in 2014 from Thailand. Suspected of role in 10 terror cases, including attack on Shiv Sena leaders

Kashmir Singh (39)

Arrested for attempt to murder Shiv Senas Punjab unit secy in Gurdaspur on April 12 last year. Hails from Galwadi village in Khanna. At the time of his arrest, he claimed to be a granthi

Gurpreet S Sekhon (27)

From a family of brick-kiln owners of Mudki village, co-accused in 2012 murder case in which gangster Shera Khubban was prime accused. Faced 13 criminal cases when he was arrested

Neeta Deol (49)

Dubai-based, he owns transport business. Son of former deputy director, Animal Husbandry, is prime accused in murder of Sukha Kahlwan. Was arrested at Amritsar airport in April 2015

Vicky Gounder (27)

Harjinder S Bhullar aka Gounder, is the prime suspect in the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan. He was moved to Nabha jail after a clash with a rival gang in Ropar jail

Amandeep Dhotian (27)

A resident of Tarn Tarans Dhotian village, heads a gang in Majha. He and six aides were arrested a year back. Believed to be involved in number of robbery, loot cases
India outrage at minister's $7.3m house with bullet-proof bathroom

The chief minister of the south Indian state of Telangana has caused outrage after moving into a palatial new home that cost taxpayers $7.3m (5.8m).
Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 26

With the Congress cold-shouldering expelled leader Bir Devinder Singh, the latter today lashed out at Prashant Kishor, partys poll strategist in Punjab, saying he had been assuring him of return to the Congress fold for months now.

A former Deputy Speaker, Bir Devinder said he wanted to return to his parent party but was hurt that the Congress was disregarding its old leaders and was importing outsiders from the SAD and the BJP.

After I was expelled, Kishor arranged my meeting with Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh in Chandigarh. Issues were sorted out and I was told my return was being formalised. Kishor has repeatedly assured me on this front but I have not heard back from the party. Kishor should stop deluding leaders. The Congress leadership should clarify if he has the authority to negotiate with leaders, Bir Devinder said.

On whether he was joining the TMC, he replied: I want to be back with my parent party Congress.

Even as the Congress remains wary of re-inducting Bir Devinder, the latter has written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi for a meeting.
Manav Mander

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, November 27

Wholesale fruit and vegetable markets in Ludhiana is lying vacant these days due to the demonetisation move. The sales have dropped by 70-80 per cent and those in the business are having a tough time.

There is limited cash that is in circulation and we are unable to buy fruits. We buy fruits from Hyderabad, Nagpur, Srinagar, Shimla and other parts of the county. Buyer wants payment in cash which we are unable to make. They are not ready to accept cheques and third party deposits are not allowed by banks. The market has come to a standstill and 80 per cent of the business has been affected. Not only this, we are even unable to pay to transporters due to which they have refused to transport goods, said Kamal Kumar, a member of the Ludhiana Subzi Mandi Arthiya Association.

Since fruits are a perishable commodity, a majority of the fruit wholesalers have reduced their buying to just 20 per cent so

that they clear the stock easily and the cash flow remains intact.

Amarvir Singh of the Punjab State Fruit and Vegetable Commission Agents Association said, Since Rs 500 notes have not yet arrived in the city, it is only Rs 2,000 note that people are getting from banks. Sometimes we have to return customers because we do not have change. We are facing huge losses due to the current financial situation.

Another vegetable wholesaler Davinder Kumar said the buying capacity of both retailers and customers had reduced. Even the wholesalers were picking minimum orders, he added.

Vegetables are perishable commodity due to which we face huge losses and are unable to clear our stock. My purchasing capacity has reduced by 80 per cent. Only god knows when things will return to normal, Kumar said.

Be it wholesalers or retail fruit and vegetable sellers, the business have gone down for both. Customers come with Rs 2,000 note and buy vegetable for Rs 100 or 200.

I do not have change due to which customers return. Now I have reduced my buying from the market since the number of customers has also reduced, said Mohd Hussain, a vegetable seller at the Civil Lines.
Vikramdeep Johal

A turbaned man with a flowing white beard sits alone in the office of the Sirhind Mini Truck Operators Welfare Society. Theres a faraway look in his eyes. He introduces himself as Surjit Singh (64), a long-time Akali loyalist left battered and bruised by demonetisation. Yes, theres no escaping that 14-letter word. The transport business, which was already struggling, has hit a new low, says Surjit; hes not sure whether hell vote for the saffron-blue brigade this time.

He has a few kind words for Fatehgarh Sahib MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra, the Punjab Congress master protester. Nagra dragged the Akali-BJP government to court over its failure to build the mother-child hospital at Peerjain village, he says. Against all odds, he brought some development projects. So, will he put his finger on the hand? Its not that simple, Surjit clarifies. AAP candidate Lakhvir Singh Rai is known for his clean image. He has his pockets of influence here. And lets not forget that Bhatti saab (SAD nominee Didar Singh) is a veteran campaigner. Well, the field is wide open.

A drive on the pothole-free Chunni-Sirhind road takes us to the historic Jyoti Sarup gurdwara, where we try to start a poll chat with a young sewadar. Uninterested, he asks a couple of men to do the honours. Harmeet Singh (43) and Inder Singh (60), who have been idly soaking in the early-winter sunshine, grab the opportunity with both hands. Harmeet, whose daughter works in New Zealand, says: Saade bachchiyaan layi ithhey kujh nahin hai (theres nothing here for our children).

The Mata Gujri Colony resident blasts the politicians for befooling the masses with improbable promises. Referring to the Shaheedi Jor Mela, held here in December-end every year to mark the martyrdom of Guru Gobind Singhs younger Sahibzadas, he observes: It should ideally be a religious affair, but the netas use the crowd-pulling platform to target each other. This time, the holier-than-thou slugfest will be worse than usual, thanks to the fast-approaching elections. What we want is development, not slogans.

Inder Singh feels the Congress and the Akali Dal have both scarred the Sikh psyche. The former was responsible for the events of 1984, while the latter failed to stop the incidents of sacrilege, he says angrily. Pointing towards the nearby Sri Guru Granth Sahib World University, he claims that local residents have the greatest respect for the holy book of any religion. Then comes his grand prediction: Pehlan danda chalda si, hun jhadu challoo (earlier, brute force ruled; now, AAPs broom will ride high).

Paramhans Gupta, a rehriwallah who sells kulche-chhole near the shrine, doesnt even wait for our questions. Hes busy singing Narendra Modis praises. Mera nuksaan zaroor hua hai, par phir bhi main kahunga ki unhone jo kiya theek kiya (Despite suffering losses, I fully support the PMs step), he shouts in Hindi, talking about you-know-what. Over two decades ago, he came here from Muzaffarpur (Bihar). Now, he has a home in the officers colony, he proudly tells us. Having voted for the Congress in the 2012 and 2014 polls, he has other ideas this time.

With opinions flying thick and fast, we head for the Aam Khas Bagh to take a break. However, the road leading to the Mughal monument is all dug up for laying sewerage pipes. No prizes for guessing why this work is being done right now. We somehow manage to reach the place, where the heavily defaced walls tell a tragic tale of indifference. Renowned for its multicultural heritage, Sirhind was also a leader in making truck/bus body parts and submersible pumps. Ranjit Singh (50), who runs an iron factory near the Bagh, says, Hefty taxation has broken the back of the local industry. Even breaking even is a tall order.

As the sun gets ready to call it a day and we head homeward, a spick-and-span sewa kendra catches our attention at Kotla Bajwara village. A young man sits on a motorcycle outside the newly-inaugurated building. He is Arundeep Singh (22), who runs this office as a coordinator-cum-data entry operator. This local lad is among the lucky few from a constituency where educational opportunities are aplenty but employment avenues negligible. Paid by a private company for the governments vote-centric initiative, he helps the villagers fill and submit forms. It doesnt matter to him whos in power, as long as he has a job. Is climbing an overhead water tank or a mobile tower an option if, God forbid, hes laid off? Oh, he just laughs it off.

Three-horse race

The Jat Sikh-dominated constituency, comprising a town (Sirhind) and 175-odd villages, saw its first election in 2012 after the Sirhind seat was scrapped due to delimitation.

Congress candidate Kuljit Singh Nagra (now AICC secretary) humbled Akali heavyweight Prem Singh Chandumajra; hes expected to recontest. Akalis have fielded halqa incharge and former Sirhind MLA Didar Singh Bhatti, while Lakhvir Singh Rai is the AAP choice.

Bhatti had quit the SAD soon after the party denied him the ticket. Switching over to Manpreet Badals Peoples Party of Punjab, he contested and finished a creditable third, playing a key role in Chandumajras shock defeat. Later, SAD president Sukhbir Badal managed to bring Bhatti back into the party fold.

AAPs Rai is an advocate and RTI activist who had missed out on the Congress ticket last time. AAP MP Harinder Singh Khalsa represents Fatehgarh Sahib Lok Sabha seat.
Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, November 27

The family of gangster Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder (27), who escaped with five other prisoners from Nabha jail today, demanded legal action against him for his action. It, though, feared the police might kill him in an encounter.

Gounder is a native of Sarawan Bodla village in Lambi Assembly segment.

His mother Jaswinder Kaur said, I learnt of my sons escape from jail through news. He cant escape on his own. He acted on someones suggestion. The police must put him behind the bars and not harass us. They (cops) have taken away two of my nephews.

In the past four years, she and her husband Mehal Singh never met their son in jail. I feel sad because of his actions. He is my lone son, Jaswinder said.

Gounder was once into sports. After taking admission in a Jalandhar college, some youths spoiled him and he took to the world of crime. We advised him to mend his ways, she said taking a deep breath.

Jagdish Singh, younger uncle of the gangster, said Gounders action of escaping from jail had shocked them. He should not have run away. We fear that the police may kill him in an encounter.

He questioned the security arrangements in the jail.

I had met him in jail about three months ago. He had told me he would become a law-abiding citizen. But I was unaware of what was going on in his mind, Jagdish said.

Gounder was once a discus thrower and won medals at the national level, he recalled. He regretted sending Gounder to Jalandhar.

His father Mehal Singh was not present in the house. Jagdish said his brother had disowned Gounder in 2011.

Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Gill said, The police have rounded up two cousins of Gounder. They will be released once the investigation is over. Besides, we are conducting raids at some of his possible hideouts and put up nakas.
Shivani Bhakoo

This Assembly constituency, one of the six in the industrial capital of Punjab, was the only one that went the SAD-BJP way in 2012. The residents had, hence, expected a better deal. But that was not to be.

People had hoped for better roads, sanitation and drainage, besides clean drinking water. They got nothing, claims local councillor Varinder Sehgal (Cong). Though re-carpeting of roads is on, most people are not impressed. They attribute it to the ensuing elections less than three months away. Development works have begun. We all know why, remarks Rajesh, who runs a shop on Tajpur Road. Akali supporters claim more than Rs 400 crore are being spent on water and sanitation, sewer pipes and installation of tubewells.

Sipping tea at a roadside vend are a group of villagers. The government has done an excellent job. Tajpur Road is all recarpeted. Our MLA, Ranjit Singh Dhillon, has been responsive to all our grievances, says one of them, Surjeet Singh. But Bhola Colony resident Ramanpreet Singh is unhappy at the condition of link roads. Why just the main roads? Roads in village interiors too must be repaired, he says. An office-bearer of Ludhianas dyeing industry too complains of pot-holed roads. The constituency lacks basic amenities, he says.

Certain areas  Star City Colony, Prem Vihar, Sat Kartar Nagar, Mahatma Colony, Shiv Shankar Colony, Bhola Colony, New Puneet Nagar, Iqbal Nagar, Gurmail Park and Ram Nagar  are a picture of neglect. What development? Roads have not been carpeted, garbage is not lifted for days, stray cattle rule the roads and no sewer pipes have been laid. Wadde log, waddiyan gallan (big shots, tall claims), quips Kishori Lal, a tea vendor.

There are over a dozen wards in the constituency, a majority of them backward. Shanties have been raised for the poor. But many are yet to be rehabilitated. Stray cattle and dogs are a threat to commuters. Garbage heaps keep getting bigger. There is stench all around. Basic hygiene is a big problem, says Jagjot Singh. He runs a grocery store.

Most Akali leaders in the constituency are unhappy with the sitting MLA. They say they have been sidelined. Dhillon has empowered his favourites and even the halqa in-charge cant ignore them, they claim.

Accusing the sitting Akali MLA of bias, Congress councillor Sanjay Talwar says, "Despite 60-70 per cent of the population in the area being Hindu, they are not being heard. This will surely be a factor in the Assembly elections. Dhillon had defeated his Congress rival Gurmel Singh Pehalwan by over 4,000 votes.

Local BJP leaders too are sulking. "At stone-laying ceremonies and inauguration of projects, we are not given much importance. At times, we are not even invited," they complain. Anyone who dares to speak against the MLA finds himself behind bars, says Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Daljit Singh Bhola. The popular perception is that the MLA is inaccessible.

There is talk that the Congress may field former Union Minister and MP Manish Tewari from this constituency. Sources say the MP is keen to throw his hat in the ring.
Chandigarh, November 27

The Punjab Government on Sunday suspended Additional Director General of Prisons MK Tiwari and dismissed Nabha jail superintendent and deputy superintendent in an action that followed this mornings jailbreak.

We will uncover the conspiracy behind terrorist - gangster Nabha jail break at all costs. /1  Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) November 27, 2016

Rohit Chaudhary has been appointed the new ADGP Prisons.

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also voiced apprehension that Pakistan could be behind the sensational Nabha jailbreak, saying the neighbouring country was desperate to revive terrorism after Indian Army conducted the surgical strike across the LoC.

State police is investigating conspiracy between terrorists and gangsters to disturb peace in Punjab before elections. /2  Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) November 27, 2016

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Pak desperate to revive terror post surgical strike.

Could be behind jail break, Sukhbir, who also spoke to the National Security Adviser Ajit Doval after the incident, tweeted.

He said earlier in the morning that the state government had set up a special task force to track the six escapees.

A Special Task Force has been set up under the (state) intelligence (wing) to track the criminals, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal said, speaking at Amritsar after a meeting with Director General of Police.

A team under ADGP has been constituted to investigate the incident. Strict action will be taken against whoever is responsible.

Pak desperate to revive terror post surgical strike. Could be behind jail break. /3  Sukhbir Singh Badal (@officeofssbadal) November 27, 2016

In a sensational jailbreak, a group of armed men in police uniform today attacked the high-security Nabha Jail and fled with six prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.  PTI
Archit Watts

Tribune News Service

Muktsar, November 27

Six prisoners, among them two militants, broke out of a high-security prison in Nabha on Sunday morning. From KLF chief to a murder suspect gangster, here's a background of those who escaped:

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Harminder Singh Mintoo

Punjab Police arrested Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh 'Mintoo' and his key aide Gurpreet Singh alias Gopi at the New Delhi airport with central agencies assistance in November 2014. He was suspected of being involved in 10 cases of militancy at the time of his arrest. (Read full report here: Punjab Police arrest KLF chief, aide)

Harjinder Singh Bhullar alias Vicky Gounder

Originally from Sarawan Bodla village in Lambi assembly segment, Gounder is the prime suspect in the murder of gangster Sukha Kahlwan and was arrested in December 2015. He was moved to Nabha jail after a clash with a rival gang in Ropar jail.

Gounder is suspected of having been involved in another murder case by Jalandhar Commissionerate in 2010. His gang  gangster Gurshahid Singh alias Shera Khubbans group  is primarily involved in highway robberies and murders.

Gurshahid Singh was killed in a police encounter in Bathinda in 2012.

Gurpreet Singh Sekhon alias Sonu Mudki

Sekhon belongs to a family of brick-kiln owners from Mudki village. Gupreet is suspected of having been an accomplice in a murder during the 2012 assembly elections, although gangster Shera Khubban was the prime suspect in the case. At the time of his arrest on March 4, 2015, Sekhon faced 13 criminal cases in Ferozepur, Faridkot, Moga, Bathinda and Chandigarh. (Read full report here: Key accused in gangster Sukhas murder case held)

Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol

Neeta, a Dubai-based NRI, runs a transport business. He is son of a former deputy director of animal husbandry Department and is originally from Moga district. He is the prime suspect in the murder of Sukha Kahlwan and was arrested from Sri Guru Ram Dass Ji International Airport, Amritsar, on April 22, 2015. At the time of his arrest, he was sought for six criminal cases.

Amandeep Dhotian

A resident of Tarn Tarans Dhotian village, Amandeep Dhotian (27) heads the Dhotian gang in Majha region. Amritsars Crime Investigation Agency had arrested him and six other members of his gang on November 5, 2015. He is suspected to have been involved in a number of incidents of loot and vehicle thefts.

Kashmir Singh: Had attacked Shiv Sena leader

Kashmir Singh was arrested and booked for attempt to murder after he had shot at Punjab Shiv Sena leader Harvinder Soni with a countrymade .315-bore pistol in Gurdaspur on April 12 last year. His two accomplices were also arrested.

Kashmir hails from Galwandi village, under Khanna police district. The police had claimed that Kashmir Singh had developed contacts with terrorist sleeper cells and had attacked Soni at the behest of a certain militant Sikh organisation. (Inputs by Ravi Dhaliwal in Gurdaspur)

Also read:



Attack on Nabha prison; 6 escape, including KLF militant, gangsters
Chandigarh, November 27

After six prisoners escaped from the high-security Nabha jail on Sunday, the Punjab government announced Rs 25-lakh reward to anyone giving information on the escapees and set up a task force.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Here are the updates:

 A group of armed men in police uniform on Sunday morning attacked the high-security Nabha Jail and fled with six prisoners, including two militants.

 In the evening, the UP police claimed to have arrested Palwinder 'Pinda', alleged brain behind the Nabha jailbreak. He has confessed to his involvement in the incident, UP police said.

 A woman was killed when police opened fire at a vehicle which jumped a security barricade near Samana on the Patiala-Gulha Cheeka road hours after the jailbreak.

 The Punjab government has suspended Additional Director General of Prisons MK Tiwari and dismissed Nabha jail superintendent and deputy superintendent.

 A car, bearing a Punjab registration number, has been found lying in an abandoned state in a village in Haryana's Kaithal district, 70-80 km from Nabha, police said. Another number was also pasted under the number plate," police said.

 Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal alleged that Pakistan could be behind the jailbreak. He also talked to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.

 The state government has set up a task force to track the escaped prisoners and announced Rs 25-lakh reward to anyone giving information on the escapees.

 The Centre has sought a report from the Punjab government asking it to provide details of the incident. Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi spoke to the Punjab DGP and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in the state.

 Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh has accused the state government of complicity in the Nabha jailbreak and said it has exposed a complete breakdown of law and order.

 AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that Punjab Home Minister should immediately resign taking responsibility of jailbreak and killing of innocent girl by Punjab police. Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal also holds Home portfolio.  TNS/Agencies

Read:
Tribune News Service

Anandpur Sahib, November 27

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has invited all Punjabis to participate in celebrations commemorating 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh at Patna in January.

He said this at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib here today. He first received the Jagriti Yatra at the gurdwara and later addressed a gathering.

Guru Gobind Singh spent seven years at his birthplace Patna and 31 years at Anandpur Sahib, where he founded Khalsa Panth.

I have come to Punjab, the land of Sikh gurus, to invite people of the state to reach Patna. The Bihar Government has declared public holidays from January 3 to 5. We are eager to welcome devotees from across the world, Kumar said. Bihar Tourism Minister Anita Devi and officials accompanied the Chief Minister. A tent city will be set up to accommodate 55,000 visitors. Arrangements will be made for a comfortable stay of 1.5 lakh visitors. The capacity can be increased as per requirement, Kumar said.

He mentioned ban on liquor in Bihar and batted for prohibition across the country. When it can be implements in Bihar it can be implemented in the entire country.

Earlier, Anandpur Sahib MP Prem Singh Chandumajra, SGPC chief Kirpal Singh Badungar and general secretary Amarjit Singh Chawla received the Bihar CM.

Bihar CM calls on Badal

Chandigarh: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday called on his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal and apprised him about the ongoing year-long programmes chalked out by the Bihar Government related to the 350th Parkash Utsav of Sri Guru Gobind Singh at Sri Patna Sahib. Disclosing this here on Sunday, a spokesperson of the Chief Minister's Office said Nitish Kumar invited Badal to Sri Patna Sahib a day prior to the commemoration of the mega event. Badal thanked him for this gesture and assured all support and cooperation on behalf of the state government to make the function a success. TNS

Launches JDUs Punjab unit

Mohali: Nitish Kumar on Sunday launched the Punjab Pradesh Janta Dal United at a function here. Addressing a gathering, Kumar lashed out at the Modi government. While the Centre is talking about smart cities, we are making our people smart in Bihar by providing them enough job opportunities, he said. TNS
IoM lays down fee structure

The Institute of Medicine (IoM) has instructed medical colleges affiliated to it to charge Rs 3.5 million if they are in Kathmandu Valley and Rs 3.85 million if they are they outside Valley for MBBS programme.
Chandigarh, November 27

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar today called on his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal and apprised him about the programmes to be organised by his government to commemorate the 350th Parkash Utsav of Guru Gobind Singh at Patna Sahib- the birth place of tenth Guru.

"Kumar also invited Badal to Patna Sahib a day prior to the commemoration of the event," a Chief Minister's Office spokesperson said.

Kumar was accompanied by Bihar Tourism Minister Anita Devi.

Accepting his invitation, Badal thanked the Bihar Chief Minister for this gesture and assured all support and cooperation on behalf of the Punjab government to make the function a success, the official added.

Badal said he had been deeply touched by the devotion and commitment shown by the Bihar Chief Minster to Guru Gobind Singh and had been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the events planned for this occasion by the Bihar government, the spokesperson said.  PTI
Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 27

The sensational Nabha jailbreak wherein six armed assailants dressed in police uniform freed two terrorists and four gangsters has alarmed security forces across northern states.

Alarmed over the security situation in poll-bound Punjab, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh called up Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and sought a detailed report on the incident.

Rajnath asked him to take urgent steps to tighten security in all jails in Punjab, official sources in the MHA said, adding that during the 15-minute conversation, the CM briefed the Home Minister about the incident and steps taken to nab the culprits.

I have told the Home Secretary to get a report from the Punjab government immediately. If the Punjab government needs any assistance, we will provide it, Rajnath said.

A red alert has been sounded in Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan, besides Chandigarh and New Delhi. The police have erected barricades all over the three states, besides monitoring rail and bus transport.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to the Punjab DGP and asked him to ensure adequate security in all state jails.

As an immediate fallout of the incident, ADGP Jails MK Tiwari and Nabha jail superintendent and deputy superintendent were suspended.

ADGP Railways Rohit Chaudhary has been posted as ADGP Jails and S Bhupati, IPS, as the superintendent of Nabha Jail. Rohit was investigating the Dinanagar terror incident earlier, but was unceremoniously removed from it. The government has ordered the constitution of a probe panel headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to look into the security lapses.

The state has announced a reward of Rs25 lakh to any person providing information leading to the arrest of the six escapees.

Deputy CM and Home Minister Sukhbir Badal briefed National Security Adviser Ajit Doval about the incident and the steps taken to nab the escapees.

Amid reports that hardliners were regrouping and trying to take advantage of the governments denial of the fact that the incident has taken place in the poll-bound Punjab where a number of high-profile killings, including that of RSS leader Jagdish Gagneja and Namdhari matriarch Chand Kaur, have remained unsolved, Rajnath Singh has offered more security forces to the state. Already, 10 paramilitary battalions are deployed in Bathinda and adjoining areas in the wake of the proposed Sarbat Khalsa.

Badal held a meeting of civil and police officers this morning. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to investigate the jailbreak.

Prabodh Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Internal Vigilance Cell, would head the SIT that comprises Paramraj Singh, IGP, Patiala Zone; Ishwar Singh, IGP; Nilabh Kishore, IGP, Counter Intelligence; Amar Singh Chahal, DIG, Patiala Range; and Gurmeet Chouhan, SSP, Patiala.

A manhunt has also been launched to nab the escapees.

Car with uniform found in Kaithal village

Kurukshetra: Police uniform suspected to be used by the Nabha jail escapees was found in an abandoned car bearing Punjab registration number (PB 29 S 6154) at Solu Majra village in Kaithal. Kaithal DSP Tarun Kumar said several phone numbers scribbled on paper were found. Karnal police range IGP Subhash Yadav said the vehicle was suspected to have been used by the escapees but a conclusive comment would be made after the investigation. The IGP said police deployment was scaled up at all entry points bordering Punjab and movements of suspected persons were being examined. TNS
Sanjay Bumbroo

Tribune News Service

Fatehgarh Sahib, November 26

High drama was witnessed as Congress workers led by party MLA Kuljit Singh Nagra raised slogans against the laying of foundation stone today by Akali candidate Didar Singh Bhatti for the construction of a park in Shekhupura.

Nagra said the laying of the foundation stone by Bhatti was unconstitutional as he had been declared a candidate by the Akali Dal for the forthcoming elections. He said he would file a complaint to the Chief Election Commission in this regard.

Bhatti laid the stone of a park to be constructed at a cost of Rs 23.10 lakh by the Sirhind municipal council this morning. As soon as he left the venue, Nagra along with supporters gathered at the site and raised slogans against Bhatti and the government.

Nagra said any person who has been declared a candidate by the ruling party could not lay the stone of any government work.

He said earlier a stadium was to be constructed at the site and former Congress minister Dr Harbans Lal had laid the stone. He claimed that former MP Sukhdev Singh Libra had issued a grant of Rs 3.5 lakh in three installments for the construction of the stadiums boundary wall.
Patiala: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has demanded the resignation of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the portfolio of state Home Department. In a statement, Kejriwal said: The Punjab Home Minister should immediately resign taking responsibility of the jailbreak and the killing of an innocent girl by the Punjab Police. He added, This shows a complete breakdown of the law and order in Punjab. Interacting with the media, state AAP incharge Sanjay Singh ridiculed Sukhbir for hinting at Pakistans hand behind the incident. The party demanded a high-level judicial probe into the jailbreak. Sukhbir should not go on saying anything that come to his mind without any evidence that it was really Pakistan which had retaliated to the surgical strikes, he said. TNS

Govt behind jailbreak, alleges Amarinder

Sangrur: Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh blamed the government for the jailbreak, saying the Khalistani terrorist and other gangsters had been freed by the Akalis for using them in the elections. Talking to the media on the second day of his roadshow here on Sunday, Amarinder alleged the jailbreak would not have been possible without governments connivance. He said the Akalis were setting stage for violence before the elections. TNS

Hand over probe to HC judge: Channi

Chandigarh: Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Charanjit Singh Channi held Home Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia responsible for the jailbreak. This is not possible without the connivance of politicians with the police. The formation of an SIT by is a mere eyewash. The case should be handed over to a High Court judge, he said. Channi further said it was strange six prisoners escaped without getting injured. Akalis want to create disturbance in Punjab ahead of the elections, he added. TNS

Inmates using cellphones, cops had warned

Bathinda: The Bathinda police had a week ago hinted that prisoners lodged in Nabha hail were using cellphones. They suspected so when three gangsters were arrested from here. After arresting Sandeep of Bathinda, Gurdeep of Moga and Satwant of Muktsar, SSP Swapan Sharma had said the police had recovered recorded conversations of criminals in Nabha jail with the arrested gangsters. The three gangsters helped in providing money and information about opposite groups to those who were operating from Nabha jail. The police have a few recordings of Neeta Deol, who escaped on Sunday with one of the gangsters. On the modus operandi of the prisoners, the SSP said: To avoid whether the person whom they are calling will pick up their phone or not, the inmates leave voice messages on cellphones of their counterparts outside the jail. TNS

BJP Kisan Morcha for Prez rule in state

Phagwara: BJP Kisan Morcha secretary Sukhminderpal Singh, while accusing the state government of complicity in the Nabha jailbreak case, on Sunday demanded the imposition of the Presidents Rule in the state. TNS
Chandigarh, November 27, 2016.

Punjab was in a flux after the 1966 elections. The United Front government of the Akali Dal (AD), Jan Sangh and communist parties, led by Justice Gurnam Singh, did not last too long. Internal divisions in AD brought about another government, led by another Akali leader, Lachman Singh Gill, in November 1967. This regime had the outside support from the Congress which was eventually withdrawn in August 1968. The state came under President's Rule and elections were conducted while Punjab was directly administered by the Centre.

Click here for a larger view of The Tribune Page 1 published on February 17, 1969

The Congress campaign started with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi addressing a public meeting in Golbagh, Amritsar, on January 3 in which she called upon the people of Punjab to forge unity not only for the preservation of hard won freedom but also for achieving economic freedom.

Part I Election series: Punjab Assembly Elections 1951-52

Part II Election series: Punjab Assembly Elections  1957

Part III Election series : Punjab Assembly Elections  1962

Part IV Election series : Punjab Assembly Elections  1967

Part V Election series : Punjab Assembly Elections  1969

On the other hand, the two factions of Akali Dal  Sant and Master  had merged. The Dal had also arrived at an electoral accord with the Jan Sangh. The two parties announced a joint campaign. Giani Zail Singh was President of the state Congress, and he described the arrangement as an unholy alliance between the political parties diametrically opposed to each other in ideologies.

The Akali Dal emerged as the single largest party by capturing 43 seats. Congress came in second with 38 seats. The Jan Sangh won eight seats, one less than in the previous election. The Akali Dal and the Jan Sangh formed a coalition ministry which was supported by the CPI, CPI(M), SSP, Swantra parties and an Independent candidate. Justice Gurnam Singh was named by Sant Fateh Singh as Chief Minister, and the new Cabinet was heavily loaded in the favour of the Akali Dal (Sant).

Justice Gurnam Singh was unable to rule for long and on March 25, 1970, an Appropriation Bill introduced by the Chief Minister was rejected 44-22, with the Congress and the CPI abstaining. The government fell. Later, the Akali Legislative Party unanimously elected Parkash Singh Badal as its leader, and on March 27, he was sworn in as Chief Minister of Punjab.
My name is Droid; one may burn a dordi (coir-rope), but the twist can never be taken out of it.

 Dadabhai Naoroji to Prince Malhar-rao

I had always admired the Parsis as a community; mostly, however, from a distance. Till I had the unlikely fortune of forming an increasingly warm friendship with Saker and Mehli Mistry. Unlikely, I say, for we live at long distances from each other: I am in Chandigarh, and they live in Mumbai; I am an art historian with an interest in poetry, and their professional fields and interests are quite different, being banking, speech therapy, community service and western music. But it was staying with the Mistris during my more or less annual visits to Mumbai which has led to this friendship. For, it has been these stays which allowed me to sense where their hearts lie, get close to their modes of thought andthe broad-minded of their outlook upon life, savour their warmth and their generosity of spirit.

It is perhaps this growth in my admiration, which led me to take down my copy of a book, which had lain on my shelves, and browse through it: Portrait of a Community, Paintings and Photographs of the Parsees, which Khorshed Gandhi and Priya Maholey had put together some years back. To dip into the book was like travelling back in time, for, not only do the portraits that featured in it belong to the past, both in respect of period and style, but they also serve as reminders of some remarkable personages who had in their own ways shaped India. There they were looking out of their portraits at us: visionary industrialists, shipping magnates, intrepid merchants, founders of seminal institutions, philanthropists, men of learning, women of courage and style and enterprise. Predictably, among them there are names that nearly everyone knows: Dadabhai Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Jamshed, Dorab and J.R.D. Tata, Ardeshir Godrej, Cowasji Jahangir. But there are hosts of other names that are, undeservedly, less known: Jamsetji Jeejeebhoy, Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney, Pestonjee Bomanjee Wadia, Nowrojee Jamsetjee Wadia, Shams-ul-Ulama Jivanji Jamshetjee Modi, Lady Meherai Cursetji Cama. The visage, sometimes, the persona, of each one of them is there to see.

Interestingly, the collection of portraits in this volume was not easy to assemble. For, while some portraits were preserved in the families of the rich and the famous, even of the now forgotten, there were others that, as Khorshed Gandhy noted, hung in dark corners and at immense heights where the reflection of their covering glass proved a great challenge (to photographers). Some portraits and photographs had in fact to be borrowed from dealers who had picked them up from the kabadi market that locally passes under the name of chor-bazaar, the families from which they came having discarded them as junk. But one remains grateful for this act of retrieval, for each portrait has a story to tell not only about itself but also about the India it sprang from.

Hardly any of the portraits, interestingly, is in the traditional Indian miniature painting style or format, nearly everything bearing the imprint of Europe. This, however, is not surprising considering that the Parsi aristocracy was among the quickest in India to take, at least externally, to European manners and style of living. Image after image shows men and women sitting comfortably in European style chairs or standing next to tables on which their hands rest, following approved studio fashion. One also remembers the fact that at the point of time one speaks of  late 18th and early 19th centuries  a number of European painters were active in India, plying brushes in oil, ready to be engaged. The names are well known: Tilly Kettle, Johann Zoffany, George Chinnery, James Wales, Ludwig Fleishmann, among them. The paintings these itinerant painters produced, with their sheer realism of the flesh tones, the fullness of the bodies, the shimmering ornaments reflecting light, evoked a magical quality, as has been said. Good taste is what they represented for the contemporary Parsi patrons. Gradually, of course, there were Indian painters, trained in the newly founded Art Schools, who had started painting in the good taste style. Names had emerged of men with the gift of painting, foremost among them being Ravi Verma, and then, of course, painters like Pestonjee Bomanji, Pithawala and Jehangir Lalkala. The market for realistic portraits in oil was hot.

It is a long and fascinating story, and parts of it will have to be told another time. Meanwhile, there are these fascinating images to contemplate, the most commanding of them being the portrait of that fiercely nationalistic, grand old man, Dadabhai Naoroji: a philosopher-politician who was at one time the Dewan at the court of Baroda, at another, the first Indian member of the British Parliament, but ended up being one of the founders of the Indian National Congress. Somehow, in this portrait of his in old age, one can see him summed up.
MR. GURNAM SINGH has certainly not been a shining example of bowing to the verdict of the people in inducting a defeated candidate to the cabinet. The charge on this score would hold good even if it had not been Mr. Bassi but Dr. Baldev Prakash or Mr. Rarewala. The CPI, the SSP and the RPI which are otherwise sympathetic to the Government, though with reservations, have rightly criticised it for this lapse from democratic norms, while the Jan Sanghs embarrassed silence speaks volumes for its role as an accomplice or accessory to this not very edifying fact of thumbing the nose at the people and their verdict  for whatever both may be worth, now that the poll is over.

Click here for a larger view of Editorial published on February 19, 1969

An unsavoury and extra dimension is also added to the episode because Mr. Bassi had been defeated by Mr. Gill, and it is against Mr. Gill that the Government has banged its big drums to show that it means business. Mass transfers of Government servants and commissions of enquiry against former Ministers have by now become rather shop-soiled techniques for signalling the arrival of a new Government with its promise of clean administration. But whatever might have been Mr. Gills sins of omission and commission, the inclusion of Mr. Bassi in the cabinet is a propaganda bonus for him and he would now be comfortably placed to argue a case of political vendetta against him. Even more. Mr Gurnam Singh loses some of his credibility when he warns funny men against repeating their funny acts by conjuring up visions of a dissolution of the House and an appeal to the people again.

He knows, just as well as anybody else, that he did not succeed in this last time. It requires a concatenation of favourable circumstances which might not obtain in Punjab even if it does in Haryana. But, apart from this, he would have to admit that if defection is dirty, as it undoubtedly is, giving cabinet posts to defeated candidates is not good, clean fun either. This time, mercifully, only two constituent units of the United Front have taken office, the others having preferred to keep out or been kept our. Smaller coalitions are easier to work and communist-baiters would also be happy that the communists are not there in this panchayat of five. For the Ministry too it must be a relief that it would not have to become entangled however remotely or peripherally, with any scrap that might develop between West Bangal and the Centre. But the coalition, as it is, has not been free from criticism even nearer home, and that is what must cause concern  and Mr. Bassi is not the only issue. The RPI, for instance, while welcoming the Government has denounced the Jan Sangh as Enemy No. One of the Working people. How then it can reconcile itself to supporting the Akalis who are collaborating with the enemy is perhaps a minor contradiction, when set against other major contradictions besetting the coalition, the Akalis in particular.

Mr. Kapur Singh, Senior Vice-President of the Akali Dal, has in a written statement denounced as phoney the election manifesto of the Dal. He has also expressed a preference, at his press conference, for an Akali coalition with the Congress and other secular and patriotic parties. He also wants the Akali Dal itself to become a constitutional and secular party. The point is well taken. It seldom seems to occur to the Akali Dal or the Jan Sangh that when they project their coalition, as a rule and without qualification, as the antithetic symbol of communal unity, the self-images of both as communal parties  and not much more than as communal parties  unwittingly shows. Hence the need for both these parties to break fresh ground instead of simply seeking to thrive only in the catchment areas of protest votes against the Congress. Mr Gurnam Singh evidently does not share Mr kapur Singhs view of the Congress and he has armed himself with tape-records of what he calls the communal speeches of top Congress leaders. Tapes and tape-recorders have loomed large in Punjab politics not only now but from the days of Mr. Kairon when a tape-recorder was admitted by the Supreme Court as evidence against him. This pathetic reliance on tape for everything is thus perhaps understandable, but it is a pity that telephones are without T.V. circuits so that the owners of the voices that spoke to the Governor questioning Mr. Gurnam Singhs title to leadership could be identified.

Who spoke is perhaps not so material now as the fact of incipient revolt or attempted sabotage that is established. Surely it is this  not that other straws in the uncertain wind were wanting  that must have made Mr. Gurnam Singh utter his dire warnings of doom awaiting the funny men  and heaven knows there is no dearth of them too. That the new Ministry should be haunted by fears of defection immediately after the poll which itself was brought about by endemic defection and which it was also intended to cure, is deeply to be deplored. To ring a change from Action, power disrupts, absolute power absolutely.

The decay and disruption of the Congress derived directly from its long draught of power over a couple of decades. Other parties which came to power in 1967 supplanting the Congress disrupted more quickly, partly because they were coalitions but more because, being new, power had a funny effect on their original selves. If the Akali Dal, now the single largest party in Punjab, does not learn the moral even from these lessons of the recent past, and if the new Government falls as a nurseling with far more grave-diggers than it will only itself to blame.
Tanvi Bhatia

Australias annual three-week festival Sculpture by the Sea is a celebration of art. Held on Sydneys picturesque two-km-long coast from Bondi Beach to Tamarama, this free exhibition showcased incredible sculptures from across the globe.

It started in 1997 with 25,000 visitors attending the one-day festival. The 20th year of the festival this year had more than 100 sculptures by 63 artists from world over. This years festival, which saw 5,20,000 visitors, was marked by the display of its 2000th sculpture.

Created from an array of materials, these sculptures appeared to be surreal. Each of these sculptures had their own unique story. The beautiful beach added to the finishing touch. The Travelling Bag by Yumin Jing was a stainless steel handbag that had travelled from China via Cottesloe Beach in Perth to Sydney!

Dynamics in Impermanence by Nicole Larkin had been created out of stainless steel, concrete and birch plywood and depicts various effects based on light, shadow and weather. These interesting sculptures nudged the photographer in you!

Apart from the open display of sculptures, there was Sculpture Inside, an indoor exhibition which displayed small but sensational and contemporary sculptures. Popular with the public, it had a high appeal with the collectors. The festival also offered sculpture and photography workshops to students as well as teachers. These workshops aimed at encouraging creativity and expanding observation skills by the way of art-making activities and interactive sessions with the exhibiting artists.

One could also find groups of differently abled visitors on a guided tour enjoying the exhibits adding an outstanding programme to its list called Tactile Tours. Trained guides and educators were present in these tours. One could not miss but notice the excitement on the faces of these visitors and their guides.

The exhibition offered outing for families who usually got together with their picnic baskets and head to the coast to be a part of the worlds largest sculpture exhibit. From do-it-yourself barbeque facilities to retail food joints around, one could see people having a good time satiating their hunger for art and food at the same time! Throughout the three weeks of display, sculptures were judged for various categories with one of these being Kids Choice Awards. With each passing year, more artists participated and display their art.

Among the participants this year was an Indian artist, Harsha Vardhan Durugudda. Recipient of the Andrea Stretton Memorial Invitation award, he would be participating in the next event at Cottesloe in Perth. According to David Handley, founding director of the festival, Harsha is immensely talented. We would love to see more Indian artists.

From dawn to dusk, the surroundings added magic to the exhibition.
Ira Pande

I landed in the early hours of last Saturday after a sort of round the world trip -- India-UK-Brazil-UK-India. Jet-lagged and weary, I had longed to come home to eat home-cooked food, sleep in a bed that is just right and read newspapers along with a steaming cup of good Darjeeling tea, brewed in teapot (I hate tea-bags). However, in the few weeks that we were away, a financial tsunami had ripped through my peaceful world and I found to my horror that I was suddenly penniless. Even a taxi ride home seemed impossible, given that the only notes I had in my wallet were no longer legal tender.

I headed towards the Currency Exchange counter at the airport but the queue there frightened me and there was no saying whether they would have enough to satisfy everyone. Our luggage had yet to be collected and at 3am, it seemed all too much. To cut a long story short, we managed to come home and the first thing I had to do was to go to my bank to exchange and withdraw money. Fortunately, that Saturday was dedicated to Senior Citizens and my neighbourhood bank staff helpfully supplied me with the Rs 24,000 that I could legitimately take out of my account, so my story ended well. However, all day I heard moans and groans from friends and family about what horrors they had to face in just meeting their weekly needs. Now, after listening and reading experts on this subject, I have a clearer picture of what is happening and is likely to happen over the next six months or so. I am sure all of you have your own views on the matter so let me not start another debate here. Today, I want you to think about the hypocrisy and lies that we of middle class people routinely spout. For years we have expressed our views on the curse of black money and how those of us who pay income tax are being cheated by those who do not and how unjust it is to tax salaried people (often the least able to pay) while those who earn their money in cash get away by paying nothing. The other grouse was ecological degradation and how filthy and unhygienic those people people are. They have polluted our air, poisoned our rivers and get away because they have money and because no one penalises them.

Now look within: how often have we succumbed to petty bribes? Dont excuse yourselves by saying everyone does it because that is precisely how this stash of black money reached such epic proportions. The fat cats that the media and common man likes to paint as the arch villains are no less guilty than the traffic policeman to whom you pay a silent bribe to avoid the hassle of going to court. The hafta collected by the local goon is always from those who have encroached upon municipal land and do not wish to pay licence fee for. Jumping a school queue for a childs admission by giving a donation to the school, slipping a note to the local linesman for fixing your electricity bill -- what are all these but tax evasions? It is just that the scale of a Vijay Mallya or Lalit Modis black money is many times than your humble contribution but all of us have contributed in creating an economy where more than two-thirds of the money is unaccounted for. I shall not even bring up the skewed real estate market, where it is almost impossible to make a payment in white. How long could we have sustained this loot of public funds and why do we not talk of ourselves when standing on a soap box to curse the efforts being made now to clean up the system?

Similarly, those who wear masks today and speak of going away because their children are exposed to dangerous levels of particulate matter are often those who drive diesel cars and SUVs that are a major source of ecological pollution. Our own housing society today (modest though it is) has more cars than its residents need and almost no one uses the Metro or public transport. There are more diesel cars and SUVs than I can count yet not one person saw the irony in sending me pictures of the smog over Delhi while I was away. Our water comes from tube wells that are depleting the ground water and yet all of us howl when water rationing is talked about.

Lets face it: we were headed towards our own nemesis and while those of us who can afford to live outside the cash economy are so critical, the greatest supporters of the demonitisation of notes are the very people who stand in long queues and bear the main brunt of it. For the first time, they see that an effort is being made about tackling it and look at this inconvenience as yet another queue they have to suffer for a good life. I notice now that junk food deliveries in my complex have come down, that people think twice before buying an inessential item and that weddings (barring that recent one in Andhra) are becoming less ostentatious. Is that a bad thing?

I, for one, think not.
Landowners seek over Rs1 million per ropani in compensation

Landowners in Gorkha district have demanded more than Rs1 million per ropani in compensation for their land to be acquired by the planned Budhigandaki Hydroelectric Project.
A DARING dacoity is reported to have been committed on Friday night in the heart of the city near the big chauk, the shop of Lala Lakhsmi Das cloth merchant being broken into. The policeman who was present on his beat, raised an alarm and before anyone could come to his help he was attacked by the thieves and beaten till he became unconscious. The shop was then swept clean of its contents which were carried away in a hackney carriage, and left after proceeding a short distance. Vigorous police investigation has, we are informed, been started. The position of the shop attacked, and the daring character of the assault on the constable seem to demand that no stone shall be left unturned to bring the culprits to book, and special measures taken to make any repetition impossible.
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, November 27

Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister of State, Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, distributed domestic gas connections to 37 women belonging to BPL families under the Pradhan Mantri Ujwala Yojana at a function at Pantwadi in Jaunpur development block of Tehri Garhwal today.

Earlier, BJP workers welcomed the minister and Uttarakhand BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju with the beating of traditional drums.

Pradhan said the Modi government was for the poor, women and all the marginalised section of society including the hardworking people from hills. The Central Government thought of introducing such a scheme to decrease the suffering of women, he said.

State BJP in-charge Shyam Jaju said it was the BJP that had paid attention towards the woes of women in hills who had to spend time in front of smoke-emitting chulhas. Around 63,000 LPG connections have been distributed in Uttarkahand, he said.

He said the Centres move to demonetise the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 had given sleepless nights to hoarders of black money, while honest people were happy.

Bharat petroleum MD Shrikant Wadekar, senior BJP leaders Dhan Singh Rawat, former Cabinet minister Khajan Das among others were present on the occasion.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 26

The Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha today announced reserving party ticket for nearly 20 of 70 seats for gram pradhans in the coming Assembly elections in the state.

Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha president VK Bahuguna, while addressing mediapersons in Dehradun today, said in strict adherence to the principles of true democracy, the morcha had decided to field gram pradhans in 20 of 70 Assembly seats in the state.

It is important that grass-roots level leaders get representation in the Assembly. The morcha will like all gram pradhans in a particular constituency to come together and decide if necessary by ballot to field an honest and committed pradhan with a proven track record of selfless public service as our candidate from that constituency, Bahuguna said.

He welcomed demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes by the Central government. He said demonetisation would put an end to black money hoarded by corrupt people but criticised the Central government for shabby planning and lack of foresight in the decision causing hardships to common people. He added the morcha believed that Rs 1,000 denomination notes should be introduced at the earliest.

Bahuguna said the money deposited in the banks in Uttarakhand in recent days should be investigated to fix people who used the poor mans scheme to covert black money into white. Uttarakhand since its inception has witnessed elephantine corruption and major political parties have only looted the state. The time has come for the people of Uttarakhand to look for a third alternative and we are trying to give people that very option, he added.

All India Equality Forum state president Brijbhushan Singh Rawat and Uttarakhand Pradesh Vaishya Mahasabha president Sohan Lal Gupta extended support to the morcha. Jyoti Vijay Rawat, general secretary of the morcha, was present.
Tribune News Service

Mussoorie, November 27

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has shown courage to discontinue currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. The move has rattle terrorists and black money hoarders. Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said this after laying foundation stones for two welcome gates, to be constructed in the memory of martyred Army soldiers, at Jakhan and Nevada in Dehradun today. The area falls in the Mussoorie Assembly segment.

After construction, the gates will be named after Army soldier Sandeep Rawat, who sacrificed his life during an encounter with terrorists in the Tangdhar sector of Jammu and Kashmir, and Chetan Thapa, who attained martyrdom in Kupwara, Jammu and Kashmir.

Radha Mohan Singh paid floral tributes to the martyred soldiers.

He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was working towards making India a strong nation. Narendra Modi is working towards providing better techniques and facilities to soldiers at the borders. He is the first Prime Minister to have implemented One Rank, One Pension (OROP) for the armed forces personnel, he added.

He praised Modi for the demonetisation move. Narendra Modi has shown the courage to withdraw the old currency notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500, that account for 86 per cent of the currency, in one go. It has broken the spine of Pakistans ISI that works towards destabilising our economy by introducing fake notes. Terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir are on the back foot and the Naxals, supported by Maoist cadre, are also in deep shock, he said.

Radha Mohan said the demonetisation move was also an attack on corruption and black money hoarders, and such an exercise would benefit the poor and honest citizens. He said black money hoarders sill have a chance to avail the opportunity of declaring their wealth through Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Kosh and Kisan Kalyan Kosh wherein their 50 per cent money would be utilised for the benefit of the nation.

Lt Gen OP Kaushik (retd) said it was a great moment to see soldiers being honoured on such occasion. He lauded Mussoorie MLA Ganesh Joshis move to construct two gates in the memory the martyrs.

Joshi presented a shawl and a memento to Radha Mohan Singh. He also felicitated Padmendar Bisht, representative of the Hansa Foundation, for contributing in the construction of the gates. Family members of the martyred soldiers were also felicitated.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 26

Agitating guest teachers held a march to the Secretariat in support of their demand for appointment in government schools here today. A large number of guest teachers gathered at the Parade Ground and started marching towards the Secretariat. However, the police had placed barricades on the Subhash road and stopped them from moving forward.

The guest teachers had a scuffle with policemen. They sat on a dharna and public meeting. Vijay Pokhriyal, patron of the Madhikmik Atithi Shikshan Sangh, said the state government despite giving assurances to them had not taken any steps to fulfil their demand of appointment as regular teachers in government schools. He said guest teachers had only received assurances. He said a delegation of guest teachers today met Uttarakhand Assembly Speaker Govind Singh Kunjwal who assured it of taking up its issue with the Chief Minister. Pokhriyal said the guest teachers would continue their agitation till their genuine demand of appointment as regular teachers was not met.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 27

Chief Minister Harish Rawat today said the coming days in Uttarakhand would belong to the poor and the downtrodden. For a better Uttarakhand, one has to take together people belonging to all religions, castes and classes. His government not only talked of betterment of villagers and poor people but also worked in that direction. Rawat was addressing a party rally organised by Rajni Rawat at the PRD ground at Raipur in Dehradun.

The Chief Minister said even labourers had been registered in the state and they were getting various benefits. A total of 35,000 houses had been constructed under the Uttarakhand Jan Awas Yojana. He added the process for regularisation of slums had begun.

He said Uttarakhand is the first state in the country to provide all types of social welfare pensions. The pension beneficiaries in the state had increased from 1.74 lakh to 7 lakh. The pension amount had also been increased from Rs 400 to Rs 1,000, he added.

Rawat said his government was committed to working for the betterment of women and schemes such as Hamare Kanya Hamara Abhiman and Gaura Devi Kanya Dhan Yojana were meant for girl child. He added the take home ration scheme had been started for elderly women above 60 years of age. He said under the Meray Bujurg Meray Teerath scheme, the aged had been taken on pilgrimage to the Char Dham, Nanak Mata, Reeta Sahib and Kaliyar Sharif.

Rajni Rawat said the Congress-led government had worked with commitment for every section of society. A large number of Congress workers were present.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 26

Senior leader and Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken today said the party would take the Central Governments anti-people demonetisation move before people.

Maken, while addressing a press conference in Dehradun, said it was a totally unintelligent move on part of the Central Government to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that were more than 85 per cent of the total currency in the country.

Farmers and labourers had been the biggest sufferers of demonetisation. Farmers have to purchase seeds and fertilizers but have no money. Labourers are not finding jobs due to lack of money in circulation, Maken stated.

He said the mood in the country was against demonetisation and people would surely reveal their anger in the Assembly elections in Uttarakhand. State Congress president Kishore Upadhyay was also present.
Tribune News Service

Dehradun, November 26

Chief Minister Harish Rawat has urged Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for steps to provide relief for negative effects being faced by the state on account of demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 currency notes.

Rawat, in a letter written to Jaitley, said Uttarakhand was suffering on all counts due to demonetisation as both tourism and agriculture sectors that are key to development had been affected adversely.

He, however, acknowledged that demonetisation by the Central government was a good step in unearthing black money but other issues linked to it had been ignored. He said disallowing cooperative banks from accepting Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denomination notes had adversely affected farmers in the state.

As a result, farmers with surplus cash after the kharif crop are unable to deposit their money in banks. Many of them have bank accounts only in cooperative banks and thus they are facing a lot of trouble, he said.

He added due to demonetisation, sale and transaction of goods, commodities, services and tourism along with allied activities had drastically gone down. He urged Jaitley to immediately allow deposit of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes in cooperative banks.

He said Uttarakhand was already suffering due to the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission and now demonetisation was further hurting the economy.
HAVANA, November 27

From the Bay of Pigs invasion to a historic visit by President Barack Obama to Havana, Cubans have known for generations that whenever the United States turns its face to Cuba, Fidel Castro would be staring right back.

But the death of "El Comandante" has added to worries among Cubans that US President-Elect Donald Trump will slam the door shut on nascent trade and travel ties, undoing two years of detente between the estranged neighbors.

Trump has struck a very different tone from Obama, who reached an agreement two years ago with Castro's younger brother President Raul Castro to end half a century of hostilities.

Late in his election campaign, Trump sought to reassure the Cuban-American vote in Florida that he was firm in his opposition to the Castros, and pledged that, if elected, he would close down the newly re-opened US embassy in Havana.

Earlier on, in the primaries, he said he thought resorting diplomatic ties with Cuba was fine, but that Obama ought to have cut a better deal.

Having won the presidency, it is hard to know what Trump's approach to Cuba will be.

After the 90-year-old Castro's death, Obama called him a "singular figure", while Trump described the bearded communist revolutionary as a "brutal dictator."

Castro began his career as a revolutionary by toppling a US-backed government, repelled a CIA-backed counter-revolutionary invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, and faced off against President John F. Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis a year later.

During 49 years in office, he crossed swords with ten US presidents. And while he took a lower profile after officially retiring in 2008, Castro never stopped warning Cubans that the American government was not to be trusted.

His younger brother never gave much ground to the Obama administration in terms of liberalizing Cuba's one party political system.

But many Cubans reckon they could do with their late leader's charisma and way with words to counter Trump's bombast.

"With 'El Comandante' gone, I am a little fearful of what could happen because of Trump's way of thinking and acting," said Yaneisi Lara, a 36-year-old Havana street vendor and flower seller.

"He could set back and block everything that's been going on, all the things Obama has done, and he did a lot, managing to get the US closer to Cuba," she said, admitting she would consider moving to the United States herself.

Obama did not succeed in convincing Congress to lift the United States' tough economic embargo on Cuba, but he personally opposed the sanctions and used executive action to allow more contact and commerce.

The first US commercial flight to Havana in about half a century is due to arrive on Monday.

Trump could easily review such measures. He has not been clear on his position, but has included Mauricio Claver-Carone, a leading advocate for maintaining a tough economic embargo, in his transition team.

Without giving any specifics, Trump said on Saturday that his administration would "do all it can" once he takes office on Jan. 20 to help increase freedom and prosperity for Cuban people after the death Castro.

"Trump is the polar opposite of Obama," said burly Havana taxi driver Pablo Fernandez Martinez, 39, as he hustled for work.

Life in Cuba remains hard for its educated but underemployed people, but engagement with the United States has brought in more dollars. Martinez fears that could dry up once Trump moves into the White House.

"There will probably be less tourist traffic. That will affect everyone in Cuba, and hit the economy," said the father-of-one, who earns $100-$120 a week driving for foreigners.

Pedro Machado, 68, is a retired engineer in marine research who now rents out rooms in his airy apartment near Havana's "Malecon" seafront. Watching television with his wife, Machado is worried that Trump's angry rhetoric could spell trouble.

"Trump's policies are very aggressive. We'll have to see what he actually does. But it certainly looks like bad news for Latin America and for Cuba in particular," he said.

"My generation benefited from Fidel's revolution, in terms of education, the poor were helped. Not everything was a bed of roses, but Fidel helped us," he added "The United States has acted as an empire, and that's what Trump represents. Given what he has said, the future is not looking great".  Reuters
Teknaf (Bangladesh), Nov 26

Alams short life ended today in a dark, tattered tent in Bangladesh, the Rohingya childs skeletal body succumbing to illness contracted while fleeing Myanmar where his stateless people are under attack. He was six-months-old.

Alam died hours after arriving at a makeshift refugee camp close to Teknaf, the gateway to Coxs Bazar, a poor, densely populated coastal area already home to more than 230,000 Rohingya refugees. But for the Rohingya, Bangladesh is far from a promised land.

So far little or no aid has been provided for the new arrivals, with Bangladeshi authorities fearing food, medicine and shelter will encourage more to cross the border.

With her childs emaciated body by her side, 22-year-old Nur Begum describes how a Myanmar army raid that killed her husband and two other children forced her to flee Rakhine State for Bangladesh with the tiny Alam. After three-week trip with little food, Begum and her increasingly sick child made it to the camp in Leda, across the Bangladeshi border. But Alam's journey was at an end.

Her baby was buried today, his body washed and then carried to a Rohingya graveyard on a wooded hill near the camp.

Up to 30,000 Rohingya have abandoned their homes in Myanmar since early October, after soldiers poured into the strip of land in western Rakhine state following deadly raids on border posts.

The refugees who have reached Cox's Bazar so far have brought with them horrifying stories of gang rape and murder.

The Myanmar army flatly denies the allegations that Myanmar does not want its more than one million Rohingya population is not in dispute. It refuses them citizenship while many in the majority Buddhist country call the Muslim minority "Bengalis"  shorthand for illegal immigrants.  AFP
Motorcyclist killed in accident

A motorcyclist was killed when a bus hit his motorcycle at Kosiharaincha in Morang district on Saturday night.
Havana, November 26

Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader who built a communist state on the United States doorstep and for five decades defied its efforts to topple him, died on Friday. He was 90.

A towering figure of the second half of the 20th century, Castro stuck to his ideology beyond the collapse of Soviet communism and remained widely respected in parts of the world that had struggled against colonial rule. He had been in poor health since an intestinal ailment nearly killed him in 2006. He formally ceded power to his younger brother Raul Castro two years later.

A somber Raul Castro (85) appeared on television to announce his brothers death. Ever onward, to victory, he said, using the slogan of the Cuban revolution. Venezuelas Socialist President Nicolas Maduro said revolutionaries of the world must follow his legacy, while Pope Francis said he was grieving and praying for the repose of the professed atheist. US President-elect Donald Trump tweeted Fidel Castro is dead!, without elaborating.

Raul Castro, who always glorified his older brother, has nevertheless changed Cuba since taking over by introducing market-style economic reforms and agreeing with the US in December 2014 to re-establish diplomatic ties and end decades of hostility.

It remains unclear if Trump will continue efforts to normalise relations with Cuba. Fidel himself offered only lukewarm support for the deal. Some analysts believed his mere presence kept Raul from moving further. In Miami, where many Cuban exiles live, a large crowd cheered and danced.

Castros body will be cremated and his ashes taken around the country before being interred on December 4. Cuba has declared nine days of mourning.  Reuters
Washington: US president-elect Donald Trump has described an impending recount of votes in the swing state of Wisconsin as a scam and said the results should be respected instead of being challenged or abused. The push to recount the votes was spearheaded by Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein. Trump registered narrow victories against Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, with Michigan still too close to call. PTI

California mosques receive letters threatening Muslims

Los Angeles: Hateful letters calling for the genocide of Muslims and praising President-elect Donald Trump have been received by several mosques in the US state of California, raising concerns among the community members for their safety. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has called for increased police protection of local mosques. One of the letters said Trump was going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews [sic]. PTI

Fillon wins French conservative presidential primary battle

Paris: Francois Fillon, a socially conservative free-marketeer, is to be the presidential candidate of the French centre-right and likely main challenger to far-right leader Marine Le Pen in next years election, first partial results of a primaries second-round vote showed on Sunday. With votes from over a third of 10,228 polling stations counted, Fillon, had won 68.6 pc of the vote. Reuters

Islamic State uses chemical gas against Syrian rebels; 22 hurt

Istanbul: Islamic State militants have fired a rocket in northern Syria that caused symptoms of chemical gas exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited Turkey's military as saying on Sunday. The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have for days been besieging the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab, a major goal in Ankaras Euphrates Shield operation to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border. Reuters

Prachandas govt fails to register Constitution amendment Bill

Kathmandu: Prime Minister Prachandas coalition government failed to keep its promise of registering the Constitution amendment Bill in Nepals Parliament on Sunday as uncertainty loomed over the process. The government was supposed to move the amendment bill in the Parliament so as to accommodate the demands of the agitating Madhesi and ethnic groups that include citizenship and boundary demarcation issues among others. PTI
Havana, November 27

Flag-waving Cuban students broke into a mass chant of I am Fidel to salute Fidel Castro as nine days of mourning began for the combative Cold War icon, who dominated the Communist island's political life for generations.

Alcohol sales were suspended, flags flew at half-staff and shows and concerts were canceled after his younger brother and successor, President Raul Castro, told the country on Friday that Fidel had died at 10:29 pm, without giving a cause of death.

Giant rallies are planned in Havana's Revolution Square and in the eastern city of Santiago to honor Castro, who died aged 90, six decades after the brothers set out from Mexico to overthrow US-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Newspapers on the island of 11 million people were printed in black ink to mourn Fidel, instead of the usual red of the official Communist Party daily Granma, and the blue of Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth), the paper of the Communist youth.

For me, its my mother first, my children, my father, then Fidel, father-of-five Rafael Urbay, 60, said as he manned a government photo and printing store in downtown Havana, remembering his early years spent on a remote island off the mainland with no drinking water.

There was no heightened military or police presence to mark the passing of the epochal revolutionary leader, and at Havana University, Castros alma mater, hundreds of students gathered to wave huge Cuban flags and shout Viva Fidel and Viva Raul. Fidel isnt dead because the people are Fidel, shouted a local student leader dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. I am Fidel, he continued, a refrain quickly adopted by the crowd.

Under Castro, bitter diplomatic conflict with the US followed, and Cuba quickly became a firm ally of the Soviet Union, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Yet despite years of ideological strife and increasing hardship under a US economic embargo, Castros Cuba became renowned for high education standards and world-class doctors. Apart from the chanting students, Havana life went on largely as normal, only quieter and more subdued following the news of Castros death. Street vendors sold food and handcrafts from stalls to passers-by, while 1950s Chevrolets full of dents and held together by makeshift repairs cruised by, crammed with passengers.

Castros remains were cremated, and his ashes will be taken around Cuba until a state funeral on December 4. Western diplomatic officials said foreign dignitaries will arrive by Tuesday for a memorial service to be held in Revolution Square that evening.

Cuban state television, student associations and the womens federation had organised smaller rallies to mourn Fidel Castro and pledge their support to the revolution.

Sorrow, slights greet news of Castros death

While the death of Cuban leader Fidel Castro prompted cheers from the countrys exiles in Miami, the 90-year-old revolutionary leaders passing produced expressions of respect in other parts of the world and measured responses from governments that saw the devoted socialist as a threat.

US President Barack Obama noted that while discord and profound political disagreements marked the relationship between the US and Cuba for nearly six decades, Americans were extending a hand of friendship to the Cuban people during their time of grief.

While spending the Thanksgiving weekend in Florida, where the announcement of Castro's death early yesterday brought Cuban exiles into the streets to celebrate, US President-elect Donald Trump took to Twitter to share a thought that proved pithy even for the medium: Fidel Castro is dead!  Reuters
NA defuses explosives found outside DAO Saptari

Nepal Army defused the explosives discovered outside Saptari District Administration Office in the district headquarters, Rajbiraj, on Sunday.
The annual Tulsa World Neediest Families Fund Drive officially kicks off Sunday.

The campaign, one of the areas oldest and best-supported holiday traditions, is an effort to raise thousands of dollars to help local families in need.

This years goal has been set at $300,000.

Since 1993, when the Tulsa World became involved, the Neediest Families drive has raised more than $6.2 million.

In support of the effort, the World will present stories about local families being helped through the fund beginning Sunday and continuing each Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday through Christmas Eve.

More than 1,500 area households are helped through the fund each year.

The goal is to raise the money by Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. All of it goes to the Salvation Army, which distributes it in the form of vouchers and material gifts.

None of the money goes directly to the families.

Known originally as the Santa Pal project, Neediest Families traces its origins to 1928, when it was started by the Tulsa Tribune. Twenty-five families were adopted that first year.

The name was changed to Neediest Families in 1930. The project grew throughout the Great Depression era, and by 1939, 160 families were being assisted.

The Salvation Army joined the Tribune on the project in 1948.

With the closing of the Tribune in 1992, the Tulsa World took over the tradition, and continued the partnership with the Salvation Army.

Capt. Ken Chapman, area commander of the Salvation Army Tulsa Area Command, said: We are so grateful to The Tulsa World and their readers for this continuing project.

As we go through this holiday season, it is important we all think of others who need our help and our hope the most. To have a project in its 88th year says so much about the giving community in which we are blessed to live. To all who are considering a donation we invite you to join us and Lets Do Good Together not only this Christmas season but year round.

To make a donation, send a check or money order to the Neediest Families Fund, in care of the Tulsa World, P.O. Box 1770, Tulsa, OK, 74102.

Donations also may be made online at tulsaworld.com/neediestfamilies.
Seven is currently casting for a celebrity version of Hells Kitchen Australia to be produced by ITV Australia.

The series is not expected to feature Gordon Ramsay, but another Michelin star chef (Marco Pierre White anyone?), filming for six weeks in Sydney from mid March to late April.

Hells Kitchen premiered in the UK in 2004 with head chef Gordon Ramsay teaching ten celebrities how to cook and cater for a clientele of famous people. It subsequently ran for 3 more UK seasons, and in the USA -now in its 16th season- with regular chefs instead of celebrities.

Celebrities mulling taking part will need to be up for shooting up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, with a restaurant service every second day. But there is no lockdown involved that usually comes with profile reality shows.

Next year Nine has its internally developed Family Food Fight on the way while juggernauts My Kitchen Rules and MasterChef Australia are back for more.
Binod Ghimire covers parliamentary affairs and human rights for The Kathmandu Post. Since joining the Post in 2010, he has reported primarily on social issues, focusing on education and transitional justice.
No Ukrainian soldiers were killed but five servicemen were wounded in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine over the last day.

Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Spokesperson for ATO issues Colonel Andriy Lysenko stated this at a press briefing in Kyiv, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. As a result of combat actions in the past day, no Ukrainian soldiers were killed but five servicemen were wounded, Lysenko said. ish
Pakistan names Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as new army chief

Pakistan has named Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as the country's new army chief.
Police rescue 96 people from being trafficked

The police in Mugu district on Saturday rescued 96 people from being trafficked to Kathmandu.
While change is constant, a retired school vice principal says that when it comes to the education system, change has to stop. Heather Hogan, speaks out about the chaotic reception of teachers when it comes to the constant changes in the education system.

Heather Hogan said that teachers are in a constant state of flux. She sends her message across to the New Brunswick Minister of Education regarding the recent changes.

Hogan gained her tenure from working at the Meduxnekeag Consolidated School. According to this retired school authority, the education system is currently not showing any signs of stability, cites CBC.

Hogan explains that teachers want to offer the best they can offer to their students but they are unable to do that if they do not have the resources that they need. She points out the necessity of more social workers as an example.

Rebecca Halliday has her thoughts on the education system as well. She is a teacher at Riverbend Community School. Acording to Halliday, there has to be an inclusion model in the schools. The school needs flexibility especially when it comes to students falling behind. She hopes that the education system can find solutions for students who have learning challenges. Because the needs of students are different than it was a few decades ago.

Hogan adds that there are children who do not only have learning disabilities but also mental health issues. She points out that there are families in crisis because of poverty and this is a reality inside the classroom.

Hogan said in addition to students with autism and learning disabilities, classrooms now include children with mental health issues and extreme behavioral issues. Halliday says that the system is demanding them to meet all the needs of about 30 students. Parents and families come to her for their special needs child or broken child to be cared for in school.

Their ability to learn and cope is different than most children. Which is why the education system, according to these women, should work on the resources.
One of Britain's historical site is going to be turned into an institution for education.

An important site during Alan Turing's life in World War II is going to become Britain's first national college of cyber education.

Alan Turing, who was a renowned Mathematician, was enlisted to break the unbreakable Nazi "Enigma' colde. During World War II, he discovered the secret and system behind the Nazi code which then helped the country in stopping areas that were to be bombed and aided Britain in the war. Bletchley Park was the area which housed some of the world's top mathematicians and code breakers.

Started by a non profit organization, called Qufaro, it plans to become part of the United Kingdom's national cyber security hub. It is a fitting site for a top institution to begin and will start operating in September 2018, cites Mashable. The cyber education college will start with one hundred students and it is to be considered as a free-to-attend boarding schools for those aged between 16 and 19 years old. The school will teach cyber skills to students who are considered as prodigies only.

The students are going to be selected by a talent spotting agent and will be filtered through an entrance exam. The students are going to be trained into top flight cyber security professionals.

Students who are enrolled in the school are going to expect their course load to consist of cyber studies, mathematics, physics and computer science.

According to Alastair MacWilson, the chairman of Qufaro, the career path in cyber security is considered to be vital. The school will provide an environment of learning and support for those who are interested in that career.

MacWilson explains that the school is important today because the current cyber education is incomplete which puts everyone at risk. He also points out that today's generation has critical talents that can be used.

Bletchley Park was home to the country's top contributors and will soon house the next ones.
During an event at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London, the Times Higher Education Awards 2016 recognized UK schools, colleges and universities that made astounding and critical contributions when it comes to education.

There were 20 categories during the awards ceremony and it was hosted by actor Richard E. Grant. During the awarding, universities called were praised for their methods in teaching, research, student support system, outreach programs and entrepreneurial programs.

Out of all the UK universities, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine received the highest honor as the University of the Year, cites Times Higher Education. The judges involved in the awards chose the school for its extraordinary response to the recent Ebola crisis.

The university created a task force that deployed teams into target areas that are affected by the disease. That allowed professional researchers and experts to work on the medical epidemic without risking loss of funds.

Aside from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the University of Salford was awarded with Research Project of the Year because of their work on how radiation has affected the ecosystem in Chernobyl.

The University of Wolverhampton won the award for Outstanding Support for Students because they focused on creating a program aimed at students with suicidal thoughts. While the University of Surrey received the Data Points Merit Award for their outstanding work on analyzing data by the THE.

The Lord Dearing Lifetime Achievement Award, was however, given to the University of Cambridge's chancellor - Lord Sainsbury of Turville. He was described as an effective supporter of science. He was also the former minister for science and innovation.

Times Higher Education editor, John Gill, said that UK universities and colleges faced major challenges this year because of Brexit. He emphasizes that the schools that have been recognized during the event is a reminder that they are a strong community. He calls the group "world class."
Loyola University Maryland sent an apology to its student community for the theme of one of its parties: "Party in the USA." This was for an annual celebration for the school's senior class.

Students were shocked that the party's theme, which has always been patriotic in nature, was considered by the school as "divisive," The Washington Post reported. An administrator has also advised student leaders to reconsider the theme after the election.

"As an organization, we want to extend our deepest apologies to those that were hurt by this theme and the negative impact it had on them," the school's student government association to the Class of 2017 stated. "Although it was not our intention to create such a divisive climate, we understand that the impact of this decision is much greater than our initial intention."

Emily Burke, a senior student, revealed her disappointment. She is also the president of the Loyola Republicans.

"I was upset to see that that's the standpoint the school was going to take - that they felt they needed to apologize in some way for being proud to be an American," she told the publication. "The theme was supposed to be unifying, and it should have been."

According to the email from the student government, there are students who see the theme as a way for the community to come together and celebrate. However, with the current political climate, the student leaders also acknowledged that there are people who disagree with the theme.

Once again, this has demonstrated how much effect the presidential campaign and the victory of Donald Trump at the 2016 U.S. election has in the education sector. There has been an increase in hostile acts done to minority students in campuses throughout the country after the Republican nominee won.

Trump has also been vocal about his plans to deport illegal immigrants. This prompted colleges and universities to band together to protect undocumented students.
There are rumors that SpaceX will be collaborating with industry giants Facebook and Verizon for its Mars mission. There is a possibility but it has not been confirmed yet.

Recently, SpaceX has won the NASA launch contract for the first-ever survey of the Earth's surface water. Elon Musk's space company will provide the launch services needed for its Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission. It is scheduled for Apr. 2021.

The launch will use SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. It will be launched from the Space Launch Complex 4E at the Vanderberg Air Force Base in California.

It was revealed that the total cost for NASA's SWOT mission is about $112 million. This includes launch service, spacecraft processing, payload integration as well as tracking, data and telemetry support.

Meanwhile, GameNGuide reported that Elon Musk is connecting with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg regarding the Mars mission. Moreover, telecommunications giant Verizon may also join in the fun.

The publication did acknowledge that the alleged collaboration is still a rumor. It does make sense, though, but the partnership may not be initially for the anticipated Mars mission.

Earlier this month, SpaceX has filed an application to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for the launch of 4,425 satellites. The company's FCC application revealed that the system is designed to "provide a wide range of broadband and communications services for residential, commercial, institutional, governmental and professional users worldwide."

If the application gets approved, it would greatly benefit Facebook and Verizon if the speculated partnership would push through.

"With deployment of the first 800 satellites, SpaceX will be able to provide widespread U.S. and international coverage for broadband services," the application further stated. "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."

It was noted that the satellites will also be about as big as a MINI Cooper car. They will be orbiting the Earth at altitudes ranging from 715 miles, about 1,150 kilometers, to 790 miles, about 1,275 kilometers.
Three of Illinois' public universities will be receiving a total of $17 million in emergency funding. The money is expected to be used to support the schools' operations until the end of the year.

On Wednesday, members of the Illinois Board of Higher Education voted unanimously to approve the last-minute funding for Western Illinois, Eastern Illinois and Chicago State universities, The Chicago Tribune reported. Western Illinois would receive about $8.4 million while Eastern Illinois would receive about $5.6 million and Chicago State would be granted just over $3 million.

The funding was provided through another stopgap plan to keep schools open. Gov. Bruce Rauner signed it on Jun. 30.

The Illinois Board of Higher Education was able to receive $20 million from the state's general revenue fund. With the money, the board is able to help schools that were in fiscal crisis. According to WQAD, the remaining $3 million will be given to the Illinois Community College Board in December.

"We are very happy there was a resolution because these funds allow the university to continue the rebuilding process and continue to provide quality education for our students," Cecil B. Lucy, interim president of Chicago State, said. "Anything more than a dollar that we didn't have before helps. This helps with our cash flow. We will continue the operations of the university without interruption."

Matt Bierman, interim vice president for administrative services and budget director at Western, revealed that the funding would be used for payroll and operating costs. "That will take us into the spring semester and we'll see what the legislature does between now and March," he added.

The Chicago Tribune noted that state law required the schools to prove that their fiscal status was a "financial emergency" so that they are eligible for emergency funding. Each of the schools submitted financial reports that included cash flow statements that show evidence of depleting resources, cash management strategies, pending debt payments as well as an analysis of possible use of restricted funds.
Malia Obama will be going to Harvard University next fall. She raised the eyebrows of some for deciding to take a gap year after high school before starting her college career.

There's definitely nothing wrong with taking a gap year. It is, after all, your own decision to make. You can use this time to pursue passion projects, find yourself or even finish your bucket list.

Malia's decision became a big issue because she was the child of a president. She had the power to influence many seniors just like her.

Business Insider shared a list of where former "first kids" went to college. President-elect Donald Trump's older children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Tiffany graduated from University of Pennsylvania, where the real estate magnate also completed his higher education. Eric Trump, on the other hand, graduated from Georgetown University.

Lynda Bird Johnson Robb, the oldest daughter of President Lyndon B. Johnson, went to the University of Texas at Austin. She graduated in 1966.

Lynda's sister, Luci Baines Johnson, attended Georgetown University School of Nursing and Health Studies. She was forced to drop out in 1966 after getting married since the school prohibited married students then.

Tricia Nixon Cox attended Boston College where she earned her degree in English. She is the oldest daughter of President Richard Nixon, who served as guest speaker during her graduation.

Julie Nixon Eisenhower is the youngest Nixon daughter. She went to Smith College and earned her master's degree in education from The Catholic University of America in 1972.

Caroline Kennedy, the oldest child of President Kennedy, went to Radcliffe College at Harvard University. She earned her law degree from Columbia Law School in 1988.

Her brother, John F. Kennedy, attended Brown University as a history major. In 1989, he graduated with a law degree from NYU School of Law.

Chelsea Clinton graduated with highest honors for her history degree from Stanford University. Afterwards, she attended University College of the University of Oxford. She graduated there with a master of philosophy in 2003.
President-elect Donald Trump has earlier announced his nomination for the prominent philanthropist and voucher education advocate Betsy DaVos as Secretary of the Education Department.

Betsy DaVos, 58, served as chairwoman of the Michigan Republican Party with much of her work at the state level. Her husband, Dick DaVos, is former president of Amway and co-founder of Windquest Group, a company that invests in tech and manufacturing, ran unsuccessfully for the governorship of Michigan. Her brother Erik Prince is founder of the controversial security firm Blackwater.

Ms. DaVos is a patron of the arts and supports a number of conservative and Christian organizations. She is also chairman of the American Federation of Children and its associated 527 action fund. The Federation was an effective platform that Betsy DaVos used to promote voucher advocacy, it supported candidates that promotes vouchers and charter schools.

While she may not be popular, Betsy DaVos and her family has spent a fortune promoting voucher education and has helped reshape the educational landscape with 400,000 children attending private schools with the help of tax dollars.

The cabinet nominee wants to give parents choices with their children's education by giving them access to charter and private schools through voucher and derivative programs. Saying all student should have the opportunity to fulfill their God-given potentials.

Her nomination however was received with mixed reactions. Some say that her appointment means a breakaway from the usual. Others say that she has no experience in Washington politics and she definitely has no meaningful background in the classrooms or public schools.

Teachers' unions have also been highly critical of her nomination saying it was "a catastrophic attack on public education". While her stance on the Common Core Standards remain unclear, it is obvious that her appointment could spell drastic changes in the public education system.

The effectiveness of voucher programs show mixed results on students in terms of school performance and pursuing higher education.

The issue remains polarizing since pouring money to these programs will take away much needed resources from public schools to fund education of students in private schools which remains unaccountable.

Whether or not the president-elect's plan to pooling $20 billion to expand voucher grants will materialize, public schools still have reasons to be wary.
President, PM condole Fidel Castros death

President Bidya Devi Bhandari has expressed deep grief and sorrow over the demise of former Cuban president Fidel Castro. Castro, Cubas longest-serving communist leader, died on Friday night at the age of 90.
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The countries and the government of both Spain and Qatar hope to sign and manifest early next year an agreement to form a $1 billion joint investment fund that would help the Gulf state invest in Latin America, the Spanish ambassador confirms and was quoted by a Qatari newspaper as saying on Sunday.

Negotiations on the agreement have been stalled for almost a year by political doubt or uncertainty in the side of Spain, but could resume once a new minister of trade has been appointed, Ignacio Escobar said, according to the interview with Gulf Times.

Mariano Rajoy was sworn in for a second term as Spain's prime minister on Oct. 31, giving the country a fully functioning government for the first time in 10 months after two inconclusive elections and fruitless coalition talks.

Officials hope, Escobar said, that the investment deal can be signed during a high-level visit to Qatar by Spanish officials in the "first semester of 2017".

"This is very interesting for Qatar because the QIA (Qatar Investment Authority) has said many times that they want to invest in Latin America," Escobar said, in reference to the Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund.

"It is a new market for them and it is full of opportunities, and Spain is the perfect gateway for Latin America."

The QIA has in recent years been seeking to diversify its portfolio away from European assets, announcing in 2014 it would put $20 billion into Asia. In September 2015, the QIA said it would be involved in Qatari plans to invest $35 billion in the United States.

Hassad Food, the agricultural arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, said in February 2015 it was looking at possible purchases of Brazilian sugar and poultry assets, although its website does not list any investments on the
Soldiers assisted by some residents carry the body of a victim from the scene of a suicide car bomb attack at a market in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. (AFP/Mohamed Abdiwahab)

"We have counted about eight civilians so far who were killed in the blast and more than 10 others wounded but the death toll could be higher because the area is a market and it was so densely populated when the blast occurred, most people who were wounded have serious injuries," said police official Ibrahim Mohamed.

Medical sources suggested nearly 30 people had been killed, but this was not confirmed by authorities.

"Our ambulances have collected 13 wounded civilians and 28 dead bodies, the toll could be higher because of the density of the location where the blast occurred," Dr Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adem, director of the AMIN ambulance service, told AFP.

The blast took place in the densely populated Afisiyone area in southern Mogadishu.

"There was chaos and severed dead bodies strewn around the street, the market was so busy with people shopping when the blast ripped through the area. I saw many dead bodies but I could not count, I have helped collect more than 10 of them," said Abdulahi Osman, who witnessed the blast.

'BOTH DEAD AND INJURED'

Another witness, Ismail Mohamud told AFP: "I can't count all, but, I can tell that I have collected about 20 dead people with my hands, also, there have been other people collecting with me both dead and injured persons."

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but immediate suspicion fell on the Al-Qaeda linked Islamist Shabaab group, which is locked in battle with the Somali government and regularly mounts attacks in the city.

Its most deadly recent attack was in August when a car bomb outside a popular hotel close to the presidential palace left 15 dead.

Despite being driven out of the capital in 2011 by an African Union force deployed in 2007, the group still controls vast swathes of outlying rural areas from which it launches guerrilla operations.

Somalia is currently holding a drawn-out, limited election in which some 14,000 specially selected voters are picking 275 members of parliament who will later join senators in electing a president.

The country had been promised a one-person, one-vote election, however political infighting and insecurity led leaders to ditch the plan in favour of the current process.

After the 1991 fall of strongman president Mohamed Siad Barre, warring clan militia plunged the country into decades of civil war and humanitarian crises, leaving it without a central government and the label of the world's foremost failed state.

An even more limited election in 2012 - when MPs were nominated by 135 clan elders - gave Somalia the first central government based in the country since the fall of Barre.
Protests against split in Hill districts of Rapti and Lumbini

Locals in Hill districts of Lumbini and Rapti zones have warned to step up their protests against the government proposed move to amend the constitution by realigning the state bounderies.
Hillary Clinton lost by a margin of around 20,000 votes in Wisconsin, 70,000 votes in Pennsylvania and 10,000 votes in Michigan. (AFP/Jeff Kowalsky)

Marc Erik Elias, an election lawyer for the Democratic candidate, said in a post on Medium.com that the campaign would also participate in recounts in the closely contested states of Michigan and Pennsylvania if they are arranged.

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by just over 100,000 votes. The razor thin victories in those states pushed him above the 270 votes needed for victory in the Electoral College.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein has requested a recount in Wisconsin and has announced her intention to also seek recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania.

"Because we had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves," said Elias, the Clinton counsel.

"But now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides," he added.

"If Jill Stein follows through as she has promised and pursues recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, we will take the same approach in those states as well," Elias said.

Although experts say there is virtually no chance of overturning the final result, the recounts could reignite debate over the legitimacy of Trump's election, already fueled by Clinton's lead in the popular vote, which now stands at more than two million.

Clinton lost by around 20,000 votes in Wisconsin, 70,000 votes in Pennsylvania and 10,000 votes in Michigan.

Elias noted that Trump's 10,000-vote lead in Michigan "well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount."

"But regardless of the potential to change the outcome in any of the states, we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself," Elias said.

Elias said the Clinton campaign had been conducting its own investigation of the election results after receiving "hundreds of messages, emails, and calls urging us to do something, anything, to investigate claims that the election results were hacked and altered in a way to disadvantage Secretary Clinton."

But he said the Clinton campaign had seen no evidence so far the election results had been manipulated in Trump's favor.

"The campaign is grateful to all those who have expended time and effort to investigate various claims of abnormalities and irregularities," Elias said.

"While that effort has not, in our view, resulted in evidence of manipulation of results, now that a recount is underway, we believe we have an obligation to the more than 64 million Americans who cast ballots for Hillary Clinton to participate in ongoing proceedings to ensure that an accurate vote count will be reported."

Stein has cited unspecified "anomalies" as grounds to mount a challenge to the November 8 election results in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

"After a divisive and painful presidential race, reported hacks into voter and party databases and individual email accounts are causing many Americans to wonder if our election results are reliable," Stein said on her website.

"These concerns need to be investigated before the 2016 presidential election is certified," she said. "We deserve elections we can trust."
Viet Nam may see more Zika cases because community immunity to the mosquito-borne Zika virus is still low, particularly in central, southern and Central Highland provinces.-Photo nld.vn

Deputy director of the health ministrys Diseases Control Division Nguyen uc Khoa made the warning at a talk held on the Governments e-portal chinhphu.vn on Thursday.

He said that as of November 21, Zika had been found in seven provinces and cities, namely Binh Duong, Long An, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Phu Yen, ak Lak , Khanh Hoa and HCM City.

So far, Zika was found mostly in localities with temperatures of 20-30 degrees Celsius, which aids the development of the mosquitoes which carry the virus causing Zika.

Meanwhile, HCM Citys Preventive Medicine Center diagnosed nine more Zika patients by yesterday, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 74 and total number of cases in the country to 83.

Dr Tran Danh Cuong, deputy director of the Central Obstetrics Hospital said that Zika was dangerous for pregnant women and about 3-12 per cent of babies with Zika-infected mothers suffered from microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads and restricted brain development.

He said that there was no medicine to treat the disease and no vaccine to prevent it.

Pregnant women living in or travelling to areas with Zika should go to hospital for Zika tests, Cuong said, adding that doctors could detect microcephaly from the 18th week of pregnancy.

Women who were suspected to have Zika during their first three months of pregnancy could receive free Zika tests at healthcare centres, he said.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organisation declared that the mosquito-borne Zika virus will no longer be treated as an international medical emergency. However, by lifting its nine-month-old declaration, the UNs health agency is acknowledging that Zika is here to stay.

The move is not a demotion of the disease, Pete Salama, executive director of WHOs health emergencies programme, told a press conference.

We are not downgrading the importance of Zika. By placing it as a longer-term programme of work, we are saying Zika is here to stay and the WHOs response is here to stay.
It is necessary for all ASEAN member countries to work toward practical and creative solutions to speed-up the realisation of the ASEAN community in 2015. This is the strategic target and top priority of ASEAN over the next five years, said Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

Dung said in his speech at last weeks 42nd ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting (AEM-42) in Danang that the ASEAN had entered a new epoch towards the establishment of an ASEAN community in 2015.

Thus, in order to enhance links for ASEANs centrality, Vietnam is committed to continuing joining hands with other ASEAN member countries to pursue balanced and sustained development policies, especially to harmonise economic growth targets with social development in response to global challenges such as climate change, natural disasters, epidemics and economic instability.

Dung underscored that specific measures should be taken to narrow the development gap among ASEAN member states.

It is vital for the bloc to mobilise the participation of communities, especially the business circle and people, in the construction of the ASEAN community, he said.

The ASEAN community shall be established comprising three pillars, including political and security cooperation, economic cooperation and socio-cultural cooperation, all of which are closely intertwined and mutually reinforcing for the purpose of ensuring durable peace, stability and shared prosperity in the region.

We are all fully aware that much remains to be done in order to realise the goal of the ASEAN community, a community that is politically harmonious, economically integrated and socially responsible, Dung said.

In a joint communique released after the meeting, the ministers re-affirmed their commitment to eliminate all forms of non-tariff barriers in order to maximise the benefits of tariff reduction under the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement (ATIGA), one of the regions landmark economic agreements taking effect from May 17, 2010.

The ATIGA, which is comprehensive in its scope and brings transparency to regional trade liberalisation, consolidates all commitments related to trade in goods.

The ministers also endorsed the updated ASEAN trade facilitation work programme and the recommendation for each ASEAN member country to conduct a survey of the status of trade facilitation as the first step to take stock of the current environment in ASEAN in 2010-2011, said Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang, who chaired the AEM-42.

The importance of bringing small- and medium-sized enterprises into the ASEAN was underscored, Hoang said.
Ninh Binh countryside According to a reader of the magazine Noodlequeen, tourists should hire a bicycle and set out early in the morning to explore villages or have a picnic by the side of rice fields while watching the locals work. Hanoi Kids tours Another reader said travellers should sign up for a free tour with Hanoi Kids, an organisation that pairs travellers with students learning English. Food tour in Hanoi Vietnam is a food lovers paradise, with countless tasty and affordable options, but the sheer amount of things and places to eat, especially in the big cities, can be overwhelming, says Nice number.

Dai Lanh and the Hon Gom sandbar Oliver Daw suggests visitors should hire a scooter and make their way down the 30km-long Hon Gom sandbar. Here they can dive off the pontoon, go on a tour of the village by boat, and dine and sleep under the stars in a hammock. Overnight sleeper from Hanoi to Danang For a cheap, interesting and easy journey from Hanoi to Danang (for Hoi An) we booked the overnight sleeper train through vietnam-railway.com which delivered tickets to our hotel and were efficient and courteous, says loyal reader of The Guardian Ann Alston. Water pupet show A nickname Blackstar89 shared on the magazine that Water Puppetry is a Vietnamese tradition and one of the best cultural activities he did on his trip. If your experience of puppet shows consists of Punch and Judy-type performances you are in for a surprise. An Bang Beach Simon Bleasdale said An Bang has quiet, beautiful beaches makes Danangs pale in comparison. Hoi Ans Library hotel Ljiljana Harding commented that visitors can rent bikes just outside the hotel and ride off along rice fields and to the beach. She also recommended the Gioan cooking school if they want to try one of the famous cooking classes in Hoi An. Lunch and trekking with the Black Hmong By far the most amazing experience I had in Vietnam was in the north, near Sapa, and the day spent with the Black Hmong Tribe, arranged through Ethos, says Sarah Robinson Danang mountain bike tour A nickname clandejoe suggested that visitors should pedal through villages and mountains with a small group and a knowledgeable local guide. It is a really fun way to see this beautiful and historic area, he said.
Ramdev offers prayers at Chhinnamasta

Yoga guru Swami Ramdev offered prayers at Chhinnamasta Bhagwati Temple in Saptari district on Saturday.
Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music -- including rare recordings from the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music.
The reactions of world leaders to the death of Fidel Castro included sorrow and sometimes criticism for the former Cuban leader. But Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's praise for the revolutionary and dictator's "dedication and love for the Cuban people" was swiftly rebuked by some Canadian and U.S. politicians.

"I know my father was very proud to call him a friend and I had the opportunity to meet Fidel when my father passed away," the prime minister said.

Trudeau, who visited Cuba earlier this month, said, "While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castro's supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for 'El Comandante.'"

Kellie Leitch, a Canadian Conservative Party lawmaker, said Trudeau's remarks about Castro sounded "as if the prime minister were reading from a story book."

Leitch said on Facebook, "When given the opportunity to recognize the Castro regime for what it was  brutal, oppressive, and murderous  our prime minister instead chose to lionize the man who denied his people basic freedoms for decades."

U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, was startled by Trudeau's praise of Castro, saying "Is this a real statement or parody? Because if this is a real statement from the PM of Canada, it is shameful and embarrassing."

Trudeau's tribute to Castro was also mocked on social media, as #trudeaueulogies became a trending hashtag on Twitter, with users tweeting satiric praise for historic and fictional villains.

Reaction among world leaders mixed

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump wrote on Twitter that Castro was "A brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Trump said Castro's legacy included "firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights."

U.S. House speaker Paul Ryan said, "Now that Fidel Castro is dead, the cruelty and oppression of his regime should die with him."

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said he and his wife, Rosalynn, "fondly remember our visits with him in Cuba and his love of his country." In a statement, Carter said he wishes the Cuban citizens peace and prosperity in the years ahead.

Luiz Inacio Lula, Brazil's former president, said Castro was the "greatest of all Latin Americans."

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered the support of the UN to the people of Cuba during spoken remarks at a sustainable transportation conference in Turkmenistan.

"Under the former president Castro, Cuba made advances in the fields of education, literacy and health. I hope that Cuba will continue to advance on a path of reform and greater prosperity, Ban said.

Ruben Berrios Martinez, the longtime leader of the Puerto Rican Independence Party, said Castro was the "largest and most influential Latin American of the 20th century, whose verticality, vision and passion has always served as an inspiration for those who aspired to a more just, free and dignified Latin America."

Nicolas Maduro, president of Venezuela, said he spoke to Raul Castro, Fidel's brother, to convey solidarity with the Cubans.

Spanish President Mariano Rajoy Brey gave his condolences to Cuba and called Castro "a figure of historical significance."

Similarly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called Castro "one of the most iconic personalities of the 20th century."

"India mourns the loss of a great friend," Modi said on Twitter.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said "the world has lost a man who was a hero for many... his legacy will be judged by history."

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto said on Twitter, "I lament the death of Fidel Castro Ruz, leader of the Cuban revolution and emblematic reference of the 20th century."

French President Francois Hollande called Castro a towering figure of the 20th century.

"I want, on the occasion of the death of Fidel Castro to again insist that the embargo that punishes Cuba should be lifted definitively (and that) Cuba should be fully regarded as a partner in the international community," said Hollande during a summit in Madagascar.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also praised Castro as a symbol of an era.

"Free and independent Cuba, which he (Fidel Castro) and his allies built, became an influential member of the international community and became an inspiring example for many countries and nations. Fidel Castro was a sincere and reliable friend of Russia.''

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev hailed Castro for "strengthening" his island nation.

"Fidel stood up and strengthened his country during the harshest American blockade when there was colossal pressure on him and he still took his country out of this blockade to a path of independent development," Interfax news agency quoted Gorbachev as saying.
Six decades after declaring history would absolve him, Fidel Castro's life has ended and his troubled human rights legacy can be considered.

Cuban-Americans took to the streets of Little Havana on Saturday, saying the passing of one man could be the beginning of hope for the many who had suffered under him.

"A bad dictator that had Cuba under oppression and repression for almost six decades is no longer with us, and that will give an opportunity to the Cuban people to start the journey to freedom and democracy," Cuban-American Jose Sanchez told VOA as he celebrated with hundreds of other Cuban-Americans in Miami.

Under Castro's rule, three generations of Cuban people lacked nearly all basic civil and political freedoms, including the rights to expression, assembly and association. The communist government routinely detained journalists and dissenters while denying independent human rights monitoring organizations access inside the country.

"This is a man who is deeply admired in the rest of the region for standing up to the United States," said Eduardo Gamarra, professor of politics and international relations at Florida International University. "But at the same time, and it's very important to remember, he also presided over a tyrannical regime, a regime that was responsible for the deaths by firing squad of hundreds of people and somebody who jailed people for their political views."

U.S.-Cuba relations

Even the restoration of relations with the United States, starting in December 2014, didn't loosen limitations on freedoms.

According to a 2016 Human Rights Watch report, internet access in Cuba was still severely limited despite the opening of 35 Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide, and the government continued to control nearly all media outlets. The number of jailed dissidents remained consistent at between 8,000 and 9,000 prisoners each year.

Now it will be up to Raul Castro, who had gradually taken over control of the communist island nation starting in 2006, to decide whether his brother's death marks the end of an era.

"The symbol is dead," Guadalupe Correa Cabrera, professor of public affairs and security studies at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, said of Castro's death.

Cabrera said Raul Castro's control over the country had already opened the door for normalization of relations with the United States, and with the death of Fidel marking the end of an era, even more opportunities could arise.

"He needs to change his approach and allow the country to be more open," Cabrera said.

Human rights

Human rights concerns have long shaped U.S. relations with Cuba, playing an often crucial role in presidential politics. In the hours after Castro's death, many U.S. lawmakers took to Twitter to recall Castro's legacy and express the hope his passing would begin a new chapter for the country.

"While some may wish to paint a rosy picture of communism and this dictator's leadership, any account that ignores his bloody atrocities and human rights abuses, economic persecution and support for terrorism abroad does no justice to the survivors and victims of his legacy," U.S. Representative Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, chairman of the Western Hemisphere subcommittee on foreign affairs, said in a statement released Saturday.

Even as the aging leader slipped from public view, the memory of his rule remained alive in the minds of the generations he marked  a psychological toll that could have very real consequences as the nation moves forward.

"We knew that as long as the dictator who founded the Cuban revolution was alive and in Cuba, change would be very difficult. But now this represents an opportunity  especially for those freedom fighters in Cuba, the opposition leaders who have been risking their lives, their security, their well-being, for years to fight for a better country. Now they're going to be stronger," U.S. Representative Carlos Curbelo of Florida told VOA.

But change in the wake of Castro's death could come at a steep cost, exacted by the communist government still in place.

"The primary objective of the Cuban regime today is the preservation of power as long as possible, and while dissidents still have the potential to create the kind of unrest that might unsettle a Cuban leadership, they'll continue to repress," said Brian Fonseca, director at Florida International University's Public Policy Institute.

Create 'fissures'

"If the social fissures sort of begin to manifest because of changes in the emotional temper of the Cuban people, and if that does occur, given that preservation of power is most critical to the Cuban political elite, then I think you may find political repression going up, at least in the short term," Fonseca said.

Back in the streets of Little Havana, many realized the end of the era of Castro is in many ways just the beginning.

"We're here honoring all our grandparents and that entire generation that wasn't here to experience it today, but for them we're here, and hopefully this is the beginning of freedom for Cuba," said Lissette Calderon, a Cuban-American woman who has never set foot on the island but brought her children out to witness the historic moment.

"The people of Cuba do not have free elections; there's no democracy. I think those of us aren't going to rest until we see freedom for the people of Cuba," Calderon said.
Scholars, diplomats and investors who study U.S.-Cuban relations are trying to figure out what will happen to the island's economy and its relations with the United States following the death of longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

The outlook is made more uncertain by the election of Donald Trump, who as U.S. president will bring a far different outlook in Washington than the previous administration.

President Barack Obama resumed diplomatic relations with Cuba after a break of more than 50 years, while Trump's statements and appointments signal a harder line will be taken against the island nation.

Jose Azel, a Cuba scholar at the University of Miami, said Cuba's economy was a "basket case" and would remain "moribund" until Havana changed laws that harm badly needed foreign direct investment.

Azel said investors are now forced to become "minority shareholders" in partnership with the Cuban military and can't hire their own employees. He said Cuba needed to evolve away from a failed system of central planning, but he expressed doubt that there would be much change in the near future.

U.S. visitors

Despite these problems, the recent partial thawing of relations between Washington and Havana has boosted the number of U.S. visitors to Cuba, bringing hard currency to the troubled economy.

Commercial airline service is also resuming between the two nations, and some American firms are operating hotels and seeking permission to operate other businesses in Cuba.

John Kavulich of the U.S. Trade and Economic Council, a business group, said Cuba's economic reforms over the past 10 years have moved forward in fits and starts.

"There is still a tremendous grip that the government bureaucracy has upon entrepreneurship, upon anything that is commercially and economically outside of the government's control," Kavulich said.

Retired U.S. Foreign Service Officer John Caulfield headed the U.S. Interests Section in Havana until 2014. He recounted Cuban President Raul Castro's remarks that reforms were moving forward "without pause, but without hurry."

Caulfield said many Cubans would like change to come more quickly. From the Cuban government's perspective, the changes so far seem significant, he said, but they fall short of what is needed for Cuba to participate in the world economy and prosper.

Limited in economic activity

Cubans are very limited in what sorts of private economic activity they can pursue, he added.

"You can be an electrician or plumber, but you can't have a factory," he said. "You can't be an important service provider or real estate agent." That is a big problem, because such private economic activity is the key to creating wealth and growth.

The former diplomat said it would take foreign investment and expertise to energize Cuba's economy, and those skills and that capital are most likely to come from Cuban entrepreneurs, most of whom left the island over the past 50 or 60 years.

This movement away from a totalitarian system, where all aspects of life were controlled by the government, toward a more open society makes the current government nervous, Caulfield said.

US businesses frustrated

While Cuban officials are worried that changes are coming too fast, U.S. businesses see the pace as frustratingly slow.

Kavulich, of the U.S. Trade and Economic Council, said there is a "tremendous sense of disappointment in the U.S. business community that the president [Obama] did not move in a far more expansive way."

Statements from the new Trump administration, and the outlook of some key nominees, make it seem likely that Trump will take a harder line with Cuba than Obama did.

But it is less clear what impact the scheduled retirement in 2018 of Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel's younger brother, will have on diplomatic relations and economic growth.

Kavulich said the one thing he could say for certain was that "there is going to be uncertainty."
Cubas former President Fidel Castro, who led the country for nearly 50 years, died late Friday in Havana. He was 90.

On Saturday, members of Congress and the vice president-elect shared their thoughts on the Cuban dictator -- from hope for the future to the sacrifices of the Cuban people -- on Twitter.

Despite attempts on his life, a U.S.-backed exile invasion at the Bay of Pigs and five decades of economic sanctions, Castro outlasted nine U.S. presidents, from Dwight Eisenhower to Bill Clinton, stepping down while George W. Bush was in office.
Cuba has announced a period of mourning following the death of Fidel Castro, the communist island-nation's revolutionary leader.

Flags are flying at half-staff across the country, as Cuba enters a week filled with memorials to mark Castro's passing.

The socialist revolutionary, who had long been ill, died late Friday at the age of 90. A cause of death has not been announced.

A series of memorials begin Monday, when Cubans gather in Havana's iconic Revolution Square, where Castro often addressed adoring crowds.

On Wednesday, Castro's cremated remains will be carried eastward across the country, in a three-day procession that follows in reverse the route taken by the young revolutionary and his rebel fighters as they advanced on Havana from the Sierra Maestra mountains before taking power in January 1959.

His ashes be interred December 4 in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba at Santa Ifigenia cemetery.

In Miami Sunday, Cuba's most prominent opposition group, known as the Ladies in White, joined with other dissident organizations in calling for unified public demonstrations Wednesday in support of democracy in Cuba. Their call came as hundreds of Cuban-Americans in several areas of the U.S. city took to the streets to celebrate the demise of the communist leader.

The Ladies in White group was founded in 2003 to support husbands jailed for political opposition in the one-party island nation. The anti-Castro group has organized weekly marches in Havana for the past 13 years.





Elsewhere, in Miami's "Little Havana," the streets erupted in celebration for a second day, as hundreds of people marked the official end of Castro's controversial life and rule. Men and women, young and old, marched and danced while others demanded a democratic future for their ancestral homeland.

Near the museum honoring veterans of the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, crowds gathered for a second straight day in front of a famed Cuban eatery, the Versailles Restaurant, waving American and Cuban flags. Some celebrants carried photos of loved ones who either escaped totalitarian rule or were persecuted or jailed by the Castro government.

Video showed others banging pots and pans and chanting words of hope for Cuba in Spanish.

Castro, raised near Santiago de Cuba, launched his first failed attempt at revolution in 1953 from the southeastern city. He would go on to mount a second revolt against the rule of Fulgencio Batista, toppling the U.S.-backed leader and seizing power in 1959.

He eventually set up a one-party socialist government, which constantly defied Washington and allied itself with the former Soviet Union.

Castro handed power to his brother Raul in 2006, although he still exercised some power behind the scenes until recent years.

A polarizing figure throughout his life, Castro also prompted a mixed reaction in his death.

In Cuba, many mourned the loss of a man who dominated the country's politics for more than 50 years and helped foster a sense of independence and patriotism.



U.S. leaders were divided in their response to Castro's death.

President Barack Obama released a statement that was largely neutral in its reference to Castro, saying the U.S. extends its "hand of friendship" to the Cuban people. However, President-elect Donald Trump's statement called Castro a "brutal dictator who suppressed his own people for six decades."



Starting in 2014, Obama oversaw a historic warming of relations between the U.S. and Cuba, including the restoration of diplomatic ties.



During his presidential campaign, Trump initially said he supported that effort, but has since backed away, taking a more hawkish stance.

Trump's incoming chief of staff, Reince Priebus, on Sunday said Trump is "absolutely" willing to reverse Obama's opening to Cuba. Talking to Fox News Sunday, Priebus said the future of U.S.-Cuba relations depends on whether Havana makes progress on human rights.

"Repression, open markets, freedom of religion, political prisoners - these things need to change in order to have an open and free relationship," Priebus said.
Flag-waving Cuban students broke into a mass chant of "I am Fidel" to salute Fidel Castro as nine days of mourning began for the combative Cold War icon, who dominated the Communist island's political life for generations.

Alcohol sales were suspended, flags flew at half-staff and shows and concerts were canceled after his younger brother and successor, President Raul Castro, told the country on Friday that Fidel had died at 10:29 p.m., without giving a cause of death.

Giant rallies are planned in Havana's Revolution Square and in the eastern city of Santiago to honor Castro, who died aged 90, six decades after the brothers set out from Mexico to overthrow U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Newspapers on the island of 11 million people were printed in black ink to mourn Fidel, instead of the usual red of the official Communist Party daily Granma, and the blue of Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth), the paper of the Communist youth.

"For me, it's my mother first, my children, my father, then Fidel," father-of-five Rafael Urbay, 60, said as he manned a government photo and printing store in downtown Havana, remembering his early years spent on a remote island off the mainland with no drinking water.

"We weren't just poor. We were wretched," he said. "Then came Fidel and the revolution. He gave me my humanity. I owe him everything."

No heightened police presence

There was no heightened military or police presence to mark the passing of the epochal revolutionary leader, and at Havana University, Castro's alma mater, hundreds of students gathered to wave huge Cuban flags and shout "Viva Fidel and Viva Raul."

"Fidel isn't dead because the people are Fidel," shouted a local student leader dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. "I am Fidel," he continued, a refrain quickly adopted by the crowd.

"Fidel put Cuba on the map, and made Cuba a paradigm for the people of the world, especially the poor and the marginalized," said another university student, Raul Alejandro Palmeros.

Castro studied law at the university in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when it was a hotbed of leftist politics, setting him on the path that led to his toppling of Batista in 1959.

Under Castro, bitter diplomatic conflict with the United States followed, and Cuba quickly became a firm ally of the Soviet Union, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962.

Yet despite years of ideological strife and increasing hardship under a U.S. economic embargo, Castro's Cuba became renowned for high education standards and world-class doctors.

"What Fidel did with education and free health stands out on the world stage. It was unique," said Rene Perez, 78, a retired accountant and Communist Party member. "It's his main legacy."

Life as normal

Apart from the chanting students, Havana life went on largely as normal, only quieter and more subdued following the news of Castro's death. Street vendors sold food and handcrafts from stalls to passers-by, while 1950s Chevrolets full of dents and held together by makeshift repairs cruised by, crammed with passengers.

Nevertheless, it was a day for reflection.

"Usually we're full, but today only tourists have come and maybe a few Cubans. Usually it's the other way around. It seems Cubans feel funny about enjoying themselves so soon after Fidel died," said Raul Tamayo, a doorman at La Roca, a popular restaurant in Havana's central Vedado district.

WATCH: Timeline of Fidel Castro's hold on power in Cuba

Castro's remains were cremated, and his ashes will be taken around Cuba until a state funeral on Dec. 4. Western diplomatic officials said foreign dignitaries will arrive by Tuesday for a memorial service to be held in Revolution Square that evening.

Cuban state television, student associations and the women's federation had organized smaller rallies to mourn Fidel Castro and pledge their support to the revolution.

Standing well over 6 feet (1.8m) tall, the bearded Castro was for years a cigar-chomping bulwark of ideological resistance to the United States, decked out in green military fatigues and cap.

'Maximum Leader'

But the man long known as Cuba's "Maximo Lider" (Maximum Leader) largely disappeared from the public eye after a 2006 intestinal illness that almost killed him.

Formally handing over power to Raul in 2008, he remained a major presence on the island, and regularly warned the Cuban population about the perils of giving in to the United States.

"Everyone here is sad. Everyone is a Fidelista," said Anaida Gonzales, a retired nursing professor in central Camaguey province. "People are just going about their business, but sad. Me, I'm very sad for my Comandante, it really took me by surprise."

WATCH: Memorials grow outside Cuban Embassy in Washington, DC
At least 30 civilians were killed Sunday in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo village of Luhanga.



Most of those slain were Hutus, and local officials said an ethnic Nande militia was behind the killings, which are the latest in a year-long cycle of violence between the two ethnic communities DRC's North Kivu province.



Joy Bokele, a territorial administrator in North Kivu, said militants first attacked a DRC military post before the assault on Luhangabegan.



"They started by attacking the FARDC position. While they were attacking the FARDC, another group was executing the population with bladed weapons or bullets," Bokele told AFP.



Ethnic rivalries, foreign invasions and competition for mineral-rich land have stoked persistent conflict among eastern Congo's dozens of rebel groups over the last two decades, costing millions of lives.



Tensions have spiked between the Hutu and neighboring communities since Congo's army launched a 2015 military offensive against the FDLR, displacing large numbers of fighters and Hutu civilians.
Fidel Castro, the man who led Cuba for nearly a half-century, died on Friday at the age of 90, his brother, President Raul Castro, said." The former revolutionary leader will be cremated on Saturday in accordance with his wishes, Castro said. Cuba has called for nine days of national mourning.
The Electoral Commission of Ghana has begun approving local and international poll observer groups to monitor the December 7 presidential and legislative elections. The electoral commission, however, says groups affiliated with political parties would not be allowed to monitor the polls.

The criteria that poll observer groups must meet before their applications are considered include the name of the poll monitoring group, the leadership and composition of the group and their experience in election observation together with their passport pictures as well as their contact information.

We have received a number of applications to observe the elections in the country, said Eric Dzakpasu, spokesman for the electoral commission. The commission has also received a number of applications from local and international observers, as well as foreign missions and embassies, he added.

Thousands of monitors

As at the meeting we had today with the political parties, tentatively, we are talking about 400 international observers, he said. Embassies and foreign missions have about 200 observers. CFI France, which provides assistance to the media, has about 1,000 observers, and there are about 10,000 local observers.

Once the accreditation is granted, they can go anywhere, but they need to inform the commission where they would be concentrated and where the rest of the [observers] would be dispersed throughout the country. And once accredited, they do have access to all parts of the country, while the election is going on, Dzakpasu added.

Officials of the electoral commission also met Friday representatives of the political parties at the Inter-Party Advisory Committee in the capital, Accra. The objective of the meeting, the electoral officials said, was to help resolve the political groups concerns as part of the electoral bodys effort to ensure a transparent process.

The electoral commission will administer special voting December 1. On that day, security officials, electoral commission officials and journalists who will be on duty on election day are scheduled to vote.

Special voting concerns

Some political parties are accusing the electoral commission of doing the bidding of the ruling party to rig the special voting  a charge the electoral commission sharply denies.

Opposition parties previously expressed concern about the voter list compiled by the commission to be used for the elections. They said it appeared the electoral body was overly slow compiling the list.

The parties also raised concern about the number of people who are registered to participate in the special voting December 1. The parties also wanted to know the number of voting centers that would be used for the special voting.

The major concern centered around the voters register, the proxy list and then the special voting list, Dzakpasu said, and they also wanted to know the state of preparation of the electoral commission.

The parties were also interested in the election observation and then the process for the transmission of election results electronically from the various constituency centers to the national coalition center, he added, and most importantly, they were also concerned about the modalities for the training of party agents. All of the issues were addressed at the meeting.

The number of people who were supposed to vote early has been of some contention, Dzakpasu said. I think we have finalized the list of special voters and the figure is out and the political parties are now comfortable with the final figure, he added.

The special voting list has about 127,394 people, and they would be voting on the first of December at about 284 polling stations, which are based in all the 275 constituencies of the country, he added.
S Korea sees largest protests against President Park Geun-hye

Huge rallies have been held across South Korea for what are thought to be the largest protests so far demanding President Park Geun-hye steps down.
France has called for an immediate United Nations Security Council meeting on Aleppo.

In a statement, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said "More than ever, there is an urgent need for a cessation of hostilities and unhindered access to humanitarian assistance" for residents of the besieged city.

The United Nations says as many as 16,000 civilians have fled eastern Aleppo in recent days following Syrian government advances.

Tuesday the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 10 civilians were killed in an airstrike in Bab al-Nairab, one of the eastern districts still held by rebel forces.

Activists and Syrian state media said Monday government forces scored a series of victories over opposition fighters in the eastern part of Aleppo, as part of an apparent strategy to split the rebel-held section of the city in two.

Aleppo has been a major focus of Syrian military efforts with the backing of Russian airstrikes. The situation there has also raised international concerns, with an estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in a government siege in need of food and medical aid.

In Washington, the State Department expressed its "deep outrage" at the latest bombing of Aleppo, holding Moscow responsible.

"What we've continued to assert is that Russia bears the ultimate responsibility here for what the Syria regime is doing and being permitted to do in terms of the devastating civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure to include hospitals in and around Aleppo," spokesperson John Kirby said Monday.

Kirby said a multilateral diplomatic effort is still going on in Geneva to discuss ways to get at "a framework for a cessation of hostilities."

The state-run SANA news agency cited a military source saying the army had recaptured the al-Sakhour district and dismantled mines left there by "terrorists," a term the government uses to refer to anyone opposed to President Bashar al-Assad.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria, also reported the military was fully in control of al-Sakhour and several other districts.

Observatory director Rami Abdulrahman called the defeat the worst for the rebels since they seized half of Aleppo in 2012, and said the opposition has now lost one-third of the territory it once held in the city.

A large number of people fled eastern Aleppo to the government-controlled western side in recent days. Khaled Khatib, who works for the volunteer rescue group known as the White Helmets, described the situation in eastern Aleppo as "very, very bad."

"Thousands of eastern residents are moving to the western side of the city," he wrote on Twitter. "Aleppo is going to die."

Government ground forces, backed by their Russian allies, began a push into eastern Aleppo earlier this month, after days of intensive bombing by Russian and Syrian warplanes.

Starve, get bombed or surrender' strategy

U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power held up the airstrikes as proof "that the [Syrian] regime and Russia are continuing their 'starve, get bombed or surrender' strategy in eastern Aleppo.

Her comments to the U.N. General Assembly last week were part of a stinging critique of Russian and Syrian actions in eastern Aleppo, which intensified in September when Russian warplanes joined the bombing campaign.

Moscow and Damascus have routinely described the fight against rebels in eastern Aleppo as a battle against terrorists, despite the sector's vast civilian population. Both governments have used the "terrorist" characterization to justify the deadly and apparently indiscriminate bombings in the sector.

Watch: Obama Administration 'Disturbed' by Violence in Aleppo



On Sunday, Russia's Tass news agency bolstered that claim with a statement saying "more and more [of eastern Aleppo] locals demonstrate they are against the crimes committed by terrorists" by fleeing to government-controlled neighborhoods.

Western governments and the U.N. diplomats have scoffed at the Russian interpretation, while framing the Aleppo onslaught as a vast humanitarian crisis. Diplomats and human rights organizations argue that both Moscow and Damascus could face war crimes inquiries for their roles in the destruction of eastern Aleppo.
The nascent growth in U.S. business ventures in Cuba is now in doubt, with uncertainty whether U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will carry out his campaign vow to undo President Barack Obama's diplomatic thaw with the communist island that ended five decades of hostilities between the two countries.

U.S. cruise ships are docking in Havana, American flights are landing in Cuba and U.S. hotels are booking guests. But the death of Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro and the ascent of Trump to the U.S. presidency in two months have left open the question of whether the improved economic links will continue with Cuban President Raul Castro.

Even as Obama renewed diplomatic relations with the island nation 140 kilometers off its southeastern shore and made economic overtures, the U.S. maintained its official trade embargo, which most Republicans who control Congress support keeping in place.

Trump on Cuba policy



At one point during his lengthy campaign for the White House, Trump said, All of the concessions Barack Obama has granted the Castro regime were done through executive order, which means the next president can reverse them, and that I will do unless the Castro regime meets our demands.

Reince Priebus, Trump's White House chief of staff when he assumes power, echoed that sentiment Sunday, telling Fox News that the president-elect needs to see movement in the right direction from the Cuban regime in order to maintain the renewed diplomatic relations.

Repression, open markets, freedom of religion, political prisoners  these things need to change in order to have open and free relationships, Priebus said. Theres going to have to be some movement from Cuba in order to have a relationship with the United States.

Rapprochement



Cuba and the United States opened embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015, with Obama visiting Cuba in March of this year.

But U.S. trade with Cuba in recent years has been one-sided, with the U.S. exporting about $180 million worth of goods this year and last and importing nothing, according to U.S. government figures.

However, U.S. flights to Cuba are increasing, carrying tourists eager to see a land and people that have been off limits to Americans since Fidel Castro nationalized U.S. corporate holdings in 1961 after overthrowing Fulgencio Batista, a dictator who was a U.S. ally.

New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, a critic of Obama's normalization of relations with Cuba, said that U.S. economic links to Cuba remain firmly connected to President Raul Castro's family.

"What Raul is doing is preparing for a generational change to his son and son-in-law," Menendez said. "You want to do business in Cuba, you want to be part of the hotel industry, tourism industry, you got to see Raul's son. You want to go ahead and do agriculture business in Cuba, you got to do it with his son-in-law, both high-ranking officials of the Cuban military. So yeah, they're thinking about a generational change, but it's from one set of Castros to another set of Castros, not from a dictatorship towards freedom and democracy and human rights. And we should understand that."




The son of a late Iran revolutionary was sentenced Sunday to six years in prison.

Ahmad Montazeri, 60, whose father is Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, was convicted by Iran's Special Clerical Court in the holy city of Qom after acting against the national security [and] releasing a classified audio file, the ISNA news agency reported.

Reports say Montazeri released audio recorded at the end of the country's 1988 war with Iraq in which his father condemned the execution of thousands of prisoners.

Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri died in 2009. He was the right-hand man to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini known as the father of Irans Islamic revolution.

The elder Montazeri was one of the few leaders who spoke out against the execution of thousands of political dissidents known as the People's Mujahideen of Iran (MEK).

MEK was a political group that had sided with Saddam Hussein during the war between Iraq and Iran.

Irans justice minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi, allegedly featured on the audio file, said he did not regret the killings.

We are proud to have carried out Gods commandment with regard to the [MEK] and to have stood with strength and fought against the enemies of God and the people, Pourmohammadi said, according to the Tasnin news agency.

Ahmad Montazeri has 20 days to appeal the verdict.
Six Pakistani workers from a Polish oil and gas surveying company have been kidnapped in northwestern Pakistan, military sources told Reuters, years after a Polish engineer from the same company was beheaded by Pakistani militants.

The six Geofizyka Krakow workers were snatched Saturday afternoon from their vehicles on a road near the village of Drazinda, about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the northwestern city of Dera Ismail Khan, two military officials with security forces in the area said on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

No claim of responsibility

One of the sources provided Reuters with the names and national identity card numbers of the workers. Geofizyka Krakow, which is a subsidiary of Polands state-run gas firm PGNiG, could not be immediately reached for comment. On its website, the company said it had entered liquidation in August 2016.

No militant group has claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. In the past, militants from the hardline Islamist Pakistani Taliban group have kidnapped people in the region for ransom or to bargain for the release of prisoners.

The area where the workers were kidnapped is close to South Waziristan, part of the lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan.

Geofizyka Krakow has a long history of conducting seismic services in Pakistan.

Polish engineer taken in 2008

In 2008, a Polish engineer working for the firm was kidnapped by the Pakistani Taliban near the northwestern city of Attock, and beheaded several months later.

Overall security in Pakistan has improved over the last few years but many of the northwestern areas bordering Afghanistan remain volatile and dangerous, especially for foreigners and those working with foreign companies.

The frontier regions, deeply conservative and hard to access because of the rough terrain, have long been the sanctuary of fighters from al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups.


Youth groups who want DRC President Joseph Kabila to stand down at the end of his term in December tried to organize a protest in Kinshasa on Saturday, but police prevented it. It was the third time this month that such a demonstration had been blocked.

The governor of Kinshasa outlawed all political protest in September in the aftermath of a demonstration during which security forces killed more than 50 people, according to the United Nations.

Saturday's gathering was organized by nine youth groups and was supposed to mark the launch of a new campaign titled Bye Bye Kabila. They say the president should step down on December 19, the end of his second and  under the constitution  final term.

The president, however, intends to remain in office until at least April 2018, and many fear he wishes to alter the constitution to allow him to seek a third term.

An activist of LUCHA, a civic engagement group, who helped organize the Bye Bye Kabila campaign told VOA that it wasn't a one-day event, but would last until year's end.

The activist, who asked not to be identified, said the purpose of the campaign was to ask the Congolese to be vigilant and to demand that the constitution be preserved and respected.

The organizers called on their supporters to meet Saturday morning at six different places in the city in order to distribute fliers to raise awareness about the Congolese constitution.

From early in the morning, it was apparent that the demonstration could not continue as planned. Each meeting point was occupied by pickup trucks full of armed police, while trucks of riot police patrolled the roads.

"Our activity has been obstructed by the large-scale police presence," the LUCHA activist said, "to prevent citizens from being able to act freely and from exercising their rights recognized by the constitution." He said Kabila had barred them from expressing their point of view about the constitution's violation.

About midday, several dozen activists burst out of a nightclub on Rond Point Victoire, one of Kinshasa's busiest roundabouts. For five minutes, they shouted anti-Kabila slogans and handed out fliers bearing the words of Article 64 of the constitution. This provision obliges all Congolese to ensure the failure of any individual who takes or maintains power by force or in violation of the constitution.

The protesters disappeared by the time police arrived.

"We have come to accomplish our mission to circulate the message that on December 19, it's the end of President Kabila's mandate," an activist told VOA in the street. "If he does not quit power on December 19, we will apply Article 64."

He accused the authorities of being Kabila's accomplices and supporting the regime rather than the Congolese people.

The ban on protest has provoked international as well as domestic condemnation. In early November, a group of U.N. experts unsuccessfully urged the government to revoke the decision, which they called "unjustified" and "disturbing."
A week after conflict broke out between Greeks and refugees on the island of Chios, which some said included firebombs hurled onto refugee tents, fears are widespread that clashes are likely to happen again. John Owens reports from one of the Greek islands taking the brunt of the EU-Turkey refugee deal.
Swiss voters on Sunday rejected an effort to hasten the process of phasing out the country's nuclear power plants.

If the "yes" votes had prevailed in the referendum, Switzerland would have moved to close three of the country's five reactors next year and the remaining two by 2029.

Following the 2011 incident in Fukushima, Switzerland, like other countries, pledged to decommission the ageing reactors, which currently generate 40 percent of Switzerland's electricity, as they reached the end of their safe operational lifespan but did not specify a date.

As part of an energy plan that runs through 2050, the Swiss government has already agreed not to replace its existing nuclear plants, which can operate as long as they are deemed safe.

But anti-nuclear advocacy groups, such as the Swiss Greens and Social Democrats, said the Swiss government's timetable has not been fast enough and pushed for the referendum to speed up the planned exit.

Due to public concern, no new nuclear power stations have been built in Switzerland since 1984.
The announcement this week by Syria's embattled military that it will form an all-volunteer unit is an indication that the government is struggling in its fight against rebels and the Islamic State group, analysts say.

"The Syrian regime is running low on manpower," said Syrian researcher Khorshid Alika, who closely observes the dynamics of Syria's civil war. "They need additional reinforcements on so many fronts, particularly in Aleppo, Damascus and Hama."

The new division "will fight alongside other military units and our allied forces in Syria" and will officially allow civilians to take part in the fight for the first time, a Syrian government military official said in a televised statement this week.

The decision was made "in response to the rapid development of events, to support the successes of armed forces, and to meet people's wishes to put an end to terrorist acts in the Syrian Arab Republic," the statement said.

The unit, to be known as "The Fifth Attack Troops Corps of Volunteers," will consist of men and women over age 18 who are "not already eligible for military service or deserters," the statement said.

Diminished numbers

With nearly 5 million refugees abroad, and about 6.6 million refugees internally displaced, the pool of possible volunteers is greatly diminished.

Syria has already pulled most 18-year-olds into mandatory service and their terms have been extended past two years as Syria's civil war continues. Thousands of young recruits, too, have reportedly deserted the army and fled the country, further depleting government forces.

"I defected from the army the first chance I had," said Issam, a former Syrian solider who is currently in Jordan. He gave only his first name for fear of retribution.

"I saw no end to the fighting. I realized that I would either get killed or kill more people," Issam told VOA in a phone interview. He said he was drafted into service in 2013 despite his status as a college student at Homs University.

The Syrian military reportedly has more than 300,000 soldiers, with an additional 400,000 reserve members, most of whom are enlisted now. They are spread across the country, fighting various rebel forces as well as pockets of IS resistance.

Salaries for the volunteer unit will range from $200 to $350 per month, according to local news reports. The government is encouraging civil servants to sign up.

Foreign militias

Syrian government forces have relied heavily on foreign militias since the outbreak of the civil war in 2011. Iran and Russia have been staunch allies, with Russian bombers taking on a bulk of the aerial campaign and Iran providing ground forces.

Elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard forces, along with Lebanese Hezbollah fighters and Afghan and Pakistan mercenaries, have fought alongside Syrian troops. In parts of Damascus and Homs provinces, Iranian-led troops have been the primary forces against rebels.

But Tehran's commitment to provide additional servicemen to aid Syrian government forces has declined, analysts say. And an Iranian official said this week that Iranian troop casualties were mounting  over 1,000 dead since the start of Syria's civil war.

"Iran is busy in other conflicts in Iraq and Yemen, and so its focus and resources could be shifted," Alika, the Syrian researcher, told VOA.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump assailed Democrat Hillary Clinton on Sunday for joining an effort to recount votes in three closely contested states that Trump won, recalling that she said during one of their debates that election losers should accept the outcome even when they don't like it.



In his long campaign, the Republican Trump said the election was "rigged" against him, but he is calling Green Party nominee Jill Stein's bid to start recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Wisconsin a "scam" and derided Clinton's decision to join the effort. Out of millions of votes cast, Trump won all three states over Clinton  by about 27,000 votes in Wisconsin, 12,000 in Michigan and 68,000 in Pennsylvania  with Stein getting about 1 percent of the vote in each of them.



"Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in," Trump said on Twitter. "Nothing will change."



In another tweet, Trump, at his Atlantic oceanfront mansion in Florida, said, "The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore!"



During their third debate, at a point Trump was trailing Clinton in national surveys, he said he would keep everyone in "suspense" whether he would accept the election outcome unless he won.

On Sunday, in a string of tweets, he recalled that Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state who was looking to become the country's first female president, responded that his equivocation on accepting the outcome was "horrifying," and that "we've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must expected of anyone...."



Clinton's campaign had not initiated recount efforts, believing that a recalculation would not reverse the result. But hundreds of her supporters urged her to join Stein's effort in Wisconsin, which it is now doing.





Clinton election campaign lawyer Marc Elias acknowledged Saturday that the requests by Clinton supporters prompted the campaign to quietly start investigating whether there was any "outside interference" in the November 8 election results and would also take part in recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania if they are also started there.



Elias said no "actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology" has been found. But with Trump's slim victory margins in the three states, coupled with alleged Russian hacking of computer files of a key Clinton campaign official, the Clinton campaign decided to take another look at possible foreign interference in the outcome.



There were ongoing concerns that Russian hackers may try to influence the election, particularly after U.S. officials alleged that they successfully hacked the computer network of the Democratic National Committee and tried to hack voter registration databases. Researchers who investigated the cyber-attacks concluded that Russians created and disseminated fake news about the election, apparently to try to help Trump win.



Stein filed a petition Friday to request the Wisconsin vote recount.



A post on Stein's campaign website called the voting machines used in Wisconsin "highly vulnerable to hacking and malicious programming" and said the machines lacked any security features.



The state must meet a federal deadline of December 13 to complete the recount.



Earlier Friday, Stein said on her website that supporters had raised $5 million for the recount effort and other associated costs, in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. She said the total cost for all three recounts could reach $7 million.



Stein stands to gain little from a recount, since she won just about 1 percent of the popular vote.



The statement on Stein's website said the recount effort wasn't meant to help Hillary Clinton. Rather, the website said the move "is about protecting our democracy."



Election experts say there is almost no chance the election results would be overturned. But with Clinton's national lead in the popular vote now more than two million, any changes to the vote count in her favor could heighten the debate over the legitimacy of Trump's stunning upset win.





U.S. presidential elections are not decided by a national popular vote. Instead, they are decided by individual races in the 50 states and the national capital city, Washington, with each state's importance in the overall outcome weighted by its population. Winning presidential candidates have to amass a majority of 270 votes in the 538-member Electoral College based on the state-by-state results, with the vote winner in each state winning all of that state's electoral votes.



By winning numerous states by relatively narrow margins, Trump won in the Electoral College, 306-232. Clinton would need to prevail in all three of the recount states to reverse the outcome.
Turkey said Sunday it suspects Islamic State fighters used chemical weapons against Turkish-backed rebels in northern Syria.

A Turkish military statement in the state-run Anadolu news agency says 22 rebels showed symptoms of exposure to "chemical gas" after a rocket attack east of al-Rai, near the Syria-Turkey border. The statement did not indicate when the attack took place.

The wounded were evacuated to the Turkish border town of Kilis where they are being tested for traces of chemical weapons, Turkish media reported.

There have been several episodes of chemical weapons being used against civilians and fighters in Syria since the civil war broke out in 2011, which would be a clear violation of international law.

A report in August by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons says there is enough evidence to pin responsibility for two chlorine gas attacks on the Syrian army and a mustard gas attack on Islamic State.

The Assad government denies being behind any chemical attacks, blaming them on "terrorists," its name for rebels.

Also Sunday, the Israeli military says it killed four gunmen with ties to Islamic State-affiliated militants in Syria.

Israel says its soldiers came under a machine gun and mortar attack on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, along the Syrian border.

Military spokesman Peter Lerner said the soldiers returned fire while an Israeli military plane attacked the militants' vehicle, killing them.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the Israeli soldiers Sunday.

"We are well prepared on our northern border and we will not allow any Daesh of hostile elements, under cover of the war in Syria, to establish themselves adjacent to our borders."

Daesh is the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
Seven killed in Nawalparasi jeep accident

Seven persons were killed and 18 others were injured when a jeep met with an accident at Batas, Bulingtar VDC-8 in Nawalparasi district late Saturday night. Bulingtar lies in the hilly part of the district.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe says it will introduce bond notes Monday with a total value of $12 million.

In a statement, the bank said Saturday, "The bond notes will be released into the market through normal banking channels in small denominations of $2 and $5 to fund export incentives of up to 5% which will be paid to exporters of goods and services and diaspora remittances.

"The initial release of bond notes shall be in an amount of $10 million in denominations of $2 and $2 million in $1 bond coins. The features of the bond notes will be released simultaneously with the bond notes."

The central bank said the use of bond notes within the multi-currency exchange system, which are anchored to the US$200 million facility will operate along the same lines as bond coins.

The RBZ did not clearly state in its press release the source of the bond notes facility, which is said to be the African Export and Import Bank. This bank has not officially acknowledged that it is funding the scheme.

According to the RBZ, the bond notes are pegged 1:1 to the US dollar. "The banking public is advised that no new accounts will be opened as the bond notes would be deposited into existing US dollar accounts.

"In line with the banks thrust to promote a less cash society through the use of plastic money, withdrawal limits of bond notes have been set at a maximum of $50 per day and a maximum of $150 per week."

The RBZ stressed that this measure is in tandem with the objective of the central bank to release bond notes into the market on a measured basis which is critical to mitigate against abuse of bond notes.

It further said the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe has engaged and agreed with the Retailers Association of Zimbabwe, fuel companies, representatives of the various business associations and the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe on the use and acceptability of bond notes as a medium of exchange in the country.

"The Reserve Bank would like to request the public to report any form of malpractice and abuse of bond notes including but not limited to hoarding, defacing, disfiguring or unlawful use of notes and manipulation by person or banks or currency dealers or traders in connection with the use of bond notes. Such malpractices should be reported to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on toll free numbers Telone  08006009 and Econet  0808677"
Photo: Barcroft Media/Getty Images

With two episodes of The Grand Tour now streaming on Amazon Prime, its safe to say that most of the questions shifting gears in the minds of viewers have been decisively answered on the small screen. How does the new gig compare to the trios Top Gear days? (The reviews are ace.) Does the traveling tent setup work well? (It does indeed!) Has Captain Slow gotten slower in the interim? (Thankfully not.) But perhaps the most intriguing question we still havent gotten an official answer to  and probably never will  is the rumored cost of production, which has been estimated by most publications to be in the low hundred millions. Jeff Bezos himself has said that Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are very, very, very expensive  theyre worth a lot and they know it, and the hosts struck a cushy three-season deal for 36 total episodes. So by that logic, the series has to be worth Veyrons on Veyrons on Veyrons, right? Not so, according to Clarkson.



Amazon spent far less than Netflix would have you believe, Clarkson said in a interview with CNN last week. Its nowhere near as expensive as people have been saying. Jezza was specifically responding to a recent Telegraph interview with Netflixs chief content officer Ted Sarandos, who claimed the actual price Amazon paid was about a quarter of a billion dollars. (Interestingly, Sarandos also confirmed that Netflix definitely made a play for the show during its shopping period.) Though Clarkson said he of course knew what Amazon was spending on the show, he declined to give specifics. Its just not a British thing, he explained. I mean, look at me. Do I look like Im making $300 million a year? Always the modest one, that guy.
Photo: 2016 Getty Images

Weeks after Prince Harry issued a very rare statement from Kensington Palace to condemn the British presss treatment of his new girlfriend, Meghan Markle  writing, among other sentiments, that Markle had been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment  his brother, Prince William, has released a similarly uncommon statement of his own that supports Harrys choice of utilizing a public course of action for the circumstance. The Duke of Cambridge absolutely understands the situation concerning privacy and supports the need for Prince Harry to support those closest to him, Kensington Palace told The Telegraph. The statement, while short, is still highly unusual as it pertains to the Royal Familys personal matters and was most likely prompted by the onslaught of negative tabloid fodder William recently received that claimed he disagreed with his brothers public declaration. Markle, meanwhile, recently returned to social media after a long hiatus.
Photo: VINCENT JANNINK/AFP/Getty Images

Pussy Riot roared back onto the scene last month with an anti-Trump music video called Make America Great Again, which imagines a dystopian future where Donald Trump wins the 2016 election and takes office. Chances are high that the Russian Guerrilla Girls have a lot more to say about the matter now that were living in that reality, especially given the president-elects chumminess with their old nemesis, Putin. So, why not perform at Art Basel Miami Beach? The moneyed, chic affair is the perfect place for balaclava-clad feminists to make a scene.

Hole Gallery has invited Pussy Riot to grab back during Art Basel, but theres a small catch. The gallery is looking for sponsorship deals starting at a minimum of $10,000 in order to pay for the event. In exchange, sponsors will receive extensive media coverage. Art Basel Miami Beach begins this week, so bust out your checkbooks now.
A record number of Operation Christmas Child gift-filled shoeboxes  21,135  were collected from the 5 counties in the Heart of Texas area. The counties include McLennan, Limestone, Hill, Bosque, Hamilton and the northern half of Coryell.

The goal this year was 20,000 shoeboxes. This was the first year that the area has hit the 20,000 mark.

The local shoeboxes will feed into the total of 800,000 from Texas and Louisiana. The mid-Texas area in Temple and surrounding counties collected 14,416 shoeboxes this year, which makes a total of more than 35,000 gift-filled shoeboxes from the Central Texas area.

A few facts from the record-setting week in the Heart of Texas area:

Oana Daniliuc, a Waco resident, received a gift-filled shoebox at the age of 10 while living in Romania. She and her husband helped volunteer at the collection center at Highland Baptist Church this past week.

The city of Riesel with a population of 1,017 was an official drop-off location for the first time this year and collected more than 2,300 shoeboxes. The seven other drop-off locations in the Heart of Texas area are Clifton, Gatesville, Hamilton, Hillsboro, McGregor, Mexia and Robinson.

First Baptist Hillsboro, First Baptist Clifton and Highland Baptist Church have all served as drop-off locations for Operation Christmas Child for more than 15 years.

Four semitrailers were used to deliver the 21,135 gift-filled shoeboxes to the processing center in the Dallas area.

The cumulative number for this area now exceeds 220,000 gift-filled shoeboxes since 1997.
It was probably the influence of his family that led Robinson resident Gary John Urban, 68, to join the military. Ever since making the decision to serve his country, hes continued to do so, whether its by helping others at the Veterans One Stop Center, serving as an honor guard at funerals or counseling Vietnam veterans.

A native of Clay County, Kansas, Urbans father served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. An

uncle was wounded at Pearl Harbor, another served in occupied Japan, and a third was stationed in Korea.

After graduating high school, he and a cousin went on to serve at the same time in Vietnam. Urbans son would later follow in his fathers footsteps and embark on a life-long Army career, including service in Iraq.

Urban was 19 when he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1967 and served in Vietnam for two tours. In 1969, he served in the II Corps area of the Central Highland

Region with the 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron.

Arriving in Saigon, he was an air intelligence operations specialist and flew forward air control in an O2A Cessna Super Skymaster, a two-man turbo-prop plane, flying to numerous places such as Pleiku, Nha Trang, Tuy Hoa and Cam Ranh Bay.

Spotting trouble from above

His job, among many other tasks, was to analyze aerial photos and intelligence reports. During air reconnaissance flights, he and the pilot would act as observers and call in fighter jets if they spotted a target of value, such as a convoy of supply trucks.

We would direct them where to bomb, said Urban. The term was hit my smoke.  A rocket fired at the enemy would direct fighter pilots to the target with a bright plume of smoke. There were times when the Skymasters took enemy fire.

Sometimes we were shot at and didnt know, he said. When returning from the mission, they would find bullet holes in the tail. They once lost a rear engine and had to limp back to base, but made it in one piece.

Thats not all Urban endured. Shortly after his arrival in Cam Ranh Bay, sappers  special task force commando soldiers  blew up an ammunition dump. The building Urban was in collapsed and, as the result of a minor head wound, he had to spend the night in a hospital. Which was good, he said, because there was air conditioning.

During his second tour, he worked with the Allied

division of the ROK 9th Infantry Division. Urban said they would trade beer for packages of Korean noodles, which the soldiers lived on because there was no actual kitchen where they were located. He still remembers an aircraft mechanic who managed to fly in a Christmas dinner via helicopter  a much-welcomed gift.

Before his second tour ended, Urban was in Saigon. It was an emotional time for him as he had to walk by the morgue every day, a grim reminder of what was at stake. He recalled weekly rocket attacks there, and once had one explode near a helipad where there was no cover. Fortunately, he wasnt injured.

A 25-year military career

Urban returned to the States and went on to serve more than 25 years. In Fairbanks, Alaska, among other tasks, he served as the chief of base intelligence. He also

attended the Non-commissioned Officers Academy, where he was a distinguished graduate in the top 10 percent of his class. During his military career, he also earned bachelors and masters degrees.

Among other positions, Urban served in Arkansas as a missile launch officer, and recruiting operations officer in Texas for a 16-state area.

Probably his saddest detail was in San Antonio, where he served as a casualty notification officer for Desert Storm, notifying family members of a loved ones death.

I dont want to do that again, he said. I try not to remember it. He was disappointed he didnt serve more directly in the Gulf War.

Urban left the military in 1992 as a major. He lived in San Antonio for several years, working as a risk and safety manager for the city. He also worked for the city when he moved to Waco in 2002.

Even before retiring from the workforce in 2013, Urban devoted much of his time to helping others. He volunteers with the Vietnam Veterans Association of America, provides assistance at the Veterans One Stop Center, and serves as an honor guard in flag-folding

ceremonies for military members and their families.

Urban has no complaints about his military service, even though many people were disrespectful when he returned home from Vietnam.

I wouldnt do anything different. Its rewarding and fun to help people, Urban said. Im blessed and lucky.

Voices of Valor, featuring stories about Central Texas veterans, publishes every Sunday in the Waco Trib. To suggest a story about a Central Texas veteran, email voicesofvalor@wacotrib.com. Voices of Valor is proudly sponsored by Johnson Roofing.
City and state officials are hoping to break ground by next summer for the construction of a new regional welcoming center in downtown Auburn.

The center was announced last month by Gov. Andrew Cuomo among others earmarked for each region across the state. Auburn, chosen as the site for central New York, is working with the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation on the project.

A request for proposals released by the city Nov. 18 asks prospective consulting firms to design a 10,000- to 15,000-square-foot facility at 25 South St. The property is currently being used as a municipal parking lot.

Downtown Auburn parking lot tabbed as site for central New York tourist hub AUBURN  Auburn officials plan to move ahead with state representatives to transform a city 

The welcome center will be designed with a Taste NY market, interactive kiosks, guest Wi-Fi and historical displays, according to the RFP. The document also identifies the following as site considerations: a pet walk area, an outdoor space/plaza commemorating the region's historical icons and parking/circulation for tourist buses.

Firms are advised to stay within a project budget of $5 million to $8 million.

City Manager Jeff Dygert said the city is still waiting to hear from the state about whether the project will require local funds. The RFP's schedule anticipates the selection of a consulting firm by January, initial construction by June and project completion by June 30, 2018.

If the tentative timelines hold up, 2017 could be a busy construction season for Auburn.

Along with the welcome center, projects that could begin construction next year include the downtown portion of the proposed Owasco River Greenway Trail, the resurfacing of West Genesee Street between North Street and the city line, and the replacement of the North Division Street bridge.

"For people that were on the fence with investing downtown, seeing some construction down there will be a good thing," Dygert said.

The project site at 105 South St. is listed as .97 acres, but the RFP indicates design firms can expand that to up to 1.35 acres by using a portion of a right-of-way at Lincoln Street.

The city parking lot, adjacent to the Seward House, is across from Memorial City Hall, the Auburn YMCA and the city's parking garage.

Will recommended regional welcome center site affect downtown Auburn parking? AUBURN  The news that the parking lot along Lincoln Street in Auburn could become the city'

As per the RFP, design firms are advised to maintain the existing access to the Seward House from the project site and refer to appropriate preservation standards to minimize any impact on the adjacent historic structures. Designs are also advised to consider aesthetic enhancements to the parking garage, citing improved signage and lighting as examples.

Dygert said the city currently intends to handle the project like any other  albeit on an expedited schedule. Nevertheless, the city manager indicated there will be opportunities for public input, which will be coordinated by the selected consulting firm at a later date.
Vultures in Kaligandaki banks vanishing

The vultures inhabiting the banks of the Kaligandaki river are on the verge of becoming extinct these days.
One issue that is shaping up to be a major focus of the next legislative session is school choice. Texas came close to passing a bill last legislative session that would have made up to $100 million in tax credits available annually for businesses donating to scholarship funds. But while the legislation passed in the Senate last year, it failed to reach a vote in the House. For the upcoming season, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick has vowed to pass an even better tax-credit scholarship program along with other school-choice legislation.

And if the issue of school choice needs any further impetus, President-elect Donald Trump last week named Betsy DeVos, a conservative activist and billionaire philanthropist who has pushed for private-school voucher programs nationwide, as his nominee for education secretary. The nomination highlights Trumps vow on the campaign trail to put school choice  expansion of taxpayer-funded charter schools and vouchers for private and religious schools  at the center of his efforts on education.

Texas is ranked anywhere from 10th to 39th based on 2015 reading and math assessments completed by fourth and eighth graders through the National Assessment of Educational Progress performed by the National Center for Education Statistics. Other rankings place the state even lower, such as the Quality Counts report from Education Week which ranked Texas 43rd. The state ranks 38th in per-pupil spending, about $2,670 below the national average and far behind some of our major competitors for economic development. Moreover, Texas has fallen further behind in other areas in recent years.

In general, there are three types of school-choice legislation that are either being proposed or have been implemented around the nation. The most commonly referenced form of school-choice legislation is the use of school vouchers. Also referred to as opportunity scholarships, vouchers are state-funded scholarships for a student to attend a private school rather than a public school. The idea is to take the money that would have been allotted to a public school for a student and instead make that money available to meet the costs of private schools. There are currently 13 states plus the District of Columbia that have implemented some version of a school-voucher program.

Another approach, which appears to be the current Texas buzz word, is known as education savings accounts (ESAs). In an ESA system, restricted-use debit cards are issued to participating parents with a portion of state-funding in the form of a grant already loaded on the card. Like vouchers, this program redirects part of the per-student funding that a public school would have received for the student. However, since the money is delivered to the parents instead of to a private school, parents have even greater freedom to decide the areas in which to spend those funds, such as private-school tuition, home-schooling materials, online courses or transportation to school. There are five states that have adopted ESA programs.

The last major type of school-choice legislation  the type which the Texas Senate passed in the previous session  employs use of scholarship tax credits. These programs allow individuals and/or corporations to receive a tax credit for money donated to a nonprofit organization that grants scholarships to primary and secondary students, effectively allowing them to apportion part of what they owe in state taxes to scholarship organizations instead. Currently 16 states have a scholarship tax-credit program of some form.

School-choice legislation is highly controversial. Proponents point out that parents are in the best position to decide which type of schooling is best for their child and that school-choice programs provide students who are located within failing school districts a chance at a better education. In addition to the difficulty of holding private schools accountable and issues that diverting public funds to religious schools cause with separation of church and state, opponents point to the fact that a school voucher or ESA takes away valuable resources from struggling public schools.

Like any controversial issue, school-choice legislation is not as simple as it seems on the surface, particularly the potential funding for these programs. The state only contributes 41percent of the revenue for school districts on average, while 45 percent comes from local taxes and the rest comes from federal funding and other local and intermediate sources. At the same time the choice debate is raging, there is also discussion of efforts to reduce local property tax burdens, which could further strain the system.

Many of the operating expenditures are either fixed costs (since the school district has to maintain facilities regardless of the number of students) or effectively fixed costs, since small changes in the number of students will not change the need for teachers, guidance counselors or bus drivers, for example. Thus, the operating expenses of a school (estimated at about $9,000 per student) will not suddenly drop by $9,000 if it has one less student attending. Thus, the funding that follows a student can have a proportionally larger impact on the public school left behind, depending on the amount of that funding.

The bottom line is that competition could introduce incentives to improve school performance, which is positive. But that would only be a viable approach if the underlying system were adequately funded to meet the educational needs of all students and meet the needs for a well-educated workforce. As presently structured, the school voucher and ESA proposals in Texas appear to be nothing more than an attempt to save tax dollars (by providing less than the cost of education while removing a student from the public system) and to further drain the public schools of resources. Depending on the size of the subsidies, it could well be that those who benefit would primarily not be the students with the greatest needs (as their families could not afford amounts above the subsidies). In essence, the plans would likely have the effect of reducing educational funding and quality in the public school system, which must provide opportunities for the vast majority of Texas children. Competition to improve an excellent system is laudatory; competition as a code word to further deteriorate a chronically underfunded system that is leaving our future workforce behind is not.

Nationally known economist Ray Perryman is president and chief executive officer of the Waco-based Perryman Group. He was selected as the 2012 Texan of the Year by the Texas Legislative Conference and received the 2013 Baylor University Distinguished Service Medal. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Baylor and a Ph.D. in economics from Rice University.
As a Baptist theologian, I read the Trib article Baptist churches react to LGBT ruling (Nov. 17) with interest and some dismay. So far as I could tell, not one Baptist theologian or church historian was interviewed. Decisions such as this one by a Baptist convention have theological reasons and implications that Baptist theologians and historians best understand.

First, in Baptist theology, church autonomy includes the right of a voluntary association of Baptists such as the Baptist General Convention of Texas to make decisions that exclude fellow Baptists from it. Thats also part of Baptist belief in church autonomy. A Baptist convention has no power to control a Baptist congregation unless it receives funding from it. Excluding a congregation from a Baptist convention or conference does not affect its autonomy; it is still Baptist and can continue to operate freely.

Second, being Baptist has never meant anything goes. Theres an old saying that every Baptists hat is his own church. Thats an extreme version of the Baptist distinctive of soul competency and does not fit with traditional Baptist customs and habits which long included church discipline. In the past, especially, almost every Baptist church had a church covenant  often published in the hymnal  that members pledged to believe and obey. When they didnt, they were subject to church discipline including possible expulsion.

Third, there is no one anywhere with the authority or power to declare someone not a Baptist. There is no Baptist pope. As editor of the Handbook of Denominations in the United States (14th edition), I have found literally scores of Baptist denominations in the U.S. but no overall Baptist headquarters or hierarchy. Being excluded from a Baptist convention or conference doesnt put a dent in a congregations being Baptist. Nobody has that authority or power.

Fourth, very few if any Baptists would say that their Baptist congregation or convention should include just anyone regardless of their beliefs or practices. In my experience as a Baptist theologian for thirty-plus years, and as someone who has belonged to 10 Baptist churches and four Baptist denominations, no Baptist group really believes in no limits to church membership or absolutely open membership in a Baptist convention or conference.

I once had a friend who pastored a Baptist church that advertised itself as liberal which he defined as inclusive. I asked him if his church would welcome into membership a fundamentalist. He responded that it would help him find a different Baptist church to join.

Fifth, when a Baptist church is expelled from one convention or conference, it can easily find others with which to affiliate and have fellowship. The options are wildly many and astoundingly diverse.

Some moderate Baptists like to think that being Baptist means absolute freedom of thought and action  both on the part of the individual and on the part of the church. That is not traditional Baptist theology. It is a modern accommodation to Americas culture as expressed in the advertising mantra no limits.

Roger E. Olson is the Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics at Baylors Truett Seminary and holds a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Rice University.
Just think. The Americans have elected Donald Trump and, barring unforeseen circumstances, they'll have him for the next four years. The House of Representatives would have to impeach Trump for some alleged crime and the Senate would have to hear the case and vote with a two-thirds majority to have him removed. In office over the next four years, there'll be no parliamentary party to pull Trump into line in the way that a parliamentary party can discipline a wayward prime minister. No matter that Trump's a liar, a loose cannon and has no government experience. No matter that he won't deliver on his promises. Manufacturing jobs that have disappeared thanks to globalisation will not return and Trump's tax cuts for the rich will do nothing to halt increasing inequality in the US.

It will take four years and another excruciating presidential campaign before the US electorate can do anything about this. The major criticism of our system is that it has become "too presidential", vesting too much power in the hands of the prime minister. When the Coalition wins office, the Liberal prime minister selects the ministers. In practices this is done after careful consultation with senior colleagues and the leader of the National Party, taking into account factional balance, state representation and gender. Nevertheless, the right to select or sack a minister gives the prime minister immense power.

Traditionally, the Australian Labor Party elected its team of ministers with the prime minister allocating portfolios. But to mollify criticism that Labor was run by the factions, in 2007 Rudd announced that, if elected to government, he would choose his ministry. This was a backward step. On the positive side, Labor adopted more democratic rules in 2013, whereby the leader is selected by a combination of a ballot of party members and a vote of the parliamentary party. Contrary to popular opinion, factions can play a useful role in the selection of a prime minister and ministry, a fact well-recognised by insiders.

Factions ensure that the ministry contains people representing a variety of views. As Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger pointed out in 2010, factions help avoid chaos and provide a sifting process for candidates for key positions. His observations could well be prescient, applying to Trump's election today. "If you don't organise around pre-selection," Kroger said, "you get random results and you get people that get in who give a great speech on the day because they've  learnt a good speech and learnt how to win a crowd over and, when they get to Canberra, they're totally lost because they don't understand politics." We will have to wait and see if the US will pay a price for Trump's lack of government experience.

The parliamentary system also benefits from the stability of having a professional public service. Trump's transition team is faced with the task of not just finding cabinet ministers and the heads of agencies, but also filling about 4100 federal jobs. According to the Washington Post, Trump's candidacy brought trepidation and alarm in the national security community, which was inhabited by many Republicans who vehemently denounced their party's nominee as dangerously unfit to be commander in chief. Now the Washington Post says scores of former senior national security officials, foreign policy specialists and career civil servants are wrestling with a dilemma: refuse government service or join the administration of the 45th president? Given Trump's campaign against the Washington elites, there's also the question of if he'll accept them.

He may well appoint outsiders who, like himself, lack experience and are likely to produce unpredictable outcomes. That said, a Clinton administration threatened continuation of her inconsistent and turmoil-promoting Middle-Eastern policies. These have seen the US supporting Al-Qaeda-linked organisations and failing to join Russia in an all-out campaign to defeat the Islamic State jihadists. As Trump pointed out in an interview with the Wall Street Journal shortly after his election, the US has been backing rebels against the Syrian government and "we have no idea who these people are". Cutting US support for the "moderates", who have in the past worked with Al-Qaeda and Islamic State-linked groups, and putting pressure on Saudi Arabia and Qatar to stop arming and financing such groups, stands more chance of ending the siege of eastern Aleppo than the current policy.

The media may have been wrong about Trump's chances of victory in the election, but won't be wrong in the assessment that Trump will not be able to bring back lost manufacturing jobs. The first and most noticeable impact of his threatened 45 per cent tariff on Chinese goods will be to increase consumer prices in the US. No jobs will instantly materialise. And following any such move, there will likely be Chinese retaliation and a long, drawn-out process before the World Trade Organisation to settle the dispute. What Trump got away with in the election campaign was public ignorance of all the institutional arrangements that temper government action. He won't be able to make America great again.
So popular are weekend penalty rates that a startling 76 per cent Australians who don't get them want them to stay.

A ReachTEL poll of 3273 households conducted on Friday night found that, even among Coalition supporters, the proportion supporting penalty rates was 58 per cent. Among Labor voters it was 90 per cent and Greens voters 89 per cent.

Asked what their view would be of an establishment than chose to cut weekend penalty rates, 64 per cent said it would be negative or very negative. Even among Coalition voters 43 per cent said they would disapprove and only 16 per cent approve. Asked whether they would support hospitality workers taking industrial action to protect their penalties, 55 per cent said yes. Only among Coalition voters did more disapprove than approve: 27 to 16 per cent.

The United Voice trade union commissioned the survey ahead of an upcoming decision from the Fair Work Commission. It has been asking clubs and other employers to pledge not to cut penalty rates even if the Commission allows them to.
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The first time I heard the phrase "alt-right" used with regards to political discourse, I honestly thought I was imagining it. Perhaps it's my lefty bias, but the idea that the right could have an "alternative" when they are the generally staunch defenders of the status quo (as they tend to benefit from it) seemed somewhat out of place. Yet since then, I have seen the term used over and over again, to describe a specific group of people within the right and why they feel they're distinguishable from the traditional right.

Mainly, alt-right has been used with regards to the US election and those who've supported Trump. There's already been much written about this but if people are not aware, the man who penned it; Richard Spencer of the National Policy Institute; might be able to explain while he talks about how the US is meant to be a "white country". As might this gleeful group of white people throwing celebratory Nazi salutes in honour of Trump's victory. Breitbart Technology journalist Milo Yiannopoulos could explain as well while also telling us how he feels feminist bullies are destroying the video gaming industry.

There has already been a lot of great coverage on the need to stop using the fluffy titles the alt-right created for themselves in order to obfuscate what they actually are: white nationalists, misogynists, homophobes and the like. It's notable that the editors from online publication ThinkProgress have released a statement outlining that they will "no longer describe racists as 'alt-right'". I cannot echo their views strongly enough. To frame hate speech as a mere alternative stream of political philosophy is not only dangerous, but it is not remotely conducive to a cohesive and accepting society where safety and tolerance is prioritised over persecution and fear.

In addition, as journalist Max Chalmers states, Australia's own parallels of the alt-right are very much alive. They already reside in our political chambers; trolling the media relentlessly. They have grassroots supporters who have been buoyed by their presence and have been marching our streets under various banners. I admit to being amused that the recent rally in support of Trump by these groups mobilised a tiny fraction of what the counter-rally of anti-racists managed to gather together. A minute rally showing, though, should not be taken to mean that these extremist reactionary elements are not of concern here.
Claire, I don't think you should jump to the conclusion it's a gender thing as such. There's simply nothing to be gained.

I work in Sydney in a marketing role and feel completely sidelined by my boss on salary. I accidentally saw a colleague's salary for a similar role on the admin assistant's computer screen one day, and it was $20,000 more than mine. He's been with the company only slightly longer and I believe I do an equally good (if not better) job. There have been no pay reviews in our office for two years but when I've tried to bring that up, I've been fobbed off and told a review was coming. How can the company in conscience pay me less (is it because I am a woman?) and how do I fix it? My motivation has taken a big hit. If the company doesn't care about me, why should I care about it?

While discrimination exists, I also see over and over again an attitude problem - from women. I have a bunch of alpha female friends who don't believe they are worthy of pay rises. It seems a combination of the "imposter" syndrome that so many women suffer from (I don't really deserve this job and they're going to notice any minute) and an ingrained reticence to have financially, and emotionally, charged discussions (They'll think I'm a bitch). Hey presto: the 16.2 per cent pay gap.

So, congratulations for actually asking; your boss is nicely forewarned. Now let's give you a strategy to succeed.

You've inadvertently discovered something about your pay disparity that you just can't reveal. Again, nothing to be gained, much to lose. But you can use it to fortify your resolve (not your resentment). Besides, I suspect your colleague got the jump on you when you were first offered the job  while you probably gratefully accepted the job and conditions, a man is more likely to immediately negotiate.

Although that ship has sailed, keep in mind you could change jobs or upskill to get a better one, inside or outside your company.

Back to now, though. Track down your key performance indicators (or write them if there's no such thing) and knock up a matrix of how you've smashed them out of the park. Collect evidence of your contribution to the bottom line and research what other companies pay for this.
People celebrate the death of Fidel Castro in the Little Havana neighbourhood of Miami. Credit:Scott McIntyre With Fidel gone, a lingering question may now be answered: Did the weight of his legacy hold Raul back, preventing him from substantially dismantling the cherished system his brother had constructed, or were the slow, halting steps toward change a reflection of Raul's own desire to insert new life into the ailing Cuban economy without weakening the structures of state power? Roberto Veiga, the director of Cuba Posible, an organisation based in Havana that promotes political dialogue, said that Fidel's passing would "deeply affect people" on the island, but that it would not change the course of the country. Raul Castro, right, his Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, centre, attend the 7th Summit of the Association of Caribbean States in Havana in June. Credit:AP "It will have an emotional impact," Veiga said. "It will have a political impact. But it won't have any impact on how the country is governed."

"It's a long time since Fidel was in the presidency," he added. "Raul Castro has been leading the country for years. He has a team. There's stability." A man holds a model of Fidel Castro's head on a spike in the Little Havana neighbourhood of Miami. Credit:New York Times Enrique Lopez Oliva, a retired church historian in Cuba, expects change. While he did not rejoice in Castro's death, he said, he found himself excited about the possibilities that it could bring for Cuba's future. "It's the end of one era and the beginning of another," he said. "The death itself, we were waiting for that to happen at any moment. But now it feels like a new phase is about to begin." Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, centre, sits with Raul Castro and Cuba's First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, left, at Havana University earlier this month. Credit:AP

Some experts contend that Raul held back true economic reforms because his brother opposed them. Fidel, some believe, prevented the Communist Party from announcing major new endeavours at the party congress this year, Lopez said. "Now Raul will feel more free," he said. "The process of change will undoubtedly accelerate." Lopez added that Cubans were eager for more economic changes because the increase in tourism seemed to have had the adverse effect of diverting food and other necessities to the tourism sector. Shortages are common, and frustrations are running high. Lopez, who lives on a $US12 monthly pension, said he recently had to sell two luxury antique lamps in order to buy food. "When I was in Miami, people asked me why I didn't stay in Miami, and I said I wanted to see the end of the movie," Lopez, 80, said. "Now I am watching it. We are living a historic moment. I was happy to have lived through the revolution and happy to live through this."

Brian Latell, a former CIA analyst who has followed the Cuban leadership closely for decades, said the Castro brothers' relationship was once like a show. Fidel played the mercurial, genius director spewing bold visions, while Raul was the producer backstage, making sure that the microphone worked, that the actors were paid and that everyone followed the script. But as Fidel withdrew, he said, Raul was increasingly free to steer the production in a different direction, while retaining its spirit. It was Raul who grumbled about the bloated state bureaucracy and corruption, saying the public work force had to be cut. "We have to erase forever the notion that Cuba is the only country in the world where one can live without working," he told the National Assembly in 2010. He replaced many of Fidel's senior leaders with his own trusted allies in the military. He opened limited space for small private enterprise, introduced performance-based salary increases and reduced state subsidies.

While Raul is firmly in control, and seemingly in good health, many people inside and outside Cuban wonder what kind of Cuba comes after him. He has pledged to step down in 2018. His vice-president and former minister for higher education, Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez, 56, is expected to fill the presidency. But in the opaque, tightly guarded circles of Cuban politics, it is impossible to know for sure. RAUL CASTRO'S INNER CIRCLE Even those who track Raul Castro's circle closely are uncertain who will follow him in power. Here is a glance at some who will have a voice: Colonel Alejandro Castro Espin, Raul Castro's son. Credit:EPA via AP

Colonel Alejandro Castro Espin, 51 Raul Castro's only son and personal adviser, Castro Espin is in charge of coordinating the military's and Interior Ministry's intelligence services. He has been increasingly visible, accompanying the Cuban leader during his meeting with Barack Obama in Panama in April 2015, and is widely believed to have represented Cuba in secret negotiations with the United States. But though he has a doctorate in international relations, he is no dove: In 2009, he published Empire of Terror, a 300-page account of what he described as US oppression. General Luis Alberto Rodriguez Lopez-Callejas As president of Gaesa, a holding company that controls the military's business interests, Lopez-Callejas is one of the island's most powerful men. Analysts estimate that Gaesa's holdings - which include the two largest hotel and tourism groups as well as telecommunications concerns and gas stations - account for about 40 per cent of the economy.

He is the father of two of Raul Castro's grandchildren, including Raul Rodriguez Castro, the Cuban leader's bodyguard. French President Francois Hollande, left, greets Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez at the Paris United Nations Climate Change Conference in November 2015. Credit:AP Miguel Mario Diaz-Canel Bermudez, 56 A former minister for higher education, he was appointed first vice-president in 2013 and is broadly seen as the president in waiting. Diaz-Canel has advocated a more critical official press and has connected with younger Cubans who crave better internet access and more economic opportunities. He often leads foreign delegations, but it is unclear how much sway he has with the military.

Mariela Castro Espin, 54 Raul Castro's outspoken daughter is a sexologist who has fought successfully to expand gay rights. She became a member of the country's parliament in 2013, and her liberal bent and candour have led some in Cuba to wonder if she is destined for a greater role. In December 2013, she voted against a new labour law on the grounds that it did not go far enough to protect gay rights - an unheard-of act of rebellion in the legislature, which invariably votes unanimously. General Leopoldo Cintra Frias, 75 Cuba's minister of defence, joined the rebel army when he was 12. After the 1959 revolution, he studied military affairs in Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union and saw action in Angola and Ethiopia.
Bancolombia S.A. provides banking products and services in Colombia, Panama, Puerto Rico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Guatemala. The company operates through nine segments: Banking Colombia, Banking Panama, Banking El Salvador, Banking Guatemala, Trust, Investment Banking, Brokerage, International Banking, and All Other. It offers checking and savings accounts, fixed term deposits, and investment products; trade financing, loans funded by domestic development banks, working capital loans, credit cards, personal and vehicle loans, payroll loans, and overdrafts; financial support to real estate developers and mortgages for individuals and companies; factoring; and financial and operating leasing services. The company also provides hedging instruments, including futures, forwards, options, and swaps; and brokerage, investment advisory, and private banking services, including selling and distributing equities, futures, foreign currencies, fixed income securities, mutual funds, and structured products. In addition, it offers cash management services; foreign currency transaction services; life, auto, commercial, and homeowner's insurance products; and online and computer banking services. Further, the company provides project and acquisition finance, debt and equity capital markets, principal investments, M&A, hedging strategies, restructurings, and structured financing; money market accounts, mutual and pension funds, private equity funds, payment and corporate trust, and custody; internet-based trading platform; inter-bank lending and repurchase agreements; managing escrow accounts, and investment and real estate funds; and transportation, securities brokerage, maintenance and remodeling, and outsourcing services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated 1,015 branches; 28,676 banking correspondents; 529 PAMs; 210 kiosks in El Salvador and 187 in Colombia; and 6,094 ATMs. Bancolombia S.A. was incorporated in 1945 and is headquartered in Medellin, Colombia.
Telecom Argentina S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides telecommunications services in Argentina and internationally. The company offers telephone services, including local, domestic, and international long-distance telephone services, as well as public telephone services; and other related supplementary services, such as call waiting, call forwarding, conference calls, caller ID, voice mail, itemized billing, and maintenance services. It also provides interconnection services, such as traffic and interconnection resource, dedicated Internet access, video signals transportation in standard and high definitions, audio and video streaming, dedicated links, backhaul links for mobile operators, data center hosting/housing services, dedicated links, layer 2 and layer 3 transport networks, video links, value-added services, and other services. In addition, the company offers mobile telecommunications services, including voice communications, high-speed mobile Internet content and applications download, online streaming, and other services; and sells mobile communication devices, such as handsets, Modems MiFi and wingles, and smart watches under the Personal brand. Further, it provides internet connectivity products, including virtual private network services, traditional Internet protocol links, and other products; data services; and programming and other cable television services. The company was formerly known as Cablevision S.A. and changed its name to Telecom Argentina S.A. in January 2018. Telecom Argentina S.A. was founded in 1979 and is based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen France SAS, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Suzhou Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel Ireland Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Brooks Instrument Shanghai Co. 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Ltd., ITW FEG Hong Kong Limited, ITW FEG do Brasil Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW Fastener Products GmbH, ITW Fluids and Hygiene Solutions Ltda., ITW Food Equipment Group LLC, ITW GH LLC, ITW GSE ApS, ITW GSE Inc., ITW Gamma Sarl, ITW German Management LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings LLC, ITW Global Investments Holdings Y Compania Sociedad en Comandita por Acciones, ITW Global Investments Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Europe GmbH, ITW Global Tire Repair Inc., ITW Global Tire Repair Japan K.K., ITW Graphics Asia Limited, ITW Graphics Thailand Ltd., ITW Great Britain Investment & Licensing Holding Company, ITW Group France Luxembourg S.ar.l., ITW HLP Thailand Co. Ltd., ITW Holding Quimica B.C. S.L. Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Holdings X Limited, ITW Holdings XI Limited, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW Materials Technology Shanghai Co. Ltd., ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. De R.L. de C.V., ITW Mexico Holdings LLC, ITW Morlock GmbH, ITW Mortgage Investments II Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments III Inc., ITW Mortgage Investments IV Inc., ITW Netherlands Administration BV, ITW Netherlands Beta B.V., ITW Netherlands Finance Alpha BV, ITW New Universal LLC, ITW New Zealand, ITW Ningbo Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Novadan Sp. Z.o.o., ITW PPF Brasil Adesivos Ltda., ITW Packaging Technology China Co. Ltd., ITW Participations S.a r.l., ITW Pension Funds Trustee Company, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Japan Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids Korea Limited, ITW Performance Polymers & Fluids OOO, ITW Performance Polymers ApS, ITW Performance Polymers Wujiang Co. Ltd., ITW Performance Polymers and Fluids Group FZE, ITW Peru S.A.C., ITW Poly Mex S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Polymers Sealants North America Inc., ITW Pronovia s.r.o., ITW Pte. Ltd., ITW Qufu Automotive Cooling Systems Co. Ltd., ITW Real Estate Germany GmbH, ITW Residuals III L.L.C., ITW Residuals IV L.L.C., ITW Rivex, ITW SMPI, ITW SPG Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Simco-Ion Shenzhen Co. Ltd., ITW Slovakia s.r.o., ITW Spain Holdings S.L., ITW Specialty Film LLC, ITW Specialty Films France, ITW Specialty Materials Suzhou Co. Ltd., ITW Sverige AB, ITW Sweden Holding AB, ITW Test & Measurement Equipment Shanghai Co. Ltd, ITW Test & Measurement GmbH, ITW Test and Measurement Italia Srl, ITW Test and Measurement Services Industry and Trade Ltd., ITW Texwipe Philippines Inc., ITW Thermal Films Shanghai Co. Ltd., ITW UK, ITW UK Finance Beta Limited, ITW UK Finance Delta Limited, ITW UK Finance Gamma Limited, ITW UK Finance Limited, ITW UK Finance Zeta Ltd., ITW UK II Limited, ITW Universal II LLC, ITW Welding, ITW Welding AB, ITW Welding GmbH, ITW Welding Products B.V., ITW Welding Products Group FZE, ITW Welding Products Group S. DE R.L. 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Limited, Instron France S.A.S., Instron GmbH, Instron Japan Company Ltd., Instron Korea LLC, Instron Shanghai Ltd., Instron Thailand Limited, International Leasing Company LLC, Isolenge - ITW Sistemas de Isolamento Termico Ltda., Itw Spraytec, KCPL Mauritius Holdings, Kester, Kleinmann GmbH, Krafft S.L., Loma Systems, Loma Systems BV, Loma Systems Canada Inc., Loma Systems sro, Lombard Pressings Limited, Lumex Inc., Lys Fusion Poland Sp. z.o.o., M&C Specialties Co., MAGNAFLUX GmbH, MEHB Holdings Limited, MGHG Property LLC, MTS 2 LLC., MTS 3 LLC., MTS China Holdings LLC, MTS Europe Holdings LLC, MTS Holdings France S.a.r.l., MTS Japan Ltd.., MTS Korea Inc.., MTS Systems China Co. Ltd., MTS Systems Corporation, MTS Systems Danmark ApS., MTS Systems Europe B.V., MTS Systems Finance C.V.., MTS Systems Germany GmbH, MTS Systems Holding B.V.., MTS Systems Hong Kong Incorporated, MTS Systems Limited, MTS Systems Norden Aktiebolag, MTS Systems S.r.l, MTS Systems., MTS Systems.., MTS Sytems Do Brazil, MTS Testing Solutions India Private Limited., MTS Testing Systems Canada Ltd., Manufacturing Avancee S.A., Meritex Technology Suzhou Co. Ltd., Meurer Verpackungssysteme GmbH, Miller Electric Mfg. LLC, Miller Insurance Ltd., NDT Holding LLC, NOVADAN APS, North Star Imaging Inc., Nova Chimica S.r.l., Orbitalum Tools GmbH, PENTA-91 OOO, PR. A. I. Srl, PT ITW Construction Products Indonesia, Pacific Concept Industries Limited Enping, Panreac Quimica S.L., Paslode Fasteners Shanghai Co. Ltd., Peerless Machinery Corp., Polyrey, Premark FEG L.L.C., Premark HII Holdings LLC, Premark International, Premark International LLC, Prolex Sociedad Anonima, QSA Global Inc., Quimica Industrial Mediterranea S.L., R&D Engineering A/S., R&D Prague s.r.o., R&D Steel ApS., R&D Test Systems A/S., R&D Tools and Structures A/S., RDGDK Engineering Private Limited, Ramset Fasteners Hong Kong Ltd., Rapid Cook LLC, Refrigeration France, S.E.E. Sistemas Industria E Comercio Ltda., ST Mexico Holdings LLC, Sealant Systems International Inc., Sentinel Asia Yuhan Hoesa, Shanghai ITW Plastic & Metal Co. Ltd, Simco Japan Inc., Simco Nederland B.V., Societe de Prospection et dInventions Techniques  SPIT, Speedline Holdings I Inc., Speedline Holdings I LLC, Speedline Technologies GmbH, Speedline Technologies Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Speedline Technologies Mexico Services S. de R.L. de C.V., Stokvis Celix Portugal Unipessoal LDA, Stokvis Danmark ApS, Stokvis Holdings S.A.R.L., Stokvis Promi s.r.o, Stokvis Prostick Tapes Private Limited, Stokvis Tapes B.V., Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Hong Kong Co. Limited, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Shanghai Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stokvis Tapes Taiwan Co. Ltd., Stokvis Tapes Tianjin Co. Ltd., Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Subsidiaries, Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek China Limited, Teknek Japan Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Kunshan Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta Global Limited, Vesta Guangzhou Catering Equipment Co. Ltd, Viltronics Soltec, Vitronics Soltec B.V., Wachs Canada Ltd., Wachs Subsea LLC, Weigh-Tronix Canada ULC, Weigh-Tronix UK Limited, Wilsonart International Holdings LLC, Wynn Oil South Africa Pty Ltd., Wynn's Automotive France, Wynn's Belgium BVBA, Wynn's Italia Srl, Wynn's Mekuba India Pvt Ltd, and Zip-Pak International B.V..

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Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for the financial services industry. The company's Investor Communication Solutions segment processes and distributes proxy materials to investors in equity securities and mutual funds, as well as facilitates related vote processing services; and distributes regulatory reports, class action, and corporate action/reorganization event information, as well as tax reporting solutions. It also offers ProxyEdge, an electronic proxy delivery and voting solution; data-driven solutions and an end-to-end platform for content management, composition, and omni-channel distribution of regulatory, marketing, and transactional information, as well as mutual fund trade processing services; data and analytics solutions; solutions for public corporations and mutual funds; SEC filing and capital markets transaction services; registrar, stock transfer, and record-keeping services; and omni-channel customer communications solutions, as well as operates Broadridge Communications Cloud platform that creates, delivers, and manages communications and customer engagement activities. The company's Global Technology and Operations segment provides solutions that automate the front-to-back transaction lifecycle of equity, mutual fund, fixed income, foreign exchange and exchange-traded derivatives, order capture and execution, trade confirmation, margin, cash management, clearance and settlement, reference data management, reconciliations, securities financing and collateral management, asset servicing, compliance and regulatory reporting, portfolio accounting, and custody-related services. This segment also offers business process outsourcing services; technology solutions, such portfolio management, compliance, fee billing, and operational support solutions; and capital market and wealth management solutions. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in Lake Success, New York.
By West Kentucky Star Staff Nov. 27, 2016 | 08:42 AM | MCCRACKEN COUNTY, KY

A Paducah woman faces drug charges after a traffic stop Saturday night.

According to the McCracken County Sheriff's Office, deputies stopped a truck for traffic violations on Dixie Avenue. During the stop, a deputy reportedly saw a passenger, 28-year-old Katie Marion, trying to hide a plastic baggie in her pants.

Deputies said that during a search of Marion and her purse, they found methamphetamine and several syringes containing meth. Marion was arrested and charged with possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, tampering with physical evidence and giving an officer a false name or address.

She was booked into the McCracken County Regional Jail.
By The Associated Press Nov. 26, 2016 | 08:07 PM | LOUISVILLE, KY

A Louisville priest is going on trial on sexual abuse charges nearly 15 years after allegations surfaced from a man who said the priest molested him at a Catholic summer camp in the 1970s.

The Rev. R. Joseph Hemmerle will face sexual abuse and sodomy charges at the trial beginning Monday in Meade County. He ran the boys summer camp in that county for decades.

Michael Norris first brought the allegations that he was abused by the priest in 2001. Police did not charge Hemmerle that year, and the archdiocese allowed him to return to ministry.

The Associated Press does not ordinarily identify alleged sex abuse victims, but Norris has spoken publicly.

In 2014, a second alleged victim came forward and Hemmerle was indicted on sexual abuse and sodomy charges.
Murray police warn of prowlers in several neighborhoods
Rita Redmond was a true lady who felt that every pupil had something to gift to the world
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 27/11/2016 (2166 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Heather Daymond is the brains behind Shut Ur Pie Hole, a company specializing in individual slices of pie baked and sold in Mason jars.

When Daymond was growing up in Cypress River, she and her mother made a point of watching every televised awards show together, whether or not they had seen any of the films up for Oscars or listened to any of the albums nominated for Grammys.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Shut Ur Pie Hole owner Heather Daymond shows off a gift basket packed with jars of pie.

It never failed, Daymond says, seated in the retail section of her new, 1,800-square-foot digs at 1079 Autumnwood Dr., where the 41-year-old single mom recently celebrated the latest incarnation of her businesss grand opening.

It was so surreal. I felt like my mom was right there, looking over my shoulder Heather Daymond on being on her red-carpet moment at the Emmys

While we were watching people walking down the red carpet, my mother would poke me and say something along the lines of when it gets to be my turn up there, remember to say hi and thanks to so-and-so. And Id be like, Lady, you must be on drugs if you think Im ever going to be on a red carpet.

Fast forward to Sept. 24, 2016. Five days after she attended the 2016 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles, where she was one of 42 North American business owners hand-picked to present their wares to invited guests the night before the winners were announced, Daymond was back in Winnipeg, watching eTalk when it hit her: her mom had been right all along.

They were rebroadcasting highlights of the Emmys, and at one point, they showed footage of the lead actress from Black-ish (Tracee Ellis Ross) getting out of her limo and giving her gown a shake. And in the background, plain as day, you could see me chatting with Brent Butt on the red carpet, Daymond said.

It was so surreal. I felt like my mom was right there, looking over my shoulder.

Daymond was laid off from her job as a social-media co-ordinator for the Bay in January 2013. She spent the next 12 months applying for jobs in her field, but after coming up empty time and time again, she decided to give baking  a skill she picked up from her paternal grandmother  a shot. Figuring she needed a gimmick to make her products stand out from the crowd, she lined empty Mason jars with pastry, then added fillings such as blueberry, apple and cherry. She experimented with baking times for a couple of weeks and, satisfied with how her creations were turning out, launched Shut Ur Pie Hole on March 14, 2014, a date mathematicians will recognize as Pi Day.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Pies in jars waiting to be shipped.

Thanks largely to social media, Daymonds pies-in-a-jar were an instant hit. She sold $10,000 worth of pie  at roughly $8 each  in her first four months in business. By the time the 2014 Christmas craft sale season rolled around, it was all she could do to keep up with demand. Then in June 2015, she received the call.

The One of a Kind Christmas Show & Sale is a juried marketplace in Toronto that features the creme de la creme of Canadian artisans. More than 100,000 people attend the event, and the organizers were wondering if Daymond, whose exploits they had been following on Instagram and Facebook, was interested in setting up a booth.

The one stipulation was you have to maintain inventory, and after hearing the ridiculous (attendance) numbers being tossed around, I was like, How am I ever going to do this? says Daymond, who is up to 13 varieties of pie-in-a-jar and counting.

But at the same time, I didnt want to say no because I felt if people out east liked my product, too, it would really validate what Id been doing.

Daymond didnt have to wait long to get the stamp of approval she was seeking. At a pre-sale event attended by a whack of Toronto celebrities, the various personalities were asked to select which of the 800 or so vendors products they liked best. Caitlin Cronenberg, a still photographer and daughter of acclaimed film director David Cronenberg, chose Daymonds butter-tart-in-a-jar.

So the next thing I knew, there were these giant posters of me on the sides of Toronto streetcars, promoting the sale, Daymond says with a laugh.

We ended up selling 3,000 jars of pie in five days. I swear, the whole time we were there we never left the booth except to go to the bathroom, and we never stopped talking about pie.

Heather Daymond with Kate Flannery of The Office fame.

In May 2016, Daymond opened her email and spotted a message with the words Emmy ceremony in the subject line. Assuming it was spam, she immediately deleted it. A week later, an Emmy representative phoned her to ask why she hadnt responded to the earlier message.

Daymonds first star-struck moment at the Emmys occurred when Irish actor Chris ODowd popped into her booth at the W Hollywood Hotel to nosh on pie and chat about, of all things, Winnipeg.

After he asked me where I was from, he said that was a coincidence because the next movie he was going to be shooting is about a guy from Winnipeg, says Daymond, who was one of only two Canadians invited to take part in the Emmys gift lounge.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Freshly baked pecan pies cool before lids and labels are put on the jars.

Besides observing a couple of actors from Game of Thrones lick their jars of pie clean  and having her picture taken with Doug the Pug, a dog with 2.2 million Instagram followers  Daymonds most cherished memory is getting to meet one of the stars from her favourite television show, Transparent. She spent nearly 10 minutes talking to Alexandra Billings, who plays Davina on the award-winning Amazon series about a retired college professor who is a transgender woman.

She was just like, You should be so proud, your country is so far ahead and accepting of transgender and LGBTQ, Daymond says.

She actually started to cry in my booth. It was so touching.

Now that Daymonds travel schedule has slowed down somewhat  after the Emmys, she flew to Florida for a womens business conference and, earlier this month, she was one of 300 vendors who took part in a national craft show at the Vancouver Convention Centre  she is turning her attention to her next project, a venture she describes as an ability kitchen.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Daymond holds a full-sized lemon merangue pie.

I come from a family of people with invisible disabilities. I once asked my mom, who fought hard to have a full-time job in a factory, how much easier her life would have been if she could have had a schedule built around her condition, and she said she couldnt even imagine.

So using investment dollars from my appearance at the Emmys, were going to work with an HR consultant and build a kitchen from scratch that, if youre in a wheelchair, will have sinks that go up and down, Daymond says.

And if youre going through radiation treatment, for example, and can only work so many hours per week, well develop a schedule that suits your needs. Lots of people hire people with disabilities, but to our knowledge, nobody yet has built a place specifically for those disabilities.

For a complete list of Shut Ur Pie Holes products, go to www.shuturpiehole.ca.

David Sanderson writes about Winnipeg-centric businesses and restaurants.

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca

Submitted Heather Daymond with Alan Cumming at the Emmy Awards in September. Heather Daymond has a chat with Irish actor Chris ODowd at the Emmy Awards.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 26/11/2016 (2167 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

International students often get trapped in housing situations they cant escape, Hazim Ismail said. Three years ago, he was one of them.

Ismail came to Winnipeg from Malaysia, where he faced persecution for being gay and an atheist. Once in Canada, he said he dealt with racial discrimination from his landlords.

One of them told me I couldnt have my black friends over, he said, noting he knows other international students who were asked for two months rent in advance instead of just one.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Hazim Ismail, second from left, led a discussion group about International Student Experiences during workshops hosted by 13 Fires at Winnipeg at Winnipeg Harvest about racism in housing, Saturday, November 26, 2016.

Ismail is one of the organizers of 13 Fires Winnipeg, a monthly conversation series that stemmed from Our Summit, a grassroots effort to address systemic racism in Winnipeg. On Saturday, about two dozen people gathered at Winnipeg Harvest for the 12th Fire to discuss racism in housing, a topic generated by community members.

People were tired of having one-off events, organizer Anny Chen said.

People were tired of the implication that racism could be solved in one day, in one conference, and they felt that you had to have repeated engagements for racism to actually be impacted in any way.

During Saturdays instalment, a panel and small group sessions were held to discuss problems people have faced with their landlords and different housing agencies.

Christopher Clacio, one of the panelists, noted language barriers are an issue within his Filipino family. After his mother was laid off, the 24-year-old became his households sole breadwinner. He mentioned he has trouble communicating with his other relatives in Winnipeg. While they can sometimes help him cover rent, he feels responsible for himself and his mother.

Right now I have three jobs just so I can pay rent, he said.

Gera Villagran stood up to join the panel and share his experiences. He emigrated from Mexico but stressed his story is different because he came from a wealthy, privileged family. He was in graduate school studying philosophy when he could no longer afford a place to live. He couldnt balance a job while finishing his thesis, so he instead slept at his office, tented and stayed with friends. He was homeless from September 2015 to December 2015 but emphasized the problems many of the attendees in the room faced were much worse.

Chen, Ismail and other organizers encouraged attendees to divide into groups and discuss some of the housing-related discrimination they faced. Participants then wrote some of the worst comments they had heard from their landlords on sticky notes, which they placed on a pinata. Ismail anyonymously read the submissions  which included statements such as assisted income is not a job, Did you take a shower? and Is that your rez rocket?  while the group brainstormed some of the root causes that may have led to those remarks.

People shouted out classism, xenophobia and sexism, some of the identified causes, as Clacio smashed the pinata and the negative words. Participants then broke into discussion groups to talk about potential solutions to all the problems they identified earlier in the night.

Im learning tons, Villagran said in-between discussion groups.

After listening to other peoples stories, he said he hopes organizations in Winnipeg step up and help newcomers access information about housing.

TREVOR HAGAN / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Hazim Ismail led a discussion group about international student experiences during workshops hosted by 13 Fires Saturday.

I think thats a big part of the problem with newcomers, he said.

Having information in your language is important, but its also important to have someone to tell you what all the terms you might be unfamiliar with mean.

Villagran mentioned one of his groups didnt have anything to write down on a sticky note, which led to a discussion about race and how he and the people in his group may have had different experiences than others because of how they look.

13 Fires will conclude with a celebration Dec. 10 at 5 p.m. at Thunderbird House, Chen said.

danielle.doiron@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @dmdoiron
First Baptist Church has continued its tradition this year by collecting around 400 nativity scenes from different families and community members in Winona.

Although the scenes have their own unique history and origin behind them, on Saturday, Nov. 26, they were all gathered in one place.

The morning light was filtering through the windows at First Baptist, brightening the sanctuary and warming up the space as a soft Christmas song was playing in the back.

Nativity scenes in different shapes and sizes were sitting on windowsills, surrounding the whole sanctuary. Some of the scenes were made in clay, cardboard and ceramics, whereas others were handmade and hand painted in great detail. From hand cut carved scenes, to wooden ones, the church set up a showing open for anyone in the community to enjoy.

Church clerk and member of Christian community Corrine Zierfus said First Baptist has set up the nativity scenes for five years. The scenes, which increased from 300 to 400 in a year, either come from rummage sales or donations.

Zierfus pointed at a blue jar that belonged to her family, and had her grandkids fingerprints on it.

We started this with just a few scenes, and now we have a really big collection, she said.

Pastor at First Baptist Dennis Hudson said the community has actively participated in helping the collection grow every year.

A community member liked the idea of the display so much that he contributed with three sets he bought at a sale, Hudson said.

When she first started the display, Zierfus said she thought it would be a great idea to open it up to the public. There are so many different families represented here, she said. This is a bit different than vendor sales. We dont sell anything. We just want people to come in and enjoy the sets.

Hudson said Christmas is too commercialized and it is not only about gifts.

We created a refuge, a place for people to relax and meditate as they look at the different scenes, he said.

Hudson said people donate to the church for different reasons; some want to contribute to the churchs collection and others simply do not put the nativity sets up in their homes anymore.

One of the attendees, Jean Gardner, was looking at a glass nativity scene and said she participates at the event every year.

Its a beautiful display. The glass scene is probably my favorite, Gardner said.

The showing continued in another smaller room that was decorated with a white Christmas tree and small nativity ornaments as well as the rest of the collection.

Treasurer of Christian Education Department Chelsey Duellman said the sets are arranged in the sanctuary as the community members donate them, and there are a lot of new ones every year.

The scenes all evoke different emotions and thoughts, Duellman said. People pass these nativity scenes from generation to generation.

We created a refuge, a place for people to relax and meditate as they look at the different scenes. Dennis Hudson, pastor at First Baptist
Before the war was over, the country was at war with itself.

The war in Vietnam defined and era and divided a generation. More than 58,000 Americans died in the fighting as millions at home spoke and marched in opposition to their being there.

The war and the controversy that surrounded it reached into southern Minnesota and Winona County as young men marched in the streets other young men marched off to war.

Those divisions are visible, tangible, spiritual, noticeable almost a half-century after the war is over, Winona State University history professor Tomas Tolvaisas said. The wars legacy is really complex, often not to be seen in black and white.

Its Tolvaisas job and vocation to try to make sense of the conflict, its roots and its aftermath, and pass that understanding on to another generation of students.

For Tolvaisas, it is an understanding that necessarily comes both second-hand and a continent removed.

A native of Lithuania who arrived in the U.S. as an exchange student after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he is both culturally and generationally removed from the conflict.

I was born after the war was over in 1975, he said, My specialty is Cold War history, and the Vietnam era is a logical extension.

For a historian, the deepest and best understanding comes from sources closest to the events being studied. For the Vietnam era in Winona, that means the stories and memories of the people still living who fought in the war and who fought against it.

Some of those stories and memories are offered in an special exhibit, Remembering Vietnam, now on display at the Winona County Historical Society.

Tolvaisas strove to provide a balanced account of the conflict, he said, including accounts and artifacts representing the American soldier, the Vietnamese fighter, and the men and women who opposed the war.

Its very powerful to hear stories from individuals involved in the war and in the protests against it, he said.

As the Vietnam generation ages, memories fade and artifacts are lost or discarded, he said. In an effort to collect and preserve them, Tolvaisas, along with historical society assistant director Jennifer Weaver and military historian Amanda Nagel, solicited veterans and community members assistance in assembling the exhibit.

I hope it will spark conversation and discussion, he said, and, ultimately, understanding.

The exhibit is only the first step in a long-term effort to collect artifacts and oral histories from area veterans and community members. Plans are being made to hold a community forum before the exhibit closes in February, bringing veterans and others together to talk about the war and its impact.

For many people, Vietnam is still a loaded topic, he said. It still rouses powerful emotions.

Talking about it may be one way for the community to heal divisions that have divided people since the 60s.
Holiday breaks for many college students involve going home and visiting with family, sitting around a dinner table, sharing laughs, and celebrating.

Thats not always the case for international students attending school in Winona.

But there are opportunities for them to gather with friends, teachers or other international students.

Judi Becker, a former professor at Winona State, has hosted dinner gatherings for international students for around 20 years.

She said even though they may not all celebrate the same holidays, they still enjoy having a place to gather and share stories, recipes and company.

Ive always loved learning dishes and recipes from other cultures, Becker said. (The students) enjoy the dinners; once the word is out on the street anywhere between 15 and 30 of them will come.

Asena Cifci, from Turkey, said she usually spends time with her friends over holiday breaks because theyre like a second family to her. Its her first time away from her home for a long period of time, so she appreciates the friendships she has here.

Thursday, she gathered with a group of her friends and they made food and enjoyed each others presence on the chilly, snowless Thanksgiving day.

Its important I have people here to spend quality time with, Cifci said. It helps make me feel at home even though Im not.

She said she stays in regular touch with her family, communicating with them often, but its not the same as having the chance to travel home and see them.

Malek Hakim, an international student from Tunisia in his third year at Winona State, has done a little bit of everything during holiday breaks while in Minnesota. His second year in Winona, a friend of his invited him and a couple others to her familys Thanksgiving dinner.

It was amazing, he said. I thought it was cool that someone would allow us to share the meal together in their home.

He went to New York with friends during winter break once, and enjoyed his first Christmas meal with a family there. Recently, hes spent his holiday break time relaxing in Winona with his friends.

Cifci said friendships abroad are important because they help create a sense of belonging and they keep her going.

It means everything; I wouldnt be able to survive without them, she said.

Ive always loved learning dishes and recipes from other cultures ... Once the word is out on the street anywhere between 15 and 30 of them will come. Judi Becker, former WSU prof and dinner host
Cindy Samples, commonly known as Ranger Cindy during her nearly four-decade career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will return to being called just Cindy when she retires next month.

Samples career has been filled with her love for nature and wildlife. Over the years, her goal has been to create opportunities for people to care about the refuge, just as much as she does.

As a park ranger of the Upper Mississippi National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and based in Winona, Samples has taught environmental education to the community through programs and field trips.

Her passion, she said, as shes shown people the beauty and surprise of the refuge for decades, is sharing nature with people so they develop a sense of wonder.

Its a refuge that in at least one way has saved her life.

An early passion

When she was 13, Samples already knew in her heart that she wanted to be involved with the environment. At the time she was visiting her grandparents in Florida and was attracted by, of all things, the hat one of the park rangers wore at a national parks program.

I wanted to wear one of those hats, too, she said.

A few years later, she found work as a Youth Conservation Corps counselor, a position that took her to Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. Samples recalled sitting on the bank of the Ohio River and asking herself, Why is it that I love this job?

The answer, she soon realized, was right in front of her. The river, the birds, the setting sun.

I knew I wanted a career in nature. These moments gave me complete peace and joy, Samples said.

When she was in college studying environmental science, she then found teaching children about the environment was a perfect blend. She started her career in Illinois, and worked in Iowa and Idaho before coming to Winona about 16 years ago.

Samples coordinates the headquarters responsible for the Winona area of the refuge, and collaborates with other leaders along the stretch of the refuge, which starts at Wabasha and ends in Rock Island, Ill.

She is also in charge of creating interpretative signs, brochures, maps and posters, some of which are found by McNally Landing, a popular spot for educational programs and launching boats and canoes into the Mississippi backwaters.

Interpretive signs, writings and programs, she said, are the language of explaining nature, Samples said. It is a way to write that has an emotional and intellectual connection with the refuge.

Teaching wonder

When Samples works with children, the nature becomes their classroom, she said. She teaches them about a great a variety of subjects. They plant trees, go on walks, try out experiments on the river together.

One of the programs shes set up, on macroinvertebrates, involves taking children out on a boat, having them scoop out water, and pour it into a bucket. Then the kids work on a formula to figure out whether the river is healthy.

To Samples, education isnt about memorizing charts and tables, or knowing the scientific names for the abundance of species discovered the river.

I dont think the kids have to know the name for everything. I think its important they see something and care about it, she said.

Its a sense of wonder and discovery. To me, that is the most important opportunity I can provide.

She recalled one trip where a group of kids observed a bald eagle swooping down on the river, and all the ducks flying off as the eagle tried to catch them.

When they went home, they told their families what they had learned that day. To me thats powerful, she said.

We have little ambassadors for the refuge.

Not only does she bring students outside on field trips, but she also mentors students that are going into the field. During the past six years, she has mentored two students whose skillsets allowed them to land full-time jobs in the wildlife services, just as she did years before.

Healed by the river

In June 2013, Samples discovered the river was not only her lifes passion, but a great personal healer.

She had suffered a ruptured brain aneurysm, and her doctors had told her there was a chance she might never be able to work again.

By October, she had healed enough to return to work, and it was her connection with nature, she said, that made all the difference. She spent hours just sitting by the banks of the Mississippi, taking in the scenes nature played out before her.

She prayed along with the birds, which remind me of what I love, rather than what I fear.

And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen.

Samples said she is grateful she can walk, talk and see. Today, she celebrates that she found, kept, and was able to finish the career she always wanted, that she can continue to watch sunsets, hear bird songs, walk on blufftop trails.

I would look at the bald eagles and think, I have a future, she said. The refuge is quiet, the river moves, and I dont have to be around people. I feel alive.

Samples guesses that shes created or led hundreds of programs, with dozens of kids participating in each one, meaning shes connected several thousand kids to nature. She said some of her students still reach out years later, thanking her for the dedication and passion she has put into helping them find their own love for nature.

Shes quick to point out that she has learned just as much from those shes worked with, who have filled her with joy as shes watched their skills grow. She hopes many she has taught have been just as inspired as she is, and have decided to pursue similar careers.

I know I influenced them, so thats a joy to me, knowing that they come back in my life, Samples said.

In retirement, she hopes to volunteer and keep working with children. She would love to continue telling her story, of her love for the river and the refuge.

I will always be connected with nature, she said. Its not just a healer for me, but for other people, too.

I knew I wanted a career in nature. These moments gave me complete peace and joy. Cindy Samples, refuge ranger
BARABOOHaving a baby is a major, life-changing experience. Rebecca Riesterer, director of SSM Health St. Clare Hospitals birthing center, says quality care spanning pregnancy, labor and birth is vital to giving families their best start.

Prenatal care

As soon as a woman thinks she is pregnant, she should call for an appointment with her primary care provider. The National Institutes of Health report early and continuous pregnancy care can help reduce the risk of pregnancy complications for both mom and baby.

Developing a strong relationship with your care team is important, Riesterer said. Your care team will assess your health and identify any risk factors or family history that could impact the pregnancy or the health of mom and baby. Pre-pregnancy and early prenatal care can provide better health and education for the mother and can optimize the health of the baby.

This early care helps moms better manage potential health complications or existing health conditions that could impact babys health. This could include high blood pressure, diabetes or even smoking. Routine prenatal exams with your care team will include heart rate monitoring, measurements of the babys development and tests that can help identify potential complications or health conditions for both mom and baby.

If a mom develops pregnancy-related complications like gestational diabetes or pre-eclampsia, her doctor can help her manage these conditions. If a health problem is discovered for the growing baby, any potential treatments or care decisions can be made with the care team before the baby is born.

Additionally, St. Clare offers classes to help the family prepare for their new arrival. Class topics range from general baby care, like changing a diaper and breastfeeding. You can find the list of courses at stclare.com.

Giving birth

When it comes time to deliver a baby, St. Clare offers a wide range of low intervention options to help moms and their families experience birth together in a safe, home-like environment.

Staff is highly skilled at helping a laboring mother manage her pain. Nurses are trained to help her move into more comfortable laboring positions and can provide laboring aids like birthing balls or birthing bars. Staff can also teach a birthing partner how to help with positioning and muscle massage that can relieve some of the pain a woman in labor experiences. For stronger pain management methods, the mothers physician can discuss all available options.

For low-risk deliveries, a laboring mom is not always confined to the bed. When appropriate, mom can be taken off of the monitor so she can walk around, try standing positions or even labor in a special laboring tub, or the shower or tub in her room.

Our staff is here to help laboring moms be as comfortable as possible, Riesterer said. By offering these low intervention options  as well as new comforting options like aromatherapy  we are able to provide moms with the birth experience they want.

While many women write out detailed birth plans, sometimes medical conditions or unexpected situations arise that require a change to the birth plan, such as a need to induce labor, change planned pain management methods, or a cesarean delivery is deemed necessary. Staff and doctors will then discuss the situation and all available options, walking the laboring mom and her support person through the steps needed for the safest and healthiest delivery method for both her and her baby.

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states vaginal birth is the safest, healthiest birth for both mom and baby. Sometimes a cesarean birth is medically necessary for a variety of reasons related to the health of either mom or baby. Cesarean birth is major surgery and staff at St. Clare are highly trained to ensure the entire family is well cared for during the procedure. The rate of cesarean deliveries at St. Clare is lower than the national average.

Regardless of the method of delivery, staff at St. Clare works to provide mom and baby multiple options for post-delivery care that encourages bonding and is supportive of successful breastfeeding.

Delayed umbilical cord clamping and skin-to-skin contact for mom and baby are our standard of care for vaginal and cesarean births, says Riesterer. These practices provide the healthiest start for baby and support both successful breastfeeding and bonding.

ACOG recommends both techniques. When clamping of the umbilical cord is delayed, it can help improve blood circulation, better establish red blood cell volumes and decrease the need for a blood transfusion for some babies. Skin-to-skin contact has multiple benefits for mom and baby. By placing a newborn directly on moms uncovered chest, there is a greater likelihood for early breastfeeding and the pair can begin to bond. Skin-to-skin contact can also help regulate the babys body temperature, heart rate and breathing.

Preparing for

life at home

The specialized care and help from St. Clare staff continues through recovery. Mom and baby will receive personalized care from staff including help making a strong connection through additional skin- to-skin contact, learning how to breastfeed, babys first bath and any other needs the family has while in the hospital.

One of the most important skills a new mom learns while at St. Clare is how to breastfeed her baby. While some families choose to use formula, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC and the World Health Organization all recommend breastfeeding as the best nutrition for babies.

Breast milk provides perfect nutrition for babies, says Riesterer. A mothers milk provides immunities only she can give to her infant. Breastfed babies tend to have fewer allergies, fewer ear infections and a lower risk for childhood obesity.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, breastfeeding is also shown to provide many benefits for mom including a lower risk of type 2 diabetes, ovarian cancer and certain types of breast cancers. Other benefits can include an easier recovery from childbirth and the release of the hormones prolactin and oxytocin. Prolactin can create a peaceful, nurturing sensation that allows mom to relax and focus on her child. Oxytocin can promote a strong sense of love and attachment between mom and baby.

St. Clare staff is highly skilled in helping mom learn her babys hunger cues, as well as multiple ways to hold baby in a position that makes breastfeeding easier. Several of the hospitals registered nurses are also certified lactation consultants. In addition, the hospital staffs lactation consultants every day to provide advice and support. St. Clare also offers a breastfeeding help line that is staffed by a dedicated lactation consultant and nurses who are trained to answer a new moms questions about breastfeeding.
The Columbus Lions Club is proud to report that its members and local volunteers who support the club transported 26 boxes of donor eye tissue during the month of October.

The Columbus club is part of the Cornea Express, a statewide relay of Lions Club members who transport tissue throughout the state of Wisconsin. The Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin uses this unique process of transporting donor eye tissue and it makes a huge impact on their costs. When a donation occurs, local Lions Clubs are called upon to transport the corneal tissue to the Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin via a relay system. Volunteers use their own vehicles to transport the donor tissue.

The Lions Club in Columbus transports donor eye tissue two months out of the year in May and October. Lions Linda and Delwood Madsen are the Columbus Lions eye coordinators. Many of the club members and their family and friends have been donor tissue transporters logging many miles in the clubs 30 year history. The Columbus Lions may be asked to transport tissue from Beaver Dam to Fond du Lac or from either of those locations to the Eye Bank in Madison.

The Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin needs eye and corneal tissue from donors of most ages. The eye tissue is used for more than just restoring vision; it can also be used to further research for certain diseases such as glaucoma and macular degeneration. The Lions Club has a focus of helping people prevent blindness and this is just one of the examples of what Lions do to serve their communities.

Go online to http://lebw.org/ to read donor stories and learn more about the Lions Eye Bank of Wisconsin.
PRAIRIE DU SACWhen you hear the name Lance Armstrong, its likely that a number of words come to mind: Tour de France, Olympian, athlete, cyclist and many more. However, the famous athlete later became known for something much more serious  cancer, testicular cancer to be exact. Its important to remind ourselves that the time to address mens health, is now.

Cancer doesnt discriminate. Scott Ballweg, from the Sauk Prairie area, survived testicular cancer at age 35. I had a lot of pain and for six months I ignored it, he said.

Because of the nature of the topic, prevention, screening and symptoms are often not discussed, leading many men experiencing symptoms of testicular cancer, like Ballweg, to prolong doctors visits and ignore warning signs.

For men I think its a tough thing. Were proud, were stubborn, were men, commented Ballweg. But youve got to put that aside.

Testicular cancer

According to the American Urological Association, testicular cancer is the most common cancer in men ages 15 to 34 years of age. About 8,700 men will be diagnosed with testicular cancer in the United States this year alone. Its not always easy to discuss this topic; its not uncommon for men to ignore signs.

Dr. Nathan Grunewald, a urologic surgeon at Sauk Prairie Healthcare, recognizes the difficulty in discussing topics such as testicular cancer but strives to make patients feel comfortable. Grunewald said, As a patient choosing Sauk Prairie Healthcare for your care, youre going to get the very best from the moment you arrive.

Since cells found in testicular tumors can spread throughout the body, its crucial to be proactive. Ive had patients where the treatment we provided saved their life, Grunewald said, patients return to clinic and theyre so grateful because they know had we not intervened, they might not be here. With early intervention, testicular cancer is treatable and in most cases, a curable cancer. Being proactive and recognizing symptoms is the first step.

Cancer symptoms

There are a number of symptoms that can be indicators of testicular cancer. The most common sign, according to the American Urological Association, is a painless lump in one or both testicles. Other symptoms may include:

A lump or enlargement in either testicle

A feeling of heaviness in the scrotum

A dull ache in the abdomen or groin

A sudden collection of fluid in the scrotum

Pain or discomfort in a testicle or the scrotum

Enlargement or tenderness of the breasts

Back pain

No symptoms at all, you may feel normal

Though symptoms are not always an indication of cancer, its important to see a doctor as soon as possible because these symptoms could indicate testicular cancer or other urologic issues.

Diagnoses and treatment

According to the American Urological Association, treatments can be extremely effective when testicular cancer is detected early. A monthly testicular self-exam is the first step in early detection. The best time for self-examination is right after a hot bath or shower, while standing. Start by looking for any swelling or changes in the scrotum then gently feel one testicle at a time paying close attention to any unusual lumps. If there are any signs of a lump, swelling, pain or any other changes, it may be time to make an appointment with a urologist as soon as possible.

Based on the stage of cancer and cell type, a urologist can then determine the best treatment. Treatments can either be surgery, radiation or chemotherapy to stop the cells from spreading throughout the rest of the body. In most cases, if detected early enough, treatments can be extremely effective.

Testicular cancer can happen to any male, even a world renowned athlete, but it is treatable.

I ignored the signs that something wasnt quite right because I didnt want to talk with someone about it. I didnt want to deal with it, said Ballweg. You have to almost check your shame at the door to make the appointment at the clinic.

If you, or someone you know is experiencing any of the symptoms, remember its important to see a doctor right away. To schedule an appointment with Grunewald to discuss this or other urologic issues, call 608-643-2431. With early detection and intervention, you or someone you love could join Lance Armstrong and many others as a testicular cancer survivor.
Motorola Solutions, Inc. provides mission critical communications and analytics in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Products and Systems Integration, and Software and Services. The Products and Systems Integration segment offers a portfolio of infrastructure, devices, accessories, and video security devices and infrastructure, as well as the implementation, and integration of systems, devices, software, and applications for government, public safety, and commercial customers who operate private communications networks and video security solutions, as well as manage a mobile workforce. Its land mobile radio communications and video security and access control devices include two-way portable and vehicle-mounted radios, fixed and mobile video cameras, and accessories; radio network core and central processing software, base stations, consoles, and repeaters; and video analytics, network video management hardware and software, and access control solutions. The Software and Services segment provides repair, technical support, and hardware maintenance services. This segment also offers monitoring, software updates, and cybersecurity services; and public safety and enterprise command center software, unified communications applications, and video software solutions through on-premise and as a service. It serves government, public safety, and commercial customers. The company was formerly known as Motorola, Inc. and changed its name to Motorola Solutions, Inc. in January 2011. Motorola Solutions, Inc. was founded in 1928 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Citizens Financial Group, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Citizens Bank, National Association that provides retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, small businesses, middle-market companies, corporations, and institutions in the United States. The company operates in two segments, Consumer Banking and Commercial Banking. The Consumer Banking segment offers deposit products, mortgage and home equity lending products, credit cards, business loans, wealth management, and investment services; and auto, education, and point-of-sale finance loans, as well as digital deposit products. This segment serves its customers through telephone service centers, as well as through its online and mobile platforms. The Commercial Banking segment provides various financial products and solutions, including lending and leasing, deposit and treasury management services, foreign exchange, and interest rate and commodity risk management solutions, as well as syndicated loans, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and debt and equity capital markets services. This segment serves government banking, not-for-profit, healthcare, technology, professionals, oil and gas, asset finance, franchise finance, asset-based lending, commercial real estate, private equity, and sponsor finance industries. It operates approximately 1,200 branches in 14 states and the District of Columbia; 114 retail and commercial non-branch offices in national markets; and approximately 3,300 automated teller machines. The company was formerly known as RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc. and changed its name to Citizens Financial Group, Inc. in April 2014. Citizens Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1828 and is headquartered in Providence, Rhode Island.
The following companies are subsidiares of Pfizer: AH Robins LLC, AHP Holdings B.V., AHP Manufacturing B.V., Agouron Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alacer, Alpharma Holdings LLC, Alpharma Pharmaceuticals LLC, Alpharma Specialty Pharma LLC, Alpharma USHP LLC, American Food Industries LLC, Anacor Pharmaceuticals, Anacor Pharmaceuticals Inc., Angiosyn, Array BioPharma, Ayerst-Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, BIND Therapeutics Inc., BINESA 2002 S.L., Bamboo Therapeutics, Bamboo Therapeutics Inc., Baxter International - Marketed Vaccines, BioRexis, Bioren, Bioren LLC, Blue Whale Re Ltd., C.E. Commercial Holdings C.V., C.E. Commercial Investments C.V., C.P. Pharmaceuticals International C.V., CICL Corporation, COC I Corporation, Catapult Genetics, Coley Pharmaceutical GmbH, Coley Pharmaceutical Group, Coley Pharmaceutical Group Inc., Continental Pharma Inc., Covx, Covx Technologies Ireland Limited, Cyanamid Inter-American Corporation, Cyanamid de Argentina S.A., Cyanamid de Colombia S.A., Distribuidora Mercantil Centro Americana S.A., Encysive Pharmaceuticals, Encysive Pharmaceuticals Inc., Esperion LUV Development Inc., Esperion Therapeutics, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals, Excaliard Pharmaceuticals Inc., Farminova Produtos Farmaceuticos de Inovacao Lda., Farmogene Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Ferrosan A/S, Ferrosan International A/S, Ferrosan S.R.L., FoldRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Foldrx Pharmaceuticals, Fort Dodge Manufatura Ltda., G. D. Searle & Co. Limited, G. D. Searle International Capital LLC, G. D. Searle LLC, GI Europe Inc., GI Japan Inc., GenTrac Inc., Genetics Institute LLC, Greenstone LLC, Haptogen Limited, Hospira, Hospira (China) Enterprise Management Co. Ltd., Hospira Adelaide Pty Ltd, Hospira Aseptic Services Limited, Hospira Australia Pty Ltd, Hospira Benelux BVBA, Hospira Chile Limitada, Hospira Deutschland GmbH, Hospira Enterprises B.V., Hospira France SAS, Hospira Healthcare B.V., Hospira Healthcare Corporation, Hospira Healthcare India Private Limited, Hospira Holdings (S.A.) Pty Ltd, Hospira Inc., Hospira Invicta S.A., Hospira Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, Hospira Ireland Sales Limited, Hospira Japan G.K., Hospira Limited, Hospira Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Hospira NZ Limited, Hospira Nordic AB, Hospira Philippines Inc., Hospira Portugal LDA, Hospira Produtos Hospitalares Ltda., Hospira Pte. Ltd., Hospira Pty Limited, Hospira Puerto Rico LLC, Hospira Singapore Pte Ltd, Hospira UK Limited, Hospira Worldwide LLC, Hospira Zagreb d.o.o., ICAgen, Idun Pharmaceuticals, Industrial Santa Agape S.A., InnoPharma, InnoPharma Inc., International Affiliated Corporation LLC, JMI-Daniels Pharmaceuticals Inc., John Wyeth & Brother Limited, Kiinteisto oy Espoon Pellavaniementie 14, King Pharmaceuticals Holdings LLC, King Pharmaceuticals LLC, King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development LLC, Korea Pharma Holding Company Limited, Laboratoires Pfizer S.A., Laboratorios Parke Davis S.L., Laboratorios Pfizer Ltda., Laboratorios Wyeth LLC, Laboratorios Wyeth S.A., Laboratorios Pfizer Lda., MTG Divestitures LLC, Mayne Pharma IP Holdings (Euro) Pty Ltd, Medivation, Medivation Field Solutions LLC, Medivation LLC, Medivation Neurology LLC, Medivation Prostate Therapeutics LLC, Medivation Services LLC, Medivation Technologies LLC, Meridian Medical Technologies Inc., Meridian Medical Technologies Limited, Monarch Pharmaceuticals LLC, Neusentis Limited, NextWave Pharmaceuticals, NextWave Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, P-D Co. LLC, PAH USA IN8 LLC, PF Americas Holding C.V., PF Asia Manufacturing B.V., PF PR Holdings C.V., PF PRISM C.V., PF PRISM Holdings S.a.r.l., PF Prism S.a.r.l., PFE Holdings G.K., PFE PHAC Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Pfizer Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Wyeth Holdings LLC, PFE Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) LLC, PHILCO Holdings S.a r.l., PHIVCO Corp., PHIVCO Holdco S.a r.l., PHIVCO Luxembourg S.a r.l., PN Mexico LLC, PT. Pfizer Parke Davis, Parke Davis & Company LLC, Parke Davis Limited, Parke Davis Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Parke-Davis Manufacturing Corp., Parkedale Pharmaceuticals Inc., Peak Enterprises LLC, Pfizer, Pfizer (China) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Pfizer (Perth) Pty Limited, Pfizer (Thailand) Limited, Pfizer (Wuhan) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer AB, Pfizer AG, Pfizer AS, Pfizer Africa & Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Veterinarian Products & Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer Anti-Infectives AB, Pfizer ApS, Pfizer Asia Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., Pfizer Atlantic Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Australia Holdings B.V., Pfizer Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Pfizer Australia Investments Pty. Ltd., Pfizer Australia Pty Limited, Pfizer B.V., Pfizer BH D.o.o., Pfizer Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer Biofarmaceutica Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Pfizer Biologics (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Pfizer Biologics Ireland Holdings Limited, Pfizer Biotech Corporation, Pfizer Bolivia S.A., Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer CentreSource Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Chile S.A., Pfizer Cia. Ltda., Pfizer Colombia Spinco I LLC, Pfizer Commercial Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Commercial Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Commercial TRAE Trading Kft., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare AB, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare GmbH, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Ltd., Pfizer Consumer Manufacturing Italy S.r.l., Pfizer Corporation, Pfizer Corporation Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Pfizer Croatia d.o.o., Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Development LP, Pfizer Development Services (UK) Limited, Pfizer Domestic Ventures Limited, Pfizer Dominicana S.R.L, Pfizer ESP Pty Ltd, Pfizer East India B.V., Pfizer Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer Egypt S.A.E., Pfizer Enterprise Holdings B.V., Pfizer Enterprises LLC, Pfizer Enterprises SARL, Pfizer Europe Finance B.V., Pfizer Export B.V., Pfizer Export Company, Pfizer Export Holding Company B.V, Pfizer Finance Share Service (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Financial Services N.V./S.A., Pfizer France International Investments, Pfizer Free Zone Panama S. de R.L., Pfizer GEP S.L., Pfizer Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer Global Supply Japan Inc., Pfizer Global Trading, Pfizer Group Luxembourg Sarl, Pfizer Gulf FZ-LLC, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, Pfizer HK Service Company Limited, Pfizer Health AB, Pfizer Health Solutions Inc., Pfizer Healthcare Ireland, Pfizer Hellas A.E., Pfizer Himalaya Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Holding France, Pfizer Holding Ventures, Pfizer Holdings Corporation, Pfizer Holdings Europe Unlimited Company, Pfizer Holdings G.K., Pfizer Holdings International Corporation, Pfizer Holdings International Luxembourg (PHIL) Sarl, Pfizer Holdings North America SARL, Pfizer Hungary Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Inc., Pfizer Innovations AB, Pfizer Innovations LLC, Pfizer Innovative Supply Point International BVBA, Pfizer International LLC, Pfizer International Markets Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer International Operations, Pfizer International S. de R.L., Pfizer International Trading (Shanghai) Limited, Pfizer Investment Capital Unlimited Company, Pfizer Investment Co. Ltd., Pfizer Investment Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Ireland Investments Limited, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 1 LLC, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 2 LLC, Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Ireland Ventures Unlimited Company, Pfizer Italia S.r.l., Pfizer Italy Group Holding S.r.l., Pfizer Japan Inc., Pfizer LLC, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Limited, Pfizer Laboratories Limited, Pfizer Laboratories PFE (Pty) Ltd, Pfizer Leasing Ireland Limited, Pfizer Leasing UK Limited, Pfizer Limitada, Pfizer Limited, Pfizer Luxco Holdings SARL, Pfizer Luxembourg Global Holdings S.a r.l., Pfizer Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer MAP Holding Inc., Pfizer Manufacturing Austria G.m.b.H., Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizer Manufacturing Holdings LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Manufacturing LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Services, Pfizer Medical Technology Group (Belgium) N.V., Pfizer Medicamentos Genericos e Participacoes Ltda., Pfizer Mexico Luxco SARL, Pfizer Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pfizer Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Animal Health and Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Norge AS, Pfizer North American Holdings Inc., Pfizer OTC B.V., Pfizer Overseas LLC, Pfizer Oy, Pfizer PFE ApS, Pfizer PFE AsiaPac Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Pty Ltd, Pfizer PFE B.V., Pfizer PFE Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Belgium SPRL, Pfizer PFE Brazil Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE CIA. Ltda., Pfizer PFE Chile Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Colombia Holding Corp., Pfizer PFE Colombia S.A.S, Pfizer PFE Commercial Holdings LLC, Pfizer PFE Croatia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer PFE Finland Oy, Pfizer PFE France, Pfizer PFE Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Ireland Pharmaceuticals Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco 2 S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Pfizer PFE Limited, Pfizer PFE Luxembourg S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Mexico Holding 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE Netherlands Holding 1 C.V., Pfizer PFE New Zealand, Pfizer PFE New Zealand Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Norway Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE PILSA Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Peru Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Peru S.R.L., Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer PFE Private Limited, Pfizer PFE S.R.L, Pfizer PFE Service Company Holding Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer PFE Singapore Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Singapore Pte. Ltd., Pfizer PFE Spain B.V., Pfizer PFE Spain Holding S.L., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding 2 S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Switzerland GmbH, Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 2 B.V., Pfizer PFE UK Holding 4 LP, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 1 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 2 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 4 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 5 LLC, Pfizer PFE spol. s r.o., Pfizer PFE Ilaclar Anonim Sirketi, Pfizer Pakistan Limited, Pfizer Parke Davis (Thailand) Ltd., Pfizer Parke Davis Inc., Pfizer Parke Davis Sdn. Bhd., Pfizer Pharm Algerie, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Pharma PFE GmbH, Pfizer Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceutical Trading Limited Liability Company (a/k/a Pfizer Kft. or Pfizer LLC), Pfizer Pharmaceuticals B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Global B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea Limited, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pfizer Pigments Inc., Pfizer Polska Sp. z.o.o., Pfizer Private Limited, Pfizer Production LLC, Pfizer Products Inc., Pfizer Products India Private Limited, Pfizer Research (NC) Inc., Pfizer Romania SRL, Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A. (Belgium), Pfizer S.A. de C.V., Pfizer S.A.S., Pfizer S.G.P.S. Lda., Pfizer S.L., Pfizer S.R.L., Pfizer SRB d.o.o., Pfizer Saidal Manufacturing, Pfizer Sante Familiale, Pfizer Saudi Limited, Pfizer Seiyaku K.K., Pfizer Service Company BVBA, Pfizer Service Company Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Services 1, Pfizer Services LLC, Pfizer Shared Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Shareholdings Intermediate SARL, Pfizer Singapore Holding Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Singapore Trading Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Spain Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Specialties Limited, Pfizer Strategic Investment Holdings LLC, Pfizer Sweden Partnership KB, Pfizer TRAE Holdings Kft., Pfizer Trading Polska sp.z.o.o., Pfizer Transactions Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Transactions LLC, Pfizer Transactions Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer Transport LLC, Pfizer Ukraine LLC, Pfizer Vaccines LLC, Pfizer Venezuela S.A., Pfizer Venture Investments LLC, Pfizer Ventures LLC, Pfizer Worldwide Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Zona Franca S.A., Pfizer spol. s r.o., Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn S.A. de C.V., Pharmacia Brasil Ltda., Pharmacia Hepar LLC, Pharmacia Holding AB, Pharmacia Inter-American LLC, Pharmacia International B.V., Pharmacia LLC, Pharmacia Limited, Pharmacia Nostrum S.A., Pharmacia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, PowderJect Research Limited, PowderMed, Purepac Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC, Redvax, Renrall LLC, Rinat Neuroscience, Rinat Neuroscience Corp., Roerig Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Roerig S.A., Sao Cristovao Participacoes Ltda., Searle Laboratorios Lda., Serenex, Servicios P&U S. de R.L. de C.V., Shiley LLC, Sinergis Farma-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Site Realty Inc., Solinor LLC, Sugen LLC, Tabor LLC, The Pfizer Incubator LLC, Therachon, Thiakis Limited, Treerly Health Co. Ltd, US Oral Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, Upjohn Laboratorios Lda., Vesteralens Naturprodukter A/S, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AB, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AS, Vesteralens Naturprodukter OY, Vicuron Holdings LLC, Vinci Farma S.A., W-L LLC, Warner Lambert, Warner Lambert Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Warner Lambert del Uruguay S.A., Warner-Lambert (Thailand) Limited, Warner-Lambert Company AG, Warner-Lambert Company LLC, Warner-Lambert Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Warner-Lambert S.A., Whitehall International Inc., Whitehall Laboratories Inc., Wyeth (Thailand) Ltd., Wyeth AB, Wyeth Australia Pty. Limited, Wyeth Ayerst Inc., Wyeth Ayerst S.a r.l., Wyeth Biopharma, Wyeth Canada ULC, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare LLC, Wyeth Europa Limited, Wyeth Farma S.A., Wyeth Holdings LLC, Wyeth Industria Farmaceutica Ltda., Wyeth KFT., Wyeth LLC, Wyeth Lederle S.r.l., Wyeth Lederle Vaccines S.A., Wyeth Pakistan Limited, Wyeth Pharmaceutical Co. 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The following companies are subsidiares of Procter & Gamble: "Petersburg Products International" LLC, "Procter & Gamble Services" LLC, "Procter & Gamble" LLC, 1837 LLC, Agile Pursuits Franchising Inc., Agile Pursuits Inc., Ambi Pur, Arbora & Ausonia, Arbora & Ausonia S.L.U., Avon - Giorgio Beverly Hills, Billie, Braun GmbH, Braun Shanghai Co. Ltd., Celtic Insurance Company Inc., Charlie Banana USA LLC, Corporativo Procter & Gamble S. de R.L. de C.V., DDFSkincare, Detergent Products B.V., Detergent Products SARL, Detergenti S.A., FPG Oleochemicals Sdn. Bhd., Fameccanica Data S.p.A., Fameccanica Industria e Comercio Do Brasil LTDA., Fameccanica Machinery Shanghai Co. Ltd., Fameccanica North America Inc., Farmacy Beauty, Fater Central Europe SRL, Fater Eastern Europe LLC, Fater Portugal Unipessoal Lda, Fater S.p.A., Fater Temizlik Urunleri Ltd STI, First Aid Beauty, First Aid Beauty Limited, Folgers Coffee, Fountain Square Music Publishing Co. Inc., Gillette Australia Pty. 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Ltda., Procter & Gamble Egypt, Procter & Gamble Egypt Distribution, Procter & Gamble Egypt Holding, Procter & Gamble Egypt Manufacturing Company, Procter & Gamble Egypt Supplies, Procter & Gamble Energy Company LLC, Procter & Gamble Espana S.A.U., Procter & Gamble Far East Inc., Procter & Gamble Finance Holding Ltd., Procter & Gamble Finance Management S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finance U.K. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Investments LLP, Procter & Gamble Financial Services Ltd., Procter & Gamble Financial Services S.a.r.l., Procter & Gamble Finland OY, Procter & Gamble France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH, Procter & Gamble Germany GmbH & Co. Operations oHG, Procter & Gamble Ghana Trading Limited, Procter & Gamble GmbH, Procter & Gamble Grundstucks-und Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Consumer Products Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Enterprise Management Service Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Ltd., Procter & Gamble Guangzhou Technology Innovation Co. LTD., Procter & Gamble Gulf FZE, Procter & Gamble Hair Care LLC, Procter & Gamble Health & Beauty Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Health Belgium BV, Procter & Gamble Health Limited, Procter & Gamble Health Ltd., Procter & Gamble Health Poland Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Hellas Single Member Ltd., Procter & Gamble Holding France S.A.S., Procter & Gamble Holding GmbH, Procter & Gamble Holding S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Holding Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Holdings UK Ltd., Procter & Gamble Home Products Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Honduras S de RL, Procter & Gamble Hong Kong Limited, Procter & Gamble Hungary Wholesale Trading Partnership KKT, Procter & Gamble Hygiene & Health Care Limited, Procter & Gamble Inc., Procter & Gamble India Holdings Inc., Procter & Gamble Indochina Company Limited, Procter & Gamble Industrial - 2012 C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial S.C.A., Procter & Gamble Industrial e Comercial Ltda., Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Costa Rica Limitada, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de El Salvador Limitada de Capital Variable, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Guatemala Limitada, Procter & Gamble Interamericas de Panama S. de R.L., Procter & Gamble International Operations SA, Procter & Gamble International Operations SA-ROHQ, Procter & Gamble International Sarl, Procter & Gamble Investment Company UK Ltd., Procter & Gamble Investment Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Italia S.p.A., Procter & Gamble Jiangsu Ltd., Procter & Gamble Kazakhstan Distribution LLP, Procter & Gamble Korea Inc., Procter & Gamble Korea S&D Co., Procter & Gamble L&CP Limited, Procter & Gamble Leasing LLC, Procter & Gamble Levant S.A.L., Procter & Gamble Limited, Procter & Gamble Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Berlin GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing GmbH, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Ireland Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Procter & Gamble Manufacturing SA Pty Ltd, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Thailand Limited, Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Tianjin Co. Ltd., Procter & Gamble Marketing Romania SRL, Procter & Gamble Mataro S.L.U., Procter & Gamble Mexico Holding B.V., Procter & Gamble Mexico Inc., Procter & Gamble Middle East FZE, Procter & Gamble Nederland B.V., Procter & Gamble Netherlands Services B.V., Procter & Gamble Nigeria Limited, Procter & Gamble Norge AS, Procter & Gamble Operations Polska Sp. z o.o., Procter & Gamble Overseas India B.V., Procter & Gamble Overseas Ltd., Procter & Gamble Pakistan Private Limited, Procter & Gamble Peru S.R.L., Procter & Gamble Philippines Business Services Inc., Procter & Gamble Philippines Inc., Procter & Gamble Polska Sp. z o.o, Procter & Gamble Portugal - Produtos De Consumo Higiene e Saude S.A., Procter & Gamble Product Supply U.K. Limited, Procter & Gamble Productions Inc., Procter & Gamble RHD Inc., Procter & Gamble RSC Regional Service Company Ltd., Procter & Gamble Retail Services Sarl, Procter & Gamble S.r.l., Procter & Gamble Service GmbH, Procter & Gamble Services Company N.V., Procter & Gamble Services Switzerland SA, Procter & Gamble Singapore Pte. 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Inc., Rosemount LLC, SPD Development Company Limited, SPD Swiss Precision Diagnostics GmbH, Series Acquisition B.V., Seven Seas Limited, Shulton Inc., Snowberry, Snowberry New Zealand Limited, Sunflower Distributing LLC, TAOS - FL LLC, TAOS Retail LLC, THIS IS L, TULA, Tambrands, Tambrands Inc., Temple Trees Impex & Investment Private Limited, The Art of Shaving, The Art of Shaving - FL LLC, The Dover Wipes Company, The Gillette Company, The Gillette Company LLC, The Gillette co., The Iams Company Inc., The Procter & Gamble Distributing LLC, The Procter & Gamble Global Finance Company LLC, The Procter & Gamble Manufacturing Company, The Procter & Gamble Paper Products Company, The Procter & Gamble U.S. Business Services Company, This is L., This is L. Inc., Thomas Hedley Co, US CD LLC, Vidal Sassoon Shanghai Academy, VitaminHaus Pty Ltd, Walker & Co. Brands Inc., Walker & Company Brands, Wella AG, Zenlen Inc., Zirh, and iMFLUX Inc..

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Galina Kovalenko

By: Tanya Malhotra

A teacher was arrested after trying to sell her student to pay off her own debts.

The teacher is accused of conspiring to sell her 13-year-old student from a boarding school to potential human organ dealers.

52-year-old Galina Kovalenko of Ukraine, who is married to a former police officer, offered to sell the girl for $10,000.

She is now facing between eight and 15 years in prison.

Kovalenko had worked at a boarding school for gifted children for 6 years, and she had a successful teaching career for 22 years.

Police said that the teacher handed over the child to officers who were posing as child traffickers.

Prosecutor in Kharkiv, said that Galina did not care at all about this child or whether the student will be forced into slavery or organ harvesting.

Police said that Kovalenko told the 13-year-old student named Olga, to get dressed because her older sister was coming to visit her.

However, after leaving school, the unsuspecting child was placed in a car, which the teacher believed to belong to the dealers who would pay her for teenager, according to the police report.

As soon as the teacher demanded the $10,000 from the undercover officer, she was arrested.

Detectives said that when the buyer expressed interest in the girls health, hinting that he wanted her for the organs, she agreed to hand over her medical records for about $40.

The teacheras husband, Leonid, admitted that he and his wife are in financial trouble, and that the family urgently needed money.

However, he claims that his wife was set up by his former colleagues in the police department.

aWhy did they need to make her a criminal when they could have prevented a crime,a Leonid said.
Diversity Champion Award for Wrexham Sergeant

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Nov 27th, 2016

A Wrexham-based police officer has been recognised for her outstanding work with the Deaf community across North Wales.

Sergeant Laura Salisbury-Jones has received the Forces award for Diversity Champion for her work with Deaf people and for having completed four British Sign Language courses in her own time.

In her current role as a Harm Reduction Sergeant for Wrexham County she works to identify, engage and safeguard some of our most vulnerable individuals.

Using BSL Sgt Salisbury-Jones is able to engage with the Deaf community and identify those in need of police support. She has attended numerous incidents where one party involved can only communicate effectively using sign language.

Head of Diversity at North Wales Police, Greg George, said; Victims have been grateful to discover that a police officer is able to converse using BSL. Laura is an active member of the Police Disability Community meetings run by our Diversity Unit.

In her own time she has completed levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 in BSL and plans to continue this amazing achievement by becoming the Forces first fully qualified BSL interpreter.

Sgt Laura Salisbury-Jones will now work with officers to teach some basic tips to assist communication with the Deaf community and deliver an introduction to the language.

She has also volunteered to work with the diversity unit and the North Wales Deaf Association to provide a link on the Force website on how the Deaf people can contact North Wales Police.

Sgt SalisburyJones said: This award recognises the efforts I and my colleagues across North Wales have made to work with and support people in our communities.

It is important that all communities are able to access the services North Wales Police provides and I would like to thank the Deaf community for their willingness to engage with us and I look forward to building on the relationships we have started to develop.
Jewish Living Exhibition Launches in Wrexham

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Nov 27th, 2016

A prestigious exhibition exploring the Jewish faith and culture has opened in Wrexham.

The Board of Deputies Jewish Living Experience (JLE) exhibition launched at Coleg Cambria last week.

The opening at Coleg Cambrias Yale site was attended by Welsh Assembly member Mark Isherwood AM, the Mayor and Mayoress of Wrexham, Cambria Principal, Sue Price as well as governors and faith leaders.

Over the two-week period of the exhibition, 330 school children will visit accompanied by more than 40 teaching staff. Additionally, Cambria students studying on site will be able to access the JLE.

Board of Deputies Vice President Sheila Gewolb said: Im delighted to be able to take the exhibition, which is aimed at explaining the Jewish faith, culture and practices to non-Jewish school children, their teachers, parents and members of the general public, to a region where there is no established Jewish presence.

Mark Isherwood said: I was proud to speak as sponsor at this evenings launch of the Board of Deputies of British Jews Jewish Living Experience Exhibition, about how important it is for everyone to have an understanding of each others faith and culture to help prevent racism.

Dr Gewolb thanked Mark Isherwood for his insight, perseverance and support over a two- year period in bringing the exhibition to Wrexham.

Sue Price, Principal of Coleg Cambria said, We are really pleased that Coleg Cambria has been able to host this prestigious exhibition on its first ever visit to North Wales. Its a fantastic opportunity for young children in the Wrexham area as well as our own students to have the chance to discover everything about the Jewish way of life.

Celebrating diversity in this way is really important for us at Coleg Cambria and we are fully committed to ensure an environment of equal and inclusive learning for all that pass through our doors.
Yakima City Council members Carmen Mendez, center, and Dulce Gutierrez attended a conference in Washington, D.C., last week with the Young American Leaders Project. There they learned about issues ranging from immigration to the Affordable Care Act and came home with ideas to implement in their own community, such as a mobile office for City Hall and a forum to allow residents to voice their concerns about the election. (Photo courtesy The New American Leaders Project/Alonso Parra)
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After five consecutive days of fires wreaking havoc throughout the country, firefighters from both Israel and abroad have finally managed to bring the flames under control with 180 people injured, according to Magen David Adom paramedics.

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Haifa, Israels third largest city, bore the main brunt of the wave of the fires with 527 apartments rendered uninhabitable as the flames engulfed vast areas.

Fire in Haifa (Photo: AFP)

Haifa (Photo: AFP)

As swathes of the country were still smouldering, security forces began making arrests against a number of individuals suspected of deliberately starting the fires in an act of terror, along with those caught on social media networks inciting readers to arson.

Green in Haifa tuned to black (Photo: AFP)

During a press conference held on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu himself warned that the the population could be witnessing a new phenomenon of terror.

Homes in Haifa left uninhabitable (Photo: AFP)

Overall, three people were moderately injured as a result of the conflagrations, one senior from Haifa, two from Maale Adumim and another 129 who were left in light condition. According to estimates, another 50 people admitted themselves to hospital in light condition.

Over the weekend, 186 fresh fires lit up the country, marking a marginal decrease from an average of 200-250 daily fire incidents.

Photo: Gil Yohanan

As fire crews fought around the clock to quench the flames, last week saw the deployment of approximately 2,000 firefighters, along with 450 IDF Search and Rescue soldiers and 69 Cypriot soldiers.

The firefighting forces unleashed a total of half a million tons of water and flame retardant. Ten countries contributed to the effort while 14 Israeli firefighting planes took to the skies, with the number of combined missions reaching 480.
The IDF returned fire after a number of mortar shells were fired at Israel from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights on Sunday morning.

The mortars landed near the security fence. However, it is currently unclear whether they did so on Israeli or Syrian territory.

Moreover, shots were reported from a light weapon. No injuries have been reported in the incidents, which are presumed to be the result of stray bullets and mortars in the continued fighting between the Syrian regime and rebel fighters in the war-torn country.
The damages caused in the spate of fires that plagued Israel last week are expected to be among the costliest in Israel's history, with unofficial estimates putting it at around NIS 2 billion at least.

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If the fires are indeed recognized as acts of terrorism, the state would have to carry the onus of compensating citizens for damages incurred, rather than the insurance companies.

Damages caused to homes in Haifa (Photo: Mohammad Shinawi)

This means the state would have to compensate citizens for direct damages (the burning of the structure or the contents of the house), indirect damages (for example, the loss of future income for a business that burned down), lost work days and more.

Those expected to lose out are citizens who had their properties insured, as the compensation the state would provide them with would be lower than what the insurance company would be required to pay and would not cover many of the valuables that perished in the fires, such as jewelry, art, and the like.

According to initial calculations, by Saturday, direct damages to apartments and houses were measured at more than NIS 700 million, while public property like roads, the electric power system, infrastructure and public buildings suffered at least NIS 300 million in damages.

Damages caused to homes in Halamish (Photo: Judea and Samaria Fire & Rescue)

The firefighting expenses are amount to hundreds of millions of shekels. In addition, Israel would have to pay for the air and ground assistance provided by other countriesincluding the American Supertanker a sum estimated at around NIS 150-200 million.

Restocking Israel's Fire & Rescue Authority and the wear and tear caused to hundreds of firefighting vehicles and equipment will cost, based on an initial and crude estimate, some NIS 100 million.

Salaries for thousands of employeesincluding firefighters, security forces, and municipality workersand other related expenses are estimated at hundreds of millions of shekels.

Furthermore, compensation for indirect damages will have to be paid to businesses and to farmers whose lands were damaged or destroyed in the fires. More funds will be needed to rehabilitate forests that were destroyed.

Damages caused to homes in Haifa (Photo: Mohammad Shinawi)

"These damages are on an enormous scale, the likes of which we have not encountered in any natural disaster in Israel's historyonly in wars," said an official at the Finance Ministry. "The final calculations of the damages caused by the firesboth to the state's coffers and to the public in generalcould only be done weeks after the event. These are very complicated calculations."

On Sunday morning, dozens of property tax teams are expected to arrive in over 30 municipalities to begin assessing the damages caused by the fires to apartments, structures, infrastructure, vehicles, and other private and public property. It is expected to take them days to assess all of the damages.

The Finance Ministry, meanwhile, will have to find the budget to pay for all of the expenses incurred by the fires. One of the options examined is imposing budget cuts on all government ministries.
The Israel Air Force killed four ISIS terrorists on Sunday morning after launching a retaliatory strike just minutes after mortars and gunshots were fired in Israel's direction from Syria. No other injuries were reported in the incident.

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The skirmish began when a unit of the IDF Golani Brigade was in the middle of conducting an ambush operation as it crossed the fence while remaining in Israeli territory near the moshav of Nov. The soldiers came under fire by the terrorists from a heavy machine gun-mounted vehicle.

Golan Heights (Photo AFP)

Shortly after the gunshots were reported, prompting the soldiers to return fire, a number of mortar shells were also fired in Israel's direction from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights which landed near the security fence. Moments later, the IAF reported it had liquidated all four terrorists.

A senior IDF official praised the swift Israeli response: The response was sharp and swift and was intended to send a message that we are in the area and are determined to protect our border. The IDFs response took place within minutes. the official said. We have no intention of escalating matters in the area but we will not accept a reality in which forces open fire in our direction.

At his weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed these reflections. "We are well prepared on our northern border and will not allow Islamic State elements or any other hostile elements to use the war in Syria to establish themselves close to our borders," he said.

The incident breaks with usual patterns of similar incidents which have taken place over recent weeks in which fighting between rebel forces and the Syrian regime is usually presumed to be the cause of stray mortars and bullets, rather than deliberate attacks by ISIS terrorists.

ISIS leader in the Golan Heights, Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi

Nevertheless, the assault on Israeli territory does come against a background of renewed fighting between rebel forces and the Syrian army commanded by President Bashar al-Assad.

Indeed, on Saturday rebel forces announced an operation designed to lift the regimes siege on areas controlled by the rebels.

The new leader of the ISIS branch in the Golan is Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi who replaced his predecessor who was killed in a car bomb in Yarmouk Camp on October 18.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed State Comptroller Yosef Shapira last week ahead of the release of a report examining the Gaza tunnels threat.

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"Leadership is about making decisions, not writing reports," Netanyahu said during a visit to the Hatzor Airbase, where he met with firefighting pilots amid the fires raging in the country

Both in his comments to the media and in a post on Facebook, the prime minister claimed that in his report on the forest fire that ravaged the Carmel Mountain in 2010, the comptroller didn't recommend the establishment of an aerial firefighting squadron and that it was he, Netanyahu, who was the first to identify the need for one and acted accordingly.

Netayahu speaking to firefighting pilots in Hatzor (Photo: Koby Gideon, GPO)

"The lessons from the comptroller's report have been implemented, except for one main lesson that was not in the report. The 2010 report did not include firefighting aircraft," Netanyahu told the media during his visit to the airbase.

"I want you to try and imagine what would've happened today to the State of Israel if we didn't have firefighting aircraft. But this wasn't in the report. So the relevant question is not what was or wasn't in the reportbut what is the right thing to do ... without a firefighting squadron, the country would've burned ... we don't deal with reports, we deal with results."

It is important to note, however, that the state comptroller report did not investigate the Carmel fire. The report examined Israel's firefighting apparatus in general and was prepared and written long before the fire, but published several days after.

State Comptroller Yosef Shapira (Photo: Zvika Tishler)

Members of the opposition were quick to criticize the prime minister's attack on the State Comptroller, linking it to the Gaza tunnels threat report, which is expected to draw harsh criticism against Netanyahu himself, his cabinet, and the failure to prepare for the underground threat.

"The prime minister is leading a cynical and false move as part of his preparations for the report on Operation Protective Edge," said MK Erel Margalit (Zionist Union).

Fellow Zionist Union MK Yoel Hasson, who chaired the Knesset's State Control Committee in the past, said that "for Netanyahu, no statement is coincidental. He chose to attack the comptroller not out of concern for the victims of the fires, but out of concern for himself ahead of the comptroller's report on his own failures vis-a-vis the tunnels during Protective Edge."

Hasson went on to say that "Netanyahu is managing our lives from one failure to the next, and has a regular trick on how to dodge criticismmark those who expose his failings as traitors, leftists, and now also as irresponsible people who are only after their own interests, as he had just marked the comptroller. Netanyahu is busy fighting off reports while the citizens of Israel have to deal with the outcomes."
ISTANBUL - Islamic State militants have fired a rocket in northern Syria that caused symptoms of "chemical gas" exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited Turkey's military as saying on Sunday.

The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have for days been besieging the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab, a major goal in Ankara's "Euphrates Shield" operation to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.

According to the state-run Anadolu agency, the Islamic State rocket attack occurred in the Haliliye area. The army did not specify where the attack had taken place.

"Twenty-two rebels were observed to have symptoms of being exposed to chemical gas in their eyes and bodies as a result of the rocket fired by Daesh," media reports quoted the army statement as saying, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.
A 16-year-old boy is suspected of hitting another 16-year-old boy to death with a crowbar during an argument that broke out between them, it was cleared for publication on Sunday.

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The suspected perpetrator was arrested along with his father and two other suspects.

On the night between Wednesday and Thursday, police received a report from Magen David Adom paramedics that a 16-year-old suffered a head injury in a road accident in southern Jerusalem. At first, paramedics said the teenage boy had slipped off the scooter he was riding, and later that he had collapsed as a result of drug use.

The suspect (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The teenager was taken to the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Karem, where his condition deteriorated until he passed away on Friday night.

Police officers that arrived at the scene detained two teenagers, who were friends of the victims. In their questioning, each of them presented police with a different version of events. A search of their homes found drugs.

An examination of the scooter and evidence collected from the scene ruled out the suspicion of a road accident and instead raised the suspicion of homicide.

An hour after the incident, the 16-year-old suspect was also arrested.

An investigation into the incident found that the teens met on the street of one of the neighborhoods in southern Jerusalem, where they allegedly consumed drugs.

Later, following an argument that broke out between the victim and the suspect, the suspect took a crowbar he found in a cart nearby and hit the victim over the head. The victim collapsed and was taken to the hospital in very serious condition.

According to police, the suspect fled the scene to his home, where he told his father what had transpired. The father is suspected of unsuccessfully trying to hide the cart and the crowbar.

The 16-year-old teenager is suspected of murder, attempt to tamper with evidence, and obstruction of justice. His remand was extended until Tuesday.

The two other teenagers who were at the scene are suspected of obstruction of justice, attempt to tamper with evidence, being accessories after the fact and drugs possession. Their remand was extended until Monday.

The father is suspected of tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice. His remand hearing is scheduled for Sunday.
Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) blamed terrorists on Sunday morning for the wave of fires which scorched a number of towns and cities in Israel over the past few days, causing untold damage.

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We are seeing a wave of nationalistic terror here. Fire terrorists tried to kill an entire town and its residents, Bennett said during a visit to the settlement of Halamish in the Binyamin area of the West Bank, which was struck hard by the relentless flames. The aim was to burn and kill in an Israeli town.

Bennetts remarks came on the heels of the findings of a special investigations unit which discovered evidence of arson in two areas of Halamish.

Naftali Bennett visits Haifa during fires (Photo: Gil Nechushtan)

Meanwhile firefighters were forced to contend with a massive brush fire which erupted near Hadera in the moshav of Talmei Elazar in northern Israel on Sunday morning. The fire broke out after authorities believed that the flames had finally been brought under control or extinguished across the country.

In the last few days I was in Haifa during the fire and now here I see destroyed homes, burnt to the core, Bennett continued. We are facing a new wave of national terror whose goal is to murder and intimidate Jews. That is the definition of terror. This terror too, we will defeat.

He went on to praise Israel for the actions taken to suffocate the fires, and the camaraderie displayed as the disaster battered large areas of the country. As usual, Israel drew in all layers of society, for each other, in a way that is unprecedented. We see the volunteers and the mutual help. For every home here we will build an even bigger home, many more, because that is the real answer to terror. We will prevail, he declared.

Elaborating on the efforts being undertaken to rehabilitate Halamish, in which 18 homes were consumed by the fires, Bennett said: At the moment, the aim is to return all the families to the town who will live temporarily in caravans since they wish to continue their lives.

Avigdor Lieberman during visit to Halamish (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman also visited the blackened settlement where he furnished praise on the residents who even today choose to act courageously and not speak of revenge but rather about building the and expanding the settlement enterprise. I think that the best answer is to widen the settlement enterprise.

Lieberman further stated the establishments intention to bring to account any terrorists who deliberately started fires, before thanking countries that had provided succor in Israels hour of need.

I think that natural disasters are shared by us and the Palestinians, he said. When something like this happens everyone comes to help. I want to thank all the fire crews who came from outside Israel, and made an enormous and critical contribution, including the Palestinian crews.
Four members of the Islamic Movement, declared illegal by Israel, were arrested between October and November in a joint operation between the Shin Bet and the Israel Police, it was cleared for publication Sunday.

The individuals belonged to an affiliate movement known as the Mourabitoun (male) and the Mourabitat (female) which organizes classes at the Al Aqsa Mosque and came under Israels radar following its violent activities

The decision of the Israeli government to ban the Islamic Movement in November 2015 presaged the closure of a string of institutions and bodies belonging to the Mourabitoun and the Mourabitat, which is funded by the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel.

The violent activities of the two groups on Temple Mount harmed the security of tourists and visitors of the compound and often resulted in the outbreak of public disorder as well as an assault on Israeli sovereignty over the compound, a Shin Bet statement read.

As a result of the activities between 2014-2016, it was declared that solidarity or affiliation with the groups, including providing funding to the activists, was outlawed.
MADRID - Spanish police arrested a man at Madrid's Barajas airport on Sunday who was attempting to join the Islamic State extremist group in war-torn Syria.

Spain's Interior Ministry said the suspect was detained by authorities in Jordan, where he was attempting to cross into Syria, and then handed over to Spain's Civil Guard for arrest.

The suspect is a Spanish citizen of Palestinian origin who lives on Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands archipelago.

The suspect had been under police surveillance since 2014 when police detected that he was "in the process of jihadist radicalization" after having "consumed propaganda from the (ISIS) terrorist group which had led him to be willing to travel and join their ranks."

The suspect had already tried to enter Syria via Turkey in July, when Turkish authorities apprehended him and sent him back to Spain, according to Spanish police. He then planned to make a second attempt to reach Syria by traveling to Jordan earlier this month.
ISTANBUL - A blast ripped through a street in the northern Syrian town of al-Rai on Sunday in what was believed to be an Islamic State suicide bombing and 12 wounded, mostly children, were brought to a hospital in nearby Turkey, security and hospital sources said.

The town of al-Rai, which is 2 km (1 mile) south of Turkey's Kilis border province, is in an area under the control of Turkey-backed rebels and was seized from Islamic State militants in Ankara's "Euphrates Shield" operation launched in August.

No further details were immediately available but the Dogan news agency cited local sources as saying it was a vehicle-borne bomb which also killed several Syrians.
The home of Holocaust survivor, Abigail Ben Nun, 78, was completely burnt to the ground on the sixth and final night of the fires which engulfed the settlement of Halamish, also known as Neveh Tzuf.

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Returning home on Sunday morning, she discovered, to her horror, that in place of her home lay blackened and smouldering items, household appliances and memories recognizable only by dint of their now-mangled shape: the burnt structures of a fridge, an oven and a traditional baby carriage lay sprawled on the earth.

Abigail Ben Nun (Photo: Eli Mendelbaum)

I didnt expect to see anything here because they told me everything had burnt, but a home that has stood for 35 years and is destroyed in a single moment is difficult to describe. The rehabilitation could take a long time. Abigail lamented. I had pictures here and letters which were many many years old which I kept. Now everything is gone.

My goodness. All my money and successes, my pictures and notes from my mothereverything has gone.

Photo: Eli Mendelbaum

Hardened by her flight from Belgium to France just prior to the outbreak of the Second World War however, Abigail was still able to see the light in the black ash that now surrounded her. We need to remember that we are still alive and everyone is healthy and in one piece. That is the most important thing, she said.

Drawing on her past experiences of survival, she added: In every place they chased us. Both in the Holocaust and even here. But we are strong and we will get through this, she said as she scanned the the content of her home that had been consumed to ash.

Abigail's possessions twisted and burnt (Photo: Eli Mendlbaum)

For years they have pursued us. It started in Europe, continued in Tel Aviv and now it is here. But we will continue to live and to build, she stated defiantly.

Photo: Eli Mendelbaum

At the entrance of where her home stood however remains, surprisingly, a lemon tree and a number of other fruit trees which managed to survive the fires wrath.

For Abigail, there is no question that the arsonists responsible for the fires were intent on murder.

Photo: AFP

Photo: AP

These terrorists clearly tried to harm us. It isnt a fire which erupted but rather terror that needs to be struck with a heavy hand, she insisted.

Photo: AFP

Abigails assessment however, is not mere conjecture. Indeed, earlier on Sunday a special investigation unit discovered two points in the settlement where evidence shows that the fire was deliberately started.

Also earlier in the day, Education Minister Naftali Bennett (Bayit Yehudi) blamed terrorists for the wave of fires which scorched a number of towns and cities in Israel over the past few days, causing untold damage.

We are seeing a wave of nationalistic terror here. Fire terrorists tried to kill an entire town and its residents, Bennett said during a visit to Halamish. The aim was to burn and kill in an Israeli town.
The media may have hailed the arrival of the Supertanker from the United States, but the heads of Israel's Fire & Rescue Authority said Sunday there is no need for the massive firefighting aircraft at present.

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The Supertanker landed in Israel on Friday night, but was only put to use on Saturday in the Jerusalem Mountains area, over Nataf.

The Supertanker in action over the Jerusalem Mountains (:  ,  )

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It took to the air again on Sunday afternoon, but found itself circling idly over the sea near Zikhron Ya'akov and the Haifa Bay area after all of the major fires had already been put out.

The Supertanker circling over Israel's coatline.

While acting Fire Commissioner Shimon Ben-Ner said there was no need for the Supertanker, the aircraft is operated directly by the Israel Police and it is the police that will eventually decide whether or not to use it.

On Saturday, police demanded to use the firefighting aircraft in the forests that border Highway 1, while the Fire & Rescue Authority determined there was no operational need for it. Eventually, despite disagreements between the two emergency services, the Supertanker was used to help extinguish areas that were still on fire near Nataf.

The massive firefighting aircraft, which reached Israel after firefighters had already gained control over the fires in Haifa, was one of 21 planes that took to the sky to help put out the blazes that plagued Israel last week

In total, some 325 foreign nationals participated in firefighting efforts.
The German government said Saturday it will launch an investigation into possible historic Nazi influence on the country's post-war central government, including the chancellor's office.

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The probe at a cost of four million euros ($4.2 million) will run until 2020, and will complement some 20 such inquiries already made at numerous ministries and institutions to determine the reach of alleged Nazi networks following World War II.

One million euros will be specially devoted to uncovering Nazi influence at the heart of German powerthe Chancellory.

The Reichstag building (Photo: MCT)

Investigators will seek to clarify what continuity there was in the staff of the Chancellory, the office that serves Germany's leader, following the break-up of the Third Reich after Germany's defeat at the hands of the Allies in 1945.

Post-war recruitment policies and "the mentality of the political culture" will also be studied, the culture ministry said in a statement.

The inquiry will look at the role of Hans Globke who served as chief of staff and a trusted confidant to former conservative West German chancellor Konrad Adenauer between 1953 and 1963 and was responsible for recruitment to the heart of government, according to Der Spiegel news magazine.

Globke was a senior civil servant in the Nazi-era interior ministry and was involved in the drafting of the Nuremberg race laws as well as contributing to the "Jewish code" that was enforced in Slovakia.

The influence of Nazi-era legal experts who went on to occupy senior posts in the post-war administration in West Germany is also under investigation.

A government report published in October revealed that in 1957, around 77 percent of leaders in the justice ministry had been members of the Nazi Party.

The most infamous among them was former Nazi magistrate Eduard Dreher who in 1968 drafted a law that was ostensibly a technical measure that actually complicated the work of Nazi hunters and put an end to almost all ongoing German investigations into Third Reich figures.
Sundays incident in the southern Golan Heights, in which the Israeli Air Force killed four ISIS terrorists following shooting toward Israel from Syria, seemed like an occurrence that the IDF handled quite well. All the signs showed that the southern Lebanon branch of ISIS attacked the IDFs Golani Brigade that was on ambush mission in the area.

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The question now seems to be whether the event was a local initiative of the Shuhada al-Yarmouk, the ISIS affiliate in Syria on the border with Israel that had recently changed its name to the Khalid ibn al-Walid Brigade, or a planned initiative that constitutes a semi-baked change of strategy that necessitates an appropriate response from the IDF. It may also be a one-time event, with the IDF strike that followed acting as enough of a deterrent so as to put them off trying a similar event in the future.

The Golan border following the incident (:  )

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There seem to be three possible scenarios here. The first is that the Golani Brigade on a mission was found out by the ISIS-affiliated forces, which tempted one of their local commanders so much that he sent a truck equipped with a machine gun to shoot at it, either for deterrence or to succeed in hitting it.

The Golan Heights near the border with Syria (Photo: Eli Segal)

If this was indeed the case, it means that the Golani unit did not adequately camouflage itself: The fact that ISIS forces had the foresight to prepare a machine gun-equipped truck shows they knew who and where they were shooting at. In this case, the IDF needs to investigate and draw the appropriate conclusions so that the next time it sends a normally excellent infantry patrol such as Golanis go out, their field craft ability will be better.

IDF soldiers near the Golan border following the shooting incident (Poto: Avihu Shapira)

Another, less likely possibility is that the ISIS affiliate in the southern Golan Heights has become increasingly desperate, having been cut off from the central ISIS headquarters in the Syrian city of Al-Raqqah, or that ISIS in general is finding itself in dire straits, so that it decided to strike at Israel as an act of despair. ISIS, for that matter, could be planning large-scale terrorist attacks against Israel in the Golan, in which case Israel should up its alertness around the border fence and look out for car bombs that might be trying to reach Israeli villages in the Golan.

And then there is a third possibility, where one of the many moderate rebel forces currently fighting ISIS in Syria tried to provoke the IDF so that it would carry out a response against ISIS, thereby doing the rebels work for them.

It is most likely that what actually happened was that it was a local attack that targeted the Golani unit, causing the Israeli Air Force to successfully take out four ISIS terrorists. However, we should nevertheless increase our vigilance on this front and make sure that our forces are properly camouflaged so that local ISIS commanders will not get further opportunities to show their fighting spirit.
By Steven Ariong

Authorities in Amudat district in Karamoja sub region in the north eastern Uganda have put a ban on all non governmental organisations operating in Amudat district from renting offices directing that all NGOs must build their offices in the district.

The ban was passed by Ms Paulina Chepar the secretary of production during the council sitting she said,  the district has a total of 41 None governmental organisations both international and national operating in the district but all of them are renting offices, this has caused scarcity of accommodation in the district.

According to Ms. Chepar most of these NGOs run their projects ranging from three to five years and that the money they are spending for paying rents was enough for them to build their office spaces.

Its unfortunate that the development partners who could have helped us to increase in our buildings in the district are also coming to rent this is unacceptable we need NGOs who can come and construct their office space so that when their project ends the house will remain for the district, She said.

Mr. Francis Kiyong the district LCV chairperson of Amudat said they are giving those who are renting only this year but by next year they will be chased.
Yair Grinshpan, a 37-year-old resident of Ganei Tikva near Petach Tikvah, was arrested on Saturday night after calling on his Facebook page to burn Arab villages, one of five persons arrested thus far for online incitement to violence following the recent wave of fires.

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Grinshpan was granted conditional release by the Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court for of his suspected offenses of incitement to violence. He was ordered not to use his mobile phone or computer for the next month.

The suspect was arrested at midnight Sunday after writing, among other things: "What happened in Haifa and Jerusalem will happen in Umm al-Fahm," he wrote in reference to the Arab town located northwest of Jenin, "to burn the sons of bitches back."

Yair Grinshpan

"Just burning Arab villages in return; this is war," read another of his inflammatory posts. "To all the leftists who believe in piece, know that in the Palestinian Authority they're happily calling to burn more places here."

The accused's lawyer, Limor Bramli, claimed that her client was not permitted to consult with a lawyer before his arrest and protested the fact that his computer was taken without a warrant. "My client expressed his opinion on Facebook with a group of a lot of other people who expressed their opinion," she told Ynet. "There were opinions that were a lot more extreme than his opinions, but he was chosen as a scapegoat without a justified reason. He expressed an opinion and didn't tell others to commit a physical act. He wrote words in the framework of freedom of expression."

At the time of publication, the Israel Police have arrested 23 suspects for arson relating to the wave of fires that plagued the country over the past week, 18 of whom are Arab Israelis, with the rest being Palestinians. Twenty-three of them remain jailed. They have also arrested five personsthree Jews, including Grinshpan, and two Arabsfor online incitement.

The arrests for online incitement were carried out following the instructions of Interior Minister Gilad Erdan, who called on the police to work to curtail this trend.

The police reported to the government in the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday that some residents of Deir Hanna and Umm al-Fahm confessed to having intentionally started fires, the first admissions of guilt in the investigation.
Egypt's Foreign Ministry has denied what it said were Arab media reports about an Egyptian military presence in Syria. Egypt is committed to not intervening in other countries' internal affairs, the ministry's Sunday statement said, adding that deploying any military personnel or equipment would have required public legal measures.

The ministry's statement didn't specify outlets, but most regional media carrying the story referred to a report by Lebanese daily As-Safir, which said that an Egyptian military unit comprising 18 pilots had joined an air base in Hama earlier this month.

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has expressed support for Syrian President Bashar Assad's military, saying this month in an interview with Portuguese TV network RTP that its forces were "best positioned" to combat terrorism and restore stability in the war-torn nation.
Until three weeks ago, many of Abu Osama's customers were ISIS militants who brought their wives and children to his pharmacy on the eastern edge of Mosul for injections and treatment.

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Now, most of them are Iraqi security forces who recaptured the Gogjali neighborhood earlier this month and are pushing further into the city, which has been under ISIS control for more than two years.

Refugees at Mosul (Photo: AFP)

As the militants retreat, civilians are adjusting to a new reality in their wake and a clearer picture is emerging of what they did to survive the punishments and deprivation of ISIS rule.

The city of Mosul after being liberated from ISIS (Photo: Reuters)

"Whether Daesh (ISIS) or army: my door is open to everyone," said Abu Osama, taking the blood pressure of an Iraqi policeman. "If my worst enemy comes here, I must treat him."

The Iraqi Army after forcing ISIS out of Msul (Photo: Reuters)

Several ISIS militants, both local and foreign, lived in Gogjali and it was mainly their families that visited the pharmacy because the militants themselves were often away, Abu Osama said.

The front of his shop and those next door are marked with the Arabic letter "z" for zakat, meaning alms, and beside it an identification number ISIS bureaucrats assigned to record donations made at the shop for their self-proclaimed caliphate.

Advancing Iraqi forces have sprayed Shi'ite slogans over it.

The 40-year old opened the pharmacy after Mosul fell to ISIS, and the salary he received as an employee of the Iraqi health ministry was cut by the government, as it sought to choke off funding to the militants, who were skimming the pay of public sector workers in areas they controlled.

The militants wanted Abu Osama to work for them in a hospital, but he refused because it would have meant pledging allegiance to the group, and he does not agree with their hardline ideology.

According to that ideology, the depiction of living creatures is un-Islamic because it can lead to idolatry. After a militant upbraided him for displaying a poster with an image of a baby on the wall of his pharmacy, Abu Osama blotted out its eyes with a black marker pen and then did the same to every label featuring a human being.

The 500 dinar note ($0.40), which bears an image of a statue, was banned for the same reason, according to several civilians.

Chinese, Indian medicine

All medicine came from SyriaMosul's only outlet to the world as an array of forces slowly closed in on the city in Iraq. Syrian traders imported cheap Chinese and Indian medicine via Turkey and paid ISIS a tax to bring it to market in Mosul, Abu Osama said.

By the time medicine reached his still sparsely stocked shelves, the price had tripled, and many of his customers could not afford to buy it, so he sold it to them on credit and is now owed 1.25 million Iraq dinars ($1,016).

Abu Osama said that since women were obliged by ISIS to veil their faces completely, he cannot be sure who owes him what.

Standing in the pharmacy, forty-three-year old Sohaib commented that if he became separated from his wife in a crowded marketplace, she would have to find him, as he could not distinguish her from all the other women shrouded from head to toe in black.

Abu Osama could treat women only when they were accompanied by a male relative, and if a female patient lifted her veil before him and ISIS's vice squad found out, he would be held accountable. It never happened to him, but the militants punish such infractions with fines and whipping.

Residents of Gogjali said ISIS's laws were less strictly enforced there because it is far from the city center.

When Iraqi special forces took the neighborhood, two of the militants left their wives behind, locals said, identifying the women as Russian. The jihadi brides tried to flee Mosul among displaced civilians but were found out and detained by Iraqi security forces, according to a soldier sitting in the pharmacy.

"They were unbelievably beautiful," he said.

Several doors down, twenty-seven year old Ammar, who runs a grocery shop, said the ISIS militants were his best customers because they had more money than anyone else.

"They chatted with us and said we must fight jihad. Everyone preached to us, but each to their own," he said.

All the goods he sold came from Syria, he said, but now that route is blocked too, and several traders from the nearby Kurdish region are taking advantage of the opening in the market.

Outside the grocery shop, a Kurdish trader unloaded goods from a van, including items banned by ISIS, such as cigarettes, biscuits made in Iran and Brazilian canned meat.

"It says halal on the tin, but they said it wasn't," Ammar said, shrugging.

Occasionally, the sound of a mortar or a burst of gunfire sends people milling in the street scattering and diving for cover, but some, now accustomed to the sounds of war, barely flinch and continue as normal.
A source in the Israel Police said on Sunday night that the approximately 90 fires that have blazed across the country in the past week were believed to be caused by arson.

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He specified to Ynet that "between 3040 incidents contain suspicion of arson. That doesn't mean that there are suspects, rather indications, but in total there are 23 detainees at varying levels of suspicion."

He said that it was not yet possible to determine which arson-initiated conflagrations, if any, had nationalistic motives: "We're just saying where there's a suspicion of arson and where there isn't. Even when we say (that), we're qualifying it because we haven't completed the investigations, and it wouldn't be very responsible.

Fire in Haifa (Photo: AFP)

In some cases, he explained, "the results were caused by prosaic reasonsweather or an electrical shortbut a significant portion of the incidentsarson. The intelligence network is analyzing and feeding us information, some of which is relevant. We're using finger prints, sophisticated investigative methods and more."

Arson attempt caught on security camera

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The source explained that the arsons did not appear to be part of a guided, concentrated effort: "What we're identifying is people's activity at a local level. The people who carry out the act aren't (operating on instructions) from some guiding hand, but for the sake of checking for the guiding hand, we've set up the investigation team."

A Palestinian suspect of arson (Photo: Ziv Birman of the Nature and Parks Authority)

Evidence that the blaze in Haifa was caused by arson has not yet been found, but sources in the investigation are not yet ready to rule out the possibility. Following the large fire, which affected 13 neighborhoods, four locations were identified as where the conflagrations broke out: in Romema, the Carmel Center, Ramot Eshkol and Ramat Hen. Five persons were detained and investigated, but they were all released after the investigation revealed that the suspects had no connection to Haifa's fires.

The police are operating to locate and arrest suspects across the country. Two of those detained, according to the report the Israel Police presented to the cabinet, confessed to committing arson. In addition, five personsthree Jews and two Arabshave been arrested for online incitement. One, Yair Grinshpan, was arrested on Sunday for encouraging others on Facebook to burn Arab villages. He was granted conditional release.

In addition to the above arrests, Sunday afternoon, detectives apprehended six 17 year olds from Jadeidi-Makr, east of Acre, who were found driving away from a brushfire outside the city. The fire was extinguished by firefighting aircraft before it could spread, and the suspects were taken for questioning.
When it was announced that the Jerusalem neighborhood of Ramat Eshkol had to evacuate, Our neighbor called because she knew I was home with two sick kids, and told me we have to go, said an Arab parent. And another neighbor who works at Intel called to tell me that the fire is spreading in the valley below us. Both of the Arabs calling to warn them were Jewish, and they all belong to the neighborhoods bilingual Arab-Jewish community.

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Its really hard to hear how Arabs are blamed for each and every thing that happens in this country. Were Arabs, but we didnt do it. Part of the Arab community was hit, too, said the familys matriarch. We were evacuated just like every Jewish family. My son was traumatized to see houses in our neighborhood go up in flames just like a Jewish boy. If they discover the arsonists were Arab, they should be punished in the most severe way possible. But you shouldnt blame all Arabs because of a few terrorists.

Chen Raful-Natan and the girls

The Raful-Natans, an Arab-Jewish family living in Haifas Ahuza neighborhood, were not home when the fires began encroaching on Haifa. Roba, the mother and Chen, the father, together with their four- and six-year-old daughters are part of the citys bilingual community. We coexist here; I love this city, said Roba. Im not a politician or a fire investigator, but if these are indeed arsons, they should punish people to the full extent of the law. But it seems unbelievable to me that Arabs would want to burn down this city, I mean, Arabs live here, too.

If someone torched those houses, hes a terrorist, pure and simple. This is a pastoral area, I live and breathe this place. The fires are a personal matter to me. Whoever came to torch this place doesnt care whether there are Jews or Arabs (here). Hes looking to harm everyone. On Friday, they were allowed to return to their home, which luckily was not damaged.

Gilad Mulian

Gilad Mulian, his wife Yafit and their two children also belong to Haifas bilingual community and were similarly evacuated from their home when the fires started. When I heard about the fire, I went home to try and salvage a few things, said Gilad Mulian. The fire had gotten to the building, and we were concerned that it would reach the gas tanks. It was the Palestinian workers who helped me put it out. Two buildings from us, the fire did reach the gas balloons, which exploded and caused the entire building to catch fire. If it wasnt from their help, out building would have blown up, too.

Mulian stressed how wrong it was to generalize when it came to blaming the entire Arab community for the fires. I trust law-enforcement officials, and I take from the incident the huge show of solidarity that our Arab friends from the community showed us. It proves we share a common fate in this country . It warms the heart to see how families have wrapped us up, supported us and come to help. Even if it was Arabs punks who started the fire, theyre the exception to the rule, he said. More than the fires themselves, were worried about the flames of hate.
Israel said on Sunday that it will expand its fleet of next-generation F-35 fighter jets in a move that officials believe will help maintain the country's qualitative military edge over its Mideast neighbors for years to come.

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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that his Security Cabinet has approved the purchase of 17 additional F-35s. In all, it said, the acquisition will bring the number of planes the air force will get to 50.

The F-35 fighter jet

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The F-35 is the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, with an estimated cost of nearly $400 billion. Israel is among a small number of allies slated to receive the plane, with the first F-35 expected to arrive in about three weeks.

The F-35 fighter jets (Photo: MCT)

A senior Israeli air force official described the arrival of the F-35 as a game-changing development that will give Israel a "strong and effective tool" in dealing with challenges across the region.

The F-35 (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

He said its ability to "integrate" various-cutting edge systems would preserve Israel's ability to act freely in hostile airspace. He cited its long-range capability, its ability to provide pilots with critical data in real time and a stealth system that can evade or delay detection by the world's most sophisticated radar systems.

The F-35

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity under military briefing guidelines, said Israel would begin training with the new planes immediately, but that it would take "more than a few months" for the first planes to be operational.

He did not specify what missions Israel might make with the planes, but said the F-35s are expected to meet all of Israel's needs. In recent years, Israel has reportedly carried out long-range airstrikes as far away as Sudan and is believed to have struck Hezbollah-bound weapons shipments in neighboring Syria.

Israel has also hinted in the past at making plans to strike Iran, some 1,000 kilometers away, if the Islamic Republic presses forward with a nuclear program it considers suspect. The threat of Israeli action in Iran has dropped following the international community's deal with Iran last year to curb its nuclear program.

Both Syria and Iran possess sophisticated Russian anti-aircraft systems. He said these systems will still present a challenge, but the F-35 will be "very helpful" against them.

The official said the arrival of the Russian air force in Syria, where it has backed the government in its civil war against rebels, has also complicated the situation for Israel.

Israel and Russia have established a communications mechanism to prevent clashes between their air forces. He said the two countries do not coordinate their activities, but instead are aware of each other's interests and take steps to maintain security and avoid conflict.

The Pentagon's F-35 program has been criticized by members of the US Congress over testing problems, delays and cost overruns. International buyers include Britain, South Korea, Israel, Italy, Australia, Canada, Turkey and Japan.
One cannot begrudge Barack Obama the vacation he took with his family. After all, the guy had been on a non-stop schedule for more than a year, fighting out epic battles with Hillary Clinton and John McCain. In a way this little lavish trip at the time of Great Depression II, resolves a part of that bewilderment I felt about Obamas ascendancy. <br><br> I could not help wondering, all the time when Obama was running his flawless campaign, that it all seemed too good, too perfect to last. He would make some slip, I thought, he would falter somewhere. He would display some sign to show that the intelligence involved is not mechanical but human, he would show the little blemish that goes into the making of perfection. I waited for a falter that did not come (comments on lipstick on pigs dont count). He ran his campaign all the way past the winning post. <br><br> He went on to select his top administrators so meticulously that the media nodded its hoary head with approval. <br><br> It helps when a guy makes mistakes, it shows you the boundary lines of his personality, his limitations, which conversely make you better understand his capacities. A person who does not makes mistakes is one of the two: an angel come down to earth, or a person following a text book (in the sense that we call some cricketers as text book cricketers, some pilots as text book pilots and so on). <br><br> Since we know that Obama is not a fallen angel (these things dont happen nowadays) he must therefore be a text book person. What is the big deal, you may ask. Wellfor one, it denotes that too much is invested in the show, to have much left for substance. Two, if you want to be right all the time, then you do not venture into things that are risky. In large matters, you follow the beaten track, the consensus of opinion, the middle road, you dont venture out too far. <br><br> Leadership, on the other hand, wants you to stick your neck out for things you believe in. It wants you to shape public opinion rather than just go by it; it wants you to differ, to disagree. <br><br> Eventually there would be a crisis that would require more than intelligence and data to deal with it. It would require a sensitive understanding of the problem, of the human dimension involved, before a solution can be found. No text book, no school, can prepare you for this. <br><br> I know that such a thing exists, and leaders throughout the ages have demonstrated this quality. When Gandhi took to non violence against conventional wisdom, when Lincoln chose to fight out a bloody civil war rather than let the Confederacy secede, when Churchill glared at the House of Commons during the WWII and said We will not surrender, they all displayed that rare quality of leadership. <br><br> But how it is got, where learnt, and how practiced, I dont have the faintest idea. What I know for a certainty, is that all these men reached as high as they did by climbing on a mound of mistakes. <br><br> They did not hesitate to have a heart to heart chat with their inner selves and follow its judgment (reminds me of a certain lady, who said something about listening to her inner voice while renouncing a countrys top post), even if it sometimes led them wrong. <br><br> Obama, simply put, seemed to have the qualities but not the failings of truly great leaders. <br><br> Now of course, there is this vacation. A little subdued as presidential mistakes go (ask Bush) and a little boring (ask Bill), but given that the guy is just starting out, it will have to do. <br><br> What would be interesting to see is whether it is just that little blemish of a great talent, or it is the mediocre reality peeping from the crack of a glittering facade.
Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump said on Sunday on Twitter that "nothing will change" as a result of the campaign to recount the votes cast in three states in the November 8 presidential election.

The recount campaign is being headed by the Green Party`s presidential candidate Jill Stein, EFE news reported.

In a series of tweets, Trump said that his main rival for the White House, Democratic Hillary Clinton, "conceded the election when she called me just prior to (my) victory speech and after the results were in".

In addition, the next day, Clinton telephoned Trump to say that "we have to accept the results and look to the future", he said, paraphrasing what she had said in one of the presidential debates.

"So much time and money will be spent -- same result! Sad," the President-elect went on to say, via Twitter.

Stein`s campaign last Wednesday launched a fundraising effort to finance vote recounts in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, all of which Trump apparently won by narrow margins.

Wisconsin announced on Friday that it will conduct a vote recount in response to the formal request presented by Stein and another independent presidential candidate Rocky De La Fuente.

According to the Green candidate`s campaign, there is "compelling evidence of anomalies" in voting in the three states in question and, therefore, it is necessary to verify the results in those states` counties that depend on electronic voting machines to tally the ballots.

Clinton`s campaign, meanwhile, is backing the decision by Wisconsin authorities to conduct the recount despite saying that no irregularities have been detected in the election, and it said that it will also support recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan if the Green Party, as expected, formally requests them, EFE news added.

On Saturday, Trump issued a statement in which he called the Green Party`s effort a "scam".

"The people have spoken and the election is over," Trump said. "We must accept this result and then look to the future. This recount is just a way for Jill Stein to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount."

Despite the fact that Trump garnered more than 270 electoral votes, which technically is all that is required to win the presidency, Clinton received more than two million more votes than the real-estate mogul in the nationwide popular vote, according to the Cook Political Report Web page.

During the campaign, Trump was the one who had warned numerous times of possible election fraud and denounced the electoral system as being "rigged" against him, going so far as to threaten not to recognise the results of the election if he lost.
Islamabad: General Qamar Bajwa's "pro- democracy credentials" and his low-profile influenced Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to appoint him to the powerful post of army chief superseding four top generals, Pakistani media and experts commented today.

"A careful review of General Bajwa's profile clearly reflects that his pro-democracy credentials earned him the post of Chief of Army Staff," leading Pakistani newspaper The News commented, a day after Prime Minister Sharif appointed Gen Bajwa to succeed Gen Raheel Sharif as the army chief.

The media commented that Prime Minister Sharif wanted to appoint an army chief who should be military expert as well as backing democracy in the Islamic nation.

The military has been in charge of the country for more than half of Pakistan's nearly 70-year history since independence from Britain.

"All the four generals being considered for the post of COAS were passed out from military academy on the same day but undoubtedly General Bajwa has an experience more diversified than all others. General Bajwa's caliber, credentials, experience and holding the biggest core also helped him to be appointed the Chief of Army Staff," the report said.

Another leading daily, Dawn said, "Gen Bajwa's relatively more moderate view of the relationship with the civilian government, it is said, proved to be the decisive factor in Prime Minister Sharif's decision."

One of Gen Bajwa's former commanding officers told the paper that the COAS-designate is a "strong proponent of the army not intruding into civilian space."

Under the watch of the outgoing army chief Sharif, the civil-military balance of power had titled more in military's favour, the report said.

With his elevation as army chief, Gen Bajwa has now superseded Lt Gen Syed Wajid Hussain (chairman of Heavy Industries Taxila), Lt Gen Najibullah Khan (DG Joint Staff Headquarters), Lt Gen Ishfaq Nadeem Ahmed (Corps Commander Multan) and Lt Gen Javed Iqbal Ramday (Corps Commander Bahawalpur).

Dawn also said that Prime Minister Sharif named the new military command, appointing Gen Bajwa and Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC), respectively, in the hope of stabilising the fragile civil-military balance.

While the office of CJCSC is technically the more senior position ? as he serves as the principal military adviser to the prime minister and the National Command Authority (NCA) ? the office of army chief is the most prized and arguably the most powerful position in the country, the paper said.

Bajwa, an infantry officer, has commanded the famed 10 Corps, the army's largest, which is responsible for guarding the area along the Line of Control (LoC) with India.

On a personal level, Gen Bajwa is said to be witty, accessible, well-connected with the troops and not fond of the limelight.

Bajwa is the fourth officer from the infantry's Baloch

Regiment to become the army chief. Before him, Gen Yahya Khan, Gen Aslam Beg and Gen Kayani rose to that position.

Meanwhile, PML-N Senator, Lt General (Retired) Abdul Qayyum said there was no difference in the credentials of all the four generals who were considered for the top slot in army. However it was prime minister's discretion to appoint anyone among the four candidates.

"Prime Minister definitely wanted an army chief who is supportive of democratic system in the country, who believes in the supremacy of Parliament and who could work for the betterment of the country.

"These were the major points what I believe the prime minister would have taken into consideration before appointing the COAS. I believe General Qamar Bajwa possesses all these elements due to which he has been given the top slot in Pakistan Army," Gen Qayyum told The News.

To a question about General Bajwa's positive role in the 2014 anti-government sit in, he said he was not sure about any such information however if he had played a positive role, it was his duty as they took oath to protect the Constitution of Pakistan.

On Prime Minister Sharif's decision to supersede four generals, Gen Qayyum said it was prime minister's prerogative.

"The premier wanted an all rounder for the top slot in Pakistan Army who could not only run the institution of Pak Army but his relation with the civil government was also important," he said.

Former Corp Commander Karachi Lieutenant General (Retired) Sajjad Ghani said there was no major difference in the credentials of the four candidates for the top slot.

However it was up to the prime minister's discretion who saw his suitability in terms of working relations with the civilian government. Therefore, he said this was not a surprise for those who were aware of the system of Pakistan Army.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister's office last night, in a press statement, confirmed the two key military appointments.

"At the advice of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Mamnoon Hussain approved promotions of Lt Gen Zubair Mahmood Hayat and Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to the rank of Generals.

After promotion, General Zubair Mahmood Hayat has been appointed as Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and General Qamar Javed Bajwa has been appointed as Chief of the Army Staff," a press release said.

Bajwa will take charge of the world's sixth-largest army by troop numbers in a formal handover on Tuesday, when General Raheel formally retires.

Later, the army chief designate called on the prime minister and discussed various issues with him.

There is an unwritten tradition in the Pakistan army that superseded officers retire, but there have been exceptions. However, the decision to supersede four generals ? particularly the battle-hardened Gen Ishfaq and Gen Javed Ramday - is bound to set tongues wagging among the military's ranks.

The seniority list has almost never been strictly followed in appointing army chiefs. The list was followed most closely in 2007, when Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani ? the senior- most officer ? was appointed army chief after Gen Pervez Musharraf doffed his uniform.

"The succession may not immediately bring about a major change in policies, but it could still have important implications for ties with India and Afghanistan, and domestically for the civil-military equation and the ongoing fight against terrorism," Dawn commented.

The fight against terrorism, it is believed, would remain unaffected. Gen Bajwa, his colleagues say, is a firm opponent of extremism and terrorism.

According to an insider, he may prove even more forceful in the fight against terrorism than his predecessor, who is credited with launching Operation Zarb-i-Azb, which helped lower the frequency of terrorist attacks.

In addition, the supersession of four generals could force a major reshuffle within the top brass if they decide to step down, the paper added.
New Delhi: A fire broke out in the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plant in Rohini Sector-18 here, a fire officer said on Sunday.

"An information about fire breaking out in the cable rolls at the grid of NTPC plant was received at the fire control room at around 12.45 p.m," he said.

Fifteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire officer said.

No casualty has been reported until now and the cooling operation is on, he added.
New Delhi: Two persons, accused of trying to dig out from the grave bodies of terrorists of the 2001 Parliament attack for "exposing them to vultures", have been acquitted by a Delhi court which said prosecution has failed to prove its case against them.

Metropolitan Magistrate Abhilash Malhotra gave benefit of doubt to Raghu and Vijay Sharma saying it was clear that prosecution witnesses have given contradictory statements in the court.

"... It is clear that the prosecution witnesses have given contradictory statement in the court. The independent witness of the prosecution... Is hostile on the point of identity of the accused. The testimony of police officials is inconsistent and contradictory.

"The prosecution has failed to prove its case against both the accused, accordingly benefit of doubt is given to both the accused," the court said, adding the authenticity of some documents allegedly recovered from the two accused remained unestablished and questionable.

The court freed Raghu and Vijay of the charge under sections 297 (trespassing on burial places) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

A case was registered by Delhi Police at I P Estate Police Station against 10 people but charges were framed against Raghu and Vijay only.

Police received information that some unknown persons, associated with a political party, were planning to exhume the bodies of December 13, 2001 Parliament attack terrorists from the graveyard at ITO here.

Prosecution said when police reached the spot on January 13, 2002, they caught Raghu and Vijay along with spade and stick as they were trying to dig out the corpses of the terrorists for exposing them to vultures.

Both the accused had denied the allegations against them.
Chandigarh: AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday, demanded "immediate" resignation of Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal over Nabha jailbreak in which six prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo, escaped.

Blaming Punjab police for killing a woman, he tweeted, "Punjab Home Minister should immediately resign taking responsibility of jailbreak and killing of innocent girl by Punjab police."

"This shows complete breakdown of law n order in Punjab," Kejriwal said in another tweet attacking Sukhbir who also holds the portfolio of the home minister of the state.

In a sensational jailbreak, chief of Khalistan Liberation Front militant outfit Harminder Mintoo escaped along with five other prisoners after armed men in police uniform stormed the high-security Nabha prison here.

A woman, who was in an SHO's vehicle, died after being hit by a bullet when police opened fire at her vehicle after it jumped a barrier about 20 km away from the prison.

The incident occurred at a 'naka' on Patiala-Gulha Cheeka road, police said.

Meanwhile, AAP national spokesperson Sanjay Singh demanded resignations of jail minister Sohan Singh Thandal and the Deputy Chief Minister.

Sukhbir has no "moral right" to keep the portfolio of the Punjab home minister "even for a day" because under him the state is being "pushed toward anarchy", he said.

"Be it attack on a religious preacher, murder of Mata Chand Kaur of Namdhari Sect, series of sacrilege incidents, the drug haul in Punjab, murder of RSS ideologue or the jailbreak, he has completely failed as the home minister," Singh said.

On Sukhbir alleging that Pakistan "could be behind the jailbreak", the AAP leader said, "If he is right that Pakistan was indeed behind Nabha jailbreak, then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh should also quit for failing to protect the international borders."

Slamming Sukhbir, AAP Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Ghuggi alleged, "He does not think twice before blaming Pakistan for the ills of Punjab. Every time he constitutes a Special Investigation Team and puts the issue under the carpet. They have yielded no results so far."

"Such daredevil attack on the jail by armed men in police uniform could not have been possible without active connivance of the state government or higher police officials," Ghuggi alleged and demanded that there is a need to immediately deploy paramilitary forces in Punjab.
New Delhi: As many as 360 people have been arrested in three weeks by the Delhi government's Excise Department during the ongoing drive against consumption of liquor in public places.

The drive was launched on November 7 and action has been taken against the violators under Section 40 of the Delhi Excise Act and they are handed over to Delhi Police for further action as per law.

"Deputy Chief Minister and Excise Minister Manish Sisodia had earlier this month announced a three-fold action plan for crackdown on illegal consumption of liquor in the open," an official said.

Prior to the launch of the drive, a week-long awareness campaign was held in this regard.

"Anyone caught drinking publicly will now have to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 and anyone creating nuisance in public will be fined Rs 10,000 and face arrest," the official said.

Sisodia has earlier said that the intention of the government is not to put people behind bars but to reform them and curb the menace which is taking a toll on families and to ensure the safety of women.
Delhi: Janata Dal (United) will not take part in protest over the issue of demonetisation called by the Opposition on November 28.

As per Aaj Tak, the decision was taken in the core committee meeting of the party.

On the other hand, JD(U) national spokesperson KC Tyagi was quoted as saying by The Sunday Express, Several parties taking part in the (November 28) protest include those which are demanding a rollback of the note ban. We have maintained that we support the note ban as a strong measure to stem black money. There is no question of supporting parties which are against the note ban.

JD(U) will also not take party in the November 30 protest organised by the TMC in Patna in which West Bengal CM Mamata Banejee is due to take part.

However, JD(U) had joined Opposition parties in their protest against Parliament on Thursday on the note ban.

Yesterday, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had said that he has taken a principled stand on demonetisation as he is convinced that the step will help fight black money.

"I support demonetisation as I'm convinced that it will help in the fight against black money," Kumar had said addressing a function to mark Prohibition Day in Patna.

Kumar, who has described the Centre's demonetisation decision as "sahshik" (courageous), had said in addition to scrapping of higher denomination currencies, attack on benami properties and prohibition could lead to creation of "kala dhan mukt Bharat" (black money free India), as per PTI.

He had said when he spoke of benami properties it includes real estate as well as stocking of gold and diamonds with the help of ill-gotten wealth.

"I will urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi that this is the right time to immediately hit at benami properties as well clamp liquor ban for better results against black money," he had said.

(With Agency inputs)


New Delhi: In a 37-minute long `Mann ki Baat` address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged the nation to move towards a cashless society, and said he took the decision to scrap Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes for the sake of the country`s poor, farmers, labourers and deprived.

In the 27th edition of his `Mann ki Baat` programme, Prime Minister Modi said, "I know cashless economy is different. Why not move towards a cashless society? Need your physical support in this. I took this decision for the country`s poor, farmer, labour, deprived and for those who are suffering. I reiterate that I need your support; I am positive that you will help me in this; take a pledge that you will be a part of this cashless economy.

"Asserting that the government, post offices and banks are working very hard and with dedication, Prime Minister Modi expressed his gratitude to those who are working to help people post the demonetisation move.

"I want to thank our farmers especially. Was looking at the sowing details, sowing has increased this year. A hotel in Maharashtra's Akola has put up hoardings allowing people to avail food even if they don`t have money post demonetisation," he added.

The Prime Minister stated that there has been 300 percent increase in the use of Rupay card since the poor people started using it.

"It is as simple as sending a WhatsApp. I want to urge men and women in small businesses that the time is right, you too enter the digital world. I am confident that India will succeed in the demonetisation move. I invite small traders to adopt cashless economy as it will bring about a huge transformation in the country," he added.
New Delhi: The BJP on Sunday accused National Conference chief and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah of speaking the language of Pakistan and insulting Parliament with his remarks in which he had made light of India's claims over Pak-occupied-Kashmir.

Attacking him, its National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said, Abdullah was frustrated after being in power in the state and over the fact that it was returning to normalcy following months of unrest.

"He is speaking the language of Pakistan. He is speaking the language of terrorists like Hafiz Sayeed and Azhar Masood. He is unable to digest the return of the state to normalcy. In his greed for power, he is doing this vote bank politics. It only shows his mental bankruptcy," he said.

Noting that Parliament has passed resolutions reiterating India's claim over PoK, he said Abdullah had insulted Parliament even though he has been a Union Minister as well as a Chief Minister.

"PoK is a part of India and sooner than later we will have our sovereignty over it," he said.

The BJP leader blamed Abdullah family and Gandhi family for the Kashmir issue, saying had they listened to the then Home Minister Sardar Patel, then the problem would not have festered so long.

Speaking at a public meeting on Thursday last, Abdullah had said PoK is not "your father's property" as he insisted that neither India nor Pakistan can capture the state's territory falling outside their control.
Delhi: With continued tension between India and Pakistan, Sartaj Aziz's visit to India for Heart of Asia (HOA) conference next week in Amritsar is likely to be a curtailed one.

The Times of India quoted official sources as saying that, as of now, Pakistan has confirmed that Aziz will arrive in Amritsar only on December 4, unlike delegates from other countries who will land a day earlier, and depart for Pakistan the same evening.

There is no confirmation yet of any substantive bilateral dialogue between the two countries on the sidelines of the conference.

On November 25, Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Aziz had said that Pakistan was ready for a dialogue with India on the condition that Kashmir dispute was part of it.

"We are ready for dialogue with India on the condition that Kashmir dispute is also included in it," he had said, speaking in the National Assembly during a debate on the LoC situation, as per PTI.

On the other hand, on November 24 , India had remained non- committal about holding talks with Aziz during the Conference.

MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had told a weekly media briefing that the programme was in a "fluid state" and he was not in a position to "rule in or rule out anything at this stage. I can only say that as of 24th November nothing has been decided".

When pressed on the subject, he had said, "The programme is still evolving. The associated events connected with the conference are in a process of evolving. At this point, I am not in a position to make any other announcement."

Swarup reiterated India's stated position that though the country is for dialogue "talks and terror cannot go hand- in-hand".

"Our position on it (talks) is very very clear from the beginning. We are for a dialogue with Pakistan. But talks and terror cannot happen together. It is incumbent on Pakistan to create the necessary environment for a conducive bilateral dialogue to happen," he had said and had also referred to Swaraj's address at the UN recently that for talks to take place, Islamabad will have to end terrorism.

Incidentally, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is ill, will not attend the two-day meet on December 3 and 4.

(With Agency inputs)
Delhi: With continued tension between India and Pakistan, Sartaj Aziz's visit to India for Heart of Asia (HOA) conference next week in Amritsar is likely to be a curtailed one.



The Times of India quoted official sources as saying that, as of now, Pakistan has confirmed that Aziz will arrive in Amritsar only on December 4, unlike delegates from other countries who will land a day earlier, and depart for Pakistan the same evening.

There is no confirmation yet of any substantive bilateral dialogue between the two countries on the sidelines of the conference.

On November 25, Pakistan Prime Minister's Advisor on Foreign Affairs, Aziz had said that Pakistan was ready for a dialogue with India on the condition that Kashmir dispute was part of it.

"We are ready for dialogue with India on the condition that Kashmir dispute is also included in it," he had said, speaking in the National Assembly during a debate on the LoC situation, as per PTI.

On the other hand, on November 24 , India had remained non- committal about holding talks with Aziz during the Conference.

MEA Spokesperson Vikas Swarup had told a weekly media briefing that the programme was in a "fluid state" and he was not in a position to "rule in or rule out anything at this stage. I can only say that as of 24th November nothing has been decided".

When pressed on the subject, he had said, "The programme is still evolving. The associated events connected with the conference are in a process of evolving. At this point, I am not in a position to make any other announcement."

Swarup reiterated India's stated position that though the country is for dialogue "talks and terror cannot go hand- in-hand".

"Our position on it (talks) is very very clear from the beginning. We are for a dialogue with Pakistan. But talks and terror cannot happen together. It is incumbent on Pakistan to create the necessary environment for a conducive bilateral dialogue to happen," he had said and had also referred to Swaraj's address at the UN recently that for talks to take place, Islamabad will have to end terrorism.

Incidentally, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, who is ill, will not attend the two-day meet on December 3 and 4.

(With Agency inputs)
Hyderabad: Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Sunday that threat of radicalisation by ISIS was not an issue in India.

"I'm sure threat of radicalisation by ISIS won't be an issue in our nation because people who follow Islam in India love the country," the HM said, as per ANI.

Singh was in the city to attend three-day annual DGP conference.

He had inaugurated the conference on November 25.

That day Singh had said that threats of self-radicalisation and lone wolf attacks had been increasing.

He had also added that there was no let up in Pakistan's support to terror and anti- India activities.

"We all know that a neighbouring country has been trying to instigate people in northern parts of the country to indulge in anti-India activities, providing training to terrorists and sending them to India to carry out in terror attacks. Despite all these efforts, the credit for maintaining peace in the country goes to security and intelligence agencies," he had said, as per PTI.

Referring to the dreaded terror group Islamic State, Singh had said that due to close coordination between state and central forces, the youths, who were influenced by the terror group, had not been able to successfully carry out any strike in the country yet.

"So far, 67 youths, who were influenced by the ISIS, have been arrested while planning to carry out terror attack. We have to be fully alert against any such design. The whole world is worried about the terror activities of the ISIS. This is a big challenge for our country. I am confident that in the we will be able to face the challenge posed by the ISIS together," he had said.

The conference was attended by around 100 Directors General of Police and Inspectors General of Police of states and UTs and heads of central police organisations at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy.

(With Agency inputs)
Delhi: Addressing his monthly radio programme 'Mann ki Baat', Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that India would emerge from demonetisation move like glittering gold from fire.

"I have said that demonetisation decision is huge and it will take minimum 50 days to overcome from it," PM Modi said, adding, "I'm confident India will succeed in this."

On people facing cash crunch, he said, "I understand your problems but for a disease which has infected our country for 70 years, treatment can't be simple. Your support despite severe problems has touched me. You have not wavered despite efforts to misguide you."

At the same time, Prime Minister said "even now, some people think they can bring their black money, the money earned through corruption or the one which is unaccounted for, back into the system through illegal means. Unfortunately, they are misusing the poor for this purpose by misleading, luring or tempting them by putting money into their accounts."

He pointed out that "a very stringent law to deal with 'benami' transactions is being implemented, that will make such things (transactions) very difficult. Government does not want the people to face such difficulties. I would tell such (unscrupulous) people that to reform or not reform is your wish. Following the law or not is your wish - that the law will take care of. But please don't play with the life of the poor. Don't do anything due to which, when there is an investigation, the name of the poor comes on record and he gets into trouble because of you."

Giving an example of how people have been helping each other in hour of need, PM Modi said, "A hotel in Maharashtra's Akola has put up hoardings allowing people to avail food even if they don't have money post demonetisation."

The Prime Minister also said that a newly married young woman from Surat in Gujarat treated guests at her wedding to tea instead of a lavish feast in view of the ongoing cash crunch.

"The groom's side accepted the hospitality with grace... My best wishes and congratulations to the newly married couple Bharat Maru and Diksha Parmar," PM Modi said.

He then talked of tea plantation workers in a small village of Dhekiajuli in Assam where they get paid weekly.

"When they got the new Rs 2,000 note, a few women went to the market in a group and bought things with a single note. They decided to settle their accounts among themselves later on. There was no problem of change as they bought collectively," the PM said.

"Sowing of crops has risen compared to last year, farmers have found ways out of difficulties. I invite small traders to adopt cashless economy as it will bring about a huge transformation in the country," he said.

"I know that you support this decision, also know that you are contributing a lot to make this a success. I know cashless economy is different. Why not move towards a less-cash society. Youth are agents of change, he said and asked each of them to bring ten families into cashless economy by teaching various tools available," he appealed.

PM Modi emphasised, "I took this decision for the country's poor, farmer, labour, deprived and for those who are suffering. Workers are not paid minimum wages, get less than written on paper. Opening bank accounts will help solve this problem."

"There has been 300% increase in the use of Rupay card since poor people started using it, it is as simple as sending a WhatsApp. I want to urge men and women in small businesses that the time is right, you too enter the digital world. Common man will be trouble free if they are made aware of the digital financial transaction options, youths can do this quickly," he pointed out.

"Our dream is for a cashless society. It is correct that we cannot achieve it immediately. But India can definitely move towards a less-cash society. Once we start the move towards a less-cash society, the goal of a cashless society will not be far away," he said.

"I invite you all to not only support me but be a soldier of change and achieve it. We will fight to free India from corruption and black money," PM Modi reiterated.

He also spoke about the Kashmir situation and particularly hailed the massive attendance of students in board exams recently.

Moreover, PM Modi said that people of the country must stand with the soldiers to boost their moral and strength.

"We must stand with our forces. When the entire nation stands with our 'jawans' (soldiers), their strength increases 125 crore times," he said.

The Prime Minister said that like always this year too he celebrated Diwali with the soldiers.

"This year Diwali was different, the way people of the country sent their messages to the 'jawans' was amazing."

PM Modi also announced to publish a coffee table book containing the wishes from the masses for the soldiers on the occasion of Diwali.

In sync with what most people asked, today's #MannKiBaat was centred around the decision on 500 & 1000 Rupee notes. https://t.co/Hbxe6ds4Ib  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) November 27, 2016
New Delhi: Addressing the nation through his monthly radio programme `Mann ki Baat`, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appealed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to build bright future for the children.

Prime Minister Modi said, the youth of Jammu and Kashmir aspire to rise in life through education, and therefore he commended them for their enthusiasm.

"I had met a few representatives from Kashmir, a few days back and discussed various issues. I had urged them to return and pay attention to building a bright future for the children in Valley. Glad to see results," he said.

"I asked them to concentrate on their children`s future despite the challenges the students in Jammu and Kashmir are facing when they went for their board exams," he added.

Urging everyone to boost the morale of the security forces, Prime Minister Modi said, "Our soldiers are our greatest strength. When the entire nation stands with our jawans, their strength increases. I understand your problems but for a disease which has infected our country for 70 years, treatment can`t be simple."

The prime minister also touched on issues like gender discrimination, open defecation, digital banking, farmers and demonetisation.

Much of his address, however, was dedicated to the jawans.
New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh today spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal about the Nabha jailbreak in which a hardcore Khalistani terrorist escaped along with five other prisoners and sought a detailed report from the state government.

The Home Minister, who was in Hyderabad, also asked the Chief Minister to take urgent steps to tighten security in all jails in Punjab, officials said.

During the 15-minute telephonic conversation, Badal briefed Singh about the incident and steps taken to nab the culprits.

"I have told the Home Secretary to get a report from the Punjab government immediately. If the Punjab government needs any assistance, we will provide it," Singh said.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also spoke to the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and apprised him of the details of the incident. He updated the NSA on steps being taken to apprehend the culprits.

Concerned over the incident, Home Ministry asked the Punjab government to send the report as early as possible.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi also spoke to Director General of Punjab Police and asked him to ensure adequate security in all jails in Punjab.

In the sensational jailbreak, a group of armed men in police uniform attacked the high-security Nabha Jail in Patiala and fled with six prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo, an accused in 10 cases.

The incident came two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces to guard against attempts to disturb peace through "vicious" political campaign or by external extremist forces during the election process in Punjab and four other states.

"We have to keep strict vigil against external extremist elements who may try to create disturbance in Punjab. There have been increased activities of the Sikh terrorists in recent months.

"Similarly in Manipur, we have to ensure peace keeping in mind the ethnic divide. In Uttar Pradesh too, there may be attempts to disturb law and order through vicious political campaigning. We have to keep strict vigil and take proper steps to ensure peace during election," he said at the DGPs conference in Hyderabad on Friday.
New Delhi: In what will be his fifth visit to eastern UP in the last seven months, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the BJPs Parivartan Yatra rally at Kushinagar, epicenter of the Buddhist circuit in Gorakhpur region today.

This would be the Modis third Parivartan rally after Ghazipur on November 14 and at Agra on December 20, in the wake of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, scheduled for early next year.

PM Modi would be addressing the rally at Kasaya airstrip on the outskirts of the city on the sidelines of the ongoing four Parivartan yatras in the state organised by the BJP in order to put a stamp on a BJP-ruled UP next year.

Several Union ministers and senior BJP leaders would be present to welcome the Prime Minister at Kushinagar.
Coimbatore: Three men were killed and another seriously injured, when the car in which they were travelling collide with an Omni bus near Annur, about 35 km from here early on Sunday morning.

The deceased all aged about 21 years, were from this city, police said, adding that their friend who was driving the car, was being treated at the government hospital here.

The four were on their way to Udhagamandalam past midnight on Saturday along with some friends in two other cars when the mishap occurred.

The bus was proceeding to Munnar in Kerala after touring Nilgiris district, police said.
Kovalam: A 25-year-old Karnataka native was arrested for allegedly raping a 35-year-old Japanese woman in Kerala`s Kovalam district.

The accused, Teja, was arrested on Saturday by the police officials, acting upon the complaint filed by the victim.

According to police, the incident took place on Friday night.

A case has been registered against Teja under section 376 (punishment for rape) of the Indian Penal Code.

Teja`s family runs a handicrafts shop at Kovalam, police said.

The woman was rushed to the government SAT Hospital by the staff after she was found injured and bleeding in her hotel room.The woman had arrived in Kovalam on Friday, police said.
Jammu: Opposition National Conference leaders today came in the defense of party president Farooq Abdullah over his controversial remarks saying his statement was based on "facts" as history stands testimony that the LoC has not been altered during the past nearly seven decades.

Questioning BJP's political understanding, senior National Conference leaders in a joint statement said, "We want Line of Control to be the line of peace, line of mutual understanding, trust and regional cooperation rather than line of conflict and animosity."

The NC leaders expressed hope India and Pakistan would come to terms with this reality and live like good neighbours.

"We cannot progress and prosper, carrying the baggage of animosity and hostility any longer, as generations have perished in pursuit of peace and tranquility," the leaders said.

They also recalled that such a proposal was seriously considered by former prime minister Atal Behari Vajpyee during while discussing the issue with his Pakistani counterpart.

"And, both the leaders had agreed to the preposition in-principle," they added.

Lashing out at the BJP for its "uncalled for" reaction to the assertion of Farooq Abdullah, National Conference said that they should "open up their minds and not behave like ostrich".

"Facing realities is better part of valour," they said, adding that jingoistic posturing will only push the subcontinent to destruction and devastation.

They referred to the colossal loss to human lives during the four wars between the two countries and the ongoing "proxy war" in the Valley and said allowing this situation to continue will be a grave injustice to future generations, who have the right to progress and prosper in a healthy and peaceful environment.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah today said neither India could take back PoK nor Pakistan has the power to take this part of Kashmir by going to war, so the solution to the problem lies in dialogue between the two countries.
Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI(M)-led LDF government in Kerala today ordered a magisterial probe into the recent encounter of two Maoists at Nilambur forests in Malappuram district.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan directed Perinthalmanna Sub-Collector to conduct a comprehensive probe into the incident and submit a report.

The case, registered in connection with the encounter killing, was handed over to the Crime Branch, the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.

The government's decision came in the wake of CPI, a major partner in ruling LDF, and human rights activists coming out against the encounter of the Left rebels.

Two Maoists- Kuppuswamy Devaraj (65), a central committee member of the outlawed outfit and Ajitha (45), were killed in an encounter with police in Nilambur forests on November 24.

The Crime Branch probe was ordered late last night by DGP Loknath Behara as the Supreme Court had in September 2014 laid down guidelines as per which in all cases of encounter deaths a mandatory registration of FIR and investigation by CID or any other independent agency was necessary.

According to police, the Maoists had opened fire at a patrolling party following which police retaliated, killing the two.

The attack took place in a 500-acre forest area in the Western Ghats, they said.

Improvised explosive devices, materials used to make explosives and explosive materials, solar panels, some battery chargers,?a set of pen drives, a modem, an electronic tab, a pistol and 40 sacks of rice were also recovered from the hideout of the Maoists, police said.

Police also said the ultras fired at a police party on a combing operation in Nilambur area and two of them were killed in retaliatory firing.

The search operations were undertaken by a 60-member elite team of the Thunderbolt Force, based on a tip-off that Maoists were camping in the area.
Patiala/Lucknow: In a daring daylight jailbreak, six prisoners including Khalistan Liberation Front (KLF) chief Harminder Mintoo, managed to escape the Nabha penitentiary in Punjab on Sunday after armed men in police uniform tricked the sentries into opening the gates and bolted out with the inmates firing a hail of bullets.

Among the escapees was another terrorist Kashmira Singh, according to Punjab police chief Suresh Arora.

However, hours later, the alleged "mastermind" of the daring daylight jailbreak, Parminder Singh, was arrested from Kairana in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district when the getaway vehicle  a Toyota Fortuner  was stopped at a police picket.

Also Read: Major breakthrough in Nabha jailbreak: Mastermind Parminder Singh arrested, huge cache of arms recovered

A self-loading rifle (SLR), three rifles and several rounds of ammunition were recovered from the SUV during the search, UP's Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Daljit Singh Chaudhary said.

After the six escaped, apparently without facing much resistance from the security personnel, Punjab government sacked two senior prison officials, Superintendent and Deputy Superintendent, suspended ADGP (Jails) M K Tiwari, and formed an SIT to probe the jail break.

It ordered a separate inquiry committee headed by Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Jagpal Singh Sandhu to look into the "security lapses".

"There are two aspects. One is that the jailbreak will be probed and the second thing is lapses. Who is responsible, if there is any connivance?" the DGP said.

Arora said, "The unidentified assailants came in police fatigues and were carrying small firearms." He said they told the sentries that they had brought a prisoner along, tricking them into opening the gates.

He said over 35 rounds were fired but there was no casualty among the jail personnel, who were apparently taken offguard and did not offer any strong resistance.

Also Read: Armed men attack Punjab's Nabha jail, free Khalistan Liberation Front chief

"The firing was also done from inside the jail. We will see why the firing was not effective," the DGP said and added there is a "conspiracy somewhere".

"Had there been effective firing, it would have been the other way round," he said.

Mintoo was arrested by Punjab police in November 2014 after he was deported from Thailand and was wanted in 10 terror cases.

Meanwhile, a woman was killed when the police, in a tizzy after the audacious jailbreak, opened fire at a vehicle which did not stop at a picket, about 20 km away from the jail.

Chaudhary said Parminder had told his interrogators that the escapees had split themselves into groups and had moved in the direction of Karnal and Panipat in Haryana.

"Following the inputs about the jailbreak, we had apprehension that they (escapees) might try to enter Nepal through the long porous border. We had been informed about the registration number of the vehicle. When we searched it, we found weapons. Parminder has confessed to having organised and executed the jailbreak, he was the mastermind," Chaudhary said.

Chaudhary said Parminder was an accused in the killing of a sub-inspector of Punjab police and had planned the escape with another gangster Prema, who had helped him flee from jail some time ago.

Also Read: Nabha jailbreak: Rajnath Singh seeks detailed report, asks Punjab CM to tighten security in all jails

After the jailbreak, security agencies in northern states were put on high alert and Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

He sought an immediate report on the incident, besides directing the state to step up security at jails.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval spoke to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal who apprised him of the details of the incident and steps being taken to apprehend the six escapees.

Sukhbir said Pakistan could be behind the incident as it was desperate to revive terrorism in the state post-surgical strike across LoC and assured that the "conspiracy" will be unravelled soon.

The others who fled were gangster Vicky Gaundar, Amandeep Dhotian, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol and Kashmira Singh, who is also a terrorist.

Mintoo was arrested in 10 cases including the 2008 attack on Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and recovery of explosives at Halwara Air Force Station in 2010.

A high alert has been sounded in Punjab and Haryana after the incident with security around railway stations, airports, inter-state bus terminuses and other places of key importance stepped up.

Also Read: Nabha jailbreak: Know all about pro-Khalistan leader Harminder Singh Mintoo

Central security agencies have told the governments of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi Police to remain on high alert as Mintoo could be hiding in their territory.

Prabodh Kumar, Additional Director General of Police, Internal Vigilance Cell shall head the SIT comprising Paramraj Singh, IGP/Patiala Zone, Ishwar Singh, IGP, Nilabh Kishore, IGP/Counter Intelligence, Amar Singh Chahal, DIG/Patiala Range and Gurmeet Chouhan, SSP/Patiala.

Meanwhile, a Hyundai Verna car was found abandoned at a place in Kaithal in Haryana. One of the getaway vehicles used by the escapees was a car of that make.

Police said the car was locked and had two number plates in front, one above the other. Fingerprinting experts have been called for a forensic examination before the car's doors are opened, they said.

(With PTI inputs)
Chandigarh: In a major breakthrough, police arrested Parminder Singh, one of the Nabha jail attackers, from Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh on Sunday and recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from his possession.

Parminder was among the group of ten armed men who attacked the high-security Nabha Jail in Punjab's Patiala district today and escaped with six prisoners, including a Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.

ADG UP Daljeet Singh Choudhary confirmed the news and told ANI that Parminder has confessed to his crimes.

"He has confessed to his crimes. There was a high alert in Uttar Pradesh since morning and we had information that the accused might try to go towards Nepal. During checking operation, we nabbed him," the ADG UP said.

Also read: Armed men attack Punjab's Nabha jail, free Khalistan Liberation Front chief

Also read: Nabha jailbreak: Rajnath Singh seeks detailed report, asks Punjab CM to tighten security in all jails

Parminder is said to be the mastermind of the high-security Nabha jailbreak incident. As per the report, he was caught while trying to flee to Nepal in a car. His arrest has come as the first breakthrough in the jailbreak incident.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident, another car with a Punjab number plate has been found in Sonu Majra village in Kaithal district of Haryana. Police are suspecting that the car might have been used by the Nabha attackers.

Earlier today, Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal about the Nabha jailbreak and sought a detailed report from the state government on the incident.

Singh, who was in Hyderabad, also asked the Chief Minister to take urgent steps to tighten security in all jails in Punjab, officials said.

Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal also spoke to the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and apprised him of the details of the incident. He updated the NSA on steps being taken to apprehend the culprits.

In the sensational jailbreak, a group of men in police uniform attacked the Nabha jail and freed six prisoners, including pro-Khalistan leader Harminder Mintoo, an accused in 10 cases.

The incident came two days after Home Minister Rajnath Singh asked security forces to guard against attempts to disturb peace through "vicious" political campaign or by external extremist forces during the election process in Punjab and four other states.

A massive manhunt was launched to trace the inmates who escaped from the jail and a special task force was also formed to track them.
Chandigarh: The Punjab Police and security agencies are investigating the recent activities of the six prisoners who escaped from the maximum security Nabha Jail premises on Sunday following a well-planned attack by unidentified armed men.

Police sources said CCTV footage of the jail, call records of jail officials and others and posts on social media sites were being studied to know the involvement of people in the sensational jailbreak.

Of the prisoners who escaped, Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) chief Harminder Singh Mintoo was arrested in November 2014 as he returned to India from Thailand after being deported from there.

He was nabbed from the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport in New Delhi along with an aide after security and intelligence agencies tracked him.

Mintoo`s aide Gurpreet Singh, also deported from Thailand, was also arrested.

Mintoo is wanted in several terror cases in Punjab. Police had claimed that Mintoo was planning terrorist strikes in the region.

"The KLF chief was wanted in 10 terrorist offences and his key aide Gurpreet Singh had been tasked to execute a conspiracy of assassinating Hindu leaders in 2013 which was foiled by Punjab Police," Punjab Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) Hardeep Singh Dhillon had said then.

Punjab Police traced and located them in Thailand in co-ordination with central agencies. On November 7, they were brought from Thailand to New Delhi in co-ordination with Thai authorities and arrested.

Two Punjab police officers camped in Thailand for three weeks while tracking the terrorists there.

"It was established that Harminder Singh was using a fake Malaysian passport issued in the name of Gurdeep Singh (Passport A-22967012 issued in Ipoh, Malaysia) and a fake Malaysian ID Card No. 610320086949," Dhillon said.

Mintoo was trying to revive and strengthen the KLF with foreign-based supporters. He visited Pakistan and later travelled to Italy, Belgium, Germany, France and other European countries for 11 months (June 2013 to May 2014) before coming to Southeast Asia.

The Punjab Police came to know about the conspiracy to eliminate Hindu leaders after sleeper cells were busted by the police in 2013-14.

Mintoo had close contact with Pakistan`s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers.

Another terrorist, Kashmir Singh Galwadi, who was involved in an attack on a Punjab Hindu leader in Gurdaspur in 2013, also escaped. He was also associated with the pro-Khalistan movement.

Gangster Vicky Gonder, arrested in December last year, was suspected to be behind the murderous attack on another gangster, Sukha Kahlwan, near Jalandhar in January 2015. Kahlwan was in police protection and was being taken for a court hearing when the attack took place at Phagwara town.

Kahlwan was gunned down while the police personnel accompanying him failed to repulse the attack.

Gonder and other gangsters had been in the news for running the affairs of their gangs from inside Punjab jails and also using social media.

Gangster Gurpreet Sekhon, who also escaped on Sunday, led another gang which was involved in murder, kidnappings, extortion and highway robberies.

The other two gangsters, Neeta Deol and Vikramjit, were also involved in various crimes in Punjab and other places.
Chandigarh: The Punjab government on Sunday suspended the Director General (Jails) and dismissed the Nabha Jail superintendent and deputy jail superintendent and set up a special taskforce to look into the Nabha jailbreak incident.

"DG Jails has been suspended and Jail Superintendent and Deputy Jail Superintendent have been dismissed," Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, who also holds the home portfolio, told reporters.

A manhunt has been launched to trace the prisoners who escaped, the Deputy CM said and added that a special task force has been formed to track them.

Sukhbir said a special investigation team under the ADGP rank officer has also been constituted which shall look into lapses as well as any conspiracy theories surrounding the jail break incident.

"Special Investigation team has been asked to submit report within three days in this regard," he said.

The Home Secretary has also been asked to submit a report on the incident.

"Home Secretary will give me a report on wherever any lapse has taken place. Whosoever will be found responsible in this incident, strict action will be taken against him," he said.

However, the Deputy CM said that there was no need to worry.

"They (prisoners) will not be allowed to run away. Police is after them. We will catch them soon," he said.

A group of armed men in police uniform today stormed the high-security Nabha Jail here and fled with five prisoners including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.

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Kushinagar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at Opposition parties for their 'Bharat Bandh' call against demonetisaion, saying they are organising the strike at a time when he is trying to root out corruption and black money.

"I am stopping black money and corruption and some are giving call for Bharat Bandh," he said at BJP's 'Parivartan Yatra' rally here in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Without naming any opposition party, Modi said, "We are trying to curb corruption and they are organising 'Bharat Bandh'. Should there be 'Bharat Bandh' or should the route of corruption be blocked?"

Several opposition parties have given a call for 'Akrosh Diwas' tomorrow to protest against the Centre's demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

The Prime Minister said the decision on demonetisation was tough, "but (the) future will be bright".

Referring to the problems being faced by the common man including villagers in withdrawing money, he advised them to take the e-wallet route.

"Era of wallet has gone, you can use your mobile phone as your bank branch with the same ease with which you take snaps and send them to friends," Modi said.
The Dalai Lama speaks at the Janraiseg temple of Gandantegchinlen monastery in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said Wednesday, he has no worries about Donald Trumps election as U.S. president.
Istanbul: Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by a chemical gas attack from Islamic State (IS) jihadists in northern Syria, the Turkish army said on Sunday.

"After a rocket was fired by Daesh (IS), 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas," the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.
Los Angeles: A civil rights group has called for more police protection of mosques after several in California received letters that praised President-elect Donald Trump and threatened Muslim genocide.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, said the same handwritten, photocopied letter was sent last week to the Islamic Center of Long Beach, the Islamic Center of Claremont and the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday.

The letter was addressed to "the children of Satan" and it was signed by "American for A Better Way." The LA area mosques received it Wednesday and the San Jose mosque on Thursday.

"There's a new sheriff in town -- President Donald Trump. He's going to cleanse America and make it shine again. And, he's going to start with you Muslims," the letter states, according to CAIR. "And, he's going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews (sic)."

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA, said people at the LA County mosques were disheartened by the hateful letters and added that the "irresponsible, hateful rhetoric" of the Trump campaign has fueled "a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger among many self-proclaimed Trump supporters."

"I'm not saying (Trump) created racist people," he said. "He normalised it. While he might say he's not responsible, and I respect that, I remind President-elect Trump that he has a responsibility to act as a president for all Americans."

San Jose Police Department spokesman Sgt Enrique Garcia said police have opened an investigation and are treating it as a "hate-motivated incident."
Algiers: Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika declared on Saturday eight days of national mourning for the death of former Cuban President Fidel Castro.

"President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, on Saturday has declared eight days of national mourning as from Sunday, following the death of Cuba`s former Head of State, Fidel Castro Ruz, the leader of the Cuban Revolution," APS news agency quoted the President Office as saying in a statement.

Bouteflika has also sent a message of condolence to Raul Castro Ruz, the current President of Cuba, in which he affirmed that the death of Fidel Castro is a "great loss" for the Algerian people, Xinhua news agency reported.

He stressed that Castro played a key role in the Algerian Liberation War (1954-1962) against the French occupation and provided "solidarity and support to the reconstruction of our country ruined by a devastating colonial war" after Algeria gained independence.

"I salute him as an authentic defender of the values of peace, respect and national sovereignty, and of his uncompromising struggle for the rights of people to self-determination," concludes the message.

Fidel Castro died aged 90 on Friday. He governed Cuba as Prime Minister from 1959 to 1976 and then as President from 1976 to 2008.
Paris: Francois Fillon, a conservative reformist promising to shrink the French state, on Sunday clinched the rightwing nomination to stand in next year`s presidential election with a resounding victory.

Ex-prime minister Fillon will now become a favourite to be France`s next leader after winning the US-style primary to pick the nominee of the Republicans party and its allies.

Partial results showed him winning 67 percent of the vote with results counted from 9,193 polling stations out of 10,229.

"France wants the truth and France wants action," he told cheering supporters after his centrist rival Alain Juppe conceded defeat.

"The left means failure, the far-right means bankruptcy," he declared, saying he would be the candidate of "all those who in their hearts are proud to be French".

The French presidential vote is seen as a key test for mainstream political parties after the success of Donald Trump and the Brexit campaign in Britain, both of which harnessed anti-elite anger.

Fillon will face fierce competition in the election in April and May from far-right leader Marine Le Pen, the anti-establishment candidate hoping to emulate Trump`s shock victory in the US.

Turnout in the primary was expected to be beat the four million people who took part in a first round of voting a week ago when Fillon, 62, came from behind to lead a field of seven candidates.

The prime minister from 2007-12 has warned that France is "on the verge of revolt" and believes his plan to slash 500,000 public sector jobs and increase working hours is the tonic needed to kickstart the economy.

The devout Catholic has also taken a hard line on immigration and Islam in France, telling newcomers to the country last week that "when you enter someone else`s house you do not take over."Voting in the northwest of Paris, Christophe Mordelet, a 45-year-old human resources manager, said he chose Fillon because he showed "more authority" than Juppe, who campaigned as a unifier.

"You have to bang your fist on the table to get reforms through in this country. We have to stop giving into the power of the street," he said.

Juppe made a clear pitch for the centre-ground, saying his opponent`s agenda was too "brutal" and he was better placed to keep the far-right out of power.

Conceding defeat and ending his career-long dream of becoming president, the 71-year-old wished Fillon "good luck" in his campaign to become France`s next leader.

During the campaign, Juppe had hit out at his opponent as a "yes man" for Russian President Vladimir Putin and also questioned his views on abortion.

Fillon wants closer ties with the Kremlin and has called for the European Union to lift its sanctions on Moscow imposed after Russia`s invasion of

Ukraine in 2014. The Republicans candidate is widely tipped by pollsters to face Le Pen -- and beat her -- in a second round run-off in May next year.

But the race is seen as highly unpredictable after a year of political upsets and uncertainty about the impact of independents and the Socialist party candidate.

Socialist President Francois Hollande has yet to announce whether he will try to defy his historically low approval ratings by running for a second term.

After a troubled five years in power, a survey on Friday showed current Prime Minister Manuel Valls would be a far more popular candidate than Hollande.

Valls has not ruled out challenging his boss in a left-wing primary set for January, telling the weekly Journal du Dimanche he wanted to dispel the idea "that the left has no chance" of retaining power.

Hollande`s former protege and economy minister, 38-year-old Emmanuel Macron, is also set to stand for the presidency as a centrist independent.

Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon is also likely to draw votes away from mainstream parties in a trend seen in elections across Europe following years of austerity and anger over globalisation and job losses.

Like Fillon, Juppe had pledged to cut public sector jobs -- but only half as many -- saying a more gradual response was needed in a country where trade unions still have significant clout.

The head of the hardline CGT trade union, Philippe Martinez, told France Inter radio a "mobilisation will be on the cards" if he tried to ram through reforms.

Some analysts believe that Fillon might have to moderate his programme.

Accepting the presidential nomination on Sunday, he promised to "reach out to all those who want to serve the country."
Havana Province: Cuba mourned revolutionary leader Fidel Castro on Sunday as the communist island prepared to say its last goodbyes to the towering giant of its modern history with mass memorials and a four-day funeral procession.

After the stunned commotion surrounding Saturday`s announcement that Castro had died at age 90, Sunday was set to be a day of calm preparations, with no official activities planned.

Castro, whose iron-fisted rule defied the United States for half a century, died late Friday after surviving 11 US administrations and hundreds of assassination attempts.

The authorities did not give a cause of death.

The polarizing leader, a titan of the 20th century who beat the odds to endure well into the 21st, was to be cremated Saturday, the first of nine days of national mourning.

A series of memorials will begin Monday, when Cubans are called to converge on Havana`s iconic Revolution Square.

Castro`s ashes will then go on a four-day procession through the country, before being buried in the southeastern city of Santiago on December 4.

Santiago, Cuba`s second city, was the scene of Castro`s ill-fated first attempt at revolution in 1953 -- six years before he succeeded in ousting US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Adored by admirers as a savior of the people, reviled by enemies as a cruel tyrant, Castro ruled Cuba from 1959 until he handed power to his younger brother Raul in 2006 amid a health crisis.

Even then, he continued to loom large, penning diatribes against American "imperialism" in the state press and wielding influence behind the scenes.Castro is so far as divisive in death as in life.

The news drew strong -- and polarized -- reactions across the world.

Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed him as "the symbol of an era," and China`s Xi Jinping said "Comrade Castro will live forever."

But in Miami, home to the largest community of exiles who fled Castro`s rule, euphoric crowds erupted into loud celebration.

There were sharply different reactions in the US from outgoing President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump.

Obama, who embarked on a historic rapprochement with Cuba in 2014, said the US extended a "hand of friendship" to the Cuban people.

But Trump called Castro "a brutal dictator."

The future of the historic US-Cuban thaw announced in December 2014 looks uncertain under Trump.

He has threatened to reverse course if Cuba does not allow greater human rights.

In Havana, bustling streets emptied and parties ground to a halt as Castro`s admirers sank into grief.

"What can I say? Fidel Castro was larger than life," said a tearful Aurora Mendez, 82.

She recalled a life in poverty before Castro`s revolution in 1959.

"Fidel was always first in everything, fighting for the downtrodden and the poor," she said.Fidel Castro came to power against the backdrop of the Cold War as a black-bearded, cigar-chomping 32-year-old.

Adopting the slogan "socialism or death," he kept the faith to the end.

He endured more than 600 assassination attempts, according to aides, as well as the disastrous US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion attempt in 1961.

His outrage over that botched plot contributed to the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the Soviet Union agreed to his request to send ballistic missiles to Cuba.

The US discovery of the missiles pushed the world to the brink of nuclear war.

The Soviet Union bankrolled Castro`s regime until 1989, when the Eastern Bloc`s collapse sent Cuba`s economy plunging.

Still, Fidel managed to hang on.

He ceded power to his brother Raul, now 85, in July 2006 to recover from intestinal surgery.

The father of at least eight children, Fidel Castro was last seen in public on his 90th birthday on August 13.
Sydney: The death toll from Australia`s "thunderstorm asthma" episode has risen to six and three others are in critical condition, authorities said Sunday, as they assessed the fallout from the unprecedented event.

Four victims -- ranging from the ages of 18 to 35 -- were last week linked to the unusual weather phenomenon, where a thunderstorm coincided with a high pollen count and sent more than 8,500 patients to hospital emergency departments.

The rare event in Australia`s southern state of Victoria triggered respiratory problems for asthma and hay fever sufferers.

"There have now been six deaths that may have occurred as a result of conditions relating to the thunderstorm asthma events on Monday," Victoria`s health department spokesman said in a statement.

"Five patients are continuing to receive specialist ICU (intensive care unit) care in hospitals in Melbourne, with three still in a critical condition."

A further 12 people were being treated for respiratory and other health problems, he added.

No further details were released about the two latest victims.

Victorian Health Minister Jill Hennessy said Thursday the demand for ambulances was so acute at one point that "it was like having 150 bombs going off right across a particular part of metropolitan Melbourne".

The government has launched a review into how emergency and health services can better respond and manage such rare events.

The phenomena occurs when rye grass pollen gets wet, breaks into smaller pieces and enters people`s lungs, causing them breathing issues. It is only known to have occurred in Australia several times.
Florida: Juanita Castro, a sister of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro who has lived in Miami for decades, will not attend his funeral, local media reported Saturday.

"Given unhealthy rumors that I was headed to Cuba for the funeral, I want to state clearly that I have never returned to the island, and I don`t plan to do so," Castro told El Nuevo Herald.

"I`m not rejoicing in any human being`s death, nor would I do that with someone who shares my family names," she went on. "As Fidel`s sister, I am going through the loss of a human being who shared my blood."

President Raul Castro, Fidel`s 85-year-old younger brother, made the announcement of Fidel`s death on state television around midnight Friday.

Fidel and Cuban President Raul Castro were among their parents` seven offspring. Juanita, born in 1933, was the only one to publicly oppose the

Communist regime her brother led for over five decades.

She has been living in Miami since 1964, and said she cooperated with a CIA plot to oust Fidel.
Paris: Francois Fillon, set to become the presidential nominee of the French right, is a Thatcher fan who has pledged to slash state spending, restore ties with Russia and defend traditional family values.

Following are five of his top proposals: Fillon wants to cut 500,000 jobs from the country`s 5.4-million-strong public service, part of a plan to cut state spending by 100 billion euros ($106 billion).

He also wants to increase the minimum retirement age from 62 to 65 years for most people.

To boost competitiveness, he wants to cut corporate tax from 33 percent to 25 percent. He also plans to scrap a wealth tax on top earners.

France`s cherished social security regime will feel the pinch. While treatment for "serious or chronic ailments" would still be reimbursed by the state, smaller ailments would fall under the responsibility of private insurers. Fillon has vowed to scrap the 35-hour working week, a totem of the French left.

Bosses and private sector workers would be left to negotiate working time directly, within an EU limit of 48 hours a week.

Public servants would work 39 hours a week, paid 37.

Any such reform would be fiercely contested by hardline unions. The head of the militant CGT union, Philippe Martinez, warned a "mobilisation will be on the cards" if the right came to power. A devout Catholic, Fillon considers France has "a problem linked to Islam".

He has demanded that "the Islamic religion accept what all the others have accepted in the past... that radicalism and provocation have no place here."

He rejects multiculturalism, saying migrants -- whose number he wants to reduce to a "strict minimum" -- must assimilate.

"When you enter someone else`s house you do not take over," he declared during the last primary debate. Fillon`s ties with Moscow came under scrutiny in the primary, with his rival Alain Juppe painting him as too close to President Vladimir Putin who praised the man from Le Mans as a "very principled person".

Fillon believes the European Union and the United States "provoked" Russia by expanding in eastern Europe and has called for an alliance with Putin and President Bashar al-Assad`s regime against the Islamic State group in Syria.

Europe must act as the "balance of power" in the world, he says, calling for greater convergence among eurozone members. A devout Catholic,

Fillon opposed a 2013 gay marriage bill that brought hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets in protest. Three years later he wants to amend the legislation to partly repeal gay adoption rights.

He wants to lower taxes on middle-class families and opposes calls for single women and lesbians to be given access to fertility treatment.

He personally opposes abortion but has ruled out revising a 41-year-old law allowing terminations.
Paris: Millions of French voters head to the polls today to select a presidential candidate for the centre- right Republicans party, with ex-premier Francois Fillon tipped to emerge the winner and become the favourite for next year's election.

The US-style primary contest, the first for the Republicans, is a battle between socially conservative and economic "radical" Fillon and the more moderate Alain Juppe, also a former prime minister who is nine years older at 71.

The French presidential vote is being seen as a key test for mainstream political parties after the success of Donald Trump in the United States and the Brexit campaign in Britain, both of which harnessed anti-elite, anti-establishment anger.

Whoever wins today will face fierce competition from far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is waiting in the wings ready to attack the victor as a symbol of France's ruling class.

Fillon, a career politician and prime minister from 2007- 12, has warned that France is "on the verge of revolt" and believes his plan to slash 500,000 public sector jobs and business regulations is the tonic the demoralised country needs.

"I'll do everything for entrepreneurs!" he declared at his final rally on Friday night in Paris, promising to unleash businesses in order to create the jobs needed to lower a stubbornly high unemployment rate of around 10 percent.

The devout Catholic and motor racing fan has also won support with his hard line on Muslim immigrants, as well as an emphasis on protecting France's identity, language and family values.

He demanded Friday that "the Islamic religion accept what all the others have accepted in the past... That radicalism and provocation have no place here."

Juppe has made a clear pitch for the centre-ground, accusing his opponent of wanting to reform France with "brutality" with an unrealistic programme that has drawn support from the far-right.

As well as promising to shrink the French state, Juppe's signature announcement was a promise to seek a "happy identity" for multicultural France despite worries about the threat of immigration and Islamic extremism.

"I think I am best placed with my programme to beat Marine Le Pen," Juppe said on the last day of campaigning on Friday.

He has also sought to highlight Fillon's conservative views on abortion and gay marriage, as well as his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin who praised Fillon last week as a "very principled person".
Jerusalem: Israel will order 17 more US-made F-35 warplanes to take its fleet of stealthy Joint Strike Fighters to 50 over the next few years, the premier`s office said Sunday.

A statement from Benjamin Netanyahu`s office said the green light for the order was given by the security cabinet.

The Jewish state is due to take delivery of its first F-35s next month.

US officials and industry executives insist the plane promises to become the ultimate stealth fighter jet, able to evade enemy radar while flying at supersonic speeds.

Outfitted with elaborate software, the F-35 resembles a flying computer.

Through the visor of a hi-tech helmet linked to on-board cameras, the pilot can "see" through the cockpit floor to the ground below -- providing an unprecedented 360-degree view.

Israeli public radio said the purchase will come under the US military aid programme -- in September, President Barack Obama signed off on a 10-year military aid package for Israel worth $38 billion -- the largest in US history.

Israeli company Elbit Systems is taking part in the manufacture of hi-tech helmets for F-35 pilots, and state-owned Israel Military Industries manufactures aircraft parts.

Public radio on Sunday reported Netanyahu as saying that by ordering 17 additional F-35s, the government "intends to act to strengthen Israel`s security and ensure its existence in the coming decades".

"Israel can defend itself with its own forces against all of its enemies, whatever the distance," he said. Israeli leaders have justified the acquisition of the F-35 by raising the spectre of its arch-foe Iran.

The F-35 is believed to be able to evade air defence systems including Russian-made S-300 missiles, which Iranian state television said in August had been deployed to protect the Fordo nuclear facility.

The Fordo site, built into a mountain near the city of Qom, has stopped enriching uranium since the January implementation of a nuclear deal between the Islamic republic and world powers.

The historic July 2015 agreement removed some international sanctions in return for curbs on Tehran`s controversial atomic programme.

Iran denies seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Netanyahu has lambasted the landmark deal with Iran as a "historic mistake", and has repeatedly threatened to take military action if necessary to prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Israel is believed to have the Middle East`s sole, if undeclared, nuclear arsenal.
Downtown West Salem is getting a coffeehouse.

Owner Kristina Sage will hold an open house from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday to give people a preview of her new Oma coffeehouse at 122 S. Leonard St. Its grand opening will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 10, and Sage expects to be in full operation Dec. 12.

Oma is German for grandmother. Sage chose that business name to honor her mother, the late Susan Gigstead. She added that Gigsteads greatest joy was being a grandmother. Gigstead had a passion for baking, which she passed along to Sages niece, Presley Rhode, who will manage Oma and be its head baker.

Oma will provide a high-quality cup of coffee and offer a selection of baked goods from its small bakery, Sage said. It also will offer tea from the Dim Sum Tea Shop in La Crosse.

Most of Omas coffee beans will come from JBC Coffee Roasters in Madison, said Sage, who plans to hold a meet the roaster event Jan. 28. We will also feature different coffee roasters from time to time, she said.

Some of Omas baked items will include scones, muffins, brownies, granola bars, cookies and sourdough cinnamon rolls.

Omas hours will be 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to noon Saturday and closed Sunday. For more information, call (715) 896-1423 or visit www.omajava.com or the coffeeshops Facebook page.

A new Arbys restaurant will open Monday at 918A S. Black River St., along Hwy. 27 on the south side of Sparta. Its in the same building as the Sparta Co-op Cenex Convenience Store.

The 2,000-square-foot restaurant will have 40 to 50 employees, said Abbey Ramsey, director of marketing for Arbys franchisee DRM Inc. in Omaha, Neb. Once it opens, DRM will have 72 Arbys restaurants operating.

The Sparta restaurants grand opening celebration will be Dec. 6-9; for details, visit www.drmarbys.com. The new restaurants telephone number is 608-269-1055.

Hours at the Sparta Arbys will be 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. Ramsey said the new restaurant also has a drive-thru as well as a to-go family style catering service.

Some other features include a communal table with contemporary overhead lighting and an eating bar with multi-media charging outlets, she said.

DRM Inc. also is building a new Arbys restaurant in front of the Walmart supercenter on Hwy. 54 in Black River Falls.

The Arbys in Black River Falls is expected to open in January, Ramsey said. DRMs Arbys restaurants are in Iowa, Illinois, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

The local Lincare office moved recently from 1010 S. 19th St. in the Jackson Plaza shopping center to 214 Copeland Ave. in La Crosse.

Lincare Holdings Inc., headquartered in Clearwater, Fla., says it is one of the nations largest providers of oxygen and other respiratory therapy services to patients in their homes.

For more information, visit www.lincare.com.
Kuwait City: Islamist-dominated opposition groups and their allies secured nearly half of the Kuwaiti parliament's seats, official results showed today, raising fears of fresh political wrangling in the oil-rich Gulf state.

The opposition and its allies won 24 of the assembly's 50 seats, the electoral authority announced following Saturday's snap election called after a dispute over the hiking of petrol prices.

The Islamist, nationalist and liberal opposition contested the election after a four-year boycott in protest over the government's amendment of the key voting system.

Around half of the opposition candidates who won seats are Islamists from a Muslim Brotherhood-linked group and Salafists.

Voters dealt a heavy blow to candidates from the outgoing parliament, with more than half of them failing to make it into the new assembly.

Two of three cabinet ministers also failed in their bid for re-election.

One third of the members of the new parliament are relatively young and fresh on the political scene.

Only one woman was elected and the Muslim Shiite minority was reduced to six seats from nine in the previous house.

But despite the outcome, Emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah is set to ask the incumbent prime minister or another leading figure from the ruling family to form a new cabinet.

"I think this composition will lead to confrontations between opposition MPs and the next government," political analyst Mohammad al-Ajmi told AFP.

"There are many issues that could spark disputes: economic measures, revoking of citizenships and others," said Ajmi.

In the past two years, the government revoked the citizenship of several leading opposition figures and their family members, citing various motives.

The emir called the poll after dissolving the previous parliament due to a dispute over raising petrol prices.

Saturday's election saw a turnout of about 70 percent amid divisions over cuts in subsidies due to falling oil revenues.

Analyst Dahem al-Qahtani said the opposition had made an "impressive showing".

"Kuwaiti voters have punished those who let them down... and rejected the austerity measures," he told AFP.

Qahtani said for the government to prevent a standoff, it should make initiatives for cooperation with the opposition.

"If the government makes such initiatives, it may succeed in striking a needed political balance and avoid disputes," he said.
Kabul: A local Taliban leader and five Taliban insurgents were killed after the Afghan army launched an operation in the province of Uruzgan, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

"A Taliban local leader named Bismillah along with four insurgents was killed during a military operation in Dihrawud district on Saturday," Xinhua news agency cited a ministry statement as saying.

The raid was launched based on a tip-off and the insurgents exchanged fire with the security forces, leaving five dead, the statement said.

The Uruzgan province has been the scene of heavy clashes between Taliban and Afghan troops over the past couple of months.

The Afghan security forces had beefed up security operations recently as militants were attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions ahead of winter in the mountainous country.
Jakarta: Indonesian police arrested a third Islamic State-linked militant today accused of plotting to bomb the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, as anger grows at a violent military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.

The militants - all from a domestic cell affiliated with the Syria-based jihadist group - had amassed enough explosives to create bombs more powerful than those used in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, police say.

"They were helping plan a bomb attack against parliament, the national police headquarters, the embassy of Myanmar and several television stations," national police spokesman Rikwanto said in a text message.

Anger is growing in Indonesia and other parts of Muslim world over what has been described as the "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Refugees fleeing into Bangladesh say Myanmar's military has been leading a campaign of rape and murder against the homeless ethnic group.

Thousands of Muslims rallied in capitals across Asia on Friday demanding an end to the violence.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, protesters urged their government to cut diplomatic ties with Yangon.

Indonesia's anti-terror unit Wednesday nabbed suspected bomb maker Rio Priatna Wibowo and seized a significant quantity of high-grade explosives from a laboratory west of the capital Jakarta.

His arrest led to the capture of two other suspected militants in different parts of the country, Rikwanto said today.

Bahrain Agam was detained Saturday for allegedly purchasing the explosives while Saiful Bahri was arrested today accused of helping assemble the bombs, said Rikwanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

Indonesian police say it remains unclear when exactly the militants planned to carry out their assault, but that they had enough explosives to detonate a blast more than double that which levelled nightclubs in Bali in a fiery inferno.

All three were members of Jemaah Ansar Daulah, a local extremist outfit that has sworn allegiance to IS, Rikwanto said.
At least 34 civilians were killed Sunday in a flare up of ethnic violence in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said, following a week of soaring tensions.

"The provisional toll is 34 civilians killed," said local official Joy Bokele, referring to an attack by a Nande ethnicity militia on the Hutu village of Luhanga.

"They started by attacking the FARDC (DR Congo military) position. While they were attacking the FARDC, another group was executing the population with bladed weapons or bullets," Bokele said.

Bokele added that the attack was carried out by a Nande militia group and that one of the attackers was killed in the clashes.

Tensions between the Nande and Hutu peoples have been running high in the restive east, shaken by two decades of fighting over land, ethnic tensions and mineral riches.

The Nande accuse Congolese Hutus of abetting the FDLR Rwandan rebel group.

The Hutus, in return, say they are looking for land where they can settle for farming and accuse the Nande of trying to expel them.Sunday`s killings are the worst inter-communal violence in a year. Dozens of people have died since the start of the year in fighting between the Nande and the Hutus.

"If the army had not intervened, there would have been many more dead," said a military source.

It is thought that the attack on the Hutu village was carried out by the Mai-Mai Mazembe, a Nande "self-defence" militia.

"The militia was searching for members of the Hutu community and wreaked carnage before burning down the village entirely," said a local rights group, the Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights (CEPADHO). "The attackers were there for more than an hour."

The group called on the government and the UN`s MONUSCO peacekeeping force in the country to take urgent action to prevent further ethnic violence.

"The Mai-Mai Mazembe made threats against the Hutus during the week, demanding that they leave the area or risk a purge," CEPADHO added in a statement.

North Kivu has been the scene of repeated clashes for nearly two decades, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
Beirut: More than 400 Syrian civilians have fled rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo for the government-controlled west as regime forces advance in the city, a monitor said Sunday.

The civilians fled overnight to the Masaken Hanano district and were taken to regime-controlled areas, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Syrian state media said government forces had on Saturday captured Masaken Hanano, the largest rebel-held district of Aleppo, in what would be a major breakthrough in the regime`s offensive to retake the entire city.

Fresh fighting broke out on Saturday night between regime forces and rebel groups in the neighbouring districts of Haidariya and Sakhur, said the Observatory.

Regime forces targeted the area with heavy shelling, said the Britain-based monitoring group.

Pro-government media hailed the "success" of the government forces, reporting that they continued their advance on Sunday.

On Saturday, at least 18 civilians were killed in regime raids and artillery fire in several districts of Aleppo, said the monitor.

It took to 219 the overall number of civilians killed, including 27 children, since the government launched the assault on rebel-held east Aleppo on November 15.

The rebels meanwhile intensified rocket attacks on the western districts overnight, killing at least four civilians and wounding dozens, Observatory said.

Such attacks have killed a total of 27 civilians since the offensive began, among them 11 children.
Beirut: Syria regime forces on Sunday seized two new rebel-held districts in Aleppo a day after they retook the largest opposition-controlled neighbourhood in the second city, a monitor said.

"The army and its allies retook control of Jabal Badro and Baadeen", both adjacent to Masaken Hanano which was retaken on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

More than 4,000 civilians have fled eastern Aleppo in the past 24 hours as regime forces advance against rebel-held districts of Syria`s second city, a monitor said on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that nearly 1,700 civilians had fled to government-held parts of western Aleppo and another 2,500 to the Kurdish-controlled northern district of Sheikh Maksoud.

The Britain-based Observatory, which relies on a wide network of sources inside Syria for its information, said earlier more than 500 civilians had fled east Aleppo towards government-held areas of the divided battleground city.

This exodus -- the first of its kind since 2012 -- comes after the Syrian regime seized the city`s largest rebel-held district of Masaken Hanano on Saturday in its latest assault to retake the entire city.
Analamanga: Controversial moves to extend Congolese President Laurent Kabila`s stay in power appeared to advance Sunday as a close ally said elections would not be held until April 2018, 16 months after Kabila was due to leave office.

Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda also warned that the political opposition in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has urged Kabila to step down on December 20 when his term officially ends, could foment violent.

Tshibanda, speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Madagascar, said that Kabila`s government had "consulted election experts" from Congo, the United Nations and elsewhere, and that "it has been decided that the voter registration operation will end on July 31, 2017 and that elections will take place in April 2018".

"Before that no expert thinks it will be possible" to organise a vote, he said.

Kabila, who has been elected to two presidential terms, is barred from serving again but has never said he plans to step aside.

Earlier this month he cut a power-sharing deal, appointing fringe opposition politician Samy Badibanga as prime minister in a move that effectively extends his term to at least late 2017.

The "Gathering", a movement of mainstream opposition groups that back politician Etienne Tshisekedi to replace Kabila, have rejected the deal.

In September, during protests organised by the Gathering against the delayed elections, 53 people were killed, according to a UN toll. Congolese authorities have banned further rallies including one last week.

"It is clear that not all political actors are acting responsibly, and that some of them are practising politics of the worst kind", Tshibanda said.

He said he "cannot exclude that there might be attempts at violence", and warned that "the Congolese government will act accordingly".

The question of Kabila`s succession has triggered renewed political crisis in Congo, a vast resource-rich nation riven for decades by rival power struggles.

Kabila came to power after the murder of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila by a bodyguard in 2001 during the Second Congo War, which ended two years later.

Elected in 2006, he went on to win a second five-year term in a 2011 vote decried as rigged by the opposition.

Tshibanda, speaking at a summit of leaders of French-speaking nations, said Kabila was unable to attend.

"The head of state cannot leave the capital when he is in the middle of consultations to form a government," the foreign minister said.
Colombo: Sri Lanka`s President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Donald Trump to pressure the UN Human Rights Council to drop war crimes allegations against the country`s troops.

Sirisena`s office said Sunday he had sent a "special message" to president-elect Trump seeking US intervention at the council, where Sri Lanka faces censure for wartime atrocities.

"I sent a special message to Donald Trump asking him to support us at the (council)," the President said. "I am asking him to help completely clear my country (of war crimes allegations) and allow us to start afresh."

Sirisena said he was making a similar appeal to the incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

However, during a visit by outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka last month, Sirisena had asked for more time to investigate war crimes, a sensitive political issue in the majority-Sinhalese country.

Sri Lanka has said it will set up special courts to address issues of accountability, but the promised judicial mechanisms have yet to be established.

There have been allegations that troops killed up to 40,000 minority Tamils during the final battle against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, a period when Sirisena`s predecessor and strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse was in power.

Sirisena said he had been able to "tone down" a US-initiated censure resolution soon after defeating Rajapakse and coming to power in January 2015. But he was keen to secure Trump`s help to have the allegations against Sri Lanka dropped.

The rights council has asked Sri Lanka to ensure credible investigations into war crimes, pay reparations to victims and their families and ensure reconciliation after 37 years of ethnic war which claimed at least 100,000 lives.

Troops still have a large presence in the former conflict zones in the north and east and keep a close watch on the local Tamil population, seven years after the end of the war.
Aleppo: Government forces retook six rebel-held districts of eastern Aleppo over the weekend, forcing nearly 10,000 civilians to flee as they pressed their offensive to retake Syria's second city.

In a major breakthrough in the push to retake the whole city, regime forces on Saturday captured Masaken Hanano, which had been the biggest rebel-held district in eastern Aleppo.

Yesterday on the 13th day of the operation, they also took control of the adjacent neighbourhoods of Jabal Badra and Baadeeen and captured three others, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Inzarat, Al-Sakan al-Shaabi and Ain al-Tall have all returned to regime hands and government forces have made large forays into Sakhur and nearby Haidariya, the monitor said.

It said government forces are "in control of most of the northern part" of Aleppo.

"The rebels have lost at least 30 percent of the territory they once controlled in Aleppo," Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.

The regime gains came as its aircraft pounded rebel positions and amid heavy clashes between the opposition and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad in the strategic Sakhur district.

Masaken Hanano was the first district the rebels took in the summer of 2012 in a move that divided the city into a rebel-held east and a regime-controlled west.

Around 250,000 civilians besieged for months in the east have faced serious food and fuel shortages.

The Observatory said that nearly 10,000 civilians had fled east Aleppo overnight Saturday -- at least 6,000 to the Kurdish-controlled northern district of Sheikh Maksoud, with the rest fleeing to government-held areas.

"It is the first exodus of this kind from east Aleppo since 2012," Abdel Rahman said.

Syrian state television broadcast images of a crowd of civilians including women and children gathered around green buses that it said had come to pick them up in Masaken Hanano.

One woman was shown pushing a stroller and many others carried plastic bags on their heads as bombardment was heard in the distance.

Official media said they were taken "by the army to safe areas".

Yasser al-Youssef, from the rebel group Nureddin al-Zinki, said opposition fighters were consolidating their positions in Sakhur.

"We are strengthening our positions to defend the city and residents, but the aircraft are destroying everything methodically, area by area," he said of a regime campaign of air strikes.

Sakhur lies on a stretch of just 1.5 kilometres (less than a mile) between west Aleppo and Masaken Hanano, now both regime-controlled.
Istanbul: Turkish police on Sunday detained a woman accused of being a wanted Kurdish militant at Istanbul`s main airport, state media said.

Sara Aktas was detained at Ataturk International Airport while seeking to travel to Germany, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

It said she is accused of being a key figure in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), which the authorities regard as the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). She faces up to 15 years in jail on charges of membership of an armed "terror" group, it said.

Turkish authorities have stepped up arrests of activists, journalists and even politicians suspected of links to the PKK in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

Critics say that the state of emergency implemented in the wake of the coup has gone well beyond seeking to punish the coup plotters themselves.

MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples` Democratic Party (HDP) strongly disputed the official version of events, saying that rather than being a member of the KCK, Aktas is part of the Kurdish Free Women`s Congress (KJA).

HDP MP Dilan Dirayet Tasdemir said on Twitter that rather than trying to escape Turkey, Aktas had been returning from Igdir in the east of the country with her nephew.

Another HDP MP, Besime Konca, rubbished reports that Aktas had been travelling on a fake passport under a false name, saying she had been simply returning to Istanbul from Igdir.

The PKK has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984 that has left tens of thousands dead. Violence renewed in July 2015 after the collapse of a two-and-a-half year ceasefire.

Ten MPs from the HDP, including the two co-leaders, were arrested earlier this month on charges of links to the PKK which they deny.
Paris: Francois Fillon, the man tipped to win the French rightwing presidential nomination on Sunday, is a free-market reformer, devout Catholic and motor sport fan who has promised to transform France.

Fillon, 62, has professed admiration for Britain`s 1980s prime minister Margaret Thatcher and vowed to slash public spending to shrink the French state.

"You have to tear the house down to properly rebuild it," he has said.

His runaway victory in the first round of the centre-right Republicans party primary last Sunday was revenge on his former boss, ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy.

Sarkozy, who crashed out in third place, had once dismissed Fillon as a "Mr Nobody" when he served as Sarkozy`s prime minister from 2007 to 2012.

But the man who himself admitted in a TV interview he had a "boring image" has emerged as the right`s best hope to retake power after five years of Socialist rule.

The winner of Sunday`s primary run-off will become the favourite for next year`s presidential election in May where he will likely face -- and polls say beat -- Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (FN).

With the backing of influential fellow Republicans leaders and favourable polls, Fillon has the momentum heading into Sunday`s vote to clinch the nomination against rival candidate Alain Juppe, 71.

Fillon, an amateur rally driver who was born in Le Mans, home of the world-renowned 24-hour race, believes he is "several laps ahead" of his adversary.Perhaps because of his softly-spoken and understated style, Fillon was not taken seriously until his late acceleration in the two-month primary campaign.

At the start he was a distant third place in opinion polls, but after a series of assured television performances he surged to take 44 percent of the vote last Sunday.

Since then, he has picked up some heavyweight endorsements, including from Sarkozy.

Fillon has a radical economic reform programme, including scrapping the 35-hour week, one of the sacred cows of the French left.

He has also pledged to slash an eye-popping 500,000 jobs from the public sector, leading to charges from the more centrist Juppe that he wants to reform "brutally" when a more consensual approach is needed.

"I`m tagged with the label of an (economic) liberal in the same way they would daub crosses on the doors of lepers in the Middle Ages," Fillon has joked.

He argues he is merely "a pragmatist".

Fillon is also socially conservative, reflecting his life as a father of five children and practising Catholic who has been married to his Welsh wife Penelope for more than 30 years. They live in a 12th century manor house near Le Mans.

He voted against gay marriage when it was introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande and has said he wants to amend the 2013 law.

His views on abortion -- he is personally opposed but says he will not change the law or funding for it -- have also been in the spotlight.

"My conscience is my business," he said on Thursday during a final televised debate.

Compared with Juppe, Fillon also takes a harder line on questions of identity and Islam which have dominated the Republicans party primary campaign after a string of jihadist attacks in France.

He penned a book over the summer called "Defeating Islamic Totalitarianism" and believes "there is a problem linked to Islam" in France after a series of attacks by homegrown jihadists.

"No, France is not a multi-cultural country. France has a history, a language and a culture which have naturally been enriched from outside," Fillon said on Thursday.The self-declared "Gaullist" -- a form of nationalism that proposes an independent and strong France -- has been in politics for around 40 years.

He formed a bond with Russian President Vladimir Putin when both men overlapped as prime ministers from 2008-2012 and their closeness has led to questions about his foreign policy.

Former foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, who worked with Fillon, told AFP this week that the two leaders would sometimes jog together and demonstrated "a friendship, a mutual understanding".

While Fillon maintains that France must keep its alliance with the United States, he favours closer ties to Moscow and has accused Europe and Washington of provoking Putin.

He is against sanctions imposed on Russia after Putin`s invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and he has resisted pressure to condemn alleged war crimes by Russian forces in Syria.

"The question is: must we continue to provoke the Russians, refusing dialogue with them and pushing them to be more and more violent, aggressive and less and less European?" he said in October.
India is shining... the Indian economy is blooming (till recently at least)... our country is on the way to becoming a world superpower very soon... our great democracy is the worlds largest... Well! When I hear all these statements  I choose to call them statements because they dont reflect the reality  I find it difficult to decide to discern my emotions:, about whether to: Feel proud or disgusted! <br><br> When I see five-year-olds begging at traffic signals, kids picking rags from just about every garbage bin that you can find in this world-class metropolitan city (Delhi), when I see under-privileged children standing in front of schools looking at few privileged kids dressed in their school-dress and enjoying a cup of ice cream during their lunch break, and thinking what crime they had committed in their previous life that they did not get the luck to enjoy all these luxuries, I feel shattered. And all those tall claims of a shining, rising India crumble in front of my eyes. <br><br> We, as a country, are progressing; but as a society, may be regressing. Many of you may not agree with me, and I agree that the picture Im trying to paint here is not exactly the day-to-day reality that we come across, but the fact is while we are growing by leaps and bounds, we are leaving many of our own countrymen behind. While we pay lakhs in donations and fees to get our children admitted to top schools of the country, we forget to give even a thought to the fact that so many kids of our childrens age dont have the means to even join a government-run school. In some cases, there are no schools at all to join. <br><br> Here the blame does not lie just on the government but also on us  because as a society, we are failing collectively. <br><br> For instance, how many times have we asked a mother begging at traffic signal with his four-year-old son or daughter that whether she would like to get some help in getting the latter admitted to a school? How many times have we approached a mithaiwalah or canteenwallah and told him sternly that child labour is banned in this country and you should, instead of hiring kids as workers, spare some of your profits for their education. <br><br> We dont find 10-year-old chotus or gudiyas in schools, but in the homes of the rich and even middle-class families employed as domestic labour, doing jobs ranging from cleaning and dusting to cooking food. How many times have we asked our own 10-year-olds to do tasks like these? <br><br> I was at a marriage party recently and saw five- to eight-year-old kids carrying heavy lamps that you see in every baraat procession. While the law banning child labour is clearly flouted there, the worst thing is that these small children are exposed to high voltage wires that can shock them anytime. <br><br> Right to enjoy childhood is not a luxury but the basic human right of every child on this earth. Depriving even a single child of this right is the biggest crime that humanity can commit on this earth. Just think for a minute if you went through the same childhood that a kid working in a factory or tyre-repair shop goes through; what beautiful childhood memories you would have to cherish all your life! <br><br> A life like this is not life but hell. I am not intending to preach here, but merely trying to stir some emotions inside all of us, to make that little difference, to save a childhood. Lets ponder over how we through small, invisible actions can bring a smile to the faces and lives of millions of under-privileged kids. <br><br> Only then will we be able to justify the claim that India is shining...
The West Salem DECA group has come a long way since marketing teacher and advisor Jason Holter brought the organization to the school five years ago.

Since then, the club has grown exponentially. More than a quarter of the high school now participates and are members of the organization, and nearly half of those students compete in the regional, state and national competitions every year.

DECA is an international club which offers students the opportunity to learn more about business, marketing and advertising in preparation of pursuing a career in any one of these fields.

The exponential growth of the DECA club has also catapulted Holter to a position of high standing within the organization. This year, Holter, who became involved in DECA in college, was elected the Wisconsin DECA Center Board President.

Holter said he was excited to be in a position that would allow him to influence and guide fellow marketing educators in the state.

In addition, his fellow educators at this years conference awarded him DECAs secondary Marketing Educator of the Year award.

He said he was honored to receive the award.

Holter said two of his good friends from the Holmen School District, Scott Schreiber and Hailey Hestlberge, respectively, came away with the Marketing Educator and Rookie Marketing Educator of the Year awards.

It was kind of fun, he said. All three of us are connected.

Holter credited his students for not only the clubs, success but his own. He said when he first started the club, his role as advisor required him to have a hand in everything.

He said as the club grew larger, he had to take a step back and let his students take on more of the responsibility.

Ive had some great kids over the last five years, Holter said.

He said the group started out with about 20 members, but eventually, grew to more than 150. Holter said he never thought getting this big would be possible.

Ive had to trust in students a lot more. I think once you get to a certain size, you really have to let students take over, he said. After two or three years, it became student-run.

He said now he serves primarily as a resource and counsel for DECA members.

Its a fun organization, but you really have to be self-motivated and really want to put effort into it, he said.

This self-motivation took the West Salem DECA club farther than it had ever gone. Last year, DECA sent its largest delegation of students to the national competition. Seventeen from West Salem competed in the International Development Career Conference in Nashville, Tenn., last spring.

Two West Salem teens, Allison Rigotti and Kaylee Mulholland, were finalists, placing in the top 16 internationally.

And this isnt the first time the group has gone the international competition. The DECA club has sent students to the international conference for the last 4 years. In 2015, the club sent a group of 7 students.

The international conference is always the goal, Holter said. To get a little bit bigger than before.

Holter said given the fierce competition to reach the national level, it would be easy to believe the competition is what DECA is all about, but that isnt the case.

DECA is strange; it has a very weird vibe, he said. You are always happy to see others do well.

Holter said his best friend, also a DECA advisor, are competitive about everything but the club.

He said students become involved for all kinds of reasons, whether it be professional development or community service. Only half of DECA members actively participate in the competition, however, many take part in the various community service projects held through out the year.

DECA is responsible for fundraisers and other community service projects, including Wounded Warriors, Polar Plunge, highway clean up and the MDA bake sale.
The Swiss government insisted that much has been invested in keeping Switzerland's nuclear reactors safe, and cautioned that premature closures could "undermine the security of supply"

Switzerland's ageing nuclear reactors will keep running for the foreseeable future, after voters Sunday rejected a call to speed up the phaseout of the plants.

A full 54.2 percent of voters and an overwhelming majority of Switzerland's 26 cantons voted against an initiative which would have forced three of the country's five nuclear reactors to close next year, according to final results.

Just a few months after Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant was destroyed in the March 2011 tsunami disaster, Switzerland decided to gradually close its nuclear plants, but did not set a clear timeline.

The government's plan is to decommission five ageing reactors, which today produce around a third of the country's electricity, as they reach the end of their safe operational lifespan.

But since all of Switzerland's nuclear plants have open-ended operating licences, there is no clear cut-off date determining when they should be shut down.

Pointing out that Switzerland already counts one of the oldest nuclear parks in the world and warning that allowing the reactors to run indefinitely posed a safety risk, the Green Party wanted the reactors to operate for no longer than 45 years.

The party gathered more than the 100,000 signatures needed to put any issue to a popular vote in Switzerland as part of the country's famous direct democratic system.

If the "Nuclear Withdrawal Initiative" had passed, it would have entailed the final closure next year of Beznau, which has been operating in the northern Swiss canton of Aargau, near the German border, for 47 years.

That plant, which has two reactors currently undergoing repairs, became the world's oldest functioning commercial nuclear plant after Britain's Oldsbury reactor closed in 2012.

The Muhlberg plant, which opened in Bern canton in 1972, would also have needed to close next year if the Greens had gotten their way, while Gosgen in Solothurn would have shut by 2024 and, finally, Leibstadt in Aargau by 2029.

Story continues

- Security of supply -

The Swiss government supports gradually shutting down the plants, but it forcefully opposed the initiative.

It insisted that much has been invested in keeping Switzerland's reactors safe, and cautioned that premature closures could "undermine the security of supply".

The Swiss parliament has also opposed the initiative, along with all the right-leaning parties, while the Greens have the backing of the left-leaning factions.

In the end, 20 of Switzerland's 26 cantons rejected the initiative, with the strongest opposition seen in the central canton of Schwyz, where more than 68 percent voted "no".

Only a handful of mainly French-speaking cantons backed the initiative, with Basel-Town showing strongest support with more than 60 percent of voters there casting their ballot in favour, followed by Geneva, where nearly 59 percent voted "yes".

Voter participation across Switzerland stood at around 44 percent, which is within the normal range for recent votes.

The populist rightwing Swiss People's Party (SVP) voiced hope that the vote indicated the people shared its opposition to the government's entire energy strategy, including the gradual phaseout of nuclear power.

SVP has launched an initiative to be voted on next year to overturn the government's 2050 energy strategy, which aims to increase the reliance on hydraulic power as well as renewables like solar and wind in order to help replace its nuclear plants.

"The logical consequence (of Sunday's vote) is now to accept the referendum against this ill-conceived strategy," SVP parliamentarian Celine Amaudruz told the ATS news agency.

While voicing disappointment at Sunday's result, the left-leaning parties meanwhile insisted that with a full 45.77 percent of voters eager for a speedy exit from nuclear power, the government should have plenty of support for its overall strategy.

And Socialist Party parliamentarian Roger Nordmann stressed that the battle to close the oldest plants would continue.

"We will in any case fight for the immediate closure of Beznau 1 and 2," he told the ATS news agency, insisting the two reactors "are too dangerous".
Jeff Bezos

Motorola used to be one of those giant corporate conglomerates that employed 150,000 people, many at a massive campus in Schaumburg, Illinois. But it hit hard times, and over the last several years it sold off chunks of itself and became Motorola Solutions.

Motorola Solutions is still a huge company. It employs around 14,000 and generated $5.8 billion in revenue over the last four quarters. But it has sold the huge campus and moved to new headquarters in Chicago.

As part of its move and cost cutting, Motorola is unplugging its data centers and going all-in in the cloud.

Its cloud of choice is Amazon Web Services, Leo Wang, head of cloud computing, told Business Insider.

"When we first we started, we were moving just one data center, our Schaumburg data center," he said. "Within 6 to 7 months, we moved more than 200 servers, and 150 applications, and we had more than $2 million in computer yearly spend moved over to AWS."

And they liked AWS so much, they decided to move everything else into it, worldwide, over the course of the next two years, Wang said. As of today, the company has moved about 450 servers to AWS, he added.

"We save millions per year. We invested millions initially but the long range savings will be significant, and we have a more aggressive plan next year and the year after."

Choosing Amazon wasn't automatic. In fact, Motorola already had a smaller contract with Microsoft to use its competing cloud, Azure. But Microsoft wasn't able to turn that into a bigger sale.

Why Microsoft didn't win

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella

Motorola Solutions sells radios and communications equipment to government agencies like police, fire, other emergency services.

They chose Azure because Azure had a crucial government security certification known as Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) and Amazon didn't.

So when Motorola opted to move everything to the cloud, the IT folks looked at Amazon, Microsoft, and Google.

Story continues

"Amazon had better technologies in almost all areas. It is much more mature in terms of functionality. They excelled in every aspect that we needed from the cloud perspective and from the customer service perspective, but they didnt have the CIJS compliance," Wang said.

But CIJS certification was a deal breaker, they told Amazon.

"Initially, they were hesitating. They were not interested in having this certification because they were so big in the market," Wang says.

But they agreed to look into it and decided to get CIJS, realizing it could open up new government markets for its cloud. Amazon is already making a name for itself pursuing government cloud business with its "GovCloud," a highly secured section of the AWS's services reserved for government use.

"Once they realized the importance of this certification in this industry, they invested. In a few months they were certified, and they created a Gov Cloud for us," Wang said.

Motorola Solutions Leo Wang

By doing this, Motorola was able to launch a brand new app for its law enforcement customers on AWS that lets them store camera footage on AWS. This app has the potential to be huge for Motorola and AWS, Wang believes.

AWS isn't known for its customer service, but Wang can't sing AWS's support praises any louder.

"Andy Jassy personally came to our office and had a detailed look at what we had. They put a lot of attention to us," Wang said.

In comparing AWS's support to that from Microsoft, he called it "very different," saying, "With AWS we are very tightly engaged with them in almost all efforts. We have meetings, we share our concerns, we have follow up, and a consultant works closely with us, and works closely with the product team."

Amazon's big gotcha

There is one big downside to choosing Amazon: it's harder to keep track of costs.

Like all cloud providers Amazon charges for the actual time each machine (known as an instance) is used. That's a benefit over buying servers, which a company pays for if they use them or not.

AWS CEO Andy Jassy

But if a company is not carefully watching its Amazon usage, it could run up a huge bill.

"In the cloud, its so easy to create resources, but the right governance over the usage is needed for you to get the price benefits. You need to be able to start and stop that instance only when the app is running." Wang said. "If you simply spin up the servers without proper governance, you could end up paying more."

AWS doesn't make this task easy.

"AWS, their pricing model is very complicated, that is a drawback," Wang says. He has complained to AWS about it and believes "they are improving in that area."

There are hoards of apps that will monitor Amazon usage. Motorola doesn't use them. Instead, it hired a cloud consultant, 2nd Watch, to help it move to AWS, size everything properly, train the IT staff and set up its own internal systems for watching usage, Wang says.

Downsizing Oracle

Larry Ellison

One bonus for moving to the cloud is that Motorola has a chance to look at its big expensive apps, like Oracle's database, and ditch them.

"In some of the instances, if we can use AWS [databases] instead of Oracle, we are doing that," he said, though he's not ready to dump Oracle completely. "Oracle is still our big partner."

This is a huge concern for Oracle these days, as Amazon rolls out more database alternatives and has created a tool that helps a company move its database from Oracle to Amazon's homegrown one.

Avoiding hard feelings

Motorola Solutions employees

One last thing Motorola needed to work on was getting the IT staff on board. No one lost their jobs because of this move, Wang says. That's because Motorola had an outsourcer called CSC managing its infrastructure. With AWS, it won't need CSC.

But there's still some jealousy among the staff.

"My team is very excited because they are the core cloud computing team, doing the work. Some other IT teams are feeling left out. I can sense that kind of feeling," he said.

So, Wang says, he's working on eventually getting the other IT folks trained on the cloud. And people are excited to learn all the latest, greatest cloud tech. It's good for their careers. "I will help them and they will help me, too."

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A newer class at West Salem High School is bringing together a unique group of students to work toward a common goal.

Metal Arts I and Metal Arts II consists of 50 students total. The courses teach students how to use welding and metal in order to make aesthetically pleasing art projects.

There are two types of students enrolled in the courses: Those accustomed to technical education courses and those who typically lean toward art courses. By leaning on each other, the course has offered both types of students an interesting and effective learning environment.

Metal arts teacher Paul Liethen, who also teaches the metal and welding courses at the school, said that the students have created a pretty interesting bond.

Its been a lot of fun, Liethen said. Half of these kids love art and the other half love industrial studies.

Were reaching a different audience with this course that may not otherwise be involved with welding, and at the same time, the art kids are showing the metals kids how to think outside the box and be creative, he added. Its pretty cool.

It all began with a couple of senior exit projects completed in the past by former students of Liethens: Clara Haldeman and Olivia Aleckson.

Their projects combined art with technical education and it sparked an idea in Liethens mind. After a recent visit to Western Technical College with his welding course to talk about creativity, the idea of a metal arts class came to mind.

Since then, students in the class have made projects for various groups and faculty members, such as a West Salem DECA sign that occupies the school store on campus and decorations for the office staff.

As for the connection between the art and tech ed students, Liethen isnt the only one noticing the unique chemistry.

Senior Gabe Sweeney joined the metal arts class because he wanted to take a material arts course after taking numerous welding and tech ed courses.

Sweeney, who is currently making a crawfish out of metal spoons in the class, is happy to have the art students there when working on projects.

The blend of students is cool because its cool to see the bridge between the types of students, he said. People who have the technical experience know how to work the metal, and the people with art experience have more of an imagination, so its cool to see those things come together.

Senior Gretchen Lichtie, who is also in the course but has traditionally taken more art classes, is also very impressed with the way the students work together.

It really helps having kids from both sides of it because theres a creative view from the kids who are more accustomed to art, and the kids who know how to use the machines help us art kids figure out the most efficient way to use that imagination, Lichtie said.

For students who typically dont participate in the same co-curricular activities or elective classes, the metal arts classes have created a unique connection in a diverse group of students.
ADAMS, Wis.  In the end, Doreen Putzkie did the only thing that made sense to her in this presidential election.

She gave up.

Putzkie, 49, waits tables at Country Skillet, a diner on the main street of this small central Wisconsin town. On TV and in her diner, Putzkie heard nonstop chatter about the election.

She grew weary of the claims and counter-claims, the mudslinging, and perhaps most of all, the confusion about what to believe.

Putzkie, of Adams, said she votes for Democrats in most elections, including for President Barack Obama in 2012.

This time, Putzkie said she knew she would not support Republican nominee Donald Trump.

But Democrat Hillary Clinton never closed the sale. Disgusted by the campaigns tone and nagged by questions about Clintons emails when she was Secretary of State, Putzkie decided not to vote. Her husband, who she said usually votes at her behest, didnt either.

The important stuff didnt get brought up in this campaign, Putzkie said. I said: This time, Im not gonna do it.

Putzkie was part of something brewing beneath the surface in Wisconsins farm fields and small towns. On Nov. 8 it would shock the world, making Wisconsin one of three Great Lakes states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania, to defy polls and their recent voting history by electing Trump president.

Rural Wisconsin was decisive in making Trump the first Republican to carry the Badger State in more than three decades. Thanks in part to a weak showing by Clinton, Trump won 18 rural counties that went for Obama four years ago.

Angry electorate

Adams County stretches north-to-south from Wisconsin Dells nearly up to Wisconsin Rapids, bordered to the west by Castle Rock and Petenwell lakes. Its population center is the twin cities of Adams and Friendship, which together have less than 3,000 residents.

The county has undergone recent demographic change and economic uncertainty. Supporters of both parties in Adams County described a local electorate that was overwhelmingly angry  and ready to break from the status quo, even if the direction of change is unclear.

Now local residents say theyre eyeing a Trump presidency with long-odds hope, deep anxiety or both.

Local Democrats, demoralized by a string of crippling election losses, say theyre frightened for what the future holds under a President Trump.

Local Republicans hailed Trumps win as a last-ditch effort to save their country, while admitting concerns about Trumps style. Some expect Trump to dig in and defend conservative principles as president; others say he must work with opponents.

Jody Quinnell, a local GOP activist, criss-crossed Adams County during this campaign in her vintage red pickup truck, distributing yard signs for Trump and Republican state Senate candidate Patrick Testin. Testin became the only Republican state senator in this election to defeat an incumbent Democrat, Sen. Julie Lassa of Stevens Point.

In the campaigns final weeks, Quinnell saw a contradiction. Polls predicted Wisconsin would vote solidly for Clinton. But what Quinnell saw and heard in her community was totally different.

The polls were saying No, no, no. But then I saw that enthusiasm building, Quinnell said. I said, I dont know what the whole United States is doing. But I know what Adams County is doing.

In Adams County, a nearly 30-point swing

Harry Davis had a bottle of champagne ready to uncork at what he expected would be a Clinton victory party on election night.

But when results came in, Davis, chairman of the Adams County Democratic Party, was left wondering what changed so dramatically in his state and in his county in just four years.

Wisconsin Democrats had hoped to build off the last two presidential elections, when Obama carried the Badger State by sizable margins.

Rural Wisconsin, in large part, made that possible. Throughout rural Wisconsin, Obama fought 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney to a draw  enabling Obama to run up the vote count in the states urban centers, Madison and Milwaukee.

This election was different. Rural Wisconsin counties swung dramatically toward the Republican nominee, and Trump crushed Clinton in rural Wisconsin by nearly 19 points. Trump ultimately carried Wisconsin by a little more than 27,000 votes.

Trump won Wisconsins 46 rural counties, those outside the metropolitan areas defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, by more than 142,000 votes.

Adams County saw one of the biggest swings of any Wisconsin county from 2012 to 2016: a 30-point change in the margin for the Republican candidate. It went for Obama in 2012, 54 percent to 45 percent. This time it went Trump, 59-37.

The local economy, rooted in agriculture, tourism and logging, has failed for decades to yield enough good jobs, residents said.

The countys population is much older and less educated than the state as a whole, U.S. Census data show. Its unemployment rate was among the highest of any Wisconsin county in 2015.

While still overwhelmingly white, the county has become more diverse in recent years. In 2000, black or Hispanic residents made up less than 2 percent of the countys population. By 2015, that had reached 7 percent.

Quinnell said Trumps strong stances against immigrants and refugees coming into the U.S were central to his appeal. She dismisses what she describes as the liberal vision  one big happy family all over the world  as wishful thinking, especially while the U.S. fights terrorism.

When you are at war  and I feel were at war  you close your borders, Quinnell said. Theres no way to tell the good people from the bad people.

You cant just dump them into our society and think that weve got to take care of them now.

Trump talked, felt like them

The turnabout in Adams County, as in many other rural counties, involved a Trump surge and an even bigger Clinton letdown.

Trump got more than 1,300 more votes in the county than Romney in 2012, while Clinton got more than 1,700 votes less than Obama  out of a total of more than 10,100 votes cast, according to unofficial results.

Some voters, including Mark Beda of rural Adams, backed Obama four years ago and Trump this time.

A self-described moderate, Beda, a 47-year-old IT worker, voted for Obama in 2012. Beda said he was encouraged by Obamas efforts to overhaul the U.S. health care system.

But years later, Beda said Obamas signature law has not made care more affordable and accessible for most people he knows. Part-way through Obamas second term, Beda said he felt it was likely he would vote for the Republican nominee in 2016.

Trump repeatedly pledged during the campaign to repeal Obamas health care law. But Beda said Trump instead should fix the law to make it something that people can use ... something that is affordable.

I think that would just be detrimental, Beda said of a full repeal. Youre not going to take it away. You just cant do that.

State Rep. Joan Ballweg, a Markesan Republican whose district includes Adams-Friendship, credited the Republican Party of Wisconsin for ramping up its visibility and campaign efforts in the county in recent years.

Ballweg described Adams County as home to many people who have been hit harder by the stagnant economy.

A lot of those folks feel like Mr. Trump talked like them and felt like them, Ballweg said.

Ballweg said a perception that Obamas health care law wasnt working may also have aided Trump.

But Ballweg predicted that, while Trump has a devout base of supporters, some of his voters wont follow him blindly.

He needs to keep his promises and show how hes going to do that, Ballweg said. People want to see the proof.

You take it to the streets

Steve Pollina, a longtime Democratic activist in Adams County, watched this campaign play out through the discussions between fellow veterans inside the Adams VFW hall.

Many said they were voting Trump  not out of enthusiasm for Trump but because they thought Hillary was a crook, said Pollina, 72, a U.S. Air Force veteran of the Vietnam War.

Pollina, a retired tool and die maker, is a longtime resident of Adams who grew up in Chicago. He said some local residents political views are affected by a lot of resentment about government programs, based on perceptions of who they believe the programs help.

They thought that somebody else was getting something they should get, Pollina said.

Asked who somebody else refers to, Pollina said: Minorities, mostly.

Still, Pollina said many local people voted for Obama in past years, hoping he would shake things up.

They waited for all this change from Obama and it didnt materialize, Pollina said. The change didnt come to them.

To some degree, Pollina faults Wisconsin Democrats and the Clinton campaign for this years results. He said Badger State Democrats increasingly have overlooked rural areas in favor of turning out voters in Madison and Milwaukee.

Pollina said he rarely saw Clinton staffers in Adams during this campaign. In 2008 and 2012, he said an Obama campaign staffer was a frequent presence in the community.

Now Pollina admits to a pervasive anxiety about the future of the country for which he fought. Its next president, he believes, is deeply unprepared for the job.

Ive never felt this uneasy about a new president, Pollina said.

Davis was an activist in the peace movement, most recently in opposition to the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Now Davis wonders if President Trump may usher in a wave of anti-government protests  perhaps even rivaling what he witnessed in the 1960s as a college student at UW-Whitewater.

When you cant make your voice heard, you take it to the streets, Davis said. Thats what may have to happen here.
TOMAH  Two schools in the Tomah Area School District will undergo significant change next year.

The Tomah School Board approved a year-round calendar for Lemonweir Elementary School and a schedule overhaul at Tomah Middle School during its regular monthly meeting last week at Robert Kupper Learning Center.

Both changes were approved unanimously.

The two schools recorded the districts lowest scores on the recently released school report cards from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. Lemonweir was labeled a school that meets few expectations, while the middle school barely cleared the meets expectations bar.

Sistrict superintendent Cindy Zahrte believes the changes will have positive effect on both schools.

Lemonweir will follow a calendar in which students attend class for 45 days followed by a 15-day break. The calendar extends school into summer but still leaves students with a six-week summer break. Students at Lemonweir would attend the same number of days as those who follow the traditional calendar.

The calendar is designed to address retention problems caused by the traditional three-month summer break.

Zahrte said there has been virtually no reaction from the general public concerning the change despite significant media coverage.

Were anxious to move forward with this, Zahrte said. I think people believe we should give this a try.

Lemonweir principal Nicki Pope said the new calendar has the support of faculty and staff.

My staff will be very excited, Pope said.

The first day of class under the new calendar will be July 19.

The change in the middle school schedule will add 17 minutes per day to the core courses of math, literacy, science and social studies. Art, music and physical education classes will shrink by three minutes a day, pass times will be reduced and the total school day will increase by two minutes. The building will no longer have a unified bell schedule, and classes will change at different times for different grades.

In other business, the board heard a report on transportation of 4-year-old kindergarten students. Zahrte said it makes sense for 4-year-olds to ride on regular bus routes. She said some parents have expressed dissatisfaction that their 4-year-olds dont ride the same bus as an older sibling.

She said getting rid of routes solely for 4-year-olds isnt a financial issue.

I dont want people to think were eliminating this because we cant afford it, Zahrte said.

Four-year-olds will continue to have their own routes arriving or leaving school depending which half-day calendar they follow.

The board took no action on the issue.
Its time for the U.S. Supreme Court to take up the question of political gerrymandering.

And, its time for Wisconsin to take the process of drawing political boundaries out of the hands of politicians and put it into the hands of the people.

Last week, a three-judge federal panel in Wisconsin ruled that the boundaries drawn by the Republican Party in 2011 were illegally partisan.

One of the judges in the case, Reagan-appointee Kenneth Ripple, said it is clear that one of the purposes of the redistricting process was to secure Republican control of the Assembly under any likely future electoral scenario for the remainder of the decade, in other words to entrench the Republican Party in power.

As weve written, its more than a quaint notion to have the voters choose their representatives instead of allowing the representatives to choose their voters. It should be the law.

It is not unusual for the Supreme Court to rule in cases of racial gerrymandering, but it has never overturned a case involving allegations of pure political advantage.

Thats why political observers nationwide are watching with interest.

Look at some of the fallout in Wisconsin. While weve endorsed Ron Kind as our congressman, its still a bit unfortunate that he ran unopposed earlier this month  in part because the people who drew the map clearly added Democrats to our 3rd congressional district in order to make an adjacent district safer for a Republican.

In other words, gerrymandering has made for less competitive democracy in Wisconsin  and provided more political control to the ruling party to keep representatives in line or face a primary within their own party.

Its simply undemocratic  and such shenanigans are facing legal challenges in other states, too  boundaries drawn by both Democrats and Republicans.

And thats the larger point: Neither party has taken the necessary steps to depoliticize the process when it was their turn to draw the maps.

Its also troubling that the process usually is very secretive and very expensive.

Neither serves democracy.

After every 10-year census, states redraw political boundaries to make sure each district contains about the same number of people to ensure the one-person, one-vote doctrine set by the Supreme Court in 1962.

Iowa uses a non-political commission to crunch data every 10 years and redraw the boundaries. That model has worked very well for years because it takes the details out of the hands of politicians.

The preservation of political power should not be a tenet of redistricting.

The process should be designed to assure fairness and trust in our electoral process.

When politicians game the system for their own political and professional preservation, something is drastically wrong.
Can a person who has done something morally abhorrent nevertheless be used to inspire ethical behavior?

That is the key question raised by a recent controversy over an email at the University of Virginia.

On Nov. 9, the day after the U.S. presidential election, University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan sent an email to students: Thomas Jefferson wrote to a friend that University of Virginia students are not of ordinary significance only: they are exactly the persons who are to succeed to the government of our country, and to rule its future enmities, its friendships and fortunes. I encourage todays U.Va. students to embrace that responsibility.

Many people within the university community objected to her quotation of Jefferson. A letter, signed by 469 faculty members and students, was sent to Sullivan: We would like for our administration to understand that although some members of this community may have come to this university because of Thomas Jeffersons legacy, others of us came here in spite of it. For many of us, the inclusion of Jefferson quotations in these emails undermines the message of unity, equality and civility that you are attempting to convey.

Assistant professor of psychology Noelle Hurd, who drafted the letter, explained later: The intention of the email was to start a conversation with our administration regarding ways to be more inclusive.

One of the signers of the letter, politics professor Lawrie Balfour, commented, The point is not that [Jefferson] is never appropriate, but the point is that the move that says, he owned slaves, but he was a great man, is deeply problematic, and I think it will continue to prevent us from being the kind of inclusive, respectful community that President Sullivan and the rest of us envision.

Im not sure what this means. If quoting Jefferson is deeply problematic on moral grounds, and I agree that it is, when is it ever appropriate to cite him? Indeed, when is it ever appropriate to cite most of the early U.S. presidents?

Of the first 12 presidents, only John Adams and John Quincy Adams did not own slaves.

This raises the question: is it appropriate to quote George Washington or James Madison in contexts that would use them as positive moral examples? Have nearly all of our nations founders become, like Jefferson, symbols of exclusion?

I think having a conversation about the ways historical figures become symbols whose meaning extends far beyond their intentions or utterances is certainly worthwhile. One never knows what meanings words or symbols have until one talks to people about the meanings they perceive.

But I do not believe Hurds claim that the intent of the letter to Sullivan was simply to start a conversation. Academics start conversations all the time  in the classroom, in publications, at conferences. However, sending a public letter with 469 signatures is not conversation starter; it is a conversation stopper. It is meant to draw a line. To put a foot down. It is a political tactic. Such tactics inevitably draw a counter-response attempting to draw a different line.

And that is just what happened.

In response to the faculty/student letter, an alumnus started a petition that reads, We reject any and all calls to erase or diminish Jeffersons legacy at the University of Virginia in the name of political correctness, and we encourage President Teresa Sullivan and the Board of Visitors not to bow to such demands. The Cavalier Daily reported that as of Nov. 16, the petition had 430 signatures.

Once an issue like this gets politicized, once people start taking sides, talking among themselves and against their opponents, thinking stops. The real work of the university, which is to encourage thoughtfulness about difficult things, is suspended. Whatever the intent of the protest letter, having a sincere and earnest conversation at the University of Virginia about the meaning of Jeffersons legacy is now more difficult.

Ironically, this is the sort of conflict Jefferson understood well. One reason I think someone like Jefferson can continue to serve as a moral example despite his flaws is that regardless of what he stood for (whatever that means), we still have much to learn from what he actually said.

My favorite passage in Jeffersons writings occurs in a letter dated Jan. 30, 1787. Jefferson advises Madison not to react too harshly in response to Shays Rebellion. He describes the violence of the insurrection as absolutely unjustifiable, but also asks Madison to consider the hardships that led to it. He then goes on to say something astonishing in its wisdom: Those characters wherein fear predominates hope may apprehend too much from these instances of irregularity. They may conclude too hastily that nature has formed man insusceptible of any other government than that of force, a conclusion which is not founded in truth, nor experience.

The commitment to hope and the rejection of fear is why I teach and why I write. I believe that most people are reasonable when given the opportunity, and that the chief role of leadership is to create opportunities for sincere and earnest conversation. That means talking first and protesting only as a last resort.

If we cant engage in real substantial disagreement in our universities, where can we do it?
State Appeals Court Judge JoAnne Kloppenburg has raised more money than Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Joe Donald as they seek a seat on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

The two released fundraising totals Wednesday and are competing against incumbent state Supreme Court Justice Rebecca Bradley, who did not immediately respond to a Wisconsin State Journal request for campaign fund- raising levels. The filing deadline is Friday.

Spokeswoman Melissa Mulliken said Kloppenburgs campaign raised $278,447 in 2015 and had $232,289 on hand as of Dec. 31. Donald raised $250,657 in 2015 and had $195,724 on hand, according to his campaign.

The top two vote-getters will be placed on the April 5 election ballot.

Bradley seeks to keep her position on the Supreme Court, to which she was appointed by Gov. Scott Walker after Justice N. Patrick Crooks death in September. Bradley, who has been appointed to judicial positions three times by Walker, was backed by conservative group Wisconsin Club for Growth in 2013 when she ran for a circuit court judgeship.

Kloppenburg was backed by left-leaning organizations when she unsuccessfully ran in 2011 against Justice David Prosser, while Donald has been endorsed by Democrats U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee, former U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl and Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele.
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state is currently entangled in a N2 billion scandal as revealed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

The party is asking the governor to immediately retrieve and return the sum of N2 billion of Rivers money he allegedly donated to the Ondo state branch of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the electioneering.

[caption id="attachment_1042771" align="alignnone" width="620"] Governor Nyesom Wike is accused of donating public fund to the PDP in Ondo state[/caption]

The demand came from the APC publicity secretary in the state, Senibo Chris Finebone, on Sunday, November27 while he was addressing supporters of his party in Port Harcourt shortly after the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Chief Rotimi Akeredolu of the APC as the winner of the 2016 Ondo governorship election.

It is unfortunate that Governor Nyesom Wike is still playing Father Christmas with the commonwealth of Rivers people for his personal egoistic political voyage despite that the governor has cancelled hundreds of overseas scholarships and the students repatriated home among other important programmes.

READ ALSO: PDP accuses FG, INEC of rigging Ondo election

"Agriculture is in its worst state since Rivers State was created. Songhai Farm is gone; the Banana Farm at Tai is gone; RSSDA is now a ghost of its former self with the staff owed 17 months salaries.

"The various fish farms at Buguma, Andoni and other places that provided jobs for thousands of Rivers people are now history.

It saddens the heart that our governor prefers to neglect important matters calling for attention at home but rather lavish our commonwealth on his personal political pursuits.

"Can you imagine that Gov. Nyesom Wike willingly donated a whopping N2bn to the Ondo State chapter of the PDP? It is horrible, mind-boggling and indefensible.

Just like in the case of Edo, the PDP has lost and the governor should not wait to be reminded to return the N2bn back to the treasury of Rivers State immediately," Finebone demanded.

The APC spokesperson lambasted the governor for wasting the resources of the people on matters concerning the PDP rather than concentrate on frugally applying the states resources to the needs of the state.

Whereas the PDP has states like Akwa Ibom and Delta that collect high monthly federal allocations, it is only Gov. Wike that plays the partys godfather.

READ ALSO: Fayose slams INEC, PDP over Jegede's defeat in Ondo

"So far, he has wasted billions of Naira hosting two failed national conventions of the PDP in Port Harcourt.

"He has profligately donated billions of Naira belonging to Rivers people to faraway Bayelsa, Edo and Ondo PDP chapters for purposes of elections while medical workers, pensioners and teachers are owed back home.

Is it that Rivers State has been conquered by a small band of buccaneers led by Gov Wike and genuine elders are keeping quiet? Finebone queried while warning that if the governor did not return the N2 billion, he would be forced to do so at the appropriate time.

Source: Legit.ng
Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by an Islamic State (IS) gas attack in northern Syria, the Turkish army said Sunday, the first time Turkey has accused the jihadists of chemical warfare. Observers, including the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), have previously accused IS of using mustard gas in Syria and described the possibility as extremely worrying. "After a rocket was fired by Daesh (IS), 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas," the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency. It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria, where the pro-Ankara fighters backed by Turkish special forces and air power are battling to dislodge the jihadists from the border area. The report did not specify what type of gas was used. Turkish media said the affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey's AFAD emergencies agency. The reports said the Turkish emergency workers were equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves. The Syrians were brought to the main hospital in Kilis where they are undergoing treatment. Television pictures showed some of the Syrians being transferred on stretchers to the hospital, with the emergency workers dressed in full-body white protective clothing and gas masks. The incident comes amid growing fears over the use of chemical weapons on Syria's over five year civil war. A joint UN and OPCW backed panel established during a year-long investigation that forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015. But the panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), also found that the Islamic State group in Syria used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015. - Erdogan, Putin talk again - Earlier this month, the UN Security Council unanimously decided to extend for another year the panel's mandate. OPCW director general Ahmet Uzumcu told AFP earlier this month that IS may have itself manufactured mustard gas used in attacks in Syria and Iraq. He said analysis of samples of mustard gas used was was "poor quality, but still harmful ... and it was weaponised so it's extremely worrying". The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out IS jihadists from the border area and also ensuring there is no Kurdish militia presence. In a three-month operation, the rebels have so far captured the IS stronghold of Jarabulus, cleared IS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance. With Turkish support they are now pressing to take Al Bab, another town deeper inside Syria, from the jihadists in an advance that appears to be taking more time and encountering greater opposition. Tensions are running high after six Turkish soldiers were killed in the last week alone, two by IS but four in an air strike it believed was carried out by forces of Assad. On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Assad's main ally, discussed the Syria conflict by telephone for the second time in just over 24 hours, both sides said. The Turkish armed forces said that four IS targets had been destroyed in the latest air raids by Turkish war planes over northern Syria.
Bulk of revenues still came from the bus segment.

Transport group ComfortDelGro's well diversified business provides growth avenues despite weak economic outlook, RHB said.

The firm noted how the group's bus segment is to benefit from higher margins post-transition to the government contracting model. Its taxi business is expected to maintain its resiliency even with the rise in popularity of ride-hailing apps like Uber and Grab.

"We expect ComfortDelGros Singapore bus business to book 7-8% EBIT margins from 4Q16 under the government contracting model (GCM), which should support growth into 2017," RHB explained.

In 3Q16, its bus segment contributed nearly $500m to the group's headline, or 50% of the total revenue for the quarter.

Meanwhile, its taxi business has seen negligible impact from rising competition presented by Uber and Grab

"Its taxi hire-out rate remains close to 100% and revenue grew 6-7% in 3Q16. While we expect the growth of its fleet to decelerate, its taxi rental rates (and taxi revenues) should rise as it continues to replace older cars with newer taxis," RHB noted.

For the past quarter, its taxi business registered around $330m revenues, contributing 33% to the overall headline.





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With its oil output at record levels and state coffers running low, Russia has little to lose and much to gain from agreeing a deal with the OPEC cartel on limiting production. Ahead of an OPEC meeting set for November 30 in Vienna, Moscow -- which is not a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries -- is pushing for an agreement to be finally reached after similar talks in Doha collapsed acrimoniously in the spring. Russia is one of the biggest oil producers in the world, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States, and has paid dearly for the collapse in prices over two years of recession, exacerbated by Western sanctions over Ukraine. While OPEC plans to reduce production quotas for its members, President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia was ready to "freeze production at the level it is at currently". "For us to freeze production is no effort at all," Putin said. Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Thursday that OPEC had asked oil-producing countries that are not members of the cartel to cut production by 500,000 barrels a day. Russian oil production in recent months has not stopped growing and now exceeds 11 million barrels per day, the highest since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The potential for further growth is "limited", said Emily Stromquist, an analyst at Eurasia Group. A freeze "requires little to no effort on the part of Russian oil companies" while Russia "would benefit immensely from... any deal, however vague, that can help bump oil prices up a few dollars," Stromquist told AFP. The relative rebound in oil prices since winter shows the market is extremely sensitive to any step -- even without a concrete result -- taken in conjunction by the exporter countries that up to now have competed for market shares and produced more and more oil. - Election year - Russia's production has grown by around 50 percent since 2000 thanks to the relaunch of Soviet-era oilfields. In recent years this growth has been sustained by new horizontal drilling methods that prolonged the life of certain oilfields, particularly in western Siberia, as well as by the launch of new projects that were approved when the oil price was higher. The ruble's plunge in 2014 has partially offset the effect of the falling oil prices once the sales revenue is converted from dollars into rubles. Despite Western sanctions on certain types of technology transfers and business partnerships, Russian companies have managed to maintain comfortable sales and are drilling actively. After Russia and Saudi Arabia in February began to discuss limiting production, "this factor encouraged companies to work on drilling and producing more", said Valery Nesterov, an analyst at Sberbank CIB. Companies want to ensure that "if Russia signs up to a freeze, their obligations will be set at a higher, more comfortable level that will not burden oil companies or the budget," Nesterov said. Oil and gas earnings made up half of the government's budget revenues during the years of high prices. The fall in prices forced the government to tighten its belt and pushed the budget deficit to almost four percent of GDP this year. It also dangerously drained reserves built up when the price topped $100 per barrel. The 2017 budget, which is now being debated by lawmakers, includes new spending cuts on education and even defence. The Communists have condemned it as "anti-social" while business circles criticised it as derailing hopes for an economic recovery next year. The draft budget was based on a barrel costing $40 and each extra dollar in the oil price will represent 130 billion rubles of budget revenues ($2 billion), said Natalia Orlova, an economist at Alfa banking group. In recent days, oil has come close to $50 per barrel on the London market. "One could imagine that (a rising price) would push the government to spend more during the election year," Orlova said, as Putin's presidential term ends in spring 2018. Putin hopes to rally the support of pensioners and public sector workers -- whom he promised special attention on his return to the Kremlin in 2012 but who have been hard-hit by the crisis.
The UN envoy for Yemen has announced a new bid for peace talks between the government and rebels, after the latest ceasefire failed to end the 20-month conflict. The peace efforts by Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed came as dozens were reported killed in fighting at the weekend. Envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed said he was heading to Riyadh and Kuwait "to prepare for a new round" of talks, as he left Muscat late Saturday after discussions with representatives of Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies. Riyadh has been the base of Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since the rebels forced him to flee his country in March 2015 and prompted Saudi Arabia to lead an Arab coalition in a military campaign against the insurgents. The UN envoy was to meet Hadi "within two days" in the southern Yemeni city of Aden to receive the government's response to his peace proposals, Foreign Minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi told AFP. Hadi flew to Aden on Saturday for a surprise visit to the port city which is serving as Yemen's temporary capital since coalition-backed loyalists recaptured it from the rebels. Ould Cheikh Ahmed, quoted by Oman's official ONA news agency, said he found "a lot of seriousness" in talks with representatives of the Huthis and their allies from the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The envoy also said he had been in contact with US Secretary of State John Kerry who "sees a historic chance to achieve peace in Yemen". A previous round of peace talks held in Kuwait collapsed in August. A 48-hour ceasefire declared by the coalition ended last Monday with little success in reducing violence in the war-torn country. Both parties traded blame for the numerous violations of the ceasefire that came into effect after Kerry intervened. It was the latest international attempt to end a conflict which the United Nations says has killed more than 7,000 people and wounded nearly 37,000 since March last year. The Huthis overran the capital Sanaa and other parts of the impoverished country in September 2014. A Yemeni official said Sunday 12 civilians were killed when a coalition air strike hit two makeshift wooden houses sheltering displaced families in the western province of Hodeida. The official said the raid late on Saturday had apparently targeted the two houses "mistakenly", adding that a rebel position 300 metres (yards) away was untouched. The coalition has been strongly criticised over the high number of civilians killed in its air strikes. In northwest Yemen, the sources said, 40 soldiers and 22 rebels have been killed since Friday in heavy clashes for control of a road linking the Red Sea port city of Midi and nearby Haradh. Elsewhere, two women were killed in rebel bombing of the southwestern city of Taez, military officials said. Clashes raged on the outskirts of the flashpoint city, killing four rebels and three government soldiers late on Saturday, they said.
The human gut is a complex and amazing system, and the more we learn about it, the more amazed we are. It turns out
125 YEARS AGO

Arizona Central Bank of Flagstaff is the oldest bank in Northern Arizona. Interest is paid on time on deposits. Collections are a specialty. Your banking business is solicited. J. H27 Hoskins, Jr. Cashier.

Mr. A. Eaton has purchased the saloon formerly run by C. F. Babcock. He intends to put in a new stock of liquors and fixtures. Hereafter it will be known as The Elite.

Mr. W. H. Anderson, whose ranch is near the San Francisco Mountains, has increased his yield of potatoes to 4  5 tons per acre. Plus he has several acres of turnips, beets, carrots and rutabagas, all of which are very fine.

The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad is doing a good business in both freight and passenger traffic to Southern California, so much that another Pullman Car has been added.

100 YEARS AGO

Work on the new jail is progressing finely and if the contractors for the stone work dont have to wait for the iron work our new jail should be completed by mid-January.

A hearing is to be held before the Board of Supervisors on Saturday next to decide on the right of way for the County road through the ranch of Norman Hall to the Leroux Springs.

There was battle royal with a hydrophobic skunk in Walnut Canyon this week. The skunk arrived at the farm of W. H. Pierce, where it attacked the dog. Mr. Pierce and his guest Mr. Theodore Aiken rushed out prepared to shoot. The skunk bit Mr. Pierce on his foot. Fortunately his boot is heavy so he was saved and clubbed the skunk to death. It was the largest skunk ever seen in that area. Nothing but a misinformed skunk would attack a pair of Uncle Sams veterans. Mr. Aiken left on Tuesday to spend the winter in California.

Negotiations are underway between A. W. Bickker and the JC Penney Co. of New York. Flagstaff may get a new business building and a firm handling a nice line of dry goods on the lot next to the building recently purchased by Mr. Bikkert from Mrs. W. H. Power.

Two big trucks, one of them a new Jeffery Quad, arrived on Wednesday. They will soon be at work hauling ore into Flagstaff from the White Mesa property of the Navajo Copper Co. They will be used for the last 100 miles of the haul, while a caterpillar truck will be used for the first 25 miles of heavy sand.

The City Council has settled the matter of the Red Light District. Monday night they drafted an ordinance that will eliminate it after the 8th day of December. Violations of the provision will be subject to a fine not exceeding $300 or 90 days imprisonment.

75 YEARS AGO

Since farmers and ranchers are in a bit of a puzzle about the role they are being asked to play in the National Farm Defense Program in the matter of acreage and allotments of specified crops and marketing quotas, a meeting is being held at 2 pm on Saturday at the County Courthouse. A. B. Ballentyne of the University of Arizona will present the specifics and answer questions. There will also be meetings at Parks and at Red Lake near Williams.

The defense industry on the West Coast is in need of craftsmen. Mr. M. F. Gordon announced that his welding shop will open acetylene and electric welding school beginning on Monday after 4 p.m. and running until 10 p.m. The class is open to any man over 18 years of age. It will last 5 days a week for 12 weeks and has a contract with the local employment office for the defense program in the West Coast shipyards. Since the shipyards are about 2,000 welders short, successful students will receive immediate jobs. A test of your skill will be given at the end of the class.

The lowest pay is $1.42 an hour. Persons on the WPA can attend and receive 50 cents an hour while doing the class, which is limited to between 16 and 20 students.

City firemen bagged the jackpot in last weeks Elk Hunt rampage. Neil Karstenteller cropped the top with a 1,400-pounder. Herman Dennam shot a 900-pounder and Sid Griffon a 700-pounder. They were hunting in the Long Alley District.

The Bull Elk season opened on November 18 and will close on December 10. The special permit required costs $10.

Hayes Weidner says there is plenty of water in Lake Mary. Even with only 0.29 of rain there has been enough drainage to raise the water level from 16.5 feet to 22.3 feet, giving a total storage of 1.42 billion gallons of excellent water.

Remodeling at the Le Brat Cafe is complete. The horseshoe center has been moved to one side and six new booths separated by gumwood partitions have been added. Each accommodates 4 people. Frank Sufea, Manager.

The Flagstaff Chapter of the American Red Cross wants to express it thanks to the 100 men and women who have so generously contributed time and effort to the roll call campaign. They have raised more money and added more new members than any previous roll call. We have about 1,000 new members. Dr. Harold S. Colter, Chairman.

H. 58 Wed. L. 11 Thurs. No rain  No snow.

50 YEARS AGO

Hunters have been wreaking havoc on railroad signs. Santa Fe Roadmaster Jess Chapman says there has been about $5,000 in damage this season, mostly to mileage signs between Bellemont and Winona. The reflector signs are attached to 12 foot tall, 4x4 posts. It is not just the reflectors that are destroyed but also the tops of the posts are riddled so new reflectors cannot just be added. This was certainly not done by real sportsmen.

Saturday is Phone Company Moving Day. They will be moving from 24 Aspen, next door to J. C. Penneys, to 114 N. Leroux, where there is more much needed space to accommodate additional central equipment for the growing number of Flagstaff phones. There are now 12,436 sets here This is a temporary location while a new facility is being constructed where they expect to be moving next June. The public opening with tours will be on Wednesday. Light refreshments will be served between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

25 YEARS AGO

HALT THE SALT say local residents. Coconino County is taking a stand on road salting, bypassing ADOT and going directly to the governor with the true costs of salting that need to be considered. These include not only the death of roadside trees by the salty melt but also the attraction salt has for the wild animals it brings to the roadsides where they and motorists come into contact. It is suggested that more be done to get the commercial trucks to slow down in slippery conditions. Board Chairman Paul Babbitt.

The City Council has OK'd $425,000 for the vacant lot on the corner of Aspen and Leroux. The city now owns it. The plan is for underground parking topped by an elegant plaza and shops. They expect to hold the site and work out a deal with a private developer.
ONiells is going to be shaking up its regular food offerings and pairing five courses with unique Belgian beer pairings on Dec. 8.

ONiells location in the Northeast Heights is hosting a Delirium Beer Dinner featuring five Huyghe Brewery beers including several from the Delirium line.

The brewery was founded in 1906. Brewer Leon Huyghe bought the brewery, in Melle, in the East Flanders area of Belgium. It was named Huyghe Brewery in 1938, according to Katixa M. Mercier, sales representative for Favorite Brands, which distributes Huyghe Brewery products in New Mexico.

To complement these Belgian beers, ONiells chef Jeff Trent will be flexing his culinary talents and creating something that is not on the usual menu that he is used to cooking day to day, Mercier said.

What people are looking for when they dine out is an experience, not just food and drink that you can find anywhere, but something that has really been thought through with care and experience and precision to be able to deliver to the public and have everyone be excited about it, Mercier said. It kind of breaks the day-to-day norm.

The dinner begins with bone marrow with garlic and olive oil breadsticks paired with La Guillotine, which is a golden blonde.

(It is a) very citrusy ale, and it was brewed to celebrate the bicentennial of the French Revolution in 1989, Mercier said. (It bears) the bicentennial mark. The guillotine of course is in reference of the French Revolution where they beheaded Louis XVI. As the big uprising in France, La Guillotine is an ode to that and honors the French Revolution.

The second course is made up of butternut squash soup with cranberry creme fraiche. It will be paired with Delirium Tremens. Tremens, which was released in 1988, was the first of the Delirium line. It is described on the brands website as being slightly malty, a nice touch of alcohol, spicy. It recently won a gold Meiningers International Award in Germany and a silver at the Australian International Beer Awards, according to Mercier.

The third course of heritage greens with fire-grilled artichoke, applewood-smoked blue cheese and warm bacon vinaigrette will be served with Delirium Red. It is described as sweet and fruity, with a nice balance between sweet and sour. The entree of braised beef short ribs, roasted potatoes with caramelized onion and beets will be served with Delirium Noel, a very spicy, slightly bitter beer.

I think the beer in its mild bitterness will really complement the rich nature of bone marrow and how just luxurious that paring is, Mercier said.

The finale of pumpkin and sweet potato tart with mandarin orange and ginger cream paired with Delirium Nocturnum ends the dinner. Nocturnum contains touches of caramel, mocha and chocolate. Spices such as licorice and coriander are also present, according to the brands website.

Delirium is fondly known for its playful labeling featuring a pink elephant.

They chose Delirium with a pink elephant because it is very playful to the eye, but it really comes from elephants on parade, Mercier explained. All of us have seen Dumbo, and when Dumbo and his little mouse friend get into the water that was accidentally spiked with champagne and start seeing those dancing elephants, the hallucination is a result of intoxication. Contrastingly, from having consumed so much you get the shakes, and thats called tremens. So the first beer that they made, Delirium Tremens, is actually what thats referring to.

Huyghe Brewery products including the Delirium line continue to rack up awards around the world.

A lot of their beers continue to get these accolades, Mercier said. Its pretty impressive to see time and time again, experience does equate to accolades at times when this brewery has been around for more than 100 years.

Delirium Dinner

WHEN: 6 p.m. Dec. 8

WHERE: ONiells Heights, 3301 Juan Tabo NE

HOW MUCH: $55 per person. Reservations, call 293-1122. Information, visit oniells.com
LOS ANGELES  Shirley MacLaine is direct, funny and down-to-earth no matter how high-flying the topic may be, including the guardian angels and aliens she accepts as givens.

In a recent interview, theres also no hint of the diva she easily could be, given her stardom of six decades and counting; five lead-actress Academy Award nominations; and an Oscar for what she cites as her favorite role, Aurora, in 1983s Terms of Endearment.

She long ago traded the big city for New Mexico, but never abandoned acting. MacLaine played an angel in a recent Hallmark TV movie, A Heavenly Christmas, and has a film set for release next spring, The Last Word with Amanda Seyfried.

In a phone interview with The Associated Press, MacLaine, 82, said shes healthy, active and a devoted traveler. She shared her views on spirituality, ranch life and, only indirectly, politics.

AP: You believe in angels?

MacLaine: Of course I do. Are you kidding? I believe in UFOs, I believe in extraterrestrials, and I believe in angels. And maybe theyll protect all of us.

AP: What have angels done for you?

MacLaine: We dont have time. I lost my dog of 17 years, Terry, and right now shes a little angel whos delivering nice things.  It is incredible, when you start believing in angels your life becomes a lot smoother.

AP: Do you follow any organized religion?

MacLaine: No, just tolerance, organized tolerance. Organized patience, which Im not too good at. Organized understanding of differences, which is really giving me problems now. Organized sense of humor.

AP: How do you spend your time in New Mexico?

MacLaine: Im very involved with learning to be self-sufficient. Im a city girl and I never really lived in the country, so Im learning about that. I have a ranch here, at Abiquiu, where Georgia OKeeffe used to paint, and I had to build it up to be self-sufficient because its really off the grid.

AP: Do you have animals?

MacLaine: Altogether about six dogs. And then Ive got bear and elk and coyotes in my front yard. Its living with nature.

AP: And people company?

MacLaine: I have a great life, to tell you the truth. I have a lot of friends who come and stay, and we talk about the world. And of course I travel, (most recently) to Virginia, where I was honored at the University of Virginia and did 2  hours onstage answering questions from students.

AP: How does spirituality fit into the world now?

MacLaine: I think materialism has trumped a lot of stuff, but I dont think it has trumped the heart, especially when it comes to (a persons) last thought. Its not going to be about money. Its going to be about who am I, what have I done and where am I going. And of course that gets us into reincarnation, it gets us to are we alone in the universe.  All of that stuff, which is infinitely interesting to me.

AP: You have no doubt when this life ends you will return?

MacLaine: Im not sure Ill come back to this planet. I may come back to another one. (Laughs.)
Retiring pageant queens invariably declare that their reign went by so fast.

That was the case for Lady Shug, Miss New Mexico Pride 2016, said the drag queen as she hastily tucked the falsies back into her long dress and adjusted the straps backstage at the African American Performing Arts Center.

The reigning face of Albuquerque Pride, which puts on the states largest gay pride parade, still wore no makeup as festivities began on Nov. 19. She was waiting for her makeup artist, alternating between excitement, nostalgia and uncertainty as she capped an unusual reign during a cataclysmic year for gay rights.

Her tenure had been marked by travels around New Mexico, performing at pride events in Silver City, El Paso, Gallup, Farmington and other far-flung towns. A rare pageant winner from the Four Corners area, she had been surprised to win a title that almost always goes to a drag queen from Albuquerque or Santa Fe.

Outgoing Miss New Mexico Pride 2016, Lady Shug, performs a number at the recent pageant at the African American Performing Arts Center. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Host Jade Esteban Estrada addresses the audience during the New Mexico Pride pageant on Nov. 19. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Pageant judges included, from left, Antonio Carillo, Raquel Del Rio, Robb Anthony Sisneros, Gwen-Marie Lerch and Neil Macernie. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) TJ Martinez, the 2017 Mr. New Mexico Pride Youth winner, is crowned on stage. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Armani Daniels, who was crowned Mr. New Mexico Pride 2017, performs during the talent portion of the pageant. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) The 2017 New Mexico Pride Pageant included recognition of winners from 10 and 20 years ago. (Roberto E. Rosales/Journal) Prev 1 of 6 Next

Lady Shug de la Cruz was born in Bloomfield and raised on the Navajo Nation, and her platform in competition had been recognizing the struggles of gay youth in remote rural areas and on Indian reservations. Growing up, I thought I was the only one, she recalled.

Now she recalled the tragedies that had marked her reign, starting with the Orlando massacre at the Pulse nightclub, which happened the very weekend of Albuquerque Pride, June 11-12. Also, the Red Nation protest against the Dakota Pipeline, Ashlynne Mikes murder in Shiprock, the transgender bathroom controversy, the election of Trump.

Nevertheless, Shug exuded calm optimism for the future of gay rights. Things are getting better, she said, citing the progress of gay marriage around the country. But theres still a lot of hate. So that was my reign, to spread love or even just express pride in myself and be accepted.

Her personal project as Miss New Mexico Pride had been to let rural areas know that the LGBTQ community at large had not forgotten about them, and to be a role model to youth.

The title even helped her mend fences with her mother, who traveled with her and was proud to see audiences so appreciative, Shug said.

She helped raise money for Identity Inc., an LGBTQ nonprofit in San Juan County, and visited youth and community centers everywhere she went.

Being out in Farmington is not easy, she said. There are no gay bars  you have to drive a hundred miles to find one. We forget about the small communities.

Identity Inc. is working on it, but its not going to happen overnight, she said of societal acceptance. Gay marriage is still not recognized on the Navajo Nation, she noted, a project that she supports through Dine Equality in Gallup. Doing this, I learned that it cant be one person. It has to be a community.

Even the election of Donald Trump, which appears to have increased reported hate crimes nationwide, does not represent defeat, she said. Weve seen hate before. Were strong.

While still in her 20s, Lady Shug made a name for herself as a drag queen on the Las Vegas Strip, where she moved after a brief stint in Long Beach, Calif., after high school. Eventually she had a steady career as a showgirl and even won the title of Miss Las Vegas Pride.

But then her grandmother got sick, which brought her back to Bloomfield and the crown she gave away earlier this month.

I havent really wrapped my head around it yet, she said that evening. Its been surreal.

When she competed last year, her dresser had gotten sick and she had dressed herself; her surprise crowning had made the whole evening a blur, she said. Tonight, she had hired support for hair and makeup so she could just enjoy her final moments, not knowing exactly what to do next.

Passing by backstage were the startling costumes and laborious makeup that testify to the huge amount of work that goes into drag performance. Not only elaborate makeup, hair and costume, but for the pageant contestants, the added planning for multiple quick costume changes, choreography and preparing a platform for interviews with the judges.

As Lady Shug disappeared to don the eye makeup and popping cleavage that can be admired from 50 rows back, special guest Kimora Blac clutched her impossibly tiny waist in regret at having snacked after squeezing into her corset. Pageant host Jade Esteban Estrada reviewed his handwritten notes before applying his outsize eyelashes with the ease of long experience.

It is rare, in this environment, to meet someone who is genuinely nice, he volunteered of Lady Shug  someone he found immediately humble and sweet among the outsize egos of the burlesque circuit.

The entertainer known as the Prince of Pride added that pageant winners increasingly need to be able to represent to a mixed audience, because they are no longer just talking to their own communities. And while many use the titles to advance their show business careers, he said, to use this forum and really say something is the challenge for this era.

Craig LaBerge-Esparza, vice president of public relations for Albuquerque Pride, agreed that the significance of the NM Pride titles goes beyond pageantry and the Pride Parade in June. It means serving as ambassadors for the LGBT community for the next year, each title representing a different part of the community: Miss New Mexico Pride, Mr. New Mexico Pride, and Miss and Mr. Pride Youth.

After two long nights of hard work and celebration, Lady Shug handed over her glittering crown to Seliah DeLeon, Miss New Mexico Pride 2017. DeLeon is active with the LGBT service organization United Court of the Sandias, and NMPower, which advocates for HIV awareness.

Her platform, for which she will raise money all year, is to promote HIV awareness.

If we can find a bridge builder, thats perfect, LaBerge-Esparza said of the pageant selection process. But honestly, its not about the look or talent or what your education is. Its about the passion  the heart and the passion for the community.
The recent election has stirred discussions of the real possibility of revisions to the tax code. I suspect this is likely given the Republican control of the executive and legislative branches.

I wouldnt hold your breath for tax reform, however. I say that with the full knowledge that one persons lobbyist play date is anothers tax reform. But what I see proposed is, in my mind, more of a lobbyist play date.

President-elect Donald Trump proposes to lower the top tax rate for individuals from 39.6 percent to 33 percent. However, business income will be taxed at only 15 percent.

We are told that the current favorable tax treatment of carried interests, which has been a boon to hedge fund and private equity managers, will no longer be available.

One reason that I have little faith in true tax reform is that the existing tax proposals are mere sketches of tax legislation. These plans would likely fail a class assignment to submit an outline of a proposed paper.

But what is there does not bode well for simplification of the system. And the experiences of the past 35 years strongly suggest an explosion in the budget deficit.

And the proposals dont even address what is happening to the IRS budget. Budget cuts that continue to reduce workforce and training will likely be accompanied by shifts away from enforcement.

But lets get back to a specific proposal by Trump. Business income will be taxed at only 15 percent. This is presumably designed to reward business so that they can afford to hire new workers.

You may have noticed that, every time I have used the term business, I have placed it in quotation marks. This is because the law itself will have to define that term and this is not an easy term to define.

Ive made my point, so Ill stop using the quotation marks. But any skilled tax practitioner knows two things: First, the term business is used in several key provisions of the tax law. Second, none of these provisions defines the term.

So the courts have decided many, many cases trying to define a business for tax purposes. Because the issue is so muddled, courts usually rely on factors to make this decision.

When the law is unclear, the courts must turn to factors. So we try to plug a particular set of facts into these factors and the result is usually a clear maybe. And thats in a good situation  often the answer is I dont know and no one else can tell you.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has told us that a business requires a sufficient quantum of focused activity. I hope that clears the issue for all my readers.

If you believe enough in the proposition that a low tax rate for business will spur job creation, Im sure that you think Im just making up the difficulty in defining a business. So click the ruby shoes together and Im sure it will be clear.

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback eliminated taxes on business income earned by partnerships, S corporations, LLCs and proprietorships. In 2012, there were apparently 191,000 of those things in Kansas. Now there are 330,000.

One might think this growth is due to the many new jobs that had to be housed in some business entity. This is not the case in Kansas. A passive investment in an LLC escapes tax in Kansas.

I can tell you from experience that when one says that non-business income is taxed at 33 percent and business income at 15 percent, tax practitioners will use the inability of the law to define a business to rename many income-producing activities a business.

A single rental house has been held, many times over, to be a business. Now net rental income can be taxed at 39.6 percent. Under Trumps proposal, this rate will be 15 percent.

That hedge fund manager who may lose his carried interest benefit will no doubt call that income business income. So the benefit disappears and the top tax rate drops from 20 percent to 15 percent. Ouch. Take that hedge fund manager.

I predict change, but not reform.

James R. Hamill is the director of Tax Practice at Reynolds, Hix & Co. in Albuquerque. He can be reached at jimhamill@rhcocpa.com.
This weeks column inaugurates a new feature: choose your own lead paragraph! Here are two openings saying the same thing. Which one grabs you?

Option 1: On Nov. 1, 2016, the New Mexico Supreme Court promulgated a revision to Rule of Professional Conduct 16-108, which sets forth ethical rules dealing with conflicts of interest between lawyers and their clients. The revision goes into effect Dec. 31, 2016.

Option 2: Sexual predators in the legal profession are finally facing consequences for their behavior. Beginning with the new year, lawyers who sexually exploit their clients will be subject to professional discipline, which can range from private reprimand to disbarment.

In New Mexico, the legal profession is regulated by the state Supreme Court, which issues Rules of Professional Conduct and oversees their enforcement. The rules are adapted from model rules drafted by the American Bar Association. Theyre usually referred to as the ethical rules and the law school class that introduces students to their intricacies is called Ethics. But a lawyer can observe all the Rules of Professional Conduct with perfect punctiliousness, and still practice law with a slither and hiss. The rules describe only the kinds of misconduct that can get a lawyer in trouble with the Disciplinary Board. Genuinely ethical practice has always meant more than staying out of trouble.

For instance, it has never been remotely ethical for lawyers to take sexual advantage of their clients. But doing so wont be specifically prohibited by our ethical rules until New Years Eve. (There must be a reason why the change becomes effective Dec. 31 rather than Jan. 1, but I dont know what it is.) The new rule reads: A lawyer shall not have sexual relations with a client unless a consensual sexual relationship existed between them when the client-lawyer relationship commenced.

The new rule is taken verbatim from the ABAs model rule, which has already been adopted by many other states. A brief look at disciplinary cases from around the country illustrates why the rule is needed. In Maryland, a male lawyer agreed to represent a woman in an acrimonious divorce. She was fighting for custody of her children. The lawyer ran up a big bill, exhausting the womans savings, and then threatened to sabotage her case unless she submitted to sex with him. Marylands highest court disbarred him.

In an Iowa case, a divorced woman seeking visitation with her son contacted an attorney who asked for a retainer in the amount of $1,500. When she had difficulty raising the cash, he told her she could just pay expenses if she agreed to do something nice for him. When she feigned incomprehension, he asked, What do nice girls do for boys? Trying to treat it as a joke, the woman replied, Cook them dinner? The lawyer laughed, but then got right to the point: What wouldnt you do to get your son back? Other victims of this lawyer came forward, too. The Iowa Supreme Court suspended his license for three years with no possibility of reinstatement.

In Oklahoma, a woman facing an outstanding criminal charge hired an attorney to represent her. When she had trouble paying the retainer, he began making sexual suggestions. Shortly afterward, authorities notified him that the charge against his client had been dismissed. But he didnt share the happy news with her. Instead, he inquired about her 13- and 17-year-old daughters. He eventually offered his legal services for free in exchange for a sexual encounter with Client and her daughters. The attorney was dumb enough to text this proposition, leaving a digital trail, and the woman was brave enough to go to police, despite her legal troubles. The Oklahoma Supreme Court accepted the attorneys resignation.

Among physicians, sexual relations with patients have always been regarded as unethical. The prohibition dates all the way back to the Hippocratic Oath. Similarly, New Mexicos psychologists are prohibited from having sexual relations with patients for a full 12 months after the last session. Even past the 12-month window, the psychologist bears the burden of proving any sexual relationship is not based on exploitation.

School teachers are under an even stricter prohibition. Sex with a pupil is a felony. So is a prison guards sexual relationship with a prisoner, no matter how outwardly consensual. Coercion is built into the very nature of such unequal power relationships.

In contrast to all these other professions, lawyer-client sexual relationships were not previously prohibited as such by the Rules of Professional Conduct. Partly that was because such relationships could be regarded as implicitly covered by rules against conflicts of interest generally. A predatory lawyer is obviously not acting with the clients interests foremost in mind. Worse than that, in divorce cases, the exploitative lawyer is actively seeking to generate evidence of adultery that, if discovered, could only hurt the clients position. In line with that way of thinking, the new rule will be published under the heading of conflicts of interest.

While the conflict of interest is real, its only a secondary effect of a more basic ethical issue. The primary point, it seems to me, is that its morally wrong for a lawyer to take advantage of a person in crisis who comes to him or her seeking assistance. The wrongness doesnt vary depending on how well or poorly the lawyer handles the case. To describe the selfish exploitation of a vulnerable human being as a conflict of interest seems to me a way of looking past the ethical imperative, a strange thing for any ethical rule to do. But at least the categorical prohibition will be on our books come Dec. 31.

Joel Jacobsen is an author and has recently retired from a 29-year legal career. If there are topics you would like to see covered in future columns, please write him at legal.column.tips@gmail.com.
While the new Facebook data center in Los Lunas is expected to employ 30 to 50 people when it is up and running, many more  in fact hundreds, perhaps even thousands  will be employed building the massive facility. Its an economic driver everyone can like  unless New Mexicans are by design not at the forefront of that workforce.

Because those jobs are one of the major justifications for putting together a multimillion-dollar incentive package to attract the social media giant to the Land of Enchantment.

While 30 to 50 long-term quality jobs are definitely valuable to the local economy, the synergy a Facebook offers for future business could be invaluable. And the up to 500 construction jobs it takes to create a home for those Facebook jobs and their synergy are vital to a state and an industry that are still struggling to recover from the Great Recession.

So it was concerning when Facebooks general contractor, Fortis Construction of Portland, Ore., said last week that it was requiring subcontractors to have no more than 20 percent of their annual revenue coming from the data center project.

Fortis tempered those comments the next day after Journal business reporter Marie Baca reported on concerns about the percentage raised by the Associated Builders and Contractors of New Mexico. The quick response to allay concerns was encouraging.

To put this in perspective, New Mexico is desperately trying to crawl out of the hole that has its construction climate ranked second-worst in the nation, and construction job growth is key  in October, the states construction unemployment rate was 8.6 percent, second-worst in the nation behind Alaska.

In short, when there isnt a lot of construction happening, its not realistic for many companies to have non-Facebook activity account for 80 percent of their business, especially when you want to dedicate much of your workforce to doing the best job possible on this high-profile project that also has expansion potential.

This summer, Facebook received $10 million in Local Economic Development Act funding, up to $1.6 million annually in gross-receipts tax reimbursement and $30 billion in industrial revenue bonds that act as a property tax break to come to Los Lunas. It could be the smartest investment the state has made to date, considering Facebook is already building its third server farm in Prineville, Ore.  it built its first in 2011 at 147,000 square feet, quickly added a second phase of 160,000 square feet, and got permits last year to add an additional 487,000 square feet.

A 2014 economic impact report commissioned by Facebook said that over five years the Prineville project generated 3,592 construction jobs and $573 million in construction-related capital spending across Oregon.

So while phase one of the Los Lunas project started in October, there could be six phases and the project, like Prineville, could expand exponentially as Facebook continues to increase its need for massive storage infrastructure to house its enormous stockpile of photos and its platform capabilities to support video, websites and applications.

But it is important for the local economy that New Mexico be part of the building as well as the build-up.

Thankfully, after hearing the reaction by the ABC as well as from the head of a company that specializes in contract bonds and insurance for commercial contractors, who called the policy preposterous and elitist, Fortis put the requirement in reverse  kind of  and announced that the 20 percent threshold is really a guideline and its very important to us and to Facebook that we hire local contractors.

Thats in line with the companys September announcement that it was looking to hire locally. This includes subcontractors and Fortis staff members. While some companies will be coming from out of state, the objective is to hire a majority of workers from the local area.

New Mexico subcontractors will have to take Fortis and Facebook at their word, since no legislation requires companies of such incentive packages to hire locally.

As the Facebook project proceeds, that loophole is something to seriously unlike, and something the 2017 New Mexico Legislature should rectify.

This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers.
NEW YORK  A fire at the gun shop next door never reached Kathy Laurientis sausage and specialty food store, but the water and smoke damage was enough to shut her business down. Because Laurienti didnt have enough insurance, its still closed  more than a year later.

Laurienti still doesnt know how much her total losses will be, but estimates shell have to pay $30,000 to $40,000 from her own pocket. While she had $10,000 in coverage for lost income, shell likely have lost $100,000 in business by the time she can reopen.

You dont think about what the insurance might not handle, says Laurienti, whose store, Paisano, is located in a shopping center in Denver.

Its a lesson learned all too often, including by business owners hit by natural disasters like this summers flooding in Louisiana that caused an estimated $2 billion in damage to companies. Some businesses in the Southeast are still assessing their losses from Hurricane Matthew, which caused an estimated $10 billion in commercial and residential losses.

The government estimates that 40 percent of companies that havent prepared themselves to be able to operate after a disaster are forced to shut down. And 25 percent of businesses fail within two years because of inadequate post-disaster revenue or cash flow. Adequate insurance would help them survive.

Small companies frequently either dont buy insurance at all or dont have enough to cover their losses when disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes and power outages strike.

Many owners who do buy insurance opt for a standard business policy that covers fire, rain, wind and vandalism. These policies may also include business interruption insurance, which covers lost income when a company cannot operate. But they dont cover damage from floods or earthquakes, which can be serious threats in many parts of the country.

Most (owners) are buying it as if its a commodity product instead of understanding it needs to be customized to their particular situation, says Robert Borghese, who teaches law and entrepreneurship at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Many rely too much on insurance brokers who may not have a thorough understanding of the coverage theyre selling, Borghese says. Brokers may not know what a particular companys needs are.

Owners may also be trying to keep their costs down and dont think about the what ifs, says Belen Tokarski, a senior vice president at Insureon, an online insurance broker aimed at small businesses. It can cost thousands of dollars to insure a building and its contents in moderate- to high-risk areas.

Theyre price-focused, so theyre purchasing just what they think they need, she says.

Walter Coker considered buying flood insurance for his property that included a barn filled with furniture imported from Indonesia and a bait shop. But his broker said the cost of insuring the barn, located on the Matanzas River in St. Augustine, Fla., would be more than Coker could afford. The building is old and in disrepair.

He didnt give me any numbers, but said it would be exorbitant to try to insure a barn like that, Coker says.

When Hurricane Matthew hit, the barn and bait shop had four feet of water from the river. Cokers furniture inventory was heavily damaged. He was able to sell it at a discount and recover the price he paid, but estimates he had $6,000 to $7,000 in losses.

Coker knows he was gambling but, given the cost of insurance, says hes comfortable doing so. But, for some owners, denial is a factor.

Their eyes glaze over. Theyre busy running the day-to-day operations. They dont want to think about something bad happening, says Brian Van Hook, associate director at the Small Business Development Center at Florida International University.

Van Hook recommends resources like checklists posted by the trade group Insurance Information Institute on its website that help companies understand their risks. SBDCs like Van Hooks are located around the country and can be found at www.sba.gov/sbdc.

Beyond natural disasters, if an owner is unable to work or dies, a company could be in danger.

Erin Jump Frys husband, Mike, became ill in 2010, but he didnt have disability or life insurance. Their business, Fancy Fortune Cookies, didnt have a life insurance policy for him that would have helped it deal with the financial fallout of the loss of its co-owner. Without insurance money, Erin Fry couldnt hire someone to help her run it while she also cared for her husband and daughter.

You cant hire a replacement because youre having to pull money from the company to pay medical bills, says Fry, whose company is based in Indianapolis.

Mike Fry passed away in November 2012 and, several months later, his wife discovered that an employee was embezzling money. Business fraud insurance would have helped her recover that cash, she says. Her frustration is with attorneys and other advisers who didnt talk to the Frys about insurance coverage, some varieties of which she didnt even know existed.

Fancy Fortune Cookies has recovered, Fry says, and she now has more comprehensive insurance.

People who run businesses out of their homes may mistakenly think their homeowners policy will cover business losses, Tokarski says.

Elizabeth Crouch sells cupcake racks out of her home and kept inventory in a building on the property. A fire in April destroyed the building and melted 1,500 racks, wiping out $5,000 in inventory that would have brought Crouch $37,000 in revenue. She discovered that the racks werent covered.

I had liability insurance just in case someone got hurt, says Crouch, who lives in Sheridan, Ore. Never did I ever think there was a chance of losing my inventory.

Crouch is trying to be certain she wont suffer similar losses again.

Everything else in my business Im re-examining to be sure Im covered for anything, she says.
Matt DiGregorys customers  particularly those visiting from out of town  are often confounded by the fact they cannot order a cocktail with their dinner at some of his restaurants.

DiGregory is, too.

The man behind the Range Cafe chain and Standard Diner says New Mexicos liquor license system makes it prohibitively expensive for independent restaurateurs to buy in. New Mexicos quota setup limits full liquor licenses by population and there are just 1,411 of those quota licenses active today for businesses selling hard liquor by the drink, in packages or both. That includes restaurants serving spirits, bars, nightclubs, and convenience, liquor and grocery stores. The state hasnt issued a new dispenser license since 1982, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Division.

Obtaining one today usually means buying one from an existing holder, and the price tag is high.

Twelve dispenser licences  which allow the user to sell alcohol for on-premise consumption and by the package  were sold between January and mid-August, according to the most recent transaction data available on the Alcohol & Gaming Divisions website. For the 11 that cite a purchase price, the average was $381,000.

Slate Street Cafe owner Myra Ghattas said she cannot afford the expense, putting her Downtown Albuquerque restaurant at a competitive disadvantage with big chains that can. She said she has lost business  particularly among customers scheduling parties  because she does not serve cocktails, only beer and wine under a limited license the state offers restaurants for $1,050 annually.

Ghattas said New Mexicos laws are ripe for re-evaluation and that the state is not competitive with its neighbors.

Texas, for example, charges a restaurant or bar $6,602 for a mixed beverage permit that allows for the sale of hard alcohol. That covers the first two-year period and it gets cheaper after subsequent renewals, according to a spokesman for the states Alcohol Beverage Commission.

Arizona has quota limits on some licenses  like those for liquor stores and bars  but no limits on how many it issues to restaurants and hotels. There are 3,668 active restaurant liquor licenses, which cost $2,000 for a full year and $500 to renew, according to the Arizona Department of Liquor website.

I think that we would have more and better independent (restaurant) options if the liquor license challenge would be resolved, Ghattas said. I think people sometimes go out of business because they cant make ends meet. I dont know that the liquor license is the answer, but it could be. It could be one of the answers.

Resistance to reform

Those who have invested in liquor licenses often bristle at proposals that might create more of them.

If you own a home and you live in a neighborhood, and someone says you own your home, but were going to build houses all around you and theyre going to be free. Whats that going to do to your house (value)? said Santa Fes Maurice Bonal, who describes himself as the historian among the states license holders and is the fourth generation of his family in the business.

Bonal, who declined to say how many licenses he owns or to whom he leases them, says many owners have used their licenses as collateral for bank loans.

DiGregory said he understands the urge to protect what are extremely expensive assets  he actually has liquor licenses at the Bernalillo Range and Standard Diner, with plans for a third at the next Range Cafe. Standard Diner was just a break-even operation until he bought a license for it a year ago; now he said it turns a small profit.

But even as someone deeply invested, he said change is necessary because the status quo is limiting growth.

I have more than a million dollars wrapped up in liquor licenses  enough to open up one or two more stores, and employ more people and put quite a bit more gross receipts taxes back into the state of New Mexico, he said.

Jeff Spiegel, a longtime New York restaurateur who now co-owns the Mtuccis family of eateries in Albuquerque, said he used to pay $1,700 a year in New York to serve beer, wine and spirits at his eateries. He leases liquor licenses for Mtuccis Italian and will do the same for the upcoming Mtuccis Moderno in Rio Rancho. He said he would support changing the system, noting that he likes the way New York did things.

The reality is that, if youre going to buy them, (liquor licenses) cost as much or more than the restaurant you want them for, he said of New Mexico. So it really means that, as a small businessman with limited resources, youre unable to add this potentially incredibly valuable element to your business and therefore it means that only those who have the capital are able to do so.

Gaining momentum

The Liquor Control Acts last major overhaul happened in 1981, but reform is not a new idea. Cries for change arise regularly, said the head of the New Mexico Restaurant Association. But CEO Carol Wight, who has been in the job for 14 years, said the push seems to have gained momentum.

The New Mexico Legislatures Economic and Rural Development Committee discussed it at its September meeting, hearing a presentation from Alcohol & Gaming Division Director Mary Kay Root and comments from various sides, including those who said the cost of licenses has hurt growth in smaller communities. Michael Bunt of the Greater Artesia Economic Development Corp. spoke about a planned retail development that cratered because the anchor restaurant tenant could not negotiate down the price of a liquor license, according to the meeting minutes.

Wight said the Legislatures interest prompted a new restaurant association task force to discuss possible changes. She said she wants the association to be part of any discussion, but is not actively campaigning for reform. While some members want an overhaul, others have already spent big money on licenses and are fiercely protective of their assets.

I understand that completely, she said. They put the money up for these licenses and theyre worth something on their balance sheet, and thats part of something we have to solve for. How do we make them whole in this whole plan if something can be done?

New Mexico Sen. Ron Griggs, R-Alamogordo, has considered the issue for years. The former mayor of Alamogordo, Griggs says many licenses that originated in small New Mexico communities have been transferred to places like Albuquerque  where they might have higher earning potential  and rarely make their way back. Under the quota system, Albuquerque should have 273 licenses; it has 372, according to numbers on the New Mexico Alcohol & Gaming Divisions website.

Last year, Griggs had a proposal to allow those who hold the most comprehensive dispenser licenses to lease the half (package or by-the-drink) they might not be using, but it never was introduced. He said he might introduce another bill in 2017, perhaps based on the same idea, but that he hasnt made any decisions. He continues to meet with interested parties to see if there is a solution that would mostly satisfy people on all sides of what is often a thorny issue.

Outdated, outmoded

Ruben Baca, executive director of the New Mexico Petroleum Marketers Association, represents an estimated 400 convenience stores. He said allowing owners to lease the unused half of their license sounds relatively palatable, but he cautioned that such an expansion would likely garner opposition from anti-drunk-driving groups. (The New Mexico Mothers Against Drunk Driving office did not respond to a Journal email on the matter.) However, Baca said he would object to any proposal that might, for example, create a new class of liquor licenses for restaurants because that would be unfair.

We paid for our licenses. We dont like going out and paying $350,000, $400,000 for a license  we dont like to do that, either, but thats the way the rules are right now, so we live by them, he said.

Former Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca oversaw a major overhaul of the Liquor Control Act during his 1979-81 tenure as state liquor director. Baca said treating the licenses like private property is one of the systems biggest flaws, as is what he calls an outdated and outmoded quota system. The law limits licenses to one per 2,000 people.

Why is that even valid anymore? he said. If you want economic development  you should not have a quota system. You should give licenses out to responsible people who will use them properly.

New Mexico Alcohol and Gaming Director Root was not available for an interview last week, according to a spokesman. In an emailed response to a question about whether there is talk within the office about expanding the program, Deputy Director Debra Lopez said, Were committed to a balanced and responsible approach to protecting public health and safety while doing our part to help the private sector grow.
By Michael Coleman

WASHINGTON  President-elect Donald Trumps Cabinet picks  at least so far  are getting an icy reception from Democrats in New Mexicos congressional delegation, but the states top Republicans say Trump is making solid leadership choices for the nation.

Its been almost three weeks since the Republican political novice stunned the world by defeating Democratic establishment candidate Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election. Since that time, Trump has begun to flesh out his Cabinet and top White House appointments. Some of his picks, such as former Breitbart News editor Stephen Bannon  accused by some of stoking white nationalist fervor at the conservative website  drew harsh and immediate criticism from Democrats nationally and in New Mexico.

Democrats have also denounced Trumps appointment of Jeff Sessions to serve as U.S. attorney general. Sessions is a long-serving Republican member of the Senate from Alabama, and a vocal critic of illegal immigration and current administration policies.

Sessions critics point to racist remarks he made as a young man that blocked his appointment as a federal judge in the 1980s as reason to question his appointment as the nations chief law enforcement officer. But Sessions supporters note that, in later years, as a U.S. attorney, he filed cases to desegregate Alabama schools and prosecuted a leader of the Klu Klux Klan on murder charges, winning a conviction that carried the death penalty. Sessions was one of the few Republicans who voted to confirm Obamas appointment of Eric Holder as attorney general.

Although Sessions nomination requires Senate confirmation, the lawmaker needs only 51 votes, because Democrats under Harry Reids leadership changed the rules on such nominations so that the 60-vote threshold to end debate and force a vote no longer applies. However, Democrats could still mount a talking filibuster that would require 60 votes to defeat. Such filibusters, which have historically required hours or even days of Senate floor time, are exceedingly rare.

Other Cabinet selections, such as Trumps choice of Rep. Mike Pompeo, R-Kan., to lead the CIA, have drawn more muted reactions from the left and widespread praise on the right. Just last week, President Barack Obama, who campaigned hard for Clinton in the closing days of the presidential campaign, said Trump deserves the benefit of the doubt as he begins to transition into the presidency. Trumps administration, which will formally take over after his inauguration on Jan. 20, will eventually need to fill about 4,000 political appointments across the government.

Bannon was an assistant to the chief of naval operations and a Goldman Sachs investment banker before launching his own bank and then a career in the media industry. Bannon has denied that he is racist or anti-Semitic.

I think it will be important for everybody around the world to not make immediate judgments, but give this new president-elect a chance, Obama said at a town hall-style event in Lima, Peru, on Nov. 19.

Obamas call for patience didnt stop members of New Mexicos congressional delegation from taking a harsh view of the president-elects early picks. In comments to the Journal, none of the delegation Democrats criticized any of Trumps choices for senior White House jobs or his Cabinet by name, but most sounded alarms about them as a whole.

New Mexico Republicans, including Rep. Steve Pearce, Gov. Susana Martinez and the chairwoman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, all offered praise for Trumps picks.

Sen. Tom Udall, the Democratic dean of New Mexicos delegation and a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, urged Trump to avoid picks that would be controversial.

Donald Trump began his acceptance speech calling for unity and healing after a divisive campaign, but instead of choosing advisers and Cabinet members with the skills to refocus and heal the nation, Mr. Trump so far has selected fierce partisans, and people known for their extremist and inflammatory positions on race, religion or national security policy, Udall said. Americas economy and national security are on the line as he chooses his Cabinet. He can expect rigorous scrutiny of all his appointees who must be confirmed by the Senate. And I urge Mr. Trump to avoid using his presidency to appeal to peoples deepest anger and fears, as he did in his campaign.

Udall and Sen. Martin Heinrich have signed on to a letter to Trump from congressional Democrats urging him to uphold his pledge to drain the swamp and adopt Obamas ban on lobbyists working in the industry after they leave the White House, as well as other restrictions on gifts.

I have a lot of concern about who the new administration will nominate for key positions to lead our country, Heinrich said. The Senate must hold all potential cabinet appointments to the highest standards of integrity, professionalism, and experience. I will be keeping these principles at the forefront of my mind as I consider all of the president-elects nominations.

Pearce said that contrary to early media reports that described Trumps transition as in disarray, it is on track with other modern transitions for vetting and quality of nominees.

Assembling an administration requires fitting people, policies and temperaments in a complex puzzle, Pearce said. The transition team is showing America its intent to pick the best leaders to support President Trump, even if that means considering individuals who were negatively critical during the campaign. The Trump transition team is obviously weighing many varied and wise options, and I applaud them for their hard work and we should all grant them a little space for the good of our nation.

Martinez praised Trumps choice of her fellow governor  South Carolina Republican Nikki Haley  as the U.S. ambassador the United Nations. Martinez, who was irked by Trumps disparaging remarks about Mexican-Americans during the campaign, refused to endorse his candidacy. But she has extended an olive branch to the president-elect since his victory.

President-elect Donald Trump could not have picked a better person to represent our country in the United Nations, Martinez said, adding that she called Haley to congratulate her. Gov. Haley is an outstanding leader, an accomplished governor and, most of all, a good friend.

Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, a New Mexico Democrat who is chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the president-elects nominations and selections of White House staff are troublesome.

Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, for example, has been criticized by liberals for disparaging remarks about Islam, including calling it a cancer and describing it as a political ideology  that definitely hides behind being a religion.

President-elect Donald Trumps selection of Cabinet members and advisers who have voiced intolerant and narrow-minded views undermines his promise to bring Americans together as he moves from campaigning to governing, Lujan said. While Mr. Trump has the privilege of appointing and nominating his advisers and Cabinet members, this privilege comes with a responsibility to do what is best for our country. With these troubling selections for key posts, Mr. Trump has taken a step toward normalizing and accepting exceedingly dangerous beliefs about race, religion and national origin.

Betsy DeVoss, Trumps pick for education secretary, has been sharply criticized by teacher unions, but her selection reflects Trumps pledge to disrupt the status quo at failing public schools, particularly in cities.

Debbie Maestas, chairwoman of the Republican Party of New Mexico, said Trumps selections show that he is working to build a team that the country can rally around.

He is showing his maturity and leadership in building his team, Maestas said. He wants to bridge the divide and encourage Republicans to work together, and his choices reflect that.

Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham, D-N.M., urged Trump to make more moderate choices as he fills out the remaining posts in his Cabinet and makes other political appointments.

The president-elect asked that the country come together, which is a message we all want to embrace, Lujan Grisham said. Yet he is appointing people with extreme views and discriminatory records. Promoting divisiveness may have been a successful campaign strategy, but Mr. Trump will never govern effectively if he relies on extremists to manage his government.

Trump appointments

phen Bannon, a former investment banker and former editor of the conservative Breitbart NeIA .N. and an advocate for charter schools and private school vouchers (Senate confirmation required.)
Copyright  2016 Albuquerque Journal

Editors note: Investigative journalist Diane Dimond, whose weekly syndicated column on crime and justice appears in the Journal, is preparing a book on the nations elder guardianship system. Its a system designed to protect the elderly from the unscrupulous. But as Dimond discovered, it can be dominated by a core group of court-appointed, for-profit professionals who are accused of isolating family members and draining the elders estates. New Mexico is no exception.

This is the first installment of a five-part Albuquerque Journal series.

On the late afternoon of Jan. 8, 2010, Mary Darnell was in her small ranch home in Albuquerques bosque, indulging a cousin who was practicing her sales pitch for Ginsu knives.

Mary, one of four Darnell children, had moved back to the 17-acre horse ranch where she had grown up to become the on-site caretaker for her 78-year-old mother, Blair Darnell, who had been experiencing memory problems.

As the cousin wrapped up her cutlery presentation, Mary noticed several cars parked in front of the larger home where her mother lived about 500 feet away. Bracing the cold, Mary, then 45, headed out to check on her mother and see who had come to visit. What she encountered would change their lives forever.

In her mothers house, around the kitchen table, sat a group of unfamiliar women from an elder care company called Decades LLC.

All these people were walking around (Mothers) house looking at everything, and I thought, this is weird, Mary said. They hand me a stack of papers. A woman named Nancy Oriola from Decades told me there had been a court hearing and (Mother) was being put under temporary guardianship and conservatorship.

Mary said she had no idea what the woman was talking about, but among the group of strangers in the room she saw a familiar face. Mary remembers the moment precisely. My older sister, Kris, was there, and I was, like, What have you done? 

Unbeknown to the rest of the Darnell family, Kris Darnell-Kregers attorney, Gregory MacKenzie, had filed an emergency petition with the court two days earlier. In it, MacKenzie asked District Judge Beatrice Brickhouse to appoint professional outsiders to handle Blairs affairs  both an attorney to act as guardian ad litem to look out for the elderly womans personal protection and a financial conservator to control her estimated $5 million estate.

MacKenzie alleged both financial and medical improprieties, primarily against Mary Darnell, as reasons for court intervention. A review of the court docket from that time period does not list an actual hearing being held.

The next day, Jan. 7, 2010, Judge Brickhouse signed an order granting the appointments MacKenzie sought. MacKenzies petition cites no law to substantiate the need for an emergency intervention or for it to be granted without a hearing. But the wheels of New Mexicos elder guardianship system had been set in motion, and for the next 90 days three court appointees, including a qualified health care professional, were instructed to assess Blair Darnells situation.

Although the case was presented as an emergency, a full court hearing would not be held for nearly six weeks. Nontheless, according to court documents reviewed by the Journal, Blair Darnell was already being referred to as an adult incapacitated person.

On Feb. 16, Mary Darnell, two of her other siblings and their mother went to that initial hearing to try to understand what was happening. None was allowed to address the court to defend against the allegations made in MacKenzies petition. The siblings motion to remove the temporary guardian and conservator so they could continue to care for their mother was denied. At this hearing, Mary says, Judge Brickhouse received recommendations from her three temporary appointees and without speaking directly to Blair Darnell or any of her four adult children made the temporary guardianship a permanent arrangement.

District Judge Nan Nash, chief of the 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque, responded to written questions from the Journal about the initial steps in the

guardian system. Asked whether a judge requires a petitioning attorney to substantiate allegations made against family members, she wrote, The guardianship petition is not taken at face value. The statutory framework includes precautions to keep that from happening.

Asked under what circumstances a judge decides the potentially incapacitated person need not be present in court, Judge Nash wrote, Considerations include extreme physical or mental disability.

Mary Darnell insists her mother, who she says was suffering from early stages of dementia at that point, was perfectly capable of appearing in court.

Oriola, CEO of Decades LLC, which was brought in for Blair Darnells case, said in an email response to the Journal her firm provides high-quality care and defended the professional guardian system, saying it was created to protect elders from abuse by family members.

Ward of the court

The legal effect of Brickhouses ruling was to immediately reduce Blair to protected-person status, a ward of the court, and strip her of all her civil rights. Blair Darnell lost her right to manage her own money, sign a contract, vote, marry, decide where she could travel, who could come into her home and what doctors and medicines she could use. Every aspect of her life was to be decided by court appointees who were strangers.

Suddenly, Blair Darnell had fewer rights than a convicted murderer.

Everyone was being very quiet and hush-hush and scurrying around, Mary remembered of that January afternoon she stumbled upon the baffling scene in her mothers home. And then they whisked Mother off because they thought my sister and I were going to get into an argument and they didnt want her to be affected by our conversations. Im, like, Where are you taking her? And they said, We dont have to disclose that. 

Close examination of the secretive court process that overtook Blair Darnell in her final years is both illuminating and frightening because it could happen without notice to any family with an elderly parent. It is a process designed to protect the elderly, but many New Mexico families say it does the opposite, draining hard-earned estates and often isolating seniors from the loved ones who are most familiar with their wishes.

Secrecy rules

Under New Mexicos Uniform Probate Code, District Court proceedings that deal with cases like Blair Darnells are sealed off from public scrutiny to preserve the allegedly incapacitated persons privacy. Each elder guardianship case that goes before a judge is routinely sequestered, meaning no court records are available for public inspection and all court proceedings are closed to the public.

None of the regular network of attorneys who appear, none of their clients and no witnesses or parties to the proceedings are allowed to speak about what has occurred in court. If they do, they face the threat of contempt-of-court charges, hefty fines and even jail. One woman says she was fined $20,000 for confiding in a friend about the sequestered guardianship case in which she was involved.

Lawyers who speak about a particular case face disciplinary action.

A complete picture of what happens to the elderly after they enter this system is difficult to piece together without access to public documents. Therefore, the story can be told only through those family members and attorneys who dare to break the wall of secrecy.

Complex web

In multiple cases reviewed during a 10-month investigation, a complex web of legal maneuvering surfaced. Family members said that once the guardianship system got underway, the situation was both intimidating and overwhelming.

They were at a loss as to what kind of lawyer to hire. They felt powerless to stop the domino effect of the system on their elderly parent. Many complained that their loved one was kept isolated by court appointees and that visitations were curbed or supervised. They claimed family members were often unfairly labeled as scheming and money-hungry or in conflict with one another and, therefore, untrustworthy.

Some of the same for-profit professionals figure prominently in the stories told by those willing to speak.

A handful of judges hear these guardianship cases, and the same few attorneys initiate the proceedings, usually on behalf of a brother or sister who is squabbling with siblings about what is best for their aging parent. Those lawyers, in turn, recommend the court appoint from the same limited pool of guardians ad litem, permanent guardians, conservators, trustees, psychological evaluators and what are called court visitors.

In the cases examined by the Journal, judges routinely agreed to the recommendations of the petitioning attorney. The appointees are given almost absolute power to decide how the elderly wards spend their final days and how their estates  often valued in the millions  are handled.

It really is a cottage industry, said one Albuquerque legal insider with knowledge of the system, adding that the fees charged by these professionals is outrageous. That lawyer, and several others, spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearful their pending and future cases might be jeopardized if they spoke openly.

Another New Mexico attorney who represents families trying to navigate the process, but who is not among the usual network of lawyers attached to these cases, said, Its like the Soviet Union circa 1950. The secrecy is so oppressive.

One lawyer who recently finished a long, complicated guardianship case in Albuquerque said he was appalled at how this part of the court system operates.

I would characterize it as avarice-ridden, he said. Theres a very different dynamic in these cases than any other Ive ever seen in a courtroom.

No checks and balances

The courts are often the destination of last resort for family members fighting over power of attorney, estate matters or simply what to do with Mom or Dad. But even only children simply looking for legal status to conduct an elderly parents financial affairs have become snarled in this secretive system. What they often find is an inescapable nightmare that can last for years and can continue well after their loved one has died.

One retired Albuquerque attorney told the Journal that a family member had, in his words, kidnapped his now-deceased mother, overmedicated her and forged documents to take control of her estate. He says he sought advice from a lawyer with expertise in the guardian/conservatorship arena and that attorney, as a professional courtesy, warned him away from asking for the courts help. I discovered  there are no checks and balances, he said.

Its whatever the lawyers can get and grab. They just keep billing (and)  dont care if you report them to the ethics board.

Desperate to help his mother during her final days, the attorney said, he went to District Attorney Kari Brandenburg. He said she told him the case was too complicated to pursue.

He then turned to the states top law enforcement officer. The office of Attorney General Hector Balderas looked into the complaint and responded with a completely redacted conclusion and a letter that said the AG lacked jurisdiction.

The letter went on to say the AGs Office is aware of the number of exploitation cases involving family members that occur outside the facility-exploitation context and agree that it is an issue of importance.

Defending the system

Trust and estate litigation specialist MacKenzie, who initiated the Darnell guardianship, has extensive experience in the system. He said he could not discuss any particular case but told the Journal, I think the system is not perfect. You know, most systems arent, and theres certainly need for improvement. But the policy and the law is to impose a guardian and conservator only when it is really a last resort and under the least restrictive means. MacKenzie says its the only way to truly protect an elderly person who is surrounded by a dysfunctional home environment.

But complaints from a growing number of New Mexico families cannot be ignored. They vigorously disagree that New Mexico courts impose guardian and conservatorships only as a last resort or that they are the least restrictive possible. They question what the frequently used dysfunctional label really means. Family members are particularly angry about secretive initial hearings at which they say they were unfairly demonized and not given a chance to rebut inflammatory allegations. Several adult children told the Journal they petitioned the court for the right to continue to care for their aging parent only to be told it was too late to change the judges order.

Costly lawyers must be hired by the children of wards if they want to contest the ruling, but lawyers who spoke with the Journal said such challenges are rarely successful. Relatives also complained that their loved ones doctors and familiar service providers were routinely dismissed and replaced by hired strangers, causing anxiety and isolation for the elderly person. All the family members who spoke to the Journal claimed they were routinely bullied by court appointees who twisted their words and actions into something sinister, finding family conflict and dysfunction at every turn. Perhaps most perplexing to these adult children is how their parents well-thought-out retirement preparations were ignored.

Wills, trusts, powers of attorney and other carefully compiled legal documents reviewed by the Journal were, in effect, overridden by the for-profit guardians and conservators, according to family members.

Though the documents were drawn up years earlier when the ward was of sound mind and body, the court appointees are allowed to disregard them. Guardians and conservators alone decide what should be spent, on what and when.

TOMORROW: Part 2: Follow the Money

Pulling the curtain back on what families call court-sponsored robbery.

Contact her at www.DianeDimond.com; e-mail to Diane@DianeDimond.com
SANTA FE  Longtime state Rep. Sheryl Williams Stapleton of Albuquerque made history last weekend, being elected by fellow House Democrats as the first black floor leader in the history of the New Mexico Legislature.

Stapleton, who has served in the House since 1995, acknowledged feeling satisfaction at the distinction, but said she didnt think her ethnicity factored into the leadership vote. She beat out three other lawmakers for the majority floor leader post in a closed-door caucus vote.

The members know me and know my experience, she told the Journal.

Although her tenure wont technically begin until January, when newly elected lawmakers take office, Stapletons election is already making waves in New Mexico, which had about 53,000 black residents in 2014 out of a total population of just over 2 million, according to the state Office of African American Affairs.

Harold Bailey, president of the Albuquerque chapter of the NAACP, said Tuesday that Stapleton is highly regarded in Albuquerques black community.

Shes been an outstanding leader in the African-American community and the New Mexico community at large, Bailey said. She has a long history of political involvement.

However, Stapleton has also been at the center of controversy in recent years.

She apologized in December 2011 for referring to Gov. Susana Martinez as the Mexican on the fourth floor during a confrontation with a Republican legislator.

She said last week that she still believes the remark was taken out of context  citing cultural differences from her upbringing in the U.S. Virgin Islands  and does not think it will be a distraction in her new leadership post.

In addition, Stapleton, who was also the first black woman elected to the New Mexico Legislature, has faced criticism from some Republicans for not taking unpaid leave from her job as an Albuquerque Public Schools administrator during legislative sessions. The APS policy on leave for employees serving as legislators has been altered several times in recent years.

After two years of GOP control, Democrats reclaimed the House in this months general election, prompting the leadership shuffle. Democrats are on track to enter next years 60-day legislative session with at least a 38-32 majority, pending recounts in two House races.

As majority leader, Stapleton will play a key role in running House floor sessions and setting the policy agenda for House Democrats. Shes previously held the job of whip with the House under both Democratic and Republican control.

A teachers union ally, Stapleton has been critical of the Martinez administrations education initiatives. She was one of several Democratic lawmakers who signed on to a 2015 lawsuit seeking to strike down the states teacher evaluation system.

In her new post, Stapleton said she hopes stalemates can be avoided in a cash-strapped state in which Martinez, the states two-term Republican governor, has two years left in office.

We have a little cushion in the House and a little cushion in the Senate, Stapleton said. I think the governor will be willing to work with us collectively.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.  A Texas-based oil and gas company has reached a $430 million deal that will clear the way for more production in southeastern New Mexico, providing a glimmer of hope as state officials look to rebound from depressed energy prices that have crippled government spending.

Concho Resources Inc. made the announcement this week, saying it has agreed to acquire dozens of square miles in the northern Delaware Basin. Much of the acreage is located in the Red Hills area in Lea County.

The area offers opportunities for increasing the density of development on multi-well pads, said Concho president and chief executive Tim Leach.

With a continued focus on driving capital efficiency gains and actively managing our portfolio, this acquisition further strengthens our industry-leading position in the Permian Basin and reinforces our ability to deliver differentiated long-term growth, he said in a statement.

The Delaware Basin is part of the larger Permian Basin, which spans parts of West Texas and New Mexico and represents one of the nations most prolific areas of energy development. Just this month, federal scientists determined that parts of the region could still yield billions of barrels of oil.

Concho officials said the Red Hills area already is generating exceptional returns at current prices.

Theres excitement about the Permian Basins potential and the number of rigs exploring for oil and gas nationwide has been rising in recent weeks, but some experts have said depressed energy prices are still continuing to curtail exploration overall.

As for Concho, the company plans to increase its rig count in the Delaware Basin in 2017 and expects to grow production volumes by about 20 percent.

Wally Drangmeister, a spokesman for the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, said Concho will not be alone.

We have observed many companies positioning themselves for higher levels of future production though the purchase of new leases and acquisition of existing leases, he said Friday.

Drangmeister said even with fewer than 30 drilling rigs operating in the state, production for 2016 is still on pace to be within a few percentage points of last years record production.

State finance officials have been watching the industry closely given that a significant portion of the budget comes from revenues generated by oil and gas developers.

The latest revenue tracking report shows production in New Mexico declined by nearly 3 percent  or 2.8 million barrels  during the first eight months of the year compared with the same period in 2015.

Any regulatory changes made by the incoming Trump administration could also affect the industry. Drangmeister said theres a growing sense of optimism for a more favorable regulatory climate.

This is especially important in New Mexico since 63 percent of the natural gas and 54 percent of the states oil production comes from federal leases that are often more heavily impacted by the regulations of the Bureau of Land Management and other federal agencies, he said.
State Street Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides a range of financial products and services to institutional investors worldwide. The company offers investment servicing products and services, including custody; product accounting; daily pricing and administration; master trust and master custody; depotbank services; record-keeping; cash management; foreign exchange, brokerage and other trading services; securities finance and enhanced custody products; deposit and short-term investment facilities; loans and lease financing; investment manager and alternative investment manager operations outsourcing; performance, risk, and compliance analytics; and financial data management to support institutional investors. It also engages in the provision of portfolio management and risk analytics, as well as trading and post-trade settlement services with integrated compliance and managed data. In addition, the company offers investment management strategies and products, such as core and enhanced indexing, multi-asset strategies, active quantitative and fundamental active capabilities, and alternative investment strategies. Further, it provides services and solutions, including environmental, social, and governance investing; defined benefit and defined contribution; and global fiduciary solutions, as well as exchange-traded fund under the SPDR ETF brand. The company provides its products and services to mutual funds, collective investment funds and other investment pools, corporate and public retirement plans, insurance companies, foundations, endowments, and investment managers. State Street Corporation was founded in 1792 and is headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts.
PulteGroup, Inc., through its subsidiaries, primarily engages in the homebuilding business in the United States. It acquires and develops land primarily for residential purposes; and constructs housing on such land. The company also offers various home designs, including single-family detached, townhomes, condominiums, and duplexes under the Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb, DiVosta Homes, American West, and John Wieland Homes and Neighborhoods brand names. As of December 31, 2021, it controlled 228,296 lots, of which 109,078 were owned and 119,218 were under land option agreements. In addition, the company arranges financing through the origination of mortgage loans primarily for homebuyers; sells the servicing rights for the originated loans; and provides title insurance policies, and examination and closing services to homebuyers. PulteGroup, Inc. was formerly known as Pulte Homes, Inc. and changed its name to PulteGroup, Inc. in March 2010. The company was founded in 1950 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Fundamental Forecast for Japanese Yen: Neutral

- USD/JPY has posted its fastest three-week climb since July 1995.

- Risk trends, a rise in carry appeal, and divergent monetary policy all take part responsibility.

- Watch what the US NFPs on Friday will do to a pair like USD/JPY reacting to both rate and risk views.

All of the major Yen crosses rose this past trading weekaggressively. Much of the strength to these crosses  weakness for the Japanese currency  can be summed in the USD/JPYs performance. The worlds second most liquid currency pair rallied strongly this past week to round out a three-week climb that has no equal in the past 21 years. Dollar strength strong-arming the Yen and its counterparts does have some merit, but such tail wind is limited. Risk appetite is similarly dubious as only US equities seem to enjoy the drunk optimism that would be extracted from the USD/JPYs rate of climb. The true source of this move may be something as detrimental as capital flight. Few trades founded on pain perform well for long.

The first thing to clear up in assessing the Yen crosses bearings moving forward is misallocated views of influence. This current climb is not the work of Japanese authorities. The Bank of Japan has backed off of its ever-growing stimulus vow as the effectiveness of competitive monetary policy globally cools. The Japanese governments efforts in the meantime have barely even registered. As central banks collectively set the limits of their accommodation, the BoJ has found itself among the most prominent recipients of outright doubt from speculators.

While the Japanese stimulus program may have lost control of the reins, its long-term course has solidified the assumptions that its currency is an ideal funding currency to carry trade. The yield collecting strategy rises and falls with the same sentiment tide that pushes global equities or shifts the preference from advanced to emerging market assets and back again. US equities seem to signal a remarkable climb in speculative appetite  perhaps enough to make even the record low returns on these crosses palatable. The problem is that risk drive in everything other than US shares lacks for drive.

In the absence of these traditional, speculative motivations; perhaps the true motivation is something as banal as necessary diversification. Brexit rang the bell of rising protectionism, but the US election made the risk all too real for Japan. President-elect Donald Trump ran on a platform of protectionism that would see the worlds largest consumer economy erect trade barriers on countries whose livelihood is more prominent source through exports. Japan is one of those economies. With the TTP and other important trade deals with the US and other major partners at risk, growth and international investment appeal in Japan drop quickly. The question therefore is how far do protectionist ideals and actions progress  or recede  in the coming week. JK
WASHINGTON, D.C.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized the increases in renewable fuel volume requirements across all categories of biofuels under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program.

In a required annual rulemaking, the Nov. 23 action finalizes the volume requirements and associated percentage standards for cellulosic biofuel, advanced biofuel, and total renewable fuel for 2017, and for biomass-based diesel for 2018.

Renewable fuel volumes continue to increase across the board compared to 2016 levels, said Janet McCabe, the agencys acting assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation. These final standards will boost production, providing for ambitious yet achievable growth of biofuels in the transportation sector.

Renewable fuels

She said that by implementing the program, the EPA is expanding the nations renewable fuels sector while reducing the reliance on imported oil.

According to the EPA, non-advanced or conventional renewable fuel will increase in 2017, meeting the 15 billion-gallon congressional target for conventional fuels.

The advanced biofuel standard  comprised of biomass-based diesel, cellulosic biofuel, and other biofuel  increases 19 percent over the 2016 standard.

The total renewable fuel volume will grow 1.2 billion gallons from 2016 to 2017, a 6 percent increase.

Farm groups respond

Wesley Spurlock, Texas farmer and National Corn Growers Association president, said the decision was a step in the right direction.

This is critical for farmers facing difficult economic times, as well as for consumers who care about clean air, affordable fuel choices, and lowering our dependence on foreign oil, he said. The Renewable Fuel Standard has been one of Americas great policy success stories.

The American Soybean Association, likewise, said the increases are encouraging, but said there is more opportunity.

There are positive aspects to the volumes announced, with the overall RFS increasing and the total Advanced Biofuels portion being increased above the levels in the proposed rule.

However, the ASA said it would still like to see additional support and promotion of domestically produced biodiesel, through higher volumes for the biomass-based diesel category.

The levels announced today provide opportunities but also do not take full advantage of an opportunity to further promote a viable, domestically produced renewable fuel industry that is U.S. biodiesel, said ASA President Richard Wilkins.

Other side

But not everyone was pleased with the increases, especially those who have lobbied against the RFS and spoken out on the downsides of ethanol.

The National Council of Chain Restaurants, in a statement, said it is unconscionable that the EPA would double down on the outdated and broken biofuel law in the waning days of the current administration. 

The restaurant council claims ethanol has done more harm than good, driving up the cost of food and causing market volatility that impacts both industry and consumers.

The American Petroleum Institute said the increases are irresponsible and costly for consumers.

The RFS is a requirement of the Clean Air Act, which requires EPA to set annual volume requirements for four categories of biofuels.

For more information on the announcement, visit https://www.epa.gov/renewable-fuel-standard-program/final-renewable-fuel-standards-2017-and-biomass-based-diesel-volume.




Haiti - News : Zapping politics...





Lavalas lawyer talks about plot

In a letter to the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), Gervais Charles, the lawyer of the Political Organization Fanmi Lavalas wrote on behalf of Fanmi Lavalas "[...] I urge you in accordance with Article 158.1 of the Electoral Decree, to verify the regularity of the minutes in relation to the lists of 'emargement' that any voter must sign or affix his fingerprints [...] This formality is essential to avoid any suspicion of conspiracy [...] Several citizens have already testified that their right to vote has been exercised without their knowledge by professionals infiltrated as members of the polling stations."



Privert wants to restore joy and hope to people

This week at the first council of ministers post-election, there was talk of end-of-year festivities. The de facto President Jocelerme Privert showed the need to accompany the Haitian population during the Christmas holidays to restore joy and bring hope to the homes "Solidarity with the families victims in the disaster areas will be the main thread of the activities that will be organized to celebrate the festivities of end of the year."



LAPEH threatens to challenge results if...

"The CEP jeopardizes the electoral process. If the Vote Tabulation Centre (CTV) advances in error, the published results will not be credible and we will challenge them," declared Marjorie Michel, representative of LAPEH, noting that the list of "emargement" are not in Compliance with the minutes, requiring the verification of all list of "emargement".



"Pitit Dessalin" requires ballot verification

Jean-Baptiste Nevelson, one of the two representatives on the CTV of "Pitit Dessalin" platform, said that members of polling stations let people vote without their electoral card in the Northwest and Northeast. "We find in the CTV different writings on minutes. We require an audit, even of ballots paper."



Haitian Distinguished by Obama

Jessy C. Petit-Frere, Minister a.i. of Haitians Living Abroad, congratulated the young Haitian Doctor Valery Moise, founder of the Association Diagnostic Group in the United States, which was recently distinguished as "Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative" by US President Barack Obama for his charitable works, the promotion and fulfillment of children in Haiti.



Preliminary draft of Parliament's Strategic Development Plan

The Planning Commission of the Chamber of Deputies, with technical and financial support from the National Democratic Institute, held a workshop in Petion-ville (24 and 25 November) as a prelude to the opening of the second legislative year of the 50th legislature, on the preliminary draft of the Parliament's Strategic Development Plan. The workshop was organized around the theme "The Strategic Development Plan of the Haitian Parliament, a tool necessary for the reconstruction of Parliament and democracy in Haiti".



HL/ HaitiLibre



HL/ HaitiLibre


















A new poll out tomorrow shows that Fine Gael has regained its position as the most popular party in Ireland.

The Red C poll for the Sunday Business Post, also shows a slight drop in support for Fianna Fail.

Almost all of the changes in this latest monthly poll are within the margin of error.

But the poll in tomorrows paper is the first one for eight months in which Fine Gael has been more popular than Fianna Fail.

Fine Gaels rating is unchanged on 25%, but Fianna Fail support is down two points to 24% - the third poll in a row with a drop for Fianna Fail.

The big winners are Sinn Fein, up three points to 16%, their highest support since February. Their gains come at the expense of the triple-A-PBP, who fall from nine points to 5%.

Elsewhere the Independent Alliance is down two points to 4%, with other independents up two points to 12%.

Labour are unchanged on 5%, the Social Democrats are on 4%, the Greens are on 3%, and Renua on 1%.
By Rachel Lee

British Ambassador to Korea Charles Hay visited Busan on Nov. 24 to boost his country's efforts for a partnership with the port city, the embassy said.

"UK meets Busan" is part of a two-year outreach campaign organized by the embassy that included Lord Mayor of London Alderman Jeffrey Mountevans' visit to Korea in July.

According to the embassy, the ambassador visited the largest floating installation in the world, "The Prelude," on Geoje Island, and met Busan Mayor Seo Byung-soo and other key members of the Busan Metropolitan City government.

Hay also attended a business forum at the Busan International Finance Centre to discuss cooperation in the marine, financial services and fintech sectors with business representatives from the United Kingdom and the city.

"Recently, we have had a number of interesting and exciting events, including a British Minister attending the D5 meeting, UK stands at G-Star and Offshore Korea and a seminar for startups  all in Busan," an embassy spokesperson said. "Looking to the future, Lancaster University announced the submission of a letter of intent to set up a new global campus in the new Myeongji International District."
By Rachel Lee



Over 600 business leaders and government officials from around the world gathered in Singapore to discuss ways to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) said.



The UNDP organized the fifth "Responsible Business Forum" on Nov. 23 to "address a sea change in the nature of development funding and create new partnerships for sustainable development." This was the first business forum held by the United Nations in Asia.



"This new development era presents unprecedented challenges and calls for unprecedented solutions to ensure stability and sustainability," said UN Assistant Secretary-General and UNDP Director for Asia-Pacific Haoliang Xu said. "Climate change, aging populations and explosions of popular discontent with the status quo are combining to present an existential threat to both people and planet. Everyone must join together to face this challenge."



According to the UNDP, foreign development funding accounts for 0.7 percent of total financial flows in the Asia-Pacific region, down from 13.5 percent in 1990, while domestic public and private finance accounts for 89 percent.



"Enlightened companies are facing headwinds with sustainable growth due to the nationalistic shift in global politics and the still subdued level of commodity prices," ING Group Chief Economist Mark Cliffe said. "Technology and new consumer propositions, such as sharing economic models, offer exciting new ways to deliver on the SDGs."



Governments also have an important role in facilitating and incentivizing business action, Cliffe said.



"A number of economies, not least in Asia, have made encouraging progress in liberalizing their economies and stimulating investment," he said. "Infrastructure development, both physical and digital, is vital, but governments can also help through smarter regulation and shifting the burden of taxes away from labor and towards resources."



Citing Korea, Singapore and other countries in the Asia-Pacific that successfully transformed themselves through the efforts of political and business leaders, Xu said: "UNDP brings 50 years of experience in development in 36 Asia-Pacific countries. We connect governments and businesses to share innovative ideas. We can help business move beyond corporate social responsibility to make sustainable development a core part of their operating model."



UNDP has been working in Korea since 1966. It has supported the country's economic and social development with more than 270 projects in some 20 areas.



UNDP partners with people at all levels of society to help build nations that can withstand crisis, and drive and sustain the kind of growth that improves the quality of life for everyone. On the ground in more than 170 countries and territories, UNDP offers global perspective and local insight to help empower lives and build resilient nations.




27.11.2016 LISTEN

The mark of a good rapper is the ability to string words together into captivating rhymes, but the mark of a great one is the ability to weave those rhymes into stunning narratives that grip and maintain the listeners attention through the end of the song. As hip-hop has matured as an art form, Young rappers like Young Fatha, have come along who have taken the craft to new heights with their storytelling talents.

Looking to build off the momentum, Port Harcourt based rapper Young Fatha, decides to come through today and drop off a super cool tune Bad Girl.

In months, We foresee Young Fatha to go from virtual unknown, just another anonymous rapper, looking to gain any sort of foothold, to a sensation soon.

Follow him on twitter: www.Twitter.com/iAmYoungFatha

Listen to good music.

Direct MP3 Link: http://k003.kiwi6.com/hotlink/kuys4ktfvt/Young_Fatha_-_Bad_Girl.mp3
Kampala (AFP) - At least 55 people have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia linked to a tribal king, police said Sunday.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said 14 police officers and 41 militants had died in the clashes in the town of Kasese on Saturday, when fighters linked to the royal guard of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces.

"Yesterday a joint Uganda police and UPDF (army) operation, patrolling in Kasese town... came under attack by Royal Guards of the kingdom. The attackers threw an improvised grenade which exploded and injured one soldier. Security forces reacted and shot in self-defence, killing four attackers," said Kaweesi.

"That incident set of an explosion in all local sub-counties. Fighting continued from morning to late evening."

Kaweesi said the attackers -- not all of whom were royal guards -- had guns, spears and improvised explosive devices.
Kampala (AFP) - At least 55 people have been killed in fierce fighting that erupted in western Uganda between security forces and a separatist militia linked to a tribal king, police said Sunday.

Police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi said 14 police officers and 41 militants had died in the clashes in the town of Kasese on Saturday, when fighters linked to the royal guard of the Rwenzururu kingdom attacked patrolling security forces.
Algiers (AFP) - Algerian police on Sunday broke up a protest in the capital against a reform to end early retirement that is to be debated in parliament, an AFP correspondent said.

A drop in oil revenues prompted the draft law to end both early retirement and retirement after 32 years of contributions to a pension fund regardless of age.

Retirement age for all Algerians will be 60, under the reform due to come into force in January.

Protests have been banned in public places in Algeria since 2001.

Police arrested several demonstrators and tore up banners held up by trade unionists chanting the national anthem, the correspondent said.

"I was roughed up by police and wounded" above the eye, school director Abdelmalek Zegada said.

Protesters said that many others had been held up at security checkpoints outside the capital and prevented from joining the gathering.

"Police beat up teachers, doctors and workers," said Um Abdelkader, a teacher. "We're all shocked."

Opposition lawmaker Nadia Chouitem said she was sad to see "so much violence".

Fellow parliamentarian Smain Kouadria accused the state of sliding into the behaviour of a "totalitarian state" in the face of "legitimate" demands.

Algeria's parliament is expected to approve the draft law as the legislature is largely dominated by parties who support President Abdelaziz Bouteflika.
27.11.2016 LISTEN

Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another (Desmond Tutu).

OTHER REMARKABLE MISCONCEPTIONS

It is insecurity, fear, narcissistic grandiosity and upbringing which drive members of certain ethnic groups to coil back into their ghettoized shellspart of the larger world of social cognition raised on an internalized platform of superiority complexquite away from national dialogues on inter-ethnic socialization and also from the political mobilization of the creative prowess of diversity for development purposes, namely human capital management, and for internal cohesion.

Ethnic diversity offers itself as a powerful statement on the intelligential largesse of nature. Thus, the creative potential of ethnic diversity is worth harnessing for national development.

It therefore means we must make every effort to understand its existential operational intricacies and to appreciate it for what it really is. This has been the fundamental thrust of our arguments all along.

But, ethnicity diversity is a far more complex phenomenon than many of us think, in fact possibly beyond the capability of the human mind to understand.

Even science, perhaps one of the highest noetic states of human consciousness, does not appear to have all the answers.

Then there is that school of thought, which seeks to tendentiously conflate ethnicity and the bug of corruption in one fell swoop.

Of course when the true nature of a problem is not properly defined on the basis of boundary equations of intelligent assumptions, obviously any quest for practical, reliable or optimal solution(s) assumes a disturbing state of intractable illusion.

The lingering illusion of race and ethnicity is no different from the ignis fatuus which the so-called tachyonic particle presents in theoretical physics, say, although research conducted in the fields of pharmacogenomics, pathology and pharmacogenetics offers some interesting insights into the nagging complexities of race and ethnicity.

Man tends to objectify complex illusory ideas just to give them a reified character of simplistic representation in the finite immanence of noetic affirmation, as the process potentially brings some tentative finality to his nagging curiosity. This is why ethnicity cannot be reduced to criminality. Those who want to make corruption ethnic-specific are doing the nation and its people more harm than gooda great disserve to nation-building.

Public corruption has a national character which means that, in effect, it transcends the sentimental boundaries of ethnicity.

And, if we truly want to deal with the problem as effectively as we want it then we might as well look beyond ethnic fixation and focus on the bigger picture. No one is corrupt by virtue of his race or ethnicity.

Distortions in the human condition have a lot to do with some of the causes of criminality: Environment and peer pressure, greed and materialism, lost and lack of opportunities, poverty, laziness, ethnic prejudice and racial discrimination, and so on.

An interesting fact for us at this point in human existence is that scientists, for all intents and purposes, have not discovered an ethnic gene for corruption yet.

And this presumed discovery, if it can indeed be attained, probably remains far beyond the receding future of human understanding of the complexity of nature. Such a noble quest remains very far into the unforeseeable futurethat is.

Still, we will not put this proposed query beyond the seemingly finite capability of human curiosity.

We should be extremely careful not to turn nativism into xenophobic oppression of our own citizens, for, after all, ethnic and racial purity is not absolute.

The seeming cultural conflicts between matriarchy and patriarchy for instance, provide an interesting permutation of conjugal-arrangement scenarios in which the biological product(s) of these scenarios assumes cultural definitions beyond the parochial cultural geography of what it means to be an Akan.

The question is:

Which ethnic group does a child produced from a conjugal arrangement in which the mother and the father come from patriarchal (Kusasi) and matriarchal (Akan) backgrounds, respectively?

What about the reverse?

From the perspective of just these two scenarios, the concept Akan ultimately assumes a loose or fluid definition of cultural identity in connection with a biological product(s) from such conjugal arrangements.

Finally, given that ethnicity is mostly culture-specific, one what wonders how the additional concepts of nationality, multiple citizenship, multiracial (miscegenation) and multiculturalism, etc., shape or contribute to the shifting dynamics of culture as a foundational character of ethnicity? We should be reminded that no culture has forever remained genetically original or autochthonous.

As a good example, is Kwame Anthony Appiah an Akan, American or British (English)?

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

Political ethnocentrism and ethnic politics do shape or influence policy strategies in the important matter of development economics.

For one thing, some ethnic groups in certain regions around the country tend to vote for certain political parties and are in turn handsomely rewarded with grand infrastructural projects.

For another, those that do not tend to vote for a political party which eventually ends up in power are underserved in terms of infrastructure output.

Then there is the special case of ongoing infrastructural projects in certain regions which were reportedly discontinued, because voters of those regions did not allegedly vote for that party that ended up in political office.

Let us not however oversimplify these policy questions, for they are not simply questions of ethnicity or of identity politics.

It does happen that policy determination of these questions appeals to a set of complicated covariates insofar as the policy framology of the political economy of Ghana goes.

That is, a simplistic vista of these policy questions totally ignores the variable of strategic prioritization regarding national and regional needs, the standing health of the national and global economies, identitarianism, and public corruption.

All told, there exist political leaders who, while in political office, do relatively less for their native regions for fear of public backlash, derived from perceived notions of those political leaders diverting undue favoritism to their native regionswhich we might call regional ethnocentrism.

Other leaders while in political office do a lot for non-native regions within the unitary political structure, yet their enormous efforts in this regard are largely ignored, even detested, possibly on the sheer basis of their regional ethnicity and party affiliation.

President Mahamas soulful political jeremiadDead Goat Syndromespeaks to this dangerous social malady.

All these do not mean ethnic fixation is a necessary bad or negative thing.

Alternatively, it means that ethnic fixation is a good thing to the extent it offers a conceptual vista into the beauty of nature.

Ethnic diversity is a beautiful thing, more beautiful than Ayi Kwei Armahs The Beautyful Ones Are Not Yet Born.

Let us therefore learn to be politically correct with the moral language of the national discourse on ethnic diversity.

Ethnic balkanization and ethnic condescension are not the answer to our myriad problems.

Again, as a people still actively combating racism we should long have learnt to make technocratic and moral competence, hard work, meritocracy, and patriotic pragmatismrather than ethnicity and religionthe focal points of political leadership and bureaucratic socialization.

It is our humble opinion that Ghanaians will reject ethnocentric exclusivists who aspire to political office in the land.

They should rather rally behind competent, hardworking, patriotic, and intelligent men and women with inclusive vision for the nation. In many important ways therefore, Bawumia is only good for the NPP brand so long as northerners follow him, not Akufo-Addo, to the ethnocentric party according to the skewed version of Anthony Karbos political philosophy.

Left to high-profile ethnocentric hegemonists like Yaw Osafo-Marfo and Madam Ursula Owusu-Ekuful the Accra Northerner, Bawumia, should be tending livestock in the north since he does belong in the Akan-centric NPP. Thus Bawumias northern extraction does not give him the right to gatecrash the entrenched privilege of resource-rich, upper-echeloned Akans within the ethnocentric NPP.

Perhaps Bawumia is hypocritically celebrated in the ethnocentric elephant party not because he is uniquely endowed with any economic prowess, but rather because of the potential of his convenient presence in the ethnocentric NPP to peel away votes from the north that have traditionally gone to the NDC.

But Haruna Attas cautionary reminder potentially bespeaks Bawumias place in the NPP as a dispensable digesta. In a word therefore, the soul of the NPP is marinated in a political ideology of Akan exceptionalism, ethnocentric hegemony and presumed superiority, indispensable subtexts of Arthur Kennedys text Chasing the Elephant into the Bush: The Politics of Complacency.

This marinade of ethnocentric hegemony, presumed superiority and exceptionalism is rather more complicated than Kennedys simplistic politics of complacency. Maybe complacency is just not an apposite titular description for this important book, since an internecine duopoly based on a taciteven explicitprinciple of ethnic supremacism underpins the political rivalry between Akyems and Asantes within the NPP.

This strange current of ethnic sepremacism tends not to make room for non-Akans, especially northerners, in the highest hierarchy of the NPP. Affirmative-action tokenism has therefore been a means through which some non-Akans, such as Bawumia, have managed to gatecrash the privileged comfort of Akans within the NPP.

Further, Yaw Osafo-Marfos xenophobic nativism precludes the fact that his privileged Akans did not put the wealth we find in the Ghanaian soil and in the air (e.g., oxygen). The Guans who autochthonously occupied some of these lands before the arrival of the Akan did not either. And we still do not know what some of wealth are locked up in the soil upon which non-Akans sit.

Over the years the service sector alone has been accounting for half of the GDP. Then finally, Akans alone cannot give the NPP the required votes it needs to secure the Flagstaff House and parliamentary majority because not every Akan is NPP. All these basic facts seem to have been lost on Akufo-Addo, Kennedy Agyapong, Yaw Osafo-Marfo, and the leadership of the NPP (we note that not every NPP member or leader is ethnocentric).

Now, granted, with their entrenched nativist xenophobia hanging loose on their sagging necks, do these old-fashioned conservative politicians expect non-Akans who have been living in these so-called resource-rich Akan lands from time immemorial to have sympathies for the NPP?

What about those Akans who have also been living in non-Akans areas from time immemorialsuch as the northern parts of Ghana and Accra? Was K.A. Busias wifeNaa Morkor AusiaAkan? And are his children Akans or Gas? Did J.B. Danquah not marry a Ga-Adangme? What about the ethnicity of Akufo-Addos wifeRebecca Akufo-Addo? What are these examples of xenophobia nativism all about? Have they solved any of Ghanass, Africas and the rest of the worlds myriad problems other than recurring wars, hatred, destructive jealousies, genocides and disaffection?

All this is not to say everything in the NDC is rosy as far as equitable ethnic distribution in political and cabinet appointments is concerned. It apparently is not. Yet, the sharp contrasts between the NPPs politics of exclusion and the NDCs politics of inclusion make eloquent sense in the moral language of relativism, and leaves much to be desired.

Lest we are not misunderstood, this is not a direct or indirect endorsement of any political party or leader in the country today. Ghanaians must make the decision or choice themselves since we cannot speak in their behalf.

Of course, we agree that it may not be easy to displace either the NDC or the NPP from the political scene but suggestion is worth a try. Ghanaians need to move past these two major political parties.

What happened to the Ghanaian noetic faculty? Has the Ghanaians subterranean anoetic faculty completely taken over his autonoetic consciousness?

Where are Mandelas and Tutus ubuntu, Nkrumahs African Personality, Asantes Afrocentric self-knowledgeepisodic memory, and finally, Appiahs cosmopolitanism?

End of series!
From credible information gathered from some affected persons, President Mahama and his NDC government have once again resulted to a policy intended to influence the 7 Dec ember 2016 election in their favour. The President through the Education Ministry is cunningly stopping students from the tertiary institutions from leaving school campuses to proceed home or to go to the polling stations where they have been registered on to the electoral roll to cast their votes come the actual Election Day, thus, Wednesday, 7 December 2016.

The same thing goes for teachers. They will not be allowed to leave classrooms or quit lessons to go to the polling stations to exercise their franchise. In previous governments and elections, teachers were not only allowed to register eligible citizens on to the electoral roll but also, they were selected to man polling stations on general election days.

However, under the Mills/Mahama and Mahama/Arthur-Amissah NDC-led governments, teachers have been banned from exercising the mentioned roles to the point of dubiously trying to deprive them of their right to universal adult suffrage as just explained above.

Nurses and Medical doctors have also not been left out of the loop. They are equally in danger of being denied the casting of their votes by the same policy as intended for students, teachers and nurses.

The headmasters and principals of the public schools have decided not to release the students to proceed to their various polling stations to vote. It will be recalled that most students were not given the opportunity to register their names on to the electoral register during the few days limited voter registration exercise announced by the Chair of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, that shameless election-rigging accomplice.

Again, the NDC are planning to let their polling station agents and the Electoral Officers managing the polling stations in the NPP strongholds cream their hair with some special black ink on the voting day. The objective is to spoil as many cast ballots as they possibly can. How could that be possible, one may ask?

Immediately before the counting of the ballots, they will ruffle their hair using their hands to get some of the black ink on to their palms and fingers. When they start unfolding the ballots (ballot papers) for counting, their fingers will be touching the faces of the ballots leaving fingerprints in other spaces or on faces other than, or in addition to, the one genuinely selected by the voter. When black ink is found in more than one place on the ballot, the affected ballot will be declared null and void.

The Electoral Commission has intentionally printed ballot books containing one hundred ballots (ballot papers) with serial numbers on the back of the booklet different from those on the ballots therein contained. Also, some of the ballots in the booklet are duplicated with same serial numbers. Some of the ballots to be issued to biometrically verified voters to enable them proceed to cast their votes have their serial numbers different from their corresponding counterfoils to be left in the booklet.

Nineteen ballot booklets of a total of one thousand nine-hundred ballots were found to contain such anomalies when the NPP Constituency Chairman and other Executives joined the other parties representatives to scrutinize the ballot booklets brought to the Juaben/Ejisu Constituency on Friday, 25 November 2016.

The affected booklets were taken to the Juaben police station for keep pending explanation from the Electoral Commission. However, on Saturday, 26 November 2016, early in the morning, Charlotte Osei ordered the police to take the wrong ballot booklets back to Accra with the flimsiest explanation that the non-conforming serial numbers on the back of the booklets were meant for elsewhere hence the anomalies were genuine mistakes. She rendered her heartfelt apologies for the mistakes committed. Does she have a heart anyway? Tweaaaaa apuut33!

Charlotte Osei never ceases to amaze me with her continuously, but always detected, plans to rig the upcoming election in favour of the NDC and President Me be dii bi keke me ntie obiaa John Dramani Mahama.

President Mahama and NDC have still not understood that God is bringing about a change of government from NDC to NPP on 7 December 2016. They have still not understood how the proverbial third time lucky is playing in favour of Nana Akufo Addo.

The big minds are on the ground as vessels of God to ensure that the positive change as has been initiated by God, comes to pass to bring smiles back on the faces of the miserable.

Change is coming and the battle is still the Lords!

Stay tuned for more info from Rockson Adofo, a leading member of the Mahama Must Go movement.

Rockson Adofo

(Written on Saturday, 26 November 2016)
The Executives of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Akatsi North Constituency of the Volta Region wish to express their gratitude to the good people of the Constituency for their show of concern and love for their flag-bearer Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and parliamentary candidate Dr Prince Sodoke Amuzu in the run-up to the December 7 polls.

It is interesting to see how chiefs, elders and residents are gleefully receiving the NPP in their towns, villages, homes, farms, markets and other platforms as we send to them our message of Change. Our strategies are working and we thank our people and electorate for their massive tolerance and love for the Elephant party and its good policy proposals.

Truly, our people have come to the realisation that it is only the NPP which has the men and women with the right ideas and foresight to effectively tackle the nagging issues of unemployment, falling educational and health standards, and poverty, which have been slapped on them by the sheer acts of negligence, corruption, incompetence and mismanagement of the Mahama-led National Democratic Congress (NDC) government.

Our people are just fed up with the continuous fabrication of lies and propaganda of the ruling NDC party on what they claim to have done within their eight years as against what they are deceiving unsuspecting people that they will do for them in the unlikely event that they retain power. Actually, the people have now come to appreciate them well and have chosen to tag them as alakpatowo, which loosely translates as liars wherever they go.

Residents of the Constituency are just waiting to meet the executives of the NDC party as well as the District Chief Executive (DCE) James Gunu and Member of Parliament (MP) Peter Nortsu-Kotoe at any major rally or public gathering to ask them where the fertilisers, cutlasses, wellington boots, good markets, jobs, MASLOC, good roads, among the other lofty things that they promised them in 2012 can be found in the area.

Instead of making judicious use of the available resources to respond to the plight of the people, they have decided to school themselves and build good houses and businesses throughout their two terms in office. No wonder they have chosen the path of having to move from one market to another, one town to another and from house to house distributing goodies, such as plastic cups, bowls, spoons, matches, soaps, bags of rice and cements, bed sheets, curtains, pillows, mosquito nets, roofing sheets and cloths, which are largely branded in NDC colours with the inscription, JM YIDZI.

It is nauseating to also see how the NDCs women organisers in the area have been empowered to act as information officers, gong-gong beaters and event managers of the ongoing distribution exercise of the freebies, which happens late in the afternoon and usually targeted at areas where the NPP is having its rallies with the electorate.

The MP and DCE are also doing well by importing youth from outside the Constituency to be trailing NPPs campaign teams mostly with the vehicles belonging to the District Assembly, with big Public Address Systems mounted on top of them and made to play loud NDC party songs while they give unwarranted announcements, with the aim of having to destruct the attention of the people that gather to listen to us at our rallies. But all we know and trust is that we are winning this years elections and Akatsi North will surely contribute to the landslide victory.

We shall remain resolute and focused in our forward march to victory as we work to put our nation and Akatsi North onto a solid path of prosperity and progress, as being professed by Nana Akufo-Addo. Akatsi North is too rich a land to be left in its present state of underdevelopment, economic stagnation and decay.

In fact, we are glad to see how our people are receiving our message of change and we will make sure we deliver on every bit of promises that we make to them come December 7 when they give us the nod.

The wellington boots, cutlasses, fertilisers, pesticides, corn-mills and roads will not be sent to neighbouring towns and villages in the Republic of Togo as our people here in Ghana and in Akatsi North cry for these things, all because we want votes from Togo nationals.

An Akufo-Addo-led NPP administration shall surely deliver good economic conditions to the Ghanaian people, including the children, youth, men, women and the aged in Akatsi North. A vote each for Nana Akufo-Addo and Dr Prince Sodoke Amuzu is, therefore, never a waste of time and thumb of the electorate.

Long live Ghana and long live all of us!

Erskine Dziwornu Nuku of the Akatsi North NPP Communications Directorate (V/R)
Pinpinaa...

Madam Chairperson, Hon. Former Deputy Minister of State, The National Volunteer Coordinator also representing Mrs. Bawumia, Representatives of Parliamentary Candidates, PAP Executives, Invited Guests, Members of the Media present, Fellow PAPers, Ladies and Gentlemen. All protocols observed.

I am greatly honoured and privileged to address this gathering. The atmosphere, coupled with the calibre of men and women present at this function today is a testimony of our collective resolve to dislodge the incompetent NDC from government, come December.

Madam Chairperson, it is a common knowledge that the past eight years have not gone down well with the NPP, in terms of our electoral performances. We gave out power easily to the NDC on two occasions due to complacency on our part in 2008, and the electoral fraud perpetuated by the Electoral Commission in 2012.

These two unfortunate defeats could have dampened the spirits of many a follower of a political party, but to those of us in PAP, we were motivated by Confucious' wise which I quote; "Our greatest glory lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall".

We, the young ladies and gentlemen gathered here, decided to rise from our political fall by coming together as a Volunteer Group to champion the cause of change in political leadership this year. It is exactly a year ago this month that Patriotic Ambassadors of Peace (PAP) was formed. The objective of the Group was a simple one: to canvass for votes for Nana Akufo-Addo and NPP Parliamentary Candidates and this was to be done by embarking on outreach programmes in our selected constituencies.

We began our journey by paying a courtesy call on the NPP Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo in March and he gave us his blessings and assigning us to work directly under the National Volunteer Coordinator, Mr. Frimpong. Nana Addo further advised that, we should work hard to ensure victory in December because we would be the direct beneficiaries of his administration, when God-willing, the people of Ghana gave him the mandate.

Madam Chairperson, I am happy to announce to this gathering that Team PAP has since embarked on series of outreaches in Ahafo-Ano North (Tepa), Ningo-Prampram (Mataheko & Prampram), Ho-West (Abutia), Ingleshie-Amanfrom-Bortianor), Kpone-Katamanso (Oyibi), Yapei-Kasawgu, Wa Central and Hohoe (Fodome & Gogdame) Constituencies. In each of these political trips, the Team spent three (3) days in the remotest parts of the constituencies to interact with the residents, involve ourselves in their activities, pasted posters, and sell the message of hope and change to them. We have also made several donations to some constituencies in the areas of computers, used clothings, food items, pampers, posters, t-shirts, mosquito nets, wipes, bicycles, and books to aid the campaign. Furthermore, we have propagated the NPP's message of Change - an Agenda for Jobs through press releases and on the social and mass media.

At this juncture, Madam Chairperson, permit me to doff off my hat for yourself, Mrs. Irene Ponu-Brenyah, the first grand daughter of the late SD Dombo. You have been a woman extra 'O' as far as financing of PAP's activities are concerned. You facilitated 106 boxes of items to the PC for Bole, Veronica Heming, 16 boxes campaign items to PAP, 1000 posters each to NPP PCs for Jirapa and Ellembelle. I equally appreciate the financial contributions by Katakyie Ing. Emmanuel Obeng-Atuah, my senior at Opoku Ware School, Mr. Michael Amoh, Hon. Clement Eledi, Derek Paa Nii Kwaku Nkansah, Alhaji Mohammed Adams, the National Youth Organiser of the NPP, Sammy Awuku, Cecilia Appiah, Kwabena Boateng Jacaboba, Akora, George Asomaning, Benjamin Adu Gyamfi, Katakyie Kwadwo Opoku Adomako, Tracy Ogede Dombo, Emmanuel Owusu Mensah and PAP-Germany. Without them, PAP could have been a toothless bulldog, barking politically without biting any opponent.

Madam Chairperson, I cannot give credit to PAP's sponsors without recognising the efforts of PAPers who have been participating in our outreach programmes and contributing financially as well. These are the people who left their jobs, families, and risked their lives in the remotest parts of the country to preach the message of change. Fellow PAPers, you were fantastic in your delivery and PAP and NPP will be forever grateful to you for your sacrifices.

Today's event is a special one by all standards; Team PAP wants all its members to assemble here to socialise, eat, drink, dance, make fun, honour our sponsors and members and more importantly, raise funds to support the polling station activities on Election Day. I believe this is a worthy cause that we must all appreciate and get involved no matter the financial difficulties we face today in the country. As the adage goes; "No contribution is too small".

Madam Chairperson, Distinguished Guests, permit me to reveal that for majority of PAPers, we are not in this game for personal gains. But rather, to ensure that the right balance between our natural resources - gold, diamond, oil etc and the rich human capital is struck. This will put an end to joblessness, poor healthcare, poor education and poverty. In recognising the leadership crisis in the country at the moment, our Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo had this to say; "God did not put us on this rich land for us to be poor. It is bad leadership that is making us poor. Corruption is what has brought us poverty".

In conclusion Madam Chairperson, I would like to state that since it took only six Ghanaians, that is, the Big Six to guarantee our political independence, I, on behalf of PAPers assure the NPP that, we will also get involved in the crucial struggle to uproot the syndicates of CREATE, LOOT, and SHARE in the next ten days. We will be acting as Polling Agents on the Election Day, monitor the voting process keenly, carry voters from their homes to the voting centres, and protect the ballots with our lives. And with the Battle Still Being The Lord's, I believe our toil would not be in vain on December 7.

Thank you for being part of this memorable event.

God bless Ghana! God bless Nana Akufo-Addo and NPP!! God bless PAP!!!

Pinpinaa ... Nanaa!

Katakyie Kwame Opoku Agyemang - 0202471070

Andy Oppong Amoako - Director of Operations - 0243662912

Doreen Maluzei Dombo - Director of Media - 0246954418
Business man Alfred Woyome has maintained his transactions in Ghana, most of which have been a subject of controversy are altruistic and patriotic enterprises meant to transform Ghana into a developed country like Malaysia.

If anything, it is his critics who are intoxicated with jealousy, Woyome suggested in an interview on Joy FM's news analysis program Newsfile, Saturday.

"The kind of thing that we want to do is not from government. You people have said why is Malaysia like this, and Ghana has not done that and your own citizens are trying better to do the things so that you can get the Malaysia and out of jealousy and envy you spew out this which are false," he said.

The NDC financier, is in a fresh 35 million contract with government, with a promise to build a Deep Sea Port.

His new contract comes at a time when he is struggling to negotiate a repayment plan for an amount of 51.2 million cedis illegally paid to him by government in 2010, an amount the Supreme Court has ordered him to refund to the state.

His company, Anator Holdings Limited signed the new 35million agreement with the former Transport Minister Dzifa Ativor in December 15, 2015, with Woyome tasked to raise funds for the project.

Woyome said the project, which he described as a West African project will create as many as three million jobs for the country's unemployed youth.

The business man initially claimed to have been employed by Anator Holdings, as a Financial engineer, but was reminded by the host Samson Lardy Anyenini that the agreement he signed was in the capacity as the Executive Chairman of the company.

He later admitted to playing a dual role as the Executive Chair of the company and the financial engineer at the same time for a company which started business in 2005.

Alfred Woyome said his company only signed a non-committal MOU with the Ghana Ports and Harbours which does not involve a penny from government.

"We did not force government to take any percentage out of anything. The Ministry of Finance agreed that it will take conditional upon certain issues," he explained.

Woyome said the project has already begun, project sites acquired with competent lawyers, home and abroad employed to see to clean project.

But a member of Occupy Ghana, the pressure group which uncovered the controversial deal, has said the deal stinks and is likely to expose Ghana to some liabilities.

Ace Ankomah, a lawyer told host Samson Lardy Anyenini, the shady Anator deal is in many ways similar to the Woyome, Waterville scandal in 2010 which led to the state losing a whopping 51.2 million.

According to him, the seeds of the second deal were sown in 2009 with the then Finance Dr Kwabena Dufuor signing a letter for Woyome and his company Anator holdings to develop a green township. That letter, he was quick to add, was heavily conditional with a reminder that the agreement would have to be approved by cabinet and passed by Parliament after which government will have a 24% stake in a joint venture agreement.

It was a non committed in principle acceptance. This matter disappeared for a while. It started bouncing back again in 2014-2015, very similar to that of the financial engineering situation.

By this time there has been smokes screen. It was no longer just the development of green township. It was to develop Deep Sea Port but now metamorphosed into a whole multi-billion dollar project with Woyome using the non-committal acceptance letter in 2009 signed with Dr Duffuor as a binding contract and demanding that government must instruct SSNIT to take up the 24% initially suggested.

In November this year SSNIT was directed by government to take up a 24% stake in the project, but the Trust wrote back to government requesting further and better particulars of the project.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
The Chief of Staff, Mr Julius Debrah has urged the youth to dream big and pursue visions that are realistic no matter how scary they might look initially.

He said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) is poised at empowering the youth with alternative livelihood opportunities through programs that will support them to set up their own businesses.

According to the Chief of Staff , there is a concious plan and programme of President Mahama called the National Business Booster Agenda where funds will be made available to existing and potential Ghanaian entrepreneurs through the EXIM bank to start or boost businesses.

He charged the youth to be bold and grab opportunities when they come their way. You have to be strong and seize the opportunity at all times to take advantage of them when available.

Addressing participants at the Job Summit in Accra, as part of his Greater Accra regional tour to canvass votes for his boss President Mahama, Julius Debrah, underscored the need for the youth to identify the opportunities that abound.

The Chief of Staff held similar Job Summits in the Volta, Eastern, Ashanti and other regions to inform and educate the youth of the opportunities that would exist under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama between 2017 to 2020.

The Chief of Staff and his entourage have been touring the country to campaign strategy aimed for President John Dramani Mahama and the National Democratic Congress (NDC)s parliamentary candidates.

Mr. Julius Debrah cited examples of persons who defied small beginnings and today have big companies in Ghana and elsewhere now.

He mentioned The CEO of Jospong group of companies, Dr. Siaw Agyapong, CEO of Peace Fm Kwame Despite who used to sell audio cassettes and Kwame Ofosu Kwarteng of Silkens fame, saying if they were able to make it then the youth of today could make it through hardwork and determination.

He said President Mahamas administration is ready to support anybody at all , whether you have certificate or not, educated or not, enlightened or not to give you the assistance you need and ensure you become a successful entrepreneur.

Speakers included the deputy Communication Minister Mr. Ato Sarpong, Presidential Staffer Mawusi Dzirasah and the Chief of Staff, Julius Debrah.



By: Richard Mensah/citifmonline.com/Ghana
27.11.2016 LISTEN

Ruffled by the N10b defamation suit instituted against him by the ex-husband of missing Charity Aiyedogbon, David Aiyedogbon, Lagos Lawyer, Emeka Ugwuonye may have been making desperate efforts to destroy evidence linking him to the offence.

Sources close to the controversial lawyer say he will stop at nothing in ensuring that evidence linking him to the offence is destroyed.

It would be recalled that in a post made on his Facebook Group, The Due Process Advocates (DPA) recently, Ugwuonye claimed that his Facebook account with the name Emeka Ugwuonye had been brought down by his opponents.

The account was the same he used in making all the posts against ex-husband of Charity Aiyedogbon that attracted the litigation and is believed to be at the centre of all the evidences in support of the defamation suit.

In a post on the 19th of November, 2016, using a new Facebook account with the name Emeka Emmy Ugwuonye, Ugwuonye said:

My Facebook account, Emeka Ugwuonye, came under heavy and professional attack by hackers. Based on my security preferences, the account had to be disabled until we could confirm the nature and source of the encroachment. The sad news is that you will not be able access any of my writings from that account.

Independent investigations however revealed that the DPA founder deliberately disabled his Facebook account based on an advice by a close ally, as a way of evading justice, having used the account to commit heinous crimes against many.

Service of Court processes on N10b suit

After allegedly hiding from the bailiff who came to serve him with Court papers for three days, Ugwuonye finally showed up at the Court of Appeal, Abuja, where he is being prosecuted by the Body of Benchers of the Nigerian Bar Association for ethical misconducts. He was eventually served with the Court processes by the bailiff.

About an hour after he was served, Mr. Ugwuonye snapped a personal photograph of his and posted on his DPA Facebook group, claiming that the bailiff and plaintiff in the defamation suit were yet to show up in Court.

Thirty minutes later, he made another post:

Today, as I arrived here by 8:30am, I expected to see them battle ready. They were nowhere to be seen. After more than two hours of waiting, they sent a poor fellow who introduced himself as the bailiff to serve me the suit papers.

Investigations at the Federal Capital Territory High Court 14, where the matter is pending however showed otherwise, as the proof of service shows that he was served at about 10:50am on the 21st of November, 2016, while his post was made at about 11:42am same day.

Mr. Ugwuonyes fate as a member of the Nigerian Bar is hanging in the balance, as the Body of Benchers allegedly withdrew his Call to Bar Certificate on the 26th of October, 2016, when he was summoned, prior to his prosecution at the Court of Appeal by the Nigerian Bar Association, through the Legal Practitioners Council.

Impeccable sources revealed that most of the lawyers that were earlier working with him may have deserted him, since after the withdrawal of his Call to Bar Certificate.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ugwuonyes Due Process Advocates is presently in disarray, with almost all the lawyers in the House deserting him.

His former Deputy, Kingsley Ughe has opened a rival Facebook group, Joint Legal Action Aides- JLAA and presently consolidating, while the other lawyers in his group have either joined Kingsley or gone their different ways.

Another major source of trouble in the DPA is that of alleged misappropriation of funds contributed by the members for various purposes, amounting to about Twenty Million Naira. Sources say the DPA founder is unable to account for the funds and has resorted to deleting of members that question the absence of transparency in the Group.

Thousands of DPA members are believed to have paid Six Thousand Naira (6,000) each, as membership registration fees, amounting to tens of millions of Naira and are forbidden from asking questions.

Available statistics suggest that no fewer than a thousand DPA members have been blocked in the last one week, for challenging his alleged criminal activities.

Sources also say that huge sums were contributed by the members for intervention in the case of missing Abuja woman, Charity Aiyedogbon. The funds, which were paid into his private law Chambers account, Eculaw cannot also be accounted for.

Findings show that the body earlier posted on Facebook, with the handle, Emeka Ugwuonye (now brought down) has been exhumed and samples taken abroad for proper medical examination and results being awaited. The results will show the actual identity of the body.

It would be recalled that the ex-husband of the missing Charity Aiyedogbon, David Aiyedogbon had sued Mr. Ugwuonye for Ten Billion Naira (N10b) for falsely accusing him of having a hand in the sudden disappearance of his estranged wife, Charity Aiyedogbon.

The Suit, with number CV/2750/16, between David Aiyedogbon (Plaintiff) and Emeka Ugwuonye (Defendant) on defamation of character, before Justice Peter Kekemeke of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court 14, Apo Abuja; also prays that the defendant be ordered to pay for the cost of the suit.

The Plaintiff is also seeking an order of perpetual injunction restraining the Defendant, his Agents, Privies, Associates or whosoever called from making further defamatory publications against him and his family members.

Meanwhile, Ugwuonye is also at war with one Mayor Ezee, the man who signed his bail bond at the Police headquarters. Their matter came to a head when Mr. Ezee took to social media in expression of his regrets in sure teeing him, threatening to withdraw his assent.

Emeka, you are very comic and laughable to accuse me of joining your acclaimed attackershave you forgotten so quickly the ungodly hours that I stood with you there in the Police and as it relates to your David Aiyedogbon issue? Have you run short of memory of all that I deprived myself for your sake on those occasions? Emeka, this is the worse appreciation you could show to anyone that stood to surety and took you on bail twice. It is despicable that after standing by you and risking my life for your sake that the least appreciation you could show is to link me to your perceived enemies. I would only hand you over to the law of karma. Hence you deemed my goodness to you as ill. In summation, I would ask to know at this juncture if you have replaced me as your bail surety and if you have not done so, what arrangements have you made or making to do so.Finally, Emeka, must everybody be your enemy? Eze queried.

Destiny Ugorji
The US government has cautioned its citizens in Ghana to stay away from zones where protest and demonstration are usually held in the country during the December 7 polls.

A statement issued by the US Embassy in Ghana said although they have not picked up information regarding any planned protests, US nationals should be cautious because such social disruptions could occur with little or no warning throughout Ghana.

Exercise caution during the election process, particularly around polling locations in the weeks before and after the elections. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations, the statement added.

US condemns clashes in Ghana

The US Embassy had earlier condemned some clashes between members of the governing National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party in front of the resident of flagbearer of the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo.

The Embassy further threatened to revoke visas for persons who incite violence ahead of the elections.

The statement titled 'Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Accra (Ghana), Safety Considerations and the Upcoming Elections' also urged US nationals to stay off some selected areas in eight regions of the country.

Below is the full statement:

Security Message for U.S. Citizens: Accra (Ghana), Safety Considerations and the Upcoming Elections

The U.S. Embassy informs U.S. citizens that on Wednesday, December 7, 2016, Ghana will hold its presidential and parliamentary elections. While the Embassy has no information regarding planned protests, it should be noted that social disruptions or protests could occur with little or no warning throughout Ghana.

Exercise caution during the election process, particularly around polling locations in the weeks before and after the elections. Even demonstrations intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. Avoid areas where demonstrations are taking place and exercise caution when in the vicinity of any large gatherings, protests, or demonstrations.

Review your personal security plans, remain aware of your surroundings, including local events, and monitor local news stations for updates. Be vigilant and take appropriate steps to enhance your personal security and follow instructions of local authorities.

The Embassy identified the following locations in Accra as key areas where people converge to hold spontaneous political rallies and demonstrations:

State House

The Ministries

Kwame Nkrumah Circle

Independence Square

Mantse Agbona (James Town)

Kawokudi Park

Nima Police Station Park

Embassy personnel are not permitted to travel at night outside of major cities and are encouraged to avoid the following areas outside of Accra:

Upper West: Lawra, Wa Central

Upper East: Bawku

Northern: Tolon, Sagnarigu, Yendi

Volta: Nkwanta South, Hohoe, Ho Central, Adaklu, Ketu South

Western: Jomoro, Bia West

Brong Ahafo: Techiman South, Tain, Berekum West, Berekum East, and

Ashanti: Bantama, Asokwa, Nhyiaeso, Manhyia North, Manhyia South, Suame, Oforikrom, and Asawase.

We strongly recommend that U.S. citizens travelling to or residing in Ghana enrol in the Department of States Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP). STEP enrollment gives you the latest security updates and makes it easier for the U.S. embassy to contact you in an emergency. If you do not have internet access, enrol directly with the U.S. embassy in Accra, Ghana, using the below contact information.



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
The Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo-Addo will launch an investigation into circumstances surrounding the Diamond Microfinance Company (DKM) scandal if voted to office at the December polls.

He said it was clear that the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration led by President Mahama have failed to adequately deal with the matter leading to thousands of Ghanaians losing their monies.

Addressing a gather of party supporters in the Brong Ahafo region to wrap up his campaign tour of the area, the NPP flagbearer said his government ensure that all individuals and groups who were affected by the DKM scandal and other scandals will have their monies refunded.

I will investigate governments inability to pay the monies owed as well as investigate the DKM scandal and to ensure that there would be total restoration to all affected in both scandals.

Akufo-Addo further insisted that an NPP government will be able to deliver on all the promises it has made on the campaign trail ahead of this year's elections.

He stated that the NPP, if voted to office, will reduce the price of fuel in the country.

'NPP has a competent team

Nana Akufo-Addo has said that the NPP has the best team to lead the country and steer it to sustainable economic development. He said he will assemble competent people who will serve in various government positions if he is voted as President at the December 7 polls.

While addressing a rally at Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region, Nana Akufo-Addo said the pool of diverse skills and talents available in the NPP makes it easier for the party to effectively govern the country if given the opportunity.



By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @jnyabor
There seems to be tension between executives of the All People's Congress (APC) and party founder, Hassan Ayariga over the endorsement of a presidential candidate for the December 7 polls.

Although some of the executives have thrown their weight behind the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo there are indications that Hassan Ayariga disagrees and would endorse President John Mahama instead.

A statement signed by Razak Kojo Opoku, General Secretary of the APC and Ayariga's running mate, Emmanual Carl Barterls while endorsing Akufo-Addo also wished Mr. Ayariga well for supporting President John Mahama.

We wish Hassan Ayariga (APC Founder & Leader) well for his personal decision to endorse John Mahama for the Presidency on the 28th November 2016 at the Aviation Social Centre.

APC General Secretary [L] and Ayarigas running mate [R] The statement also said Akufo-Addos endorsement was accepted by the National Executive Committee (NEC), the 10 Regional Executive Committee (REC) and majority of the parliamentary candidates of the All People's Congress (APC).

According to them, they believe strongly that only Nana Akufo-Addo can offer Ghanaians a more credible, incorruptible and transformational leadership than all other Presidential Candidates contesting the 2016 general election.

Ayariga was disqualified from the 2016 presidential race by the Electoral Commission because some persons who endorsed his nomination forms also subscribed to other presidential candidates in the race.

He challenged the decision in court, however, a Supreme Court ordered the Electoral Commission to extend the nomination period to enable all the 12 disqualified candidates to amend their nomination forms but Ayariga failed to sail through.

Below is the full statement from the executives of the APC:

APC DECLARES SUPPORT FOR NANA AKUFO-ADDO FOR THE 7TH DECEMBER 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

The National Executive Committee (NEC), the 10 Regional Executive Committee (REC) and majority of the parliamentary candidates of the All People's Congress (APC) declares support for Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the 7th December 2016 general election.

This endorsement of Nana Akufo-Addo has become very necessary considering the high level of incompetence, corruption, mismanagement of the economy, high rate of unemployment, killer taxes, collapsing of the private sector businesses, high utility bills, nepotism, tribal politicking etc. under the 8 years rule of John Mahama NDC.

Enough is enough and the trending song now is change of incompetent John Mahama Presidency.

We strongly believe that Only Nana Akufo-Addo can offer Ghanaians a more credible, incorruptible and transformational leadership than all other Presidential Candidates contesting the 2016 general election.

We shall seriously campaign for the Victory of Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP for the remaining days to the general election.

We shall provide Ghanaians with interesting revelations within FIVE (5) Days to the 7th December 2016 general election that shall cause the massive defeat of John Mahama and the NDC.

We are equally entreating all APC members across Ghana to campaign vigorously and vote massively for Nana Akufo-Addo, the only credible Presidential Candidate for the 2016 Presidential Election.

Nana Akufo-Addo agenda for jobs creation is the only solution to the socio-economic transformation of Ghana.

Upon sober reflection, we strongly believe in the 1 District 1 Factory, 1 Village 1 Dam, 1 Constituency $1million as doable and feasible Policies.

However, we wish Hassan Ayariga (APC Founder & Leader) well for his personal decision to endorse John Mahama for the Presidency on the 28th November 2016 at the Aviation Social Centre.

We are urging all Ghanaian Voters to vote against the NDC and reject John Mahama in accordance with Revelation 3:16.

Finally, we are passionately appealing to Ghanaian voters to honour Nana Akufo-Addo with their votes in accordance with Deutronomy 5:16 so that all of us can be guaranteed of financial and economic healing in accordance with Acts 5:16.

#VoteforChange

#Vote Nana Akufo-Addo as President

For and on behalf of the Leadership of All Peoples Congress(APC).

Jointly Signed

Razak Kojo Opoku

(APC General Secretary)

Emmanuel Carl Bartels

(2016 Vice-Presidential Candidate)



By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana

Follow @AlloteyGodwin
The All People's Party (APC) is divided over which of the two leading political parties to endorse ahead of the December 7 elections.

With the disqualification of the party's flagbearer, Hassan Ayariga from the upcoming election, it has become necessary for the party to throw its weight behind one of the two leading contenders- President John Mahama of the governing National Democratic Congress and Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party.

The APC set a November 28 date to announce which of the two flagbearers to support in the elections but a day before that declaration, the party's General Secretary Razak Opoku and the Running mate Emmanuel Carl Bartels announced that the leadership of the party with exception of the flagbearer has endorsed the NPP leader Nana Akufo-Addo.

"The National Executive Committee, the ten regional executive committee and the majority of the Parliamentary candidates of the APC declare support for Nana Akufo Addo of the NPP for the December 7 general elections.

"This endorsement has become necessary considering the high level of incompetence, corruption, mismanagement of the economy, high rate of unemployment, killer taxes, collapse of private sector business, high utility bills, nepotism , tribal politicking under the eight year rule of the NDC.

"Enough is enough and the trending song is the change of the incompetent Mahama presidency. We strongly believe that only the Nana Akufo-Addo can offer a more credible, incorruptible and transformational leadership than all the other presidential candidates contesting the December elections," he announced.

He said they shall provide within the next five days "interesting revelations" that will sway thousands of others to support the NPP.

He also hinted the flagbearer, is bent on taking a unilateral decision to endorse the John Mahama administration on Monday.

"Upon sober reflection we believe in the one district, one factory, one village, one dam, one constituency, one million dollars promises as doable and feasible promises.

"However we wish Hassan Ayariga APC founder and leader well for his personal decision to endorse president John Mahama for the presidency on the 28 December 2016 at the Aviation Social Centre. We respect his personal decision but the party is against it. We are all Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP.

"We are urging all Ghanaian voters to reject John Mahama in accordance with Revelation 3:16 and vote for change, vote for Nana Akufo Addo as president," he said at the press conference together with the running mate of the party.

But the party's flagbearer is livid. Dr Hassan Ayariga told Joy News Editor Araba Koomson the two leaders have been sacked on Friday after it emerged that they had gone to bargain with the NPP to endorse its flagbearer.

"Let me say without doubt that these two do not constitute APC are no more members of the APC. They were both sacked on Friday afternoon.

"The party did not give out any endorsement. The party's endorsement is tomorrow," he said adding, "two people cannot sit in a conference room somewhere out of the party's office and give an endorsement and Ghanaians will take them serious."

Ayariga said the endorsement was illegal with a running mate who has no locus in the party after he was disqualified. He accused the running mate and the General Secretary of originally belonging to NPP and the UPP.

"Media men let's be serious, disregard the endorsement," he stated. When he was asked whether he was going to endorse John Mahama tomorrow, he said it is only a matter of time.

Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com|Nathan Gadugah
Kampala (AFP) - Ugandan police stormed the palace of a tribal king and arrested him Sunday after fierce clashes between security forces and a separatist militia they believe is linked to him killed 55, police said.

Heavy fighting broke out Saturday in the western town of Kasese, home to King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom, when his royal guards attacked patrolling security forces, killing 14 police officers and 41 militants, said police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

President Yoweri Museveni phoned the king on Sunday morning and ordered him to disband the guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"We took time to talk to the king to get those people out but the king was non-compliant. The only option was to storm the palace and get those people out and get him out for his own security and safety," Kaweesi told AFP.

"He has to explain his involvement in these incidents. He will be charged with inciting violence and brought to Kampala."

Violence has been simmering in the region all week, with four militants killed when they attacked a police post on Thursday, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Kaweesi said members of the royal guard threw an improvised grenade at patrolling officers on Saturday, prompting them to open fire and kill four of the "attackers".

"That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties," he said, adding that fighting between militants -- not all of them royal guards -- armed with guns and spears and security forces had continued until late in the evening.

Ugandan policemen keep guard outside the home of an opposition leader in Kasangati, a Kampala suburb on February 20, 2016

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, of the Bakonzo people -- with supporters among those who share the same culture and language in the DRC.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo -- tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe under colonial rule -- declared their own kingdom in 1962.

The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

'The kingdom is not involved'

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009.

However unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict, as many in the region still feel marginalised by authorities in distant Kampala.

Some in Uganda, with the support from their sister tribe in the DR Congo, have taken up arms and are agitating for the creation of the Yiira Republic which would cover territory in Uganda and part of North Kivu in the DR Congo.

The Banande in DRC and the Bakonzo in Uganda, have the same culture and language and are believed to stem from one people known as the Ba-Yira.

Though Mumbere has distanced himself from the cause, authorities accuse his royal guards of training in the mountains alongside separatist militia forces to attack government installations.

"We have told the government the kingdom is not involved in the creation of Yiira republic which wants to break away (from Uganda) and that the royal guards are not involved," Rwenzururu kingdom spokesman, Clarence Bwambale told AFP shortly before the king's arrest as heavy shooting echoed in the background.
Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - As The Gambia sees a surge in support for the opposition ahead of presidential polls days away, a spate of arrests in the run-up has shown the cost of dissent.

President Yahya Jammeh seized power in a 1994 coup and has targeted opponents and several of his own ministers, while surviving multiple attempts to remove him from power.

In the months prior to the December 1 vote, a former minister, an ex-ruling party MP and two journalists with the state broadcaster are among those who have been detained, often without a clear reason.

Jainaba Bah said she still doesn't know why her husband, former junior foreign affairs minister Mamadou Sajo Jallow, has been in custody since early September and denied access to a lawyer.

"My personal view is that he has been arrested because I have declared my support for the UDP (opposition party)," she told AFP by phone on Saturday from Sweden.

Her husband, a longtime ambassador to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was taken away by the security services on September 2 after his house was burgled and documents taken.

But his family has been told he cannot be released until he produces a passport and collects signatures from various officials, tough conditions to meet while he is behind bars and his wife has fled to Sweden.

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, leader of the APRC (The Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction) greets his suporters in Bikama on November 24, 2016 during an electoral rally ahead of the December 1 poll

"I can't sleep," Bah said, describing the "whole range of things that might be possible from the stories I have heard about," referring to alleged abuses committed in The Gambia's notorious prisons.

Allegations of torture and rape, especially in Banjul's Mile Two prison, are common.

Isatou Touray, a leading women's rights campaigner and a member of the opposition coalition that is fielding a single candidate against Jammeh this election, says such arrests have become familiar.

"This has been the norm in the Jammeh regime. You can never predict whether a minister is going to be there for three months or even three days," she said at a rally in a village outside the capital.

"He is the alpha and omega of everything. He does the thinking, even though he does not have the capacity," she added.

Opposition gaining confidence

Those who opt to leave the government are also at risk, especially deputies who have joined the Gambia Democratic Congress, a grouping of mostly former ruling party officials.

Tina Faal, formerly of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), was detained for three weeks in August despite already being on bail over a separate theft case. No reason was given for her re-arrest.

The flag-bearer of the Gambian coalition of the seven opposition political parties Adama Barrow (C), greets supporters at a gathering in Jambur on November 26, 2016 for an electoral rally ahead of December 1 presidential elections

"They told us that they have documents they want to hand over to her. But they did not disclose their identities to us," a family source told AFP at the time of the men that descended on her home.

Meanwhile most of the top officials from the leading opposition United Democratic Party remain in jail, serving three-year sentences for holding protests in April.

They were arrested while calling for political reform on April 14 or at a subsequent demonstration over the death of UDP official Solo Sandeng in custody.

Touray, the women's rights campaigner, believes this has galvanised huge street rallies observed across the country, unprecedented in a nation where political expression is discouraged.

"The people can no longer tolerate the human rights abuses and all the difficulties that they are facing," Touray said.

For young Gambians, the wave of arrests has only pushed some closer to a confrontation with the authorities.

"Our leader Ousanou Darboe was picked up just metres away," said one young man openly wearing a t-shirt of the opposition coalition near a mosque in Banjul.

"I am standing here, so many people will be worried about me. They will be worried I will be picked up but I don't care about that anymore."

President Jammeh told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "go to hell" when he demanded an enquiry into deaths in custody in April, and has also described dying while being detained or during an interrogation as "really common".

Press freedom

Beyond the political sphere, journalists are also routinely arrested, with several detained during the sensitive weeks ahead of the election.

Momodou Sabally, the director-general of Gambia's state television and radio broadcaster, and his colleague Bakary Fatty, were taken away earlier in November.

Sabally and Fatty broadcast images of the opposition when Jammeh's wife was due to appear, according to Human Rights Watch.

This week Sabally was charged with "economic crime", negligence of official duty, abuse of office and spreading false information.

The final charge, denounced as overly vague by rights activists, is often used against journalists.

Rights group Amnesty International has called for Sabally's release, adding that "all those detained for simply expressing their opinions should be freed without condition."
27.11.2016 LISTEN

The six missing ballot boxes in the Western Region has been confirmed by the Electoral Commission (EC) and has also proposed to replace them with new ones.

This EC chair cannot be trusted. How can six ballot boxes get missing? How can such big boxes fall off a pickup without it being noticed?

Were those boxes the sizes of ants and as a result making it hard to find them?

Who will need those boxes? and for what purpose can it serve anyone aside it being used for elections?

Does the EC want to tell Ghanaians they won't be able to locate those boxes if they travel back on the same route to search for them?

They certainly will unless the EC want to tell Ghanaians that some people have taken it to use as Latrine or rubbish bins which we greatly doubt.

Do plantains in trucks from Goaso or tubers of yam from Atebubu to Accra fall down without being noticed? These are what can fracture the peace we are enjoying.

Do those crying for peace also cry for justice in equal measure?

We will as a result hit on the EC not to replace them but rather get her boys to go back and find those boxes which got missing.

The fact is ballot box snatchers need other ballot boxes already stuffed to exchange with after snatching or stealing an original one from a polling station or a police station.

No one should blame anyone if anything undesired happens because the actions of the EC are those that won't keep people from agitating.

We see the possibility of a riot in Ghana if the EC wants to persist on this dubious, illegal and mischievous path it has been embarking on since her appointment.

From where we sit together, the views of the thousands we come into contact with everyday, most Ghanaians don't think Ghana can be assured a credible election, the majority seriously doubt it.

Thank you

Hhhmm may God be praised always

Nana Kwadwo Akwaa

Adiepena Mirekua-Sarpong

Critical Thinkers international
Folks, a friend of mine sent me a private message, expressing serious concerns at the reaction of "Americans" to the death of Cuba's Fidel Castro. He was unhappy that the "Americans" were jubilating instead of feeling sad at the loss of such an illustrious figure. Donald Trump has been quick to dismiss Castro as a "brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for decades".

I wonder if he knows the truth about the resilience of the Cuban people who have stood with Castro all these years to either confront the US in its subversive activities or to neutralize its manouevres. The Bay of Pigs saga signifies it all.

In the end, it wasn't Cuba that reached out to the US to normalize relations; it was the US under Obama that took the first step to question its 50 years' isolationist policies and politics against Cuba that yielded nothing to be proud of. Thus, the impression emerges that despite all that a superpower like the US did to subvert a small island country of Cuba's status under Castro, it failed. Cuba has a lot to offer the world, which no sane person will doubt.

In response to my friend's concerns, I made it clear to him that those celebrating the death of Fidel Castro deserve pity because they lack knowledge about political history and the upheavals that have shaped human life since time immemorial.

I want to raise this issue for special comment to say that those in the United States (characterized as Cuban exiles living in Miami, Florida, and the politicians of ignorant Donald Trump's type) jubilating at the death of Castro are either lost or are simply pitiable.

No matter what their motivation for jubilating may be, they portray themselves as uninformed and shallow-minded. I will explain my stance with direct references to some important epochal moments in the life of humanity and the influences of some figures whose activities and utterances might have come across as either novel or objectionable, but whose impact changed the course of life significantly. They left behind lasting imprints on human life.

The fundamental point is that all these figures stood against what was objectionable in their specific historical periods.

First in the line is Jesus Christ whose ministry jolted the Establishment, leading to machinations that would lead to his crucifixion. But his death didn't end his revolution.

Bring in Martin Luther and his Reformation, and you should not fail to know why Christendom has many gateways/pathways apart from the orthodox Catholic Church. Was it really bad for Martin Luther to gore oxen? I don't think so.

Move on to the political arena to see all the changes brought about by bold figures who sacrificed their lives to effect changes. Whether in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Australia, or whatever, the tactical moves made by such figures brought about drastic events that overturned the objectionable status quo.

In the United States, George Washington led the struggle to rid it of the British domination and ruthlessness of King George; in Russia, Vladimir Lenin made it possible to change the paradigm; in many parts of the world, the pattern was clear that for as long as the people felt oppressed by the status quo, they would definitely seek means to get rid of it and establish a system to cater to their needs and desires.

What World Wars One and Two have shown us is a huge lesson on its own. So also are the experiences of colonized people all over the world who fought their oppressors and established systems to serve their purposes. No matter what challenges still persist in such endeavours, such systems reflect the aspirations of the people.

So is it with Cuba and why it had to take Castro and his gang of revolutionaries to overthrow the US-backed Batista regime and launch the system that placed Castro in charge till his departure. Disturbing questions arise when one analyzes the US' antagonism toward Cuba. Of course, some might quickly justify that antagonism by saying that Cuba was too close to the US to be tolerated as an ally of the US' bitterest enemy (the Soviet Union, now Russia) to do things anyhow. Remember the 1962 Cuban missile crisis?

The story behind everything involving Castro and the US is really long and quirky. Only those who know how to appreciate happenings will see what some of us have seen, especially at this time that Castro is no more.

Those celebrating his death as a welcome relief from "oppression" or "dictatorship" are oversimplifying matters. For the so-called Cuban exiles in Miami whose over-zealousness in the jubilation has been beamed across the globe by the news media, there is only one thing to prick them on.

Freedom is relative. Whatever might have occasioned their fleeing Cuba for the US, there are many more reasons and conditions of their so-called present "comfort zones" for them to be wary of. Even in the US, freedom is not absolute.

Whatever motivated George Washington and his armada to overthrow the British colonial system can't be any different from what motivated Castro to lead the revolution against the Batista regime strongly backed by the US. If you doubt it, go and read George Washington's (original version) of the "Declaration of Independence". Then, you should be better informed to interrogate the US' stance on Cuba and why it is misplaced and ridiculous. It has a mirror-effect for it to worry about.

Castro was a huge thorn in the flesh of those fearing their own shadows for what they portrayed in public but contravened in practice (behind-the-scene). He hid nothing from anybody, reinforcing his down-to-earth nature in wearing his military fatigues and smoking his favourite Cuban cigar!! He was a national hero whose renown spread beyond Cuba and will continue to hang around till time-without-end.

Such an accomplished person is millions of miles removed from the scatter-brained, spoilt brat of Donald Trump's type assuming leadership positions in the US in the twilight of its glory. Fie on him and others undermining Fidel Castro for useless political expediency not backed by objective reality!! When Castro was in his element, where were Trump and those gasbags now emerging as the US' leaders?

When Castro was in the thick of affairs with the Non-Aligned Movement, where were all these creeps? The giant steps that he made to give the world a new perspective on the "ordinary people's struggles to assert their influence in global affairs" cannot be wiped away by disparaging comments about him at his death. Meantime, President Obamas comments on Cuba conflict with those of the benighted Trump. Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! A system in self-denial of the truth to its own embarrassment?

In ruling Cuba, Castro might have his inadequacies as a human being (Of course, no human being can claim to be infallible); but the truth stands that under him, Cuba made strides that the whole world respects. Such strides put Fidel Castro far above the vile calumny that his haters are subjecting him to.

Cuba under Fidel Castro made huge strides to astound the so-called developed powers such as the US and Russia, not to talk about those in Western Europe. In medicine alone, Cuba excels. The professional competence of Cuban doctors is globally acknowledged. If Castro's rule were so devilish and limited, how could such a feat be accomplished such that Cuban doctors could be in high demand all over the world?

In the military field too, Cuban soldiers fought alongside freedom fighters in Southern Africa. How could that be if Castro were so bad a leader?

We note here that he survived 10 Presidents of the United States, all of whom sought to do all in their power to eliminate him but failed and succumbed to the forces of Nature and their own political rigmarole. How funny!!

The world hasn't seen anybody of Castro's type, which is why he still stands tall to be celebrated in death and not vilified as his purposeless haters are doing now. Shame unto them!!

As for me and my household, we uphold him as a visionary to be respected. We see him as a shining example of a selfless leader whose singular efforts shaped the destiny of his country and marked a huge departure from foreign control. Only those who cannot see beyond their noses will jubilate at his death. I salute him!!

I shall return
History was made on the 9th of September when Ghanaian-born politician, Amma Asante, became the second African-born politician to become a member of the 201 year-old Dutch Parliament.

Amma was sworn in to serve out the term that expires in March 2017, when the next Dutch general elections are expected to be held.

Born 44-years ago in Juaben, Ashanti Region, Ghana, Amma moved to the Netherlands at the age of six with her mother to join her father.

A political science graduate, and social worker by profession, Amma joined politics as a Member of the Dutch Labour Party (Partij van de Arbeid (PvdA)) and was a Councillor in an Amsterdam District for eight years.

Her husband, Pastor Emmanuel Baddoo, and their two daughters, were among the throng of cheering Africans and other well-wishers that graced her swearing-in ceremony.

Femi Akomolafe went to interview her in Amsterdam.



Tell us something about yourself.

Ans: I am Amma Asante. I was born in Juaben, Ghana. At age six I came to join my father in the Netherlands. I studied Political Science at the University of Amsterdam and majored in International Relations. I am a Social Affairs Specialist, and have worked in several organisations. I have also consulted for quite a number of organisations on social policies. I joined politics as a member of the Dutch Labour Party, PvdA in Amsterdam, and served as a Councillor of the Amsterdam Municipality for eight years. I am married with two children.

When and how did you develop interest in politics?

Ans: I would say that my interest in politics was developed at home because my father was always discussing politics. He was not a practicing politician, but he has keen interest in politics, political affairs and he likes to discuss them quite frequently and openly. I am glad that he afforded me the opportunity to participate in the discussions even when I was still very young. He was a tremendous motivator in nurturing my interest in politics. He supported and gave me all the encouragement I could ever hoped for. My father was an undocumented resident until an amnesty was declared in 1976. He was a beneficiary, and the legalization of his stay made it possible for my mother and me to join him in 1978.

So, I can say that the circumstance of my coming to the Netherlands made me realised the role politics can play in impacting the lives of people. It also made me appreciated early that political decisions can create great opportunities, and that one need to be part of the policy-making team in order to make meaningful contributions.

Can you share with us what your personal and political philosophies are?

Ans: Politically, I am a Social Democrat. While I personally believe that individuals have certain responsibilities for themselves, the society or state has an obligation to help the disadvantaged. Social democracy advocates the creation of equal opportunities for every citizen. For example, citizens should be helped to get the best education possible. This will make it possible for them to realise their full potentials.

I believe also that parents have great responsibilities to help their children. Not everything should be left for the state. Parental guidance is very crucial in bringing up responsible children, who graduate to become responsible citizens.

I am sure that you are aware of the case of Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the first African at the Parliament. She is not very fondly remembered by the African and Black Community here, what do you intend to do differently?

Ans: I am aware of her story. But we are two different individuals with different philosophical outlook. There is a big distinction between our political philosophies

You are going to serve as a member until March next year when new elections are scheduled, what do you intend to achieve within that short time?

Ans: I am the spokesperson for Higher education in parliament. I intend to continue to hold meetings with students and teachers, in order to understand how the reforms in the education sector can be successfully implemented. The aim is to improve the education sector, in order to create equal opportunity for every student, and make it possible for every student to attain the highest education potentials possible

There is no denying the fact that the African and Black Community in the Netherland is faces enormous challenges, what do you intend to contribute to solving some of the problems?

Ans: I shall continue to do what I have always done which is to encourage our people to take advantage of the great opportunities available in the Dutch society. The Netherlands has excellent educational facilities from which our people can benefit. I am lucky that my parents, despite their lack of education, helped, encouraged and motivated me to study hard. They realized that good education holds the keys to advancement.

The Africans, especially the youth, face enormous challenges. They live in a society that is open and encourage people to speak up, while at home, parents frown upon children voicing out their opinions. It is a culture clash which hinders progress and successful integration into the Dutch society.

To be successful, we have to become part of the society in which we live. That means actively participating at every sphere of the society.

Let us talk about some very controversial issues. One, racism. Many Black activists believe that the Netherlands remain a profoundly racist country. What will be your contribution to solving the problems of racial divide and tension in the country? Secondly, December is around the corner, the vexing issue of Sinterklaas, which many Black people consider particularly offensive, is bound to crop up. How do you intend to help douse the tension?

Ans: Yes, Sinterklaas is undoubtedly a controversial and vexing issue. It is one that I also personally find offensive and hurtful. It galls greatly to see Black people continue to be portrayed as some ignorant, unserious people who are good only for jokes. What I have come to realise, however, is that most of those that celebrate Sinterklaas do not do so because of racism, they are simply too ignorant to notice how negatively it impacts on Black people. We Dutch people do not know our history. We were not taught about slavery and colonialism.

The media here also does not help matter by the way they portray Black people and the African continent. I was six years when I came here, and I did not go back to Ghana until I was eighteen years old. So distorted was my view of Africa that I was shocked and surprised to see people in Ghana living with modern amenities. Per the Dutch media, Africa is some jungle where people starve, war constantly and are perpetually dying of hunger and starvation. Very sadly, that was the image of Ghana I took with me when I went there.

The good thing is that issues like Sinterklaas which used to be discussed in the private confines of homes are now part of the national discussions and narratives.

More and more people are now realising that what they think of a joking matter is a serious issue for the Black people. I have no doubt that Sinterklaas shall be confine to the dustbin of history soon.

Many Africans here complain about racism, what have been your own experiences, and how did you deal with them?

Ans: I have also experienced racism, but I tried not to let it hold me down. It is important to know that Black is not the Norm here. But you have to make yourself strong and knowledgeable enough not to let racism or anything keep you down. I am fully cognizant of the fact that I am not part of the Dutch Norm which is a White, Christian, well-educated, Successful Male, with a well-paid job.

Let us talk about the question of Identity which many Africans find difficult to resolve. Many Africans in the Diaspora feel a sort of ambivalence regarding whether they are Africans or Europeans. Where do you belong, and how did you resolve it?

Ans: I am Dutch. I was born in Ghana and I cannot deny my Black identity. Being Dutch does not however mean that I forgot my roots. I grew up in the predominantly Black community of Bijlmer, in Amsterdam and still make my contributions to helping out whenever possible. I was a Programme Coordinator for an organization that tries to help train Policy makers from Africa with knowledge, expertise and networking. It is to help us broaden our horizons.

Do you think that the Netherlands will ever have a Black Minister in your lifetime, if ever?

Ans: I am an optimist; I believe that everything is possible.

Amma, when you look at our continent, Africa, we face so many challenges on so many fronts. what do you think that we are doing wrong, and what do you think we can begin to do to solve some of our problems?

Ans: We are certainly doing a lot of things wrong. But the central one is: when will our leaders stop putting Africa up for sale?

From slavery to colonialism, we are always selling ourselves very cheaply. How do we end becoming poor after selling all our precious minerals? Up till today, if you look at the type of agreements African governments continue to sign, you have to ask yourself the reason why they do so?

We cannot make a headway in life unless we figure out how to use our resources for the improvement in the lives of our people.

What are your parting words for the Africans in the Netherlands?

Ans: Dont give up. There are a lot opportunities available in the country for those who are willing and prepared to grab them.
27.11.2016 LISTEN

From Michael Boateng, Kenyasi..

Despite the huge royalties and compensation paid to the Asutifi North District Assembly by Newmont Ahafo Mine for the past ten (10) years, the Assembly has failed to complete the construction of a decent market place for the people at district capital, Kenyasi.

The market project, which was started in 2012 with funding from a compensation of GH3.15 million being paid by Newmont after a cyanide spillage has still not been completed.

Due to the unavailability of a decent market center, the District Assembly premises has been turned into the main market center for traders within the district, particularly on Thursdays.

Aside its unpleasant scene it has become a great nuisance to staff of the various departments at the Assembly, who have to contend with the noise and the human traffic created by patrons of the market.

Staff of the Assembly has been complaining consistently but to no avail, however, officials from the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Ministry of Petroleum, and Ghana Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (GHEITI) and other participants at a community forum to disseminate 2014 mining sector report at the Assembly's Hall in Kenyasi described the scene as an eyesore and a total disgrace to the administration.

There was a heated argument between the community members and the officials of the District Assembly at the said forum over the utilization of the Royalties and Compensation from the mining company.

While the Assembly officials argued that they have judiciously utilized the Royalties to provide developmental projects in some communities, the community members in the other hand insisted that the Assembly have failed woefully when it comes to utilization of the proceeds from the Mining Company.

In a chat with some of the traders, they said the waterlogged nature of the current market place makes trading activities unfavorable when it rains, thereby affecting their incomes or sales.

Chiefs and people within the District have consistently complained about the delay in the completion of the market project for Kenyasi the District capital which is being funded with the compensation paid by Newmont Ahafo Mine after a cyanide spillage incident.

An amount of GH3.15 million meant to compensate communities affected by the cyanide spillage into the Yaakye stream that served as a source of drinking water was released since 2012.

The Asutifi North Assembly and traditional authorities of the affected towns  Kenyasi No. 1 & 2 and Ntotrosoin in the BrongAhafo Region for over two years litigated over the type of project to use the money for.

The community members wanted the money to be used to upgrade a Health Centre at Kenyasi No. 1 to the status of a district hospital, while the Assembly proposed the construction of a market center and a lorry park.

The decision by the District Assembly to use the money for a market and a lorry park was kicked against by the people because they think the hospital will serve them far better than a market and a lorry station.

Their argument was that the existing market centers in the district have become white elephants, therefore, it was pointless to build an additional one.

The District Assembly led by the District Chief Executive Eric Addae insisted on the market center and commenced its construction, which has since not been competed to the dissatisfaction of the chiefs and people of the District.

The use of the Assembly premises for marketing activities has never been welcoming news to the chiefs and people of Kenyasi No.1 and 2, because according to them it is the official seat of government meant purposely for administrative purposes which demands a serene atmosphere for effective administrative work.
The Flagbearer of the Great Consolidated Popular Party, Henry Hebert Lartey has laughed-off suggestions he endorsed President John Dramani Mahama for monetary gains.

Dr. Lartey who announced his support for the ruling National Democratic Congress at a press conference in Kumasi on Sunday says he took the decision because of the projects and policies introduced by the John i Mahama administration to improve life of Ghanaians.

Social media, especially WhatsApp has been agog with messages Dr. Lartey was financially induced with at least GH 20, 000 to throw his weight Presidential candidate of the NDC, John Dramani Mahama.

But Dr Lartey shoved-off attempts by the Ashanti Regional Chairman of the GCPP to stop him from responding my questions on allegations he took money from the ruling NDC.

When he did, he described the allegations as ridicules and unfounded.

[starts with laugh..It that how cheap we [GCPP] are? Gh  20,000. No, no; it is ridicules. Let them go on with the false alarm. The false alarm is not needed. We need Ghana to move forward. This is what we want and not GH  20,000 in my pocket. Collecting money to do what, to go and support somebody to win elections? No, he told me.

The projects, which he says are prototypes of the GCPPs domestication mantra, should be supported by all well-meaning Ghanaians.

They include the Kwame Nkrumah Interchange which he says has become tourist attraction, Komenda Sugar Factory, local content delivery in Ghanas oil business that allow participation of locals as well as other infrastructural developments

According to him, the projects will not only improve the livelihood of Ghanaians, but also put the nation at the level it requires.

He [Mahama] is performing on infrastructure. He says Im going to do it and he is doing it.

If a big country like United States of America believes in infrastructure, it means Mahama is ahead of the United States of America. The truth has to be told for Ghanaians to understand. No politicking; the evidence is there. Even at Accra, you can see whats happening at the interchange. It has become a tourist attraction. Why shouldnt I support somebody whos doing well, he quizzed.

Dr. Lartey hopes the Great Consolidated Popular Party will take over the reign of Ghana from the NDC in 2020.
Twenty three young girls and two boys who underwent a- one- training in various vocational modules, organized by the Our Lady of Mercy Community Services (OLAM) in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, have successfully passed out.

Most of the beneficiaries who were dropouts of school and past students of Junior and Senior High Schools and could not continue their education as result of financial challenges were trained in batik, tie and dye, soap making, beads making, dressing making and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Apart from the training, the beneficiaries received start-up capitals in the forms of equipment and also took home certificates all provided by the training centre.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony in Navrongo, the Project Director of OLAM, Mr Emmanuel Atiiga, explained that OLAM, which is a registered NGO, has been operating in Northern Ghana since 2005 with the aim of empowering the underprivileged communities, women and children towards poverty reduction and community development.

Mr Atiiga indicated the main activities of the NGO include vocational and skills training (batik, tie & dye, beads making, soap making, dressmaking, fashion and designing, weaving), Basic Computing and internet application training, entrepreneurship development and financial literacy training.

He stated that this was not the first time his outfit had provided support to the vulnerable but had done that over the years in many communities in the District.

Over the years, we have done a lot in our operational areas and have achieved great results. We have extended micro credit to women groups in communities such as Nakolo, vunania, Nogsenia, Saka and surrounding communities in 2006/7 and not less than150 women benefited; we have trained over 300 young girls, SHS, and JHS students in basic computing and internet application. We have given skills training to another 350 women and girls in the various vocational courses and entrepreneurship development with support from COTVET-SDF, Ghanaman Trust Fund, OSIWA- SENEGAL and Associated Country Women of the World, ACWW-UK, he revealed.

He stated many of the products who had passed out of the vocational training centre had set up their own shops and producing standards products to lot of people including institutions and entreated the graduands to put into good use the knowledge acquired to fend for themselves and their families.

The Project Director who entreated them to eschew laziness, told the graduands that perseverance and determination was the hallmark to successes and admonished them to emulate their predecessors who were excelling in their businesses.

Given her testimony, one of the past students of the training centre, Mrs Fautina Mayila who is a 42 year -old woman, explained that before she joined the centre to be trained , she was selling sachet and floor water and use to trek long distances to schools in the Municipality to sell, making it difficult for her.

After the training I set up my own shop with the assistance from the training institution and now produces batik, tie and dye, soap , beads and dresses on contract basis to institutions such as the Ghana Health Service and the Community Health Nursing Training College in Navrongo here. I am now economically empowered and support my husband to pay the children school fees and I am also into rice farming , she recounted.

Mr James Brown Fankey, the Kassena Nankana Municipal Director of Social Welfare and Community Development, told the graduands to see the opportunity created by OLAM as golden opportunity and reminded them to be mindful of customer care and to avoid acts such as backbiting and gossiping at their work places.

Dr Stanislaus Alu Kandingdi , the Municipal Chief Executive for the area, commended the NGO for complementing the efforts of Government in training and empowering the youth in the area of employment creation , promoting peace , climate change as well as addressing issues relating to women and children.
Jennifer D Brock, President of the Rotary Club, Spintex, Accra

27.11.2016 LISTEN

The Rotary Club of Accra, Spintex has initiated a fundraising activity aimed at constructing an ultra-modern Kindergarten classroom block, a library and an ICT laboratory for the Old Lashibi TMA School at Lashibi, Tema.

The move, according to the President of the Rotary Club, Spintex, Accra, Jennifer D Brock is to create a better learning environment for the children in the community, and by extension shape their future. The proposed block will replace a dilapidated wooden structure that currently hosts the pupils.

Speaking at the fundraising launch in Accra, Mrs Brock called on all well- meaning citizens and corporate organizations in the Lashibi- Tema community and beyond to support the clubs initiative.

She said the fundraising launch is the first step towards raising an amount of $120,000 to construct the Kindergarten block which will house the library and an ICT Centre.

The Rotary Club of Accra Spintex has adopted this school and has already refurbished and stocked up its existing library which also serves as a staff common room.

Our goal is to strengthen the capacity of communities to support basic education and literacy, reduce gender disparity in education and increase adult literacy, she said noting that the club is confident the project will be executed within two years.

The Head-Teacher of the school, Madam Getrude Owusu expressed her excitement and gratitude to the Rotary Club saying that the clubs kind gesture is well embraced. She noted that seeing the design of the KG block, library and ICT Centre is heartwarming and very inspiring.

Rotary International is a service organization that brings together a global network of volunteers who dedicate their time and talent to tackle the worlds most pressing humanitarian challenges.
27.11.2016 LISTEN

The Akatsi North New Patriotic Partys (NPP) parliamentary candidate, Dr Prince Sodoke-Amuzu has appealed to electorate to vote the NPP to power on December 7 for massive socioeconomic transformation and development of the area.

According to Dr Sodoke-Amuzu, the NPP could boast of the best of human resources for effecting the kinds of development that the people of Ghana need, and stated, The NPP has the right human resource base, good dreams and ideas that we can rely upon to build Ghana and Akatsi North within the shortest possible time if you elect us on December 7.

The NPP parliamentary aspirant, in a speech delivered at a campaign rally at Ave-Afiadenyigba recently, said the Nana Akufo-Addo-led NPP government would not condone acts of wrong-doing and that they will do all within their means to ensure that the resources of the people are used for the purposes for which they will be provided.

I find it difficult to understand why the Mahama-led NDC administration only takes delight in misusing our resources. There is no sense in smuggling cutlasses, fertilisers, pesticides, cloths, corn-mills and things branded in NDC colours to Togo for illegal votes when our people here are crying for these things. I was shocked to see how roads like the one from Posmonu to Edzi (in Togo) has been done nicely when the people of Kpegbadza, Agormor, Avega, Zemu, Nyitawuta, Glime, Metsrikasa, Bame, Wuata, Havi, Dzadzepe, Hevi, Atiglime, Fiave-Sanyi and even Afiadenyigba here badly need good roads and drains. There are genuine means to use in fostering good bilateral relations with our neigbouring countries other than smuggling the few resources that we have here to use in developing ourselves for votes in someones country. It is not just wrong but also unfair and criminal, he said.

He was of the firm belief that his party would win the impending elections, and urged the electorate to contribute to the victory so that, We can all join the victory party and be proud to move to President Akufo-Addo and the NPP government for our lion share of the national cake. I know you, you also know me and I trust that you will make me proud by voting massively for me and Nana Akufo-Addo.

Dr Prince Sodoke-Amuzu holds a Doctor of Medical Laboratory Sciences from the University of Development Studies in Tamale.
27.11.2016 LISTEN

This Is the first of three national broadcasts on 1. Governance and national discipline; 2. Jobs, jobs, jobs; 3. What Ghanaians should expect from a PPP administration

My name is Papa Kwesi Nduom, the Presidential Candidate of the Progressive People's Party, PPP. On Wednesday 7th December, I will be Number 4 on the Presidential Ballot. I was born at Elmina in the Central Region, specifically, from Teterkessim. My grandparents are from and lived in Elmina, Senya Breku, Gomoa Dago and Tarkwa. My parents were both primary school teachers. I am where I am today by the Grace of God and through the diligence of my parents and hard work. I am a Christian and respect other religions. My life has been guided by my faith, family values and public service.

I am here in all humility and with a spirit of service to my nation, to ask for your votes to become the next President of the Republic of Ghana. I want to put the experience I have gained creating jobs for thousands of people in all the districts in Ghana to deliver jobs and prosperity to millions of Ghanaians.

I wish to pray to God Almighty, the Maker of Heaven and Earth to touch the hearts and minds of all Ghanaians. I pray for life and good health for all of us. I continue to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Angels and Saints to make it possible for the people to vote for me Papa Kwesi Nduom on December 7th 2016 to become the next President of the Republic of Ghana.

As your President, I will:

1. Unite the people to ensure lasting peace to enable development.

2. Put in place an all-inclusive, lean aministration of not more than 40 ministers of state for accelerated development and reform the public sector to become responsive to the private productive sector.

3. Fight corruption actively.

4. Implement the national identification system and mandate the use of a single identification number to enforce discipline in our society.

5. Eliminate winner-takes-all from our governance.

In the long-run, every government is the exact symbol of its people, with their wisdom and unwisdom. (Thomas Carlyle  Scottish-born English writer). I am convinced that you get what you vote for. Which means in the end, the person you vote for is you. I know you want the best for yourself. So I ask you today, please vote for the best to get the best that you wish for and this year, I believe that Papa Kwesi Nduom and the PPP offer the best ideas, solutions and leadership to make Ghana great and strong and its people prosperous. So vote for #4 Papa Kwesi Nduom and PPP.

Papa Kwesi Nduom and PPP will stop the "Social Sin of Politics Without Principle (Donaldson)".

I am convinced now more than ever, that politics of intimidation, violence, abuse of incumbency, the use of our tax money by the party in power, tribalism and vote stealing will condemn and entrench the majority of our people in poverty in all its forms - poor housing, bad health, short lifespan, inferior education, disease and unemployment. A resource rich country like Ghana deserves better than what its people are experiencing. Nothing will change if we continue to do the same things and keep making the same mistakes. I ask, what is the point in engaging in this thing we loosely call politics in Ghana?. This Politics Without Principle?

I am worried about what will happen to Ghana during and after the 2016 elections. I am not afraid about how the PPP will fare in the 2016 elections. I have won and lost elections. So I have experienced what you feel when you lose and when you win. I have experienced what burdens we carry when we contest elections at the local and national levels. So I know that we are senselessly deluding ourselves that we are in a democracy, that there is freedom of choice and that elections are free and fair. The unfairness in Ghanas elections starts way before the actual elections and continues to election day. Election observers are well-meaning but they have become another element of cover-up for stealing and bribery.

I am afraid for Ghana. Will we remain a one country, largely united under one administration after the 2016 elections? Will the Ghanaian economy have the ability to sustain the use of the government treasury to finance a partisan campaign? Will we still have confidence in using the ballot box to elect our leaders? I am believer in democracy. But I am questioning what type of democracy we have that allows some political parties to act with impunity, cheat and divide the same people they want to rule.

The 1992 Constitution

To look ahead to the 2016 elections, we must look back to the beginning of the Fourth Republic. After the infamous "hand over to whom?" question was asked, we went ahead and did just that, handed over the administration of this country to the same man and the same band of men and women bent on hanging on to power by all means, at all cost using our tax money. Quite often, in our country, our people accept the views of what our situation is a lot more coming through the lenses of foreign institutions and individuals than local ones. For several years, I have campaigned against the excessive centralization of powers in one position, that of the President of the Republic of Ghana. Lip service is all we the locals get. It is this problem of excessive centralization of powers that is dragging our country more and more to become a habitual below expectation performer. And it is because those who happen to be in power are always happy to use the powers to try and steal elections. So if Ghanaians will not listen to me, here is what a foreign institution paid some researchers to produce about our governance system:

Effective participation in the making and implementation of public policy has been limited to a small political elite which has succeeded in capturing the presidency, albeit through fairly competitive elections, and with it control of the public resources that the constitution places under control of the executive branch. Ghanas political system combines competitive elections with what social scientists have called neopatrimonial rule. The principal democracy and governance problem we identify in this report is the excessive concentration of political power in the executive branch. The powers of the president dwarf those of the other branches of government. The president in Ghana possesses vast political and economic resources that he can employ to secure political support. Electoral competition is the only real check on executive dominance, as the opposition party will work to win power, often at almost any cost. But although both major political parties, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP), accept the legitimacy of the rules that govern politics in Ghana, these rules have serious flaws. The elite consensus among political parties is an agreement to maintain the status quo, regardless of its increasingly negative impact on democratic practice and good governance, because it offers a clear path to gaining power and thus access to the vast network of state resources. The increasingly hyper-aggressive, winner-take-all nature of Ghanaian elections puts tremendous pressure on the one institution that has become a symbol of the countrys successful democratic transition, the Electoral Commission (EC). What happens if the EC is no longer able to perform its duties with the credibility it has commanded in the past? We raise a note of caution that the confluence of good luck and competence that marked the very close 2008 election cannot be guaranteed in the future. Ghanaians have higher expectations for the economic and social benefits of democracy than the government seems able to produce through current institutional arrangements. In this regard, the political status quo has gone about as far as it can in moving Ghanaian democracy forward and, by extension, in creating the conditions for broad-based economic growth and social development. (Ghana Democracy & Governance Assessment Report, August 2011 USAID).

So there you have it. We have been lucky, so far. What happens when we run out of luck? What happens when those excluded from governance and those cheated during the process of participating in the elections decide that they cannot take it anymore?

The Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission as it stands now, has not been able to fully enforce the Political Parties Law and make the political parties who want to come and govern this country law-abiding. Political parties are supposed to be national in character, have offices in two-thirds of the districts, raise funds from Ghanaians within the prescribed limits, deliver annual returns, among others. I know how the PPP has been working hard to raise money and stay active to ensure that we meet the requirements. Does the EC know how the parties raised money to fund their campaigns? We have so-called political parties in Ghana that are sole proprietors, ethnic based, specific regions in content, etc. We have an EC that is election focused and is behind times. Otherwise, why does the EC still encouraging the use of party polling agents when they do not exist in advanced democracies; Why do we not have continuous registration of voters when they reach age 18; Why are we not allowing Ghanaians abroad to vote; And why are we not using electronic voting methods?

State of Economic Emergency & Call for a Lean Administration

Ghanas budget deficit in 2014 was reportedly more than 9.6% of the GDP. This is why the IMF has made a deal with government that includes removing subsidies on fuel, water, electricity etc. to reduce the deficit from 2015 going forward. But we seem to forget one thing. Budget deficits have been experienced consistently every four years i.e. after every election. My point is that election year spending by governments in the Fourth Republic has put our economy at risk and collapsed many businesses. The Mahama Administration is on course to repeat the excessive spending in election year 2016 and bring back problems for all of us after the election.

I intend to call a state of economic emergency my first day in office as President. Foreign travel will be the exception for me and members of my administration.

The words Honourable and His Excellency will be discouraged by me. Politicians are there to serve and not to be given special treatment as a higher class of people.

A PPP government will NOT pay for any generator or fuel cost for any Minister of State. This will force the government to fix electricity issues promptly. Government will NOT pay for the medical bills of any Minister of State, government official and their family members who seek medical treatment abroad. We will fix the Health Care System for the benefit of all Ghanaians.

Tribalism

I will fight tribalism in all its forms because it promotes inferior, mediocre leaders and results in poverty and intolerance. I am not an Ewe or an Ashanti so should that mean that my party cannot win support or votes from the Volta or the Ashanti regions? I am not a Frafra, Dagomba or Ga so should I avoid areas where these ethnic people can be found? I am a Fante but I have created jobs in every district in Ghana. I will behave the same way in government - tribal blind with opportunity for everyone

The 1992 constitution aids and abets tribalism in our politics. The constitution does not stop at being Ghanaian as what qualifies one to contest election to go to parliament. It requires you to "hail from an area or live there for a number of years. In the First Republic, an Nzema won election to go to Parliament in Accra. An Ewe went to Parliament from the Central Region. In this Fourth Republic, due to tribal-based politics, some seats are "reserved" for political parties identified with those tribes. If this is repeated in 2016 and beyond, where will the competition in our campaigns be? What will the point be in contesting an election in an area where your party is not considered a member of the tribe? What sort of democracy is this where tribalism overtakes merit? Without merit, this nation we call Ghana can never be prosperous and our good people will continue to run away to other countries. Those who occupy most of our political positions will be inferiors.

Inclusiveness

I believe in inclusiveness. I believe passionately that using the best brains in Ghana regardless of political, ideological leanings can help transform Ghana. I believe we can transform Ghana from a beacon of democracy and political freedom in Africa to become a prosperous country on earth through a considered method of forming a government using the best men and women without regard to ethnic, religious or political considerations. This will not come easily. It will take a lot of hard work and sacrifice. It will require withstanding ridicule from some members of the public and opposing political parties. We will have to overcome old UP/CPP wounds. Worse, it will take a real battle between those who want to go back to pre - 1966 days and the ones who want a forward march into the 21st century. But, it is a battle worth fighting. Ghana needs a political leader who is truly for giving advantage to Ghanaians in all fields of endeavour economic, social, etc and one that will promote equal opportunity for all of our people without regard to ethnic,religious, geographic or social standing considerations. I am that leader.

I do not understand why some people would use undesirable words to describe political opponents . I have always been against "winner takes all politics". I have spoken against it. I have written against it. Many politicians have heeded the calls of different political parties in government. Currently we have Governor of the bank a known Cppist, we have senior journalists who have declared their intentions to vote for presidential candidates other than their known party candidates. I respect them for their forthrightness even though I would have wished they were in my corner. In the USA, UK, Netherlands and other advanced countries coalitions are known as politically necessary, and political opponents do not use unsavory adjectives to describe them. It is time we became politically matured.

I am not interested in an East-West political, economic or ideological divide to distract our attention from the difficult task of solving our huge infrastructure deficit and eliminating poverty. I will not be guided by the socialist-capitalist struggle as an independent, practical leader only moved by need to solve the basic human problems of the people in order to create a great Leap Forward. I have studied all our past leaders and those from South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius and progressive leaders from the developed world. I will use the best ideas they applied successfully in their countries but fine tuned to suit our environment.

Ghanaians can expect from me an uncompromising adherence to the principles of social justice and self-determination. It is time we brought the economy back home to benefit our own people. I will be an activist leader of the positive type. In that regard, I aim to present visionary leadership that is vibrant and one that connects positively with all of the people.

To enable transformation to happen in Ghana, I will promote a real, tangible change in attitude, commitment and a strong competitive spirit. A government led by me will apply the full weight and authority of the state to liberate Ghanaians in an unapologetic manner. We will champion the cause of "Yen ara asaase ni". This means making formal education a right for all and not a privilege, giving the Ghanaian entrepreneur advantages by the use of the state's purchasing power and giving power back to the people through the right to elect those who govern them in their local communities. It means the state making it possible for Ghanaians to live in an environment that is clean, hygienic and free from preventable diseases like malaria and cholera. I will put the Ghanaian in front of everything that happens in this country and not parochial interests.

I will lead a real, formidable alternative in Ghanaian politics whose policies will make a positive difference in the lives of our people for years to come. I am prepared to work in a way that is different with forward- looking people who are willing to work and make sacrifices and with a single purpose vision of making Ghanaians proud and prosperous in their own country. I want to be focused on eliminating poverty, preventable diseases, educating all children and promoting the Ghanaian private sector to create well-paying jobs at home.

Corruption

Every time someone takes the NDC Administration to task for not fighting corruption practically, vigorously and seriously, they fight back, not to prove that they are dealing with it, but they try to cover the matter up by pointing to others as also being corrupt. Some of their leading members and communication team members delight in taking to the airwaves in what has become known in Ghanaian politics as "equalization". Essentially, that we are all the same. Not true. The point of this is, the NDC was not forced to take power to administer the affairs of this country. So no matter what happened or who did what before they were handed this country to administer, it is their responsibility to solve the problems we face as a nation.

When the Anti-Corruption Crusade was launched by the Progressive People's Party (PPP) and other partners, some people rose up with their usual propaganda - "corruption is everywhere", "even Kufuor said corruption is as old as Adam", "every administration has engaged in corruption" and so on and so forth. Is this something to be proud of? That the Mahama Adminstration is not more corrupt than the previous ones? John Mahama and Nana Akufo-Addo are people I consider as friends. So I know that the PPP's crusade is not about this game of who is more corrupt. The fact is that corruption is the rot killing this nation and the PPP has successfully raised the consciousness of our people to understand that if we do not deal with this rot systematically and successfully, the majority of Ghanaians will continue to live in filth and poverty.

In 2012, I decided to take a personal stand against corruption. This I did in the most public way possible and one that is unprecedented in the history of our country. I made my income tax returns from the 1980s to 2011 public at a press conference that was broadcast live on radio and television nationally. On that same occasion, I made public, the asset declarations made to the Auditor-General's Office as a minister of state, member of parliament and presidential candidate. I made all my cancelled and current passports from 1970 to date public. I made the results of a comprehensive medical examination public. I wanted Ghanaians to know that my aspiration is to be an incorruptible leader with transparency. It was not about being better than everyone else but to set an example of practical transparency. Unfortunately, many people including the media saw this as just another event and did not even bother to look at the documents. For a lot of them the question was, could I win the election or not.

So my point is, I have made my personal commitment against corruption. I am asking that each and everyone also makes their own commitment in their own way. We can all lead from wherever we find ourselves. If the taxi driver, media men and women, brick layer, carpenter, teacher, civil servant, banker, lawyer, architect, pastor, etc. all work to stamp out corruption where they work and live, we will make tremendous progress as a people, together.. As your President, I will set a personal example for everyone to know that corruption is not acceptable in Ghana.

Ghana is not a two party state and must not become a one party state

THE POLITICAL PARTIES LAW ACT 574, (2000) PART I - FOUNDING AND REGISTRATION OF POLITICAL PARTIES Founding of Political parties. 1. (1) Political parties may be founded to further purposes which are not contrary to the Constitution and the laws of the Republic. (2) Subject to the Constitution and this Act, every citizen of voting age has the right to form or join a political party. (3) A political party may, subject to the Constitution and this Act, participate in shaping the political will of the people, disseminate information on political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national character, and sponsor candidates for public elections other than elections to District Assemblies or lower local government units. Participation in politics. 2. (1) Subject to the Constitution, every citizen of voting age has the right to participate in political activity intended to influence the composition and politicizes of the government. (2) No member of any organization or interest group shall be required to join any particular political party by virtue of his membership of the organization or group."

Everyone must note this part: "(3) Any person who (a) suppresses or attempts to suppress the lawful political activity of another person contrary to subsection (1); or (b) requires any person to join any particular political party contrary to subsection (2), commits an offence and shall on summary conviction be liable to a minimum fine of two million cedis or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to both."

I choose to be a member of the Progressive People's Party. I will not allow anyone to take that choice away from me in any way.

Violence & Intimidation - the silent majority must be awake

I have been in elections from the Assembly level to Parliamentary and Presidential levels. Sometimes, I am seen as being too mild, perhaps too correct. It is not because I am not capable of competing boot by boot. I have invested my sweat, emotions, everything in this country. If I do not work to keep Ghana together, who will? Many people have hidden their funds overseas, in safer shores. Mine is visible, right here in Ghana. I have a responsibility to my family, my customers and business partners to be a responsible Ghanaian. I am a public servant, not a career politician.

Finally

The PPP and Papa Kwesi Nduom have the guts, the patience and enough patriotism to sacrifice some comfort to wage a relentless battle on tribal-based politics, corruption and wanton waste of public resources. By joining we made a commitment to provide incorruptible leadership to this country. We agreed to make education, healthcare and job creation priorities so that our people can become prosperous and our nation great and strong. We cannot do this if we join the rest, the professional politicians who attach themselves to political parties for an opportunity to empty the states coffers to fill their private pockets while the people go hungry.

The Founders of this party are independent minded people who decided to put together an Independent Movement built on a progressive foundation. We are a political party because we want to stay together and propagate our ideas and principles. We are a political party also because the Electoral Commission would not allow us to be independent and still use the same agenda and manifesto. I cannot join the NDC or the NPP or any other party. No amount of money can get me to abandon my independent principles. But we can collaborate with others and we must seriously promote this to offer the country the type of incorruptible leadership our people deserve.

As your President, I will build a coalition of like-minded people and political parties who will agree amend the constitution to give power back to the people so they can elect their own DCEs; reduce the powers of the President and remove ministers from Parliament as members; provide free, compulsory and continuous education to every child; and check corruption.

Today, I leave you with an appropriate quotation from a politician from afar:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

 Theodore Roosevelt

I know one thing for sure - a country gets what it votes for.

Thank you, for your attention.
"Never was so much owed by so many to so few" was a wartime speech made by the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on 20 August 1940. What was true then and sagely spoken by Mr. Churchill is true now, albeit in different circumstances, for the NPP.

If the NPP stands today like an Elephant in the grassy plains of Ghanaian politics, it is due in no small part to the sacrifices of gallant people like Mr. Kwabena Boadu, Chairman Adams Mahama, Chairman Jake Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey, His Excellency Alhaji Aliu Mahama, all of blessed memory, and numerous others.

Mr. Kwabena Boadu was a 29-year old Aide to the indefatigable Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the pride of the NPP. Chairman Adams Mahama, until his horrific death in 2015, was the NPP Chairman for the Upper East Region. Chairman Jake rose to become the National Chairman of the NPP in 2010. His Excellency Aliu Mahama was the much beloved Vice President of Ghana between 2001 and 2009 in the NPP administration of President John Agyekum Kufuor.

Mr. Kwabena Boadu died through suspected electrocution in his hotel room whilst on the Campaign Trail. With less than two weeks to the General Elections, this painful death has ushered the NPP and all well-wishers into a dark hour.

The NPP experienced a similar dark hour when the nation learnt of the brutal death of Chairman Adams in May 2015 at the hands of an acid-attacker. On November 16, 2012, with barely 3 weeks to go to the General Elections, the nation learnt of the death of Alhaji Aliu Mahama. Given that Alhaji Mahama had been heard and seen on the Campaign Trail a few weeks before his death, to say that the news of his death came as a shock would be an understatement. Chairman Obetsebi-Lamptey, late National Chairman of the NPP, died in March of this year. That was another death that shook the NPP to its very foundations.

The NPP has had its share of dark hours. The darkest hour, it is said, comes before dawn.

The best and brightest dawn that the NPP, with the help of God, assures the families of Mr. Kwabena Boadu, Chairman Adams, Chairman Obetsebi-Lamptey, Alhaji Aliu Mahama and all fallen heroes is not only a victory in the 2016 General Elections but also the good governance and prudent economic management that Ghana deserves for the benefit of all Ghanaians.

Fare thee well, Kwabena Boadu, as you journey on into the realm that other gallant men and women like yourself have gone before you.

Damirifa Due

Gilbert Adu Gyimah

Director of Communications, NPP/Canada

[email protected]

www.nppcanada.org

Tel: 587-708-9915 / 289-627-7557
I must admit, identifying ones self as an ideologue of transparency, probity and accountability is not a bad idea. But it somehow becomes extremely troubling and hypocritical when a group of people who claim to be the exponents of such ethos would then make a U-turn and dip their hands into the national coffers.

This is the reason why I cannot abandon my puzzlement over the conduct of the founders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Party.

Take, for example, former President Rawlings and his cohorts founded the NDC Party at the backdrop of transparency, probity and accountability. But what are we witnessing in the current NDC government? We indeed wake up every morning to hear fresh news about damning sleaze and corruption in Mahamas government.

It is worth pointing out that prior to the formation of the NDC Party, J. J. Rawlings and his cohorts annihilated people they perceived to be hijacking the progress of the nation. Consequently, prominent politicians and business men and women were exterminated for least offences. They were shot for less.

Regrettably, Rawlings and his conspiratorial plotters murdered innocent people, many of whom were bizarrely accused for legally borrowing meagre sums of money from banks to support their businesses.

While prominent politicians including General Fred Akuffo, General Kutu Acheampong, General Akwasi Afrifa and many others who were cited for sleaze and corruption which Rawlings believed to have culminated in economic collapse were sent to firing squad.

To be quite honest, Rawlings and his cabals rather chose communist approach to ensuring sanity into the system, hence exterminating innocent people with least provocation.

Consequently, many innocent people suffered humiliations and deaths under Rawlingss despotic regime. Market women were stripped naked in the public and whipped mercilessly for either hauling their products or selling on high prices.

While their male counterparts were barbarically shaved with broken bottles and whipped for offences that would not even warrant a Police caution in a civilized society.

As if that was not enough, three eminent high court judges and a prominent retired army officer were barbarically murdered by PNDC henchmen on 30th June 1982 for carrying out their constitutionally mandated duties.

Apparently, the PNDC apologists savagely murdered the three eminent high court judges because their judgement did not go in their favour. How cruel some people could be?

The evil that men do lives after them. And, to those of you who believe in the Holy Book (Bible), it condemns murders in a number of verses.

Then the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel your brother? He said, I do not know; am I my brother's keeper? And the Lord said, What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear (Genesis 4:9-15).

Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image (Genesis 9:6).

You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment (Matthew 5:21).

If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand (Ezekiel 33:8).

But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death (Revelation 21:8).

Isnt it therefore hypocritical that the same people, who have previously murdered people they suspected to be indulging in sleaze and corruption would then cause the collapse of Ghanas economy through wanton sleaze and gargantuan corruptions?

Tell me, will the Almighty God forgive the holier-than-thou NDC apparatchiks who are committing the same crimes (sleaze and corruptions) that their party founders killed innocent people for?

How would the Omnipresent God feel when the people who committed the atrocious scandals (such as Woyomes GH51.2M; $250M STS largesse to Mahama; Millions of Ghana Cedis embezzled by the officials of SUBA, GYEEDA, SADA and the National Service Secretariat; all the dubious judgement payments amounting to GH800M), are all walking away freely?

Apparently, many observers hold a strong view that Ghanas current economic downslide emanated from the unbridled sleaze and gargantuan corruptions that have characterised the NDC government over the years.

If that was the case, wouldnt God be angry with the NDC apparatchiks for previously taking innocent lives for the same crimes they are committing?

K. Badu, UK.
How can the son of a lion sleep with a she goat? The Nefarious Destructive Cancer came, saw, but could not conquer. Ghanaians have learnt their lesson a bitter way. We are now cautious of those who talk about morality for the talk like Angels but live like ordinary mortals.

The President and his visionless team have grown fat and sleek on our sweat for they have captured and tamed us in a zoo they call Ghana. In an immoral manner, the President and his Yentie Obiara looters have looted our collective till and arrogantly display the products of such loot before the very people they have stolen from

When the Nefarious Destructive Cancer was in opposition, the party gave Ghanaians a picture of the Brave New World it will usher the country into. On assumption of power, it has negated all laudable principles it had earlier enunciated in nits manifesto. Probity and accountability have been expunged from the partys political dictionary. In its place is a new lexicon which literally means Create, Loot and Share. Yes, yebedi keke has become the mantra of the greatest deceitful political contraption on the entire universe.

Yes, these NDC thieves who were paupers before they found themselves in power now stand before the very people they have skinned to become affluent paupers to boast of their p[prosperity; they even tell us to the face that it is criminal for any of us to aspire to be like them. They put on airs and have become full of themselves.

Yes, these thieves are also ravening wolves disguised as political redeemers and they outdo the downtrodden masses in wickedness. They do not take care of the citizens in the country; instead, they prosper of the people. They have raped the mentality of the captives so much to that the captives will give all that he has and earnestly labour to ensure that the President and all his looters of our collective till ride nice cars, wear the finest clots and live in the biggest mansions. Meanwhile, the down trodden masses do not have even shoes for their feet.

We know that a shepherd is to be found among the sheep, but these thieves of politicians in the nefarious Contraption are cut off from the rest of us that they claim to lead. The President goes in an aero plane to commission an unfinished project, while the rest of us are made to trek miles and miles to witness the event.

But is this the destiny the Creator made for the country? I do not think so! It is greed. Yes, personal greed and avarice that have brought us to the situation we now find ourselves in. The standard of the people have continued to deteriorate since the NDC regained power , but it has worsened under this fumbling and wobbling leader called John Dramani Mahama who has reversed almost every policy initiated by his predecessor.

Ghanaians now live in mortal fear of Mahamas Police Force led by the intimidating Kudalor. The thieves in the Nefarious Destructive Cancer have put on so much airs that they obscenely display opulence in the faces of tamed Ghanaians they have looted and continue to loot.

The Inspector General of Police has allotted to himself powers he does not possess. He is now calling openly on anybody from all corners of the world to come to Ghana to take part in electing our leaders if the person has the means. He is telling us that we should stay aloof like eunuchs with nothing between our legs if someone comes to take ballot boxes which will determine our future destiny. What do you do if a thief enters your room to take away your valuables? Do you not hit him with any nearby object you could lay hands on to knock sense into the thief?

In the Yoruba States of Lagos, Ogun, Oshun, Oyo, Ondo and Ekiti, you dare not engage in such a game of destiny if you value your life. The people will lynch you. Now, snatching of ballot boxes has become a thing of the past in these states.

The edict of the IGP will have serious repercussion on the country. The plan of the NDC is to use their thugs to snatch ballot boxes. They have already stuffed ballot boxes and in the proce3ss of being chased, they will drop the stuffed ballot boxes behind and go with the genuine ones. We will take the ones dropped behind by these sons of the devil with the belief that we have retrieved the ballot boxes. Mr. IGP be realistic and do the right thing. What happens if we are not able to retrieve the ballot boxes? Will you be held accountable?

Go to other West African or ECOWAS countries and you will all agree with me that, perhaps, this country of ours would have been better off under any other leader, but this our clueless President. People associate themselves with Great men and women of ideals so that they could move their empires/businesses or countries forward. But when one associates him/herself with lesser mortals like Hassan Ayariga and Akua Donkor, what does one expect? Failure and disaster! And this is the price Ghanaians are paying for breaking ranks with Moses and attempting to return to Egypt.

Yes, we have reached this state because we have had at the corridors of power a bunch of pseudo intellectuals who think they are the repository of all knowledge and would listen to advice from no other person but themselves. Unfortunately, their weird knowledge and solutions are inimical to modern methods of solving problems. Yentie Obiara syndrome has become the daily mantra of the most deceitful, oppressive, diabolic and evil contraption ever to be established in this sinful world of ours.

Ghanaians are in a political zoo. We walked into it as free and rational humans, but we have been reduced to psychological animals after indoctrination and sorcery by our captors.

Caged, we have found it difficult to leave. We are increasingly debased, until eventually we are about to lose our humanity. What has these faithless, fear possessed President and his team of nation wreckers got to show for their stewardship? They are as greedy, oppressive and insensitive as Neros fiefdom.

Fellow Ghanaians, you now have a golden opportunity to free yourselves from the [political zoo that Mahama has put you., Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo offers you a better alternative. Would you take it? I agree with my Nigerian friend, Kola Fabiyi that this is the best opportunity to stop the bull in the chinas shop now, or risk losing the shop, the wars and the bull as well.

The Lord God has spoken. President John Dramani Mahama, Let Ghanaians go!

Daniel Danquah Damptey ( [email protected] ) 0243715297

(Self-Appointed Special Aide to Nana Adsdo Dankwa Akufo Addo).
By Kwamina Tandoh, GNA

Accra, Nov. 27, GNA - The Alumni Association of University of Ghana (UG) has inaugurated a GH 450,000.00 mothers' wing facility at the University of Ghana Hospital to house mothers whose children are on admission.

The 20 to 25 bed facility consists of five rooms, kitchen, television room, restroom and also room for single men whose children are on admission.

Tullow Oil Ghana Limited provided the Association with GH 100,000.00, as seed money to start the project whilst Domod Roofing provided roofing sheets.

Paa Kwesi Yankey, the Chairman of the UG Alumni Association, said mothers whose children happen to be on admission in the Hospital are often required to stay around, but unfortunately, there was no space available for them.

He said the Alumni Association deemed it fit to provide such a facility to lessen their stress and provide some level of comfort for them.

He commended the members of the Alumni Association, Mr Gibrine Adam, Managing Director of EPP Books, Tullow Oil Ghana, Ecobank Ghana Limited, Enterprise Group, PDMSD, Professor Ernest Aryeetey, Mr and Mrs (Dr) Samuel Kwofie, Mr Yaw Gyamfi of PSB Construction and Mr Felix Djanie of Mahogany lodge for their instrumental role leading to the realisation of the project.

Professor Ebenezer Oduro Owusu, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, who cut the ribbon to formally inaugurate the facility lauded the Alumni Association for their efforts made in ensuring that the facility was completed on schedule.

He said all citadel of learning had their progressive development undertaken and sustained by their own products.

He called on members to strengthen the alumni networks in order to build closer collaboration with the university.

Dr Joyce Norgbe, the Deputy Director of the UG Hospital, expressed her gratitude to the Alumni Association for the support given to the Hospital.

In honour of his mother, Alumnus Gibrine Adam, CEO and Managing Director of EPP Books, donated GH 20.000.00 to the facility for one of the rooms to be named after his mother, Zainab Alewa.

GNA
27.11.2016 LISTEN

By Albert Futukpor, GNA

Salaga (N/R), Nov. 27, GNA - Police at Salaga in the East Gonja District of the Northern Region have called off a planned peace march scheduled for Saturday (November 26, 2016) following security concerns.

SEND-Ghana, a non-governmental organisation, planned the peace march in collaboration with the East Gonja District Police Command where police personnel including supporters of political parties and other interest groups in the district were to march through some streets at Salaga as part of efforts to promote peace in the area.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mr Kofi Amenu, East Gonja District Police Commander, told GNA at Salaga on Saturday that the police were informed that the political parties planned to use their vans as well as play their jingles during the march.

DSP Mr Amenu said such an act could politicize the event and possibly create a scene, which might have security implications, hence, the decision to call off the planned peace march.

He urged leadership of political parties in the district to continue to counsel their followers to tolerate opposing views to maintain the peace of the district.

He said the security services in the district were ready to provide adequate security for the elections.

Mr Daniel Kansaki, Peace Building Officer of SEND-Ghana, later met with some students in the district and urged them to preach peace amongst their friends and other members of society to ensure peaceful polls.

GNA
Accra, Nov. 27, GNA - Recipients of foreign remittance can now opt to have the money paid directly to their bank account, following a collaboration between Unity Link remittance company and Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS).

This collaboration also enables intended beneficiaries to receive their remittances directly on their e-zwich card.

The cash to account remittance as it is called, brings about a lot of convenience as recipients would not need to queue to receive their money.

It also prevents the situation where people queue to receive their remittance only to queue again to pay that money into their bank account.

Currently, only Unity Link is using this cash to account channel created by GhIPSS although several remittance agencies have expressed interest in also signing up to it.

Since Unity Link started offering the cash to account option to its customer, a total of 10.9 million cedis have been paid directly to bank accounts of recipients representing some 6,569 different remittance transactions.

Speaking in an interview, the Chief Executive of Unity Link Mr Douglas Mensah said the level of convenience that the cash to account provides has accounted for the increased customer interest in the service.

He said it also helps recipients to save monies received from relations abroad as the temptation to squander it when they receive the physical cash is avoided.

In the first month of the cash to account initiative, only GHC95,000 was remitted through this channel but close to 3 million Ghana cedis was remitted in October, showing an impressive growth in patronage of the service.

Mr Mensah expressed the hope that patronage would double during the yuletide as more people remit their relations for the Christmas festivities.

The cash to account form of remittance is one of the initiatives by GhIPSS to rope more people into the banking system and reduce the unbanked population.

The Chief Executive of GhIPSS Archie Hesse commended Unity Link for believing in the initiative and playing a pioneering role.

He urged other remittance companies to use the service to create convenience and value addition for their customers.

GNA
By Deborah Apetorgbor, GNA

Accra, Nov. 27, GNA - The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) has organised a fire safety education programme at the Kaneshie market to increase awareness on fire safety and prevention.

The event formed part of the GNFS fire safety campaign geared toward educating citizens on the occurrence of fires especially during the period from November to February.

Mr Ebenezer Simpson, the Greater Accra Regional Fire Commander, said available statistics at the Service, indicates that this period usually records an increase in fire incidences due to the harmattan and the rush in activities during the festivities.

He said this has prompted the Service to embark on fire education campaigns in various communities to equip the people with the requisite knowledge on ways to prevent and control fires.

Mr Simpson said the education was very necessary as currently 44 per cent of recorded fires occurred in homes and could have been prevented if the occupants had the knowledge on how to prevent them.

Dr Albert Brown Gaisie, the Chief Fire Officer, in a speech read on his behalf, said 'it is the aim of the GNFS that every Ghanaian is safe from fires and its consequential effects.'

He said fire safety is a shared responsibility and 'it is incumbent upon all to cooperate with the GNFS to ensure that businesses and properties as well as human lives are protected at all times from undesired fires'.

Dr Gaisie said in Accra, an average of two fires are recorded every night and this is as a result of either carelessness or improper handling of electrical gadgets, hence, 'the more reason why we have to embark on this campaign'.

The Chief Fire Officer called on all businesses, schools, and other stakeholders to 'embrace the culture of fire safety so as to safeguard lives and property.'

An all-female fire education team staged a performance on fire-fighting in the market place and proceeded with a demonstration on how to use various fire safety equipment such as the fire blanket and the extinguisher.

The team explained the concepts of fire safety to the gathering and underscored the essence of ensuring that all electrical gadgets are handled with care and optimum precautions are observed during cooking at home.

Nii Ayitey Kaneshie I, Mantse of Kaneshie, urged the public to observe and practice all that they had been taught by the fire education team.

Present at the function were District Fire Officers, representatives of the Prisons Service, GPRTU, Kantamanto Traders Association, Kaneshie Market Association, Fire Officers' Wives Association and students from the Kaneshie Bishop JHS.

GNA
27.11.2016 LISTEN

By Amadu Kamil Sanah, GNA

Accra, Nov. 27, GNA - Mr Julius Debrah, the Chief of Staff on Sunday rounded up his Greater Accra Regional Campaign tour with a health walk through the streets of Teshie in the Ledzokuku Krowo Municipality.

The walk, characterised by singing and dancing, was attended by leading members and sympathizers of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).

The 10 kilometre walk, which started at Teshie Laskala, processed through several parts of the community, and ended at Teshie Park where leaders of the party addressed the gathering.

Mr Danny Anan, a member of the regional campaign team, described the massive crowd as a family which is ready to govern the country.

He urged the supporters to come out in their numbers on December 7th to massively vote for President John Dramani Mahama and Mrs Benita Sena Okity- Dua, their Parliamentary Candidate and Deputy Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Mr Anan said the NDC is the only party stable enough to govern the country to change the lives of the citizenry.

He used the opportunity to introduce Mrs Okity-Dua to the gathering.

Mr Solomon Nkansah, National Communication Officer of the Party, said the NDC is the most united party ready to govern the country as the New Patriotic Party is divided into two factions.

'If that party is rife with these divisions even in opposition, what will happen if we give them power? They are not ready to govern, so let's continue to leave them in opposition'.

GNA
27.11.2016 LISTEN

By Amadu Kamil Sanah, GNA

Accra, Nov. 27, GNA - Mr Julius Debrah, the Chief of Staff, has appealed to supporters of the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) to vote massively for President John Dramani Mahama and all the party's parliamentary candidates in the various constituencies.

He said the Members of Parliaments (MP's) complement the efforts of Government in bringing development to the society and are needed in parliament to help the ruling government in its efforts.

Mr Debrah said this during his tour to all constituencies in the Greater Accra Region as he sought to canvass votes for President Mahama.

He used the opportunity to introduce all the parliamentary candidates in the constituencies and made a call on the electorate to vote the President and their parliamentary representatives.

Mr Debrah said every constituency would witness major developments during President Mahama next four year term.

He appealed to the electorate to reject the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) Flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo and their MPs.

Prof Ahwoi said President Mahama first term was used to develop the country physical infrastructure whiles his second is intended to develop the human capital, create more jobs and much more, improve and uplift the standards of the citizenry.

He said the NPP has no campaign message for Ghanaians in this year's election and that the only phrase that is identified as similar to a campaign message is the 'One District, One Factory' slogan which cannot be possible.

Prof Ahwoi said the NPP's 'One District, One Factory' was also going to promote the perpetuation of inequality in bridging the development gap between the southern and the northern sectors of the country.

He called on Ghanaians to look at the NDC and NPP party manifesto's and make a careful assessment of the contents in them to make informed decisions on who to vote for during the December 7th elections.

Mr Edudzi Tamakloe, a Deputy Greater Accra Regional Organizer, said the President was committed to improve the lives of Ghanaians in his second term.

GNA
By D.I. Laary, GNA

Accra, Nov. 27, GNA - Lack of clearly defined legal regulatory framework and irregular funding support has been recognised as key factors that hamper efforts by state media to effectively prosecute their public service role during elections.

Article 55 (11) of the constitution states that the state shall provide fair opportunity to all political parties to present their programmes to the public by ensuring equal access to the state-owned media.

Article 55 (12) says that all presidential candidates shall be given the same amount of time and space on the state-owned media to present their programmes to the people.

Article 163 also says all state-owned media shall afford fair opportunities and facilities for the presentation of divergent views and dissenting opinions.

Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII) state media monitoring report - STAR Ghana sponsored project - on reducing abuse of incumbency and electoral corruption in August said the provisions were being violated.

'The intent of the constitution is not being adhered to or adequately operationalised by various state media platforms,' the June to August 2016 report said.

''State media platforms cannot pursue a commercial interest once the political campaign season commences,' the report added.

But a Private Legal Practitioner, Dr Eric Osae Oduro said lack of clearly defined legislations and regulations as well as absence of funding support largely made it difficult to measure state media compliance with the constitutional provisions.

He was speaking during panellists' discussion on fair opportunity by ensuring equal access to state media versus commercial interest organised by GII in partnership with Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition, Citizens Movement Against Corruption and Centre Democratic Development - Ghana.

The session sought how state-owned media could fulfil their constitutional mandate to ensure fair opportunity through equal access in spite of their imperative need to purse commercial interest.

Dr Oduro said 'subsequent national policies' affected existing regulations and undermined the original purpose of the state media, citing Graphic Communications Group - transforming from corporation to company - as one the press houses affected by such later policies.

'The state media lack enabling legislation so it becomes difficult to measure compliance,' he said, and questioned how one would expect them to provide public service in the midst of inadequate funding.

He said, although government was not necessarily interfering in the operations of the institutions, there was the need for some appointments to the boards and through the public service commission be ceded to an independent body.

Ghana News Agency, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation and News Times Corporation are the state media that heavily depend on government subventions which have seized flowing or flows intermittently.

The lack of funding support to those media houses are said to be hampering their effective coverage of the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.

'They [state media] need a lot of work to do to become actually independent,' said the Dean of Communication Studies, Wisconsin International University College.

'The state media no longer a reality,' Professor Kwame Karikari added.

He called for what he described as proper transformation of the state media to real public service organisations in terms of managerial, legal and editorial structures.

He cautioned that any attempt to sell the state media to private individuals would not augur well for national and public interest.

'I will be the last person to advocate sale of the state media to private hands, if we do the big wealthy people will scoop it,' making reference to business moguls and political bigwigs to serve their parochial interest at the expense of the state.

Professor Karikari noted that an independent state media served as the most important mechanism for fighting corruption.

GNA
27.11.2016 LISTEN

By D.I. Laary, GNA

Accra, Nov. 27, GNA - Ghana has been described as a preferred home for receiving good quality and uninterrupted education which demands government showcase the country's education brand to attract more foreign inflows.

Many students from Nigeria and other African countries studying in the country view teaching and learning in the country as a haven that assures excellent and continuous teaching and learning, Founder of Simon Page College of Marketing, said over the weekend.

Mr Princewill Omoroguiwa, who was speaking at the 15th congregation of Ghana Technology University College (GTUC), said 'Africa is blessed with institutions like GTUC.'

A total of 1,300 undergraduate and post-graduate students met the requirement for the award of varied degrees from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, CASS Europe (Luxemborg), Staffordshire and Coventry University in United Kingdom.

'In many countries including or perhaps in Nigeria, studying in Ghana has become a guarantee of good quality and uninterrupted education,' Omoroguiwa said.

Ghanaian institutions like GTUC, he noted, 'gladly welcomes, integrates and develops' students talents from across the African continent needed commendation.

'But Ghanaian universities must do more,' he said, 'just like British universities, they must go out and promote themselves and Ghana as a preferred destination for education on the continent.'

'They must showcase the Ghanaian education brand,' he said.

He said government needed to encourage and support brand marketing of Ghanaian universities because 'it guarantees a steady flow of foreign exchange,' free from the dictates of world market prices constraining commodities like gold and cocoa.

'There is no world market price for quality education like it exists here at GTUC,' he said.

Dr Osei Kofi Darkwa, President of the College, described the congregation as very special as authorities continued to celebrate and embark on new milestone.

The occasion, he said, 'is a time for self-assessment and self-renewal, a time for the University to reflect on its mission and vision and to take stock and report to its stakeholders on its achievements and challenges.'

The University College attained its 10 year milestone in September 2016, which was marked with week-long activities on the topic: 'Connecting the dots.'

The University College launched its five year strategic plan - vision 2021 - during the period seeking to reposition it to keep pace with opportunities and challenges in today's complex and interconnected world.

GNA
Rotimi Akeredole has thanked the people of Ondo state following his emergence as governor-elect of Ondo state.

Although the result of the election has not been announced, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to confidently emerge victorious after he scored 195,605 votes.

His closest challenger, Eyitayo Jegede of the PDP scored 116,580 votes while Olusola Oke of the Alliance for Democracy, AD, currently has 85,207 votes.

Akeredolu took to his twitter page to thank the people of Ondo as he awaits the official confirmation of his victory from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)

READ ALSO: Jimoh Ibrahim congratulates Akeredolu as new Ondo governor

Check out Legit.ng's live official reports, news updates and pictures from the collation centre which began On Saturday, November 26.

Source: Legit.ng
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said only 11 card readers malfunctioned during the Ondo governorship election held on Saturday November 26.

INEC made this disclosure just as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Governor Olusegun Mimiko raised the alarm over faulty card readers saying it marred the election.

[caption id="attachment_1063699" align="alignnone" width="800"] Results of the Ondo governorship election being released by INEC officials[/caption]

This is just as Femi Fani-Kayode, a former aviation minister and spokesperson of the Goodluck Jonathan campaign organisation in 2015, called Jimoh Ibrahim Judas.

Ibrahim was factional candidate of the PDP during the election and was removed by The Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court just days to the election.

Since his removal, Ibrahim had engaged Fani-Kayode in an internet war.

READ ALSO: Jimoh Ibrahim congratulates Akeredolu, mocks Fani-Kayode

Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was on Sunday, November 27 declared winner while the PDP's Eyitayo Jegede lost.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the INEC deputy director of voter education and publicity, Mr Nick Dazang, said: The election is generally peaceful. We were able to open at all the polling units, even in places that have challenges of terrain including Ilaje.

The election was peaceful, courtesy of the security agencies; even though we had some smart card readers failure, they were only 11, not up to one per cent of the total number deployed.

The percentage is infinitesimal.

Dazang also said the commission acted immediately to resolve the problem where it was reported. He further noted that the card reader at the polling unit where Jegede voted failed and it was replaced immediately.

He also denied that the election result was manipulated to favour the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said: The results collation right from the ward level to the local government and state level are being monitored by stakeholders, including journalists, observers and political party agents among others.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: APC celebrates as Akeredolu is set to become Ondo governor-elect

It is not possible for anybody to manipulate election results with the way we have articulated the process.

People and stakeholders who are there were also given the copies of the results as they are collated; they can use that against what is finally declared.

The times when election results are being manipulated are over. It is not possible again because you can now trail the process.

Meanwhile, Jimoh Ibrahim mocked Fani-Kayode just as results of the election favoured Oluwarotimi Akeredolu of the APC.

He said he knew Eyitayo Jegede of the PDP would lose since he was supported by Fani-Kayode.

In his reply however, Fani-Kayode said like the biblical Judas, Ibrahim sold out his party during the election.

Source: Legit.ng
- Akeredolu the Governor-elect of Ondo state, has sent out messages of thanks to all his supporters

- Aketi specially thanked President Muhammadu Buhari and Chief John Oyegun

- Governor Rochas Okorocha and Speaker Yakubu Dogara have reacted to the victory

Rotimi Akeredolu, the newly elected governor of Ondo state, has thanked President Muhammadu Buhari and John Odigie-Oyegun, the APC national chairman, for their roles in his landslide victory of the gubernatorial race.

The people of Ondo state, held their governor elect shoulder high, as the news of his victory filtered in.[/caption] In his victory speech he read at his Owo residence, minutes after he was declared winner, Mr Akeredolu said his victory was not only for him and supporters of his party, APC, but for all the residents of Ondo State. According to Premium Times, Akeredolu thanked all governors and officials of the APC who are loyal to the party, in what might be a snipe at some APC governors who refused to campaign for him. Earlier reports had it that Governors Akinwunmi Ambode, Rauf Aregbesola and Abiola Ajimobi boycotted Mr Akeredolus campaigns. A national leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, also boycotted the campaign after he criticised the primary process that produced Mr. Akeredolu. [caption id=

Mr. Akeredolu scored 244,842 votes to defeat 27 others in the governorship election held on Saturday.

Eyitatyo Jegede of the PDP came second with 150,380 votes while Olusola Oke of the AD scored 126,889 votes to come third, the INEC returning officer, Abdul-Ganiyu Ambali, said.

By the grace of God, I will not fail you (people of Ondo State), Mr. Akeredolu said in his speech.

Meanwhile, Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Sunday said the outcome of the Ondo gubernatorial election has further confirmed the acceptability of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in the South West region of Nigeria.

In a statement released to newsmen in Owerri, by Okorochas Chief Press Secretary, Mr Sam Onwuemeodor, also said the people voted wisely.

While congratulating Chief Rotimi Akeredolu of the APC for his victory, he said, the people of Ondo State have spoken with their votes and they spoke well.

Their decision to be part of the APC government at the centre is commendable. It was the view of the Governor that, With their votes, they have passed vote of confidence on APC and President Mohammadu Buhari.

They will never be disappointed in the APC government in the state. He added that, the people of Ondo State have voted wisely adding  explaining that the way they had voted only indicated how highly intelligent they are in interpreting political development and how richly they are endowed with wisdom. He also urged other candidates in the election to congratulate the winner without further delay.

In a similar vein, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has said the emergence of Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as the governor  elect of Ondo State is an indication that people still love the party.

In a statement by his media aide, Turaki Hassan, the Speaker congratulated Akeredolu on his victory at the poll.

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had earlier today declared Akeredolu as the winner of Saturdays governorship election.

According to Dogara, The election of Barrister Akeredolu and the APC in Ondo state is a clear indication of the popularity of our political party.

The victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election is proof that the party is still loved by Nigerians.

I would like to congratulate my learned colleague on his victory at the poll, and also commend our great party, the All Progressives Congress, for a thorough and successful campaign.

As a party, we must take our victory in Ondo seriously since the people have placed enormous trust in us.

We must, therefore, deliver on policies that will improve their standard of living."

Source: Legit.ng
Flagstaff Mayor-elect Coral Evans says a complaint filed with the Secretary of State against her campaign committee for taking contributions from two businesses this year and four in 2012 is politically motivated.

Yes, I do, given the timing and the fact that the individual who filed the complaint against me failed to file a complaint against the candidates he supported, whose campaign committees had the exact same issue and other issues, Evans stated in a text message.

Rob Wilson, the Doney Park business owner and supporter of Mayor Jerry Nabours who filed the complaint, denied Evans charge and said hes just trying to draw attention to the fact that the local election process needs closer scrutiny. He said he also checked the campaign reports for candidates running for the Coconino County Board of Supervisors.

But another citizen has similar complaints against four candidates from 2012, including Nabours, who returned two contributions from businesses in that year. Evans returned both business contributions this year after they were pointed out.

My whole point, for the last four years, about the election process in general, has been to show that there is no formal oversight of the process, Wilson said. Its dependent on the citizens to look at these reports and complain when they find something wrong. I wasnt targeting anyone. The process is flawed.

He pointed to the fact that Arizona case law prohibits city clerks from verifying the signatures of candidates running for city offices.

Wilson was also part of the group of 12 volunteers that checked the signatures of all of the Council candidates and found that one, Victor Varela, did not have enough verified signatures to be placed on the ballot. BizPAC, the political action committee of the Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, helped foot the $650 copying fee for the petition signatures and the voter rolls from the Coconino County Recorders Office.

Wilson filed his complaint in July with the city after finding that Evans had accepted campaign contributions from two businesses, Herron Interior Design, $300, and Noah Stalvey Allstate Agency, $100. Evans returned the contributions and filed an amended campaign finance report on July 21, similar to what Nabours had done in 2012. The Daily Sun reported the violations and Evans' response.

But Wilson pressed the matter with the Secretary of States office on contributions from 2016 as well as 2012, and he released a letter from that office to the press at an Election Night party as he was learning that Nabours had lost his re-election bid to Evans.

According to Arizona Revised Statutes, candidates running for a local or state elected office can only accept contributions from individuals. Candidates cannot accept contributions from a corporation, limited liability company or a labor organization, even if the company is owned and operated by one person.

Wilson said that he checked all of the June campaign finance reports for all of the 2016 city candidates and only found problems with Evans report. He then went back and checked Evans 2012 campaign finance report and found four campaign contributions that were accepted from businesses.

Wilson conceded that he only looked at Evans 2012 report, but that was because she was the only one he found who violated the rules in 2016.

Evans said she found that limited search suspicious, since another resident, Joe Ray, found problems with 2012 campaign reports from Mayor Jerry Nabours and Council candidates Charlie Odegaard, Mark Woodson, Jeff Oravits and Karla Brewster. Nabours accepted money from two businesses. The problems with the other candidates reports included missing addresses, missing last names and missing occupations for donors. Those violations were corrected in 2012.

Ray said he started looking at all of the candidates reports from 2016, 2014 and 2012 after hearing about the complaint that was filed against Evans. Ray is a supporter of Evans.

If youre going to inspect one, inspect them all, he said.

Ray said he contacted the city about the problems with those reports and found that the problems were corrected in 2012, but the amended 2012 reports are not posted to the citys website. He said hes satisfied that those mistakes have been corrected.

The Flagstaff City Clerk forwarded Wilsons complaint to the Arizona Secretary of States Office. That office contacted Evans campaign.

Evans said her campaign responded that the donations had been returned and the report amended. She said the first response she got from the Secretary of States Office made it sound like the office was satisfied with her campaigns answer, but then Wilson pushed the matter in an email to the Secretary of States Office, she said.

In the email, Wilson states, Based on the response from the candidates (sic) campaign manager, it appears that they did in fact receive two illegal campaign contributions during this election cycle. While I commend them for returning said donations AFTER (sic) it was publicly pointed out to them, it appears the law has in fact been broken and therefore the fines required by law should be applied.

Eric Spencer, the state election director, responded with a letter to Evans and Wilson that stated his office, which is part of the Secretary of States Office, had found Evans in violation of the states campaign finance laws.

Although Coral4Flagstaff laudably refunded the illegal contributions in July 2016 there is no statutory provision that expressly permits a criminal violation to be cured through refund, Spencer wrote. He also wrote that the matter had been returned to the Flagstaff City Attorneys Office for prosecution, if warranted.

Wilson said the City Attorneys Office has forwarded the matter to the Arizona Attorney Generals Office for further review. A representative from the Arizona Attorney Generals Office was not available for comment Wednesday.

City Attorney Sterling Solomon was also not available for comment Wednesday, but a week ago, he said the matter would have to be forwarded to another government agency, such as another city or the Arizona Attorney General, for review because his office had a conflict of interest. The City Attorneys Offices civil division provides legal counsel to the Flagstaff City Council. Evans has been a part of the City Council since 2008.
Recently I relocated from Denton, Texas, to Atlanta, which I understood had a burning, and then the Olympics, and then some other stuff happened. Now its home to Paste magazine, where I work.

The kind of traveling most people do in America, between jobs and states, doesnt receive a lot of coverage. Mostly thats because it seems plebeian by comparison to doing molly in Acapulco or whatever the most streets-ahead hiplords are hitting up for fun in our Enya-inspired, Enya-loving age.

Regardless, Ive written a list of four things Ive noticed in the first five days since my relocation from the dry, non-smoking hills of the Lone Star State to the constantly ablaze fields of Georgia. And when I say Atlanta, I have to confess that I really mean an infinitesimally small sample size of the Peach States capital. These days my world mostly consists of a neighborhood, Avondale Estates, in the northeastern quadrant of the city, where I have been Airbnb-ing the entire time, and probably will commit the majority of my crimes.

So, here is a review of a small slice of Atlanta by someone who, admittedly, knows almost nothing about the city and has seen little to none of it, outside of my animes and fever dreams. Will this help you, the traveler, in any way? Highly debatable.

1. There are five things to eat in this city, and they are all pizza.

Its wall-to-wall pizza here, except for the stores that say Subways and Cafe. I ignored those and chose to go to, and be offended by, the pizza. Like I told the people at the Medical Center who kept repeating, Sir, this is not a restaurant, Im here to put the whole damn system on trial. Maybe you shouldnt have had letters in your business title which could be combined into the phrase I EAT.

Did I disrupt your world? Good! Get used to that. Silicon Valley and I, to quote theoretically sober pundit Dave Maney, are Americas favorite societal pyromaniacs.

Maney, writing for the Daily Beast, composed a thirsty love note to the Soylent-guzzling Indigo Children of the tech world, pleading with them to makeover politics using their superior thinking, or something. My project is a little different: I want to bring my bleeding-edge killer app skills to the practice of being a dine-in customer. Like politics, I feel the restaurant industry is primed for what Maney called ripe for radical, burn-it-down, Internet-fueled disruption.

Harder hearts than mine might insist that Maney was talking out of his complete ass, and is such an overheated weirdo that not even Zuckerberg would be seen in public with him. Personally, I see his article as a clarion call to bust a move and change up the biz.

Stealing from Maney, my mode of disruption in Atlanta is taking my nutritional demands to places that do not and have never dreamed of serving food: banks, pipe companies, drug houses, IKEA, the works. If they cant get with the times, well, sorry buddy: Im full of what Maney called big and muscular and bristling ideas, and Im sick and tired of being tired and sick over what Maney calls gigantic regulatory barriers, like the owners of Walgreens insisting that they have never had a buffet section.

You dont know whats happening here, do you Mr. Jones?

And brother, dont get me started about the time when Im not eating pizza! I might as well be sleeping. Do you know what thats like? Eight hours of unconsciousness? Do you think I do that for fun?

Well, I do.

2. There are trees and hills literally everywhere.

Was God taking a snooze cruise during geometry class? Because heres what I dont see while living in Atlanta: a flat, rational plane like in West Texas. Georgia looks like a bunch of puppies passed out drunk underneath a blanket. Its nothing but undulation, verdant crest between fertile holler and valley. Well, houses inside hills are fine if youre a Hobbit or one of those animals that hunts Hobbits for food or sport, but what about us normies who are freaked out by any non-level surface? What do we do, huh?

Ill tell you straight up, theres something mighty strange about this let plants grow everywhere agenda. Let me provide two scoops of nay-sins to that worldview.

First off all, science shows us that trees are just bushes the town fathers let grow wild and free. Hippie thinking, in other words. Second, plants dont even talk back to you, even when you yell a lot, then cry a little.

But more to the point, trees mean elves, which, unless all of the conflicted feelings I have ever felt towards Orlando Bloom are wrong, means magic. But magic means ghosts, and lets face facts: ghosts are pretty much the worst thing possible when youre ten, which we all were at some point.

I guess what Im saying is that Atlantas forests need to burn. Thanks to trends of all kinds, wood is now more flammable than ever before in human history, or so the Internet has told me, which is why we dont make cars, Senators, or babies out of pine and tar anymore. Which brings me to point three.

3. Atlanta is on fire.

Not all the time, and not constantly, and not obnoxiously. But it seems like a weird fad to keep up General Shermans own innovations just to impress the North and international style-setters in Japan. Now, granted, word on the street has it that his has happened due to huge amounts of drought and global warming. Two days after I moved, I turned on my phone and found, in addition to all of those tiger pics I like to keep onscreen, a calm warning which read SMOKE. As if it was the most normal moment in the world.

Around me, I saw ordinary citizens walking around, refusing to curl up into round balls. How was I supposed to feel superior to them? Having never lived in California or any level of hell, I had no idea there existed places where flames would be a constant, clear, and present danger in the distant background of my mall-going, caffeine-guzzling lifestyle. I went from confused to bedazzled to moonstruck to Zen back to raging against the machine in about five seconds.

Someone, who was certainly not me, set everything ablaze with the fury of a thousand suns in a thousand metaphors and believe me, that person, who may have recently moved from Texas but has not left Texas in his heart, ought to be held accountable, with some kind of punishment involving hugs and money, ideally both.

4. Atlanta is not a walking city.

As I yelled at several cars as they zoomed passed me on their way to a rich, satisfying parking destiny, they cant block these charging, marching feet forever. If my calculations are correct, car tech is about to go the way of the dinosaurs, by which I mean there will be an unspeakable, unfunny giant puppet sitcom about them on ABC any day now. I assume that all Pokemon hunting in Georgia is done from the back of cars, a la Mad Max.

Thanks to my close personal connections with the Saudi royal house and a close reading of apocalyptic texts such as The Walking Dead, The Book of Revelations, The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, and Good to Great, Im fairly convinced that motors everywhere are about to break down. All of the money that up till now has gone into making flying cars will henceforth be shifted into researching how to make a flying me, Jason Rhode.

Somethings working: my bones are getting hollower and my abilities of levitating are getting stronger everyday. This may not convince you motorists out there, but it will certainly shock and awe the mountain-bike-riding teens that control this, and every citys, coolness supply. That, and living well, is the true reward. Do better!

There you go: a list of the four big reveals from the city of Atlanta, who, if Futurama is correct, will be submerged beneath literally gallons of briny seawater sometime in the next thousand years. Other people might make concession speeches about having a good run as dry-land oxygen-breathers. Yet having seen the spirit of this very fine, very green, very airport city, I feel confident that although the land below the South will not rise again, the high spirits of this delightful town, of which I have seen roughly three blocks, will never falter, never fail, but continue forever forward to light up Atlanta.

Jason Rhode is a staff writer at Paste.
This is an epochal book. The epoch is a clearly defined one  1981-1996  one that, for most sexually active people during those years, meant only one thing: AIDS.

This is not a book about the global AIDS crisis. During those years, millions died in Sub-Saharan Africa. They continue to die in numbers only marginally diminished even now. This is not their story. Haitians suffered early and greatly, their immigrant and outsider status intensified by being seen as carriers. This is not their story. Presumably thousands of intravenous drug users contracted HIV from dirty needles in alleys, shooting galleries and Soho studios, getting as little recognition, or even enumeration, in death as they had in life. This isnt their story either.

This is the story of a group of mostly white men whose brief sexual liberation in the bars, parks and apartments of New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles was cut short by a virus that could take its hosts from a cough or fever to death in days.

The fact that this is a story of white men is not, however, the product of the same leukophilia that drives most of North American and European cultural production. How to Survive a Plague is the story, as its subtitle spells out, of how citizens and science tamed AIDS. Its a story that would not have happened if those citizens were not people like Peter Staley, a brilliant (and rich) young bond trader, or Tom Blount, the son of Nixons Postmaster General.

There are plenty of acutely drawn story arcs involving unlikely characters, such as prostitute Richard Berkowitz or teenagers Spencer Cox and the brilliant Garance Franke-Rute. But the cynosure of the story this book raises to the level of poet Siegfried Sassoons First World War and writer Primo Levis Holocaust is the access and influence a group of privileged white men demanded and got in the medical and pharmaceutical corridors of power.

Mostly highly educated, though not in medicine or pharmacology, these men educated themselves and others to an extent thats barely credible.

Through a combination of activism, anger, distrust, entitlement, money and pathos  a cocktail that bears some resemblance to the drug treatment that ultimately ended the worst of the plague in the West  the men of Frances book (and the Oscar-nominated documentary of the same name) wrestled HIV/AIDS into submission.

They forced governments to fund, doctors to taxonomize, and pharmaceutical giants to synthesize the virus into what it is today, something Westerners barely feel the need to pay attention to anymore.

And they did it all in 15 years, from June 5, 1981, when the Centres for Disease Control published its finding that five men who had sex with men had all come down with a rare form of pneumonia, to the day in 1996 when Blount, whose boyfriend of 18 years was near death, convinced Merck pharmaceuticals to push its new protease inhibitor, indinavir sulfate, into mass production.

On November 10 of that year, the New York Times Magazine published Andrew Sullivans take on the new drug cocktail on the cover. The headline was When Plagues End.

The reporting and research that made this book are exquisite, the scenes and people painted test the limits of whats bearable. This was an epoch that beggared metaphor, a virus that struck, by the very nature of its transmission, the most beautiful, the most desired, the most free.

This is the story weve read in books: Andrew Hollerans The Dancer from the Dance, David Feinbergs Eighty-sixed, Paul Monettes Last Watch of the Night, told with the sort of retrospective detail and perspective that will make this book as much a monument as any AIDS memorial. In his hands, those ravaged men are not victims, but fallen warriors, casualties of skirmishes in bathhouses and bedrooms in grand and ultimately successful battle for liberation, recognition and, not to put too fine a point on it, love.

France tells a story that has lessons for us about the power of empathy over sympathy, and the degree to which unreasonable people can twist even the most powerful bureaucracies and governments into useful shapes.

Its an epoch we should all know more about and lessons we need now as much as we ever have, for the transgendered and homeless youth who are the new Western front lines, the 2.1 million Subsaharans who contracted HIV last year, and for the dark political times ahead.

Bert Archer was a bystander to the plague. Share your thoughts @BertArcher

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He was probably Canadas favourite dictator.

Canadians may not have approved of the methods Fidel Castro used to govern Cuba. His restrictions on press and political freedom, his insistence that trade unions be government-run and the arbitrary practices of his revolutionary courts would have grated here.

But he successfully stood up to the United States. He nationalized American firms. He fought off a U.S.-backed invasion. He brought in universal health care. He insisted on tweaking the eagles beak.

And for that, in this country at least, he was forgiven much.

True, many Canadians agree with Conservative interim leader Rona Ambrose who issued a statement Saturday attacking Castros long and oppressive regime.

But my guess is that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau better caught the mood when he called Castro a larger-than-life figure who served his people for almost half a century.

For an entire generation, Castros 1959 revolution was a mythic event.

It inspired real revolutionaries. South Africas Nelson Mandela modelled his anti-apartheid struggle on Castros strategy of guerrilla war.

His success in Cuba gave hope to opponents of right-wing dictatorships throughout South and Central America.

But Castro also inspired those looking for more peaceful ways to counter U.S. hegemony. He showed that it was possible for a Western Hemisphere country to exist outside of Washingtons orbit.

In the late 1960s, so-called Venceremos Brigades recruited students from Canadian campuses to travel to Cuba and help harvest sugar cane.

Che Guevara, one of Castros comrades in arms, became an iconic symbol of opposition to privilege.

Much of the adoration directed at Castro and his fellow revolutionaries was naive. The revolution succeeded not just because of Castros boldness but because Cubas economy was backstopped by the old Soviet Union.

Che Guevara may have first impressed youthful Canadians as a symbol of revolution. But he soon became a style feature. Would-be rebels wore Che berets and displayed Che posters on their dorm walls.

But there was also something glorious about Castros  and Cubas  refusal to give in.

They survived the U.S. trade embargo. They successfully fought off a 1961 U.S.-backed invasion.

Castro himself escaped numerous assassination attempts by Washingtons Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1962, Castros decision to install Soviet missiles in Cuba almost brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. But it was also a high-stakes victory for the Cuban leader. In exchange for having the Soviets remove these missiles, the U.S. promised to never again invade Cuba  a pledge it has kept.

Throughout, the attitude of successive Conservative and Liberal governments toward Castro remained eminently practical.

Canada never joined the U.S. embargo. Nor did it follow the U.S. lead and sever diplomatic relations with Havana.

Canadian companies operated profitably in Communist Cuba. Canadian tourists flocked to Cuban beaches.

Liberal prime ministers, most notably Pierre Trudeau, were openly friendly towards the Cuban revolutionary. Conservative prime ministers, while more circumspect, essentially followed the same path.

It was through the good offices of former prime minister Stephen Harper that Cuba and the U.S. negotiated their recent, and perhaps short-lived, rapprochement.

With Fidel Castro dead, can Cuba as a socialist country survive? Does it want to? Or will it surrender to the blue-jean and cellphone allure of the imperialism that Castro spent his life fighting?

With Fidel Castro dead, will the U.S. under soon-to-be president Donald Trump dust off its old invasion plans?

In the end, Castro was a classic charismatic leader. When they are alive, such leaders can keep fragile countries united. Think of Tito and Yugoslavia.

But when they die, they leave a gaping hole.

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Twitter erupted with satire on Saturday afternoon, mocking Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he described Fidel Castro as a larger-than-life leader who served his people for almost half a century in a statement following Castros death.

Trudeaus statement released early Saturday also said Castro made significant improvements to the education and health care of his island nation  without mentioning Cubas economic stagnation under his watch, or the waves of citizens trying to flee over the years, or the political oppression that once led Human Rights Watch to call his regime the worst abuser of rights in the region.

Word of the controversial statement quickly gained traction on Twitter, and began trending on Saturday afternoon under the hashtag #trudeaueulogies, as Twitter users imitated Trudeau and praised notorious killers and tyrants from history for their understated qualities.

Don Macleod wrote, Today we bid farewell to Genghis Khan, the former Mongolian leader best known for opening new trade routes to China. U.S. columnist and author Michael Malice tweeted, Osama bin Laden revolutionized the way we look at the uses of modern aircraft. He will be missed.

The prime minister went on in his statement to remember Castro as a legendary revolutionary and orator, and added he was a good friend of his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

But some in Canada  particularly members of the Conservative party  are condemning Trudeaus statement.

Conservative leadership hopeful Kellie Leitch wrote on Facebook that Trudeau should have called Castros administration brutal, oppressive, and murderous, rather than describing him as if reading from a story book.

Maxime Bernier, who also is a Conservative leadership candidate, called Trudeaus statement repugnant. Fellow leadership hopeful Lisa Raitt wrote on Facebook Canada expects better from its prime minister than affection for tyrants. The Conservative party I lead will always stand on the side of freedom-loving people around the world  not their oppressors.

South of the border, recently re-elected Florida Sen. Marco Rubio responded to the PM on Twitter by asking, Is this a real statement or a parody? Because if this is a real statement from the PM of Canada it is shameful & embarrassing.

Trudeau, who is attending the Francophonie Summit in Madagascar, offered condolences on behalf of all Canadians and at the same time acknowledged that Castro was a controversial figure.

Trudeau was in Cuba on Nov. 15 but was unable to meet with Castro, who had served as an honorary pallbearer at Pierre Trudeaus funeral in 2000.

Criticism of the prime ministers words wasnt unanimous. Robert Wright, who wrote a book about the relationship between Castro and Pierre Trudeau, said it made sense Trudeau would express warm condolences for Castro.

He has to walk a knifes edge, said Wright, author of Three Nights in Havana. Canadians have a long, rather proper diplomatic relationship with revolutionary Cuba.

On the one hand Justin Trudeau has his family inheritance: his fathers very, very warm (relationship with) Cubans, Wright said. And on the other hand, he has to face criticism when Raul Castro says Cuba will take its own time on democratic reforms and wont be rushed by Obama or Justin Trudeau or anyone else.

With files from The Canadian Press

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ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCARPrime Minister Justin Trudeau said that former Cuban president Fidel Castro was a dictator, but that does not mean it was inappropriate to acknowledge his achievements at the time of his death.

He certainly was a polarizing figure and there certainly were significant concerns around human rights, Trudeau said Sunday in Antananarivo, Madagascar, where he was leading the Canadian delegation to the summit of la Francophonie.

Thats something that Im open about and highlighted, but on the passing of his death I expressed a statement that highlighted the deep connection between the people of Canada and the people of Cuba, Trudeau said at a news conference.

When asked directly whether he thought Castro was a dictator, Trudeau said, Yes.

The Liberal prime minister is facing criticism at home and abroad for a statement he issued shortly after learning that Castro had died at the age of 90.

The statement expressed his deep sorrow about the death of Castro, without mentioning the human rights violations of his regime beyond referring vaguely to him as a a controversial figure. Trudeau also called Castro a legendary revolutionary and orator who made significant improvements to the education and health-care systems of Cuba.

I know my father was very proud to call him a friend, Trudeau also said in his statement.

His father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, was the first NATO leader to visit Cuba when he met the leader of Cubas Communist revolution  and longtime antagonist of the United States  in 1976, and Castro came to Montreal to attend his funeral nearly a quarter-century later.

Federal Conservative leader Rona Ambrose and Tory leadership hopefuls Lisa Raitt, Maxime Bernier and Kellie Leitch were all quick to denounce Trudeaus tribute on Saturday.

And social media users also took the opportunity to mock the prime minister using the hashtag #TrudeauEulogies, which imagines eulogies of dictators and criminals written in the style of Trudeaus statement.

Trudeau delivered a shorter version of his condolence message Saturday at the beginning of his keynote address at the opening ceremonies of la Francophonie  a speech, ironically, that called out other world leaders for human rights abuses against girls, women and the LGBTQ community.

Trudeau said he never shies away from raising human rights issues, including on his recent visit to Cuba.

Canadians know that I always talk about human rights, including here yesterday, including with Raul Castro two weeks ago and wherever I go around the world, he said.

Asked whether he regretted the wording of the statement, Trudeau seemed to draw a comparison between how people reacted to the death of Castro and how they reacted to the death of his father, although he did not mention his father by name.

I have a personal recollection of the reaction when a longtime political figure of a particular country passes away, however polarizing they may have been for certain people, he said.

Trudeau said he understood how people with difficult memories of the regime might be shocked by the praise he gave so easily to Castro.

I am not at all trying to minimize the impact that this man has had, throughout a long time in this county, said Trudeau.

Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard did not think the message from Trudeau was inappropriate given that Castro had just died.

Yes, his accomplishments will be in various tones of grey  some white, some black  but historians will have to decide this, Couillard, who headed the Quebec delegation to la Francophonie, told reporters Sunday.

I see no controversy in describing him as a giant of the 20th century, he said.

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WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.President-elect Donald Trump claimed without evidence Sunday that millions voted illegally in the national election, scoffing at Hillary Clintons nearly 2 million edge in the popular vote and returning to his campaign mantra of a rigged race even as he prepares to enter the White House in less than two months.

Trump and his lieutenants assailed an effort  now joined by Clinton  to recount votes in up to three battleground states, calling the push fraudulent, the work of crybabies and, in Trumps estimation, sad.

The president-elect went on to cast a shadow over the legitimacy of an election that he actually won, tweeting that I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally. He provided further contended that if the popular vote determined the presidency, It would have been much easier for me to win it because he would have altered his campaign to pile up overall vote totals, not Electoral College votes.

Theres been no indication of widespread vote manipulation, illegal voting or hacking that materially affected the outcome one way or the other. Its that very lack of evidence that suggests Trump is likely to prevail in recounts.

As Trump worked to fill foreign policy and national security posts in his Cabinet, a top adviser expressed astonishment that 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney remained under consideration for secretary of state after his campaign-long questioning of Trumps character, intellect and integrity.

Trump on Sunday tweeted part of Clintons concession speech, when she told supporters they must accept that Donald Trump is going to be our president, and snippets from her debate remarks, when she denounced the Republican nominee for refusing to say in advance that he would accept the Election Day verdict.

This came on top of his saying it was a scam that Green Party nominee Jill Stein was revisiting the vote count in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Trump won Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and as of Wednesday, held a lead of almost 11,000 votes in Michigan, with the results awaiting state certification Monday. His Michigan margin was a hairs breadth 0.22 per cent of the states votes.

Clinton leads the national popular vote by close to 2 million votes, but Trump won 290 electoral votes to Clintons 232, not counting Michigan. She could conceivably tip the electoral balance in the remote event that all flipped to her in recounts.

Trump planned to return to New York on Sunday after spending Thanksgiving weekend at his West Palm Beach estate. His transition team said the president-elect had scheduled a series of meetings Monday with prospective administration hires.

Among the jobs Trump has still yet to fill: secretary of state. Internal division over the position again spilled out into the open on Sunday as Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway voiced her concerns with the possibility of Romney landing such a significant position.

Trump supporters feel a bit betrayed that you can get a Romney back in there after everything he did, Conway said. We dont even know if he voted for Donald Trump. He and his consultants were nothing but awful to Donald Trump for a year. She added that she was reflecting what the grassroots are saying.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker are among other prospects to serve as the countrys top diplomat.

Im all for party unity, but Im not sure we have to pay for that with the secretary of state position, Conway said.

Trumps incoming chief of staff, national party Chairman Reince Priebus, acknowledged that Romney would represent a team of rivals concept.

Trump was mostly silent on the brewing recount effort until it became known that Clinton would join it, at least in Wisconsin. On Saturday, a day after Wisconsin officials said they would conduct the first presidential recount in the states history, Clinton campaign attorney Marc Elias said: We intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides.

Elias said Clinton would take the same approach in Pennsylvania and Michigan if Stein were to follow through with recount requests in those states.

That loosened Trumps tongue.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in, Trump tweeted Sunday. Nothing will change.

He quoted from her concession speech  We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead  and he concluded: So much time and money will be spentsame result! Sad.

On NBCs Meet the Press, Conway said Stein, the Hillary people and others supporting recounts have to decide whether they are going to back a peaceful transition or if theyre going to be a bunch of crybabies and sore losers about an election that they cant turn around.

Priebus, on Fox News Sunday, called the effort a total and complete distraction and a fraud and something that they should drop.

Clintons lawyer said her team has been combing through the results since the election in search of anomalies that would suggest hacking by Russians or others and found no actionable evidence of an altered outcome. Moreover, Elias said, Trump has a vote lead even in the closest states that well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount.

But we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself, he said.

Trump beat Clinton in Wisconsin by fewer than 22,200 votes, less than 1 per cent of votes cast. He won Pennsylvania by some 70,600 votes, just more than 1 percentage point over Clinton.

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Shocked, but not surprised.

Several members of the Cuban-Canadian community the Star spoke to Saturday said that although everyone knew Fidel Castros health had been on a steady decline, no one was fully prepared for the inevitable  El Comandante, dead at age 90.

It was incredible, almost unbelievable, said Julio Fonseca, president of the Association of Cuban Residents in Toronto. Fonseca, born and raised in Cuba, had gathered with about a dozen other association members at a Cuban cigar store in Yorkville, La Casa del Habano, to mourn and celebrate the former Cuban leader.

Although a controversial figure with an equally complex legacy  a hero to some, a tyrant to others, neither or both to others yet  Fonseca and the other members had nothing but kind words for Castro.

Its a great loss for Cuba . . . and its also a great loss for the world, Fonseca said. Castro introduced free university for Cubans, something Fonseca and his siblings, coming from a poor family, would never have attended otherwise, he said.

Who knows what would have (become) of us today, what our future would have been, had it not been for the revolution, where education (became) readily accessible, and good, quality education?

Carlos Gardo agreed.

Were very, very hurt at the loss of El Comandante. We are Cubans and he gave us many ideas, a lot of intelligence, Gardo said in Spanish at the cigar store.

If theres any president there is to be admired, itd be Fidel because of the things hes done not only for Cuba, but for the whole world.

But not everyone had kind words for Castro.

There are people that when they die, we all celebrate their lives regardless of political points of views, just because the amount of love and joy they brought to the entire planet, Toronto-based Cuban-Canadian musician Luis Mario Ochoa told the Star in an email. Fidel Castro is certainly far from being one of those.

He divided his country, he starved his people while living like an emperor, he incarcerated, torture(d), executed . . . . He brought the planet to the brink of a nuclear holocaust with the (1962) Missile Crisis, Ochoa wrote.

I am glad I lived to see the day this monsters finally gone.

Beyond his legacy, some were also thinking about what was in store for their home country with Castro gone.

At salsa and jazz music venue Lula Lounge, professional dancer and Cuban salsa instructor Dailyn Martinez said the news about Castros death left her sad, confused, wondering whats the next step.

I think Fidel left a huge legacy and huge foundation to build on top of that, Martinez said. . . . Like, 10 years ago we didnt have Internet in Cuba, now theres Internet. You can buy cellphones now. Before, we didnt have that. So just looking back and studying, What are we going to do now? Thats the main thing.

Martinez, who moved to Toronto in 2006, recalled seeing Castro speak in Havanas Plaza de la Revolucion on May Day in 1996.

I just remember feeling chills all over my body. The energy was huge. He (drove) the crowd into his own ideas and it was a scary, chilling feeling of energies and different ideas coming together, and it was a huge crowd.

Cuban photographer Niurka Barroso spent 12 years covering Castro for the France Press Agency (AFP) before moving to Canada in 2005. She recalled how, as the only female member of the foreign press, Castro always shook my hand and kept my hand between his hands while speaking to the rest of the press team.

She was also uncertain about the future.

Fidel defined all our lives in many ways. So its like, OK, what will happen now? Barroso said. I dont know what will happen and I really hope for the best for my country.

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In Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism, Tim McCaskell, who was part of the Body Politic gay liberation journal, writes about Toronto LGBTQ history from the 1970s to the present moment. The statement in the early 1980s that Our lifestyle had become an elaborate suicide ritual was anathema to the journals conviction at the time that sex was the glue that held the gay community together. With the onset of AIDS, the publication tried to tread the line between panic and complacency.

In the March 14, 1983, issue of New Yorks largest gay paper, the New York Native, Larry Kramer published his famous article 1,112 and Counting. It opened:

If this article doesnt scare the s--- out of you, were in real trouble. If this article doesnt rouse you to anger, fury, rage, and action, gay men may have no future on this earth. Our continued existence depends on just how angry you can get  Unless we fight for our lives, we shall die. In all the history of homosexuality we have never before been so close to death and extinction. Many of us are dying or already dead.

Kramer denounced the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, politicians at all levels and gay men for failing to take the epidemic seriously. But he was already somewhat of a pariah for his 1978 book Faggots, in which he had excoriated gay mens promiscuity. Critics charged that the subtext of Kramers work was always the wages of gay sin are death. But people were dying, and no one knew why. Hysteria was mounting. In May 1983, 5,000 people marched in New York to demand that (President Ronald) Reagan allocate more to AIDS research funding.

That same May, two years after the initial Centers for Disease Control report, Health and Welfare Canada set up a 14-member Ad Hoc Task Force on AIDS. Alistair Clayton, director of the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control, was appointed chair. The governments lack of urgency was demonstrated when the committees secretary addressed the issue of applications for research funding. The usual closing dates are in November or December and grants are awarded six to nine months after submissions have been received.

He went on to say, Economic restraints mean the government will be looking at sharing information and facilities as well as co-operative research.

The committee was made up entirely of doctors and scientists. There were no representatives from any of the risk groups that had now been identified  homosexuals, Haitians or hemophiliacs.

There were, however, representatives from both the Canadian Red Cross blood transfusion service and the Canadian Blood Committee, indicating the governments real concern  that whatever was causing this immune suppression could spread to the general public through the blood supply. In fact, that horse was already out of the barn. Hemophiliacs were falling ill from something in the blood factor they had to take.

Community response

With a lack of urgency at all levels of government, community members stepped up to the plate. Gays in Health Care called a forum on HIV and hepatitis B at the beginning of April. More than 300 people came out. Ed Jacksons group proposed the creation of an ongoing AIDS committee, and a followup meeting sketched out a blueprint for the AIDS Committee of Toronto.

AIDS was conceptualized as the crisis that followed the bath raids, and ACT first modelled itself after the Right to Privacy Committee. Five working groups were struck: community education, patient support, fundraising, medical liaison, and media and public relations. Participants at the public meeting signed up for ongoing committee work. An executive with representatives from each group would co-ordinate efforts.

The Body Politic concentrated on combating the kind of hysteria sweeping the United States and treading the line between panic and complacency:

There are those among us who would deny the political dimension, who say that because people are dying it is irresponsible to raise political questions. But as yet, the medical experts have very little concrete knowledge about AIDS and we have every reason at this stage to be skeptical of definitive pronouncements from that quarter. Especially when they dovetail so readily with a disapproving sexual ethic that has sought to control our lives for other reasons.

By September 1983, half of the Body Politics world news was dedicated to AIDS. Virginia Apuzzo, executive director of the U.S. National Gay Task Force, openly condemned the Reagan administrations policy of gestures. She cited six areas of government failure: failure to expedite research funding, to provide proper funding methods, to stem AIDS hysteria through public education, to address the safety of the blood supply, to include affected groups in decision-making and to recognize patients rights of confidentiality and privacy.

At the end of the year, the Body Politics front-page headline read, Is There Safe Sex? A month earlier, a team at the Pasteur Institute in Paris had announced the isolation of a new virus that they suspected caused AIDS. But the official answer was still we dont know. Even the growing consensus about a single agent wasnt helpful if it wasnt known for certain how that agent spread.

The best advice seemed to be to follow a hepatitis B model and assume only blood and semen were involved, but no one knew for sure. Sneezing? Sweat? There was a range of advice circulating: limit partners, choose partners carefully, dont exchange fluids, use a condom, dont f--- at all, (masturbate) from a distance. The article advised, Dont seek advice. Seek information. We were trying to be rational, but the message had a distressing undercurrent of every man for himself. Was this to be survival of the smartest?

Adapted from Queer Progress: From Homophobia to Homonationalism by Tim McCaskell (Between the Lines, 2016).

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There are mutterings of indignation as Dr. Steven Narod searches his office for the framed awards.

Whats rankling him is not so much that he cant find the plaques.

Its that he cant find them in an office that is just so insultingly small.

I would imagine that was the first thing that came to your mind, right? Narod asks a visitor to his diminutive Womens College Hospital digs.

You were probably shocked to find out  how small my office was.

He has a point. The sixth-floor, Grenville St. cubby would likely be the size of the reception areas for many researchers of Narods stature.

And as he  and many others  will tell you, Narods stature as a cancer researcher is colossal.

Some two decades ago, he helped identify the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which in mutated forms send a womans risks for breast and ovarian cancers soaring. Since then hes achieved monumental research outputs, publishing more than 800 peer-reviewed papers and becoming the worlds most cited breast cancer scientist.

This year, that work and reputation brought him a pair of prestigious and lucrative awards to enlarge his mislaid stash.

In April, Narod received the Killam Prize for Health Sciences from the Canadian Council for the Arts. The award recognizes exceptional and sustained career achievements. And in August, he was named winner of the Basser Global Prize from the University of Pennsylvanias Abramson Cancer Center.

The awards were each worth $100,000.

The problem is they wont let me put (them) up, Narod says, citing a prohibition against marring the pristine walls of the new Womens College facility, which only fully opened in June.

Narod, himself, appears to hold an Olympian regard for his achievements and freely, if drolly, demands the deference he feels they should bestow.

He says, for example, that his research papers elevate his opinions on familial breast and ovarian cancers over those of less prolific peers.

You could ask people for their views (and) I certainly would suggest that you get as many opinions on this topic as you wish, he says. But I would ask them how many papers they wrote. And if it was less than 800 I would dismiss them.

Narod says hes kidding, of course, and does not want to blow my own horn.

But then, with another double-barrelled wink, he disparages those who refuse to fund his research. A muttered idiots describes one such body, which declined to back a proposed study on the effectiveness of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) screening for BRCA patients.

In the realm of research, many call him a renegade.

Slaying the sacred cows

A renegade? I dont accept the assumptions everybody else does  many of the assumptions that have become sort of conventional wisdom, Narod says.

Indeed, he rejects some of breast cancer medicines most sacred cows.

For example, that early (mammography) detection is beneficial, says the director of the hospitals familial breast cancer research unit and a Tier One Canada Research Chair in Breast Cancer.

For example, that weve made strides in the treatment of breast cancer (when in reality) were still using drugs developed in the 1950s.

Dr. Robert Bell, the provinces deputy health minister, agrees these views are contrarian, but says Narod is rightly proud of his work and that theres doubtless humour behind much his gruff pronouncement.

Hes demonstrated his wisdom and hes also demonstrated his sense of irony, says Bell, whos also been one of the worlds top bone-cancer surgeons. Working with patients the way he has, working with clinicians  you need to have a sense of humour to keep your sanity.

Bell says Narod, also a professor at the University of Toronto, is one of the biggest all stars in the nations medical firmament.

He totally changed the management of breast cancer through (his) research, says Bell, the former head of Torontos University Health Network and a frank fan of Narod.

Narod, a Toronto resident and father of three, earned his medical degree from the University of British Columbia in 1979 and completed his residency in community medicine at the University of Ottawa. (He declines to give his age.)

In 1987, a position was opened in Lyon, France, where breast cancer researchers needed someone with a statistical bent to do the computer stuff. He spent three years there before a five-year genetics stint at McGill. In 1995 he was offered a chair in breast cancer research at Womens College, and he has been there since.

In France, Narod, then a fellow at a WHO cancer institute, began looking for breast cancer genes he was certain must be driving many instances of the disease. Along with other French and U.S. researchers, Narod began gathering many families with high rates of breast cancer.

Wed get blood from them and look for genes or genetic markers that travelled along with the cancer susceptibility in the family.

This painstaking search for genetic signature cancer genes produced the BRCA pairing in 1994.

The BRCA genes are normally cancer suppressors, producing proteins that help repair DNA damage  breaks in the twisting genetic blueprint that can lead to tumour development.

Mutations in the two genes are responsible for an estimated 5 to 10 per cent of breast and 5 to 13 per cent of ovarian cancers  with most of the rest having more complex genetic and environmental causes.

But the use of an increasingly large group of breast and ovarian cancer patients  to probe for further mutations and treatment advances  has remained the most powerful tool in Narods research arsenal. Over 20 years hes accumulated a database of some 15,646 BRCA patients from 30 countries to seek new insights into the ailments.

For example, though the use of increasingly rapid and precise DNA sequencing technology, Narod and others have used the pool to tease out some 23 further breast cancer genes.

But each of these new cancer culprits, he says, is responsible for a tiny fraction of the cases that can be attributed to the BRCA pair.

Still, the discovery of genes that affect small numbers of patients is one basis for the personalized medicine strategy that many now deem the Holy Grail for cancer treatment from now on.

This strategy holds that the genetic makeup of individual patients will dictate remedies  that a patients personal genetic signature will tailor the drug, radiation or surgical combinations best suited for their own, peculiar version of the disease.

But Narod is brashly skeptical about this ascendant creed.

People do say a lot about personalized medicine, he says. They say that theres many kinds of breast cancer, (they) go as far as saying all cancers are different.

I dont think thats true at all. I think that whats in common is more important and more interesting than what separates them.

There (are) tremendous amounts of common ground in all patients with breast cancer, or in all patients with ovarian cancer, he says. And whats in common is much more profound and important and interesting than what distinguishes two different patients.

Thus, Narod still holds out hopes for silver-bullet treatments  therapies that could effectively fight breast cancers, for example, across all patient populations.

I think perhaps weve given up too early on that concept, that there will be a universal drug, he says.

Bell, a staunch believer in the potential of personalized cancer research, says Narod has at least earned a hearing for his iconoclastic stance.

Bell says most cancers have multiple, haywire pathways at play in their growth and spread. But the thought that there could be a common mechanism that might be attacked through drugs or immune therapies is not unreasonable.

Its certainly a point of view, Bell says.

Narod is deeply respected by many of those hes guided in his lab over the years, says Kelly Metcalfe, a scientist at the Womens College Research Institute and a longtime friend and collaborator. She praises Narod for being willing to challenge others, to not just go down that easy road.

I feel like hes brilliant and he always can support his argument, says Metcalfe, who is also interim director of research at the University of Torontos nursing faculty.

Thats not to say hes always right, she notes. Still, she says among many of those Narod has guided in his lab over the years, he is revered like a god.

A better way than surgery?

Through both his research and vast clinical work, Narod became an early proponent of prophylactic surgeries as the most effective way to treat patients with BRCA mutations  which create higher risks for cancer in both the breasts and ovaries.

He says 30 per cent of Canadian patients screening positive for the faulty genes undergo preventive mastectomies, while 70 per cent have their ovaries removed.

Which is pretty good, he says, referring to both options.

Its effective, its accepted, the side effects and psychological effects are manageable.

Patients undergoing such surgeries reduce their breast and ovarian cancer risks by almost 100 per cent.

Yet Narods research has frequently focused on less drastic solutions.

He says a progesterone-blocking drug known as denosumab, for example, has shown promise as a surgery alternative and that a study involving 2,000 women is being developed to test it.

We now for the first time have a really good, promising study being planned  that we think will test an alternative to preventive surgery, Narod says. Its just a matter of funding.

Financing is the most frustrating element of Narods research, and he pulls no punches in critiquing those who withhold it.

I dont know how much I want to say, he says, before saying a good deal.

We have plenty of willing patients, we have plenty of ideas, we have plenty of community support. But those  people who make the decisions about funding research have their own ideas, I suppose.

Narod points to an ongoing project that he says could reveal, in a matter of months, the effectiveness of regular MRI screening as a viable alternative to breast removal for BRCA patients.

We have all the data, it could be analyzed, (we) could have an answer to that within a year, he says.

And Narod strongly hints that he already knows  but is darned if hell spill without the funding respect he deserves.

Im the only one in the world with the ability to answer that question, he says, referring to information he can glean from his database. Im pretty sure I have the answer, but Ill wait. Im too spiteful to give you the answer, he says, laughing.

Asked if hed have given the answer to Angelina Jolie  the actress had her breasts removed in 2013 after a BRCA mutation finding  he chuckles again.

If she called me Id tell her. Id be telling her everything I know.

Getting serious, Narod says its unrealistic to suppose screening could produce the near-absolute risk reductions of breast removal. But if ongoing MRI testing could cut the 20- to 25-per-cent mortality rates among BRCA patients in half, then it may provide an alternative to mastectomy that would be acceptable to some women.

Regardless of any lowered risks the screening study might reveal, however, Narod is typically blunt in the recommendation hed still make to his BRCA positive patients.

I say  listen, if you want a guarantee you wont get breast cancer, or damned near, I can give it to you. But youre going to have to have preventive surgery. Everything else is probability.

Narod says BRCA patients often underestimate the peace of mind breast or ovarian removals can bring when mutation findings are made.

Id say Doc, I want to go in the hospital next week, do an oophorectomy (ovary removal), a mastectomy and I never want to see you again, he says. To me thats a smart woman. Once you have those surgeries I dont screen you, I dont talk to you, I dont give a damn.

Go home, breathe easy.

BRCA mutations are rare, affecting only about three in every 1,000 Canadian women, Narod says.

But early research into the genes showed that they were especially prevalent among Jewish women of Eastern European descent and pockets of francophone Quebecers. And these ethnic groups  as well as other women with family histories of breast cancer  became the main targets of testing for the faulty genes.

As advances in DNA sequencing technology send the costs of genetic testing plummeting, Narod and his Womens College colleagues aim to broaden BRCA screening well beyond these populations.

I think its realistic that if we could offer genetic testing at $200, I would like to see it become a womans choice. I do believe  it would be a wise choice for every woman.

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In advance of World AIDS Day on Dec. 1, the Star is excerpting two books being published about the disease.

David Frances How to Survive a Plague traces the AIDS epidemics progression, focusing on the activists and scientists trying to identify and combat the disease that began devastating gay men in the early 1980s. The mysteries of the disease and the prejudices of society made their fight particularly gruelling.

In San Francisco that November, Dr. Arthur Ammann was feeling frustrated as he studied the results of a bone marrow test he had ordered on a very sick toddler. As an expert in pediatric immunology who travelled regularly throughout Africa, Ammann thought hed either seen or read about every immune disorder that could plague a child. At the UCSF Medical Center, where he taught and practised, he was a recognized expert in infantile CMV infections. But this little boy baffled him.

He was born prematurely on March 3, 1981, with pronounced jaundice, a problem caused by toxins accumulating in the blood. This was not extraordinary, and the standard course of treatment was followed: every ounce of his contaminated blood was replaced with donated supplies. The process was repeated five times over a four-day period, followed by additional infusions of blood products like packed red blood cells and platelets. When his blood makeup came back to normal, he was sent home with best wishes. But at four months of age his health began to dive. He suffered an enlarged spleen and liver. Jaundice returned, followed by hepatitis of no known origin, then anemia and diarrhea. Now the little boy was 20 months old and in intensive care.

Ammann suspected an infection in the childs bone marrow, which would be highly unusual. Test results were even more surprising than hed imagined. The childs culture was positive for Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare, the dreaded cause of wasting syndrome in adults with AIDS. Recently there had been a number of reports of babies who seemed to inherit the disease at birth from their sick mothers, but that was not the case here. Ammann wrote in his case notes that both parents of his patient were heterosexual non-Haitians and do not have a history of intravenous drug abuse. He submitted both to extensive testing, and found no signs of immune deficiency.

All he could think was: the blood supply is contaminated.

Pulling the boys hospital records, he saw that blood donations from 21 separate people had been transfused into the child. Their identities were masked. All Dr. Ammann had were coded identifying numbers, corresponding to confidential records maintained by the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank in the Financial District.

In the morning, he headed for the blood bank with his list of numbers. Given the possible public health significance, Dr. Herb Perkins, the blood banks research director, agreed to break the code and release the donors identities. That afternoon, he sent 21 names over to the citys health department, which, by law, closely monitored each of the citys 125 AIDS cases. There, Dr. Selma Dritz, the specialist in charge, cross-referenced the two lists and easily pinpointed a man in his late forties whose name appeared on both.

He had donated blood in early 1981. His health had remained unremarkable until that October, when he complained of fatigue, swollen lymph glands, and clouded vision in one eye  classic AIDS symptoms. Doctors diagnosed PCP (Pneumocystis pneumonia) in December, and he was dead nine months later.

This was the first irrefutable evidence of transmission through the blood supply. The cases involving hemophiliacs only hinted at the possibility, but this baby was the first AIDS patient to be matched to a specific blood donor with AIDS. The implications for research and prevention were obvious. But from a public health point of view, the discovery was horrific.

Ammann brought the sickening news to his superiors at the UCSF Medical Center. At their suggestion, he closed his office door and called the CDC. Dr. Harold Jaffe came to the phone. Jaffe was the CDCs top VD expert and a member of the agencys new AIDS task force.

This was a call Jaffe had feared. He got on the next available flight from Atlanta, and the two doctors sat in Ammanns windowless office at the medical centre poring over the boys records, meticulously confirming transfusion dates and donor numbers. The work took them deep into the night, and produced the same devastating findings.

Ammann and Jaffe silently considered the ramifications. This has important implications. We should report this, Jaffe said. He suggested that the Centers for Disease Controls Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report would be the ideal outlet, because it was the quickest to publish of any medical journal, and was read regularly by public health authorities. But I need to warn you, Jaffe added, if you publish it in the MMWR you may not be able to publish it in the other journals, because of the Ingelfinger Rule. 

Jaffe explained: Ingelfinger is the editor of the New England Journal of Medicine. He has a blanket rule that if you publish your findings anywhere, even a letter in MMWR, he wont take your study there. We get a lot of researchers who wont give their information to the MMWR because they want the prestige that Ingelfinger can give them, even though he might take a year or more in prepublication review.

Ammann had enough experience in academic science to know that publishing in a prestigious journal would be to his advantage in certain circles. But concern for the blood supply outweighed any thoughts of his professional advancement. His MMWR letter appeared in early December, and touched off the first round of real interest in the disease.

A scrum of journalists burst through the CDCs door for the first time, including correspondents from countless television networks and affiliates. The attention was long overdue. But with images of bouncing toddlers, the reporters warned America that the gay disease was now killing children. It unleashed a torrent of anti-gay violence the likes of which the community had never seen before.

Excerpted from How To Survive A Plague by David France. Copyright  2016 by David France. Published by Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.

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BEIRUTSimultaneous advances by Syrian government and Kurdish-led forces into eastern Aleppo on Sunday set off a tide of displacement inside the divided city, with thousands of residents evacuating their premises, and threatened to cleave the oppositions enclave.

Rebel defences collapsed as government forces pushed into the citys Sakhour neighbourhood, coming within one kilometre of commanding a corridor in eastern Aleppo for the first time since rebels swept into the city in 2012, according to Syrian state media and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) monitoring group.

Kurdish-led forces operating autonomously of the rebels and the government meanwhile seized the Bustan al-Basha neighbourhood, allowing thousands of civilians to flee the decimated district to the predominantly Kurdish Sheikh Maqsoud, in the citys north, according to Ahmad Hiso Araj, an official with the Syrian Democratic Forces.

The governments push, backed by thousands of Shiite militia fighters from Lebanon, Iraq and Iran and under the occasional cover of the Russian air force, has laid waste to Aleppos eastern neighbourhoods.

An estimated quarter-million people are trapped in wretched conditions in the citys rebel-held eastern districts since the government sealed its siege of the enclave in late August. Food supplies are running perilously low, the United Nations warned Thursday and a relentless air assault by government forces has damaged or destroyed every hospital in the area.

Residents in east Aleppo said in distressed messages on social media that thousands of people were fleeing to the citys government-controlled western neighbourhoods, away from the governments merciless assault, or deeper into opposition-held eastern Aleppo.

The situation in besieged Aleppo (is) very, very bad, thousands of eastern residents are moving to the western side of the city, said Khaled Khatib, a photographer for the Syrian Civil Defence search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets.

Aleppo is going to die, he posted on Twitter.

The Britain-based SOHR, which monitors the conflict through a network of local contacts, said around 1,700 civilians had escaped to government-controlled areas and another 2,500 to Kurdish authorities.

More than 250 civilians have been killed in the governments bombardment of eastern Aleppo over past 13 days, according to SOHR.

Locals reported thousands more were moving within the eastern neighbourhoods, away from the front lines, but staying inside areas of opposition control.

The conditions are terrifying said 28-year-old Modar Sakho, a nurse in eastern Aleppo.

Wissam Zarqa, an English teacher in eastern Aleppo and outspoken government opponent, said some families would stay put in the face of advancing government forces.

Syrian state media reported government forces had seized the Jabal Badro neighbourhood and entered Sakhour Sunday after it took control of the Masaken Hanano neighbourhood Saturday.

Syrian state TV broadcast a video Saturday showing a teary reunion between a soldier and his family after nearly five years apart, according to the report. It said the family had been trapped in Masaken Hanano.

The Lebanese Al-Manar TV channel reported from the neighbourhood Sunday morning, showing workers and soldiers clearing debris against a backdrop of bombed-out buildings on both sides of a wide thoroughfare. Al-Manar is operated by Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group aligned with the Syrian government.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces advance into Bustan al-Basha dealt the opposition a further blow.

Rebels and opposition figures have long accused the SDF and its predecessor groups of conspiring with the government to quash a nationwide revolt.

Arak denied there was any co-ordination between government and Kurdish-led forces.

We were responding to calls from residents in Bustan al-Basha to secure the neighbourhood, he said. He added the SDF had entered the area handily as rebel militants fled.

Aleppo used to be Syrias largest city and commerce capital before its neighbourhoods were devastated by the countrys more than five-year-long civil war.

The UNs child agency warned Sunday that nearly 500,000 children were now living under siege in Syria, cut off from food and medical aid, mostly in areas under government control. That figure has doubled in less than a year.

Many are now spending their days underground, as hospitals, schools and homes remain vulnerable to aerial bombardment.

Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine, said UNICEF executive director Anthony Lake. This is no way to live  and too many are dying.

Activists also reported Sunday tens of civilian casualties from a presumed government or Russian airstrike on a village outside Aleppo.

The Local Coordination Committees activist network in Syria reported 15 civilians killed in a Russian airstrike on the village of Anjara, controlled by the opposition in the western Aleppo countryside, and dozens more wounded. Activists usually identify planes by their silhouettes and home base.

The SOHR said the strike was accompanied by raids on other opposition-held villages in the Aleppo countryside.

Meanwhile, Anadolu also reported Sunday that Daesh, also known as ISIS or ISIL, had used chemical weapons against Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters in northern Syria, wounding 22. The report cited a statement by the chief of general staffs office. The report could not be immediately verified independently.

Later Sunday, Turkeys emergency relief directorate, which investigated the claim, said it found no trace of chemical warfare. The military was not available for further comment.

Elsewhere in Syria, Israeli aircraft struck a machine-gun-mounted vehicle inside the country Sunday, killing four Daesh-affiliated militants on board after they opened fire on a military patrol on the Israeli side of the Golan Heights, according to the Israeli military.

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NEW DELHI - Hundreds of gay rights activists marched in a parade in New Delhi on Sunday, highlighting the continuing discrimination India's LGBT community faces and demanding the repeal of a law criminalizing homosexual acts.

As they marched to the beat of drums, some participants in the annual gay pride parade said much has changed in recent years, with people starting to accept them. But others said India's right-wing government is against the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.

Activists had cheered in 2009 when the New Delhi High Court declared as unconstitutional Section 377 of the Penal Code, which criminalizes homosexual acts. But the judgment was overturned four years later when India's Supreme Court decided that amending or repealing Section 377 should be left to Parliament, not the judiciary.

The law makes gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

"There has been a lot of change, and we have gone back also," said Saurav Jain, a 33-year-old architect who attended the parade.

Rituparna Borah, an activist, was not very hopeful, saying that the Hindu nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was not supportive of gay rights. "We have yet to have an inclusive society," she said.

Over the past decade, the LGBT community has gained a degree of acceptance in India, especially in big cities. Many bars have gay nights, and some high-profile Bollywood films have dealt with LGBT issues.

Still, being gay is seen as shameful in most of the country, and many remain closeted.

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BERLINSwiss voters rejected a plan to accelerate the countrys exit from nuclear energy in a referendum Sunday, turning down an initiative that would have forced their government to shut the last plant in 2029.

The plan promoted by the Green party would have meant closing three of Switzerlands five nuclear plants next year. Polls ahead of the referendum had shown a tight race, but voters shot down the initiative by 54.2 per cent to 45.8 per cent.

Under Switzerlands direct democracy system, proposals need support from both a majority of the countrys cantons and of the national vote to pass. Only six of Switzerlands 26 states backed the nuclear shutdown plan.

After the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, the Swiss government adopted a gradualist approach toward transitioning the country to renewable energy by 2050.

It said nuclear plants should continue to operate as long as they are deemed safe, but didnt set a precise timetable. The government said it needs time to switch to other sources such as wind, solar and biomass energy.

If successful, the initiative would have limited the lifespan of nuclear plants to 45 years and meant the closure next year of the Beznau 1, Beznau 2 and Muehleberg reactors. The newest of the plants, in Leibstadt near the German border, started operating in 1984 and would have had to close in 2029.

The nuclear plants currently generate around a third of Switzerlands electricity.

We would have liked to win, thats clear, but 45 per cent for yes is a good result, Regula Rytz, the Greens chairwoman, told SRF television. Her party isnt part of Switzerlands broad coalition government.

The problems havent been resolved with this referendum Sunday, Rytz said. We will keep at it on safety, on financial security ... and on expanding renewable energies.

Neighbouring Germany took a sharper turn away from nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster in 2011. It plans to shut down its nuclear power plants by the end of 2022.

From a business point of view, it was clear that a hasty exit from nuclear energy would only have brought disadvantages for Switzerland, economiesuisse, a group representing Swiss business, said.

The group welcomed what it described in a statement as voters clear signal for a secure electricity supply and strong domestic energy production.

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He tabled a bill giving full control of the franchise to the federal government. The bill led to an unprecedented debate in the House of Commonsthe result was an extremely complex Elections Act that instead of producing a uniform Canadian electorate, diversified the electorate even more. - from Elections Canada's A History of the Vote in Canada

As the House of Commons special committee on electoral reform prepares to release its findings next week, after exhaustive tours and hearings in every part of Canada, it is worthwhile to pause and reflect on our past, often acrimonious debates on our system of voting.

In the above quote, the he refers to Sir John A. Macdonald, our first prime minister. Embroiled in a furious federal-provincial showdown which continued for years, jurisdiction over the voting process seesawed back and forth resulting in uneven patterns of voting eligibility in different provinces.

There were some basic criteria: age (over 21), gender (male) and level of income or property ownership. Discrimination based on race, gender, religion or income level was a constant. Sadly, exclusion rather than inclusion was a pattern, perhaps an early warning signal of voter suppression.

Our modern right to vote eventually expanded to every citizen of Canada and is today enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. But while the size and scope of the vote has expanded, our voting model, the first past the post (FPTP) system we imported from Great Britain, has remained the same for nearly 150 years.

So is it time for a change? What would we hope to improve with any electoral reform? And what, if anything, is the problem with FPTP?

Far from suppressing the right to votes, we want to encourage voting. The government has already signalled its intention to restore the vote to ex-pat Canadians who have lived abroad for more than five years.

But looming challenges remain.

A perceived democratic deficit, the gap between the popular vote and the method in which the government is formed, has propelled Fair Vote Canada, an organization that advocates for proportional representation (PR) rather than FPTP, to question the fairness of a system which can award 56 per cent of the seats to a party who gains only 39 per cent of the vote, as with the Liberals in the last election.

Rather than a winner take all approach, they argue that surely the share of a partys representation should be proportional to its share of the votes. Every vote would then count and smaller parties would have a better chance of parliamentary representation.

Their strongest argument is the perception that votes are wasted. To increase turnout, voters must feel their votes matter. In light of the Brexit vote in Britain and the Trump election in the U.S., we would do well to heed this concern. Ignoring those voices could lead to future problems.

On the other hand, proponents of FPTP maintain that the system has produced strong and mostly stable governments. The process itself is simple and easy to understand. Most importantly, those supporting the status quo worry that the danger of a vote threshold for representation (say 5 per cent) could allow a party with extremist views, or a single issue interest group based on policy or religion, the opportunity to sit in Parliament.

These are strong and valid concerns, going right to the heart of our democracy. Should they be put to a referendum vote, one in which we can all take part?

Canadians know the perils of calling a referendum. We know the polarizing nature of a national debate. We know that complex matters will have to be reduced to a simple question. We know that it is expensive. Canadas current Chief Electoral Officer says the cost would be approximately $300 million.

Is it all decided? No, we are only halfway through this story and it is not too late for Canadians to speak up.

Thirteen million Canadian households will soon receive a government questionnaire asking for views on electoral reform. Donna Dasko, a pollster at the University of Toronto, notes a potential limitation of this great experiment: like any opt-in survey, it will attract those Canadians who are interested in electoral reform, and those people who tend to want system change. We may not learn the view of the 'silent majority' from this exercise.

Dont be part of the silent majority. It is too important. Fill in the questionnaire. It is your voice, your vote and especially your right.

Penny Collenette is an adjunct professor of law at the University of Ottawa and was a senior director of the Prime Ministers Office for Jean Chretien.

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Hardly a week goes by these days where a university or student union doesnt find itself embroiled in controversy over an on-campus issue dealing with freedom of expression.

The latest case involves four Canadian universities under fire for inviting Marie Henein, the Toronto defence lawyer who successfully represented former CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi in his sexual assault case, to speak to students. She is to speak at Bishops University in Quebec, with her talk live-streamed to St. Francis Xavier, Mount Allison and Acadia universities

But some students are objecting to the invitation to Henein, claiming it shows poor judgment and will only silence sexual assault victims.

Henein made headlines with her aggressive questioning of three women who alleged they had been assaulted by Ghomeshi. His acquittal sparked outrage among many women, with some accusing Henein of betraying them.

In an article in the St. Francis Xavier student newspaper, Jasmine Cormier wrote that the safety of students at this school comes first and foremost, and is more important than hosting a woman who has spent her career contesting women who are possible victims of sexual assault.

The Henein case is just part of a disturbing trend by universities, and especially student unions, to silence controversial speech with which they dont agree and to cancel appearances by outspoken proponents of a contentious view.

Indeed, the Calgary-based Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) earlier this month issued its 2016 Campus Freedom Index. It studied freedom of expression issues at 60 Canadian universities and student unions. It awarded a total of 240 grades, but only six were A grades, two fewer than in 2015.

In a world where students are demanding safe spaces, are wary of trigger-warnings and microaggression, its important to remember that universities are supposed to be places where free speech, open inquiry and challenging their own beliefs should be paramount.

Michael Goldbloom, the principal of Bishops and a former publisher of the Toronto Star, wrote in the Montreal Gazette that how Canadas criminal justice system deals with sexual assault cases is a difficult issue.

But he also rightly defended the invitation to Henein, saying it is important that our universities be places where difficult issues can be discussed in an intelligent, informed and respectful way. One of the reasons that we so fiercely defend academic freedom is because we believe that a university must be a place where controversial ideas can be debated.

Henein has every right to speak as a lawyer, as an expert in sexual assault cases, as a woman. She has done nothing to silence or harm all women. Nor has she or any other female lawyer betrayed her gender in defending men accused of sexual assault.

Instead of demanding that Henein not appear on their campus, students should be willing to listen to what this smart, experienced woman has to say.

Marie Henein need not be silenced.

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If anything shows that politics can be all talk, no action, it is Campaign 2000s annual report on child poverty in Canada.

The organization started issuing its reports one year after the House of Commons voted unanimously in 1989 to end child poverty by the year 2000.

Clearly parliamentarians didnt succeed in their goal, or the reports would no longer be needed. But its worse than that. As this years 26th report notes, child poverty has actually gone up to 18.3 per cent today from the 15.8 per cent it was way back in 1989. A shameful 1.3 million children in Canada are living in poverty.

No wonder then, that UNICEF ranks Canada just 26th out of 35 wealthy nations for child inequality.

The only hopeful factor in this disturbing and depressing report is this: It is based on 2014 statistics so Ottawas new Canada Child Benefit, expected to raise 300,000 children out of poverty, is not factored in. That measure provides up to $6,400 annually for every child under age 6 and up to $5,400 for those under age 18, something one single mom of three told the Star was a lifesaver.

But there is still much work to be done.

While this report did not break down the statistics by city, a 2014 Toronto study found that a disturbing 29 per cent of children  almost 149,000  live in poverty. Worse, 15 of Torontos 140 neighbourhoods have child poverty rates of 40 per cent or more.

But there are kids who are worse off. This years Campaign 2000 study finds a full 60 per cent of First Nations children on reserves are poor.

It doesnt have to be this way. There are many steps governments could take to raise children out of poverty. Among them:

Ontario could raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour from the current $11.40, as anti-poverty advocates recommend.

Toronto could fully implement the poverty reduction strategy it adopted last year that covers everything from subsidizing low income riders on the TTC to increasing affordable child care spots and subsidized housing units to providing free emergency dental care.

Ottawa should index the Canada Child Benefit to inflation so families can keep up with the cost of living and improve access to child benefits for children living on reserves.

And the Trudeau government should commit to a national child care program. Currently only a quarter of Canadian children under age 12 have access to a regulated spot, though a recent Ontario government study found every dollar invested in child care adds $2.47 to the provincial economy.

Happily, some of Campaign 2000s earlier recommendations have been followed. Last June, for example, Premier Kathleen Wynne stopped the province from clawing back child care payments from people who were on social assistance, as the organization had recommended. And Toronto has at least committed to an anti-poverty plan, though it is a long way from fully funding it.

Still, it makes no sense that 27 years after Ottawa committed to ending child poverty, rates would be higher, not lower. Indeed, it makes economic sense to invest in lifting children out of poverty.

Treating the symptoms of child poverty, such as urgent health care, mental health concerns, shelter costs and the criminal justice system costs Canada an estimated $72 billion to $86 billion per year, Campaign 2000 noted last year.

Thats money that would be much better spent ending child poverty.

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Re: Canadians support more investigative powers for police  with a catch, Nov. 17

Re: Mounties lobbying for more power, Nov. 16

Canadians support more investigative powers for police  with a catch, Nov. 17

Your story declares that Canadians support police demands for more surveillance, even though data from the survey indicates only 34 per cent are confident that new powers will be used reasonably and according to the law. Presumably that is why, in every case, the survey found that people want use of these powers to require a warrant from a judge.

Yet while it mentions reports of police spying on journalists and lawbreaking by CSIS, both your story and the survey neglect to mention that warrants were granted inappropriately in the first case, and that CSIS lied to the courts about their actions in the second.

The survey also suggests Canadians support data retention by telecom providers if authorities have a warrant to access the data. However, it wasnt asked whether they should be able to retain that data before a warrant is granted or only afterwards. Your story assumes, without any justification, that Canadians support retention of data about a person before a warrant is granted.

The report also states that 74 per cent of Canadians have never encrypted their communications, without pointing out that we do so every time we use online banking, or visit an increasing number of websites  including the Stars! Worst of all, it leaves out that Canadians have a right not to incriminate themselves under the Charter, protecting them against giving their passwords or encryption keys in an investigation.

Finally, the survey suggests 47 per cent of Canadians think there is a right to complete digital privacy, while only 23 per cent think it is currently possible to have that privacy.

That suggests Canadians want more privacy, not less.

Chris Wiseman, Toronto

The Star quotes Christopher Parsons of Citizens Lab: Any powers handed to police come with the risk of abuse. I would say, rather, that any power over others handed to any organization comes with the certainty of abuse; not by everyone but, through incompetence, negligence or malice, by someone at some time.

The real problem that RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson must address is not the necessity or desirability of additional powers, but the repeatedly demonstrated inability of the police, and of organizations in general, to control those powers and to identify, discipline and remove abusers within their ranks.

Paul Collier, Toronto

Why are we still relying on polls? To know what people are thinking or to influence the way people think? After the recent U.S. election, and given how faulty and inaccurate the polls were, and there were hundred of polls, what is the real value of polls?

Jeff Green, Toronto

Mounties lobbying for more power, Nov. 16

Is this the same police force thats been conducting unauthorized surveillance, using some shady secretive and pretty much illegal tools and procedures? The same police force criticized by the auditor general for keeping secret databases on regular Canadians?

I dont think they really want more power. I think they are just trying to legalize what theyve been doing all along (and increase their budget).

Kind of sad (or scary) depending how you look at it. Hopefully the Trudeau government will have the courage to stand up to them.

Michel Trahan, Maria, Que.

The RCMP claim that they are stymied by encryption is contradicted by experts, who claim that the real police agenda could be legal support for demanding passwords or the ability to make use of their new information sharing powers under Anti-Terrorism Act, 2015/ Bill C-51; encryption puts brakes on unfettered sharing of information between government agencies and third parties.

Karin Brothers, Toronto

Jeff Adam, RCMP chief superintendent, has a B.Soc.Sc. in Criminology, and a Masters of Business Administration (MBA). He does Shotokan Karate (Yondan), a style of that martial art. He is a 4th Degree Black Belt. Maybe he should have gotten his degrees in computer science, electrical engineering or something that would help unlock encrypted messages.

Anthony Conlan, Toronto

After reading the article Alleged suicide bomber hid behind digital encryption, Im concerned readers will be left with the impression that encryption technology is suspicious or unusual, when nothing could be further from the truth.

Simply put, if you use the Internet, you use encryption. If you are reading the Star online, youre using advanced unbreakable encryption, right now. Its on your computer, your phone, your tablet, and even in many household appliances today.

The fact is digital encryption is a part of our daily lives. Its what protects your online bank accounts. Its what stops someone else at Starbucks from posting as you on Facebook. Its what prevents your neighbours from reading your emails and creeping the websites you visit.

So if good fences make good neighbours, its worth thinking about what our digital lives would be like without encryption. And as cyber-security research have shown time and again, efforts by governments to purposefully weaken encryption for certain groups invariably weakens it for everyone.

Aleksander Essex, assistant professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Western University, London, ON

There is a tension between the democratic vision that holds Canadians together and security agency demands for more surveillance powers. Those agencies are deeply committed to protecting Canadians. It is natural that they put more weight on their short-term needs than on possible long-term damage to Canadian society. Yet, it is our adherence to the democratic vision that has made Canada safe and peaceful, by making the law legitimate in the eyes of its citizens.

Almost all of us obey the law because that is the right thing to do. Yet some law-abiding citizens now fear that they are being spied upon. News stories have shown that their fear is justified.

Increased surveillance powers threaten the legitimacy of government and damage our democratic society.

Jack Dodds, Aurora

The crooks are always ahead of the cops. Maybe were hiring the wrong people to be cops.

C. R. (Ray) Luft, Mississauga

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Re: Bike lanes eyed as loading zones for those aiding the disabled, Nov. 21

Bike lanes eyed as loading zones for those aiding the disabled, Nov. 21

Torontos bike lanes are like a Spaghetti Western: Theres the good, the bad and the ugly.

Sherbourne is good. If Clint Eastwood were to hop off his horse at Wellesley and squint down the hill, he would surely admire the curb separation, bright green markings and plentiful lay-bys before galloping off to meet Tuco.

Adelaide is bad. When The Man With No Name runs into Lee Van Cleef at the Trump Tower, the pair of them will sneer at all the gaps plugged with cabs and trucks before splitting up in search of the loot.

When they finally all come together along Richmond they will stand there in a circle, not daring to move, terrorized by the right turning traffic blocking oncoming cyclists and the never ending construction.

If we want to accommodate all of our road users and make bike lanes safe for everyone we need to look at what we do well. Otherwise well all be heading for a gun totin showdown at the Sad Hill Cemetery.

Ben Bull, Toronto

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Re: The scoop on school closings, Nov. 22

The scoop on school closings, Nov. 22

Chapmans Ice Cream of Markdale does seem to be an exemplary company. When their factory was destroyed by fire in 2009, they already had insurance that covered the pay of salaried employees for a year, and hourly employees for four months. Not only did they rebuild from the fire, they have since grown the company to become one of the largest suppliers of ice cream in the country.

Now they want to buy and renovate the local school, renting it back to the school board so that it can stay open. Sounds terrific! But once we have companies and philanthropists voluntarily funding our schools, it opens the door to the end of public education.

We already see the problems with that, with schools in wealthy neighbourhoods enhanced by costly improvements, while those in poorer communities make do with what the government provides.

Public education should remain that, funded by our taxes, so that students of all sorts are welcome and given equal resources. The way to fix the funding problem is to fix the tax problem  those people and companies who have money to spare should be paying their rightful share.

Elizabeth (Beth) Guthrie, Toronto

You know that accountability doesnt exist when the Ministry of Educations response is the ministry doesnt have the authority to overrule school boards decisions on closures.

Likewise, when you complain about hospitals, the health minister will be quick to state that his ministry cannot interfere with the operations of the hospitals.

These are only two of the publicly funded agencies that are accountable to no one. On paper, these agencies report to a board. Who do these boards report to? No one.

So, who can Ontarians approach to resolve issues with these publicly funded agencies? No one. Why do we need ministers then?

Salmon Lee, Mississauga

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Ashford Hospitality Trust is a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the hospitality industry. The companys portfolio is concentrated in upper upscale, full-service hotels across the US. The portfolio strategy seeks to optimize total returns by maximizing the value of new acquisitions while paying dividends over time. The company boasts a geographically diversified portfolio of dominant branded full-service hotels. Ashford Inc externally advises Ashford Hospitality Trust.

Ashford Hospitality Trust is the culmination of decades of real estate experience dating back to the 1960s. Now based in Dallas, TX, the company was founded and went public in 2003. The company is geared to withstand the ups and downs of the hospitality and hotel cycles. The company is committed to disciplined capital market activities, has a successful transaction track record, and brings value-added asset management to the table.

Ashford Hospitality Trust is guided by five principles that best describe the company. These are Ethical, Innovative, Profitable, Engaging, and Tenacious and all key components of its reputation for integrity.

The companys portfolio is well-diversified across brands and includes but is not limited to Courtyard, Crown Plaza, Embassy Suites, Hampton Inn, Hilton, Marriot, Ritz-Carlton, and Sheraton. Properties are located in 25 of the 50 US states and Washington, D.C. targeting the top 25 markets in the nation. The company also owns a number of private and boutique names as well.

Ashford Hospitality Trust was founded by Monty J. Bennet who is the Chairman of the Board as well as Chairman, CEO, and President of Ashford, Inc which also trades on the NYSE. Mr. Bennet has more than 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry including owning and operating major hotels.
AptarGroup, Inc. provides a range of dispensing, sealing, and material science solutions primarily for the beauty, personal care, home care, prescription drug, consumer health care, injectable, and food and beverage markets. The company operates through three segments: Pharma, Beauty + Home, and Food + Beverage. The Pharma segment provides pumps for nasal allergy treatments; and metered dose inhaler valves for respiratory ailments, such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in pharmaceutical market; elastomer for injectable primary packaging components; and active material science solutions. The Beauty + Home segment primarily sells pumps, closures, aerosol valves, accessories, and sealing solutions to the personal care and home care markets; and pumps and decorative components to the beauty market. The Food + Beverage segment offers dispensing and non-dispensing closures, elastomeric flow control components, spray pumps, and aerosol valves to the food and beverage markets. It sells its products through own sales force, as well as independent representatives and distributors in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America. The company has a strategic partnership with PureCycle Technologies LLC to develop ultra-pure recycled polypropylene into dispensing applications; and a collaboration with Sonmol for developing a digital therapies and services platform targeting respiratory and other diseases. AptarGroup, Inc. was incorporated in 1992 and is headquartered in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
The following companies are subsidiares of PepsiCo: Alimentos Quaker Oats y Compania Limitada, Alimentos del Istmo S.A., Amavale Agricola Ltda., Anderson Hill Insurance Limited, Asia Bottlers Limited, BAESA Capital Corporation Ltd., BFY Brands, BFY Brands LLC, BFY Brands Limited, BUG de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Balmoral Industries LLC, Bare Foods Co., Barrhead LLC, Be & Cheery, Beaman Bottling Company, Bebidas Sudamerica S.A., Beech Limited, Bell Taco Funding Syndicate, Bendler Investments II Ltd, Bendler Investments S.a r.l, Beverage Services Limited, Beverages Foods & Service Industries Inc., Bishkeksut OJSC, Blaue NC S. de R.L. de C.V., Blue Cloud Distribution Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arizona Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Arkansas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Colorado Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Florida Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Georgia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Illinois Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Indiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Iowa Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Kentucky Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Louisiana Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Minnesota Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Mississippi Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Missouri Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nebraska Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Nevada Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of North Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Ohio Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Oklahoma Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Pennsylvania Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of South Carolina Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Tennessee Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Texas Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Virginia Inc., Blue Cloud Distribution of Wisconsin Inc., Blue Ridge Sales LLC, Bluebird Foods Limited, Bluecan Holdings Unlimited Company, Bokomo Zambia Limited, Bolsherechensky Molkombinat JSC, Boquitas Fiestas LLC, Boquitas Fiestas S.R.L., Bottling Group Financing LLC, Bottling Group Holdings LLC, Bottling Group LLC, Bronte Industries Ltd, C & I Leasing Inc., CB Manufacturing Company Inc., CEME Holdings LLC, CMC Investment Company, Caroni Investments LLC, Centro-Mediterranea de Bebidas Carbonicas PepsiCo S.L., Ceres Fruit Juices Pty Ltd, ChampBev Inc., China Concentrate Holdings Hong Kong Limited, Chipsy International for Food Industries S.A.E., Chipsy for Food Industries S.A.E., Chitos Internacional y Cia Ltda, Cipa Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cipa Nordeste Industrial de Produtos Alimentares Ltda., Cocina Autentica Inc., Comercializadora CMC Investment y Compania Limitada, Comercializadora Nacional SAS Ltda., Comercializadora PepsiCo Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., Compania de Bebidas PepsiCo S.L., Concentrate Holding Uruguay Pte. Ltd., Concentrate Manufacturing Singapore Pte. Ltd., Confiteria Alegro S. de R.L. de C.V., Copella Fruit Juices Limited, Copper Beech International LLC, Corina Snacks Limited, Corporativo Internacional Mexicano S. de R.L. de C.V., CytoSport Holdings Inc., CytoSport Inc., Davlyn Realty Corporation, Defosto Holdings Limited, Desarrollo Inmobiliario Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Dilexis S.A., Donon Holdings Limited, Drinkfinity USA Inc., Drinkstation Inc., Drinkstation Innovation Co. Ltd., Drinkstation Limited, Dutch Snacks Holding S.A. de C.V., Duyvis Production B.V., EPIC Enterprises Inc., Echo Bay Holdings Inc., Elaboradora Argentina de Cereales S.R.L., Enter Logistica LLC, Environ at Inverrary Partnership, Environ of Inverrary Inc., Eridanus Investments S.a r.l, Evercrisp Snack Productos de Chile S.A., FL Transportation Inc., FLI Andean LLC, FLI Colombia LLC, FLI Snacks Andean GP LLC, Fabrica PepsiCo Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Fabrica de Productos Alimenticios Rene y Cia S.C.A., Fairlight International SRL, Far East Bottlers Hong Kong Limited, Food Concepts Pioneer Ltd., Forest Akers Nederland B.V., Forty-Six Peaks Holding Inc., Fovarosi Asvanyviz es Uditoipari Zartkoruen Mukodo Reszvenytarsasag, Freshwater International B.V., Frito Lay Gida Sanayi Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Frito Lay Poland Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay Sp. z o.o., Frito Lay de Guatemala y Compania Limitada, Frito-Lay Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Frito-Lay Dip Company Inc., Frito-Lay Dominicana S.A., Frito-Lay Global Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Inc., Frito-Lay Investments B.V., Frito-Lay Manufacturing LLC, Frito-Lay Netherlands Holding B.V., Frito-Lay North America Inc., Frito-Lay Sales Inc., Frito-Lay Trading Company Europe GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company GmbH, Frito-Lay Trading Company Poland GmbH, Frito-Lay Trinidad Unlimited, Fruko Mesrubat Sanayi Limited Sirketi, GB Czech LLC, GB International Inc., GB Russia LLC, GB Slovak LLC, GMP Manufacturing Inc., Gambrinus Investments Limited, Gamesa LLC, Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Gas Natural de Merida S. A. de C. V., Gatorade Puerto Rico Company, General Bottlers of Hungary Inc., Golden Grain Company, Goveh S.R.L., Grayhawk Leasing LLC, Green Hemlock International LLC, Grupo Frito Lay y Compania Limitada, Grupo Gamesa S. de R.L. de C.V., Grupo Mabel, Grupo Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Gulkevichskiy Maslozavod JSC, Hangzhou Baicaowei Corporate Management Consulting Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co, Hangzhou Haomusi Food Co. Ltd., Hangzhou Tao Dao Technology Co. Ltd., Health Warrior, Health Warrior Inc., Heathland LP, Helioscope Limited, Hillbrook Inc., Hillgrove Inc., Hillwood Bottling LLC, Hogganfield Limited Partnership, Holding Company "Opolie" JSC, Homefinding Company of Texas, Hudson Valley Insurance Company, IC Equities Inc., IZZE Beverage Co., Inmobiliaria Interamericana S.A. De C.V., Integrated Beverage Services Bangladesh Limited, Integrated Foods & Beverages Pvt. Ltd., International Bottlers Management Co. LLC, International KAS Aktiengesellschaft, Inversiones Borneo S.R.L., Inversiones PFI Chile Limitada, Inviting Foods Holdings Inc., Inviting Foods LLC, KAS Anorthosis S.a r.l, KAS S.L., KFC, Kevita Inc., Kinvara LLC, Kungursky Molkombinat JSC, Larragana S.L., Latin American Holdings Ltd., Latin American Snack Foods ApS, Latin Foods International LLC, Lebedyansky, Lebedyansky Holdings LLC, Lebedyansky LLC, Limited Liability Company "Sandora", Linkbay Limited, Lithuanian Snacks UAB, Mabel, Marbo Product d.o.o. Beograd, Marbo d.o.o. Laktasi, Matudis - Comercio de Produtos Alimentares Limitada, Matutano - Sociedade de Produtos Alimentares Lda., Mid-America Improvement Corporation, Mountainview Insurance Company Inc., Muscle Milk, NCJV LLC, New Bern Transport Corporation, New Century Beverage Company LLC, Noble Leasing LLC, Northeast Hot-Fill Co-op Inc., Office at Solyanka LLC, Onbiso Inversiones S.L., One World Enterprises LLC, One World Investors Inc., P-A Barbados Bottling Company LLC, P-A Bottlers Barbados SRL, P-Americas LLC, PAS Luxembourg S.a r.l, PAS Netherlands B.V., PBG Canada Holdings II LLC, PBG Canada Holdings Inc., PBG Cyprus Holdings Limited, PBG Investment Partnership, PBG Midwest Holdings S.a r.l, PBG Soda Can Holdings S.a r.l, PCBL LLC, PCNA Manufacturing Inc., PR Beverages Cyprus Holding Limited, PR Beverages Cyprus Russia Holding Limited, PRB Luxembourg S.a r.l, PRS Inc., PSAS Inversiones LLC, PSE Logistica S.R.L., PT Quaker Indonesia, Papas Chips S.A., Pei N.V., Pep Trade LLC, Pepsi B.V., Pepsi Beverages Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bottling Group Global Finance LLC, Pepsi Bottling Group GmbH, Pepsi Bottling Group Hoosiers B.V., Pepsi Bottling Holdings Inc., Pepsi Bugshan Investments S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Colombia Ltda, Pepsi Cola Egypt S.A.E., Pepsi Cola Panamericana S.R.L., Pepsi Cola Servis Ve Dagitim Limited Sirketi, Pepsi Cola Trading Ireland, Pepsi Logistics Company Inc., Pepsi Northwest Beverages LLC, Pepsi Overseas Investments Partnership, Pepsi Promotions Inc., Pepsi-Cola Advertising and Marketing Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bermuda Limited, Pepsi-Cola Bottlers Holding C.V., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company Of St. Louis Inc., Pepsi-Cola Bottling Company of Ft. Lauderdale-Palm Beach LLC, Pepsi-Cola Company, Pepsi-Cola Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Pepsi-Cola Far East Trade Development Co. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Finance LLC, Pepsi-Cola General Bottlers Poland Sp. z o.o., Pepsi-Cola Industrial da Amazonia Ltda., Pepsi-Cola International Cork, Pepsi-Cola International LLC, Pepsi-Cola International Limited, Pepsi-Cola International Limited U.S.A., Pepsi-Cola International Private Limited, Pepsi-Cola Korea Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Management and Administrative Services Inc., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Company Of Uruguay S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing International Limited, Pepsi-Cola Manufacturing Mediterranean Limited, Pepsi-Cola Marketing Corp. Of P.R. Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mediterranean Ltd., Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc., Pepsi-Cola Mexicana Holdings LLC, Pepsi-Cola Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Pepsi-Cola National Marketing LLC, Pepsi-Cola Operating Company Of Chesapeake And Indianapolis, Pepsi-Cola Sales and Distribution Inc., Pepsi-Cola Technical Operations Inc., Pepsi-Cola Thai Trading Co. Ltd., Pepsi-Cola de Honduras S.R.L., Pepsi-Cola of Corvallis Inc., PepsiAmericas Nemzetkozi Szolgaltato Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, PepsiCo ANZ Holdings Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Alimentos Antioquia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Colombia Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Ecuador Cia. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos Z.F. Ltda., PepsiCo Alimentos de Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Amacoco Bebidas Do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCo Asia Research & Development Center Company Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Cyprus Limited, PepsiCo Australia Financing Limited Partnership, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 1 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Partner 2 LLC, PepsiCo Australia Financing Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Australia Holdings Pty Limited, PepsiCo Australia International, PepsiCo Austria Services GmbH, PepsiCo Azerbaijan Limited Liability Company, PepsiCo BeLux BV, PepsiCo Beverage Sales LLC, PepsiCo Beverage Singapore Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Beverages Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Beverages International Limited, PepsiCo Beverages Italia Societa' A Responsabilita' Limitata, PepsiCo Canada Finance LLC, PepsiCo Canada Holdings ULC, PepsiCo Canada Investment ULC, PepsiCo Canada ULC, PepsiCo Captive Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Caribbean Inc., PepsiCo China Limited, PepsiCo Consulting Polska Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo De Bolivia S.R.L., PepsiCo Del Paraguay S.R.L., PepsiCo Deutschland GmbH, PepsiCo Eesti AS, PepsiCo Euro Bermuda Limited, PepsiCo Euro Finance Antilles B.V., PepsiCo Europe Support Center S.L., PepsiCo Finance Americas Company, PepsiCo Finance Antilles A N.V., PepsiCo Finance Antilles B N.V., PepsiCo Finance South Africa Proprietary Limited, PepsiCo Financial Shared Services Inc., PepsiCo Food & Beverage Holdings Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo Foods A.I.E., PepsiCo Foods China Company Limited, PepsiCo Foods Group Pty Ltd, PepsiCo Foods Guangdong Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Nigeria Limited, PepsiCo Foods Private Limited, PepsiCo Foods Sichuan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Taiwan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company, PepsiCo France SAS, PepsiCo Global Business Services India LLP, PepsiCo Global Business Services Poland Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Global Holdings Limited, PepsiCo Global Investments B.V., PepsiCo Global Investments S.a r.l, PepsiCo Global Mobility LLC, PepsiCo Global Real Estate Inc., PepsiCo Global Trading Solutions Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Golden Holdings Inc., PepsiCo Group Finance International B.V., PepsiCo Group Holdings International B.V., PepsiCo Group Spotswood Holdings S.a r.l, PepsiCo Gulf International FZE, PepsiCo Hellas Single Member Industrial and Commercial Societe Anonyme, PepsiCo Holding de Espana S.L., PepsiCo Holdings, PepsiCo Holdings LLC, PepsiCo Holdings Toshkent LLC, PepsiCo Hong Kong LLC, PepsiCo Iberia Servicios Centrales S.L., PepsiCo India Holdings Private Limited, PepsiCo India Sales Private Limited, PepsiCo Internacional Mexico S. de R. L. de C. V., PepsiCo International Hong Kong Limited, PepsiCo International Limited, PepsiCo International Pte Ltd., PepsiCo Investments Europe I B.V., PepsiCo Investments Ltd., PepsiCo Ireland Food & Beverages Unlimited Company, PepsiCo Japan Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Light B.V., PepsiCo Logistyka Sp. z o.o., PepsiCo Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., PepsiCo Management Services SAS, PepsiCo Manufacturing A.I.E., PepsiCo Max B.V., PepsiCo Mexico Holdings S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo Nederland B.V., PepsiCo Nordic Denmark ApS, PepsiCo Nordic Finland Oy, PepsiCo Nordic Norway AS, PepsiCo Nutrition Trading DMCC, PepsiCo One B.V., PepsiCo Overseas Corporation, PepsiCo Overseas Financing Partnership, PepsiCo Panimex Inc, PepsiCo Products B.V., PepsiCo Products FLLC, PepsiCo Puerto Rico Inc., PepsiCo Sales Inc., PepsiCo Sales LLC, PepsiCo Services Asia Ltd., PepsiCo Services CZ s.r.o., PepsiCo Services LLC, PepsiCo Twist B.V., PepsiCo UK Pension Plan Trustee Limited, PepsiCo Ventures B.V., PepsiCo Wave Holdings LLC, PepsiCo World Trading Company Inc., PepsiCo Y LLC, PepsiCo de Argentina S.R.L., PepsiCo de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., PepsiCo do Brasil Industria e Comercio de Alimentos Ltda., PepsiCo do Brasil Ltda., PepsiCola Interamericana de Guatemala S.A., Pet Iberia S.L., Pete & Johnny Limited, Pine International LLC, Pine International Limited, Pinstripe Leasing LLC, Pioneer Food Group Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Groceries Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Group Ltd., Pioneer Foods Holdings Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods Pty Ltd, Pioneer Foods UK Ltd, Pioneer Foods Wellingtons Pty Ltd, Pipers Crisps Limited, PlayCo Inc., Pop corners, PopCorners Holdings Inc., Portfolio Concentrate Solutions Unlimited Company, Premier Nutrition Trading L.L.C., Prestwick LLC, Prev PepsiCo Sociedade Previdenciaria, Productos Alimenticios Rene LLC, Productos S.A.S. C.V., Productos SAS Management B.V., Punch N.V., Punica Getranke GmbH, Q O Puerto Rico Inc., QFL OHQ Sdn. Bhd., QTG Development Inc., QTG Services Inc., Quadrant - Amroq Beverages S.R.L., Quaker Development B.V., Quaker European Beverages LLC, Quaker European Investments B.V., Quaker Foods, Quaker Global Investments B.V., Quaker Holdings UK Limited, Quaker Manufacturing LLC, Quaker Oats Asia Inc., Quaker Oats Australia Pty Ltd, Quaker Oats B.V., Quaker Oats Capital Corporation, Quaker Oats Europe Inc., Quaker Oats Europe LLC, Quaker Oats Limited, Quaker Sales & Distribution Inc, Raptas Finance S.a r.l., Rare Fare Foods LLC, Rare Fare Holdings Inc., Reading Industries Ltd, Real Estate Holdings LLC, Rockstar Energy Drink, Rolling Frito-Lay Sales LP, S & T of Mississippi Inc., SIH International LLC, SVC Logistics Inc., SVC Manufacturing Inc., SVE Russia Holdings GmbH, Sabritas LLC, Sabritas S. de R.L. de C.V., Sabritas Snacks America Latina de Nicaragua y Cia Ltda, Sabritas de Costa Rica S. de R.L., Sabritas y Cia. S en C de C.V., Sakata Rice Snacks Australia Pty Ltd, Sandora Holdings B.V., Saudi Snack Foods Company Limited, Sea Eagle International SRL, Seepoint Holdings Ltd., Senselet Food Processing PLC, Senselet Holding B.V., Servicios GBF Sociedad de Responsabilidad Limitada, Servicios GFLG y Compania Limitada, Servicios Gamesa Puerto Rico L.L.C., Servicios SYC S. de R.L. de C.V., Seven-Up Asia Inc., Seven-Up Light B.V., Seven-Up Nederland B.V., Shanghai PepsiCo Snack Company Limited, Shanghai YuHo Agricultural Development Co. Ltd, Shoebill LLC, Simba (Proprietary) Limited, Simba Proprietary Limited, Sitka Spruce, Smartfoods Inc., Smiles and Bites Holdings S.de R.L. de C.V., Smiths Crisps Limited, Snack Food Investments GmbH, Snack Food Investments II GmbH, Snack Food Investments Limited, Snack Food-Beverage Asia Products Limited, Snacks America Latina S.R.L., Snacks Guatemala Ltd., So Spark Ltd., Soda-Club CO2 Atlantic GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 GmbH, Soda-Club CO2 Ltd., Soda-Club Switzerland GmbH, Soda-Club Worldwide B.V., SodaStream, SodaStream Australia Pty Ltd, SodaStream CO2 SA, SodaStream Canada Ltd., SodaStream Enterprises N.V., SodaStream France SAS, SodaStream GmbH, SodaStream Iberia S.L., SodaStream Industries Ltd., SodaStream International B.V., SodaStream International Ltd., SodaStream Israel Ltd., SodaStream K.K., SodaStream New Zealand Ltd., SodaStream Nordics AB, SodaStream Poland Sp. z o.o., SodaStream SA Pty Ltd., SodaStream Switzerland GmbH, SodaStream USA Inc., SodaStream Osterreich GmbH, South Beach Beverage Company Inc., South Properties Inc., Spitz International Inc., Sportmex Internacional S.A. de C.V., Springboig Industries Ltd, Spruce Limited, Stacy's Pita Chip Company Incorporated, Star Foods E.M. S.R.L., Stokely-Van Camp Inc., Stratosphere Communications Pty Ltd, Stratosphere Holdings 2018 Limited, Streamfoods Ltd, TFL Holdings LLC, Tasman Finance S.a r.l, The Gatorade Company, The Good Carb Food Company Ltd., The Pepsi Bottling Group Canada ULC, The Quaker Oats Company, The Smith's Snackfood Company Pty Limited, Thomond Group Holdings Limited, Tobago Snack Holdings LLC, Tropicana Alvalle S.L., Tropicana Beverages Limited, Tropicana Europe N.V., Tropicana United Kingdom Limited, Troya-Ultra LLC, United Foods Companies Restaurantes S.A., V-Water, VentureCo Israel Ltd, Veurne Snack Foods BV, Vitamin Brands Ltd., Walkers Crisps Limited, Walkers Group Limited, Walkers Snack Foods Limited, Walkers Snacks Distribution Limited, Walkers Snacks Limited, Whitman Corporation, Whitman Insurance Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Beverages JSC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Brands Co. Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann Central Asia-Almaty LLP, Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods LLC, Wimm-Bill-Dann Georgia Ltd., Wimm-Bill-Dann JSC, and Wimm-Bill-Dann Ukraine PJSC.

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Duck Creek Technologies, Inc. provides software-as-a-service core systems to the property and casualty insurance industry in the United States and internationally. The company provides Duck Creek Policy, a solution that enables insurers to develop and launch new insurance products and manage various aspects of policy administration ranging from product definition to quoting, binding, and servicing; Duck Creek Billing that provides payment and invoicing capabilities, such as billing and collections, commission processing, disbursement management, and general ledger capabilities for insurance lines and bill types; and Duck Creek Claims that supports entire claims lifecycle from first notice of loss through investigation, payments, negotiations, reporting, and closure. It also offers Duck Creek Rating that allows carriers to develop new rates and models and deliver quotes in real-time based on the complex rating algorithms; Duck Creek Insights, an insurance analytics solution that allows carriers to gather and analyze data from internal and external sources and facilitate analysis and reporting on a single system; Duck Creek Digital Engagement that offer digital interactions between property and casualty insurers and their agents, brokers, and policyholders; and Duck Creek Distribution Management that automates sales channel activities for agents and brokers, including producer onboarding, compliance, and compensation management. In addition, the company provides Duck Creek Reinsurance Management that automates financial and administrative functions; and Duck Creek Industry Content that provides pre-built content, including base business rules, product designs, rating algorithms, data capture screens, and workflows for insurance lines of business, such as commercial auto, inland marine, and workers compensation. It has a partnership with Shift Technologies, Inc. to implement AI fraud detection. The company was founded in 2016 and is based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Parker-Hannifin Corporation manufactures and sells motion and control technologies and systems for various mobile, industrial, and aerospace markets worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Diversified Industrial and Aerospace Systems. The Diversified Industrial segment offers sealing, shielding, thermal products and systems, adhesives, coatings, and noise vibration and harshness solutions; filters, systems, and diagnostics solutions to monitor and remove contaminants from fuel, air, oil, water, and other liquids and gases; connectors, which control, transmit, and contain fluid; control solutions for extreme corrosion resistance, temperatures, pressures, and precise flow; and hydraulic, pneumatic, and electromechanical components and systems for builders and users of mobile and industrial machinery and equipment. This segment sells its products to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and distributors who serve the replacement markets in manufacturing, packaging, processing, transportation, construction, refrigeration and air conditioning, agricultural, and military machinery and equipment industries. The Aerospace Systems segment offers products for use in commercial and military airframe and engine programs, such as control actuation systems and components, engine build-up ducting, engine exhaust nozzles and assemblies, engine systems and components, fluid conveyance systems and components, fuel systems and components, fuel tank inerting systems, hydraulic systems and components, lubrication components, pilot controls, pneumatic control components, thermal management products, and wheels and brakes, as well as fluid metering, delivery, and atomization devices. This segment markets its products directly to OEMs and end users. The company markets its products through direct-sales employees, independent distributors, and sales representatives. The company was founded in 1917 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.
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. (aka DaVinici/Medicorp LLC), Diagnostic Services Inc., DynaLifeDX, Dynacare - Gamma Laboratory Partnership, Dynacare Company, Dynacare G.P. 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..

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Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. operates as a seaborne shipping and logistics company in North America, Australia, Europe, Asia, South America, and internationally. It focuses on the transportation and transshipment of dry bulk commodities, including iron ores, coal, and grains. The company operates in two segments, Dry Bulk Vessel Operations and Logistics Business. The Dry Bulk Vessel Operations segment engages in the transportation and handling of bulk cargoes through the ownership, operation, and trading of vessels and freight. This segment charters its vessels to trading houses, producers, and government-owned entities. The Logistics Business segment operates ports and transfer station terminals, as well as upriver transport facilities in the Hidrovia region; and handles vessels, barges, push boats, and cabotage business. This segment provides its integrated transportation, storage, and related services through its port facilities, cargo barges, and product tankers to mineral and grain commodity providers, as well as to users of refined petroleum products. As of December 31, 2021, the company's fleet consisted of 36 vessels totaling 3.9 million deadweight tons. Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1954 and is headquartered in Grand Cayman, the Cayman Islands.
Software Aktiengesellschaft provides software development, licensing, maintenance, and IT services in Germany, the United States, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Digital Business Platform, Adabas & Natural, and Professional Services. The company offers Internet of Things (IoT) and analytics solutions comprising Cumulocity IoT for integrating digital equipment and sensors through an IoT device management and application enablement platform, as well as provides streaming analytics for big data analytics in real time and solutions for predictive analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and machine learning; and TrendMiner, an intuitive Web-based analytics platform for visualization of industrial processes and process data. It also provides webMethods that integrate systems, applications, and processes through application programming interfaces or direct connections and orchestrate them in the form of microservices; ARIS for modeling, documenting, and optimizing business processes; Alfabet, which enables enterprise architecture mapping and optimal decision making for IT investments; Adabas & Natural for transaction processing; and CONNX for data integration, virtualization, and replication. In addition, the company offers professional services, which include implementation, development, and upgrade/migration services. Software Aktiengesellschaft was founded in 1969 and is headquartered in Darmstadt, Germany.
The United States is made up of 50 states, the District of Columbia and 16 territories. Five of these territories are permanently inhabited.

They are the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and American Samoa. More than four million people live in them.

Except for American Samoa, people born in these territories automatically become U.S. citizens. They have many of the same rights as other U.S. citizens; however, they may not vote for president, and they do not pay federal taxes.

People who live in American Samoa are U.S. nationals but are not automatically given birthright citizenship. In other words, they do not automatically become U.S. citizens at birth.

American Samoans can apply to become naturalized citizens, but the process is lengthy and costly. In addition, they must live in the U.S. for three months before they can apply. Then they must stay in the U.S. for months or even years while their application is being processed. During that time, they may not hold a job that requires U.S. citizenship.

A debate about citizenship

Some American Samoans believe the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution already gives them citizenship. Section 1 of the Amendment says, in part:

All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside.

In 2013, some American Samoans used the amendment to argue for citizenship. They asked a federal district court judge to order that they be given birthright citizenship. But the judge refused.

They appealed the decision. But, a three-judge federal appeals court panel also refused to grant American Samoans birthright citizenship. The panel said only Congress, not the courts, had the power to make rules for territories.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of that ruling. It did not say why. But the justices seemed to be saying a ruling the Supreme Court made in 1901 should not be changed.

At that time, the Supreme Court considered a series of cases about how the territories won by the United States in the Spanish-American War should be governed. It ruled 5-4 that people in those territories did not have full constitutional rights, even if they are U.S. citizens. The majority said only Congress -- not courts or even the Constitution -- could give people in the territories full rights.

Since then, Congress has given birthright citizenship to people born in Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Many writers, professors and constitutional law professors disagreed with the Supreme Courts decision earlier this year not to hear the appeal. They said people should not be governed unless they can fully take part in the decisions of a government.

And many said the 1901 Supreme Court decision, which spoke about savages and alien and uncivilized races, is both embarrassing and racist. They believe American Samoans, like people born in the other four populated territories, should be given automatic citizenship.

What does American Samoa say?

The government of American Samoa disagreed with those who wanted birthright citizenship. It said it did not want any change to be made in the current policy. It said "the people of Samoa are happy with this situation.

One reason the government of American Samoa is not seeking birthright U.S. citizenship is because of land ownership. It told the Supreme Court that if the U.S. Constitution applied fully to the territory, laws that stop non-Samoans from buying land could be threatened. Currently, more than 90 percent of the territorys land is owned communally.

Some legal experts disagreed with the territorial government. They said land ownership rights were separate from citizenship rights.

In any case, the territorial government believes American Samoans should decide for themselves in a referendum whether they want to automatically become U.S. citizens. It says if they do, they should then ask Congress to change the law.

Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.

(You can learn more about the case here.)

VOA Correspondent Christopher Jones-Cruise reported this story from Washington and wrote it in VOA Special English. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, or visit our Facebook page.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

inhabited  adj. occupied or lived in by someone or something

automatically  adv. always happening because of a rule, law, previous agreement, etc.

naturalize  v. to permit (someone who was born in a different country) to become a new citizen

panel  n. a small group of judges chosen from a larger court to hear a case and make a decision

communally  adj. shared or used by members of a group or community
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. operates bookstores for college and university campuses, and K-12 institutions in the United States. It operates through three segments: Retail, Wholesale, and Digital Student Solutions. The company sells and rents new and used print textbooks, digital textbooks, and publisher hosted digital courseware through physical and virtual bookstores, as well as directly to students through Textbooks.com. It also offers First Day and First Day Complete access programs; BNC OER+, a turnkey solution for colleges and universities, that offers digital content, such as videos, activities, and auto-graded practice assessments; and general merchandise, including collegiate and athletic apparel, school spirit products, lifestyle products, technology products, supplies, graduation products, and convenience items. In addition, the company sources, sells, and distributes new and used textbooks; and sells hardware and a software suite of applications that provides inventory management and point-of-sale solutions to approximately 350 college bookstores. Further, it offers direct-to-student subscription-based writing services; and bartleby, a direct-to-student subscription-based offering that includes textbook solutions, expert questions and answers, and writing and tutoring services. The company operates 805 physical college and university bookstores; 622 virtual bookstores; 8 True Spirit e-commerce websites; pop-up retail locations; 73 customized cafes and 11 stand-alone convenience stores; and a media channel for brands targeting the college demographic. Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, New Jersey.
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. owns and leases freight railroads. It operates through three segments: North American Operations, Australian Operations, and U.K./European Operations. The company transports various commodities, including agricultural products, autos and auto parts, chemicals and plastics, coal and coke, food and kindred products, lumber and forest products, metallic ores, metals, minerals and stone, petroleum products, pulp and paper, waste, and other commodities. It owns or leases 122 freight railroads, including 105 short line railroads and 2 regional freight railroads located in the United States, 8 short line railroads located in Canada, 3 railroads located in Australia, 1 railroad located in the United Kingdom, 1 railroad in Poland and Germany, and 2 railroads in the Netherlands with a total of approximately 16,200 miles of track. The company also operates 6,200 additional miles of track that is owned or leased by others. In addition, it operates deep sea maritime containers and provides bulk haulage, including coal, aggregates, cement, and infrastructure services. Further, the company provides rail service at approximately 40 ports; rail-ferry service in North America, Australia, and Europe; and contract coal loading and railcar switching for industrial customers. Genesee & Wyoming Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Darien, Connecticut.
New Media Investment Group Inc. invests in, owns, and operates local media assets in the United States. The company's principal products include 146 daily newspapers with total paid circulation of approximately 1.5 million; 323 weekly newspapers with total paid circulation of approximately 268,000 and total free circulation of approximately 1.4 million; 132 shoppers with total circulation of approximately 3.1 million; and 581 locally-focused Websites, including Internet and mobile devices with approximately 364 million page views per month. Its principal products also comprise 77 business publications; and UpCurve Cloud and ThriveHive, which provides digital marketing and business services. In addition, the company produces niche publications that address specific local market interests, such as recreation, sports, healthcare, and real estate. Further, it offers print and online products that offer local market news and information on various topics comprising local news and politics, community and regional events, youth sports, opinion and editorial pages, local schools, obituaries, weddings, and police reports, as well as commercial printing services for publishers; and prints commercial materials, including flyers, business cards, and invitations. Additionally, the company produces approximately 350 annual events with a collective attendance approximately 400,000, such as themed expo, signature event, endurance event, and white label event services; and provides digital and print advertising services. It reaches approximately 22 million people per week; and serves approximately 199,000 business customers. New Media Investment Group Inc. was founded in 1997 and is based in New York, New York.
UNICEF/UN041513/Alshami

NEW YORK/AMMAN/DAMASCUS, 27 November 2016  As violence continues to escalate across Syria, the number of children living under siege has doubled in less than one year. Nearly 500,000 children now live in 16 besieged areas across the country, almost completely cut off from sustained humanitarian aid and basic services.

For millions of human beings in Syria, life has become an endless nightmare  in particular for the hundreds of thousands of children living under siege. Children are being killed and injured, too afraid to go to school or even play, surviving with little food and hardly any medicine, said Anthony Lake, UNICEF Executive Director. This is no way to live  and too many are dying.

Some communities have received little to no aid in nearly two years. In eastern Aleppo alone, UNICEF estimates that 100,000 children are living under siege.

In the absence of safe spaces, children are turning to basement playgrounds, schools and hospitals to continue playing, learning and, when necessary, seeking medical care.

In one besieged area, a group of volunteers built a playground and a park by linking a series of basements. On average, around 200 children come to this playground every day. In another besieged area, an underground school provides 250 girls with the chance to keep learning.

As the conflict nears six years, UNICEF renews its call on all parties to lift the sieges across Syria, and to allow and facilitate immediate, unconditional and sustained humanitarian access to all areas across the country.

###

Download photos of children in and underground playground and in East Aleppo.
Alexander Heffner, left, with journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin on the set of The Open Mind, a 30-minute public-affairs talk program. (WNET)

His set lacks glitz  its just a table, two chairs and a black backdrop  and his audience is far from the size of Bill OReillys.

But Alexander Heffner is, in a modest way, trying to do battle with our fractious world, as seen on TV.

The 27-year-olds weapon of choice is a weekly 30-minute public-affairs television show called The Open Mind.

Everything about it seems countercultural, even radical, given this disagreeable and high-decibel moment in American history.

Low-key, in-depth conversations with very little emphasis on politics?

Heffner hosts The Open Mind, which airs on PBS, and his grandmother, Elaine Heffner, is the shows executive producer. (Andre Chung for The Washington Post)

A civil tone, with not a rant to be heard and no ego in sight? And this, on one of the longest-running shows on television?

Yes, thats the plan, week after deliberate week. (The show airs locally on WETA at 11 a.m. Sundays, and at 3:30 p.m. Sunday on many other public television stations nationally, as well as from its home base in New York.)

Being an outlier in television right now is to focus on intellectually rigorous things, Heffner said in an interview. Its a steep mountain to climb to compete with the culture of talking points.

His latest focus is on free speech and its role in democracy, thanks to a $100,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. The idea is to explore matters from free expression (or its lack) on college campuses to hate speech on the Internet. Its all done with an eye toward protecting free expression.

The First Amendment is one of our top priorities, which is why funding this made sense for us, especially with The Open Mind having such a long history of promoting civil conversation, said Jennifer Preston, the Knight Foundations director of journalism.

This month, as part of the series, Heffner conversed with Jameel Jaffer, the director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, which defends free speech in the digital age.

With author Caitlin Flanagan, an editor at the Atlantic, Heffner took up the touchy debate about speech and safe spaces on college campus. (That episode, Sanitizing Speech, aired this weekend. All the episodes remain available online.)

Other guests in the free-expression series, which concludes in January, are Tom Blanton, executive director of the National Security Archive, on Declassifying the Presidency; and Jonathan Greenblatt, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, on social-media platforms as Incubators of Hate.

It all comes amid increasing worry that First Amendment rights are vulnerable. The tensions between privacy and security, and between political correctness and free expression, make this a bewildering time, Heffner said.

The shows format couldnt be simpler. Its a conversation, led by Heffner, lasting 30 minutes, with no commercials, fancy graphics or shouted feuds. Its remarkably low-snark and high-substance.

Heffners partner in the 60-year-old show is his 89-year-old grandmother, Elaine Heffner, its executive producer.

Her late husband, Richard Heffner, a historian and Rutgers professor  and the longtime chairman of the U.S. film industrys ratings board  was the shows host for almost 58 years. He died in 2013.

What distinguishes the talk is that it is talk that is seldom heard elsewhere on television, John Corry wrote of The Open Mind in the New York Times in 1987, according to Heffners Times obituary.

He added: For one thing, people speak in whole passages; Mr. Heffner would sooner dive under the tablecloth than needlessly interrupt. When he does interrupt, its because he has something to say.

His grandson takes the same approach. As a onetime guest on the show, I can testify to its deliberate  almost glacial  pace, and startling restraint.

Alexander Heffner clearly doesnt believe in full-frontal assaults, but his commentary on commercial television is pointed nonetheless.

Commercial TV, he said, is struggling with how to engage in the public-affairs conversation and not to boil everything down to the least common denominator and degrade itself.

If Campaign 2016 taught us nothing else, it left that undeniable lesson.

Can such a mild approach make a difference? Maybe it wont quiet the din, but Heffner thinks its important to try.

Were hoping, he said, to model the kind of discourse to which we aspire.

For more by Margaret Sullivan, visit wapo.st/sullivan.
THE DISTRICT

Man assaults woman

at Northwest hotel

D.C. police are searching for a man who assaulted a woman and attempted to rape her at a Northwest Washington hotel, authorities said Sunday.

The assault occurred Saturday night in a hotel room on the 11th floor of the Grand Hyatt Washington at 10th and H streets NW near the Metro Center station, according to a D.C. police incident report.

A woman told police that an unknown man pushed her up against a bed, held her at knifepoint and demanded that she remove her clothing, the report said.

When the assailant pulled down his pants, the woman resisted and a scuffle ensued, according to the report. The man pulled the womans hair with such force that it was separated from her scalp the report said. She ran away and called police.

Officer Sean Hickman, a police spokesman, said the woman was hospitalized, treated and released. No arrests had been made in the case by Sunday afternoon.

Police were looking for a light-skinned Hispanic man 21 to 25 years old with black hair and witha medium build, 21 to 25 years old and who is 5-foot-1 to 5-foot-6. Police said he wore a blue jacket, dark-colored pants, and white or gray shoes.

Those with information should call 202-727-9099 or text 50411.

 Faiz Siddiqui

Virginia

Dozens of car windows

smashed in Alexandria

Windows were smashed on two to three dozen cars in Alexandrias West End section Saturday night or early Sunday, police said.

The windows may have been broken by someone who drove through the area and used a baseball bat or long pipe, said police spokeswoman Crystal Nosal.

 Martin Weil
Very few public high schools in the United States require that all students take a college-level Advanced Placement course, and Cardozo Education Campus in Northwest Washington is one of the least likely ever to do so.

Of its 783 students, nearly all are poor enough to qualify for federal lunch subsidies. On last years annual PARCC tests, linked to the Common Core, 70 percent of the schools students got the lowest possible score in math and 55 percent got the lowest score in English language arts. In the 20 years I have been recording its AP results, the schools passing rate has rarely been higher than 10 percent.

[Americas Most Challenging High Schools]

Yet the ornate school, invigorated by a $130 million remodeling, has developed a team of teachers using AP to raise the understanding and skills of students even if they do not pass the three-hour exams. Notable in that group has been Frazier OLeary Jr., an English teacher with a national reputation for effective use of AP in urban schools.

This year, OLeary  supported by Principal Tanya Roane and Assistant Principal Tynika Young-Aleibar  has enrolled every senior in AP English literature. He said teaching the course to every student can do nothing but benefit them as they prepare for college. The rigor of the course and the extraordinary amount of writing that they do seems to be working.

[Advanced Placement participation soars at D.C. Public Schools]

This follows the work at the groundbreaking Columbia Heights Educational Campus, which has required AP English literature and AP English language for all juniors and seniors since 2006. The move astonished educators because most Columbia Heights families do not speak English at home. Maria Tukeva, principal of the magnet school since its beginning, said the only way to keep standards high was with college-level courses buttressed by independently written and graded AP exams. Almost all of the schools students are from low-income households. Twenty-eight percent had the lowest grade in math, and 35 percent had the lowest grade in language arts on the 2016 PARCC test.

[How students find success  through failure  in Advanced Placement classes]

Like at Columbia Heights, the number of AP students at Cardozo has boomed, from 50 last year to 203 now.

I am so pleased with the acceptance of the enormous amount of work that the students have taken on, and their writing skills are growing daily, OLeary said. He handles five classes of AP English Literature and an AP writing class with co-teacher Amery Stapleton.

This class expresses the power of English by revealing different tricks writers use to hide messages to make readers think, said one senior, Esperant Kazzembe. Another, Christian Ndaye, said, The challenging work that I do makes me feel special.

The other Cardozo AP teachers are Aris Pangilinan (computer science, statistics), Kevin Fox (U.S. history), Andre Muhammad (English language), Colin Davis (U.S. government), Erica Banks (biology), Joanna Davila (Spanish) and Peter Romero (studio art).

Even affluent suburban high schools usually do not require AP or International Baccalaureate for all students. The few that require such classes say the challenge gives average students a needed taste of college. Gregg Robertson, principal of Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, said all students graduate with at least one AP or IB course. All students enrolled in the government courses that Virginia requires take the AP version.

Richard G. Trogisch, principal of the D.C. magnet School Without Walls, said he used to require just one AP or college course for graduation. But six years ago, a senior told him that AP was too hard and that he did not want to take it. Trogisch said he had to take one of the classes to get his diploma. When the student later told him This AP class is not too bad. I wish I had taken more, Trogisch decided to take a risk and require AP world history for all sophomores. It has worked well, he said.

The District is becoming a leader in pushing reluctant teenagers. City students last spring took more than 5,000 AP exams, nearly double the number in 2010, with a seven percentage-point increase in the passing rate. If Cardozo is trying it, others should do the same.
Students warm up for class at the Districts Academy for Ideal Education, a private school that accepts vouchers awarded to low-income families. (Astrid Riecken for The Washington Post)

The District is home to the nations only federally funded school voucher program, and for the past eight years, advocates for the program have been on defense, fighting to keep it alive under a president who opposes the notion of using taxpayer dollars to pay tuition at private and religious schools.

But then Donald Trump, voucher supporter, was elected president. Now advocates see an opportunity to go on offense, not just to maintain but to expand the D.C. program, which pays for about 1,500 low-income children to attend private and parochial schools.

Trumps pick for education secretary, announced Wednesday, cemented the notion that he intends to make good on his campaign-trail promise of using federal dollars to expand voucher programs, including the one in the District. Trumps nominee, Michigan billionaire and conservative activist Betsy DeVos, has quietly helped introduce vouchers in many states nationwide, spending millions of dollars to support candidates who agree with her and to unseat those who do not.

School choice is definitely on the agenda for the next administration, Robert Enlow, president and chief executive of EdChoice, an Indianapolis-based organization that lobbies for vouchers nationwide, said earlier this month, before Trump confirmed DeVos as his pick. Were really excited about that.

[Trump picks billionaire Betsy DeVos, voucher advocate, for education secretary]

Enlow said he hopes one of Trumps first moves as president will be to push for the reauthorization and expansion of the D.C. voucher program to qualify not just low-income students, but all children in the city. He argues that all parents should have the opportunity to choose which school their children attend.

Rep. Luke Messer (R-Ind.), chair of the Congressional School Choice Caucus, said his first priority is ensuring that there are enough vouchers to meet demand among low-income families. But he said he supports the idea of offering vouchers to all families, including affluent ones with children who already attend elite private schools.

Listen, every single one of those parents is a taxpayer, Messer said. So from my perspective, Im open to broad proposals.

DeVos referred all questions to the Trump transition team, which did not respond to an interview request. On her website Wednesday, DeVos declined to discuss her specific policy proposals.

I am committed to transforming our education system into the best in the world, DeVos wrote. However, out of respect for the United States Senate, it is most appropriate for me to defer expounding on specifics until they begin their confirmation process.

The prospect of an expanded voucher program is not a welcome one among the Districts elected officials, who chafe as Congress  where the District has no vote  passes laws that shape the landscape of city education. Many also are ideologically opposed and worry that an expanded voucher program could threaten the progress and growth of the citys traditional public and public charter schools.

Im 100 percent opposed to public dollars going to private schools like this, said D.C. Council Member David Grosso (I-At Large), who has spoken forcefully against the voucher program for years. Im a strong, strong supporter of the separation of church and state, and I just feel like as we move into a Trump administration, we have to double down on that effort.

Public school advocates are similarly alarmed at the prospect of an expansion of D.C. vouchers, which are part of the so-called three-legged stool of education in the city: vouchers, traditional public schools and growing charter schools, which now comprise nearly half the citys public school students.

District parent Natalie Hopkinson said the net effect of the expanding school choice movement has been a system in which the only areas of the city that have quality neighborhood schools are those dominated by wealthy white residents.

A voucher expansion would complete the process of unleashing D.C. students, the majority of whom are black or brown, to the mercy of the private sector, where they are discriminated against in admission, grading, disciplinary policies and expulsions with no accountability or oversight, Hopkinson said.

Millions of dollars in federal funding for local public schools are tied to the voucher program, known as the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program, making it difficult for key city leaders to wholeheartedly rebuke the legislation without risking necessary funding for public schools.

Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) and eight of 13 council members sent Congress a letter of support for the voucher program earlier this year, citing the importance of the linked funding for public schools.

Grosso said he believes that if the bargain remains in place  accept the voucher program in exchange for money for public schools  his colleagues in D.C. government will go along, even if it means more taxpayer dollars for private schools.

Asked how the Bowser administration would react to an effort to expand the citys voucher program, Jennifer Niles, the deputy mayor for education, said the city already has a really robust choice system here, and weve seen tremendous growth.

A spokesman for Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), the Districts nonvoting delegate to Congress and a fierce opponent of the voucher program, pointed out that efforts to create a national voucherlike program failed on the floor of the GOP-led House and Senate during last years passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act.

Currently, the vouchers are worth up to $8,452 for elementary and middle school students and up to $12,679 for high school students. Families are able to take that money to private or parochial school to cover all or part of tuition.

Some parents say the voucher program has saved their children from failing schools, offering them a path to a stronger education and more opportunities.

My daughter has massive potential and a love for learning that my income could not accommodate, parent Seferash Teferra told a House committee last year. Teferras daughter attends Sidwell Friends, the elite Quaker school where President Obama sent his daughters. I cannot believe there are some people who do not support this program.

But its unusual for voucher recipients to attend a school such as Sidwell, according to a 2012 investigation by The Washington Post. At the time, just one voucher student attended Sidwell; more than half of voucher recipients attended Catholic schools, and many attended schools where almost all students were voucher recipients, suggesting that the schools wouldnt exist without the federally funded program.

[Quality controls lacking for D.C. schools accepting federal vouchers]

One of those schools was run out of a soot-stained storefront on Georgia Avenue; another unaccredited school was supported by the Nation of Islam and was run out of a rowhouse in Deanwood where the bathroom had a floor blackened with dirt, a sink coated in grime and a bathtub filled with paint cans and cleaning supplies.

A 2010 report from the Education Department that examined the D.C. program found that graduation rates were higher among voucher recipients than public school students, according to reports from parents. But there was no conclusive evidence the vouchers improved student achievement.
Hussain Saeed Alnahdi was one of the almost 400 international students attending the University of Wisconsin-Stout.

Twenty-four-year-old Alnahdi was from Saudi Arabia. He began his studies at the school in the Midwestern part of the United States last year. But early on the morning of October 30, Alnahdis experience as an international student came to a violent end. An unnamed attacker beat him until he died outside a restaurant in the city of Menomonie.

A few weeks later, police announced they had arrested a suspect. They said they do not believe the attack was a hate crime, or a crime influenced by race.

But events like the attack in Wisconsin have raised concerns for many international students living and studying in the U.S.

Study in the U.S.A. is a company that supports international students who want to study at American colleges and universities. A few days before the U.S. presidential election, the company released the results of an opinion study of 1,000 international students from 130 countries. Over 65 percent of the students said they would be less likely to study in the U.S. if Donald Trump were elected president.

FPP EDU Media also works with international students. The company released its own survey of 40,000 students in June. Those results suggested 60 percent of their students felt the same way.

During his campaign, President-elect Trump made statements about Mexican people that many critics called racist. At one point, he called for a ban on all Muslims entering the U.S.

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a civil rights group based in Montgomery, Alabama. The group says it has received 437 reports of incidents of intimidation and harassment in the six days following the election.

Renait Stephens is the chief executive officer of Study in the U.S.A. She says international students and their parents are worried. However, she is also hopeful. She argues that what a politician says during a campaign and what they do once they are in power are two different things.

Stephens says international students will have to wait and see what happens.

"Its early days. And until we know something more about any policy changes, then I think we just have to really emphasize that and hope that our education system will continue to be how it is right now. So right now were just trying to reassure students that nothing has changed. U.S. campuses are still safe. Theyre still open. Theyre still diverse. And you still get a fantastic education."

Other experts say there has never been any real threat to international education. The Institute of International Education (IIE) is a nonprofit organization that studies and supports international student exchanges.

Together with the U.S. Department of State, the IIE releases a report every year on the number of international students in the U.S. The 2016 Open Doors report says about 1,044,000 international students attended American colleges and universities last year. That is a record number.

Peggy Blumenthal is an official with the IIE. She says the organization has been recording international student numbers for over 90 years.

She says international students are mostly concerned with the quality of the education they can get in the U.S. The rest of the world still values the strength of the American higher education system above almost any other country, she adds.

Blumenthal points to historical examples. When the U.S. accidentally bombed the Chinese embassy in the capital of Serbia in 1999, major protests took place at the U.S. embassy in Beijing. But, she says, shortly after the protests, Chinese students were complaining the American embassy was not processing their visas fast enough.

Blumenthal says this shows world events do not easily affect international student exchanges.

"International students really value their opportunity to study in the United States. And throughout the whole history of our collecting data, there has almost never been a drop in the number of international students coming to the United States. There have been many important changes in American policy, in international circumstances, in the economy. But the numbers of international students pretty much continues to rise regardless of whats going on elsewhere around them."

Blumenthal admits there may be a small decrease in the number of Muslim students coming to U.S. schools. That also happened after the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11th, 2001. But she says a decrease in students from one country is often balanced by an increase in students from other countries.

Foreign students bring a lot to the economies of many towns and cities across the U.S. The U.S. Department of Commerce says international students added about $30 billion to the U.S. economy in 2015. Blumenthal argues that no politician is willing to risk losing that.

However, Philip Altbach remains worried. Altbach is the director of the Center for International Higher Education. The center works through Boston College to research and support international study.

Altbach says there are examples of decreases in international study in other countries. He notes the major decrease of Indian students studying in Australia after several Indians were attacked there in 2009 and 2010. He also says the language Trump and his supporters used during the campaign has lowered the worlds opinion of the U.S.

"I think that the toxic discourse of the campaign and of what Mr. Trump has said for a long time actually is extraordinarily damaging for the image of the United States in general and in the thinking of students and faculty members overseas who may be considering studying in the United States or coming here as professors. Because the choice of where to study in the world depends very significantly on the comfort that students and their families will feel about the country to which they are planning to go."

Altbach says international students and professors bring different perspectives to the universities where they study or teach. Losing them would cost the American students a lot -- educationally and financially.

He says international graduate students and professors are involved in much of the research done at most U.S. universities. Also, decreases in international student numbers may not affect large, well-known universities, he says. But many others need international students to pay the full price to attend. Having international students pay more makes it possible for schools to let American students attend at reduced cost, he says.

Altbach admits there is no way to know what will happen until the new administration takes office. But until then, universities must make clear public statements saying they will support and protect international students. If not, Altbach says, America may no longer be the first choice for people seeking the best education in the world.

Im Pete Musto.

Pete Musto reported on this story for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor.

We want to hear from you. How would Donald Trump being president affect your decision to study in America? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

hate crime  n. a crime influenced by an unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex or religion, typically involving violence

influence(d)  v. to affect or change someone or something in an indirect but usually important way

survey  n. an activity in which many people are asked a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something

racist  adj. showing belief that some races of people are better than others

intimidation  n. enforcing agreement by making someone afraid or using violence

harassment  n. constant or repeated action causing someone to feel slightly angry or troubled, worried, or concerned

emphasize  v. to give special attention to something

reassure  v. to make someone feel less afraid, upset, or doubtful

diverse  adj. made up of people or things that are different from each other

toxic  adj. very unpleasant

discourse  n. the use of words to exchange thoughts and ideas

perspective(s)  n. a way of thinking about and understanding something, such as a particular issue or life in general

graduate student(s)  n. a person who is working on a degree or diploma from a school, college, or university after earning a bachelor's degree or other first degree
The Maryland Legislative Black Caucus is planning a more aggressive posture in 2017, determined to push back when needed against the administration of Gov. Larry Hogan, the election of Donald Trump as president and what caucus members see as continued inequities for the states African American residents.

Lawmakers say they will fight hard to expand police and criminal-justice policy changes that passed earlier this year, in part by trying to eliminate cash bail, demanding equity in the states new medical marijuana industry and seeking to ban suspensions of pre-kindergarten students.

We are really working overtime to make sure that we are ready for Day One of opening session, said Del. Cheryl Glenn (D-Baltimore City), who was elected president of the caucus at the end of the last legislative session. The bitter and divisive presidential election, she said, just underscored why it is so very critical that the caucus is organized, respected and relevant.

Concerns about medical marijuana center on the lack of African American ownership among companies that won preliminary growing licenses in the summer. The states medical cannabis legalization law calls for regulators to actively seek to achieve racial and ethnic diversity in selecting cultivators in a state that is 30 percent African American.

Its a billion-dollar industry and were not going to allow that to start up and flourish in Maryland with no African American participation, Glenn said. Especially given the history of the incarceration of African Americans over the years because of marijuana. And so now that its legal for medicinal purposes we cant have any part of that business? Thats ludicrous, and its unacceptable.

Del. Erek Barron (D-Prince Georges) is one of a new generation of black lawmakers in Maryland. (J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post)

The caucus advocated for passage of the 2016 Justice Reinvestment Act, which shifts the sentencing focus for nonviolent drug offenders from incarceration to treatment. But Glenn said those changes are just the tip of iceberg.

During the 2017 legislative session, freshman Del. Erek Barron (D-Prince Georges) plans to push for changes to the states money-based bail system.

Del. Will Smith (D-Montgomery), another freshman, said he will sponsor a bill to end suspensions for pre-kindergarten students. The penalty has been cited as a factor in the opportunity gap in public schools.

Black children made up nearly 50 percent of all out-of-school preschool suspensions, according to a 2014 study by the U.S. Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights, even though African American youngsters make up a much smaller percentage of the preschool population.

When you suspend students you not only place a hardship on the parents but you start a cycle, the early pattern of the school-to-prison pipeline, Smith said.

The black caucus was created in 1970, toward the end of the civil rights movement, by 17 lawmakers from Baltimore and Prince Georges. This years caucus has 47 members  more than 20 percent of the legislature  from jurisdictions across the state. All members are Democrats.

Del. Jay Walker (D-Prince Georges) said the caucuss role was magnified after Hogan (R) became governor, ending eight years of all-Democratic rule in Annapolis.

In February, the caucus called some of Hogans policies an assault on black communities. They blasted the governor for his decision to kill the Red Line light-rail project in Baltimore and fund transportation projects elsewhere and for withholding extra money for schools in Baltimore and Prince Georges.

Hogan strongly disputed the criticisms, saying his administration is still funding Baltimore and Prince Georges at significantly higher rates than other parts of the state.

Others attribute the new energy in the caucus to the election last spring of Glenn, 65, a former community organizer, and to the presence of younger delegates who took office along with Hogan in 2015.

Under Glenns leadership, lawmakers say, the group has become more organized and appears to be recognizing its power as the largest caucus in the legislature. Glenn organized summer meetings on key issues and held a first-ever day-long public hearing so advocates and members of the public could weigh in on what the caucus should include on its agenda.

Glenn said she will follow up in meetings with Hogan, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel).

Sen. Nathaniel J. McFadden (D-Baltimore City), a ranking member of the Senate and caucus member, said newer members of the caucus have been more aggressive about looking for change, advocating for change and talking about how we move forward as a more respected and positive influence.

The 70-year-old lawmaker said a new generation that includes Barron, 42, Smith, 34, and Del. Charles E. Sydnor III (D-Baltimore County), 42, has generated fresh urgency for addressing economic disparities, dysfunctional schools and continued violence in black communities, despite decades of political gains.

I think its great. Were headed in a different direction, McFadden said.

The first-term caucus members, he added, remind him of pioneering black lawmakers such as Clarence W. Blout (D-Baltimore), the first African American majority leader of the state Senate, and Clarence M. Mitchell III, a delegate and senator from Baltimore who helped guide a desegregation measure through the General Assembly.

Real change agents, McFadden called them, who not only opened the door, but sometimes kicked it down.
The Week That Was

TUESDAY, NOV. 22

Woman crossing road fatally struck by car

Tabitha L. Hackley, 35, of Woodbridge was struck and killed late Monday while walking across Springwoods Drive in Woodbridge. She was hit by a 2005 GMC Envoy driven by a 22-year-old Woodbridge man who was not injured and who remained at the scene.

THURSDAY, NOV. 24

Residents legal battle roils mobile home park

Residents of the East End Mobile Home Park in Manassas, who face eviction at the end of February, are withholding their monthly rents in hopes of forcing long-needed sewerage repairs.

So far, 38 residents have paid a total of $24,000 to Prince William Countys General District Court instead of to the mobile home park, as part of a process known as a tenants assertion and complaint, which is meant to protect renters in Virginia living in squalid conditions. An attorney for the landlord said she does not make enough from the lot fees to pay for the repairs.

City officials say they will empty the park and resell the land rather than try to make it habitable for the current residents, who depend on the park as a rare form of relatively affordable housing in the increasingly pricey Prince William area.

FRIDAY, NOV. 25

Man shot to deathin Manassas

Manassas City police are investigating the shooting death early Friday of Manassas resident Jose Tomas Velasquez, 44, who was found in the 9200 block of Byrd Drive. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
A California man on his first deer hunt was killed Saturday in Frederick County, Md., when his rifle discharged in an apparent accident, authorities said.

Vincent Cavallo, 32, of Altadena, was hunting with an uncle on private land in the Thurmont area when the incident occurred, said Candy Thomson, spokeswoman for the Maryland Natural Resources Police.

After Cavallo and his uncle split up to hunt, the uncle heard a shot and went to check. He found his nephew on the ground with a gunshot wound in the face, Thomson said.

After studying the scene with its rough, rocky terrain, investigators preliminary conclusion was that the shooting was accidental, Thomson said. Either Cavallo slipped or he dropped the gun, causing it to fire, she said.

An autopsy will be performed and an investigation is continuing, Thomson said.

Saturday was the opening day of this years season for hunting deer with firearms, Thomson said. She said incidents such as Saturdays were very rare.

Cavallo had taken a firearms safety course, she said.

The two-week season always starts the Saturday after Thanksgiving, she said, and involves hunters in the many thousands.
It began with an armed robbery in Seat Pleasant, a small city within Prince Georges County. Police investigating the holdup then pursued a minivan into the District until the vehicle halted, its driver suffering from a gunshot wound, authorities said.

A second occupant of the minivan ran, then fired a shot at a Seat Pleasant officer pursuing him, according to the Seat Pleasant city police. The officer was not hit, but the fleeing gunman escaped.

According to information released Saturday evening by Seat Pleasant police, the robbery that touched matters off occurred about 5:15 p.m. at a barbershop in the 5800 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Highway.

Soon afterward, police said Seat Pleasant officers began pursuing a minivan similar to the one described as the getaway vehicle.

The minivan stopped in the 5300 block of C Street in Southeast Washington.

The driver fell out, and when officers approached they found him to be wounded, Seat Pleasant police said. His condition could not be learned Saturday night.

Also unknown was how the driver came to be wounded. Information released Saturday night indicated that it was not by police. Seat Pleasant police chief Devan Martin said his officers never fired their weapons.

In addition to the driver and the man who fled, a third person was in the minivan, police said. They said he was taken into custody. Three guns were found in the minivan, police said.
D.C. officials pleaded for public help Sunday evening in finding the person who fatally shot 16-year-old Breyona McMillian, a student who was visiting family for Thanksgiving when she was gunned down Friday.

Police say McMillian was the unintended target of gunfire when a large group gathered in the 1200 block of I Street SE, near Capitol Hill, on Friday morning.

It appears at least one suspect fired multiple times indiscriminately, and as a result of that reckless behavior, we lost one of our 16-year-old kids, said interim D.C. police chief Peter Newsham.

Newsham joined Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) in a Sunday evening news conference, decrying a rash of violence that has left three dead in the city since Friday morning.

It is so important that we hear from you so that we can get a brutal killer off of our streets, Bowser said of McMillians killing.

[Girl, 16, killed in shooting at Potomac Gardens in Southeast Washington]

The other two shootings, which were not believed to be related, occurred Sunday afternoon. Just before 1 p.m., Anthony Young, 27, was fatally shot and a woman was wounded in the 600 block of L Street SE, in the Navy Yard neighborhood. Police said Young and the assailant knew each other.

Hours later, another man was killed in a shooting in the 1300 block of Howard Road SE. He had yet to be identified Sunday night.

Newsham said that while significant evidence has been recovered from each scene, suspects had yet to be identified.

City officials hope witnesses will step forward and urged public cooperation in McMillians case.

Were asking because we know many people were near the scene, Bowser said.

Newsham said he was hopeful more information will emerge.

When you lose a kid like this in our community, I think that touches us all, he said.
I know you may not want to be thinking about meat. Theres probably still some turkey dregs in your refrigerator or at least the memory of the majestic bird, glistening in your minds eye at the center of your Thanksgiving table.

But think about meat we must. Last week, I recounted the truly heartbreaking story of my flirtation  unconsummated, as it turned out  with chicken-fried steak. I wanted some. I didnt get any. Where could I get some?

[The sad but true story of the missing chicken-fried steak]

Well, helpful readers came forth with many recommendations. Catherine Sanchez of Ellicott City, Md., says her son Rob got hooked on the delicacy when the family lived in Houston. He insists local mini-chain Teds Bulletin is the place to go for it in our area.

William Tayloe likes the chicken-fried steak at the Hunters Head Tavern in Upperville, Va., where he orders a side of macaroni and cheese and a cold Guinness stout.

Chicken-fried steak is on the menu at the Districts American City Diner near Chevy Chase Circle and at Southside 815 in Alexandria. Country-fried steak is served at King Street Blues, with locations in Alexandria and Crystal City and at the Yorkshire Restaurant in Manassas, Va. Its at Bob & Ediths Diner, too (Arlington and Springfield).

Chris Tharrington of Bethesda went to college in Texas and believes that the best restaurant around here for getting the Lone Star staple is the Texas Roadhouse, a national chain with locations in Bowie, La Plata and Frederick, Md., and Chantilly, Va. The entree there is like something you would find at a genuine hole-in-the-wall diner in Texas: golden brown crispy batter with a fantastic creamy gravy, Chris wrote.

Several readers said that when they have a hankering for country-fried steak, they head to good old Cracker Barrel. Others are partial to Bob Evans, which also serves country-fried steak.

If youve read this far, youve probably noticed Ive mentioned a lot of country-fried steak and precious little chicken-fried steak. Isnt it the same thing?

No, said Don Carr of Woodbridge, Va., who wrote: Bottom line up front: There is no good chicken-fried steak restaurant in Washington. 

What there is, Don wrote, is the abomination known as country-fried steak.

The difference is twofold, Don wrote. First, true chicken-fried has a crisper, crunchier coating that comes from putting the meat FIRST through the dry mix (flour, etc.), THEN through the wet (milk-egg mix), THEN  critical  BACK through the dry. Those lazy country fryers slash it through the wet, slap each side quickly in the dry.

The other difference is in the gravy used. Honest chicken-fried steak is served with a white creamy gravy. Country fryers use a brown concoction, which really doesnt matter since the blasphemy has already occurred back when the steak was done!

Restaurants up here just dont get it and just dont care! Makes me want to cry when I ask in a restaurant, Yall have chicken-fried steak? and the answer is, No we have country-fried steak, its the same thing. NO IT AINT, by Gawd, not by a country mile!

I grew up in Texas with a loving mother and a lot of plump, doting aunts who knew the Art of Chicken-Fried Steak and mashed potatoes. My Mom passed her recipe to me. So, where to find good (as in GENUINE) chicken-fried steak up here? My house and anywhere else true chicken-fried steak aficionados know that, to get it, you just got to make it yourself.

Well, okay then.

Ill let John Richardson of Arlington have the final word. He spent the summer of 1958 working as a roustabout in the Oklahoma oil fields. This Eastern college kid fell in love with Oklahoma, not least with chicken-fried steak, which was available at every cafe and restaurant, he wrote.

In 1965, John found himself in Libya, pre-Moammar Gaddafi, on a short-term assignment for a group called American Friends of the Middle East. Our crew ate regularly in the Loffland Brothers Drilling Co. cafeteria, which was open to all expats, he wrote.

On Johns first evening there, he was surprised to walk in and see the native short-order cooks  brought in from the southwestern Libyan state of Fezzan  whipping up chicken-fried steak and other resolutely American dishes. Wrote John: The oil companies were smart enough to know that their American expat workers, far from home and with few local pleasures, demanded comfort food, and chicken-fried steak was at or near the top of the list.

Perhaps theyre making it there still, though Im not about to head to Libya to get some.

Twitter: @johnkelly

For previous columns, visit washingtonpost.com/johnkelly.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Metro would be offering free shuttle bus service between East Falls Church and West Falls Church. Metro will offer free shuttle bus service from Ballston station to Virginia Square, Clarendon, Court House and Pentagon stations. This version has been corrected.

The good news: For beleaguered Orange and Silver line riders in Northern Virginia, the pain and hardship of SafeTrack may soon come to an end.

The 11th repair surge starts Monday, and the 24-day stretch of single-tracking between West Falls Church and East Falls Church is scheduled to be the last time that Metros year-long track maintenance program targets that portion of the rail system.

After this one, Metro is taking a break. In anticipation of winter weather, work crews will focus on track repairs inside tunnels and underground, and they dont plan to begin the next surge until February, Chief Operating Officer Joseph Leader said.

But heres the bad news: Because this surge will involve a spot where the Orange and Silver lines meet, the service disruptions will have an outsize effect on riders throughout the system.

The first two weeks of this surge will be the worst of anything our riders have experienced so far since we started SafeTrack, Leader said. There will be a severe reduction in train service.

The 11th surge in Metros long-term maintenance overhaul known as SafeTrack runs Nov. 28 through Dec. 21 on the Silver Line. Take a look at how it will affect your commute. (Claritza Jimenez,Danielle Kunitz/The Washington Post)

Leader said the agency needs about half of all riders who use the lines to stay away  and not just Virginia users. The work will affect riders on both lines, end to end.

Our message to our riders on the Orange and Silver line[s] is find another way to get to where you have to go, Leader said.

This is the fourth time that SafeTrack has tackled the tracks west of Ballston, considered to be among the most dilapidated of Metros infrastructure before SafeTrack. The first and fifth surges fanned out work crews between East Falls Church and Ballston. The ninth focused on the area between Vienna and West Falls Church.

In all, Orange and Silver line riders have been affected by 91 days of track work over the past six months, Leader said.

[In scathing report, FTA blasts Metro track maintenance program]

But, by the end of the 11th surge on Dec. 21, 12,000 rail ties will have been replaced and there will be 25,000 feet of new running rail, he said, adding that the western end of the system will be unrecognizable.

This is the best condition the track has been in since it was installed over 30 years ago. You can literally feel the difference  a smoother, more reliable ride, like driving on a newly paved road, he said.

The 11th surge in Metros long-term maintenance overhaul known as SafeTrack runs Nov. 28 through Dec. 21 on the Orange Line. Take a look at how it will affect your commute. (Claritza Jimenez,Danielle Kunitz/The Washington Post)

Chilly weather will increase the pain for riders this surge, particularly with headways between trains as long as 20 minutes during rush hour. Capacity west of Rosslyn will drop by more than 60 percent during peak-travel periods, while capacity between Rosslyn and Stadium-Armory will be cut by slightly more than half. East of Stadium-Armory, the Orange Line will have 66 percent fewer trains, and the Silver and Blue lines will have 42 percent fewer.

The service level is going to be horrific, said Metro board member Christian Dorsey, who also serves on the Arlington County Board. But, he added, Im grateful that this is going to be the last one, at least for Orange and Silver line riders.

Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey offered similar words of encouragement to Metro customers.

As weve said before, this is work thats got to be done. Its difficult, but its short-term pain for a lot of gain, Garvey said.

Metro officials warned that Rosslyn will be especially choked with passengers. Inbound Blue Line riders should consider riding to the Pentagon station and switching to the Yellow Line to bypass Rosslyn on the way into the District.

Officials also said that riders shouldnt assume theyll be able to rely on the same commuting options that they used during previous surges. For example, some commuters headed into the District may see several trains pass before encountering one with space for more passengers, they said.

We really want people to reassess the options they may have used during previous surges, said Tom Biesiadny, director of the Fairfax County Department of Transportation. In the past, some people may have said, Well, its 18-minute headways, maybe Ill just wait. . . . This surge, we want people to not just assume that what worked for them in prior surges will work for them now.

[Fairfax to add bus service to assist in year-long Metro SafeTrack disruptions]

Garvey said that she has been encouraging employers to make it easier for their employees to telework through December.

For those who cant work from home, Metro will offer free shuttle bus service from Ballston station to Virginia Square, Clarendon, Court House and Pentagon stations.

The Fairfax Connector is providing supplemental service from Reston and Vienna stations to the Pentagon.

Metrobus will add extra peak-period service on four routes: 5A, which runs from LEnfant Plaza through Rosslyn to Dulles International Airport; the 3Y from East Falls Church to McPherson Square; the 2A from Ballston to Dunn Loring Metro; and the 38B from Ballston to Farragut West station.

Officials also are encouraging people to take Virginia Railway Express to Crystal City, LEnfant Plaza or Union Station rather than driving on Interstate 66. Riders who are coming from northeast of the District should consider using MARC commuter rail instead of crowding onto the limited number of Orange Line trains leaving from New Carrollton.

While many residents have opted to drive during surges, Biesiadny urged would-be Metro passengers to think twice before commuting solo in their cars.

For people who are driving alone on the I-66 corridor, this is going to affect them too, he said. We would encourage them to look at their commuting options as well, because there are going to be more people competing for that space.

Despite the dire warnings, leaders agree that the 11th surge has a significant upside. In the original SafeTrack schedule released earlier this year, the 18 days leading up to Christmas featured a planned shutdown of the Blue Line between Rosslyn and the Pentagon  a disruption that could have had a major impact on holiday shopping revenue for Springfield Town Center shopping mall.

[Metro adjusts SafeTrack plan following July derailment]

Because of delays and reshuffling in the schedule, that work is now planned to take place sometime early next year.

We were concerned about what impact that would have had, Biesiadny said. So were actually okay with the fact that weve moved this one to the Orange Line. We actually think this is probably a better fit.
MARYLAND

Baby dies at protest over police shooting

An infant died Saturday during a protest of a police-involved shooting in Baltimore, police said.

Police said the babys mother was among about 30 people demonstrating against Fridays shooting of a man wielding knives. They said people approached an officer, Maj. Richard Gibson, and told him that a baby inside a restaurant was not breathing. Gibson performed CPR. Paramedics then took the infant to a hospital, where she died, police said. They did not know the cause of death.

Police on Saturday released the names of the officers who shot the man with the knives. Officer Gary Brown, a 16-year veteran of the department, and Officer Supreme Jones, a two-year veteran, are on administrative leave, police said

 Associated Press

CALIFORNIA

Threatening letters cause fear at mosques

A civil rights group is calling for more police protection of mosques after several received letters praising President-elect Donald Trump and threatening Muslim genocide.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said the same handwritten, photocopied letter was sent last week to the Islamic Centers of Long Beach and Claremont and the Evergreen Islamic Center in San Jose, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.

The letter was addressed to the children of Satan and was signed by American for A Better Way, CAIR said.

Theres a new sheriff in town  President Donald Trump. Hes going to cleanse America and make it shine again, the letter reads, according to CAIR. And, hes going to do to you Muslims what Hitler did to the jews [sic].

Hussam Ayloush, executive director of CAIR-LA, said congregants were disheartened. The irresponsible, hateful rhetoric of the Trump campaign has fueled a level of vulgarity, vile hatred and anger, he said.

San Jose police spokesman Sgt. Enrique Garcia said police are investigating the mailings as a hate-motivated incident.

 Associated Press

4 bodies found in Alaska hotel: Fairbanks police said Saturday that McKay Hutton, 22, fatally shot himself and three others at a hotel on Friday. The victims were identified as Linda Hutton, 54; Emily McDonald, 22; and 8-week-old Teagan Hutton. Police said in a statement that the motive for the killings was unknown. Hotel staff called police to a Hampton Inn on Friday afternoon, where officers found the bodies. A firearm was recovered in the hotel room, police said.

Man killed by police in Miss.: Authorities in Mississippi are investigating a shooting death by a Hattiesburg police officer. Jerome Chris Harmon, 23, died Friday at Forrest General Hospital, hours after being shot, the Hattiesburg American reported. Hattiesburg police spokesman Lt. Jon Traxler said an officer tried to stop a driver suspected in a burglary and credit card fraud. The driver ran off and exchanged gunfire with the officer, Traxler said.

Internet wins on Black Friday: Holiday shoppers turned to the Internet in record fashion last week, one tracking firm said. Consumers spent $3.34 billion shopping online on Friday, a 21.6 percent jump from the same day last year, according to Adobe, which tracks online retail sales. The firm said mobile purchases surged 33 percent on Black Friday to $1.2 billion. In total, online shoppers spent $5.27 billion Thursday and Friday, up 17.7 percent from last year.

 From news reports
The Oceti Sakowin camp is seen during a protest against plans to pass the Dakota Access pipeline. (Stephanie Keith/Reuters)

Activists protesting plans to run an oil pipeline beneath a lake near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota said Saturday that they have no intention of leaving a protest camp after U.S. authorities said it must be vacated by Dec. 5.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which manages the federal land where the main camp protesting the Dakota Access pipeline is located, said it would close public access to the area north of the Cannonball River, including to protesters. It said this was partly to protect the public from violent confrontations between protesters and law enforcement that have occurred in the area.

Those who stay could face prosecution for trespassing, the corps said in a letter to tribal leaders Friday.

Organizers said at a news conference Saturday at the main protest site, where about 5,000 people have camped, that they had no intention of moving.

We are staying here, committed to our prayer, said Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network. Forced removal and state oppression? This is nothing new to us as native people.

1 of 89 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad  On the scene as Native Americans protest construction of a pipeline in North Dakota View Photos An encampment has grown near the work site, where security guards face off with demonstrators. Caption An encampment has grown near the work site, where security guards face off with demonstrators. Dec. 5, 2016 A person watches the sun rise over the Oceti Sakowin camp, where people have gathered to protest the Dakota Access oil pipeline, in Cannon Ball, N.D. David Goldman/AP Wait 1 second to continue.

There are smaller camps on land not subject to the planned restrictions, including an area south of the Cannonball River where the Army Corps said it was establishing a free-speech zone.

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple (R) on Saturday said that he supported the decision and that the federal government, which he said had allowed the protesters to become entrenched, must lead in the camps peaceful closure.

Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault said he received notice Friday about the decision in a letter from Col. John Henderson, an Army Corps district commander. Archambault said the best thing the federal government could do for safety is to deny the easement for the pipeline. We have an escalating situation where safety is a concern for everybody, Archambault said.

Demonstrators have protested for months against the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, owned by Energy Transfer Partners, saying it poses a threat to water resources and sacred Native American sites. The company says the pipeline would carry Bakken shale oil more cheaply and safely from North Dakota to Illinois en route to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

The 1,172-mile project is mostly complete except for the segment planned to run under Lake Oahe, less than half a mile north of Standing Rock.
Three large machines called turbines produce electricity at the Buck Combined Cycle Station in central North Carolina, near the town of Salisbury.

Tall chimneys that once released smoke into the air all day and night are now unused. The last coal-fueled generators that operated at the energy center were closed a few years ago. Trains full of coal no longer arrive at the center, and large piles of coal no longer cover the ground.

The center is owned by Duke Energy.

Energy companies have had to sharply reduce the amount of coal they use for several reasons: Stronger government rules have reduced the level of carbon permitted to be sent into the air. And there is a growing demand for clean energy.

The new energy center is fueled by natural gas. It is a much cleaner source of electricity than coal.

Bill Wilson is the senior engineer of the Buck Combined Cycle Station. He says Duke Energy has closed about half of its coal-fueled energy centers in recent years and has replaced them with ones fueled by natural gas.

He told VOA it is less costly to fuel the plant with natural gas than with coal.

Switching over

Coal was the main fuel used to generate electricity in the United States for many years. But the U.S. Energy Information Administration says in 2015 coal and natural gas were used equally to create electricity -- about 33 percent each.

The shift from coal to natural gas is happening at energy centers throughout the country.

In July, coal was removed from the Clinch River Coal Plant in Russell County, Virginia. The plant is owned by American Electric Power. Last year, parts of the center were converted from coal to natural gas use.

Ricky Chaffin is the manager of the plant. He says it is now not only cleaner but produces more electricity.

You dont have to handle the coal, he says. You dont have to move the coal from the pile to the plant. Weve got a lot less equipment. So (there is) a whole lot less manpower required to (operate) a (natural) gas plant, he said.

When the plant was fueled by coal, 182 people were needed to operate it. Now, 46 people work there.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration has predicted that natural gas will become the countrys largest source of electricity this year.

In North Carolina, Duke Energy plans to close most of its coal-fueled power plants in the next few decades. But as it does, it faces environmental problems.

Last month, the company reached an agreement to remove the coal ash from its Buck Steam Station that has been polluting groundwater and the nearby Yadkin River for many years.

Im Christopher Jones-Cruise.



VOA Correspondent Nadeem Yaqub reported this story from Charlotte, North Carolina. Washington. Christopher Jones-Cruise adapted the report for Learning English. Mario Ritter 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

turbine  n. an engine that spins and can be used to produce electricity

chimney  n. a tall structure on a building that allows smoke to rise and escape outside

plant  n. a building or factory where something is made

convert  v. to change from one thing to another

pile  n. a group of things that are put one on top of another

manpower  n. the number of people who are available to work

decade  n. a 10-year period

coal ash  n. waste that remains after coal is burned

groundwater  n. water that is underground
My sister, Bea, was 35 years old when she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and 38 years old when she died in 1993. She left behind a husband, two toddlers and, innocently, a genetic legacy that our family continues to confront today.

While she was alive, Bea participated in a clinical study run by a prominent research institution, the goal of which was to discover gene mutations that predispose individuals to cancer. The rest of our family  my mother and father, my two brothers and myself  also agreed to participate.

The consent forms each of us signed indicated that the institution would be in touch if they learned anything. As a physician still in training, I was happy to be part of a clinical study. And because wed heard little from the researchers in the years following Beas death, I was even happier to take their silence as a good sign.

As it turns out, my interpretation of their limited communication was based on hopes rather than facts. As Stephen Colbert would so often say on The Colbert Report: Truthiness prevailed. Eventually, Id find myself on a twisted road toward reality.

[ A consumers guide to the hottest field in cancer treatments  immunotherapy ]

The author asked researchers if there was evidence of a genetic cause for her familys cancers. They initially said no. (Erin Burroughs)

The phone call

Nine years to the day after Bea died, I finally did call the research institution to confirm that everything was A-OK. In the time since Beas death, Id embarked on a career as an oncologist-scientist and was poised to become engaged to my now-husband, Sean. I hoped that this phone call could lay to rest any lingering cancer-risk concerns and, in turn, allow me to marry free of worry.

Up until then, I had had reasons to wonder about my familys genetic inheritance. Not only had Bea succumbed to cancer at a young age, but my fathers branch of the family tree was permeated with the disease. So, naturally, I was surprised when the person I spoke with told me that my familys experience with cancer was not clearly hereditary.

I asked if he was sure, and he affirmed that they had no evidence for a genetic cause for our familys cancers but that they would inform us if things changed.

Excellent! I said. Now I could move on, marry the perfect guy and start a family. I was eager to hang up and get on with life since I no longer had to fear that a cancer-causing gene was targeting my family like a serial killer. Beas early death was simply an unfortunate fluke.

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BRCA genes and a melanoma

In the mid-1990s, a few years after Beas death and during my internal medicine residency and oncology fellowship, scientists discovered BRCA1 and BRCA2, the two genes most commonly linked to hereditary breast cancer (and other cancers). A few years later, new clinical data indicated that surgical removal of normal breasts and ovaries reduced the risk of breast and ovarian cancer in women with BRCA mutations. If Bea had one of those mutations, I thought, would prophylactic surgeries have prevented her premature death? Certainly, if she did have a mutation, then we would have heard from the research institution by now. In any case, these discoveries fueled my enthusiasm for studying cancer-causing genes.

Of course, given how long it took me to follow up on my familys clinical study, my passion for cancer-gene hunting could not have extended too far into my personal life. As a doctor, I knew this information could help my family make key health decisions, but as a person about to tie the knot and a junior scientist setting up a lab, I was too busy, too immortal. Objectivity was overshadowed by denial, and the research institutions not clearly hereditary phrase gave me permission to start a new chapter without caution.

Consideration of a possible cancer predisposition was postponed until further notice.

The vagueness of the phrase not clearly hereditary enabled my truthiness.

This state of denial ended in September 2003. At Seans urging, I asked a friend who is a dermatologist to check out a spot that had appeared on my calf a year earlier. Our friend, being unsure of what it was, offered to remove and test it.

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A few days after the biopsy, I listened to a voice mail from a dermatology fellow while I was driving home that indicated we needed to talk. I turned the car around and drove back to the office. My heart was pounding in my ears as I went online to check the pathology record, which indicated the spot was a thin melanoma. No problem. This could be easily treated with a minor surgery. So why was my heart so revved up?

After surgery a few weeks later, I was relieved to be free of disease but also slightly embarrassed that I hadnt bothered to investigate the melanoma sooner. Denial was starting to fade, and I realized that I could no longer ignore reality. Sean pushed for us to obtain a second opinion about my familys genetic predisposition to cancer.

In January 2004, we took a memorable drive from Ann Arbor, Mich., to a well-known cancer genetics clinic in Columbus, Ohio. After an assessment, the oncologist and genetic counselor said that with my dads Ashkenazi Jewish background, our family history of cancer and my melanoma, we could first test to see whether I carried a BRCA mutation. We had an extensive counseling session, a blood sample was collected, and Sean and I departed, expecting a six-week respite.

Four weeks later, we received the call. I had tested positive for a BRCA1 mutation. I thought Id be agitated by the news, but instead I was excited to be given concrete information, excited to have surgical options to reduce my risk and excited to tell my family.

Two twists

During one of our routine Sunday dinners with my mom  an economist and Russian scholar who was then 82  Sean and I tried to describe the results, but they just didnt compute for her. She was convinced that the gene had come from her Polish-Catholic side of the family, despite our careful explanation that the mutation was common in Ashkenazi Jews and had almost certainly come from her late Jewish husband, who had had several cancers by the time of his death. It was remarkable how difficult it was for her to grasp the genetics. She remained adamant that the mutation had come from her; we remained convinced that it had come from Dad.

[ Epigenetics research takes aim at cancer, Alzheimers, autism, other illnesses ]

In the middle of this debate, she said, You know, Beas research institution sent me a letter some time ago saying they had new information.

Did you call them to find out what it was? I asked.

No, I forgot about it and filed it away. But it must not have been important, or theyd have contacted me again. She brushed it off, but we werent so sure.

Sean asked my mother to retrieve the letter from her files. Dated two years earlier in 2002, it was an innocuous, vague form letter that simply said the center had new information and for a small fee she could receive the result. It rang no warning bells that the information might change the way she and her family members managed their cancer risk. I would have filed it away, too. But with my recent BRCA1 test results, the letter held more significance.

The next day, I called the institution, explained the situation and asked about the new information. The staff checked their files and apologized profusely for not following up. They had, indeed, discovered the BRCA1 mutation in our family. I urged them to send me all information they had on our family and hung up the phone in disbelief.

Stunned, we wondered whether anything would have changed had we known sooner. If I was housing any breast or ovarian cancer now, would I have had it earlier? Had similar oversights happened to other families?

(I chose to have prophylactic mastectomies and oophorectomies, and I was lucky to learn that, despite the delay, I did not have breast or ovarian cancer.)

The shock didnt end there. As I pored over the data they sent me, it became clear that the researchers had not tested my father for the mutation. My mother had been right: The positive test had come from her. It made little sense, but facts were facts. We began notifying our maternal relatives, knowing it was still possible there was another mutation on Dads side.

Although it was too late for Bea, those of us in the family with the mutation now have the opportunity to manage our cancer risks in ways she never had.

Theres no doubt that when the research institution identified the mutation in my mother, it should have contacted family members who had consented to participate. But it was also my reliance on truthiness that prevented me from being proactive and communicating regularly with the institution.

I had risked my own life because I had preferred to stay blissfully uninformed for so long. I made the deadline thanks only to a great partner, great luck and great genetic care. Others may miss the deadline due to bad luck and, more often than not, absence of genetic care.

If I, a doctor who lost a 38-year-old sister to cancer, could avoid seeking out the data, its easy to see how others could do the same. At times, we all need the relief of truthiness. But when it comes to most health decisions, knowing is better than not knowing. Knowledge allows for choices, choices that can improve and save lives.

Ross, author of  A Cancer in the Family: Take Control of Your Genetic Inheritance, is an oncologist and director of the cancer genetics program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

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Correction: An earlier version of the story incorrectly said Inuit tales of cannibalism by the Franklin Arctic expedition seemed to be comfirmed in 2014. Scientists first identified hack marks on bones in the mid-1990s. This version has been updated.



Experts revealed side-scan sonar image of fabled British explorer ship, HMS Erebus, on the sea floor in northern Canada. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced the find on Sept. 9, 2014. (AP/Parks Canada/The Canadian Press)

Almost two centuries ago, 134 men set sail on two British naval ships to discover the fabled Northwest Passage, a trade route through the Arctic linking Europe to the riches of the East. They never returned. The Inuit, native residents of the North, tell tales of the three-masted ships caught in ice and of men afflicted by scurvy and going hungry, until finally they broke the biggest taboo of humankind: cannibalism.

Despite search efforts, neither ship was found. It was not until 2014 that the first traces emerged, when divers located a shipwreck that they identified as HMS Erebus, named after the spiritual limbo between Earth and hell. Last month, the second big piece of the mystery fell into place when an Inuit ranger and a team of explorers announced that they had located HMS Terror  in near-pristine condition, not far from the Erebus  at the bottom of the Northwest Passage.

The story of the ships loss and eventual finding reveals how much the Arctic, and our relationship with this frontier, has changed in just a few decades. The ice is no longer what it once was; scientists think that the Arctic will be reliably ice-free and navigable in the summer by the middle of the century, if not earlier. A cruise ship carrying more than 1,000 tourists traversed the northern ocean of North America for the first time this year.

[The remote Alaskan village that needs to be relocated due to climate change]

The conditions today are balmy in comparison to what the expeditioners faced in the middle of the 19th century, at the height of the British Empire. The admiralty asked John Franklin, a 59-year-old polar explorer, to find a northern sea path linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.





No one knew for certain that such a passage existed, but finding it would be yet another jewel in the British crown. Europeans thought of the world as perfect and symmetrical, according to Franklins Lost Ship, a book by John Geiger and Alanna Mitchell. Explorers had discovered a passage at the bottom of South America that linked the Atlantic and the Pacific. And so people reasoned that a similar one must exist in the north.

Franklin knew how to navigate through ice, said Tom Zagon, a physical scientist with Canadian Ice Services. He chose two military vessels  the Erebus and the Terror  for the journey and reinforced their hulls with iron to withstand the crushing force of ice. He filled his hold with three years worth of canned food in case the voyage took longer than the expected two years.

On May 19, 1845, Erebus and Terror, both painted a menacing black with a yellow stripe, set off down the River Thames and into the Atlantic Ocean. Londoners thronged the banks and cheered the might of their empire. Success seemed assured.

But Franklin was heading into a frontier that science had not mastered. Compasses did not work properly because their magnetic readings were impaired by proximity to the North Pole. There were no weather reports. It was much colder than today, and there were years with no summer ice melt at all, said Ryan Harris, an underwater archaeologist at Parks Canada. Ships can quickly get trapped in cement-like ice.

[Scientists say its threatening the lifeblood of Canadas native people]

The expedition entered the Arctic Ocean before the end of May and picked through the labyrinth of the Canadian Arctic archipelago. Franklin and his men reached as far north as 77 degrees, about 850 miles from the North Pole, before wintering on a tiny uninhabited island. The sea ice must have been unusually light for the ships to get as far north as they did, Zagon said.

The landscape there is flat and desolate, with storms bringing 60-miles-per-hour icy winds from the North Pole. There is almost no wildlife, and the only flora are stubborn Arctic mosses that cling to black rocks littering the frozen ground. The region is vast; even today, only 10 percent of the Canadian Arctic has been mapped.

The only way to survive is by listening to the Inuit, said Adrian Schimnowski, chief executive of the Arctic Research Foundation, who spends five months every year in the North. When the Inuit give you advice on weather, hunting grounds, the best route to take to get somewhere, I follow 100 percent what they say, he said. They know the land better than anyone else.



The detached bell of HMS Erebus as found on the deck: The ship disappeared in the Arctic more than 160 years ago. (Thierry Boyer/Parks Canada)

Inuit oral history suggests that Franklin and his men, however, did not consult with them. In September 1846, the British made a fateful decision to sail through a dangerous channel, the Victoria Strait. The strait is only 200 miles from the Canadian mainland, and yet it routinely experiences heavier ice conditions than areas farther north, Zagon said.

Zagon thinks a storm crept up on the expedition, icing Victoria Strait within hours and trapping the ships. The men huddled onboard for nearly two years, waiting for the ice to clear. But even in summer, it remained unyielding, said Edward Carmack an emeritus oceanographer with the Institute of Ocean Sciences in British Columbia. Two dozen men, including Franklin, died of illness.

[He lost the race to South Pole but made discoveries for science]

The remaining men abandoned the ships on April 22, 1848, in a mad effort to walk south, across King William Island, to the Canadian mainland. It was a dangerous plan; in biting winds, it took them three days just to trek across the 15 miles of ice to the island. We know this because five years later, a note written by Erebuss commander was found under a stone landmark on King William Island.

Search parties dispatched from Britain did not find the ships or any survivors, but the Inuit told them of having seen men starving, their faces blackened possibly by scurvy. The survivors ate their comrades after boiling body parts in their boots, the Inuit said. The oral history seemed to be confirmed in the mid-1990s when scientists examined human remains from King William Island and found hack marks apparently left on skeletal remains by desperate butchers.

Franklins ships had been considered lost to history. But in the 2000s, as the summer sea ice began to clear because of global warming, nations jostled to access the Arctics riches. In 2008, Canada began searching for the Erebus and the Terror as one way to prove a centuries-long link to the North.

Franklins ships are an important part of Canadian history given that his expeditions laid the foundations of Canadas Arctic sovereignty, Stephen Harper, who was then Canadas prime minister, said in 2014.



An illustration of the position of the HMS Terror at sunrise on July 14, 1837. (Owen Stanley/Library and Archives Canada)

Sir John Franklin, the Arctic Explorer, did not consult with the Inuit before traversing the dangerous strait. (Library and Archives Canada)

A coalition of Canadian government agencies and the Arctic Research Foundation, a nonprofit backed by BlackBerry founder and Ontario native Jim Balsillie, began sweeping the Northwest Passages for Franklins ships using sonar. In 2014, the Erebus showed up on the sonar. When divers examined it, they found a nearly intact ship. Off to one side was a massive bell, cast in 1845 to honor the expedition. On the lower decks are intact chests where the men had stored their personal effects, said Harris of Parks Canada. Underwater archaeologists are carefully recovering artifacts.

[The mysterious shipwreck that swallows deep-sea divers who try to find it]

A second breakthrough came in September, when Sammy Kogvik, an Inuit ranger who lives in Gjoa Haven, the only settlement on King William Island, boarded an Arctic Research Foundation vessel, where he told Schimnowski an odd story: Seven winters ago, he and a friend had been snowmobiling off King William Island, on the secluded and frozen Terror Bay, when they saw a pole sticking out of the ice. They went closer and saw that it was a six-foot-tall wooden mast. Kogvik wrapped his arms and legs around it and hung off it while his friend snapped a photo. But Kogvik lost the camera during the trip and never told anyone about the incident, although he had thought of Franklins doomed expedition.

Schimnowski immediately set course for Terror Bay, which was ice-free this past summer. His team used a side-scan sonar, which images the ocean floor, to peer through the turbid waters. Just as they were about to give up, they passed right over an ancient three-masted ship at the bottom of the ocean, 80 miles north of the Erebus. Divers examined the ship a week later and confirmed that it is the Terror. The ship is tightly sealed and probably contains documents and other artifacts in pristine condition.

All in all, it makes for a rather dramatic visual to see this steely ship lying at rest on the sea floor, Harris said.

Scientists say it is doubtful that the Erebus and the Terror would have been found if they had been hidden under the ice common during Franklins time or even the ice found in the 1970s and 1980s. Until recently, Victoria Strait thawed only once every 10 years, but now it usually clears every summer, Zagon said. Instruments such as a side-scan sonar are best used in open water.

Over the next few years, Parks Canada scientists will study the ships, photograph them and excavate the site to learn as much as they can about the expeditions fate. They will look for bodies, and perhaps even the coffin of Franklin. They will recover artifacts, documents, charts and other materials to answer old questions and new ones: Why is the Terror so far north of the Erebus? Did the men sail her there? And why did so many men fall ill so rapidly? Why did they decide on a treacherous trek that claimed their lives?

These were trained men, and they didnt just sit on the boat and starve to death, Carmack said. They looked for ways out. What was the trail of death, and what will we uncover to complete the story of that survival epic?

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Harley, a 4-year-old boxer who has leukemia, receives an infusion of his own T cells at the University of Pennsylvanias Ryan Veterinary Hospital. The cells have been genetically modified to help combat his cancer. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

 Flyer, a 70-pound golden retriever, lies patiently on her left side on an examination table as technicians scurry around, placing little sandbags on her legs and neck to keep her still. Shes getting chest X-rays to answer a critical question: Has a deadly bone cancer spread to her lungs?

When the session is over, Martha MaloneyHuss, a veterinarian at the University of Pennsylvanias Ryan Veterinary Hospital, glances at the images. I dont see anything hugely obvious, she says, but well see what the radiologist says. Oblivious to the good news, Flyer hops down the hall on three legs, eager to find her owner.

After the 8-year-old retriever began limping last year, she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a painful, aggressive cancer that often strikes Great Danes, Irish wolfhounds and other large breeds. At Penn Vet, she got the standard treatment: One of her left legs was amputated, and she underwent chemotherapy.

Yet even as she adjusted to chasing squirrels, her prognosis was bleak. Most dogs die in about a year when the disease resurfaces in the lungs. The Penn vets recommended an experimental vaccine designed to prevent or delay the cancers return; Flyers owner was enthusiastic. The dog got three intravenous doses as part of a clinical trial and now returns to Penn periodically for X-rays.

Every day I pray that she will stay cancer-free, said her owner, Bob Street, who lives in Mullica Hill, N.J. And that this treatment will work for other dogs and for people.



A researcher at Penn Vet works on Harleys genetically modified T cells, which have been altered to recognize and eliminate cancer cells. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Flyer is part of a burgeoning field called comparative oncology. It focuses on finding new ways to treat cancer in pets, mostly dogs, in an effort to develop innovative treatments for people and animals.

The growing interest in dogs reflects researchers frustration with the standard approach to developing cancer treatments: testing them in lab animals, especially mice. Mice dont normally get cancer  it must be induced  and the immune systems in many strains of lab mice have been altered. That makes them especially poor models for immunotherapy, a rapidly growing field of medicine that directs patients own immune systems to fight their cancer.

Dogs, on the other hand, get cancer naturally, just as people do, and have intact immune systems.

Genetically, you are a lot more like your dog than that mouse running around a cage in the lab, said Nicola Mason, a veterinarian and immunologist who oversees the vaccine and several other canine trials at Penns School of Veterinary Medicine. Where dogs really stand out is in the way they generate tumors and react to treatments, which is a lot like people.

The vaccine Flyer got, for example, is now in an early trial for people after it showed impressive results in a previous Penn dog study. The company sponsor hopes to develop it for children and adolescents, who are more likely than adults to get osteosarcoma.



Nicola Mason, associate professor of medicine and pathobiology at Penns School of Veterinary Medicine, leads clinical trials of novel immunotherapies developed to treat dogs with cancer. Some could also benefit humans fighting the disease. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

The dog and human versions of that cancer involve many of the same genes and are biologically similar. What we learn in one species can be applied to the other, said Robert Petit, chief scientific officer of Advaxis, the company testing the vaccine in people.

Docs and vets teaming up

Across the country, medical and veterinary schools are partnering to find new treatments for malignancies from lymphoma and melanoma to brain and bladder cancer. The National Cancer Institute is overseeing canine trials at almost two dozen academic vet schools, and animal-health foundations are stepping up their support.

Immunotherapy is the latest rage in veterinary medicine, just as in human cancer treatments. Researchers hope studies in dogs can help explain why some people benefit from the approach and others dont. Amy LeBlanc, director of NCIs Comparative Oncology Program, said dog data can give drug companies the necessary reassurance to move forward with a promising treatment.

Not everyone is sold on the idea that pets will be that helpful for testing treatments in people. Many experiments are in the early stages. Laurence Baker, an oncologist at the University of Michigan who specializes in bone cancer, said that while he is agnostic about using pets for research, in this area, as in too many areas of research, there is a lot more hype than success.

Proponents of comparative oncology dispute that, saying the similarities of some cancers suggest benefits for both species. Cancer is the biggest health threat facing dogs, killing half of those 10 and older. They are patients, not lab animals, said Mason, whose office is filled with photos of dogs she has treated, including Aspen, a greyhound wearing bunny ears, and Bogie, a Great Dane.

[Everything you need to know about immunotherapy in humans]

Most cancer drugs for dogs were developed first for humans. Take Harley, a striking 4-year-old black boxer with aggressive leukemia. He recently came to Penn for a treatment called CAR T-cell therapy, which has shown some promising results in trials for people with blood cancers. The immunotherapy procedure for dogs is similar to the human one: T cells, a key component of the immune system, are extracted, genetically modified in the lab to bolster their cancer-killing abilities, increased in number and then reinfused.

Mason began working on the treatment for dogs when she was a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Carl June, a prominent researcher at Penns Perelman School of Medicine and a CAR T-cell pioneer. She consults with him frequently.

Owners of dogs in the Penn Vet trials get much of the care free, including treatments and follow-up visits. But there can be related expenses. In the osteosarcoma trial, owners are required to pay for the amputation and chemo.

If these canine treatments end up being sold outside clinical trials, they could carry hefty price tags. The human version of CAR T-cell therapy, for example, which is still in clinical trials, could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars once it hits the market. Scientists hope more progress will lower the cost for people and dogs alike.



Researcher Kazim Panjwani works on the genetically modified T cells of Harley, the 4-year-old dog with cancer. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Decades of research

The notion of using canines as a model for human cancers goes back decades. When veterinary oncologist Stephen Withrow was an intern at the Animal Medical Center in New York in the 1970s, he attended rounds at nearby Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and realized that animal and human medicine could help each other. It opened my eyes, he said.

Children with osteosarcoma have benefited from that insight. Withrow, who went on to found Flint Animal Cancer Center at Colorado State University, developed a surgical technique that allowed dogs with bone cancer to avoid amputation. He then collaborated with an orthopedic surgeon to adapt the limb-sparing technique for children.

In the 1990s, when an 11-year-old Colorado girl named Emily Brown was diagnosed with an especially complicated case of osteosarcoma, her doctors asked Withrow if there were any new canine treatments. He suggested an experimental therapy that Brown, now 30, credits with saving her life.

The sequencing of the dog genome in 2005 increased interest in comparative studies. If the human genome is a deck of cards and you shuffle it, you end up with a rabbit  and shuffle it again, and you end up with dogs, said geneticist Matthew Breen, whose lab at North Carolina State Universitys veterinary school was involved in the sequencing project.

[New treatments move to the front lines to fight lung cancer]

Marie Cary, who lives near Myrtle Beach, S.C., turned to Breens school a few years ago when her retriever, Gracie, developed a tumor on her upper jaw. After the cancer failed to respond to chemo, veterinary oncologists recommended an experimental treatment in which tiny particles were injected into the tumor with a light-sensitive compound called psoralen. X-rays then were used to target the particles, which responded by emitting ultraviolet light. That activated the compound and caused it to interfere with the tumor cells DNA and incite an immune response.

After a few rounds, the tumor disappeared; Gracie is now 10. The vet school is working with Duke Cancer Institute and the sponsoring company, which hopes to move the therapy into human trials.

Some comparative-oncology studies use cats for cancers such as oral malignancies and breast cancer, which have similarities to the human versions. But cats are used less frequently in studies than dogs, researchers say, because less is known about their tumors and they tend to get more stressed out interacting with people.



Harley rests after getting an infusion of his beefed-up T cells, which are designed to treat his leukemia. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

One clean bill of health

Osteosarcoma is diagnosed in about 10,000 dogs a year in this country, and researchers suspect that most die because the disease has already spread to their lungs. About 800 people also are diagnosed here annually, many of them children and young adults. Almost three-quarters are treated successfully with chemo; the rest die of advanced disease.

At Penn Vet, the vaccine trial in which Flyer was enrolled sprang from a collaboration between Mason and Yvonne Paterson, a microbiologist in the universitys medical school who survived breast cancer. The vaccine, which Peterson developed, uses genetically modified listeria bacteria to target cancers that are positive for a protein found in osteosarcoma, as well as in breast, gastric and other cancers. The bacteria, weakened so as not to cause illness, is designed to stimulate the immune system to recognize and eliminate any cancer cells remaining after chemo.

Mason launched the first trial in 2012 with 18 dogs. All got the standard treatment  amputation followed by chemo  then three vaccine doses. The first participant was Sasha, an American bulldog. She survived 738 days, compared with a median 423 days for dogs that had been treated in the past with amputation and chemo alone.

I was a little worried about the possible side effects, so I put her in the ICU and sat with her for three days, Mason said. But it was anticlimactic. She did great.

Many of the dogs did even better than Sasha, with median survival of 956 days. The vaccine now will be tested in a nationwide trial involving dozens of dogs.

[10 ways to speed up progress against cancer]

In the meantime, Advaxis got the go-ahead from federal regulators to start an early-stage human trial with adults. Masons dog data was especially important in allaying concerns about possible heart damage. The company wants to launch a study next year for children with the aim of improving their treatment response and reducing relapse.

A few weeks after Flyer got a clean bill of health, Harley arrived for the CAR T-cell therapy for his leukemia. Mason had treated four dogs with lymphoma, but the first three had advanced disease and died quickly. The fourth survived for seven months.

To try for better results, Masons team changed the way it modified the T cells, bringing its procedures more in line with the techniques used for people.

Harleys T cells had been withdrawn during an earlier visit, genetically altered and then multiplied. Now it was time for the 20-minute infusion. Erika Murphy of Franklinville, N.J., a teacher and mother of a young son, wept as she talked about the dogs illness. Hes our first boy, she said.

Mason sat with him on a plaid blanket on the floor of a treatment room. MaloneyHuss administered the altered T cells via an intravenous catheter. Harley panted heavily but was calm, watching as a collie and other dogs strolled by.

The following week, he was back for tests. He looks great, Mason said, but the signs were mixed. The cancer is coming back, but we are also seeing the T cells starting to expand. . . . Will they be able to start knocking back his cancer? We are all on tenterhooks to see.

Read more:

Smoking declines dramatically but linked to 40 percent of cancer cases

[Almost all men with early prostate cancer survive 10 years, regardless of treatment]

[The disturbing airborne allergen in schools that may be exacerbating your kids asthma]
The Iraqi government campaign to retake Mosul from Islamic State, or IS, militants has resulted in major damage to nearby towns and villages.

But the fighting has not stopped sales of a local food product: olives.

Issa, a 24 year old Iraqi man, points to a group of olive trees at the base of a nearby mountain.

"For two years I couldn't get to those trees," he says. "But now I water them and they will come back. Olives are strong."

Peshmerga forces controlled the mountains while IS forces held his village. Issa says the militants would not let local people get too close, for fear they might escape.

Two weeks ago, Peshmerga forces captured the town of Bashiqa after a three-day battle. Homes and some streets are still being cleared of bombs. But along the roads, people like Issa sell olives and olive oil to travelers  mostly soldiers. The olive trade appears to be the only business that has survived in the area to the north and northwest of Mosul.

When the Islamic State had control of the area, the locals sold olives to IS militants. They were the only people who had money to buy food. Even then, militants paid much less than the normal price.

Samer is an olive seller who operates a stand near the village of Khorsebad. "When IS was here, we were selling these (olives) for 500 to 600 Iraqi dinars (about 50 American cents) a kilo. Now we sell the same for 6,000 dinars (about 5 dollars)."

Historically, olive trees have been a sign of peace, civilization, and honesty. For the farmers, the trees now represent something much more important: a chance to rebuild their lives.

Today most of the buyers of olives are Peshmerga and Iraqi soldiers going to and from Mosul, about 30 minutes away by car. Most civilians are not permitted to pass through military checkpoints. The area is still considered a war zone.

"All the people in my village depend only on this business," says Issa. He supports his wife and four children by selling olives. "And the Peshmerga soldiers all know we have the best olives."

Gosum owns a shop near Bashiqa. His business was badly damaged. He says it usually takes three years for neglected olive trees to produce fruit if they regularly get water. Once a well-known fruit farmer, he now sells olives in small plastic bags to feed his 13 children.

In and around Bashiqa, the local population is also trying to recover from the physical and mental damage.

Gosum tells of the fear the villagers felt when the fighting reached his village. "It was very dangerous because we were in the middle of it," he says.

A few kilometers away, Issa climbs the stairs of a building once used by IS gunmen. Below, one farm was completely burnt. The farmer was a Peshmerga fighter who left IS territory as soon as he could.

"If you left the area," Issa says, "IS took everything."

In the building next door, the saying "Long Live the Islamic State" can still be seen on a wall.

Issa tells of the fear villagers felt during IS rule. "They would listen at our door to see if we were talking on mobile phones. If you saw an IS militant, you would be terrified."

Im John Russell.

Heather Murdock wrote this story for VOA News. John Russell adapted this story 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

checkpoint  n. a place where people, cars, etc., are searched by someone (such as a police officer) before being allowed to continue

neglected  adj. not given enough attention or care

shop  n. a small business or store

mobile  adj. of or related to being moved or transported
Earlier this month, a U.N. observer force crossed from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights into Syria. (Jalaa Marey/AFP/Getty Images)

Israeli forces engaged in a brief but deadly fight Sunday against Syrian militiamen allied with the Islamic State, killing four militants in the fraught borderlands of the Golan Heights.

It was the first substantial fight between Israeli soldiers and an Islamic State affiliate in the long-running Syrian war, said Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli military spokesman. No Israelis were injured.

Although there have been dozens of cases of errant and intentional artillery, mortar and small-arms fire from Syria toward Israeli-controlled territory in the occupied Golan Heights, this exchange involved the group known as the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade, whose leaders publicly pledged their allegiance to the Islamic State in 2014.

About 9 a.m., a reconnaissance unit from Israels Golani Brigade was patrolling along the cease-fire line, the military said, outside the Israeli-built fence. The Israeli troops were confronted by the Syrian militants, who deployed small arms and mortars, and the Israelis responded, the military spokesman said.

The Israeli air force spotted a vehicle armed with a heavy machine gun and destroyed it with a rocket, killing four occupants, Israel said.

Israel has pledged to stay out of the Syrian conflict but has also vowed that it will respond to any threats made against Israelis in the Golan Heights.

In June, the State Department designated the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade a global terrorist entity. The group is composed of local clans in southern Syria. Israeli military intelligence officers say there are few, if any, outsiders or foreign fighters in its ranks.

The brigade was formed in 2012 and has staged attacks throughout southern Syria, often along the Israeli and Jordanian borders, the State Department said.

In 2013, the group abducted 25 Filipino U.N. peacekeepers who patrol the disputed border between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights. The peacekeepers were eventually released.

The group has fought alongside and against the rebels in Jabhat al-Nusra. Earlier this year, the militants changed the name of their brigade and allied with another group also affiliated with the Islamic State.

Nitzan Nuriel, former director of the counterterrorism bureau at the prime ministers office, said he did not think the attack against the Israeli soldiers represented a new Islamic State-directed offensive against Israel.

I think the decision to open fire against our soldiers was a local decision, he said. It was not something ordered by a high command.

Nuriel said Israels response was appropriate and repeated the message, Dont mess with us.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended the troops. We are prepared against any enemy that threatens us on our northern border, he said.

Israel essentially annexed the Golan Heights in 1981 when it extended Israeli civil law  versus military rule  to the territory it seized from Syria during the 1967 Six-Day War.

The international community, including the United States, has never recognized Israels annexation of the area and views it as Syrian territory occupied by Israel.

In April, Netanyahu declared that Israel will forever retain full control of the mountainous plateau and will never return the strategic highlands to neighboring Syria.

Read more

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Displaced families gather at a makeshift camp in the government-held district of Jibreen in Aleppo, Syria, as civilians have fled the eastern part of the city in the face of an advance by government forces. (George Ourfalian/AFP/Getty Images)

Thousands of Syrian civilians fled fierce fighting in Aleppo on Sunday as government forces moved within a mile of slicing the citys last rebel-held stronghold in half.

At least 500 people have been killed and more than 1,000 wounded in a 13-day offensive led by President Bashar al-Assads troops on the east side of a city that has taken on huge symbolic importance in the Syrian civil war. Under siege and with no food aid left, a quarter million civilians are now trapped there. On Sunday, residents said they had nowhere left to run.

My house is full, said Bassem, who asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of retribution from the government. The floors are packed but no one is sleeping.

The fall of east Aleppo would devastate rebel ambitions to hold onto a rump state in northern Syria, and could hasten the governments recapture of the entire country.

Assads soldiers  supported by Russian- and Iran-backed forces  advanced on the rebel-held districts in a pincer movement Sunday, taking the neighborhoods of Jabal Badra and Baadeen in the east and advancing slowly through al-Sakhur in the west.

Their breakthrough had come Saturday with the recapture of Masaken Hanano, the largest rebel-held district of Aleppo and the first to slip from government control. Its fall underscored how far the tide has turned for Assads forces, 5 years into a war that has killed half a million people and displaced most of Syrias prewar population.

The rebels seemed ascendant when they seized east Aleppo in 2012, boasting that a march on Damascus would be next. Now, they are being bombed and besieged in pockets of land across the country.

A simultaneous advance by Kurdish-led forces Sunday pushed into the Bustan al-Basha neighborhood. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said nearly 1,700 civilians had fled east Aleppo to government-held areas while another 2,500 had left for Sheikh Maksoud.

It is the first exodus of this kind from east Aleppo since 2012, Rami Abdel Rahman, the Observatorys director, told Agence France-Presse.

On Syrian state television, families were seen waiting for green buses  repurposed from the school run  to leave for government-held areas. Ragged from exhaustion, some carried the young and the elderly on their shoulders. Their destination was unknown.

It was unclear Sunday how long rebel forces could hold out in the final district connecting their territory north to south. We are in the process of repelling the onslaught and fortifying our defense lines, said Yasser al-Youssef, a spokesman for the Nour al-Din al-Zinki Brigade, one of the rebel groups.

All I can see is Assads forces advancing. People have been running all day. Its chaos, said Ismail Abdullah, a volunteer with the White Helmets rescue group.

Another resident said his entire extended family had fled  tired and fearful  to his house. My mother-in-law and her three children are sleeping with us now. One of them couldnt bring his family, his wife refused to leave. They sent their daughters on ahead, said Wissam Zarqa, an English teacher.

Several residents said they had smelled what they believed to be chlorine gas close to Sundays front lines. Government forces are believed to have used the chemical almost daily during the latest offensive, packing it into barrel bombs filled with shrapnel.

Few treatment options remain for the wounded. East Aleppos health system has been decimated by ferocious attacks leaving many to die, undocumented, in family homes and empty buildings.

Aleppo is too tired to report the number of casualties, Zarqa said.

This version has been updated to reflect that an estimated quarter million civilians are living in the rebel-controlled part of Aleppo.

Read more

The battle for Aleppo, explained

In Aleppo, Shiite militias point to Irans unparalleled influence

Syrian regime bombardment kills 61 civilians in Aleppo

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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The normally busy Infanta Street in Havana is quiet Sunday morning, as Cuba mourns Fidel Castro. (Lisette Poole/For The Washington Post)

Fidel Castro once called George W. Bush a functional illiterate. President Ronald Reagan was the worst terrorist in the history of mankind, Castro said, with ideas from the Buffalo Bill era.

Castro thrived on confrontation with U.S. leaders, and he almost surely would have enjoyed facing off against Americas next one. In his statement Saturday on Castros death, President-elect Donald Trump denounced him as a brutal dictator, and thats the sort of dig that wouldnt have gone unanswered in the past.

But brinkmanship and barb-throwing are not the forte of his successor, Raul Castro, who replaced his elder sibling as president a decade ago. Raul Castro, 85, has refrained from criticizing Trump and even sent congratulations after his win.

Raul Castros plans to secure the legacy of his brothers 1959 Cuban Revolution appear to be on a collision course with the incoming Trump administration, whose top members said Sunday that Cuba would have to make significant changes in order for the normalization path charted by President Obama to continue. Both Castros have long insisted they would never kneel to American pressure.

If tensions between Cuba and the United States ratchet up again under a Trump presidency, it would be a new stress test for Raul Castro and his quieter, more austere leadership style. Cuba will enter the Trump era with Fidel Castros one-party socialist state firmly in command but without the supercharged politics and nationalist fervor he relied on to sustain it.

The Washington Post's Karen DeYoung explains Fidel Castro's legacy in Cuba, and how it will affect the country politically. (Peter Stevenson,Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post)

A return to more hostile relations with the United States could also bring a new crackdown in Cuba and further slow the pace of Raul Castros modest liberalization measures at a time of stalling economic growth. Hard-liners in Cubas Communist Party would gladly take the country back to a simpler time, when the antagonism of the United States  not the failure of government policies  was to blame for the islands problems, and the threat of attack, real or imagined, was used to justify authoritarian political control.

In a possible warning shot, Trump tweeted Monday that he could revisit the landmark pact cut by the Obama administration to end the diplomatic estrangement with Cuba.

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 wrote, without offering specifics on his concerns.

On Fox News Sunday, Reince Priebus, Trumps incoming chief of staff, said, Theres going to have to be some movement from Cuba in order to have a relationship with the United States.

Castro would have to take steps to allow more political, economic and religious freedoms, Priebus said. These things need to change in order to have open and free relationships, and thats what President-elect Trump believes.

Obama announced in December 2014 that the United States would reestablish diplomatic relations with Cuba, which were severed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1961. Obama said that engagement with Cuba, including fewer restrictions on U.S. travel and trade, would facilitate the type of long-term democratic changes Washington had failed to bring about during a

half-century of punitive sanctions.

[Facing new test, Cubas revolution circles back]

But Trump said during his campaign that Obama didnt get a good deal and that Cuba must do more.

While only the U.S. Congress can lift the Cuba embargo, Trump could reverse many of the executive orders that have brought a surge of U.S. visitors here and a rush of new interest from U.S. companies.

If Trump moves to roll back those measures and attempts to apply more economic pressure, the Castro government could dig in. During the last major peak in U.S.-Cuba tensions in March 2003, when Fidel Castro was still in charge, he ordered the roundup of 75 dissidents, sentencing them to harsh prison terms.

A few weeks later, Castro crushed a spate of boat and airplane hijackings by Cubans trying to get to the United States, executing three men who commandeered a Havana passenger ferry and tried to steer it to Florida.

But Cuba was a tighter-run ship then, where few dared to criticize the government in public. The governments security services are still pervasive, allowing no organized opposition, but the constant marching and mass rallies of Fidel Castros Cuba have mostly disappeared under the rule of his younger brother.

Also, the governments monopoly on information has been broken. Millions of Cubans have cellphones, and more than 100 new WiFi hotspots across the island allow Cubans to go online and chat with friends and relatives abroad. Foreign television shows and news programming circulate widely on portable memory sticks.

Fidel Castros soaring rhetoric is no longer the soundtrack of Cuban public life. Raul Castro delivers a speech every few months, choosing his words carefully and reading from a prepared text. A lifelong military man, he praises planning, modesty and preparation, and uses the word improvisation as a pejorative.

Those qualities helped facilitate the secret negotiations with the Obama administration on restoring relations, but they may not help him counter more aggressive language from President Trump. Raul Castro doesnt tweet, doesnt give media interviews and shows no enthusiasm, unlike Fidel, for being in the spotlight. He could have a hard time leading younger Cubans back into the trenches of his older brothers anti-imperialism with calls for more sacrifice and obedience.

[Cubans worry about what comes next after Fidel Castros death]

Then again, Cuban national pride remains a powerful force on the island, and nothing stirs it like a perceived threat from a swaggering American leader, said Arturo Lopez-Levy, a former Cuban intelligence analyst who teaches at the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley.

Even if there is no Fidel, do not underestimate the power of mobilization of Cuban nationalism, Lopez-Levy said. Intense Cuban nationalism preceded Fidel, he said, and it will survive as a major actor in Cuban politics well beyond his passing.

At a small snack bar called Los Afortunados (the Lucky Ones) a group of young Cubans said Sunday that they feared Trump would take U.S.-Cuba relations into the past just as it seemed as though their lives were getting easier. If he restricted travel and the ability of Cubans in the United States to visit their relatives, it would be terrible for our families, said Yosbel Benitez, 30.

His friend Ricardo Marrero, 28, who emigrated to the United States in 2013, was back for a visit. Marrero hadnt seen his wife and 4-year-old daughter in a year. But with the WiFi hotspots, he now sees them every day using the popular video chat app IMO. Two years earlier, it would have cost him $2 a minute to talk to them on the phone.

Its what gives me the strength to keep working hard to bring them over, Marrero said.

Air travel is easier, too. On Monday the first commercial flight from Miami in 50 years will land in Havana, and fares are less than half the price they are on the restrictive charter flights that have been the only option until now.

Marrero wasnt eligible to vote in Florida, but he said he liked Trump and told his friends and family members not to fear the president-elects plans for Cuba. Hes a businessman, he said. He understands.

The snack bar, one of the types of privately run businesses permitted under Raul Castro, is directly across from the U.S. diplomatic compound, which Obama restored to full embassy status last year.

Canada, Mexico and other nations had lowered the flags Sunday at their embassies in Havana in tribute to Fidel Castro, but the U.S. flag was snapping in the wind at the top of the pole.

Brian Murphy in Washington contributed to this report.

Read more:

Fidel was a friend: Elian Gonzalez remembers Castro as a father figure

Castros death summons ghosts, but has little impact on current U.S.-Cuba relations

Russias establishment bids farewell to Fidel Castro, a thorn in Americas side

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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Photo: Courtesy of Diana Lebedeva/Instagram

Diana Lebedeva, a 19-year-old heiress and member of Moscows young jet set was killed this week in an auto accident. Many dubbed her the Russian Lady Di and were shocked by the similar way she died.

As reported in the Sun, Lebedeva was driving in Switzerland with a friend, Azer Yagubov, a 23-year-old socialite from Azerbaijan. Yagubov apparently lost control of the BMW SUV and wound up crashing into Lake Lugano early Thursday morning. Their bodies were recovered at the bottom of the lake.

While friends and family mourn and news begins to spread of the tragic incident, some circumstances are stirring up questions.

There is active speculation about what happened before the accident. According to the Daily Mail, there are unconfirmed reports claiming the vehicle had been in a race when it got into trouble on a bridge above the lake in canton Ticino.

Additionally, Lebedeva is the granddaughter of a well-known adversary of Russian leader Vladimir Putins. Her grandfather, Platon Lebedev, was convicted of financial crimes in the early 2000s and is an associate of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, another businessman seen in the West as a political enemy of Putins. Amnesty International regarded both mens treatment and conviction as deeply flawed and politically motivated.

Perhaps merely coincidental, Lebedeva was born in the same year that Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in an automobile accident. Similar to Diana, Lebedeva was known for her beauty, glamour, and sense of fashion.

???????????????? A photo posted by Diana L (@ladydd11) on Nov 16, 2016 at 10:46am PST

Red dress from @victoriabeckham  A photo posted by Diana L (@ladydd11) on Nov 13, 2016 at 1:04pm PST

The deaths were confirmed by Russian officials in Switzerland, and the bodies have been returned to Russia.

Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.
Russian President Vladimir Putin presented actor Steven Seagal with a Russian passport on Friday in a show of friendly relations with the U.S., according to NBC News.

Seagal signed his passport in front of Putin at a Kremlin ceremony. Putin said he hoped it would serve as a symbol of how tense ties between Moscow and Washington, D.C. were starting to improve.

I want to congratulate you and express the hope that this is another, albeit small, gesture and it might be a sign of the gradual normalization of relations between our countries, Putin said.

Putin then asked the actor how he was doing, to which Seagal responded: Everything is good. We will talk later. For now, just honored to be here.

Putin has long been a fan of the martial arts that Seagal has practiced in his Hollywood action films, and signed the order to grant Seagal with Russian citizenship in early November.

A Kremlin spokesman said Seagals warm feelings towards Russia and his fame were among the reasons for the gesture.

Seagal, 64, has been a regular visitor to Russia for more than a decade. His films Under Siege and Sniper: Special Ops are popular among Russian audiences, according to NBC News.

The actor joins other celebrities among those given Russian passports, such as French actor Gerard Depardieu, who received citizenship in 2013.

Putin congratulated Donald Trump on his Election Night win, tweeting Congratulations to Donald Trump on winning the #US presidential election, a sign he hopes to work with the U.S. to improve relations.
Authorities are investigating an apparent murder-suicide after four bodies were found in a hotel room in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Friday, according to a statement released by the Fairbanks Police Department.

Police responded to a call from hotel staff at the Hampton Inn regarding a suspicious circumstance, according to the statement. When they arrived, they found an adult male crying in the hallway before discovering four dead bodies. All were inflicted by gunshot wounds.

Those individuals have been identified as 54-year-old Linda Hutton, 22-year-old Emily McDonald, 22-year-old McKay Hutton and 8-week-old Teagan Hutton.

According to their Facebook pages, McDonald and McKay were married and parents and recently welcomed a child. The pair also shared several photos of themselves with a slightly older male child, but it is unclear how he is related to the couple.

In one post on what appeared to be their anniversary in 2015, McKay gushed about his wife.

Baby Im lucky to find you and Tj, the most important part of my life, he wrote. I cant wait for many more years. Ive never found I person ever in my life that I could be my complete self with and now I will never be complete without you two by my side, thank you for being in my life everyday through it all. I truly understand what true love is thanks to you, thank you we are the few of the lucky ones.

In addition to multiple posts about McDonald and his family, McKay also shared a post on Facebook about defending the Second Amendment and a photo of himself in front of a Dont Tread on Me flag.

Police are still investigating the scene and have not released a motive or identified the shooter. In the statement, police said there was no indication that drugs and alcohol played into the crime scene.

 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.

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The man found crying in the hallway is working with police, and he is not considered a suspect. He has not been publicly identified.

Anyone with more information about the individuals involved should contact Detective Avery Thompson at 907-450-6549 or send an email to asthompson@fairbanks.us.




Istanbul (AFP) - Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by an Islamic State (IS) gas attack in northern Syria, the Turkish army said Sunday, the first time Turkey has accused the jihadists of chemical warfare.

Observers, including the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), have previously accused IS of using mustard gas in Syria and described the possibility as extremely worrying.

"After a rocket was fired by Daesh (IS), 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas," the general staff said in a statement, quoted by the state-run Anadolu news agency.

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria, where the pro-Ankara fighters backed by Turkish special forces and air power are battling to dislodge the jihadists from the border area.

The report did not specify what type of gas was used.

Turkish media said the affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from Turkey's AFAD emergencies agency.

The reports said the Turkish emergency workers were equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves. The Syrians were brought to the main hospital in Kilis where they are undergoing treatment.

Television pictures showed some of the Syrians being transferred on stretchers to the hospital, with the emergency workers dressed in full-body white protective clothing and gas masks.

The incident comes amid growing fears over the use of chemical weapons on Syria's over five year civil war.

A joint UN and OPCW backed panel established during a year-long investigation that forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.

But the panel, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM), also found that the Islamic State group in Syria used mustard gas as a weapon in August 2015.

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- Erdogan, Putin talk again -

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council unanimously decided to extend for another year the panel's mandate.

OPCW director general Ahmet Uzumcu told AFP earlier this month that IS may have itself manufactured mustard gas used in attacks in Syria and Iraq.

He said analysis of samples of mustard gas used was was "poor quality, but still harmful ... and it was weaponised so it's extremely worrying".

The Turkish army is backing the Syrian fighters in an unprecedented incursion aimed at rooting out IS jihadists from the border area and also ensuring there is no Kurdish militia presence.

In a three-month operation, the rebels have so far captured the IS stronghold of Jarabulus, cleared IS from Al Rai and retaken the symbolically important town of Dabiq without much resistance.

With Turkish support they are now pressing to take Al Bab, another town deeper inside Syria, from the jihadists in an advance that appears to be taking more time and encountering greater opposition.

Tensions are running high after six Turkish soldiers were killed in the last week alone, two by IS but four in an air strike it believed was carried out by forces of Assad.

On Saturday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Vladimir Putin of Russia, Assad's main ally, discussed the Syria conflict by telephone for the second time in just over 24 hours, both sides said.

The Turkish armed forces said that four IS targets had been destroyed in the latest air raids by Turkish war planes over northern Syria.
5 non-awkward ways to make friends as a 20-something

Do you remember being in school and thinking the entire time about how excited you were to be out of school? Life after graduation, as an ominous 20-something, definitely has its perks, but making friends is not one of them. Luckily, there are tons of non-awkward ways to make friends as a 20-something. And really, you arent alone: no on has any idea of what theyre doing, we promise you.

Back when we were younger, friendships just happened, usually based on proximity. Oh, that girl in your bio class also hates bio? Befriend her! Oh, your moms best friends daughter is also your age and has been in the same school as you since preschool? Total BFF material. Once you have launched and are living in the real world though, making friends takes a little more effort  and can also be really awkward.

Time to say No to flashbacks to early childhood days of sad isolation, because when you do make friends in your 20s, its oh-so worthwhile. Here are a few, non-awkward ways to make friends as a 20-something:

Take a class

If it felt like making friends was easier in school, thats probably because it was. The good news is, there are tons of community classes you can take even after graduating, and its even better because you dont get a grade! So try an improv class, a writing class, or even a painting class maybe youll get a nude model as hilarious as Ilana Glazer.

This is a great opportunity to try something that youve always wanted to do, and to meet people who have similar interests as you! Plus, the class youve taken is a great common ground on which to build a friendship.

Get to know your neighbors

If you live in a city, as many 20-somethings do, chances are you have tons of potential friends living in your building. Meeting your neighbors doesnt have to be awkward either, it could be as casual as simply asking them over for a glass of wine or even just inviting them to a party that youre already having. Maybe even start by giving them a copy of your key to hold onto so you have a spare in the building if theyre a fellow 20-something, theyll understand.

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Knowing the people who live nearby will likely ease your loneliness when youre doing things around the house, and they can also be the most helpful friends in times of need! Cmon, make Mr. Rogers proud.

Become a regular

Frequenting the same coffee shop or bookstores or even yoga studios (sorry, Classpass) can lead to beautiful friendships. It all starts with a nod to your fellow laptop workers across the communal table. Five weeks and a jillion milligrams of caffeine later, you and your fellow regulars now know each others names, have discussed your dreams and passions, and are one bar-visit away from being friends.

Sometimes, its as easy as seeing the same people over and over again to just naturally start seeing each other intentionally. Also, you can always chat it up with the barista, who may just be your future bestie.

Volunteer

No, you dont have to volunteer for a fight-to-the-death-weird-dictatorship competition, but volunteering for an organization or cause that speaks to your heart is an amazing way to meet like-minded people. Not only does volunteering boost your happiness, it also grants you the opportunity to meet people who are passionate about similar things as you. Nothing makes a friendship stronger than knowing that your BFF will back you up in a heated debate about some social justice issue that you both want to fix. What better way to get to know someone than while making the world a better place?

Go on an organized trip or retreat

If you live in a city, town, or hamlet in the United States, chances are theres a yoga studio nearby. Many yoga studios host retreats  small or large scale that offer your community the opportunity to get out of town together. This is a great way to get to know people from your area, since the distractions of everyday life are eliminated once you get on that bus.

Yogas not your thing? Many of the same places that offer classes (see #1) also offer retreats! Check out various gyms, theaters, art schools, and community centers nearby for some chances to get out of town and get intimate with strangers! Yeah!

Making friends can definitely be hard as a 20-something, but chances are, youre not the only one looking to build their #squad. You are not alone and you will not be alone  there are plenty of friendships to be made in your 20s.

The post 5 non-awkward ways to make friends as a 20-something appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Bravo

Its safe to say Olivia Flowers has been killing it on the Halloween front this year. Over the weekend, the Southern Charm cast member went out with Kathryn Dennis and Taylor Ann Green, and the gals looked stunning in their edgy, Goth-inspired costumes, which, for Olivia, included a black corset, skirt, knee-high boots, and dark lipstick. Olivia decided to take things in a more colorful direction for the October 31 holiday, emulating the late Olivia Newton-Johns aerobics style for her 1981 hit
Johannesburg (AFP) - Southern African leaders paid glowing tributes to the late revolutionary icon Fidel Castro, but if one country will forever be heavily indebted to his leadership of Cuba, it is Angola.

Castro sent tens of thousands of troops when oil-giant Angola became embroiled in a proxy war between the United States and Russia who were vying for Cold War supremacy.

Having gained independence from Portuguese colonial rule in 1975, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) government faced a civil war against the rival National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA).

Castro supported the MPLA, which was fighting US- and apartheid-backed UNITA.

It culminated in the 1988 Battle of Cuito Cuanavale, in southern Angola, an epic confrontation that sounded the death knell for South Africa's apartheid regime and indirectly led to the independence of Namibia.

He was "an extraordinary figure of transcendent historical importance," Angolan leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos said of the late Cuban leader.

In a manner similar to Libya, Cuba provided military and ideological support to national liberation movements across the African continent -- around 56,000 of the nearly 400,000 troops Castro sent to Cold War hot spots were in Angola.

The highlight of that deployment was Cuito Cuanavale, which "was the watershed moment in southern African liberation," said Namibia's President Hage Geingob.

Castro, 14,000 kilometres (8,600 miles) away in Havana, reportedly gave commands via telephone to his generals on the ground.

"Cuba, in Angola is where the cold war superpowers forces had their showdown," said Paula Roque, a University of Oxford specialist researcher on Angola.

- Watershed moment -

While Cuba provided troops, the Soviet Union was responsible for military hardware.

By the time the war ended Angola owed Moscow $5-billion, but nothing to Cuba. Castro believed "revolution was not something you paid for," said Roque.

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"They were very much punching above their weight, they were a small island that had such a big ambitious project in Angola," she added.

Even African countries with lesser links to Cuba, such as South Sudan, had liberation movement leaders trained in Havana.

"Southern Africa freedom is inextricably intertwined with the history of Cuba," said Mac Maharaj, an ANC veteran and fellow inmate of Nelson Mandela, South Africa's late anti-apartheid icon.

After Namibia won independence from South Africa in 1990, shortly after Cuito Cuanavale, apartheid would fall and the African National Congress (ANC), led by the freed Mandela, won its first free elections in 1994.

"Fidel became a huge inspiration. There in an unbreakable bond between Cuba and the southern African struggle," said Maharaj.

It was Castro who received the "loudest applause" from the audience at the inauguration of Mandela as president, according to the late former president's friend in the struggle against apartheid, Ahmed Kathrada.

And three decades after the end of Cuba's military involvement, Havana's contribution to Angola and southern Africa is still alive.

More than 42 percent of healthcare workers in Angola are Cubans, many of whom decided to stay on after the war.

Elsewhere in the region, South African state security, intelligence officers still go for training in Cuba, according to Roque.
Anthony Michael Hall is facing up to seven years in jail after he was charged with felony battery with serious bodily injury for allegedly attacking his neighbor, TMZ reported on Sunday, November 27.

PHOTOS: Stars at Court

The Los Angeles County District Attorney charged the Breakfast Club actor, 48, with the crime two months after he allegedly broke his neighbor's wrist and injured his back during an altercation outside their residence in Playa del Rey, California.



In grainy September 13 security footage obtained by TMZ, a man identified by the site as Hall is pictured arguing with another man before shoving him to the ground and walking away. The site reported at the time that the incident started after the neighbor left a gate open, prompting Hall to yell at him to close it. He then shut the gate himself before allegedly arguing with the neighbor and pushing him down.

PHOTOS: Celebrity Mugshots

TMZ reported that due to special circumstances, Hall's max jail sentence may be upped from four years to seven.



This isn't the first time the Sixteen Candles star has gotten into trouble at his condo. In 2011, TMZ reported that he was arrested on suspicion of disturbing the peace after an alleged dispute with his neighbor. The site also reported that Hall frightened his neighbors at the time by "screaming obscenities and challenging people to fights in the street."

PHOTOS: '80s Stars: Then and Now

Hall is also known for his roles in National Lampoon's Vacation, Weird Science, The Dead Zone and Edward Scissorhands.

Related Content:
Ariel Winter found the perfect #twinning outfit for a night out with pal Chris Galya

Ariel Winter is one of our role models for many reasons, including fashion. Now, Ariel Winter found the perfect #twinning outfit for a night out with her friend Chris Galya. And the two are super adorbs.

Of course, we ~always~ love her fashion sense, like the outfit that Winter rocked on Thanksgiving. (Hint: It was a long-sleeved short grey sweater dress that we have to have.)

But, it goes without saying that we also adore the Modern Family star for many more reasons than just her taste in clothing  like the causes she champions. For instance, ICYMI, Winter recently partnered with Doves Self-Esteem Project, to help inspire young girls to love their bodies. Awww.

And where did Winter get some of her own body acceptance inspo? From none other than one of her Modern Family co-stars: Sofia Vergara.

Working with Sofia Vergara and growing up with her was great, because she was, you know, a really amazing, curvy role model for me, Ariel told The Cut. She helped me learn to accept the way I looked and love it and dress for it, and feel good about myself.

Okay, its official: We love them both even more now.

But without further ado, heres the twinning pic of Winter and Jessies Chris Galya.

Always #twinning A photo posted by ARIEL WINTER (@arielwinter) on Nov 26, 2016 at 1:11pm PST

We lovvvve it. Super sleek, huh?

Of course, you may remember Winter twinning in the past, like with Kylie Jenner. Winter had worn this ah-mazing Yousef Al-Jasmi dress to the 68th Emmy Awards this year.

68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards - Arrivals

Just a few days earlier, Jenner wore it to New York Fashion Week  albeit a shorter version.

 A photo posted by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Sep 9, 2016 at 2:49am PDT

True #twinning at its finest, amirite?!

This was actually the quickest decision, Winter said of her dress choice, reported E! News. I saw it, tried it on, and I was like, This is what I want to wear, and thats that.

Cant argue with that.

As you may know, twinning is a thing, sometimes done on purpose, sometimes not.

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For instance, there was the time Tina Fey and Reese Witherspoon were twinning at the Oscars. Though their dresses werent the same, they looked similar. So, side by side, you could say they looked like fashion twins. And we were big fans.

88th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals

And here is Witherspoon in her matching purple gown.

88th Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals

Both women look stunning, agreed?

Then there was the time Margot Robbie and Cara Delevingne were twins, wearing matching silk track suits. Their names were on the front and skwad was on the back.

Thank you so much for our Skwad tracksuits @chaos @stockdalecharlotte @katielyall by David Ayer A photo posted by Cara Delevingne (@caradelevingne) on Aug 4, 2016 at 3:09am PDT

Awwwww.

Then there was also the time when Amy Schumer and Selena Gomez wore similar red dresses to Glamours 25th Anniversary Women of the Year Awards last November.

And heres Schumers twin, so to speak.

The two look gorgeous  similar-yet-different-yet-twinning, right?!

So the next time you and a friend show up to a party accidentally wearing the same thing, dont be embarrassed  embrace it. After all, everyones doing it. Plus, it also goes to show that you and your twin both have great taste.

For added inspo, just think of Chris Galya and Ariel Winter twinning. Soon, you, too, will be doing it on purpose, not just coincidentally, and youll be winning with #twinning.

The post Ariel Winter found the perfect #twinning outfit for a night out with pal Chris Galya appeared first on HelloGiggles.
At least 10 armed men disguised as policemen stormed a high-security prison in India's Punjab state Sunday and freed a top Sikh militant commander and four others, officials said.

The attackers, who travelled in cars, stabbed and injured a guard at the main gate of Nabha Jail in Patiala district and fired several shots before fleeing with the inmates.

Two other guards were injured by the firing during the incident, India's second major jailbreak in less than a month.

A state-wide alert has been declared and special teams formed to hunt down the attackers, said H S Dhillon, Punjab director-general of police for law and order.

Police sealed all entry and exit routes in the state.

They identified one of the fugitives as Harminder Singh Mintoo, chief of the Khalistan Liberation Force (KLF) -- a militant group fighting for a Sikh homeland in Punjab.

Mintoo was arrested in 2014 and is on trial for "terror attacks and funding".

The four others are part of a local criminal gang and were on trial for murder.

Local media reports said the attackers numbered around 20 and that six prisoners had escaped.

- Woman killed -

A woman was killed late Sunday after police shot at her car when the driver allegedly failed to stop at a checkpoint on a highway, some 25 kilometres from Patiala district.

The woman was an artist travelling with her team to attend a wedding in a neighbouring state and had no connection to the jailbreak, police said.

"We are trying to find out what actually happened," said one officer, requesting anonymity.

Another person was injured.

Four officials, including the Punjab prisons chief and jail superintendent, have been suspended or sacked after the jailbreak, authorities said.

A reward of 2.5 million rupees ($36,000) has been offered for information on the escapees.

In October eight Islamists awaiting trial escaped a prison in Madhya Pradesh state. They were gunned down hours later in a shootout, which many allege was staged by police.

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A senior police officer said the swift assault on Sunday took guards by surprise as the attackers moved quickly through the complex, indicating they knew the jail layout.

"We are trying to figure out the connection between the gangsters and the militant leader. Did he flee by a fluke?" the officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Punjab was in the grip of an insurgency for almost three decades after several groups launched an armed campaign in the 1970s for an independent Sikh state to be known as Khalistan.

The violence peaked following the army's 1984 storming of the holiest Sikh shrine, Amritsar's Golden Temple, to flush out militants.

The military operation angered Sikhs, resulting in the assassination of Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Thousands of Sikhs took up arms to avenge the sacrilege at the temple.

More than 20,000 people, mostly civilians, had died by the late 90s, when the insurgency waned.

But several Sikh groups remain committed to the Khalistan movement and dozens of alleged militants remain imprisoned.
Submit questions about Billboard charts, as well as general music musings, to askbb@billboard.com. Please include your first and last name, as well as your city, state and country, if outside the U.S. Or, tweet @gthot20

25 YEARS OF NIELSEN DATA ON THE HOT 100

Hi Gary,

We're almost at 25 years of Nielsen information on the Billboard Hot 100. It started on the chart dated Nov. 30, 1991. Happy anniversary!

Brian C. Cole

Hi Brian,

Chart fans will surely recall the significance of that week 25 years ago.

"THE LONG-AWAITED DAY HAS ARRIVED," read the headline in the "Hot 100 Singles Spotlight" column in the Billboard issue dated Nov. 30, 1991.

That week, the Hot 100 transformed from a tally combining ranked airplay and sales reports submitted by radio stations and retailers, respectively, to one based on electronically-monitored airplay by Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems (BDS) and piece counts of singles sales according to Nielsen SoundScan (both of which now go by the Nielsen Music name; meanwhile, playlists submitted by small-market radio stations continued to contribute to the chart for a time).

Wrote then-Billboard director of charts Michael Ellis, "For the first time, the music industry has a singles chart based on actual radio airplay and actual number of singles sold."

The Hot 100 continued Billboard's evolution to a chart menu based on more precise information. Hot Country Songs had converted to BDS data for the chart dated Jan. 20, 1990, and the Billboard 200 segued to SoundScan-powered figures on May 25, 1991. The Mainstream Rock Songs chart (then-titled Album Rock Tracks) upgraded to BDS-fueled rankings in the Nov. 23, 1991, issue, a week before the Hot 100's makeover. Among others, Adult Contemporary and Alternative Songs (then Modern Rock Tracks) would soon follow. (In 2005, Nielsen-tracked paid downloads would overtake physical singles as the main source of sales for Hot 100 hits, while, by the 2010s, streaming would join the Hot 100's data pool.)

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P.M. Dawn led the first revamped Hot 100, as "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" (featuring a sample of Spandau Ballet's 1983 hit "True") rose 3-1. Rounding out the top five were Michael Bolton's "When a Man Loves a Woman" at No. 2, Michael Jackson's "Black or White" (No. 3), Boyz II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday" (No. 4) and Prince's "Cream" (No. 5).

(Meanwhile, another story in the Nov. 30, 1991, issue heralded the switch to "computer-monitored" data. For readers too young to remember 1991, written communication not on paper was then still a bit of a novelty; I would've typed this "Ask Billboard" on my shiny new Brother word processor at the time.)

A main effect of the Hot 100's transformation was the realization that hits remained popular longer than previously believed. Between the chart's Aug. 4, 1958, launch and Nov. 23, 1991, a span of 33 years, Debby Boone's "You Light Up My Life" (1977) and Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" (1981-82) were the only singles to spend as many as 10 weeks at No. 1. In the 25 years since, 31 songs have led for between 10 and 16 weeks each, led by Mariah Carey and Boyz II Men's "One Sweet Day" (16 weeks, 1995-96).

As for the top Hot 100 hits overall since Nov. 30, 1991, per Billboard's Greatest of All Time ranking, updated late last year (covering charts from Aug. 4, 1958, through Oct. 10, 2015), Santana's "Smooth," featuring Rob Thomas, from 1999, is the No. 1 song in that 25-year span, followed by LeAnn Rimes' "How Do I Live" (No. 2; 1997); LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem," featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock (No. 3; 2011); The Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" (No. 4; 2009); and Los Del Rio's "Macarena (Bayside Boys Mix)" (No. 5; 1996).

Would any songs crack the list if we expand tracking through 2016? We'll have to wait for the unveiling of this year's year-end charts, set to post on Billboard.com the week of Dec. 5.

MORE SONGS THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN SINGLES

Hi Gary,

After reading the last "Ask Billboard," some thoughts on other songs that shoulda' been singles.

Madonna, Rebel Heart: "Rebel Heart"

Yes, "Joan of Arc" is a fantastic should've-been single ... but so is the title track to Madonna's latest album. It's got "single" written all over it: 1, It's an autobiographical song, a well that Madonna has successfully dipped into more than once; 2, It was produced, with restraint, by Avicii; and 3, When a Madonna album's name comes from one of its tracks, said track is always released as a single, moreso when it's also the name of a world tour. (Apparently, sadly, this rule can be broken when the song gets demoted to deluxe edition-only status.)

So, it looks like "Rebel Heart" won't take its place as a Madonna title-cut single alongside "Like a Virgin," "True Blue," "Who's That Girl," "Like a Prayer," "Erotica," "Bedtime Story" (kinda-sorta, since it's from Bedtime Stories), "Ray of Light," "Music," "American Life" and "Celebration."

Kiesza, Sound of a Woman: "What Is Love"

Because previous dance smashes turned into ballads can become hits (like Callum Scott's new cover of Robyn's "Dancing on My Own"), Kiesza could have released her downtempo cover of Haddaway's 1993 smash (and even could've remixed it for today's dance floors).

Sam Smith, In the Lonely Hour: "Leave Your Lover"

When this album was released, I hyped it to everyone and anyone I could, predicting it - and Smith - would dominate the Grammy Awards just as Adele had. This was the song I kept hoping would be a single, because the lyric "leave your lover / leave him for me" is far more universal than most people would like to admit. (Also, the previously-mentioned dance-hit-as-ballad-cover rule could also apply to Smith's take on Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know.")

Little Big Town, Wanderlust: "C'mon," "One Dance," "Work"

This album is a perfect collaboration between the band and Pharrell Williams, but remains seemingly hidden under Pharrell's hat (having spent a week on the Billboard 200 at No. 103 in July). Any of these tracks could've helped LBT reach major pop crossover heights.

Duran Duran, Paper Gods: "What Are the Chances?," "You Kill Me With Silence"

When "Pressure Off" (featuring Janelle Monae and Nile Rodgers) didn't become the massive single it should have, the group might've been smart to release either of these two tracks from its 2015 set. Both fit seamlessly into the band's catalog along other hit ballads like "Ordinary World" and "Come Undone."

Toni Braxton, Snowflakes: "This Time Next Year"

Is it a Christmas-season tune about modern-day relationships? Or is it one of Toni Braxton's best lost love ballads (co-written with Babyface and David Foster), hidden on a holiday-themed album? It's both!

Happy holidays,

Kirk Hartlage

Orlando, Florida

Thanks Kirk,

Great choices. And, per a point made in the last "Ask Billboard," album cuts today can in many cases draw greater consumption than many singles, thanks to the digital era. "Leave Your Lover," for instance, has logged 55 million global YouTube views and sold 197,000 downloads, according to Nielsen Music.

With Madonna set to accept Billboard's woman of the year honor at this year's Women in Music celebration Dec. 9 (the festivities will air on Lifetime on Dec. 12), we've covered songs that could've been singles among her iconic catalog, along with Trailblazer recipient Kesha's "Kiss 'n' Tell" (from 2010's Animal, and co-written by Max Martin). How about one from Icon Award winner Shania Twain? "When You Kiss Me," from 2002's Up!, is one of her sweetest ballads, and could've added to her totals of 16 Hot Country Songs top 10s and seven No. 1s.
By Tom Westbrook

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The ability of Australian telecoms company Telstra Corporation (TLS.AX) to offset the fall in its traditional revenue streams by diversifying into a range of technology and other businesses is in doubt.

So far, Telstra's funding of 44 startups since 2013, the A$235 million ($175 million) spent acquiring 18 health-related companies, the purchase of more than 30 companies by its venture-capital division, and its financing of a mining technology arm, have come to little.

Lumped together with the company's underperforming media department, the entire gamut of these operations  which include a range of technology businesses from cloud computing to app delivery specialists - contributed just A$908 million, or 3.4 percent of Telstra's income, in the fiscal year ended in June.

In particular, high hopes for a $330 million investment in tech startup Ooyala, a video platform, have all but faded, with Telstra mostly writing off in August what it called "a rapidly growing business" six months earlier. Ooyala was the biggest single investment by Telstras venture-capital arm.

Telstra did not directly answer Reuters' questions about the performance of specific investments or make its CEO Andrew Penn available for interview for this story.

In a written statement, Telstra said all of its investments were consistent with aspirations to become a "world-class technology company". The company also responded by noting recent public remarks by Penn, who told an investor briefing in Sydney on November 17 that after making a number of acquisitions the company is consolidating its investments in new businesses.

Like incumbent telecoms around the world, Telstra is facing falling profits from its traditional fixed-line networks and competition is squeezing mobile margins.

Telstra is conducting a review of its capital allocation as a result of the pressures. That prompted rating agency Standard & Poor's to revise its outlook on the company to negative, concerned that Telstra may take on more debt at a time when competition among mobile operators is intensifying. Any change to Telstra's A/A-1 rating would increase its cost of capital.

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"They're at a critical juncture; for me as an investor it's hard to paint a picture that Telstra is in a better place in five years time, with any confidence, than they are now," said Hugh Dive, senior portfolio manager at Aurora Funds Management, who sold the funds Telstra holding during a company buyback in September.

The company's mainstay businesses remain profitable - fixed and mobile income together came to A$16.7 billion in the last fiscal year - and some bolt-on investments such as the 2014 purchase of undersea cable company Pacnet Ltd for $697 million are boosting operating revenue. Also, with a gross dividend yield of 8.80 percent, Telstra is among the highest yielding companies in Australia, while still retaining A$3.6 billion in cash or equivalents in June.

But income from Telstra's traditional businesses of fixed-voice line and mobiles fell 1.5 percent in the last fiscal year, the company said in August. It has also forecast a hit against earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of A$2-3 billion from the loss of its wholesale business when the new government-owned broadband network replaces Telstra's copper lines completely by around 2020.

Telstra's strategy has been to look to venture-capital to find new businesses. But new, steady, revenue has proved elusive.

"The underlying traditional income has been under threat for a long time and it is a long term decline but at the same time generating new revenues are taking much longer to eventuate," said telecommunications analyst Paul Budde, who runs his own consultancy.

MUSIC-STREAMING SERVICE

Telstra's experiments have been many and varied. It launched a music streaming service in Australia in 2012, only to close it in 2015 in the face of competition from market-leader Spotify. It purchased a quarter-share of Dimmi, a restaurant booking app in 2012, then sold it in 2015, without disclosing the value of either transaction. It persists with a Netflix-type movie streaming service as part of its media division.

Its investments in software start-ups span healthcare, mining services, mobile messaging apps and cloud computing, and have recorded some modest successes.

In 2013, it bought 18 percent of startup Whispir, a growing Melbourne-based communication software company. In 2014 it bought in to DocuSign, a San Francisco company that makes electronic-signature software and is now headed for a $3 billion listing.

But neither they, nor Telstra's healthcare division, established in 2013, have delivered revenues sufficient to move the needle much on Telstra's bottom line.

Posterboy for its problems is Ooyala, whose video playing technology combines high-quality streaming with data-crunching, which is supposed to allow media customers to run targeted adverts within videos. One issue was Telstras slow moving monopolistic culture in a competitive sector that changes dramatically every few months, according to one former investor.

Scott Flanders, former Playboy CEO and an angel investor in Ooyala, told Reuters that as soon as Telstra took over, Ooyala's once "crisp" customer service and product pipeline began to slip.

"They did fall behind...we probably shouldn't have been, but we were surprised because we thought there'd be more engineers hired and the company would even widen its technology advantage over other, less-well-funded startups," Flanders said in a phone interview from Silicon Valley.

In two tranches, Telstra spent $330 million buying 98 percent of Ooyala between 2012 and 2014. It booked a A$246 million ($183 million) impairment on the investment in August.

Ooyala's vice president, products and strategy, Jonathan Wilner said in a statement in response to Flanders' comments that it had bought two video advertising and media logistics companies within nine months of the Telstra acquisition, and that this had slowed down innovation. But both new businesses are growing, he said.

Wilner said the company had under Telstra resumed a "steady pace of innovation and product releases".

Telstra CEO Andrew Penn the investor briefing earlier this month that he still believed in Ooyala and the potential for video streaming.

(Reporting by Tom Westbrook, Byron Kaye and Jonathan Barrett; Editing by Martin Howell)
Vienna (AFP) - The two candidates in Austria's longest ever presidential race clashed Sunday over the European Union, Donald Trump, and migrants as they faced off in a TV duel a week before the runoff.

Greens-backed contender Alexander Van der Bellen accused his far-right rival Norbert Hofer of stirring insecurity by threatening to pull Austria out of the EU.

Hofer of the anti-immigration Freedom Party (FPOe) has said he would call a referendum on EU membership if Turkey joined the 28-member club or if Brussels tried to centralise power further.

"The FPOe has been toying with Austria's exit for 20 years. Many politicians in Europe are worried that the mere speculation could trigger... an avalanche of right-wing populism," said 72-year-old Van der Bellen during the live debate broadcast on private channel ATV.

"The most important thing is the solidarity between member states, otherwise we won't be able to assert ourselves in the face of Russia or the United States."

But Hofer, 45, dismissed the allegations as media-led "scare-mongering".

"There won't be an 'Oexit'. I've repeatedly said that I want a positive development of the EU," he said.

While Van der Bellen stressed Austria's important relationship with its largest trade partner Germany, Hofer vowed to seek closer ties with eastern and central European neighbours and, primarily, Russia.

He denounced German Chancellor Angela Merkel for "causing serious damage to Europe" with her open-door policy, which he said has allowed hundreds of thousands of migrants "including terrorists to trek through Austria" since last year.

Hofer also attacked Van der Bellen for criticising the US election win of Donald Trump.

"It is not clever to describe a president as a rabble rouser," he said.

Van der Bellen hit back saying politicians across Europe felt "anxious" about the arrival of a US president-elect who has been accused of sexist attacks on women and threatening the rights of minorities.

Story continues

Like Trump as well as other populist groups in Europe, the FPOe has boosted support by stoking concerns about immigration and what it portrays as an out-of-touch elite.

Hofer hopes to become the EU's first far-right head of state on December 4, after nearly 350 days of campaigning.

In May, he lost by a paper-thin margin to Van der Bellen, but the FPOe got the result overturned due to procedural errors. A re-run set for October was again postponed because of faulty glue on postal vote envelopes.

Opinion polls suggest next Sunday's race is too close to call.

Hofer said he would not contest the outcome this time.

"It won't happen again, I can guarantee it. The whole world will be watching us," said Hofer.

The largely ceremonial role of president still carries considerable cachet, and Hofer's win would likely be a major boost to the far-right both in Austria and further afield.
The 2016 elections put Republicans in charge of the White House and both houses of Congress, giving them a unique opportunity to reshape policy pertaining to environmental protection, energy and climate change. Consequently, the Environmental Protection Agency will, no doubt, be at the center of what are likely to be some very contentious debates.

Conservatives have long criticized EPA actions, most recently its Clean Power Plan, which seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a gradual shift from coal-fired power plants to cleaner energy sources, such as natural gas.

Other EPA decisions on vehicle fuel economy standards and improvements in air, surface water, and drinking water quality also have raised industry hackles of late and prompted critics to assert regulatory overreach even when these decisions were essential to protect public health.

How, then, should Republicans use their new political clout over the EPA and environmental laws? There are two ways they can go about their business.

One is to follow Ronald Reagans approach and attempt wholesale deregulation and dismantling of programs, budgets, and staffs, which is favored by some.

However, this is a highly risky strategy because, as happened with Reagan, it could easily prompt a loud public outcry and be reversed under public pressure.

Polls tell us without question that the public wants to be protected from unhealthy air, unsafe water, hazardous and toxic chemicals, and the risks of climate change. Recall the Flint, Mich., drinking water crisis and similar concerns over water quality in cities and schools across the nation.

Ignoring such public preferences is never a good idea. In the end, President Reagan failed to reform environmental policy or the EPA itself.

Instead, he provided short-term regulatory relief for industry at the cost of political backlash that led to even more stringent regulation.

A second way to act holds a greater promise of long-term success. This is based on a realistic understanding of the problems we face, grounded in solid science and economics. It would pursue broadly backed and much needed statutory and administrative reforms.

The American public has told us for years that it wants to see more bipartisan and cooperative legislative solutions rather than the polarization, animosity and policy gridlock that have dominated Congress in recent years.

We saw this kind of cooperation earlier this year when both parties voted overwhelmingly for the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act to replace an old and largely ineffectual policy on toxic chemicals.

How might this approach work today? We know a great deal about what needs to be changed in environmental policy and at the EPA itself thanks to decades of work by environmental scientists, economists, lawyers, political scientists and others.

We could improve how well these policies function through adoption of flexible and performance-based regulatory reform, incentives for industry to devise and employ more sustainable practices, and well-designed information disclosure programs to keep the public informed.

In addition, the EPA itself is long overdue for administrative reorganization that would help to integrate its statutory responsibilities into a more coherent and long-term strategy for addressing complex 21st century challenges such as climate change and sustainable economic development.

Cities and states across the nation and a great many major corporations already have strongly embraced these goals. It is time for Congress to do the same.

This election was exceptionally close, with Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote but Donald Trump ultimately prevailing. Environmental issues were barely mentioned during the campaign. By the usual standards we apply to elections, there is no mandate here to dismantle environmental policies.

What the American public wants instead is that the two parties work together to reform the EPA and the statutes that it administers. Trump need not blow this opportunity by wrecking the EPA and putting public health and the Earths future in jeopardy.
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.
"Nothing has ever been easy for me," says actress Sally Field as we sit down in the kitchen of her Pacific Palisades home to record an episode of The Hollywood Reporter's 'Awards Chatter' podcast. "Not one moment of my career, except Gidget - 'Hey, be Gidget,'" the 70-year-old adds in reference to her first professional role, which made her a star when she was just 17. "Everything else has been a struggle. Nothing ever fell in my lap. When I won an Emmy for Sybil, when I won an Oscar for Norma Rae, when I won an Oscar for Places in the Heart, whatever it was, it didn't mean, 'Open the doors, the scripts are falling in!' It never, ever happened for me like that. I don't know if it was me, or that I don't fit into some category, or that I'm not good enough - I don't know what. So I never expected it to be any different."

(Click above to listen to this episode now or here to access all of our 100+ episodes via iTunes. Past guests include Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Eddie Murphy, Lady Gaga, Will Smith, Jennifer Lopez, Louis C.K., Kristen Stewart, Harvey Weinstein, Amy Schumer, Jerry Seinfeld, Jane Fonda, Tyler Perry, Kate Winslet, Michael Moore, Helen Mirren, J.J. Abrams, Taraji P. Henson, Warren Beatty, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Eisner, Brie Larson and RuPaul.)

Field, the daughter of working-class members of the Hollywood community (her mother was a character actress and her stepfather was a stunt man), first stepped onto a stage - and fell in love with acting - at the age of 12. "Something happened inside of me that was like a bell went off, like something cleared," she recalls. "The chatter in my head to be okay, or to be liked or to be acceptable, or to - I was raised in the '50s, so we had a lot of rules to follow as women, and all of them were gone all of a sudden. I could hear myself for the first time. It didn't last long - it was just this pure, clear ring - and then it was gone. And I then forever after, really, spent my life - certainly the early part of my life, of my career - chasing after that ring, that sound, that clarity."

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A week after graduating from high school in 1964, Field auditioned for a summer acting workshop, not realizing that the people she was performing for worked in casting at Screen Gems, Columbia Pictures' TV division. As a result of impressing them, she was cast, at just 17, as the titular peppy surfer girl on the ABC sitcom Gidget (1965-1966), which made her famous. "I don't know what I would have done otherwise," she says, noting that she had no other specific ambitions. "I just lived in a little fog." The show generated poor ratings and was canceled mid-run, but its remaining episodes, upon being moved to a time slot friendlier to young people, became a hit. As a result, the network asked Gidget's producer Harry Ackerman to find another vehicle for Field. That proved to be The Flying Nun (1967-1970).

"I did not want to be playing a nun," Field emphasizes, noting that she was in her late teens and it was the '60s. "I turned it down many times," she says, but then her stepfather, who had a history of being verbally abusive towards her, scared her into reconsidering. "It was the first time I've felt the feeling - and I've felt it subsequently too many times - where you feel some part of you just literally laid down and died. And I called them and said, 'Okay.'" The show ran for the next three years, during which Field became "seriously depressed." She was saved, in a sense, at end of the first season, when co-star Madeleine Sherwood took her to the Actors Studio in L.A., where, she says, she soon "found my home" studying with Lee Strasberg; at the end of the second season, she married her high school sweetheart; and at the beginning of the third season, she became pregnant with first child. A pregnant nun? "As if I wasn't a walking sight-gag before, I sure was then."

When The Flying Nun's run came to an end, Field, having been exposed to a different sort of acting through the Actors Studio, set her sights on more challenging work - but most of it existed in films, and "it was not doable" to jump from the small screen to the big screen in those days. "I knew that the only way that I could get to the work that I wanted to do was to reinvent myself completely," she says, "and to do that I had to vanish for awhile." When she was ready to return, casting director Diane Crittenden, who was aware of Field's work at the Actors Studio, began to champion her cause. She got Field an audition for the part of "a tart" in Bob Rafelson's 1976 movie Stay Hungry, and Field landed the job, which required a nude scene. Audiences and critics were duly impressed, although the compliments she received were "back-handed." It wasn't until later that same year, for her work as a young woman with multiple personalities in Sybil, which helped to usher in "the brand new world of miniseries," that Field first received unreserved praise, even winning an Emmy.

Not even this acclaim, though, opened the door to roles of comparable quality, since, at the time, the best parts for women still tended to go to great beauties, like Jane Fonda. But a "bizarre" offer came Field's way from, of all places, Burt Reynolds, who wanted her to play his leading lady in 1977's Smokey and the Bandit. Despite a flimsy script, she signed on, under the advice that it might reflect well on her to be starring opposite "a bona fide sex symbol." Smokey was the first of four films they made together over the next few years, during which they also became a couple. But the quality of her parts decreased with each passing project, which she only took on with great reluctance. "I was just trying to stay alive," she says. "I had two children, and it wasn't like I was turning down The Sand Pebbles."

Then, out of the blue, came a call from venerated director Martin Ritt, who had seen Sybil and wanted Field for the title role in his next film, Norma Rae (1979), over the objections of its studio. As she read its script, about a Southern textile mill worker who finds a social consciousness, she recalls, "My hands shook." It was Ritt's faith in her and her total commitment to the part that helped her give a performance so powerful that she ultimately won the best actress Oscar. Remarkably, just six years later, after delivering other standout work in films like Absence of Malice (1981), she won that prize again, this time for her portrayal of a farmer's widow, inspired by director Robert Benton's grandmother, in Benton's Places in the Heart (1984).

Field's second Oscar acceptance speech - in which she said earnestly, "I can't deny the fact that you like me, right now, you like me," but which is "always misquoted" as "You like me, you really like me" - has become legendary, but its backstory is little known. She says of accepting her first Oscar, "I didn't allow myself to feel it ... so I didn't own it." The second time, she continues, "I just said to myself, 'I'm gonna feel it' ... They had a huge, red, glaring light that started flashing in your face ... so I panicked ... and I remembered the part of me that said, 'You didn't say anything that mattered, you didn't say anything genuine,' and I, without knowing it, said what I said ... It just came out."

In the years since then, Field has played a string of matriarchs - in 1989's Steel Magnolias, 1993's Mrs. Doubtfire ("one of the great experiences of my life") and 1994's Forrest Gump (she was cast as Mama Gump even though she is only 10 years older than Tom Hanks and had played his love interest in Punchline just six years earlier). Then, she was at the vanguard of movie stars moving to television, first with a guest arc on E.R. (2001) and then as a regular on Brothers & Sisters (2006-2011), winning Emmys for both. And then, 28 years after her second Oscar win, she returned to the Oscars as a nominee for her work in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln (2012), in which she played Mary Todd Lincoln opposite Daniel Day-Lewis (even though she is 11 years older than him and was 20 years older than her character at the time in which the film takes place).

Now, as she enters her eighth decade, Field is once again the recipient of awards buzz, this time for Michael Showalter's indie Hello, My Name Is Doris, which was made in only three weeks and for just $1 million. The dramedy, which accorded the actress her first leading role in a film in 20 years, was released in March and greeted with strong reviews, especially for Field's portrayal of a socially awkward office worker who becomes smitten with a decades-younger co-worker (Max Greenfield). The part demanded from its leading lady scenes of both high comedy and tragedy, which she had "to weave together without it ever jarring the audience." She says she's grateful for it, since the few three-dimensional roles that exist these days for women over 60 tend to go to Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren - but not for lack of interest on the part of others in that age range, including herself. "It was hugely, hugely challenging," Field reflects, "and in that way incredibly enthralling."
Istanbul (AFP) - The Turkish authorities on Sunday freed a reporter for the BBC's Turkish language service in the southeast of the country after holding her for a day without explanation, the broadcaster said.

Hatice Kamer was detained on Saturday while reporting on a mine disaster in the Kurdish-dominated Siirt region of the southeast that left 11 miners dead and five missing, BBC Turkce (BBC Turkish) said in a statement on its website.

It said she had been held overnight at the Siirt police headquarters and was in a good condition. BBC Turkce added that there was still no explanation over why Kamer had been detained.

Kamer is a board member for the association of journalists in southeast Turkey. As well as BBC Turkce, she works for German broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).

BBC Turkce said that she had been looking to talk to relatives of the miners at the copper mine, which collapsed late on November 17. Rescue efforts are still continuing at the mine.

Dozens of journalists have been detained in Turkey under the state of emergency in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

Critics say the scope of the crackdown goes far beyond measures against the suspected coup plotters and is targeting any critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to the Platform for Independent Journalism website, there are now 145 journalists behind bars in Turkey, which is ranked 151st of 180 countries in the 2016 World Press Freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders.

Several of the journalists under arrest are from the Kurdish-majority southeast where the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) is waging a deadly insurgency against the military.
- By Richard A. Cox





BHP has failed to capitalize on broader trends in metals that should have been supportive for the stock.

Long-term rallies are overdone and there is much stronger potential for downside from here.

Strategy changes provide argument for alternate view but have yet to produce sustainable results.







BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) is a global mining company headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. The company produces various commodities that include petroleum, iron ore, metallurgical coal, copper and uranium. BHP Billiton sells its products directly to its customers through supply agreements and also on global commodity exchanges. Its businesses include Minerals Americas, Minerals Australia, Petroleum and Marketing.





According to reports released Oct. 18, the company's quarterly iron ore production was 58 metric tons (versus 61 metric tons a year ago). This roughly falls in line with what was seen in quarterly copper production which came in at 355 (377) kt and petroleum production which came in at 55 (65) mmboe compared to the same quarter a year ago. Overall, these are somewhat lackluster numbers that could be viewed as either stable or subdued, depending on your point of comparison.

Management directions

In terms of strategic modifications, Woodside acquired half of the Scarborough assets held by BHP and paid $250 million on the completion of the transaction (effective from July 1). This is helpful in terms of the ways the company is showing markets its geographical preferences going forward. On June 26, the company announced that it will invest $900 million in exploration in the next financial year, which is 18% of its overall capital budget.

Clearly, some changes will be required as many of the performance inputs posted by BHP have not met the company's standard. BHP's financial year ended June 30 and annual statutory attributable losses stood at $6.385 billion (versus profits of $1.91 billion a year ago). Revenues for the year were down 31% to $30.912 billion, so the fact that analysts are expecting profit for the year ending 2016 should be viewed as a potential turnaround period. This is largely why analysts are still showing some bullish sentiment on the stock, expecting earnings of 76 cents per share for the financial year ending in 2017. But the real question is whether or not this is providing the headwinds needed to encourage new buy positions in the stock. If this is not the case, we could see some substantial declines from current market levels.

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Business structures

These preemptive strategy shifts have come in line with some important structural changes that have also been present within the company. BHP has implemented cost-cutting measures such as laying off 7% of the 1,060 workers at its Spence copper mine in Chile in a move that was critical in achieving overall profitability. Without moves like this, we would be seeing many more analyst descriptions of the company as being directionless.

Screenshot 2016-11-13 at 3.07.52 PM.png

Chart Source: easyMarkets

In the chart above, we can see that the stock trend is largely moving upward over the last year but its percentage performances over that period have been less impressive. A year ago the stock was trading near $30. BHP hit its lows of $19 in January and valuations have been moving up steadily since then. We are now trading near the 52-week high above $37, so it looks like we will need to see a retracement back toward the lower $30s in order to improve risk to reward ratios for buy positions.

Preferable, however, is the potential for shorting positions, as the company recently reduced its half-yearly dividend to 28 cents, and this should discourage long-term buys for the next few quarters. Dividend cuts have come as a result of not making a profit last year, and the stock is currently yielding 1.7% relative to recent prices. The balance of the evidence suggests that the company will be forced to further reduce the dividend, and this should continue to put pressure on the stock price.

Annualized returns

BHP has generated a 8.05% average annualized return on investment over the last five years, well below the 11.49% average annualized return on equity of the last five years in the sector as a whole. These trends are confirmed in other readings as well, as the company now shows a five-year annualized sales growth decline of 15.5%, while the industry average is 8.26% for same period. It can be argued that the negative growth is mainly due to falling in commodity prices and a global slowdown in demand.

Another supportive factor is that BHP's five-year average annualized return on assets is 6.7% (marginally better than the industry average of 4.9%). But the real question here is whether or not this will be enough to turn the tide and prevent significant declines from current levels. Thus far, most indicators are pointing in the "no" direction, and this makes the stock much more attractive as a selling opportunity at current levels.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.






BMW is an iconic brand in the automobile industry, well-established and well-liked, but that hasnt translated to success for the German automaker when it comes to electric vehicles. Having sold only about 25,000 of the i3 hatchbacks in 2015, the company is planning to upgrade its small car next year.

German weekly Welt am Sonntag (in German) reported Sunday the i3 will get a makeover that will see both the front and rear ends of the car reworked. Additionally, new battery technology will give the vehicle increased range as well, which BMW says is currently 114 miles on full charge. The range can be extended up to 180 miles using a Range Extender.

The Sunday newspaper, which cited company sources, did not specify what the new range would be with the new battery, but said the increase would be less than a 50 percent, keeping it well below the 200 mile range.

By way of comparison, Tesla Motors Model S with its new P100D battery offers over 300 miles on a single charge. Of course, there is a substantial cost difference. The 2017 BMW i3 with Range Extender costs $47,450, not including destination and handling charges, while the rear wheel-drive version of Model S with a 60 kWh battery (range up to 210 miles) without any add-ons costs about $68,000, including $1,200 for destination and documentation fee.

BMWi3

Photo: REUTERS/Chaiwat Subprasom

The newspaper also spoke with Klaus Frohlich from BMWs development division about the companys autonomous driving vehicle plans. Frohlich said the company wanted to see a common standard across the industry when it came to self-driving vehicles, and that they used the same number of sensors and same systems.

Five months ago, BMW announced a self-driving collaboration with Intel and Mobileye. The latter is an Israeli company that worked with Tesla on its Autopilot system before parting ways over what it called Tesla pushing the envelope in terms of safety. Tesla refuted the allegations, saying the split was caused due to its development of its own video-processing system and commercial issues.

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Brasilia (AFP) - Ambitious projects such as satellites that could bring the internet to the remote Amazon and construction of Brazil's first nuclear submarine will proceed despite a deep economic downturn, the defense minister told AFP.

Raul Jungmann said he will be in France this Thursday to take delivery of the first of three communications and defense satellites built by France's Thales and due for launching on March 21 next year.

The nearly six tonne, 2.1 billion reais ($617 million) satellite is at the core of a modernization of Brazil's military that Jungmann said will still take hits during planned government austerity cuts.

"We know there's going to be a new fiscal policy with a spending ceiling. We know we'll have to cut back," he said in an interview in Brasilia.

However, some projects "are already at an advanced stage and cannot be stopped, like the nuclear submarine or the four conventional submarines that are also being developed in France," he said. "Three of them are already being built."

Swedish Gripen war planes whose payment schedule he said "is sufficiently flexible" will also survive the cuts.

But with President Michel Temer pushing an austerity strategy through Congress, starting with a proposed 20-year freeze on budget increases, "there are other things we need to review," he said.

The satellite program remains a top priority, described by the minister as a chance for Brazil "to achieve a technological standard that we don't have today."

Stationed over Ecuador, the network will cover all of South America, the southern Atlantic and the west coast of Africa, "what we call Brazil's strategic sphere," Jungmann said.

The network will expand broadband coverage throughout Brazil, "which is an enormous advance for society. It will allow it to reach remote places, the Amazon for example," the minister added.

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The telecoms satellites will also bring new security for Brazil by putting all government communications under the country's control and strengthening military communications, he said.

- Big army, no enemy -

Brazil maintains one of the largest militaries in the Americas, partly to patrol its huge borders, which include 4,660 miles (7,500 kilometers) of coastline.

Jungmann said the military is concerned by the proximity of "major drug producers and that Brazil, especially in urban centers, has unfortunately turned into a drug consumer. An integrated market has developed both for drugs and weapons."

Although Brazil is not involved in any active conflicts abroad, it has used its military to project influence, including with a major peacekeeping mission to Haiti.

The military has also been called on to support outgunned police in battles with drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro. Members of the armed forces were also deployed around the country earlier this year to assist in a campaign against mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.

The military ruled Brazil during a dictatorship from 1964 to 1985. However, its powers have since been curbed and now -- at a time the country is being shaken by its worst recession in decades and a cascade of corruption scandals -- is widely seen as the country's most trusted institution.
By Lisandra Paraguassu BRASILIA (Reuters) - President Michel Temer said on Sunday that he and leaders of Brazil's Congress will not allow an amnesty for election slush funds sought by some lawmakers to avoid prosecution for receiving graft money. Temer called a news conference to staunch a deepening crisis over new corruption allegations against members of his government that are causing new political uncertainty that is delaying economic recovery from a severe recession. "We agreed there will no consideration of an amnesty for slush funds or any other electoral crime," he said, flanked by the leaders of the Senate and lower chamber of Congress. Brazil's political establishment is under fire for trying to shield itself from the sprawling corruption investigation surrounding state-controlled oil company Petrobras that threatens to implicate more than 100 politicians for taking kickbacks. Temer, who replaced impeached leftist Dilma Rousseff earlier this year vowing to clean up government, lost a fourth Cabinet minister to corruption allegations on Friday. Lawmakers drawing up anti-corruption legislation have discussed proposals for an amnesty for past election crimes involving illegal funding that came form graft money. Temer said he would veto any such move. He acknowledged, however, that his government is worried about the expected fallout from a massive leniency and plea bargain deal being signed with federal prosecutors by Brazil's largest engineering consortium Odebrecht. Dozens of the company's executives are expected to make plea statements on who they paid bribes to, which could implicate as many as 200 politicians in Congress, many from Temer's governing coalition, including members of his Cabinet. Temer called on the Congress to focus on passing fiscal belt-tightening measures he has proposed to cut spending and reduce a widening budget deficit so that the country can return to growth and emerge from its worst recession since the 1930s. "We are fighting the recession step by step and we are now starting to foster growth," he said. His government is looking for a reduction in interest rates to spur economic activity, but a recovery will not come until the second half of next year, Temer said. (Writing by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Tokyo (AFP) - Olympic silver medallists Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the NHK Trophy ice-dance title on Sunday, bagging a world record score with their dazzling performance.

The duo skated to the crown with a combined 195.84 points, earning a standing ovation at the Makomanai Ice Arena in the northern Japan city of Sapporo.

The score eclipsed the previous record of 195.52, which brought gold to the American duo of Meryl Davis and Charlie White in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

It was "a huge task" for the Canadian dancers to compete against a field that included the French world champions, Virtue said.

"They inspired us every day... Luckily we're able to just focus on our job and compete like we trained," he said.

The world record marked a stunning return to competition for a couple who had been off the circuit since taking the silver medal at Sochi two years ago.

Moir said they had missed competing and the structure of training.

"We missed pushing ourselves, so we're so pleased to be in this position to make art and create material that we're proud of.

"We just can't wait to get home and build this programme even more," she said.

Virtue said the duo would try to keep up the momentum towards the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Two-time world and European champions Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France finished second, with Italian veterans Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte coming third.

The French ice dancers, we well as Canada's Moir and Virtue, qualify for the Grand Prix Final in Marseille, France, on December 8-11.

In the men's competition, Japan's reigning Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu retained his NHK Trophy title on Saturday, moving into high gear as he aims for a record fourth straight triumph in the Grand Prix Final.

In the women's competition, World bronze medallist Anna Pogorilaya of Russia won the trophy, while two-time and reigning world champions Meagan Duhamel/Eric Radford of Canada triumphed in the pairs component.

The NHK Trophy is the last of six events in the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.
JONESBORO, Ark. (AP) -- Devin Carter hit 7 of 12 3-pointers and scored 25 points and Arkansas State turned back Lehigh 97-89 on Sunday.

Deven Simms was 9 of 15 from the field and scored 19 points for the Red Wolves (6-1). Three others scored in double figures and Donte Thomas had 11 assists to go with nine points.

Arkansas State shot 58 percent, making half of its 14 3s and Carter and Simms combined for 27 points to produce a 53-32 lead at the half. The advantage was 29 with 11:26 to play when the Mountain Hawks charged back, closing within six with 11.8 seconds remaining.

Lehigh (2-3) shot 63 percent (22 of 35) in the second half with Tim Kempton going 8 of 8 from the field and scoring 18 of his 30 to match his career high. Kahron Ross added 21.

The Red Wolves blunted the rally by going 15 of 19 from the line in the second half.
By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Baptized as a Roman Catholic and educated by Jesuits, Fidel Castro became a persecutor of the Church after seizing power in Cuba in 1959. Nearly 40 years later, he began a rapprochement that was eventually to enable the Vatican to broker a historic resumption of ties between Cuba and the United States. Despite the contradictions and about-turns, Castro, who died aged 90 on Friday, believed it was possible to be a kind of Christian while remaining true to the cause of revolutionary socialism. "If people call me Christian, not from the standpoint of religion but from the standpoint of social vision, I declare that I am a Christian," he said in 2006, shortly before illness forced him to hand over power to his brother Raul. The change in tone was evidenced on Saturday when Pope Francis, who met Castro in Cuba last year, said that his death was "sad news" and that he was grieving and praying for his repose. Yet in his early years in power, Castro saw the Church as an enemy. Angered by its denunciation of communism, he nationalized Catholic schools, muzzled Church publications and expelled many priests. About 130 were rounded up on just one night in 1961 and bundled onto a freighter bound for Spain. Fast-forward to 1991, when the break-up of the Soviet Union deprived Cuba of its main financial backer. Facing economic crisis, Castro began loosening some restrictions on the Church and courting the Vatican as a diplomatic partner. The Communist Party dropped its ban on believers in its ranks. The breakthrough came in 1998 when Pope John Paul visited Cuba, leading to the lifting of more restrictions and the reinstatement of Christmas as a national holiday. Castro attended nearly every papal event and sat in the front row at Masses. During that trip, the first by any pontiff, John Paul said "Let Cuba open itself to the world and the world open itself to Cuba" and called for an end to "El Bloqueo", the U.S. trade embargo. The visit galvanized the local Church, infusing it with more courage to stand up to the communist government on human rights abuses and to press for the release of political prisoners. After Raul Castro took over, the Church in Cuba supported his efforts to reform the Soviet-style command economy. The 2013 election of the popular Francis, the first Latin American pope, and his defense of social justice, have further warmed relations with the Vatican. In May 2015, Raul stopped in Rome to thank the pope for brokering the thaw between Havana and Washington and said Francis so impressed him that he might return to the Church, despite being a communist. He has yet to do so, although he did attend papal Masses during Francis' trip to Cuba in September 2016. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Caterpillar (CAT) has had a hard time the past few years and the need for heavy equipment has faltered. Better results and the election of Donald Trump, however, have driven its shares higher Shares are up 41% to $95.81

Caterpillar has overwhelmingly outperformed the Dow (DJIA), which has risen 9.9% to 19,152. Over five years, the Dow is up 59% while CAT is flat

The third quarter was an example of CAT's malaise. The company reported:

...profit per share of $0.48 for the third quarter of 2016, a decrease from $0.94 per share in the third quarter of 2015. Excluding restructuring costs, profit per share was $0.85, down from $1.05 per share in the third quarter of 2015. Third-quarter 2016 sales and revenues of $9.2 billion were down 16 percent from $11.0 billion in the third quarter of 2015.

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"Economic weakness throughout much of the world persists and, as a result, most of our end markets remain challenged. In North America, the market has an abundance of used construction equipment, rail customers have a substantial number of idle locomotives, and around the world there are a significant number of idle mining trucks," said Caterpillar Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Doug Oberhelman. "However, there were a few bright spots this quarter. Both the construction industry and our machine market position improved in China. Most commodity prices, while low, seem to have stabilized. Parts sales have increased sequentially in each of the last two quarters. Our machine market position and quality remain at high levels and our work on Lean and restructuring are continuing to help us lower costs.

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Investors.com explained the surge which offset revenue performance anxiety:

Caterpillar (CAT) and other large industrial companies' shares jumped Wednesday on Donald Trump's victory as infrastructure, oil and gas and coal mining projects could jump start under the new president.

Caterpillar shares soared 7.7% to 91.20 in the stock market today, jumping out of buy range and hitting its best levels since the end of 2014.

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Trump has said he would remove "job-destroying" regulations on coal and other energy sources in his first 100 days in office and would "cancel" the Paris climate pact.

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Caterpillar has been moving away from some coal services businesses but still has large coal mining equipment operations. It also produces construction equipment.

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* Profits in Jan-Oct rose 8.6 pct, versus 8.4 pct in Jan-Sept

* Structure of growth not ideal - NBS official

* Profit growth skewed to traditional raw material industry

* High technology and equipment manufacturing profit growth slowed (Adds comment, breakdown in profits by industry)

BEIJING, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Profit growth in China's industrial sector picked up in October, aided by stronger sales and higher prices, suggesting further strengthening of the world's second-largest economy, though growth was skewed towards high-polluting heavy industry.

There has been widespread speculation in China's commodities futures market this year, with coal prices hitting records in recent weeks, and economists say growth driven by loose money policies won't last.

Indeed, a subdued property market is expected to drag on growth in the first two quarters next year, as policymakers introduce curbs to cool home prices, which could hit profits of companies producing construction materials.

Profits in October rose 9.8 percent to 616.1 billion yuan ($89.1 billion), the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement on Sunday. Profits in September rose 7.7 percent.

Industrial profits rose 8.6 percent in the first 10 months from the same period a year earlier, similar to an 8.4 percent growth rate in the first nine months of the year.

Profits in the coal mining sector rose 112.9 percent for January-October from the same period a year earlier while manufacturing profits rose 13.2 percent.

"Although October industrial profit growth picked up, the structure of growth was not ideal," NBS official He Ping said in a statement accompanying the data.

"Profits in traditional raw material production increased relatively quickly...while high technology and equipment manufacturing profit growth slowed," He said.

Profit growth was overly reliant on rising prices, and industrial firms need organic improvement to see better results, He added.

Profits for iron and steel production and processing companies rose 310.2 percent in January-October.

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China's producer prices jumped more than expected in October as prices of coal and other raw materials surged in the midst of a supply crunch and a pick-up in the economy. The producer price index is also expected to stay positive in coming months.

Chinese industrial firms' liabilities at the end of October were 5.1 percent higher than at the same point last year and rose slower than assets.

The data covers large enterprises with annual revenues of more than 20 million yuan from their main operations.

Profits at state firms rose 0.4 percent in the first 10 months of 2016 from a year earlier, marking the first increase in year-to-date earnings for state-owned companies this year, the finance ministry said on Friday.

China's industrial profits have rebounded strongly this year after falling last year, boosted by a recovery in commodities prices as supply tightened due to a capacity reduction drive and an infrastructure boom.

($1 = 6.9176 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by Elias Glenn; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Havana (AFP) - Nightclubs closed, baseball games were suspended and booze was banned Sunday as Cuba prepared to send off revolutionary leader Fidel Castro with days of tributes and a cross-country funeral procession.

Cubans braced for a series of events to commemorate the life of the man who ruled the communist island for decades, played a major role in the Cold War and was loved or loathed by many.

Students left candles burning next to a portrait of the black-bearded communist firebrand during a vigil at Havana University.

A giant photo of Castro was hung outside the National Library on Revolution Square, where throngs of people are expected to pay their last respects Monday and Tuesday, kicking off a series of memorials.

The portrait shows a young Fidel carrying a backpack and rifle during the Cuban Revolution, which brought him to power in 1959.

A titan of the 20th century who beat the odds to endure into the 21st, Castro died late Friday after surviving 11 US administrations and hundreds of assassination attempts. No cause of death was given.

"It is a great loss. The most important thing is that he died when he chose, not when all the counter-revolutionaries wanted," said Carlos Manuel Obregon Rodriguez, a 43-year-old taxi driver in Havana.

"It may not be painful for everyone, but it is for a lot of people. I was born under this revolution and I owe Fidel a lot," he added.

President Raul Castro said his older brother's remains would be cremated. There was no official confirmation of whether that had yet happened.

Dissidents who endured Fidel's iron-fisted rule kept a low profile. The Ladies in White opposition group cancelled a regular Sunday protest in what they said was a show of respect for those mourning Castro.

"We are not happy about the death of a man, a human being. We are happy about the death of dictators," Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White, told AFP.

- Funeral procession -

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Castro's ashes will go on a four-day island-wide procession starting Wednesday before being buried in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba on December 4.

Santiago, Cuba's second city, was the scene of Castro's ill-fated first attempt at revolution in 1953 -- six years before he succeeded in ousting the US-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista.

Castro ruled until handing power to Raul Castro in 2006 due to poor health.

Ordinary Cubans hailed him for providing free health care and education. But he cracked down harshly on dissent, jailing and exiling opponents.

- Dancing in Miami -

The news of Castro's death drew strong -- and polarized -- reactions across the world.

In Miami, just 370 kilometers (230 miles) away, crowds of celebrating Cuban-Americans danced in the streets.

Amid the din of car horns, drums and singing in the Little Havana neighborhood, a chant rang out: "Fidel, you tyrant, take your brother, too!"

Some two million Cubans live in the United States, nearly 70 percent of them in Florida, where so many islanders have fled to since the 1959 revolution.

Cuban-American politicians excoriated Castro, with Florida Senator Marco Rubio calling him an "evil, murderous dictator who inflicted misery and suffering on his own people."

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed Castro as "the symbol of an era," and China's Xi Jinping said "Comrade Castro will live forever."

There were sharply different US reactions from outgoing President Barack Obama and President-elect Donald Trump.

Obama, who embarked on a historic rapprochement with Cuba in 2014, said the US extended a "hand of friendship" to the Cuban people.

But Trump dismissed Castro as "a brutal dictator."

The future of the US-Cuban thaw is uncertain under Trump, who has threatened to reverse course if Havana does not allow greater respect for human rights.

- Mourning in Havana -

Havana was unusually quiet after alcohol sales were restricted and shows and baseball matches suspended.

Fidel Castro, who came to power as a bearded, cigar-chomping 32-year-old, adopted the slogan "socialism or death" and kept his faith to the end.

He survived more than 600 assassination attempts, according to aides, as well as the failed 1961 US-backed Bay of Pigs invasion.

His outrage over that botched plot contributed to the Cuban missile crisis the following year, when the world stood on the brink of nuclear war.

The USSR bankrolled Castro's regime until 1989, when the Soviet bloc's collapse sent Cuba's economy into free-fall.

But Fidel managed to hang on, ceding power to his brother in July 2006 to recover from intestinal surgery.

Raul Castro has begun very gradually to liberalize the economy and strengthen ties with former foreign foes.

Analysts said the elder brother's presence still weighed on his brother's rule.

Fidel Castro's death "will probably speed up the economic reforms," said Jorge Duany, a Cuba specialist at Florida International University.
Havana (AFP) - Cuban dissidents called off a regular protest on Sunday as the communist island prepared for days of tributes to the late revolutionary icon Fidel Castro.

The Ladies in White movement decided to stay home "out of respect" for those who mourn Castro and to avoid being accused of committing any act of "provocation in the streets," said the group's leader, Berta Soler.

"We are not happy about the death of a man, a human being. We are happy about the death of dictators," Soler told AFP as Cuba prepared a week of events to bid farewell to Fidel Castro, who died Friday at age 90.

The Ladies in White group was founded in 2003 after Fidel Castro's regime imprisoned 75 dissidents. While all have since been granted conditional releases, the group has held a protest almost every week.

Fidel Castro had transferred power to his brother Raul after falling ill in 2006, and Soler predicted that the communist regime would not change.

"It will be the same Cuba with one dictator instead of two. The dictator Fidel Castro died and the dictator Raul Castro remains," said Soler, 53, a former microbiology technician.

Dissidents were also lying low in Santiago de Cuba, the eastern city where Castro's ashes will be laid to rest next Sunday.

"We are not happy (about Fidel's death) and we will stay quiet, even though he is the main person responsible for the misery and lack of political rights in Cuba," said former prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer.

"We won't conduct any actions against the regime in the streets in the next days, especially out of caution in the face of the repression we could face," he said.

Marta Beatriz Roque, one of the 75 people detained in 2003, said Fidel's passing could prompt Raul Castro to enact more reforms.

"Raul has a freer hand to do things that he couldn't do before ... out of respect for his brother," Roque said from her home in Havana.

Roque was watching television in her home on Friday night when Raul Castro appeared to announce his brother's death.

While she was imprisoned by Fidel's government, she said that due to her Catholic faith, "I am not happy about the death of anybody -- even if it was the devil."
By Marc Frank and Nelson Acosta HAVANA (Reuters) - Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States and for five decades defied U.S. efforts to topple him, died on Friday. He was 90. A towering figure of the 20th century and Cold War icon, Castro stuck to his ideology beyond the collapse of Soviet communism and remained widely respected in parts of the world that struggled against colonial rule. Castro had been in poor health since an intestinal ailment nearly killed him in 2006. He formally ceded power to his younger brother, Raul, two years later. Wearing a green military uniform, a somber Raul, 85, appeared on state television on Friday night to announce Fidel's death, 60 years to the day since the two brothers and dozens of supporters left Mexico on a boat to take revolution to Cuba. "At 10:29 at night, the chief commander of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, died," he said, without giving a cause of death. "Ever onward, to victory," he said, using the slogan of the Cuban revolution. A mix of tributes and condemnation poured in from allies and foes around the world. "History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him," U.S. President Barack Obama said, extending "a hand of friendship" to Cuba. Obama's elected successor, Donald Trump, issued a blunt statement calling Castro "a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades." "Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights," Trump said. Venezuela's socialist president, Nicolas Maduro, urged revolutionaries to follow Castro's legacy, while Chinese President Xi Jinping said "the Chinese people have lost a close comrade and a sincere friend." DECADES OF HOSTILITY Raul Castro, who glorified his older brother, has nonetheless changed Cuba by introducing market-style economic reforms and agreeing with the United States in December 2014 to re-establish diplomatic ties and end decades of hostility. It is unclear whether Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, will continue efforts to normalize relations with Cuba or fulfill a campaign promise to close the U.S. embassy in Havana once again. Fidel Castro himself offered only lukewarm support for the 2014 deal with Washington, raising questions about whether he approved of ending hostilities with his longtime enemy, a conflict that took the world to the brink of nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. He did not meet Barack Obama when he visited Havana earlier this year, the first time an American president had stepped foot on Cuban soil since 1928. Days later, Fidel wrote a scathing newspaper column condemning Obama's "honey-coated" words and reminding Cubans of the U.S. efforts to overthrow the Communist government. Cuba has declared nine days of mourning, during which time Castro's ashes will be taken to different parts of the country. A burial ceremony will be held on Dec. 4. There will be no top level games of baseball - Castro's passion after politics - for the nine-day mourning period, the sport's national federation declared. Hundreds of students gathered in Havana on Saturday to honor Castro, and mass rallies are planned for the coming days. "When I found out Fidel had died, I felt such pain. I cried," said Badanys Rodriguez, 39, proudly showing off a tattoo on his shoulder of late Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, one of Castro's closest comrades in the revolution. However, in Miami, where many exiles from Castro's government live, a large crowd waving Cuban flags cheered, danced and banged on pots and pans to celebrate the passing of a man they loathed. MILITARY FATIGUES, CIGARS The bearded Fidel Castro took power in a 1959 revolution and ruled Cuba for 49 years with a mix of charisma and iron will, creating a one-party state and becoming a central figure in the Cold War. He was demonized by the United States and its allies for his repression of dissent at home and support of rebellion abroad, but admired by many leftists around the world, especially in Latin America and Africa. Nelson Mandela, once freed from prison in 1990, repeatedly thanked Castro for his efforts in helping to weaken apartheid. In April, in a rare public appearance at the Communist Party conference, Fidel Castro shocked party apparatchiks by referring to his own imminent mortality. "Soon I will be like all the rest. Our turn comes to all of us, but the ideas of the Cuban communists will remain," he said. Transforming Cuba from a playground for rich Americans into a symbol of resistance to Washington, Castro crossed swords with 10 U.S. presidents while in power, and outlasted nine of them. He fended off a U.S.-backed invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 and claimed he survived or evaded hundreds of assassination attempts, including some conjured up by the CIA. Wearing green military fatigues and chomping on cigars for many of his years in power, Castro was famous for long, fist-pounding speeches filled with blistering rhetoric, often aimed at the United States. At home, he swept away capitalism and won support for bringing schools and hospitals to the poor. But he also created legions of enemies and critics, concentrated among the exiles in Miami who saw him as a ruthless tyrant. "With Castro's passing, some of the heat may go out of the antagonism between Cuba and the United States, and between Cuba and Miami, which would be good for everyone," said William M. LeoGrande, co-author of a book on U.S.-Cuba relations. Castro's death - which would once have thrown a major question mark over Cuba's future - seems unlikely to trigger a crisis as Raul Castro is firmly ensconced in power. Fidel Castro no longer held leadership posts in his final years. He wrote newspaper commentaries on world affairs and occasionally met foreign leaders, but lived in semi-seclusion. Still, the death of the man known to most Cubans as "El Comandante" - the commander - or simply "Fidel" leaves a void in the country he dominated for so long. It also underlines the generational change in Cuba's communist leadership. Raul Castro has vowed to step down when his term ends in 2018, and the Communist Party has elevated younger leaders to its Politburo, including 56-year-old Miguel Diaz-Canel, who is first vice president and the heir apparent. REVOLUTIONARY ICON A Jesuit-educated lawyer, Fidel Castro led the revolution that ousted U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959. Aged 32, he quickly took control of Cuba and sought to transform it into an egalitarian society. His government improved the living conditions of the very poor, achieved health and literacy levels on a par with rich countries and rid Cuba of a powerful Mafia presence. But he also cracked down on dissent, jailed his opponents, seized private businesses and homes, and monopolized the media. Hundreds of thousands of Cubans fled the island. "The dictator Fidel Castro has died, the cause of many deaths in Cuba, Latin America and Africa," said Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the island's largest dissident group, the Patriotic Union of Cuba. Many dissidents settled in Florida, influencing U.S. policy toward Cuba and plotting Castro's demise. Some even trained in the Florida swamps for the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. But they could never dislodge him. In 1962, the United States imposed a damaging trade embargo that Castro blamed for most of Cuba's ills, using it to his advantage to rally patriotic fury. Over the years, he expanded his influence by sending Cuban troops into faraway wars, including 350,000 to fight in Africa. They provided critical support to a left-wing government in Angola and contributed to the independence of Namibia in a war that helped end apartheid in South Africa. Castro also won friends by sending tens of thousands of Cuban doctors abroad to treat the poor and bringing young people from developing countries to train them as physicians. 'HISTORY WILL ABSOLVE ME' Born on Aug. 13, 1926, in Biran, eastern Cuba, Castro was the son of a Spanish immigrant who became a wealthy landowner. Angry at social conditions and Batista's dictatorship, Castro launched his revolution on July 26, 1953, with a failed assault on the Moncada barracks in the eastern city of Santiago. "History will absolve me," he declared during his trial. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was released in 1955 after a pardon that would come back to haunt Batista. Castro went into exile in Mexico and prepared a small rebel army to fight Batista, including "Che" Guevara. On Nov. 25, 1956, Castro and a ragtag band of 81 followers set sail from the Mexican port of Tuxpan aboard an overloaded yacht called "Granma," reaching Cuba in early December. Only 12, including Fidel, Raul and Guevara, escaped a government ambush when they landed in eastern Cuba. Taking refuge in the rugged Sierra Maestra mountains, they built a guerrilla force of several thousand fighters who, along with urban rebel groups, defeated Batista's military in just over two years. Early on, at the height of the Cold War, Castro allied Cuba to the Soviet Union, which protected the Caribbean island and was its principal benefactor for three decades. The alliance brought in $4 billion worth of aid annually, including everything from oil to guns, but also provoked the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis when the United States discovered Soviet missiles on the island. Convinced that the United States was about to invade Cuba, Castro urged the Soviets to launch a nuclear attack. Cooler heads prevailed. Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. President John F. Kennedy agreed the Soviets would withdraw the missiles in return for a U.S. promise never to invade Cuba. The United States also secretly agreed to remove its nuclear missiles from Turkey. 'SPECIAL PERIOD' When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, an isolated Cuba fell into an economic crisis that lasted for years and was known as the "special period." Food, transport and basics such as soap were scarce and energy shortages led to frequent and long blackouts. Castro undertook a series of tentative economic reforms to get through the crisis, including opening up to foreign tourism. The economy improved when Venezuela's late socialist leader, Hugo Chavez, who looked up to Castro as a hero, came to the rescue with cheap oil. Aid from communist-run China also helped, but Venezuelan support has eased since Chavez's death in 2013. Plagued by chronic economic problems, Cuba's population of 11 million has endured decades of hardship, although not the deep poverty, violent crime and government neglect of many other developing countries. Cuban state workers earn on average the equivalent of $25 a month and struggle to make ends meet even in an economy where education and healthcare are free and many basic goods and services are heavily subsidized. Still, for most Cubans, Castro has been the ubiquitous figure of their lives. Many love him and share his faith in communism, and even some who abandoned their political belief still respect him. "For everyone in Cuba and outside his death is very sad," said Havana resident Luis Martinez. "It is very painful news." (Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Marc Frank, Sarah Marsh and Simon Gardner; Additional reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Editing by Kieran Murray, Bill Rigby, Jonathan Oatis and Jacqueline Wong)
By Simon Gardner and Ana Isabel Martinez HAVANA (Reuters) - From the Bay of Pigs invasion to a historic visit by President Barack Obama to Havana, Cubans have known for generations that whenever the United States turns its face to Cuba, Fidel Castro would be staring right back. But the death of "El Comandante" has added to worries among Cubans that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will slam the door shut on nascent trade and travel ties, undoing two years of detente with the United States under Obama. Many Cubans believe they could do with their late leader's charisma and way with words to counter Trump's bombast. "With 'El Comandante' gone, I am a little fearful of what could happen because of Trump's way of thinking and acting," said Yaneisi Lara, a 36-year-old Havana street vendor and flower seller. "He could set back and block everything that's been going on, all the things Obama has done. And he did a lot, managing to get the U.S. closer to Cuba," she said, admitting she would consider moving to the United States herself. Trump has struck a very different tone from Obama, who reached an agreement two years ago with Castro's younger brother, President Raul Castro, to end half a century of hostilities. Late in his election campaign, Trump sought to reassure Cuban-American voters in Florida that he was firm in his opposition to the Castros, and pledged that, if elected, he would close down the newly re-opened U.S. embassy in Havana. Earlier on, in the primary contests to pick the Republican presidential nominee, Trump said he thought restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba was fine, but that Obama ought to have cut a better deal. Now that Trump has won the presidency, it is hard to know exactly what his approach to Cuba will be. "None of that has been decided," Trump's senior adviser, Kellyanne Conway, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. "The president-elect will make those decisions once he takes office." However, Reince Priebus, who will be Trump's chief of staff when he takes office on Jan. 20, said Trump would call for more political freedoms from the Cuban government, and that if he did not get this he would roll back Obama's opening. "There isn't going to be a one-way relationship from the United States to Cuba without some action from the Castro administration," Priebus said on "Fox News Sunday." After the death of the 90-year-old Fidel Castro on Friday, Obama called him a "singular figure," while Trump described him as a "brutal dictator." Castro began his career as a revolutionary by toppling a U.S.-backed government, repelled a CIA-backed counter-revolutionary invasion at the Bay of Pigs in 1961, and faced off against President John F. Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis a year later. During 49 years in office, he crossed swords with 10 U.S. presidents. And while he took a lower profile after officially retiring in 2008, Castro never stopped warning Cubans that the American government was not to be trusted. Although moving closer to the United States, Raul Castro has not given up much ground to the Obama administration in terms of liberalizing Cuba's one-party political system. Obama did not succeed in convincing Congress to lift the United States' tough economic embargo on Cuba, but he personally opposed the sanctions and used executive actions to allow more contact and commerce. The first U.S. commercial flight to Havana in about half a century is due to arrive on Monday. 'POLAR OPPOSITE' Trump could easily review such measures. He has included Mauricio Claver-Carone, a leading advocate for maintaining a tough economic embargo, in his transition team. Without giving any specifics, Trump said on Saturday that his administration would "do all it can" once he takes office to help increase freedom and prosperity for Cuban people after the death of Castro. "Trump is the polar opposite of Obama," said burly Havana taxi driver Pablo Fernandez Martinez, 39, as he hustled for work. Life in Cuba remains hard for its educated but underemployed people, but engagement with the United States has brought in more dollars. Martinez fears that could dry up in Trump's administration. "There will probably be less tourist traffic. That will affect everyone in Cuba, and hit the economy," said Martinez, who earns $100-$120 a week driving for foreigners. Pedro Machado, 68, is a retired engineer in marine research who now rents out rooms in his airy apartment near Havana's "Malecon" seafront. Watching television with his wife, Machado worried that Trump's angry rhetoric could spell trouble. "Trump's policies are very aggressive. We'll have to see what he actually does. But it certainly looks like bad news for Latin America and for Cuba in particular," he said. "My generation benefited from Fidel's revolution, in terms of education, the poor were helped. Not everything was a bed of roses, but Fidel helped us," he added "The United States has acted as an empire, and that's what Trump represents. Given what he has said, the future is not looking great." (Additional reporting by Marc Frank; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Kieran Murray and Frances Kerry)
The Fairbanks Police Department has announced that their preliminary investigation shows that 22-year-old McKay Hutton is allegedly responsible for shooting three other victims before turning the gun on himself in an apparent murder-suicide in Fairbanks, Alaska, on Friday.

In an update released on the FPD Facebook page late Saturday, authorities said Hutton allegedly shot his mother, 54-year-old Linda Hutton, 22-year-old Emily McDonald and 8-week-old Teagan Hutton. Authorities said they have not yet established a motive in the case.

According to their Facebook pages, McDonald and McKay were married and recently welcomed a child, Teagan. The pair also shared several photos of themselves with a slightly older male child, but it is unclear how he is related to the couple. In the statement, police addressed questions about another child.

That childs identity is not being released at this time but he was not present during this incident and is safe, authorities said. Relationship between this child and any of the victims is still being investigated.

In one post on what appeared to be their anniversary in 2015, McKay gushed about his wife.

Baby Im lucky to find you and Tj, the most important part of my life, he wrote. I cant wait for many more years. Ive never found I person ever in my life that I could be my complete self with and now I will never be complete without you two by my side, thank you for being in my life everyday through it all. I truly understand what true love is thanks to you, thank you we are the few of the lucky ones.

In addition to multiple posts about McDonald and his family, McKay also shared a post on Facebook about defending the Second Amendment and a photo of himself in front of a Dont Tread on Me flag.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

On Friday, police responded to a call from hotel staff at the Hampton Inn regarding a suspicious circumstance, according to the initial statement. When they arrived, they found an adult male crying in the hallway before discovering the four dead bodies, all of which were inflicted by gunshot wounds.

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Police now say that the crying male is a relative of the deceased, but he was not present during the shooting and they will not release his name at this time.

All four autopsies are scheduled to take place on Monday in Anchorage, Alaska.




St. Marks School of Texas, the prep school attended by the white nationalist Richard Spencer, has denounced the former students racist ideals.

School headmaster David W. Dini issued a statement against Spencer on Friday, days after a video was released showing him quoting Nazi propaganda in German in a highly anti-Semitic speech during a white nationalist conference held to celebrate Donald Trumps election win. Several audience members raised Nazi salutes toward the end of the speech.

This has been deeply troubling and terribly upsetting to our whole school community, Dini wrote. At St. Marks, we reject racism and bigotry in all its forms and expressions.

Dini wrote that Spencers ideas and views conflict directly with our core values and principles.

We remain deeply committed to including and valuing all students of different backgrounds, races, religions, beliefs, and experiences, and our commitment to those ideals is paramount and immutable, Dini wrote.

Former classmates of Spencer have also expressed their dismay, and set up an online fundraiser for the International Rescue Committee, in an effort to settle refugees in Dallas. So far, the group has raised more than $40,000.
Daniel Kellys face may have told another story at the end of the fight, but he pulled out the victory over Chris Camozzi at UFC Fight Night 101 on Saturday (Sunday local time) in Melbourne, Australia.

Camozzi got off to a strong start using his jab and lead leg kicks to keep Kellys powerful left hand at bay. It worked well for several minutes, but Kelly kept looping big overhand punches. They mostly missed, but he took some of the wind out of Camozzis sails about three minutes into the round, when he landed several hard lefts.

Camozzi swung the fight back in his favor, landing a left elbow on a charging Kelly that sliced him open across his scalp line. It wasn't a dangerous cut, but it bled steadily for the remainder of the fight, painting Kelly's face and the canvas with a crimson sheen.

Kelly took the fight back in the second stanza, as he tripped Camozzi to the canvas early and kept him there for the remainder of the round. While he didnt do a lot of visible damage, Kelly maintained control and kept feeding a steady supply of ground and pound, doing some strong work with several knees to the ribs from side control.

RELATED > UFC Melbourne: Whittaker vs. Brunson Live Results and Fight Stats

Though youd expect it to be the 39-year-old Aussie to fade as the fight wore on, he only seemed to gain steam heading into the final round.

While Camozzi is the more technically proficient striker of the two, Kelly outgunned him on power punches, while Camozzi mostly countered and jabbed to start the third round.

Kelly kept pressing forward, eventually securing a takedown in the final minute-and-a-half of the round. He controlled the remainder of the fight on the canvas, passing to side control and jackhammering with his left hand in the waning seconds of the fight.

I thought I had the first two rounds anyway (although) he cut me up a little bit, said Kelly after the judges issued a unanimous decision in his favor.

I knew if it went to time after the first two rounds, it was a good chance of winning the fight and I did.

Kelly is now on a three-fight winning streak, and upped his overall record to 12-1, likely punching his ticket into more high profile fights.

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By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Denmark's Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on Sunday he had agreed to form a new government with the Liberal Alliance and the Conservative Party, reducing the risk of snap elections. The deal, announced on Twitter, allows Rasmussen to cling to power after threats by political allies in recent months to overthrow his minority government due to conflicting demands on tax cuts, immigration and welfare policies. The new government, which will be presented on Monday, will still need support from the Danish People's Party, the largest of the three parties supporting the current government. The populist right-wing party was not invited to join the new government. Since last year's election the government has consisted only of Rasmussen's Liberal Party, which holds just 34 of 179 seats in parliament. Rasmussen said at a press conference that his new government would seek to increase defense spending, and also ease the tax burden on home-owners and the wealthy. Negotiations on abroad 10-year financial reform plan outlined by Rasmussen in August would be postponed until the spring next year, when a new reform plan will be presented, he said. (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
Copenhagen (AFP) - It may be past its sell-by date, but for many Danes it's a tasty proposition: A supermarket in Copenhagen selling surplus food has proved to be so popular it recently opened a second store.

After launching in the gritty inner city district of Amager earlier this year, the "Wefood" project earlier this month drew a long line as it opened a second branch in Norrebro, a trendy neighbourhood popular with left-leaning academics and immigrants.

Hipsters rubbed shoulders with working class mums as a cooking school founded by Claus Meyer -- a co-founder of Copenhagen's celebrated Noma restaurant -- handed out cauliflower soup and bread made from surplus ingredients.

"It's awesome that instead of throwing things out they are choosing to sell it for money. You support a good cause," said Signe Skovgaard Sorensen, a student, after picking up a bottle of upscale olive oil for 20 kroner (2.7 euros, $2.9).

"Isn't it great?" pensioner Olga Fruerlund said, holding up a jar of sweets that she planned to give to her grandchildren for Christmas.

The sweets "can last for a hundred years because there is sugar in them," she added.

Selling expired food is legal in Denmark as long as it is clearly advertised and there is no immediate danger to consuming it.

"We look, we smell, we feel the product and see if it's still consumable," project leader Bassel Hmeidan said.

All products are donated by producers, import and export companies and local supermarkets, and are collected by Wefood's staff, all of whom are volunteers. The store's profit goes to charity.

Prices are around half of what they would be elsewhere, but even its biggest fans would struggle to do their weekly shop here.

The products available depend on what is available from donors, resulting in an eclectic mix that changes from day to day.

One weekday afternoon, customers were greeted by a mountain of Disney and Star Wars-branded popcorn, while the fresh fruit section had been reduced to a handful of rotting apples.

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- Growing awareness -

Food waste has become an increasingly hot topic in recent years, with initiatives ranging from a French ban last year on destroying unsold food products, to a global network of cafes serving dishes with food destined for the scrap heap.

The Britain-based The Real Junk Food Project also opened the country's first food waste supermarket in a warehouse near Leeds in September.

With a greater focus than its Danish peer on feeding the poor, the British project urges customers to simply "pay as they feel".

A UN panel said earlier this month that supermarkets' preference for perfect looking produce and the use of arbitrary "best before" labels cause massive food waste that if reversed could feed the world's hungry.

Nearly 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year, more than enough to sustain the one billion people suffering from hunger globally, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.

Denmark has managed to reduce its food waste by 25 percent over the past five years, partly due to the influential "Stop Wasting Food" group founded by Russian-born activist Selina Juul in 2008.

Juul grew up in the 1980s Soviet Union and says she was shocked by the amount of food being thrown away in Denmark when she moved there as a 13 year old in 1993.

"Surplus food has become very popular," she said of one of the measures advocated by the group: offering heavy discounts on items that are about to expire, which is now done by most Danish supermarkets.

- Supermarkets changing -

Inspired by Juul, one of Denmark's biggest discount chains, Rema 1000, has become an unlikely champion in the battle against food waste.

Two of its main initiatives are about reducing waste after the product has been sold: The company stopped offering bulk discounts in 2008 so that single-person households would not buy more than they could eat.

Last year it reduced the size and price of some of its bread loaves for the same reason.

"The biggest problem with food waste is among the customers," said John Wagner, the chief executive of the Danish Grocers' Association.

Regular supermarkets were becoming better at forecasting demand for different products, but they needed to do more to inform their customers that a lot of food is edible beyond its expiry date.

Wefood next year plans to open in Aarhus, Denmark's second largest city, but Wagner said the brand was unlikely to become a major chain.

"The problem should be solved before we get to the point where we have to give the products to a store like Wefood," he said.
On November 27, 1973, the United States Senate became the first legislative house to act under the 25th Amendment, when it voted to approve Representative Gerald Ford as the new Vice President. A week later, the House also approved Ford, making his appointment official.

President Nixon and Vice Presidential nominee Ford

While it may seem obvious today that a new Vice President should be appointed to fill that office in case of a death, disability, resignation or impeachment, that wasnt the case until 1967.

The 25th Amendment was ratified by the states on February 10, 1967 and it cleared up a lot of issues about presidential and vice presidential succession that were unresolved (or unanticipated) by the Founding Fathers.

It was up to Vice President John Tyler, who found himself in an awkward position after President William Henry Harrisons death in 1841, to set the precedent for presidential succession that lasted until 1967. In Article II, Section 1, the Constitution said that, In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President.

After Harrisons death, there was confusion about Tylers status as Acting President or as the actual President, in title as well as function. Tyler boldly declared himself as President for the remainder of Harrisons term and Congress recognized his title. The precedent held after the deaths of six Presidents in office  Taylor, Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, Harding and Franklin Roosevelt. But after President Dwight Eisenhower had health problems, a congressional effort started to clear up presidential succession questions. President John F. Kennedys assassination in November 1963 made the process imperative.

In the case of a vice presidential vacancy before 1967, the office remained empty until the next general election. In fact, before 1967, the office of Vice President was vacant 16 times due to deaths, resignations and assumptions of the Presidents office.

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The 25th Amendments first use came in October 1973, when President Richard Nixon nominated Gerald Ford to replace Spiro Agnew just two days after Agnews resignation as Vice President.

Part of the push to get Ford approved was related to an expanded constitutional role granted to the Vice President under the 25th Amendment in cases where the President was unable to serve temporarily or permanently. The 25th Amendment made it very clear that the Vice President becomes President in the case of death, resignation and removal from office. It also said that a President can nominate someone to become Vice President if that office is vacant, with the approval of Congress.

Section 3 and 4 established new roles for the Vice President if the President were unable to perform his or her official duties. Certainly, one potential constitutional crisis would be the lack of a Vice President in office to start a Section 4 disability review of a President. Another is the lack of a constitutional or legal precedent for someone to act as a temporary Vice President, to start the Section 4 review process.

In October 1973, at least some of those options seemed in play as the Watergate Scandal was in full play and President Nixons future was in doubt.

Nixon considered four replacements for Agnew: Ford, Rockefeller, John Connolly and Ronald Reagan. Nixon preferred Connolly, but when his staff informally polled congressional Democrats, Ford was their choice.

In House and Senate hearings, the situation was tense as times since the Saturday Night Massacre happened during the Ford nomination process. But on November 27, the Democrat-controlled Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford, all but confirming his appointment. On December 6, the House agreed, in a 387 to 35 vote.

Ford then took his oath in the House chamber, leading Nixon aide Alexander Haig to comment on the seriousness of the occasion. Ford was treated throughout the ceremony and afterwards as a President-in-waiting, especially by Republicans, and there can be little question that Richard Nixons presidency was over, in their minds, from the moment his successor took the oath, Haig said.

As a historical footnote, if the 25th Amendment had not been in place, House Speaker Carl Albert, a Democrat, would have replaced Nixon as acting President in August 1974.
Delta Airlines issued an apology after a passenger on one of its flights shouted at others in support of President-elect Donald Trump in an expletive-filled screed.

Donald Trump, baby, the man yelled at other passengers on the plane, according to video footage posted on Facebook. We got some Hillary b-es on here? Come on, baby. Trump!

Delta, on Saturday, released a statement apologizing for the incident and said the man should not have been allowed to continue on the flight.

Our responsibility for ensuring all customers feel safe and comfortable with Delta includes requiring civil behavior from everyone, the statement said. The behavior we see in this video does not square with our training or culture and follow up will continue so we can better ensure our employees will know they will be fully supported to make the right decisions when these issues arise.

The video was posted Tuesday by another passenger on Delta Flight 248, which was flying to Allentown, Pennsylvania from Atlanta.

Didn't take long to notice that I'm back in 'Merica Posted by Emma Baum on Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Donald Trump is your president, every goddamn one of you, he said. If you dont like it, too bad.
Donald Trump continued to criticize the election recount effort by Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein via Twitter on Sunday.

The Green Party scam to fill up their coffers by asking for impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated & demoralized Dems, the President-elect wrote, following up on a statement he released yesterday against the recount.

Stein said on Wednesday that she would file for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, swing states that Trump won during the election. She filed for the Wisconsin recount on Friday. Hillary Clintons campaign announced on Saturday that it would participate in the recount in Wisconsin, although they dont expect a different outcome.

Trump took aim at the Democratic Party for joining the recount effort on Saturday night and into Sunday morning.

The Democrats, when they incorrectly thought they were going to win, asked that the election night tabulation be accepted. Not so anymore! he wrote.

He then launched into tweetstorm that quoted Democratic candidate Clintons concession speech and one of her presidential debate answers to illustrate his view that nothing will change with the recount.

Hillary's debate answer on delay: "That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

of position." Then, separately she stated, "He said something truly horrifying  he refused to say that he would respect the results of   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

this election. That is a direct threat to our democracy." She then said, "We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead." So much time and money will be spent  same result! Sad  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

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See original article on Fortune.com

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President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday criticized the election recount request of Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein.

The people have spoken and the election is over, and as Hillary Clinton herself said on election night, in addition to her conceding by congratulating me, We must accept this result and then look to the future,' Trump said, referring to Clintons concession speech on the day after the election.

Stein announced on Wednesday that she would file for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, three swing states won by Trump. She filed for a recount in Wisconsin on Friday. Hillary Clintons campaign on Saturday said she would participate in the Wisconsin recount in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides, though they dont expect the outcome to change.

This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall and wasn't even on the ballot in many states, to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount, Trump said.

Stein launched a fundraising page to pay for filing and legal fees, estimating that the total cost of recounts in all three states would be $6 to $7 million. Stein pledged to use any surplus money toward election integrity efforts and voting system reform. The fundraising page had raised more than $5.8 million as of Saturday afternoon.

This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused, which is exactly what Jill Stein is doing, Trump said in his statement.

See original article on Fortune.com

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By Aaron Ross KINSHASA (Reuters) - An ethnic Nande militia in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo killed about 30 civilians, mostly Hutus, on Sunday morning, local sources said, in an apparent escalation of deadly violence between the two groups that has flared repeatedly this year. Joy Bokele, territorial administrator in North Kivu province's Lubero territory, told Reuters that fighters from the Mai Mai Mazembe militia attacked the village of Luhanga at about 5 a.m. (0300 GMT) with guns and machetes. Ethnic rivalries, incursions and competition for mineral-rich land have stoked conflict for two decades among eastern Congo's dozens of armed groups, including many "Mai Mai" - self-defence militias originally created to resist Rwandan invasions. The Mai Mai groups take their name from the word for "water" in a local Swahili dialect, because some of their fighters believe magic can turn flying bullets into water. "For the time being, we have a provisional toll of about 30 deaths and about 20 wounded," Bokele said. Militias claiming to represent the two ethnic groups have engaged in tit-for-tat violence throughout the year that has killed dozens of civilians. International powers fear tensions over President Joseph Kabila's plan to stay in power beyond the end of his mandate next month could spark large-scale conflict that would feed into such local disputes. A 1998-2003 war in eastern Congo killed millions, mostly from hunger and disease. Bokele said there was no known motive behind the attack but the Centre of Study for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights, a local activist group, said the killings followed a week of threats by the militiamen against local Hutus. Tensions between the Hutu and neighbouring communities have spiked since Congo's army launched a military offensive last year against the main Hutu militia in the region, displacing large numbers of fighters and civilians. (Reporting by Aaron Ross; Editing by Tim Cocks and Louise Ireland)
20th Century Fox

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is revered among franchise die-hards (Trekkies/Trekkers/Trekkos, etc.) for its fascinating blend of humor, heart and marine-based weirdness. Its also a motion picture that comes equipped with one of the more fascinating cinematic what if? scenarios in Eddie Murphys decision to decline appearing in the movie. The subject has been addressed before, but Star Trek IV co-writer Steve Meerson has been kind enough to shed new light on Eddies would-be place in the franchise.

Chatting with The Hollywood Reporter, Meerson revealed that he and Peter Krikes wrote seven and ten outlines for the film with only the final outline scoring approval. Star Trek IV would ultimately get a rework from Wrath of Khan director Nicholas Meyer and producer Harve Bennett. Meerson and Kirkes penned a role for Murphy, but it never ended up coming to fruition.

It was always the same story that approved, but the original draft included a part for Eddie Murphy, he explained. Eddie was on the lot at Paramount at the time and arguably was the biggest star in the word. They had told us he was a huge Star Trek fan.

The joy that was originally marinated in crafting their Star Trek IV work would ultimately dwindle as time passed.

At the beginning of the process, it was actually a lot of fun. As the process progressed, it became less fun, because it became more political. And I dont say that with any bitterness. Its just the way things work in all businesses, he offered. We began to feel like at a certain point that this was going to be taken away from us, which in fact, it was.

Murphy would end up starring in The Golden Child instead and his role was later revamped/replaced with Catherine Hicks Dr. Gillian Taylor. The late Leonard Nimoy commented on Murphys discussed Star Trek IV involvement in a 2009 interview.

I was called by Jeff Katzenberg, who was head of the studio, when I was prepping Star Trek IV. I remember his words very specifically. He said I have either the best idea in the world or the worst idea in the world, Eddie Murphy said he would kill to be in a Star Trek movie,' recalled the films star/director. And I said, I think you are right it is either the best or worst idea in the world. [laughs] I had several meetings with Mr. Murphy and what I said to him: we are very flattered you want to be in a Star Trek movie, we admire you, you admire us, neither of us want to do any harm to each other, so we will work on a script. So if we could develop a script that would work we would do it, and if not we will say thank you to each other and let it go. And that is pretty much how it went.

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)
At a club in downtown Cairo, Ahmed Saleh pumps electronic beats from his laptop as Abdullah Miniawy chants to a cheering crowd, the duo part of a wave of new talent on Egypt's underground music scene.

Emerging artists are creating an eclectic selection of hip-hop, dubstep, electronic and rock music, with some influenced by traditional Egyptian sounds.

The movement began in the mid-2000s as musicians bypassed record labels to reach their listeners directly via the web.

It was boosted by Egypt's 2011 uprising which toppled longtime dictator Hosni Mubarak.

"This movement began finding an audience because it has become accessible on the internet, instead of the market being dominated by those who release CDs," says Tamer Abu Ghazaleh, a Cairo-born Palestinian musician who co-founded Ma3azef, an online Arab music magazine.

From the second half of the 2000s, musicians have used websites such as SoundCloud, YouTube, and Facebook to publish and promote their music.

That has challenged record labels' traditional gatekeeper role between artists and audiences.

"This is the first time in Egypt, at least since the 1920s, where music really represents the people in a direct way, without any intermediary," says Mahmoud Refat, founder of record label 100Copies Music.

- Working-class beats -

The birth of Mahraganat music around the same period also reflected this shift in the industry.

Emerging from working-class neighbourhoods, it became Egypt's most listened-to genre -- with little involvement from record companies.

Using cheap or free software, young men began mixing traditional Egyptian music with electronic sounds, creating loud, eclectic beats.

Meanwhile, artists began networking online, says musician Rami Abadir, who released his first official album with Canadian record label D.M.T. Records in May.

"This didn't exist until 2009 or 2010, or it existed but on a very small scale," he says.

The genre found a small but growing audience in a country where according to the United Nations, 40 percent of the population is between 10 and 20 years old.

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The 2011 revolution boosted the movement.

"A lot of things took a push with what happened in 2011 and 2012 and the revolution," says Maurice Louca, composer of the acclaimed 2014 electronic album Benhayyi Al-Baghbaghan (Salute the Parrot).

While most of the music was non-political, a security void made it easier to open spaces and organise festivals.

"There was a very nice atmosphere where anyone who wanted to do anything, could just do it," says Abadir.

Egypt's first free presidential election in 2012 brought to power Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who was ousted by the army a year later.

Human rights groups have accused then-army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who went on to become President, of limiting freedom of expression.

Venues like Vent, which opened in 2013, promoted new, experimental music.

Many have since closed, but several still hold regular live sessions.

While many musicians have second jobs to make a living, some have been able to go full-time and performed at home and abroad.

Saleh has performed up to five times a month this year, including gigs with Alexandria-based psychedelic and electronic rock band Telepoetic.

Louca has given 50 concerts overseas this year alone.

- Broader tastes -

As the artists diversified, so did listeners' tastes.

Now, the audience "is receptive to this and waiting for new things... especially in Egypt," says Abu Ghazaleh.

Some tracks by Egyptian hip-hop artists Abyusif and Ahmed Kamel have been played more than a quarter of a million times on SoundCloud.

"Hip-hop in Egypt is like that. Its first and last place is the internet," says Refat, whose label caters to independent and Mahraganat musicians.

That contrasts with the 1990s, when authorities cracked down on concerts and accused attendees of practising Satanism, according to Louca.

"We felt like we were in an absolute desert," he says.

While the scene centres around Cairo, other musicians in the region have flourished online.

"We kind of found it staggering the amount of talent around, and a lot of people doing what we consider to be very high-quality music," says Abdel-Rahman Hussein, co-founder of Dandin, a Middle East music platform.

Hip-hop artists from Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan have collaborated, while cross-genre projects have mushroomed in Beirut, says Ziad Nawfal, co-founder of the independent Lebanese label Ruptured.

The wave of new music "expresses real things for the people," says Abu Ghazaleh. "This is what this music is doing, so it has no place to go but grow further."

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Emma Roberts and Evan Peters from American Horror Story might be engaged again

2016 has beena lot. Some say its been the worst year ever  and the number of celebrity deaths certainly backs up that unfortunate distinction. But on the flip side, it also appears to be the year of reuniting former couples. Sources say that Emma Roberts and Evan Peters are engaged once again.

It all started when fans and paparazzi spotted the uber-fashionable Scream Queens actress around town with her one-time American Horror Story co-star and boyfriend over Thanksgiving weekend. The two were out and about in Provincetown, Massachusetts for the holiday, looking adorably bundled up against the New England weather.

Most importantly, TMZ photogs spotted the pair very clearly kissing. From there, unnamed sources confirmed to Us Weekly that the two were once again engaged.

Emma and Evan are engaged again, a source told Us. Shes been wearing her ring on set. Everyone on set knows.

If the news is true, it would come almost precisely three years after their first (broken) engagement over the holidays in 2013.

This news isnt *quite* as shocking as, say, the similar formerly-engaged/re-engaged reunion that took place between Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus earlier this year. In the case of the AHS lovebirds, its been well-known for several months that the two were dating once again.

They werent exactly trying to hide their reunion. If anything, theyve been more open about their relationship than ever recently. They even tagged one another in adorable photos and videos on Instagram earlier this week.

Roberts and Peters have had a notoriously on-again/off-again several-year romance since they first began dating in 2012.

They met on the set of Adult World and continued to date even after an alleged domestic violence incident and even getting engaged for the first time the following year. All the while, their on-screen chemistry was palpable, starring together in American Horror Story: Coven and Freak Show.

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After three years together, they ended their engagement and split in June 2015. Just a few months later, they were spotted apparently back together again. That reunion lasted until May 2016. After their second breakup, Roberts went on to briefly date someone else before rumors began to circulate about yet another reconciliation in September.

Despite the ups and downs, Roberts and Peters undoubtedly look very happy to be back together once again. Congrats to the newly re-engaged couple!

The post Emma Roberts and Evan Peters from American Horror Story might be engaged again appeared first on HelloGiggles.
By Thomas Mukoya and Ben Makori NAIROBI (Reuters) - Aviators flying vintage planes the length of Africa were showing them off in the skies over a Kenyan game park on Sunday, a day after one of the aircraft was wrecked in a forced landing. The Vintage Air Rally, including biplanes built in the 1920s and 1930s, has flown from Europe past Egypt's pyramids and through Sudan and Ethiopia, where participants were briefly detained because of a dispute over whether they had proper authorization. "They are tough conditions for the aeroplanes. Its hot, its high and in the afternoons we get the thunderstorms," rally organizer Sam Rutherford told reporters as the planes flew over a game park on the outskirts of Nairobi. "We did lose an aircraft," he said of Saturday's incident, when a vintage Boeing Stearman suffered an engine failure and made a forced landing northwest of Nairobi. The plane was "written off" but the crew were fine, Rutherford said. The rally also briefly lost track of veteran pilot Maurice Kirk and his plane after the stop in Ethiopia last week. He was located on Saturday after landing in South Sudan, but not on a airfield, the organizers said. Kirk and his plane are no longer part of the rally. The remaining planes and support aircraft will continue their journey south on Monday, heading to Tanzania. They aim to reach Cape Town, South Africa, in about two weeks. The rally began in Greece with several teams flying 24 aircraft, including support planes. The organizers did not say how many planes were still involved, but said it was not a surprise some would not complete the journey. (Reporting by Thomas Mukoya and Ben Makori; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
There have been whispers around the Internet that Taylor Swift and Drake are joining forces for an upcoming project. Even romantic rumors started between the two. (Billboard reached out to reps for both artists for comment.)

However, after Drake's latest Apple Music commercial, where the 6 God hits the gym and sings along to Swift's "Bad Blood" (she had initially sung along to Drake and Future's "Jumpman" while pounding the treadmill), a collaboration between the two pop culture titans does not seem farfetched.

In the event a Swift and Drake joint project does came to fruition, here are five things we'd want to hear.

Ex-traordinary Heartbreak Number

It's no secret that Swift and Drake have pulled inspiration from past relationships to craft chart-toppers like "I Knew You Were Trouble" and the Take Care album, respectively. If the pair were to spin recent cases of the ex into an emotional pop-meets-R&B ballad, tears would fly.

Viral Partystarter

Swift got to moving and grooving for her catchy hater-bashing record "Shake It Off" while Drake became a viral sensation thanks to his hip-swaying number "Hotline Bling." Dance floors would never be the same if the tandem hammered out a feel-good jam and perhaps a GIF-worthy video to match.

New Views

When Nashville's own Swift moved to New York City, the country pop darling released the celebratory ode "Welcome to New York." Meanwhile, the Toronto rapper held down the 6 -- despite living in Calabasas -- with his streaming magnet of an opus Views. If Swift and Drake combined their astute observations about fame based on geography, every city they'd land in could inspire the next big hit.

Is that velvet? --

A photo posted by champagnepapi (@champagnepapi) on Nov 4, 2016 at 1:34am PDT

Squad Anthem

With Swift's besties making a cameo in the video for "Bad Blood" and Drake constantly repping his OVO crew, a squad goals anthem dedicated to the power of a ride-or-die posse would definitely become an instant meme.

Heartfelt Duet

Drake's collaborations with women have become certified ear candy. Just hit rewind on "Too Good," "Work" and "Take Care" with Rihanna, as well as "Make Me Proud" alongside Nicki Minaj and "From Time" with Jhene Aiko. Throw Swift duet into the mix and, if executed right (no cheesy, cornball references, please), the genre-fusing collabo could make both bring hip-hop heads and country die-hards fall in love.
Cornas (France) (AFP) - Hirotake Ooka does not do anything by half.

For nearly two decades the former Japanese chemist has been on a quest to make the very best and most natural French wine possible.

But he hasn't made it easy for himself.

His modest vineyards on a hill near Cornas, where the mountains of the Ardeche drop into the Rhone valley, is not so much steep as vertiginous.

Which means not only that his grapes must be picked by hand but that he and his pickers are often forced to perform the backbreaking task on their knees, grape by grape.

With most parcels of land in this dry corner of south central France passed down from father to son, Ooka had to carve his vineyards out of a wooded hillside, before planting his syrah vines in the granite soil.

But it was perhaps destiny that Ooka should land there -- his surname means "big hill" and he duly named his estate "Domaine de Grande Colline".

An old French maxim has it that to make good wine, the vines must struggle.

And just like them, Ooka has suffered in his almost fundamentalist pursuit of "vin nature", the most organic wine possible.

Yet despite the worst that nature could throw at him -- he lost 90 percent of his harvest in 2013 to "black rot" and nearly two-thirds this year to mildew -- Ooka has become one of the most respected natural wine makers in France.

"My philosophy is to make a wine just with the grapes, without yeast, sugar or sulphites. In the vineyard as well, I like to do the most natural things possible," he added, letting the grass grow under his vines and encouraging as much biodiversity as possible.

- Lashed to a harness -

Part of his quiet, maniacal dedication to the precision and authenticity means he crushes his red grapes himself with his bare feet, lashed to a harness in case he drowns in the vat.

"Crushing them with my feet I learn a lot about their aroma, temperature and the speed of fermentation," he said.

Story continues

"I wear the harness because it's dangerous with all the carbon dioxide that escapes -- it would only take a little for me to pass out and drown."

Ooka, 42, discovered wine on his first visit to France 20 years ago. "In Tokyo I drank beer, I thought wine was too snobby," he told AFP.

But his road to Damascus came with the opening of a bottle of claret he bought for his father.

He returned to France and trained to be a winemaker among the great wineries of Bordeaux.

But he soon realised that the wine he wanted to make was not possible amid the monoculture of villages given over totally to wine.

He wanted his vines to benefit from the biodiversity of being next to trees and vegetable patches.

- 'More extreme than us' -

"He is a lot more extreme than us in the way he looks after his wines -- he's a real non-interventionist," said Thierry Allemand, one of the pioneers of the vin naturel or vin nature movement, with whom Ooka also trained.

Some of the other local winemakers "do not understand his way of doing things", Allemand admitted.

But few dispute the quality of his wine. Allemand described it as "very well made, fresh and long in the mouth", even if Ooka is still searching for the perfect equilibrium after only five harvests at Cornas.

Half of the 30,000 bottles a year he produces are exported to Japan, although with this year's poor harvest he is having to buy in some of his grapes from his organic neighbours in Saint Peray and Saint Joseph.

Ooka is one of just a handful of Japanese winemakers in France, with the young Kenjiro Kagami also beginning to make a name for himself -- also with vin nature -- in the Jura region.

But his success has also come at a personal cost. His wife and three children are moving back to live in Japan, although he intends to divide his time between the two countries.

And one day he hopes to found his own domain in Japan.

But until then his commitment to making his wine in France is total. When he first decided to give up chemistry for winemaking, he initially thought about going to California.

"But the Americans learned how to make wine from the French, so I decided to go straight to France, even through I didn't speak French," he said.

"All the great wines are there and it is beautiful too."
Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States and for five decades defied U.S. efforts to topple him, has died, Cuban television said. He was 90. Here are some comments on Castro from his friends and foes over the years. "Castro is not just another Latin American dictator, a petty tyrant bent merely on personal power and gain. His ambitions extend far beyond his own shores." - Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy, from "The Quotable Mr. Kennedy," edited by Gerald C. Gardner, 1962. "Fidel, for me, is a grand master. A wise man should never die; a man like Fidel will never die, because he will always be part of the people." - Former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, in a January 2007 speech. "Fidel Castro had Americans murdered illegally, and that was wrong, too. And I'm proud that we have a blockade against people who kill innocent Americans." - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton, in 1996, after Cuba killed four U.S. citizens when it shot down two civilian planes belonging to a Cuban-American group that had agitated against the Castro government and had repeatedly flown into Cuban air space. "From its earliest days, the Cuban revolution has been a source of inspiration for all those who value freedom. We admire the sacrifices of the Cuban people in maintaining their independence and sovereignty in the face of the vicious imperialist and orchestrated campaign to destroy the awesome force of the Cuban revolution. Long live the Cuban Revolution! Long live comrade Fidel Castro!" - Former South African President Nelson Mandela, in a July 1991 speech. "I remember Herbert Matthews' reports on Castro before he came to power, calling him a democrat and the hope of Cuba. And to some of you who are really too young to remember this, even people around our country were calling him the George Washington of Cuba, and George rolled over in his grave." - U.S. President Ronald Reagan, on March 5, 1986. "Fidel Castro is there to win. His attitude in the face of defeat, even in the most minimal actions of everyday life, would seem to obey a private logic: he does not even admit it, and does not have a minute's peace until he succeeds in inverting the terms and converting it into victory." - Nobel laureate Gabriel Garcia Marquez, writing in Granma on the eve of Castro's 80th birthday. "The best thing that Fidel Castro left us is the lesson that we don't want any more Fidel Castros in Cuba. The lesson is that a man like that ends up absorbing the whole nation, ends up seeing himself as the embodiment of the homeland, and ends up simply taking away our nationality. The lesson of Fidel Castro is no more Fidel Castros. Some people admire him, but they admire him for what they think he was, not for who he really was. Staying in power that long is no merit." - Dissident blogger Yoani Sanchez, to Reuters in May 2014. "Whatever we may think of him, he is going to be a great factor in the development of Cuba and very possibly in Latin American affairs generally. He seems to be sincere. He is either incredibly naive about communism or under communist discipline -- my guess is the former, and as I have already implied his ideas as to how to run a government or an economy are less developed than those of almost any figure I have met in 50 countries." - Richard Nixon, who was then the U.S. vice president, in a memorandum following a three-hour meeting with Castro on April 19, 1959. "On December 18, 1956, Fidel and I were in the foothills of the Sierra Maestra, in a place called Cinco Palmas. After our first hug his first question was: 'How many rifles do you have?' I answered five. And he said, 'I have two. That makes seven. Now we can win the war." - Raul Castro, quoted in the 2009 book "This is Fidel," by Luis Baez. "It didn't take much to prompt me to join any revolution against a tyrant, but Fidel struck me as an extraordinary man ... He had exceptional faith that once we left for Cuba (from Mexico) we would arrive. That once we arrived we would fight. And once we fought we would win. I shared his optimism. I had to, to fight, to achieve. Stop crying and fight." -- Ernesto "Che" Guevara, in a letter to his parents, 1955. "A man of great charisma. He's brave, Fidel Castro. A politician, with an iron fist. He stays strong. He put his close friend in front of the firing squad. I would have given him a life sentence or expelled him from the country, but he had him shot." - Former Chilean military dictator General Augusto Pinochet, regarding Castro's treatment of General Arnaldo Ochoa, executed for treason in July 1989. "He would tell us to place a canon here, move a tank over there. Where to attack, how to do it, with how many men, et cetera. He had it all at his fingertips. And most of the time he was right." - Defense Minister Leopoldo Cintra Frias, regarding Fidel's instructions in the Angola war, in Havana, 1996. "At a time when almost the entire communist world marches towards democracy, Fidel Castro has gone against public opinion and refuses to accept any kind of change or anything that suggests perestroika or democracy ... A profound philosopher, he has made it clear that material things are transient, to such a degree that there are virtually no material things in Cuba." - Cuban dissident writer Reinaldo Arenas, in an essay written before his death in 1990 and published by Spanish newspaper El Pais in 2006. (Compiled by Daniel Trotta and Nelson Acosta; Additional reporting by David Adams; Editing by Kieran Murray and Martin Howell)
fidel castro nikita khrushchev

Fidel Castro, the former Cuban leader who died Friday night at the age of 90, once requested that the leader of the Soviet Union consider launching a nuclear strike against the US in the event the country attacked Cuba.

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Castro wrote Nikita Khrushchev a letter detailing his concerns that an attack on Cuba was "imminent."

He suggested two possible variants  the first being an air attack meant to destroy specific targets, and the second a "full invasion," though he acknowledged that was less likely.

"This would require a large force and is the most repugnant form of aggression, which might restrain them," he wrote.

Castro went on to explain that should the US attempt to invade and occupy Cuba, the country and the policies that would ensue would pose such a threat that the Soviet Union could not risk the possibility of a preemptive nuclear strike by the US.

He continued:

"I tell you this because I believe that the imperialists' aggressiveness makes them extremely dangerous, and that if they manage to carry out an invasion of Cuba  a brutal act in violation of universal and moral law  then that would be the moment to eliminate this danger forever, in an act of the most legitimate self-defense. However harsh and terrible the solution, there would be no other."

The crisis was ultimately averted after weeks of negotiations between the Soviet Union and the US, which resulted in the removal of the Soviets' missiles from Cuba.

In a 2010 interview with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg, Castro appeared to concede that such an attack on the US would have been a mistake.

When asked by Goldberg whether his recommendation to Khrushchev still seemed logical to him, Castro responded, "After I've seen what I've seen, and knowing what I know now, it wasn't worth it all."

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Paris (AFP) - Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe, the two men duelling for the presidential nomination of the French right, both advocate deep economic reforms, including scrapping the 35-hour work week, a sacred cow of the French left.

But the two former prime ministers disagree on how far to cut back the French state and on several other key domestic and foreign policy points.

- ECONOMY -

FILLON: Proposes cutting 500,000 public sector jobs over five years and eliminating the 35-hour working week. Would allow bosses and private sector workers to negotiate working time directly, within an EU limit of 48 hours a week. Wants civil servants to work 39 hours a week but without being paid necessarily a full four extra hours.

Would increase the minimum retirement age from 62 to 65 and cut taxes, mainly for companies who would pay 25 percent corporation tax, down from 33 percent currently. Has promised to scrap a wealth tax on top earners. In total, would cut public spending by 100 billion euros ($106 billion).

JUPPE: Would cut 200,000-300,000 public sector jobs. Private sector bosses and workers would have two years to directly negotiate working time. Failing an accord, the default would be 39 hours a week. Civil servants would also need to progressively work longer hours (number of hours unspecified) but be paid commensurately.

Proposes to cut public spending by 85-100 billion euros. Would, like Fillon, increase the minimum retirement age to 65 and scrap a wealth tax on top earners. Would also cut income tax by two billion euros.

- IMMIGRATION -

FILLON: Would reduce immigration to a "strict minimum" via quotas approved by parliament and increase deportations of illegal migrants. Proposes to link development aid to Africa to commitments by countries to take back illegal immigrants.

JUPPE: Would also introduce quotas on immigration and increase deportation of illegal migrants.

- SECURITY -

FILLON: Suggests stripping jihadists who travelled to Syria or Iraq to fight alongside the Islamic State group of their nationality and barring them from returning to France. Would allow municipal police to carry guns and increase prison capacity by 16,000.

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JUPPE: Would arrest jihadists returning from Iraq or Syria but not strip them of their nationality. Would place suspected Islamist radicals believed to pose a threat under house arrest and increase prison capacity by 10,000.

- ISLAM & IDENTITY -

FILLON: Has spoken in favour of a national ban on full-body "burkini" Islamic swimsuits. Says migrants must assimilate. "When you enter someone else's house you do not take over, you respect the other," he says.

JUPPE: Opposes national burkini ban and warned against "hysteria" in debate over Muslim integration. Says France's diversity is its strength.

- FOREIGN POLICY -

FILLON: Calls for closer ties with Moscow and the lifting of sanctions imposed on Russia over its annexation of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula. Would bring Russia and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime into the US-led anti-Islamic State coalition. Favours closer ties with Iran. In Europe, would work towards a "Europe of nations" that "respects French sovereignty."

JUPPE: Critical of Russian bombardments of the Syrian city of Aleppo and its support for the Assad regime. Accuses Fillon of being a Putin "yes man". Wants to strengthen European defence cooperation. Believes France and Germany should take the lead in Europe.

- GAY ADOPTIONS -

FILLON: Opposed a 2013 gay marriage act. Wants to amend the legislation to prevent same-sex couples having access to plenary adoptions, the preferred choice which gives the child and the adoptive parents the same legal relationship as if the child had been born to the couple. Gay couples would be restricted to "ordinary adoptions" in which the biological parents would have some recognition.

JUPPE: Opposed the gay marriage act but would not come back on same-sex marriage or amend adoption rights.
Socially conservative former Prime Minister Francois Fillon defeated centrist former Premier Allain Juppe in Frances center-right presidential primary Sunday, setting up a showdown next year with Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right, anti-immigration National Front.

With 90 percent of the vote counted, Fillion, 62, led the 71-year-old Bordeaux mayor 67 percent to 33 percent for the Les Republicains nomination.

Juppe conceded.

The final round of voting is in May. Ahead of the final round, the left-wing Socialist party will hold its primaries in January amid signs Prime Minister Manuel Valls will challenge President Francois Hollande if he decides to seek re-election. Balloting in April will determine the two candidates who will face off the following month.

Fillons support soared after he penned a book on the dangers of Islamic totalitarianism and the need to defend Frances national identity.

Fillon pledged to unite the party in his victory speech, saying the nation has a chance now to reassert its position in the world and undo what he sees as the damage caused by Hollande, whose administration he called pathetic. He called for former President Nicolas Sarkozy and Juppe to help him succeed.

"I must now convince the whole country our project is the only one that can lift us up," Fillon said at his campaign headquarters.

I will defend those values and we will share them with everyone who, with their differences, loves France.

Francois Fillon

Photo: Christian Hartmann/Reuters

The election campaign is expected to revolve mainly around economic policy. As the eurozones second largest economy, France has faced high unemployment, hovering at 10 percent. In the last two years, the country has seen 230 people killed in terrorist attacks.

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Reuters said the election is seen as another test of anti-establishment anger in the wake of the Brexit vote in Britain and Donald Trumps election in the United States. During the campaign, Fillon warned France is on the verge of revolt, and pledged to reduce the welfare state, cut taxes and business regulations, and eliminate a half-million public sector jobs  a move Le Pens supporters have called insane.

Many of Fillons ideas overlap with Le Pens. He emphasizes the Christian roots of France, and is a strong proponent of sovereignty and patriotism. Fillon has taken a hard line on immigration and Islam, and opposes American imperialism. During the final debate, he denied France is a multicultural country.

Fillon presents us [the far-right] with a strategy problem. Hes the most dangerous [candidate] for the Front National, Member of Parliament Marion Marechal Le Pen, the niece of Marine Le Pen, told reporters this week.

But Fillon is not a populist, Jean-Yves Camus, an expert on the French far-right, told the Guardian. The National Front has attacked Fillon as a snob and political has-been.

Fillon, an admirer of the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, is on first-name terms with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has styled himself as a Catholic traditionalist, appealing to the religious right, and opening himself up to attacks painting him as a medieval reactionary, the Guardian reported.

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Mifune: The Last Samurai, a dutiful and diverting but rather bare-bones documentary portrait, opens with a series of clips and photographs of Toshiro Mifune, the scowling-eyed Japanese actor who became, in effect, the worlds first action star. The first clip, from Rashomon, looks even more transgressive today than it did in 1950: Its of Mifunes scruffy medieval bandit forcing himself at knifepoint on a maiden he discovers in the woods. In the other clips, we see him leaping, glowering, slashing, grunting, cackling maniacally, facing down armies of sword fighters, and appearing just as volatile when hes the victim, twitching to and fro like a gnarly demon as he evades a shower of arrows. The montage ends with a photograph of what looks like a different human being entirely: Its Mifune relaxing at home, elegant and debonair, with a handsome warm smile and eyes that crinkle just so, his black hair slicked back in a way that makes him resemble a Japanese Rock Hudson.

That image demonstrates something profound about Mifune, and it also raises a fascinating question about him. What it tells you is that the ferocious persona he presented in films like Seven Samurai (1954) and Yojimbo (1961)  the upstart lone-wolf swordsman, noble but a little maniacal, dominating every situation with an unruly energy that erupted from within  was a fantastically calculated and artful creation. You might say Duh (he was, after all, an actor), but in the movies, Mifune unleashed himself with such brutal spontaneity that he seemed a force of nature, one who gathered his energy from the earth itself. Even now, the notion that his characters were meticulously devised seems, on some level, counterintuitive.

The Last Samurai allows the audience to relive, film by film, the explosiveness of what Mifune achieved, or (for younger viewers) to introduce themselves to his thrashing balletic majesty. Thats a serviceable thing, but the movie, narrated with zombie Zen stoicism by Keanu Reeves, only rarely goes beyond that. Steven Okazaki, who directed and edited it, takes you through a functional, slightly sketchy version of Mifunes life and career  his childhood in China (where his Japanese parents were missionaries), his enlistment in the Japanese Imperial Army during World War II, during which he trained suicide bombers, and his attempt after the war to make a living by becoming an assistant cameraman. He fell into acting by accident, after someone sent his photo to a New Faces contest, and he might have wound up as just another Tokyo matinee idol. But it was his destiny, at Toho Studios, to draw the attention of Akira Kurosawa in the late 40s, right at the moment when the already powerful director, full of guilt at having worked on films that supported the Japanese regime during the war, was set on creating movies that expressed his own rebellious impulses. The time for bowing and scraping in Japan was done.

Mifune didnt bow  he was more like a warrior who blew up in your face. Kurosawa, by temperament, was an epic visual classicist, but what he expressed was something modern and anarchic: the ecstasy of violence, the unknowability of truth, the inner thrum of the samurais heart. The Last Samurai shows you how Mifune became Kurosawas wild artistic id as surely as Robert De Niro was Martin Scorseses in the 70s. Kurosawa trusted Mifune to be his collaborator, and rarely gave him direction. It was up to the actor to create his own characters, which he did through mountains of preparation, forging these rogues from the inside out. In The Last Samurai, even his fight choreographer, Kanzo Uni  a man who was killed onscreen by Mifune more than 100 times  testifies that during a scene, when Toshiro would come at him with his bloodthirsty grimace and eyeballs peeled, it was genuinely intimidating.

All of this opens the door to a question about Mifune the film never answers: Where did his drive and obsession  his inner fury as an actor  come from? According to Scorsese, who is interviewed in the documentary along with Steven Spielberg, Mifune studied the movements of lions, which resulted in his ability to conjure the aura of a caged animal. But he was an untamed human animal too: Once he got to be a star, he indulged his passions, like cars and alcohol (which he mixed to destructive effect). One of Mifunes two sons relates the story of how his father, when drunk, would wave a sword around in the living room, a sight he describes as scary. Mifune would also motor past Kurosawas house to yell things like Damn you! (the first and last we hear of any conflict between them), and theres a quick mention of how he would pick fights with gangsters. As presented, though, these amount to quaint comic wisps of bad behavior that give us only the vaguest sense of who Mifune was or the demons he grappled with.

The Last Samurai goes back to the silent era of the Japanese chanbara film, with its kabuki-inspired samurai, and to one astonishing clip of a movie called Chokon, in which the white-faced hero, looking as ghoulishly possessed as Lon Chaney, revives his own spirit by literally licking the blood of his enemies off his sword. Thats the tradition that Mifune and Kurosawa were taking off from, but Kurosawa was a revolutionary of hellbent realism. On the set of Seven Samurai, chastising an actor for a corny death scene, the director said, This is not just another samurai film. It has to feel real. And thats how it felt: For 50s audiences, it was as if the slashing macabre tingle of it all was really happening. In the astonishing climax to Throne of Blood, a scene filmed without insurance, those were real arrows being shot at Mifunes head (the archers were college students, some of whom could barely aim), and Mifune was willing to dodge them out of trust and actorly art and maybe a little craziness. Thats why the scene still exerts an awesome graphic power: No special effects could rival this primitive dance of death.

Mifune was a one-man kamikaze burlesque show, as elegantly savage as his future inheritor Bruce Lee, as dextrous as Errol Flynn, as insanely comic as Curly from the Three Stooges, with a bombs-away ego all his own. But you could also say that Mifune was, at times, a solipsistic overactor who only rarely connected with anyone on screen. I wish that The Last Samurai spent time exploring his restrained performance in The Bad Sleep Well (1960), Kurosawas cold dissection of corporate crime. The documentary summons a few haunting moments when it confronts the dissolution of Mifune and Kurosawas partnership after they had made 16 films together, a quiet breakup that wound up wrecking Kurosawas career far more than it did Mifunes. (Mifune was successful enough to turn down, on the advice of his American agent, the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars.). Yet what The Last Samurai barely fills in is the vastness of Mifunes influence. He was a hurricane who blew away the landscape that had come before him. He was really the first samurai of action cinema, the one who cast his cross-cultural shadow over everything from the evolution of the martial-arts genre to Eastwood and Bronson. He had a quality that The Last Samurai evokes in clips yet leaves you wanting to see explored in a far more memorable way, and that was danger.
Actor Ron Glass died on Friday. The actor, who worked for over 40 years in Hollywood, was 71 and died of respiratory failure.

His agent Jeffrey Leavitt confirmed the news to CNN. It is with a very heavy heart that I confirm the passing of my dear friend and client Ron Glass, Leavitt said Saturday. Ron passed late last night of respiratory failure. Ron was a private, gentle and caring man. He was an absolute delight to watch on screen. Words cannot adequately express my sorrow.

Glass has an extensive resume with dozens of TV and film credits. He was best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Detective Ron Harris in Barney Miller, an ABC sitcom that ran from 1975-1982. More recently, Glass developed a fanbase among sci-fi/fantasy audiences. He starred in the cult hit Firefly, a space western from Avengers director Joss Whedon.

The 2002 series aired for only one season and spawned a movie spinoff called Serenity in 2005. Still, its a series that seems to only gain more devoted fans, even a decade after its cancellation. The cast of Firefly shared messages on social media after hearing about Glass death.

Nathan Fillion, who played Capt. Mal Reynolds, quoted the final scene he shared with Glass. It was the part of Serenity where Book dies.

Meanwhile, Wash actor Alan Tudyk, who will star in the upcoming Rogue One, wrote about what a wonderful co-star Glass was. Morena Baccarin, who played Inara, retweeted this particular tribute. In another tweet, he praised Glass' wit and called the deceased actor a leaf on the wind.

Adam Baldwin portrayed Jayne on Firefly, but he chose to share a clip of Book and Mal.

Similarly, Whedon posted another clip. He called Glass my Shepherd during his tribute post. The director also encouraged fans to donate to the Wooten Center, a youth program Glass worked with for over 20 years.

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Simon actor Sean Maher wrote a heartfelt tweet as well.

Jewel Staite, who played Kaylee, took to Instagram to write an extended post. She shared a couple sweet memories of Glass.

Glass worked on various projects after Serenity in 2005. He appeared in Death at a Funeral and CSI in recent years. One of his last few roles was on Marvels Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., a show that Whedon co-created.

Ron Glass Firefly

Photo: Getty Images

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Dan Pfeiffer tweets about the Green Party recount campaign and #AuditTheVote.

Obama allies completely oppose the multi-state recount effort started by the Green Partys 2016 nominee for president Jill Stein, according to a recent article in The Hill. Former Obama White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer even mocked the recount efforts on Twitter on Thursday.

The amount of Democratic energy and money being wasted on recounts instead of trying to win the Louisiana Senate Race is mind boggling  Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 24, 2016

President Obama may have urged Clinton to concede the election before she was ready, The Hill article claimed. You need to concede, Obama reportedly told Hillary Clinton as she watched the results come in from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania. Clinton reportedly heeded the presidents advice and called President-elect Trump in the early hours after election night.

Just give me the phone, Clinton reportedly said in frustration before calling Trump. Im calling him.

Though seemingly mocked by the former White House communications director, some of Clintons supporters are wishing she would have never taken Obamas alleged advice, according to The Hill.

Activists still mourning Donald Trump's victory are uniting around #AuditTheVote https://t.co/uNr5PrbytE  The New York Times (@nytimes) November 25, 2016

The Hill reported that one source said that the DNC doesnt want to be affiliated with the recount efforts, but Clintons allies are reportedly hopeful that Steins efforts could end up changing the election outcome. Dan Pfeiffer clearly disagrees with that outlook and has tweeted repeatedly about the recount campaign.

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I really wish Jill Stein had not waited until after the election to be so concerned about a few thousand votes tipping the election to Trump  Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) November 24, 2016

Officials in the Obama administration seem to mirror the sentiments of Dan Pfeiffers tweets. According to the New York Times, the Obama administration believes that the Kremlin probably expected that if they hacked the elections, it would be uncovered, given all of the accusations as Election Day approached. This probably made the Kremlin choose not to hack the systems, the theory goes. Additionally, the Obama administration did not have reason to believe that the systems in question had been hacked, primarily because the machines arent connected to the internet, Business Insider reported. A statement from the White House said that the administration stands behind the election results and that they accurately reflect the will of the American people.

A senior administration official from the White House reportedly told The Guardian that the administration believes our elections were free and fair from a cybersecurity perspective.

Stein officially filed a recount request in Wisconsin on Friday afternoon, and recount requests in Michigan and Pennsylvania are expected in the coming week. Stein said the goal of the recount campaign is to uncover places where democracy is able to be compromised and tweeted, Healing the country is exactly what Im going for. We cannot heal if we dont know where were broken.

Jill Stein raises over $3mn in 24hrs for vote recount in swing states: More needed https://t.co/SNZcIf5GJr #AuditTheVote #WeThePeople  Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) November 24, 2016

Meanwhile, Clinton supporters are hoping to flip the states in question, though the Clinton team itself says that it is participating on principle alone in order to monitor the recount process itself, according to Marc Elias of Hillary for America Counsel.

We do so fully aware that the number of votes separating Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the closest of these states  Michigan  well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount. But regardless of the potential to change the outcome in any of the states, we feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself.

CNN reported that Elias said that the campaigns own investigation did not uncover any evidence to indicate that there had been any hacking of voting systems.

I had been advised by a coalition of nonpartisan experts who study elections to move forward with #Recount2016. https://t.co/I9BOeQl2Qd  Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 26, 2016

Stein tweeted that the Green Party would request recounts in any state in which the deadline had not passed. Stein asked her Twitter followers to help her staff find the deadlines.

I will do a recount in any state where the deadline has not passed. Help my staff find state deadlines: https://t.co/VsruD0r8FR #Recount2016  Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 26, 2016

[Featured Image by Netroots Nation/Flickr/Cropped and resized/CC BY-SA 2.0]

Former Obama White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer Mocks Recount Efforts On Twitter As Democrats Stand Divided is an article from: The Inquisitr News
Paris (AFP) - Francois Fillon, the candidate who will represent the French right in next year's presidential election, is a free-market reformer, devout Catholic and motor sport fan who has promised to transform France.

Fillon, 62, has professed admiration for Britain's 1980s prime minister Margaret Thatcher and vowed to slash public spending to shrink the French state.

"You have to tear the house down to properly rebuild it," he has said.

The new flag-bearer of French conservatives came from behind a week ago to establish himself as the new champion of the right.

On Sunday, he confirmed his supremacy, beating fellow former prime minister Alain Juppe, 71, in a US-style primary to win the nomination of the Republicans party and its allies.

"France has never been more right-wing," Fillon, who was a voice of moderation as premier under Nicolas Sarkozy from 2007 to 2012 but has since shifted to the right, declared this week.

For too long traditionalists had been stereotyped as "reactionaries nostalgic for a musty France", he said.

The unflappable father of five who himself admitted in a M6 television interview he had a "boring image" has emerged as the right's best hope to retake power after five years of Socialist rule.

Polls show him likely to go head-to-head with Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front (FN), in the second round of the election in May.

In the first round of the primary on November 20, Fillon took more than double the votes garnered by Sarkozy, who once dismissed him as a "Mr Nobody".

- Quietly assured -

Perhaps because of his understated style, Fillon was not taken seriously until his late acceleration in the two-month primary campaign.

An amateur rally driver who was born in Le Mans, home of the world-renowned 24-hour race, he himself had always predicted he would make the final.

After a series of assured performances in TV debates, voters swung in behind him as an alternative to the divisive Sarkozy and to Juppe, seen by many as lacking reformist zeal.

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Fillon has pledged radical changes to kickstart the ailing French economy and drive down unemployment stuck at around 10 percent.

He has pledged to scrap the 35-hour week, one of the sacred cows of the French left.

He has also pledged to slash an eye-popping 500,000 jobs from the public sector -- reforms criticised by Juppe and other opponents as too brutal.

"I'm tagged with the label of an (economic) liberal in the same way they would daub crosses on the doors of lepers in the Middle Ages," Fillon has joked.

He argues he is merely "a pragmatist".

Fillon is a practising Catholic who has been married to his Welsh wife Penelope for more than 30 years and lives in a 12th century manor house near Le Mans.

He voted against gay marriage when it was introduced by Socialist President Francois Hollande and has said he wants to amend the 2013 law to partly repeal gay adoption rights.

His views on abortion -- he is personally opposed but says he will not change the law or funding for it -- have also been in the spotlight.

"My conscience is my business," he declared.

Fillon also took a harder line on questions of identity and Islam that dominated the primary after a string of jihadist attacks in France.

He penned a book over the summer called "Defeating Islamic Totalitarianism" and believes "there is a problem linked to Islam" in France after a series of attacks by homegrown jihadists.

"No, France is not a multicultural country. France has a history, a language and a culture which have naturally been enriched from outside," Fillon said on Thursday.

- Support from Putin -

The self-declared "Gaullist" -- a form of nationalism that proposes an independent and strong France -- has been in politics for around 40 years.

He formed a bond with Russian President Vladimir Putin when both men overlapped as prime ministers from 2008-2012 and their closeness has led to questions about his foreign policy.

Fillon maintains that France must keep its alliance with the United States but also restore ties with Moscow, which he sees as central to resolving the conflict in Syria.

"The question is: must we continue to provoke the Russians, refusing dialogue with them and pushing them to be more and more violent, aggressive and less and less European?" he said in October.
DAKAR (Reuters) - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh warned on Sunday that anyone involved violence or unrest during the country's presidential election in four days time would be dealt with harshly. "There will be zero tolerance (of) ... violence and anyone disregarding public order will face full force of the law," Jammeh told supporters in Brikama, some 30 kilometers (19 miles) west of the capital Banjul, at a rally broadcast on Gambian TV. "I am warning all Gambians against violence." Jammeh and the opposition are campaigning across the tiny former British colony, which straddles a West African river running into the Atlantic whose beaches are a top tourist destination. Gambian authorities have refused the European Union access to observe the election on Dec. 1, raising doubts about how free and fair it will be, although Jammeh has promised a credible process. African Union observers have been admitted. Eight opposition parties are rallied behind businessman Adama Barrow in a bid to end Jammeh's 22-year rule, which activists and diplomats say has been marred by human rights abuses and torture, claims the president's supporters deny. Nearly 50 protesters were arrested in April and May, including Ousainu Darboe, leader of the opposition UDP party, and at least 18 other senior members. Two have since died during their detention. (Reporting by Tim Cocks; Editing by Mark Potter)
Alexis Bledel and Lauren Graham. (Photo: Netflix)

Netflix has posted all four new episodes of Gilmore Girls, collectively known as Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. Ive already written a spoiler-free, overall review of the quartet of Stars Hollow specials here, but now Im writing one review per day of each individual episode. Yesterdays review was of Spring. Today is a review of the third episode, Summer. You are hereby and loudly warned: WALL-TO-WALL SPOILERS OF GILMORE GIRLS: A YEAR IN THE LIFE follow. Grab a mug of coffee and some Hot Pockets.

It is amazing how much can be packed into these 90-minute Gilmore Girls episodes, and this one features a big chunk of a new musical about the history of Stars Hollow, a new job for Rory as a newspaper editor, the return of Rorys ex-boyfriend Jess (Milo Ventimiglia, wearing his This Is Us mustache), a breakup with Logan, the introduction of the irritating 30-something gang, the announcement of Rorys next big career move and Lorelais next big life change. Oh, and also Michels big life move. And yet its also perhaps the weakest of the four episodes, relying too heavily on running gags that exhaust themselves too quickly, such as the follow-through on the previous episodes conclusion: Rory moving back to Stars Hollow. Im not back, she keeps saying defensively when seemingly every person she encounters says, Welcome back! or, I knew shed come back!

Christian Borle and Sutton Foster. (Photo: Netflix)

Two big town events occur. One is Stars Hollow: The Musical, a co-production by Taylor and his morose collaborator, Nat Compton, starring Sutton Foster (star, I probably dont need to tell you, of Amy Sherman-Palladinos short-lived but well-loved Bunheads) and Christian Borle, who some TV viewers treasure from that hate-watch-classic on NBC, Smash, which wasnt. This episode  written and directed by Daniel Palladino  recognizes the polarizing effects of musicals on any given audience and tries to acknowledge both sides. While all around Lorelai are held rapt by the cleverly written numbers performed by Foster and Borle, Lorelai is the holdout who thinks the whole thing is a botch and a bore. I certainly admire the pluck of F and B, but I side with Lorelai. The second time I watched Summer and came to the songs, I admit I scanned through most of them. Theres also a running gag about Kinky Boots that gets old super-fast. But can I also just say that the latter-day Sally Struthers, forever bellowing hoarsely as Babette, is a national treasure?

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Liz Torres, Sally Struthers. (Photo: Netflix)

The second biggish event is Rorys taking over as editor of the Stars Hollow Gazette, which was on the verge of folding. Lots of jokes about the antiquity of print culture; Rory hangs a portrait of the late, great New York Times media columnist David Carr on the wall; and Jess returns to chat and give her the idea for

THE BOOK. It is a project worthy of capitalization. It will be Rorys version of her relationship with her mother. A memoir. (I know this is sacrilege, but I disagree with Lorelais note: Ive always thought the show title should be The Gilmore Girls. Dropping the definite article implies a bunch of Gilmore females, and only Emily could possibly be added as the show was originally conceived.) At this time in Rorys life, when the frustrated writer is at a crossroads in her career, Jesss suggestion of a memoir is far better than any advice she received from the real/not-real Jim Nelson at GQ in the last episode. Lorelai, predictably, is not in favor of this. She withholds her permission. They quarrel; its a very good, heart-rending quarrel. Yet why is this delightfully predictable? Because in crucial moments like this, Lorelai reveals the traits she shares with the person she wants least to resemble: her mother.

Speaking of Emily, shes now sleeping till noon, is bored by her Daughters of the American Revolution meetings, and is allowing herself to be sweet-talked by Ray Wises not-Twin Peaks character.

The episode climaxes with the revelation that in the months that have passed since spring, Luke has not told Lorelai about looking at franchise properties, while Lorelai has never told Luke that shes continued to have solo therapy sessions after Emily gave up on Claudia (who turns out to be a closet theater geek). I should add that the scene in which Luke has to cook burgers for one day for the guests in the mere 10 rooms of the Dragonfly Inn clearly proves he cannot possibly become a franchise owner. More seriously, this withholding-information notion drives a wedge between Lorelai and Luke and spurs Lorelai to announce that the book shes been reading, Cheryl Strayeds Wild, has inspired her next adventure, which will conclude A Year in the Life.

Overall, Summer repeats the themes of betrayal and insecurity for all three core Gilmore women while providing some warm laughs and entirely too many flat, repetitious jokes.

Related: Gilmore Girls: A Journey Through Lorelais Love Life

Extra Gilmore Gifts:

Lukes daughter April returns only to reestablish why she was a dull character: Shes so aware of her dullness, she admits she recently bought a joke book. No one has bought a joke book since the heyday of Joey Adams. I know, I know: thats the joke. Still aint funny.

Allusions, especially wide-ranging this time, are made to Game of Thrones, Noam Chomsky, Kanye West, Paul Thomas Anderson, Dave Eggers, Michael Bay, and Perry White.

Michel breaks the news that hes leaving the Dragonfly Inn to take a job at a Manhattan W Hotel. He does this over drinks with Lorelai at the Secret Bar, a running gag that gets old super-duper-fast.

My wife wonders whether Jess giving Rory the idea for THE BOOK is a nod to the Anne of Green Gables books, specifically when Gilbert tells Anne she should write about what she knows best: life in Avonlea, a rural place only slightly less idyllic than Stars Hollow.

Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is now streaming on Netflix.
London (AFP) - Arsene Wenger is sweating on the fitness of Olivier Giroud and Mathieu Debuchy after the France stars suffered injuries in Arsenal's 3-1 Premier League win against Bournemouth on Sunday.

Debuchy limped off after just 16 minutes of his first appearance for Arsenal since November 2015 and Giroud sustained a hamstring problem.

Gunners boss Wenger revealed the injury-plagued Debuchy fears he has a serious injury and the right-back is set to go for scans next week to determine the extent of the problem.

"Debuchy thinks it is a severe one, but don't go too far yet. I have to speak to the medical people," Wenger said.

"We have to let it breathe. Usually he would have an MRI in a couple of days.

"Debuchy had many setbacks so I imagined something could happen to him when I picked the squad."

Giroud will also be assessed to see how bad the damage is following the striker's substitute appearance, but Wenger played down concerns over Theo Walcott, who came off following a strong second-half tackle.

"Walcott was just a kick. The only worry we have is Giroud," Wenger said.

"He looked to touch his hamstring. We have to see how deep the damage is. He told me on his first movement he felt a twinge."
Khazir (Iraq) (AFP) - After enduring two years of tyranny under the Islamic State group and surviving the war that liberated them, displaced civilians in northern Iraq face a new enemy: the cold.

With the fighting raging inside Mosul where hundreds of thousands of civilians still live, an early winter and sub-zero temperatures have brought an added challenge.

"At night we have to keep our heads under the blanket and curl into a ball to stay warm," said Alya Zannun, a 56-year-old woman living in a tent in Khazir camp, southeast of Mosul.

"We are dying from the cold, our hands are getting dry and are covered in fungi," she said, washing a few dishes with ice-cold water.

Warda Maraebi, a 71-year-old woman helping her with the dishes, said: "We can't even stretch our fingers because of the cold, how are the children going to handle this?"

More than 70,000 people have been displaced in the Mosul area since Iraqi forces launched a major offensive to retake the IS bastion on October 17.

Despite the fact that larger numbers were initially expected, aid organisations have been racing against time to build enough camps and provide basic assistance.

Fatima Omar, 38, fled her home east of Mosul earlier this month with her six children.

"At night, the tent was shaking, it felt like the wind was going to blow it away," she said. "If the weather gets any worse, the tent will just collapse."

Some of the displaced now housed in the camps dotting the Mosul region were battling temperatures of over 40 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) just a few weeks ago.

Northern Iraq gets cold weather in the winter however and even snowfall in some areas, including regions of the Kurdish region housing many of the country's more than three million displaced.

Fatima was given a heater but the device was still in its box inside her tent because she had no kerosene to make it work.

"Yes they gave us a heater but it's never been used. No fuel, no electricity. What are we supposed to do with it?" she said.

Story continues

She said her youngest child was suffering from diarrhoea and also expressed concern about the health of her 71-year-old cousin Mariam Safar.

- 'I will die' -

On the other side of the wire mesh ringing the sprawling camp, vendors selling food to the displaced people above the fence are now also offering clothes.

Bushra Talal, whose husband was killed by the jihadists in their Mosul neighbourhood of Al-Samah two years ago, broke into tears when she spoke about the conditions in the camp.

She said her daughters, aged 13, 10 and eight called at night complaining about the cold.

"We are suffering from the cold, my daughters are getting sick... The water is so cold I can't let them have a bath," said the woman, wearing a black abaya and yellow head scarf.

"I went to the person in charge of the camp and asked him to let us leave. I don't want my children to die of exposure," said the young woman.

The United Nations said it started delivering winter assistance to 4.6 million displaced Iraqis and Syrians but it said its plan was only partially funded.

The UN's refugee agency said it was specifically targeting 1.2 million displaced Iraqis, including many of those affected by the Mosul offensive.

UNHCR spokeswoman Caroline Gluck said a distribution took place last week in its Hasansham camp, which neighbours the government-built Khazir camp where Bushra Talal lives.

The organisation handed out "warm blankets, heaters, insulating kits, including floor mats and an additional insulating layer for the tent, and plastic sheets to help get them through the harsh winter months," she said.

Different camps get different quality aid and, with winter barely started, many displaced families are suffering already.

"When the rain comes, I will die," said Mariam Safar.
The work of a prominent self-made Polk County home builder and businessman has the caught the attention of a national museum.

Lawrence Bernard Brown (1856-1941) was a prominent Polk resident

Born into slavery, L.B. Brown was a builder and businessman



Visitors can tour the historic home, which is recognized by the NMAAHC



Pictures of Lawrence Bernard Brown, his home, and one of his home's foundation pillars now sit in the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Were very proud to note that the legacy of L.B. Brown is enshrined in the Smithsonians legacy in the African American museum in Washington D.C, said Clifton Lewis, who worked with the Neighborhood Improvement Corporation of Bartow, Inc. to restore Browns mansion.

Browns mansion, which is now a museum, takes visitors back in time to 1892, when L.B. Brown built it.

This house represents Floridas history," said Lewis. "It is a clear representation that African Americans were involved in the settlement and development of the state."

Lewis gives tours of the home by appointment. He said Brown built the home when phosphate mining became popular in Polk County. He called Brown the typical Florida pioneer, who catered to those workers.

He built homes for people who needed shelter," explained Lewis. "He basically rented those homes although occasionally hed do rent-to-own. He also silvered mirrors, he repaired umbrellas, and he loaned people money with interest."

Brown was born into slavery, and Lewis said he never had any formal schooling.

He had in effect lifted himself up by his own bootstraps so to speak and had become a very prominent citizen of Polk County and relatively wealthy, Lewis said.

Lewis said his organization is now looking to find a suitable repository for L.B. Browns records, such as his ledger and old bibles. He hopes the Smithsonian will add them to their collection.

To visit the L.B. Brown mansion, call (863) 944-6136 to arrange a tour or visit the home during the L.B. Brown Heritage Festival February 10-12.
By Michael Georgy, Isabel Coles and John Davison MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's sectarian political leaders have plunged back into a dispute over the status of Shi'ite armed groups, undermining efforts to reunite the country as its troops press on with the assault of Mosul, Islamic State's biggest stronghold. Forty days into the biggest ground offensive in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, about a quarter of the city has been taken by U.S.-backed government units on the eastern side. The western part could prove far more dangerous, Major General Najm al-Jubbouri, one of the army's top commanders, told Reuters. Residents still wearing the long beards demanded by Islamic State welcomed Iraqi troops into a neighborhood of east Mosul with coffee, cheers and kisses after the fighters left. "Today we have been released from prison," said a resident, Ahmed Zeidan Mahmoud. "We were imprisoned. No water, no electricity, there was nothing." On the wall of a kindergarten, the faces of two girls were blotted out by militants who consider it un Islamic to depict people. Nearby, a dog was eating the corpse of a militant. The slow progress was overshadowed by the sectarian political quarrel that erupted in Baghdad on Saturday when Shi'ite lawmakers forced a law through parliament legalizing the mainly Iranian-backed paramilitary units known as Popular Mobilisation forces. Many Sunnis consider the paramilitaries to be sectarian militia and accuse them of having carried out abuses in Sunni areas recaptured from Islamic State. The Popular Mobilisation units deny having sectarian aims or committing widespread abuse and say they saved the nation when the army crumbled in the face of Islamic State's lightning advance two years ago. Sunni members of parliament boycotted the session held on Saturday, objecting to the existence of armed groups outside the army and the police, and worrying that Popular Mobilisation will enhance Shi'ite majority rule and Iran's regional influence. The dispute threatens to complicate efforts to pull the country back together and foster reconciliation when Mosul is captured, which would mark the effective defeat of Islamic State in Iraq. The Iraqi military estimates there are 5,000 to 6,000 insurgents in Mosul facing a 100,000-strong force made up of Iraqi government troops, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shi'ite Popular Mobilisation units. MANY DIFFICULTIES The law voted on Saturday would turn the Popular Mobilisation units into a separate military corps, reporting to the prime minister. Under Iraq's political system that splits top jobs between different communities, the prime minister is a member of the Shi'ite majority. Sunni lawmakers plan to challenge the law in the federal court, one of them, Raad al-Dahlaki, told Reuters on Sunday. Official status for the Shi'ite fighters could feed into the narrative of fear and resentment among Sunnis that helped Islamic State's Sunni militants sweep to power in areas covering a third of Iraq in 2014. After taking Mosul, the largest city in the north, the fighters declared a "caliphate" that also spans part of Syria. The group considers all Shi'ite Muslims to be heretics who must repent or die. But its violent rule has also antagonized Sunnis, raising hope for reconciliation among Iraq's sects after the group is defeated. "It won't be rosy. Many difficulties," said Major General al-Jubbouri, who is himself a Sunni, commenting on the sectarian system established post-Saddam Hussein. "Some politicians will not like to change because many of them would lose their positions," he said. Islamic State fighters in Mosul are dug in among more than a million civilians as a tactic to hamper air strikes. They are resisting the advancing troops with suicide car bombs and sniper and mortar fire. "If there weren't civilians we'd be able to advance to the 4th bridge," in southern Mosul, said Brigadier Gen. Mustafa Sabah from the 9th armoured division that is attacking from the south east. He was referring to one of the strategic bridges across the Tigris river that splits Mosul west from east. U.S. strikes have hit four of the five bridges militants have been using to cross between the two halves of the city. Iraq forces pushed deeper into eastern Mosul over the weekend, clearing out a residential apartment complex where residents welcomed them. The militants finally left after positioning themselves on the rooftops of three-storey apartment blocks. One resident said the militants had tried to scare local people by telling them the army would rape their women. In some parts of east Mosul there are signs of heavy fighting during the liberation but others are not damaged suggesting militants may have retreated. Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to be somewhere near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat from the city. Mohammed Ahmed, an 18 year-old resident in Mosul's Khadra district, said he heard one IS fighter shouting: "The angels are fighting with us. The angels are fighting with us." (With additional reporting by Saif Hameed in Baghdad; writing by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by Patrick Markey and Peter Graff)
By Michael Georgy, Isabel Coles and John Davison MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - Iraq's sectarian political leaders have plunged back into a dispute over the status of Shi'ite armed groups, undermining efforts to reunite the country as its troops press on with the assault of Mosul, Islamic State's biggest stronghold. Forty days into the biggest ground offensive in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003, about a quarter of the city has been taken by U.S.-backed government units on the eastern side. The western part could prove far more dangerous, Major General Najm al-Jubbouri, one of the army's top commanders, told Reuters. Residents still wearing the long beards demanded by Islamic State welcomed Iraqi troops into a neighbourhood of east Mosul with coffee, cheers and kisses after the fighters left. "Today we have been released from prison," said a resident, Ahmed Zeidan Mahmoud. "We were imprisoned. No water, no electricity, there was nothing." On the wall of a kindergarten, the faces of two girls were blotted out by militants who consider it un Islamic to depict people. Nearby, a dog was eating the corpse of a militant. The slow progress was overshadowed by the sectarian political quarrel that erupted in Baghdad on Saturday when Shi'ite lawmakers forced a law through parliament legalising the mainly Iranian-backed paramilitary units known as Popular Mobilisation forces. Many Sunnis consider the paramilitaries to be sectarian militia and accuse them of having carried out abuses in Sunni areas recaptured from Islamic State. The Popular Mobilisation units deny having sectarian aims or committing widespread abuse and say they saved the nation when the army crumbled in the face of Islamic State's lightning advance two years ago. Sunni members of parliament boycotted the session held on Saturday, objecting to the existence of armed groups outside the army and the police, and worrying that Popular Mobilisation will enhance Shi'ite majority rule and Iran's regional influence. The dispute threatens to complicate efforts to pull the country back together and foster reconciliation when Mosul is captured, which would mark the effective defeat of Islamic State in Iraq. The Iraqi military estimates there are 5,000 to 6,000 insurgents in Mosul facing a 100,000-strong force made up of Iraqi government troops, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters and Shi'ite Popular Mobilisation units. MANY DIFFICULTIES The law voted on on Saturday would turn the Popular Mobilisation units into a separate military corps, reporting to the prime minister. Under Iraq's political system that splits top jobs between different communities, the prime minister is a member of the Shi'ite majority. Sunni lawmakers plan to challenge the law in the federal court, one of them, Raad al-Dahlaki, told Reuters on Sunday. Official status for the Shi'ite fighters could feed into the narrative of fear and resentment among Sunnis that helped Islamic State's Sunni militants sweep to power in areas covering a third of Iraq in 2014. After taking Mosul, the largest city in the north, the fighters declared a "caliphate" that also spans part of Syria. The group considers all Shi'ite Muslims to be heretics who must repent or die. But its violent rule has also antagonised Sunnis, raising hope for reconciliation among Iraq's sects after the group is defeated. "It won't be rosy. Many difficulties," said Major General al-Jubbouri, who is himself a Sunni, commenting on the sectarian system established post-Saddam Hussein. "Some politicians will not like to change because many of them would lose their positions," he said. Islamic State fighters in Mosul are dug in among more than a million civilians as a tactic to hamper air strikes. They are resisting the advancing troops with suicide car bombs and sniper and mortar fire. "If there weren't civilians we'd be able to advance to the 4th bridge," in southern Mosul, said Brigadier Gen. Mustafa Sabah from the 9th armoured division that is attacking from the south east. He was referring to one of the strategic bridges across the Tigris river that splits Mosul west from east. U.S. strikes have hit four of the five bridges militants have been using to cross between the two halves of the city. Iraq forces pushed deeper into eastern Mosul over the weekend, clearing out a residential apartment complex where residents welcomed them. The militants finally left after positioning themselves on the rooftops of three-storey apartment blocks. One resident said the militants had tried to scare local people by telling them the army would rape their women. In some parts of east Mosul there are signs of heavy fighting during the liberation but others are not damaged suggesting militants may have retreated. Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, believed to be somewhere near the Syrian border, has told his fighters there can be no retreat from the city. Mohammed Ahmed, an 18 year-old resident in Mosul's Khadra district, said he heard one IS fighter shouting: "The angels are fighting with us. The angels are fighting with us." (With additional reporting by Saif Hameed in Baghdad; writing by Maher Chmaytelli; editing by Patrick Markey and Peter Graff)
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli forces killed four gunmen linked to the Islamic State group after they fired on soldiers Sunday, the military said, in the first such attack on the occupied Golan Heights.

The Israeli soldiers were targeted with machinegun fire and mortars and they shot back, before the air force bombed the vehicle carrying the gunmen identified as members of "Shuhada al-Yarmouk, an IS affiliate", said spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner.

The soldiers, from the Golani Brigade, were beyond the fence separating Israeli-occupied Golan from Syria but on Israeli territory, Lerner told AFP, noting none was wounded in the clash.

Since the beginning of the internal Syrian conflict in 2011, stray fire from government and rebel forces has hit Israel, as have attacks by the Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah and its affiliates.

Sunday's clash marked the first time Syria-based jihadists opened fire on Israeli soldiers on territory under Israeli control, according to a retired general, but probably did not mark a change in the strategy of the IS group.

"A direct attack like that on Israeli activities on Israeli side of border -- this is the first time," reserves general Nitzan Nuriel told reporters.

Nuriel said Israel has a policy of preventive action that it uses from time to time in the "grey zone" -- the term he used to describe "pockets between the security fence along the border and the official (demarcation line) between us and our neighbours."

The former director of Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau said the initiative behind the jihadist attack was "a local decision" and not emanating from a higher echelon, and did not mark a new policy of IS attacks on Israeli forces.

"They know exactly what the Israeli response" would be to attacks, Nuriel said of IS. An Israeli front is "the last thing IS needs at this stage".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the soldiers who "successfully repelled an attempted attack on the convergence point of three borders".

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"Our forces are prepared on our northern border, and we won't let IS elements or other hostile elements use the cover of the war in Syria to establish themselves next to our borders," he said in remarks relayed by his office.

Israel seized 1,200 square kilometres (460 square miles) of the Golan from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognised by the international community.

While avoiding being drawn into the internal Syrian conflict, Israel attacks Syrian military targets when fire, even unintentional, spills over the demarcation line.

The Israeli army holds the Syrian government accountable for any fire from its territory, regardless of the source.
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The main Israeli partners developing the large Leviathan natural gas site said on Sunday they signed commitment letters with HSBC and J.P. Morgan for up to $1.75 billion (1.65 billion pounds) of financing.

Delek Drilling (DEDRp.TA) and Avner Oil Exploration (AVNRp.TA) said the funds would go towards the A1 development stage of the project.

Delek and Avner, units of conglomerate Delek Group (DLEKG.TA), hold a combined 45.3 percent of Leviathan. Texas-based Noble Energy owns nearly 40 percent.

Leviathan, which is expected to start production in 2019 or 2020, was discovered in the eastern Mediterranean in 2010. Much of its 622 cubic meters of natural gas is earmarked for exports.

The Leviathan partners have already signed a number of supply deals within Israel as well as a $10 billion contract with Jordan. Israel has also been searching for the best way to export the gas, including possible pipelines to Turkey, Egypt and Cyprus.

The $1.5-$1.75 billion loan will be provided against the encumbrance of the partners' shares in Leviathan, with variable interest due every three months. The principal will be repaid in a single instalment after four years through a raising of long-term bonds.

The A1 development stage for Leviathan includes the supply of gas from Leviathan to the domestic market, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority and other regional agreements, if signed.

"We ... are committed to act in order to pipe gas from Leviathan to the Israeli market and for export already in late 2019. The Leviathan project is taking a significant step forward today," Delek Drilling CEO Yossi Abu said in a statement.

(Reporting by Steven Scheer)
Banjul (Gambia) (AFP) - In the run-up to The Gambia's presidential vote, the political opposition is experiencing both a surge in support and a wave of arrests that attest to the high cost of dissent in the west African state.

President Yahya Jammeh seized power in a 1994 coup and has targeted opponents and several of his own ministers, while surviving multiple attempts to remove him from power.

In the months prior to the December 1 vote, a former minister, an ex-ruling party MP and two journalists with the state broadcaster are among those who have been detained, often without a clear reason.

Jainaba Bah said she still doesn't know why her husband, former junior foreign affairs minister Mamadou Sajo Jallow, has been in custody since early September and denied access to a lawyer.

"My personal view is that he has been arrested because I have declared my support for the UDP (opposition party)," she told AFP by phone on Saturday from Sweden.

Her husband, a longtime ambassador to the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was taken away by the security services on September 2 after his house was burgled and official documents taken.

But his family has been told he cannot be released until he produces a passport and collects signatures from various officials, tough conditions to meet while he is behind bars and his wife has fled to Sweden.

"I can't sleep," Bah said, describing the "whole range of things that might be possible from the stories I have heard about," referring to alleged abuses committed in The Gambia's notorious prisons.

Allegations of torture and rape, especially in Banjul's Mile Two prison, are common.

Isatou Touray, a leading women's rights campaigner and a member of the opposition coalition that is fielding a single candidate against Jammeh this election, says such arrests have become familiar.

"This has been the norm in the Jammeh regime. You can never predict whether a minister is going to be there for three months or even three days," she said at a rally in a village outside the capital.

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"He is the alpha and omega of everything," she added.

Calls to the interior ministry by AFP about Jallow's case went unanswered on Sunday.

- Opposition gaining confidence -

Those who opt to leave the government are also at risk, especially deputies who have joined the Gambia Democratic Congress, a grouping of mostly former ruling party officials.

Tina Faal, formerly of the ruling Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction (APRC), was detained for three weeks in August despite already being on bail over a separate theft case. No reason was given for her re-arrest.

"They told us that they have documents they want to hand over to her. But they did not disclose their identities to us," a family source told AFP at the time of the men that descended on her home.

Meanwhile most of the top officials from the leading opposition United Democratic Party remain in jail, serving three-year sentences for holding protests.

They were arrested while calling for political reform on April 14 or at a subsequent demonstration over the death of UDP official Solo Sandeng in custody.

Touray, the women's rights campaigner, believes this has galvanised huge street rallies observed across the country, unprecedented in a nation where political expression is discouraged.

"The people can no longer tolerate the human rights abuses and all the difficulties that they are facing," Touray said.

For young Gambians, the wave of arrests has only pushed some closer to a confrontation with the authorities.

"Our leader Ousainou Darboe was picked up just metres away," said one young man openly wearing a T-shirt of the opposition coalition near a mosque in Banjul.

"I am standing here, so many people will be worried about me. They will be worried I will be picked up but I don't care about that anymore."

President Jammeh told UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to "go to hell" when he demanded an enquiry into deaths in custody in April, and has also described dying while being detained or during an interrogation as "really common".

- Press freedom -

Beyond the political sphere, journalists are also routinely arrested, with several detained during the sensitive weeks ahead of the election.

Momodou Sabally, the director-general of Gambia's state television and radio broadcaster, and his colleague Bakary Fatty were taken away earlier in November.

Sabally and Fatty broadcast images of the opposition when Jammeh's wife was due to appear, according to Human Rights Watch.

This week Sabally was charged with "economic crime", negligence of official duty, abuse of office and spreading false information.

The final charge, denounced as overly vague by rights activists, is often used against journalists.

Rights group Amnesty International has called for Sabally's release, adding that "all those detained for simply expressing their opinions should be freed without condition."
Https%3a%2f%2fblueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com%2fuploads%2fcard%2fimage%2f297887%2fscreen_shot_2016-11-27_at_3.23.30_pm

A Japanese city has figured out how to create a place that will calm your senses, while driving your heartbeat through the roof.

The mayor of Beppu, a city known for its hot springs, issued a challenge on social media last week: If this YouTube video hits a million views, he'll build a "spamusement park" in the city.

SEE ALSO: 12 remote places to unplug from this suffocating election campaign

That's right  a hot-spring themed amusement park, where you can soak in a tub while zooming down a rollercoaster wearing only a towel.

Seven days on, the video is nearing 1.8 million views, so the park is on!

This delightful and whimsical video is a must-watch, by the way.

Mayor Yasuhiro Nagano announced on Facebook that the video hit the million-view mark four days after it was released.

According to RocketNews24, the mayor's office released a statement to the press celebrating the project's commencement.

Mayor Nagano punching the air in triumph in his announcement.

Image: beppu mayor's office

It hasn't said when the park will be completed, but the city is now seeking creative types to submit ideas for its rides and attractions.

We only have one question  how will people keep their towels on on some of these rides?
UPDATE: 4 p.m. EST  President-elect Donald Trump was back on Twitter Sunday afternoon, making a case for having won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally.

If not for the Electoral College taking precedence over the popular vote, Trump said he would have campaigned in more states.

UPDATE: 2:05 p.m. EST  David Cobb, Green Party candidate Jill Steins campaign manager, told the Hill the recount effort is not so much about overturning the election as it is about securing confidence in the election system. In 2004, the year he was the partys standard-bearer, a successful challenge to the DRE electronic voting machines led to the conviction of one election official. The machines also were banned in California as a result.

We do not have any knowledge that a hack took place, but if it can be done, we want to investigate it to see if it was done and if the systems in these states were hacked, to what extent did they alter the results in these states, Cobb told The Hill.

Original post

President-elect Donald Trump Sunday unleashed a bitter series of tweets, attacking the effort to recount the votes in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein initiated the effort last week, saying there was the possibility of irregularities in the three states, components of the blue wall that had been expected to deliver the presidency to Clinton.

Though no evidence of vote fraud or tampering has been presented since the election, federal officials said during the campaign there was evidence hackers tried to break into state and local voter databases. Russia also has hinted it was behind the email leaks that plagued Democrats since their convention in Cleveland in July.

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Researchers at the University of Michigans Center for Computer Security and Society have said they found evidence the results in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania may have been hacked and contacted the Clinton campaign with their suspicions.

Unofficial results indicate though Clinton won nearly 2 million more votes than Trump, the real estate mogul secured an Electoral College margin of 306 votes to 232. If results in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan are overturned, the former secretary of state would have the electoral margin. Forty-six electoral votes are at stake. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to secure the presidency.

Trump was roundly criticized in a debate with Clinton during the campaign in which he refused to say whether he would abide by the results of the election.

Shortly before midnight, Trump took Democrats to task for the recount effort and accused the Green Party of ginning up scam to fill their coffers.

He then started in on Clinton, ignoring that in 2000, Republican George W. Bush also conceded to Democrat Al Gore but then initiated a recount in Florida that ultimately handed the White House to the GOP.

Trump recalled Clintons reaction to his debate answer of well see when asked if hed accept the election results, and a later quip in which he said he would abide by the results if he won.

Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway made the rounds of the Sunday morning talk shows, calling Clinton a hypocritical charade for participating in the recount effort.

Why in the world cant the Democrats accept the election results? Conway asked on ABCs This Week, characterizing the effort as quite small minded and an affront to President Barack Obama, who has less than two months left on his presidency.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vt., shrugged off the re-examination, saying it wont change the outcome.

Its a legal right. Its not a big deal, Sanders said on ABCs This Week and CNNs State of the Union.

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Thousands of fans from the Bay area and Central Florida packed Raymond James Stadium Saturday for the annual War on I-4.

USF and UCF matchup every Thanksgiving weekend

The 'War on I-4' has become an annual event for dedicated fans

This year, USF won 48-31



The Thanksgiving weekend matchup has become a tradition for USF Bulls and UCF Knights fans to come together and cheer on their home team.

"There's a lot of excitement here and I think people are really grasping that we have a great local university here in Tampa, Florida," said USF Fan Gary Schneider.

The teams fought for the first ever War on I-4 trophy -- and serious bragging rights from a massive group of dedicated supporters.

"There's a lot of energy and a tremendous amount of dedication by the players," added Schneider. "I think it's showing not only on the field but off the field, so we're really proud of the team."

The USF Bulls took home the win, and the trophy, beating UCF 48-31.


Josh Duggar is enjoying the holidays with his family by his side!

The troubled reality star spent Thanksgiving in the Ozarks Mountains, surrounded by his wife, Anna, his sisters, Jessa and Jill, and the rest of their famous family.

WATCH: Jinger Duggar Gushes Over 'Incredible' Wedding as Brother Josh Makes a Rare Family Appearance

"The makings of some great family memories!" a post on the Duggar Family Official's Facebook page, which was accompanied with five candid photos, read. "#Love #Thanksgiving."

One of the pics show the former 19 Kids and Counting star, 28, sitting on the floor as a few of his other family members try to solve a jigsaw puzzle.

Fans of the family were quick to comment on the post, writing things like, "Josh, it is so nice to see you back your family, we have missed you," "these pictures are so nice, have a blessed day!" and "having a great time with everyone in the family, WOW! That's what it's all about."

RELATED: Josh Duggar Seen on Double Date With Wife Anna and Her Sister Following Jinger's Wedding

Josh's mother, Michelle Duggar, also took to Facebook to pen a sweet post about what her and her family were most thankful for this year.

"Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday. It's a beautiful day spent with family, food we love and most of all it is a poignant reminder of the many blessings our lives enjoy, for which we should be thankful," she wrote. "This year for Thanksgiving, we spent a few days together with our family in a cabin in the beautiful Ozark Mountains. We laughed together, cooked together, sang together, told fun family stories, played with kids and bounced babies. It's been a wonderful family time.

"As I look around the room, I am so deeply touched by God's love, His forgiveness, His kindness, His provision, His mercies and His tenderness toward each of us," she continued. "God's willingness to redeem us through Christ, in spite of all our failures and imperfections, is so humbling and fills my heart with tremendous gratitude."

Story continues

WATCH: Anna Duggar Speaks Out About Josh Duggar Cheating Scandal for the First Time: It Was 'Heartbreaking'

"Today, I am thankful for family, sweet friends and most of all God's love," she concluded her post. "I pray that your day is full of family, fun and games, delicious food, long enjoyed traditions and a heart and home filled with God's love."

Earlier this month, Josh and Anna were spotted celebrating Jinger Duggar's marriage to Jeremy Vuolo. Prior to that sighting, the duo had been staying out of the spotlight ever since Josh returned to Arkansas following his stint in a faith-based rehab facility in Rockford, Illinois.

WATCH: Anna Duggar Blogs About Visiting Husband Josh Duggar in Rehab and a 'Difficult' 2015

He checked himself in shortly after an Ashley Madison hack led to his admission that he had been unfaithful to Anna, and that he battled a secret addiction to pornography. That scandal came to light mere months after Josh admitted to molesting five minor girls, including four of his sisters, when he was a teenager.

Hear more in the video below.

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Justin Trudeau Canada EU

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau clarified his comments on the death of longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro after being harshly criticized for them.

Trudeau said at a news conference on Sunday that his statement on Castro's death was meant "to recognize ... a former head of state" that Canada had ties to and not to overlook Castro's history of human-rights abuses, Reuters reported.

"The fact is Fidel Castro had a deep and lasting impact on the Cuban people," Trudeau said at the news conference.

"He certainly was a polarizing figure and there certainly were significant concerns around human rights  that's something I'm open about and that I've highlighted," Trudeau said on Sunday. He also acknowledged that Castro was a dictator when a CBC News reporter asked him about it.

In a statement released soon after Castro died, Trudeau expressed "deep sorrow" over his death and called him a "larger than life leader who served his people for almost half a century."

"A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation," the original statement said.

Castro did garner support for improving access to healthcare and education for the poor, but he was also known for ruthlessly suppressing any kind of dissent.

In 1976, Trudeau's father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, then Canada's prime minister, became the first NATO leader to visit Cuba since the 1959 revolution in which Castro took power. Canada maintained relations with the island nation during America's multidecade embargo.

Though Trudeau did acknowledge in his original statement that Castro was a "controversial" figure, he followed that by praising Castro's "tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people."

Quickly after the statement was released, critics slammed Trudeau's comments. Among those were two US officials of Cuban descent: Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas.

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Rubio tweeted: "Is this a real statement or parody? Because if this is a real statement from the PM of Canada it is shameful and embarrassing."

Cruz echoed Rubio's remarks, tweeting that Trudeau's comments were "disgraceful."

Disgraceful. Why do young socialists idolize totalitarian tyrants? Castro, Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot -- all evil, torturing murderers. #truth https://t.co/mYJonVK7JB  Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) November 26, 2016

The hashtag #TrudeauEulogies began trending on Twitter on Saturday, jokingly expressing praise for fictional tyrants like Darth Vader from "Star Wars" and President Snow from "The Hunger Games."

NOW WATCH: Trump will not pursue an investigation into Clintons private email server





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(Reuters) - World leaders paid tribute on Saturday to Fidel Castro, the Cuban revolutionary leader who built a communist state on the doorstep of the United States, but in death just as in life he divided opinion, and critics labeled him a "tyrant". Castro died on Friday aged 90, his younger brother and successor Raul Castro announced on state television. U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: U.S. President Barack Obama offered his condolences to Fidel Castro's family and added that history would judge Castro's impact on Cuba and around the world. "At this time of Fidel Castros passing, we extend a hand of friendship to the Cuban people," Obama said. "History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him." Obama added that during his own presidency he had worked to "put the past behind us," while working on a future that was built on those things that were in common. RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: The free and independent Cuba, built by him and his comrades, has become an influential member of international society and served as an inspiring example for many countries and people. Fidel Castro was a frank and tried and true friend of Russia. He has make a great contribution into establishing and developing of Russo-Cuban ties, close strategic cooperation in all the spheres, the Kremlin said, citing Putins condolences telegram to Raul Castro. U.S. PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP President-elect Donald Trump said in a statement that: "Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades. Fidel Castros legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights. While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, 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." U.S. VICE PRESIDENT-ELECT MIKE PENCE: U.S. Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on Twitter that: "The tyrant Castro is dead. New hope dawns. We will stand with the oppressed Cuban people for a free and democratic Cuba. Viva Cuba Libre!" CHINA PRESIDENT XI JINPING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said in a statement that: "The Chinese people have lost a close comrade and a sincere friend". Xi hailed Castro for his contribution to the development of communism both in Cuba and around the world. FRENCH PRESIDENT FRANCOIS HOLLANDE: French President Francois Hollande mourned the loss of a major figure on the world stage and welcomed the rapprochement between Havana and Washington, while noting concerns over human rights under the Castro regime. "Fidel Castro was a towering figure of the 20th century. He incarnated the Cuban revolution, in both its hopes and subsequent disillusionments," Hollande said in a statement. "France, which condemned human rights abuses in Cuba, had equally challenged the U.S. embargo on Cuba, and France was glad to see the two countries re-establish dialogue and open ties between themselves," added the Socialist party leader. Hollande met Castro in Ma, 2015 during the first ever visit by a French head of state to Cuba since the Cuban revolution. UK FOREIGN MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON: "The UK expresses its condolences to the government and people of Cuba, and to the former Presidents family. Fidel Castros death marks the end of an era for Cuba and the start of a new one for Cubas people." "Fidel Castros leadership of the 1959 Cuban Revolution marked him out as an historic if controversial figure. The UK will continue to work with the government of Cuba on a wide range of foreign policy priorities, including on human rights." EU COMMISSION PRESIDENT, JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER: Fidel Castro was one of the historic figures of the past century and the embodiment of the Cuban Revolution. With the death of Fidel Castro, the world has lost a man who was a hero for many. He changed the course of his country and his influence reached far beyond. Fidel Castro remains one of the revolutionary figures of the 20th century. His legacy will be judged by history." VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT NICOLAS MADURO: In Venezuela, a long-time ally of Cuba and staunch opponent of the political stance of the United States, President Nicolas Maduro said Castro had inspired and would continue to inspire his country. "We will keep on winning and keep fighting. Fidel Castro is an example of the fight for all the people of the world. We will go forward with his legacy," Maduro told television station Telesur by telephone. BOLIVIAN PRESIDENT EVO MORALES: In Bolivia, where Ernesto "Che" Guevara died in 1967 in a failed bid to export Cuba's revolution, President Evo Morales said in a statement: "Fidel Castro left us a legacy of having fought for the integration of the world's peoples ... The departure of Comandante Fidel Castro really hurts." ECUADOREAN PRESIDENT RAFAEL CORREA: Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said: "A great has left us. Fidel has died. Long live Cuba! Long live Latin America!" PERUVIAN PRESIDENT PEDRO PABLO KUCZYNSKI: On Twitter: My deepest condolences to the Cuban people and government in this sad hour; we salute the memory of the remembered Fidel Castro. ARGENTINE FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTRY: The pro-business government of Argentine President Mauricio Macri, whose surprise electoral victory a year ago was part of a rightward shift in the region, praised Castro for backing Argentina in its dispute with Britain over the Falkland Islands through the years. The Argentine government wishes to reaffirm, at this time of mourning, its will to continue tightening the deep ties of friendship and cooperation that unites both countries, the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT JACOB ZUMA: South African President Jacob Zuma had warm words, thanking the Cuban leader for his help and support in the struggle to overthrow apartheid. "President Castro identified with our struggle against apartheid. He inspired the Cuban people to join us in our own struggle against apartheid," Zuma said in a statement. CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER JUSTIN TRUDEAU: In a statement, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said: "A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and healthcare of his island nation. While a controversial figure, both Mr. Castro's supporters and detractors recognized his tremendous dedication and love for the Cuban people who had a deep and lasting affection for "el Comandante." VIETNAMESE PRIME MINISTER NGUYEN XUAN PHUC AND PRESIDENT TRAN DAI QUANG: In a letter to the Cuban people: "In the hour of this infinite suffering, the Communists and the people of Vietnam again reaffirm the solidarity and steadfast fighting spirit with the Communists and the Cuban brothers." "The bright life and immortal career of comrade Fidel Castro will forever live in the glorious revolutionary mission of the Cuban people and other nations striving to build a fair, civilized, democratic, prosperous and happy life." SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD: President al-Assad said in a telegram to the Cuban leadership: "Cuba, our friend, managed under his leadership to withstand the strongest sanctions and oppressive campaigns witnessed in our recent history, becoming a beacon of liberation for the people of South America, and the people of the entire world. Fidel Castro's name will live forever in the minds of generations and will inspire those aspiring to true independence and liberation from the yoke of colonialism and hegemony." NORTH KOREAN LEADER KIM JONG UN Kim said in a message carried on state news agency KCNA: "Though he passed away, the precious feats he performed will remain forever in the hearts of the peoples of our two countries and the hearts of progressive mankind." "I express conviction that the revolutionary Cuban people would overcome the pain they suffer from the loss of their distinguished leader and certainly build the prospering ideal society of the people and achieve the victory of the socialist cause under the wise leadership of you, Comrade Raul Castro Ruz, true to the lifetime intention of Comrade Fidel Castro Ruz." ITALIAN PRESIDENT SERGIO MATTARELLA: In a message to Cuban President Raul Castro, he said that: "I learned with deep sadness of the death of Fidel Castro Ruz, a leading figure in his country's history and life of the world. Over the past few years, albeit far away from active politics, he did not fail to make its voice heard on global issues of great importance and relevance, starting with environmental ones. I am sure that his figure will remain alive in the memory of the Cuban people, to which Italy is all bound together by deep feelings of old friendship." TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY: The Turkish foreign ministry said Castro "left a legacy of values and ideals that will set a path for the young generations in Cuba." "The struggle to which he dedicated his life aroused respect, even in different political camps, and resounded not just in Cuba but around the world. He stood up against global injustice and worked for the establishment of a world with greater equality and solidarity," it said in a statement. LEBANESE PRESIDENT MICHEL AOUN: In a telegram to Raul Castro: "The commander of the Cuban revolution left for almost a century a mark on the world's conscience thanks to his long experience, his power to persuade and the esteem with which he was beheld, so that his political attitudes and national debates became a unique approach of its own." "Fidel Castro's memory will remain an impetus for Cuba's present and future." KENYA OPPOSITION LEADER RAILA ODINGA: Veteran Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga, whose son born in 1973 was named Fidel Castro Odhiambo Odinga in honor of the Cuban leader, said in a statement: "In many ways, Castro was a great friend and true friend of Africa and other parts of the world that had to fight long and bitter wars to attain freedom from colonialism. "Castro stood very firmly on the side of Africans who were fighting for the continents liberation from colonialism especially in Congo (now DRC), Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. "In the case of Apartheid South Africa, Castro was one of the very few voices to speak against that system that was founded on a false sense of racial superiority with dire economic consequences for black people." Odinga's son Fidel died in 2015. (Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Editing by Mike Collett-White, W Simon and Simon Cameron-Moore)
Kampala (AFP) - Ugandan police stormed the palace of a tribal king and arrested him Sunday after fierce clashes between security forces and a separatist militia they believe is linked to him killed 55, police said.

Heavy fighting broke out Saturday in the western town of Kasese, home to King Charles Wesley Mumbere of the Rwenzururu kingdom, when his royal guards attacked patrolling security forces, killing 14 police officers and 41 militants, said police spokesman Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

President Yoweri Museveni phoned the king on Sunday morning and ordered him to disband the guards, who are believed to be part of a militia agitating for the creation of an independent republic straddling Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"We took time to talk to the king to get those people out but the king was non-compliant. The only option was to storm the palace and get those people out and get him out for his own security and safety," Kaweesi told AFP.

"He has to explain his involvement in these incidents. He will be charged with inciting violence and brought to Kampala."

Violence has been simmering in the region all week, with four militants killed when they attacked a police post on Thursday, a police spokeswoman told AFP.

Kaweesi said members of the royal guard threw an improvised grenade at patrolling officers on Saturday, prompting them to open fire and kill four of the "attackers".

"That incident set off an explosion in all local sub-counties," he said, adding that fighting between militants -- not all of them royal guards -- armed with guns and spears and security forces had continued until late in the evening.

The Rwenzururu kingdom is a traditional monarchy based near the Rwenzori mountains which straddle Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, of the Bakonzo people -- with supporters among those who share the same culture and language in the DRC.

The monarchy started out as a separatist movement of the same name when the Bakonzo -- tired of being subjected to the rule of another tribe under colonial rule -- declared their own kingdom in 1962.

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The move led to years of bloodshed until a settlement was reached in 1982 in which the movement laid down arms in return for a degree of local autonomy.

- 'The kingdom is not involved' -

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni officially recognised the kingdom in 2009.

However unrest has continued to simmer in the complex ethnic and political conflict, as many in the region still feel marginalised by authorities in distant Kampala.

Some in Uganda, with the support from their sister tribe in the DR Congo, have taken up arms and are agitating for the creation of the Yiira Republic which would cover territory in Uganda and part of North Kivu in the DR Congo.

The Banande in DRC and the Bakonzo in Uganda, have the same culture and language and are believed to stem from one people known as the Ba-Yira.

Though Mumbere has distanced himself from the cause, authorities accuse his royal guards of training in the mountains alongside separatist militia forces to attack government installations.

"We have told the government the kingdom is not involved in the creation of Yiira republic which wants to break away (from Uganda) and that the royal guards are not involved," Rwenzururu kingdom spokesman, Clarence Bwambale told AFP shortly before the king's arrest as heavy shooting echoed in the background.
The Lakeland Fire Department is fighting cancer thanks to a new piece of equipment.

New protective 'halo hoods' provides extra barrier



Designed to filter cancer-causing particules

All Lakeland firefighters have begun wearing the hoods



Every member of the department now wears a new protective hood. The department transitioned from the traditional firefighting hoods to particle filtering hoods, called halo hoods, last month.



"In a fire when we are sweating our skin has a higher rate of absorption of carcinogens, Lakeland Firefighter Kyle Davis said. So with these new halo hoods, its three layers that protects our more commonly exposed areas like our ears and neck."



The new hood provides a barrier for cancer-causing materials for areas that arent already protected by a helmet or suit. A new study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health found that firefighters are more likely suffer from cancer than the general U.S. population.

Research shows they aren't only at a higher risk contracting cancer, but dying from cancer.

"Our job is already inherently dangerous as is," said Davis, "and then there is a lot of other diseases that we have to deal with as firefighters."

The Lakeland Fire Department is one of the first in Florida to use the new hoods.



"Our gear now-a-days is getting really good, so we are able to go into a fire longer, do our job a little bit safer and thats our number one goal: that everyone goes home safe, Davis said.



The new hoods cost about 30 percent more than the old ones.
By Roberto Ramirez MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The man who helped a young Fidel Castro set sail for revolution said on Saturday he was speechless over the death of his old friend, 60 years after he furnished him with a weapons-filled yacht for his historic voyage to Cuba. Mexico City gun dealer Antonio del Conde, nicknamed "The Friend," met Castro in the 1950s and bought him Granma, the boat he used to sail from Mexico to start the insurgency that toppled U.S.-backed dictator Fulgencio Batista two years later. "I have no words," del Conde said in an interview at his home in Mexico City. "He changed my life, like he changed the lives of many people in different countries around the world." Cuban leader Raul Castro said his brother died late on Friday, exactly 60 years since Fidel and a band of armed comrades left from the port of Tuxpan on Mexico's Gulf coast. Fidel was 90 years old, the same age as del Conde. "When my friend told me ... I was silent," del Conde said, speaking from his modest apartment in southern Mexico City. He was imprisoned for a year for helping the revolutionaries, but eventually made it to Cuba to celebrate with his friends. A sepia-toned photograph hung on the wall of del Conde drinking malt beer over dinner with a bearded Fidel, Raul and left-wing icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara after the revolution. Del Conde first met Castro in 1955, when the young revolutionary walked into his arms shop in the Mexican capital saying he wanted to buy something. "I replied, 'Sir, I don't know who you are, but I'm going to help you,'" del Conde said. "It was Fidel Castro." Del Conde bought the Granma from an American couple for the Cubans and loaded it with weapons and fuel. The yacht, only designed to hold a few people, was said to have been named after the grandmother of its original owner. It later gave its name to Cuba's Communist Party newspaper. The 82 insurgents, including Raul and "Che" Guevara, left Mexico in the early hours of November 25, 1956, to land in Cuba a week later. They overthrew Batista in just over two years. This week, before news of Castro's death was announced, a group including del Conde gathered in Tuxpan in Veracruz state to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the boat's departure. "I asked for a round of applause for 'The Commander' Fidel Castro; we all stood up and clapped," del Conde said. The original yacht now sits inside a glass case outside the Museum of the Revolution in the Cuban capital, Havana. "We have to keep his image alive, as if he were with us, very close to us," del Conde said. (Writing by Christine Murray; Editing by Dave Graham and Jonathan Oatis)
This evening, the temperatures are dropping off fairly quickly, but it will not be as cool tonight as it was this morning. Lows will be in the low 50s north to near 60 around Tampa Bay.

Not quite as cool overnight as it has been

Monday will be partly cloudy

A cold front will approach on Thursday



Monday will be partly cloudy with high temperatures edging up into the low 80s. Humidity will also start moving up as winds shift to southeast by the afternoon. A few sprinkles will be possible in the afternoon.

Tuesday and Wednesday, winds will be southerly. It will be breezy. It will also get muggy with that wind direction.

Highs will stay in the low 80s, but overnight lows will move well into the 60s, to even near 70 for Tampa Thursday morning.

Thursday, a cold front will approach from the northwest. Dew points will surge up ahead of the front, possibly high enough to get sea fog on southwest winds. The rain chance may be as high as 40 percent.

It will be the best chance that we have seen in many weeks.

The front will pass through the state Thursday or Thursday night. So Friday and Saturday it will be less humid, cooler and sunny.



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In what is generally viewed as a negative development for the legal marijuana market, President-elect Donald Trump has selected Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions to be the next Attorney General of the United States. Sessions is an outspoken critic of marijuana legalization who was reported as saying (jokingly) that the Ku Klux Klan was "OK" before he discovered that KKK members smoked marijuana. In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing earlier this year, Sessions said that "good people don't smoke marijuana."

Perhaps the biggest threat to the cannabis industry is that Sessions (if confirmed) would reverse the Justice Department's current policy of mostly turning a blind eye to enforcing federal drug laws in states where voters have approved medical or recreational use of marijuana products.

ALSO READ: America's 25 Murder Capitals

Efforts from the industry to remove marijuana from the Schedule I list of most dangerous drugs are also likely to fall on deaf ears if Sessions becomes the AG. And as long as marijuana remains a Schedule I drug, there are many avenues open to federal law enforcement officials to raise havoc in the industry, not the least of which is a chilling effect on new investment.

For more on what a Sessions appointment may mean, see this article in Weed News.

Marijuana Found Innocent of Being a "Gateway Drug"

Publishing the "most comprehensive" report ever compiled on the cause of addiction, research conducted by The University of British Columbia indicates that people suffering from drug dependency issues could benefit from marijuana use.

Particularly helpful for those suffering from alcohol and opioid addictions, the new study found marijuana use offers a realistic exit strategy for breaking the bonds of addiction, according to Zach Walsh at UBC.

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.

ALSO READ: States With the Most (and Least) Student Debt

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Drilling down on the available marijuana-related studies, researchers at UBC found:

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 health have some valid points.

Read more at Marijuana.com.

Where Marijuana Plants Flourish Under Energy-Saving LED Lights

Behind the covered windows of a nondescript two-story building near the Olympia Regional Airport, hundreds of marijuana plants were flowering recently in the purple haze of 40 LED lights.

It was part of a high-stakes experiment in energy conservation  an undertaking subsidized by the local electric company. With cannabis cultivation poised to become a big business in some parts of the country, power companies and government officials hope it will grow into a green industry.

The plants here, destined for sale in the form of dried flowers, joints or edible items, were just a few weeks from harvest and exuding the potent aroma of a stash room for the Grateful Dead. But the energy-efficient LED lights were the focus of attention.

ALSO READ: The Next 14 States to Legalize Marijuana

"We wanted to find a way to save energy  that was important to us," said Rodger Rutter, a retired airline pilot who started this indoor pot-farming business, Evergrow Northwest, after Washington State legalized recreational cannabis in 2012.

"We wanted to be able to offer the best product at the best price," Mr. Rutter said, "and a big part of the cost is energy."

As cannabis has increasingly gone legitimate  about two dozen states had already legalized it in some form before several others eased restrictions on Election Day  electric utilities have struggled to cope with the intensive energy demands of the proliferating industry.

Read more at The New York Times.

Cannabis Real Estate Company Gets NYSE Approval, but Wall Street Debut Delayed

The first cannabis company to land a listing on the New York Stock Exchange could go public early next week; however, a culmination of factors  including marijuana's uncertain future on the federal level  appear to be giving investors some pause, an analyst says.

Innovative Industrial Properties, a San Diego-based real estate investment trust (REIT) for medical cannabis facilities, filed documents in October to raise $175 million by offering 8.75 million shares at $20 per share. At that price, the company would have a $201.7 million market value and would use part of its proceeds for a $30 million sale-leaseback transaction with PharmaCann, a New York-based medical cultivator and dispensary operator.

ALSO READ: The Most Dangerous Cities in America

The company received approval from the NYSE to list its ticker "IIPR" and was initially expected to have its shares price and go public this week.

"Getting NYSE clearance means there's at least one less hurdle for cannabis IPOs (initial public offerings) in the future," said Matthew Kennedy, an analyst with Renaissance Capital, a Greenwich, Conn.-based manager of IPO-focused exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Read more at The Cannabist.

US Drinks Industry Ponders Effect of Cannabis Legalisation

This Thanksgiving, Californians may have been tempted to include an additional ingredient in their pumpkin pies. Marijuana was legalised in the US's most populous state this month, reflecting a mellowing of social attitudes towards the drug.

Alongside the presidential election, five states voted on whether to legalise the recreational use of cannabis, with Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada, voting in favour, along with California.

But one sector is watching the spread of legalisation with a degree of trepidation: the $200bn US alcohol industry. Though alcohol and weed might seem eminently compatible to some, a number of brewers fear cannabis as a competitive threat, with some industry groups going as far as contributing funds to anti-legalisation campaigns.

ALSO READ: 25 Least Affordable Housing Markets

Boston Beer Company, the largest craft brewer in the US with brands that include Samuel Adams and Angry Orchard cider, said the widening legalisation of marijuana posed a risk to its sales.

"It is possible that legal marijuana usage could adversely impact the demand for the company's products," argued its regulatory filing in February. The Massachusetts-based brewer added: "We also believe that impacts the craft beer industry."

In Massachusetts, the Beer Distributors' PAC, an industry body, donated $25,000 this year to a campaign group fighting legalisation.

Read more at the Financial Times.

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Paramount

Its amazing what time can do for relationships, especially when it comes to those who once stood in opposition to each other over a work of art. Nearly 30 years ago, Martin Scorsese once faced the scorn from the Catholic Church and Christians around the world thanks to his adaptation of The Last Temptation of Christ. Now Scorsese is getting a different type of reception from the church thanks to his epic passion project Silence, due to hit theaters before the end of the year.

The film will get a premiere at The Vatican in front of around 400 priests and other guests according to The Guardian, but one special guest will be missing:

There will be no red carpet, and almost certainly none of the usual glamour. But when Martin Scorseses new film, Silence, has its world premiere at the Vatican on Tuesday, it will be the culmination of a 27-year project that the director has described as an obsession Pope Francis is not expected to attend the screening at the Pontifical Oriental Institute for the Jesuits, but Scorsese will join about 400 priests and other guests to watch the 159-minute movie. The director may meet the pontiff separately.

The running time is a note of interest according to The Independent, refuting previous rumors that Silence would be Scorseses longest film to date. It also is interesting to note that this isnt the first film to gain a Vatican premiere, but the fact that it is Scorsese will elevate this above the rest.

If youve never seen The Last Temptation of Christ, its one of the more interesting and controversial depictions of Jesus, taking a swift departure from the gospel to show a Jesus that lives like a man and even consummates his relationship with Mary Magdalene. This did not sit well with many, sparking protests, boycotts, and even an attack on a Paris theater showing the film. PBS covered the situation on their Culture Shock program:

The audience is especially disgusted by a closing image: Christ on the cross is tempted by Satan with visions of a normal life with the prostitute Mary Magdalene, replete with sex, marriage, and children. Some 1,200 Christian radio stations in California denounce the film, and Mastermedia International urges a boycott against parent company MCA. Bill Bright offers to reimburse Universal for its investment in The Last Temptation of Christ in exchange for all existing prints, which he vows to destroy. Universal responds with an open letter in newspapers across the country, saying that acquiescence to these forces would infringe on the First Amendment rights of all Americans. On the day the letter appears, more than 600 protesters, sponsored by a Christian radio station in Los Angeles, picket MCA headquarters. The protests are effective. Edwards Theaters, with 150 theaters nationwide, refuses to screen the film, as do United Artists and General Cinemas, with 3,500 theaters between them. In August 1988, Universal opens The Last Temptation of Christ in nine major cities in the United States and Canada. The day before its premiere, Citizens for a Universal Appeal, a coalition of religious groups from Orange County, CA, stages a protest in front of Universals L.A. headquarters that attracts some 25,000 participants. By the time The Last Temptation of Christ goes into wide release in September, the national controversy has waned, but now individual cities and towns seek bans. Among them, Savannah, GA, New Orleans, Oklahoma City, and Santa Ana, CA, succeed.

The film was called morally grotesque at the time according to The LA Times and even gained criticism from Mother Teresa, calling for prayers and the promise that Our Blessed Mother (Mary) will see that this film is removed from your land. Silence wont be without controversy itself according to The Guardian, with its final section detailing how the main character betrays everything his life has stood for in reference to his faith. The book was also criticized as heretical and blasphemous by Catholics in Japan, so this is also a concern for the film. Its still popular, but will audiences  particular those at The Vatican  feel the same way?

(Via The Guardian / The Independent)
Mel B is offering a huge reward to find the guy who stole her car

Ill tell you what she wants, what she really really wants. Mel B is offering a huge reward to find the guy who stole her car. The former Spice Girl is offering a $5,000 reward to anyone who will help her catch the scumbag thief who broke into her car Friday morning in Beverly Hills. I have a $5,000 reward to anyone who knows this a**hole, Mel B wrote. I dont care who was involved I want this guy caught. Mel B wants any information about the break in to send a message to Stephen Belafonte, her husband, on Instagram. She is on the hunt.

neighbor by neighbor we are going to track you down the police already have a good idea who you are,but in the meantime anybody who wants to make that $5000 DM my hubby right now @stephenthinks11 A video posted by Mel B (@officialmelb) on Nov 25, 2016 at 8:13pm PST

She posted two surveillance videos of the alleged robbery to Instagram. The videos show a man breaking the back window of her car, removing two suitcases from the vehicle. Mel Bs currently with her family in Australia (jealous!) as she is filming X-Factor Australia. We will wire you the money for turning him in, she added. The authorities have been notified, but she is also thinks that asking the public is essential to solving the case.

Neighbor by neighbor, we are going to track you down, she captioned another surveillance video of the crime scene. The police already have a good idea who you are, but in the meantime anybody who wants to make that $5,000, DM my hubby right now.

Feeling very blessed today #sydneylifestyle #boatlife #familytime #nofilterneeded A photo posted by Mel B (@officialmelb) on Nov 21, 2016 at 6:10pm PST

The police report hasnt been confirmed, but we hope that perpetrators will be brought to justice!

The post Mel B is offering a huge reward to find the guy who stole her car appeared first on HelloGiggles.
Cuban-Americans flooded the streets of Miami's Little Havana late Friday into Saturday, celebrating the death of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

People honked horns, banged pans, waved Cuban flags and set off fireworks, the Miami Herald reported. In cheers and songs, they denounced Castro and Cuban President Raul Castro, who announced his brother's death late Friday.



"This is the moment that so many in our community have been waiting for since I can remember, since I was a child," Florida Rep. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican whose parents fled Cuba, told the Herald. "Everyone's been waiting for this moment because they believed it would be the beginning of the end of the nightmare, and I think that's exactly what this is: the opening of a door to a brighter future."

While many world leaders mourned Castro's death, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, whose family immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba, issued a firm rebuke of the former leader and his legacy.

"Sadly, Fidel Castro's death does not mean freedom for the Cuban people or justice for the democratic activists, religious leaders, and political opponents he and his brother have jailed and persecuted. The dictator has died, but the dictatorship has not," Rubio said in a statement Saturday. "And one thing is clear, history will not absolve Fidel Castro; it will remember him as an evil, murderous dictator who inflicted misery and suffering on his own people."

President Obama on Fidel Castro's Death: History Will Judge His Impact

Carlos Gimenez, mayor of Miami-Dade County, asked residents to demonstrate peacefully.

"His passing closes a very painful chapter for Cubans on the island and Cuban-Americans throughout the world, including for thousands of Mami-Dade county residents who were personally affected by his cruel and brutal dictatorship," Gimenez said in a statement. "Despite this historic moment however, we know that Fidel's brother Raul continues to lead one of the world's most repressive governments. My hope is that a free and democratic Cuba with the same freedoms we treasure here in the United States will soon emerge. It is what the Cuban people deserve."

Story continues

This article was originally published on TIME.com

See original article on Fortune.com

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By Francisco Alvarado and Nicole Martinez MIAMI (Reuters) - Cuban-Americans poured into the streets of Miami's Little Havana on Saturday to celebrate the death of Fidel Castro, while leaders of Florida's Cuban emigre community portrayed his passing as a hopeful sign for reform in their homeland. Thousands of revelers turned out in force on the streets of the city's Cuban neighborhood, waving flags, setting off fireworks and banging on pots to mark the death of a man who many scorned as a dictator. But the crowd included many people too young to remember Castro in his heyday in the 1960s and 1970s, and many of them sounded more pragmatic than ideological when speaking about his death at the age of 90. Vendors selling "Cuba Libre" flags and T-shirts set up shop on nearly every street corner, as rows of cars, many of them blaring horns, flooded the streets. At the Versailles Restaurant, long a center of the city's exile community, the wait for a table at lunchtime was more than an hour and a half. "This is the happiest day of my life, Cubans are finally free!" said Orlidia Montells, 84, who said she had waited for Castro to die for more than 50 years. But Julie Penate, a 15-year-old student who was at the Versailles with her family, spoke of Castro's death in terms of the future. She said it was an opportunity to build on the warmer relations established under the Obama adminstration. "I think now we have a more civilized bond and we can come together and do something greater," Penate said. Hugo Ravelo, an 83-year-old former casino employee, said he hoped change would come to the Caribbean island, but he was not sure how much would happen. "The other one is still there," he said, referring to Cuban President Raul Castro, Fidel's younger brother. Ric Herrero, executive director of Cuba Now, was more optimistic. He believes Castros death should free his brother to push ahead with measures that the more hard-line "Commandante" had long opposed. Cuba Now is a nonpartisan advocacy group that played a pivotal role in persuading President Barrack Obama to re-establish diplomatic relations with the communist nation. We know that Fidel opposed normalization with the United States and put the brakes on many of the economic reforms that his younger brother tried to implement, Herrero said. This opens up space for Raul. QUESTIONS ABOUT TRUMP On the streets of Miami on Saturday, the anger and frustration of many Cubans over decades of political repression in their native land was palpable. One man held an effigy of Castro's severed head on a stick, while others carried signs calling on Satan to "take care" of Castro in hell. Many people were also wearing "Make America Great Again" hats and sporting "Trump Pence" T-shirts. The attire suggested that at least some of Miami's Cuban-Americans are counting on President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, to play a crucial role in shaping U.S. policy with Cuba in the post-Fidel era. Dasiel Bellido de Luna, a 27 year-old medical technician who arrived from Cuba three years ago, said he did not support all of Trump's campaign rhetoric, but he thought the president-elect would deliver on his promise of renegotiating with Cuba. "Trump has said he wants to make a better deal than the unilateral agreement made by (President Barack) Obama," Bellido de Luna said, referring to executive orders signed by the U.S. president. "This is the time to force them to open the Cuban economy to its citizens." But Cuba Now's Herrero said the Trump administration should be careful to avoid President Ronald Reagan's mistake of isolating Cuba at the end of the Cold War. That will only embolden its hard-liners and further delay change, Herrero said. Now more than ever is time for the United States to fully open itself to the Cuban people. Like Herrero, Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola is hopeful that Trump will think twice about reversing the recent opening between the two countries. I think in his heart, he is someone who sees opportunity in Cuba, said Arriola, a Cuban-American politician who would like to see Cuba set up a consulate in his city. More than one-third of the 2.5 million residents of Miami-Dade County, which includes the city of Miami, are of Cuban descent, according to 2014 U.S. Census data. Since the Obama administration began normalizing relations, the number of new Cubans arriving in the United States, particularly the Miami area, has surged. According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 9,000 Cubans have entered through Miami during the first months of fiscal 2016, on pace to surpass last years rate. As the number of younger Cubans who did not live through Castros revolution has outpaced that of older exiles, attitudes about dealing with the Cuban government have softened. In September, a Florida International University poll found that 56 percent of local Cuban-Americans strongly or mostly favor re-engagement with the island. For some, there is a lingering respect for Castro as an icon of a bygone era, despite his human rights record. Luis Torres, a 28-year-old medical student in Miami, said Castro was still admired by some people for defying the United States and demolishing Cuba's rigid class system. "A lot of people see him as a hero, that he stood up to the U.S.," he said. (Additional reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Frank McGurty and Jonathan Oatis)
Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesian police arrested a third Islamic State-linked militant Sunday accused of plotting to bomb the Myanmar embassy in Jakarta, as anger grows at a violent military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims.

The militants -- all from a domestic cell affiliated with the Syria-based jihadist group -- had amassed enough explosives to create bombs more powerful than those used in the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 202 people, police say.

"They were helping plan a bomb attack against parliament, the national police headquarters, the embassy of Myanmar and several television stations," national police spokesman Rikwanto said in a text message.

Anger is growing in Indonesia and other parts of Muslim world over what has been described as the "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Refugees fleeing into Bangladesh say Myanmar's military has been leading a campaign of rape and murder against the homeless ethnic group.

Thousands of Muslims rallied in capitals across Asia on Friday demanding an end to the violence.

In Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, protesters urged their government to cut diplomatic ties with Yangon.

Indonesia's anti-terror unit Wednesday nabbed suspected bomb maker Rio Priatna Wibowo and seized a significant quantity of high-grade explosives from a laboratory west of the capital Jakarta.

His arrest led to the capture of two other suspected militants in different parts of the country, Rikwanto said Sunday.

Bahrain Agam was detained Saturday for allegedly purchasing the explosives while Saiful Bahri was arrested Sunday accused of helping assemble the bombs, said Rikwanto, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

Indonesian police say it remains unclear when exactly the militants planned to carry out their assault, but that they had enough explosives to detonate a blast more than double that which levelled nightclubs in Bali in a fiery inferno.

All three were members of Jemaah Ansar Daulah, a local extremist outfit that has sworn allegiance to IS, Rikwanto said.
Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) - At least 34 civilians were killed Sunday in a flare up of ethnic violence in restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, authorities said, following a week of soaring tensions.

"The provisional toll is 34 civilians killed," said local official Joy Bokele, referring to an attack by a Nande ethnic militia on a displaced persons camp in the Hutu village of Luhanga.

"They started by attacking the FARDC (DR Congo military) position. While they were attacking the FARDC, another group was executing the population with bladed weapons or bullets," Bokele said.

Bokele added that the attack was carried out by the Mai-Mai Mazembe, a Nande "self-defence" militia, and that one of the attackers was killed in the clashes.

Tensions between the Nande and Hutu peoples have been running high in the restive east, shaken by two decades of fighting over land, ethnic tensions and mineral riches.

The Nande accuse Congolese Hutus of abetting the FDLR Rwandan rebel group. The Hutus, in return, say they are looking for land where they can settle for farming and accuse the Nande of trying to expel them.

Sunday's killings are the worst inter-communal violence in a year. Dozens of people have died since the start of the year in fighting between the Nande and the Hutus.

"If the army had not intervened, there would have been many more dead," said a military source.

"The militia was searching for members of the Hutu community and wreaked carnage before burning down the village entirely," said a local rights group, the Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights (CEPADHO). "The attackers were there for more than an hour."

The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, or MONUSCO, said a peacekeeping force in the area had heard gunshots and were "quickly deployed and neutralised the attack", killing one of the attackers, adding that 15 people had been wounded and now evacuated.

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CEPADHO called on the government and MONUSCO to take urgent action to prevent further ethnic violence.

"The Mai-Mai Mazembe made threats against the Hutus during the week, demanding that they leave the area or risk a purge," CEPADHO added in a statement.

North Kivu has been the scene of repeated clashes for nearly two decades, and hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.
The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) said on November 27 that 146 people, including 20 women and 28 minors, had been rescued from the Mediterranean Sea earlier in the day, and had been taken to the Sicilian town of Pozzallo.

This video shows the rescued refugees alighting the boat in Pozzallo. Credit: Twitter/UNHCR Italia via Storyful
Issue 01 Cover featuring Park Yury

[Photo: MUTZINE/Photography @ideabig]

MUTZINE is a magazine that is feeding the rising interest in Korean fashion, art and culture. Since its launch in 2015, the magazine has been privy to exclusive access at Seoul Fashion Week, various contributions from established creatives and boasts a growing global social media following. As a result, its success has led to their first editorial issue. I sat down with Editor-in-Chief Gissella, to find out more about her role and what keeps her coming back to SoKo.

Can you tell me a little about yourself? Where youre from and what you do?

My name is Gissella. Im from Jersey City, New Jersey. Founder and Editor-in-Chief of MUTZINE, a digital and bi-annual print magazine about Korean fashion, art, & culture.

What pushed you to start Mutzine

MUTZINE is the romanization of the word cool in Korean. MUTZINE is a project I started in Spring of 2015 from my bedroom. I studied Cultural Anthropology in college and I guess that MUTZINE can also be interpreted as an ethnographic project about contemporary Korea.

You average day consists of?

When Im in Seoul it consists of exploring and meeting as many people as possible since my time is limited here. Sometimes I sit down for interviews or direct photoshoots.

[Photo: MUTZINE/Bad Movie shoot based on 90s Korean cult films, @ideabig]

And when youre not in Seoul, what are you up to?

When Im not in Seoul, I work as a Mortgage Loan Officer back at home. Its not all that different since I can still stay in the loop of whats going on in Korea through my social media feeds. If something needs to get done in Seoul I just get on Kakao talk to coordinate!

Korean fashion is still a very niche thing for those outside of the industry. What do you think draws people to K-Fashion?

Well Korea has this cool aura now, theres a lot of young creatives doing interesting things that fit into what is happening elsewhere in the world. So global fashion fans are curious about Koreas take on fashion. Another segment of interest comes from people who already know of Korea because of cultural exports like K-pop.

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[Photo: MUTZINE/Kimmy J SS17, Backstage, @starry_space]



If you werent doing this, what would you be doing? What industry would you be in?

I was putting my foot into new media production and User Experience Research before falling into handling mortgages. Although theres nothing wrong with mortgages, I really like innovation and storytelling. Im actually now at a good spot where I get do to both.

Top 4 Korean designers and why?

Its funny that I dont wear any of these designers because my personal style is still very casual but I enjoy:

Pushbutton because they have a consistent identity. They push boundaries, theyre playful and chic. Theres actually not that many womenswear brands that catch my attention in Korea but another one is The Centaur, I would wear every single piece that designer Yeranji produces! Theyre romantic but edgy. In the realm of menswear I like Siki Im, he doesnt show at Seoul Fashion Week and he wasnt raised in Korea but his approach to design, merging architecture and anthropology, is interesting to me. I think its cool when you can tell theres something deeper going on in the clothing and a lot of Korean based designers are way too sensitive to trends that I sometimes find myself not being curious about what theyll do next.

[Photo: MUTZINE/Pushbutton SS17, Backstage, @rosepophalf]



What are we likely to find on the floor of your apartment?

In my bedroom? My clothes if there isnt a chair theyll be piled up on the floor. Im trying to get better at this! Theres some books too, I should get a bigger bookcase. Actually during this trip to Seoul Ive been really inspired to get into interior design, so that may be a project I take on soon, reworking my living space.

Describe your style in two words.

Teenager again!

Fav place in Seoul to

Eat? Im really into fried chicken right now, so I like to order chicken delivery.

Dance? Itaewon! Go to Pistil, Faust, or Midnight Seoul for a good time!

Relax? Theres this relatively new bar in Hannam-dong called 232. The drinks are not cheap but the jazzy music and comfortable chairs can melt your worries away.

My biggest aspiration for Mutzine is..?

Well now if I really think back on why I started this projectI think theres a multidirectional conversation going on right now with creative energy flowing in and out of Korea. So growing a network of global creatives who learn from one another would be really cool.

Check out MUTZINE Insta or contact Gissella.



Photography: @ideabig @starry_space @rosepophalf

[Photo: MUTZINE/RocketxLunch SS17, Backstage,@rosepophalf]


Spirit rover

Scientists have announced that NASAs decommissioned Spirit rover may have found evidence of alien life Mars in 2007, but scientists failed to pay attention at the time.

According to a new study photographs snapped in 2007 by the Spirit rover exploring the Martian surface appear to show structures that could be biosignatures of past microbial life forms on the planet.

The Spirit rover images of Silica outcrops in the Home Plate, a 300-square-foot plateau of layered rocks in the Columbia Hills area of the Gusev crater near the Martian equator, could be evidence of past microbial life on Mars overlooked until now, scientists say.

The study, titled Silica deposits on Mars with features resembling hot spring biosignatures at El Tatio in Chile, was conducted by scientists from the Arizona State University (ASU) and published on November 17, 2016, in Nature Communications.

While reviewing images of the Home Plate silica deposits and comparing them with similar features on Earth, ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration researchers Steven Ruff and Jack Farmer, discovered nearly identical hot spring silica deposits called stromatolites at El Tatio, near the Atacama Desert in Chile.

The El Tatio silica deposits were created through the combined agency of hot springs (non-biological] and microorganisms (biological).

Conditions in El Tatio are similar to conditions in the Home Plate area of Mars. El Tatio hot springs are situated about 14,000 feet above sea level. The area has thin, dry air, low temperatures often dropping below freezing point in the night even in summer, and high levels of ultraviolet radiation in the day.

[Note: The images below show the silica deposits on Mars on the left and similar silica deposits at El Tatio, Chile, on the right]

Home Plate on Mars is also believed to have had active hot springs that formed the silica outcrops photographed in 2007 by Spirit rover (see photos below).

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Similar silica structures or stromatolites, considered fossil remains of the earliest forms of life on Earth, are also found in Precambrian rocks of Western Australia.

Stromatolites are formed when colonies of microbes trap sediments which react with calcium carbonate under moist conditions, leading to accumulation of limestone layers.

We went to El Tatio looking for comparisons with the feature found by Spirit at Home Plate.

The similarity of the silica deposits in the Home Plate plateau of Mars to stromatolites in El Tatio has raised questions whether the Martian structures were also formed like stromatolites on Earth through the combined agency of hot springs and primitive microbial life forms.

'Evidence of life on Mars' found in NASA Spirit rover images, say scientists @TomSlemen https://t.co/Ohq3w8lJYk  James Lloyd (@CaptainJimDandy) November 25, 2016

Our results demonstrate that the more Mars-like conditions of El Tatio produce unique deposits, including biomediated silica structures, with characteristics that compare favorably with the Home Plate silica outcrops, the scientists said, according to Express.

The similarities raise the possibility that the Martian silica structures formed in a comparable manner.

Our results show that conditions at El Tatio produce silica deposits with characteristics that are most Mars-like of any silica deposits on Earth, Ruff said, according to the Telegraph. The fact that microbes play a role in producing the distinctive silica structures at El Tatio raises the possibility that the Martian silica structures formed in a comparable manner  in other words with the help of organisms that were alive at the time.

This is the second time in recent years that a team of scientists has claimed evidence of life on Mars discovered in the past but overlooked at the time.

A team of scientists had claimed in 1976 to have found evidence of life on Mars but their work was ignored by their peers.

Searching for Life on Mars: A Re-look at Spirit Rover Findinghttps://t.co/jlsAQrG8ez pic.twitter.com/1HFvuKwBxy  marsboy (@marsboy) November 21, 2016

The team of scientists involved in the Viking Labeled Release (LR) experiment had concluded that soil collected from Mars by the Viking Landers showed signs of microbial life. The labeled release experiments to test for biosignatures of microbial life on Mars were carried out by two Viking crafts that landed at two separate locations on the Red Planet about 4,000 miles apart.

According to the scientists, the results of the LR experiments were remarkably similar to identical tests conducted on soils collected from California, Alaska, and Antarctica.

But other scientists rejected the results partly because the LR experiment results were not backed by results from the other two life-seeking experiments conducted by the probes.

But recently, in 2012, a team of scientists conducted fresh mathematical analysis of the data and concluded that the LR experiments might have found evidence of microbial life in Martian soil.

Its very possible that if you have microbes, theyre living a couple of inches beneath the soil, close to water ice, a study team member Joseph Miller, from the University of Southern California, said, according to National Geographic.

Scientists have always believed that Mars offers the best chances of finding extraterrestrial life because there is evidence that the planet once had running liquid water and a thick atmosphere.

Discovery of methane in the planets atmosphere in 2014 also raised hopes of finding life on Mars because about 90 percent of methane on Earth is produced by living organisms.

NASA decommissioned the Spirit rover in 2011 after the front wheel broke and the rover got stuck in Martian soil.

Unfortunately, the currently active rovers Curiosity and Opportunity are too far away to travel to Home Plate to conduct further investigations. But scientists hope to be able to conduct fresh investigations in the Home Plate area during a subsequent mission in 2020.

[Featured Image by NASA/JPL/Cornell University, Maas Digital LLC/Wikimedia]

NASAs Spirit Rover May Have Found Evidence Of Alien Life On Mars In 2007, Scientists Say is an article from: The Inquisitr News
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has grown into a leviathan, expanding its authority far beyond the restrictions established by law and extending its activities to issues best left to the states.

Indeed, the EPA has become one of the most powerful agencies in our government, limiting economic growth and peoples use of their property with little legislative oversight.

President-elect Donald Trump was right when he said, Overregulation presents one of the greatest barriers to entry into markets and one of the greatest costs to businesses that are trying to stay competitive. EPA regulations cost the nations economy trillions of dollars each year.

And, with rare exceptions, EPA regulations implemented after the agencys first decade have failed to improve the environment.

That has occurred because the science used to support the thousands of new regulations is generally without merit. EPA hires pseudo-scientists to support any directive it chooses, continuously stifling the U.S. economy at the behest of radical environmental lobbyists, who largely control the agency.

Current EPA administrator Gina McCarthy exemplifies the agencys disturbed culture. McCarthy is an explicit climate warrior who has claimed, Climate change is the greatest threat of our time, and the time for action is now.

In light of that belief, McCarthy explicitly stated her intention to act as an environmental dictator: I will tell you that I didnt go to Washington to sit around and wait for congressional action. Never done that before, and dont plan to in the future.

Instead of carrying out the laws enacted by Congress, McCarthy has taken on the role of policymaker, pushing regulations such as the Mercury and Air Toxics rule, the Waters of the United States rule, and the Clean Power Plan, all of which have either been thrown out or put on hold by federal courts or the U.S. Supreme Court for going far beyond what the law allows.

Multiple reports by the EPAs own inspector general and the Senate and the House show McCarthy has repeatedly violated federal law and EPA guidelines by collaborating with activist groups to lobby for laws and regulations restricting the oil and gas industry.

McCarthy has encouraged EPA employees to work with environmental lobbyists in secret, holding meetings outside EPAs headquarters in order to avoid leaving a record of their conversations.

On Trumps first day in office, he should appoint a new EPA administrator, steeped in scientific knowledge, who sees the job as that of an advisor, not a super legislator, to advise him on which environmental regulations should be nullified to the benefit of the nations environment and its economy.

In addition, the new president should support pending legislation requiring that any regulation imposing a more than $100 million impact on the economy, or $10 million on any particular state, be approved by a full vote of Congress before taking force. If Congress rejects any such regulations, EPA should have to go back to the drawing board.

Congress and the president should also begin a process to efficiently dismantle the federal EPA over a five-year period, turning over the agencys duties and responsibilities to a new agency made up of representatives from each of the 50 states environmental agencies.

Different states face different environmental issues. What resources to expend and what problems to prioritize would be better addressed by people representing the states than by bureaucrats in Washington.

Such actions would do more to grow energy production and the economy than almost any others the new president could take.
Warri (Nigeria) (AFP) - Nigerian militants on Sunday blew up a state-run pipeline in the restive oil producing south, in the latest act of sabotage aimed against the strategic sector, a local official said.

"The pipeline popularly known as the Abura line was bombed at about 7:30 am on Sunday morning," Ughelli south council chairman Paul Etaiga told AFP. The pipeline is owned by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) in Delta State.

Etaiga said he and security agents had visited the scene of the blast to assess the extent of damage.

Local resident Emekpor Emurotu said "we heard the blast this morning followed by a huge ball of fire from the pipeline."

Police said fire-fighters had put out the blaze.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but militant group, the Niger Delta Greenland Justice Mandate, has consistently carried out attacks on oil pipelines belonging to the NPDC in the area.

Since the start of the year, several activist groups have intensified bombings of Nigeria's key oil and gas facilities, hurting government revenues at a time of a global fall in crude prices.

Oil-rich Nigeria depends on the oil sector for 70 percent of government revenue and 90 percent of foreign exchange.

The oil rebels have defied a government truce to halt the attacks.
Antananarivo (AFP) - Controversial moves to extend Congolese President Laurent Kabila's stay in power appeared to advance Sunday as a close ally said elections would not be held until April 2018, 16 months after Kabila was due to leave office.

Foreign Minister Raymond Tshibanda also warned that the political opposition in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has urged Kabila to step down on December 20 when his term officially ends, could foment violence.

Tshibanda, speaking on the sidelines of a conference in Madagascar, said that Kabila's government had "consulted election experts" from Congo, the United Nations and elsewhere, and that "it has been decided that the voter registration operation will end on July 31, 2017 and that elections will take place in April 2018".

"Before that no expert thinks it will be possible" to organise a vote, he said.

Kabila, who has been elected to two presidential terms, is barred from serving again but has never said he plans to step aside.

Earlier this month he cut a power-sharing deal, appointing fringe opposition politician Samy Badibanga as prime minister in a move that effectively extends his term to at least late 2017.

The "Gathering", a movement of mainstream opposition groups that back politician Etienne Tshisekedi to replace Kabila, have rejected the deal.

In September, during protests organised by the Gathering against the delayed elections, 53 people were killed, according to a UN toll. Congolese authorities have banned further rallies including one last week.

"It is clear that not all political actors are acting responsibly, and that some of them are practising politics of the worst kind", Tshibanda said.

He said he "cannot exclude that there might be attempts at violence", and warned that "the Congolese government will act accordingly".

The question of Kabila's succession has triggered renewed political crisis in Congo, a vast resource-rich nation riven for decades by rival power struggles.

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Kabila came to power after the murder of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila by a bodyguard in 2001 during the Second Congo War, which ended two years later.

Elected in 2006, he went on to win a second five-year term in a 2011 vote decried as rigged by the opposition.

Tshibanda, speaking at a summit of leaders of French-speaking nations, said Kabila was unable to attend.

"The head of state cannot leave the capital when he is in the middle of consultations to form a government," the foreign minister said.
Manhattan's Trump Tower was branded "Dump Tower" for a few hours on Google Maps.

Its unclear how the switch occurred but Twitter users started tweeting about the change Saturday afternoon, according to reports.

Read: New Trump Hotel in D.C. Defaced with "Black Lives Matter" Graffiti

It was only up for a few hours before Google swooped in to change it back to its original name.

According to Google, map data is gathered from third-party providers, public sources and user contributions, which helps to create a comprehensive and updated map at all times.

If there are any corrections that need to be made, they are made by Google.

There were mixed reviews on the temporary rebranding on social media.

I love you Google! #DumpTower is the perfect name! LOL!!! pic.twitter.com/U03iH9V3LI  VA for Hillary (@VA4Hillary1) November 27, 2016

Read: Dirty Bathrobe at Trump's New Hotel Not Washed Between Guests, Investigation Finds

Trump did not comment on the change on Twitter.

#Dumptrump was a popular hashtag during the campaign season for those who opposed the president-elect.

Watch: This Is Where the Parents of Tower Climber Were When He Scaled Trump Building

Related Articles:
While Strictly star Ola Jordan busies herself taking endless showers in the Im A Celebrity camp, her tell-all autobiography is making sure she continues to rack up the tabloid column inches.

Ola and James Jordan/PA Images

This week its been revealed that her husband James Jordan had a long-term girlfriend when the pair first met. Ooer!

Telling the Sunday People about the first time she ever clapped eyes on her future husband, Ola said: He was tall and very good-looking, with slicked black-back black hair and piercing blue eyes. His dancing was amazing.

His partner was Polish, and when I watched them dance together I was filled with just one thought: I want to have a partner like that one day.

At one point during the competition I actually got introduced to this tall, dark stranger, very fleetingly. Hello, he smiled. And then he was gone.

The brief meeting stuck in my mind. I thought this guy would be incredible. I would really like a partner like him one day, I thought, but he was well out of my league.

Later she received a phonecall out of the blue  from none other than Jamess girlfriend. To my amazement, the girl explained that she was the dance partner of the English dancer Id seen and admired in Blackpool, Ola continues.

Ola and James Jordan/PA Photos

His name was James Jordan, and it seemed that each of them had decided to look for another partner, in order to progress further. James would like to come to Poland and have a trial with you, the girl explained.

As well as being Jamess dance partner, the girl who had phoned me was also his girlfriend.

34-year-old Ola says she didnt have any feelings for James initially: It didnt bother me that he had a girlfriend. I was four and a half years younger than James and never considered for one moment that he could possibly be interested in a girl like me, not in that way.

He was spoken for and was very renowned in the dance world, and I felt young and inexperienced by comparison.

Nevertheless, when I saw James walk through arrivals at the airport my heart skipped a beat.

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Ola left Poland and moved into a shared house with Jamess parents. As they grew closer, his relationship with his girlfriend became more strained.

Ola Jordan/ITV

One evening, he turned up to practice looking very upset, worse than Id ever seen him. He had finally broken up with his girlfriend, and his eyes were red from crying.

James and Ola eventually hooked up when James had a fit of jealous rage (Grrrr!) when shed gone to the cinema with a fellow ballroom dancer named Christian.

Returning to their hotel after a night out with fellow dancer Christian, Ola was met by the furious ballroom star, who was struggling to contain his feelings. He demanded to know where she had been.

As soon as I said Christians name James completely snapped. He was standing beside his bed, and he was suddenly in such a temper that he flipped it up with both his hands. It crashed down right in front of me.

We both stared at each other and then at the bed, which was messed up and wedged at an angle between us.

We gazed at each other, and then we looked again at the bed between us. It needed remaking, but we both had the same thought at the same time: We can make it afterwards.

How very romantic.


A narrow path winds through Kashmir's Valley of Pearls towards 13 tin-roofed shops hidden in a rickety row, a women-only market that doubles as a space for those seeking help against the violence of Pakistan's patriarchy.

The market, in a small village outside the main city of Rawalakot in a conservative corner of Pakistani-held Kashmir, began simply as a place run by women for women.

There they could buy and sell sewing supplies, visit clothing boutiques or train as beauticians -- a welcome outlet for many struggling with the restraints on women in the deeply traditional Muslim area.

Social worker Nusrat Yousuf, who works with victims of domestic violence through the non-governmental organisation (NGO) she heads, helped persuade a generous landlord to provide the land to set up the market in 2011.

Women in the area, she says, are forbidden by their families to work in the main markets in the area's towns and cities.

"They become frustrated when they can't get jobs and spend their lives at home," the 48-year-old widow tells AFP.

The market, from which men were at first banned, provided a way around conservative beliefs, making women "economically strong".

Yousuf describes it as a place "where they can visit and freely discuss all their issues -- such as childbirth, menstruation, cooking, and domestic issues, and we find solutions".

- From talking to fighting -

That increasingly includes how to help divorced women and victims of domestic violence lodge complaints with police and fight their cases in the courts.

Women have battled for their rights for decades in Pakistan. Hundreds are murdered each year -- usually by male relatives -- in so-called "honour killings" and disfiguring acid attacks are still common.

Rights groups and politicians have for years called for tougher laws to tackle perpetrators of violence against women in Pakistan.

"Police were not arresting an influential man who cut off the nose of his wife three months ago," she says, describing just one of the cases she has handled from her office in the market.

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"She approached us, and our NGO staged a protest against police," Yousuf explains, adding that she then met with police officials and lodged a complaint.

"Now the culprit is in police custody. We have hired a female lawyer to fight the case," she says.

Razia Bibi, a 35-year-old mother of two whose husband divorced her five months ago, described how Yousuf is helping her navigate the courts to seek alimony from her children's father.

"I am hopeful that the verdict will be in my favour," she says.

Yousuf says her NGO, the Pearl Rural Support Programme, which brings together women's organisations in seven local villages, is also lobbying the government for a separate desk for women at every police station, where they can speak to a female officer "more comfortably".

- Businesswomen -

Yousuf says that, originally, men were banned from entering the market. Now they can enter -- but only in the company of a woman.

The market has made life easier, says customer Ayesha Bibi. "We had to travel to the main markets for such things in the past, and we needed the company of a male family member to go there," she explains.

It is also providing economic opportunity for those such as computer graduate Sara Rasheed, whose family refused her permission to work in any area dominated by men.

She convinced them to allow her to open a beauty parlour and a garment shop in the market, she says. "I am earning a good income and saving lots of money for my future and family," she adds proudly.

Khurshid Begum, a 42-year-old widow and mother of four, opened a tailor's shop and teaches sewing to young girls there.

"My business has flourished... My income has increased," she says.

"We are trying to make more and more women skillful in future," Yousuf says. "I am very happy that I am achieving my goal."
By Amlan Chakraborty MOHALI, India (Reuters) - Parthiv Patel looked determined to make the most of his chance return to the Indian side as he steered the hosts to 60 for one at lunch on the second day of the third test against England on Sunday. It took an hamstring injury to regular keeper Wriddhiman Saha to facilitate Patel's test comeback after eight years in the wilderness and the diminutive 31-year-old seized his opportunity with the bat to remain not out on 37 at the break. Cheteshwar Pujara was batting on eight at the other end with India 223 runs behind England's first innings total of 283. Paceman Mohammed Shami claimed the last two English wickets earlier in the morning as the tourists added 15 runs to their overnight score before being dismissed. Murali Vijay walked out with Patel, his third opening partner of the series, to lead India's reply and it turned out to be an eventful yet brief stay for the right-hander. Vijay survived an obstructing-the-field appeal by England after James Anderson threw the ball at his pad with the batsman marginally out of the crease and was reprieved when Jos Buttler could not take a catch after the opener had flicked Moeen Ali. Vijay's exit was not ordinary either as the right-hander walked off after nicking behind a harmless wide delivery from Ben Stokes, an edge umpire Chris Gaffaney did not spot. Vijay had made 12. Patel, however, always looked comfortable and smacked six boundaries in his knock. (Editing by John O'Brien)
Vampire Diaries actor Paul Wesley has expressed that Delta should ban the controversial Donald Trump supporter who cursed at passengers this week. Phoebe Tonkins boyfriend took to social media to express his concern over the incident as a patron of the airline.

On Saturday, Wesley couldnt help but react to the issue when he stumbled upon businessman and TV personality Michael Skolniks reaction to the viral video of the Trump supporter. Skolnik, who is a Platinum Medallion member, stated in his tweet that Delta Airlines should identify the controversial man and ban him from flying with the airline again because of what he did. As a Diamond Medallion member, Wesley expressed his agreement with Skolniks statement in a tweet.

Both Wesley and Skolnik were commenting on the incident that took place early this week and was captured by a Delta passenger named Emma Baum. Baum reportedly took the video of the unknown Trump supporter who went on a mid-air political rant against Hillary Clinton supporters onboard the plane. The video that Baum shared on Facebook on Tuesday has since gone viral, according to Daily Mail.

In the video, the unnamed Trump supporter could be seen standing and shouting at the the other passengers. Come on, baby! Trump! Thats what Im talking about, the man shouts in the video after cursing at Clinton supporters. Hes your president. Every goddamn one of you. If you dont like it, too bad.

The clip has already been viewed for over a million times, and many who have watched it were reportedly asking why the man wasnt reprimanded. According to Vibe, previous incidents of similar nature led Delta to take drastic measures in removing customers who created a commotion during a flight. However, per Baum, Deltas flight attendants did talk to the man, and he was even taken away by the attendants for at least 15 minutes before he managed to return to his seat.

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Addressing the incident, a Delta spokesperson told BuzzFeed on Friday that an investigation is currently ongoing. We are sorry this disruption occurred. Our crews work hard to ensure flying is comfortable for all of our customers. We are currently investigating the incident, the spokesperson added.

Aside from the Vampire Diaries star and Skolnik, television producter, author Seth MacFarlane, GQ special correspondent Keith Olbermann and actress Gabrielle Union have also shared their opinion on the incident via Twitter.

Paul Wesley

Photo: Reuters/Gus Ruelas

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MANILA (Reuters) - Government troops have killed at least 11 members of a rebel group in the southern Philippines that has pledged allegiance to Islamic State, the military said, sending local communities fleeing as a battle raged on Sunday. The Maute Group, one of a handful of small militant groups behind years of unrest in the south, had since Saturday occupied parts of a municipality in Lanao del Sur and were holed up in an abandoned town hall. At least four soldiers were wounded in the clashes and there were unconfirmed reports that the group had raised the black Islamic State flag in the hall, said Marine Colonel Edgard Arevalo, a military spokesman. "This was expected since they have long been professing allegiance to the foreign terror group," he said. "This is still part of the Maute Group's agenda in courting support and encouraging similar-minded individuals to support ISIS (Islamic State)," he said. The military has not given an estimate for the number of displaced but local media reported an exodus of as many as 16,000 people. Though the Philippines is predominantly Catholic, many people in the south are Muslim. The government has blamed the Maute Group for a Sept. 2 bombing at a street market in the hometown of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, which killed 14 people and wounded dozens. Several suspected group members were arrested a month later and, according to the defense minister, video clips were found of them pledging loyalty to the Islamic State cause. Duterte has recently been warning about Islamic State taking root in the Philippines and said his country needed to avoid "contamination".. "What we are afraid of is if the ISIS are forced out (of Iraq and Syria) and if (they) lose the land mass, they will try to come to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines because they have declared the caliphate," he said in a speech late on Saturday. (Reporting by Enrico dela Cruz; Editing by Martin Petty and Mark Potter)
Lisbon (AFP) - The board chairman of Portugal's troubled state-owned Caixa Geral de Depositos bank has resigned after weeks of pressure as he refused to declare his assets, the government announced late Sunday.

Portugal's Socialist government said it "regretted" Antonio Domingues' decision, adding he would not leave his post until the end of December.

A finance ministry statement said the government would submit its nomination for his replacement to European banking authorities shortly, with Domingues' successor set to be charged with "following the recapitalisation plan that has already been approved" for Portugal's biggest bank.

The European Commission approved a recapitalisation plan for the ailing lender at the end of August. The total capital could run to over five billion euros ($5.3 billion), including 2.7 billion injected directly by the state.

The bank has suffered a string of recent controversies, including a row over high director pay and Domingues' refusal to declare his income and property to the constitutional court, as is obligatory for all senior state officials.

According to Portuguese reports, the government had accepted that Domingues and his team of directors be exempted from the rule, prompting sharp criticism from the opposition.
Prince Harry is showing his softer side.

The 32-year-old royal was all about kids as he made his way around the Caribbean for an official visit on behalf of Queen Elizabeth II.

WATCH: Prince Harry's Girlfriend Meghan Markle Met Prince William and Kate Middleton During London Visit, Sources Say

Harry arrived in the Caribbean on Sunday, for a 14-day journey that would take him through seven countries, including Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Granada and Barbados.

As part of his visit on Friday, Harry met citizens of Soufriere, Saint Lucia, taking a particular interest in a group of adorable children.

Getty Images

Getty Images

WATCH: Meghan Markle's 'Suits' Co-Star Sarah Rafferty Talks Prince Harry Relationship: 'It's Very Exciting'

On Saturday, Harry visited a Turtle Conservation Project in Colonarie, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, but again, seemed entranced by a sweet little boy.

Getty Images

Getty Images

WATCH: Prince Harry's Girlfriend Meghan Markle Spotted Bringing Groceries Back to Kensington Palace in London

But, of course, a Caribbean visit wouldn't be complete without a little fresh coconut.

Getty Images

WATCH: Prince Harry Is All Smiles Following Girlfriend Meghan Markle's London Visit

Harry's so great with children, we can't help but wonder if the royal is thinking of welcoming a few of his own. While the famous redhead has only been dating his girlfriend, Meghan Markle, for a few months, they've already been offered a honeymoon by Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda.

See more in the video below.

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Prince William is putting rumors that he was unhappy with Prince Harrys decision to release a statement confirming his relationship with Meghan Markle to rest.

After the Daily Mail published an article earlier this week claiming William was concerned that his hot-headed brothers statement served to fuel speculation about how serious he is about the Suits actress, Kensington Palace released a statement to the Telegraph denying the claims.

The Duke of Cambridge absolutely understands the situation concerning privacy and supports the need for Prince Harry to support those closest to him, Kensington Palace told the British newspaper.

Although the Daily Mail said Prince William, 34, thought the statement confirming the romance rumors was a mistake, a source close to the royal family told the Telegraph he was completely informed of the decision.

They dont issue statements like that without talking to each other, and they talked about the Meghan Markle statement extensively in advance of it being put out, the insider told the outlet.

The source continued, The Duke was as alarmed as anyone about what was happening with Meghan. No one wanted to have to put that statement out, including Prince Harry, and there was concern about confirming the relationship. But over the course of one weekend things escalated to the extent that Prince Harry felt he had to act.

Harrys rare statement was released by Kensington Palace early this month after Markle, 35, received a slew of negative attention online and in British tabloids.

Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment, the palace said in the statement, confirming the relationship publicly just weeks after rumors first popped up. Some of this has been very public  the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments. Some of it has been hidden from the public  the nightly legal battles to keep defamatory stories out of papers; her mother having to struggle past photographers in order to get to her front door; the attempts of reporters and photographers to gain illegal entry to her home and the calls to police that followed; the substantial bribes offered by papers to her ex-boyfriend; the bombardment of nearly every friend, co-worker, and loved one in her life.

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The statement ended with Harry pleading with the press and public to respect Markles privacy and safety.

Despite all the drama, Markle has hopes for a future together. A friend previously told PEOPLE the American actress is head over heels for the royal and doing everything she can to make the relationship work.

Its been an absolute fairy tale for Meghan, the insider says.




Protesters marched from the Department of Justice to the Washington Monument on Sunday, November 27, in the March & Rally for Standing Rock against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Video footage filmed in front of Donald Trumps Trump International Hotel in Washington shows protestors chanting cant drink oil, keep it in the soil." Dozens of indigenous people were joined by hundreds of marchers in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe in its ongoing battle to end the pipelines construction. Credit: Instagram/jspacewalker via Storyful
By William Maclean and Tom Finn DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar will continue to arm Syrian rebels even if Donald Trump ends U.S. backing for the multinational effort, Doha's foreign minister said in an interview, signalling its determination to pursue a policy the U.S. President-elect may abandon. But Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said the wealthy Gulf state would not "go solo" and supply shoulder-fired missiles to the rebels to defend themselves against Syrian and Russian warplanes. While the rebels needed more military support, any move to supply "Manpad" anti-aircraft weapons to them would have to be decided collectively by the rebels' backers, the minister, a member of Qatar's royal family, told Reuters late on Saturday. Some Western officials worry that Gulf states, dismayed at effective Russian air support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, could supply such weapons. Washington fears they could be seized by jihadi groups and used against Western airliners. Qatar is a top backer of rebels fighting Assad, working alongside Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Western nations in a military aid programme overseen by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency that provides moderate groups with arms and training. Qatar was determined to carry on, Sheikh Mohammed said, sipping tea in his spacious office on the ministry's top floor overlooking the Gulf. "This support is going to continue, we are not going to stop it. It doesn't mean that if Aleppo falls we will give up on the demands of the Syrian people," he said. HISTORIC ALLY "Even if the regime captures it (Aleppo), I am sure they will have the ability to capture it back from the regime ... We need more military support, yes, but even more important we need to stop the bombardment and create safe zones for the civilians." He said Assad was "the fuel of Daesh" - an acronym for Islamic State - because his forces' killing of Syrians helped the hardline group motivate young Syrian recruits. "We never see any effort for him fighting Daesh," he said. But Trump has signalled opposition to U.S. support for the rebels, indicating he could abandon them to focus on fighting Islamic State which controls land in eastern and central Syria. He might even cooperate against IS with Russia, which has been bombing the rebels for more than a year in western Syria. In an interview published this month, Assad said Trump would be a "natural ally" if he decides to "fight the terrorists". "We want to have the U.S. with us, for sure, they have been our historic ally," Sheikh Mohammed said. "But if they want to change their minds, are we going to change our position? For us, in Qatar at least, we are not going to change our position. Our position is based on principles, values and on our assessment of the situation there." Qatar and other Gulf states believe the nationalist Sunni rebels are needed to build a stable Syria. But their policy has long been hampered by splits in the opposition and the prominent role jihadists have played in the insurgency. Assad's government has accused Gulf states of backing what it calls terrorist groups in the country. Gulf states deny this and Sheikh Mohammed said any group that shared the values of al Qaeda was neither effective nor useful. Assad, a member of the minority Alawite sect, is dependent on military support from Russia, Iran and Shi'ite Islamist militias in the fight with the Sunni Muslim insurgency. Sheikh Mohammed suggested that Trump's views about Syria might evolve once in office when he received intelligence reports about the "reality" on the ground. Sheikh Mohammed said the reality was that Assad and violence by his forces were the core security risk, and that Islamic State was an outgrowth of the civil war. More hardline groups would emerge if the war does not come to a just end. "If we are not going to address the cause of all this ... without addressing the issue of al-Assad, we will have another extremist group, it will be more extreme and more brutal," he said, noting that Islamic State had evolved from al Qaeda. PROBLEMS FOR DECADES The minister hit out at Egypt, normally a close Gulf Arab ally, for appearing to side with Assad, and criticised Iran for what he said was interference in the affairs of Arab states. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose flagging economy has received billions of dollars from Gulf states, has supported Russia's decision to bomb in support of Assad. "For us unfortunately Egypt is supporting the regime ... We hope that they come back and be with us," he said. Support for Assad was the same as supporting terrorism, he said, "because he is a terrorist and he is on equal footing with Daesh". Sheikh Mohammed chided Western politicians for using anti-Muslim and anti-refugee rhetoric in election campaigns, saying it was against the values the West had long stood for. "Unfortunately these narratives ... will cause problems for decades because in Europe and the United States, the Muslim community is part of the texture of their society ... It will help them maybe to win the election but it will last for decades, it will create a problem within their communities." (Editing by David Clarke)
Cousin and close confidant to Queen Elizabeth II, the Honourable Margaret Rhodes, passed away on Friday after battling a short illness, according to the Sunday Express. She was 91.

The British newspaper reports that the Queen visited Rhodes earlier in November at her home in Windsor, Berkshire, when she fell ill.

A source close to the royal family told the Sunday Express, The Queen will be devastated to have lost her best friend. She grew up with Mrs Rhodes and they had so much shared history.

The insider continued, They remained close throughout the Queens reign and Her Majesty continued to be a regular visitor at Mrs Rhodess Windsor home until very recently.

Rhodes was the youngest daughter of Lady Mary Bowes-Lyon  sister to Elizabeths mother  and Lord Sidney Elphinstone. She and the Queen were very close growing up, as they were born only 10 months apart.

She went on to be one of the eight bridesmaids at Elizabeths 1947 wedding to Prince Philip and was present at her Coronation in 1953.

The duo remained close throughout their lives. They would often get together when the Queen was in Windsor after church on Sundays, the Sunday Express reports. Rhodes has also appeared in numerous documentaries about Queen Elizabeths life.

Rhodes had four children with husband Denys Gravenor Rhodes, who passed away in 1981.




Ron Glass, an Emmy-nominated actor best known for his roles on Barney Miller and Firefly, died on Friday, November 25, according to multiple reports. He was 71.

The late TV star's rep confirmed the news to TMZ, saying, "Ron passed late last night of respiratory failure. Ron was a private, gentle and caring man. He was an absolute delight to watch on screen. Words cannot adequately express my sorrow."

PHOTOS: Celebrity Deaths in 2016: Stars Weve Lost

Born in 1945 in Evansville, Indiana, Glass made his television debut in the early 1970s with guest appearances on All in the Family, Sanford and Son and Hawaii Five-O, among others.



In 1975, the actor landed the part of Detective Ron Harris on the ABC sitcom Barney Miller. The role earned him a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy or Variety or Music Series in 1982, but the prize went to Taxi's Christopher Lloyd.

PHOTOS: Most Shocking Celebrity Deaths of All Time

After Barney Miller, which ended in May 1982, Glass costarred alongside Demond Wilson in the short-lived Odd Couple remake The New Odd Couple. He also made appearances on The Twilight Zone, Star Trek: Voyager and Family Matters. In the '90s and '00s, Glass voiced Randy Carmichael on Nickelodeon's Rugrats and All Grown Up!

In 2002, Glass joined the short-lived Fox sci-fi drama Firefly as series regular Shepherd Derrial Book. He later reprised the fan-favorite role in the 2005 film Serenity.

PHOTOS: '90s Sitcom and TV Stars, Then & Now

As the news of Glass' death broke, several of his former costars took to social media to pay tribute. Samuel L. Jackson, who worked with Glass on 2008's Lakeview Terrace, tweeted: "It was an Honor & a Pleasure to work with the Amazing Ron Glass! RIP, Sir!"

Firefly alum Jewel Staite added: "Ron Glass was one of the greatest actors to work with. His laugh was beyond infectious and his generosity was ever present."

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Firefly creator Joss Whedon tweeted: "He got there with grace, humor & enormous heart. He was, among so many other things, my Shepherd. Raise, appropriately, a glass. Rest, Ron."

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Hamilton (New Zealand) (AFP) - Rookie batsman Babar Azam had a maiden Test century in sight as he led Pakistan's first innings salvage mission in the second Test against New Zealand in Hamilton on Sunday.

Pakistan were 200 for 8 at lunch on the third day, trailing New Zealand by 71 when rain forced the players from the field 10 minutes early.

The 22-year-old Azam, in only his third Test, was not out 81, surpassing his previous Test best of 69 on debut against the West Indies last month.

Mohammad Amir was 4 not out with only Imran Khan left to bat.

After starting the day on the ropes at 76 for 5, Pakistan added 124 in 31.4 overs during the session, which began 30 minutes early to make up time lost to rain on the first day.

Azam resumed on 34 and took the senior role of keeping the innings together while Sarfraz Ahmed (41) and Sohail Kahn (37) attacked the bowling.

Ahmed had luck on his side when he pulled Tim Southee to midwicket where the ball went through the hands of a leaping Henry Nicholl.

Four balls later Tom Latham missed with a shy at the stumps as Ahmed slipped mid wicket after being turned back during an aborted single attempt.

Bowling with a blustery wind behind him, Southee could not reproduce his commanding form of Saturday when he removed the Pakistan top order and bowled just three overs on Sunday in an intial spell that cost 32 runs.

The introduction of Neil Wagner produced the breakthrough for New Zealand. Ahmed, who had slashed and profited against Southee, tried the same shot to a short Wagner delivery and it flew to Jeet Raval at second slip.

Southee came back to find a better line in his second spell to remove Sohail, caught behind by wicketkeeper BJ Watling.

Wahab Riaz faced only five balls before he was lbw to Colin de Grandhomme.

Southee has taken 4 for 68 and Wagner three for 59.
Rorys job situation during Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is a little *too real* for any freelancer out there

Its been years since we last saw our beloved Rory Gilmore. Last we checked, she had just graduated from Yale and was about to hit the road to cover Obamas presidential campaign (That is, Obamas first presidential run). Rory always spoke of becoming the next Christiane Amanpour, a foreign correspondent who isnt afraid to get into the trenches, so to speak. And considering that Rory Gilmore always did exactly what Rory Gilmore always set out to do (like write for the school paper, win debates, become valedictorian, get into the ivy leagues, etc.), most of us probably imagined her first scenes to be her reporting from the front line in Syria or Palestine or someplace similar. When Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life picks up, what is Rory Gilmore, our favorite journalist, doing these days?

There had been some previous speculation that Rory would become a teacher, but anyone thats watched the new episodes knows thats just a possibility she might take on later and not what shes actually doing. Fast forward a decade or so and we find Rorys circumstances are much different from what we originally pictured.

In Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life, our opening shot finds us face to face with Rory and Lorelai at the gazebo in Stars Hollow. And what we find out about Rory is both slightly disappointing but also painfully familiar.

As any writer struggling to make it these days knows (and there sure are a lot of us), the competition to get noticed is fierce. And despite her talents and background, even Rory is having trouble coming up in her current profession as a freelance writer.

In Winter, we discover that Rory has recently published a piece for the New Yorker, an interview with a woman named Naomi Shropshire (brilliantly played by Alex Kingston). Everyones talking about the piece, including Luke, who has now posted a copy of it behind every single menu at his diner. Rorys piece has garnered her the attention of some shots publishing houses, though they keep postponing their meeting with her. The CEO of a website called SandeeSays is also courting her throughout the first couple of episodes, though shes reluctant to meet with them.

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As A Year In The Life moves forward, we continuously realize that while Rory has been a somewhat successful and accomplished freelancer in the past (shes published with other big names like Slate), she is now somewhat floundering. This isnt uncommon in the freelancing world, so in a way its pretty refreshing to see even she has trouble now and again.

Toward the later half of the show, she ends up taking a (non-paying) job as the editor of the Stars Hollow Gazette, in an attempt to keep them running. And after shes booted off working on a book about the somewhat dysfunctional Ms. Shropshire, she ends up deciding to write her own book (with a little nudge from Jess, of course).

Were not sure whats in store for Rory in the future, though its safe to say that she will likely land on her feet. Will she find a publisher for her mother-daughter book, Gilmore Girls? Will she finally write that piece about lines for GQ? Probably yes, and then some.

The post Rorys job situation during Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life is a little *too real* for any freelancer out there appeared first on HelloGiggles.
DHAHRAN, Saudi Arabia, Nov 27 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia expects a huge ship repair and shipbuilding complex that its national oil company Saudi Aramco is developing at Ras al-Khair on the kingdom's east coast to cost over 20 billion riyals ($5.33 billion), energy minister Khalid al-Falih said on Sunday.

"Construction will start in 2018, production in 2022," Falih who is also chairman of Aramco told reporters at the company's headquarters in Dhahran.

The government will finance the infrastructure of the complex such as dredging and other work as it did with other cities Jubail and Yanbu that have become major industrial hubs.

Ras al-Khair is itself turning into a major mining hub where Ma'aden has built an aluminium complex and phosphate facilities.

The maritime complex is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco, Saudi Bahri, South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries and Lamprell.

The project will help generate thousands of direct and indirect jobs, a key part of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, an economic reform programme the government announced this year, in which Aramco is to play a big role in developing industrial projects as Saudi Arabia tries to diversify its economy beyond reliance on oil exports.

Falih said other partnerships will be forged such as with U.S. Mcdermott company which will make offshore platforms.

He was speaking to journalists to brief them on the inauguration by King Salman of oil and gas and industrial projects and a cultural centre. Those projects cost around 160 billion riyals, he said.

He said the Sadara joint venture between Aramco and Dow Chemical alone cost as much as 80 billion riyals.

Among the projects that Saudi Aramco has completed are the Khurais oilfield which has a production capacity of 1.2 million bpd, Shaybah whose production has reached 1 million bpd after recently completing an expansion and Manifa's 900,000 bpd.

Aramco is working on expanding capacity at Khurais to 1.5 million bpd, seen on stream in 2018.

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"The production capacity of oil projects that the King will inaugurate exceeds or is around 3 million barrels per day."

Saudi Arabia's maximum sustainable production capacity stands at 12.5 million bpd, Falih reiterated as the additional capacity was just replacements for mature oilfields.

(Reporting by Reem Shamseddine, editing by David Evans)
South Carolina players says Clemson players used racial slurs on the field. (Getty)

UPDATE 5 p.m. ET

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney responded to the allegations.

Full quote from Dabo Swinney on SC player allegations that Clemson used racial slurs pic.twitter.com/gdzHLv6SHS  David Hale (@DavidHaleESPN) November 27, 2016



Following Clemsons 56-7 win against South Carolina, Gamecocks defensive lineman Bryson Allen-Williams said a Clemson offensive lineman called him a racial slur, according to a report in The State.

They used the n-word, one of their offensive linemen. I dont know which number, Allen-Williams told The State. We are going to get our get-back. We definitely have this game circled next year.

Allen wasnt the only player upset about the language on the field. A couple other South Carolina players took to Twitter to complain about racial slurs.

racism still alive in Clemson i see.. classless sobs, still calling people [racial slur] is crazy, South Carolina defensive lineman Dante Sawyer said via Twitter, which is private.

Never thought I would hear so many racial slurs in my life!! Classless is not a strong enough word to describe the actions! Wide receiver Terry Googer added on social media.

Never thought I would hear so many racial slurs in my life!! Classless is not a strong enough word to describe the actions!  Terry Googer (@D1MANOS) November 27, 2016

Emotions always run high in this rivalry game, but tensions started about 80 minutes before kickoff when there was a brief confrontation between the two squads.

They disrespected us, Allen-Williams told The State. We are waiting 365 days to get this team back. They did a lot of disrespectful things on the field. We are on a mission. We are definitely going to be ready.

I dont want to talk too much about it because its irrelevant now. The score was what it was.

      

Graham Watson is the editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at dr.saturday@ymail.com or follow her on Twitter!
Colombo (AFP) - Sri Lanka's President Maithripala Sirisena has asked Donald Trump to pressure the UN Human Rights Council to drop war crimes allegations against the country's troops.

Sirisena's office said Sunday he had sent a "special message" to president-elect Trump seeking US intervention at the council, where Sri Lanka faces censure for wartime atrocities.

"I sent a special message to Donald Trump asking him to support us at the (council)," the President said. "I am asking him to help completely clear my country (of war crimes allegations) and allow us to start afresh."

Sirisena said he was making a similar appeal to the incoming UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

However, during a visit by outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to Sri Lanka last month, Sirisena had asked for more time to investigate war crimes, a sensitive political issue in the majority-Sinhalese country.

Sri Lanka has said it will set up special courts to address issues of accountability, but the promised judicial mechanisms have yet to be established.

There have been allegations that troops killed up to 40,000 minority Tamils during the final battle against separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in 2009, a period when Sirisena's predecessor and strongman leader Mahinda Rajapakse was in power.

Sirisena said he had been able to "tone down" a US-initiated censure resolution soon after defeating Rajapakse and coming to power in January 2015. But he was keen to secure Trump's help to have the allegations against Sri Lanka dropped.

The rights council has asked Sri Lanka to ensure credible investigations into war crimes, pay reparations to victims and their families and ensure reconciliation after 37 years of ethnic war which claimed at least 100,000 lives.

Troops still have a large presence in the former conflict zones in the north and east and keep a close watch on the local Tamil population, seven years after the end of the war.
Scott Couch Mark43

For Scott Crouch, building his startup included several hours in a police car.

The Harvard graduate first began working on his software company, Mark43, in 2012 when he was given a class project to work with the Massachusetts state police department. During the project, he had to figure out how to use data and software to help the Massachusetts state police fight gang-related crime.

"We really fell in love with the idea of helping police, of helping out our communities by helping our first responders," Crouch told Business Insider. "We saw how terrible their systems were and decided to really turn it on its head."

Crouch comes from a family of police officers, so spinning the project out into a full-fledged company was a "mission-driven project." As he began making progress on the idea, he was approached by one of the largest police forces in the country: the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department.

Mark43 didn't have a full product at that point, so the company committed to building it in tandem with the D.C. police.

"A lot of it had to do with their chief [at the time]," Crouch said. "She was a really bold thinker when she was police chief in D.C. and she kind of pioneered the idea. Her attitude to it was, 'What do we have to lose?'"

Despite coming from a family of police officers, however, Crouch didn't know the ins and outs of an officer's job. So the company's founders  Crouch, Florian Mayr, and Matthew Polega  spent hours on ridealongs in Southeast D.C.

"The only way to figure out how they do their job, what an arrest was like, was to actually sit in the cars with them and go on patrol," Crouch said. "We had to literally do everything with them and figure out how its working on the street."

Mark43 CAD.PNG

Mark43's software is aimed at addressing two main problems with the system most police forces currently use: poor usability and slow speeds. Mark43 offers a cloud-based system that police officers can access on a tablet and use to do everything from arrest reports to investigations to data sharing and analysis.

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The software that most police currently use was designed in the 90s and hasn't been overhauled since, Crouch says.

"They were taking an hour to do things that really should have taken 30-45 minutes," Crouch said. "They couldnt share data because these systems were on-premise, in basements, in servers, rather than actually having free-flowing access of information between departments."

Now, Mark43's system will soon be deployed in police forces around the country, including six in Los Angeles County and several in the Pacific Northwest.

The company has raised $41 million from venture capital firms like Spark Capital and General Catalyst, as well as from more diverse investors like Ashton Kutcher, David Patraeus, and actress Sophia Bush, who stars in NBC police drama "Chicago P.D."

Mark43 has offices in New York, Toronto, and D.C., and plans to open up a West Coast office early in 2017. Next, the company is setting its sights on becoming the operating system for all local and state governments, and plans to build a new 911 system for police and fire departments.

"This whole industry is ripe for an overhaul," Crouch said.

NOW WATCH: This net lets police lasso fleeing vehicles





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Baghdad (AFP) - Here is a look at the latest developments on the ground on the main fronts of the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, as of 1700 GMT on Sunday:

IRAQ

- Battle for Mosul -

Iraqi forces battled the Islamic State group deep in eastern Mosul, edging deeper towards the Tigris river that divides the city.

Since the October 17 start of a broad offensive to retake Mosul, Iraqi forces have recaptured several eastern neighbourhoods despite fierce jihadist resistance. Last week they were reported to be in control of 40 percent of eastern Mosul.

Iraqi forces are also within striking distance on northern and southern fronts, but there has been a halt in progress in recent days.

The Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitaries, reaching the outskirts of the town of Tal Afar, to the west, gained more ground Sunday and seized small villages in remote areas southwest of Mosul.

SYRIA

- Raqa -

The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a US-backed Kurdish-Arab alliance, is advancing in the desert as it tries to push closer to IS's de facto Syrian capital of Raqa.

The SDF has been battling the jihadists to drive them from positions some 25 kilometres (15 miles) north of the city.

- Battle for Aleppo -

More than 4,000 civilians have fled rebel-held districts after regime forces scored a major breakthrough on Saturday by capturing what had been the largest opposition-controlled neighbourhood, Masaken Hanano.

On Sunday, they also took the adjacent neighbourhoods of Jabal Badro and Baadeen.

The fighting moved to neighbouring districts, including Haidariya and Sakhur, with regime aircraft pounding rebel positions and heavy fighting between the opposition and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Sakhur lies on a stretch of just 1.5 kilometres (less than a mile) between west Aleppo and Masaken Hanano. If the regime did manage to take control of the district, east Aleppo would be split in two from north to south, dealing a further blow to the armed opposition.

Story continues

A least 219 civilians, including 27 children, have been killed in east Aleppo since the latest assault began on November 15, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Another 27 civilians, among them 11 children, have been killed in rebel fire on western Aleppo, it says.

- Other fronts -

Twenty-two pro-Ankara Syrian rebels were hit by an IS gas attack in northern Syria, the Turkish army said Sunday, the first time Turkey has accused the jihadists of chemical warfare.

It said the attack happened in the area of the village of Khaliliya, east of Al Rai in northern Syria, where the pro-Ankara fighters backed by Turkish special forces and air power are battling to dislodge the jihadists from the border area.

Syrian rebels backed by Turkish forces are inching closer to the IS stronghold of Al-Bab in Aleppo province, as they press Ankara's Operation "Euphrates Shield" to expel IS from the border area.
ADELAIDE (Reuters) - Australia were 100 runs from a consolation victory in the day-night third test on Sunday after dismissing South Africa for 250 and reaching tea on the fourth day on 27 without loss. Left-arm paceman Mitchell Starc earlier finished with figures of 4-80 as Australia removed the last four South African batsmen for the addition of 56 runs to their overnight second innings tally. That left the hosts requiring 127 runs for victory and David Warner, who had made 20 not out, and debutant opener Matt Renshaw, unbeaten on three, will resume looking to complete the victory long before night falls in South Australia. South Africa had resumed on 194-6 but lost Quinton de Kock in the third over of the day before the new ball accounted for Vernon Philander, Kagiso Rabada and finally opener Stephen Cook. Cook, under pressure after making a minor contribution to the victories in the first two tests, had eked out his second test century off 235 balls, bringing up the milestone by pulling Josh Hazlewood to the square leg boundary for his eighth four. He added four more runs before Starc got one to nip back in and bowl him for 104 to bring an end to the innings. Australia made 383 in reply to South Africa's first innings 259-9 declared. The tourists won the first two tests in Perth and Hobart to take a 2-0 lead and be assured of a third successive test series triumph in Australia. (Reporting by Nick Mulvenney in Sydney; Editing by John O'Brien)
Mainland Chinese film The Summer is Gone emerged as the winner at the Golden Horse Awards on Saturday.

The film, set in Inner Mongolia in the 1990s, was named as best picture in the annual awards for best Chinese-language films. It also picked up a best new performer award for Kong Weiyi and the FIPRESCI prize awarded by a separate jury of critics.

The Golden Horse Film Festival ran Nov. 4-24. The 53rd annual awards were presented on Saturday Nov 26 at a ceremony in Taipeis Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall.

The event included a red carpet appearance by Frances Juliette Binoche and performances by Coco Lee and Singapores Stephanie Sun.

The awards jury was headed by the veteran, socially-conscious Hong Kong director Ann Hui. She told Taiwanese media Saturday that the jury had gone through a life and death process in deciding the awards.

Other winners with two awards each were Detective Chinatown (best action choreography, best makeup/costume;) Mad World (best new director: Wong Chun, and best supporting actress;) Trivisa (best original screenplay, best editing;) Mr No Problem (best actor, best adapted screenplay;) Crosscurrent (best cinematography, best sound design;) and I Am Not Madam Bovary (best director: Feng Xiaogang, and the audience choice award.)

In the best actress category the award was shared between the two nominees  Zhou Dongyu and Ma Sichun  from Soul Mate.

Going into the ceremony, local Taiwanese film Godspeed had nominations for eight awards and was strongly favored to win in several categories. On the night it picked up only one, for art direction. Other disappointments for Taiwanese cinema included the failure of The Road To Mandalay to turn any of its six nominations into awards wins, and the failure of its foreign-language Oscar contender Hang In There Kids (aka Lokah Laqi) to collect any awards on home soil.

The awards also paid tribute to Abbas Kiarostami, the iconic Iranian director who died earlier this year.

Story continues

Earlier in the week Singaporean director Boo Junfeng was named as winner of the NETPAC prize, the festival and awards only reward for a non Chinese-language film.

Related stories

Tokyo Film Review: 'The Summer Is Gone'

New Bids Emerge for Taiwan's Eastern Broadcasting After End of Dan Mintz Offer

Golden Horse Awards Nominations: Midi Z, 'Godspeed' Lead The Contenders
By John Miller ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss voted in a referendum on Sunday to reject a speedy exit from the nation's five nuclear power plants, as concerns over losing energy independence outweighed safety worries raised by the measure's proponents. Nearly 55 percent of voters turned down the initiative, with 45 percent favoring it in a vote that was part of the Swiss system of direct democracy giving citizens a final say on important issues. Swiss reactors Muehleberg and Beznau I and II would have been shuttered next year, followed by Goesgen in 2024 and Leibstadt in 2029, had the initiative passed. The Swiss government and industry fought the plan, saying it could have led to blackouts, higher costs and the loss of energy independence because the country would have become more dependent on coal-fired power from neighboring Germany. "We're very happy Swiss voters are giving such an explicit result," said Heinz Karrer, a former head of the utility Axpo and current president of the pro-business group Economiesuisse, in an interview on state-run television SRF. "Switzerland's people don't want a radical solution," he said. "It would have caused uncertainties about our energy supply, something Swiss people were unwilling to risk." Germany plans to shutter its remaining nuclear plants by 2022, a response to the 2011 disaster in Japan that also prompted the Swiss initiative. Switzerland has a 2050 energy strategy in which it would gradually replace nuclear power that now supplies about a third of the country's electricity with renewables, including wind and solar. The strategy calls for eventual closure of the Swiss reactors, but without a deadline. SEPARATE REFERENDUM That plan is under threat, however, with the Swiss People's Party (SVP), the largest in parliament, aiming to challenge it with a separate referendum on the grounds it is too expensive. Swiss energy minister Doris Leuthard, at a press conference in Berne following the vote, said she would counter any SVP-led referendum with arguments similar to those that she used when fighting Sunday's initiative. "I'm relieved by this outcome, because it allows us the necessary time to transform our energy system," Leuthard told reporters. "The people are in agreement - this is something that won't happen overnight." Swiss utility BKW AG already plans to shutter Muehleberg in 2019, citing the high costs of maintenance and operations. Swiss Green Party advocates for a quicker atomic power exit have cited worries about an aging atomic capability, with Beznau I the oldest operating nuclear power station in the world, having been started in 1969. That reactor and Leibstadt, the largest Swiss atomic power station, have been offline for months following maintenance issues, including the discovery of discoloration in eight cladding tubes used to encase Leibstadt's fuel rods. (Reporting by John Miller; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
The Syrian Army reportedly retook the rebel-held eastern Aleppo district Jabal Badro on Sunday, November 27, according to state broadcaster SANA.

This follows the recent recapture of nearby Hanano district, and could lead to the Syrian Army cutting off rebel-held northern and southern Aleppo districts from each other.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that hundreds of families fled embattled eastern Aleppo areas to government-controlled areas, while Kurdish YPG fighters said they had received fleeing civilians in the northern Sheikh Maqsoud district.

This video by a pro-regime channel is described as showing Jabal Badro after the Syrian Army regained controlled over the neighbourhood. Credit: YouTube/War Media via Storyful
Twenty-two Syrian rebels were exposed to a chemical gas attack by the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, in northern Syria, the Turkish army said Sunday. ISIS has previously been accused of using mustard gas in Syria, but this is the first time Turkey has blamed the extremist group of waging chemical warfare.

The attack took place in Khaliliya village east of Al Rai, northern Syria, where pro-Turkey Syrian rebels are fighting to clear the border area of extremists. The army did not specify the type of gas used in the attack.

After a rocket was fired by Daesh [an Arabic acronym for ISIS], 22 opposition members were observed to have been exposed in their eyes and bodies to chemical gas," Turkish army staff said, according to reports.

The affected fighters were transported to the Turkish border town of Kilis by emergency personnel and were undergoing treatment.

Meanwhile, in a separate ISIS-related development, Israeli aircraft hit a machine gun-mounted vehicle in Syria Sunday, claiming lives of four militants, Israeli army said. The Islamic fighters had opened fire on a military patrol on Israels side of the Golan Heights, according to the military. No Israeli troops were harmed in the incident.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said the Israeli patrol responded to the attack by the militants before the aircraft struck the vehicle and killed its passengers. He added the militants were likely from an ISIS-affiliate.

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Black Friday is in our rearview mirror, but that doesnt mean the deals are over. For millions of Americans who prefer to shop online, Cyber Monday provides the chance to snag amazing deals on electronics, clothes and food  all without ever leaving your home.

Here is a round-up of some of the best Cyber Monday deals.

One stop shopping

Amazon (AMZN)

Amazon does everything big, which is why Cyber Monday will last all week long. Like Black Friday, the site will feature several Deals of the day which are only available for a limited number of hours and as long as supplies last. So, if youre a bargain hunter, its wise to check in daily for new discounts.

Other notable deals include the Amazon Tap for $89.99 (originally $129.99), Amazon Fire TV for $74.99, 20% off of Graco baby products, and $25 off when you purchase $100 of DEWALT tools.

Walmart (WMT)

After advertising amazing Black Friday deals, the retail giant is at it again with Cyber Monday. Buy the Apple iPhone 5s for just $149.99 (originally $450), save $30 on a Google Home, or take home a Samsung 40 HDTV for just $217 (regularly $332). In the toy department, shoppers can take home a Razor Power Core 90 Electric Scooter for $89 or a Doc McStuffins Pet Vet Checkup Center for $49.99.

Target (TGT)

Target customers will be able to save 15% of their purchases made in-store or online on Sunday and Monday. Cyber week deals also include 40% off of bedding, rugs and throw pillows. In the electronics category, shoppers can buy a VIZIO D-series 43 Smart TV for just $309.00 (regularly $389.99).

Kmart

At Kmart, Cyber Monday is actually Cyber Week, with sales running online starting Sunday, Nov. 27 thru Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016. Some breakout deals include 40% off family outerwear (reg. $14.99-99.99) and a Samsung 58 HDTV for $479.99 (reg. $649.99). Shipping is free on purchases over $49.

And lastly, customers can use the promo code: CYBER to get an extra 25% off items in clothing, footwear and fine jewelry and an extra 10% off on featured trees, home fashions and housewares.

Story continues

Electronics

Best Buy (BBY)

Best Buy has amazing Cyber Monday deals in every electronics category. If youre looking for a computer, try the HP  ENVY 15.6 Touch-Screen Laptop for just $599 (originally $799). Shoppers can also find a Nikon camera bundle with three lenses, a bag and memory card for just $799 (originally $1,199.99). If youre in the market for a new phone, you can earn a $250 Best Buy gift card when you purchase and activate the LG G5 smartphone with a monthly installment plan for Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. Customers can also snag a $15 to $30 gift card when they purchase a Keurig coffee maker.

To help online shoppers get their gifts home, Best Buy is offering free shipping all season long and free in store pickup.

B&H

This electronics giant is known for their vast inventory, so youre guaranteed to find some amazing products on sale. Starting Sunday, B&H will have flash sales with deals on everything from lights to camera lenses. In addition, the website will feature markdowns on top items including the 3DR Solo Quadcopter drone for just $349.95 (originally $949.95). Other amazing deals include $100 off of a 13 Apple Macbook Pro and $40 off JBL Bluetooth headphones.

Food

Omaha Steaks

You can never go wrong when you choose to give the gift of food. For the carnivores in your life, purchase the Tasteful Gift package which comes with two 5 oz. Filet Mignons, two 5 oz. Top Sirloins, two 4 oz. Boneless Pork Chops, four 3 oz. Potatoes au Gratin, four 4 oz. Caramel Apple Tartlets, and a Signature Seasoning Packet for just $69.99 (originally $140.94). If thats not enough for you, there are a dozen different deals that will save you big money and fill your stomach.

Harry & David

Starting on Monday, shoppers can save up to 50% on select baskets. Send a box Royal Riviera Pears for $19.99 (originally $29.99) or a drum of popcorn for $17.49 (originally $34.99).

Clothing

Macys (M)

Get 20% off of your purchase and free shipping for purchases over $25. Use the promo code CYBER to get an additional 10% off of your purchase (Excludes beauty and specials).

Old Navy

40% off your purchase in-store or online.

American Eagle (AEO)

Get 40% off of your purchase from Nov. 26 through Nov. 28 at 1 a.m. PST.

J. CREW

40% off your purchase with the code HOLIDAY.

Travel

Alaska Airlines (ALK)

While they wont release details on potential deals, Alaska Airlines promises that Cyber Monday will be their biggest sale of the year. The sale begins at 8 p.m. EST on Sunday, Nov. 27 at alaskaair.com.

Expedia

Cyber Monday sales will kick off at 12 p.m. EST on Monday, and Expedia.com will be offering new hotel coupons hourly until 6 p.m. EST. Cyber Monday deals have a travel window from November 28, 2016  March 31, 2017.

Starwood

Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) is getting a head start on Cyber Monday, launching special rates November 21st through December 4th  featuring discounts of up to 30% for stay dates through September 4, 2017. Plus, SPG members will enjoy an additional 5% savings when booking directly through the Cyber Monday sale site.

Brittany is a writer at Yahoo Finance.

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Former Cuban President Fidel Castro died Saturday. More here.

Swiss voters rejected a rapid phase-out of the countrys nuclear industry.

Were live-blogging the news stories of the day below. All updates are in Eastern Standard Time (GMT -5).

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Tom Morello defended late Cuban president Fidel Castro's legacy in a lengthy social media post where the Rage Against the Machine guitarist praised the controversial leader.

"While I don't agree with all that Fidel Castro did there is ample reason why he is vilified in the U.S. and yet remains a huge hero throughout the Third World," Morello wrote.

The Prophets of Rage mastermind then listed Castro's lesser-publicized achievements: "By defying Yankee imperialism for 50 years, instituting the best healthcare, child immunization and literacy systems in the Western Hemisphere (surpassing the US and Canada), exporting doctors to countries in need all over the globe (the Bush administration turned down his offer to send medical teams to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina), and being an unrepentant advocate of the poor and exploited it is no surprise that millions will mourn his passing."

Morello, with Audioslave, became the first U.S. rock band to perform in Cuba when they staged a free Havana concert in 2005; Morello's previous band Rage Against the Machine often employed iconography and philosophies from Castro's friend and fellow revolutionary Che Guevara during their tenure.

"That experience will be one I will always treasure," Morello said of the Audioslave visit to Cuba, "especially the trip we took to a former country club of the wealthy that had been turned into a free college for gifted musicians."

Morello added the hashtags #VivaLeRevolucion and #RIPFidel.

In 2013, during Jay Z and Beyonce's controversial vacation to Cuba before the U.S. reestablished diplomatic relations with the nation, Morello was asked about his time visiting Cuba.

"It was very interesting and very different from the portrayal of it in a lot of the mainstream U.S. media," Morello told TMZ at the time. "One of the unexpected side effects of the embargo  which, by the way, does a number of things you can't bring in children's cancer medicines either, the United States stops that from happening, let's be clear  the cultural embargo is one that Audioslave broke."
By Michael Georgy JULUKHAN, Iraq (Reuters) - Major General Najm al-Jubbouri, a top commander in the offensive against Islamic State in the Iraqi city of Mosul, peered through binoculars at flames after his men shot dead an Islamic State suicide bomber. It was a small victory for a man whose war against jihadists is deeply personal. You are heroes, he said through a walkie talkie as Iraqi forces cleared another village, hoping to open a new route to the militants stronghold of Mosul. You are heroes. Last year, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked Jubbouri to return home from the United States to help lead the fight against Islamic State, which swept through Mosul and other parts of northern Iraq in 2014 and imposed a reign of terror. Jubbouri is upbeat as he paces on the rooftop of a house that serves as a makeshift command center, surveying the battlefield and tightly managing advances. But he is acutely aware of what Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is capable of. Last year, he watched an Islamic State video broadcast on social media which showed the drowning of prisoners who are locked inside a steel cage and slowly lowered to their deaths in a pool. Some of the victims were Jubbouris cousins, he said. My relatives and citizens suffered a lot from al Qaeda and ISIS. I decided to return back here. In Mosul, ISIS killed a lot from my tribe and from my friends, he told Reuters in an interview. Jubbouri left his family behind and his job at the National Defence University in the United States and put on his military fatigues again at home. Eager to avenge the deaths of his relatives and help stabilize Iraq, Jubbouri is trying to figure out ways to overcome the complex challenges of fighting Islamic State in Mosul, home to about one million people. Iraqi forces cant move heavy weapons and tanks through Mosuls narrow streets, and Islamic State is using civilians as human shields to slow government advances, said Jubbouri, who served in Saddam Husseins army for decades. In the desert just beyond Jubbouri are two army trucks mounted with machineguns, primed to attack any suicide bombers in vehicles who try to approach the makeshift command center, which is surrounded by bodyguards. We want to remove the cancer (of Islamic State) from the body and this is a very difficult mission inside Mosul, said Jubbouri. Jubbouri, who moved to the United States in 2008, is acutely aware of the dangers posed by Islamic militants, and the sectarian animosities which have destabilized Iraq. As mayor of Tel Afar from 2005-2008, he cleared out al-Qaeda fighters from the town and promoted reconciliation between Sunnis and Shiites. Iraq has been struggling to find a formula for stability since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. Even if Islamic State is defeated in Mosul, Iraqi leaders must ensure that the same ethnic and sectarian hostilities which helped Islamic State establish a widespread presence in the country do not creep up again. The group initially won over Sunni supporters because that sect felt marginalized by the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad. Jubbouri called for an end to a governing system which allocates top posts based on sects. It wont be rosy. Many difficulties, he said. Some politicians will not like to change because many of them would lose their positions. For now, he is focused on the fight against Islamic State. Jubbouri said Iraqi forces had set a six-month timetable for the Mosul campaign. But he is confident of victory by the end of this year, predicting the group will collapse. So far, Iraqi forces have captured about 60 percent of eastern Mosul, and the western part of Iraq's second biggest city could prove far more dangerous. In beginning, everyday we faced between 60 and 70 car bombs. Now we are facing about two or three, said Jubbouri, as his forces fired mortar bombs and rockets at an asphalt factory where militants strapped with explosives were positioned. (Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)
kellyanne conway

President-elect Donald Trump's former campaign manager again strongly suggested on Sunday that his supporters would not back former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for secretary of state.

Kellyanne Conway, one of Trump's top advisers, told CNN's Dana Bash that while she hoped Romney would be a gracious secretary of state if selected, his aggressive criticism of Trump during the 2016 Republican primary did not sit well with the president-elect's supporters.

"It's just breathtaking in scope and intensity the type of messages I have received from all over the country," Conway said. "The number of people who feel betrayed to think that Governor Romney would get the most prominent Cabinet post, after he went so far out of his way to hurt Donald Trump  there was the Never Trump movement, and then there was Mitt Romney."

She added: "If president-elect Trump chooses Mitt Romney as his secretary of state, or whomever he chooses, that will have the full support and backing of all of us. I respect the brilliance and judgment and sheer instincts of president-elect Trump to form his Cabinet as he wishes. But I felt compelled to come forward on behalf of the people who were weighing in."

Conway argued that Romney "attacked [Trump's] character." She also noted that several of the former governor's staffers were highly critical of the now-president-elect and questioned whether Romney had the appropriate foreign-policy credentials to deserve the position.

"Has he been around the globe doing something on behalf of the United States, of which we're unaware?" Conway said. "I'm all for party unity, but I'm not sure that we have to pay for that with the secretary of state position."

Conway's has gone on a days-long public crusade against the 2012 Republican nominee as Trump weighs several options to be his top diplomat.

After tweeting earlier this week that she'd received messages from supporters voicing their displeasure with Romney, Conway repeated to ABC's Martha Raddatz on Sunday that Romney "went out of his way" to criticize Trump.

Story continues

The former campaign manager joined a number of Trump confidantes who have taken to the airwaves with their arguments against Romney.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Fox News host Sean Hannity last week both voiced displeasure at reports that Trump was considering Romney over former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Though Giuliani was an early frontrunner for the post, Trump was reportedly concerned by potential Republican opposition to Giuliani based on his complicated business ties abroad and his overt public campaigning for the job.

Some observers like former senior advisor to President Barack Obama David Axelrod noted high-profile campaign staffers don't often publicly lobby their former bosses so soon after an election.

I meant "to" box the boss in. Either way, it's remarkable. I wonder if @realDonaldTrump appreciates being manipulated in public like this? https://t.co/3TJ8W0KM0H  David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) November 27, 2016

Others like Joe Scarborough, who occasionally advises Trump, challenged the president-elect to stand up to his former top aides.

I suspect the president-elect, fan of the shows, will be hearing this first thing in the morning. Strap in. pic.twitter.com/03pTmpd40W  Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) November 27, 2016

Watch the clip below, via CNN:

Conway: Trump backers feel "betrayed" he is considering Romney for secretary of state https://t.co/rzoSqIz3PE https://t.co/Wfe2IJPFig  CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) November 27, 2016

NOW WATCH: Trump goes on a tweetstorm less than 48 hours after promising to be more 'restrained' on Twitter





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TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, criticized for fondly remembering Fidel Castro without mention of his human rights record, defended his comments on Sunday and said the late Cuban leader had been a dictator. Trudeau sparked fury and online mockery after he referred to Castro as a "remarkable leader" and expressed his sorrow at the Friday death of "Cubas longest serving president". Many were quick to point out that Castro suppressed dissent and there was no option for other leadership on the island nation under his regime. On Sunday, Trudeau said the statement was simply meant to recognize the passing of a former head of state of a country that Canada had longstanding ties with, and not to gloss over unflattering history. The fact is Fidel Castro had a deep and lasting impact on the Cuban people, Trudeau told reporters in a televised news conference at a Madagascar Francophonie summit. He certainly was a polarizing figure and there certainly were significant concerns around human rights, that's something I'm open about and that Ive highlighted. Trudeau said he had raised the issue of human rights during an official visit to Cuba earlier this month. Asked whether he thought Castro was a dictator, Trudeau said: Yes. Some Conservative opposition lawmakers on Sunday urged Trudeau to boycott Castro's funeral while other contenders for the Conservative's leadership criticized his comments. The prime minister's office said no decision had yet been made on who would be representing Canada at the funeral. Castro was an honorary pallbearer at the 2000 funeral of Trudeau's father, former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau, who was the first NATO leader to visit Cuba back in 1976. Trudeau's initial statement, which was markedly more positive than most Western leaders, sparked a backlash on Saturday, especially among some U.S. Republicans and Cuban exiles in the United States. Canada has long been one of Cuba's closest western allies, maintaining ties after its 1959 revolution. During his November visit, Trudeau said that Canada would maintain its relationship with Cuba even if that put it at odds with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, who has threatened to reverse the U.S.-Cuban detente. (Reporting by Amran Abocar; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
By Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An internal dispute among Donald Trump's advisers broke out into the open on Sunday when his campaign manager warned that the president-elect could face an intense backlash from supporters if he chose Mitt Romney to be his secretary of state. Trump has been weighing whether to pick Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee who spent much of the past year criticizing Trump, or former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, who backed the real-estate mogul's insurgent presidential run. Giuliani would fit with the other loyalists and conservative hardliners that Trump has picked to fill out his administration so far, but he has drawn criticism for working as a consultant to foreign governments. Trump could help unite his party and win over skeptical establishment Republicans if he chooses Romney for the post. Though the debate has largely played out behind closed doors, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway warned that Trump could anger his supporters if he picked Romney, who called him a "fraud" and a "phony" in speeches this year. "They feel betrayed to think that you can get Romney back in there after everything he did - we don't even know if he voted for Donald Trump. He and his consultants were nothing but awful to Donald Trump for a year," she said on NBC's "Meet the Press." "I am all for party unity but I am not sure that we have to pay for that with the Secretary of State position," Conway said on CNN. Conway said she would support Trump if he decided to pick Romney for the position, but other Republicans criticized her for making her case on television, rather than talking to Trump directly. "Astounding to hear K. Conway, who has the ability to tell Trump privately, trash possibility of Romney as Sec of State publicly," Republican strategist Ana Navarro wrote on Twitter. (Addtional reporting by David Chance; Editing by Nick Zieminski)
Washington (AFP) - Senior advisers to President-elect Donald Trump promised on Sunday that he would strike a "better deal" with Cuba after Fidel Castro's death, without saying how this might affect the historic rapprochement under President Barack Obama.

While prominent Republicans have blasted Castro as a murderous tyrant since his death Friday, no one close to Trump has directly threatened to end the political opening announced in 2014 by Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro.

But Trump's advisers made clear Sunday that the outgoing Democratic administration had, in their eyes, made too many concessions to Havana -- notably by easing the US economic embargo of 1962 -- without receiving enough in return in areas like human rights, democracy and a free-market economy.

"We've got to have a better deal," Trump's chief of staff, Reince Priebus, said on Fox News Sunday.

"Repression, open markets, freedom of religion, political prisoners. These things need to change in order to have open and free relationships, and that's what President-elect Trump believes," he added.

Priebus said Trump would ensure that "there isn't going to be a one-way relationship from the United States to Cuba without some action from the Castro administration."

- 'Nothing in return' -

Trump strategist Kellyanne Conway also denounced the Obama administration for having gotten "nothing in return" from Cuba since diplomatic relations were restored in the summer of 2015.

She said Trump might reopen talks with Cuba, but that it would have to be with a "very different Cuba," one that ended acts of repression and moved to free political prisoners.

Even Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida -- an outspoken Castro critic whose parents fled the island years ago -- was evasive when a CBS interviewer asked whether Trump might move to roll back Obama's opening to Cuba.

Story continues

"There are key elements that are more important than others. So we'll look at all of them," said Rubio, who lost to Trump in a bitterly fought race for the Republican presidential nomination.

"I am not against changes in US policy towards Cuba," he said. "I just want to make sure that those changes are reciprocal."

But if the incoming president's advisers were careful not to suggest an end to the rapprochement with Cuba, they held back no punches when it came to talking about Fidel Castro.

Conway blasted him as a dictator responsible for "60 years of oppression."

Trump on Saturday called him a "brutal dictator" with a legacy of "firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights."

- The 'tyrant Castro' -

Vice President-elect Mike Pence tweeted on Saturday: "The tyrant #Castro is dead. New hope dawns."

Trump, during his election campaign, did little to flesh out the rather vague contours of his Cuba policy.

The New York billionaire had, in early 2015, supported the warming of relations.

But once his campaign was under way he expressed greater skepticism, saying Obama had obtained far too little in exchange for easing the US embargo and adding, last month, that he would do "whatever you have to do to get a strong agreement" with Havana.

The death of the father of the Cuban revolution, who defied the northern superpower through 11 US presidents, comes amid a sometimes rocky transition of power in Washington.

Obama, who will step down as president on January 20, offered a cautiously worded statement Saturday on Castro's death, calling him a "singular figure" and adding that history would "judge the enormous impact" he had on Cuba and the rest of the world.

During an historic visit to Cuba in March, Obama pleaded for making the process of normalization irreversible, while conceding that the relationship "will not be transformed overnight."

"A better approach for the incoming Trump administration," said Ted Piccone, a scholar at the Brookings Institution think tank, "would be to maintain President Obamas policy of constructive engagement and work with the post-Castro leadership to protect US national interests in a more stable, independent, and open Cuba."
Back in 1996, Donald Trump said he wanted to do business with Cuba and was ready to build the Taj Mahal in Havana once the law changes. At the time, the United States had a trade embargo against Cuba that prohibited American companies to invest in the island nation without Washingtons approval.

According to a September report in Newsweek, Trumps hotel and casino company secretly conducted business in Cuba in violation of the strict embargo. Internal company records and court filings showed the company spent at least $68,000 trying to business in Cuba, the report said, adding the money was spent indirectly.

However, in a June 1999 op-ed in the Miami Herald, the construction mogul wrote he would rather lose millions than his self-respect by investing in a country that was a maximum-security prison under former revolutionary Fidel Castros rule.

If I opened a casino/hotel in Havana, I would be required to pay Castro about $10,000 per year for each Cuban worker. But the workers would not benefit. Castro would pay them the equivalent of $10 a month. The rest he uses to pay for the brutal and violent system that keeps him in power  and deprives the Cuban people of basic human rights. In other words, my investment in Cuba would directly subsidize the oppression of the Cuban people, Trump explained in the editorial.

However, 17 years since he wrote those words, the situation between the former Cold War foes has changed. President Barack Obama eased restrictions on Cuba in October and Trump is now the president-elect. And Fidel Castro, the man Trump reviled in his 1999 article, died late Friday at the age of 90.

So it is natural to ask: Will Trump, who is still a businessman, fulfill his dream of investing in Cuba to benefit the long-suffering masses  the term he used for Cubans in 1999?

Trump Towers Istanbul

Photo: REUTERS/Murad Sezer

Story continues

Trump has investments in several countries. Recently, Argentine capital Buenos Aires rejected a permit to build a Trump Tower in the city. A local news report said Trump mentioned the proposed office complex to Argentine President Mauricio Macri who called Trump to congratulate him for his Nov. 8 election victory. However, the Macri administration rubbished the report, saying the construction project were not mentioned during the call.

Trumps initial reaction to Castros death  a tweet that simply said Fidel Castro is dead!  was one that didn't give away much. However, he issued an elaborate statement later that is seen by some experts as the president-elect softening his stance on Cuba.

This may be one place where his business interests prod him to take a more pragmatic course, even if that angers the hard-core, anti-Castro elements of both parties, an unidentified U.S. intelligence official told Reuters.

In the statement, Trump called the former Cuban leader a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades.

Fidel Castros legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights, Trump said, in the statement. While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, 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.

Though the tragedies, deaths and pain caused by Fidel Castro cannot be erased, our administration will do all it can to ensure the Cuban people can finally begin their journey toward prosperity and liberty, the president-elect added.

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Donald Trump speaks during the final presidential debate in Las Vegas on Oct. 19. (Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters)

President-elect Donald Trump is railing against ex-rival Hillary Clintons presidential campaign for joining in a recount of the votes cast in Wisconsin. The effort, which he already called a scam, was launched by Green Party nominee Jill Stein.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in, Trump wrote in the first of a series of tweets he posted early Sunday morning. Nothing will change.

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

On Saturday, Clinton campaign general counsel Marc Elias said that while his team had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, they would participate in the Stein-led recount in Wisconsin as well as recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan if Stein is successful in initiating them.

Trump pointed to the criticism he received from Clinton and other Democrats when he refused to say he would accept the results of the election when asked during the third presidential debate.

That is horrifying, Clinton responded after Trumps refusal. That is not the way our democracy works. Weve been around for 240 years. Weve had free and fair elections. Weve accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them. And that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a debate stage during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind of position.

Clinton later blasted Trumps refusal to say that he would respect the election results as a direct threat to our democracy.

And during her concession speech a day after the election, Clinton urged her supporters to accept the results and look to the future.

Story continues

Donald Trump is going to be our president, she said. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead.

Hillary's debate answer on delay: "That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

of position." Then, separately she stated, "He said something truly horrifying  he refused to say that he would respect the results of   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

this election. That is a direct threat to our democracy." She then said, "We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead." So much time and money will be spent  same result! Sad  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Stein has raised more than $5 million to pay for the recounts in the three battleground states. In Michigan, Trump leads Clinton by 10,704 votes, according to the states yet-to-be-certified count. In Wisconsin, Trump defeated Clinton by 22,525 votes. In Pennsylvania, he beat her by about 68,000 votes. Clinton would have to win recounts in all three states to overturn the outcome of the Electoral College, but experts say there is virtually no chance of Steins campaign overturning even one.

Related: This is a scam: Donald Trump blasts Jill Steins recount effort

The Green Party scam to fill up their coffers by asking for impossible recounts is now being joined by the badly defeated & demoralized Dems, Trump tweeted. So much time and money will be spent  same result! Sad.

Stein, for her part, questioned the Clinton campaigns support for the recount too.

Why would Hillary Clintonwho conceded the election to Donald Trumpwant #Recount2016? You cannot be on-again, off-again about democracy.  Dr. Jill Stein (@DrJillStein) November 26, 2016

Nonetheless, the recount effort has amplified tensions that were already high because of Clintons overall victory in the popular vote, which Clinton is on track to win by around 2.5 million.

@realDonaldTrump no, nothing will change. you lost the popular vote by 2.5 million. you'll have to live with that.  Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) November 27, 2016

No, nothing will change, The Nations Joan Walsh replied to one of Trumps tweets. You lost the popular vote by 2.5 million. youll have to live with that.
Washington (AFP) - President-elect Donald Trump made unsubstantiated claims of serious US voter fraud and said "millions of people" had cast their ballots illegally, offering no evidence for the assertions he put forth on Twitter.

Trump's shock path to the White House saw him fall short of his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the popular vote -- she carried the election by 2.2 million ballots -- but win the all-important Electoral College count, which decides the US presidency.

The Republican billionaire's latest statements, in which he said he would have won the popular vote were it not for the "millions of people who voted illegally," came as steps are being taken towards recounting votes in the state of Wisconsin, which Trump won.

Trump and his aides have pushed back hard against that recount, with the president-elect letting loose a series of early-morning tweets in which he quoted Clinton about the need to respect the electoral process.

But by the end of the day, Trump was alleging on Twitter that: "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."

Although Trump had warned before the election that the result might be "rigged," he had offered no such complaint after his unexpected November 8 victory -- until now.

Back in New York late Sunday after spending the Thanksgiving holiday at his Florida Mar-a-Lago resort with his family, Trump again took to Twitter, alleging that voter fraud had occurred in several states.

"Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!" Trump posted.

Trump and his aides have offered no evidence concerning the claims, nor did Trump explain why he would oppose the nascent Wisconsin recount if illegal voting was such a serious problem.

No election observers have pointed to any such widespread fraud.

Story continues

- 'This ridiculous recount' -

While the recount was requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who received a minute fraction of the total vote in Wisconsin, Clinton's campaign has said it would join the process despite having seen no irregularities in the White House contest so far.

Trump's top aide Kellyanne Conway, in the middle of the turbulence, appeared Sunday to at least hint that if the Clinton team pushes too hard on the Wisconsin recount, the president-elect might rethink his vow not to seek Clinton's prosecution for using a private email server when she was secretary of state.

Conway said on ABC that while Trump was being "magnanimous" toward Clinton, "I guess her attitude towards that is to have her counsel go and join this ridiculous recount."

Marc Erik Elias, an election lawyer for the Democratic candidate, said in a post on Medium.com on Saturday that the campaign would also participate in recounts in Michigan and Pennsylvania if they are arranged.

Most election experts see almost no chance the election outcome could be reversed -- Clinton trails in each state by several thousand votes.

Trump won Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin by a total of just over 100,000 votes, even while compiling many more than the 270 votes needed for victory in the Electoral College.

- Blowback against Romney -

The dispute continued to roil what has already been a rough transition period, as serious signs of internal discord over cabinet picks again emerged on Sunday.

The discord centers around the position of secretary of state, with some in the Trump camp supporting Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, as a more mainstream choice while others favor the more divisive former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani.

In what political analysts considered a highly unusual public airing of those tensions from within the Trump team, Conway last week tweeted that she had received "a deluge" of concern from people warning against Romney.

Asked about that on Sunday, she told NBC that she was not "campaigning" against Romney, but was "just astonished at the breathtaking volume and intensity of blowback" to a possible Romney nomination.

Trump supporters were infuriated in March when the former Massachusetts governor delivered a passionately worded attack on Trump on the part of the Republican Party's establishment, calling him a "fraud," given to "absurd third-grade theatrics."
donald trump the apprentice press

Drama and showmanship has surrounded President-elect Donald Trump's selection of his Cabinet  in typical Trump fashion.

Trump has hyped and teased whom he will pick to serve in his administration, tweeting that only he knows the "finalists."

C-SPAN cameras have broadcast the lobby of Trump Tower, allowing curious viewers to watch the spectacle from home.

There was a very public feud this week about the possibility of Mitt Romney being tapped to serve as secretary of state, as Trump allies warred in the public square over whether Romney should be selected for the top diplomatic post.

"Is it a good way to pick a cabinet? Not especially," said Reed Galen, who served in the George W. Bush administration and worked on Bush's and John McCain's presidential campaigns. "But Trump ran the worst technical campaign in modern history and is poised to become president, so what do any of us really know?"

Romney, who was harshly critical of Trump on the campaign trail and called him a "phony" and a "fraud" in a memorable speech during the GOP primary, met with Trump last weekend and emerged as the frontrunner for secretary of state. But infighting played out all week among Trump's inner circle. It culminated in a Thanksgiving Day tweet from senior Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, who openly acknowledged the complaints about Romney.

Galen expressed some worry about the process in an email to Business Insider.

"If it was 'The Apprentice' or his own company, who cares? But it's the US government and the world at large we're talking about," he said.

It should not be a surprise that Trump has chosen to select his Cabinet in such a fashion. He was, after all, a reality-television star who has thrived for many years being in the public spotlight. And, during his presidential campaign, he employed a similar style to choose his running mate  settling on Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana after several twists and turns in the final days.

Story continues

And while the process has caused unease among political journalists and analysts, some observers have suggested that the public nature of it may not entirely be a bad thing.

"The one thing about this is that one of the results of this, at least out of the gate, a lot more Americans are going to know who the Cabinet is than they do now," Scott Jennings, a former special assistant to Bush, told Business Insider.

"During the Obama years  who can name these people? With Trump running this sort of process, a heck of a lot more people are going to know these guys."

Jennings said that he expected Trump's entire presidency to continue in such a fashion and that it's the way Trump operates.

"What I think remains to be seen is whether the people he appoints to these positions will be able to keep up  How are they going to interact in that world?" he asked.

That question remains open, but it seems likely that if they can make it through Trump's appointment process, they have a fair chance.

NOW WATCH: Trump's pick for UN Ambassador once said he was 'everything a governor doesn't want in a president'





More From Business Insider


Istanbul (AFP) - Turkish police on Sunday detained a woman accused of being a wanted Kurdish militant at Istanbul's main airport, state media said.

Sara Aktas was detained at Ataturk International Airport while seeking to travel to Germany, the state-run Anadolu news agency said.

It said she is accused of being a key figure in the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), which the authorities regard as the urban wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). She faces up to 15 years in jail on charges of membership of an armed "terror" group, it said.

Turkish authorities have stepped up arrests of activists, journalists and even politicians suspected of links to the PKK in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

Critics say that the state of emergency implemented in the wake of the coup has gone well beyond seeking to punish the coup plotters themselves.

MPs from the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) strongly disputed the official version of events, saying that rather than being a member of the KCK, Aktas is part of the Kurdish Free Women's Congress (KJA).

HDP MP Dilan Dirayet Tasdemir said on Twitter that rather than trying to escape Turkey, Aktas had been returning from Igdir in the east of the country with her nephew.

Another HDP MP, Besime Konca, rubbished reports that Aktas had been travelling on a fake passport under a false name, saying she had been simply returning to Istanbul from Igdir.

The PKK has waged an insurgency inside Turkey since 1984 that has left tens of thousands dead. Violence renewed in July 2015 after the collapse of a two-and-a-half year ceasefire.

Ten MPs from the HDP, including the two co-leaders, were arrested earlier this month on charges of links to the PKK which they deny.
Update 1:25 pm Donald Trump now says millions of people voted illegally for Hillary Clinton, and hed have won the popular vote if not for them. The president-elects latest trio of tweets follows this mornings blast in which he called demands for a three-state recount sad.

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

It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote than the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

states instead of the 15 states that I visited. I would have won even more easily and convincingly (but smaller states are forgotten)!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Previous Jill Steins drive for an election recount in three states (Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania) prompted a morning twitter storm from President-elect Donald Trump today, with the GOPs top man returning to verbose form after yesterdays four-word Fidel Castro is Dead! tweet.

Granted, most of the tweets were Hillary Clinton quotes, with his one-word summation  Sad  arriving as a punch line.

The tweets came hours after Trump called Steins effort a Green Party scam to fill up their coffers. He seemed particularly irate that Hillary Clinton will send a lawyer to monitor the recount.

Story continues

Trump, who famously declined during his campaign to pledge acceptance of election results, hit Twitter just before 7:30 a.m. ET on this last day of the Thanksgiving weekend. It went like this:

Hillary Clinton conceded the election when she called me just prior to the victory speech and after the results were in. Nothing will change  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Hillary's debate answer on delay: "That is horrifying. That is not the way our democracy works. Been around for 240 years. We've had free   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

and fair elections. We've accepted the outcomes when we may not have liked them, and that is what must be expected of anyone standing on a   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

during a general election. I, for one, am appalled that somebody that is the nominee of one of our two major parties would take that kind   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

of position." Then, separately she stated, "He said something truly horrifying  he refused to say that he would respect the results of   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

this election. That is a direct threat to our democracy." She then said, "We have to accept the results and look to the future, Donald   Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

Trump is going to be our President. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead." So much time and money will be spent  same result! Sad  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 27, 2016

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Arbil (Iraq) (AFP) - Two graves containing the bodies of Iraqi Yazidis believed to have been killed by the Islamic State group have been discovered in northern Iraq, a local official said.

"Two mass graves were found in Um al-Shababik village," Sinjar mayor Mahma Khalil told AFP.

He said the two graves, containing nine bodies each, were about 150 metres from each other, in the western Sinjar region.

Khalil said the authorities were informed and added that the Yazidi Genocide Commission had taken samples.

He said the latest discoveries brought to 29 the number of such graves discovered since anti-IS forces last year retook Sinjar, the minority's main urban hub.

They contain at least 1,600 bodies, he said.

The Kurdish-speaking minority is neither Arab nor Muslim and is mostly based around Sinjar mountain, between the city of Mosul and the Syrian border.

It practices its own religion, a unique blend of faiths which is rooted in Zoroastrianism but borrows from Islam, Christianity and other beliefs.

In August 2014, two months after sweeping across Iraq's Sunni heartland, IS jihadists made a second push into an area that had been under Kurdish security control.

Thousands of Yazidi men were massacred when the jihadists attacked the town of Sinjar and thousands of women and girls were kidnapped and enslaved.

Yazidi community leaders say up to 3,000 Yazidi women may still be at the hands of the jihadists across the "caliphate" they proclaimed more than two years ago over parts of Iraq and Syria.

The UN has called the massacres a genocide, arguing that IS had planned them and then intentionally separated men from women to prevent Yazidi children from being born.
New Delhi: Hitting out at economists for criticising demonetisation, Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy has said that critics are unaware of the government's financial inclusion programme and their understanding of the situation is based on views expressed in English language newspapers.

"The economists living abroad base their understanding essentially on reading English newspapers. Otherwise, how would they know? English language newspapers understood many things wrongly," Debroy told PTI when asked to react on comments of former World Bank Chief Economist Kaushik Basu and other economists who have criticised demonetisation.

"Where does Dr Basu work now? He is based in US. I have a great deal of respect for him...That someone who is away from India may not necessarily be aware what is happening in India," he added.

The eminent economist said Basu will probably react to things like financial inclusion on the basis of data that is three years old, adding, "He does not know what happened as a result of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)."

Under PMJDY, 25 crore bank accounts were opened. Basu, who was also Chief Economic Advisor in Ministry of Finance, had on November 11 said that Modi government's decision to demonetise high denomination currency notes is not 'good economics' and the collateral damage of demonetisation is likely to far outstrip the benefits.

Lawrence 'Larry' Summers, a former chief economist of the World Bank and ex-economic advisor to the US President had described the Indian government's demonetisation steps as the "most sweeping changes in currency policy in the world in decades.

This step is 'unlikely to have lasting benefits' and that it has resulted in 'chaos and loss of trust in the government'," Summers was quoted as saying.
Getty Image

Conor McGregor is a two weight class world champion no more. According to an announcement made by the UFC at its event in Australia, he will relinquish his 145 pound featherweight title, making Jose Aldo the owner of the official 145 pound belt. In addition to that big bit of news, the fight between featherweight contenders Max Holloway and Anthony Pettis at UFC 206 in Toronto has now been turned into an interim featherweight title bout.

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Theres many questions here with few answers. Did Conor really relinquish his belt, or did the UFC basically strip him of it? Why is there a new interim featherweight belt being immediately fought over at UFC 206? Does this mean Jose Aldo is still salty with the UFC after a year of demanding a rematch with McGregor but not getting it?

At this point a lot of cynical attention being paid to the interim featherweight title fight at UFC 206. The show just lost its main event fight of Daniel Cormier vs Anthony Johnson for the light heavyweight title, and many feel the new interim featherweight belt exists simply because Toronto needs a title fight at the top of its pay-per-view show. But there might be a little more behind it.

As we mentioned before, now-champ Jose Aldo and the UFC have been feuding, with Aldo at one point announcing his retirement and demanding to be released. The UFC refused to release him, and at this point its unclear whether turning the belt Aldo won at UFC 200 into the true featherweight title will encourage him to fight again. With another interim belt out there, Aldo will have to fight the interim champ soon or have his belt stripped as well.

Its an ugly situation, and thats without Conor McGregor adding to it with his own feelings on the subject. The superstar fighter has been silent regarding the situation, but in the past hes seemed both reasonable and unreasonable about his belts. In trying to save a PPV event thats probably un-savable, they may have upset their biggest PPV star. Its a bold strategy, Cotton. Lets see if it pays off for em.
Muscat (AFP) - The UN envoy for Yemen has announced a new bid for peace talks between the government and rebels, after the latest ceasefire failed to end the 20-month conflict.

The peace efforts by Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed came as dozens were reported killed in fighting at the weekend.

Envoy Ould Cheikh Ahmed said he was heading to Riyadh and Kuwait "to prepare for a new round" of talks, as he left Muscat late Saturday after discussions with representatives of Yemen's Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies.

Riyadh has been the base of Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi since the rebels forced him to flee his country in March 2015 and prompted Saudi Arabia to lead an Arab coalition in a military campaign against the insurgents.

The UN envoy was to meet Hadi "within two days" in the southern Yemeni city of Aden to receive the government's response to his peace proposals, Foreign Minister Abdel Malek al-Mekhlafi told AFP.

Hadi flew to Aden on Saturday for a surprise visit to the port city which is serving as Yemen's temporary capital since coalition-backed loyalists recaptured it from the rebels.

Ould Cheikh Ahmed, quoted by Oman's official ONA news agency, said he found "a lot of seriousness" in talks with representatives of the Huthis and their allies from the party of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The envoy also said he had been in contact with US Secretary of State John Kerry who "sees a historic chance to achieve peace in Yemen".

A previous round of peace talks held in Kuwait collapsed in August.

A 48-hour ceasefire declared by the coalition ended last Monday with little success in reducing violence in the war-torn country.

Both parties traded blame for the numerous violations of the ceasefire that came into effect after Kerry intervened.

It was the latest international attempt to end a conflict which the United Nations says has killed more than 7,000 people and wounded nearly 37,000 since March last year.

Story continues

The Huthis overran the capital Sanaa and other parts of the impoverished country in September 2014.

A Yemeni official said Sunday 12 civilians were killed when a coalition air strike hit two makeshift wooden houses sheltering displaced families in the western province of Hodeida.

The official said the raid late on Saturday had apparently targeted the two houses "mistakenly", adding that a rebel position 300 metres (yards) away was untouched.

The coalition has been strongly criticised over the high number of civilians killed in its air strikes.

In northwest Yemen, the sources said, 40 soldiers and 22 rebels have been killed since Friday in heavy clashes for control of a road linking the Red Sea port city of Midi and nearby Haradh.

Elsewhere, two women were killed in rebel bombing of the southwestern city of Taez, military officials said.

Clashes raged on the outskirts of the flashpoint city, killing four rebels and three government soldiers late on Saturday, they said.
SAPPORO, Japan (AP) -- Olympic and world champions Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir of Canada set a record score to win the ice dance event at the NHK Trophy on Sunday and qualify for the figure skating Grand Prix Final.

The Canadians, first after the short program, finished with a combined total of 195.84 points, slightly edging the previous high of 195.52 set by Meryl Davis and Charlie White at the 2014 Olympics.

''Tessa and I always have been a team that doesn't really pay attention to the points,'' Moir said. ''It is kind of great to hear that you got a world record score, but it doesn't really mean very much. For us, the focus is just on our skating and just being in the mix again.''

Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France were second with 186.66 points, followed by Anna Cappellini and Luna Lanotte of Italy with 180.42.

Virtue and Moir completed level 4 lifts, spins and twizzles and got a level 3 for their circular and diagonal step sequences.

In their return to competition this season, Virtue and Moir won the Autumn Classic in September and Skate Canada in October.

''It feels great to be back, we're excited to build on this momentum as we head into Grand Prix Final'', Virtue said.

Papadakis and Cizeron also qualified for the GP Final. The other teams to qualify are; Maia and Alex Shibutani, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States; Ekatrina Bobrova and Dimitri Soloviev of Russia.

The Grand Prix Final, which runs from Dec. 8-11 in Marseille, France, features the top six qualifiers in each discipline from the International Skating Union's Grand Prix series.

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By Nelson Acosta and Simon Gardner HAVANA (Reuters) - Flag-waving Cuban students broke into a mass chant of "I am Fidel" to salute Fidel Castro as nine days of mourning began for the combative Cold War icon, who dominated the Communist island's political life for generations. Alcohol sales were suspended, flags flew at half-staff and shows and concerts were canceled after his younger brother and successor, President Raul Castro, told the country on Friday that Fidel had died at 10:29 p.m., without giving a cause of death. Giant rallies are planned in Havana's Revolution Square and in the eastern city of Santiago to honor Castro, who died aged 90, six decades after the brothers set out from Mexico to overthrow U.S.-backed Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista. Newspapers on the island of 11 million people were printed in black ink to mourn Fidel, instead of the usual red of the official Communist Party daily Granma, and the blue of Juventud Rebelde (Rebel Youth), the paper of the Communist youth. "For me, it's my mother first, my children, my father, then Fidel," father-of-five Rafael Urbay, 60, said as he manned a government photo and printing store in downtown Havana, remembering his early years spent on a remote island off the mainland with no drinking water. "We weren't just poor. We were wretched," he said. "Then came Fidel and the revolution. He gave me my humanity. I owe him everything." There was no heightened military or police presence to mark the passing of the epochal revolutionary leader, and at Havana University, Castro's alma mater, hundreds of students gathered to wave huge Cuban flags and shout "Viva Fidel and Viva Raul." "Fidel isn't dead because the people are Fidel," shouted a local student leader dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt. "I am Fidel," he continued, a refrain quickly adopted by the crowd. "Fidel put Cuba on the map, and made Cuba a paradigm for the people of the world, especially the poor and the marginalized," said another university student, Raul Alejandro Palmeros. Castro studied law at the university in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when it was a hotbed of leftist politics, setting him on the path that led to his toppling of Batista in 1959. Under Castro, bitter diplomatic conflict with the United States followed, and Cuba quickly became a firm ally of the Soviet Union, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Yet despite years of ideological strife and increasing hardship under a U.S. economic embargo, Castro's Cuba became renowned for high education standards and world-class doctors. "What Fidel did with education and free health stands out on the world stage. It was unique," said Rene Perez, 78, a retired accountant and Communist Party member. "It's his main legacy." Apart from the chanting students, Havana life went on largely as normal, only quieter and more subdued following the news of Castro's death. Street vendors sold food and handcrafts from stalls to passers-by, while 1950s Chevrolets full of dents and held together by makeshift repairs cruised by, crammed with passengers. Nevertheless, it was a day for reflection. "Usually we're full, but today only tourists have come and maybe a few Cubans. Usually it's the other way around. It seems Cubans feel funny about enjoying themselves so soon after Fidel died," said Raul Tamayo, a doorman at La Roca, a popular restaurant in Havana's central Vedado district. Castro's remains were cremated, and his ashes will be taken around Cuba until a state funeral on Dec. 4. Western diplomatic officials said foreign dignitaries will arrive by Tuesday for a memorial service to be held in Revolution Square that evening. There will be no top level games of baseball - Castro's passion after politics - for the nine-day period of mourning, the sport's national federation declared. Cuban state television, student associations and the women's federation had organized smaller rallies to mourn Fidel Castro and pledge their support to the revolution. Standing well over 6 feet (1.8m) tall, the bearded Castro was for years a cigar-chomping bulwark of ideological resistance to the United States, decked out in green military fatigues and cap. But the man long known as Cuba's "Maximo Lider" (Maximum Leader) largely disappeared from the public eye after a 2006 intestinal illness that almost killed him. Formally handing over power to Raul in 2008, he remained a major presence on the island, and regularly warned the Cuban population about the perils of giving in to the United States. "Everyone here is sad. Everyone is a Fidelista," said Anaida Gonzales, a retired nursing professor in central Camaguey province. "People are just going about their business, but sad. Me, I'm very sad for my Comandante, it really took me by surprise." (Additional reporting by Ana Isabel Martinez; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel and Dave Graham; Editing by W Simon, Jonathan Oatis and Bill Rigby)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen said on Sunday it had formed a joint venture with Algerian sales partner SOVAC to assemble cars in the North African country, aiming for production capacity of more than 100 vehicles per day from spring 2017. Volkswagen will hold a minority stake in the joint venture, SOVAC Production SPA, which will produce vehicles from the Volkswagen, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, SEAT and Skoda brands, the German carmaker said. "The Volkswagen Group opted for participation in SOVAC Production SPA as we have co-operated successfully with our sales partner SOVAC for many years," Volkswagen executive Josef Baumert said in a statement. "For us, this is a logical step towards increasing vehicle sales in Algeria in the long term." SOVAC has been a sales partner for Volkswagen since 2001, Volkswagen said, adding it delivered 30,000 new vehicles via SOVAC in 2015. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Mark Potter)
Does Prince Harrys girlfriend Meghan Markle have some competition?

Probably not, but the 32-year-old royal did have a playful exchange with a local woman from the island of St. Vincent during a visit to the hillside village of Vermont during his tour of the Caribbean.

Harry greeted starstruck locals, including 54-year-old Avis Collis who held hands with him and told him, Love you.

He pointed at her and replied, I love you.

After the encounter, a thrilled Collis asked reporters from the U.K. newspaper the Mirror to pass on her digits to the royal.

Heres my phone number can you give it to the Prince, she said. He told me he loved me I cant believe it.

She continued, I may be 54, but Im single and Im available!

Harry might be missing displays of affection. During his time in the Caribbean, he cant even speak to new girlfriend Markle, as all communications from the Royal Navy tanker that hes calling home for six nights of his two-week tour are restricted to essential calls.

The Suits actress appeared to have celebrated Thanksgiving with her family. She shared a photo on Instagram showing two hands joining over their meal, which she captioned, Giving thanks for so many things  including these two gems, who brought me into this world. Happy Thanksgiving from my family to yours.

Meanwhile, Harry was offered a honeymoon spot just in case he does decide to tie the knot with his girlfriend of several months.

The couple was invited to come to the island of Antigua again by Prime Minister Gaston Browne.

I am told that there may be a new princess and I just want to say that should you make the decision to honeymoon  then Antigua and Barbuda want to welcome you, the leader told the royal at an event Monday night.




The Weeknd celebrated the release of his new album, Starboy, in his hometown of Toronto, headlining the inaugural iHeartRadio Canada Jingle Ball at the Air Canada Centre on Friday (Nov. 25). Thirty minutes of his set will be broadcast tonight (Nov. 26) at 9 p.m. local time on the iHeartRadio app, along with 112 radio stations, including KISS in Los Angeles and Z100 in New York.

"My album just dropped last night [midnight]. I've been partying for two days straight," he told the crowd of 20,000 after taking the stage shortly after 10 p.m. and playing "The Hills," "False Alarm," "Often" and "Acquainted." "You know, I had to come to Toronto to celebrate with my fans."

Wearing the Panther Bomber Jacket from his exclusive line of Starboy merchandise (the pop-up shop is open in Toronto through Sunday, Nov. 27) - the 26-year-old (born Abel Tesfaye) then sang two songs he's featured on, Future's "Low Life" and Belly's "Might Not." (Belly was also on the Jingle Ball bill but did not join him).

"I dropped a new album last night called Starboy," he said again. "First and foremost, I'd like to thank iHeart for letting me do this tonight. Shout out to Toronto for always showing me love. You guys always support me so I had to come back home and really represent. Shout out to XO, one time. I'm going to play you some new songs. Is that cool, if I play some new music?" He segued into the destined smash "I Feel It Coming," the sexy funk single featuring Daft Punk, who is also on the first single, "Starboy."

That was it for new music, for now. Next he went back to his last album, Beauty Behind the Madness, for three songs, "In The Night," "Earned It" and "Can't Feel My Face," before winding down his 40-minute set with his Drake feature "Crew Love."

"They said I have to leave, but I should do one more song before I get the f--- outta here. I think this song represents where I am in my life and where Toronto is right now. And we are definitely unstoppable," he said. Then he played "Starboy."

The inaugural iHeart Jingle Ball in Canada included sets by the Chainsmokers, Hedley, Alessia Cara, one song by Niall Horan, as well as Belly, Serena Ryder and Kent Jones. Kardinal Offishall performed at the audience warm-up with DJ Starting From Scratch.
By Ulf Laessing HASAN SHAM CAMP, Iraq (Reuters) - Pushing his way through dozens of people, Iraqi teacher Umar Salah carries four bags containing 15 blankets and pots full of food through the gate of a camp overcrowded with civilians who fled Islamic State in Mosul. Soldiers only occasionally open the gate to allow civilians to bring supplies to relatives inside, as authorities struggle to accommodate some 1,000 people fleeing the fighting every day since Iraqi forces launched a campaign to expel the militants. U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops and Kurdish security forces have launched the biggest battle in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to drive Islamic State fighters from Mosul, the militant group's last major bastion in the country, many times larger than any other city the fighters have held. The United Nations is asking donors to fund winter kits for 1.2 million people -- preparing for a worst case scenario that much of the city's population may have to flee. Seventy-two thousand have fled so far, and winter has brought freezing temperatures. The Kurdish authorities are requiring fleeing civilians to stay in camps even if they have family outside, so that males can be checked for ties to Islamic State. Relatives crowded out front, bringing blankets and pillows. "My relatives have ice on their tent at night," said Salah, as he waited for his cousins and their five children to pick up the bags. "They don't get enough blankets so I brought them from my house." Salah escaped Mosul for Kurdish-held Erbil, 60 km east of the city, when Islamic State swept through the area in June 2014. The rest of his family fled two weeks ago. Males who have been displaced have to hand over their ID cards on the day they arrive. "I want to stay with my family in Erbil, but they keep us here," said a young man, who gave his name only as Hisham, standing in front of a tent with his veiled wife and baby. "I have been waiting for three weeks." The two main camps, Hasan Sham Camp hosting 10,800, and the nearby Khazer Camp home to 29,000, are full. The U.N. refugee agency UNHCR started work on Sunday on a another camp nearby, clearing the ground of landmines to set up 1,600 tents. Government workers are also setting up more blue tents at the Hasan Sham camp. The United Nations has opened another camp in Tikrit south of Mosul, while near Tal Afar in the west, a flashpoint town where thousands of people have fled, another camp will be launched this week, according to refugee agency UNHCR. Expecting a longer stay as the battle drags on, many families bring in stoves and kitchen utensils. With soldiers turning back most people at the camp gate, dozens threw their bags over the fence. Parents were registering children to attend schools inside the camps, often their first opportunity for regular schooling in years. "Children lost two years because schools were closed under Daesh (Islamic State) or taught only Islamic law," said a teacher who gave his name as Ali. Having himself fled Islamic State, he applied to work in camp schools. His own village is just 500 meters away, but the army has not opened it to civilians yet because the front line is still too close. "The children need to go back to school while we wait here." (Reporting by Ulf Laessing; Editing by Patrick Markey and Peter Graff)
FRANKFURT (Reuters) - German luxury carmaker BMW plans to launch a new version of its i3 electric car next year with a longer range and revamped design, German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported, citing company sources. BMW will rework the front and rear of the i3 and equip the car with a new battery to increase its range substantially beyond the current 300 km maximum, the paper said, adding that the increase would be below 50 percent. BMW has been torn about whether to accelerate development of new electric cars given its expensive early investment has only resulted in lackluster sales, with 25,000 i3s delivered last year. To help improve sales, BMW has already increased the battery range of its i3 city car by 50 percent this year. BMW was not immediately available for comment on the newspaper report. (Reporting by Christoph Steitz; editing by David Clarke)
And they'll linger on... for Thanksgiving, anyway!

After sharing last year's holiday, Mariah Carey and ex-hubby Nick Cannon, along with 5-year-old twins Moroccan and Monroe, reunited for yet another Thanksgiving.

WATCH: Mariah Carey Is 'Ready to Move On' After James Packer, Still 'Sensitive' Over Nick Cannon Baby News

Less than a month after their divorce was finalized, which was announced shortly before her split with Australian billionaire boyfriend James Packer, the former couple reunited in Hawaii for festive family time. The "We Belong Together" crooner documented the seemingly still-close clan's day on her Instagram, where she posted a video of herself, Cannon and the kids wishing her followers a happy Thanksgiving as she blew a kiss into the camera.

#happythanksgiving  A video posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on Nov 24, 2016 at 9:48pm PST

In another post, the Carey-Cannon family beamed as they sat down for their T-Day meal.

#happythanksgiving everyone  A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on Nov 24, 2016 at 9:48pm PST

WATCH: Mariah Carey's New Reality Show Features a Lot of Dancer Bryan Tanaka, Barely Any James Packer -- See the Clips!

"We'll always be family," Cannon told Ellen DeGeneres after spending last Thanksgiving with Carey and the kids. "We make the kids the number one priority, for them to see their parents together and for everybody to get along and have a great time. ... It's all about unconditional love. ...They know mommy and daddy still love each other but, more importantly, they love us."

Before the day's food-filled festivities, Carey granted all-access to her grocery-shopping adventures as she prepared for the forthcoming Thanksgiving feast at a local Whole Foods.

There, she greeted and took pics with a few lucky fans.

Love all my #hawaiian #lambs  A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on Nov 24, 2016 at 6:20pm PST

Just a regular day at the #grocery store in #hawaii #groceryshopping #itsperfectlynormal #happythanksgiving lambs  A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on Nov 24, 2016 at 5:56pm PST

She also held a pair of pineapples up to her chest.

Story continues

#hawaiianpunch for #thanksgiving  A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on Nov 24, 2016 at 5:57pm PST

And flaunted her cleavage in a plummeting lace-up shirt while holding a pie.

#festivating !! #happythanksgiving  A photo posted by Mariah Carey (@mariahcarey) on Nov 24, 2016 at 6:45pm PST

We can only hope Carey's cheeky pineapple shenanigans will be a part of E!'s upcoming docu-series Mariah's World, which will, at the very least, feature "bittersweet" footage of Carey in the wedding dress she was supposed to wear during her now called-off wedding to Packer.

Watch the video below for more:

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Kendrapara: The hitherto dormant Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) accounts in nationalised banks have now sprung to life and are flush with cash in several parts of Odisha, thanks to demonetisation drive.

The post offices are also witnessing sudden upsurge of deposits of scrapped notes with inoperative accounts being made operational by account holders in a hurry.

Demonetisation has seemingly provided a lease of life to these accounts which were literally dead. Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur districts account for 3.75 lakh Jan dhan accounts, officials said.

In Odisha, the highest percentage of 59.50 per cent of the households in Kendrapara avail banking facilities followed by Jagatsinghpur with 58 per cent, they said.

With PMJDY account holders virtually making beeline at bank counters to deposit money and activate the accounts, there has been rapid spurt in the quantum of deposits in several of these zero-balance balance accounts. While bank personnel acknowledge activation of such dormant accounts in large numbers and the rise in deposits, they preferred to remain tight-lipped on reports of huge cash flowing into such accounts.

An official of a nationalised bank said, "There has been impressive growth in cash deposits in Jan dhan accounts. We obviously smell foul-play. Though a ceiling of Rs 50,000 deposit has been fixed in these accounts, we have come across accounts exceeding maximum deposit limits. The accounts with excess deposit would lose PMJDY classification. These would be converted into general savings accounts."

Deposits in the accounts are largely in demonetised high-value currency notes, giving suspicion that unscrupulous elements might be using the accounts of poor and gullible to convert black money into white. We are reparing detailed list of such accounts which were inactive since day of operation. However, cash flowed into it after demonetisation. The list of 'suspicious' accounts would be submitted to the competent authorities, the official said.

These accounts occupied less than one per cent of the total deposit base. However, it has shot up to 3 to 4 percent since cash began flowing into them.

Post the Centre's demonetisation step on November 8, most Jan Dhan accounts are subjected to their first-ever transactions ever since they were opened. There are instances of these accounts being switched to general savings accounts. Some account-holders have also resorted to tactics depositing Rs 49,000 to avoid PAN card submission, the officials said.

Several deposits of Rs 49,000 were found out to have been made in such replenished accounts, said the head of a nationalised bank in Paradip.

Like Jan dhan, misuse of mini-accounts, which could be opened in banks without furnishing KYC and the deposit limit of which should not exceed Rs 50,000 at any point of time, looms large. The aggregate of all withdrawals and transfers in a month should not exceed Rs 10,000 from such accounts, said officials.

The customer service points of nationalised banks are entrusted with opening mini-accounts. Of late, applications for conversion of these accounts into general savings accounts are being received. Deposit of demonetised notes appears to be the sole cause for upgrading such accounts. The bankers are also keeping a tab on these accounts, they said.

There is every possibility that account-holders are being lured on monetary consideration by agents of rich people to lend their accounts to stash their ill-gotten cash. In all likelihood, those working in Paradip industrial belt as labourers and contractual labourers are becoming the soft target of these agents and middlemen. Most of these working classes have their Jan dhan accounts in banks in Paradip, said a banker requesting not to be quoted.

The post offices from both the district are also overflowing with cash in savings accounts. Dormant postal accounts, not subjected to monetary transaction since past three years, have been made operational by the account holders. Demonetised notes have also sneaked into such accounts, said an official of department of post in Kendrapara.

Three days ago, over 57 deposits amounting to Rs 75,000, all in demonetized Rs 1,000 scrapped notes were made in the head post office, said an official of Kendrapara head post office Kendrapara.
While reading the recent story, "Six groups want change in Grand Canyon monument proposal," Im a Vietnam veteran, and a former river guide and river ranger with over 40 years of experience in Grand Canyon. I kept coming back to the underlying thread between the different visions for the future of the public lands around the Grand Canyon  a love and appreciation for the place, its diverse wildlife, and recreation opportunities. There is widespread agreement about the value of the Greater Grand Canyon, especially the lands to the north. Four in five Arizonans and 82 percent of people nationwide support permanently protecting the Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument area  as do local tribes, hundreds of local businesses, outdoor recreation companies and adventure athletes, and dozens of local, state, and federal officials.
Chandigarh: Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday voiced apprehension that Pakistan could be behind the sensational Nabha jailbreak, saying the neighbouring country was "desperate to revive terrorism" after Indian army conducted the surgical strike across the LoC.

"Pak desperate to revive terror post surgical strike. Could be behind jail break," Sukhbir, who also spoke to the National Security Advisor Ajit Doval after the incident, tweeted.

The Deputy CM, who also holds Home portfolio, however said that the state government would uncover the conspiracy behind the jail break incident at all cost.

"We will uncover the conspiracy behind terrorist - gangster Nabha jail break at all cost."

"State police is investigating conspiracy between terrorists and gangsters to disturb peace in Punjab before elections," Sukhbir tweeted.

Officials said Sukhbir apprised Doval of the details of the incident and updated him on the steps being taken to apprehend six culprits.

In a sensational jailbreak, a group of armed men in police uniform today attacked the high-security Nabha Jail and fled with six prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.
Nabha jailbreak: A young woman became the victim of over-reaction by Punjab Police personnel, losing her life after the car in which she was travelling was shot at by the police at a security barricade on Sunday, sources said.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora admitted that the victim was killed in a case of firing following "mistaken identity".

The woman was travelling in a car which was signalled to stop by police personnel at a security barricade set up on the Nabha-Cheekha road near Samana town. However, the car driver did not stop and tried to jump the barricade.

Following this, the police party at the barricade opened fire. One bullet hit the woman. She succumbed to her injuries after some time.

The police are investigating the circumstances of the incident.

Residents of nearby villages caught hold of one policeman involved in the firing incident even while his other colleagues fled from the spot in a black coloured Mahindra Scorpio.

Punjab was put on high alert following the Sunday morning sensational jailbreak at the maximum security Nabha Jail, 100 km from Chandigarh, in which 10-12 armed men attacked the jail and escaped with six prisoners, including two Khalistani terrorists and four gangsters.
Shamli: UP Police claimed to have arrested one of the armed men involved in the sensational jailbreak in Patiala in which a Khalistani militant outfit chief and five other prisoners escaped this morning.

Parminder alias Penda was travelling in an SUV when his vehicle was intercepted by police at a check post in Kairana in Shamli district in western Uttar Pradesh, police said. He tried to flee but was apprehended. Police said it has recovered an SLR and three other rifles from his possession.

ADG (law and order) Daljeet Choudhury said that police had heightened security as it had apprehensions that the accused in the jailbreak may try to flee to Nepal.

The ADG said that Parminder had "confessed" to his involvement during questioning. He was also allegedly wanted in connection with the murder of a policeman.

Khalistan Liberation Front militant outfit Harminder Mintoo escaped along with five other prisoners after armed men in police uniform stormed the high-security Nabha prison in Patiala in Punjab, which is about 175 km from Kairana.

The others who fled were gangster Vicky Gaundar, Amandeep Dhotian, Gurpreet Sekhon, Nita Deol and Kashmira Singh, who is also a terrorist.

A senior official of Punjab Police, requesting anonymity, said, the prisoners along with armed men have entered towards Haryana's Kaithal area from Samana in Punjab.

"Our teams are on the job to nab them," he said.

Giving details about the jailbreak, the official said five men, of whom three were in police uniform, had entered the jail premises in a car under the garb of dropping a prisoner.

Responding to a question on death of a woman after being hit by a bullet in police firing about 20 km away from the prison, DGP Arora said the police opened fire at a checkpost after her four-wheeler did not stop even after being asked to do so which led to her death.

The woman, who belonged to an orchestra group was inside the vehicle which had jumped a barrier at a 'naka' on Patiala-Gulha Cheeka road.

Meanwhile, CCTV footage near the Nabha jail showed a few vehicles, including MUVs, moving at a fast pace. The footage showed that the rear door of one of the vehicles was opened. A car was later found lying in an abandoned state in a village in Haryana's Kaithal district, some 70-80 kms from Nabha, after which forensic teams were summoned while a police team from Punjab was reaching the spot to inspect the vehicle, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kaithal, Tarun Kumar said.

"A car was lying in an abandoned state in Solumajra in Kaithal (Patiala's adjoining district falling in Haryana). It was lying in a locked state. A bomb disposal squad and forensic team has reached the spot to inspect the vehicle. It is a matter of investigation whether the vehicle was used in connection with the (jailbreak) incident. The investigations are underway in this regard," the DSP said.

"The car bore a Punjab registration number. Another number was also pasted under the number plate," he said, adding that efforts were on to trace the owner of the vehicle.

Some villagers had noticed the car lying in an abandoned state after which the police was informed. Another official of the Kaithal police said Punjab police officials can confirm whether the car was used in any manner

in connection with the Nabha jailbreak incident.
Mumbai: Maharashtra State Election Commission on Saturday said Rs 26 crore in cash and over one lakh litres of liquor had been seized ahead of elections to 147 municipal councils and 18 nagar panchayats across 25 districts in the state on Sunday.

Giving this information, State Election Commissioner JS Saharia said preparations were in place for a smooth polling.

As many as 3,705 members of civic bodies and 147 municipal council presidents will be elected.

The total number of voters is 58,49,171 and there are 7,691 polling stations, he said.

Since the code of conduct came into force, Rs 26 crore in cash and 1.24 lakh litres of liquor were seized, he said.

Saharia said no nominations were received for Shirala nagar panchayat in Sangli district, while 28 candidates have been elected unopposed as there were no rival nominations.

Home guards would be deployed for security along with the police and the State Reserve Police Force will be used if needed, he said.
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Chennai: In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the demonetisation issue, AIADMK on Monday said by talking about it only outside Parliament, he was "slighting the Constitution and democracy."

Listing a set of questions over demonetisation and its implications, AIADMK said, "The prime minister who is supposed to answer all these questions is slighting the Constitution and democracy by seeking to explain about it only in places other than Parliament".

"Having many loopholes (in implementing demonetisation), the BJP's claim to root out black money is like cultivation of desert by drawing water using a bucket that has a sieve for its bottom," the Tamil Nadu ruling party said in its Tamil mouthpiece, Dr Namadhu MGR.

Besides comparing the effort to root out black money with a vain bid to draw water using a bucket full of holes, the AIADMK also claimed that people were incensed at such an exercise of "sham."

Mocking the BJP, it said the partymen do not "shine in their work" and it was a known fact that their "action does not commensurate with their big talks".

The mouthpiece said people were "angry," that the demonetisation move had been "reportedly leaked to many," and a Gujarati daily had even published beforehand about it.

The AIADMK said people were incensed by norms like an upper limit even for withdrawals for weddings. Stating that there were "confusing announcements," and a "daily notification," specifying norms for deposits and withdrawal of scrapped notes, the party said people have reached at a "boiling point," even as holidays were declared by banks to "hide non-receipt of (adequate) currency".

It termed the RBI's directive immediately after demonetisation that cooperative banks cannot accept scrapped notes, as "discriminatory" since lakhs of farmers were part of such cooperatives.

The AIADMK alleged that micro, small trade was facing sluggishness and mills were curtailing their work force.

The Jayalalithaa-led party also referred to other issues like the Indian rupee hitting a record low level against USD (on 24 November, it hit an all-time low of 68.86 against the USD before recovering partially to end the day at 68.73  a 39-month closing low) besides Nepal banning new Indian Rs 500, Rs 2,000 notes and alleged quality issues in the new notes.

On Wednesday, AIADMK had joined hands with other Opposition parties in staging protests both inside and outside Parliament on the demonetisation issue.
Paris: Millions of French voters were casting ballots on Sunday to pick the presidential candidate for the centre-right Republicans party, with ex-premier Francois Fillon tipped to win and become favourite for next year's election.

The US-style primary contest, the first for the party, is a battle between socially conservative and economic "radical" Fillon and the more moderate Alain Juppe, also a former prime minister who is nine years older at 71.

The French presidential vote is seen as a key test for mainstream political parties after the success of Donald Trump in the United States and the Brexit campaign in Britain, both of which harnessed anti-elite, anti-establishment anger.

Polls opened at 8 am (0700 GMT), with all French voters who pay two euros ($2.10) and state they share the values of the centre-right allowed to cast a ballot.

Whoever wins will face fierce competition from far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is waiting in the wings ready to attack the victor as a symbol of France's ruling class.

Fillon, a career politician and prime minister from 2007-12, has warned that France is "on the verge of revolt" and believes his plan to slash 5,00,000 public sector jobs and business regulations is the tonic the demoralised country needs.

"I'll do everything for entrepreneurs!" he declared at his final rally on Friday night in Paris, promising to help businesses create the jobs needed to lower France's stubbornly high unemployment rate of around 10 percent.

The devout Catholic and motor racing fan has also won support with his hard line on Muslim immigrants, as well as an emphasis on protecting France's identity, language and family values.

He demanded Friday that "the Islamic religion accept what all the others have accepted in the past... that radicalism and provocation have no place here."

Happy France?

Juppe, meanwhile, has made a pitch for the centre-ground, accusing his opponent of wanting to reform France with "brutality" with an unrealistic programme that has drawn support from the far-right.

As well as promising to shrink the French state, Juppe's signature announcement was a promise to seek a "happy identity" for multicultural France despite worries about the threat of immigration and Islamic extremism.

"I am best placed with my programme to beat Marine Le Pen," Juppe said on the last day of campaigning on Friday.

He has also sought to highlight Fillon's conservative views on abortion and gay marriage, as well as his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin who praised Fillon last week as a "very principled person".

But it is Fillon who has all the momentum heading into Sunday's run-off vote.

He won the first round of the primary last Sunday with 44 percent and has since picked up endorsements from party heavyweights including former President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was knocked out last weekend in perhaps a final blow to his political career.

Several surveys last week forecast Fillon to emerge as winner on Sunday with around 60 percent, but after a topsy-turvy year that has made fools of analysts and pollsters, no one should take his victory for granted.

The devout Catholic and motor racing fan has also won support with his hard line on Muslim immigrants, as well as an emphasis on protecting France's identity, language and family values.

Unpredictable election

As well as Le Pen, Sunday's winner will face competition in next year's vote from a Socialist party candidate, probably President Francois Hollande who appears intent on trying to defy his historically low approval ratings.

After a troubled five years in power, a survey on Friday showed current Prime Minister Manuel Valls would be a far more popular candidate than Hollande.

Valls did not exclude making a run at the candidacy in the socialist primary, saying "I will make my decision with a clear conscience", in an interview published by weekly Journal du Dimanche.

Hollande's former protege and economy minister, 38-year-old Emmanuel Macron, is also set to stand for the presidency as a centrist independent, injecting some youth and another element of uncertainty into the race.

Far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melanchon is also likely to draw votes away from mainstream parties in a trend seen in elections across Europe following years of austerity and anger over globalisation and job losses.

Current polls forecast that Le Pen and the Republicans' candidate will make it through to the final run-off round of the election in May, with the latter set to win by drawing moderate voters from the right and left to block the far-right.
Mosul: When Islamic State militants in Mosul discovered that Ahmed's brother had served in the army, they went to his house, pulled him into the street, and shot him dead as his parents watched.

Now, it was time for revenge, and after two years of ferrying the extremists around as a taxi driver, Ahmed had plenty of information to offer special forces at a command post in an east Mosul apartment on Friday.

"They're in this church, and only God knows what goes on in there," he told intelligence officers, pointing out map coordinates during a half-hour session. They met in a living room used to receive residents just a few blocks away from the battle, some seeking help, others being questioned, while the unlucky ones faced interrogation or stern reprimands for various infractions. Ahmed asked his full name be withheld for fear of reprisals.

With heavy weapons less useful in the dense urban alleyways of Iraq's second city, local intelligence is growing in value. Special forces on the front lines are beefing up efforts to win civilians' trust, passing out food and medicine and gleaning real-time information about the extremists they are fighting in pitched, house-to-house combat.

In doing so, officers are also taking on classic counter-insurgency roles, becoming actors of local governance, addressing grievances and dispensing swift battlefield justice.

The offensive to free Mosul of Islamic State militants is now in its second month, and progress has slowed as troops try to avoid mass civilian casualties that could give the impression the Shiite-heavy military was riding roughshod over the city's majority Sunnis.

While tens of thousands of civilians have fled the fighting, over a million remain in their homes  some following official requests by the government to stay there, others preferring the risk of crossfire to spending the winter as an anonymous number in cold displacement camps.

In the Bakr neighborhood, parts of which are still contested, civilians lined the streets. Smiling children waved and greeted the troops, while younger men and elders watched convoys of Humvees pass with an air of skepticism.

Automatic rifle fire and heavy machine guns blasted all day from both sides, while mortars lobbed shells across neighborhoods, the city's relentless soundtrack. In the dusty wasteland to the east, a family pushed a relative's body on a cart back toward an aid station.

Part of the intelligence gathering is rough  in the Samah neighborhood, soldiers arrested at least two suspected Islamic State militants, wrapping T-shirts over their heads and beating them in the street as they dragged them off. Not every combatant shares the government's optimism that sectarian reconciliation can happen here. "Why do you speak to them? They're all (Islamic State)," one soldier said of civilians leaving homes to visit relatives further from the crossfire.

But the softer approach, as advancing forces have learned countless times in modern warfare, can yield more value, and keeping civilians on one's side has become a major part of operations for Iraq's special forces, known officially as the counter-terrorism forces.

Speaking in the Bakr apartment, Lt. Col. Ali Hussein said his forces have strict orders to take care of civilians to win the peace, but that they went a bit further, buying medicine for the old and infirm.

"We pay with our own money, it's the humane thing to do," he said. "It's a modest neighborhood and we have to keep a good reputation and show the civilians we are on the same side  Daesh has brainwashed them for two years," he said, using the Arabic acronym for the group.

Islamic State forces as well, driven underground and unable to group into formations for risk of attracting airstrikes, also realize the importance of information. On Friday alone, they sent three reconnaissance drones to scout positions in the district  the same amount as over the previous two weeks.

"It was a big push, much more than normal," Hussein said, showing off a damaged commercially available DJI Phantom 4 drone the size of a record player.

"We shot down two."

Fighting in built-up areas has slowed to a slog, as small numbers of IS snipers and suicide bombers in heavily-armored vehicles infiltrate neighborhoods to surprise troops and stunt advances. Battles play out on rooftops with IS forces holed up in buildings just a street or two away, with troops often jumping walls between houses to reach their positons.

On patrol, Iraqi forces here said that IS was now sending in two cars at a time packed with explosives. The first one destroys the giant sand barriers the army builds on side streets to create safe zones, and the second one races through the opened passage to attack troops. As a response, the special forces now line up parked civilian cars in front of the barriers.

Troops also listen in on IS radio traffic, where they can sometimes hear the extremists directing suicide bombers who can't see through the heavy armor plating protecting their moving vehicles. Many of the dialects are foreign, including Gulf Arab and Egyptian.

As Hussein walked the streets with his troops, a man approached, beseeching the soldiers for help to protect his family on the IS-controlled side. After a brief stand-off, and the man lifting his shirt to show he wasn't wearing explosives, he became the latest informer.

"They are knocking down walls so they can move house to house, and they're approaching this line," said the man, who also asked that his name be withheld for fear of IS reprisals. "They dig all night, we can hardly sleep." After sunset, IS was burning tires and homes to obscure night vision scopes used by the special forces.

The patrol went to the neighbors to confirm the story, lecturing the man for crossing over the front line via a rooftop but letting him go after locals vouched for him. Speaking with elders, Hussein told families to stay indoors and explained that cars must have their tires flattened or be considered a security risk.

Another man was scolded for trying to break into a house, claiming his uncle had sent him to secure belongings. Soldiers pushed him by the shirt collar to the area's de facto governor, who waved him off after some angry words.

"We cannot allow this," said Hussein. "When civilians return they must not think that the special forces looted their homes."
By Isabel Coles

| GOGJALI, Iraq

GOGJALI, Iraq Until three weeks ago, many of Abu Osama's customers were Islamic State militants who brought their wives and children to his pharmacy on the eastern edge of Mosul for injections and treatment.Now, most of them are Iraqi security forces who recaptured the Gogjali neighborhood earlier this month and are pushing further into the city, which has been under Islamic State control for more than two years.As the militants retreat, civilians are adjusting to a new reality in their wake and a clearer picture is emerging of what they did to survive the punishments and deprivation of Islamic State rule."Whether Daesh (Islamic State) or army: my door is open to everyone," said Abu Osama, taking the blood pressure of an Iraqi policeman. "If my worst enemy comes here, I must treat him."Several Islamic State militants, both local and foreign, lived in Gogjali and it was mainly their families that visited the pharmacy because the militants themselves were often away, Abu Osama said.The front of his shop and those next door are marked with the Arabic letter "z" for zakat, meaning alms, and beside it an identification number Islamic State bureaucrats assigned to record donations made at the shop for their self-proclaimed caliphate.Advancing Iraqi forces have sprayed Shi'ite slogans over it.The 40-year old opened the pharmacy after Mosul fell to Islamic State and the salary he received as an employee of the Iraqi health ministry was cut by the government as it sought to choke off funding to the militants, who were skimming the pay of public sector workers in areas they controlled.The militants wanted Abu Osama to work for them in a hospital, but he refused because it would have meant pledging allegiance to the group, and he does not agree with their hardline ideology.According to that ideology, the depiction of living creatures is un-Islamic because it can lead to idolatry. After a militant upbraided him for displaying a poster with an image of a baby on the wall of his pharmacy, Abu Osama blotted out its eyes with a black marker pen and then did the same to every label featuring a human being.

The 500 dinar note ($0.40), which bears an image of a statue, was banned for the same reason, according to several civilians.CHINESE, INDIAN MEDICINE

All medicine came from Syria -- Mosul's only outlet to the world as an array of forces slowly closed in on the city in Iraq. Syrian traders imported cheap Chinese and Indian medicine via Turkey and paid Islamic State a tax to bring it to market in Mosul, Abu Osama said.By the time medicine reached his still sparsely stocked shelves, the price had tripled, and many of his customers could not afford to buy it, so he sold it to them on credit and is now owed 1.25 million Iraq dinars ($1,016).

Since women were obliged by Islamic State to veil their faces completely, Abu Osama cannot be sure who owes him what, he said. Standing in the pharmacy, forty-three-year old Sohaib commented that if he became separated from his wife in a crowded marketplace, she would have to find him, as he could not distinguish her from all the other women shrouded from head to toe in black. Abu Osama could treat women only when they were accompanied by a male relative, and if a female patient lifted her veil before him and Islamic State's vice squad found out, he would be held accountable. It never happened to him, but the militants punish such infractions with fines and whipping. Residents of Gogjali said Islamic State's laws were less strictly enforced there because it is far from the city center. When Iraqi special forces took the neighborhood, two of the militants left their wives behind, locals said, identifying the women as Russian. The jihadi brides tried to flee Mosul among displaced civilians but were found out and detained by Iraqi security forces, according to a soldier sitting in the pharmacy.

"They were unbelievably beautiful," he said.Several doors down, twenty-seven year old Ammar, who runs a grocery shop, said the militants were his best customers because they had more money than anyone else. "They chatted with us and said we must fight jihad. Everyone preached to us, but each to their own," he said.All the goods he sold came from Syria, he said, but now that route is blocked too, and several traders from the nearby Kurdish region are taking advantage of the opening in the market.Outside the grocery shop, a Kurdish trader unloaded goods from a van, including items banned by Islamic State such as cigarettes, biscuits made in Iran and Brazilian canned meat."It says halal on the tin, but they said it wasn't," Ammar said, shrugging. Occasionally, the sound of a mortar or a burst of gunfire sends people milling in the street scattering and diving for cover, but some, now accustomed to the sounds of war, barely flinch and continue as normal. (Editing by Patrick Markey)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Miami: Juanita Castro, a sister of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro who has lived in Miami for decades, will not attend his funeral, local media has reported. "Given unhealthy rumours that I was headed to Cuba for the funeral, I want to state clearly that I have never returned to the island, and I don't plan to do so," Castro told El Nuevo Herald on Saturday.

"I'm not rejoicing in any human being's death, nor would I do that with someone who shares my family names," she went on.

"As Fidel's sister, I am going through the loss of a human being who shared my blood." President Raul Castro, Fidel's 85-year-old younger brother, made the announcement of Fidel's death on state television around midnight Friday. Fidel and Cuban President Raul Castro were among their parents' seven offspring. Juanita, born in 1933, was the only one to publicly oppose the Communist regime her brother led for over five decades.

She has been living in Miami since 1964, and said she cooperated with a CIA plot to oust Fidel.
Dr. Jill Stein? @DrJillStein

Why would Hillary Clintonwho conceded the election to Donald Trumpwant #Recount2016 ? You cannot be on-again, off-again about democracy.

Dr. Jill Stein? @DrJillStein

Why would Hillary Clintonwho holds "public" and "private" positionswant to engage in something as transparent as #Recount2016?

Dr. Jill Stein? @DrJillStein
Aleppo: Syrian state media said government forces on Saturday captured the largest rebel-held district of Aleppo, in what would be a major breakthrough in its offensive to retake the entire second city.

Masaken Hanano was the first district the rebels took in the summer of 2012 in a move that divided Aleppo into an eastern area held by the insurgents and a western district controlled by government forces.

Since then, more than 250,000 civilians have been trapped under government siege for months in the rebel-held east, with dwindling food and fuel supplies.

The capture of Masaken Hanano in northeastern Aleppo is part of a major government offensive now in its 12th day that could isolate that part of the city from rebel-held areas in the south.

Since 15 November, regime bombardment of eastern Aleppo has killed 212 civilians, including 27 children, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Regime forces had been advancing inside Masaken Hanano for several days, and yesterday state television said they were progressing "from three axes".

Today, the state broadcaster and the official SANA news agency said President Bashar al-Assad's armed forces, backed by their allies, had taken "full control" of the district.

"The armed forces retook full control of Masaken Hanano after having put an end to the presence of terrorists there," the state broadcaster said, referring to the rebels.

SANA said government forces also recaptured the area around the district and "army engineers are clearing it of bombs and explosives planted by the terrorists in the streets and squares".

But Yasser al-Youssef, from the rebel group Nureddin al-Zinki, said fighting was still under way on the southern edges of Masaken Hanano, which he called a district of "strategic importance".

Youssef warned that if regime forces can advance to the adjacent neighbourhood of Sakhur, then eastern Aleppo will be split in two.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said that 80 percent of Masaken Hanano was under the control of government forces who have the rest in their line of fire.

"They are just hundreds of metres (yards) away from isolating the northern districts of east Aleppo from the southern ones," he said.

The latest regime push comes after days of intense bombardment on the rebel-held east, which was pounded with air strikes, shells and barrel bombs.
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Norway has voted to reject membership of the European Union in a referendum, for the second time in its history.

With 92% of the referendum votes counted the no campaign had a clear margin of 52.4% to 47.6% for the yes vote. Turnout was estimated at 80%.

The result is a blow for Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, who has made Norwegian membership of the EU her main political goal for the last four years.

It was the people who made the decision, and we as a country have to live with that, she said.

Norway first rejected membership of the European Economic Community, as the EU was then known, in 1972. That result, by a similar margin to todays vote, forced the resignation of the government.

Mrs Brundtland has ruled out resignation this time, but it remains unclear how she will lead Norway into a non-European future.

The leader of Norways Anti-European Union campaign, Anna-Enger Lahnstein, told supporters With this, we have said Yes to Europe and Yes to international solidarity  but we dont want to join the Union.

The result threatens to leave the country bitterly divided after the closely-fought campaign.

Voters in the far north, the stronghold of the no campaign, rejected membership by a margin of 80-20, whereas the capital, Oslo, where a third of voters live, backed membership.

The no campaign led consistently in opinion polls throughout the campaign, but last-minute gains by the yes campaigners narrowed the gap and made the result too close to predict.

Recent votes for EU membership in fellow Scandinavian countries Finland and Sweden swayed many voters, but even that was not enough to reverse the trend.

The yes campaign has centred on the potential for Norway to become isolated if it doesnt join neighbouring EU countries in an era of expansion and change.

However, the no campaign argued EU membership would undermine the countrys independence and its control over its rich petroleum and other natural resources.

But economists also warn that although Norways oil-dependent economy is strong in the short term, North Sea oil and gas revenues are due to tail off soon and growth is expected to weaken.

Courtesy BBC News

In context

The final result was 52.2% no to 47.8% yes, with turnout a record 88.6%.

A poll in 2002, following the introduction of the Euro, suggested the tide had turned in Norway, and more than 50% were now in favour of EU membership.

However, there are no imminent plans to reconsider applying. Gro Harlem Brundtland resigned two years after the no vote, after three terms in office.

She served as director of the World Health Organization from 1998-2003.

In 2004 she was listed by the British newspaper, the Financial Times, as the 4th most influential European for the last 25 years, behind the Pope, Mikhail Gorbachev and Margaret Thatcher.

In May 2004 the EU took in 10 new members, expanding it to 25 member nations, with more under consideration.
Attorney Andres Gil Dominguez may have had bigger cases, but hes never had bigger clients.

A city prosecutors office has authorized Gil Dominguez to represent three elephants in captivity at a former zoo in Argentinas capital. Hes demanding that Mara, Kuki and Pupi be transferred to a reserve abroad where they can have a better quality of life.

The lockup of the elephants violates their rights and constitutes abuse punishable by law, Gil Dominguez said Thursday.

The case follows a notable 2014 ruling in Argentina that determined an orangutan named Sandra was entitled to some of the same rights as humans.

The 140-year-old zoo where Sandra and the elephants have lived for most of their lives closed its doors this year and authorities announced that hundreds of its animals would be set free as it transformed into a park. But officials there argue the three elephants would not survive if set free into the wild.

These are animals that were born or have lived most of their life in captivity, said Rosario Espina, director of biodiversity at the Buenos Aires eco-park.

What we can do is improve their well-being in their infrastructure and handling. But they cant be set free, because theyd die.

Many of the former zoos enclosures are considered inhumane by modern-day standards. All three elephants live in a small treeless site in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires near busy avenues and buildings.

Mara hails from Asia and was rescued from a local circus. Espina said experts have recommended against the transfer of the 52-year-old elephant because its advanced age could pose a health risk. Kuki and Pupi come from Africa and now are in their 30s and have more possibilities of being transferred to a sanctuary abroad.

But their transfer will depend on finding the right conditions, carrying out health exams and obtaining sanitary permits in a process that could take up to two years, Espina said.

The eco-park managed by the city of Buenos Aires plans to improve the enclosure where the elephants live. AP
London has a property problem.

Brexit is looming, potentially wiping out thousands of finance jobs, real-estate investment trusts are slumping, office values are dropping, and the city is losing money to places like Frankfurt and New York.

Funny, but Chinese investors dont seem to notice.

Whatever travails residential landlords face, commercial property in London remains good value for the Chinese, and it isnt all due to the post-Brexit plunge in the pound.

Beijing and Shanghai may offer relatively high returns for commercial landlords of more than 4 percent, but the yield spread  the difference between what government bonds pay and rental yields  is among the lowest of major financial centers. In London, its about 3.5 percent, versus 1.5 percent in Shanghai and 1.8 percent in Beijing, third-quarter data from CBRE Group Inc. show.

In China, investors are also accustomed to agreements that allow tenants to negotiate six-year leases after three years. In London, eight- to 10-year contracts are the norm. Brexit may have muddied Londons long reputation as a stable market, but on the whole, landlords can still count on reliable tenants.

Add to that closer ties between the U.K. and China (despite tensions that flared when Prime Minister Theresa May briefly held up the Chinese-funded Hinkley Point nuclear plant), and the allure is clear. A possible stock trading link between Shanghai and London would bring the two even closer, making it easier for mainland companies to set up shop.

Little wonder then that Chinese money flows into London are picking up again. Chinese investors, among the worlds most active buyers of real estate, are on track to plow 4 billion pounds (USD5 billion) into property in the city this year, beating the 2015 record by a large margin. Developer APB London and Citic Group Corp. are helping to build a new business district in the east while companies including China Minsheng Investment Corp. and China Vanke Co. are among those that have forked out millions on office buildings.

Investors from elsewhere may be rethinking their commitment to London  certainly the recent surge in U.K. government bond yields has lessened the appeal of commercial developments. But in China, people are not only coping with a weakening yuan and slower economic growth but government curbs that are starting to put pressure on real estate prices across the board.

Those domestic tensions wont ease any time soon, giving this property gold rush West long legs. Nisha Gopalan, Bloomberg
TWIN FALLS  Why shop local?

I like to keep the money I spend in the community, said Shiloh Buckingham of Twin Falls as she checked off her Christmas list Saturday at The Brass Monkey.

Following Black Friday, the traditional kickoff to the holiday shopping season, businesses along Main Avenue saw yet another stream of customers for Small Business Saturday. The holiday was originally launched by American Express in 2010 but has since been endorsed by officials nationwide and here in Twin Falls.

Shoppers downtown gave two primary reasons for choosing to do at least some of their shopping at local businesses: supporting the economy and getting personal gifts and service.

Downtown is really cute, said Gail Browning, who came away with several bags of goodies from Fashion 15 Below. We want to keep it. Its more personal, those special places you cant find anywhere else.

The Times-News asked other shoppers and business owners about their day.

Small Business Saturday: The shoppers

Wade Pulley, 41, Twin Falls

Where he went: Pulley took his 5- and 8-year-old children, Bella and Jackson, to Hands On, 147 Shoshone St. N.

Its something fun for the kids to do, he said.

Pulley said they might go shopping downtown later on.

Who they shopped for: The children made some Christmas gifts for family members, with Pulleys assistance.

Eileen Lawrence, 64, Buhl

Where she went: Lawrence cruised through Buhl that morning, but many businesses werent open yet. She also went to the craft show in Filer, Rudys in Twin Falls, and planned to go to Real Deals on Home Decor.

Who she shopped for: Im looking for an Idaho thing for a non-Idaho daughter-in-law, Lawrence said while at Rudys.

Why she shopped locally: They have different things, more interesting things, she said. People are friendlier. They go way out of their way to help, and more of the money stays here.

Shiloh Buckingham, 34, Twin Falls

Where she went: The Brass Monkey, 124 Main Ave. W.

Why she went there: I have a wide variety of people to shop for, Buckingham said. Theres probably something (here) for everyone on my list.

Something she didnt get (but wanted to): Theres a lot of cute holiday dresses, but Im pregnant so I wont be getting one, she said.

Gail Browning, 55, Twin Falls

Where she went: Brownings first stop was Fashion 15 Below, but she planned to head on over to Glanbias Cheese Marketplace and Real Deals on Home Decor.

Who she shopped for: Along with her daughter, Browning went shopping for herself and for family both Friday and Saturday. You can feel really good about buying something new, often, she said about finding clothes for $15 or less at Fashion 15 Below.

What she didnt buy (but wanted to): She saw several scarves, dresses and hats that she left on the rack. You cant buy it all, Browning said. You have to pick and choose.

Small Business Saturday: The business owners

Michelle Hamilton, Girlfriends Boutique, 123 Main Ave. E.

Why she didnt do special deals: Its not a traditional Small Business Saturday for me, Hamilton said. Every Saturday, her business offers a class or crafting session. The holidays are her biggest season, but she typically puts a sale on the week after Christmas.

Why she thinks people come downtown: This downtown area is such a wonderful diverse area, but 75 percent of the downtown businesses are owned by women, Hamilton said. Thats really a testament to bringing women downtown, too.

Favorite gift idea or item at the shop: What I love is seeing women take something home to make it into a gift, she said.

Caleb Drake, Advantage Archery, 251 Main Ave. E.

Why he didnt have special sales: With hunting season winding down, Drake chose not to do anything different for Small Business Saturday. He said there was an increase in holiday shoppers, however.

Why he thinks people should buy local: It keeps the economy thriving, he said, and its good to support those who support the local community.

Something to buy at the shop: Everybody needs a new bow, Drake said. Companies are already releasing their new 2017 models.

Tom Ashenbrener, Rudys A Cooks Paradise

What he did for Small Business Saturday: Rudys had sales for knives and knife sets and Le Creuset cookware.

Something he notices in shopping local: Its a big economic impact that maybe isnt thought of as much as it used to be, Ashenbrener said. With the younger generation, however, he thinks it may have a resurgence.

His favorite gift item at his shop: The Victorinox 8-inch chef knife. You cant have too many knives, he said.

Debra Bradley, HiPs, 289 Main Ave. W.

Special sales she offered: Bradley offered 40 percent off everything in the store, except boots, which were 20 percent off. She also was giving away free jewelry and camisoles with a $10 purchase, while supplies lasted.

Why she thinks shopping local is important: To support the local business people. The money goes right back to the business and the families, not to a corporation.

Her favorite gift idea: Gift certificates are great, especially for the poor men who walk in and say I dont know my wifes size, Bradley said.
TWIN FALLS  Looking for money to attend college?

If youre an agriculture student and plan to attend a school in Idaho, the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerces Agribusiness Committee may have a scholarship for you.

This years scholarship competition centers around an essay competition about the role of immigrants and their effects on agriculture in the Magic Valley, said Judie House, office manager at the chamber.

The following criteria apply:

An applicant must be a resident of Twin Falls, Gooding, Jerome, Blaine, Camas, Minidoka, Cassia or Lincoln counties.

An applicant must be a high school senior or college student pursuing an agricultural curriculum at an Idaho institution.

An application, 500-word essay, two letters of recommendation (one from a teacher, counselor or principal) and a picture of yourself must be received by Dec. 16 at the chamber office, 2015 Neilsen Point Place, Suite 100, in Twin Falls.

Winners will be judged on their essay (25 percent), academic history (20 percent), activities (5 percent), leadership (20 percent) and interview (30 percent).

The Agribusiness Committee is also looking for sponsors for the next round of scholarships. All funds raised are passed directly to students.

The agribusiness committee has given out more than $150,000 in scholarships over the years to more than 200 Magic Valley students. The goal of the agribusiness committee is to increase the communitys awareness of and appreciation for the positive impact agriculture has on the local economy.

For more information, contact House at 208-733-3974. Or email her at judie@twinfallschamber.com.
TWIN FALLS  When attorney Paul Arrington joined Rotary Club of Twin Falls in his 30s seven years ago, he was surrounded by people at least twice his age.

Now more of his peers are getting involved. But this service club, like others, still fights the image of an old guys club.

Its tough to overcome that stigma, said Arrington, a past Rotary president. It is hard attracting a younger crowd.

Twin Falls service clubs have long histories of meeting community needs, but many see aging ranks and declines in membership despite the citys quickly growing population. To adapt, theyre revitalizing: splashier fundraisers, relaxed rules, membership drives with pizza giveaways.

But none of that will boost membership for long unless Twin Falls younger generation steps up.

Theres plenty of room for people to be involved, said Jim Fields, president of Kiwanis Club of Twin Falls.

For a city with fewer than 50,000 residents, Twin Falls has a surprising number of service clubs to choose from. The Times-News was able to reach organizers of eight this fall, and a few others exist.

Why join a service club? To help the community, for fellowship, to meet people and for business networking, Fields said.

And why not? Possible barriers include the time commitment of weekly meetings and the membership dues, which total more than $400 per year for some clubs.

For many Rotarians, though, dues are covered by their employers. The club has membership options for seniors on fixed incomes. And in Rotary, as in some other clubs, members can skip weekly lunches to save money on dues.

Still, service clubs numbers are dropping. Twin Falls Kiwanis membership is half of what it used to be. Twin Falls Lions Club is down more than 50 percent from a half-century ago.

Most members of Twin Falls Women of the Moose are elderly, said leader Dee Richards, who gets phone calls from members too ill to attend meetings or unable to drive.

I dont know if its a new phase of the organization, she said. I just pray that its not dwindling. Its hard to get people to commit anymore to doing this.

In Richards two most active years with the club, she has observed something sobering:

I think weve done more funerals than weve done parties.

Declining membership

Rotary Club of Twin Falls hasnt seen the largest membership decline, and its age spread  20s to 90s  is larger than some clubs. But its numbers reveal characteristic trends: 109 members, down from 118 two years ago. Among those whose ages are listed in Rotary records, only 14 percent are younger than 50, unchanged from two years ago. Men still greatly outnumber women, at 81 percent.

And not everyone comes to the weekly lunch meetings.

When attendance is low, Arrington said, its tough to understand how good or bad were doing.

Leaders sometimes struggle to line up speakers for the meetings.

The challenge is finding a compelling program every week of the year, he said.

In Burley, the Kiwanis Club has dwindled to about 25 members, and they arent as active in the community as president Jim Powell would like. The club might not even be fulfilling the Kiwanis service mission.

Weve really taken a hard look at this, Powell said. Were just going to fix this or were going to shut her down.

Attracting younger members isnt just about propping up numbers. Its about new energy for service.

The new people we are getting are very active, Arrington said.

Past president Michelle Bartlome, whos in her 30s, joined Rotary Club of Twin Falls partly as a family legacy. Her father was a Rotarian, and she grew up going to club events. Now she brings her children.

And she likes Rotarys focus: Its that service-above-self mentality, she said.

Kiwanis Club of Twin Falls, launched in 1921, is nearing its 100-year anniversary, and Fields hopes the rich tradition of service clubs will survive.

Fields grew up as a Boy Scout and was a member of his high schools Key Club and a college service group. Joining Kiwanis was just kind of a natural thing.

Now, he said, not everybody wants to spend their time doing that.

Pushing for new members

Twin Falls service clubs say they want new members, especially young adults. But their efforts to recruit are low-key.

Rotary Club of Twin Falls relies on word-of-mouth and members inviting friends.

We havent been assertive, really, president Deb Wilson said.

Kiwanis Club of Twin Falls gave out information packets about the club at its yearly October Feast fundraiser.

We tried to give one to each of the families as they were leaving, Fields said.

Women of the Moose hands out pamphlets and holds public bingo nights.

We love to see new faces, Richards said.

Twin Falls Lions Club hands out cards for free meals at Idaho Pizza Co.  its meeting place  to encourage new people to join.

Twin Falls Optimist Club encourages members to invite new people to meetings. At the Oct. 27 gathering, leaders asked them to reach out to long-lost friends who havent been active with the club recently.

Membership recruiting is a huge thing, said Chris Stearns, co-treasurer.

And this club is more proactive about it. Optimists visit businesses without a representative in the club, speak with managers and ask if any employees are interested in joining.

Kiwanis Club of Burley hasnt given up. Its launching a new project: highlighting a different local school each month and figuring out how club members can support it. And during the past few months, the group has seen something encouraging: six applications for membership.

Thats a trend Im hoping to increase, Powell said.

Kiwanis Club of Twin Falls  whose youngest member is an attorney in his 40s  needs younger recruits to help with hands-on projects and come up with new ideas, Fields said. The club has a modest goal for the coming year: a net gain of four members.

Of course, recruitment doesnt guarantee retention.

The Burley Kiwanis Clubs membership drive a couple of years ago gained two new members. They have both since moved on, Powell said.

Women of the Moose has about six young adults, Richards said, but theyre not always too active.

Weve tried to recruit a lot of the younger generation, she said. The millennials, yes, are very hard to get ahold of.

Its worth trying.

I think millennials, Rotarys Wilson said, are the generation thats going to save us.

More relaxed,

and splashier

All those clubs want young people to know: These arent your grandpas service clubs. (Even if grandpa is still a member.) Many have relaxed their rules to make themselves more attractive.

Rotary International, for instance, eliminated attendance rules about weekly meetings and did away with requirements for the proportion of members representing different professions.

In Twin Falls Optimist Club, the only thing thats mandatory is paying dues, Stearns said. Members dont have to attend meetings every week, and they can choose which projects to get involved with.

We understand that everyone is a volunteer, she said.

Rotary Club of Twin Falls After Hours  perhaps Twin Falls newest service club  launched seven years ago to accommodate people who cant make morning or lunchtime Rotary meetings.

Of its 13 members, about five or six on average come to the evening meetings. Just come when you can, the After Hours club says.

Were a little more laid-back, president Jennifer Cook said.

Many clubs meeting formats, rooted in tradition, havent changed significantly.

At Rotary Club of Twin Falls: songs, the Pledge of Allegiance, a prayer, announcements and a program, usually with guest speakers. Thats pretty typical of other clubs, too.

Meetings dont look all that different than in the past, Arrington said.

But change is happening, nevertheless.

Rotary Club of Twin Falls is incorporating technological features: slideshow presentations, electronic surveys, a weekly e-newsletter. Club leaders are considering expanding the ways members can pay dues.

One of our younger members doesnt have a checkbook, Wilson said.

And the club launched big annual fundraisers that are more visible  more splashy, in Arringtons words  like Death by Chocolate and the Ice Cream Funday.

Chocolate and ice cream give the club easy recognition around town. And that, it hopes, will lead to more members, more successful fundraising and more ability to give out dictionaries to third-graders, fund a homeless shelter or support the arts.
Q: I have a relative who is always getting into trouble with the law. This relative decided that he would use my name to avoid getting into trouble. Nothing happened because, of course, I have clean record. If I reported this to the police what could happen to my lying relative? -Carlos

A: Jail, simple right? Your relative could and probably should go to jail mainly because that is usually what most people are trying to avoid when they give a fake name. What we are dealing with here is actually at least two different crimes that were committed.

The first crime falls under Idaho Code 18-5413 which reads: A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he knowingly gives or causes to be given false information to any law enforcement officer, any state or local government agency or personnel, or to any person licensed in this state to practice social work, psychology or counseling, concerning the commission of an offense, knowing that the offense did not occur or knowing that he has no information relating to the offense or danger.

Its kind of a stretch to get that one to pass the mustard as it deals more with information relating to a crime.

The easiest charge here would be Idaho Code 18-5413(2) which reads: A person is guilty of a misdemeanor if he knowingly gives or causes to be given false information regarding his or anothers identity to any law enforcement officer investigating the commission of an offense.

Even though the investigation of a crime might not have been going on, I believe that the false identity could technically become the criminal issue if none was present to start with.

If there was a citation involved, that your relative signed as being you, that could come under forgery (of la legal document). This one has not been well accepted by the prosecutor, mainly because the false identity is an easier charge to prove.

I should add that you might want to check your credit history and make sure that the only violation was false information and not actually identity theft too.

Officer down:

Please put these officers, killed in the line of duty, and their families in your prayers. They fought the good fight, now may they rest in peace. God bless these heroes.

Deputy Sheriff Justin White, Newton County Sheriff, Georgia

Border Patrol Agent David Gomez, United States Border Patrol

Deputy Commander Patrick Carothers, United States Marshals Service

Detective Benjamin Marconi, San Antonio Police, Texas

Boise Police K9 Jardo, Boise Police, Idaho

Have a question for Policemandan? Email your question(s) to policemandan@yahoo.com or look for Ask Policemandan on Facebook and click the like button. Mail to: Box 147, Heyburn, Idaho 83336

Dan Bristol is the Heyburn Chief of Police.
TWIN FALLS COUNTY

FELONY SENTENCINGS

Alesha Deann Spencer, 30, Twin Falls; DUI excessive-second or subsequent offense, $290.50 costs, $100 DNA, $180 problem solving court, $120 IDOC, five years penitentiary, two determinate, three indeterminate, 19 days credited, sentence suspended, three years supervised probation, 365 days drivers license suspension, interlock device for two years after suspension.

Brandy Lynn Bigness, 42, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, five years penitentiary, one determinate, two indeterminate, 120 days credited, sentence to run consecutive to Ada county 2014 case.

Mark Allen Olson, 36, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, five years indeterminate, 292 days credited, sentence to run consecutively to 2013 and 2015 cases.

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE SENTENCINGS

William Newton Scott, 38, Twin Falls; DUI excessive, $2,000 fine, $1,600 suspended, $202.50 costs, 180 jail, 170 supervised, three days credited, 365 days suspended drivers license, 24 months supervised probation. Resisting arrest or obstructing officers, $300 fine, $157.50 costs, 90 days jail, 80 suspended, sentence to run concurrently to other charge.

John Anthony Treadwell, 46, Twin Falls; DUI, $300 fine, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 177 suspended, credit for time served, 12 months supervised probation. Driving without privileges, $300 fine, $172.50 costs, 180 days jail, 178 suspended, sentence to run consecutively to other charge.

Kasie Cota, 35, Shoshone; DUI excessive, $500 fine, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 365 days jail, 355 suspended, two days credited, 365 days drivers license suspension, 24 months supervised probation. Consume or possess open container of alcohol by driver charge dismissed.

Thomas Raymond Wacaster, 21, Twin Falls; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 177 suspended, one day credited, 16 hours work detail, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation.

Danielle Marie Waller, 23, Buhl; DUI, $400 fine, $202.50 costs, $200 restitution, 180 days jail, 176 suspended, one day credited, guilty withheld judgment, 24 hours work detail, 180 days drivers license suspension, 12 months supervised probation.

Thomas Benjamin Withers, 39, Buhl; DUI, $400, fine, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, balance suspended, 79 days credited, 180 days restricted drivers license, 24 months supervised probation.

DIVORCE CIVIL PROCEEDINGS

Derick Fox v. Andrea Fox

Michael Jenkins v. Tesla Jenkins

Jennifer Aujero v. Felixberto Aujero Jr.

Laura Benavidez v. Kyler Benavidez

Julissa Ibanez v. Oscar Ibanez

Jennifer Sakugawa-Knight v. Alan Knight

Jason Sumsion v. Adria Sumsion

Kourtney Holt v. Jonathan William Holt

Stephanie Tanguy v. Stephen Tanguy

Masoud Khazei Bahnamiri v. Nasrin Gholinejad Roshankoohi
About a month ago, sticky notes adorned the bathroom mirrors at Bonneville High School. They had encouraging words: Work hard; keep going, and Youre beautiful.

The lockers outside featured similar notes. And on Friday of that week, students walked the schools hallways high-fiving each other and saying nice things.

It was part of a kindness week, Oct. 17 to Oct. 21, set up by the schools administration. The staff planned initiatives for each day in an attempt to bring positivity to the school.

A popular student-athlete committed suicide the week before.

The day we came back, you could tell. Everyone was gloomy. In my Spanish class no one said much; everyone was to themselves, Bonneville senior Brianna Maestascq KT said. It was just sad. You could tell his passing was really hard on the students here.

The school brought in additional counselors after the students death; they set up in the library and talked to anyone experiencing grief over the loss.

Schools throughout eastern Idaho have done the same thing in similar situations. Unexpected death, and its accompanying grief, touch people in different ways.

Crisis counseling often plays an integral role in helping students cope with the complex feelings that come with grief. Many in the field, however, dont believe kids are taking advantage of the resources available to them.

Theres a stereotype that depression isnt a disease, that its a matter of toughening up. We stuff our emotions inside constantly, whether were thinking about suicide, anger, crying or anything. Bonneville counselor Chanin Thompsoncq KT said. The benefit of counseling is that you have someone totally attuned to you. Their job is not to judge you; its to listen to you and help you find the best solution to your life. One that wont cause you harm.

Suicide in Idaho

Unchecked grief can lead to self-harm, said Elizabeth Horncq KT, associate professor of counseling at Idaho State University.

Idaho has one of the highest suicide rates in the U.S.

In 2014, the Gem State ranked ninth in the nation, according to the Suicide Prevention Action Network of Idaho.

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Idahoans ages 15 to 34 and for males 10 to 14; nearly one person in the state committed suicide every day of 2015.

Idaho Falls had 50 suicides last year.

Statewide, nearly 20 percent of Idahos public school youth reported seriously considering suicide last year, while almost 10 percent reported making at least one attempt.

Counseling is valuable in mitigating self-harm, Horn said, and the need is especially high following an unexpected death.

Misconceptions about the grieving process are often exacerbated by well-meaning friends and family, she said.

A person may be flooded with emotion and crying, and those folks are frequently met with other family members saying Oh goodness, you need to dry those tears; everythings going to be fine, Horn said. And less emotional people may be told theyre in denial, and theyre kind of stunted by thinking they must be cold-hearted people.

Both coping mechanisms can be healthy, Horn said. Instead of grief being divided into five stages, which has been widely debunked in the counseling community, it sits along a continuum  emotionally expressive on one side, logical and cognitive on the other.

A big part of grief counseling is normalizing that experience and saying Yeah, thats what grief feels like. Its a safe place for folks to come in and allow that natural experience to happen without having a lot of shoulds thrown at them, Horn said.

More students think about self-harm

Bonneville has three licensed counselors who, in addition to academic counseling, are trained to deal with emotional crises.

Sometimes students who seek grief counseling express interest in suicide, Thompson said. When that happens, the counselors assess the students emotional well-being on a scale of one to 10, One being Im totally happy, 10 being I want to die today.

From five up, if they have a plan in place, we involve the police, Thompson said. We dont say Are you going to harm yourself? We say suicide. Because kids have a way of not answering you if you dont use the word.

If the risk is high enough, the counselor will text another counselor or secretary to call a police officer. Depending on the officers assessment of the student, the student may be brought to the Behavioral Health Center at Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.

The number of students considering self-harm has increased this year, Thompson said. Shes worked at Bonneville for nine years.

Last year, the school had to call the police about once per month because of a students risk to self-harm. This year, counselors have conducted serious assessments once per week.

Its hard, Thompson said. Its hard on the student body, and its hard on the administration. Were really not sure whats going on.

Not all grief is related to death. Students can grieve after moving and losing their friends, Thompson said, or following a domestic disturbance.

If students are experiencing a divorce and only living with one parent, they may grieve in a way. Theyve lost their family norm, and thats hard for a kid to go through, she said.

The number of students seeking general grief counseling also has increased since daylight saving time, though thats a yearly occurrence, Thompson said.

With the time change, were coming to school when its barely light out and were leaving when its almost dark. Weve had a lot of students coming in dealing with more depression lately, she said. The snow comes and the snow stays, and that weather can have an effect on students. she said.

Despite the increase in students, a high percentage of those who could benefit from counseling still dont seek it, Thompson said.

Thats a widespread phenomenon, according to Horn.

Theres an attitude that we should be able to pull ourselves up by our boot straps and move on, she said. And I think a lot has to do with that Western spirit  I need to be strong and take care of myself.

Coping mechanisms

Madison Cares clinical director Rick Croftcq KT has seen that attitude in his own district.

Madison Cares is a federal grant-funded program within the Madison School District. The program offers free counseling and support groups for anyone 21 or under in Madison County.

Croft lent several counselors to Madison High School following several deaths last month.

Monica Francocq KT, 16, died from carbon monoxide poisoning Oct. 25 after getting caught in a Rexburg house fire. Madison art and photography teacher Larry Prescottcq KT died from medical complications Oct. 29 during a hike in the Lemhi Range.

About 40 students received counseling around that time, Croft said.

Could we say there were at least that many who thought about coming down but didnt for one reason or another? Its likely, he said. We did hear from some students that they wouldve liked to come down but they didnt want to stand out to their peers, or acknowledge that they were struggling emotionally.

Some of the students who did receive counseling didnt even have relationships with Franco or Prescott, Croft said.

It triggered in them different emotional responses. Maybe they lost a grandparent, or are getting ready to. All of a sudden death is front and center. It becomes a reality, and theyre not feeling like theyre ready for their loved one to die, Croft said.

The death of a parent last week has also increased counselor activity at Madison.

Counselors are helpful in recommending coping mechanisms specific to a grieving individual, Croft said. They might loan a book about death to a student who enjoys reading, for example, or encourage journaling to someone who likes to write.

Moving forward

The risks of not seeking grief counseling can be significant, Croft said.

Holding that stuff in can do everything from affecting the immune system to affecting sleep and appetite. You start going down the road from somebody going through grief and loss to moving into depression, he said.

He cited a Madison faculty member who couldnt sleep or eat following Prescotts death. Such symptoms are normal shortly after a loss, Croft said, although they can prohibit the return to everyday routines required to overcome mourning.

Grieving timelines differ, but counseling tends to be most valuable several months after a death has set in, Horn said.

Lots of times once the initial intensity of the loss has subsided or folks feel it should have, they notice if the death still seems to be interfering, that theyre in a place where they still cant function, Horn said.

And though reaching closure is often seen as desirable following a traumatic event, some believe it to be an unhealthy fallacy, including Horn.

The goal isnt to block someone from memory, she said, but to accept their absence as a normal part of life.

Maybe you wont necessarily be the same person after that loss, but youre adapting to the world without that individual. It may look a little different, but you can still adapt moving forward, Horn said. The goal isnt to just move on. You can still feel connection with that individual, maybe through an activity or a song. Those bonds still exist even after someone has died.
TWIN FALLS  Episcopal churches across Idaho have donated items to the CSI Refugee Center.

The Episcopal Diocese of Idaho held its 49th annual convention Nov. 11 through Nov. 13 in Pocatello. The diocese is made up of 30 churches throughout Idaho with about 160 clergy and delegates.

Each year, the convention committee selects a mission project. This year the CSI Refugee Program was selected. Every Episcopal church in the diocese donated items including winter clothing, kitchen supplies, blankets and new underwear. All the churches gathered items and brought them to the convention where they were blessed by Bishop Brian Thom during a service Nov. 13.

The theme of this years convention was All Good Gifts.

We thought it would be a good to give them the good vibes and show how people support them, said Betsy Wiesmore, a member of Ascension Episcopal Church in Twin Falls.

A trailer delivered the items Monday to the CSI Refugee Center.

The Episcopal church supports the lives of everyone, Wiesmore said. These people have come here and we want them to have a good home and safe home like we all have. The church has mission trips to other countries and this is right here in our own back door. We are all neighbors and we are all here together.
BURLEY  Tiny centenarian Doris Garcia of Burley doesnt let her age keep her from enjoying life.

Debie Hoyt, cook at The Senior Junction, where Garcia regularly attends, has known her for 20 years.

She is lively and always has a smile on her face, Hoyt said. She loves life and loves people and she loves her cards. And back in her day she was a pretty good pool shark. Shes also very generous.

Hoyt said Garcia never forgets to bring her gifts, and she once crocheted her an afghan as a wedding present.

You dont want to play pinochle with her, Rupert resident Jude Makinson said. Shell beat you.

Garcia was born Aug. 12, 1916, and grew up in California on her fathers ranch. She remembers taking her father his morning coffee out to the barn every morning. He cautioned her to step inside if a car drove by on the nearby road, lest a man see her.

With my dad, a womans place was inside the house, Garcia said.

Times have changed, she said.

Her best advice: Life is all about staying busy. Its advice she follows herself, coming to the senior center three times a week for cards and socializing.

You have to find things to be happy about. If you cant be happy, its not worth it, Garcia said. Its not me to be lazy. I have to have something going on or I sit and feel sorry for myself.

Garcia started teaching exercise classes at the senior center after moving to the area from California.

Shed get mad at you if you didnt do the exercises right, and I would always do them too fast, said Betty Winmill, a longtime friend of Garcias.

Garcia has broken both her hips; she broke one at the Burley senior center and one at the Rupert senior center. But she declares that her health is perfect, aside from some balance issues and hearing that has faded with age. And the only thing she cant eat, she said, is onions  but she likes them.

When she broke her hip at the Burley center, someone was teaching piano lessons at the time, and she had somehow fallen underneath a table, out of sight.

I had to wait for them to finish playing before anybody heard me, she said.

Winmill said the two met playing pool at the center.

She was pretty good, Winmill said.

Garcias pool stick, with her name scratched in it, is still in the back room at the center.

Man, oh man, did we have fun, Garcia said. Those were the good old days.

Back in the day, she said, whenever the cooks took a break they would come back to the pool table to join them.

She is delightful and she likes to joke around, Winmill said.  And she still has that twinkle in her eyes.
RUPERT  Things are looking up for Mini-Cassias only shelter for domestic violence survivors.

After rallying all year just to stay open, the Mini-Cassia Shelter Advocates Against Violence is getting a new employee  at no cost to the shelter.

Joan Smith grew up in Malta and Burley. She worked for Intel in California for 26 years before she retired in June.

As part of its retirement program, Intel will pay the salary of former employees to work at a nonprofit for 18 months.

They know we can go out and use our skills to add value to these charities and it will also round us out better as individuals, Smith said.

She chose the Advocates Against Violence and the shelter created a new position for her.

Smith stepped into her new role as community outreach coordinator at the shelter last week.

Hopefully, this means more money coming into the shelter so it can stay open, shelter board chairman Mark Burgess said.

The shelter was denied grant funding from the Idaho Council on Domestic Violence and Victims Assistance earlier this year after its former director resigned. The shelter has stayed open through fundraising and donations.

Domestic violence spans all spectrums of society everywhere, and it doesnt just go away, Burgess said. Just because its in not in the news doesnt mean its not happening.

Part of Smiths job will be fundraising and increasing awareness of the shelter in the community.

Shes got fresh ideas and well be able to do more and more fundraising for the shelter, said Ruth Blount, a shelter employee.

Intel partners with the Encore Fellowships Program to place employees at non-profits during the fellowship.

Smith specifically requested to be placed in Mini-Cassia because she already had a home here along with extended family.

The company will pay her $25,000 for 1,000 hours of work in the 18 months.

Smith said she chose to work part-time because she is still raising two teenage daughters who attend Minico High School and West Minico Middle School.

The mission of the organization touched her, and she was anxious to apply her skills and experience to the organization, said Gina Cassinelli, with Encore Fellowships Program.

Cassinelli said the programs goal is to boost the capacity of non-profits, while leveraging the skills and experience of business talent.

This is a great match, and I hope will provide capacity building expertise to Mini-Cassia and a view into the social purpose sector for Joan, Cassinelli said.

At Intel, Smith was a training specialist and web developer. Throughout her career, she said, she has volunteered at schools and for educational endeavors and she hold a degree in teaching physical education with a minor in English.

Smith is working on learning more about the shelter and building relationships within the community.

This will free up our director to do other things, Burgess said. And the best part is, she is already at work.
TWIN FALLS  Two men were killed just before midnight Friday in a rollover crash northwest of town.

Weston O. Rynestad, 23, and Anthony L. Beltran, 26, both of Twin Falls, were southbound in a 1996 Honda Civic on 2700 East when the driver lost control of the car at 4100 North.

The driver  who was not identified Saturday in an Idaho State Police statement  drove off the road, over-corrected and hit a tree.

Both men were thrown from the car and died at the scene. Neither was wearing a seat belt. Their families have been notified.

The crash is under investigation by the ISP.
Special To The Washington Post

At 12:33 a.m. my phone sings a tritone text message alert. Fidel dead, the first one reads, a minimalist headline.

I flip on the TV. Its all so predictable: the calls to Miami journalists, camera shots of a celebratory march on Calle Ocho, montaged flashbacks of the revolutionarys finger-wagging speeches. As usual, news on Cuba is focused on the past.

But many on the island are wondering what happens next. Their future economic progress that feels more fickle now that Donald Trump is the U.S. president-elect.

Since President Barack Obama loosened travel restrictions, flights are taking off from several major U.S. cities, the amount of Americans visiting the island has risen by 50 percent, and an unlimited supply of rum and cigars can fly home with them. In May, for the first time ever, a cruise ship from the United States docked in Havana Harbor, where 118 years earlier the sinking of the USS Maine catapulted Americans into Cubas fight for independence from Spain. Today, a search for lodging on the Caribbean island through Airbnb yields more than 300 results, private homes opened up to foreigners for cultural and monetary exchange.

With Congress in control of the embargos future, relations between the two countries rely on who sits in the Oval Office. Will it be Trump the businessman, looking out for the financial interests of his country; Trump the Republican nominee, denouncing communist atrocities and refusing to concede further benefits to the leftist government; or Trump the Twitter troll, hollering dictations taken by a secretary who lets us know his plan on Cuba will be fantastic, wonderful, the best weve ever seen?

According to the New York Times, Trump once wrote that investment in Cuba would directly subsidize the oppression of the Cuban people, in line with the Republican argument for keeping the embargo intact. He has flip-flopped on the issue, saying the changing diplomatic relations were fine during the primaries and then assuring a crowd in Miami shortly before Election Day that he would reverse Obamas executive orders unless the Castro regime meets our demands. The president-elect also claimed that Cubans get nothing from the opening of relations, demonstrating he doesnt understand the significance of a Cuban waving an American flag on the streets of Havana without fear of persecution. But it seems unlikely that Trump will reverse the economic progress Obama set in motion. Considering the Trump companys alleged attempt at investing in the island in 1998 and all the travel and real estate opportunities that remain, it would be nonsensical for him to close them off for himself and his companies.

Perhaps he will focus instead on immigration. He could be drawing up plans to build a wall in the Florida Straits, or to reverse the famous wet foot, dry foot policy enacted by President Bill Clinton in 1994. Who knows?

Though of one thing I am certain: Fidel Castro is now a relic of the past. Cubas communist government will mourn him, erect a statue in his honor and dedicate a plaza in his name for the contributions he made to the revolution. And we wont be waiting until the Malecon dries  which is to say forever  to see how the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election changes the course of U.S.-Cuban relations.
Last week, The Post reported that Paul Horner, the 38-year-old impresario of a Facebook fake-news empire, believes he turned the election in favor of Donald Trump. For many, the claim signals an alarming turn into uncharted political territory. But fake news is part of American history. In fact, it goes back to the founding of the republic.

In 1769, John Adams gleefully wrote in his diary about spending the evening occupied with a curious employment. Cooking up Paragraphs, Articles, Occurrences etc.  working the political Engine! Adams, along with his cousin Sam and a handful of other Boston patriots, were planting false and exaggerated stories meant to undermine royal authority in Massachusetts.

Several other leaders of the American Revolution likewise attempted to manage public opinion by fabricating stories that looked like the real thing. William Livingston, then governor of New Jersey, secretly crafted lengthy pieces that newspaper publishers featured. One, titled The Impartial Chronicle, was anything but, claiming that the king was sending tens of thousands of foreign soldiers to kill Americans.

But the most important was crafted in 1782 at a makeshift printing press in a Paris suburb. Benjamin Franklin, taking time out from his duties as American ambassador to France, concocted an entirely fake issue of a real Boston newspaper, the Independent Chronicle. In it, Franklin fabricated a story allegedly from the New York frontier.

The story was gruesome: American forces had discovered bags containing more than 700 SCALPS from our unhappy Country-folks. There were bags of boys, girls, soldiers and even infants scalps, all allegedly taken by Indians in league with King George. There was also a note written to the tyrant king hoping he would receive these presents and be refreshed.

None of this was true, of course, but it struck a frightful chord. To drive the point home, Franklin composed a fake letter from a real person, naval hero John Paul Jones, that ventriloquized almost verbatim the Declaration of Independence, including the accusation toward the end of that document suggesting the colonies must declare independence because the king has engage[d] savages to murder . . . defenseless farmers, women, and children.

Franklin sent copies of his fake newspaper to colleagues insisting, the substance is truth. Sure enough, the story appeared in real papers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island. What did those readers believe? Did they know they were being manipulated?

Franklin wrote a friend about the power of what he had just done. By the press we can speak to nations, he wrote with pride. With the power of the newspaper, politicians could not only strike while the iron is hot, but also stoke those fires by continual striking, Franklin wrote with a wink.

Franklins concoction didnt swing the Revolution. By this time, the Americans had defeated the British at Yorktown, and independence was all but secured. But the topic of Franklins gory hoax was significant: What an independent United States would do about the people Franklin spread this untruth about was entirely up in the air.

To be sure, many Native Americans had allied with the British and inflicted deep wounds to families across the frontier. But not all of them had. Franklins lies added to the notion that all Indians were merciless, as the Declaration referred to them. None of them, by that reasoning, could be Americans, even the thousands who served alongside George Washington. By the continual striking of that idea, Franklins bags of scalps obliterated such nuance. They were all enemies to the republic.

Flash forward 30 years. It is 1813, and America is again at war with Britain. The kings men are again making alliances with native people. At the Raisin River in Michigan, a combined force of British soldiers and natives routed the Americans, killing hundreds of Kentucky militiamen. An outraged public then adopted the rallying cry Remember the Raisin! for the remainder of the War of 1812.

How did newspaper publishers remember the Raisin River massacre? By resurrecting Franklins hoax. That spring, to illustrate the long roots of this terrible bloodshed, U.S. newspapers introduced a new generation to Franklins fake bags of scalps, heating up the iron once again. And, once again, reinforcing the idea that Indians  supposedly bloodthirsty, dangerous and in league with the British  were Americas enemy.

Our own fake news purveyor, Paul Horner, suggests that Americans today are definitely dumber than they used to be. Perhaps. But we are not the only ones who fell for hoaxes, and American leaders  even ones we revere as Founding Fathers  were not above embracing such fabrications to shape opinion.

These stories from Americas past, however, are not dissimilar to ones in our own time. Then, as now, they were about who belongs to the republic and who does not. Then, as now, they were about stirring up fear and passions. We need to proceed cautiously. Stories that we think may vanish as a blip in our social media news feeds may end up having a longer life than we expect, causing more damage than we can anticipate.
Over the past week Ive read  both on social media and news outlets  a number of colorful opinions regarding my generation. That is, those of us generally born between 1980 and 2004, known as millennials.

Ive heard millennials described in an unflattering light by baby boomers and Gen Xers for the past couple of years now, but even more so these past few days. Were overeducated. We need to shut up and get jobs. We need to learn that everyone doesnt get a trophy. We dont work hard enough. Were brats who demand safe spaces and decry trigger words.

Maybe. I certainly agree some of us are. But it is extremely unfair and unkind to label and deride our generation as a whole. Your sacrifices and hard work made it possible in part for us to go to school to learn to think freely, and I am truly grateful for that. As President John Adams said, I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.

Studies from Gallup, the Pew Research Center and more show repeatedly that we are the most empathetic, involved, diverse and educated generation to date. We feel strongly about things and stand up for them. Most of us are not mourning the election results because we lost, but because we know people who will be affected. Were not content to sit back, saying this too shall pass.

Unfortunately, research and data no longer hold weight over entrenched opinions. So Ill tell you what Im doing. Im volunteering. Im donating my time and money to causes that help people who are genuinely afraid right now, like refugee assistance programs and human rights groups. Im working to recruit more people every day to do the same. Im determined to fight for whats good, even though my elders are ridiculing me for it.

It is a good thing that we are caring about each other more as a generation  it shows that we are making progress and have the means to do that. Both research and proponents of the millennial generation (such as Tom Brokaw, a well-known champion of the Greatest Generation) have said over and over that millennials are going to change the world. Why dont you join us? Or dont. But just know this: While youre calling us entitled crybabies who need to roll up our sleeves and get to work, well be the ones keeping America great.
Special To The Washington Post

In assessing Donald Trumps presidential victory, Americans continue to look away from this elections most alarming story: the successful effort by a hostile foreign power to manipulate public opinion before the vote.

U.S. intelligence agencies determined that the Russian government actively interfered in our elections. Russian state propaganda gave little doubt that this was done to support President-elect Trump, who repeatedly praised Vladimir Putin and excused the Russian presidents foreign aggression and domestic repression. Most significantly, U.S. intelligence agencies have affirmed that the Russian government directedthe illegal hacking of private email accounts of the Democratic National Committee and prominent individuals. The emails were then released by WikiLeaks, which has benefited financially from a Russian state propaganda arm, used Russian operatives for security and made clear an intent to harm the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

From the Russian perspective, the success of this operation can hardly be overstated. News stories on the DNC emails released in July served to disrupt the Democratic National Convention, instigate political infighting and suggest for some supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)  without any real proof  that the Democratic primary had been rigged against their candidate. On Oct. 7, WikiLeaks began near daily dumps from Clinton campaign chairman John Podestas email account, generating a month of largely negative reporting on Clinton, her campaign staff, her husband and their foundation. With some exceptions, there was little news in the email beyond political gossip and things the media had covered before, now revisited from a seemingly hidden viewpoint.

Russian (and former communist) propaganda has traditionally worked exactly this way: The more you report something negatively, the more the negative is true. Trump and supportive media outlets adopted the technique and reveled in information gained from the illegal Russian hacking (as well as many fake news stories that evidence suggests were generated by Russian intelligence operations) to make exaggerated claims (Hillary wants to open borders to 600 million people!) or to accuse Clinton of illegality, corruption and, ironically, treasonous behavior.

Part of the Russian operations success is that we cannot measure the effect. Did the DNC emails depress the Sanders vote for Clinton? Did the Podesta emails turn off independents? Would voters have responded differently if major media had reported the email releases not as legitimate news but as an intelligence operation by a hostile foreign power aimed at undermining the integrity of U.S. elections? There are no clear answers. But there are certainties: The email operation increased negative stories about Clinton, fueled an immense propaganda attack and diminished coverage of actual issues. The large polling lead Clinton gained after the debates slipped significantly under this barrage of negativity  even before FBI Director James B. Comeys bombshell.

Again, was there coordination with this foreign intervention? Russias deputy foreign minister, Sergei A. Ryabkov, boasted that government representatives maintained multiple contacts during the campaign with Trumps immediate entourage. (Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks issued a denial.) This is on top of reported U.S. government suspicions that a Trump adviser met with the intelligence operative directing the hacking. Where are the committee chairmen in Congress demanding an investigation? How is it that Republican Party leaders accept the intervention of a foreign power in the election of their partys presidential candidate?

Putin is pursuing large strategic goals: recognition of the annexation of Crimea and international acceptance of foreign aggression to change state borders; Russian control of Ukraine; weakening or even dissolution of the European Union and NATO; restoration of Russia as a great power; and restored dominance over the former Soviet bloc and its environs. In pursuing these aims, Putin is engaged in a disciplined effort to influence democratic politics in the West, including financial and propaganda support for the narrow Brexit victory and for a network of far-right (and pro-Russian) nationalist political parties and groups throughout Europe. Now he has achieved what had to have been his most improbable goal: helping elect a sympathetic U.S. president who wants to form an alliance against terrorism. What will Trump give in exchange? He has already reaffirmed his intention to end support for pro-Western rebels in Syria, which effectively gives Russia a free hand to make President Bashar al-Assad its satrap. The greater danger is Trumps attitude toward NATO as a soft alliance that, like the Western powers in 1939, wont die for Danzig. It would mean the alliances end.

In his book Putinism, Soviet and Russian historian Walter Laqueur describes the varied ideological strains that animate the former KGB agent. The Russian national idea that has emerged is to defend Russia, Eurasia and the world from the anti-civilizational corruption of Western liberal democracy. Frighteningly, Putins worldview has resonance in the populist and nationalist fixations of Stephen K. Bannon, the president-elects senior counselor, whose stated mission is to destroy the establishment and end the domination of the donor class. Bannons closing argument ad for Trump, redolent of Russian propaganda, described the United States as a corrupt and failing state because of nefarious global special interests. It all points to grave danger for democracy and a world order that has kept the peace for 70 years. Is this what America voted for?
When Scott Lindell was rattled awake at 1:30 on the morning of Nov. 17, his first thought was that the wind was blowing really hard.

At the time he was sleeping in his pop-up camper at a Colorado campground while on a deer hunting trip.

I didnt realize how light those campers were, said Lindell, a 63-year-old Billings resident. I was being shook around.

After rousting himself from sleep and stepping outside, instead of encountering gale-force winds Lindell found a large bull moose doing battle with his sleeping chambers as another bull watched. He later discovered antler holes poking through the campers fabric right around the pillow where his head had been resting as well as a busted taillight on his pickup.

Maybe I was snoring or the odor wasnt right, Lindell said.

The bull didnt stop trying to dislodge the camper from Lindells pickup until he yelled at his nephew, Ryan Cienfuegos, who turned on his lights. Between the two yelling men and the lights, the bull moose finally wandered away.

I think they were after me, Lindell joked. Ive never had anything like that happen to me.

Lindell grew up in Colorado. He had returned to hunt mule deer with family and friends during the states fourth season in the Red Feather Lake area, west of Fort Collins along the Poudre River. He reported the bull attack to the states division of wildlife, but Lindell said they had never heard of any similar incidents.

Nobody would believe my story, he said.

Bull moose are known to be aggressive during the fall mating season, typically in the months of September and October. Female moose, called cows, are well-known for attacking hikers, especially if the momma moose is protective of a calf. But a bull moose tangling with a truck camper in November?

For some reason, I was in his space, and he didnt like me, Lindell said.
King Mohammed VI has once again pleaded for the promotion of strong inter-African relations and solidarity-based South-South cooperation.

I would like to establish a strong and solidarity-based South-South cooperation between many African countries, said the Moroccan Sovereign, who is currently on a visit to Madagascar, second leg of his new African tour.

In an interview with Malagasy media, he said this is the model of inter-African cooperation he is seeking to materialize.

I pay several visits to the countries of the continent to materialize this model of inter-African cooperation. I feel good and comfortable in this continent and I appreciate the kindness and affection shown to me by the people, he pointed out in the interview that was relayed by several Malagasy media outlets on Saturday.

Expressing confidence in the continents potential and ability to build its own future, he conceded that the challenges in Africa are great. But, he said, the women, men and children I meet during My visits give me the strength to continue. They make me proud to be African.

He recalled in this vein a speech he had made in Abidjan, in February 2014, wherein he had said that Africa shall trust Africa and that within the framework of cooperation without complexes, we can all together build the future.

The Moroccan Sovereign insisted that his country does not give lessons to other African states but offers to share its know-how and experience with them without arrogance or feeling of colonization.

During my visits to Africa or through the projects that I initiate in the continent, it is not a question of giving lessons. Rather, I suggest that we share our experiences, he said, adding that he urges Moroccan companies operating in the continent to use local consultants and workforce to upgrade the transfer of know-how.

We give and share without arrogance or feeling of colonization.

Touching on means to bolster partnership with Madagascar, King Mohammed VI said the model of cooperation that Morocco wants to implement with Madagascar is similar to those we have developed in many other African countries.

He said the many cooperation agreements signed during his current visit to Antananarivo reflect the will of the Moroccan State to help the Malagasy government and improve the living conditions of its population. This is the sense of the projects of construction of social infrastructure and economic development.

Underscoring that Madagascar has undeniable assets to succeed, he said Morocco is ready to support its ministerial departments, public companies and private sector.

In this vein he called the Moroccan private sector to undertake projects in Madagascar, on the basis of cooperation on an equal footing with their Malagasy counterparts.

The Sovereign said that he would not be able to attend the Paris Conference of donor countries to be held early December as he will be visiting Abuja, but promised that a large Moroccan delegation, including representatives of the government and the private sector, will be there and will support the priority infrastructure projects in Madagascar.

He also promised that he will personally follow the implementation of all of these actions.

I will therefore return to Madagascar, he said.

Recalling his visit to Antsirabe on Wednesday where he launched a vocational training center and the construction works of a mother-child hospital, which will also provide training for medical staff, the Sovereign made it clear that these projects would not benefit the Muslim community only, as it has been rumored, but are intended for the entire population.

The King of Morocco is Amir Al Mouminine, Commander of the Faithful, the faithful of all religions, he said insisting that Morocco does no proselytism and does not seek to impose Islam. Morocco adopts a moderate and tolerant Islam.
Morocco has donated Madagascar a batch of security equipment to help Madagascar shore up security at the Francophonie Summit, held in Antananarivo this November 26-27.

The scanners, metal detectors and other security equipment were installed in the Ivato center in the capital Antananarivo immediately after the arrival of the Moroccan military cargo ship.

Moroccan security experts are also present in the African country to bring technical assistance to Malagasy authorities in securing the event. Madagascar has sought Moroccos assistance to ensure security during the event after Algeria backtracked on its promises to help.

Some observers say Morocco is a much better choice given the Kingdoms anti-terrorism achievements at home and abroad. They also mention its success in organizing international events, such as the UN Climate Summit (COP22) which earned the North African country the ISO 20121 certificate.

Moroccos move was welcomed by the Malagasy media which commented that King Mohammed VI, who is currently visiting Madagascar, obviously did not come empty-handed.

In addition to the numerous economic cooperation agreements signed during the royal trip, and the social projects launched in Antsirabe, namely a training center and a mother and child hospital, Morocco offered Madagascar security equipment to shore up security during the summit, The Last Hour recalled.

This is a way for Morocco to demonstrate that it translates its promises into action, the media wrote, adding that this is only the beginning of a mutually advantageous cooperation between Morocco and Madagascar.

The King has actually affirmed that Morocco is ready to help Madagascar in its economic and social development efforts and to set up with it a cooperation model similar to those developed in many other African countries.

He underlined that Morocco is ready to support Madagascars ministerial departments, public companies and private sector and urged the Moroccan private sector to forge partnership with their Malagasy counterparts.

Morocco is represented at the summit by Foreign Minister, Salaheddine Mezouar.
Police found Jacob Neal Carroll in the bathroom of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend. He was straddling the woman with his hands wrapped around her neck.

The womans face was purple, and she wasn't breathing. Officers tried to pull Carroll off the woman, but he didn't let go until the police hit him with a stun gun.

Carroll was sentenced in 2010 on a charge of mitigated attempted homicide. His victim has suffered memory loss as a result of the strangulation.

Increased research into the lethal and often undiagnosed effects of non-fatal strangulation in domestic violence relationships led the Billings Police Department to bring in an expert to train officers on how best to investigate possible strangulation cases.

The Billings Domestic Violence Investigator Program used grant money to bring in an expert on strangulation last week. Louisville Metro Police surgeon and director of the police departments forensic medical program, Bill Smock, conducted the two training sessions with BPD dispatchers, officers, detectives, local prosecutors and medical professionals on how to identify and examine a victim of strangulation.

Billings Police Department Domestic Violence Investigator Kate Nash said she brought the training to Billings to raise awareness of how dangerous strangulation can be.

"Seems like choking is kind of brushed off, and thought of as not being as severe as the hitting and the kicking," Nash said. "What I hoped people here and across the state can understand is, strangulation is far above the hitting and the kicking."

Invisible injuries

Research into the dangers of non-fatal strangulation began in the early 1990s in San Diego, said University of Central Florida Assistant Professor Adam Pritchard.

Prior to this study, the common thinking was, unless it kills you, you are probably OK, Pritchard said.

This was due to the lack of visible injuries. The San Diego City Attorneys office studied 300 cases of non-fatal strangulation and found that 89 percent of victims had a history of being strangled, with just half showing visible signs of abuse. Only 15 percent of non-fatal strangulation cases had injuries visible enough to photograph.

The research done in San Diego prompted many states to adopt strangulation statutes. Nine states do not have such a law, and Montana is one of them.

A strangulation statute was proposed during the 2005 legislative session, but was never voted on. In 2007, the Legislature added language to an existing statute that made it easier for prosecutors to charge strangulation cases as an aggravated assault. During that session, however, the Legislature also got rid of the two-year mandatory minimum for an aggravated assault charge.

Strangulation increases the chance of domestic homicide by 750 percent, Smock said. Strangulation is the most effective way to show your power over another human being, he said.

He compared the act to holding a knife to someones throat or a gun to someones head.

A bill making strangulation a stand-alone felony is being discussed by the office of Montana Attorney General Tim Fox in preparation of the 2017 legislative session, said Director of Communications Eric Sell.

In an effort to make the dangers of strangulation more relatable, Smock noted two Idaho studies that indicated 50 percent of men who killed police officers had a history of strangling women.

You may be saving your own partners life, Smock said to the officers.

The long-term effects of strangulation are often extensive, Smock said. If an untrained emergency room doctor examines a strangulation victim without conducting the proper tests, the victim could be discharged, only to suffer a stroke a few days later, Smock said. Because oxygen is cut off from the brain, victims may lose the ability to retain information, reason through problems and remember things. They also may have difficulty paying attention.

The brains of repeat victims of strangulation are similar to the brains of people who have been water-boarded and people who have had multiple concussions, Smock said. Victims can be at an increased risk of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. Research states women might suffer strokes from strangulation up to 10 years after the last event, Smock said.

Questioning victims

Police officers need to ask detailed questions about the strangulation, but at the same time, many of these women either wont remember or wont admit the extent to which the strangulation occurred.

The right question is, Was any pressure applied to your neck? Smock said. Did you see spots? Did everything go black? Did you pass out?

Officers should ask the women if they are wearing the same clothes they wore during the attack, Smock said. After 15 seconds of strangulation, people often lose control of their bladder. Smock said soiled clothing and bed linens are evidence worth collecting because urine can be identified by florescent lighting. This kind of evidence can be essential to a prosecutions case.

In 2015, Pritchard partnered with The Brevard County Sheriff's Office, the University of Central Florida, the State Attorney's Office, the Florida Department of Health and several domestic violence organizations to create a pilot program focused on evidence-based prosecution and forensic examinations of suspected strangulation victims. This included free forensic exams for any victim that police suspected of being strangled.

The goal of the program was to increase the number of strangulation cases being prosecuted in the county and increase the chances of conviction by collecting more evidence. This would allow a case to go forward, regardless of if the victim felt safe enough to testify, Pritchard said.

This multi-disciplinary approach to domestic violence would improve how domestic violence cases are handled in Montana, said Yellowstone Chief Deputy County Attorney Juli Pierce. Pierce attended the training and was the prosecutor in Carrolls 2009 strangulation case. Montana has made great strides from when strangulation could still be prosecuted as a misdemeanor offense, Pierce said. But everyone who interacts with these victims must be aware of the signs of strangulation.

Pierce does not see the repeat strangulation cases Smock described in other cities. Offenders often make threats to kill their victims while strangling them, Pierce said.

But it is an under-reported crime, making it impossible to know how many victims are suffering repeat strangulation without reporting it to police. Also, Montana doesnt track strangulation cases, Pierce said. This makes it difficult to know if the victim reported strangulation in the past.

"A stand alone offense would be custom made for strangulation. Investigating and charging the crimes would be easier, depending on the language" Nash said. "It would also reinforce to victims and officers how serious it is."

Director of Programs at YWCA Erin Lambert said it is not uncommon for women at the YWCAs Gateway Shelter to report being strangled multiple times by a previous partner. Victims are amazingly nonchalant about being choked out by their partners, Lambert said.

Theyll say, It wasnt too bad. He choked me out, and that was about it, Lambert said.

Spreading the danger of this type of attack starts with first responders and emergency room doctors, Nash said.

The Montana Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board identified five women who died from strangulation. But Lambert said she suspected if someone took a closer look at those cases, the offenders would have a history of strangling their partner.

By the time someone gets to the point where they are willing to put their hands around another persons throat, they are no longer concerned with potential consequences, Lambert said.
PROVIDENCE, R.I.  It has become a holiday ritual in Rhode Island to take time on Black Friday to donate a warm coat, or pick one up for free.

The "Buy Nothing Day Winter Coat Exchange," held the Friday after Thanksgiving at sites around the state, is Rhode Island's twist on the anti-consumerism movement and attracts people of all stripes.

The idea was hatched during a meeting of the state's Green Party in 1997, when members wanted to highlight the problems with consumerism while also doing something useful for the community, organizer Greg Gerritt said. The first year, around 250 coats were collected. Gerritt estimates that 50,000 coats have passed through the group's hands since then.

Gerritt, who said he is stepping down after 20 years at the helm, spoke with The Associated Press recently about the drive. It will be held at around a dozen locations this year, including its main site on the Statehouse lawn.

Q: What is the idea behind the exchange?

A: "It's very mainstream, but we always maintain our radical core. ... How, in the richest country in the world, do people not have winter coats? What kind of crazy place is that? We always point out that consumerism is something that damages the ecosystem and helps generate the inequality that makes our communities much more difficult to live in."

Q: What has changed over the years?

A: "Not much. The donors are still the same people. Some of them are the exact same people. We have some groups that have been collecting coats for 10 years. ... The need has, if anything, grown. Moms with small kids, people with limited English, people who sleep on the streets. They all come."

Q: Have you seen changes in the need as the economy has gone up and down?

A: "As we've gone through the years, the mainstream agencies and state, even, have told people about it. Every year, we seem to get more people coming for coats. The knowledge of it has been institutionalized around Rhode Island. ... There's no drop-off of need. Rhode Island still hasn't come out of the recession."

Q: What does it say to you that it's become a holiday tradition?

A: "It says that, one, lots of people really care about these issues. And two, (for) lots of families, going out and spending and spending the day after Thanksgiving doesn't cut it. A lot of people would just as soon sit out Black Friday and do something useful and give back to their community rather than just spend money. We're really glad to be able to offer such a service for people."
BUTTE  A new gift shop on Main Street in Uptown Butte has opened up just in time for the holiday season.

But among the stores many virtues, business owner Pat Campbell says, shes perhaps most proud of the stores contribution to the revitalization of Main Street.

In the past year the block between Park and Broadway Streets has seen a handful of new businesses, including For Heaven's Cakes bakery, which recently expanded to include a coffee shop, and a new apparel and swag shop 5518 Designs, whose owners hosted a grand opening Friday afternoon.

Campbell, meanwhile says she excited to see her store Beautiful Butte  and Beyond be among the new kids on the block.

We all want to enhance Uptown Butte, said Frank Campbell, Pats husband.

Campbell launched Beautiful Butte in October because, she said, shes always had a flair for arts and crafts and an affinity for Butte-themed memorabilia.

I just like doing creative things, said Campbell.

A few years ago Campbell started experimenting with decorating keepsakes, coffee thermoses and other memorabilia by transforming photographs of Butte scenery into logos with the aid of a computer.

With the help of her son Matt Campbell, a web designer based in Arizona, she researched how to transfer the designs onto her gifts using techniques like sublimation.

To test the waters for her products, Campbell began selling them at the Butte Farmers' Market, and in August 2016 she successfully sold her gifts at a trade show in Las Vegas.

That sealed the deal, said Campbell, who noted her sales at the trade show made her confident about opening a storefront for her products.

Today Beautiful Butte boasts over 200 products, Campbell said, and most of them feature her designs, along with designs and images based on the photography of Scott Campbell, her son and NorthWestern Energy technician.

Items based on Campbell and Scotts designs include framed photographs, decorative keepsake boxes, apparel  which Campbell prints at the Butte-based printer Chaos Customz  serving trays and calendars, among other products.

The store can also make customized keepsakes if customers bring in their own images.

I do a lot of custom work, said Campbell. I [love] having the connection with people. And everybody has a story.

While many of the products feature her own designs, Campbell said Beautiful Butte also offers products from third-party vendors, a majority of which are Montana based.

We really tried to reach out to the artisans in the area, said Campbell.

Beautiful Butte hosts 24 vendors, and their products include, among many others, coffee from Blue Bean Coffee Roasters, a Livingston-based company, alpaca yarn and knitted goods from Buttes Snowdrift Alpacas, ceramics from the Mining Citys Copper Creek Studio and handmade leather products by Butte resident John Welter, who owns JWs Crafts.

The store also features Montana-made soaps, lotions, dog treats and chocolates.

Although Campbell has a passion for Butte-themed gifts, shes not a native of the Mining City.

She and her husband Frank moved to Butte from New Jersey 41 years ago. Frank, who had been a lineman for a New Jersey company, said the family moved to Montana after he was offered a position at Montana Power.

The couple said that moving to Montana from the East Coast was definitely a transition, but they created a home for themselves and raised two children in Butte. Campbell, meanwhile, worked at the Office of Public Assistance in Silver Bow for 18 years.

All-in-all, Campbell said, what draws her to the world of memorabilia and gifts is the simple fact that keepsakes last forever.

And thats the inspiration behind the stores motto, special gifts for special people, Campbell said.
CHICAGO  There are charms and revelations to each of Chicagos neighborhoods and many of them stay hidden in the past, barely a whisper. The West Loop with its buildings (small and tall) and its stories (touching and terrifying) and the thousands of people (good and evil) who have lived and loved and prowled there do more than whisper to Connie Fairbanks. They shout. There is just so much to ...
In the recent wake of Mount Jumbos 20th anniversary, another milestone approaches, marking the emptying of 1995s $5 million open space bond account.

On Dec. 12, Missoula City Council will hold a public hearing on spending the remaining $389,533.99 on the Montana Rail Link property at Johnson Street, unanimously approved by both the citys Open Space Advisory and Parks and Conservation Committees.

Open Space Acquisitions Attorney Elizabeth Erickson said that balance has been saved since 2006 to put toward a city park in the Franklin to the Fort neighborhood.

The bond, just the second passed in Missoula after a $500,000 1980 measure, lasted more than 20 years and was responsible, with partners, for purchasing just over 3,263 acres of open space, city parks and trails, and a conservation area.

Open space advocates credit the bond with inspiring other midsize northwestern cities to pass their own such bonds and incurring enough goodwill to pass another bond in 2006 that was twice the size and applied to the entire county.

That bond passed with almost 70 percent of voters approving.

And perhaps the most important influence of the 1995 bond: giving Missoulians almost all of Mount Jumbo and Sentinel, Waterworks Hill, much of the land in the Bitterroot Branch trail and just about any place those who call this city home call their backyard.

It was really a significant event, and not just in the history of Missoula, said Greg Tollefson, director of Five Valleys Land Trust from 1991 to 1997.

Missoula was pretty much the first community of this size, or larger, in the Rocky Mountain West to take a proactive approach to identifying and protecting the open space that gave the community its character.

Tollefson remembered the election followed two previous failed bonds, which he thought werent specific enough in how theyd spend the money.

The 1995 bond though, had the protection of Mount Jumbo against housing developers behind it, a community flashpoint that crossed any lines of demarcation, Tollefson said.

It was an off-year election. It was a terrible snowy day when people would be disinclined to vote and there was a tremendous turnout, he said. The next day on Mount Jumbo up there was a great big smiley face made out of sheets.

Schools, community groups, Boy Scouts and churches all raised money to cover the $300,000 remaining between money from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and the $2 million the open space bond pledged if passed.

Afterwards, Tollefson said open space advocates from Boise, Helena, Bozeman and the Flathead all looked to Five Valleys for a framework on writing their own bonds, many of which passed and held lands in government control or easements.

That approach left Missoula residents with a lot more room to run and play, and left the citys parks department with another few thousand acres to manage, most of which didnt fit the mold of a traditional developed city park.

Donna Gaukler has been Missoulas Parks and Recreation director since 2002 and has worked in the department since 1991.

She employs a conservation lands manager now, but that position wasnt in the citys budget in 1995.

For the decade after Missoula started snatching up open space lands, Gaukler said they contracted with a University of Montana weed specialist  now city council chair Marilyn Marler, who still works as UMs natural area specialist.

Aside from Marlers work, Gaukler said the parks department only went onto the open space lands if there was a call or complaint.

But with a matching grant from the Missoula County Weed district, the parks department was able to hire a full-time conservation lands manager in 2005.

One of the first big things was to get this program underway, because we were falling behind, Gaukler said. Once we had that partnership, then the program really started to evolve.

The parks department oversees and maintains about 4,500 acres, she said and lands manager Morgan Valliant has done his own studies on bird, mammal and insect populations, not to mention grass and tree research, all of which differs wildly from studies of controlled, developed city parks.

It is rare that a city parks department manages this much wild land, Gaukler said, leaving them with few peer cities with whom they can compare notes on management plans.

Its definitely part of living in the Rocky Mountain West, she said. Were managing for the entire valley in terms of habitat and ecosystem.

Pelah Hoyt, Five Valleys Lands Director, said the way the 1995 bond was spent incurred a lot of trust with Missoula County residents, broadening support for the larger 2006 bond.

Hoyt volunteered her time to help pass that bond and later that year got a job with Five Valleys Land Trust.

In the lead-up to the 2006 bond, she said city and county officials held public meetings around the county to gauge interest in another bond, and what areas were priorities for protection.

There was tremendous concern about the amount of development at that time and a lot of interest in maintaining their way of life and agricultural land and wildlife habitat, Hoyt said.

The 2006 bond then, has focused more on protecting those agricultural lands. Just in the last month two private working farms were placed in conservation easements, which promise to never open up the land for development or end farm or ranch productions, even if it changes owners.

The 1995 bond was only to be spent in city limits, per the ballot language, and could be spent on developed parks; something the 2006 bond wasnt set up to do.

Those two bonds have established and reaffirmed Missoulas conservation ethic, Tollefson said. That isnt likely to go away.

Many Missoulians favorite part of living here is the easy access to open space and hiking trails, and its lauded in tourist and real estate information as a unique asset that cant be found anywhere else.

Open space is something thats so tangible, Erickson said. You can go out and touch them and experience them.

The 2006 bond is dwindling as well  the city and county have just a little under $800,000 apiece left of the original $10 million.

And both have proposals in the works  Kali Becher, a rural landscape scientist with Missoula County Community and Planning Services, said theyre working on another land deal, and Erickson estimated bringing three to four deals for approval in 2017.

There arent any firm plans to put another open space bond on the ballot, but with funds winding down and plenty of space left in the county to protect, Tollefson was pretty sure the support would be there.

I can say this without any actual first-hand knowledge, Tollefson said. The need remains. We have prime farmland thats disappearing every day.

Theres lust for more.
When Timothy J. Cavan takes the bench as the new U.S. magistrate judge in the Billings Division, he will bring years of legal experience covering almost all areas of the law.

Cavan, an assistant U.S. attorney, has defended the federal government against civil claims, represented indigent clients facing federal crimes and argued many cases to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

He has worked in private practice, doing plaintiffs work, representing small businesses and indigent criminal defendants. Cavan has practiced in state and federal courts and had cases in Wyoming and Iowa.

Cavan has traveled throughout the state in his current job and has appeared before all of Montanas panel of federal judges.

I just have a tremendous amount of respect for all of them, he said.

Cavan called joining the bench a great honor.

On Dec. 1, Cavan, 58, will begin the new phase in his legal career when he is sworn in as magistrate judge. He will replace U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby, who announced her resignation in February after serving 14 years.

Ostbys resignation presented an opportunity, Cavan said. I think the timing was right, he said during a recent interview.

Cavan said he thought his varied experience made him qualified for the job.

Working in a judges chambers will be a new experience, but Ostby has been making the transition smooth, he said.

Ostby, Cavan said, is leaving her caseload in impeccable shape and has taken care of matters and motions needing attention, giving him time to get his feet on the ground. He also spent an afternoon with Ostby last week.

Cavan paid tribute to Ostby, who was Montanas first female federal judge, saying she is universally respected by the bar and her colleagues and has had a distinguished career.

Having practiced before numerous judges, Cavan said judicial temperament and how the public is treated in court are vitally important qualities for a judge.

Cavan started his federal court work with U.S. District Judge James F. Battin and was before retired U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom thousands of times.

I dont ever recall them ever raising their voices to anybody or belittling anyone, he said.

As magistrate judge, Cavan will hear both civil cases and criminal cases. In criminal cases, magistrate judges have jurisdiction in misdemeanor cases, conduct arraignments and initial hearings in felony cases. They can issue search and arrest warrants and decide other motions. The judges can also hear felony cases with consent of the parties and can mediate civil case settlements.

Magistrate judges are appointed by a majority of the district court judges. Full-time magistrate judges serve eight-year terms. Ostby is leaving two years short of her second term.

Montana has three full-time magistrate judge seats, located in Billings, Missoula and Great Falls. Cavan will become the fourth magistrate judge to serve on a full-time bases in the Billings Division.

Cavan was selected for the post from a group of finalists compiled by a court-appointed merit selection panel.

Born and raised in Billings, Cavan went to Senior High School and earned a bachelors degree in history and political science from Montana State University Billings in 1981. He graduated with honors from the University of Montanas School of Law in 1984.

He began his legal career in civil trial work with the Billings firm of Sandall, Cavan & Smith, where he became a partner in 1988.

Cavan then went to work for the Federal Defenders of Montana, representing indigent persons facing federal crimes from 1996 to 2002.

Since 2002, Cavan has worked for the Montana U.S. Attorneys Office, where he defends federal cases in which litigants sue the government for money damages. Cavan said most of his work has been defending federal health care providers, like the Veterans Administration and Indian Health Service, against malpractice claims. He also has defended federal employees in civil rights cases.

Cavan has been active in community organizations including the Yellowstone County Bar Association, the Billings YMCA, ZooMontana, the Yellowstone Art Museum and Yellowstone Public Radio.

Cavan and his wife, Michelle, have three grown children. When not working, Cavan said he likes to spend time outdoors and enjoys fishing, biking and hiking.
Its no surprise to anyone that Missoula County is at risk for wildfires.

Two wildfires have broken out in the upper Grant Creek area in the last two years. The fire in August forced the evacuation of 25 homes, though only one fifth-wheeler used as a residence was destroyed.

Towns in Missoula County including Missoula, Lolo, Seeley Lake, Clinton and Frenchtown are among the many in the West that are in the wildland-urban interface, a term that describes cities and residences that abut forest and open lands.

Headwaters Economics, a Bozeman-based research and policy group, decided something should be done to foster lower risk development in WUI communities, said Kimi Barrett, a research and policy analyst for Headwaters thats leading the wildlife programs work.

After a several-year process that included the involvement of the U.S. Forest Service and several private partners, as well as a test case in Summit County, Colorado, they awarded five western communities Community Planning Assistance grants, one of which went to Missoula County.

The grants will look beyond homeowner education, Barrett said, to answer the programs burning question: How do you plan a community to be better prepared for fires?

The first need for Missoula County was to have an idea of what wildfire risk looked like from area to area, in order to lay out a development plan built to expand away from high-risk areas.

The county doesnt have that sort of comprehensive data, so Headwaters hired Anchor Point, a fire management group from Boulder, Colorado, to build one.

Barrett wouldnt say how much the map cost, and didnt want to reveal the private partners that helped fund the grant, but said theyre putting over $100,000 in services into each community.

Anchor Point co-founder Chris White said depending on the size and complexity of the area they study, their services can cost anywhere from $25,000 to $250,000.

White said they made three trips to Missoula and had numerous video conference calls with forest specialists to analyze vegetation, weather, hills, roads and home density, to name just a few of the aspects that go into their risk analysis.

"You've got absolutely unburnable stuff in the university and downtown within a half-mile of a mixed conifer forest," he said. "We're talking about structure vulnerability."

Pat OHerren, Missoula Community and Planning Services director, said they dont even know how much the grant is for, but do know its the kind of work that would be out of their reach otherwise.

Missoula County could not have afforded this, OHerren said.

***

The risk map shows fire hazards, fuels, conditions on the ground and historic fire data, and gives areas ratings from low, medium to high. It offers a sort of digital model of fire behavior, OHerren said.

So, remember the fires in Grant Creek?

OHerren said thats an example of a fire that could have been prevented with the use of this map by allowing local agencies and homeowners to do a more thorough job of identifying hazards and mitigating risk near homes before fire season starts.

Hopefully its a very minor fire season (next year) so we can test it, he said.

Adriane Beck, Office of Emergency Management director, said the map will also be used to update other county plans, the pre-disaster mitigation and community wildfire protection plans.

It will also be available on the countys website, according to OHerren, and made available to local fire departments and Forest Service agencies to reach out to homeowners who are in high-risk areas.

This data now gives us a visual to educate the public on what their risk is based on where they live, Beck said. If you live on a slope in general that contributes to risk. And people can kind of understand that, but this offers a graphic description.

The current community wildfire protection plan is based on data thats several years old, Beck said, and the new risk map will be unlike any resource the countys had before on wildfire protection.

Before, she said, someone with boots-on-the-ground knowledge would survey land on a site-by-site basis.

With this map, theyll be able to pull up the area on the computer and see details on everything a surveyor would see in person.

It allows the picture of a county as a whole, she said. We always need to be pushing the envelope of using the best science when its available.

Barrett said Headwaters gave out four other grants this year to counties in New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Texas. The next round will see two more Montana counties, Lewis and Clark and Park, receive the community planning assistance funds.

Headwaters is the only group Barrett knows of that spends this much time and effort on community planning as a solution to wildfire risk. They brought the Forest Service on board as a matching partner in 2014, forcing them to find private donors as well.

After the Summit County test case, Headwaters brought their findings to the Forest Service to expand service, resulting in the 10 grants given out this year and next.

Theyll continue working with Missoula County until 2017, she said, when the county and facilitating departments will take over the plans direction.

Missoulas collaborative nature has impressed Barrett, with several agencies, including the Montana Department of Natural Resource Conservation, the Bureau of Land Management, Lolo National Forest, the University of Montana and Salish/Kootenai members, working together on the countys unique challenges.

Where structures are starting to infringe on the wild environment is a concern for Missoula, she said. How that development occurs can be informed by the tools and services we provide.
As tempting as it may be to once again be horrified by Donald Trump's Twitter ramblings  the most recent having demonstrated that the president-elect likes his Broadway performers to sing and dance but not participate in democracy, and the rapt attention he pays to Alec Baldwin, his Saturday Night Live doppelganger  the man's weekend tweets were hardly his worst transgressions of late. Indeed, it's gotten to the point where these SNL-worthy moments of outrageousness seem more calculated showmanship than misstep, perhaps even a chance to distract his critics from his far more troubling, if less overt, misbehavior.

We're not talking about the jaw-dropping nomination of Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III as attorney general, the 69-year-old Alabama senator deemed too racist during the Reagan era to be a federal judge.

Nope. The real doozy of last weekend escaped most public notice. It seems that while we were all debating whether it breaks decorum to caution audience members at "Hamilton" to stop booing and then politely ask Vice President-Elect Mike Pence to be kind to minorities, The New York Times was reporting that Trump met last week with developers of Trump Towers Pune, a high-profile pair of 23-story towers containing $2 million condos in which the Trump organization has invested its name.

In other words, the soon-to-be leader of the free world is making decisions about his business investments in India  not just Trump Towers Pune but a planned 75-story Trump-branded tower in Mumbai and perhaps other future real estate deals as well  between meetings with potential cabinet members. According to the Times report, these projects are worth in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion, Trump's largest investments outside North America.

Such collaborations offer a dizzying number of opportunities for conflicts of interest. A U.S. president is in an extraordinary position to provide special favors to foreign countries or business owners or even to affect global markets in a manner from which he or she could profit. What foreign government wouldn't want to sink its claws into the Trump empire and make the nation's chief executive ultimately beholden to it? Can anyone say Vladimir Putin?

What makes this development all the more stunning is that Trump criticized Hillary Clinton for not fully distancing herself from the Clinton Foundation _ a nonprofit charitable organization _ when she served as secretary of state.

Make no mistake, federal law doesn't specifically call for a president to divest his holdings. But for someone who vowed to "drain the swamp" of Washington, D.C., Trump is certainly doing a fair impression of a swamp creature himself. It was bad enough that, as a candidate, he failed to disclose his tax returns, ignoring decades of precedent. Now he is literally making business decisions on which, as president, he could directly profit.

The only workable solution would be for Trump to put his holdings in a blind trust  although he clearly doesn't quite get what that means, as he's been talking about having his children run his business empire in his place. The whole point of "blindness" is to not know where one's money is invested or have any influence on its trustees. If his kids' names are simply put on Trump Tower's title, he's accomplished neither.

If Trump doesn't somehow recuse himself from anything to do with his holdings, foreign or domestic, the issue will haunt his presidency like Marley's ghost. Negotiating anti-terrorism strategies with Pakistan? How might the government in India respond? Want to make changes to Dodd-Frank banking laws? Trump's real estate lenders may have something to say. Even the most innocent conversations may be seen as grossly compromised if one party has ties to Trump investments of any kind. Remember that "constitutional crisis" involving the next president that Trump warned about during the campaign? He may have gotten the target wrong but be proven prescient yet.
Montana Conservation Voters stands for the protection of our public lands and access to open spaces. MCV opposes efforts to transfer or sell-off public lands to state or private ownership or even to study these misguided proposals. This is a disaster in the making for those of us who hike, camp, fish and hunt in Americas public lands  and Montana taxpayers.

However, MCV supports restoring management of the range to the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. The Tribes have a proven record to manage the range and will maintain public access so visitors can learn about the natural and cultural history of the bison as well as the Tribes and their history with the land over the millennia.

The unique circumstances in this case do not create a precedent for or provide valid grounds for arguments to transfer federal lands to states. First, with restoration to the Tribes, the range will be held in federal trust by the U.S. Department of the Interior. Opponents of restoration also forget that before the range was established, tribal members established a free ranging bison herd on lands reserved for the Tribes under the Hellgate Treaty. Courts have ruled the establishment of the range was an illegal taking from the Tribes. Restoration of the range to the Tribes would reverse a historic wrong and restore the Tribes to its rightful, historic stewardship role.

Given the Tribes record of conservation and land management, MCV is confident that the visitor experience, opportunities for wildlife viewing and taking in outstanding scenery will be much the same as it is today and even better in many ways.

Join MCV and please contact the Montana congressional delegation and voice your support for the National Bison Range Restoration Act.

Juanita Vero

Greenough

and Robin Saha

Missoula
BUTTE  With their fingers seemingly always on the pulse of history, most Butte residents won't be surprised to learn their city once boasted a Chinatown that rivaled those of New York and San Francisco.

But soon people all over the world will get a chance to peek behind the curtain of Mining City history.

The Pekin Noodle Parlor, a 105-year-old Chinese restaurant at 117 S. Main St. in Uptown Butte, is being featured in an exhibit at the Museum of Food and Drink in New York City, reported the Montana Standard (http://bit.ly/2gCNOH3).

The exhibit is called "Chow: Making the Chinese American Restaurant," and according to the museum's executive director Peter Kim, it will be the museum's first cultural exhibit.

"We knew we wanted to tell a cultural story simply because food is such a key part of how we identify ourselves culturally," said Kim. "So we started looking at a lot of possibilities for that, and we realized that there was something really extraordinary about Chinese-American restaurants."

Kim said the exhibit is intended to be a sensory experience where patrons can not only read and view history  they can also taste it. It includes a cooking studio where visitors can learn culinary techniques and sample chef-designed dishes in addition to an art installation called "Curtain of Many," made up of 7,250 takeout boxes. There's also a working 1,500-pound machine that dispenses freshly made fortune cookies containing messages submitted by people all over the world.

So how did the Pekin become an exhibit among Brooklynites?

Kim said museum staff wanted to find restaurants whose history intersected with the history of Chinese Americans. They came across the Pekin, he said, which is often touted as the oldest continuously operating Chinese restaurant run by the same family in the United States.

The family who has kept the Pekin running since 1911 is the Tams.

Today Jerry Tam operates the Pekin, but the restaurant is still owned by his father Ding Kuen Tam  commonly known as "Danny Wong"  who took over operations in the 1950s from his great uncle Hum Yow.

FAMILY'S HISTORY

But the family's history doesn't end there.

According to a 2011 addition to the Congressional Record, the first Tam family member to set foot in America came in the 1860s.

In the Pekin's kitchen, Tam sliced onions as he explained that the restaurant's sweet-and-sour is brown and not red like it is in most Chinese-American establishments because his forerunners didn't have access to red food coloring or ketchup.

An entrepreneur in his own right, Tam lived as a fashion designer in New York City for several years. There he attended Parsons School of Design and the Fashion Institute of Technology and even had a brief stint on Lifetime's "Project Runway" in 2008.

A native of Butte, Tam moved back to the Mining City in 2009 because, he said, his mother, Sharon Chu Tam, was getting sick. He started helping out at the restaurant and sifting through the basement and archiving old odds and ends he found in the building's underbelly.

With the help of archivist Ellen Crain, in 2011 the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives collaborated with Tam to put on an exhibit. The archives sent a few artifacts from the 2011 exhibit to New York for "Chow" along with an oral history featuring Tam's father. Items sent to NYC include photographs, woks, utensils, menus, advertisements, Chinese wicker baskets, and vintage soy and vinegar bottles imported from China, among others.

Ultimately, Tam said, he'd like to set up a walking museum in the Pekin's lower levels.

"The basement here is literally where keno might have been invented," he continued. "We have keno tickets that are in Chinese characters."

The building itself was constructed in 1909 and went through many incarnations  including serving as a gaming parlor, Tam said.

It resided in the heart of Butte's Chinatown and was also, among many uses, an herbal medicine shop, tea- and coffee-distribution site, a mercantile, and noncommercial bathhouse, boasting two old-school claw-foot bathtubs.

LOOKING BACK

Butte historian Dick Gibson, meanwhile, says outsiders are often surprised to learn Butte once had a Chinatown.

"Generally speaking, they're blown away," said Gibson.

Like many of the immigrants who arrived in Butte, the Chinese came to stake their claim on The Richest Hill on Earth. Many arrived during the Gold Rush, but by the time it was over in the late 1800s, a healthy population remained. They opened businesses, started families, and established a burgeoning population that reached a height of 2,500 during the 1910s, Gibson said.

But life wasn't always easy for those who left their homes in China.

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 put limits on immigration from China and was concurrent with organized boycotts of Chinese businesses.

An anti-immigrant sentiment was palpable in the air in the late 1800s, Gibson said, which was partly due to economic anxieties: fear of an immigrant population traveling to the United States to take American jobs.

"They wanted to protect their wages," said Gibson, explaining that the unions were often the driving force behind the boycotts in Butte.

This history did not go unnoticed by Kim and museum staff.

"When you dig into it, you realize there's this extraordinary story of hardship, adaptation, entrepreneurship behind all of these restaurants," said Kim. "It was really a difficult period for them living under exclusion . but they managed to hold on by opening these restaurants and by creating a venue that appealed to non-Chinese diners."

Gibson agreed.

"That's one reason why the Chinese population in Butte thrived," said Gibson. "They were not just catering to the Chinese community. They were catering to Butte."

AMERICANIZED FOOD

Today there are 50,000 American Chinese restaurants in the United States that boast a uniquely American cuisine that you would be hard pressed to find in China, Kim said.

"You can go into nearly any town in the country and you'll find one," said Kim.

"In general we want people to appreciate the importance of food and how it connects to the world around us," said Kim when asked why it's important to preserve the past through the vehicle of food.

"In a broad sense, I think this exhibition will help people think about what food means to them personally and how it reflects their own cultural identity. And secondly, looking back at history is always valuable because it informs the present, and there's a lot of debate right now about what it means to be an American."

But preserving the past doesn't just happen on a global level  it happens on the individual level in the form of family memories.

"My dad's 83, and the restaurant is still doing very well, so I'm going to just see it through with him," said Tam when asked if he's ever thought of going back to New York.

Tam described his father as a hardworking man who has kept the restaurant going for more than 50 years.

He added that he's excited the restaurant is part of the New York exhibit and that he's heard countless Montanans share their memories of coming to the Pekin, which adds to the tapestry of Mining City history.

"It kind of gives people a remembrance that my dad has worked his whole entire life to provide Chinese food to this community, and I want him to feel very proud," said Tam.
HAMILTON  It wasnt but a couple of days after the general election that Rep. Nancy Ballance noticed a huge bump in the number of emails she receives daily.

The Hamilton legislator is one of three selected to cast one of Montanas three electoral votes.

The emails flooding into her mailbox asked  some even demanded  that Ballance cast her vote for someone other than President-elect Donald Trump.

Thats something that Ballance said Montana law doesnt allow.

Ive been getting between 50 to 200 emails a daythat range in form of Please, you have to do the right thing to ones with more threatening tones, Ballance said. They werent threatening violence. They are more like, You must do this. This is your duty.

The emails started three or four days after the election. Due to the fact that most had a similar subject line and often include hundreds of attached email addresses, Ballance believes the effort is orchestrated.

Trump supporters have also sent their own emails.

Those seem to be more individualized, Ballance said. Each one is different. They are more focused on stick to your convictions.

Ballance has also received 30 or so phone calls.

Most of those have come from an out-of-state area code, she said. I see San Bernardino, California, or Dearborn, Michigan, pop up on my phone. They always leave a message. They say they are from Montana on the voicemail. It goes something like Hi. This is Sherry from Bozeman. My kids and my family

Ballance was selected to serve as elector at the Montana Republican Convention.

Someone asked if I was willing to do that, she said. I thought it would be a good opportunity, an honor and a good learning experience for my 8-year-old grandson, who already kind of understands the Electoral College. He called me at a quarter to 11 on election night to tell me the results.

Im hoping he can go so he can better understand how it works and why, Ballance said. There is a lot of talk on doing away with the Electoral College right now. I think it depends on who is on the winning and losing side, especially in a year when the popular vote differs from the Electoral College vote.

Ballance said the system works especially well for rural states like Montana. In a pure democracy, Montana wouldnt be represented well since its citizens would cast only about a million of the total of 300 million votes in a national election.

The Electoral College does give the state more of a voice, she said.

While there is quite a lot of talk about the potential of electors around the country voting for someone other than Trump, Ballance said her reading of Montana law indicates thats not possible in this state.

She believes most electors around the country wont sway.

I think for the most part, electors will feel a strong duty to represent the peoples will, Ballance said.

Ballance has also heard about the controversy swirling around Miles City Elector Dennis Scranton.

The man, who is in his 90s, has come under scrutiny for a 2010 Facebook conversation where he suggested gay people should be hanged.

Scranton had replied to Big Sky Tea Party Association leader Tim Ravndals post that stated marriage is between a man and a woman period.

Scrantons response: I think fruits are decorative. Hang up when they can be seen and appreciated. Call Wyoming for display instructions. The mention of Wyoming apparently referred to Matthew Shepard, a gay university student who was beaten, bound to a fence post and left for dead outside of Laramie in 1998. Shepard died six days later.

In a conversation with the Billings Gazette last week, Scranton appeared unclear about the Facebook conversation, his age or how he came to be appointed an elector.

Ballance said she has never met Scranton.

He apparently made some comments as a younger man, she said. The world has changed a lot in the period of time. He comes from a different era, no question about that. I dont know exactly what he said  I saw the quote  but who amongst us hasnt said something that we wished we wouldnt have said?

We live in an era now where everything everyone says is captured and written down, Ballance said. I dont know if thats representative of him or not. I do know that he was elected by a group of people who seemed to think that he was the right guy.

Ballance will meet with Montanas other two electors  Scranton, and Missoula's Thelma Baker  in Helena on Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. to cast their votes.
HAIFA, Israel  Two days after a wave of wildfires spread throughout the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Haifa and forced tens of thousands to flee, residents returned to pick through the blackened debris of their homes while pondering what had started it all.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday had called the string of brush fires arson terror and announced the arrests of suspected arsonists as the wildfires, now extinguished in Haifa, threatened other cities around the country. The blazes, which have forced Israel to rely on foreign reinforcements to get them under control, continued into a fifth day Saturday, threatening towns in the Galilee mountains in the north and the wooded hills around Jerusalem.

Once-green swaths of pine forest surrounding Haifas mountainside neighborhoods had been rendered a slope of ash and blackened branches. Government-run Israel Radio estimated that as many as 800 homes had been destroyed. The air was still sharp with the smell of ash and fire hoses still lined streets of stricken neighborhoods.

Now, as Haifa residents take stock of the damage, many express concern that the fires and the accusations of politically motivated arson also might tear at the threads of Jewish-Arab coexistence in the city.

I dont want to think it was someone from Haifa, said Avner Hadad, a 63-year-old art teacher and sculptor who fled as flames advanced on his house Thursday. Jews and Arab live in peace here. The city is theirs and ours. You dont want to believe that this beautiful fabric could turn into hatred and revenge.

Still, he asked, how could the fire be anything but intentional? Its definitely arson. Its not normal that a fire could be on the other side of the city and then reach here in a half hour. There was a goal: to burn people, Havner said.

Like many in the city, he had no time to rescue belongings. I didnt have time to take anything. I fled with my dog. There was fire in the trees on both sides of the street, and you couldnt see anything. It was unbelievable, he said.

On Saturday, the fires had shifted to other locations: Israel Radio reported that five crews were fighting a blaze near the Arab city of Nazareth, and that thousands of residents had been evacuated from the Israeli settlement of Halamish in the West Bank.

Israel was relying on help from Italian, Greek and Turkish aircraft crews while Palestinian fire engines from the West Bank city of Jenin had helped douse the flames in Haifa.

A police spokesman said that 30 individuals had been arrested on suspicion of arson in recent days, but declined to give more details. Meanwhile, politicians echoed Netanyahus accusation that theres no doubt fires were set on purpose. Anat Berko, a parliament member from the ruling Likud Party, alleged on Israels Channel 10 news that Haifas Arab neighborhoods had been deliberately spared.

Those allegations have insulted Israels one-fifth Arab minority, especially in the Haifa region, where Arab communities reached out to shelter evacuees. Arab community leaders complained to Israeli news outlets which, alluding to Palestinian uprisings against Israel, described the rash of fires as an arson intifada.

People are very angry about this incitement, said Jafar Farah, the director of Mossawa, a nonprofit Arab civil rights group. There are more than 100 fires, and to try to connect them to Arab citizens is an abuse of common sense.

(EDITORS: BEGIN OPTIONAL TRIM)

Yossi Alpher, a former peace process adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, said several factors  such as dry winds, homes built close to forests, and potential lack of preparedness  came together to create the crisis. At least some of the fires, he said, appear to be deliberate.

If its arson by hostile Palestinians, its terrorism, Alpher said. But as far as how much of it was arson, whether this was organized terrorism, or spontaneous terrorism, what the role of incitement on the internet, and what the role of Israeli unpreparedness, you can only speculate.

(END OPTIONAL TRIM)

While many on Arabic-language social media celebrated the first fires, Alpher noted that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had condemned the fires and sent Palestinian rescue crews to Israel. A Netanyahu spokesman said Saturday that Netanyahu called Abbas to thank him.

In the Haifa Arab neighborhood of Kbabir, located just few minutes drive from the fires and home to a community of Ahmadiyya Muslims, Sheikh Muhammad Sharif Odeh opened up the local auditorium center to host 150 soldiers from Israels Home Front Command while the fires raged.

We have to put out the physical fires and we also have to put out the fire of hate, Odeh said. Allah is the one sovereign and we have to look after everyone. The ethnic mosaic (in Haifa) is strong, and politicians cant change the relations here.

The blazes were the most widespread in recent memory. In 2010, 42 people were killed in a blaze in the Carmel Forest outside of Haifa, but the wildfires were limited to one area.

In the Haifa neighborhood of Romema, Meir Berko crunched over a mess of charred wood, shards of glass and terra cotta from a destroyed second floor and looked down to the azure blue of Haifa bay. In a burned-out bedroom, a glass of tea with lemon was still sitting next to the bed after having been abandoned by his son as the fire approached from the pine trees below the house.

Your heart breaks because the life you built is gone. You have to rebuild and start over, Berko said. This is an act of terrorism. They knew about the winds. They waited for the weather. Jews would not do this. I hope its not Arabs from Haifa  it would undermine the coexistence here. We live in harmony.
LONDON  In Britain, Big Brother just got bigger.

After months of wrangling, Parliament has passed a contentious new snooping law that gives authorities  from police and spies to food regulators, fire officials and tax inspectors  powers to look at the internet browsing records of everyone in the country.

The law requires telecoms companies to keep records of all users' web activity for a year, creating databases of personal information that the firms worry could be vulnerable to leaks and hackers.

Civil liberties groups say the law establishes mass surveillance of British citizens, following innocent internet users from the office to the living room and the bedroom.

Tim Berners-Lee, the computer scientist credited with inventing World Wide Web, tweeted news of the law's passage with the words: "Dark, dark days."

The Investigatory Powers Bill  dubbed the "snoopers' charter" by critics  was passed by Parliament this month after more than a year of debate and amendments. It will become law when it receives the formality of royal assent next week. But big questions remain about how it will work, and the government acknowledges it could be 12 months before internet firms have to start storing the records.

"It won't happen in a big bang next week," Home Office official Chris Mills told a meeting of internet service providers on Thursday. "It will be a phased program of the introduction of the measures over a year or so."

The government says the new law "ensures powers are fit for the digital age," replacing a patchwork of often outdated rules and giving law-enforcement agencies the tools to fight terrorism and serious crime.

In a move taken by few other nations, it requires telecommunications companies to store for a year the web histories known as internet connection records  a list of websites each person has visited and the apps and messaging services they used, though not the individual pages they looked at or the messages they sent.

The government has called that information the modern equivalent of an itemized phone bill. But critics say it's more like a personal diary.

Julian Huppert, a former Liberal Democrat lawmaker who opposed the bill, said it "creates a very intrusive database."

"People may have been to the Depression Alliance website, or a marriage guidance website, or an abortion provider's website, or all sorts of things which are very personal and private," he said.

Officials won't need a warrant to access the data, and the list of bodies that can see it includes not just the police and intelligence services, but government departments, revenue and customs officials and even the Food Standards Agency.

"My worry is partly about their access," Huppert said. "But it's much more deeply about the prospects for either hacking or people selling information on."

James Blessing, chairman of the Internet Services Providers Association, said the industry has "significant questions" on how the law will work  including "how to keep the vast new data sets secure."

He warned that if the law is not implemented in a "proportionate, considered way, there is a real danger the U.K. could lose its status as a world-leading digital economy."

Some aspects of the new law remain clouded by secrecy. Not all internet companies will have to comply  only those that are asked to by the government. The government won't say who is on that list, and the firms involved are forbidden from telling their customers.

Service providers are also concerned by the law's provision that firms can be asked to remove encryption to let spies access communications. Internet companies say that could weaken the security of online shopping, banking and a host of other activities that rely on encryption.

The new law also makes official  and legal  British spies' ability to hack into devices and harvest vast amounts of bulk online data, much of it from outside the U.K. In doing so, it both acknowledges and sets limits on the secretive mass-snooping schemes exposed by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden.

The government says the law incorporates protections against intrusion, including an investigatory powers commissioner to oversee the system, and judges to scrutinize government-approved warrants to hack into electronic devices or look at the content of communications.

David Anderson, a lawyer who serves as Britain's independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said the new law "creates powerful new safeguards" and "achieves world-leading standards of transparency by putting on a detailed statutory basis all the powers which police and intelligence agencies already use."

Privacy groups battled to stop the new legislation, and now say they will challenge it in court. But public opposition has been muted, in part because the bill's passage through Parliament has been overshadowed by Britain's vote to leave the European Union and the upheaval that has followed.

Renate Samson, chief executive of the group Big Brother Watch, said it would take time for the full implications of the law to become clear to the public.

"We now live in a digital world. We are digital citizens," Samson said. "We have no choice about whether or not we engage online.

"This bill has fundamentally changed how we are able to privately and securely communicate with one another, communicate with business, communicate with government and live an online life. And that's a real, profound concern."

___

Follow Jill Lawless on Twitter at http://Twitter.com/JillLawless
We lost Fidel. We gained a history of examples and wisdom.

The story of Fidel is beyond words  we cannot describe it with words alone. So I would like to just give a testimony.

He used all his wisdom, knowledge, leadership, and dedication to build, over 60 years, a united and organized people, who have become invincible, faced with the most powerful economic and military forces of the 20th century: the capital of the United States.

For all those years the people have learned how to face the worst adversities, be they natural, like their hurricanes, storms, and lost harvests. They have faced an intolerable economic blockade. They have faced a permanent war, including a military invasion  the Bay of Pigs in 1961.

They have faced the difficulties of a society with limited production of material goods and a colonial heritage of extreme inequality, of slave labor, of sugarcane monoculture, and of cultural subservience.

They have faced the worst moments of a peripheral country subject to global geopolitics.

They have won all the battles.

They have built a society that adamantly pursues equal rights and opportunities for all the citizens.

They have overcome ignorance and become a country with the highest education level in the world.

They have created preventive, solidarity, and humanitarian medicine which has sent more than 60,000 doctors to just about all countries in the world, surpassing all the countries and international organizations combined. For us they have sent 14,000 doctors so that 44 million Brazilians could experience, for the first time, preventive, quality medical care.

They have always been in solidarity with all the peoples of the world who were fighting against oppression and exploitation, especially in Africa and Latin America.

Our movement, the Movement of Rural Landless Workers (MST), has received permanent solidarity and support of the Cuban people, with their technical schools, at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM), where hundreds of poor Brazilian youths have been trained. Our movement has acquired the experience and methods of adult literacy education (Yes, I Can!). Together we have built international links of movements: Via Campesina; the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA); the World Meeting of Popular Movements with the Pope; the Cuban peasants of the National Association of Small Farmers (ANAP) and the agroecology experts of the Cuban Association of Agriculture and Forestry Experts (ACTAF); the Federation of Cuban Workers (CTC); the Martin Luther King Center; etc. But above all we have learned a great deal from their exemplary struggle and persistence.

We have actively participated with the Cuban people in the campaign against the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas  ALCA in its Spanish acronym) and against the empires domination over Latin America.

And Fidel was always the organizer and inspiration for all the people.

It doesnt do, here and now, to keep extolling the personal qualities of this incomparable figure, of this statesman, sage, and political strategist.

I would just emphasize, for our activists, his example in two fundamental aspects of life. The love of study. Fidel was a permanent propagandist for the importance of study, scientific knowledge, and liberating education. He had constantly studied from youth till his last days. He used to always say, quoting his inspiration Jose Marti: Only knowledge truly liberates people.

He was always with his people, every moment, on the front line, in all difficult situations: in war, in the organization of production and knowledge. He spared no efforts and set an example of the spirit of sacrifice.

Fidel was a brilliant man because of his ideas and his consistency.

He left us a fantastic legacy, as an example to follow.

Viva Fidel! Fidel will live forever.

Sao Paulo, 26 November 2016

Joao Pedro Stedile is a founder of the Landless Workers Movement (MST). The original article was published under the title Uma historia que nao pode ser escrita com palavras . . . on the MST Web site on 26 November 2016. Translation by Yoshie Furuhashi of Movement Translation Service (contact: yoshie.furuhashi [at] gmail.com).




It's tough to point to just one thing that SCRaP does.

The nonprofit, officially called Share Create Reuse and Promote, can be summarized as a creative art center, said executive director Tammy Zemliska. This month, the organization graduated to a larger space on the edge of downtown Billings.

Zemliska wants to do moreeducation classes, art spaces and group meetingsnow that they've settled in at North 18th Street and Montana Avenue. She invites people to come in and see what they can make.

"This last year has been a whirlwind," Zemliska said. "The community has been hugely supportive."

SCRaP is equal parts community center, art space, recycle store, workshop and business incubator. It started a little over a year ago with the goal of a space for artists to create.

The Upscale Boutique, which features artist items and an array of recycled source material, appeared shortly thereafter. They've held classes like Pinterest Project Night.

"I believe the timing was right," Zemliska said about SCRaP's beginnings. "Billings needed something like this. It's a little unconventional."

With a short lease on SCRaP's initial location connected to the Montana Rescue Mission, she wasn't sure how the project would pan out, but it grew. And when the Rescue Mission experienced costly flooding earlier this year, Zemliska looked to move.

In early November, SCRaP began moving into a 30,000-square-foot industrial building on North 18th Street. They moved mountains of materials and held a soft opening on Small Business Saturday while still assembling the new space.

The SCRaP store is on the main level. The lower and upper floors contain art spaces, some for artists to rent, and workshop spaces, such as a woodworking area.

David McCauley, who runs marketing at SCRaP, said he initially got into the organization to open up a photography studio. He said he quickly latched onto the idea of "maker spaces."

"People just needed a shared space where they could come in and learn," he said.

A maker space is a shared area for artists, workshops, group meetings or anything else. The community model allows people to donate tools, materials and knowledge to others.

McCauley said that sometimes a new set of tools will show upleather work, for instanceand then SCRaP adds another line item to its offerings.

The SCRaP store on the main level is an anchor product of the nonprofit, but Zemliska said she wants to expand on the community programs. She wants to get equipment for welding, explore art space rentals, provide art classes for public school students and a list of other endeavors.

She said that SCRaP can be an incubator of sorts for freelance, art or other work.

"The real success is when we start sending some businesses out in the community," Zemliska said.
Soon there will be a few more places people can store their odds and ends in Butte.

This is because the folks at Christie Transfer & Storage Company  a moving, storage and docking-space-rental business at 610 E. Aluminum St. in Butte  are expanding their facility by 6,000 square feet.

Theres such a demand for storage right now, said business manager Brian Kester.

At the helm of it all is 94-year-old and business-owner John Harp Cote, who says that his other storage businesses, Tecumseh Lode Estates on Washington Street and Broadway Mini Storage, 333 E. Broadway St., are also operating at capacity.

But this isnt the first time that Christies, a 110-year-old business, has expanded.

When Kenneth Christie started the business in 1905 as Montana Transfer Co., it was a two-horse company.

At one time the business was an agent of the Mayflower Transit Company, and according to a company newsletter, when Christie launched operations in 1905, he started his company with two wagons and three horses.

I quit my milk route and severed all connections with the Crescent Creamery Christie said in an ad in the Butte Miner. I bought a horse named Watch from the Tom Lavelle stables. Watch has speed to burn so I can promise quick service on light loads. For the big dray, which I will drive myself, I have purchased a heavy team of horses from Centennial Brewing Company. The horses, Frank and Molly, are good on uphill pulls.

Throughout the decades, Christies continued to grow. In 1921, the business had a branch in Seattle and also had offices in Great Falls and Helena.

Christie passed away in 1952 after 47 years of service, and since then Christies has changed hands several times. About 30 years ago, Cote said, he purchased the company with a business partner, who he subsequently bought out.

Today, Cote says he doesnt plan on retiring anytime soon.

He said what keeps him coming to work each day is a need to stay active.

I like being busy. I always liked being busy, said Cote

But Christies isnt the first business Cote has owned and operated over the years.

A native of Butte, Cote said he tended bar at a Meaderville establishment when he was 22 years old.

It was wild, said Cote, noting that Butte was a lot busier when he purchased the bar, after the close of World War II.

When asked what he likes best about being an entrepreneur, he replied simply, working with the people.
Central Calcutta fundraiser Dec. 1

The annual Butte Central Catholic Schools Calcutta fundraiser will be held Thursday, Dec. 1, at the Butte Country Club. The event will begin at 6 p.m. with beverages and hors d'oeuvres, followed by the Calcutta at 7 p.m. Over $4,500 in cash prizes will be awarded during the event.

Proceeds will benefit Butte Central Catholic Elementary, Butte Central Catholic Junior High and Butte Central Catholic High School. Tickets are available by calling the Butte Central Development Office at 406-723-6706 or may be purchased at the door. All ticket buyers are eligible to win cash prizes and need not be present to win.

Holiday yoga fundraiser Dec. 5

The Rotary Club of Butte has partnered with local yoga instructor Christopher Borton to hold a holiday yoga event from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 5, at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 1621 Thornton Ave.

Proceeds go toward installation of a large spruce tree for the new green space Victory Circle at Park and Arizona streets.

The installation is under the direction of the Butte-Silver Bow Urban Forestry Board and will restore the holiday tradition of having a Christmas tree lit in Uptown Butte. In addition, the Rotary Club is selling raffle tickets for a drawing to be held immediately after the yoga class. If you want to help Rotary light the new Christmas tree for 2017, yoga registration and raffle tickets are available online at www.montanarotary.org or by calling David at 406-498-4139 or Mary Lou at 406-782-9783.

Benefit set for Brandi Bennett-Stajcar

A medical benefit for Brandi Bennett-Stajcar starts at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 9, in the Maroon Activities Center, 550 E. Mercury St. Brandi is fighting Stage 3 breast cancer.

The evening features live and silent auctions, raffle, no-host bar, and hors doeuvres. Details: Call Diane at 406-490-5436.

Library hosting family movie matinee

Beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 3, the Butte Public Library at 226 W. Broadway will host a family movie matinee in the childrens department. The matinee will continue through the winter.

Each week will be a new title (recent releases) as well as old favorites. Popcorn will be served and kids can cozy up on the oversized stuffed animals.

Retired educators dinner planned

ANACONDA  The December meeting of the Anaconda Retired Educators will be at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 14, at the Copper Village Art Center.

Dinner includes ham, scalloped potatoes, salad and dessert. The cost is $12 and reservations are required by Dec. 12. There is also a gift exchange. Details: 406-563-5066.

Bargain book sale starts Friday

The Butte Public Library will have its holiday bargain basement book sale Dec. 2-10, at 226 W. Broadway St. All basement books are $1 per bag. From Dec. 12-17, all basement books are free. Books on the first floor are priced as marked.

Sale commences during library open hours: Monday, Friday, and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

We offer the public a chance to buy our old, worn books and unwanted donations.

If you would like to donate books for the sale or possible addition to our collections, bring them to the circulation desk at the uptown branch.
Gov. Steve Bullock remains confident that he can secure legislative victories despite a Republican sweep of state and federal offices  other than his own.

While much of the nation feels the recent presidential election marks a significant shift in political and national culture, the newly reelected Bullock said he expects it to be business as usual in Helena when legislators return in January to set a two-year budget and consider new laws.

I dont anticipate much different dynamics than weve seen in the past, Bullock said in a Lee State Bureau interview about his legislative priorities for a second term.

Certainly, there are some folks that come to Helena and want to make it more about wins and losses in Helena than what were doing around the state, but by and large I think our legislators know that, especially in a 90-day period, weve got a lot of work to do and we ought to be focusing on getting that work done, he said.

Bullock continued to call for bipartisan collaboration even as he pushed for some proposals that have faced Republican opposition in the past. He listed his top priorities as funding infrastructure investments, establishing voluntary public preschool, tweaking regulations and incentives to promote a diversification of the states energy industries, expanding tax credits for apprenticeships, investing more in services that help keep seniors in their homes, expanding staff levels at Child and Family Services, establishing an office of outdoor recreation and advancing a paycheck transparency measure he hopes will help close the gender pay gap. He also has proposed three tax changes that he said will help keep the budget healthy.

While the governor said he sees his re-election as a sign that voters want more two-party problem solving, GOP legislative leaders have said they instead see the recent elections as a mandate to push harder for their agenda. Republican legislative leaders also have said they will keep campaign promises to pursue an investigation into why emails from Bullocks tenure as attorney general were deleted. Bullock said that effort would not stop him from working with legislators on other issues, a gesture he expected they will reciprocate.

The campaign is over, he said. Im optimistic that now our Legislature will actually look at whats at hand and be focused on things that Montanans expect, and thats continuing to be responsible with taxpayer dollars and move forward to make investments where we should.

Like most legislators, infrastructure investments top Bullocks list of priorities for the 2017 session.

In the 2013 session, Bullock vetoed an infrastructure funding bill for eastern Montana communities affected by the Bakken oil boom in order to keep $300 million in the bank for the states informal rainy day fund. In 2015, a bipartisan infrastructure bill died by one vote on the final day of the session because of concerns from some Republicans about the use of bonding rather than cash and specific projects they did not see as critical, such as a renovation of Montana State Universitys Romney Hall and the construction of a new Montana Historical Society building.

Bullocks 2017 Build Montana proposal suggests spending $292 million, about half of which will come from bonding for new state debt, on infrastructure and building projects around the state. It includes $25 million for Romney Hall, $19 million for the historical society project and $16.8 million for a new veterans home in Butte, as well as funding for major repairs at some schools. He has urged legislators to get the measure out of the way early in the session.

Lets make this the first thing, not the last thing, we get done because I think its an expectation of Montanans, he said.

Republican leaders have said they are opposed to anything beyond essential infrastructure like water and sewer. Bullock declined to say where he thought the bill might hit snags or what parts of his proposal would be open for compromise.

The details are what, at the end of the day, matter in addition to getting it done, he said. Until Ive actually sat down and worked with (legislative leaders), its tough to say exactly where the hard lines will be.

Many Republicans, wary of establishing new programs, had opposed Bullocks previous efforts to offer voluntary public preschool across the state. The governor has pointed out that nearly every other state has established some form of early childhood education funding, often at the behest of business leaders who point to the long term impacts on educational achievement and the economy. He said he is more hopeful for success this session, in part because of strategy changes on how to move the measure through the Legislature.

Last session it was part of the general budget bill. There wasnt a specific measure for folks to chew on and try to impact. We will be having a separate bill on that, Bullock said, also noting he worked with stakeholders to testify about the measures importance during the election and forthcoming session. Where some legislators mightve thought this was just my priority in the 2015 session, I think theyre seeing it is a priority of a lot more people than just me.

The budget Bullock proposed earlier this month leverages targeted agency spending cuts, most of which do not require legislative approval, as well as three new tax proposals to pay for some of the new initiatives even as state revenues have come in slower than predicted the last two years.

One would create a new income tax bracket for those earning more than $500,000, taxing them at 7.9 percent rather than 6.9 percent, the current maximum rate. Bullock has argued it is not fair that someone earning close to minimum wage would pay the same rate as the states top earners.

He also has proposed two new consumption taxes. One would extend the states cigarette taxes to liquids sold for electronic cigarettes. Another would tax the sale of medical marijuana at 6 percent, which has drawn criticism from some as an unfair taxation of medicine. Bullock defended both taxes, noting that while he is talking to stakeholders about the medical marijuana tax he thinks it can be a fair tax.

The consumption taxes are just a reasonable way to maintain stability in our overall revenue stream, he said.

Republicans have broadly opposed new or expanded taxes.

Bullock also has suggested a handful of changes to tax credits that could save some Montanans or businesses money. They include a tax credit for working Montanans, an expanded credit for businesses who purchase new equipment and increased credits for employers who offer apprenticeships, especially to veterans.

Wholesale, we have a fairly modernized system, Bullock said, calling his tax proposals reasonable tweaks.
WHITEFISH  An anti-discrimination group appears to be distancing Whitefish from Richard Spencer, at the same time Spencer told the Missoulian he would probably be putting some distance between himself and the ski resort community.

The white nationalist and alt-right movement leader most recently made national news last weekend with shouts of Hail Trump! Hail our people! Hail victory! as he and his followers  some of whom responded with Nazi-like salutes  celebrated, in Washington, D.C., the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States.

Trump disavowed their support afterward.

Spencer, president of a white supremacist think tank called the National Policy Institute, is often identified in news stories as a resident, or part-time resident, of Whitefish.

We want to get the message out that we dont embrace his rhetoric, Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld said after Love Lives Here distributed a news release designed to counteract the Richard Spencer news coverage and communicate that the community of Whitefish does not ascribe to his views.

We dont want our community to have the stigma of discrimination attached to it, Muhlfeld said Friday, because nothing could be further from the truth.

The mayor pointed to a broadly backed 2014 resolution passed by the City Council to celebrate the dignity, diversity and inclusion of all its inhabitants and visitors, and condemn ideologies, philosophies and movements that deny equality of human rights and opportunities, and challenge our Constitutional freedoms.

The resolution was followed several months later by the passage of an anti-discrimination ordinance.

Spencer told the Missoulian Friday he has been spending less and less time in Whitefish, where his parents live, and more in Arlington, Virginia, where he has an apartment and where the National Policy Institute is located.

Itll probably be a lot less time (in Whitefish) in 2017, Spencer said. Ive long thought that, as my movement grows, it makes sense for me to be on the East Coast, in Washington, D.C.

The alt-right, a term Spencer says he coined, has rocketed into prominence with Trumps election, and the president-elects appointment of Stephen Bannon as his senior adviser and chief strategist. Bannon was executive chairman of Breitbart News, credited with giving a much wider platform for the alt-right to spread its message.

Spencer said he last considered himself a full-time Whitefish resident in 2012 or 2013, and has split his time between Montana and Virginia since.

Ill always come back to Montana because I love it, said Spencer, who was born in Boston and raised in Texas. The people are extremely nice, except for the ones who claim to be dedicated to love.

Love Lives Here, founded in 2009 in response to screenings of pro-Hitler films by a white separatist group called Kalispell Pioneer Little Europe, used Fridays news release to quote the mayor, business leaders and councilman Frank Sweeney, who sponsored the anti-discrimination resolution.

I was very proud of Whitefish that day, Sweeney says in the release. The chamber was packed with people and citizen after citizen spoke out in favor of the measure.

Spencer said he was perfectly fine with the citys efforts to disassociate itself from him.

I imagine most people in Whitefish dont agree with me, he said.

Spencer, in a telephone interview Friday, said a week after his Hail Trump speech he is now worried that a Trump administration will become the Mitt Romney administration that never was.

The alt-right has no army Trump can call upon, Spencer said. Mainstream Republicans do.

He is pleased by Trumps appointments of Bannon, Gen. Michael Flynn as national security advisor and the nomination of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., as attorney general, Spencer said.

But Im basically skeptical about all the rest of them, he added. Its incumbent upon me to be critical of Trump now, and keep pushing him in the right direction.

Which is?

I hope that Donald Trump will be the first step toward identity politics, and the creation of a European homeland, Spencer said.

Ina Albert, a co-founder of Love Lives Here, said its distressing to see Trumps election put Spencer  and his connection to Whitefish  in the national spotlight.

We fought so hard two years ago (for the anti-discrimination resolution) when he first reared his head, Albert said.

But, she added, separatism can only grow if the soil is receptive to prejudice. Truth, love and kindness will always win out if our community can find ways to accept and validate each others liberties and freedoms.

To that end, Love Lives Here is encouraging Whitefish businesses to display Love Lives Here signs in their storefronts to demonstrate their support of a diverse and unified community based on mutual respect.

The group will also take part in the annual Whitefish Christmas Stroll on the evening of Dec. 9, with a 7 p.m. event at 100 Central Ave.

Celebrate the Light will honor the fact that for only the fourth time in the past century, Christmas and Hanukkah will fall on the same day.
It seemed appropriate on Small Business Saturday that one expanding downtown Billings business and another planned venture got a boost toward their goals.

The Pub Station and Get Juiced won in separate categories of the first-time Battle of the Plans competition. Rocky Mountain College senior Audrey Henderson took top honors in the college student classification.

After months of competition that launched in February with 40 entrants, more than 50 people showed up Saturday morning at MoAV Coffee House to learn the names of the winners. The event was emceed by Lisa Harmon, executive director of the Downtown Billings Alliance, which organized the competition.

The contest was done in collaboration with the Big Sky Economic Development Small Business Development Center, Montana State University Billings and Rocky Mountain College.

The Battle of the Plans was designed to support small business and bring new and expanding businesses to downtown Billings, Harmon told the enthusiastic crowd.

During the contest's first phase, potential and expanding businesses submitted a one-page synopsis about opening or growing a business in the downtown area, Harmon said. In round two, contestants attended sessions detailing how to write a business plan, handle financing, hire employees and deal with human relations issues. They also developed business plans.

Forty proposals were pared down to 17, and then to nine. The finalists were invited to present their business plans to a panel on Nov. 25 in a Shark Tank-like setting, where they also answered questions posed by a panel of judges.

The finalists included: Storks and Kangaroos, This House of Books, Vintage Apothecary, Something Chic, Yellowstone Biking and Get Juiced in the new business category; Meow Salon/Boutique and the Pub Station in the expansion category; and BR Brewing & Canning in the college category.

Before announcing the winners, Harmon pointed out that every entrant already had come out ahead.

This group has worked and stretched and grown, she said. The beautiful thing is they all have their business plans in their hands. They know how to go in front of people and talk about their plans, and I think they have been given a very realistic view of what it means to open a business or propel their business downtown.

The new business category, with six finalists, was difficult to decide, Harmon said. Vintage Apothecary and This House of Books already have opened stores downtown, she added.

It definitely came down to projections and financial feasibility, sustainability and job creation, Harmon said.

Get Juiced, which already has one location open at 24th Street West and Broadwater Avenue, easily met all the criteria. That includes the three to four employees who will be hired when the store opens and an eventual goal of 10 workers.

With one year of rent paid for, memberships in different downtown Billings organizations, mentoring specific to their industry and advertising, the prize package Get Juiced will receive is valued at more than $20,000.

Janet Jones, co-owner of Get Juiced with Nicole Griffith, accepted the top prize with store manager Brian Speasl. Success in their present location spurred them to consider opening a second shop.

Weve had so many people wanting us to do another store in another part of town, its something we just knew we were going to do, Jones said. And then when this Battle of the Plans came up, we got involved in that.

The hope is to open the newest location next spring, Speasl said. Jones added that the intense process the contest involved will situate them well for the future.

We learned a lot about the direction we wanted to go and just knowing where we are at this point in time and that we could do this, she said.

In the expansion category, the Pub Station was chosen for a prize package valued at over $15,000.

The winner in this category is really an economic engine in downtown and has really changed the face of downtown, Harmon said, before announcing the name.

That the expansion will add six new employees was big with the judges, she said.

After the Pub Station opened in November 2014, it beat its projections for the first year, Harmon said.

They live, work and breathe downtown and have made such an investment in it, she said.

The Pub Stations expansion will increase its capacity to 800, which doubles its present space. That will also allow the business to rent space out to larger gatherings.

Ann Kosempa, who owns and runs the business with her husband, Scott Lynch, said participating in the contest was helpful. It gave her and Lynch the chance to network, and also guided her through issues related to expanding the space.

Our business has a lot of complex parts and one of the biggest things I learned doing this competition was that it really helped me narrow down only to our expansion and zero in on the pieces that I didnt necessarily think about before, she said. It was great.

In the college category, numerous proposals were submitted, Harmon said. Only one, from Henderson, made it to the finals and for that, she received $5,000.

The judges were so impressed with her business plan and her projections," Harmon said. "She nailed it in her presentation, taking every question that the judges asked.

Henderson will graduate this semester with a degree in small business operations and a minor in accounting. She created the business plan for a potential investor.

Business professor Scott Severance asked his small business operations class to take an idea pitched to him by a potential investor and run with it. The business, dubbed BR Brewing & Canning, would provide equipment and space for breweries to create and can new beers.

Henderson eventually took over the project, writing the business plan. As much as she learned in the classroom, Henderson said the hands-on project took her to another level.

Should the plan become a reality, shed be interested in sticking with it.

If this goes forward, Id love to continue doing it, Henderson said. Its become a small passion of mine on the side, this particular business.
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 []
Last week, the Yellowstone County attorney's office filed the 454th case of the year to protect local kids who had been abused or neglected in their own homes. That's as many abuse and neglect cases as in all 12 months of 2015.

Statewide, 3,369 children are in the foster care system because of such abuse or neglect, according to the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

As those numbers have grown in the past few years, local and state leaders, judges, social workers and other citizens have reached out to help these kids heal and stay safe.

How much better it would be to prevent the hurt from happening in the first place. With complaints of child abuse rising, Montana must do better on prevention.

That is the purpose of the Family Tree Center, a private, nonprofit organization at 2529 Fifth Ave. S. Family Tree Center is best known for Festival of Trees, its major annual fundraiser, which will be held Thursday through Saturday at the MetraPark Expo Center. In this happy season, it is sobering to consider the work Family Tree does all year long.

Sponsored by Billings Breakfast, Downtown and Heights Exchange Clubs, Family Tree is nationally accredited as an Exchange Club child abuse prevention center. It primarily serves families with children from birth through age 12.

Services are available to anyone in the community who needs them, and are provided at no charge. Help can start as early as when newborns go home from the hospital. A mentoring aide will make home visits on request and assist new parents with information and child care tips.

Family Tree executive director Stacy Dreessen's dream is to have home visits available to all new parents in Billings. That dream is moving closer to reality through the Best Beginnings coalition led by United Way of Yellowstone County.

Family Tree services include parenting classes and respite child care during weekdays so parents can go to appointments while the kids are safely supervised. With the addition this year of a second child care room, this service has a capacity of 20 children.

Also new this year is Voices of Incarceration, an eight-week program for parents leaving prison. The "voices" include presentations by children whose parents were incarcerated, and adults who cared for children of inmates. The program is designed to help parents re-enter the community, rebuild relationships and plan for reunification with children. They also receive home visits from a trained parent aide.

Family Tree has a full-time program at Montana Women's Prison that includes seven classes for moms. Family Tree staff members supervise visits between inmates and their children in a family room that includes a kitchen, living room and outdoor play area. The Montana Department of Corrections contracts for the in-prison services. Family Tree also provides counseling for pregnant inmates, accompanies them to the hospital for the birth and provides post-natal mentoring.

The services of Family Tree have been proven effective at reducing the risk of child harm. Parents who received home newborn visits were less likely to abuse the child. Parents who have access to respite care are less likely to lose control when they are with the kids.

Family Tree offers free workshops to classes and community groups on important topics such as childhood trauma and preventing sexual abuse of children.

"Prevention costs $1 for every $10 spent on intervention after abuse, Dreessen said. Prevention saves money and human costs."

"Our limitation on serving more children is getting the money for more staffing," she said.

That brings us back to this week's Festival of Trees. With 30 beautiful, imaginatively decorated Christmas trees, children's activities, music and a craft show, you can have fun while doing a lot of good.
An acute water crisis, similar to the electricity shortage which led to load shedding, is looming in South Africa.

A Rapport investigation into the water crisis in South Africa revealed that water-shedding is now a possibility for the country.

According to the report, there are numerous factors which led to the dire water situation:

South Africas dam building programme is a decade behind schedule.

Faulty pumps are resulting in the loss of great amounts of water.

Leaks and poor water infrastructure leads to a tremendous loss of water each year.

Poor or dysfunctional sewage plants result in large amounts of sewage flowing into rivers and dams.

According to the newspaper, there are now 1,100 fewer functional rain meters in the country than in 1970.

This clearly shows the governments dont-care attitude towards the water crisis, said the experts.

Water restrictions are likely to continue in many areas in the country, including Cape Town and Gauteng.

Now read: Water recovered from urine to make Belgian beer
In the current South African communications context disruptions can have both negative and positive outcomes.

Cell Cs introduction of WiFi Calling enabled a simple and cost efficient way to extend operator voice coverage and introduced a more affordable way to communicate when travelling abroad.

Technically it may not be a major breakthrough, as it has been around for some years, but it certainly is a great marketing initiative.

Will a small operator line Cell C disrupt the others in the major league? It is doubtful, but its a good try.

The first disruption was the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)s announcement of the spectrum auction.

Then came an even bigger disruption, the interdict by Siyabonga Cwele, Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) applying to the courts to halt the auction.

ICASA has not taken it lying down but has vowed to fight the interim interdict when the case returns to the courts.

The ICASA auction announcement had another positive reaction: it propelled the minister to get cabinet to approve the National Integrated ICT Policy which had been sitting with them for over seven months, never mind that it is already several years overdue.

It is difficult to understand the procrastination, as President Jacob Zuma has in two successive years spoken about the importance of broadband in his state of the nation address.

Did government not make the connection between the policy and requirement for spectrum? Or were there other forces at play?

We now have a policy that has set the cat among the pigeons. Creating a wireless open access network (OAN) is an absurd proposal.

It has not worked anywhere in the world. The Minister Cwele cited Mexico and Rwanda as examples of countries where it was successfully implemented. Hardly examples on which to build our future broadband network.

Who would run such a network? In a media statement the minister suggested a consortium consisting of entities such as current holders of electronic communication services and electronic communication network licences, infrastructure companies, private equity investors, SMMEs, internet service providers, over the top players and mobile virtual network operators.

Who in their right mind would believe that current network operators will open their networks and hand back their allocated spectrum to a consortium? Who is advising the minister ? He in fact a medical practitioner and confesses that he is not a communications expert.

The white paper received mixed responses. Some were carefully worded but ending with a number of concerns. Perhaps ICASAs response was the most significant when CEO, Col. Pakamile Pongwana said the proposals would take South Africa back to 1994 when the country had one monopoly, and that creating it again makes no sense.

This was as a result of the minister in one of his addresses saying that Telkom would be the company to manage a national broadband network.

However this was retracted shortly afterwards. Maybe it was not just a slip of the tongue?

After the release of the white paper a two day symposium was held to discuss the way forward and to look at what legislation had to be amended.

On the heels of the symposium Minister Cwele appointed a new director general, former ICASA councillor Robert Nkuna who is no stranger to the industry. He takes over from Rosey Sekese, who left under a cloud earlier in 2016.

Nkuna was part of the panel that worked on the National Integrated ICT Policy white paper. He has two major tasks: to get DTPS working again and make sensible decisions around the new but flawed policy.

As we enter another year we can expect more disruption; there is still the question of open internet. How open will it remain? Do we really want or need more government intervention? Let ICASA and industry work it out!

Source: EngineerIT
PARADISE  Its just another day in Paradise for cowboy John Thompson, whose ranch is a corral squeezed between Montana Highway 200 and the railroad tracks that built this small town.

On this day, Thompson  you can call him Jonie T.  is locked in a battle of wits with Geronimo, a half-thoroughbred, half quarter horse that Jonie T. says was abused.

Geronimo has accepted a saddle, but has other ideas about letting Jonie T. sit in it, and dances in circles to get away from his 68-year-old trainer.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Thompson repeats, turning round and round with Geronimo. The horse finally obeys, and Thompson carefully eases his boot into a stirrup, and himself onto the animal.

A month ago he bucked me eight feet in the air, Thompson says. Hes come a long ways.

So, too, has Jonie T., who is pretty sure horses saved his life.

Hes just trying to return the favor.

Locomotives to one side of the corral, and vehicle traffic on Highway 200 on the other, make this a nosier operation than you might expect, but its a patriotic one. In a circular pen built inside the corral, two American flags fly high over everything.

My goal is to take all the fear out of a flight animal, Thompson says. What better place than somewhere that 17 trains a day go by on one side, and has a busy highway with logging trucks and semis with jake brakes on the other?

Here at his corral flanked by trains and automobiles, Jonie T. will happily part with his philosophies, and his life story, to the willing listener.

Im an all-American cowboy, he announces as he zips chaps over his jeans. I live by the cowboy tradition. Thats respect, trust and honor. Im praying our country gets back to those, but unfortunately those words are dying, just like the true cowboy is.

Thompson says he wont set foot on a machine with four wheels when a horse with four legs can do the job, and that no self-respecting cowboy would.

You might expect, then, that it would be the music of Hank Williams or George Jones that Thompson listens to, but out of the open doors on his GMC pickup, its Fat Bottomed Girls by the British rock band Queen that is playing on the radio.

I listen to classic rock n roll, Thompson says unapologetically.

So, too, do the other horses in the corral  Sundance Cree, Shadow Dancer and Pawnee Joe  who sidle up to the corral fence when Thompson arrives.

Pawnee Joe, hes my Jughead, Thompson says. Hes been my therapy. Him and Sundance Cree are the two horses that brought me back to reality.

In his life, Jonie T. says he has worked on oil rigs, in a meat-packing plant, on a railroad section crew, as a ranch hand and on on-call jobs. Hes been married four times, divorced that many, and has seven children and 13 grandchildren to show for the unions.

Forty-five years ago, this was a whiskey-drinking cowboy, he says. Quart and a half a day. Two guys out of the Libby AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) told me, You keep doing what youre doing youre gonna die. 

Born in Havre, Jonie T. says he was a Hi-Line brat, which he defines as half-breeds (hes part Chippewa-Cree) and full-bloods. I ran from Malta to Browning with a wild bunch.

His time on the Hi-Line was interrupted by high school, when his family moved to Sanders County and Thompson enrolled at nearby Plains High School.

I graduated in 1967, and I swore to God Id never come back to this town, Thompson says, a promise he kept for almost 40 years.

But things have a way of changing. When he did return to live with his mother, Loretta, he brought Sundance Cree and Pawnee Joe  and, he freely admits, mental health issues  with him.

But booze was no longer a part of his baggage.

That (AA) program put a cork in the bottle and helped me walk away, Thompson says. Its given me my life back. I told those two fellers in Libby, some day Im going to do what youve done for me, but Ill do it for horses.

The day he returned to Sanders County 10 years ago, I unloaded my horses down by the river, and knew I was home, he says. This is, truly, paradise.

About five years ago his mental health counselor put Thompson in touch with the Montana Vocational Rehabilitation and Blind Services, a part of the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services.

The agency helped Thompson pursue his dream  to one day operate a rescue ranch for horses that also offers equine therapy for children with autism and other disabilities  by getting his horse-training business up and running.

"I just want the ranch before I'm 90," he says. "I tell my grandkids, 'Don't ever stop believing.' It took me a whole lifetime."

Hes trained 60 horses in the last three to four years, Thompson says, using the philosophy that you break the horse, not the spirit.

Its called push and release, Thompson says. You push the horse to its limit, have them face their fears and let them run with it. Then you walk them through it, replacing the pain with something thats loving and respectable. I had one guy tell me, Youre not a horse whisperer. Youre a horse psychiatrist.

Things have gone well, he says, just not always on the financial side. Like most horse people, Jonie T. has a soft spot for abused or neglected horses, and he sometimes has to borrow money from his mother to feed ones he takes in.

A couple of years ago when he went to buy hay from his supplier in Trout Creek, he saw two sickly horses hanging around.

They were the walking dead, he says. Nothing but bones with skin hanging off them. Couldnt have weighed more than 265 pounds.

When he asked his hay supplier whose horses they were, the man said, Hopefully, yours. Somebody dropped them off in the middle of the night.

What are you going to do if I dont take them? Thompson says he asked.

Theyll be destroyed, Thompson says he was told.

So Shadow Dancer and Cheyenne Autumn came home to Paradise with Jonie T, joining Sundance Cree, Pawnee Joe and whatever client horses have been around. He says hes spent more than $8,000 caring for the rescue animals, and recently sold Cheyenne Autumn to a friend.

I say sold, but I havent gotten any money for him yet, Thompson says. Thats OK, because I know he has a good home. Im not into it to get rich. If I can help a horse, especially an abused horse, Ill do it. I get rich in the rewards I can see in the horses.

Thompson says a Lakota Sioux Indian in North Dakota taught him the mustang way of breaking a horse and one day Ill run into a mustang I can use it on.

It begins, he says, with getting a horse in a pen, tying a rope around its neck, and letting the animal run until its had enough.

Just let him run till hes done, and focuses on me, Jonie T. says. Then Ill walk with them, say Whoa and well stop. Take a step back, stop. Go forward, stop.

Its a long process, and every horse is different.

Thompson had 40 hours of work into one animal, and I still couldnt get him to face whatever was bothering him, he says. I told my mom one morning, Today is the day I finish that horse.

He got on the horse in the smaller pen, then rode him into the larger corral to take him around barrels located there.

I got him around one time, but the second time he took off, Thompson says. I dropped the reins and raked him with my spurs, and we just went flying west. The fence was getting closer and closer and I knew I had to get him to turn or wed both go through the barbed wire.

But when the horse turned, It was at a 90-degree angle, Thompson goes on. I lost my balance, grabbed the saddle horn, and it snapped. When my weight shifted the horse knew he had his chance, and he bucked me into the barbed wire fence, then (kicked) me with all 900 pounds.

Someone who had pulled up near the highway to watch the scene called out to ask Thompson if he was OK.

I said, Yeah, I just got a horse to finish, Thompson says. I grabbed the lead rope, got him back in the round pen, put my spurs in his backside and he ran and ran till he couldnt run no more. When he finally tired out and put his neck down I come up to him and said, You done?

And only then, Thompson says, did he notice that his boots were blood red and he was bleeding like a cut turkey. He drove himself to Clark Fork Valley Hospital in Plains, where he was stabilized and transported to St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula.

But he was back at work as soon as possible, because this is where he loves to be.

I wish I had patience with people like I do horses, Thompson says.

If youre looking for a Thanksgiving angle to this story, there isnt one, at least not beyond the fact that Jonie T. is ever so thankful he gets to spend his days with horses.

But you know, for a cowboy, thats enough.
BUTTE  A year ago, couple Theresa McLaughlin and Ken Wheeler were living in their 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It was 19 degrees below zero on the coldest day that November.

We had the windows all plastic-ed up, said McLaughlin. They piled on the blankets in an attempt to keep warm.

For three cold weeks they lived in the Jeep then eventually found a motel room.

We got some help getting into Eddys Motel, then thats how we learned about the program, and we got some help from Steve Fournier, said Wheeler.

People at Action Inc., formerly known as the Human Resources Council, heard of their plight and moved fast to get them living quarters.

Fournier, lead service advocate for 15 years at Action Inc., initially intervened at Eddys, where Action Inc. drops off complimentary lunches weekly for those staying there and struggling to stabilize their living situation.

We do that for the few that can afford to stay there with their disability income, Fournier said. Thats part of our outreach. But most of our referrals are walk-ins and by word of mouth.

By Dec. 23, when temperatures in Butte reached 5 below, McLaughlin and Wheeler were in a cozy apartment, part of a 120-year-old duplex in Uptown.

With help from the federal Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program, Action Inc. paid the couples first months rent and deposit to give the couple a much-needed roof over their heads right away. After that, the couple took on the rent payments.

This has been our first year of our Rapid Re-Housing Program, said Action Inc. director Margie Seccomb. We used to run Homeward Bound, transitional housing that was reallocated to Rapid Re-Housing.

Now we can get people directly into a permanent housing situation instead of a temporary place. The transitional (concept) is out of vogue with the federal government.

They were our lifeline, said Wheeler.

Action Inc. officials say a person with disabilities and a track record of employment can potentially qualify for Rapid Re-Housing. (See sidebar.)

But we dont get any records of what their disabilities are, said Fournier. Its not a requirement of the grant to get those records.

On disability

McLaughlin and Wheeler have been together for 11 years.

Having lived all over the country with her family since age 2, McLaughlin, 36, finally landed in Anaconda in 1999. Her grandmother raised her.

McLaughlin has multiple disabilities that have kept her from working her entire life.

Ive had scoliosis since I was 13, said McLaughlin, and bursitis in my hip and a few learning disabilities.

Learning to read and spell and managing her anxiety while in a group setting are obstacles for her. But now she knows how she learns.

I learn differently from others, she said. They didnt understand in school why I couldnt keep up. Now they know that I learn hands-on, by doing.

Wheeler, 49, having previously worked full time at a bacon processing plant in Missoula, lived out of his car because the cost of rent was so high  until the Salvation Army landed him an affordable apartment in the Rattlesnake area.

He suffers from Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy, a sudden loss of vision that forced him to quit work and go on disability. He also has hip problems.

To compensate, he and McLaughlin are big into arts and crafts, namely art pieces and Christmas decorations that light up. Both well spoken, they are grateful for their astonishing good luck since Action Inc. gave them hope.

Yet much of their time is spent caregiving for others: Wheeler cares for his aging parents with health issues of their own. McLaughlin took care of her beloved grandmother, Juanita Rhoades, in Anaconda up until her death last summer.

We had been through a lot with her, said Wheeler.

Emotional year

The year 2016 has been a big one for them in other ways, as McLaughlin found her birth mother in New Mexico and connected with her.

Now enjoying their two-bedroom apartment, McLaughlin and Wheeler are anxious to host their nieces and nephews, since they dont have children. They appreciate how their Whitehall-based landlords have worked closely with them since they moved in.

They did a lot of remodeling, said McLaughlin, light from a large west-facing window shining on her face.

I love the storage, she added of the built-in china cabinet with space for a historic pull-out bed underneath.

After experiencing so many emotional roller coasters in the course of a year, the couple seems happy, settled, and  above all  grateful.

Without Action Inc., we wouldnt have made it, Wheeler said. We were ashamed and embarrassed to ask for help. Theres help out there, but you have to look for it.

Added McLaughlin, smiling and relaxed in a comfy recliner sofa: Never be afraid. Keep the hope.
For the last 13 weeks, 20 other people and I have sat in classrooms together, shot guns together, and even oohed and aahed at police dogs together. We were the 11th class of the Napa County Sheriff Citizens Academy.

For many people, the experience was life-changing  giving them not only opportunities to do things they had never thought of, but also giving a new perspective on what goes into law enforcement.

The experience wasnt for everyone. A few stragglers who couldnt commit to Wednesday night after Wednesday night or who werent interested in the material dropped out within the first few weeks.

The remaining students well, we bonded.

I enjoyed meeting people that I would otherwise probably never encounter in my hum-drum everyday life, said Linda Leonard, Citizens Academy graduate.

I love the bonding and relationship I personally feel we all achieved between our police officers and our class, said Beth Marcus, the sole student from American Canyon.

During the final few classes, a few of us students even discussed having a reunion after the New Year.

Leonard and fellow classmate Alejandro Alex Ojeda even realized that they were neighbors.

She gives my son crackers, said Ojeda during graduation on Nov. 9.

But it wasnt all socializing all the time. During our 13 sessions, we learned  from the Sheriffs perspective  about the departments hiring process, what other services are available at the department, about the Problem Oriented Policing Program, what the SWAT team does, about local narcotics trends and busts, about crime scene processing, use of force, search and rescue and toured the jail and dispatch center.

Students didnt just listen to the presenters, who ranged in ranks and responsibilities, but they also questioned them.

Have you ever had an aha moment like on TV? Carolyn Hamilton asked evidence specialists during the Oct. 19 session, which included a tour of the crime scene lab and a lesson in fingerprinting.

A survey of classmates revealed that one of the most popular classes was the SWAT team demonstration.

Training with the SWAT team was something I never in a million years ever thought of doing, Hamilton said. It was not on my bucket list. Although she said she didnt even know there was a SWAT Team in Napa County, the experience of getting introduced to the tools and weapons they use and shooting alongside them at the range was one of her most memorable experiences from the class.

That experience will stay with me forever, she said.

The flash-bang demonstration was a great experience, as was shooting the firearms, Marcus said.

Another impactful session for the students was experiencing the use-of-force simulator. Students would interact with a video  depicting a possible scenario deputies could encounter  yelling at possibly dangerous people to put their weapons down, put their hands up or step away from the girl. Students had to choose within just a few seconds whether or not use a firearm, pepper spray or baton on the person.

It was enlightening to watch other classmates make decisions that, in real life, would have had dire consequences, said Leonard, who opted out of the activity.

Vic Connell said that simulator experience was one of his favorite activities because it demonstrated little time deputies have to make important life-threatening or saving decisions.

Although informative, all the sessions had some humor in them, thanks to the students and thanks to the organizer, Deputy Pete Berg.

Pete Bergs remarkable dedication to make this class over-the-top awesome was so apparent in every aspect of the class, Hamilton said.

That Pete! He really made things fun and enjoyable each and every week, added Nikole M. Bianchi.

But Berg more than organized the classes and kept conversations going. He tried to keep things in perspective.

We ultimately work for you, he said during the first session on Aug. 31. I think sometimes we forget that.

I play just a small part in the program, Berg said last week.

The whole point of the program, he said, is to show the community the inner workings of the Sheriffs Office and bridge the gap between deputies, residents and workers.

As law enforcement agencies face increased scrutiny in their practices and procedures, Berg said that the Napa County Sheriff Citizens Academy is a great opportunity for the department to show people how they handle challenging situations.

The next class is expected to be offered next fall. Those interested should call 707-253-4504 or visit countyofnapa.org/Sheriff/CitizensAcademy.
A Michigan man was arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of a 44-year-old Hispanic man in a Sonoma County jurisdiction of Calistoga on Thursday.

Although medical aid was provided at the scene on the 16000 block of Highway 128, the alleged assault victim died from his injuries, according to the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office.

Arent Daniel Julius Bradt, 33, of Port Huron, Michigan, was located nearby and arrested on suspicion of murder, the Press Democrat reported. A knife suspected to have been used in the stabbing was also found, the news agency said.

Bradt is currently being held at the Sonoma County Sheriff's Office Main Adult Detention Facility in Santa Rosa. He is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon.

Multiple attempts to reach the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office have gone unanswered.

The Calistoga Police and the Napa County Sheriffs Office both denied any involvement with the case on Friday. The Sonoma County Sheriffs Office is investigating.
It's one of America's most enduring mysteries - the only unsolved hijacking of a commercial airliner in the country's history: Who was the man known as "D.B. Cooper" who took control of a Northwest Orient jet shortly before Thanksgiving in 1971 and parachuted out with $200,000?

On Thanksgiving Day, a website founded by the author of the most authoritative book on Cooper released hundreds of FBI investigative documents related to the case. Geoffrey Gray, author of "Skyjack" and founder of the online magazine True Ink, will publish dozens of documents showing the FBI's interviews with the passengers and crew of the flight, and its assessment of the physical evidence. The magazine will release a second group of documents in a couple of weeks and a third and final release before the end of the year. By the end of 2016, True Ink will have disseminated hundreds of FBI papers on the Cooper case.

"We're opening up everything we have to the public, and we need help solving the case," Gray said.

Where did the files come from?

Gray, who talked to current and former law enforcement officials for his 2011 book, said he obtained the documents through people he interviewed. He wasn't able to pore through every page, and he's hoping that True Ink readers will sign up for access, type up their notes into the magazine's interactive project and eventually find new information to identify the hijacker.

The case has spawned legions of "Cooperites" - self-appointed citizen sleuths and investigators who have called the FBI with tips and various theories about Cooper's real identity.

It all began Nov. 24, 1971, when a man who gave the name "Dan Cooper" bought a ticket on a Northwest Orient flight from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle. As the plane took off, Cooper gave an attendant a note saying he possessed a bomb and then demanded $200,000. After the plane landed in Seattle, the passengers got off safely and the cash was brought aboard, but the crew stayed.

Cooper ordered the flight to head to Mexico, but as the jet flew over a forest in Washington state, the plane's back staircase opened and he jumped out with the money strapped to his body. He was never found. Law enforcement authorities had an artist draw up a now-famous portrait, known as the "Bing Crosby" sketch, showing a man in dark horn-rimmed sunglasses and suit.

Numerous suspects made headlines - more than a 1,000 were looked at - but none were ever charged with the crime. The bureau has also never ruled out that the hijacker could have been killed upon landing in the forest. The biggest lead came in 1980 when a family happened upon $5,800 in cash whose serial numbers matched the money that had been given to Cooper.

This summer, there was a burst of Cooper news. The History channel aired a documentary about a group of investigators who believed they had found their man: Robert "Bob" W. Rackstraw, a Vietnam War veteran and explosives expert who has over the years teased the public with denials and non-denials that he is Cooper. (He now insists that he is not.) The other development: The FBI officially closed the case.

Gray said his documents are voluminous. But they don't delve into the bureau's investigations of specific suspects.

"This is the real stuff. These are internal reports and actual investigative documents that the bureau used to investigate the case," Gray said. "There's so many files and so much information I thought it would be helpful to have all this out there so people can find things I missed."
Moore Engineering aids food bank

Moore Engineering Inc. and its employees donated $9,000 to the Great Plains Food Bank as part of Moores monthlong celebration of employee ownership. The donation was more than 40 percent greater than the previous year.
He said neither corruption nor black money will end with demonetisation, which will, on the other hand, inconvenience all sections of society due to lack of planning.

Speaking after launching 25-odd projects in Agra, the Chief Minister said: "(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi-ji talks of Digital India and banking through mobile phones, but it is our party (Samajwadi Party that distributes laptops and have now announced smartphones. Already one crore people have registered for the devices."

Taking a dig at Bahujan Samaj Party supremo and former Chief Minister Mayawati, Akhilesh said: "The expressway we built is good enough for fighter planes to land and take off. The one built by her landed a whole lot of farmers in jails and led to lathi-charges."

Claiming that his government was firmly committed to protect the environment, Akhilesh Yadav said the Prime Minister had done nothing for protecting rivers.

The Chief Minister released a book on Taj Mahal -- A Romance in Verse by Dr Ram Singh -- and a coffee table book on the occasion.

A Vision Document 'Green Path' listing the green initiatives of the Samajwadi Party government was also released.

--IANS bk/tsb/dg

( 234 Words)

2016-11-27-20:58:13 (IANS)
A new article by Wanda Phipatanakul, M.D., M.S., of Boston's Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and co-authors examined that question in a study that included 284 students (ages 4 to 13) enrolled at 37 inner-city schools in the northeastern United States.

Classroom and home dust samples linked to the students were collected and analyzed for common indoor allergens, including rat, mouse, cockroach, cat, dog and dust mites. Associations between school exposure to allergens and asthma outcomes were adjusted for exposure to the allergens at home.

Mouse allergen was the most commonly detected allergen in schools and homes. Higher exposure to mouse allergen at school was associated with increased asthma symptoms and lower lung function, according to the results.

None of the other airborne allergens were associated with worse asthma outcomes. While cat and dog allergens were commonly detected in the schools, dust mite levels were low and cockroach and rat allergens were mostly undetectable in schools and homes.

Limitations of the study include results that may not be generalisable to other cities where other allergens may be predominant in schools.

"These findings suggest that exposure reduction strategies in the school setting may effectively and efficiently benefit all children with asthma. Future school-based environmental intervention studies

may be warranted," the authors conclude..(ANI)
Prime Minister Modi had on November 22 urged the nation to share their suggestions for his 26th 'Mann ki Baat' programme.

"Have suggestions for this month's #MannKiBaat? Share them now. http://nm-4.com/z8ly ," said the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

The Prime Minister had dedicated his last ' Mann ki Baat' address to the jawans amid the escalating tension between India and Pakistan on the border.

"Our jawans have been sacrificing their lives in the last last few months. We should celebrate this Diwali in their name," he said during the 25th edition of the popular radio programme. (ANI)
A Parliamentary Panel has expressed concern over the slow pace of progress with regards to linking of Ration Card with Aadhaar. The Committee in its latest report has found that progress of work relating to Aadhaar card seeding is almost zero in Arunachal Praesh, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and in Lakshadweep. In big states like Madhya Pradesh, it is as low as 18 per cent whereas in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, it is just only 1 per cent, it said. The Panel has been informed that in some States/UTs, Aadhaar enrolment, generation and issuance itself is not complete and the Aadhaar seeding progress varies across States/UTs depending upon pro-activeness of the State Food Department. In some States/UTs, the PDS beneficiaries data was initially digitised without Aadhaar numbers and therefore, Aadhaar seeding was required to be done afresh which is a time taking process. The Committee has suggested that Department of Food and Public Distribution needs to make concerted efforts for expeditious completion of work relating to Aadhaar seeding of the ration cards in all the States/Union Territories in the country in a time bound manner. The Panel has recommended the Government to look into the problem areas in this regard and engage proactively with the States that were lagging in this direction.UNI NY CJ 1028 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0099-1040400.Xml
A joint team of CRPF`s Cobra battalion, Special Task Force (STF) and District Police seized huge quantity of explosives and huge cache of firearms from the hideout of rebel Maoists under Suiya police station area in the district in the wee hours today. Police Superintendent Rajeev Ranjan said here that huge quantity of explosives, grenade, pistol, large number of cartridges and naxal literature were recovered from the hideout of extremists of outlawed CPI (Maoist) in Hardia Pararia jungle following a fierce gun battle between them and police personnel. He said prime facie it appeared that some naxalites also sustained injuries in the encounter as blood stains were found on the spot but ultras managed to escape with their injured associates. Police have launched a massive combing operation to flush out extremists hiding in the jungle, Mr. Ranjan added.UNI XC DH KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-1040875.Xml
A Cause for Claws Thrift Store (701-751-5828)  Seeks volunteers to sort, test, repair and set up store displays. All profits support a low-cost spay and neuter clinic.

Abused Adult Resource Center (701-222-8370)  Volunteers advocates needed to help answer the crisis calls in the evenings and on weekends. An advocates role is to listen, offer support and give options. Free training provided.

AID Inc. (701-663-2122 or 701-663-1274)  Adults to sort clothing, sort other donations, pricing, cashiering, cleaning, organizing, hanging clothes, sorting, testing and repairing electrical items and other various tasks.

American Cancer Society (701-433-7582)  Volunteer drivers for Road to Recovery Program.

American Red Cross (701-223-6700)  Disaster and Health and Safety Services to teach CPR/first aid courses, aid in disaster response locally and nationwide, training provided. Adults and youth 16 and older.

Arc of Bismarck (701-222-1854)  Work in the thrift store.

Baptist Health Care Center (701-223-3040)  Assist residents with clinic appointments, activities, meals, chapel on Sunday and bingo.

Big Brothers Big Sisters (701-222-0797)  Be a mentor for youth.

Bismarck-Mandan Chapter of SCORE (701-328-5861)  Volunteer management counselors to provide free and confidential mentoring and counseling for those who wish to start a small business. Call or stop by the office at the Bank of North Dakota building on Memorial Highway.

Buckstop Junction/Missouri Valley Historical Society (701-250-8575)  Conduct tours of historic buildings, help with The Shoppe, building or grounds maintenance, general office work, Corn Feed/Old Settlers Day, publicity or adopt a building.

Burleigh County Senior Adult Program (701-255-4648)  Deliver meals to homebound elderly individuals and assist as nutrition servers, gift shop attendants, Wii bowling scorekeeper and answering phones.

Central Dakota Humane Society (701-667-2020)  Provide companionship, exercise and socialization to the dogs and cats; assist with basic animal care; assist with special events.

Charles Hall Youth Services (701-255-2773, ext. 303)  Volunteer mentors needed to commit to supporting, guiding and mentoring at-risk youth. Mentors serve as positive role models, teaching youth healthy and safe ways to have fun and to meet positive academic, career and personal goals. Mentors must be minimum of 21 years of age. Training provided.

CHI St. Alexius Health (701-530-7159)  Deliver mail and flowers, escort patients, help with the gift shop.

CHI St. Alexius Home Health & Hospice (701-530-4500)  Share your time, energy and compassion while enriching your own life and lives of others. Help with a variety of activities such as companionship, errands, respite care, administrative and bereavement support. Volunteers who are a veteran, can play an instrument for music therapy and/or perform pet therapy are particularly needed.

Community Action (701-258-2240)  Help in the donation center and the food pantry.

Cystic Fibrosis Association (701-222-3998)  Help with mailings and fundraising events.

Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch (701-223-7979)  Help in thrift store and perform janitorial duties.

Dakota Zoo (701-223-7543)  Accepting applications for adult volunteers to provide animal conservation programs and animal handling for educational programs. Training provided. Also looking for general volunteers for light building and repair projects. Carpentry, mechanical and fencing skills are a plus but not needed.

Foster Grandparent Program (701-258-5436)  Provide one-on-one assistance to children in schools, Head Start and child care centers. Listen to children read, assist with homework, etc.

Good Samaritan Society (701-323-3274)  Volunteers needed.

Lutheran Social Services Senior Companions (701-838-7800)  Seniors 55 and older who are healthy, active and interested in helping their older neighbors.

Make-A-Wish (701-280-9474)  Help with upcoming special events.

Manchester House (701-223-5600)  Be a mentor for youth. Must be at least 18.

Mandan Golden Age Services (701-663-6528)  Pick up prepared meals at Mandan Senior Center and deliver them to the homes of the elderly.

McLean Family Resource Center (701-462-8643)  Assist with crisis line.

Mental Health America of North Dakota (701-255-3692)  Help with data entry, various office duties.

Neighbors Network Program (701-323-4277)  Volunteers with pickups to help move donated furniture items to clients homes.

New Song Church (701-258-5683)  Janitorial and light maintenance work. For details, email erickson.e.michael@gmail.com.

North Dakota Operation Lifesaver (701-223-6372)  Help spread the message about railroad safety.

Pride Inc. (701-258-7838)  Support people with disabilities in social and recreational activities, especially between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. daily, Monday-Friday, also evenings and weekends. Staff on site to assist at all times.

Public Health Emergency Volunteer Reserve Corps/Medical Reserve Corps (701-328-1334)  Accepting registration of volunteers to assist with public health emergencies. Medical and non-medical volunteers needed. Choose to help only in own county, in the surrounding counties, statewide or anywhere in the U.S. Register at www.ndhealth.gov/EPR/volunteer.

RSVP+ Central North Dakota (701-258-5436)  RSVP+ will connect volunteers of all ages to a variety of volunteer opportunities throughout the community.

Ruth Meiers House (701-222-2108)  Sorting donations, stocking food pantry shelves, dining room servers, childrens learning center aides, baby boutique program assistants and special event help. More information: www.ruthmeiers.org.

St. Vincents Care Center (701-323-1974)  Entertainers for background music for Sunday social events.

Salvation Army (701-223-1889)  Assist with meals, activities and tutoring in the youth program; stock food pantry shelves; light maintenance work.

Sanford Health (701-323-6011)  Greet and assist visitors in the surgical waiting room, deliver flowers, help in the Gift Shoppe and Koffee Korner and assist with special projects.

Sanford Health Hospice (701-323-8400)  Volunteers needed to assist terminally ill patients. Assistance commonly includes visiting, reading and taking walks; child care assistance; bereavement support; and administrative/clerical work. Orientation, training and support provided.

Seeds of Hope store (701-222-8370)  Greeters, price clothes, stock and straighten shelves, Diggers Delight and more. Creative people needed for designing gift baskets and store displays.

Tracys Sanctuary House (701-258-5889)  Perform daily housekeeping tasks, answer phones, stock kitchen and food pantry.

Volunteer Care Givers for the Elderly (701-223-9290)  Assist with transportation, yardwork, light housekeeping, respite care, errands and shopping and other companionship activities with the elderly.

Welcome House Inc. (701-391-5184)  Assist with food pantry, kitchen and front desk.
A male elephant was killed, when it was hit by Palakkad-Coimbatore passenger train between Palakkad and Kanjikode stations today. Forest officials said the elephant tried cross the track when the incident occurred. There was no damage to the train and passengers were safe. Efforts are underway to remove the elephant lying on the track and clear the line, officials said.UNI KS CS 1227 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0275-1040845.Xml
As a part of the ongoing efforts to move towards cashless transactions of all kind, the Ministry of Urban Development has asked all the statutory 4,041 Urban Local Bodies to shift to e-payments at the earliest. These cities and towns account for about 75 per cent of the total 40 crore urban populations in the country.Meanwhile officials from Madhya Pradesh informed that the major 7 cities have already enabled cashless transactions and all the 378 cities and towns would do so by March next year. Central Government's message to the officials of these 4,041 urban local bodies was conveyed by Rajiv Gauba, Secretary (Urban Development) through interactive video-conferencing. Senior officials of States concerned also participated during the half day long interaction on various aspects of ensuring cashless transactions.State and city level officials were asked to promote internet banking (RTGS/NEFT), online banking using credit and debit cards for cashless transactions besides using Public Finance Management Systems (PFMS) developed by the Ministry of Financing for fund transfer, accounting and reconciliation up to the level of cities and towns.Mr Gauba emphasised that all transactions relating to both income and expenditure of urban local bodies needs to be shifted to e-payment mode. These include payment of Property Tax, Professional Tax, all user charges like water and power bills, all kinds of fee and license charges, online booking of community halls, issue and renewal of birth and death certificates, registration of shops and other establishments, enrollment of library membership etc.More UNI ADP RSA 1555 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-1041050.Xml
Union Minister for Health & Family Welfare, J P Nadda took a pledge to donate his organs amidst thousands of enthusiasts comprising officers, staffers, doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff members of all Central Government Hospitals of New Delhi who also pledged along with him, here today. Also present were thousands of participants from the walkathon that took place at the India Gate this morning to create and enhance awareness surrounding organ donation.Speaking at the event, the Union Health Minister stated that donating organs is a gift and is an altruistic, egalitarian and a moral act. He added that we can turn the 'end of a life' into a new beginning with donating our organs. Mr. Nadda said "Let organ donation become a national movement and show to the world that even in death we care for our fellow citizens and humanity at large". Organ is a national resource and not even one should be wasted, he stated.The Health Minister said the Ministry was presently framing rules, regulations and protocols for facilitating organ donation. There are about 1.5 lakh brain deaths happening in the country every year, and organs from them can be used for saving lives of several lakhs of patients, he stated. Mr Nadda added that it is a matter of concern that the current organ donation and transplantation rate was not close to the requirement within the country for organs. He said that ''we have started taking decisive steps for harvesting cadaver organs and tissues and saving many lives a result of this.''The Health Ministry is implementing the National Organ Transplant Programme with a view to promoting organ donation from deceased persons and thereby increase the availability of organs for transplantation, Mr Nadda said. A large number of activities have already commenced a part of the programme he stated. State Governments have been sensitised about the need to have systems in place to improve awareness regarding organ donation, adding that training programmes have been organised and these will be stepped up.UNI ADP RSA 1554 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0429-1041055.Xml
Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba is on a five-visit to Sri Lanka beginning from today. The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the bilateral maritime relations between India and Sri Lanka, an official statement said.During his visit, the chief will hold bilateral discussions with Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and various senior dignitaries including the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs. The Admiral will also attend the 'Galle Dialogue' which is being held at Colombo. The Galle Dialogue is an annual conference hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of Maritime Security and Cooperation between international navies. Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event. Admiral Lanba would be delivering Key-Note address on 'India's perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships', during the event. "There exists a robust Naval cooperation between India and Sri Lanka encompassing a wide span which includes operational interactions through bilateral exercises, coordinated patrolling along the common maritime border, Training, Port Calls, Capacity Building and Capacity Augmentation initiatives" the statement said. The Navy Chief will also lay a wreath at the IPKF memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka to honour Indian Martyrs.UNI MK CJ 1401 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1040951.Xml
Police said the merchant Pankaj P Kori, 30 of kalyan went to the Ulhasnagar branch of the SBI on November 24, and deposited cash currency of Rs 500 notes totalling Rs 1.05 lakh.

Verifying that it was found that the total of 11 notes of the RS 500 denomination were counterfeit. Hence, an offence under section 489 (B) has been registered against him under category "O" with the Ulhasnagar police station.

Yesterday the case was transferred to Thane Nagar police station for further probe, police added.UNI XR HK AKC RSA 1426

-- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-1040880.Xml
"Mr Nitish Kumar is the only Chief Minister who has supported Mr Modi's government to fight against black money by introducing demonetisation of high value currencies including Rs 500 and Rs 1000currency notes," he added.

Speaking after inaugurating BJP OBC Convention at Palace Groundshere, he said that opposition parties including Aam Admi Party, TMC,Congress and others have given call for 'Akroosh Divas' tomorrowagainst the step taken by Mr Modi's bold step to fight against black marketers.

Mr Shah alleged that the NDA government led by Mr Modi hasimplemented many welfare schemes to benefit backward class but manyCongress ruled States including Karnataka has not implemented fortheir benefit. He said that BJP had assured before coming to power to wage waragainst corruption and Prime Minister has taken steps one by one tofulfill the promise. "There is transparency in the NDA governmentled by Mr Modi but it was AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejrival and Congress leaders have supported black money for theirpolitical benefit.MORE UNI MSP CS 1506

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"Punjab Home Minister should immediately resign taking responsibility of jail break and (the later) killing of (an) innocent girl by Punjab Police," the Aam Aadmi Party leader tweeted.

"This shows complete breakdown of law and order in Punjab," Kejriwal added.

Sukhbir Badal is also the Deputy Chief Minister and son of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

In a sensational jailbreak, armed men on Sunday attacked the maximum security Nabha prison and escaped with two terrorists including Khalistan Liberation Force leader Harminder Singh Mintoo.

--IANS mr/sar

( 123 Words)

2016-11-27-16:52:14 (IANS)
A recent study has found that everyday creative activity may lead to an "upward spiral" of increased wellbeing and creativity in young adults. In the new research from New Zealand's University, Department of Psychology researchers asked 658 university students to keep a daily diary of their experiences and emotional states over 13 days. After analysing the diaries the researchers, led by Dr Tamlin Conner, found a pattern of the participants feeling more enthusiasm and higher "flourishing" than usual following days when they were more creative. Flourishing is a psychological concept that can be described as increasing positive growth in oneself. While the current study did not specifically ask the university students to record the nature of their creative activity, the researchers had collected such information informally in an earlier study. They found that the most common examples reported were songwriting; creative writing (poetry, short fiction); knitting and crochet; making new recipes; painting, drawing, and sketching; graphic and digital design; and musical performance. Dr Conner says she and her team wanted to find out if engaging in everyday creative acts makes people feel better emotionally. "There is growing recognition in psychology research that creativity is associated with emotional functioning. However, most of this work focuses on how emotions benefit or hamper creativity, not whether creativity benefits or hampers emotional wellbeing," Dr Conner says. The researchers found that "positive affect" (PA) -- which encompasses feelings such as pleasurable engagement, happiness, joy, excitement, and enthusiasm -- on a particular day did not predict next-day creative activity. "Our earlier research found that PA appears to increase creativity during the same day, but our latest findings show that there is no cross-day effect. Rather, it is creative activity on the previous day that predicts wellbeing the next," she says. Even when controlling for next-day creative activity, the previous day's creativity significantly predicted energised PA and flourishing. Dr Conner and her co-authors write that: "this finding suggests a particular kind of upward spiral for wellbeing and creativity -- engaging in creative behavior leads to increases in wellbeing the next day, and this increased wellbeing is likely to facilitate creative activity on the same day. They conclude that "overall, these findings support the emerging emphasis on everyday creativity as a means of cultivating positive psychological functioning."(ANI)
Movement of trains on the Saharsa-Forebesganj section of the East Central Railway remained paralysed for about 6 hours today as irate villagers blocked the rail track near Baruari railway station here to protest police failure in arresting the culprits involved in the killing of a co-villager on Nov 20 last.Protesting delay in arrest of three of the main accused involved in the killing of one Vikas Kumar ,a resident of Rakia village under Bihar police station in adjoining Saharsa district on November 20,an irate mob squatted on the railway track.Railway sources said The protesters did not allow any train to pass either from Saharsa or Fobresganj end,causing immense hardships to passengers.Both 52323 up and 52324 remained stranded at the Baruari railway station for nearly six hoursThe rail traffic was restored following persuasion by the district and railway officials.The police on their part told the mob that one of the four accused had already been arrested and raids were being carried to nab three others.UNI XC IS KK -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0212-1041132.Xml
Amidst the sudden crisis in the wake of the withdrawal of high value currency notes, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is silently pursuing its agenda of wooing the Muslims of the state in its bid to forge Dalit-Muslim combination in the upcoming state assembly polls. BSP cadre are distributing an eight page booklet titled "Muslim Samaj Ka Sachcha Hitaishi Kaun: Faisla Aap Karein." (Who is the real well wisher of the Muslim community: You decide). Party sources here today said that the booklet were being distributed in all the Muslim dominated assembly segments. BSP has already announced to give around 128 tickets to the Muslim candidates in the upcoming elections. The booklet includes 13 points where BSP has clarified various issues related to its past association with BJP. The cover page carries the picture of Mayawati, while the booklet is printed in both Hindi and Urdu language. The booklet begins with the clarification on SP allegations about BSP forming government with BJP three times in the past. "We did not compromise with our ideology, principles and did not allow the BJP to implement its agenda. BSP prefers to lose power rather than compromising on its ideals and ideology" says the booklet. "We taught them a lesson in 1999 and the BJP Government at the Centre was toppled due to our one vote. BJP always grew in strength whenever there was SP Government in UP. In 2009, BSP was in power in UP and BJP could win only 9 Lok Sabha seats, whereas in 2014 when SP came to power, BJP won 73 seats". The booklet also mentions "when Mayawati did not compromise and resigned in August 2003 as CM of the state, BJP was at the Centre. Mulayam became the CM despite lacking the majority and also retained the BJP leader Kesari Nath Tripathi as speaker of the assembly". The booklet also reminds about the proximity of Mulayam Singh Yadav with the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visit to the Sefai in Etwah during the marriage in Mulayam's family. It also explains how the Samajwadi Party ditched the anti-BJP secular grand alliance in Bihar in 2015. BSP alleged that SP walked out of the alliance at the behest of the BJP. The booklet claims that the Samajwadi Party owes its existence to the BJP and its earlier avatar Bhartiya Jansangh. In 1967 Mulayam won the first election from Jaswant Nagar with the help of Jansangh. Later, he contested with their help and even formed Government and became minister with their support in 1977. In 1989 Lok Sabha polls, Mulayam and VP Singh gave new life to BJP and its tally shot up from two to 88 seats in Lok Sabha. It also alleges that Mulayam Singh had given tacit help to LK Advani during his Somnath to Ayodhya "Rath Yatra" in 1990. BSP reminded the Muslims that Mayawati in 1995, despite running the Government with the BJP's support, did not allow the Vishwa Hindu Parishad from offering Jalabhishek at Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi and Vishnu Yagya in Mathura Eidgah. The same situation came before Mulayam in 1990 in Ayodhya and he resorted to firing which resulted in polarisation of the voters on the communal grounds. The BSP booklet rejects the charge of future tie up with the BJP. "In 2012, SP in its election manifesto had promised to provide quota to the Muslims and release the Muslim youth lodged in jails on the false charges of terrorism. Nothing happened on this. On the other hand, 400 communal riots took place in which hundreds of people were killed and several girls were raped. They bulldozed camps of victims of riot-hit Muslims in Muzaffarnagar," the booklet pointed out. "Who had sent Sakshi Maharaj to Rajya Sabha and who had included Kalyan Singh in SP despite being accused of demolishing the Babri Masjid," the booklet by the BSP asks.UNI MB PS SNU 2108 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1041639.Xml
Tiffany and Neil Galpin took over The Pier Bar & Grill at the end of October.

Tiffany Galpin said they had fallen in love with the bar's neighborhood, atmosphere and 1120 Riverwood Drive location when they moved to Bismarck over a year ago. So when they found out it was for sale, they bought the business and are making it their own.

Tiffany Galpin said they're switching up the menu some, which includes sandwiches, burgers, wraps, salads and appetizers. They also offer daily lunch and dinner specials.

Ultimately, Tiffany Galpin said they would like to reopen both sides of the building, restoring the riverside restaurant to its pre-2011 flood size.

Winter hours for The Pier are 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

IT group meeting

The Information Technology Council of North Dakota, which represents about 100 IT-related organizations across North Dakota, is hosting a Policy Matters event Wednesday.

The event will be from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at NISC, 3201 Nygren Drive N.W. in Mandan.

ITCND wants to hear about local technology and start-up community issues in order to generate new ideas for solutions during the upcoming legislative session. Anyone who wants to aid growth of technology or start-up organizations is invited.

Airport boardings steady

Boardings at Bismarck Airport continue to hold steady amid statewide declines heading into the holidays.

Boardings for October were up about 2.5 percent compared to 2015, going from 24,177 last year to 24,791 this year.

Boardings for the year so far are up nearly 4 percent, reaching 221,855 from January through October compared to 213,477 for the same period in 2015.

Statewide, boardings are down about 12 percent for the year compared to 2015. The downward trend has been driven by declines in oil patch airport traffic  down 63 percent in Dickinson, nearly 17 percent in Minot and 38.6 percent in Williston.
Four road construction workers were shot dead by the criminals in Rath area of Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh today. Police sources said here that some criminals opposed the road construction work there but the village pradhan Julekha ignored them and asked the workers to continue the construction work. At this, the criminals started firing at the workers killing pradhan's husband Mahboob and three others named Ahirwar (38), Munna Lodhi (45) and Dhaniram (55). They died on the spot, while one Parmeshwari lal (35) sustained serious injuries and died on the way to hospital. Sources said the accused have been identified as Karan Singh, Mahendra, Harcharan, Jitendra and others. All are natives of the same village. Police is searching for them after registering the case.UNI XC-JDM MB AKC SNU 2013 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1041426.Xml
Stating this here today, an official spokesman said that initially it would be set up with 100 MBBS seats but a provision would be made to increase the number of seats to 200 and also add a Dental College with 100 BDS seats and also provision of MD or MS and MDS courses in future.

It would also be upgraded to a 500-bedded hospital in future, he added.UNI DB RSA SNU RAI2110

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Parminder Singh alias Pamma Singh, who was in a SUV, was intercepted by police in the western UP district in the evening and arrested. A haul of weapons was also recovered from the vehicle.

Punjab Police has been informed about the arrest, said ADG (Law and Order) Daljeet Chowdhary, adding Singh was being questioned for further leads on his accomplices.

A high alert was sounded across north India after armed men, said to be 10-12 in number, attacked the maximum security Nabha jail and escaped with two terrorists, including Khalistan Liberation Force's Harminder Singh Mintoo, and four gangsters, police said.

--IANS md-pgh/vd

( 146 Words)

2016-11-27-22:50:12 (IANS)
On a tip-off that a tractor-trolley laden with illegally-mined sand was standing stationary in the village, police reached the spot and seized the vehicle. However, irate sand mafia members hurled stones at the police team. ASI Sovran Singh got injured during the stone pelting.

When the police fired in the air, they left the tractor behind and fled from the scene, police sources said. UNI XC-PS PS SNU 2243

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Pankaj Johar, Director of English film 'Cecilia', which was screened under Indian Panorama (Non-Feature Films) category at the ongoing 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here, said the film depicted fight against corruption at all levels. Speaking to media here, he said his film was about Cecilia, how she fought corruption at all levels after her daughter was trafficked and was found dead. He said through this film he was trying to tell her story to the world. Pankaj Johar left his lucrative job to pursue his passion for films when he was 23. He worked as a television producer for eight years producing shows on subjects that ranged from global warming impact on Arctic Ice to the Sri Lankan conflict. 'Cicilia', a 84-minute-long movie, has been produced by Penny Wise Film Production Company, which was founded by Pankaj in 2008.UNI AKM HK SNU 2345 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-1041671.Xml
US President Barack Obama said on Saturday in a statement on Fidel Castro's death that history would be the judge of the Cuban revolutionary leader's "enormous impact". In a statement on the White House's website, Obama also noted that the United States was extending a "hand of friendship to the Cuban people" at the time of the death of Castro, who passed away Friday night at the age of 90, EFE news reported. The US President said Castro altered the lives of his nation and its people in countless ways after taking power in 1959, adding that his death was a moment of "powerful emotions" for Cubans on the Caribbean island and in the United States. "History will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure on the people and world around him," Obama said. Relations between the United States and Cuba were marked for decades by "discord and profound political disagreements", Obama said in the statement, while also recalling the process begun in late 2014 to restore full diplomatic relations with America's Caribbean Cold War enemy. The goal of normalising ties (embassies were reopened last year) was to pursue "a future in which the relationship between our two countries is defined not by our differences but by the many things that we share as neighbours and friends -- bonds of family, culture, commerce, and common humanity", the President said. That engagement has included the contributions of Cuban Americans, "who have done so much for our country and who care deeply about their loved ones in Cuba". In March, Obama became the first sitting US President to visit Cuba in 88 years. During his stay on the island, he met with President Raul Castro - the revolutionary leader's younger brother, who has led the country for a decade -- but not with Fidel. Obama issued a presidential policy directive in October aimed at making the US opening toward Cuba "irreversible", although his successor in the White House -- Republican Donald Trump, who will take office in January -- pledged during the campaign to rollback the US-Cuban thaw until "freedoms are restored" on the Communist-ruled island. In a statement on Saturday that contrasted sharply with Obama's, Trump said Castro was a "brutal dictator" who oppressed his own people and left a legacy of "firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights". ( 404 Words) 2016-11-27-03:22:13 (IANS)
Cuban dissidents said on Saturday that the death of ex-President Fidel Castro does not mean there will be any political changes in Cuba, given that he left power 10 years ago, though they do fear more repression during the nine days of national mourning. "Nothing is changing here. The only good news is that we have one less dictator, but we still have the other because Raul is just as much a dictator as Fidel," Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White dissident group, told EFE news in a statement. Politically nothing is changing in Cuba except for the "incremental deterioration" of the human rights situation on the island, where repression "is increasing", according to the head of the Ladies in White, an organisation founded by mothers, wives and daughters of the "Group of 75", dissidents sentenced to many years in prison during the wave of repression known as the "Black Spring" of 2003. "In Cuba nobody likes the Castro dynasty, who are a bunch of mafiosos. If we want a democratic transition on the island, it has to be without that family in power," she said. Soler said she fears police repression will be stepped up during the decreed nine days of national mourning, during which the group she leads plans to call for protest marches to demand respect for human rights and the release of political prisoners, just like the marches the Ladies in White organise every Sunday. Of the same opinion is former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, who foresees in the coming weeks "more control and repression of dissidence and of any sector of the population that represents a danger to the dictatorship". For Ferrer, Fidel Castro's death on Friday "means little because everyone is used to his absence from the media and from public life". Nonetheless, he admits that since Castro is the "main symbol of the regime", his disappearance could be taken by the Cuban people as an opportunity "to make more demands". "Last night when his death was announced, everyone was sleeping. And today they got up to continue their struggle for subsistence," Ferrer said. --IANS lok/ ( 373 Words) 2016-11-27-03:28:12 (IANS)
- Major General Najm al-Jubbouri, a top commander in the offensive against Islamic State in the Iraqi city of Mosul, peered through binoculars at flames after his men shot dead an Islamic State suicide bomber.It was a small victory for a man whose war against jihadists is deeply personal."You are heroes," he said through a walkie talkie as Iraqi forces cleared another village, hoping to open a new route to the militants' stronghold of Mosul. "You are heroes".Last year, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked Jubbouri to return home from the United States to help lead the fight against Islamic State, which swept through Mosul and other parts of northern Iraq in 2014 and imposed a reign of terror.Jubbouri is upbeat as he paces on the rooftop of a house that serves as a makeshift command centre, surveying the battlefield and tightly managing advances.But he is acutely aware of what Islamic State, also known as ISIS, is capable of.Last year, he watched an Islamic State video broadcast on social media which showed the drowning of prisoners who are locked inside a steel cage and slowly lowered to their deaths in a pool.Some of the victims were Jubbouri's cousins, he said."My relatives and citizens suffered a lot from al Qaeda and ISIS. I decided to return back here. In Mosul, ISIS killed a lot from my tribe and from my friends," he told Reuters in an interview.Jubbouri left his family behind and his job at the National Defence University in the United States and put on his military fatigues again at home.Eager to avenge the deaths of his relatives and help stabilize Iraq, Jubbouri is trying to figure out ways to overcome the complex challenges of fighting Islamic State in Mosul, home to about one million people.Iraqi forces can't move heavy weapons and tanks through Mosul's narrow streets, and Islamic State is using civilians as human shields to slow government advances, said Jubbouri, who served in Saddam Hussein's army for decades.In the desert just beyond Jubbouri are two army trucks mounted with machineguns, primed to attack any suicide bombers in vehicles who try to approach the makeshift command centre, which is surrounded by bodyguards."We want to remove the cancer (of Islamic State) from the body and this is a very difficult mission inside Mosul," said Jubbouri.Jubbouri, who moved to the United States in 2008, is acutely aware of the dangers posed by Islamic militants, and the sectarian animosities which have destablised Iraq.As mayor of Tel Afar from 2005-2008, he cleared out al-Qaeda fighters from the town and promoted reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi'ites.Iraq has been struggling to find a formula for stability since a U.S.-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.Even if Islamic State is defeated in Mosul, Iraqi leaders must ensure that the same ethnic and sectarian hostilities which helped Islamic State establish a widespread presence in the country do not creep up again.The group initially won over Sunni supporters because that sect felt marginalised by the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.Jubbouri called for an end to a governing system which allocates top posts based on sects."It won't be rosy. Many difficulties," he said. "Some politicians will not like to change because many of them would lose their positions."For now, he is focused on the fight against Islamic State. Jubbouri said Iraqi forces had set a six-month timetable for the Mosul campaign. But he is confident of victory by the end of this year, predicting the group will collapse.So far, Iraqi forces have captured about 60 percent of eastern Mosul, and the western part of Iraq's second biggest city could prove far more dangerous."In beginning, everyday we faced between 60 and 70 car bombs. Now we are facing about two or three," said Jubbouri, as his forces fired mortar bombs and rockets at an asphalt factory where militants strapped with explosives were positioned.REUTERS CJ 0937 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0440-1040687.Xml
- A rocket attack by Islamic State militants in northern Syria caused symptoms of "chemical gas" in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited the Turkish armed forces as saying on Sunday.The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have been besieging the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab for days. Al-Bab is a major target in the "Euphrates Shield" operation to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.The Turkish military said the rocket attack was in Syria's Haliliye area, according to state-run Anadolu agency. It did not specify when the attack occurred.Media reports said Turkish AFAD emergency relief teams had conducted various tests on the affected rebels for traces of chemical materials at a hospital in Turkey's border province of Kilis.REUTERS CJ -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0098-1040896.Xml
Syria is ravaged by a civil war and bombings by foreign fighter planes, but that hasn't prevented the country being represented at the Cairo International Film Festival, the biggest film festival in the Arab world.Syrian film 'Fires' directed by Mohamad Abdulaziz is part of the Prospects of Arab Cinema, a parallel section of the Cairo festival. 'Fires', which was made this year, tells the story of four women struggling to live in the middle of a grinding war.Abdulaziz, the first Syrian independent filmmaker, managed to give the film on DVD and Blu-ray to the Cairo festival only last week for transporting it out of the country to Egypt."The film reached us a day before it was to be screened," said Sayed Fouad, head of the Prospects of Arab Cinema section, which promotes new talent from the Arab region.It was not easy to transport the film to Cairo. "Mosad Fouda, president of Egyptian film professionals association, travelled to Syria kast week to bring the film. "Fouda first went to Lebanon from where he took the road to Syria and back, travelling hudreds of kilometres over several days," said Fouad.The film arrived in Cairo on Thursday for the screening that took place on Saturday to a packed audience.'Fires' is joined by seven other films from the Arab region in the Prospects of Arab Cinema section, which is in its third year. "We try to select mainly independent films to give these filmmakers a chance to show their films along with the biggest names in world cinema," said Fouad.Three of the eight films in the section deal with the revolution that had unfolded in the Arab world in 2011. 'Zizou', a Tunisian film directed by celebrated director FeridnBoughedir revolves around events that culminate in the first revolution in the Arab world in December 2010. 'Zizou' is built around a fictional love story between an unemployed young man and a girl locked up by relatives close to the family of the country's president. The love between the two blossoms as protests engulf the country forcing president Zine el Abedine Ben Ali to flee from Tunisia.Egyptian film 'Suicidal Notions' directed by first-time filmmaker Eman El-Naggar tells the story of a young woman's desire to leave her country for a better life abroad. Her mother's sudden death and a wave of protests in Cairo leaves her confused about her love for the country and her own life."The domination of subjects dealing with the revolution shows that Arab filmmakers are conscious and preoccupied with the events in their countries," said Fouad, who is also the head of the Luxor African Film Festival in Egypt."There were many films in the 24 entries that we received for selection that talked about the revolution," said Fouad.This year, the Prospects of Arab Cinema will give away three awards to encourage young filmmakers in the region. The top two prizes will also include a purse of 3,000 dollars and 2,000 dollars resectively to help the directors make their next films, said Fouad. The awards will be presented at the closing ceremony of the Cairo festival on November 24. UNI XC CJ 1343 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1040920.Xml
Our community, including our neighbors at Standing Rock Reservation, have gone through what started to be a peaceful and prayerful protest to protect water to what is now a takeover by outsiders who have other agendas. Yes, clean water is at the forefront, but the protest has become a lightning rod for anti-oil, anti-coal, anti-pipeline, pro-clean energy, anti-big business, pro-Native American and anti-establishment, to name a few.

Certain groups have assembled in support of Standing Rock Native Americans to create awareness of their own cause and even raise financial support for their own organizations. The protest has moved off the Sacred Stone site and into the streets of our communities. All to drive home different agendas. Unfortunately for the Standing Rock Reservation the original reason for peaceful protest is getting lost.

We just celebrated Thanksgiving in this country. We are thankful we all have rights as Americans. Those rights are for all and protected for all. That includes protesters, law enforcement and the general public. To be able to ensure this we believe the following must be considered:

 Standing Rock tribal leadership must lead. Standing Rock has had a good reputation in our community and it needs to do what is right for the people of Standing Rock. The health and well-being of the reservation is at risk.

 The Corps of Engineers needs to take responsibility. Departments of the United States government have muzzled the corps and allowed this matter to escalate. Providing permits and going into a holding pattern is not acceptable.

 We need to support and protect those who originally had good intentions in protesting and those who serve us in law enforcement. Our local and state law enforcement were thrown in to protect the rights of citizens and landowners. The verbal and social media attacks on law enforcement are unjustifiable. They are simply enforcing the law  not making law.

 Those who are giving the core protest group a bad name must be removed. Standing Rock leadership should work with local law enforcement to identify those in their midst who are here to disrupt. Ultimately, Standing Rocks reputation is at risk. Allowing non-peaceful protests, damage to public and private property, doesnt reflect the spirit of peaceful demonstration Standing Rock continues to voice.

 Federal authorities need to understand this is bigger than a pipeline crossing a river in North Dakota. Special interest groups have used this issue as a launch point for their cause. The project was thoroughly reviewed, permits were issued, and now it is questioned? Federal authorities need to accept responsibility for their actions and support the costs of North Dakota in protecting rights.

 We, as a community, cannot let Standing Rocks reputation diminish. They enjoy the right to protest and raise concern as to the pipeline crossing, just as every other American has the right to be heard. They have been heard and it will likely change the course for future projects such as this. This pipeline may go through, as it has proven to be one of the most advanced of its kind for monitoring, safety and potential hazard.

 Finally, we as a community cannot allow our law enforcement reputation to be tarnished. We need to stand strong in support of the men and women who have sacrificed time away from family, who have been targeted in social media and who have risked their lives in the name of protection of rights.
Iran may seek to set up naval bases in Yemen or Syria in the future, as distant footholds might be more valuable militarily than nuclear technology, the chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces said in remarks published today."We need distant bases, and it may become possible one day to have bases on the shores of Yemen or Syria, or bases on islands or floating (bases)," said General Mohammad Hossein Baqeri, quoted by the Shargh daily newspaper."Is having distant bases less than nuclear technology? I say it is worth dozens of times more," added Baqeri, who was speaking at a gathering of naval commanders.Iran is a main ally of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war and of the armed Houthi movement fighting a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen. REUTERS AKC PR1430 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1040969.Xml
Islamic State militants have fired a rocket in northern Syria that caused symptoms of "chemical gas" exposure in 22 Syrian rebels, state media cited Turkey's military as saying today.The attack targeted Turkey-backed rebels who have for days been besieging the Islamic State-controlled town of al-Bab, a major goal in Ankara's "Euphrates Shield" operation to push the jihadists away from the Syrian side of the Turkish border.According to the state-run Anadolu agency, the Islamic State rocket attack occurred in the Haliliye area. The army did not specify where the attack had taken place."Twenty-two rebels were observed to have symptoms of being exposed to chemical gas in their eyes and bodies as a result of the rocket fired by Daesh," media reports quoted the army statement as saying, using an Arabic acronym for Islamic State.The rebels were transferred to a hospital in Turkey's border province of Kilis on suspicion of chemical poisoning after complaining of constant sickness and severe headaches, Hurriyet newspaper reported on its website.Turkish AFAD emergency relief teams conducted various tests on them to check for traces of chemical, other media reported.In the last 24 hours around al-Bab, Turkish jets have destroyed four Islamic State targets in the Anifah region, and one Turkey-backed Syrian rebel has been killed and 14 wounded in clashes, the military said.On Thursday, three Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike in Syria which the army said it believed was carried out by the Syrian air force. It happened on the first anniversary of Turkey's downing of a Russian jet over Syria and raised fears of an escalation in the conflict.After the air strike, Dogan news agency said yesterday Turkey deployed low-altitude air defence systems with Stinger missiles to Gaziantep province on its Syrian border.Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan discussed the air strike with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday. They spoke again late yesterday about "Syria and efforts to resolve the humanitarian drama in Aleppo", sources in Erdogan's office said.Russia is Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's main military backer. Turkey backs rebels fighting to oust him.Ankara and Moscow only restored ties, which had been damaged by November's jet incident, in August. While they continue to pursue conflicting goals in Syria, Turkey has of late been less openly critical of Assad than in the past. REUTERS AKC PR1601 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1041111.Xml
The new head of South Africa's anti-graft unit, which this month alleged influence-peddling in President Jacob Zuma's cabinet, has laid a complaint against her predecessor for leaking a recorded interview with the president, newspaper Sunday Times reported today.Former watchdog Thuli Madonsela has said she had the right to make public the audio recording after Zuma accused her of not giving him an opportunity to defend himself.In her last days in office Madonsela concluded a report which, while stopping short of any conclusive findings, did call for a judicial inquiry to probe the allegations.The report focused on claims that the brothers, Ajay, Atul and Rajesh Gupta influenced the appointment of ministers, and called for an investigation into whether Zuma, some of his cabinet members and some state companies had acted improperly.The office of new Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane did not respond to numerous telephone and email requests for comment regarding the reported leak.But the Sunday Times says that Mkhwebane filed the criminal complaint on November 16, and quoted her as saying "an investigation ... needs to happen whether the leakage happened in violation of section 7(2) of the Public Protector Act".The report's publication included a transcript of the four-hour interview between Madonsela and Zuma.Zuma, who has denied any wrongdoing, said on Friday he would challenge the report in court.The affair rattled markets in Africa's most industrialised economy, which over the weekend dodged ratings downgrades from two of the major agencies, with a third review from Standard & Poor's to follow next Friday.It has also stoked divisions within the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which have bubbled into public squabbles after the party suffered its worst-ever local election results in August since coming to power in 1994.Zuma is due be questioned next week by the ANC's integrity commission over the graft report, persistent allegations of corruption and the poor election results. REUTERS AKC GC1902 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1041459.Xml
Afghan police and health officials raided cafes and restaurants in Kabul today, confiscating shisha water pipes and paraphernalia in a campaign to halt "debauchery and vulgarity".Critics say the campaign will only distract police from the Afghan capital's deteriorating security situation, while doing little to change the pervasive smoking culture in the long-term.Shisha cafes, where customers inhale fruit-flavoured tobacco using pipes that draw the smoke through water, are popular public gathering spots for Afghan men. The Afghan authorities, however, say the cafes can be breeding grounds for petty criminals.Led by the health ministry, authorities plan to go through each Kabul neighbourhood this week to enforce, for the first time, a two-year-old law banning indoor smoking in restaurants."We have to have control over shisha cafes, which promote debauchery and vulgarity in society," Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi told reporters outside one of the many restaurants raided by police."This is a religious and Islamic society and our young generation should not waste their energy in a wrong way," he added while standing near two pick-up trucks full of confiscated shisha pipes.Teams of police officers today walked from one cafe to the next, confiscating pipes and ripping down pictures advertising shisha smoking. Many cafe owners and customers were taken by surprise, with a few racing out covering their faces.Some angry customers said that police should be focusing more on protecting the community from suicide bombers and kidnappings."The police cannot even secure the safety of their people and are instead wasting their time on grabbing some water pipes from these small businesses," said Saboor Bayat, a customer at Kabulistan cafe. REUTERS AKC RAI1915 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1041497.Xml
Two former prime ministers went head-to-head today in a runoff vote for France's centre-right presidential nomination, with the victor expected to face a showdown against a resurgent far-right in May.The winner, either Francois Fillon or Alain Juppe, will most likely represent the entire French political mainstream against the National Front's Marine Le Pen, in another test of the anti-establishment anger in Western countries that saw Britain vote to leave the EU and Americans elect Donald Trump as president.Opinion polls show Fillon, a social conservative with a deep attachment to France's Catholic roots, as the clear favourite after stunning his more centrist challenger with a surge in support just before the November 20 party nomination first round.Voting opened at more than 10,000 polling stations across France at 8 a.m. (1230 IST) and was set to close at 7 p.m., with the first results likely up to an hour and a half later.Organisers from the centre-right party, which took the name Les Republicains last year, said that by midday the participation rate was 10 to 15 per cent higher than in last week's first round.A 62-year-old racing car enthusiast who lives in a Loire valley chateau, Fillon promises radical reforms to France's regulation-encumbered economy, vowing to roll back the state and slash government's bloated costs.Scrambling to regain momentum, Juppe, 71, a soft-mannered moderate who is now mayor of Bordeaux, has attacked the "brutality" of his rival's reform programme and says the Paris lawmaker lacks credibility.But in a blow to Juppe, television viewers found the harder-line Fillon more convincing in a head-to-head debate on Thursday."He's not ashamed of being on the right, and even less of being Catholic," Fillon backer Valerie Sonnard, a childminder in her forties, told Reuters at a polling station in Toulouse, southern France today."My choice is Francois Fillon because I don't want a right that is tainted by the left," said Harold Bakinsian, a 51 year-old architect voting in Frejus on the Mediterranean coast.As the two candidates voted, Fillon told reporters: "It is the voters who are talking now, not the candidate."Juppe meanwhile said he was proud of his campaign, but also complained over the way he had been cast on social media as soft on Islamist militancy - a sensitive subject in France, where more than 230 people have died in Islamist militant attacks since January last year."Some truths came out too late," he said.Any registered voter can take part in the primary, making its outcome difficult to predict. The search for a consensus candidate to stop the National Front could help the more centrist Juppe, particularly if many voters from outside the ranks of the centre-right take part."I voted for Alain Juppe because I fear Francois Fillon's economic programme, too rightist and too conservative, will divide society too much," said Daniel Dunia, a Toulouse-based researcher in his forties who considers himself a leftwing voter.CULTURE, ECONOMYPollsters say the winner of the centre-right primary will be the favourite to enter the Elysee palace, likely to place in the top two alongside Le Pen in a first round in April and defeat her in a run-off in May.While polls show either Fillon or Juppe would beat Le Pen, Juppe would do so by a more comfortable margin. But the shock results in the British referendum and US presidential contest mean forecasters' assumptions are being treated with caution.Voter anger is sweeping aside establishment figures in Western countries, with Italy's Prime Minister Matteo Renzi forecast to lose a referendum on constitutional reform on December 4. Germany's Angela Merkel faces a fight for re-election next year.French President Francois Hollande is so unpopular and his Socialists so divided that pollsters say he would be unlikely even to reach the run-off should he decide to run.With France still under a state of emergency since Islamist militant attacks over the past two years, cultural tensions in a country that hosts Europe's biggest Muslim community have been central to the election debate.Juppe praises France's diversity. Fillon says immigrants should assimilate to French cultural values."I think Juppe hasn't been firm enough on immigration questions and on the attacks," said Sonnard, the childminder in Toulouse.There are also differences on foreign policy, with Fillon's pro-Russia stance raising eyebrows in Germany. On social policy, Fillon wants to curb adoption rights for same-sex couples.Much of the arguments have centred on the economy.Fillon proposes to cut twice as many public sector jobs as Juppe, lower corporate taxes, take on trade unions and reduce the role of the state, like his hero, Margaret Thatcher.Fillon's photo-shopped face wearing the former British prime minister's distinctive hairstyle graced the front page of a left-leaning national newspaper last week. "You think I look like Margaret Thatcher?" he joked in English to reporters today.Voters say they are fed up with France's near double-digit rate of unemployment -- nearly double that of some European peers -- and sluggish job creation in an economy that is forecast to grow an anaemic 1.4 per cent in 2016.Hollande now has two weeks in which to decide whether to run for re-election. A win for Fillon and his hardline economic platform would give the 62-year-old Hollande a target to attack and could convince him to make a bid for a second five-year mandate against the odds. His Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, is also gearing up to stand. The Socialist primaries are due to take place in January. REUTERS AKC RAI1947 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0432-1041536.Xml
Hundreds of residents of rebel-held eastern Aleppo fled shifting frontlines, sources said on Sunday, after an advance by the Syrian army and allied forces that rebels fear could split their most important urban stronghold in two.The army and its allies took control on Saturday of the large Hanano housing district, on the northeast frontline of the besieged eastern part of Aleppo. On Sunday they said they had captured the neighbouring district, Jabal Badro.Neither area was heavily populated but the advance, accompanied by Russian and Syrian air strikes, has raised fears among the insurgents that the northern part of east Aleppo could be cut off from the southern part. That would weaken their control over the east and bring more residents closer to frontlines.Capturing all of Aleppo would be a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after five and a half years of fighting that has killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced 11 million others.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said about 400 people travelled into government-controlled Hanano from neighbouring rebel-held districts, from where some were transferred to government-held western Aleppo.Some are also crossing into an Aleppo district held by the Kurdish YPG militia, which has largely avoided fighting the Syrian government and has been spared air attacks. The Observatory said about 30 families entered this district, Sheikh Maqsoud.Russian news agencies, citing the Defence Ministry, said on Sunday more than 900 civilians, including 119 children, had left Jabal Badro in the last 24 hours.FLEEING BOMBARDMENT"We left Hanano because of the bombardment from the Syrian army during their advance, and the chlorine gas," Muhammad, who declined to use his full name out of fear for his safety, told Reuters.He was waiting with his wife, mother and three children at a minibus stop, hoping to travel on to government-held west Aleppo. He said Hanano had contained about 200-300 families, but they had come and gone throughout the war depending on the intensity of strikes.A 13-month inquiry by the global chemical weapons watchdog and the United Nations concluded that Syrian government forces, including helicopter squadrons, were responsible for the use of chlorine barrel bombs against civilians. Syrian authorities deny having used chemical weapons in the conflict.Aleppo, which was Syria's biggest city before the war began in 2011, is divided between the government-held west and rebel-held east. U.N. officials say at least 250,000 people are under siege in the east.There were fierce clashes in areas adjacent to Hanano, the Observatory, rebel sources and Syrian state media said. Rebel sources say they are fighting back with difficulty in the face of sustained aerial bombardment."The revolutionary forces are reinforcing their defence lines on the edges of Hanano, steadfast in the defence of our people in Aleppo ... But the planes have destroyed everything, stones, trees and people, in a systematic policy of destruction," said Yasser al-Yousef, from the political office of the Nour al-Din al-Zinki rebel group.People are also being displaced internally within east Aleppo. Hundreds are moving south within the besieged sector to avoid being trapped in the smaller northern part should the government split it in two."Many people are being displaced from the eastern to the western neighbourhoods of besieged Aleppo. There were about 300 families which moved, but there are families who are exhausted and the army is advancing in a very big way," Ibrahim Abu Laith, an official at the civil defence rescue organisation in east Aleppo, told Reuters from the city.He said the civil defence was giving aid to those displaced, but the service was coming under extreme strain because of the bombardments and displacements. It has said its supplies and equipment are running very low, with few if any medical centres left to take people for treatment. REUTERS PS RAI2105 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1041642.Xml
There will be no immediate shift in Pakistan's military policy under the new army chief, the country's defence minister said, after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appointed a new military leader.Lieutenant General Qamar Javed Bajwa will replace retiring army chief Raheel Sharif when his three-year term ends on Tuesday, a rare example of a smooth transition in a nation where army chiefs have a history of clinging to power.General Sharif, who is not related to the prime minister, has proved popular with ordinary Pakistanis but during his tenure relations between the army and the civilian government have often been tense.Relations abroad have also frayed, with the United States and Afghanistan complaining of a lack of action by Islamabad against Afghan Taliban militants based on Pakistani soil, while a stand-off with old foe India over Kashmir has soured relations.Bajwa was one of several high-ranking candidates put forward for the job by the army but little is publicly known about him or his ideological stance on key issues, including relations with India or how to tackle home-grown Islamist militants.Defence Minister Khawaja Asif dampened any expectations that Bajwa would immediately push for a radical policy shift."The military policy will continue and there will be no immediate change in it," Asif told Geo News TV channel."The legacy of General Raheel Sharif would continue in the light of the examples he set," Asif added.Security in Pakistan has vastly improved during General Sharif's tenure, but the country remains vulnerable to internal strife, with Islamist militant groups carrying out major bomb and gun attacks. In recent months a hospital, a mosque and a police training college have been targeted.Islamic State, which has claimed several large-scale attacks in recent months, is also trying to establish a foothold in the nuclear armed nation of 190 million people.The United States today issued a statement welcoming Bajwa's appointment and said it wanted to assist Pakistan with its domestic and regional counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism efforts.In a statement, the US embassy in Islamabad also said it wanted to help "Pakistani authorities to honour their pledge to prevent the use of Pakistan's soil for terrorist attacks against its neighbours".India has in recent months sought to isolate Pakistan after an Indian army base in the disputed Kashmir region was attacked and 18 soldiers killed in a September raid that New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based militants. Islamabad denies involvement.INDIAN ARMY CHIEF PRAISEGeneral Sharif will become the first army chief in more than 20 years to step down at the end of his term. Previous army chiefs have either obtained extensions or in the case of General Pervez Musharraf, staged a coup.One cabinet minister told Reuters Bajwa was chosen because of his low-key approach and a belief by Prime Minister Sharif that he would shun the limelight, in contrast to his predecessor, while ceding more policy space to the civilian government.The army plays a big role in Pakistani politics, including dominating foreign policy strategy on key areas such as relations with India, Afghanistan and the United States. The military also runs a vast business empire.Zahid Hussain, a security analyst, said heightened tensions with India, kept inflamed by fierce cross-border shelling in the Kashmir region, means in the short term the army was likely to maintain a tight grip on foreign policy issues related to India."Since the tension is so high, Nawaz (Sharif) is not in a position to manoeuvre out of that," Hussain said.Bajwa, who was first commissioned in the army in 1980, has served in Kashmir and other regions bordering India but it is not clear if he will take a less hawkish approach to Pakistan's historic foe.General Bikram Singh, a former head of India's army who served with Bajwa in the Congo as part of a United Nations peacekeeping force, praised Bajwa's conduct as a soldier during their time in Africa."In the international environment, his performance was professional, outstanding," Singh told India Today TV channel.But when reporters asked Singh if he expected Bajwa to alter Pakistan's military policy, he said: "I do not see any change".REUTERS PS BL2223 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1041692.Xml
When a handful of European leaders met Barack Obama in Berlin this month to say their goodbyes, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi informed the group that he may well lose power before the US president.While Obama leaves office on January 20, Renzi has promised to resign if he does not win a Dec. 4 referendum on constitutional reform, opening the way for renewed political instability in the eurozone's third largest economy."I have no desire to hang around if I lose," Renzi told the gathering, according to a diplomatic source who was at the low-key Nov. 18 meeting.Opinion polls now predict Renzi's defeat, in what would be the third big anti-establishment revolt by voters this year in a major Western country, following Britain's unexpected vote to leave the European Union and the US election of Donald Trump.Pressure is mounting on Renzi to drop his threat and instead agree to remain in power to deal with the fallout from a 'No' vote, including the risk of a fullblown banking crisis.Obama himself said in October that Renzi should "hang around for a while no matter what" and a number of businessmen and senior government officials contacted by Reuters said they feared the worst if the prime minister abandoned his post."My personal opinion is that Renzi should stay," Industry Minister Carlo Calenda said in an interview on Friday. "What needs to be considered ... is what is good for the country."Three centre-left politicians who are in regular contact with Renzi told Reuters that he would honour his word and immediately resign if he is beaten, worried that failure to do so would do irreparable damage to his political image.IMPULSIVEThe Italian president could appeal to Renzi's sense of responsibility and ask him to seek a new mandate from parliament. His response might depend on the size of any defeat, with one advisor saying the 41-year-old premier could quit politics altogether if he suffers a huge snub next Sunday."He is young and impulsive," said the official, who declined to be named. "If the result is terrible, he might decide to call it a day and do something else with his life."The referendum proposes constitutional reforms to strengthen the lower house of parliament and reduce the authority of the upper house Senate. Regions would lose some decision-making powers to bolster central government.Renzi says the project is necessary to make Italy, which has had 63 governments since 1948, governable enough to enact reforms needed to revive its moribund economy. Opponents say it would reduce democratic checks and balances.In the first week in December, Italy's third largest bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena has to launch a 5 billion euro (5.3 billion dollars) cash call. Investors are not expected to jump in if political instability prevails, meaning the state will almost certainly have to intervene swiftly to stave off collapse.Although business leaders support Renzi's reforms, they have kept quiet during the referendum campaign, fearing they would prove the kiss-of-death in an era of anti-establishment angst.But they are increasingly alarmed by the prospect of heavily indebted Italy drifting once more into political paralysis."I am afraid that if he loses the referendum (Renzi) really will give up," Ferruccio Ferragamo, chairman of fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo, told Reuters. "Italy can react to anything, but this really would be a step back."NO SAFETY CAROpinion polls cannot be legally published in the final two weeks of campaigning, but the last 40 surveys released before the Nov. 18 cut-off showed the 'No' camp ahead by up to 11 percentage points.A source in Renzi's Democratic Party (PD) said on Friday that private polls suggested this gap had closed to five points with a quarter of voters still undecided, meaning victory was still possible.Initially the plan was backed by 70 percent of Italians, but when an over-confident Renzi said at the end of 2015 he would resign if defeated, opposition parties turned the referendum into a de facto ballot on his 2-1/2 years in office.His record is mixed. Despite many reforms, Italy is set to have the third lowest growth in the 28-nation European Union in 2016 and the second lowest next year, according to EU forecasts. Unemployment is stuck above 11 percent and wages are stagnant.A loss would provide more evidence of voter fury in Europe ahead of elections in France and Germany next year. And Renzi's exit could benefit populist ex-comedian Beppe Grillo, who wants to ditch the euro currency and whose Five Star movement won more than a quarter of the vote in Italy's last general election in 2013.Renzi acknowledges that personalising the vote was a mistake and in August he changed tack, refusing to discuss his future while on the campaign trail. But with polls showing no sign of recovery, the prime minister has doubled down on his original threat over the past two weeks."I'm not willing to take part in old-style political games. Either we change or I have no role to play," Renzi said this month -- a line he regularly repeats at the frenzied round of rallies and media interviews he is undertaking before Dec. 4.If he quits, it is not immediately clear what would happen next. The straightforward answer would be for Italy to hold national elections a year ahead of schedule.But Renzi was so confident of victory in the referendum that he introduced a new electoral law in 2015 just for the lower house, believing the Senate would no longer be in play. To avoid using different electoral systems for the two houses, parliament would have to devise a new election law, which could take much of 2017.President Sergio Mattarella, the supreme arbiter of Italian politics, could ask Renzi to oversee this reform as head of a so-called "single-purpose government", but the prime minister's allies say he would never agree to such a limited mandate."Renzi can't serve as a safety car," PD lawmaker Matteo Richetti told Reuters, referring to the car that takes to the track after accidents in Formula One motor racing.If Renzi is not prepared to be a figurehead leader, government officials contacted by Reuters said Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan or Senate speaker Pietro Grasso were the most likely candidates to step into the breach.Padoan, a former official at the International Monetary Fund, would be seen as particularly market-friendly in what are likely to be turbulent times.But a Padoan or Grasso government could not take office without Renzi's blessing, because it will need the backing of his PD party to survive. Renzi's allies fear he will be held responsible for its actions even if he is not prime minister."All those who are demanding a 'No' vote should support a government that prepares the way for elections. But that won't happen. They are going to create an almighty mess and expect us to clear it up," said Richetti. REUTERS PS BL2224 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1041699.Xml
Until three weeks ago, many of Abu Osama's customers were Islamic State militants who brought their wives and children to his pharmacy on the eastern edge of Mosul for injections and treatment.Now, most of them are Iraqi security forces who recaptured the Gogjali neighborhood earlier this month and are pushing further into the city, which has been under Islamic State control for more than two years.As the militants retreat, civilians are adjusting to a new reality in their wake and a clearer picture is emerging of what they did to survive the punishments and deprivation of Islamic State rule."Whether Daesh (Islamic State) or army: my door is open to everyone," said Abu Osama, taking the blood pressure of an Iraqi policeman. "If my worst enemy comes here, I must treat him."Several Islamic State militants, both local and foreign, lived in Gogjali and it was mainly their families that visited the pharmacy because the militants themselves were often away, Abu Osama said.The front of his shop and those next door are marked with the Arabic letter "z" for zakat, meaning alms, and beside it an identification number Islamic State bureaucrats assigned to record donations made at the shop for their self-proclaimed caliphate.Advancing Iraqi forces have sprayed Shi'ite slogans over it.The 40-year old opened the pharmacy after Mosul fell to Islamic State and the salary he received as an employee of the Iraqi health ministry was cut by the government as it sought to choke off funding to the militants, who were skimming the pay of public sector workers in areas they controlled.The militants wanted Abu Osama to work for them in a hospital, but he refused because it would have meant pledging allegiance to the group, and he does not agree with their hardline ideology.According to that ideology, the depiction of living creatures is un-Islamic because it can lead to idolatry. After a militant upbraided him for displaying a poster with an image of a baby on the wall of his pharmacy, Abu Osama blotted out its eyes with a black marker pen and then did the same to every label featuring a human being.The 500 dinar note ($0.40), which bears an image of a statue, was banned for the same reason, according to several civilians.CHINESE, INDIAN MEDICINEAll medicine came from Syria -- Mosul's only outlet to the world as an array of forces slowly closed in on the city in Iraq. Syrian traders imported cheap Chinese and Indian medicine via Turkey and paid Islamic State a tax to bring it to market in Mosul, Abu Osama said.By the time medicine reached his still sparsely stocked shelves, the price had tripled, and many of his customers could not afford to buy it, so he sold it to them on credit and is now owed 1.25 million Iraq dinars ($1,016).Since women were obliged by Islamic State to veil their faces completely, Abu Osama cannot be sure who owes him what, he said.Standing in the pharmacy, forty-three-year old Sohaib commented that if he became separated from his wife in a crowded marketplace, she would have to find him, as he could not distinguish her from all the other women shrouded from head to toe in black.Abu Osama could treat women only when they were accompanied by a male relative, and if a female patient lifted her veil before him and Islamic State's vice squad found out, he would be held accountable. It never happened to him, but the militants punish such infractions with fines and whipping.Residents of Gogjali said Islamic State's laws were less strictly enforced there because it is far from the city center.When Iraqi special forces took the neighborhood, two of the militants left their wives behind, locals said, identifying the women as Russian. The jihadi brides tried to flee Mosul among displaced civilians but were found out and detained by Iraqi security forces, according to a soldier sitting in the pharmacy."They were unbelievably beautiful," he said.Several doors down, twenty-seven year old Ammar, who runs a grocery shop, said the militants were his best customers because they had more money than anyone else."They chatted with us and said we must fight jihad. Everyone preached to us, but each to their own," he said.All the goods he sold came from Syria, he said, but now that route is blocked too, and several traders from the nearby Kurdish region are taking advantage of the opening in the market.Outside the grocery shop, a Kurdish trader unloaded goods from a van, including items banned by Islamic State such as cigarettes, biscuits made in Iran and Brazilian canned meat."It says halal on the tin, but they said it wasn't," Ammar said, shrugging.Occasionally, the sound of a mortar or a burst of gunfire sends people milling in the street scattering and diving for cover, but some, now accustomed to the sounds of war, barely flinch and continue as normal. REUTERS PS BL2334 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1041723.Xml
RURAL HAZEN  Dave Sebastian has had a passion for bison going on 30 years, and the genetic traits hes bred into some of his animals have created beautiful results. But for all that, its the special bison species  familiar, yet distinctly unique  in an outer pasture that are most noteworthy to him.

In one corral are his white bison, their great hairy coats bordering on blonde as if theyve been worked over with a giant batch of Clairol hair coloring. The color is consistent except on their heads, where natural oils collect during this colder time of year to create an orange hue. These are not albinos, but animals bred over successive generations with the gene for white hair.

As one named Oliver approaches the gate, it becomes clear that these animals are even more stunning close up. And yet they are not the greatest head-turners on the ranch. Over the next fence is a herd of black bison  bred the same way, but with the blackest hair genetically possible. These animals could disappear into the dark, their huge forms turning night into perfect camouflage. They're like vanguards to a darker, more dangerous dimension.

Yeah, Sebastian agrees, theyre really something.

What impresses him most, however, are the females of that herd, whose fertility is extremely long-lived compared with beef cattle.

I brought these out here 20 years ago, and the cows still standing here are just in the middle of their life, he said.

They will produce calves up to 10 years longer than a beef cow. That's just one of many reasons Sebastian prefers bison to beef cattle. He also notes their self-sufficiency and their ability to self-regulate protein intake for their own health.

Beyond the black-and-white counterpoints of specialty breeding, off in a pasture of their own, are what have become Sebastians pride and joy in the relatively few years since he brought them here from a ranch in New Mexico. They are wisents, the European genetic ancestor to both the plains bison here in America and the woods bison still found in Canada.

These wisents were originally kept in zoos in San Diego and Winnipeg, Manitoba, where they were not reproducing -- and where, if kept near other large animals, they displayed a bad temperament that resulted in the other animals' deaths.

Sebastian said he offered to buy one from the rescue rancher and ended up with all 18.

He was having a hard time with them and not getting any offspring, he said.

Six years later, they are flourishing on the natural grass of the rural Hazen sand hills.

Its been very good for them. Every cow here has a calf every year, said Sebastian, who now has about 100 wisents, the only breeding herd anywhere in North or South America. "I didnt realize that no one else in the country had one."

The wisent is considered a vulnerable species in Europe, where Sebastian says about 3,000 to 4,000 still exist, primarily in Poland and Belarus. According to Wikipedia, two of its subspecies were eradicated by the 1700s.

There is a wisent registry in Poland, and Sebastian said hes made contact to have his animals listed. He says his success here -- where the animals are thriving simply with naturally good grass and normal maintenance provided by his son, Coy Sebastian -- may be of interest to those in Europe. Some countries there are attempting to rewild the species, which now is a woods-dwelling animal and the largest of any still on the continent.

No matter whether its black, white, brown or wisent, whether it's in North Dakota or on his second ranch in Tennessee, Sebastian raises his animals for eventual slaughter and consumption. The wisent has one extra lumbar vertebra, which adds to the meat in their tenderloin and strip loin -- not an insubstantial bonus with bison bringing $5 a pound these days.

They are extremely slow growers," Sebastian said. "You cannot put fat on a wisent; they have an extremely slow metabolism and grow at a rate about twice as slow as a plains buffalo."

He doesnt have any particular plans for the herd at this point, other than enjoying their adaptation to the prairie sand hills of North Dakota and his unanticipated success with this diminished, but indomitable, cousin to the great American bison.

Theyre here to stay. Ill keep growing the herd until I decide Im going somewhere with them, he said.

If someone else is interested in them, with the intention of maintaining the species, hes willing to discuss it. For now, the animals are a pleasure unto themselves.

I love bison. Any old cowpoke can raise them on good grass and if they keep the gate closed, he said.
The 10 persons were shot at about 1.30 a.m. local time in the French Quarter, a tourist destination in New Orleans, and the man died later at a hospital, Xinhua news agency cited the city's English daily the Times-Picayune.

Police confirmed the shooting at a press conference on Sunday afternoon, saying that the victims, aged from 20-37, included two females and eight males.

The police have arrested two persons, including one shooting victim, on firearms charges.

Shelvin Gray, 19, was one of the two arrested and booked with illegal possession of a firearm, the police said, adding that there have been no charges in connection with the shooting at this time.

The police said that they did not know the cause of the shooting, but witnesses said that there was a dispute before the gun fires.

--IANS lok/

( 177 Words)

2016-11-28-03:46:12 (IANS)
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.

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 U.S. dollars 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.
HANOI, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, State President, Government and the Standing Committee of the National Assembly on Saturday sent a message of condolences to the Cuban Party, State Council, Government, National Assembly and people over the passing away of revolutionary leader Fidel Castro.

The message read the Vietnamese leaders and people are deeply mournful when hearing the news that Fidel Castro, former First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba Central Committee, former Chairman of the State Council and Council of Ministers, a great leader of the Cuban leader, and an unyielding communist and revolutionary leader of Latin American nations and the struggle movement for peace and national independence, freedom and socialism, passed away on Nov. 25.

As a leader of the Cuban revolution for more than half a century, Fidel Castro has always been a close comrade and brother of the Vietnamese leaders and people, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Fidel has always stood side by side with Vietnam during its past struggle for national independence and reunification as well as current national development. His immortal saying "For Vietnam, Cuba is willing to devote blood" is always in the hearts of the Vietnamese people.

The world revolution loses an unyielding, brave and experienced leader, while the Party, State and people of Vietnam lose a close and beloved comrade and brother.

"We believe that in this sorrowful moment, the Cuban communists and people will continue to unite under the leadership of the Communist Party of Cuba and President Raul Castro to realize the wishes of late leader Fidel Castro, firmly safeguarding the national independence and sovereignty as well as building socialism," read the message.

The Vietnamese people once again affirm the solidarity with the Cuban people, it said.

Fidel Castro made three visits to Vietnam. In September 1973, Fidel Castro was the first and only foreign leader to visit the southern liberation area of Vietnam when the war was ongoing. His next visits were in December 1995 and February 2003, during which the friendship and cooperation between the two countries witnessed new development milestones.
CANBERRA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Australia's coalition government is under new pressure to scrap a parliamentary perk which gives all former MPs 10 free, return business class flights within Australia each year, after it claimed it was 'too busy' to introduce the legislation into the House.

The Life Gold Pass is a scheme which once allowed retired MPs unlimited free business class travel on the taxpayer, but now allows for just 10 free return flights per year.

A spokesperson for the government said on Sunday that with the final sitting day of the parliament on Thursday, the bill was unlikely to be introduced until 2017.

"It is likely the introduction of the Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendment Bill will be delayed until early 2017," a spokesman for Special Minister of State Scott Ryan told Fairfax Media.

"Due to the government's busy legislative agenda it may not be possible to progress this legislation within the final days remaining in this parliamentary year."

Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott first announced that he would scrap the scheme in 2014 as it would save more than 1.2 million U.S. dollars out of the federal budget each year.

Despite the government's statement, Senator Nick Xenophon of Nick Xenophon Team said it was a "lame excuse."

"It's a bit like me saying I'm too busy to consider the government's bills," he told Fairfax. "This is a no-brainer."

Meanwhile the Greens' Lee Rhiannon said the delay reeked of government greed.

"Given the tripartisan support for this legislation, it would be a quick, easy and popular bill to bring on and pass," Rhiannon said.

"This is a classic snouts in the trough scheme, and the government can no longer blame the now resolved High Court case for delaying its introduction."

The parliament's final sitting day for the year is expected to be Dec. 1. It will not resume until the new year.
YANGON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will pay a visit to Singapore next week, an official statement said on Sunday without specifying the date of her tour.

According to informed sources, Suu Kyi's trip at the invitation of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is expected on Dec. 1.

Relations and cooperation between Myanmar and Singapore have opened a new chapter after Lee visited Myanmar in June as the first leader of Asian countries after the National League for Democracy government assumed office on April 1.

During Lee's visit, the two countries signed an agreement on 30-day mutual exemption of visa for ordinary passport holders, which will take effect on Dec. 1.

Singapore is Myanmar's second largest investor after China with an accumulative investment of 15.596 billion U.S. dollars as of October 2016.

Myanmar-Singapore bilateral relations dated back to the year 1966 when the two countries established diplomatic ties.
YANGON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Armed groups continued to attack a town in northern Myanmar's Shan state as clashes broke out between Myanmar government forces and ethnic armed groups last weekend, the Information Committee of the State Counselor's Office said Sunday.

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) fired one mortar with 40mm rocket launcher and two 60mm mortars at Kutkai town from two separate locations Friday night but retreated after the government's security forces returned fire.

The 60mm shells fired by the armed groups exploded near Lweon village, while the 40mm bomb landed near the grove close to Myoma State High School.

Two armed men on a motorcycle fired at least four rounds in drive-by shootings.

Moreover, armed groups also fired on police outpost at Namkhai bridge near Namhkai village in Kutkai.

Military conflicts erupted in border area of northern Myanmar's Shan state early Sunday after an alliance of three ethnic armed groups launched attacks on government's military outposts and police stations in Muse and Kutkai towns as well as a border trade center.
File photo taken on April 19, 2016 shows Fidel Castro (L, Front) and Raul Castro (C, Front) attending 7th Congress of the Communist Party of Cuba, in Havana, Cuba. Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro died on Nov. 25, 2016 at the age of 90, said his brother Raul, the current leader of Cuba. (Xinhua/Cubadebate)

BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Leaders, renowned people around the world on Saturday mourned the death of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro and offered condolences to his family and the Cuban people.

Chinese President Xi Jinping Saturday called Castro "a great figure of our times," saying that he "will be remembered by history and people."

"The death of Fidel Castro has made the Chinese people lose a close comrade and sincere friend. His glorious image and great achievements will go down in history," Xi said in a message of condolences to his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro. "The great Comrade Fidel Castro will be forever remembered."

Castro died late Friday at the age of 90.

"The name of this outstanding statesman is considered to be a symbol of an entire era in modern world history. A free and independent Cuba built by him and his colleagues has become an influential member of the international community and served as an inspiring example for many countries and nations," Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying in a Kremlin statement.

Vietnam also sent condolences to Cuba, saying the Vietnamese leaders and people were deeply mournful about the passing of Castro. It called Castro a great leader of the Cuban people, and an unyielding communist and revolutionary leader of Latin American nations, who struggled for peace and national independence, freedom and socialism.

Brazilian President Michel Temer said Saturday that Fidel Castro was a "leader of convictions," who "marked the second half of the 20th century with the firm defense of the ideas in which he believed."

Former Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff lamented Castro's death in a statement, calling him a "visionary" and "one of the most important political contemporaries."

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, another former president of Brazil, said losing Castro was like losing an older brother.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Saturday called on the people of the world "to rediscover" themselves following the example of Fidel Castro.

Bolivian President Evo Morales called Castro "a giant of history and humanity."

On Saturday morning, Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa took to Twitter to lament the death of a close political ally. "A great man is gone. Fidel has died! Long live Cuba! Long live Latin America!" he wrote.

Former Uruguayan President Jose Mujica on Saturday highlighted Fidel Castro's courage, saying he was "someone who lived as he thought."

Condolences also came from Western countries.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau remembered Fidel Castro Saturday as a "remarkable leader" who will be mourned by Canada.

"Fidel Castro was a larger-than-life leader who served his people for almost half a century," Trudeau said in a statement. "A legendary revolutionary and orator, Mr. Castro made significant improvements to the education and health care of his island nation."

U.S. President Barack Obama said "history will record and judge the enormous impact of this singular figure (Fidel Castro) on the people and world around him."

French President Francois Hollande on Saturday mourned the passing Castro and paid tribute to a "major figure of the 20th century," who offered "Cubans an opportunity to be proud of freedom from foreign rule."

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also sent his condolences to Cuba on Saturday.

"On finding out that the former head of state in Cuba, Comandante Fidel Castro, has died, I want to express my sincere condolences to President Raul Castro Ruz and to the Cuban people," he said in an official statement on his website.

The United Nations (UN) also offered condolences to Cuban people and gave affirmative judgment to the revolutionary leader.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Saturday that he was saddened by the death of Fidel Castro.

In a statement released by his spokesperson, Ban said: "President Fidel Castro will be remembered for his leadership of the Cuban revolution and for advances in Cuba in the fields of education, literacy and health."

Castro's "legacy" and "his example in Latin America is going to serve as an incentive for today's generation to continue to struggle for a Cuba that is free, sovereign, independent, and free of the embargo," said Venezuelan economist and political analyst Vladimir Adrianza, who teaches at the Bolivarian Military University of Venezuela (UMBV) in Caracas.

Despite its improved relations with Washington, Havana continues to be constrained by a vast net of economic and financial sanctions imposed by the long-running U.S.-led trade embargo.

According to Jhonny Garcia, coordinator of the Cuba-Venezuela Solidarity Movement, "the Cuban people ... will know how to honor the effort, the bravery and courage, the dignity and morals, of a man of Fidel's stature."

"Fidel, along with (the late Venezuelan reformist leader Hugo) Chavez, will continue to guide along the routes marked by these revolutions," said Garcia.
UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- UN General Assembly President Peter Thomson said Saturday that he was deeply saddened by the passing of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, who died late Friday at the age of 90.

In a statement, Thomson said: "I wish to express my sincere condolences to his family, including his brother President Raul Castro, as well as the Government and People of Cuba."

"Fidel Castro was one of the iconic leaders of the 20th century," a tireless advocate for equity in the international arena and an inspirational figure for developing countries in particular, Thomson said.

"His dedication to their advancement, especially in the fields of education and health, would be long remembered," Thomson added.

Castro had led Cuba for nearly half a century before stepping down in 2006 for health reasons. He was succeeded by his brother Raul Castro.

His legacy can also be seen in Cuba's universal healthcare and education system, as well as its world-class biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.
by Edna Alcantara

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China is a good partner to Mexico and Latin America in general in protecting biodiversity, a Mexican environment official said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

Hesiquio Benitez Diaz, director general of International Cooperation and Implementation at the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity under the Mexican Environment Ministry, believes that as a leading global economic player, China is also taking on a leading environmental role.

"In the area of biodiversity, I believe (China) is a good partner, and it is great news that it is willing to collaborate with Latin America," said Diaz.

China is one of the world's 17 "megadiverse countries," identified by the American nonprofit environmental organization Conservation International as home to most of Earth's species and extremely rich in endemic species.

In 2002, these countries decided to create the so-called Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries to boost cooperation in protecting wildlife.

This year, on the sidelines of the upcoming 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Cancun, Mexico in December, the group is expected to nominate an Asian country to take its rotating presidency.

"It would be great news if China were to become the new leader of the Megadiverse," said Diaz.

"It is going to be very enriching for (China) to share its experiences" in environmental conservation, he said, adding that "it is a very big country and I think we can learn many things from them."

"There has been very good collaboration" between Mexico and China in this field, he said.

In December, at the United Nations (UN) biodiversity conference, "the world will meet to take the steps needed to build a future of life in harmony with nature," according to the UN.

One basic goal, said Diaz, is to restore at least 15 percent of the world's deteriorated ecosystems by 2020.
DHAKA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China has been making immense contributions to Bangladesh's efforts in building digital Bangladesh, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said.

"In the past 4 decades Bangladesh and China relations have undergone speedy transformation," Palak on Saturday at a discussion meeting.

The minister stressed the need for strengthening the Bangladesh-China relations for further cooperation in various fields.

"Level of cooperation have accelerated since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Bangladesh Awami League government came into power in Bangladesh in 2009."

Prime Minister Hasina declared her vision to build a digital Bangladesh.

"In this process, we started inter network among the all government offices and all government officers. We have connected 18,000 government offices up to sub-district level with the support of Chinese government," he said.

"I would like to convey my heartiest thanks to the Chinese government for supporting us for building our digital infrastructure across the country and fulfill PM Hasina vision for building digital Bangladesh."
The nursing lab on the East Grand Forks campus of Northland Community and Technical College looks more like a hospital room than a classroom.

Throughout the day, nursing students tend to the various medical needs of lifelike mannequins lying in the hospital beds lining the walls of the practice ward. The mock patients are highly detailed. The one under the care of Heather Nelson, 22, during a Monday afternoon exercise is actually groaning, its face molded into a contorted expression of discomfort.

As Nelson tends to the male mannequin's symptoms, instructor Mei Sather -- who acts as the voice of the patient, answering Nelsons various questions on his behalf -- informs her hes been vomiting, a complication the registered nursing student takes in stride. Later in the exercise, fellow registered nursing student Mercedes Efta, 21, steps in to help resuscitate the mannequin with a bag valve mask.

Eventually, the two students stabilize their patient to the satisfaction of their instructor.

Both young women intend to graduate from Northlands RN program in May. Theyre already working under a more basic certification as licensed practical nurses.

You learn something new each day in class that you can apply to your job, which is really cool, Nelson said.

Nelson is employed on the Altru Health System oncology/renal floor in Grand Forks. Efta works at a RiverView Health facility in Crookston, Minn.

Both want to stay with their employers after graduation. For the most part -- provided they pass the board exam to earn their RN licenses -- theyll be entering the field at a good time in nursing history.

The national economy could create 1.6 million job openings for nurses through 2020, according to a 2015 report released by the Georgetown University Center for Education and the Workforce. An increase in demand for nurses, coupled with an aging U.S. population and the retirement of many current nurses, could yield a shortfall of some 193,000 professionals.

At present, more than 127,700 nurses are licensed in Minnesota. In North Dakota, there are about 19,600.

Year over year, that picture will change. The Center for Education and the Workforce projects about 4,400 new openings in North Dakota and more than 36,000 in Minnesota through 2020.

Efta said her job at RiverViews inpatient unit is already lined up for her once she passes the board exam. She was excited to be trained in the facilitys labor and delivery practices and said she was interested in someday working in a neonatal intensive care or obstetrics unit. Overall, she was confident about the general prospects open to the nursing profession.

You can just tell by looking at a newspaper ad -- theres always a job there, she said. I feel I can move anywhere and do anything. With nursing, you can work with babies, work in a hospice with dying patients or something else you wouldnt think of at first.

Numbers growing, but still short

Along with much of the country, North Dakota is in the midst of a nursing shortage, which can place new graduates in a strong position for job hunting. According to an annual workforce development report compiled by the North Dakota Center for Nursing, the states supply of nurses at various certification levels might not meet demand for the next several years.

However, the nursing deficit isnt expected to be the same across the board. The center has projected the supply of certified RNs and their counterparts, advanced practice registered nurses, will stay close to equal with the total workforce demanded by the North Dakota population.

Over the past five years, the report states, the number of these kinds of nurses has undergone a substantial increase. If the current rate of RNs and APRNs added to the workforce in that time holds steady into the future, workforce supply could catch up to and surpass a high level of demand within the next five years.

The supply of LPNs is a different story. Though the number of more basically certified nurses has grown at a steady pace over several years, the center projects a striking statewide shortage to persist through 2023, with workforce supply gaining little ground on the increasing demand.

As new nurses move into the state or are sent into the workforce by educational institutions, there remain a substantial number of unemployed nurses in the state. The NDCN report estimates 10 percent of North Dakotas RNs and as many as 17 percent of LPNs were unemployed last year.

More than a third of those unemployed nurses indicated they were caring for home and family instead of working. A large percentage of each classification also stated pursuit of some kind of education as their cause of unemployment.

The unemployment numbers also could belie some of the reality of nursing: The job can be difficult, physically strenuous and subject to odd hours that take away from personal pursuits.

Scarcity not just a matter of supply

Matthew Keller, a regulatory and policy nursing specialist with the Minnesota Nurses Association, compares high licensing numbers from the Minnesota Board of Nursing with lower job growth data from the state Department of Labor when he says he doesnt believe shortfalls in RNs exist simply as a matter of inadequate supply in his state.

I think its not a question of a nurses shortage, but rather, are we getting nurses where they need to be and are facilities working to get nurses in, Keller said.

Keller said some employers, especially in Minnesotas metropolitan areas, may overlook RNs with associate degrees in favor of those with four-year degrees, creating artificial scarcity in their applicant pools. He also pointed to pay disparities between urban and rural nurses as a potential obstacle to bringing necessary workers to smaller, lower-paying facilities.

Keller suggested a lack of focus on employee retention is an often overlooked side of the nursing shortage discussion. Facilities that implement measures aimed at preventing nurses from getting burned out could see a reduction in turnover as well as an advantage in hiring, he said.

You have a lot of people leaving units, leaving facilities, and hospitals need to find new nurses to fill those roles, he said. We need to talk about how to maintain current staff, and thats what a lot of people are trying to do. Trying to have a good culture, a culture of safety, having good staffing ratios and treating nurses right is a simple thing you can do to maintain your current work staff.

Providing care while short-staffed

Back in North Dakota, Altru talent strategy director Marlene Miller said the health systems leadership is focusing efforts on building a friendlier environment for nurses, both in terms of attracting new hires and decreasing turnover.

I dont think any one thing is magical, but we need to set ourselves apart, and I do think our culture sets us apart, Miller said. We really have to look at our flexibility, what works for our people -- whether its students or some other life situations where people are looking for different hours. Were looking at different shifts, opportunities to grow, to move around in the organization.

Kristine Stoltman, an Altru nurse recruiter, said the health care company has about 1,200 nurses on staff across its various facilities. When it comes to new recruits, she said Altru tries to hold on to the nursing students who come through the system on clinical rotations or, like Nelson, are employed in an Altru facility while completing a more advanced certification. Current staff also take part in a referral program in which they pass along the names of promising nursing students for a prospective hire.

At the same time, Stoltman said filling rosters can be challenging when health care facilities across the country are jockeying to do the same.

Miller said the recruitment side has made gains over the past year, partially due to an all hands on deck approach. Altru still has several openings for RNs and LPNs, she said, but it has filled half of what it needed a year ago.

As far as retention goes, Miller says Altru is below the national benchmark for turnover among nurses. Operating with internal shortages has pushed the company to re-examine some of its staffing strategy to adapt care delivery while avoiding undue burden on Altru nurses.

We want to engage the nurses we have and give them the opportunity to work at the top of their scope, so we surround them with more nurse aides and tech-type positions, she said. We know we may not find all the nurses we need; but at the same time, were committed to providing care, so you need to think of processes that meet those challenges.
KINGSTON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness issued a statement on Saturday to pay tribute to Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, who passed away late Friday at the age of 90.

Holness said he had written to Raul Castro, president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers of Cuba, to extend deep sympathies over the death of Fidel Castro on behalf of Jamaica.

"The government and people of Jamaica join me in extending to you, the entire Castro family and the government and people of Cuba our deepest condolences on this occasion," said Holness in the statement.

The prime minister said Fidel Castro is remembered for his revolutionary leadership and guidance of the Cuban state.

"He will go down in the annals of history as one of the leaders who, though coming from a Caribbean island developing state, has had the greatest impact on world history," he said.

"Many Jamaicans still vividly remember his visits to Jamaica and his passionate speeches in defence of the right to self-determination," he said.

Holness said Cuba, under the leadership of Fidel Castro, was a leading champion of strong south-south cooperation, which has benefited Jamaica for decades.

"His building of excellent education and health systems in Cuba has become an outstanding model for the world," he said.

"The people of Jamaica remain deeply appreciative of the significant contribution that Cuban medical personnel continue to make to the Jamaican health services, through a process of technical cooperation initiated under the leadership of President Fidel," he added.
DHAKA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit has opened a new horizon to reimagine the further of China-Bangladesh relations, experts said at a seminar.

At the discussion on Saturday, they termed Xi's visit last month a "milestone" in the history of bilateral relationship, which has entered into a fast track and ushered a new era of pragmatic cooperation in every sector.

"The visit has presented us the encouraging status of the bilateral relationship and also opened the new horizon for us to reimagine the further of China and Bangladesh relationship," said lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhur from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) party.

Chowdhury, also president of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and chairman of Bangladesh China Foundation for Future, said over the past years there has been a remarkable development of economic relationship between the two countries.

China is Bangladesh's largest trading partner. There is now interest in increasing Chinese FDI and support from China for developing the infrastructure of Bangladesh.

During Xi's visit, the first by a Chinese president in past three decades, the two countries signed 28 MoUs and deals. Chowdhury, who is also a former state minister, said Bangladesh is an important destination for Chinese trade and investment under the Road and Belt initiative.

Bangladesh and China need to work jointly to strengthen people-to-people exchanges for deepening mutual understanding, actively expand exchanges and cooperation in the areas of culture, science and technology, media and health, and further promote interaction between media organizations, think tanks, academia, research community and scholars.

"We believe that to achieve a more comprehensive cooperation as mentioned above young of the two countries can contribute more in the future," he said.

Chowdhury believed it is high time to think about the active participation of the youth in the level of decision making and widening the trend of developing the skills to attain meaningful work for economic growth of Bangladesh and China.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Bangladesh China Foundation for Future arranged a dialogue among youth on Bangladesh-China relations, which marked the 41st anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries this year.

"In the past four decades Bangladesh and China relations have undergone speedy transformation," said Information and Communication Technology (ICT) State Minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

"Level of cooperation has accelerated since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government came into power in Bangladesh in 2009," he said.

Prime Minister Hasina declared her vision to build a digital Bangladesh, a nearly 200-million-U.S. dollar project.

"In this process, we started inter network among all government offices and all government officers. We have connected 18,000 government offices up to sub-district level with the support of Chinese government," Palak said.
KABUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Five Taliban insurgents, including a local leader, were killed after Afghan army launched an operation in the southern province of Uruzgan, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

"A Taliban local leader named Bismillah along with four insurgents were killed during a military operation in Dihrawud district on Saturday," the ministry said in a statement.

The raid was launched based on a tip-off and the insurgents exchanged fire with the security forces, which left five dead, the statement said.

Thirteen insurgents were also wounded during the clashes.

The killed militants were responsible for attacks against security forces in Dihrawud and surrounding areas, according to the statement.

Uruzgan province has been the scene of heavy clashes between Taliban and Afghan troops over the past couple of months.

The Afghan security forces had beefed up security operations recently as militants were attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions ahead of winter in the mountainous country.
NEW DELHI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- In a daring jailbreak, 10 armed men dressed in police uniforms broke into a prison in the northern Indian state of Punjab on Sunday and freed a militant commander and four other gangsters.

"The armed men stormed Nabha jail in Punjab early this morning, fired over 100 rounds of bullets and freed militant outfit Khalistan Liberation Force's chief Harminder Singh Mintoo and five other dreaded gangsters," a senior police official said.

The Khalistan Liberation Force is an insurgent group that is part of the Khalistan movement to create a Sikh homeland via armed struggle.

The 47-year-old Mintoo, who was arrested by police from Delhi airport in November 2014, is an accused in multiple terror-related cases across India. Others are well-known criminals mostly involved in running criminal gangs, the official said.

A massive manhunt has been launched to track down the five who escaped from the jail, the official said, adding a huge contingent of police force has also been sent to the area.

"Police checkpost have been set up in nearby areas too," he added.

This is the second major jailbreak recently. Last Month, eight "highly dangerous" members of the banned Islamist group Students' Islamic Movement of India escaped from a high-security jail in the central city of Bhopal. Hours later, police killed them in a gun battle.
NEW DELHI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A 35-year-old Japanese woman has been allegedly raped by a man in the southern Indian state of Kerala's coastal town of Kovalam, a senior police official said Sunday.

"The incident took place late Friday night, a day after the Japanese tourist arrived there on vacation. She was found lying bleeding in her hotel room by the hotel staff members who took her to a local hospital where doctors confirmed sexual assault," the official said.

Police said they arrested a 25-year-old man Saturday on charges of raping the foreign tourist after the hotel staff tipped them off.

"The suspect has been identified as 25-year-old Teja. His family owns a handicrafts shop at Kovalam," he said, on condition of anonymity.

The official added: "We have booked the suspect for rape and interrogating him. We will ensure he gets strictest punishment."

The Japanese Embassy has been informed about the incident, he said, adding that the police are doing their best to extend all kind of help to the victim.
HANGZHOU, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Four people are missing, six others rescued, after a fishing vessel of the Republic of Korea (ROK) sunk in seas off east China's Wenzhou City Saturday night.

China Marine Rescue Center said on Sunday that the vessel coded 909 Man Pyung Ho sunk at 7:45 p.m. Saturday about 100 sea miles east of Zhejiang Province, with 10 crew on board.

The Zhejiang center sent patrol vessels and called for fishing vessels close to the area to assist the search and rescue. The six crew were rescued by passing fishing vessels.

The search is continuing.
by Raimundo Urrechaga

HAVANA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of young Cubans spontaneously gathered on Saturday to pay homage to the former President and leader of the Cuban revolution Fidel Castro at his old alma mater in Havana.

Students converged on the steps of the University of Havana, carrying photos and posters of Fidel, and flowers for the beloved Comandante, who passed away late Friday at the age of 90.

"He was a tremendous man who led the Cuban Revolution and, obviously, someone very important to me personally. I have come here to participate and show my condolences, my respect," Luis Silva, a law student, told Xinhua.

Castro had ruled the country for 47 years until a serious illness forced him into retirement in 2006. His brother Raul Castro officially succeeded him in 2008.

Students signed a massive book of condolences at the School of Law, from which Castro graduated.

It was here that Castro first emerged as a political leader and, as he said 11 years ago at a mass rally at the site, it is where he became a revolutionary.

"His death has moved all the young people, because he left us in charge of continuing the revolution. He was a great leader and had great confidence in Cuba's youth," said Andy Diaz, a telecommunications major.

To some Cubans, Fidel Castro's death brought about uncertainty, but not to the youth gathered at the university.

"We are the future, guided by him. We will carry on the ideas of our Commander Fidel Castro. Cuba is moving forward with his ideals and policies, which have benefited millions in this country, and everyone in the world should know that," said Sergio Rivas, a 23-year-old law student.

Many of the students had tears in their eyes and were hugging each other in commiseration, while others placed flowers at the foot of a sculpture, a symbol of Cuba's leading center of higher learning.

"Fidel left everything prepared and ready, he did everything very well in our country throughout all those years he governed. The younger generations now have to assume our historical responsibility with the people and continue the commander's ideas," said Betsy Balmacia, an economics major.

While he was in power, Castro often visited the University of Havana and met with students. He would also call on them to contribute to social or economic undertakings, such as a campaign in 2006 to renovate old appliances in homes.

Official tributes to Castro will begin Monday at Havana's Jose Marti Revolution Square.

The Cuban government has declared nine days of national mourning through Dec. 4, when Castro's ashes will be placed at the Santa Ifigenia cemetery in the eastern province of Santiago de Cuba.
MANILA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine military said Sunday that 11 bandits were killed and two soldiers wounded in fierce clashes between troops and the Maute group in Laanao del Sur in the southern Philippines.

Marine Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a statement that five other Maute members were also wounded in the clashes that broke out around 9 a.m. Saturday after the bandits occupied an abandoned municipal hall in Butig town.

Residents fled the area as a result, according to the military.

"The recent action of the lawless Maute Group in occupying an abandoned portion of Butig Municipality 9 o'clock in the morning of 26 November 2016 has driven the people from other areas of the town to flee their homes," Arevalo said in a statement.

"This prompted the immediate conduct of military operations focused on dislodging the lawless group," he said.

Arevalo said the lawless group has reportedly raised the ISIS flag "which was expected since they have long been professing allegiance to the foreign terror group," he said.

"This is still part of the Maute Group's agenda in courting support and encouraging similar minded individuals to support ISIS," he said.

Arevalo said the military will continue its offensive operations against the group to prevent the situation from escalating or spilling to other areas.

Maute group is an armed Islamic State-influence militant group composed of former Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels and allegedly some foreign fighters led by a certain Abdullah Maute, the alleged founder of Dawlah Islamic or Islamic State based in Lanao del Sur.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines blamed the Maute group for the series of bombings and robberies in the southern Philippines, including the Sept. 2 blast in Davao City that killed 15 and injured 70 others.
JAKARTA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- An Indonesian army helicopter, which lost contact on Borneo Island three days ago, was recovered on Sunday, Military spokesman Brig. General Wuryanto told Xinhua by phone.
DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- As many as 400 civilians fled rebel-held areas in Syria's northern city of Aleppo overnight, a monitor group reported Sunday.
JERUSALEM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli air force killed four Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria after gunfire toward Israeli soldiers in the Golan Heights Sunday morning, according to Israel's military source.

Several mortar shells also fell in the region, the source added.

"In response, a military aircraft shot towards the sources of the fire and killed four who used a heavy machine gun on a truck," a military spokesman said.

This was reportedly the first confrontation between Israeli soldiers and IS militants, as errant fire from Syria has occasionally been spilling over to Israel, usually causing no casualties or damage.
Timothy (7th R), who recovered from Ebola, poses with Chinese doctors and nurses during a discharging ceremony in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 2, 2015. (Xinhua file photo)

FREETOWN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The President of Sierra Leone Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma in an exclusive interview with Xinhua on Friday said that he is going to visit China to principally thank the Chinese government and people for the tremendous assistance provided for Sierra Leone during the Ebola outbreak.

President Koroma said he also looks forward to deepening the partnership with China in the future.

It was the plane load of Chinese medical personnel and drugs from China on the outbreak of Ebola that galvanized international support for the country's drive to kick Ebola out of the country, Koroma said.

The president said he is grateful to China for its swift response with all the support.

President Koroma pointed out that China provided "all of what was required in terms of personnel, drugs and medical supplies " and explained that the Chinese support was not only limited to bilateral level but also at multilateral level through the World Bank, WHO and other UN Agencies.

He spoke of the cordial relationship between Sierra Leone and China based on mutual trust and respect, noting that "China is a dependable friend."

File photo shows members of Chinese mobile laboratory team work at a laboratory in Freetown, capital ofSierra Leone, Jan. 22, 2015. (Xinhua)

President Koroma maintained that China's support was not only present when the Ebola struck but has been a very significant contributor to Sierra Leone even before Ebola.

He said the Chinese have been very dependable partners in the country's development of physical infrastructure as well as in the agriculture, health and education sectors.

He said Sierra Leone and China relations has spanned for over 45 years to the benefit of both countries, and it is necessary to sustain and deepen the partnership.

China, President Koroma said, has transformed itself to a world power and it is fitting for Sierra Leone to learn from the Chinese experience and expertise.

He said in the President's Recovery Priorities, emphasis has been laid on diversifying the economy so that development will not only be for the urban areas but also the rural settings.

He said during his visit to China he will study the Chinese system of growth through its model of economic development and how the Chinese are able to create "economic zones" that have helped diversify the Chinese economy.

Another area of interest to the president is for both countries to collaborate in private partnership as well as encourage Chinese tourists to visit Sierra Leone now that the Chinese have developed the appetite for overseas travels.

The president underscored the need for its government to enhance the country's infrastructure by building more hotels and improving road networks.
DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- As many as 400 civilians fled rebel-held areas in Syria's northern city of Aleppo overnight, a monitor group reported Sunday.

The civilians fled overnight toward areas under the government control in western Aleppo, as the Syrian army was advancing in rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

State news agency SANA also reported the evacuation of tens of civilians from the Masaken Hanano.

A day earlier, the military forces retook the Masaken Hanano area, following battles with the rebels' Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, during which assorted kinds of weapons were used amid artillery shelling that targeted the rebels' supply lines in the area, SANA said.

Masaken Hanano is the largest rebel-held district in eastern Aleppo, and was also the first area stormed by rebels in mid-2012.

Observers say capturing the Hanano area will expose the Sakhour neighborhood to the Syrian army, enabling it to isolate the northern part of the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo from the southern one.

The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on ground, said the Syrian forces were achieving rapid progress in eastern Aleppo, where over 250,000 civilians are trapped.

For months, the Syrian government and Russia have been urging rebels to leave Aleppo, offering them safe passages to other rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The rebels, however, turned down all offers, which has resulted in intensified violence.
Saudi Arabia Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources Khalid al-Falih (R) and Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak attend a press conference after meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Oct. 23, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Chao)

MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia may join an oil output freeze agreement if the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) reaches a consensus within itself, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Saturday

The Russian minister made the remarks ahead of an OPEC meeting to discuss the implementation of production cap measures.

"We support the position that OPEC countries should first reach a consensus within the organization before non-OPEC producers join the agreement," Novak told reporters.

He added that Russia remains positive about the agreement and would continue to participate in relevant consultations.

At an informal meeting of OPEC in Algeria in late September, participants agreed to restrict oil output, but there was no special agreement on specific limits or cuts for particular countries.

The oil cartel is scheduled to meet in Vienna, Austria on Nov. 30 in a bid to finalize a detailed deal.

Novak said on Thursday that Russia was ready to cap its output at the current level, adding that Moscow is in talks about a crude oil output freeze with other non-OPEC countries, in particular with Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Mexico.

Russia would cut its oil output by 200,000-300,000 barrels per day in 2017 if an output freeze agreement was reached, according to the minister.
Chinese peacekeepers patrol at the Protection of Civilians site 1 beside the United Nations House in Juba, capital of South Sudan, Aug. 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Li Baishun)

JUBA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- South Sudanese government has agreed to the deployment of 4,000 extra regional protection force (RPF) pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 2304 in August.

The Council of Ministers during their meeting on Friday said the extra forces are meant to join an existing 13,000 blue helmets serving under the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) tasked with protection of civilians and UN installations in the war-torn country.

Deputy government Spokesperson Paul Akol Kordit told reporters in Juba that the transitional unity government has resolved all pending issues with the United Nations and have agreed "immediate" deployment of the RPF.

"The cabinet has resolved unanimously to allow the deployment of the regional protection force anytime from now," Kordit said.

However, the official did not divulge more details about when and where in the capital the force would be deployed.

Juba had earlier rejected the Security Council proposal, calling it "intervention" but later softened its stance and called for dialogue with the UN.

Dr. Martin Elia Lomuro, Minister for Cabinet Affairs, also echoed the acceptance message to the Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (JMEC), the body tasked with monitoring the country's peace deal.

"All outstanding issues related to the deployment had been resolved with the United Nations and that deployment of the RPF could commence with immediate effect," Lomuro said.

JMEC said in a statement on Saturday that the decision to move forward with immediate deployment of the RPF is critical to providing a secure and safe environment in Juba and creating an enabling environment for the implementation of the peace agreement.

South Sudan has faced ongoing challenges since a political face-off between President Salva Kiir and rebel leader Riek Machar erupted into full-blown conflict in December 2013. The crisis has produced one of the world's worst displacement situations with immense suffering for civilians.

Despite the August 2015 peace agreement that formally ended the war, conflict and instability have also spread to previously unaffected areas in the Greater Equatoria and Greater Bahr-El-Ghazal regions of South Sudan.

Tens of thousands have been killed and more than two million displaced since late 2013, according to the UN.
Syrian pro-government forces walk around in the village of Minyan, west of Aleppo, after they retook the area from rebel fighters on November 12, 2016. (AFP Photo)

DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- As many as 400 civilians fled rebel-held areas in Syria's northern city of Aleppo overnight, a monitor group reported Sunday.

The civilians fled overnight toward areas under the government control in western Aleppo, as the Syrian army was advancing in rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

State news agency SANA also reported the evacuation of tens of civilians from the Masaken Hanano.

A day earlier, the military forces retook the Masaken Hanano area, following battles with the rebels' Jaish al-Fateh, or the Army of Conquest, during which assorted kinds of weapons were used amid artillery shelling that targeted the rebels' supply lines in the area, SANA said.

Masaken Hanano is the largest rebel-held district in eastern Aleppo, and was also the first area stormed by rebels in mid-2012.

Observers say capturing the Hanano area will expose the Sakhour neighborhood to the Syrian army, enabling it to isolate the northern part of the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo from the southern one.

The Observatory, which says it relies on a network of activists on ground, said the Syrian forces were achieving rapid progress in eastern Aleppo, where over 250,000 civilians are trapped.

For months, the Syrian government and Russia have been urging rebels to leave Aleppo, offering them safe passages to other rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The rebels, however, turned down all offers, which has resulted in intensified violence.
KABUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Afghan army personnel recovered and defused one dozen Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and landmines in two eastern provinces, the Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

"The engineering teams of Afghan National Army discovered and defused 12 IEDs and landmines in Kunar and Parwan provinces over the last 24 hours," it said in a statement.

The Taliban militants and other insurgent groups have been using IEDs to target security forces but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians, according to military officials.

On Saturday, Afghan police seized over 9,000 kg of a banned chemical in eastern Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan.

"Afghan National Border Police (ANBP) confiscated 9,310 kg of Ammonium Nitrate, a key component used to make Improvised Explosive Devices. The ANBP searched a truck and found the Ammonium Nitrate besides arresting one suspect in Torkham port, Nangarhar province," Afghan Interior Ministry said earlier Sunday.

The seizure of such a large volume of the banned material will significantly degrade insurgents' capability to build IEDs, the statement noted.

The Afghan government has banned use, product, storage and sale of fertilizer Ammonium Nitrate since 2010.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump (R) and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (front) participate in the third and final presidential debate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) in Las Vegas, Nevada, the United States, Oct. 19, 2016.(Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

WASHINGTON, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The campaign of U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said Saturday it will participate in the vote recount in Wisconsin, while President-elect Donald Trump dismissed the effort as "scam."

"We feel it is important, on principle, to ensure our campaign is legally represented in any court proceedings and represented on the ground in order to monitor the recount process itself," Clinton's campaign attorney Mark Elias wrote on an online statement.

The statement said since the election the campaign has received "hundreds of messages" that urged action against the result, and that the campaign has previously conducted various measures to evaluate the fairness of the vote count.

The steps included having lawyers, data scientists and analysts combing over the election result to spot anomalies, meeting with outside experts to hear their concerns and review their findings, and monitoring and staffing the post-election canvasses.

Elias concluded that after the above mentioned procedures, his team had found no "actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology."

In light of the findings, Clinton's campaign initially decided against filing for recount, but now that a recount has been initiated in Wisconsin, it will join in, the statement said.

The Wisconsin recount was filed on Friday by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, who said in an online video that she will also push for recounts in the states of Michigan and Pennsylvania, which Elias said the Clinton campaign will also participate.

The three states where Stein has asked for recount were the most closely contested states during the presidential election, with Republican candidate Donald Trump's combined lead in all three states just topping 100,000 votes, according to figures released by state authorities.

Trump had a 70,000 vote lead in Pennsylvania, 10,000 in Michigan, and 27,000 in Wisconsin.

Stein won approximately one percent of the vote in each of the three states, which means she needs to pay for the cost of the recount, according to state legislation.

Local media reported that she has raised over five million U.S. dollars to finance her recount bid, 3.5 million dollars more than her campaign fund.

Trump said Saturday in a fiery statement that Stein's request for a vote recount is "ridiculous."

"This is a scam by the Green Party for an election that has already been conceded, and the results of this election should be respected instead of being challenged and abused," Trump's statement said.

"This recount is just a way for Jill Stein, who received less than one percent of the vote overall...to fill her coffers with money, most of which she will never even spend on this ridiculous recount," Trump said.

Clinton's campaign admitted that history is not on its side, as "the number of votes separating Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in the closest of these states -- Michigan -- well exceeds the largest margin ever overcome in a recount."

Clinton needs to overturn the result in all three states in order to bag enough electoral votes to replace Trump in the White House.

Trump announced victory in the presidential election on Nov. 9, after upsetting rival Clinton in several key states that were traditionally viewed as blue states, including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

The result sparked anger among thousands of Clinton supporters who staged mass protests across the country and called for recounts.
HANOI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Some 4,000 prisoners in Vietnam are eligible for being released before their terms end this year, a local amnesty advisory council meeting was heard Sunday.

Since 2009, some months after Vietnam's Law on Special Amnesty took effect, the country has conducted amnesty six times, releasing 81,795 inmates ahead their imprisonment terms, as well as 919 convicts who had yet to live behind bars.

In the latest amnesty, conducted in 2015, some 18,500 inmates were released from prison ahead their terms, of whom 0.4 percent relapsed into crime, according to statistics from local courts.
by Xue Lei, Nguon Sovan

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Health cooperation between Cambodia and China is key to the long-term development of health sector in the Southeast Asian country, Cambodian health minister Mam Bunheng has told Xinhua in an interview.

"Our bilateral cooperation is a comprehensive approach with a very clear action plan for the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership of Cooperation between the two countries," he said on Saturday.

He said China is "most supportive" of Cambodia's national strategic development plan and health strategic plan.

"This cooperation demonstrates the long-term historical relationship, friendship and solidarity between the two countries and peoples," Bunheng said.

According to the minister, a number of agreements and memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in medical treatment and public health have been signed between the two countries in recent years, focusing on technical cooperation, human resources development for health professionals, malaria treatment, and traditional medicine research.

Besides, China has funded the construction of hospital buildings across Cambodia and donated a variety of medical equipment and supplies, he added.

One of the China's remarkable donations was the provision of 200 sets of ambulances and 200 sets of ultrasound machines to Cambodia last year, said Bunheng.

"The pieces of equipment have been used effectively to serve the Cambodian people, especially those living in remote areas," he said.

The minister said Cambodia was very satisfied with good cooperation in health sector between the two countries and expressed his sincere thanks to China for having provided support based on the needs of Cambodia.

Asked about any difficulty in carrying out China-backed health projects, the minister said that it was important that all cooperation projects should be linked with capacity building in order to improve both health services and health professional capacity.

Bunheng suggested that to deepen bilateral cooperation in medical treatment and public health, the two countries need to encourage the exchange of knowledge, experience and skills among health professionals.

Maternal and child health, communicable diseases control, non-communicable disease control and health system strengthening are the priorities of the ministry's work now, according to Bunheng.

"So far, China has supported us for health system strengthening, communicable diseases control, and capacity building for institutions and health professionals," he said.

According to Bunheng, Li Bin, minister of the China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, is expected to visit to Cambodia in December. During her trip, a MoU on health cooperation will be signed between the two countries.

He said the upcoming MoU will focus on the control of emerging infectious diseases, particularly human avian influenza, prevention and control of HIV/AIDS, traditional medicine, trauma surgery, and prevention and control of Malaria.
PHNOM PENH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's assistance in medical treatment has "great value" for Cambodia and has saved hundreds of thousands of lives in nearly a decade, said Lt. Gen. Ly Sovann, director of the Preah Ket Mealea Hospital, also known as the military hospital, here.

Since 2007 until now, China, through the Defense Ministry and the People's Liberation Army, has provided a variety of sophisticated medical equipment and supplies to the hospital, he said.

"Moreover, China has sent its medical specialists to train Cambodian doctors on how to use those medical equipment and supplies," Sovann told Xinhua in an interview earlier this week.

Last December, China delivered medical equipment worth roughly 2.5 million U.S. dollars to the hospital, he said. Also, the Chinese Defense Ministry had recently signed up to provide other medical equipment and supplies worth about 5 million U.S. dollars to the hospital's cardiology unit.

The director said that cooperation between the hospital and its Chinese counterpart provides a long-term benefit to the Cambodian people.

"All Chinese assistance to the hospital has no strings attached at all," he said. "They (Chinese people) help us sincerely and fondly, and treat us as brothers."

Sovann said the Chinese aid has "great value" for the hospital, soldiers and poor patients and is the "life" of the hospital.

"Cambodian doctors have got expertise in using hi-tech medical equipment, as hundreds of thousands of patients, both soldiers and civilians, have received a reliable medical treatment," he said.

According to Sovann, the hospital operated on more than 1,000 patients per year.

With China's help, he said the hospital has rapidly developed and is gradually well-known among local people.

However, the director said there is difficulty in maintenance and repair work of medical equipment because the equipment suppliers are based in China and have no branches in Cambodia.

Currently both sides are working together to resolve this problem in order to ensure the effectiveness of those pieces of medical equipment.

Thanks to good relations and cooperation between Cambodia and China, Sovann is optimistic that China will expand its assistance to the hospital through providing more medical equipment and supplies as well as experts for the cardiology and neurology units.

Founded in 1866 during the French protectorate, the hospital currently has more than 1,000 staff, he said.
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China on Sunday released a guideline on better protection of property rights in an effort to shore up social confidence and promote social justice.

The country will provide equal, comprehensive and law-based protection to all kinds of property rights and encourage the participation of the public in the process, says the guideline issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council.

Major problems concerning property rights must be solved to increase protection and build a long-term mechanism. Although China has worked to protect property rights, there are still many problems, including infringement on private property by public power and weak protection of intellectual property rights.

Secure property rights "raise people's sense of wealth security, boost social confidence, foster positive expectations and raise the impetus for entrepreneurship and innovation by various economic entities," according to the document.

Protection will also help social justice while maintaining healthy economic and social development.

China will further clarify the relations between owners and managers of state-owned property, and push for equity diversification of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and modern corporate governance of those companies.

SOEs should improve internal supervision, ensure their boards operate within the law and better supervise their managers, the document says.
ANTANANARIVO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The heads of state and government participating in the 16th Francophonie Summit decided to give the organization of the next Summit, scheduled in 2018, to Armenia, Secretary-General of the International Organization of La Francophonie (OIF) Michaelle Jean announced Sunday on her Twitter account.

She also announced that the 18th Francophonie (French-speaking countries) Summit will be held in Tunisia in 2020.

Earlier Sunday, the OIF accepted the Republic of Korea, Argentina, Canada's Ontario as an observer member, and New Caledonia as associate members.

The 16th Francophonie Summit was held Nov. 26-27 in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo.
PARIS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The decisive round of French right-center parties primary started on Sunday and it will send one of the two conservatives, Francois Fillon and Alain Juppe, into the presidential race.

Final opinion polls projected the frontrunner Fillon to seize a major lead over veteran Juppe who had been long dominating the vote intentions before the "ultra-liberal" contender reported a surprise lead last Sunday.

Pollsters also predicted the winner of U.S.-style competition, the first ever held by French conservatives, will occupy the Elysee Palace next year due sliding popularity of the Socialist ruling camp and a lack of majority supporting the far-right National Front party.

An Opinionway poll released on Friday showed Fillon would win the conservative nomination with 61 percent of votes versus 39 percent for his rival.

"I await the voters' verdict. Now it is they who speak and not the candidates," Fillon said after casting his ballot in Paris seventh district.

The former prime minister vowed to put ailing French economy on track thanks "to more radical project" which include raising retirement age and reducing public expenditure by cutting half million public service jobs in addition to undo the 35-hour working week to make the French working longer.

Juppe, 71, who has served as prime minister and foreign minister, portrayed himself as a modern centrist with moderate political rhetoric.

"I made a beautiful campaign. I defended my ideas till the end and it will work. Let's wait (the result) tonight," the moderate politician said after voting in the southwestern town Bordeaux where he is the mayor from 2006.

The latest figures released by the primary organizers showed morning turnout rising by 13 percent than the figure for the same period in the first round. About 1.270 million voters have cast their ballots by noon.

More than 4.2 million people voted in the first round.

Voting opens at 10,228 polling stations across France at 8 a.m. and closes at 7 p.m.local time. The first partial results may emerge at 8:30 p.m.
SHANGHAI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- German machine tool maker Schwabische Werkzeugmaschinen GmBH (SW) has set up its first factory outside Germany in Suzhou Industrial Park in east China's Jiangsu Province.

"We plan to establish smart assembly lines and an automatic production department in China," said Reiner Fries, Managing Director Sales of SW.

Since SW's Shanghai office was set up in 2010, it has won nearly 50 clients and sold more than 200 machines.

Fries said SW is instilling in China the concept of German Industry 4.0 step by step, contributing to the development of "Made in China 2025".

The machine tool manufacturer is best known for its multi-spindle technology.

Markus Schmolz, legal representative of SW Asia Co. Ltd., said that as China goes through manufacturing transformation and upgrades, the concepts of intelligent manufacturing and industrial automation are becoming more and more popular.

High-grade numerical control machine tools are among those encouraged by the "Made in China 2025" development plan. Among the others are large aircraft, aero-engines and gas turbines, civil aviation, smart green trains, fuel-efficient and new energy vehicles, marine engineering equipment and high-tech ships, intelligent power grid equipment, nuclear equipment, high-end diagnosis and treatment equipment.
COLOMBO, No. 27 (Xinhua) -- Five people were killed after a train crashed into a car in Sri Lanka's southern town of Wadduwa on Sunday.

The police said that the train, which was travelling from the southern town of Galle to Colombo, crashed into the car at an unprotected railway crossing.

Sri Lanka has a history of accidents at railway crossings. Last month four people were injured when a train crashed into a van in Puttalam in the north western part.

In July four people were injured when a train engine collided with a train near the town of Meerigama.

In May two people were killed after being hit by a train near a railway station in Colombo.
ANKARA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters showed signs of chemical exposure after Islamic State (IS) attack in northern Syria, Turkish General Staff stated on Sunday.

Altogether 22 fighters, who fight IS in alliance with Turkish forces within the scope of Operation Euphrates Shield, were observed showing symptoms of chemical gas exposure in northern Syria's Khalidiyah region, the general staff said in a statement quoted by the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Moreover, a clash with IS terrorists had left one opposition fighter dead and 14 others injured, it said.

The affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey.

The emergency workers were reportedly equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves.

Meanwhile, Turkish warplanes destroyed four IS targets in the Anifah neighborhood near al-Bab, also in Syria's north.
WINDHOEK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Namibians adore the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro here in Namibia where a street was named after him in the capital Windhoek.

The news of Castro's death at the age of 90 on Friday was received with profound sadness and deep grief, the ruling party Swapo secretary for information Helmut Angula said in a statement Saturday.

"During the difficult times of our struggle for independence, Commandant Fidel Castro provided our people with hope, inspiration and impeccable leadership," Angula said.

To millions, Angula said, Castro was more than just a man but a symbol of the struggle for freedom, justice, equality and human dignity.

"His selfless sacrifice inspired revolutionaries in all corners of the world to fight relentlessly for justice, freedom and human dignity. He leaves us with a wealth of legacy and great vision to strive for self-reliance and well-being for the people of our country," he further said.

Angula said Castro will be remembered for the immense sacrifices paid by Cubans under his command in Namibia's fight for freedom especially the rescue operation during the attack on Namibian refugee camp at Cassinga, Angola, in 1978.

President Hage Geingob, in his condolence message Saturday, also described Castro as a father, a brother, an uncle and a friend.

"Our own victories and losses in the struggle for our independence against apartheid South Africa, are inextricably linked to the international solidarity of the Cuban people through diplomatic, military, and people to people interface," he said.

Geingob also recalled how in May 1978, South African Defense Forces attacked defenseless Namibian women and children in exile at a Swapo camp at Cassinga, Angola.

"Again, it was the gallant Cuban forces who rushed to our rescue. Cuban soldiers lost their lives in this process due to land mines planted by our enemies. It's in the same year, Fidel offered education to more than 3,000 Namibian children who survived the Cassinga attack," he said.

"In short, the unwavering commitment of Fidel to our freedom led to the destruction of apartheid in Namibia. True to his revolutionary heart, Castro had no other interest other than the liberation of the oppressed," he said.

"He had no interest in the natural resources of a free Namibia as his view was that Cubans did not come to collect gold or diamonds, all they had to do was return the remains of their fallen comrades." said Geingob.

Another politician, Theo Ben-Gurirab, who served as Swapo representative to the United Nations, said Castro's boldness expedited Namibia's independence struggle.

"If it were not for Cuba, Southern Africa could have been a very different region right now," Gurirab said.

Geingob said Sunday that he will be accompanied by two former Namibian presidents, Sam Nujoma and Hifikepunye Pohamba, as well as the ruling party Swapo's secretary general Nangolo Mbumba to Cuba for Castro's memorial service in Havana.
DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army forces have secured the evacuation of 1,500 civilians from rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo city in northern Syria, state news agency SANA reported Sunday.

The civilians have been evacuated from rebel-held areas through routes previously identified by the Syrian army, which repeatedly called on the rebels in eastern Aleppo to allow civilians to leave.

However, the repeated calls were met with deaf ears from the rebels' side, until the Syrian forces went on a wide-scale offensive over the past few days against major rebel strongholds in eastern Aleppo.

The Syrian forces fully recaptured the Jabal Badro neighborhood in eastern Aleppo Sunday, a day after retaking the Masaken Hanano area, which is the largest rebel-held district in eastern Aleppo, according to SANA.

Since the army started capturing areas in eastern Aleppo over the past 24 hours, civilians started fleeing toward government-controlled areas in western Aleppo.

The military operations in eastern Aleppo aim to set free the civilians "who have been taken hostage by the rebels," said a security source.

"As we have previously promised, it's only a matter of short time before all civilians in Aleppo will be set free from the terrorists," the source said.

It stressed that time is still available for reaching a settlement in eastern Aleppo to secure the evacuation of all those desirous to leave, which will save the city from the bloodshed.

On the opposition side, activists said that after capturing Hanano, the Syrian army is attempting to capture the Sakhour neighborhood, whose control would enable the Syrian army to divide the northern part of the rebel-held areas east of Aleppo from its southern one.
DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A booby-trapped car ripped through a northern Syrian town near Turkey on Sunday, killing at least one and left many wounded, in what activists said was a blast carried out by the Islamic State (IS) group.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group said the explosion was the result of a car bomb that went off in the town of al-Rai, which is controlled by the Turkey-backed Euphrates Shield forces, in the countryside of the northern province of Aleppo.

Meanwhile, other Aleppo-based activists said that 12 civilians, including 10 children, have been taken to hospitals inside Turkey after sustaining injuries in the blast.

The Local Coordination Committees activists said at least one child was killed in the bombing.

Other activists said the car bomb ripped through one of the checkpoints of the Euphrates Shield in the town.

The Ankara-backed group has been making some progress against the IS in northern Syria, with the latest attempt to storm the city of al-Bab, the last IS-held city in northern Aleppo, and the gate for the IS out and inside Syria.

Pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV said Sunday that clashes were raging between the Turkish-backed groups and the IS west of al-Bab.

Turkey has been backing the Free Syrian Army and other rebel groups under a campaign called the Euphrates Shield to secure areas in northern Syria from the IS and to cut the road before the Kurdish-led rebels can link areas under their control in northern Syria, a progress deemed by Turkey as a redline.
CHENGDU, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A rare diving duck, a species which is heading for extinction with fewer than 1,000 in the wild, was spotted lately by a photographer in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

The finding of Baer's pochard at a lake in the city of Chengdu in mid-November was confirmed by the provincial forestry bureau experts.

"The lone pochard was found paddling on the lake of Xinglong. A local bird watcher and photographer surnamed Yang caught it in his camera," said Wu Jiawei, deputy director of Chengdu Birding Association.

A male Baer's pochard has a dark grey to black neck and back, light brownish-red chest and sides, and a white belly. The head has a dark green sheen. A female has mostly brown coloring on its body.

The diving ducks breed in northeast Asia and migrate to the south for winter. The migration usually starts in mid-October.

Sichuan is on many birds' migration routes, but spotting of the Baer's pochard was rare in recent years. The species only was seen in 2008, 2013, and 2016.

Long Yanlun, a wildlife specialist with Sichuan provincial forestry bureau, said that as ecology of the region's wetlands recovers due to increased conservation efforts, more birds will be seen.
VIENTIANE, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Lao leaders have sent a message to the party and state leader of Cuba to express condolences over the passing of Fidel Castro.

"We have learned with profound sadness of the passing of Comrade, Fidel Castro Ruz, former First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba on the 25th November 2016," reads the message sent by Lao President Bounnhang Vorachit, Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith and President of the National Assembly Pany Yathotou.

"On behalf of the Central Committee of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party, President of the Lao People Democratic Republic, the Government, the Lao National Assembly and on our own behalf, we would like to convey our deepest condolences and sympathy to Comrade and through you to the party, the government and the Cuban fraternal people. We would specially like to share the profound sadness with Comrade Fidel Castro Ruz's family," Lao state- run news agency on Sunday quoted the message.

The message was sent to Raul Castro Ruz, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, and President of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba.

"The passing of Comrade Fidel Castro Ruz is of a great loss to the Cuban Revolutionary Party, Government and the Cuban Fraternal People and it is indeed a great loss to the Lao Revolution Party, Government and the Lao people," reads the message.
DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army successfully recaptured on Sunday the neighborhood of Sakhour in the rebel-held part east of Aleppo city in northern Syria, a military source told Xinhua.

This is considered the latest in a series of victories military forces have achieved recently in that part of the country, stated the source.

Military forces and allied fighters have regained control over the neighborhood of Sakhour and the Jabal Badro district, after capturing the largest rebel-held neighborhood of Masaken Hanano the day before, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

With Sakhour under control, the Syrian army and allies have effectively divided the rebel-held areas in eastern Aleppo, as the neighborhood lies between the northern and southern parts of eastern Aleppo.

The source said that the Syrian army's rapid advance left rebels in a state of confusion, adding that the Syrian forces and allied fighters are currently advancing into the neighborhood of Babdien and the outskirts of the area of Haidariyeh in eastern Aleppo.

Meanwhile, the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen news agency said that Syrian warplanes were targeting rebels who fled Sakhour.

A security source in the joint operation room of the Syrian army and its allies in Aleppo said in a statement sent to Xinhua on Sunday that military operations in eastern Aleppo aim to set free the civilians "who have been taken hostage by the rebels."

"As we have previously promised, it's only a matter of short time before all civilians in Aleppo will be set free from the terrorists," the statement said.

The statement added that "we have stressed recently that we will liberate all of Aleppo and everyone can witness the victories of the Syrian army and its allies."

Furthermore, the statement stressed that there is still time to reach a settlement in eastern Aleppo in order to secure evacuation for those wishing to leave, thus saving the city from bloodshed and sparing civilians further agony.

"Our determination to fight the terrorists has increased whatever the sacrifices and the blood of the martyrs of the Syrian army will not go in vain and the victory will be the big prize for every Syrian," the statement said.

It further stressed that "whoever thinks, even for a minute, that the Syrian army and its allies would back down, would be delusional and we will not leave over 200,000 civilians hostages in the hands of the terrorists. This is the final, irreversible decision."

For months, the Syrian government and Russia have been urging rebels to leave Aleppo, offering them safe passages to other rebel-held areas in the northwestern province of Idlib.

However, the rebels turned down all offers, which led to intensified violence.
TEHRAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Railways Chief Mohsen Pourseyed Aqaei resigned on Sunday following a deadly train crash in the northern province of Semnan on Friday, Tasnim news agency reported.

Minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi accepted Aqaei's resignation, the report said.

Iranian lawmakers are also working on a plan to impeach Akhoundi for what they call his weak performance that led to the terrible train accident.

On Friday, two trains collided in Haft-Khan train station located between Semnan and Damghan cities, which killed 45 and injured 103 others.

On Saturday, three railway staff were detained over the collision, the prosecutor of Semnan province, Heidar Asiaei, was quoted as saying by semi-official Mehr news agency.

Iranian officials said that human failure in observing the duties was the cause of the accident.

Asiaei added that the results of investigations will be later announced.
Photo taken on Nov. 18, 2016 shows the damaged 13th-century Basilica of Saint Benedict, the very symbol of Norcia, central Italy. (Xinhua/Jin Yu)

by Alessandra Cardone

NORCIA, Italy, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The place looked much like an ordinary hangar, or a warehouse, lost among many others in a featureless suburban area.

Yet, instead of raw materials or finished goods, it was filled with the most precious gems the region of Umbria has for centuries: paintings, statues, altarpieces, artefacts, wooden frames and crosses, reliquaries, and much more.

The three major earthquakes that have struck central Italy since late August, and especially the latest and strongest one on Oct. 30, with its epicentre near the ancient city of Norcia, forced authorities to face many emergencies.

They have to provide shelters for some 15,000 homeless people all across the region, restore basic public services, assess damages and needs of thousands of firms... and rescue cultural heritages which constitute the soul of this land, and a driving force of its economy.

"We are working hard, and yet with a deep sadness in our hearts," art historian Tiziana Biganti with Umbria Museums Centres told Xinhua, as she showed the first large room where art pieces were brought in after the earthquakes.

"We would rather work on restoring these pieces without so much destruction around us," she said.

More than 900 art pieces have been recovered in the facility as of Nov. 24, and experts would expect another full month of intense rescue work.

The activity was coordinated by the regional Archaeological, Arts, and Landscape Superintendence in cooperation with art professionals from the Culture Ministry, civil protection's technicians, firefighters -- who physically carry out the recovery -- and the Heritage Protection Unit of the Carabinieri police.

"We are rescuing all the art pieces from under the rubbles of the churches in Norcia, and of the whole Valnerina Valley around," superintendent Marica Mercalli told Xinhua.

"We retrieve artworks also from buildings still standing but deemed unsafe, to avoid any further damage in case of new collapses."

The Umbria region built the anti-seismic structure with European Union's (EU) funds after a major quake in 1997, specifically to store and protect its heritage in case of emergency. For the first time, it was being used for its original purpose.

Its exact whereabouts were to remain unknown for security reasons, according to the authorities.

"Our current priority is to collect all art works here as soon as possible, for they are at high risk of rapid decay due to the seismic events, the bad weather, and possible looting," the art historian said.

The facility was provided with big exhaust fans to keep temperature at 20 degrees and 55 percent of humidity, the best conditions for wooden artefacts that make the majority of the collection.

Each artwork would undergo a first cleaning, which enables it to be freed from the dust generated by the quake, and from a light white film of moisture that developed because of the rain after the earthquake.

Experts would then make a first evaluation of the damages, and classify each of them before storage. The real restoration phase would come after rescue activity is completed.

The 6.5-magnitude earthquake on Oct. 30 was the most powerful in Italy in 36 years, and badly affected, if not destroyed, many historic churches and buildings.

For example, the 13th-century Basilica of Saint Benedict, the very symbol of Norcia, now lies almost completely in ruins but for the facade; the bell tower of the cathedral of Santa Maria Argentea was severely damaged, as well as the Abbey of Sant'Eutizio near Preci, one of Italy's oldest monasteries dating back to the early sixth century.

Luckily, many treasures that have long beautified these places survived, some of them with surprising few scars.

"A good example is this large wooden altarpiece by Jacopo Siculo, dated back to 1541, whose recovery from the church of San Francis in Norcia has been extremely hard," the superintendent said.

"It is quite a miracle that it has remained almost intact, showing only a scratch in its left side."

The altarpiece is six meters long and three meters wide, weighs some 600 kg alone, and the whole structure 1,300 kg. It took three days just to detach it from the wall.

An opposite example was another altarpiece retrieved from St. Benedict Basilica, whose canvas lay on the floor with its bottom section badly torn and affected by humidity.

"It needs to rest and dry: and the slower the drying, the better," Mercalli explained.

Asked whether restoration was possible with such a large damage, the superintendent looked confident.

"We will bring them back... I dare not say as they were, because nothing returns to its original state after such disastrous events, but to 80-90 percent of the painted surface," she said.

Currently, rescue work was "at zero cost" because ministry's professionals, as well as firefighters and police, were involved, according to the expert.

However, the restoration phase will surely be very expensive, and an overall estimate was not yet possible, because every art piece would have to be evaluated.

The Italian government allocated 130 million euros (137.71 million U.S. dollars) funds, but they would serve to cover the whole reconstruction phase in all of the three quake-affected central regions.

"A positive fact is that many Italian public institutions and citizens volunteered to fund the restoration of art pieces," Mercalli stressed.

"Any kind of financial aid from Europe, and outside Europe, will be most welcome. We have so much to do." said Mercalli.
CAIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian police dismantled a 10-member militant cell suspected of planning anti-government terrorist attacks in Suez province northeast of the capital Cairo, the Interior Ministry said in a statement Sunday.

The statement said the suspects confessed they had planned to carry out terrorist attacks against security and judicial premises.

According to the statement, one of the suspects, identified as Abdel-Rahman al-Hadi, was trained by a Sinai-based group loyal to the Islamic State (IS).

Egypt has been facing a rising wave of terrorist activities, mostly in North Sinai, since the military removed former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and his now-blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood.

Since then, the crackdown on Morsi's supporters has left about 1,000 killed and thousands more arrested, while anti-government attacks, mostly claimed by the IS-affiliated group in Sinai, have killed hundreds of police and military personnel.

Security raids have so far killed about 1,200 militants in North Sinai as part of the country's "anti-terror war" declared by former military chief and current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.
Image taken on Feb 3, 2016 shows a red-eyed frog resting on a leave vine in the tropical rainforest in the Guayabo National Monument, 70km from San Jose, Costa Rica. (Xinhua/Kent Gilbert)

by Edna Alcantara

MEXICO CITY, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China is a good partner to Mexico and Latin America in general in protecting biodiversity, a Mexican environment official said in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

Hesiquio Benitez Diaz, director general of International Cooperation and Implementation at the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity under the Mexican Environment Ministry, believes that as a leading global economic player, China is also taking on a leading environmental role.

"In the area of biodiversity, I believe (China) is a good partner, and it is great news that it is willing to collaborate with Latin America," said Diaz.

China is one of the world's 17 "megadiverse countries," identified by the American nonprofit environmental organization Conservation International as home to most of Earth's species and extremely rich in endemic species.

In 2002, these countries decided to create the so-called Group of Like-Minded Megadiverse Countries to boost cooperation in protecting wildlife.

This year, on the sidelines of the upcoming 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity to be held in Cancun, Mexico in December, the group is expected to nominate an Asian country to take its rotating presidency.

"It would be great news if China were to become the new leader of the Megadiverse," said Diaz.

"It is going to be very enriching for (China) to share its experiences" in environmental conservation, he said, adding that "it is a very big country and I think we can learn many things from them."

"There has been very good collaboration" between Mexico and China in this field, he said.

In December, at the United Nations (UN) biodiversity conference, "the world will meet to take the steps needed to build a future of life in harmony with nature," according to the UN.

One basic goal, said Diaz, is to restore at least 15 percent of the world's deteriorated ecosystems by 2020.
Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai (C), State Councilor Guo Shengkun (R) and State Councilor Wang Yong attend a national teleconference on production safety in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2016. (Xinhua/Zhang Duo)

BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities on Sunday told safety watchdogs nationwide to launch thorough work safety checking to resolutely curb severe accidents and plug the holes in safety standards.

The call was made at a meeting on work safety of the State Council, China's Cabinet. Vice Premier Ma Kai addressed the meeting.

The meeting urged local authorities to earnestly carry out the orders by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang concerning a deadly power plant accident in east China's Jiangxi Province and implement their instructions on national workplace safety.

It was agreed at the meeting that lessons should be learned from recent accidents and an overhaul is needed to ensure safety at work.

Attendees to the meeting also suggested promoting supervision and inspection as well as accountability in order to improve workplace safety.

They cited areas in need of more attention, including construction sites, coal mines, traffic, dangerous chemicals, fireworks, power and heating supply sectors.

Safety measures should also be strengthened at crowded places, it was agreed. Precautions should also be made to deal with extremely bad weather.

Local authorities should take innovative measures to improve work safety. Illegal operations should be cracked down on and the threshold for work safety standards should be carried out strictly, according to the meeting.

The platform for a cooling tower of a power plant under construction collapsed in Fengcheng of Jiangxi on Thursday morning, and 74 people were killed.

President Xi on Thursday urged local authorities to step up rescue efforts, treatment and follow-up work after the deadly accident. He ordered those involved to leave no stone unturned when investigating the accident.

Premier Li also called for all-out efforts to treat the injured.Supervision should be strengthened and precautionary measures should be taken to prevent serious accidents from happening again, Li said.
CAIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egypt denied any military presence in Syrian territories as circulated by some Arab newspapers, said the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in a statement on Sunday.

The Lebanese daily As-Safir newspaper said on Thursday that Egypt sent earlier in November an 18-member air force unit to assist the Syrian army and two Egyptian military generals were carrying out aerial reconnaissance in Syria.

"These claims only exist in the imagination of those promoting them," Egyptian Foreign Ministry's spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in the statement, stressing that Egypt is committed to the principle of non-interference in other countries' domestic affairs.

The spokesman added that constitutional and legal measures need to be taken before sending any Egyptian soldier or equipment abroad, "and these measures are not done secretly without informing the Egyptian people."

The fighting in Syria has recently escalated in the war-torn city of Aleppo, killing dozens of people, as well as wounding and besieging many others.

Since erupting in March 2011, the Syrian crisis has claimed the lives of about 500,000 people and displaced over 10 million.
PARIS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A gendarme was killed overnight after being struck by a vehicle during a routine check operation in Ussat-les-Bains, Ariege, southwest France, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Sunday.

In a statement, Cazeneuve expressed "deep emotion and his great sadness after the death of Major Christian Rusig, commander of the Tarascon-sur-Ariege Gendarmerie Brigade, hit by a vehicle last night."

The French minister denounced "an odious act," and pledged "all necessary firmness" to punish the perpetrator who was "immediately arrested."

According to media reports, the car driver is a delinquent known to police for minor offenses.
by Xinhua writer Yi Aijun

ISTANBUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- An unyielding push for a presidential system in Turkey by the ruling party, at a time when the country is facing a plethora of crises both at home and abroad, seriously risks deepening the polarization in society to a point of conflict, analysts have warned.

"This system may further endanger the integrity of Turkey which already has some major ethnic and religious fault lines," observed Bican Sahin, president of the Ankara-based Freedom Research Association.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is seeking to replace the country's parliamentary system with an executive presidency.

That indicates, as earlier remarks by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan revealed, a president in charge without strong checks and balances.

The AKP government and the president have long been criticized by opposition parties and the West for an increasing trend of authoritarianism and growing pressure over the judiciary and freedom of speech and the press.

In the view of Sahin, also a professor of political science with Hacettepe University in Ankara, the minorities in Turkey may feel more alienated in a presidential system as the winner takes all in it.

"The presidential system is more appropriate for societies with less ethnic and religious cleavages," he opined.

Turkey has long been grappling with a Kurdish ethnic problem, while Alevis represent the country's major religious minority whose members are devout supporters of secularism.

Alevis, many Kurds and those who advocate a secular way of life feel more and more alienated in the Islamist AKP-ruled Turkey.

The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) are vehemently opposing a shift to the presidential system, arguing that it would lead to an authoritarian one-man rule.

The HDP, whose two co-chairs and eight other deputies were recently arrested on charges of having links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), is the third biggest party in the parliament.

Despite the clamor, only some unconfirmed details about the AKP proposal have so far appeared in the Turkish press. The government is working on a fortified presidential system, government spokesman Numan Kurtulmus said this month.

According to some recent reports, the president under the new system will be entitled to select half the members of the Constitutional Court as well as the country's top judicial board, the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors. The heads of universities will also be tapped by the president.

A draft proposal about the constitutional amendments, which the AKP recently presented to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) for negotiations, also reportedly authorizes the president to dissolve the parliament.

"The system proposed by the ruling party is more conflict-prone (as compared to the current parliamentary system)," remarked Ersin Kalaycioglu, a political scientist with Sabanci University in Istanbul.

According to a survey made public early this year, the polarization among supporters of Turkey's major political parties was alarmingly high.

Seventy-six percent of those polled did not want to become neighbors with voters of a party they dislike, showed the survey by the Corporate Social Responsibility Association.

And 83 percent of the respondents said they would not want their daughters to marry a man who supports a party they disapprove.

The adoption of the presidential system would not only aggravate the already very high polarization in society, but could also risk disintegrating the nation, some fear.

A major problem that risks increasing the country's fragility is the decades-old fight against the PKK which aims to establish an independent Kurdish state in the country's Kurds-dominated southeast.

The Kurds, with an estimated population of nearly 20 million in Turkey, have felt deeply frustrated following the collapse last year of a peace process that had lasted for more than two years.

Meanwhile, Turkey has plunged militarily into war-torn Syria and strained its relations with the United States, the European Union and Iraq, and faced at home a divided society and a slowing economy.

If things go on this way and the polarization persists, a civil war would break out in Turkey within four to five years, Ismail Hakki Pekin, a former general who headed the intelligence unit of the Turkish General Staff, warned on Halk TV early this month.

He referred to the fact that a significant portion, or 6-7 percent, of the country's population are radical Islamists who support the Islamic State (IS).

"A civil war in Turkey would be worse than the one the former Yugoslavia suffered," he remarked.

Yugoslavia got dismembered following a civil war in the 1990s, in which tens of thousands of people were killed.

The opposition CHP also argues that an executive presidency would lead to the disintegration of Turkey.

In response, Prime Minister and AKP head Binali Yildirim claimed that the country would in fact risk getting disintegrated if it does not turn to the presidential system.

Neither party leader, however, elaborated on why he thinks the country would face such a dire situation.

The road leading to the presidential system will not be smooth for the AKP, as the issue will come before voters for a referendum should the amendments pass in parliament.

More than 50 percent votes are needed in the plebiscite. According to a recent survey by Sonar polling company, 56 percent of the public is against the proposed presidential system.

Generally around 65 percent of the voters in Turkey vote for right-wing parties, of which the AKP is the dominant element, while the rest support left-wing parties such as the CHP and the HDP. The AKP has been in power since late 2002.

Noting the AKP's draft proposal as reported by the media does not have a strict separation of powers while bestowing extensive powers on the presidency, Sahin stated, "This is not in conformity with the liberal democratic principles."

Following a failed coup in July, the Turkish government imposed an emergency rule and has dismissed tens of thousands of public servants for alleged links to the Gulen movement.

Companies owned by sympathizers of Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Turkish cleric who is accused by Ankara of masterminding the coup attempt, were also seized by the state.

Some media outlets have been shuttered by the government while journalists were arrested in the ongoing crackdown.

Erdogan, who headed the AKP governments for years before being elected president in 2014, has often been criticized for his lust for power.

It is widely argued that Erdogan seeks to obtain a legal shield through a shift to the executive presidency, as he knows he will have to face heavy charges in court should he lose power.

The president has often been threatened by the opposition that he would be called to account on various charges, including violating the constitution, corruption, and interfering with the government and the judiciary.

After winning the presidency in 2014, Erdogan revealed his favor of a judiciary in harmony with the executive.

The MHP is the only party apparently ready to support the AKP in parliament for the constitutional amendments regarding the presidential system.

At least 330 votes are needed for the amendments to be taken to a referendum. The AKP has 317 seats in parliament, while the MHP has 39.

Despite MHP leader Devlet Bahceli's positive approach toward the AKP proposal, four deputies from his party have already voiced their opposition to the amendments.

More MHP lawmakers are expected to say nay, as until recently the MHP, including its leader, was a staunch supporter of the parliamentary system in place.

According to press reports, the MHP will oppose several articles of the draft proposal, including the president's authority to dissolve the parliament.

Some also maintain that there may well be undisclosed sympathizers of the Gulen movement among AKP deputies, who would also vote against the amendments.

Erdogan is the first president of Turkey who was elected by popular vote, so the AKP argues that the president should have more power for this reason.

AKP officials have indirectly admitted on several occasions that it is Erdogan who calls all the shots in the government.

Their argument is that this de-facto situation should be provided with a legal base by the adoption of the presidential system.

Under the current constitution, the president is required, after election, to cut off ties with the party he belongs to so as to act impartially.

The secular CHP sees the AKP's move as an effort to revamp the political regime rather than a simple change in the government system.

"(The switch to) the presidential system is a discussion on the regime. We will not allow anyone who is in favor of a dictatorial regime rather than democracy to go ahead," CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said on Twitter last week.

Sabanci's Kalaycioglu feels the CHP argument is not an exaggeration. He also thinks Turkey would not look much different from what it is today as the country is already being ruled in a de-facto presidential system in which Erdogan has the final say on all issues.

The CHP leader even used stronger language earlier this year to underline the party's resolve to oppose the AKP plan. He said, "You can't introduce such a presidential system in this country without shedding blood."

Turkey is now deeply divided along the secularist and Islamist fault line. Many fear the AKP is planning to transform the country into a theocratic state and settle accounts with the secular Republic which was founded in 1923 on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire.

Remarks uttered by some leading AKP figures, who have long talked about a "Project New Turkey," reveal their dislike of the secular Turkish republic.

Speaker of Parliament Ismail Kahraman, an AKP deputy, said back in April that the principle of secularism should be removed from the constitution.

If the AKP proposal is accepted in the referendum, the new system will go into effect in 2019 when the next presidential election is due.

Based on current voter preferences, Erdogan, supported by around half the voters, is quite likely to win the race again.

He is also hated by the remaining half that was conceded last year by Bulent Arinc, then deputy prime minister of the AKP government.

A switch to the executive presidency could also be costly for Turkey in foreign policy, many are concerned, as the legislative control over the executive will be very much limited as compared with a parliamentary system.

"What if the person who has all the power drags the country into a disaster?" CHP's Kilicdaroglu demanded recently.
A Syrian man evacuates children from a school reportedly hit by rebel rocket fire in the Furqan neighbourhood of the government-held side of west Aleppo, on November 20, 2016. (AFP Photo)

MOSCOW, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Russian military on Sunday reported noticeable progress in the evacuation of civilians in the contested Syrian city of Aleppo, with over 900 civilians having peacefully left the rebel-held area in eastern Aleppo in the last 24 hours.

"Only in the past 24 hours, 903 civilians, including 119 children, have left the militant-held area of Jabal Bidaru," the Russian center for Syrian reconciliation said in a statement. "Eight militants gave up resistance and left the eastern part of the city using the corridors provided by Russia and the Syrian authorities."

Meanwhile, regions liberated from terrorists are returning to peaceful life, with the formation of local authorities underway to ensure security and the rule of law, while the reconciliation center has been organizing delivery of humanitarian aid to those regions, the statement said.

Moreover, it added that Syrian government troops have made significant progress toward eastern parts of Aleppo over the past two days, with five quarters of neighborhoods and more than 2,000 buildings freed from the Nusra Front terrorists and affiliated groups.

Russia has been introducing ceasefire and trying to facilitate the evacuation of civilians from Aleppo since the United States suspended in early October negotiations with Russia on restoring a ceasefire in Syria.
File photo taken on July 16, 2016 shows Donald Trump speaking at a campaign event in New York, the United States. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- As President-elect Donald Trump gears up to take control of the White House, his short list of cabinet candidates is composed of hardliners. Experts say it looks like his administration is shaping up to be one that will take a tough approach to foreign policy and terrorism.

Trump, a New York real estate billionaire and former reality TV star, defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, whom analysts, the media and political prognosticators all expected to win in the Nov. 8 presidential election. Since then the incoming leader has been scrambling to build a team, in the lead-up to January's inauguration.

"Trump has picked hardline individuals so far in his transition. Most of the people have extreme viewpoints and are more conservative than the Republican Party itself," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

"His choices signal that he will take a tough stance on many foreign policy and security issues. He will confront radical Islam and be much tougher on the IS (Islamic State)," he said.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, echoed those thoughts, saying that so far the indications seem to be that he would run a conservative Republican administration.

Speaking about Trump's candidates for national security advisor, secretary of state, defense secretary and homeland security chief, Zelizer described them as "very extreme."

"The (Attorney General) pick is anti-voting rights and anti-immigration rights. The (National Security Council) advisor is a hardliner in terms of how to fight terrorism," said Zelizer.

Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that he believed that a Trump Administration would be making some picks to really shake up things in Washington, as well as to balance his cabinet with a wide range of skill sets and backgrounds.

"So far we have only really seen his picks for National Security Advisor, Attorney General, and CIA Director," said Mahaffee.

"Those picks of Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, Sen. Jeff Session, and Rep. Mike Pompeo suggest a very hard-line approach on national security issues, criminal justice, immigration, and the CIA's approach to intelligence and covert operations," he said.

As for Trump's economic team, that information has not yet come out.

"While there is speculation that there will be the voices of leading business officials, Wall Street experts, and others in economic posts, that is also still largely speculative in terms of who the exact cast will be," said Mahaffee.

Thus far, in terms of economic policy issues, Trump has been addressing the issues directly through statements to the public, including his YouTube video -- where he discusses cutting regulation, withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, renegotiating trade deals, and focusing on bilateral deals where he thinks the United States can get a better outcome, Mahaffee noted.

"While there will be important players brought in to work on those issues, it appears the framework within which those people will work has already been set," he said.
LONDON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Theresa May admitted Sunday that of all of the challenges she faces as Britain's prime minister, it is Brexit that keeps her awake at night.

The politician opened the door of Number 10 Downing Street to give a rare insight about her journey to the top job in government.

May is known for not being a regular in the tea rooms and bars at Westminster where many politicians mingle and discuss matters of the day. As the Sunday Times said in its in-depth profile and interview Sunday, even members of May's own cabinet don't know her.

What politicians on all sides of the political divide do know is that before becoming prime minister, May served as the country's top interior minister at the Home Office for longer any other Home Secretary since 1892.

May was cascaded into the job following the resignation earlier this year of David Cameron after the June 23 referendum vote when Britain voted to leave the European Union.

May has signalled her intention to trigger the leave process by the end of March, hoping she can do so without the permission of politicians in the two Houses of Parliament.

That will be decided in just over a week when Britain's highest court, the Supreme Court, will rule whether May must put the Brexit issue before the parliament.

In the interview, May admitted that of all things on her plate, it is Brexit keeping her awake at night.

"Well, it is a moment of change. It is a hugely challenging time. And we need to get on with the deal in terms of Brexit," said May.

She added: "I want to make sure that everything we do ensures Britain is a country that works for everyone. And that we really get out there and forge a new role in the world post-Brexit. We can make a success of it; we will make a success of it. But these are really complex issues."

The prime minister added that it's not so much about how to steel yourself for making the tough decisions, many of which lie ahead.

"It's about are you doing the right thing. If you know you are doing the right thing, you have the confidence, the energy to go and deliver that right message," she adds.

In her childhood days, May said in the interview, that there was never a view in her Oxfordshire home that because she was a girl, there were things she could never do.

May revealed she was introduced to her future husband Philip, when they were both at Oxford University. At the time, friends thought Philip May could make a future prime minister. The couple do not have any children.

Now that Number 10 is their home. May said her husband supports her in everything she does, but he understands that when it comes to aspects of the job, it is for her to get on with it with her advisers.

May said she doesn't use a stylist, and prefers going to shops for her wardrobe rather than shopping on-line. She added that her husband often accompanies her on shopping expeditions, offering his advice.

"He's good at accessories, too, particularly good at choosing handbags and bracelets," said May.

Britain's second only female prime minister once had an ambition to become a ballet dancer. Growing too tall brought the curtain down on that dream.

Now, as the most powerful women in Britain, the world is her stage.
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's structural reform has made rapid progress as a whole thanks to a string of government reforms, Lou Jiwei, newly-appointed chairman of the National Council for Social Security Fund, said on Sunday.

Global issues like sluggish demand and high debt ratio are rooted in medium-long term structural problems of global economy, Lou said at an annual meeting on Chinese economy and international cooperation.

China's structural reform has achieved remarkable results under the government's efforts to streamline administration, lower market access, remove barriers, and push forward reforms of price, household registration and finance, according to Lou.

In 2017, China will face a number of "hard nuts" to crack, such as how to improve labor productivity, keep fiscal sustainability and promote the effective flow of production elements.

Lou, the former finance minister, was named the fifth chairman of the national pension fund to replace Xie Xuren.

Earlier this month, China's top legislature appointed Xiao Jie to replace Lou as minister of finance.
TEHRAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Death toll has risen to 49 in the train accident which took place in northern Iran on Friday, the Governor of Iran's East Azerbaijan province said on Sunday.

All the dead are from East Azerbaijan who were heading to the north-eastern holy city of Mashhad for pilgrimage, the Governor, Esmaeil Jabbarzadeh, was quoted as saying by Tasnim news agency.

The reports said that another 103 people were also injured in the accident.

On Friday, two trains collided in Haft-Khan train station located between Semnan and Damghan cities in Iran's Semnan province at 7:45 a.m. local time (0415 GMT).

Wagons were set in fire as the trains collided and the deaths and most of the injuries were due to the burning, reports said.

On Sunday, Iran's Railways Chief Mohsen Pourseyed Aqaei resigned following the deadly train accident, Tasnim news agency reported.

Minister of Road and Urban Development Abbas Akhoundi accepted Aqaei's resignation, the report said.

Iranian lawmakers are also working on a plan to impeach Akhoundi for what they call his weak performance that led to the terrible train accident.

On Saturday, three railway staff were detained over the collision, the prosecutor of Semnan province, Heidar Asiaei, was quoted as saying by semi-official Mehr news agency.

Iranian officials said that human failure in observing the duties was the cause of the accident.
CAIRO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Egypt and Jordan's interior ministers discussed here on Sunday means to enhance their cooperation in security and counterterrorism fields, said the Egyptian Interior Ministry in a statement.

The discussion took place during a visit by a Jordanian high-profile security delegation led by Interior Minister Salama Hammad to Cairo as he met with his Egyptian counterpart Magdy Abdel-Ghaffar.

Abdel-Ghaffar stressed Egypt's keenness to cooperate on security issues with fellow Arab states including training, knowhow and information exchange, hailing Egyptian-Jordanian ties as "historical."

The talks further highlighted regional security developments and the effect of conflicts in the Middle East on growing terrorist and extremist ideologies.

"The current conditions require joint international efforts to besiege all negative phenomena resulting from terrorism," said the Egyptian interior minister.

Hammad conveyed Jordan's interest to learn from Egypt's security expertise "which is known for efficiency in the fields of security and counterterrorism."

He expressed an inclination to enroll Jordanian policemen into security-specific training courses given by the Police Academy in Cairo.

Egypt and Jordan have been suffering from rising extremist groups in the past few years following the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, in addition to the ensuing 2010-2011 so-called "Arab Spring" which toppled a number of Arab leaders.
Syrian pro-government fighters fire a Russian 122mm howitzer gun as they advance in the recently recaptured village of Joubah during an offensive towards the area of Al-Bab in Aleppo province, on November 25, 2016. (AFP/Xinhua)

ANKARA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters showed signs of chemical exposure after Islamic State (IS) attack in northern Syria, Turkish General Staff stated on Sunday.

Altogether 22 fighters, who fight IS in alliance with Turkish forces within the scope of Operation Euphrates Shield, were observed showing symptoms of chemical gas exposure in northern Syria's Khalidiyah region, the general staff said in a statement quoted by the state-run Anadolu Agency.

Moreover, a clash with IS terrorists had left one opposition fighter dead and 14 others injured, it said.

The affected Syrian fighters were brought over the frontier to the Turkish border town of Kilis by teams from the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey.

The emergency workers were reportedly equipped with special chemical suits to protect themselves.

Meanwhile, Turkish warplanes destroyed four IS targets in the Anifah neighborhood near al-Bab, also in Syria's north.
The shadows of relatives of miners are cast on the ground as they wait, while rescue workers search for trapped miners on November 18, 2016 at the accident site in the southeastern Siirt province. (AFP/Xinhua)

ANKARA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 11 people have died in a mine collapse on Nov. 17 in the Sirvan district of Turkey's southeastern province of Siirt, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

The bodies were found at the Madenkoy copper mine, while search and rescue teams are still working to locate five other miners trapped underground.

The mine's operating manager was remanded in custody, on a charge of negligence relating to safety regulations, two days after the accident.

Heavy rainfall is believed to have triggered a landslide that caused the mine collapse.
File photo taken on July 16, 2016 shows Donald Trump speaking at a campaign event in New York, the United States. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

by Matthew Rusling

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- As President-elect Donald Trump gears up to take control of the White House, his short list of cabinet candidates is composed of hardliners. Experts say it looks like his administration is shaping up to be one that will take a tough approach to foreign policy and terrorism.

Trump, a New York real estate billionaire and former reality TV star, defeated his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, whom analysts, the media and political prognosticators all expected to win in the Nov. 8 presidential election. Since then the incoming leader has been scrambling to build a team, in the lead-up to January's inauguration.

"Trump has picked hardline individuals so far in his transition. Most of the people have extreme viewpoints and are more conservative than the Republican Party itself," Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua.

"His choices signal that he will take a tough stance on many foreign policy and security issues. He will confront radical Islam and be much tougher on the IS (Islamic State)," he said.

Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University, echoed those thoughts, saying that so far the indications seem to be that he would run a conservative Republican administration.

Speaking about Trump's candidates for national security advisor, secretary of state, defense secretary and homeland security chief, Zelizer described them as "very extreme."

"The (Attorney General) pick is anti-voting rights and anti-immigration rights. The (National Security Council) advisor is a hardliner in terms of how to fight terrorism," said Zelizer.

This picture taken on November 22, 2016 shows ann employee displaying a rubber mask of US President-elect Donald Trumpat the Ogawa Studios mask factory in Saitama, north of Tokyo. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)

Dan Mahaffee, an analyst with the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, told Xinhua that he believed that a Trump Administration would be making some picks to really shake up things in Washington, as well as to balance his cabinet with a wide range of skill sets and backgrounds.

"So far we have only really seen his picks for National Security Advisor, Attorney General, and CIA Director," said Mahaffee.

"Those picks of Lt. Gen. Mike Flynn, Sen. Jeff Session, and Rep. Mike Pompeo suggest a very hard-line approach on national security issues, criminal justice, immigration, and the CIA's approach to intelligence and covert operations," he said.

As for Trump's economic team, that information has not yet come out.

"While there is speculation that there will be the voices of leading business officials, Wall Street experts, and others in economic posts, that is also still largely speculative in terms of who the exact cast will be," said Mahaffee.

Thus far, in terms of economic policy issues, Trump has been addressing the issues directly through statements to the public, including his YouTube video -- where he discusses cutting regulation, withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, renegotiating trade deals, and focusing on bilateral deals where he thinks the United States can get a better outcome, Mahaffee noted.

"While there will be important players brought in to work on those issues, it appears the framework within which those people will work has already been set," he said.
Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong (6th L Front) poses for a photo with some directors and teachers of German Confucius Institutes at the Free University of Berlin, Germany, Nov. 25, 2016. Chinese Vice Premier Liu Yandong on Friday called for better use of Confucius Institutes to promote exchanges and mutual learning among different civilizations and enhance people's understanding about China when visiting the Confucius Institute at the Free University of Berlin. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)
Pupils from a local primary school perform chorus in the 1st Little Jasmine Children's Chorus Festival in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Nov. 27, 2016. Many chorus activities are held to promote the art of chorus in primary schools in Fuzhou.(Xinhua/Song Weiwei)
Freed Caracas detainee for Sando court

As to the charge he would be facing, police remain tight-lipped yesterday to Sunday Newsday, but his mother, Gloria Charles, who denounced her sons arrest at Piarco International Airport, said she visited him at the San Fernando Police Station yesterday morning and police officers had informed her about a warrant dating back to a case pending against him approximately two years ago.

I waited over two years to see my son and they talking about some case where he didnt pay some money, Gloria, 56, said.

Gloria and Charles two wives and several of his ten children, journeyed from their San Juan home yesterday to the San Fernando Police Station and were allowed to speak to Charles. Gloria said he was being kept in a cell in the station.

Charles and the other four nationals, Asim Luqman, Andre Battersby, Dominic Pitilall and Leslie Daisley, were arrested at a hotel in Venezuela on March 19, 2014 for suspected terrorism activities. They were taken on several occasions to court and eventually pleaded guilty to a charge of espionage.

Umar Abdullah, head of the Islamic Front who visited the men in Caracas and who earlier this year spent over two months there, told Sunday Newsday he learned that the charge against Charles was related to a private civil matter.

Abdullah said, It seems that while Charles was in a Caracas jail, he could not meet his obligation here in Trinidad.

The matter was reported to the police and it has become a criminal matter.

It is not that Charles committed a crime, or, was wanted for any criminal conduct.

This could happen to anyone. Abdullah also visited Charles at the station.

About the predicament the five nationals had faced in Venezuela, Abdullah commented that the men would be consulting with attorneys to determine the extent to which their constitutional rights were infringed.

Over $1 million, he added, were spent on paying lawyers in Caracas to represent the men in their court appearances over the two years and eight months. Abdullah said, Whilst the men were charged with espionage and the two years and eight months they spent were incorporated into the sentence they received. We would be speaking with attorneys here to determine whether we can have these convictions eradicated (overturned) based on the fact these men were forced to plead guilty. Some time this week, Abdullah added, the men would be speaking to the media about their experience in Venezuela.
General Outlook

We have revised our GDP growth forecast for China upwards to 6.7% in 2016 (from 6.4% in our August forecast). Several economic activity indicators, such as purchasing manager surveys and business profits, turned out better than expected earlier. Trumps victory in the presidential election and the resulting global uncertainty shock has caused us to maintain the 2017 forecast almost unchanged at 6%, despite the otherwise improving domestic conditions.

The upward revision for 2016 also reflects the governments determination in hitting its official growth target this year through a combination of fast credit growth and potentially questionable statistical practices.

GDP increased by 6.7% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2016, based on the official measure. Fast real estate investment growth was a key factor in sustaining growth within the governments 6.5-7% target in the third quarter, despite falling exports and ongoing deceleration in private sector business investment. Sales of new homes increased by 43.2% year-on-year in Q1-Q3, suggesting growing risks of a bubble in Chinas real estate sector (which accounts for 15% of GDP).

Services and consumption were again the main drivers of growth. Secondary sector (mainly industry and construction) year-on-year growth was 6.1%, while the tertiary (mainly services) sectors output increased by 7.6% year-on-year. Consumption accounted for 71% of GDP growth in the first three quarters of 2016. Retail sales have also continued to grow much faster than industrial production, in line with Chinas economic rebalancing. Private sector confidence indices have improved for households but are still below average for firms.

Downside Risks

The main downside risks remain an excessively fast increase in the number of non-performing corporate and real estate loans, combined with a slowdown in consumer spending hindering the rebalancing of Chinas economy from industry and investment towards services and consumption. A major downturn would reduce 2017 GDP growth to 2.9%. We assign this scenario a 10-20% probability in 2017. A more severe Chinese hard landing scenario would push GDP growth down to 0.6% in 2017. We assign a Chinese hard landing scenario a 5-15% probability in 2017.

In our optimistic scenario, Chinas government gains further years of faster growth in the short-term through extra credit expansion and fiscal stimulus. The cost of this could be higher risks of a downturn or hard landing later in the decade. Faster than expected progress in rebalancing the economy also boosts private sector confidence, raising both consumption and investment relative to the baseline forecast. GDP growth in this scenario increases to 7.3% in 2017. We assign this scenario a 15-20% probability in 2017.

China s Rebalancing, and the Shift from Saving to Consumption

Chinas economic growth is on a long-term downward trend, mainly due to more limited room for convergence with advanced economies after the unprecedented growth of the last 30 years. However, the slower overall growth is still enough to sustain a fast increase in the spending potential of Chinas middle and upper-income segments, providing significant ongoing expansion opportunities for consumer goods companies.

Economic rebalancing is expected to lead a significant decline in saving and investment rates from almost 50% at the beginning of the decade towards 40% by 2020. The current account is also expected to decline, reflecting the lower Chinese saving rate. The counterpart to this is that consumer spending is likely to continue increasing faster than GDP, growing at an average annual rate of around 7% over the next five years (compared to a 5.8% average GDP growth rate). The declining current account also implies that Chinas growth going forward will likely be almost entirely domestically driven, with a much smaller role for export led growth.

Credit Markets

Credit growth in China continues to be close to twice that of GDP, with year-on-year loans growth in October of 13.1%. Chinas private non-financial sector debt to GDP was above 200% in mid-2016. According to Moodys estimates, total debt to GDP is more than 280%, taking into account government, SOE and financial sector debt. The rise in corporate debt owed by firms with insufficient repayment capacity is a particular cause for concern, leading to a growing number of bad loans. I n September, the Bank for International Settlements warned once again that Chinas excessive debt levels lead to a high probability of a banking crisis over the next three years.

The Chinese government has recently started sounding more serious about tackling the growing amount of bad debt. The Ministry of Finance and the banking regulation authority issued a statement in October encouraging heavily indebted firms (zombie enterprises) to file for bankruptcy, and banks to write off their loans. Bad debt to equity swaps and mergers of high debt firms with healthier firms have started on a limited scale.

While excessive corporate borrowing is still the main danger, new loans in recent months have mostly been to households, financing the fast growth in new home sales. Chinese cities have introduced property sales restrictions to moderate the overheating real estate market. The head of the Peoples Bank of China (the central bank) ordered executives of Chinas top banks to reduce real estate loans. Given Chinas government strong control over state banks, these new policy statements may actually restrain some of the excess lending. However, they are unlikely to be enough to stabilise Chinas credit markets.



Euromonitor International strategy briefing Global Economic Forecasts: Q4 2016 offers further insights on the global economy and provides the latest global macroeconomic projections.
2 cops charged for corrupt acts

Acting Supt Wayne Thongs, 55, and woman police constable Dana Spencer, 40, will appear before a Port-of-Spain magistrate tomorrow.

Thongs, of the Western Division and who has over 35 years service, has been charged with committing several acts to pervert the course of justice, while Spencer is accused of misbehaviour in public office.

Director of Public Prosecutions Roger Gaspard gave instructions to charge the two officers, shortly before midnight last Friday, after he received and reviewed a report on the investigation of the alleged offences from head of the Fraud Squad Snr Supt Totaram Dookhie.

Last Thursday, Dookhie and a team of Fraud Squad officers detained Spencer at the Court and Process Branch in San Fernando, where she had been assigned, while, also on that day, the same team intercepted and arrested Thongs on the Foreshore, Cocorite as he was driving to the St James Police Station to attend a meeting.

Thongs was taken and placed in a cell at the Belmont Police Station while Spencer was detained at Woodbrook Police Station.

It is alleged that while they were both previously based at the Rapid Response Unit, Spencer presented duty slips to Thongs for work she had not done which he is accused of fraudulently signing.

The matter was referred to the Fraud Squad and investigations were carried out which led to their arrests.
Kamla: PNM only breaking promises

No more laptops, no more free school books, good Lord, not even juice and water for when your children have their meals, and, they have cut the meals down in the schools too, cut GATE and the most troubling of all is when you look at the news every single day, we see little children, parents and teachers protesting for schools to be repaired, Persad-Bissessar said adding, I can hardly recognise this country that we left one year ago. Persad-Bissessar was addressing a large contingent of supporters at a rally at the Couva South constituency office car park, Camden Road, Couva yesterday, bringing the curtains down to a month of campaign for voting in tomorrows Local Government Elections.

She said the Public/private Partnership arrangement for the Couva Childrens Hospital was another deception by Government and persons wishing to access the hospital would have to pay to use the facilities. Persad- Bissessar said, And they are so shameless, they are walking up and down this country asking you to vote and be foolish again for a second time and vote for the Rowleys PNM. Just how they broke those promises, in the same way, they will break the promises on local government reform, in the same way. He wants you to pay for the private partnership company. We will have to follow the example of the great freedom fighter Fidel Castro and we will have to march upon the government to open the childrens hospital. Persad-Bissessar reminded supporters that the previous Peoples_ Partnership administration had created 57,000 new jobs without increasing taxes, while under the PNM government, some 25,000 persons had lost their jobs and yet the Finance Minister, Colm Imbert, was boasting that he had raised taxes and the population had not yet rioted.

Persad-Bissessar also cautioned supports to be extremely vigilant during the elections of discrepancies, which may occur as the Election and Boundaries Commission had not responded to 43,000 duplicate names which had appeared on the voters list.

Also addressing the rally was Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal who said the ruling party did not only have a wives club, but also had a boys club which were made up of senior government officials.

And waving a brown file folder which he said contained files about a senior government minister who had sold lands to other senior PNM officials, Moonilal asked whether the Integrity Commission had been informed about the land deals._
Ploying merrily to Christmas

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, in collaboration with the HDC, put smiles on the faces of the new homeowners who received the keys to their new homes at a Presentation of Keys Ceremony held at Cipriani College of Labour and Cooperative Studies, Valsayn.

Minister of the Housing and Urban Development, Randall Mitchell, in his feature address immediately went into election mode by responding to the criticisms of his plan by former Housing Minister Dr Roodal Moonilal.

Since my announcement (at a similar key distribution function, National Academy for the Performing Arts South campus, San Fernando), those opposed to us have criticised and condemned this as an election ploy. If housing 1,000 families is an election ploy, we at the HDC will be happily and merrily ploying all the way to Christmas, said Mitchell. The minister again promised to deliver 1,000 new houses by the end of December.

He said, We are simply doing our jobs, in a season where family and goodwill is extremely important to all citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

So I would simply say to Dr Moonilal.... just give me a chance. Allow me to do the work for the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago and you, the new owners. As a preamble to further cement his ministrys idea to sell damaged and unfinished houses, Mitchell accused the last administration of spending $5.5 billion to build 3,900 housing units. While the prior PNM administration spent $5 billion to build 16,000 units. He further stated that 1,500 hundred housing units fell into the unfinished or vandalised category.

According to the minister, the HDC has already been instructed to come up with a formal policy and framework for the disposal of these assets to qualifying recipients. Upon completion, the policy and framework would be taken to Cabinet for approval.

Mitchell reiterated that the State is already financially burdened and recipients of these vandalised houses would agree to undertake the minor work needed to complete the house, without having to wait on the HDC.

The minister informed the new owners that their houses were heavily subsidised and they did not pay for the development infrastructure and paid minimally for the land. He also stated that a HDC house costing $500,000, cost between $900 000 to $1 million in the open market.

The houses distributed were from the Fairfield, Princes Town and Cyprus, San Fernando areas. When asked, the minister was unable to quantify at the time, what was the monetary saving to Government by selling vandalised houses.
Castro dies at 90

Regardless of how one chooses to reflect on the life of former Cuban President Fidel Castro, the late revolutionist and dictator will long be remembered for his steadfastness and tenacity  a relentless and controversial leader who stood uncompromisingly behind his ideologies over a near 50-reign which saw him lock horns with many of the worlds powers, including the United States, for which he maintained a decades-long animosity.

Castro, who turned 90 on August 13, died at 10.29 pm on Friday after a prolonged bout with illness, his brother, President of the Council of State of Cuba, Raul Castro, said in a statement aired live on Cuban television late Friday.

With profound pain I appear to inform our people and the friends of the Americas and the world, that today, November 25, at 10.29 pm, the commander in Chief of the Cuban Revolution Fidel Castro Ruz died, Raul Castro said in his statement.

In compliance with the expressed will of the Companion Fidel, his remains will be cremated. Raul said the committee presiding over arrangements for Castros funeral will provide Cubans with detailed information on the organisation of a posthumous tribute which will be done for the founder of the Cuban Revolution.

The Cuban Government will immediately observe nine days of mourning for Castro, after which there will be two days of observances in Revolution Plaza in Havana. The late leaders ashes will then be transported across the country to the eastern city of Santiago.

His funeral mass and ceremony, to be held on December 4, precedes an internment in the cemetery of Santa Ifigenia.

Castro, who visited Trinidad and Tobago under the former Basdeo Panday-led United National Congress (UNC) government, in 1995, to attend a conference of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), at the Hilton Trinidad, St Anns, began losing his grip on power a decade ago when emergency intestinal surgery, which left him in a weakened state, forced him to relinquish Cubas governance into the hands of his younger brother, Raul.

And while the father of nine had kept a low profile, making a sprinkling of brief public appearances, over the last ten years, Castros dominant influence, bitter or cherished, was felt in all corners of the globe, as leaders and Cubans residing in countries around the world, expressed mixed reactions to his passing.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, in a brief statement, said Castros passing marked an end of an iconic period of history not only for the Caribbean and Latin American Region, but also for the world.

Rowley extended condolences to the people of Cuba, acknowledging that Castro was one of the worlds longest-serving leaders.

Further, he said a letter conveying TTs condolences has been dispatched to President Raul Castro.

Our prayers accompany them in their time of grief, Rowley said, noting that TT and other Caricom nations had enjoyed cordial diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad- Bissessar spoke glowingly about Castros leadership, describing him as an imposing presence who shaped the region throughout the 20th century into the 21st century with the emergence of the Pink Tidein Latin America, which forged of increasingly closer relations between Caricom and Cuba.

Recalling his humble beginnings - the son of a sugar cane farmer who became involved in politics to reject the dominance of his island by foreign capitalist interests  Persad- Bissessar observed that Castros life was one for the history books.

Mr Castros life and his control over Cuba, his personal efforts at improving the lives of his people and his role on global stage have already engaged the attention of historians of different social and political stripes, she said in a statement..

The enduring legacy of the man who featured in some of the worlds most iconic dramas will no doubt live on in history and in legend. Persad-Bissessar added that Castros regime had implemented a series of reforms which enhanced the lives of poor Cubans.

He nationalised and redistributed land and implemented programs to raise literacy and education among the poor rural population. He also created a free universal health care system, she said.

The effects of Castros passing also were felt throughout T&Ts labour fraternity.

Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) political leader David Abdulah hailed Castro as an exemplary leader who was undoubtedly one of the most important and influential persons of the Twentieth Century.

Fidels legacy is immense. There is no challenge to the fact that he was not only courageous but also stood by his convictions and principles, he said in a statement.

This was demonstrated from the time of his leadership of the student movement at the University of Havana in the late 1940s; and his early involvement in party politics as a candidate for the Orthodox Party which won the 1951 elections but which government was removed by a coup detat in March 1952 by the dictator Batista.

Abdulah described Castro as a beacon to all in the world who believe in social justice and the dignity of all people; as well as those who value the right to self determination, independence and sovereignty of all nations.

That Cuba under Fidels leadership walked the talk is manifest by the undoubted social progress in Cuba with the ending of illiteracy in the first few years of the Revolution; the development of a quality education system that was unprecedented in Latin America and the Caribbean; a health care system that is internationally recognised as one of the finest in the world; infant and maternity death rates that are lower than all but a handful of so called developed countriesand life expectancy that is on par with or significantly higher than the rest of Latin America and the Caribbean, he said.

Recalling Castros contribution to the development of science, research, culture and the arts and sport in Cuba; Abdulah said the Communist leader also encouraged movements of artists and intellectuals through institutions such as Casa de las Americas, Casa del Caribe and Intellectuals for Humanity.

Fidel and the Cuban Revolution inspired and gave hope to millions of people the world over and in Latin America and the Caribbean in particular, that Another World is Possible, he said.

Joseph Remy, president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions (FITUN), meanwhile, said Castro changed the face of Caribbean politics.

I think his memory will last forever, he said.

Remy, who is also the president general of the Communications Workers Union (CWU), told Sunday Newsday he witnessed first hand Castros enduring appeal, during a recent visit to Cuba.

I know how he was revered by the Cuban people with the courage and the resilience he instilled in them and from all of the reports that I am hearing, it is a sad day in Cuba, he said..

Saying the CWU had a long-standing relationship with Cuba, Remy said the islands people and those throughout the region can take strength from what he has done as an example of how we try to make a difference in this world.

I am one of the people who believed in his ideology and I believe that his effort was to change the world because we have seen the ravages of the capitalist system, he said.

I think his ideology is one that we should look at because the world is in turmoil right now and the rich is getting richer and the poor is getting poorer. There is no thrust towards social justice and equity.
Cops, family baffled by mens deaths

Homicide investigators expressed the view yesterday that the deaths of Mukesh Crucial Motilal, 46, and Kamraj Cello Maharaj, 51, were quite strange, especially the fact that they were locked in embrace and tied together with a piece of rope by the loop of their pants.

Their eyebrows were shaved and their lips decorated with lipstick. Both men died within an hour of eating a meal while liming at Las Vegas Recreation Club in Tarouba.

An autopsy performed at the Forensic Science Centre in St James on Friday revealed the men died of acute poisoning.

Stomach samples were removed and sent for toxicology testing. Both men knew each other growing up in the village and were frequent customers at bars in Tarouba.

Motilal is tentatively due to be cremated today after a Hindu funeral service.

His brother Vishnu said yesterday, There are a lot of questions but no answers. My guess is as good as yours as to what really happened. We (relatives) are still in shock.

We still cannot believe it. Hopefully, the funeral is tomorrow (this morning). Motilal, a former Caroni worker, was not married and did not have any children.

Maharaj, a father of three, worked as a handyman. His bereaved daughter, Reanna Maharaj, yesterday said, What we are hoping for is justice.

It was very unfair what happened. He did not deserve it. No funeral arrangements have been made as yet for her father.
Panday: Fidel a charming man

Panday greeted the news of Castros death at age 90 by saying, Oh, I didnt know he had died. I met him on several occasions while he was alive and on every occasion, he was charming.

Hes brilliant, and, he was daring and he was courageous. As a matter of fact, I think he is the greatest revolutionary of the 20th century. I think he was an inspiration to every patriot who was prepared to lay down his life for his country, Panday told Sunday Newsday.

He noted that while Trinidad and Tobago has always regarded Cuba as a friend and member of the Caribbean family, it was his hope that the communist island-state would be truly integrated into the Caribbean family of nations in the near future.

The Caribbean has always embraced Cuba as a friend and as part of the family, and, I hope that that would grow and that Cuba would truly become a part of the Caribbean family. Former labour minister Errol McLeod said the world had lost a giant of a man who had gone to meet other legendary leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr and other world personalities who had shaped the world in the last century.

I met him on three occasions and he was everything that the western world didnt want him to be. He was a gentle person, he was deep and committed in his thoughts and he was resolute in what he sought to to do to establish the independence of Cuba and other third world developing economies.

His independence was against western, imperialist, capitalist tendencies, McLeod said.

McLeod said he expected that the reformation which had began under Castro would be continued and Cuba would take some steps towards normalization of its economy and other developmental goals. Minister in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis praised Castro as a Caribbean hero and one of the most important figures of the 20th century.

Francis, a former history lecturer at the University of the West Indies, made the comments while speaking with the media following a press conference yesterday at the El Dorado West Secondary school.

As a person who taught Caribbean history, Latin American history, I mean I understand the significance of the life of Fidel Castro.

If you ask me if I would have liked to live in Cuba during his tenure - probably not. But from an academic sense if you ask me if he was an important historical figure, an important freedom fighter, I would have to say yes, he said.

Francis pointed out that people forget that the Cuba that Fidel Castro grew up in was an American colony with all of the negative connotations of being a colony including that your property is owned from elsewhere and your economy is run from elsewhere.

Castro was a young lawyer who was basically trying to fight for the rights of the citizenry of his island against an imperialist American power that was not concerned with listening to him. So he becomes part of a revolutionary movement that in the context of the 20th century if you were anti-capitalist youre going to be socialist.

It was the politics of the era. So the enemy of my enemy is my friend so of course he is going to lean towards the Soviet Union, he said.

He continued: And I am not saying that that is irrelevant. What I am saying is this is a Caribbean island that had the same history of slavery and colonialism and neo-colonialism. Did it have dire consequences for them? Yes. But that does not totally undermine his stature as one of the most important 20th century figures of the world. As a person who fought for freedom.

Whether you want to balance that against the fact that he was a dictator, how you view that depends on you, but that does not take away from the fact that he was a freedom fighter. He fought for the freedom of his people against an imperialist, colonialist power. Francis said how people view Castro has to do with their own political view but for me, despite the fact that he might be a dictator, I still view him as a Caribbean hero.
Parties push for power

And, in a strenuous effort to woo their faithful and convince the undecideds, both the ruling Peoples National Movement (PNM) and the United National Congress (UNC), held rallies yesterday at the Eddie Hart Savannah, Tacarigua and Couva, respectively, in a final push for power The PNM, which controlled eight of the 14 Local Government bodies after the last polls, is hoping to maintain its status or increase the number of corporations it currently has.

The party held the Port-of-Spain City Corporation; Point Fortin Borough Corporation; San Juan/ Laventille Regional Corporation; Arima Borough Council; Diego Martin Regional Corporation; San Fernando Borough Council; Tunapuna/ Piarco Regional Corporation and Sangre Grande Regional Corporation.

The UNC (Peoples Partnership) held on to its traditional corporations in Couva/Tabaquite/Talparo; Rio Claro/Mayaro; Princes Town; Penal/Debe; and Siparia.

PNM general secretary Ashton Ford said yesterday the party was confident in retaining its eight Local Government bodies.

Based on our campaign and based on our feedback on the ground, we are very confident that we would retain the eight corporations that we have. And we are working hard in the others to see if we can get them. If we do not get control, we are hoping to at least make inroads, he told Sunday Newsday.

Ford said the PNM was eyeing the the Siparia Regional Corporation, where it currently holds three of the eight electoral districts.

We are hoping to also make inroads in Mayaro (regional corporation), Princes Town and Chaguanas..

We are also hoping to do well enough in Couva/Tabaquite to retain the one seat that we have and get one or more in the Penal/.Debe Corporation. But we are confident of retaining the eight they ave now, he said. Ford said the party had followed its campaign strategy as outlined by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and campaign manager, Energy Minister Franklin Khan.

He said: Franklin Khan was the man who led the charge for Local Government reform and Dr Rowley also dealt with national issue relating to the economy, crime, health education. So, I think the message went through to the people despite the insecurities we face. UNC chairman David Lee said he was optimistic the party will retain its six corporations. He said the party also stood a good chance of wresting the Sangre Grande Regional Corporation from the PNM.

I also feel good about the Sangre Grande Corporation in making some inroads into that corporation and also along the East-West Corridor, he said The Pointe-a-Pierre MP said the UNC had done its homework.

The candidates have been out there working the ground and we will be working the ground up until Sunday night (tonight), he said.

Saying the partys hard work will pay off, Lee said the UNC still was not leaving anything to chance even though its election machinery was in place.

He said on election day, the party was paying close attention to the polling divisions in the Siparia, Sangre Grande and Chaguanas regional bodies.
Castro was Cuba

As communist regimes collapsed across the world, Castro kept the red flag flying right on the doorstep of his greatest enemy, the United States.

A divisive figure, his supporters praised him as a champion of socialism, the soldier-politician who had given Cuba back to the people.

But he faced accusations of brutally suppressing opposition and pursuing policies that crippled the Cuban economy.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz was born on August 13, 1926, the illegitimate son of a wealthy farmer, Angel Mar?a Bautista Castro y Argiz, who had emigrated to Cuba from Spain.

His mother, Lina Ruz Gonz?lez was a farm servant who became his fathers mistress, and later, after Fidels birth, his wife.

Castro attended Catholic schools in Santiago before going on to the Jesuit-run El Colegio de Belen in Havana.

However, he failed to excel academically, preferring to spend his time in sporting activities. It was while studying law at Havana University in the mid-1940s that he became a political activist, honing his skills as a passionate public speaker.

Marxism His targets included the Cuban government, led by the president Ramon Grau, which was mired in accusations of corruption.

Violent protests became the order of the day and Castro found himself targeted by the police. He also became part of a plot to overthrow Rafael Trujillo, the right-wing leader of the Dominican Republic but the attempt was thwarted after US intervention.

In 1948, Castro married Mirta Diaz- Balart, the daughter of a wealthy Cuban politician. Far from encouraging him to join the countrys elite, he turned increasingly to Marxism.

He believed Cubas economic problems were a result of unbridled capitalism that could only be solved by a peoples revolution. After graduating Castro set up a legal practice but it failed to prosper and he was continually in debt. He remained a political activist, taking part in a series of often violent demonstrations.

In 1952 Fulgencio Batista launched a military coup which overthrew the government of the Cuban president, Carlos Pr?o. Batistas policy of closer ties with the United States and the suppression of socialist organisations ran counter to Castros fundamental political beliefs.

After legal challenges had failed Castro formed an organisation called The Movement, which worked underground in a bid to overthrow the Batista regime.

Cuba had become a haven for the playboy rich, and was run largely by organised crime syndicates. Prostitution, gambling and drug trafficking were endemic.

In July 1953, Castro planned an attack on the Moncada army barracks near Santiago in order to seize weapons for use in an armed uprising.

The attack failed and many revolutionaries were killed or captured.

Castro was one of a number of prisoners who went on trial in September 1953.

Castro used his court appearance to expose atrocities committed by the army which further raised his profile, particularly among members of the foreign press who were allowed to attend the hearing.

Guerrilla warfare He was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was released in a general amnesty in May 1955 having served just 19 months in relatively comfortable conditions. During his short time in prison he divorced his wife and immersed himself in Marxist texts.

As Batista continued to crack down on his opponents, Castro fled to Mexico to avoid being arrested.

There he met a young revolutionary named Ernesto Che Guevara.

In November 1956, Castro returned to Cuba with 81 armed companions on board a leaking cabin cruiser designed to carry just 12 people. The party took refuge in the Sierra Maestra mountains. From this base Castro launched a twoyear guerrilla campaign against the regime in Havana.

On January 2, 1959, the rebel army entered the Cuban capital and Batista fled. Hundreds of Batistas former supporters were executed after trials that many foreign observers deemed as less than fair.

Castro responded by insisting that revolutionary justice is not based on legal precepts, but on moral conviction.

The new Cuban government promised to give the land back to the people and to defend the rights of the poor. But the government quickly imposed a one-party system.

Hundreds of people were sent to jail and labour camps as political prisoners. Thousands of mainly middle class Cubans fled into exile.

Castro insisted his ideology was, first and foremost, Cuban.

There is not communism or Marxism, but representative democracy and social justice in a wellplanned economy, he said at the time. In 1960, Fidel Castro nationalised all US-owned businesses on the island. In response, Washington put Cuba under a trade embargo that was to last into the 21st century.

Invaders Castro claimed he was driven into the arms of the Soviet Union and its leader, Nikita Khrushchev, although some commentators say he entered the USSR s embrace willingly.

Whatever the motive, tropical Cuba became a Cold War battleground.

In April 1961, the US attempted to topple the Castro government by recruiting a private army of Cuban exiles to invade the island.

At the Bay of Pigs, Cuban troops repulsed the invaders, killing many and capturing 1,000. Fidel Castro had bloodied the nose of a superpower and it would never forgive him.

A year later, American reconnaissance planes discovered Soviet missiles on their way to sites in Cuba.

The world was suddenly staring into the abyss of all-out nuclear war.

A series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the Western hemisphere, warned President John F Kennedy.

The superpowers stood eyeball to eyeball, but it was President Khrushchev who blinked first, pulling his missiles out of Cuba in return for a secret withdrawal of US weapons from Turkey.

Soviet ties Fidel Castro, though, had become Americas enemy number one. The CIA tried to assassinate him, most infamously with Operation Mongoose.

Getting him to smoke a cigar packed with explosives was one idea.

Others were even more bizarre, including one to make his beard fall out and make him into a figure to be ridiculed.

The Soviet Union poured money into Cuba. It bought the bulk of the islands sugar harvest and in return its ships crammed into Havana harbour, bringing in desperately needed goods to beat the US trade embargo.

Despite his reliance on the Soviets help, Castro put Cuba at the head of the newly-emerging Non- Aligned Movement. However, he also took sides, especially in Africa, sending his troops to support Marxist guerrillas in Angola and Mozambique.

By the mid-1980s, however, global geopolitics were shifting. It was the era of Mikhail Gorbachev, glasnost and perestroika, and it proved catastrophic for Castros revolution.

Moscow effectively pulled the plug on the Cuban economy by refusing to take its sugar any more.

Still under the US embargo and with its Soviet lifeline cut off, chronic shortages and empty shelves in Cuba were inevitable. Tempers grew shorter as the food queues grew longer.

The country Fidel Castro called the most advanced in the world had, in fact, returned to the age of ox-drawn carts.

By the mid-1990s, many Cubans had had enough. If earlier waves of exiles had been as much about politics as economics, thousands were now taking to the sea in a waterborne exodus to Florida and the dream of a better life. Many drowned but it was a crushing vote of no-confidence in Castro.

Caribbean communism Yet Cuba registered some impressive domestic achievements. Good medical care was freely available for all, and Cubas infant mortality rates compared favourably with the most sophisticated societies on earth.

In later years, Castro seemed to have mellowed. 1998 saw a ground-breaking visit by Pope John Paul II, something which would have been unthinkable even five years earlier. The then Pope condemned Cuba for its human rights abuses, embarrassing Castro in front of the worlds media.

Fidel Castro had created his own unique brand of Caribbean communism which, in his last years, he was forced to adapt, slowly introducing a few free-market reforms to save his revolution.

On July 31, 2006, just days before his 80th birthday, Castro handed over power temporarily to Raul after undergoing emergency intestinal surgery. His health continued to deteriorate. Early in 2008, Castro announced that he would not accept the positions of president and commander-in chief at the next meeting of the National Assembly.

In a letter published in an official communist newspaper, he was quoted as saying: It would betray my conscience to take up a responsibility that requires mobility and total devotion, that I am not in a physical condition to offer. He largely withdrew from public life, writing articles published in the state media under the title Reflections of Comrade Fidel.

He re-emerged in July 2010, and made his first public appearance since falling ill, greeting workers and giving a television interview in which he discussed US tensions with Iran and North Korea. The following month Castro gave his first speech to the National Assembly in four years, urging the US not to take military action against Iran or North Korea and warning of a nuclear holocaust if tensions increased.

When asked whether Castro may be re-entering government, culture minister Abel Prieto told the BBC: I think that he has always been in Cubas political life but he is not in the government. He has been very careful about that. His big battle is international affairs. President Barack Obamas announcement in December 2014 of the beginning of an end to US trade and other sanctions saw the beginning of a thaw in what had been half a century of hostile relations between the two countries. Castro welcomed the move stating it was it was a positive move for establishing peace in the region, but that he mistrusted the US government.

While many Cubans undoubtedly detested Castro, others genuinely loved him. They saw him as a David who could stand up to the Goliath of America, who successfully spat in the Yanqui eye.

For them Castro was Cuba and Cuba was Castro.
I will expel a student, if I must

Garcia pointed out that as minister he alone has the authority to expel a child and, I will not hesitate to invoke it.

In the two minute, four second video the female student in question is threatened and pushed before a group of females started punching and kicking her. After the major beating the student sat on the ground and one student is seen kicking her in the head. The incident is reported to have occurred on October 26.

It was reported that all of the students involved are in form four and following the incident 10 were suspended.

The beaten student received soft tissue injuries but was treated and also received counselling. She has since returned to school. Back in 2009 the school made papers for a gang war between El Dorado West and East.

Garcia spoke about the incident yesterday at a media conference held at the school together with the schools vice principal Susan Ramsaroop (the principal is out of the country), Minister in the Ministry of Education Dr Lovell Francis and Chief Education Officer Harrilal Seecharan.

He described the video as a mob of girls mercilessly beating another girl.

So devastating was the licking that that student received that a number of persons called me expressing their disgust at what they saw. Among those persons that called me was the prime minister of this country expressing his grave concern at what has been happening, he said.

He said while the school did an internal investigation the Education Ministry will be launching its own investigation and other forms of action may be taken. He also reported he will meet with the parents of both the victim and the students who beat her. He said it was unfortunate that the suspended students were not sent to the Learning Enhancement Centre in Couva.

Garcia said he was informed the incident occurred outside the school but noted that does not exonerate anyone. He added that when students behave like that there is a reason and it does not occur in a vacuum. He said there is a foundation with the parents and the support from them.

Apparently students are being allowed to do what they want, he said.

He said in incidents like the fight the blame rests largely on the shoulders of the parents.

He reiterated he would meet with the parents saying that type of behaviour will not be tolerated at El Dorado West or any other school.

It has brought the entire education system into disrepute, shame and odium, he said.

On the history of students being expelled Garcia reported he did not expel any during his tenure and Seecharan said he could not recall it being done by previous ministers.

Asked about increased security guards, Garcia said he does not want schools to be seen as jails and does not believe that beefing up the number of guards would change the situation.

I hate to see schools with high walls and barb wire fences.

Schools should be an extension of a community, he commented.

On possibly taking action against the parents, which was a suggestion in the National Consultation on Education, Francis said they will ensure some mechanism to hold parents accountable is put in place but it will not necessarily be punitive.

Garcia also criticised parents who were having children hold up placards in protest and encouraging them to disrespect Education Ministry officials. He was referring to recent protests by the PTAs of several schools.
Win for PNM, wish victory for UNC

This was the position given in a Report On The Local Government Elections 2016 by H.H.B. and Associated Ltd. The report also showed division in terms of ethnicity and religion as to who should win the elections; a consensus that the existing local government system needs to be reformed; most voters being unaware of what that reform should involve; a feeling that burning national issues have not been addressed by any of the political parties contesting the elections and a general disinterest by the public in national politics.

These results are based on a national random telephone survey of 398 persons drawn from each of the 14 local government municipalities in Trinidad. The survey was conducted between November 24 and 25. The sample was derived from a larger panel which was recruited by face to face random sampling methods.

When asked which party they think would win the elections, 42 percent of respondents said the PNM, 36 percent said the UNC while 21 percent were unsure. Only one percent of respondents each believed the Movement for Social Justice (MSJ) and the Independent Liberal Party (ILP) would win the elections. Two percent of respondents thought other political parties in the race (such as the Congress of the People -COP and the National Solidarity Assembly - NSA) would be victorious on Monday.

The opinion varies by race and religion (which are highly correlated) as to who would win the elections.

The report said 56 percent of Afro Trinidadians would like to see a PNM win in their electoral areas as compared with ten percent of Indo Trinidadians who would like to see a PNM win.

With respect to religion, 67 percent of Hindus and 57 percent of Muslims would prefer to see a UNC win in their electoral areas. However 63 percent of Baptists, 44 percent of Roman Catholics and 37 percent of Anglicans would prefer to see a PNM win in their electoral areas.

The report said age and gender do not appear to influence voting preference.

With respect to voter preference, overall, 38 percent would like to see the UNC win in their areas while 30 percent would like to see a PNM win. The report said 28 percent of respondents were undecided.

The report tabulated voter preference in all 14 local government corporations but stressed, it should be noted that given the very small sample sizes, this data cannot be used as a forecast of who will win the elections. The tabulation with respect to voter preference showed the PNM winning the Port-of-Spain City, Diego Martin Regional, San Juan/ Laventille, Arima Borough and Point Fortin Borough Corporations ( for a total of five corporations).

However in this same table, the UNC retains the Chaguanas Borough, Princes Town Regional, Siparia Regional, Couva/Tabaquite/ Talparo, Penal/Debe Regional and Rio Claro/Mayaro Corporations while winning back the San Fernando City, Sangre Grande Regional and Tunapuna/Piarco Regional Corporations which it lost in 2013 to the PNM (for a total of nine corporations.) In 2013, the PNM (then in Opposition) won eight local government corporations while the UNC (as part of the then Peoples Partnership government) won six corporations. In the 2010 Local Government Elections, the PP won 11 corporations while the PNM won three corporations.

The report said 69 percent of respondents reported they intended to vote while 23 percent said that they would not do so. The report said this seems very unlikely since historically turnout has been very much lower __ averaging around 30 percent for the last local government elections. HHB adjusted the voting intention figures by looking at the data on interest in politics and current affairs. That data shows that 57 percent were somewhat or very interested in politics and current affairs and 25 percent were not at all interested.

When an adjustment is made for for interest in politics and current affairs (somewhat arbitrarily) we get a voting intention estimate of around 41 percent. The intention to vote is higher among Indo Trinidadians (77 percent) than among Afro Trinidadians (71 percent). Voter intention is also higher among Hindus (79 percent) and Muslims (71 percent) than among Christians (60 percent). Voting intention does not vary significantly by age, gender or education.

Civic duty was identified as the first declared intention to vote for 39 percent of respondents and the second intention wasfor the betterment of my country.The top four reasons for not voting were that politicians do nothing for me ( 15 percent); my vote will not make a difference (14 percent); nothing is going to change regardless of who is in power (13 percent) and I only see politicians during election time (12 percent).

The HHB report found that 80 percent of respondents believe the system of local government needs to be improved quite a lot or a great deal. The report said 15 percent of respondents believed that the current system of Local Government either works extremely well or can be fixed with only minor adjustments.

Regarding the PNMs local government reform plans, 29 percent of respondents said they had heard either a great deal ( eight percent) or a fair amount (21 percent) about governments plans for local government. However 41 percent of respondents said they had not heard very much and an additional 28 percent had heard nothing at all about Governments plans.

In terms of support for the PNMs local government reform, 46 percent of respondents either strongly support (20 percent) or tend to support (26 percent) Governments plans for reforming local government.

HHB said this support exists, in spite of the fact that 69 percent had heard little or nothing at all about Governments plans. The report said 12 percent of respondent tend to or strongly oppose Governments plans while 42 percent are unsure.

When asked about national concerns, 73 percent of respondents believed things in TT are going in the wrong direction while 16 percent believed things are going in the right direction and 12 percent are unsure.

This feeling that the country is going in the wrong direction is high in all of the municipalities in Trinidad.

The top three issues identified as being important in Trinidad are crime (90 percent), unemployment (52 percent) and rising prices (44 percent). The report found that only four percent of respondents identified corruption in government as being a major issue.
Govt combating pollutants

This grant, provided by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is for a regional project entitled, Development and Implementation of a Sustainable Mechanism for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Caribbean. TT is one of eight selected Caribbean countries which include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Suriname, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia.

Planning Minister Camille Robinson- Regis said participation in this regional project will enable TT to develop mechanisms for the environmentally sound management of persistent organic pollutants, thereby reducing and eliminating the threat they currently pose to the lives of citizens. TT will benefit from this project via: the enabling mechanisms for the effective implementation of the Stockholm Convention on POPs; the assessment of contaminated sites to determine the level of contaminants present and impact monitoring and evaluation of the activities conducted to manage those sites.

TT acceded to the Stockholm Convention on POPs on December 15, 2002.

This country will also benefit through the establishment and implementation of direct interventions nationally, some of which include the remediation of the Guanapo Landfill site, which has been identified as a contaminated site in need or urgent remediation. This is a collaborative project with the ministry involving the University of the West Indies (UWI), the Solid Waste Management Company Ltd.

(SWMCOL) and the Public Utilities Ministry through the Water and Sewage Authority (WASA).

As a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), TT is committed to reducing its national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), submitted to the United Nations as its commitment under the Paris Agreement, as well as aimed at developing sustainable capacity as part of ongoing climate change related initiatives.

Governmental representatives from TT also participated as an observer in the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP22) to the UN Framework on Climate Change held from November 7 to 18 in Marrakech, Morocco.
Charlie Sheen's bachelor pad up for sale

United States,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Los Angeles, Nov 27 (IANS) Actor Charlie Sheen has reportedly put his Beverly Hills mansion up for sale.

Sheen is quietly selling the mansion where he hosted various "godesses" over the last decade, according to Tmz.com. There were wild parties fueled by drugs and alcohol.

It's also the house where Sheen's luxurious car was stolen from the driveway and launched off a cliff.

The actor bought the house for $7.2 million and is trying to sell it for $9 million. The house is in one of the most desirable gated communities in the city.

It is reported that the "Two and a Half Men" star wants to move to bluer surroundings. He is said to be eyeing places in Malibu, near the home of his parents.

--IANS

dc/nn/vt
Change is always scary: Naomi Watts

United States,Cinema/Showbiz,Hollywood, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Los Angeles, Nov 27 (IANS) Actress Naomi Watts, who recently separated from actor Liev Schreiber, finds change "always scary".

The two actors, parents of sons Alexander, 9, and Samuel, 7, were together for 11 years.

"I feel I'm in a good place in my life and I want to make sure my kids are healthy, my kids are happy and things are going to go well. Those are my hopes for me and for all of us," Watts told the Daily Telegraph Australia in an interview, reports eonline.com.

"I feel, whether you are famous or not, transitions are scary for anybody," the 48-year-old actress said.

"I feel like change is always scary, but that's only because transition for anyone is new and you wonder how things are going to go."

Schreiber, 49, has not commented on their split.

--IANS

nn/vt
State revenue increased due to effective steps: Himachal government

Himachal Pradesh,National,Business/Economy, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Shimla, Nov 27 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh government on Sunday said the state revenue had recorded remarkable increase in the wake of effective steps for transparent tax collection and extension of various concessions/facilities to different industry.

The Excise and Taxation Department collected the highest 65 per cent of the state's revenue, with collections in the last three fiscals totalling Rs 15,288 crore. The target for this fiscal is Rs 6,559 crore.

All registered traders and dealers are being brought under the cover of a Group Accident Insurance Scheme by relaxing annual business limit this year.

The insurance premium will be borne by the state and the insurance cover has been increased to Rs 3 lakh from Rs 2 lakh.

Traders with annual turnover of Rs 1.50 crore will be covered under the deemed assessment this year to help them save on time spent on regular evaluation process.

Earlier, the facility was for traders with annual turnover of Rs 1 crore or less.

The dealers are now given information about deemed assessment through departmental website and SMSes.

Small traders with annual turnover of up to Rs 30 lakh are being brought under lump-sump tax payment scheme entailing tax at the rate of one per cent, compared with earlier annual turnover of up to Rs 25 lakh.

Solar cookers and solar lanterns have been fully exempted of earlier five per cent value-added tax. Likewise, VAT on all LED lights has been reduced to five per cent from the earlier 13.5 per cent.

The government reduced VAT on body fabrication of buses and trucks from 13.75 per cent to five per cent.

Tax on packaged water bottles has been reduced to enable the industry compete with establishments in other states.

Tax on fuel purchased by scheduled airlines operating to and from Himachal Pradesh has been reduced from 27 per cent to a mere one per cent to boost tourism in the hill state, where tourist arrivals every year surpass its population of about 6.8 million.

Luxury tax on hotels and homestays in backward panchayats has also been waived for 10 years.

--IANS

vg/tsb/dg
Afghanistan army defuses 12 Taliban bombs

Israel,Defence/Security, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Kabul, Nov 27 (IANS) Afghan army personnel recovered and defused one dozen Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and landmines in two eastern provinces, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday.

"The engineering teams of Afghan National Army discovered and defused 12 IEDs and landmines in Kunar and Parwan provinces over the last 24 hours," Xinhua news agency cited a statement by the ministry.

According to military officials, the Taliban militants and other insurgent groups have been using IEDs to target security forces but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.

On Saturday, Afghan police seized over 9,000 kg of a banned chemical in Nangarhar province, bordering Pakistan.

"Afghan National Border Police (ANBP) confiscated 9,310 kg of Ammonium Nitrate, a key component used to make Improvised Explosive Devices. The ANBP searched a truck and found the Ammonium Nitrate. One suspect was arrested in Torkham port," Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The seizure of such a large volume of the banned material will significantly degrade the insurgents' capability to build IEDs, the statement added.

The Afghan government has banned the use, production, storage and sale of fertilizer Ammonium Nitrate since 2010.

--IANS

vgu/dg
Fire at NTPC plant in Delhi

Delhi,National,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) A fire broke out in the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) plant in Rohini Sector-18 here, a fire officer said on Sunday.

"An information about fire breaking out in the cable rolls at the grid of NTPC plant was received at the fire control room at around 12.45 p.m," he said.

Fifteen fire tenders were rushed to the spot, the fire officer said.

No casualty has been reported until now and the cooling operation is on, he added.

--IANS

sp/nir/vt
Genres : Action, Thriller, Science Fiction, Horror

Starring : Mari Honjo, Ronald L. Marchini, Michael Chong, Joshua Johnson, Ron Ackerman

Director : Paul Kyriazi

Plot Synopsis

Madame Lu has created three 'Death Machines', a trio of martial arts experts who have been injected with a special serum, turning them into mindless zombies, capable only of murder, at Lu's command. Tasked with eliminating her enemies, the Death Machines go on a blood soaked rampage, killing anyone in their path. After they massacre an entire dojo, leaving only one survivor, the Death Machines and Madame Lu herself become the targets of his vengeance...



Part kung fu film, part revenge thriller, and part sci-fi/horror, director Paul Kyriazi's debut feature is a head spinning, non-stop thrill ride of gratuitous violence and bizarre plot twists, guaranteed to satisfy the cinematic cravings of even the most discriminating fans of drive-in movies.



Vinegar Syndrome is proud to present this outlandish, action packed, and truly unforgettable piece of mid-70s genre filmmaking, freshly restored in 4k from its original Techniscope camera negative and featuring brand new interviews with its director and stars.
Will write about Defence Ministry stint in memoirs: Parrikar

Goa,National,Politics,Art/Culture/Books,Defence/Security, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Panaji, Nov 27 (IANS) Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Sunday said that his post-retirement memoirs will include detailed and specific accounts of the goings-on in his ministry, whose charge he took over two years back.

"I will not spell out everything now. After retiring, when I write my memoirs, I will be more specific..." he told a meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party women workers here.

Parrikar also said that the Narendra Modi government had empowered army commanders to retaliate if the enemy attacked.

"When our soldiers were attacked, our armed forces have responded appropriately. The government has empowered army commanders and has given them power to retaliate if attacked. As a result country's border is safe," he said.

Parrikar said that along with powers, the central government has fiven the soldiers better arms, as a result boosting their morale as well as strength.

--IANS

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Israeli army kills 4 IS militants in Syria

Israel,Defence/Security, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Jerusalem, Nov 27 (IANS) Four IS militants were killed on Sunday when Israeli soldiers opened fire in response to rockets launched from a vehicle approaching Israeli-held territory from Syria, a military statement said.

Clashes were also reported in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights after an alleged Islamic State affiliate group launched rockets into the region from Syria, Efe news agency reported.

The attack from Syria provoked military engagement from the Israeli Armed Forces present in the contested region which has been administered by the State of Israel since 1967.

"Earlier, gunmen fired and launched mortar shells from Syria at IDF forces in Golan. IDF returned fire and successfully targeted the cell," an Israeli Defense Force spokesperson tweeted.

A military spokeswoman told EFE that the attacks were perpetrated by the Yarmouk Martyrs Brigade -- an alleged IS-linked group fighting near the Israeli and Jordanian border.

Tensions have escalated in the Golan Heights region since the onset of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. Across the border, the territory is controlled by IS affiliates and various opposition rebel groups.

--IANS

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Kartik to start film with Luv Ranjan soon

Maharashtra,Cinema/Showbiz,Bollywood, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Mumbai, Nov 27 (IANS) "Pyaar Ka Punchnama" fame actor Kartik Aaryan is set to start shooting for his next film with director Luv Ranjan soon.

The actor, who recently returned after a month of shooting in London for Ashwni Dhir's next "Atithii Iin London" with Paresh Rawal, told IANS: "It was so much fun shooting with Paresh-ji. I was there for around a month. Now, I am preparing for Luv sir's next in collaboration with T-Series, which is starting very soon."

Set in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, the untitled film, will also star Nushrat Bharucha and Sunny Singh who acted in "Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2".

Kartik has acted in all the three films of Ranjan -- "Pyaar Ka Punchnama (PKP)", "Akaash Vani" and "Pyaar Ka Punchnama 2 (PKP2)".

Talking about his equation with the director, the actor said: "I think we trust each other more. We started out together as debutants in the same film and we have grown together professionally. Therefore, we share a different kind of bond."

"Audience is appreciating our collaborative projects. Now, when he makes a film, I don't even ask for a script as I trust his conviction."

The actor, who has earned fame from sequels, believes that though such films face comparisons, a film works only if the content is good.

"One of the good things about sequels is that people connect with the characters easily. However, yes, there are comparisons as well. For instance, the monologue scenes of PKP and PKP2 were compared and some people liked both of them, some just liked one. Nevertheless, audiences liked the film because of its content. So, at the end of the day, the story matters the most."

But before carving a niche for himself in the industry, Kartik, who hails from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, used to be an engineering student.

How has the journey changed him?

He said: "I am still a momma's boy and share a strong emotional bond with my family. I did not change much that way. Nevertheless, yes, Mumbai groomed me a lot. I am a better observer now and I am familiar with the fast lifestyle of the city. I know that I have to maintain certain consistency because our industry is very competitive."

"As an actor, I want to explore different genre of movies and wish to work with directors like Karan Johar, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Rajkumar Hirani, Anurag Kashyap and Imtiaz Ali. Most importantly, I want to be part of all the Luv Ranjan films," he added.

--IANS

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Paswan thanks Nitish for supporting demonetisation

Bihar,National,Politics, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Patna, Nov 27 (IANS) Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Sunday thanked Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes to fight the black money menace.

"We welcome and thank Nitish Kumar for supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's decision," Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), told media persons here.

He also targeted Janata Dal-United leader Nitish Kumar's allies Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress in Bihar.

"RJD and Congress should withdraw from the alliance if they disagree with Nitish Kumar's stand to support Modi's decision to demonetise the 500 and 1,000 rupee notes," he said.

Besides supporting Modi's demonetisation decision, Nitish Kumar also urged the Prime Minister to act against people having 'benami' (by proxy) properties.

--IANS

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Indian Navy chief on five-day Sri Lanka visit

Sri Lanka,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Defence/Security,Diplomacy, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Colombo, Nov 27 (IANS) Indian Navy chief, Admiral Sunil Lanba on Sunday began a five-day visit to Sri Lanka, aimed at consolidating and enhancing bilateral maritime relations, an official statement said.

"The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the bilateral maritime relations between India and Sri Lanka," it said.

During his visit which will last till December 1, Admiral Lanba will call on Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, and various senior dignitaries including the Chief of Defence Staff and the three Service Chiefs.A

Lanba will also attend the 'Galle Dialogue', an annual conference hosted by Sri Lanka on the issues of aritime Security and cooperation between international navies. Representatives from 39 countries and 13 international organisations are likely to participate in the event.

The Indian navy chief would be delivering the keynote address on 'India's perspective on the benefits of Strategic Maritime Partnerships', during the event.

Naval cooperation between India and Sri Lanka includes operational interactions through bilateral exercises, coordinated patrolling along the common maritime border, training, port calls, capacity building and augmentation initiatives.

Lanba will also lay a wreath at the Indian Peace Keeping Force memorial, which has been built by Sri Lanka.

--IANS

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One involved in Punjab jailbreak arrested in UP

Uttar Pradesh,National,Terrorism,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Lucknow, Nov 27 (IANS) A man, allegedly one of the gunmen who helped six prisoners, including a high-ranking terrorist, escape from Nabha jail in Punjab on Sunday morning, was arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said.

Parminder Singh alias Pamma Singh, who was in a SUV, was intercepted by police in the western UP district in the evening and arrested. A haul of weapons was also recovered from the vehicle.

Punjab Police has been informed about the arrest, said ADG (Law and Order) Daljeet Chowdhary, adding Singh was being questioned for further leads on his accomplices.

A high alert was sounded across north India after armed men, said to be 10-12 in number, attacked the maximum security Nabha jail and escaped with two terrorists, including Khalistan Liberation Force's Harminder Singh Mintoo, and four gangsters, police said.

--IANS

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Would've resigned if demonetisation in my tenure: Chidambaram

Delhi,National,Politics,Art/Culture/Books,Business/Economy, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Sunday said that he would have resigned if demonetisation was implemented in his tenure as Finance Minister.

"Had I been the Finance Minister, and the Prime Minister had proposed the step of demonetisation, I'd have told him not to do it. If he had still gone ahead with it, I would have resigned," Chidambaram said, adding he was sure that the "aftermath of the huge step" was not described to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Had he known ATMs were not recalibrated, and that it would take seven months to print the currency, he wouldn't have gone ahead with the move," he said in a panel discussion on "Debating Modi Sarkar: The Role of the Opposition" at the Times LitFest 2016.

Chidambaram raised the "sufferings" of the people, who've been hit hard by the unprecedented cash crunch.

"If you take away the daily income of labourers, farmers, fruit sellers, vendors, small scale businessmen etc, the livelihood of 48 per cent of the population (45 crore approx) is affected," he said .

"People are suffering. Some decisions maybe politically and economically correct, but if they are not good ethically, government should apologise to its people," he added.

According to him, Prime Minister Modi's idea of maintaining secrecy was important but experts should have been consulted before introducing the move.

"Secrecy was necessary. But advices from at least two people should have been considered. The government should have consulted former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and its own former Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha."

Commenting on the collective call by the opposition parties for a nationwide Bharat Bandh on November 28, Chidambaram said: "It is already a Bharat Bandh. We've been observing the Bandh for past 20 days."

"How can there be more disruption than what has been happening in this nation for more than a week? I don't support bandhs," he said.

Janata Dal-United General Secretary Pavan Varma, who was the other speaker at the discussion moderated by journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, asked why his senior party leader Sharad Yadav protested against demonetisation in the parliament while Nitish Kumar had supported it in Bihar, said: "It was supported in context with dealing with black money an protests were against the manner in which it was being implemented."

"Debates in the parliament reduced democracy to such juvenile levels as the Prime Minister was not present throughout," he said.

He also said that the Modi "government could have played a more coordinated and a calibrated strategy" as he termed its entire strategy "confused".

--IANS

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7 killed, 18 injured in Nepal jeep accident

Nepal,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Kathmandu, Nov 27 (IANS) At least seven persons were killed and 18 other injured, when an overloaded jeep plunged into a 100-metre ravine in Nepal's Nawalparasi District on Sunday.

The vehicle, which was heading for Kadabheri from Bulingtar in the district, slipped off a mountain highway, about 170 km from the capital city of Kathmandu.

"The condition of three injured, including the driver, was critical at a local hospital," Xinhua news agency quoted District Police Constable Kismat Balal Magar as saying.

Nepal's Home Ministry officials said such accidents have been frequently taking place due to overloading and speeding.

"The local administration and police have been given stringent orders to control such practices," the ministry said in a statement.

--IANS

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A general hands over baton peacefully - and that's unusual for Pakistan (News Analysis)

India,Indo-Pak/Pakistan,Defence/Security, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) As Pakistan prepares for its army chief's exit, the three-year tenure of General Raheel Sharif would be remembered for being relatively uneventful -- by Pakistan's standards -- and the professional and politically correct relations he appeared to have maintained with the civilian government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

He would also be remembered for the peaceful transition in a country fraught with the takeover of civilian governments by military rulers. For half of its 69 years, Pakistan has been under the rule of generals. General Sharif was true to his word -- he had promised nine months back that he would not seek an extension and would retire on time, though few had believed him. He does so on November 29.

Despite his sometimes hawkish stance against India, including the latest missive that "if Pakistan were to launch surgical strikes, India would not be able to forget it for generations", his reign was not marked by any misadventure with the neighbour, except for the "thousands of cuts" inflicted through infiltration of militants -- which has been a part of the Pakistan Army's covert tactics against India for long.

Even when the Indian Army announced its "surgical strike" into Pakistani territory in reprisal for cross-border terror attack on the Uri cantonment in Jammu and Kashmir, the Pakistan Army simply denied it, dismissing it as routine cross-border firing, and made no attempt to overtly escalate the tense border situation.

The smooth transition in Pakistan has happened for the first time since former Army Chief General Pervez Musharraf staged a coup on October 12, 1999, overthrowing the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had appointed him superseding several generals. The Prime Minister returned the compliment saying that General Sharif had "proved beyond a shadow of doubt that he was one of the finest military leaders of his generation".

Speaking at a farewell dinner hosted in the general's honour, the Prime Minister said: "As the Chief of Army Staff, General Raheel has made the most difference in the service of our country. We have successfully established the writ of the state and reclaimed every inch of territory under our sovereign control."

This is generous praise from a politician who was so rudely dismissed by another general and sent packing to exile in Saudi Arabia for years.

Raheel Sharif came to the position after Musharraf's nine years and his successor Ashfaq Pervez Kayani's six. He is seen as Pakistan's most popular army chief and there were demands by many to give him an extension, including by Musharraf. Such was his clout that, in 2014, parties protesting outside the Parliament House tried to get the general to mediate between them and the government.

Public approval, however, came at a price. The rhetoric that was used to build the general's public image had sought to hide the dark reality. Fears about the resurgence of terrorism, the unresolved issues in Karachi and Balochistan, and a failure to clear Punjab of terrorism nurseries are some of the issues that would not only continue to stain the general's legacy, but would also be the principal challenges for his successor.

The high point of Gen Sharif's tenure was the launch, in 2014, of Operation Zarb-e-Azb in the restive North Waziristan against militant groups, including the Tehrik-i-Taliban. The operation which involved around 30,000 troops was carried out in the wake of the June 8 militant attack at Karachi international airport. The move was deemed to be a success.

Another instance which would be remembered as Gen Raheel Sharif's test of nerves was when he kept himself and the army out of political controversy during the 2014 sit-in, when thousands of supporters of Imran Khan, Chairman of Tehrik-e-Insaf party, and Tahirul Qadri, a politician and Islamic scholar, entered the capital demanding Prime Minister Sharif's resignation.

At one stage, when the situation turned violent, the Prime Minister sought the general's help in resolving the issue. Raheel Sharif then invited both Imran and Qadri, holding meetings with them separately. The march was eventually called off by Khan when militants attacked an army public school in Peshawar, killing over 150 people, mostly school children.

On November 27, 2013, when the Prime Minister appointed him as the army chief, there were not much expectations from him as he was relatively unknown -- his predecessor Ashfaq Parvez Kayani is believed to have recommended Gen Rashad Mahmood, currently the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, for the position. But within three years Raheel Sharif defied many odds to prove his critics wrong.

During his tenure, the army retained control over relations with neighbouring countries -- India, Afghanistan, Iran and China -- as well as with the US, while paying lip service to the civilian government. The general also helped to facilitate the Afghan peace process.

This approach was heavily criticised by the political leadership, especially the opposition, which repeatedly took issue with the ruling party's deference to the military in key realms.

Pakistan's military has always played a prominent role in the country's politics, having staged three coups since independence in 1947. The army chief is widely seen as the most powerful person in the country -- even above the Prime Minister.

This tradition is unlikely to end, even after the peaceful handing over of the baton to Lt Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa.

(Aadil Mir can be contacted at aadil.hussain@ians.in)

--IANS

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Agriculture market in India's richest state crumbles (Special to IANS)

Delhi,National,Business/Economy, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

A week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes -- 86 per cent of India's currency notes by value -- business in the agricultural market of Pathardi, 350 km east of Mumbai, fell by 60 per cent, indicating how the rural economy of India's richest state, Maharashtra, recovering from two years of drought, is slowing down.

Pathardi's Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC), representative of 2,500 such markets in India, is where most agricultural trade in the region takes place -- almost all of it in cash. A slowdown in these markets can have wide-ranging effects on farmers, traders and the Indian agricultural economy.

The arrival of vehicles loaded with agricultural produce at the Pathardi market fell by 75 per cent, arrival of cotton dropped by 80 per cent, and the sale of cattle fell by 50 per cent, in comparison to the week before the ban of notes, according to data gathered from market officials.

The ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes has pushed farmers -- who transact in cash and are still largely distanced from formal banking institutions -- out of the farm economy.

Bhimsen Mahadev Ghuge, a 50-year-old cotton farmer, lost 15 per cent on a cotton transaction. He did not want the money in old notes, so he sold his produce to an unregistered trader outside the APMC market gate for Rs 4,200 per quintal, lower than the market rate of Rs 5,000 per quintal.

"I have to manage my family expenses and pay the wages of labourers who work in my farm in Rs 100 notes," Ghuge said. "I have incurred a huge loss this season."

Traders at the Pathardi market were willing to pay for produce and cattle in old notes or, new notes of Rs 2,000. But farmers, whose daily expenses are much lower, are unwilling to take Rs 2,000 notes, unsure of whether they would be able to change it for more usable notes of smaller denominations.

Farmers did not want old notes because they were uncertain they would be able to exchange the notes for new currency.

"Initially, some farmers accepted the old notes confident they could deposit the money in the bank. But few farmers continued to accept the old notes after November 21," said Vaibhav Dahiphale, Director of the Pathardi APMC. Still, traders continued to transact in old cash and as a result several have had to shut shop, said Dahiphale.

Cotton reaches the market in November, and APMC officials expected daily transactions to reach Rs 50 lakh ($77,000) because of a good harvest this year, Dahiphale told IndiaSpend. But, after demonetisation, transactions amounted to a maximum of Rs 30 lakh ($46,000) a day, based on data collected from the market.

Some traders, such as those buying cotton, have shut shop to protest against the unavailability of cash in the market, and blamed the government for not ensuring enough cash.

Traders in Pathardi APMC do not prefer cheque as a mode of payment to farmers as they keep most of their money in the form of cash. Farmers too feared that cheques might not translate into money in their bank accounts.

"I am not sure I will receive money after I deposit the cheque. The cheque might bounce," said Ghuge.

(In arrangement with IndiaSpend.org, a data-driven, non-profit, public interest journalism platform, with whom Abhishek Waghmare is an analyst. The views expressed are those of IndiaSpend. Feedback at respond@indiaspend.org)

--IANS/IndiaSpend

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Local KNU officials confirmed to Karen News that the incident took place on November 11, at Konekhaing (Koekaw) village in Win Ye Township in the Karen National Unions Doo Pla Ya district.

The Burma army soldiers said that they removed the flag for security reasons ahead of the Regional Commanders field trip to the area.

A local KNU official from Win Ye Township, who asked not to be named, spoke to Karen News on November 21 and said that seven soldiers from the 31 Light Infantry Battalion came to the village and took down the Karen flag.

The Regional Commander stopped in Konekhaing village en-route to somewhere else. The soldiers went to the school and took down the flag. We didnt know why they did it. We just learned about it when the locals came and told us.

The KNU official said that taking down the flag was inappropriate and they had reported the incident to KNU district and brigade offices. The official also noted that government troops are now more active in the Win Ye Township area.

Villagers claimed the government soldiers not only took down the Karen flag, but also removed a signboard at the school. The Konekhaing village primary school was built with funding from a Non-Government Organization and both curriculums of the KNUs Karen EducationDepartment (KED) and Government Education Ministry are taught in the school.

Saw Eh Ka Sauk said the action of the Burma army soldiers showed their attitude towards the ethnic nationalities.

This shows that the Burma army dont give equal rights to Karen people. Whose flag do we have to fly if we are not allowed to fly ours? Their [Burma Army] action means they dont recognize our Karen flag [as legitimate].

KNU sources said that the Burma Army soldiers action is a breach of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement. The NCA states that the The Tatmadaw and Ethnic Armed Organizations shall avoid restrictions on the right to education in accordance with the law; destruction of schools and educational buildings, including educational tools; and the disturbance and hindrance of students and teachers.

KNU sources point out that the NCA also states that both sides are to; Avoid either directly or indirectly interfering, humiliating or damaging the reputation of public activities to preserve religion, literature, and cultural and traditional practices.

This is the first time since the ceasefire agreement that the Karen national flag that flies at every school in mixed controlled areas have been taken down by the Burma army.

Karen News was unable to contact the local Burma Army officer for their response, but according to the latest information from local villagers, the Burma Army unit responsible for the flags removal have since apologized for their soldiers action and explained that they did it out of ignorance.
Top terrorists, gangsters escape after Punjab jailbreak

Punjab,National,Defence/Security,Terrorism, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Nabha (Punjab), Nov 27 (IANS) In a sensational jailbreak, armed men attacked the high security Nabha jail in Punjab and escaped with two terrorists, including Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Singh Mintoo, and four gangsters on Sunday, police said.

The attackers, dressed in police uniforms, breached the tight security of the Nabha Jail with at least 100 rounds fired during the attack, jail officials said.

Mintoo and another terrorist Kashmir Galwadi were among those who escaped around 9.30 a.m from the jail premises.

Gangsters Vicky Gonder, Gurpreet Sekhon, Neeta Deol and Vikramjit also escaped.

The Punjab Police and security agencies have cordoned off the area and a massive search operation has been launched to nab the escaped prisoners.

The attackers, about 10-12 in number and carrying weapons, entered the jail premises in two cars, including a Toyota Fortuner SUV.

The attack took place when the prisoners were brought out of their barracks for morning chores, jail sources said.

The jailbreak took place just two months before crucial assembly elections in Punjab early next year. The incident is being seen as a major security breach and intelligence failure.

Several top terrorists, gangsters and criminals are lodged in the Nabha Jail, which has maximum security among Punjab prisons and is about 100 km from Chandigarh.

--IANS

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Cuban dissidents expect no changes following Fidel's death

Cuba,Politics, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

Havana, Nov 27 (IANS) Cuban dissidents said on Saturday that the death of ex-President Fidel Castro does not mean there will be any political changes in Cuba, given that he left power 10 years ago, though they do fear more repression during the nine days of national mourning.

"Nothing is changing here. The only good news is that we have one less dictator, but we still have the other because Raul is just as much a dictator as Fidel," Berta Soler, leader of the Ladies in White dissident group, told EFE news in a statement.

Politically nothing is changing in Cuba except for the "incremental deterioration" of the human rights situation on the island, where repression "is increasing", according to the head of the Ladies in White, an organisation founded by mothers, wives and daughters of the "Group of 75", dissidents sentenced to many years in prison during the wave of repression known as the "Black Spring" of 2003.

"In Cuba nobody likes the Castro dynasty, who are a bunch of mafiosos. If we want a democratic transition on the island, it has to be without that family in power," she said.

Soler said she fears police repression will be stepped up during the decreed nine days of national mourning, during which the group she leads plans to call for protest marches to demand respect for human rights and the release of political prisoners, just like the marches the Ladies in White organise every Sunday.

Of the same opinion is former political prisoner Jose Daniel Ferrer, leader of the Patriotic Union of Cuba, who foresees in the coming weeks "more control and repression of dissidence and of any sector of the population that represents a danger to the dictatorship".

For Ferrer, Fidel Castro's death on Friday "means little because everyone is used to his absence from the media and from public life".

Nonetheless, he admits that since Castro is the "main symbol of the regime", his disappearance could be taken by the Cuban people as an opportunity "to make more demands".

"Last night when his death was announced, everyone was sleeping. And today they got up to continue their struggle for subsistence," Ferrer said.

--IANS

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Britain now has revised guidelines to fly drones

United Kingdom,Immigration/Law/Rights,Technology, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

London, Nov 27 (IANS) In partnership with Britain's air traffic control body NATS, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in Britain has launched a website containing a revised version of "Dronecode" to help people fly drones safely and responsibly.

The authority has also warned that the offenders could be prosecuted, the International Business Times (UK) reported.

"Dronecode is a set of guidelines, which outline the procedures of drone flying within the law in Britain. The rules, posted on the new Dronesafe.uk website, are based on the suggestions from leading aviation players, drone retailers and manufacturers and the Department of Transport," the report pointed out.

According to the new guidelines, people are not allowed to fly drones near airports or airfields. Users are allowed to fly drones below 400ft (120m) and at least 150ft (50m) away from buildings and people.

The report noted that the new set of rules is based on a key finding that mentions 61 per cent respondents agree that drones would be useful for traffic monitoring and power line inspection.

"Nearly 58 per cent agree with the fact that drones would be useful for agriculture and 56 per cent state drones could be used for emergency health services," the report added.

Tim Johnson, Policy Director at the CAA, said the new Dronecode will help to protect the safety of the wider aviation industry.

"It will also help those expected to use drones to improve current operations, from farming to traffic, from healthcare to logistics. Ultimately, people must use their drones safely and responsibly," Johnson was quoted as saying.

--IANS

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Don't play with lives of poor, PM warns

Delhi,National,Politics,Defence/Security,Business/Economy, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday warned people who he said were using the poor to bring back black money into the system and made it clear the guilty will be punished.

"Some people think they can convert their black money into white. And are looking at unlawful ways. It's unfortunate they have chosen to use poor people for this," Modi said in his 26th edition of his radio talk "Mann ki Baat".

"I want to say that it is up to them to abide by the law or break it, it is up to them if they want to correct themselves. The law will deal with them. But please don't play with the lives of poor," Modi said.

He warned that people should not convert their black money into white by using the poor people and put them into trouble.

The Prime Minister's remarks came amid reports that many people were trying to convert their black money into white by using the bank accounts, including Jan Dhan accounts, of the poor.

Aggregate deposits in Jan Dhan accounts have increased to Rs 64,252 crore in the first week after the government's November 8 demonetisation of high-value currency.

The Prime Minister also expressed confidence that India would shine like gold following the government's decision to demonetise high value currency that would curb unaccounted wealth in the country.

"Just like gold we will emerge glowing from this fire. The main reason behind this confidence is our people," he said.

Modi said he had cautioned that there would be inconveniences caused by the move and that "we would face new problems".

"I had said it will take about 50 days for the situation to normalise. It is not easy to get rid of the 70-year-old problem" of corruption and black money, he emphasised.

"Your support despite severe problems touched me. You have not wavered despite efforts to misguide you," he said in his address, weeks after the surprise move caused an unprecedented crash crunch in the country.

Modi also asked the youth of India to take a pledge and make the country a cashless society that would curb rampant black money and corruption.

He, however, said 100 per cent cashless economy was not possible but there was no harm in trying.

"I need your support," Modi said and asked young men and women to teach at least 10 families daily how to go cashless and make electronic payments.

"Take pledge to be a part of a cashless society from today. Not only this, you will also have to take time to educate at least 10 families every day. Educate them on how to download apps, how to spend money using mobile phones, how to make payments. How to do business."

Modi said he needed the youth to lead the campaign so that "common people will be trouble free" after learning about cashless transactions.

"All youth can do it very quickly and within a month the world can see a modern India. Be a soldier of change and bring it on. We will fight the black money and corruption. We know it is you who can bring the change and revolution."

Modi urged small traders to enter the digital world to increase their business. He sought everyone's cooperation to make the campaign against black money a success.

The Prime Minister said the people must stand with the soldiers to boost their morale and strength.

"We must stand with our forces. When the entire nation stands with our 'jawans' (soldiers), their strength increases 125 crore times."

Modi announced the government would publish a coffee table book containing the wishes from people to soldiers on the occasion of Diwali.

"One of the soldiers wrote to me that this year they did not feel lonely while celebrating Diwali at the borders.

"He said the soldiers celebrate all their festivals be it Holi or Diwali at the borders as all the time they are immersed in protecting the nation," Modi said.

--IANS

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Modi asks small businesses, labour to embrace cashless mode

Delhi,National,Politics,Business/Economy, Sun, 27 Nov 2016 IANS

New Delhi, Nov 27 (IANS) In his first monthly radio address after demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged small businesses and workers to embrace cashless transaction through mobile banking and plastic money.

"I would like to tell our small and micro businesses to take up this opportunity to enter the digital world. You too should download mobile banking applications, install POS (point of sale) machines for swiping cards," Modi said in his customary 'Mann Ki Baat' speech on All India Radio.

"In the way that large malls expand their business through use of technology, small businesses too can increase turnover by using simple user-friendly technology," he added.

Modi told the country's labour population how adopting digital technology would help end their exploitation.

"You have been exploited much...getting one wage on paper and another in hand. Besides, when you are paid every month, there is always someone outside the gates waiting to take a cut from your wages," the Prime Minister said, addressing workers.

"Under this new project (demonetisation), we want your salary deposited in the bank account so that faithful payment of minimum wage is assured," Modi said.

"And you, in turn, can use your mobile phone like an e-wallet to make payments to your neighbourhood shops for your needs," he added.

--IANS

bc/vgu/vt
Swaraj India protests at police HQ in minor's rape case

Delhi,National,Politics,Crime/Disaster/Accident, Mon, 28 Nov 2016 IANS

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New Delhi, Nov 28 (IANS) Swaraj India Party President Yogendra Yadav, party activists and the family of a minor who was raped and murdered, protested at Delhi Police HQ here on Sunday against police's failure to arrest the accused.

The protest started at around 3 p.m. when hundreds of Swaraj India volunteered gathered at Police Headquarters, and started raising slogans against Delhi Police demanding suspension of Station House Officer (SHO) of Keshav Puram Police station and other policemen for delaying action.

"Eight days have passed but the accused identified by police is still roaming freely... we and victim's family members were assured by the Joint Commissioner of Police, Sanjay Singh that the accused would be arrested within 24 hours," said Yadav.

Party spokesperson Anupam told IANS that they had written to both Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Delhi Police Commissioner A.K. Verma to intervene into the matter.

Yadav also condemned the police crackdown on Friday at Swaraj India office in Patel Nagar. "It is our democratic right to protest against the deteriorating law and order situation in the capital," he said, and warned that if police don't arrest the accused within 72 hours, then their protest will be "continued in a big way".

The four-year-old victim's mother alleged that it was police inaction which led to the crime even though she had complained to the SHO and local beat constables within half an hour of the girl going missing, but police did not take the matter seriously.

If police took swift action, my daughter could be saved, she said.

The minor girl was raped and murdered by a pick-upo driver on November 20, while she was playing outside home in a slum area of north Delhi. Her body was later found dead in the railway quarters in Keshav Puram area.

--IANS

sp/

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Unicorn Riot is a media collective that formed in response to the lack of media coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement and the Tar Sands Blockade; their news comes direct from the front lines of some of the most significant and under-reported conflicts in the world, in the form of unedited livestreams from the conflict zone, and edited highlight reels after the fact.

Unicorn Riot's reporters are among the most targeted by Morton County Sheriff's Deputies  the same law enforcement officers whom Unicorn Riot have outed for the sadistic use of water-canons in subzero temperatures and of firing tear gas cannisters directly into the protesters' crowds, activities the deputies lied about when they denied doing either.

The Morton County cops say that because Unicorn Riot has a point of view, they are protesters, not reporters (this is the same argument they used when they fabricated charges against Democracy Now's Amy Goodman in October). This is wrong on its face: protesting is a thing you do, not a thing you believe. As Unicorn Riot's Lorenzo Serna says, "I'm not participating. I'm not building the barricade. I'm not pushing off against the police. I'm not going to pray at the water ceremony. I'm literally there observing."





Discriminatory policing against journalists based on their political beliefs raises significant First Amendment questions, and they will only get more grave: the rise of crowdfunded, independent media; the decline of commercial, traditional news organizations; the practice of blacking out coverage of significant protests; and the coming, press-hostile, human-rights-hostile Trump years will put police and journalists into more conflict than ever.

To make things worse, FEMA has circulated training materials to its officers advising them that "Some protesters will attempt to design fictitious media credentials to gain access to events or special consideration by law enforcement," giving fed law-enforcement a virtual hunting-license to actually target journalists. The US Army Corps of Engineers has also gotten in on the act, declaring an out-of-the-way corner far from the action to be the designated "free speech zone" and ordering protesters to remove themselves to the zone on pain of arrest (though the protesters are occupying treaty land that was never ceded to the US government).



At the Oceti Sakowin camp in North Dakota, which serves as a base for opposing the pipeline, volunteers distribute press IDs that give journalists permission to take photos on camp premises, after they attend an orientation. When I was at the camp recently, pass distributors suggested putting the passes away during protest actions, saying that pass carriers seemed to become police targets. Others believe it's less about targeting and more about police who decline to discriminate between journalists and activists. "I think that as the boundaries between journalists and non-journalists continue to erode, and any definition of journalism becomes more elusive, journalists have to realize that their rights are not protected by the special realm of press freedom," said Carlos Lauria, the Committee to Protect Journalists' program director for the Americas. Instead, he said, reporters should seek protection by "guaranteeing that the rights of free expression are extended to all." As of November 14, according to the Morton County Sheriff's Department, 473 people had been arrested attempting to stand in the oil pipeline's way. Freelance reporters, documentary filmmakers, producers of movement-building media, and independent activists armed with a cell phone have all been swept up in mass arrests that have been carried out almost weekly since October. Sara Lafleur-Vetter, a filmmaker who has been covering the pipeline fight since August, was charged on October 22 with trespassing and engaging in a riot in one of the largest mass arrests, when 127 were detained. Her camera was confiscated and eventually returned without its memory cards, and she said her bail agreement stipulated that she should not have any direct or indirect contact with Dakota Access pipeline property. "I can still go out," she said. "I just have to be really careful."

ARRESTS OF JOURNALISTS AT STANDING ROCK TEST THE BOUNDARIES OF THE FIRST AMENDMENT

[Aileen Brown/The Intercept]
The drop in oil prices has taken a heavy toll on Algerias budget revenues with the trade deficit expanding to 15.8 billion dollars as of October compared to 13.7 billion dollars the same period last year.

By the end of October, Algerias export revenues slipped by 23.44% standing at 22.7 billion dollars propelling the government to adopt austerity measures leading to a drop in imports, which stood at 38.5 billion dollars compared to 43.5 billion dollars by the end of October 2015.

As its foreign exchange reserves continue to shrink, Algeria along other OPEC members are pushing for a production freeze. In this respect, Algeria called for 1.1 million barrels per day (bpd) in cuts by OPEC members and a decrease totaling 600,000 bpd by non-members.

The IMF estimates that Algeria needs a barrel price of 110 to maintain macro-economic balance at a moment economic analysts warn of an upcoming budget crisis if oil prices remain at current levels around $50 per barrel.

Observers see that Algerias heavy dependence on hydrocarbon revenues, which make up 95% of exports, will further diminish the countrys foreign exchange reserves. Recently Algiers resorted to foreign debt with a 900-million-euro loan from the African Development Bank.

In the absence of efficient economic diversification, the government adopted a 2017 finance bill providing for austerity measures, taxes and curbing subsidies in a country where the social contract is based on generous handouts to the people.

The drop in oil price with the ensuing lift of subsidies is a manifestation of the predicament of the rentier state which carries the risk of domestic unrest as social cohesion hinges on state largesse.
Photo: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

Earlier this year, I delivered a speech harshly criticizing Donald Trump. Since then, Mr. Trump won the presidential election and his advisers have suggested that, if I want to serve in his administration, I must publicly apologize for these remarks. What follows is my full apology.

My earlier remarks made a series of accusations toward the president-elect that I now realize were completely unfair. I stated, His bankruptcies have crushed small businesses and the men and women who worked for them. In fact, Trump was merely using the laws to his advantage. I claimed, He inherited his business, he didnt create it, which I now understand to have been a cruel shortchanging of his rise from outer-borough real-estate heir to inner-borough real-estate mogul. I likewise renounce, for all time, any insinuations about the business acumen of future self-made entrepreneurs Ivanka, Eric, Donald Jr., Barron, and Tiffany Trump, all of whom will have earned their success.

I likewise impugned the president-elects business acumen by mocking the alleged failure of such enterprises as Trump Airlines, Trump University, Trump magazine, and Trump Steaks. The future president refuted my baseless accusations the next day. As a gesture of penitence for my error, I flew to this venue on Trump Airlines and dined last night on a Trump Steak, which are indeed the worlds greatest steaks.

In that speech, I slandered our president-elect as a habitual liar who falsely claimed to have opposed the Iraq War beforehand and to have seen thousands of Muslim-Americans in New Jersey celebrating the attack on the World Trade Center. I predicted that despite [Trumps] promise to do so, first made over a year ago, he will never ever release his tax returns. I would like to revise this statement to predict that President-elect Trump will release his returns when his audit is complete, or that he is right not to do so, or if necessary, both.

Most unforgivably, I called the president-elect an individual who mocked a disabled reporter, who attributed a reporters questions to her menstrual cycle, who mocked a brilliant rival who happened to be a woman due to her appearance, who bragged about his marital affairs, and who laces his public speeches with vulgarity. And on the basis of these accusations, which I hallucinated, I concluded, Mr. Trump has neither the temperament nor the judgment to be president.

In fact, his behavior after the election, including his encouragement of a lively public debate among his own advisers regarding my own fitness to serve and his wise decision to require this apology from me, alone refutes my accusation. A wise ruler would never appoint a former rival without first requiring him to endure a display of submissive humiliation. I now see the error of my ways, and I have come to appreciate the genius and leadership of our next president in allowing me to confess my errors in public. I recant every last word of that slanderous speech. If my horrible mistakes give him any pause as to my qualifications, I can only plead: At the time I said it, I was hopped up on milk.
The Oceti Sakowin camp. Photo: Jessica Rinaldi/Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Army Corps of Engineers has told the Standing Rock Sioux tribe that they have until December 5 to vacate the Army Corpsmanaged land that has become the site of one of three encampments supporting the tribes antiDakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protest. After December 5, according to Army Corps Col. John W. Henderson, the land  which is north of the Cannonball River in Cannon Ball, North Dakota  will be closed to all public use and access, and anyone violating the ban may be prosecuted for trespassing. According to NPR, the tribal leader of the Standing Rock Sioux, Dave Archambault II, has vowed that the protesters will remain. Although the news is saddening, he said, it is not all surprising given the last 500 years of mistreatment of our people.

Henderson, in a statement, said their decision is necessary to protect the general public from the violent confrontations between protestors and law enforcement officials that have occurred in this area, and to prevent death, illness, or serious injury to inhabitants of encampments due to the harsh North Dakota winter conditions. The Corps also says they will designate a free speech zone south of the Cannonball River on Army Corpsowned land where the protests can continue, and where Henderson says there would be a clearer jurisdiction for first responders.

According to the Bismarck Tribune, protest organizer Dallas Goldtooth rejected Hendersons assumption, claiming the designated zone would not accommodate the growing number of protesters, which now number about 7,000 people.

Related Stories Amy Goodman on Why the North Dakota Pipeline Standoff Is Only Getting Worse

Several hundred people have created a self-sustaining community at the Oceti Sakowin camp, which was established in August and is the northernmost overflow encampment supporting the seven-month-long protest near Lake Oahe. Protesters are trying to block part of a $3.8 billion, 1,200-mile oil pipeline from being constructed nearby. The Standing Rock Sioux argue that the pipeline will desecrate some of their sacred sites and will endanger the tribes primary water source, the Missouri River, which the pipeline will eventually cross. Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the pipeline, denies those claims. The Standing Rock Sioux are also currently suing the Army Corps in federal court for not consulting the tribe before permitting the DAPL, but construction has been allowed to continue despite the ongoing legal battle.

A detailed map of the Dakota Access Pipeline that's led to months of clashes near Standing Rock https://t.co/L1FyXatInq pic.twitter.com/SsqsVSbLbg  The New York Times (@nytimes) November 24, 2016

The Army Corps had already promised that they would evict the encampment in October, and North Dakota governor Jack Dalrymple and U.S. senator John Hoeven both declared on Saturday that it was now up to the federal government to step in and help clear the protesters.

More than 500 people have been arrested for taking part in the ongoing protest, and there have been violent confrontations between protesters and state and local authorities, including an incident last weekend near the Oceti Sakowin camp in which a womans arm was severely injured, allegedly by a concussion grenade. During that same protest, law-enforcement personnel used water cannons to disperse demonstrators despite the near-freezing temperatures in the area. Members of some 200 First Nations tribes from across North America have joined the NoDAPL protest, which has become a cause celebre for environmentalists over the past few months.

President-elect Donald Trump, who recently owned as much as $1 million of stock in the company building the pipeline, has vowed to support the DAPL project and speed up permits for other oil and gas pipelines once he takes office.
"Says the world has been getting more conservative after 9/11"



I disagree with this

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Laws are still more progressive then they ever have been.



LGBT acceptance in the US and all around the world is at an all time high.

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You would.

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I mean you can disagree that the earth is round and that tifoil hats don't keep the government from mind controlling you too but that doesn"t mean you're opinions have any validity.

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People like you who are in deep deep DEEP denial on how much your country has regressed since 9/11 is why your president is a white nationalist who's currently filling your government with known Nazis. My family and I (who are Muslim and black) used to go to the states on holidays and day trips growing up but since 9/11 we've experienced nothing but blatant racism from being told to go back to Africa/our country to being called ragheads and the N-word. I'm like less than an hour away from the board yet I haven't been in the states in over 8yrs. The very foundation of your country and basically the world changed in 9/11. Trump entire message was anyone who isn't white is EVIL and your country voted for him so don't tell us 9/11 hasn't made the country conservative and fearful of pretty much EVERYTHING.

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seen them twice the first time doesnt count cuz i got so drunk i lost my phone and i dont remember the show at all.



The 2nd time i was sober and they were fantastic.



favorite garbage song? I like Vow, Push It, #1 crush, bleed like me



but my fave at the moment is this gem:





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'Only happy when it rains' was probably their first song I heard and still one of my top faves. And I'm seeing them live next month for the first time, can't wait!

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The first song i ever heard by them was "Androgyny", they were huge in Latin America with that album, it was my first introduction to them and i have been a fan ever since.

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I finally got to see them live last year, during the 20 Years Queer tour, and they were incredible.



Some of my favorite tracks are Milk, Sleep Together, You Look So Fine, Cherry Lips, and Bad Boyfriend.

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only happy when it rains was one of my all time fave songs as a kid so that's always gonna be first for me. queer, cherry lips, vow, supervixen and that killer opening, evetything tbh

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It blew my MIND how good they were live. It just took all their music to another level for me. I Think I'm Paranoid is my fav.

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their most recent albums are fire. i love The One and Empty

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It's so hard to pick just one but I have the most love for I Think I'm Paranoid, Stupid Girl, #1 Crush, Temptation Waits, Only Happy When It Rains, Queer, and Cherry Lips.

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cherry lips and only happy when it rains are still my faves

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Can' do it, I'll choose one from each album:



Milk, Temptation Waits, Cherry Lips, Bleed Like Me, Automatic Systematic Habit, Even Though Our Love Is Doomed.



Bonus not albums songs: #1 Crush, The World Is Not Enough, Tell Me Where It Hurts.

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The first CD I bought was Version 2.0. Pretty flawless album but You Look So Fine might be my fave song.

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I missed them last week because I had a bloody wedding. I have seen them once though and they were glorious. I love Shirley.

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i think it's a society issue more than anything. many women were trained to think that they shouldn't expect or want equality because men should be the sole providers in the household.

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i had a woman argue with me that women should get paid less because they're the ones that have to take off from work if the kid is sick or there is a family emergency. im like...wtf is this thinking? i didn't know how to respond to that type of stupidity. so you're basically discriminating against yourself? okay then....

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you would be surprised how many women out there think this way but they've been trained to do so.

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heaps of people think like that, lots of women

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That is so fucking stupid omg

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Lets not act like the majority of women don't want to be with someone who is the "sole provider" - someone who buys them things, takes them out to resteraunts, etc. I've seen so many women on ONTD wishing they had sugar daddies.

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Its so ingrained. I'm in a technical field at a Fortune 100 and got switched onto a new project where I'm the only woman. I had to go on a business trip with the guys last week and literally all the married men were talking about how their wives don't work and homeschooling their kids.



I was sitting there like wow, this is fucking awkward for me. I have nothing to say with these probable Trump lovers.

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Yep, so many women have lots of internalized misogyny. It's really sad.

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ita. i'm taking a multicultural children's lit course rn and one of the doctorate students uttered the words "i'm not a feminist but..." while recommeding a book about dolores huerta. i about jumped at her.

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she didn't lie!

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it's not like we aren't trying but shit is hard

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Doesn't understand why a woman would want to distance herself form the idea of equality.



I'm starting to think because a lot of women just don't see themselves as equals to men. If they get fucked over by the system they will just pretend it was their own fault or some minority's.

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The past two months in Poland we had to protest against a planned total abortion ban and a rapid turn to the right in politics. It's been insane finding out how many women are against freedom of choice and how brainwashed they are by misogyny. Made me realize I took women's rights for granted, when probably majority of women don't even understand feminism, or are against it.



Edited at 2016-11-27 08:06 pm (UTC)

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I've been watching the abortion debate in Poland and was so relieved when eventually the proposed ban was struck down. It is disheartening to know after how far we've come, we could always lose these basic human rights again if we don't stay vocal at all times.



And everytime there is a swerve to the right, everybody loses except for the ones who are already on top. But people are too blinded to realize.

My country's populist party wants every woman to birth four kids to outnumber the immigrants. There are women who support them and march with their children in tow next to literal neo-Nazis.

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I think also there has been a story spun about how feminism is anti-men. Yes, women being equal means men giving up privilege, but feminism's not about tearing down men. And many people fail to see how removal of sexism benefits both men and women alike.

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I think that's part of the reason why so many white women voted for Trump. Their misogyny is so internalised that they rejected Hillary because 'that's not how a woman should act' as if voting for a woman would somehow invalidate their own experiences.

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privileged women in particular like to distance themselves from the idea of equality because they think it makes them ~the cool girl~ in the eyes of their oppressors.



one of my fav quotes: "You can spend your life trying to be the cool girl, and feminism will be right there when you figure out they hate you anyway."

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Not as scary as sharia

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do you even know what sharia law actually is or do you only watch fox news?



Edited at 2016-11-27 07:45 pm (UTC)

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Yeah, you're moaning myrtle alright.

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Good fucking grief

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I'm confused as to why this is relevant to the OC

Literally what

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Just gotta shoehorn that islamophobia in wherever you can, huh?

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i saw Garbage live this year, and Shirley is amazing. She is just such an inspiration to be bold and outspoken. Idk, i left feeling so energized and so ready to fight. And to say fuck you.

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I'm so jealous of anyone who gets to see her live, I've had a girl crush on her for over 20 years.

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trump wouldn't react the way he did if he knew the results weren't tampered with.

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tbh, every accusation he made toward Hillary during the campaign came off as massive projection like when he acted like a sniffling drug addict during the debates then suggested she should be drug-tested I would not be surprised in the least if all the "rigged" talk was projection too

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he's also probably shook that Stein raised 6m in a couple of days, that people are really that desperate for a recount. I didn't donate because I think it will change the election, but I did because the people have a right to a recount to verify after this messy election with talk about rigging and hacking, imo.

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Trump loves to accuse his opponents of shit he is guilty of, it's a classic tactic of his.



but I love that he is at least shook by this, you don't get a more public slap in the face than freaking millions of people funding efforts to double check that you actually were elected president because they hate you just that much.

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i love shirley, but i rolled my eyes at that clip of her talking about how being told you're beautiful is an empty pursuit. pretty sure people who post pictures on instagram are aware of the fact that there will always be someone more attractive than them. if people feel empowered and self-confident enough to post a selfie, why tell them they shouldn't because they're not as attractive as other people posting selfies?

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people do the most regarding selfies and posting them to have confidence in yourself. Looking at you Selena ~don't wanna see your body on instagram~ Gomez. I know Selena was talking about sharing what's in our hearts and minds but it's so easy for her to say that when she has the body and validation everyone desires.

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wasn't she talking about how all that contributed to her mental health issues? so it probably isn't that easy for her

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Like, I'm legit afraid we are headed into another very dark part of our history. I mean, I know some dark shit has gone down in the last 20 years but getting worse :( and the behavior being condoned....

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"and the behavior being condoned"



this part especially scares me, there's SO much support of it

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I think this is definitely true and a big part of the reason why I was practically in mourning after the election results. This is hearkening a very ominous future tbh.

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Something to consider: I'm flabbergasted that this isn't common knowledge. Like, I live in Europe and the erosion of rights of everyone who's not white and male has exploded in the last few years. Working and poor people are lashing out at the rich liberal elites by electing insane right-wing xenophobic populists. Poland, Turkey, Hungary, UK is already there. France and Netherlands may be next. Germany might actually end up the last man standing in this insanity, but I doubt it'll take long.Something to consider: https://bullshit.ist/let-me-tell-you-a-story-about-neo-nazis-c87d545fba7f

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I know there's a lot more to the conversation, but I also think a lot of women today, probably those who are privilege either from race, economics, and society, don't think there's anything to fight for. They are taught in high school about suffrage and the women's civil rights movement solved all their problems and now we live in an ~equal world without color. So we got our votes and our jobs, so basically shut up and be happy we were "given" these rights.

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yeah she mentions it in the article too, like women today a lot of times take things for granted, and it's pretty scary imo

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a high percentage of white women voting for Trump is indicative of that

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I agree

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Definitely. So many people think "we're almost there". No, no. This is stagnation.



Edited at 2016-11-27 08:03 pm (UTC)

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Yeah. And taking those rights for granted is stupid, they are only in place because liberal politicians in the office are defending them. All you need is ONE year of right-wing government and poof! Back to the 50's.

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that and it's easier to kick down than to punch up

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We're definitely seeing a right-wing rise across most of the west rn but I don't know that you can 100% simplify it down to "the world has gotten more conservative since 9/11". At least from a US perspective, I feel like half of the country has gotten way more liberal since I was young and the other half has gone batshit conservative in backlash to that.

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it's def feeling like Susan Faludi had a point about literal backlash.

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"The world has become decidedly more partisan since 9/11" would be a more accurate statement. Bipartisanship is dead. Compromise is dead. Which is a problem when what we're paying our legislators to do is keep the country running through compromise and negotiations. Every congress is a lame-duck congress. It's preposterous.



I'm not at all saying there's any sense of equivalency in how the extremism and polarity has manifested itself; the Right is definitely worse. That should go without saying, but on this website...



Edited at 2016-11-27 08:29 pm (UTC)

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Yea, unfortunately it seems a lot of people get a bit more conservative as they age.

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Shakira performed for Pope Francis at the UN today (Friday), Shakira - Imagine (Live at the UN's General Assembly 2015) : The text a...
News / Local

by Stephen Jakes

A man from Hillside in Bulawayo has been dragged to court following a botched house deal worth $22 000.Chris Wessell Steyn (70) was denying the fraud charge when he appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Gladmore Mushove.The magistrate remanded him to December 9.The court was told that between February 25 2012 and August 2, 2012 at number 13A Hillside in Bulawayo, Steyn with intent to defraud, misrepresented to Mxolisi Mpofu that he was the owner of the house hence he was selling the portion of the property.He allegedly sold one acre of the piece of land belonging to the late Robin Adiar Iversen to Mpofu thereby causing a prejudice of $22000 to the owner of the property.The relatives of the late owner discovered the illegal deal and reported the matter to the police leading to Steyn's arrest.
From Consortium News



Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaking with supporters at a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona, March 21, 2016.

(Image by (Photo by Gage Skidmore)) Details DMCA



Although lacking "actionable evidence of hacking," Hillary Clinton's campaign has decided to join the recount of votes from the presidential election in the state of Wisconsin that was launched by Jill Stein, the presidential candidate from the U.S. Green Party.

Marc Elias, the Clinton campaign counsel, said the campaign decided to take part in the recount to discover whether there was "outside interference" in the election results. He said the campaign had been inundated with messages from Clinton supporters to do "something, anything, to investigate claims that the election results were hacked and altered in a way to disadvantage Secretary Clinton," particularly in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump narrowly beat Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan, where the margin was only 11,612 votes, the closet presidential contest in that state's history.

Clinton would have to win all three states in the recount to receive 276 electoral votes to Trump's 260. A total of 270 votes are needed to win the presidency. Trump now leads 306 to 232. The electors will vote in their state capitals on Dec. 9. It is not clear if the three recounts would be finished by then.

"This election cycle was unique in the degree of foreign interference witnessed throughout the campaign: the U.S. government concluded that Russian state actors were behind the hacks of the Democratic National Committee and the personal email accounts of Hillary for America campaign officials," Elias wrote in an online message.

"We have quietly taken a number of steps in the last two weeks to rule in or out any possibility of outside interference in the vote tally in these critical battleground states," he said, adding that since the day after the election the campaign had lawyers and data scientists "combing over the results to spot anomalies that would suggest a hacked result."

But because the Clinton campaign "had not uncovered any actionable evidence of hacking or outside attempts to alter the voting technology, we had not planned to exercise this option ourselves." But now that Stein had initiated a recount in Wisconsin, "we intend to participate in order to ensure the process proceeds in a manner that is fair to all sides," Elias wrote.

Stein's Cash

Stein has raised $6 million in just three days to pay for recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. She filed with Wisconsin on Friday, where officials said the recount would soon begin and plans to file in the other states next week.



Jill Stein

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"If Jill Stein follows through as she has promised and pursues recounts in Pennsylvania and Michigan, we will take the same approach in those states as well," Elias said.

There is no evidence of prior coordination between Stein and the Clinton campaign in the recount effort. But Stein's call for the recounts in the three states that could reverse the results of the election in Clinton's favor raised a number of questions about her motives, which she responded to in an online video and several television interviews.

Stein said she is not activating the recounts to either help Clinton or hurt Trump but to ensure the reliability of the country's voting systems. She said she did not believe the recount would change the election's result.

"You wouldn't get into an airplane and wait for it to crash to decide you need quality assurance and a backup system," Stein told the PBS News Hour. "Our voting system is no less important and we're basically calling for a system to verify voting. We shouldn't have to show there's been a disaster in order to safeguard a very vulnerable voting system."

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James McEnteer

Vultures Over Havana

Fidel Castro and the Castration of U.S. Latin American policy

When Fidel Castro died in his sleep at 90 on November 25 in Havana, American news consumers might have been forgiven for thinking he was slain in battle.

"Today, the world marks the passing of a brutal dictator who oppressed his own people for nearly six decades," said Donald Trump, according to CNN.

"Fidel Castro's legacy is one of firing squads, theft, unimaginable suffering, poverty and the denial of fundamental human rights. While Cuba remains a totalitarian island, it is my hope that today marks a move away from the horrors endured for too long"" Trump promised to join with the Miami Cubans toward a future in which "the Cuban people can finally being their journey toward prosperity and liberty."

That should make the Cubans afraid. Very afraid.

As jingos jeered and cheered, even journalists you thought must know better leapt upon the burning bier. In an article entitled, "Fidel Castro Finally Dies," The Daily Beast's John Avlon excoriates Castro as "a bully and a thug: the latest in a long line of self-interested opportunists who rule through fear and pretend that it is love."

Avlon condemns everyone who swallowed the myth of Castro as a revolutionary hero:"One of the most prevalent forms of moral myopia on western campuses and their downstream affiliates is a tendency to excuse whatever oppressive totalitarian violence is committed in the name of the left.

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Army Corps' connection to Washington, D.C., cherry trees

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"Power and empathy are not mutually exclusive. Now more than ever, we need thoughtful, compassionate individuals to enter situations where suffering and conflict occur, and show a different form of strength, one that protects the vulnerable and holds people accountable without becoming contentious or abusive"."

I travel extensively, teaching leadership skills to business, community, and educational organizations. As the U.S. political climate became more vicious and divisive over the last year, increasing numbers of international clients offered me sanctuary.

"I will stay, regardless of who wins the election," I always replied, flinching slightly as I considered the implications.

Time to face the stark reality of that seemingly simple pledge.

For me, "staying" means neither isolating myself from the ensuing drama, nor contributing to it. Staying involves witnessing the grief, despair, frustration, rage, and injustice both sides have been feeling for quite some time. It requires seeing people as individuals, rather than declaring one group "righteous" or "enlightened," while objectifying the other as "stupid," "brainwashed," or "evil."

Soon enough, staying will demand taking strong, thoughtful, nonviolent action to protect the vulnerable and explore new solutions. But sometimes, especially in the beginning, it will require standing with people who are disillusioned, frightened, and in pain when it appears there's absolutely nothing we can do.

In this effort, I look to the very first President of the United States for guidance.

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"JILL STEIN RAISED ENOUGH MONEY TO STEAL THE ELECTION FROM TRUMP VIA "RECOUNT" IN ONLY 5 HOURS". raves fake news website Beforeitsnews.

Before is calling on people to leave work and watch the recount. If the recount finds that the tally was rigged for Trump, it will be "stealing the election." Of course, Trump being declared the winner while losing the election (he will be selected by the Electoral College which will reverse the results of the actual election) is not stealing but the way the system is supposed to work. Look how great the selection of Bush worked out!

Stein's original goal was 2 million, then it was raised to 4.5 million, and now 7 million, showing how deeply disturbed people are by the Trump coup.

RT, which I have admired for its attempt to do real journalism, is now on a full spectrum propaganda campaign to impugn the vote recount as "an attempt to deligitimize the election." How is making an election transparent and exposing fraud am attempt to deligitimze anything but a fraudulent election? RT is claiming Soros is behind this, offering zero evidence and ignoring the FACT that the cap for an individual is $2700 and Stein has millions of grass roots supporters. Clearly, this is because Russia is seducing Trump (and he thinks seducing Putin) in order to mitigate the effects of his chosen neo-hawk anti-Russian advisors.

"The recount is the extreme far left...a suicide mission."

"It seems to me that Stein is promoting something that is very very toxic...is this just to get her name out there........what is the agena, just to get more media attention" is what I am hearing in real time on RT's crosstalk. Ignored is that the entire Trump campaing was based on toxic racism and the Big Lie, as well as the need for integrity in elections. These mouthpieces sound very worried, as is Trump? What do they have to hide?

Paul Craig Roberts and other neo-fascists are publishing the lie that the funds raised are not from her supporters but from George Soros, in an attempt to "steal" the election. "JIM STONE DISCOVERS SOROS BOT FUNDING JILL STEIN'S RECOUNT CAMPAIGN AT RATE OF $160,000/HOUR!!"

Roberts also wonders why Stein is trying to elect Clinton (as the American people did), ignoring caution that this is not about electing a a particular candidate, since she found both unacceptable (as did most people), but about fair elections.

Today, Stein is in a position to end the Trump seizure of power, and thus for the moment, she is the most powerful person in the world, overthrowing a Dictator-to-be by her own efforts, her ability to communicate and tap the anxiety that most people feel. Recent polls show that Trump is the first President-Select to have a higher disapproval than approval...and of course, he lost by 2 million.

If you have not donated to the recount fund, please do so now.

There are many ways to lead, and Stein is showing how a "marginal" figure, with no official power, can scare the sh*t out of the Trump sheep and provide a way to end the ascent of an authoritarian bully who has already hired the Bush era neo-con war hawks, crony billionaires, Wall St. tycoons, and fascist propagandists.

Fascism is on the verge of taking control of the White House, but one small, persistent woman has thrown the whole fiasco into a state of panic, as the prospect of hacking fraud is going to be investigated.

Those right wing neo-fascists who are urged to go to the polls to watch the recount will be befuddled when they find out that a hacking investigation will not be a paper recount.

How ironic that that Trump the Great (the label that Paul Craig Roberts, now defending an authoritarian leader has used in his latest trash article) who just over a month ago, when he thought he was losing, claimed repeatedly as befits his Nazi propaganda lessons he learned from reading the speeches of Hitler, another authoritarian leader who promised hope, that the election was rigged.

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PLEASE ASK YOUR US SENATORS AND CONGRESS MEMBER IN A LETTER EMAILED TODAY TO PRESS THE ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BY ASKING THEM TO RESCIND THEIR DECEMBER 5 EVICTION NOTICE OF THE WATER DEFENDERS! WE CAN MAKE THIS HAPPEN!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

EMERGENCY PRESS CONFERENCE SATURDAY WITH TRIBAL CHAIRMAN:

click here roll it in 15 minutes to get past all the prep stuff, and then there is at least 40 minutes more.

>>>>

Governor Suspends Sheriff, Pending Removal

published with permission of Lauren Donovan, reporter at the Bismarck Tribune

McKenzie County Sheriff Gary Schwartzenberger was placed on interim suspension Wednesday night, pending his removal from office, by Gov. Jack Dalrymple.

The governor ordered the interim suspension based on a recommendation from Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem after McKenzie County requested the sheriff be removed under a process available in state law.

The petition for removal was made by the county's acting State's Attorney Todd Schwarz on Oct. 24, alleging the sheriff is guilty of misconduct, malfeasance, crime in office, neglect of duty or gross incompetency. The county commission had voted in support of the petition for removal.

In a recommendation dated Wednesday, just short of the 30-day window to make his findings on the petition, Stenehjem said the allegations were investigated by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation and he recommended following through on removal.

Stenehjem said an assigned prosecutor will draft a formal complaint and once filed, a special commissioner will conduct a removal hearing within 30 days. He also recommended Schwartzenberger's immediate suspension until the hearing is concluded.

Dalrymple told Schwartzenberger in a letter also dated Wednesday and copied to the county commission that he agreed with Stenehjem's findings and said, "" it is in the best interests of the state that you be

suspended from the performance of duty immediately upon receipt of this notice and until a final decision on removal is made."

The county's second-in-command is Capt. Larry Clock.

The suspension was enforced by BCI agents, who tracked down

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The mathematical (and other) thoughts of a (now retired) math teacher,
The fear of the partisan political tag is creating a great challenge to the operations of the Public Interest Accountability Committee (PIAC), says Dr Steve Manteaw, a member of the Committee.



PIAC is a citizens-led statutory body established under section 51 of the Petroleum Revenue Management Act (Act 815) to provide additional non-parliamentary and independent oversight over the collection and utilization of Ghanas petroleum revenues.



Dr Manteaw, a policy analyst told journalists attending a 14-day training course on oil, gas and mining that government interference has obstructed the activities of the Committee.



He said between 2011 and 2015, revenue generated from the oil sector stood 3.2 billion dollars but a huge chunk - almost 70 percent of the revenue, was spent in the education sector.



Dr Manteaw, who is the campaign coordinator of the Integrated Social Development Center (ISODEC), a non-governmental organization, said PIAC has undertaken a national exercise and monitored the utilization of the oil revenue in some of the regions.



The Committee has officially written to the Ministry of Petroleum to respond to some of the findings but about three months now the sector minister has not responded, he said.



Dr Manteaw, who is also the Chairman of the Civil Society Platform, said substantial governance gaps remained in the countrys oil and gas industry saying the lack of integration of the sector into the rest of the economy is a teething challenge.



Mr Ishmael Edjekumhene, the Executive Director of the Kumasi Institute of Technology and Environment, a non-governmental organization and member of PIAC, said the responsibility to ensure the judicious utilization of the oil revenue was not a sole duty of PIAC alone.



He appealed to the media, civil society organisations and the public to develop the interest and monitor revenue inflows in the oil and gas sector.

Source: GNA









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